Motivated by advances in flexible electronic technologies and by the endeavour to develop non-destructive testing methods, this article analyses the capability of computational multiscale formulations to predict the influence of microscale cracks on effective macroscopic electrical and mechanical material properties. To this end, thin metal films under mechanical load are experimentally analysed b

Serum cystatin C has been suggested as a new marker of GFR. For the introduction of this marker into clinical use a rapid and automated method is required. We have developed and validated an assay for serum cystatin C using latex particle-enhanced immunoturbidimetry. Intra- and inter-assay precision were < 3% and < 5% across the assay range. Analytical recovery was 93 +/- 3.8% and no lack of paral

An enzyme which converts D-dopachrome into 5,6-dihydroxyindole has recently been isolated from rat liver. Enzymatic D-dopachrome conversion has been observed in extracts from all tissues examined of several species, including man. We have now cloned and sequenced a 628 bp long cDNA encoding the enzyme provisionally called D-dopachrome tautomerase. The cDNA was isolated by 3' and 5' rapid amplifica

A procedure for spectroscopic characterization and partial fractionation of human protein HC populations by high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array ultraviolet-visible detection is reported. Human protein HC from urine or amniotic fluid fractionated by anion-exchange HPLC in a protein Pak DEAE 5PW appeared to be heterogeneous as judged by the asymmetric elution pattern, consisting

The pharmacokinetics of total platinum (Pt) in plasma and cisplatin (CDDP)-DNA adducts in different cell types were described in ten patients with squamous-cell carcinoma of the head/neck or esophagus after their first cycle of chemotherapy containing a CDDP dose of 100 mg/m2. Nephrotoxicity was studied in terms of urinary excretion of marker proteins (protein HC, IgG, and albumin). Pharmacodynami

People with high socioeconomic status disproportionally affect energy-driven greenhouse gas emissions directly through their consumption and indirectly through their financial and social resources. However, few climate change mitigation initiatives have targeted this population segment, and the potential of such initiatives remains insufficiently researched. In this Perspective, we analyse key cha

Efficient use of assessment of urine protein excretion in nephrological practice requires adequate reference intervals. To determine the upper reference limits of urine albumin, protein HC (alpha 1-microglobulin, immunoglobulin G (IgG), orosomucoid (alpha 1-acid glycoprotein, alpha 1-antitrypsin, and kappa- and lambda-chain immunoreactivities, the concentrations of these proteins were measured in

Soil moisture is one of the most important factors controlling the activity and diversity of soil microorganisms. Soils exposed to pronounced cycles of drying and rewetting (D/RW) exhibit disconnected patterns in microbial growth and respiration at RW. These patterns differ depending on the preceding soil moisture history, leading to contrasting amounts of carbon retained in the soil as biomass ve

We have studied the accuracy of 16 different density functional theory methods to reproduce experimental data for bond lengths, angles, vibrational frequencies, as well as enthalpies and entropies for the binding of N2, H2, CO and hydride ions to various transition-metal complexes (with Fe, Ni, Cr, Mo andW) with relation to nitrogenase.We show that generalized gradient approximation functionals gi

Priming mice with a chicken gamma globulin (CGG) carrier protein significantly accelerated the onset of somatic mutation in the V chi Ox1 gene when the mice were subsequently immunized with 2-phenyl-5-oxazolone (phOx) coupled to CGG. The first mutations were already detected 7 days after immunization, while in the true primary response, they are not apparent until day 10. It was also found that co

Negative induced polarization (IP) time-domain transients, sign-changing or non-monotonically decaying transients are currently often considered as measurement errors and removed in the data processing. These transients, here named heterodox in the sense of other than generally accepted signals, might originate from measurement errors, inductive effects, or poor signal processing, but synthetic mo

Plants commonly referred to as “bryophytes” belong to three major lineages of non-vascular plants: the liverworts, the hornworts and the mosses. They are unique among land plants in having a dominant haploid generation and a short-lived diploid sporophytic generation. The dynamics of selection acting on a haploid genome differs from those acting on a diploid genome: new mutations are directly expo

The conversion of technical lignin into valuable chemicals is important for the complete utilization of lignocellulose. The kraft process dominates the pulp industry, and large amounts of kraft lignin are produced worldwide. However, the complexity of lignin limits its valorization. In this study, a kraft lignin, Indulin AT, was depolymerized under base conditions, and the effects of substrate loa

A general LCA model for the determination of the environmental effect of the incorporation of a flame retardant into a product has recently been developed and presented internationally. This model weights the benefits of choosing a high level of fire safety (in terms of fewer and smaller fires) against the environmental cost of the method used to attain this level of safety, i.e., the environmenta