Iceland is facing severe land degradation in many parts of the country. This study aims to increase the understanding of the complex interactions and interconnectivity between the critical factors that help maintain the land degradation processes in sub-arctic environments. A holistic approach in the form of a causal loop diagram (CLD) is applied for diagnosing the influencing factors. To further

The purpose of this study was to investigate illness experiences of patients after a first myocardial infarction (MI), focusing on life situation and the recovery process over time. Thirty patients were interviewed within the first 3 days of hospitalisation, and again 17 weeks after discharge. The interviews were tape-recorded verbatim and the transcriptions were analysed and categorised using qua

A joint palaeomagnetic and Ar-40/Ar-39 study has been performed on two olistolithic blocks from the Cabrieres Wildflysch in the Montagne Noire region of the Massif Central in France. There, andesitic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of Llanvirn-Early Caradoc age (ca 470-458 Ma) occur. Despite extensive secondary alteration, destruction of the dominant magnetic mineral phase and Ar-40/Ar-39 whole

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy in detecting signs of fetal hypoxia in labour of intermittent (I-group) versus continuous (C-group) electronic fetal monitoring in women with low or moderate risk factors for fetal distress. DESIGN: A prospective, randomised study. SETTING: A tertiary referral centre. SUBJECTS: Four thousand and forty-four parturients at low risk for obstetric complications with

The migratory orientation of sanderlings (Calidris alba) was investigated with cage experiments during the spring migration in southwest Iceland. Sanderlings were exposed to 90 degrees counterclockwise-shifted magnetic fields under both clear skies and natural overcast. Clear sky control tests resulted in a northerly mean direction, in agreement with predictions based on ringing recovery data and

X-linked agammaglobulinemia is a heritable immunodeficiency disease caused by a differentiation abnormality, resulting in the virtual absence of B lymphocytes and plasma cells, The affected gene encodes a cytoplasmic protein tyrosine kinase, Bruton's agammaglobulinemia tyrosine kinase, designated Btk, Btk and the other family members, Tec, Itk and Bmx, contain five regions, four of which are commo

Background: Considerable lives and money could be saved if one could detect early stages of lapsing/ relapsing behavior in addicted persons (e.g., in safety-sensitive workplaces) and could disclose harmful drinking in social drinkers. Due to the serious public health problem of alcohol use and abuse worldwide, markers of alcohol use have been sought. Both ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and phosphatidyl e

Six Brachyspira type and reference strains, and 14 well characterized porcine field isolates representing all recognised porcine Brachyspira spp. were compared by different molecular methods. Sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA and the nox genes, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) were used in the study. In addition the isolates were analysed by fiv

Amyloidogenic proteins like cystatin C and prion proteins have been shown to form dimers by exchange of subdomains of the monomeric proteins. This process, called "three-dimensional domain swapping," has also been suggested to play a part in the generation of amyloid fibrils. One variant of cystatin C, L68Q cystatin C, is highly amyloidogenic, and persons carrying the corresponding gene suffer fro

This work describes the use of focused, high-intensity light from a Ti: sapphire laser that generates femtosecond pulses to irradiate mixture of CeO2 and Tb4O7 under ambient conditions. The prepared samples were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). XRD and XPS measurement results demonstrated that solid sol

Pain management is an important indicator of the quality of patient care. The aim of this study was to develop and test a questionnaire to assess the quality of pain management in acute care in Sweden with emphasis on validity and reliability, as well as pain severity, interference with function, and patient participation. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with consecutively select

The chaperone calreticulin plays important roles in a variety of processes in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of animal cells, such as Ca2+ signaling and protein folding. Although the functions of calreticulin are well characterized in animals, only indirect evidence is available for plants. To increase our understanding of plant calreticulins we introduced one of the Arabidopsis isoforms, AtCRT1a,

Purification of papain from wet Carica papaya latex by extraction in aqueous two-phase system was studied and compared with the traditional procedure involving a two-step salt precipitation. The papain obtained by the latter method was usually contaminated with other proteins, and its purity was dependent on the initial protein concentration in the material used for processing. Highly pure papain

By using both mitochondrial and nuclear multiloci markers, we explored population genetic structure, gene flow and sex-specific dispersal of frillneck lizards (Chlamydosaurus kingii) sampled at three locations, separated by 10 to 50 km, in a homogenous savannah woodland in tropical Australia. Apart from a recombinant lizard, the mitochondrial analyses revealed two nonoverlapping haplotypes/populat

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a progressive disorder with a consistent and steady increase in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) over time associated with enhanced risk of micro- and macrovascular complications and a substantial reduction in life expectancy. There are three major pathophysiologic abnormalities associated with T2D: impaired insulin secretion, excessive hepatic glucose output, and insulin r

To examine the hydrodynamic propulsion mechanism of a diving great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus), the three-dimensional kinematics was determined by digital analysis of sequential video images of dorsal and lateral views. During the acceleration phase of this foot-propelled bird, the feet move through an arc in a plane nearly normal to the bird's line of motion through the water, i.e. the toe

The combined effect of feeding regime and photoperiod on the growth of juvenile Atlantic cod Gadus morhua in land-based recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) was examined using three different commercial diets. Fish of 8-10 g were reared in 1 m³ tanks at an initial density of 10 kg m-³ for 78 d. Three RAS units were used to simultaneously test three feed/photoperiod regimes that might be encount