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Alpha-1 microglobulin (alpha(1)m), a lipocalin, is an evolutionarily conserved immunomodulatory plasma protein. In all species studied, alpha(1)m is synthesized by hepatocytes and catabolized in the renal proximal tubular cells. alpha(1)m deficiency has not been reported in any species, suggesting that its absence is lethal and indicating an important physiological role for this protein To clarify
The last survey of Icelandic Collembola is that of Olafsson (1991) reporting 77 species and 26 taxa of infraspecific level (forms, varieties and aberrations of which some are good species, others not). The Study of Icelandic soil fauna has intensified over the last decades, mainly in the fields of applied sciences (agriculture, forestry). However, few works report Collembola down to species level
Recent research on life in extreme environments has shown that some microorganisms metabolize at extremely low temperatures in Arctic and Antarctic ice and permafrost. Here, we present kinetic data on CO2 and (CO2)-C-14 release from intact and C-14-glucose amended tundra soils (Barrow, Alaska) incubated for up to a year at 0 to -39 degrees C. The rate of CO2 production declined exponentially with
In contemporary moral philosophy, the standard way of understanding the constituents of the human good is in terms of a fairly limited number of features that contribute to our happiness independently of how they are situated in our lives. Even when this approach is supplemented by Moorean ideas about organic wholes, it still cannot do justice to the deep importance of how things are situated and
Nitric oxide (NO) synthesized within mammalian sinoatrial cells has been shown to participate in cholinergic control of heart rate (HR). However, it is not known whether NO synthesized within neurons plays a role in HR regulation. HR dynamics were measured in 24 wild-type (WT) mice and 24 mice in which the gene for neuronal NO synthase (nNOS) was absent (nNOS-/- mice). Mean HR and HR variability w
PURPOSE. To determine whether smokers have a reduced capacity for increased retinal blood flow velocity in darkness. METHODS. The peak systolic flow velocities (V-S) and end diastolic flow velocities (V-D) were measured by ultrasound ( i.e., color Doppler equipment), in light and darkness in the ophthalmic and central retinal arteries in 20 cigarette smokers and 20 matched nonsmokers. The resistiv
Fuel ethanol can be produced from lignocellulosics by an enzymatic process consisting of steam pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation and ethanol refining. This thesis deals with the steam pretreatment step in the enzymatic process used for ethanol production from softwood, which is an abundant lignocellulosic raw material in the Northern hemisphere.Steam pretreatment is an effective met
The development of inhibitory antibodies to factor (F) VIII and FIX continues to be a major challenge in the treatment of patients with hemophilia. In patients with low-responding inhibitors, it is usually possible to saturate the inhibitor with the deficient factor and to achieve hemostasis, but in patients with high-responding inhibitors, two major tasks have to be considered. One is how to trea
Abstract is not available
Catalytic properties and thermal stability were studied for samples of mesoporous ceria with different BET specific surface area. The catalytic conversion of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide and how thermal treatments of the catalysts influence the catalytic properties have been investigated. The materials were studied by transmission electron microscopy and by conversion profile measurements of
The foggy sky above a white ice-cover and a dark water surface (permanent polynya or temporary lead) is white and dark gray, phenomena called the "ice-sky" and the "water-sky," respectively. Captains of icebreaker ships used to search for not-directly-visible open waters remotely on the basis of the water sky. Animals depending on open waters in the Arctic region may also detect not-directly-visib
A formalism for the calculations of electron transport in multiterminal quantum systems is presented. The systems are described by tight-binding Hamiltonians. It is shown that by exploiting real-space Green's functions, a problem of the electron transport in a multiterminal system can be reformulated into a problem of the electron transport in an effective two-terminal system and can then be treat
Background Subjective evaluation of gray-scale and Doppler ultrasound findings (i. e., pattern recognition) by an experienced examiner and preoperative serum levels of CA-125 can both discriminate benign from malignant adnexal ( i. e., ovarian, paraovarian, or tubal) masses. We compared the diagnostic performance of these methods in a large multicenter study. Methods In a prospective multicenter s
Type 2 or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is the most common form of diabetes worldwide, affecting approximately 4% of the world's adult population. It is multifactorial in origin with both genetic and environmental factors contributing to its development. A genome-wide screen for type 2 diabetes genes carried out in Mexican Americans localized a susceptibility gene, designated NID
This thesis is an investigation of the potential of holographic laser interferometry for the study of diffusion of both small solutes and macromolecules. An investigation on the importance of errors due to light deflection in refarctive index gradients showed that the magnitude of the refractive index gradients were negligible for the system investigated. The holographic interferometry technique r
