A gas sensor based on the gas-correlation technique has been developed using a multimode diode laser (MDL) in a dual-beam detection scheme. Measurement of CO2 mixed with CO as an interfering gas is successfully demonstrated using a 1570 run tunable MDL. Despite overlapping absorption spectra and occasional mode hops, the interfering signals can be effectively excluded by a statistical procedure in

Limestone boulders of Early and Middle Ordovician age occur along the Baltic coast of Sweden from c. 59 degrees N to c. 62.5 degrees N, apparently at a considerable distance from any known source rocks on land. We have investigated a limestone block from Lake Kultebo, at 61 degrees N, not far inland. The conodont elements enclosed in the rock are of Mid-Ordovician age and show that the block could

This study investigated the possibility of identifying narrative problems at an early age (5-year-old children with language impairment). Furthermore, we explored the relationship between the comprehension of a story and the ability to structure the contents of the same story in a group of preschool children with language impairment. The results showed that the participants did not exhibit age-app

We studied the mechanism of CO oxidation on O-precovered Pd(111) surfaces by means of fast x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The oxygen overlayer is compressed upon CO coadsorption from a p(2x2) structure into a (root 3x root 3)R30 degrees structure and then into a p(2x1) structure with increasing CO coverage. These three O phases exhibit distinctly different reactivities. (1) The p(2x2) pha

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been used among Swedish children since 1996, usually the parent or the teacher version. The self-report version was originally developed for children aged 11-16 years. The aim of this study was to investigate the application of the Swedish self-report version to a representative sample of 1015 senior high school students aged 17-19 years. Girl

Previous studies show that neuropeptide Y (NPY) inhibits in vitro seizures in rodent hippocampus. Here, we explored the effect of NPY application on epileptiform discharges induced by perfusion with magnesium-free solution in slices of entorhinal cortex from two different mouse strains. NPY significantly reduced the duration of epileptiform discharges with a peak effect of 36–50%. This is the firs

It has been suggested that hyperhomocysteinemia observed in patients with occlusive vascular disease is caused by reduced renal function secondary to renovascular disease. We have therefore used serum cystatin C, a new sensitive marker for glomerular filtration, in 59 patients with acute coronary syndromes and high plasma homocysteine (tHcy) concentration to measure renal function. Samples were al

A gene encoding a sterol ester-synthesizing enzyme was identified in Arabidopsis. The cDNA of the Arabidopsis gene At1g04010 (AtPSAT) was overexpressed in Arabidopsis behind the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. Microsomal membranes from the leaves of overexpresser lines catalyzed the transacylation of acyl groups from phosphatidylethanolamine to sterols. This activity correlated with the exp

Butyric acid and sphingomyelin (SM) affect colonic tumorigenesis. We examined the potential link between butyrate stimulation and SM metabolism in colonic and hepatic cancer cell lines. After incubating HT29 and HepG2 cells with butyrate and other short-chain fatty acids, we found that butyrate increased acid but not neutral or alkaline sphingomyelinase (SMase) activity by 10- to 20-fold. The effe

In this project a technique to optically measure the temperature is evaluated. The measurement is to be performed through optical fibres during photodynamic laser treatments or laser thermo therapy of malignant tumours. For this technique Cr3+-doped crystals were used. The lifetime of the ions' fluorescence were measured, since the fluorescence is strongly temperature dependent. A piece of a cryst

A model for the topological organization of the chloroplast thylakoid membrane is presented. A series of illustrations is provided, which outline a suggested 3-dimensional structure in cross-section and in full shape, which accounts both for the folding of one continuous membrane into multiple grana stacks as seen in cross-sectional electron micrographs and for the rapid reversible unfolding (dest

Blumenol A (1), blumenol B (2) and loliolide (3), together with the ubiquitous beta-sitosterol, alpha-amyrin and beta-amyrin, were isolated from the organic extract of the leaves of Heliotropium angiospermum. Structural elucidation of the metabolites was carried out by analysis of their spectroscopic data and/or by comparison with those reported in the literature.

In order to find sensitizers additional to the current fragrance mix (FM) a series of fragrance materials (series II) was evaluated in 6 dermatological centres in Europe. 11 of the test materials were essential oils, the remaining 7 being either mixtures of isomers or simple chemicals of frequent usage in the perfume industry. 1606 patients were consecutively tested with series II and 8% FM. Each

Here we studied the effects of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) in a rat model that represents the symptomatic stages of Parkinson's disease. GDNF was infused starting 2 weeks after an intrastriatal 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesion in order to halt the ongoing degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons. GDNF or vehicle was infused in the striatum or the lateral ventr

The effects of environmental stress on the physiology and behaviour of higher vertebrates has become an important avenue of research in recent years. Evidence from recent studies has suggested that the avian stress-related hormone corticosterone (CORT) may play a role in immunocompetence and sexual selection. We tested whether CORT is immunosuppressive by studying humoral and cell-mediated immune