Artemia salina has, for the first time, been used as test organism for acute toxicity of leachate water from three landfills (the municipal landfills at Kristianstad, Sweden and Siauliai, Lithuania, and an industrial landfill at Stena fragmenting AB, Halmstad, as well as for leachate from Kristianstad treated in different ways in a pilot plan). Artemia can tolerate the high concentrations of chlor

The effective population size (N-e), and the ratio between N-e and census population size (N) are often used as measures of population viability. We show that using the harmonic mean of population sizes over time - a common proxy for N-e- has some important evolutionary consequences and implications for conservation management. This stems from the fact that there is no unambiguous relationship bet

Insulinlike growth factor. 1 (IGF-1) has growth-promoting effects on myeloma cells in vitro as well as in vivo. In this study, we measured the concentration of IGF-1 and its major binding protein, IGF-binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3), in serum from 127 patients with multiple myeloma. Serum had been drawn at the time of diagnosis, before treatment With highdose melphalan. IGFBP-3 in myeloma patients (1.

The microfungal species composition was studied in coniferous forest soils surrounding a brass mill at Gusum in southeast Sweden. Both the Cu and Zn concentrations were ca. 20 000 μg/g dry soil close to the mill. Pb concentration was ca. 1000 μg/g dry soil and the pH about 2 units above the normal of 3.5–4. The microfungal species composition (determined by the dilution plate technique) was strong

Using glacial rebound models we have inverted observations of crustal rebound and shoreline locations to estimate the ice thickness for the major glaciations over northern Eurasia and to predict the palaeo-topography from late MIS-6 ( the Late Saalian at c. 140 kyr BP) to MIS-4e ( early Middle Weichselian at c. 64 kyr BP). During the Late Saalian, the ice extended across northern Europe and Russia

Purpose: To evaluate changes in distribution of hepatic arterial blood flow in the liver following insertion of an uncovered stent and subsequently a stent-graft in the trans-jugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) channel. Methods: The experiments were performed in eight healthy pigs under general anesthesia. In a pilot study in one pig, scintigraphic evaluation of arterial perfusion to t

The aim of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics in relation to final amputation level in diabetic patients with foot ulcers. In a prospective series, 187 consecutively presenting patients were investigated. From admission until final outcome, the patients were treated by a multidisciplinary team both as in- and out-patients. All the patients had one or more signs of neuropathy a

ProteomeBinders is a new European consortium aiming to establish a comprehensive resource of well-characterized affinity reagents, including but not limited to antibodies, for analysis of the human proteome. Given the huge diversity of the proteome, the scale of the project is potentially immense but nevertheless feasible in the context of a pan-European or even worldwide coordination.

Two short (< 2 s) gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have recently been localized(1-4) and fading afterglow counterparts detected(2-4). The combination of these two results left unclear the nature of the host galaxies of the bursts, because one was a star-forming dwarf, while the other was probably an elliptical galaxy. Here we report the X-ray localization of a short burst (GRB 050724) with unusual gamma-ra

Sugarcane bagasse was pre-treated by steam explosion at 205 and 215degreesC and hydrolysed with cellulolytic enzymes. The hydrolysates were subjected to enzymatic detoxification by treatment with the phenoloxidase laccase and to chemical detoxification by overliming. Approximately 80% of the phenolic compounds were specifically removed by the laccase treatment. Overliming partially removed the phe

Most evolutionary models of dispersal have concentrated on dispersal rate, with emigration being either global or restricted to nearest neighbours. Yet most organisms fall into an intermediate region where most dispersal is local but there is a wide range of dispersal distances. We use an individual-based model with 2500 patches each with identical local dynamics and show that the dispersal distan

Collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) is induced in H-2(q) mice after immunization with rat type II collagen (CII). The immunodominant T cell epitope on heterologous CII has been located to CII256-270. We have previously shown that TSC transgenic mice, which express the heterologous epitope in type I collagen (CI), e.g. in skin, are tolerized against rat CII and resistant to CIA. In this study we trans

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether current smoking, ex-smoking, or amount of current smoking among postmenopausal women was associated with plasma levels of testosterone, and rostenedione, and DHEAs. About 65,000 women in Sweden have participated in two population-based prospective cohort studies where blood samples were collected at baseline, and information on life-style, re

We have examined the variations in gene content and sequence divergence that could be associated with symbiotic adaptations in the ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus and the closely related species Paxillus filamentosus. Strains with various abilities to form mycorrhizae were analysed by comparative genomic hybridizations using a cDNA microarray containing 1076 putative unique genes of P. i

Local desaturation-elongation of linoleic acid, uptake of 2-arachidonyl-lysophosphatidylcholine, and uptake plasma unesterified arachidonic acid (AA) are assumed to be the most important sources of AA for extrahepatic tissues. In this study, we investigated the clearance rate as well as the retention rate of plasma unesterified (14)C-AA in different tissues in fed rats. The initial half-life of (1

The majority of patients with von Willebrand disease (VWD) have a mild bleeding tendency that primarily involves mucosal bleeding. Some patients with the disorder, however, have severe episodes of mucosal or joint bleeding that can hamper daily activities and lead to significant joint impairment. Experience in the setting of severe hemophilia has shown the feasibility and benefits of prophylactic

We have developed force-field parameters for the hydrogen-abstraction transition state of aliphatic hydroxylation by cytochrome P450 using the Q2MM approach. The parametrization is based on quantum chemical (B3LYP) transition-state structures and Hessian matrices for 24 diverse substrate models (14 in the training set and 10 in the test set). The force field is intended to be applicable to any dru

The ability of many animals to camouflage themselves against a background is a well-known daytime phenomenon. Now it has even been found to occur at night, highlighting the reality of nocturnal visual predation