Lichen symbiosis has been traditionally treated as a model case of mutualism in which both partners, the fungus and the photobiont. gain benefits reciprocally. Some recent evidence, however, supports an alternative view that lichen symbiosis may represent an association largely controlled by the commensal or even parasitic fungal partner. The latter gains photosynthates from the photobiont (algae

Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of early, nasogastric enteral nutrition (EN) with total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in patients with predicted severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). Summary Background Data: In SAP, the magnitude of the inflammatory response as well as increased intestinal permeability correlates with outcome. Enteral feeding has been suggested superior to parenteral feeding

A high-resolution atmospheric CO2 reconstruction based on stomatal index data obtained from Betula and Quercus leaf fragments extracted from the Danish Hollerup lake sediment section provides a unique insight into last interglacial CO2 dynamics. According to pollen stratigraphic correlations the CO2 record covers the first c. 7400 years of the Eemian, as palaeobotanically defined in northwestern E

We hypothesized that voluntary wheel running results in increased secretion of oxytocin, a peptide involved in the stress response. An additional hypothesis was that prolonged exercise affects oxytocin levels in the heart, which is in line with the potential role of oxytocin in cardiovascular functions. Voluntary wheel running lasted 3 weeks and daily running distances increased progressively reac

The inherent limitations of a specific pencil beam model have been studied when applied to a cylindrical geometry simulating the neck region. A comparison is made between measured and calculated absorbed dose in a cylindrical phantom. The goal is to quantify the deviations in the absorbed dose level, i.e., the dose per monitor unit, when photons are used for the treatment of head and neck tumours.

In the bioconversion of lignocellulosic materials to ethanol, the cost of the raw material and the cost of the enzymes have been identified as the major costs for the product. In addition, many lignocellulosic materials contain considerable amounts of five-carbon sugars which are not easily fermented to ethanol. The possibility of improving the cost-intensive steps was investigated. The steam pre

Individual attitudes to distributions of life years between two groups in a society are explored by means of an experiment. Subjects are asked to place themselves behind a veil of ignorance which is specified in terms of risk (known probabilities) for some subjects and in terms of uncertainty (unknown probabilities) for some subjects. The latter is argued to be the appropriate interpretation of Ra

Lakes and ponds are habitats of great human importance as they provide water for domestic, industrial and agricultural use as well as providing food. In spite of their fundamental importance to humans, freshwater systems have been severely affected by a multitude of anthropogenic disturbances, which have led to serious negative effects on the structure and function of these ecosystems. The aim of

Four whole- lake inorganic C-13 addition experiments were conducted in lakes of differing trophic status. Inorganic C-13 addition enriched algal carbon in C-13 and changed the delta C-13- DOC by + 1.5 parts per thousand to + 9.5 parts per thousand, depending on the specific lake. This change in delta C-13- DOC represented a significant input of algal DOC that was not completely consumed by bacteri

Production of various proteins can today be made using genetically modified Escherichia coli bacteria. In cultivations of E. coli it is important to avoid accumulation of the by-product acetate. Formation of acetate occurs when the specific glucose uptake exceeds a critical value and can be avoided by a proper feeding strategy. A difficulty is that the critical glucose uptake often is poorly known

This thesis describes six empirical investigations of two techniques applied to software inspections, namely reading techniques and fault content estimation techniques. The first part of the thesis presents a series of experiments of a novel reading technique called usage-based reading. The second part investigates fault content estimation applied to the software inspection process. The estimation

BACKGROUND: Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) require expression of transcription factor genes POU5F1 (POU class 5 homeobox 1), NANOG (Nanog homeobox), and SOX2 [SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2] to maintain their capacity for self-renewal and pluripotency. Because of the heterogeneous nature of cell populations, it is desirable to study the gene regulation in single cells. Large and potentia

We report a new determination of [O/Fe, the relative logarithmicabundance of O/Fe with respect to the Sun, for the very metal-poor starBD+23 3130 ([Fe/H=-2.6). The value was derived from the forbidden line[O I at 630 nm and from six weak Fe II lines, with a S/N ratiosubstantially larger than those obtained before, thanks to theefficiency of the VLT-UVES instrument at Paranal. We obtain[O/Fe=0.71+/

Aim: To investigate patients' psychological distress in relation to memory and stressful experiences in the intensive care unit (ICU), and to identify early predictors for the development of high levels of acute post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-related symptoms. Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed over 18 months in two general ICUs, including 313 intubated mechanically ventilate

We investigated here the effect of the novel glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF)-family member neurturin (NTN) on transplanted fetal dopamine (DA) neurons. Three groups of rats with complete unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions of the nigrostriatal DA system received intrastriatal grafts of embryonic ventral mesencephalic tissue. Following transplantation animals received r

Huntington's disease is an autosomal dominant hereditary neurodegenerative disorder characterized by severe striatal cell loss. Dopamine (DA) has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease. We have previously reported that transgenic mice expressing exon 1 of the human Huntington gene (R6 lines) are resistant to quinolinic acid-induced striatal toxicity. In this study we show

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common bacteria in human sepsis, a condition in which the activation of blood coagulation plays a critical pathophysiological role. During severe sepsis and septic shock microthrombi and multiorgan dysfunction are observed as a result of bacterial interference with the host defense and coagulation systems. Objectives: In the present study, staph

OBJECTIVES: To compare two patient populations with assumed cultural differences undergoing radical cystectomy and orthotopic bladder substitution to determine whether these translate into differences in the answers to self-report instruments. METHODS: The questionnaires Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Bladder Cancer (FACT-BL), consisting of a general version (FACT-G) and a bladder cancer

The recently cloned human chemoattractant receptor-like (CMKRL)1, which is expressed in vivo in CD4-positive immune cells, has structural homology with the two chemokine receptors C-C chemokine receptor (CCR)5 and C-X-C chemokine receptor (CXCR)4, which serve as the major coreceptors necessary for fusion of the HIV-1 envelope with target cells. In view of the structural similarity, CMKRL1 was test