Birds on migration alternate between consuming fuel stores during flights and accumulating fuel stores during stopovers. The optimal timing and length of flights and stopovers for successful migration depend heavily on the extra metabolic power input (fuel use) required to carry the fuel stores during flight(1,2). The effect of large fuel loads on metabolic power input has never been empirically d

We simulate interactions between adsorbing and nonadsorbing surfaces immersed in solutions containing monodisperse semiflexible chains. Apart from the nature of the surfaces, we investigate responses to changes of the intrinsic chain stiffness, the degree of polymerization, and the bulk concentration. Our simulations display a sufficient accuracy and precision to reveal free-energy barriers that a

A novel human apolipoprotein [apolipoprotein M (apoM)l was recently described and demonstrated to be a lipocalin. We have now examined apoM in wild-type mice and mice with genetically altered lipoprotein metabolism. Liver and kidney showed high mRNA expression, whereas spleen, heart, brain, and testis demonstrated low expression. ApoM gene expression was initiated on embryonic day 10. Western blot

We are comparing spatially explicit processmodel based estimates of the terrestrial carbon balance and its components over Africa and confront them with remote sensing based proxies of vegetation productivity and atmospheric inversions of land-atmosphere net carbon exchange. Particular emphasis is on characterizing the patterns of interannual variability of carbon fluxes and analyzing the factors

The framework for an implicit implementation of the Bodner-Partom material model is presented. All equations needed for using a Newton-Raphson algorithm to solve the stress and hardening equations at the integration points are derived. In addition, the algorithmic tangential stiffness tensor, ensuring quadratic convergence in the global loop is presented.

During the formation of peribronchial fibrosis in asthma, remodeling of connective tissue is due to an increase in deposition of extracellular matrix components like that of specific types of collagens and proteoglycans. By taking bronchial biopsies, we were able to isolate cell cultures derived from asthmatic patients and healthy volunteers, which provides a good model system to study differences

AIM: The aim of this analysis was to examine the average rate and variation of alcohol-related injury across emergency department (ED) studies, the effect of usual drinking on likelihood of alcohol-related injury, whether cross-study variation in rate of alcohol-related injury can be explained by between-study difference in usual consumption and whether social-cultural contextual variables help ex

Background: Bacterial infections can cause a variety of airway diseases. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) directly respond to the presence of microbes and partake in the innate immune defense. TLR4 is activated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and has been detected in sinonasal tissue, epithelial cells and various inflammatory cells. Macrophage inflammatory protein 1 alpha (MIP-1 alpha) is a chemokine relea

Gene expression for glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family ligands and receptors was analyzed with in situ hybridization after two focal ischemic insults of different severities. Focal ischemia was induced in rats by either 30 min or 2 h of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), causing damage to the striatum only, or involving also the parietal cortex, respectively. We found

Electron beam induced current ( EBIC) in a scanning electron microscope ( SEM) was used to identify the positions of heterostructures in InAs/InP nanowires. Composite SEM and EBIC images were used to locate heterostructures and quantum dots in the nanowires, and used in subsequent electron beam lithography to align local gate electrodes to these quantum dots. This has made it possible to use indiv

The problem studied in this paper is how to distribute computingresources over a set of realtime control loops in order to optimizethe total control performance. Two subproblems are investigated: howthe control performance depends on the sampling interval, and how arecursive resource allocation optimization routine can be designed.Linear quadratic cost functions are used as performance indicators.

Strong antioxidants, 5,8-dihydroxycoumarin and 5-hydroxy-8-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-benzopyranone were extracted from sweet grass (Hierochloe odorata L.) by using Soxhlet (SE), microwave-assisted (MAE) and supercritical fluid carbon dioxide (SFE) extractions at different extraction schemes and parameters. One-step MAE gave the most concentrated extract with 8.15% of 5,8-dihydroxycoumarin (extract y

Insulin secretion is controlled by the beta cell's metabolic state, and the ability of the secretory granules to undergo exocytosis increases during glucose stimulation in a membrane potential-independent fashion. Here, we demonstrate that exocytosis of insulin-containing secretory granules depends on phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase (PI 4-kinase) activity and that inhibition of this enzyme suppresse

Nonpharmacologic and team care research present unique design challenges. Nonpharmacologic care by nature is multifaceted and complex. Rarely do patients receive an intervention in isolation. The delivery of a single or group of interventions can be provided by one provider but is frequently provided by teams. Therefore, it is imperative that clinical researchers design studies that evaluate singl

Population synchrony over various geographical scales is known from a large number of taxa. Three main hypotheses have been put forward as explanations to this phenomenon. First, correlated environmental disturbances (so called Moran effect). Moran showed that at least for linear models, the population synchrony would exactly match that of the corresponding environment. Second, the migration, or d

BACKGROUND. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is produced in high amounts by normal and malignant prostate cancer cells. PSA is a serine protease with substrates that include semenogelin I and II, insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3, fibronectin, and laminin. PSA, via its enzymatic activity, may play a role in growth, invasion, and metastasis of prostate cancer cells. Recent data also sugge