The isotopic analysis of particles containing sub-pg to pg levels of uranium, released from nuclear material handling, has been proven as an efficient tool for international safeguard purposes. Precise and accurate measurement of both enrichment and the minor isotopes is, however, a challenging analytical task due to the low levels of material. One of the mainstay techniques for particle measureme

We report new occurrences of ca. 1460 Ma magmatism in western Lithuania, where large volumes of granitoid melts were intruded into host supracrustal and charnockitoid rocks, and formed the Zemaiciu Naumiestis pluton. Numerous granitoids of that age have previously been described from southern Sweden and from the Danish island of Bornholm, but none have been reported from the eastern side of the Ba

Despite declining incidence rates, gastric cancer (GC) is a major cause of death worldwide. E-Cadherin is an adhesion molecule that is thought to be involved in GC. Germline mutations in the E-Cadherin gene (CDH1) have been identified in hereditary diffuse GC. Also, a promoter polymorphism at position 160 C/A has been suggested to lead to transcriptional down regulation and has been shown to affec

Background Genetic engineering of the major birch pollen allergen (Bet v 1) has led to the generation of recombinant Bet v 1 derivatives with markedly reduced IgE-binding capacity, but with retained T cell activating ability. Objective To compare the mucosal reactivity to rBet v 1 derivatives with rBet v 1 wild-type as basis for new therapeutic strategies for birch pollen allergy based on mucosal

A crucial assumption in models of ecological speciation is that reproductive barriers evolve as a consequence of ecological divergence of populations, rather than geographical separation. To test the prediction that barriers between populations might evolve in the face of gene flow, we studied reproductive barriers between populations of two Swedish ecotypes of the marine snail Littorina saxatilis

We present a blow-up criterion for the periodic Camassa-Holm equation. The condition obtained for blow-up uses two of the conservation laws associated with the equation and improves upon some recent results.

Background: Erectile dysfunction is associated with, and may be the first sign of coronary artery disease. We aimed to assess whether men with erectile dysfunction but without cardiovascular disease have reduced coronary flow reserve, as a sign of early coronary atherosclerosis. Methods: We investigated 12 men aged 68-73 years with erectile dysfunction, and 12 age-matched controls. Erectile functi

The ethanol production cost in a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation-based bioethanol process is influenced by the requirements for yeast production and for enzymes. The main objective of this study was to evaluate-technically and economically-the influence of these two factors on the production cost. Abase case with 5 g/L of baker's yeast and an initial concentration of water-insoluble

Citrate synthase (CS) is often used in chaperone assays since this thermosensitive enzyme aggregates at moderately increased temperatures. Small heat shock proteins (sHsps) are molecular chaperones specialized in preventing the aggregation of other proteins, termed substrate proteins, under conditions of transient heat stress. To investigate the mechanism whereby sHsps bind to and stabilize a subs

The articulating surfaces of 6 ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene cups were exposed to curing polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) bone-cement and examined with scanning electron microscopy and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS). Three of the cups were exposed to blood and bone-cement, and the rest were exposed to bone-cement only. After removal of the bone-ceme

Abstract: The composition of the major storage protein, hordein, in wild barley species has been studied by using gel electrophoresis, Coomassie staining, and immunoblot assays. We have shown earlier that it is possible to obtain cross-reaction outside the cultivated barley, with monoclonal antibodies raised against hordeins from the barley cultivar Bomi. These antibodies have now been used to inv

The effects of acylation-stimulating protein (ASP) and insulin on free fatty acid (FFA) release from isolated human fat cells and the signal transduction pathways to induce these effects were studied. ASP and insulin inhibited basal and norepinephrine-induced FFA release by stimulating fractional FFA re-esterification (both to the same extent) and by inhibiting FFA produced during lipolysis (ASP t

Measurement of net ecosystem exchange was made using the eddy covariance method above three forests along a north-south climatic gradient in Sweden: Flakaliden in the north, Knottasen in central and Asa in south Sweden. Data were obtained for 2 years at Flakaliden and Knottasen and for one year at Asa. The net fluxes (N-ep) were separated into their main components, total ecosystem respiration (R-

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is one of the most common co-occurring disorders in substance abusers, characterized among other things by a high propensity for criminal actions. A cohort of 125 substance abusers were followed in a longitudinal design. Patients were diagnosed with ASPD at an index treatment episode, interviewed at five-year follow-up, and followed-up through the Swedish cri

Introduction: Transplanted islets, being avascular and denervated, receive blood vessels and nerves from the recipient. Reinnervation may account in part for the normalization of islet function in islet transplants. Whether reinnervation is possible to augment is not known. Aims and Methodology: To explore whether reinnervation of transplanted islets is augmented by local addition of growth factor

An air sampling method for the determination of isocyanates. aminoisocyanates and amines formed during the thermal degradation Of polyurethane (PUR) is presented. The method is based on the collection of air samples using impinger flasks containing di-n-butylamine (DBA) in toluene with a glass fibre filter in series. Isocyanates are derivatized with DBA to urea derivatives, and amines are derivati

The runoff from real 3 cm thick sedum-moss roofs and from laboratory roof plots in southern Sweden is measured and analysed. Real rains and artificial storms are used for the analysis. The probability of high runoff is compared with the probability of high precipitation intensity. Intensity-duration-frequency curves for runoff are derived and it is found that the runoff of 1.5 year return period c

Secretory type 2 cystatins, like cystatins C, E/M and F, are thought to be involved in many pathobiological processes, including vascular amyloidosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimers disease, osteoporosis, viral and bacterial infections, inflammatory disorders and tumour invasion and metastasis. In order to define the levels of cystatins C, E/M, and F in pleural effusions and to investigate wheth

Active site titration and activity measurements were performed in hexane on lyophilised lipase preparations containing different amounts of phosphate buffer and lipase immobilised on porous polypropylene. Lyophilisation of Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase with large quantities of phosphate salts (200 mm) increased the specific activity fourfold, and the number of rapidly titratable active sites incr