As part of the LBA-SMOCC (Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia – Smoke, Aerosols, Clouds, Rainfall, and Climate) 2002 campaign, we studied the emission of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and aerosol particles from Amazonian deforestation fires using an instrumented aircraft. Emission ratios for aerosol number (CN) relative to CO (ERCN/CO) fell in the range 14–32 cm−3

Background Despite the fact that severe itch is common in many dermatological diseases, the therapeutic arsenal against itching is limited. From neurophysiological experiments, using a new technique termed cutaneous field stimulation, it is known that acute itch can be effectively relieved by stimulation of cutaneous nociceptors. Methods We tested the effects of cutaneous field stimulation (25 mi

ntrastriatal grafts of fetal ventral mesencephalic tissue, rich in dopaminergic neurons, can reverse symptoms in Parkinson's disease. For development of effective cell replacement therapy, other sources of dopaminergic neurons, e.g. derived from stem cells, are needed. However, the electrophysiological properties grafted cells need to have in order to induce substantial functional recovery are poo

The important air pollutant sulfur dioxide has a strong structured absorption band in the ultraviolet (UV) region around 300 nm. Recently, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with structureless emission in a band about 15-nm wide in the UV region have become available. We demonstrate that they can be ideal sources for gas absorption measurements combined with the gas correlation technique, where an absor

The structural change of individual giant double-stranded T4 DNA (165.6 kilobase pairs) molecules as a function of salt concentration was investigated by single molecular observation with fluorescence microscopy in a wide range of concentration of NaCl, 1 x 10(-6)-3 M. The measured long-axis length was transformed into a persistence length and subjected to a power-law analysis, which showed that t

Background: Low competence levels among nursing staff have been associated with lower quality of older people care. However, interventions to improve staff competence have not always been evaluated for their impact on the quality of older people care. An educational intervention in the form of a workplace "toolbox" was shown to have positive effects oil nursing staff competence and work satisfacti

Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripiclae), cause very large economic damage on a variety of field and greenhouse crops. In this study, plant resistance against thrips was introduced into transgenic potato plants through the expression of novel, custom-made, multiclomain protease inhibitors. Representative classes of inhibitors of cysteine and aspartic

National policies emphasize older people's right to autonomy, yet nursing home residents often have restricted opportunities to make decisions about everyday matters. We use qualitative interview data to analyze staff members' explanations of actions that conflict with both social norms and national policies. Two types of problematic actions are discussed: restrictions of elderly residents' influe

Background: As the placental vessels are dependent on the normal balance of procoagulant and anticoagulant mechanisms, inherited thrombophilia may be associated with fetal loss. Objectives: We performed a prospective study to investigate the relation between inherited thrombophilia and fetal loss, and the influence of thromboprophylaxis on pregnancy outcome. Patients and methods: Women were enroll

Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a multiple congenital anomaly/mental retardation syndrome and it is characterized by an interstitial deletion of chromosome 17p11.2. SMS patients have a distinct phenotype which is believed to be caused by haploinsufficiency of one or more genes in the associated deleted region. Five non-deletion patients with classical phenotypic features of SMS have been reported

Many nitrosamines are suspected of being human carcinogens, with the highest concentrations in the environment being measured in the rubber industry. Time trends of personal exposure to N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and to N-nitrosomorpholine (NMor) during the past two decades in the German rubber industry were analysed and compared with cross-sectional studies in the same period in the Netherland

Background/Aims: This study was designed to examine the role of selectins and CD18 in leukocyte recruitment in hepatic injury induced by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and galactosamine (Gal) in vivo.Methods: Intravital fluorescence microscopy of the hepatic microcirculation was used to quantify leukocyte-endothelium interactions provoked by 24 h of systemic TNF-alpha/Gal challenge in rat

1 In an asexually reproducing plant (Potamogeton pectinatus L.) the competitive advantage of a larger propagule over a smaller one was determined by a single parameter (alpha, the competitive asymmetry coefficient), independent of sowing density or average propagule size. Competitive advantage was determined by the relative size difference between propagules instead of their absolute difference. 2

An overview of the current trends within protein expression profiling is given where multidimensional separation of both gel and liquid phase techniques linked to mass spectrometry is viewed as a major route in the global proteome mapping. A clear trend in these biochemical developments is the effort to sequence and identify low-abundant protein expressions where assay miniaturization and integrat

Colour vision models require measurement of receptor noise and the absorbance of visual pigments, oil droplets, and ocular media. We have studied how variation in these parameters influences colour matching, spectral sensitivity, and colour discrimination predictions in four bird species. While colour match predictions are sensitive to variation in visual pigment and oil droplet absorbance data, d