The study of airborne bacteria relies on a sampling strategy that preserves their integrity and in situ physiological state, e.g. viability, cultivability, metabolic activity, and ice-nucleation activity. Because ambient air harbors low concentrations of bacteria, an effective bioaerosol sampler should have a high sampling efficiency and a high airflow. We characterize a high-flow-rate impinger wi

Proper and efficient renovation requires understanding the behavior of existing buildings and of different building materials. Analyzing hygrothermal measurements in two case studies, one with and the other without an internally added thermal insulation system, enabled us to identify factors of critical importance for further assessment through simulations, and to validate a hygrothermal simulatio

The Cambrian arthropod Agnostus pisiformis (Wahlenberg, 1818) is not only a beautiful fossil animal, approximately 1 cm in length when adult, but also an extinct species unusually well-known from its ‘soft’ ventral cuticular structures. It is moreover very useful for biostratigraphic correlation and has a long research history. The species occurs in huge numbers, and in all developmental stages, i

The Bicoid (Bcd) protein gradient in Drosophila serves as a paradigm for gradient formation in textbooks. The SDD model (synthesis, diffusion, degradation) was proposed to explain the formation of the gradient. The SDD model states that the bcd mRNA is located at the anterior pole of the embryo at all times and serves a source for translation of the Bicoid protein, coupled with diffusion and unifo

Background: Monitoring the quality of clinical learning environments (CLEs) is immensely important in medical education. Objective indicators of the quality of the CLE can be used to measure learner perceptions and to inform educational improvements; however, many established tools were not designed for use in clinical settings and are not theoretically grounded. Our aim was to apply a new tool to

Theory on plasticity driving speciation, as applied to insect–plant interactions (the oscillation hypothesis), predicts more species in clades with higher diversity of host use, all else being equal. Previous support comes mainly from specialized herbivores such as butterflies, and plasticity theory suggests that there may be an upper host range limit where host diversity no longer promotes divers

Background: Prenatal heavy metals exposure has shown a negative impact on birth weight. However, their influence on different clinical forms of fetal smallness was never assessed. Objectives: To investigate whether there is a differential association between heavy metals exposure and fetal smallness subclassification into intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and small-for-gestational age (SGA).

Road safety is a key concern of transport governance. In the European Union, a Road Safety Programme was adopted in 2011, with the objective to reduce road deaths in Europe by 50% in the period from 2011 to 2020. Evidence suggests, however, that this goal will not be met. Against this background, this paper investigates police perspectives on traffic laws, traffic behaviour, and transport policy.

Neutron beam monitors with a wide range of efficiencies, low γ sensitivity, and high time and space resolution are required in neutron beam experiments to continuously diagnose the delivered beam. In this work, commercially available neutron beam monitors have been characterized using the R2D2 beamline at IFE (Norway) and using a Be-based neutron source. For the γ sensitivity measurements differen

During the decades after World War II, countries began shifting taxation from income to consumption. This shift has been associated with an expanding welfare state and left-wing dominance. However, the pattern is far from uniform and while some left-wing governments indeed expanded consumption taxation, others did not. This paper seeks to explain why, by exploring how experts influenced post-war t

Primary sensory neurons serve a dual role as afferent neurons, conveying sensory information from the periphery to the central nervous system, and as efferent effectors mediating, e.g., neurogenic inflammation. Neuropeptides are crucial for both these mechanisms in primary sensory neurons. In afferent functions, they act as messengers and modulators in addition to a principal transmitter; by relea

Reliable verification of damage claims is fundamental to create public trust in the legitimacy of compensation programs, and avoid fraud and moral hazards. However, after decades of using this tool, transparency in verification processes and availability of quantitative information on the accuracy and misidentification rates are unresolved issues. Accurate rules overcome several challenges facing

Vassilevska and Williams (STOC'09) showed how to count simple paths on k vertices and matchings on k/2 edges in ann-vertex graph in time nk/2+O(1). In the same year, two different algorithms with the same runtime were given by Koutis and Williams (ICALP'09), and Bjorklund et al. (ESA'09), via nst/2+O(1)-time algorithms for counting t-tuples of pairwise disjoint sets drawn from a given family of s-

The methods developed for secondary analysis of nested case-control data have been illustrated only in simplified settings in a common cohort and have not found their way into biostatistical practice. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of reusing prior nested case-control data in a realistic setting where a new outcome is available in an overlapping cohort where no new controls were gathered

Mass extinction events are recognized by increases in extinction rate and magnitude and, often, by changes in the selectivity of extinction. When considering the selective fingerprint of a particular event, not all taxon extinctions are equally informative: some would be expected even under a ‘background’ selectivity regime, whereas others would not and thus require special explanation. When evalu

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to prospectively explore the detailed longitudinal development of platelet increments in patients with chemotherapy-induced bone marrow aplasia during the first 24 hours after platelet transfusion.METHODS: Patients admitted to the Haematology department during 7 months and fulfilled inclusion criteria were divided into 4 groups: Group 1, patients with a

Best use of scientific knowledge is required to maintain the fundamental role of seafood in human nutrition. While it is acknowledged that genomic-based methods allow the collection of powerful data, their value to inform fisheries management, aquaculture, and biosecurity applications remains underestimated. We review genomic applications of relevance to the sustainable management of seafood resou