Radiative lifetime measurements were performed with time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence techniques for 24 levels of Nd II in the energy range 20 500- 32 500 cm(-1). For 17 levels, no previous experimental data exist. These results have allowed the testing of new theoretical calculations with the relativistic Hartree-Fock method taking configuration interactions and core-polarization effects i

Background: Chromosomal aberrations in breast tumors from BRCA1 and BRCA2 germ-line mutation carriers are considerably more frequent than what is seen in sporadic breast tumors. According to Comparative Genomic Hybridisation analysis (CGH), deletions on chromosome 4 are one of the most frequent events in BRCA1-associated tumors, suggesting inactivation of specific tumor suppressor genes. Materials

Purpose: The aim of this work is to examine the relationship between aspects of objective and perceived housing and aspects of healthy aging, defined as independence in daily activities and subjective wellbeing. Furthermore, this research examined the comparability of relationships between housing and healthy aging in the five European countries. Design and Methods: Data were drawn from the ENABLE

BACKGROUND: The in vitro contracture test (IVCT) is the golden standard to diagnose malignant hyperthermia susceptibility (MHS). A high reproducibility is important for a high validity of a test. METHODS: We have therefore analyzed IVCT in 838 patients, investigated in two laboratories. Each halothane and caffeine test was performed in two muscle strips. The test results were analyzed with respect

The activation of inflammatory cascades in the ischemic hemisphere impairs mechanisms of tissue reorganization with consequences for recovery of lost neurological function. Recruitment of T-cell populations to the post-ischemic brain occurs and represents a significant part of the inflammatory response. This study was conducted to investigate if treatment with levodopa, potentially acting as an im

This paper presents a new fast approach to improving stability in polynomial equation solving. Gröbner basis techniques for equation solving have been applied successfully to several geometric computer vision problems. However, in many cases these methods are plagued by numerical problems. An interesting approach to stabilising the computations is to study basis selection for the quotient space C[

Recent studies in mouse models deficient in transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) signaling have documented TGF-beta as one of the major regulators of immune function. TGF-beta1-null animals demonstrated massive autoimmune inflammation affecting multiple organs, but attempts to transfer the phenotype to normal animals by bone marrow transplantation only resulted in minor inflammatory lesions.

Objective: To evaluate whether subgroups of patients with no chance of survival can be defined among patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Patients: Patients in the Swedish cardiac arrest registry who fulfilled the following criteria were surveyed: cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was attempted; the arrest was not crew witnessed; and patients were found in a non-shockable rhythm. Settin

In our clinical iodine-131 single-photon emission tomography (SPET) quantification for radioimmunotherapy, calibration and partial volume correction are based on measurements with phantoms containing spheres to simulate patient tumors even though real tumors are frequently nonspherical. In this study, Monte Carlo simulation was used to evaluate how object shape influences "spill-out" and "spill-in

This paper analyzes three forms of low-income housing finance implemented in Central America: up-front and targeted state subsidies for mortgage finance to access new housing; small repeated loans for incremental housing improvements; and co-financing methods for the introduction of infrastructure and basic services. It shows that technical assistance for self-help construction, when combined with

The spatial distribution of predators and their prey is affected by their joint use of space. While the formation of such spatial patterns may be driven by density-dependent and -independent factors our knowledge on the contribution of different land-use activities on the formation of spatial patterns between predators and prey remains very limited. Agriculture is one of the most prevailing land-u

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

We have previously identified tagSNPs at 8q24.21 influencing glioma risk. We have sought to fine-map the location of the functional basis of this association using data from four genome-wide association studies, comprising a total of 4147 glioma cases and 7435 controls. To improve marker density across the 700 kb region, we imputed genotypes using 1000 Genomes Project data and high-coverage sequen

Parasite-mediated selection may contribute to the maintenance of genetic variation at host immune genes over long time scales. To date, the best evidence for the long-term maintenance of immunogenetic variation in natural populations comes from studies on the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes, whereas evidence for such processes from other immune genes remains scarce. In the present stu

In our previous papers polyethylene degradation during extrusion coating has been studied and the type of degradation products that are formed and from which step they originate have been discussed. A trained sensory panel has rated the off-flavor intensities in water samples that have been in contact with various extruded films. Encouraged by the results from these investigations and the document

Germline mutations in the CDKN2A tumor suppressor gene located on 9p21 have been linked to development of melanomas in some families. A germline 3-bp insertion in exon 2 of CDKN2A, leading to an extra arginine at codon 113 (113insR), has been identified in 17 Swedish melanoma families. Analysis of 10 microsatellite markers, spanning approximately 1 Mbp in the 9p21 region, showed that all families