To validate a modified ligand-binding assay for the detection of aggrecanase generated aggrecan fragments with the ARGS neoepitope in synovial fluid (SF) and blood, and to verify the identity of aggrecan fragments found in blood.

A 14Cr ODS steel was characterized at elevated temperatures with regard to its behavior in small punch and uniaxial creep tests and in low cycle fatigue tests. A comparison of small punch and uniaxial creep tests at 650°C revealed a strong anisotropy of the material when strained parallel and perpendicular to the extrusion direction with rupture times being several orders of magnitude lower for th

To conduct a survey across European cardiac centres to evaluate the methods used for cerebral protection during aortic surgery involving the aortic arch.

In this paper a constitutive model for glassy polymers is developed. Glassy polymers consist of a number of polymer chains that at a microscopic level form a network. If the distribution of the polymer chains shows some preferred direction, the mechanical response at a global macroscopic level will be anisotropic. To incorporate the orientational distribution of the polymer chains, a homogenizatio

Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have been regarded as the new energy source for portable, stationary, and automotive applications. However, commercial exploitation of PEMFCs is still in an early stage, due to shortage of infrastructure in the society, high cost, and particularly the difficulty of the water/thermal management. One of the objectives of the current work is to analyze the

Exchange of non-CO2 trace gases between the land surface and the atmosphere plays an important role in atmospheric chemistry and climate. Recent studies have highlighted its importance for interpretation of glacial-interglacial ice-core records, the simulation of the pre-industrial and present atmosphere, and the potential for large climate-chemistry and climate-aerosol feedbacks in the coming cen

Excessive vascular cell proliferation is an important component of pulmonary hypertension (PH). Perlecan is the major heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycan in the vascular extracellular matrix. It binds growth factors, including FGF2, and either restricts or promotes cell proliferation. In this study, we have explored the effects of perlecan HS deficiency on pulmonary vascular development and in hypox

The International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot (IWDGF) has produced in 2011 a guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral arterial disease in patients with diabetes and a foot ulcer. This document, together with a systematic review that provided the background information on management, was produced by a multidisciplinary working group of experts in the field and was endorsed by t

The origin of "cosmic" fluorine is uncertain, but there are three proposed production sites/mechanisms for the origin: asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, nu nucleosynthesis in Type II supernovae, and/or the winds of Wolf-Rayet stars. The relative importance of these production sites has not been established even for the solar neighborhood, leading to uncertainties in stellar evolution models of

Objectives: To assess correlations between Kellgren & Lawrence (KL) gradings, minimum joint space width (mJSW) measurements and the Boston Leeds Osteoarthritis Knee Score (BLOKS) within a cohort of obese patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Methods: 192 Participants were recruited from an outpatient clinic (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00655941). Inclusion criteria were age >= 50 years, body mas

Whether acute otitis media (AOM) should be the cause for antibiotic treatment has been a matter of debate during the last decades. Treatment guidelines are based on less than twenty trials that have found the effect of antibiotics on symptomatic outcomes in AOM, such as pain, to be very modest. Two recent trials found a more substantial effect of antibiotics when they looked at treatment failure a

Onabotulinumtoxin type A (BoNT-A) has been found to reduce pain in chronic migraine. The aim of the present study was to ask if BoNT-A can interact directly on sensory mechanisms in the trigeminal ganglion (TG) using an organ culture method.

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

Through-plane morphologies of multiblock copolymers based on poly(arylene ether sulfone)s were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and through-plane conductivity measurements using a 4-probe method. The measured results showed that proton conductivity increased with a longer block length and that the optimal block length ranged from 5 to 7 K. TEM cross-sectional images also supp

In this study, five models, including the standard k-epsilon (SKE), realizable k-epsilon (RKE), SST k-omega, transition k-kl-omega, and the v(2)f model, are considered to simulate air flow and heat transfer of a turbine guide vane. The object in this paper is the well-studied NASA C3X turbine vane, for which experimental data are available. Ten internal cylindrical cooling channels are used to coo

To elucidate the genetic bases of mycorrhizal lifestyle evolution, we sequenced new fungal genomes, including 13 ectomycorrhizal (ECM), orchid (ORM) and ericoid (ERM) species, and five saprotrophs, which we analyzed along with other fungal genomes. Ectomycorrhizal fungi have a reduced complement of genes encoding plant cell wall-degrading enzymes (PCWDEs), as compared to their ancestral wood decay

Context: Blood hemoglobin (Hb) declines with age in healthy elderly men, in whom decreasing testosterone has been regarded as part of normal ageing. However, the association between Hb and serum estradiol is incompletely known. Objective: To determine whether estradiol is associated with anemia/Hb and established determinants of Hb in elderly men without prostate cancer. Design, Setting and Partic

Methylchloroisothiazolinone (MCI) and methylisothiazolinone (MI) are the active ingredients in commonly used preservative systems (e.g. Kathon CG(®) ). MCI/MI is present in the European baseline patch test series at 100 ppm aq. Since 1986, 200 ppm (dose 0.006 mg/cm(2) ) has been used in Sweden without causing skin irritation. Centres in Spain, the United Kingdom and Ireland have also used 200 ppm

Chondroadherin, a leucine-rich repeat family member, contains a very C-terminal sequence CKFPTKRSKKAGRH(359), now shown to bind to heparin with a K-D of 13 mu M. This observation led us to investigate whether chondroadherin interacts via this C-terminal heparin-binding domain with glycosaminoglycan chains of proteoglycans at the cell surface. Cells were shown to bind this heparin-binding peptide i