The adipokine resistin is suggested to be an important link between obesity and insulin resistance. In the present study, we assessed the impact of resistin as inflammatogenic cytokine in the setting of arthritis. In vitro experiments on human PBMC were performed to assess cytokine response and transcription pathways of resistin-induced inflammation. Proinflammatory properties of resistin were eva

Gamma rays from the reaction Si-28(Ni-58, 3p)83Y at a beam energy of 195 MeV were recorded in recoil-gamma- and gamma-gamma-coincidence mode with the POLYTESSA array and the Daresbury recoil mass separator. The known rotational bands were extended up to probable spins 49/2+ and 45/2-; many new interconnecting dipole transitions and an additional cascade were established. The bands are interpreted

A laboratory study on the sublethal effects of cadmium (Cd) on the net-spinning process of the larvae of Hydropsyche slossonae was conducted in order to assess the potential of net anomalies as an indicator of chronic exposure to Cd. Two major anomalies with different frequency levels were identified after chronic exposure to 0.37, 1.2, 11.6, 21.4 and 43.3 μg l−1 of Cd. The first was a distortion

Human semen has several important constituents, including the prostate secreted proteins beta-microseminoprotein (MSP), prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), and the seminal-vesicle-derived coagulum proteins semenogelin I (SEMG1) and semenogelin II (SEMG2). The research underlying this thesis explored the evolution, expression and structure of seminal plasma protein

The title compound, C18H10N2SSe, is a pentacyclic ring system folded along the S center dot center dot center dot Se vector. The central thiaselenine ring adopts a boat conformation and the two halves of the molecule are related by a crystallographic mirror plane.

The SH3 domain of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) is preceded by the Tec homology (TH) region containing proline-rich sequences. We have studied a protein fragment containing both the Btk SH3 domain and the proline-rich sequences of the TH region (PRR-SH3). Intermolecular NMR cross-relaxation measurements, gel permeation chromatography profiles, titrations with proline-rich peptides, and N-15 NMR r

We present a theoretical study of the mesoscopic fluctuations of g tensors in a metal nanoparticle. The calculations were performed using a semirealistic tight-binding model, which contains both spin and orbital contribution to the g tensors. The results depend on the product of the spin-orbit scattering time tau(so) and the mean-level spacing delta, but are otherwise weakly affected by the specif

This paper is concerned with the estimation of macroscopic properties such as the permittivity or the thermal conductivity of a composite material from the microstructure. A new method of estimating the microstructural parameters, such as the volume fraction of anisotropic two-phase composite material, is derived. The parameters are estimated using information from measurements of the random mater

The growth of ultrathin ZrO2 films on Si(100)-(2 x 1) and Si(111)-(7 x 7) has been studied with core level photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The films were deposited sequentially by chemical vapor deposition in ultra-high vacuum using zirconium tetra-tert-butoxide as precursor. Deposition of a > 50 angstrom thick film leads in both cases to tetragonal ZrO2 (t-ZrO2), whe

In this book, Stephen Hetherington attacks what he thinks are two "dogmas" of epistemology. One he calls "epistemic absolutism" which amounts to the claim that knowledge is absolute: you can be with or without it, but once you have it, it is not possible to have more or less. The other is "justificationalism" which is the view that some sort of (internalist of externalist) justification is necessa

Species previously assigned to the Xanthoria ulophyllodes group are separated from Xanthoria based on presence of simple rhizines, long bacilliform spermatia, strongly glutinised cell walls and sphaerical lumina in paraplectenchymatous tissue of upper cortex and thalline margin, unoriented prosoplectenchymatous tissue in the exciple, and predominance of a secondary metabolite syndrome with high pr

Wastewater treatment plant operators encounter complex operational problems related to the activated sludge process and usually respond to these by applying their own intuition and by taking advantage of what they have learnt from past experiences of similar problems. However, previous process experiences are not easy to integrate in numerical control, and new tools must be developed to enable re-

Reduction of energy use in buildings is fundamental for sustainable development. A computer program for the prediction of energy use in buildings was assessed by comparisons with the energy performance of existing buildings. The program was then used to evaluate the energy saving characteristics of concrete such as air tightness and heat capacity. The impacts on global environmental aspects and li