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We evaluated biotic and abiotic predictors of rest-phase hypothermia in wintering blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) and also assessed how food availability influences nightly thermoregulation. On any given night, captive blue tits (with unrestricted access to food) remained largely homeothermic, whereas free-ranging birds decreased their body temperature (T (b)) by about 5 degrees C. This was not an

The gamma decay of excited states in the waiting-point nucleus 130Cd82 has been observed for the first time. An 8+ two-quasiparticle isomer has been populated both in the fragmentation of a 136Xe beam as well as in projectile fission of 238U, making 130Cd the most neutron-rich N=82 isotone for which information about excited states is available. The results, interpreted using state-of-the-art nucl

Objectives: Tissue transglutaminase (tTG) autoantibodies are serologic markers for celiac disease (CD). The aim was to determine the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of different immunoglobulin isotypes against tTG. Methods: Immunoglobulin A (IgA)-tTG, IgG-tTG, and IgGl-tTG were measured in radioligand binding assays in 67 children with untreated and 89 children with treated CD and compared

C4b-binding protein (C4BP), an important inhibitor of complement activation, has a unique spider-like shape. It is composed of six to seven identical alpha-chains with or without a single beta-chain, the chains being linked by disulfide bridges in their C-terminal parts. To elucidate the structural requirements for the assembly of the alpha-chains, recombinant C4BP was expressed in HEK 293 cells.

Let G be a locally nilpotent 4-Engel group. We show that the normal closure of any element from G is nilpotent of class at most 4. When G has no element of order 2 or 5, the normal closure has class at most 3. These bounds are sharp. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The effect of pressure alterations on the yield of CO2, extracts from different anatomical parts of lovage (Levisticum officinale Koch.) and celery (Apium graveolens L.) was studied. It was found that by applying frequent pressure changes in the extraction vessel it is possible to increase the rate of the isolation of CO2 soluble materials from lovage seeds and leaves, lovage and celery roots. How

Tissue factor (TF) triggers upstream coagulation signaling via the activation of protease-activated receptors (PARs) of relevance for inflammation and angiogenesis. TF pathway inhibitor 1 (TFPI-1) is the physiologic inhibitor of TF-initiated coagulation, but its role in regulating TF signaling is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that endogenous, endothelial cell-expressed TFPI-1 controls TF

The angular pattern of scattered synchrotron x-ray radiation has been used to measure the composition of molecules and nanometer-sized particles in flames. The measured patterns were compared with patterns obtained from calculations for different species compositions. After ensuring that the calculations could reproduce the experiments for air and for ethylene flames under two different combustion

We hypothesize that cerebral ischemia leads to enhanced expression of endothelin (ET), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), and angiotensin II (ANG II) receptors in the vascular smooth muscle cells. Our aim is to correlate the upregulation of cerebrovascular receptors and the underlying molecular mechanisms with the reduction in regional and global cerebral blood flow (CBF) after subarachnoid hemorrhage (S

Components of the urokinase plasminogen activator (u-PA) system are involved in the metastatic process, and have accordingly been associated with clinical outcome in a variety of malignant tumours. We investigated the prognostic importance of u-PA and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) in endometrial cancer, analysed with luminometric immunoassay (LIA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent a

A new standardized lipolysis approach is presented where the focus is on the initial rate of lipolysis. An advantage is that data obtained in this way reflect degradation before growing amounts of lipolysis products retard the process. The method can be used to rank different lipase substrates. In particular, the method can be used to obtain information about the susceptibility to degradation of v

Background: Collagenous colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease accompanied mainly by nonbloody diarrhea. The objectives of treatment are to alleviate the symptoms and minimize the deleterious effects on health-related quality of life (HRQOL). There is still no generally accepted clinical definition of remission or relapse. The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of bowel sympt

Background The cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil is used to treat mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. Its efficacy in severe dementia has not been assessed and is controversial. Our aim was to ascertain the effectiveness of donepezil in patients with severe Alzheimer's disease, by focusing primarily on cognition and activities of daily living. Methods We did a 6-month, double-blind, parallel-gr

Population-based surveys have shown that health-related quality of life (HRQL) is influenced by patients' characteristics such as age, gender, living situation and diagnoses. The present study explores the impact of such factors on the HRQL of severely ill cancer patients. The study sample included 395 cancer patients who participated in a cluster randomised trial of palliative care. Median surviv

Precipitation is often the sole source of water replenishment in arid and semi-arid areas and, thus, plays a pertinent role in sustaining desert ecosystems. Revegetation over 40 years using mainly Artemisia ordosica and Caragana korshinskii at Shapotou Desert Experimental Research Station near Lanzhou, China, has established a dwarf-shrub and microbiotic soil crust cover on the stabilized sand dun

Purpose: Hypoxia in breast cancer is associated with poor prognosis and down-regulation of the estrogen receptor. Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) is a hypoxia-inducible gene that has been associated with poor outcome in many epithelial cancers. Previous studies of CA IX in breast cancer have been carried out on mixed cohorts of premenopausal and postmenopausal patients with locally advanced disease

Hurlbutite has been identified as the first Be mineral from the Vastan (a) over circle iron mine, Sk (a) over circle ne, Sweden. The mineral is yellowish to whitish and its microscopic habit is platy and porous. Associated minerals are pinkish apatite, hematite, quartz and svanbergite. The unit cell dimensions calculated from powder X-ray diffraction data are: a = 8.321(8) Angstrom, b = 8.834(8) A