Maternal effects have become an important field of study in evolutionary ecology and there is an ongoing debate regarding their adaptive significance. Some maternal effects can act to increase offspring fitness and are called 'adaptive maternal effects'. However, other maternal effects decrease offspring fitness and there is confusion regarding whether certain maternal effects are indeed adaptive

A study of the influence of spin-orbit coupling and dynamical electron correlation on the polarizabilities of the halogen atoms in a variational treatment is presented. It is shown that for the heavier homologs it is necessary to replace the averaged values by individual component polarizabilities for the J=3/2 and J=1/2 atomic states due to the large spin-orbit coupling. A high level of correlati

Tardigrades have achieved a widespread reputation for an ability to survive more than a century in an inactive, ametabolic state called cryptobiosis, However, a closer look at the empirical evidence provides little support for the claim that tardigrades are capable of century-long survival. Instead, current evidence suggests that a decade may more realistically represent the upper limit of cryptob

Eight healthy volunteers were exposed to purified lipopolysaccharide (LPS) by controlled inhalation. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) 3 hours after exposure revealed a pronounced neutrophilia, increase in lymphocytes, fibronectin concentration, and decrease in alveolar macrophage phagocytosis, as compared to a reference BAL.

Patients with hypertension have an increased activity in the endothelin system and an increased vascular tone, which predisposes them to target organ damage. In the present study, in vitro pharmacology, real-time PCR and immunofluorescence techniques were used to show enhanced endothelin type A (ETA) and type B (ETB) receptor contraction and expression in the left internal mammary artery from pati

Hydrolysis of cellulose by Trichoderma cellulases often results in a mixture of glucose, cellobiose, and low-mol-wt cellodextrins. Cellobiose is nonfermentable for most yeasts, and therefore it has to be hydrolyzed to glucose by beta-glucosidase prior to ethanol fermentation. In the present study, the beta-glucosidase production of one Penicillium and three Aspergillus strains, which were previous

Using the UNFCCC as a basis, and the objectives of estimating soil organic carbon (SOC) changes during the period 1900-2100, a spatially explicit database of climate, land cover and soil texture was compiled for a 262,000 km(2) region in semi-arid Sudan. The area is characterized by low input cultivation of millet, sorghum and sesame combined with livestock grazing. By integrating the database wit

The distribution, production, and decay of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) were studied in 10 boreal lakes of differing physical-chemical characteristics. Diurnal and vertical fluctuations in H2O2 concentration were followed in the lakes by sampling at six depths three times per day. In addition, incubations of water filtered through 0.2-mu mesh were made under artificial irradiation to study the abiotic

Expression of the neuropeptide orphanin FQ/nociceptin (OFQ/N) and its receptor, the opioid receptor-like receptor (ORL1), have been found to have a wide distribution in the central nervous system, and in brain areas involved in sensory perception in particular. The effects of OFQ/N on, e.g., sensory transmission are very complex, and a modulatory effect on pain perception has been suggested. We th

The accumulation of empirical evidence that outward-oriented developing countries have generally performed better than inward-oriented ones in terms of growth, industrialisation, job creation and other macroeconomic indicators provides an essential lesson for both policy-makers and development economists worldwide. The acknowledged importance of trade and non-traditional exports for development an

The adsorption of four different amphiphilic polymers to a model surface has been studied, and the effects of the adsorbed amphiphiles on the subsequent adsorption of fibrinogen (Fg) and human serum albumin (HSA) at the surfaces were investigated. The amphiphilic polymers were one commercially available ABA block copolymer, Pluronic PE9400 (PE94), composed of poly(ethylene oxide) (A-blocks) and po

We present two alternative methods for fabrication of nanoimprint lithography stamps in SiO2 with sub-20 nm features: (a) optimized electron beam lithography (EBL) and lift-off patterning of a 15-nm thick Cr mask, and (b) aerosol deposition of W particles in the 20-nm size range. In both cases, the pattern transfer into SiO2 was performed using reactive ion etching (RIE) with CHF3 as etch gas. In

In this paper the different algebraic varieties that can be generated from multiple view geometry with uncalibrated cameras have been investigated. The natural descriptor, V-n, to work with is the image of P-3 in P-2 x P-2 x ... x P-2 under a corresponding product of projections, (A(1) x A(2) x ... x A(m)). Another descriptor, the variety V-b, is the one generated by all bilinear forms between pai

Impingement and forced convection are preferable methods for cooling gas turbine components. However, influences of various design parameters like crossflow and surface enlargements (like ribs) are not well understood. Thus there is a request for reliable and cost effective computational prediction methods, due to the experimental difficulties. such methods could be based on the numerical solution

We have studied H2O adsorption on the Si(100) surface using photoelectron spectroscopy to record Si valence bands and Si 2p core level spectra; and photon stimulated desorption to record Si 2p edge total electron yield and H + -ion yield spectra. We assign the valence-band H2O induced peaks at EB=6.3 and 11.2 eV to the Si–OH and to the O–H bonds, respectively. The H2O dosed Si 2p core level spectr

Chondromodulin I (chm-I), a type II transmembrane protein, is highly expressed in the avascular zones of cartilage but is downregulated in the hypertrophic region, which is invaded by blood vessels during enchondral ossification. In vitro and in vivo assays with the purified protein have shown chondrocyte-modulating and angiogenesis-inhibiting functions. To investigate chm-I function in vivo, we g