Urinary tract infections (UTI) are common, dangerous and interesting. This review includes a general background on UTIs and molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis. In addition, we discuss UTI susceptibility and especially the effect of genetic variation on innate immunity. The symptoms of acute pyelonephritis are caused by the innate immune response and inflammation in the urinary tract decreases re

Background: A unique feature of alveolar mast cells is their low high-affinity IgE receptor (FcεRI) expression. Recent discoveries in uncontrolled asthma suggest that the appearance of FcεRI-expressing alveolar mast cells may be a novel disease-specific feature of allergic asthma. This study investigates whether increased FcεRI-expressing alveolar mast cells are present in patients with mild aller

A series of photosensitizers for NiO-based dye-sensitized solar cells is presented. Three model compounds containing a triphenylamine donor appended to a boron dipyrromethene (bodipy) chromophore have been successfully prepared and characterised using emission spectroscopy, electrochemistry and spectroelectrochemistry, to ultimately direct the design of dyes with more complex structures. Carboxyli

Mosasaurs are secondarily aquatic squamates that became the dominant marine reptiles in the Late Cretaceous about 98-66 million years ago. Although early members of the group possessed body shapes similar to extant monitor lizards, derived forms have traditionally been portrayed as long, sleek animals with broadened, yet ultimately tapering tails. Here we report an extraordinary mosasaur fossil fr

Extracellular High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1) has been associated with acute and chronic inflammatory conditions. However, little is known about HMGB1 in necrotizing bacterial infections. We hypothesized that the local HMGB1 response is excessive in severe soft tissue infections (STIs), which are characterized by necrosis and hyperinflammation. To explore this, tissue biopsies were collected fro

We show theoretically that the poor can benefit from price changes induced by higher income inequality. As the number of poor increases, the market for products aimed toward the poor grows, and such products become more profitable. As a result, there are circumstances where an increase in income inequality associates with higher purchasing power of the poor. Using cross-country data on the price o

We have investigated the magneto-resistivity (MR) of FeSe1-xTex superconducting films on MgO substrate. The MR of pure FeSe and slightly Te-substituted films demonstrates regular Lorentz-type magnetic field dependence, MR similar to B-2. In highly Te-substituted samples, however, negative MR contribution due to the weak-localization effect gradually dominates at low temperature, which is consisten

To investigate the role of factors that modulate the association between alcohol and mortality, and to provide estimates of absolute risk of death.

Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) is a master regulator of melanocyte development and an important oncogene in melanoma. MITF heterodimeric assembly with related basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper transcription factors is highly restricted, and its binding profile to cognate DNA sequences is distinct. Here, we determined the crystal structure of MITF in its apo conformation

Gm-C filters suffer from limited dynamic range due to a trade-off between noise and linearity in OTA design. This paper therefore presents a filter with a linearization technique to break this trade-off. This technique is demonstrated by a low power 4th order 10MHz Butterworth Gm-C low pass filter. The filter was implemented in 65nm CMOS technology with a core area of 0.19mm2 and a total current c

The active site of the [FeFe] hydrogenases contains two Fe ions bound to one Cys ligand, three CO molecules, two CN(-) ions, and a dithiolate ligand. The nature of the last of these has been much discussed, and it has been suggested that it contains C, N, or O as the bridgehead atom. Most experimental studies indicate a N atom, whereas a recent density functional theory (DFT) study of a crystal st

A first measurement of the average polarisation P-tau of tau leptons produced in e(+)e(-) annihilation at energies significantly above the Z resonance is presented. The polarisation is determined from the kinematic spectra of tau hadronic decays. The measured value P-tau = -0.164 +/- 0.125 is consistent with the Standard Model prediction for the mean LEP energy of 197 GeV. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. A

The ligand 2,6-bis[(diphenylphosphino)methyl]benzene ((PCP)H) was prepared and characterised in an improved manner. With platinum it forms the complex (PCP)PtOTf which reacts with sodium methoxide to give (PCP)PtOMe as the major product together with a small amount of [(PCP)Pt](2)-mu-H. The platinum methoxide reacts with carbon dioxide to give (PCP)PtO(CO)OMe. Also the dinuclear [(PCP)Pt](2)(mu-O(

Introduction: Equity in access to and utilization of health services is a common goal of policy-makers in most countries. The current study aimed to evaluate the distribution of need and access to health care services among Iran's rural population between 2006 and 2009. Methods: Census data on population's characteristics in each province were obtained from the Statistical Centre of Iran and Natio

The shear-induced transformations between oriented planar lamellae and a state of closely packed multilamellar vesicles (MLVs) in a lyotropic nonionic surfactant model system were studied by the combination of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and diffusometry with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). H-2 NMR imaging confirmed the discontinuous nature of the transition from onions to plan

A collection of 30 papers from the international conference "Locus Celebris - The Church, Monastery and Manor of Dalby" in April 2010.

The price of fish depends on quality attributes such as size and freshness. In turn, quality attributes are related to fishery management. This article presents a hedonic analysis where attribute prices of size and quality ratings are estimated for the Swedish Baltic cod fishery. Using information from 5,307 landing days, hedonic inverse demand functions are estimated with a random coefficient (RC