Since the late 1970s the central government of China has initiated several ecological environmental protection projects. The most significant of these has been the tui geng huan lin (returning cultivated land to forest and pasture) project in operation since the late 1990s. China's northwest region is characterized by lack of water resources, yet such resources are of vital importance. There is sc

A tissue proteomics process is presented where hepatocyte cell isolation in combination with two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometric identification were used to annotate the liver proteome. Laser microdissection of 8 m liver tissue sections was performed and protein expression profiling was compared using a variety of quantities of input cells, and gel separation condition

In this paper ethical implications of parental participation in paediatric care are discussed. The paper is based on interviews with 20 parents, whose children were admitted and operated on at a paediatric surgery department in Sweden. In one part of the interview the parent was invited to speak about situations experienced as problematic during the hospitalization. Three different types of situat

BACKGROUND: Occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) demands prompt recognition and diagnosis. No accurate diagnostic method is available. The aim of this study was to determine whether the fibrinolytic marker D-dimer is a useful early marker of acute bowel ischaemia. METHODS: Fourteen patients suspected of having acute bowel ischaemia were analysed for an increase in plasma D-dimer level

Since emf measurements with amalgam electrodes have been used, in most studies of the stabilities of complexes between soft metal acceptors and halide ions a series of investigations of the kinetics of electrode reactions were accomplished with halide systems of metal ions in the Groups 11 and 12 in aqueous and/or DMSO solutions. The aim was to establish which complexes contribute to the exchange

We characterize and control the harmonic emission in the spectral and spatial domains in order to define in which conditions the harmonic radiation can be a high-quality seed for soft x-ray and x-ray free-electron lasers. The length of the gas cell, where harmonics are generated, was optimized and the energy per pulse was determined in absolute value with a calibrated x-ray photodiode. The beam sp

A brief period of rapidly recurring hippocampal seizures can lead to the progressive development of a permanent increase of seizure susceptibility over several weeks, so-called 'delayed kindling'. We have analyzed seizure parameters critical for the induction of delayed kindling in two strains of rats characterized by fast and slow rates of traditional kindling, respectively. Forty seizures were p

Objective: Environmental and genetic factors influence thyrotoxicosis, but how population migration affects the disease panorama is not known. fit an urban area in southern Sweden, during the years 1990 until 2003, the population increased from 232 000 to 267 000. In parallel, the proportion of inhabitants born outside Sweden increased. The aim was to investigate whether the incidence of Graves' t

A simplified interaction potential for protein folding studies at the atomic level is discussed and tested on a set of peptides with; 20 residues each. The test set contains both alpha-helical ( Trp cage, F-s) and beta-sheet ( GB1p, GB1m2, GB1m3, Betanova, LLM) peptides. The model, which is entirely sequence-based, is able to fold these different peptides for one and the same choice of model param

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Objective was to describe variations in how social insurance officers conceive the cooperation with the health care in their daily work with sick leave. METHODS: Fifteen social insurance officers (SIOs) working with administration of sickness benefits were interviewed. They were purposefully recruited to represent different parts of the social insurance office organization, d

Therapy-induced resistance remains a significant hurdle to achieve long-lasting responses and cures in cancer patients. We investigated the long-term consequences of genetically impaired angiogenesis by engineering multiple tumor models deprived of endoglin, a co-receptor for TGF-beta in endothelial cells actively engaged in angiogenesis. Tumors from endoglin-deficient mice adapted to the weakened

Direct photons are a powerful probe to study the property of quark–gluon plasma (QGP) in high energy heavy-ion collisions. In non-central collisions, the anisotropy of the collision region produces the different pressure gradients and particle density that results in different anisotropy of particle emission, depending on the production processes of photons. Therefore, an azimuthal anisotropy para

Three recent randomised trials have shown a lack of effect of EGDT for the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock. Notably, control group care was excellent in all trials, including early recognition, early and aggressive fluid resuscitation and prompt administration of antibiotics, and was reflected in a lower than expected mortality.The discussion emphasizes the need for continued vigilanceThree recent randomised trials have shown a lack of effect of EGDT for the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock. Notably, control group care was excellent in all trials, including early recognition, early and aggressive fluid resuscitation and prompt administration of antibiotics, and was reflected in a lower than expected mortality.The discussion emphasizes the need for continued vigilance

Cerebellar Purkinje cells can learn to respond to a conditioned stimulus with an adaptively timed pause in firing. This response was usually ascribed to long-term depression of parallel fiber to Purkinje cell synapses but has recently been shown to be due to a previously unknown form of learning involving an intrinsic cellular timing mechanism. Here, we investigate how these responses are elicited

Patients with antineutrophil cytoplasm antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV) requiring dialysis at diagnosis are at risk for developing end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or dying. Shortterm results of a trial comparing plasma exchange (PLEX) to intravenous methylprednisolone (IV MeP) suggested PLEX improved renal recovery. Here we conducted long-term follow-up to see if this trend persisted. A total o