The morphology of gas-rich disc galaxies at redshift ∼ 1–3 is dominated by a few massive clumps. The process of formation or assembly of these clumps and their relation to molecular clouds in contemporary spiral galaxies are still unknown. Using simulations of isolated disc galaxies, we study how the structure of the interstellar medium and the stability regime of the discs change when varying the

Climate change is an increasing threat to sustainable development worldwide. However, the dominant incremental policy approaches have not generated action at anywhere near the rate, scale or depth that is needed. This is largely due to the fact that climate change has historically been framed as a purely external, technical challenge. There is an urgent need for a more integral understanding that

Recent developments in artificial intelligence have generated increasing interest to deploy automated image analysis for diagnostic imaging and large-scale clinical applications. However, inaccuracy from automated methods could lead to incorrect conclusions, diagnoses or even harm to patients. Manual inspection for potential inaccuracies is labor-intensive and time-consuming, hampering progress to

We study the impact of early socialization on gender inequality in the labor market. To this end, we link the gender environment in the primary-school cohort to later occupations and wages. We find that women exposed to more girls at this critical age earn more later on, leading to a reduction in the gender wage gap. We explore mechanisms and find that women exposed to a more female-dominated envi

Cystatin C, an efficient inhibitor of cysteine proteinases, is present in all investigated human extracellular fluids. Dexamethasone caused a significant and dose-dependent increase in the cystatin C secretion of cultivated HeLa cells up to a maximal increase of 80% at 10(-6) mol l-1 dexamethasone. Increased production of cystatin C was also observed at lower concentrations, suggesting that glucoc

Renal tubular function can be assessed by measuring low molecular weight proteins in urine. In the present study, urinary levels of protein HC, also called alpha 1-microglobulin, were determined in 84 patients, 3-17 years after conduit diversion or continent urinary reconstruction. Increased excretion of protein HC, indicating tubular dysfunction, was found in 30 patients (36%), but was slight in

Motivated by advances in flexible electronic technologies and by the endeavour to develop non-destructive testing methods, this article analyses the capability of computational multiscale formulations to predict the influence of microscale cracks on effective macroscopic electrical and mechanical material properties. To this end, thin metal films under mechanical load are experimentally analysed b

Serum cystatin C has been suggested as a new marker of GFR. For the introduction of this marker into clinical use a rapid and automated method is required. We have developed and validated an assay for serum cystatin C using latex particle-enhanced immunoturbidimetry. Intra- and inter-assay precision were < 3% and < 5% across the assay range. Analytical recovery was 93 +/- 3.8% and no lack of paral

An enzyme which converts D-dopachrome into 5,6-dihydroxyindole has recently been isolated from rat liver. Enzymatic D-dopachrome conversion has been observed in extracts from all tissues examined of several species, including man. We have now cloned and sequenced a 628 bp long cDNA encoding the enzyme provisionally called D-dopachrome tautomerase. The cDNA was isolated by 3' and 5' rapid amplifica

A procedure for spectroscopic characterization and partial fractionation of human protein HC populations by high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array ultraviolet-visible detection is reported. Human protein HC from urine or amniotic fluid fractionated by anion-exchange HPLC in a protein Pak DEAE 5PW appeared to be heterogeneous as judged by the asymmetric elution pattern, consisting

The pharmacokinetics of total platinum (Pt) in plasma and cisplatin (CDDP)-DNA adducts in different cell types were described in ten patients with squamous-cell carcinoma of the head/neck or esophagus after their first cycle of chemotherapy containing a CDDP dose of 100 mg/m2. Nephrotoxicity was studied in terms of urinary excretion of marker proteins (protein HC, IgG, and albumin). Pharmacodynami

People with high socioeconomic status disproportionally affect energy-driven greenhouse gas emissions directly through their consumption and indirectly through their financial and social resources. However, few climate change mitigation initiatives have targeted this population segment, and the potential of such initiatives remains insufficiently researched. In this Perspective, we analyse key cha

Efficient use of assessment of urine protein excretion in nephrological practice requires adequate reference intervals. To determine the upper reference limits of urine albumin, protein HC (alpha 1-microglobulin, immunoglobulin G (IgG), orosomucoid (alpha 1-acid glycoprotein, alpha 1-antitrypsin, and kappa- and lambda-chain immunoreactivities, the concentrations of these proteins were measured in

Soil moisture is one of the most important factors controlling the activity and diversity of soil microorganisms. Soils exposed to pronounced cycles of drying and rewetting (D/RW) exhibit disconnected patterns in microbial growth and respiration at RW. These patterns differ depending on the preceding soil moisture history, leading to contrasting amounts of carbon retained in the soil as biomass ve

We have studied the accuracy of 16 different density functional theory methods to reproduce experimental data for bond lengths, angles, vibrational frequencies, as well as enthalpies and entropies for the binding of N2, H2, CO and hydride ions to various transition-metal complexes (with Fe, Ni, Cr, Mo andW) with relation to nitrogenase.We show that generalized gradient approximation functionals gi

Priming mice with a chicken gamma globulin (CGG) carrier protein significantly accelerated the onset of somatic mutation in the V chi Ox1 gene when the mice were subsequently immunized with 2-phenyl-5-oxazolone (phOx) coupled to CGG. The first mutations were already detected 7 days after immunization, while in the true primary response, they are not apparent until day 10. It was also found that co