Sphingomyelin (SM) is a sphingolipid present in all eukaryotic cell membranes. Hydrolysis of SM by sphingomyelinase (SMase) generates ceramide, which has effects on cell-cycle regulation and apoptosis. Alkaline sphingomyelinase (Alk-SMase) is the main SM-hydrolysing enzyme in the human intestine, and earlier studies have shown that it has anti-proliferative properties on colon cancer cells, and th

A measurement of charged-particle distributions sensitive to the properties of the underlying event is presented for an inclusive sample of events containing a Z-boson, decaying to an electron or muon pair. The measurement is based on data collected using the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 4.6fb(-1). Distri

Muon bremsstrahlung photons converted in front of the DELPHI main tracker (TPC) in dimuon events at LEP1 were studied in two photon kinematic ranges: 0.2< E-gamma

Global patterns in soil, plant, and fungal stable isotopes of N (delta N-15) show promise as integrated metrics of N cycling, particularly the activity of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi. At small spatial scales, however, it remains difficult to differentiate the underlying causes of plant delta N-15 variability and this limits the application of such measurements to better understand N cycling. We co

The influence of the charge anisotropy and platelet size on the formation of gel and glass states and nematic phases in suspensions of plate-like particles is investigated using Monte Carlo simulations in the canonical ensemble. The platelets are modeled as discs with charged sites distributed on a hexagonal lattice. The edge sites can carry a positive charge, while the remaining sites are negativ

Poor postnatal growth after preterm birth does not match the normal rapid growth in utero and is associated with preterm morbidities. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) axis is the major hormonal mediator of growth in utero and levels of IGF-1 are often very low after preterm birth. We reviewed the role of IGF-1 in fetal development and the corresponding preterm perinatal period to highlight the

In this study, a method was developed for determination of steroid hormones (17beta-estradiol, estrone, 17alpha-ethynylestradiol) in tap and sewage water samples from Sweden. Sample preparation and analysis were performed by a hollow-fibre microporous membrane liquid-liquid extraction (HF-MMLLE) set-up combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In this approach, only the organic l

Background: In children with hypoplasia or aplasia of the radius (radial longitudinal deficiency) manual activity limitations may be caused by several factors; a short and bowed forearm, radial deviation of the wrist, a non-functional or absent thumb, limited range of motion in the fingers and impaired grip strength. The present study investigates the relation between these variables and activity

This paper presents a trans-disciplinary assessment of new and innovative biorefinery concepts producing high-value chemical compounds from residues from agriculture, food and forest industries. There is a significant potential of biomass residues in Sweden suitable for the extraction of various compounds, including upgrading by biocatalytic processes, in addition to current energy generation. Two

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder where the dopamine producing neurons in the ventral mesencephalon (VM) progressively die and result in symptoms such as resting tremors, muscle rigidity, slowness and difficulties in initiating movements.Currently there is no cure for PD and the available drug treatments only offer symptomatic relief and are often associated with severe side

Studies of 1H-NMR Relaxation Dispersion in Human Brain- tissue Samples: Implications for Magnetic Resonance Relaxation Dispersion Imaging (MARDI) Bertil R.R. Persson1, Lars Malmgren1,2 and Leif G. Salford3 1Medical Radiation Physics 2MAX Laboratory 3Dept. of Neurosurgery, Lund University, Lund Sweden [Bertil R.R. Persson, Lund University, Dept. of medical radiation physics, Barngatan 2, S-22185 Lu

Semiconductor III-V nanowires are promising components of future electronic and optoelectronic devices, but they typically show a mixed wurtzite-zinc blende crystal structure. Here we show, theoretically and experimentally, that the crystal structure dominates the conductivity in such InP nanowires. Undoped devices show very low conductivities and mobilities. The zincblende segments are quantum we

This thesis deals with manifold learning techniques and their application in gene expression data analysis. Manifold learning is the study of methods that aim to infer geometrical structure from data sampled from manifolds, enabling nonlinear solutions to various machine learning tasks. Gene expression data analysis is the analysis of measurements of the abundance of gene products from a set of ge

The predicted global warming may affect freshwater systems at several organizational levels, from organism to ecosystem. Specifically, in temperate regions, the projected increase of winter temperatures may have important effects on the over-winter biology of a range of organisms and especially for fish and other ectothermic animals. However, temperature effects on organisms may be directed strong

Abstract in UndeterminedThis paper addresses the use of ethnographic methods in the field known as family studies. While ethnographic methods are fundamental in the anthropological study of kinship and family, quantitative methods have long dominated family studies. To grasp the ideas and actions of human beings, however, we must pay attention to their intentions and recognize that intentions are

The up-converting ZrO2:Yb3+,E3+ nanomaterials were prepared with the combustion and sal-gel methods. The structure of the materials was cubic except for the minor monoclinic and tetragonal impurities associated with the use of the sal-gel method. The XANES results revealed only the trivalent form for both the Yb and Er dopants. The distance distributions calculated from EXAFS confirm that Er3+ and

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease, and is clinically characterized by cognitive disturbances and the accumulation of the amyloid beta (A beta) peptides in plaques in the brain. Recent studies have shown the links between AD and the immediate-early gene Arc (activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein), involved in synaptic plasticity and memory consolidat