OBJECTIVE: Pressure-volume (PV) curves are recorded after induction of complete muscle paralysis, which may limit their clinical use. The feasibility of recording PV curves without paralysis has not been tested. In 19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and no hemodynamic instability we prospectively evaluated whether PV curves can be safely and reliably recorded under deep se

In protein chromatography large molecules have to diffuse into the stationary phase. The molecular sizes of the proteins make the diffusion rates low or very low and the separation can be assumed to be mass transfer limited. In this study three different prepacked columns, with different bead sizes, are used for the separation of IgG and BSA to confirm or reject this assumption in an ion-exchange

We prove the existence and uniqueness of global weak solutions to a shallow water equation. The weak solution setting is important to model the interaction of solitons for this equation.

OBJECTIVE: The serotonin system has long been of interest in biological models of human personality. The purpose of this positron emission tomography (PET) study was to search for relationships between serotonin 5-HT(1A) receptor density and personality traits. METHOD: Fifteen normal male subjects, ages 20-45 years, were examined with PET and the radioligand [(11)C]WAY100635. Personality traits we

Lentiviral vectors containing recombinant envelope proteins that target hematopoietic stem cells have now been engineered to increase the efficiency of gene transfer.

This paper presents a novel tool to be used for signature verification. The method is based on the vector context matrix concept that enables robust and precise extraction of the point correspondences between a sample and a database model. Using a digitizing tablet as a source for input, information of the pressure, speed and pen inclination is obtained in addition to the coordinates of the sample

The initial stages of the formation of SBA-15 have been studied by in situ SAXS/XRD using synchrotron radiation. Modeling of both the diffuse scattering and the X-ray diffraction patterns obtained at different stages of the reaction results in a detailed description of the different reaction steps. The first step in the formation is the liquid-liquid phase separation of spherical P123-silicate hyb

Large eddy simulations of natural convection along a vertical isothermal surface have been carried out using a parallel CFD code SMAFS (Smoke Movement And Flame Spread) developed by the first author to study the dynamics of the natural convection flow and the associated convective heat transfer, with sub-grid scale turbulence modeled using the Smagorinsky model. In the computation, the filtered go

BACKGROUND: The planning target volume in radiotherapy treatment planning takes into account both movements of the clinical target volume (CTV) and set-up deviations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A group of patients who received radiotherapy for lung cancer were studied. In order to measure the CTV movements due to respiration and other internal organ motions, fluoroscopy was performed for 20 patients.

A Holocene palaeomagnetic secular variation master curve (FENNOSTACK) and a relative palaeointensity curve (FENNORPIS) for Fennoscandia are presented. These curves were produced by stacking palaeomagnetic data obtained from six annually laminated (varved) lake sediment sequences and one non-laminated sediment sequence. The six independent varve chronologies were combined to form a timescale, which

Liquid-crystalline cubic-phase nanoparticles (CPNPs) (known as Cubosome particles), based on the lipid glycerol monooleate and stabilized by the nonionic block copolymer Pluronic F-127, interact with supported model membranes consisting of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) in a complex and dynamic fashion. Neutron reflectivity measurements on the interaction of CPNPs with bilayers of different co

Several lines of evidence suggest that a calcitonin-gene related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist may serve as a novel abortive migraine treatment. Here we present data on a human cell line and isolated human vessels for such an antagonist, BIBN4096BS. On SK-N-MC membranes, radiolabelled CGRP was displaced by both CGRP-(8-37) and BIBN4096BS, yielding pK(i) values of 8.5 and 11.4, respectively. F

Elevated ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation has been reported to have few effects on plants but to alter the soil microbial community composition. However, the effects on soil microorganisms have to be mediated via plants, because direct radiation effects are only plausible on the uppermost millimeters of soil. Here, we assessed secondary effects of UVB on soil microbes. The responses in the dominant p

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to evaluate whether cadmium concentrations in kidney (K-Cd), blood (B-Cd) or urine (U-Cd) could reveal previous occupational cadmium exposure at a metal smelter. METHODS: The study included 90 smelters and 35 controls (B-Cd and U-Cd determination). In a subgroup (N = 33), K-Cd was also determined. RESULTS: B-Cd (median 4.6; range 0.5-53 nmol/L), U-Cd (0. 29; 0.

Our objective was to investigate the expression of different cytochromes P450 3A (CYP3A4, CYP3A5, and CYP3A7) and P-glycoprotein (ABCBI) genes along the human large intestine in paired tumour and normal samples. Real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was used to measure CYP3A4-, CYP3A5-, CYP3A7- and ABCB1-specific mRNA expression, and Western blot analysis was used to measure me