Vascular smooth muscle cells are constantly exposed to mechanical force by the blood pressure, which is thought to regulate smooth muscle growth, differentiation and contractile function. We have previously shown that the expression of microRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs, is essential for regulation of smooth muscle phenotype including stretch-dependent contractile differentiation. In this s

Context. The Gaia-ESO Survey (GES) is a large public spectroscopic survey at the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope. Aims. A key aim is to provide precise radial velocities (RVs) and projected equatorial velocities (v sin i) for representative samples of Galactic stars, which will complement information obtained by the Gaia astrometry satellite. Methods. We present an analysis to e

Context. The Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey is obtaining high-quality spectroscopy of some 100 000 Milky Way stars using the FLAMES spectrograph at the VLT, down to V = 19 mag, systematically covering all the main components of the Milky Way and providing the first homogeneous overview of the distributions of kinematics and chemical element abundances in the Galaxy. Observations of young ope

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between Consumption of large doses of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and the behaviour and brain morphobiochemistry of normal growing rats. Four groups of rats were treated with LAB Cultures twice daily for 6 months. The control group received 1 ml of saline per treatment, while two experimental groups received I nil of living bacteria (Lactobacill

In this paper, we address distributed convergence to fair allocations of CPU resources for time-sensitive applications. We propose a novel resource management framework where a centralized objective for fair allocations is decomposed into a pair of performance-driven recursive processes for updating: (a) the allocation of computing bandwidth to the applications (resource adaptation), executed by t

Reaction of Cu2+ salts with the benzimidazole-N-methylated bis[(1-methyl-2-benzimidazolyl)ethyl]amine ligand 2BB results in either bi- or monometallic complexes. Spectroscopic and solid state characterization reveals either square pyramidal or trigonal bipyramidal coordination geometries around the cupric ions. In [{2BBCu(mu-F)}(2)](BF4)(2), the dicopper structure is determined by the bridging nat

The remodeling phase of tissue repair in lung disorders such as idiopathic pulmonary disease, asthma, obliterative bronchiolitis, and after lung transplantation is not well understood. One of the key players in fibrosis is the fibroblast and its progenitor, the fibrocyte. The fibroblast is the main producer of extracellular matrix molecules such as collagen, versican, perlecan, biglycan, and decor

In lung adenocarcinoma, the mutational spectrum is dominated by EGFR and KRAS mutations. Improved knowledge about genomic and transcriptional alterations in and between mutation-defined subgroups may identify genes involved in disease development or progression.

Fractures of the distal radius in postmenopausal women may cause prolonged pain and disability, but little is known about their natural course beyond the first year. In this study, women of 50-75 years of age, initially treated with cast or external fixation, were examined 1 year after distal radial fracture and then re-evaluated after a mean of 3 (range, 2-4) years. The evaluation included pain,

BACKGROUND: The character higher order scales (self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence) in the temperament and character inventory are important general measures of health and well-being [Mens Sana Monograph 11:16-24 (2013)]. Recent research has found suggestive evidence of common environmental influence on the development of these character traits during adolescence. The pres

We propose a theory-neutral, computational and data-driven method for assessing changes in semantic content of object representations following long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy. Young adults in psychotherapy are compared with an age-matched, non- clinical sample at three time points. Verbatim transcripts of descriptions of the self and parents were quantified in a semantic space constructed b

The earthworm, Dendrobaena octaedra, is a common species in the uppermost soil and humus layers of coniferous forests and tundra in temperate and subarctic regions. The species is freeze-tolerant and may survive several months in a frozen state. Upon freezing, glycogen reserves are rapidly converted to glucose serving as a cryoprotectant and fuel for metabolism. In the present study we investigate

Solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) is composed of spindled to ovoid cells in a patternless architecture with prominent stromal collagen and hemangiopericytoma-like vessels. Some tumors show hypercellularity, nuclear atypia, and significant mitotic activity; the latter feature in particular often portends an aggressive clinical course. SFT can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from other benign mesen

The androgen receptor is a key transcription factor contributing to the development of all stages of prostate cancer (PCa). In addition, other transcription factors have been associated with poor prognosis in PCa, amongst which c-Myc (MYC) is a well-established oncogene in many other cancers. We have previously reported that the AR promotes glycolysis and anabolic metabolism; many of these metabol

In this work we investigated the ability of a series of amino acids to act as cloud condensation nuclei using a static thermal gradient diffusion type cloud condensation nucleus counter. Particles of pure dry l-glycine, glycyl-glycine, l-serine, l-methionine, l-glutamic acid, l-aspartic acid, and l-tyrosine were studied as well as internally mixed dry particles containing ammonium sulfate and one

A partially protected C-5=C-5a unsaturated carbasugar with alpha-lyxo configuration is synthesised in five steps and 26% overall yield from a known mannose-derived hemiacetal, using ring-closing metathesis as a key step. This carbasugar is converted into valienamine derivatives with beta-lyxo (i.e., corresponding to beta-manno at C-1-C-4), alpha-lyxo (i.e., corresponding to alpha-manno at C-1-C-4)

The t(12;21) translocation generates the ETV6/RUNX1 fusion gene, present in 25% of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This fusion gene is important for leukemia development but is not sufficient for leukemia to arise. Hence, the additional genetic changes present in leukemic ETV6/RUNX1-positive cells give important clues regarding the history of the leukemia. The aim of this thesis has been t

This paper deals with the problem of synchronization in networks of heterogeneous agents with common nominal behavior. The agents are modeled as (possibly nonlinear) perturbed versions of a common SISO nominal LTI operator, and they are interconnected via a sparse memoryless interconnection operator, coherent with the communication graph underlying the network. The network is said to synchronize i