T-cell dysfunction increases susceptibility to infections in patients with sepsis. In the present study, we hypothesized that Rho-kinase signaling might regulate induction of T-cell dysfunction in abdominal sepsis. Male C57BL/6 mice were treated with the specific Rho-kinase inhibitor Y-27632 (5 mg/kg) prior to cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Spleen CD4 T-cell apoptosis, proliferation and regula

We use a continuum chain model and develop an analytical theory for the interaction between two spheres immersed in a fluid of ideal equilibrium polymers. The theory can be applied to both adsorbing and nonadsorbing spheres. Here we focus on two nonadsorbing spheres and determine the classical depletion interaction between them. Compact, and exact, results are derived for the asymptotic behavior o

A search has been performed, using the full 20.3 fb(-1) data sample of 8 TeV proton-proton collisions collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, for photons originating from a displaced vertex due to the decay of a neutral long-lived particle into a photon and an invisible particle. The analysis investigates the diphoton plus missing transverse momentum final state, and is therefore mos

The analysis of the Coulomb excitation experiment conducted on 104Sn required a strict selection of the data in order to reduce the large background present in the gamma-ray energy spectra and identify the gamma-ray peak corresponding to the Coulomb excitation events. As a result the B(E2; 0 + -> 2+) value could be extracted, which established the downward trend towards 100Sn and therefore the rob

In the EU regime on the coordination of social security, there are rules and principles on cross-border administrative cooperation. Through these legal mechanisms, a number of cooperation structures are established with the Administrative Commission as a central point. Within these structures, national social security bodies provide assistance, communicate directly, solve conflicts of interpretati

1. Ecological stoichiometry predicts important control of the relative abundance of the key elements carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) on trophic interactions. In a nutrient-poor Amazonian lowland rain forest of French Guiana, we tested the hypothesis that decomposers exploit stoichiometrically diverse plant litter more efficiently, resulting in faster litter decomposition compared to li

Objective. Heredity is a major cause of ovarian cancer and during recent years the contribution from germline mismatch repair (MMR) gene mutations linked to Lynch syndrome has gradually been recognized. Methods. We characterized clinical features, tumor morphology and mismatch repair defects in all ovarian cancers identified in Swedish and Danish Lynch syndrome families. Results. In total, 63 epit

Radiative recombination in degenerately n-doped InP nanowires is studied for excitation above and below the Fermi energy of the electron gas, using photoluminescence. Laser-induced electron heating is observed, which allows absorption below the Fermi energy. We observe photon upconversion where photo-excited holes recombine with high |k| electrons. This can be attributed to hole scattering to high

The Earth System Science Partnership, which unites all major global change research programmes, declared in 2001 an urgent need to develop "strategies for Earth System management". Yet what such strategies might be, how they could be developed, and how effective, efficient and equitable such strategies would be, remains unspecified. It is apparent that the institutions, organizations and mechanism

Aggregation of the amyloid-beta peptide (A beta) into toxic oligomers and amyloid fibrils is linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Mutations of the BRICHOS chaperone domain are associated with amyloid disease and recent in vitro data show that BRICHOS efficiently delays A beta 42 oligomerization and fibril formation. We have generated transgenic Drosophila melanogaster flies that

A unique [2Fe-2S] cluster (1) with genuinely five-coordinate ferric ions has been synthesized and investigated both structurally and spectroscopically. The crystal structure of 1 as well as (1)H NMR data reveal that 2,6-bis(imidazol-2-yl)pyridine binds to the [2Fe-2S] core as a tridentate capping ligand. DFT calculations showing spin density on all coordinating atoms support this finding. Cluster

We investigate dual decomposition approaches for optimization problems arising in low-level vision. Dual decomposition can be used to parallelize existing algorithms, reduce memory requirements and to obtain approximate solutions of hard problems. An extensive set of experiments are performed for a variety of application problems including graph cut segmentation, curvature regularization and more

Background: In CIBIS III, initiating chronic heart failure (CHF) treatment with bisoprolol (target dose 10 mg q.d.) followed by combination therapy with enalapril (target dose 10 mg b.i.d.), compared to the opposite order, showed similar effects on survival and hospitalization. By echocardiography, we evaluated the effects of these treatment strategies on cardiac structure and function. Methods: I

During past decades, the number of dentists has continuously increased in Iran. Beside the quantity, the distribution of dentists affects the oral health status of population. The current study aimed to assess the pure and social disparities in distribution of dentists across the provinces in Iran in 2009. Data on provinces' characteristics, including population and social situation, were obtained

PURPOSE: To provide estimates of the diffusional kurtosis in the healthy brain in anatomically defined areas and list these along previously reported values in pathologies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-six volunteers (mean age = 33.1 years; range, 19-64 years) underwent diffusional kurtosis imaging. Mean kurtosis (MK), radial kurtosis (RK), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), and frac

In this study resonant acoustic spectroscopy was applied during static loading and unloading of three prestressed concrete beams in the context of acoustoelasticity. At each load step multiple modes of vibration were measured using an accelerometer and a small impact source. It was found that the measured resonance frequencies increased with increasing compressive stress in a manner which can be p

Isolates of Listeria monocytogenes (n = 932) isolated in Sweden during 1958-2010 from human patients with invasive listeriosis were characterized by serotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) (AscI). Of the 932 isolates, 183 different PFGE types were identified, of which 83 were each represented by only one isolate. In all, 483 serovar 1/2a isolates were distributed over 114 PFGE types

Intracoronary near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has demonstrated substantial lipid in STEMI culprit plaques. Thrombus aspiration during primary PCI reduces distal embolization and improves reperfusion. This study was performed to examine if aspiration thrombectomy reduces the lipid content of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) culprit plaques.