In this study, sample preparation of urinary trans, trans-muconic acid (tt-MA), a minor metabolite and biomarker of benzene, by means of Supported Liquid Membrane (SLM) extraction has been investigated. The sample extract was automatically transferred on-line to an ion exchange chromatographic column and the analytes were detected using a photodiode array detector. Automation of the system was acc

In this study we describe the morphological and genetic analysis of the Drosophila mutant gurtelchen (gurt). gurt was identified by screening an EMS collection for novel mutations affecting visceral mesoderm development and was named after the distinct belt shaped visceral phenotype. Interestingly, determination of visceral cell identities and subsequent visceral myoblast fusion is not affected in

The induction of apoptosis in neutrophils is an essential event in the resolution of an inflammatory process. We found recently that the reduction of the activity of the neutrophil survival factor p38 MAPK and dephosphorylation and thus activation of caspases must occur to initiate such cell death in these leukocytes. Here, we report a previously undetected early and transient activation of protei

Previous studies using echocardiography in healthy subjects have reported conflicting data regarding the percentage of the stroke volume ( SV) of the left ventricle ( LV) resulting from longitudinal and radial function, respectively. Therefore, the aim was to quantify the percentage of SV explained by longitudinal atrioventricular plane displacement ( AVPD) in controls, athletes, and patients with

Thanks to features as non-intrusiveness combined with high spatial and temporal resolution, various laser diagnostic techniques have during the last decades become of utmost importance for characterization of combustion related phenomena. In the following presentation some further development of the techniques will be highlighted aiming at a) surface temperatures using Thermographic Phosphors, TP

A rising global population and demand for protein-rich diets are increasing pressure to maximize agricultural productivity. Rising atmospheric [CO2] is altering global temperature and precipitation patterns, which challenges agricultural productivity. While rising [CO2] provides a unique opportunity to increase the productivity of C-3 crops, average yield stimulation observed to date is well below

The Auger resonant Raman spectra of CO, arising from the transitions to the X and A final electronic states of CO+, have been recorded at photon energies corresponding to the vibrational excitations v[prime]=3,5, and 8 in the O 1s-->2pi resonance. The spectra are simulated within the model that takes into account both the lifetime-vibrational interference (LVI) and interference with the nonresonan

An indoor mating disruption experiment was performed on the stored-product pest Plodia interpunctella. The female of this: species emits a four-component pheromone blend consisting of Z9,E12-14: OAc, Z9,E12-14: OR Z9,E12-14: Ald, and Z9-14: OAc. Mating of Plodia interpunctella was disrupted up to 93% by using synthetic pheromone in small-scale plot experiments. The study was performed in 2.5 m x 2

Aim: To investigate the release of hydrophobic and hydrophilic substances from tablets containing Pemulen and Carbopol as excipients. Method: The dissolution patterns of a hydrophobic (diazepam) and a hydrophilic active substance (midodrine-HCl) from different tablet formulations containing a nonmodified polyacrylic microgel (Carbopol 981 F) or a hydrophobically modified polyacrylic microgel (Pemu

The Mre11 complex, composed of RAD50, NBS1 and MRE11, has an essential role in the maintenance of genomic integrity and preventing cells from malignancy. Here we report the association of three Mre11 complex mutations with hereditary breast cancer susceptibility, studied by using a case-control design with 317 consecutive, newly diagnosed Northern Finnish breast cancer patients and 1000 geographic

Objective-Pleiotropic atheroprotective effects of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors may be mediated on the level of vascular gene transcription. The aim of this study was to characterize the effects of statins on the activation of transcription factors known to regulate inflammation and cell proliferation/differentiation. Methods and Results-Simvastatin, atorvastatin, and lovastatin (0.1 to 10 mumol/L)

In hereditary Huntington's disease, a triplet repeat disease, there is extensive loss of striatal neurons. It has been shown that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protects striatal neurons against a variety of insults. We confirmed that BDNF enhances survival and DARPP-32 expression in primary striatal cultures derived from postnatal mice. Furthermore, BDNF inhibited intracellular oxyradic

In the present scenario, fats and oil modification is one of the prime areas in food processing industry that demands novel economic and green technologies. In this respect, tailored vegetable oils with nutritionally important structured triacylglycerols and altered physicochemical properties have a big potential in the future market. In this context, it is well established that lipases especially

Dithiocarbamates are used as pesticides and rubber additives. Dithiocarbamates are the reduced forms of thiuram disulfides and both of these groups of substances induce allergic contact dermatitis. The allergic cross-reactivity pattern between dithiocarbamates and thiurams is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate why these cross-reactions occur sometimes but not always. HPLC-analysis o

A crucial aspect of empirical research based on the vector autoregressive (VAR) model is the choice of the lag order, since all inference in the VAR model is based on the chosen lag order. Here, a new information criterion is introduced for this purpose. The conducted Monte Carlo simulation experiments show that this new information criterion performs well in picking the true lag order in stable a

Resonant tunneling through a single layer of self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) is compared to tunneling through two layers of vertically aligned (stacked) dots. The difference can be viewed as going from a two-dimensional emitter to a zero-dimensional emitter. The temperature dependence of current peaks originating in tunneling through individual QDs and individual stacks is used to clarify this p