The volume and structural changes upon replacement of oppositely charged network counterions for oppositely charged macroions in cross-linked polyelectrolyte gels have been investigated by Monte Carlo simulations using a coarse-grained model. Initially, the gel deswells, but after an approximately equivalent amount of macroions, the gel starts to swell again. The deswelling effect is greatest for

It seems that at conception something is formed which, due to its genetic make-up, has the potentiality to develop into a full-blown human being. Many believe that in virtue of this potentiality, this organism, the human zygote or early embryo, has an intrinsic value which makes it wrong to use or produce it merely as a means to some end, e.g., some scientific end such as to produce embryonic stem

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of an additional 12-week treatment with varenicline for abstainers who had successfully completed an initial 12-week treatment. The Benefits of Smoking Cessation on Outcomes simulation model was used to simulate both direct and indirect effects of smoking cessation. All calculations were performed in 2003 Swedish prices. Sweden in 2003. The modelled cohort consis

Hypertension and its consequences on cognition was analyzed using data from the study "Men born in 1914" in Malmo, Sweden, a prospective cohort study of cardiovascular disease. The baseline examinations took place in 1982/83 where 500 men participated in extensive medical and social examinations. A neuropsychological investigation was completed including five standardized cognitive tests. The spec

To achieve high thermal efficiencies, 30 percent and higher, for small gas turbines a recuperator is mandatory. As the recuperator represents 25–30 percent of the overall machine cost, efforts are now being focused on establishing new low-cost recuperator concepts for gas turbine engines. In this paper the cross corrugated (CC), also called chevron pattern, heat transfer surface is reviewed to ass

In order to improve the process economy it is important to use as high dry matter content as possible in simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). However, too high dry matter content often gives rise to severe inhibition of the yeast metabolism, due to the increased levels of toxic compounds. The aim of the present work was to increase the fibrous content in SSF of steam pretreated sp

Deletions and other null alleles for genetic markers can be detected as a special case of non-Mendelian inheritance, ie when a parent and a child appear to be homozygous for different alleles. The probability to detect a deletion for a fixed overall number of investigated individuals was calculated for biallelic and multiallelic markers with varying allele frequencies. To determine the effect of i

During recent years, the radial movement of the arterial wall has been extensively studied, and measurements of the radial movement are now an important tool in cardiovascular research for characterizing the mechanical properties of the arterial wall. In contrast, the longitudinal movement of vessels has gained little or no attention as it has been presumed that this movement is negligible. With m

Nine neutral and five acidic oligosaccharides were isolated from feces of a preterm (30th postmenstrual week) blood group A nonsecretor infant fed on pooled breast milk. Structural analyses were carried out using sugar and methylation analyses, fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry, and 1H NMR. The acidic oligosaccharides are well-known components of human milk. The neutral oligosaccharides are

Acidic ribosomal P proteins form a distinct lateral protuberance on the 60S ribosomal subunit. In yeast, this structure is composed of two heterocomplexes (P1A-P2B and P1B-P2A) attached to the ribosome with the aid of the P0 protein. In solution, the isolated P proteins P1A and P2B have a flexible structure with some characteristics of a molten globule [Zurdo, J., et al. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 89

Leukemic cells from 85 children with newly diagnosed precursor B-lineage ALL were tested for in vitro drug sensitivity to a panel of anti-cancer drugs. Minimal residual disease (MRD) was measured by RQ-PCR. There was a significant correlation between MRD day 29 and in vitro sensitivity to prednisolone (p < 0.001) and doxorubicin (p = 0.01 7), drugs administered during induction therapy. In patient

Psychiatric patients are significantly more often smokers than the general population, the only known exception being obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and catatonic schizophrenia. We have investigated nicotine use in subjects with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Ninety-five subjects (25 females and 70 males) consecutively diagnosed with any ASD and of normal intelligence were included in the s

Background: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is still one of the severe diseases, that cause the development of multiple organ dysfunction with a high mortality. Effective therapies for AP are still limited, mainly due to unclear mechanisms by which A-P initiates both pancreatic and extrapancreatic organ injury. Methods: Protease inhibitors (aprotinin, pefabloc, trypsin inhibitor) and PKC inhibitors (polym

A joint experimental and theoretical work to explain the electronic and geometrical structure of an in situ prepared film of iron phthalocyanine (FePc) on silicon (100) is presented. FePc molecular films have been characterized by core and valence photoemission spectroscopy (PES) and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and the results have been interpreted and simulated by density functional theo