Aim: Longitudinal ventricular contraction is a parameter of cardiac performance with predictive power. Right ventricular (RV) longitudinal function is impaired in patients with free pulmonary regurgitation (PR) following corrective surgery for Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). It remains unclear whether this is a consequence of the surgical repair, or whether it is inherent to PR. The aim of this study w

Cancer testis antigens (CTAs) are of clinical interest as biomarkers and present valuable targets for immunotherapy. To comprehensively characterize the CTA landscape of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we compared RNAseq data from 199 NSCLC tissues to the normal transcriptome of 142 samples from 32 different normal organs. Of 232 CTAs currently annotated in the Caner Testis Database (CTdatabas

We are motivated by a tantalizing open question in exact algorithms: can we detect whether an n-vertex directed graph G has a Hamiltonian cycle in time significantly less than 2^n? We present new randomized algorithms that improve upon several previous works: 1. We show that for any constant 0

Platform ecosystems are becoming the locus of innovation-driven economies as technology-based platform within the ecosystem acts as the foundation for innovative product and services developed by the networked business community around that platform. At its core, a technology platform shows architectural properties, which once emerged in an industry could play as the de facto template for defining

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies of succinate:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (SQR) from Paracoccus denitrificans have been undertaken in the purified and membrane-bound states, Spectroscopic ''signatures'' accounting for the three iron-sulfur clusters (2Fe-2S, 3Fe-4S, and 4Fe-4S), cytochrome b, flavin, and protein-bound ubisemiquinone radicals have been obtained in air-oxidized, succinate-

For the first time, to our knowledge, a nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK) has been purified from plant mitochondria (Pisum sativum L.). In intact pea leaf mitochondria, a 17.4-kDa soluble protein was phosphorylated in the presence of EDTA when [γ-32]ATP was used as the phosphate donor. Cell fractionation demonstrated that the 17.4-kDa protein is a true mitochondrial protein, and the lack of acc

Lignin is a major component of lignocellulosic biomass and as such, it is processed in enormous amounts in the pulp and paper industry worldwide. In such industry it mainly serves the purpose of a fuel to provide process steam and electricity, and to a minor extent to provide low grade heat for external purposes. Also from other biorefinery concepts, including 2nd generation ethanol, increasing am

We present an experimental study of controlled Free Induction Decay (FID) in the extreme ultraviolet regime excited by High-order Harmonics. The control is done by applying a delayed infrared pulse.

The present study examines how the composition of social networks and perceived relationship content influence peer clustering in smoking, and how the association changes during the transition from late adolescence to early adulthood.The analysis was based on a Swedish two-wave survey sample comprising ego-centric network data. Respondents were 19 years old in the initial wave, and 23 when the fol

Phosphorus (P) eutrophication of lakes and streams, coming from drained farmlands, is a serious problem in areas with intensive agriculture. Installation of P sorbing filters at drain outlets may be a solution. Efficient sorbents to be used for such filters must possess high P bonding affinity to retain ortho-phosphate (Pi) at low concentrations. In addition high P sorption capacity, fast bonding

Simple models are less input demanding and their calibration involves a lower number of parameters, however their general applicability to vast areas must be tested. We analysed if a simple ecosystem model (PRELES) can be applied to estimate carbon and water fluxes of Boreal forests at regional scale. Multi-site (M-S) and site-specific (S-S) calibrations were compared using evapotranspiration (ET)

Type 2 diabetes and skeletal muscle insulin resistance have been linked to accumulation of the intramyocellular lipid-intermediate diacylglycerol (DAG). However, recent animal and human studies have questioned such an association. Given that DAG appears in different stereoisomers and has different reactivity in vitro, we investigated whether the described function of DAGs as mediators of lipid-ind

In view of global climate change and the increasing energy demand there is a need for renewable energy resources. This thesis discusses an energy-driven biorefinery concept based on the agricultural residues corn stover and wheat straw. The work is divided into two main parts. The first part is concerned with the effects of steam pretreatment and choice of acid catalyst on ethanol and biogas produ

Organic micro pollutants can be removed from water by ozonation. In this article we studied the performance of ozonation under real life conditions and compared results of the same ozonation pilot plant installed at different wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) thus operating with different waters. The comparability of the removal and reaction rate constants from one waste water treatment plant we

Effects of surfactants on protein adsorption are reviewed. Differences between removal of preadsorbed proteins (elutability) and competitive adsorption are discussed and simple models are suggested. It can be concluded that surfactants may interact through solubilization or replacement mechanisms depending on surfactant- surface interactions and surfactant- protein binding. Solubilization requires

The results of a search for the top squark, the supersymmetric partner of the top quark, in final states with one isolated electron or muon, jets, and missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses the 2015 LHC pp collision data at a center-of-mass energy of s=13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb-1. The analysis targets two types