Soot has a pronounced effect on the cryosphere and experiments are still needed to reduce the associated uncertainties. This work presents a series of experiments to address this issue, with soot being deposited onto a natural snow surface after which the albedo changes were monitored. The albedo reduction was the most pronounced for the snow with higher soot content, and it was observed immediate

Divergence in sexually selected traits in allopatry should affect the degree and direction of hybridization. However, few studies have established the causes and targets of sexual selection during secondary contact. Common wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) from north-central Italy have highly exaggerated male sexual traits compared to populations in Western Europe. Using experimental populations, we

Scope: 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is a furanic compound produced in heat-processed foods by nonenzymatic browning reactions. HMF has been demonstrated to be hepato- and nephrotoxic in animals with a link to its metabolite 5-sulfooxymethylfurfural (SMF). To date little is known about either the formation of SMF from ingested HMF or the formation of DNA adducts in animals or human beings. Methods

The Gaia all-sky astrometric survey is challenged by several issues affecting the spacecraft stability. Amongst them, we find the focus evolution, straylight and basic angle variations Contrary to pre-launch expectations, the image quality is continuously evolving, during commissioning and the nominal mission. Payload decontaminations and wavefront sensor assisted refocuses have been carried out t

The article is an introduction to the festival 'Visioner av Nuet' Stockholm, 1966. The article focuses on the historical event, and contextualizes it to both the discussions on art and technology at the time, and to the planned collaborations with the prominent artists from the American group E.A.T. such as Billy Klüver, John Cage, Robert Rauchenberg and Öyvind Fahlström, - collaborations that nev

Natural hazards such as landslides, floods, rockfalls, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, sinkholes, and snow avalanches represent potential risks to our infrastructures, properties, and lives. That potential will continue to escalate with current and continued human encroachment into risk areas. With the help of geophysical techniques many of those risks can be better understood and quantified, the

I de nordiska länderna betraktades jesuiterna av tradition som själva sinnebilden för den ”katolska faran” och för allt det onda som av hävd förknippades med katolicismen. Men trots det var det just jesuiterna som drog till sig flest konvertiter, och ”jesuitförsamlingarna” fungerade som dragplåster för intresserade protestanter. Vad var förklaringen till detta? Hur såg man på konversioner i den ka

In 1984, Richard Ruiz set forth three orientations to language planning: language as problem, language as right, and language as resource. Since that time, the orientations have only become more powerful, rising to the level of paradigm in the field of language policy and planning (LPP). In this paper, we revisit Ruiz’s orientations. By drawing upon Ruiz’s own work as well as the work of other sch

Introduction Neurogenic erectile dysfunction is a common sequela of radical prostatectomy. The etiology involves injury to the autonomic cavernous nerves, which arise from the major pelvic ganglion (MPG), and subsequent neuroinflammation, which leads to recruitment of macrophages to the injury site. Currently, two macrophage phenotypes are known: neurotoxic M1 macrophages and neuroprotective M2 ma

The staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) are secreted by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and are the most common causative agent in staphylococcal food poisoning. The staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) has been associated with large staphylococcal food poisoning outbreaks, but newer identified SEs, like staphylococcal enterotoxin H (SEH) has recently been shown to be present at similar levels as S

This article describes how natural geothermal soil temperature gradients in Iceland have been used to study terrestrial ecosystem responses to soil warming. The experimental approach was evaluated at three study sites in southern Iceland one grassland site that has been warm for at least 50 years (GO), and another comparable grassland site (GN) and a Sitka spruce plantation (FN) site that have bot

The study presented concerns the dermal exposure risks during harvest work in greenhouses after fungicide application. The contamination of the fungicide vinclozolin on clothes, overalls and gloves, worn during harvest after application was investigated. The fungicide was extracted from the cloth with 1-chlorobutane and finally determined with HPLC. The average amount of fungicide found on the clo

The human cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate early promoter has been extensively used to drive target gene expression in transgenic mammalian cells. DNA methylation of the CMV promoter has been shown to be the reason for a reduced promoter activity and silencing of the target gene. We have established an in vitro model system, in which human brain cancer cells (glioblastoma multiforme, GBM) were tran

Pompe disease is a progressive metabolic myopathy caused by deficiency in lysosomal acid α-glucosidase and results in cellular lysosomal and cytoplasmic glycogen accumulation. A wide spectrum of clinical phenotypes exists from hypotonia and severe cardiac hypertrophy in the first few months of life to a milder form with the onset of symptoms in adulthood. The disease is typically due to severe mut

To keep the spatially averaged temperature and thermal stress of gas turbine blades and guide vanes within a permissible level, the present research concentrates on the optimization of the internal cooling passages in a guide vane. The main purpose is to search for the most optimal sizes, distributions, and shapes of internal cooling channels located in a guide vane. Cylindrical cooling passages a

Recently, there has been a growing research interest in the co-gasification of biomass with coal to produce syngas and electricity in a sustainable manner. Co-gasification technology do not only decrease potentially the exploitation of a significant amount of conventional coal resources, and thus lower greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, but also boost the overall gasification process efficiency. In

The research community of ontological security scholars is vibrant and wide-ranging, defined by a conceptual core and by the themes through which scholars register their disagreements. In this special issue we have collected some of the work that has been produced or inspired by discussions and meetings during the last few years. The goal is to showcase some of the breadth of insights and possibil