Review of Dissertation

CCR5-using (R5) human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) strains cause CD4+ T-cell loss in most infected individuals, but mechanisms underlying cytopathicity of R5 viruses are poorly understood. We investigated mechanisms contributing to R5 envelope glycoprotein (Env)-mediated cellular apoptosis by constructing a panel of retroviral vectors engineered to co-express GFP and R5 Envs derived from

In recent times, the imminent lack of public IPv4 addresses has attracted the attention of both research community and industry. The cellular industry has decided to combat this problem by using IPv6 for all new terminals. However, the success of 3G network deployment will depend on the services offered to end users. Currently, almost all services reside in the public IPv4 address space, making th

Type-2 diabetes (T2D) is a complex disease characterized by insulin resistance in target tissues and impaired insulin release from pancreatic beta cells. As central tissue of glucose homeostasis, the pancreatic islet continues to be an important focus of research to understand the pathophysiology of the disease. The increased access to human pancreatic islets has resulted in improved knowledge of

OBJECTIVES: The intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) frequently is a cause of fetal morbidity and mortality, and influences perinatal outcome. Several genes have been identified to explain aetiology of IUGR, beside others the gene coding for tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). DESIGN: To investigate frequency of AM polymorphism of TNF-alpha gene and its correlation with TNF-alpha level in

We report Au-assisted growth of GaAs/GaSb nanowire heterostructures on GaAs(1 1 1)B-substrates by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. The growth is studied at various precursor molar fractions and temperatures, in order to optimize the growth conditions for the GaSb nanowire segment. In contrast to most other III-V nanowire systems, the GaSb nanowire growth is Group V-limited under most conditions.

Objectives To describe short-term (up to 12 months) and long-term (up to 7 years) damage in patients with newly diagnosed antineutrophil-cytoplasm antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV). Methods Data were combined from six European Vasculitis Study group trials (n=735). Long-term follow-up (LTFU) data available for patients from four trials (n=535). Damage accrued was quantified by the Vasculitis Da

NURBS (Non-uniform rational B-splines) surfaces are one of the most useful primitives employed for high quality modeling in CAD/CAM tools and graphics software. Since direct evaluation of NURBS surfaces on the GPU is a highly complex task, the usual approach for rendering NURBS is to perform the conversion into Bezier surfaces on the CPU, and then evaluate and tessellate them on the GPU. In this p

Objective To determine the diagnostic performance of ultrasound-based simple rules, risk of malignancy index (RMI), two logistic regression models (LR1 and LR2) and real-time subjective assessment by experienced ultrasound examiners following the exclusion of masses likely to be judged as easy and 'instant' to diagnose by an ultrasound examiner, and to develop a new strategy for the assessment of

This article focuses on Public Procurement for Innovation as a relevant demand-side instrument to be exploited in the mitigation of grand challenges. It intends to provide some clarification on what should (and what should not) be regarded as innovation procurement. It defines what is meant by Public Procurement for Innovation and categorizes it according to three dimensions: (i) the user of the p

Context: The dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, vildagliptin, inhibits glucagon secretion at hyperglycemia but appears to enhance glucagon counterregulation during hypoglycemia in type 2 diabetes.Objective:The objective of the investigation was to study whether vildagliptin also improves α-cell function in type 1 diabetes (T1D). Patients and Methods: The study was a single-center, double-blind, ra

Objectives: The first consensus report presented by the European Germ Cell Cancer Consensus Group (EGCCCG) in the year 2004 has found widespread approval by many colleagues throughout the world. In November 2006, the group met a second time under the auspices of the Department of Urology of the Amsterdam Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Methods: Medical oncologists, urological surgeons,

Photoinduced electron injection dynamics from CdSe quantum dots to ZnO nanowires is studied by transient absorption and time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy measurements. Ultrafast electron transfer from the CdSe quantum dots to ZnO is proven to be efficient already on a picoseconds time scale (tau = 3-12 ps). The measured kinetics was found to have a two-component character, whose origin is discu

This paper deals with the extended audience of advertising. More specifically, it examines how consumer advertising influences the attractiveness of a corporate brand as a potential employer. The results from two experimental studies show that creative advertising signals brand ability, and enhances perceptions of development (Study 1 and 2) and reputation value (Study 2) offered by the brand to e