In discussions on naturalism vs. stylization in the design of virtual pedagogical agents (VPAs), the smooth communication argument is one of the most central in favour of visual naturalism. Yet, this argument dissolves if we separate design into the levels of: (l) linguistic performance, where the support for naturalism is strong; (2) dynamic visual appearance, in the sense of bodily behaviour, wi

Identification of genes controlling complex diseases has proven to be difficult; however, animal models may pave the way to determine how low penetrant genes interact to promote disease development. We have dissected the Cia5/Eae3 susceptibility locus on mouse chromosome 3 previously identified to control disease in experimental models of multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Congenic strai

Introduction Amplification of the TNK2 gene in primary tumours correlates with poor prognosis. In accordance, TNK2 overexpression was shown to promote invasion of cancer cells - but the mechanism by which TNK2 mediates these effects is unresolved. TNK2 was suggested to regulate Cdc42-driven migration by activation of breast cancer antioestrogen resistance 1 (BCAR1); however, distinct from this eff

In this paper we present an object detection system for city environments. We focus on the problem of automatically detecting windows on buildings. Several possible applications for the detection system are given, such as recognition of buildings, pose estimation, rectification and 3D reconstruction. Experimental validations on real images are also provided. The system is capable of detecting wind

Dendritic cells (DCs) are highly specialized antigen-presenting cells that play a key role in the initiation and regulation of immune responses. The ability of DCs to process antigens and the outcome of their interaction with T cells are largely dependent on phenotype as well as maturation state of DCs. In this study, we generated DCs from rat bone marrow precursors. Bone marrow cells cultured in

Aims/hypothesis. Conformation-dependent autoantibodies directed against GAD65 are markers of Type 1 diabetes. In this study we aimed to determine whether the substitution of GAD65 with GAD67 amino acids would affect the binding of conformation-dependent GAD65 autoantibodies. Methods. We used PCR-based site-directed mutagenesis to generate a series of mutated GAD65 cDNA constructs in which specific

The solution structure is presented for the second family 4 carbohydrate binding module (CBM4-2) of xylanase 10A from the thermophilic bacterium Rhodothermus marinus. CBM4-2, which binds xylan tightly, has a beta-sandwich structure formed by I I strands, and contains a prominent cleft. From NMR titrations, it is shown that the cleft is the binding site for xylan, and that the main amino acids inte

There is a large, unutilised energy potential in agricultural waste fractions. In this pilotscale study, the efficiency of a simple two-stage anaerobic digestion process was investigated for stabilisation and biomethanation of solid potato waste and sugar beet leaves, both separately and in co-digestion. A good phase separation between hydrolysis/ acidification and methanogenesis was achieved, as

A genetic algorithm for optimal placement of optical fibers in arbitrary geometries for interstitial photodynamic therapy has been developed. Based on calculated fiber positions, the diffuse light distribution is simulated by solving the diffusion equation by means of the finite element method and the treatment time is calculated. Utilizing an instrument for interstitial photodynamic therapy that

Randomized clinical trials have established the role of third-generation aromatase inhibitors (AIs) (letrozole, anastrozole, and exemestane) as standard treatment for patients with hormone-sensitive metastatic breast cancer who have experienced disease progression with antiestrogen therapy. Significant gains in clinical efficacy and improved tolerability over progestins (megestrol acetate) and the

The combination between a protein separation technique and the PIXE method has a great potential for large surveys, including thousands of samples, in which multielemental analysis is required. Gel filtration with a Sephadex G-200 gel and a TRIS-acetate buffer was used for separating proteins in human serum. The fractions were doped with an yttrium/vanadium standard and then concentrated and pipet

The implicit assumption of many scientific and regulatory frameworks that ecosystems impacted by human pressures may be reverted to their original condition by suppressing the pressure was tested using coastal eutrophication. The response to nutrient abatement of four thoroughly studied coastal ecosystems that received increased nutrient inputs between the 1970s and the 1980s showed that the traje

I Norge liksom i Sverige har det visat sig att det finns ett stort behov av en lärobok på universitetens grundutbildning i dramatikanalys. I Norge är det mer än 25 år sedan som en sådan bok kom ut. För fem år sedan var situationen densamma i Sverige. Frode Hellands och Lisbeth Pettersen Wærps bok Å lese drama. Innføring i teori og analyse är därför välkommen – inte minst därför att den som titeln

Basal cell carcinoma cells show low proliferation rates at the invasive front and a concordant upregulation of the cdk-inhibitor p16, limiting proliferative capacity. Little is known about the mechanisms of p16 regulation in normal and malignant cells apart from that many transcription factors such as Ets1, Ets2, SP1, SP3, JunB and the polycomb protein Bmi1 have the potential to induce or repress

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) analysis is a promising tool for diagnosis and management of pulmonary diseases. Its clinical usefulness is still limited however due to unresolved issues around e. g. reproducibility, anatomical site of origin of EBC solutes and mechanisms of EBC formation. To gain some knowledge on these issues, three different airway deposition patterns of an aqueous aerosol cont

Because of their small size, great abundance and easy dispersal, it is often assumed that marine planktonic microorganisms have a ubiquitous distribution that prevents any structured assembly into local communities. To challenge this view, marine bacterioplankton communities from coastal waters at nine locations distributed world-wide were examined through the use of comprehensive clone libraries