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We start by providing an evolutionary scenario for the emergence of semantics. It is argued that the evolution of anticipatory cognition and theory of mind in the hominids opened up for cooperation about future goals. This cooperation requires symbolic communication. The meanings of the symbols are established via a "meeting of minds." The concepts in the minds of communicating individuals are mod
Scaling methodology represents a problem in assessments of activities of daily living (ADL) and little is known about how the results of these assessments are affected by data treatment principles and statistical methods. The aims of this paper are to: (i) describe alternative ways of transforming a response pattern on ADL into a single number; and (ii) to present and compare different ways of ana
Questions: How is succession on ex-arable land affected by sowing high and low diversity mixtures of grassland species as compared to natural succession? How long do effects persist? Location: Experimental plots installed in the Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Methods: The experiment was established on ex-arable land, with five blocks, each containing three
A major bottleneck in understanding zoonotic pathogens has been the analysis of pathogen co-infection dynamics. We have addressed this challenge using a novel direct sequencing approach for pathogen quantification in mixed infections. The major zoonotic food-borne pathogen Campylobacter jejuni, with an important reservoir in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of chickens, was used as a model. We inve
BACKGROUND: CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODN) are capable of inducing high amounts of type I IFNs with many immunomodulatory properties. Furthermore, type-I IFNs have been proposed to play a key role in mediating effects of CpG-ODN. The precise role of IFN-beta in the immunomodulatory effects of CpG-ODN is not known. OBJECTIVE: Here, we aimed to elucidate the role of IFN-beta in the anti-allergi
The safe application of ionising radiation for diagnosis and therapy requires a high level of knowledge of the underlying processes and of quality assurance. Sophisticated modern equipment can be used effectively for complicated diagnostic and therapeutic techniques only with adequate physics support. In the light of recent analyses and recommendations by national and international societies a joi
A gas chromatographic method was developed to quantify the phytotoxin prehelminthosporol, which is a sesquiterpene metabolite of the plant pathogen Bipolaris sorokiniana. The toxin was extracted from mycelium or culture filtrates, pre-cleaned using solid phase extraction, and analyzed by gas chromatography as a trimethylsilyl-derivative. The detection limit of the method was 5 ng mul(-)1 (signal t
The present work investigated whether polyamines play a role in the control of the innate immune response in the brain. The first evidence that these molecules may be involved in such a process was based on the robust increase in the expression of the first and rate-limiting enzyme of biosynthesis of polyamines during immune stimuli. Indeed, systemic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration increas
The hemY gene of the Bacillus subtilis hemEHY operon is essential for protoheme IX biosynthesis. Two previously isolated hemY mutations were sequenced. Both mutations are deletions affecting the hemY reading frame, and they cause the accumulation of coproporphyrinogen III or coproporphyrin III in the growth medium and the accumulation of trace amounts of other porphyrinogens or porphyrins intracel
Natural antibodies (NAbs) constitute an important component in vertebrate immune system, but, in spite of this, have often been dismissed as "non-specific background" signals. We observed a significant positive relationship between water python (Liasis fuscus) body length/age and levels of antibodies reactive with two administered antigens (tetanus and diphtheria). However, no humoral immune respo
The permselectivity of the parietal pleura was determined in spontaneously breathing anesthetized rabbits and dogs. In rabbits, we injected intrapleurally 5 ml of 1-g/dl albumin solution containing 100 microCi of 131I-labeled albumin plus 100 microCi of either lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) or alpha 2-125I-macroglobulin. Dogs received 100 ml of 1-g/dl albumin solution containing 100 microCi of 131I-a
The Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis contains two respiratory oxidases of the haem-copper superfamily: cytochrome aa(3), which is a quinol oxidase, and cytochrome caa(3), which is a cytochrome c oxidase. Cytochrome c oxidase uniquely contains a di-copper centre, Cu-A. B. subtilis CtaG is a membrane protein encoded by the same gene cluster as that which encodes the subunits of cytochrome c
Excessive secretion of glucagon is a major contributor to the development of diabetic hyperglycemia. Secretion of glucagon is regulated by various nutrients, with glucose being a primary determinant of the rate of alpha cell glucagon secretion. The intra-islet action of insulin is essential to exert the effect of glucose on the alpha cells since, in the absence of insulin, glucose is not able to s
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), known to prevent osteoporosis and fractures, on markers of bone and cartilage metabolism. Furthermore, we assessed whether changes in these markers corresponded to alterations in bone mineral density and radiographic joint destructions in postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis. Eighty-eight women were randomized
We present a new method for separation of enantiomers with high-field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS), coupled to mass spectrometric detection. Upon addition of an appropriate chiral reference compound to the analyte solution and subsequent ionization of the solution by electrospray ionization, analyte enantiomers formed diastereomeric complexes, which were potentially separa
BACKGROUND: We evaluated the impact of testicular germ cell cancer (TGCC), its treatment and length of follow-up on sperm DNA integrity. METHODS: In 96 TGCC patients, semen was collected at specific intervals until 5 years after treatment. Sperm DNA integrity was assessed by the sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA, n = 193) and by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end
