BACKGROUND: Eotaxin is a chemokine that attracts and activates eosinophils. The present study examines the occurrence of eotaxin in nasal mucosal surface liquids in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis without allergen exposure and during repeat allergen challenge with and without topical glucocorticosteroid treatment. The number of subepithelial eosinophils and mucosal outputs of bulk plasma

Background There is an absence of population-based long-term studies on the risk of neurological sequelae in children born after in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). Our aim was to compare the frequency of such problems between IVF-born children and controls. Methods We did a population-based retrospective cohort study in which we compared development of neurological problems in 5680 children born after

We use action spectra published by the International Commission on Illumination to examine diurnal, seasonal and latitudinal variations in erythemally weighted (sunburning) UV-a health risk, and vitamin D-weighted UV-a health benefit. Vitamin D-weighted UV is more strongly dependent on ozone and solar zenith angle. Consequently, its diurnal, seasonal and geographic variability is more pronounced t

A density functional theory for polymer solutions is generalized to cases where the monomers have a different diameter to the solvent. An appropriate free energy functional is obtained by integration of the generalized Flory equation of state for such systems. This functional predicts that entropic demixing may occur in polymer solutions in which the solvent particles are smaller than the monomers

BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that the dopaminergic system is involved in the pathogenesis of major depression, Axis II disorders, and suicidal behavior. Depressed suicide attempters constitute a heterogenous group and important differences may exist between depressed suicide attempters with or without Axis II disorders. Therefore, we compared demographic and clinical parameters, and cerebrospinal f

Male small china-mark moth Cataclysta lemnata (Pyralidae) swarming over shallow water show a flight activity that peaks during the afternoon but which sometimes is extended into the night. We exposed wild, naturally flying C. lemnata to simulated predator attacks consisting of a) bursts of ultrasound (26 kHz, simulating a bat) and b) a thrown stick (rapid movement, simulating a small bird), during

The bis(triarylamine) systems 1-5 were synthesized and investigated by spectroscopic and electrochemical methods. They all have an aromatic five-membered ring system in common as a central part of their pi-electron bridge. The absorption spectra are presented. All compounds undergo five oxidations whereupon only the first two are reversible under semi-infinite cyclic voltammetry conditions. The sp

The mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT) is considered to be an important mediator of apoptosis and necrosis, and is specifically blocked by cyclosporin A (CsA). CsA has been shown to exert a potent neuroprotective action in vivo when allowed to cross the blood–brain barrier in various animal models of acute neurological insults and neurodegenerative disease. The neuroprotective effect of C

In the present work the genetically modified Trichoderma reesei strain QM9414 was used to produce full-length Ce17B (endoglucanase I, EGI) under the control of the constitutive Aspergillus nidulans gpdA promoter in the presence of glucose. However, the full-length Ce17B enzyme was found to be truncated to lower molecular weight components in the culture broth. Truncation of recombinant proteins pr

We have studied the electrical properties of cement mortars in the frequency range 10-3 to 107 Hz. The bulk d.c. conductivity was distinguished from electrode polarization effects at low frequencies as well as from a frequency dispersion at high frequencies. The bulk conductivity displays a dramatic variation with the water content of the samples. A percolation threshold can be seen at very low wa

Elevated ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation has been reported to have few effects on plants but to alter the soil microbial community composition. However, the effects on soil microorganisms have to be mediated via plants, because direct radiation effects are only plausible on the uppermost millimeters of soil. Here, we assessed secondary effects of UVB on soil microbes. The responses in the dominant p

Enzymatic acrylation is a process of potentially strong interest to the chemical industry. Direct esterification involving acrylic acid is unfortunately rather slow, with inhibition phenomena appearing at high acid concentrations. In the present study the acrylation of I-octanol catalyzed by immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B (Novozym (R) 435) was shown to be as much as an order of magnitude

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) expresses a receptor that binds the Fc portion of IgG. This HSV-1 Fc gamma-binding protein is, like protein A of Staphylococcus aureus, known to bind human IgG1, IgG2 and IgG4 but not IgG3 subclasses. However, IgG3 with the allotype Gm(s+)(t+), prominent in the Oriental population, reacts with protein A. This prompted us to investigate the reactivity of Oriental

Activation of Th1 lymphocytes, IFN-gamma production and macrophage activation are crucial in defense against Mycobacteria. In developing countries, Th2 activation and IL-4 production have been associated in vitro with tuberculosis and with poor clinical outcome after treatment. Serological markers of Th1 [soluble lymphocyte activation gene (LAG)-3] and Th2 (IgE, soluble CD30, and CCL22/macrophage-

Polysulfones and polyphenylsulfones having pendant phenyl groups with sulfonic acid units have been prepared by lithiation of the respective polymer, followed by reaction with 2-sulfobenzoic acid cyclic anhydride. The resulting ionomers were cast into membranes and properties such as thermal stability, ion-exchange capacity, water sorption and proton conductivity were evaluated. These membranes pr

In this paper, we consider the problem of oil molecular transport between nonequilibrium microemulsion oil droplets in water. In particular, we have investigated the kinetics of solubilization of big oil drops by smaller microemulsion droplets transforming a bimodal size distribution into an equilibrium microemulsion with a unimodal size distribution. The process involves the diffusion of oil mono

This paper treats the problem of calculating the macroscopic effective properties of dielectric mixtures where both the inclusions and the background medium can be anisotropic. For this homogenization process, the Maxwell Garnett -type approach is used where the inclusions are assumed to be spherical and embedded in a homogeneous background medium. The anisotropy of the background medium has to be