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Specific alterations (mutations, deletions, insertions) of virus genomes are crucial for the functional characterization of their regulatory elements and their expression products, as well as a prerequisite for the creation of attenuated viruses that could serve as vaccine candidates. Virus genome tailoring can be performed either by using traditionally cloned genomes as starting materials, follow

Development of relevant models of Parkinson's disease (PD) is essential for a better understanding of the pathological processes underlying the human disease and for the evaluation of promising targets for therapeutic intervention. To date, most pre-clinical studies have been performed in the well-established rodent and non-human primate models using injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) or 1-me

A role for the immune system in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's Disease (PD) has previously been suggested. A recent genome-wide association (GWA) study identified an association between one single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the human leucocyte antigen (HLA) region (HLA-DRA rs3129882) and PD in a population of American patients with European ancestry. In that study, the minor rs3129882 allel

Short lead(II) alkanoates, from propionate to heptanoate, show a very intricate and reversible thermal behaviour, presenting crystalline phases and three different glass states (regular or amorphous, liquid crystal and rotator glasses) with different degrees of ordering depending on the alkyl chain length. A thorough thermal study was carried out in order to study the different phases and to analy

The small leucine-rich proteoglycans fibromodulin and lumican are functionally related extracellular matrix proteins involved in the regulation of collagen fiber formation. Fibromodulin-deficient apolipoprotein E-null mice have decreased vascular retention of lipids and reduced development of atherosclerosis suggesting that fibromodulin may influence the disease process. The aim of the present stu

Objective To examine use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of knees with no radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis to determine the prevalence of structural lesions associated with osteoarthritis and their relation to age, sex, and obesity. Design Population based observational study. Setting Community cohort in Framingham, MA, United States (Framingham osteoarthritis study). Participants 710 p

Mutations in the BRCA1 gene substantially increase a woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer. However, there is great variation in this increase in risk with several genetic and non-genetic modifiers identified. The BRCA1 protein plays a central role in DNA repair, a mechanism that is particularly instrumental in safeguarding cells against tumorigenesis. We hypothesized that polymorphisms that alte

This paper describes the preliminary design of the BioMAX beamline at the 3 GeV ring of the MAX IV facility, focusing on the optics and x-ray beam performance. The MAX IV facility will include two storage rings with 1.5 GeV and 3.0 GeV electron energy and a linac serving both as injector for the two rings and feeding a short pulse facility. BioMAX is one of the first seven beamlines funded at the

Dating of sediment cores from the Baltic Sea has proven to be difficult due to uncertainties surrounding the C-14 reservoir age and a scarcity of macrofossils suitable for dating. Here we present the results of multiple dating methods carried out on cores in the Gotland Deep area of the Baltic Sea. Particular emphasis is placed on the Littorina stage (8 ka ago to the present) of the Baltic Sea and

H-2 NMR experiments on a nonionic oriented lamellar phase demonstrate that shear flow induces structural defects in the lamellar structure. These substantial structural changes give rise to a transition from a viscous to a solidlike behavior; the elastic modulus of presheared samples was found to increase, reversibly, with the applied preshear rate. A similar behavior was found when step-cycling t

Most individuals who learn about hereditary cancer manage well, but identification of subgroups who find this knowledge burdening would allow psychosocial intervention. The objective of the study was to assess sense of coherence (SOC) in individuals with Lynch syndrome with comparison to a general population and correlation to self-concept.

Forearm amputees often experience non-painful sensations in their phantom when the amputation stump is touched. Cutaneous stimulation of specific stump areas may be perceived as stimulation of specific phantom fingers (stump hand map). The neuronal basis of referred phantom limb sensations is unknown. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to demonstrate a somatotopic map of the phantom fin

This study determined the cognitive outcomes of Finnish children born with an extremely low birth weight (ELBW) and assessed the agreement between their neuropsychological assessment and how their parents evaluated their cognitive difficulties.

The state of the art for large database object retrieval in images is based on quantizing descriptors of interest points into visual words. High similarity between matching image representations (as bags of words) is based upon the assumption that matched points in the two images end up in similar words in hard assignment or in similar representations in soft assignment techniques. In this paper w

We introduce a density functional formalism to study the ground-state properties of strongly correlated dipolar and ionic ultracold bosonic and fermionic gases, based on the self-consistent combination of the weak and the strong coupling limits. Contrary to conventional density functional approaches, our formalism does not require a previous calculation of the interacting homogeneous gas, and it i

To assess older age as a prognostic factor in patients resuscitated from out-of-hospital-cardiac arrest (OHCA) and the interaction between age and level of target temperature management.

Surface states and traps play an important role in the photophysics of colloidal quantum dots. These states typically lead to large red-shifted photoluminescence. We have used steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopic techniques to investigate the nature of the traps and their lifetimes in colloidal CdSe quantum dots. We conclude that at least two different types of traps contribute to the phot