BACKGROUND: There are few reports describing the epidemiology of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Somalia. Over the years 2002 to 2005, a yearly average of 140 patients were reported from the Huddur centre in Bakool region, whereas in 2006, this number rose to 1002 patients. Given the limited amount of information on VL and the opportunity to compare features with the studies done in 2000 in this pa

The glucose concentration in diluted whole blood has been measured, using a miniaturized thermal biosensor based on the enzyme thermistor principle. The biosensor is a small flow-injection system. A sample volume of 20μ1 is injected into a flow of 50μl/min. The heat produced when the sample passes the enzyme column is measured with a thermistor connected to a Wheatstone bridge. The enzyme column c

Defect sites on oxide semiconductors play a crucial role in promoting photocatalytiperformance and modulating the bandgap structure of photocatalysts. However, the role of interfacial coordinatively unsaturated defect sites between metal and oxide in photocatalysis is still under debate. So, we designed an experiment to probe the role of interfacial coordinatively unsaturated defect sites. In this

Predicting hydrodynamic forces from ship waves along a waterway is essential for managing a sustainable shoreline in fairways. In this context, a numerical model can be a useful tool for calculating ship waves in fairways with complex geometry. XBeach is a numerical model offering the potential to be a one-tool solution for simulating ship waves from the ship to the shore. However, XBeach has not

The formation of amyloid fibrils and oligomers is a hallmark of several neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), and contributes to the disease pathway. To progress our understanding of these diseases at a molecular level, it is crucial to determine the mechanisms and rates of amyloid formation and replication. In the context of AD, the self-replication of aggregates of the

The present review discusses the recent developments in the design, fabrication and implementation of mini/micro thermal biosensors for biochemical/clinical analysis and monitoring. The principle of thermometric sensing and recent developments in microfabrication technology are introduced, followed by their adaptation to thermometric devices. The instrumentation of the mini, micro and multisensing

A setup capable of conducting gas pulse-X-ray probe ambient pressure photoelectron spectroscopy with high time resolution is presented. The setup makes use of a fast valve that creates gas pulses with an internal pressure in the mbar range and a rising edge of few hundreds of microseconds. A gated detector based on a fast camera is synchronized with the valve operation to measure X-ray photoemissi

Polyethyleneimine (PEI) was covalently coupled to carbodiimide-activated reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC). The PEI-coated RVC was activated with glutaraldehyde, and glycerol dehydrogenase and diaphorase were then immobilized. The PEI-coated RVC with immobilized enzymes functioned both as an enzyme reactor and a working electrode in an amperometric detection system where NAD+/NADH was recycled by

A chemiluminescent microformat enzyme linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) has been optimized for the simultaneous determination of multiple 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) samples. The competitive immunoassay employed a 2,4-D-BSA conjugate, anti-2,4-D monoclonal antibodies and alkaline phosphatase (AP) labelled anti-mouse IgG. The bound AP conjugate was determined by quantitating the chemil

Simultaneous detection of multiple signals for common biochemical/electrochemical reactions is a challenging area of research for comparative studies. Based on our previous work with electrochemically assisted thermal biosensors, a hybrid biosensor has been developed for the simultaneous monitoring of the electrochemically generated current and the thermal signal produced in association with enzym

The major inhibitor of the cysteine class of proteinases found in human body fluids, such as spinal fluid, milk, and seminal plasma, is cystatin C. In this study we show that human bronchoalveolar fluid also contains cystatin C and examine cystatin C expression by alveolar macrophages in vitro. Immunoprecipitation of extracts of metabolically labeled cells and immunoblotting of cellular extracts a

SPECIES-SPECIFIC TRACKS of animals can be an effective way of mapping species that are hard to find even if they are present. We used observations of sap rows on trees to calculate densities of Eurasian Three-toed Woodpeckers Picoides tridactylus. We surveyed 14 fixed routes in northern Sweden below the montane forest for sap rows during the autumn of 2020. We used our observations of fresh sap ro

A miniaturized thermal biosensor has been evaluated as part of a flow-injection analysis system for the determination of glucose in whole blood. Glucose was determined by measuring the heat evolved when samples containing glucose passed through a small column with immobilized glucose oxidase and catalase. Samples of whole blood (1 μl) can be measured directly, without any pretreatment. The correla

The sputter deposition and the growth of thin copper films on float glass substrates are in situ studied using grazing incidence, reflection mode X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy with subsecond time resolution. The experimental data are compared with model calculations, assuming the presence of crystalline, face-centered cubic metallic Cu nanostructures. From a detailed analysis of the

Three different carbohydrate prosthetic groups associated to three chymotryptic peptides, Q1, Q2 and Q3, were isolated from the reduced and carboxymethylated human protein HC. The first oligosaccharide forms an O-glycosidic linkage with a threonine residue at position 5 in the polypeptide chain of protein HC. The second and third carbohydrate prosthetic groups form N-linkages with asparagine resid

Photoluminescence (PL) blinking is a common phenomenon in nanostructured semiconductors associated with charge trapping and defect dynamics. PL blinking kinetics exhibit very broadly distributed timescales. The traditionally employed analysis of probability distribution of ON and OFF events suffers from ambiguities in their determination in complex PL traces making its suitability questionable. He

Protein D, a novel surface protein of the bacterial species Haemophilus influenzae with affinity for human IgD, was isolated after solubilization with sonication and Sarcosyl-extraction by a single SDS-PAGE step. From 1 ml of packed bacteria was prepared 0.25 mg of purified protein D. The apparent m.w. of protein D was estimated to 42,000 by SDS-PAGE and gel chromatography. Edman degradation cycle

Avhandlingen beskriver syntes och egenskaper hos fem stycken olika katjonledande polymersystem. Dessa system designades så att polymererna skulle kunna mikrofasseparera i distinkta faser med en fas för mekanisk styrka och en för jonledningsförmåga. Tre stycken studier inriktade på litiumjonledande polymer för batterier och två på protonledande polymermembran till bränsleceller är inkluderade i avhThis thesis describes the synthesis and properties of five different cation conducting polymer systems. These systems were designed so that the polymers would be able to microphase separate into distinct phases with one phase for mechanical strength and one for ionic conductivity. Three studies focused on lithium ion conducting polymers for batteries and two on proton exchange membranes for fuel c