The impact of the operating Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) on the contamination of top soil layer with artificial radionuclides has been studied. Results of the investigation of artificial gamma-ray emitting radionuclide distribution in soil in the vicinity of the INPP and distant regions in Lithuania in 1996-2008 (INPP operational period) show that nowadays Cs-137 remains the most important

We describe a route towards self-assembled colloidal molecules, where thermoresponsive microgels serve as discrete, externally tunable interaction sites. The ability of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and poly(N-isopropylmethacrylamide) (PNIPMAM) microgels to adsorb to the oil/water (O/W) interface and create Pickering-stabilized mini-emulsions was first tested using the controlled addition o

Psychological and physiological benefits of viewing nature have been extensively studied for some time. More recently it has been suggested that some of these positive effects can be explained by nature's fractal properties. Virtually all studies on human responses to fractals have used stimuli that represent the specific form of fractal geometry found in nature, i.e. statistical fractals, as oppo

The long-term psychiatric consequences of exposure to war and/or mass conflict continue to be of great concern and particularly in Cambodia. The current cross-sectional study examined the relationship between history of trauma and current psychiatric and functional morbidity in 3200 randomly selected adults aged 18-60 in Cambodia. Structured interviews were conducted from November 2011 until May 2

The occurrence of osteoarthritis (OA) as an indicator of physical activity was explored in two Middle Neolithic samples from Gotland (c. 3400-2300 BC) in the Baltic Sea: Ajvide (n = 46) and Vasterbjers (n = 32). The difficulty in diagnosing OA is recognised and only eburnation was used as a definite criterion for OA. The relationship between eburnation lesions and Musculoskeletal Stress Markers (M

Herbivores play a key role in the carbon (C) cycle of arctic ecosystems, but these effects are currently poorly represented within models predicting land-atmosphere interactions under future climate change. Although some studies have examined the influence of various individual species of herbivores on tundra C sequestration, few studies have directly compared the effects of different herbivore as

A high-resolution study of benthic foraminiferal assemblages was performed on a ca. eight metre long sediment core from Gullmar Fjord on the west coast of Sweden. The results of Pb-210- and AMS C-14-datings show that the record includes the two warmest climatic episodes of the last 1500 years: the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and the recent warming of the 20th century. Both periods are known to be a

PURPOSE: Physical activity during growth is associated with high peak bone mass and may, as a result, prevent osteoporosis later in life. It is therefore possible that athletic activity during youth could lower the risk of fragility fractures in old age. Though, this is currently unclear and, based on evaluations of surrogate skeletal end point variables in former athletes, we hypothesized that th

In this note we explore in detail the importance of, and problems associated with, correcting for variance differences between data sets obtained from hypothetical and real referenda. We show that a previous discussion in the literature rests on a problematic estimation of the relative scale factor. The implications are illustrated with data from Cummings et al. (1997) [5], as well as with simulat

BackgroundIn children, T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) has inferior prognosis compared with B-cell precursor ALL. In order to improve survival, individualized treatment strategies and thus risk stratification algorithms are warranted, ideally already at the time of diagnosis. ProcedureWe analyzed the frequency and prognostic implication of mutations in NOTCH1 and FBXW7 in 79 cases of S

Carrier-envelope phase stable 4 fs near-IR pulses with 3 mJ energy were generated by spectral broadening of circularly polarized 8 mJ pulses in a differentially pumped 2 m long composite stretched flexible hollow fiber. The pulses were characterized using both second-harmonic generation frequency-resolved optical gating (SHG-FROG) and SHG d-scan methods.

Background/Aims: There is an established association between the multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN 1) syndrome and foregut carcinoids. Some registry studies also indicate that offspring to carcinoid patients run an increased risk of developing a carcinoid tumor themselves. However, there are only scattered reports of gastrointestinal carcinoids in two generations. The aim of this study was

Prasugrel, a third-generation thienopyridine antiplatelet agent, demonstrated superior efficacy to clopidogrel but with an increased risk of bleeding in the phase III pivotal registration Trial to Assess Improvement in Therapeutic Outcomes by Optimizing Platelet Inhibition with Prasugrel-Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TRITON-TIMI 38). This article reviews and discusses select components of

Despite the perceived importance of labor market opportunities in shaping married women’s outside option, and their bargaining power within households as a result, this link has received very little empirical attention. Using longitudinal data on who makes the decision on a wide range of issues within Mexican households and data from the administrative records of the Mexican Social Security Instit

A variety of Point-Of-Care monitors for the measurement of hematocrit, hemoglobin, blood gas with electrolytes and lactate can be used also in the prehospital setting for optimizing and individualizing trauma resucitation. Point-Of-Care coagulation testing with activated prothrombin test, prothrombin test and activated coagulation/clotting time tests are available for prehospital use. Although rob

Areal bone mineral density (aBMD), as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), predicts hip fracture risk only moderately. Simulation of bone mechanics based on DXA imaging of the proximal femur, may help to improve the prediction accuracy. Therefore, we collected three (1-3) image sets, including CT images and DXA images of 34 proximal cadaver femurs (set1, including 30 males, 4 female

Introduction: Mitochondrial dysfunction has been suggested as a contributing factor to the pathogenesis of sepsis-induced multiple organ failure. Also, restoration of mitochondrial function, known as mitochondrial biogenesis, has been implicated as a key factor for the recovery of organ function in patients with sepsis. Here we investigated temporal changes in platelet mitochondrial respiratory fu

We propose a mechanism of how the desire to maintain friendships can intensify gender differences in educational choice. The required conditions for this mechanism would be that (1) adolescent males and females differ in their overall educational preferences, (2) wanting to stay close to friends motivates some adolescents to adjust their educational choice in line with their friends' choices, and

The aim of the current study was to provide updated time-path equations for risk factors of type-2-diabetes-related cardiovascular complications for application in risk calculators and health economic models. Observational data from the Swedish National Diabetes Register were analysed using Generalized Method of Moments estimation for dynamic panel models (N = 5,043, aged 25-70 years at diagnosis