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OBJECTIVE: To study dust exposure and inflammatory reactions in the respiratory tract among coffee curing workers in Tanzania. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a Tanzanian coffee curing factory. Coffee workers (n = 15) were compared with unexposed controls (n = 18); all workers were nonsmokers. Exhaled nitric oxide was examined using an electrochemistry-based NIOX MINO device. P

It has been proposed that introducing tyrosine residues into human hemoglobin (e.g. βPhe41Tyr) may be able to reduce the toxicity of the ferryl heme species in extracellular hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOC) by facilitating long-range electron transfer from endogenous and exogenous antioxidants. Surface-exposed residues lying close to the solvent exposed heme edge may be good candidates for

The main aim of this project was to explore whether the pine trees in Glen Affric (GAF), one of the more extensive pine woodlands in the northern Scottish Highlands, are, on average, reaching a senescent stage which could ultimately be detrimental to the sustainability of the pine woodland in this region under present management conditions This aim was realized by (1) comparing the mean stand age

Farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) is an intermediate in cholesterol biosynthesis, and it has also been reported to activate platelet LPA (lysophosphatidic acid) receptors. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of extracellular FPP in platelet aggregation. Human platelets were studied with light transmission aggregometry, flow cytometry and [35S]GTPγS binding assays. As shown previously, FPP

Detecting danger is one of the foremost tasks for a neural system. Larval parasitoids constitute clear danger to Drosophila, as up to 80% of fly larvae become parasitized in nature. We show that Drosophila melanogaster larvae and adults avoid sites smelling of the main parasitoid enemies, Leptopilina wasps. This avoidance is mediated via a highly specific olfactory sensory neuron (OSN) type. While

Context: The individual variability in the waning androgenic-anabolic functions of aging men may be influenced by the CAG repeat polymorphism in exon 1 of the androgen receptor (AR), affecting androgen sensitivity. However, findings on its phenotypic effects are inconclusive. Objective: To investigate the relationships between health status, various reproductive hormones and the AR CAG repeat leng

Processing myoelectrical activity in the forearm has for long been considered a promising framework to allow transradial amputees to control motorized prostheses. In spite of expectations, contemporary muscle-computer interfaces built for this purpose typically fail to satisfy one or more important desiderata, such as accuracy, robustness, and/or naturalness of control, in part due to difficulties

PURPOSE: To determine the impact of the implementation of novel systemic regimens and locoregional treatment modalities on survival at population level in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients presenting with peritoneal metastases (PMs).METHODS: All consecutive CRC patients with synchronous PM (<3 months) between 1995 and 2014 were extracted from the Eindhoven area of the Netherlands Cancer Registry. T

The hospital morbidity and mortality of 100 patients operated with two internal thoracic arteries with or without additional vein grafts (BITA group) were compared with a matched group of 100 patients operated with one left internal thoracic artery (ITA) on the anterior descending artery with additional vein grafts (LITA control group). In each study group, 3% of the patients had diabetes mellitus

We tested the hypothesis that avian haemosporidian (malaria) parasites specialize on hosts that can be characterized as predictable resources at a site in Amazonian Ecuador. We incorporated host phylogenetic relationship and relative abundance in assessing parasite specialization, and we examined associations between parasite specialization and three host characteristics – abundance, mass and long

Elevated molybdenum (Mo) contents in organic-rich sediments are indicative of deposition from an anoxic and sulfide-rich (euxinic) water-column. This can be used for tracing past euxinic conditions in ancient oceans from sedimentary archives. Conventional analytical detection of elevated molybdenum levels is, however, expensive and cannot be directly performed in the field. Here, we show that hand

An apparatus for static perimetry of the central visual field at 64 points is described. The testing is fully automatic: the test logic is programmed into a mini-computer and the results are plotted as a diagram in polar coordinates. A few cases with small or medium sized visual field defects have been analyzed by conventional methods and by the automatic instrument with satisfying results.

Tumor growth in the pelvis with nerve involvement causes severe pain which is notoriously resistant to pharmacological treatment. Chordotomy is a classical method for the relief of pain. This is a retrospective study of 24 chordotomy cases, operated on at the department of Neurosurgery, and independently evaluated at the department of Gynecologic Oncology. Initially 19 patients (79%) were painfree

The comment by Myers-Smith and Myers focuses on three main points: (i) the lack of a mechanistic explanation for climate-selection relationships, (ii) the appropriateness of the climate data used in our analysis, and (iii) our focus on estimating climate-selection relationships across (rather than within) taxonomic groups. We address these critiques in our response.

Population-based cancer registries are widely used to provide key information about cancer incidence, survival, determinants of progression and clues about pathogenesis. To substantially expand the limited data on diagnostic accuracy and completeness for lym-phoproliferative (LP) tumors in such databases, we conducted a retrospective investigation of close to 1,000 cases diagnosed during 4 decades

New radiative lifetimes of eight levels in Pr III have been measured using the time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence method. A tunable frequency-doubled dye laser with 1-ns pulse duration was used to excite selectively doubly ionized praseodymium in a laser-produced plasma. The experimental results agree generally well with theoretical data, provided core-polarization effects are considered in

BACKGROUND: The blood group antigens S and s are defined by amino acids Met or Thr at position 29, respectively, on glycophorin B (GPB). Commercial anti-s reagents are expensive to produce because of the scarcity of human anti-s serum. Our aim was to develop hybridoma cell lines that secrete reagent-grade anti-s monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) to supplement the supply of human anti-s reagents. STUDY