The primary productivity of a plant community can be modeled as the product of the amount of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) absorbed by the canopy and a light use efficiency factor, where the amount of absorbed PAR (APAR) is the product of the fractional absorption and the amount of incident PAR. By implementing a method, PARcalc, using atmospheric data from the Moderate Resolution Imag

Given the lack of consistent evidence of the relationship between Mediterranean dietary patterns and body fat, we assessed the cross-sectional association between adherence to a modified Mediterranean diet, BMI, and waist circumference (WC). A total of 497,308 individuals (70.7% women) aged 25-70 y from 10 European countries participated in this study. Diet was assessed at baseline using detailed

Aided by mice with multiple deleted brain matrix protein genes, the biochemical analysis of mouse brain matrix molecules indicates a constitutive production of more proteoglycans than can be integrated in multimolecular matrix structures. Possible functions of non-matrix integrated proteoglycans, and aspects of incomplete compensatory mechanisms in knockout mice are discussed.

BACKGROUND:: The extent of surgical resection for malignant laryngeal lesions influences voice quality. An instrument to estimate histopathologic grading of dysplasia in vivo may spare normal tissue without increasing the risk of local failure. METHODS: Laryngeal lesions (N = 39; 21 after administration of delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA)) were investigated with laser-induced fluorescence, and the

Social differences in the role of habits in health-related behaviour are explored within both sociology and economics, where we define habits as non-reflective, repetitive behaviour. The corresponding theoretical perspectives are the habitus theory, the theory of individualization, and habits as rational decision rules. Sixteen thematically structured interviews are analysed using qualitative meth

Cytogenetic analysis was performed on short-term cultures of primary ovarian carcinomas from 62 patients. Cytogenetic analysis was successful in 59 cases. Clonal chromosome aberrations were detected in 35 tumors. Only numerical changes or a single structural change were found in five carcinomas: trisomy 12 was the sole anomaly in two tumors, one tumor had the karyotype 50,XX, + 5, + 7, + 12, + 14,

The survivable network design problem is a classical problem in combinatorial optimization of constructing a minimum-cost subgraph satisfying predetermined connectivity requirements. In this paper we consider its geometric version in which the input is a complete Euclidean graph. We assume that each vertex v has been assigned a connectivity requirement r(upsilon).. The output subgraph is supposed

A common assumption underlying laterality research is that visual field asymmetries in lateralized word perception indicate the hemispheric specialisation of processes generally available for the perception of words, including words viewed in a more typical setting (i.e. in the central visual field). We tested the validity of this assumption using a phenomenon (the word-letter effect) frequently r

Abstract in French La de´termination du profil de concentration en chlorures dans un be´ton d’une structure soumise a` un environnement marin est une de´marche usuelle pour une pre´diction de la dure´e de service re´siduelle de la structure. Les me´thodes d’e´chantillonnage les plus communes sont le pre´le`vement de poudre par forage ou le carottage a` sec a` profondeurs croissantes pour dosages dInvestigating marine concrete by determining the chloride profile is a common way for making a prediction of the remaining service life of a structure. The most common methods of sampling concrete for this purpose is dust sampling by dry drilling or sampling cores which are analyzed by profile grinding in a laboratory. Now, a similar study has been performed, by simulating different sampling techn

Flight feather moult in small passerines is realized in several ways. Some species moult once after breeding or once on their wintering grounds; others even moult twice. The adaptive significance of this diversity is still largely unknown. We compared the resistance to mechanical fatigue of flight feathers from the chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita, a migratory species moulting once on its breedin

Objective - To screen risk groups for low bone mineral density by quantitative ultrasound in primary health care. Design - Cross-sectional. Intervention - None. Subjects - Risk categories for osteoporosis (a fragility fracture, malabsorption, immobilisation, inflammatory joint disease, glucocorticoid, fenantoin or thyroxin treatment, renal insufficiency or "miscellaneous"), 775 women and 179 men a

Genetic variation resulting from changes during somatic development in modular organisms may be inherited by subsequent generations due to the late development of their germ line. As a consequence, both sexually and asexually produced offspring may be genetically variable. The presence of heritable intraclonal variation and the great life history variation among modular organisms requires that evo

House dust mite allergens express protease activity and it has been suggested that this property has pathogenic effects by increasing airway absorption. In accordance, house dust mite allergens may increase mucosal permeability in vitro. The objective of the present study was to examine nasal absorption of desmopressin (1-deamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin) in patients with perennial house dust mite

Several human histo-blood groups are glycosphingolipids, including P/P1/P-k. Glycosphingolipids are implicated in HIV-host-cell-fusion and some bind to HIV-gp120 in vitro. Based on our previous studies on Fabry disease, where P-k accumulates and reduces infection, and a soluble P-k analog that inhibits infection, we investigated cell surface-expressed P-k in HIV infection. HIV-1 infection of perip

Advances in minimally invasive surgery have made laparoscopy and full-thickness bowel biopsy possible in the investigation of patients with suspected gastrointestinal neuromuscular disorders. The safety and diagnostic yield of this investigation have not been formally reported. A prospective study was undertaken of 124 patients with clinico-physiological diagnoses of chronic intestinal pseudo-obst