Plant water storage is fundamental to the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems by participating in plant metabolism, nutrient and sugar transport, and maintenance of the integrity of the hydraulic system of the plant. However, a global view of the size and dynamics of the water pools stored in plant tissues is still lacking. Here, we report global patterns of seasonal variations in ecosystem-scal

This chapter examines the communicational dynamic between adaptive and flexible CSOs. It focuses on women’s issues and citizen protest movements on the one hand, and political parties on the other, against the background of the extended protests that took place in Romania in the first half of 2012. These protests led to two changes in the government coalition and a significant reshuffling of the R

DDT1 MF-2 cells, which are derived from hamster vas deferens smooth muscle, contain α1-adrenergic receptors (54,800 ± 2700 sites per cell) that are coupled to stimulation of inositol phospholipid metabolism. Incubation of these cells with tumor-promoting phorbol esters, which stimulate calcium- and phospholipid-dependent protein kinase, leads to a marked attenuation of the ability of α1-receptor a

Aims: We aimed to compare two treatment regimes, one with and one without postoperative precautions in hemiarthroplasty patients, in terms of dislocation rate and patient-reported outcome. Direct lateral approach was used. Patients and Methods: 394 patients were included in a cluster-randomized study 2010−2014. Depending on which ward they were admitted to, they were allotted to free rehabilitatio

We have synthesized and characterized a high-affinity alpha1-adrenergic receptor probe, 4-amino-6,7-dimethoxy-2[4'-[5''-(3-125I-iodo-4-aminophenyl)pentan oyl]-1'-piperazinyl]quinazoline (125I-A55453). This ligand binds reversibly to rat hepatic plasma membranes with high affinity (K(D) = 77 ± 6 pM), and it labels the same number of 'specific' prazosin-competable sites as the alpha1-adrenergic rece

We have synthesized and characterized a novel high affinity radioiodinated α1-adrenergic receptor photoaffinity probe, 4-amino-6,7-dimethoxy-2-[4-[5-(4-azido-3-[125I]iodophenyl)pentanoyl]-1-p iperazinyl] quinazoline. In the absence of light, this ligand binds with high affinity (K(D) = 130 pM) in a reversible and saturable manner to sites in rat hepatic plasma membranes. The binding is stereoselec

BACKGROUND: Amblyopia is the most common monocular visual impairment in Scandinavia. A visual screening programme for preschool children was introduced in Sweden in the 1970s to reduce the prevalence of amblyopia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of this visual screening programme in adult men recruited to the armed forces in Sweden.METHODS: The prevalence of amblyopia was c

Aims: We observed a microvascular structure in the cerebral cortex that has not, to our knowledge, been previously described. We have termed the structure a ‘raspberry’, referring to its appearance under a bright-field microscope. We hypothesized that raspberries form through angiogenesis due to some form of brain ischaemia or hypoperfusion. The aims of this study were to quantify raspberry freque

In an earlier article, Inger Enkvist argues that the working conditions for the doctoral students in Sweden are too good since they are employed. We question her arguments and her conclusion. We show that there have not been a decline in the number of doctoral students since the universities started to employ doctoral students. Moreover, we argue that the new policy has improved the doctoral stude

Hemodialysis patients often suffer from cardiovascular disorders and uremic neuropathy, increasing the propensity to homeostatic imbalance that, in turn, may result in intradialytic complications like cramp, nausea, and, worse, hypotension. Ectopic beats, being abundant in such patients, may lead to imbalance through repeated, sudden drops in blood pressure. By exploring the properties of postecto

The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in AV nodal properties during administration of metoprolol, using a novel ECG-based method for parameter estimation. The AV nodal parameters account for the probability of an impulse not passing through the fast pathway, the absolute refractory periods of the slow and fast pathways (aRPs and aRPf), representing the functional refractory period, and rel

The aim of this work is to develop a method for detection of brief episode paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF). The proposed method utilizes four different features: RR interval irregularity, absence of P waves, presence of f-waves and noise level. The obtained features are applied to the Mamdani-type fuzzy inference method for decisionmaking. The performance was evaluated on one hundred 90 s lon

Intradialytic hypotension (IDH) is the most common complication during hemodialysis; early prediction and prevention of IDH would dramatically improve the living conditions for patients with end stage renal disease. A recently published study suggests that a decrease in the envelope of the photoplethysmograpy (PPG) signal can be used for predicting acute symptomatic IDH. In the present study, the

A method for respiratory rate estimation from electrocardiogram (ECG), based on variations in QRS complexes slopes, is evaluated over stress testing recordings. Besides the 12 standard, and the 3 vectorcardiogram (VCG), 2 additional leads derived from the VCG are analyzed. A total of 34 slope series were studied, 2 for each lead: slopes between the peaks of the Q and R waves, and between the peaks

The atrioventricular (AV) node plays a central role during atrial fibrillation (AF). We have recently proposed a statistical AV node model defined by parameters characterizing the arrival rate of atrial impulses, the probability of an impulse choosing either one of the dual AV nodal pathways, the refractory periods of the pathways, and the prolongation of refractory periods. All model parameters a

In the present work, f-wave morphology is characterized by principal component analysis and a novel temporal parameter defined by the cumulative normalized variance of the 3 largest principal components (r3). The 7-day behavior of persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) was studied in 9 patients using r3, AF frequency, and sample entropy (SampEn). Detection of circadian rhythms depended on the paramet

A novel method for QRST cancellation during atrial fibrillation (AF) is introduced for use in recordings with two or more leads. The method is based on an echo state neural network (ESN) which estimates the time-varying, nonlinear transfer function between two leads, one lead with atrial activity and another lead without, for the purpose of canceling ventricular activity. The performance is evalua

Acute hypotensive episodes are common during dialysis sessions, and represent a serious problem. Spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) and barorrefle x sensitivity (BRS) is performed to study the behaviour of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) during the hemodialysis. The ratio between the low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) power of HRV, as well as BRS in the HF band, are signi