A cell-based biosensor system was designed for monitoring an anaerobic process for treatment of high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) levels in wastewater samples from a factory processing concentrated rubber latex. The BOD biosensor used immobilized mixed culture of microorganisms as the biological sensing element and an oxygen electrode as the transducer. The assay principle is based on the deter

We have compared the basic organization of the primary olfactory centre, the antennal lobe (AL), in 4 hemipteran species representing the 2 major lineages in this order. The Homoptera were represented by the psyllid Trioza apicalis and its aphid relatives the grain aphid Sitobion avenae Fabricius and the rose-grain aphid Metopolophium dirhodum Walker, whereas the Heteroptera were represented by th

Yeast to be used in simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of lignocelluloses materials has to be prepared in a separate cultivation step. The effects of the cultivation procedure on the performance of SSF of steam pretreated softwood were studied in the current work. The yeast used in the SSF was either directly commercially available Baker's yeast (as packaged yeast) or the same st

OBJECTIVE To integrate the mapping of ERG alterations with the collection of expression microarray (EMA) data, as previous EMA analyses have failed to consider the genetic heterogeneity and complex patterns of ERG alteration frequently found in cancerous prostates. MATERIALS AND METHODS We determined genome-wide expression levels with GeneChip Human Exon 1.0 ST arrays (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA,

The mechanisms underlying the increase in volume of muscle tissue, and the functional development of muscle fibers from childhood through adolescence to adult age, have been studied. Cross sections of autopsied whole vastus lateralis muscle from 22 previously physically healthy males, 5 to 37 years of age, were prepared enzyme histochemically (myofibrillar ATPase) and examined morphometrically. Th

Protein kinase C (PKC) plays a prominent role in immune signaling, and the paradigms for isoform selective signaling are beginning to be elucidated. Real-time microscopy was combined with molecular and biochemical approaches to demonstrate a role for PKC-epsilon in Fcgamma receptor (FcgammaR)-dependent phagocytosis. RAW 264.7 macrophages were transfected with GFP-conjugated PKC isoforms, and GFP m

Aseptic loosening of a joint prosthesis is associated with remodelling of bone tissue in the vicinity of the prosthesis. In the present study, we investigated the effects of synovial fluid ( SF) from patients with a loose prosthetic component and periprosthetic osteolysis on osteoclast and osteoblast activities in vitro and made comparisons with the effects of SF from patients with osteoarthritis

The lubricating effect of styrene-dimethylsiloxane block copolymer films spin cast on Si wafers was found to increase with increasing size of the poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) block. Friction properties of symmetrical and close-to-symmetrical block copolymers were evaluated in contact with bromobutyl rubber in a plate-on-plate configuration. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that the copolym

The effect of ethanol on the characteristics of carbachol-stimulated release of Ca2+ from intracellular Ca2+ stores was studied in single SH-SY5Y cells. Stimulation with carbachol, in the absence of extracellular Ca2+, elicited a rapid Ca2+ increase in SH-SY5Y cells peaking within seconds after addition of maximal agonist concentration. The Ca2+ response pattern in single cells resembled the popul

The adsorption of CO on narrosized gold particles deposited on a cerium oxide substrate is strongly influenced by the roughness and concentration of oxygen vacancies of the CeOx substrate surface. Literature showed that Au nucleates at step edges on oxidized samples. For oxidized samples we found that the Au dispersion is dependent on the surface roughness. A rough CeO2 surface has a higher step d

Background Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from persons with contact allergy to nickel react in vitro predominantly with nickel-induced CD4+ T cell-mediated production of both T-cell type 1 and 2 cytokines. Objectives The aim of the present study was to investigate if the contact allergen parthenolide, a sesquiterpene lactone of lipophilic character, elicits an immune response which diff

In two consecutive years, seedlings of Norway spruce (Picea abies) were planted in a 50-yr-old Norway spruce forest in limed (3.8 tons CaCO3 ha-1) and control plots. After 6 months they were harvested and the mycorrhizal status of the roots was analysed. Six types of mycorrhiza were distinguished. Three decreased after liming, two increased and one was not affected consistently by the liming. The

The major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) encodes for highly variable molecules, responsible for foreign antigen recognition and subsequent activation of immune responses in hosts. Mhc polymorphism should hence be related to pathogen resistance and immune activity, with individuals that carry either a higher diversity of Mhc alleles or one specific Mhc allele exhibiting a stronger immune response

Antiviral therapy in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is limited by haematological side-effects, especially thrombocytopenia and leucopenia. The pancytopenia associated with liver cirrhosis has multifactorial causes, but hypersplenism seems to be a major contributor, especially regarding thrombocytopenia. The use of PSE as a 'Pretreatment' in order to make more patients with HCV-induced cirrhosis

Until recently fish welfare attracted little attention, but international and national legislation and standards of fish welfare are now emerging and an overview of these developments is presented in this study. Whereas animal welfare legislation is based on public morality, animal ethics does not automatically accept public morality as normative and elaborates arguments regarding the way humans s

Parenthood is often considered a major factor behind gender differences in time allocation, especially between paid work and housework. This article investigates the impact of parenthood on men's and women's daily time use in Sweden and how it changed over the 1990s. The analysis is made using time diary data from the Multinational Time Use Survey (MTUS; N = 13,729) and multivariate Tobit regressi