Proteoglycans contribute to extracellular matrix remodeling in asthmatic airways. We investigated the effects of budesonide, a glucocorticoid, and formoterol, a long-acting beta(2)-adrenergic agonist, on serum-induced proteoglycan production by human lung fibroblasts. In 10% serum, total proteoglycan production was increased 1.5-fold (P < 0.01) compared with basal production in 0.4% serum. Budeson

Saarinen recently proposed a chosen IV statistical attack, called the $d$-monomial test, and used it to find eaknesses in several proposed stream ciphers. In this paper we generalize this idea and propose a framework for chosen IV statistical attacks using a polynomial description. We propose a few new statistical attacks, apply them on some existing stream cipher proposals, and give some conclusi

Proteoglycan aggregates were extracted from Swarm rat chondrosarcoma tissue in the native state and compared with proteoglycan aggregates isolated dissociatively with 4 M guanidine HCl. Purified aggregates were examined with a variety of electron microscopic techniques. In some cases they showed a structure of the central filament identical to that of the link-stabilized central filament observed

The origin dependence of the expression of two-photon circular dichroism in the length formulation employed by the authors in a recent computational study [B. Jansik , Chem. Phys. Lett. 414, 461 (2005)] is discussed in detail, and some inherently origin invariant alternative formulations are introduced. Extensive computational tests on a small reference chiral system, namely, a chiral form of H2O2

During δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) based Interstitial Photodynamic Therapy (IPDT) a high light fluence rate is present close to the source fibers. This might induce an unintentional tissue temperature increase of importance for the treatment outcome. In a previous study, we have observed, that the absorption in the tissue increases during the treatment. A system to measure the local tissue tempera

Sediment successions from the Kanin Peninsula and Chyoshskaya Bay in northwestern Russia contain information on the marginal behaviour of all major ice sheets centred in Scandinavia, the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea during the Eemian - Weichselian. Extensive luminescence dating of regional lithostratigraphical units, supported by biostratigraphical evidence, identifies four major ice advances at 1

Human tissue kallikreins (hKs) are a family of fifteen serine proteases. Several lines of evidence suggest that hKs participate in proteolytic cascade pathways. Human kallikrein 5 (hK5) has trypsin-like activity, is able to self-activate, and is co-expressed in various tissues with other hKs. In this study, we examined the ability of hK5 to activate other hKs. By using synthetic heptapeptides that

Asthma-like symptoms, methacholine hyperresponsiveness, and use of asthma medication are prevalent in elite cross-country skiers. We quantitated mucosal inflammatory cell infiltration and tenascin expression in the subepithelial basement membrane in endobronchial biopsy specimens of the proximal airways from 40 elite, competitive skiers (mean: 17.5; range: 16 to 20 yr) without a diagnosis of asthm

It is likely that everyone will, at some time, suffer from a problem related to the musculoskeletal system, ranging from a very common problem such as osteoarthritis or back pain to severely disabling limb trauma or rheumatoid arthritis. Many musculoskeletal problems are chronic conditions. The most common symptoms are pain and disability, with an impact not only on individuals’ quality of life bu

An updated version of the spectral ( bin) microphysics cloud model developed at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem [ the Hebrew University Cloud Model (HUCM)] is described. The model microphysics is based on the solution of the equation system for size distribution functions of cloud hydrometeors of seven types ( water drops, plate-, columnar-, and branch-like ice crystals, aggregates, graupel, an

The value of primary chemical compounds correlated with known secondary chemistry and morphological variation within the Ramalina siliquosa group has been investigated. A hundred specimens were collected on two different occasions from 13 different populations on the Swedish west coast during April 1984. Protein extracts were prepared from 27 on secondary constituents identified and morphologicall

The activity of ADAMTS 13, the von Willebrand factor cleaving protease, is deficient in patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). In the present study, the phenotype of ADAMTS13 in TTP and in normal plasma was demonstrated by immunoblotting. Normal plasma (n=20) revealed a single band at 190 kD under reducing conditions using a polyclonal antibody, and a single band at 150 kD under

Incubator covers are increasingly being used in neonatal care as part of minimal disturbance strategies. The aim of this study was to examine possible effects of incubator covers on sleep patterns in stable premature infants. Quiet sleep (QS) can be investigated by amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) at 32–34 weeks gestational age. In nine premature infants (gestational ages 26–32 w

The presence and diversity of IncP-1 plasmids in the influent of a Danish wastewater treatment plant was studied by PCR amplification of the trfA gene in community DNA followed by sequencing. Three sets of PCR primers were designed to amplify a 281 bp fragment of trfA from all currently sequenced IncP-1 plasmids. A neighbor-joining tree, based on a multiple alignment of 72 obtained sequences toget

We tested the sensitivity of a dynamic ecosystem model (LPJ-GUESS) to the representation of soil moisture and soil temperature and to uncertainties in the prediction of precipitation and air temperature. We linked the ecosystem model with an advanced hydrological model (JULES) and used its soil moisture and soil temperature as input into the ecosystem model. We analysed these sensitivities along a

The aroma compounds in broccoli stored in different modified atmospheres were studied. The packaging materials used were oriented polypropylene (OPP), poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) containing an ethylene-absorbing sachet. All samples were stored for either 1 week at a constant temperature of 10 degreesC or for 3 days at 4 degreesC, followed by 4 days at 10 degrees

Environmental fluctuations have been proposed to enhance the coexistence of competing phenotypes. Evaluations are here presented on the effects of prey density and short-term temporal clumping of prey availability on the relative foraging success of unequal interferers in social forager groups of juvenile brown trout Salmo trutta feeding on drifting invertebrate prey (frozen chironomids). Groups o

Some recent sexual selection models predict that female choice in species without paternal care may function to discriminate among males in order to pass ''good genes'' to offspring. Data quantifying the relationship between female mate choice and reproductive success are scarce. In a Swedish population of pheasants females prefer to mate with long-spurred males. Male viability also correlates wit

Research in avian blood parasites has seen a remarkable increase since the introduction of polymerase chain reaction-based methods for parasite identification. New data are revealing complex multihost-multiparasite systems which are difficult to understand without good knowledge of the host range and geographical distribution of the parasite lineages. However, such information is currently difficu