Covalent bonding is commonly described by Lewis's theory(1), with an electron pair shared between two atoms constituting one full bond. Beginning with the valence bond description(2) for the hydrogen molecule, quantum chemists have further explored the fundamental nature of the chemical bond for atoms throughout the periodic table, confirming that most molecules are indeed held together by one ele

BACKGROUND: Treatment with heparin has been reported to interfere with lipid metabolism by release of Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL) into the circulation. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects on LPL activity by anticoagulants in combination with total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in the rat. In an earlier investigation we could show that TPN, per se, caused a three-fold increase o

Trends towards distributed power generation and the deregulation of energy markets are increasing the requirement for software tools that optimize power generation plant design and operation. In this context, this paper describes the GTPOM (thermo-economic optimization of whole gas turbine plant) European project, funded in part through the European Commissions 5th Framework Programme, focusing on

Abstract Time series analysis is a tool that is now commonly used when analysing the states of natural populations. This is a particularly complicated task for ungulates, since the data involved usually contain large observation errors and span short periods of time relative to the species’ life expectancies. Here we develop a method that expands on previous analyses, combining statistical state s

Background In addition to its glucose-lowering effect, metformin treatment has been suggested to improve lipidaemia in patients with type 2 diabetes. In contrast, in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1DM), information about the effect of metformin treatment on lipidaemia is limited. In this study, we report the effect of a 1-year treatment with metformin vs. placebo on plasma lipids in T1DM patients

To determine the epidemiology and outcome of children with Down syndrome (DS) diagnosed with acute leukaemia in the Nordic countries, data registered in the Nordic Society of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology (NOPHO) population-based leukaemia registry were analysed. Of 3494 children with acute leukaemia diagnosed between July 1984 and December 2001, 136 patients (3.9%) with DS were identified.

Differences in growth conditions during early life have been suggested to cause long-lasting effects on morphology and quality of adult birds. We experimentally investigated the effect of early growth conditions on the expression of sexual ornaments later in life in male ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus). We also investigated the effects on immune function, as it could be a functional li

The immunocompetence handicap hypothesis (ICHH) provides a functional explanation for how sexual ornaments can provide honest signals of male quality. A key aspect of this hypothesis is that testosterone (T) has a bimodal effect: a higher T level enhances the expression of ornaments (increasing mating success and, ultimately, fitness); however, at the same time, it suppresses immune function. Test

A series of truncated proteins from a thermostable Bacillus stearothermophilus alpha-amylase was prepared to study the importance of the extension in the C-terminus compared with other liquefying Bacillus alpha-amylases. The mutations introducing new translation termination sites shortened the 515 amino acid residue-long wild type enzyme by 17, 32, 47, 73 or 93 residues, The longer the truncation,

Hepatic tumours are rare in childhood. Within the frame of the EUROCARE II study, a total of 328 liver tumours in patients aged 0--14 years were reported during the period 1978--1989. The childhood cancer registries in UK and Germany contributed approximately a third of the cases each. Hepatoblastoma accounted for 71% of cases. The 5-year survival was 36% 95% confidence interval (CI) 28--46%, with

The aim of this study was to determine whether muscle fibre degeneration brought about by chronic low-frequency electrical stimulation was related to the pattern and frequency of stimulation. Rabbit fast-twitch muscles, tibialis anterior and extensor digitorum longus, were stimulated for 9 days with pulse trains ranging in frequency from 1.25 Hz to 10 Hz. Histological data from these muscles were

It is argued that the vacancy-oxygen (VO) complex (A center) in Ge has three charge states: double negative, single negative, and neutral. Corresponding energy levels are located at E-c-0.21 eV (VO--/-) and E-v+0.27 eV (VO-/0). An absorption line at 716 cm(-1) has been assigned to the asymmetrical stretching vibration mode of the doubly negatively charged VO complex. (C) 2002 American Institute of

It is known that bovine GH (bGH) transgenic mice have increased body mass, insulin resistance, and altered lipoprotein metabolism when fed a normal diet (ND). In this study, the effects of 8 wk of high-fat diet (HFD) were investigated in 6-month-old male bGH mice. Although littermate controls had unchanged energy intake, energy intake was higher in the bGH mice on a HFD than on a low-fat diet. Nev

Interactions between the moth Spodoptera littoralis and two of its host plants, alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) were examined, using plants grown under ambient (350 ppm) and elevated (700 ppm) CO2 conditions. To determine strength and effects of herbivore-induced responses assays were performed with both undamaged (control) and herbivore damaged plants. CO2 and damage eff

We have calculated the electronic structure of InAs quantum dots embedded in InP as a function of size, using strain dependent eight-band k.p theory in the envelope function approximation. A realistic three-dimensional shape was used for the simulations and the piezoelectric polarization of the system was included. In order to avoid spurious solutions, an extra term was added to the Hamiltonian. P

Purpose: Our purpose in this study was to explore relationships between aspects of objective and perceived housing in five European samples of very old adults, as well as to investigate whether cross-national comparable patterns exist. Design and Methods: We utilized data from the first wave of the ENABLE-AGE Survey Study. The five national samples totalled 1,918 individuals aged 75 to 89 years. O

This study is a quasi-experiment focusing on the deception detection ability of prison inmates (n = 52) and college students (n = 52). Participants made veracity judgments of videotaped statements of witnesses either lying or telling the truth about an event. In line with findings on criminals' beliefs about cues to deception, it was predicted that prison inmates would outperform students in terms

Carboxyl ester lipase (CEL) is involved in the hydrolysis and absorption of dietary lipids, but it is largely unknown to what extent CEL could be involved in determining the serum lipid levels. The C-terminal part of CEL consists of a unique structure with proline-rich O-glycosylated repeats of 11 amino-acid residues each. The common variant of the human CEL gene contains 16 proline-rich repeats,