Hyperplasia of the middle ear mucosa contributes to the sequelae of acute otitis media. Understanding the signal transduction pathways that mediate hyperplasia could lead to the development of new therapeutic interventions for this disease and its sequelae. Endotoxin derived from bacteria involved in middle ear infection can contribute to the hyperplastic response. The p38 mitogen-activated protei

1 Plant species that do not typically form mycorrhiza are most likely to be successful under conditions where mycorrhizal fungi are not important for plant coexistence or where the costs of symbiosis outweigh the benefits. The relative occurrence of non-mycorrhizal species was investigated in relationship to exchangeable soil P in herbaceous vegetation, where arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) associatio

The momentum distribution of electrons from semileptonic decays of charm and bottom quarks for midrapidity |y|< 0.35 in p+p collisions at s=200 GeV is measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider over the transverse momentum range 2 < p(T)< 7 GeV/c. The ratio of the yield of electrons from bottom to that from charm is presented. The ratio is determined using partial D/D

This book constitutes the refereed research proceeding of the 13th European Software Process Improvement Conference, EuroSPI 2006, held in Joensuu, Finland in October 2006. The 18 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 62 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on SPI (Software Process Improvement) processes, SPI and risk management, measurement,

Seeing through a turbid medium such as fog, mist or clouds is a fascinating idea that would find applications in a large range of fields from research to industry. The main difficulty of this challenging task is related to the complexity of the multiple of optical radiation propagated through an emsemble of scattering particles and/or droplets randomly distributed in a medium. To deal with this ch

A method is described for the assay of lipoprotein lipase, using a stable, radioactive substrate emulsion. Fatty acid-labeled trioleoylglycerol was emulsified by homogenization in glycerol with lecithin as detergent. This anhydrous emulsion was stable for at least six weeks. Substrate solutions for enzyme assay were prepared by diluting the emulsion with buffer containing serum and albumin. The fa

To, address; he possibility, that genes specifically control the chronic phase of arthritis we have isolated a congenic fragment from the resistant E3; rat cm the, susceptible DA rat background. The isolated fragment covers the Pia6 quantitative trait locus on chromosome 14, which previously has been identified to be linked to chronic pristane induced arthritis (PIA) in gene segregation experiment

Recently, associations of several common genetic variants with height have been reported in different populations. We attempted to identify further variants associated with adult height in a self-contained population (the Sorbs in Eastern Germany) as discovery set. We performed a genome wide association study (GWAS) (similar to 390 000 genetic polymorphisms, Affymetrix gene arrays) on adult height

The driving force behind oncoproteomics is the belief that certain protein signatures or patterns exist that are associated with a particular malignancy. if so, the correlation of clinical parameters with defined protein expression patterns would allow us to predict disease progression and perhaps even postulate improved therapeutic modalities. The technological challenges to achieve these goals a

The expression of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptors in porcine uterus and human skin in situ, was compared with that of cultured primary cells isolated from the same tissues. PDGF receptor expression was examined by monoclonal antibodies specific for the B type PDGF receptor and by RNA/RNA in situ hybridization with a probe constructed from a cDNA clone encoding the B type PDGF recep

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and obesity have been coupled to short telomere length in peripheral blood. The biological background to this observation is not obvious from the literature. In this study we have analyzed a large set of known risk factors for CVD in relation to telomere length in blood cells on a merged cohort of 989 individuals recruited in the Malmo Diet and Cancer Cohort (MDCC) and

A processing scheme for the fabrication of embedded W-GaAs contacts has been established and the resulting contact characteristics have been evaluated. The main advantage of these contacts is that they are stable during high-temperature epitaxial overgrowth. The fabrication scheme is based on a liftoff process with electron beam evaporation of tungsten and subsequent epitaxial overgrowth using met

This essay attempts to shed light on why aggressive ideas gain support within established western states. To do that it attempts to answer the question why the armed conflict against Iraq received such varied support during the first four months of 2003 within the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, France and Spain. A comparative study indicates that the justifications for the armed con

The etiology of SLE is multifactorial with an important genetic impact. Several genes involved in control of autoimmunity and inflammation appear to be important. Hereditary complement deficiency states are associated with increased risk of SLE, but contribute only marginally to the incidence of SLE in the population. However, these conditions have contributed considerably to the knowledge of path

OBJECTIVES: A combination of surgical and medical approaches may address both the underlying pathophysiological processes and the most threatening symptoms in twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). CASE: A primigravida with monochorionic twin pregnancy was referred with signs of TTTS at 16 weeks. One twin was severely hydropic with normal amniotic fluid, the co-twin had anhydramnios. Laser treatme

Magnetic compass orientation in birds has been shown to be light dependent. Results from behavioural studies indicate that magnetoreception capabilities are disrupted under light of peak wavelengths longer than 565 nm, and shifts in orientation have been observed at higher light intensities (43-44x1015 quanta s-1 m-2). To investigate further the function of the avian magnetic compass with respect

Marine-lacustrine isolation contacts from seven basins in the Nanortalik area, South Greenland have been analysed and dated. The basins were isolated from the sea as a consequence of isostatic rebound following deglaciation. The isolation contacts were identified with litho- and biostratigraphical analyses, especially sedimentary changes, grey scale analyses and analyses of macroscopical remains o