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Loss and fragmentation of semi-natural grasslands have had negative consequences for grassland biodiversity, such as butterflies. Urban parks and other urban green spaces have so far largely been overlooked as suitable butterfly habitats, although they could potentially sustain diverse butterfly populations over time. We analysed the temporal change in butterfly species assemblages in urban green
Microdialysis was used for sampling enzyme hydrolysis products of starch hydrolysed with beta -amylase, pullulanase, and/or isoamylase, to obtain information about the molecular structure of starch. Starches from waxy, normal, and high amylose maize, and from normal and genetically modified potato (amylose deficient) were used, and also commercial potato amyloses. The hydrolysis products were anal
The lymphatic system, composed of lymphatic vessels, lymph, lymph nodes, and lymphocytes, is a distinctive vasculature (discontinuous basement membrane, open endothelial junctions, anchoring filaments, valves, and intrinsic contractility), different yet similar to the blood vasculature; an integral component of the plasma-tissue fluid-lymph circulation (the "blood-lymph loop"); and the center of t
Pollination is an essential process in the sexual reproduction of seed plants and a key ecosystem service to human welfare. Animal pollinators decline as a consequence of five major global change pressures: climate change, landscape alteration, agricultural intensification, non-native species, and spread of pathogens. These pressures, which differ in their biotic or abiotic nature and their spatio
Based on a pharmacophore model of the benzodiazepine binding site of the GABA(A) receptors, developed with synthetic flavones and potent 3-carbonylquinolin-4-ones, 3-alkyl- and 3-amido-6-methylisothiazoloquinolin-4-ones were designed, prepared and assayed. The suggestion that the interaction between the hydrogen bond donor site H1 with the 3-carbonyl oxygen in 3-carbonylquinolin-4-ones can be repl
Increasing landscape heterogeneity and organic farming practices are known to enhance species richness in agroecosystems. However, little is known about the consequences of these management options on other biodiversity components such as community composition, phylogenetic structure and functional diversity which may be more closely linked to ecosystem
Agricultural intensification has resulted in large-scale loss of bee pollinators, but while some species have been negatively affected others seem to endure changed conditions. It has been suggested that certain morphological, ecological and life-history traits make some species more vulnerable to landscape changes. Information on which traits make species vulnerable and why may aid conservation o
Having historically been abundant throughout Europe, the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) has in recent decades suffered severe population declines in many urban and rural areas. The decline in rural environments is believed to be caused by agricultural intensification, which has resulted in landscape simplification. We used giving-up densities (GUDs) of house sparrows feeding in artificial food
Pollination is a key ecosystem service which most often has been studied in isolation although effects of pollination on seed set might depend on, and interact with, other services important for crop production. We tested three competing hypotheses on how insect pollination and pest control might jointly affect seed set: independent, compensatory or synergistic effects. For this, we performed a ca
The base (BOP) and the top (TOP) of the world income pyramid represent the poor people and the people from developed countries, respectively. The design of products for the BOP is an important ingredient of the poverty reduction approach that combines business development with poverty alleviation. However, the current understanding of the design for the BOP is limited. This study, using a protocol
Crop diversification and maintenance of semi-natural habitats (grasslands and field boundaries) are suggested to enhance farmland biodiversity, but the relative importance of these factors remains poorly known. We evaluated how crop diversity and availability of semi-natural grasslands at a landscape-scale interacted with local farming management (three management types from low to high intensity:
Antibiotic resistance (AR) poses an ever growing threat to global public health. Methods are urgently needed that simplify and accelerate the clinical detection and classification of AR. Here we describe a function-based antibiotic resistance assay (FARA) biosensing strategy. The scheme comprises three key components: i) FARA directly measures the thermal signal generated from the catalytic break-
Mikhlin's method for solving Laplace's equation in domains exterior to a number of closed contours is discussed with particular emphasis on the Dirichlet-Neutnann map. In the literature there already exit tyro computational modes for Mikhlin's method. Here a new mode is presented. The new mode is at least as stable as the previous modes. Furthermore, its computational complexity in the number of c
To reach its large computing needs, the ALICE experiment at CERN has developed its own middleware called AliEn, centralised and relying on pilot jobs. One of its strength is the automatic installation of the required packages. The Nordic countries have offered a distributed Tier-1 centre for the CERN experiments, where the job management should be done with the NorduGrid middleware ARC. We have de
This paper presents a new and practical simulation interface to design and analyze lower-limb prosthetic devices. The proposed tool simulates the gait of a lower limb amputee using a desired prosthetic device. It allows the analysis of simple passive devices or the testing of control algorithms for active prostheses. The results presented in this paper correspond to the use of this tool to test a
Accurate measurement of bank risk is a matter of considerable importance for bank regulation and supervision. Current practices in most countries emphasize reliance on financial statement data for assessing banks’ risk. However, the possibility of increased reliance on market-based risk indicators has been a topic for academic and regulatory debate for a long time. Market monitoring of bank risk h
