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Human neutrophils are activated by the beta-galactoside-binding lectin galectin-3, provided that the cells are primed by in vivo extravasation or by in vitro preactivation with, for example, LPS. Removal of terminal sialic acid can change neutrophil functionality and responsiveness due to exposure of underlying glycoconjugate receptors or change in surface charge. Here, we investigated whether suc
Background: Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) is a standard staging procedure in early breast cancer. Its suitability for larger tumours has been questioned. This study evaluated the reliability of SNB in women with invasive breast cancer larger than 3 cm in diameter who were clinically axillary node negative. Methods: Some 109 women with a turnout larger than 3 cm on pathological analysis were identifie
This paper presents a new fast approach to improving stability in polynomial equation solving. Gröbner basis techniques for equation solving have been applied successfully to several geometric computer vision problems. However, in many cases these methods are plagued by numerical problems. An interesting approach to stabilising the computations is to study basis selection for the quotient space C[
Identifying mechanisms behind assortative mating is central to the understanding of ecological divergence and speciation. Recent studies show that populations of the freshwater isopod Asellus aquaticus can rapidly become locally differentiated when submerged Chara vegetation expands in lakes. In the novel Chara habitat, isopods have become lighter pigmented and smaller than in ancestral reed stand
The aim was to test the hypothesis that the human leucocyte antigen (HLA) haplotype that is not inherited from the mother, that is, the non-inherited maternal antigen (NIMA) affects the risk for type 1 diabetes (T1D). A total of 563 children with T1D and 286 non-diabetic control children from Sweden were genotyped for DRB1, DQA1 and DQB1 alleles. The frequency of positively (DR4-DQA1*0301-B1*0302
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
Evidence for the importance of genetic factors in male fertility is accumulating. In the literature and the Mendelian Cytogenetics Network database, 265 cases of infertile males with balanced reciprocal translocations have been described. The candidacy for infertility of 14 testis-expressed transcripts (TETs) were examined by comparing their chromosomal mapping position to the position of balanced
Optical pump-terahertz probe spectroscopy has become a widely used experimental tool for the investigation of the ultrafast far-infrared response of polar systems. In this paper the authors present an analytical method of calculating the propagation of ultrashort terahertz pulses in photoexcited media. The transient terahertz wave form transmitted through the sample is equal to a product of the in
A recently introduced silicon microextraction chip (SMEC), used for on-line proteomic sample preparation, has proved to facilitate the process of protein identification by sample clean up and enrichment of peptides. It is demonstrated that a novel grid-SMEC design improves the operating characteristics for solid-phase microextraction, by reducing dispersion effects and thereby improving the sample
HIV-1 protease has a broad and complex substrate specificity, which hitherto has escaped a simple comprehensive definition. This, and the relatively high mutation rate of the retroviral protease, makes it challenging to design effective protease inhibitors. Several attempts have been made during the last two decades to elucidate the enigmatic cleavage specificity of HIV-1 protease and to predict c
Acoustic standing wave technology combined with microtechnology opens up new areas for the development of advanced particle and cell separating microfluidic systems. This tutorial review outlines the fundamental work performed on continuous flow acoustic standing wave separation of particles in macro scale systems. The transition to the microchip format is further surveyed, where both fabrication
Background: Free and total human kallikrein 2 (hK2) might improve the discrimination between prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia. Concentrations of hK2 are 100-fold lower than concentrations of prostate-specific antigen (PSA); therefore, an hK2 assay must have a low detection limit and good specificity. Methods: PSA- and hK2-specific monoclonal antibodies were used in solid-phase, two
We report new occurrences of ca. 1460 Ma magmatism in western Lithuania, where large volumes of granitoid melts were intruded into host supracrustal and charnockitoid rocks, and formed the Zemaiciu Naumiestis pluton. Numerous granitoids of that age have previously been described from southern Sweden and from the Danish island of Bornholm, but none have been reported from the eastern side of the Ba
Silica-filled poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) (PTMSP) layers were successfully applied for the first time on top of ultrafiltration support membranes and applied in the pervaporative separation of ethanol/water mixtures. Reduction of the thickness of the separating PTMSP top layer and addition of hydrophobic silica particles resulted in a clear flux increase as compared to dense PTMSP membranes.
This paper deals with approximate solutions to integral equations arising in boundary value problems for the biharmonic equation in simply connected piecewise smooth domains. The approximation method considered demonstrates excellent convergence even in the case of boundary conditions discontinuous at corner points. In an application we obtain very accurate approximations for some characteristics
We report lifetime measurements for three of the 5d(9)6p levels in An II and relativistic multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock (MCDF) calculations of lifetimes and transitions probabilities in this ion. The work was motivated by significant disagreements between previous experimental 5d(9)6p lifetimes, obtained by means of the beam-foil (BF) method and theoretical data based on Hartree-Fock calculations
We present a review and our own experience of the demographic aspects of popliteal artery aneurysms (PAAs), their clinical presentation, the treatment alternatives and associated outcome. The incidence of PAAs varies between 0,1-1%. 95% of the patients are male. 50% are asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis. Annually, 5-24% of PAAs develop symptoms. The clinical presentation varies widely with an
