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Complement convertases are enzymatic complexes that play a central role in sustaining and amplification of the complement cascade. Impairment of complement function directly or indirectly leads to pathologic conditions including higher infection rate, kidney diseases, autoimmune- or neurodegenerative diseases and ischemia-reperfusion injury. An assay for direct measurement of activity of the conve
Individual T4DNA molecules, previously compacted by using a cationic surfactant (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB), were successfully decompacted by the addition of an appropriate concentration of either alpha-cyclodextrin or beta-cyclodextrin (alpha-CD and beta-CD, respectively) due to the formation of inclusion complexes with the surfactant. The process was shown to be a non first-order tran
This article explores how the image of the USA has developed in two major Russian daily newspapers, Izvestiya and Komsomolskaya Pravda, in a time period comprised of a total 20 weeks’ of study in the years of 1984, 1994, 2004 and 2009. For Russia this time span was dramatic: it moved from seemingly stable superpower in the 1980s, over the chaos after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990
We present an expanded Wolf formalism for direct summation of long-range dipole-dipole interactions and rule-of-thumbs how to choose optimal spherical cutoff (R-c) and damping parameter (alpha). This is done by comparing liquid radial distribution functions, dipole-dipole orientation correlations, particle energies, and dielectric constants, with Ewald sums and the Reaction field method. The resul
Functional imaging studies have revealed that certain brainstem areas are activated during migraine attacks. The neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is associated with activation of the trigeminovascular system, transmission of nociceptive information and plays a key role in migraine pathophysiology. Therefore, to elucidate the role of CGRP it is critical to identify the regions wi
To evaluate the contribution of bone marrow (BM) cells to treat neurological disorders, we examined the effectiveness of BM cells expressing the homeobox B4 (HoxB4) gene to cure mice with metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) through transplantation. Increased number of donor cells was observed in brains of the MLD mice transplanted with HoxB4-transduced BM cells (B4MLD) in contrast to those transpla
We use the Economic Freedom Index to characterize the institutions of the Athenian city-state in the fourth century BCE. It has been shown that ancient Greece witnessed improved living conditions for an extended period of time. Athens in the fourth century appears to have fared particularly well. We find that economic freedom in ancient Athens is on level with the highest ranked modern economies s
Purpose - With the development of electronic devices, including the desires of integration, miniaturization, high performance and the output power, cooling requirement of chips have been increased gradually. Water-cooled minichannel is an effective cooling technology for cooling of heat sinks. The minichannel flow geometry offers large surface area for heat transfer and a high convective heat tran
Purpose: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a frequent and aggressive type of primary brain tumor with a heterogeneous origin. GBM is highly therapy resistant and carries a dismal prognosis for the patient. The purpose of this discovery study was to define candidate plasma biomarker signatures for improved classification and novel means for selecting patients for refined individualized therapy. Expe
Modeling soil thermal dynamics at high latitudes and altitudes requires representations of physical processes such as snow insulation, soil freezing and thawing and subsurface conditions like soil water/ice content and soil texture. We have compared six different land models: JSBACH, ORCHIDEE, JULES, COUP, HYBRID8 and LPJ-GUESS, at four different sites with distinct cold region landscape types, to
Aims: Prior evaluations of endovascular cooling during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have suggested variability in treatment effect related to core temperature at the time of reperfusion, to infarct location and time from symptom onset to reperfusion. Recent results from a randomised feasibility study suggest rapid induction of hypothermia i
Three Staphylococcus aureus strains representing different alleles of the Siphoviridae prophage-encoded enterotoxin A (SEA) gene, including two high-SEA-producing strains and one low-SEA-producing strain were studied to investigate sea expression and SEA formation on a frankfurter type of sausage. The effect of lactic acid, an antimicrobial compound used as a preservative in food, was also investi
Serglycin (SG) is a proteoglycan expressed by hematopoietic cells and is constitutively secreted by multiple myeloma (MM) cells. SG participates in the regulation of various inflammatory events. We found that SG secreted by human MM cell lines inhibits both the classical and lectin pathways of complement, without influencing alternative pathway activity. The inhibitory effect of SG is due to direc
Introduction Hypospadias is one of the most common congenital anomalies. There are many studies describing successful initial repair, but there are few studies examining long-term result. The aims of this study were to evaluate our patients that have been reconstructed for hypospadias and undergone final clinical examination after puberty and to assess how long clinical follow-up time is warranted
Aerodynamic performance and energetic savings for flight in ground effect are theoretically maximized during hovering, but have never been directly measured for flying animals. We evaluated flight kinematics, metabolic rates and induced flow velocities for Anna's hummingbirds hovering at heights (relative to wing length R 5.5 cm) of 0.7R, 0.9R, 1.1R, 1.7R, 2.2R and 8R above a solid surface. Flight
Introduction. To study whether the frequently reported association between depressive symptoms and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its individual components are secondary to the use of antidepressant medication and to established diabetes or cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Patients and methods. A population-based, random sample of 4,967 women and men aged 18-75 years. MetS was defined according t
The solution of the forward problem in fluorescence molecular imaging strongly influences the successful convergence of the fluorophore reconstruction. The most common approach to meeting this problem has been to apply the diffusion approximation. However, this model is a first-order angular approximation of the radiative transfer equation, and thus is subject to some well-known limitations. This
The polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mixture Aroclor 1254 alters bone tissue properties. However, the mechanisms responsible for the observed effects have not yet been clarified. This study compared the effect of Aroclor 1254 on the expression of osteoblast differentiation markers in MC3T3-E1 cells with the corresponding effect of the dioxin reference compound 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TC
