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Fetal death in the mid-trimester of pregnancy is unexplained and no reliable markers are available to identify at-risk women. We aimed to assess use of a fetoprotein and S100B concentrations in amniotic fluid as markers. We did a case-control study in 758 healthy women undergoing amniocentesis at mid-gestation, of whom 12 had a spontaneous intrauterine fetal death before 28 weeks, and 746 matched

BACKGROUND: The study aimed to investigate patient and spouse perception of cognitive functioning 1 to 2 years after coronary artery bypass grafting. METHODS: Seventy-six married patients who had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting were selected and sex- and age-matched with 75 concurrent married patients who had undergone percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. Couples received a le

During complement activation the pro-inflammatory anaphylatoxins C3a and C5a are generated, which interact with the C3a receptor and C5a receptor (CD88), respectively. C5a and its degradation product C5a-des-Arg(74) also bind to the C5a receptor-like 2 (C5L2). C3a and C3a-des-Arg(77), also called acylation-stimulating protein, augment triglyceride synthesis and glucose uptake in adipocytes and ski

Because of its simplicity the rational method is still frequently used in urban planning and design. In this paper using the time-area method and statistically derived design storms, the design peak flow is computed for urban basins of different complexity and compared with the design flow determined from the rational method. It is shown that the design flow is underestimated using the rational me

We present a review of some recent results on high-order-harmonic generation, aiming at optimizing the photon flux to allow for future applications in extreme-ultra-violet non-linear optics. We first present new schemes to control phase matching of high harmonics in gases, by using the effect of the spatially varying atomic phase displayed by the high harmonics. An enhancement by a factor of 50 is

It is well established that fibroblasts play a crucial role in pathophysiological extracellular matrix remodelling. The aim of this project is to elucidate their role in normal physiological remodelling. Specifically, the remodelling of the human cervix during pregnancy, resulting in an enabled passage of the child, is used as the model system. Fibroblast cultures were established from cervices of

The composition of the dominating population of freshly cut beef, and beef stored at 4 degrees C for 8 d, was studied by direct analysis of the 16S rRNA gene (PCR amplification, cloning and sequencing) and compared with pure culture technique where the isolates picked from the viable plate count were identified by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The composition of the bacterial population was rec

We examined the effects of various leukotriene synthesis inhibitors on calcium signalling in HeLa cells, before and after transfection with BLT1. All of the inhibitors studied were found to reduce increases in intracellular calcium concentration induced by BLT1, but also by an ionophore or activation of various G-protein coupled receptors, regardless of BLT1 expression. In order to explore the mec

Plant growth forms are widely used to predict the effects of environmental changes, such as climate warming and increased nitrogen deposition, on plant communities, and the consequences of species shifts for carbon and nutrient cycling. We investigated whether the relationship between growth forms and patterns in litter quality and decomposition are independent of environmental conditions and whet

Free neutral potassium clusters of two different mean sizes were produced using a gas aggregation source. The K 3p core level was probed by means of synchrotron radiation based photoelectron spectroscopy. The absolute binding energy and the intensity ratio of the surface and bulk spectral features were used to obtain independent estimates of the cluster size. Plasmon satellites in core level spect

Solvation of protein surface charges plays an important role for the protonation states of titratable surface groups and is routinely incorporated in low dielectric protein models using surface accessible areas. For many-body protein simulations, however, such dielectric boundary methods are rarely tractable and a greater level of simplification is desirable. In this work, we scrutinize how charge

Field experiments with ISA (intelligent speed adaptation) were carried out in Hungary and Spain in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Twenty private vehicles in each country were equipped with two kinds of systems: (1) support via an active accelerator pedal (AAP) and (2) warning via beep signals and a flashing red light when the speed limit was exceeded (BEEP). The test drivers drove for a month with b

Collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) is induced in H-2(q) mice after immunization with rat type II collagen (CII). The immunodominant T cell epitope on heterologous CII has been located to CII256-270. We have previously shown that TSC transgenic mice, which express the heterologous epitope in type I collagen (CI), e.g. in skin, are tolerized against rat CII and resistant to CIA. In this study we trans

Let ${\bold D}$ denote the unit disk in the complex plane and let $m$ be the area Lebesgue measure on ${\bold D}$. Given a positive integrable function $w$ (a weight) on ${\bold D}$, let $L^p_{\rm a}(w)$ denote the collection of analytic functions $f$ on ${\bold D}$ such that $|f|^pw$ is integrable. Given an analytic function $g$ on ${\bold D}$, the operator $T_g$ is defined by $T_g f(z) = \int_

This paper illustrates a novel method to analyze artificial neural networks so as to gain insight into their internal functionality. To this purpose, we will show analysis results of some feed-forward-error-back-propagation neural networks for image processing. We win describe them in terms of domain-dependent basic functions, which axe, in the case of the digital image processing domain, differen

An in-house-made alignment system for deep X-ray lithography is presented that features low costs, low weight and little demand in space. Synchrotron radiation illuminates alignment marks on mask and substrate. The radiation transmitted through these alignment marks is detected by X-ray-sensitive diodes. The mask is fixed to the vacuum chamber, whereas the substrate is mounted on a six-axis kinema

We recommend prophylaxis in haemophilic children with an inhibitor as a way of preventing the musculoskeletal impairment that is likely to affect them. This approach has been used for children without inhibitors with excellent results. If prophylaxis is not feasible, we suggest that intensive on-demand treatment should be given. Two agents, recombinant activated FVII (rFVIIa) and activated prothro