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The goal of these studies has been to elucidate the biological relevance of post-translational modifications in the context of a living organism. The model system used is photoreceptor differentiation during development of the compound eye in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Important signal transduction pathways in this process consist of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) coupled to a mitoge
A major goal in evolutionary biology is to understand the genetic basis of adaptive traits. In migratory birds, wing morphology is such a trait. Our previous work on the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) shows that wing length is highly heritable and under sexually antagonistic selection. Moreover, a quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping analysis detected a pronounced QTL for wing le
Summary: The Fracture Liaison Service (FLS) Consensus Meeting endorsed by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), Asian Federation of Osteoporosis Societies (AFOS), and Asia Pacific Osteoporosis Foundation (APOF) was hosted by the Taiwanese Osteoporosis Association on October 14, 2017. International and domestic experts reviewed the 13 Best Practice Framework (BPF) standards and concluded
In the present study, one type of uniformly nanostructured surface (NPDS) was modified by electrophoretic deposition. Two kinds of micro/nanostructured surfaces (FLS1 and FLS2) were fabricated on copper surfaces by femtosecond laser processing. The micro/nanostructured surfaces were further modified by electrophoretic deposition. Afterwards, composite micro/nanostructured surfaces (CS1 and CS2) we
Vector navigation, i.e., maintaining a constant heading for a given amount of time, is hypothesized to provide a viable basis for the navigational feats of a number of long-distance animal migrants. Since animals following this strategy are subject to drift by wind or by ocean current, performing long migrations relying on vector navigation is particularly challenging. We tested whether vector nav
Purpose: Western societies are currently facing major demographic changes, due to megatrends such as urbanization, ageing of the population, and migration. These disruptions placea lot of pressure on public services, and consequently on municipal facilities includingschools, day-care centres, and hospitals. The purpose of this study is to examine the potentialof modular facility solutions to respo
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) loading is rarely estimated in tropical watersheds. This study quantifies DOC loading in the Rukarara River Watershed (RRW), a Rwandan tropical forest and agricultural watershed, and evaluates its relationship with hydrological factors, land use and land cover (LULC), and topography to better understand the impact of stream DOC export on watershed carbon budgets. The
Expression of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and its ligand PD-L1 has been demonstrated to confer a prognostic value in colorectal cancer (CRC), but no studies have investigated whether this association differs according to tumour location. In this study, immunohistochemical expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 was analysed in tissue microarrays with primary tumours from 557 incident CRC cases fro
The potential catastrophic event of a landslide bringing contaminants to surface waters has been highlighted in public media, but there are still few scientific studies analyzing the risk of landslides with contaminated soil. The aim of this study is to present a method to estimate the risk of potential long-term ecological effects on water bodies due to contaminated soil released into a river thr
Timing of return to the breeding area presumably optimizes breeding output in migrants. How timing affects the other components of fitness — survival, has been comparatively little studied. Returning too early in spring is expected to be associated with high mortality in insectivorous migrants when weather conditions are still unsuitable. Yet, males in particular arrive early to get access to the
Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation can be curative in patients with hematological malignancies but carries a significant risk of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). There are no standard treatments for steroid-refractory (SR) gastrointestinal (GI) acute GvHD (aGvHD). This multicenter, international, retrospective medical record review aimed to evaluate the off-label use of vedolizumab, a
Background: With continuous increases in survival rates following breast cancer (BC) diagnosis, the challenge of multiple primary cancers has become an issue. The data on familial risk of SPCs after BC diagnosis and the related mortality in BC patients are scarce. Methods: A total of 87 752 female BC patients were followed for SPC diagnoses and records of death. Relative risks (RRs) of SPC in BC p
Exposure to inorganic arsenic (As), a carcinogen and epigenetic toxicant, has been associated with lower circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and impaired growth in children of pre-school age. The aim of this study was to assess the potential impact of exposure to As on IGF1 and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) as well as DNA methylation changes in 9-year-
Twin studies on cancer have addressed two general questions, one about the possible carcinogenic effects of twinning and the second about heritable effects of cancer. The first question is answered by comparing the occurrence of cancer in twins to that in singletons; the second is answered in probandwise analysis of monozygotic twins compared to dizygotic twins or siblings. We used the nationwide
Familial risk of pancreatic cancer has been mainly assessed through case-control studies based on reported but not medically verified cancers in family members. We used the nationwide Swedish Family-Cancer Database on 10.2 million individuals and 21,000 pancreatic cancers to calculate standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for pancreatic cancer in 0- to 66-year-old
Background & Aims: Familial risks for esophageal cancer are not well known, especially for specific histologic types. Methods: We used the nationwide Swedish Family-Cancer Database to examine familial risks for esophageal cancer in offspring. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to calculate the risk. Age standardized incidence rates for specific hi
The first step of the adaptive immune response involves the interaction of T cells that express T-cell receptors (TCRs) with peptide-loaded major histocompatibility complexes expressed by antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Exactly how this leads to activation of the TCR and to downstream signaling is uncertain, however. Recent findings suggest that one of the key events is the exclusion of the large
Dietary sphingomyelin (SM) undergoes sequential cleavage to ceramide and sphingosine in the intestine. A distinctive intestinal sphingomyelinase (SMase) with alkaline pH-optimum was earlier identified by us. The activity was highest in middle and lower small intestine, but its role in SM digestion has not been clarified. In this study we examined the extension and capacity of SM digestion in vivo.
