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Several bacterial species recruit the complement regulators C4b binding protein, Factor H and vitronectin resulting in resistance against the bactericidal activity of human serum. It has recently been demonstrated that bacteria also bind plasminogen, which is converted to plasmin that degrades C3b and C5. In this study, we found that a series of clinical isolates (n=58) of the respiratory pathogen
The van der Waals interaction free energy Aint between two spherical bodies of Stockmayer fluid across a vacuum is calculated using molecular simulations and classical perturbation theory. The results are decomposed into their electrostatic and Lennard-Jones parts, and the former is shown to agree excellently with predictions from dielectric continuum theory. Aint is decomposed into its energetic
The aim was to study a broader phenotype of language-related diagnoses and problems in three generations of relatives of children with specific language impairment (SLI). Our study is based on a family history interview of the parents of 59 children with SLI and of 100 matched control children, exploring the prevalence of problems related to language, reading, attention, school achievement and soc
A search for events containing an isolated electron or muon and missing trans verse momentum produced in e(+/-)p collisions is performed with the H1 and ZEUS detectors at HERA. The data were taken in the period 1994-2007 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 0.98 fb(-1). The observed event yields are in good overall agreement with the Standard Model prediction, which is dominated by single
Genome-wide association studies have revealed numerous risk loci associated with diverse diseases. However, identification of disease-causing variants within association loci remains a major challenge. Divergence in gene expression due to cis-regulatory variants in noncoding regions is central to disease susceptibility. We show that integrative computational analysis of phylogenetic conservation w
In this study we describe a novel flow-through respirometer with automated and semi-continuous detection of key water variables. The recirculating aquaculture system was designed to house aquatic organisms in culture-like conditions and allow long-term, high-precision measurements. Nine respirometry tanks (250 L in volume each) housed animals, and a tenth (without animals) acted as a reference tan
ABSTRACT Glycosylation is a common post-translational protein modification and many key proteins of the immune system are glycosylated. As the true experts of our immune system, pathogenic bacteria produce enzymes that can modify the carbohydrates (glycans) of the defense mechanisms in order to favor bacterial survival and persistence. At the intersection between bacterial pathogenesis and glycobi
A data set comprising 27 myo-inositol derivatives based on tetrakisphosphates and bispyrophosphates were used in the development of quantitative structure-activity relationship model for investigating its allosteric effector property against human haemoglobin (Hb). Three-dimensional structures of the investigated compounds were subjected to geometry optimisations at the density functional theory l
This article provides an overview of the management of a displaced hip in children with cerebral palsy and considers surveillance programmes, principles of surgical reconstruction and options for the salvage of an unreconstructable hip in these children.
In the present work we have selected a collection of statistical and mathematical tools useful for the exploration of multivariate data and we present them in a form that is meant to be particularly accessible to a classically trained mathematician. We give self contained and streamlined introductions to principal component analysis, multidimensional scaling and statistical hypothesis testing. Wit
Flavonols, flavanones and flavones (FLAV) are sub-classes of flavonoids that exert cardioprotective and anti-carcinogenic properties in vitro and in vivo. We aimed to estimate the FLAV dietary intake, their food sources and associated lifestyle factors in ten European countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. FLAV intake and their foo
Objective: To evaluate a possible correlation between transvaginal ultrasound findings in miscarriages and cytogenetic analyses from chorionic villi obtained by dilatation and curettage. Design: Prospective, population-based study. Setting: University-based hospital. Patient(s): Five hundred seventy-six women with spontaneous miscarriage diagnosed between 6 and 12 completed pregnancy weeks. Interv
Modification and optimization of the anticancer drug cisplatin is of interest with respect to selective cell targeting and DNA binding efficiency. Attractive approaches contain both, modification of the platinum coordination sphere and design of hybrid molecules of the cisplatin binding moiety including peptide motifs. Peptides with cell penetrating, directing or recognizing properties can be impl
Selenium is an essential element, but its metabolism in humans is not well characterized. A few small studies indicate that the trimethylselenonium ion (TMSe) is a common selenium metabolite in humans.
Sensitive detection of molecular biomarkers in clinical samples is crucially important in disease diagnostics. This paper reports the developement of an aptamer microarray platform combined with sol-gel technology to identify low-abundance targets in complex serum samples. Because of the nanoporous structure of the sol-gel, a high capacity to immobilize the affinity specific aptamers is accomplish
Enzymatic synthesis of alkyl glycosides using glycoside hydrolases is well studied, but has yet to reach industrial scale, primarily due to limited yields. Reduced water content should increase yields by limiting the unwanted hydrolytic side reaction. However, previous studies have shown that a reduction in water content surprisingly favors hydrolysis over transglycosylation. In addition, glycosid
alpha decay is treated microscopically, where the unstable mother nucleus and residual daughter nucleus are described using Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) wave functions, obtained with the Skyrme effective interaction. From these wave functions the amplitude for forming alpha particles in the mother nucleus is computed. Two different Skyrme parametrizations with different pairing properties are com
