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We have found a remarkable relationship between the specificity of antibodies and their chromatographic behavious upon liquid-liquid partition chromatography (LLPC). Well characterized human and murine monoclonal antibodies and Fab/Fv fragments thereof as well as mouse/human chimeric antibodies were employed. While, lgG 1, 2 and 4 antibodies with identical specificities (affinity constants) have i

Cellulose, a polysaccharide consisting of beta-1,4-linked glucose, is the major component of plant cell walls and consequently one of the most abundant biopolymers on earth. Carbohydrate polymers such as cellulose are molecules with vast diversity in structure and function, and a multiplicity of hydrolases operating in concert are required for depolymerisation. The bacterium Rhodothermus marinus,

The capability of wood-rotting fungi (WRF) to colonise contaminated soil is an important fungal characteristic in the development of WRF-based soil bioremediation, it is also important to have methods that monitor the presence of the WRF in the soil. In this lab-scale study, it was shown that it was possible to re-capture, localise and identify a brown-rot fungus, Antrodia vaillantii, after it has

Arctic tundra vegetation composition is expected to undergo rapid changes during the coming decades because of changes in climate. Higher air temperatures generally favor growth of deciduous shrubs, often at the cost of moss growth. Mosses are considered to be very important to critical tundra ecosystem processes involved in water and energy exchange, but very little empirical data are available.

We have engineered apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I), a major protein constituent of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), to contain DOTA-chelated Gd(III) as an MRI contrast agent for the purpose of imaging reconstituted HDL (rHDL) biodistribution, metabolism and regulation in vivo. This protein contrast agent was obtained by attaching the thiol-reactive Gd[MTS-ADO3A] label at Cys residues replaced at four d

In the past two decades, the eddy covariance technique has been used for an increasing number of methane flux studies at an ecosystem scale. Previously, most of these studies used a closed path setup with a tunable diode laser spectrometer (TDL). Although this method worked well, the TDL has to be calibrated regularly and cooled with liquid nitrogen or a cryogenic system, which limits its use in r

In order to better address the feedbacks between climate and wetland methane (CH4) emissions, we tested several mechanistic improvements to the wetland CH4 emission model Peatland-VU with a longer Arctic data set than any other model: (1) inclusion of an improved hydrological module, (2) incorporation of a gross primary productivity (GPP) module, and (3) a more realistic soil-freezing scheme. A lo

1. Knowledge about species habitat requirements is important when designing conservation strategies as well as for predicting species distributions. For herbivorous insects, insights in oviposition preferences can provide important information on their habitat requirements. 2. The oviposition preferences of Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper butterfly Pyrgus armoricanus Oberthür at its northern range bou

Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) is diagnosed at the metastatic stage and despite extensive diagnostic work-up the primary tumor often remains unidentified. Limited population-based survival data are available for metastatic location and none are available that link the location with the cause of death, which might give clues about the tissue of origin. A total of 9,306 CUP patients with extranodal

Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectins (Siglecs) are receptors believed to be important for regulation of cellular activation and inflammation. Several pathogenic microbes bind specific Siglecs via sialic acid-containing structures at the microbial surface, interactions that may result in modulation of host responses. Recently, it was shown that the group B Streptococcus (GBS) binds to hu

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

Political participation research has consistently shown that age and education among other factors, to a large extent determine who the activists are. The rise of social media services such as Facebook has however prompted hopes that new and more flexible forms of participation might lead to reduced inequality in political participation. This paper uses unique data on the political uses of social