During drying, timber distortion is a major defect mainly due to shrinkage anisotropy, differences in longitudinal shrinkage, and spiral grain. The distortion can be reduced by external restraint and use of appropriate kiln schedules. The research presented here is part of a project on the improvement of shape stability of Norway spruce by high-temperature drying. The effects of drying temperature

Size-selective predation has been proposed to be one important evolutionary force shaping life-history traits in guppies (Poecilia reticulata). Populations living in the presence of the ring-tailed pike cichlid (Crenicichlasaxatilis) are smaller, mature earlier, allocate more energy to offspring and get more and smaller young than guppies in localities without Crenicichla. We investigated if Creni

Background: Some, but not all, reports suggest that patients with Gaucher disease are at increased risk of developing malignancies, particularly hematopoietic tumors. The aim of this study was to assess the pattern of Gaucher disease and subsequent malignancies among male veterans admitted to US Veterans Affairs hospitals. Methods: Among 832 294 African American and 3 668 983 white male veterans w

A procedure that compensates for staticfriction (stiction) in pneumatic control valves is presented.The compensation is obtained by adding pulses tothe control signal. The characteristics of the pulses are determinedfrom the control action. The compensator is implemented inindustrial controllers and control systems, and the industrialexperiences show that the procedurereduces the control error dur

Human eosinophils perform several functions dependent on phospholipase A2 (PLA2) activity, most notably the synthesis of platelet-activating factor (PAF) and leukotriene C4 (LTC4). Several forms of PLA2 have been identified in mammalian cells. In the present study, the 14-kD, secretory form of PLA2 was detected in human eosinophils by immunocytochemical staining with the specific monoclonal antibo

A surface complexation model describing the adsorption of three benzenecarboxylates (phthalate, trimellitate, and pyromellitate) on goethite (alpha-FeOOH) was calibrated on data using goethite particles of 37 and 43 m(2)/g surface area. The models predict potentiometric titration and batch adsorption data with the multisite complexation model coupled with the three-plane model to account for surfa

The reported prevalence of malnutrition in pediatric hospitals ranges from 15% to 30% of patients, with an impact on growth, morbidity and mortality. Major deficits in nutrition care have been highlighted in European hospitals, and the implementation of nutrition support teams (NSTs) has been suggested as a means to improve malnutrition diagnosis and nutrition care for hospitalized patients. This

Numerical analysis of the instantaneous flow and heat transfer has been carried out for offset strip fin geometries in self-sustained oscillatory flow. The analysis is based on the two-dimensional solution of the governing equations of the fluid flow and heat transfer with the aid of appropriate computational fluid dynamics methods. Unsteady calculations have been carried out. The obtained time-de

Thymidine kinases (TKs) appear to be almost ubiquitous and are found in nearly all prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and several viruses. They are the key enzymes in thymidine salvage and activation of several anti-cancer and antiviral drugs. We show that bacterial TKs can be subdivided into 2 groups. The TKs from Gram-positive bacteria are more closely related to the eukaryotic TK1 enzymes than are TKs fr

The Bog Ecosystem Research Initiative (BERI) projectwas initiated to investigate, at five climaticallydifferent sites across Europe, the effects of elevatedCO2 and N deposition on the net exchange ofCO2 and CH4 between bogs and the atmosphere,and to study the effects of elevated CO2 and Ndeposition on the plant biodiversity of bogcommunities. A major challenge to investigate theeffects of elevated

The aim of this study was to investigate quality of life (QoL) and its association with sense of coherence (SOC), complaints, comorbidity, social resources, perceived economic situation and receiving help for daily living, investigating differences between women and men aged 75 and above with cancer and comparing women and men aged 75 and above without cancer. A further aim was to identify which o

This study examine's the association between self-reported mental stress and the salivary cortisol response via a systematic literature review by using recommendations from the Cochrane Collaboration. Literature in different databases was screened and articles were selected on the basis of a set of inclusion criteria. Each article was assigned a total score on the basis of a rating system includin

The visibility function in direct illumination describes the binary visibility over a light source, e.g., an environment map. Intuitively, the visibility is often strongly correlated between nearby locations in time and space, but exploiting this correlation without introducing noticeable errors is a hard problem. In this paper, we first study the statistical characteristics of the visibility funct

The relation between rain movement and areal reduction of rain intensity is investigated. An approach for calculating areal reduction factors from point hyetographs and storm speed is suggested. Very good agreement is found between moving storm derived areal reduction factors and reduction factors determined using a dense net of rain gauges. Moving areal reduction factors calculated for design sto

Steady flow and mixing in a model of an "arterialized" vein punctured by a cannula as occurs during hemodialysis has been investigated in vitro. The motivation is that a major cause of vascular access dysfunction is the development of venous stenoses. This phenomenon lacks physiological explanation. However, one may attribute this quick process to the chemical content of the dialyzed blood and its

In order for an agent to achieve its objectives, make sound decisions, communicate and collaborate with others effectively it must have high quality representations. Representations can encapsulate objects, situations, experiences, decisions and behavior just to name a few. Our interest is in designing high quality representations, therefore it makes sense to ask of any representation; what does i