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This study investigated the effect of experimental task on the processing of Central Swedish word accents. Both reaction times and response times were included as behavioural measures in a word accent/suffix (mis-)match paradigm. Results support the hypothesis that Accent 2 is associated with a heavier lexical functional load as compared to Accent 1. This effect was found to be relatively task-ind
Moisture is decisive for a large number of reaction, binding and transport processes in concrete affecting the durability, shrinkage and performance in various environments. Consequently, the role of moisture must be assessed and quantified in a diagnosis of concrete degradation by moisture measurements and a survey of environmental actions. The paper gives an over-view of the role of moisture in
Knowledge-management has a long history in the work place enacted variously as apprenticeship, corporate libraries, and professional training programs. As an academic topic, it first appeared after Nonaka's (1991) paper. Western authors on knowledge-management generally treat "knowledge" and "information" as some kind of a commodity. "Knowledge" and "information" are thought to be acquired and tra
This thesis, which is based on four original papers, deals with human dendritic cells (DCs) in immunity and allergy. DCs play a key role in the regulation of immune responses by acting as the sentinels of the immune system, specialized in the uptake of a diverse range of antigens. These cells migrate to local lymph nodes and become highly efficient in inducing T cell proliferation, thus inducing a
This paper illustrates a novel method to analyze artificial neural networks so as to gain insight into their internal functionality. To this purpose, the elements of a feedforward-backpropagation neural network, that has been trained to detect edges in images, are described in terms of differential operators of various orders and with various angles of operation.
CK2, an acronym derived from the misnomer "casein kinase 2", denotes a ubiquitous and extremely pleiotropic Ser/Thr protein kinase, the holoenzyme of which is composed of two catalytic (alpha and/or alpha') and two noncatalytic beta subunits acting as a docking platform and the multifarious functions of which are still incompletely understood. By combining affinity chromatography and mass spectrom
BACKGROUND. Androgen deprivation is the only effective systemic therapy available for patients with prostatic carcinoma, but is associated with a gradual transition to a hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRCAP) in which ligand-independent activation of the androgen receptor has been implicated. The beta(2)-adrenergic receptor (beta(2)-AR) is a well-known activator of the androgen receptor. METHO
The complement system is fundamental to both innate and adaptive immunity and can be initiated via the classical, lectin or alternative pathways. Cleavage of C4 by MASP-2, the initiating protease of the lectin pathway, is a crucial event in the activation of this pathway, preceding the eventual formation of the C3 convertase (C4bC2a) complex on the pathogen surface. Interactions required for the c
Here, monoolein-based nanoparticles (NPs), obtained through fragmentation of bulk liquid crystalline phases, and stabilized by two different emulsifiers, namely, Pluronic F127 (PF127) and lauroylcholine chloride (LCh), are investigated for structural features and for short-term in vitro cytotoxicity. Depending on the emulsifiers, different morphologies of the lipid NPs (cubosomes and liposomes) ar
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the peripheral joints that eventually leads to cartilage destruction and bone erosion. The causes of RA remain largely unknown, but considerable evidence suggests a multifactorial aetiology involving both environmental and genetic factors. Large efforts have been directed towards the understanding of the mo
Parity forbidden radiative transitions from metastable levels are observed in spectra of low-density astrophysical plasmas. These lines are used as probes of the physical conditions, made possible due to the long lifetime of their upper level. In a joint effort, the FERRUM project aims to obtain new and accurate atomic data for the iron-group elements, and part of this project concerns forbidden l
In this study we establish the use of optical non-contact profilometry combined with low vacuum scanning electron microscopy (LV SEM) for the investigation of lipid surfaces. We illustrate, by using profilometry, a methodology for investigation of chocolate surface topology as a function of time, in the same area of interest. Both qualitative and quantitative data analysis has been performed for p
Objectives We tested the hypothesis that serum total testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) levels predict cardiovascular (CV) events in community-dwelling elderly men. Background Low serum testosterone is associated with increased adiposity, an adverse metabolic risk profile, and atherosclerosis. However, few prospective studies have demonstrated a protective link between endogenous
Targeted proteomics allows researchers to study proteins of interest without being drowned in data from other, less interesting proteins or from redundant or uninformative peptides. While the technique is mostly used for smaller, focused studies, there are several reasons to conduct larger targeted experiments. Automated, highly robust software becomes more important in such experiments. In additi
