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A series of comparative studies is suggested, focused on perceptions of outrigger canoes, and aimed at an increased understanding of the relationship between social relations, biodiversity, and sustainable development in Oceanic societies on small islands and in coastal areas undergoing rapid cultural change. After a critique of the recent notion that canoe-building in Polynesia developed as a res

Rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes have a decreased rate of sciatic nerve regeneration. We studied the effects on this defect of treatment with the aldose reductase inhibitor, ponalrestat (25 mg/kg per day via an endogastric tube). The nerves of diabetic rats were crush-injured at 5 weeks of diabetes and regeneration evaluated 7 days later with the pinch-reflex test. Ponalrestat treatment w

The development of therapeutic and diagnostic antibodies is a rapidly growing field of research, being the fastest expanding group of products on the pharmaceutical market, and appropriate quality controls are crucial for their application. We have identified and characterized the serine protease termed BspK (Bdellovibrio serine protease K) from Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus and here show its activit

The evolution of bulk flow structures and their influence on the spatial distribution of heat release zones and of partially oxidized fuel and particulate matter (soot) is examined experimentally in a swirl-supported, direct-injection diesel engine. Vector fields describing the bulk flow structures are measured with particle image velocimetry (PIV), while complementary scalar field measurements of

The spectroscopic properties of spirilloxanthin in an nhexane solution and bound to the core light-harvesting LH1) complex of Rhodospirillum rubrum were studied by near infrared ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. Global analysis of the kinetic traces measured after excitation of spirilloxanthin to the S2 (1Bu +) state enabled us to estimate the species-associated difference spectra that

Neuronal endoplasmic reticulum (ER), continuous from soma to dendritic spines, undergoes rapid fragmentation in response to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor stimulation in hippocampal slices and neuronal primary cultures. Here, we show that ER fragments in the mouse brain following cardiac arrest (CA) induced brain ischemia. The ER structure was assessed in vivo in cortical pyramidal neurons i

Time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy was employed for the investigation of charge-transport dynamics in benzothiadiazolo-dithiophene polyfluorene ([2,7-(9,9-dioctylfluorene)-alt-S,S-(4',7'-di-2-thieny1-2',1',3'-benzothiadiazole)]) (APFO-3) polymers with various chain lengths and in its monomer form, all blended with an electron acceptor ([6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester, PCBM). Upon phot

Light-harvesting in fucoxanthin-chlorophyll protein (FCP) of diatoms is performed by a cluster of chromophores: chlorophylls a (Chl a), chlorophylls c(2) (Chl c(2)), and carotenoids fucoxanthins. It is well-known that energy captured by fucoxanthin is transferred to Chl a on a subpicosecond time scale. However, the energy flow channel connecting Chl c(2) and Chl a remained elusive. In this study,

This work shows a unique possibility of visualizing the exponential intensity decay due to light extinction, when laser radiation propagates through a homogeneous scattering medium. This observation implies that the extracted intensity mostly originates from single scattering events. The filtering of this single light scattering intensity is performed by means of a single-phase structured illumina

Cassava cultivars are classified following different criteria, such as cyanogenic glucoside content or starch content. Here, flours from the roots of 25 cassava varieties cultivated simultaneously in a single plantation, were characterized in terms of starch content (SC), amylose content (AC), alpha-amylolysis index (AI) and gel formation ability. Resistant starch content (RS) was measured in 10 o

This article about Federico Fellini’s Amarcord (1973) and Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander (1982) concerns one aspect of the directors’ childhood memories, namely how authoritarian institutions are used to disrupt otherwise fairly idyllic and nostalgic lives and worlds. The films blend detailed memories with playful fantasies, combine experiences of the directors’ alter ego Titta and Alexander

L-2,L-3-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) has demonstrated unique capabilities for the analysis of the electronic structure of di-Ru complexes such as the blue dimer cis,cis-[(Ru2O)-O-III(H2O)(2)(bpy)(4)](4+) water oxidation catalyst. Spectra of the blue dimer and the monomeric [Ru(NH3)(6)](3+) model complex show considerably different splitting of the Ru L-2,L-3 absorption edge, which refl