| 1. |
- Abalaka, J. L., et al.
(författare)
-
Rock Firefinch Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis in the Mandara Mountains, north-east Nigeria : a new subspecies?
- 2010
-
Ingår i: African Bird Club Bulletin. - 1352-481X. ; 17:2, s. 210-211
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- L’Amarante des rochers Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis dans les Monts Mandara, Nigeria du sud-est: une nouvelle sous-espèce ? Nous fournissons une description d’un mâle et d’une femelle, ainsi que desphotos d’un mâle, d’un amarante capturé dans les Monts Mandara, au nord-est du Nigeria. Le plumage et le cri de cet amarante sont identiques à ceux de l’Amarante des rochers Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis, une espèce précédemment rapportée de la zone, excepté que le mâle n’a pas la couronne grise typique de l’espèce. Des travaux supplémentaires sur le terrain sont nécessaires pour déterminer s’il agit d’un individu aberrant ou d’une population de l’Amarante des rochers morphologiquement distincte.
|
|
| 2. |
- Abdoullaye, Doukary, et al.
(författare)
-
Permanent genetic resources added to molecular ecology resources database 1 August 2009 - 30 September 2009
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Molecular Ecology Resources. - : Wiley. - 1755-098X .- 1755-0998. ; 10:1, s. 232-236
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article documents the addition of 238 microsatellite marker loci and 72 pairs of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) sequencing primers to the Molecular Ecology Resources Database. Loci were developed for the following species: Adelges tsugae, Artemisia tridentata, Astroides calycularis, Azorella selago, Botryllus schlosseri, Botrylloides violaceus, Cardiocrinum cordatum var. glehnii, Campylopterus curvipennis, Colocasia esculenta, Cynomys ludovicianus, Cynomys leucurus, Cynomys gunnisoni, Epinephelus coioides, Eunicella singularis, Gammarus pulex, Homoeosoma nebulella, Hyla squirella, Lateolabrax japonicus, Mastomys erythroleucus, Pararge aegeria, Pardosa sierra, Phoenicopterus ruber ruber and Silene latifolia. These loci were cross-tested on the following species: Adelges abietis, Adelges cooleyi, Adelges piceae, Pineus pini, Pineus strobi, Tubastrea micrantha, three other Tubastrea species, Botrylloides fuscus, Botrylloides simodensis, Campylopterus hemileucurus, Campylopterus rufus, Campylopterus largipennis, Campylopterus villaviscensio, Phaethornis longuemareus, Florisuga mellivora, Lampornis amethystinus, Amazilia cyanocephala, Archilochus colubris, Epinephelus lanceolatus, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus, Symbiodinium temperate-A clade, Gammarus fossarum, Gammarus roeselii, Dikerogammarus villosus and Limnomysis benedeni. This article also documents the addition of 72 sequencing primer pairs and 52 allele specific primers for Neophocaena phocaenoides.
|
|
| 3. |
- Abdul Kader, Hale, et al.
(författare)
-
The determinants of reinsurance in the Swedish property fire insurance market during the interwar years, 1919–39
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Business History. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 0007-6791 .- 1743-7938. ; 52:2, s. 268-284
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Drawing a framework from agency theory, we use a panel data design to examine the factors motivating the level of demand for reinsurance in the rapidly developing Swedish property fire insurance market during the interwar period 1919–39. We find that as hypothesised, reinsurance enabled Swedish fire insurers to mitigate underwriting and solvency risks and thus increased their capacity to underwrite new business in uncertain economic times. This in turn helped to increase the supply of indemnity coverage for property (buildings) fire risks in the Swedish insurance market. We also find that as expected, investment earnings are inversely related to reinsurance purchases. However, contrary to what was hypothesised, reinsurance appears to be positively related to liquidity levels, suggesting that over our period of analysis, fire insurers could have been reinsuring to ‘protect’ earnings and accumulated cash reserves therefore enabling investment opportunities to be realised. Analysis of the sub-period 1919–28 further supports this contention, while our results for the economic depression years after 1929 show that reinsurance helped mitigate underwriting and insolvency risks, suggesting that the reinsurance decision of fire insurance companies could be motivated by macroeconomic factors.
|
|
| 4. |
- Abrahamsson, Pernilla, 1972-
(författare)
-
Methodological aspects on microdialysis sampling and measurements
- 2010
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: The microdialysis (MD) technique is widely spread and used both experimentally and in clinical practice. The MD technique allows continuous collection of small molecules such as glucose, lactate, pyruvate and glycerol. Samples are often analysed using the CMA 600 analyser, an enzymatic and colorimetric analyser. Data evaluating the performance of the CMA 600 analysis system and associated sample handling are sparse. The aim of this work was to identify sources of variability related to handling of microdialysis samples and sources of error associated with use of the CMA 600 analyser. Further, to develop and compare different application techniques of the microdialysis probes both within an organ and on the surface of an organ. Material and Methods: Papers I and II are mainly in vitro studies with the exception of the No Net Flux calibration method in paper I where a pig model (n=7) was used to examine the true concentration of glucose and urea in subcutaneous tissue. Flow rate, sampling time, vial and caps material and performance of the analyser device (CMA 600) were examined. In papers III and IV normoventilated anaesthetised pigs (n=33) were used. In paper III, heart ischemia was used as intervention to compare microdialysis measurements in the myocardium with corresponding measurements on the heart surface. In paper IV, microdialysis measurements in the liver parenchyma were compared with measurements on the liver surface in association with induced liver ischemia. All animal studies were approved by the Animal Experimental Ethics Committee at Umeå University Sweden. Results: In paper I we succeeded to measure true concentrations of glucose (4.4 mmol/L) and Urea (4.1 mmol/L) in subcutaneous tissue. Paper II showed that for a batch analyse of 24 samples it is preferred to store microdialysis samples in glass vials with crimp caps. For reliable results, samples should be centrifuged before analysis. Paper III showed a new application area for microdialysis sampling from the heart, i.e. surface sampling. The surface probe and myocardial probe (in the myocardium) showed a similar pattern for glucose, lactate and glycerol during baseline, short ischemic and long ischemic interventions. In paper IV, a similar pattern was observed as in paper III, i.e. data obtained from the probe on the liver surface showed no differences compared with data from the probe in liver parenchyma for glucose, lactate and glycerol concentrations during baseline, ischemic and reperfusion interventions. Conclusion: The MD technique is adequate for local metabolic monitoring, but requires methodological considerations before starting a new experimental serie. It is important to consider factors such as flow rate, sampling time and handling of samples in association with the analysis device chosen. The main finding in this thesis is that analyses of glucose, lactate and glycerol in samples from the heart surface and liver surface reflect concentrations sampled from the myocardium and liver parenchyma, respectively.
|
|
| 5. |
- Abul-Kasim, Kasim, et al.
(författare)
-
Advanced radiological work-up as an adjunct to decision in early reconstructive surgery in brachial plexus injuries
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Journal of Brachial Plexus and Peripheral Nerve Injury. - : BioMed Central. - 1749-7221. ; 5, s. 14-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundAs neurophysiologic tests may not reveal the extent of brachial plexus injury at the early stage, the role of early radiological work-up has become increasingly important. The aim of the study was to evaluate the concordance between the radiological and clinical findings with the intraoperative findings in adult patients with brachial plexus injuries.MethodsSeven consecutive male patients (median age 33; range 15-61) with brachial plexus injuries, caused by motor cycle accidents in 5/7 patients, who underwent extensive radiological work-up with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography myelography (CT-M) or both were included in this retrospective study. A total of 34 spinal nerve roots were evaluated by neuroradiologists at two different occasions. The degree of agreement between the radiological findings of every individual nerve root and the intraoperative findings was estimated by calculation of kappa coefficient (К-value). Using the operative findings as a gold standard, the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of the clinical findings and the radiological findings were estimated.ResultsThe diagnostic accuracy of radiological findings was 88% compared with 65% for the clinical findings. The concordance between the radiological findings and the intraoperative findings was substantial (К = 0.76) compared with only fair (К = 0.34) for the clinical findings. There were two false positive and two false negative radiological findings (sensitivity and PPV of 0.90; specificity and NPV of 0.87).ConclusionsThe advanced optimized radiological work-up used showed high reliability and substantial agreement with the intraoperative findings in adult patients with brachial plexus injury.
|
|
| 6. |
- Accinelli, Cesare, et al.
(författare)
-
Dissipation and removal of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) in different aquatic environments
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Chemosphere. - : Elsevier BV. - 0045-6535 .- 1879-1298. ; 79:8, s. 891-897
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) has received recent attention due to the potential use as a first-line defense against H5N1 and H1N1 influenza viruses. Research has shown that oseltamivir is not removed during conventional wastewater treatments, thus having the potential to enter surface water bodies. A series of laboratory experiments investigated the fate and the removal of oseltamivir in two surface water ecosystems of Japan and in a municipal wastewater treatment plant located in Northern Italy. Persistence of oseltamivir in surface water ranged from non-detectable degradation to a half-life of 53 d. After 40 d, <3% of radiolabeled oseltamivir evolved as (CO2)-C-14. The presence of sediments (5%) led to a significant increase of oseltamivir degradation and mineralization rates. A more intense mineralization was observed in samples of the wastewater treatment plant when applying a long incubation period (40 d). More precisely, 76% and 37% of the initial radioactivity applied as C-14-oseltamivir was recovered as (CO2)-C-14 from samples of the biological tank and effluent water, respectively. Two bacterial strains growing on oseltamivir as sole carbon source were isolated and used for its removal from synthetic medium and environmental samples, including surface water and wastewater. Inoculation of water and wastewater samples with the two oseltamivir-degrading strains showed that mineralization of oseltamivir was significantly higher in both inoculated water and wastewater, than in uninoculated controls. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and quantitative PCR analysis showed that Tamiflu would not affect the microbial population of surface water and wastewater.
|
|
| 7. |
- Accinelli, Cesare, et al.
(författare)
-
Removal of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and other selected pharmaceuticals from wastewater using a granular bioplastic formulation entrapping propagules of Phanerochaete chrysosporium
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Chemosphere. - : Elsevier. - 0045-6535 .- 1879-1298. ; 81:3, s. 436-43
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The capacity of the ligninolytic fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium to degrade a wide variety of environmentally persistent xenobiotics has been largely reported in the literature. Beside other factors, one barrier to a wider use of this bioremediation fungus is the availability of effective formulations that ensure easy preparation, handling and application. In this series of laboratory experiments, we evaluated the efficiency of a granular bioplastic formulation entrapping propagules of P. chrysosporium for removal of four selected pharmaceuticals from wastewater samples. Addition of inoculated granules to samples of the wastewater treatment plant of Bologna significantly increased the removal of the antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu), and the antibiotics, erythromycin, sulfamethoxazol, and ciprofloxacin. Similar effects were also observed in effluent water. Oseltamivir was the most persistent of the four active substances. After 30d of incubation, approximately two times more oseltamivir was removed in bioremediated wastewater than controls. The highest removal efficiency of the bioplastic formulation was observed with the antibiotic ciprofloxacin. Microbiological DNA-based analysis showed that the bioplastic matrix supported the growth of P. chrysosporium, thus facilitating its adaptation to unusual environment such as wastewater.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Addario, Barbara, et al.
(författare)
-
The domain structure of Entamoeba α-actinin2
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters (Druk). - : Springer. - 1425-8153 .- 1689-1392. ; 15:4, s. 665-78
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Entamoeba histolytica, a major agent of human amoebiasis, expresses two distinct forms of α-actinin, a ubiquitous actin-binding protein that is present in most eukaryotic organisms. In contrast to all metazoan α-actinins, in both isoforms the intervening rod domain that connects the N-terminal actin-binding domain with the C-terminal EF-hands is much shorter. It is suggested that these α-actinins may be involved in amoeboid motility and phagocytosis, so we cloned and characterised each domain of one of these α-actinins to better understand their functional role. The results clearly showed that the domains have properties very similar to those of conventional α-actinins.
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
