Stomatal guard cells play a key role in the ability of plants to survive on dry land, because their movements regulate the exchange of gases and water vapor between the external environment and the interior of the plant. The walls of these cells are exceptionally strong and must undergo large and reversible deformation during stomatal opening and closing. The molecular basis of the unique stren...

OBJECTIVES We sought to examine the prognostic value of brachial artery (BA) flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) and intima-media thickness (IMT) in patients admitted for invasive evaluation of chest pain. BACKGROUND Both FMD and IMT of the BA have been associated with coronary risk factors and the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD). Recent studies on the prognostic value of FMD have been...

The cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria is a complex assemblage of glycopolymers and proteins. It consists of a thick peptidoglycan sacculus that surrounds the cytoplasmic membrane and that is decorated with teichoic acids, polysaccharides, and proteins. It plays a major role in bacterial physiology since it maintains cell shape and integrity during growth and division; in addition, it acts as ...

Left ventricular hypertrophy due to aortic stenosis, hypertension and other forms of heart disease is associated with abnormalities of diastolic function. It is uncertain whether these changes are an inherent consequence of the hypertrophic process or represent additional pathologic factors. To investigate this issue, echocardiographic indexes of left ventricular early diastolic function in hig...

A direct numerical simulation (DNS) of an unstably stratified convective boundary layer with system rotation was performed to study top-down and bottom-up diffusion processes. In order to better understand near-wall dynamics associated with scalar diffusion in the absence of surface roughness, direct simulation is utilized to numerically integrate the governing equations that model the atmosphe...

OBJECTIVE To assess left ventricular function in adult Fallot patients with residual pulmonary regurgitation. SETTING The radiology department of a tertiary referral centre. PATIENTS 14 patients with chronic pulmonary regurgitation and right ventricular volume overload after repair of tetralogy of Fallot and 10 healthy subjects were studied using magnetic resonance imaging. MAIN OUTCOME M...

Objective—To assess left ventricular function in adult Fallot patients with residual pulmonary regurgitation. Setting—The radiology department of a tertiary referral centre. Patients—14 patients with chronic pulmonary regurgitation and right ventricular volume overload after repair of tetralogy of Fallot and 10 healthy subjects were studied using magnetic resonance imaging. Main outcome measure...

Structure of the mycobacterial cell wall Present-day understanding of the architecture of the mycobacterial cell wall arises from excellent electron-microscopic studies which demonstrate alternating zones of electron density and transparency almost reminiscent of Gram-negative cell walls and clearly pointing to a substantial lipid barrier [l]. This evidence is in accord with the chemical models...

Construction tasks involve numerous demanding sub-tasks such as creating a mental model of the goal object and integrating the object parts into this model. For this purpose object parts need to be assigned a function within the overall structure. In this paper we examine the linguistic representation of this process. Participants were given 16 object parts to assemble without a manual, and wer...

Plant cell walls are amazingly complex amalgams of carbohydrates, proteins, lignin, water, and incrusting substances such as cutin, suberin, and certain inorganic compounds that vary among plant species, cell types, and even neighboring cells. Developmental events and exposure to any of a number of abiotic and biotic stresses further increase this compositional and structural variation. Moreove...