Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate--3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) is a promising biodegradable bio-based material, which is designed for a vast range of applications, depending on its composite. This study aims to assess the degradability of PHBV-based compound under different conditions. The research group followed different methodological approaches and assessed visual and mass changes, mechanical and morphological properties, spectroscopic and structural characterisation, along with thermal behaviour.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pharmacokinet Pharmacodyn
August 2017
Optimizing designs using robust (global) optimality criteria has been shown to be a more flexible approach compared to using local optimality criteria. Additionally, model based adaptive optimal design (MBAOD) may be less sensitive to misspecification in the prior information available at the design stage. In this work, we investigate the influence of using a local (lnD) or a robust (ELD) optimality criterion for a MBAOD of a simulated dose optimization study, for rich and sparse sampling schedules.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pharmacokinet Pharmacodyn
December 2016
With the increasing popularity of optimal design in drug development it is important to understand how the approximations and implementations of the Fisher information matrix (FIM) affect the resulting optimal designs. The aim of this work was to investigate the impact on design performance when using two common approximations to the population model and the full or block-diagonal FIM implementations for optimization of sampling points. Sampling schedules for two example experiments based on population models were optimized using the FO and FOCE approximations and the full and block-diagonal FIM implementations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The ISPR was initially created to monitor the product performance of Medtronic implanted intrathecal drug infusion and spinal cord systems available in the United States.
Materials And Methods: Data were collected from 50 representative sites implanting and following patients with intrathecal drug delivery systems across the United States between August 7, 2003 and January 31, 2014. Device performance over time was estimated using life table survival methods.
Gray leaf spot (GLS), caused by Cercospora zeae-maydis and Cercospora zeina, is one of the most important diseases of maize worldwide. The pathogen has a necrotrophic lifestyle and no major genes are known for GLS. Quantitative resistance, although poorly understood, is important for GLS management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Alkylresorcinols have proven to be useful biomarkers of whole-grain wheat and rye intake in many nutritional studies. To improve their utility, more knowledge regarding the fate of alkylresorcinols and their metabolites after consumption is needed.
Objective: The objective of this study was to develop a combined pharmacokinetic model for plasma concentrations of alkylresorcinols and their 2 major metabolites, 3,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHBA) and 3-(3,5-dihydroxyphenyl)-propanoic acid (DHPPA).
Existing crop monitoring programs determine the incidence and distribution of plant diseases and pathogens and assess the damage caused within a crop production region. These programs have traditionally used observed or predicted disease and pathogen data and environmental information to prescribe management practices that minimize crop loss. Monitoring programs are especially important for crops with broad geographic distribution or for diseases that can cause rapid and great economic losses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is considerable evidence indicating that chimpanzees can delay gratification for extended time intervals, particularly in the accumulation task in which food items accumulate within a participant's reach until the participant begins to consume them. However, there is limited evidence that other ape species might also exhibit this capacity, despite there being a number of similar studies indicating that nonape species (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Previous studies have shown that a calcium (Ca) pre-rinse given before a 228 ppm fluoride (F) rinse greatly increased salivary fluoride. Objectives. The aim of this randomized controlled trial is to examine if Ca pre-rinse could increase the fluoride concentration in the overnight unstimulated saliva after a 905 ppm F-rinse.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwo phenolic acids, 3,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHBA) and 3-(3,5-dihydroxyphenyl)- propanoic acid (DHPPA), are the major metabolites of cereal alkylresorcinols (ARs). Like their precursors, AR metabolites have been suggested as biomarkers for intake of whole-grain wheat and rye and as such could aid the understanding of diet-disease associations. This study estimated and compared pharmacokinetic parameters of ARs and their metabolites in rats and investigated differences in metabolite formation after ingestion of different AR homologs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To describe the oral health-related quality-of-life in homebound elderly dependent on moderate and substantial supportive care for daily living.
Materials And Methods: A total of 302 selected persons in three counties in Sweden over 65 years of age and in need of daily support from society participated in the study. Half of the participants had moderate needs of support, defined as supportive care of 15-50 h per month and half had substantial needs of supportive care, i.
The ability to monitor and control one's own cognitive states, metacognition, is crucial for effective learning and problem solving. Although the literature on animal metacognition has grown considerably during last 15 years, there have been few studies examining whether great apes share such introspective abilities with humans. Here, we tested whether four gorillas could meet two criteria of animal metacognition, the increase in escape responses as a function of task difficulty and the chosen-forced performance advantage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComput Methods Programs Biomed
November 2012
Several developments have facilitated the practical application and increased the general use of optimal design for nonlinear mixed effects models. These developments include new methodology for utilizing advanced pharmacometric models, faster optimization algorithms and user friendly software tools. In this paper we present the extension of the optimal design software PopED, which incorporates many of these recent advances into an easily useable enhanced GUI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ability to appreciate the attentional states of others is an important element used in discerning the presence of Theory of Mind in an individual. Whether primates are able to recognize attention, and further, use such information to predict behavior, remains contentious. In this study, six western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) were tested under different conditions that aimed to investigate not only their understanding of what a human experimenter sees, but also what information they use to make these judgments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Elderly people with disabilities have an increased risk of developing oral diseases as compared with the healthy elderly. The aim of this study was to investigate oral hygiene habits, clinical variables related to oral self-care and caries risk in elderly individuals living at home with moderate and substantial needs of home care.
Methods: A random sample of 151 elderly people with moderate needs and 151 with substantial needs of home care were examined.
O-Pentynyl dextran (PyD), an amphiphilic polysaccharide derivative with a degree of substitution (DS) of 0.43 was compared with ion exchange resins Lewatit VP OC 1600, Amberlite XAD 761 and Duolite A568 for immobilization of Lipase from Rhizopus arrhizus by adsorption method. The immobilized enzymes were employed for esterification of octanoic acid with geraniol in n-hexane as model reaction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of edentulous subjects, caries and periodontal disease among the home-dwelling elderly with moderate and substantial needs of support for daily living.
Materials And Method: A sample of 302 randomly selected elderly with moderate or substantial needs of supportive care were examined in Sweden. Several oral clinical variables were registered: number of teeth, dentures, caries, probing pocket depth, gingival bleeding and Eichner's index.
The sample preparation procedure for MALDI-TOF MS of polymers is addressed in this study by the application of a statistical Design of Experiments (DoE). Industrial poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) was chosen as model polymer. Different experimental settings (levels) for matrixes, analyte/matrix proportions and concentrations of cationization agent were considered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNet blotch, caused by Pyrenophora teres f. teres, is one of the most devastating diseases of barley (Hordeum vulgare). Efficient utilization of available resistance sources is dependent upon successful characterization of genes conditioning resistance in diverse sources.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhytophthora cinnamomi is a destructive root pathogen of numerous woody plant species in the ornamental plant nursery. Sixty-five isolates of P. cinnamomi were evaluated for mefenoxam sensitivity on 20% clarified V8 agar amended with mefenoxam at 0 or 100 μg/ml.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe capacity of nonhuman primates to actively modify the acoustic structure of existing sounds or vocalizations in their repertoire appears limited. Several studies have reported population or community differences in the acoustical structure of nonhuman primate long distance calls and have suggested vocal learning as a mechanism for explaining such variation. In addition, recent studies on great apes have indicated that there are repertoire differences between populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn 1999 a new law in Sweden granted people receiving a certain level of supportive care from the community the right to receive a free, in-home oral health assessment. Subsequent appraisal has disclosed that far from all eligible people, especially those living at home, have undergone such an assessment. Of fundamental importance to the success of this scheme is the active involvement of case managers in identifying those who are eligible for assessment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPropamocarb hydrochloride is a systemic fungicide commonly used for control of Phytophthora diseases of nursery crops. Here we report on the effect of this compound on different growth stages of Phytophthora nicotianae, a major pathogen of numerous herbaceous and some woody ornamental plants. A total of 71 isolates were assayed for sensitivity to propamocarb at two concentrations of 1.
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