Asthma is a chronic respiratory disorder affecting an estimated 300 million people worldwide. Most patients with asthma can be controlled with bronchodilators and low to moderate dose inhaled corticosteroids. However, an estimated 5-10% of the population presents a more troublesome disease, often referred to as severe asthma. The aim of present thesis was to study the relationship between histopat

Findings from studies that evaluated the effect of antiretroviral drug use on the development of cervical squamous intraepithelial lesion differed in their conclusions. This study investigated the association between HIV infection, antiretroviral drug use and cervical squamous intraepithelial lesion in a high HIV and cervical cancer burden setting- Nigeria.

The gamma-ray decay of ail excited state in In-131, the one proton hole neighbor of the doubly magic (132)sn has been measured. A high-spin, core-excited isomer with T-1/2 = 630(60) us was identified following production by both relativistic fragmentation of a Xe-136 beam and fission Of a U-238 beam. This state deexcites by a single gamma-ray branch of 3782(2) keV from which direct evidence for th

The Nordic countries collaborate in setting recommendations for intake of nutrients by publishing the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNR). Studies exploring how well the Nordic population adheres to the NNR are limited and none are available for the metabolic syndrome (MetS) subgroup. Individuals with MetS are a large part of the adult Nordic population and their diet's nutritional quality is o

Since the emulsification in the High-Pressure Homogenizer (HPH) is controlled by hydrodynamic forces, the turbulent flow field in the valve region is of significant interest. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations have been used for this in many studies. However, there are reasons to question if the utilized turbulence models, with their inherent assumptions and simplifications, could accu

In this paper, human viscosity perception in haptic teleoperation systems is thoroughly analyzed. An accurate perception of viscoelastic environmental properties such as viscosity is a critical ability in several contexts, such as telesurgery, telerehabilitation, telemedicine, and soft-tissue interaction. We study and compare the ability to perceive viscosity from the standpoint of detection and d

Experimental observations and numerical simulation were conducted to study the flame characteristics and flame stabilization mechanism in a supersonic combustor with hydrogen injection upstream of cavity flame holders. OH radical distribution of the reacting flowfield was obtained using OH spontaneous emission and OH-PLIF (planar laser-induced fluorescence). The supersonic combustion flowfield wit

OBJECTIVE: Data-driven methods for fMRI analysis are useful, for example, when an a priori model of signal variations is unavailable. However, activation sources are typically assumed to be linearly mixed, although non-linear properties of fMRI data, including resting-state data, have been observed. In this work, the non-linear locally linear embedding (LLE) algorithm is introduced for dimensional

The Swedish Parliament has voted for massive expansion of wind power within the next decade. As in many other countries, the establishment of new wind farms has aroused local opposition. This paper contributes to the literature using a qualitative methodology to analyse attitudes towards wind power. In 2007, we carried out in-depth interviews with 40 stakeholders concerned with two planned nearsho

The very neutron-rich oxygen isotopes O-25 and O-26 are investigated experimentally and theoretically. The unbound states are populated in an experiment performed at the R3B-LAND setup at GSI via proton-knockout reactions from F-26 and F-27 at relativistic energies around 442 and 414 MeV/nucleon, respectively. From the kinematically complete measurement of the decay into O-24 plus one or two neutr

Objective To document the frequency and causes of maternal mortality and severe (near-miss) morbidity in metropolitan La Paz, Bolivia. Design Facility-based cross-sectional study. Setting Four maternity hospitals in La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia, where free maternal health care is provided through a government-subsidised programme. Population All maternal deaths and women with near-miss morbidity. M

Background: Excessive use of antibiotics is worldwide the most important reason for development of antimicrobial resistance. As antibiotic resistance may spread across borders, high prevalence countries may serve as a source of bacterial resistance for countries with a low prevalence. Therefore, bacterial resistance is an important issue with a potential serious impact on all countries. Initiative

The ever increasing data rates in wireless communication require analog to digital converters (ADCs) with greater requirements on speed and accuracy, while being power efficient to prolong battery life. This dissertation contains an introduction to the field and five papers that focus on the continuous-time (CT) Delta-Sigma modulator (DSM) as ADC. Paper I analyses the performance degradation of d

Surface roughness is a commonly used criterion for characterization of surface quality in a machining operation. In the study of micro-scale mechanical properties of machined surface and cutting tool with nanoindentation, prefect surface finish on the test specimen is often required for the reliable result. However, the prefect surface finish is often difficult to obtain from the machining operati

Even though a number of studies have shown that UV-B radiation inhibits plant growth and regulates the cell cycle progress, little is known about the molecular and cellular mechanisms. Here, we developed a synchronous root-tip cell system to investigate expression changes of cell cycle marker genes and DNA damage under UV-B radiation. Expression analysis of cell cycle marker genes revealed that G1

Objective To examine the effectiveness of pH analysis of fetal scalp blood compared with lactate analysis in identifying hypoxia in labour to prevent acidaemia at birth. Design Randomised controlled multicentre trial. Setting Labour wards. Participants Women with a singleton pregnancy, cephalic presentation, gestational age >= 34 weeks, and clinical indication for fetal scalp blood sampling. Inter