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The relationship between palynological diversity and floristic diversity was studied on the basis of sediment surface sample pollen data from nine small lakes and vegetation data within a 250 m radius from the lake shore of each. The nine study areas are situated in the patchy cultural landscape of Southern Estonia and were chosen to represent landscape changes along a gradient from closed forest

Background: Pro-inflammatory cytokines can affect intracellular lipid metabolism. A variety of effects have been described for different cell types; hepatocyte lipid turnover pathways are inhibited during inflammation, whereas interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) reduces intracellular cholesterol levels in fibroblasts. Levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1 beta and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (

Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is a common colonizer of the human nasopharynx. Despite a low rate of invasive disease, the high prevalence of colonization results in millions of infections and over one million deaths per year, mostly in individuals under the age of 5 and the elderly. Colonizing pneumococci form well-organized biofilm communities in the nasopharyngeal environment, but

PURPOSE: A Swedish and Norwegian study was designed to examine health-related quality of life (HQL) in patients with head and neck cancer (head and neck) at diagnosis and during treatment and rehabilitation. The overall aim was to examine the impact on HQL at diagnosis depending on tumor location, stage, sex, and age (part I) and to describe HQL longitudinally and determine for which patients and

Popular Abstract in Swedish Sammanväxningar i buken utvecklas efter flertalet kirurgiska bukingrepp och utgör en betydande orsak till tarmvred, buksmärta och infertilitet. Buksammanväxningar skulle potentiellt kunna minskas i omfattning med användande av förebyggande behandling men här finns klara begränsningar i exempelvis effekt och ett stort utrymme för förbättring. De i denna avhandling ingåenPeritoneal adhesions develop after almost all abdominal surgical interventions and represent an important cause of postoperative intestinal obstruction, abdominal discomfort and infertility. Postoperative adhesions can potentially be reduced by using different antiadhesive agents. In the present study, we hypothesized that a combination of oppositely charged polypeptides could effectively decrease

Stable isotope analyses of tissues have been used to help delineate natal regions and routes of migratory animals. The foundations of such studies are isotopic gradients or differences representing geographic regions and habitat used by the organism that are retained in selected tissues. We sampled peacock butterflies Inachis io on a regional level in southern Sweden to study natural variation and

Tracking migratory movement of small animals with variable migration patterns is difficult with standard mark-recapture methods or genetic analysis. We used stable hydrogen isotope (delta D) measurements of wings from European red admirals Vanessa atalanta to study several aspects of this species' migration. In the central part of southern Europe we found large differences in delta D values betwee

The natural reservoir of influenza A virus is waterfowl, particularly dabbling ducks (genus Anas). Although it has long been assumed that waterfowl are asymptomatic carriers of the virus, a recent study found that low-pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) infection in Bewick's swans (Cygnus columbianus bewickii) negatively affected stopover time, body mass and feeding behaviour. In the present study,

INTRODUCTION: A higher prevalence of individuals affected by Parkinsonism was found in Valcamonica, Italy. This may be related to ferro-alloy smelters in the area, releasing manganese (Mn) in the air, soil and water for about a century. There exists individual susceptibility for Mn neurotoxicity. AIM: To analyse how polymorphism in genes regulating Mn metabolism and toxicity can modify neurophysio

The main purpose of this project has been to examine the accessibility of refereed conference articles and the OAand publishing policies of conferences in order to in this way elucidate different aspects concerning self-archiving in Swedish institutional repositories. For this purpose, the project participants have examined a number of conferences and references to conference articles via their in

We studied the nature of the relationship between bone mineral density (BMD) and the risk of death among elderly men. BMD was associated with mortality risk and was independent of adjustments for other co-morbidities. A piecewise linear function described the relationship more accurately than assuming the same gradient of risk over the whole range of BMD (p = 0.020). Low BMD was associated with a

Drug treatment has been and will continue to be a successful method in modern medicine that can change the course of a disease. However, it is surprisingly seldom used in the more technically oriented orthopedic surgery. Bone healing and physiological skeletal remodeling involve a complex set of regulated signaling pathways that control the formation of new bone matrix and the resorption of damage

Land-use change is a major driver of the global loss of biodiversity, but it is unclear to what extent this also results in a loss of ecological traits. Therefore, a better understanding of how land-use change affects ecological traits is crucial for efforts to sustain functional diversity. To this end we tested whether higher species richness or taxonomic distinctness generally leads to increased

Background: Myeloid cells have been associated with physiological and pathological angiogenesis, but their exact functions in these processes remain poorly defined. Monocyte-derived tissue macrophages of the CNS, or microglial cells, invade the mammalian retina before it becomes vascularized. Recent studies correlate the presence of microglia in the developing CNS with vascular network formation,

Popular Abstract in Swedish Den här avhandlingen har behandlingsresultaten av permanent djupelektrod stimulering i hjärnan (Deep Brain Stimulation, DBS) undersökts ur såväl symptomminsknings som patients och närståendes perspektiv. DBS behandling innebär att en elektrod med fyra poler opereras in i hjärnan genom ett litet hål i skallbenet, och den kopplas till pulsgivardosa. Hela systemet är doltThe treatment related effects and personalized goal fulfilment of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) have been assessed in studies with different designs. The brain targets included the thalamus for medically intractable tremor in Parkinson's disease (PD) or essential tremor (ET) and the subthalamicus for reducing hypo-, bradykinesia, tremor, rigidity and dystonia in PD. A Swedish multi-center study sh

Syftet med uppsatsen är att utreda om det vid ansökan om asyl, då sexuell läggning åberopas som skyddsskäl, ställs ett för högt beviskrav på den asylsökande samt om Migrationsverkets och migrationsdomstolarnas tillämpning av reglerna är enhetlig, och om så inte är fallet, vilka skillnader som finns i tillämpningen. Jag har granskat tretton beslut och domar från Migrationsverket samt landets migratThe purpose of this essay is to examine whether the evidence requirements are to high for the asylum seeker in cases when sexual orientation is invoked as the reason for need of protection. Also, whether the application of the legislation by the first and second instances in Sweden is uniform, and if not, what differences there are. To attain the purpose, I have examined thirteen decisions of the

1. Inledning Under 1900-talet förändrades Sverige från ett efterblivet och ojämlikt land till ett föregångsland i hela världen när det gäller demokrati och mänskliga rättigheter. Vägen dit var långt ifrån rak och oproblematisk, och på vägen blev många människor förbisedda. I synnerhet en folkgrupp - som inte ens började räknas som sådan förrän vid andra halvan av 1900-talet trots att de hade levt