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Estrogen receptors (ER) are expressed not only in classical target organs for estrogen like breast and uterus, but also in male reproductive system as well as in non-reproductive organs such as brain, liver and bone. The functions of ER are quite well known in reproductive organs but less information is available regarding their function in vascular tissue. The objective of this thesis was to inve
This thesis describes early inflammatory responses involving interactions between leukocytes and the endothelial lining of the blood vessel wall. An adhesion molecule, E-selectin, which is upregulated on interleukin-1 activated endothelium, was found to mediate rolling between leukocytes and endothelial cells in vivo. Immunohistochemistry revealed that E-selectin was preferentially expressed in ve
Competition between and within species has been one of the most studied concepts in ecology. In this thesis the aim was to test the idea of plant-microbial competition for N and, by studying this interaction, to gain a better understanding of different N processes in soil. The research carried out seeks to investigate plant-microbial competition for N based on the definition that competition only
Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common disorder where underlying mechanisms for the local initiating events in the pancreas, the systemic dissemination of the inflammatory response and the remote organ dysfunction still are unclear. The aim of the present study was to further characterize the dynamics and sequence of the immune response in AP, and to determine the cellular origin of the initiating ev
Two putative cyclodextrinases (CDases) were amplified from two moderate thermophiles isolated in Iceland: Anoxybacillus flavithermus and Laceyella sacchari. They were cloned, expressed and characterized. The expression of the former was optimized in E. coli by using a solubility-enhancing tag, NusA, and tuning of inducer concentration in the expression strain Tuner(DE3). The CDases were optimally
A probabilistic framework used in studying collective decision making is the uncertain dichotomous choice model. The model is essentially characterized by two components: the organizational structure and the voting process. By organizational structure, we refer to a group composed of members with common objectives and who are tasked to choose one of the two given alternatives, one of which is assu
The influence of alcohol on bone metabolism, fracture and fracture healing was evaluated in men and male rats by measurements of bone mineral density (BMD), biochemical markers and biomechanical testings. Retrospectively, 199 male patients hospitalized for tibia shaft fractures were studied. Forty-nine were judged as problem drinkers. Abusers were more prone to sustain oblique fractures. The heal
In many species of birds juveniles migrate independently of experienced adults and thus have to rely on innate information about migratory routes and wintering area. This information is encoded as a set of inherited migratory directions and a timing schedule that provides information on when and how far to migrate. Apart from these remarkable behavioral adaptations, migration also requires several
The CD4+ T cells have an important role in inflammation. Based on the local cytokine milieu, these cells can differentiate into either a Th1 population promoting cellular immunity or Th2 population involved in humoral immunity. Th2 cells produce the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4 and IL-10, which might have a protective role in autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and multiple scle
Translation is a central biological process, that is catalysed by a machinery consisting of RNA and protein. In this thesis three different protein components of the bacterial protein synthesis system have been structurally studied. Ribosome recycling factor (RRF) is essential for the recycling step of the translation cycle, elongation factor SelB is a specialised elongation factor needed for co-t
Overall the aim has been to characterise the in vitro upregulation of the 5-hydroxytryptamine 1B/1D (5-HT(1B/1D)) and endothelin (ET) receptors in the cerebral circulation as well as demonstrating phenotypic changes in a pathophysiological model mimicking subarachnoid haemorrhage. The first part describes receptor upregulation using organ culture of whole vessel segments from both rat and man. The
Natural disturbance is an important driving force of community dynamics in many forest types around the globe. Understanding spatial and temporal properties of disturbance events in the present and in the past is important in formulating the nature conservation strategies as well as for the modeling of climate and human impacts on forest vegetation. In this thesis I studied wind and fire disturban
In this thesis I study two-dimensional geometric optimization problems for which it is difficult to find efficient, exact, deterministic algorithms. All known solutions to these problems require time that is exponential in the total size of the input. The work done in this thesis is a contribution to the research directed at attacking and coping with such NP hard problems in computational geometry
Summary: For religious Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib is a holy scripture which enshrines ontologically divine words and the teaching and revelatory experiences of historical human Gurus. Simultaneously the Sikhs have taken the concept of a sacred scripture much further than any other religious community by treating the Guru Granth Sahib as a living Guru invested with spiritual authority and agency
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are defined by their capacity to self-renew and differentiate into all hematopoietic cell lineages. Postnatally, HSCs reside predominantly in the bone marrow and are relatively rare, but important cells because of their therapeutic potential in bone marrow transplantation protocols and in their involvement in the origin of certain leukemias. To study how various gen
When a low-frequency laser pulse is focused to a high intensity in a gas, the electric field of the laser may become comparable to, or even exceed, the electric field between the electrons and the nucleus in the atom. Under such conditions, through a process known as high-order harmonic generation, bursts of extreme ultraviolet radiation may be emitted, with durations in the attosecond domain (1 a
This thesis examines the role of sunlight, specifically ultraviolet-B radiation (280-320 nm), on dissolved organic matter (DOM) and bacteria in lakes. Field experiments in lakes with different humic contents and geographical locations have been performed. Photooxidation result in that part of DOM is oxidized to inorganic carbon (DIC), mainly CO2. The photooxidation rate can be of the same magnitu
The aim of this dissertation was to gain knowledge about the experiences of siblings and parents of children with autism and learning difficulties, about what brought about the decision to apply for a place in a group home for their child and what it meant for the parents that their child had moved. A further aim was to gain knowledge about what it is like to work in a group home for children with
This thesis addresses solving elliptic partial differential equation using integral equation methods, with emphasis on accuracy, speed and stability. Of particular interest are such equations on non-smooth domains, and several different elliptic problems such as electrostatic and elastostatic ones are treated and solved in this setting.
Rare-earth ions doped into a transparent crystal can have optically excited states with coherence times of milliseconds and hyperfine levels with coherence times of hours when cooled down to liquid helium temperatures. This makes them attractive for developing quantum computing hardware. A quantum transistor can be implemented in a rare-earth-ion-doped crystal by utilizing a dipole blockade effe
