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In this thesis, methods for automated analysis of myocardial perfusion single photon emission computer tomography (myocardial perfusion SPECT, MPS) images have been successfully developed and evaluated. MPS images show the perfusion of the myocardium and are used for diagnosing patients with suspected ischemic heart disease. The disease is characterized by reduced perfusion to a region of the myoc
A brief period of sublethal ischemia in the brain induces resistance to a subsequent, otherwise lethal ischemic insult. This phenomenon is known as ischemic tolerance or preconditioning. A model of ischemic preconditioning in the rat brain using the two-vessel occlusion model of global cerebral ischemia was established. Using this model we have demonstrated that ischemic preconditioning protects t
Malaria and tuberculosis are two of the most deadly infectious diseases that exist. Both diseases predominantly affect the most vunerable parts of society. Additionally the treatment of both diseases are complicated by growing and spreading resistance against the drugs used to treat them. Chloroquine was once described as a wonder drug for its combination of efficacy, low price and tolerable side
The effect of different additives on protein stability was studied, and the basis for stabilization was investigated at molecular level. The addition of sorbitol enhanced thermal stability of hen egg white lysozyme in aqueous solution. NMR spectroscopy revealed changes in the relaxation properties of Ala and Thr methyl groups in lysozyme, indicating compression of the enzyme as a consequence of pr
Amperometric enzyme based biosensors were designed, developed and characterised in flow systems. Solid graphite and carbon paste electrodes were used as support for enzyme immobilisation. Both mediated and direct electron transfers between redox enzymes and electrodes were utilised for biosensor construction, as well as coupled enzyme systems. Special emphasis was placed on the optimisation of bio
A phonetogram is a diagram displaying sound pressure levels (SPL) of softest and loudest possible phonation over the entire fundamental frequency range (F0) of a voice. Female singers mean phonetogram had a significantly higher upper contour than female nonsingers. When reading at various voice levels female singers produced markedly higher mean equivalent sound pressure levels (Leq) and mean rel
The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is currently emerging as an efficient and environmentally friendly power source. The technology is very complex and relies ultimately on materials and components which need further development. One of the major hurdles for advancing the PEMFC technology is currently the demand for new durable low-cost polymeric membranes that will allow fuel cell oper
Intercellular communication is of crucial importance in regulating physiology and G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) have evolved as an important mechanism in this process. Of the approximately 800 human GPCRs, about 160 are still considered to be “orphan” receptors for which an endogenous ligand remains to be identified. Since an estimated 50% of all clinical drugs act on 30 known GPCRs, the rem
The subject for this dissertation is the Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch’s Das 6-Tage-Spiel (1998). The purpose is to examine in what way Das 6-Tage-Spiel, as part of the orgien mysterien theater (hereafter o. m. theater), is an adequate means to realize Nitsch’s intention (as he has described them outside of the work in writings and interviews). Das 6-Tage-Spiel is an example of a category of scen
Many individuals spend a substantial portion of their waking time thinking about topics unrelated to current activities and surroundings (mind wandering). This dissertation sought to contribute to our knowledge of why some people mind wander more than others. Mind wandering in cognitive tasks is more common in individuals with poor executive cognitive control (working memory updating, inhibiting t
Using computer-assisted sequence homology searches we identified three genes encoding proteins similar to certain fusion partner proteins in cancer. The novel APRIL gene was localized to 15q25 and encodes a protein, containing an acidic amino-acid region similar to that/those of leukemia-associated fusion partner proteins DEK and SET. The N-terminus of APRIL contains leucine-rich repeats. The mous
The thesis was intended to fill gaps in the knowledge regarding the normal development of lung volumes and lung mechanics in children, from young infancy to the mid-teens. In particular, data were previously lacking regarding pre-school children. The studies were done during anesthesia and muscle relaxation. Measurements: · Absolute lung volume was obtained with a tracer gas method (sulfur hexaf
Identification of the intracellular signal transduction pathways activated in retinal ischaemia may be important in revealing novel pharmacological targets. The retinal blood vessels are key organs in circulatory failure, and in this work the retinal vasculature was therefore examined separately from the neuroretina. The porcine eye has a typical primate-like architecture and is similar to the hum
Throughout its history Earth experienced a variety of natural climate changes. By investigating their spatial and temporal evolution we can increase the understanding of the mechanisms and dynamics underlying natural climate change and improve our general comprehension of the climate system. Prerequisites of these investigations are reliable reconstructions of past forcing variations as well as so
Cellular reprogramming is when one cell is changed into another. This involves structural modifications on the DNA of a cell resulting in a transcriptional change. This occurs naturally during development when early pluripotent cells gradually differentiate into more specialized cells that finally result in a complete organism. This is a finely orchestrated event that includes both extrinsic and i
The first part of this thesis deals with approximations of stochastic integrals and discrete time hedging of derivative contracts; two closely related subjects. Paper A considers the problem of approximating the value of a Wiener process. The discretization points are placed at times when the absolute difference between the value of the process and the approximation reaches a threshold level. It i
As a special part of our cultural heritage, toponyms have been handed down orally from generation to generation for centuries or more at the place where they were coined, recalling events, activities and knowledge. Especially where written documentation is relatively young, place names offer a way to reach further back into the past. This is particularly true of many dialectal cultures, in which o
The majority of current treatments used for treatment of prostate cancer (PCa) and leukemia are often limited to a narrow subsets of treated patients. As such, there still remains a significant scope for gaining deeper understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying cancer metastasis for improvement of targeted treatment. Elevated expression of a cell cycle regulator cyclin A1 initiated leukemia
Paper I: Perfekt, K.-M. and Putinar, M., Spectral bounds for the Neumann-Poincaré operator on planar domains with corners, to appear in J. Anal. Math., (2012). The boundary double layer potential, or the Neumann-Poincaré operator, is studied on the Sobolev space of order $1/2$ along the boundary, coinciding with the space of charges giving rise to double layer potentials with finite energy in the
Proteoglycans (PG) are highly anionic macromolecules consisting of a core protein covalently substituted with long unbranched polysaccharide chains called glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). PGs are central components in multicellular organisms, and they may occur in the extracellular matrix (ECM), at the cell surface, or in the secretory pathway. At the tumor cell surface, PGs and GAGs are involved in the
