Urinary tract infections (UTI) are among the most common infections in man. Despite their prevalence, information on the molecular mechanisms defects that explain the increased susceptibility to disease are lacking. This study focused on mucosal inflammation and the molecular mechanisms by which uropathogenic Escherichia coli activate this response. P fimbriae are expressed by most E. coli strain

Organic acid anhydrides (OAAs) are important industrial chemicals but also potent inducers of airways diseases. Many exposed workers develop specific IgE and IgG antibodies. Hexahydrophthalic anhydride (HHPA) and methylhexahydrophthalic anhydride (MHHPA) are two particularly sensitising OAAs. The aim of this thesis was to develop and evaluate a method for biological monitoring of exposure to and r

This study explores the role of transcriptional regulation important in the development of L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease. In patients with Parkinson’s disease, dyskinesia is one of the most difficult complications of the DA-replacement therapy by L-DOPA. The underlying mechanisms are still unknown, but a role of abnormal striatal plasticity has been proposed. The

Women ask for less salary than men in negotiations. Sex differences in negotiating performance have recently been explained as stereotype threat effects. Stereotype threat theory states that the performance of negatively stereotyped group-members can suffer in contexts where the negative stereotype is salient. Women are stereo¬typed as bad negotiators, compared to men, and previous research has sh

In the business-to-business (B2B) setting much attention has been given to how e-business tools can be used to assist firms in purchasing. Considering the increasing pressure on suppliers to use B2B e-business, this thesis turns its attention to the supplier situation by taking a closer look at how collaborative uses of B2B e-business are of value to suppliers. This book differs from much of the

The Lund string fagmentation model was reformulated as a process along the boundary curve of the string called the directrix, in order to treat multigluon strings according to the Lund model area law. It was found that the hadrons in the final state could be collected into several groups, in such a way that the energy-momenta of the hadrons in a group lie in a plane in the Minkowski space within s

Using experiments it is rather easy to measure things on the macroscopic length scale, while it is much harder to measure something in the microscopic world like molecular structure. The opposite is true in theoretical chemistry. It is today rather easy to calculate a bond distance or a coordination number, but it is not possible to perform a calculation aiming at the description of macroscopic ph

Traditional off-line programming is not enough in order to use the full potential of virtual models and simulation system in industrial robot applications. The interface between off-line programming system and the robot controller is today restricted to program transfer. In this way a large amount of information is lost since typical robot programming languages is rather limited. If the virtual m

The link between population mobility and environmental change is fundamental for our understanding of how future global environmental changes will affect our societies, and also how the increased mobility will change our role in the Earth system. Climate change has been predicted as a major cause of human migration, both voluntary and forced, through for example increased storm and drought frequen

This thesis concerns a religious actor in the civil society in times of violent conflict. During the British Mandate period in Palestine, Jewish, Muslim and Christian children studied together at Anglican missionary schools. At this time Jerusalem bore all the imprints of ethnic and religious separation and division. The Anglican educational project became part of the efforts made by the Anglican

The aim of this work was to quantify limitations of and uncertainties in commonly used dosimetric techniques for relative absorbed dose determination in degraded electron beams, such as those encountered in intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) and small-electron-field radiotherapy. Three different detector types were investigated with regard to measurements of output factors and relative absorb

This thesis is devoted to the development and investigation of a supramolecular system used to catalyze Jacobsen-Katsuki epoxidations with the aim to attain substrate selectivity without product inhibition. The supramolecular catalyst is composed of two well-defined entities or units: a catalytic and a receptor. The keyword for the design was flexibility. The interactions foming the supramolecula

Nowadays, more than 90% of our energy comes from combustion processes. Hence, it is very important to perform combustion research to reduce emissions, improve efficiency, find clean and renewable fuels, strengthen safety, etc. The complexity of combustion processes asks for advanced diagnostic tools, among which the laser spectroscopy has been proved to be a powerful one. This thesis is about the

Audio description (AD) serves a critical role in making audio-visual media accessible to visually impaired audiences, aiming to enhance their viewing experience and comprehension (Holsanova 2016, 2022). A central inquiry in the context of successful AD pertains to how the sequence of events unfolding in a film aligns with the verbal narration conveyed through AD (Vandaele 2012). Accumulating resea

The accuracy of dose calculations for various aspects of a treatment planning system (TPS) using an energy fluence beam modelling has been evaluated. The investigated TPS uses a beam model, which separates the energy fluence into a number of sources in the treatment head. The energy fluence components are transported towards the patient and, together with the scatter generated in the patient, yiel

This thesis focuses on two problems in the field of computer vision and image analysis. The first part of the thesis deals with image localization. The goal is simply to answer the question: Where was this picture taken? To answer this two things are needed: A model of the world, or at least the relevant parts of the world, and a method for relating a new image to the model. The thesis presents ne

Ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) may contribute to morbidity and mortality of acute lung injury (ALI). Lung protective ventilation (LPV), that reduces VILI, may involve low tidal volume (Vt). Particularly low Vt is possible if dead space ventilation is reduced e.g. by aspiration of dead space gas (ASPIDS). ASPIDS implies that gas rich in CO2 during expiration is aspirated through a separate c

Proceeding from land degradation and soil fertility decline in sub-Saharan African smallholder agriculture and drawing on empirical research with smallholder farmers in Tororo district in south-eastern Uganda (2010-2012), this thesis identifies local collective strategies in response to changing livelihood conditions. In an attempt to co-produce knowledge with a transformative potential, the thesi

Simulation of coupled dynamical systems, where the subsystems are bundled with their own internal solver, is important in industry. This is due to that in many cases, with complex systems, this is the only viable option. In this setting, the dynamics of each system is hidden and information between subsystems is exchanged through sampled inputs and outputs, a weakly coupled system. While a new ind