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Current combustion engines provide excellent performance for vehicle propulsion and power generation. However, recent demands from society ask for higher efficiencies and lower emissions. These requirements are hard to meet with current technology and call for new solutions. Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition, HCCI, offers a potential to combine high efficiency with very low emissions. It op
Von Willebrand factor (VWF) is synthesized and secreted by endothelial cells into the plasma as a series of multimers. VWF induces the formation of platelet plugs at sites of vascular injury and high shear stress. Biological activity is dependent on multimeric size, which is regulated in plasma by the VWF-cleaving protease ADAMTS13. Severe ADAMTS13 deficiency is associated with thrombotic thromboc
Dizziness is a common problem and it often co-exists with anxiety. Level of anxiety is the best predictor of handicap for dizzy patients. There is diagnostic controversy and few treatment programs for such patients. These patients can be labeled as panic disorder with agoraphobia or by the concept of Phobic Postural Vertigo which is characterized by dizziness or imbalance in standing or walking de
Repair of obstetric perineal tears is one of the most frequent procedures in surgical practice. Despite repair such tears may result in anal and urinary incontinence and prolapses of the pelvic floor, problems in need of surgical repair later in life. Descriptions of the structures injured during vaginal delivery and their topographic relations in the perineum are missing in most textbooks. Trans
The intestinal mucosa, including the intestinal epithelium and underlying lamina propria (LP), contains a large number of effector/memory T cells that are thought to play a central role in the generation and maintenance of mucosal immune responses and in maintaining mucosal integrity. The work in this thesis investigates the mechanisms regulating effector T cell recruitment to the small intestinal
Fuel ethanol can be produced from lignocellulosics by the enzymatic hydrolysis process, which consists of a pretreatment step prior to hydrolysis, followed by fermentation and finally refining. This thesis deals with the development of the enzymatic process using softwood as raw material. The focus has not only been on how to obtain high yields, but also on how to solve problems, which can arise i
This thesis is divided into two distinct parts. The first part studies communication in games and the second part investigates individual decision making under risk. Chapters 2 – 4, co-authored with Ola Andersson, investigate communication and renegotiation in dynamic games. In Chapter 2, Bertrand supergames with non-binding communication are used to study price formation and stability of collus
Introduction: Elderly people, in particular those residing in nursing homes, often use many drugs. In general elderly patients are at greater risk of experiencing drug-related problems (DRP), as they have multiple diseases, are using many drugs and have changed physiological status. Objectives: To describe the frequency of potential drug-related problems in the elderly and to evaluate different k
Intravenous administration of antibiotics is often followed by infusion phlebitis. In this condition are vessel irritation, inflammation and sometimes superficial thrombosis included. In this thesis, the risk for infusion phlebitis for various antibiotics has been evaluated in a clinical study in 550 patients. Various effects of four antibiotics on cultured endothelial cells have also been examine
The childhood malignancy neuroblastoma develops from early cells of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and the tumors often produce catecholamines. Neuroblastoma cells retain several characteristics of immature sympathetic cells including the expression of a number of transcription factors normally expressed during embryogenesis. The genesis of the SNS requires the correct expression pattern of
Background: A large number of different wound coverings have been used in order to improve the wound microenvironment, and thus accelerate repair. Since almost two centuries, clinicians and researchers have developed techniques for skin transplantation. In the past several decades, growth factors have been used as tools for accelerating and modifying skin wound repair. The experimental work in thi
PSII catalyses the light-induced water splitting process which leads to electron transfer through the thylakoid membrane and formation of energy rich molecules. Several redox components including a Mn4Ca, an amino acid residueYZ, two special Chl molecules P680, two Pheo and two quinone molecules participate in this process. Another component of PSII which interacts magnetically with Mn4Ca is D2-Ty
The gastrointestinal tract has two opposing functions; to effectively absorb nutrients and to act as a safety barrier against hazardous substances in the environment. After birth these functions develops gradually. The present thesis focuses on how the intestinal permeability and pancreatic secretion changes during ontogenic development of the pig, with some methodological aspects on manipulations
The influence of trauma (acute pancreatitis) or total parenteral nutrition (TPN) on pancreatic islet hormone secretion in relation to islet expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was investigated. Acute pancreatitis resulted in an impaired glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) which was found to be parallelled by a marked expression of iNOS and an exaggerated NO production in t
In this thesis asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (FFF) separations of ribosomes and subunits have been studied. Ribosomal material was prepared from Escherichia coli (E. coli) cells and analyzed by the size separation technique. The five main peaks in the fractograms correspond to transfer RNA (tRNA), unidentified proteins, small subunit, large subunit, and ribosome. The accuracy of the
Increasing awareness of the need of reducing CO2, NOx and SOx emissions from combustion systems has led to a strong interest in biomass as a fuel source. Using it in combination with fluidised bed combustion technology can lead to a lowering of NOx emissions to the atmosphere. However, this is not a problem-free technique, since the flue gas can contain ammonia, NOx and tar. The fluidised bed can
Atmospheric aerosol particles are believed to have an impact on the radiative forcing of the earth's surface. The predicted results indicate a net cooling effect on the global climate, however there are few studies available to substantiate this and experimental data are needed. This work deals with the collection and the analysis of aerosol particles in various environments, specifically in the
Some of the main factors affecting the biological removal of nutrients in wastewater treatment plants have been investigated. The influence of low concentrations of dissolved oxygen and the redox potential on the denitrification, activity of activated sludge was studied in batchwise experiments. Oxygen was found to have a negative effect on denitrification even when present at concentrations lower
The anaesthetics we use today dose-dependently decrease the mean arterial pressure partly due to direct or indirect effects on the blood vessels. In the present thesis human omental arteries and veins and rat femoral arteries were investigated in vitro concerning the effects of the intravenous anaesthetic propofol and the volatile anaesthetic sevoflurane on the function of the perivascular sympath
Proliferation, differentiation, and survival of hematopoietic stem cells and multipotent progenitor cells are regulated by cytokines and cell-cell interactions. Kit ligand (KL) and Flt3 ligand (FL) have pleiotropic effects, promotes survival, but are nonredundant. Using myeloid progenitor cell lines and mouse bone marrow-derived Lin- progenitors, we demonstrate that inhibition of phophatidylinosit
