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Two non-thermal regimens of light interaction with biological tissue, that are in a natural way connected, are discussed in the present thesis. These are photodynamic therapy (PDT) for the treatment of malignant tumours and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) for tissue characterization. In PDT, a photochemical reaction is induced by non-ionizing electromagnetic irradiation in tissue where photosens
In my research, I have explored various aspects of acetals and their reactivity. Acetals have a central role in carbohydrate chemistry as an inherent functionality and as versatile protecting groups. The first part of the thesis summarizes results on regioselective reductive openings of benzylidene acetals. We thus used deuterium substituted benzylidene acetals and boranes, to investigate stereose
Degradation of mRNA is a controlled process which is as important for gene regulation as the synthesis of mRNA. This thesis focuses on mechanisms of mRNA stability and degradation in Bacillus subtilis, the model of Gram-positive bacteria. The aprE mRNA, encoding an exported protease named subtilisin, is extremely stable with a half-life of more than 25 minutes. Average mRNA half-lives in B. subtil
The neutrophil store its effector proteins in several distinct types of cytoplasmic granules, developed sequentially during cell maturation. The different subtypes of granules have unique protein content and functional characteristics. The formation of each granule subtype coincides with the biosynthesis of its content. Granule proteins synthesised during the formation of a granule subtype are thu
The overall aim of this composite thesis, consisting of five articles, is to develop concepts for furthering the understanding of small business managers´ handling of finance. The main contribution is the development of a conceptual understanding of so-called financial bootstrapping behavior in small businesses (referring to the use of methods for minimizing and/or eliminating the need for financi
Two polymers, alginate and Eudragit S-100 were used as reversibly soluble-insoluble ligand carriers for the selective isolation of enzymes and lectins respectively. These two polymers have the inherent property of being precipitated under well defined conditions. Alginate was made insoluble by the addition of Ca2+ ions, and Eudragit S-100 by a pH shift. The polymers were modified with affinity lig
The topic of this dissertation is the work of the poet Bruno K. Öijer (b. 1951). My thesis is, that a recognition of how he has assumed the outsider position is vital for an understanding of his work, and that it also may contribute to an explanation of his particular importance in the cultural arena of the early 70s. The thesis is structured in four parts. Part one deals with the concept “outside
Falls and fractures in older people are a common and increasing health problem which causes physical, social and psychological problems for the individual and is costly to society. The aims of this thesis were to investigate accidental falls of patients aged 65 - 74 who attended an orthopedic emergency ward, to investigate reliability of the modified figure of eight (MFE) and compare it with other
Complex I or NADH:quinone oxidoreductase the largest, most complex and least understood of the five membrane-bound enzyme complexes constituting the mitochondrial respiratory chain. The enzyme is present in all types of organisms, from bacteria to mammals. The enzyme catalyses the oxidation of NADH produced by the citric acid cycle and reduction of lipid soluble quinone in the membrane. Flavin and
Clonal plants show a large variation in physiological integration, i.e. the translocation of resources among ramets within the clone. As resource transport is costly, we hypothesized that plants from poor sites should be more highly integrated than plants from rich sites and that plants would benefit if they were plastic in their degree of integration. Tracers were used to study the transport of w
All viruses that infect bacteria, plant, or animal cells involve a genome (RNA or DNA) that is encapsidated by a rigid protein shell. After delivery of the viral genome into the host cell, new capsid proteins, which are encoded by viral DNA or RNA, are expressed and self-assembled into new viral capsids. The main objective of my research was to study the key physical factors of genome ejection tha
The DEK gene is upregulated in a growing number of cancers and translocated to form the DEK-NUP214 fusion gene in a subset of acute myeloid leukemia. In this thesis, we studied the cellular and molecular functions of the DEK and DEK-NUP214 proteins. We found that the expression of DEK is increased by the leukemia-associated fusion protein NUP98-HOXA9, suggesting that DEK may be a downstream mediat
The MAX II and MAX III synchrotron light sources at MAX-lab provide synchrotron radiation for experiments in a wide variety of research fields. The synchrotron radiation is emitted by ultra-relativistic electrons circulating in electron storage rings. In this thesis the transverse and longitudinal electron beam sizes and the electron beam lifetime limitations in electron storage rings are discusse
This thesis consists of three distinct articles that can be read separately. Each one has been awarded a chapter of its own. The independence of these chapters should not be taken as meaning that they are unrelated. Besides belonging all to the subfield of macroeconomics, they share the common feature of being inherently economic policy oriented. The title of the first article is "Fiscal Policy a
Smooth muscles are components of several physiologically important organs and often involved in disease. Smooth muscle contraction is regulated by variations in intracellular [Ca2+]; increased levels activate the myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) which phosphorylates myosin and initiates contraction. Myosin phosphatase (MLCP) dephosphorylates myosin and promotes relaxation. Several cellular signali
Tumors of bone and soft tissue are common but only constitute 1 % of all malignant tumors. The malignant tumors are often difficult to diagnose due to their rarity and morphological resemblance between subtypes. This makes the diagnostic process challenging. Thus, there is a need for ancillary techniques, such as genetic analyses, not only for diagnostic purposes, but also for obtaining informatio
One of the major determinants of the final infarct size during an acute coronary occlusion is the size of the myocardium subjected to ischemia. Identification and quantification of this so-called myocardium at risk in the acute phase of ischemia has been difficult in patients with conventional methods, such as myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or electrocardio
Outer membrane vesicles (OMV) have the size of nanoparticles and are released from the outer membrane of most Gram-negative bacteria. The OMV reflect the composition of the bacterial outer membrane, including lipids and virulence factors specific for the pathogen, and are involved in pathogenesis and bacterial survival. Moraxella catarrhalis and Haemophilus influenzae are Gram-negative bacterial s
The operating principle of all laser Doppler methods is based on the fact that incident photons shift in wavelength when interacting with moving blood cells passing through the microvascular network. After photodetection and further signal processing, the recorded parameter can be considered an arbitrary measure of tissue blood flow, and this is referred to as ?perfusion?. Laser Doppler perfusion
The clinically important carbohydrate P/GLOB blood group systems and collection give rise to both common (P1, P2) and rare (p, P1k, P2k) blood group phenotypes. The associated antibodies are implicated in severe transfusion reactions and recurrent spontaneous abortions. The aim of this study was to explore the molecular genetic basis of Pk, P and P1 antigen expression. Sequence analysis of the A4
