Bacterial adhesion to the bladder mucosa is a critical step for the establishment of Escherichia coli bacteriuria. The P-fimbriae, encoded by the pap gene cluster, are considered as virulence factors but the mechanisms have been debated. This study defined the roles for P fimbriation during the early colonization of the human urinary tract. Patients with recurrent UTI were first subjected to deli

Plant phenology exerts major influences on carbon, water, and energy exchanges between atmosphere and ecosystems, provides feedbacks to climate, and affects ecosystem functioning and services. Great efforts have been spent in studying plant phenology over the past decades, but there are still large uncertainties and disputations in phenology estimation, trends, and its climate sensitivities. This

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease with a highly variable prognosis. Since new treatment strategies are emerging, there is a need for prognostic markers in order to help allocate patients to the optimal treatment. When comparison is made to the general population, there is an increased mortality rate in this study, both in the series as a whole and in the subgroups of men and

The immune pathology and MHC association of chronic arthritis was studied in three rat models for reumatoid arthritis (RA). Susceptible rat strains develop a T cell dependent chronic disease after immunization with rat collagen type II (CII). The LEW rat does not develop arthritis after immunization with rat CII, but a heterologous immune response to pepsin can break the tolerance to CII and rende

A considerable part of all chemistry in nature and in industry occurs in solvents. Sol- vents affect both the interactions and the reactions of the particles immersed in them. The work in this thesis concerns the properties of ionic and polar solvents, as well as the interactions between solutes and/or dispersed particles. Molecular simulations and simple approximate theories were used to study th

The aim of this thesis is to study the life-changing processes necessary when a person is faced with the demands caused by chronic illness or disability. As subjects for the study, women with chronic pain (fibromyalgi and myofascial pain syndrome), were chosen. Eighteen women active in working life were interviewed on two occasions, with an interval of two months. The women have been living with t

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

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

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

The aim of this thesis has been to study protein-polymer interaction and association. Two different techniques were used; Monte Carlo simulations were combined with partitioning in polymeric aqueous two-phase systems. Monte Carlo simulations have been used to evaluate the hydrophobic interaction in electrolyte solution. The results showed that monovalent salt only slightly increases the hydrophob

Asthma is a common disease, characterized by periods of bronchoconstriction of unclear origin. This thesis examines a specific behavior of airway smooth muscle, the so-called spontaneous airway tone. It was suspected that a defect regulation of this tone may be a cause of asthmatic bronchoconstriction. The experiments shows that tracheal preparations can display two types of spontaneous tone. In t

Soluble derivatives of cellulose have become increasingly important in industrial products e.g. in pharmaceutical applications and in technical dispersions. The polymer characteristics of modified celluloses are to a high degree determined by the substituent distribution along the polymeric backbone. The distribution will be more or less heterogeneous both due to the fact that polymers from renewa

In nuclear microprobe experiments, high resolution maps of the measured parameter, e.g. element- or mass distribution, in a sample can be produced with a variety of ion beam analytical techniques. The principle underlying all the techniques is that ions at MeV energies are used as projectiles to cause interactions with the target material. Because of the limited range of ions in matter, there is a

Epoxy resins based on bisphenol A are well-known contact allergens and often cause occupational contact allergy. The most important allergen is the monomer diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA). Epoxy resins of the bisphenol F-type contain 3 isomers of the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol F; p,p'-DGEBF, o,p'-DGEBF, and o,o'-DGEBF, whereas epoxy resin(s) based on bisphenol A (DGEBA-R) contain virtua

Chemical processes are usually expensive to run. To optimise a process, we need to know how the process behaves, and this is usually accomplished by studying the process experimentally. However, experiments are very expensive, particularly if an existing plant has to shut down normal operation to conduct an experiment. A better way is to build a model and simulate the process. In order to obtain t

Since the end of the Cold War, international politics and international law have not only become increasingly intertwined, but their mutual implications have also become increasingly recognized by scholars. Yet research explicitly addressing the question of how political factors affect the emergence of legal rules is still limited. This doctoral dissertation aims to take a step in the direction of

Many species associated with old trees are threatened, as this habitat has decreased severely in Europe during the last 200 years. In old oaks, hollows with wood mould often form in the trunks and these harbour a specialized fauna mainly consisting of beetles, flies and pseudoscorpions. This thesis contains the first quantitative examination of the habitat requirements and population ecology of sp

In the work presented in this thesis, different laser-based techniques were employed for measurements in different combustion devices. Laser-based techniques enable non-intrusive and in-situ measurements to be carried out, in which high spatial and temporal resolution can be obtained. Different parameters related to combustion research can be visualized, such as species concentrations, temperature

Computer generated imagery is vital to the entertainment industry in the production of games and films, for example. It is also increasingly important for visualization in design, architecture, engineering, and medicine, to name a few. Improvements to rendering techniques come from a combination of improved algorithms and more powerful hardware. Typically, hardware developments introduce new chall

In light of autobiographical theory, this study deals with the critics' reception of Simone de Beauvoir's La Force des choses when the book was first published in 1963 in France. The three main parts examine the critical comments on the genre, the final controversial words expressing the author's disappointment, and the evaluation of her style. For the latter, Morten Nøjgaard's theory of literary