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The new generation of high resolution astronomical instruments such as the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) or the Very Large Telescope (VLT) has renewed the demand for accurate atomic parameters like wavelengths, oscillator strengths and line profiles accompanied by reliable uncertainty estimates. Fourier transform spectroscopy has proven to be a powerful tool when measuring these parameters. In this
This thesis is about the formation of amylose-lipid complexes, and their properties. Two forms of superstructures can be identified. Complex form I has more randomly distributed helices, while the structure of form II is crystalline and therefore exhibits the typical V-pattern in X-ray diffraction analyses. Form II has higher heat stability, and is produced by heating at a temperature at least suf
Phosphoinositides are of particular interest in signal transduction processes as they can be sequentially phosphorylated and used as precursors for the intracellular messengers inositol trisphosphate (InsP3) and diacylglycerol (DAG) that in turn affects calcium levels and protein kinase cascades, eventually leading to a physiological response. The activity and regulation of PtdIns 4-kinases and Pt
In order to create a heme environment which permits biomimicry of heme-containing plant peroxidases and investigate the role played by the vinyl side chains of the porphyrin ring on the stability and, possibly, catalytic activity of model compounds, a number of new synthetic microperoxidases -– hemin-6(7)-gly-his methyl ester (HGH) and hemin-6(7)-gly-gly-his methyl ester (HGGH) and hemin-6,7-bis(g
Fluids composed of dipolar molecules are ubiquitous in nature, with water being the most prominent example. Due to their great importance and large complexity, a basic scientific understanding of the structure and thermodynamics of polar fluids is essential. In this thesis, simple polar model fluids are investigated with the aim of adding a bit to this understanding. In particular, the topics addr
Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic activities of the antidepressants venlafaxine (VEN) and citalopram (CIT) were investigated in the portacaval shunted (PCS) rat, a model of chronic hepatic encephalopathy (HE), and normal/control rats. The levels of VEN in serum and brain were higher in PCS rats than in controls after a single injection and chronic treatment with VEN (10 mg/kg). After reducing th
The research presented in this thesis has focused on methods for improving the legibility and usability of maps in real-time map services. The aim has been threefold: to create methods to increase the cartographic quality of maps in map services, to develop methods to measure the legibility, as perceived by the user, and to evaluate the quality of maps. Map services are becoming increasingly commo
The Baltic Sea is a continental shelf sea that is influenced by both river runoff and marine water. The two water masses are vertically stratified in the Baltic Sea, resulting in a positive, estuarine circulation system, which has undergone changes in the past due to isostatic uplift of the Baltic basin. For researchers to understand past changes in the marine environment of the Baltic Sea, a soun
Tuberculosis (TB) has plagued the humanity for several thousands of years. The bacteria causing TB is mainly spread from person to person as an aerosol transmission. It is estimated that one third of the world’s population is infected with the disease; about 10% of these will develop active TB during their lifetime. In year 2000, 8 million TB-cases were detected, of which 2 million died. Except fo
Gel dosimetry is a new dosimetry method applied in radiation therapy. Gel dosimeters consist of a radiation sensitive gel, which can integrate absorbed doses from several radiation sources or beams. The dose to the gel can be evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a procedure that is the focus of the present thesis. A robust tool for the evaluation of the nonuniformity in MRI has been dev
In this thesis, a new electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signal from photosystem II is presented. The signal is shown to originate from the S0 oxidation state of the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC). It is a Mn-derived signal displaying clear hyperfine structure, centered at g=2, and is significantly broader than the well-known multiline signal from the S2 state, indicating the presence of MnII in
Urinary tract infections (UTI) are among the most common bacterial infections in humans. Symptomatic UTIs may be acute, recurrent or chronic but the most frequent form of UTI is asymptomatic bacteruria (ABU). In ABU, the mucosa remains inert, despite the presence of large bacterial numbers in urine. The difference in disease severity reflects the virulence of the infecting strain and the propensit
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
This work has been aimed at developing and applying laser-induced incandescence (LII) for flame soot characterization. The basic principle of LII is rapid heating of the soot particles to temperatures of 3500-4000 K by short laser pulses. Thereby the intensity of the soot incandescence is increased. By detection of this increased incandescence and analysis of the detected signal, the volume fracti
Optical spectroscopy is a versatile and powerful tool to probe translucent materials. In this work, the focus is on characterization of strongly scattering (turbid) materials by means of time-of-flight spectroscopy (TOFS). Instrumentation and modelling aspects of TOFS were investigated and improved, enabling significantly more accurate spectroscopic measurements. It was shown that the commonly us
In this thesis I study two-dimensional geometric optimization problems for which it is difficult to find efficient, exact, deterministic algorithms. All known solutions to these problems require time that is exponential in the total size of the input. The work done in this thesis is a contribution to the research directed at attacking and coping with such NP hard problems in computational geometry
This thesis treats various aspects of the measurement of trace components in aqueous solutions with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. This technique has several applications from such diverse fields as dairy industry and biomedical optics. The use of infrared spectroscopy for trace component quantification is made difficult by the large absorption of water which dominates the spectrum. The
Cardiac pumping physiology is important for understanding the pathophysiology of patients with cardiac disease. MRI gives the opportunity to measure volumes and flow non-invasively with high accuracy and precision. This thesis examines some aspects on cardiac pumping physiology. Study I showed that the total heart volume in humans decreases during systole by ~8 % (range 5-11 %), and anatomically i
This thesis contains four separate papers in the field of monetary economics. The common basis for all the papers is that they deal with money and network effects in one way or another. Although the common basis is the same in all the articles, different approaches are used: theory, econometrics and history of economic thought. This first essay focuses on the network effect in the use of money an
This study treats the textual tradition of the Epistle of Jude. After an introductory survey of earlier text-critical research, the two main purposes of this investigation are formulated: to gather and to analyze the complete textual evidence of the Epistle of Jude. The first task, to gather the evidence, involves the collation of all Greek continuous text MSS of the Epistle of Jude. The evidence
