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Interactions of proteins with other proteins, with polymers and with surfaces are of great practical importance within for instance protein purification, drug delivery, and food technology. The aim of this work is to increase the understanding of protein-protein, protein-polyelectrolyte, and protein-surface interactions, particularly concerning the role of electrostatic interactions in these syste
This thesis presents results from two projects using photometric observations to investigate stellar populations in Local Group galaxies. In the first project, Strömgren photometry is used to study stellar populations in dwarf spheroidal galaxies. It is demonstrated that the Strömgren c1 and m1 colour indices can be efficiently used to identify RGB members in dwarf spheroidal galaxies, and d
To design efficient and safe biopharmaceutical production processes, understanding the process and how it is affected by changes in the process conditions is essential. Experimental data form the basis of this understanding which can be enhanced by modeling and simulations of the physical and chemical processes known to control the process. This thesis describes modeling of preparative chromatogra
Resident skin micro-organisms such as S. epidermidis and other coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), are by far the most common causes of biomaterial-associated infections. These micro-organisms often exhibit surface adhesins that specifically bind serum and tissue proteins adsorbed to implanted biomaterials. The aim of this study was to extend our knowledge about such adhesins produced by CoNS
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
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) develops in 3-6% of the population over 65 years and affects mainly men. AAA has a complex etiology involving inflammation, proteolysis, fibrinolysis and coagulation. The general aim of the present thesis was to study the associations between markers of inflammation, proteolysis, fibrinolysis and coagulation with aneurysm size and growth. In paper I associations bet
Industrial companies supply products intended to satisfy customers’ needs and requirements. To be competitive and to maintain good economic performance, efficient systems are needed to communicate information and exchange knowledge. Such systems are often referred to as quality systems as they intend to support development as well as standardized work regarding the quality of the product and incre
The road to maturity – how do hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) differentiate into mature blood cells? The pathways of lineage commitment during normal hematopoiesis are of great significance in order to understand the underlying events that lead to leukemia, and to the design of proper treatments for prevention and remission of the disease. The route of hematopoiesis can be thought of as a hierarchi
he hematopoietic development is a highly dynamic but tightly regulated process. The flexibility to produce blood cells through more than one route will allow the blood system to respond rapidly in stress situations such as infections. On the other hand, regulation of the blood system is required to prevent blood cells from uncontrolled proliferation that could result in leukemia or bone marrow fai
Heart failure is a clinical syndrome characterized by an inability of the heart to meet the metabolic demands of the body. Approximately 1-2% of the population in the western society has the diagnosis, and the 5-year mortality rate is comparable with the common cancer diagnoses. The lack of reliable objective measures of heart failure motivates research in this direction. Blood flow is an essentia
Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is associated with cardiovascular morbidity and premature death, but the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. The aim of this thesis was to investigate cardiovascular parameters and adrenergic function in mild PHPT compared to healthy controls subjects before and after curative parathyroidectomy (PTX). Forty-nine patients with mild PHPT (serum calci
Radicular pain is in the majority of cases caused by a disc herniation with a coexisting inflammation. It is characterized by positive neural tension tests, such as the Slump test, and by decreased range of motion (ROM) in the straight leg raising test (SLR) and lumbar flexion (Fingertip-to-floor test[FTF]). This may suggest that improvement in ROM correlates to reduction of self-reported disabili
Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a remarkably proficient colonizer of the human respiratory tract. The aim of this thesis has been to characterize currently known, and identify novel, bacterial factors involved in the key processes of colonization and pathogenesis, namely adherence to host tissue and evasion of the host innate immunity. We have shown that the NTHi virulence factor Pr
Around 5% of all cancer cases worldwide are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) which has been established as the cause of cervical cancer and genital warts (condylomas). Cutaneous HPV types have been weakly associated with non-melanoma skin lesions such as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and actinic keratosis (AK). We have analyzed skin and genital lesions for presence of HPV-DNA in order to searc
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
