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Modern machinery is expensive and therefore must run at high availability and effectiveness which cannot be achieved without an effective maintenance policy. Condition monitoring, (CM), techniques can be utilised to reduce or arrest the rate of deterioration of a component so increasing operating life. The main result reported in this thesis is that the rolling element bearing’s mean effective li

HAMLET (Human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells) is a molecular complex of alpha-lactalbumin and oleic acid, that induces programmed cells death in tumor cells but leaves healthy differentiated cells unaffected. It has a broad anti-tumor activity as more than 40 cell lines from different origin are sensitive. The cell death activity of HAMLET is retained in vivo. HAMLET limits the progr

The main aim of the research is to explore different aspects of organisational resilience in escalating situations, with an investigation of both theoretical and practical implications. From the platform of an explorative approach, this study makes use of naturalistic research in the domain of health care and experimental simulation studies, in order to establish a broad theoretical framework vis-

The last proportion of heredity in breast cancer has proven to be somewhat elusive despite massive attempts to identify the associated factors. Approximately 50 percent of breast cancer caused by familial factors is currently explained. The five-year survival for breast cancer patients is excellent; however, breast cancer is considered a chronic disease, and given enough time, new tumors can devel

The aim of this thesis was to investigate whether a structured and systematic approach on improving pharmacotherapy in the elderly (the LIMM-model) would lead to a more appropriate and accurate drug use in the elderly. The elderly use many drugs and are more prone to suffer from adverse drug reaction. It is therefore important to address the quality of their drug therapy. The first study presente

In radioimmunotherapy, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are used as a targeting agent carrying a toxic payload consisting of radionuclides. This treatment allows the irradiation of small lesions, even on the microscopic level. In the present work, two radionuclides with different properties were used. Lutetium-177 (177Lu) is a beta-particle-emitting radionuclide (t½=6.7 days) and astatine-211 (211At)

This thesis focuses on developing stem cell targeted gene therapy for the severe hereditary disorder Infantile Malignant Osteopetrosis (IMO) as well as increasing the understanding of how the genetic defect present in IMO affects the hematopoietic stem cells and hematopoiesis in general. IMO is a rare congenital disorder associated with an increased number of non-functional osteoclasts and the a

Stroke is a major cause of death and disability around the world. Stroke leads to loss of neurons and also other cells in the brain due to lack of blood supply. Currently no therapies are available to treat stroke-related disability. It has been shown that stroke leads to increased neurogenesis, birth of new neurons, within the brain. This increased neurogenesis is not sufficient to restore lost f

The treatment for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is surgery or (chemo)radiotherapy +/- surgery. Side effects related to therapy are long lasting and adversely affects quality of life. The incidence of oropharyngeal cancer is increasing and patients commonly present an advanced tumour stage with neck metastases at the time of diagnosis. The treatment protocol previously comprised rad

Intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) is the most common brain lesion in preterm infants and is most commonly seen in the sickest children, with 15-20% of very preterm infants developing IVH. The mortality of infants with severe IVH is 20-50 % in the neonatal period and over 50 % of surviving infants develop post-haemorrhagic ventricular dilatation (PHVD) and 40-80 % develop severe neurological impai

There were two principal objectives for this thesis. The first was to develop a methodology and evaluation model of moisture redistribution in order to make the future relative humidity in a screeded concrete slab predictable. The second objective was to develop a method to determine the critical humidity for ion transport in concrete. Residual moisture in screeded concrete slabs may be redistrib

Silicon (Si) is ubiqutious in natural waters as dissolved silica (DSi) and is used as a nutrient by many plant and animal species. DSi ultimately derives from the weathering of silicate minerals, a process which also consumes atmospheric CO2 and couples the silicon and carbon cycles. These processes, among others, impart observable fractionations to the stable isotopes of silicon, which makes the

In the event of a radiation accident, it is crucial to make rapid estimates of the absorbed dose received by both emergency workers, so-called first responders, and members of the public. Today, only personnel in rescue teams responding to nuclear emergencies have access to individual dosemeters. To make accurate assessments of the radiological consequences of an emergency situation, methods of re

In obesity and several other disease scenarios, the measurement of fat accumulation in various organs and tissues has become a sought-after technique in clinical diagnostics and research. Especially, quantitative and non-invasive techniques which also provide images of accumulated fat throughout the body would be valuable. In the typical hospital, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the only techn

Neuroblastoma is a childhood tumor of the developing sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer in children before one year of age. Although survival curves have improved for these patients during the past decades, the conventional regimen of neuroblastoma treatment has clearly reached a plateau of efficiency with regard to increasing the survival rates of h

Hormone refractory prostate cancer occurs when androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) fails to stop the growth of prostate cancer for any longer. Recent studies point towards a role for neuroendocrine (NE) differentiation in the development of hormone refractory disease. It has been hypothesized that NE-differentiated malignant tumor cells survive during ADT and promote development of androgen-indepen

Parkinson's disease and L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia (LID) does not merely involve the dopamine (DA) system but also include non-dopaminergic systems such as glutamate and serotonin (5-HT). An aberrant glutamate transmission at the corticostriatal synapse, has been linked to LID. Pharmacological agents to glutamate receptors at this synapse, (of which some are already clinically tested), could preve

This thesis is about the regulation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that represent rare cells residing in the bone marrow (BM) of adults. They are multipotent cells that have the capacity to differentiate to all mature cells of the blood system and have the capacity to self-renew, i.e. generate new HSCs. These cells have tremendous therapeutic potential to treat a variety of hematopoietic disor

All hematopoietic cells originate from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) residing in the bone marrow (BM). The classical model of hematopoietic lineage commitment, that has been the prevailing model for hematopoiesis, proposes that the first lineage commitment step of HSCs and progenitors results in a strict separation of myelopoiesis and lymphopoiesis. However, an alternative model has already been

Diabetes is a disease characterized by insufficient capacity to regulate the blood glucose level. In insulin-dependent diabetes, multiple daily injections of insulin have to be administered. In-between scheduled visits to the care provider, the patient has to manage the glucose control independently. Insulin dosing is a non-trivial task and many patients find it difficult. This is reflected in the