T cells constitute a heterogenous population of lymphocytes. Their unifying property is that they express surface bound antigen-receptors, called T cell receptors (TCRs). The TCR is a heterodimer composed of either TCRalpha and beta chain proteins (alphabeta TCR) or gamma and delta chain proteins (gammadelta TCR). Depending on which TCR isotype that is expressed, the T cells are divided into alpha

The present thesis deals with various types of palladium(II) and platinum(II) complexes and their use in homogeneous catalysis. The focus has been devoted to mechanistic investigations concerning the Stille and Heck reactions and studies under both catalytic and stoichiometric conditions were conducted. As a stoichiometric probe for studying the transmetallation step in the Stille reaction the pl

This thesis aims to elucidate the link between abiotic and biotic effects and biogeographical contingencies, eco-evolutionary assembly processes, and community structure in a spatially explicit metacommunity framework. To this end, we used structure analysis of naturally sampled and experimentally manipulated marine bacterial communities and mathematical eco-evolutionary modeling and simulations o

It is a contested question in contemporary theories of religion whether the concept of religion can be defined in a sound way or not. Many theorists maintain that a universal but delimiting definition is impossible. In this study, by contrast, it is argued that a conceptual analysis of religion that holds universally is perfectly possible because the following thesis can be seen as a necessary and

During development, information about the three-dimensional shape and mechanical properties of the body is laid down in the synaptic connectivity of sensorimotor systems through adaptive mechanisms. In spinal reflex systems, this enables the fast transformation of complex sensory information into adequate correction of movements. In this thesis, it is shown, in a computer simulation, that an unsup

The work presented in the thesis “RNA in model lipid membranes- interactions in bulk and at surfaces” aims to characterize the interaction between RNA and model membranes with different properties as well as to determine if ssRNA associate with model membranes in different ways. Several techniques have been used to characterize these systems, including quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation

Analysis of high-frequency QRS components (HF-QRS) is one of the emerging methods for increasing the diagnostic performance of the electrocardiogram (ECG). The overall objective of the thesis is to investigate whether analysis of HF-QRS has the ability to provide information about ischemic heart disease and so serve as an adjunctive diagnostic tool in several clinical situations. Investigation of

This doctoral thesis has signal processing of eye-tracking data as its main theme. An eye-tracker is a tool used for estimation of the point where one is looking. Automatic algorithms for classification of different types of eye movements, so called events, form the basis for relating the eye-tracking data to cognitive processes during, e.g., reading a text or watching a movie. The problems with t

The work presented in this thesis covers how laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and photofragmentation laser-induced fluorescence (PF-LIF) can be used to determine quantitative species concentrations in different combustion environments. To attain species concentrations with LIF it is of vital importance to investigate the influence of collisional quenching on the fluorescence signal strength, which

Antibodies of the IgE isotype play a key role as the allergen recognizer in allergic disease, which today affects as much as a third of the population in the industrialized parts of the world. Despite this crucial role of IgE, our knowledge of IgE repertoires and how we can utilize the information hidden in monoclonal IgE to improve the quality of life of allergic patients, is limited. This thesis

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) promotes wound healing through several mechanisms, e.g., altered periwound blood flow, mechanical deformation of the wound edge tissue, and drainage of excess fluid and debris. The general aim of this thesis was to study the impact of different levels of negative pressure, different wound filling materials (foam or gauze), and different ways of applying the n

Laser-induced incandescence, LII, is a laser-diagnostic technique that can be used to measure the volume fraction and the sizes of soot particles suspended in a gas, such as within a combustion process or in its exhausts. The technique is based on the facts that the time-decay of the radiation from laser-heated soot particles is directly related to the particle size in the probed volume, and that

In this thesis different aspects of baseband implementation of mobile communication systems is treated. The content is focused on symbol detection and channel estimation in MIMO and OFDM. The thesis deals with the complete chain from algorithm to silicon implementation within these areas. The main contribution of this thesis is described in the included papers. The first paper handles symbol dete

Slowing the incidence of HIV and STI among young people requires that they change their sexual behaviours. There is evidence that community-based interventions that target multiple levels of influence can be effective. In community mobilization different segments and sectors of a population are directly involved in problem identification and in the design and implementation of programs. The proces

Major Intrinsic Proteins (MIPs, also called Aquaporins, AQPs) are channel forming membrane proteins. Although initially functionally characterized and named after their water channeling property in human red blood cells, it has become increasingly evident that MIPs are present in all types of organisms and transport a variety of small, uncharged molecules besides water. MIPs have a highly conserve

The field of computer graphics refers to the use of computers to generate realistic-looking images from virtual scenes. Graphics processing units use an algorithm known as rasterization to compute images of scenes viewed from a virtual camera. The commonly used pinhole camera model does not account for the imperfections that stem from the physical limitations in real-world cameras. This includes,

This thesis considers models for describing high energy particle collisions. Existing phenomonological models are modified and new implementations made in order to achive a better description of states with several hard jets. To predict final state hadrons, parton showers are used together with pheonomenological hadronization models. These models describe a wide range of observables, but have the

Aerosol particles contribute significantly to the global burden of disease, and remain the main source of uncertainty in assessments of human-induced climate change. The microphysical characterization of particles is necessary to understand the roles they play in the detrimental effects of air pollution on human health, and in the energy budget of our planet. Soot particles are especially relevant

Urban traffic involves frequent acceleration and deceleration. During deceleration, the energy previously used to accelerate the vehicle is mainly wasted on heat generated by the friction brakes. If this energy that is wasted in traditional internal combustion engines (ICE) could be saved, the fuel economy would improve. Today there are several solutions to meet the demand for better fuel economy