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Transplantation of embryonic dopaminergic neurones can ameliorate symptoms in Parkinson’s disease, but a major obstacle for clinical transplantations to overcome is the low survival (typically 5-10%) of implanted nigral neurones. If cell death in nigral grafts can be prevented, less embryonic tissue would be needed per transplantation session and hence more patients could receive intracerebral gra

The foraging ability of an organism is essential since it affects various traits, e.g. growth, reproduction effort, social status and, ultimately, fitness. Foraging is often associated with food intake but includes more aspects such as searching for and assessing food patches and evaluating the patch as good or bad compared to the rest of the environment. On top of that, a forager also has to surv

Mucins are essential components of the mucosal barrier. The complexity of the airway mucosal barrier is reflected in the lack of specific treatments to block mucin hypersecretion associated with several respiratory diseases such as chronic bronchitis, asthma and cystic fibrosis. Currently, researchers in the mucin field are confronted with a growing number of mucin genes. In order to understand th

GRASP (Group and Social Psychology) is an interdisciplinary conference, which aims to provide a community around social psychological issues for researchers, practitioners, and graduate students from the Nordic countries within the fields of psychology, sociology, education, behavioural sciences and social work to share, exchange, learn, and develop preliminary results, new concepts, ideas, princi

Psychoacoustic experiments have been conducted for schizophrenic patients with auditory hallucinations in their case history and for reference subjects. The aim of the thesis has been to assess differences between the two groups of subjects. The experiments consisted of tests on perceptual grouping mechanisms measuring how sound with high and low pitches is separated into perceptual streams (Study

In order to improve the treatment and care of patients with chronic diseases, controlled studies have to be performed continuously. It is widely believed that giving education/information to patients will increase their knowledge and compliance, which will decrease medical events and cost. Most educational activities in clinical practice are not based on evaluated models of effective disease manag

The spread of lifestyle-related diseases has become epidemic throughout the world. Impaired glucose metabolism and high levels of plasma cholesterol are risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease respectively. Soluble dietary fibers from plants, algae and mushrooms have been shown to positively regulate both glucose- and cholesterol metabolism indicating their v

Intracerebral neuronal transplantation have been shown to ameliorate symptoms of brain dysfunction in both animals models and Parkinson's disease, although problems still remain. The newly introduced technique of ex vivo gene transfer could serve as an alternative approach, possible avoiding some of the draw-backs of the embryonal tissue used in neuronal grafting. We have investigated the feasibli

Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC)s are increasingly regarded as promising environmentally benign power sources. Intensive development is today directed towards reducing the cost and increasing the durability of the fuel cell, as well as expanding the operational window for the PEMFC for a range of applications. The proton-conducting membrane is one of the key components in the PEMFC. The

The electroactive polymer materials considered in this work react to electric stimuli by producing deformations. In some cases, the electrically induced deformations are moderate, while in other cases they can be very large and the specimen is stretched to more than twice its original length. The latter response is seen in so called dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA). The possibility of very lar

The earlier abnormalities coupled with disease can be discovered in the body, the larger is the chance to survive the disease. Molecular imaging is a growing research field which aims to detect these abnormalities at a molecular level, when the chance of survival is still high. The main idea of molecular imaging is to use target specific contrast agents that accumulate at the diseased region at a

Since the discovery of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 1989, it has proved to be a formidable health problem with a major impact on morbidity and mortality throughout the world. In this investigation, patients with chronic hepatitis C infection have been studied with special reference to prevalence, aggravating factors and longterm outcome. The prevalence of HCV infection was high (approximately 10 %)

Hydrogen holds a great promise as an efficient and clean future energy carrier due to its high energy density and lack of pollutant generation. Anaerobic degradation of organic substrates by heterotrophic microorganisms enables the production of hydrogen from a wide spectrum of agricultural feedstock and waste products. Using thermophiles in this process is preferable for maximizing the substrate

With an increasing demand to improve efficiency and to cut costs, the industry is constantly seeking to reduce the time and money spent in product development and manufacturing. Use of computer-based simulations has become more or less a standard tool to meet this demand. Cost reduction is in this way made possible by for example shortened product development cycles, less need for expensive protot

Different approaches and sub-models for the modelling of emulsification in a high-pressure homogenizer are reviewed and compared in terms of both practical aspects and how well they describe what is currently known on the emulsification process in general and on high-pressure homogenization in particular. Special effort is devoted to comparing the model developments presented in the appended paper

There is a limited understanding of how the benthic environment within upwelling regions responded to past rapid climatic changes. Within this thesis, a multiproxy approach is applied to two marine sediment cores from two coastal upwelling sites in the low latitude subtropical Atlantic. With a focus on benthic foraminiferal faunal analyses, the response of the benthic environment to rapid climatic

Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is characterized by non-immune hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia and acute kidney failure. The most common form of HUS is associated with gastrointestinal Shiga toxin-producing enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) infection. EHEC are non-invasive strains with Shiga toxin as the unique virulence factor. The aim of this study was to describe host-pathogen intera

This thesis focuses on the prognostic value of electroencephalography(EEG) in comatose patients resuscitated after cardiac arrest (CA), using both simplified continuous EEG monitoring (cEEG) and routine EEG. Background: Comatose survivors are admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) to support vital functions. Postresuscitation care includes target temperature management (TTM) for 24 hours. The d

The significant increase in the use of CT, alone or combined with SPECT or PET, has raised concerns about patient radiation exposure and the consequent increased risk of malignancy later in life. The overall objective of this work was to evaluate and optimise different approaches for minimising patient radiation absorbed dose and maintaining or improving image quality in CT, SPECT/CT, and PET/CT.

INTRODUCTION: Reperfusion therapy in patients with an ongoing ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is to re-establish coronary flow in the epicardial arteries as soon as possible in order to reduce infarct size and associated complications. Hypothermia has in experimental studies been shown to reduce infarct size. Clinical trials, however, have not been able to show this effect, possibly bec