The aquaporins (AQPs) belong to a family of water permeable membrane channels found in virtually all living organisms. Thirteen isoforms of mammalian AQPs are found, whereas in Arabidopsis thaliana 35 genes encoding AQPs are found. The AQPs are distributed in different organs, cell types and in different subcellular membranes. The aquaporins form homotetramers where each monomer functions as an in

Many fishes have well-developed visual systems with color vision capabilities. The crystalline lens is the major refractive element in a fish eye since the cornea is optically inactive underwater. A typical fish eye has a large pupil and a lens of short focal length, features that increase light gathering ability. They lead also to short depth of focus, which makes the eye particularly susceptible

The thesis deals with the further development of pure rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (RCARS) for improving the capabilities of gas phase thermometry. The main effort has been to make the technique more robust when employed under a wide range of temperatures and operational conditions. A primary aim has been to investigate the impact of collisional broadening on N2 RCARS thermom

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

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

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

Replacing fossil fuels with biofuels is one way of reducing the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, thus decreasing our impact on the global climate. For this to be a viable option, several production routes are needed, as no single option can fully replace fossil fuels. One way of making biofuels more competitive with fossil fuels is by reducing the production cost. As most of the p

The pancreas is a central organ in the digestion of food as well as in glucose metabolism. Its two major functions are exocrine and endocrine secretion. These are meticulously regulated processes that depend on hormonal response to gastrointestinal contents and blood glucose levels through feedback mechanisms, but also to the status of pancreas in health and diseases. The present thesis aimed at f

Background: Gastrointestinal symptoms such as dyspepsia, diarrhoea, and nausea are often seen in alcoholics. The causes are not clear. The stomach and upper small intestine are exposed to high alcohol concentrations. Yet, the majority of alcohol abusers do not exhibit macroscopic abnormalities at upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, although histological and electron microscopic (SEM) changes have be

This study evaluated transcapillary fluid exchange in the cat brain and in a cat skeletal muscle enclosed in a plethysmograph. A method for determination of capillary permeability (capillary filtration coefficient and reflection coefficient) and effects of transcapillary hydrostatic pressure changes were studied We found that capillary fluid permeability in a tissue can be determined by the capill

The Major Histocompatibility Complex (Mhc) genes are crucial for the recognition of self and non-self peptides by the immune defence system. They are extremely variable in most studied vertebrate species. I have studied the extent and the importance of Mhc variation in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), mainly from the Baltic Sea. Levels of Mhc heterozygosity in hatchery populations of salmon were bet

This dissertation covers studies of excited state processes in two types of solar energy materials: alternating polyfluorene polymers and their blends with fullerenes in the active layer of plastic solar cells, and bis-tridentate RuII-polypyridyl complexes to be used as sensitizer in systems for artificial photosynthesis. The polymer:fullerene blends were studied by transient absorption and time-

The source region of the Yellow River contributes about 35% of the total water yield in the Yellow River basin playing an important role for meeting the downstream water resources requirements. The declining water availability caused by climate change in the source region of the Yellow River is expected to have severe repercussions for the 110 million basin inhabitants in terms of water resources

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

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