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Pigmentation in the freshwater isopod Asellus aquaticus differed between two habitats. Asellus were lighter pigmented in stands of submerged stonewort vegetation, than in nearby reed stands. Moreover, Asellus pigmentation became lighter with time in recently established stonewort stands. Diet or pigment adjustment had minor influence on pigmentation and mating was random with respect to pigmentati

Systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) is a connective tissue disease which, in various ways, influences an individual’s ability to participate in everyday occupations. The general objective of this work was to elucidate the consequences of scleroderma with respect to hand function, everyday occupations and wellbeing, in order to provide a knowledge base suitable for occupational therapy interventions.

In allergic asthma the immune response to antigen is inappropriate, leading to an inflammatory process in the respiratory mucosa. To further elucidate immunological mechanisms involved in the development of such inflammation, control mice and mice deficient in selected cell types or proteins, were used in experimental models of allergic asthma and anaphylaxis. The present study demonstrates that

The human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y can be induced to differentiate into a neuronal sympathetic phenotype after treatment with 16 nM 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate (TPA) in serum, or by a combination of the growth factors basic fibroblast growth factor and insulin-like growth factor-I (bFGF/IGF-I). SH-SY5Y cells stably transfected with TrkA, the nerve growth factor (NGF) receptor, dif

Polyelectrolytes are polymers bearing ionisable groups, which, in polar solvents, can dissociate into charged polymer chains (polyelectrolytes) and small counterions. In aqueous solutions, polyelectrolytes interact strongly with other macroions and in particular they tend to associate with objects of opposite charge and form complexes. Nearly all industrial and biological process involves solution

This thesis investigated the effects of eyewitnesses retellings and discussions with non-witnesses on the eyewitness memory and meta-memory judgments. In Study I, the effect of eyewitness discussions with non-witnesses (persons who had not experienced the event) on eyewitness memory and meta-memory realism for the overall information about an event was investigated. The results suggest that discussi

Popular Abstract in Chinese 在世界許多地方蛾類幼蟲是主要的農業害蟲，但也有蛾類養殖業為獲取其絲綢蠶繭，例如家蠶。其實它也是第一個也是最好的研究揮發性有機分子用於傳遞信息的昆蟲研究模型。一般來說是雌蛾釋放信息素通過很長的距離來吸引雄性同類，而且具有出色的靈敏度和特異性。至今有記載的蛾類信息素都屬於同一類化合物(脂肪酸衍生物), 在信息素腺體內合成。信息素的生物合成涉及到脂肪酸的脫飽合，碳鏈縮短，並最終還原，乙酰化或氧化成醛等。這些反應過程中的酶已經進化到具有專一性，專門用於生產複雜的化學信號，使得蛾類的信息素存在豐富的化學多樣性。在本論文中，首先對幾個脫飽和酶進行研究。第一篇文章對冬尺蠖的脫飽合酶進行克隆並在酵母中通過異源表達證明了它具有把順十一,順十四,順十七-二十碳三烯酸轉化成順十一,順十四,順十七,十九-二十碳四烯酸的能力。這是有史以來第一個對甲基端脫飽合酶Moth caterpillars are major agricultural pests in many parts of the world. In general female moths attract male mates with their pheromone over long distance. Most of the described moth pheromones belong to the same class of chemical compounds, fatty acid derivatives that are produced de novo in the pheromone gland. The pheromone biosynthesis involves desaturation, chain-shortening by β-oxidation

Biological markers offer a way of assessing ethanol intake and determining whether a health problem is alcohol related. This study investigated the use of phosphatidylethanol (PEth) in blood as a new marker of alcohol abuse. PEth is an abnormal phospholipid, formed only in the presence of ethanol via the transphosphatidylation reaction of phospholipase D (PLD). A new HPLC-evaporative light scatter

Malaria-like parasites consist of a large group of species that infects primates, rodents, bats, lizard and birds. I have focused on parasites from the genera Haemoproteus, Plasmodium and Leucocytozoon that are infecting birds. By using molecular methods to identify parasites from avian blood samples, I have found a diversity, based on the cytochrome b gene, that greatly exceeds the diversity prev

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class IIB genes exhibit extensive allelic polymorphism, most likely maintained by pathogen-mediated balancing selection (PMBS). PMBS may operate in the form of heterozygote advantage (HA), and/or through the interaction of pathogens and specific MHC alleles via fluctuating selection (FS) or negative frequency-dependent selection (NFDS). In particular, NFD

The economic output of the dairy industry is to a great extent dependent on the processing of milk into other milk-based products such as cheese. The yield and quality of cheese are dependent on both the composition and technological properties of milk. The objective of this study was to evaluate the importance and effects of casein (CN) micelle size and milk composition on milk gelation character

The primary role of hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL), an 84 kDa enzyme of 768 amino acids (in the rat protein), is to hydrolyse stored triacylglycerols in adipocytes of white adipose tissue. Catecholamines and insulin regulate lipolysis through cellular signalling. A major target of this regulation is HSL, activated through phosphorylation by cAMP-dependent protein kinase (cAMP-PK). Insulin activate

Angiotensin II (Ang II) is a potent vasoconstrictor that is implicated in the pathogenesis of hypertension, heart failure and atherosclerosis. In this thesis, the efficacy and safety of Ang II receptor blockers (ARB) were evaluated. The vasomotor effects of Ang II in endothelium-denuded human coronary arteries were characterized by in vitro pharmacology and the Ang II receptor mRNA levels were qua

Basement membranes are sheet like structures underlying epithelial, endothelial, adipocytes, muscle and peripheral nerve cells. Laminins are an important family of basement membrane proteins implicated in various biological functions through their interactions with cell surface receptors. Laminins are trimers composed of a, b and g chains. Integrins, dystroglycan and other transmembrane glycoprote

This thesis examines associations between a number of epidemiological or biological markers of cancer risk and oxidative stress, in order to achieve a better understanding of how diet, lifestyle, and genetic factors contribute to the occurrence of oxidative stress. Data from the Malmö Diet and Cancer (MDC) cohort was used. The MDC study is a population-based cohort study which uses a detailed modi

Following the transection and repair of major nerve trunks in the forearm, the functional outcome is influenced by mechanisms in the peripheral, as well as in the central nervous system. In the present thesis the interest is focused on assessment of the outcome after nerve repair, central nervous factors influencing the outcome, and sense substitution to compensate for sensory loss. A new model in

Clostridium difficile is a spore-forming bacterium that causes antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and is responsible for hospital outbreaks of diarrhoea. In the first study, 173 consecutive isolates of C. difficile collected from 147 patients at Malmö University Hospital during 1995 were typed by AP-PCR to determine whether cross-transmission could explain the increased incidence of Clostridium diffi

During the last decade it has been discovered that around 2% of the soil-living prokaryotes belong to the domain Archaea. In many soils the most abundant archaeal group is the ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) that, in addition to ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), preform the first and rate-limiting step in the nitrification process. The knowledge of factors that regulates the archaeal abundance and

Liver is the most common site of dissemination in colorectal cancer, and untreated liver metastases are associated with a poor prognosis. The main reason for trying to detect liver metastases early is that liver resection offers a chance for cure in selected patients. The sensitivity of alkaline phosphatases (ALP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), computed tomography (CT), CT with arterial contrast

T cell activation requires the combination of antigen in the context of MHC and costimulatory molecules to induce a functional immune response. For our studies, we primarily utilized superantigens (SAg) that bind MHC class II molecules as first signal. Mutations in the SAg MHC class II a-chain binding site reduced the number of responding T cells expressing particular TCR Vb chains, whereas mutati