Filetype
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
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
In sepsis, after major surgery or severe trauma, the human body may suffer from various degrees of generalized inflammation, a syndrome called Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS). One feature of SIRS is increased capillary permeability, caused by disruption of the capillary endothelium due to e.g. bacterial toxins, cytokines, pro-inflammatory hormones and free oxygen radicals. This will
The aim of this thesis has been to explore factors associated with smoking and smoking cessation in women and the relation between smoking and incidence of myocardial infarction (MI). The time trends in incidence of MI 1986-2002 in the city of Malmö (pop. 250.000) were explored. It showed declining incidences in men and older women, but not in women below 65 years of age. The high prevalence of s
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is an autoimmune disease with a wide range of disease manifestations with respect to severity and magnitude of organ involvement. An increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared with the general population causes both morbidity and mortality in SLE patients. Consequently prevention, early detection and treatment of arteriosclerotic manifestations are of high
Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common cause of motor disability in children and adolescents with a prevalence of 2-3/1000. CP is characterized by disorders of posture and movement with impairments ranging from mild to severe. The ability to control posture is an important prerequisite for all voluntary movements. A sustained asymmetric posture predisposes to progressive deformities in people with
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth cause of cancer-related death with a 5-year survival rate less than 5%. Two of the risk factors are chronic pancreatitis and type 2 diabetes (T2D), which are believed to promote the tumour progression. Pancreatic cancer and its tumour microenvironment is characterised by a dense stroma, immune cell infiltration and poor vascularisation. This creates a favourable env
The work reported here includes experimental studies of lean premixed swirling flames. Various laser-based optical diagnostic techniques were used to collect information under different operational conditions. Combined flow- and scalar field measurements were performed at high repetition rates for detailed studies of the turbulent flames. A large part of the work presented concerns experimental
Asthma and allergies are common diseases in adolescents and have increased during the last few decades. All elite level sports activities result in increased risk of asthma and rhinitis regardless of sport practised. Physical activity is at the same time regarded as a health-promoting factor and is recommended both for the prevention and treatment of diseases. The aim of this study was to explore
Thyroid hormones and breast cancer-prospective studies on incidence, mortality and prognostic factors The aim of this thesis was to investigate in a prospective design, thyroid hormones in relation to breast cancer risk, mortality and prognostic factors. The association between total triiodothyronine (T3) levels and breast cancer risk was studied in 2185 women with146 incident breast cancer case
Generation of long-lived plasma cells and memory B cells of high affinity takes place in germinal centers and depends on help from a specialized CD4+ T cell subset termed T follicular helper (Tfh) cells. These processes are crucial for long-term protection upon natural infection or in settings of vaccination, however they are also responsible for development of antibody-mediated autoimmune disease
Both the global economy and the society in general are dependent on the availability of reliable transportation. Most transportation technology involves the use of internal combustion engines in one way or another. Because of the large numbers of internal combustion engines in use around the world, their emissions have a significant environmental impact. Therefore, considerable efforts have been i
The background of this thesis is related to the steadily increasing demand of higher bandwidth and lower power consumption for transmitting data. The work aims at demonstrating how new types of structures, at the nanoscale, combined with what is referred to as exotic materials, can help benefit in electronics by lowering the consumed power, possibly by an order of magnitude, compared to the indust
Aberrant protein kinase C (PKC) activity and expression is implicated in different malignancies. To study the role of different PKC isoforms in breast cancer the expression of PCKα, δ and ε was evaluated in breast cancer tumors. In addition the effect of siRNA-mediated knockdown of the isoforms was studied in a global gene expression analysis. We found that high PKCα levels correlate with poor pro
Urinary tract infection (UTI) is among the most common bacterial infections in humans and the majority are caused by Escherichia coli (E. coli). Abundant evidence indicates that nitric oxide (NO) produced by the inducible NO synthase (iNOS) plays an important role in host defense against infection. This thesis examines iNOS expression in experimental UTI models. The rat and pig bladder urothelium
Abstract. This thesis describes factors that are rate limiting for the folding of two small proteins, U1A and CI2 which fold without accumulating intermediates. The [GdnHCl] dependencies of the unfolding- and refolding kinetics of U1A display downward curvatures. However, as the curvatures are precisely matched and no indications of formation of partially structured intermediates are seen, the fol
Membrane proteins are particularly important to characterize, since they are involved in cellular processes of utmost importance in control and regulation of cells, such as transport across membranes, signal transduction and photosynthesis. The word "proteome" means all proteins expressed by a e.g. a cell or a tissue, at a certain time point and "proteomics" is the large scale study of these prote
Proteoglycans (PGs) is a class of highly anionic macromolecules that consist of one or more linear polysaccharide chains (glycosaminoglycans, GAGs) covalently attached to a core protein. The biological functions of PGs are mainly due to the interactions of GAG chains with various protein ligands and regulatory factors, such as cytokines and growth factors. PGs and GAGs are critical for a diverse s
