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Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a leading cause of liver damage and is characterized by steatosis. Genetic factors increase risk for progressive NAFLD. A genome-wide association study showed that the rs641738 C>T variant in the locus that contains the membrane bound O-acyltransferase domain-containing 7 gene (MBOAT7, also called LPIAT1) and transmembrane channel-like 4 gene (TMC4) incr
This thesis presents experimental results related to laser plasma accelerators. These rely on very different principles from conventional particle accelerators. They are able to accelerate particles over a very short distance and produce synchrotron x-rays at the same time, potentially providing a compact particle accelerator and x-ray source for many future applications. The laser pulses used in
Recent reports suggest that immigrants from Middle Eastern countries are a high-risk group for type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared with Swedes, and that the pathogenesis of T2D may be ethnicity-specific. Deregulation of microRNA (miRNA) expression has been demonstrated to be associated with T2D but ethnic differences in miRNA have not been investigated. The aim of this study was to explore the ethnic s
This thesis deals with the development and evaluation of some different optical techniques for tissue characterization. The main aim has been to improve and evaluate such investigative techniques in in vivo studies. In this attempt a key issue has been to gain understanding in the underlying mechanisms of laser-based diagnostics of premalignant and malignant lesions and to evaluate methods
Pathogenic bacteria express a wide array of surface proteins that interact with the environment. Many of these proteins are believed to be important for the virulence. This thesis deals with the binding of immunoglobulins (Ig) and complement regulating proteins to certain bacterial surface proteins. Protein L from Peptostreptococcus magnus binds to Igk-light chains while protein A from Staphylococ
The purpose of the study was to develop an ultrasound (US) protocol for evaluating congenital clubfoot pathoanatomy before and during early treatment. By using 3 easily defined and reproducible US projections the talonavicular and the calcaneocuboid joints were assessed. Normal configurations of the relationships at these joints were obtained by investigating 54 healthy babies at the ages of 0, 4
People can become sensitive to the general structure of different parts of the environment, often without studying that general structure directly, but through being incidentally exposed to instances that conform to the structure. When such learning proceeds unintentionally and gives rise to knowledge that is difficult to verbalize it is often referred to as implicit learning. One of the most comm
Migration of leukocytes from the circulating blood into the extravascular tissue is a key component in inflammatory reactions. Leukocyte extravasation (rolling-activation-adhesion-transmigration) is strictly coordinated by adhesion molecules and chemokines expressed on cell surfaces and in tissues. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is pleiotrophic cytokine, which plays an important role in t
I understand patronage principally as a work of cultural and material support - the support shich was necessary to stage the performance of a piece of music in mayn different contexts. I focus on the fate of an opera, Richard Wagner's Parsifal, a work which was not performed at the Bayreuth festival between 1939 and 1944 because of its emphasis on reconciliation, non-violence and faith, but which
This work analyses several aspects of multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) for astronomy. The research ranges from fundamental and technical studies for present-day MCAO projects, to feasibility studies of high-order MCAO instruments for the extremely large telescopes (ELTs) of the future. The first part is an introductory exposition on atmospheric turbulence, adaptive optics (AO) and MCAO, esta
General characteristics and outcome was evaluated in 177 consecutive patients who underwent a major amputation in a defined population. Smoking and diabetes lowered the mean amputation age. Healing failure at six months was seen in 24% of transtibial and in 11% of transfemoral amputees. Preoperative absence of gangrene and hemoglobin >120 g/L increased the risk of healing failure. Six months after
Aims of the study The aims of this study using Gadodiamide injection were to investigate: · Whether Gadodiamide injection was comparable to Gd-DTPA for the enhancement of CNS lesions. · The contrast effect at different field strengths. · The effective time-window for the enhancement of blood-brain barrier damage. · The relations between the concentration of contrast agent and enhancement in p
"Men born in 1914" is a prospective cohort study on the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease. The study is run by the Department of Community Medicine, Lund University, Malmö. Five hundred men participated in the study when it started with a baseline examination in 1982/83. The men were then 68 years old. The psychological part of the study included tests of cognitive function and the serial Col
Immunotherapy is a new promising approach in cancer treatment. In the future, it will hopefully offer an alternative to existing brain tumors treatments, which are unable to cure. We have established an experimental, low immunogenic, brain tumor model in the rat. We have increased tumor cell immunogenicity with mutagen treatment or transfection of IFN-g. Mutagen treated glioma cells (tum-) could c
Huntington's disease (HD) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expansion of a CAG repeat in the HD gene, that leads to dysfunction and death of striatal neurons. The pathogenetic mechanisms underlying HD are not known, but excitotoxicity and dopamine (DA) have been suggested to play a role. In this thesis, the effects of excitotoxicity and DA have been studied in striatal in vit
Chromosomal translocations commonly result in the production of fusion genes and the fusion genes are often tumor-type specific. In myxoid and round cell liposarcomas (MLS/RCLS), almost 95% of the cases carry a t(12;16)(q13;p11). In the remaining 5% of the MLS/RCLS tumors, another translocation and fusion gene can be found, i.e. the t(12;22)(q13;q12). These translocations fuse CHOP on chromosome 1
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and severely affects about one in a hundred persons over the age of fifty years. In PD, there is a reduced striatal concentration of the neurotransmittor dopamine, mainly caused by a degeneration of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Transplantation of embryonic dopamine neurons has been developed as an al
The soil bacterial community is under the constant influence of its environment. Changing any of the factors affecting the bacterial community will induce a selection pressure which, with time, will change the community. In this work the effect of changing the temperature or pH on the soil bacterial community was studied. Measurements using the [3H]-thymidine incorporation technique showed that th
Protein S functions as a cofactor to activated protein C (APC) in the degradation of factors Va and VIIIa. In plasma protein S circulates in two forms; 30-40 % circulates as free protein S molecules while the remaining 60-70 % exists in a 1:1 complex with C4b-binding protein (C4BP). Only the free form of protein S functions as a cofactor to APC. Protein S is a mosaic protein composed of four discr
