Over the last decades the ongoing work in the fields of Lab-on-a-Chip and Micro-Total-Analysis-Systems has led to the discovery of new or improved ways to handle and analyse small volumes of biofluids and complex biosuspensions. The benefits of working on the microscale include: miniaturization of the analysis systems with less need for large sample volumes; temporal and spatial control of suspend

For a long time microorganisms were assumed to have unlimited dispersal due to their small size and high cell numbers. Most microbial species can be transported by water currents, in water droplets by wind and attached to other organisms. Environmental conditions alone were supposed to affect the distribution of species and the community composition. Therefore, microorganisms were assumed to consi

Urinary tract infections (UTI) are among the most common human infections, and febrile UTI with bacteremia the most severe form. The relation between bacteria and host decides disease severity. The dominating uropathogen is Escherichia coli (E. coli). P fimbriae are the virulence factor of E. coli most clearly associated to severe disease. P fimbriated E. coli predominated in bacteremic febrile UT

The significance of load modeling for voltage stability studies has been emphasized by several disturbances, which have taken place in the past years. They have shown that the loads in combination with other dynamics are among the main contributors of prolonged low voltage conditions, voltage instability and collapse in the power system. As a result of these disturbances new investigations have co

The South American golden apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata) was intentionally introduced to aquacultures in South East Asia to produce snails for human consumption, but the aquatic snails soon escaped and started to consume large amounts of rice seedlings. The aim of this thesis was to quantify the effects of this invasive herbivore on aquatic plants in natural wetlands since previous research h

Chronic atrial fibrillation (CAF), with a prevalence progressively increasing with age, is one of the most common cardiac arrhythmias in man and associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Previous studies have shown that, in animals as well as in man, experimental atrial fibrillation is based on different types and dimensions of intra-atrial electrical re-entry. However, there is a lack of

In clinical situations with raised intracranial pressure (ICP) and impending insufficient cerebral blood flow (ischaemia), bedside information about energy metabolism in the brain would be helpful. Microdialysis is a technique that makes it possible to monitor the interstitial concentrations of various compounds in an organ. Intracerebral microdialysis with bedside analysis of metabolites related

The main objective of this thesis is to study the response and development of permanent deformation in unbound granular materials, theoretically and experimentally. A testing box technique is used here to more closely simulate the behaviour of unbound aggregates subjected to external vertical loading. A small box device (800×800×800 mm) is employed to test both the response and permanent deforma

This thesis deals with the combination of electrochromatography and molecular imprinting technology. Electrochromatography is characterised by high separation efficiency, simple instrumentation, and minute consumption of sample. As a novel approach to obtain unique selectivity in capillary electrochromatographic systems molecularly imprinted matrices were used. Molecular imprinting technology repr

Originally studying the molecular mechanisms for the insulin-like effects of growth hormone (GH), lipogenesis and antilipolysis, in isolated rat adipocytes we found that the GH receptor (GHR) was tyrosine phosphorylated in response to GH in cells that were responsive to these effects. Then, as Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) was described as a GH-stimulated and GHR-associated tyrosine kinase, we found that

Inflammation plays an important role in atherosclerosis. One of the most potent pro-inflammatory cytokines is tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a), a cytokine identified to have a pathogenic role in chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The major objectives of this investigation was to establish a role for TNF-a in the development of atherosclerosis and neointimal formati

Since soluble fibre in the form of the cereal beta-glucans found in oats and barley has been shown to have a positive effect on lipid and glucose metabolism, people at risk of developing cardiovascular diseases or diabetes might benefit from that a variety of palatable food products containing beta-glucans being available to them. The aim of the papers presented in the thesis was to evaluate the m

Patients waiting for cardiac surgery often consider the period from the decision for surgery to the time for the operation as long, heavy and dreary. Therefore, it is important that patients are supplied with structured oral and written information regarding their disease and its treatment, so that they are able to understand and discuss the forthcoming operation, the risk of complications and the

This thesis is based on data from a large glaucoma screening, comprising 32, 918 elderly citizens of Malmö and data from retrospective analysis of glaucoma patients’ charts from the Eye Department of Malmö University Hospital. The definition of glaucoma was based on reproducible visual field defects and/or glaucomatous optic nerve head damage in both groups. In paper I, including screened individ

The aim was to explore possible areas and sources that could inform the care for people with dementia. These were the people with dementia themselves, nurses reflective discussions about caring, nurse-patient interaction together with information from close family members, and the previous personality and sense of coherence of people with dementia in relation to behaviour during the disease as rel