We live at a time when the Internet is used increasingly for communication, for information, and for the exchange of goods and services. Questions arise about how people with learning disabilities make use of this new technology. In this article, Bjorn Harrysson, with two of his colleagues, A. Svensk and G. I. Johansson, from the Department of Design Sciences at the Lund Institute of Technology in

This dissertation investigated electrophysiological measures of individual differences in toddlers’ ability to learn novel object labels and process familiar object words and their referents. The studies measured both visual and auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to pictures of objects and words in a longitudinal sample of 20- to 24-month-olds, an age of dynamic vocabulary develo

It is known that parasympathetic, sympathetic and sensory nerves innervate the islets and that these nerves harbor both classical neurotransmitters and neuropeptides. However, the neural influence on islet hormone release is complex and not yet fully understood A recently discovered pancreatic neuropeptide is pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP). The aim of this thesis was to

In this thesis quantitative analyses of radionuclide concentrations in bioenergy fuels such as peat, wood chips and straw are presented. For comparison a brief description is included of radionuclide concentrations and radiation doses from other sources of power and also from some industrial applications. Radiation is a natural phenomenon and radionuclides occur naturally. The first man-made spre

Although advances in neonatal care have resulted in increased survival rates among extremely preterm infants (born < 28 gestational weeks), they still face substantial morbidity risks during the neonatal period. The question of possible later outcomes is a key issue faced by health care professionals working with these infants. Objectives The objective of the present thesis was to explore develo

The recognition of new venture opportunities has been acknowledged as one of the most important abilities of successful entrepreneurs. Explaining the recognition of new venture opportunities has thus become an important element of the scholarly study of entrepreneurship. Building on this stream of research, we present a study of the influence of prior industry and functional work experience on ent

Climate change poses a serious challenge to sustainable urban development, placing many cities at risk. Climatic conditions are changing to such an extent that the capacity of urban institutions and associated governance systems to deal with climatic extremes and variability is being reduced. New approaches for urban climate change adaptation are thus urgently needed. There is an increasing conse

The spruce seed moth, Cydia strobilella L., is a serious pest on cones of spruce (Picea spp.) in the Holarctic region. Previous studies from different parts of its area of distribution have reported conflicting results on the composition of its sex pheromone. By gas chromatography with electroantennographic detection, coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, a Y-tube olfactometer bioassay, an

Rapid, accurate diagnosis and management of TB in HIV-positive individuals is critical for the success of antiretroviral treatment programmes in primary health care in Sub-Saharan Africa. These studies aim to develop and evaluate methods for TB case finding in adults receiving care at Ethiopian health centres. The prevalence of active TB in a prospective cohort of 812 HIV-positive adults was deter

This thesis is about two problems in the intersection of communication and control theory. Their common feature is that they involve communication over an additive white noise channel with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) constraint. The first problem concerns the transmission of a real-valued signal from a partially observed Markov source. The distortion criterion is the mean squared error and the

Subject-verb agreement in number (3sg - 3pl) in spoken French is a heterogeneous morpho-syntactic domain where number is expressed in some groups of verbs and in some phonological contexts only. The acquisition of this agreement is a long and gradual process (Prévost, 2009). Both children learning French as their first language (L1) and older second language (L2) learners overuse the dominant patt

Weight loss is an important complication of Huntington's disease (HD), however the mechanism for weight loss in HD is not entirely understood. Mutant huntingtin is expressed in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and, in HD mice, mutant huntingtin inclusions are found within the enteric nervous system along the GI tract. A reduction of neuropeptides, decreased mucosal thickness and villus length, as w

Hypertension is a multifactorial disease in which the interplay of genetic and environmental factors that maintain blood pressure stable throughout life is altered. Cytochrome P450 (CYP)-derived metabolites of arachidonic acid such as epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) and 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE), active on vascular tone, endothelial function and renal sodium reapportion, have been

Background: Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) is diagnosed at a metastatic stage but no diagnostic effort is spared to find the primary cancers because these will guide the treatment. Consequently, the diagnostic work-up for CUP is more comprehensive than for any other cancer, resulting in detection of second cancers unrelated to CUP. We want to use the detection rate of second cancers as a measure

Relict spinel grains (similar to 25-250 mu m in diameter) from decomposed extraterrestrial material in Archean to Recent sediments can be used to reconstruct variations in the flux of different types of meteorites to Earth through the ages. Meteorite falls are rare and meteorites weather and decay rapidly on the Earth surface, making it a challenge to reconstruct ancient fluxes. Almost all meteori