Filtyp
Salt stress is one of the historically as well as potentially largest agriculture problem humans have faced. Researchers have investigated and tried to solve this problem for a long time. Over 20 reviews have been written on this topic the last five years. In this thesis the extent of salt stress in today's agriculture, the toxic and damaging effects on plants and bacteria exposed to salt stress,
The purpose for this work has been to develop new robust fuel electrodes for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). The aim was to find suitable ceramic materials or composites with promising properties for the use as SOFC anodes. Preferably, the electrode should not contain any metal (or at least a metal should not be a major component) in order to improve the redox properties. The present work focuses o
The present study explored the gene and protein expression of the monoamine transporters in human endometrium throughout the menstrual cycle, in early decidua and in placentas from normal as well as preeclamptic pregnancies using in-situ hybridization, real time-PCR, immunohistochemistry and primary tissue cultures. Four distinguishable patterns were observed in the endometrium over the menstrual
The aim of this work was to study prospectively the effects of different feeding regimens during the first three days of life. A group of 129 infants were randomly assigned at birth to one of three feeding regimens: human milk (HM), cow's milk formula (CMF), or a casein hydrolysate formula (CHF). The formula-fed infants received no human milk until the fourth day of life, after which all infants w
Starch is a plant-derived polysaccharide with many uses in different food and non-food applications. In this thesis, the production of two novel potato starch qualities, amylopectin and high-amylose, and the modifications and the characteristics of the produced plants and starches are described. The novel potato starch qualities will find uses in e.g. the paper, adhesive, textile and packing indus
Animal models of Parkinson’s disease and L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia are essential to explore pathophysiological hypotheses and to test new treatment options. There are many different animal models of Parkinson's disease, which differ greatly with respect to species, mechanisms of nigral cell death, and extent of dopamine-dependent motor deficits. My work has been performed in rats and mice with uni
In this dissertation I will discuss horror film as a genre and study how Hellraiser relates to its themes and problems. First I describe the production of the film and after that I present Clive Barker - his background, authorship, film-making and artwork. Next I study the problems of the genre and the different ways in which this genre is defined. I look at narrative characteristics as well as, f
Higher education has become a mega-topic in both political and scientific debate. Developments in systems of higher education and changes in the governance of such systems have been discussed in the literature. Such changes are brought about by collective actors within institutional settings. The present volume considers the policies of higher education supported by Social Democratic governments i
There is a growing need for multifunctional polymeric materials for the development of several important energy conversion technologies. For example, the polymer electrolyte is a key component in lithium polymer batteries. The basic functions of this electrolyte are to efficiently conduct the lithium ions and physically separate the electrodes. Consequently, these electrolytes should ideally posse
The reuse and closed-loop recycling of food packaging was studied in order to assess consumer safety and the sensory quality (e.g. taste and smell) of packaged food. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) beverage bottles that were refillable or that contained recycled material, either in direct contact or with a functional barrier protecting the food, were investigated with focus on odorous compounds f
In this thesis, the phylogenetic relationships of the Mammalia have been studied at various levels. Different sources of genetic information have been evaluated and used as phylogenetic markers. These include the well-known mitochondrial genome, cDNA from housekeeping genes and expressed sequence tags from nuclear genes. Applying RT-PCR on mRNA from nuclear genes is a new approach for collecting
The cyanoprokaryote (blue-green algae) genus Arthrospira occurs in saline, alkaline tropical waters of Africa, Asia, and Central America. Traditionally Arthrospira has been used as a food supplement by the Kanembu tribe of Lake Chad and Aztecs living in the valley of Mexico City. It is presently cultivated in large scale throughout the world and sold as a health food supplement due to its nutritio
Vascular smooth muscle can adapt to increased intraluminal pressure by remodelling and hypertrophy, as seen in hypertension. The molecular mechanisms responsible for this are still incompletely characterized. We have developed an organ culture system where strips of rat or mouse portal veins are cultured for 1 to 3 days loaded (stretched) by an attached weight and then studied for morphology, func
The biological response to different implanted biomaterials vary. The relative importance of factors in the material and host for this variation are at present incompletely known. The variation in the cellular response to specific proteins and the rapid adsorption of proteins to surfaces exposed to biological environments has created the hypothesis that the cellular interactions with biomaterials
The central phenomenon investigated concerns the valence-based process asymmetry found in several earlier studies (e.g. Pratto & John, 1991; Taylor, 1991), where negative stimuli seem to initiate more thorough processing than positive stimuli. This finding was consistent in the three empirical studies forming this dissertation. In Study 1 (three experiments) emotionally valenced words were pre
In this thesis the phenomenology of Quantum Chromo Dynamics (QCD) is studied in a variety of circumstances from both perturbative and non-perturbative perspectives. The main emphasis is on the production and hadronization of heavy particles, specifically heavy quarks, gauge bosons, leptoquarks and supersymmetric particles. In the hadroproduction of long-lived heavy quarks (i.e. charm and bottom)
This thesis is a study of how energy use and air pollution in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been affected by the economic transition after 1989. It consists of six articles, which examine three different aspects of these changes. The first group of articles analyses the structure of energy use in the Baltic states (Article I) and Poland Articles II and III) at the outset of transitio
This thesis describes experiments performed using different methods to produce aerosol nanoparticles with control over size and composition. The process included differential mobility analyzers (DMAs) as size-selecting instruments and tube furnaces for particle synthesis. A method to estimate the degradation of the DMA performance from the ideal case for individual DMAs was proposed and tested ex
Vitreoscilla is an obligate aerobic bacterium living in oxygen-poor environments such as stagnant ponds and decaying vegetable matter. Vitreoscilla expresses a homodimeric haemoglobin (VHb) when subjected to oxygen-limited conditions. In several organisms, expression of VHb has been shown to increase microaerobic cell growth and enhance oxygen-dependent cell metabolism. Moreover, the presence of V
Nematophagous fungi possess various mechanisms for infecting nematodes, and are either obligate parasites or facultative saprophytes. Nematophagous fungi have a potential as biological control agents against plant- and animal-parasitic nematodes. Generally there has been little success in using these fungi in such a way, and one reason might be that too little is known about the ecology of the nem
