Speaker age is an important paralinguistic feature in speech which has to be considered in the study of phonetic variation. Knowledge about this feature may be used to improve speech technology applications, e.g. automatic speech recognition and speech synthesis. The present thesis describes six studies of several phonetic aspects of age-related variation in speech. As the speech production mecha

This thesis develops new techniques for analyzing cointegrated relationships in panel data. The first chapter is introductory while the remaining six contain the main contributions. The second chapter is concerned with the estimation of a cointegrated panel relation with endogenous regressors, in which case the least squares estimator is biased unless it is conditioned on the lags and leads of th

A contemporary challenge when designing interactive artifacts is to take into account the wealth of devices, systems, and tools people use every day - here termed an 'interaction ecology'. This thesis addresses three research issues. Firstly, the character of sound perception, and how auditory interaction can be applied to ubiquitous computing. Secondly, how everyday sounds make people aware of su

The thesis consists of an introductory chapter and three essays, considering sickness insurance, social norms and absence certification. The first essay, Group-Specific Social Norms and Economic Incentives in a General Welfare System, investigates the interaction between economic incentives and social influences in a general welfare system. We relate the results to sickness insurance. The model i

Peritoneal adhesions develop after almost all abdominal surgical interventions and represent an important cause of postoperative intestinal obstruction, abdominal discomfort and infertility. Postoperative adhesions can potentially be reduced by using different antiadhesive agents. In the present study, we hypothesized that a combination of oppositely charged polypeptides could effectively decrease

The endothelial glycocalyx is the carbohydrate rich inner layer of the blood vessels. Important components of the glycocalyx are the proteoglycans with their attached glycosaminoglycans. At this location these molecules contribute to the adhesion and transport of leucocytes to inflamed tissue, the anticoagulation as well as the transport of fluid across the vessel wall. All these functions are dis

This dissertation deals with the subject of altars in the churches of the medieval diocese of Lund. The main work on altars in the Catholic church is Joseph Braun´s Der christliche Altar in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung (1924). However, despite its extensive content it does not deal with the conditions in Northern Europe. The general aim of this dissertation is to broaden our knowledge about

Cell-replacement therapy is a promising approach for treating patients with Parkinson ́s disease (PD). For this purpose, there is a need for developing a protocol that can generate high numbers of human transplantable mesencephalic dopaminer- gic (mesDA) neurons. For decades, studies have therefore been made in mouse and other model organisms in order to elucidate key-factors that can be used for

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease and affects 2% of the population over 65 years of age. The disease is characterized by the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons. Over time, symptoms increase and, in particular, lead to a dramatic slowness of movements. Unfortunately, when the fi rst symptoms are discovered, more than 50% of the dopaminergic neurons a

The problem of fluid-structure interaction, occurring in many industrial and engineering applications, are of great importance, since interaction of a flow and a structure in it can lead to serious damages of the structure. The fluid-structure interaction gives rise to a variety of different physical phenomena such as flow-induced vibration, noise generation, etc. As an alternative to experimental

Neurodegenerative disorders are characterized by a progressive cell-death in the brain, and loss of different functions in the patient. Today, there are no cures for any of the various diseases. Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder with a prevalence of 0.1% and the first symptoms usually start to appear between 50-60 years of age with rigidity, tremor, bradykinesia and postural abno

The purpose of this study has been to investigate the social consequences of unemployment and to give a possible interpretation of unemployment experiences through the application of the economy-shame model. It intends to put forward and show the significance of economic stress in combination with the feeling of shame as a factor important for the understanding of differences in unemploy-ment expe

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate ProstaLund Feedback Treatment® (PLFT®) and the CoreTherm® device with regard to biophysics, mechanisms of action, treatment indications, additional techniques, efficacy and safety in the treatment of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The application of two biophysical equations in the PLFT software is explained. The calculations

The global expansion of democratic rule in the developing world has attracted much scholarly interest. The societal implications of the democratisation process, i.e. what democratisation actually means for the citizens in terms of opportunities for participation and influence, have not received as much attention though. This study makes a contribution to redressing the imbalance. Drawing on normat

Politics induce economic agents to organise into special interest groups (SIGs) and act strategically to adjust their economic decisions and to conduct rent-seeking activities in order do improve the situation inflicted on them by policy. This thesis examines, in four essays, different forms of SIG influence on public policy in different institutional contexts. The two first essays examine two rel

Digital infrastructure and the exercise of authority by social services: the case of social assistance in SwedenThis article explores how digitalisation impacts the discretionary space and decision-making processes of social workers in the administration of social assistance within social services. In the context of increasing digitalisation and automation in public administration, the study exami

Preterm infants undergo intensive care during a vulnerable period with hemodynamic instability and a rapidly developing and immature CNS. Adequate pain management is essential, since pain experience might lead to acute physiological reactions as well as neurological and neuropsychological sequels. There is no “golden standard” for objective pain assessment, and no evidence-based recommendations fo

The aim of physiotherapy is to promote health and well-being, and to facilitate increased activity and participation of individuals with diseases and injuries. The profession is influenced by different health paradigms which have emerged from different knowledge traditions. The biomedical paradigm of health adopts a dualistic view of mankind in which the normal is regarded as the standard, and the

During direct cellular reprogramming, forced expression of key transcription factors (TFs) directly converts one terminally differentiated cell type into that of another fate, exemplified in this theses by the conversion of fibroblasts into functional induced neurons (iNs). Direct conversion of mouse fibroblasts to functional neurons was established in 2010, and the starting point of my doctoral

Epilepsy is a severe chronic neurological disorder, affecting about 1% of the population. The disease is manifested by spontaneous recurrent seizures, caused by hypersynchronized neuronal activity due to imbalance in the brain between the inhibition and excitation. Symptoms are treated with anti-epileptic drugs, but unfortunately, 30-40% of patients respond poorly to current treatment. Therefore,