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Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) develops in 3-6% of the population over 65 years and affects mainly men. AAA has a complex etiology involving inflammation, proteolysis, fibrinolysis and coagulation. The general aim of the present thesis was to study the associations between markers of inflammation, proteolysis, fibrinolysis and coagulation with aneurysm size and growth. In paper I associations bet
The underlying question in localization is, where am I? In this thesis a purely image based approach is proposed to solve this problem. In order to create a complete image based system, there are many subproblems that have to be addressed. The localization problem can also be solved in other ways, for example, with a GPS. Two advantages with using images compared to GPS are that no open sky is nee
This thesis aims at shedding light on three important issues related to intra-industry trade (IIT); the relevance of demand patterns, horizontal versus vertical IIT, and the measurement of IIT. Chapter two analyses IIT between high and low-income countries, and uses a theoretical model that explains the exchange of similar products of different qualities. We are particularly interested in the rol
This work addresses the phenomenon of long-term, so-called ‘independent’ travelling, or backpacking, often to destinations described as the ‘third world’. It regards backpacker journeys as arenas for identity work, for expressing individuality and a ‘strong character’. Rather than merely being a parenthetic detour in time and space a backpacker’s trip to the tropics can be understood as a creative
The expression of surface adhesion molecules on white blood cells (WBC) and platelets, and the release of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) after incubation with expanded-polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE)- or woven Dacron grafts was determined. Both graft-materials induced alteration of the WBC adhesion molecule receptor and caused release of TNF-a and IL-6, higher for wov
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor deficits. Levodopa treatment provides marked symptomatic relief. However, within 5-10 years after the start of Levodopa treatment, most PD patients display a gradual loss of drug efficacy. Importantly, the neuropathology of PD is dominated by a marked loss of dopaminergic neurons located in the substantia nigra.
Is it possible to understand a society and a certain place that is long since gone? The aim of this thesis is to study and analyse a historic period and its people through the remains of their material culture, the social relations and how these were materialized in an urban setting. The main subject of the empirical study, the medieval episcopal town of Linköping, has shifted out-look, function a
The over-arching objectives of this thesis were to formulate a method to describe the consequences of traffic casualties, and to explain the influence of different traffic engineering factors on these consequences for society and individuals over time. A more detailed objective was to examine whether available short-term indicators can be used to predict consequences in a long-term perspective. Ot
During the period (1976-1995) a total of 175 consecutive patients (m 88/f 87) with neuropathologically verified vascular dementia (VaD) were examined. 22 patients with pure Alzheimer's Disease (AD) were also studied. All patients were diagnosed and followed at the Department of Psychogeriatrics (Lund University Hospital). The neuropathological examination revealed VaD, sometimes with additional co
In this thesis the focus is on crossing points in random fields and the probability distributions of various crossing variables in different applications. The crossing points are generalisations to random fields of points of level crossings by stochastic processes. Only crossing events that occur at distinct points in the parameter space are considered, for example stationary points (zero-crossing
This thesis consists of three essays on incomplete information in financial markets, two of which are theoretical, and one that is mainly of an empirical nature. All three essays concern parameter uncertainty, and they employ a continuous-time framework. The first essay, "The Effect of Information Quality on Optimal Portfolio Choice," analyzes the portfolio choices made by three types of agents,
The operating principle of all laser Doppler methods is based on the fact that incident photons shift in wavelength when interacting with moving blood cells passing through the microvascular network. After photodetection and further signal processing, the recorded parameter can be considered an arbitrary measure of tissue blood flow, and this is referred to as ?perfusion?. Laser Doppler perfusion
The clinically important carbohydrate P/GLOB blood group systems and collection give rise to both common (P1, P2) and rare (p, P1k, P2k) blood group phenotypes. The associated antibodies are implicated in severe transfusion reactions and recurrent spontaneous abortions. The aim of this study was to explore the molecular genetic basis of Pk, P and P1 antigen expression. Sequence analysis of the A4
In this present study the population of endothelin-like receptors in the human umbilical artery was examined in vitro in different parts of the umbilical cord. Immunohistochemistry revealed ETB receptors in the endothelium and an uneven distribution of ETA receptors in the smooth muscle of the arterial wall, when comparing different parts of the umbilical artery. ET-1 induced vasoconstriction wa
Cyanobacteria are known to form heavy blooms in eutrophicated freshwaters and also form resting stages, associated with the sediments, during harsh growth conditions. These resting stages can serve as inoculum for pelagic populations and function as a potential source for bloom formations. However, the factors involved in initiating recruitment from resting stage to the pelagic phase are not fully
Autoimmune diabetes is characterized by cell mediated autoimmunity against insulin producing beta cells in pancreatic islets. Type 1 diabetes is the major cause of diabetes in children and adolescents and is believed to be mediated by a Thl driven destruction of beta cells. The much more prevalent type 2 diabetes is not considered as an autoimmune disease but diabetes specific autoantibodies (ICA
Two prospective, short-term and long-term consecutive randomized studies on non-surgical treated patients with an ACL injury were performed. None of the patients were athletes on a professional level. Outcome measures : isometric muscle strength and isokinetic musclefunction, one-leg hop test, single limb balance, Lysholm knee score and Tegner activity level. In study number one 26 patients with n
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
