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The main pathological feature in Parkinson's disease is the progressive loss of dopamine neurons in the midbrain, which in turn leads to the appearance of motor deficits such as akinesia/bradykinesia (loss/slowness of movements), rigidity, postural imbalance and tremor. To this day, there is no cure for the disease, but there are medications to relieve the symptoms. The gold standard medication is

The primary aim of the present thesis is to increase understandig of the relationship between organisational structure, gender and power. Understanding of this relationship requires a closeness to the individual being studied as well to the content and consequences of that individuals´actions. The empirical object of study is a group of professional women at a somatic clinic. The problem investiga

Knowledge about lung mechanics is of interest in intensive care to adjust mechanical ventilation and in the lung laboratory for diagnostics and evaluation of patients with various kinds of respiratory diseases. In mechanical ventilation a single inspiratory elastic pressure-volume (Pel/V) curve is difficult to interpret due to continuing re-expansion of collapsed lung units over a large pressure

The interest in spray drying for production of inhalable particles has grown considerably since the late 1980s. However, which process variables that control degradation and the solid state properties have not been subject to extensive research. This thesis deals with how important characteristics of inhalation particles can be controlled, i.e. particle size, morphology, degradation and crystalli

The deregulation of the electricity market drives utilities and independent power producers to operate heat and power plants as profit centers. In order to keep the economic margins on the credit side, the preferred measures have been to improve the electrical efficiency through changes in the hardware and boost the overall efficiency through e.g. combined heat and power (CHP) generation. The bett

This book has two overarching objectives. Firstly, in an age of increasing globalization and cross-border political activities it seeks to contribute to the debate on the limits and possibilities of democracy in the present and in the future. Even though this objective brings to the fore the issue of democracy in a national context, the main ambition is to examine democratic values and institution

The thesis investigates human-environmental relations in the rapidly modernizing United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven Arabian Gulf sheikhdoms. Since its establishment in 1971, the UAE has been transformed from a subsistence society based mainly on pastoralism and maritime activities (fishing, pearling, and trade) into an ultramodern society, with an economy based on the export of fossil fue

Life cycle environmental problems have been addressed by a number of strategies. However, the results are mostly lamentable because solutions are searched for within the same paradigms that give rise to the problems. This research questions the vision of linear material growth and searches for ways to sustain economic growth without putting the natural environment under stress. The research explor

Processing of programs is a core area in computer science. A compiler that translates source text to machine language is the most well-known kind of tool in this area, but there are numerous other kinds of related applications: source-to-source translators, refactoring tools, reengineering tools, metrics tools, consistency checkers, etc. These tools perform similar analyses and can therefore benef

What are the effects of growth on equality in a long-term perspective? What are the effects of different patterns of equality on subsequent growth? And why are these questions relevant for the understanding of economic development? These are the overriding questions posed in the dissertation. They are addressed in the context of long-term change from economic backwardness to modern economic growth

The dissertation focuses on interpretations of Islam that claim compatibility with international human rights norms in the context of women’s rights. These interpretations are seen as parts of an on-going contemporary international debate on women’s human rights and Islam that engages Muslims as well as non-Muslims. Existing UN-formulated international human rights schemes are a basic starting poi

The field of vitreoretinal surgery has expanded greatly over the last decades. A continuous refinement of surgical methods and instruments has increased the number of treatable retinal disorders. Vitrectomy, retinectomy and laser treatment are all part of the modern surgical arsenal. In order to further develop and refine these methods, and also to improve the knowledge of the mechanisms behind th

The paper deals with various positivity and continuity questions arising in the Weyl calculus of pseudo-differential operators. Let W be a symplectic vector space. In the first part of the paper we discuss positivity and continuity properties in spaces s_p(W) of distributions, whose Weyl quantizations are in the Schatten-von Neumann class of the order p> 1. In

This dissertation examines and discusses some phenomena related to the geometric representation of similarity. It takes its inspiration from the existing body of empirical research within the fields of perceptual and cognitive psychology, but also connects to certain areas of machine learning. The problems discussed concern the modelling of information integration behavior when concepts like asym

Leukocyte recruitment is considered to playa key role in numerous inflammatory diseases. Tissue accumulation of Jeukocytes is a multi-steps process comprising rolling, adhesion and transmigration. This process depends on the function of several different cells, including leukocytes, endothelial cells, mast cells and macrophages as well as a wide spectrum of inflammatory mediators, such as TNF-alph

Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (bFGF) is one of the endogenous factors found in bone matrix. bFGF is a mitogen for many cell types, including osteoblasts and chondrocytes. It can stimulate angiogenesis and osteoblast gene expression. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether exogenous bFGF can stimulate the formation of bone in bone grafts and in a bone graft substitute. All experiments

The global terrestrial carbon cycle plays a pivotal role in regulating the atmospheric composition of greenhouse gases. Currently it is responsible for removing 25-30% of our emissions every year, an important ecosystem service that may not persist in the long term. Global warming tends to decrease the CO2 sink capacity of the world’s oceans and ecosystems leading to a larger fraction of our emiss

In this work a number of theoretical models, describing light propagation in matter, have been applied to and developed for the examination of tissue. The aim was to model the light scattering and absorption in tissue in order to improve the understanding of underlying mechanisms of laser-based diagnostics and treatment modalities utilised for cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The models studied

Nanowires have the potential to be a very flexible platform for the design of semiconductor devices. In nanowires it is possible to form crystal structures not found in the bulk materials under normal conditions, and to combine different III-V and group IV materials into axial or radial heterostructures. As quite complex structures can be formed, both intentionally and unintentionally, characteriz

The purpose of this dissertation was to increase - through an empirical investigation - our understanding of early parenthood in relation to children with Down syndrome. My point of departure has been the parents’ life-worlds, and I have developed an accompanying working method. Ten families with newborn infants with Down syndrome were followed through regular home visits during the first year of