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Tissue remodeling is observed in several physiological conditions such as embryogenesis, senescence, wound healing and pregnancy, as well as in several pathological conditions such as fibrosis and tumorgenesis. Fibroblasts play a key role in this tissue remodeling due to their capability of altering the turnover of the extracellular matrix. During the remodeling process, the fibroblasts are believ
Movement and dispersal are important determinants of the spatial distribution and persistence of animal populations in a heterogeneous environment. I studied the small-scale movement pattern of a soil-living insect, Protaphorura armata (Collembola) by using a video-equipment. I added chemical cues, food and conspecifics to their environment and evaluated the effects of external cues on the movemen
The question of America’s cultural position in relation to the rest of the world is essential for all research connected to America and to the history of modern Europe. This situation has become obvious over the last years because of our societies’ latest “crisis”, with the consecration of the “post-modern” and “global” view of society, history and culture. The aim of the dissertation is to analys
Adopting a phenomenological, sensemaking-based approach, this dissertation reviews and critiques a variety of theories proposed as explanations of corporate “greening” and the evolution of corporate environmental management (CEM), and then presents and analyzes an organization study to explore in greater depth how sensemaking can be used for research in this context. As its object, the ethnograph
The legislative limits for NOX emissions in the exhaust gas from heavy-duty diesel engines will be decreased in the European Union from today 3.5 g/kWh (Euro IV) to 2.0 g/kWh in 2008 (Euro V). In the USA and Japan a similar trend can be seen. Accordingly, the development of an exhaust aftertreatment system for heavy-duty trucks seems unavoidable. In this work, an 11 l diesel engine rig has been bu
The intention of this work was to establish alternative purification methods to obtain highly purified caveolae from various tissues. In order to isolate caveolae, sufficiently pure plasma membranes are needed. A method is presented for the isolation of plasma membranes from lung tissue using a combination of conventional polyethylene glycol/dextran two-phase partitioning and affinity partitioning
Helicobacter pylori is a gastric pathogen which cause chronic type B gastritis and peptic ulcer disease. H. pylori produces virulence factors such as urease, vacuolating cytotoxin VacA, cag pathogenicity island-associated proteins, flagella and adhesins. These proteins interact with several host cell molecules such as sialylated cell surface glycoproteins, some of glycolipids and mucins. Glycosami
Artificial, amfiphilic, and biomimetic receptors soluble in water were synthesized via attaching polar amino acids to hydrophobic back-bones possessing a surface suitable for hydrophobic interactions. The hydrophobic back-bones chosen in this thesis were anthracene and dibenzobarrelene structures. A route to an efficient synthesis of a dibenzobarrelene backbone with two sets of orthogonal reactivi
In fantasy literature, the setting is as important to the story as are characters and plot; but although many fantasy scholars have pointed this out, there is very little criticism that explores the role of the setting in fantasy. The aim of this study is to use a topofocal (place-focused) perspective to examine four aspects of the fantasy setting, including the way in which settings function in t
In this thesis, electron transport in mesoscopic semiconductor nanostructures, in particular so-called electron billiards or quantum dots, is studied. The thesis can be divided into two areas: the linear response regime of transport, and the nonlinear response regime of transport. The classical and quantum mechanical electron dynamics are studied for triangular and square-shaped electron billiard
This study is based on dialogic readings of two of John Cowper Powys´s major novels, A Glastonbury Romance and Porius. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate the interrelationship in the examined texts between the chain of narrative displacements and the frequent changes of voice and genre. Powys´s cornucopian writing with its wide employment of characteristics from various genres
The root vole (Microtus oeconomus) is a rodent with Holarctic distribution. In fact, it is the only Microtus vole found in both Eurasia and North America. Phylogeographic analyses of the root vole from across its distribution range were performed using mitochondrial and Y chromosome DNA sequences. Mitochondrial cytochrome b gene data demonstrate that the root vole is divided i
Phage display technology is a biotechnological tool that can be used to obtain molecules/reagents able to discriminate between target molecules. Reagents with such features can be used in diverse settings like biological chemistry, diagnostics and in therapeutic applications. Phage display technology is based on the use of recombinant DNA technology, bacteria and a special kind of bacterial virus,
The regulation of the exocrine pancreas has been under thorough investigation for many decades. In rats, cholecystokinin (CCK) is considered to be the major gut hormone stimulating the pancreas to releasing the digestive enzymes. CCK acts directly via CCK-A receptors in the pancreas, or through receptors located on the vagal afferents and stimulating the secretion via the cholinergic vagal efferen
Elastic scattering and the Lorenz-Mie (LM) theory in particular is used for the characterization of sub-micron- and micron-sized droplets of organic fuels in sprays and aerosols. Calculations on the Lorenz- Mie theory show that backward-sideward scattered visible radiation can be used for unambiguous detection of ensembles of homogeneous droplets of organic substances with diameters around 1 micro
The fermentative performance of bacteria, yeasts, and filamentous fungi was investigated in a pentose (xylose)-rich lignocellulosic hydrolyzate. The filamentous fungus Fusarium oxysporum and the xylose-fermenting yeast Pichia stipitis were found to be very sensitive to the inhibiting hydrolyzate. Recombinant xylose-utilizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae showed very poor ethanol formation from xylose;
The xanthophyll cycle involves the light-dependent and reversible conversion of violaxanthin to zeaxanthin. The enzyme, violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE) catalyses the conversion of violaxanthin to zeaxanthin, via the intermediate antheraxanthin. VDE is a membrane-hosted enzyme during its activity. Low lumenal pH, violaxanthin, ascorbate and monogalactosyldiacylglycerol are required for activity. Th
Understanding of the growth of fatigue cracks is of utmost importance since such growth often has a profound influence on the life of components subjected to cyclic loading. Thus, reliable fatigue life models enable a more efficient use of materials and improve the performance and efficiency in many applications. This thesis deals with the growth of fatigue cracks subjected to high load amplitude
During moisture uptake in polymers, the diffusion of the water molecules is believed to occur via unoccupied voids. These voids are called free volume cavities and their sizes are continuously altered when the moisture content in the polymer is enhanced. Not only the free volume cavity sizes, but also other polymer properties such as the degree of crystallinity, are changed as a consequence of moi
Modern communication systems strive to achieve reliable and efficient information transmission and storage with affordable complexity. Hence, efficient low-complexity channel codes providing low probabilities for erroneous receptions are needed. Interpreting codes as graphs and graphs as codes opens new perspectives for constructing such channel codes. Low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are one
