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Biotechnological processes offer environmentally friendly and sometimes cost-effective alternatives to traditional chemical and mechanical methods. It is important to take advantages of the opportunities these processes provide to fulfil the demands and expectations of a future environmentally sustainable society. This work exploits the possibilities of applying biotechnological methods to allow r
Hepatitis B virus is a non-cytopathic virus with a small, circular, partially double-stranded DNA of 3.2 kb. It causes acute and chronic inflammatory liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Retesting of stored sera from an outbreak of acute hepatitis in 1969-72 allowed identification of 126 cases of acute hepatitis B. No chronic carriers expressing hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) cou
Clostridium difficile is a spore-forming bacterium that causes antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and is responsible for hospital outbreaks of diarrhoea. In the first study, 173 consecutive isolates of C. difficile collected from 147 patients at Malmö University Hospital during 1995 were typed by AP-PCR to determine whether cross-transmission could explain the increased incidence of Clostridium diffi
Following the transection and repair of major nerve trunks in the forearm, the functional outcome is influenced by mechanisms in the peripheral, as well as in the central nervous system. In the present thesis the interest is focused on assessment of the outcome after nerve repair, central nervous factors influencing the outcome, and sense substitution to compensate for sensory loss. A new model in
During the last decade it has been discovered that around 2% of the soil-living prokaryotes belong to the domain Archaea. In many soils the most abundant archaeal group is the ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) that, in addition to ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), preform the first and rate-limiting step in the nitrification process. The knowledge of factors that regulates the archaeal abundance and
The pro-inflammatory mediators leukotrienes have shown to be important players in the pathogenesis of diseases like asthma and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Patients suffering from IBD have been found to have an increased risk of developing colon cancer. Since leukotrienes have been shown in increased concentrations in stools of IBD patients we hypothesise that LTD4 can play a role in the deve
Levels of ultraviolet-B (UV-B, 280-320 nm) radiation reaching the Earth´s surface increase due to stratospheric ozone depletion. In this thesis the effect of enhanced UV-B radiation was studied on the atrazine-tolerant mutant Stallion, susceptible to photoinhibition, and the atrazine-sensitive cultivar Paroll of Brassica napus (oilseed rape). Photosynthetic parameters were studied with chlorophyll
T cell activation requires the combination of antigen in the context of MHC and costimulatory molecules to induce a functional immune response. For our studies, we primarily utilized superantigens (SAg) that bind MHC class II molecules as first signal. Mutations in the SAg MHC class II a-chain binding site reduced the number of responding T cells expressing particular TCR Vb chains, whereas mutati
Liver is the most common site of dissemination in colorectal cancer, and untreated liver metastases are associated with a poor prognosis. The main reason for trying to detect liver metastases early is that liver resection offers a chance for cure in selected patients. The sensitivity of alkaline phosphatases (ALP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), computed tomography (CT), CT with arterial contrast
Fluidised bed thermal gasification of biomass is an effective route that results in 100 % conversion of the fuel. In contrast to chemical, enzymatic or anaerobic methods of biomass treatment, the thermal conversion leaves no contaminated residue after the process. The product gas evolved within thermal conversion can be used in several applications such as: fuel for gas turbines, combustion engine
The patient with unilateral trans-tribal amputation for vascular disease. Functional assessments, prognostic factors and cost of prostheses. The aims of the study were to focus on the functional ability of the dysvascular patient with unilateral trans-tibial amputation and the early rehabilitation period, defined here as the period between the amputation and the prosthetic fitting. Results revea
Neuroblastoma is a tumor of the sympathetic nervous system, and arises during early childhood. The tumor is highly heterogeneous and evidence, such as expression of genes normally only expressed during embryonic and fetal stages, suggests that the tumor is of embryonic origin and that the tumor arises as a consequence of perturbed differentiation during the development of the sympathetic nervous s
A fundamental function of long-term memory is the ability to retrieve a specific memory when encountering a retrieval cue. The purpose of this dissertation was to further our understanding of such cued recall by investigating the temporal dynamics from the presentation of the retrieval cue until the target memory is recalled. Retrieval cues are often related with several memories. When such a retr
Previous studies have presented divergent estimates of the cost of illness of COPD due to differences in methodology. The objective of this study was to examine differences between register-based estimates versus population-based estimates on the burden of COPD. This study therefore examined differences in costs of COPD among physician-diagnosed and un-diagnosed subjects. During a one-year period,
Background: Acquired loss of the largest von Willebrand factor multimers is a common hemostatic disturbance in patients with aortic valve stenosis (AS), resulting in impaired platelet adhesion and increased bleeding risk. AS is also associated with atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction (MI). Our aim was to study the clinical outcomes associated with AS in MI patients treated with dual antiplat
BACKGROUND: Exposure to airborne particles in occupational environments can lead to both acute and long-term health effects in humans. To date, particle exposure limits in the air are typically given in terms of mass concentrations. But by only using mass concentration to characterize particles means there is a risk that other relevant characteristics, such as particle size and composition are con
