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T cells constitute a heterogenous population of lymphocytes. Their unifying property is that they express surface bound antigen-receptors, called T cell receptors (TCRs). The TCR is a heterodimer composed of either TCRalpha and beta chain proteins (alphabeta TCR) or gamma and delta chain proteins (gammadelta TCR). Depending on which TCR isotype that is expressed, the T cells are divided into alpha
Analysis of high-frequency QRS components (HF-QRS) is one of the emerging methods for increasing the diagnostic performance of the electrocardiogram (ECG). The overall objective of the thesis is to investigate whether analysis of HF-QRS has the ability to provide information about ischemic heart disease and so serve as an adjunctive diagnostic tool in several clinical situations. Investigation of
Chromoendoscopy, endoscopic tissue staining, is an adjunctive method using chemical agents applied to the mucosal surface in order to aid gastrointestinal endoscopic diagnosis and therapy. Acid producing mucosa in the GI tract may be visualized endoscopically by Congo red staining in combination with stimulation of gastric acid production. Congo red is a reactive indicator dye that changes color f
Interest in sustainable development has increased throughout society during the past decades, and the chemical industry is no exception. The appeal for renewable raw materials has consequently increased and has paved the way for the implementation of industrial biotechnology. Since enzymes are used to convert biomass in nature, they may also be a good choice in the chemical industry. However, to i
It is well-known that dietary fibre can have a positive effect on the development of lifestyle-dependent diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. However, the effect may be different for different kinds of fibre and different sub-populations at risk. Therefore, the effects of three different kinds of fibre on postprandial and long-term response in healthy subjects were investig
Urinary tract infection (UTI) is among the most common bacterial infections in humans and the majority are caused by Escherichia coli (E. coli). Abundant evidence indicates that nitric oxide (NO) produced by the inducible NO synthase (iNOS) plays an important role in host defense against infection. This thesis examines iNOS expression in experimental UTI models. The rat and pig bladder urothelium
In the first part of the PhD work, small chemical entities (fragments) found to inhibit human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), were chemically optimized. As part of an ample program at Active Biotech to find new drugs against autoimmune diseases, expanded fragments were repeatedly designed, synthesized and evaluated in a human DHODH assay. Potent inhibitors were identified within three classe
Large areas of grazed, species rich semi-natural grassland were lost in Europe during the last two centuries and as a consequence led to decreases in grassland specialist species. Therefore, today the “restoration” of grassland on previously arable fields is recommended for the protection of grassland specialists. Even “substitute habitats” for lost grasslands are discussed as temporary alternativ
This thesis dealswith the field of high-energy particle physics. It ismainly concernedwith two issues: the “renormalization of effective field theories” and the “detection of hidden sectors”. The first two papers are dedicated to the renormalization issue while the second two deal with the hidden sectors. Renormalization is crucial when one calculates physical observables to a high degree of preci
The aim of the this thesis was surface modification of a biomedical polyurethane (PUR), Pellethane 2363-80AE*, to improve the biocompatibility. Surfaces modified by poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) were prepared either by grafting PEO covalently at the PUR surface by a two-step reaction, or by using amphiphilic polymers containing PEO as the hydrophilic part. The amphiphilic polymers consisted of one co
This thesis considers numerical simulations of high energy particle collisions, and improvements in the description of multiple collimated jets of hadrons in collision events in particular. In the event simulation software called event generators, the structure of multi-jet events is determined through an interplay of the input calculation, parton showers and phenomenological hadronisation models.
The goal of the study was to get a better understanding of factors controlling the growth, differen-tia-tion, integration, organization and survival of retinal transplants, with the long-term view of eventually developing retinal transplantation into a clinically useful procedure for treating degenerative retinal disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa. Embryonic day 15 rabbit retinas were transpl
Inflammation is a localized protective response in vascularized tissues and can be induced by microbial infection or cell and tissue injury. Polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) are the most common white blood cells and are recognized as major cellular mediators of acute inflammation. PMN are highly mobile cells that possess regulated mechanisms for controlling the expression and activation of adhe
The properties of hydrophobically modified cellulose derivatives in aqueous mixtures with various other molecules have been investigated. Mixtures of a hydrophobically modified polymer and alkali-sensitive, degradable surfactants gave rise to time-dependent viscosities. With time, the viscosity decreased continuously or went through a maximum, depending on the initial surfactant concentration. Th
71 consecutive posterolateral lumbar fusions without decompression or internal fixation were evaluated with a mean follow-up time of 3.5 (2-7) years. The diagnoses were spondylolysis-olisthesis in 43 cases, degenerative disc disease and/or facet joint arthrosis in 16 cases and pain post laminectomy/ decompression in 12 cases. 54/70 patients had a solid fusion. In the group with spondylolysis-olist
Telomeres are the end-structures of linear chromosome which are crucial for maintaining genome integrity. The telomeres prevent the DNA-repair machinery from recognizing the chromosome ends as double-strand breaks and from end-to-end fusions. The telomeres are composed by short repetitive units of TG-rich DNA and associated specialized telomere-binding proteins. Due to that replication only can
Vasodilator responses to endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) and anandamide in isolated arteries were investigated. A combination of the potassium channel blockers charybdotoxin and apamin inhibits EDHF-mediated relaxations. Experiments in which charybdotoxin or apamin was substituted with other potassium channel inhibitors indicated that small- and intermediate-conductance calcium-a
Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) refers to heart rate variations due to respiration, which results from parasympathetic nervous system activity mediated via the tenth cranial nerve, the vagus. Thus, the magnitude of RSA is considered as an index of cardiac vagal tone. This thesis explored RSA during emotional responding in healthy women and men. In the first two studies fear-relevant pictorial s
The purpose of this study was to investigate how total body protein and its fraction of body weight (body protein fraction) change in cancer patients during different anti-tumor treatments, and to see if these changes have any clinical significance in the form of prognostic value or correlation with disease course and tumor response. In 84 patients, 28 with lung cancer, 24 with gastrointestinal t
