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This thesis deals with methods for extracting robust and relevant information from high-dimensional data sets, and statistically guided visualization methods for representing the data in an informative and easily accessible way. High-dimensional data sets are becoming increasingly prevalent in many different scientific disciplines. In this thesis, we focus particularly on so called "omics" data. T

The thesis deals with the further development of pure rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (RCARS) for improving the capabilities of gas phase thermometry. The main effort has been to make the technique more robust when employed under a wide range of temperatures and operational conditions. A primary aim has been to investigate the impact of collisional broadening on N2 RCARS thermom

The studies in this doctoral thesis report aspects of cognitive and socio emotional development in a group of teenagers and young adults with dyslexia. The 75 subjects, between 14 and 25 years of age, had been diagnosed in the latter half of the 1990s, and the collection of quantitative and qualitative data was performed in 2003-04. Study I investigated the stability of intelligence. Earlier rese

Sphingomyelin (SM) is a major component of mammalian cell membranes. Due to its widespread occurrence it is a dietary component, occurring mainly in milk, eggs, meat and fish. In the cell membrane SM was earlier considered to be only a structural element, which interacts with cholesterol and forms a system for bilayer stabilization. In the last decade there has been an increasing interest in sphin

Atherosclerosis is one of the major causes of death in the world. It is an inflammatory disease in the arteries which causes a gradual increase in arterial wall thickness and stiffness. Eventually a plaque could be formed, protruding into the artery and partially occluding the blood flow. Rupture of such a plaque could cause cardiac infarction or stroke. This dissertation revolves around finding b

The metabolic syndrome (type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, dyslipidaemia, and hyperinsulinaemia), is increasing in prevalence world-wide. The progression of this syndrome proceeds through a step-wise deterioration of metabolic events where deterioration of insulin sensitivity appears to have a key role in a ?vicious circle? of hyperinsulinaemia/hypergly

In this thesis four new algorithms are presented for automatic segmentation in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR); automatic segmentation of the left ventricle, myocardial infarction, and myocardium at risk in two different image types. All four algorithms were implemented in freely available software for image analysis and were validated against reference delineations with a low bias and hig

This thesis describes studies of the structure and tissue distribution of alpha-1-microglobulin (a1-m), a member of the lipocalin protein superfamily with immunosuppressive properies. It was shown that a1-m appears in human plasma in five major forms. These were identified as monomeric a1-m and covalent complexes between a1-m and IgA, prothrombin, albumin and a1-m. In addition to blood, both monom

The role of dietary fibre (DF) in disease prevention has been extensively investigated and prospective studies observed that increased DF intake decreased the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), reduced the risk of weight gain as well as the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Also a diet characterized by low glycaemic index (GI) has been shown to reduce the risk of T2D and CVD. More recently, eviden

Parkinson’s disease is characterized by progressive degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopamine system, which results in tremor, rigidity, akinesia and postural abnormalities. New therapeutic strategies are aimed at halting the neurodegenerative process or restoring the system by transplantation of fetal dopamine neurons. We have investigated the potential of the neurotrophic factors glial cell lin

The two most common autoimmune endocrine diseases in children are autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) and Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Autoantibodies (ab) can be found several years before clinical diagnosis in both diseases. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of thyroid ab in children with IDDM and in children with allergic diseases; to study islet ab and t

Moths use chemical signals emanating from food to find sites for oviposition and subsequent larval feeding. By identifying these odours, novel approaches to pest management can be developed, such as monitoring of females in pest populations. The pyralid moths studied in this thesis, the almond moth (Ephestia cautella), the Mediterranean flour moth (E. kuehniella) and the Indian meal moth (Plodia i

The reaction dynamics of several polyatomic systems have been investigated in solution by femtosecond spectroscopy. Tetranitromethane-naphtalene complexes excited in the charge-transfer band at 400 nm undergo dissociative electron transfer, resulting in three primary products: [naphthalene].+, NO2 and C(NO2)3-. It was shown that this triad is formed within 200 fs. The subsequent competing reaction

Multiplex protein quantification, proteomics, is essential for uncovering new biomarkers and understanding biology. Liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is the predominant technique for these measurements. In this thesis, optimization and quality control strategies for different phases of the LC-MS pipeline have been developed. Due to the inherent complexity and dynamic rang

The thesis presents the results from a research project targeting architectural design and house-building in a setting of industrialized design process and product platforms. During the early stages of a traditional design process, architects manage a degree of problem complexity, besides technical aspects, also includes user function, material, environment, aesthetics etc. As a result of the des

The present thesis focuses on the vascular effects of antimicrobial peptides especially mechanisms involving the vasodilator nitric oxide (NO), which is released from the blood vessel wall during inflammatory conditions such as sepsis. Bacterial lipopolysaccharide stimulates the expression of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), which increases the NO production in vascular tissues or cultured vascular s

This thesis investigates students' dialogue and collaboration when working in small groups in a netbased course. The aim is to describe and shed light on student's dialogue and collaboration in a computer-mediated communication working with a problem oriented task. Thus, the interest lies in student's engagement in the learning situation rather than on the learning outcomes. The research was carr

The overall aim of this thesis was to gain further knowledge of the assessments, predictors of future sick leave and intervention with regard to early prevention of neck, shoulder and back disorders in nursing aides/assistant nurses working in the home-care service. In Paper I, 15 clinical tests on impairment level related to the low back, were examined for intra- and inter-rater reliability on 1