Proteoglycans (PG) are highly anionic macromolecules consisting of a core protein covalently substituted with long unbranched polysaccharide chains called glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). PGs are central components in multicellular organisms, and they may occur in the extracellular matrix (ECM), at the cell surface, or in the secretory pathway. At the tumor cell surface, PGs and GAGs are involved in the

Little is known of respiratory symptoms in female hairdressers, and of the impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL), nor of knowledge of their own views on preventive work. The aim of this thesis was to examine the occurrence of asthma, symptoms and mechanism of bleaching-associated nasal symptoms, the effects on HRQoL and how young hairdressers reason about the work environment. A m

The modern world is increasingly dependent of the use of chemicals. The chemical industries have greatly contributed to the high standard of living in industrialised societies, and chemical compounds surround us in everyday life. Unfortunately, a vast number of chemicals cause adverse effects on the environment and human health. One such concern is chemical hypersensitivity, which is a state cause

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer affecting women in the western countries. Today x-ray digital mammography (DM) of the breast is commonly used for early detection of breast cancer. However, the sensitivity of mammography is limited, mainly due to the fact that a 3D volume is projected down to a 2D image. This problem can be partially solved by a tomographic technique. Breast tomosyn

Laser-driven particle acceleration makes use of sub-picosecond, pulsed, high-power laser systems, capable of producing intensities ~10^{19} W/cm^2 at the laser focus to form plasmas, and use ultra-relativistic and nonlinear dynamics to produce quasistatic acceleration fields. This allows electrons to be accelerated to ~100 MeV over sub-centimetre distances, while protons may be accelerated to the

Non-motor symptoms and signs such as metabolic and psychiatric disturbances have been reported to occur early in Huntington’s disease (HD), a fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the huntingtin gene. However, there is a lack of understanding of the underlying neurobiological mechanisms responsible for the early non-motor features. The hypothalamus has emerged as an

Cell behavior such as migration and proliferation, especially during cancer development, are balanced by the surrounding environment. Complex polysaccharides called glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are part of this environment and they are known to modulate tumor development. One of these GAGs, dermatan/chondroitin sulfate (CS/DS), is attached to proteins either bound to the cell surface or secreted in t

The traffic in wireless networks has been showing an exponential growth over the last decade. In order to meet the demand, and support a continuation of this growth, the scarce radio resources need to be efficiently used. The use of multiple antenna (MIMO) systems and iterative (turbo) receivers has significantly improved the realizable system performance. Still, many challenges exist in the devel

Abstract Introduction: Validity is important at different levels in psychiatry. Valid structured instruments are important aids in screening and diagnostics, in both research and clinical practice. An aim of the diagnostic procedure is to yield valid diagnoses. Ultimately, the validity of structured instruments (non-empirical) and clinical diagnoses depends on the validity of the diagnostic class

Human adenoviruses (Ads) are broadly used in cancer gene therapy, vaccine development and gene delivery. The modified Ad5 or Ad2 viruses have been successfully used as oncolytic agents in pre-clinical studies. However they could not be translated into clinic utility due to a number of limitations including inefficient Ad spread among tumor cells. The cancer cell killing capacity of oncolytic Ad is

This thesis treats various aspects of the measurement of trace components in aqueous solutions with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. This technique has several applications from such diverse fields as dairy industry and biomedical optics. The use of infrared spectroscopy for trace component quantification is made difficult by the large absorption of water which dominates the spectrum. The

Cardiac pumping physiology is important for understanding the pathophysiology of patients with cardiac disease. MRI gives the opportunity to measure volumes and flow non-invasively with high accuracy and precision. This thesis examines some aspects on cardiac pumping physiology. Study I showed that the total heart volume in humans decreases during systole by ~8 % (range 5-11 %), and anatomically i

The first part of this thesis deals with approximations of stochastic integrals and discrete time hedging of derivative contracts; two closely related subjects. Paper A considers the problem of approximating the value of a Wiener process. The discretization points are placed at times when the absolute difference between the value of the process and the approximation reaches a threshold level. It i

Identification of the intracellular signal transduction pathways activated in retinal ischaemia may be important in revealing novel pharmacological targets. The retinal blood vessels are key organs in circulatory failure, and in this work the retinal vasculature was therefore examined separately from the neuroretina. The porcine eye has a typical primate-like architecture and is similar to the hum

Här behandlas Sveriges förbindelser med andra politisk-territoriella enheter, frånmedeltidens dynastiska unioner över de tidigmoderna konglomeratstaterna till1800-talets union av två nationalstater. Med hjälp av befintlig forskning fokuserasstatens växlande sammansättning och vikten av att skilja mellan riket och staten.Ett sådant perspektiv visar nya aspekter och ställer frågor som ett traditione

In the hippocampus, dendritic spines are compartmentalized postsynaptic micro-domains in the excitatory synapse. Subsets of bigger and mushroom-shaped hippocampal dendritic spines contain tubules and cisterns of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) that are connected to the soma and dendrites of the neuron. These ER containing spines differ in their ability to retain ER. We hypothesized a functional couplin

Cellular reprogramming is when one cell is changed into another. This involves structural modifications on the DNA of a cell resulting in a transcriptional change. This occurs naturally during development when early pluripotent cells gradually differentiate into more specialized cells that finally result in a complete organism. This is a finely orchestrated event that includes both extrinsic and i

Throughout its history Earth experienced a variety of natural climate changes. By investigating their spatial and temporal evolution we can increase the understanding of the mechanisms and dynamics underlying natural climate change and improve our general comprehension of the climate system. Prerequisites of these investigations are reliable reconstructions of past forcing variations as well as so