Blood cell formation, or hematopoiesis, is maintained by rare hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) residing in the bone marrow (BM). HSCs may self-renew (the process whereby HSCs replicate to produce new HSCs) to preserve their own numbers, as well as initiate a highly coordinated hierarchical differentiation process that results in the production of mature effector blood cells. Aging is characterized

Interstitial laser thermotherapy (ILT) is a method well suited for selective local destruction of malignant tumours. In the present work, a laser thermotherapy system based on feedback temperature control of energy delivery (through computerised feedback system) was developed. Temperature control was excellent in experiments without carbonization and with preserved light penetration, whereas tempe

The overall aim of this thesis was to evaluate the effects of strength training on muscle function, gait performance and perceived participation in subjects with chronic mild to moderate post-stroke hemiparesis. A main impairment after stroke is reduced muscle strength. This post-stroke weakness is a major contributor to mobility limitations, which can prevent the resumption of activities of dail

This thesis presents results of studies on the ice flow pattern and ice movement mechanism during the Weichselian glaciations in the middle Notec River area, NW Poland. A new lithostratigraphy of the study area has been established, based on correlation of stratigraphical position, clast lithology, fabrics and grain size composition of till units. The lithostratigraphy covers two glacial advances

The general aim of this thesis was to molecularly characterize urothelial carcinoma (UC) at the transcriptional level using gene expression microarrays to improve the classification and pathogenetic understanding of this disease. In the first two studies (Articles I and II), gene expression profiling was used to study dysregulated transcriptional networks in a large cohort of UCs. We also investig

The chemokine receptors CCR5 and CXCR4 are required, together with CD4, for the entry of HIV-1 into target cells. CCR5 using HIV-1 dominates during transmission and the asymptomatic phase of infection. During progression, virus phenotypes with the ability to use CXCR4 emerge in about 50% of infected individuals. Individuals continuously harbouring CCR5-restricted isolates still progress to AIDS. D

Abstract Adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) has strong and direct lipid-lowering effects in man. All apoB-containing lipoproteins, i.e. VLDL, LDL, Lp(a), are reduced by 25-30%. In contrast, levels of HDL increase about 10%. In hepatic cell cultures, ACTH inhibits expression and secretion of apoB. In this thesis we corroborate that the reduced apoB synthesis, seen in hepatic cell systems, is als

Introduction: The mechanism of post ischemic reactive hyperemia is still unknown but now thought to be multifactorial and perhaps involving purinergic signalling. Purines such as ATP and ADP have recently been discovered to play a vital role in the regulation of vascular tone. We postulated that ADP could play a vital role in the mechanism of coronary post ischemic reactive hyperemia and that incr

The operational core of firefighting operations was examined. The effects of various firefighting procedures on the fire ground, their impact upon conditions on the fire ground in which decisions by commanding officers are made and the effects of allocating resources in time and space on the fire ground were explored. In addition, various approaches for modelling firefighting operations were discu

The gastrointestinal tract harbours a huge load of bacteria which exerts important biological functions to maintain health. In certain conditions the relation between commensal bacteria and pathogens may be set off balance, with an increase in number of pathogens and risk of bacterial translocation (BT). Disease and trauma may also render the intestinal barrier dysfunctional, inducing BT and incre

The overall purpose of this thesis was to explore the impact of exercise and functional performance on development and treatment of knee osteoarthritis in the middle aged. In this thesis, I have studied a population based cohort of middle-aged subjects (35-54 years, 42 % women) with chronic knee pain at baseline, to evaluate the longitudinal effect of muscle weakness on knee osteoarthritis develo

The North Taymyr ice-marginal zone (NTZ) on the Taymyr Peninsula, Arctic Siberia and the Ugleelv Valley on Jameson Land, East Greenland, have been investigated with the aim of reconstructing the glacial history, including depositional processes and environments. Geomorphological, sedimentological, stratigraphical and remote sensing methods have been combined to give a comprehensive view of develop

Between ca 1.53 and 1.40 Ga, the southwestern margin of the East European Craton was subjected to extensive magmatism and deformation. While various suites of anorthositic, mangeritic and charnockitic-granitic rocks were emplaced between ca. 1.53 and 1.50 Ga, a major event of A-type granitic magmatism took place around 1.45 Ga. During that event, numerous voluminous plutons were intruded in a wide

This thesis examines the microvascular inflammatory response in the skin. The microvascular response includes vasodilatation and plasma exudation. In the first three studies, the combined response was measured in guinea pig skin with a technique based on detection of radiolabelled protein. Transferrin was labelled in vivo by injection of 113mIn and the conversion electrons detected over the skin u

The present thesis aimed to examine how ischemic stroke affects the vascular endothelin and angiotensin systems in cerebral arteries. To study vascular receptor changes in ischemic stroke transient focal ischemia was induced in rats. In addition, rat cerebral arteries and arterial smooth muscle cells were cultured for further analysis of cerebrovascular receptor regulation. For functional studies

The influence of different reaction parameters on enzyme selectivity was investigated. The reaction conditions studied were solvent dependence, water activity and reaction temperature. The improved selectivity was observed as higher synthetic yields in a-chymotrypsin and subtilisin catalyzed peptide synthesis respectively, and as higher enantioselectivity in the asymmetric reduction of ketones cat

The general aim of this study has been to study the psychological, social and ethical aspects for carriers of haemophilia and their spouses, related to the development of techniques for carrier testing and for prenatal diagnosis (PD) of haemophilia. This was investigated by a semi-structured follow-up interview with 29 carriers of haemophilia with experience of PD by fetal blood sampling (FBS), an

This thesis investigated the concept of balance in daily occupations. The overarching aim was to explore women’s patterns of everyday occupations and to investigate relationships between different aspects of patterns of daily occupations and health and well-being. The participants were working, cohabitant women with pre-school children. The methods used focused on exploring patterns of daily occup

Semiconducting nanowires have attracted scientific attention for more than 20 years due to their potential applications in electronic devices, as sensors, and in solid state lighting. These applications require high quality nanowires to begin with. Achieving such good control over the growth of nanowires is not trivial and requires profound understanding of the underlying processes. In this thesis