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The aims of this dissertation were to investigate the effects of extracellular purines on insulin secretion, and apoptosis in mouse pancreatic islets and β-cells; to examine if high glucose and free fatty acids induces β-cell apoptosis via autocrine effects of ADP acting on the P2Y13 receptor; and to investigate the modulation of extracellular purines in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) throug

Abstract: Background : Anorecta l malformation s (ARM) occur in 4: 10000 newborn children with the gender distribut ion 1:1.5 females:males. The reconstruction of ARM, posterior sagiccal anorectal plasty (PSARP), was implemenred worldwide in the late 1980s and therefore the follow-ups are limited. Aims: To assess bowel symptoms in children and adolescents with ARM, operated on with PSARP, and to

Partly due to an ageing population, the number of osteoporosis-related fractures and osteoarthritis (OA)-related hip and knee arthroplasty procedures is increasing. The individual suffering and the burden on society for these conditions is immense. Genetic contribution for the variance in bone mineral density (BMD) is estimated at around 60–80%, and for OA 50%, leaving a considerable proportion to

Gastrointestinal tract damage is an insidious feature in patients undergoing radiotherapy. Microvascular inflammation, including leukocyte and platelet recruitment as well as epithelial barrier dysfunction, are considered to constitute key components in the pathophysiology of radiation-induced enteropathy. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the basic mechanisms behind leukocyte-platelet-end

von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most common hereditary bleeding disorder. It is caused by quantitative and/or qualitative defects of the von Willebrand factor (VWF). The severity of the disease can vary considerably, as can the hereditary patterns. The variable phenotypes of VWD have given rise to a classification scheme that divides the disease into three types according to how it is manifest

Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in childhood and adolescence with an increasing incidence worldwide. It is an autoimmune disease with many autoimmune markers, where the zinc transporter 8 autoantibody (ZnT8A) is the most recent autoantibody discovered. The most important genetic susceptibility towards type 1 diabetes is found within the HLA-region on chromosome 6. We sho

AbstractBacteria in most environments encase themselves in a hydrated matrix of polysaccharide and protein, forming organized communities called biofilms. In the biofilm bacteria are protected against hostile environments. Biofilms are important clinically because of their persistence despite host defence and their recalcitrance to antimicrobials. This thesis presents three main findings: (i) biof

Abstract in Uncoded languages Praegune kaitsejalatsite testimise standard (EN 344) kontrollib soojapidavuslikke omadusi vaid jalatsi ühes punktis, mõõtes temperatuuri muutust. Meetod, mis kasutab termilist jala mudelit, võimaldab mõõta jalatsi soojaisolatsiooni üheaegselt erinevates piirkondades ning ühtlasi ka jalatsi kui terviku soojaisolatsiooni. Selle uurimuse käigus arendati termilise jala mePresent standard on safety footwear (EN 344) checks the insulation only at one point in the shoes by means of measuring the temperature change. A method that uses thermal foot model allows to measure footwear insulation simultaneously at various locations and for whole footwear as well. In the present work the method of heated foot model was developed further. It is possible to simulate sweating a

HAMLET (human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells), a molecular complex derived from human milk, is an interesting new tool in cancer research since it induces programmed cell death in tumor cells while leaving normal, differentiated cells unharmed. The in vivo effects of HAMLET were studied in a rat xenograft model of human glioblastoma. HAMLET reduced the tumor volume and delayed the o

Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy can be utilised for gas detection in biological and medical applications. The common approach is to analyse transmitted light according to the Beer-Lambertian law. Normally, the light has a well-defined path length through the gas sample since it can be assumed that it has negligible scattering properties. Samples which, by contrast, have strong scatteri

The aim of the current thesis was to investigate glial responses to electroconvulsive seizures (ECS), an animal model of the fast-acting antidepressant treatment electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Depression, a common and devastating disorder, has in recent years been associated with volumetric changes in prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala, brain regions known to be implicated in emotional

Neuroblastoma is a childhood tumour derived from cells of the sympathetic nervous system, which are arrested at low differentiation stages. Low differentiation stage and high tumour stage correlate to poor outcome. In earlier studies we have found that hypoxia induces dedifferentiation of neuroblastoma cells, which implies that hypoxia evokes a more aggressive phenotype. Here we employ microarray

Infrared (IR) dryers are widely used in the paper industry, mainly in the production of coated paper grades. The thesis deals with various aspects of heat transfer and energy use in infrared heaters and dryers as employed in the paper industry. Both gas-fired and electric IR dryers are considered and compared. The thesis also provides an introduction to infrared heaters and infrared drying, includ

Spectroscopic analysis of scattering media is difficult because the effective path length of the light is non-trivial to predict when photons are scattered many times. The main area of research for such conditions is biological tissues, which scatter light because of variations of the refractive index on the cellular level. In order to analyze tissues to diagnose diseases, or predict doses during,

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a heterogeneous disorder that is defined as carbohydrate intolerance with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. Impaired beta-cell function and insulin resistance are the hallmarks of GDM. The overall aim of this thesis was to study the genetic and immunological risk factors that increase susceptibility to GDM. First, we investigated whether autoimmuni

Pancreatic cancer includes multiple histologic subtypes that show large differences in their clinical and biological characteristics. Despite this diversity, more than 85% of the neoplasms in the organ are malignant ductal adenocarcinomas, which are the focus of the present thesis. At the genetic level this tumor type is characterized by highly rearranged karyotypes, resulting in a large number of

The word sustainability is more and more frequently used within the field of chemistry and in many other fields. Green or sustainable chemistry was introduced during the 90 ́s as a field of chemistry where the environmental and health impacts of processes and products are evaluated and improved. Within analytical chemistry the awareness of sustainability has also increased, which has resulted in o

This thesis explores models and algorithms in geostatistics and gene mapping. The first part deals with the use of computationally effective lattice models for inference of data with a continuous spatial index. The fundamental idea is to approximate a Gaussian field with a Gaussian Markov random field (GMRF) on a lattice, and then to conduct a bilinear interpolation of this at non-lattice location