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Neuroblastoma is a pediatric tumor derived from cells in the sympathetic nervous system. In an attempt to explain the heterogeneous clinical behavior of neuroblastoma tumors, neuroblastomas have been characterized with regard to their degree of sympathetic differentiation. Their expression of genes and proteins that regulate normal sympathetic development and cell cycle/cell death regulators was a
The studies in this doctoral thesis investigated how home literacy, self regulation, academic self-concept, and goal orientation influence reading ability. Study 1 investigated the effect of family-based prerequisites, reading attitude, and self-regulated learning on reading ability. Students (n= 4,018) in the eighth grade answered the IEA reading literacy test and the SRLQ. Structural Equation Mo
The ABO blood group system is undoubtedly the most important genetic and phenotypic marker in clinical transfusion medicine. The A and B determinants are immunodominant, terminally located carbohydrate residues of glycoconjugates on erythrocytes and other cell surfaces. The enzymes responsible for assembly of these structures are glycosyltransferases encoded by the ABO genes on chromosome nine. T
C4b-binding protein (C4BP) is an acute-phase plasma glycoprotein which regulates the complement system through its affinity for C4b. In addition, C4BP binds to the anticoagulant protein S and to serum amyloid P component (SAP). Protein S is a vitamin K-dependent protein which looses its anticoagulant properties when binding to C4BP. C4BP is composed of two types of subunits, the a-chain and the b-
Leukemic cells suffer from an impaired ability to differentiate due to inherited or acquired genetic lesions. These genetic changes can sometimes be bypassed with various compounds both in vitro, and, more rarely, in vivo, thus inducing terminal differentiation of the leukemic cells. Differentiation of both leukemic and normal hematopoietic cells is believed to be intimately coupled to cell cycle
The general objective of the research underlying this dissertation was to conduct clinical and basic scientific studies to further elucidate the hemophilia and the coagulation process, with the goal of improving the care of families with these disorders. More specific aims were to evaluate epidemiological, genetic, clinical, and biochemical aspects of the development of inhibitors (antibodies) aga
The neutrophil granulocyte contains a number of multifunctional proteins stored in different subsets of granules. The azurophil granules, synthesized early during differentiation, harbour leukocyte elastase, cathepsin G, proteinase 3, and azurocidin; the members of the serprocidin family. In order to study the biosynthesis, processing, and intracellular sorting of the proteins, human cDNA encoding
The air traffic control industry in Europe is under mounting pressure due to increasing air traffic and inefficient routines caused by a fragmented air space. In order to handle the demands the European Commission has launched a program entitled the Single European Sky initiative which seeks to promote a more efficient way of handling the air traffic over Europe. A reorganization of air traffic ma
This thesis explores in-group bias control. It is well-known that people tend to have extra liking for people they identify themselves with. An extra positive in-group attitude may cause discrimination, even in the absence of any negative attitudes towards the out-group. At the same time are many people motivated to behave and present themselves as unbiased. We study whether people attempt to cont
A new approach to the study of aqueous mixtures of oppositely charged polymers and surfactants has been introduced. Pure polyion-surfactant ion complex salts have been synthesized and used as the point of departure. The elimination of the simple ions reduces the number of components in the mixtures, thus greatly simplifying the system. By mixing the complex salt with either the polyelectrolyte or
Effective insulin-stimulated storage of excess glucose after a meal, and its rapid mobilisation in the fasting state provide basis of glucose homeostasis. Glycogen is the macromolecular storage form of glucose and glycogen synthase (GS) is the rate-limiting enzyme in glycogen synthesis. Skeletal muscle and liver are the major depots of glycogen. The present studies were undertaken to isolate and c
Abstract The number of cancer and autoimmune disease diagnoses increases in our society, which place high demands on the health care system. Being able to tailor treatments for each individual patient is called "Personalized medicine", and could revolutionize the care in the future. This type of medicine requires biomarkers that could be used for diagnosis, prognosis and choice of therapy. In our
Transplantation of embryonic human neural tissue can restore function in patients with Parkinson’s disease, but there is a severe shortage of donor tissue which limits the applicability of the technique. Embryonic neural tissue from other species, xenogeneic tissue, would provide a readily accessible donor tissue with the potential to help patients if the immunological reactions in the host could
This dissertation contains seven studies exploring novel instrumentation for ion and electron spectroscopy, including their applicability at storage ring light sources. The studies focus on instrumentation to study decay, dynamics and dissociation of photoexcited molecules, and the possibility to host such instruments at MAX~IV. Commissioning of an instrument for negative-ion/positive-ion coincid
Malignant hyperthermia (MH) susceptibility is a rare inherited muscular disorder, which may cause a lethal increase in metabolism during anaesthesia with certain commonly used anaesthetic. Susceptible individuals are without any signs or symptoms. It is important to identify individuals at risk, since the MH reaction is preventable. Susceptibility to MH is diagnosed with an in vitro contracture te
Optimal foraging and prey preference in top predators may affect population and community dynamics and structure. Also, optimal foraging and prey preference may shift with prevailing conditions, and therefore create changes in the effect of predation. In this thesis, I examine the effects of intraspecific interactions among northern pike on pike predatory behaviour, prey preference, and subsequent
