Context. On the order of 20% of the very metal-poor stars in the Galaxy exhibit large carbon enhancements. It is important to establish which astrophysical sites and processes are responsible for the elemental abundance patterns of this early Galactic population. Aims. We seek to understand the nature of the progenitors of three main-sequence turnoff Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) stars, CS 310

The reaction of [Co2{μ-C2(CO2Me)2}(CO)6] with the ligand diphenyl-2-thienylphosphine, PPh2(C4H3S), yields the complexes [Co2{μ-C2(CO2Me)2}(CO)5{PPh2(C4H3S)}] (1) and [Co2{μ-C2(CO2Me)2}(CO)4{PPh2(C4H3S)}2] (2). The related complex [Co3(μ3CMe)(CO)9] reacts with the same ligand to give [Co3(μ3-CMe)(CO)8{PPh2(C4H3S)}] (3) and [Co3(μ3-CMe)(CO)7{PPh2(C4H3S))2] (4). Thermolysis of 1 at 80°C leads to part

All-trans retinoic acid deficiency resulting from ethanol's interference with the synthesis of all-trans retinoic acid from retinol was recently suggested to cause the malformations of the fetal alcohol syndrome. Phenytoin, carbamazepine and valproate, might be teratogenic because they lower the concentration of all-trans retinoic acid in serum, by inducing the enzyme systems in the liver responsi

This thesis is divided into two separate parts. The first part is about Dynamic Programming for non-trivial optimal control problems. The second part introduces some useful tools for analysis of stability and performance of systems with time-varying delays. The two papers presented in the first part attacks optimal control problems with finite but rapidly increasing search space. In the first pap

Histologic grade, including tubular formations, nuclear grade, and mitotic activity, is a well-documented prognostic factor in breast cancer. In comparison with other prognostic parameters, the evaluation of histologic grade is cheap and can be performed, in principle, in all cases of breast cancer. One possible disadvantage is that the evaluation may vary between different pathological department

Exposed limestone cliffs in the Swiss Jura Mountains harbour a diverse lichen community with some rare species. Sport climbing has recently increased in popularity on these cliffs. We examined the effect of sport climbing on calcicolous lichens by assessing species diversity and cover of lichens in climbed and unclimbed areas of 10 isolated cliffs in the northern Swiss Jura Mountains. We also inve

Background. The objectives of this report are to evaluate changes in the preterm birth rate in Sweden 1973-2001. Furthermore, describe the proportion of spontaneous and indicated preterm births and assess risk factors for the subgroups of preterm birth during the period from 1991 to 2001. Methods. A population-based register study of all births occurring in Sweden from 1973 to 2001 registered in t

Background: Although patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are advised to stop interferon (IFN) beta-1a therapy before becoming pregnant, some patients become pregnant while on treatment. Methods: We examined individual patient data from eight clinical trials with IFN beta-1a. Results: Of 3,361 women in the studies, 69 pregnancies were reported, of which 41 were patients receiving (or who had stop

The work presented in this thesis focuses on developing methods of measuring moisture properties at high moisture levels. Paper I deal with a new method of measuring moisture diffusivity at high moisture levels. Papers II to IV present methods of measuring moisture storage capacity as well as results from such measurements. Paper V evaluates the use of thermal imaging to measure transient moisture

We propose a new kind of two-parameter (p, q)-deformed Heisenberg and parabose algebra, which reduces to the Heisenberg algebra for the p = 1 case and to parabose algebra for q = -1 case. Corresponding to the two-parameter deformed oscillator, we also introduce a new kind of (p, q)-deformed derivative which relates to the ordinary derivative and q-deformed derivative in an explicit manner. We stud

In this pilot study a new device for respiratory stimulation with undulating oscillations and high frequency vibrations via an air mattress was tested as an additional therapy in 12 preterm infants with recurrent apnoeic episodes. The mean birthweight of the study population was 1760 g and gestational age 31.1 weeks. it was shown that an oscillating air mattress is an effective additional mode of

Two patients with a costoclavicular joint were discovered by chance during a survey of cervical spines. These seem to be the first to be described in the radiological literature. No other case was found in a further review of 500 consecutive spine radiographs. The costoclavicular joint is a variant of the ligamentous connection between the medial part of the clavicle and the first rib.