In this thesis, two potential endogenous mechanisms for neuronal survival and repair have been investigated in a rat model of stroke, middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO): signaling of the GDNF family of neurotrophic factors, and neurogenesis from endogenous progenitor cells. As determined by in situ hybridization for GDNF family ligand and receptor genes, MCAO caused widespread upregulation o

Hyaluronan has been found in the eye in varying amounts and at different sites. It is involved in physiological and pathological processes, though many aspects of its bio-logi-cal functions are still unclear. We have studied the role of iris tissue in hyal-uro-nan production in the anterior segment of the eye, and its changes after trauma. After peripheral iridectomy or argon laser treatment, the

Organic acid anhydrides (OAAs) are low molecular weight chemicals used in the industry for manufacturing of plastics such as epoxy resins. Exposure to these chemicals may lead to symptoms from the eyes and the respiratory tract in form of conjunctivitis, rhinitis and asthma. In many workers production of specific IgE antibodies are induced suggesting that a type-1 allergy mediated mechanism is inv

Thermal radiation is an important physical phenomenon in combustion environments. For the understanding of existing- and the design of new combustion environments computational modelling is a useful tool as it can describe the different transport phenomena. This thesis has focused on studying thermal radiative property models of the participating media, gases and particles. Two specific combustion

The diagnostic value of modern fast pulse sequences and breath-hold technique was evaluated in a prospective study of patients with suspected biliary diseases. The cost-effectiveness of MRI compared to ultrasound was calculated. Characteristics of acute cholecystitis and cholangitis were evaluated, the appearance of bile in MRCP with reference to its chemical and physical properties was studied, a

A thorough physical-chemical characterisation of alkylglycosides has been performed. The effects of temperature, salt, concentration and deuterium exchange on the self-aggregation of n-nonyl-b-D-glucoside (b-C9G1) and n-tetradecyl-b-D-maltoside (b-C14G2) have been studied in dilute solutions by static and dynamic light scattering, neutron scattering, rheology, capillary viscometry and tensiometry.

The aims of these studies were to evaluate retinoid measurements, more specifically the performance of all-trans and 13-cis retinoic acids methods in clinical experimental settings and to evaluate the informational value of these measurements in relation to S-Retinol. Biological and analytical variations for retinoids were evaluated for healthy subjects. The performance of the retinoic acid measur

Recent years have witnessed a growing interest of the scientific community for the use of ab initio and density functional theory methods in theoretical studies of molecules containing many atoms. However, the `scaling wall' of some of the most accurate of such methods is often an obstacle for their applicability to systems of real-life interest, e.g. in biochemistry and nanotechnologies, one bott

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are autoimmune diseases where an inappropriate immune response destroys cartilage. In RP, the ears, larynx, nose and joints are affected, while the most prominent sign of RA is arthritis. For ethical reasons many experiments can not be performed in man, and consequently animal models are needed. To investigate the complexity of the tissu

Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), resulting from disease (e.g. cystic fibrosis, chronic pancreatitis) or surgery (e.g. pancreectomy or pancreas duct ligation), leads to disorders in the digestive system, such as, maldigestion, malabsorption and finally malnutrition. Pancreatic duct-ligated (PDL) pigs have been used as a suitable large-animal model to study the conditions and treatment of EP

Connective tissues contain a prominent extracellular matrix that provides mechanical and physical properties. This extracellular matrix contains as a major constituent a network of collagen fibres. These are composed of collagen fibrils, which in turn are assembled from many collagen molecules aligned parallel to each other. Several proteins, e.g. collagens, leucine-rich repeat proteins and thromb

Acute otitis media (AOM) is the most common illness diagnosed during early childhood. One of the major etiologic agents is Haemophilus influenzae. Apart from AOM, this organism can cause a broad range of infectious diseases such as meningitis, epiglottitis, arthritis, and pneumonia. Despite the importance of H.influenzae, the mechanisms by which this heterogenous group of bacteria mediates the inf

The human pathogenic bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes (group A Streptococcus) expresses several different virulence factors. Of these, the M protein is regarded as one of the most important, because it confers resistance to phagocytosis, allowing the bacterium to multiply in blood. A remarkable property of M proteins is their ability to bind different human plasma proteins, in particular component

Fibrous connective tissue contains fibroblasts distributed in a complex network of extracellular matrix molecules, such as proteoglycans. The small proteoglycans biglycan and decorin are composed of a protein core substituted with two and one glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chain, respectively. Proteoglycan metabolism is regulated differently during several processes including inflammation and wound heali

The thesis concerns the development of a computerised test, termed the Stress Strategy Test (SST), intended for use in a personnel selection and placement context. A similar but less extended form of that test, termed the Stroop Strategy Test, developed first, was adjudged to be somewhat less effective as a selection instrument. Both of the tests, concerned with cognition, personality and ability

The pro-inflammatory effect of leukotrienes is an important element in the pathogenesis of multiple disorders, including asthma and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). A serious concern for IBD patients is the increased risk of developing colorectal cancer and since there seems to be a general connection between inflammation and cancer we hypothesised that LTD4 induced signalling events could be in

Knowledge of biomolecules three-dimensional structure has provided a detailed understanding of their function. In recent years the number of new protein sequences has far exceeded the number of protein experimental structure determinations. One goal of the new field of protein structural bioinformatics is to provide reliable and automated protein functional annotations and initial protein structur

This thesis concerns a numerical investigation on heat transfer in internal combustion engines, with the aim of increasing engine efficiency. The efficiency gains are to be extracted from reduced heat transfer losses, by increasing the knowledge on how the heat transfer process is affected by various hardware and operational parameters in the engine. The engines concerned are both conventional die

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the neck and upper limb are a major problem. Women in repetitive manual work is one large affected group. Preventive actions are hampered by the lack of knowledge regarding quantitative exposure-response relations for physical workload. The present work shows, that available electrogoniometers are, with a sampling frequency of 20 Hz, feasible for measurin

All natural populations fluctuate in space and time. These fluctuations are a result of internal dynamic processes, and of a variable environment. To understand how and why population fluctuate, one has to understand the nature of the internal demographic processes as well as how a variable environment affects these processes and how they act in concert to generate population fluctuations. This th