This work analyses several aspects of multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) for astronomy. The research ranges from fundamental and technical studies for present-day MCAO projects, to feasibility studies of high-order MCAO instruments for the extremely large telescopes (ELTs) of the future. The first part is an introductory exposition on atmospheric turbulence, adaptive optics (AO) and MCAO, esta

Increasing [K+]o is intimately coupled to progressive ischemia and reduced CBF. In isolated cerebral and mesenteric arteries, it was found that significant differences in the vascular responses to [K+]o exist. Among the species studied, human cerebral arteries were the most sensitive artery to increasing [K+]o. Rabbit basilar arteries, denuded from the endothelium, showed increased sensitivity to

An energy system that relies on fossil fuel is not sustainable. Emissions, such as carbon dioxide, nitric oxide and corpuscles, affect the climate and pollute the air. Furthermore, the supply of oil, coal and natural gas is located a few places worldwide, which can give rise to geopolitical conflicts for access to these areas. This is not a local issue for Tjörn, nor even a national issue for Swed

Treating the correlated behaviour of multiple particles is challenging for both theory and experiment. This thesis reports on a variety of experimental investigations aiming to advance the understanding of fundamental processes in atoms and molecules: double ionization, isomerization and dissociation. The emphasis lies on ultra-fast processes, where multiple electrons interact or nuclei move so ra

Complexes formed between oppositely charged polyions and surfactant ions are known to have very rich phase behaviour in bulk solution. The work in this thesis investigates the possibilites of using such complexes as surface coatings. Stoichiometric polyion-surfactant ion complexes “complex salts” (CS) consisting of alkyltrimethylammonium surfactant ions and polyacrylates are typically insoluble i

Diabetic retinopathy is a common complication to diabetes mellitus and is still a major cause of impaired vision in the Western world. The aim of the present study was to identify medical risk factors influencing the development and progression of retinopathy in type 1 diabetic patients, and to investigate the effects of laser treatment on visual acuity and glare. Although the development of sigh

The aim of the present thesis was to enhance our understanding of social support for physical activity among adolescents. Earlier findings show inconsistent results with regard to the importance of social support. The present thesis includes three empirical studies examining adolescents (16-18 years) during their years in high-school. Study I was a cross-sectional quantitative study that concluded

The diagnosis of S. aureus infections is most often based on culture of the organism from various body sites. However, cultures could be false negative due to e.g. previous antibiotic therapy, and in some situations cultures are difficult to obtain. Antibody assays against various S. aureus antigens have been proposed as a way to diagnose S. aureus bacteremia, as well as to distinguish between unc

This dissertation investigates the possibilities and limitations of time-dependent many-body perturbation theory by studying small Hubbard clusters for which the exact solution is available. The first part of the thesis is comprised of a short introduction to the concepts and methodologies used. The second part consists of an review of the main findings of the thesis and a short summary of four

Ischemic brain damage is a common cause of death and disability. A global ischemic insult is usually the result of a transient cardiac arrest while occlusion of cerebral blood vessels leads to focal ischemic lesions, commonly termed stroke. During the last decades our knowledge about the metabolic and cellular events leading to cell death following ischemia has expanded mainly due to experimental

In vertebrates the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) plays a central role in the specific immune defence against various pathogens. Compared with other coding genes the MHC genes exhibit an extremely high level of polymorphism that is maintained by balancing selection. The importance in the immune defence and the polymorphism make these genes interesting to study from an ecological and evolut

Ex-smokers are exposed to a higher breast cancer risk than are never smokers. This conclusion is based on a follow-up of the 10 902 women in the Malmö Preventive Project. The 31% higher incidence in ex-smokers remained statistically significant when other risk factors were taken into account in the analysis. In both smokers and ex-smokers there was an increased incidence of oestrogen receptor nega

In the present thesis, genetic abnormalities in pancreatic cancer were studied, with special emphasis on alterations of components involved in the transforming growth factor beta (TGFB) signaling pathway. In the first study, fluorescence in situ hybridization and cytogenetic analyses revealed aberrations of chromosome 18 in all 13 pancreatic carcinoma cell lines studied, in particular frequent bre

Aims of the study The aims of this study using Gadodiamide injection were to investigate: · Whether Gadodiamide injection was comparable to Gd-DTPA for the enhancement of CNS lesions. · The contrast effect at different field strengths. · The effective time-window for the enhancement of blood-brain barrier damage. · The relations between the concentration of contrast agent and enhancement in p

It is not too far fetched to claim that celebrity is a phenomenon that is difficult to define. It is hard to maintain rigid hierarchies between the components that make up celebrity. One of them can be described as glamour. In the paper I examine ways to understand glamour as an intrinsic part of the symbolic construction of celebrity. It has been used as a inherent quality in the person (Gould, 2

The purpose of the present thesis was to investigate Basic Body Awareness Therapy (Basic BAT) in psychiatric outpatient care and the BAS-H, an assessment method for analysing movements and movement behaviour. Important factors in the interaction, therapeutic relationship and working alliance between patient and physiotherapist (PT) were also explored. The results revealed the construct validity of

Life-threatening conditions from bacterial infections are a major clinical problem. During a severe infection, the host responds by a massive release of pro-inflammatory mediators together with a systemic activation of systems such as the coagulation, fibrinolytic, and complement systems. These events could result in the development of complications such as disseminated intravascular coagulation a

Molecular imprinting is a technique by which polymeric materials selective for a given target molecule can be created through a casting procedure. Functionalised monomers are added to a solution of molecular templates. Monomer-template complexes are formed and subsequently fixed through polymerisation, and following removal of the template species from the resultant molecularly imprinted polymer,