In clinical situations with raised intracranial pressure (ICP) and impending insufficient cerebral blood flow (ischaemia), bedside information about energy metabolism in the brain would be helpful. Microdialysis is a technique that makes it possible to monitor the interstitial concentrations of various compounds in an organ. Intracerebral microdialysis with bedside analysis of metabolites related

Calcium homeostasis involves mainly the interaction of PTH, vitamin D and CT. The stomach may be important for calcium homeostasis. Gastric acid is thought to mobilize calcium from the diet, thereby facilitating the absorption of calcium in the small intestines. In the rat, gastrectomy rapidly reduces the calcium content, the density and the trabecular volume of the bone. The gastrectomy-evoked bo

GBV-C/HGV is a blood-borne virus related to the hepatitis C virus. We studied GBV-C/HGV infection in different populations, its transmission, and its association with liver disease. GBV-C/HGV viraemia was detected by PCR in 19/576 blood donors. Donors with normal and elevated ALT levels had similar rates of viraemia (1.6% vs. 4.1%; p = 0.20). Signs of resolved GBV-C/HGV infection (anti-E2 antibodi

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

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

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

The North Atlantic region has experienced significant climate fluctuations during the Holocene. It has been shown that these fluctuations affected the terrestrial environment in Iceland, including its glaciers and ice caps. However, the full Holocene development of Icelandic glaciers, including the large Vatnajökull ice cap and its outlet glaciers, is not fully known. In this thesis, a sediment se

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease where improperly cleared apoptotic cells and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) induce an autoimmune response. Complement is crucial to prevent SLE by tailoring immune responses and opsonizing dead cells but may also induce inflammation and tissue damage once the disease is initiated. Complement C1q binds to apoptotic cells and ensures

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that directly transform chemical energy into electricity. They are promising for future energy systems, since they are energy efficient, able to use renewable fuels and, when hydrogen is used as fuel, there are no direct emissions of greenhouse gases. Various improvements are made during the recent years, however the technology is still in the early phases of

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains a controversial entity. Specific clusters of MetS components - rather than MetS per se - are associated with accelerated arterial ageing and with cardiovascular (CV) events. To investigate whether the distribution of clusters of MetS components differed cross-culturally, we studied 34,821 subjects from 12 cohorts from 10 European countries and one coho

Background: Physical activity on prescription (PAP) is a successful intervention for increasing physical activity among patients with a sedentary lifestyle. The method seems to be sparsely used by general practitioners (GPs) and there is limited information about GPs' attitudes to counselling using PAP as a tool. The aim of the study was to explore and understand the meaning of prescribing physica

Abstract: In this thesis the questions “do enteric neurons adapt to survive in conditions of obesity/type 2-diabetes (T2D) related metabolic imbalances? Or do they die?” are asked. Obese and T2D patients have high rates of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. The GI tract comprises the body’s largest surface to the outside environment; it performs diverse and complex roles in an ever changing external

Denna studie behandlar fuktförhållandena i regnexponerade träkonstruktioner, d.v.s. träkonstruktioner som når höga fuktkvoter. Särskilt fokus var på mikroklimatet (klimatet på träets yta) och materialklimatet (träets fuktkvot) i anslutningar. Metoder för att mäta mikroklimatet, d.v.s. våttider på en träyta och varaktighet av vatten i spalter, utvecklades liksom en metod för att mäta fuktkvot nära This thesis concerns the moisture conditions in rain exposed wood structures, i.e. wood exposed to high moisture levels. The focus was on the microclimate (the climate at the wood surface) and the material climate (the wood moisture content) in joints. Methods for determination of microclimate, i.e. the duration of moisture on a wooden surface and the duration of water trapped in gaps between two

Acrylate contact allergy has been frequently reported since the 1970s, with hundreds of articles published in dermatology journals so far. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the frequency of contact allergy to acrylates / methacrylates in patients with exposure to industrial, dental and nail uses of these substances. We also aimed to investigate the clinical and chemical aspects of pa