This dissertation is a collection of four essays, where the unifying theme is how different exchange rate regimes have affected developing countries’ economic performance in different respects. In particular, we analyse the consequences on developing countries’ exports, but also, to some extent, the effects on their economic growth. Chapter 1 serves as an introductory chapter and provides a backgr

Localized multipole moments up to the fifth moment as well as localized dipole polarizabilities are calculated with the MpProp and the newly developed LoProp methods for a total of 20 molecules, predominantly derived from amino acids. A comparison of electrostatic potentials calculated from the multipole expansion obtained by the two methods with ab initio results shows that both methods reproduce

Previous historical critical research has studied the pre-history of the traditions found in Paul's letters. This study investigates the rhetorical function of these confessions, acclamations and liturgical formulae in Paul's argumentation. The starting point for the investigation is the assumption that the Corinthians have received and believed the traditions, transmitted by Paul, when they were

Immune defences are undoubtedly of great benefit to the host, reducing the impact of infectious organisms. However, mounting immune responses also entails costs, which may be measured by inducing immune responses against artificial infections. We injected common eider (Somateria mollissima) females with three different non-pathogenic antigens, sheep red blood cells (SRBC), diphtheria toxoid and te

Stationary and mobile field gamma spectrometry is a useful tool for rapid estimation of environmental radioactivity inventories on and in the ground. A weak point however, is that the depth distribution of the activity in the ground must be known in order to calculate the true activity per unit area or unit mass from an observed photon fluence rate. A promising method for converting incoming spect

The issue of environmental implications of logistics systems is one of the future challenges to logisticians. The purpose of this paper is to explore the logistics and supply chain management discipline to see how the scientific community handles this challenge. Observations in the primary literature revealed that there are weak ties between the logistics/SCM discipline and the environmental disci

Polysulfones carrying benzoyl(difluoromethylenephosphonic acid) side chains were prepared and investigated for use as proton-conducting fuel-cell membranes. In the first step, polysulfones were lithiated and reacted with methyl iodobenzoates to prepare p- and o-iodobenzoyl polysulfones. Next, the phosphonated polysulfones were prepared via CuBr-mediated cross-coupling reactions between the iodinat

This paper presents results from the analysis of the calibration results from the 1997 single burning item (SBI) test round-robin. The influence of the method of determining delay times and response times for the parameters involved in the heat release rate (HRR) calculation, on the overall result of the HRR and the FIre Growth RAte (FIGRA) index is shown. A procedure to determine response times a

The filtering, prediction and smoothing problems as well as the linear quadratic control problems can very generally be formulated as operator equations using basic linear algebra. The equations are of Fredholm type II and difficult to solve directly. It is shown how the operator can be factorized into two Volterra operators using a matrix Riccati equation. Recursive solution of these triangular o

In this thesis, we study load balancing and overload control in two distributed architectures: Distributed Object Computing (DOC) systems and Services-oriented Architecture (SOA) systems. While DOC and SOA have differences in terms of implementation, they are similar from a performance viewpoint. In both DOC and SOA, users access software applications distributed on multiple processing nodes. The

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have been proposed as a source of dopamine (DA) neurons for transplantation in Parkinson's disease (PD). We have investigated the effect of in vitro predifferentiation on in vivo survival and differentiation of hESCs implanted into the 6-OHDA (6-hydroxydopamine)-lesion rat model of PD. The hESCs were cocultured with PA6 cells for 16, 20, or 23 days, leading to th

Techniques of isothermal microcalorimetry have been much improved during the past two decades. In addition to their use in fundamental research, applications of practical importance have been established in some areas. However, no significant use of isothermal microcalorimetry has yet been seen in practical applications of biology, despite many methodological studies reported from that area. The m

Hur kan det komma sig att Staden Phoenix i Arizona har bland de lägsta va-avgifterna i hela USA? När vi i förra numret av Svensk Vatten gav en kort beskrivning av hur stadens vattenförsörjning utvecklats avslutande vi med denna fråga. Liksom i Sverige är verksamhetens historiska utveckling, platsen och dess fysiska förutsättningar viktiga delförklaringar till de låga kostnaderna. Det handlar emell

An experiment of laser-triggered electric discharges has been conducted in a uniform background electric field. By focusing the beam of a pulsed Nd-YAG laser (wavelength 532 nm, pulse duration 5 ns) in a narrow (15 mm) plane-parallel air gap exposed to a dc voltage, streamer discharges and disruptive discharges were triggered.. The laser energy and the background electric field strength were varie

During spring and autumn 2001, we screened 13,260 migrating birds at Ottenby Bird Observatory, Sweden, and found 3.4% were infested with ticks. Four birds, each a different passerine species, carried tickborne encephalitis virus(TBEV)-infected ticks (Ixodes ricinus). Migrating birds may play a role in the geographic dispersal of TBEV-infected ticks.

AIM: The present study compares subjects recruited to a population-based prospective cohort study by community versus personal invitation, and subjects responding late versus early to personal invitation. Subjects were compared with respect to sociodemographic characteristics, selected lifestyle factors, cancer incidence and mortality. METHODS: The Malmö Diet and Cancer Study recruited a total of

Contemporary society is characterized by processes of fundamental change (keywords: multiple modernities, globalization, mobilization, individualization, transgression of cultures and identities). At the same time, the production of knowledge undergo swift transition and pluralization. By way of discussing sociology’s history as well as some of its non-scientific interfaces, this article deals wit