Plasma cystatin C is increasingly used as a marker of glomerular filtration rate. Most assays for cystatin C are based on turbidimetric or nephelometric detection and studies of other rapid methods are limited. This study aimed to develop and compare differently configured immunoassays for quantification of plasma cystatin C, using recombinant cystatin C and two cystatin C-specific antibodies. Met

The main objectives of the work presented in this thesis were to develop new experimental methods to improve the understanding of the release mechanism from a coated formulation and to develop new mechanistic models to describe the release process for pellets coated with a semi-permeable film. Another aim was to characterize the release mechanism from a formulation coated with films made of a blen

Aims: To analyze the nonspecific chronic orofacial pain patient's experience of the pain condition and to gain knowledge on the complexity of the problem. Methods: Fourteen patients (1 I female, 3 male) aged 21 to 77 years were selected among those referred to a specialist clinic. All selected patients agreed to participate. Data were obtained through thematic in-depth interviews that exposed the

For single molecule spectroscopy (SMS), molecules under study are usually immobilized in a polymer matrix e. g. poly(methyl methacrylate). We show a very significant improvement of the conjugated polymer MEH-PPV photo-stability and decrease of the luminescence impurities concentration when the matrix is purified. We identify benzoyl peroxide (a common radical initiator) as a possible oxidizing age

Background: Clinical subtypes of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may represent different underlying aetiologies. Methods: This European, multicentre, memory clinic based study (DESCRIPA) of non-demented subjects investigated whether MCI subtypes have different brain correlates on MRI and whether the relation between subtypes and brain pathology is modified by age. Using visual rating scales, media

Compared to truly negative cultures, false-positive blood cultures not only increase laboratory work but also prolong lengths of patient stay and use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, both of which are likely to increase antibiotic resistance and patient morbidity. The increased patient suffering and surplus costs caused by blood culture contamination motivate substantial measures to decrease the rat

We propose a hidden Markov model for longitudinal count data where sources of unobserved heterogeneity arise, making data overdispersed. The observed process, conditionally on the hidden states, is assumed to follow an inhomogeneous Poisson kernel, where the unobserved heterogeneity is modeled in a generalized linear model (GLM) framework by adding individual-specific random effects in the link fu

In recent years, the mutational status of the KRAS oncogene has become incorporated into standard medical care as a predictive marker for therapeutic decisions related to patients with metastasized colorectal cancer. This is necessary, because these patients benefit from epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted therapy with increased progression-free survival only if the tumor does not car

The nasal mucosa is richly innervated with sensory nerves having the ability to detect changes in the environment and mediate symptoms such as secretion and itch. Some TRP ion channels such as TRPV1 and TRPA1 are abundantly expressed in sensory nerves and respond to a wide variety of stimuli, including irritants, inflammatory mediators and temperatures. Another interesting TRP ion channel is TRPV4

In this paper, we propose a directed and weighted graph model for describing P2P networks using BitTorrent protocol. Then, we analysis the topological properties of the model based on complex networks theory. We find that the node strength follows a power-law distribution and that there exists a positive correlation between flow betweenness and out-strength. We also include some other findings abo

Bacterial meningitis in childhood is associated with cognitive deficiencies, sensorimotor impairments and motor dysfunction later in life. However, the long-term effects on postural control is largely unknown, e.g., whether meningitis subjects as adults fully can utilize visual information and adaptation to enhance stability. Thirty-six subjects (20 women, mean age 19.3 years) treated in childhood

Background: Immigrants from the Middle-East are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D). The aim of the present survey was to measure, in a single deprived neighbourhood, the prevalence rates of impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and T2D in residents originating from Iraq and to compare them to those in residents born in Sweden. An additional aim was to ident

The ability to reliably estimate CO2 fluxes from current in situ atmospheric CO2 measurements and future satellite CO2 measurements is dependent on transport model performance at synoptic and shorter timescales. The TransCom continuous experiment was designed to evaluate the performance of forward transport model simulations at hourly, daily, and synoptic timescales, and we focus on the latter two

Inclusive multi-jet production is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.4 pb(-1). Results on multi-jet cross sections are presented and compared to both leading-order plus parton-shower Monte Carlo predictions and to next-to-leading-order QCD calculations.

The work in this thesis is aimed at the development of temperature and gas concentration measurement techniques in laser diagnostics for use in combustion research. The techniques are developed as tools for the combustion community to meet future demands on combustion efficiency and legislation of exhaust gases. Thermometry based on the use of laser-induced phosphorescence has been further develop

Background. To study group B streptococcus (GBS) colonisation in parturients and infants in relation to obstetric outcome and to define serotypes and antibiotic resistance in GBS isolates acquired. Methods. A population-based, national cohort of parturients and their infants was investigated. During 1 calendar week in 2005 all women giving birth (n=1,754) were requested to participate in the study

It is rigorously shown that the generalized Laplace distributions and the normal inverse Gaussian distributions are the only subclasses of the generalized hyperbolic distributions that are closed under convolution. The result is obtained by showing that the corresponding two classes of variance mixing distributionsgamma and inverse Gaussianare the only convolution-invariant classes of the generali