This paper gives an overview of the cadmium (Cd) situation in agricultural systems and human exposure in Sweden. Cadmium levels in agricultural soils (the plow layer) increase by 0.03% to 0.05% per year. Feed can give substantial contributions of Cd to local agricultural systems. Effects on human kidney function are indicated by some measurements already at today's exposure levels. If food product

When water is coadsorbed with oxygen at coverages above 0.25ML an intact water species is observed in high resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy up to 220 K, which is significantly more stable than intact water on the clean surface. The presence of this species causes a shift in the O 1s binding energy of the pre-adsorbed oxygen, which indicates the formation of hydrogen bonds between the tw

Using laser-Doppler flowmetry during ventriculocisternal perfusion with inulin-[14C]carboxylic acid, choroid plexus blood flow (CPBF) and CSF production were measured simultaneously in rats during periods of 3 h. Blood flow and CSF production decreased only slightly during control experiments. The effect of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) was studied at different concentrations of the pept

A well-known effect of increasing age is the gradual reduction of muscle function, and thus of performance in the activity of daily living. Recent research has shown that, even among the very elderly, exercise can improve not only strength and endurance, but also balance and mobility, thus reducing the risk of falls. The possibility of counteracting some of the age-related muscle changes has also

To assess the age-related loss of muscle mass and to determine the mechanisms behind this aging atrophy, the muscle structure and fiber type composition have been estimated, using invasive and noninvasive techniques. Limb muscles from older men and women are 25-35% smaller and have significantly more fat and connective tissue than limb muscles from younger individuals. Comparisons of muscle biopsi

The effects on wood of simultaneous mechanical and moisture loading are studied. In order to clarify the mechano-sorptive behaviour of wood, a review of different phenomena presented in the literature is included. Compressive tests have been performed on spruce. The tests have been performed with both constant load and varying load. The humidity has been varied during the tests. The properties of

High-voltage outdoor insulators made from silicone rubber are sometimes reported to be colonised by microorganisms. When the hydrophobic polymeric surface is covered by a hydrophilic biofilm, the electrical properties of the insulator are altered. In this work, mixed biofilms, similar to those formed on the surfaces of polymeric insulators in the field, were successfully grown on five types of sil

We used the tropical oceanic planktonic diatom species Nitzschia marina, Rhizosolenia bergonii and Azpeitia africana/Azpeitia neocrenulata, most commonly found in the surface sediments of the northeastern most South China Sea (SCS) where the Kuroshio Current enters the SCS through the Bashi Strait north of Luzon, to analyse the influence of the the Kuroshio Current on the SCS. The impact of the Ku

Background: Carboxypeptidase B from the pancreatic gland may exist in three different molecular and immunoreactive forms: the proenzyme, the active enzyme, and the activation peptide. Aims: To investigate levels of procarboxypeptidase B (proCAPB) and its activation peptide in serum in acute pancreatitis to test the accuracy of these two variables as markers for the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis

Changes in tolerance levels of soil bacterial communities pre-exposed to different metal concentrations and then reestablished in an unpolluted soil were examined during a one year incubation period using the thymidine incorporation technique. The study was performed with a sterilized agricultural soil, which was reinoculated with bacteria extracted from soils previously contaminated with high dos

Force generation and tissue glucose metabolism were measured in the urinary bladder smooth muscle from rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes (7-8 wk duration). Bladder wet wt was almost 4-fold higher in the diabetic animals compared with the untreated controls. Morphological analysis showed that the growth was associated with hypertrophy of the smooth muscle component in the bladder wall. Forc

Popular Abstract in Swedish Inom fysiken studeras bl a olika jämviktssystem. Med ett system i jämviktsläge menas att det krävs en yttre kraft för att ändra på tillståndet i systemet. För att beskriva det mera matematiskt kan vi (ofta) relatera systemet ifråga till en s k operator. För operatorer definieras ett annorlunda positivitetsbegrepp än för vanliga tal och man kan stoppa in olika objekt somThe paper deals with various positivity and continuity questions arising in the Weyl calculus of pseudo-differential operators. Let W be a symplectic vector space. In the first part of the paper we discuss positivity and continuity properties in spaces sp(W) of distributions, whose Weyl quantizations are in the Schatten-von Neumann class of the order p> 1. In particular we prove some Young related

Popular Abstract in Swedish Utgångspunkten för denna avhandling är de många bekymmer som präglar vår tid - däribland också bekymret om frivillighetens framtid i ett postmodernt samhälle. Det är en paradox, när det å ena sidan hävdas att det moderna samhället är i kris, att den sociala gemenskaperna har brutit samman och att människor inte längre ställer upp, engagerar sig och hjälper varandra. OchThe theme of this thesis is motives for voluntarism - with particular focus on volunteering in social work compared to voluntary work in sports clubs and patient associations. It is based on a combination of different data sources and methodological approaches: surveys, analyses of letters from volunteers and literature studies. Theoretically the thesis is based on two sets of sociological theorie

Control design is often done based on simplified models. After design it is necessary to verify that the real closed loop system behaves well. This is mostly done by experiments and simulations. Theoretical analysis is an important complement to this that can help to verify critical cases. Structural information about uncertainties, time-variations, nonlinearities, and signals can be described by

In the reactione + e – rarrW + W – rarr ( $$q_1 ar q_2 $$ ) ( $$Q_1 ar Q_2 $$ ) we expect that normally the colour singlet systems ( $$q_1 ar q_2 $$ ) and ( $$Q_1 ar Q_2 $$ ) hadronize independently into two hadron chains or strings. However also the pairs ( $$q_1 ar Q_2 $$ ) and ( $$Q_1 ar q_2 $$ ) form colour singlets with probability 1/N c 2 =1/9. This probability could be further enhanced by g