Granular media (i.e., assemblies of grains, containing voids), such as sand, are highly complex materials, possessing inherently heterogeneous structure and properties that are manifested by the mobility and interaction of their constituent particles. Despite having been widely studied for centuries (i.e., the study of granular media in modern science essentially begins with the work of Charles-Au

Trots dess introduktion under början av 1950-talet används vaskulär impedans ännu inte i klinisk omfattning för att förutsäga tidiga stadier av hjärt-kärlsjukdomar. Definierad som förhållandet mellan blodtryck och blodflöde beskriver vaskulär impedans motståndet mot blodflödet i det vaskulära systemet.Under detta avhandlingsprojekt uppskattades den lokala pulsvåghastigheten (PWV) och vaskulära impDespite its introduction in the early 1950´s, vascular impedance has yet to be applied in clinical use to predict early stages of cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is defined as the ratio between blood pressure and flow and describes the opposition to blood flow within the cardiovascular system.During this thesis project, local pulse wave velocity (PWV) and vascular impedance was estimated from in

The European Pediatric Pulmonary Vascular Disease Network is a registered, non-profit organization that strives to define and develop effective, innovative diagnostic methods and treatment options in all forms of pediatric pulmonary hypertensive vascular disease, including pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, PH associated with congenital heart disease (CHD), per

Ischemic stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide, and its burden is predicted to further increase due to the aging population. The only available treatments, thrombolysis or thrombectomy, can only be applied within a limited time window after stroke onset, and thus are applicable only to a small proportion of stroke patients. Therefore, there is an increasing nee

In five separate families, we identified nine individuals affected by a previously unidentified syndrome characterized by growth retardation, spine malformation, facial dysmorphisms, and developmental delays. Using homozygosity mapping, array CGH, and exome sequencing, we uncovered bi-allelic loss-of-function CDK10 mutations segregating with this disease. CDK10 is a protein kinase that partners wi

The meiotic functions of Emi2, an inhibitor of the APC/C complex, have been best characterized in oocytes where it mediates metaphase II arrest as a component of the cytostatic factor. We generated knockout mice to determine the in vivo functions of Emi2—in particular, its functions in the testis, where Emi2 is expressed at high levels. Male and female Emi2 knockout mice are viable but sterile, in

Sox2 is known to be important for neuron formation, but the precise mechanism through which it activates a neurogenic program and how this differs from its well-established function in self-renewal of stem cells remain elusive. In this study, we identified a highly conserved cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) phosphorylation site on serine 39 (S39) in Sox2. In neural stem cells (NSCs), phosphorylation

The maintenance of cell size homeostasis has been studied for years in different cellular systems. With the focus on ‘what regulates cell size’, the question ‘why cell size needs to be maintained’ has been largely overlooked. Recent evidence indicates that animal cells exhibit nonlinear cell size dependent growth rates and mitochondrial metabolism, which are maximal in intermediate sized cells wit

In mammals, primordial germ cells (PGCs) are the embryonic cell population that serve as germ cell precursors in both females and males. During mouse embryonic development, the majority of PGCs are arrested at the G2 phase when they migrate into the hindgut at 7.75-8.75 dpc (days post coitum). It is after 9.5 dpc that the PGCs undergo proliferation with a doubling time of 12.6 h. The molecular mec

The failure of pancreatic isletβ-cells is a major contributor to the etiology of type 2 diabetes.β-Cell dysfunction and declining β-cell mass are two mechanisms that contribute to this failure, although it is unclear whether they are molecularly linked. Here, we show that the cell cycle regulator, cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), couples primary β-cell dysfunction to the progressive deterioration

SummaryBackground Regulation of cell size requires coordination of growth and proliferation. Conditional loss of cyclin-dependent kinase 1 in mice permits hepatocyte growth without cell division, allowing us to study cell size in vivo using transcriptomics and metabolomics. Results Larger cells displayed increased expression of cytoskeletal genes but unexpectedly repressed expression of many genes

Telomere attachment to the nuclear envelope (NE) is a prerequisite for chromosomemovement duringmeiotic prophase I that is required for pairing of homologous chromosomes, synapsis, and homologous recombination. Here we show that Speedy A, a noncanonical activator of cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks), is specifically localized to telomeres in prophase I male and female germ cells in mice, and plays a

Several studies have shown that consumers with a high organic consumption often have dietary habits that include more fruit and vegetables but less red meat. This paper takes a novel approach by investigating whether changes in consumption of organics and improvements in dietary habits also are related. The results show that many consumers seem to improve their diet while increasing the organic co

Thermoresponsive structures in the 5'-untranslated region of mRNA are known to control translation of heat shock and virulence genes. Expression of many rhizobial heat shock genes is regulated by a conserved sequence element called ROSE for repression of heat shock gene expression. This cis-acting, untranslated mRNA is thought to prevent ribosome access at low temperature through an extended secon

To ensure a continuous high standard of police units, it is critical to recruit people who perform well in stressful situations. Today, this selection process includes performing a large series of tests, which still may not objectively reveal a person’s capacity to handle a life-threatening situation when subjected to high levels of stress. To obtain more systematic and objective data, 12 police o