Filtyp
Both energy security and the demand for energy, particularly from renewable energy sources, as principle drivers, call for the investigation of renewable energy potential in Poland. The city of Zabrze, located in the Upper Silesia province and urban zone of Katowice, dedicates continuous efforts to the improvement of its waste management against the background of European Union Directives requirin
Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-b) is a well-characterised growth regulatory factor, which acts on most cell types. This thesis has focused on the regulatory roles of TGF-b on normal lymphocytes. One interesting finding is that TGF-b acts both costimulatory and inhibitory on T-lymphocytes. The costimulatory effect depends on the presence of monocytes and is mediated by these cells. Furthermor
Leachate constitutes the main potential long-term environmental risk of landfill emissions. The EU landfill directive 1999/3 I/EC requires minimum monitoring during the active landfill life and the after-care phase. Due to time and resource limitations, monitoring of leachate quality is a compromise between information density and applicability. Samples from passively collected leachate are suspec
Linomide is a potent immunomodulator that has been shown to inhibit autoimmunity in several animal models of autoimmune disease. We have approached the cellular and molecular mechanism of Linomide by investigating its effect on thymocyte development and its capacity to modulate the expression of activation markers on antigen presenting cells (APCs). We found that Linomide treatment of mice resulte
Most energy behaviour studies on households focus on the questions how and why we use energy and what can be done to lower energy consumption. Very few studies raise the question of when energy is used or examine the underlying explanations to load patterns. Due to economic and technical problems with electricity peak load, it is important to gain knowledge about how the load patterns of household
There is a persisting controversy concerning the definition, etiology and pathogenesis of Barrett's esophagus. The dramatic and parallel increase in the incidence of esophageal and junctional adenocarcinoma over the past decades justifies an evaluation of the pathophysiology of premalignant metaplastic changes of the esophagus and the gastroesophageal junction. Patients were evaluated with upper G
Long-term studies of birds play an important role in the understanding of quantitative traits in natural populations. The relative ease by which individual birds can be monitored and caught in the wild enable us collect detailed information from individuals throughout their life time, sometimes from several generations in a population. In this thesis I describe the utilization of a great reed warb
Microvascular surgery enables free tissue flaps to cover tissue defects, e.g. after trauma and malignancies. Although major improvements in techniques have been made, problems with poor tissue circulation and thrombus formation still exist. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the effects of hemodilution on tissue blood flow and thrombus formation in an animal model. In isovolemic hemodilutio
The thesis investigated clinical, neuroimaging and prognostic features in lacunar infarction. The studies were based on a series of 100 consequtive patients with a first-ever stroke and a lacunar syndrome investigated with CT, Gd-DTPA enhanced MRI, and with respect to large vessel disease and cardioembolic sources. the patients were followed for a mean of 4 years. MRI was repeated one year after s
The autoimmune disease Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is associated with hereditary deficieny of early components from the classical pathway of complement activation, but not with deficiency of complement component C3 or of the alternative pathway components. The classical pathway is involved in elimination of pathological immune complexes from the circulation by transport via complement receptor ty
In order to meet the unprecedented challenge of feeding an increasing population while curbing associated environmental impacts a fundamental change in the current food system is required. Such a shift needs an active facilitator who could set and implement the sustainability agenda in the food supply chain. Recently, it has been argued that retailers might become a vital agent of change towards s
The best mode of delivery for fetuses with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and umbilical artery (UA) blood flow changes is not well elucidated. Uterine artery, fetal UA, middle cerebral artery (MCA), and venous blood flow changes during uterine contractions during an oxytocin challenge test (OCT) have not been observed systemically. AIMS: To evaluate outcome in IUGR with UA blood flow chang
Load demand in residential houses is a significant contributor to peak load problems experienced by utilities. The knowledge about demand variation in households is fairly limited as well as the use of various tools to analyze the demand. Many utilities have recently installed interval (hourly) metering at their residential customers. The availability of hourly data is a significant progress, howe
Critical infrastructures provide society with services that are essential for its functioning and extensive disruptions of these give rise to large societal consequences. Vulnerability analysis gives important decision information concerning improving their ability to withstand strains. To analyze vulnerabilities in infrastructures models for estimating consequences due to failures are needed. Con
The mid-Holocene Littorina Sea transgression has been studied in sediment cores from four coastal lakes in NW Russia. The basins are situated in the same drainage system at elevations from 6.9 to 9.2 m a.s.l. Complementary parameters have been applied to identify water-level changes. Chronological models are based on AMS radiocarbon dating of bulk sediments but also wood remains and moss sedge pea
Systematic background radiation variations can lead to both false positives and failures to detect an orphan source when searching using car-borne mobile gamma-ray spectrometry. The stochastic variation at each point is well described by Poisson statistics, but when moving in a background radiation gradient the mean count rate will continually change, leading to inaccurate background estimations.
Monodisperse short-chain amorphous or semicrystalline amylose-glycerol monostearate (GMS) complexes, or, as a reference, pure GMS, were added to starch dispersions which were gelatinized and allowed to cool. The largest impacts on rheological properties were observed when GMS or amorphous GMS complexes were added. The controlled release of the short amylose chains of the latter induced double heli
