| 21. |
- Aalto, Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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The Nordic swan
- 2008
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 22. |
- Aaltonen, Emil
(författare)
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Prokaryotic Arsenic Resistance - Studies in Bacillus subtilis
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Arsenic is a toxic metalloid which is found all over the globe. Due to its toxicity and wide abundance, all living organisms have evolved intrinsic arsenic resistance systems. In this study, three proteins that provide arsenic resistance in the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis have been investigated. Acr3 is a trans-membrane protein that extrudes arsenite to the cell exterior. It belongs to the ACR family of arsenite transporters. Experimental data on the topology of Acr3, the first ever for a member of the ACR family, is provided and show that Acr3 has 10 trans-membrane helices. Both the N- and C-terminal ends of Acr3 are located to the cytoplasm and the protein has unusually short loops connecting its helices. ArsR is an arsenite sensitive transcription regulator that controls the expression of genes encoding arsenic resistance proteins. Experiments show that the operator site for ArsR from B. subtilis consists of a 6-6-6 inverted repeat and that DNA binding by ArsR involves formation of higher order multimers of the protein. The ArsK (former YqcK) protein has an unknown function. The present study shows that the arsK gene contributes to resistance towards both arsenite and arsenate. The results indicate that the function of ArsK is important in an aerobic environment and that it decreases the inhibitory effect that arsenite has on the sporulation efficiency of B. subtilis. A function of ArsK that involves an enzymatic addition of low molecular weight thiols to arsenic is proposed.
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| 23. |
- Aaltonen, H Laura
(författare)
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Measuring distal airspace dimensions with nanoparticles. Initial development of a diagnostic method.
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) consists of emphysema and bronchial disease. The pulmonary function tests currently used to diagnose COPD have poor sensitivity for early disease. This may delay diagnosis and lead to a poorer prognosis compared to establishing the diagnosis at an earlier stage.The aim of this thesis was to investigate a new nanoparticle-based method, termed Airspace Dimension Assessment (AiDA), to chart distal airspace morphology, and to examine the technique as a possible diagnostic biomarker foremphysema. In AiDA, inhaled nanoparticles’ deposition behavior is utilized to characterize distal airspace properties.Nanoparticles, as opposed to larger particles, are able to penetrate into the distal lung, where they deposit almost exclusively by diffusion. The particles’ likelihood to deposit is dependent on the diffusion distance. The thesis isbased on the hypothesis that in persons with enlarged, emphysematous airspaces, fewer particles will deposit, as opposed to healthy persons with narrower airspaces.In paper I, significant nanoparticle deposition differences between 19 COPD-patients with mainly moderate-to advanced emphysema and 19 healthy controls were found. The deposition correlated to disease severity as measured by computed tomography (CT) densitometry and diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (DL,CO). In paper II, nanoparticle deposition was used to calculate distal airspace radius in 19 healthy volunteers. The radius correlated to lung density as measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In paper III, the average radius in 403 individuals without previous pulmonary disease or respiratory symptoms was found to be 293 ± 36 μm. The radius and its variation in population was found to be approximately comparative to other methods. It was noted that the radius was on average 13 μm larger in male ever-smokers compared to never-smokers, which may reflect early smoking-related changes. In paper IV, we concluded that in a population sample of 618 individuals, the persons with computed tomography evidence of emphysema (N = 47) had significantly larger distal airspace radii compared to persons without emphysema. We also showed that comorbidities did not significantly affect the results.In conclusion, we suggest the AiDA radius is a promising biomarker candidate for emphysema. Further validating studies, including a diagnostic study in a population seeking health care attention with symptoms and historyindicative of COPD, are warranted.
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| 24. |
- Aaltonen, Kristina
(författare)
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Mating system evolution and self-incompatibility in the wild plant species Brassica cretica
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Compared to animals like ourselves, plants have a very flexible sexual life. Most plants are, for example, hermaphrodites with the potential capacity for reproduction by self-fertilization (or selfing). While selfing can provide several definite advantages for the individual plant, there is a downside; mainly the severe reduction in fitness due to inbreeding depression. To avoid the negative consequences of selfing, many hermaphrodite plant species have evolved an intricate self-recognition – or self-incompatibility (SI) – system that prevents fertilization by cognate pollen. SI is in the majority of cases genetically controlled by a narrowly delimited region of the genome, called the S locus. The S locus contains several tightly linked genes, two of which – SRK and SCR – determine the pistil (female) and pollen (male) SI recognition type. One of the best-characterized SI systems is found in the Brassicaceae family, which includes the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and a number of economically important crop species of the Brassica genus, e.g. rape seed, cabbage, and turnip. For evolutionary biologists, SI have long been a prominent and fascinating example of Darwinian natural selection acting in a frequency-dependent manner, i.e. the rarer a genetic variant becomes, the more favoured by natural selection it is. For the S locus, this means that a very large number of variants – or haplotypes – are expected to be maintained in a population and that the DNA sequences of different haplotypes will be very divergent. However, until recently there has been a shortage of empirical studies from natural plant populations to test these, and other, theoretical predictions of S locus evolutionary dynamics. In this thesis, I have produced the largest SRK and SCR DNA sequence data set from a wild Brassica species available to date. These data have allowed me to explore, in more detail than previously possible, the population genetic properties and the evolutionary history of the Brassica S locus. Moreover, accompanying studies of the pattern of inheritance of S locus variants and the occurrence of self-fertilization in natural B. cretica population have added novel information of great value to the understanding of how plants produce offspring in nature.
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| 25. |
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| 26. |
- Aardal Lönnerfors, Celine
(författare)
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Robot-assisted laparoscopy for benign uterine disease. Feasibility, outcome and hospital cost.
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The introduction of the laparoscope was a milestone within gynecologic surgery. Despite evidence of better perioperative outcome compared to laparotomy, laparoscopy is mostly performed for less advanced surgical procedures and the uptake of laparoscopic hysterectomy has been slow. An effort to preserve the clinical benefits of laparoscopic surgery and facilitate the performance of more advanced surgery has led to the development of robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery. Technical progress has been advantageous for the patient from a historical point of view, but this cannot be assumed without proper evaluation. As for all surgical approaches, it is important to recognize the possible applications of robotic surgery as well as proper patient selection both from a clinical and economical point of view. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the possible applications, clinical outcome and hospital cost of robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery for benign uterine disease at a single institution following the introduction of robotic surgery. Study I: Evaluating the first 1000 robotic surgeries performed showed that a surgical robot provides the possibility to offer minimally invasive surgery to a larger patient population with low rates of conversions and intraoperative complications. Study II: 31 women with symptomatic, deep intramural myomas and either otherwise unexplained infertility or myomas with a possible effect on conception had a pregnancy rate following robotic myomectomy of 68%. Study III: All women (n=114) with a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 who underwent a simple hysterectomy by robotics or laparotomy during the study period were included. Robot-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy in obese women was associated with shorter hospital stay, less bleeding, and fewer complications and longer operative time compared to laparotomy although the operative times for morbidly obese women were similar between robotics and laparotomy. Study IV: 122 women planned for minimally invasive hysterectomy for benign disease were randomly allocated to either robot-assisted- or traditional, minimally invasive hysterectomy in a 1:1 proportion with vaginal hysterectomy as a primary choice in the latter. From the perspective of hospital costs, robotic-assisted hysterectomy is not advantageous for treating non-complex benign conditions when a vaginal approach is feasible in a high proportion of patients. A similar hospital cost is attainable for laparoscopy and robotics when the robot is a preexisting investment. Study V: Complication rates in 949 women planned for robotic hysterectomy for malignant (75%) and benign (25%) gynecological disease over an 8-year period with special awareness of complications possibly related to robot specific risk factors. Intraoperative- and postoperative complications and complications possibly related to the robotic approach diminish with training, experience and refinement of practice. Study VI: All women (n=483) undergoing hysterectomy for benign disease during 2013 and 2014. Vaginal hysterectomy was associated with the lowest hospital cost and robotic hysterectomy with the lowest rate of perioperative complications. Procedure-specific proficiency influences outcome. Robotic hysterectomy for benign disease is clinically advantageous and economically feasible in complex cases, when performed by high volume surgeons.
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| 27. |
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| 28. |
- Aasa, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Collecting dialect data and making use of them an interim report from Swedia 2000
- 2000
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Ingår i: Proceedings FONETIK 2000. ; , s. 17-20
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper consists of two, somewhat disparate parts. In the first part, some experiences of two years of fieldwork are summarized, concentrating, as the subtitle suggests, on the very heart of phonetic fieldwork: the encounters and interviews with the informants. As a result of the fieldwork, the project now has access to recordings from approximately 1300 speakers of more than 100 dialects of Swedish. We are currently initiating research on various aspects of the sound patterns of these dialects. The second part of the paper is meant to give an overview of some of our research plans for the near future.
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| 29. |
- Aasa, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Vowel quantity in West Swedish - the villain of the piece?
- 2000
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Swedish Phonetics Conference FONETIK 2000.. ; , s. 17-20
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper consists of two, somewhat disparate parts. In the first part, some experiences of two years of fieldwork are summarized, concentrating, as the subtitle suggests, on the very heart of phonetic fieldwork: the encounters and interviews with the informants. As a result of the fieldwork, the project now has access to recordings from approximately 1300 speakers of more than 100 dialects of Swedish. We are currently initiating research on various aspects of the sound patterns of these dialects. The second part of the paper is meant to give an overview of some of our research plans for the near future.
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| 30. |
- Abada, A., et al.
(författare)
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Future Circular Collider : Vol. 1 Physics opportunities
- 2018
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Ingår i: Future Circular Collider. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We review the physics opportunities of the Future Circular Collider, covering its e+e-, pp, ep and heavy ion programmes. We describe the measurement capabilities of each FCC component, addressing the study of electroweak, Higgs and strong interactions, the top quark and flavour, as well as phenomena beyond the Standard Model. We highlight the synergy and complementarity of the different colliders, which will contribute to a uniquely coherent and ambitious research programme, providing an unmatchable combination of precision and sensitivity to new physics.
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