| 1. |
- Carstens, Adam, 1975-
(author)
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Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases : studies of microbiota and its influence
- 2021
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Introduction: Inflammatory bowel diseases are becoming increasingly common. The underlying mechanisms are not entirely known but the gut microbiota seem to be involved in the pathogenesis. Aim: The aim of this thesis was to characterise gut microbiota related to diagnosis, disease course and response to biological treatment, taking aspects of the source of biological material into account. Materials and methods: Patients and healthy individuals from several different cohorts in Sweden and Europe were invited. Faecal samples and mucosal biopsies were analysed using different sequencing platforms to investigate the gut microbiota. In Study I the faecal microbiota was correlated to different inflammatory bowel diseases. In Study II we compared the microbiota in faeces to the microbiota in mucosal biopsies. In StudyIII we related the faecal microbiota to the outcome of biological treatment. In Study IV we investigated the diagnostic and prognostic properties of the GAmapTM Dysbiosis Test.Results: The faecal microbiota in collagenous colitis resembles the faecalmicrobiota in inflammatory bowel disease. The faecal microbiota differs from the mucosal microbiota. Faecal microbiota at initiation of biological treatment among patients with Crohn’s disease differ between responders and non-responders. The GAmapTM Dysbiosis Test discriminates patients with inflammatory bowel disease from healthy individuals.Conclusion: Collagenous colitis may share microbial underpinnings with other inflammatory bowel diseases. Conclusions about mucosal interactions with the gut microbiota should be made with caution when usingfaecal samples to characterise the microbiota. In Crohn’s disease, the faecal microbiota may be included in a model to predict the outcome of biological treatment. The GAmap Dysbiosis Test does not seem to be superior to other current diagnostic tools in clinical decision-making.
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| 2. |
- Lundström, Lisa
(author)
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Polyelectrolyte multilayers of cationic and anionic starch and their use for improving the strength of papers made from mechanical pulps
- 2009
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Graphic paper is experiencing severe competition from other materials and, most of all, from other media. This means there is a great need to improve paper quality while reducing raw material and production costs. Polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) treatment (i.e., consecutively adding cationic and anionic polyelectrolytes to the charged surface of wood fibres and fines, to form layers of these polyelectrolytes on the fibres/fines) has in recent years been found to offer great potential both to introduce new properties and to improve the mechanical properties of papers made of the treated fibres. The main objective of this thesis was to develop a strategy for the PEM treatment of cationic and anionic starch to improve the mechanical properties of paper made of thermomechanical pulp (TMP), since PEM treatment of fibres has displayed great potential to improve the mechanical properties of sheets made of chemical pulp. Mechanical pulp, however, has a large fine material content. Since the fine material is highly charged, polyelectrolyte consumption would be unacceptably high if the entire pulp were PEM treated, so we applied PEM treatment only to a fibre fraction of the pulps in most trials in the present work. The polyelectrolytes used for PEMs have so far mostly been well-defined, expensive ones unsuitable for use in standard paper grades; to develop a more economically realistic alternative, we used cationic and anionic starches. PEM formation on SiO2 surfaces from three differently charged cationic and anionic starches was first evaluated at three different salt levels using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) and stagnation point adsorption reflectometry (SPAR). The starch combinations displaying the highest potential for stable PEM formation at higher salt concentrations were then evaluated on an entire TMP pulp, as well as on a fraction of the pulp to reduce the amount of starch needed for PEM formation. The results indicate that it is possible to form PEMs from cationic and anionic starch on a SiO2 surface. The charge density, salt concentration, and combination of starches all influenced PEM formation. PEM formation on mechanical fibres produced large improvements in the mechanical properties of the sheets made of the treated fibres, and the tensile index, stretch-at-break, Z-strength, and Scott bond values all increased. Fractionating the pulp and PEM treating only a fraction of the pulp, the long fibre and middle fraction, produced large decreases in the amount of starch needed and large improvements in the mechanical properties of the sheets when no fine material was subsequently added. As untreated fine material was subsequently added, the improvement in mechanical properties decreased. PEM formation produced almost no reduction in formation and only a slight increase in sheet density.
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| 3. |
- Henriksnäs, Johanna, 1973-
(author)
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Helicobacter pylori and Gastric Protection Mechanisms : An in vivo Study in Mice and Rats
- 2005
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The stomach is frequently exposed to hazardous agents and to resist this harsh environment, several protective mechanisms exist. Of special interest is the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori which causes gastritis, ulcers and cancer but the mechanism leading to these diseases are still unclear. However it is very likely that H. pylori negatively influence the protection mechanisms that exist in the stomach. The aims of the present investigation were first to develop an in vivo mouse model in which different protection mechanisms could be studied, and second to investigate the influence of H. pylori on these mechanisms. An in vivo preparation of the gastric mucosa in mice was developed. This preparation allows studies of different gastric mucosal variables and can also be applied for studies in other gastro-intestinal organs. Mice chronically infected with H. pylori, were shown to have a reduced ability of the mucosa to maintain a neutral pH at the epithelial cell surface. This could be due to the thinner inner, firmly adherent mucus gel layer, and/or to defective bicarbonate transport across the epithelium. The Cl-/HCO3- exchanger SLC26A9 was inhibited by NH4+, which also is produced by H. pylori. The mRNA levels of SLC26A9 were upregulated in infected mice, suggesting a way to overcome the inhibition of the transporter. Furthermore, the hyperemic response to acid pH 2 and 1.5 was abolished in these mice. The mechanisms by which the bacteria could alter the blood flow response might involve inhibition of the epithelial iNOS.Water extracts of H. pylori (HPE) reduces the blood flow acutely through an iNOS and nerve-mediated pathway, possibly through the endogenous iNOS inhibitor ADMA. Furthermore, HPE alters the blood flow response to acid as the hyperemic response to acid pH 0.8 is accentuated in mice treated with HPE.
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| 4. |
- Kampmann, Christian, 1975-
(author)
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Go with your gut : The human intestinal microbiota, international travel, Campylobacter and ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae
- 2021
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Up to 100 million people travel annually from industrialized countries to resource-limited ones. Each traveller contains an internal ecosystem composed of tens of trillions of microbes, known as the intestinal microbiota, which has a large effect on health. The microbiota seems to be highly individual and mostly stable but can be significantly affected by several factors. Many international travellers are at high risk of getting infected by Campylobacter, the most common cause of bacterial enteritis worldwide. Campylobacter infection can cause a wide range of symptoms, with varying severity, for reasons largely unknown. Travel also radically increases the risk of colonization by antibiotic-resistant intestinal bacteria, notably Extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae (EPE). To date, there are no therapies available for EPE-decolonization. In this thesis, it was investigated whether the bacterial intestinal microbiota affected susceptibility to Campylobacter and if international travel as such had an impact on the microbiota. In a prospective, observational study, 67 healthy Swedes, travelling in groups to countries with a high risk of Campylobacter infection, were followed. The travellers answered questionnaires and delivered two faecal samples before and three samples after the trip. These samples were cultured for enteropathogens and analysed for the microbiota composition. Low diversity of microbiota seemed to increase the risk of Campylobacter jejuni infection, whereas a high relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae might decrease the risk (Paper I). Furthermore, the overall bacterial diversity did not seem to change in connection with travelling. However, the bacterial family Enterobacteriaceae (otherwise connected with inflammation, infection and antibiotic-resistance) was shown to be dramatically increased in abundance immediately after travel, and the family Christensenellaceae (otherwise connected with beneficial health conditions) simultaneously decreased (Paper II). Eight travellers, from two different destinations, were infected with closely related C. jejuni isolates (ST353CC). The bacterial analysis of genomic and phenotypic characteristics revealed that the C. jejuni isolates of the travellers returning from one of the destinations and with more severe symptoms actually showed less pathogenic potential, compared to the isolates of travellers from the other destination and with milder symptoms. However, the travellers with more severe symptoms had much higher relative abundances of Bacteroidetes in their intestinal microbiota and, in contrast to the other travellers, excluded meat from their diet. (Paper III) Finally, we investigated in a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 80 established intestinal carriers of EPE, whether the oral probiotic product Vivomixx® could eradicate EPE. Vivomixx® was not superior to placebo (Paper IV).
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| 5. |
- Abdellah, Tebani, et al.
(author)
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Integration of molecular profiles in a longitudinal wellness profiling cohort.
- 2020
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In: Nature communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An important aspect of precision medicine is to probe the stability in molecular profiles among healthy individuals over time. Here, we sample a longitudinal wellness cohort with 100 healthy individuals and analyze blood molecular profiles including proteomics, transcriptomics, lipidomics, metabolomics, autoantibodies andimmune cell profiling, complementedwith gut microbiota composition and routine clinical chemistry. Overall, our results show high variation between individuals across different molecular readouts, while the intra-individual baseline variation is low. The analyses show that each individual has a unique and stable plasma protein profile throughout the study period and that many individuals also show distinct profiles with regards to the other omics datasets, with strong underlying connections between the blood proteome and the clinical chemistry parameters. In conclusion, the results support an individual-based definition of health and show that comprehensive omics profiling in a longitudinal manner is a path forward for precision medicine.
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| 6. |
- Alimohammadzadeh, Rana, et al.
(author)
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Improving the mechanical properties of CTMP fibers by combining synergistic organocatalytic/polyelectrolyte complex surface engineering with sulfite pretreatment
- 2022
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In: Proceedings of the International Mechanical Pulping Conference. ; , s. 149-
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Fabrication of paper-based packaging materials is increasing and the challenge is developing a sustainable process to manufacture the materials that can compete with plastics. Employing stronger fiber in production of fiber-based materials improves the efficiency of fabrication process by using a reduced amount of biomass. Cationic starch is a well-known polysaccharide that has been introduced to paper and paperboard fibers to improve the mechanical properties of lignocellulosic fibers. The polyelectrolyte (PE) multilayer method has been popularized as a new and interesting technique to enhance the adsorption of cationic starch on the fiber for improving the strength properties of chemi-thermomechanical pulp (CTMP), chemical and kraft pulps. We have shown in our previous work that the synergistic combination of organocatalysis and PE complexes improved the mechanical properties of CTMP and TMP. In this work, we chose to expand this concept by integrating it with low-dose sulfite pretreatment of wood chips in preparation of CTMP. Thus, CTMP produced by initial sulfite pre-treatment was next surface engineered by synergistic combination of organocatalysis and PE complexes using organic acids as catalysts. The CTMP pulps, which contains 0.1-0.24 wt.% sulfur, produced by our novel pulp-engineering strategy shows a dramatic strength increase (Z- strength: up to 100 %) as compared to no surface engineering. While only sulfite pre-treatment and PE-complex surface engineering were able to improve the strength properties, it was only when the organic catalysts was present that the highest strength improvements were reached. Thus, a clear synergistic effect of the catalyst was observed.
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| 7. |
- Ekbåge, Daniel
(author)
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Process modelling based on data from an evaporation and a CTMP process : Analysis of energy efficiency and process variability
- 2018
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The manufacture of pulp and paper is an energy intensive process configured of several unit processes that shape a network of flows of wood chips, chemical pulp, mechanical pulp, paperboard, steam and other important components. Improved energy efficiency supports sustainability of the process and the products. With the purpose of monitoring and controlling, information from multiple process and quality variables is continuously collected in the process data system. This data may be of time-varying nature and the variability might potentially span from seasonal to time-wise shorter variations and there are in some cases a need for predicting certain properties.By applying models based on process data there is a potential to increase the knowledge of the process characteristics, investigate the applicability of predictive models and identify optimization opportunities. Based on data from an evaporation and a CTMP plant, process models have been developed with the aim of improving the energy efficiency and studying process variability.
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| 8. |
- Gorski, Dmitri
(author)
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ATMP Process : Improved Energy Efficiency in TMP Refining Utilizing Selective Wood Disintegration and Targeted Application of Chemicals
- 2011
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis is focused on the novel wood chip refining process called AdvancedThermomechanical Pulp (ATMP) refining. ATMP consists of mechanical pretreatmentof chips in Impressafiner and Fiberizer prior to first stage refining atincreased intensity. Process chemicals (this study was concentrated on hydrogenperoxide and magnesium hydroxide) are introduced into the first stage refiner.It is known that the use of chemicals in TMP process and first stage refining atelevated intensity can reduce the energy demands of refining. The downside is thatthey also alter the character of the produced pulp. Reductions in fibre length andtear index are usually the consequences of refining at elevated intensity. Additionof chemicals usually leads to reduction of the light scattering coefficient. Usingstatistical methods it was shown that it is possible to maintain the TMP character ofthe pulp using the ATMP process. This is explained by a separation of thedefibration and the fibre development phases in refining. This separation allowsdefibration of chips to fibres and fibre bundles without addition of chemicals orincrease in refining intensity. Chemicals are applied in the fibre developmentphase only (first stage refiner). The energy demand in refining to reach tensileindex of 25 Nm/g was reduced by up to 1.1 MWh/odt (42 %) using the ATMPprocess on Loblolly pine. The energy demand in refining of White spruce, requiredto reach tensile index of 30 Nm/g, was reduced by 0.65 MWh/odt (37%).Characterizations of individual fibre properties, properties of sheets made fromlong fibre fractions and model fibre sheets with different fines fractions werecarried out. It was established that both the process equipment configuration (i.e.the mechanical pre‐treatment and the elevated refining intensity) and the additionof process chemicals in the ATMP process influence fibre properties such as external and internal fibrillation as well as the amount of split fibres. Improvementof these properties translated into improved properties of sheets, made from thelong fibre fractions of the studied pulps. The quality of the fines fraction alsoimproved. However, the mechanisms of improvement in the fines quality seem tobe different for fines, generated using improved process configuration andaddition of process chemicals. The first type of fines contributed to better bondingof model long fibre sheets through the densification of the structure. Fines whichhave been influenced by the addition of the process chemicals seemed in additionto improve bonding between long fibres by enhancing the specific bond strength.The improved fibre and fines properties also translated into better airpermeability and surface roughness of paper sheets, properties which areespecially important for supercalendered (SC) printing paper. The magnitude offibre roughening after moistening was mainly influenced by the processequipment configuration while the addition of process chemicals yielded lowestfinal surface roughness due to the lowest initial surface roughness. There was nodifference in how fines fractions from the studied processes influenced the fibreroughening. However, fines with better bonding yielded model fibre sheets withhigher PPS, probably due to their consolidation around fibre joints. Hence, thedecrease in PPS can probably be attributed to the improvements in the long fibrefraction properties while the improvement of fines quality contributed to thereduction of air permeability.The process chemicals, utilized in the ATMP process (Mg(OH)2 and H2O2) alsoproved to be an effective bleaching system. Comparable increases in brightnesscould be reached using the ATMP process and conventional tower bleaching.Maximum brightness of the pulp was reached after approximately 10 minutes ofhigh‐consistency storage after refining or 40 minutes of conventional bleaching.This study was conducted using a pilot scale refiner system operated as a batchprocess. Most of the experiments were performed using White spruce (Piceaglauca). In Paper I, Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) was used. It is believed that theresults presented in this thesis are valid for other softwood raw materials as well,but this limitation should be considered.
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| 9. |
- Hases, Linnea, et al.
(author)
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High-fat diet and estrogen modulate the gut microbiota in a sex-dependent manner in mice
- 2023
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In: Communications Biology. - : Springer Nature. - 2399-3642. ; 6:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A high-fat diet can lead to gut microbiota dysbiosis, chronic intestinal inflammation, and metabolic syndrome. Notably, resulting phenotypes, such as glucose and insulin levels, colonic crypt cell proliferation, and macrophage infiltration, exhibit sex differences, and females are less affected. This is, in part, attributed to sex hormones. To investigate if there are sex differences in the microbiota and if estrogenic ligands can attenuate high-fat diet-induced dysbiosis, we used whole-genome shotgun sequencing to characterize the impact of diet, sex, and estrogenic ligands on the microbial composition of the cecal content of mice. We here report clear host sex differences along with remarkably sex-dependent responses to high-fat diet. Females, specifically, exhibited increased abundance of Blautia hansenii, and its levels correlated negatively with insulin levels in both sexes. Estrogen treatment had a modest impact on the microbiota diversity but altered a few important species in males. This included Collinsella aerofaciens F, which we show correlated with colonic macrophage infiltration. In conclusion, male and female mice exhibit clear differences in their cecal microbial composition and in how diet and estrogens impact the composition. Further, specific microbial strains are significantly correlated with metabolic parameters.
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| 10. |
- Ibrahim, Ahmed, et al.
(author)
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Colitis-induced colorectal cancer and intestinal epithelial estrogen receptor beta impact gut microbiota diversity
- 2019
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In: International Journal of Cancer. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 144:12, s. 3086-3098
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Chronic inflammation of the colon (colitis) is a risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC). Hormone-replacement therapy reduces CRC incidences, and the estrogen receptor beta (ERβ/ESR2) has been implicated in this protection. Gut microbiota is altered in both colitis and CRC and may influence the severity of both. Here we test the hypothesis that intestinal ERβ impacts the gut microbiota. Mice with and without intestine-specific deletion of ERβ (ERβKOVil ) were generated using the Cre-LoxP system. Colitis and CRC were induced with a single intraperitoneal injection of azoxymethane (AOM) followed by administration of three cycles of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in drinking water. The microbiota population were characterized by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing of DNA extracted from fecal samples (N = 39). Differences in the microbiota due to AOM/DSS and absence of ERβ were identified through bioinformatic analyses of the 16S-Seq data, and the distribution of bacterial species was corroborated using qPCR. We demonstrate that colitis-induced CRC reduced the gut microbiota diversity and that loss of ERβ enhanced this process. Further, the Bacteroidetes genus Prevotellaceae_UCG_001 was overrepresented in AOM/DSS mice compared to untreated controls (3.5-fold, p = 0.004), and this was enhanced in females and in ERβKOVil mice. Overall, AOM/DSS enriched for microbiota impacting immune system diseases and metabolic functions, and lack of ERβ in combination with AOM/DSS enriched for microbiota impacting carbohydrate metabolism and cell motility, while reducing those impacting the endocrine system. Our data support that intestinal ERβ contributes to a more favorable microbiome that could attenuate CRC development.
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