| 1. |
- Mashayekhy Rad, Farshid, 1973-
(författare)
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Analytical methods for biomolecules involved in atmospheric aerosol formation in the Arctic
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the Arctic, increasing ice-free conditions and nutrients freed from the melting ice must strongly influence the marine life. Aerosol emissions from microbiological marine processes may affect the low clouds and fogs over the summer Arctic, which in turn have effects on the melting of sea ice. The radiative properties of the high Arctic low clouds are strongly dependent on the number concentration of airborne water-soluble particles, known as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). If the effects of CCN on cloud optical properties is to be fully understood it is important to be able to specify the source and concentrations of the Arctic aerosol particles.Previous studies in the Arctic have indicated that organic material formed in the uppermost ocean surface is transferred to the atmosphere and plays a potentially very important role in the aerosol-fog/cloud cycle. However, many aspects of this process remain unverified and chemical characterisation of targeted groups of biomolecules is still notably fragmentary or non-existing. Investigation of biomolecules, particularly amino acids, peptides and proteins together with mono- and polysaccharides and fatty acids in the airborne aerosol, and their relative contributions to fog/cloud water, requires development of an array of “cutting edge” analytical techniques and methods.In this thesis, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry was used for all applications and target biomolecules. The measurements in the Arctic turned out to be challenging due to the highly complex, salty matrices, combined with very low concentration and high diversity of the target biomolecules, and each step of the analytical chain needed careful consideration. To increase the detectability of the very low levels of polysaccharides and proteins in aerosols, these compounds were hydrolyzed to their subunits, monosaccharides and amino acids. Monosaccharides were separated using hydrophilic interaction chromatography, which was beneficial for their detection in electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Amino acids were derivatized, yielding improvement in reversed-phase chromatographic separation, ionization efficiency as well as selectivity. For fatty acids in a sea surface sample, a novel fast screening method was developed, utilizing travelling-wave ion mobility separation as an orthogonal technique connected to mass spectrometry. In addition, a method for the detection of wood burning as an anthropogenic source of aerosols was developed, utilizing anhydrous monosaccharides as markers. This method can be used in the upcoming expeditions for source apportionment studies.The results from the analyses of the aerosol and fog water samples, collected over the summer pack ice north of 80 °N, show that both total polysaccharides and total proteinaceous compounds (sum of proteins, peptides and amino acids) occurred at the pmol m-3 to nmol m-3 level. Interestingly, the levels were found higher between different years, suggested to be coupled to less ice coverage and thus to a higher biological activity in the ocean surface. The highest concentrations of polysaccharides, as an indication of marine polymer gels, were found during the summer over the pack ice area. In addition, a pilot source apportionment study was carried out combining the measurement of different molecular tracers, used as source markers. This study indicates the seasonality and abundance of marine polymer gels as an important feature of the Arctic Ocean connected to the melting and freezing of sea ice. It should be further studied how the abundance of these gels, which have a high potential for cloud droplet activation, affect the melting and freezing of the perennial sea ice.Given the successful development of analytical methods for targeted groups of biomolecules, this thesis has supported the importance of biomolecules as CCN and for cloud formation in the Arctic. Less ice coverage may further increase the number of biomolecular CCN which could change the radiative balance, by the formation of more low-level clouds. Overall, more studies are required to further unravel the complex relationship of biogenic sources, atmospheric chemistry and meteorology to assess the impact of climate change on the Arctic.
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| 2. |
- Norell, Daniel, 1973-
(författare)
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Taming the Erratic : Representation and materialization in post-digital architectural design
- 2016
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis investigates materialization and representation in contemporary architectural design practice. Due to cultural and technological shifts, the act of design is no longer squarely located in the abstract realms of drawings or digital geometries. Computer aided manufacturing, simulation and scanning offer new design opportunities that are located in the transfer between representation and material. This has given rise to a post-digital model of practice and thought, in which ‘real’ and discrete chunks of matter are incorporated at the earliest stages of design.The thesis is practice-based, and spans in scope from design to technology to theory. The design work included explores materialization and representation from a particular point of view. In addition, it suggests a methodological approach to design, and explores the theoretical implications in this approach. These implications are addressed in two connected research questions: How can material processes, whether real or simulated, turn transfers between geometry and materialized objects into productive design opportunities? And how might material simulation alter the ways in which representations are conceptualized and used by architects? In parallel with practice-based work, the thesis suggests a theoretical framework for current issues of representation and materialization in architecture. This framework draws from the recent history of the digital turn in architecture as well as from recent design research work and theory in a post-digital turn.This thesis makes contributions in three main areas. Through the design work Erratic, it makes a visceral case for how the use of material simulation might open up new ways of harnessing material agency. It positions simulation in the field of architecture in-between established polarities such as geometry vs. matter, virtual vs. real and drawing vs. mock-up. It discusses the conceptual difference between design based on geometry and design based on discrete pieces of material. Finally, it proposes that form in architecture increasingly can be conceptualized as ‘chunks,’ as opposed to reduced descriptions of geometry.
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| 3. |
- Björk, Emma, 1977-
(författare)
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Immunosuppressive mechanisms in endometriosis : a focus on the role of exosomes
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Endometriosis is defined as the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterine cavity. It has been suggested that the aberrant immunological mechanisms that cause dysfunction of immune cells and mediators are involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. There is substantial evidence of downregulated NK cell cytotoxicity and changes in inflammatory mediators such as cytokines in endometriosis. This research aimed to elucidate the immunosuppressive mechanisms in endometriosis, focusing on NK cells, the role of cytokines, and exosomes derived from endometriotic tissue.Cytokines are small peptides/proteins used for intercellular communication, and regulate immune-effector functions in health and disease. In Paper I, real-time RT-qPCR and a set of primers and probes for 11 cytokines were used defining cytotoxic Th1, humoral Th2, regulatory Tr1/Th3, and inflammatory cytokine profiles. Cytokine mRNA expression in endometriotic tissue was compared with endometrium, and systemically with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from women with endometriosis and healthy controls. In addition, immunohistochemical staining with monoclonal antibodies was performed to investigate T-regulatory cells in endometriotic lesions. A downregulation of mRNA for cytokines that mediate cytotoxicity and antibody response was found in the endometriotic lesions. At the same time, there was an upregulation of inflammatory and T-regulatory cytokines in the endometriotic lesions, suggesting enhanced local inflammation and priming of an adaptive regulatory response. Consistent with these findings, T-regulatory cells were abundant in the endometriotic lesions. These findings suggest that the ectopic implantation seen in endometriosis may be a consequence of increased inflammation and priming of adaptive T regulatory cells, resulting in impaired cytotoxicity and enhanced immune suppression. Exosomes are nanometer-sized extracellular vesicles of endosomal origin; they are produced by most cells in the body, convey intercellular communication and participate in both normal and pathological processes. Paper II show that endometriotic lesions produce high amounts of exosomes. The exosomes expressed on their surfaces the NKG2D ligands MICA/B and ULBP1-3 and the proapoptotic molecules FasL and TRAIL. These molecules are known as immunosuppressive signatures. Functional experiments were performed to show that these exosomes can downregulate the main activating NK receptor NKG2D on CTL and NK cells, reduce the killing ability of PBMC from healthy donors, and induce apoptosis of activated lymphocytes through the FasL/Fas pathway. The production and secretion of exosomes from the endometriotic tissue may be further enhanced by the vigorous local inflammation at ectopic sites. The results show that endometriotic lesions secrete immunosuppressive exosomes that inhibit cytotoxicity and promote apoptosis of activated immune cells. The exosomes form a “protective shield” around the endometriotic tissue thus promoting their survival.NK cells are cytotoxic cells of the innate immune system. Human NK cells can be divided into two subsets: CD56+bright and CD56+dim. The CD56+dim subset is more naturally cytotoxic, whereas the CD56+bright subset produces more cytokines, but has low natural cytotoxicity. The majority (>90%) of circulating NK cells are CD56+dim, whereas very few (0-10 %) are CD56+bright. In Paper III a higher amount of CD56+bright cells in serum was observed in one third of endometriosis patients compared to healthy controls. The amount of these cells was normalized after treatment with surgery, with or without medical treatment. Untreated patients had a lower expression of NKG2D receptors on their NK cells and CTLs compared to treated patients and healthy controls, which could be due to endometriotic exosomes carrying the NKG2D ligands that downregulate the receptor. Thus, surgery might have a beneficial effect on cytotoxic NK-cell function in endometriosis.Endometriosis is considered a benign disease; however it has many features in common with tumors, and shares multiple microenvironmental hallmarks with cancer, including angiogenesis, immune dysregulation, inflammation, invasion, and metastasis. Paper II shows that endometriotic tissue secretes immunosuppressive exosomes. In Paper IV, exosomes in the peripheral blood of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients, and the impairment of the NKG2D receptor-ligand system in vivo before and after surgery, were studied. The serum exosomes isolated from the EOC patients carried the NKG2D ligands MICA/B and ULBP1-3. In functional experiments, the EOC exosomes downregulated the expression of the NKG2D receptor, and subdued NKG2D-mediated cytotoxicity in NK cells from healthy donors in a similar manner to the endometriotic exosomes studied in Paper II. In Paper IV, surgery of the primary EOC tumor had a beneficial effect, alleviating the exosome-mediated suppression of NKG2D-mediated cytotoxicity. Thus, exosome-mediated immunosuppression is revealed as a common mechanism of action for immune escape in endometriosis and cancer. The results presented in this thesis provide novel and important insights into the function of the immune system in endometriosis, and give new explanations for why ectopic endometrial tissue persists and proliferates outside the uterine cavity. Furthermore, the immunosuppression in the microenvironment of endometriosis, which has many similarities with the local tumor microenvironment (TME), was investigated with a focus on the role of endometriotic exosomes. Taken together, this thesis contributes to understanding of the pathogenesis of endometriosis, and might be useful in identifying biomarkers for endometriosis and developing new immunomodulatory therapies.
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| 4. |
- Israelsson, Pernilla, 1984-
(författare)
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Mechanisms for immune escape in epithelial ovarian cancer
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Tumors develop mechanisms to subvert the immune system, constituting immune escape. Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), the deadliest of all gynecological malignancies, uses a variety of mechanisms to undermine immune surveillance, aiding its establishment and metastatic spreading. Despite progress in oncoimmunology, a lot remains unknown about the cancer-immune system interplay. The aim of this thesis was to study tumor-mediated mechanisms for immune escape in EOC patients, focusing on the role of cytokines and EOC- derived exosomes. Cytokines are key molecules regulating immune effector functions in health and disease. We used real-time RT-qPCR and a set of primers and probes for 12 cytokines, discriminating between different immune responses and compared the cytokine mRNA expression profiles locally in the TME and systemically in peripheral blood immune cells of EOC patients, to women with benign ovarian conditions and women with normal ovaries. The cytokine mRNA expression was in general most prominent in EOC patients, confirming the immunogenicity of EOC. We found significant dominance of inflammatory and immunosuppressive/ regulatory cytokines, known to promote tumor progression by priming and activating T regulatory cell-mediated immune suppression. In contrast, IFN-γ, crucially important for evoking a cytotoxic anti-tumor response, was not upregulated. Instead, a systemic increase of IL-4 prevailed, deviating the immune defense towards humoral immunity. With regard to our cytokine study, we performed comparative analyses of cytokine mRNA versus protein expression in the EOC cell lines OVCAR-3 and SKOV-3. We found that cytokine mRNA signals were universally detected, and in some instances translated into proteins, but the protein expression levels depended on the material analyzed and the method used. Due to the high sensitivity of real-time RT-qPCR, we suggest that cytokine mRNA expression profiles can be used for some instances, such as in studies of mechanistic pathways and in comparisons between patient groups, but cannot replace expression at the protein level. Exosomes are nanometer-sized vesicles of endosomal origin, released by virtually all cells, participating in normal and pathological processes. Like many tumors, EOC is a great exosome producer. We isolated exosomes from EOC ascitic fluid and supernatant from tumor explant cultures to study their effect on the NK cell receptors NKG2D and DNAM-1, involved in tumor killing. We found that EOC exosomes constitutively expressed NKG2D ligands on their surface while DNAM-1 ligand expression was rare and not associated with the exosomal membrane. Consistently, the major cytotoxic pathway of NKG2D-mediated killing was dysregulated by EOC exosomes while the accessory DNAM-1- mediated pathway remained unchanged. Our results provide a mechanistic explanation to the previously made observation that in EOC patients, tumor killing is only dependent on the accessory DNAM-1 pathway. Following these iii iv results, we studied NKG2D-mediated cytotoxicity in vivo in EOC patients before and after surgery. We found that the serum exosomes isolated from EOC patients were able to downregulate the NKG2D receptor and suppress NKG2D-mediated cytotoxicity in NK cells from healthy donors, in a similar way as exosomes from EOC ascites. We also found that surgery of the primary EOC tumor has a beneficial effect on the patients’ anti-tumor cytotoxic immune response. One mechanistic explanation could be a decrease in circulating NKG2D ligand- expressing exosomes, thus improving the cytotoxic NK cell function. In conclusion, our results contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms responsible for tumor immune escape in general, and in EOC patients in particular, and might be useful in developing novel antitumor therapies. Our studies highlight the prevailing immunosuppression in the local TME and the immunosuppressive role of EOC exosomes. Furthermore, they support the notion that cancer surgery is also a way of removing exosome-producing cells and reducing the serum concentration of immunosuppressive exosomes, thus boosting the patients’ cytotoxic anti-tumor response.
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| 5. |
- Johansson, Ulrika, 1974-
(författare)
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Formation of Composite Islet Grafts : A novel strategy to promote islet survival and revascularization
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The islets of Langerhans are small and delicate spheroid organs scattered in the pancreas responsible for insulin production. Transplantation of isolated islets is a beneficial therapy for patients with a severe form of type 1 diabetes. The islets, which normally are richly vascularized in the pancreas, are completely disconnected from the vascular support by the enzymatic digestion during the isolation procedure. Islet viability is affected throughout all steps in this process, from donor death and isolation of islets to culturing and the transplantation process itself. In this thesis a novel strategy to promote islet survival and to re-establish islet vasculature is presented. We show endogenous expression of 51 different genes related to inflammation in cultured islets. Among these genes high expression of MCP-1, MIF, VEGF, thymosin b-10 and IL-8, IL-1β, IL-5R-a, IFN-γ antagonist were found in all donors during the 5- and the 2-day cultures, respectively. Protein expression of these genes can stimulate inflammatory immune responses but also promote tissue repair by attracting curative cells such as endothelial cells (EC) leading to re-establishment of the vasculature. We have established a novel technique by formation of composite islets using EC and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). EC adhered on the surface of the islets and created a potential blood tolerant surface. The EC-islets showed a degree of protection from the detrimental effects of instant blood-mediated inflammatory reaction (IBMIR) with the major components of IBMIR being decreased in in vitro assays. We combined MSC to the EC-islets with success. The MSC were found to have proliferative effect on EC and the combination of these two cell types on the islets further increased the EC covered surface compared to EC-islets. The EC-MSC-islets in co-culture formed vessel-like structures both into the islets and out to the surrounding matrix. The MSC enhanced the exogenous EC to form vessel-like network in the EC-MSC-islets indicating vascular support by the MSC. The novel strategy and conditions presented herein could alleviate problems related to survival of the islets by promoting revascularization. This would open up a new era in islet transplantation and allow more patients to benefit from this therapy.
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| 6. |
- Lögdberg, Ulrika, 1983-
(författare)
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Understanding young people’s well-being within a translocal everyday life : How health and well-being are experienced and conditioned in the daily school life of young people recently migrated to Sweden
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation deals with the relationship between young people’s health, everyday life, school, and migration. It is a compilation dissertation based on a comprehensive summary (kappa) and four empirical articles. With the school as a point of departure, the dissertation’s overarching aim is to explore everyday experiences of and conditions for health and well-being among young people who recently migrated to Sweden. Further, the aim is to illuminate and problematize the conditions and circumstances within which health is created and negotiated for this group of youths. The newly arrived youths’ experiences and conditions for health and well-being are analyzed through an overall social and cultural framework that emphasizes everyday life and micro-processes. At the same time, everyday experiences, social positionings, and material conditions, explored in the various studies, are linked to power processes. The individual’s room for agency in daily life depends on historical, structural, and relational conditions. In other words, health is related to power in various ways, which forms an extensive part of the dissertation’s analytical focus. The findings are based on three independent data collections, all with a qualitative, exploratory, and health-promoting approach. The study participants are males and females (16–20 years old) from Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Ethiopia, Burundi, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Palestine, Kosovo, and Greece. The overall findings show how the young people’s health and well-being are created and conditioned in relation to their relationally, spatially, and temporally situated life experiences, concerning their negotiations of migrant positions, and through their possibilities to matter in regard to the material conditions of the everyday life. By an overall social and cultural approach, emphasizing a translocal everyday life when exploring the conditions of health and well-being for young people recently arrived in Sweden, this dissertation contributes to an under-researched field at the intersection of young people’s everyday life, school, migration, and health.
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| 7. |
- Zurita, Javier, 1984-
(författare)
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Amino acids with relevance to health, climate and the environment : Development of mass spectrometric methods
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Amino acids play vital roles in health, either in their native form or chemically modified. Some studies have linked certain non-proteinogenic amino acids to neurodegenerative diseases, such as in the case of β-methylaminoalanine (BMAA). Various environmental pollutants, including carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic compounds, are able to react forming adducts with blood proteins. Amino acids may also be essential in chemical ecology as constituents of flower nectar, potentially used by common feeders as butterflies to synthesize pheromones. Additionally, proteinaceous materials have been detected in aerosols with an apparent potential to influence climate, possibly having a role in cloud formation.The determination of amino acids presents many challenges, due to the fact that they are most often constituents of complex sample matrices that contain a high level of chemical interferences. In this respect, mass spectrometry (MS) is a selective and sensitive analytical tool that can be used to measure amino acids in biological samples.In this work, several analytical methods based on MS were developed. (i) First, derivatization with a permanently charged N-hydroxysuccinimide ester of N-butylnicotinic acid (C4-NA-NHS) was used to increase the sensitivity and selectivity for amino acids. This strategy was applied to localize BMAA in both visceral and non-visceral parts of blue mussels. (ii) Moreover, a method was developed to separate and determine L- and D- BMAA in cycad seeds by derivatization with a chiral reagent, (+)-1-(9-fluorenyl) ethyl chloroformate (FLEC). Together with L-BMAA, appreciable amounts of D-BMAA (50.13 ± 0.05 and 4.08 ± 0.04 µg BMAA/g Cycas micronesica, wet weight, respectively) were detected for the first time after enzymatic digestion, suggesting D-BMAA may be bound to proteins or may be a conjugate and released only after hydrolysis. (iii) Derivatization with C4-NA-NHS was applied as well for the determination of amino acids in nectar of Bunias orientalis. The presence of tryptophan and phenylalanine, purportedly used to synthesize anti-aphrodisiac pheromones by nectar feeders (adult male butterflies), could then be observed. (iv) Furthermore, the profiling of amino acids in Arctic aerosols was carried out and was used to measure the contribution of free and polyamino acids in aerosol formation. Levels detected were in the range of 0.02-2914 pmol/m3 sampled air. For the first time the measurement of polyamino acids in the Arctic atmosphere was reported. Additionally, possible anthropogenic and marine sources were suggested. The results support the hypothesis that proteinaceous materials act as cloud condensation nuclei over the Arctic. (v) Finally, a method was developed employing selective chromatography/high-resolution MS to identify histidine and lysine adducts in serum albumin of mice exposed to the carcinogen benzo(a)pyrene, as well as in human samples in vivo. Adduct isomers from diol epoxide metabolites could be detected in serum albumin from human samples at attomole/mg levels. This work shows the possibility of future exposure measurements from these compounds in different groups of the population.This thesis presents the development of improved analytical methodologies for detecting and identifying trace levels of amino acids, to investigate their relevance in health, climate and the environment.
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| 8. |
- Hansson, Helena, 1968-
(författare)
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A Novel Miniaturised Dynamic Hollow-Fibre Liquid-Phase Micro-Extraction Method for Xenobiotics in Human Plasma Samples
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Bioanalytical chemistry is a challenging field, often involving complex samples, such as blood, plasma, serum or urine. In many applications, sample cleanup is the most demanding and time-consuming step. In the work underlying this thesis a novel dynamic miniature extractor, known as a hollow-fibre liquid-phase microextractor (HF-LPME), was designed, evaluated and studied closely when used to clean plasma samples. Aqueous-organic-aqueous liquid extraction, in which the organic liquid is immobilised in a porous polypropylene membrane, was the principle upon which the extractor was based, and this is discussed in all the papers associated with this thesis. This type of extraction is known as supported-liquid membrane extraction (SLM). The aim of this work was the development of a dynamic system for SLM. It was essential that the system could handle small sample volumes and had the potential for hyphenations and on-line connections to, for instance, LC/electrospray-MS. The design of a miniaturised HF-LPME device is presented in Paper I. The extraction method was developed for some weakly acidic pesticides and these were also used for evaluation. In the work described in Paper II, the method was optimised on the basis of an experimental design using spiked human plasma samples. Paper III presents a detailed study of the mass-transfer over the liquid membrane. The diffusion through the membrane pores was illustrated by a computer-simulation. Not surprisingly, the more lipophilic, the greater the retention of the compounds, as a result of dispersive forces. The main focus of the work described in Paper IV was to make the HF/LPME system more versatile and user-friendly; therefore, the extractor was automated by hyphenation to a SIA system.
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| 9. |
- Havervall, Sebastian, et al.
(författare)
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Robust humoral and cellular immune responses and low risk for reinfection at least 8 months following asymptomatic to mild COVID-19
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Internal Medicine. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0954-6820 .- 1365-2796. ; 291:1, s. 72-80
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Emerging data support detectable immune responses for months after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and vaccination, but it is not yet established to what degree and for how long protection against reinfection lasts.Methods: We investigated SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral and cellular immune responses more than 8 months post-asymptomatic, mild and severe infection in a cohort of 1884 healthcare workers (HCW) and 51 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Possible protection against SARS-CoV-2 reinfection was analyzed by a weekly 3-month polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening of 252 HCW that had seroconverted 7 months prior to start of screening and 48 HCW that had remained seronegative at multiple time points.Results: All COVID-19 patients and 96% (355/370) of HCW who were anti-spike IgG positive at inclusion remained anti-spike IgG positive at the 8-month follow-up. Circulating SARS-CoV-2-specific memory T cell responses were detected in 88% (45/51) of COVID-19 patients and in 63% (233/370) of seropositive HCW. The cumulative incidence of PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection was 1% (3/252) among anti-spike IgG positive HCW (0.13 cases per 100 weeks at risk) compared to 23% (11/48) among anti-spike IgG negative HCW (2.78 cases per 100 weeks at risk), resulting in a protective effect of 95.2% (95% CI 81.9%-99.1%).Conclusions: The vast majority of anti-spike IgG positive individuals remain anti-spike IgG positive for at least 8 months regardless of initial COVID-19 disease severity. The presence of anti-spike IgG antibodies is associated with a substantially reduced risk of reinfection up to 9 months following asymptomatic to mild COVID-19.
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| 10. |
- Kempe, Henrik, 1967-
(författare)
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Advances in Separation Science : . Molecular Imprinting: Development of Spherical Beads and Optimization of the Formulation by Chemometrics.
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- An intrinsic mathematical model for simulation of fixed bed chromatography was demonstrated and compared to more simplified models. The former model was shown to describe variations in the physical, kinetic, and operating parameters better than the latter ones. This resulted in a more reliable prediction of the chromatography process as well as a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms responsible for the separation. A procedure based on frontal liquid chromatography and a detailed mathematical model was developed to determine effective diffusion coefficients of proteins in chromatographic gels. The procedure was applied to lysozyme, bovine serum albumin, and immunoglobulin γ in Sepharose™ CL-4B. The effective diffusion coefficients were comparable to those determined by other methods.Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are traditionally prepared as irregular particles by grinding monoliths. In this thesis, a suspension polymerization providing spherical MIP beads is presented. Droplets of pre-polymerization solution were formed in mineral oil with no need of stabilizers by vigorous stirring. The droplets were transformed into solid spherical beads by free-radical polymerization. The method is fast and the performance of the beads comparable to that of irregular particles. Optimizing a MIP formulation requires a large number of experiments since the possible combinations of the components are huge. To facilitate the optimization, chemometrics was applied. The amounts of monomer, cross-linker, and porogen were chosen as the factors in the model. Multivariate data analysis indicated the influence of the factors on the binding and an optimized MIP composition was identified. The combined use of the suspension polymerization method to produce spherical beads with the application of chemometrics was shown in this thesis to drastically reduce the number of experiments and the time needed to design and optimize a new MIP.
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