| 1. |
- Fryland, Linda, et al.
(författare)
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Mapping of T-cell subsets in relation to disease course in experimental Borrelia burgdorferi infection
- 2012
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Resolution of Lyme borreliosis has previously been shown to be associated with a strong initial Th1 response, followed by a subsequent Th2 response, shutting off inflammation. We mapped markers for Th1, Th2, Th17, cytotoxic and T regulatory subsets in a murine model, where the outcome of Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.) infection was altered by immune-deviation towards Th2 by exposure to a subtoxic dose of mercury. Twenty-one B. burgdorferi s.s.-infected (Bb), 21 immune-deviated B. burgdorferi s.s.-infected (BbId), and seven control C3H/HeN mice were sacrificed on days 15, 28 and 43 post-infection (p.i.) with B. burgdorferi s.s. BbId mice had increased joint swelling compared with Bb at the height of the disease (28 p.i.), and also showed a trend for increased spirochaetal load that became significant on day 43 p.i. BbId had an increased histopathology score on day 28 p.i. compared with both earlier and later time points. mRNA expression of IL-4 (p=0.018), IL-10 (p=0.018) and EBI-3 (p=0.009) decreased in Bb mice, but not in BbId, over the course of infection. A trend for higher expression of IL-12p40 mRNA in Bb mice compared with BbId was seen late in the disease course, while BbId showed trends for higher levels of Foxp3 and GM-CSF. At the protein level, BbId showed decreased levels of CXCL9 compared to the Bb group on day 15 p.i (p=0.007). Bb mice showed increases of CXCL9 and CXCL10 at all time points compared with day 0 p.i. (p≤0.014), whereas BbId mice showed an initial decrease in both chemokines at day 15 p.i. compared with day 0 (p≤0.008). In conclusion, both the clinical signs of infection and the trends for increased expression of pro-inflammatory GM-CSF and T-regulatory marker Foxp3 in BbId mice suggested ongoing inflammation. Although our findings support the need for a strong Th1 response followed by anti-inflammatory response for optimal resolution, the anti-inflammatory response seems to be more complex than only dampening the inflammation by a Th1-antagonistic Th2 response.
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| 2. |
- Jakobsson, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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A Monte Carlo study of charge transfer in DNA
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of Chemical Physics. - : AIP Publishing. - 0021-9606 .- 1089-7690. ; 129:12, s. 125102-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A model describing charge (hole) transport in DNA has been developed. The individual charge transfer steps in the transport process are described by Marcus theory modified to account for electron delocalization over adjacent identical nucleobases. Such a modification, as well as introducing a distance dependence in the reorganization energy, is necessary in order to reach an agreement with the observed transfer rates in well defined model systems to DNA. Using previously published results as a reference for the reorganization energy and with the delocalization described within the Hückel model we obtain an excellent agreement with experimental data.
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| 3. |
- Jakobsson, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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Hole mobility and transport mechanisms in lambda-DNA
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of Chemical Physics. - : AIP Publishing. - 0021-9606 .- 1089-7690. ; 131:15, s. 155102-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have performed a study of charge transport in lambda-DNA using a recently developed model based on Marcus theory and dynamic Monte Carlo simulations. The model accounts for charge delocalization over multiple adjacent identical nucleobases. Such delocalized states are found to act as traps for charge transport and therefore have a negative impact on the charge carrier (hole) mobility. Both the electric field and temperature dependence of the mobility in lambda-DNA is reported in this paper. Furthermore, the detailed information produced by the simulation allow us to plot the progress of a hole propagating through the DNA sequence and this is used to identify the bottlenecks that limits the charge transport process.
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| 4. |
- Jakobsson, Mattias, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Monte Carlo simulations of charge transport in organic systems with true off-diagonal disorder
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Chemical Physics. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 0021-9606 .- 1089-7690. ; 137:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this work, a novel method to model off-diagonal disorder in organic materials has been developed. The off-diagonal disorder is taken directly from the geometry of the system, which includes both a distance and an orientational dependence on the constituent molecules, and does not rely on a parametric random distribution. To study this method, a system is generated by running molecular dynamics simulations on phenylene-vinylene oligomers packed into boxes. The impact of the model is then investigated by means of Monte Carlo simulations of the charge transport in these boxes and a comparison is made to the commonly used model of off-diagonal disorder, where only the distance dependence is properly accounted for. It is shown that this new model has a significant impact on the charge transport, while still being compliant with previously published and confirmed results.
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| 5. |
- Jakobsson, Mattias, 1981-
(författare)
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Monte Carlo Studies of Charge Transport Below the Mobility Edge
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Charge transport below the mobility edge, where the charge carriers are hopping between localized electronic states, is the dominant charge transport mechanism in a wide range of disordered materials. This type of incoherent charge transport is fundamentally different from the coherent charge transport in ordered crystalline materials. With the advent of organic electronics, where small organic molecules or polymers replace traditional inorganic semiconductors, the interest for this type of hopping charge transport has increased greatly. The work documented in this thesis has been dedicated to the understanding of this charge transport below the mobility edge.While analytical solutions exist for the transport coefficients in several simplified models of hopping charge transport, no analytical solutions yet exist that can describe these coefficients in most real systems. Due to this, Monte Carlo simulations, sometimes described as ideal experiments performed by computers, have been extensively used in this work.A particularly interesting organic system is deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Besides its overwhelming biological importance, DNA’s recognition and self-assembly properties have made it an interesting candidate as a molecular wire in the field of molecular electronics. In this work, it is shown that incoherent hopping and the Nobel prize-awarded Marcus theory can be used to describe the results of experimental studies on DNA. Furthermore, using this experimentally verified model, predictions of the bottlenecks in DNA conduction are made.The second part of this work concerns charge transport in conjugated polymers, the flagship of organic materials with respect to processability. It is shown that polaronic effects, accounted for by Marcus theory but not by the more commonly used Miller-Abrahams theory, can be very important for the charge transport process. A significant step is also taken in the modeling of the off-diagonal disorder in organic systems. By taking the geometry of the system from large-scale molecular dynamics simulations and calculating the electronic transfer integrals using Mulliken theory, the off-diagonal disorder is for the first time modeled directly from theory without the need for an assumed parametric random distribution.
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| 6. |
- Jakobsson, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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Polaron effects and electric field dependence of the charge carrier mobility in conjugated polymers
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Chemical Physics. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 0021-9606 .- 1089-7690. ; 135:13, s. 134902-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Charge transport in conjugated polymers has been investigated using Monte Carlo simulations implemented on top of the Marcus theory for donor-acceptor transition rates. In particular, polaron effects and the dependency of the mobility on the temperature and the applied electric field have been studied. The conclusions are that while the qualitative temperature dependence is similar to that predicted by Miller-Abrahams theory in the Gaussian disorder model (GDM), the electric field dependence is characterized by a crossover into the Marcus inverted region, not present in the GDM. Furthermore, available analytical approximations to describe the electric field dependence of the mobility in Marcus theory fail to fit the simulation data and hence cannot be used to directly draw conclusions about the importance of polaron effects for charge transport in conjugated polymers.
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| 7. |
- Olofsson, Martin, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Eyespot display in the peacock butterfly triggers antipredator behaviors in naive adult fowl
- 2013
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Ingår i: Behavioral Ecology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1045-2249 .- 1465-7279. ; 24:1, s. 305-310
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large conspicuous eyespots have evolved in multiple taxa and presumably function to thwart predator attacks. Traditionally, large eyespots were thought to discourage predator attacks because they mimicked eyes of the predators' own predators. However, this idea is controversial and the intimidating properties of eyespots have recently been suggested to Amply be a consequence of their conspicuousness. Some lepidopteran species include large eyespots in their antipredation repertoire. In the peacock butterfly, Mathis io, eyespots are typically hidden during rest and suddenly exposed by the butterfly when disturbed. Previous experiments have shown that small wild passerines are intimidated by this display. Here, we test whether eyespots also intimidate a considerably larger bird, domestic fowl, Gallus gallus domesticus, by staging interactions between birds and peacock butterflies that were sham-painted or had their eyespots painted oven Our results show that birds typically fled when peacock butterflies performed their display regardless of whether eyespots were visible or painted over. However, birds confronting butterflies with visible eyespots delayed their return to the butterfly, were more vigilant, and more likely to utter alarm calls associated with detection of ground-based predators, compared with birds confronting butterflies with eyespots painted over. Because production of alarm calls and increased vigilance are antipredation behaviors in the fowl, their reaction suggests that eyespots may elicit fear rather than just an aversion to conspicuous patterns. Our results, therefore, suggest that predators perceive large lepidopteran eyespots as belonging to the eyes of a potential predator.
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| 8. |
- Pizzari, Tommaso, et al.
(författare)
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Sophisticated sperm allocation in male fowl
- 2003
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 426:6962, s. 70-74
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- When a female is sexually promiscuous, the ejaculates of different males compete for the fertilization of her eggs; the more sperm a male inseminates into a female, the more likely he is to fertilize her eggs. Because sperm production is limited and costly, theory predicts that males will strategically allocate sperm (1) according to female promiscuity, (2) saving some for copulations with new females, and (3) to females producing more and/or better offspring. Whether males allocate sperm in all of these ways is not known, particularly in birds where the collection of natural ejaculates only recently became possible. Here we demonstrate male sperm allocation of unprecedented sophistication in the fowl Gallus gallus. Males show status-dependent sperm investment in females according to the level of female promiscuity; they progressively reduce sperm investment in a particular female but, on encountering a new female, instantaneously increase their sperm investment; and they preferentially allocate sperm to females with large sexual ornaments signalling superior maternal investment. Our results indicate that female promiscuity leads to the evolution of sophisticated male sexual behaviour.
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| 9. |
- Stratelis, Georgios, et al.
(författare)
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High prevalence of emphysema and its association with BMI : A study of smokers with normal spirometry
- 2008
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0281-3432 .- 1502-7724. ; 26:4, s. 241-247
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: To evaluate to what extent emphysema was evident, as identified by High Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT), in smokers with normal lung function and to relate age, gender, smoking history, and body mass index (BMI) to the HRCT results. A secondary aim was to study to what extent emphysema was present in smokers with lower normal values of lung function defined as FEV1/FVC ratio percentage of predicted value (89-93% of predicted value for males and 90-93% for females) or FEF50 60% of predicted compared with smokers without this definition.Methods: Fifty-nine smokers, with a mean age of 53 years and with normal lung function, were examined with HRCT.Results: Emphysema evidenced visually by HRCT was present in 43% of the subjects. Using a 0-5 grade scale (0=normal finding; 5=emphysema in most slices), the degree of emphysema was almost exclusively 3-4. The type of emphysema was distributed as centrilobular emphysema predominant in 43.5%, paraseptal emphysema predominant in 43.5%, and as an equal mixture of these types in 13%. The presence of emphysema did not differ between the group of smokers with lower normal values of lung function and the rest of the smokers. Smokers with emphysema had significantly lower BMI than those devoid of emphysema, 24 and 27 respectively (p0.0011).Conclusion: There was a high occurrence of visual emphysema in middle-aged smokers with normal lung function. The densitometric quantitative analysis method is inadequate for detecting mild emphysema. High prevalence of emphysema was associated with low BMI.
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