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Graves' disease (GD) is a complex autoimmune disorder characterized by hyperthyroidism and diffuse goitre. 25-50% of the patients with GD develop eye symptoms, Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO). The overall aim of this thesis was to explore the molecular etiology of GD and GO. By studying gene expression in Studies I, III, and IV, we demonstrated that adipocyte-related immediate early genes (IEGs) incl
Background: The social environment in which children grow up is closely associated with their health. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between maternal educational level, parental preventive behavior, parental risk behavior, social support, and use of medical care in small children in Malmo, Sweden. We also wanted to investigate whether potential differences in child medic
We present a theory for a mesoscopic turnstile that produces spatially separated streams of electrons and holes along edge states in the quantum Hall regime. For a broad range of frequencies in the nonadiabatic regime the turnstile operation is found to be ideal, producing one electron and one hole per cycle. The accuracy of the turnstile operation is characterized by the fluctuations of the trans
Two-dimensional spectroscopy has recently revealed the oscillatory behavior of the excitation dynamics of molecular systems. However, in the majority of cases there is considerable debate over what is actually being observed: excitonic or vibrational wavepacket motion or evidence of quantum transport. In this letter we present a method for distinguishing between vibrational and excitonic wavepacke
Addition of surfactants to aqueous solutions of polyelectrolytes carrying an opposite charge causes the spontaneous formation of complexes in the bulk phase in certain concentration ranges. Under some conditions, compact monodisperse multichain complexes are obtained in the bulk. The size of these complexes depends on the mixing procedure and it can be varied in a controlled way from nanometers up
The performance of hybrid solar cells composed of polymer and ZnO is mainly hindered by the defects of ZnO. Here, we investigate the effects of ZnO nanoparticle surface modification with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) on the performance of bulk heterojunction hybrid solar cells based on poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV) and ZnO nanoparticles. The reference device us
This paper presents diagnostic criteria for Menière's disease jointly formulated by the Classification Committee of the Bárány Society, The Japan Society for Equilibrium Research, the European Academy of Otology and Neurotology (EAONO), the Equilibrium Committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) and the Korean Balance Society. The classification includes 2 c
Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is the most common cause of acute renal failure in children in the western world. HUS is characterized by the triad of hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia and renal failure. There are two main subtypes of HUS; typical or D+ (D stands for diarrhea) HUS associated with enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) infection, which accounts for about 90% of all HUS cases, and atypic
The purpose of this overview paper, which can be viewed as a supplement to our previous review on quantum rings [S. Viefers et al., Physica E 21 (2004), 1-35), is to highlight the differences of boson and fermion systems in one-dimensional (1D) and quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) quantum rings. In particular this involves comparing their many-body spectra and other properties, in various regimes and m
Quantum dots are nanoscopic systems, where carriers are confined in all three spatial directions. Such nanoscopic systems are suitable for fundamental studies of quantum mechanics and are candidates for applications such as quantum information processing. It was also proposed that linear arrangements of quantum dots could be used as quantum cascade laser. In this work we study the impact of electr
Chlorosomes are light-harvesting antennae that enable exceptionally efficient light energy capture and excitation transfer. They are found in certain photosynthetic bacteria, some of which live in extremely low-light environments. In this work, chlorosomes from the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum were studied by coherent electronic two-dimensional (2D) spectroscopy. Previously unchara
Previously was found that sonography is a reliable method to measure a capsular distance in total hip arthroplasty hips. The aim of our current study was to investigate the relation between the implanted size of the cup and the anterior capsular distance, as measured with ultrasound one year after THA.
Background: Orthograde percutaneous isolated hepatic perfusion (IHP) techniques using balloon occlusion catheters are relatively simple and facilitate repeated therapy, but they result in higher rates of leakage from the perfusion circuit into the systemic circulation. Therefore, a feasible protocol for percutaneous IHP with less leakage is required. Purpose: To investigate hemodynamic changes in
Plate-like particles of SBA-15 form from smaller units (primary particles) that aggregate in an oriented manner. In this report we influence this aggregation by adding salt to the ongoing synthesis, generating well-ordered hexagonal p6m structure (SBA-15), with varying particle diameters. The additions, with either NaCl or NaI, were made at a time corresponding to the onset of oriented aggregation
Background: Meniscus extrusion or hypertrophy may occur in knee osteoarthritis (OA). However, currently no data are available on the position and size of the meniscus in asymptomatic men and women with normal meniscus integrity. Methods: Three-dimensional coronal DESSwe MRIs were used to segment and quantitatively measure the size and position of the medial and lateral menisci, and their correlati
For a system with interacting quantum mechanical particles in a one-dimensional harmonic oscillator, a trial wavefunction with simple structure based on the solution of the corresponding two-particle system is suggested and tested numerically.With the inclusion of a scaling parameter for the distance between particles, at least for the very small systems tested here the ansatz gives a very good es
Solar cells based on conjugated polymer and fullerene blends have been developed as a low-cost alternative to silicon. For efficient solar cells, electron-hole pairs must separate into free mobile charges that can be extracted in high yield. We still lack good understanding of how, why and when carriers separate against the Coulomb attraction. Here we visualize the charge separation process in bul
A molecular level understanding of the structural reorganization accompanying interfacial electron transfer is important for rational design of solar cells. Here we have applied XTA (X-ray transient absorption) spectroscopy to study transient structures in a heterogeneous interfacial system mimicking the charge separation process in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) with Ru(dcbpy)(2)(NCS)(2) (RuN3)
