PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to report an initial experience with the endovascular repair of descending thoracic aortic aneurysm. Complications and intermediate-term morphologic changes were identified with the intent of altering patient selection and device design. METHODS: Endografts were placed into 25 patients at high-risk for conventional surgical repair over a 3(1/2)-year period. D

Physical activity has been suggested to be one of the determinants of bone turnover and to prevent age-related bone loss. To examine this we measured the serum levels of osteocalcin (bone Gla-protein, BGP), C-terminal procollagen peptide (PICP), serum alkaline phosphatase, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, and S-calcium as indices of bone formation in 19 actively performing and 15 ex-lifters. Al

Moisture permeabilities (δv) of mature concrete and cement paste with water-cement ratio (w0/C) 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6 have been determined as functions of the relative humidity (RH). These δv can be used to calculate δv of the aggregates including the interfacial transition zone (ITZ). δv of granite has been preliminarily determined as a function of RH.

The adsorption of ethylene at 100 K on clean and oxygen precovered Pd(1 1 1) surfaces and the thermal evolution of the ethylene adsorbate layers have been investigated experimentally by high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS), high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy with synchrotron radiation, thermal desorption spectroscopy and theoretically by ab initio density functi

Recent studies have established distinctive serum polypeptide patterns through mass spectrometry (MS) that reportedly correlate with clinically relevant outcomes. Wider acceptance of these signatures as valid biomarkers for disease may follow sequence characterization of the components and elucidation of the mechanisms by which they are generated. Using a highly optimized peptide extraction and ma

To study the personality characteristics of adults with Asperger syndrome, and investigate the value of self-rating personality inventories, we administered the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) to 31 outpatients with Asperger syndrome.The TCI is a self-rating personality inventory that has been validated in the Swedish general population. The results were compared with age- and sex-matche

Breeding synchrony is hypothesised to influence the occurrence and frequency of extra-pair fertilisations (EPFs) in birds irrespective of the social mating system. The two proposed hypotheses make opposite predictions. (1) Synchronous breeding leads to a lower frequency of EPFs because males face a trade-off between mate guarding and obtaining additional matings via extra-pair copulations (EPCs) (

We have investigated the electronic structure of excitons in InP quantum dots in GaInP. The exciton is theoretically expected to have four states. Two of the states are allowed to optically decay to the ground ( vacuum) state in the dipole approximation. We see these two lines in photoluminescence (PL) experiments and find that the splitting between the lines ( the fine structure splitting) is 150

The cost of energy for drying paper is substantial for the pulp and paper industry, and studies of various strategies for energy cost reductions such as increased energy efficiency, increased heat recovery from the exhaust drying air and reduced cost of the process heat are presented in this thesis. The energy use and cost studies were performed using a block-model based simulation tool developed

Popular Abstract in Swedish Vårt immunsystem har utvecklats för att skydda våra vävnader och organ vid infektioner, cancerväxt och andra skador. Immunsystemet utgörs av en mängd olika celltyper som på olika sätt specifikt, främst genom uttryck av receptorer på cellytan, reagerar på främmande strukturer, från t ex patogener eller tumör celler eller andra substanser som signalerar stress eller fara.This thesis is based on three original papers with the overall aim to study the mechanisms of induction and function of Foxp3+CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells. Regulatory T cells induce down-modulation of costimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86 on dendritic cells in vitro. In the first study we further show that the extent of down-modulation is functionally significant since regulatory T cell condition