Background. The objectives of this report are to evaluate changes in the preterm birth rate in Sweden 1973-2001. Furthermore, describe the proportion of spontaneous and indicated preterm births and assess risk factors for the subgroups of preterm birth during the period from 1991 to 2001. Methods. A population-based register study of all births occurring in Sweden from 1973 to 2001 registered in t

Background: Although patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are advised to stop interferon (IFN) beta-1a therapy before becoming pregnant, some patients become pregnant while on treatment. Methods: We examined individual patient data from eight clinical trials with IFN beta-1a. Results: Of 3,361 women in the studies, 69 pregnancies were reported, of which 41 were patients receiving (or who had stop

We present a method for the classification of all weak travelling-wave solutions for some dispersive nonlinear wave equations. When applied to the Camassa-Holm or the Degasperis-Procesi equation, the approach shows the existence of not only smooth, peaked and cusped travelling-wave solutions, but also more exotic solutions with fractal-like wave profiles.

The work presented in this thesis focuses on developing methods of measuring moisture properties at high moisture levels. Paper I deal with a new method of measuring moisture diffusivity at high moisture levels. Papers II to IV present methods of measuring moisture storage capacity as well as results from such measurements. Paper V evaluates the use of thermal imaging to measure transient moisture

Recent studies have established that the immune system plays an important role in the development of atherosclerosis. However, its role in regulating the arterial response to mechanical injury is less well studied. Arterial injury is associated with local accumulation of antibodies, and mice lacking functional T and B cells exhibit increased neointima formation, indicating that adaptive immune res

The main purpose of this dissertation is to see how proponents of diaconia justified the establishment of three Swedish diaconal institutions: Diaconissanstalten 1851 (The Institution for Deaconesses, Stockholm, now Ersta diakonissällskap/Ersta Association for Diaconal Work), Stockholms Stadsmission 1853 (The Stockholm City Mission) and Svenska Diakonanstalten 1898 (The Swedish institution for Dea

[abstract missing]

This thesis treats analysis and design of piecewise linear control systems. Piecewise linear systems capture many of the most common nonlinearities in engineering systems, and they can also be used for approximation of other nonlinear systems. Several aspects of linear systems with quadratic constraints are generalized to piecewise linear systems with piecewise quadratic constraints. It is shown h

We propose a new kind of two-parameter (p, q)-deformed Heisenberg and parabose algebra, which reduces to the Heisenberg algebra for the p = 1 case and to parabose algebra for q = -1 case. Corresponding to the two-parameter deformed oscillator, we also introduce a new kind of (p, q)-deformed derivative which relates to the ordinary derivative and q-deformed derivative in an explicit manner. We stud

I syfte att utveckla en ny provningsmetod för golvmaterial/system på betong beträffande fläkningskraft, relativ fuktighet och emissioner av organiska ämnen studerades 60 provkroppar. Provkroppen, tre identiskt lika av vardera i syfte att studera noggrannheten, byggdes upp som ett verkligt golv inuti en stålform (standard ventilationsdelar i stål - lock och fläns) vilken satt kvar under hela testpe

1 This study examines the importance of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in upregulation of endothelin type B (ETB) receptors. 2 Rat middle cerebral arteries (MCAs) were incubated for 24 h with or without kinase inhibitors. Vessel segments were mounted in myographs and the contractile responses to endothelin-1 (ET-1; ETA and ETB receptor agonist) and sarafotoxin 6c (S6c; ETB receptor agon

Excited states in Ar-38 have been investigated by means of the heavy-ion fusion-evaporation reaction Si-28 +O-16. The level scheme reveals a subtle interplay between spherical, deformed, and superdeformed shapes. Large-scale shell-model calculations in the sd-fp space are invoked to study the microscopic aspects of deformation and shape changes.

Stacked stromatoporoid-dominated biostromes of the Ludlow-age Hemse Group (Silurian) in eastern Gotland, Sweden, are 0.5-5 m thick and a few tens of metres to >1 km in lateral extent. They form one of the world's richest Palaeozoic stromatoporoid deposits. This study compiles published and new data to provide an overall facies model for these biostromes, which is assessed in relation to possible m

Abstract Partitioning in aqueous polymer two-phase systems of polyethylene glycol and dextran was used to detect and compare cell-surface charge and cell-surface hydrophobicity of Aeromonas hydrophila, A. caviae, A. sobria, Vibrio cholerae, and V. anguillarum strains. These strains have cell-surface components that bound either native or thermally denatured type I collagen (i.e., a mixture of the

Health-health analysis (HHA) focuses on statistical lives themselves as a numeraire. The underlying principle is that the expected gains in health and safety of reduced risks in one area may result in increasing risks somewhere else in society. By reducing one risk other risks may increase due to changed individual behaviour. In addition to this direct effect, another indirect effect will also be