Group B streptococcus (GBS) is a leading neonatal pathogen and a growing cause of invasive disease in the elderly, with clinical manifestations such as pneumonia and sepsis. Despite its clinical importance, little is known about innate immunity against GBS in humans. Here, we analyze the role of human group IIA secreted phospholipase A2 (sPLA2-IIA), a bactericidal enzyme induced during acute infla

In aqueous surfactant and lipid systems, different liquid crystalline phases are formed at different temperatures and water contents. The "natural" phase sequence implies that phases with higher curvature are formed at higher water contents. On the other hand, there are exceptions to this rule, such as the monoolein/water system. In this system an anomalous transition from lamellar to reverse cubi

In many species, population sex ratios have far-reaching consequences for a wide variety of population-level and behavioural processes and can directly influence sexual selection through differential effects on male and female mating behaviour. Although sex ratios are often treated as more or less stable population characteristics, recent theoretical evidence suggests that sex ratios fluctuate und

Kommentarer till nytryck av Axel Wallengrens essä "En studentkarneval" (ursprungligen tryckt i kalendern Nornan 1896).

Assembly and dynamics in multispecies communities have long attracted the interest of ecologists. Yet, the subject has been studied from two separate paradigmatic angles. One line of thinking has focussed on local communities and competitive exclusion in situations when species’ niches overlap too much (limiting similarity), and on mechanisms that could prevent competitive exclusion and thus ensur

We propose an event-based account of the cognitive and linguistic representation of time and temporal relations. Human beings differ from nonhuman animals in entertaining and communicating elaborate detached (as opposed to cued) event representations and temporal relational schemas. We distinguish deictically based (D-time) from sequentially based (S-time) representations, identifying these with t

In this paper a detailed investigation of the basis set convergence for the calculation of relativistic electron densities at the position of finite-sized atomic nuclei is presented. The development of Gauss-type basis sets for such electron densities is reported and the effect of different contraction schemes is studied. Results are then presented for picture-change corrected calculations based o

Obesity is heritable and predisposes to many diseases. To understand the genetic basis of obesity better, here we conduct a genome-wide association study and Metabochip meta-analysis of body mass index (BMI), a measure commonly used to define obesity and assess adiposity, in up to 339,224 individuals. This analysis identifies 97 BMI-associated loci (P < 5 × 10(-8)), 56 of which are novel. Five loc

Objective: To update estimates of cancer risk in SLE relative to the general population. Methods: A multisite international SLE cohort was linked with regional tumor registries. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated as the ratio of observed to expected cancers. Results: Across 30 centres, 16,409 patients were observed for 121,283 (average 7.4) person years. In total, 644 cancers occ

Popular Abstract in Swedish Denna avhandling behandlar hur elektromagnetiska vågor utbreder sig i olika material. Vanligtvis antar man i elektromagnetiska problem att materialen är linjära, det vill säga om man vet att man får en viss utsignal från materialet vid en given insignal, så förväntar man sig att få två gånger så stor utsignal om man fördubblar insignalen. I avhandlingen försöker vi klarThis thesis is concerned with the propagation of transient electromagnetic waves in nonlinear media. It consists of a General Introduction and five scientific papers. The General Introduction gives a broad overview of nonlinear electromagnetic phenomena. The emphasis is on the representation of the constitutive functional modeling the material's response to electromagnetic excitation, and the met

The study was aimed at investigating the conditions and circumstances for the recruitment of prostitutes, as well as their reproductive history, working conditions, knowledge of and attitudes to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and use of prophylactic antibiotic therapy of these diseases. Two hundred prostitutes were investigated by in-depth interviews at STD clinics, private practices and ho

Popular Abstract in Swedish Syftet med den här avhandlingen har varit att förstå hur grupper av vi och dom skapas och består, framför allt inom utbildning och skola, och särskilt inom gymnasiala Komvux. I vardagligt tal menar människor oftast att dom är invandrare, medan vi är svenskar. Jag har visat att denna uppdelning, som sker nästan automatiskt, är alltför förenklad och svart-vit. Ett undersyThis thesis, set in an educational context (Swedish Komvux, high school adult education), deals with how groups of us and them are constructed, changed and reproduced. In order to understand the processes of us and them I have looked at the interconnections between gender, ethnicity and class utilising participant observations and semi-structured interviews. The main theoretical points of departu

Popular Abstract in Swedish Utbredningen av besvär som attribueras till elektrisk utrustning respektive kemikalielukter och andra odörer är ännu ej till fullo fastställd. Vidare saknas kunskap om eventuella bakomliggande faktorer för dessa besvärs uppkomst. Syftet med avhandlingen var att undersöka utbredningen av besvär som attribueras till elektriska faktorer, kemikalier och lukter, samt undersSelf-reported annoyance from electrical equipment has been in evidence since the mid-eighties, and the first reports of illness from everyday chemicals arose already in the 1960?s. However, the extent of the problem or the mechanisms behind the development of environmentally related annoyance has not yet been fully established. Increased vulnerability to stress has been suggested to be a possible