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The aim of this dissertation is to examine how differences in socioeconomic status, race and place of residence interact with infant and child mortality in Colombia over the period 1967-2010. One of the reasons why the study focuses on infant and child mortality is that the living conditions of children are outside their control, and therefore a good measure of inequality of opportunity. This stud
Planning for future energy-efficient and energy-producing buildings requires specific knowledge during the design process. Many design decisions taken by urban planners –form, density, roof type and orientation – have a significant effect on the conditions of such buildings, although urban planners might not always be aware of the effect of their design. This study examines the effects of importan
The phase behavior of systems containing minimum amounts of sodium bis (2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate with equimolar ratio of tetra ethyl ammonium chloride were studied as a function of salt concentration and alkane carbon number at ambient temperature. Visual inspection as well as cross polarizers were used to detect anisotropy. Solubilization ratios for oil and brine in the middle phases were mea
The use of ground-source heat pumps for heating buildings and domestic hot water in dwellings is increasing rapidly in Sweden. The heat pump extracts heat from the ground by a U-pipe in a vertical borehole. In order to reduce the electricity demand in the system, the combination with solar collectors is introduced. This system may be designed in many ways and the advantages differ a lot. Solar hea
Low bone volume and changes in bone quality or microarchitecture may predispose individuals to fragility fractures. As the dominant component of the human skeleton, cortical bone plays a key role in protecting bones from fracture. However, histological investigations of the underlying structural changes, which might predispose to fracture, have been largely limited to the cancellous bone. The aim
People have become more and more mobile as a result of advancements in wireless communications technologies. The mobile phone as an enabler of this increased mobility has become an ever more important part of our society but comparatively little research has been done concerning mobile services at the organisational level as opposed to the individual level. With our study we wish to contribute to
Objective. A low tidal volume can induce alveolar derecruitment in patients with acute lung injury. This study was undertaken to evaluate whether this resulted mainly from the decrease in tidal volume per se or from the reduction in end-inspiratory plateau pressure and whether there is any benefit in raising the level of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) while plateau pressure is kept consta
All natural populations fluctuate in abundance and age structure through time; understanding why they do so is a critical step towards their effective management and conservation. However, the long-term data sets needed for such an understanding are rarely available, especially for tropical organisms. A 17-year capture-mark–recapture study yielded detailed information on the demography of water py
Diabetes is caused by an absolute (type 1) or relative (type 2) deficiency of insulin-producing beta cells. We have disrupted expression of the mitochondrial protein frataxin selectively in pancreatic beta cells. Mice were born healthy but subsequently developed impaired glucose tolerance progressing to overt diabetes mellitus. These observations were explained by impairment of insulin secretion d
Addressing unsustainable consumption patterns is an important target for fulfilling the goals set in, among others, Agenda 21 and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Gender differences in consumption patterns and their environmental impact have so far been poorly investigated. Gender differences in travelling patterns in Sweden are explored using data from the National Tra
The possibilities for implementing a rainwater collection system in Ringdansen, a residential area in Norrkoping, Sweden, have been explored by analysing four scenarios for using rainwater in a dual water supply system to supplement drinking water. A computer model has been generated to quantify the water saving potential of the rainwater collection scheme. The performance of the rainwater system
The influence of the auxotrophic deficiencies of the host strain and expression vector selection on the production of a heterologous protein was investigated. Heterologous xylanase production by two prototrophic S. cerevisiae transformants, containing either a plasmid-based, YEp-type expression system or an integrative, YIp-type expression system, were compared with production by an auxotrophic tr
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a clinically heterogeneous disease with no known single predisposing genetic factor shown in all cases. Recently, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) T393C in the GNAS1 gene has been reported to have a clinical impact on CLL progression and overall survival. In order to further investigate the T393C SNP in CLL, we have genotyped 279 CLL cases and correlated
A distinctive feature of BRCA1-linked breast cancers is that they typically do not express estrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha). Previous investigation suggests that methylation of CpGs within the ERa promoter mediates repression of gene expression in some ERalpha-negative breast cancers. To determine if methylation of CpGs within the ERalpha promoter is associated with BRCA1-linked breast cancers, w
Background: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is still one of the severe diseases, that cause the development of multiple organ dysfunction with a high mortality. Effective therapies for AP are still limited, mainly due to unclear mechanisms by which A-P initiates both pancreatic and extrapancreatic organ injury. Methods: Protease inhibitors (aprotinin, pefabloc, trypsin inhibitor) and PKC inhibitors (polym
Exposure to hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) has consistently been associated with an increased incidence of breast cancer, particularly of small tumours. Other tumour characteristics in relation to HRT have received less scientific attention. Our aim in this population-based prospective cohort study was to assess whether HRT is associated with an increased incidence of breast-cancer subgroups de
Objective To establish whether reinstitutionalisation is occurring in mental health care mid, if so, with What variations between Western European countries. Design Comparison of data on changes in service provision. Setting Six European countries with different traditions of mental health care that have all experienced deinstitutionalisation since the 1970s - England, Germany, Italy, the Netherla
This paper presents a rigorous time-variant analysis of the 1/f MOS device noise upconversion into 1/f^3 phase noise for two of the most popular parallel-coupled quadrature CMOS harmonic oscillators. Simple closed-form equations for the fundamental 1/f^3 phase-noise spectrum are derived and validated through SpectreRF simulations, proving that the two topologies display remarkably different sensit
