Aim: Little is known on the possible existence of socioeconomic and geographical differences in early coeliac disease (CD) risk. Therefore, we investigated these aspects in children before age two. Methods: Linking the Swedish Medical Birth Registry to several other national registries, we identified all singletons born in Sweden from 1987 to 1993 (n = 792 401) and followed them until 2 years of a

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

National laws and regulations on service delivery systems (SDS) for assistive technology (AT) in Europe aim to support the activity and participation of people with disabilities. The aim of this paper was to study similarities and differences in the SDS for AT of one Eastern and one Western EU member state. The legislation and regulations, and their operationalization were described from the persp

Magnetoreception has been demonstrated in all five vertebrate classes. In rodents, nest building experiments have shown the use of magnetic cues by two families of molerats, Siberian hamsters and C57BL/6 mice. However, assays widely used to study rodent spatial cognition (e.g. water maze, radial arm maze) have failed to provide evidence for the use of magnetic cues. Here we show that C57BL/6 mice

A tradeoff between immune response and life history traits, in particular growth rate, has been documented in various bird species. Ostriches are fast-growing birds and a typical feature of cohorts is that offspring often differ greatly in size. We investigated the relationship between hatching date and growth rate of chicks and both cell-mediated (measured using a phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) inject

This thesis comprises four articles and a summarizing text. The articles build on three sets of data regarding various aspects of the teaching profession. One objective is to illustrate and discuss what may make teaching appear to be a complex and intensive profession, as well as what conditions are necessary to make the relationship between teachers and pupils appear to be characterized by asymm

Network formation of graphene oxide (GO) nanoplatelets was held accountable for the modification of the rheological properties of nanocomposites based on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB). The nanocomposites were prepared by a casting procedure from the green solvent γ-butyrolactone. The nature of the GO network and percolation limits were analyzed by making use of the molar mass reduction of PHB that

This paper examines the emergence and features of new therapeutic and coaching practices in contemporary Sweden, offering to the individual therapy or coaching in order to find his or her “inner potential” as a means to achieve health, self-realization and success in life as well as in work. This focus on the inner self and the formation of a new, late modern selfhood demands new ritual creativity

Bone modeling and remodeling has been the subject of extensive experimental studies. There have been several mathematical models proposed to explain the observed behavior, as well. A different approach is taken here in which the bone is treated from a macroscopic view point. In this investigation, a one-dimensional analytical model is used to shed light on the factors which play the greatest role

The performance of different information criteria - namely Akaike, corrected Akaike (AICC), Schwarz Bayesian (SBC), and Hannan-Quinn - is investigated so as to choose the optimal lag length in stable and unstable vector autoregressive (VAR) models both when autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (ARCH) is present and when it is not. The investigation covers both large and small sample sizes

The aim of the work presented in this paper was to elaborate a framework of indicators to monitor sustainability of transport in Swedish cities. The framework covers Efficiency, Accessibility, Safety, Liveability, Emissions and Resource use. The individual indicators are structured in three levels of a hierarchical structure. The new thing with this framework and indicator list is that, it puts we

Until recently, the evolutionary relationships between marine and freshwater microbes were unclear, but the use of molecular phylogenies is beginning to shed light on this subject. An increasing amount of studies are showing that marine and freshwater microbes (including viruses) are usually not closely related, often grouping into distinct marine and freshwater phylogenetic clusters, similar to w

The pectin content in the soluble and insoluble fractions of fiber suspensions from carrot, potato pulp and apple heat treated in four different ways was determined together with the particle size distribution, water-holding capacity (WHC), morphology and rheological properties of the fiber suspensions. In the carrot and apple suspensions, where beta-elimination was favored, the soluble pectin inc

Former research indicates that the crack width close to the bar can be a better indicator for the risk for reinforcement corrosion than, as current concrete codes impose, the crack width at the concrete surface. In this paper a finite-element model is used to increase the understanding of how the crack width varies at different levels from the reinforcement and how different mechanisms control thi