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Parasites and infectious diseases represent ecological forces shaping animal social evolution. Although empirical studies supporting this link abound in various vertebrate orders, both the study of the dynamics and impact of parasite infections and infectious diseases in strepsirrhine primates have received little empirical attention. We conducted a longitudinal parasitological study on four group

Animals with color vision use color information in intra- and interspecific communication, which in turn may drive the evolution of conspicuous colored body traits via natural and sexual selection. A recent study found that the transparent wings of small flies and wasps in lower-reflectance light environments display vivid and stable structural color patterns, called "wing interference patterns" (

Pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of the South American straw material Paja Brava were investigated. Suitable process conditions for an SO(2)-catalyzed steam pretreatment of the material were determined and assessed by enzymatic digestibility of obtained fiber slurries for 72h at a water insoluble solids (WIS) content of 2%. The best pretre

Background: The risk of venous tromboembolism (VTE) in women taking combined oral contraceptives (COCs) is attributed to changes in coagulation and fibrinolysis. The impact of the COCs may be greater in women with preexisting thrombophilic defects. Nevertheless most women who suffer from venous thrombosis do not have any of the well known hereditary or acquired risk factors. A simple and sensitive

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is an archetypical multifactorial disorder that is influenced by genetic susceptibility as well as both modifiable and nonmodifiable risk factors, and their interactions. Advances during recent years in the field of multifactorial genetics, in particular genomewide association studies (GWASs) and their meta-analyses, have provided the statistical power to identify and

In this thesis, the biochemical mechanisms for complement activation by endogenous proteins are explored. The short leucine-rich repeat proteins (SLRPs) help organise extracellular matrices. We found that several SLRPs bind C1q and of these, fibromodulin and osteoadherin trigger complement. These two glycoproteins also bind the complement regulator factor H (FH). Our findings may have implication

Malignant brain tumors present a major therapeutic challenge because no selective or efficient treatment is available. Here, we demonstrate that intratumoral administration of human α-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells (HAMLET) prolongs survival in a human glioblastoma (GBM) xenograft model, by selective induction of tumor cell apoptosis. HAMLET is a protein-lipid complex that is formed from α

Popular Abstract in Swedish Stroke (slaganfall) orsakas av en propp i hjärnan eller av en hjärnblödning, som hindrar blodflödet till hjärnan. Eftersom hjärnan är beroende av konstant tillförsel av syre och glykos från blodet för sin funktion, leder en blockering av blodflödet till hjärnskador. Stroke är den tredje vanligaste dödsorsaken i västvärlden och den vanligatse orsaken till handikapp hos vStroke is caused by an obstruction of blood flow to a part of the brain, resulting in brain damage. Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the industrialized world, and the primary cause of adult-onset disability. There is a spontaneous recovery of function after stroke but several factors, such as the environment can influence the speed and extent of this recovery. This thesis deals wi

Combining nutritional supplements to achieve synergistic benefit is a common practice in the nutraceutical industry. However, establishing. added health benefit from a combination of natural ingredients is often assumed, untested and without regard to the principle of metabolic competition between the active components. Here, we report on the combination of a cat's claw water extract (C-Med-100, c

Osteoprotegerin (OPG), a secreted member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor family, is a potent inhibitor of osteoclast activation and differentiation. In animal models OPG prevents bone loss, and in humans bone resorption can be reduced by injections of OPG. OPG may also play a role in cardiovascular disease since mice lacking the OPG gene display arterial calcification. In a screening effort

Papers from a conference in Lund, Sweden. The title of the conference was "What's new in the Neolithic". The book brings together the latest research on the Neolithic of northern Europe. In the study of the distant human past, certain events and periods have come to represent decisive passages from one human state to another. From a global perspective, the characteristic feature of the last ten t

In this paper, we introduce two computer simulation models to study molecular exchange between aggregates in a colloidal dispersion. The Brownian motion of the colloidal aggregates is simulated as a random walk with a Gaussian distributed step length. In model I, the exchanging molecules are simulated as discrete particles with the exchange process characterized by desorption, molecular diffusion,