Real-time PCR detection of Human Herpesvirus 1-5 in patients lacking clinical signs of a viral CNS infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Infections of the central nervous system (CNS) with herpes- or enterovirus can be self-limiting and benign, but occasionally result in severe and fatal disease. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has revolutionized the diagnostics of viral pathogens, and by multiple displacement amplification (MDA) prior to real-time PCR the sensitivity might be further enhanced. The aim of this study was to investigate if herpes- or enterovirus can be detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients without symptoms.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 373 patients lacking typical symptoms of viral CNS infection were analysed by real-time PCR targeting herpesviruses or enteroviruses with or without prior MDA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In total, virus was detected in 17 patients (4%). Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was most commonly detected, in general from patients with other conditions (e.g. infections, cerebral hemorrhage). MDA satisfactorily amplified viral DNA in the absence of human nucleic acids, but showed poor amplification capacity for viral DNA in CSF samples, and did not increase the sensitivity for herpes virus-detection with our methodology.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Viral pathogens are rarely detected in CSF from patients without signs of CNS infection, supporting the view that real-time PCR is a highly specific method to detect symptomatic CNS-infection caused by these viruses. However, EBV may be subclinically reactivated due to other pathological conditions in the CNS.</p

Utvärdering av differential-algebraiska elimineringsmetoder för att beräkna konsistensrelationer från en dieselmotor

New emission legislations introduced in the European Union and the U.S. have made truck manufacturers face stricter requirements for low emissions and on-board diagnostic systems. The on-board diagnostic system typically consists of several tests that are run when the truck is driving. One way to construct such tests is to use so called consistency relations. A consistency relation is a relation with known variables that in the fault free case always holds. Calculation of a consistency relation typically involves eliminating unknown variables from a set of equations. To eliminate variables from a differential polynomial system, methods from differential algebra can be used. In this thesis, the purely algebraic Gröbner basis algorithm and the differential Rosenfeld-Gröbner algorithm implemented in the Maple package Diffalg have been compared and evaluated. The conclusion drawn is that there are no significant differences between the methods. However, since using Gröbner basis requires differentiations to be made in advance, the recommendation is to use the Rosenfeld-Gröbner algorithm. Further, attempts to calculate consistency relations using the Rosenfeld-Gröbner algorithm have been made to a real application, a model of a Scania diesel engine. These attempts did not yield any successful results. It was only possible to calculate one consistency relation. This can be explained by the high complexity of the model

"Det är ett hyfsat viktigt arbete vi har! : En kvalitativ studie av 1985 samt 2010 års skollag med fokus på rektorsrollen

Detta examensarbete syftar till att beskriva 1985 samt 2010 års skollag och vadkommunala rektorer anser om den nya skollagen. Utgångspunkten har var varit att utifrånen kvalitativ textanalys redogöra för de båda lagtexternas explicita rektorsregleringar samt,utifrån en enkätstudie, undersöka rektorernas uppfattningar om hur den nya lagensregleringar kan komma att påverka deras uppdrag.Lagtexterna skiljer sig åt beaktansvärt. Från att endast benämna rektor som skolansledare och som ansvarig för skolverksamhetens utveckling, till ramar där rektors ansvaroch befogenheter i detalj tydligt framhävs. Utifrån en läroplansteoretisk ansats analyserasförändringarna i den nya lagen. Resultaten visar att staten detaljstyr rektor i större mån iden nya skollagen. Rektors handlingsutrymme kan därmed upplevas mer begränsat än i1985 års skollag. Enkätsvaren visar tudelade åsikter där resonemang om kommun, stat,ansvarsfördelning samt det pedagogiska ledarskapet förs

Nasal vaccination using novel mucosal adjuvants : with main focus on influenza A virus

Influenza viruses have sporadically caused pandemics during the last century, with the most severe occurring in 1918 when the “Spanish flu”, an A/H1N1 influenza virus, passed around the globe killing about 20-100 million people. Today 250 000-500 000 deaths occur annually due to influenza virus or secondary infection after influenza, e.g. pneumonia. Influenza viruses cause severe infections in susceptible age groups like children and elderly and in individuals with impaired immune response due to other medical conditions. The best way to prevent an influenza epidemic is by vaccination. Since the 1950´s we have vaccines against seasonal flu, but vaccine efficacy is not 100 % and there is a need to develop better and more effective vaccines, especially for the risk groups. Since the virus enters the host through the nasal cavity, nasal vaccination is a good approach. By stimulating a mucosal immune response already in the nasal cavity, the goal with nasal vaccination is to stop the virus before it enters the host. Nasal vaccination also reduces the risk of transmission of blood-borne diseases, and is less painful and easier to administer, compared to injectable vaccines. In order to be able to use less immunogenic antigens, like split and subunit antigens, as nasal vaccine components, an adjuvant is needed to enhance the immune response. At the moment there is no licensed mucosal adjuvant for human use. Several studies are ongoing, but it is a complicated and long way to reach the market. In this thesis nasal vaccination with influenza antigen together with the mucosal adjuvant Endocine™ and other mucosal adjuvants has been evaluated. The Endocine™ adjuvant has been shown to be safe and well tolerated in clinical trials. Depending on the pathogen of interest, different approaches are necessary. For HIV, DNA-vaccination has been evaluated together with a plasmid encoding Salmonella typhimurium flagellin C and the mucosal adjuvant N3. The results found in paper I-IV show that by adding adjuvant to the antigen enhances the protective immune response towards the antigen. Enhanced systemic, mucosal and cell-mediated immunity were observed. Hopefully in the future these adjuvants evaluated in this thesis, will be used in vaccines for humans

"Good girls" : - High performing women´s choice of identity and career

The “good girl” is today an accepted and widespread notion. It is delimited to young girls and women who are characterised to be, for example, ambitious, high performing, working too much and risks developing mental illnesses. In today’s society women are assumed to pursue their career alongside maintaining the main responsibility for the household and family. The overarching purpose of this study has been – via a hermeneutic approach and based on the theory of symbolic interactionism – to elucidate and contribute knowledge to the social role of being a “good girl” and the associated implications for a woman’s identity and career. The aim has moreover been to address the differences between the two groups of respondents: women born in the 1980s and women born in the 1960s.The study is based on six individual semi structured interviews and two group interviews. The purpose is to gain a deeper understanding of and, thereby, a better interpretation of the phenomena of “good girls”. The interviews were conducted on a sample suited to the purpose, where the younger group of respondents will have studied at least three years at the university before graduating. The older groups of respondents have studied at least four years at an academic level before taking up employment. The results show that all respondents are characterised by ambitious identities, which create conflicts between, on the one hand, how they perceive themselves and, on the one hand, how others expect them to act

Direkt och indirekt mobbning på högstadiet och gymnasiet : könsskillnader och tillvägagångsstrategier

D. J. Pepler et al. (2006) fann en högre benägenhet att utsätta andra för mobbning på gymnasiet än på högstadiet till skillnad från T. R. Nansel et al. (2001) som fann motsatta resultat. Studien undersökte, med hjälp av enkäter, om högstadieelever och gymnasieelever skiljde sig i tillvägagångssätt och upplevelse av mobbning, samt skillnader i medvetenhet om skolans mobbningsprevention. Vidare undersöktes könsskillnader och elevers inställning till skolan. Resultatet visade att högstadieelever upplever sig mer utsatta för mobbning. Pojkar upplevde både att de utsattes och utsatte andra för mer direkt mobbning än flickor. Högstadieelever var mer medvetna om att det fanns anti-mobbningsgrupper på skolan. Detta kunde bero på att gymnasieelever ansågs kunna ta hand om sin situation och söka hjälp själva