The arctic fox Alopex lugopus excavates its dens in gravely ridges and hillocks, and creates a local environment quite distinct from the surrounding tundra or heath landscape. In northern Sweden, the vegetation of 18 dens of the arctic fox was investigated, as well as reference areas off the dens but in geologically and topographically similar locations. The species composition showed considerable

An algorithm for the detection and location of sudden bursts in water distribution networks combining both continuous monitoring of pressure and hydraulic transient computation is presented. The approach is designed for medium and large bursts that are the result of the sudden rupture of the pipe wall or other physical element in the network and are accompanied by the transient pressure wave that

The electronic structure of GaAs (100) grown by low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy was investigated by means of photoemission spectroscopy. Slight differences are found in the valence band spectra of GaAs layers grown at different As-2/Ga flux ratios. Analysis of As 3d core level spectra does not indicate qualitative differences in respect to high temperature grown GaAs (100) layers. The Ga 3d

The carrot psyllid (Trioza apicalis) is a serious pest in carrot-growing areas in northern and parts of central Europe. The psyllids overwinter as adults on conifers and during summer feed and lay eggs on carrot plants (Daucus carota ssp. sativus), thereby destroying the crop. To investigate the migratory capabilities and preferences for different shelter plant species of the carrot psyllid, we ma

Popular Abstract in Swedish Denna avhandling handlar om energieffektiva fönstersystem i svenska byggnader. Simuleringar av energianvändningen har gjorts för både småhus och kontor för att bedöma effekterna av olika fönsterval på energibehov och inneklimat. Två års mätningar av energianvändning och innetemperaturer för ett energisnålt radhus har utvärderats. Två beteendestudier har även genomförts This thesis deals with energy-efficient windows in Swedish buildings. Parametric studies were performed in the dynamic energy simulation tool Derob-LTH in order to study the effects of window choices on energy use and indoor climate for both residential and office buildings. A steady-state program was used to evaluate two years of measurements of energy use and indoor temperatures of an energy-eff

We used the Surface Force Apparatus (SFA) and ellipsometry techniques to study the interaction forces and the adsorption behavior of monoolein (MO), respectively. MO was adsorbed from water to a hydrophobised mica or silica surface. In addition the effect of added lipase, Thermomyces (Humicula) lanuginosa lipase (TLL), to an adsorbed layer of MO was investigated. The force versus distance curves b

Through ethnographic accounts and modern experiments it has been observed that careful heating of silica materials improves their flaking qualities. Using the scanning electron microscope, tests were carried out on a Mesolithic microblade, two Neolithic daggers, a Neolithic sickle and a Neolithic thick-butted axe, to determine if these objects had been heat treated prehistorically. Results indicat

The article argues that Java's conversion to Islam opened the door for a greater freedom for women with regard to definition as a legal person, including rights to property and unrestricted access to their offspring. This was, however, directly dependent upon how rigorously local society observed the rules found in the sunna and Koran.

Most AI planning heuristics are reachability heuristics, in the sense that they estimate the minimum plan length from the initial state to a search state. Such heuristics are best suited for use in regression state-space planners, since a progression planner would have to reconstruct the heuristic function at each new search state. However, some domains (or problem instances within a certain domai

This thesis consists of six parts in which methods for image analysis and processing are studied. Two-dimensional medical images, image sequences, and three-dimensional image volumes are considered. In the first part, the concept of optical flows (OF) is employed for restoring the contracting/expanding ventricle motion in ultrasonic echocardiograms. Radial velocities obtained by a scalar approach

We investigate the hybridization of the electron, heavy-hole and/or light-hole dispersion relations in strained InAs/GaSb quantum wells. In the considered structures, the lowest electron level lies below several hole levels at zero in-plane wave vector k(parallel to), so that the anticrossings of subbands produce gaps in the in-plane dispersions. To calculate the electronic band structures of such

Background: Smoking is a recognised risk factor for pancreatic cancer and has been associated with chronic pancreatitis and also with type II diabetes. Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of tobacco on the age of diagnosis of pancreatitis and progression of disease, as measured by the appearance of calcification and diabetes. Patients: We used data from a retrospective cohort

OBJECTIVE--Steroid hormones, especially estrogens, are known to affect hemostatic risk factors for thromboembolism, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. We examined these risk factors during depression of the serum estradiol concentration by a GnRH analogue. DESIGN--Patients were treated with a GnRH analogue, goserelin (Zoladex), 3.6 mg/inj monthly, for a period of 6 months. Blood samples were coll

Den hälsomässiga effekten som rapporteras i samband med sjuka-hus syndromet (SBS), vars orsak är okänd, kan betraktas som ett mönster av icke specifika symptom såsom irritationer i ögon, näsa och mun, upplevelser av torra sletnhinnor och hud, hudrodnad, mental trötthet och upplevelse av svag men ihållande lukt. Aven exponeringar i inomhusluften kan beskrivas som ett mönster av en mängd olika ämnen

This is the research report which was sent to the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, JSPS. It is a documentation of traveling as well as research activities, conferences, people I met, discussions, etc., during my JSPS postdoctoral fellowship at Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Sixty-one patients operated on for spinal stenosis, without a fusion, were studied retrospectively. Preoperative instability, as revealed by functional myelography, was found to predict a poor prognosis (P less than 0.01). Women had less favorable results (P less than 0.05). The "slipping" group was significantly more often radically decompressed than the "nonslipping" group (P less than 0.01). Po