Search Results (280)
Regulation of cysteine proteases cathepsins B, S and K and their role in inflammatory processes
Proteases are responsible for enzymatic cleavage of peptide bonds, which is a basic requirement for completion of diverse biological processes.The proteolytic activity of proteases must be rigorously controlled to avoid inappropriate degradation of proteins. Imbalance in regulation of proteolytic activity can be found in a wide range of diseases. Degradation …
Measuring the probability for heterogenous recombination of hydrogen and oxygen atoms on surfaces of fusion relevant materials
This thesis presents studies of probability of heterogeneous recombination of oxygen and hydrogen atoms on surfaces of different types of carbon-based materials. The probability of heterogenous recombination is described with a quantity called recombination coefficient, which is defined as the probability that an atom which impinges upon a solid surface …
Nonequilibrium Dynamics of Charge and Collective Modes in Charge Density Waves Compounds
This thesis presents studies of ultrafast carrier relaxation dynamics in charge density wave (CDW) materials by means of femtosecond time-resolved optical spectroscopy. In these experiments, a femtosecond pump pulse excites electrons via interband transitions, thereby changing the optical properties of the material. The dynamics of relaxation processes is then recorded …
Occurrence, fate and removal of pharmaceutical residues in water treatment
The presence of pharmaceutical residues in surface waters is an emerging environmental issue that provides a new challenge to treatment systems for potable water, wastewater and water reuse. Their principle pathways into the sewerage system are twofold: first, after being administered to patients they are normally excreted as various metabolites …
Text mining for discovering implicit relationships in biomedical literature
Data analysis with machine learning methods, when applied to large collections of text data, enables us to discover new knowledge. This knowledge, once put together, might describe the still unknown connections among phenomena and thus contribute to the formation of new hypotheses in different fields, medicine including. Also, connectivity and …
Assessment of behavioural thermoregulation in humans: with particular reference to mild narcosis and prolonged bed rest
Behavioural responses are the most efficient thermoregulatory responses, since relatively simple actions can prevent the need to activate the more metabolically costly autonomic responses. Dependence on behavioural responses may increase in environmental conditions where the prevailing nonthermal factors (NTF) attenuate autonomic responses and alter thermal perception (Mekjavic et al., 2003; …
Hydrogen absorption in Ti-Zr-Ni alloys
Our research focused on the formation of Ti40Zr40-xNi20Cux (x=3, 5), Ti45Zr38-xNi17Cux (x=3, 5), Ti53Zr27-xNi20Cux (x=3, 5) and Ti58Zr24-xNi18Cux (x=3, 5) icosahedral (i-phase) quasicrystals by three different techniques and their subsequent characterization and high-pressure hydrogenation. The quasicrystals of this system are thermodynamically stable and they have a relatively good affinity for …
Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-based materials with mechanical-stress-dependent dielectric properties
The stress dependence of the electrical permittivity offers a convenient way of measuring pressure. This effect is suitable for static and quasi-static stress applications, where the conventional method based on the piezoelectric effect becomes inadequate. Although the principle of applying this effect for pressure sensing has been known for almost …
Polyelectrolyte multilayer template assisted in-situ synthesis of inorganic nanostructures
Thin film nanocomposites consisting of inorganic matter embedded within a soft polymeric matrix on the nanometer scale have attracted much interest lately due to their unique properties with potential application in optoelectronics and photonics. Polyelectrolyte multilayers formed by the layer-by-layer electrostatic assembly of oppositively charged polyions can be utilized as …
The synthesis and characterization of BaO-rich phases within the BaO-Nb2O5 and BaO-WO3-Nb2O5 systems
This PhD thesis presents experimental results from the synthesis, crystal structure and microwave dielectric characterization of BaO-rich phases within the BaO-Nb2O5 and BaONb2O5- WO3 system. I was primarily interested in two compounds with unknown crystal structure, i.e., the binary Ba4Nb2O9 and the ternary Ba6Nb2WO14, which lie on a common virtual …