................................................................................................................................. III Populärvetenskaplig Sammanfattning .................................................................................. V List of Publications Included in this Thesis ....................................................................... VII List of Publications n...

............................................................................................................................................................................ 2 Résumé ............................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Acknowledgements .........................

of the Thesis ii Dedications iv Acknowledgements v Table of

............................................................................................................................... ii Background ...................................................................................................................... ii Thesis Aims ...................................................................................................................... ii...

OF THE THESIS........................................................................................ii Acknowledgements........................................................................................................... iv Table of

OF THE THESIS........................................................................................ii Acknowledgements........................................................................................................... iv Table of

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my thesis advisors, who have guided me in the presentation of my thesis, and Shan Mei, with whom I have had many insightful discussions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author of this thesis would like to thank Shellen Goltz for her equal collaboration throughout the clinical trial and composition of this thesis and Dr. Mario Ferruzzi for his guidance throughout the honors process.

OF THE THESIS ..ii COMMITTEEiv TABLE OF CONTENTS v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .vi