| 581. |
- Rigato, Cristina, 1989, et al.
(författare)
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Rehabilitating Patients with Bone Conduction Hearing Devices: Two Effective Alternatives
- 2017
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Ingår i: Engineering Health.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Bone conduction devices (BCDs) are today widely used to rehabilitate patients suffering from specific types of hearing impairment, when the main hearing loss originates in the middle or outer ear. BCDs act by stimulating the skull bone with vibrations that are directly transmitted to the cochlea in the inner ear and result in a hearing sensation, referred to as bone conduction hearing.BCDs are on the market since several decades in various alternative designs, externally worn or partially implanted. In 1977 the first bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA) was implanted in a patient in Gothenburg, and now this technology is one of the most used all over the world. A novel device, the BCI (Bone Conduction Implant), was developed in collaboration between Chalmers and Sahlgrenska in the past few years. The BCI is an alternative to the well-established BAHA that aims at overcoming some of its limitations mainly related to the skin-penetrating abutment. Objectives: In this study, the well-established BAHA and the novel BCI are compared in terms of rehabilitation effect on hearing impaired patients. The purpose of comparing the BCI with an established device available on the market is to find out if the BCI can be a valuable rehabilitation alternative for indicated patients.Methods: Audiometric measurements and user self-reported questionnaires were performed on two groups of patients, one fitted with the BCI and one fitted with BAHAs.Six BCI users were included in the study as part of the clinical trial for the device, and six BAHA users were selected in order to match them one by one in terms of hearing ability, gender and age.Results: The overall results from the performed measurements show a clear improvement over the unaided condition for both devices. Outcomes from the audiometric tests as well as from the patient-related measurements were comparable in the two groups. Conclusions: The two devices seem to give an equally satisfactory rehabilitation for indicated patients. The novel BCI is shown to be a successful example of translational science, where the collaboration between Chalmers and Sahlgrenska provided solid bases to integrate technical and medical requirements.
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| 582. |
- Rodriguez, Alexey, et al.
(författare)
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Comparing Libraries For Generic Programming In Haskell
- 2008
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Ingår i: ACM Sigplan Notices:1st ACM SIGPLAN Haskell Symposium, Haskell'08; Victoria, BC; Canada; 25 September 2008 through 25 September 2008. - New York, NY, USA : ACM. - 9781605580647
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Datatype-generic programming is defining functions that depend on the structure, or ``shape'', of datatypes. It has been around for more than 10 years, and a lot of progress has been made, in particular in the lazy functional programming language Haskell. There are more than 10 proposals for generic programming libraries or language extensions for Haskell. To compare and characterize the many generic programming libraries in a typed functional language, we introduce a set of criteria and develop a generic programming benchmark: a set of characteristic examples testing various facets of datatype-generic programming. We have implemented the benchmark for nine existing Haskell generic programming libraries and present the evaluation of the libraries. The comparison is useful for reaching a common standard for generic programming, but also for a programmer who has to choose a particular approach for datatype-generic programming.
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| 583. |
- Ruge, Toralph, et al.
(författare)
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The association between circulating endostatin levels and incident myocardial infarction
- 2018
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Cardiovascular Journal. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1401-7431 .- 1651-2006. ; 52:6, s. 315-319
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Increased levels of circulating endostatin have been observed in patients with prevalent ischemic heart disease. However, the association between circulating endostatin, and incident myocardial infarction (MI) is less studied. Our main aim was to study the association between circulating endostatin and incident MI in the community adjusted for established cardiovascular risk factors in men and women.DESIGN: Circulating endostatin was measured in a nested case control study based on three large community-based Swedish cohorts, including 533 MI cases, and 1003 age-, sex- and cohort-matched controls. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated with adjustments for established cardiovascular risk factors.RESULTS: Higher endostatin was associated with a higher incidence of MI independently of established cardiovascular risk factors (OR 1.19, 95 % CI 1.03-1.37, p = 0.02), but this association was abolished after additional adjustment for C-reactive protein. Sex-stratified analyses suggest that the association was substantially stronger in women as compared to men Conclusions: In our community based sample, higher endostatin predicted incident myocardial infarction predominantly in women but not independently of CRP. Thus, our findings do not support a broad utility of endostatin measurements for the prediction of incident myocardial infarction in clinical practice.
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| 584. |
- Rundqvist, Helene, et al.
(författare)
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Activation of the erythropoietin receptor in human skeletal muscle
- 2009
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Ingår i: European Journal of Endocrinology. - 0804-4643 .- 1479-683X. ; 161:3, s. 427-434
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: Erythropoietin receptor (EPOR) expression in non-hematological tissues has been shown to be activated by locally produced and/or systemically delivered EPO. Improved oxygen homeostasis, a well-established consequence of EPOR activation, is very important for human skeletal muscle performance. In the present study we investigate whether human skeletal muscle fibers and satellite cells express EPOR and if it is activated by exercise. Design and methods: Ten healthy males performed 65 min of cycle exercise. Biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis muscle and femoral arterio-venous differences in EPO concentrations were estimated. Results: The EPOR proteinwas localized in areas corresponding to the sarcolemma and capillaries. Laser dissection identified EPOR mRNA expression in muscle fibers. Also, EPOR mRNA and protein were both detected in human skeletal muscle satellite cells. In the initial part of the exercise bout there was a release of EPO from the exercising leg to the circulation, possibly corresponding to an increased bioavailability of EPO. After exercise, EPOR mRNA and EPOR-associated JAK2 phosphorylation were increased. Conclusions: Interaction with JAK2 is required for EPOR signaling and the increase found in phosphorylation is therefore closely linked to the activation of EPOR. The receptor activation by acute exercise suggests that signaling through EPOR is involved in exercise-induced skeletal muscle adaptation, thus extending the biological role of EPO into the skeletal muscle.
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| 585. |
- Runer, Johan, 1973-
(författare)
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Från hav till land eller Kristus och odalen : En studie av Sverige under äldre medeltid med utgångspunkt från de romanska kyrkorna
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation studies the transition from the Viking Age to Middle Ages in Sweden using the Romanesque churches as the main source material. The aim is to explain societal change, especially that connected to land ownership and taxation.When Christianity was introduced into early medieval Swedish society, most of the cultivated land was already “locked” by odal (allodium), which meant that the land could only be used by members of a family holding the right of odal. A strategy used by the Church in its struggle for overtaking land was to demonstrate its full ownership of the land of a vicarage by means of the architecture of the parish church – the church was provided with an apse. If the land of the vicarage consisted of “borrowed” odal land, the chancel was built instead with a straight east wall. This can be demonstrated by way of a comparison of the land-holdings of vicarages as shown on cadastral maps from the 17th century. The situation shown on these maps should reflect the early medieval situation, and an analysis shows that the vicarages of churches with an apse have most of their holdings concentrated to large blocks of land, whereas the vicarages of churches without an apse have their holdings mixed with the land of the other farms of the village.Analysis of the distribution of the different architectural types of parish church in relation to other recorded phenomena shows the great importance of the collective in pre-Christian and early medieval society. The idea of odal was linked to collective society. The Folkung rebellion in the 13th century was most probably caused by the transition from a society based on the collective to a society based more on the power and ownership of individuals. The king’s odal right to Uppsala öd (the land of the old royal dynasty) was converted into a new type of ownership, according to which the king held the land in virtue of his office.
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| 586. |
- Ruud, Johan, 1978-
(författare)
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Central Nervous System and Innate Immune Mechanisms for Inflammation- and Cancer-induced Anorexia
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Anyone who has experienced influenza or a bacterial infection knows what it means to be ill. Apart from feeling feverish, experiencing aching joints and muscles, you lose the desire to eat. Anorexia, defined as loss of appetite or persistent satiety leading to reduced energy intake, is a hallmark of acute inflammatory disease. The anorexia is part of the acute phase response, triggered as the result of activation of the innate immune system with concomitant release of inflammatory mediators, which interact with the central nervous system. A chronic condition, and a severe medical problem, that resembles inflammation-induced anorexia is cachexia. Cachexia, which is commonly associated with malignant cancer, is typified as a cytokine-associated metabolic derangement leading to weight loss, mediated by activation of the immune system. Paradoxically, weight loss in cancer patients is often associated with reduced food intake, indicating that the normal coupling of energy intake to body weight is disarranged. Accumulating evidence indicates that inflammation- and cancer-induced anorexia are associated with Toll-like receptor and cycloxygenase (Cox) activation. However, the nature of these pathways is far from understood, and a series of experiments addressing this issue was therefore undertaken.In paper I, we injected Morris hepatoma 7777 cells or vehicle into rats, and we analyzed the distribution pattern of the transcription factor Fos, an index of neuronal activity, in the brainstem. We found that the anorexia and weight loss in tumor-bearing rats were associated with extensive expression of Fos in the area postrema and the general visceral region of the nucleus of the solitary tract in the medulla oblongata, as well as in the external lateral pontine parabrachial nucleus, and that the magnitude of the Fos expression correlated positively with tumor weight and negatively with body weight development, respectively. The Fos expression occurred without any obvious signs of peripheral or central inflammation, and was not secondary to alterations in body weight or reduced food intake. Thus, in paper I, we found a tumor-elicited activation of three interconnected autonomic structures, which integrate and transmit afferent visceral and sensory information, and which are known to play vital roles for energy homeostasis.In paper II we evaluated the effects of tumor growth on feeding behaviour in mice as well as the role of Cox-1 and Cox-2, and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) for the decreased appetite. We implanted mice with a MCG 101 tumor, which resulted in decreased meal frequency but not decreased meal size or meal duration. We found that indomethacin, a non-selective Cox-inhibitor, attenuated the anorexia as well as the tumor growth. When given acutely at manifest anorexia, Cox-inhibitors rescued the loss of appetite and prevented body weight loss without affecting tumor weight. Despite Cox-2 gene induction in the brain and Cox-2 protein induction in cells associated to the blood-brain barrier in tumor-bearing mice, a Cox-2 inhibitor had no impact on tumor-induced anorexia. By contrast, manipulating Cox-1 activity with a selective Cox-1 inhibitor delayed the onset of the anorexic response. Tumor growth was associated with large elevations in plasma PGE2, a response that was prevented by indomethacin. In contrast, however, PGE2 levels in liquor were largely unaffected, in line with tumor-bearing mice being afebrile. Neutralisation of peripheral PGE2 with anti-PGE2 antibodies did not temper the anorexia, and deletion of host mPGES-1 did not affect the anorexia or tumor growth. Furthermore, we found that tumor-bearing mice lacking EP4 receptors in the nervous system, created by Cre-LoxP-targeted mutagenesis, developed anorexia. The most important conclusions from paper II are that decreased meal frequency caused the anorexia, and that Cox-enzymes, most likely Cox-1, are critical for cancer-elicited anorexia and weight loss and that these changes occur independently of host mPGES-1, PGE2 and neuronal EP4 receptor signaling.In paper III, we investigated whether the inflammatory response critical for tumor-induced anorexia (paper II) was a result of innate immune signaling mechanisms. In paper IV, we also included measurements of food intake in mice injected with bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS; a Toll-like receptor 4 ligand), and aimed at identifying at which site(s) the activation of the innate immune system occurs during acute (LPS) as well as chronic (tumor) inflammation. To do so we examined the anorexic response in mice ubiquitously lacking (born without the gene in every cell) MyD88, the intracellular adaptor for Toll-like receptor and IL-1/18 receptor signalling, or lacking MyD88 in specific cell types. We found that a ubiquitous null deletion conferred complete resistance to LPS- and tumor-induced anorexia, as well as protected against weight loss. MyD88 knock-out mice, which had been subjected to whole-body irradiation to delete hematopoietic cells, and then transplanted with wild-type bone-marrow, developed anorexia when challenged with LPS. In line with this, mice lacking MyD88 in hematopoietic cells were largely protected against LPS-induced anorexia. Similarly, inactivation of MyD88 in hematopoietic cells attenuated the tumor-induced anorexia development and protected from body weight loss. In contrast, genetic disruption of MyD88 signaling in neural cells or cerebrovascular endothelial cells affected neither LPS- or tumor-induced anorexia, nor weight loss. Thus, the key findings in paper III and IV are that genetic inactivation of MyD88 protects mice from developing cancer- and LPS-induced anorexia, indicating that innate immune signaling mechanisms are critical for this response. The findings also identify hematopoietic cells, but not neural cells or cerebrovascular endothelial cells, as a critical nexus for inflammatory driven anorexia and weight loss associated with acute (LPS) and chronic (malignant) disease.
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| 587. |
- Sandbaumhüter, Friederike A., et al.
(författare)
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Well-Plate muFASP for Proteomic Analysis of Single Pancreatic Islets
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Proteome Research. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1535-3893 .- 1535-3907. ; 21:4, s. 1167-1174
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Filter-aided sample preparation (FASP) is widely used in bottom-upproteomics for tryptic digestion. However, the sample recovery yield of this methodis limited by the amount of the starting material. While similar to 100 ng of digested protein issufficient for thorough protein identification, proteomic information gets lost with aprotein content <10 mu g due to incomplete peptide recovery from thefilter. Wedeveloped and optimized aflexible well-plate mu FASP device and protocol that issuitable for an similar to 1 mu g protein sample. In 1 mu g of HeLa digest, we identified 1295 +/- 10proteins with mu FASP followed by analysis with liquid chromatography-massspectrometry. In contrast, only 524 +/- 5 proteins were identified with the standardFASP protocol, while 1395 +/- 4 proteins were identified in 20 mu g after standard FASPas a benchmark. Furthermore, we conducted a combined peptidomic and proteomicstudy of single pancreatic islets with well-plate mu FASP. Here, we separated neuropeptides and digested the remaining on-filterproteins for bottom-up proteomic analysis. Our results indicate inter-islet heterogeneity for the expression of proteins involved inglucose catabolism, pancreatic hormone processing, and secreted peptide hormones. We consider our method to provide a usefultool for proteomic characterization of samples where the biological material is scarce. All proteomic data are available under DOI:10.6019/PXD029039
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| 588. |
- Sandström, Johan, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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Deterioration of insulated rail joints – a three-year field study
- 2012
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Contact Mechanics and Wear of Rail/Wheel Systems (CM2012). ; , s. 301-308
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Four operational joints at the Swedish West Coast Line have been monitored in field from installation and during three years of operation to follow degradation. Even though operational loads were comparatively low, material damage was found to occur early after installation. All joints showed a similar damage pattern with dominating deformation on the side towards a nearby station. In addition some joints showed “cavity-like” damage on the off-station side. The paper reports observations on continuing degradation of the joints as well as hardness evolution and increased joint dip over time.
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| 589. |
- Sehgelmeble, Fernando, et al.
(författare)
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Sulfonimidamides as Sulfonamides Bioisosteres : Rational Evaluation through Synthetic, in Vitro, and in Vivo Studies with γ-Secretase Inhibitors
- 2012
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Ingår i: ChemMedChem. - : Wiley. - 1860-7179 .- 1860-7187. ; 7:3, s. 396-399
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The proof of the pudding: A proof-of-concept study using γ-secretase inhibitors as a model has shown that sulfonimidamides act as bioisosteres for sulfonamides. Detailed in vitro and in vivo profiling reveal that the sulfonimidamide motif imparts desirable properties such as decreased lipophilicity and plasma protein binding, accompanied by increased solubility. Our data support a wider use of this unique functional group in the design of new pharmacologically active agents.
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| 590. |
- Seršić, Jasna, 1982-
(författare)
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The Craftsmen's Labyrinth and Geographies of Creativity
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The question of creativity has persisted throughout the entire history of humans, and it has held an important role in our understanding of the creation of places and cultures. Despite the fact that craftsmen have historically contributed significantly to the creation of urban landscapes and their cultures, today they are marginalized from the prevailing discourses of creativity and place-making. Using this research gap as a point of departure, the present study explores not only who the craftsmen are and what creativity means in the craftsmen’s realm but also what visions on human reality their perspectives conjure. Drawing on socio-spatial and poetic considerations as well as on the contemporary narratives of three traditional crafts across Europe—stonemasonry, boat-building and glassmaking—through a dialogical approach and with the understanding of writing as a way of knowing, this study brings into focus the relationship between the Western world today and its foundations, where the craftsman’s understanding of creation originates.To further explore these foundations, this study locates two closely related but discrete worldviews: Plato’s urbanology and cartographic reasoning and Anaximander’s cosmology and the labyrinth. These two philosophical perspectives make the conceptualization of craftsmen’s perspectives possible but also answer why, when and how craftsmen became disassociated from the creativity discourses, as the authors of their works. Moreover, the study argues that the differences between these two perspectives have implications on understanding not only what the original, a model, a copy is but also highlight in which ways these perspectives promote different kinds of place-making and visions of human reality, where cities are not only products of capital.This study can thus be read as the quest for the re-discovery of the craftsman’s perspective. The study concludes that this is the quest for understanding the language capable of expressing the nature of things that are fundamental to the human experience and the understanding of the world in which humans discovered they can be both the subject and an author.
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