| 1. |
- Gaissmaier, Miriam, et al.
(författare)
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Designing for Workplace Safety : Exploring Interactive Textiles as Personal Alert Systems
- 2020
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction. - New York, NY, USA : Association for Computing Machinery. ; , s. 53-65, s. 53-65
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite various safety regulations and procedures, work accidents remain a significant problem in the global process industry and the Swedish steel industry. To address personal safety and safety culture, wearable alert systems were prototyped and tested with steelworkers in iterative workshops. A resulting design concept, in the form of an interactive textile patch worn on the protective gear, suggests a simple way of transmitting personal alerts using light. A crucial design factor identified is to enable the communication between workers and peers as well as communicating with control room staff. The visual design can positively influence the acceptance of the patch, but its impact on the safety culture cannot yet be assessed. The present study contributes by approaching workplace safety and culture with a new design concept of IoT and e-textile technologies based on the interaction modalities of light, sound, and vibration
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| 2. |
- Berg, Lotta, et al.
(författare)
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The Welfare Quality® assessment protocol: how can it be adapted to family farming dual purpose cattle raised under extensive systems in tropical conditions?
- 2017
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Ingår i: Animal Welfare. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 0962-7286 .- 2054-1538. ; 26, s. 177-184
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Family farming is still the main source of income for many people in the tropical regions of the world. At the same time, modern society is quickly becoming more aware of the welfare of animals for human consumption. The main objective of this study was to illustrate the need to modify certain aspects of the original Welfare Quality (R) ( WQ) protocols developed by the EU-funded WQ project, under the conditions of small community farmers in the tropics. Thirty-four dual purpose farms in the State of Chiapas, Mexico, which had their main production focus on milk but for whom beef production was also of significant value, were evaluated utilising a merged version of the WQ protocols for dairy and beef cattle. Based on their average score, the farms obtained at least an acceptable level in each indicator of welfare. However, after merging indicators from the dairy and beef cattle protocols of WQ in order to adjust it to the prevailing conditions in the tropics, a number of sections are not applicable. This is particularly true of the section related to good housing, where most of the items do not apply due to the absence of infrastructure; the farms obtained a very high score in this section but further studies to verify whether this reflects an accurate assessment of the welfare status should be carried out. In general, the approach of the WQ protocol was useful, however certain aspects are quite different from the conventional intensive farming systems predominantly used in Europe and there is a need to implement a number of modifications.
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| 3. |
- Guy, Lionel, et al.
(författare)
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A Gene Transfer Agent and a Dynamic Repertoire of Secretion Systems Hold the Keys to the Explosive Radiation of the Emerging Pathogen Bartonella
- 2013
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Ingår i: PLOS Genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7390 .- 1553-7404. ; 9:3, s. e1003393-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gene transfer agents (GTAs) randomly transfer short fragments of a bacterial genome. A novel putative GTA was recently discovered in the mouse-infecting bacterium Bartonella grahamii. Although GTAs are widespread in phylogenetically diverse bacteria, their role in evolution is largely unknown. Here, we present a comparative analysis of 16 Bartonella genomes ranging from 1.4 to 2.6 Mb in size, including six novel genomes from Bartonella isolated from a cow, two moose, two dogs, and a kangaroo. A phylogenetic tree inferred from 428 orthologous core genes indicates that the deadly human pathogen B. bacilliformis is related to the ruminant-adapted clade, rather than being the earliest diverging species in the genus as previously thought. A gene flux analysis identified 12 genes for a GTA and a phage-derived origin of replication as the most conserved innovations. These are located in a region of a few hundred kb that also contains 8 insertions of gene clusters for type III, IV, and V secretion systems, and genes for putatively secreted molecules such as cholera-like toxins. The phylogenies indicate a recent transfer of seven genes in the virB gene cluster for a type IV secretion system from a catadapted B. henselae to a dog-adapted B. vinsonii strain. We show that the B. henselae GTA is functional and can transfer genes in vitro. We suggest that the maintenance of the GTA is driven by selection to increase the likelihood of horizontal gene transfer and argue that this process is beneficial at the population level, by facilitating adaptive evolution of the host-adaptation systems and thereby expansion of the host range size. The process counters gene loss and forces all cells to contribute to the production of the GTA and the secreted molecules. The results advance our understanding of the role that GTAs play for the evolution of bacterial genomes.
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| 4. |
- Bakke, Kristin A, et al.
(författare)
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Levetiracetam reduces the frequency of interictal epileptiform discharges during NREM sleep in children with ADHD
- 2011
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Ingår i: European journal of paediatric neurology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1090-3798 .- 1532-2130. ; 15:6, s. 532-538
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more common in children with epilepsy than in the general paediatric population. Epileptiform discharges in EEG may be seen in children with ADHD also in those without seizure disorders. Sleep enhances these discharges which may be suppressed by levetiracetam. AIM: To assess the effect of levetiracetam on focal epileptiform discharges during sleep in children with ADHD. METHOD: In this retrospective study a new semi-automatic quantitative method based on the calculation of spike index in 24-h ambulatory EEG recordings was applied. Thirty-five ADHD children, 17 with focal epilepsy, one with generalised epilepsy, and 17 with no seizure disorder were evaluated. Follow-up 24-h EEG recordings were performed after a median time of four months. RESULTS: Mean spike index was 50 prior to levetiracetam treatment and 21 during treatment. Seventeen children had no focal interictal epileptiform discharges in EEG at follow-up. Five children had a more than 50% reduction in spike index. Thus, a more than 50% reduction in spike index was found in 22/35 children (63%). Out of these an improved behaviour was noticed in 13 children (59%). CONCLUSION: This study shows that treatment with levetiracetam reduces interictal epileptiform discharges in children with ADHD. There is a complex relationship between epilepsy, ADHD and epileptiform activity, why it is a need for prospective studies in larger sample sizes, also to ascertain clinical benefits.
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| 5. |
- Hanrieder, Jörg, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia is associated with regional increase of striatal dynorphin peptides as elucidated by imaging mass spectrometry.
- 2011
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Ingår i: Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP. - 1535-9484 .- 1535-9476. ; 10:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Opioid peptides are involved in various pathophysiological processes, including algesia, epilepsy, and drug dependence. A strong association between L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia (LID) and elevated prodynorphin mRNA levels has been established in both patients and in animal models of Parkinson's disease, but to date the endogenous prodynorphin peptide products have not been determined. Here, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) was used for characterization, localization, and relative quantification of striatal neuropeptides in a rat model of LID in Parkinson's disease. MALDI IMS has the unique advantage of high sensitivity and high molecular specificity, allowing comprehensive detection of multiple molecular species in a single tissue section. Indeed, several dynorphins and enkephalins could be detected in the present study, including dynorphin A(1-8), dynorphin B, α-neoendorphin, MetEnkRF, MetEnkRGL, PEnk (198-209, 219-229). IMS analysis revealed elevated levels of dynorphin B, α-neoendorphin, substance P, and PEnk (220-229) in the dorsolateral striatum of high-dyskinetic animals compared with low-dyskinetic and lesion-only control rats. Furthermore, the peak-intensities of the prodynorphin derived peptides, dynorphin B and α-neoendorphin, were strongly and positively correlated with LID severity. Interestingly, these LID associated dynorphin peptides are not those with high affinity to κ opioid receptors, but are known to bind and activate also μ- and Δ-opioid receptors. In addition, the peak intensities of a novel endogenous metabolite of α-neoendorphin lacking the N-terminal tyrosine correlated positively with dyskinesia severity. MALDI IMS of striatal sections from Pdyn knockout mice verified the identity of fully processed dynorphin peptides and the presence of endogenous des-tyrosine α-neoendorphin. Des-tyrosine dynorphins display reduced opioid receptor binding and this points to possible novel nonopioid receptor mediated changes in the striatum of dyskinetic rats. Because des-tyrosine dynorphins can only be detected by mass spectrometry, as no antibodies are available, these findings highlight the importance of MALDI IMS analysis for the study of molecular dynamics in neurological diseases.
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| 6. |
- Öhrström, Niklas, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Audiovisual integration in binaural, monaural and dichotic listening
- 2011
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Ingår i: Proceedings, FONETIK 2011. ; , s. 29-32
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Audiovisual speech perception was investigated in three different conditions: (i) binaurally, where the same sound was presented in both ears, (ii) monaurally, where the sound was presented in one ear randomly, and (iii) dichotically, where the subjects were asked to focus on what was heard in the right ear. The results showed visual influence to be lowered in random monaural presentation as well as in dichotic presentation. Low visual influence to dichotic presentation, as compared with binaural presentation, supports the notion of an attentional component in audiovisual speech processing. Low visual influence in the random monaural presentation may be due to increased attention to the auditory modality because of uncertainty.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Berglund, Eva C., et al.
(författare)
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Run-off replication of host-adaptability genes is associated with gene transfer agents in the genome of mouse-infecting Bartonella grahamii
- 2009
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Ingår i: PLoS genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7404. ; 5:7, s. e1000546-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The genus Bartonella comprises facultative intracellular bacteria adapted to mammals, including previously recognized and emerging human pathogens. We report the 2,341,328 bp genome sequence of Bartonella grahamii, one of the most prevalent Bartonella species in wild rodents. Comparative genomics revealed that rodent-associated Bartonella species have higher copy numbers of genes for putative host-adaptability factors than the related human-specific pathogens. Many of these gene clusters are located in a highly dynamic region of 461 kb. Using hybridization to a microarray designed for the B. grahamii genome, we observed a massive, putatively phage-derived run-off replication of this region. We also identified a novel gene transfer agent, which packages the bacterial genome, with an over-representation of the amplified DNA, in 14 kb pieces. This is the first observation associating the products of run-off replication with a gene transfer agent. Because of the high concentration of gene clusters for host-adaptation proteins in the amplified region, and since the genes encoding the gene transfer agent and the phage origin are well conserved in Bartonella, we hypothesize that these systems are driven by selection. We propose that the coupling of run-off replication with gene transfer agents promotes diversification and rapid spread of host-adaptability factors, facilitating host shifts in Bartonella.
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| 9. |
- Alsmark, Cecilia M., et al.
(författare)
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The louse-borne human pathogen Bartonella quintana is a genomic derivative of the zoonotic agent Bartonella henselae
- 2004
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 101:26, s. 9716-9721
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the complete genomes of two human pathogens, Bartonella quintana (1,581,384 bp) and Bartonella henselae (1,931,047 bp). The two pathogens maintain several similarities in being transmitted by insect vectors, using mammalian reservoirs, infecting similar cell types (endothelial cells and erythrocytes) and causing vasculoproliferative changes in immunocompromised hosts. A primary difference between the two pathogens is their reservoir ecology. Whereas B. quintana is a specialist, using only the human as a reservoir, B. henselae is more promiscuous and is frequently isolated from both cats and humans. Genome comparison elucidated a high degree of overall similarity with major differences being B. henselae specific genomic islands coding for filamentous hemagglutinin, and evidence of extensive genome reduction in B. quintana, reminiscent of that found in Rickettsia prowazekii. Both genomes are reduced versions of chromosome I from the highly related pathogen Brucella melitensis. Flanked by two rRNA operons is a segment with similarity to genes located on chromosome II of B. melitensis, suggesting that it was acquired by integration of megareplicon DNA in a common ancestor of the two Bartonella species. Comparisons of the vector-host ecology of these organisms suggest that the utilization of host-restricted vectors is associated with accelerated rates of genome degradation and may explain why human pathogens transmitted by specialist vectors are outnumbered by zoonotic agents, which use vectors of broad host ranges.
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| 10. |
- Backe, Cecilia, et al.
(författare)
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Kadmiumsituationen i Skåne : Delrapport 2 Kadmium inom Höjeåns avrinningsområde – en substansflödesanalys
- 2003
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- är stort. En analys av flödesschemat visar att det sker en utfasning av kadmium via produktoch avfallsflödet. Kadmium ingår i allt färre nyproducerade varor, och därför blir inflödet avkadmium också allt mindre, medan förbrukningen av äldre produkter som innehållerkadmium leder till att flödet via avfallsflödet fortfarande är relativt stort.Inom jordbrukssektorn tillförs den Skånska åkermarken kadmium bl.a. via handelsgödsel,kalk och rötslam. Atmosfärsdepositionen bidrar också med en betydande mängd kadmium.Tillförseln av kadmium balanseras av bortförseln av kadmium via grödor och markläckage.Vad gäller jordbrukssektorns tillförsel bör det dock påpekas att tack vare minskadekadmiumhalter i handelsgödsel och i rötslam så är skillnaden mellan tillförsel och bortförselnästan ± 0 inom Höjeåns avrinningsområde. Tillskottet av kadmium viaatmosfärsdepositionen gör dock att en upplagring av kadmium i avrinningsområdetfortfarande sker.Det regionala miljömålet om att det inte ska ske någon nettotillförsel av kadmium tilljordbruksmarken i Skåne, utöver tillförsel via luften, ser enligt flödesanalysen ut att kunnauppfyllas.SAMMANFATTNINGMiljöproblemens karaktär ändras över tiden. Från att under 60- och 70-talet dominerats avpunktutsläpp från industrin så utgörs idag en stor del av miljöproblemen om föroreningar ochskadliga ämnen av diffusa emissioner. Myndigheternas miljöövervakning av föroreningarmåste i samma takt ändras för att kunna verka effektivt. Substansflödesanalys ellermaterialflödesanalys är exempel på effektiva verktyg som kan användas för att få en ökadkunskap om och en helhetsbild av föroreningars spridningsvägar och upplagring i samhället.Denna studie är ett försök att via en flödesanalys kartlägga omsättningen av kadmium inomHöjeåns avrinningsområde i sydvästra Skåne. Flödesanalysen har genomförts på uppdrag avLänsstyrelsen i Skåne. Syftet med flödesanalysen är att tjäna som vägledning för framtidamiljöövervakning av kadmium och i det fortsatta miljömålsarbetet inom Skåne län.Kadmium är ett exempel på ett ämne som kan ge betydande konsekvenser för människor ochdjur om halterna i vår omgivning är för höga. Kadmium kan orsaka njurskador och benskörhethos människor och ämnet misstänks också vara cancerframkallande. Kadmium finns naturligti vissa typer av berggrund. Det har använts i stora mängder inom plastindustrin somstabilisator och pigment. Det har använts i industrin till ytbehandling och i legeringar. Idag ärden största användningen förknippad med tillverkning av NiCd- batteri. I Sverige och EUarbetar man för att fasa ut användningen av kadmium för produktionsändamål. Kadmiumförekommer även som förorening i zink och andra mineral. Via handelsgödsel spridskadmium till åkermark eftersom kadmium, i varierande halt, finns som förorening i råfosfatsom är råvara till fosforgödsel.Det största inflödet av kadmium till Höjeåns avrinningsområde sker via produkter, och utgörstill ca 70% av kadmium i NiCd-batterier. De flesta flödena är ett resultat av att kadmium ingåri produkter i låga koncentrationer eller som förorening i råmaterial, som t.ex. ijordbrukssektorns handelsgödsel. Det sker ingen aktiv import av kadmium som råvara tillavrinningsområdet. Kadmiumflödet via atmosfärsdeposition är förhållandevis stort i Skåneoch ca 90% av depositionen kommer från utländska källor. Ytterligare ett betydelsefulltkadmiuminflöde till avrinningsområdet är via bränsle för energi och värmeproduktion.Återvinningen av NiCd-batteri är det klart dominerande utflödet av kadmium från systemet.Allt annat avfall som genereras innanför systemgränserna transporteras också ut frånavrinningsområdet, det finns ingen aktiv avfallsdeponering eller avfallsförbränning inomavrinningsområdet.Utsläppen av kadmium i samband med industriella aktiviteter och via trafiken inomavrinningsområdet är mycket små. Utsläppen av kadmium till Höjeå domineras av flöden fråndagvatten och utgående vatten från avloppsreningsverken (och troligen även en del frånenskilda avlopp som dock inte har kvantifierats i denna studie). Kadmium i slam somuppkommer vid reningsverken används både som jordförbättringsmedel inom jordbruket, ochi olika kommunala planteringar i avrinningsområdet. En del slam exporteras ut frånavrinningsområdet för att deponeras på avfallsupplag eller användas.De stora förråden av kadmium i avrinningsområdet är i nedlagda avfallsupplag och iprodukter. Kadmiumförrådet i avfallsupplagen kommer troligen att bestå under mycket långtid. Utlakningen av kadmium, liksom emissionen till luft, är mycket långsam. Idag ärkadmiumemissionen via lakvatten och biogas försumbar. Det är dock osäkert hur rörlighetenav kadmium i deponier förändras i takt med nedbrytningen. Förrådet av kadmium i produkter
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