| 1. |
- Alijagic, Andi, 1992-, et al.
(författare)
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Particle Safety Assessment in Additive Manufacturing : From Exposure Risks to Advanced Toxicology Testing.
- 2022
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Toxicology. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2673-3080. ; 4
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Additive manufacturing (AM) or industrial three-dimensional (3D) printing drives a new spectrum of design and production possibilities; pushing the boundaries both in the application by production of sophisticated products as well as the development of next-generation materials. AM technologies apply a diversity of feedstocks, including plastic, metallic, and ceramic particle powders with distinct size, shape, and surface chemistry. In addition, powders are often reused, which may change the particles' physicochemical properties and by that alter their toxic potential. The AM production technology commonly relies on a laser or electron beam to selectively melt or sinter particle powders. Large energy input on feedstock powders generates several byproducts, including varying amounts of virgin microparticles, nanoparticles, spatter, and volatile chemicals that are emitted in the working environment; throughout the production and processing phases. The micro and nanoscale size may enable particles to interact with and to cross biological barriers, which could, in turn, give rise to unexpected adverse outcomes, including inflammation, oxidative stress, activation of signaling pathways, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity. Another important aspect of AM-associated risks is emission/leakage of mono- and oligomers due to polymer breakdown and high temperature transformation of chemicals from polymeric particles, both during production, use, and in vivo, including in target cells. These chemicals are potential inducers of direct toxicity, genotoxicity, and endocrine disruption. Nevertheless, understanding whether AM particle powders and their byproducts may exert adverse effects in humans is largely lacking and urges comprehensive safety assessment across the entire AM lifecycle-spanning from virgin and reused to airborne particles. Therefore, this review will detail: 1) brief overview of the AM feedstock powders, impact of reuse on particle physicochemical properties, main exposure pathways and protective measures in AM industry, 2) role of particle biological identity and key toxicological endpoints in the particle safety assessment, and 3) next-generation toxicology approaches in nanosafety for safety assessment in AM. Altogether, the proposed testing approach will enable a deeper understanding of existing and emerging particle and chemical safety challenges and provide a strategy for the development of cutting-edge methodologies for hazard identification and risk assessment in the AM industry.
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| 2. |
- Gong, Mei, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
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Coordination of exergy analysis and the MIND method - applied to a pulp and board mill
- 2004
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Ingår i: International Journal of Exergy. - 1742-8297 .- 1742-8300. ; 1:3, s. 289-302
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The MIND (Method for analysis of INDustrial energy systems) method has been developed for cost optimisation of industrial energy systems, mainly with regard to quantities of energy. Exergy analysis reveals losses, efficiencies and possible improvements. These methods can be combined in order to improve industrial energy systems. In this paper, a Swedish pulp and board mill is used as a case study. The efficiencies of the processes in the mill are evaluated using exergy analysis. The most exergy inefficient processes are indicated and some improvements are suggested. This case study shows that it is the boilers and the evaporation plant that are the most inefficient processes, with efficiencies down to 29%. Different investment alternatives for these processes are studied and cost optimisation is achieved using the MIND method. The study shows that the energy costs can be reduced by up to 15 million Euros per year while the exergy efficiency can be improved by up to 14%. The combined approach shows that the energy cost-efficient alternatives are also usually exergy efficient.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Karlsson, Anette, 1986-
(författare)
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Quantitative Muscle Composition Analysis Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Changes in muscle tissue composition, e.g. decrease in volume and/or increase of fat infiltration, are related to adverse health conditions such as sarcopenia, inflammation, muscular dystrophy, and chronic pain. However, the onset and progression of disease and the effect of potential intervention effects are not fully understood, partly due to insufficient measurement tools. For advanced knowledge regarding these diseases, an accurate and precise measurement tool for detecting changes in muscle composition is needed. The tool must be able to detect both local changes on specific muscles for investigating local injuries and generalized muscle composition changes on a whole-body level. Magnetic resonance imaging is an excellent tool due to its superior soft tissue contrast but is normally not quantitative, making it challenging to produce reproducible results. Furthermore, manual analysis of the vast amount of images produced is extremely time consuming and therefore expensive. The aim of this thesis was to develop and validate a new magnetic resonance imaging method for muscle volume quantification and fat infiltration estimation that would have the potential to be used in both large-scale studies and for analyzing small individual muscles.The method development was divided into four main steps: 1) Rapid acquisition and reconstruction of data with sufficient resolution and calibration giving quantitative images where the relative fat content of each voxel (related to pure fat voxels) is attainable; 2) Automated muscle tissue classification based on non-rigid multi-atlas segmentation followed by probability voting to acquire the region of interest for each muscle; 3) Quantification of muscle tissue volume and fat infiltration from the classification step and the local fat signal; 4) Evaluation of the potential of the method in clinical studies.In Paper I, a method for automatic muscle volume quantification of both whole-body and regional muscles, i.e. involving steps 1–3, is presented. The automated method showed good agreement compared to manual segmentation. It was robust to an 8-fold resolution difference using two different scanner field strengths. Papers II and III evaluated the clinical relevance and the need for developing methods with high-resolution images to answer the research questions regarding the effect of a whiplash trauma on the multifidus muscles. This involved steps 1–4. The method enabled acquisition of high-resolution data to distinguish the small multifidus muscles (Paper II). The paper also showed a higher fat infiltration in the multifidus muscles in individuals with severe self-reported disability compared to individuals with milder symptoms and to healthy controls. Furthermore, the local fat infiltration was also related to widespread muscle fat infiltration (Paper III). However, the difference in widespread muscle fat infiltration could not alone distinguish between the three different groups. Paper IV showed the robustness of fat infiltration estimation when changing flip angle, and thereby the T1 weighting, of the acquired images (steps 1–3). The higher flip angle also provided better noise characteristics. Therefore, this quantitative method can be used with higher flip angle, and thus a potentially better anatomical contrast, without losing accuracy or precision.To conclude, this thesis presents a method that quantifies muscle volume and estimates fat infiltration robustly and reproducibly. The versatility of the method allows for both high-resolution images of small muscles and rapid acquisition of whole-body data. The method can be a useful tool in clinical studies regarding small individual muscles. Furthermore, the combination of being quantitative and automatic means that the method has potential to be used in longitudinal, multi-center, and large-scale studies for advanced understanding of muscular diseases.
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| 5. |
- Karlsson, Anette, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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The effect on precision and T1 bias comparing two flip angles when estimating muscle fat infiltration using fat-referenced chemical shift-encoded imaging
- 2021
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Ingår i: NMR in Biomedicine. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0952-3480 .- 1099-1492. ; 34:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Investigation of the effect on accuracy and precision of different parameter settings is important for quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The purpose of this study was to investigate T1-bias and precision for muscle fat infiltration (MFI) using fat-referenced chemical shift magnetic resonance imaging at 5° and 10° flip angle. This [MB1] experimental study was done on forty postmenopausal women using 3T MRI test and retest images using 4-point 3D spoiled gradient multi-echo acquisition including real and imaginary images for reconstruction acquired at Flip angles 5° and 10°. Post-processing included T2* correction and fat-referenced calibration of the fat signal. The mean MFI was calculated in six different automatically segmented muscle regions using both the fat-referenced fat signal and the fat fraction calculated from the fat and water image pair for each acquisition. The variance of the difference between mean MFI from test and retest was used as measure of precision. The SNR characteristics were analyzed by measuring difference of the full width half maximum of the fat signal distribution using Student’s t-test.There was no difference in the mean fat-referenced MFI at different flip angles with the fat-referenced technique, which was the case using the fat fraction. No significant difference in the precision was found in any of the muscles analyzed. However, the full width half maximum of the fat signal distribution was significantly lower at 10° flip angle compared to 5°. Fat-referenced MFI is insensitive to T1 bias in chemical shift magnetic resonance imaging enabling usage of a higher and more SNR effective flip angle. The lower full-width-at half-maximum in fat-referenced MFI at 10° indicates that high flip angle acquisition is advantageous although no significant differences in precision was observed comparing 5° and 10°.
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| 6. |
- Karlsson, Anette, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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The relation between local and distal muscle fat infiltration in chronic whiplash using magnetic resonance imaging.
- 2019
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - San Francisco, CA, United States : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 14:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between fat infiltration in the cervical multifidi and fat infiltration measured in the lower extremities to move further into understanding the complex signs and symptoms arising from a whiplash trauma. Thirty-one individuals with chronic whiplash associated disorders, stratified into a mild/moderate group and a severe group, together with 31 age- and gender matched controls were enrolled in this study. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to acquire a 3D volume of the neck and of the whole-body. Cervical multifidi was used to represent muscles local to the whiplash trauma and all muscles below the hip joint, the lower extremities, were representing widespread muscles distal to the site of the trauma. The fat infiltration was determined by fat fraction in the segmented images. There was a linear correlation between local and distal muscle fat infiltration (p<0.001, r2 = 0.28). The correlation remained significant when adjusting for age and WAD group (p = 0.009) as well as when correcting for age, WAD group and BMI (p = 0.002). There was a correlation between local and distal muscle fat infiltration within the severe WAD group (p = 0.0016, r2 = 0.69) and in the healthy group (p = 0.022, r2 = 0.17) but not in the mild/moderate group (p = 0.29, r2 = 0.06). No significant differences (p = 0.11) in the lower extremities' MFI between the different groups were found. The absence of differences between the groups in terms of lower extremities' muscle fat infiltration indicates that, in this particular population, the whiplash trauma has a local effect on muscle fat infiltration rather than a generalized.
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| 7. |
- Karlsson, Jerker, 1967-
(författare)
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Abdominal Aortic Wall Mechanics - Stress, Strain and Stiffness in A Medical Perspective : An Experimental Study in Man
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: The stiffness of the abdominal aorta is considered a significant factor affecting the morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease. Estimating vascular stiffness is an integral part in cardiovascular risk assessment. Wall stress of the abdominal aorta appears to be a crucial factor in the remodeling of the arterial wall and the growth of aneurysms. Consequently, arterial mechanics plays a vital role in the function of the cardiovascular system. Therefore, there is a need for comprehensive studies of mechanical forces in the vessel wall to better understand the mechanisms behind normal and pathological changes that are significant for hypertension, atherosclerosis, and the development of arterial aneurysms. The aim of this study was to explore the blood pressure-induced forces in the aortic wall using a computational mechanical model, with particular attention to the effects of age, sex, and blood pressure on the remodeling process of the vessel wall. Methods: A computational model, comprising a solid mechanical model and a parameter identification process known as the Parameter Identification Method for Mechanical Parameters (PIMMP), was used to investigate the mechanical properties of the abdominal aortic vessel wall. Data for the model were obtained from the human abdominal aorta of volunteers: 30 healthy individuals, females (n=15) and males, divided into three age groups with an equal number of females and males (n=5 in each age group). Invasive blood pressure, measured via catheter, and diameter variation in the abdominal aorta, measured via ultrasound, were acquired to be used as input data for PIMMP. This dataset was utilized in Papers I, III, and IV. In Paper II, 24 datasets were generated, based on model parameters presented in the scientific literature. Results: Paper I reveals that elderly males exhibit both higher aortic wall stress and higher isotropic stress component, than females. With age, males show an increase in isotropic load-bearing fraction and a decrease in anisotropic load-bearing fraction, a trend not observed in females. Paper II validates an in silico aortic model against a computerized membrane model of an abdominal aorta. The membrane model accurately predicts stress states as well as the load-bearing fraction of anisotropic material across all blood pressure levels, independent of the transmural stress gradient. However, the model’s accuracy is limited due to insufficient in vivo axial loading information. Paper III demonstrates that changes in circumferential stretch have a more pronounced effect on longitudinal stress than the other way around. Both circumferential and longitudinal stiffnesses increase with age, irrespective of sex. However, sex-based differences in stiffness are observed when comparing younger and older groups. Paper IV investigates pulse wave velocity (PWV) calculations using the Moens-Korteweg equation and the Bramwell-Hill equation. PWV shows a positive association with both isotropic and anisotropic material properties, with a transition zone observed between diastolic and systolic blood pressures, to a positive association with anisotropic properties at systolic blood pressure. Furthermore, an increase in PWV with age, with no significant difference between sexes, is observed. The Extra Material suggests a deficiency in age-related wall stress regulation in males, potentially due to insufficient stiffness of anisotropic materials such as collagen. In contrast, females show an age-related increase in abdominal aortic wall thickness and anisotropic material stiffness, indicating adequate wall stress regulation. Conclusions: This doctoral dissertation focused on the effects of age and sex on the abdominal aortic wall. Overall, the findings suggest potential alterations in the collagen and elastin content during the remodeling of the abdominal aorta, which may differ between sexes. These alterations could be induced chemically or mechanically. The model has shown potential in identifying healthy individuals within a population. These insights may contribute to the understanding of cardiovascular health and disease progression.
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| 8. |
- Kellgren, Jan, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
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Funktionsförsäljning : en juridisk översikt och några råd för dig som överväger att börja sälja eller köpa funktion
- 2019
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Denna populärvetenskapliga guide till juridiken kring funktionsförsäljning (eller, om man så vill, as a service-försäljning) avser att ge dels en översiktlig bild av rättsläget för funktionsförsäljning, dels några goda råd, ur ett i första hand juridiskt perspektiv, för dig som överväger att börja sälja eller köpa funktion. Guiden är skriven med en tänkt målgrupp i sikte, nämligen i första hand företagsledningar som inte har någon egen större avdelning för redovisning och juridik. Vi tror och hoppas dock att den ska visa sig vara användbar för bredare grupper.Här kommer vi också att lägga upp, stegvis förnyade, länkar till vetenskapliga publikationer om juridiken kring funktionsförsäljning (flera är under publicering). Kanske finner du också, med tiden, nya upplagor av denna guide här. Läge för ett bokmärke alltså…Guiden har skrivits av en grupp forskare som under flera år har forskat på juridiken kring funktionsförsäljning. Forskningen har i första hand finansierats av Energimyndigheten (och i nära samarbete med forskningsorganisationen Mistra REES), men vi har också arbetat för näringslivet med dessa frågor.
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| 9. |
- Lund, Nils, 1993-, et al.
(författare)
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Fatty infiltrate and neck muscle volume in individuals with chronic whiplash associated disorders compared to healthy controls - a cross sectional case-control study
- 2023
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Ingår i: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1471-2474. ; 24:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of chronic Whiplash Associated Disorders (WAD) are not fully understood. More knowledge of morphology is needed to better understand the disorder, improve diagnostics and treatments. The aim was to investigate dorsal neck muscle volume (MV) and muscle fat infiltration (MFI) in relation to self-reported neck disability among 30 participants with chronic WAD grade II-III compared to 30 matched healthy controls.Methods: MV and MFI at spinal segments C4 through C7 in both sexes with mild- to moderate chronic WAD (n = 20), severe chronic WAD (n = 10), and age- and sex matched healthy controls (n = 30) was compared. Muscles: trapezius, splenius, semispinalis capitis and semispinalis cervicis were segmented by a blinded assessor and analyzed.Results: Higher MFI was found in right trapezius (p = 0.007, Cohen's d = 0.9) among participants with severe chronic WAD compared to healthy controls. No other significant difference was found for MFI (p = 0.22-0.95) or MV (p = 0.20-0.76).ConclusionsThere are quantifiable changes in muscle composition of right trapezius on the side of dominant pain and/or symptoms, among participants with severe chronic WAD. No other statistically significant differences were shown for MFI or MV. These findings add knowledge of the association between MFI, muscle size and self-reported neck disability in chronic WAD.
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