| 1. |
- Palmer, Nicholette D, et al.
(författare)
-
A genome-wide association search for type 2 diabetes genes in African Americans.
- 2012
-
Ingår i: PloS one. - San Francisco : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 7:1, s. e29202-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- African Americans are disproportionately affected by type 2 diabetes (T2DM) yet few studies have examined T2DM using genome-wide association approaches in this ethnicity. The aim of this study was to identify genes associated with T2DM in the African American population. We performed a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) using the Affymetrix 6.0 array in 965 African-American cases with T2DM and end-stage renal disease (T2DM-ESRD) and 1029 population-based controls. The most significant SNPs (n = 550 independent loci) were genotyped in a replication cohort and 122 SNPs (n = 98 independent loci) were further tested through genotyping three additional validation cohorts followed by meta-analysis in all five cohorts totaling 3,132 cases and 3,317 controls. Twelve SNPs had evidence of association in the GWAS (P<0.0071), were directionally consistent in the Replication cohort and were associated with T2DM in subjects without nephropathy (P<0.05). Meta-analysis in all cases and controls revealed a single SNP reaching genome-wide significance (P<2.5×10(-8)). SNP rs7560163 (P = 7.0×10(-9), OR (95% CI) = 0.75 (0.67-0.84)) is located intergenically between RND3 and RBM43. Four additional loci (rs7542900, rs4659485, rs2722769 and rs7107217) were associated with T2DM (P<0.05) and reached more nominal levels of significance (P<2.5×10(-5)) in the overall analysis and may represent novel loci that contribute to T2DM. We have identified novel T2DM-susceptibility variants in the African-American population. Notably, T2DM risk was associated with the major allele and implies an interesting genetic architecture in this population. These results suggest that multiple loci underlie T2DM susceptibility in the African-American population and that these loci are distinct from those identified in other ethnic populations.
|
|
| 2. |
- Strannegård, Claes, 1962, et al.
(författare)
-
Ecosystem Models Based on Artificial Intelligence
- 2022
-
Ingår i: 34th Workshop of the Swedish Artificial Intelligence Society, SAIS 2022. - : IEEE.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ecosystem models can be used for understanding general phenomena of evolution, ecology, and ethology. They can also be used for analyzing and predicting the ecological consequences of human activities on specific ecosystems, e.g., the effects of agriculture, forestry, construction, hunting, and fishing. We argue that powerful ecosystem models need to include reasonable models of the physical environment and of animal behavior. We also argue that several well-known ecosystem models are unsatisfactory in this regard. Then we present the open-source ecosystem simulator Ecotwin, which is built on top of the game engine Unity. To model a specific ecosystem in Ecotwin, we first generate a 3D Unity model of the physical environment, based on topographic or bathymetric data. Then we insert digital 3D models of the organisms of interest into the environment model. Each organism is equipped with a genome and capable of sexual or asexual reproduction. An organism dies if it runs out of some vital resource or reaches its maximum age. The animal models are equipped with behavioral models that include sensors, actions, reward signals, and mechanisms of learning and decision-making. Finally, we illustrate how Ecotwin works by building and running one terrestrial and one marine ecosystem model.
|
|
| 3. |
- Törnqvist, Daniel, 1974-
(författare)
-
När man talar om knark : drogdebatt i svensk dagspress 1970-1999
- 2009
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis presents a study of the debate on drugs in the Swedish press from 1970 to 1999. Applying a social constructionist and critical discourse perspective, it aims to map out and analyze the discourse on drugs in a large number of Swedish newspapers. The main focus is on debate articles and editorials. The research questions are concerned with (1) how the drug problem has been articulated, and with (2) what the represen¬ta-tion¬al patterns found say about Swedish society, its social relations and social history on a higher level of abstraction. The practical analysis is oriented towards discerning (a) major themes, standpoints and controversies, (b) major views on people using drugs, and (c) major ideas about what should be done and how, within the drug discourse of Swedish media during three decades. Parts of the analyses are also devoted to finding out which actors have been influential in the debate on drugs, and what type of rhetoric has been employed.Results are presented in three chapters: one about the 1970s, one about the 1980s, and one about the 1990s. The drug problem is formulated, already during the 1970s, as a pressing and urgent problem in Swedish society. During the course of the two following decades, this fact is underlined more and more – even though an increasing amount of voices critical to this perspectives are raised towards the end of the 1990s. The threat is articulated during the 1970s as stemming from a faulty political system driving certain groups of people into helplessness drug abuse. During the 1980s and 1990s, however, impending liberalization of attitudes and legislation was increasingly constructed as the most imminent danger. The drug user was represented as a victim of social injustices during the seventies, but to an increasing extent – during the eighties and nineties – as belonging to certain youth groups who were perceived to be at risk of becoming drug abusers. When it comes to the measures prescribed, a steady development in the direction of increased repressiveness and tougher attitudes towards drugs and their users, is to be found over the course of the time period under study.The concluding discussion illustrates that the discourse on drugs is related to a number of other discourses to which it relates at various times, with various effects (a discourse of social critique, a legal discourse, a moral discourse, a discourse on youth and popular culture, and a discourse of Swedishness). The identified tendencies and discursive patterns are discussed in relation to the unique history of the temperance movement in Sweden, and analyzed with the help of John B. Thompson’s theory of media and ideology, Stanley Cohen’s theory on “folk devils and moral panics” and Kai T. Erikson’s idea about “boundary crises”. The main conclusion is that the drug debate is a vehicle through which such far reaching issues as those of morality, law and politics, national identity, the upbringing of youth and the future can be channeled.
|
|
| 4. |
- Aittamaa, Simon, et al.
(författare)
-
Uniform scheduling of internal and external events under SRP-EDF
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Annual International Conference on Real-Time and Embedded Systems ( RTES 2010).
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- With the growing complexity of modern embedded real-time systems, scheduling and managing of resources has become a daunting task. While scheduling and resource management for internal events can be simplified by adopting a commonplace real-time operating system (RTOS), scheduling and resource management for external events are left in the hands of the programmer, not to mention managing resources across the boundaries of external and internal events. In this paper we propose a unified system view incorporating earliest deadline first (EDF) for scheduling and stack resource policy (SRP) for resource management. From an embedded real-time system view, EDF+SRP is attractive not only because stack usage can be minimized, but also because the cost of a pre-emption becomes almost as cheap as a regular function call, and the number of preemptions is kept to a minimum. SRP+EDF also lifts the burden of manual resource management from the programmer and incorporates it into the scheduler. Furthermore, we show the efficiency of the SRP+EDF scheme, the intuitiveness of the programming model (in terms of reactive programming), and the simplicity of the implementation.
|
|
| 5. |
- Carlsson, Eric, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
-
Sociala medier och det politiska
- 2015. - 1
-
Ingår i: Digital politik. - Göteborg : Daidalos. - 9789171734570 ; , s. 7-17
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
|
|
| 6. |
- Chan, Simon S. M., et al.
(författare)
-
Body Mass Index and the Risk for Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis : Data From a European Prospective Cohort Study (The IBD in EPIC Study)
- 2013
-
Ingår i: American Journal of Gastroenterology. - New York, NY, USA : Nature Publishing Group. - 0002-9270 .- 1572-0241. ; 108:4, s. 575-582
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: Obesity is associated with a proinflammatory state that may be involved in the etiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), for which there are plausible biological mechanisms. Our aim was to perform the first prospective cohort study investigating if there is an association between obesity and the development of incident IBD. METHODS: A total of 300,724 participants were recruited into the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. At recruitment, anthropometric measurements of height and weight plus physical activity and total energy intake from validated questionnaires were recorded. The cohort was monitored identifying participants who developed either Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). Each case was matched with four controls and conditional logistic regression used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) for body mass index (BMI) adjusted for smoking, energy intake, and physical activity. RESULTS: In the cohort, 177 participants developed incident UC and 75 participants developed incident CD. There were no associations with the four higher categories of BMI compared with a normal BMI for UC (P-trend = 0.36) or CD (P-trend = 0.83). The lack of associations was consistent when BMI was analyzed as a continuous or binary variable (BMI 18.5 <25.0 vs. >= 25 kg/m(2)). Physical activity and total energy intake, factors that influence BMI, did not show any association with UC (physical activity, P-trend = 0.79; total energy intake, P-trend = 0.18) or CD (physical activity, P-trend = 0.42; total energy, P-trend = 0.11). CONCLUSIONS: Obesity as measured by BMI is not associated with the development of incident UC or CD. Alternative measures of obesity are required to further investigate the role of obesity in the development of incident IBD.
|
|
| 7. |
- Chan, Simon S. M., et al.
(författare)
-
Carbohydrate Intake in the Etiology of Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. - : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 1078-0998 .- 1536-4844. ; 20:11, s. 2013-2021
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Diet may have a role in the etiology of inflammatory bowel disease. In previous studies, the associations between increased intakes of carbohydrates, sugar, starch, and inflammatory bowel disease are inconsistent. However, few prospective studies have investigated the associations between these macronutrients and incident Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods: A total of 401,326 men and women were recruited between 1991 and 1998. At recruitment, dietary intakes of carbohydrate, sugar, and starch were measured using validated food frequency questionnaires. The cohort was monitored identifying participants who developed incident CD or UC. Cases were matched with 4 controls, and odds ratios were calculated for quintiles of total carbohydrate, sugar, and starch intakes adjusted for total energy intake, body mass index, and smoking. Results: One hundred ten participants developed CD, and 244 participants developed UC during follow-up. The adjusted odds ratio for the highest versus the lowest quintiles of total carbohydrate intake for CD was 0.87, 95% CI = 0.24 to 3.12 and for UC 1.46, 95% CI = 0.62 to 3.46, with no significant trends across quintiles for either (CD, P-trend = 0.70; UC, P-trend = 0.41). Similarly, no associations were observed with intakes of total sugar (CD, P-trend = 0.50; UC, P-trend = 0.71) or starch (CD, P-trend = 0.69; UC, P-trend = 0.17). Conclusions: The lack of associations with these nutrients is in agreement with many case-control studies that have not identified associations with CD or UC. As there is biological plausibility for how specific carbohydrates could have an etiological role in inflammatory bowel disease, future epidemiological work should assess individual carbohydrates, although there does not seem to be a macronutrient effect.
|
|
| 8. |
- Craddock, Nick, et al.
(författare)
-
Genome-wide association study of CNVs in 16,000 cases of eight common diseases and 3,000 shared controls
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 464:7289, s. 713-720
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Copy number variants (CNVs) account for a major proportion of human genetic polymorphism and have been predicted to have an important role in genetic susceptibility to common disease. To address this we undertook a large, direct genome-wide study of association between CNVs and eight common human diseases. Using a purpose-designed array we typed,19,000 individuals into distinct copy-number classes at 3,432 polymorphic CNVs, including an estimated similar to 50% of all common CNVs larger than 500 base pairs. We identified several biological artefacts that lead to false-positive associations, including systematic CNV differences between DNAs derived from blood and cell lines. Association testing and follow-up replication analyses confirmed three loci where CNVs were associated with disease-IRGM for Crohn's disease, HLA for Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes, and TSPAN8 for type 2 diabetes-although in each case the locus had previously been identified in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based studies, reflecting our observation that most common CNVs that are well-typed on our array are well tagged by SNPs and so have been indirectly explored through SNP studies. We conclude that common CNVs that can be typed on existing platforms are unlikely to contribute greatly to the genetic basis of common human diseases.
|
|
| 9. |
- Creelman, Alastair, et al.
(författare)
-
Förändringar, utmaningar, gränslöst lärande
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Interaktiva medier och lärandemiljöer – hur tar vi med oss skolan in i samtiden?.
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bildning som betydelsefull del i lärandet är inte alltid priorierat i utbildingssammanhang. Informellt och icke-formellt lärande erkänns sällan som något som bidrar till kunskap och färdigheter, inte ens av individerna själva. Öppna sociala nätverk skapar stora möjligheter för en ny syn på bildning och tillvaratagande av den enskildes engagemang, motivation, intresse och valmöjligheter. Förändrade lärandekulturer skapas om hur vi lär tillsammans i öppna nätverk, både fysiska och digitala. Ett nytt ekosystem för utbildning tar form med nya aktörer och strukturer för bedömning och certifiering av lärande. Mozillas Open Badges initiativ är ett exempel på detta, liksom personliga e-portfolio, där kompetenser och erfarenheter kan valideras och certifieras antingen av arbetsgivare, utbildningsaktörer eller t.o.m. den enskilde själv. En explosionsartad utveckling sker idag av informellt lärandet tack vare tillgången till öppna lärresurser, forskningsartiklar (via Open Access), öppna utbildningar, sociala nätverk och gratis nätbaserade verktyg för kollaboration och skapande. Nya former för lärande och nya aktörer vinner mark. Förutsättningar för den enskildes möjligheter till lärande och utbildning tillgängliggörs i högre utsträckning samt förändras. Framför allt förändras den enskildes valmöjligheter och påverkansmöljligheter, enskilt, tillsammans med andra, i nätverk men också globalt. Betydelsefulla initiativ har de senaste åren vuxit fram med stor genomslagskraft. Under 2012 var lanseringen av MOOC det som troligen är mest utmanande och omdanande för fomella utbildningsaktörer. En ny form av folkbildning växer fram, där experter och entusiaster kan skapa egna utbildningar via plattformar som t.ex. Udemy, Open Tapestry, CourseSites för att sedan marknadsföra dem nationellt och internationellt med peer review och crowdsourcing som kvalitetssäkring. Kapitlet kommer att handla om diskussionen om hur ett öppet utbildningsklimat kan förädlas och kultiveras. Kapitlet handlar också om hur öppet lärande stimulerar och ger möjligheter till en ny folkbildningsrörelsen där den enskilde kan orkestrera sitt eget lärande.
|
|
| 10. |
- Dahlberg-Grundberg, Michael, 1983-
(författare)
-
Digital media and the transnationalization of protests
- 2016
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Recent developments in communications technology have transformed how social movements might mobilize, and how they can organize their activities. This thesis explores some of the geographical consequences of the use of digital media for political activism. It does this by focusing on the transnationalization of protests. The aim is to analyse how movements with different organizational structures and political scopes are affected by their use of digital media. This is done with a specific focus on how digital media use influences or enables transnational modes of organization and activism. The thesis comprises four different case studies where each study examines a social movement with a specific organizational structure. There are, however, also important similarities between the movements. In each study, somewhat different perspectives and methodological approaches are used. Some of the methods used are semi-structured interviews, content analysis of written data (retrieved from Facebook as well as Twitter), and social network analysis.The analysis indicates that digital media do have a role in the transnationalization of protest. This role, however, differs depending on what type of social movement one studies. The organizational structure of social movements, together with their specific forms of digital media use, influences how the transnationalization of protests and movements is articulated and formed. In cases where a social movement has a hierarchical organizational structure, there is less transnationalization, whereas in social movements with a more non-hierarchical organizational structure one sees more transnationalization. The thesis concludes that the transnationalization of protests is affected by social movements’ organizational structure. The more decentralized the social movement, the more vibrant the transnational public. In order to explain how transnational social movements, using digital media, can emerge in cases where geographical distances might make such coalitions unlikely, the thesis introduces the notion of affectual proximity. This concept helps us understand how transnational social movements, connecting actors from all over the world, can emerge through digital media.
|
|
