| 1. |
- Boij, Roland, et al.
(författare)
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Biomarkers of Coagulation, Inflammation, and Angiogenesis are Independently Associated with Preeclampsia
- 2012
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Ingår i: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE IMMUNOLOGY. - : John Wiley and Sons. - 1046-7408 .- 8755-8920. ; 68:3, s. 258-270
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Problem Although preeclampsia has been associated with inflammation, coagulation, and angiogenesis, their correlation and relative contribution are unknown. Method of Study About 114 women with preeclampsia, 31 with early onset (EOP) and 83 with late onset preeclampsia (LOP), and 100 normal pregnant controls were included. A broad panel of 32 biomarkers reflecting coagulation, inflammation, and angiogenesis was analyzed. Results Preeclampsia was associated with decreased antithrombin, IL-4 and placental growth factor levels and with increased C3a, pentraxin-3, and sFlt-1 levels, with more marked differences in the EOP group. The Th1-associated chemokines CXCL10 and CXCL11 were significantly higher in the preeclampsia and EOP group than in controls, respectively. No correlations between the biomarkers were found in preeclampsia. Multivariate logistic regression tests confirmed the results. Conclusions Cytokines, chemokines and complement activation seem to be part of a Th1-like inflammatory reaction in preeclampsia, most pronounced in EOP, where chemokines may be more useful than cytokines as biomarkers. Biomarkers were not correlated suggesting partly independent or in time separated mechanisms.
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| 2. |
- Orwelius, Lotti, et al.
(författare)
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The Swedish RAND-36 Health Survey - reliability and responsiveness assessed in patient populations using Svensson's method for paired ordinal data.
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes. - : Springer Publishing Company. - 2509-8020. ; 2:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The Short Form 36-Item Survey is one of the most commonly used instruments for assessing health-related quality of life. Two identical versions of the original instrument are currently available: the public domain, license free RAND-36 and the commercial SF-36.RAND-36 is not available in Swedish. The purpose of this study was threefold: to translate and culturally adapt the RAND-36 into Swedish; to evaluate its reliability and responsiveness using Svensson's method for paired ordered categorical data; and to assess the usability of an electronic version of the questionnaire.The translation process included forward and backward translations and reconciliation. Test-retest reliability was examined during a period of two-weeks in 84 patients undergoing dialysis for chronic kidney disease. Responsiveness was examined in 97 patients before and 2 months after a cardiac rehabilitation program. Usability tests and cognitive debriefing of the electronic questionnaire were carried out with 18 patients.Results: The Swedish translation of the RAND-36 was conceptually equivalent to the English version. Test-retest reliability was supported by non-significant relative position (RP) values among dialysis patients for all RAND-36 subscales (range - 0.02 to 0.10; all confidence intervals (CI) included zero). Responsiveness was demonstrated by significant improvements in RP values among cardiac rehabilitation patients for all subscales (range 0.22-0.36; lower limits of all CI > 0.1) except two subscales (General health, RP -0.02; CI -0.13 to 0.10; and Role functioning/emotional, RP 0.03; CI -0.09 to 0.16). In cardiac rehabilitation patients, sizable individual variation (RV > 0.2) was also shown for the Pain, Energy/fatigue and Social functioning subscales.The electronic version of RAND-36 was found easy and intuitive to use.Conclusions: Our results provide evidence supporting the reliability and responsiveness of the newly translated Swedish RAND-36 and the user-friendliness of the electronic version. Svensson's method for paired ordinal data was able to characterize not only the direction and size of differences among the patients' responses at different time points but also variations in response patterns within groups. The method is therefore, besides being suitable for ordinal data, also an important and novel tool for gaining insights into patients' response patterns to treatment or interventions, thus informing individualized care.
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| 3. |
- Felton, Adam, et al.
(författare)
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The tree species matters : Biodiversity and ecosystem service implications of replacing Scots pine production stands with Norway spruce.
- 2020
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Ingår i: Ambio. - : Springer. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 49:5, s. 1035-1049
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The choice of tree species used in production forests matters for biodiversity and ecosystem services. In Sweden, damage to young production forests by large browsing herbivores is helping to drive a development where sites traditionally regenerated with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) are instead being regenerated with Norway spruce (Picea abies). We provide a condensed synthesis of the available evidence regarding the likely resultant implications for forest biodiversity and ecosystem services from this change in tree species. Apart from some benefits (e.g. reduced stand-level browsing damage), we identified a range of negative outcomes for biodiversity, production, esthetic and recreational values, as well as increased stand vulnerability to storm, frost, and drought damage, and potentially higher risks of pest and pathogen outbreak. Our results are directly relevant to forest owners and policy-makers seeking information regarding the uncertainties, risks, and trade-offs likely to result from changing the tree species in production forests.
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| 4. |
- Gustafsson, Stefan, et al.
(författare)
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Electromagnetic dispersion modeling and measurements for HVDC power cables
- 2014
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Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery. - : IEEE Press. - 0885-8977 .- 1937-4208. ; 29:6, s. 2439-2447
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper provides a general framework for electromagnetic (EM) modeling, sensitivity analysis, computation, and measurements regarding the wave propagation characteristics of high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) power cables. The modeling is motivated by the potential use with transient analysis, partial-discharge measurements, fault localization and monitoring, and is focused on very long (10 km or more) HVDC power cables with transients propagating in the low-frequency regime of about 0-100 kHz. An exact dispersion relation is formulated together with a discussion on practical aspects regarding the computation of the propagation constant. Experimental time-domain measurement data from an 80-km-long HVDC power cable are used to validate the electromagnetic model, and a mismatch calibration procedure is devised to account for the connection between the measurement equipment and the cable. Quantitative sensitivity analysis is devised to study the impact of parameter uncertainty on wave propagation characteristics. The sensitivity analysis can be used to study how material choices affect the propagation characteristics, and to indicate which material parameters need to be identified accurately in order to achieve accurate fault localization. The analysis shows that the sensitivity of the propagation constant due to a change in the conductivity in the three metallic layers (the inner conductor, the intermediate lead shield, and the outer steel armor) is comparable to the sensitivity with respect to the permittivity of the insulating layer. Hence, proper modeling of the EM fields inside the metallic layers is crucial in the low-frequency regime of 0-100 kHz.
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| 5. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N, et al.
(författare)
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The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 7:1, s. 145-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
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| 6. |
- Nilsson, Daniel, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Mätning av grotflis
- 2012
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Handeln av grotflis, flis från grenar och toppar vid slutavverkning, har ökatkraftigt under de senaste åren. Inmätningen sker vanligtvis vidmottagningsplatsen och betalningen sker vanligen utifrån energiinnehåll meduppgift om fukthalt.Syftet med denna studie har varit att jämföra olika mätmetoder för grotflissom bygger på volym, vikt och olika sätt att uppskatta fukthalten. Den metodsom antas som facit bygger på 10 prover per container vilket innebär 30prover per leverans. Detta ”facit” har jämförts med sex alternativa sätt attberäkna lassens energivärde. En av metoderna är den som tillämpas av VMFSyd och en annan är en metod som bygger på en finsk modell att uppskattafukthalten. Studien är avgränsad till 44 leveranser grotflis, i huvudask frånbarrträd, under vinter och sommarförhållanden och transporten har skett iekipage om tre fliscontainrar.Medelfukthalten för de vinterkörda leveranserna bestämdes via 10 prov percontainer, LNU/SLU, till 39,3 % medan VMF Syd uppmätte enmedelfukthalt på 38,7 %, via den finska metoden uppskattades fukthalten förde vinterkörda leveranserna till 45,5 %. Medelfukthalten för desommarkörda leveranserna bestämdes av LNU/SLU till 27,9 %, av VMFSyd till 27,0 % meden uppskattningen via den finska metoden gav enmedelfukthalt på 30 %.De vinterkörda ekipagen hade enligt det antagna facit, LNU/SLU, ettenergiinnehåll i medeltal på 104,2 MWh medan energiinnehållet enligtfukthalten från VMF blev energiinnehållet i medeltal 105,7 MWh och dåfukthalten bestämdes med den finska metoden blev energiinnehållet imedeltal 90,8 MWh. För de sommarkörda leveranserna blev energiinnehålleti medeltal 110,8 MWh enligt LNU/SLU, 112,5 MWh enligt VMF Syd och105,7 MWh enligt den finska metoden.När det gäller de olika mätmetoderna visade det sig att M6, energivärde direkt ifrån mätsedel, var den bästa med en kvotspridning på 6,4 % ijämförelse med antaget facitvärde beräknat enligt LNU/SLU. Anledningentill detta är att denna mätning baseras på av fukthalten och beräknat effektivtvärmevärde för varje enskild leverans medan de andra bygger på ett beräknat”erfarenhetstal” för energiinnehåll per ton respektive per m3s förleveranserna i studien. Om mätningen istället baseras på erfarenhetstalistället för fukthaltsmätning visar resultaten att volymmätning ger en mindrekvotspridning, runt 10 %, jämfört med viktbaserad mätning där kvotspridningen hamnar på ca 17 % jämfört med facit. Fukthaltsmätningenligt den finska metoden ger en kvotspridning på ca 15 %.Volymminskningen under transport för alla leveranser i studien uppmättes imedeltal till strax över 2 % och resultaten visar också att den störstavolymminskningen, ca 70 %, sker redan under de första kilometrarna.Skillnaden mellan VMFs volymmätning och den mer noggrannavolymmätningen utförda av LNU/SLU visade sig vara endast 0,5 %. Men dålassen krattats för att möjliggöra denna mätning har även VMFs inmätningförenklats.
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| 7. |
- Nilsson, Evalill, et al.
(författare)
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SF-36 predicts 13-year CHD incidence in a middle-aged Swedish general population
- 2020
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Ingår i: Quality of Life Research. - : Springer. - 0962-9343 .- 1573-2649. ; 29, s. 971-975
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PurposeTo study the predictive ability of each of the eight scales of SF-36 on 13-year all-cause mortality and incident coronary heart disease (CHD) in a general middle-aged population.MethodsThe population-based, longitudinal “Life-conditions, Stress and Health” study, in 2003–2004 enrolled 1007 persons aged 45–69 years (50% female), randomly sampled from the general population in Östergötland, Sweden. Variables at baseline included the SF-36 (health-related quality of life, HRQoL) and self-reported disease. Incident CHD (morbidity and mortality) and all-cause mortality data for the study population during the first 13 years from baseline were obtained from national Swedish registries.ResultsSeven of the eight SF-36 scales predicted CHD (sex- and age-adjusted Hazard Ratios up to 2.15; p ≤ 0.05), while only the Physical Functioning scale significantly predicted all-cause mortality. Further adjustments for presence of (self-reported) disease did not, in most cases, alter these significant predictions.ConclusionLow SF-36 scores predict risk of CHD, also after adjustment for present disease, supporting the biopsychosocial model of health and disease. Measures of HRQoL yield important information and can add to the cardiopreventive toolbox, including primary prevention efforts, as it is such a simple and relatively inexpensive tool.
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| 8. |
- Nordebo, Sven, et al.
(författare)
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Electromagnetic dispersion modeling and measurements for HVDC power cables
- 2011
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper provides a general framework for electromagnetic modeling, computation and measurements regarding the wave propagation characteristics of High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) power cables. The modeling is focused on very long (10 km or more) HVDC power cables and the relevant frequency range is therefore in the low-frequency regime of about 0-100 kHz. An exact dispersion relation is formulated together with a discussion on practical aspects regarding the computation of the propagation constant and the related characteristic impedance. Experimental time-domain measurement data from an 80 km long HVDC power cable is used to validate the model. It is concluded that a single-mode transmission line model is not adequate to account for the mismatch between the power cable and the instrumentation. A mismatch calibration procedure is therefore devised to account for the connection between the measurement equipment and the cable. A dispersion model is thus obtained that is accurate for early times of pulse arrival. To highlight the potential of accurate electromagnetic modeling, an example of high-resolution length-estimation is discussed and analyzed using statistical methods based on the Cramer-Rao lower bound. The analysis reveals that the estimation accuracy based on the present model (and its related model error) is in the order of 100 m for an 80 km long power cable, and that the potential accuracy using a perfect model based on the given measurement data is in the order of centimeters.
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| 9. |
- Nordebo, Sven, et al.
(författare)
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Low-frequency dispersion characteristics of a multilayered coaxial cable
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Engineering Mathematics. - : Springer Netherlands. - 0022-0833 .- 1573-2703. ; 83:1, s. 169-184
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper provides an exact asymptotic analysis regarding the low-frequency dispersion characteristics of a multilayered coaxial cable. A layer-recursive description of the dispersion function is derived that is well suited for asymptotic analysis. The recursion is based on two well-behaved (meromorphic) subdeterminants defined by a perfectly electrically conducting (PEC) and a perfectly magnetically conducting termination, respectively. For an open waveguide structure, the dispersion function is a combination of two such functions, and there is only one branch point that is related to the exterior domain. It is shown that if there is one isolating layer and a PEC outer shield, then the classical Weierstrass preparation theorem can be used to prove that the low-frequency behavior of the propagation constant is governed by the square root of the complex frequency, and an exact analytical expression for the dominating term of the asymptotic expansion is derived. It is furthermore shown that the same asymptotic expansion is valid to its lowest order even if the outer shield has finite conductivity and there is an infinite exterior region with finite nonzero conductivity. As a practical application of the theory, a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power cable is analyzed and a numerical solution to the dispersion relation is validated by comparisons with the asymptotic analysis. The comparison reveals that the low-frequency dispersion characteristics of the power cable is very complicated and a first-order asymptotic approximation is valid only at extremely low frequencies (below 1 Hz). It is noted that the only way to come to this conclusion is to actually perform the asymptotic analysis. Hence, for practical modeling purposes, such as with fault localization, an accurate numerical solution to the dispersion relation is necessary and the asymptotic analysis is useful as a validation tool.
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| 10. |
- Nordebo, Sven, et al.
(författare)
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Wave modeling and fault localization for underwater power cables
- 2011
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Ingår i: 2011 IEEE-APS Topical Conference on Antennas and Propagation in Wireless Communications (APWC). - : IEEE Press. - 9781457700460 ; , s. 698-701
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper describes some preliminary results regarding Time-Domain pulse Reflection (TDR) measurements and modeling performed on the Baltic Cable submarine HVDC link between southern Sweden and northern Germany. The measurements were conducted in collaboration between the Linnaeus University, Lund University, Baltic Cable AB and ABB High Voltage Cables AB, and is part of the research project: “Fundamental wave modeling for signal estimation on lossy transmission lines”. Preliminary results on measurements and modeling are included here, as well as a first numerical study regarding the low-frequency dispersion characteristics of power cables. The numerical study shows that the finite conductivity of the cable lead shield has a great impact on the losses at low frequencies (0-1 kHz), and that the low-frequency asymptotics of the propagation constant is consistent with common propagation models based on the skin-effect.
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