| 1. |
- Culverhouse, R. C., et al.
(författare)
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Collaborative meta-analysis finds no evidence of a strong interaction between stress and 5-HTTLPR genotype contributing to the development of depression
- 2018
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 23:1, s. 133-142
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The hypothesis that the S allele of the 5-HTTLPR serotonin transporter promoter region is associated with increased risk of depression, but only in individuals exposed to stressful situations, has generated much interest, research and controversy since first proposed in 2003. Multiple meta-analyses combining results from heterogeneous analyses have not settled the issue. To determine the magnitude of the interaction and the conditions under which it might be observed, we performed new analyses on 31 data sets containing 38 802 European ancestry subjects genotyped for 5-HTTLPR and assessed for depression and childhood maltreatment or other stressful life events, and meta-analysed the results. Analyses targeted two stressors (narrow, broad) and two depression outcomes (current, lifetime). All groups that published on this topic prior to the initiation of our study and met the assessment and sample size criteria were invited to participate. Additional groups, identified by consortium members or self-identified in response to our protocol (published prior to the start of analysis) with qualifying unpublished data, were also invited to participate. A uniform data analysis script implementing the protocol was executed by each of the consortium members. Our findings do not support the interaction hypothesis. We found no subgroups or variable definitions for which an interaction between stress and 5-HTTLPR genotype was statistically significant. In contrast, our findings for the main effects of life stressors (strong risk factor) and 5-HTTLPR genotype (no impact on risk) are strikingly consistent across our contributing studies, the original study reporting the interaction and subsequent meta-analyses. Our conclusion is that if an interaction exists in which the S allele of 5-HTTLPR increases risk of depression only in stressed individuals, then it is not broadly generalisable, but must be of modest effect size and only observable in limited situations.
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| 2. |
- Lee, Mengshan, et al.
(författare)
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Water-energy nexus for urban water systems : A comparative review on energy intensity and environmental impacts in relation to global water risks
- 2017
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Ingår i: Applied Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-2619 .- 1872-9118. ; 205, s. 589-601
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The importance of the interdependence between water and energy, also known as the water-energy nexus, is well recognized. The water-energy nexus is typically characterized in resource use efficiency terms such as energy intensity. This study aims to explore the quantitative results of the nexus in terms of energy intensity and environmental impacts (mainly greenhouse gas emissions) on existing water systems within urban water cycles. We also characterized the influence of water risks on the water-energy nexus, including baseline water stress (a water quantity indicator) and return flow ratio (a water quality indicator). For the 20 regions and 4 countries surveyed (including regions with low to extremely high water risks that are geographically located in Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America), their energy intensities were positively related to the water risks. Regions with higher water risks were observed to have relatively higher energy and GHG intensities associated with their water supply systems. This mainly reflected the major influence of source water accessibility on the nexus, particularly for regions requiring energy-intensive imported or groundwater supplies, or desalination. Regions that use tertiary treatment (for water reclamation or environmental protection) for their wastewater treatment systems also had relatively higher energy and GHG emission intensities, but the intensities seemed to be independent from the water risks. On-site energy recovery (e.g., biogas or waste heat) in the wastewater treatment systems offered a great opportunity for reducing overall energy demand and its associated environmental impacts. Future policy making for the water and energy sectors should carefully consider the water energy nexus at the regional or local level to achieve maximum environmental and economic benefits. The results from this study can provide a better understanding of the water-energy nexus and informative recommendations for future policy directions for the effective management of water and energy.
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| 3. |
- Nishiyama, C, et al.
(författare)
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Apples to apples or apples to oranges? International variation in reporting of process and outcome of care for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
- 2014
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Ingår i: Resuscitation. - : Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. - 0300-9572 .- 1873-1570. ; 85:11, s. 1599-1609
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: Survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) varies between communities, due in part to variation in the methods of measurement. The Utstein template was disseminated to standardize comparisons of risk factors, quality of care, and outcomes in patients with OHCA. We sought to assess whether OHCA registries are able to collate common data using the Utstein template. A subsequent study will assess whether the Utstein factors explain differences in survival between emergency medical services (EMS) systems. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: This retrospective analysis of prospective cohorts included adults treated for OHCA, regardless of the etiology of arrest. Data describing the baseline characteristics of patients, and the process and outcome of their care were grouped by EMS system, de-identified, and then collated. Included were core Utstein variables and timed event data from each participating registry. This study was classified as exempt from human subjects' research by a research ethics committee. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Thirteen registries with 265 first-responding EMS agencies in 13 countries contributed data describing 125,840 cases of OHCA. Variation in inclusion criteria, definition, coding, and process of care variables were observed. Contributing registries collected 61.9% of recommended core variables and 42.9% of timed event variables. Among core variables, the proportion of missingness was mean 1.9±2.2%. The proportion of unknown was mean 4.8±6.4%. Among time variables, missingness was mean 9.0±6.3%. CONCLUSIONS: International differences in measurement of care after OHCA persist. Greater consistency would facilitate improved resuscitation care and comparison within and between communities.
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| 4. |
- Zhang, Z., et al.
(författare)
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Advances in carbon capture, utilization and storage
- 2020
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Ingår i: Applied Energy. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0306-2619 .- 1872-9118. ; 278
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) is one of the essential components for mitigating CO2 emissions. This special issue of Applied Energy includes research and review articles on CCUS technologies and applications. Recent developments in CO2 capture technologies with emphasis on post-combustion processes are highlighted. CO2 utilization in fuel production and other chemical processes, and CO2 storage are also presented, along with detailed discussion of life cycle assessments and techno-economic analyses to evaluate the various CCUS processes.
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| 5. |
- Elkadeem, M. R., et al.
(författare)
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Sustainable siting and design optimization of hybrid renewable energy system : A geospatial multi-criteria analysis
- 2021
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Ingår i: Applied Energy. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0306-2619 .- 1872-9118. ; 295
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The use of hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) holds great promise for sustainable electrification and support countries reaching their energy access goals. The site selection and design of HRES are strategic stages towards ensuring an affordable, sustainable, and well-performing project. However, both are multidimensional and intricate issues that involve multiple conflicting assessment criteria and alternatives, which are not yet investigated comprehensively and simultaneously in many of the existing literature. In this context, the paper aims to develop a systematic and conceptual decision-making framework for site suitability and optimal design of HRESs, with an application on a regional scale in Kenya, Sub-Saharan Africa. The suggested framework is applied through three consecutive phases. First, a geographical information system (GIS) is combined with Best Worst Method (BWM) decision-making approach to spatially investigate and analyze the potential sites of solar, wind, and hybrid solar/wind systems. Within the spatial investigation, 9 different climatology, environment, location, and orography criteria are considered. Second, energy-economy-ecology (E3) design optimization is conducted to determine the list of feasible alternatives among grid-extension, autonomous HRES, and stand-alone diesel genset electrification schemes for powering a representative remote rural village in Kenya. Third, a post-optimality multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) analysis is applied to decide and assess the optimal energy access design against 12 key sustainability indicators. In the third phase, the BWM is employed to define the weights of each indicator. Then, the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and the VIšekriterijumsko KOmpromisno Rangiranje (VIKOR) decision making approaches are used for the final ranking of feasible alternatives. The obtained site suitability maps of Kenya show that 0.91% (5322 km2) and 1.5% (8828.4 km2) of the land is highly suitable, 10.25% (59687 km2) and 33.04% (192360 km2) is suitable, and 80.5% (470313 km2) and 65% (378407 km2) is permanently unsuitable for establishing solar and wind systems, respectively. Also, E3-MCDM results indicate that the development of solar/wind/diesel/battery HRES is the best sustainable solution to supply the studied region as compared to other feasible alternatives. The system does not only guarantee a reliable operation with an unmet load of 552 kWh/yr, but it also has the lowest net present and energy costs at 2.6 M$ and 0.28 $/kWh, respectively, meanwhile avoiding annual CO2 of 804 tons compared with diesel system.
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| 6. |
- Fatima, R., et al.
(författare)
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Sharing information online rationally : An observation of user privacy concerns and awareness using serious game
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Information Security and Applications. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 2214-2134 .- 2214-2126. ; 48
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent studies have shown that excessive online information disclosure is a major reason of privacy breach. It makes it easy for social engineers to gather information about their targets. The objective of this study is to gather user privacy concerns reported in the literature and categorize them into themes, then design a serious game covering the categorized privacy concerns and evaluate the educational effect of the game regarding dangers associated with excessive online information disclosure. We have conducted a literature review and extracted user privacy concerns reported in 109+ publications. Then we designed a serious game and empirically evaluated the game players awareness of dangers associated with excessive online information disclosure. We find that privacy awareness has a positive long-term impact on users online behavior in terms of controlled information sharing. However, social networking needs drive users to share information online, even knowing the potential risks. The proposed serious game shows positive effect in improving the privacy awareness of participants.
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| 7. |
- Li, H., et al.
(författare)
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Field-scale assessment of direct and indirect effects of soil texture on organic matter mineralization during a dry summer
- 2023
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier B.V.. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 899
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Soil texture plays a crucial role in organic matter (OM) mineralization through both direct interactions with minerals and indirect effects on soil moisture. Separating these effects could enhance the modelling of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics under climate change scenarios. However, the attempts have been limited small-scale experiments. Here, we studied the effects of soil texture on added OM mineralization in loamy sand, loam and silt loam soils in nine agricultural fields in Flanders, Belgium. Soil moisture, temperature, groundwater table depth and the mineralization of 13C-labeled ryegrass were monitored in buried mesocosms for approximately three months during a dry summer. Ryegrass-C mineralization was lowest in the loamy sand (39 ± 7 %) followed by silt loam (48 ± 7 %) and loam (63 ± 5 %) soils, challenging the current clay%-based moderation of C-mineralization rates in soil models. Soil temperature was not influenced by soil texture, whereas soil moisture was indeed dependent on soil texture. It appears that capillarity sustained upward water supply from groundwater to the topsoil in loam and silt loam soils but not in loamy sand soil, although this difference in capillary rise could not fully explain the higher moisture content in loam than that in silt loam soils. Additionally, soil texture only impacted remnant added ryegrass pieces (>500 μm) but not the finer ryegrass-derived SOC (<500 μm), which might point at the important indirect control of texture on OM mineralization during prolonged summer drought. However, these effects are only manifested during drought when no other factors (e.g., groundwater depth or subsurface water flows) exert an overriding impact on the soil water balance. Overall, our findings highlight the need to properly incorporate the indirect effects of soil texture on OM mineralization into soil carbon models to accurately predict soil C stocks under future climate change scenarios.
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| 8. |
- Lumley, Mark A., et al.
(författare)
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The Relationship of Chronic and Momentary Work Stress to Cardiac Reactivity in Female Managers : Feasibility of a Smart Phone-Assisted Assessment System
- 2014
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Ingår i: Psychosomatic Medicine. - : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 0033-3174 .- 1534-7796. ; 76:7, s. 512-518
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: To evaluate a wireless smart phone-assisted (SPA) system that assesses ongoing heart rate (HR) and HR-triggered participant reports of momentary stress when HR is elevated during daily life. This SPA system was used to determine the independent and interactive roles of chronic and momentary work stress on HR reactivity among female managers. Methods: A sample of 40 female managers reported their chronic work stress and wore the SPA system during a regular workday. They provided multiple reports of their momentary stress, both when triggered by increased HR and at random times. Relationships among chronic stress, momentary stress, and HR were analyzed with hierarchical linear modeling. Results: Both chronic work stress (b = 0.08, standard error [SE] = 0.03, p = .003) and momentary work stress (b = 1.25, SE = 0.62, p = .052) independently predicted greater HR reactivity, adjusting for baseline HR, age, smoking, caffeine, alcohol use, and momentary physical activity levels. More importantly, chronic and momentary stress significantly interacted (b = 1.00, SE = 0.04, p = .036); high momentary stress predicted elevated HR only in the context of high chronic stress. Conclusions: Female managers who experience chronic work stress displayed elevated cardiac reactivity during momentary stress at work. The joint assessment of chronic stress and momentary stress and their relationship to physiological functioning during work clarifies the potential health risks associated with work stress. Moreover, this wireless SPA system captures the immediate subjective context of individuals when physiological arousal occurs, which may lead to tailored stress management programs in the workplace.
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| 9. |
- Ma, Z., et al.
(författare)
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Statistical analysis of energy consumption patterns on the heat demand of buildings in district heating systems
- 2014
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Ingår i: Energy and Buildings. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-7788 .- 1872-6178. ; 85, s. 664-672
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Precise prediction of heat demand is crucial for optimising district heating (DH) systems. Energy consumption patterns (ECPs) represent a key parameter in developing a good mathematical model to predict heat demand. This study quantitatively investigated the impacts of ECPs on heat consumption. Two key factors, namely, time and type of buildings, were used to reflect various ECPs in DH systems, and a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) was developed to examine their impacts on heat consumption. The model was trained and validated using the measured data from a real DH system. Results show that the factor of time does not represent a good reflection of ECP. In contrast, categorising buildings according to their function is an effective way to reflect ECPs. Based on the defined building types, i.e., commercial, apartment and office, the average absolute deviation of the predicted heat load was about 4-8%.
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| 10. |
- Wang, Siyang, et al.
(författare)
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Fourth order finite difference methods for the wave equation with mesh refinement interfaces
- 2019
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Ingår i: SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing. - : Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Publications. - 1064-8275 .- 1095-7197. ; 41:5, s. A3246-A3275
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We analyze two types of summation-by-parts finite difference operators for approximating the second derivative with variable coefficient. The first type uses ghost points, while the second type does not use any ghost points. A previously unexplored relation between the two types of summation-by-parts operators is investigated. By combining them we develop a new fourth order accurate finite difference discretization with hanging nodes on the mesh refinement interface. We take the model problem as the two-dimensional acoustic wave equation in second order form in terms of acoustic pressure, and we prove energy stability for the proposed method. Compared to previous approaches using ghost points, the proposed method leads to a smaller system of linear equations that needs to be solved for the ghost point values. Another attractive feature of the proposed method is that the explicit time step does not need to be reduced relative to the corresponding periodic problem. Numerical experiments, both for smoothly varying and discontinuous material properties, demonstrate that the proposed method converges to fourth order accuracy. A detailed comparison of the accuracy and the time-step restriction with the simultaneous-approximation-term penalty method is also presented.
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