| 1. |
- van der Meer, Dennis, et al.
(författare)
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Association of Copy Number Variation of the 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 Region With Cortical and Subcortical Morphology and Cognition
- 2020
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Ingår i: JAMA psychiatry. - : American Medical Association (AMA). - 2168-6238 .- 2168-622X. ; 77:4, s. 420-430
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Importance: Recurrent microdeletions and duplications in the genomic region 15q11.2 between breakpoints 1 (BP1) and 2 (BP2) are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. These structural variants are present in 0.5% to 1.0% of the population, making 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 the site of the most prevalent known pathogenic copy number variation (CNV). It is unknown to what extent this CNV influences brain structure and affects cognitive abilities.Objective: To determine the association of the 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 deletion and duplication CNVs with cortical and subcortical brain morphology and cognitive task performance.Design, Setting, and Participants: In this genetic association study, T1-weighted brain magnetic resonance imaging were combined with genetic data from the ENIGMA-CNV consortium and the UK Biobank, with a replication cohort from Iceland. In total, 203 deletion carriers, 45 247 noncarriers, and 306 duplication carriers were included. Data were collected from August 2015 to April 2019, and data were analyzed from September 2018 to September 2019.Main Outcomes and Measures: The associations of the CNV with global and regional measures of surface area and cortical thickness as well as subcortical volumes were investigated, correcting for age, age2, sex, scanner, and intracranial volume. Additionally, measures of cognitive ability were analyzed in the full UK Biobank cohort.Results: Of 45 756 included individuals, the mean (SD) age was 55.8 (18.3) years, and 23 754 (51.9%) were female. Compared with noncarriers, deletion carriers had a lower surface area (Cohen d = -0.41; SE, 0.08; P = 4.9 × 10-8), thicker cortex (Cohen d = 0.36; SE, 0.07; P = 1.3 × 10-7), and a smaller nucleus accumbens (Cohen d = -0.27; SE, 0.07; P = 7.3 × 10-5). There was also a significant negative dose response on cortical thickness (β = -0.24; SE, 0.05; P = 6.8 × 10-7). Regional cortical analyses showed a localization of the effects to the frontal, cingulate, and parietal lobes. Further, cognitive ability was lower for deletion carriers compared with noncarriers on 5 of 7 tasks.Conclusions and Relevance: These findings, from the largest CNV neuroimaging study to date, provide evidence that 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 structural variation is associated with brain morphology and cognition, with deletion carriers being particularly affected. The pattern of results fits with known molecular functions of genes in the 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 region and suggests involvement of these genes in neuronal plasticity. These neurobiological effects likely contribute to the association of this CNV with neurodevelopmental disorders.
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| 2. |
- Carlsson, Leo S., et al.
(författare)
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Modeling the Effect of Scrap on the Electrical Energy Consumption of an Electric Arc Furnace
- 2020
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Ingår i: Processes. - : MDPI. - 2227-9717. ; 8:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The melting time of scrap is a factor that affects the Electrical Energy (EE) consumption of the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) process. The EE consumption itself stands for most of the total energy consumption during the process. Three distinct representations of scrap, based partly on the apparent density and shape of scrap, were created to investigate the effect of scrap on the accuracy of a statistical model predicting the EE consumption of an EAF. Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) was used as a tool to investigate the effects by each scrap category on each prediction of a selected model. The scrap representation based on the shape of scrap consistently resulted in the best performing models while all models using any of the scrap representations performed better than the ones without any scrap representation. These results were consistent for all four distinct and separately used cleaning strategies on the data set governing the models. In addition, some of the main scrap categories contributed to the model prediction of EE in accordance with the expectations and experience of the plant engineers. The results provide significant evidence that a well-chosen scrap categorization is important to improve a statistical model predicting the EE and that experience on the specific EAF under study is essential to evaluate the practical usefulness of the model.
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| 3. |
- Fritzell, P., et al.
(författare)
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Antibiotics should not be used to treat patients with back/leg pain
- 2020
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Ingår i: Läkartidningen. - 1652-7518. ; 117
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This report is based on results from three research groups in Sweden (Fritzell et al), Denmark (Udby et al), and Norway (Bråten et al). The groups have conducted studies published in international journals in 2019 [8-10]. The results complement each other and strongly suggest that antibiotics, in the absence of clear signs of a clinically relevant infection (discitis/spondylitis), should not be used for back pain with or without leg pain. The Swedish study showed that bacteria found in the disc/vertebra during surgery are very likely due to contamination [8], the Danish study showed that patients with Modic Changes (MC) on MR in the long term were not associated with more back pain or functional impairment than in patients without MC [9], and the Norwegian study showed that antibiotics for residual back pain after previous disc herniation had no better clinical effect than placebo [10]. Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to public health today and in the future.
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| 4. |
- Li, Wenxian, et al.
(författare)
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Multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock calculations of Lande g-factors for ions of astrophysical interest : B II, C I-IV, Al I-II, Si I-IV, P II, S II, Cl III, Ar IV, Ca I, Ti II, Zr III, and Sn II
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 639
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. The Lande g-factor is an important parameter in astrophysical spectropolarimetry, used to characterize the response of a line to a given value of the magnetic field. The purpose of this paper is to present accurate Lande g-factors for states in B II, C I-IV, Al I-II, Si I-IV, P II, S II, Cl III, Ar IV, Ca I, Ti II, Zr III, and Sn II.Methods. The multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock and relativistic configuration interaction methods, which are implemented in the general-purpose relativistic atomic structure package GRASP2K, are employed in the present work to compute the Lande g-factors for states in B II, C I-IV, Al I-II, Si I-IV, P II, S II, Cl III, Ar IV, Ca I, Ti II, Zr III, and Sn II. The accuracy of the wave functions for the states, and thus the accuracy of the resulting Lande g-factors, is evaluated by comparing the computed excitation energies and energy separations with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommended data.Results. All excitation energies are in very good agreement with the NIST values except for Ti II, which has an average difference of 1.06%. The average uncertainty of the energy separations is well below 1% except for the even states of Al I; odd states of Si I, Ca I, Ti II, Zr III; and even states of Sn II for which the relative differences range between 1% and 2%. Comparisons of the computed Lande g-factors are made with available NIST data and experimental values. Analysing the LS-composition of the wave functions, we quantify the departures from LS-coupling and summarize the states for which there is a difference of more than 10% between the computed Lande g-factor and the Lande g-factor in pure LS-coupling. Finally, we compare the computed Lande g-factors with values from the Kurucz database.
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| 5. |
- Liu, Yu, 1990-
(författare)
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Thermodynamics and Kinetics in Metallurgical Processes - with a Special Focus on Bubble Dynamics
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Gas stirring is commonly used in the steelmaking processes to reinforce chemical reactions, kinetic transfer, and inclusion removal, etc. This dissertation concentrates on multiphase flows with gas bubbling to study fluid dynamics and thermodynamics in metallurgical processes. A study of bubble behavior has been carried out using a multiscale approach as follows: Prototype scale (macro) → Plume scale → Single bubble scale → Reaction scale (micro).Initially, previous works on physical modeling and mathematical modeling in relation to the gas bubbling in the ladle have been reviewed. From that, several aspects that can be improved were found:For physical modeling, such as mixing and homogenization in ladles, the general empirical rules have not been analyzed sufficiently;The mathematical models focusing on inclusion behaviors at the steel-slag interface need to be improved;The phenomena governing the transfer of elements, vacuum degassing, and the combination of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics, such as in desulfurization, need to be investigated further.The kinetics transfer with regards to temperature and element homogenization is one of the most extensive research fields in steel metallurgy. For the analysis on prototype scale, the optimal plug configuration has been studied for a 50t ladle. For stirring using bottom-blowing, a separation angle between dual plugs of 160 degree is mostly recommended, and the optimal dual-plug radial position is around 0.65R. Moreover, the influence of the tracer’s natural convection on its homogenization pattern cannot be neglected, especially for ‘soft bubbling’ conditions using low gas flow rates.Subsequently, in studies of the statistical behavior of gas bubbling in the plume, mathematical modeling using an Euler-Euler approach and an Euler-Lagrange approach have been compared. With respect to the bubble coalescence and breakup, the Euler-Lagrange approach is more accurate in predicting the flow pattern for gas injection using a porous plug. With regards to the effect of plug design on the statistical behavior of gas bubbling, gas injection using a slot plug promotes kinetic reactions close to the open eye due to the concentrated plume structure, and gas bubbling using a porous plug promotes a good inclusion removal because of the increased amount of bubbles.Focusing on single bubble behavior, under the same flow rate, as the top gauge pressure is reduced, the bubble diameter increases and the bubble generation frequency decreases. During the bubble ascent, a large bubble gradually reaches stable conditions by means of shedding several small bubbles. In a steel-argon system, under a flow rate in the range of 5.0(mL‧min-1)STP to 2000(mL‧min-1)STP, the bubble diameter is in the range of 6.0mm to 20.0mm. Under laminar conditions, the maximum bubble width is 65mm when the surrounding pressure is 0.2bar, and the steady bubble width is around 58mm under a pressure of 2.0bar.Finally, a coupling method, named Multi-zone Reaction Model, has been developed to predict the conditions in the EAF refining process. Using a combined injection of O2 and argon, and the same injected mass of O2, the decarburization rate increases due to an efficient kinetic mass transfer of carbon in the molten steel. Furthermore, using CO2 to replace argon, as the ratio of the CO2 content in the injection increases, the maximum hot spot temperature, the increment rate of average temperature, and the decarburization rate decrease dramatically.The research step from multiphase fluid dynamics to its coupling with high temperature thermodynamics is a large advancement in this study. Moreover, the research process using open source software to replace the commercial software is also an important technical route. This can help the transparent development of future modules for reacting flow in metallurgical processes.
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| 6. |
- Mcconville, Jennifer, et al.
(författare)
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Structured Approach for Comparison of Treatment Options for Nutrient-Recovery From Fecal Sludge
- 2020
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Environmental Science. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2296-665X. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study is to present a structured approach for comparing possible nutrient-recovery fecal sludge (FS) treatment systems in order to support transparent decision-making. The approach uses a multi-dimensional sustainability assessment of treatment technologies for nutrient recovery from FS, using a typical case of Kampala City, Uganda. A synthesized list of 22 treatment technologies was prepared from literature. This list included wastewater treatment technologies, which could be adapted to treat fecal sludge, and established fecal sludge treatment technologies that are available or potentially applicable in Kampala. Based on the local situation, the list was reduced to eight possible options, which were carried forward into a multi-dimensional sustainability assessment that incorporated input of stakeholders. The technologies included in the final assessment were optimization of the existing system, lactic acid fermentation (LAF), composting, vermicomposting, Black-Soldier Fly (BSF) composting, ammonia treatment, alkaline stabilization and solar drying. Optimization of the existing system performed well against the set criteria and is a recommended short-term solution. This will require e.g., adding narrower screens to remove more trash from the incoming sludge and respecting storage times prior to selling the sludge. To maximize the agricultural value of the recovered product, while respecting the need for safe reuse, a combination of technologies becomes relevant; the use of a combination of BSF, and subsequent ammonia or alkaline treatment of the remaining organic fraction would allow for maximized safe nutrient recovery and can be the aim for long-term sanitation planning in Kampala. The results of this process provide supporting information for a discussion of trade-offs between stakeholder groups as part of a decision-making process within a larger planning context.
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| 7. |
- Mulic, A., et al.
(författare)
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The frequency of enamel and dentin caries lesions among elderly Norwegians
- 2020
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Ingår i: Acta Odontologica Scandinavica. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0001-6357 .- 1502-3850. ; 78:1, s. 6-12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim: To describe the distribution of enamel-, dentin-, root- and secondary caries within an elderly population in Northern-Norway. Material and methods: A study population (n = 1 173) was divided into age groups: 65-69 (seniors), 70-74 (young elderly), 75-79 (elderly) and 80-94 (old elderly). Seven examiners registered presence, location and severity of caries lesions on x-rays and intra-oral photos. Severity of approximal, occlusal, secondary and root caries was graded (D1-2: into enamel; D3-5: into dentin, root caries)(,) and decayed missing filled surfaces/teeth (DMFS/DMFT) were calculated. T-test, ANOVA and a Bonferroni correction were used. Results: The seniors had more primary caries (DS1-5) compared to the oldest age groups, while the old elderly had significantly more secondary caries than the other groups (p < .05). Of those >= 65 years 13.8% were affected with root caries, 21% among the oldest. About 48% of the old elderly had one or more surfaces with untreated caries lesions into dentin, while for the other groups the number was 35% (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Individuals seem to maintain good oral health up to at least 80 years of age. Those older than 80 years have more root caries needing more intensified caries-controlling measures and a higher prevalence of untreated dentin lesions often in need of operative treatment.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Wang, K., et al.
(författare)
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Large-scale Multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock Calculations for Astrophysics : Cl-like Ions from Cr VIII to ZnXIV
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 246:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We use the multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock (MCDHF) method combined with the relativistic configuration interaction approach (GRASP2K) to provide a consistent set of transition energies and radiative transition data for the lower n = 3 states in all Cl-like ions of astrophysical importance, from Cr VIII to Zn XIV. We also provide excitation energies calculated for Fe X using the many-body perturbation theory (MBPT, implemented within FAC). The comparison of the present MCDHF results with MBPT and with the available experimental energies indicates that the theoretical excitation energies are highly accurate, with uncertainties of only a few hundred cm(-1). Detailed comparisons for Fe X and Ni XII highlight discrepancies in the experimental energies found in the literature. Several new identifications are proposed.
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