| 1. |
- Miravitlles, Marc, et al.
(författare)
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The Relationship Between 24-Hour Symptoms and COPD Exacerbations and Healthcare Resource Use : Results from an Observational Study (ASSESS)
- 2016
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Ingår i: COPD: Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1541-2555 .- 1541-2563. ; 13:5, s. 561-568
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This observational study assessed the relationship between nighttime, early-morning and daytime chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) symptoms and exacerbations and healthcare resource use. COPD symptoms were assessed at baseline in patients with stable COPD using a standardised questionnaire during routine clinical visits. Information was recorded on exacerbations and healthcare resource use during the year before baseline and during a 6-month follow-up period. The main objective of the analysis was to determine the predictive nature of current symptoms for future exacerbations and healthcare resource use. 727 patients were eligible (65.8% male, mean age: 67.2 years, % predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second: 52.8%); 698 patients (96.0%) provided information after 6 months. Symptoms in any part of the day were associated with a prior history of exacerbations (all p <0.05) and nighttime and early-morning symptoms were associated with the frequency of primary care visits in the year before baseline (both p <0.01). During follow-up, patients with baseline symptoms during any part of the 24-hour day had more exacerbations than patients with no symptoms in each period (all p <0.05); there was also an association between 24-hour symptoms and the frequency of primary care visits (all p ≤ 0.01). Although there was a significant association between early-morning and daytime symptoms and exacerbations during follow-up (both p <0.01), significance was not maintained when adjusted for potential confounders. Prior exacerbations were most strongly associated with future risk of exacerbation. The results suggest 24-hour COPD symptoms do not independently predict future exacerbation risk.
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| 2. |
- Sandström, Annica, et al.
(författare)
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Network structure and perceived legitimacy in wildlife collaborative management
- 2016
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Ingår i: Review of Policy Research. - : Wiley. - 1541-132X .- 1541-1338. ; 33:4, s. 442-462
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The widespread supposition that collaborative management designs enhance legitimacy must be examined empirically, and the rich diversity of different collaborative arrangements should be better acknowledged in this endeavor. This study adopts a social network perspective and examines three state-initiated and interest-based collaborative management arenas in Swedish wildlife management: wildlife conservation committees (WCCs). Is there a link between social network structures in collaborative management arenas and the perceived legitimacy of output by policy stakeholders? This puzzle is addressed through social network analysis combined with survey data and interviews. The empirical results confirm the notion that collaborative arenas consisting of high network closure with many bridging ties across organizational boundaries enjoy a higher level of support among stakeholders directly involved in management, as members of the committees, than networks with a more sparse structure do. This type of well-integrated network structure seemingly increases stakeholders’ understanding of other actors’ perspectives through deliberation. Contrary to what was expected, though, the empirical analysis did not verify the effect of linking, or outreaching ties between the committee members and the organizations that they represent, on the organizations’ support of WCC decisions. Given the rapid rise of collaborative designs in public administrations, the topic elaborated in this paper is urgent and further research is encouraged.
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| 3. |
- Alamidi, Daniel, et al.
(författare)
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COPD Patients Have Short Lung Magnetic Resonance T1 Relaxation Time.
- 2016
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Ingår i: COPD. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1541-2563 .- 1541-2555. ; 13:2, s. 153-159
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may provide attractive biomarkers for assessment of pulmonary disease in clinical trials as it is free from ionizing radiation, minimally invasive and allows regional information. The aim of this study was to characterize lung MRI T1 relaxation time as a biomarker of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); and specifically its relationship to smoking history, computed tomography (CT), and pulmonary function test (PFT) measurements in comparison to healthy age-matched controls. Lung T1 and inter-quartile range (IQR) of T1 maps from 24 COPD subjects and 12 healthy age-matched non-smokers were retrospectively analyzed from an institutional review board approved study. The subjects underwent PFTs and two separate MR imaging sessions at 1.5 tesla to test T1 repeatability. CT scans were performed on the COPD subjects. T1 repeatability (intraclass correlation coefficient) was 0.72 for repeated scans acquired on two visits. The lung T1 was significantly shorter (p < 0.0001) and T1 IQR was significantly larger (p = 0.0002) for the COPD subjects compared to healthy controls. Lung T1 significantly (p = 0.001) correlated with lung density assessed with CT. Strong significant correlations (p < 0.0001) between lung T1 and all PFT measurements were observed. Cigarette exposure did not correlate with lung T1 in COPD subjects. In conclusion, lung MRI T1 mapping shows potential as a repeatable, radiation free, non-invasive imaging technique in the evaluation of COPD.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Sundh, Josefin, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
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Comparison of the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) and the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) in a Clinical Population
- 2016
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Ingår i: COPD. - Philadelphia, USA : Taylor & Francis. - 1541-2555 .- 1541-2563. ; 13:1, s. 57-65
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: The COPD Assessment Test (CAT) and the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) are both clinically useful health status instruments. The main objective was to compare CAT and CCQ measurement instruments.Methods: CAT and CCQ forms were completed by 432 randomly selected primary and secondary care patients with a COPD diagnosis. Correlation and linear regression analyses of CAT and CCQ were performed. Standardised scores were created for the CAT and CCQ scores, and separate multiple linear regression analyses for CAT and CCQ examined associations with sex, age (≤ 60, 61-70 and >70 years), exacerbations (≥1 vs 0 in the previous year), body mass index (BMI), heart disease, anxiety/depression and lung function (subgroup with n = 246).Results: CAT and CCQ correlated well (r = 0.88, p < 0.0001), as did CAT ≥ 10 and CCQ ≥ 1 (r = 0.78, p < 0.0001). CCQ 1.0 corresponded to CAT 9.93 and CAT 10 to CCQ 1.29. Both instruments were associated with BMI < 20 (standardised adjusted regression coefficient (95%CI) for CAT 0.56 (0.18 to 0.93) and CCQ 0.56 (0.20 to 0.92)), exacerbations (CAT 0.77 (0.58 to 0.95) and CCQ 0.94 (0.76 to 1.12)), heart disease (CAT 0.38 (0.17 to 0.59) and CCQ 0.23 (0.03 to 0.43)), anxiety/depression (CAT 0.35 (0.15 to 0.56) and CCQ 0.41 (0.21 to 0.60)) and COPD stage (CAT 0.19 (0.05 to 0.34) and CCQ 0.22 (0.07 to 0.36)).Conclusions: CAT and CCQ correlate well with each other. Heart disease, anxiety/depression, underweight, exacerbations, and low lung function are associated with worse health status assessed by both instruments.
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| 6. |
- Tran, Lena, et al.
(författare)
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Various Antibody Clones of Napsin A, Thyroid Transcription Factor 1, and p40 and Comparisons With Cytokeratin 5 and p63 in Histopathologic Diagnostics of Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma
- 2016
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Ingår i: Applied immunohistochemistry & molecular morphology (Print). - 1541-2016 .- 1533-4058. ; 24:9, s. 648-659
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Histopathologic classification of cancer in the lung is important for choice of treatment. Cytokeratin 5 (CK5), p63, and p40 are commonly used immunohistochemical markers for squamous cell carcinoma, and napsin A (NAPA) and thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1) are markers for adenocarcinoma of the lung. The aim of the present study was to evaluate these 5 markers and to compare different commercially available antibody clones in lung cancer. Tissue microarrays including 557 cases of surgically treated primary tumors and 73 matched metastases of non-small cell lung carcinoma were stained with CK5, p63, p40 (monoclonal and polyclonal), NAPA (5 different clones/protocols), and TTF-1 (2 different clones). The sensitivity and specificity to separate squamous cell carcinomas from non-small cell carcinomas of nonsquamous type were 95% and 97%, respectively, for CK5, 95% and 87% for p63, 94% and 96% for p40, 75% to 79% and 96% to 98% for the NAPA clones/protocols and 80% to 85% and 95% to 97% for the TTF-1 clones. A combination of NAPA and TTF-1 resulted in a higher sensitivity (85% to 88%), whereas combining CK5 and p40 did not increase the diagnostic performance. The sensitivity was generally lower in evaluation of lung cancer metastases. The κ-values for comparison of staining results between monoclonal and polyclonal p40 and between the 5 NAPA clones/protocols were 0.97 to 1.0, whereas the corresponding figure for the 2 TTF-1 clones was 0.91 to 0.93. Conclusively, CK5 and p40 are good diagnostic markers for squamous cell carcinoma and superior to p63. In addition, it may be useful to combine NAPA and TTF-1 for increased sensitivity in lung cancer diagnostics. There is no substantial difference between monoclonal and polyclonal p40 and between different NAPA clones, whereas there is a difference between the TTF-1 clones 8G7G3/1 and SPT24.
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| 7. |
- Birgersson, Marcus, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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Data Integration Using Machine Learning
- 2016
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Ingår i: Proceedings - IEEE International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Workshop, EDOCW. - 1541-7719. ; 2016-September, s. 313-322, s. 313-322
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Today, enterprise integration and cross-enterprise collaboration is becoming evermore important. The Internet of things, digitization and globalization are pushing continuous growth in the integration market. However, setting up integration systems today is still largely a manual endeavor. Most probably, future integration will need to leverage more automation in order to keep up with demand. This paper presents a first version of a system that uses tools from artificial intelligence and machine learning to ease the integration of information systems, aiming to automate parts of it. Three models are presented and evaluated for precision and recall using data from real, past, integration projects. The results show that it is possible to obtain Fo.5 scores in the order of 80% for models trained on a particular kind of data, and in the order of 60%-70% for less specific models trained on a several kinds of data. Such models would be valuable enablers for integration brokers to keep up with demand, and obtain a competitive advantage. Future work includes fusing the results from the different models, and enabling continuous learning from an operational production system.
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| 8. |
- Bigliardi, Stefano
(författare)
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Secret cousins : Analogies in the construction of religious authority through "science" in Maurice Bucaille and Claude Vorilhon (Raël)
- 2016
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Ingår i: Nova Religio. - : University of California Press. - 1092-6690 .- 1541-8480. ; 20:2, s. 34-58
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper I discuss the work of two French authors who advocate a "scientific" exegesis of sacred scriptures: physician Maurice Bucaille (1922-1998) and religious leader Claude Vorilhon (alias Raël, b. 1946). Bucaille argues that the Qur'an's divine origin is demonstrated by its accuracy about natural phenomena and "scientific facts," whereas the Bible does not stand up to "scientific" examination. Vorilhon supposedly received a revelation regarding the creation of humanity by an alien race, the Elohim. Part and parcel of such revelation is a biblical exegesis that identifies, in numerous passages of the Old and New Testaments, allusions to the Elohim's technological interventions in the history of humanity. I argue here that despite apparent differences, these textual strategies - blending "science" and scriptures - display substantial similarities, and that they are influenced by narrative and philosophical patterns deeply rooted in French culture.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Cochran, Susan D., et al.
(författare)
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Sexual Orientation and All-Cause Mortality Among US Adults Aged 18 to 59 Years, 2001-2011
- 2016
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Ingår i: American Journal of Public Health. - 0090-0036 .- 1541-0048. ; 106:5, s. 918-920
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To determine whether sexual minorities have an earliermortality than do heterosexuals, we investigated associations between sexual orientation assessed in the 2001 to 2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) and mortality in the 2011 NHANES-linked mortality file. Mortality follow-up time averaged 69.6 months after NHANES. By 2011, 338 individuals had died. Sexual minorities evidenced greater all-cause mortality than did heterosexuals after adjusting for demographic confounding. These effects generally disappeared with further adjustment for NHANES-detected health and behavioral differences.
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