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| 2. |
- Allard, Bert, 1945-, et al.
(författare)
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Mining waste management in the Baltic Sea Region : Min-Novation project
- 2013
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Bok (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mining waste and what to do about it is a common challenge facing companies, local authorities, environmental organizations, policymakers and increasingly other stakeholders in several countries of the Baltic Sea Region. From 2011 to 2013, a network of scientific and regional expertise brought together in the Min-Novation project has put this topic in the spotlight. The importance of the management of waste from extractive industries is due to the substantial share this waste has in the overall stream of waste generated in the EU. In 2010, 672 Mt or 28.3% of the total waste generated in the EU was attributable to the mining and quarrying industry, second only to construction (34.4%) and ahead of manufacturing (11.0%) and households (8.7%)1. Apart from this, mining waste is the raw material for one of the more visible man-made landmarks that surround us, with waste heaps of various shapes and sizes dotting the landscape up and down the Baltic Sea Region. Despite this dual prominence, mining waste is most often seen only as an environmental problem and in no way a resource. To move away from a one-sided view of mining waste, a life-cycle approach, which recognises that value can be recovered from waste and re-introduced into the product cycle is of the essence. It cannot be stressed enough that mining waste is a source of secondary raw materials, the use of which helps to protect the natural mineral deposits for future generations. Equally important is an appreciation of how the waste can be re-cycled in the excavation process (preventionand recovery) and adapted to create value for local communities (reclamation and revitalisation). However, for there to be effective mining waste management, both in the prevention stage, as well as in the recovery stage, and finally during land reclamation many conditions must be fulfilled. Of these the most important are access to appropriate technologies and methods and common sense legislation. Another condition not without importance is social acceptance for the recovery of waste located in old landfills. The Min-Novation Network over a span of 3 years has worked to understand and appreciate mining waste both as a corporate, community, regulatory and strategic issue. Set against the background of mining activity and waste management in the partner countries: Estonia, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland and Sweden, both good practices and problem areas, which need to be addressed have been presented in this monograph. The purpose of this monograph is to show a cross-section of topics that affect how mining waste management works today, and which will play a decisive role in whether management of mining waste remains – an issue of primarily local relevance or whether it becomes a growth opportunity of national and EU-wide importance. The monograph focuses primarily on issues related to the management of waste from extractive industries in the countries whose representatives were involved in the Min-Novation project. Examples from outside the Baltic Sea Region of the use of waste heaps as an industrial heritage of the mining regions and also as attractions for local communities are presented as well. Indeed, every experience is valuable for the environment and socio-economic development of the Baltic Sea Region.
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| 3. |
- Aspholm-Hurtig, Marina, et al.
(författare)
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Functional adaptation of BabA, the H. pylori ABO blood group antigen binding adhesin.
- 2004
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Ingår i: Science (New York, N.Y.). - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 1095-9203 .- 0036-8075. ; 305:5683, s. 519-22
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adherence by Helicobacter pylori increases the risk of gastric disease. Here, we report that more than 95% of strains that bind fucosylated blood group antigen bind A, B, and O antigens (generalists), whereas 60% of adherent South American Amerindian strains bind blood group O antigens best (specialists). This specialization coincides with the unique predominance of blood group O in these Amerindians. Strains differed about 1500-fold in binding affinities, and diversifying selection was evident in babA sequences. We propose that cycles of selection for increased and decreased bacterial adherence contribute to babA diversity and that these cycles have led to gradual replacement of generalist binding by specialist binding in blood group O-dominant human populations.
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| 4. |
- Bäckström, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Action planning in relation to movement performance in 6-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder
- 2019
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Recent research proposes problems with action planning as part of atypical motor functioning in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), although findings are inconsistent. This study investigated relations between action planning and movement performance in 6-year-old children with and without ASD.Patients and methods: 3D kinematic recordings of preferred arm/hand performance on a sequential peg rotation task with varying complexity of goal insertion (four endpoints and either visual or occluded goal display at onset) were conducted in 6 children with ASD (MAge = 6.4) and 6 typically developing (TD) controls (MAge = 6.5).Results: Analyses revealed significant (p < .05) group and task-endpoint differences for movement segmentation (number of movement units, MUs) and 3D movement distance. Children with ASD generally displayed more MUs and longer distances than controls and all children showed increased MUs and movement distance on more complex task-endpoints. TD controls showed significantly shorter movement initiation latency (MIL) durations than ASD in the visual condition and evidently longer MILs in the occluded than visual condition. In contrast, no difference between goal display conditions was shown for the ASD group.Conclusion: Children with ASD generally had longer movement distances and more segmented movements than controls, suggesting less efficient movement performance. Movement performance was not evidently affected by goal display condition in either group. However, the lack of MIL differences between goal display conditions within the ASD group indicates reduced pre-planning, possibly affecting movement execution efficiency.
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| 6. |
- Bäckström, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Atypical motor planning in an interpersonal context in 9-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
- 2023
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Ingår i: 35th EACD Annual meeting European Academy of Childhood Disability. - : European Academy of Childhood Disability. ; , s. 254-254
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Motor planning deviances may negatively affect interpersonal motor interactions in ASD, although detailed studies are sparse. This study examined motor planning kinematics in an interpersonal and non-interpersonal context in 9-year-old children with ASD and neurotypical peers.Patients and methods: Twelve children with ASD and 17 controls performed two different sequential manual tasks (preferred hand): grasping and placing a peg on a wooden disc (non-interpersonal) or in the hand of an examiner (interpersonal). Three-dimensional kinematic recordings of arm/hand movements were performed. Group and task differences were explored for total movement duration (MD), and for peak velocity (PV) and placement of peak velocity (PPV) during reach-to-grasp and transport-to-place movements, respectively.Results: Task differences were found in terms of longer MD and higher transport-to-place-PV in the disc- compared to hand-task. An interaction effect was evident for reach-to-grasp-PPV, where the control-group, but not ASD, had earlier reach-to-grasp-PPV and longer relative deceleration in the hand-task compared to the disc-task.Conclusion: Results show that the interpersonal context influenced initial reach-to-grasp motor planning in the control-group, but not the ASD-group. Later in the sequential movement (transport-to-place), the interpersonal context seemed to influence motor planning independent of group. Taken together, this indicates support towards a more careful peg-placing in the interpersonal hand-task in the control-group but much less clearly so in the ASD-group.Relevance for users and families: Atypical motor planning may influence motor interaction with peers. Investigations of motor planning and movement organization in ASD could thus inform interventions also targeting interpersonal exchange.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Bäckström, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Motor imagery ability in 7-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder
- 2020
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Introduction: Knowledge about motor imagery (MI) ability in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is limited and inconclusive in young children with ASD. The aim of the current study was to investigate MI ability in 7-year-old children with ASD.Patients and methods: Thirteen children with ASD and 13 typically developing (TD) children performed a computerized hand laterality judgement task (HLJ) and a non-corporeal visual imagery (VI) control task. All participants passing a criterion test performed the tasks with images at 4 different rotational increments to vary the MI biomechanical demands (HLJ task) or VI angle rotational demands (VI task). Response times (RT) and accuracy were extracted.Results: Four children with ASD did not pass the HLJ criterion test and one failed the VI criterion test. The ASD-group had evidently more incorrect responses than TD on both tasks. Analyses of RT showed a biomechanical effect in the MI task and an angle increment effect in the VI task in both groups. Children with ASD had longer RT than TD children on VI but not MI tasks. Conclusion: Findings suggest that both the ASD and control children used MI to solve the HLJ task. However, failures to pass the HLJ criterion test and the increased error rate in the ASD group indicate that MI ability is weaker in young children with autism than TD controls. Notably, a large individual variability in employment of MI within the ASD group was found, ranging from functional, fractional but existing, to absent MI ability.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Bäckström, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Motor planning and movement execution during goal-directed sequential manual movements in 6-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder : A kinematic analysis
- 2021
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Ingår i: Research in Developmental Disabilities. - : Elsevier. - 0891-4222 .- 1873-3379. ; 115
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Atypical motor functioning is prevalent in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Knowledge of the underlying kinematic properties of these problems is sparse.Aims: To investigate characteristics of manual motor planning and performance difficulties/diversity in children with ASD by detailed kinematic measurements. Further, associations between movement parameters and cognitive functions were explored.Methods and procedures: Six-year-old children with ASD (N = 12) and typically developing (TD) peers (N = 12) performed a sequential manual task comprising grasping and fitting a semi-circular peg into a goal-slot. The goal-slot orientation was manipulated to impose different motor planning constraints. Movements were recorded by an optoelectronic system.Outcomes and results: The ASD-group displayed less efficient motor planning than the TD-group, evident in the reach-to-grasp and transport kinematics and less proactive adjustments of the peg to the goal-slot orientations. The intra-individual variation of movement kinematics was higher in the ASD-group compared to the TD-group. Further, in the ASD-group, movement performance associated negatively with cognitive functions.Conclusions and implications: Planning and execution of sequential manual movements proved challenging for children with ASD, likely contributing to problems in everyday actions. Detailed kinematic investigations contribute to the generation of specific knowledge about the nature of atypical motor performance/diversity in ASD. This is of potential clinical relevance.
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