| 1. |
- Boström, Magnus, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
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Conditions for Transformative Learning for Sustainable Development : A Theoretical Review and Approach
- 2018
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI. - 2071-1050. ; 10:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Continued unsustainability and surpassed planetary boundaries require not only scientific and technological advances, but deep and enduring social and cultural changes. The purpose of this article is to contribute a theoretical approach to understand conditions and constraints for societal change towards sustainable development. In order to break with unsustainable norms, habits, practices, and structures, there is a need for learning for transformation, not only adaption. Based on a critical literature review within the field of learning for sustainable development, our approach is a development of the concept of transformative learning, by integrating three additional dimensions—Institutional Structures, Social Practices, and Conflict Perspectives. This approach acknowledges conflicts on macro, meso, and micro levels, as well as structural and cultural constraints. It contends that transformative learning is processual, interactional, long-term, and cumbersome. It takes place within existing institutions and social practices, while also transcending them. The article adopts an interdisciplinary social science perspective that acknowledges the importance of transformative learning in order for communities, organizations, and individuals to be able to deal with global sustainability problems, acknowledging the societal and personal conflicts involved in such transformation.
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| 2. |
- Dalin, Frida, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Clinical and immunological characteristics of Autoimmune Addison's disease : a nationwide Swedish multicenter study
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. - : Oxford University Press. - 0021-972X .- 1945-7197. ; 102:2, s. 379-389
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- CONTEXT: Studies on clinical and immunological features of Autoimmune Addison's disease (AAD) are needed to understand the disease burden and increased mortality.OBJECTIVE: To provide upgraded data on autoimmune comorbidities, replacement therapy, autoantibody profiles and cardiovascular risk factors.DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Cross sectional, population-based study. 660 AAD patients were included utilizing the Swedish Addison Registry (SAR) 2008-2014. When analyzing cardiovascular risk factors, 3,594 individuals from the population-based survey in Northern Sweden, MONICA (MONItoring of Trends and Determinants of CArdiovascular Disease), served as controls.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Prevalence of autoimmune comorbidities and cardiovascular risk factors. Autoantibodies against 13 autoantigens were determined.RESULTS: Sixty percent of the SAR cohort consisted of females. Mean age at diagnosis was significantly higher for females than for males (36.8 vs. 31.1 years). The proportion of 21-hydroxylase autoantibody positive patients was 83% and 62% of patients had one or more associated autoimmune diseases, more frequently coexisting in females (p<0.0001). AAD patients had lower BMI (p<0.0001) and prevalence of hypertension (p=0.027) compared with controls. Conventional hydrocortisone tablets were used by 89% of patients; with the mean dose 28.1±8.5 mg/day. The mean hydrocortisone equivalent dose normalized to body surface was 14.8±4.4 mg/m(2)/day. Higher hydrocortisone equivalent dose was associated with higher incidence of hypertension (p=0.046).CONCLUSIONS: Careful monitoring of AAD patients is warranted to detect associated autoimmune diseases. Contemporary Swedish AAD patients do not have increased prevalence of overweight, hypertension, T2DM or hyperlipidemia. However, high glucocorticoid replacement doses may be a risk factor for hypertension.
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| 3. |
- Gawel, Danuta, et al.
(författare)
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A validated single-cell-based strategy to identify diagnostic and therapeutic targets in complex diseases
- 2019
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Ingår i: Genome Medicine. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1756-994X. ; 11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Genomic medicine has paved the way for identifying biomarkers and therapeutically actionable targets for complex diseases, but is complicated by the involvement of thousands of variably expressed genes across multiple cell types. Single-cell RNA-sequencing study (scRNA-seq) allows the characterization of such complex changes in whole organs. Methods: The study is based on applying network tools to organize and analyze scRNA-seq data from a mouse model of arthritis and human rheumatoid arthritis, in order to find diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Diagnostic validation studies were performed using expression profiling data and potential protein biomarkers from prospective clinical studies of 13 diseases. A candidate drug was examined by a treatment study of a mouse model of arthritis, using phenotypic, immunohistochemical, and cellular analyses as read-outs. Results: We performed the first systematic analysis of pathways, potential biomarkers, and drug targets in scRNA-seq data from a complex disease, starting with inflamed joints and lymph nodes from a mouse model of arthritis. We found the involvement of hundreds of pathways, biomarkers, and drug targets that differed greatly between cell types. Analyses of scRNA-seq and GWAS data from human rheumatoid arthritis (RA) supported a similar dispersion of pathogenic mechanisms in different cell types. Thus, systems-level approaches to prioritize biomarkers and drugs are needed. Here, we present a prioritization strategy that is based on constructing network models of disease-associated cell types and interactions using scRNA-seq data from our mouse model of arthritis, as well as human RA, which we term multicellular disease models (MCDMs). We find that the network centrality of MCDM cell types correlates with the enrichment of genes harboring genetic variants associated with RA and thus could potentially be used to prioritize cell types and genes for diagnostics and therapeutics. We validated this hypothesis in a large-scale study of patients with 13 different autoimmune, allergic, infectious, malignant, endocrine, metabolic, and cardiovascular diseases, as well as a therapeutic study of the mouse arthritis model. Conclusions: Overall, our results support that our strategy has the potential to help prioritize diagnostic and therapeutic targets in human disease.
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| 4. |
- Kvernby, Sofia, 1987-
(författare)
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Myocardial Tissue Characterization Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In cardiovascular disease, which is the most common cause of death in the world, early diagnosis is crucial for disease outcome. Diagnosis of cardiovascular disease can be challenging, though. Quantification of myocardial T1 and T2 relaxation times with MRI has demonstrated to be a promising method for characterizing myocardial tissue, but long measurement times have hampered clinical use. The overall aim of this doctoral thesis was to develop, validate and, in patient studies, evaluate a very fast three-dimensional method for simultaneous quantification of myocardial T1 and T2 relaxation times with whole coverage of the left ventricle.The 3D-QALAS method is presented in Paper I of this thesis. It is a method that simultaneous measures both T1 and T2 relaxation times in a three-dimensional volume of the heart. The method requires 15 heartbeats, to produce 13 short-axis slices of the left ventricle with voxelwise information of both T1 and T2 relaxation times. The 3D-QALAS method was validated in phantoms and in 10 healthy volunteers by comparing the method with reference methods and demonstrated good accuracy and robustness both in-vitro and in-vivo.In Paper II, the 3D-QALAS method was carefully validated in-vivo by investigating accuracy and precision in 10 healthy volunteers, while the clinical feasibility of the method was investigated in 23 patients with various cardiac pathologies. Repeated independent and dependent scans together with the intra-scan repeatability, demonstrated all a very good precision for the 3D-QALAS method in healthy volunteers.In Paper III and IV, the 3D-QALAS method was applied and evaluated in patient cohorts where the heart muscle alters over time. In Paper III, patients with severe aortic stenosis underwent MRI examinations with 3D-QALAS before, 3 months after and 12 months after aortic valve surgery. Changes in T1 and T2 were observed, which might be used as markers of myocardial changes with respect to edema and fibrosis, which may develop due to increased workload over a long period of time.In study IV, 3D-QALAS was used to investigate 10 breast cancer patients treated with radiation therapy prior to treatment, 2-3 weeks into treatment, and one and 6 months after completion of treatment, to investigate any changes in T1 and T2 and further if they can be correlated to unwanted irradiation of the heart during radiation therapy.
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| 5. |
- Lindén, Daniel, 1971, et al.
(författare)
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Influence of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha agonists on the intracellular turnover and secretion of apolipoprotein (Apo) B-100 and ApoB-48.
- 2002
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Ingår i: The Journal of biological chemistry. - 0021-9258. ; 277:25, s. 23044-53
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) alpha agonist WY 14,643 increased the secretion of apolipoprotein (apo) B-100, but not that of apoB-48, and decreased triglyceride biosynthesis and secretion from primary rat hepatocytes. These effects resulted in decreased secretion of apoB-100-very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and an increased secretion of apoB-100 on low density lipoproteins/intermediate density lipoproteins. ApoB-48-VLDL was also replaced by more dense particles. The proteasomal inhibitor lactacystin did not influence the recovery of apoB-100 or apoB-48 in primary rat hepatocytes, indicating that co-translational (proteasomal) degradation is of less importance in these cells. Treatment with WY 14,643 made the recovery of apoB-100 sensitive to lactacystin, most likely reflecting the decreased biosynthesis of triglycerides. The PPAR alpha agonist induced a significant increase in the accumulation of pulse-labeled apoB-100 even after a short pulse (2-5 min). There was also an increase in apoB-100 nascent polypeptides, indicating that the co-translational degradation of apoB-100 was inhibited. However, a minor influence on an early posttranslation degradation cannot be excluded. This decreased co-translational degradation of apoB-100 explained the increased secretion of the protein. The levels of apoB-48 remained unchanged during these pulse-chase experiments, and albumin production was not affected, indicating a specific effect of PPAR alpha agonists on the co-translational degradation of apoB-100. These findings explain the difference in the rate of secretion of the two apoB proteins seen after PPAR alpha activation. PPAR alpha agonists increased the expression and biosynthesis of liver fatty acid-binding protein (LFABP). Increased expression of LFABP by transfection of McA-RH7777 cells increased the secretion of apoB-100, decreased triglyceride biosynthesis and secretion, and increased PPAR alpha mRNA levels. These findings suggest that PPAR alpha and LFABP could interact to amplify the effect of endogenous PPAR alpha agonists on the assembly of VLDL.
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| 6. |
- Movérare-Skrtic, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
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Dihydrotestosterone treatment results in obesity and altered lipid metabolism in orchidectomized mice.
- 2006
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Ingår i: Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.). - : Wiley. - 1930-7381 .- 1930-739X. ; 14:4, s. 662-72
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of androgen receptor (AR) activation for adipose tissue metabolism. Sex steroids are important regulators of adipose tissue metabolism in men. Androgens may regulate the adipose tissue metabolism in men either directly by stimulation of the AR or indirectly by aromatization of androgens into estrogens and, thereafter, by stimulation of the estrogen receptors. Previous studies have shown that estrogen receptor alpha stimulation results in reduced fat mass in men. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Orchidectomized mice were treated with the non-aromatizable androgen 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), 17beta-estradiol, or vehicle. Vo(2), Vco(2), resting metabolic rate, locomotor activity, and food consumption were measured. Furthermore, changes in hepatic gene expression were analyzed. RESULTS: DHT treatment resulted in obesity, associated with reduced energy expenditure and fat oxidation. In contrast, DHT did not affect food consumption or locomotor activity. Furthermore, DHT treatment resulted in increased high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and triglyceride levels associated with markedly decreased 7alpha-hydroxylase gene expression, indicating decreased bile acid production. DISCUSSION: We showed that AR activation results in obesity and altered lipid metabolism in orchidectomized mice. One may speculate that AR antagonists might be useful in the treatment of obesity in men.
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| 7. |
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Professionsuddannelser i krise? : Rekrutteringsproblemer, meningstab og meningsdannelse i nordiske lærer- og pædagoguddannelser
- 2023
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim of this bookThis book represents a more delimited interest in some of aspects of the care crisis. We focus on what is called loss of meaning and shaping of meaning in Nordic teacher training programmes. This involves an attempt to study and strengthen the professional norms, standards and ideals, which have historically developed within the Nordic teacher training programmes and professions. These norms, standards and ideals are diverse, but they can be summarized as a professional ethos aimed at ‘making a difference’ in children’s and young people’s lives. We are concerned that this very basic helper motivation is increasingly lost, forgotten, or neglected as part of the care crisis, and we are interested in finding ways to reinstate and reshape its crucial meaning. [...]
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| 8. |
- Angervall, Petra, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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Academic Career : On institutions, social capital and gender
- 2018
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Ingår i: Higher Education Research and Development. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0729-4360 .- 1469-8366. ; 37:6, s. 1095-1108
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During decades of change in the Western higher education sector, new ways of understanding academic work have reinforced notions of the impact of social capital. The present study investigates researchers’ experiences of their own career making within two areas of Education Sciences in Swedish higher education: Childhood Studies (CS) and Science Education (SE). The structure at the CS departments is collaborative and integrated; teaching and research are seen as an entity. This structure creates a coherent career path where members of the collective group jointly produce and accumulate social capital; it also appears to be related to discourses of femininity. In the SE departments, the career structure is strategic and differentiated; the two career paths work in parallel through a differentiation between teaching and research. This appears to be related to discourses of masculinity. In conclusion, our analysis shows how social capital and gender mutually create different ways of doing an academic career.
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| 9. |
- Angervall, Petra, 1970, et al.
(författare)
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Akademisk karriär i sociala nätverk
- 2013
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Ingår i: Kön och karriär i akademin. En studie inom det utbildningsvetenskapliga fältet.. - Göteborg : University of Gothenburg. - 9781608057276 ; , s. 124-142
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 10. |
- Angervall, Petra, 1970, et al.
(författare)
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Becoming an academic researcher : The productive body of academia
- 2013
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Ingår i: ECER Conference program: Creativity and Innovation in Educational Research.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- What subjectivities are allowed in Academia? As others, we argue that the neo-liberal restructuring process of higher education has given certain discourses and subjectivities legitimacy. We analyze how this process has affected the conditions of making subjectivities, e.g. becoming different, how academics move and try to be productive. From our point of view nomadology (Braidotti, 1994, 2002 a, Deleuze & Guattari, 2004) may be an interesting teoretical departure in order to analyse how junior researcher in academia, in the field of education, negotiate subject positions, make choices and shape their academic career. We argue that career is a process of transit, where researchers move, from place to place, in order to become a researcher. We work in line with Deleuze & Guattari (2004; Colebrook, 2010) and Braidotti (1994, 2002) concept of nomadology, which offers a way to analyze and understand how young researchers negotiate subject positions and shape their academic career. However, we do not use nomadology in a rigorous way, but as Rajchman (2000) describes as a map of connection. A connection with other possibilities: ... making visible problems for which there exists no program, no plan, no "collective agency (Rajchman, 2000, p.8). Rajchman (2000) points out the importance of not individualize the individual and instead try to look beyond the taken for granted social representation, that emerges from the informants' stories. The reserachers in this study are seen as: ... the tellers of experience, but every time telling is constrained, partial, and Determined by the discourses and histories That prefigure, even as They Might promise, representation (Britzman, 1995, p 232). Our "nomadic toolbox" therefore consists of the concepts of desire and becoming, nomadic subject position, the minority in becoming and deterritorialization. The empirical study was carried out at two large (research-based) and two small regional (poly-techs, non-doctoral) universities in Sweden. At these universities, institutions (5-8) as well as research units, embedded in educational sciences, have been analysed by means of interviews of 70 early career academics. In this article, we present a selection of these narratives (12 researchers) using pseudonyms. The in-depth interviews (Alvesson, 2011) varied between 50 and 100 minutes. The interviews concern how individual academics, describe their experiences of the positioning process, the conditions and the consequences, the sacrifices, choices and rewards. Discourse analysis is used to analyse how discourses and material conditions intersect in the construction of a nomadic subject positions (Braidotti, 1994, 2002 b). The results are presented by using metaphors illustrating one specific subject position, the nomad position of academia. The results, so far in progress, illustrate how these nomads move in spaces of transition, searching for legitimacy and power. Their bodily differences seem to give them various resources in order to become aware, conscious and safe. They express being un-recognized, left outside and not appreciated. Therefore, some distance themselves from learning the code of majority, describe how they feel caught in spaces in-between unable to become satisfied. However, some of them also give example of how e.g. intellectual freedom as a political standpoint, can compensate for the loss of a physical “home”, or even create other spaces of stability and satisfaction.
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