| 1. |
- Gustavsson, Ingvar, et al.
(författare)
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Gör ingenjörsutbildningen attraktiv genom att öka det experimentella inslaget
- 2008
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Många idéer till hur man skall få fler ungdomar att välja ingenjörsyrket har diskuterats och provats men tyvärr utan större framgång. En ny ingrediens kan vara att öka det experimentella inslaget, något som ändå måste göras av andra skäl, varav ett är hållbar utveckling. Det är känt att genom experiment kan man lära känna naturens principer. Ingenjörer är de yrkesutövare som konstruerar många av de nyttigheter som bär upp vår civilisation. Vi använder teorier/modeller som verktyg, men dessa räcker inte alltid, utan man måste få experimentera och bygga prototyper samt verifiera. Den allmänna meningen bland lärare och andra initierade bedömare har hittills varit att laborationer är nödvändiga men lite sägs om vad de förväntas ge. Få lärosäten producerar ingenjörer med dokumenterad erfarenhet av laborativt arbete. Lärandemål för laborationer har saknats men de senaste åren har sådana börjat definieras. Under senare decennier har undervisningsanslagen heller inte räknats upp i takt med studenttillströmningen. Eftersom laborativ undervisning är kostsam per student har lärosätena valt att reducera antalet laborationer, men Internets intåg ger nya möjligheter att öppna laboratorier för fjärrstyrning och låta studenter experimentera själva, utan risk att skada sig själva eller utrustningen. Studenter får således nya möjligheter att organisera sina studier i enlighet med vad Bolognaprocessen kräver och lärosäten kan utnyttja laboratorierna mera effektivt. Vi kan öka det experimentella inslaget i undervisningen. Internationellt samarbete både avseende läromedel och experimentell utrustning ser ut att ge möjlighet att sänka de löpande kostnaderna till den grad att det experimentella inslaget kan ökas väsentligt inom befintliga anslagsramar, även om den initiala kostnaden för den forskning som först krävs då inte är inräknad. Avdelningen för signalbehandling, ASB, vid BTH har öppnat övningslaboratorier för ellära och mekaniska vibrationsexperiment för fjärrstyrning. Båda används i reguljär undervisning sedan några år. Ett unikt användargränssnitt gör det möjligt att från valfriplats styra och manövrera experimentutrustning på samma sätt som i laboratorielokalerna. Studenterna får möjlighet att i förväg bekanta sig med instrumenten och utföra föreskrivna experiment enskilt eller tillsammans med andra. Dessa öppna laboratorier ger möjlighet att inkludera praktiska uppgifter i skriftliga tentamina, förutsatt att examination kan ske i datorsal, varvid erfarenhet av laborativt arbete enkelt kan examineras för varje enskild student. ASB har startat ett projekt VISIR (Virtual Systems in Reality) som handlar om att sprida BTH:s öppna laboratoriekoncept och formulera standarder inom området. Tillhörande programvara har publicerats som öppen källkod. BTH bjuder in andra lärosäten att delta i projektet och i dess vidareutveckling mot internationella standarder. Två internationella universitet har redan öppnat kopior av elläralaboratoriet och deltar aktivt i vidareutvecklingen. ASB har nyligen blivit inbjuden av ett universitet i Australien att delta ett projekt med titeln ”Enriching Student Learning Experience through International Collaboration in Remote Laboratories”. Detta beviljade projekt är ett resultat av nya pedagogiska möjligheter, som diskuteras i detta bidrag. ASB söker samarbete med pedagoger och andra forskare intresserade av experimentella inslag i ingenjörsutbildningen. Lärandemål för laborativt arbete, öppna laboratorier och internationellt samarbete kan bli ingredienser i en moderniserad och attraktiv ingenjörsutbildning.
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| 2. |
- Backéus, Ingvar, et al.
(författare)
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Tree communities and structural dynamics in miombo (Brachystegia-Julbernardia) woodland, Tanzania
- 2006
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Ingår i: Forest Ecology and Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-1127 .- 1872-7042. ; 230:1-3, s. 171-178
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tree vegetation and size structure was sampled in a miombo woodland area in E Tanzania and related to environmental factors, particularly soil and disturbance history. A total of 86 tree species was found. Four plant communities were distinguished through multivariate classification. Community 1 was dominated by Brachystegia boehmii, Brachystegia bussei and Julbernardia globiflora, and community 2 by B. boehmii and Brachystegia spiciformis. Community 1 was found on grey, eroded soil and community 2 on red, residual soil, a fact that opens up possibilities to use soil signals of satellite data for vegetation mapping. Community 3 is heavily disturbed miombo woodland near villages and community 4 was found on more clayey soil where miombo woodland is not expected. At our 42 sampled sites, density ranged from 74 to 1041 individuals ha−1 and basal area from 3.9 to 16.7 m2 ha−1. Regeneration is generally good but large sized trees are less prominent in communities 3 and 4 due to harvesting. With reduced disturbance miombo species may rapidly resume dominance in community 3. A higher than expected representation by the size class 30–40 (−50) cm dbh in community 2 is probably related to disturbance history. Prevalence of certain species (Pseudolachnostylis maprouneifolia, Pterocarpus angolensis and Diplorhynchos condylocarpon) may be related to frequent fires. Selective logging will soon cause extinction of Dalbergia melanoxylon, whereas Pterocarpus angolensis still has good regeneration, possibly because individuals below logging size have a good seed set. A way to get an easy overview of size classes in all species in an area using PCA is discussed.
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| 3. |
- Björklund, Svante, 1968-
(författare)
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Signal Processing for Radar with Array Antennas and for Radar with Micro-Doppler Measurements
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Radar (RAdio Detection And Ranging) uses radio waves to detect the presence of a target and measure its position and other properties. This sensor has found many civilian and military applications due to advantages such as possible large surveillance areas and operation day and night and in all weather. The contributions of this thesis are within applied signal processing for radar in two somewhat separate research areas: 1) radar with array antennas and 2) radar with micro-Doppler measurements.Radar with array antennas: An array antenna consists of several small antennas in the same space as a single large antenna. Compared to a traditional single-antenna radar, an array antenna radar gives higher flexibility, higher capacity, several radar functions simultaneously and increased reliability, and makes new types of signal processing possible which give new functions and higher performance.The contributions on array antenna radar in this thesis are in three different problem areas. The first is High Resolution DOA (Direction Of Arrival) Estimation (HRDE) as applied to radar and using real measurement data. HRDE is useful in several applications, including radar applications, to give new functions and improve the performance. The second problem area is suppression of interference (clutter, direct path jamming and scattered jamming) which often is necessary in order to detect and localize the target. The thesis presents various results on interference signal properties, antenna geometry and subarray design, and on interference suppression methods. The third problem area is measurement techniques for which the thesis suggests two measurement designs, one for radar-like measurements and one for scattered signal measurements.Radar with micro-Doppler measurements: There is an increasing interest and need for safety, security and military surveillance at short distances. Tasks include detecting targets, such as humans, animals, cars, boats, small aircraft and consumer drones; classifying the target type and target activity; distinguishing between target individuals; and also predicting target intention. An approach is to employ micro-Doppler radar to perform these tasks. Micro-Doppler is created by the movement of internal parts of the target, like arms and legs of humans and animals, wheels of cars and rotors of drones.Using micro-Doppler, this thesis presents results on feature extraction for classification; on classification of targets types (humans, animals and man-made objects) and human gaits; and on information in micro-Doppler signatures for re-identification of the same human individual. It also demonstrates the ability to use different kinds of radars for micro-Doppler measurements. The main conclusion about micro-Doppler radar is that it should be possible to use for safety, security and military surveillance applications.
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| 4. |
- Erlandsson, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Optimal fractionation of preoperative radiotherapy and timing to surgery for rectal cancer (Stockholm III): a multicentre, randomised, non-blinded, phase 3, non-inferiority trial
- 2017
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Ingår i: The Lancet Oncology. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC. - 1470-2045 .- 1474-5488. ; 18:3, s. 336-346
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Radiotherapy reduces the risk of local recurrence in rectal cancer. However, the optimal radiotherapy fractionation and interval between radiotherapy and surgery is still under debate. We aimed to study recurrence in patients randomised between three different radiotherapy regimens with respect to fractionation and time to surgery. Methods In this multicentre, randomised, non-blinded, phase 3, non-inferiority trial (Stockholm III), all patients with a biopsy-proven adenocarcinoma of the rectum, without signs of non-resectability or distant metastases, without severe cardiovascular comorbidity, and planned for an abdominal resection from 18 Swedish hospitals were eligible. Participants were randomly assigned with permuted blocks, stratified by participating centre, to receive either 5 x 5 Gy radiation dose with surgery within 1 week (short-course radiotherapy) or after 4-8 weeks (short-course radiotherapy with delay) or 25 x 2 Gy radiation dose with surgery after 4-8 weeks (long-course radiotherapy with delay). After a protocol amendment, randomisation could include all three treatments or just the two short-course radiotherapy treatments, per hospital preference. The primary endpoint was time to local recurrence calculated from the date of randomisation to the date of local recurrence. Comparisons between treatment groups were deemed non-inferior if the upper limit of a double-sided 90% CI for the hazard ratio (HR) did not exceed 1.7. Patients were analysed according to intention to treat for all endpoints. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00904813. Findings Between Oct 5, 1998, and Jan 31, 2013, 840 patients were recruited and randomised; 385 patients in the three-arm randomisation, of whom 129 patients were randomly assigned to short-course radiotherapy, 128 to short-course radiotherapy with delay, and 128 to long-course radiotherapy with delay, and 455 patients in the two-arm randomisation, of whom 228 were randomly assigned to short-course radiotherapy and 227 to short-course radiotherapy with delay. In patients with any local recurrence, median time from date of randomisation to local recurrence in the pooled short-course radiotherapy comparison was 33.4 months (range 18.2-62.2) in the short-course radiotherapy group and 19.3 months (8.5-39.5) in the short-course radiotherapy with delay group. Median time to local recurrence in the long-course radiotherapy with delay group was 33.3 months (range 17.8-114.3). Cumulative incidence of local recurrence in the whole trial was eight of 357 patients who received short-course radiotherapy, ten of 355 who received short-course radiotherapy with delay, and seven of 128 who received long-course radiotherapy (HR vs short-course radiotherapy: short-course radiotherapy with delay 1.44 [95% CI 0.41-5.11]; long-course radiotherapy with delay 2.24 [0.71-7.10]; p=0.48; both deemed non-inferior). Acute radiation-induced toxicity was recorded in one patient (amp;lt;1%) of 357 after short-course radiotherapy, 23 (7%) of 355 after short-course radiotherapy with delay, and six (5%) of 128 patients after long-course radiotherapy with delay. Frequency of postoperative complications was similar between all arms when the three-arm randomisation was analysed (65 [50%] of 129 patients in the short-course radiotherapy group; 48 [38%] of 128 patients in the short-course radiotherapy with delay group; 50 [39%] of 128 patients in the long-course radiotherapy with delay group; odds ratio [OR] vs short-course radiotherapy: short-course radiotherapy with delay 0.59 [95% CI 0.36-0.97], long-course radiotherapy with delay 0.63 [0.38-1.04], p=0.075). However, in a pooled analysis of the two short-course radiotherapy regimens, the risk of postoperative complications was significantly lower after short-course radiotherapy with delay than after short-course radiotherapy (144 [53%] of 355 vs 188 [41%] of 357; OR 0.61 [95% CI 0.45-0.83] p=0.001). Interpretation Delaying surgery after short-course radiotherapy gives similar oncological results compared with short-course radiotherapy with immediate surgery. Long-course radiotherapy with delay is similar to both short-course radiotherapy regimens, but prolongs the treatment time substantially. Although radiation-induced toxicity was seen after short-course radiotherapy with delay, postoperative complications were significantly reduced compared with short-course radiotherapy. Based on these findings, we suggest that short-course radiotherapy with delay to surgery is a useful alternative to conventional short-course radiotherapy with immediate surgery.
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| 5. |
- Furusjö, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Co-gasification of pyrolysis oil and black liquor - a new track for production of chemicals and transportation fuels from biomass
- 2015
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pressurized oxygen-blown entrained flow black liquor (BL) gasification, the Chemrec technology, has been demonstrated in a 3 MWth pilot plant in Piteå, Sweden for more than 25,000 h. The plant is owned and operated by Luleå University of Technology since 2013. It is well known that catalytic activity of alkali metals is important for the high reactivity of black liquor, which leads to a highly efficient BL gasification process. The globally available volume of BL is however limited and strongly connected to pulp production. By co-gasifying pyrolysis oil (PO) with BL it is possible to utilize the catalytic activity also for PO conversion to syngas. Adding PO leads to larger feedstock flexibility with the possibility of building larger biofuels plants based on BL gasification technology. This presentation summarizes new results from research activities aimed at developing and assessing the PO/BL co-gasification process. Results from laboratory experiments with PO/BL mixtures show that pyrolysis behavior and char gasification reactivity are similar to pure BL. This means that the decrease in the alkali metal concentration due to the addition of PO in the mixture does not decrease the reactivity. Pure PO is much less reactive. Mixing tests show that the fraction of PO that can be mixed into BL is limited by lignin precipitation as a consequence of PO acidity. Pilot scale PO/BL co-gasification experiments have been executed following design and construction of a new feeding system to allow co-feeding of PO with BL. The results confirm the conclusions from the lab scale study and prove that the co-gasification concept is practically applicable. Process performance of the pilot scale co-gasification process is similar to gasification of BL only with high carbon conversion and clean syngas generation. This indicates that the established BL gasification technology can be used for co-gasification of PO and BL without major modifications.
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| 6. |
- Gustavsson, Ingvar, et al.
(författare)
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On objectives of instructional laboratories, individual assessment, and use of collaborative remote laboratories
- 2009
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Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies. - : IEEE. - 1939-1382. ; 2:4, s. 263-274
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Three key issues should be addressed to enable universities to deliver engineers who have a solid documented laboratory experience enabling them to design goods and services complying with the requirements of a sustainable society. First, introduce learning objectives of engineering instructional laboratories in courses including laboratory components. Second, implement individual student assessment. Third, introduce free access to online experimental resources as a supplement to the equipment in traditional laboratories. Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) in Sweden and the University of South Australia (UniSA) have created online laboratory workbenches for electrical experiments that mimic traditional ones by combining virtual and physical reality. Online workbenches not only supplement traditional ones, but they can also be used for low-cost individual assessment. BTH has started a project disseminating the BTH workbench concept, The Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality (VISIR) Open Laboratory Platform, and invites other universities to set up replicas and participate in further development and standardization. Further, online workbenches offer additional learning possibilities. UniSA has started a project where students located in different countries can perform experiments together as a way to enhance the participants' intercultural competence. This paper discusses online laboratory workbenches and their role in an engineering education appropriate for a sustainable society.
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| 7. |
- Henriksson, Elisabet Welin, 1960-, et al.
(författare)
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Autoepitope-mapping of the U1-70K protein with human-Drosophila chimeric proteins
- 1997
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Ingår i: Journal of Autoimmunity. - : Academic Press. - 0896-8411 .- 1095-9157. ; 10:6, s. 559-568
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The 70K protein is the major autoantigen for anti-RNP autoantibodies directed against the U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex particle. The U1-70K protein has been epitope-mapped by various groups, and a major antigenic region of about 70 amino acids has been found which overlaps with the RNA binding motif. Attempts to map the major antigenic region further with smaller cloned fragments or with peptides have been hampered by total loss of, or strongly reduced, antigenicity. Thus the major antigenic region is composed of conformational epitopes and a detailed analysis of particular epitopes has not been possible. In the present work, we examine the antigenicity of chimeric proteins assembled from the highly conserved Drosophila melanogaster 70K proteins grafted with human 70K segments. With this approach, the effects on antigenicity of exchanging particular segments can be assayed with the overall structure of the major antigenic domain kept relatively constant. Our results, supported by depletion experiments, show that residues 99-128 from the human protein are essential for recognition by both human and canine anti-RNP autoantibodies. These residues have to be presented in a manner that allows correct conformational interaction between the different protein domains.
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| 8. |
- Henriksson, Elisabet Welin, 1960-, et al.
(författare)
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Human anti-RNP sera contain both human-specific and cross-reactive anti-70K autoantibodies
- 1996
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Ingår i: Journal of Autoimmunity. - : Academic Press. - 0896-8411 .- 1095-9157. ; 9:4, s. 551-559
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The U1 snRNP (small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex) associated 70K protein is the main autoantigen for the anti-RNP autoantibodies which are directed against the U1 snRNP particle. The major antigenic region of the 70K protein has by various laboratories been mapped to an RNA binding domain required for the 70K-U1 snRNA interaction. We have used recombinant proteins comprising this region from the human and the Drosophila melanogaster 70K proteins to examine the species specificity of the human anti-70K autoantibodies found in 42 patient sera. Most, but not all, anti-70K positive sera in this cross-sectional sample contained both human 70K specific anti-bodies and Drosophila 70K reactive antibodies. Results of a longitudinal follow-up of 14 patients indicated that the cross-reactive anti-70K antibodies developed secondarily to the establishment of a species-specific anti-70K reaction. In a fraction of the patient sera this broadening of the response never occurred. Taken together, the data in this study support the hypothesis that the endogenous human 70K protein is the immunogen driving the production of anti-70K autoantibodies.
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| 9. |
- Håkansson, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Active Control Machine Tool Chatter Embedded Piezo Ceramic Actuators in Tool Holder Shank
- 1999
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the turning operation chatter or vibration is a frequent problem, which affects the result of the machining, and, in particular, the surface finish. Tool life is also influenced by vibration. Severe acoustic noise in the working environment frequently occurs as a result of dynamic motion between the cutting tool and the workpiece. These problems can be reduced by active control of machine-tool vibration. Adaptive feedback control based on the filtered-x LMS-algorithm, enables a reduction of the vibration by up to 40 dB at 1.5 kHz and by approximately 40 dB at 3 kHz. The active control performed a broadband attenuation of the sound pressure level by up to 35 dB . A significant improvement of the workpiece surface was also observed. In the active control of tool vibration a tool holder construction based on integrated high magnetostrictive actuators was used. However, both the physical features and properties of an active tool holder construction based on high magnetostrictive actuators and the fact that this type of actuators generally have a non-linear behaviour highly reduce its applicability to the general lathe and turning operation. Therefor, a new generation embedded active tool holder shanks based on piezo ceramic actuators have been developed. Based on spectrum estimates, both coherence spectrum and frequency response function estimates has been calculated for both the old tool holder construction and the new generation active tool holder shank. From the results it follows that the phase delay is smaller and the linearity of the new generation active tool holder shank are superior compared to the old technology. It is also obvious that physical features and properties of new generation embedded active tool holder shanks based on piezo ceramic actuators fits the general lathe application.
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| 10. |
- Håkansson, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Embedded Piezoceramic Actutaors in a Tool Holder Shank for the Active Control of Machine-tool Vibration
- 1999
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the turning operation chatter or vibration is a frequent problem, which affects the result of the machining, and, in particular, the surface finish. Tool life is also influenced by vibration. Severe acoustic noise in the working environment frequently occurs as a result of dynamic motion between the cutting tool and the workpiece. These problems can be reduced by active control of machine-tool vibration based on high magnetostrictive actuators. However, both the physical features and properties of a active tool holder construction based on high magnetostrictive actuators and the fact that this type of actuators generally have a non-linear behaviour highly reduce its applicability to the general lathe and turning operation. Therefor, a new generation embedded active tool holder shanks based on piezo ceramic actuators have been developed. Based on spectrum estimates, both coherence spectrum and frequency response function estimates has been calculated for both the old tool holder construction and the new generation active tool holder shank. From the results it follows that the phase delay is smaller and the linearity of the new generation active tool holder shank are superior compared to the old technology. It is also obvious that physical features and properties of new generation embedded active tool holder shanks based on piezo ceramic actuators fits the general lathe application.
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