| 1. |
- Blösch, Günter, et al.
(författare)
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Twenty-three unsolved problems in hydrology (UPH) - a community perspective
- 2019
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Ingår i: Hydrological Sciences Journal. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0262-6667 .- 2150-3435. ; 64:10, s. 1141-1158
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper is the outcome of a community initiative to identify major unsolved scientific problems in hydrology motivated by a need for stronger harmonisation of research efforts. The procedure involved a public consultation through online media, followed by two workshops through which a large number of potential science questions were collated, prioritised, and synthesised. In spite of the diversity of the participants (230 scientists in total), the process revealed much about community priorities and the state of our science: a preference for continuity in research questions rather than radical departures or redirections from past and current work. Questions remain focused on the process-based understanding of hydrological variability and causality at all space and time scales. Increased attention to environmental change drives a new emphasis on understanding how change propagates across interfaces within the hydrological system and across disciplinary boundaries. In particular, the expansion of the human footprint raises a new set of questions related to human interactions with nature and water cycle feedbacks in the context of complex water management problems. We hope that this reflection and synthesis of the 23 unsolved problems in hydrology will help guide research efforts for some years to come.
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| 2. |
- Edwards, Robert A., et al.
(författare)
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Global phylogeography and ancient evolution of the widespread human gut virus crAssphage
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nature Microbiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2058-5276. ; 4:10, s. 1727-1736
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Microbiomes are vast communities of microorganisms and viruses that populate all natural ecosystems. Viruses have been considered to be the most variable component of microbiomes, as supported by virome surveys and examples of high genomic mosaicism. However, recent evidence suggests that the human gut virome is remarkably stable compared with that of other environments. Here, we investigate the origin, evolution and epidemiology of crAssphage, a widespread human gut virus. Through a global collaboration, we obtained DNA sequences of crAssphage from more than one-third of the world's countries and showed that the phylogeography of crAssphage is locally clustered within countries, cities and individuals. We also found fully colinear crAssphage-like genomes in both Old-World and New-World primates, suggesting that the association of crAssphage with primates may be millions of years old. Finally, by exploiting a large cohort of more than 1,000 individuals, we tested whether crAssphage is associated with bacterial taxonomic groups of the gut microbiome, diverse human health parameters and a wide range of dietary factors. We identified strong correlations with different clades of bacteria that are related to Bacteroidetes and weak associations with several diet categories, but no significant association with health or disease. We conclude that crAssphage is a benign cosmopolitan virus that may have coevolved with the human lineage and is an integral part of the normal human gut virome.
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| 3. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N, et al.
(författare)
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The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 7:1, s. 145-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
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- 2019
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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| 6. |
- Adrian-Martinez, S., et al.
(författare)
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A first search for coincident gravitational waves and high energy neutrinos using LIGO, Virgo and ANTARES data from 2007
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 1475-7516. ; :6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the results of the first search for gravitational wave bursts associated with high energy neutrinos. Together, these messengers could reveal new, hidden sources that are not observed by conventional photon astronomy, particularly at high energy. Our search uses neutrinos detected by the underwater neutrino telescope ANTARES in its 5 line configuration during the period January - September 2007, which coincided with the fifth and first science runs of LIGO and Virgo, respectively. The LIGO-Virgo data were analysed for candidate gravitational-wave signals coincident in time and direction with the neutrino events. No significant coincident events were observed. We place limits on the density of joint high energy neutrino - gravitational wave emission events in the local universe, and compare them with densities of merger and core-collapse events.
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| 7. |
- Azevedo, Flavio, et al.
(författare)
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Social and moral psychology of COVID-19 across 69 countries
- 2023
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Ingår i: Scientific Data. - : NATURE PORTFOLIO. - 2052-4463. ; 10:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all domains of human life, including the economic and social fabric of societies. One of the central strategies for managing public health throughout the pandemic has been through persuasive messaging and collective behaviour change. To help scholars better understand the social and moral psychology behind public health behaviour, we present a dataset comprising of 51,404 individuals from 69 countries. This dataset was collected for the International Collaboration on Social & Moral Psychology of COVID-19 project (ICSMP COVID-19). This social science survey invited participants around the world to complete a series of moral and psychological measures and public health attitudes about COVID-19 during an early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (between April and June 2020). The survey included seven broad categories of questions: COVID-19 beliefs and compliance behaviours; identity and social attitudes; ideology; health and well-being; moral beliefs and motivation; personality traits; and demographic variables. We report both raw and cleaned data, along with all survey materials, data visualisations, and psychometric evaluations of key variables.
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| 8. |
- Berts, Ida, 1984-
(författare)
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Relating the Bulk and Interface Structure of Hyaluronan to Physical Properties of Future Biomaterials
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation describes a structural investigation of hyaluronan (HA) with neutron scattering techniques. HA is a natural biopolymer and one of the major components of the extracellular matrix, synovial fluid, and vitreous humor. It is used in several biomedical applications like tissue engineering, drug delivery, and treatment of osteoarthritis. Although HA is extensively studied, very little is known about its three-dimensional conformation and how it interacts with ions and other molecules. The study aims to understand the bulk structure of a cross-linked HA hydrogel, as well as the conformational arrangement of HA at solid-liquid interfaces. In addition, the structural changes of HA are investigated by simulation of physiological environments, such as changes in ions, interactions with nanoparticles, and proteins etc. Small-angle neutron scattering and neutron reflectivity are the two main techniques applied to investigate the nanostructure of hyaluronan in its original, hydrated state.The present study on hydrogels shows that they possess inhomogeneous structures best described with two correlation lengths, one of the order of a few nanometers and the other in the order of few hundred nanometers. These gels are made up of dense polymer-rich clusters linked to each other. The polymer concentration and mixing governs the connectivity between these clusters, which in turn determines the viscoelastic properties of the gels. Surface-tethered HA at a solid-liquid interface is best described with a smooth varying density profile. The shape of this profile depends on the immobilization chemistry, the deposition protocol, and the ionic interactions. HA could be suitably modified to enhance adherence to metal surfaces, as well as incorporation of proteins like growth factors with tunable release properties. This could be exploited for surface coating of implants with bioactive molecules. The knowledge gained from this work would significantly help to develop future biomaterials and surface coatings of implants and biomedical devices.
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| 9. |
- Borud, Einar Kristian, et al.
(författare)
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The Acupuncture on Hot Flushes Among Menopausal Women (ACUFLASH) study, a randomized controlled trial
- 2009
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Ingår i: MENOPAUSE-THE JOURNAL OF THE NORTH AMERICAN MENOPAUSE SOCIETY. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 1072-3714. ; 16:3, s. 484-493
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: This study compared the effectiveness of individualized acupuncture plus self-care versus self-care alone on hot flashes and health-related quality of life in postmenopausal women. Methods: This study involved a multicenter, pragmatic, randomized, controlled trial with two parallel arms. Participants were postmenopausal women experiencing, on average, seven or more hot flashes per 24 hours during seven consecutive days. The acupuncture group received 10 acupuncture treatment sessions and advice on self-care, and the control group received advice on self-care only. The frequency and severity (0-10 scale) of hot flashes were registered in a diary. Urine excretion of calcitonin gene-related peptide was assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks. The primary endpoint was change in mean hot flash frequency from baseline to 12 weeks. The secondary endpoint was change in health-related quality of life measured by the Womens Health Questionnaire. Results: Hot flash frequency decreased by 5.8 per 24 hours in the acupuncture group (n = 134) and 3.7 per 24 hours in the control group (n = 133), a difference of 2.1 (P < 0.001). Hot flash intensity decreased by 3.2 units in the acupuncture group and 1.8 units in the control group, a difference of 1.4 (P < 0.001). The acupuncture group experienced statistically significant improvements in the vasomotor, sleep, and somatic symptoms dimensions of the Womens Health Questionnaire compared with the control group. Urine calcitonin gene-related peptide excretion remained unchanged from baseline to week 12. Conclusions: Acupuncture plus self-care can contribute to a clinically relevant reduction in hot flashes and increased health-related quality of life in postmenopausal women.
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| 10. |
- Botvinik-Nezer, Rotem, et al.
(författare)
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Variability in the analysis of a single neuroimaging dataset by many teams
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 582, s. 84-88
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Data analysis workflows in many scientific domains have become increasingly complex and flexible. Here we assess the effect of this flexibility on the results of functional magnetic resonance imaging by asking 70 independent teams to analyse the same dataset, testing the same 9 ex-ante hypotheses(1). The flexibility of analytical approaches is exemplified by the fact that no two teams chose identical workflows to analyse the data. This flexibility resulted in sizeable variation in the results of hypothesis tests, even for teams whose statistical maps were highly correlated at intermediate stages of the analysis pipeline. Variation in reported results was related to several aspects of analysis methodology. Notably, a meta-analytical approach that aggregated information across teams yielded a significant consensus in activated regions. Furthermore, prediction markets of researchers in the field revealed an overestimation of the likelihood of significant findings, even by researchers with direct knowledge of the dataset(2-5). Our findings show that analytical flexibility can have substantial effects on scientific conclusions, and identify factors that may be related to variability in the analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging. The results emphasize the importance of validating and sharing complex analysis workflows, and demonstrate the need for performing and reporting multiple analyses of the same data. Potential approaches that could be used to mitigate issues related to analytical variability are discussed. The results obtained by seventy different teams analysing the same functional magnetic resonance imaging dataset show substantial variation, highlighting the influence of analytical choices and the importance of sharing workflows publicly and performing multiple analyses.
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