| 1. |
- Glasbey, JC, et al.
(författare)
-
- 2021
-
swepub:Mat__t
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Thomas, HS, et al.
(författare)
-
- 2019
-
swepub:Mat__t
|
|
| 5. |
- Wang, H. D., et al.
(författare)
-
Global, regional, and national under-5 mortality, adult mortality, age-specific mortality, and life expectancy, 1970-2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Lancet. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 390:10100, s. 1084-1150
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Detailed assessments of mortality patterns, particularly age-specific mortality, represent a crucial input that enables health systems to target interventions to specific populations. Understanding how all-cause mortality has changed with respect to development status can identify exemplars for best practice. To accomplish this, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016) estimated age-specific and sex-specific all-cause mortality between 1970 and 2016 for 195 countries and territories and at the subnational level for the five countries with a population greater than 200 million in 2016. Methods We have evaluated how well civil registration systems captured deaths using a set of demographic methods called death distribution methods for adults and from consideration of survey and census data for children younger than 5 years. We generated an overall assessment of completeness of registration of deaths by dividing registered deaths in each location-year by our estimate of all-age deaths generated from our overall estimation process. For 163 locations, including subnational units in countries with a population greater than 200 million with complete vital registration (VR) systems, our estimates were largely driven by the observed data, with corrections for small fluctuations in numbers and estimation for recent years where there were lags in data reporting (lags were variable by location, generally between 1 year and 6 years). For other locations, we took advantage of different data sources available to measure under-5 mortality rates (U5MR) using complete birth histories, summary birth histories, and incomplete VR with adjustments; we measured adult mortality rate (the probability of death in individuals aged 15-60 years) using adjusted incomplete VR, sibling histories, and household death recall. We used the U5MR and adult mortality rate, together with crude death rate due to HIV in the GBD model life table system, to estimate age-specific and sex-specific death rates for each location-year. Using various international databases, we identified fatal discontinuities, which we defined as increases in the death rate of more than one death per million, resulting from conflict and terrorism, natural disasters, major transport or technological accidents, and a subset of epidemic infectious diseases; these were added to estimates in the relevant years. In 47 countries with an identified peak adult prevalence for HIV/AIDS of more than 0.5% and where VR systems were less than 65% complete, we informed our estimates of age-sex-specific mortality using the Estimation and Projection Package (EPP)-Spectrum model fitted to national HIV/AIDS prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance systems. We estimated stillbirths, early neonatal, late neonatal, and childhood mortality using both survey and VR data in spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression models. We estimated abridged life tables for all location-years using age-specific death rates. We grouped locations into development quintiles based on the Sociodemographic Index (SDI) and analysed mortality trends by quintile. Using spline regression, we estimated the expected mortality rate for each age-sex group as a function of SDI. We identified countries with higher life expectancy than expected by comparing observed life expectancy to anticipated life expectancy on the basis of development status alone. Findings Completeness in the registration of deaths increased from 28% in 1970 to a peak of 45% in 2013; completeness was lower after 2013 because of lags in reporting. Total deaths in children younger than 5 years decreased from 1970 to 2016, and slower decreases occurred at ages 5-24 years. By contrast, numbers of adult deaths increased in each 5-year age bracket above the age of 25 years. The distribution of annualised rates of change in age-specific mortality rate differed over the period 2000 to 2016 compared with earlier decades: increasing annualised rates of change were less frequent, although rising annualised rates of change still occurred in some locations, particularly for adolescent and younger adult age groups. Rates of stillbirths and under-5 mortality both decreased globally from 1970. Evidence for global convergence of death rates was mixed; although the absolute difference between age-standardised death rates narrowed between countries at the lowest and highest levels of SDI, the ratio of these death rates-a measure of relative inequality-increased slightly. There was a strong shift between 1970 and 2016 toward higher life expectancy, most noticeably at higher levels of SDI. Among countries with populations greater than 1 million in 2016, life expectancy at birth was highest for women in Japan, at 86.9 years (95% UI 86.7-87.2), and for men in Singapore, at 81.3 years (78.8-83.7) in 2016. Male life expectancy was generally lower than female life expectancy between 1970 and 2016, and the gap between male and female life expectancy increased with progression to higher levels of SDI. Some countries with exceptional health performance in 1990 in terms of the difference in observed to expected life expectancy at birth had slower progress on the same measure in 2016. Interpretation Globally, mortality rates have decreased across all age groups over the past five decades, with the largest improvements occurring among children younger than 5 years. However, at the national level, considerable heterogeneity remains in terms of both level and rate of changes in age-specific mortality; increases in mortality for certain age groups occurred in some locations. We found evidence that the absolute gap between countries in age-specific death rates has declined, although the relative gap for some age-sex groups increased. Countries that now lead in terms of having higher observed life expectancy than that expected on the basis of development alone, or locations that have either increased this advantage or rapidly decreased the deficit from expected levels, could provide insight into the means to accelerate progress in nations where progress has stalled. Copyright (C) The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Campbell, PJ, et al.
(författare)
-
Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 578:7793, s. 82-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale1–3. Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4–5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter4; identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation5,6; analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution7; describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity8,9; and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes8,10–18.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
| 11. |
|
|
| 12. |
|
|
| 13. |
|
|
| 14. |
- Muehlenbein, MP, et al.
(författare)
-
Traveller exposures to animals: a GeoSentinel analysis
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Journal of travel medicine. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1708-8305 .- 1195-1982. ; 27:7
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundHuman coexistence with other animals can result in both intentional and unintentional contact with a variety of mammalian and non-mammalian species. International travellers are at risk for such encounters; travellers risk injury, infection and possibly death from domestic and wild animal bites, scratches, licks and other exposures. The aim of the present analysis was to understand the diversity and distribution of animal-related exposures among international travellers.MethodsData from January 2007 through December 2018 from the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network were reviewed. Records were included if the exposure was non-migration travel with a diagnosis of an animal (dog, cat, monkey, snake or other) bite or other exposure (non-bite); records were excluded if the region of exposure was not ascertainable or if another, unrelated acute diagnosis was reported.ResultsA total of 6470 animal exposures (bite or non-bite) were included. The majority (71%) occurred in Asia. Travellers to 167 countries had at least one report of an animal bite or non-bite exposure. The majority (76%) involved dogs, monkeys and cats, although a wide range of wild and domestic species were involved. Almost two-thirds (62.6%) of 4395 travellers with information available did not report a pretravel consultation with a healthcare provider.ConclusionsMinimizing bites and other animal exposures requires education (particularly during pretravel consultations) and behavioral modification. These should be supplemented by the use of pre-exposure rabies vaccination for travellers to high-risk countries (especially to those with limited access to rabies immunoglobulin), as well as encouragement of timely (in-country) post-exposure prophylaxis for rabies and Macacine alphaherpesvirus 1 (herpesvirus B) when warranted.
|
|
| 15. |
- Santangelo, James S., et al.
(författare)
-
Global urban environmental change drives adaptation in white clover
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 375
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by sampling 110,019 white clover plants from 6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors. Urban-rural gradients were associated with the evolution of clines in defense in 47% of cities throughout the world. Variation in the strength of clines was explained by environmental changes in drought stress and vegetation cover that varied among cities. Sequencing 2074 genomes from 26 cities revealed that the evolution of urban-rural dines was best explained by adaptive evolution, but the degree of parallel adaptation varied among cities. Our results demonstrate that urbanization leads to adaptation at a global scale.
|
|
| 16. |
|
|
| 17. |
- Stanaway, Jeffrey D., et al.
(författare)
-
Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990-2017: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017
- 2018
-
Ingår i: The Lancet. - 1474-547X .- 0140-6736. ; 392:10159, s. 1923-1994
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 comparative risk assessment (CRA) is a comprehensive approach to risk factor quantification that offers a useful tool for synthesising evidence on risks and risk-outcome associations. With each annual GBD study, we update the GBD CRA to incorporate improved methods, new risks and risk-outcome pairs, and new data on risk exposure levels and risk- outcome associations. Methods We used the CRA framework developed for previous iterations of GBD to estimate levels and trends in exposure, attributable deaths, and attributable disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), by age group, sex, year, and location for 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or groups of risks from 1990 to 2017. This study included 476 risk-outcome pairs that met the GBD study criteria for convincing or probable evidence of causation. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from 46 749 randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk exposure level (TMREL), we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We explored the relationship between development and risk exposure by modelling the relationship between the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and risk-weighted exposure prevalence and estimated expected levels of exposure and risk-attributable burden by SDI. Finally, we explored temporal changes in risk-attributable DALYs by decomposing those changes into six main component drivers of change as follows: (1) population growth; (2) changes in population age structures; (3) changes in exposure to environmental and occupational risks; (4) changes in exposure to behavioural risks; (5) changes in exposure to metabolic risks; and (6) changes due to all other factors, approximated as the risk-deleted death and DALY rates, where the risk-deleted rate is the rate that would be observed had we reduced the exposure levels to the TMREL for all risk factors included in GBD 2017.
|
|
| 18. |
- Clark, Andrew G., et al.
(författare)
-
Evolution of genes and genomes on the Drosophila phylogeny
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 450:7167, s. 203-218
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Comparative analysis of multiple genomes in a phylogenetic framework dramatically improves the precision and sensitivity of evolutionary inference, producing more robust results than single-genome analyses can provide. The genomes of 12 Drosophila species, ten of which are presented here for the first time (sechellia, simulans, yakuba, erecta, ananassae, persimilis, willistoni, mojavensis, virilis and grimshawi), illustrate how rates and patterns of sequence divergence across taxa can illuminate evolutionary processes on a genomic scale. These genome sequences augment the formidable genetic tools that have made Drosophila melanogaster a pre-eminent model for animal genetics, and will further catalyse fundamental research on mechanisms of development, cell biology, genetics, disease, neurobiology, behaviour, physiology and evolution. Despite remarkable similarities among these Drosophila species, we identified many putatively non-neutral changes in protein-coding genes, non-coding RNA genes, and cis-regulatory regions. These may prove to underlie differences in the ecology and behaviour of these diverse species.
|
|
| 19. |
- Strefford, J. C., et al.
(författare)
-
Distinct patterns of novel gene mutations in poor-prognostic stereotyped subsets of chronic lymphocytic leukemia : the case of SF3B1 and subset #2
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Leukemia. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0887-6924 .- 1476-5551. ; 27:11, s. 2196-2199
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent studies have revealed recurrent mutations of the NOTCH1, SF3B1 and BIRC3 genes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), especially among aggressive, chemorefractory cases. Nevertheless, it is currently unknown whether their presence may differ in subsets of patients carrying stereotyped B-cell receptors and also exhibiting distinct prognoses. Here, we analyzed the mutation status of NOTCH1, SF3B1 and BIRC3 in three subsets with particularly poor prognosis, that is, subset # 1, # 2 and # 8, aiming to explore links between genetic aberrations and immune signaling. A remarkably higher frequency of SF3B1 mutations was revealed in subset # 2 (44%) versus subset # 1 and # 8 (4.6% and 0%, respectively; P<0.001). In contrast, the frequency of NOTCH1 mutations in subset # 2 was only 8%, lower than the frequency observed in either subset # 1 or # 8 (19% and 14%, respectively; P 0.04 for subset # 1 versus # 2). No associations were found for BIRC3 mutations that overall were rare. The apparent non-random association of certain mutations with stereotyped CLL subsets alludes to subset-biased acquisition of genomic aberrations, perhaps consistent with particular antigen/antibody interactions. These novel findings assist in unraveling specific mechanisms underlying clinical aggressiveness in poor-prognostic stereotyped subsets, with far-reaching implications for understanding their clonal evolution and implementing biologically oriented therapy.
|
|
| 20. |
- Komatsu, Kimberly J., et al.
(författare)
-
Global change effects on plant communities are magnified by time and the number of global change factors imposed
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 116:36, s. 17867-17873
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Accurate prediction of community responses to global change drivers (GCDs) is critical given the effects of biodiversity on ecosystem services. There is consensus that human activities are driving species extinctions at the global scale, but debate remains over whether GCDs are systematically altering local communities worldwide. Across 105 experiments that included over 400 experimental manipulations, we found evidence for a lagged response of herbaceous plant communities to GCDs caused by shifts in the identities and relative abundances of species, often without a corresponding difference in species richness. These results provide evidence that community responses are pervasive across a wide variety of GCDs on long-term temporal scales and that these responses increase in strength when multiple GCDs are simultaneously imposed.Global change drivers (GCDs) are expected to alter community structure and consequently, the services that ecosystems provide. Yet, few experimental investigations have examined effects of GCDs on plant community structure across multiple ecosystem types, and those that do exist present conflicting patterns. In an unprecedented global synthesis of over 100 experiments that manipulated factors linked to GCDs, we show that herbaceous plant community responses depend on experimental manipulation length and number of factors manipulated. We found that plant communities are fairly resistant to experimentally manipulated GCDs in the short term (<10 y). In contrast, long-term (≥10 y) experiments show increasing community divergence of treatments from control conditions. Surprisingly, these community responses occurred with similar frequency across the GCD types manipulated in our database. However, community responses were more common when 3 or more GCDs were simultaneously manipulated, suggesting the emergence of additive or synergistic effects of multiple drivers, particularly over long time periods. In half of the cases, GCD manipulations caused a difference in community composition without a corresponding species richness difference, indicating that species reordering or replacement is an important mechanism of community responses to GCDs and should be given greater consideration when examining consequences of GCDs for the biodiversity–ecosystem function relationship. Human activities are currently driving unparalleled global changes worldwide. Our analyses provide the most comprehensive evidence to date that these human activities may have widespread impacts on plant community composition globally, which will increase in frequency over time and be greater in areas where communities face multiple GCDs simultaneously.
|
|
| 21. |
- Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
-
Genome sequence, comparative analysis and haplotype structure of the domestic dog.
- 2005
-
Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 438:7069, s. 803-19
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Here we report a high-quality draft genome sequence of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris), together with a dense map of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across breeds. The dog is of particular interest because it provides important evolutionary information and because existing breeds show great phenotypic diversity for morphological, physiological and behavioural traits. We use sequence comparison with the primate and rodent lineages to shed light on the structure and evolution of genomes and genes. Notably, the majority of the most highly conserved non-coding sequences in mammalian genomes are clustered near a small subset of genes with important roles in development. Analysis of SNPs reveals long-range haplotypes across the entire dog genome, and defines the nature of genetic diversity within and across breeds. The current SNP map now makes it possible for genome-wide association studies to identify genes responsible for diseases and traits, with important consequences for human and companion animal health.
|
|
| 22. |
- Rogan, Fionn, et al.
(författare)
-
LEAPs and Bounds-an Energy Demand and Constraint Optimised Model of the Irish Energy System
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Energy Efficiency. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1570-646X .- 1570-6478. ; 7:3, s. 441-466
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper builds a model of energy demand and supply for Ireland with a focus on evaluating, and providing insights for, energy efficiency policies. The demand-side comprises sectoral sub-models, with a detailed bottom-up approach used for the transport and residential sectors and a top-down approach used for the industry and services sectors. The supply side uses the linear programming optimisation features of the Open Source Energy Modelling System applied to electricity generation to calculate the least-cost solution. This paper presents the first national level model developed within the Long Range Energy Alternatives Planning software to combine detailed end-use analysis on the demand side with a cost-minimising optimisation approach for modelling the electricity generation sector. Through three scenarios over the period 2009-2020, the model examines the aggregate impact on energy demand of a selection of current and proposed energy efficiency policies. In 2020, energy demand in the energy efficiency scenario is 8.6 % lower than the reference scenario and 11.1 % lower in the energy efficiency + scenario.
|
|
| 23. |
- Roth, Gregory A, et al.
(författare)
-
Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk Factors, 1990-2019 : Update From the GBD 2019 Study
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Journal of the American College of Cardiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0735-1097 .- 1558-3597. ; 76:25, s. 2982-3021
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), principally ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke, are the leading cause of global mortality and a major contributor to disability. This paper reviews the magnitude of total CVD burden, including 13 underlying causes of cardiovascular death and 9 related risk factors, using estimates from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019. GBD, an ongoing multinational collaboration to provide comparable and consistent estimates of population health over time, used all available population-level data sources on incidence, prevalence, case fatality, mortality, and health risks to produce estimates for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. Prevalent cases of total CVD nearly doubled from 271 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 257 to 285 million) in 1990 to 523 million (95% UI: 497 to 550 million) in 2019, and the number of CVD deaths steadily increased from 12.1 million (95% UI:11.4 to 12.6 million) in 1990, reaching 18.6 million (95% UI: 17.1 to 19.7 million) in 2019. The global trends for disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and years of life lost also increased significantly, and years lived with disability doubled from 17.7 million (95% UI: 12.9 to 22.5 million) to 34.4 million (95% UI:24.9 to 43.6 million) over that period. The total number of DALYs due to IHD has risen steadily since 1990, reaching 182 million (95% UI: 170 to 194 million) DALYs, 9.14 million (95% UI: 8.40 to 9.74 million) deaths in the year 2019, and 197 million (95% UI: 178 to 220 million) prevalent cases of IHD in 2019. The total number of DALYs due to stroke has risen steadily since 1990, reaching 143 million (95% UI: 133 to 153 million) DALYs, 6.55 million (95% UI: 6.00 to 7.02 million) deaths in the year 2019, and 101 million (95% UI: 93.2 to 111 million) prevalent cases of stroke in 2019. Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of disease burden in the world. CVD burden continues its decades-long rise for almost all countries outside high-income countries, and alarmingly, the age-standardized rate of CVD has begun to rise in some locations where it was previously declining in high-income countries. There is an urgent need to focus on implementing existing cost-effective policies and interventions if the world is to meet the targets for Sustainable Development Goal 3 and achieve a 30% reduction in premature mortality due to noncommunicable diseases.
|
|
| 24. |
|
|
| 25. |
|
|
| 26. |
- Arrillaga-Romany, Isabel, et al.
(författare)
-
Performance of a Hospital Pathway for Patients With a New Single Brain Mass
- 2019
-
Ingår i: JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY PRACTICE. - : American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). - 1554-7477. ; 15:3, s. e211-e218
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- WHAT WE FOUND:Length of stay and time to surgery were significantly reduced after implementation of this admission pathway. Readmission rate was not adversely affected by this change. The protocol also significantly reduced the number of unnecessary body computed tomography imaging studies obtained in this patient population.CONFOUNDING FACTORS/REAL-LIFE IMPLICATIONS:The results of this study should be interpreted with their retrospective nature in mind. Further, analysis of this admission pathway did not take into consideration patient perspective or cost implications. Finally, the authors recognize that the resources for such an operational shift may only be found in large, tertiary, referral centers.Optimized specialized care for patients with new single brain masses promotes improved health care outcomes. It may also predictively reduce health care costs and improve patient satisfaction. More research is needed in this field. Limitations to our study included the inherent limitations of a retrospective pre-post design that can make it difficult to separate the effect of a specific intervention from other factors that change over time. In addition, assessment of patient satisfaction, use of diagnostic tests beyond body imaging, and advanced cost analysis could have strengthened this study. Lastly, it should be noted that the applicability of our approach may be limited to major tertiary centers with enough resources to implement such a pathway.Purpose:To reduce care variation and improve the management of patients with newly identified single brain masses and no history of cancer, we implemented a dedicated admission protocol.Methods:We reviewed records of 206 patients who presented to our emergency department between January 2010 and May 2016 with a new single brain mass but no history of cancer. Patients admitted before the protocol implementation were designated the pre-implementation group (PRE), and those admitted after implementation were designated the post-implementation group (POST).Results:Ninety-six patients were in the PRE group and 110 in the POST group. Length of stay for POST patients was significantly shorter than for PRE patients (6 v 7 days, respectively; P = .042), and this effect was more robust after excluding the 66 patients who were discharged to rehabilitation, skilled nursing, or hospice facilities (5 v 7 days, respectively; P = .001). Additional comparison of POST with PRE patients showed that time to surgery was significantly reduced (2.7 v 3.5 days, respectively; P = .006) and that computed tomography scans of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis were reduced (12% v 47%, respectively; P < .001). No difference was found in the 30-day readmission rates. For patients with GBM, there also was no significant difference in time to initiation of chemoradiation or in median overall survival.Conclusion:Implementation of a specialized admission pathway for patients with a new single brain mass decreased average length of hospital stay and time to surgery and reduced unnecessary diagnostic imaging tests in patients with primary brain tumors.
|
|
| 27. |
- Aurelle, D., et al.
(författare)
-
Biodiversity, climate change, and adaptation in the Mediterranean
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Ecosphere. - : Wiley. - 2150-8925. ; 13:4
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Potential for, and limits to, adaptation to environmental changes are critical for resilience and risk mitigation. The Mediterranean basin is a mosaic of biodiversity-rich ecosystems long affected by human influence, whose resilience is now questioned by climate change. After reviewing the different components of biological adaptation, we present the main characteristics of marine and terrestrial biodiversity in the Mediterranean basin and of the pressures they face. Taking climatic trends into consideration, we discuss the adaptive potential of a range of ecosystems dominated by species without active dispersal. We argue that the high heterogeneity of Mediterranean landscapes and seascapes constitutes a laboratory for the study of adaptation when environmental conditions change rapidly and may provide opportunities for adaptation and adaptability of species and ecosystems. Adaptive management in the Mediterranean can and should harness the nature-based solutions offered by both ecological and evolutionary processes for increasing the resilience of ecosystems to climate change.
|
|
| 28. |
|
|
| 29. |
- Bottger, P. H. M., et al.
(författare)
-
Hard wear-resistant coatings with anisotropic thermal conductivity for high thermal load applications
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Journal of Applied Physics. - : AIP Publishing. - 0021-8979 .- 1089-7550. ; 116:1, s. 013507-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- High thermal load applications such as high speed dry cutting lead to high temperatures in the coated tool substrate that can soften the tool and high temperature gradients that can put stress on the coating/tool interface. In this work, theoretical considerations are presented for multilayer and graded protective coatings that can induce a significant anisotropy in their thermal conductivity. Solution of the heat equation shows that anisotropy of thermal conductivity has the potential to reduce temperatures and temperature gradients arising due to brief, localized heat at the coating surface ("hot-spots"). Experimental realization of high anisotropy is demonstrated in TiN/AlCrN multilayer coatings with variable layer thickness. In the coating with 50 nm bilayer periodicity, the highest anisotropy was obtained with a value of kappa(parallel to)/kappa(perpendicular to) = 3.0 +/- 0.9. Time-domain thermoreflectance is used to measure in-plane and cross-plane thermal conductivity of fabricated coatings. The observed high values of anisotropy of thermal conductivity are compared with theoretical predictions and its realisation is discussed with regard to the coating microstructure.
|
|
| 30. |
- Cabral, Joao P, et al.
(författare)
-
Rapidly Testing the Interaction Model of a Pronunciation Training System via Wizard-of-Oz.
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation. ; , s. 4136-4142
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper describes a prototype of a computer-assisted pronunciation training system called MySpeech. The interface of the MySpeech system is web-based and it currently enables users to practice pronunciation by listening to speech spoken by native speakers and tuning their speech production to correct any mispronunciations detected by the system. This practice exercise is facilitated in different topics and difficulty levels. An experiment was conducted in this work that combines the MySpeech service with the WebWOZ Wizard-of-Oz platform (http://www.webwoz.com), in order to improve the human-computer interaction (HCI) of the service and the feedback that it provides to the user. The employed Wizard-of-Oz method enables a human (who acts as a wizard) to give feedback to the practising user, while the user is not aware that there is another person involved in the communication. This experiment permitted to quickly test an HCI model before its implementation on the MySpeech system. It also allowed to collect input data from the wizard that can be used to improve the proposed model. Another outcome of the experiment was the preliminary evalua- tion of the pronunciation learning service in terms of user satisfaction, which would be difficult to conduct before integrating the HCI part.
|
|
| 31. |
|
|
| 32. |
- Cahill, P., et al.
(författare)
-
Data of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting of a bridge undergoing vibration testing and train passage
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Data in Brief. - : Elsevier Inc.. - 2352-3409. ; 17, s. 261-266
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The data presented in this article is in relation to the research article “Vibration energy harvesting based monitoring of an operational bridge undergoing forced vibration and train passage” Cahill et al. (2018) [1]. The article provides data on the full-scale bridge testing using piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters on Pershagen Bridge, Sweden. The bridge is actively excited via a swept sinusoidal input. During the testing, the bridge remains operational and train passages continue. The test recordings include the voltage responses obtained from the vibration energy harvesters during these tests and train passages. The original dataset is made available to encourage the use of energy harvesting for Structural Health Monitoring.
|
|
| 33. |
- Cahill, P. L., et al.
(författare)
-
Creating New Antifoulants Using the Tools and Tactics of Medicinal Chemistry
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Accounts of Chemical Research. - : American Chemical Society. - 0001-4842 .- 1520-4898. ; 57:3, s. 399-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Conspectus The unwanted accumulation of marine micro- and macroorganisms such as algae and barnacles on submerged man-made structures and vessel hulls is a major challenge for any marine operation. Known as biofouling, this problem leads to reduced hydrodynamic efficiency, significantly increased fuel usage, microbially induced corrosion, and, if not managed appropriately, eventual loss of both performance and structural integrity. Ship hull biofouling in the international maritime transport network conservatively accounts for 0.6% of global carbon emissions, highlighting the global scale and the importance of this problem. Improved antifouling strategies to limit surface colonization are paramount for essential activities such as shipping, aquaculture, desalination, and the marine renewable energy sector, representing both a multibillion dollar cost and a substantial practical challenge. From an ecological perspective, biofouling is a primary contributor to the global spread of invasive marine species, which has extensive implications for the marine environment. Historically, heavy metal-based toxic biocides have been used to control biofouling. However, their unwanted collateral ecological damage on nontarget species and bioaccumulation has led to recent global bans. With expanding human activities within aquaculture and offshore energy, it is both urgent and apparent that environmentally friendly surface protection remains key for maintaining the function of both moving and stationary marine structures. Biofouling communities are typically a highly complex network of both micro- and macroorganisms, representing a broad section of life from bacteria to macrophytes and animals. Given this diversity, it is unrealistic to expect that a single antifouling “silver bullet” will prevent colonization with the exception of generally toxic biocides. For that reason, modern and future antifouling solutions are anticipated to rely on novel coating technologies and “combination therapies” where mixtures of narrow-spectrum bioactive components are used to provide coverage across fouling species. In contrast to the existing cohort of outdated, toxic antifouling strategies, such as copper- and tributyltin-releasing paints, modern drug discovery techniques are increasingly being employed for the rational design of effective yet safe alternatives. The challenge for a medicinal chemistry approach is to effectively account for the large taxonomic diversity among fouling organisms combined with a lack of well-defined conserved molecular targets within most taxa. The current Account summarizes our work employing the tools of modern medicinal chemistry to discover, modify, and develop optimized and scalable antifouling solutions based on naturally occurring antifouling and repelling compounds from both marine and terrestrial sources. Inspiration for rational design comes from targeted studies on allelopathic natural products, natural repelling peptides, and secondary metabolites from sessile marine organisms with clean exteriors, which has yielded several efficient and promising antifouling leads.
|
|
| 34. |
- Cuddihy, Laury, et al.
(författare)
-
Vertebral Body Stapling versus Bracing for Patients with High-Risk Moderate Idiopathic Scoliosis.
- 2015
-
Ingår i: BioMed research international. - : Hindawi Limited. - 2314-6141 .- 2314-6133. ; 2015
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report a comparison study of vertebral body stapling (VBS) versus a matched bracing cohort for immature patients with moderate (25 to 44°) idiopathic scoliosis (IS).42 of 49 consecutive patients (86%) with IS were treated with VBS and followed for a minimum of 2 years. They were compared to 121 braced patients meeting identical inclusion criteria. 52 patients (66 curves) were matched according to age at start of treatment (10.6 years versus 11.1 years, resp. [P = 0.07]) and gender.For thoracic curves 25-34°, VBS had a success rate (defined as curve progression <10°) of 81% versus 61% for bracing (P = 0.16). In thoracic curves 35-44°, VBS and bracing both had a poor success rate. For lumbar curves, success rates were similar in both groups for curves measuring 25-34°.In this comparison of two cohorts of patients with high-risk (Risser 0-1) moderate IS (25-44°), in smaller thoracic curves (25-34°) VBS provided better results as a clinical trend as compared to bracing. VBS was found not to be effective for thoracic curves ≥35°. For lumbar curves measuring 25-34°, results appear to be similar for both VBS and bracing, at 80% success.
|
|
| 35. |
- Deane, C. S., et al.
(författare)
-
Space omics research in Europe : Contributions, geographical distribution and ESA member state funding schemes
- 2022
-
Ingår i: iScience. - : Elsevier BV. - 2589-0042. ; 25:3, s. 103920-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The European research community, via European Space Agency (ESA) spaceflight opportunities, has significantly contributed toward our current understanding of spaceflight biology. Recent molecular biology experiments include “omic” analysis, which provides a holistic and systems level understanding of the mechanisms underlying phenotypic adaptation. Despite vast interest in, and the immense quantity of biological information gained from space omics research, the knowledge of ESA-related space omics works as a collective remains poorly defined due to the recent exponential application of omics approaches in space and the limited search capabilities of pre-existing records. Thus, a review of such contributions is necessary to clarify and promote the development of space omics among ESA and ESA state members. To address this gap, in this review, we i) identified and summarized omics works led by European researchers, ii) geographically described these omics works, and iii) highlighted potential caveats in complex funding scenarios among ESA member states.
|
|
| 36. |
- Fraser, J.R.E., et al.
(författare)
-
Lymphatic system
- 1996
-
Ingår i: In: Extracellular Matrix. Molecular components and interactions. - : Comper, W.D. (ed), Harwood Academic Publ., Amsterdam. ; , s. 11-
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
|
|
| 37. |
|
|
| 38. |
- Grant, T. M., et al.
(författare)
-
Towards eco-friendly marine antifouling biocides-Nature inspired tetrasubstituted 2,5-diketopiperazines
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697. ; 812
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Marine biofouling plagues all maritime industries at vast economic and environmental cost. Previous and most current methods to control biofouling have employed highly persistent toxins and heavy metals, including tin, copper, and zinc. These toxic methods are resulting in unacceptable environmental harm and are coming under immense regulatory pressure. Eco-friendly alternatives are urgently required to effectively mitigate the negative consequence of biofouling without causing collateral harm. Amphiphilic micropeptides have recently been shown to exhibit excellent broad-spectrum antifouling activity, with a non-toxic mode of action and innate biodegradability. The present work focused on incorporating the pharmacophore derived from amphiphilic micropeptides into a 2,5-diketopiperazine (DKP) scaffold. This privileged structure is present in a vast number of natural products, including marine natural product antifoulants, and provides advantages of synthetic accessibility and adaptability. A novel route to symmetrical tetrasubstituted DKPs was developed and a library of amphiphilic 2,5-DKPs were subsequently synthesised. These biodegradable compounds were demonstrated to be potent marine antifoulants displaying broad-spectrum activity in the low micromolar range against a range of common marine fouling organisms. The outcome of planned coating and field trials will dictate the future development of the lead compounds.
|
|
| 39. |
- Juratli, Tareq A., et al.
(författare)
-
Targeted treatment of papillary craniopharyngiomas harboring BRAF V600E mutations
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Cancer. - : WILEY. - 0008-543X .- 1097-0142. ; 125:17, s. 2910-2914
-
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Papillary craniopharyngiomas (PCPs) are characterized by the presence of BRAF V600E mutations, which are emerging as a useful guide for diagnosis and treatment decision making. The ongoing multicenter phase 2 Alliance A071601 trial is evaluating the efficacy of BRAF and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) inhibitors for patients with PCPs. With continued successful responses, it is proposed that BRAF (and MEK) inhibitors be evaluated for the neoadjuvant treatment of patients with PCPs.
|
|
| 40. |
- Kappos, Ludwig, et al.
(författare)
-
Siponimod versus placebo in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (EXPAND): a double-blind, randomised, phase 3 study
- 2018
-
Ingår i: The Lancet. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 391, s. 1263-1273
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2018 Elsevier Ltd Background: No treatment has consistently shown efficacy in slowing disability progression in patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). We assessed the effect of siponimod, a selective sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor 1,5 modulator, on disability progression in patients with SPMS. Methods: This event-driven and exposure-driven, double-blind, phase 3 trial was done at 292 hospital clinics and specialised multiple sclerosis centres in 31 countries. Using interactive response technology to assign numbers linked to treatme nt arms, patients (age 18–60 years) with SPMS and an Expanded Disability Status Scale score of 3·0–6·5 were randomly assigned (2:1) to once daily oral siponimod 2 mg or placebo for up to 3 years or until the occurrence of a prespecified number of confirmed disability progression (CDP) events. The primary endpoint was time to 3-month CDP. Efficacy was assessed for the full analysis set (ie, all randomly assigned and treated patients); safety was assessed for the safety set. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01665144. Findings: 1651 patients were randomly assigned between Feb 5, 2013, and June 2, 2015 (1105 to the siponimod group, and 546 to the placebo group). One patient did not sign the consent form, and five patients did not receive study drug, all of whom were in the siponimod group. 1645 patients were included in the analyses (1099 in the siponimod group and 546 in the placebo). At baseline, the mean time since first multiple sclerosis symptoms was 16·8 years (SD 8·3), and the mean time since conversion to SPMS was 3·8 years (SD 3·5); 1055 (64%) patients had not relapsed in the previous 2 years, and 918 (56%) of 1651 needed walking assistance. 903 (82%) patients receiving siponimod and 424 (78%) patients receiving placebo completed the study. 288 (26%) of 1096 patients receiving siponimod and 173 (32%) of 545 patients receiving placebo had 3-month CDP (hazard ratio 0·79, 95% CI 0·65–0·95; relative risk reduction 21%; p=0·013). Adverse events occurred in 975 (89%) of 1099 patients receiving siponimod versus 445 (82%) of 546 patients receiving placebo; serious adverse events were reported for 197 (18%) patients in the siponimod group versus 83 (15%) patients in the placebo group. Lymphopenia, increased liver transaminase concentration, bradycardia and bradyarrhythmia at treatment initiation, macular oedema, hypertension, varicella zoster reactivation, and convulsions occurred more frequently with siponimod than with placebo. Initial dose titration mitigated cardiac first-dose effects. Frequencies of infections, malignancies, and fatalities did not differ between groups. Interpretation: Siponimod reduced the risk of disability progression with a safety profile similar to that of other S1P modulators and is likely to be a useful treatment for SPMS. Funding: Novartis Pharma AG.
|
|
| 41. |
- Mirian, C, et al.
(författare)
-
Poor prognosis associated with TERT gene alterations in meningioma is independent of the WHO classification: an individual patient data meta-analysis
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry. - : BMJ. - 1468-330X .- 0022-3050. ; 91:4, s. 378-387
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- TERT gene alterations (TERT-alt) have been linked to increased risk of recurrence in meningiomas, whereas the association to mortality largely remain incompletely investigated. As incongruence between clinical course and WHO grade exists, reliable biomarkers have been sought.MethodsWe applied the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses of individual participant data Statement. We compiled data from eight studies and allocated patients to TERT-alt (n=59) or TERT promoter wild-type (TERTp-wt; n=618). We compared the two groups stratified for WHO grades as: incidence rates, survival probabilities and cumulative recurrences. We estimated the effects of WHO grade, age at diagnosis and sex as HRs.ResultsTERT-alt occurred in 4.7%, 7.9% and 15.4% of WHO-I/WHO-II/WHO-III meningiomas, respectively. The median recurrence-free survival was 14 months for all TERT-alt patients versus 101 months for all TERTp-wt patients. The HR for TERT-alt was 3.74 in reference to TERTp-wt. For all TERT-alt patients versus all TERTp-wt patients, the median overall survival was 58 months and 160 months, respectively. The HR for TERT-alt was 2.77 compared with TERTp-wt. TERT-alt affected prognosis independent of WHO grades. Particularly, the recurrence rate was 4.8 times higher in WHO-I/-II TERT-alt patients compared with WHO-III TERTp-wt patients. The mortality rate was 2.7 times higher in the WHO-I and WHO-II TERT-alt patients compared with WHO-III TERTp-wt patients.ConclusionsTERT-alt is an important biomarker for significantly higher risk of recurrence and death in meningiomas. TERT-alt should be managed and surveilled aggressively. We propose that TERT-alt analysis should be implemented as a routine diagnostic test in meningioma and integrated into the WHO classification.Trial registration numberPROSPERO: CRD42018110566.
|
|
| 42. |
- Orlando, Ludovic, et al.
(författare)
-
Recalibrating Equus evolution using the genome sequence of an early Middle Pleistocene horse
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 499:7456, s. 74-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The rich fossil record of equids has made them a model for evolutionary processes(1). Here we present a 1.12-times coverage draft genome from a horse bone recovered from permafrost dated to approximately 560-780 thousand years before present (kyr BP)(2,3). Our data represent the oldest full genome sequence determined so far by almost an order of magnitude. For comparison, we sequenced the genome of a Late Pleistocene horse (43 kyr BP), and modern genomes of five domestic horse breeds (Equus ferus caballus), a Przewalski's horse (E. f. prze-walskii) and a donkey (E. asinus). Our analyses suggest that the Equus lineage giving rise to all contemporary horses, zebras and donkeys originated 4.0-4.5 million years before present (Myr BP), twice the conventionally accepted time to the most recent common ancestor of the genus Equus(4,5). We also find that horse population size fluctuated multiple times over the past 2 Myr, particularly during periods of severe climatic changes. We estimate that the Przewalski's and domestic horse populations diverged 38-72 kyr BP, and find no evidence of recent admixture between the domestic horse breeds and the Przewalski's horse investigated. This supports the contention that Przewalski's horses represent the last surviving wild horse population(6). We find similar levels of genetic variation among Przewalski's and domestic populations, indicating that the former are genetically viable and worthy of conservation efforts. We also find evidence for continuous selection on the immune system and olfaction throughout horse evolution. Finally, we identify 29 genomic regions among horse breeds that deviate from neutrality and show low levels of genetic variation compared to the Przewalski's horse. Such regions could correspond to loci selected early during domestication.
|
|
| 43. |
- Smith, J. A., et al.
(författare)
-
Eight rare earth metal organic frameworks and coordination polymers from 2-nitroterephthlate: syntheses, structures, solid-state luminescence and an unprecedented topology
- 2016
-
Ingår i: New Journal of Chemistry. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1369-9261 .- 1144-0546. ; 40:9, s. 7338-7349
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Eight novel lanthanide metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and coordination polymers (CPs), La-2(NTA)(3)(OH2)(6) (1), [Nd(NTA)(HNTA)(OH2)(2)]center dot 3H(2)O (2), [Nd-2(NTA)(3)(OH2)(2)](H2O)(3)center dot 2H(2)O (3), and [Ln(2)(NTA)(3)(OH2)(2)](H2O)(2) (Ln = Sm (4), Eu (5), Gd (6), Tb (7), Er (8)), (H(2)NTA = 2-nitroterephthalic acid), have been synthesized under hydrothermal and slow evaporation conditions. The compounds are characterized by X-ray crystallography, elemental analyses, infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA). Compounds 1-8 feature varying coordination modes of the NTA ligand, including two modes that are being reported for the first time. Compound 2 was crystallized by slow evaporation and features a supramolecular 3-D framework involving H-bonds and pi-pi stacking interactions. In compounds 1 and 3-8, which were made under hydrothermal conditions, non-covalent interactions are secondary and the 3-D network is built from strong covalent bonds. Compounds 1, 3, and 4-8 form a 3,4,5-c network having point symbol {4 2.6}2{4 2.8 4}{4 3.6.8 6}2, a 4,4,6-c net with point symbol {4 2.8 4}{4 4.6 2}2{4 8.6 7}2 and an unprecedented 4,4,6-c net with point symbol {4 2.6 4}{4 3.6 3} 2{4 8.6 6.8}2 respectively. The topologies are further simplified as parallel packing of rod-like SBUs; 1 and 2 form a distorted pcu network, 3 forms the nbo topology and 4-8 form the hex type topological network. From the crystal structure, solvent accessible voids for 2 and 3 are 138 angstrom(3) [13%] and 864 angstrom(3) [25%] of unit cell volume respectively. TGA data suggest that the framework in compounds 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 are thermally stable up to 300 degrees C. Photoluminescence studies on compounds 5 and 7 indicate that NTA does not efficiently sensitize Eu3+ and Tb3+ emission due to alternate deactivation pathways available to the ligand. However, direct excitation in the visible region at 466 nm leads to red emission at room temperature in compound 5, the spectral profile of which suggests a lowering of the crystal field symmetry around Eu3+ and a quadrupolar contribution to the D-5(0) > F-7(2) peak. Emission from direct excitation of Tb3+ however is still quenched possibly due to back energy transfer to the ligand. This study is the second and most extensive report of lanthanide-based coordination networks involving nitroterephthalic acid and demonstrates its versatility as a building block for Ln-CPs and Ln-MOFs whose structures can be simplified as linked rod-shaped SBUs.
|
|
| 44. |
- Székely, Éva, et al.
(författare)
-
Clustering Expressive Speech Styles in Audiobooks Using Glottal Source Parameters.
- 2011
-
Ingår i: 12th Annual Conference of the International-Speech-Communication-Association 2011 (INTERSPEECH 2011). - : ISCA-INT SPEECH COMMUNICATION ASSOC. - 9781618392701 ; , s. 2409-2412
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A great challenge for text-to-speech synthesis is to produce ex- pressive speech. The main problem is that it is difficult to syn- thesise high-quality speech using expressive corpora. With the increasing interest in audiobook corpora for speech synthesis, there is a demand to synthesise speech which is rich in prosody, emotions and voice styles. In this work, Self-Organising Fea- ture Maps (SOFM) are used for clustering the speech data using voice quality parameters of the glottal source, in order to map out the variety of voice styles in the corpus. Subjective evalu- ation showed that this clustering method successfully separated the speech data into groups of utterances associated with dif- ferent voice characteristics. This work can be applied in unit- selection synthesis by selecting appropriate data sets to synthe- sise utterances with specific voice styles. It can also be used in parametric speech synthesis to model different voice styles separately.
|
|
| 45. |
- Székely, Éva, et al.
(författare)
-
Evaluating expressive speech synthesis from audiobooks in conversational phrases
- 2012
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Audiobooks are a rich resource of large quantities of natural sounding, highly expressive speech. In our previous research we have shown that it is possible to detect different expressive voice styles represented in a particular audiobook, using unsupervised clustering to group the speech corpus of the audiobook into smaller subsets representing the detected voice styles. These subsets of corpora of different voice styles reflect the various ways a speaker uses their voice to express involvement and affect, or imitate characters. This study is an evaluation of the detection of voice styles in an audiobook in the application of expressive speech synthesis. A further aim of this study is to investigate the usability of audiobooks as a language resource for expressive speech synthesis of utterances of conversational speech. Two evaluations have been carried out to assess the effect of the genre transfer: transmitting expressive speech from read aloud literature to conversational phrases with the application of speech synthesis. The first evaluation revealed that listeners have different voice style preferences for a particular conversational phrase. The second evaluation showed that it is possible for users of speech synthesis systems to learn the characteristics of a certain voice style well enough to make reliable predictions about what a certain utterance will sound like when synthesised using that voice style.
|
|
| 46. |
- Yang, Kexin, et al.
(författare)
-
Magneto-optic response of the metallic antiferromagnet Fe2As to ultrafast temperature excursions
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Physical Review Materials. - : AMER PHYSICAL SOC. - 2475-9953. ; 3:12
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The linear magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) is often used to probe magnetism of ferromagnetic materials, but MOKE cannot be applied to collinear antiferromagnets due to the cancellation of sublattice magnetization. Magneto-optic constants that are quadratic in magnetization, however, provide an approach for studying antiferromagnets on picosecond timescales. Here, we combine transient measurements of linear birefringence and optical reflectivity to study the optical response of Fe2As to small ultrafast temperature excursions. We performed temperature-dependent pump-probe measurements on crystallographically isotropic (001) and anisotropic (010) faces of Fe2As bulk crystals. We find that the largest optical signals arise from changes in the index of refraction along the z axis, perpendicular to the Ned vector. Both real and imaginary parts of the transient optical birefringence signal approximately follow the temperature dependence of the magnetic heat capacity, as expected if the changes in dielectric function are dominated by contributions of exchange interactions to the dielectric function.
|
|
| 47. |
- Yang, Kexin, et al.
(författare)
-
Magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the easy-plane metallic antiferromagnet Fe2As
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Physical Review B. - 2469-9950 .- 2469-9969. ; 102:6
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Magnetocrystalline anisotropy is a fundamental property of magnetic materials that determines the dynamics of magnetic precession, the frequency of spin waves, the thermal stability of magnetic domains, and the efficiency of spintronic devices. We combine torque magnetometry and density functional theory calculations to determine the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the metallic antiferromagnet Fe2As. Fe2As has a tetragonal crystal structure with the Neel vector lying in the (001) plane. We report that the fourfold magnetocrystalline anisotropy in the (001) plane of Fe2As is extremely small, K-22 = -150 J/m(3) at T = 4 K, much smaller than the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of ferromagnetic structure widely used in spintronic devices. K-22 is strongly temperature dependent and close to zero at T > 150 K. The anisotropy K-1 in the (010) plane is too large to be measured by torque magnetometry and we determine K-1 = -830 kJ/m(3) using first-principles density functional theory. Our simulations show that the contribution to the anisotropy from classical magnetic dipole-dipole interactions is comparable to the contribution from spin-orbit coupling. The calculated fourfold anisotropy in the (001) plane K-22 ranges from -290 to 280 J/m(3), the same order of magnitude as the measured value. We used K-1 from theory to predict the frequency and polarization of the lowest frequency antiferromagnetic resonance mode and find that the mode is linearly polarized in the (001) plane with f = 670 GHz.
|
|
| 48. |
- Zheng, Qiye, et al.
(författare)
-
Thermal transport through the magnetic martensitic transition in MnxMGe(M = Co, Ni)
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Physical Review Materials. - College Park : American Physical Society. - 2475-9953. ; 2:7
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on changes in the thermal conductivity of solid-state synthesized MnxMGe (M = Co, Ni, 0.98 < x < 1.02) alloys through their temperature-induced martensitic structural transition. The thermal conductivity is measured by time-domain thermoreflectance. Mn1.014NiGe exhibits an increase in thermal conductivity from 11 to 15.5 W m(-1) K-1 from approximately 575 to 625 K, and Mn1.007CoGe exhibits an increase in thermal conductivity from 7 to 8.5 W m(-1) K-1 from 500 to 550 K. In MnxNiGe, the transition temperature and the magnitude of the change in thermal conductivity are strongly dependent on the alloy composition. Our study advances the fundamental understanding of the thermal transport properties in the MnxMGe(M = Co, Ni) family of alloys and opens a new direction in the search for solid-state phase transition materials with potential applications as thermal regulators.
|
|
