| 1. |
- Flouri, Irini, et al.
(författare)
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Comparative effectiveness and survival of infliximab, adalimumab, and etanercept for rheumatoid arthritis patients in the Hellenic Registry of Biologics: Low rates of remission and 5-year drug survival
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. - : Elsevier BV. - 0049-0172. ; 43:4, s. 447-457
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: To compare effectiveness, drug survival, and safety between infliximab, adalimumab, and etanercept, in a nationwide cohort of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Methods: This study is a prospective cohort study of 1208 active RA patients. Effectiveness, drug survival, and serious adverse events during entire follow-up (median 2.9 years) were monitored. Results: EULAR and CDAI responses were comparable between the three agents (EULAR good/moderate responses at 12 months ranged 76-79%). At 12 months, 15-23% achieved remission. For adalimumab and etanercept, adjusted hazard rate (HR) for EULAR/ACR remission (reference: infliximab) was 2.7 and 2.1 (95% confidence interval was 1.7-4.1 and 1.3-3.4, respectively); males (HR 1.6; 1.1-2.4), use of glucocorticoids (HR 2.0; 13-3.0), and swollen joint count > 7 (HR 0.36; 0.24-0.55) were independent predictors. Five-year drug survival was 31%, 43%, and 49% for infliximab, adalimumab, and etanercept, respectively (p = 0.010). Infliximab was associated with significantly more withdrawals due to adverse events. Disease activity, CRP, and use of glucocorticoids predicted efficacy-related drug survival; age, use of methotrexate, and prior DMARDs failures predicted safety-related survival. Risk for serious infections was lower with adalimumab (odds ratio [OR] 0.62; 0.38-1.00) or etanercept (OR 0.39; 0.21-0.72) than infliximab, independent of the effects of age (OR 1.65; 1.37-2.00 per 10 years), tender joint count > 10 (OR 1.86; 1.21-2.86), and glucocorticoids >35 mg/week (OR 1.83; 1.12-2.99). Conclusions: Response rates were comparable among anti-TNF agents. Overall, 5-year drug survival was below 50%, with infliximab demonstrating increased safety-related discontinuations. Remission rates are low in clinical practice. Strategies to increase effectiveness and long-term survival of anti-TNF agents in RA are needed. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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| 2. |
- Papadopoulos, Lazaros, et al.
(författare)
-
EXA2PRO : A Framework for High Development Productivity on Heterogeneous Computing Systems
- 2022
-
Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems. - : IEEE Computer Society. - 1045-9219 .- 1558-2183. ; 33:4, s. 792-804
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Programming upcoming exascale computing systems is expected to be a major challenge. New programming models are required to improve programmability, by hiding the complexity of these systems from application developers. The EXA2PRO programming framework aims at improving developers productivity for applications that target heterogeneous computing systems. It is based on advanced programming models and abstractions that encapsulate low-level platform-specific optimizations and it is supported by a runtime that handles application deployment on heterogeneous nodes. It supports a wide variety of platforms and accelerators (CPU, GPU, FPGA-based Data-Flow Engines), allowing developers to efficiently exploit heterogeneous computing systems, thus enabling more HPC applications to reach exascale computing. The EXA2PRO framework was evaluated using four HPC applications from different domains. By applying the EXA2PRO framework, the applications were automatically deployed and evaluated on a variety of computing architectures, enabling developers to obtain performance results on accelerators, test scalability on MPI clusters and productively investigate the degree by which each application can efficiently use different types of hardware resources.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Soudris, Dimitrios, et al.
(författare)
-
EXA2PRO programming environment: Architecture and Applications
- 2018
-
Ingår i: 2018 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EMBEDDED COMPUTER SYSTEMS: ARCHITECTURES, MODELING, AND SIMULATION (SAMOS XVIII). - New York, NY, USA : ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY. - 9781450364942 ; , s. 202-209
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The EXA2PRO programming environment will integrate a set of tools and methodologies that will allow to systematically address many exascale computing challenges, including performance, performance portability, programmability, abstraction and reusability, fault tolerance and technical debt. The EXA2PRO tool-chain will enable the efficient deployment of applications in exascale computing systems, by integrating high-level software abstractions that offer performance portability and efficient exploitation of exascale systems heterogeneity, tools for efficient memory management, optimizations based on trade-offs between various metrics and fault-tolerance support. Hence, by addressing various aspects of productivity challenges, EXA2PRO is expected to have significant impact in the transition to exascale computing, as well as impact from the perspective of applications. The evaluation will be based on 4 applications from 4 different domains that will be deployed in JUELICH supercomputing center. The EXA2PRO will generate exploitable results in the form of a tool-chain that support diverse exascale heterogeneous supercomputing centers and concrete improvements in various exascale computing challenges.
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| 5. |
- Sutton, Lesley-Ann, et al.
(författare)
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An entity evolving into a community: defining the common ancestor and evolutionary trajectory of chronic lymphocytic leukemia stereotyped subset #4
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Molecular Medicine. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1076-1551 .- 1528-3658. ; 20:1, s. 720-728
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) assigned to stereotyped subset #4 express highly homologous B-cell receptor immunoglobulin (BcR IG) sequences with intense intraclonal diversification (ID) in the context of ongoing somatic hypermutation (SHM). Their remarkable biological and clinical similarities strongly support derivation from a common ancestor. We here revisited ID in subset #4 CLL in order to reconstruct their evolutionary history as a community of related clones. To this end, using specialized bioinformatics tools we assessed both IGHV-IGHD-IGHJ rearrangements (n=511) and IGKV-IGKJ rearrangements (n=397) derived from 8 subset #4 cases. Due to high sequence relatedness, a number of subclonal clusters from different cases lay very close to one another, forming a core from which clusters exhibiting greater variation stemmed. Minor subclones from individual cases were mutated to such an extent that they now resembled the sequences of another patient. Viewing the entire subset #4 dataset as a single entity branching through diversification, enabled inference of a common sequence representing the putative ancestral BcR IG expressed by their still elusive common progenitor. These results have implications for improved understanding of the ontogeny of CLL subset #4, as well as the design of studies concerning the antigenic specificity of the clonotypic BcR IGs.
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| 6. |
- Bikos, Vasilis, et al.
(författare)
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An Immunogenetic Signature of Ongoing Antigen Interactions in Splenic Marginal Zone Lymphoma Expressing IGHV1-2*04 Receptors
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Clinical Cancer Research. - 1078-0432 .- 1557-3265. ; 22:8, s. 2032-2040
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Prompted by the extensive biases in the immunoglobulin (IG) gene repertoire of splenic marginal-zone lymphoma (SMZL), supporting antigen selection in SMZL ontogeny, we sought to investigate whether antigen involvement is also relevant post-transformation. Experimental Design: We conducted a large-scale subcloning study of the IG rearrangements of 40 SMZL cases aimed at assessing intraclonal diversification (ID) due to ongoing somatic hypermutation (SHM). Results: ID was identified in 17 of 21 (81%) rearrangements using the immunoglobulin heavy variable (IGHV) 1-2*04 gene versus 8 of 19 (40%) rearrangements utilizing other IGHV genes (P = 0.001). ID was also evident in most analyzed IG light chain gene rearrangements, albeit was more limited compared with IG heavy chains. Identical sequence changes were shared by subclones from different patients utilizing the IGHV1-2*04 gene, confirming restricted ongoing SHM profiles. Non-IGHV1-2*04 cases displayed both a lower number of ongoing SHMs and a lack of shared mutations (per group of cases utilizing the same IGHV gene). Conclusions: These findings support ongoing antigen involvement in a sizable portion of SMZL and further argue that IGHV1-2*04 SMZL may represent a distinct molecular subtype of the disease.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Georgakis, Marios K, et al.
(författare)
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Comorbidity of Cognitive Impairment and Late-Life Depression Increase Mortality : Results From a Cohort of Community-Dwelling Elderly Individuals in Rural Greece
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology. - : SAGE Publications. - 0891-9887 .- 1552-5708. ; 29:4, s. 195-204
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of cognitive impairment (COGI) and depression with all-cause mortality and cardiovascular-specific mortality among community-dwelling elderly individuals in rural Greece.METHODS: Cognition and depressive symptomatology of 676 Velestino town residents aged ≥60 years were assessed using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), respectively. Eight-year all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality were explored by multivariate Cox regression models controlling for major confounders.RESULTS: Two hundred and one patients died during follow-up. Cognitive impairment (MMSE ≤ 23) was independently associated with all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.57, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.13-2.18) and cardiovascular mortality (HR: 1.57, 95%CI: 1.03-2.41). Moderate to severe depression (GDS > 10) was significantly associated only with a 51% increase in all-cause mortality. A male-specific association was noted for moderate to severe depression, whereas the effect of COGI was limited to females. Noteworthy, COGI and depression comorbidity, rather than their sole presence, increased all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality by 66% and 72%, respectively. The mortality effect of COGI was augmented among patients with depression and of depression among patients with COGI.CONCLUSION: COGI and depression, 2 entities often coexisting among elderly individuals, appear to increase all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality. Gender-specific modes may prevail but their comorbidity should be carefully assessed, as it seems to represent an independent index of increased frailty, which eventually shortens life expectancy.
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| 9. |
- Georgakis, Marios K., et al.
(författare)
-
Validation of TICS for detection of dementia and mild cognitive impairment among individuals characterized by low levels of education or illiteracy : a population-based study in rural Greece
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Clinical Neuropsychologist (Neuropsychology, Development and Cognition. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1385-4046 .- 1744-4144. ; 31, s. 61-71
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: The efficacy of the most widely used tests for dementia screening is limited in populations characterized by low levels of education. This study aimed to validate the face-to-face administered Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) for detection of dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in a population-based sample of community dwelling individuals characterized by low levels of education or illiteracy in rural Greece. Methods: The translated Greek version of TICS was administered through face-to-face interview in 133 elderly residents of Velestino of low educational level (<12years). We assessed its internal consistency and test-retest reliability, its correlation with sociodemographic parameters, and its discriminant ability for cognitive impairment and dementia, as defined by a brief neurological evaluation, including assessment of cognitive status and level of independence. Results: TICS was characterized by adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's : .72) and very high test-retest reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient: .93); it was positively correlated with age and educational years. MCI and dementia were diagnosed in 18 and 10.5% of the population, respectively. Its discriminant ability for detection of dementia was high (Area under the curve, AUC: .85), with a sensitivity and specificity of 86 and 82%, respectively, at a cut-off point of 24/25. TICS did not perform well in differentiating MCI from cognitively normal individuals though (AUC: .67). Conclusion: The directly administered TICS questionnaire provides an easily applicable and brief option for detection of dementia in populations of low educational level and might be useful in the context of both clinical and research purposes.
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| 10. |
- Haage, Mathias, et al.
(författare)
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Teaching Assembly by Demonstration using Advanced Human Robot Interaction and a Knowledge Integration Framework
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Procedia Manufacturing. - : Elsevier BV. - 2351-9789. ; 11, s. 164-173
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Conventional industrial robots are heavily dependent on hard automation that requires pre-specified fixtures and time-consuming (re)programming performed by experienced operators. In this work, teaching by human-only demonstration is used for reducing required time and expertise to setup a robotized assembly station. This is achieved by the proposed framework enhancing the robotic system with advanced perception and cognitive abilities, accessed through a user-friendly Human Robot Interaction interface. The approach is evaluated on a small parts’ assembly use case deployed onto a collaborative industrial robot testbed. Experiments indicate that the proposed approach allows inexperienced users to efficiently teach robots new assembly tasks.
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| 11. |
- Krmpot, Aleksandar J., et al.
(författare)
-
Functional Fluorescence Microscopy Imaging : Quantitative Scanning-Free Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy for the Characterization of Fast Dynamic Processes in Live Cells
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Analytical Chemistry. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 0003-2700 .- 1520-6882. ; 91:17, s. 11129-11137
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Functional fluorescence microscopy imaging (fFMI), a time-resolved (21 mu s/frame) confocal fluorescence microscopy imaging technique without scanning, is developed for quantitative characterization of fast reaction-transport processes in solution and in live cells. The method is based on massively parallel fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). Simultaneous excitation of fluorescent molecules in multiple spots in the focal plane is achieved using a diffractive optical element (DOE). Fluorescence from the DOE-generated 1024 illuminated spots is detected in a confocal arrangement by a matching matrix detector comprising 32 x 32 single-photon avalanche photodiodes (SPADs). Software for data acquisition and fast auto- and cross-correlation analysis by parallel signal processing using a graphic processing unit (GPU) allows temporal autocorrelation across all pixels in the image frame in 4 s and cross-correlation between first- and second-order neighbor pixels in 45 s. We present here this quantitative, time-resolved imaging method with single-molecule sensitivity and demonstrate its usefulness for mapping in live cell location-specific differences in the concentration and translational diffusion of molecules in different subcellular compartments. In particular, we show that molecules without a specific biological function, e.g., the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP), exhibit uniform diffusion. In contrast, molecules that perform specialized biological functions and bind specifically to their molecular targets show location-specific differences in their concentration and diffusion, exemplified here for two transcription factor molecules, the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) before and after nuclear translocation and the Sex combs reduced (Scr) transcription factor in the salivary gland of Drosophila ex vivo.
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| 12. |
- Krmpot, Aleksandar J., et al.
(författare)
-
Quantitative confocal fluorescence microscopy of dynamic processes by multifocal fluorescence correlation spectroscopy
- 2015
-
Ingår i: ADVANCED MICROSCOPY TECHNIQUES IV; AND NEUROPHOTONICS II. - : SPIE. - 9781628417012
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Quantitative confocal fluorescence microscopy imaging without scanning is developed for the study of fast dynamical processes. The method relies on the use of massively parallel Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (mpFCS). Simultaneous excitation of fluorescent molecules across the specimen is achieved by passing a single laser beam through a Diffractive Optical Element (DOE) to generate a quadratic illumination matrix of 32x32 light sources. Fluorescence from 1024 illuminated spots is detected in a confocal arrangement by a matching matrix detector consisting of the same number of single-photon avalanche photodiodes (SPADs). Software was developed for data acquisition and fast auto- and cross-correlation analysis by parallel signal processing using a Graphic Processing Unit (GPU). Instrumental performance was assessed using a conventional single-beam FCS instrument as a reference. Versatility of the approach for application in biomedical research was evaluated using ex vivo salivary glands from Drosophila third instar larvae expressing a fluorescently-tagged transcription factor Sex Combs Reduced (Scr) and live PC12 cells stably expressing the fluorescently tagged mu-opioid receptor (MOPeGFP). We show that quantitative mapping of local concentration and mobility of transcription factor molecules across the specimen can be achieved using this approach, which paves the way for future quantitative characterization of dynamical reaction-diffusion landscapes across live cells/tissue with a sub-millisecond temporal resolution (presently 21 mu s/frame) and single-molecule sensitivity.
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| 13. |
- Lindblad, Sverker, 1946, et al.
(författare)
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School lockdown? Comparative analyses of responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries
- 2021
-
Ingår i: European Educational Research Journal. - : SAGE Publications. - 1474-9041. ; 20:5, s. 564-583
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this article is to analyse how education and schooling took part in handling the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in eight European countries (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland and Sweden). The focus is on primary education and on decisions to close schools, or not. Our research was informed by assemblage theory in order to analyse how different components interacted in developing societal responses to mitigate the pandemic. The research was designed as a comparative case study of practical reasoning in diverse contexts. Data sources were the mass media and statements from governments and authorities. Our analyses showed that decisions to close schools, or not, were based on two alternative discourses on schooling. Closing primary schools was a preventive measure underlined by discourses of schools as places for infection. Keeping primary schools open was underlined by a discourse in which schools were conceived of as a place for social supportive measures and caring. Furthermore, the closing alternative was often combined with attempts to replace school practices by distance learning or computerized instruction. Legal constitutions and lawmaking were of significant importance in selecting discourses and the relative impact of different components, mostly political or medical, in responding to the pandemic.
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| 14. |
- Lior, N., et al.
(författare)
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Gas-cooling of multiple short inline disks in flow along their axis
- 2010
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Ingår i: Quenching and Cooling, Residual Stress and Distortion Control. - 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959 : ASTM International. ; , s. 795-819
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- To learn about cooling of gas quenched batches, this paper reports on numerical predictions of local and average convective heat transfer coefficients, and overall pressure drops, on batches of five axially aligned, constant temperature, short cylindrical disks (25 cm diameter, 5 cm thickness) with and without a concentric hole, with interdisk spacings of 5-20 cm, in axial turbulent flows of 20 bar nitrogen gas at inlet speeds from 10 m/s to 100 m/s, corresponding to Reynolds numbers (Re) between 3.27×106 and 32.7×106. The heat transfer coefficients along the disk surfaces vary strongly up to a worse case of two orders of magnitude for the upstream disk. This nonuniformity is much lower for the disks downstream, especially after spacing is increased beyond 0.1 m. As expected, the upstream disk exhibited rather different heat transfer coefficients than the ones downstream, the magnitude of the heat transfer coefficient and its uniformity increased with the interdisk spacing, and varied by a factor of about 4-5 along the surfaces. The average heat transfer coefficient (Nusselt number, Nu) on the disks increased approximately with Reynolds number as Re0.85. Re did not have much influence on the nonuniformity of Nu on the disk surfaces. The overall pressure drop along the flow increases with the interdisk spacing, rising by about 60 % as the spacing is increased from 0.05 m to 0.20 m. The presence of a hole increases the heat transfer coefficient in all cases. Some suggestions for reducing the heat transfer coefficient nonuniformity are made.
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| 15. |
- Lundy, Lian, et al.
(författare)
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Making Waves : Collaboration in the time of SARS-CoV-2 - rapid development of an international co-operation and wastewater surveillance database to support public health decision-making
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Water Research. - : Elsevier. - 0043-1354 .- 1879-2448. ; 199
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater was first reported in March 2020. Over the subsequent months, the potential for wastewater surveillance to contribute to COVID-19 mitigation programmes has been the focus of intense national and international research activities, gaining the attention of policy makers and the public. As a new application of an established methodology, focused collaboration between public health practitioners and wastewater researchers is essential to developing a common understanding on how, when and where the outputs of this non-invasive community-level approach can deliver actionable outcomes for public health authorities. Within this context, the NORMAN SCORE “SARS-CoV-2 in sewage” database provides a platform for rapid, open access data sharing, validated by the uploading of 276 data sets from nine countries to-date. Through offering direct access to underpinning meta-data sets (and describing its use in data interpretation), the NORMAN SCORE database is a resource for the development of recommendations on minimum data requirements for wastewater pathogen surveillance. It is also a tool to engage public health practitioners in discussions on use of the approach, providing an opportunity to build mutual understanding of the demand and supply for data and facilitate the translation of this promising research application into public health practice.
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| 16. |
- Panagiotou, Sotirios, et al.
(författare)
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Portable exploitation of parallel and heterogeneous HPC architectures in neural simulation using SkePU
- 2020
-
Ingår i: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 23RD INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON SOFTWARE AND COMPILERS FOR EMBEDDED SYSTEMS (SCOPES 2020). - New York, NY, USA : ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY. - 9781450371315 ; , s. 74-77
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The complexity of modern HPC systems requires the use of new tools that support advanced programming models and offer portability and programmability of parallel and heterogeneous architectures. In this work we evaluate the use of SkePU framework in an HPC application from the neural computing domain. We demonstrate the successful deployment of the application based on SkePU using multiple back-ends (OpenMP, OpenCL and MPI) and present lessons-learned towards future extensions of the SkePU framework.
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| 17. |
- Papadopoulos, Dimitrios, 1983, et al.
(författare)
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Individualisation in the making: policy complexities and tensions of the Municipal Adult Education in Swedish for Immigrants
- 2019
-
Ingår i: ESREA 9th Triennial European Research Conference, 19-22 September 2019, Belgrade, Serbia.
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Municipal adult education in Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) is a program expected to serve different purposes on the political, integrative, and educational level. The multifaceted character of SFI creates challenges that have been addressed by a substantial number of studies. Major policy bodies, such as the program syllabus and the latest state evaluation, emphasise individualisation as an effective response to challenges and identify it, among others, with the application of certain methods and tools on behalf of the teachers (e.g., the use of Individual Study Plans), the absence of which leads to reduced quality and is followed by negative outcomes on different levels. Nevertheless, previous research has shown that this line of argumentation ascribes teachers with a disproportionate burden of responsibility, as individualisation is conceptualised in a top-down manner, assuming pre-existing problems that policy is bound to address and a certain type of rationality for teachers as policy implementers. The paper argues for the need to problematise individualisation as a complex concept, i.e. as an element that both defines the conditions within which SFI is to take place and, most importantly, may potentially go against pre-existing values and practices, pose ethical and ideological challenges to teachers, and require a new sort of teacher competence. By employing Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) we adopt the view of society as a unit of numerous interacting activity systems. Key policies from different periods of the national Swedish and international context have been analysed to uncover tensions within and between elements of the activities in focus, such as contradictory policy inputs or tensions between the expected use of tools and inputs regulating the division of labour with regards to teachers’ work. The preliminary results identify tensions between policy inputs and, thus, illuminate spaces where individualisation is conceptualised, negotiated, and expected to be acted upon. In situating and examining individualisation vis à vis interacting activities we problematise it by looking into the interplay between policy and teachers’ work in a broader conceptual framework. Dealing with individualisation as a dialectical notion enables us to address it as not only related to individual teachers’ assets and their ability to implement but rather as a source of tensions and an element negotiated within and between various arenas. The search for tensions, in this sense, does not only reveal mismatches in the policy formulation of individualisation but also uncovers potential areas for development by providing a more nuanced image of the concept. In this way, our study adds to the discussion about the restructuring of adult education in Sweden and the possible ways to address contemporary challenges in the field.
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| 18. |
- Papadopoulos, Dimitrios, 1983
(författare)
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Individualising processes in adult education research: a literature review
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Journal of Lifelong Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0260-1370 .- 1464-519X. ; 42:1, s. 8-21
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Individualising processes often are prescribed as all-embracing solutions in adult education policies worldwide. Nevertheless, re-adaptation of educational frameworks to individual students’ needs may result in tensions for involved agents due to complexities of such initiatives. This literature review examines individualising processes in international adult education research and aims to identify societal needs and challenges eliciting individualising processes and how the latter materialise in policy and practice, causing transformations of adult education in different contexts. The point of departure is Swedish Municipal Adult Education, which is viewed as a collective human activity embedded in a transnational policy agenda and involving a wide array of agents. Thus, the scope of the review involves international research. The analysis of the selected literature is based on the analytical concepts of motive and object, stemming from cultural-historical activity theory. The results indicate that, in the selected literature, individualising processes are problematised within three interrelated and not mutually exclusive themes: mediating between liberation and responsibility; alleviating the risk of exclusion; and addressing student diversity. The study concludes with recommendations for further research that considers the complexity and potentiality of the topic.
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| 19. |
- Papadopoulos, Dimitrios, 1983
(författare)
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Individualising processes in adult education: The case of Swedish for immigrants (SFI)
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Adapting education to individual students is a prominent demand in the context of Swedish for immigrants (SFI). Teachers, schools, and municipal authorities are expected to establish educational frameworks corresponding to the needs of rather diverse student groups. However, such initiatives – defined here as individualising processes – are difficult to implement due to the active engagement in SFI of other societal actors related to labour market and integration policy. Establishing common grounds to address individual students’ needs is a challenge for all involved actors, because of their often conflicting agendas. Nevertheless, previous research in the area remains limited and focuses mostly on interactions between teachers and students, without problematising other actors’ active involvement. The present thesis examines how individualising processes emerge and unfold in policy and practice of SFI. Cultural-historical activity theory is employed to trace individualising processes in interactions and negotiations between actors responsible for adapting education to individual students’ needs. The thesis comprises three studies, addressing individualising processes i) in their historical emergence, informed by previous research, ii) within municipal authorities’ organisational frameworks and measures, and iii) through SFI teachers’ collective efforts to overcome emerging challenges. Empirical data consist of public policy texts and semi-structured qualitative interviews with seven municipal officers and 18 SFI teachers from various Swedish municipalities. The findings suggest that the emergence of individualising processes in the context of SFI is the result of historically shifting societal challenges reflected in the involved actors’ current practices. In trying to adapt education to individual students’ needs, municipal authorities are simultaneously engaged in the making of broader objectives, such as in increasing control over – and efficiency within – adult education, or in sustaining social cohesion. The findings also show that efforts to adapt education to individual students’ needs elicit tensions, the handling of which leads SFI teachers to either retain their roles as adult educators or to expand their practices over institutional boundaries. By synthesising findings from the three studies, the thesis problematises individualising processes beyond the teacher-student interactions and offers new insights on how efforts to adapt education to individual students’ needs have the potential to challenge established practices and offer possibilities for the emergence of creative solutions.
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| 20. |
- Papadopoulos, Dimitrios, 1983, et al.
(författare)
-
Individualising processes in the making: policy complexities and tensions of municipal adult education in Swedish for immigrants
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research. - 0031-3831 .- 1470-1170.
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article examines individualising processes in the context of Municipal Adult Education in Swedish for Immigrants (SFI). Demands to adapt education to individual students’ needs are increasingly evident in adult education policies, requiring accountable authorities’ active engagement in enacting effective organisational frameworks while accommodating the labour market’s needs. Such endeavours are often sources of tensions. Conceptual tools from cultural-historical activity theory are employed to address the complexity and multiplicity of individualising processes. An analysis of policy documents and interviews with municipal actors shows that individualising processes are played out through tensions found in three areas of object formation: making of an individual student; making of an effective education; and making of a coherent society. Hence, the study unpacks how individualising processes elicit transformations of SFI education through destabilisation/restabilisation cycles in the involved actors’ activities, concluding by highlighting the concept’s dynamic and potentiality for development in contemporary adult education settings.
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| 21. |
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| 22. |
- Papadopoulos, Dimitrios K., et al.
(författare)
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Control of Hox transcription factor concentration and cell-to-cell variability by an auto-regulatory switch
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Development. - : The Company of Biologists. - 0950-1991 .- 1477-9129. ; 146:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The variability in transcription factor concentration among cells is an important developmental determinant, yet how variability is controlled remains poorly understood. Studies of variability have focused predominantly on monitoring mRNA production noise. Little information exists about transcription factor protein variability, as this requires the use of quantitative methods with single-molecule sensitivity. Using Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS), we have characterized the concentration and variability of 14 endogenously tagged TFs in live Drosophila imaginal discs. For the Hox TF Antennapedia, we investigated whether protein variability results from random stochastic events or is developmentally regulated. We found that Antennapedia transitioned from low concentration/high variability early, to high concentration/low variability later, in development. FCS and temporally resolved genetic studies uncovered that Antennapedia itself is necessary and sufficient to drive a developmental regulatory switch from auto-activation to auto-repression, thereby reducing variability. This switch is controlled by progressive changes in relative concentrations of preferentially activating and repressing Antennapedia isoforms, which bind chromatin with different affinities. Mathematical modeling demonstrated that the experimentally supported auto-regulatory circuit can explain the increase of Antennapedia concentration and suppression of variability over time.
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| 23. |
- Papadopoulos, Dimitrios K., et al.
(författare)
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Probing the kinetic landscape of Hox transcription factor-DNA binding in live cells by massively parallel Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy
- 2015
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Ingår i: Mechanisms of Development. - : Elsevier BV. - 0925-4773 .- 1872-6356. ; 138, s. 218-225
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hox genes encode transcription factors that control the formation of body structures, segment-specifically along the anterior-posterior axis of metazoans. Hox transcription factors bind nuclear DNA pervasively and regulate a plethora of target genes, deploying various molecular mechanisms that depend on the developmental and cellular context. To analyze quantitatively the dynamics of their DNA-binding behavior we have used confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), single-point fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy (FCCS) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC). We show that the Hox transcription factor Sex combs reduced (Scr) forms dimers that strongly associate with its specific fork head binding site (fkh250) in live salivary gland cell nuclei. In contrast, dimers of a constitutively inactive, phosphomimicking variant of Scr show weak, non-specific DNA-binding. Our studies reveal that nuclear dynamics of Scr is complex, exhibiting a changing landscape of interactions that is difficult to characterize by probing one point at a time. Therefore, we also provide mechanistic evidence using massively parallel FCS (mpFCS). We found that Scr dimers are predominantly formed on the DNA and are equally abundant at the chromosomes and an introduced multimeric fkh250 binding-site, indicating different mobilities, presumably reflecting transient binding with different affinities on the DNA. Our proof-of-principle results emphasize the advantages of mpFCS for quantitative characterization of fast dynamic processes in live cells.
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| 24. |
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| 25. |
- Papadopoulos, Fotios, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring lag and duration effect of sunshine in triggering suicide
- 2005
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Ingår i: Journal of Affective Disorders. - : Elsevier BV. - 0165-0327 .- 1573-2517. ; 88:3, s. 287-297
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND:Sunshine is considered to have a beneficial impact on mood. Interestingly, it has been consistently found that the incidence of suicide reaches a peak during early summer.METHODS: In order to explore the pattern of sunshine and suicide risk in a time frame of up to nine days and investigate possible lag and duration parameters of sunshine in the triggering of suicide, Greek daily suicide and solar radiance data were analyzed for a 10-year period using logistic regression models.RESULTS:The solar radiance during the day before the suicide event was significantly associated with an increased suicide risk (OR=1.020 per MW/m2). The average solar radiance during the four previous days was also significantly associated with an increased suicide risk (OR=1.031 per MW/m2). Differences among genders include the longer sunshine exposure needed in males to trigger suicide, compared to females and a lag period of three to four days that was found to lapse in females till the suicide. The increase in suicide risk in June compared to December, attributable to the daily sunshine effect, varies from 52% to 88%, thus explaining the already known suicide monthly seasonality.LIMITATIONS:No individual data on solar radiance exposure, mental disorders, alcohol consumption or suicide method were available.CONCLUSION:The effect of sunshine in the triggering of suicide may be mediated through a mechanism with a specific lag and duration effect, during the nine days preceding suicide. We hypothesize that sunshine acts as a natural antidepressant which first improves motivation, then only later improves mood, thereby creating a potential short-term increased risk of suicide initially upon its application.
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| 26. |
- Petridou, Eleni, et al.
(författare)
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A role of sunshine in the triggering of suicide.
- 2002
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Ingår i: Epidemiology. - 1044-3983 .- 1531-5487. ; 13:1, s. 106-9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several reports indicate that suicide follows a seasonal pattern with a dominant peak during the month of maximum daylight. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the hypothesis that sunshine exposure may trigger suicidal behavior. We found a remarkably consistent pattern of seasonality with peak incidence around June in the northern hemisphere and December in the southern hemisphere. Moreover, there was a positive association between the seasonal amplitude of suicide (measured by relative risk) and total sunshine in the corresponding country. These findings indicate that sunshine may have a triggering effect on suicide, and suggests further research in the field of sunshine-regulated hormones, particularly melatonin.
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| 27. |
- Polychronidou, Eleftheria, et al.
(författare)
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Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Patient Clustering Based on Somatic Hypermutation (SHM) Analysis
- 2017
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Ingår i: GeNeDis 2016. - Cham : Springer. - 9783319562469 - 9783319562452 ; , s. 127-138
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Somatic Hypermutation (SHM) load in the immunoglobulin heavy variable (IGHV) gene of the clonotypic B cell receptor immunoglobulin (BcR IG) is one of the most important prognostic markers in CLL, segregating patients into two distinct categories, with contrariwise disease course. Over the last years, immunogenetic studies have identified that similar to 30% of CLL patients carry (quasi)identical BcR IG and thus can be assigned to different subsets with distinct clinicobiological profiles. This characterization was achieved by applying rules mainly concerning the diversity of the VH complementarity determining region 3 (CDR3). Following, studies have also identified subset-specific somatic hypermutation further highlighting antigen selection in disease ontogeny and evolution. In this study, an innovative attempt to explore possible associations amongst SHMs in different CLL patients is implemented and also the potential correlations with VH CDR3 stereotypy is examined, leading to a new classification algorithm implicating both SHM and CDR3 patterns. All results are classified to a ground level analysis, focusing on the most frequent SHMs, their paired associated amino acid changes and the formation of subgroups sharing the same VH CDR3 pattern, the latter being used as a similarity metric. In addition, all results are compared to established VH CDR3 patterns of the well-known CLL subsets in order to confirm the validity of our findings.
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| 28. |
- Skendros, Panagiotis, et al.
(författare)
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Complement C3 inhibition in severe COVID-19 using compstatin AMY-101
- 2022
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Ingår i: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 8:33
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Complement C3 activation contributes to COVID-19 pathology, and C3 targeting has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy. We provide interim data from ITHACA, the first randomized trial evaluating a C3 inhibitor, AMY-101, in severe COVID-19 (PaO2/FiO2 <= 300 mmHg). Patients received AMY-101 (n = 16) or placebo (n = 15) in addition to standard of care. AMY-101 was safe and well tolerated. Compared to placebo (8 of 15, 53.3%), a higher, albeit nonsignificant, proportion of AMY-101-treated patients (13 of 16, 81.3%) were free of supplemental oxygen at day 14. Three nonresponders and two placebo-treated patients succumbed to disease-related complications. AMY-101 significantly reduced CRP and ferritin and restrained thrombin and NET generation. Complete and sustained C3 inhibition was observed in all responders. Residual C3 activity in the three nonresponders suggested the presence of a convertase-independent C3 activation pathway overriding the drug's inhibitory activity. These findings support the design of larger trials exploring the potential of C3-based inhibition in COVID-19 or other complement-mediated diseases.
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| 29. |
- Skouloudaki, Kassiani, et al.
(författare)
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Yorkie controls tube length and apical barrier integrity during airway development
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Cell Biology. - : Rockefeller University Press. - 0021-9525 .- 1540-8140. ; 218:8, s. 2762-2781
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Epithelial organ size and shape depend on cell shape changes, cell-matrix communication, and apical membrane growth. The Drosophila melanogaster embryonic tracheal network is an excellent model to study these processes. Here, we show that the transcriptional coactivator of the Hippo pathway, Yorkie (YAP/TAZ in vertebrates), plays distinct roles in the developing Drosophila airways. Yorkie exerts a cytoplasmic function by binding Drosophila Twinstar, the orthologue of the vertebrate actin-severing protein Cofilin, to regulate F-actin levels and apical cell membrane size, which are required for proper tracheal tube elongation. Second, Yorkie controls water tightness of tracheal tubes by transcriptional regulation of the d-aminolevulinate synthase gene (Alas). We conclude that Yorkie has a dual role in tracheal development to ensure proper tracheal growth and functionality.
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