| 1. |
- Aad, G., et al.
(författare)
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- 2011
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swepub:Mat__t (refereegranskat)
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| 2. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-
(författare)
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The Impact of the Radical Right : Lessons from the Local Level in Sweden, 2002-2006
- 2010
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Political Studies. - : Wiley. - 0080-6757 .- 1467-9477. ; 33:3, s. 295-315
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this article is to further develop the argument that the interaction between radicalright-wing challengers and mainstream parties is bound to shape not only the trajectory of the latter, but also the future prospects of the former. Drawing on recent developments in Sweden, following the Sweden Democrats’ (SD) appearance in local politics in 2002 and 2006, the article demonstrates that the SD has had an impact on the coalition practices of Swedish mainstream parties, responsible for the emergence of minority governments rather than grand coalitions. This trend suggests that the mere presence of a radical right party, although small and isolated, polarises the party system. The article supports the notion that the interaction between unequal competitors matters to the trajectory of the party system, and further concludes that the current responses of Swedish mainstream parties appear to improve, rather than to curb, the fortunes of the SD in subsequent elections. Finally, the article presents evidence indicating that the presence of the SD in local councils causes increased levels of political conflict.The results imply that the impact of the radical right is more immediate than suggested by previous research.The fact that the typically stable Swedish party system has been put under strain as a result of a seemingly minor challenge suggests that the radical right is a political force with which to be reckoned.
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| 3. |
- Forouzan, Farnoosh, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Application of Quenching and Partitioning Processes to Welding and Press Hardening
- 2019
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Ingår i: Hot sheet metal forming of high-performance steel. - : Wissenschaftliche Scripten. ; , s. 727-735
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- One of the most critical characteristics of welding and press hardening of advanced high strength steels is a low ductility related to a martensitic transformation due to high cooling rate and/or plastic deformation. The present work proposes the application of quenching and partitioning (Q&P) processing to welding and press hardening in a single production step. Using this methodology will not only improve the ductility without losing the ultra-high strength but also accelerate the whole process rate significantly in comparison with austempering treatment in connection to hot pressing and decrease the cost. In this regard, Gleeble simulation of different Q&P cycles beside simulation of deformation at different rates at different temperatures were applied to a medium carbon, Si- alloyed Q&P steel. Samples were characterized using OM, SEM, XRD, hardness, compression and tensile tests. The aim of the project is to establish manufacturing strategies for obtaining components with extreme properties.
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| 4. |
- Lozano, Julian, et al.
(författare)
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Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Game Harvests in Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Environmental and Resource Economics. - : Springer. - 0924-6460 .- 1573-1502. ; 85, s. 385-408
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The benefits and costs of wildlife are contingent on the spatial overlap of animal populations with economic and recreational human activities. By using a production function approach with dynamic spatial panel data models, we analyze the effects of human hunting and carnivore predation pressure on the value of ungulate game harvests. The results show evidence of dynamic spatial dependence in the harvests of roe deer and wild boar, but not in those of moose, which is likely explained by the presence of harvesting quotas for the latter. Results suggest the impact of lynx on roe deer harvesting values is reduced by 75% when spatial effects are taken into account. The spatial analysis confirms that policymakers’ aim to reduce wild boar populations through increased hunting has been successful, an effect that was only visible when considering spatial effects.
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| 5. |
- Voronov, Sergii, et al.
(författare)
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Data-Driven Battery Lifetime Prediction and Confidence Estimation for Heavy-Duty Trucks
- 2018
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Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Reliability. - : IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC. - 0018-9529 .- 1558-1721. ; 67:2, s. 623-639
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Maintenance planning is important in the automotive industry as it allows fleet owners or regular customers to avoid unexpected failures of the components. One cause of unplanned stops of heavy-duty trucks is failure in the lead-acid starter battery. High availability of the vehicles can be achieved by changing the battery frequently, but such an approach is expensive both due to the frequent visits to a workshop and also due to the component cost. Here, a data-driven method based on random survival forest (RSF) is proposed for predicting the reliability of the batteries. The dataset available for the study, covering more than 50 000 trucks, has two important properties. First, it does not contain measurements related directly to the battery health; second, there are no time series of measurements for every vehicle. In this paper, the RSF method is used to predict the reliability function for a particular vehicle using data from the fleet of vehicles given that only one set of measurements per vehicle is available. A theory for confidence bands for the RSF method is developed, which is an extension of an existing technique for variance estimation in the random forest method. Adding confidence bands to the RSF method gives an opportunity for an engineer to evaluate the confidence of the model prediction. Some aspects of the confidence bands are considered: their asymptotic behavior and usefulness in model selection. A problem of including time-related variables is addressed in this paper with the argument that why it is a good choice not to add them into the model. Metrics for performance evaluation are suggested, which show that the model can be used to schedule and optimize the cost of the battery replacement. The approach is illustrated extensively using the real-life truck data case study.
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| 6. |
- Murphy, Susannah E., et al.
(författare)
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Increased rostral anterior cingulate activity following positive mental imagery training in healthy older adults
- 2017
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Ingår i: Social Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 1749-5016 .- 1749-5024. ; 12:12, s. 1950-1958
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ability to form positive mental images may be an important aspect of mental health and well-being. We have previously demonstrated that the vividness of positive prospective imagery is increased in healthy older adults following positive imagery cognitive training. The rostral anterior cingulate cortex ( rACC) is involved in the simulation of future affective episodes. Here, we investigate the effect of positive imagery training on rACC activity during the imagination of novel, ambiguous scenarios vs closely matched control training. Seventy-five participants received 4 weeks of positive imagery or control training. Participants underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan, during which they completed an Ambiguous Sentences Task, which required them to form mental images in response to cues describing ambiguous social events. rACC activity was positively correlated with the pleasantness ratings of images formed. Positive imagery training increased rACC and bilateral hippocampal activity compared with the control training. Here, we demonstrate that rACC activity during positive imagery can be changed by the cognitive training. This is consistent with other evidence that this training enhances the vividness of positive imagery, and suggests the training may be acting to increase the intensity and affective quality of imagery simulating the future.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Nagel, G., et al.
(författare)
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Dietary beta-carotene, vitamin C and E intake and breast cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)
- 2010
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Ingår i: Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-7217 .- 0167-6806. ; 119:3, s. 753-765
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- So far, studies on dietary antioxidant intake, including beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E, and breast cancer risk are inconclusive. Thus, we addressed this question in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. During a median follow-up time of 8.8 years, 7,502 primary invasive breast cancer cases were identified. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). All analyses were run stratified by menopausal status at recruitment and, additionally, by smoking status, alcohol intake, use of exogenous hormones and use of dietary supplements. In the multivariate analyses, dietary intake of beta-carotene, vitamin C and E was not associated with breast cancer risk in premenopausal [highest vs. lowest quintile: HR, 1.04 (95% CI, 0.85-1.27), 1.12 (0.92-1.36) and 1.11 (0.84-1.46), respectively] and postmenopausal women [0.93 (0.82-1.04), 0.98 (0.87-1.11) and 0.92 (0.77-1.11), respectively]. However, in postmenopausal women using exogenous hormones, high intake of beta-carotene [highest vs. lowest quintile; HR 0.79 (95% CI, 0.66-0.96), P (trend) 0.06] and vitamin C [0.88 (0.72-1.07), P (trend) 0.05] was associated with reduced breast cancer risk. In addition, dietary beta-carotene was associated with a decreased risk in postmenopausal women with high alcohol intake. Overall, dietary intake of beta-carotene, vitamin C and E was not related to breast cancer risk in neither pre- nor postmenopausal women. However, in subgroups of postmenopausal women, a weak protective effect between beta-carotene and vitamin E from food and breast cancer risk cannot be excluded.
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| 9. |
- Wang, Hua-Bing
(författare)
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Immunoregulation in experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis
- 2000
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Myasthenia gravis (MG) derives its name from Latin and Greek words meaning, "grave muscle weakness". MG is a classical T cell dependent antibody-mediated autoimmune disease. Experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG), representing an animal model of human MG, can be induced in susceptible animals by immunization with acetylcholine receptor (AChR) in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). EAMG has clinical, pharmacologic and electrophysiologic properties similar with those of human MG. Studies on EAMG have helped to understand mechanisms of immunoregulation and provided information on treatment of patients with MG. In MG and EAMG, the major event of pathogenesis can be attributed to the immune attack by autoantibodies against AChR at the endplate of the neuromuscular junctions. T cell abnormalities in MG and EAMG facilitate anti-AChR antibody (Ab) production by means of cell-cell contact and locally secreted cytokines. The aims of this study are to identify roles of immunoregulatory cells (CD4+ Th3 cells, NK1.1+ cells) and other immunoregulatory elements such as cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4), and cytokines/cytokine receptors in the pathogenesis of MG. CTLA-4 plays critical roles in downregulating T cell activation and maintaining lymphocyte homeostasis. Anti-CTLA-4 Ab treatment in vivo enhances host anti-tumor immunity and exacerbates T cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. We demonstrate that CTLA-4 blockade enhances T cell proliferative responses to AChR and anti-AChR Ab production, and provokes rapid onset and increased severity of EAMG in C57BL/6 (B6) mice. CTLA-4 blockade also provokes development of MG after immunization of B6 mice with the immunodominant AChR peptide [alpha]146-162, at least in part by triggering epitope spreading. Finally, we demonstrate that the effects observed after CTLA-4 blockade are not limited to the initial phase of EAMG. The notion that NK cells may affect the outcome of adaptive immune responses is tested in murine MG. We show that depletion of NK1.1+ cells (NK and NKT cells) prior to immunization with AChR in CFA inhibits anti-AChR Ab production and the development of MG in B6 mice, which is associated with a failure to mount Th1 responses. We confirm this finding by demonstrating that IL-18 knockout (IL-18-/-) mutant, who are deficient in NK cell activity, are resistant to the induction of MG. In contrast, CD1d1-/- and J[alpha]281-/- (both are deficient in J[alpha] cells) mutants develop EAMG to a similar extent as wild type J[alpha] mice. We show that nasal administration of AChR in B6 mice, before immunization with AChR in J[alpha] results in delayed onset and reduced muscle weakness compared with control mice. These effects are associated with decreased AChR-specific lymphocyte proliferation and decreased levels of anti-AChR Abs of the IgG2a and IgG2b isotypes in serum. To address the mechanisms underlying nasal tolerance in murine MG, we compare clinical and immunological parameters in the AChR-pretreated wt mice and J[alpha]CD8-/- mice. AChR-pretreated wt and CD8-/- mice are similary protected from EAMG and show augmented TGF-[beta] and reduced IFB-[gamma] responses. Splenocytes from AChR-pretreated wt and CD8-/- mice, but not from CD4-/- mice, suppress AChR-specific T cell proliferation that can be blocked by Abs against TGF-[beta]. To evaluate the role for IFN-[gamma] in the pathogenesis of EAMG, we injected recombinant rat IFN-[gamma] (rrIFN-[gamma]) at the time of immunization with AChR in CFA to EAMG-susceptible Lewis rats, and EAMG-resistant Wistar Furth (WF) rats. RrIFN-[gamma] enhances Lewis rat EAMG. The exacerbated muscular weakness is associated with higher levels of anti-AChR IgG and enhanced expression of TNF-[alpha] by mononuclear cells. Anti-AChR IgG Ab levels in WF rats are augmented to a similar extent as in Lewis rats, however, the identical procedure induced only mild and transient EAMG in WF rats due to inherent low Th1 responses and default Th3 phenotype development. Tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 (TNFR1) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of T cell- mediated autoimmune disorders, but its role in Ab-mediated autoimmune diseases has not been addressed. We show that TNFR1-/- mice fail to develop EAMG. Mononuclear cells from TNFR1-/- mice produce low amounts of Th1 (IFN-[gamma], IL-2, IL-12)-type cytokines, but increased levels of Th2 (IL-4, IL- 10)-type cytokines compared with those from wt mice. The levels of anti-AChR IgG2 Abs are strongly reduced and those of anti-AChR IgG1 Abs are moderately reduced. Co-injection of recombinant mouse IL-12 (rmIL-12) with AChR in adjuvant restores T cell responses to AChR and promotes development of EAMG in TNFR1-/- mice. We conclude that 1) A process of intramolecular determinant spreading, leading to diversification of anti-AChR Ab repertoire, is one mechanism responsible for the exacerbation of EAMG after CTLA-4 blockade. 2) NK cells, but not NKT cells, determine the outcome of EAMG via control of autoreactive T and B cells. 3) AChR-specific CD4+ Th3 cells are identified as regulatory cells that are responsible for the establishment of tolerance against AChR in B6 mice. 4) IFN-[gamma] plays a major role in the pathogenesis of EAMG in the Lewis rat, but fails to break disease resistance in the WF rat. 5) TNFR1 is critically involved in the development of EAMG. However, the absence of TNFR1 can be compensated by addition of IL-12 at least at the priming stage of EAMG. This finding provides a plausible mechanism of counteraction of various cytokine pathways in MG.
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| 10. |
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