| 11. |
- Maurer, Mathew S., et al.
(författare)
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Genotype and Phenotype of Transthyretin Cardiac Amyloidosis THAOS (Transthyretin Amyloid Outcome Survey)
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of the American College of Cardiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0735-1097 .- 1558-3597. ; 68:2, s. 161-172
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) is a heterogeneous disorder with multiorgan involvement and a genetic or nongenetic basis.Objectives: The goal of this study was to describe ATTR in the United States by using data from the THAOS (Transthyretin Amyloidosis Outcomes Survey) registry.Methods: Demographic, clinical, and genetic features of patients enrolled in the THAOS registry in the United States (n = 390) were compared with data from patients from other regions of the world (ROW) (n = 2,140). The focus was on the phenotypic expression and survival in the majority of U.S. subjects with valine-to-isoleucine substitution at position 122 (Val122Ile) (n = 91) and wild-type ATTR (n = 189).Results: U.S. subjects are older (70 vs. 46 years), more often male (85.4% vs. 50.6%), and more often of African descent (25.4% vs. 0.5%) than the ROW. A significantly higher percentage of U.S. patients with ATTR amyloid seen at cardiology sites had wild-type disease than the ROW (50.5% vs. 26.2%). In the United States, 34 different mutations (n = 201) have been reported, with the most common being Val122Ile (n = 91; 45.3%) and Thr60Ala (n = 41; 20.4%). Overall, 91 (85%) of 107 patients with Val122Ile were from the United States, where Val122Ile subjects were younger and more often female and black than patients with wild-type disease, and had similar cardiac phenotype but a greater burden of neurologic symptoms (pain, numbness, tingling, and walking disability) and worse quality of life. Advancing age and lower mean arterial pressure, but not the presence of a transthyretin mutation, were independently associated with higher mortality from a multivariate analysis of survival.Conclusions: In the THAOS registry, ATTR in the United States is overwhelmingly a disorder of older adult male subjects with a cardiac-predominant phenotype. Val122Ile is the most common transthyretin mutation, and neurologic phenotypic expression differs between wild-type disease and Val122Ile, but survival from enrollment in THAOS does not. (Transthyretin-Associated Amyloidoses Outcome Survey [THAOS]; NCT00628745)
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| 12. |
- Favalli, Andrea, et al.
(författare)
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Determining initial enrichment, burnup, and cooling time of pressurized-water-reactor spent fuel assemblies by analyzing passive gamma spectra measured at the Clab interim-fuel storage facility in Sweden
- 2016
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Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 820, s. 102-111
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of the Next Generation Safeguards Initiative (NGSI)–Spent Fuel (SF) project is to strengthen the technical toolkit of safeguards inspectors and/or other interested parties. The NGSI–SF team is working to achieve the following technical goals more easily and efficiently than in the past using nondestructive assay measurements of spent fuel assemblies: (1) verify the initial enrichment, burnup, and cooling time of facility declaration; (2) detect the diversion or replacement of pins; (3) estimate the plutonium mass [which is also a function of the variables in (1)]; (4) estimate the decay heat; and (5) determine the reactivity of spent fuel assemblies. Since August 2013, a set of measurement campaigns has been conducted at the Central Interim Storage Facility for Spent Nuclear Fuel (Clab), in collaboration with Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB). One purpose of the measurement campaigns was to acquire passive gamma spectra with high-purity germanium and lanthanum bromide scintillation detectors from Pressurized Water Reactor and Boiling Water Reactor spent fuel assemblies. The absolute 137Cs count rate and the 154Eu/137Cs, 134Cs/137Cs, 106Ru/137Cs, and 144Ce/137Cs isotopic ratios were extracted; these values were used to construct corresponding model functions (which describe each measured quantity’s behavior over various combinations of burnup, cooling time, and initial enrichment) and then were used to determine those same quantities in each measured spent fuel assembly. The results obtained in comparison with the operator declared values, as well as the methodology developed, are discussed in detail in the paper.
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| 13. |
- Giron, S. E., et al.
(författare)
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Increased Central Nervous System Interleukin-8 in a Majority Postlaminectomy Syndrome Chronic Pain Population
- 2018
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Ingår i: Pain Med. ; 19:5, s. 1033-1043
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Multiple processes have been identified as potential contributors to chronic pain, with increasing evidence illustrating an association with aberrant levels of neuroimmune mediators. The primary objectives of the present study were to examine central nervous system cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors present in a chronic pain population and to explore patterns of the same mediator molecules over time. Secondary objectives explored the relationship of central and peripheral neuroimmune mediators while examining the levels of anxiety, depression, sleep quality, and perception of pain associated with the chronic pain patient experience. METHODS: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from a population of majority postlaminectomy syndrome patients (N = 8) was compared with control CSF samples (N = 30) to assess for significant differences in 10 cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors. The patient population was then followed over time, analyzing CSF, plasma, and psychobehavioral measures. RESULTS: The present observational study is the first to demonstrate increased mean CSF levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8; P < 0.001) in a small population of majority postlaminectomy syndrome patients, as compared with a control population. Over time in pain patients, CSF levels of IL-8 increased significantly (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that IL-8 should be further investigated and psychobehavioral components considered in the overall chronic pain paradigm. Future studies examining the interactions between these factors and IL-8 may identify novel targets for treatment of persistent pain states.
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| 14. |
- Semenchuk, Philipp R., et al.
(författare)
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Long-term experimentally deepened snow decreases growing-season respiration in a low- and high-arctic tundra ecosystem
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences. - 2169-8953 .- 2169-8961. ; 121:5, s. 1236-1248
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tundra soils store large amounts of carbon (C) that could be released through enhanced ecosystem respiration (ER) as the arctic warms. Over time, this may change the quantity and quality of available soil C pools, which in-turn may feedback and regulate ER responses to climate warming. Therefore, short-term increases in ER rates due to experimental warming may not be sustained over longer periods, as observed in other studies. One important aspect, which is often overlooked, is how climatic changes affecting ER in one season may carry-over and determine ER in following seasons. Using snow fences, we increased snow depth and thereby winter soil temperatures in a high-arctic site in Svalbard (78 degrees N) and a low-arctic site in the Northwest Territories, Canada (64 degrees N), for 5 and 9years, respectively. Deepened snow enhanced winter ER while having negligible effect on growing-season soil temperatures and soil moisture. Growing-season ER at the high-arctic site was not affected by the snow treatment after 2years. However, surprisingly, the deepened snow treatments significantly reduced growing-season ER rates after 5years at the high-arctic site and after 8-9years at the low-arctic site. We speculate that the reduction in ER rates, that became apparent only after several years of experimental manipulation, may, at least in part, be due to prolonged depletion of labile C substrate as a result of warmer soils over multiple cold seasons. Long-term changes in winter climate may therefore significantly influence annual net C balance not just because of increased wintertime C loss but also because of legacy effects on ER rates during the following growing seasons.
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| 15. |
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| 16. |
- Vaccaro, Stefano, et al.
(författare)
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PWR and BWR spent fuel assembly gamma spectra measurements
- 2016
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Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 833, s. 208-225
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A project to research the application of nondestructive assay (NDA) to spent fuel assemblies is underway. The research team comprises the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM), embodied by the European Commission, DG Energy, Directorate EURATOM Safeguards; the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB); two universities; and several United States national laboratories. The Next Generation of Safeguards Initiative–Spent Fuel project team is working to achieve the following technical goals more easily and efficiently than in the past using nondestructive assay measurements of spent fuel assemblies: (1) verify the initial enrichment, burnup, and cooling time of facility declaration; (2) detect the diversion or replacement of pins, (3) estimate the plutonium mass, (4) estimate the decay heat, and (5) determine the reactivity of spent fuel assemblies. This study focuses on spectrally resolved gamma-ray measurements performed on a diverse set of 50 assemblies [25 pressurized water reactor (PWR) assemblies and 25 boiling water reactor (BWR) assemblies]; these same 50 assemblies will be measured with neutron-based NDA instruments and a full-length calorimeter. Given that encapsulation/repository and dry storage safeguards are the primarily intended applications, the analysis focused on the dominant gamma-ray lines of 137Cs, 154Eu, and 134Cs because these isotopes will be the primary gamma-ray emitters during the time frames of interest to these applications. This study addresses the impact on the measured passive gamma-ray signals due to the following factors: burnup, initial enrichment, cooling time, assembly type (eight different PWR and six different BWR fuel designs), presence of gadolinium rods, and anomalies in operating history. To compare the measured results with theory, a limited number of ORIGEN-ARP simulations were performed.
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| 17. |
- Weldemariam, Kassahun, 1981, et al.
(författare)
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Critical Analysis of Concepts Associated with Sustainability in Early Childhood Curriculum Frameworks Across Five National Contexts
- 2017
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Ingår i: International Journal of Early Childhood. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0020-7187 .- 1878-4658. ; 49:3, s. 333-351
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract Curriculum frameworks have an important role in providing guidance to early childhood practitioners on how to integrate knowledge about sustainability into their practice. This article examines how ideas about sustainability are integrated in the early childhood curricula for Australia, England, Norway, Sweden and the USA. The analyses were guided by critical inquiry and a cross-national dialogue and focused on four aspects of the curricula: sustainability presence, views of the child, human–environment relationship and philosophical/theoretical underpinnings on ideas expressed about sustainability. Ideas about sustainability were more implicitly present than explicitly stated in most curricula. It was not evident that children were viewed as world citizens with agency to help foster sustainability. With respect to human–environmental relationship, the framework from Australia expressed greater reciprocity and entanglement, while other frameworks were more anthropocentric despite the variation among curricula. All five frameworks embodied a sociocultural, human development approach with respect to the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings. There is a need to consider alternative frameworks that offer broader and more inclusive worldviews about sustainability that includes embracing human, non-human and other species within an assemblage of common worlds.
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