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- Baccini, Michela, et al.
(author)
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Heat effects on mortality in 15 European cities.
- 2008
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In: Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.). - 1531-5487. ; 19:5, s. 711-9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies show that high temperatures are related to mortality, but little is known about the exposure-response function and the lagged effect of heat. We report the associations between daily maximum apparent temperature and daily deaths during the warm season in 15 European cities. METHODS: The city-specific analyses were based on generalized estimating equations and the city-specific results were combined in a Bayesian random effects meta-analysis. We specified distributed lag models in studying the delayed effect of exposure. Time-varying coefficient models were used to check the assumption of a constant heat effect over the warm season. RESULTS: The city-specific exposure-response functions have a V shape, with a change-point that varied among cities. The meta-analytic estimate of the threshold was 29.4 degrees C for Mediterranean cities and 23.3 degrees C for north-continental cities. The estimated overall change in all natural mortality associated with a 1 degrees C increase in maximum apparent temperature above the city-specific threshold was 3.12% (95% credibility interval = 0.60% to 5.72%) in the Mediterranean region and 1.84% (0.06% to 3.64%) in the north-continental region. Stronger associations were found between heat and mortality from respiratory diseases, and with mortality in the elderly. CONCLUSIONS: There is an important mortality effect of heat across Europe. The effect is evident from June through August; it is limited to the first week following temperature excess, with evidence of mortality displacement. There is some suggestion of a higher effect of early season exposures. Acclimatization and individual susceptibility need further investigation as possible explanations for the observed heterogeneity among cities.
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| 3. |
- Baker, Andrea, et al.
(author)
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Biomarker records of palaeoenvironmental variations in subtropical Southern Africa since the late Pleistocene : Evidences from a coastal peatland
- 2016
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In: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. - : Elsevier. - 0031-0182 .- 1872-616X. ; 451:1, s. 1-12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Southern Africa's unique global position has given rise to a dynamic climate influenced by large sea surface temperature gradients and seasonal fluctuations in the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone. Due to the semi-arid climate of the region, terrestrial palaeorecords are rare and our understanding of the long-term sensitivity of Southern African terrestrial ecosystems to climatic drivers is ambiguous. A 810 cm continuous peat core was extracted from the Mfabeni peatland with a 14C basal age of c. 47 thousand years calibrated before present (kcal yr BP), positioning it as one of the oldest known sub-tropical coastal peatlands in Southern Africa. This peat core provides an opportunity to investigate palaeoenvironmental changes in subtropical Southern Africa since the late Pleistocene. Biomarker (n-alkane, n-alkanoic acid and n-alkanol) analysis, in conjunction with previously published bulk geochemical data, was employed to reconstruct organic matter (OM) sources, rates of OM remineralisation and peatland hydrology. Our results showed that the principal OM source into the peatland was emergent and terrestrial plants with exception of shallow lake conditions when submerged macrophytes dominated (c. 44.5–42.6, 29.7, 26.1–23.1, 16.7–7.1 and 2.2 kcal yr BP). n-Alkane proxies suggest that local plant assemblages were predominantly influenced by peatland hydrology. By incorporating temperature sensitive n-alkanoic acid and n-alkanol proxies, it was possible to disentangle the local temperature and precipitation changes. We report large variations in precipitation intensities, but subdued temperature fluctuations during the late Pleistocene. The Holocene period was characterised by overall elevated temperatures and precipitation compared to the preceding glacial period, interspersed with a millennial scale cooling event. A close link between the Mfabeni archive and adjacent Indian Ocean marine core records was observed, suggesting the regional ocean surface temperatures to be the dominant climate driver in this region since the late Pleistocene.
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| 6. |
- Brokelind, Cécile, et al.
(author)
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Migrerande äldre inom EU
- 2017
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In: Äldrerätt- ett nytt rättsområde. - 9789139115403 ; , s. 155-172
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)
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| 7. |
- Cardoso Chrispim, Mariana, Postdoktor, 1990-, et al.
(author)
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Perception and awareness of circular economy within water-intensive and bio-based sectors : Understanding, benefits and barriers
- 2024
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In: Journal of Cleaner Production. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 464
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Perception and awareness can affect behaviour and decision-making, for example, how companies implement Circular Economy (CE) practices. However, there is limited empirical research about this topic. Thus, we investigated the perception and awareness of representatives from water-intensive and bio-based sectors regarding the CE concept based on interviews and a survey with 10 companies in Sweden. Our results indicate that CE is understood mainly as zero waste and its key principles are resource efficiency and ecodesign. Missing (or partially addressed) important elements of CE are consumption, social aspects, regenerative role of CE, collaboration, and Industrial Symbiosis. The main benefit from implementing circular strategies is economic, and the main barrier is the lack of financial resources. The bio-based companies have a broader understanding of CE and its benefits than the water-intensive companies. Overall, more clarification and standardisation of the CE concept is necessary to avoid misunderstanding with other concepts such as sustainability. © 2024 The Authors
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| 9. |
- Engström, Emma, PhD, 1982-, et al.
(author)
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Deep learning diffusion by infusion into preexisting technologies – Implications for users and society at large
- 2020
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In: Technology in society. - : Elsevier BV. - 0160-791X .- 1879-3274. ; 63
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the form of Deep Learning (DL) technology has diffused in the consumer domain in a unique way as compared to previous general-purpose technologies. DL has often spread by infusion, i.e., by being added to preexisting technologies that are already in use. We find that DL-algorithms for recommendations or ranking have been infused into all the 15 most popular mobile applications (apps) in the U.S. (as of May 2019). DL-infusion enables fast and vast diffusion. For example, when a DL-system was infused into YouTube, it almost immediately reached a third of the world's population. We argue that existing theories of innovation diffusion and adoption have limited relevance for DL-infusion, because it is a process that is driven by enterprises rather than individuals. We also discuss its social and ethical implications. First, consumers have a limited ability to detect and evaluate an infused technology. DL-infusion may thus help to explain why AI's presence in society has not been challenged by many. Second, the DL-providers are likely to face conflicts of interest, since consumer and supplier goals are not always aligned. Third, infusion is likely to be a particularly important diffusion process for DL-technologies as compared to other innovations, because they need large data sets to function well, which can be drawn from preexisting users. Related, it seems that larger technology companies comparatively benefit more from DL-infusion, because they already have many users. This suggests that the value drawn from DL is likely to follow a Matthew Effect of accumulated advantage online: many preexisting users provide a lot of behavioral data, which bring about better DL-driven features, which attract even more users, etc. Such a self-reinforcing process could limit the possibilities for new companies to compete. This way, the notion of DL-infusion may put light on the power shift that comes with the presence of AI in society.
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| 10. |
- Fatima, Ghania, et al.
(author)
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Covariance Matrix Estimation Under Positivity Constraints With Application to Portfolio Selection
- 2022
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In: IEEE Signal Processing Letters. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 1070-9908 .- 1558-2361. ; 29, s. 2487-2491
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this letter we propose a new method to estimate the covariance matrix under the constraint that its off-diagonal elements are non-negative, which has applications to portfolio selection in finance. We incorporate the non-negativity constraint in the maximum likelihood (ML) estimation problem and propose an algorithm based on the block coordinate descent method to solve for the ML estimate. To study the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, we perform numerical simulations on both synthetic and real-world financial data, and show that our proposed method has better performance than that of a state-of-the-art method.
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