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- Jonsson, Joakim, 1984-
(författare)
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Integration of MRI into the radiotherapy workflow
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The modern day radiotherapy treatments are almost exclusively based on computed tomography (CT) images. The CT images are acquired using x-rays, and therefore reflect the radiation interaction properties of the material. This information is used to perform accurate dose calculation by the treatment planning system, and the data is also well suited for creating digitally reconstructed radiographs for comparing patient set up at the treatment machine where x-ray images are routinely acquired for this purpose.The magnetic resonance (MR) scanner has many attractive features for radiotherapy purposes. The soft tissue contrast as compared to CT is far superior, and it is possible to vary the sequences in order to visualize different anatomical and physiological properties of an organ. Both of these properties may contribute to an increase in accuracy of radiotherapy treatment.Using the MR images by themselves for treatment planning is, however, problematic. MR data reflects the magnetic properties of protons, and thus have no connection to the radiointeraction properties of the material. MRI also has inherent difficulty in imaging bone, which will appear in images as areas of no signal similar to air. This makes both dose calculation and patient positioning at the treatment machine troublesome.There are several clinics that use MR images together with CT images to perform treatment planning. The images are registered to a common coordinate system, a process often described as image fusion. In these cases, the MR images are primarily used for target definition and the CT images are used for dose calculations. This method is now not ideal, however, since the image fusion may introduce systematic uncertainties into the treatment due to the fact that the tumor is often able to move relatively freely with respect to the patients’ bony anatomy and outer contour, especially when the image registration algorithms take the entire patient anatomy in the volume of interest into account.The work presented in the thesis “Integration of MRI into the radiotherapy workflow” aim towards investigating the possibilities of workflows based entirely on MRI without using image registration, as well as workflows using image registration methods that are better suited for targets that can move with respect to surrounding bony anatomy, such as the prostate.
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| 2. |
- Karlsson, Olof Magnus, 1972-
(författare)
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Predicting Ecosystem Response from Pollution in Baltic Archipelago areas using Mass-balance Modelling
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Baltic archipelago areas have high nature values despite being polluted from various antrophogenic activities within the Baltic Sea catchment area and from long-range transport of airborne substances. The discovery of environmental problems in the Baltic Sea in the 1960s led to countermeasures that gradually gave results in reducing the toxic pollution, e.g. from PCBs. Today, much of the environmental management is focused on reducing the effects of eutrophication. There is a demand from society on science to develop strategies that can direct remedial actions so that the cost-effectiveness is maximised. This work focuses on how mass-balance models can be used to understand how coastal ecosystems are controlled by abiotic processes and to predict the response to changes in loading of different substances. Advection, sedimentation and burial are examples of general transport processes that are regulated by morphometrical characteristics, e.g. size, form, effective fetch and topographical openness. This is why different coastal areas have different sensitivity to loading of pollutants. A comparison of six phosphorus and chlorophyll models of different complexity showed that the model performance was not improved with more state variables of total phosphorus (TP) than two water and two sediment compartments. Modelling chlorophyll as a separate state variable did not improve the results for individual values compared to a simple regression against total phosphorus in surface water. Field investigations of the phosphorus content in accumulation sediments along the coast of Svealand showed a distribution pattern that probably is related to differences in the redox status. The average content of mobile phosphorus was much higher than previously found in offshore Baltic sediments indicating that sediments may play an important role for the phosphorus turnover in Baltic archipelago areas. A one-year field study to measure the levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in water, sediments and fish during different seasons was carried out in Kallrigafjärden Bay. The collected data set was used to test a mass-balance model for PCCD/F-turnover. It was possible to reproduce the concentrations of different PCDD/F-congeners with high accuracy using a general model approach, including one water compartment and two sediment compartments, indicating that the applied model has the necessary qualifications for successful predictions of PCDD/F-turnover in Baltic coastal areas.
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| 3. |
- Waldemarsson, Martin, 1983-
(författare)
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Planning production and supply chain in energy intensive process industries
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- To make a difference among the energy intensive process industries, this dissertation addresses production planning and supply chain planning problems related to industrial energy management issues. The energy issue is turning more and more important from different angles, involving price as well as environmental problems due to climate change leading to political pressure on all energy users. The process industry sector is one of the largest users of energy, and thus important to analyse. Process industries are also capital intensive and operate on large and expensive process equipment, making it imperative to plan their production well in order to reach preferable capacity utilisation. Therefore this dissertation strives to locate the most important energy management issues for the long term profitability of process industries, and investigates the symbiotic effects of including energy issues in production and supply chain planning.Three different studies at three case companies are carried out, analysed, and presented in five papers. The cases represent the process industry sectors: chemicals, pulp, and steel. Both qualitative case study methodologies as well as quantitative mathematical modelling and optimisation approaches have been practiced. The research questions are analysed from both an energy system and from a production process point of view, separately as well as combined. Energy is somewhat considered to be the main workforce for process industries and this dissertation exemplifies some of its most important dimensions in this context.Several prerequisites for putting energy management on the strategic agenda are located in a specialty chemical industry where the importance of introducing a strategic perspective on energy, the way energy is used, and the possibilities of increasing alternative revenue from utilising by- and/or co-products differently are pinpointed. Approaches for including energy issues in planning processes are also suggested in terms of a MILP model for the entire supply chain of a pulp company, including decisions on purchase and transportation of raw maerials, production allocation, energy mix, and distribution. Another example is presented based on the perspectives of economics of scale and lot sizing through economic order quantity principles in a steel company. By using real company data, energy smart approaches in planning and scheduling are developed with respect to the most important intersections between the production processes and their supporting energy system. The accumulated resource intensity and embedded energy could, and probably should, hence be more fairly reflected in the product price. The research finally shows some possible impact with including energy issues in a production and supply chain planning model. By planning differently, production prioritisations can be done, and it is not only possible without any large investments, but also prosperous with savings on both energy and money within reach.To conclude, planning of production and supply chain has either a direct or an indirect impact on the energy cost-effectiveness of a company. This dissertation argues that such impact also exists in its mutual form, and is very important when the energy issues are large enough, as they often are in the energy intensive process industry sector. Decision makers should thus beware of the short end of the stick that might be devastating in the long run, but also aware of all the possibilities that can bring success and prosperity when the future begins.
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| 4. |
- Birberg Thornberg, Ulrika
(författare)
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Fats in Mind : Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Cognition and Behaviour in Childhood
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this thesis was to examine possible effects of omega-3 fatty acids on children’s cognition and behavior. Longitudinal as well as cross-sectional comparisons were made among children with typical development and children with ADHD /at risk developing ADHD.The specific purposes were to examine (1) breast-feeding in relation to cognition; (2) relation between long chain poly unsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) in mothers breast-milk and children´s cognition; (3) effects of EPA supplementation on cognition and behavior in children with ADHD; (4) if LCPUFAs have differential effects on working memory, inhibition, problem-solving and theory of mind (ToM).The main conclusions were as follows; (1) duration of breast-feeding was positively correlated to children levels of intelligence (IQ); (2) LCPUFAs in breast-milk was related to children’s ToM and IQ, the quotient DHA/AA, together with length of breastfeeding and gestation week explained 76% of the variance of total IQ; (3) subtypes of children with ADHD responded to EPA supplementation with significant reductions in symptoms, but there were no effects in the whole group with ADHD; (4) ToM ability was related to LCPUFAs, but not to any other cognitive measures as working memory, inhibition and problem-solving.To conclude, these results indicate that fatty acid status in breast-milk at birth affect general cognitive function in children at 6.5 years of age, including ToM. Short-term intervention with omega-3 fatty acids does not affect cognition in children with ADHD, but improves clinical symptoms as assessed by means of teacher ratings. These results further indicate that hot executive function and social cognition may be an area of interest for future research.
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| 6. |
- Mardan, Nawzad, 1965-
(författare)
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Combining simulation and optimization for improved decision support on energy efficiency in industry
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Industrial production systems in general are very complex and there is a need for decision support regarding management of the daily production as well as regarding investments to increase energy efficiency and to decrease environmental effects and overall costs. Simulation of industrial production as well as energy systems optimization may be used in such complex decision-making situations.The simulation tool is most powerful when used for design and analysis of complex production processes. This tool can give very detailed information about how the system operates, for example, information about the disturbances that occur in the system, such as lack of raw materials, blockages or stoppages on a production line. Furthermore, it can also be used to identify bottlenecks to indicate where work in process, material, and information are being delayed.The energy systems optimization tool can provide the company management additional information for the type of investment studied. The tool is able to obtain more basic data for decision-making and thus also additional information for the production-related investment being studied. The use of the energy systems optimization tool as investment decision support when considering strategic investments for an industry with complex interactions between different production units seems greatly needed. If not adopted and used, the industry may face a risk of costly reinvestments.Although these decision-making tools individually give good results, the possibility to use them in combination increases the reliability of the results, enhances the possibility to find optimal solutions, promises improved analyses, and a better basis for decisions in industry. The energy systems optimization tool can be used to find the optimal result and the simulation tool can be used to find out whether the solution from the optimization tool is possible to run at the site.In this thesis, the discrete event simulation and energy systems optimization tools have been combined. Three Swedish industrial case studies are included: The new foundry at Volvo Powertrain in Skövde, Arla Foods dairy in Linköping and the SKF foundry in Katrineholm. Results from these cases show possibilities to decrease energy use and idling, to increase production, to combine existing and new production equipment and to decrease loss of products.For an existing industrial system, it is always preferable to start with the optimization tool reMIND rather than the simulation tool – since it takes less time to build the optimization model and obtain results than it does to build the corresponding simulation modeling. While, for a non-existent system, it is in general a good idea to use both the simulation and the optimization tool reMIND simultaneously, because there are many uncertain data that are difficult to estimate, by using only one of them. An iterative working process may follow where both tools are used.There is a need for future work to further develop structured working processes and to improve the model to e.g. take production related support processes into account. To adapt the results in industries, improve the user friendliness of the tool and the understanding of the underlying modeling developments of the optimization tool reMIND will be necessary.
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| 7. |
- Östh, Joakim, 1980-
(författare)
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Study of Six-Port Modulators and Demodulators for High-Speed Data Communications
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There is an increasing demand for high-speed wireless data communications to support consumers’ need for, among other things, real time streaming of high definition video and fast file transfers. One radio architecture that has a potential to meet the increasing demand for high-speed data communications is a radio technique based on the six-port architecture. In addition to high-speed, the six-port radio also allows low power consumption and low cost. In this thesis, a comprehensive study of the six-port radio technique for high data rate (> 1 Gbit/s) and low complexity are presented.Firstly, a technique to suppress the carrier leakage was proposed, analyzed and verified by measurements. The proposed technique uses only a phase shifting network between the six-port correlator and its variable impedance loads, hence it is easy to implement. When the proposed carrier leakage suppression technique is used together with differential control signals, it also has the benefit of both improving the linearity and increasing the output power of the modulator. The same carrier leakage suppression technique can also be used in a six-port demodulator (receiver) to improve its performance.Secondly, Schottky diodes were proposed to be used as high-speed variable impedance loads. A six-port modulator operating at 7.5 GHz, using the carrier leakage suppression technique together with Schottky diodes as variable impedance loads, was manufactured. Measurements on a 16 quadrature amplitude modulated (QAM) signal with a symbol rate of 300 Msymbol/s, i.e., a data rate of 1.2 Gbit/s, have proved high-speed operation, good modulation properties as well as carrier leakage suppression.Thirdly, a six-port demodulator was built for high data rate applications and measurements were conducted to characterize its performance. Demodulation of a 16-QAM signal at a data rate of 1.67 Gbit/s results in an acceptable bit error rate and error vector magnitude (EVM) performance.Last but not least, new diode configurations were proposed, analyzed and verified for use in six-port demodulators. Using the proposed diode configurations, the use of differential amplifiers, as commonly used in a six-port demodulator, can be avoided. Avoiding the use of differential amplifiers allows high-speed processing and at the same time reduces the power consumption and implementation complexity. In the context of the new diode configurations, it was shown that a six-port receiver has better EVM vs frequency performance and lower implementation complexity, compared to a five-port or four-port receiver.
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