| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
- Castelnuovo, Gianluca, et al.
(författare)
-
What Is the Role of the Placebo Effect for Pain Relief in Neurorehabilitation? : Clinical Implications From the Italian Consensus Conference on Pain in Neurorehabilitation
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Neurology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-2295. ; 9
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: It is increasingly acknowledged that the outcomes of medical treatments are influenced by the context of the clinical encounter through the mechanisms of the placebo effect. The phenomenon of placebo analgesia might be exploited to maximize the efficacy of neurorehabilitation treatments. Since its intensity varies across neurological disorders, the Italian Consensus Conference on Pain in Neurorehabilitation (ICCP) summarized the studies on this field to provide guidance on its use.Methods: A review of the existing reviews and meta-analyses was performed to assess the magnitude of the placebo effect in disorders that may undergo neurorehabilitation treatment. The search was performed on Pubmed using placebo, pain, and the names of neurological disorders as keywords. Methodological quality was assessed using a pre-existing checklist. Data about the magnitude of the placebo effect were extracted from the included reviews and were commented in a narrative form.Results: 11 articles were included in this review. Placebo treatments showed weak effects in central neuropathic pain (pain reduction from 0.44 to 0.66 on a 0-10 scale) and moderate effects in postherpetic neuralgia (1.16), in diabetic peripheral neuropathy (1.45), and in pain associated to HIV (1.82). Moderate effects were also found on pain due to fibromyalgia and migraine; only weak short-term effects were found in complex regional pain syndrome. Confounding variables might have influenced these results.Clinical implications: These estimates should be interpreted with caution, but underscore that the placebo effect can be exploited in neurorehabilitation programs. It is not necessary to conceal its use from the patient. Knowledge of placebo mechanisms can be used to shape the doctor-patient relationship, to reduce the use of analgesic drugs and to train the patient to become an active agent of the therapy.
|
|
| 3. |
- Burigana, C., et al.
(författare)
-
Exploring cosmic origins with CORE : Effects of observer peculiar motion
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 1475-7516. ; :4
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We discuss the effects on the cosmic microwave background (CMB), cosmic infrared background (CIB), and thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect due to the peculiar motion of an observer with respect to the CMB rest frame, which induces boosting effects. After a brief review of the current observational and theoretical status, we investigate the scientific perspectives opened by future CMB space missions, focussing on the Cosmic Origins Explorer (CORE) proposal. The improvements in sensitivity offered by a mission like CORE, together with its high resolution over a wide frequency range, will provide a more accurate estimate of the CMB dipole. The extension of boosting effects to polarization and cross-correlations will enable a more robust determination of purely velocity-driven effects that are not degenerate with the intrinsic CMB dipole, allowing us to achieve an overall signal-to-noise ratio of 13; this improves on the Planck detection and essentially equals that of an ideal cosmic variance-limited experiment up to a multipole l similar or equal to 2000. Precise inter-frequency calibration will offer the opportunity to constrain or even detect CMB spectral distortions, particularly from the cosmological reionization epoch, because of the frequency dependence of the dipole spectrum, without resorting to precise absolute calibration. The expected improvement with respect to COBE-FIRAS in the recovery of distortion parameters (which could in principle be a factor of several hundred for an ideal experiment with the CORE configuration) ranges from a factor of several up to about 50, depending on the quality of foreground removal and relative calibration. Even in the case of similar or equal to 1% accuracy in both foreground removal and relative calibration at an angular scale of 1 degrees, we find that dipole analyses for a mission like CORE will be able to improve the recovery of the CIB spectrum amplitude by a factor similar or equal to 17 in comparison with current results based on COBE-FIRAS. In addition to the scientific potential of a mission like CORE for these analyses, synergies with other planned and ongoing projects are also discussed.
|
|
| 4. |
- Di Baldassarre, Giuliano, et al.
(författare)
-
Hess Opinions : An interdisciplinary research agenda to explore the unintended consequences of structural flood protection
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. - : COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH. - 1027-5606 .- 1607-7938. ; 22:11, s. 5629-5637
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One common approach to cope with floods is the implementation of structural flood protection measures, such as levees or flood-control reservoirs, which substantially reduce the probability of flooding at the time of implementation. Numerous scholars have problematized this approach. They have shown that increasing the levels of flood protection can attract more settlements and high-value assets in the areas protected by the new measures. Other studies have explored how structural measures can generate a sense of complacency, which can act to reduce preparedness. These paradoxical risk changes have been described as "levee effect", "safe development paradox" or "safety dilemma". In this commentary, we briefly review this phenomenon by critically analysing the intended benefits and unintended effects of structural flood protection, and then we propose an interdisciplinary research agenda to uncover these paradoxical dynamics of risk.
|
|
| 5. |
- Ebadat, Afrooz, et al.
(författare)
-
Multi-room occupancy estimation through adaptive gray-box models
- 2015
-
Ingår i: IEEE 54th Annual Conference on Decision and Control (CDC). - Piscataway, NJ : IEEE Communications Society. - 9781479978861 ; , s. 3705-3711, s. 3705-3711
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- We consider the problem of estimating the occupancy level in buildings using indirect information such as CO2 concentrations and ventilation levels. We assume that one of the rooms is temporarily equipped with a device measuring the occupancy. Using the collected data, we identify a gray-box model whose parameters carry information about the structural characteristics of the room. Exploiting the knowledge of the same type of structural characteristics of the other rooms in the building, we adjust the gray-box model to capture the CO2 dynamics of the other rooms. Then the occupancy estimators are designed using a regularized deconvolution approach which aims at estimating the occupancy pattern that best explains the observed CO2 dynamics. We evaluate the proposed scheme through extensive simulation using a commercial software tool, IDA-ICE, for dynamic building simulation.
|
|
| 6. |
- Gullström, Charlie, et al.
(författare)
-
Sharing Spaces in the Sharing Economy - to save energy, increasewell-being or boost inn vation? How do new initiatives align with energy transition?
- 2017
-
Ingår i: BIWAES - Biennial International Workshop Advances in Energy Studies. - Graz. - 9783851255133 - 9783851255140
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Our paper is informed by the recent interest in how the sharing economy and related initiatives mayact as drivers for energy transition and increase well-being and social sustainability in smart sustainable city contexts. We take the example of temporary buildings that for a limited time period offer shared public spaces for public events in the city. Such initiatives are often linked to quadruple helix initiatives in which a local city council, industry and academia join forces to engage citizens in the energy and climate debate, with a temporary building structure as the focal point. The paper argues that such energy initiatives are valuable in terms of social sustainability since they create additional public space for the benefit of citizen debate; contribute scalable solutions and effective infrastructure that can promote energy awareness among citizens. However, there is limited scientific evidence, and a lacking awareness, of the energy efficiency and climate comfort relating to temporary buildings for public use. Our preliminary results show that such factors risk to obscure the well-intended objectives of quadruple helix initiatives to support energy transition. The revealed problems of a Stockholm use case suggest that in spite of significant social and economic impact resulting from curated public events which attracted an unprecedented number of visitors, energy consumption, climate comfort and indoor air quality are nevertheless important factors that also must be considered in the design and implementation of temporary building structures. The paper concludes that better climate controlshared economy thinking is necessary at theearliest stage of a planning process, for temporary buildings to be successful.
|
|
| 7. |
- Holm, Cyril, et al.
(författare)
-
GDPR och Smarta Byggnader - En undersökning av teknik, individ och samhälle i framtidens smarta byggnader
- 2019
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Denna rapports huvudfokus är att undersöka balansen, beskriven ovan, utifrån det rättsliga ramverk som GDPR utgör, samt att ge vägledning för hur kommersiella fastighetsägare rent praktiskt kan arbeta med smarta byggnader. Den pågående trenden att genom sensorer och hantering av data påverka byggnaders resursanvändning och möjligheten till ökad tjänsteleverans kommer med all sannolikhet att fortsätta och öka. Digitaliseringen av samhällsbyggnadssektorn är enbart i sin linda och vinsterna på individ, företags och samhällsnivå, dels ekonomiskt och miljömässigt, bedöms som mycket stora. För att möjliggöra potentialen av digitaliseringen, en minimering av klimatpåverkan kopplat till drift av byggnader, och samtidigt värna om individens integritet måste framtida byggnaders system för insamling och hantering av data designas varsamt. För att möjliggöra optimering av en byggnads tekniska system, samt en minimering av klimatpåverkan kopplat till drift av byggnaden, kan en fastighetsägare behöva samla in och lagra information som faller inom ramen för GDPR. För att säkerställa att fastighetsägaren följer GDPR beskrivet ovan bör följande rutiner och åtgärder genomföras.Rättslig strategiMinimera uppgifter som går att koppla till fysisk personHur kan man optimera med aggregerade uppgifter som inte kopplas till personProblematisera samtycken, resultatet av det är en rättslig osäker het som leder till att använda anonyma data. Det är inte kopplingen till person som är intressant, utan optimeringen.Problematisera anonymisering, hur gör man rent tekniskt eller sam man utgå ifrån att det är en praktisk variant av anonymisering som gäller eftersom GDPR förslår det?I den här rapporten vill vi visa hur man kan göra det enkelt att följa GDPR, och enkelt att bygga kommersiella smarta hus i relation till GDPR. Vårt förslag innehåller följande punkter som vi sedan utvecklar nedan.Data:Minimera lagring av data och maximera momentant utnyttjande av sensordataHöj och förfina optimeringsgraden Minimera uppgifter som går att koppla till fysisk person Pseudonymisera data som måste lagrasOrganisation:Ha tydlig organisation och ansvarsfördelning runt hanteringen av data och personuppgifter i relation till GDPR.Alltid ha en aktuell lista på sensorer.Använd opt-out5GDPR OCH SMARTA BYGGNADER.Utarbeta genomarbetade skriftliga samtycken.
|
|
| 8. |
- Molinari, Alan, et al.
(författare)
-
Interface and strain effects on the H-sorption thermodynamics of size-selected Mg nanodots
- 2016
-
Ingår i: International journal of hydrogen energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0360-3199 .- 1879-3487. ; 41:23, s. 9841-9851
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This work deals with the thermodynamics of hydride formation in 3-D nanoconfined Mg. Two ensembles of nearly monodisperse Mg nanodots (NDs) with different diameters (60 and 320 nm), were grown by the template nanopatterning method, using ultra-thin alumina membranes (UTAMs) with ordered porosity as evaporation masks. Multilayer NDs consisting of 30 nm Mg, 5 nm Ti and 5 nm Pd were deposited on UTAM-coated glass substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The lateral surface of the NDs is constituted by native MgO. The morphology of the NDs was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Hydride formation and decomposition was studied at low temperature (363-393 K) by means of optical hydrogenography. Compared to bulk Mg, the plateau pressure for hydrogen absorption in NDs exhibits an upward shift, which is larger for small NDs. Differently, the desorption plateau pressure is almost the same for the two NDs size and is lower than for bulk Mg. These hydrogen sorption features are discussed in the frame of a model that takes into account both interface energy and elastic strain energy in the constrained nanodots. The onset of plastic deformation, marked by a high pressure hysteresis between hydrogen absorption and desorption isotherms, limits the extent of hydride destabilization that can be achieved by elastic strain engineering.
|
|
| 9. |
- Molinari, Marco, et al.
(författare)
-
ICT in the built environment: drivers, barriers and uncertainties
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Biennial International Workshop Advances in Energy Studies. - Graz. - 9783851255140 - 9783851255133
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Buildings are major contributors to energy use and environmental impact in developed societies. If theambitious sustainability targets of modern societies are to be met, energy use in the built environmentmust be addressed as a central issue.New momentum on achieving energy efficiency in the building sector has been triggered by informationand communication technology (ICT). New opportunities bringing the concept of smart building closerto reality are offered e.g. by innovative sensing techniques, extensive and cost-efficient data collectionand analysis, advanced controls and artificial intelligence.However, these opportunities are associated with cost and uncertainties regarding whether theinvestment costs are paid back in terms of energy savings, whether indoor comfort and air quality andimproved, the drawbacks in term of increased maintenance effort, complexity, reliability and resilience,the effects in terms of user interaction, how data security is affected and the long-term effects on society.This paper critically analyses recent research findings and reviews the pros and cons of some promisingICT techniques being applied in the building sector. It exemplifies drivers and barriers to implementationof advanced controls and artificial intelligence in buildings, based on findings from two test-beds inStockholm, and discusses the implications of these findings for future research.
|
|
| 10. |
- Parisio, Alessandra, et al.
(författare)
-
Control of HVAC Systems via Scenario-based Explicit MPC
- 2015
-
Ingår i: 2014 IEEE 53rd Annual Conference on Decision and Control : (CDC 2014). - Piscataway, NJ : IEEE Communications Society. ; , s. 5201-5207, s. 5201-5207
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Improving energy efficiency of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems is a primary objective for the society. Model Predictive Control (MPC) techniques for HVAC systems have recently received particular attention, since they can naturally account for several factors, such as weather and occupancy forecasts, comfort ranges and actuation constraints. Developing effective MPC based control strategies for HVAC systems is nontrivial, since buildings dynamics are nonlinear and affected by various uncertainties. Further, the complexity of the MPC problem and the burden of on-line computations can lead to difficulties in integrating this scheme into a building management system.We propose to address this computational issue by designing a scenario-based explicit MPC strategy, i.e., a controller that is simultaneously based on explicit representations of the MPC feedback law and accounts for uncertainties in the occupancy patterns and weather conditions by using the scenarios paradigm. The main advantages of this approach are the absence of a-priori assumptions on the distributions of the uncertain variables, the applicability to any type of building, and the limited on-line computational burden, enabling practical implementations on low-cost hardware platforms.We illustrate the practical implementation of the proposed explicit MPC controller on a room of a university building, showing its effectiveness and computational tractability.
|
|
