| 1. |
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Braunerhjelm, Pontus, 1953-, et al.
(author)
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Born globals – presence, performance and prospects
- 2019
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In: International Business Review. - : Elsevier. - 0969-5931 .- 1873-6149. ; 28:1, s. 60-73
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The concept born global firms has gained a spectacular increase in interest from both academic and political circles. Rigorous quantitative treatment of born global firms are however rare in the international business/economics literature. Implementing unique data on all Swedish start-ups during 1998–2008 in the manufacturing sector, we conclude that born global firms are a very rare event, that their prevalence seems invariant to time, and that they perform similar to other matched “twin” firms with regard to profitability and productivity but report a considerably higher growth in employment and sales. These results are robust to a wider definition of born global firms and to the timing of performance measurements.
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| 4. |
- Burdakov, Oleg, 1953-, et al.
(author)
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Multipoint secant and interpolation methods with nonmonotone line search for solving systems of nonlinear equations
- 2018
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In: Applied Mathematics and Computation. - : Elsevier. - 0096-3003 .- 1873-5649. ; 338:1, s. 421-431
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Multipoint secant and interpolation methods are effective tools for solving systems of nonlinear equations. They use quasi-Newton updates for approximating the Jacobian matrix. Owing to their ability to more completely utilize the information about the Jacobian matrix gathered at the previous iterations, these methods are especially efficient in the case of expensive functions. They are known to be local and superlinearly convergent. We combine these methods with the nonmonotone line search proposed by Li and Fukushima (2000), and study global and superlinear convergence of this combination. Results of numerical experiments are presented. They indicate that the multipoint secant and interpolation methods tend to be more robust and efficient than Broyden’s method globalized in the same way.
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| 5. |
- Funk, Eva, 1953-, et al.
(author)
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Patient-initiated breath-holds in MRI : an alternative for reducing respiratory artifacts and improving image quality
- 2015
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In: Clinical imaging. - : Elsevier. - 0899-7071 .- 1873-4499. ; 39:4, s. 619-622
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: To investigate MRI image quality using two different breath-hold techniques.Materials and methods: Thirty patients remitted for MRI, 2D-dual gradient echo acquisition of the liver conducted two separate breath-hold acquisitions in randomized order, operator-instructed and patient-initiated. The images were reviewed by two radiologists.Results: There were no significant differences in image quality between the two breath-hold techniques either in overall image quality or respiratory motion artifacts. This assessment was equal and concordant for both radiologists.Conclusion: In terms of image quality, the patient self-initiated breath-hold was shown to be an equal alternative to conventional breath-hold imaging.
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| 6. |
- Knutsson, Helena, 1953-, et al.
(author)
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From flint to quartz : Organization of lithic technology in relation to raw material availability during the pioneer process of Scandinavia
- 2016
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In: Quaternary International. - : Elsevier. - 1040-6182 .- 1873-4553. ; 424, s. 32-57
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Formal technologies and intensified reduction are often seen as responces to increased mobility and low abundance of lithic raw material of good flakeability and controllability. In this paper we discuss an alternative explanation to this hypothesis using the change in tool raw material experienced by flint using pioneers as they had to go from a formal blade technology to a simple flake technology as they settled in Scandinavia. The region is dominated by quartz and we used use-wear data as a means to evaluate the role of this type of raw material compared to the use profile of flint assemblages in the home territories of the pioneers. Although the technology changed through simplification and loss of formal production rules due to the low workability of quartz, we conclude that changes in the foraging range into areas of bad quality tool raw materials, does not need formalization of the technology. The quartz in our sample was used for a wide variety of activities in every aspect comparable to the range of uses identified in the contemporaneous blade assemblages based on flint. Instead of formalization of the lithic technology to cope with bad quality raw materials, it was diversified and simplified but without interfering with the organisational dimensions and design criteria of the bone technology.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Pellinen-Wannberg, Asta, 1953-, et al.
(author)
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The forthcoming EISCAT_3D as an extra-terrestrial matter monitor
- 2016
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In: Planetary and Space Science. - : Elsevier. - 0032-0633 .- 1873-5088. ; 123, s. 33-40
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is important to monitor the extra-terrestrial dust flux in the Earth’s environment and into the atmosphere. Meteoroids threaten the infrastructure in space as hypervelocity hits by micron-sized granules continuously degrade the solar panels and other satellite surfaces. Through their orbital elements meteoroids can be associated to the interplanetary dust cloud, comets, asteroids or the interstellar space. The ablation products of meteoroids participate in many physical and chemical processes at dierent layers inthe atmosphere, many of them occurring in the polar regions.High-power large-aperture (HPLA) radars, such as the tristatic EISCAT UHF together with the EISCAT VHF, have been versatile instruments for studying many properties of the meteoroid population, even though they were not initially designed for this purpose. The future EISCAT_3D will comprise a phased-array transmitter and several phased-array receivers distributed in Northern Scandinavia. These will work at 233 MHz centre frequency with power up to 10 MW and run advanced signal processing systems. The facility will in many aspects be superior to its predecessors as the first radar to combine volumetric-, aperture synthesis- and multistatic imaging as well as adaptive experiments. The technical design goals of the radar respond to the scientific requests from the user community. The VHF frequency and the volumetric imaging capacity will increase the collecting volume compared to the earlier UHF, the high transmitter power will increase the sensitivity of the radar, and the interferometry will improve the spatial resolution of the orbit estimates. The facility will be able to observe and define orbits to about 10% of the meteors from the established mass flux distribution that are large or fast enough to produce an ionization mantle around the impacting meteoroid within the collecting volume. The estimated annual mean of about 190 000 orbits per day with EISCAT_3D gives many orders of magnitude higher detected orbit rates than the earlier tristatic UHF radar.
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| 9. |
- Reitan, Therese, et al.
(author)
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From classroom to conscription : Leadership emergence in childhood and early adulthood
- 2019
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In: Leadership Quarterly. - : Elsevier. - 1048-9843 .- 1873-3409. ; 30:3, s. 298-319
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Research on leadership emergence has mainly focused on adulthood and relied on retrospective accounts of childhood factors. Based on a prospective cohort study of 7719 boys born in 1953, of which 5928 were later drafted, we explored individual differences in leadership emergence in childhood and early adulthood. The data set consisted of register data from different time points and a survey of the cohort in the 6th grade. As expected, cognitive ability, tallness and muscular power were decisive for assessment of military officer suitability. However, we also found a moderate to strong impact on this assessment score from social class, leadership aspirations in childhood, birth order, self-regulatory skills in school, parental support, and previous participation in extracurricular activities. Similarly, social class, cognitive ability, developmental experiences, and birth order were important for nominations as class party organizer in the 6th grade. Delay of gratification was not associated with these nominations at all and was neutralized by cognitive ability in relation to officer suitability. The results strongly support a life-cycle approach to leadership emergence.
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| 10. |
- Andersson, Anna Karin, et al.
(author)
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Patterns of everyday functioning in preschool children born preterm and at term
- 2017
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In: Research in Developmental Disabilities. - : Elsevier BV. - 0891-4222 .- 1873-3379. ; 67, s. 82-93
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background/Aim: Children born preterm are at risk of neonatal complications but the long-term consequences for everyday functioning is not well known. The study aimed to identify patterns of everyday functioning in preschool children born preterm and at term in relation to perinatal data, neonatal risk factors, behaviour, and socioeconomic status. Registry data and data from parent rated questionnaires were collected for 331 children.Method: A person-oriented approach with a cluster analysis was used.Results: A seven cluster solution explained 65.91% of the variance. Most children (n = 232) showed patterns of strong everyday functioning. A minority of the children (n = 99), showed diverse patterns of weak everyday functioning. Perinatal characteristics, neonatal risk factors and socio-economics did not predict cluster group membership. Children born preterm were represented in all clusters.Conclusion, implications: Most preschool children are perceived by their parents with strong everyday functioning despite being born preterm. However small groups of children are, for various reasons, perceived with weak functioning, but preterm birth is not the sole contributor to patterns of weak everyday functioning. More critical for all children's everyday functioning is probably the interaction between individual factors, behavioural factors and contextual factors. To gain a broader understanding of children's everyday functioning. Child Health Services need to systematically consider aspects of body function, activity and in addition participation and environmental aspects.
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| 11. |
- Andersson, Jonathan, et al.
(author)
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MRI estimates of brown adipose tissue in children - Associations to adiposity, osteocalcin, and thigh muscle volume
- 2019
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In: Magnetic Resonance Imaging. - : Elsevier BV. - 0730-725X .- 1873-5894. ; 58, s. 135-142
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context Brown adipose tissue is of metabolic interest. The tissue is however poorly explored in children. Methods: Sixty-three 7-year old subjects from the Swedish birth-cohort Halland Health and Growth Study were recruited. Care was taken to include both normal weight and overweight children, but the subjects were otherwise healthy. Only children born full term were included. Water-fat separated whole-body MRI scans, anthropometric measurements, and measurements of fasting glucose and levels of energy homeostasis related hormones, including the insulin-sensitizer osteocalcin, were performed. The fat fraction (FF) and effective transverse relaxation time (T-2(star)) of suspected brown adipose tissue in the cervical-supraclavicular-axillary fat depot (sBAT) and the FFs of abdominal visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were measured. Volumes of sBAT, abdominal VAT and SAT, and thigh muscle volumes were measured. Results: The FF in the sBAT depot was lower than in VAT and SAT for all children. In linear correlations including sex and age as explanatory variables, sBAT FF correlated positively with all measures of adiposity (p < 0.01), except for VAT FF and weight, positively with sBAT T-2* (p = 0.036), and negatively with osteocalcin (p = 0.017). When adding measures of adiposity as explanatory variables, sBAT FF also correlated negatively with thigh muscle volume (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Whole-body water-fat MRI of children allows for measurements of sBAT. The FF of sBAT was lower than that of VAT and SAT, indicating presence of BAT. Future studies could confirm whether the observed correlations corresponds to a hormonally active BAT.
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| 12. |
- Andersson, Jonathan, et al.
(author)
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Water-fat separation incorporating spatial smoothing is robust to noise
- 2018
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In: Magnetic Resonance Imaging. - : Elsevier BV. - 0730-725X .- 1873-5894. ; 50, s. 78-83
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PURPOSE: To develop and evaluate a noise-robust method for reconstruction of water and fat images for spoiled gradient multi-echo sequences.METHODS: The proposed method performs water-fat separation by using a graph cut to minimize an energy function consisting of unary and binary terms. Spatial smoothing is incorporated to increase robustness to noise. The graph cut can fail to find a solution covering the entire image, in which case the relative weighting of the unary term is iteratively increased until a complete solution is found. The proposed method was compared to two previously published methods. Reconstructions were performed on 16 cases taken from the 2012 ISMRM water-fat reconstruction challenge dataset, for which reference reconstructions were provided. Robustness towards noise was evaluated by reconstructing images with different levels of noise added. The percentage of water-fat swaps were calculated to measure performance.RESULTS: At low noise levels the proposed method produced similar results to one of the previously published methods, while outperforming the other. The proposed method significantly outperformed both of the previously published methods at moderate and high noise levels.CONCLUSION: By incorporating spatial smoothing, an increased robustness towards noise is achieved when performing water-fat reconstruction of spoiled gradient multi-echo sequences.
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| 13. |
- Arghand, Taha, et al.
(author)
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An experimental investigation of the flow and comfort parameters for under-floor, confluent jets and mixing ventilation systems in an open-plan office
- 2015
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In: Building and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0360-1323 .- 1873-684X. ; 92, s. 48-60
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There is a new trend to convert the workplaces from individual office rooms to open offices for motivating money saving and better communication. With such a shift the ability of existing ventilation systems in meeting the new requirements is a challenging question for researchers. The available options could have an impact on workers' health in terms of providing acceptable levels of thermalcomfort and indoor air quality. Thus, this experimental investigation focuses on the performances of three different air distribution systems in an open-plan office space. The investigated systems were: mixing ventilation with ceiling-mounted inlets, confluent jets ventilation and underfloor air distribution with straight and curved vanes. Although this represents a small part of our more extensiveexperimental investigation, the results show that all the purposed stratified ventilation systems (CJV and UFAD) were more or less behaving as mixing systems with some tendency for displacement effects. Nevertheless, it is known that the mixing systems have a stable flow pattern but has the disadvantage of mixing contaminated air with the fresh supplied air which may produce lower performance and in worst cases occupants' illness. For the open-plan office we studied here, it will be shown that the new systems are capable of performing better than the conventional mixing systems. As expected, the higher air exchange efficiency in combination with lower local mean age of air for corner-mounted CJV and floor-mounted UFAD grills systems indicates that these systems are suitable for open-plan offices and are to be favored over conventional mixing systems.
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| 14. |
- Bagheri, Azam, et al.
(author)
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Improved characterization of multi-stage voltage dips based on the space phasor model
- 2018
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In: Electric power systems research. - : Elsevier. - 0378-7796 .- 1873-2046. ; 154, s. 319-328
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper proposes a method for characterizing voltage dips based on the space phasor model of the three phase-to-neutral voltages, instead of the individual voltages. This has several advantages. Using a K-means clustering algorithm, a multi-stage dip is separated into its individual event segments directly instead of first detecting the transition segments. The logistic regression algorithm fits the best single-segment characteristics to every individual segment, instead of extreme values being used for this, as in earlier methods. The method is validated by applying it to synthetic and measured dips. It can be generalized for application to both single- and multi-stage dips.
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| 15. |
- Borgström, Sara, 1977-, et al.
(author)
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Funding ecological restoration policy in practice : patterns of short-termism and regional biases
- 2016
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In: Land use policy. - : Elsevier. - 0264-8377 .- 1873-5754. ; 52, s. 439-453
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- With continuous degradation of ecosystems combined with the recognition of human dependence on functioning ecosystems, global interest in ecological restoration (ER) has intensified. From being merely a nature conservation measure, it is today advanced as a way to improve ecosystem functions, mitigate biodiversity loss and climate change, as well as renew human–nature relationships. However, ER is a contested and diversified term used in research, policy and practice. Substantive public funding is allocated towards this end worldwide, but little is known about its concrete purpose and coverage, as well as what decides its allocation. With inspiration from environmental funding literature we analyze the case of Sweden to provide the first national overview of public ER funding. The understudied political context of ER is thus addressed but also regional variation in funding allocation. A database of all national government funding programs between 1995 and 2011 that included projects and sub-programs aiming at practical ER measures was created. Results show that ER activities counted for 11% (130 million USD) of the total government nature conservation funding. Water environments were highly prioritized, which can be explained by economic and recreational motives behind ER. The ER funding was unevenly distributed geographically, not related to either environmental need or population size, but rather to regional administrative capacity. It was also found to be small scale and short term, and hence part of a general trend of "project proliferation" of public administration which runs contrary to ecosystem based management. As ER is not yet a long-term investment in Sweden, commonly seen as an environmental lead state, we expect even less and more short-term ER funding in other countries.
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| 16. |
- Boudreault, Louis-Etienne, et al.
(author)
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A LiDAR method of canopy structure retrieval for wind modeling of heterogeneous forests
- 2015
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In: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2240 .- 0168-1923. ; 201, s. 86-97
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The difficulty of obtaining accurate information about the canopy structure is a current limitation towards higher accuracy in numerical predictions of the wind field in forested terrain. The canopy structure in computational fluid dynamics is specified through the frontal area density and this information is required for each grid point in the three-dimensional computational domain. By using raw data from aerial LiDAR scans together with the Beer-Lambert law, we propose and test a method to calculate and grid highly variable and realistic frontal area density input. An extensive comparison with ground-based measurements of the vertically summed frontal area density (or plant area index) and tree height was used to optimize the method, both in terms of plant area index magnitude and spatial variability. The resolution of the scans was in general low (<2.5 reflections m(-2)). A decrease of the resolution produced an increasing systematic underestimation of the spatially averaged tree height, whereas the mean plant area index remained insensitive. The gridded frontal area density and terrain elevation were used at the lower boundary of wind simulations in a 5 km x 5 km area of a forested site. The results of the flow simulations were compared to wind measurements using a vertical array of sonic anemometers. A good correlation was found for the mean wind speed of two contrasting wind directions with different influences from the upstream forest. The results also predicted a high variability on the horizontal and vertical mean wind speed, in close correlation with the canopy structure. The method is a promising tool for several computational fluid dynamics applications requiring accurate predictions of the near-surface wind field. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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| 17. |
- Carlsson, Henrik, 1987-, et al.
(author)
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Strategy for identifying unknown hemoglobin adducts using adductome LC-MS/MS data : Identification of adducts corresponding to acrylic acid, glyoxal, methylglyoxal, and 1-octen-3-one
- 2016
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In: Food and Chemical Toxicology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0278-6915 .- 1873-6351. ; 92, s. 94-103
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Electrophilic compounds have the ability to form adducts with nucleophilic sites in proteins and DNA in tissues, and thereby constitute risks for toxic effects. Adductomic approaches are developed for systematic screening of adducts to DNA and blood proteins, with the aim to detect unknown internal exposures to electrophiles. In a previous adductomic screening of adducts to N-terminals in hemoglobin, using LC-MS/MS, 19 unknown adducts were detected in addition to seven previously identified adducts. The present paper describes the identification of four of these unknown adducts, as well as the strategy used to identify them. Using LC-MS data from the screening, hypotheses about adduct identities were formulated: probable precursor electrophiles with matching molecular weights were suggested based on the molecular weights of the modifications and the retention times of the analytes, in combination with comparisons of theoretical Log P calculations and databases. Reference adducts were generated by incubation of blood samples with the hypothesized precursor electrophiles. The four identified precursor electrophiles, corresponding to the observed unknown adducts, were glyoxal, methylglyoxal, acrylic acid and 1-octen-3-one. Possible origins/exposure sources and toxicological information concerning the electrophilic precursors are discussed. The identified adducts could be explored as possible biomarkers for exposure.
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| 18. |
- Chulapakorn, Thawatchart, 1988-, et al.
(author)
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Luminescence of silicon nanoparticles from oxygen implanted silicon
- 2018
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In: Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing. - : Elsevier. - 1369-8001 .- 1873-4081. ; 86, s. 18-22
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Oxygen with a kinetic energy of 20 keV is implanted in a silicon wafer (100) at different fluences, followed by post-implantation thermal annealing (PIA) performed at temperatures ranging from 1000 to 1200 degrees C, in order to form luminescent silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) and also to reduce the damage induced by the implantation. As a result of this procedure, a surface SiOx layer (with 0 < x < 2) with embedded crystalline Si nanoparticles has been created. The samples yield similar luminescence in terms of peak wavelength, lifetime, and absorption as recorded from SiNPs obtained by the more conventional method of implanting silicon into silicon dioxide. The oxygen implantation profile is characterized by elastic recoil detection (ERD) technique to obtain the excess concentration of Si in a presumed SiO2 environment. The physical structure of the implanted Si wafer is examined by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD). Photoluminescence (PL) techniques, including PL spectroscopy, time-resolved PL (TRPL), and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectroscopy are carried out in order to identify the PL origin. The results show that luminescent SiNPs are formed in a Si sample implanted by oxygen with a fluence of 2 x 10(17) atoms cm(-2) and PIA at 1000 degrees C. These SiNPs have a broad size range of 6-24 nm, as evaluated from the GIXRD result. Samples implanted at a lower fluence and/or annealed at higher temperature show only weak defect-related PL. With further optimization of the SiNP luminescence, the method may offer a simple route for integration of luminescent Si in mainstream semiconductor fabrication.
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| 19. |
- Cindemir, Umut, et al.
(author)
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Fluctuation-enhanced and conductometric gas sensing with nanocrystalline NiO thin films : A comparison
- 2017
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In: Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical. - : Elsevier BV. - 0925-4005 .- 1873-3077. ; 242, s. 132-139
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nanocrystalline thin films of NiO were prepared by advanced reactive gas deposition, and their responses to formaldehyde, ethanol and methane gases were studied via fluctuation-enhanced and conductometric methods Thin films with thicknesses in the 200–1700-nm range were investigated in as-deposited form and after annealing at 400 and 500◦C. Morphological and structural analyses showed porous deposits with NiO nanocrystals having face-centered cubic structure. Quantitative changes in frequency-dependent resistance fluctuations as well as in DC resistance were recorded upon exposure to formaldehyde, ethanol and methane at 200◦C. The response to formaldehyde was higher than that to ethanol while the response to methane was low, which indicates that the NiO films exhibit significant selectivity towards different gaseous species. These results can be reconciled with the fact that formaldehyde has a nucleophilic group, ethanol is an electron scavenger, and methane is hard to either reduce or oxidize. The gas-induced variations in DC resistance and resistance fluctuations were in most cases similar and consistent.
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| 20. |
- Coll, M., et al.
(author)
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Towards Oxide Electronics: a Roadmap
- 2019
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In: Applied Surface Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-4332 .- 1873-5584. ; 482, s. 1-93
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- At the end of a rush lasting over half a century, in which CMOS technology has been experiencing a constant and breathtaking increase of device speed and density, Moore’s law is approaching the insurmountable barrier given by the ultimate atomic nature of matter. A major challenge for 21st century scientists is finding novel strategies, concepts and materials for replacing silicon-based CMOS semiconductor technologies and guaranteeing a continued and steady technological progress in next decades. Among the materials classes candidate to contribute to this momentous challenge, oxide films and heterostructures are a particularly appealing hunting ground. The vastity, intended in pure chemical terms, of this class of compounds, the complexity of their correlated behaviour, and the wealth of functional properties they display, has already made these systems the subject of choice, worldwide, of a strongly networked, dynamic and interdisciplinary research community. Oxide science and technology has been the target of a wide four-year project, named Towards Oxide-Based Electronics (TO-BE), that has been recently running in Europe and has involved as participants several hundred scientists from 29 EU countries. In this review and perspective paper, published as a final deliverable of the TO-BE Action, the opportunities of oxides as future electronic materials for Information and Communication Technologies ICT and Energy are discussed. The paper is organized as a set of contributions, all selected and ordered as individual building blocks of a wider general scheme. After a brief preface by the editors and an introductory contribution, two sections follow. The first is mainly devoted to providing a perspective on the latest theoretical and experimental methods that are employed to investigate oxides and to produce oxide-based films, heterostructures and devices. In the second, all contributions are dedicated to different specific fields of applications of oxide thin films and heterostructures, in sectors as data storage and computing, optics and plasmonics, magnonics, energy conversion and harvesting, and power electronics.
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| 21. |
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| 22. |
- Emsens, Willem-Jan, et al.
(author)
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Competition for light as a bottleneck for endangered fen species : An introduction experiment
- 2018
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In: Biological Conservation. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3207 .- 1873-2917. ; 220, s. 76-83
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Many endangered plant species remain absent in rewetted, previously drained fens. We performed a 3-year introduction experiment with endangered fen species (9 Carex- and 6 bryophyte species) in 4 hydrologically restored fens to investigate which factors hamper establishment and survival. Carex species were introduced as adults and seedlings, mosses as gametophytes. Introductions were done on (initially) bare soil, which allowed us to exclude excessive competition for light during the first year. First year survival of the transplants was high in all fens (mean survival = 96%), indicating that there were no direct abiotic constraints on establishment. However, survival analysis revealed that a decrease in relative light intensity (RLI) at the soil surface during consecutive years (indicating an increase in biotic competition for light) drove high mortality rates in most species. As a result, overall final survival was lowest in the two most productive (low light) fens (mean survival = 38%), while most transplants persisted in the two less productive (high light) fens (mean survival = 79%). Taller and faster-growing Carex species were able to outgrow light limitation near the soil surface, and thus had a higher overall survivability than smaller and slower-growing species. Light limitation also drove the loss of 5 out of 6 bryophyte species. We conclude that both dispersal limitation and asymmetric competition for light may explain the lack and loss of small and endangered plant species in rewetted fens. A minimum empirical threshold of c. 30% relative light intensity near the soil surface is required for successful introduction.
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| 23. |
- Eriksson, T. Gerhard, et al.
(author)
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Personality traits of prisoners as compared to general populations : signs of adjustment to the situation?
- 2017
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In: Personality and Individual Differences. - 0191-8869 .- 1873-3549. ; 107:1, s. 237-245
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Two recent studies have challenged the well-established belief that offending behaviors are inversely related to the personality trait of conscientiousness. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore prisoners’ levels of traits according to the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality compared to control groups, with a focus on conscientiousness. Two separate samples of inmates in Swedish high-security prisons were investigated in three studies. Inmates and non-inmates completed a Swedish-language translation of Goldberg’s (1999) International Personality Item Pool questionnaire (IPIP-NEO, Bäckström, 2007). Male inmates (n = 46) in Studies 1 and 2 scored higher on conscientiousness than non-inmates (norm data based on approximately 800 males, and a students’ sample), which conflicts with previous results. Study 3 further explored the conscientiousness differences on the facet level. Male and female inmates (n = 131) scored higher on order and self-discipline (even after an adjustment for social desirability) than students (n = 136). In conjunction with previous findings, these differences are interpreted as being either temporal or enduring adjustments to the prison environment. It is suggested that researchers and clinical teams should cautiously interpret the FFM factor of conscientiousness (and its facets) when planning the further treatment of inmates.
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| 24. |
- Eriksson, T. Gerhard, et al.
(author)
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Personality traits of prisoners as compared to general populations : Signs of adjustment to the situation?
- 2017
-
In: Personality and Individual Differences. - : Elsevier BV. - 0191-8869 .- 1873-3549. ; 107, s. 237-245
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Two recent studies have challenged the well-established belief that offending behaviors are inversely related to the personality trait of conscientiousness. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore prisoners’ levels of traits according to the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality compared to control groups, with a focus on conscientiousness. Two separate samples of inmates in Swedish high-security prisons were investigated in three studies. Inmates and non-inmates completed a Swedish-language translation of Goldberg’s (1999) International Personality Item Pool questionnaire (IPIP-NEO, Bäckström, 2007). Male inmates (n = 46) in Studies 1 and 2 scored higher on conscientiousness than non-inmates (norm data based on approximately 800 males, and a students’ sample), which conflicts with previous results. Study 3 further explored the conscientiousness differences on the facet level. Male and female inmates (n = 131) scored higher on order and self-discipline (even after an adjustment for social desirability) than students (n = 136). In conjunction with previous findings, these differences are interpreted as being either temporal or enduring adjustments to the prison environment. It is suggested that researchers and clinical teams should cautiously interpret the FFM factor of conscientiousness (and its facets) when planning the further treatment of inmates.
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| 25. |
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| 26. |
- Gong, Wenwen, et al.
(author)
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Emission factors of unintentional HCB and PeCBz and their correlation with PCDD/PCDF
- 2017
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In: Environmental Pollution. - : Elsevier. - 0269-7491 .- 1873-6424. ; 230, s. 516-522
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and pentachlorobenzene (PeCBz) have been listed as unintentional POPs in the annex of the Stockholm Convention and thus, attracted attention by government and researchers. Since the intentional production and use has ceased in most countries, the unintentional releases to the environment have increased. This study gathered 206 and 78 emission factors (EFs) of unintentional HCB and PeCBz from scientific publications and governmental reports, respectively. Most of the EFs referred to the release vector "air" (EFAir) and to a less extent to "product" (EFProduct). EFs were proposed for different source categories/classes used in the Toolkit according to the technologies that released the HCB or PeCBz. Overall, lowest and highest EFAir for HCB were found in the metallurgical industry range from 1 μg/t in well controlled plants (coke, iron and steel) up to 40,000 μg/t (secondary zinc). EFs for PeCBz were in similar order of magnitude. Due to lack of data, EFs to water, land or residue cannot be proposed. Using linear regression and statistical analysis such as Pearson correlation, we found strongest correlation of EFAir between HCB and PeCBz (R(2) = 0.79, P < 0.01) and weaker, but still significant, correlations for EFAir between PCDD/PCDFTEQ and HCB (R(2) = 0.56; P < 0.01) or PeCBz (R(2) = 0.31 P < 0.01) for various thermal processes.
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| 27. |
- Gouveia-Figueira, Sandra C., et al.
(author)
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Mass spectrometry profiling reveals altered plasma levels of monohydroxy fatty acids and related lipids in healthy humans after controlled exposure to biodiesel exhaust
- 2018
-
In: Analytica Chimica Acta. - : Elsevier. - 0003-2670 .- 1873-4324. ; 1018, s. 62-69
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Experimental human exposure studies are an effective tool to study adverse health effects from acute inhalation of particulate matter and other constituents of air pollution. In this randomized and double-blinded crossover study, we investigated the systemic effect on bioactive lipid metabolite levels after controlled biodiesel exhaust exposure of healthy humans and compared it to filtered air at a separate exposure occasion. Eicosanoids and other oxylipins, as well as endocannabinoids and related lipids, were quantified in plasma from 14 healthy volunteers at baseline and at three subsequent time points (2, 6, and 24 h) after 1 h exposure sessions. Protocols based on liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) methods were developed to detect temporal changes in circulating levels after biodiesel exhaust exposure. The exhaust was generated by a diesel engine fed with an undiluted rapeseed methyl ester fuel. Among the 51 analyzed lipid metabolites, PGF(2 alpha), 9,10-DiHOME, 9-HODE, 5-HETE, 11-HETE, 12-HETE, and DEA displayed significant responsiveness to the biodiesel exhaust exposure as opposed to filtered air. Of these, 9-HODE and 5-HETE at 24 h survived the 10% false discovery rate cutoff (p < 0.003). Hence, the majority of the responsive lipid metabolites were monohydroxy fatty acids. We conclude that it is possible to detect alterations in circulating bioactive lipid metabolites in response to biodiesel exhaust exposure using LC-MS/MS, with emphasis on metabolites with inflammation related properties and implications on cardiovascular health and disease. These observations aid future investigations on air pollution effects, especially with regard to cardiovascular outcomes.
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| 28. |
- Granqvist, Claes Göran, 1946-, et al.
(author)
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Electrochromic materials and devices for energy efficiency and human comfort in buildings : A critical review
- 2018
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In: Electrochimica Acta. - : Elsevier. - 0013-4686 .- 1873-3859. ; 259, s. 1170-1182
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Electrochromic (EC) materials can be integrated in thin-film devices and used for modulating optical transmittance. The technology has recently been implemented in large-area glazing (windows and glass facades) in order to create buildings which combine energy efficiency with good indoor comfort. This critical review describes the basics of EC technology, provides a case study related to EC foils for glass lamination, and discusses a number of future aspects. Ample literature references are given with the object of providing an easy entrance to the burgeoning research field of electrochromics.
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| 29. |
- Hagvall, Lina, 1978, et al.
(author)
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Assessment of cross-reactivity of new less sensitizing epoxy resin monomers in epoxy resin-allergic individuals
- 2016
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In: Contact Dermatitis. - : Wiley. - 0105-1873. ; 75:3, s. 144-150
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BackgroundMeasures to prevent occupational exposure to epoxy resins, including education, medical examination, and voluntary agreements between employers and workers, have not been effective enough to protect against skin sensitization. Therefore, alternatives to the major epoxy resin haptens that have been found to be less sensitizing in the local lymph node assay have been developed. ObjectivesTo study the cross-reactivity of two newly designed epoxy resin monomers, with decreased skin-sensitizing potency and good technical properties as compared with diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA), in subjects with known contact allergy to epoxy resin of DGEBA type. Patients and MethodsEleven individuals with previous positive patch test reactions to epoxy resin of DGEBA participated in the study. The two alternative epoxy resin monomers were synthesized and patch tested in dilution series in parallel with epoxy resin of DGEBA from the baseline series (containing 92% DGEBA). ResultsAll participants reacted to epoxy resin of DGEBA on retesting. Three participants reacted to monomer 1. No reactions were seen to monomer 2. ConclusionsThe alternative monomers studied showed little or no cross-reactivity with epoxy resin of DGEBA. Decreasing the risk of sensitization by using less sensitizing compounds is important, as contact allergy to epoxy resins is common in spite of thorough preventive measures.
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| 30. |
- Hagvall, Lina, 1978, et al.
(author)
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Can the epoxides of cinnamyl alcohol and cinnamal show new cases of contact allergy?
- 2018
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In: Contact dermatitis. - : Wiley. - 1600-0536 .- 0105-1873. ; 78:6, s. 399-405
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cinnamyl alcohol is considered to be a prohapten and prehapten with cinnamal as the main metabolite. However, many individuals who are allergic to cinnamyl alcohol do not react to cinnamal. Sensitizing epoxides of cinnamyl alcohol and cinnamal have been identified as metabolites and autoxidation products of cinnamyl alcohol.To investigate the clinical relevance of contact allergy to epoxycinnamyl alcohol and epoxycinnamal.Irritative effects of the epoxides were investigated in 12 dermatitis patients. Epoxycinnamyl alcohol and epoxycinnamal were patch tested in 393 and 390 consecutive patients, respectively. In parallel, cinnamyl alcohol and cinnamal were patch tested in 607 and 616 patients, respectively.Both epoxides were irritants, but no more positive reactions were detected than when testing was performed with cinnamyl alcohol and cinnamal. Late allergic reactions to epoxycinnamyl alcohol were observed. In general, patients with late reactions showed doubtful or positive reactions to cinnamal and fragrance mix I at regular patch testing.The investigated epoxides are not important haptens in contact allergy to cinnamon fragrance. The high frequency of fragrance allergy among patients included in the irritancy study showed the difficulty of suspecting fragrance allergy on the basis of history; patch testing broadly with fragrance compounds is therefore important.
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| 31. |
- Henoch, Ingela, 1956, et al.
(author)
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Undergraduate nursing students' attitudes and preparedness toward caring for dying persons – A longitudinal study
- 2017
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In: Nurse Education in Practice. - : Elsevier BV. - 1471-5953 .- 1873-5223. ; 26, s. 12-20
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nursing education needs to prepare students for care of dying patients. The aim of this study was to describe the development of nursing students' attitudes toward caring for dying patients and their perceived preparedness to perform end-of-life care. A longitudinal study was performed with 117 nursing students at six universities in Sweden. The students completed the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD) questionnaire at the beginning of first and second year, and at the end of third year of education. After education, the students completed questions about how prepared they felt by to perform end-of-life care. The total FATCOD increased from 126 to 132 during education. Five weeks' theoretical palliative care education significantly predicted positive changes in attitudes toward caring for dying patients. Students with five weeks' theoretical palliative care training felt more prepared and supported by the education to care for a dying patient than students with shorter education. A minority felt prepared to take care of a dead body or meet relatives. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd
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| 32. |
- Holmqvist, Gärd, 1950-, et al.
(author)
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What art therapists considerto be patient's inner change and how it may appear during art therpy
- 2017
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In: The arts in psychotherapy. - Kidlington : Elsevier. - 0197-4556 .- 1873-5878. ; 56, s. 45-52
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this study was to explore what art therapists consider to be patients’ inner change and how it may appear during art therapy. Thirty-eight trained art therapists with experience of using art therapy as a treatment were included in the study. They were asked to describehow they perceived their patients’ inner change and a situation during arttherapy when they observed such change. An inductive thematic analysis resulted in five themes; Therapeutic alliance, describing trust to the therapist and believe to the method, Creating, which concerns the work in the therapeutic process, while Affect consciousness, Self-awareness,and Ego-strengthare part of the therapy outcome. The situations in which an inner change can be observed have been presented by means of quotations and discussed in relation to different theories and art therapy research. The participating art therapists formed a very heterogeneous group, resulting in an unexpected consistency about what they considered to be an inner change in the patient. The study may be seen as a contribution to further discussion about the benefits of a more common language to describe patients’ inner change in art therapy
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| 33. |
- Jin, Rong, et al.
(author)
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Congener-specific determination of ultratrace levels of chlorinated and brominated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in atmosphere and industrial stack gas by isotopic dilution gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry method
- 2017
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In: Journal of Chromatography A. - : Elsevier. - 0021-9673 .- 1873-3778. ; 1509, s. 114-122
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Isotopic dilution gas chromatography combined with high resolution mass spectrometry (GC/HRMS) has overwhelming advantages with respect to the accuracy of congener-specific ultratrace analysis of complex persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in environmental matrices. However, an isotopic dilution GC/HRMS method for analysis of chlorinated and brominated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Cl-PAHs and Br-PAHs) using 13C-labelled congeners as internal standards has not been established. In this study, a method for identification and quantification of 38 congeners of Cl-PAHs and Br-PAHs in atmosphere and stack gas samples from waste incinerators was developed using the isotopic dilution GC/HRMS technique. The instrumental detection limits of the GC/HRMS method ranged from 0.2pg to 1.8pg for Cl-PAH congeners, and 0.7pg to 2.7pg for Br-PAH congeners, which were about three orders of magnitude lower than those of the GC/quadrupole MS method. This new method developed was also the first to enable determination of Cl-PAH and Br-PAH homologs comprising congeners with the same molecular skeleton and chlorine or bromine substitution numbers. Among the detected congeners, seven Cl-PAH congeners and thirteen Br-PAH congeners that were abundant in the atmosphere and stack gases released from waste incinerators were firstly detected in real samples and reported using the established isotopic dilution GC/HRMS method. The developed isotopic dilution GC/HRMS is significant and needed for better studying the environmental behavior and health risk of Cl-PAHs and Br-PAHs.
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| 34. |
- Junkka, Johan, 1981-, et al.
(author)
-
Gender and fertility within the free churches in the Sundsvall region, Sweden, 1860–1921
- 2016
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In: The History of the Family. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1081-602X .- 1873-5398. ; 21:2, s. 243-266
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The role of secularization in the European fertility decline has been of interest to demographers, who often explore the relationship on a macro-level or by identifying religious affiliation by proxy. However, the relationship has not been thoroughly studied on an individual level utilizing indicators of personal religious conviction and affiliation. The aim of the present article is to examine reproductive practices by religious affiliation in order to understand the impact of secularization on fertility decline. This is accomplished using event history analysis of longitudinal parish register data from Sundsvall (1860–1921) where religious affiliation is identified on a family level. Reproductive practices are analysed using cohort TFR, descriptive statistics and Cox proportional hazard regressions. Free-church affiliates had, overall, a higher probability of having another child than did affiliates to the state church. However, these differences decreased over time, and as fertility dropped throughout society free-church affiliates showed the strongest significant reduction in probability of another birth. This indicates that over time, within the free churches, ideas about respectability and restraint came to mean that birth control, in the form of abstinence within marriage, became an important practice in the formation of gendered religious identities - leading to a relatively early decrease in fertility.
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| 35. |
- Karlsson, Mikael, 1978, et al.
(author)
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Characterisation of silicon, zirconium and aluminium coated titanium dioxide pigments recovered from paint waste
- 2019
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In: Dyes and Pigments. - : Elsevier BV. - 0143-7208 .- 1873-3743. ; 162, s. 145-152
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- © 2018 Elsevier Ltd Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is the major white pigment used by the paint industry. However, the production of TiO2is associated with a high carbon footprint. An alternative source of pigment could be created by developing a method to recover it from waste paint. In this paper two rutile pigments with different surface treatments were recovered from paint by a thermal recycling process. The pigments were analysed using powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), surface area measurements (BET), laser diffraction for particle size analysis and zeta potential measurements before and after the recycling process. It was concluded that the rutile cores of both pigments were intact and there were no major changes in particle size distribution or surface charge for either pigment induced by the recycling process. However, XPS and zeta potential measurements showed that the surface coating of the pigments can be more or less degraded depending on the chemical nature, which might imply the need for further re-coating after-treatment. Another option would be to find another application for the pigment where the quality and function of the coating is of less importance.
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| 36. |
- Karlsson, Mikael, 1978, et al.
(author)
-
Surface properties of recycled titanium oxide recovered from paint waste
- 2018
-
In: Progress in organic coatings. - : Elsevier BV. - 0300-9440 .- 1873-331X. ; 125, s. 279-286
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aluminium oxide coated rutile pigment was extracted from a paint matrix by means of a thermal recycling process. The objective was to investigate the effect of the recycling process on the surface properties of the pigment. The pigment was analysed using powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area measurements (BET), laser diffraction for particle size analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) before and after the recycling process. Investigations on the zeta potential and the surface charge were performed as well. It was concluded that the rutile crystalline core and the aluminium oxide coating of the pigment were still intact after the recycling process. The particle size distribution of the recycled pigment was slightly broader compared to the virgin pigment. The measured magnitude in zeta potential of the recycled pigment was lower than for the virgin pigment. This difference is thought to be caused by alteration in the surface hydroxyl concentration. Surface charge titrations showed differences between the virgin and the recycled pigment at alkaline pH and at low salt concentrations.
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| 37. |
- Levin, Sara, 1974-, et al.
(author)
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Adherence to planned risk management interventions in Swedish forensic care : What is said and done according to patient records
- 2019
-
In: International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. - : Elsevier. - 0160-2527 .- 1873-6386. ; 64, s. 71-82
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Both structured and unstructured clinical risk assessments within forensic care aim to prevent violence by informing risk management, but research about their preventive role is inconclusive. The aim of this study was to investigate risk management interventions that were planned and realized during forensic care by analysing patient records. Records from a forensic clinic in Sweden, covering 14 patients and 526 months, were reviewed. Eight main types of risk management interventions were evaluated by content analysis: monitoring, supervision, assessment, treatment, victim protection, acute coercion, security level and police interventions. Most planned risk management interventions were realized, both in structured and clinical risk assessments. However, most realized interventions were not planned, making them more open to subjective decisions. Analysing risk management interventions actually planned and realized in clinical settings can reveal the preventive role of structured risk assessments and how different interventions mediate violence risk.
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| 38. |
- Lindahl, Robert, 1984-, et al.
(author)
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Professional dilemmas and occupational constraints in child welfare workers' relationships with children and youth in foster care
- 2018
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In: Children and youth services review. - : Elsevier. - 0190-7409 .- 1873-7765. ; 88, s. 333-340
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- At the same time as the number of child and youth placements in foster care is increasing in Sweden, some serious deficiencies have been highlighted, such as instability in placements and shortcomings in the social services' monitoring. Because the child welfare workers are ultimately responsible for these children's situation, understanding how they handle their multi-dimensional occupational role is crucial. The aim of this article is to study child welfare workers' individual and collective experiences of and expectations about their occupational role and responsibilities in their administrative and relational work with children and youth in foster care. Individual interviews with child welfare workers from a previous evaluation of a national pilot project, and two focus groups with child welfare workers, constitute the empirical basis. Theoretically the article explores central concepts such as sub-roles, dilemmas, professionalism, and functional specificity. The results show that the child welfare workers are burdened by a heavy workload, but that the prerequisites and the obstacles they face also must be understood in relation to prevailing contradictions and dilemmas in their occupational role. Even though the child welfare workers stress that professionalism is about putting relational work first, their activity is dominated by administrative tasks and functional specificity.
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| 39. |
- Malmgren, Sara, 1985-, et al.
(author)
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Anomalous diffusion of ions in electrochromic tungsten oxide films
- 2017
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In: Electrochimica Acta. - : Elsevier. - 0013-4686 .- 1873-3859. ; 247, s. 252-257
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Amorphous tungsten oxide thinfilms were deposited by sputtering at different O2/Ar ratios onto conducting substrates. Ion intercalation and diffusion in thefilms was studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements in the frequency range 10 mHz–100 kHz and for potentials between 1.0 and 3.2 V vs. Li/Li+, using the film as working electrode in a Li+ containing electrolyte. The impedance data were in very good agreement with anomalous diffusion models. Different models were found to be applicable at potentials >1.8 V and <1.8 V. At high potentials ion intercalation was found to be reversible and an anomalous diffusion model describing ion hopping was favored. At low potentials ion intercalation was found to be irreversible and ion trapping takes place. In this latter range an anomalous diffusion model for the case of non-conserved number of charge carriers gave the best fit to experimentaldata. We obtained potential dependent diffusion coefficients in the range from 109 to 1011cm2/s, and anomalous diffusion exponents in the range 0.1 to 0.4, with the films deposited at lower O2/Ar ratios exhibiting the higher values.
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| 40. |
- Marquer, Laurent, et al.
(author)
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Quantifying the effects of land use and climate on Holocene vegetation in Europe
- 2017
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In: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Pergamon Press. - 0277-3791 .- 1873-457X. ; 171, s. 20-37
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Early agriculture can be detected in palaeovegetation records, but quantification of the relative importance of climate and land use in influencing regional vegetation composition since the onset of agriculture is a topic that is rarely addressed. We present a novel approach that combines pollen-based REVEALS estimates of plant cover with climate, anthropogenic land-cover and dynamic vegetation modelling results. This is used to quantify the relative impacts of land use and climate on Holocene vegetation at a sub-continental scale, i.e. northern and western Europe north of the Alps. We use redundancy analysis and variation partitioning to quantify the percentage of variation in vegetation composition explained by the climate and land-use variables, and Monte Carlo permutation tests to assess the statistical significance of each variable. We further use a similarity index to combine pollen based REVEALS estimates with climate-driven dynamic vegetation modelling results. The overall results indicate that climate is the major driver of vegetation when the Holocene is considered as a whole and at the sub-continental scale, although land use is important regionally. Four critical phases of land-use effects on vegetation are identified. The first phase (from 7000 to 6500 BP) corresponds to the early impacts on vegetation of farming and Neolithic forest clearance and to the dominance of climate as a driver of vegetation change. During the second phase (from 4500 to 4000 BP), land use becomes a major control of vegetation. Climate is still the principal driver, although its influence decreases gradually. The third phase (from 2000 to 1500 BP) is characterised by the continued role of climate on vegetation as a consequence of late-Holocene climate shifts and specific climate events that influence vegetation as well as land use. The last phase (from 500 to 350 BP) shows an acceleration of vegetation changes, in particular during the last century, caused by new farming practices and forestry in response to population growth and industrialization. This is a unique signature of anthropogenic impact within the Holocene but European vegetation remains climatically sensitive and thus may continue to respond to ongoing climate change. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 41. |
- Nzayisenga, Jean Claude, et al.
(author)
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Mixotrophic and heterotrophic production of lipids and carbohydrates by a locally isolated microalga using wastewater as a growth medium
- 2018
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In: Bioresource Technology. - : Elsevier. - 0960-8524 .- 1873-2976. ; 257, s. 260-265
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The biomass production and changes in biochemical composition of a locally isolated microalga (Chlorella sp.) were investigated in autotrophic, mixotrophic and heterotrophic conditions, using glucose or glycerol as carbon sources and municipal wastewater as the growth medium. Both standard methods and Multivariate Curve Resolution-Alternating Least Squares (MCR-ALS) analysis of data acquired by Fourier-transform IR (FTIR) spectrometry showed that autotrophic and mixotrophic conditions promoted carbohydrate accumulation, while heterotrophic conditions with glycerol resulted in the highest lipid content and lowest carbohydrate content. Heterotrophic conditions with glycerol as a carbon source also resulted in high oleic acid (18:1) contents and low linolenic acid (18:3) contents, and thus increasing biodiesel quality. The results also show the utility of MCR-ALS for analyzing changes in microalgal biochemical composition.
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| 42. |
- Oldfors Hedberg, Carola, 1969, et al.
(author)
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Grand paternal inheritance of X-linked myotubular myopathy due to mosaicism, and identification of necklace fibers in an asymptomatic male.
- 2017
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In: Neuromuscular disorders : NMD. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2364 .- 0960-8966. ; 27:9, s. 843-847
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- X-linked recessive myotubular myopathy (XLMTM) is a disorder associated with mutations in the myotubularin gene (MTM1) that usually affects boys, with transmission of the mutated allele from the mother. Here we describe a family with unexpected grand paternal transmission of a novel mutation in MTM1 (c.646_648dupGTT; p.Val216dup) identified in a severely affected infant boy with a centronuclear myopathy. We confirmed the carrier status of the mother, but surprisingly we found that her father was a carrier of the mutated MTM1 gene together with wild-type MTM1. A muscle biopsy from the grandfather revealed occasional typical necklace fibers with internalized nucleus, which is typically found in MTM1-associated myopathies. Further analysis of the grandfather revealed equal amounts of DNA with the wild-type sequence and DNA with the c.646_648dupGTT variant in five different tissues examined. In the presence of a normal karyotype (46,XY) in the grandfather and no evidence of intragenic duplication of MTM1, the result was interpreted as postzygotic mosaicism and the mutation had probably occurred at the first mitosis of the zygote. This study demonstrates the importance of considering the possibility of paternal transmission in families with severe X-linked disorders. The muscle biopsy with the finding of typical necklace fibers was important to further establish the pathogenicity of the novel MTM1 mutation.
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| 43. |
- Oscarsson, Nicklas, 1974, et al.
(author)
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Hyperbaric oxygen treatment reverses radiation induced pro-fibrotic and oxidative stress responses in a rat model
- 2017
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In: Free Radical Biology and Medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0891-5849 .- 1873-4596. ; 103, s. 248-255
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- © 2017Purpose Radiotherapy is effective in the treatment of tumors in the pelvic area but is associated with side effects such as cystitis and proctitis. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) has emerged as a treatment modality for radiation-induced side effects. In a rat model for radiation cystitis, we studied the effects of HBOT on oxidative stress and pro-fibrotic factors. Materials and methods Sedated Sprague-Dawley rats underwent bladder irradiation of 20Gy with and without 20 sessions of HBOT during a fortnight. Control animals were treated with and without HBOT. All four groups of animals were euthanized 28 days later. Histopathological examinations, immunohistochemistry and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) were used to analyze changes in oxidative stress (8-OHdG), anti-oxidative responses (SOD-1, SOD2, HO-1 and NRFα) and a panel of Th1-type and Th2-type cytokines (IL-1β, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-13, TNF, TGF-β, IFN-γ) in the urinary bladder. Results Bladder irradiation increased the expression of 8-OHdG, SOD2, HO-1, NRFα, IL-10, TNF and tended to increase TGF-β. These changes were completely reversed by HBOT while HBOT in control animals had no effects on the studied markers for oxidative stress, anti-oxidative responses and Th1-type and Th2-type cytokines. Conclusions Radiation induced a significant elevation of oxidative stress, antioxidants and pro-fibrotic factors in our animal model for radiation cystitis that were completely reversed and normalized by HBOT. Our findings indicate that HBOT may prevent radiation-induced changes by affecting oxidative stress and inflammatory cascades induced by radiation. Summary Radiotherapy may cause the development of chronic inflammation and fibrosis, significantly impairing organ function. We hypothesized that bladder irradiation induces an oxidative stress reaction, thereby triggering the redox system and thus initiating an inflammatory and pro-fibrotic response. We aimed to assess whether these changes would be reversed by hyperbaric oxygen using an animal model for radiation cystitis. Our study show that hyperbaric oxygen may reverse oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory factors induced by radiation.
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| 44. |
- Palmer, M. K., et al.
(author)
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Comparing a novel equation for calculating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol with the Friedewald equation: A VOYAGER analysis
- 2019
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In: Clinical Biochemistry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0009-9120 .- 1873-2933. ; 64, s. 24-29
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Treating elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) to risk-stratified target levels is recommended in several guidelines. Thus, accurate estimation of LDL-C is required. LDL-C is typically calculated using the Friedewald equation: (total cholesterol) - (non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [non-HDL-C]) - (triglycerides [TGs]/5). As the equation uses a fixed value equal to 5 as a divisor for TGs, it does not account for inter-individual variability, often resulting in underestimation of risk and potentially undertreatment. It is specifically inapplicable in patients with fasting triglycerides >= 400 mg/dL. A novel method of LDL-C calculation was derived and validated by Martin et al.: (non-HDL-C) - (triglycerides/adjustable factor). This equation uses an adjustable factor, the median TG:very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio in strata defined by levels of TG and non-HDLC, as divisor for TGs, and the adjustable factor ranging from 3 to 12 has been shown to provide more accurate estimates of LDL-C compared with the Friedewald equation using a direct assay as the gold standard. We used 70,209 baseline and on-treatment lipid values from the VOYAGER meta-analysis database to determine the difference in calculated LDL-C values using the Friedewald and novel equations. In patients with TGs < 400 mg/dL, LDL-C values calculated using the novel equation were plotted against those calculated using the Friedewald equation. The novel equation generally resulted in LDL-C values greater than the Friedewald calculation, with differences increasing with decreasing LDL-C levels; 23% of individuals who reached a LDL-C target of 70 mg/dL with the Friedewald equation did not achieve this target when the novel equation was used to calculate LDL-C; these figures were 8% and 2% for < 100 mg/dL and < 130 mg/dL targets, respectively. In patients with triglycerides >= 400 mg/dL, in whom the Friedewald equation is not valid, lipid values calculated using the novel equation were compared with those obtained by beta-quantification. Values calculated with the novel equation did not appear to be closely related with those calculated by beta-quantification in these patients. In conclusion, the novel equation provides a higher estimation of exact LDL-C values than the Friedewald equation, particularly in patients with low LDL-C levels, which may result in undertreatment of some patients whose LDL-C was calculated using the Friedewald method. However, neither may be suitable for patients with TG >= 400 mg/dL.
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| 45. |
- Parmeggiani, Matteo, et al.
(author)
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Electrokinetic-assisted gating in a microfluidic integrated Si nanoribbon ion sensor for enhanced sensitivity
- 2018
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In: Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical. - : Elsevier BV. - 0925-4005 .- 1873-3077. ; 262, s. 974-981
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using the electrokinetic principle, we demonstrate a novel approach to modulate the response of an ion sensitive silicon-nanoribbon field-effect-transistor, effectively manipulating the device sensitivity to a change in surface potential. By using the streaming potential effect we show that the changes in the surface potential induced by e.g. a pH change can be accurately manipulated in a microfluidic-integrated chip leading to an enhanced response. By varying the flow velocity and the biasing condition along the microfluidic channel, we further demonstrate that the pH response from such a device can also be suppressed or even reversed as a function of the flow velocity and the biasing configuration. Experiments performed with different pH buffer shows that the sensor response can be enhanced/suppressed by several times in magnitude simply by using the streaming potential effects. A mathematical description is also presented for qualitative assessment of the electrokinetic influence on the gate terminal under different biasing condition. The approach presented here shows the prospect to exploit the electrokinetic modulation for developing highly sensitive nanoscale biosensors.
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| 46. |
- Pernebo, Karin, et al.
(author)
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Outcomes of psychotherapeutic and psychoeducative group interventions for children exposed to intimate partner violence
- 2018
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In: International Journal of Child Abuse & Neglect. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0145-2134 .- 1873-7757. ; 79, s. 213-223
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Witnessing violence toward a caregiver during childhood is associated with negative impact on children's health and development, and there is a need for effective interventions for children exposed to intimate partner violence in clinical as well as in community settings. The current effectiveness study investigated symptom reduction after participation in two established group interventions (one community-based psychoeducative intervention; one psychotherapeutic treatment intervention) for children exposed to intimate partner violence and for their non-offending parent. The study included 50 children—24 girls and 26 boys—aged 4–13 years and their mothers. Child and maternal mental health problems and trauma symptoms were assessed pre- and post-treatment. The results indicate that although children showed benefits from both interventions, symptom reduction was larger in the psychotherapeutic intervention, and children with initially high levels of trauma symptoms benefited the most. Despite these improvements, a majority of the children's mothers still reported child trauma symptoms at clinical levels post-treatment. Both interventions substantially reduced maternal post-traumatic stress. The results indicate a need for routine follow-up of children's symptoms after interventions.
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| 47. |
- Pernebo, Karin, et al.
(author)
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Reduced psychiatric symptoms at 6 and 12 months’ follow-up of psychotherapeutic and psychoeducative group interventions for children exposed to intimate partner violence
- 2019
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In: International Journal of Child Abuse & Neglect. - : Elsevier. - 0145-2134 .- 1873-7757. ; 93, s. 228-238
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Long-term follow-up studies of interventions for children exposed to intimate partner violence are few, and the sustainability of their outcomes often remains unexplored and uncertain. Current research including follow-up assessment suggests that treatment gains may be maintained or continue post termination. In addition some children may show increased levels of symptoms. Objective: The present effectiveness study investigated the long-term outcomes of two established group interventions for children exposed to intimate partner violence and their non-offending parent. Participants and Setting: The study included 50 children, 24 girls and 26 boys, aged 4 to 13 years attending a psychotherapeutic child and adolescent mental health service intervention and a psychoeducative community-based intervention. Methods: Background information, child and parental mental health problems, trauma symptoms, and exposure to violence were assessed pre- and post treatment and at 6 and 12 months’ follow-up. Results: Sustained treatment gains and late improvements in children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms and in symptoms of traumatic stress were recorded from post treatment to the follow-up assessments (p =.004–.044; d = 0.29–0.67). No significant increase in symptoms was reported. Additionally, very little continued or renewed child exposure to violence was reported. Conclusions: The results of the study indicate that the children did benefit from the two interventions studied and that the outcomes of reduced child symptoms and protection from exposure to violence were sustainable. Children with severe trauma symptoms benefited the most, though maternal psychological problems may for some have hindered recovery. Clinical implications are discussed.
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| 48. |
- Rönnberg, Sarah, et al.
(author)
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On waveform distortion in the frequency range of 2 kHz–150 kHz—Review and research challenges
- 2017
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In: Electric Power Systems Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-7796 .- 1873-2046. ; 150, s. 1-10
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The frequency range between 2 and 150 kHz has recently gained significant attention, triggered by standardization needs and increased emission in this wide frequency range. This paper gives an overview of the state-of-the-art concerning these so-called supraharmonics, and noticeably indicates the research challenges associated with waveform distortion in this frequency range, with emphasis on the following aspects: emission; propagation; interference; measurements; standardization; modelling and simulation.
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| 49. |
- Sadrizadeh, Sasan, et al.
(author)
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Numerical simulation of the impact of surgeon posture on airborne particle distribution in a turbulent mixing operating theatre
- 2016
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In: Building and Environment. - : Elsevier. - 0360-1323 .- 1873-684X. ; 110, s. 140-147
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Airborne particles released from surgical team members are major sources of surgical site infections. To reduce the risk of such infections, ultraclean-zoned ventilation systems have been widely applied, as a complement to the ventilation of the main operating theatre. The function of ventilation in an operating theatre is usually determined without considering the influence of the staff members' posture and movements. The question of whether the surgeon's posture during an on-going operation will influence particle distribution within the surgical area has not yet been explored in depth or well documented. In the present study we analysed data from investigation of two positions (bending and straightened up), which represent the most common surgeon and staff-member postures. The investigation was performed by applying the computational fluid dynamics methodology to solve the governing equations for airflow and airborne particle dispersion. Ultraclean-zoned ventilation systems were examined as an addition to the conventional operating theatre. We examined three distinct source strengths (mean value of pathogens emitted from one person per second) due to the variety of staff clothing systems. In the upright posture, the screen units reduced the mean air counts of bacteria and the mean counts of sedimenting bacteria to a standard level for infection-prone surgeries in the surgical area. However, the performance of this system could be reduced drastically by improper Work experience. Surgical garments with a high protective capacity result in lower source strength and thus reduces the particle concentration within the surgical area. These results are useful for developing best practices to prevent or at least reduce the infection rate during a surgical intervention.
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| 50. |
- Shah, Furqan A., et al.
(author)
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Commercially pure titanium (cp-Ti) versus titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) materials as bone anchored implants - Is one truly better than the other?
- 2016
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In: Materials science & engineering. C, Materials for biological applications. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-0191. ; 62, s. 960-6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Commercially pure titanium (cp-Ti) and titanium alloys (typically Ti6Al4V) display excellent corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. Although the chemical composition and topography are considered important, the mechanical properties of the material and the loading conditions in the host have, conventionally, influenced material selection for different clinical applications: predominantly Ti6Al4V in orthopaedics while cp-Ti in dentistry. This paper attempts to address three important questions: (i) To what extent do the surface properties differ when cp-Ti and Ti6Al4V materials are manufactured with the same processing technique?, (ii) Does bone tissue respond differently to the two materials, and (iii) Do bacteria responsible for causing biomaterial-associated infections respond differently to the two materials? It is concluded that: (i) Machined cp-Ti and Ti6Al4V exhibit similar surface morphology, topography, phase composition and chemistry, (ii) Under experimental conditions, cp-Ti and Ti6Al4V demonstrate similar osseointegration and biomechanical anchorage, and (iii) Experiments in vitro fail to disclose differences between cp-Ti and Ti6Al4V to harbour Staphylococcus epidermidis growth. No clinical comparative studies exist which could determine if long-term, clinical differences exist between the two types of bulk materials. It is debatable whether cp-Ti or Ti6Al4V exhibit superiority over the other, and further comparative studies, particularly in a clinical setting, are required.
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