| 1. |
- Altermarik, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
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Men sen då…? En forskningsöversikt över barncanceröverlevares livsvillkor i en fragmenterad välfärd
- 2022
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ungefär 7 av 10 som överlever barncancer drabbas av sena komplikationer och bestående funktionsnedsättningar. Exempelvis är förvärvade hjärnskador, kognitiva funktionsnedsättningar, nedsatt immunförsvar och psykisk ohälsa vanligt. Men kunskapen om barncanceröverlevarnas liv som samhällsmedborgare är begränsad. Nu vill Barncancerfonden se mer forskning på området och politiska åtgärder för att förbättra livskvaliteten för barncanceröverlevare.I en forskningsöversikt framtagen av forskarna Niklas Altermark och Mikael Mery Karlsson på uppdrag av Barncancerfonden står det klart att barncanceröverlevare kan stöta på stora problem, både på arbetsmarknaden och vid behov av stöd från socialförsäkringarna. Dessutom är det tydligt att kunskapsluckorna om barncanceröverlevarnas liv som samhällsmedborgare är stora.
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| 2. |
- Andersson, Svante, 1962-, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainable development considerations in supply chains : Firms' relationships with stakeholders in their business sustainability practices—A triangular comparison
- 2022
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Ingår i: Business Strategy and the Environment. - Oxford : John Wiley & Sons. - 0964-4733 .- 1099-0836. ; 32:4, s. 1885-1899
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study aims to investigate focal firms' business sustainability relationships in connection with their stakeholders in supply chain networks. A questionnaire survey was sent to a sample consisting of large Swedish firms, with 107 usable questionnaires returned. The results reveal which stakeholders are of interest for firms in sustainability efforts. The results are compared with earlier findings from Norway and Spain in a triangular approach. The former is a similar country, while the latter is different to Sweden in several ways. In addition, the study uncovers which stakeholders in the supply chain network should be considered. The study also demonstrates how firms can implement business sustainability in their supply chain networks and shows the extent to which different stakeholders are considered in sustainability efforts. The study contributes to sustainability research and stakeholder theory in supply chain networks. Opposite to earlier findings, this study showed only minor influences from national culture and institutions on firms' sustainable business practices in supply chain networks. © 2022 The Authors. Business Strategy and The Environment published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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| 3. |
- Andersson, Svante, 1962-, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainable development—Direct and indirect effects between economic, social, and environmental dimensions in business practices
- 2022
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Ingår i: Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. - Oxford : John Wiley & Sons. - 1535-3958 .- 1535-3966. ; 29:5, s. 1158-1172
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study investigates the direct and indirect effects between economic, social and environmental dimensions of triple bottom line (TBL), based on a questionnaire survey and cross-industrial sample in Sweden. The analyses apply partial least squares structural equation models. The study tests the direct and indirect effects between economic, social, and environmental dimensions of TBL and offers additional validity and reliability to establish the measurement and structural properties between the dimensions of TBL. The study extends earlier findings by explicitly discussing how the three TBL goals relate to each other and shows how the dynamic capability view can be a fruitful lens to investigate business sustainability. Some differences in sustainability business practices caused by differences in national cultures are identified. Sustainability reporting in a strong uncertainty avoidance (UA) country happens in accordance with regulations and laws. Conversely, for weak UA cultures, reporting and compliance with regulations are ways to build trust with stakeholders. That is, reporting is more transparent and widespread in weak UA countries. The study also provides a foundation to guide companies' actions of business sustainability. The model shows companies how to establish the order of actions undertaken across economic, social, and environmental dimensions. In addition, it clarifies that the economic dimension exerts an effect on the social and environmental dimensions. The model also grasps long-term economic performance by including competitiveness and brand value, while earlier research mainly has focused on more short-term measurements as return on assets. © 2022 The Authors. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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| 4. |
- Bestas, Burcu, et al.
(författare)
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A Type II-B Cas9 nuclease with minimized off-targets and reduced chromosomal translocations in vivo
- 2023
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Ingår i: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. - 2041-1723. ; 14:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9) and derived enzymes are widely used as genome editors, but their promiscuous nuclease activity often induces undesired mutations and chromosomal rearrangements. Several strategies for mapping off-target effects have emerged, but they suffer from limited sensitivity. To increase the detection sensitivity, we develop an off-target assessment workflow that uses Duplex Sequencing. The strategy increases sensitivity by one order of magnitude, identifying previously unknown SpCas9's off-target mutations in the humanized PCSK9 mouse model. To reduce off-target risks, we perform a bioinformatic search and identify a high-fidelity Cas9 variant of the II-B subfamily from Parasutterella secunda (PsCas9). PsCas9 shows improved specificity as compared to SpCas9 across multiple tested sites, both in vitro and in vivo, including the PCSK9 site. In the future, while PsCas9 will offer an alternative to SpCas9 for research and clinical use, the Duplex Sequencing workflow will enable a more sensitive assessment of Cas9 editing outcomes. SpCas9 unintended editing is a major concern. Here the authors report an off-target method using Duplex Sequencing with increased sensitivity for Cas9 mutation detection; they also identify a Cas9 variant of the II-B subfamily with intrinsic high fidelity (PsCas9) and see improved specificity.
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| 5. |
- Bohm, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
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Variations in odontological care routines for patients undergoing treatment for head and neck cancer in county councils/regions of Sweden
- 2020
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Ingår i: Clinical and Experimental Dental Research. - : Wiley. - 2057-4347. ; 6:1, s. 3-15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective To investigate current odontological care routines for patients treated for head and neck cancers in the county councils/regions (C/Rs) of Sweden. Methods An invitation to fill in a web-based questionnaire was sent to dentists/dental hygienists working in dental clinics in the 12 C/Rs, treating and responsible for the odontological care of patients undergoing treatment for cancer of the head and neck. The questionnaire started with two mandatory and one non-mandatory questions, followed by questions regarding routines before (n = 28), during (n = 23), and after (n = 9) treatment, plus two additional questions, totalling 65 questions. Results Four dental hygienists and six dentists in 10 of the 12 C/Rs answered the questionnaire. Three C/Rs stated that they measure both the unstimulated and stimulated salivary secretion rate, and another C/R stated that they measure the stimulated secretion rate only. Similar recommendations were given regarding oral hygiene, salivary stimulants and substitutes, and extra fluoride. However, great variations were seen regarding recommendations for preventing and relieving oral mucositis. There were also discrepancies regarding information about the importance of avoiding smoking and alcohol. In seven C/Rs, patients visited the dental hygienist once a week during cancer treatment. Conclusion The results suggests that there are great variations in odontological care given to patients undergoing treatment for cancer of the head and neck region in different county councils/regions in Sweden. There is a need to develop and implement evidence-based guidelines to decrease the risk of oral complications and increase both the quality of life and the quality of care.
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| 6. |
- Carmont, Michael R, 1972, et al.
(författare)
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Endoscopically Assisted Reconstruction of the Achilles Tendon Using Semitendinosus Graft
- 2021
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Ingår i: Video Journal of Sports Medicine. - : SAGE Publications. - 2635-0254. ; 1:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background:Chronic ruptures of the Achilles tendon may lead to symptomatic weakness, despite rehabilitation. Open reconstruction yields good outcome but has a high complication rate, notably wound problems. Endoscopically assisted free semitendinosus transfer restores ankle and preserves first metatarsophalangeal joint (MTPJ) function.Indications:The main indication for the procedure is symptomatic chronic rupture of the Achilles tendon with a palpable tendon gap.Technique Description:The procedure can be split into 4 stages: graft harvest, calcaneum and tunnel preparation, proximal graft attachment, and finally graft passage and screw insertion.Discussion/Conclusion:Following reconstruction, patients use a cast in full plantar flexion for 2 weeks, then a graduated walker for full weight-bearing.
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| 7. |
- Chou, Chia-Ying, et al.
(författare)
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Precipitation Kinetics During Post-heat Treatment of an Additively Manufactured Ferritic Stainless Steel
- 2022
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Ingår i: Metallurgical and Materials Transactions. A. - : Springer Nature. - 1073-5623 .- 1543-1940. ; 53:8, s. 3073-3082
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The microstructure response of laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF)-processed ferritic stainless steel (AISI 441) during post-heat treatments is studied in detail. Focus is on the precipitation kinetics of the Nb-rich phases: Laves (Fe2Nb) and the cubic carbo-nitride (NbC), as well as the grain structure evolution. The evolution of the precipitates is characterized using scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) and the experimental results are used to calibrate precipitation kinetics simulations using the precipitation module (TC-PRISMA) within the Thermo-Calc Software package. The calculations reproduce the main trend for both the mean radii for the Laves phase and the NbC, and the amount of Laves phase, as a function of temperature. The calibrated model can be used to optimize the post-heat treatment of additively manufactured ferritic stainless steel components and offer a creator tool for process and structure linkages in an integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) framework for alloy and process development of additively manufactured ferritic steels.
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| 8. |
- Dahlbäck, Cecilia, et al.
(författare)
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Muscle mass and quality as predictors for complications, recurrence and length of hospital stay in acute uncomplicated diverticulitis: a retrospective cohort study
- 2023
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0036-5521 .- 1502-7708. ; 58:4, s. 375-379
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate the potential correlation between muscle mass/muscle quality and risk of complications or recurrence in patients presenting with acute uncomplicated diverticulitis. It was also to study if low muscle mass/quality correlated to prolonged hospital stay.Materials and methodsThe study population comprised 501 patients admitted to Helsingborg Hospital or Skåne University Hospital between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2017, who had been diagnosed with acute uncomplicated diverticulitis and undergone computed tomography upon admission. The scans were used to estimate skeletal muscle mass and muscle radiation attenuation (an indicator for muscle quality). Skeletal muscle index was obtained by adjusting skeletal muscle mass to the patients’ height. Values of below the fifth percentile of a normal population were considered low.ResultsThere were no differences between the patients with normal versus those with low skeletal muscle mass, skeletal muscle index or muscle radiation attenuation regarding risk of complications or recurrence of diverticular disease. However, as only 11 patients had complications, no conclusion as to a potential correlation can be made. Low muscle quality correlated to longer hospital stay, also when adjusting for other potential confounders.ConclusionsMuscle mass/quality do not seem to serve as predictor of risk for recurrent disease in patients with acute uncomplicated diverticulitis. However, low muscle radiation attenuation was associated with prolonged hospital stay. This indicates that muscle quality, assessed by computed tomography scan, might be used in clinical practise to identify patients at risk of longer hospitalisation.
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| 9. |
- Falk, Malin Värmå, et al.
(författare)
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A qualitative study of facilitators and barriers to participate in a needle exchange program for women who inject drugs
- 2020
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Ingår i: Harm Reduction Journal. - : BMC. - 1477-7517. ; 17:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Women who inject drugs (WWID) show higher levels of injecting risk behaviour compared to men, putting them at risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis C (HCV). Compared to men, WWID are also less present in harm reduction programs such as needle exchange programs (NEP). The aim of this study is to investigate reasons for, and barriers to, participation in NEP among WWID in Sweden, and to identify measures that could be taken to strengthen the program and increase participation among WWID. Method In-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted with 20 WWID who had participated in the Stockholm NEP for at least six months and was over 18 years old. IDIs were audio recorded and transcribedet verbatim. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify themes. Results The need for sterile injection equipment was identified as the main driver to join and remain in the NEP program. Continuous participation in the NEP was further driven by easy access to a multitude of health-related services. The most valued service was the sexual and reproductive health services (SRHR), allowing participants to access contraceptives, cervical cancer screening and sexually transmitted infections testing (STI-testing). NEP staffs' respectful treatment of participants further contributed to program participation. However, participants also expressed a number of concerns around NEP participation, which created barriers to joining. These included losing custody or visitation rights to children, male partner jealousy and violence, unwillingness to spend time in the waiting area and fear of receiving positive HIV/HCV test results. Practical barriers included limited opening hours and travel distance to the NEP. To strengthen the program, most participants requested additional SRHR services. Most participants also proposed some form of "women only" access to the NEP, to strengthen the feeling of the NEP as a safe space. Conclusion This study identified factors that may increase uptake of NEP among WWID. Additional SRHR services and "women only" access are recommended to be implemented and evaluated as part of NEP. These findings may inform and improve the current scale-up of NEPs in Sweden to ensure equal access to services.
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| 10. |
- Fineschi, Serena, et al.
(författare)
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Inflammation and Interferon Signatures in Peripheral B-Lymphocytes and Sera of Individuals With Fibromyalgia
- 2022
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Immunology. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1664-3224. ; 13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Fibromyalgia (FM) is an idiopathic chronic disease characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, hyperalgesia and allodynia, often accompanied by fatigue, cognitive dysfunction and other symptoms. Autoimmunity and neuroinflammatory mechanisms have been suggested to play important roles in the pathophysiology of FM supported by recently identified interferon signatures in affected individuals. However, the contribution of different components in the immune system, such as the B-lymphocytes, in the progression to FM are yet unknown. Furthermore, there is a great need for biomarkers that may improve diagnostics of FM. Herein, we investigated the gene expression profile in peripheral B-cells, as well as a panel of inflammatory serum proteins, in 30 FM patients and 23 healthy matched control individuals. RNA sequence analysis revealed 60 differentially expressed genes when comparing the two groups. The group of FM patients showed increased expression of twenty-five interferon-regulated genes, such as S100A8 and S100A9, VCAM, CD163, SERPINA1, ANXA1, and an increased interferon score. Furthermore, FM was associated with elevated levels of 19 inflammatory serum proteins, such as IL8, AXIN1, SIRT2 and STAMBP, that correlated with the FM severity score. Together, the results shows that FM is associated with an interferon signature in B-cells and increased levels of a set of inflammatory serum proteins. Our findings bring further support for immune activation in the pathogenesis of FM and highlight candidate biomarkers for diagnosis and intervention in the management of FM.
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| 11. |
- Glodzik, Dominik, et al.
(författare)
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Comprehensive molecular comparison of BRCA1 hypermethylated and BRCA1 mutated triple negative breast cancers
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) is a defining characteristic in BRCA-deficient breast tumors caused by genetic or epigenetic alterations in key pathway genes. We investigated the frequency of BRCA1 promoter hypermethylation in 237 triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) from a population-based study using reported whole genome and RNA sequencing data, complemented with analyses of genetic, epigenetic, transcriptomic and immune infiltration phenotypes. We demonstrate that BRCA1 promoter hypermethylation is twice as frequent as BRCA1 pathogenic variants in early-stage TNBC and that hypermethylated and mutated cases have similarly improved prognosis after adjuvant chemotherapy. BRCA1 hypermethylation confers an HRD, immune cell type, genome-wide DNA methylation, and transcriptional phenotype similar to TNBC tumors with BRCA1-inactivating variants, and it can be observed in matched peripheral blood of patients with tumor hypermethylation. Hypermethylation may be an early event in tumor development that progress along a common pathway with BRCA1-mutated disease, representing a promising DNA-based biomarker for early-stage TNBC.
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| 12. |
- Gonzalez-Franquesa, Alba, et al.
(författare)
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Discovery of thymosin β4 as a human exerkine and growth factor
- 2021
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Ingår i: American Journal of Physiology - Cell Physiology. - : American Physiological Society. - 0363-6143 .- 1522-1563. ; 321:5, s. 770-778
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Skeletal muscle is an endocrine organ secreting exercise-induced factors (exerkines), which play a pivotal role in interorgan cross talk. Using mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics, we characterized the secretome and identified thymosin b4 (TMSB4X) as the most upregulated secreted protein in the media of contracting C2C12 myotubes. TMSB4X was also acutely increased in the plasma of exercising humans irrespective of the insulin resistance condition or exercise mode. Treatment of mice with TMSB4X did not ameliorate the metabolic disruptions associated with diet induced-obesity, nor did it enhance muscle regeneration in vivo. However, TMSB4X increased osteoblast proliferation and neurite outgrowth, consistent with its WADA classification as a prohibited growth factor. Therefore, we report TMSB4X as a human exerkine with a potential role in cellular cross talk.
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| 13. |
- Hadid, L. Z., et al.
(författare)
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Solar Orbiter's first Venus flyby : Observations from the Radio and Plasma Wave instrument
- 2021
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 656
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. On December 27, 2020, Solar Orbiter completed its first gravity assist manoeuvre of Venus (VGAM1). While this flyby was performed to provide the spacecraft with sufficient velocity to get closer to the Sun and observe its poles from progressively higher inclinations, the Radio and Plasma Wave (RPW) consortium, along with other operational in situ instruments, had the opportunity to perform high cadence measurements and study the plasma properties in the induced magnetosphere of Venus.Aims. In this paper, we review the main observations of the RPW instrument during VGAM1. They include the identification of a number of magnetospheric plasma wave modes, measurements of the electron number densities computed using the quasi-thermal noise spectroscopy technique and inferred from the probe-to-spacecraft potential, the observation of dust impact signatures, kinetic solitary structures, and localized structures at the bow shock, in addition to the validation of the wave normal analysis on-board from the Low Frequency Receiver.Methods. We used the data products provided by the different subsystems of RPW to study Venus' induced magnetosphere.Results. The results include the observations of various electromagnetic and electrostatic wave modes in the induced magnetosphere of Venus: strong emissions of similar to 100 Hz whistler waves are observed in addition to electrostatic ion acoustic waves, solitary structures and Langmuir waves in the magnetosheath of Venus. Moreover, based on the different levels of the wave amplitudes and the large-scale variations of the electron number densities, we could identify different regions and boundary layers at Venus.Conclusions. The RPW instrument provided unprecedented AC magnetic and electric field measurements in Venus' induced magnetosphere for continuous frequency ranges and with high time resolution. These data allow for the conclusive identification of various plasma waves at higher frequencies than previously observed and a detailed investigation regarding the structure of the induced magnetosphere of Venus. Furthermore, noting that prior studies were mainly focused on the magnetosheath region and could only reach 10-12 Venus radii (R-V) down the tail, the particular orbit geometry of Solar Orbiter's VGAM1, allowed the first investigation of the nature of the plasma waves continuously from the bow shock to the magnetosheath, extending to similar to 70R(V) in the far distant tail region.
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| 14. |
- Handin, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
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Proteome deconvolution of liver biopsies reveals hepatic cell composition as an important marker of fibrosis
- 2023
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Ingår i: Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal. - : Elsevier. - 2001-0370. ; 21, s. 4361-4369
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Human liver tissue is composed of heterogeneous mixtures of different cell types and their cellular stoichiometry can provide information on hepatic physiology and disease progression. Deconvolution algorithms for the identification of cell types and their proportions have recently been developed for transcriptomic data. However, no method for the deconvolution of bulk proteomics data has been presented to date. Here, we show that proteomes, which usually contain less data than transcriptomes, can provide useful information for cell type deconvolution using different algorithms. We demonstrate that proteomes from defined mixtures of cell lines, isolated primary liver cells, and human liver biopsies can be deconvoluted with high accuracy. In contrast to transcriptome-based deconvolution, liver tissue proteomes also provided information about extracellular compartments. Using deconvolution of proteomics data from liver biopsies of 56 patients undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery we show that proportions of immune and stellate cells correlate with inflammatory markers and altered composition of extracellular matrix proteins characteristic of early-stage fibrosis. Our results thus demonstrate that proteome deconvolution can be used as a molecular microscope for investigations of the composition of cell types, extracellular compartments, and for exploring cell-type specific pathological events. We anticipate that these findings will allow the refinement of retrospective analyses of the growing number of proteome datasets from various liver disease states and pave the way for AI-supported clinical and preclinical diagnostics.
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| 15. |
- Hansson, Anna, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Biogas production in the industrial symbiosis context – facilitating collaboration through digitalization
- 2024
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Ingår i: 5THCESUST2024: 5TH SYMPOSIUM ON CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND SUSTAINABILITY.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Improving sustainability performance and adapting to circular economy principles in operational business strategies are becoming increasingly prioritized. In this pursuit, the concept of industrial symbiosis (IS) has become increasingly relevant. IS represents a collaborative approach where the interplay of material, residual waste, energy, and infrastructure exchanges aims to yield not only economic and environmental advantages for the participating companies but also substantial societal benefits by using resources more efficiently. Biogas production is such an example, it can reduce greenhouse gas emissions since it can produce heat and electricity, replace renewable fuel for vehicles, or be used as input material for industrial use. The digestate from biogas production can also be used as an effective agricultural fertilizer to replace chemical fertilizers which are produced using fossil energy.Digital tools and platforms in IS can be used to different extent depending on businesses levels of digital maturity (the extent to which businesses adapt to ongoing digital change and integrate digitalization). Digital tools and platforms hold a central role for developing various advantages in biogas-based IS, but since the digital maturity for IS focusing on biogas production is uncertain, the current efficiency obtained by tools and platforms is unknown. Therefore, through semi-structured interviews and study visits, this study assesses stakeholder collaboration and use of digital tools at five IS sites with biogas production in Sweden. It explores (i) current digital maturity and collaboration characteristics amongst established biogas-based IS, and (ii) needs amongst stakeholders for development of digital tools and platforms to promote digital maturity, monitoring, collaboration, and knowledge exchange in current and future IS structures.Preliminary results of the on-going study show that the use of digital tools varies depending on the character and size of resource flows that are included in the collaboration, and due to the internal digital maturity of the involved companies. In general, the use of digital tools for stakeholder interaction is on low or medium level, in which manual handling is required and little is automated. This complies with the sites being relatively small, and the number of stakeholders involved are relatively few. Moreover, the preliminary results show that the interest of future development of digital tools is found to be related to business development and expanded market opportunities through diversified raw material use, increased production, and new distribution channels. In addition, a demand of digital platforms for exchange of experience and competence supply has been identified.
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| 16. |
- Hansson, Anna, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Drivers and Barriers for Initiating the Business Model Innovation Process for Sustainability Based on Ecosystem Services
- 2022
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on New Business Models. - Rome : LUMSA University. - 9791221011883 ; , s. 253-256
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The agricultural sector has a critical role in creating social and environmental value from natural resources in addition to its traditional role of creating economic value through food production. In fulfilling this dual role, the agricultural sector faces what is often viewed as competing pressures: to operate financially profitable businesses and to create, maintain and benefit from ecosystem services (ES) in their operations. ES, such as food production, climate regulation, and water management, are benefits ecological systems provide humans and that are critical to the function of life-support systems on earth (Costanza et al., 1997).Previous research shows that agricultural businesses associate maintenance of sustainability-oriented ES (other than those connected to food production such as climate regulation and water purification) with increased costs connected to their preservation, and uncertain incomes due to their intangibility and long-termism (Bocken and Geradts, 2019; Hansson et al., 2012; Smith and Sullivan, 2014). As a result, drivers, barriers, and changes in the external environment greatly shape business strategies and decisions on activities for creating, delivering, and capturing sustainable value (Kaplan, 2011; Teece, 2010; Yang et al., 2019). Moreover, the understanding of such moderating factors is especially important for realising sustainable business activities that require radical changes in current business models (BMs) (Lütz and Bastian, 2002; Bocken and Geradts, 2019). A BM describes the business logic of a company i.e., how economic value is created, captured, and delivered (e.g., Teece, 2010; Zott and Amit, 2007). It can be used to describe and implement a company’s current and future plans for financial success through producing, marketing, and selling sustainable goods and services (Karlsson et al., 2018).Sustainability-oriented BM changes can be realized via a business model innovation process for sustainability (BMIpfS) that builds on a systematic and holistic mindset of the involved actors (Stubbs and Cocklin, 2008; Zott and Amit, 2010). The BMIpfS requires businesses to make strategic decisions related to market, customers, and value propositions for optimizing social and environmental value creation (Bocken et al., 2014; Schaltegger et al., 2016). The BMIpfS can thus be crucial for driving the development of sustainable BMs (Karlsson et al., 2018) for agricultural businesses in which the creation and processing of ES are important elements. Through BM changes supported by the BMIpfS, inclusion of ES previously not captured by BMs could become a sustainable value-creating activity for agricultural businesses and their stakeholders (e.g., customers, suppliers, and retailers) by creating financial value from ES while simultaneously preserving the ecosystems.Thus, the aim of this study is to further the understanding of drivers and barriers, as perceived by agricultural business managers, for initiating the BMIpfS based on the inclusion of sustainability-oriented ES. The study uses qualitative thematic content analysis (Graneheim and Lundman, 2004) to analyse the data of perceived drivers and barriers to the initiation of the BMIpfS as they are revealed in semi-structured interviews by ten agricultural business managers operating farms in southern Sweden.The results show that business managers’ main business concerns were based on financial considerations that acted as either drivers or barriers for the initiation of the BMIpfS depending on whether the managers viewed the inclusion of sustainability-oriented ES as business risks or as opportunities. The drivers reported by the managers were based on the core idea of realising and taking advantage of business opportunities, both on a short-term and a long-term basis, in connection to the uncaptured value inclusion of sustainability-oriented ES in BMs can offer. The managers were also driven by their belief that sustainable value creation is a business responsibility in relation to stakeholders and the global population in which challenges to food supplies play an important part. The drivers included the idea that a breaking point may arrive when profit cannot be sustained and a new balance between shareholder and stakeholder value is needed. To proactively avoid such breaking points, they viewed value creation and capture of sustainability-oriented ES as an important part of sustainable farming systems. The barriers identified revealed that the business managers’ main concern was the financial risks associated with the sometimes substantial changes to current farming systems required to include sustainability-oriented ES. They were concerned with how these changes would affect their long-term profit, especially the impact on their revenue streams. This was emphasised by their low tolerance for uncertainty when making decisions about business changes, especially because they thought the proposed changes were antithetical to their traditional value-creating activities and their self-perception of what it means to be a food producer. Unclear benefits from meeting sustainability targets added to their doubts.On a general level, this study contributes to the business model innovation literature by identifying drivers and barriers that moderates the initiation of the BMIpfS. It complements previous research regarding the connection between individual, sustainability concerns and organisational values in a BM change process (Bansal 2003; Rauter et al., 2017). Through the contributions of this study, the needs connected to sustainable BM change amongst agricultural business managers can be better understood and met as the managers acknowledge the importance of long-term, sustainable social and environmental value creation, while addressing their grave doubts about the profitability of activities associated with the initiation of the BMIpfS based on to the inclusion of sustainability-oriented ES. The managers would benefit from taking a more proactive, long-term approach to business model changes for sustainability and from acquiring more knowledge about market demand for sustainability-oriented ES. Support is needed by one or several actors that can facilitate (clarify, motivate, and practically assist) change and improve the turning of profits based on sustainable value creation (Kundrupi et al., 2021). The results could also be important for policy makers in the development of agricultural support systems and programmes. These, in turn, can benefit the implementation of sustainability-oriented BM changes that can play a crucial role in preservation of natural ecosystems.
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| 17. |
- Hansson, Anna M., 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Barriers and drivers for sustainable business model innovation based on a radical farmland change scenario
- 2023
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Ingår i: Environment, Development and Sustainability. - Dordrecht : Springer. - 1387-585X .- 1573-2975. ; 25:8, s. 8083-8106
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The agricultural sector has a critical role in creating social and environmental value of natural resources in addition to its traditional role of creating economic value by supplying food to the ever-increasing world population. In fulfilling this dual role, the agricultural sector often faces competing pressures: to operate financially profitable businesses and to create, maintain, and benefit from ecosystem services (ES) in their operations. This paper analyses these pressures in an examination of drivers and barriers to the initiation of the business model innovation process for sustainability (BMIpfS) as perceived by ten agricultural business managers who operate farms in southern Sweden. The paper explores the interplay between managerial cognition and business decisions as revealed in semi-structured interviews. The new ES in focus connect to radical land-use change, paludiculture, as used in the rewetting of farmland intended to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that drained peat soil causes. The paper contributes to the literature by identifying drivers and barriers that moderates the initiation of the BMIpfS. Although the managers acknowledge the importance of long-term, sustainable social, and environmental value creation, they have grave doubts about the profitability of activities associated with the preservation of peat soils and connected ES. These managers would benefit from taking a more proactive, long-term approach to business model changes for sustainability and from acquiring more knowledge about market demand for sustainability-oriented ES. Successful facilitation and implementation of knowledge transfer and government subsidies that support ES could improve the turning of profits based on sustainable value creation.
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| 18. |
- Hansson, Anna M., 1984-
(författare)
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Get it off the ground – Facilitating water-related environmental measures to support agricultural managers in business model innovation processes for sustainability
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Agricultural businesses, which currently maintain, manage, create, and capture economic value from natural resources on farmland, play an important role in creating sustainable economic, environmental, and social value through maintaining and utilising a variety of ecosystem services in addition to traditional food production. This thesis focuses on ecosystem services that derive from water-related environmental measures (WREMs). This focus is motivated by a growing awareness of WREMs in the agricultural landscape, and of their connection to climate effects and water quantity and quality issues, which have substantial societal impact. Even though many agricultural business managers have a genuine interest in sustainability concerns, they tend to favour food production at the cost of providing other ecosystem services. Part of the explanation is that ecosystem services’ ability to provide social and environmental value for the public good often lacks full-cost accounting and clear market demand. This results in uncertainties among agricultural business managers about how to capture economic value from WREMs and associated ecosystem services, leading to their benefits and value being only partly known or only indirectly connected to the main agricultural production, and therefore not included in current business models to any great extent.Business models can be developed to enable value capture from WREMs through the business model innovation process for sustainability (BMIpfS). The BMIpfS identifies changes of current activities and adapts existing business models to support sustainable development and produce positive (or reduce negative) environmental effects on society, while producing long-term prosperity for businesses and their stakeholders. Due to the wide range of activities and stakeholders, the BMIpfS is complex and needs to be incentivised and facilitated. To provide sufficient facilitation for the BMIpfS initiation, underlying barriers and drivers for business managers’ value intention (their business motives) for the BMIpfS need to be explored. Facilitation based on the value intention of business managers can ease the process and be used to support identification of value not yet captured in business models, as well as provide expertise to identify marketable sustainable products and services beyond existing markets. Facilitation can be managed through government-affiliated intermediaries who are in a favourable position to assess local conditions, identify needs and resources, and develop partnerships with stakeholders that align with current agri-environmental programmes. To facilitate sustainable business commitments in agriculture, a better understanding is needed of how government-affiliated intermediaries can support implementation of WREMs and promote the BMIpfS initiation by aligning agricultural business managers’ value intention with societal sustainability goals. Consequently, the overarching aim of this thesis is to explore how the facilitation of WREMs can support the BMIpfS through an improved understanding of (i) the value intention of agricultural business managers and (ii) how government-affiliated intermediaries can facilitate the process initiation.This thesis builds on four sequential studies, all conducted within external research projects. The first two are qualitative interview studies that build on each other to inductively explore agricultural business mangers’ incentives for taking on more long-term and high-effort WREMs and committing to value capture of sustainability-related measures. They identify barriers and drivers as part of the agricultural business managers’ value intention and analyse its connection to the BMIpfS initiation. The third study is quantitative and was conducted through a survey that more deductively explores how opportunities for sustainable value creation and business model innovation through WREMs can be facilitated to align with the managers’ value intention that emerged in the first two studies. Finally, the fourth study is a qualitative interview study that takes an evaluative approach to further clarify how the facilitation of WREMs can be structured and organised to promote BMIpfS initiation in agriculture. The results of this research show that business change incentives for sustainability activities are part of pre-initiation conditions of the BMIpfS through the value intention of business managers. The value intention is clarified as business managers’ (i) identification as producers of value, (ii) difficulties identifying uncaptured sustainability value, and (iii) prioritisation of profitability and practical benefits. Adding value intention to a pre-initiation process phase contributes to the BMIpfS literature by providing a better understanding of how to support the BMIpfS initiation and promote more long-term and high-effort sustainability commitments, and value creating and capturing activities, among business managers. The results also show how WREM commitments and initiation of the BMIpfS can be facilitated through government-affiliated intermediaries. The government-affiliated intermediation is explained as comprising structures and activities to promote: (i) WREMs that include synergy between environmental and business aspects from a long-term perspective on value creating and capturing activities; (ii) flexible approaches adapted to business managers’ needs, that promote autonomy, trust, and sense of control; and (iii) structured collaboration and networks for knowledge exchange between stakeholders on different societal levels. With the value intention of business managers as a foundation, these results complement previous research on government-affiliated intermediaries and show how they can be structured to facilitate sustainable agricultural business activities and promote the BMIpfS initiation in line with societal sustainability targets. To integrate its results, this thesis develops a framework that advances the understanding of how to facilitate business model innovation towards sustainability and capture a wider range of value from ecosystem services. Through facilitation, innovation of business models towards sustainability can be promoted to realise currently uncaptured value that could benefit business revenues and societal goals. In this way, agriculture could continue to provide the world’s population with food, in line with the goals of sustainable development, but with an expanded approach so that food production becomes a basis on which to build business activities that also improve the conditions for several other goals, such as protection of ecosystems and water resources.
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| 19. |
- Hållén, J., et al.
(författare)
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Using a dynamic mass balance model to predict fate and transport of PCBs in a polluted boreal lake in Sweden
- 2022
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - Stockholm : IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet AB. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 853, s. 158522-158522
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2013, a screening survey including fish (European perch, Perca fluviatilis) from 20 locations in the Stockholm region of Sweden indicated exceptionally high levels of PCBs (>450 ng ΣPCB7/g ww) in Lake Oxundasjön. An extensive sampling program was launched to define the magnitude and area of impact of PCBs. Moreover, a dynamic mass balance model approach was applied to identify and quantify key transport processes and predict the long-term turnover of PCBs given various remediation scenarios.Based on the dating of sediment profiles, primary emissions of PCBs to Lake Oxundasjön have likely occurred from the end of the 1940s until 1980, reaching the lake via one of its tributaries. Presently, the main source of PCBs is diffusion from the lake sediments. From the lake outlet, >400 g ΣPCB7/yr are transported to LakeMälaren (the third largest lake in Sweden), supplying drinkingwater for parts of the Stockholm area. Remediation actions are necessary to reduce the PCB levels in fish below today's marketing limits and environmental quality standards.With natural recovery, our results indicate that the PCB levels in non-migratory fish from Lake Oxundasjön will be elevated for decades to come. The mass of PCBs stored in the lake sediments was estimated, and to our knowledge, Lake Oxundasjön is the most heavily PCB contaminated lake in Sweden. The system constitutes a unique opportunity to test and develop a mathematical mass balance model for PCBs, with substantial data acquired from different aquatic matrices. The model presented in the paper is applicable for risk assessments of PCBs, and the results contribute to the general understanding of the transport and turnover dynamics of PCBs in aquatic ecosystems.
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| 20. |
- Ingefors, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Low 30-day mortality and low carbapenem-resistance in a decade of Acinetobacter bacteraemia in South Sweden
- 2022
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Ingår i: Infection Ecology and Epidemiology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2000-8686. ; 12:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The aim of this study was to provide a descriptive account of carbapenem resistance and risk factors for mortality from invasive Acinetobacter infections in the south of Sweden.Methods: Blood isolates with growth of Acinetobacter species between 2010 and 2019 in Skåne county were subtyped using MALDI-TOF and subjected to susceptibility testing against clinically relevant antibiotics. Association between risk factors and 30-day mortality were analysed in univariate and multivariate logistic regression models.Results: There were 179 bacteraemia episodes in 176 patients included in the study. The 30-day all-cause mortality was 16%. In all, two percent of Acinetobacter strains were carbapenem resistant. Independent risk factors associated with 30-day mortality in the multivariate regression model were Acinetobacter growth in all blood cultures drawn at the day of bacteraemia onset (OR 5.0, 95% CI: 1.8 to 13.7, p= 0.002), baseline functional capacity (1-4 points, OR 2.0, 95% CI: 1.2 to 3.4, p= 0.010) and correct empiric antibiotics at time of culture (OR 3.5 95% CI: 1.0 to 11.8, p= 0.045).Conclusion: This study on Acinetobacter bacteraemia in South Sweden found low 30-day mortality and low carbapenem-resistance rates compared to previous international studies which may be due to a higher rate of contaminant findings.
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| 21. |
- Jakobsson, Niklas, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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How do users adapt to a short-range battery electric vehicle in a two-car household? Results from a trial in Sweden
- 2022
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Ingår i: Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives. - : Elsevier BV. - 2590-1982. ; 15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We supplied 25 two-car households with a short-range battery electric vehicle (BEV) to study their adaptation to a BEV replacing one of their conventional cars. The data includes GPS-measured driving of the households’ two original cars for 2–3 months, and for the BEV and the remaining conventional car for 3–4 months. We performed interviews with the households before and after the BEV trial period. We can thus compare the change in measured driving patterns and the users’ experienced adaptation in relation to their measured driving adaptation. We find large heterogeneity in measured adaptation, with some users driving the BEV more than the replaced car and some less. Most users state a preference for using the BEV, but this is not always detectable in the GPS data. Similarly, expected issues with the range limitation from the GPS data do not predict satisfaction with the BEV from the qualitative data.
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| 22. |
- Jansson Timan, Terje, et al.
(författare)
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One-year mortality rates after standardized management for emergency laparotomy: results from the Swedish SMASH study
- 2024
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Ingår i: BJS Open. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 2474-9842. ; 8:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Patients who require an emergency laparotomy suffer from high mortality and morbidity rates. Studies have shown that the standardization of perioperative management reduces complications in the short term. The aim of the present study was to report long-term mortality rates for the SMASH (Standardized perioperative Management of patients operated with acute Abdominal Surgery in a High-risk and emergency setting) study, as well as short- and long-term outcomes for different age groups within the SMASH study. Methods: A prospective intervention study was introduced in 2018, with the aim of investigating the introduction of a standardized protocol for emergency laparotomy. For 42 months, intervention patients were managed according to the protocol and outcomes were then compared with those of historical controls. Results: A total of 1344 unique patients were included (681 in the intervention group and 663 in the control group). The 90-day mortality rate was 14.1 per cent in the intervention group and 20.8 per cent in the control group (P = 0.002) and the 1-year mortality rate in adjusted analyses was 19.7 and 27.8 per cent respectively (P =< 0.001). An age-related subgroup analysis showed that the oldest patients (76 years and older, 260 in the intervention group and 240 in the control group) had a 1-year mortality rate of 29.6 and 43.8 per cent respectively (P = 0.004) and a mean duration of hospital stay of 9.9 and 11.6 days respectively (P = 0.027). Among older adults (61-75 years), the mean duration of hospital stay was 11.7 days in the intervention group compared with 15.1 days in the control group (P = 0.009) and the mean duration of ICU care was reduced to 4.49 days compared with 7.29 days (P = 0.046). Conclusion: The standardized protocol associated with an emergency laparotomy appears to be beneficial, even in the long term. For elderly patients, it appears to reduce mortality rates and the durations of hospital stay and ICU care.
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| 23. |
- Jiang, Zheshun, et al.
(författare)
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Hexavalent chromium still a concern in Sweden : Evidence from a cross-sectional study within the SafeChrom project
- 2024
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Ingår i: International journal of hygiene and environmental health. - : Elsevier. - 1438-4639 .- 1618-131X. ; 256
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ObjectivesHexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is classified as a human carcinogen. Occupational Cr(VI) exposure can occur during different work processes, but the current exposure to Cr(VI) at Swedish workplaces is unknown.MethodsThis cross-sectional study (SafeChrom) recruited non-smoking men and women from 14 companies with potential Cr(VI) exposure (n = 113) and controls from 6 companies without Cr(VI) exposure (n = 72). Inhalable Cr(VI) was measured by personal air sampling (outside of respiratory protection) in exposed workers. Total Cr was measured in urine (pre- and post-shift, density-adjusted) and red blood cells (RBC) (reflecting Cr(VI)) in exposed workers and controls. The Bayesian tool Expostats was used to assess risk and evaluate occupational exposure limit (OEL) compliance.ResultsThe exposed workers performed processing of metal products, steel production, welding, plating, and various chemical processes. The geometric mean concentration of inhalable Cr(VI) in exposed workers was 0.15 μg/m3 (95% confidence interval: 0.11–0.21). Eight of the 113 exposed workers (7%) exceeded the Swedish OEL of 5 μg/m3, and the Bayesian analysis estimated the share of OEL exceedances up to 19.6% for stainless steel welders. Median post-shift urinary (0.60 μg/L, 5th-95th percentile 0.10–3.20) and RBC concentrations (0.73 μg/L, 0.51–2.33) of Cr were significantly higher in the exposed group compared with the controls (urinary 0.10 μg/L, 0.06–0.56 and RBC 0.53 μg/L, 0.42–0.72). Inhalable Cr(VI) correlated with urinary Cr (rS = 0.64) and RBC-Cr (rS = 0.53). Workers within steel production showed the highest concentrations of inhalable, urinary and RBC Cr. Workers with inferred non-acceptable local exhaustion ventilation showed significantly higher inhalable Cr(VI), urinary and RBC Cr concentrations compared with those with inferred acceptable ventilation. Furthermore, workers with inferred correct use of respiratory protection were exposed to significantly higher concentrations of Cr(VI) in air and had higher levels of Cr in urine and RBC than those assessed with incorrect or no use. Based on the Swedish job-exposure-matrix, approximately 17 900 workers were estimated to be occupationally exposed to Cr(VI) today.ConclusionsOur study demonstrates that some workers in Sweden are exposed to high levels of the non-threshold carcinogen Cr(VI). Employers and workers seem aware of Cr(VI) exposure, but more efficient exposure control strategies are required. National strategies aligned with the European strategies are needed in order to eliminate this cause of occupational cancer.
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| 24. |
- Jiang, Zheshun, et al.
(författare)
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P-205 THE SAFECHROM PROJECT - EVIDENCE FROM A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY SHOWS THAT HEXAVALENT CHROMIUM IS STILL A CONCERN IN SWEDEN
- 2024
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Ingår i: Occupational Medicine. - 0962-7480. ; 74:Suppl 1, s. 291-292
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) is a human carcinogen, but the current exposure to Cr(VI) at Swedish workplaces is unknown.Recruitment of 113 workers with potential Cr(VI) exposure and 72 controls was combined with measurements of inhalable Cr(VI) (only exposed workers) and total Cr in urine and red blood cells (RBC), Bayesian analysis of occupational exposure limit (OEL) compliance was used, as well as the Swedish job-exposure-matrix.Exposed workers performed processing of metal products, steel production, welding, and plating. The geometric mean concentration of inhalable Cr(VI) in exposed workers was 0.15 μg/m3. Eight workers (7\ exceeded the Swedish OEL (5 μg/m3), and the share of OEL exceedances was estimated to be up to 19.6\ and RBC-Cr were significantly higher in exposed workers compared with controls. Workers with inferred non-acceptable local exhaustion ventilation showed significantly higher inhalable Cr(VI), urine- and RBC-Cr than those with acceptable ventilation. Workers with inferred correct use of respiratory protection had higher inhalable Cr(VI), and, paradoxically, higher urine- and RBC-Cr concentrations than workers with incorrect use. We estimate that ~17 900 Swedish workers are occupationally exposed to Cr(VI) today.Our study showed that although most air measurements were relatively low, 7\ and particularly stainless steel workers are at risk for exceeding the OEL. The existing protective measures implemented at workplaces are still inadequate and insufficient.Some workers in Sweden are exposed to high levels of the non-threshold carcinogen Cr(VI). National strategies aligned with European strategies are needed to eliminate occupational cancer.
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| 25. |
- Karlsson Bazarschi, Johanna, 1981-
(författare)
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Mot en beredskap för kriser och krig? : Svenska kommuners prioriteringar och handlingsutrymme under hot i förändring
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In recent years, the security structure in Europe has taken a turn for the worse and the threat of inter-state war has moved up on the political agenda. Sweden, for long a neutral and ostensibly peaceful nation, is no exception in this international political trajectory. As a response to changing threat images, both in the face of grey-zone activities and Russian hostility toward Ukraine, the government declared in 2015 that Sweden’s total defence should be (re)built after decades of substantial downscaling. In this process of renewal of the total defence concept, Swedish municipalities find themselves not only as key actors in the crisis preparedness system, but now also as designated novel security actors. Sweden’s 290 municipalities represent a plethora of differences in terms of geography, economy, infrastructure, social and political structures while being responsible for the same essential welfare functions. How do municipalities view the changing national preparedness demands? How are preparedness measures prioritized in relation to everyday welfare needs?The aim of this thesis is to understand and explain Swedish municipalities’ perceptions and priorities in the intersection between peacetime crisis preparedness and civil defence, through a socio-technical systems’ perspective. To that end, an ideational analysis has been conducted on policy documents and interviews with municipal representatives, supplemented by a questionnaire. The study shows that the unclear national guidance and instructions given to municipalities create prioritization challenges at the local level. While no indications of preparedness measures being prioritized at the expense of core municipal welfare tasks have been found in this study, the ever-increasing governmental demands may change this order of priority. The dissertation further shows that local level representatives perceive of a general lack of understanding about municipal realities and conditions from the national government, administrative authorities and county council boards. Despite internal and external obstacles however, Swedish municipalities do accept the system changes, and continuously work toward strengthening their civil preparedness based on local capacities and resources.
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| 26. |
- Karlsson, Charlott, et al.
(författare)
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Prospective study on health-related quality of life, oral mucositis and oral health on during treatment of head and neck cancer
- 2024
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Ingår i: BMC ORAL HEALTH. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1472-6831. ; 24:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Few studies have examined health related Quality of Life (HR-QoL) during the treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC) with even fewer focusing on the impact of oral mucositis (OM) on HR-QoL. Studies performed during treatment of HNC makes it possible to follow fluctuations in HR-QoL, OM and other treatment related side effects. The aim was to prospectively analyze HR-QoL, changes in clinical variables and the impact of OM on HR-QoL during HNC treatment.Materials and methods Patients were recruited before commencing curative cancer treatment and were given professional oral care weekly during oncologic treatment. HR-QoL was reported before, during (week 2, 4 and 6) and three months after treatment using the EORTC Quality of Life questionnaires C30 and H&N35 and the stimulated whole salivary secretion rate was determined at the same time-points. OM (erythema and ulceration) was registered using the Oral Mucositis Assessment Scale (OMAS), at baseline, weekly during treatment and post treatment. Differences in HR-QoL between different timepoints were analyzed. To analyze the impact of OM on HR-QoL the patients were categorized into two groups: no/mild OM (OMAS ulceration score 0-1) or severe OM (OMAS ulceration score >= 2) and HR-QoL was compared between the two OM groups at three timepoints during treatment.Results Fifty-seven patients (43 men, 14 women), with a mean age of 58 years were included. Patients reported progressively impaired HR-QoL, with peak issues noted at weeks 4 and 6, particularly in social eating, senses, appetite loss, sticky saliva, and decreasing salivary secretion rates were determined. Patients with severe OM reported worse HR-QoL compared to those with no/mild OM. Persistent problems 3 months post treatment were appetite loss, dry mouth, senses (smell and taste) and problems with social eating.Conclusion Patients experienced exacerbated symptoms and problems weeks 4 and 6 of oncological treatment, especially among those with severe OM, stressing the importance of clinically monitoring the patients to reduce and alleviate their symptoms. Persistent problems three months post treatment are likely associated with the reduced salivary secretion rate indicating that patients should be monitored also after completed oncological treatment.
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| 27. |
- Karlsson, Dennis, et al.
(författare)
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Additive manufacturing of the ferritic stainless steel SS441
- 2020
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Ingår i: Additive Manufacturing. - AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS : Elsevier BV. - 2214-8604 .- 2214-7810. ; 36
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, the ferritic stainless steel SS441 was produced with excellent mechanical properties using laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) compared to samples produced by conventional casting and hot-rolling. In addition, thermodynamic calculations were utilized to study the phase stability at elevated temperatures and to understand the solidification behavior. The hot-rolled sample showed a grain size up to several hundred mu m with additional precipitates of TiN and Nb(C,N). In contrast, the as-built L-PBF samples displayed a grain size in the mu m range. Spherical precipitates with a size of around 50 nm could be observed and were attributed to a corundum phase from the thermodynamic calculations. The printed material shows superior mechanical properties, with more than 30 times higher impact energy compared to the hot-rolled alloy (217 +/- 5 J vs. 7 +/- 0.5 J). Furthermore, the properties are anisotropic for the L-PBF produced alloy, with the highest tensile strength vertical to the build direction. The superior mechanical properties of the L-PBF produced sample can be attributed to a smaller grain size, giving a higher strength according to the Hall-Petch relationship. The anisotropy of the material can be eliminated by heat treatments at 900 degrees C followed by water quenching, but the absolute strength decreases slightly due to formation of intermetallic phases such as Nb(C,N) and the Fe2Nb Laves phase. The results clearly illustrates that L-PBF provides a promising manufacturing mute for enhanced strength of ferritic stainless steels.
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| 28. |
- Karlsson, Daniela, et al.
(författare)
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Students’ Repertoire of Ways of Responding to Translation Challenges in Bilingual Education and its Implications for Language Learning
- 2020
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Ingår i: ECER 2020, Glasgow - European Conference on Educational Research, August 25-28, 2020 (Conference cancelled).
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Students’ repertoire of ways of responding to translation challenges in bilingual education and its implications for language learning Outline of the research question and theoretical framework Education that supports students’ language learning is a pressing issue in several cultural contexts. Finding ways of promoting language teaching and learning is important to educational inclusion and justice. In the nature of contemporary schooling, how to design language teaching, in a developmentally productive manner, provides a particularly demanding challenge. An important feature of this challenge is analyzed in the present study by focusing on the development of students’ linguistic and meta-linguistic awareness. In the study, we investigate student’s repertoire of ways of responding to translation challenges in bilingual education and its implication for (language) learning. More specifically, we have analyzed: a) how do the students take on the challenge of approaching and managing translation tasks in groups, b) how do translation activities engage students in meta-communication, and c) how is translation collaboratively constituted by the participants. The study, taking a cultural-historical perspective on human learning (Fleer, 2010; Hedegaard, 2009), conceptualizes learning as the appropriation of cultural tools and practices (Fleer & Pramling, 2015). Appropriating cultural tools and practices tend to require a prolonged familiarization process (Wertsch, 1998); the learner gradually becomes more familiar with using the particular tool and participating in the practice. Cultural-historical theory suggests that through interaction we appropriate concepts and construct our understanding in interaction with other people. Language is the primary cultural and psychological tool; it plays the central role in sense making, learning and development processes (Vygotsky, 1978; Littleton & Mercer, 2013; Wells, 2007). Taking this theoretical point of view, concepts used for understanding communicative practices are intersubjectivity, that is how participants coordinate their perspectives to constitute a mutual activity (Rommetveit, 1974; Wertsch, 1998)) and meta-communication (Fleer & Pramling, 2015). In addition, language is understood and analyzed as a set of practices, rather than as a system (Gort & Sembiante, 2015). In the context of the present study, this means that translation activities are interesting to investigate in terms of teaching and learning. Translation activities, including negotiations between students (and teachers), are therefore seen as important practices for understanding and developing language and linguistic awareness. Methodology and Methods The study is conducted in one of the larger cities in Sweden, in an English class of 17 Grade-seven (13 years) students with a certificated English and Swedish teacher. The empirical data were generated during five lessons. The students, with various linguistic backgrounds, have experience of Content and Language Integrated Learning Programme (CLIL), and therefore are used to communicate both in English and Swedish in the school context. This type of practice builds on a premise that languages do not need to be taught separately and that all students’ language practices work together as a linguistic repertoire, rather than operating independent of each other. In the activities analyzed in this study, the students are introduced to various poems, songs or texts, and then are prompted to discuss their translations and sense made, using one or several languages. The teacher rotates among the groups, listens to their discussion, and gives further challenging and supporting feedback. The present presentation takes its starting point in the empirical data of group discussions of groups of three students without the teacher. During the five lessons, the students were introduced to a task to translate in groups a part of a book they were currently reading, Bodyguard (written by Chris Bradford), from English to Swedish. The subsequent task was to translate several songs or parts of songs: “Where is the Love” (by the Black Eyed Peas) and “Dancing on My Own” (by Robyn), from English to Swedish; and a Swedish song (by Håkan Hellström) called “Valborg” (Eng. Walpurgis Night), to translate from Swedish to English. The activities were audio-recorded, transcribed inspired by Jefferson’s transcription system of notation and interpreted through attending to the sequential unfolding of communicative actions (Wells, 1999). Based on the nature and functions of language, mainly the notion that the development of higher-mental processes, such as metalinguistic awareness, is rooted in interaction with others (Vygotsky, 1997), Sociocultural Discourse Analysis (SCDA) more specifically constitutes the method for analysis in the current study. SCDA provides methodological tools for analyzing how participants in an activity use language to think together in the pursuit of the activity and the ways in which (partly) shared understanding is developed. Ethical approval was obtained from the school leadership, the teacher, the students and their caregivers prior to the commencement of data collection. Conclusions, expected outcomes or findings In this presentation, we will show how the students take on the challenge of translation they face, focusing on: a) ways of arguing the choice of word/meaning when translating, b) meta-communicating their approach of handling the translation/task, and c) how the translation activity is collaboratively constituted. a)Ways of arguing the choice of word/meaning The analysis shows how the students use various ways of arguing their choice of word/discerned meaning. We will show how they base their argument on i) how something sounds, ii) specific content-related knowledge, contingent on their interest and experience, iii) conventions or linguistic ‘rules’ of what one can/cannot say in English/Swedish, and iv) context of the text. b)Metacommunicating the approach of handling the translation/task The analysis shows how the students explicitly comment and negotiate their approach or choice of words/terms when translating something. Communicating the meta-perspective of the activity relates to i) whether it is important to know the corresponding term, ii) how the use of the terms depends on the content and context, and iii) how sometimes one needs to go on with the translation and come back to it later and look for a more appropriate term or phrase. c) Translation as collaboratively constituted by the participants The analysis shows how the negotiations become explorative (Littleton & Mercer, 2013) in their character of how the students are negotiating the meaning of different words or phrases. In the negotiations, they relate to the context of the text and to the type of the text (what kind of text they are translating – its genre – and what the text is about). On the basis of the findings, we will discuss what the indications and implications of this repertoire of responses to translation challenges are for accessing and developing the students’ metalinguistic awareness and how a translation activity can function as a learning practice. References Fleer, M. (2010). Early learning and development: Cultural-historical concepts in play. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fleer, M., & Pramling, N. (2015). A cultural-historical study of children learning science: Foregrounding affective imagination in play-based settings (Cultural Studies of Science Education). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer. Gort, M., & Sembiante, S. F. (2015). Navigating hybridized language learning spaces through translanguaging pedagogy: Dual language preschool teachers’ languaging practices in support of emergent bilingual children’s performance of academic discourse. International Multilingual Research Journal, 9, 7–25. Jidai, Y., Kultti, A., & Pramling, N. (2017). In the order of words: Teacher-children negotiation about how to translate song lyrics in bilingual early childhood education. Research on Children and Social Interaction, 1(2), 199–221. Kultti, A., & Pramling, N. (2018). ”Behind the words”: Negotiating literal/figurative sense when translating the lyrics to a children’s song in bilingual preschool. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 62(2), 200–212. Kultti, A., & Pramling, N. (2017). Translation activities in bilingual early childhood education: Children’s perspectives and teachers’ scaffolding. Multilingua, 36(6), 703–725. Littleton, K., & Mercer, N. (2013). Interthinking: Putting talk to work. London: Routledge. Mercer, N. (2004). Sociocultural discourse analysis: Analysing classroom talk as a social mode of thinking. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 137–168. Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky, Volume 1: Problems of general psychology, including the volume Thinking and Speech (R. W. Rieber & A. S. Carton, Eds., N. Minick, Trans.). New York: Plenum. Wells, G. (2007). Semiotic Mediation, Dialogue and the Construction of Knowledge. Human Development, 50(5), 244–274. doi: 10.1159/000106414 Wells, G. (1999). Dialogic inquiry: Towards a sociocultural practice and theory of education. New York: Cambridge University Press. Wertsch, J. V. (1998). Mind as action. New York: Oxford University Press. Intent of publication Language Awareness Keywords linguistic and metalinguistic awareness, languaging, translation in education. Keywords on research methods (3-5 keywords to specify research methods) CLIL, Group discussions, audio-recording, Interaction Analysis, Sociocultural Discourse Analysis
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| 29. |
- Karlsson, Kristian, et al.
(författare)
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Test Level in Reverberation Chamber EMC Immunity Assessment Based on the Quantile to Average Ratio
- 2022
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Ingår i: IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility. Volume 2022-September, 2022, Pages 178-182. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.. - 9781665407878 ; , s. 178-182
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- As more and more advanced electronics are incorporated into devices and vehicles, there is a need to improve and refine the test methods for performance assessment of electromagnetic compatibility. Traditional standards in reverberation chamber electromagnetic compatibility immunity assessment define the test level according to a calibration based on an average of maximum received electrical field probe readings. In this paper, we propose a converging approach based on the average, in combination with an additional offset to generate a quantile defined test level.
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| 30. |
- Karlsson, Linda, et al.
(författare)
-
Cerebrospinal fluid reference proteins increase accuracy and interpretability of biomarkers for brain diseases.
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Nature Communications. - 2041-1723. ; 15:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers reflect brain pathophysiology and are used extensively in translational research as well as in clinical practice for diagnosis of neurological diseases, e.g., Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, CSF biomarker concentrations may be influenced by non-disease related inter-individual variability. Here we use a data-driven approach to demonstrate the existence of inter-individual variability in mean standardized CSF protein levels. We show that these non-disease related differences cause many commonly reported CSF biomarkers to be highly correlated, thereby producing misleading results if not accounted for. To adjust for this inter-individual variability, we identified and evaluated high-performing reference proteins which improved the diagnostic accuracy of key CSF AD biomarkers. Our reference protein method attenuates the risk for false positive findings, and improves the sensitivity and specificity of CSF biomarkers, with broad implications for both research and clinical practice.
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| 31. |
- Karlsson, Niklas, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
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A stochastic analysis of the 4 x 100 m relay
- 2024
-
Ingår i: International journal of sports science & coaching. - : Sage Publications. - 1747-9541 .- 2048-397X.
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The baton exchanges are undoubtedly the most critical parts of the 4 x 100 m relay race. Timing of the outgoing runner is critical. In this paper we analyze the race as a minimization problem under uncertainty. We formulate a stochastic model in which the outgoing runner at the baton exchange cannot perfectly assess the incoming runner's exact location relatively a checkmark position, and therefore potentially misjudges the right moment to start running. Also, the team members' daily shape is subject to uncertainty. To understand the effect of these two random variables-incoming runners' distance to checkmark and the daily shape of the running team-we conduct a simulation study to investigate the trade-off between the team's expected race time and their probability of being disqualified due to overrunning the takeover zone. Conditioning on a low disqualification probability, the difference in expected race time is shown to be substantial between teams with different variation in distance assessment and forecasting running performance, respectively.
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| 32. |
- Karlsson, Niklas, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
-
Are Some Athletes More Cognitive Skilled than Others when Choosing their Opponents in Skiing-Sprint Elimination Tournaments?
- 2022
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The study analyzes data from world cup cross-country skiing sprint elimination tournaments for men and women in 2015-2020. In these tournaments prequalified athletes sequentially choose in which of five quarterfinal heats they want to compete. Due to a time constraint on the day the tournament is held, the recovery time between the elimination heats varies. This implies a clear advantage for the athlete to race in an early rather than in a late quarterfinal to increase the chances of being successful in a possible final. Given that athletes seek to maximize their expected achieved world cup points when choosing quarterfinal, a simple model predicts that higher ranked athletes prefer to compete in early quarterfinals, despite facing expected harder competition. The result is consistent with our empirical analysis of the data. We also develop two estimation methods to investigate whether some athletes are found to be more tactical skilled in their decision making. Our estimates indicate that twelve out of 115 athletes have made choices having an expected positive effect on their performance in terms of achieved world cup points. For 22 athletes the effect is expected to be negative. The estimated individual effects ranges from -3 points to +4 points
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| 33. |
- Karlsson, Niklas, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
-
Choosing Opponents in Skiing Sprint Elimination Tournaments
- 2020
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this study we analyse data from world cup cross-country skiing sprint elimination tournaments for men and women in 2015-2020. Instead of being assigned a quarter final according to a seeding scheme, prequalified athletes choose themselves in sequential order in which of five quarterfinals to compete. Due to a time constrainton the day the competition is held, the recovery time between the knockout heats varies. This implies a clear advantage for the athlete to race in an early rather than in a late quarterfinal to maximize her probability of reaching the podium. The purpose of the paper is to analyse the athletes’ choices facing the trade-off between recovery time and expected degree of competition when choosing in which quarterfinal to compete. We find empirical support for the prediction that higher ranked athletes from the qualification round prefer to compete in early quarterfinals, despite facing expected harder competition. Nevertheless, our results also suggest that athletes underestimate the value of choosing an early quarterfinal. In addition, we propose a seeding scheme capturing the fundamental disparity across quarterfinals using the estimates from a logistic regression model.
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| 34. |
- Karlsson, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
-
Computed Tomography Verified Prevalence of Incisional Hernia 1 Year Postoperatively after Colorectal Cancer Resection
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Surgery. - : SAGE Publications. - 1799-7267 .- 1457-4969. ; 110:3, s. 373-379
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Incisional hernia is a frequent negative outcome after open and minimal invasive surgery of colorectal cancer. This study aimed to determine computed tomography-verified incisional hernia prevalence 1-year post colorectal cancer surgical resection in patients sutured with standardized small stich 4:1 technique, identify risk factors for incisional hernia and assess to what extent incisional hernia required surgical correction.METHODS: All patients subjected to resectional colorectal cancer surgery during 2012-2016 at Skåne University Hospital were identified in the Swedish Colorectal Cancer Registry. The 1-year follow-up computed tomography was re-evaluated to establish the presence of incisional hernia. Clinical data were collected from Swedish Colorectal Cancer Registry and the patients' medical charts were reviewed. Non-parametric tests and binary logistic regression analysis were used for statistical analysis.RESULTS: In total, 1744 tumors were identified resulting in 1231 patients meeting the inclusion criteria. In total, 25.9% (n = 319) had incisional hernia at the 1-year follow-up computed tomography and 13.2% (n = 162) of the colorectal cancer resections were minimal invasive surgery, and there was non-significant incisional hernia prevalence difference between open and minimal invasive surgery. However, for converted and non-converted minimal invasive surgery, the incisional hernia frequencies were 43.9% (n = 18) and 24.1% (n = 39), respectively (p = 0.012). Significant risk factors for incisional hernia were body mass index, wound rupture, and procedure time. During the follow-up time, 14.1% (n = 45) needed incisional hernia corrective surgery.CONCLUSIONS: Incisional hernia after colorectal cancer surgery is common despite standardized small stich 4:1 closure, but few incisional hernias are surgically corrected. Incisional hernia is equally frequent after open surgery and minimal invasive surgery. However, the risk of incisional hernia is considerably higher after minimal invasive surgery conversion.
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| 35. |
- Karlsson, Niklas
(författare)
-
HIV and hepatitis C prevention among people who inject drugs in Sweden : harm reduction policies, risk behaviour interventions and outcomes
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- People who inject drugs (PWID) is a heterogeneous and hard-to-reach group due to legal implications, stigma and discrimination. PWID are vulnerable to various poor health outcomes including HIV and hepatitis due to ongoing injection and sexual risk behaviours, various forms of abuse, poor health seeking behaviours, and limited access to- and retention in prevention and care programs. General knowledge about PWID, hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV-risks is good, but less is known about certain sub-populations such as women who inject drugs (WWID). In order to reach PWID with harm reduction, primarily to reduce their risk of HCV and HIV, countries have introduced needle exchange programs (NEP). However, low NEP-availability and insufficient awareness of gender-specific and other sub-group barriers and needs challenges the coverage, uptake and effectiveness of harm reduction for PWID. The overall aim of this thesis was to analyse NEP-development in Sweden and to study determinants for injection and sexual risk behaviours among PWID over time in Stockholm, Sweden. In paper I, NEP-development in Sweden was analysed over time (1985–2017) in relation to Swedish drug and health policy. We found that NEP-development was obstructed for a long period because of costly time- and resource-intensive obstacles and processes, e.g. a municipal veto towards starting NEP, involving actor-coalitions, absence of evidence and ideological and individual moral dimensions on both policy and implementation levels. With renewed focus on the individual drug user-perspective, accumulation of evidence, a NEP-law, changes in actor-coalitions and removal of the veto, Sweden saw a fast NEP-development. In paper II, determinants for risk behaviours among PWID (n=2,150) at enrolment in remand prisons were studied over time from 2002–2012. Female sex, homelessness, young age and amphetamine injection drug use (IDU) were determinants associated with high levels of injection risk behaviours. Further, injection risk behaviours decreased over time among new enrolled PWID in remand prisons. In paper III, determinants and injection risk behaviours at enrolment and over time (2013–2018) were studied among PWID (n=2,860) in the first NEP in Stockholm. An overall significant reduction in injection risk behaviours was found over time and in relation to most enrolment determinants. Female sex, homelessness and amphetamine use were determinants that correlated to an increased risk of sharing needle/syringes and paraphernalia at enrolment, whereas opioid substitution therapy (OST) appeared protective. In paper IV, subgroup determinants for injection and sexual risk behaviours and program retention were studied among WWID (n=697) in the Stockholm NEP (2013–2018). Homelessness, amphetamine-IDU, not being in OST and a history of being sectioned (i.e. psychiatric or addiction-related compulsory care) was associated with high injection risk behaviours. Younger age, stable civil status, not in OST and being HIVnegative were associated with higher sexual risk behaviour. WWID were more likely than men to remain in the NEP over time, and previously sectioned WWID were associated with risk for being LTFU. To conclude, our findings highlight the need to better understand the needs of various sub-groups of PWID to successfully tailor harm reduction interventions and scale-up NEP-programs to prevent the spread and eliminate HCV and HIV by 2030, as proposed by the WHO and UNAIDS.
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| 36. |
- Karlsson, Niklas, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
-
Pigs in Space:Is Miss Piggy Going in for Final Landing? A Statistical Analysis of the Game Pass the Pigs®
- 2020
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The game Pass the Pigs® offers students in statistics to practice a lot of statistical concepts andmethods in a coherent way. In this paper a probability model is derived based on assumptionsof the data generating process. A previously suggested strategy of maximizing the expectedscore in each round is adapted to the model. Adopting this strategy requires estimating the scoreof accumulated points, where to stop rolling the pigs and pass them on to the next player, as afunction of unknown parameters in the model. Point and interval estimators for the mentionedaccumulated score are derived using the maximum likelihood method as well as the Deltamethod and Bootstrap methods. Data from an experiment is used to testing model assumptionsand to get point and interval estimates.
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| 37. |
- Karlsson, Niklas, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
-
The Strategic Jump – The Order Effect on Winning “The Final Three” in Long Jump Competitions
- 2022
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The tournament rules for long jump competitions have changed in recent years. Today, only the three athletes with the best jumps from the five initial attempts are qualified to make an additional sixth jump – a format called The Final Three. In the first implemented version of The Final Three, the top athletes sequentially make one final jump, starting with the athlete ranked third place from the initial attempts. The athlete with the longest jump in this sixth attempt wins the competition, irrespective of achieved results in previous attempts. In this study, we analyze the effect of the athletes’ jump order on the probability of winning the competition within this first implemented version of The Final Three. We derive the final’s symmetric subgame perfect equilibrium and compute the corresponding equilibrium winning probabilities, given the values assigned to the distributional parameters. The modelling of the game is preceded by a development of a stochastic model for the outcome in long jumping. An athlete affects the distribution of the outcome by choosing where to start her approach run. Our results indicate a last mover advantage, albeit small. The athlete jumping last, wins the final with a probability 0.35, followed by the athlete jumping second with a probability 0.33 to win the final.
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| 38. |
- Karlsson, Niklas, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
-
The strategic jump-the order effect on winning "The Final Three" in long jump competitions
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports. - : Walter de Gruyter. - 2194-6388 .- 1559-0410. ; 20:3, s. 265-276
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The tournament rules for long jump competitions have changed in recent years. Today, only the three athletes with the best jumps from the five initial attempts are qualified to make an additional sixth jump - a format called The Final Three. In the first implemented version of The Final Three, the top athletes sequentially make one final jump, starting with the athlete ranked third place from the initial attempts. The athlete with the longest jump in this sixth attempt wins the competition, irrespective of achieved results in previous attempts. In this study, we analyze the effect of the athletes' jump order on the probability of winning the competition within this first implemented version of The Final Three. We derive the final's symmetric subgame perfect equilibrium and compute the corresponding equilibrium winning probabilities, given estimated distributional parameters from the Olympic long jumping final in Tokyo 2021. The modeling of the game is preceded by a development of a stochastic model for the outcome in long jumping. Our results indicate a last mover advantage, albeit small. Our model also reveals the importance of having a low variation in the approach run length and thinking strategically in this tournament format.
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| 39. |
- Karlsson, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
-
Validation of a diagnosis-agnostic symptom questionnaire for asthma and/or COPD
- 2021
-
Ingår i: ERJ Open Research. - : European Respiratory Society. - 2312-0541. ; 7:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background he Respiratory Symptoms Questionnaire (RSQ) is a novel, 4-item patient-reported diagnosis-agnostic tool designed to assess the frequency of respiratory symptoms and their impact on activity, without specifying a particular diagnosis. Our objective was to examine its validity in patients with asthma and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Methods Baseline data were randomly sampled from patients who completed the RSQ in the NOVELTY study (NCT02760329). The total sample (N=1530) comprised three randomly selected samples (N=510 each) from each physician-assigned diagnostic group (asthma, asthma+COPD, COPD). The internal consistency and structural validity of the RSQ were evaluated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses; psychometric performance was observed using Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory analyses.Results For the total sample, the mean RSQ score was 5.6 (sd 4.3; range: 0–16). Irrespective of diagnosis, the internal consistency of items was uniformly adequate (Cronbach's alphas range: 0.76–0.80). All items had high factor loadings, and structural characteristics of the measure were invariant across groups. Using the total sample, RSQ items informatively covered the theta score range of –2.0 to 2.8, with discrimination coefficients for individual items being high-to-very high (1.7–2.6). Strong convergent correlations were observed between the RSQ and St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ; 0.77, p<0.001).Conclusions he RSQ is a valid, brief, patient-reported tool for assessing respiratory symptoms in patients across the whole spectrum of asthma and/or COPD, rather than using different questionnaires for each diagnosis. It can be used for monitoring respiratory symptoms in clinical practice, clinical trials and real-world studies.
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| 40. |
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| 41. |
- Lunander, Anders, 1961-, et al.
(författare)
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Choosing opponents in skiing sprint elimination tournaments
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports. - : Walter de Gruyter. - 2194-6388 .- 1559-0410. ; 19:3, s. 205-221
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study we analyse data from world cup cross-country skiing sprint elimination tournaments for men and women in 2015-2020. Instead of being assigned a quarterfinal according to a seeding scheme, prequalified athletes choose themselves in sequential order in which of the five quarterfinals to compete. Due to a time constraint on the day the competition is held, the recovery time between the elimination heats varies. This implies a clear advantage for the athlete to race in an early rather than in a late quarterfinal to maximize the probability of reaching the podium. The purpose of the paper is to analyse the athletes' choices facing the trade-off between recovery time and expected degree of competition when choosing in which quarterfinal to compete. We find empirical support for the prediction that higher ranked athletes from the qualification round prefer to compete in early quarterfinals, despite facing expected harder competition. Nevertheless, our results also suggest that athletes underestimate the value of choosing an early quarterfinal. In addition, we propose a seeding scheme capturing the fundamental disparity across quarterfinals using the estimates from alogistic regression model.
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| 42. |
- Maksimovic, M., et al.
(författare)
-
First observations and performance of the RPW instrument on board the Solar Orbiter mission
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 656
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Radio and Plasma Waves (RPW) instrument on the ESA Solar Orbiter mission is designed to measure in situ magnetic and electric fields and waves from the continuum up to several hundred kHz. The RPW also observes solar and heliospheric radio emissions up to 16 MHz. It was switched on and its antennae were successfully deployed two days after the launch of Solar Orbiter on February 10, 2020. Since then, the instrument has acquired enough data to make it possible to assess its performance and the electromagnetic disturbances it experiences. In this article, we assess its scientific performance and present the first RPW observations. In particular, we focus on a statistical analysis of the first observations of interplanetary dust by the instrument's Thermal Noise Receiver. We also review the electro-magnetic disturbances that RPW suffers, especially those which potential users of the instrument data should be aware of before starting their research work.
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| 43. |
- Martens, Mireille, et al.
(författare)
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The greenhouse gas emission effects of rewetting drained peatlands and growing wetland plants for biogas fuel production
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Journal of Environmental Management. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0301-4797 .- 1095-8630. ; 277
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are receiving increased attention among governmental and commercial actors. In recent years, the interest in paludiculture, i.e. the use of rewetted peatlands, has grown because of its potential to reduce GHG emissions by stopping soil decomposition. Moreover, cultivating wetland plants on rewetted peatlands for bioenergy production that replaces fossil fuels in the transport sector, can contribute to additional GHG emission reductions. In this study, an analysis of literature data was conducted to obtain data on GHG emissions (CO2 and CH4) and biomass production from rewetted peatlands cultivated with two different wetland plant species: Phragmites australis (Pa) and Typha latifolia (Tl). In addition, a biogas experiment was carried out to investigate the biomethane yield of Pa and Tl biomass, and the reduction of global warming potential (GWP) by using biomethane as vehicle fuel. The results show that peatland rewetting can be an important measure to mitigate the GWP as it reduces GHG emissions from the soil, particularly on a 100-year timescale but also to some extent on a 20-year timescale. More specifically, rewetting of 1 km2 of peatland can result in a GWP reduction corresponding to the emissions from ±2600 average sized petrol cars annually. Growing Pa on rewetted peatlands reduces soil GHG emissions more than growing Tl, but Pa and Tl produced similar amounts of biomass and biomethane per land area. Our study concludes that Pa, because of a more pronounced GWP reduction, is the most suitable wetland plant to cultivate after peatland rewetting. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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| 44. |
- Mattsson-Carlgren, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
-
Plasma Biomarker Strategy for Selecting Patients With Alzheimer Disease for Antiamyloid Immunotherapies
- 2024
-
Ingår i: JAMA neurology. - 2168-6157 .- 2168-6149. ; 81:1, s. 69-78
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antiamyloid immunotherapies against Alzheimer disease (AD) are emerging. Scalable, cost-effective tools will be needed to identify amyloid β (Aβ)-positive patients without an advanced stage of tau pathology who are most likely to benefit from these therapies. Blood-based biomarkers might reduce the need to use cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or positron emission tomography (PET) for this.To evaluate plasma biomarkers for identifying Aβ positivity and stage of tau accumulation.The cohort study (BioFINDER-2) was a prospective memory-clinic and population-based study. Participants with cognitive concerns were recruited from 2017 to 2022 and divided into a training set (80% of the data) and test set (20%).Baseline values for plasma phosphorylated tau 181 (p-tau181), p-tau217, p-tau231, N-terminal tau, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and neurofilament light chain.Performance to classify participants by Aβ status (defined by Aβ-PET or CSF Aβ42/40) and tau status (tau PET). Number of hypothetically saved PET scans in a plasma biomarker-guided workflow.Of a total 912 participants, there were 499 males (54.7%) and 413 females (45.3%), and the mean (SD) age was 71.1 (8.49) years. Among the biomarkers, plasma p-tau217 was most strongly associated with Aβ positivity (test-set area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC]=0.94; 95% CI, 0.90-0.97). A 2-cut-point procedure was evaluated, where only participants with ambiguous plasma p-tau217 values (17.1% of the participants in the test set) underwent CSF or PET to assign definitive Aβ status. This procedure had an overall sensitivity of 0.94 (95% CI, 0.90-0.98) and a specificity of 0.86 (95% CI, 0.77-0.95). Next, plasma biomarkers were used to differentiate low-intermediate vs high tau-PET load among Aβ-positive participants. Plasma p-tau217 again performed best, with the test AUC=0.92 (95% CI, 0.86-0.97), without significant improvement when adding any of the other plasma biomarkers. At a false-negative rate less than 10%, the use of plasma p-tau217 could avoid 56.9% of tau-PET scans needed to identify high tau PET among Aβ-positive participants. The results were validated in an independent cohort (n=118).This study found that algorithms using plasma p-tau217 can accurately identify most Aβ-positive individuals, including those likely to have a high tau load who would require confirmatory tau-PET imaging. Plasma p-tau217 measurements may substantially reduce the number of invasive and costly confirmatory tests required to identify individuals who would likely benefit from antiamyloid therapies.
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| 45. |
- Mery Karlsson, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
-
Men sen då...? : En forskningsöversikt om barncanceröverlevares livsvillkor i en fragmaterad välfärd
- 2022
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ungefär 7 av 10 som överlever barncancer drabbas av sena komplikationer och bestående funktionsnedsättningar. Exempelvis är förvärvade hjärnskador, kognitiva funktionsnedsättningar, nedsatt immunförsvar och psykisk ohälsa vanligt. Men kunskapen om barncanceröverlevarnas liv som samhällsmedborgare är begränsad. Nu vill Barncancerfonden se mer forskning på området och politiska åtgärder för att förbättra livskvaliteten för barncanceröverlevare.I en forskningsöversikt framtagen av forskarna Niklas Altermark och Mikael Mery Karlsson på uppdrag av Barncancerfonden står det klart att barncanceröverlevare kan stöta på stora problem, både på arbetsmarknaden och vid behov av stöd från socialförsäkringarna. Dessutom är det tydligt att kunskapsluckorna om barncanceröverlevarnas liv som samhällsmedborgare är stora. Sammantaget visar analysen av den tidigare forskningen: att barncanceröverlevare i Skandinavien har högre risk för arbetslöshet jämfört med personer som saknar en historia av barncancer att barncanceröverlevare i Skandinavien behöver stöd från socialförsäkringssystemet i betydligt större utsträckning än personer som saknar en historia av barncancer att canceröverlevare har sämre ekonomi än personer utan en historia av cancer.
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| 46. |
- Mery Karlsson, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
-
Parallellsamhällets möjligheter
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Bortom systemskiftet : Mot en ny gemenskap - Mot en ny gemenskap. - Stockholm : Verbal. - 9789189155916
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- En del av det systemskifte Sverige genomgått senaste decennierna har inneburit att mer ansvar för social trygghet flyttats från det offentliga till civilsamhället. En rad forskare har menat att civilsamhället därmed riskerar att bli en svagare politisk röst. I detta kapitel diskuterar vi med avstamp i den ideella organisationen Helamalmö hur civilsamhället genom att skapa social trygghet också kan bli en arena där nya politiska systemskiften grundläggs.
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| 47. |
- Nilsson, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
-
Endoscopically assisted reconstruction of chronic Achilles tendon ruptures and re-ruptures using a semitendinosus autograft is a viable alternative to pre-existing techniques.
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1433-7347. ; 30:7, s. 2477-2484
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Achilles tendon ruptures are termed chronic after a delay in treatment for more than 4weeks. The literature advocates surgical treatment with reconstruction to regain ankle push-off strength. The preferred technique is, however, still unknown and is often individualized. This study aims to present the technique and clinical outcome of an endoscopically assisted free semitendinosus reconstruction of chronic Achilles tendon rupture and Achilles tendon re-ruptures with delayed representation. It is hypothesized that the presented technique is a viable and safe alternative for distal Achilles tendon ruptures and ruptures with large tendon gaps.Twenty-two patients (13 males and 9 females) with a median (range) age of 64 (34-73) treated surgically with endoscopically assisted Achilles tendon reconstruction using a semitendinosus autograft were included. The patients were evaluated at 12months post-operatively for Achilles tendon Total Rupture Score (ATRS), calf circumference, Achilles Tendon Resting Angle (ATRA), heel-rise height and repetitions together with tendon length determined by ultrasonography, concentric heel-rise power and heel-rise work.The patients reported a median (range) ATRS of 76 (45-99) out of 100. The median (range) ATRA on the injured side was 60° (49°-75°) compared with 49.5° (40-61°), p<0.001, on the non-injured side. Eighteen out of 22 patients were able to perform a single-leg heel-rise on the non-injured side. Sixteen patients out of those 18 (89%) were also able to perform a single heel-rise on the injured side. They did, however, perform significantly lower number of repetitions compared with the non-injured side with a median (range) heel-rise repetitions of 11 (2-22) compared with 26 (2-27), (p<0.001), and a median (range) heel-rise height of 5.5cm (1.0-11.0cm) compared with 9.0cm (5.0-11.5cm), (p<0.001). The median calf circumference was 1.5cm smaller on the injured side, 37.5cm compared with 39cm, when medians were compared. The median (range) tendon length of the injured side was 24.8cm (20-28.2cm) compared with 22cm (18.4-24.2cm), (p<0.001), on the non-injured side.The study shows that endoscopically assisted reconstruction using a semitendinosus graft to treat chronic Achilles tendon ruptures and re-ruptures with delayed representation produces a satisfactory outcome. The technique can restore heel-rise height in patients with more distal ruptures or large tendon defects and is therefore a viable technique for Achilles tendon reconstruction.IV.
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| 48. |
- Nilsson, Niklas, 1995, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of the Achilles Tendon
- 2023
-
Ingår i: The Art of the Musculoskeletal Physical Exam. - 9783031244049 ; , s. 539-546
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Achilles tendon often withstands extensive power and is commonly subject to acute ruptures and chronic overuse pathologies. The incidence of Achilles tendon ruptures and Achilles tendinopathy is increasing, and a thorough clinical examination is essential in establishing the diagnosis. To fully recover from Achilles tendon rupture and Achilles tendinopathy, a well-planned rehabilitation programme is necessary. An early diagnosis can therefore help the patient to recover from injury more rapidly. Basic knowledge on the anatomy of the lower leg and a well-executed clinical examination are necessary to establish the diagnosis. The clinical examination of the Achilles tendon consists of inspection and palpation of the Achilles tendon and surrounding tissues. Another part of the examination is passive and active plantar flexion of the foot. For acute injuries and Achilles tendon ruptures, the calf squeeze test and Matles’ test are well acknowledged and useful. The corresponding tests that may be used for chronic overuse syndromes are the “painful arc sign” and the Royal London Hospital test. Even though the clinical examination is considered sufficient, plain radiographs, ultrasonography, and MRI can be of help to establish the diagnosis and deciding on further management of the Achilles tendon injury. There are several patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs) used in Achilles tendon injury management and rehabilitation. The Achilles tendon total rupture score (ATRS) is commonly used for Achilles tendon ruptures and the Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) for Achilles tendinopathy.
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| 49. |
- Nilsson, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
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The economic cost and patient-reported outcomes of chronic Achilles tendon ruptures.
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of experimental orthopaedics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2197-1153. ; 7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While most Achilles tendon ruptures are dramatic and diagnosed quickly, some are missed, with a risk of becoming chronic. A chronic Achilles tendon rupture is defined as a rupture that has been left untreated for more than 4 weeks. By mapping the health economic cost of chronic Achilles tendon ruptures the health-care system might be able to better distribute resources to detect these ruptures at an earlier time.All patients with a chronic Achilles tendon rupture who were treated surgically at Sahlgrenska University Hospital or Kungsbacka Hospital between 2013 and 2018 were invited to participate in the study. The patients were evaluated postoperatively using the validated Achilles tendon Total Rupture Score (ATRS). The health-care costs were assessed using clinical records. The production-loss costs were extracted from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. The cost of chronic Achilles tendon ruptures was then compared with the cost of acute ruptures in a previous study by Westin et.al.Forty patients with a median (range) age of 66 (28-86) were included in the study. The mean total cost (± SD) for the patients with a chronic Achilles tendon rupture was 6494 EUR±6508, which is 1276 EUR higher than the mean total cost of acute ruptures. Patients with chronic Achilles tendon ruptures reported a mean (min-max) postoperative ATRS of 73 (14-100).Missing an Achilles tendon rupture will entail higher health-care costs compared with acute ruptures. Health-care resources can be saved if Achilles tendon ruptures are detected at an early stage.
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- Nordanstig, Joakim, et al.
(författare)
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Mortality with Paclitaxel-Coated Devices in Peripheral Artery Disease.
- 2020
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Ingår i: The New England journal of medicine. - : Massachusetts Medical Society. - 1533-4406 .- 0028-4793. ; 383, s. 2538-46
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The results of a recent meta-analysis aroused concern about an increased risk of death associated with the use of paclitaxel-coated angioplasty balloons and stents in lower-limb endovascular interventions for symptomatic peripheral artery disease.We conducted an unplanned interim analysis of data from a multicenter, randomized, open-label, registry-based clinical trial. At the time of the analysis, 2289 patients had been randomly assigned to treatment with drug-coated devices (the drug-coated-device group, 1149 patients) or treatment with uncoated devices (the uncoated-device group, 1140 patients). Randomization was stratified according to disease severity on the basis of whether patients had chronic limb-threatening ischemia (1480 patients) or intermittent claudication (809 patients). The single end point for this interim analysis was all-cause mortality.No patients were lost to follow-up. Paclitaxel was used as the coating agent for all the drug-coated devices. During a mean follow-up of 2.49 years, 574 patients died, including 293 patients (25.5%) in the drug-coated-device group and 281 patients (24.6%) in the uncoated-device group (hazard ratio, 1.06; 95% confidence interval, 0.92 to 1.22). At 1 year, all-cause mortality was 10.2% (117 patients) in the drug-coated-device group and 9.9% (113 patients) in the uncoated-device group. During the entire follow-up period, there was no significant difference in the incidence of death between the treatment groups among patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (33.4% [249 patients] in the drug-coated-device group and 33.1% [243 patients] in the uncoated-device group) or among those with intermittent claudication (10.9% [44 patients] and 9.4% [38 patients], respectively).In this randomized trial in which patients with peripheral artery disease received treatment with paclitaxel-coated or uncoated endovascular devices, the results of an unplanned interim analysis of all-cause mortality did not show a difference between the groups in the incidence of death during 1 to 4 years of follow-up. (Funded by the Swedish Research Council and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02051088.).
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