| 21. |
- Blomdell, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Extending an Industrial Robot Controller-Implementation and Applications of a Fast Open Sensor Interface
- 2005
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Ingår i: IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine. - 1070-9932. ; 12:3, s. 85-94
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many promising robotics research results were obtained during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Some examples include Cartesian force control and advanced motion planning. Now, 20 years and many research projects later, many technologies still have not reached industrial usage. An important question to consider is how this situation can be improved for future deployment of necessary technologies. Today, modern robot control systems used in industry provide highly optimized motion control that works well in a variety of standard applications. To this end, computationally intensive, model-based robot motion control techniques have become standard during the last decade. While the principles employed have been known for many years, deployment in products required affordable computing power, efficientengineering tools, customer needs for productivity/performance, and improved end-user competence in the utilization of performance features. However, applications that are considered nonstandard today motivate a variety of research efforts and system development to package results in a usable form. Actually, robots are not useful for many manufacturing tasks today, in particular those found in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Reasonsinclude complex configuration, nonintuitive (for the shop floor) programming, and difficulties instructing robots to deal with variations in their environment. The latter challenge includes both task definitions and definition of motion control utilizing external sensors. The key word here is flexibility, and flexible motion control is particularly difficult since the user or system integrator needs to influence the core real-time software functions that are critical for the performance and safe operation of the system. We must find techniques that permit real-time motion controllers to be extended for new, demanding application areas.
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| 22. |
- Escaned, Javier, et al.
(författare)
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Safety of the Deferral of Coronary Revascularization on the Basis of Instantaneous Wave-Free Ratio and Fractional Flow Reserve Measurements in Stable Coronary Artery Disease and Acute Coronary Syndromes
- 2018
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Ingår i: JACC. - : Elsevier. - 1936-8798 .- 1876-7605. ; 11:15, s. 1437-1449
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical outcomes of patients deferred from coronary revascularization on the basis of instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) or fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurements in stable angina pectoris (SAP) and acute coronary syndromes (ACS). BACKGROUND Assessment of coronary stenosis severity with pressure guidewires is recommended to determine the need for myocardial revascularization. METHODS The safety of deferral of coronary revascularization in the pooled per-protocol population (n = 4,486) of the DEFINE-FLAIR (Functional Lesion Assessment of Intermediate Stenosis to Guide Revascularisation) and iFR-SWEDEHEART (Instantaneous Wave-Free Ratio Versus Fractional Flow Reserve in Patients With Stable Angina Pectoris or Acute Coronary Syndrome) randomized clinical trials was investigated. Patients were stratified according to revascularization decision making on the basis of iFR or FFR and to clinical presentation (SAP or ACS). The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac events (MACE), defined as the composite of all-cause death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or unplanned revascularization at 1 year. RESULTS Coronary revascularization was deferred in 2,130 patients. Deferral was performed in 1,117 patients (50%) in the iFR group and 1,013 patients (45%) in the FFR group (p < 0.01). At 1 year, the MACE rate in the deferred population was similar between the iFR and FFR groups (4.12% vs. 4.05%; fully adjusted hazard ratio: 1.13; 95% confidence interval: 0.72 to 1.79; p = 0.60). A clinical presentation with ACS was associated with a higher MACE rate compared with SAP in deferred patients (5.91% vs. 3.64% in ACS and SAP, respectively; fully adjusted hazard ratio: 0.61 in favor of SAP; 95% confidence interval: 0.38 to 0.99; p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS Overall, deferral of revascularization is equally safe with both iFR and FFR, with a low MACE rate of about 4%. Lesions were more frequently deferred when iFR was used to assess physiological significance. In deferred patients presenting with ACS, the event rate was significantly increased compared with SAP at 1 year. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation.
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| 23. |
- Gordon, Amy R., et al.
(författare)
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Detection of Inflammation via Volatile Cues in Human Urine
- 2018
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Ingår i: Chemical Senses. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 43:9, s. 711-719
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Contagious disease is a major threat to survival, and the cost of relying on the immune system to defeat pathogens is high; therefore, behavioral avoidance of contagious individuals is arguably an adaptive strategy. Animal findings demonstrate the ability to detect and avoid sick individuals by the aid of olfactory cues, and a recent study indicated that human axillary odor also becomes more aversive as a function of immune activation. By injecting healthy human participants with lipopolysaccharide (0.6 ng/kg body weight) to experimentally induce inflammation, this study demonstrates that natural daily rhythms of urine odor-its perceived dimensions and volatile profile-are altered within hours of inflammation onset. Whereas healthy human urine decreases in averseness over the course of a single day, inflammation interrupts this process and results in an increased urine odor averseness and an altered volatile composition. These results support the notion that subtle and early cues of sickness may be detected and avoided, thereby complementing the immune system in its role of keeping us alive and healthy.
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| 24. |
- Gordon, Amy R., et al.
(författare)
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Human scent as a first-line defense against disease
- 2023
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Nature. - 2045-2322. ; 13:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Individuals may have a different body odor, when they are sick compared to healthy. In the non-human animal literature, olfactory cues have been shown to predict avoidance of sick individuals. We tested whether the mere experimental activation of the innate immune system in healthy human individuals can make an individuals' body odor be perceived as more aversive (intense, unpleasant, and disgusting). Following an endotoxin injection (lipopolysaccharide; 0.6 ng/kg) that creates a transient systemic inflammation, individuals smelled more unpleasant compared to a placebo group (saline injection). Behavioral and chemical analyses of the body odor samples suggest that the volatile components of samples from sick individuals changed qualitatively rather than quantitatively. Our findings support the hypothesis that odor cues of inflammation in axillary sweat are detectable just a few hours after experimental activation of the innate immune system. As such, they may trigger behavioral avoidance, hence constituting a first line of defense against pathogens of infected conspecifics.
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| 25. |
- Gordon, Amy R., et al.
(författare)
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The scent of disease
- 2015
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Ingår i: Chemical Senses. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 40:3, s. 254-254
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ability to detect diseases in conspecifics would be advantageous for the individual. In line with this, rodents avoid body odors of infected individuals. Two studies (Olsson et al. 20014; in prep.) indicated that this is possible by way of human smell and human observers. T-shirts from donors (worn for 4 hours) that had received an injection of endotoxin [0.8ng lipopolysaccharide (LPS) / kg body weight], which causes systemic inflammation, smelled more unpleasant, intense, and sick than shirts from donors that had received a placebo (Saline) injection. GC/MS analysis of the shirts suggested that the change of body odor was not due to a general increase of odorous compounds in the “sick shirts” compared to “placebo shirts” but rather to a qualitative change. Study 2 (ongoing) further investigated the nature of this perception. In a first experiment, we compared the body odor of 30 endotoxin (0.6ng LPS / kg body weight) and 21 placebo (Saline) donors. Again, body odors were sampled during 4 hours using T-shirts. Observers then smelled the shirts and rated intensity, pleasantness, and disgust. In a second experiment, urine from these donors were collected and was investigated in the same way with subjective ratings. Altogether the data suggest that systemic inflammation makes body odors more aversive within a few hours.
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| 26. |
- Hansson, Karna, et al.
(författare)
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Differences in soil properties in adjacent stands of Scots pine, Norway spruce and silver birch in SW Sweden
- 2011
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Ingår i: Forest Ecology and Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-1127 .- 1872-7042. ; 262, s. 522-530
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Soil properties were compared in adjacent 50-year-old Norway spruce, Scots pine and silver birch stands 26 growing on similar soils in south-west Sweden. The effects of tree species were most apparent in the 27 humus layer and decreased with soil depth. At 20–30 cm depth in the mineral soil, species differences 28 in soil properties were small and mostly not significant. Soil C, N, K, Ca, Mg, and Na content, pH, base sat- 29 uration and fine root biomass all significantly differed between humus layers of different species. Since 30 the climate, parent material, land use history and soil type were similar, the differences can be ascribed to 31 tree species. Spruce stands had the largest amounts of carbon stored down to 30 cm depth in mineral soil 32 (7.3 kg C m??2), whereas birch stands, with the lowest production, smallest amount of litterfall and lowest 33 C:N ratio in litter and humus, had the smallest carbon pool (4.1 kg C m??2), with pine intermediate 34 (4.9 kg C m??2). Similarly, soil nitrogen pools amounted to 349, 269, and 240 g N m??2 for spruce, pine, 35 and birch stands, respectively. The humus layer in birch stands was thin and mixed with mineral soil, 36 and soil pH was highest in the birch stands. Spruce had the thickest humus layer with the lowest pH
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| 27. |
- Hansson, Lina S., et al.
(författare)
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Regulation of emotions during experimental endotoxemia : A pilot study
- 2021
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Ingår i: Brain, behavior, and immunity. - : Elsevier BV. - 0889-1591 .- 1090-2139. ; 93, s. 420-424
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Even though dysfunctional emotion regulation is prominent in depression and a link between depression and inflammation is well established, there is little knowledge about how inflammation affects the regulation of emotions. The aim of this pilot study was to explore the effect of experimentally induced inflammation on the cognitive reappraisal of emotions, and to assess domain specificity by comparing success in regulation of emotions towards two unpleasant stimuli classes (general negative stimuli and disgust stimuli). In a between-subject design, ten healthy participants were injected with an intravenous injection of lipopolysaccharide (2 ng/kg body weight) and eleven were injected with saline. Participants performed a cognitive reappraisal task, in which they had to down-regulate or up-regulate their emotions towards general negative stimuli and disgust stimuli, 5–6 h post-injection. Contrary to our hypotheses, participants injected with lipopolysaccharide reported greater success in down-regulating emotional responses towards unpleasant stimuli as compared to the saline group. In addition, both groups were poorer at down-regulating emotions towards disgust stimuli as compared to general negative stimuli. The current pilot study indicates that cognitive reappraisal of emotions is affected during experimental endotoxemia, and suggests that disgust stimuli might be difficult to reappraise.
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| 28. |
- Hansson, Lina S., 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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The walking sick : what predicts the detection of walking sick individuals?
- 2022
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Ingår i: Brain, behavior, and immunity. - : Elsevier. - 0889-1591 .- 1090-2139. ; 106, s. 36-36
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Methods: In two studies, raters watched video recordings and point-light displays (i.e. dots depicting the body joints) of walking individuals who were either experimentally sick (after injection with lipopolysaccharide at 2.0 ng/kg bw) or healthy (after a placebo injection). In study 1, 106 raters classified each walking individual as either sick or healthy. In study 2, 106 other raters graded health of the stimuli on a visual analogue scale. We assessed the predicting effect on sickness detection (study 1) and apparent health (study 2) of walking parameters (objective measures of stride length, width, time, as well as knee angle, arm angle, and head angle) and well-known sickness responses (Sickness Questionnaire score, pain intensity, body temperature, and interleukin-6 concentration).Results: In study 1, shorter steps was the only predictor of the detection of sick individuals from video recordings (β=0.712(0.257), p=0.02). In the point-light displays, slower, wider, stiffer and shorter steps, all predicted a better sickness detection (β=0.0003(0.0001)-0.415(0.126), p<0.05).In study 2, lipopolysaccharide-induced slower, shorter and stiffer steps (B=5.214(1.888)-6.385(2.083), p<0.01), as well as higher interleukin-6 concentrations (B=0.051(0.020), p=0.01), predicted worse health ratings of sick individuals in the video recordings. In the point-light displays, lipopolysaccharide-induced slower, shorter and stiffer steps, and more head tilting, predicted worse health ratings of sick individuals (B=4.185(1.892)-6.701(2.092), p<0.05).Conclusions: The results imply that specific changes in walking parameters may aid in sickness detection, possibly regulating approach-avoidance behaviors towards sick peers.
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| 29. |
- Hellström, Mats, et al.
(författare)
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Towards the development of a bioengineered uterus : Comparison of different protocols for rat uterus decellularization
- 2014
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Ingår i: Acta Biomaterialia. - : Elsevier BV. - 1742-7061 .- 1878-7568. ; 10:12, s. 5034-5042
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Uterus transplantation (UTx) may be the only possible curative treatment for absolute uterine factor infertility, which affects 1 in every 500 females of fertile age. We recently presented the 6-month results from the first clinical UTx trial, describing nine live-donor procedures. This routine involves complicated surgery and requires potentially harmful immune suppression to prevent rejection. However, tissue engineering applications using biomaterials and stem cells may replace the need for a live donor, and could prevent the required immunosuppressive treatment. To investigate the basic aspects of this, we developed a novel whole-uterus scaffold design for uterus tissue engineering experiments in the rat. Decellularization was achieved by perfusion of detergents and ionic solutions. The remaining matrix and its biochemical and mechanical properties were quantitatively compared from using three different protocols. The constructs were further compared with native uterus tissue composition. Perfusion with Triton X-100/dimethyl sulfoxide/H2O led to a compact, weaker scaffold that showed evidence of a compromised matrix organization. Sodium deoxycholate/dH2O perfusion gave rise to a porous scaffold that structurally and mechanically resembled native uterus better. An innovative combination of two proteomic analyses revealed higher fibronectin and versican content in these porous scaffolds, which may explain the improved scaffold organization. Together with other important protocol-dependent differences, our results can contribute to the development of improved decellularization protocols for assorted organs. Furthermore, our study shows the first available data on decellularized whole uterus, and creates new opportunities for numerous in vitro and in vivo whole-uterus tissue engineering applications.
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| 30. |
- Henderson, Audrey J., et al.
(författare)
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Skin colour changes during experimentally-induced sickness
- 2017
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Ingår i: Brain, behavior, and immunity. - : Elsevier BV. - 0889-1591 .- 1090-2139. ; 60, s. 312-318
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Skin colour may be an important cue to detect sickness in humans but how skin colour changes with acute sickness is currently unknown. To determine possible colour changes, 22 healthy Caucasian participants were injected twice, once with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, at a dose of 2ng/kg body weight) and once with placebo (saline), in a randomised cross-over design study. Skin colour across 3 arm and 3 face locations was recorded spectrophotometrically over a period of 8h in terms of lightness (L(∗)), redness (a(∗)) and yellowness (b(∗)) in a manner that is consistent with human colour perception. In addition, carotenoid status was assessed as we predicted that a decrease it skin yellowness would reflect a drop in skin carotenoids. We found an early change in skin colouration 1-3h post LPS injection with facial skin becoming lighter and less red whilst arm skin become darker but also less red and less yellow. The LPS injection also caused a drop in plasma carotenoids from 3h onwards. However, the timing of the carotenoid changes was not consistent with the skin colour changes suggesting that other mechanisms, such as a reduction of blood perfusion, oxygenation or composition. This is the first experimental study characterising skin colour associated with acute illness, and shows that changes occur early in the development of the sickness response. Colour changes may serve as a cue to health, prompting actions from others in terms of care-giving or disease avoidance. Specific mechanisms underlying these colour changes require further investigation.
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