| 1. |
- Johansson, Maurits, et al.
(author)
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Apathy and anxiety are early markers of Alzheimer's disease
- 2020
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In: Neurobiology of Aging. - : Elsevier BV. - 0197-4580 .- 1558-1497. ; 85, s. 74-82
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this study, we investigated associations between neuropsychiatric symptoms (i.e., apathy, anxiety, and depression) and cerebral atrophy, white matter lesions (WML), beta-amyloid (A beta) deposition, and cognitive decline in a nondemented sample. 104 cognitively unimpaired and 53 subjects with mild cognitive impairment were followed for up to 4 years within the Swedish BioFINDER study. Neuropsychiatric assessments included the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Apathy Evaluation Scale. Magnetic resonance imaging and F-18-flutemetamol-positron emission tomography quantified brain atrophy, WML, and A beta deposition. Mini-Mental State Examination assessed longitudinal global cognition. Regression analyses were used to test for associations. Apathy and anxiety were shown related to A beta deposition and predicted cognitive decline. Anxiety also interacted with amyloid status to predict faster cognitive deterioration. Apathy was further related to frontotemporal and subcortical atrophy, as well as WML. To conclude, the associations between apathy and anxiety with A beta deposition and cognitive decline point to these symptoms as early clinical manifestations of Alzheimer's disease. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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| 2. |
- Johansson, Maurits, et al.
(author)
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Mild behavioral impairment and its relation to tau pathology in preclinical Alzheimer's disease
- 2021
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In: Translational Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2158-3188. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mild behavioral impairment (MBI) is suggested as risk marker for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently, pathologic tau deposition in the brain has been shown closely related to clinical manifestations, such as cognitive deficits. Yet, associations between tau pathology and MBI have rarely been investigated. It is further debated if MBI precedes cognitive deficits in AD. Here, we explored potential mechanisms by which MBI is related to AD, this by studying associations between MBI and tau in preclinical AD. In all, 50 amyloid-beta -positive cognitively unimpaired subjects (part of the BioFINDER-2 study) underwent MBI-checklist (MBI-C) to assess MBI, and the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog) delayed word recall (ADAS-DR) to assess episodic memory. Early tau pathology was determined using tau-PET ([F-18]RO948 retention in entorhinal cortex/hippocampus) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) P-tau(181). Regression models were used to test for associations. We found that higher tau-PET signal in the entorhinal cortex/hippocampus and CSF P-tau(181) levels were associated with higher MBI-C scores (beta =0.010, SE=0.003, p=0.003 and beta =1.263, SE=0.446, p=0.007, respectively). When MBI-C and ADAS-DR were entered together in the regression models, tau-PET (beta =0.009, p=0.009) and CSF P-tau(181) (beta =0.408, p=0.006) were predicted by MBI-C, but not ADAS-DR. We conclude that in preclinical AD, MBI is associated with tau independently from memory deficits. This denotes MBI as an important early clinical manifestation related to tau pathology in AD.
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| 3. |
- Algaba-Brazalez, A., et al.
(author)
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Compact Polarization Transformation in a Geodesic Luneburg Lens Antenna
- 2021
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In: 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and North American Radio Science Meeting, APS/URSI 2021 - Proceedings. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.. ; , s. 1992-1993
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper describes the design of a compact polarizer that rotates the linear polarization of a fully metallic geodesic Luneburg lens antenna for applications requiring polarization diversity. The polarization rotation is achieved by loading the radiating aperture of the antenna with two metallic screens. The integrated antenna operates in the Ka-band, from 25 to 31 GHz, showing around 20% bandwidth with S11 below -10 dB, and a scanning range of 100°.
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| 4. |
- Bergengren, Oskar, et al.
(author)
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Changes in lifestyle among prostate cancer survivors: A nationwide population-based study
- 2020
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In: Psycho-Oncology. - : Wiley. - 1057-9249 .- 1099-1611. ; 29:10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective Long-term information on lifestyle changes among prostate survivors is lacking. In this nationwide, population-based study we investigated the prevalence of lifestyle changes, factors associated with lifestyle changes and associations between lifestyle changes and general quality of life. Methods All men registered in the National Prostate Cancer Register of Sweden diagnosed in 2008 with low-risk prostate cancer at age 70 years or younger were sent a questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals for factors potentially associated with lifestyle change. Results Out of 1288, 1720 men (75%) were responded. A total of 279 (22%) reported a positive lifestyle change regarding diet or exercise. Poor functional outcomes after treatment was associated with exercising less (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.2-2.1) and less interest in social activities and relationships (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.5-2.1). Men who exercised more (OR 7.9, 95% CI 4.4-14) and men who had an increased interest in relationships and social activities (OR 5.2, 95% CI 2.1-13) reported higher general quality of life. Conclusions A considerable proportion of men reported making positive lifestyle changes after the prostate cancer diagnosis. The time after diagnosis may be a teachable moment that facilitates lifestyle interventions. Poor functional outcomes after treatment may reduce the willingness to engage in positive lifestyle change, which need be considered when supporting men after treatment. Men who made a positive lifestyle change, regardless of whether it was exercise or regarding relationships and social activities more often reported a high level of general quality of life.
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| 5. |
- Dahl, Oskar, et al.
(author)
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Understanding Association Between Logged Vehicle Data and Vehicle Marketing Parameters : Using Clustering and Rule-Based Machine Learning
- 2020
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In: Proceedings of the 2020 3rd International Conference on Information Management and Management Science, IMMS 2020. - New York : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 9781450375467 ; , s. 13-22
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Trucks are designed, configured and marketed for various working environments. There lies a concern whether trucks are used as intended by the manufacturer, as usage may impact the longevity, efficiency and productivity of the trucks. In this paper we propose a framework that aims to extract costumers' vehicle behaviours from Logged Vehicle Data (LVD) in order to evaluate whether they align with vehicle configurations, so-called Global Transport Application (GTA) parameters. Gaussian mixture model (GMM)s are employed to cluster and classify various vehicle behaviors from the LVD. Rule-based machine learning (RBML) was applied on the clusters to examine whether vehicle behaviors follow the GTA configuration. Particularly, we propose an approach based on studying associations that is able to extract insights on whether the trucks are used as intended. Experimental results shown that while for the vast majority of the trucks' behaviors seemingly follows their GTA configuration, there are also interesting outliers that warrant further analysis. © 2020 ACM.
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| 6. |
- Enblad, Anna Pia, et al.
(author)
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PSA testing patterns in a large Swedish cohort before the implementation of organized PSA testing
- 2020
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In: Scandinavian journal of urology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2168-1805 .- 2168-1813. ; 54:5, s. 376-381
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Organized PSA testing for asymptomatic men aged 50-74 years will be implemented in Sweden to reduce opportunistic testing in groups who will not benefit. The aim of this study was to describe the opportunistic PSA testing patterns in a Swedish region before the implementation of organized PSA testing programs.Method: We included all men in the Uppsala-orebro health care region of Sweden who were PSA tested between 1 July 2012 and 30 June 2014. Information regarding previous PSA testing, prostate cancer diagnosis, socioeconomic situation, surgical procedures and prescribed medications were collected from population-wide registries to create the Uppsala-orebro PSA cohort (UPSAC). The cohort was divided into repeat and single PSA testers. The background population used for comparison consisted of men 40 years or older, living in the Uppsala-orebro region during this time period.Results: Of the adult male population in the region, 18.1% had undergone PSA testing. Among men over 85 years old 21% where PSA tested. In our cohort, 62.1% were repeat PSA testers. Of men with a PSA level <= 1 mu g/l 53.8% had undergone repeat testing. Prostate cancer was found in 2.7% and 4.8% of the repeat and single testers, respectively.Conclusion: Every fifth man in the male background population was PSA tested. Repeated PSA testing was common despite low PSA values. As repeated PSA testing was common, especially among older men who will not be included in organized testing, special measures to change the testing patterns in this group may be required.
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| 7. |
- Jacobson, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Hyperglycemia as a risk factor in pancreatic cancer : A nested case-control study using prediagnostic blood glucose levels
- 2021
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In: Pancreatology (Print). - : Elsevier. - 1424-3903 .- 1424-3911. ; 21:6, s. 1112-1118
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To determine the risk association between fasting glucose levels and pancreatic cancer using systematically collected prediagnostic blood glucose samples.METHODS: Prospective nested case-control study of participants from the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study, including 182 cases that developed pancreatic cancer and four matched controls per case. Blood glucose levels collected up to 24 years before pancreatic cancer diagnosis were analyzed. The association between fasting glucose levels and pancreatic cancer risk was determined using unconditional and conditional logistic regression models. The association between fasting glucose and the time to pancreatic cancer diagnosis, tumor stage and survival was determined using likelihood-ratio test, t-test and log rank test.RESULTS: The unadjusted risk of developing pancreatic cancer increased with increasing fasting glucose levels (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.05-1.60, P = .015). Impaired fasting glucose (≥6.1 mmol/L) was associated with an adjusted risk of 1.77 for developing pancreatic cancer (95% CI 1.05-2.99, P = .032). In subgroup analysis, fasting glucose levels were associated with an increased risk in never-smokers (OR 4.02, 95% CI 1.26-12.77, P = .018) and non-diabetics (OR 3.08, 95% CI 1.08-8.79, P = .035) (non-significant for interaction). The ratio between fasting glucose and BMI was higher among future pancreatic cancer patients and an increased ratio was associated with elevated risk of pancreatic cancer (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.04-2.66, P = .034). Fasting glucose levels were not associated with TNM stage at diagnosis or survival.CONCLUSIONS: High fasting glucose is associated with an increased risk of being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
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| 8. |
- Johansson, Ingrid, 1990-
(author)
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Simulation Studies for Improved Efficiency in Road and Rail Freight Transports
- 2021
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The demand for road and rail freight transport continues to grow with the expanding economy, while the climate crisis requires reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, tools and solutions for reducing fossil fuel use and enabling more efficient use of infrastructure are needed. This thesis utilises microscopic and macroscopic traffic simulation as tools to improve certain aspects of road and rail transport planning in the operational, tactical, and strategic planning time horizons.For road freight transports conducted with heavy-duty vehicles, fuel consumption can be reduced by smarter driving. Strategic planning concerning introduction of intelligent and connected vehicles is needed, along with planning of actual vehicle operations. Microscopic road traffic simulation is utilised to show that heavy-duty vehicle platooning, which lowers the fuel consumption through reduced aerodynamic drag, can be conducted on two-lane highway stretches without disturbing surrounding traffic. Further, substantial reduction of the fuel consumption can be achieved by applying fuel-optimal deceleration trajectories, assuming available information about the traffic situation ahead.Shifting freight transports from roads to railways is another possible measure to reduce emissions. Previous simulation studies of railway traffic has mainly focused on passenger trains, combined with not including freight train departures before the scheduled timetable, even though it commonly occurs in Sweden. Therefore, both microscopic and macroscopic railway traffic simulation, with and without allowing early freight train departures, is conducted in a case study. The resulting freight train punctuality is closer to empirical punctuality when early departures are included.A modal shift from road to rail transport increases capacity utilisation of railway networks, and is only possible within available capacity. Therefore, reliable methods for capacity analysis are needed. A method for capacity analysis is introduced and evaluated, with particular focus on railway station analysis. An advantage of this method is it can be used in tactical and strategic planning of future timetables and infrastructure.
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| 9. |
- Johansson, Victor, et al.
(author)
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Extreme weather affects colonization : extinction dynamics and the persistence of a threatened butterfly
- 2020
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In: Journal of Applied Ecology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0021-8901 .- 1365-2664. ; 57:6, s. 1068-1077
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Extreme weather events can be expected to increase in frequency in the future. Our knowledge on how this may affect species persistence is, however, very limited. For reliable projections of future persistence we need to understand how extreme weather affects species' population dynamics.We analysed the effect of extreme droughts on the host plant Succisa pratensis, colonization-extinction dynamics, and future persistence of the threatened marsh fritillary Euphydryas aurinia. Specifically, we studied a metapopulation inhabiting a network of 256 patches on Gotland (Sweden), where the summer of 2018 was the driest ever recorded. We analysed how the frequency and leaf size of host plants changed between 2017 and 2019, based on 6,833 records in 0.5-m(2) sample plots. Using turnover data on the butterfly from 2018 to 2019 we modelled local extinction and colonization probabilities. Moreover, we projected future population dynamics with an increasing frequency of extreme years under three different management strategies that regulate the grazing regime.Our results show a substantial decrease in both frequency (46%) and size (20%) of host plants due to the drought, which taken together may constitute a 57% loss of food resources. The butterfly occupancy decreased by over 30% between 2018 and 2019 (from 0.36 to 0.27). The extinction probability increased with increasing 'effective area' of the patch (taking quality reduction due to grazing into account), and the colonization probability increased with increasing connectivity and ground moisture.Projections of future dynamics showed an increasing risk of metapopulation extinction with increasing frequency of years with extreme droughts. The risk, however, clearly differed between management strategies. Less grazing in years with droughts decreased the extinction risk considerably.Synthesis and applications. Extreme weather events can have profound negative impacts on butterflies and their host plants. For the marsh fritillary, an increased frequency of extreme droughts can lead to extinction of the entire metapopulation, even in a large and seemingly viable metapopulation. Increased grazing, due to fodder deficiency in dry years, may lead to cascading negative effects, while active management that reduce grazing in years with droughts can almost completely mitigate these effects.
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| 10. |
- Klaric, Lucija, et al.
(author)
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Mendelian randomisation identifies alternative splicing of the FAS death receptor as a mediator of severe COVID-19.
- 2021
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In: medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. ; , s. 1-28
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Severe COVID-19 is characterised by immunopathology and epithelial injury. Proteomic studies have identified circulating proteins that are biomarkers of severe COVID-19, but cannot distinguish correlation from causation. To address this, we performed Mendelian randomisation (MR) to identify proteins that mediate severe COVID-19. Using protein quantitative trait loci (pQTL) data from the SCALLOP consortium, involving meta-analysis of up to 26,494 individuals, and COVID-19 genome-wide association data from the Host Genetics Initiative, we performed MR for 157 COVID-19 severity protein biomarkers. We identified significant MR results for five proteins: FAS, TNFRSF10A, CCL2, EPHB4 and LGALS9. Further evaluation of these candidates using sensitivity analyses and colocalization testing provided strong evidence to implicate the apoptosis-associated cytokine receptor FAS as a causal mediator of severe COVID-19. This effect was specific to severe disease. Using RNA-seq data from 4,778 individuals, we demonstrate that the pQTL at the FAS locus results from genetically influenced alternate splicing causing skipping of exon 6. We show that the risk allele for very severe COVID-19 increases the proportion of transcripts lacking exon 6, and thereby increases soluble FAS. Soluble FAS acts as a decoy receptor for FAS-ligand, inhibiting apoptosis induced through membrane-bound FAS. In summary, we demonstrate a novel genetic mechanism that contributes to risk of severe of COVID-19, highlighting a pathway that may be a promising therapeutic target.
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