| 1. |
- Grann, Martin, et al.
(author)
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Methodological development : structured outcome assessment and community risk monitoring (SORM)
- 2005
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In: International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0160-2527 .- 1873-6386. ; 28:4, s. 442-456
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper describes an effort to develop a clinical tool for the continuous monitoring of risk for violence in forensic mental health clients who have left their institutions and who are dwelling in the community on a conditional release basis. The model is called Structured Outcome Assessment and Community Risk Monitoring (SORM). The SORM consists of 30 dynamic factors and each factor in SORM is assessed in two ways: The current absence, presence or partial och intermittent presence of the factors, which is an actuarial (systematized and 'objective') assessment. Secondly, the risk effect, i.e. whether the presence/absence of factors currently increases, decreases or is perceived as unrelated to violence risk, is a clinical (or impressionistic) assessment. Thus, the factors considered via the SORM can be coded as risk factors or protective factors (or as factors unimportant to risk of violence) depending on circumstances that apply in the individual case. Further, the SORM has a built-in module for gathering idiographical information about risk-affecting contextual factors. The use of the SORM and its potential as a risk monitoring instrument is illustrated via preliminary data and case vignettes from an ongoing multicenter project. In this research project, patients leaving any of the 9 participating forensic hospitals in Sweden is assessed at release on a variety of static background factors, and the SORM is then administered every 30 days for 2 years.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Englund, Undis, 1957-
(author)
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Physical activity, bone density, and fragility fractures in women
- 2009
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Scandinavia has among the highest incidence of fragility fractures in the world. The reasons for this are unknown, but might involve differences in genetic and/or environmental factors, such as sunlight exposure and levels of physical activity. Weight-bearing exercise is thought to have a beneficial effect on bone health in the young, but few studies have evaluated whether exercise in older subjects affects bone density and protects against fragility fractures. The initial objective of this thesis was to evaluate whether a combined weight-bearing training programme twice a week would be beneficial as regards bone mineral density (BMD) and neuromuscular function in older women. Forty-eight community living women with a mean age of 73 years were recruited for this 12-month prospective, randomised controlled trial, and were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n=24) or a control group (n=24). The intervention group displayed significant increments in BMD at the Ward’s triangle, maximum walking speed, and isometric grip strength compared to the control group. The second objective was to investigate if training effects were retained in older women five years after the cessation of training. The 40 women who completed the first study included in this thesis were invited to take part in a follow-up assessment five years later, and 34 women (~79 years) agreed to participate. During these five years both groups had sustained significant losses in hip BMD and in all neuromuscular function tests, and the previous exercise-induced intergroup differences were no longer seen. The third and fourth objective of this thesis was to investigate whether exercise and weight-bearing leisure activities in middle-aged women are associated with a decreased risk of sustaining hip or wrist fractures at a later stage. A cohort of women participating in the Umeå Fracture and Osteoporosis (UFO) study, a longitudinal, nested case-control study investigating associations between bone markers, lifestyle, and osteoporotic fractures, was used for the purpose of this investigation. Eighty-one hip fracture cases and 376 wrist fracture cases, which had reported lifestyle data before they sustained their fracture, were identified. These cases were compared with age-matched controls identified from the same cohort. Using conditional logistic regression analysis with adjustments for height, BMI, smoking, and menopausal status, results showed that moderate frequency of leisure physical activities such as gardening and berry/mushroom picking, were associated with reduced hip fracture risk (OR 0.28; 95% CI 0.12 – 0.67), whereas active commuting (especially walking) along with dancing and snow shoveling in leisure time, reduced the wrist fracture risk (OR 0.48; 95% CI 0.27 – 0.88, OR 0.42; 95% CI 0.22 – 0.80 and OR 0.50; 95% CI 0.32 – 0.79 respectively). In summary, this thesis suggests that weight-bearing physical activity is beneficial for BMD and neuromuscular functions such as muscle strength and gait in older women, and that a physically active lifestyle, with outdoor activities, in middle age is associated with reduced risk of both hip and wrist fractures. Possible mechanisms underlying this association include improved muscle strength, coordination, and balance, resulting in a decreased risk of falling and perhaps also direct skeletal benefits.
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| 4. |
- Nordström, F, et al.
(author)
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Decolorization of a mixture of textile dyes using Bjerkandera sp. BOL 13
- 2008
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In: Environmental technology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0959-3330 .- 1479-487X. ; 29:8, s. 921-929
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The white-rot fungus Bjerkandera sp. BOL 13 was evaluated regarding decolorization of four textile dyes Reactive blue 21, Reactive black 5, Reactive orange 13 and Reactive yellow 206. Experiments were performed in batch and continuous modes. The total dye concentration in all experimtents was 100 mg/l. The results of the batch experiments showed that the fungus decolorized all dyes but at different rates. There was, however, an increase in the ultraviolet (UV) absorbance when a medium with a low concentration of nitrogen was used. No increase in UV range was observed when the nitrogen concentration was increased. A continuous experiment was performed to study the decolorization of a mixture of three of the dyes Reactive blue 21, Reactive black 5 and Reactive orange 13. Scanning of inlet and outlet samples showed that the absorbance at the peaks in the visible range decreased by 60-66%. The UV absorbance of the outlet increased during the first days of operation after which it decreased again to reach the same level as the inlet. The hydraulic retention time in the reactor was 3 days. The medium containing the higher nitrogen concentration was used in the continuous experiment.
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| 5. |
- Nordström, F, et al.
(author)
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Decolorization of a mixture of textile dyes using Bjerkandera sp. BOL-13.
- 2008
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In: Environmental Technology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1479-487X .- 0959-3330. ; 29:8, s. 921-929
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The white-rot fungus Bjerkandera sp. BOL-13 was evaluated regarding decolorization of four textile dyes Reactive blue 21, Reactive black 5, Reactive orange 13 and Reactive yellow 206. Experiments were performed in batch and continuous modes. The total dye concentration in all experiments was 100 mg l(-1). The results of the batch experiments showed that the fungus decolorized all dyes but at different rates. There was, however, an increase in the ultraviolet (UV) absorbance when a medium with a low concentration of nitrogen was used. No increase in UV range was observed when the nitrogen concentration was increased. A continuous experiment was performed to study the decolorization of a mixture of three of the dyes Reactive blue 21, Reactive black 5 and Reactive orange 13. Scanning of inlet and outlet samples showed that the absorbance at the peaks in the visible range decreased by 60-66%. The UV absorbance of the outlet increased during the first days of operation after which it decreased again to reach the same level as the inlet. The hydraulic retention time in the reactor was 3 days. The medium containing the higher nitrogen concentration was used in the continuous experiment.
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| 6. |
- Nordström, Ulrika, 1971-, et al.
(author)
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An early role for WNT signaling in specifying neural patterns of Cdx and Hox gene expression and motor neuron subtype identity
- 2006
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In: PLoS biology. - : Public library of science. - 1544-9173 .- 1545-7885. ; 4:8, s. 1438-1452
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The link between extrinsic signaling, progenitor cell specification and neuronal subtype identity is central to the developmental organization of the vertebrate central nervous system. In the hindbrain and spinal cord, distinctions in the rostrocaudal identity of progenitor cells are associated with the generation of different motor neuron subtypes. Two fundamental classes of motor neurons, those with dorsal (dMN) and ventral (vMN) exit points, are generated over largely non-overlapping rostrocaudal domains of the caudal neural tube. Cdx and Hox genes are important determinants of the rostrocaudal identity of neural progenitor cells, but the link between early patterning signals, neural Cdx and Hox gene expression, and the generation of dMN and vMN subtypes, is unclear. Using an in vitro assay of neural differentiation, we provide evidence that an early Wnt-based program is required to interact with a later retinoic acid- and fibroblast growth factor–mediated mechanism to generate a pattern of Cdx and Hox profiles characteristic of hindbrain and spinal cord progenitor cells that prefigure the generation of vMNs and dMNs.
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| 7. |
- Nordström, Ulrika, 1971-
(author)
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Early Rostrocaudal Patterning of the CNS
- 2005
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The transformation of an initially uniform population of epiblast cells into an intricately complex central nervous system (CNS) is one of the most fascinating processes during embryonic development. Presumptive neural cells are initially specified as cells of forebrain character. Studies in various vertebrates have indicated that cells of more caudal neural character, that will generate the brain stem and spinal cord, are generated through the reprogramming of these initial rostral cells. The initial regionalization of these neural progenitor cells is central to all further diversification of neuronal cell types and the subsequent formation of functional euronal circuits. The aim of this thesis has been to enhance our understanding of which stages of embryonic development that are critical for the initial rostrocaudal regionalization of neural precursor cells, and which signaling mechanisms that orchestrate this early diversification.Both human and chick embryos have the shape of a flat disc during gastrulation. At this early stage, the chick neural plate is already regionalized and cells positioned at distinct rostrocaudal levels are specified to generate cells exhibiting a gene expression profile characteristic of the forebrain, midbrain, rostral hindbrain and caudal spinal cord, respectively. In addition, the Isthmic organizer (IsO), a secondary signaling centre at the midbrain–hindbrain border that is required for the further development of this region, is also specified already at the gastrula stage. Caudal neural character is induced by signals from adjacent tissues - the primitive streak and the paraxial mesoderm. Wingless/Wnts, Fibroblastic growth factors (FGFs) and retinoids (RA) are signaling molecules that have been proposed to promote caudal embryonic development, and exhibit spatio- emporal expression patterns that coincide with early caudalizing activities. The caudalizing activity that emanates from the gastrula stage paraxial mesoderm is mediated by Wnt signals, and the induction of caudal neural character by Wnts results from a direct action on neural precursor cells. In the presence of FGF activity, graded Wnt signaling is sufficient to induce cells exhibiting caudal forebrain, midbrain and rostral hindbrain character. The discrimination between rostral hindbrain and caudal spinal cord character appear to depend on a gradient of both Wnt and FGF signals.At hindbrain and spinal cord levels the patterned generation of neural progenitor cells along the rostrocaudal axis controls the generation of different classes of motor neurons in response to diffusible Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signals. Gastrula stage Wnt signaling is also required for this subsequent generation of motor neuron subtypes characteristic of the hindbrain and spinal cord.Later, at the early somite stage, cells characteristic of the caudal hindbrain and rostral spinal cord are specified adjacent to RA producing paraxial mesoderm. Opponent RA and FGF signals appear to act on, and refine the rostrocaudal identity of the initial hindbrain and spinal cord cells induced by gastrula stage Wnt based signals. Consistently, combinatorial Wnt, FGF and/or RA signals are sufficient to reconstruct neural progenitor cells that differentiate into motor neurons characteristic of the caudal hindbrain, rostral spinal cord and caudal spinal cord, respectively, in response to Shh.
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| 8. |
- Olander, Susanne, et al.
(author)
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Convergent Wnt and FGF signaling at the gastrula stage induce the formation of the isthmic organizer.
- 2006
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In: Mechanisms of Development. - : Elsevier BV. - 0925-4773 .- 1872-6356. ; 123:2, s. 166-176
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The development of the vertebrate brain depends on the formation of local organizing centres within the neural tube that express secreted signals that refine local neural progenitor identity. The isthmic organizer (IsO) forms at the isthmic constriction and is required for the growth and ordered development of mesencephalic and metencephalic structures. The formation of the IsO, which is characterized by the generation of a complex pattern of cells at the midbrain-hindbrain boundary, has been described in detail. However, when neural plate cells are initially instructed to form the IsO, the molecular nature of the inductive signals remain poorly defined. We now provide evidence that convergent Wnt and FGF signaling at the gastrula stage are required to generate the complex polarized pattern of cells characteristic of the IsO, and that Wnt and FGF signals in combination are sufficient to reconstruct, in naïve forebrain cells, an IsO-like structure that exhibits an organizing activity that mimics the endogenous IsO when transplanted into the diencephalon of chick embryos.
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