| 1. |
- Danielsson, Christian, et al.
(author)
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Exploration of human, rat, and rabbit embryonic cardiomyocytes suggests K-channel block as a common teratogenic mechanism
- 2013
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In: Cardiovascular Research. - : Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy B. - 0008-6363 .- 1755-3245. ; 97:1, s. 23-32
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Several drugs blocking the rapidly activating potassium (K-r) channel cause malformations (including cardiac defects) and embryonic death in animal teratology studies. In humans, these drugs have an established risk for acquired long-QT syndrome and arrhythmia. Recently, associations between cardiac defects and spontaneous abortions have been reported for drugs widely used in pregnancy (e.g. antidepressants), with long-QT syndrome risk. To investigate whether a common embryonic adverse-effect mechanism exists in the human, rat, and rabbit embryos, we made a comparative study of embryonic cardiomyocytes from all three species. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanPatch-clamp and quantitative-mRNA measurements of K-r and slowly activating K (K-s) channels were performed on human, rat, and rabbit primary cardiomyocytes and cardiac samples from different embryo-foetal stages. The K-r channel was present when the heart started to beat in all species, but was, in contrast to human and rabbit, lost in rats in late organogenesis. The specific K-r-channel blocker E-4031 prolonged the action potential in a species- and development-dependent fashion, consistent with the observed K-r-channel expression pattern and reported sensitive periods of developmental toxicity. E-4031 also increased the QT interval and induced 2:1 atrio-ventricular block in multi-electrode array electrographic recordings of rat embryos. The K-s channel was expressed in human and rat throughout the embryo-foetal period but not in rabbit. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanThis first comparison of mRNA expression, potassium currents, and action-potential characteristics, with and without a specific K-r-channel blocker in human, rat, and rabbit embryos provides evidence of K-r-channel inhibition as a common mechanism for embryonic malformations and death.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Anselm, Jonas, et al.
(author)
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Bannlys alla politiska beslut som ger mer klimatutsläpp
- 2014
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In: Dagens Nyheter.
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Torftig valdebatt. Dagspolitiken klarar inte att hantera ödesfrågan om klimatet, vilket oroar oss. Vi föreslår därför ett ”utsläppsmoratorium”: inga beslut får tas som ökar utsläppen av växthusgaser. Principen måste kopplas till mål om exempelvis förnybar energi och grön infrastruktur, skriver 23 forskare och debattörer.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Bernstein, Joshua G, et al.
(author)
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Spectrotemporal modulation sensitivity as a predictor of speech intelligibility in noise with hearing aids
- 2014
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In: Spectrotemporal modulation sensitivity as a predictor of speech intelligibility in noise with hearing aids.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The audiogram predicts less than a third of the variance in speech reception thresholds (SRTs) for hearing-impaired (HI) listeners properly fit with individualized frequency-dependent gain. The remaining variance is often attributed to a combination of su-prathreshold distortion in the auditory pathway and non-auditory factors such as cogni-tive processing. Distinguishing between these factors requires a measure of suprathresh-old auditory processing to account for the non-cognitive contributions. Preliminary re-sults in 12 HI listeners identified a correlation between spectrotemporal modulation (STM) sensitivity and speech intelligibility in noise presented over headphones. The cur-IHCON 2014 27 August 13-17, 2014rent study assessed the effectiveness of STM sensitivity as a measure of suprathreshold auditory function to predict free-field SRTs in noise for a larger group of 47 HI listeners with hearing aids.SRTs were measured for Hagerman sentences presented at 65 dB SPL in stationary speech-weighted noise or four-talker babble. Pre-recorded speech and masker stimuli were played through a small anechoic chamber equipped with a master hearing aid pro-grammed with individualized gain. The output from an IEC711 Ear Simulator was played binaurally through insert earphones. Three processing algorithms were examined: linear gain, linear gain plus noise reduction, or fast-acting compressive gain.STM stimuli consist of spectrally-rippled noise with spectral-peak frequencies that shift over time. STM with a 2-cycle/octave spectral-ripple density and a 4-Hz modulation rate was applied to a 2-kHz lowpass-filtered pink-noise carrier. Stimuli were presented over headphones at 80 dB SPL (±5-dB roving). The threshold modulation depth was estimated adaptively in a two-alternative forced-choice task.STM sensitivity was strongly correlated (R2=0.48) with the global SRT (i.e., the SRTs averaged across masker and processing conditions). The high-frequency pure-tone aver-age (3-8 kHz) and age together accounted for 23% of the variance in global SRT. STM sensitivity accounted for an additional 28% of the variance in global SRT (total R2=0.51) when combined with these two other metrics in a multiple-regression analysis. Correla-tions between STM sensitivity and SRTs for individual conditions were weaker for noise reduction than for the other algorithms, and marginally stronger for babble than for sta-tionary noise.The results are discussed in the context of previous work suggesting that STM sensitivity for low rates and low carrier frequencies is impaired by a reduced ability to use temporal fine-structure information to detect slowly shifting spectral peaks. STM detection is a fast, simple test of suprathreshold auditory function that accounts for a substantial pro-portion of variability in hearing-aid outcomes for speech perception in noise.
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| 6. |
- Bremin, Sofia, et al.
(author)
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Methods for human evaluation of machine translation
- 2010
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In: Proceedings of the Swedish Language Technology Conference (SLTC2010). ; , s. 47-48
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Evaluation of machine translation (MT) is a difficult task, both for humans, and using automatic metrics. The main difficulty lies in the fact that there is not one single correct translation, but many alternative good translation options.MT systems are often evaluated using automatic metrics, which commonly rely on comparing a translation to only a single human reference translation. An alternative is different types of human evaluations, commonly ranking be-tween systems or estimations of adequacy and fluency on some scale, or error analyses.We have explored four different evaluation methods on output from three different statistical MT systems. The main focus is on different types of human evaluation. We compare two conventional evaluation methods, human error analysis and automatic metrics, to two lesser used evaluation methods based on reading comprehension and eye-tracking. These two methods of evaluations are performed without the subjects seeing the source sentence. There have been few previous attempts of using reading comprehension and eye-tracking for MT evaluation.One example of a reading comprehension study is Fuji (1999) who conducted an experiment to compare English-to-Japanese MT to several versions of manual corrections of the system output. He found significant differences be-tween texts with large differences on reading comprehension questions. Doherty and O’Brien (2009) is the only study we are aware of using eye-tracking for MT evaluation. They found that the average gaze time and fixation counts were significantly lower for sentences judged as excellent in an earlier evaluation, than for bad sentences.Like previous research we find that both reading comprehension and eye-tracking can be useful for MT evaluation.The results of these methods are consistent with the other methods for comparison between systems with a big quality difference. For systems with similar quality, however, the different evaluation methods often does not show any significant differences.
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| 7. |
- Carlsson, Henrik, 1979-, et al.
(author)
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Automated Generation of Discrete Event System Simulation Models for Flexible Automation
- 2011
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In: The 21st International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing. - 9789868729100 ; , s. 825-832, s. 825-832
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Flexible automation cells with rapid product changes are an important competitive advantage for industries today. These cells can increase a company’s productivity and thereby increase their profits. A flexible cell shall be able to handle different products with none or minimal changes to the cell itself. A powerful tool, which can be used to analyse and verify such cells, is discrete event system simulation. Problems such as potential bottlenecks, deadlocks, answers to "what-if" questions and the level of resource utilisation can be gathered. The drawback of discrete event system simulation is that the modelling task is both time consuming and difficult to accomplish. Furthermore, state-of-the-art discrete event system simulation tools that are used in the industry today are not suitable for flexible automation. If the production scenario is changed, e.g. introduction of a new product, the simulation and modelling has to be redone and this is both time consuming and tedious. In this paper a new approach will be presented that enables discrete event simulation models to be generated automatically. The models are generated from information retrieved from a PLM/PDM database system, which is shared among other engineering tools such as robot simulation, CAD and process planning. Hence, when the cell and the database are updated a new model can easily be generated. The database is also connected to the real cell so up-to-date data can be retrieved from the real cell. The model generator described in this paper was implemented and tested in a discrete event system simulation tool and showed promising results. With this approach it is possible to handle flexible automation cells more effectively in a process planning stage.
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| 8. |
- Carlsson, Henrik, 1979-, et al.
(author)
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Methods for Reliable Simulation-Based PLC Code Verification
- 2012
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In: IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics. - 1941-0050 .- 1551-3203. ; 8:2, s. 267-278
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Simulation-based programmable logic controller (PLC) code verification is a part of virtual commissioning, where the control code is verified against a virtual prototype of an application. With today's general OPC interface, it is easy to connect a PLC to a simulation tool for, e. g., verification purposes. However, there are some problems with this approach that can lead to an unreliable verification result. In this paper, four major problems with the OPC interface are described, and two possible solutions to the problems are presented: a general IEC 61131-3-based software solution, and a new OPC standard solution.
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| 9. |
- Carney, Daniel P. J., et al.
(author)
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Using developmental trajectories to examine verbal and visuospatial short-term memory development in children and adolescents with Williams and Down syndromes
- 2013
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In: Research in Developmental Disabilities. - : Elsevier. - 0891-4222 .- 1873-3379. ; 34:10, s. 3421-3432
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Williams (WS) and Down (DS) syndromes have been associated with specifically compromised short-term memory (STM) subsystems. Individuals with WS have shown impairments in visuospatial STM, while individuals with DS have often shown problems with the recall of verbal material. However, studies have not usually compared the development of STM skills in these domains, in these populations. The present study employed a cross-sectional developmental trajectories approach, plotting verbal and visuospatial STM performance against more general cognitive and chronological development, to investigate how the domain-specific skills of individuals with WS and DS may change as development progresses, as well as whether the difference between STM skill domains increases, in either group, as development progresses. Typically developing children, of broadly similar cognitive ability to the clinical groups, were also included. Planned between- and within-group comparisons were carried out. Individuals with WS and DS both showed the domain-specific STM weaknesses in overall performance that were expected based on the respective cognitive profiles. However, skills in both groups developed, according to general cognitive development, at similar rates to those of the TD group. In addition, no significant developmental divergence between STM domains was observed in either clinical group according to mental age or chronological age, although the general pattern of findings indicated that the influence of the latter variable across STM domains, particularly in WS, might merit further investigation.
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| 10. |
- Crocetti, Roberto, et al.
(author)
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Experimental and numerical investigation on the shear strength of glulam
- 2010
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In: International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction: Working Commission W18 ‑ Timber Structures — 2010. - Nelson : University of Canterbury.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- According to EC5, the shear resistance of a structural timber element should be determined on the basis of the characteristic shear strength of the material, along with classical beam theory. For glulam, the characteristic strength values are given by the European standard EN 1194 [3], which assumes a direct relationship between tensile strength and shear strength of the lamination. As an example, the characteristic shear strength of glulam class GL28c, consisting of inner laminations with characteristic tensile strength ft,0,k = 14.5 MPa, would be fv,k = 0.32·(14.5)^0.8 = 2.9 MPa. However, recent investigations both on glulam members [4] and on timber members [5] have shown that the shear strength of spruce is higher than the shear strength obtained by means of the model proposed by EN1194. Moreover, the studies show that the shear strength is nearly constant, regardless the strength class of the timber material.
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