“You Should Just Keep Your Mouth Shut and Do As We Say”: Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients’ Experiences of Risk Assessments

This study presents findings of forensic inpatients’ experiences of their role in the risk assessment process. Eleven patients, recruited from two forensic psychiatric clinics in Sweden, participated in semi-structured interviews which were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The analysis of their experiences resulted in the information of three categories: Taking responsibility for one’s own situation, in terms of taking responsibility for aspects of one’s care, taking charge of the present, emphasizing potential challenges in grasping reality, and being involved and having impact, which concerns feelings of being involved in discussions related to one’s care and treatment versus feelings of being an outsider

Associations between cervical intraepithelial neoplasia during pregnancy, previous excisional treatment, cone-length and preterm delivery: a register-based study from western Sweden

BACKGROUND: Excisional treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) has been associated with increased risk of preterm delivery (PTD), although the underlying mechanism is as yet unclear. Studies on formalin-fixed excised tissue indicate that the risk increases with cone-length, but the magnitude of increase is uncertain, especially in case of minor excisions (≤10 mm), as well compared to women with untreated CIN during pregnancy. This study assesses the impact of cone-length at previous treatment for CIN as well as diagnosis of CIN during pregnancy on the risk of PTD. METHODS: A register-based cohort study in western Sweden linking cervical cytology, histology, and treatment data from the Swedish National Cervical Screening Registry to data on obstetric outcomes in singleton pregnancies 2008-2016 from the Swedish Medical Birth Registry. These groups were compared for PTD and other obstetric outcomes: (1) women with one excisional treatment (n=3250, including a subgroup (n=2408) with cone-length measured before fixation; (2) women with untreated CIN diagnosed during pregnancy (n=1380); and (3) women with normal cytology (n=42,398). Logistic regression analyses were adjusted for socioeconomic and health-related confounders. RESULTS: Treated women had increased risk of PTD (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.60, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.21-2.12), spontaneous PTD (aOR 1.95, 95% CI 1.40-2.72) and preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (pPROM) (aOR 2.74, 95% CI 1.66-4.51) compared to the CIN during pregnancy group. ORs were similar when compared to the normal cytology group. Risks of these outcomes increased with cone-length. Mean cone-length was 9.1 mm. Cone-length ≤10 mm was associated with increased risk of PTD (aOR 1.41, 95% CI 1.02-1.94), spontaneous PTD (aOR 1.73, 95% CI 1.18-2.54), and pPROM (aOR 2.44, 95% CI 1.40-4.28), compared to the CIN during pregnancy group. The PTD risk was similar for cone-lengths 3-10 mm, thereafter increasing by 15% with each additional millimeter. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that all excisional treatment, including small cones, are associated with increased risk of PTD and pPROM. Risks increase further with cone-length. In women of reproductive age, clinicians should aim to remove all CIN but minimal healthy cervical tissue. Cone-length should be recorded at treatment, for future prenatal risk estimation

Modelling Deep Green tidal power plant using large eddy simulations and the actuator line method

The Deep Green technique for tidal power generation is suitable for moderate flows which is attractive since larger areas for tidal energy generation hereby can be used. It operates typically at mid-depth and can be seen as a “flying” kite with a turbine and generator attached underneath. It moves in a lying figure-eight path almost perpendicular to the tidal flow. Large eddy simulations and an adaption of the actuator line method (in order to describe arbitrary paths) are used to study the turbulent flow with and without Deep Green for a specific site. This methodology can in later studies be used for e.g. array analysis that include Deep Green interaction. It is seen that Deep Green creates a unique wake composed of two velocity deficit zones with increased velocity in each wake core. The flow has a tendency to be directed downwards which results in locally increased bottom shear. The persistence of flow disturbances of Deep Green can be scaled with its horizontal path width, Dy, with a velocity deficit of 5% at approximately 8–10Dy downstream of the power plant. The turbulence intensity and power deficit are approximately two times the undisturbed value and 10%, respectively, at 10Dy

Public-private partnerships for multifunctional sustainable land use in peri-urban areas to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change

Climate change increases the risk of damage caused by storms, insects and fungi in agriculture and forestry. Multifunctional sustainable land use, including a more diversified agriculture and forestry sector in terms of biodiversity, is one way to create resilience and meet these climate risks. For example, a forest with trees of different ages and of several species is more resistant to these risks. Multifunctional refers to how the same land can provide food and wood products, but also job creation, recreation and be a provider of ecosystem services such as pollination, erosion protection and biodiversity. Research shows that there is a large acceptance for a more varied forest sector and diversified agriculture. In recent years, urban farming has received widespread understanding on its many advantages, including a sense of belonging and meaning, other than food production. In this article the authors try to assess a scenario when these initiatives become commercial and when the urban farming trend meets traditional forms of agriculture and forestry. Furthermore, the large potential of developing public-private partnerships for multifunctional sustainable land use in peri-urban areas in the Swedish City of Gothenburg and its surrounding area is analysed, based on experiences from ongoing initiatives. Developed within the framework of Climate KIC Accelerator Project, a business model is presented allowing for a long-term sustainability of initiatives

Blood-brain barrier integrity, intrathecal immunoactivation, and neuronal injury in HIV

OBJECTIVE: Although blood-brain barrier (BBB) impairment has been reported in HIV-infected individuals, characterization of this impairment has not been clearly defined. METHODS: BBB integrity was measured by CSF/plasma albumin ratio in this cross-sectional study of 631 HIV-infected individuals and 71 controls. We also analyzed CSF and blood HIV RNA and neopterin, CSF leukocyte count, and neurofilament light chain protein (NFL) concentrations. The HIV-infected participants included untreated neuroasymptomatic patients, patients with untreated HIV-associated dementia (HAD), and participants on suppressive antiretroviral treatment (ART). RESULTS: The albumin ratio was significantly increased in patients with HAD compared to all other groups. There were no significant differences between untreated neuroasymptomatic participants, treated participants, and controls. BBB integrity, however, correlated significantly with CSF leukocyte count, CSF HIV RNA, serum and CSF neopterin, and age in untreated neuroasymptomatic participants. In a multiple linear regression analysis, age, CSF neopterin, and CSF leukocyte count stood out as independent predictors of albumin ratio. A significant correlation was found between albumin ratio and CSF NFL in untreated neuroasymptomatic patients and in participants on ART. Albumin ratio, age, and CD4 cell count were confirmed as independent predictors of CSF NFL in multivariable analysis. CONCLUSIONS: BBB disruption was mainly found in patients with HAD, where BBB damage correlated with CNS immunoactivation. Albumin ratios also correlated with CSF inflammatory markers and NFL in untreated neuroasymptomatic participants. These findings give support to the association among BBB deterioration, intrathecal immunoactivation, and neuronal injury in untreated neuroasymptomatic HIV-infected individuals

Effects of assistive technology for students with reading and writing disabilities

Background: Assistive technology has been used to mitigate reading disabilities for almost three decades, and tablets with text-to-speech and speech-to-text apps have been introduced in recent years to scaffold reading and writing. Few scientifically rigorous studies, however, have investigated the benefits of this technology. Purpose: The aim was to explore the effects of assistive technology for students with severe reading disabilities. Method: This study included 149 participants. The intervention group received 24 sessions of assistive technology training, and the control group received treatment as usual. Results: Both the intervention and control groups improved as much in 1 year as the normed population did. However, gains did not differ between the groups directly after the intervention or at 1 year of follow-up. Conclusions: The use of assistive technology seems to have transfer effects on reading ability and to be supportive, especially for students with the most severe difficulties. In addition, it increases motivation for overall schoolwork. Our experience also highlights the obstacles involved in measuring the ability to assimilate and communicate text.Implications for rehabilitations Assistive technology (AT) can be useful for children with reading disabilities to assimilating text as well as boosting their reading. Children with reading disability using AT increased reading performance as much as a norm group, i.e. the students enhanced their reading ability despite no training in traditional reading remediation. Children’s and adolescents’ motivation for schoolwork can be boosted when using AT as a complement for those with reading and writing disabilities

Signatures of Majorana fermions in hybrid superconductor-semiconductor nanowire devices

Majorana fermions are particles identical to their own antiparticles. They have been theoretically predicted to exist in topological superconductors. We report electrical measurements on InSb nanowires contacted with one normal (Au) and one superconducting electrode (NbTiN). Gate voltages vary electron density and define a tunnel barrier between normal and superconducting contacts. In the presence of magnetic fields of order 100 mT we observe bound, mid-gap states at zero bias voltage. These bound states remain fixed to zero bias even when magnetic fields and gate voltages are changed over considerable ranges. Our observations support the hypothesis of Majorana fermions in nanowires coupled to superconductors.Comment: Raw data available at http://dx.doi.org/10.4121/uuid:8bf81177-2f2b-49c2-aaf5-d36739873dd

Quantum teleportation on a photonic chip

Quantum teleportation is a fundamental concept in quantum physics which now finds important applications at the heart of quantum technology including quantum relays, quantum repeaters and linear optics quantum computing (LOQC). Photonic implementations have largely focussed on achieving long distance teleportation due to its suitability for decoherence-free communication. Teleportation also plays a vital role in the scalability of photonic quantum computing, for which large linear optical networks will likely require an integrated architecture. Here we report the first demonstration of quantum teleportation in which all key parts - entanglement preparation, Bell-state analysis and quantum state tomography - are performed on a reconfigurable integrated photonic chip. We also show that a novel element-wise characterisation method is critical to mitigate component errors, a key technique which will become increasingly important as integrated circuits reach higher complexities necessary for quantum enhanced operation.Comment: Originally submitted version - refer to online journal for accepted manuscript; Nature Photonics (2014