Towards a User-Centered Feedback Design for Smart Meter Interfaces to Support Efficient Energy-Use Choices - A Design Science Approach

Based on interviews of users’ experience with current smart-meter technologies the authors propose, implement and evaluate a user-centered design of an energy-use information system that assists private households in making efficient energy consumption decisions. Instead of providing disaggregated data, the envisioned system automatically calculates the monetary savings from replacing an appliance or by changing the operational behavior of an appliance. The information provided is personalized with respect to appliance use and also comprises information from external databases. A prototype is implemented and evaluated in a use case with white goods household appliances. The study concludes with directions for further interactivity improvements and research into the structures of an openly shared appliance database

Recovery of DNA from Footprints in the Snow

The recovery of trace amounts of DNA has been demonstrated to be a reliable tool in conservation genetics and has become a key component of modern forensic casework. To date, genetic data have been successfully recovered from a variety of sources, including biological fluids, faeces, clothing, and even directly from fingerprints. However, to our knowledge and despite their widespread occurrence and clear potential as a source of DNA, genetic information has not previously been recovered directly from footprints. Here, we extract and amplify mitochondrial DNA from a snow footprint, <48-hours old, made by a Swedish Arctic Fox (Alopex lagopus). Our results demonstrate that it is possible to recover sufficient DNA from recent footprints to accurately type the source of the print, with implications for conservation biology and forensic science

El Aborto en Colombia: cambios legales y transformaciones sociales

La presente tesis es el resultado de una investigación cualitativa sobre la situación del aborto en Colombia desde su despenalización parcial en 2006. El objetivo general es analizar la relación entre la sentencia C-­‐355/06 de la Corte Constitucional y las transformaciones o permanencias sociales en la práctica y en los discursos. La investigación tiene una perspectiva feminista, y el análisis parte del presupuesto de que el acceso libre a la opción de la interrupción voluntaria del embarazo constituye un elemento fundamental para el alcance de la igualdad de género en nuestras sociedades. Del mismo modo, la perspectiva de género elaborada a partir de la conceptualización de Joan Scott (1990) compone la herramienta principal de análisis. La tesis comprende una introducción que contextualiza el problema estudiado y cinco capítulos articulados alrededor de conceptos claves o ejes temáticos importantes como son: el género y las relaciones de poder, el aborto como derecho, la maternidad y la vida, la religión, y finalmente la violencia y el estigma. Cinco años después de la sentencia de la Corte Constitucional que despenalizó parcialmente el aborto en Colombia, se puede identificar la presencia de nuevos actores en el debate, principalmente la misma Corte Constitucional como representante de la Rama Judicial y la Procuraduría General de la Nación, ambos representantes de las altas esferas del poder institucional del Estado. Esta presencia ha reorientado el debate hacia un discurso de derechos, que no ha significado necesariamente un progreso para las mujeres ni un importante avance feminista. A pesar de algunos logros alcanzados, en la práctica persisten barreras importantes que siguen impidiendo a las mujeres el ejercicio libre de sus derechos sexuales y reproductivos. El impacto de la despenalización parcial se ubica más en las transformaciones de los discursos, los argumentos y las y los actores del debate que en la materialización práctica del derecho para las mujeres individuales. Por ello, la gran conquista reside en el reconocimiento de una herramienta para exigir derechos y para comenzar a despenalizar las conciencias.This thesis is the result of a qualitative investigation on the situation regarding abortion in Colombia since its partial decriminalization in 2006. The principal aim is to analyze the relationship between the ruling C-­‐355/06 of the Constitutional Court and the social transformations or continuances in practice and in the discourses. The investigation has a feminist view and the analysis departs from the premise that free access tothe option of a voluntary interruption of a pregnancy constitutes a fundamental element in the accomplishment of gender equality in our societies. In this same way, the gender perspective elaborated from the conceptualization of Joan Scott (1990) makes up a principal tool for the analysis. The thesis consists in an introduction that contextualizes the problem studied and five chapters articulated around key concepts or important core themes that are: gender and power relations, abortion as a right, maternity and life, religion, and finally violence and stigma. Five years after the Constitutional Court ruling that partially decriminalized abortion in Colombia, the presence of new actors can be identified in the debate, principally the Constitutional Court itself as a representative for the judicial branch and the Attorney General of the Nation, both representatives of the highest spheres of the State’s institutional power. This presence has reoriented the debate towards a discourse around rights that has not necessarily meant a progressivism or an important feminist advancement. Despite some achievements, in practice there are still important barriers that keep hindering women from the free exercise of their sexual and reproductive rights. The impact of the partial decriminalization is situated more in transformations of the discourses, the arguments and the actors of the debate than in the implementation of the right in practice for the individual women. For this reason, the great achievement is maybe in the recognition of a tool to demand rights and to start decriminalizing consciences.Maestrí

Minimally invasive aortic valve replacement

Background: Minimally invasive aortic valve replacement (AVR) through a ministernotomy has been developed as an alternative approach to conventional full sternotomy AVR. During recent years, sutureless aortic bioprostheses were introduced with the aim to facilitate implantation, especially in minimally invasive procedures. The aim of this thesis was to evaluate minimally invasive and sutureless AVR on the aspects of clinical outcomes, cardiac function, and prosthetic valve function. Methods and Results: Study I Early postoperative outcomes and 2-year survival after isolated AVR with the Perceval sutureless bioprosthetic valve (LivaNova, Milan, Italy) performed through ministernotomy compared with full sternotomy was investigated. Of 267 patients, 189 (70.8%) were performed through ministernotomy and 78 through full sternotomy. Aortic cross-clamp (44 minutes in both groups) and cardiopulmonary bypass time (69 vs. 74 minutes, p=0.363) did not differ between the groups after propensity score matching. Apart from slightly higher postoperative transvalvular gradients in the ministernotomy group, early postoperative outcomes did not differ. There were no differences regarding in-hospital mortality rate or 2-year survival between the groups. Study II Early postoperative outcomes and 2-year survival after isolated AVR through ministernotomy with implantation of a sutureless bioprosthesis compared with full sternotomy with implantation of a stented bioprosthesis was studied. Of 565 patients, 182 (32%) underwent ministernotomy with a sutureless bioprosthesis and 383 full sternotomy with a stented bioprosthesis. Aortic cross-clamp (40 vs. 65 min, p<0.001) and cardiopulmonary bypass time (69 vs. 87 min, p<0.001) were shorter in the ministernotomy sutureless group after propensity score matching. Patients undergoing ministernotomy received less packed red blood cells but the risk for postoperative permanent pacemaker implantation was higher. There were no differences regarding 30-day mortality or 2-year survival between the two groups. Study III Right ventricular function after AVR was investigated in forty patients undergoing primary isolated AVR randomized to ministernotomy or full sternotomy. Four days postoperatively, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion had decreased in both the ministernotomy and the sternotomy group (ministernotomy: 25 vs. 16 mm, p<0.001; sternotomy: 22.5 vs. 8 mm, p<0.001) but was higher in the ministernotomy group (p<0.001). Pulsed wave tissue Doppler right ventricular velocity decreased significantly in patients who underwent sternotomy (10.5 vs. 6.5 cm/s, p<0.001) but did not decrease significantly in patients who underwent ministernotomy (11.5 cm/s vs. 10 cm/s, p=0.054). Right ventricular fractional area change was equally decreased in both groups (ministernotomy: 46 vs. 38 %, p<0.001; sternotomy: 45 vs. 37 %, p=0.003). The differences between the groups were similar 40 days postoperatively. Study IV Hypo-attenuated leaflet thickening (HALT) and reduced leaflet motion (RLM) assessed with cardiac computed tomography were studied in 47 patients who underwent AVR and received a Perceval sutureless bioprosthetic valve. Also, the relation between HALT and RLM and the influence of anticoagulation treatment on HALT and RLM were investigated. Hypo-attenuated leaflet thickening was found in 18 (38%) patients and RLM in 13 (28%) patients. All patients with RLM had HALT. Both HALT and RLM was found in patients with ongoing anticoagulation treatment. Hypo-attenuated leaflet thickening and RLM were not associated with clinical symptoms. Conclusions: [1] AVR with implantation of the Perceval sutureless bioprosthetic valve through a ministernotomy was a safe procedure with early postoperative outcomes and 2-year survival comparable to full sternotomy AVR. Procedural times were not prolonged in patients undergoing ministernotomy compared to patients undergoing full sternotomy. [2] AVR through a ministernotomy with implantation of a sutureless bioprosthetic valve was associated with shorter procedural times and less transfusion of packed red blood cells, but a higher risk for permanent pacemaker implantation compared with a full sternotomy with implantation of a stented bioprosthesis. [3] Right ventricular long axis function was reduced after both ministernotomy and full sternotomy aortic valve replacement, but the reduction was more pronounced in the full sternotomy group. Global right ventricular function was equally impaired after ministernotomy and full sternotomy AVR. [4] Hypo-attenuated leaflet thickening and RLM were prevalent in the Perceval sutureless bioprosthetic valve. Both HALT and RLM was found in patients with ongoing anticoagulation treatmen

Increased platelet reactivity and platelet–leukocyte aggregation after elective coronary bypass surgery

Inflammatory mechanisms are activated, and thrombotic complications occur during the initial months after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Therefore, changes over time of platelet activation and platelet–leukocyte interactions after CABG are of interest. Whole-blood flow cytometry was performed before, and 4–6 days, one month, and three months after elective CABG in 54 men with stable coronary artery disease treated with acetylsalicylic acid (ASA). Single platelets and platelet–leukocyte aggregates (PLAs) among monocytes (P-Mon), neutrophils (P-Neu), and lymphocytes (P-Lym) were studied without and with stimulation by submaximal concentrations of ADP, thrombin, and the thromboxane analog U46619. White blood cell counts were increased during the initial postoperative course, and platelet counts were increased after one month. Platelet P-selectin expression was significantly enhanced at one month when stimulated by thrombin and U46619 and at three months with ADP and thrombin. All PLAs subtypes were increased at one month without stimulation in vitro. P-Mon and P-Neu stimulated by ADP, thrombin, or U46619 were significantly increased one month after the operation but decreased compared to baseline at three months. Agonist stimulated P-Lyms were increased at one month and remained increased at three months after ADP stimulation. There was significant platelet activation and formation of PLAs unstimulated and after agonist stimulation by ADP, thrombin, and a thromboxane analog after CABG in patients with stable coronary artery disease irrespective of ASA treatment. Changes observed up to three months after CABG support further studies of the clinical implications of protracted increases in platelet activation and platelet–leukocyte interactions

Purging and accumulation of genetic load in conservation

Our ability to assess the threat posed by the genetic load to small and declining populations has been greatly improved by advances in genome sequencing and computational approaches. Yet, considerable confusion remains around the definitions of the genetic load and its dynamics, and how they impact individual fitness and population viability. We illustrate how both selective purging and drift affect the distribution of deleterious mutations during population size decline and recovery. We show how this impacts the composition of the genetic load, and how this affects the extinction risk and recovery potential of populations. We propose a framework to examine load dynamics and advocate for the introduction of load estimates in the management of endangered populations

Evolutionary history of the Nesophontidae, the last unplaced Recent mammal family

The mammalian evolutionary tree has lost several major clades through recent human-caused extinctions. This process of historical biodiversity loss has particularly affected tropical island regions such as the Caribbean, an area of great evolutionary diversification but poor molecular preservation. The most enigmatic of the recently extinct endemic Caribbean mammals are the Nesophontidae, a family of morphologically plesiomorphic lipotyphlan insectivores with no consensus on their evolutionary affinities, and which constitute the only major recent mammal clade to lack any molecular information on their phylogenetic placement. Here, we use a palaeogenomic approach to place Nesophontidae within the phylogeny of recent Lipotyphla. We recovered the near-complete mitochondrial genome and sequences for 17 nuclear genes from a ∼750-year-old Hispaniolan Nesophontes specimen, and identify a divergence from their closest living relatives, the Solenodontidae, more than 40 million years ago. Nesophontidae is thus an older distinct lineage than many extant mammalian orders, highlighting not only the role of island systems as “museums” of diversity that preserve ancient lineages, but also the major human-caused loss of evolutionary history

Novel information on the non-neuronal cholinergic system in orthopedics provides new possible treatment strategies for inflammatory and degenerative diseases

Anti-cholinergic agents are used in the treatment of several pathological conditions. Therapy regimens aimed at up-regulating cholinergic functions, such as treatment with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, are also currently prescribed. It is now known that not only is there a neuronal cholinergic system but also a non-neuronal cholinergic system in various parts of the body. Therefore, interference with the effects of acetylcholine (ACh) brought about by the local production and release of ACh should also be considered. Locally produced ACh may have proliferative, angiogenic, wound-healing, and immunomodulatory functions. Interestingly, cholinergic stimulation may lead to anti-inflammatory effects. Within this review, new findings for the locomotor system of a more widespread non-neuronal cholinergic system than previously expected will be discussed in relation to possible new treatment strategies. The conditions discussed are painful and degenerative tendon disease (tendinopathy/tendinosis), rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis