Comparison Between Visual and Tactile Signal Detection Tasks Applied to the Safety Assessment of In-Vehicle Information Systems

The Peripheral Detection Task (PDT) is a widely applied method for safety assessment of in-vehicle information systems (IVIS). In this study, the PDT was compared to a Tactile Detection Task (TDT) where the visual stimulus used for the PDT was replaced by tactile vibrators, placed on the wrists. The sensitivity of the two methods to different cognitive and visual secondary tasks was investigated in different real-world driving conditions. The results showed that both methods were sensitive to visual and cognitive secondary task load in a range of different driving environments.The sensitivity was generally stronger for the TDT than the PDT. It was concluded that the TDT could be a viable alternative to the PDT for IVIS assessment

"Jag har betett mig tölpigt" : pressetisk undersökning om namnpubliceringar i svenska medier utifrån anklagelserna mot Fredrik Virtanen

Den här uppsatsen undersöker hur pressetik verkar i förhållande till anklagelserna mot Fredrik Virtanen om sexuella trakasserier. Uppsatsen undersöker hur Aftonbladet, Expressen och Svenska Dagbladets (SvD) artiklar och krönikor förhåller sig pressetiskt till Virtanen-fallet och hur fallet beskrivs i tidningarna. Sociala medier och traditionella medier spelade en stor roll i fallet och medierna var tvungna att förhålla sig till varandra, eftersom anklagelserna först spreds på sociala medier. Tidningarna spelade olika roller i händelseförloppet i form av namnpubliceringar och därmed uppstår problem om pressetik samt vad som kan anses vara av offentligt intresse. För att få förståelse för detta görs en kvalitativ text- och innehållsanalys samt en fallstudie. Materialet analyseras med hjälp av Habermas teorier om offentligheten och de pressetiska spelreglerna. Det empiriska materialet består främst av medietexter från Aftonbladet, Expressen och SvD. Analysen visar att sociala medier har förändrat det journalistiska arbetet, samt hur tidningar måste arbeta med källkritik och pressetiska regler. Analysen visar också att tidningarna har tagit det aktuella fallets huvudfokus till sina egna agendor vilket är att vinna över konkurrenterna, vara relevanta och få fler läsare. Analysen argumenterar att Expressen och SvD har brutit mot pressetiska regler för att de har publicerat Virtanens namn. Detta säger någonting om att pressetiken behöver få en enhetlig tolkning genom tidningarnas förhållande till sociala medier och det som kan ses som skvaller

An inter-comparison exercise on the application of ICP-MS techniques for measurement of long-lived radionuclides

Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometry techniques are widely used in the fields related to environmental monitoring, nuclear waste disposal and management, radioecology and tracer studies, as well as nuclear forensics and nuclear emergency preparedness. Especially ICP mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is playing an important role for determination of low-level long-lived radionuclides and their isotopic ratios. ICP optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) is commonly used for determining stable elements (Al, Fe, Ca, etc.) and cannot perform isotopic ratio measurement with desirable precision and at low analyte concentrations. Therefore ICP-OES is often used as a supplementary technique to ICP-MS in the analysis, for instance, to screen the matrix composition of a sample, or to determine Sr and Y chemical yield in the Sr-90 analysis, etc. Among the Nordic countries, there are probably less than 20 ICP-MS instruments which are currently applied in the nuclear field for the measurement of radionuclides and their isotopic ratios. Due to different application purposes and technical background of the analysts, each ICP lab has different set-ups and experiences in running these instruments. More efficient application of ICP-MS will be achieved when these experiences are well shared among these labs. Also, for newly established ICP labs or scientists/students in the Nordic countries to quickly build up the competence in operating their instruments in practice, hands-on experience is very valuable. Therefore, within the Nordic-ICP project, an inter-comparison exercise was performed during 2016, which was focused on the measurement of uranium and plutonium isotopes in certified reference material by ICP-MS in combination with radiochemical separation. This report summarizes the results and conclusions obtained base on this inter-comparison exercise

Using music to develop a multisensory communicative environment for people with late stage dementia

Background and Objectives: Research has indicated the benefit of music interventions on biological, psychological and cognitive aspects of dementias, yet there is limited research focusing on music’s role in communication. This study developed a conceptual understanding of how people with late stage dementia may express themselves non-verbally and interact with others during a live music group over time. Research Design and Methods: Eight people with advanced dementias in residential care (aged 82-97), four care staff and three musicians participated in eight hour-long weekly live Music for Life sessions and listened to one hour-long recorded music session. Visual grounded theory was used to analyse video data collected non-intrusively via the Fly 360-degree camera. Results: The live music group facilitated a multisensory communicative environment allowing for verbal and non-verbal communicative actions, social interactional components and agency to develop over time. These aspects were influenced by three factors: time, one-to-one interaction within a group setting and the characteristics of the music. Discussion and Implications: Non-verbal communication in later-stage dementia may be overlooked or underestimated by busy care staff and families.Using music as an interactive way to communicate can help develop mirroring and turn taking which has been shown to improve quality of life for people with communication impairment, increase their non-verbal communication and allow for a connection to be built between people. Although further research is recommended, individuals responsible for residential care should feel confident that the development of ongoing music groups for this population is warranted as part of ongoing care

In Vitro Effect of Porphyromonas gingivalis Methionine Gamma Lyase on Biofilm Composition and Oral Inflammatory Response

Methanethiol (methyl mercaptan) is an important contributor to oral malodour and periodontal tissue destruction. Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia and Fusobacterium nucleatum are key oral microbial species that produce methanethiol via methionine gamma lyase (mgl) activity. The aim of this study was to compare an mgl knockout strain of P. gingivalis with its wild type using a 10-species biofilm co-culture model with oral keratinocytes and its effect on biofilm composition and inflammatory cytokine production. A P. gingivalis mgl knockout strain was constructed using insertion mutagenesis from wild type W50 with gas chromatographic head space analysis confirming lack of methanethiol production. 10-species biofilms consisting of Streptococcus mitis, Streptococcus oralis, Streptococcus intermedius, Fusobacterium nucleatum ssp polymorphum, Fusobacterium nucleatum ssp vincentii, Veillonella dispar, Actinomyces naeslundii, Prevotella intermedia and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans with either the wild type or mutant P. gingivalis were grown on Thermanox cover slips and used to stimulate oral keratinocytes (OKF6-TERT2), under anaerobic conditions for 4 and 24 hours. Biofilms were analysed by quantitative PCR with SYBR Green for changes in microbial ecology. Keratinocyte culture supernatants were analysed using a multiplex bead immunoassay for cytokines. Significant population differences were observed between mutant and wild type biofilms; V. dispar proportions increased (p<0.001), whilst A. naeslundii (p<0.01) and Streptococcus spp. (p<0.05) decreased in mutant biofilms. Keratinocytes produced less IL-8, IL-6 and IL-1α when stimulated with the mutant biofilms compared to wild type. Lack of mgl in P. gingivalis has been shown to affect microbial ecology in vitro, giving rise to a markedly different biofilm composition, with a more pro-inflammatory cytokine response from the keratinocytes observed. A possible role for methanethiol in biofilm formation and cytokine response with subsequent effects on oral malodor and periodontitis is suggested

Drug-resilient cancer cell phenotype is acquired via polyploidization associated with early stress response coupled to HIF-2α transcriptional regulation

Therapeutic resistance and recurrence remain core challenges in cancer therapy. How therapy resistance arises is currently not fully understood with tumors surviving via multiple alternative routes. Here, we demonstrate that a subset of cancer cells survives therapeutic stress by entering a transient state characterized by whole genome doubling. At the onset of the polyploidization program, we identified an upregulation of key transcriptional regulators, including the early stress-response protein AP-1 and normoxic stabilization of HIF-2α. We found altered chromatin accessibility, ablated expression of RB1, and enrichment of AP-1 motif accessibility. We demonstrate that AP-1 and HIF-2α regulate a therapy resilient and survivor phenotype in cancer cells. Consistent with this, genetic or pharmacologic targeting of AP-1 and HIF-2α reduced the number of surviving cells following chemotherapy treatment. The role of AP-1 and HIF-2α in stress-response by polyploidy suggest a novel avenue for tackling chemotherapy-induced resistance in cancer

Platelet-Related Variants Identified by Exomechip Meta-analysis in 157,293 Individuals

Platelet production, maintenance, and clearance are tightly controlled processes indicative of platelets important roles in hemostasis and thrombosis. Platelets are common targets for primary and secondary prevention of several conditions. They are monitored clinically by complete blood counts, specifically with measurements of platelet count (PLT) and mean platelet volume (MPV). Identifying genetic effects on PLT and MPV can provide mechanistic insights into platelet biology and their role in disease. Therefore, we formed the Blood Cell Consortium (BCX) to perform a large-scale meta-analysis of Exomechip association results for PLT and MPV in 157,293 and 57,617 individuals, respectively. Using the low-frequency/rare coding variant-enriched Exomechip genotyping array, we sought to identify genetic variants associated with PLT and MPV. In addition to confirming 47 known PLT and 20 known MPV associations, we identified 32 PLT and 18 MPV associations not previously observed in the literature across the allele frequency spectrum, including rare large effect (FCER1A), low-frequency (IQGAP2, MAP1A, LY75), and common (ZMIZ2, SMG6, PEAR1, ARFGAP3/PACSIN2) variants. Several variants associated with PLT/MPV (PEAR1, MRVI1, PTGES3) were also associated with platelet reactivity. In concurrent BCX analyses, there was overlap of platelet-associated variants with red (MAP1A, TMPRSS6, ZMIZ2) and white (PEAR1, ZMIZ2, LY75) blood cell traits, suggesting common regulatory pathways with shared genetic architecture among these hematopoietic lineages. Our large-scale Exomechip analyses identified previously undocumented associations with platelet traits and further indicate that several complex quantitative hematological, lipid, and cardiovascular traits share genetic factors

Printing and spectrometric detection of active pharmaceutical ingredients on different surfaces

Printing of pharmaceuticals is actively researched as a tailored and flexible fabricating method, towards personalized medicine. Inkjet printing is considered as a precise dosing method and in this work, theophylline is printed on eight different materials (aluminum, steel, glass, enamel, plexi, epoxy, rubber and paper) in different doses between 0.59 and 474.4 μg/cm2 with Dimatix DMP 2830 material printer with piezoelectric, 10 pL droplet actuation. Theophylline was dissolved in a, for this printing application, optimized ink consisting of glycerol, ethanol and water in ratio 10:45:45 in concentrations between 0.06 and 11.84 mg/mL. Three different methods for adjusting the printed theophylline concentration per area were evaluated and the samples were analyzed visually and with three spectrometric methods. While near-infrared (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy showed unsatisfactory results for detecting small amounts of printed theophylline on the different surfaces, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) detected printed doses as low as 2.34 μg/cm2. Escalating printed doses of theophylline were detected both visually and by FTIR on respective surfaces. Inkjet-printed active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) could potentially be used as standards for cleaning validation purposes and for calibration of already established analytical instruments, as well as in the development of new promising methods for detection of small amounts of APIs on surfaces

Andraspråksinlärares attityder till modersmålsundervisning : En intervjustudie av arabisktalande elevers upplevelser av modersmålsundervisning

Modersmålsundervisning är en viktig förutsättning för att kunna främja flerspråkighet i dagens skola. Forskning visar att modersmålsundervisning kan bidra till att stärka elevers identitets- och språkutveckling och förbättra deras skolresultat. Denna uppsats består av en intervjustudie där syftet är att undersöka andraspråkselevers attityder till modersmålsundervisning. En gruppintervju med sju elever samt tre enskilda intervjuer genomfördes. Resultatet i denna studie visar att eleverna har både positiva och negativa attityder till modersmålsundervisningen. Eleverna har positiva attityder vad gäller undervisningens innehåll och påverkan på deras språkliga utveckling och sociala liv. Detta resultat stärker också vad som framkommit i tidigare forskning. Eleverna har inte lika positiva upplevelser när det gäller organisationen och planeringen av ämnet. De upplever en orättvisa då undervisningen är schemalagd efter ordinarie skoltid