Quasibounded plurisubharmonic functions

We extend the notion of quasibounded harmonic functions to the plurisubharmonic setting. As an application, using the theory of Jensen measures, we show that certain generalized Dirichlet problems with unbounded boundary data admit unique solutions, and that these solutions are continuous outside a pluripolar set

Boundary singularities of plurisubharmonic functions

We study the Perron–Bremermann envelope P(μ, φ):=sup{u(z) ; u ∈ PSH(Ω), (ddcu)n≥ μ, u^* ≤ φ} on a B-regular domain Ω. Such envelopes occupy a central position within pluripotential theory as they, for suitable μ and φ harmonic and continuous on the closure of Ω, constitute unique solutions to the Dirichlet problem for the complex Monge–Ampère operator. Much is also known about the measures that guarantee that the solution is continuous, but the corresponding problems for unbounded or discontinuous φ have received very little attention. This is the main theme of this thesis. In paper I and II, by adapting and expanding Leutwiler and Arsove's theory of quasibounded harmonic functions, we introduce a set of positive plurisubharmonic functions which may be approximated from below by functions in L∞(Ω) ∩ PSH(Ω) outside a pluripolar set. This approximation property is exploited to show that P(μ, φ) is continuous outside a pluripolar set for a large class of measures, given that φ is bounded from below, is continuous in the extended reals, and have a non-trivial strong majorant, i.e. a plurisuperharmonic majorant whose singularities in a precise sense surpass those of φ. We also show that P(μ, φ) then corresponds to a unique solution to a Dirichlet problem with unbounded boundary data.In paper III, we show that the Dirichlet problem is uniquely solvable for bounded boundary data with a b-pluripolar discontinuity set, by modifying an extended version of the comparison principle due to Rashkovskii. We also show that the discontinuity set being b-pluripolar is not necessary for the uniqueness. In particular, we construct a class of boundary data for which the Dirichlet problem is uniquely solvable, but where the Lebesgue measure of the set of discontinuities is positive.In paper IV, we discuss two variations of Edwards' theorem. We prove one version of the theorem for cones not necessarily containing all constant functions, and in particular, we allow the functions in the cone to have a non-empty common zero set. In the other variation, we replace suprema of point evaluations and infima over Jensen measures by suprema of other continuous functionals and infima over a set measures defined through a natural order relation induced by the cone. As applications, we give some results on propagation of discontinuities for Perron–Bremermann envelopes on hyperconvex domains, as well as a characterization of minimal elements in the order relation mentioned above

Variations on a theorem by Edwards

We discuss two variations of Edwards' duality theorem. More precisely, we prove one version of the theorem for cones not necessarily containing all constant functions. In particular, we allow the functions in the cone to have a non-empty common zero set. In the second variation, we replace suprema of point evaluations and infima over Jensen measures by suprema of other continuous functionals and infima over a set measures defined through a natural order relation induced by the cone. As applications, we give some results on propagation of discontinuities for Perron--Bremermann envelopes in hyperconvex domains as well as a characterization of minimal elements in the order relation mentioned above

FlowIBR: Leveraging Pre-Training for Efficient Neural Image-Based Rendering of Dynamic Scenes

We introduce a novel approach for monocular novel view synthesis of dynamic scenes. Existing techniques already show impressive rendering quality but tend to focus on optimization within a single scene without leveraging prior knowledge. This limitation has been primarily attributed to the lack of datasets of dynamic scenes available for training and the diversity of scene dynamics. Our method FlowIBR circumvents these issues by integrating a neural image-based rendering method, pre-trained on a large corpus of widely available static scenes, with a per-scene optimized scene flow field. Utilizing this flow field, we bend the camera rays to counteract the scene dynamics, thereby presenting the dynamic scene as if it were static to the rendering network. The proposed method reduces per-scene optimization time by an order of magnitude, achieving comparable results to existing methods - all on a single consumer-grade GPU

Transporter i gårdsbaserade biogassystem - Framtagning av beräkningsprogram för kostnader och emissioner

Syftet med detta examensarbete var att konstruera och testa ett program för beräkning av kostnader och miljöpåverkan för transporter i gårdsbaserade biogassystem. Det gäller transport av både substrat, rötrest och biogas.Beräkningsprogrammet testades sedan på ett verkligt fall - Skea gård i Hässleholms kommun där en biogasanläggning är i planeringssstadiet. Två alternativa utformningar med olika kapaciteter studerades.Med hjälp av beräkningsprogrammet studerades även samarbetsmöjligheterna ifall det inom ett område finns flera jordbrukare som är intresserade av biogasproduktion. Här studerades alternativen att uppföra en biogasanläggning på varje gård, eller att istället bygga en större gemensam biogasanläggning

Milking system and premilking routines have strong effect on the microbial community in bulk tank milk

In this study, we investigated the variation in the microbial community present in bulk tank milk samples and the potential effect of different farm management factors. Bulk tank milk samples were collected repeatedly over one year from 42 farms located in northern Sweden. Total and thermoresistant bacteria counts and 16S rRNA gene-based amplicon sequencing were used to characterize microbial community composition. The microbial community was in general heterogeneous both within and between different farms and the community composition in the bulk tank milk was commonly dominated by Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Streptococcus, unclassified Peptostreptococcaceae, and Staphylococcus. Principal component analysis including farm factor variables and microbial taxa data revealed that the microbial community in milk was affected by type of milking system. Milk from farms using an automatic (robot) milking system (AMS) and loose housing showed different microbial community composition compared with milk from tiestall farms. A discriminant analysis model revealed that this difference was dependent on several microbial taxa. Among farms using an automatic milking system, there were further differences in the microbial community composition depending on the brand of the milking robot used. On tiestall farms, routines for teat preparation and cleaning of the milking equipment affected the microbial community composition in milk. Total bacteria count (TBC) in milk differed between the farm types, and TBC were higher on AMS than tiestall farms (log 4.05 vs. log 3.79 TBC/mL for AMS and tiestalls, respectively). Among tiestall farms, milk from farms using a chemical agent in connection to teat preparation and a more frequent use of acid to clean the milking equipment had lower TBC in milk, than milk from farms using water for teat preparation and a less frequent use of acid to clean the milking equipment (log 3.68 vs. 4.02 TBC/mL). There were no significant differences in the number of thermoresistant bacteria between farm types. The evaluated factors explained only a small proportion of total variation in the microbiota data, however, despite this, the study highlights the effect of routines associated with teat preparation and cleaning of the milking equipment on raw milk microbiota, irrespective of type of milking system used

Measurement report: Black carbon properties and concentrations in southern Sweden urban and rural air – the importance of long-range transport

Soot, or black carbon (BC), aerosol is a major climate forcer with severe health effects. The impacts depend strongly on particle number concentration, size and mixing state. This work reports on two field campaigns at nearby urban and rural sites, 65 km apart, in southern Sweden during late summer 2018. BC was measured using a single-particle soot photometer (SP2) and Aethalometers (AE33). Differences in BC concentrations between the sites are driven primarily by local traffic emissions. Equivalent and refractory BC mass concentrations at the urban site were on average a factor 2.2 and 2.5, with peaks during rush hour up to a factor ∼4, higher than the rural background levels. The number fraction of particles containing a soot core was significantly higher in the city. BC particles at the urban site were on average smaller by mass and had less coating owing to fresh traffic emissions. The organic components of the fresh traffic plumes were similar in mass spectral signature to hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol (HOA), commonly associated with traffic. Despite the intense local traffic (∼ 30 000 vehicles passing per day), PM1, including organic aerosol, was dominated by aged continental air masses even at the curbside site. The fraction of thickly coated particles at the urban site was highly correlated with the mass concentrations of all measured chemical species of PM1, consistent with aged, internally mixed aerosol. Trajectory analysis for the whole year showed that air masses arriving at the rural site from eastern Europe contained approximately double the amount of BC compared to air masses from western Europe. Furthermore, the largest regional emissions of BC transported to the rural site, from the Malmö–Copenhagen urban area, are discernible above background levels only when precipitation events are excluded. We show that continental Europe and not the Malmö–Copenhagen region is the major contributor to the background BC mass concentrations in southern Sweden.</p

Decreased Neutrophil Apoptosis in Quiescent ANCA-Associated Systemic Vasculitis

Background: ANCA-Associated Systemic Vasculitis (AASV) is characterized by leukocytoclasis, accumulation of unscavenged apoptotic and necrotic neutrophils in perivascular tissues. Dysregulation of neutrophil cell death may contribute directly to the pathogenesis of AASV. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanMethods: Neutrophils from Healthy Blood Donors (HBD), patients with AASV most in complete remission, Polycythemia Vera (PV), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and renal transplant recipients (TP) were incubated in vitro, and the rate of spontaneous apoptosis was measured by FACS. Plasma levels of cytokines and sFAS were measured with cytometric bead array and ELISA. Expression of pro/anti-apoptotic factors, transcription factors C/EBP-alpha, C/EBP-beta and PU.1 and inhibitors of survival/JAK2-pathway were measured by real-time-PCR. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanResults: AASV, PV and RA neutrophils had a significantly lower rate of apoptosis compared to HBD neutrophils (AASV 50 +/- 14% vs. HBD 64 +/- 11%, p andlt; 0.0001). In RA but not in AASV and PV, low apoptosis rate correlated with increased plasma levels of GM-CSF and high mRNA levels of anti-apoptotic factors Bcl-2A1 and Mcl-1. AASV patients had normal levels of G-CSF, GM-CSF and IL-3. Both C/EBP-alpha, C/EBP-beta were significantly higher in neutrophils from AASV patients than HBD. Levels of sFAS were significantly higher in AASV compared to HBD. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanConclusion: Neutrophil apoptosis rates in vitro are decreased in AASV, RA and PV but mechanisms seem to differ. Increased mRNA levels of granulopoiesis-associated transcription factors and increased levels of sFAS in plasma were observed in AASV. Additional studies are required to define the mechanisms behind the decreased apoptosis rates, and possible connections with accumulation of dying neutrophils in regions of vascular lesions in AASV patients.Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council|71X-15152|Crafoord Foundation||</p

Polycomb Target Genes Are Silenced in Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a genetically heterogeneous disease, which to date remains fatal. Finding a common mechanism for initiation and progression of MM continues to be challenging. By means of integrative genomics, we identified an underexpressed gene signature in MM patient cells compared to normal counterpart plasma cells. This profile was enriched for previously defined H3K27-tri-methylated genes, targets of the Polycomb group (PcG) proteins in human embryonic fibroblasts. Additionally, the silenced gene signature was more pronounced in ISS stage III MM compared to stage I and II. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay on purified CD138+ cells from four MM patients and on two MM cell lines, we found enrichment of H3K27me3 at genes selected from the profile. As the data implied that the Polycomb-targeted gene profile would be highly relevant for pharmacological treatment of MM, we used two compounds to chemically revert the H3K27-tri-methylation mediated gene silencing. The S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase inhibitor 3-Deazaneplanocin (DZNep) and the histone deacetylase inhibitor LBH589 (Panobinostat), reactivated the expression of genes repressed by H3K27me3, depleted cells from the PRC2 component EZH2 and induced apoptosis in human MM cell lines. In the immunocompetent 5T33MM in vivo model for MM, treatment with LBH589 resulted in gene upregulation, reduced tumor load and increased overall survival. Taken together, our results reveal a common gene signature in MM, mediated by gene silencing via the Polycomb repressor complex. The importance of the underexpressed gene profile in MM tumor initiation and progression should be subjected to further studies