Optic nerve hypoplasia: Risk factors and epidemiology.

OBJECTIVES: To study the epidemiology of optic nerve hypoplasia. DESIGN AND METHODS: Children with optic nerve hypoplasia and visual impairment were identified through the Swedish Register of Visually Impaired Children. Pre- and perinatal characteristics were obtained from the Medical Birth Registry and by scrutinizing pregnancy and delivery records. Clinical characteristics of children with optic nerve hypoplasia are described. The following risk factors were studied: maternal age, parity, maternal smoking, gestational duration, birth weight, delivery method, Apgar score, maternal disease during pregnancy, drugs used in early pregnancy. RESULTS: Young maternal age, first parity, maternal smoking, preterm birth and factors associated with preterm birth were risk factors for optic nerve hypoplasia. There was an indicated association with the use of fertility drugs and antidepressant drugs. CONCLUSIONS: Optic nerve hypoplasia is apparently associated not only with other anomolies, notably of the central nervous system, but also with signs of general disturbance in fetal development

Geometric morphometrics of corpus callosum and subcortical structures in the fetal-alcohol-affected brain

Background Although experienced clinicians have been diagnosing fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) for nearly 30 years, the rest of the spectrum of fetal alcohol damage is not being classified effectively. This article describes a quantification of neuroanatomical structure that may supply a useful discriminator of prenatal brain damage from alcohol. It is demonstrated in a data set of adults of both sexes. Methods Ninety adults (45 males) were examined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These subjects were group-matched for age and ethnicity across three diagnoses: FAS, fetal alcohol effects (FAE), and normals. All FAS and FAE were heavily alcohol-exposed in utero; normals were not. From T 1 -weighted MR brain images, we extracted 3D morphometric representations of shape for 33-landmark point configurations and 40-point outlines of the corpus callosum along its midline (a slightly nonplanar structure). Results There are striking differences between exposed and unexposed in the statistical distributions of these two shapes. The differences are better characterized by excess variance in the exposed group than by any change in average landmark or outline shape. For each sex, combining the callosal outline data with the landmark data leads to a powerful quadratic discriminator of exposed from unexposed. The discriminating features include the relationship of brain stem to diencephalon, and localized variabilities of callosal outline shape, but not diagnosis (FAS vs. FAE). Conclusions Statistical analysis of brain shape is a powerful new source of information relevant to fetal alcohol spectrum nosology and etiology. Patients with FAS and FAE do not differ in these brain shape features, but both differ from the unexposed. The aspects of brain shape that are especially variable may be entailed in the underlying neuroteratogenetic mechanisms. Teratology 64:4–32, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34556/1/1044_ftp.pd

Functional residual capacity – development of new monitoring techniques for critically ill patients

Functional residual capacity (FRC) and end-expiratory lung volume (EELV) are important parameters for respiratory monitoring in critically ill adult and paediatric patients. Until now we have lacked clinically useful methods to measure these lung volumes. In this thesis two methods for bedside measurements of FRC in mechanically ventilated patients have been developed and evaluated. The first method (FRCflux) is based on quantification of metabolic gas fluxes of O2 and CO2 during a short apnoea. The second method is a modified nitrogen wash-out/wash-in technique (FRCN2) based on standard monitoring equipment. The possibility to combine measurements of EELV with a tool to assess lung mechanics by measuring volume dependent compliance (VDC) was also assessed. Methods: Baseline exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide was measured using indirect calorimetry for both the FRCflux and the FRCN2 method. End-tidal (~alveolar) O2 and CO2 concentrations were obtained before and after a few seconds of apnoea, and FRCflux was calculated according to standard wash-out/wash-in formulae taking into account the increased solubility of CO2 in blood when tension is increased during apnea. The FRCN2 was calculated using changes in inspiratory and end-tidal gas concentrations breath-by-breath after a small step-change for inspiratory oxygen (FIO2). These methods were validated both in mechanically ventilated patients and in lung models. The FRCN2 technique was also tested in small children and infants both perioperatively, using a Mapleson -D system, and in the ICU. A lung injury animal model was used to investigate the effects on FRCN2 and VDC by lung lavage and after three different lung recruitment manoeuvres (RMs). Results: The FRC measurement methods showed good precision and reproducibility. Experimental acute lung injury caused by lung lavage resulted in large decreases in EELV and VDC. There were differences in the response to RMs in individual animals demonstrated by combined measurements of changes in EELV and volume-dependent compliance. Conclusions: New methods have been developed for measurements of lung volumes using standard monitoring equipment only. The FRCN2 method makes it possible to measure lung volumes in realtime at the bedside in combination with volume-dependent compliance. Combined measurements of changes in lung volume and compliance could be helpful to define responders and non-responders to lung recruitment manoeuvres, and to increases in positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP). These new monitoring tools may help clinicians to tailor ventilation to the individual patient and hopefully attenuate the risk for ventilator induced lung injury

Investigation of the efficiency at Varberg Energy biomass-fired heating plant : Optimization of the moisture content by a calculation model

Detta examensarbete är utfört på Varberg energis värmeverk, det är ett relativt nytt värmeverk. Värmeverket togs i drift årsskiftet 2012/2013 och är en anläggning som körs på biobränsle. Syftet med arbetet är att undersöka hur anläggningens verkningsgrad påverkas av fukthalten i bränslet. Med rätt fukthalt på bränslet uppnås högsta verkningsgrad för anläggningen vid bestämd returtemperatur på fjärrvärmenätet. Genom att uppnå högre verkningsgrad än idag gynnas både miljö och ekonomi. Målet med studien är att se hur mycket bränsle som kan sparas när anläggningen optimeras med hjälp av att hitta en optimal fukthalt. Ett delmål blir att hitta den högsta verkningsgraden genom att variera fukthalten i bränslet. Bränslet består av stamvedsflis som idag köps med en fukthalt på ungefär 40 %. Studien visar att denna fukthalt ska ökas till 48 % för att hitta den högsta verkningsgraden. Om en fukthalt på 48 % börjar användas istället för dagens 40 % skulle en besparing på 110 MWh bränsle göras per år, vilket motsvarar knappt 45 ton stamvedsflis

Metabolic Aspects of Care of Neonatal Hypoglycemia

Peer Reviewe

Säkerhets- & Digital-forensisk Analys av ett Sakernas Internet smarthemsekosystem

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an ongoing trend where a multitude of internet- connected devices become more common. Many of these devices have easily exploitable security vulnerabilities. This has led to large-scale cyberattacks such as the Mirai botnet Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks. More cybercrime can be expected in the future, especially as the number and types of IoT devices grow. In this work, the security of an IoT ecosystem was investigated from two perspectives: security testing and Digital Forensics (DF). Security testing was used to search the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) of the IoT ecosystem for security vulnerabilities. Three Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Tools were used to search the source code of the cloud part of the system. A manual review was done to search the system as whole, with the guide of common vulnerability lists from the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP). As a result, severe security vulnerabilities were found. A DF experiment was conducted where actions were taken in five Android smartphone apps to control six IoT devices (two are from aforementioned IoT ecosystem). The contents of the smartphone was then examined for forensic evidence of those actions. Additionally the contents one of the IoT devices was also examined for evidence. It was concluded that only limited evidence of the actions could be found. Additionally, various challenges were identified. Det så kallade Sakernas Internet (eng. Internet of Things, IoT) området är en pågående och ökande trend. Trenden handler om att olika enklare enheter ansluts mot internet i stort antal. IoT-enheter har utsatts för, och utnyttjats i, cyber attacker som i exempelvis det så kallade “Mirai botnet”. Allt fler IoT-relaterade brott kan förväntas i framtiden, speciellt eftersom antalet IoT- enheter blir allt fler och mer diversifierade. I den här uppsatsen undersöks säkerheten i ett IoT ekosystem utifrån två aspekter: “security testing” (säkerhetstesting) och “digital forensics”. På svenska kalls digital forensics för “IT-forensik” (kriminalteknik inom informationsteknik) eller digital-forensik. Säkerhetstestning användes för att hitta sårbarheter i det undersökta IoT ekosystemets olika applikationsprogrammeringsgränssnitt. Tre olika verktyg av typen Static Application Security Testing (SAST) användes i undersökningen för att granska den kod som motsvarar moln-delen av systemet. Utöver de tre verktygen, undersöktes systemet också manuellt. Den manuella undersökning utgick från de listor av vanliga typer av sårbarheter som finns publicerade av organisationen Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP). Resultatmässigt hittades flera allvarliga sårbarheter i systemet. Digital forensics-delen av projektet bestod av ett experiment där en Android telefon, sex IoT-enheter (två från det ovannämnda IoT ekosystemet) och fem motsvarande Android-appar undersöktes. Experimentet bestod av att utföra olika handlingar i apparna (till exempel att skicka ett kommando till en IoT- enhet), och sedan av att leta bevis för de handlingarna. För att hitta bevis undersöktes innehållet på telefonen och innehållet på en av IoT-enheterna. Slutsatsen av experimentet är att bara få och begränsade bevis kunde hittas. Utmaningarna som påträffades i experimentet jämfördes med utmaningarna beskrivna i forskningslitteraturen inom digital forensics

A Comparison of a Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing Applied to a Traffic Light Control Problem : A Traffic Intersection Optimization Problem

This work compares a Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Simulated Annealing (SA) when applied to a variant of the Traffic Light Control Problem (TLCP).  TLCP is about controlling the lights in one or more traffic intersections in order to optimize traffic flow. This is important in order for society to function properly.  The idea is that to solve this problem quickly, as would be necessary in a real traffic situation, stochastic search algorithms like SA and GA should be used.  GA and SA in particular are chosen because they are often used in previous work.A 4-way traffic intersection is simulated. GA and SA are used to find a schedule for lighting the traffic lights in such a way that for a given collection of cars, the traffic flow is maximized.  The goal is to study how traffic flows in the solutions produced by GA and SA when the problem size increases.The conclusion of this work is that SA seems to generally finds better solutions than GA in small search spaces and that SA and GA are comparable in larger search spaces.Det här arbetet jämför en Genetisk Algoritm (GA) och Simulated Annealing (SA) när de appliceras på en variant av Trafikljusstyrningsproblemet (TLCP).  TLCP handlar om att styra trafikljus i en eller flera trafikkorsningar för att optimera trafikflödet genom dem. Detta är viktigt för att samhället ska fungera bra.  Tanken för att lösa problemet tillräckligt snabbt för att fungera i verklig trafik är att använda sig av stokastiska algoritmer såsom GA och SA. Just GA och SA har valts eftersom de ofta används i liknande arbeten.En 4-vägs trafikkorsning simuleras. GA och SA används för att hitta ett schema för hur trafikljusen ska styras för att trafikflödet ska optimeras, för en given mängd bilar.  Målet är att studera hur trafikflödet för lösningarna producerade av GA och SA skalar när storleken på problemet växer.Som slutsats konstateras att SA generellt hittar bättre lösningar på kortare tid än GA när det gäller mindre lösningar. För större lösningar var GA och SA jämförbara