Assessing Risks of Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a potentially blinding disease where the affected individual often firstnotices symptoms when the disease has reached a late stage. If glaucoma is detectedearly e.g., at screening, the risk for visual impairment can be reduced. There are manyfactors that affect a patient´s risk of developing glaucoma or visual impairment due toglaucoma. In the four studies of this thesis, the general aim was to evaluate such factors, focussing mainly on age, intraocular pressure and severity at detection, to provide more information on the need for improved case detection.The objectives of Study I and IV were to report the prevalence and severity ofundetected glaucoma in different age groups when detected at screening. Study I wasbased on data originally collected in a large population screening for individuals 57-77 years old performed in 1992-1997. In Study IV, 322 elderly subjects 77-89 years old were screened for glaucoma in 2019-2021. We found that the prevalence of undetected glaucoma increased with age but disease severity was similar at 60-77 years of age with about 30% of glaucomatous eyes with advanced disease or worse, but mostly early in elderly patients 77-89 years old.Using the large screening material from 1992-1997 that included 32,918 subjects, wecreated a regression model for the prediction of undetected glaucoma based on thecombined effect of age and intraocular pressure (Study II). Glaucoma increasedexponentially with age and intraocular pressure.Study III aimed to find the lifetime risk of glaucoma visual impairment in individualsfollowed-up for raised intraocular pressure since the 1980s. We found that only 9% ofsubjects developed bilateral visual impairment and 3% bilateral blindness resultingfrom glaucoma.The results are of value when estimating the need for improved glaucoma detection and when considering the management of patients with raised intraocular pressure

Reducing Product Development Lead Time With an Agile Way of Working

Reducing time to market is a crucial aspect in product development as more products are being developed than ever before. Being fast to market can come with various benefits, such as a competitive advantage, being a technical pioneer, and higher profits from introducing the product faster. Consequently, it is valuable for companies to investigate how they can reduce time to market. One of the newest approaches used in New Product Development (NPD) is Agile product development. The Agile methodology responds to the shortcomings of traditional development methodologies, which view changes as something that has to be eliminated instead of being incorporated. Today, companies apply the Agile way of working in the hope of reducing product development lead time and improving their overall processes. This has led to Husqvarna Construction Products (HCP) looking into the potential of applying an Agile way of working in their NPD process to reduce time to market. A research was conducted at HCP in the form of a case study with a qualitative approach. The researchers formulated two research questions to fulfill the purpose of the study. The first research question was used to analyze if an Agile way of working could reduce the product development lead time. The second research question was designed to identify the challenges that may emerge when implementing Agile into an organization characterized by traditional development processes. The study’s findings support that an Agile way of working can reduce product development lead time if implemented efficiently. The study aimed at identifying challenges in HCP’s NPD process. These challenges were divided into three categories: challenges related to the early phases, process-related challenges, and communication challenges. The researchers analyzed if an Agile way of working could solve these challenges by applying different tools, artefacts, and roles from Agile-Scrum. The study concludes that using an Agile way of working can be helpful to solve some of the challenges identified at HCP and achieve a shorter time to market. The study’s findings also show that various challenges may emerge when transforming from a traditional development process to a more Agile way of working. The researchers recommend that HCP look into the Agile-Stage-Gate hybrid model because this approach has shown to be effective in reducing time to market

Universal history in fourteenth-century Iceland: studies in AM 764 4to.

The thesis is a philological examination of the first part of the manuscript AM 764 4to, written in Northern Iceland in the latter half of the fourteenth-century. The first part of the dissertation deals with paleographical and orthographical features of the codex which reveal that the book was in all likelihood produced in a scriptorium in Skagafjorior c. 1376-1386. An overview is given of previous scholarship concerning the manuscript and its content. The main section is devoted to discussion of the content of folios 1-23o f the codex. It is argued that instead of being a haphazard collection of unrelated texts, the first half of the book was conceived as a whole, and that the aim of the scribes was to produce a survey of the history of the world organised into aetates mundi. The sources for the different passages in this history are clarified and the scribes' treatment of these sources is viewed against parallel Old Norse works. Special attention is devoted to Bible translations. The third section begins with an overview of the development of universal history in the Middle Ages which subsequently serves as a basis for discussion of the place AM 764 4to has within this tradition, with regard to Latin works as well as vernacular ones. It is argued that the book was written for the nunnery at Reynistaour in Skagafjoror and may have served as a schoolbook. The last part of the thesis contains a diplomatic transcription of the text of folios 1-23v4

Exploring study profiles of Computer Science students with Social Network Analysis

Information technology is widely adapted in all levels of education. The extensive information resources facilitate enhanced human capacity and the social environment to support learning. In particular, Social Network Analysis (SNA) has been broadly used in teaching and learning practices. In this paper, we perform community detection analysis to identify the learning behavior profiles of undergraduate computer science students in a Nordic university. The social network was created using 273 responses to an online survey. The students themselves provided their social connections at the university, and node attributes were created based on responses to questions regarding Educational Values, Goals Orientation, Self-efficacy, and the university teaching methods. We analyze the biggest communities to identify the factors that characterize the learning strategy and preferences of undergraduate computer science students

Árangur skurðaðgerða við lungnakrabbameini á Íslandi - lífshorfur hjá undirhópum sjúklinga

Lung cancer is the third most common type of cancer and the prime cause of cancer-related deaths in Iceland. As surgical resection is the only well-defined and well-studied curative treatment, the aim is to offer surgery to as many patients as possible who have resectable disease. However, less than one-quarter of the patients (most often non-small cell lung carcinoma, NSCLC) are diagnosed at the early stages and thus are candidates for surgery. The most common surgical procedure is lobectomy, but in some cases a sublobar resection (wedge or segment resection) is performed or pneumonectomy is required. The most common histological type of lung cancer is adenocarcinom (AC), followed by squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and large cell carcinoma (LCC). The short- and long-term outcomes of pulmonary resections for NSCLC have improved over the past years, and even if the total 5-year survival of lung cancer is less than 20%, the survival of patients with resectable localized disease can be up to 80%. This thesis is based on four peer-reviewed papers (I-IV) and the aim was to investigate four key issues: (1) to investigate the surgical resection rate for lung cancer surgery in a whole nation; (2) to determine short- and long-term outcomes of surgery, with special emphasis on patients who underwent lobectomy, had AC separately, or were elderly (>75 years); (3) to determine whether the international IASLC/ATS/ERS adenocarcinoma classification system from 2011 predicts survival in surgical patients with lung cancer in Iceland; and (4) to determine how many patients aged >75 years underwent pulmonary resection and to determine the reasons for the operation not being performed in patients with resectable disease. Three separate registries were used to identify cases. The histology database from the Department of Pathology at Landspitali University Hospital and the diagnosis and operation registry at Landspitali were used to identify patients who underwent surgery for NSCLC, and the Icelandic Cancer Registry was used to find patients who were not operated on. Clinical information was gathered from hospital charts and surgical records, and entered into a data sheet. Survival was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate Cox analysis was used to evaluate possible independent prognostic factors of survival. All four studies were retrospective, population-based nationwide studies. In paper I, all 404 cases (397 patients) who underwent pulmonary resections for NSCLC in Iceland during 15 years (1994-2008) were studied. The surgical resection rate was 26.4% and 8.7% had major operative complications. The 30-day mortality rate was 1% and the 5-year overall survival was 40.7%. Patients who did not undergo surgical resection had a 5-year survival of 4.8% compared to 12.4% for all lung cancer patients combined. Paper II involved 489 consecutive patients who underwent lobectomy for NSCLC in Iceland from 1991-2014. The 30-day mortality was 0.6% and 4.7% had a major complication postoperatively. The 5-year overall survival was 49.2% and the 3-year survival improved from 48.3% in the period 1991-1994 to 72.8% in 2011-2014 (p=0.0004). Similar improvement was observed in 5-year survival, but 3-year survival was chosen for comparison due to shorter follow-up during the last 4-year period. Paper III described the outcome of 285 patients with resected primary AC of the lung in Iceland 1991-2010, and their subclassification according to the IASLC/ATS/ERS adenocarcinoma classification from 2011. The most common AC subtype was acinar-predominant (46%), followed by solid-predominant with mucin production (23%) and lepidic-predominant (20%). At 5 years, the overall survival was 45.3% and no difference was found in survival between the histological subtypes. The histological subtype was not found to be an independent predictor of overall survival (p = 0.7), in contrast to several studies that have reported more favourable survival for certain subtypes of ACs. Paper IV was a retrospective study on the surgical resection rate and outcome in elderly patients (>75 years old) who had a pulmonary resection for NSCLC in Iceland between 1991 and 2014. The elderly patients were compared with younger patients (<75 years), with surgical resection rates being 18% and 32%, respectively (p<0.001). The most frequent reasons for not performing surgery were insufficient pulmonary function (58%), heart disease (17%) and multiple comorbidities (17%). No significant differences in rates of complications or 30-day mortality were observed between the older and the younger groups. Five-year overall survival was significantly different (40% and 44%) in the elderly and younger groups, respectively (p= 0.019) but cancer-specific survival was not significantly different (51% vs 50%; p=0.8). In summary, the surgical resection rate for non-small cell lung carcinoma and the short-term outcome was good, as reflected in the low rates of postoperative complications and 30-day operative mortality. Furthermore, with the exception of pneumonectomies, the long-term survival after surgical resection was similar to what other studies have shown - and is improving.Lungnakrabbamein er þriðja algengasta krabbameinið á Íslandi og það krabbamein sem leggur flesta Íslendinga af velli. Sjúklingar læknast sjaldnast án skurðaðgerðar og því er markmiðið að beita skurðaðgerð hjá sem flestum sjúklingum þegar ábending er til staðar. Skurðmeðferð kemur hinsvegar eingöngu til greina hjá þeim sjúklingum sem eru með staðbundið lungnakrabbamein og vefjagerðin ekki smáfrumukrabbamein. Algengasta vefjagerð þeirra sem gangast undir skurðaðgerð er kirtilfrumukrabbamein en flöguþekju- og stórfrumukrabbamein koma þar á eftir. Algengasta skurðaðgerðin er blaðnám en stundum er beitt fleyg- eða geiraskurði ellegar lungnabrottnámi. Skammtíma- og langtímaárangur skurðaðgerða við lungnakrabbameini hefur batnað á síðustu árum og þrátt fyrir að innan við fimmti hver lungnakrabbameinssjúklingur læknist í heildina þá er fimm ára lifun þeirra sjúklinga sem gangast undir skurðaðgerð vegna staðbundins æxlis í lunganu allt að 80%. Þessi doktorsritgerð tekur til fjögurra vísindagreina (I-IV) þar sem markmiðin voru fjórskipt. Í fyrsta lagi var leitast við að reikna hlutfall sjúklinga með lungnakrabbamein sem gengust undir skurðaðgerð hjá heilli þjóð. Í öðru lagi að meta skammtíma- og langtímaárangur þessara aðgerða með sérstakri áherslu á afdrif sjúklinga sem gengust undir blaðnám, en einnig á afdrif þeirra sem höfðu kirtilfrumukrabbamein eða voru aldraðir (≥75 ára). Í þriðja lagi var markmiðið að meta hvort alþjóðlega flokkun IASLC/ATS/ERS á kirtilfrumukrabbameinum frá árinu 2011 spái fyrir um lifun þessara sjúklinga. Í fjórða lagi að kanna hversu margir sjúklingar eldri en 75 ára gengust undir skurðagerð og af hverju sjúklingar sem taldir voru með skurðtækan sjúkdóm gengust ekki undir aðgerð. Sjúklingar voru fundnir í þremur aðskildum skráningarkerfum. Sjúklingar sem gengust undir aðgerð voru fundnir í rafrænni aðgerðarskrá Landspítala og gagnagrunni rannsóknastofu Landspítala í meinafræði. Upplýsingar um sjúklinga sem ekki gengust undir skurðaðgerð voru fengnar úr krabbameinsskrá Krabbameinsfélags Íslands. Sjúkraskrár og aðgerðarlýsingar voru skoðaðar og klínískar upplýsingar um sjúklinga skráðar rafrænt. Lifun var metin með aðferð Kaplan-Meier og forspárþættir lifunar metnir með fjölþáttagreiningu Cox. Allar rannsóknirnar fjórar voru afturskyggnar og lýðgrundaðar. Grein I tók til 397 sjúklinga sem gengust undir 404 skurðaðgerðir við lungnakrabbameini á Íslandi frá árinu 1994 til ársins 2008. Á öllu tímabilinu var hlutfall þeirra sem gengust undir skurðaðgerð 26,4% og 8,7% fengu alvarlega fylgikvilla í kjölfar aðgerðar. Dánartíðni innan 30 daga frá aðgerð var 1% og 5 ára heildarlifun reyndist 40,7%. Sjúklingar sem ekki gengust undir skurðaðgerð höfðu iv 4,8% fimm ára lifun og fyrir alla lungnakrabbameinssjúklinga í heildina var lifunin 12,4%. Grein II tók til 489 sjúklinga sem gengust undir blaðnám við lungnakrabbameini á Íslandi á árunum 1991-2014. Dánartíðni innan 30 daga var 0,6% og 4,7% fengu alvarlega fylgikvilla. Heildarlifun fimm árum frá aðgerð var 49,2% og þriggja ára lifun jókst frá 48,3% á árunum 1991-1994 í 72,8% á árunum 2011-2014 (p = 0,0004). Svipuð aukning í lifun sást einnig fimm árum frá aðgerð en skemmri eftirlitstími á síðasta tímabilinu gerir samanburð á þriggja ára lifun áreiðanlegri. Grein III lýsti árangri aðgerða hjá 285 sjúklingum með kirtilfrumukrabbamein sem gengust undir lungnaskurðaðgerð á árunum 1991-2010 og undirflokkun þeirra samkvæmt IASLC/ATS/ERS flokkuninni frá árinu 2011. Algengasta vefjaundirgerðin reyndist vera þrúgufrumu (acinar) ríkjandi kirtilfrumukrabbamein (46%), þar á eftir þétt (solid) ríkjandi kirtilfrumukrabbamein með slímmyndun (23%) og hreisturlík (lepidic) ríkjandi kirtilfrumukrabbamein (20%). Fimm ára lifun var 45,3%. Ekki sást marktækur munur á lifun eftir undirgerðum kirtilfrumukrabbameins og IASLC/ATS/ERS flokkunin reyndist ekki vera sjálfstæður forspárþáttur lifunar í fjölþáttagreiningu líkt og sumar erlendar rannsóknir hafi sýnt. Í grein IV var fjallað um aldraða einstaklinga (≥ 75 ára) sem greindust með lungnakrabbamein af ekki smáfrumugerð. Hlutfall þeirra sem gengust undir skurðaðgerð og árangur aðgerða var borinn saman við yngri sjúklinga sem gengust undir skurðaðgerð. Skurðhlutfall hjá öldruðum reyndist 18% borið saman við 32% hjá þeim yngri (p < 0,001). Hvorki reyndist marktækur munur á fylgikvillum né 30 daga dánartíðni milli hópanna. Algengustu ástæður þess að sjúklingar voru ekki teknir í aðgerð þrátt fyrir skurðtækan sjúkdóm reyndust ófullnægjandi lungnastarfsemi (58%), hjartasjúkdómur (17%) og margþætt önnur heilsufarsvandamál (17%). Heildarlifun var betri fyrir yngri hópinn en þann eldri (40% sbr. 44%, p = 0,019) en ekki reyndist munur á krabbameinssértækri lifun (51% sbr. 50%, p = 0,8). Samantekið þá er hlutfall sjúklinga sem gangast undir skurðaðgerð vegna lungnakrabbameins hátt hér á landi. Skammtímaárangur þessara aðgerða er góður og tíðni alvarlegra fylgikvilla og 30 daga dánartíðni lág. Að frátöldum árangri eftir lungnabrottnám eru langtímalífshorfur sjúklinga svipaðar og í erlendum rannsóknum og lífshorfur fara batnandi

Detecting potential money laundering addresses in the Bitcoin blockchain using unsupervised machine learning

Money laundering is a serious problem worldwide, especially in the crypto market. This is mostly because of the anonymity that many cryptocurrencies offer. That is one of the reasons why cryptocurrencies are a haven for money laundering, because it is easier for criminal entities to buy the currency and then trade it for real fiat money. Detecting money laundering in cryptocurrency can be tricky because the crypto network is large and convoluted and nearly impossible to analyze by hand. What we can do is look at addresses that took part in transactions as actors and then use machine learning to predict what addresses are possibly laundering money. In this paper we intend to analyze methods that can be used to detect money laundering in Bitcoin using machine learning to empower investigators to more accurately and efficiently determine whether a suspicious activity is money laundering

Challenges, contradictions and continuity in creating a five-year teacher education programme in Iceland

The first author was dean of the Faculty of Teacher Education for most of the period under scrutiny until the third author who is the present dean took over in 2013; the second author was a member of the faculty council from 2010–2014.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Longitudinal changes in inflammatory biomarkers among patients with COVID-19 : A nationwide study in Iceland

Funding Information: This study was supported by Landspitali University Hospital Science Fund. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation.Objectives: All SARS-CoV-2-positive persons in Iceland were prospectively monitored and those who required outpatient evaluation or were admitted to hospital underwent protocolized evaluation that included a standardized panel of biomarkers. The aim was to describe longitudinal changes in inflammatory biomarkers throughout the infection period of patients with COVID-19 requiring different levels of care. Design: Registry-based study. Setting: Nationwide study in Iceland. Patients: All individuals who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from February 28 to December 31, 2020 in Iceland and had undergone blood tests between 5 days before and 21 days following onset of symptoms. Measurements and Main Results: Data were collected from the electronic medical record system of Landspitali–The National University Hospital of Iceland. Data analyses were descriptive and the evolution of biomarkers was visualized using locally weighted scatterplot smoothing curves stratified by the worst clinical outcome experienced by the patient: outpatient evaluation only, hospitalization, and either intensive care unit (ICU) admission or death. Of 571 included patients, 310 (54.3%) only required outpatient evaluation or treatment, 202 (35.4%) were hospitalized, and 59 (10.3%) were either admitted to the ICU or died. An early and persistent separation of the mean lymphocyte count and plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) and ferritin levels was observed between the three outcome groups, which occurred prior to hospitalization for those who later were admitted to ICU or died. Lower lymphocyte count, and higher CRP and ferritin levels correlated with worse clinical outcomes. Patients who were either admitted to the ICU or died had sustained higher white blood cell and neutrophil counts, and elevated plasma levels of procalcitonin and D-dimer compared with the other groups. Conclusions: Lymphocyte count and plasma CRP and ferritin levels might be suitable parameters to assess disease severity early during COVID-19 and may serve as predictors of worse outcome.Peer reviewe

22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome: Are Motor Deficits More Than Expected for IQ Level?

To examine motor function in children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2) and a Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) comparable control group. This study was part of a prospective study of neuropsychological function in children 9 to 15 years of age with 22q11.2 and community control subjects and included children from these two populations with comparable FSIQs. Verbal IQs on the WISC-R for 40 children with 22q11.2 (88.4) and 24 community control subjects (87.2) were not different (P=.563). However, the performance IQs were (22q11.2; 81.1 vs community controls; 89.3;