How and Why Freight Trains Deviate from the Timetable : Evidence from Sweden

European infrastructure managers (IMs) create annual timetables for trains that will run during a year. Freight trains in Sweden often deviate from this by being added, cancelled, delayed or early, resulting in increased costs for IMs and railway undertakings (RUs). We investigate the frequency of and causes for these deviations, using one year of operational data for 48,000 trains, and 15 stakeholder interviews. We find that about 20% of freight trains are added once the timetable has been created, and that cancellations occur for about 35% of freight trains, mostly at the RUs’ initiative. Delays are common: some 40% of departures, 30% of runtimes, and 20% of dwell times are delayed. Running early is even more common: 80% are ready to depart early, and 60% do so, while 40% of runtimes and 75% of dwell times are shorter than scheduled. We find links and feedback loops between the root causes for these deviations and suggest that IMs reserve more of the capacity that is needed for freight trains and instead distribute it throughout the year. This could lead to more appropriate, attractive, and reliable timetables for freight trains, whilst greatly reducing the amount of planning effort

Beslutsprocesser under företagsetablering - En fallstudie av tre företag inom den svenska dryckesmarknaden

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att empiriskt använda Sarasvathys ramverk på tre utvalda företag och deras etableringsprocess på den svenska dryckesmarknaden. Metod: Vi har valt att använda oss av en abduktiv synvinkel i vår studie. Den valda undersökningsmetoden är kvalitativ där primärdata samlats in från de intervjuer vi genomfört med grundarna för varje företag. Sekundärdatan vi använt i denna uppsats är hämtad från litteratur, artiklar och hemsidor. Teoretiska perspektiv: Den teori vi huvudsakligen utgått ifrån är Sarasvathys teori om causation och effectuation. Annan teori som är relevant för ämnet tas också upp. Empiri: Empirin utgörs av en samling utvald information ur de intervjuer vi utfört med grundarna för de utvalda företagen, kallade Turkos, Rosa & Orange. Resultat: Vi har noterat att i varje studerat företag har det förekommit en blandning av de båda beslutsprocesserna causation och effectuation. Vi har även upptäckt tre faktorer som påverkar beslutsfattande samt huruvida dessa beslutsprocesser tenderar att vara causation eller effectuation. Dessa tre faktorer är storleks-, tids- och konkurrensfaktorn

Witness: The Modern Writer as Witness

Editor\u27s Note [Excerpt] Magic can mean many different things, especially for writers. Magic can be an illusion, a sleight of hand designed to trick onlookers into believing the impossible. Or magic can be a supernatural force in a world of harsh reality, a set of beliefs that sits just outside the realms of organized religion and advanced technology. Wizards and demons, Las Vegas entertainers and houngans --they all practice a kind of sorcery. For poets and prose writers, though, magic affords an opportunity for us to stretch the limitations of the physical world in search of new themes, settings, and characters. Magic is a door we eagerly walk through to reach new lands. We at Witness have thoroughly enjoyed the process of selecting the themed works we have collected here, mainly because the idea of enchantment is inspiring. There is the possibility of positive charms; there is a chance for dark witchery. And sometimes the spell cast by a character is nebulous, difficult to categorize. It’s arguable that we cherish these incantations the most, since they leave us in a state of wonderment bordering on disorientation. Yes, magic can also leave us bewildered and thankful for the bewilderment.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/witness/1001/thumbnail.jp

Fusion transcript analysis reveals slower response kinetics than multiparameter flow cytometry in childhood acute myeloid leukaemia

Funding Information: We thank the employees at the Department of Clinical Chemistry at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Haemodiagnostic Laboratory at the Aarhus University Hospital, and Department of Clinical Immunology, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet for sample collection, processing and analyses. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. International Journal of Laboratory Hematology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Introduction: Analysis of measurable residual disease (MRD) is increasingly being implemented in the clinical care of children and adults with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). However, MRD methodologies differ and discordances in results lead to difficulties in interpretation and clinical decision-making. The aim of this study was to compare results from reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) in childhood AML and describe the kinetics of residual leukaemic burden during induction treatment. Methods: In 15 children who were treated in the NOPHO-AML 2004 trial and had fusion transcripts quantified by RT-qPCR, we compared MFC with RT-qPCR for analysis of MRD during (day 15) and after induction therapy. Eight children had RUNX1::RUNX1T1, one CBFB::MYH11 and six KMT2A::MLLT3. Results: When ≥0.1% was used as cut-off for positivity, 10 of 22 samples were discordant. The majority (9/10) were MRD positive with RT-qPCR but MRD negative with MFC, and several such cases showed the presence of mature myeloid cells. Fusion transcript expression was verified in mature cells as well as in CD34 expressing cells sorted from diagnostic samples. Conclusions: Measurement with RT-qPCR suggests slower response kinetics than indicated from MFC, presumably due to the presence of mature cells expressing fusion transcript. The prognostic impact of early measurements with RT-qPCR remains to be determined.Peer reviewe

Towards the introduction of the ‘Immunoscore’ in the classification of malignant tumours

The American Joint Committee on Cancer/Union Internationale Contre le Cancer (AJCC/UICC) TNM staging system provides the most reliable guidelines for the routine prognostication and treatment of colorectal carcinoma. This traditional tumour staging summarizes data on tumour burden (T), the presence of cancer cells in draining and regional lymph nodes (N) and evidence for distant metastases (M). However, it is now recognized that the clinical outcome can vary significantly among patients within the same stage. The current classification provides limited prognostic information and does not predict response to therapy. Multiple ways to classify cancer and to distinguish different subtypes of colorectal cancer have been proposed, including morphology, cell origin, molecular pathways, mutation status and gene expression-based stratification. These parameters rely on tumour-cell characteristics. Extensive literature has investigated the host immune response against cancer and demonstrated the prognostic impact of the in situ immune cell infiltrate in tumours. A methodology named ‘Immunoscore’ has been defined to quantify the in situ immune infiltrate. In colorectal cancer, the Immunoscore may add to the significance of the current AJCC/UICC TNM classification, since it has been demonstrated to be a prognostic factor superior to the AJCC/UICC TNM classification. An international consortium has been initiated to validate and promote the Immunoscore in routine clinical settings. The results of this international consortium may result in the implementation of the Immunoscore as a new component for the classification of cancer, designated TNM-I (TNM-Immune). © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland

A Nested Case-Control Study of Metabolically Defined Body Size Phenotypes and Risk of Colorectal Cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

BACKGROUND: Obesity is positively associated with colorectal cancer. Recently, body size subtypes categorised by the prevalence of hyperinsulinaemia have been defined, and metabolically healthy overweight/obese individuals (without hyperinsulinaemia) have been suggested to be at lower risk of cardiovascular disease than their metabolically unhealthy (hyperinsulinaemic) overweight/obese counterparts. Whether similarly variable relationships exist for metabolically defined body size phenotypes and colorectal cancer risk is unknown. METHODS AND FINDINGS: The association of metabolically defined body size phenotypes with colorectal cancer was investigated in a case-control study nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Metabolic health/body size phenotypes were defined according to hyperinsulinaemia status using serum concentrations of C-peptide, a marker of insulin secretion. A total of 737 incident colorectal cancer cases and 737 matched controls were divided into tertiles based on the distribution of C-peptide concentration amongst the control population, and participants were classified as metabolically healthy if below the first tertile of C-peptide and metabolically unhealthy if above the first tertile. These metabolic health definitions were then combined with body mass index (BMI) measurements to create four metabolic health/body size phenotype categories: (1) metabolically healthy/normal weight (BMI < 25 kg/m2), (2) metabolically healthy/overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2), (3) metabolically unhealthy/normal weight (BMI < 25 kg/m2), and (4) metabolically unhealthy/overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2). Additionally, in separate models, waist circumference measurements (using the International Diabetes Federation cut-points [≥80 cm for women and ≥94 cm for men]) were used (instead of BMI) to create the four metabolic health/body size phenotype categories. Statistical tests used in the analysis were all two-sided, and a p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. In multivariable-adjusted conditional logistic regression models with BMI used to define adiposity, compared with metabolically healthy/normal weight individuals, we observed a higher colorectal cancer risk among metabolically unhealthy/normal weight (odds ratio [OR] = 1.59, 95% CI 1.10-2.28) and metabolically unhealthy/overweight (OR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.01-1.94) participants, but not among metabolically healthy/overweight individuals (OR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.65-1.42). Among the overweight individuals, lower colorectal cancer risk was observed for metabolically healthy/overweight individuals compared with metabolically unhealthy/overweight individuals (OR = 0.69, 95% CI 0.49-0.96). These associations were generally consistent when waist circumference was used as the measure of adiposity. To our knowledge, there is no universally accepted clinical definition for using C-peptide level as an indication of hyperinsulinaemia. Therefore, a possible limitation of our analysis was that the classification of individuals as being hyperinsulinaemic-based on their C-peptide level-was arbitrary. However, when we used quartiles or the median of C-peptide, instead of tertiles, as the cut-point of hyperinsulinaemia, a similar pattern of associations was observed. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the idea that individuals with the metabolically healthy/overweight phenotype (with normal insulin levels) are at lower colorectal cancer risk than those with hyperinsulinaemia. The combination of anthropometric measures with metabolic parameters, such as C-peptide, may be useful for defining strata of the population at greater risk of colorectal cancer

Association between pre-diagnostic circulating vitamin D concentration and risk of colorectal cancer in European populations:a nested case-control study

Objective To examine the association between pre-diagnostic circulating vitamin D concentration, dietary intake of vitamin D and calcium, and the risk of colorectal cancer in European populations

Baicalin Downregulates Porphyromonas gingivalis Lipopolysaccharide-Upregulated IL-6 and IL-8 Expression in Human Oral Keratinocytes by Negative Regulation of TLR Signaling

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