Graded Betti numbers of Cohen-Macaulay modules and the Multiplicity conjecture

We give conjectures on the possible graded Betti numbers of Cohen-Macaulay modules up to multiplication by positive rational numbers. The idea is that the Betti diagrams should be non-negative linear combinations of pure diagrams. The conjectures are verified in the cases where the structure of resolutions are known, i.e., for modules of codimension two, for Gorenstein algebras of codimension three and for complete intersections. The motivation for the conjectures comes from the Multiplicity conjecture of Herzog, Huneke and Srinivasan.Comment: 24 pages, references and examples adde

Enhanced reality live role playing

Live role-playing is a form of improvisational theatre played for the experience of the performers and without an audience. These games form a challenging application domain for ubiquitous technology. We discuss the design options for enhanced reality live role-playing and the role of technology in live role-playing games

Oberhauswahl in Japan : Frisches Mandat für die Regierung oder politischer Stillstand?

Gut zehn Monate nach dem historischen Machtwechsel in Tokyo entscheiden Japans Wähler in der Oberhauswahl am 11. Juli darüber, ob die Demokratische Partei Japans (DPJ) ihren Reformkurs in den kommenden Jahren fortsetzen kann. Während die angeschlagene DPJ unter ihrem neuen Führer Naoto Kan auf ein frisches Mandat hofft, will die oppositionelle Liberaldemokratische Partei (LDP) ihrem Niedergang bei der Wahl ein Ende setzen. Die Gründung einiger neuer Parteien hat allerdings das Feld der Bewerber deutlich unübersichtlicher gemacht

Kolningkurs 2009-2010 vid SLU i Umeå

Under 2009-2010 genomfördes en kurs i kolning med både teoretiska och praktiska inslag vid institutionen för skogens ekologi och skötsel vid Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet i Umeå. Kursen som omfattade 15 hp initierades av åtta intresserade elever från kurs 07/12; Håkan Johansson, Carl Kling, Henrik Nises, Jonas Strandberg, Erik Sundström, Jonas Svensson, Erik Söderberg, Daniel Timblad. Inom ramen för kursen så genomfördes olika aktiviteter; en serie litteratur-seminarer om kolningens historia och praktik samt om kolningen i ett internationellt perspektiv, omsorgsfullt förberedande och praktisk genomförande av milkolning samt intervjuer med äldre personer som kolat tidigare. Slutresultatet av arbetet presenteras i föreliggande rapport samt i form av ett bildspel och en kort videofilm från kolningen. Allt arbete finns tillgängligt via Epsilon på Skogsbibliotekets hemsida. Professor Lars Östlund ([email protected]) har varit ansvarig och examinerande lärare för denna kurs, men arbetet har i hög grad byggt på studenternas egna initiativ och eget arbete. Rapporten är indelad i tre avsnitt: 1) Kolningsdagbok inklusive litteraturlista 2) Kolningsintervju 1: Kurt Johansson i Långträsk 3) Kolningsintervju 2: Martin Åslin i Gnar

Clinical responses to adoptive T-cell transfer can be modeled in an autologous immune-humanized mouse model

Combining different types of immune therapies might benefit certain patients. Here, the authors develop an autologous immune-humanized melanoma mouse model that allows the preclinical assessment of cancer cell–T cell interactions from each individual patient and the benefits of immunotherapies combinations

Greenhouse in Vaksala Eke

This project has been carried out on the behalf of IHUS and the aim was to find a solution to a greenhouse with an associated café on Vaksala Eke just north of Uppsala. This complex is intended to be self-sufficient on heat, electric power and crops. In the project we have created a greenhouse that fully supplies the café with crops during the summer, while during the winter the greenhouse only provides 8-16% of the café’s demand of crops. Six different scenarios were created to cover the heat demand of the greenhouse and the café. The following scenarios for the heat supply were considered: ground heat; solar thermal energy and ground heat; geothermal energy; solar thermal energy and geothermal energy; bioenergy; solar thermal energy and bioenergy. These six scenarios were compared to one another to obtain the most profitable system. The results showed that the scenario with the shortest payback period for heat generation, is the ground heat scenario. Photovoltaic solar panels is the only source of electric power examined for the small-scale operation on Vaksala Eke. All the scenarios, except for the scenarios with bioenergy, were fully self-sufficient on heat, on the other hand all the scenarios were self-sufficient on electricity over a year.Detta arbete har genomförts på uppdrag av IHUS och har gått ut på att ta fram en lösning för ett växthus med tillhörande café på Vaksala Eke, norr om Uppsala. Anläggningen avsågs att vara självförsörjande på energi och grödor. I projektet har det skapats ett växthus som förser caféet till 100% med grödor under sommaren och på vintern med 8-16%. Sex olika scenarier skapades vilka alla skulle täcka värmebehovet till växthuset och caféet. Följande scenarier för värmeförsörjningen undersöktes: jordvärme; solvärme och jordvärme; bergvärme; solvärme och bergvärme; bioenergi; solvärme och bioenergi. Dessa sex scenarier jämfördes för att ta fram det mest lönsamma systemet. Resultatet visar att scenariot med kortast återbetalningstid är det när värmetillförseln enbart kommer från jordvärme. Solceller bedömdes som det enda rimliga alternativet för den småskaliga verksamheten på Vaksala Eke varför endast denna elkraftkälla undersöktes. De scenarier som ej innehöll bioenergi blev helt självförsörjande på värme, och över ett år blev alla scenarier självförsörjande på elkraft

Diabetes and heart failure associations in women and men:Results from the MORGAM consortium

Background: Diabetes and its cardiovascular complications are a growing concern worldwide. Recently, some studies have demonstrated that relative risk of heart failure (HF) is higher in women with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) than in men. This study aims to validate these findings in cohorts representing five countries across Europe. Methods: This study includes 88,559 (51.8% women) participants, 3,281 (46.3% women) of whom had diabetes at baseline. Survival analysis was performed with the outcomes of interest being death and HF with a follow-up time of 12 years. Sub-group analysis according to sex and type of diabetes was also performed for the HF outcome. Results: 6,460 deaths were recorded, of which 567 were amongst those with diabetes. Additionally, HF was diagnosed in 2,772 individuals (446 with diabetes). A multivariable Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that there was an increased risk of death and HF (hazard ratio (HR) of 1.73 [1.58–1.89] and 2.12 [1.91–2.36], respectively) when comparing those with diabetes and those without. The HR for HF was 6.72 [2.75–16.41] for women with T1DM vs. 5.80 [2.72–12.37] for men with T1DM, but the interaction term for sex differences was insignificant (p for interaction 0.45). There was no significant difference in the relative risk of HF between men and women when both types of diabetes were combined (HR 2.22 [1.93–2.54] vs. 1.99 [1.67–2.38] respectively, p for interaction 0.80). Conclusion: Diabetes is associated with increased risks of death and heart failure, and there was no difference in relative risk according to sex

Escherichia coli mar and acrAB Mutants Display No Tolerance to Simple Alcohols

The inducible Mar phenotype of Escherichia coli is associated with increased tolerance to multiple hydrophobic antibiotics as well as some highly hydrophobic organic solvents such as cyclohexane, mediated mainly through the AcrAB/TolC efflux system. The influence of water miscible alcohols ethanol and 1-propanol on a Mar constitutive mutant and a mar deletion mutant of E. coli K-12, as well as the corresponding strains carrying the additional acrAB deletion, was investigated. In contrast to hydrophobic solvents, all strains were killed in exponential phase by 1-propanol and ethanol at rates comparable to the parent strain. Thus, the Mar phenotype does not protect E. coli from killing by these more polar solvents. Surprisingly, AcrAB does not contribute to an increased alcohol tolerance. In addition, sodium salicylate, at concentrations known to induce the mar operon, was unable to increase 1-propanol or ethanol tolerance. Rather, the toxicity of both solvents was increased in the presence of sodium salicylate. Collectively, the results imply that the resilience of E. coli to water miscible alcohols, in contrast to more hydrophobic solvents, does not depend upon the AcrAB/TolC efflux system, and suggests a lower limit for substrate molecular size and functionality. Implications for the application of microbiological systems in environments containing high contents of water miscible organic solvents, e.g., phage display screening, are discussed

COVID-19 in people aged 18-64 in Sweden in the first year of the pandemic: Key factors for severe disease and death

Background: Studies on risk factors for severe COVID-19 in people of working age have generally not included non-working persons or established population attributable fractions (PAFs) for occupational and other factors. Objectives: We describe the effect of job-related, sociodemographic, and other exposures on the incidence, relative risks and PAFs of severe COVID-19 in individuals aged 18–64. Methods: We conducted a registry-based study in Swedish citizens aged 18–64 from 1 January 2020 to 1 February 2021 with respect to COVID-19-related hospitalizations and death. Results: Of 6,205,459 persons, 272,043 (7.5%) were registered as infected, 3399 (0.05%) needed intensive care, and 620 (0.01%) died, with an estimated case fatality rate of 0.06% over the last 4-month period when testing was adequate. Non-Nordic origin was associated with a RR for need of intensive care of 3·13, 95%CI 2·91–3·36, and a PAF of 32·2% after adjustment for age, sex, work, region and comorbidities. In a second model with occupation as main exposure, and adjusted for age, sex, region, comorbidities and origin, essential workers had an RR of 1·51, 95%CI, 1·35–1·6, blue-collar workers 1·18, 95%CI 1·06–1·31, school staff 1·21, 95%CI 1·01–1·46, and health and social care workers 1·89, 95%CI 1·67–2·135) compared with people able to work from home, with altogether about 13% of the PAF associated with these occupations. Essential workers and blue-collar workers, but no other job categories had higher risk of death, adjusted RRs of 1·79, 95%CI 1·34–2·38 and 1·37, 95%CI 1·04–1·81, with adjusted PAFs of altogether 9%. Conclusion: Among people of working age in Sweden, overall mortality and case fatality were low. Occupations that require physical presence at work were associated with elevated risk of needing intensive care for COVID-19, with 14% cases attributable to this factor, and 9% of deaths