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This thesis project was to develop a module for a forest precision seeder. The project is made at BCC AB. BCC is a worldwide supplier of forest seed centre and containerized nursery equipment. BCC develops, designs, produces and sales machines for forest seed handling. BCC s existing precision seeder can not handle seed that are tinier than 1 mm in diameter. With a growing market in countries with
Heat tolerance increases at higher acclimation temperatures in D. melanogaster, but not in D. subobscura. The two species represent separate lineages of the subgenus Sophophora of Drosophila with contrasting tropical African and temperate Palearctic evolutionary histories. D. melanogaster has five copies of the inducible hsp70 gene distributed in two clusters, named A (with two copies) and B (thre
The problem of estimating receiver or sender node positions from measured receiver-sender distances is a key issue in different applications such as microphone array calibration, radio antenna array calibration, mapping and positioning using UWB or using round-trip-time measurements between mobile phones and WiFi-units. In this paper we address the problem of optimally estimating a receiver positi
In this paper we study the problem of estimating receiver and sender positions from time-difference-of-arrival measurements, assuming an unknown constant time-difference-of-arrival offset. This problem is relevant for example for repetitive sound events. In this paper it is shown that there are three minimal cases to the problem. One of these (the five receiver, five sender problem) is of particul
STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. OBJECTIVE: To describe surgical results in two and three dimensions and patient-reported outcomes of scoliosis treatment for Lenke type 1 idiopathic curves with an open anterior or posterior approach. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Different surgical techniques have been described to prevent curve progression and to restore spinal alignment in idiopathic scoliosis.
The fact that deep learning based algorithms used for digital pathology tend to overfit to the site of the training data is well-known. Since an algorithm that does not generalize is not very useful, we have in this work studied how different data augmentation techniques can reduce this problem but also how data from different sites can be normalized to each other. For both of these approaches we
Arsenic (As) is one of the most important dangerous elements as more than 100 million of people are exposed to risk, globally. The permissible threshold of As for drinking water is 10 μg/L according to both the WHO’s drinking water guidelines and the Iranian national standard. However, several studies have indicated that As concentrations exceed this threshold value in several regions of Iran. Thi
Background: Cancer Antigen 125 (CA125) is currently the best available ovarian cancer screening biomarker. However, CA125 has been limited by low sensitivity and specificity in part due to normal variation between individuals. Personal characteristics that influence CA125 could be used to improve its performance as screening biomarker. Methods: We developed and validated linear and dichotomous (≥3
AIMS: Remodelling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a key mechanism involved in the development and progression of heart failure (HF) but also functional in associated pulmonary hypertension (PH). Our aim was to identify plasma ECM proteins associated to end-stage HF and secondary PH in relation to haemodynamics, before and after heart transplantation (HT).METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty ECM plasma
Background: For BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, the association between oral contraceptive preparation (OCP) use and breast cancer (BC) risk is still unclear.Methods: Breast camcer risk associations were estimated from OCP data on 6030 BRCA1 and 3809 BRCA2 mutation carriers using age-dependent Cox regression, stratified by study and birth cohort. Prospective, left-truncated retrospective and fu
Aim: The aim of the study was to identify sociodemographic, disease-related, physical and mental health-related determinants of fatigue at 2-year follow-up in individuals with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: A longitudinal analysis of participants with symptomatic knee OA from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) was conducted to identify predictors of fatigue at 2-year follo
Background Sun exposure in combination with skin pigmentation is the main determinant for vitamin D status. Human skin color seems to be adapted and optimized for regional sun ultraviolet (UV) intensity. However, we do not know if fair, UV-sensitive skin is a survival advantage in regions with low UV radiation. Methods A population-based nested case-control study of 29,518 Caucasian women, ages 25
The problem of monotone smoothing splines with bounds is formulated as a constrained minimization problem of the calculus of variations. Existence and uniqueness of solutions of this problem is proved, as well as the equivalence of it to a finite dimensional but nonlinear optimization problem. A new algorithm for computing the solution which is a spline curve, using a branch and bound technique, i
BACKGROUND: In Bangladesh, diarrhoea in children under-five is a major public health problem with cost implications. Although under-five diarrhoea mortality and morbidity have declined from 2007 to 2018, change in the economic burden is unknown. This study determined the change in the societal economic burden of under-five diarrhoea in Bangladesh comparing 2007 to 2018.METHODS: A prevalence-based,
PURPOSE: Cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy (CHT) is standard of care in metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC); however, no predictive molecular biomarkers are available for clinical use. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of molecular subtypes in relation to treatment response and survival in patients with mUC treated with first-line CHT.PATIENTS AND METHODS: Molecular subtype
This article examines the emergence of idealism in evolutionary cognitive science by analyzing the conscious realism of the cognitive theorist Donald D. Hoffman and the mathematician Chetan Prakash. Perception is for them not about veridical experience, but rather a mechanism for survival. It helps us survive but does not give us access to reality as such. By relating Hoffman and Prakash's conscio
Background: Sex and gender influence many aspects of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Limited data are available on this topic in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD). We therefore aimed to investigate sex issues in the EARCO registry, a prospective, international, observational cohort study. Methods: Baseline data from PiZZ individuals, enrolled in the registry with complete data on
Objective To estimate the prevalence of the curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Mycoplasma genitalium, Trichomonas vaginalis and Treponema pallidum, to identify associated risk factors and to assess ciprofloxacin resistance in N. gonorrhoeae-positive specimens among female sex workers (FSWs) in Guinea-Bissau. Methods For this cross-sectional
Background: The diagnosis and treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may impact mental health. We investigated the long-term risk of psychiatric disorders among survivors of ALL in a population-based cohort study. Methods: We identified patients diagnosed with ALL in Denmark and Sweden before age 20 during 1982–2008. Survivors of ALL (n = 2026), their siblings (n = 3027), and po
Aim: Assess effects on waist circumference from diet with or without cereal grains and with or without long-term physical exercise. Background: Elevated waist circumference is an indicator of increased abdominal fat storage and is accordingly associated with increased cardiovascular mortality. This is likely due to the association between lifestyle-induced changes in waist circumference and cardio
