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Adaptive social manufacturing : a human-centric, resilient, and sustainable framework for advancing Industry 5.0
No full textThis paper presents the Adaptive Social Manufacturing (ASM) as a strategic framework for integrating emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, into manufacturing in a socially responsible, economically viable, and practically feasible manner. Building on Industry 4.0 foundations, ASM addresses the need for a balanced, human-centric framework that aligns technological advancements with the ethical, social, and environmental values central to Industry 5.0. The framework introduces core enabling capabilities, such as Digitalization Strategic Management and Resource Readiness, to drive responsible technology adoption, while preventive capabilities, including Technology Governance and Sustainability Performance Management Systems, mitigate potential socio-environmental risks. To validate the feasibility and practicality of the framework, the study incorporates a longitudinal case study of a medium-sized healthcare product manufacturer. This case demonstrates how ASM facilitated real-time monitoring, process integration, and sustainable innovation, achieving measurable operational improvements while balancing economic, social, and environmental objectives. The findings highlight how ASM enables feasible, stepwise digital transformation, ensuring that economic gains are leveraged to promote social inclusion and environmental responsibility. ASM offers a structured pathway for manufacturers seeking to transition beyond efficiency-driven digitalisation toward value-driven innovation, and holds promise as a guiding framework for policy design, workforce development, and cross-sectoral collaboration in future industrial ecosystems. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupReceived 06 Nov 2024, Accepted 01 Sep 2025, Published online: 30 Sep 2025Correspondence Address: M. Ghobakhloo; Division of Industrial Engineering and Management, Uppsala University, Uppsala, P.O. Box 534, 75121, Sweden; email: [email protected]; CODEN: IJPRB</p
Robot digital twin systems in manufacturing : Technologies, applications, trends and challenges
No full textThe manufacturing industry is undergoing a profound transformation toward smart, digital, and flexible production systems under the Industry 4.0 framework. Within this paradigm, Digital Twin (DT) serves as a key enabler, bridging physical and digital domains to simulate, analyse, and optimise manufacturing operations. Concurrently, robotic systems, enhanced by smart sensor perception, Industrial Internet of Things connectivity, and adaptive control mechanisms, are increasingly deployed to handle complex and dynamic tasks. However, the evolving demands of the modern manufacturing industry require a high degree of flexibility and responsiveness, necessitating more intelligent solutions. The Robot Digital Twin (RDT) has emerged as a transformative approach, facilitating dynamic adaptation and continuous operational improvement. This review offers a comprehensive examination of the literature on RDT in manufacturing from both technology and application perspectives, aiming to provide insight for researchers and practitioners in Industry 4.0. The paper introduces a four-layer RDT system architecture and summarises how Industry 4.0 technologies, e.g., the Industrial Internet of Things, Cloud/Edge Computing, 5 G, Virtual Reality, Modelling and Simulation, and Artificial Intelligence, converge and influence the RDT system based on this architecture. Furthermore, the review covers domain-specific and system-level applications, such as assembly, machining, grasping, material handling, human-robot interaction, predictive maintenance, and additive manufacturing systems, with an analysis of their development status. Finally, the trends, practical challenges, and future research directions for RDT systems in manufacturing are summarised at different levels.CC BY 4.0© 2025 The Author(s)Correspondence Address: X.V. Wang; Department of Production Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 10044, Sweden; email: [email protected]; CODEN: RCIMEThis research was supported by the EU Horizon Europe NEPTUN project (Grant Agreement: 101079398), the Swedish Digital Futures project: Towards Safe Smart Construction (VF 2020-0315), Swedish research centre of eXcellence in PRoduction RESearch (XPRES), China Scholarship Council (CSC 202308430011).</p
Test-retest reliability of hippocampal myo-inositol using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy
No full textAlzheimer’s disease is characterized by early neuroinflammatory changes, particularly in the hippocampus, where myo-Inositol (mI), a glial metabolite detectable via magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), may serve as a promising biomarker. This study investigated the detectability and test-retest reliability of hippocampal myo-Inositol quantification using single-voxel MRS at 3T in healthy adults. Eleven participants underwent four scans across two days, with acquisition parameters varied to assess session- and day-specific effects. Data was processed using Osprey, and reliability was evaluated using intra-class effect decomposition (ICED). Myo-Inositol was successfully detected in all participants (SNR = 62.01 ±13.22; FWHM = 7.94 ±1.23), and coefficients of variance (CoVs) were below 10% in most cases. However, the ICED model indicated a high proportion of residual error variance (53.8%, p = .001) alongside modest but significant trait variance (40.7%, p = .043). Session- and day-specific sources of variance were non-significant. These results suggest that while hippocampal myo-Inositol can be reliably detected, its current test-retest reliability limits clinical applicability. Technical challenges, including motion-related artifacts and interindividual differences in hippocampal size relative to the fixed voxel, may have contributed to measurement noise. Future studies should explore improved acquisition strategies to enhance stability and biomarker viability
Levelized cost analysis of indirect evaporative cooling in a data centre
No full textGiven the eruption of AI technology, the cooling requirement in data centres has drawn significant attention due to the increasing demand for data processing and storage. Indirect evaporative cooling (IEC) is a cutting-edge cooling technology with huge advantages of energy economy and environmental friendliness compared with conventional mechanical vapour compression cooling systems. Herein, we perform a levelized cost analysis (LCA) to determine the economic performance and energy consumption of the traditional mechanical vapor compression (MVC) cooling system and a novel hybrid IEC + MVC cooling system in data centre applications. A data centre model is adopted and applied in various climate zones in 10 cities from 8 countries. The results showed that the hybrid IEC + MVC system presented energy savings in all the cities, especially in Riyadh, with an energy saving of 41.3 GWh for the year. Most cities showed cost saving with the hybrid system, with London and Madrid achieving cost savings of 52–53%. All the cities showed significant CO2 reduction with the hybrid system, especially in Riyadh (23 547 tons), Jeddah (18 740 tons), and Dubai (12 432 tons). This study sheds light on the cost analysis based on levelized cost analysis (LCA) for next-generation cooling technology for data centres.CC BY 3.0This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2026Correspondence Address: M.W. Shahzad; School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, United Kingdom; email: [email protected]; B.B. Xu; School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, United Kingdom; email: [email protected]. B. X. is grateful for the support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC, UK) RiR grant-RIR18221018-1 and EU COST CA23155. W. W. appreciates the support from EU COST CA23157.</p
Higher digital embracement is associated with lower levels of loneliness among late middle-aged and older adults
No full textIntroduction: Loneliness, a global health problem, increases with advancing age. The digitalization of society has the potential to either increase or decrease loneliness. This study aims to investigate the cross-sectional association between digital living and loneliness in the context of other risk factors in a sample of late middle-aged and older adults, using a measure of embracement of digitalization in daily life. Methods: In total, 441 Swedish adults (response rate 44%) aged 55 to 93 years of age who responded from December 2023 to January 2024. Embracement of digitalization was measured using the Digital Living Index, and loneliness with the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Results: The mean score for perceived loneliness was 35.64 (SD = 10.55), positioning the participants at the threshold between low and moderate levels of loneliness. In the final multivariate linear regression model, including established risk factors for loneliness, low digital living was estimated to be 3.3 and 4.1 units higher in loneliness compared to mid and high digital living (p = 0.005), respectively. Mental health was estimated to be the strongest predictor of loneliness, with a difference of 14.1 units between bad or very bad mental health and very good (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Higher digital living appears to be associated with lower levels of loneliness even when other established risk factors for loneliness are controlled for. Supporting late middle-aged and older adults to overcome the digital divide, from access and use to embracement, could potentially be a tool to battle loneliness, and hence to improve public health. CC BY 4.0© 2026 Dahl Aslan, Thelander, Bjerkeli and GellerstedtCorrespondence Address: A.K. Dahl Aslan; School of Health Sciences, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden; email: [email protected] author(s) declared that financial support was received for this work and/or its publication. Data collection was supported by the municipality of Skövde.</p
Genomic determinants of antibiotic resistance for Helicobacter pylori treatment : a retrospective phenotypic and genotypic observational study
No full textBackground: Rising antimicrobial resistance of Helicobacter pylori is a public health challenge. Genomic-based susceptibility testing allows for the identification of resistance-associated mutations, complementing conventional diagnostics and advancing towards pathogen-based personalised therapies. Our study aimed to identify genes and mutations involved in antimicrobial resistance in H pylori and evaluate the extent to which these markers can be used as predictors of phenotypic resistance against clarithromycin and levofloxacin. Methods: In this retrospective phenotypic and genotypic observational study, we included 1011 H pylori whole-genome sequences and strains of known geographical origin from the H pylori Genome Project (Hp GP) collection. We performed phenotypic clarithromycin and levofloxacin susceptibility testing on a subset of 419 Hp GP strains using Etest at a centralised laboratory. A genomic analysis was conducted to identify 23S rRNA and gyrA variants and build a curated catalogue of mutations associated with resistance to clarithromycin (ie, 23S rRNA 2142A→G, 2142A→C, and 2143A→G) and levofloxacin (ie, gyrA A88V or A88P, N87K or N87I, and D91G, D91N, or D91Y). Genotype–phenotype concordance was assessed to estimate sensitivity and specificity, and the curated catalogue of resistance-associated mutations was applied to the complete Hp GP set. Region-specific prevalence of resistance-associated mutations was calculated for a combined dataset including the Hp GP genomes and 768 whole-genome sequences retrieved from the US National Center for Biotechnology Information Sequence Read Archive repository. Associations between resistance genotypes, H pylori subpopulations, and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were tested. Findings: Clarithromycin-resistant and levofloxacin-resistant Hp GP strains were estimated with a sensitivity and specificity of 100%, with all confidence intervals ranging from 96% to 100%. The combined analysis (n=1779) found the highest prevalence of clarithromycin resistance in the western Pacific region (173 [51·2%] of 338 in southeast Asia and 75 [29·8%] of 252 in eastern Asia), north African region (seven [38·9%] of 18), and western Asian region (12 [31·6%] of 38), whereas the highest prevalence of levofloxacin resistance was found in south Asia (14 [51·85%] of 27), Central America (48 [38·7%] of 124), eastern Europe (four [36·4%] of 11), and southern Africa (three [33·3%] of nine). Similarly, 23S rRNA and gyrA genotypes are variable across H pylori subpopulations. MIC values changed depending on the specific mutation in 23S rRNA (mean clarithromycin MIC 24·61 mg/L [95% CI 12·27–36·96] for 2143A→G and 142·25 mg/L [95% CI 77·88–206·61] for 2142A→G) and gyrA (mean levofloxacin MIC 9·66 mg/L [95% CI 6·75–12·56] for mutations on codon 91, and 27·97 mg/L [95% CI 25·82–30·11] for mutations on codon 87). Interpretation: Mutations in specific genes are reliable indicators to clarithromycin and levofloxacin resistance in H pylori, making them useful markers for the development of diagnostic assays and molecular monitoring. Our results suggest that using clarithromycin and levofloxacin empirically, without previous susceptibility testing, is unsuitable in all geographical regions covered by this study. Funding: Intramural Research Program of the US National Cancer Institute, the European Research Council, and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.CC BY 4.0© 2025 The Author(s)Correspondence Address: I. Comas; Tuberculosis Genomics Unit, Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia (IBV), CSIC, Valencia, 46020, Spain; email: [email protected] special thanks are extended to all the individuals who were the hosts of the HpGP strain collection, who represent the human populations that bear the burden of H pylori-associated disease, and whose biological samples serve to advance research aimed at reducing this disease burden. The HpGP was mainly supported by the Intramural Research Program from the US National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This work was supported in part by the intramural research programmes of the US National Library of Medicine, the US National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the division of Intramural Research, US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH. FFV is funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through project grants (project PTDC/BTM-TEC/3238/2020 and CPCA-IAC/AV/478719/2022) that partially supported this work, alongside national funds from FCT projects UIDB/04138/2020, UIDP/04138/2020, and UIDB/04046/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/04046/2020). The collaborating centres for sample collection received grant support from the US NIH (P01CA116087,R01CA077955,R01DK058587, and P30DK058404 toRMP; P01CA028842 and R01CA190612 to KTW; P01CA028842, R01CA190612, K07CA125588, R03CA167773, and P30CA068485 to DRM; K08CA252635 toRJH;K22CA226395 to MG-P; andU54GM133807 to MC-C), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF-0315905D, ERA-NET PathoGenoMics to PM), the French Association pour la Recherche Contre le Cancer (8412 to FM), the French Institut National du Cancer (07/3D1616/IABC-23–12/NC-NG and 2014–152 to FM), the Canceropole Grand Sud-Ouest (2010–08-canceropole GSO-Universite Bordeaux 2 to FM), the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (21H00346 221S0002, 22H02871, and 23K24133 to YY), the Japanese Adopting Sustainable Partnerships for Innovative Research Ecosystem (ASPIRE; 23jf0126006h0001 to YY), the National Fund for Innovation and Development of Science and Technology from the Ministry of Higher Education Science and Technology of the Dominican Republic (2012–2013–2A1–65 and 2015–3A1–182 to MC), the National Cancer Center of South Korea (2210630, IJC), ArcticNet (RES0010178 to KJG), the Network of Centres of Excellence of Canada, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (MOP115031 to KJG),Alberta Innovates Health Solutions (201201159 toKJG), the University of Malaya-Ministry of Higher Education (UM.C/625/1/HIR/MOHE/CHAN-02 to JV), the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam, the Kyrgyz State Medical Academy, the Italian Ministry of Health for Institutional Research, the Chilean National Fund for Health Research and Development (FONIS A19/0188, FONDECYT 1230504, and ANID-FONDAP 152220002 to AR; CONICYT-FONDAP 15130011 and FONDECYT 1231773 to AHC), the Chilean Cancer Prevention and Control Center, the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP; 2014/26847–0, 2018/14267–2, 2018/ 02972–3 to ED-N), the Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia (DECIT), Ministry of Health, Brazil (PRONON, SIPAR 2500⋅035–167/2015–23 to ED-N), the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, 314344/2020–9 to ET-S), the Universidad de Costa Rica (742-B9–310 and 742–90912–19 to VR-M), LABGIPAT (SD-B), the Hospital Clínica Bíblica (CC-N), the Greek Ministry of Culture and Education (InfeNeutra Project, NSRF 2007–2013, MIS450598, DNS), the National Strategic Reference Framework Operational Program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation” (NSRF 2014–2020, MIS5002486, DNS), the Hellenic Publishing Helicobacter pylori Study Group (2012–2016, BM-G), the Hellenic Society of Gastroenterology (National Multicenter Laboratory Surveillance Studies, 2018–2019, BM-G), Articles 10 www.thelancet.com/microbe Vol 7 January 2026 the Ministry of Science and Technology, Executive Yuan, Taiwan (109–2314-B-002–096; MOST 111–2314-B-002–012; and MOST 109–2314-B-002–090-MY3 to J-ML and M-SW), the National Research Foundation of Singapore, the Singapore Ministry of Health’s National Medical Research Council (Open Fund-Large Collaborative Grant, MOH[1]OFLCG18May-0003), the University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (196–2015-FONDECYT to CC), Universidad Científica del Sur, the Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplásicas (INEN, Peru), the European Research Council (ERC): H2020-ERC-COG/0800; Ministerio Español de Ciencia e Innovación: PID2022–137607OB-I00 and PRE2020–094308, and Prometeo Programme Generalitat Valenciana CIPROM2023 MICROGLOCAL received by IC, the RyC grant RYC2021-031461-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10⋅13039/501100011033 and by the “European Union Next GenerationEU/PRTR” received by ACO. ACO and IC are part of the CSIC’s Global Health Platform (PTI Salud Global).</p
Sterile water injections for managing abdominal labour contraction pain : A randomised double blind placebo-controlled trial
No full textBackground: Sterile water injections have been demonstrated to effectively manage back pain experienced during labour with no side effects other than the administration pain. Abdominal labour pain differs to back pain in location and likely physiological derivation. It is not known if sterile water injections would be efficacious in the relief of abdominal labour contraction pain. Objective: To assess the efficacy of sterile water injections to reduce abdominal labour contraction pain. Design: A two-arm superiority randomised placebo-controlled trial. Setting: A referral maternity hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Participants: Women in spontaneous or induced labour at term requesting analgesia. Methods: Between April 2022 and November 2023 consenting participants were assigned (1:1) by an independently generated randomisation schedule to injections of either sterile water or saline placebo. The primary outcome was the difference between groups in self-reported visual analogue pain score at 30 min following allocated treatment. Secondary outcomes included use of pharmacologic analgesia following allocation. Analysis was by intention to treat. Results: 160 women were randomised to sterile water injections (n = 81) or injections of saline placebo (n = 79). Seven participants withdrew prior to treatment. Primary outcome data was provided by 68 women (intervention) and 64 (placebo). The mean visual analogue scores at 30 min were: intervention: 52.13 mm (with 100 mm indicating worst conceivable pain) and placebo: 71.14 mm; mean difference: − 19.00 mm (95 % Confidence interval (CI) − 26.10 to − 11.91). Pain scores in the secondary repeated measures model at 60 min post treatment were (61.28 mm vs.76.15 mm) − 14.84 (95 % CI − 22.23 to − 7.46). There was no difference in pain scores at 90 min, use of other pharmacological analgesia, or maternal or neonatal outcomes. Conclusion: Sterile water injections provided a statistically significant reduction in pain when compared to a placebo for up to 60 min following treatment. However, the use of other pharmacological analgesia such as epidural did not differ between groups. Trial registration: The trial is registered at the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (Trial ID: ACTRN12621001036808). Registration date 5/08/2021. First recruitment 29th April 2022.CC BY 4.0© 2025Correspondence Address: N. Lee; School of Nursing Midwifery and Social Work, Level 3 Chamberlain Building, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072, Australia; email: [email protected]; CODEN: IJNUAThe trial was funded by the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Australian Federal Government (2006488). Dr Nigel Lee is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Fellowship (EL1) (2016432). The funders had no role in the design of the study, the data collection, the data analysis, interpretation of data, or writing of the manuscript.</p
Minding mortality : A systematic review of the neural processing of death-related stimuli
No full textThe human relationship with mortality has been widely studied in psychology, with extensive studies suggesting that death-related stimuli impact behavior even without reflective awareness. In recent decades, neuroimaging studies have yielded various contenders for brain regions underlying the online processing of death-related stimuli. To the best of our knowledge, we present here the first systematic review of these findings. We conducted a comprehensive search for studies where participants were presented with death-related and death-unrelated but negatively valenced (unpleasant) stimuli while undergoing functional brain imaging. We found seven functional magnetic resonance imaging studies with a total of 204 participants. Five of six within-group studies found that unpleasant stimuli consistently elicited increased insular activity, but only when it was unrelated to mortality. This novel finding—that insular deactivation alone marks the processing of death-related stimuli—suggests a critical difference between the neural processing of death-related and non-death related, unpleasant stimuli. We argue that preexisting explanatory frameworks fail to unite our results with findings on threat processing mechanisms in the insula or lack evolutionary plausibility. We present an alternative explanation: death might be unique in that it evades the insula's typical threat-assessment mechanisms. Further research is needed to determine whether this neural signature is robust and what its function and consequences may be. A better understanding of how individuals process death-related information promises deeper insight into the human relationship with mortality, with significant implications for individuals and society, not least for mental health interventions and end-of-life care.CC BY 4.0Available online 29 October 2025, 109308Corresponding author [Anna Bengtson] at: Department of Bioscience, University of Skövde, Skövde, 541 28, Sweden. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (A. Bengtson), [email protected] (I. Nordin), [email protected] (J. Parthemore), [email protected] (A. Revonsuo).This research did not receive any grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.</p
The interplay of psychedelic use and meditation in shaping psychological well-being
No full textPsychedelic substances and meditation can elicit personally meaningful experiences that support well-being, yet their relative and combined contributions remain unclear. Meditation typically produces gradual improvements through sustained practice, whereas psychedelics may induce acute shifts. To examine these dynamics, we re-analysed data from two cross-sectional online surveys using multiple regression models. In Study 1 (N = 679), we assessed associations of cumulative psychedelic use and meditation practice with well-being, ill-being, and psychological flexibility. When examined separately, both practices were associated with greater well-being and flexibility. However, when considered jointly, the associations for psychedelics were reduced or became nonsignificant, whereas meditation remained consistently associated with the outcomes. Weak evidence also emerged for a potential synergy effect via an interaction between the two practices. In Study 2 (N = 137), we examined perceived well-being changes following a personally meaningful experience facilitated by psychedelics alone, meditation alone, or both combined. Participants in the combined and meditation groups reported significantly greater improvements compared with the psychedelic-only group, although all groups showed positive change on average. Together, these findings suggest that meditation may enhance the benefits of psychedelic experiences and that meditation practice can confound associations between psychedelic use and well-being. More broadly, they highlight the importance of considering both practices together when evaluating their contributions to mental health outcomes. CC BY 4.0© 2025 The Author(s)Correspondence Address: A. Krabbe; Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Arken Tehtaankatu 2, FI-20500, Finland; email: [email protected]; CODEN: COCOFThis research was funded by the Åbo Akademi University Foundation (AK, grant number 301), Kone Foundation (JJ, grant number 202105363) and the BIAL Foundation (PS, grant number 295/20).</p
Microorganism taxonomy in Baltic Sea inshore habitats: pipeline comparison
No full textBioinformatic pipelines have become an essential tool set for analyzing large amounts of biological data. A pipeline typically includes a multitude of data processing steps, possibly comprising numerous tools orchestrated by the pipeline. There have been several studies comparing different methods and tools within the pipeline, often using mock data or data oriented towards human medicine, and mostly 16S data. However, there is a lack of comparisons using environmental data and using 18S data. The aim of this study is to compare bioinformatics pipelines for analysis of 16S and 18S rRNA amplicon sequence data, considering taxonomic classification and in environmental variation in shallow inshore habitats specifically. In this context, it is important to understand both spatial and temporal variations, as well as both abundance and specific organisms. We compared five different pipelines in this study and concluded that a recommendation should be to run at least two of these pipelines when analyzing data to validate that results are consistent. Also, the choice of a reference database for taxonomy classification is an important consideration to include as well. Our recommendation is to pick two of Ampliseq, QIIME2-DADA2, and QIIME2-Deblur pipelines for 16S data. For 18S data, it should be DADA2-based pipelines which can use the PR2 reference database