Lund University Publications
Not a member yet
244244 research outputs found
Sort by
It’s All in the Delivery: Pregnancy in American Film and Television Comedy by Victoria Sturtevant
No full textCorrelations Between Colloidal Stability and Peroxidase Activity of Prussian Blue Nanozymes in Salt Solutions
No full textPrussian blue (PB) nanozymes have emerged as durable enzyme-mimicking catalysts with broad applications across many fields. Practical uses often involve exposure to salinity that influences their colloidal and catalytic behaviors, yet the specific effects of ions on PB particles are underexplored. This study investigates how electrolyte type and concentration affect the colloidal stability and enzyme-like activity of PB nanozymes using monovalent (NaCl, KCl, CsCl) and multivalent ions (CaCl2, LaCl3). Electrophoresis and dynamic light scattering measurements revealed that both concentration and ion composition significantly affect stability with specific ion adsorption altering charge density and aggregation, consistent with the DLVO theory. Findings further indicate that higher ionic strengths compress the electric double layer, improving substrate accessibility and accelerating horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-like catalytic reactions. Remarkably, Cs+ ions substantially boost activity through their unique ability to disrupt water structure and integrate into PB’s lattice. These findings highlight the importance of considering ion specificity when designing PB-containing dispersions for optimal stability and catalytic performance
Predictability effects in the processing of negation : an ERP study
No full textTo examine whether processing of negated meanings is facilitated in highly predictable contexts and proceeds incrementally rather than with a delay, we asked participants to read highly constraining sentences containing negated adjectives (e.g., awake/responding/commercial) that were either strongly expected in a high-cloze condition (awake), weakly expected in a low-cloze condition (responding), or contextually inappropriate in a semantic violation condition (commercial). In accordance with findings for affirmative sentences, a smaller N400 was elicited for the high-cloze condition than for the low-cloze one, and for the low-cloze condition than the violation condition. The smaller N400 for the high-cloze condition suggests facilitated processing for strongly expected continuations. Furthermore, in the post-N400 time-windows, two distinct post-N400 positivities (PNPs) were elicited for the two weakly expected and unexpected continuations compared to strongly expected continuations. Firstly, a larger anterior PNP was observed for weakly expecting, but plausible, continuations in the low-cloze condition, suggesting inhibitory processes suppressing initial predictions to allow for the integration of the new information. Secondly, a larger posterior PNP was observed for unexpected and implausible, continuations in the violation condition, indexing contextual integration difficulties. Together, these findings suggest that negation can be processed incrementally in highly constraining contexts where predictions can be made, engaging similar neural mechanisms as predictive processing in affirmative sentences in such contexts. In sum, our results are consistent with previous ERP research on prediction processing in both affirmative and negated contexts but inconsistent with previous research using behavioral methods
Federated Learning for Obstacle Detection to Assist the Visually-Impaired Using Augmented Reality
No full textVision impairment increases risks such as social isolation, mobility challenges, and falls. Wearable Augmented Reality (AR) devices with Artificial Intelligence (AI) can enhance sensory perception by enabling real-time recognition of obstacles, assisting visually impaired individuals during street navigation, aiming to reduce the risk of falls. In this paper, we propose a Federated Learning (FL) framework for outdoor obstacle detection using resource-constrained edge AR devices. As such, our proposed framework is designed to optimize energy efficiency by partially fine-tuning a generic pre-trained model originally developed for visually impaired assistance. Our framework is evaluated on a testbed with NVIDIA Jetson Nano, demonstrating that FL improves accuracy over standalone models on each AR device, while achieving an accuracy comparable to centralized approaches, but without the need to transfer the local raw data on each AR device to a central server/cloud to alleviate privacy concerns
Interplay between astrocyte reactivity and APOE ε4 status is associated with accelerated pTau-related tau pathology in Alzheimer’s disease
No full textBackground: Various plasma phosphorylated tau species have been shown to be associated with amyloid-β (Aβ) PET and Tau PET in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but whether APOE ε4 affects the interaction between glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and phosphorylated tau (pTau), and whether a three-way interaction exists among APOE ε4, GFAP, and pTau that influences AD progression remain unclear. Methods: The study included 563 participants from the Chinese Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease Study (CPAS) and 243 from Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), all of whom underwent Aβ PET, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), neuropsychological assessments, and plasma biomarker analyses (GFAP, pTau181, pTau231, pTau217), with subsets undergoing Tau PET. The longitudinal data of 101 participants from ADNI were additionally included. We employed linear regression models with interaction terms to examine how APOE ε4 status and plasma GFAP levels modulate the relationships between plasma pTau biomarkers and AD pathology cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Results: Plasma GFAP and pTau biomarkers (pTau181, pTau231, pTau217) are significantly elevated in Aβ-positive individuals, with stronger Aβ–pTau associations observed in APOE ε4 carriers (CPAS: β = 0.26, p = 0.003 for pTau231; ADNI: β = 0.45, p < 0.001 for pTau181). Across two cohorts, plasma GFAP levels significantly strengthened the associations between pTau biomarkers and Tau PET. Furthermore, subsequent analyses revealed that this modulatory effect of GFAP on the links between pTau and PET-derived pathological changes was more pronounced in APOE ε4 non-carriers, whereas in APOE ε4 carriers, a significant interaction between GFAP and pTau was only observed in specific Braak stage-specific regions within the CPAS cohort. In longitudinal analyses, we also observed stronger pTau181-associated longitudinal tau accumulation in individuals with high GFAP levels (Braak III-IV). Conclusion: We demonstrate that APOE ε4 status critically modulates the relationship between pTau and Aβ pathology, whereas plasma GFAP primarily influences pTau–tau pathology associations, particularly in individuals without APOE ε4 allele. These findings underscore the role of reactive astrogliosis in tau propagation and support the utility of plasma biomarkers for AD diagnosis and prognosis
Evaluation of [18F]PSMA-1007 uptake variability in patients with prostate cancer
No full textBackground: The biodistribution of PSMA-ligands is of interest in radionuclide therapy planning. We investigated the variability of [18F]PSMA-1007 uptake in organs at risk and in relation to tumour burden in prostate cancer patients. Methods: A total of 1086 patients who underwent PSMA PET-CT for staging or recurrence of prostate cancer were included. Total lesion volume (TLV) and total lesion uptake (TLU) were calculated from manual segmentations. The mean standardized uptake value (SUVmean) in the organs at risk kidneys, liver, parotid glands and spleen was obtained. Correlations between TLV/TLU and SUVmean in normal tissues were calculated using Spearman rank correlation. SUVmean in normal tissues was stratified into groups based on TLV. Results: The median (IQR) SUVmean of the kidneys, liver, parotid glands, and spleen was 13.1 (IQR 4.6), 11.8 (4.4), 18.6 (6.8) and 11.3 (5.8), respectively. The median TLV was 3.8 cm3 (9.7) and median TLU was 31.2 cm3 (106.3). There was no significant correlation between TLV or TLU and SUVmean for the liver, parotid glands, or spleen, but a weak negative correlation between TLV/TLU and SUVmean in the kidneys (r = −0.011, p = 0.0005; r = −0.09, p = 0.003). There was a tendency towards a lower SUVmean in the kidneys and parotid glands in patients with a very high TLV. Conclusions: There was a large uptake variability in organs at risk, which demonstrates the need for individual pretherapy dosimetry. There may be a tumour sink effect in the kidneys and parotid glands in patients with a very high TLV
Nonculprit Vulnerable Plaques and Prognosis in Myocardial Infarction with Versus Without ST-Segment Elevation : A PROSPECT II Substudy
No full textBACKGROUND: Clinical guidelines recommend different revascularization strategies for nonculprit lesions in patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) versus non-STEMI (NSTEMI). Whether the prevalence of untreated high-risk vulnerable plaques differs in STEMI and NSTEMI and affects their outcomes is unknown. METHODS: In PROSPECT II (Providing Regional Observations to Study Predictors of Events in the Coronary Tree II), a multicenter, prospective natural history study, patients with recent myocardial infarction underwent 3-vessel coronary angiography with coregistered near-infrared spectroscopy and intravascular ultrasound after successful percutaneous coronary intervention of obstructive lesions from 2014 through 2017. Two-feature high-risk plaques were defined as those with both plaque burden ≥70% and maximum lipid core burden index over any 4-mm segment ≥324.7. The primary end point was major adverse cardiovascular events arising from untreated nonculprit lesions during a median 3.7-year follow-up. RESULTS: Of 898 patients, 199 (22.2%) with 849 nonculprit lesions had STEMI and 699 (77.8%) with 2784 nonculprit lesions had NSTEMI. By intravascular ultrasound, the median nonculprit lesion length was 17.4 mm (interquartile range, 16.3-18.5) in STEMI and 17.7 mm (interquartile range, 17.1-18.4) in NSTEMI (P=0.63), and the median minimal lumen area was 5.5 mm2 (interquartile range, 5.3-5.7 mm2) in STEMI and 5.5 mm2 (interquartile range, 5.3-5.6 mm2) in NSTEMI (P=0.99). At the lesion level, the prevalence of 2-feature high-risk nonobstructive nonculprit plaques was slightly higher in patients with STEMI than in patients with NSTEMI (12.8% versus 10.1%; P=0.03). At the patient level, however, the prevalence of 2-feature high-risk plaques was similar in STEMI versus NSTEMI (38.8% versus 32.7%; P=0.11). The prevalence of patients with 1 or more lesions meeting at least 1 high-risk plaque criterion was also similar (plaque burden ≥70%, 63.3% versus 57.8% [P=0.16]; maximum lipid core burden index over any 4-mm segment ≥324.7, 63.3% versus 57.6% [P=0.15]). The 4-year rates of nonculprit lesion-related major adverse cardiovascular events were similar in STEMI versus NSTEMI (8.6% versus 7.8%; hazard ratio, 1.02 [95% CI, 0.57-1.81]; P=0.95), as were the rates of all major adverse cardiovascular events (14.2% versus 13.0%; hazard ratio, 1.06 [95% CI, 0.68-1.64]; P=0.80). CONCLUSIONS: In the PROSPECT II study, the per-patient prevalence of high-risk vulnerable plaques was comparable in STEMI versus NSTEMI, as was the overall long-term incidence of nonculprit lesion-related and all major adverse cardiovascular events. These results support a similar revascularization strategy for nonculprit lesions in patients with STEMI or NSTEMI after culprit lesion management. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02171065
Reduced risk of reoperation of chronic subdural hematoma in patients treated with active subgaleal drainage compared with passive subdural drainage
No full textOBJECTIVE Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is a common cause of morbidity in the older population and the incidence of CSDH is likely to increase in upcoming years due to the increasing age of the population. Surgical intervention is the cornerstone of treatment, but trials have shown conflicting results regarding the optimal type of surgical drainage. The aim of this study was to compare outcomes between patients with CSDH who were surgically treated with active subgaleal drainage versus passive subdural drainage. METHODS This retrospective single-center cohort study included patients who underwent surgery for CSDH from 2020 to 2022. In a neurosurgical department in Lund, Sweden, the clinical routine changed from use of a passive subdural drain to an active subgaleal drain during this period. Data were collected from patient medical records and analyzed using univariable analysis followed by multivariable logistic regression analysis. The primary outcome was reoperation for recurrent hematoma within 3 months. Secondary outcomes were postoperative morbidity and mortality. RESULTS Of 452 patients (331 male, median age 78 years) included in the analysis, 3 were lost to follow-up, leaving 230 patients who received passive subdural drainage and 219 patients who received active subgaleal drainage for outcomes assessment. The risk of recurrent surgery for CSDH within 3 months was significantly lower in the active subgaleal drain group (12.7%) compared with the passive subdural drain group (20.1%) (p = 0.022). Regarding secondary outcomes, no statistically significant differences were found. CONCLUSIONS Risk of recurrent CSDH requiring surgery was lower in patients who received active subgaleal drainage compared with those who received passive subdural drainage, with no increased risk of postoperative complications. These findings support use of the active subgaleal drain system for CSDH surgery
The war on ‘woke’: anti-ESG investing and research directions in financial geography
No full textEnvironmental, social and governance (ESG) investing has become a site of struggle,around which a range of actors at multiple scales and in different legal, political andfinancial spheres are mobilising. We delve into four dynamics that characterise thisquickly changing landscape and propose a set of conceptual avenues to analysethem. Gramscian political economy, legal geographies and science and technologystudies (STS)-inspired approaches provide tools for grasping the changing ESGlandscape across scales and illuminate its legal, material, and organisational effectswithin and beyond the US