40 research outputs found
PET studies on the immune cell marker TSPO in first episode psychosis patients
No full textSeveral lines of evidence are indicative of a role for immune activation in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Nevertheless, studies using positron emission tomography (PET) and radioligands for the translocator protein (TSPO), a marker for glial activation, have yielded inconsistent results. In the present thesis the primary aim was to investigate immune activation in brain in early schizophrenia by examining brain TSPO availability in a cohort of first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients, never before exposed to antipsychotics.In our first study we assessed the reproducibility of the second generation radioligand [11C]PBR28 by performing repeat measurements in 12 healthy control subjects. We found a medium test-retest reproducibility, but high reliability in [11C]PBR28 binding. A numerically lower variability was detected for subjects examined in the morning of separate days, as opposed to morning and afternoon of the same day, where higher afternoon TSPO levels were observed using secondary methods of quantification. The results suggest that diurnal variation may be a potential confounder in clinical studies.In our second study we examined 32 healthy individuals, using [11C]PBR28, of which 26 had repeat PET measurements. We found a strong association between TSPO availability in brain and blood cells, both at baseline and when analyzing change between two PET examinations. There was also a significant correlation between change in peripheral leukocyte numbers and change in brain TSPO. The results suggest interplay between central and peripheral TSPO at physiological conditions, and that measurement of radioligand binding in blood cells may be a way to control for peripheral immune function in PET studies of TSPO in brain.In our third study we examined 16 antipsychotic-naïve FEP patients and 16 control subjects with PET and [11C]PBR28. A significant decrease in TSPO availability in brain was detected in patients as compared to controls. The results indicate that the lack of increase in TSPO availability in earlier studies of schizophrenia was not caused by antipsychotic medication. The observed decrease suggests reduced numbers or altered function of immune cells in brain in early schizophrenia.Finally, we examined the same cohort of FEP patients and control subjects with respect to the relationship between TSPO availability in brain and peripheral blood cells, as well as chemokine levels. The ratio between binding in brain and blood cells was significantly lower in patients as compared to control subjects. Moreover, we observed a correlation between TSPO binding in brain and levels of the chemokine YKL-40 in cerebrospinal fluid, in different directions among patients and controls respectively. These preliminary results suggest a dysregulation of brain immune cells in early schizophrenia. Future studies combining TSPO PET with pro- and anti-inflammatory immune markers are needed to clarify the role of the immune system at different stages of the disease.List of scientific papersI. Karin Collste, Anton Forsberg, Andrea Varrone, Nahid Amini, Shahin Aeinehband, Igor Yakushev, Christer Halldin, Lars Farde, Simon Cervenka. Test-retest reproducibility of [11C]PBR28 binding to TSPO in healthy control subjects. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2016, 43(1), 173–183. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-015-3149-8 II. Naoki Kanegawa, Karin Collste, Anton Forsberg, Martin Schain, Ryosuke Arakawa, Aurelija Jucaite, Mats Lekander, Caroline Olgart Höglund, Eva Kosek, Jon Lampa, Christer Halldin, Lars Farde, Andrea Varrone, Simon Cervenka. In vivo evidence of a functional association between immune cells in blood and brain in healthy human subjects. Brain, Behavior and Immunity. 2016, 54; 149-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2016.01.019 III. Karin Collste, Pontus Plavén-Sigray, Helena Fatouros-Bergman, Pauliina Victorsson, Martin Schain, Anton Forsberg, Nahid Amini, Shahin Aeinehband, Sophie Erhardt, Christer Halldin, Lena Flyckt, Lars Farde, Simon Cervenka. Lower levels of the glial cell marker TSPO in drug-naive first episode psychosis patients as measured using PET and [11C]PBR28. Mol Psychiatry. Feb 14, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2016.247 IV. Karin Collste, Funda Orhan, Ryosuke Arakawa, Sophie Erhardt, Lilly Schwieler, Lena Flyckt, Lars Farde, Göran Engberg, Simon Cervenka. Comparison of central and peripheral immune cell activity as measured using TSPO PET and chemokine levels in drug-naïve first-episode psychosis patients. [Manuscript]</p
Identity and Pluralism : Ethnicity, Religion and Values
No full textThis publication contains presentations from the workshop “Identity and Pluralism” held at Linköping University in Sweden in June 2008. ¨The first article by Reevany Bustami, Ellisha Nasruddin and Sarmila Md Sum offers a critique of the ‘diversity and inclusion’ discussions in the present CSR discourse. In doing so, it seeks to expand the parameters of diversity to include the broader community as well as the supply chain networks within which companies exist. It also examines the issues of diversity and pluralism within the context of multi religious and multi ethnic Malaysian society as well as the continuing debates of affirmative action originated from Malaysia’s New Economic Policy (NEP). In their essay on pluralism in Malaysian higher education Ellisha Nasruddin, Reevany Bustami and Ng Sen Fa discuss: 1) key future trends/alternatives within higher education and their cross-impacts; 2) how these trends/alternatives may create undesirable or desirable impact on ethnic pluralism; and 3) roadmap(s) for transformation within higher education vis-a-vis ethnic pluralism. What is the role of Christian churches in Malaysia? Göran Wiking discusses the isolationist characteristics inherent in some Malaysian churches and denominations. Secondly, a brief analysis of the phenomenon is attempted: is this a genuine or just a perceived impediment to national integration? Are there in fact indicators to the contrary, whereby a certain degree of ethnic isolation can serve to strengthen identity and foster more wholesome members of the society at large? Göran Collste discusses one aspect of Malaysian political pluralism; the policy of affirmative action. Affirmative action is favouring Malays and to be Muslim is one of the requirements for being beneficiary of affirmative action. He points at some problems for the policy of affirmative action in a time with increased religious tensions and an increased emphasis on religious affiliation as identity marker. What are the conditions for a real dialogue between members of different ethnic and religious groups? Peter Gan argues that openness to transformation by the other is not strictly speaking an ethic of reducing the other to the self. Rather, it is an orientation that is predicated upon a symmetric self-other relation. In exploring this form of openness, the author attempts to unravel the intricacies embedded within the dialogic process which permeates interethnic, particularly interreligious relations. The concept “secular state” is nowadays often used in both everyday discourse and scholarly debate. Often it comes with normative connotations; that the democratic state should be secular. However, the exact meaning of the concept is not clear. In his essay Marcus Agnafors examines different meanings of the concept “secular state”. He also discusses some arguments commonly presented in support of the idea that the state should, in some sense, be secular. Finally, Anne-Christine Hornborg’s essay deals with the struggle for identity by an Indian tribe in Canada. She discusses the impact of the so called residential school on contemporary Mi’kmaq life worlds and identities, drawing on interviews from fieldworks conducted in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.Authors participating in this publication apart from the editor: Reevany Bustami, Ellisha Nasruddin, Sarmila Md Sum, Ng Sen Fa, Göran Wiking, Peter Gan, Marcus Agnafors and Anne-Christine Hornborg.</p
Identity and Pluralism : Ethnicity, Religion and Values
No full textThis publication contains presentations from the workshop “Identity and Pluralism” held at Linköping University in Sweden in June 2008. ¨The first article by Reevany Bustami, Ellisha Nasruddin and Sarmila Md Sum offers a critique of the ‘diversity and inclusion’ discussions in the present CSR discourse. In doing so, it seeks to expand the parameters of diversity to include the broader community as well as the supply chain networks within which companies exist. It also examines the issues of diversity and pluralism within the context of multi religious and multi ethnic Malaysian society as well as the continuing debates of affirmative action originated from Malaysia’s New Economic Policy (NEP). In their essay on pluralism in Malaysian higher education Ellisha Nasruddin, Reevany Bustami and Ng Sen Fa discuss: 1) key future trends/alternatives within higher education and their cross-impacts; 2) how these trends/alternatives may create undesirable or desirable impact on ethnic pluralism; and 3) roadmap(s) for transformation within higher education vis-a-vis ethnic pluralism. What is the role of Christian churches in Malaysia? Göran Wiking discusses the isolationist characteristics inherent in some Malaysian churches and denominations. Secondly, a brief analysis of the phenomenon is attempted: is this a genuine or just a perceived impediment to national integration? Are there in fact indicators to the contrary, whereby a certain degree of ethnic isolation can serve to strengthen identity and foster more wholesome members of the society at large? Göran Collste discusses one aspect of Malaysian political pluralism; the policy of affirmative action. Affirmative action is favouring Malays and to be Muslim is one of the requirements for being beneficiary of affirmative action. He points at some problems for the policy of affirmative action in a time with increased religious tensions and an increased emphasis on religious affiliation as identity marker. What are the conditions for a real dialogue between members of different ethnic and religious groups? Peter Gan argues that openness to transformation by the other is not strictly speaking an ethic of reducing the other to the self. Rather, it is an orientation that is predicated upon a symmetric self-other relation. In exploring this form of openness, the author attempts to unravel the intricacies embedded within the dialogic process which permeates interethnic, particularly interreligious relations. The concept “secular state” is nowadays often used in both everyday discourse and scholarly debate. Often it comes with normative connotations; that the democratic state should be secular. However, the exact meaning of the concept is not clear. In his essay Marcus Agnafors examines different meanings of the concept “secular state”. He also discusses some arguments commonly presented in support of the idea that the state should, in some sense, be secular. Finally, Anne-Christine Hornborg’s essay deals with the struggle for identity by an Indian tribe in Canada. She discusses the impact of the so called residential school on contemporary Mi’kmaq life worlds and identities, drawing on interviews from fieldworks conducted in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.Authors participating in this publication apart from the editor: Reevany Bustami, Ellisha Nasruddin, Sarmila Md Sum, Ng Sen Fa, Göran Wiking, Peter Gan, Marcus Agnafors and Anne-Christine Hornborg.</p
Identity and Pluralism : Ethnicity, Religion and Values
No full textThis publication contains presentations from the workshop “Identity and Pluralism” held at Linköping University in Sweden in June 2008. ¨The first article by Reevany Bustami, Ellisha Nasruddin and Sarmila Md Sum offers a critique of the ‘diversity and inclusion’ discussions in the present CSR discourse. In doing so, it seeks to expand the parameters of diversity to include the broader community as well as the supply chain networks within which companies exist. It also examines the issues of diversity and pluralism within the context of multi religious and multi ethnic Malaysian society as well as the continuing debates of affirmative action originated from Malaysia’s New Economic Policy (NEP). In their essay on pluralism in Malaysian higher education Ellisha Nasruddin, Reevany Bustami and Ng Sen Fa discuss: 1) key future trends/alternatives within higher education and their cross-impacts; 2) how these trends/alternatives may create undesirable or desirable impact on ethnic pluralism; and 3) roadmap(s) for transformation within higher education vis-a-vis ethnic pluralism. What is the role of Christian churches in Malaysia? Göran Wiking discusses the isolationist characteristics inherent in some Malaysian churches and denominations. Secondly, a brief analysis of the phenomenon is attempted: is this a genuine or just a perceived impediment to national integration? Are there in fact indicators to the contrary, whereby a certain degree of ethnic isolation can serve to strengthen identity and foster more wholesome members of the society at large? Göran Collste discusses one aspect of Malaysian political pluralism; the policy of affirmative action. Affirmative action is favouring Malays and to be Muslim is one of the requirements for being beneficiary of affirmative action. He points at some problems for the policy of affirmative action in a time with increased religious tensions and an increased emphasis on religious affiliation as identity marker. What are the conditions for a real dialogue between members of different ethnic and religious groups? Peter Gan argues that openness to transformation by the other is not strictly speaking an ethic of reducing the other to the self. Rather, it is an orientation that is predicated upon a symmetric self-other relation. In exploring this form of openness, the author attempts to unravel the intricacies embedded within the dialogic process which permeates interethnic, particularly interreligious relations. The concept “secular state” is nowadays often used in both everyday discourse and scholarly debate. Often it comes with normative connotations; that the democratic state should be secular. However, the exact meaning of the concept is not clear. In his essay Marcus Agnafors examines different meanings of the concept “secular state”. He also discusses some arguments commonly presented in support of the idea that the state should, in some sense, be secular. Finally, Anne-Christine Hornborg’s essay deals with the struggle for identity by an Indian tribe in Canada. She discusses the impact of the so called residential school on contemporary Mi’kmaq life worlds and identities, drawing on interviews from fieldworks conducted in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.Authors participating in this publication apart from the editor: Reevany Bustami, Ellisha Nasruddin, Sarmila Md Sum, Ng Sen Fa, Göran Wiking, Peter Gan, Marcus Agnafors and Anne-Christine Hornborg.</p
Challenges to Malaysian Pluralism – the Policy of Affirmative Action
No full textThis publication contains presentations from the workshop “Identity and Pluralism” held at Linköping University in Sweden in June 2008.¨The first article by Reevany Bustami, Ellisha Nasruddin and Sarmila Md Sum offers a critique of the ‘diversity and inclusion’ discussions in the present CSR discourse. In doing so, it seeks to expand the parameters of diversity to include the broader community as well as the supply chain networks within which companies exist. It also examines the issues of diversity and pluralism within the context of multi religious and multi ethnic Malaysian society as well as the continuing debates of affirmative action originated from Malaysia’s New Economic Policy (NEP).In their essay on pluralism in Malaysian higher education Ellisha Nasruddin, Reevany Bustami and Ng Sen Fa discuss: 1) key future trends/alternatives within higher education and their cross-impacts; 2) how these trends/alternatives may create undesirable or desirable impact on ethnic pluralism; and 3) roadmap(s) for transformation within higher education vis-a-vis ethnic pluralism.What is the role of Christian churches in Malaysia? Göran Wiking discusses the isolationist characteristics inherent in some Malaysian churches and denominations. Secondly, a brief analysis of the phenomenon is attempted: is this a genuine or just a perceived impediment to national integration? Are there in fact indicators to the contrary, whereby a certain degree of ethnic isolation can serve to strengthen identity and foster more wholesome members of the society at large?Göran Collste discusses one aspect of Malaysian political pluralism; the policy of affirmative action. Affirmative action is favouring Malays and to be Muslim is one of the requirements for being beneficiary of affirmative action. He points at some problems for the policy of affirmative action in a time with increased religious tensions and an increased emphasis on religious affiliation as identity marker.What are the conditions for a real dialogue between members of different ethnic and religious groups? Peter Gan argues that openness to transformation by the other is not strictly speaking an ethic of reducing the other to the self. Rather, it is an orientation that is predicated upon a symmetric self-other relation. In exploring this form of openness, the author attempts to unravel the intricacies embedded within the dialogic process which permeates interethnic, particularly interreligious relations.The concept “secular state” is nowadays often used in both everyday discourse and scholarly debate. Often it comes with normative connotations; that the democratic state should be secular. However, the exact meaning of the concept is not clear. In his essay Marcus Agnafors examines different meanings of the concept “secular state”. He also discusses some arguments commonly presented in support of the idea that the state should, in some sense, be secular.Finally, Anne-Christine Hornborg’s essay deals with the struggle for identity by an Indian tribe in Canada. She discusses the impact of the so called residential school on contemporary Mi’kmaq life worlds and identities, drawing on interviews from fieldworks conducted in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.</p
Identity and Pluralism [Elektronisk resurs] : Ethnicity, Religion and Values
No full textThis publication contains presentations from the workshop “Identity and Pluralism” held at Linköping University in Sweden in June 2008.¨The first article by Reevany Bustami, Ellisha Nasruddin and Sarmila Md Sum offers a critique of the ‘diversity and inclusion’ discussions in the present CSR discourse. In doing so, it seeks to expand the parameters of diversity to include the broader community as well as the supply chain networks within which companies exist. It also examines the issues of diversity and pluralism within the context of multi religious and multi ethnic Malaysian society as well as the continuing debates of affirmative action originated from Malaysia’s New Economic Policy (NEP).In their essay on pluralism in Malaysian higher education Ellisha Nasruddin, Reevany Bustami and Ng Sen Fa discuss: 1) key future trends/alternatives within higher education and their cross-impacts; 2) how these trends/alternatives may create undesirable or desirable impact on ethnic pluralism; and 3) roadmap(s) for transformation within higher education vis-a-vis ethnic pluralism.What is the role of Christian churches in Malaysia? Göran Wiking discusses the isolationist characteristics inherent in some Malaysian churches and denominations. Secondly, a brief analysis of the phenomenon is attempted: is this a genuine or just a perceived impediment to national integration? Are there in fact indicators to the contrary, whereby a certain degree of ethnic isolation can serve to strengthen identity and foster more wholesome members of the society at large?Göran Collste discusses one aspect of Malaysian political pluralism; the policy of affirmative action. Affirmative action is favouring Malays and to be Muslim is one of the requirements for being beneficiary of affirmative action. He points at some problems for the policy of affirmative action in a time with increased religious tensions and an increased emphasis on religious affiliation as identity marker.What are the conditions for a real dialogue between members of different ethnic and religious groups? Peter Gan argues that openness to transformation by the other is not strictly speaking an ethic of reducing the other to the self. Rather, it is an orientation that is predicated upon a symmetric self-other relation. In exploring this form of openness, the author attempts to unravel the intricacies embedded within the dialogic process which permeates interethnic, particularly interreligious relations.The concept “secular state” is nowadays often used in both everyday discourse and scholarly debate. Often it comes with normative connotations; that the democratic state should be secular. However, the exact meaning of the concept is not clear. In his essay Marcus Agnafors examines different meanings of the concept “secular state”. He also discusses some arguments commonly presented in support of the idea that the state should, in some sense, be secular.Finally, Anne-Christine Hornborg’s essay deals with the struggle for identity by an Indian tribe in Canada. She discusses the impact of the so called residential school on contemporary Mi’kmaq life worlds and identities, drawing on interviews from fieldworks conducted in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.</p
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Global Rectificatory Justice /
No full textWhat are the implications of colonialism for a theory of global justice today? What does rectificatory justice mean in the light of colonialism? What does global rectificatory justice require in practice? The author seeks to answer these questions covering a significant gap in the literature on global justice
Children at the Borders [Elektronisk resurs]
No full textIn the wake of a steady flow of child migrants attempting to cross borders and states’ efforts to restrict immigration, various public controversies have arisen about the rights of asylum-seeking children. The ‘moral gap’ between the outcome of democratically enacted laws and the aim of controlling immigration, on the one hand, and public calls to protect the universal rights of asylum seeking children, on the other, have created a political challenge for Western democracies. This thesis sets out to examine two particular settings in which norms about the rights of asylum-seeking children and immigration control have been established and contested over the years: the Swedish Migration Court of Appeal and Sweden’s largest morning paper, Dagens Nyheter. It combines empirically oriented analysis with theoretical enquiry, and it brings the issue of the rights of asylumseeking children into dialogue with the contemporary political-philosophical debate about membership, rights and borders.I kölvattnet av en stadig ström av barn som migrerar över statsgränser har medial rapportering, protester och offentliga diskussioner aktualiserat frågor om asylsökande barns rättigheter. Det ”moraliska glappet” mellan tillämpningen av demokratiskt stiftade lagar i syfte att reglera invandringen,å ena sidan, och offentliga krav på att skydda universella rättigheter för asylsökande barn, å andra sidan, har växt fram som en samtida utmaning för demokratiska stater att hantera. I denna avhandling undersöks två specifika arenor där normer om asylsökande barns rättigheter och immigrationskontroll har etablerats och ifrågasatts under de senaste åren; den svenska Migrationsöverdomstolen och Sveriges största morgontidning, Dagens Nyheter. Avhandlingen kombinerar empiriska analyser med teoretiska undersökningar om asylsökande barns rättigheter i dialog med en samtida politisk filosofisk diskussion om medlemskap, rättigheter och gränser.</p
Vetenskapsrådets friande av forskningsfusk obegripligt
No full textHård kritik mot friande beslut. Förra hösten fann vi att en medicinforskare fabricerat och förfalskat forskningsresultat. Det är den mest omfattande utredningen om forskningsfusk under efterkrigstiden. För två veckor sedan drog Vetenskapsrådets nye chef tillbaka utredningen med en motivering som är helt tagen ur luften. Beslutet riskerar att ytterligare försämra förtroendet för forskningen i Sverige och för arbetet mot forskningsfusk, skriver den expertgrupp i Vetenskapsrådet som utredde misstankarna mot forskaren.</p
Deciphering the interplay between peripheral and central cytokine- and kynurenine pathways : importance for the pathophysiology of schizophrenia
No full textGrowing evidence suggests a role of low-grade inflammation in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, giving rise to a dysregulation in neurons containing dopamine and glutamate as well as γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). In this thesis, a role of peripheral and brain-immune signaling molecules, as well as brain neurotransmitters, was investigated in a wellcharacterized cohort of first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients.Using human monocyte cultures, toll-like receptor (TLR) activation was analyzed to study the production of metabolites along the kynurenine pathway. We found that stimulation of TLR-2, TLR-3, TLR-4, TLR-7/8, and TLR-9 induced the pathway, whereas activation of TLR-1/2, TLR-5, and TLR-2/6 did not. Interestingly, only activation of TLR-3 induced the production kynurenic acid (KYNA), a neuroactive metabolite implicated in psychotic disorders.In FEP patients, the number of blood monocytes, as well as plasma concentrations of the chemokines chitinase-3-like protein 1 (YKL-40) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1/CCL2), was elevated compared to healthy controls. In addition, FEP patients displayed elevated plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-18 and the levels associated with the cognitive impairments observed in FEP patients, i.e., reduced speed of processing.Moreover, FEP patients displayed lower GABA levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) compared to healthy controls. CSF GABA concentrations were negatively correlated with scores of cognitive performance and severity of symptoms. Preliminary data also showed higher CSF dopamine concentrations in FEP patients compared to healthy controls.The results of this thesis strengthen the idea that immune dysfunctions affect tryptophan metabolism as well as GABAergic and dopaminergic neurotransmission in early schizophrenia. Also, the data may provide new opportunities to identify biological markers, urgently needed for the diagnosis of the disorder.List of scientific papersI. Orhan F, Bhat M, Sandberg K, Ståhl S, Piehl F, Karolinska Schizophrenia Project (KaSP) consortium. Svenssson C, Erhardt S, Schwieler L. Tryptophan metabolism along the kynurenine pathway: Downstream of toll-like receptor stimulation in peripheral monocytes. Scandinavian Journal of Immunology. 2016;84(5):262-271. https://doi.org/10.1111/sji.12479 II. Funda Orhan, Lilly Schwieler, Helena Fatouros-Bergman, Anna Malmqvist, Simon Cervenka, Karin Collste, Lena Flyckt, Lars Farde, Carl M Sellgren, Karolinska Schizophrenia Project (KaSP) consortium, Fredrik Piehl, Göran Engberg, Sophie Erhardt. Increased number of monocytes and plasma levels of MCP-1 and YKL-40 in first-episode psychosis. [Manuscript]III. Orhan F, Fatouros-Bergman H, Schwieler L, Cervenka S, Sellgren CM, Karolinska Schizophrenia Project (KaSP), G Engberg, S Erhardt. First-episode psychosis patients display increased plasma IL-18 that correlates with cognitive dysfunction. Schizophrenia Research. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2017.09.016 IV. Orhan F, Fatouros-Bergman H, Goiny M, Malmqvist A, Piehl F, Karolinska Schizophrenia Project (KaSP) Consortium, Cervenka S, Collste K, Victorsson P, Sellgren CM, L Flyckt, S Erhardt, G Engberg. CSF GABA is reduced in first episode psychosis and associates to symptoms severity. Molecular Psychiatry. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2017.25 </p
