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Ligaments play a crucial role in the musculoskeletal system in maintaining joint stability. Their primary function is to guide and restrain skeletal motion playing a vital role by forming a flexible skeletal joint between bones. When ligament injury occurs, a wound healing cascade begins with platelet plug formation and ends with tissue remodeling. Rat Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) surgical and sub-maximal injury models were developed to examine footprint gait patterns, biochemical response, and histological tissue samples. Animals (n=150) were randomized to three treatments, Platelet Rich Fibrin (PRF) treatment, Meloxicam, a non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), and untreated animals. We examined injury and treatment effects up to day twenty-eight post-injury. Results show that untreated animals’ gait patterns recovered to normal function within seven days after injury, while anti-inflammatory drugs slowed functional recovery until day fourteen. The PRF-treated group showed the fastest functional recovery on day five. Biochemical evaluation with enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) of the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) showed a temporal effect with earlier peak VEGF concentration with PRF on day three compared to untreated animals peaking on day five and Meloxicam peaking on day seven. PRF reduces the time to functional recovery and correlates with early induction of VEGF. Even though NSAIDs manage the inflammatory response and pain, they retard functional recovery and VEGF induction. The histological assessment showed a temporal difference between day three and day twenty-eight regarding cellularity, collagen morphology and organization, and vascularity and set the stage to evaluate PRF and Meloxicam treatments on ligament healing. Establishing an animal model to study gross ligament injury and recovery sets the stage to study submaximal injury. Experiments have already designed an apparatus capable of producing submaximal injury. Initial studies

Ligaments play a crucial role in the musculoskeletal system in maintaining joint stability. Their primary function is to guide and restrain skeletal motion playing a vital role by forming a flexible skeletal joint between bones. When ligament injury occurs, a wound healing cascade begins with platelet plug formation and ends with tissue remodeling. Rat Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) surgical and sub-maximal injury models were developed to examine footprint gait patterns, biochemical response, and histological tissue samples. Animals (n=150) were randomized to three treatments, Platelet Rich Fibrin (PRF) treatment, Meloxicam, a non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), and untreated animals. We examined injury and treatment effects up to day twenty-eight post-injury. Results show that untreated animals’ gait patterns recovered to normal function within seven days after injury, while anti-inflammatory drugs slowed functional recovery until day fourteen. The PRF-treated group showed the fastest functional recovery on day five. Biochemical evaluation with enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) of the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) showed a temporal effect with earlier peak VEGF concentration with PRF on day three compared to untreated animals peaking on day five and Meloxicam peaking on day seven. PRF reduces the time to functional recovery and correlates with early induction of VEGF. Even though NSAIDs manage the inflammatory response and pain, they retard functional recovery and VEGF induction. The histological assessment showed a temporal difference between day three and day twenty-eight regarding cellularity, collagen morphology and organization, and vascularity and set the stage to evaluate PRF and Meloxicam treatments on ligament healing. Establishing an animal model to study gross ligament injury and recovery sets the stage to study submaximal injury. Experiments have already designed an apparatus capable of producing submaximal injury. Initial studies

This paper proposes a novel approach for global localisation of mobile robots in large-scale environments. Our method leverages learning-based localisation and filtering-based localisation, to localise the robot efficiently and precisely through seeding Monte Carlo Localisation (MCL) with a deeplearned distribution. In particular, a fast localisation system rapidly estimates the 6-DOF pose through a deep-probabilistic model (Gaussian Process Regression with a deep kernel), then a precise recursive estimator refines the estimated robot pose according to the geometric alignment. More importantly, the Gaussian method (i.e. deep probabilistic localisation) and nonGaussian method (i.e. MCL) can be integrated naturally via importance sampling. Consequently, the two systems can be integrated seamlessly and mutually benefit from each other. To verify the proposed framework, we provide a case study in large-scale localisation with a 3D lidar sensor. Our experiments on the Michigan NCLT long-term dataset show that the proposed method is able to localise the robot in 1.94 s on average (median of 0.8 s) with precision 0.75 m in a largescale environment of approximately 0.5 km 2., Funding agency:UK Research & Innovation (UKRI)Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) EP/M019918/1

Cirmtuzumab may enhance the therapeutic activity of ibrutinib by inhibiting ROR1-dependent signaling pathway in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is B-cell malignancy that also expresses ROR1. In this study, we found that the plasma of patients with MCL had high levels of Wnt5a, a ROR1 ligand, that were comparable to those found in patients with CLL; in contrast Wnt5a was virtually undetectable in the plasma of age-matched healthy adults. We also found that Wnt5a induced Rac1 activation in the primary MCL cells. Cirmtuzumab, but not ibrutinib, could inhibit the capacity of Wnt5a to induce primary MCL cells to activate Rac1. Addition of exogenous Wnt5a in vitro significantly enhanced the numbers of MCL cell divisions and the proportion of dividing MCL cells entering S/G2 in MCL cells over time in the presence of CD154 and IL-4/10. Treatment of the MCL cells with cirmtuzumab, but not ibrutinib, blocked Wnt5a-enhanced proliferation of MCL cells. This study indicates that cirmtuzumab and ibrutinib may have complementary activity in the treatment of patients with MCL.

Autonomous vehicles in the recent era are robust vehicles that have the capability to drive themselves without human involvement using sensors and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping algorithms, which helps the vehicle gain an understanding of its environment while driving with the help of laser scanners (Velodyne), IMU and GPS to collect data and solidify the foundation for locating itself in an unknown environment. Various methods were studied and have been tested for increasing the efficiency of registration and optimization over the years but the implementation of the NDT library for mapping and localization have been found to be fast and more accurate as compared to conventional methods. The objective of this thesis is to ascertain a robust method of pose estimation of the vehicle by combining data from the laser sensor, with the data from the IMU and GPS receiver on the vehicle. The initial estimate prediction of the position is achieved by generating a 3D map using the Normal Distribution Transform and estimating the position using the NDT localization algorithm and the GPS data collected by driving the vehicle in an external environment. The results presented explain and verify the hypothesis being stated and shows the comparison of the localization algorithm implemented with the GPS receiver data available on the vehicle while driving., Autonoma fordon har på senare tid utvecklats till robusta fordon som kan köra sig själva utan hjälp av en människa, detta har möjliggjorts genom användandet av sensorer och algoritmer som utför lokalisering och kartläggning samtidigt (SLAM). Dessa sensorer och algoritmer hjälper fordonet att förstå dess omgivning medan det kör och tillsammans med laser skanners (Velodyne), IMU'er och GPS läggs grunden för att kunna utföra lokalisering i en okänd miljö. Ett flertal metoder har studerats och testats för att förbättra effektiviteten av registrering och optimering under åren men implementationen av NDT biblioteket för kartläggning och lokalisering har visat sig att vara snabbt och mer exakt jämfört med konventionella metoder. Målet med detta examensarbete är att hitta en robust metod för uppskatta pose genom att kombinera data från laser sensorn, en uppskattning av den ursprungliga positionen som fås genom att generera en 3D karta med hjälp av normalfördelningstransformen och GPS data insamlad från körningar i en extern miljö. Resultaten som presenteras beskriver och verifierar den hypotes som läggs fram och visar jämförelsen av den implementerade lokaliseringsalgoritmen med GPS data tillgänglig på fordonet under körning.

Cirmtuzumab may enhance the therapeutic activity of ibrutinib by inhibiting ROR1-dependent signaling pathway in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is B-cell malignancy that also expresses ROR1. In this study, we found that the plasma of patients with MCL had high levels of Wnt5a, a ROR1 ligand, that were comparable to those found in patients with CLL; in contrast Wnt5a was virtually undetectable in the plasma of age-matched healthy adults. We also found that Wnt5a induced Rac1 activation in the primary MCL cells. Cirmtuzumab, but not ibrutinib, could inhibit the capacity of Wnt5a to induce primary MCL cells to activate Rac1. Addition of exogenous Wnt5a in vitro significantly enhanced the numbers of MCL cell divisions and the proportion of dividing MCL cells entering S/G2 in MCL cells over time in the presence of CD154 and IL-4/10. Treatment of the MCL cells with cirmtuzumab, but not ibrutinib, blocked Wnt5a-enhanced proliferation of MCL cells. This study indicates that cirmtuzumab and ibrutinib may have complementary activity in the treatment of patients with MCL.

Autonomous vehicles in the recent era are robust vehicles that have the capability to drive themselves without human involvement using sensors and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping algorithms, which helps the vehicle gain an understanding of its environment while driving with the help of laser scanners (Velodyne), IMU and GPS to collect data and solidify the foundation for locating itself in an unknown environment. Various methods were studied and have been tested for increasing the efficiency of registration and optimization over the years but the implementation of the NDT library for mapping and localization have been found to be fast and more accurate as compared to conventional methods. The objective of this thesis is to ascertain a robust method of pose estimation of the vehicle by combining data from the laser sensor, with the data from the IMU and GPS receiver on the vehicle. The initial estimate prediction of the position is achieved by generating a 3D map using the Normal Distribution Transform and estimating the position using the NDT localization algorithm and the GPS data collected by driving the vehicle in an external environment. The results presented explain and verify the hypothesis being stated and shows the comparison of the localization algorithm implemented with the GPS receiver data available on the vehicle while driving., Autonoma fordon har på senare tid utvecklats till robusta fordon som kan köra sig själva utan hjälp av en människa, detta har möjliggjorts genom användandet av sensorer och algoritmer som utför lokalisering och kartläggning samtidigt (SLAM). Dessa sensorer och algoritmer hjälper fordonet att förstå dess omgivning medan det kör och tillsammans med laser skanners (Velodyne), IMU'er och GPS läggs grunden för att kunna utföra lokalisering i en okänd miljö. Ett flertal metoder har studerats och testats för att förbättra effektiviteten av registrering och optimering under åren men implementationen av NDT biblioteket för kartläggning och lokalisering har visat sig att vara snabbt och mer exakt jämfört med konventionella metoder. Målet med detta examensarbete är att hitta en robust metod för uppskatta pose genom att kombinera data från laser sensorn, en uppskattning av den ursprungliga positionen som fås genom att generera en 3D karta med hjälp av normalfördelningstransformen och GPS data insamlad från körningar i en extern miljö. Resultaten som presenteras beskriver och verifierar den hypotes som läggs fram och visar jämförelsen av den implementerade lokaliseringsalgoritmen med GPS data tillgänglig på fordonet under körning.

In recent years, great progress has been achieved towards identifying novel biomarkers in lymphoid malignancies, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), at the genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic level for accurate risk-stratification and prediction of treatment response. In paper I, we validated the prognostic relevance of a recently proposed RNA-based marker in CLL, UGT2B17, and analyzed its expression levels in 253 early-stage patients. Besides confirming its prognostic impact in multivariate analysis, we could identify 30% of IGHV-mutated CLL (M-CLL) cases with high expression and poor outcome, which otherwise lacked any other poor-prognostic marker. In paper II, we investigated the prognostic impact of a previously reported 5 CpG signature that divides CLL patients into three clinico-biological subgroups, namely naive B-cell-like CLL (n-CLL), memory B-cell-like CLL (m-CLL) and intermediate CLL (i-CLL), in 135 CLL patients using pyrosequencing. We validated the signature as an independent marker in multivariate analysis and further reported that subset #2 cases were predominantly classified as i-CLL, although displaying a similar outcome as n-CLL. In paper III, we investigated the methylation status and expression level of miR26A1 in both CLL (n=70) and MCL (n=65) cohorts. High miR26A1 methylation was associated with IGHV-unmutated (U-CLL) and shorter overall survival (OS) in CLL, while it was uniformly hypermethylated in MCL. Furthermore, overexpression of miR26A1 resulted in significant downregulation of EZH2 that in turn led to increased apoptosis. In paper IV, we performed DNA methylation profiling in 176 CLL cases assigned to one of 8 major stereotyped subsets (#1-8) in relation to non-subset CLL (n=325) and different normal B-cell subpopulations. Principal component analysis of subset vs. non-subset CLL revealed that U-CLL and M-CLL subsets generally clustered with n-CLL and m-CLL, respectively, indicating common cel

In recent years, great progress has been achieved towards identifying novel biomarkers in lymphoid malignancies, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), at the genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic level for accurate risk-stratification and prediction of treatment response. In paper I, we validated the prognostic relevance of a recently proposed RNA-based marker in CLL, UGT2B17, and analyzed its expression levels in 253 early-stage patients. Besides confirming its prognostic impact in multivariate analysis, we could identify 30% of IGHV-mutated CLL (M-CLL) cases with high expression and poor outcome, which otherwise lacked any other poor-prognostic marker. In paper II, we investigated the prognostic impact of a previously reported 5 CpG signature that divides CLL patients into three clinico-biological subgroups, namely naive B-cell-like CLL (n-CLL), memory B-cell-like CLL (m-CLL) and intermediate CLL (i-CLL), in 135 CLL patients using pyrosequencing. We validated the signature as an independent marker in multivariate analysis and further reported that subset #2 cases were predominantly classified as i-CLL, although displaying a similar outcome as n-CLL. In paper III, we investigated the methylation status and expression level of miR26A1 in both CLL (n=70) and MCL (n=65) cohorts. High miR26A1 methylation was associated with IGHV-unmutated (U-CLL) and shorter overall survival (OS) in CLL, while it was uniformly hypermethylated in MCL. Furthermore, overexpression of miR26A1 resulted in significant downregulation of EZH2 that in turn led to increased apoptosis. In paper IV, we performed DNA methylation profiling in 176 CLL cases assigned to one of 8 major stereotyped subsets (#1-8) in relation to non-subset CLL (n=325) and different normal B-cell subpopulations. Principal component analysis of subset vs. non-subset CLL revealed that U-CLL and M-CLL subsets generally clustered with n-CLL and m-CLL, respectively, indicating common cel

In recent years, great progress has been achieved towards identifying novel biomarkers in lymphoid malignancies, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), at the genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic level for accurate risk-stratification and prediction of treatment response. In paper I, we validated the prognostic relevance of a recently proposed RNA-based marker in CLL, UGT2B17, and analyzed its expression levels in 253 early-stage patients. Besides confirming its prognostic impact in multivariate analysis, we could identify 30% of IGHV-mutated CLL (M-CLL) cases with high expression and poor outcome, which otherwise lacked any other poor-prognostic marker. In paper II, we investigated the prognostic impact of a previously reported 5 CpG signature that divides CLL patients into three clinico-biological subgroups, namely naive B-cell-like CLL (n-CLL), memory B-cell-like CLL (m-CLL) and intermediate CLL (i-CLL), in 135 CLL patients using pyrosequencing. We validated the signature as an independent marker in multivariate analysis and further reported that subset #2 cases were predominantly classified as i-CLL, although displaying a similar outcome as n-CLL. In paper III, we investigated the methylation status and expression level of miR26A1 in both CLL (n=70) and MCL (n=65) cohorts. High miR26A1 methylation was associated with IGHV-unmutated (U-CLL) and shorter overall survival (OS) in CLL, while it was uniformly hypermethylated in MCL. Furthermore, overexpression of miR26A1 resulted in significant downregulation of EZH2 that in turn led to increased apoptosis. In paper IV, we performed DNA methylation profiling in 176 CLL cases assigned to one of 8 major stereotyped subsets (#1-8) in relation to non-subset CLL (n=325) and different normal B-cell subpopulations. Principal component analysis of subset vs. non-subset CLL revealed that U-CLL and M-CLL subsets generally clustered with n-CLL and m-CLL, respectively, indicating common cel

In recent years, great progress has been achieved towards identifying novel biomarkers in lymphoid malignancies, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), at the genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic level for accurate risk-stratification and prediction of treatment response. In paper I, we validated the prognostic relevance of a recently proposed RNA-based marker in CLL, UGT2B17, and analyzed its expression levels in 253 early-stage patients. Besides confirming its prognostic impact in multivariate analysis, we could identify 30% of IGHV-mutated CLL (M-CLL) cases with high expression and poor outcome, which otherwise lacked any other poor-prognostic marker. In paper II, we investigated the prognostic impact of a previously reported 5 CpG signature that divides CLL patients into three clinico-biological subgroups, namely naive B-cell-like CLL (n-CLL), memory B-cell-like CLL (m-CLL) and intermediate CLL (i-CLL), in 135 CLL patients using pyrosequencing. We validated the signature as an independent marker in multivariate analysis and further reported that subset #2 cases were predominantly classified as i-CLL, although displaying a similar outcome as n-CLL. In paper III, we investigated the methylation status and expression level of miR26A1 in both CLL (n=70) and MCL (n=65) cohorts. High miR26A1 methylation was associated with IGHV-unmutated (U-CLL) and shorter overall survival (OS) in CLL, while it was uniformly hypermethylated in MCL. Furthermore, overexpression of miR26A1 resulted in significant downregulation of EZH2 that in turn led to increased apoptosis. In paper IV, we performed DNA methylation profiling in 176 CLL cases assigned to one of 8 major stereotyped subsets (#1-8) in relation to non-subset CLL (n=325) and different normal B-cell subpopulations. Principal component analysis of subset vs. non-subset CLL revealed that U-CLL and M-CLL subsets generally clustered with n-CLL and m-CLL, respectively, indicating common cel

In recent years, great progress has been achieved towards identifying novel biomarkers in lymphoid malignancies, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), at the genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic level for accurate risk-stratification and prediction of treatment response. In paper I, we validated the prognostic relevance of a recently proposed RNA-based marker in CLL, UGT2B17, and analyzed its expression levels in 253 early-stage patients. Besides confirming its prognostic impact in multivariate analysis, we could identify 30% of IGHV-mutated CLL (M-CLL) cases with high expression and poor outcome, which otherwise lacked any other poor-prognostic marker. In paper II, we investigated the prognostic impact of a previously reported 5 CpG signature that divides CLL patients into three clinico-biological subgroups, namely naive B-cell-like CLL (n-CLL), memory B-cell-like CLL (m-CLL) and intermediate CLL (i-CLL), in 135 CLL patients using pyrosequencing. We validated the signature as an independent marker in multivariate analysis and further reported that subset #2 cases were predominantly classified as i-CLL, although displaying a similar outcome as n-CLL. In paper III, we investigated the methylation status and expression level of miR26A1 in both CLL (n=70) and MCL (n=65) cohorts. High miR26A1 methylation was associated with IGHV-unmutated (U-CLL) and shorter overall survival (OS) in CLL, while it was uniformly hypermethylated in MCL. Furthermore, overexpression of miR26A1 resulted in significant downregulation of EZH2 that in turn led to increased apoptosis. In paper IV, we performed DNA methylation profiling in 176 CLL cases assigned to one of 8 major stereotyped subsets (#1-8) in relation to non-subset CLL (n=325) and different normal B-cell subpopulations. Principal component analysis of subset vs. non-subset CLL revealed that U-CLL and M-CLL subsets generally clustered with n-CLL and m-CLL, respectively, indicating common cel

Bakgrund: Ljumskbråck är den vanligaste operationen inom allmänkirurgin, varje år utförs nästan 20 000 operationer i Sverige. I Östergötland utförs ljumskbråcksoperationer på tre ställen inom ramen för dagkirurgi; vid Aleris Specialistvård i Motala (ASM), Närsjukvården i Finspång (NiF) samt Medicinskt Centrum i Linköping (MCL). Det finns en teori om att privata vårdgivare är mer tidseffektiva än offentliga vårdgivare. De privata anses kunna utföra fler operationer under en given tid, men ingen studie har gjorts på tidseffektiviteten kring operationerna hos respektive vårdgivare. Denna studie har genomförts för att detektera om det finns en skillnad i hur lång tid olika moment tar att utföra och vad denna skillnad i sådana fall beror på, samt om patientunderlaget skiljer sig mellan klinikerna. Metod: Studien omfattade 70 patienter fördelade på tre kliniker; ASM, MCL och NiF. Ljumskbråcksoperationerna delades upp i flertalet moment som mättes med digital klocka. Dessutom samlades uppgifter in om patientens ålder, ASA-klass, BMI samt information om vilka som närvarade i operationssalen. Statistisk analys gjordes enligt Kruskal-Wallis. Programvaran som användes var SPSS version 22. Resultat: Studien fann ingen signifikant skillnad i BMI, ASA-klass eller ålder mellan klinikernas patienter (p > 0,05 för samtliga). Däremot fanns stora skillnader vad gäller hur lång tid ett flertal av momenten under ljumskbråcksoperationen tog. Slutsats: Studien påvisar att det finns stora skillnader i olika moment vid ljumskbråcksoperationer. De privata klinikerna var alltid snabbare än den offentliga kliniken. Då det saknas studier inom området vore det intressant att se om det finns liknande skillnader vid andra ingrepp som utförs av olika aktörer., Background: Inguinal hernia surgery is one of the most common surgeries within general surgery, with approximately 20 000 surgeries per year in Sweden. There are three places in Östergötland County where inguinal hernias are executed within outpatient surgery; at Aleris Specialistvård in Motala (ASM), Närsjukvården in Finspång (NiF) and at Medicinskt Centrum in Linköping (MCL). There is a theory that private health care providers are more time-efficient than public health care providers. The private health care providers are considered to perform more operations over a given time though no studies has been done on time efficiency. This study was performed to detect if there is a difference in time in the various steps during the surgery between the clinics, what causes these differences and if the patients differ. Methods: The study includes 70 patients distributed on three outpatient surgery clinics; ASM, MCL and NiF. The inguinal hernia operations were divided into shorter steps measured with a digital watch. Furthermore, data were noted about the patients’ age, ASA-score, BMI and who were present in the operating room. Statistical analyses were performed with the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance. The software used was SPSS version 22. Results: The study found no significant difference in BMI, ASA-score and age between the health care providers (p > 0,05). However, regarding the time efficiency, there were significant differences between the clinics. Conclusions: The study concludes that there are big differences in time, within the various steps in the inguinal hernia surgeries, between the clinics. The private health care providers were always faster than the public health care provider. Since no earlier studies have been made in this area, it would be interesting to see if there are similar differences in other types of surgeries.

Bakgrund: Ljumskbråck är den vanligaste operationen inom allmänkirurgin, varje år utförs nästan 20 000 operationer i Sverige. I Östergötland utförs ljumskbråcksoperationer på tre ställen inom ramen för dagkirurgi; vid Aleris Specialistvård i Motala (ASM), Närsjukvården i Finspång (NiF) samt Medicinskt Centrum i Linköping (MCL). Det finns en teori om att privata vårdgivare är mer tidseffektiva än offentliga vårdgivare. De privata anses kunna utföra fler operationer under en given tid, men ingen studie har gjorts på tidseffektiviteten kring operationerna hos respektive vårdgivare. Denna studie har genomförts för att detektera om det finns en skillnad i hur lång tid olika moment tar att utföra och vad denna skillnad i sådana fall beror på, samt om patientunderlaget skiljer sig mellan klinikerna. Metod: Studien omfattade 70 patienter fördelade på tre kliniker; ASM, MCL och NiF. Ljumskbråcksoperationerna delades upp i flertalet moment som mättes med digital klocka. Dessutom samlades uppgifter in om patientens ålder, ASA-klass, BMI samt information om vilka som närvarade i operationssalen. Statistisk analys gjordes enligt Kruskal-Wallis. Programvaran som användes var SPSS version 22. Resultat: Studien fann ingen signifikant skillnad i BMI, ASA-klass eller ålder mellan klinikernas patienter (p > 0,05 för samtliga). Däremot fanns stora skillnader vad gäller hur lång tid ett flertal av momenten under ljumskbråcksoperationen tog. Slutsats: Studien påvisar att det finns stora skillnader i olika moment vid ljumskbråcksoperationer. De privata klinikerna var alltid snabbare än den offentliga kliniken. Då det saknas studier inom området vore det intressant att se om det finns liknande skillnader vid andra ingrepp som utförs av olika aktörer., Background: Inguinal hernia surgery is one of the most common surgeries within general surgery, with approximately 20 000 surgeries per year in Sweden. There are three places in Östergötland County where inguinal hernias are executed within outpatient surgery; at Aleris Specialistvård in Motala (ASM), Närsjukvården in Finspång (NiF) and at Medicinskt Centrum in Linköping (MCL). There is a theory that private health care providers are more time-efficient than public health care providers. The private health care providers are considered to perform more operations over a given time though no studies has been done on time efficiency. This study was performed to detect if there is a difference in time in the various steps during the surgery between the clinics, what causes these differences and if the patients differ. Methods: The study includes 70 patients distributed on three outpatient surgery clinics; ASM, MCL and NiF. The inguinal hernia operations were divided into shorter steps measured with a digital watch. Furthermore, data were noted about the patients’ age, ASA-score, BMI and who were present in the operating room. Statistical analyses were performed with the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance. The software used was SPSS version 22. Results: The study found no significant difference in BMI, ASA-score and age between the health care providers (p > 0,05). However, regarding the time efficiency, there were significant differences between the clinics. Conclusions: The study concludes that there are big differences in time, within the various steps in the inguinal hernia surgeries, between the clinics. The private health care providers were always faster than the public health care provider. Since no earlier studies have been made in this area, it would be interesting to see if there are similar differences in other types of surgeries.

Clustering protein sequences according to inferred homology is a fundamental step in the analysis of many large data sets. Since the publication of the Markov Clustering (MCL) algorithm in 2002, it has been the centerpiece of several popular applications. Each of these approaches generates an undirected graph that represents sequences as nodes connected to each other by edges weighted with a BLAST-based metric. MCL is then used to infer clusters of homologous proteins by analyzing these graphs. The various approaches differ only by how they weight the edges, yet there has been very little direct examination of the relative performance of alternative edge-weighting metrics. This study compares the performance of four BLAST-based edge-weighting metrics: the bit score, bit score ratio (BSR), bit score over anchored length (BAL), and negative common log of the expectation value (NLE). Performance is tested using the Extended CEGMA KOGs (ECK) database, which we introduce here. All metrics performed similarly when analyzing full-length sequences, but dramatic differences emerged as progressively larger fractions of the test sequences were split into fragments. The BSR and BAL successfully rescued subsets of clusters by strengthening certain types of alignments between fragmented sequences, but also shifted the largest correct scores down near the range of scores generated from spurious alignments. This penalty outweighed the benefits in most test cases, and was greatly exacerbated by increasing the MCL inflation parameter, making these metrics less robust than the bit score or the more popular NLE. Notably, the bit score performed as well or better than the other three metrics in all scenarios. The results provide a strong case for use of the bit score, which appears to offer equivalent or superior performance to the more popular NLE. The insight that MCL-based clustering methods can be improved using a more tractable edge-weighting metric will greatly simplify future imp

B-cell lymphoma (BCL) heterogeneity represents a key issue, often making the classification and clinical management of these patients challenging. In this pilot study, we outlined the first resolved view of BCL disease heterogeneity on the protein level by deciphering disease-associated plasma biomarkers, specific for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and mantle cell lymphoma, using recombinant antibody microarrays targeting mainly immunoregulatory proteins. The results showed the BCLs to be heterogeneous, and revealed potential novel subgroups of each BCL. In the case of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, we also indicated a link between the novel subgroups and survival.

B-cell lymphoma (BCL) heterogeneity represents a key issue, often making the classification and clinical management of these patients challenging. In this pilot study, we outlined the first resolved view of BCL disease heterogeneity on the protein level by deciphering disease-associated plasma biomarkers, specific for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and mantle cell lymphoma, using recombinant antibody microarrays targeting mainly immunoregulatory proteins. The results showed the BCLs to be heterogeneous, and revealed potential novel subgroups of each BCL. In the case of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, we also indicated a link between the novel subgroups and survival.

B-cell lymphoma (BCL) heterogeneity represents a key issue, often making the classification and clinical management of these patients challenging. In this pilot study, we outlined the first resolved view of BCL disease heterogeneity on the protein level by deciphering disease-associated plasma biomarkers, specific for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and mantle cell lymphoma, using recombinant antibody microarrays targeting mainly immunoregulatory proteins. The results showed the BCLs to be heterogeneous, and revealed potential novel subgroups of each BCL. In the case of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, we also indicated a link between the novel subgroups and survival.

B-cell lymphoma (BCL) heterogeneity represents a key issue, often making the classification and clinical management of these patients challenging. In this pilot study, we outlined the first resolved view of BCL disease heterogeneity on the protein level by deciphering disease-associated plasma biomarkers, specific for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and mantle cell lymphoma, using recombinant antibody microarrays targeting mainly immunoregulatory proteins. The results showed the BCLs to be heterogeneous, and revealed potential novel subgroups of each BCL. In the case of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, we also indicated a link between the novel subgroups and survival.

B-cell lymphoma (BCL) heterogeneity represents a key issue, often making the classification and clinical management of these patients challenging. In this pilot study, we outlined the first resolved view of BCL disease heterogeneity on the protein level by deciphering disease-associated plasma biomarkers, specific for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and mantle cell lymphoma, using recombinant antibody microarrays targeting mainly immunoregulatory proteins. The results showed the BCLs to be heterogeneous, and revealed potential novel subgroups of each BCL. In the case of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, we also indicated a link between the novel subgroups and survival.

Mantle cell lymphoma is a relatively rare B-cell lymphoma with a specific genetic lesion and a typical immunophenotypic profile. The median age is 65 years. There is no curative treatment, except allogeneic stem cell transplantation for a selected group of patients. For the majority of patients, especially the elderly, the aim of therapy should therefore be a long progression-free survival. Age and comorbidity may hamper the use of the most active treatment regimen, such as high dose cytarabine and autologous stem cell transplantation. Therefore, it is a challenge to select the most appropriate therapy for an elderly patient. Studies specifically designed for elderly patients are rare. A recently performed large randomized study for elderly patients, however, has shown that R-CHOP (rituximab with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) chemotherapy followed by maintenance rituximab can result in a long progression-free survival. For patients too frail for R-CHOP chemotherapy, a treatment should be offered that benefits the patient in reducing the symptoms of the disease without causing too many side effects. Progression or relapse will occur in all patients sooner or later. Second-line treatment should again be carefully selected. Several options are mentioned. New drugs are being developed, and new combinations are investigated. Further improvement in the outcome of patients with mantle cell lymphoma is expected. Participation in well-designed clinical trials, also by elderly patients, is important to find the real benefit that can be achieved, and to get information on the tolerability of these treatments in this age group.

Sprains are the most common injuries to ligamentous tissues. They are classified as first-degree, second-degree, or third-degree sprains depending upon their severity. First-degree sprains are the result of over-stretching of ligaments. Second-degree sprains involve partial tears of the ligaments. In third-degree sprains, the ligaments are completely torn. Although first- and second-degree sprains are not as severe as third-degree sprains, they occur more frequently. The mechanisms leading to sprains are still not well understood. Therefore, histo-mechanical experiments and theoretical studies are needed to advance our current knowledge on the etiology of sprains. In the first part of this study, a structurally-based constitutive equation is proposed to simulate the damage evolution process in ligaments. The ligament is modeled as a bundle of crimped collagen fibers that are assumed to be oriented along one direction, the physiological loading direction. The gradual straightening of collagen fibers determines the nonlinearity in the toe region of the tensile axial stress-strain curve. Straight collagen fibers behave as a linear elastic material. The gradual damage of collagen fibers determines the nonlinearity in the failure region of the tensile axial stress-strain curve. The parameters in the constitutive equation are estimated by curve fitting experimental data on rat medial collateral ligaments (MCLs) published in the biomechanics literature. In the second part of this study, mechanical experiments are performed in order to identify and quantify damage in ligamentous tissues. MCLs, which are harvested from Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, are subjected to displacement controlled tensile tests. Specifically, the ligaments are stretched to consecutively increasing stretch values until their complete failure occurs. The elongation of the toe region and decrease in tangent modulus of the linear region of the collected stress-strain data are analyzed and two significantly d

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) have the potentialities to greatly penetrate the marketplace in the next decade. They can be considered a hybrid between wireless infrastructure and ad-hoc networks; no other network infrastructure is needed other than the mesh points, thus providing flexibility in building and expanding the network, allowing for automatic discovery of neighboring nodes, increased reliability and redundancy. In this work, we discuss how WMNs can be practically employed to support wireless multihop communications in an office-wide area. To this aim, we have deployed a real WMN testbed utilizing state-of-the-art technology and analyzed the performance of this architecture when supporting multihop heterogeneous traffic.

The study was undertaken with the aim to outline deletion patterns involving the long arm of chromosome 6, a common abnormality in lymphoproliferative disorders. Using a chromosome 6 specific tile path array, 60 samples from in total 49 cases with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), de novo diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), transformed DLBCL as well as preceding follicular lymphoma (FL), and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), were characterized. Twenty-six of the studied cases, representing all diagnoses, showed a 6q deletion among which 85% involved a 3Mb region in 6q21. The minimal deleted interval in 6q21 encompasses the FOXO3A, PRDM1 and HACE1 candidate genes. The PRDM1 gene was found homozygously deleted in a case of DLBCL. Moreover, in two DLBCL cases, an overlapping homozygous deletion was identified in 6q23.3-24.1, encompassing the TNFAIP3 gene among others. Taken together, we refined the deletion pattern within the long arm of chromosome 6 in four different types of hematological malignances, suggesting the location of tumor suppressor genes involved in the tumor progression.

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is characterized by over-expression of cyclin Dl as a result of the characteristic t(11;14)(q13;q32). However, this translocation alone has proven not to be sufficient for lymphomagenesis, suggesting the involvement of additional alterations. We have characterized 35 cases of MCL by array comparative genomic hybridization with an average resolution of 0.97Mb distributed over the complete human genome. The most common alterations were losses in 1p13.2–p31.1, 6q16.2–q27, 8p21.3, 9p13.2–p24.3, 9q13–q31.3, 11q14.3–q23.3, 13q14.13–q21.31, 13q33.1–q34, and 22q11.23–q13.33 and gains involving 3q21.2–q29, 7p12.1–p22.3, 8q24.13–q24.23, and 18q21.33–q22.3. Four homozygous deletions were identified in totally three patients; two overlapping at 1p32.3, and two adjacent at 13q32.3. The homozygous deletions at 1p32.3 cover the CDKN2C locus (coding for p18), while the region at 13q32.3 does not encompass any known tumor suppressor genes. A gain in 3q was significantly associated with shorter survival (P=0.047).

Tato práce se zabývá systémy pro atributovou autentizaci a kryptografickými primitivy tvořící tyto systémy. Hlavním zaměřením této práce je schéma RKVAC, které je implementováno i vizualizováno. Práce popisuje entity a protokoly vyskytující se v schématu RKVAC. Výstupem této práce je webová aplikace, která slouží pro představení schématu RKVAC širší veřejnosti., This thesis explores attribute based credential schemes and the cryptographic preliminaries that are the building blocks of such schemes. The main focus of this thesis is the RKVAC scheme, which is implemented and visualized. This thesis also describes the entities and protocols of the RKVAC scheme and their roles within it. The implemented web application is designed to introduce the RKVAC scheme to the public.

Tato diplomová práce se zabývá tématem ochrany osobních údajů při uživatelské autentizaci pomocí anonymních certifikátů. Dnešním nejžárnějším a nejaktuálnějším příkladem odhalování nadbytečného množství citlivých osobních údajů je dokazování Covid očkování, popř. výsledků Covid testů. V rámci této diplomové práce je navržen a implementován systém pro autentizaci pomocí anonymních certifikátů, který řeší nedostatky současných CovidPass řešení. Implementace je provedena na platformě Android v případě uživatelské aplikace a ověřovatel je zastoupen terminálem v podobě zařízení Raspberry PI., Topic of this thesis is privacy protection when using anonymous certificate authentication. Today’s most common case of oversharing private data is proving Covid vaccination or Covid test results. This thesis describes and implements system that is using anonymous certficates. The system solves mentioned issues of current CovidPass authentication methods. The implementation is done on the Android platform in case of the user application and verifier application is run on Raspberry PI, which works as an access terminal.

Diplomová práce se zabývá implementací pilotního systému atributové autentizace na platformě Android. Podpora atributové autentizace na platformě Android je co do počtu implementací velmi slabá a je potřeba jí věnovat zvýšenou pozornost. V teoretické části práce je rozebrána kryptografická podpora na platformě Android, využití nástroje Android NDK (Native Development Kit) a služby HCE (Host-Card Emulation). Součástí teoretické části práce je i popis schémat systému atributové autentizace včetně pilotního systému RKVAC. Praktická část popisuje průběh implementace systému RKVAC na platformě Android společně s implementací vlastního kryptografického jádra založeného na nativní kryptografické knihovně MCL. V závěru práce jsou uvedeny výsledky měření časové, paměťové a výpočetní náročnosti vytvořených mobilních aplikací., This master’s thesis focuses on implementation of ABC (Anonymous attribute-based credential) pilot system on the Android platform. The support for attribute authentication on the Android platform is very weak in terms of the number of implementations and needs a special attention. The theoretical part of the thesis describes the cryptographic support on the Android platform, the use of the Android Native Development Kit (NDK) and the Host-Card Emulation (HCE) service. The theoretical part of the thesis also includes a description of attribute authentication schemes, including a pilot RKVAC system. The practical part describes the implementation of the RKVAC system on the Android platform along with the implementation of a custom cryptographic kernel based on the native MCL cryptographic library. The practical part of this thesis describes implementation proces of RKVAC system on Android plaform, that uses native cryptographic library MCL. The final part shows the results of time, memory and computation difficulty of developed applications.

Tato diplomová práce se zabývá tématem ochrany osobních údajů při uživatelské autentizaci pomocí anonymních certifikátů. Dnešním nejžárnějším a nejaktuálnějším příkladem odhalování nadbytečného množství citlivých osobních údajů je dokazování Covid očkování, popř. výsledků Covid testů. V rámci této diplomové práce je navržen a implementován systém pro autentizaci pomocí anonymních certifikátů, který řeší nedostatky současných CovidPass řešení. Implementace je provedena na platformě Android v případě uživatelské aplikace a ověřovatel je zastoupen terminálem v podobě zařízení Raspberry PI., Topic of this thesis is privacy protection when using anonymous certificate authentication. Today’s most common case of oversharing private data is proving Covid vaccination or Covid test results. This thesis describes and implements system that is using anonymous certficates. The system solves mentioned issues of current CovidPass authentication methods. The implementation is done on the Android platform in case of the user application and verifier application is run on Raspberry PI, which works as an access terminal.

Diplomová práce se zabývá implementací pilotního systému atributové autentizace na platformě Android. Podpora atributové autentizace na platformě Android je co do počtu implementací velmi slabá a je potřeba jí věnovat zvýšenou pozornost. V teoretické části práce je rozebrána kryptografická podpora na platformě Android, využití nástroje Android NDK (Native Development Kit) a služby HCE (Host-Card Emulation). Součástí teoretické části práce je i popis schémat systému atributové autentizace včetně pilotního systému RKVAC. Praktická část popisuje průběh implementace systému RKVAC na platformě Android společně s implementací vlastního kryptografického jádra založeného na nativní kryptografické knihovně MCL. V závěru práce jsou uvedeny výsledky měření časové, paměťové a výpočetní náročnosti vytvořených mobilních aplikací., This master’s thesis focuses on implementation of ABC (Anonymous attribute-based credential) pilot system on the Android platform. The support for attribute authentication on the Android platform is very weak in terms of the number of implementations and needs a special attention. The theoretical part of the thesis describes the cryptographic support on the Android platform, the use of the Android Native Development Kit (NDK) and the Host-Card Emulation (HCE) service. The theoretical part of the thesis also includes a description of attribute authentication schemes, including a pilot RKVAC system. The practical part describes the implementation of the RKVAC system on the Android platform along with the implementation of a custom cryptographic kernel based on the native MCL cryptographic library. The practical part of this thesis describes implementation proces of RKVAC system on Android plaform, that uses native cryptographic library MCL. The final part shows the results of time, memory and computation difficulty of developed applications.

Tato práce se zabývá systémy pro atributovou autentizaci a kryptografickými primitivy tvořící tyto systémy. Hlavním zaměřením této práce je schéma RKVAC, které je implementováno i vizualizováno. Práce popisuje entity a protokoly vyskytující se v schématu RKVAC. Výstupem této práce je webová aplikace, která slouží pro představení schématu RKVAC širší veřejnosti., This thesis explores attribute based credential schemes and the cryptographic preliminaries that are the building blocks of such schemes. The main focus of this thesis is the RKVAC scheme, which is implemented and visualized. This thesis also describes the entities and protocols of the RKVAC scheme and their roles within it. The implemented web application is designed to introduce the RKVAC scheme to the public.

Tato diplomová práce se zabývá tématem ochrany osobních údajů při uživatelské autentizaci pomocí anonymních certifikátů. Dnešním nejžárnějším a nejaktuálnějším příkladem odhalování nadbytečného množství citlivých osobních údajů je dokazování Covid očkování, popř. výsledků Covid testů. V rámci této diplomové práce je navržen a implementován systém pro autentizaci pomocí anonymních certifikátů, který řeší nedostatky současných CovidPass řešení. Implementace je provedena na platformě Android v případě uživatelské aplikace a ověřovatel je zastoupen terminálem v podobě zařízení Raspberry PI., Topic of this thesis is privacy protection when using anonymous certificate authentication. Today’s most common case of oversharing private data is proving Covid vaccination or Covid test results. This thesis describes and implements system that is using anonymous certficates. The system solves mentioned issues of current CovidPass authentication methods. The implementation is done on the Android platform in case of the user application and verifier application is run on Raspberry PI, which works as an access terminal.

Tato práce se zabývá systémy pro atributovou autentizaci a kryptografickými primitivy tvořící tyto systémy. Hlavním zaměřením této práce je schéma RKVAC, které je implementováno i vizualizováno. Práce popisuje entity a protokoly vyskytující se v schématu RKVAC. Výstupem této práce je webová aplikace, která slouží pro představení schématu RKVAC širší veřejnosti., This thesis explores attribute based credential schemes and the cryptographic preliminaries that are the building blocks of such schemes. The main focus of this thesis is the RKVAC scheme, which is implemented and visualized. This thesis also describes the entities and protocols of the RKVAC scheme and their roles within it. The implemented web application is designed to introduce the RKVAC scheme to the public.

Tato práce se zabývá systémy pro atributovou autentizaci a kryptografickými primitivy tvořící tyto systémy. Hlavním zaměřením této práce je schéma RKVAC, které je implementováno i vizualizováno. Práce popisuje entity a protokoly vyskytující se v schématu RKVAC. Výstupem této práce je webová aplikace, která slouží pro představení schématu RKVAC širší veřejnosti., This thesis explores attribute based credential schemes and the cryptographic preliminaries that are the building blocks of such schemes. The main focus of this thesis is the RKVAC scheme, which is implemented and visualized. This thesis also describes the entities and protocols of the RKVAC scheme and their roles within it. The implemented web application is designed to introduce the RKVAC scheme to the public.

Diplomová práce se zabývá implementací pilotního systému atributové autentizace na platformě Android. Podpora atributové autentizace na platformě Android je co do počtu implementací velmi slabá a je potřeba jí věnovat zvýšenou pozornost. V teoretické části práce je rozebrána kryptografická podpora na platformě Android, využití nástroje Android NDK (Native Development Kit) a služby HCE (Host-Card Emulation). Součástí teoretické části práce je i popis schémat systému atributové autentizace včetně pilotního systému RKVAC. Praktická část popisuje průběh implementace systému RKVAC na platformě Android společně s implementací vlastního kryptografického jádra založeného na nativní kryptografické knihovně MCL. V závěru práce jsou uvedeny výsledky měření časové, paměťové a výpočetní náročnosti vytvořených mobilních aplikací., This master’s thesis focuses on implementation of ABC (Anonymous attribute-based credential) pilot system on the Android platform. The support for attribute authentication on the Android platform is very weak in terms of the number of implementations and needs a special attention. The theoretical part of the thesis describes the cryptographic support on the Android platform, the use of the Android Native Development Kit (NDK) and the Host-Card Emulation (HCE) service. The theoretical part of the thesis also includes a description of attribute authentication schemes, including a pilot RKVAC system. The practical part describes the implementation of the RKVAC system on the Android platform along with the implementation of a custom cryptographic kernel based on the native MCL cryptographic library. The practical part of this thesis describes implementation proces of RKVAC system on Android plaform, that uses native cryptographic library MCL. The final part shows the results of time, memory and computation difficulty of developed applications.

Tato diplomová práce se zabývá tématem ochrany osobních údajů při uživatelské autentizaci pomocí anonymních certifikátů. Dnešním nejžárnějším a nejaktuálnějším příkladem odhalování nadbytečného množství citlivých osobních údajů je dokazování Covid očkování, popř. výsledků Covid testů. V rámci této diplomové práce je navržen a implementován systém pro autentizaci pomocí anonymních certifikátů, který řeší nedostatky současných CovidPass řešení. Implementace je provedena na platformě Android v případě uživatelské aplikace a ověřovatel je zastoupen terminálem v podobě zařízení Raspberry PI., Topic of this thesis is privacy protection when using anonymous certificate authentication. Today’s most common case of oversharing private data is proving Covid vaccination or Covid test results. This thesis describes and implements system that is using anonymous certficates. The system solves mentioned issues of current CovidPass authentication methods. The implementation is done on the Android platform in case of the user application and verifier application is run on Raspberry PI, which works as an access terminal.

Tato diplomová práce se zabývá tématem ochrany osobních údajů při uživatelské autentizaci pomocí anonymních certifikátů. Dnešním nejžárnějším a nejaktuálnějším příkladem odhalování nadbytečného množství citlivých osobních údajů je dokazování Covid očkování, popř. výsledků Covid testů. V rámci této diplomové práce je navržen a implementován systém pro autentizaci pomocí anonymních certifikátů, který řeší nedostatky současných CovidPass řešení. Implementace je provedena na platformě Android v případě uživatelské aplikace a ověřovatel je zastoupen terminálem v podobě zařízení Raspberry PI., Topic of this thesis is privacy protection when using anonymous certificate authentication. Today’s most common case of oversharing private data is proving Covid vaccination or Covid test results. This thesis describes and implements system that is using anonymous certficates. The system solves mentioned issues of current CovidPass authentication methods. The implementation is done on the Android platform in case of the user application and verifier application is run on Raspberry PI, which works as an access terminal.