The effectiveness of Salinity Gradient Power - Reverse Electrodialysis (SGP-RE) in real practice is still not clearly defined due to the lack of specific studies in literature, being investigations in large part limited to pure NaCl solutions or aqueous mixtures of two salts. In this work, we experimentally assessed the impact of natural feed streams (collected from Licetto river and Tyrrenian sea

The intensifying effects of climate change are becoming one of the main threats to cultural heritage, posing risks of degradation or destruction. Climate change is bringing complexity and uncertainty to ensuring the resilience of cultural heritage, and among risk mitigation measures digitalisation is regarded as a promising tool. However, the infrastructure required for the digitalisation process

Although the overall mortality in cancer is steadily decreasing, major groups of patients still respond poorly to available treatments. The key clinical challenge addressed in the present thesis work relates to the inherent adaptive capacity of glioblastoma (GBM) tumors, resulting in treatment resistance and dismal prognosis. GBM represents the most common and lethal primary CNS tumor in adults. T

Modeling of combustion engines using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), to investigate and improve performance of biodiesel combustion, calls for development of small and efficient chemical kinetics mechanisms that accurately represent ignition and flame propagation of renewable fuels. In this work, a semi-global approach is used to develop a mechanism suitable for three-dimensional CFD of fatty

The present study examined the thoughts and feelings of solo mothers by choice (SMC) regarding their experiences during pregnancy and early parenthood, with special focus on their contact with maternal health-services (MCHS). Semi-structured interviews were carried out with solo mothers (N = 10) who had undergone assisted fertilization in Sweden. Thematic analysis revealed two main themes. The fir

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of reported and unreported incidental pulmonary embolism (iPE) in patients with cancer, and to evaluate an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm for automatic detection of iPE. Methods: Retrospective cohort study on patients with cancer with an elective CT study including the chest between 2018-07-01 and 2019-06-30. All study reports and images were reviewed t

This study focuses on communication and conceptions of obstetric care to address the postulates that immigrant women experience sensitive care through the use of an ethnically congruent interpreter and that such women prefer to meet health providers of the same ethnic and gender profile when in a multiethnic obstetrics care setting. During 2005-2006, we conducted in-depth interviews in Greater Lon

Disability is frequently cited as a reason that Americans do not vote. This article offers legal and policy practitioner perspectives on core challenges people with disabilities face in exercising their voting rights in the United States, from obtaining election information to casting their ballots. Drawing on our collective experience-which includes professional experience as advocates working to

Transgenerational inheritance of environmentally induced epigenetic marks can have significant impacts on eco-evolutionary dynamics, but the phenomenon remains controversial in ecological model systems. We used whole-genome bisulfite sequencing of individual water fleas (Daphnia magna) to assess whether environmentally induced DNA methylation is transgenerationally inherited. Genetically identical

The impact of climate change on the deterioration of reinforced concrete elements have been frequently highlighted as worthy of investigation. This article addresses this important issue by presenting a time-variant reliability analysis to assess the effect of climate change on four limit states; the probabilities of corrosion initiation, crack initiation, severe cracking, and failure of a simply

Loss of appetite and negative energy balance are common features of endotoxemia in all animals and are thought to have protective roles by reducing nutrient availability to host and pathogen metabolism. Accordingly, fasting and caloric restriction have well-established anti-inflammatory properties. However, in response to reduced nutrient availability at the cellular and organ levels, negative ene

Background: The instant, single-sampling rule-out of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is still an unmet clinical need. We aimed at testing and comparing diagnostic performance and prognostic value of two different single-sampling biomarker strategies for the instant rule-out of AMI. Methods: From the Biomarkers in Acute Cardiac Care (BACC) cohort, we recruited consecutive patients with acute ches

Digitalisering och förtroende är två fenomen som är intimt sammankopplade i offentliga organisationers interna och externa kommunikation. I denna rapport diskuteras på vilket sätt digitaliseringen av den svenska offentliga sektorn är cen-tral både för medborgarnas förtroende och tillit till myndigheter i en alltmer kommunikativt komplex värld, och för medarbetarnas förtroende och tillit till sina

Obesity, and obesity-associated conditions such as hypertension, chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, are important risk factors for severe Coronavirus dis-ease-2019 (COVID-19). The common denominator is metaflammation, a portmanteau of metabolism and inflammation, which is characterized by chronically elevated levels of leptin and pro-inflam-matory cytokines. These

Worldwide, and especially in Western civilizations, most of the staple diets contain high amounts of fat and refined carbohydrates, leading to an increasing number of obese individuals. In addition to inducing metabolic disorders, energy dense food intake has been suggested to impair brain functions such as cognition and mood control. Here we demonstrate an impaired memory function already 3 days

Over the past decades, it has become more and more obvious that ongoing globalisation processes have substantial impacts on the natural environment. Studies reveal that intensified global economic relations have caused or accelerated dramatic changes in the Earth system, defined as the sum of our planet’s interacting physical, chemical, biological and human processes (Schellnhuber et al. 2004). Cl