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Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether echocardiographic assessment of myocardial work is a predictor of outcome in advanced heart failure. Background: Global work index (GWI) and global constructive work (GCW) are calculated bymeans of speckle tracking, blood pressuremeasurement, and a normalized reference curve. Their prognostic value in advanced heart failure is unknown. Methods: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing and echocardiography with assessment of GWI and GCW was performed in patients with advanced heart failure caused by ischemic heart disease or dilated cardiomyopathy (n = 105). They were then followed up repeatedly. The combined endpoint was all-cause death, implantation of a left ventricular assist device, or heart transplantation. Results: The median patient age was 54 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 48–59.9). The mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 27.8 ± 8.2%, the median NT-proBNP was 1,210 pg/ml (IQR: 435–3,696). The mean GWI was 603 ± 329 mmHg% and the mean GCW was 742 ± 363 mmHg%. The correlation between peak oxygen uptake and GWI as well as GCW was strongest in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (r = 0.56, p = 0.001 and r = 0.53, p = 0.001, respectively). The median follow-up was 16 months (IQR: 12–18.5). Thirty one patients met the combined endpoint: Four patients died, eight underwent transplantation, and 19 underwent implantation of a left ventricular assist device. In themultivariate Cox regression analysis, only NYHA class, NT-proBNP and GWI (hazard ratio [HR] for every 50 mmHg%: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.77–0.94; p = 0.002) as well as GCW (HR for every 50 mmHg%: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.79–0.94; p = 0.001) were identified as independent predictors of the endpoint. The cut-off value for predicting the outcome was 455 mmHg% for GWI (AUC: 0.80; p < 0.0001; sensitivity 77.4%; specificity 71.6%) and 530 mmHg% for GCW (AUC: 0.80; p < 0.0001; sensitivity 74.2%; specificity 78.4%). Conclusions: GWI and GCW are powerful predictors of outcome in patients with advanced heart failure.

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In this work the susceptibility of Fe-10Cr-4Al steel to liquid metal embitterment (LME)in low oxygen environment was investigated. slow strain rate testing (SSRT) wereconducted on 10-4 FeCrAl steel in a stagnant lead from 340-480◦C, lead-bismutheutectic (LBE) from 140-450◦C and lead-bismuth mixture at 375◦C with increasingbismuth content from 0.1wt%-40wt%. The results showed that in the stagnant leadenvironment the FeCrAl steel showed no sign of LME with all samples being subjectedto around 25% strain before final break. In LBE the samples were affected by LMEespecially at 350-400◦C. The total elongation to failure reduced in LBE from 25%to 13.1% and a ductility trough from 190-400◦C was observed. In the lead-bismuthmixture there was a reduction in ductility at 5wt% going from 25% to 20% totalelongation, at 15wt% going from 20% to 16% total elongation and at 30wt% going from16% to 13% total elongation. / I det här arbetet har stålet Fe-10Cr-4Al känslighet till liquidmetal embrittlemnt(LME)i låga syre miljöer av flytande bly, mellan 340-480 °C, och Bly/Vismut eutektisk (LBE),mellan 140-450 °C, undersökts. En stegvis ökning av Vismut halten i flytande blygenfördes också från 0.1 wt% Bi till 40 wt% Bi med en fast temperatur på 375 °C.Resultaten från dessa experiment visade att i ren bly miljö så visade stålet Fe-10Cr-4Al inga tecken på LME, alla prover gick till brott runt 25% strain. I LBE blev ståletsvårt på verkat av LME, framför allt inom temperaturer intervallet 350-400 °C. Dentotala förlängningen av proverna blev här reducerat från 25% ner till 13.1% och en klarduktilitets tråg mellan 190-400 °C kunde observeras. I experimenten med gradvisökande Vismut halt observerades markanta nedgångar i stålets duktilitet vid 5 wt%Bi då den droppar från 25% till 20% förlängning, nästa dropp observerades vid 15 wt%Bi, 20%-16% och vid 30 wt% Bi med ett reduktion från 16% till 13%.

Additive manufacturing (AM) also commonly known as 3D-printing is a manufacturing method which creates parts from adding layer into another. In the field of printed electronics Inkjet printing (IJP) and Aerosol Jet printing (AJP) are the most common AM techniques. IJP and AJP are non-contact-based printing techniques where ink is deposited on a surface with droplets. AJP aerosolizes the ink into a mist which is deposited on a surface according to the predetermined pattern. IJP instead produces singular droplets when printing. These printing methods have been used for manufacturing various printed electronics such as strain gauges which has been the focus of this project.  The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the feasibility of printing strain gauges. Through a literature study the overall function and use for strain gauges and various printing methods were investigated, as well as previous studies related to printed strain gauges using AJP and IJP. To further investigate one of these techniques, strain gauges were printed using Inkjet printing. The sensors were printed using two different inks, one containing silver particles and the other containing constantan particles. The strain gauges were also printed on various substrates such as Polyimide (PI) and Polyetheretherketone (PEEK), to determine the best material combination. The silver strain gauges were then sintered in an oven while the constantan sensors were sintered using photonic sintering. To evaluate each ink-substrate combination several tests was performed throughout the printing and sintering process. A tape test was used to determine adhesion, SEM analysis was performed to study the effect of the sintering process and the resistance was measured to calculate the conductivity and study the printability on different substrates. To characterise the printed strain gauges a bending test was performed where the change in resistance was measured with changing strain. The output was also studied over time to determine the stability of the printed sensors.  The silver ink showed overall better properties compared to the constantan ink, which could be due to that the silver ink has been more developed than the constantan ink. The resistivity of the silver ink was calculated to 7.0E-07 Ωm and the constantan ink to 2.23E-05 Ωm. The average gauge factor for the silver ink printed on PI was calculated to GFavg~1.6 at low strain and GFavg~2.1 at high strain, the silver samples printed on PEEK was GFavg~2.4 at low strain and GFavg~2.3 at higher strain, and the constantan samples was determined to GFavg~2.7 during loading at low strain and GFavg~17 at high strain due to deformation. Some of the samples printed with silver ink showed quite linear behaviour while the samples printed with constantan deformed when applying high stress. The silver samples printed on PEEK showed more hysteresis compared to the silver samples printed on PI, but the PEEK samples showed a better stability over time compared to PI.  The thesis shows that it is possible to manufacture strain gauges, but the result depends a lot on the ink and substrate material chosen. Silver inks has been developed over a long period and thus making it easier to handle and the result is better compared to newer inks such as constantan.

During the casting of a concrete bridge deck, the temporary formwork is causing the underlying ground to deform if a shallow foundation solution is used. There are often demands on the maximum deformation of the superstructure when designing the foundation for the formwork.  To keep the deformations within the desired limits, several ground improvement methods like deep mixing columns or deep foundation methods like piling can be used. Permanent ground improvement methods are however expensive, and far from always needed. To reduce the need for unnecessary ground improvements, it is crucial to calculate the predicted deformations accurately during the design phase. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how short-term deformations in clay under a formwork during bridge construction should be calculated more generally in future projects. Three different calculation models have here been used to calculate the ground deformations caused by the temporary formwork. A simple analytical calculation and two numerical calculations based on the Mohr Coulomb and Hardening Soil-Small constitutive models. The three calculation models were chosen based on their complexity. The analytical calculation model was the most idealised and the Hardening Soil-Small to be the most complex and most realistic model. Results show that the numerical calculation model Mohr Coulomb and the analytical calculation model gives the best results compared to the measured deformation. One of the most probable reasons for the result is that both of the models require a few input parameters that can easily be determined by well-known methods, such as triaxial-, routine- and CRS-tests. The more advanced Hardening soil small model requires many parameters to fully describe the behaviour of soil. Many of the parameters are hard to determine or seldom measured. Due to the larger uncertainties in the parameter selection compared with the other two models, the calculated deformation also contains larger uncertainties. / Vid gjutning av betongbrodäck kommer den underliggande marken att deformeras av den temporära formställningen, som tar upp lasterna medan betongen härdar. Det finns oftast krav på hur stora markdeformationerna maximalt får vara. För att hålla deformationerna inom gränserna kan diverse markförstärkningsmetoder, så som kalkcementpelare eller pålar, användas. Permanenta markförstärkningar är oftast väldigt dyra och inte alltid nödvändiga. Ett alternativ till att använda dyra markförstärkningar skulle kunna vara att beräkna den förutspådda deformationen med stor exakthet i projekteringsstadiet. Syftet med det här arbetet var att undersöka hur korttidsstätningar i lera vid en bronybyggnation ska beräknas mer generellt i framtida projekt.  I detta arbete har tre beräkningsmodeller använts för att beräkna markdeformationerna från den temporära formställningen. En enklare analytisk modell samt två numeriska beräkningsmodeller som baseras på Mohr Coulomb och Hardening Soil Small teorierna. De tre beräkningsmodellerna valdes utifrån deras komplexitet. Den analytiska beräkningen ansågs vara den mest förenklade modellen medan Hardening Soil-Small var den mest komplexa och realistiska modellen.   Resultatet visar att trots sin enkelhet så ger den numeriska beräkningsmodellen Mohr Coulomb och den analytiska beräkningen bäst resultat jämfört med de uppmätta deformationerna. En möjlig anledning till det goda resultatet är att modellerna endast kräver ett fåtal ingångsparametrar som kan bestämmas med hjälp av välkända fält- och laboratoriemetoder så som triaxialförsök, rutinlaboratorieförsök och CRS-försök. Den mer komplexa modellen Hardening Soil Small kräver flera ingångsparametrar för att kunna modellera jordens beteende. Många av parametrarna är svåra att bestämma då mätdata oftast saknas. Osäkerheterna i valet av ingångsparametrar för den mer komplexa hardening soil small modellen är större än de två andra studerade modellerna, vilekt även ger upphov till större osäkerheter i dem beräknade deformationerna.

In 2018, 1 in every 10 infants born in the United States was born preterm. The majority of neonatal deaths and nearly a third of infant deaths that occur are linked to preterm birth. Preterm birth is initiated when the quiescent state of the uterus ends prematurely, leading to contractions and parturition beginning as early as 32 weeks, though the origins are not well understood. Tocolytics are pharmaceuticals utilized to postpone preterm labor, but currently only manage to prolong pregnancy for up to 48 hours and have not proven effective in completely preventing preterm delivery. To enable research and discovery of therapeutics with potential to better address preterm birth, the capability to study isolated cell processes of pregnant uterine tissue in vitro is needed. Our development of an in vitro model of the myometrium utilizing uterine myocytes - uterine smooth muscle cells (uSMCs) responsible for contractions - provides a platform to examine the cellular mechanisms of late-stage pregnancy potentially involved in preterm birth. In this thesis, we discuss the optimized culture of uterine SMCs on a flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate functionalized using a cationic solution, Poly-L-lysine (PLL), followed by extracellular matrix (ECM) protein coating. Using the model we developed, we then exposed this elastic substrate with uterine SMCs to different strain rates in order to investigate the impact of mechanical strain parameters on uterine SMC hypertrophy in the uterus during late-stage pregnancy. It was found that PLL and ECM protein coatings significantly impact cell morphology and density in unstrained substrates. It was also observed that when exposed to strain conditions, strain significantly increased hypertrophic morphological traits in select conditions. These results indicate that both surface and mechanical properties of in vitro systems impact uterine SMC phenotype, offering further understanding of cellular pathways involved in the uterus under mechanical load. / 2024-05-31T00:00:00Z

The financial misconduct and corruption at the very top of the class system that in 2008 caused the collapse of the world economy saw no reaction from the criminal justice system. In contrast, the 2011 English Riots at the bottom rungs of society, estimated to have caused 200 million pounds of damages, produced a ruthless response from the judiciary where sentences were almost treble the usual rate. Politicians were quick to condemn the rioters as mere wanton criminals and framing their actions within a behavioural explanation calling for severe punishments. My thesis’s aim is to show that it was instead decades of neoliberal policies that pushed these people to vent their frustration through rioting. Their ensuing anomic ethic is understood by considering the rioters’ actions through the prism of both Strain Theory and Institutional Anomie Theory. To contextualise their place within today’s capitalist society I categorized them within an emerging social class: The Precariat. Through a qualitative analysis of 17 interviews’ extracts, all that transpired was their desires to be active consumers by grabbing what they could; the riots were merely an excuse to bypass the structurally imposed limits that stood before the desired higher social status. This research speaks of an increasingly unequal society, which positions individual economic success above collective well-being. These disturbances are symptoms of a deep seated malaise and of a stripped-down manifestation of what neoliberalism really is. To reverse it, we ought to implement holistic socioeconomic policies that empower people through the creation of secure and well-paid jobs, encourage collectivism over individualism and that promote better education towards sustainable living and happiness.

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