We present minimalistic and cost-efficient instrumentation employing tunable diode laser gas spectroscopy for the characterization of porous and highly scattering solids. The sensitivity reaches 3 x 10(-6) (absorption fraction), and the improvement with respect to previous work in this field is a factor of 10. We also provide the first characterization of the interference phenomenon encountered in

Background and objectives Multi-institutional quality improvement registries (QI registries) are a promising approach to quality improvement. They are also used for clinical research, public quality reporting and other valuable purposes. The aim of this study was to identify elements and outcomes of national policies to promote registries in Sweden and to compare them with recent policies in the U

A calorimetric method to determine water activity covering the full range of the water activity scale is presented. A dry stream of nitrogen gas is passed either over the solution whose activity should be determined or left dry before it is saturated by bubbling through water in an isothermal calorimeter. The unknown activity is in principle determined by comparing the thermal power of vaporizatio

Light-harvesting in fucoxanthin-chlorophyll protein (FCP) of diatoms is performed by a cluster of chromophores: chlorophylls a (Chl a), chlorophylls c(2) (Chl c(2)), and carotenoids fucoxanthins. It is well-known that energy captured by fucoxanthin is transferred to Chl a on a subpicosecond time scale. However, the energy flow channel connecting Chl c(2) and Chl a remained elusive. In this study,

Though the concept of innovation systems has become influential in both academia and policy-making, an analytical approach to understanding innovation systems is still lacking. In particular, there is no analytical framework to measure 'Mode 1' and 'Mode 2' knowledge production. We propose a framework based on the proximity concept. Mode 1 and Mode 2 knowledge production are characterized by colla

Closed-loop control of anesthesia is expected to decrease drug dosage and wake up time while increasing patient safety and decreasing the work load of the anesthesiologist. The potential of closed-loop control in anesthesia has been demon- strated in several clinical studies. One of the challenges in the development of a closed-loop system that can be widely accepted by clinicians and regulatory a

The aim of this study was to evaluate the consequences on the physical workload of new solutions in the forklift cab environment for the driver by quantifying the physical workload on the neck, shoulders, arms and wrists as an effect of steering systems. Twelve male subjects conducted identical test cycles with three types of steering: normal, tilted and miniature. The physical load on the drivers

Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its sibling species Saccharomyces paradoxus are known to inhabit temperate arboreal habitats across the globe. Despite their sympatric distribution in the wild, S. cerevisiae is predominantly associated with human fermentations. The apparent ecological differentiation of these species is particularly striking in Europe where S. paradoxus is abundant in forests and S. c

The Oskarshamn and Forsmark areas in the Fennoscandian Shield, SE Sweden, have been chosen as potential sites for hosting highly radioactive nuclear waste. To evaluate their respective suitability, the geological history of the bedrock in these two areas has been investigated. This study has focused on the thermal evolution, from c. 500 °C to c. 50 °C. 40Ar-39Ar geochronology on hornblende, muscov

This study examined variability of lip movements across repetitions of the same utterance as a function of age in Swedish speakers. The specific purpose was to extend earlier findings by examining variability in both phase and amplitude. Subjects were 50 typically developed native Swedish children and adults (28 females, 22 males, aged 5-31 years). Lip movements were recorded during 15-20 repetiti

According to the Swedish Health and Medical Services Act, healthcare is to be provided to the population according to need and on equal terms. It must also be accessible - a part of healthcare that has been criticized. In an effort to improve accessibility, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions and the government have both agreed to introduce a national care guarantee with effec

The collimation efficiency for Pb-208(82+) ion beams in the LHC is predicted to be lower than requirements Nuclear fragmentation and electromagnetic dissociation in the primary collimators create fragments with a wide range of Z/A ratios, which are not intercepted by the secondary collimators but lost where the dispersion has grown sufficiently large. In this article we present measurements and si

Triplefin fishes reach their greatest diversity in New Zealand with 26 endemic species, and habitat diversification has been implicated as a key factor in the divergence of this group. Despite this, it is unknown whether species-specific habitat patterns in these sympatric fishes are established by passive processes (e.g. differential mortality) or by habitat selection during settlement. We invest

This paper outlines some recent advances in the full-field experimental characterisation of the mechanics of granular geomaterials (in particular, sands) using a range of methods that provide characterisation at different scales, from the sample-scale down to the inter- and intra-grain scale. The techniques used are “full-field” approaches involving in-situ x-ray micro-tomography, 3D-volumetric di

We show an O^*(2^k)-time polynomial space algorithm for the k-sized Graph Motif problem. We also introduce a new optimization variant of the problem, called Closest Graph Motif and solve it within the same time bound. The Closest Graph Motif problem encompasses several previously studied optimization variants, like Maximum Graph Motif, Min-Substitute, and Min-Add. Moreover, we provide a piece of e

In this paper a number of low-complexity channel estimator structures tailored to the needs of LTE terminals have been investigated. The focus has been on the algorithms exhibiting reduced complexity while providing an acceptable level of performance. To design these estimators other factors such as interoperability with another OFDM-based standard, DVB-H, in a multi-standard environment have been

Urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UC) is a common malignancy. Although extensive transcriptome analysis has provided insights into the gene expression patterns of this tumor type, the mechanistic underpinnings of differential methylation remain poorly understood. Multi-level genomic data may be used to profile the regulatory potential and landscape of differential methylation in cancer and gain

It is well established that female choice may lead to sexual selection on quality-revealing ornaments in males. However, in many species, both sexes display conspicuous characters, which may reflect individual quality and condition. We examined the correlations between measures of individual condition, reproductive performance and variation in size and whiteness of white wing patches in both sexes