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A major focus of Alzheimer's disease (AD) research has been finding sensitive outcome measures to disease progression in preclinical AD, as intervention studies begin to target this population. We hypothesize that tailored measures of longitudinal change of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) subregions (the sites of earliest cortical tangle pathology) are more sensitive to disease progression in precl
Las soluciones basadas en la naturaleza tienen el potencial de ofrecer múltiples ventajas de cara a diversos retos de sostenibilidad a los que se enfrentan las ciudades. Pueden ayudar a limitar el impacto del cambio climático, expandir la biodiversidad y mejorar la calidad medioambiental, así como contribuir a las actividades económicas y el bienestar social. Siga leyendo para descubrir en qué con
Objective: Predicting treatment response and disease progression in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains an elusive endeavour. Identifying subgroups of patients with similar progression is essential for understanding what hinders improvement. However, this cannot be achieved with response criteria based on current versus previous Disease Activity Scores, as they lack the time component. We propose a
Regardless of one’s opinion of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs), it is hardly possible to work in hospital care and not be exposed to the term or its practical effects. Despite the term being relatively new, the number of publications in the field is vast, including several excellent reviews of general and specific aspects. Work in antimicrobial stewardship is complex, and includes not on
Background: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular events such as stroke. However, it is still unclear if decreased kidney function is associated with a vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque phenotype. To explore if renal function was associated with carotid plaque vulnerability we analyzed carotid plaques obtained at surgery from the Carotid Plaque Imagin
Background: Managing acute abdominal pain in the large and growing population of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB)–operated patients poses a challenge to general surgeons, because of diagnostic limitations and the risk of internal herniation. Objective: To investigate the diagnoses, management, and outcome of RYGB patients admitted for acute abdominal pain. Setting: University Hospital, Sweden. Meth
The transition to a resource efficient economy that makes effective use of raw materials and energy is a multi-level dynamic process requiring a wide systems perspective. To operationalize this transition in a holistic manner, the concept of Circular Economy (CE) has been championed by major economies around the world. The idea with CE is to strive towards maximizing the utilization of products, c
A method to determine the influencing parameters of a structural and damage detection system is proposed based on the value of information analysis. The value of information analysis utilizes the Bayesian pre-posterior decision theory to quantify the value of damage detection system for the structural integrity management during service life. First, the influencing parameters of the structural sys
We analyse the performance of risk reduction strategies for terrorist attacks with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) for large governmental building structures in terms of cost-efficiency, significance and effectiveness accounting for life safety in conjunction with societal preferences and capabilities. The approach builds upon an extended Bayesian pre-posterior decision analysis and the princi
The use of load and structural performance measurement information is vital for efficient structural integrity management and for the cost of energy production with Offshore Wind Turbines (OWTs). OWTs are dynamically sensitive structures subject to an interaction with a control unit exposed to repeated cyclic wind and wave loads causing deterioration and fatigue. This study focuses on the quantifi
This paper proposes a framework for the planning of the structural integrity and risk management (SIRM) of offshore structures by utilizing the value of information and action (VoIA) analysis. Multiple structural health information sources, i.e. inspections, structural health monitoring (SHM) and damage detection systems (DDS), are modeled in dependency of the information acquirement state. In the
This paper introduces an extended formulation of decision analyses, which provides an enhanced basis for the definition of the value of information, the value of actions and the value of actions and information analyses. The formulation of decision analyses is (1) extended by introducing an action implementation uncertainty and - following the reasoning of Raiffa and Schlaifer (1961) - (2) by cons
Fatigue safety verification of existing bridges that uses ''re-calculation'' based on codes, usually results in insufficient fatigue safety, triggering invasive interventions. Instead of “re-calculation”, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) should be used for the assessment of the existing bridges. Monitoring systems provide data that can reduce uncertainties associated with the fatigue loading pro
Structural Health Information (SHI) may be provided by various sources such as e.g. structural health monitoring, inspections, testing and digital technologies and networks as by the Industry Internet of Things (HOT). SHI holds a high potential for industrial, life safety and sustainability value and facilitates an optimal and intelligent life cycle management of infrastructure and machinery syste
Risk-based inspection (RBI) planning is concerned with the optimal allocation of deterioration control which is based on the pre-posterior analysis using the Bayesian decision theory and the expected utility theory. It has been widely used to make inspection and repair strategy in the field of civil engineering and infrastructure systems. Nowadays, with the developments of sensing and inspection t
This paper contains a quantification and decision theoretical optimization of the posterior utilities for several options for monitoring campaigns on the particular case of fatigue life predictions of an orthotropic steel deck. The monitoring campaigns are defined by varying monitoring durations and phases. The decision analysis is performed with real data from the Structural Health Monitoring (SH
We introduce a new concept that enables a decision analyst to explore and quantify the benefits of decision alternatives that exceed the scope of a pre-posterior decision or value of information analysis. This new concept, namely, the expected value of sample information and action analysis, facilitates to examine decision alternatives that become only possible with additional knowledge. The conce
