Background and purpose — Knee extensor (KE) muscle weakness is a modifiable feature commonly observed in individuals with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and constitutes a potential target for patient-specific interventions. Therefore, in this study, we explored whether KE weakness is associated with radiographic (medial and/or lateral) KOA progression and how this relationship differs depending on fron

Background: International guidelines recommend placement of intrauterine devices immediately after second-trimester medical abortion, but evidence concerning the optimal time for intrauterine device placement is lacking from clinical trials. Objective: This study aimed to investigate effectiveness, safety, and acceptability of intrauterine device placement within 48 hours, compared with placement

Objective: To study the impact of tumour necrosis factor-α inhibitor (TNFi) therapy on the use of non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) in Iceland. Method: This registry cohort study used data from the nationwide database on biologics in Iceland (ICEBIO) and the Icelandic Prescriptio

Pregnancy planning and genetic testing (PPGT) has emerged as a tool in reproductive healthcare, offering parents-to-be insight in their risks of having a child with a genetic disorder. This paper reviews the advantages, drawbacks and challenges associated with PPGT, providing some practical guidance for health care professionals. Advantages include identification of genetic risks, a possibility to

Introduction: Altered biomechanics, increased joint loading and tissue damage, might be related in a vicious cycle within the development of knee osteoarthritis (KOA). We have defined biomechanical factors as joint-related factors that interact with the forces, moments and kinematics in and around a synovial joint. Although a number of studies and systematic reviews have been performed to assess t

This chapter discusses creative agency in performing arts. It departs from three theatre productions all produced in different contexts. When exploring new formats with artists from many different art fields, the question of creative agency becomes pivotal: artistic dilemmas can’t be solved by any one artist alone-joint efforts are needed to find solutions on how to blend different modes of repres

The opening of habitats associated with the emergence of C4 grasslands during the Neogene had a massive influence on the evolution of plant and animal communities. Strikingly, the impacts of grassland expansion on species diversification in Africa, where the largest surface of grasslands and savannas in the world is located, are not well understood. To explore the impact of habitat opening, we inv

This study explores the everyday driving forces behind social advancement in the Swedish Baltic Sea region between 1680 and 1770. Characterized by the collapse of the Swedish Empire and increasing bureaucratization, this period presented obstacles to people seeking to improve their status within the prevailing hierarchical order. However, the supplication system consistently channelled social aspi

Objective: To determine if prior exposure to certain drugs is associated with increased risk of ANCA associated vasculitis(AAV).Patients and Method: We performed a population-based case–control study including patients with AAV diagnosed between2006 and 2019 from a defined geographic area in southern Sweden. For each case, we identified 10 controls randomly sampledfrom the background general popul

Background: Patients with ruptured gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) have poor prognosis. Little information is available about how adjuvant imatinib influences survival. Methods: We explored recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients with ruptured GIST who participated in a randomised trial (SSG XVIII/AIO), where 400 patients with high-risk GIST were allocated to ad

The rising influence of the far right in Europe and the advance of the climate crisis constitute intersecting trends. The AfD in Germany is no exception in gaining discursive and political power in this context of uncertainty. Particularly in the realm of social media and TikTok, the AfD receives unproportionate popularity and visibility, which enable the spread of its ideology-laden discourse and

The kraft pulp bleaching process presents significant operational challenges due to its inherent non-linear reactions and unpredictable delays, complicating effective control and optimization. This thesis aims to improve the efficiency of the process through modeling it, and lays the groundwork for a new and improved automatic model-based control system. It explores a way of handling the varying d

In the capitalist system, there is a need to envision alternatives that advocate for a more just and sustainable world. Alternative scholarships, such as degrowth, aim to counter the hegemonic narrative of food commodification by promoting practices that put social and environmental well-being at the forefront. This ethnographic research outlines the alternative strategies of tackling food waste a

Buildings worldwide account for 30% of energy consumption and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) represent roughly 38% of a building’s consumption. Therefore, energy savings are crucial for sustainability. The complexity of buildings, with diverse physical domains and large-scale components, presents challenges to achieving energy-efficient operation. Implementing high-performance co

Operational systems, such as industrial automation, autonomous vehicles, and larger air/sea/landcrafts, often contain a large number of heavily connected systems with real-time requirements for their functionality. For such systems, detecting and responding to anomalies is both challenging and crucial. Until recently, such anomalies were monitored using heuristic methods, or even humans monitoring

The wide adoption of machine learning (ML) models in resource-constrained devices for complex vision tasks is contingent on improved computational efficiency. Quantization is a tool for model compression in which weights and activations are approximated with low-precision datatypes, to achieve a smaller model with reduced latency and memory usage. In this thesis, we seek to apply post-training mix

In the field of automatic control, embedded Model Predictive Control (MPC) presents significant advantages, including efficiency, constraint incorporation, and non-causal setpoint handling. Despite its potential, the implementation of MPC in resource-constrained environments remains challenging due to its computational demands. This thesis explores the design and implementation of MPC within ABB’s

Buildings worldwide account for roughly 40% of the total energy consumption which boils down to generating 30% of the total carbon dioxide emissions. Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems are the largest consumers of energy within these structures. The complexity of building cooling systems poses significant challenges for achieving optimal control. Conventional approaches to i