Linkoping University Research Articles

European Advanced Materials Congress (EAMC - 2016), Sweden

VBRI Press is pleased to announce ‘European Advanced Materials Congress, (EAMC) during 23 – 25 August 2016, Sweden. It is a three-day international event organised with collaboration of International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM), and Linkoping University on the Baltic Sea from Stockholm-Helsinki-Stockholm by the Viking Line Cruise M/S Mariella. The goal of congress is to provide a global platform for researchers and engineers coming from academia and industry to present their research results and activities in the field of fundamental and interdisciplinary research of materials science and technology.

Assessment of aortic valve stenosis severity using intelligent phonocardiography

a Physiological Measurements, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden b Department of Clinical Physiology, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden c Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden d Division of Medical Imaging and Technology, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden e Department of Clinical Physiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden f Department of Medical Technology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden g School of Technology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

How Students Perceive Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Group Tutorials at a Swedish Medical College.

Introduction: student perception of problem-based learning (PBL) group tutorials was investigated at a Swedish University Medical College 27 years after the introduction of PBL into the curriculum.Methods: a survey questionnaire comprising 43 questions answered on a Likert-type scale, together with one open question was used. The questionnaire was distributed to all 821 students taking part in the Linkoping University medical program at the beginning of the Spring Term 2013. The results were subjected to explorative factor analysis, descriptive statistics and ANOVA. Responses to the open question where analyzed qualitatively by categorization.Results: 84 per cent of the 821 students completed the survey. Four factors describing student perception were identified: 1) PBL as a method of learning; 2) the tutor’s role; 3) PBL, stress and feelings of insecurity; and 4) traditional teaching methods within the PBL curriculum. The Cronbach´s alpha value was 0,788 overall. Two hundred and seventy-six students answered the open question declaring that they would appreciate more precise aims and objectives, smaller tutorial groups, and more formal lectures.Conclusions: the results of this study on PBL group tutorials, as seen from the student’s perspective, stress the importance of tutorial quality, tutor competence, tutorial group size and the quality and aims of the curriculum. Too much emphasis on the teacher’s research merits against the educational ones, and the inability to adapt to the needs and wishes of new generations of students seems a probable cause for the erosion of PBL.

Increased fatty infiltration of the multifidus muscle in individuals with severe disability due to chronic whiplash-associated disorders

A. Peolsson1, A. Karlsson2,3, J. West 2,4, U. Aslund1, O. Smedby2, P. Zsigmond5, O. Dahlqvist Leinhard 2,4 1Medical and Health Sciences, Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden; 2 Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization, Linkoping University and Linkoping University Hospital, Linkoping, Sweden; 3 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Medical Informatics, Faculty of Technology, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden; 4 Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Radiological Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden; 5 Department of Neurosurgery, Linkoping University Hospital, Linkoping, Sweden

Board #144 - Research Abstract From ‘There’ to ‘Here’ to ‘Elsewhere’

INTRODUCTION Simulation is gaining international interest as a way to arrange a safe environment for practicing clinical, communicative and interprofessional competence in professional education within health care. However, simulation was originally developed to support and train professionals. The application of medical simulation in interprofessional education for students is still underresearched and undertheorised (1). Recent research and theory argue that professional learning in simulation is embodied, relational, and situated in social-material relations (2,3). Research on how instructional design of simulation as an integrated part of professional curricula support student learning is needed (4), as well as research focusing on what the relevant characteristics of debriefing that lead to effective learning are (1). The aim of this study is to explore the enactment of debriefing as a support for learning in interprofessional medical education simulation.METHODSThis paper draw on findings from a large research project conducted by research environments at Linkoping University (LiU), Karolinska Institute (KI) and University of Gothenburg (GU), Sweden. The data have been collected by standardised video recordings of all phases in the simulation (briefing, simulation and debriefing phases). Totally 30 simulation sessions were video recorded, 10 sessions by each research team. Out of these recordings, 13 simulation sessions were professional teams and 17 sessions were nursing and medical students simulating as a compulsory part of their education in the last semester before graduation. The student sessions are around 18 hours of recordings and altogether 106 students, 71 females and 35 males, participated in the simulation either as active participants in the simulation or as observers. 66 were nursing students and 40 were medical students. The research project has been ethically approved by Linkoping University, Sweden (Dnr 2012/439-31).RESULTSA framework for the analysis of the video recordings was developed on the basis of socio-material theory, with a particular focus on interprofessional collaboration. Sayings, doings and relatings in the debriefing with regard to specific activities or events during the sequence of the scenario were noted through ethnographic field notes and selected segments were transcribed (5). A purposeful constant comparative qualitative analysis (6) was made in three steps comparing sequences of the scenario 1) within a single video recording 2) between different video recordings of the same scenario 3) between video recordings of different scenarios. The findings suggest that interprofessional learning in medical education simulation can become jeopardised in the debriefing. Three interrelated aspects of lacking support for learning were identified, a) debriefing as algorithm or as laissez-faire, b) neglect of team performance as a topic for reflection, and c) time constraints.CONCLUSIONSThe results raise questions whether debriefing in medical simulation as modelled on training of qualified health professionals provides a useful framework applied in undergraduate education with students learning to become health professionals. The experiences of the simulation ‘there’ are intended to become re-contextualised in the debriefing ‘here’. Our findings indicate that the socio-material arrangements of the debriefing instead risk taking the students ‘elsewhere’. Structure or lack of structure of the debriefing seem both to jeopardise the support of interprofessional learning or even overlook interprofessional collaboration as a topic for reflection. The time constraints of the complex logistics of arranging interprofessional simulation-based education as a regular curricular activity for large classes can potentially turn debriefing into a superficial exercise with little or no connection to the intended learning outcomes.REFERENCES1) Issenberg B. Ringsted C. Ostergaard D. Dieckmann P. Setting a Research Agenda for Simulation-Based Healthcare Education. A Synthesis of the Outcome From an Utstein Style Meeting. Sim Healthcare 2011; 6:155–167.2) Nystrom S. Dahlberg J. Hult H. Crossing locations of enacting and observing simulations: Ways of constructing interprofessional learning. Paper to be presented at the Second International ProPEL conference 'Professional Matters: Materialities and Virtualities of Professional Learning', University of Stirling, UK; 2014, 25-27 June.3) Schatzki T. The site of the social: A philosophical account of the constitution of social life and change. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press; 2002.4) Motola I, Sullivan J, Issenberg S, Devine L, Chung H. Simulation in healthcare education: A best evidence practical guide. AMEE Guide No. 82. Medical Teacher [serial online]. October 1, 2013;35(10):e1511-e1530.5) Heath C. Hindmarsh J. Luff P. Video in qualitative research: analysing social interaction in everyday life. Los Angeles: SAGE; 2010.6) Boeije H. A Purposeful Approach to the Constant Comparative Method in the Analysis of Qualitative Interviews. Quality & Quantity 2002; 36:391–409.

Introduction to JAME Special Issue on QUIS 13

We welcome you for the fourth time to a special issue on QUIS. Quis (Quality in Services) is an organization founded in 1988 by service researchers at Arizona State University, Karlstad University, and Warwick Business School who wanted to bring together the growing international community involved in studying services marketing and management. QUIS has grown over the years to now be considered as the world's leading biannual symposium on service research and brings together the best interdisciplinary academic research and management practice from around the world. This year's symposium, QUIS 13, drew more than 200 attendees from over 30 countries presenting 130 competitive papers. It was held in June, 2013 at Karlstad University which was also the site of the first QUIS conference in 1988.In this issue we again offer five of the best papers that we think will be of interest to our readers as management scholars. Emphasizing the world wide interest in services and the management of service organizations, these papers we selected are written by authors from six different nations, none of which is the United States. These show the importance and extent of the work being done outside the USA on services. The first two papers are focused on the increasing research interest in how manufacturing organizations are expanding their strategic focus to incorporate the service component of their product offerings. The first of these is "A Novel Categorization of Industrial Services- Analysis of Service Offerings of Manufacturing Companies" by Heini Lehtonen and Hanna Kostama of Aalto University's School of Science in Finland. This paper presents a managerially oriented, yet theory-based, industrial service classification that can be used as a practical tool for structuring, analyzing, comparing and communicating industrial service portfolios that the authors term COIN. The second paper on the topic of integrating services into a product organization's innovation strategy is "New Service Development in Manufacturing Firms: Do the Basic Rules Apply?" by Lars Witell, Linkoping University, Sweden, Bo Edvardsson, Karlstad University, Sweden, Thomas Meiren, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering, Germany, Adrienne Schafer, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Switzerland. The purpose of this paper is to test hypotheses about new service development (NSD) in manufacturing firms. This study investigated 785 NSD projects to learn the role of the NSD strategy, how to use resources, how to organize, and the development process to use. …

Alkaline phosphatase bone isoform B1x: a marker of impaired osteoblastic function in patients with renal osteodystrophy

a Division of Clinical Chemistry, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden b Department of Nephrology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden c Division of Nephrology, Bone and Mineral Metabolism, University of Kentucky, Albert B. Chandler Medical Center, Lexington, USA * These authors contributed equally as senior authors. Alkaline phosphatase bone isoform B1x a marker of impaired osteoblastic function in patients with renal osteodystrophy

2014 Young Investigator Award of the American Physiological Society Renal Section

2014 Young Investigator Award of the American Physiological Society Renal Section

Societal cost of skin cancer in Sweden in 2011.

Healthcare costs due to outpatient care and primary care Societal Cost of Skin Cancer in Sweden in 2011 Therese Eriksson1 and Gustav Tinghog1,2* Division of Health Care Analysis, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, and Division of Economics, Department for Management and Engineering, Linkoping University, SE-581 83 Linkoping, Sweden. *E-mail: gustav.tinghog@liu.se Accepted Aug 11, 2014; Epub ahead of print Aug 11, 2014

Internet-Based Treatments - Experiences from Sweden

Worldwide, Gerhard Andersson is one of the most influential researchers working on internet-based psychological treatments. Moreover, he is also one of the leading researchers in the field of psychologically oriented tinnitus research. He is full professor of clinical psychology at Linkoping University and affiliated professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Section Psychiatry. Professor Andersson has been highly productive, having produced more the 300 scientific papers. During his whole career he has worked part-time with patients. Apart from his own research and clinical work, Professor Andersson has editorial responsibilities for several journals including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Plos One, BMC Psychiatry, and Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. The interview was conducted by Professor Thomas Berger.

Recombinant Mal d 1 is a reliable diagnostic tool for birch pollen allergen–associated apple allergy

From the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, and CIMed, Centre for Individualised Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden; the State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Central Laboratory of Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China; the Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; and the Department of Pediatrics, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. E-mail: mikael.benson@liu.se. Or: hui.wang@gu.se. *These authors contributed equally to this work. These authors share senior authorship of this work. Supported by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme, grant agreement no. 223367; MultiMod; the Swedish Medical Research Council; and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 81201598). Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: S. Zhao has received grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China. B. Bohle has received grants from the Austrian Science Fund and Christian Doppler Research Foundation, has consultant arrangements with the Food Allergy Resource and Research Program, and has grants/grants pending with the Austrian Science Fund. M. Benson has received grants and has grants/grants pending from the European Union and the Swedish Research Council. The rest of the authors declare that they have no relevant conflicts of interest.

To Fill Academic Work with Political Passion: Nina Lykke's Cosmodolphins and Contemporary Post/Academic Writing Strategies

This article is part of a project, which builds on interviews with feminist scholars about the complex activity of writing research. The focus is on exploring processes of writing and genre in the context of a feminist academic author’s career and to reflect on these in relation to a context of contemporary post/academic writing strategies. The article builds on a publicly staged dialogue with Nina Lykke, Professor of Gender Studies with special reference to Gender and Culture at Linkoping University, Sweden, focusing on themes such as academic authoring, ‘wild others’ and unexpected encounters. In particular the writing of Lykke’s book Cosmodolphins. Feminist Cultural Studies of Technology, Animals and the Sacred (with Mette Bryld, 2000) is acknowledged. Political passion and queerness pave way for analysing the emergence of a genre-blending creative writing methodology. The article argues that contemporary multiple and shifting interdisciplinary forms of writing methodologies are the product of complex conditions related to terrains of academic life, social relations of power, and for feminist scholars - a passion for change.

Should more be done during pregnancy to reduce allergies in children?

*Division of Inflammation Medicine, Department of Clinical & Experimental Medicine/AIR pl 10, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linkoping University, SE-581 85 Linkoping, Sweden; Tel.: +46 10 103 41 01; Fax: +46 13 13 22 57; maria.jenmalm@liu.se “The allergy epidemic must be counteracted by research identifying successful preventive measures ... early-life events occurring during critical windows of immune vulnerability can have a long-term impact on immune development.”

Do partners to patients with heart failure experience caregiver burden?

NIH Public Access Author Manuscript Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 September 27. NIH-PA Author Manuscript Published in final edited form as: Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2010 December ; 9(4): 254–262. doi:10.1016/j.ejcnurse.2010.03.001. Do partners of patients with chronic heart failure experience caregiver burden? Susanna Agren a,b,c,* , Lorraine Evangelista d , and Anna Stromberg a,e a Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Division of Nursing Science, Linkoping University, Sweden b Department c Swedish d School of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Linkoping University Hospital, Sweden Institute for Health Sciences, Sweden of Nursing University of California Los Angeles, USA e Department of Cardiology Linkoping University Hospital, Sweden NIH-PA Author Manuscript Abstract Aims—To describe the levels and identify independent predictors of caregiver burden in partners of patients with heart failure. Background—Care and support from a partner are important for the well-being of patients with heart failure and may potentially delay disease progression. However, caregiving may be associated with burden and stress and it is therefore important to understand which factors that influence caregiver burden. Theoretical models of caregiving describe the concept of burden as an outcome variable, including decreased well-being and health. Methods—Data for this descriptive cross-sectional study were collected between January 2005 and September 2008. The dependent variable consisted of the Caregiver Burden Scale total score index. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, health-related quality of life, symptoms of depression, perceived control, and knowledge on heart failure were included in a regression analysis to determine independent predictors of caregiver burden. NIH-PA Author Manuscript Results—The 135 partners had a mean-age of 69 years and 75% were females. Caregiver burden was perceived as medium in 30% of the partners. The patients’ Physical Component Score of SF-36 (p<0.001), partners’ Mental Component Score of SF-36 (p<0.001) and perceived control (p<0.01) accounted for 39% of the variance in caregiver burden. Conclusion—Caregiver burden was lower when the mental health of the partner and the physical health of the patient were better and the partner experienced higher control over the heart disease. A partner-centered approach to educate and support partners of patients with heart failure is essential to improve the life situation for patient–partner dyads. Keywords Caregiver burden; Depression; Health-related quality of life; Heart failure; Partner; Nursing © 2010 European Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Corresponding author. Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Division of Nursing Science, Linkoping University, S-581 85 Linkoping, Sweden. Tel.: +46 13 227759. susanna.agren@liu.se . levangel@ucla.edu (L. Evangelista), anna.stromberg@liu.se (A. Stromberg).

Erratum to: “Phototoxic Effects of Zinc Oxide Nanowires (ZnO NWs) Complexed with 5-ALA in RD Cell Line”

M. Fakhar e Alama, b, S. M. U. Alia, c, Z. H. Ibupotoa, M. Atifb, d, and M. Willandera a Department of Science and Technology, Campus Norrkoping, Linkoping University, SE 60174 Norrkoping, Sweden b Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nilore, Islamabad, 45650, Pakistan c Department of Electronic Engineering, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi 75270, Pakistan d Research Chair for Laser Diagnosis of Cancer, Physics and Astronomy Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Received June 5, 2011; in final form, June 9, 2011

Euro-Education: Employability for all (EEE4all)

Employment is a priority in the European Union, and it is essential to address the needs of individuals disadvantaged at the labour market on grounds such as ethnicity, age, gender or disability, to increase the opportunities for these groups to gain employment. The Council of the European Union recognize the important role of national organisations in increasing gender equality and the need to integrate a gender perspective in all policies. Gender equality perspectives should also, according to the EU Plan of Action and Gender Equality be integrated in education. To equip students in higher education with knowledge, about gender, age, disability and ethnicity in relation to employability, a European group initiated a project; Euro-Education: Employability for all (EEE4all). The project, funded by the European Lifelong Learning Programme, was aimed to develop and implement four course modules, each relating to employability with different focus: gender, age, disability or ethnicity. In this paper design, implementation, and evaluation of the course focused on gender, provided by the Occupational Therapy Programme at Linkoping University, is described. The students highlighted the importance of awareness and knowledge about gender theory and its application in relation to employability and client-centred approach.

Creating entrepreneurial networks: academic entrepreneurship, mobility and collaboration during PhD education

Network-building activities of PhD students are an important area of study in furthering our understanding of academic entrepreneurship. This paper focuses on PhD students’ participation in network-building activities defined as mobility and collaboration, as well as own interest in and perceived grade of support for commercialisation from various levels of the university hierarchy. The results of a large-scale survey (of 1,126 PhD students at Linkoping University, Sweden, 41% response rate) presented here show that the majority of PhD students are engaged in collaborations with external organisations, though quite few (one quarter) have spent a part of their PhD education outside their home university. PhD students from all faculties are on average interested in commercialisation and in favour of it. However, PhD students from the faculty of Health Sciences state that it is difficult for them to combine research and commercialisation. Furthermore, interest in commercialisation of research results is relatively lowest amongst those PhD students who are undertaking mobility placements at other universities, thus pointing to an experienced incompatibility of research and academic entrepreneurship.

Introducing Dr. Shoogo Ueno, honored recipient of the 12th d'Arsonval medal conferred by the bioelectromagnetics society, 2010

It is a privilege to introduce the 12th recipient of the d'Arsonval Medal, Dr. Shoogo Ueno. The d'Arsonval Medal is the highest honor bestowed by the Bioelectromagnetics Society (BEMS) and is awarded for extraordinary accomplishments in the field of bioelectromagnetics. Dr. Ueno's accomplishments indeed have been extraordinary and he presents a summary of his extensive scientific theories and findings in his following article entitled “Studies on Magnetism and Bioelectromagnetics for 45 Years: From Magnetic Analog Memory to Human Brain Stimulation and Imaging.” In this introduction, I will mention just a few of the highlights of his career. Dr. Ueno received his PhD in 1972 in electronic engineering from Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, and then served as an associate professor at the same university from 1976 to 1986. From 1979 to 1981, he was on sabbatical with the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Linkoping University, Sweden. Beginning in 1986, he served for 8 years as a professor in the Department of Electronics at Kyushu University. In 1994, he moved to the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo, where he worked for the next 12 years. During this period it was my honor to speak at Dr. Ueno's laboratory and to have the unique experience of seeing my arm and fingers involuntarily move through space from transcranial magnetic stimulation by his figure-eight magnetic coil. In 2006 Dr. Ueno retired from the University of Tokyo and returned to Fukuoka, both as a professor in the Department of Applied Quantum Physics at Kyushu University, and as a dean of the Faculty of Medical Technology at Teikyo University. Dr. Ueno has authored well over 200 publications and presented over 70 invited lectures. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Dr. Ueno has received a great many other honors and awards and has provided significant service to the bioelectromagnetics community, not the least of which was his tenure as President of the Bioelectromagnetics Society from 2003 to 2004. In fact, it was while he was President of BEMS that he solicited me to run for election to the Board of Directors and, subsequently, President of the Society. I close this introduction by citing the wording from the illuminated testimonial provided to Dr. Ueno on the occasion of his being conferred the d'Arsonval Medal. “The Board of Directors of the Bioelectromagnetics Society takes great pleasure in conferring the d'Arsonval Medal to Shoogo Ueno for his extraordinary creativity and accomplishments in bioelectromagnetics, allowing us to image and study the very origins of sensation, thought, and action. His discoveries have elucidated new dimensions and resolutions of neurocartography and enabled hope for magnetic treatments of disorders of mind and body. As with Moses parting the waters, he has provided new means for discriminating the whisperings of the cells above the surrounding cacophony. For these and other discoveries and for honoring us with his extensive service to the Bioelectromagnetics Society, we humbly confer the Society's highest honor on this fifteenth day of June in the year 2010 in Seoul, Korea.” It is indeed a privilege and a pleasure for me to introduce the newest d'Arsonval Medalist of the Bioelectromagnetics Society, Dr. Shoogo Ueno.

Cytokine networks for implantation and early pregnancy: immunologic status in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization

M. Perssona,∗, C. Ekerfelt a, B. Jablonowskab, Y. Jonssona, J. Ernerudha, M.C. Jenmalma,b, G. Bergb a Division of Inflammation Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden b Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden

Individualized pharmacological treatment of oral mucositis pain in patients with head and neck cancer receiving radiotherapy

Pain is a prominent symptom in radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis (OM). This study assesses the effect of pharmacological treatment in head and neck cancer patients with OM-induced pain and swallowing difficulties. This study included 82 patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy and referred to the Pain and Rehabilitation Centre at Linkoping University Hospital in Sweden because of OM-induced pain. During 1 week, pain assessment, onset of individually tailored choice of drugs, treatment evaluation, and adjustments, were undertaken. Combinations of acetaminophen, non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), and opioids were by steps applied. To evaluate effects, the patients answered the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-head and neck 35 in connection with the initial pain assessment and 1 week later. Worsening of soreness in mouth and overall worsening of swallowing difficulties were seen in the patients referred within the third week of radiotherapy, showing increased severity of OM during the current week (n=59). Pain and swallowing difficulties were unchanged in patients referred later than the third week, showing unchanged severity of OM during the current week (n=23). The answers to the questionnaire showed that the individualized pain treatment with systemic analgesics exploited to the highest degree was insufficient. Future development of pharmacological possibilities for treatment of OM-related pain is urgent. In addition, development of structured nursing care and patient self-care can contribute to improved pain relief.