Swedish Origin Research Articles

Population-based risk factors and urogenital comorbidities associated with genital herpes: A nationwide study of 4 million women

ObjectivesTo explore the population-based risk factors for genital herpes in women and examine whether genital herpes occurs at higher rates in women diagnosed with cervical neoplasia and common urogenital infections. MethodsAn open cohort study consisting of 4,097,075 women ≥15 years of age in Sweden (2002-2018). The outcome was genital herpes diagnosis. The predictor variables were sociodemographic factors (age, educational level, family income, region of residence, and country of origin) and urogenital comorbidities (cervical carcinoma neoplasia, cystitis, vaginosis, and vulvovaginitis) and parity. National registers and primary health care data were used. Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Interactions tests were conducted. ResultsA total of 15,727 women received a genital herpes diagnosis in inpatient and outpatient specialist care settings during the study period. Sociodemographic factors and parity were associated with genital herpes. than women without these comorbidities. ConclusionsGenital herpes occurs with higher rates in women of high family income, young age, Swedish origin, co-occurrence of urogenital comorbidities, and nulliparity. The findings can be used by clinicians when encountering women with these risk factors.

Heterogeneous effects of increased availability of alcohol on hospitalisation due to external causes. Quasi-experimental evidence from the introduction of Saturday opening at Swedish alcohol retail stores.

Responses to increased alcohol availability may vary across the population as a function of differential vulnerability. This study therefore aimed to examine the effects of the implementation of Saturday opening at the Swedish alcohol retail monopoly in 2000 on risks of hospitalisation due to external causes (HEC) among different population subgroups. Leveraging the experimental design of the reform, longitudinal difference-in-differences analyses were applied to a register-based cohort of individuals aged 20-40 at the time of implementation. The population was stratified into groups of Swedish, Finnish, and Middle Eastern origin, known to represent different levels of alcohol consumption and rates of alcohol-related morbidity. Results showed a 17.7% increase (p<0.029) in the risk of HEC among individuals of Finnish origin, as jointly caused by both increased prevalence in the experiment area and decreased prevalence in the control area. The increase was primarily driven by younger men with lower levels of education. Those of Swedish origin exhibited largely similar patterns (9.7% increase; p<0.001) while no measurable impact was observed among individuals of Middle Eastern origin (-21.4% decrease; p<0.076). The findings confirm that increasing alcohol availability contributes to the disease burden related to alcohol among population subgroups already susceptible to its effects.

Anger dysregulation and non-suicidal self-injury during adolescence: A test of directionality.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has been tied to several forms of emotional and behavioral dysregulation in adolescence, with less attention paid to regulation of anger. Most assume that anger dysregulation leads to engagement in NSSI, rather than the reverse. However, it is plausible that NSSI compromises adolescents' abilities to regulate their emotions, including anger, because it may reduce the development of alternative regulatory strategies and intensify negative emotions by reducing tolerance of distress. Using three waves of data from a sample of adolescents in 17 Swedish schools (n = 1,304 M age = 13.68, SD age = .67; 89% of Swedish origin; 58% girls), we examined the directionality of ties between NSSI and three forms of anger dysregulation: dysregulated expressions of anger, anger suppression, and low anger reflection. We also looked for differences in magnitude of paths and gender differences. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models showed that NSSI predicted changes in all forms of anger dysregulation but found no support for the opposite direction. Gender differences were not evident. Results challenge directionality assumptions and support suggestions that adolescents' anger regulation degrades when they self-injure.

Not Next to You: Peer Rejection, Sociodemographic Characteristics and the Moderating Effects of Classroom Composition

While a range of sociodemographic characteristics are associated with a greater risk of peer rejection at school, it is currently unclear how key theoretical frameworks explaining rejection apply to such characteristics. This study examines how migration background, gender, household income, parental education and cognitive ability are linked to peer rejection. Building on person-group dissimilarity and social identity theory, the study assesses the moderating role of classroom composition and the extent to which students reject classmates who differ to themselves (i.e., outgroup derogation). Data is drawn from a nationally representative sample of 4215 Swedish eighth grade students (Mage = 14.7, SDage = 0.39; 67% of Swedish origin; 51% girls) in 201 classes. While rejection based on migration background, gender, household income and cognitive ability was moderated by the school-class composition, only the rejection of immigrant background students, boys and girls was related to outgroup derogation. Furthermore, Swedish origin students’ outgroup derogation increased as the share of immigrant background students decreased. Addressing social inequalities in rejection may require different strategies depending on sociodemographic characteristic.

Scientific and organizational principles of agricultural research in 18-19th centuries

As an independent component of modern research in natural sciences, branch re-search developed as a result of the accumulation of knowledge from three spheres of public activity - agriculture, branch-specific education, and agricultural re-search - under the influence of a complex interaction of many external factors. The purpose of this study is to investigate the initial stage of formalization of agri-cultural research as a branch of natural sciences with the development of a corre-sponding sign-symbolic system and terminology. Based on the study of printed and archival research of the Imperial Free Economic Society (IFES), adjustments were made to the scientific periodization of the history of research as a branch of knowledge, considering the personalized contribution of its luminaries. Forgotten or little-known studies of pioneers of Ukrainian research - the IFES members: Swiss mathematician Euler; Russian scientist of Swedish origin, botanist and chemist Laxman; a native of Chernihiv Region, Professor of agriculture Prokopovich, and others were introduced into scientific discourse. The present paper analyses the ar-eas of diverse research activities in agriculture, which were conducted by IFES fig-ures at the early stages of the first scientific and economic association in the Rus-sian Empire.

The Swedish Origin of the Russian Naval Artillery Drill Regulations during the Time of Peter the Great

The article is devoted to the study of the origin of the Russian Naval artillery drill regulations (so called exercise) of the era of Peter the Great. Previously only one Russian Naval artillery exercise of the 18th century, introduced by F. M. Apraksin in 1718, was known. The comparison of two printed treatises of D. Grundell (the head of the Swedish Naval artillery in 1712–1716) with the exercise of Apraksin has revealed their obvious similarity. The author has discovered the Russian exercise of the late 1740s. Its analysis enables to prove that in the Russian Navy (at least from 1717 to the middle of the 18th century) there existed one exercise, and this exercise was a translation and adaptation of the Swedish one. Russian and Swedish exercises were totally different compared to the French and English ones. The study confirms that two articles of the Russian Naval Charter of 1720 are a translation of the two passages of D. Grundell’s treatise of 1705, and this treatise itself was in circulation in Russia and, possibly, was known to Peter I. The biography of D. Grundell, who joined the Russian service in 1698 but did not actually serve, has been clarified. The current research raises questions of the dissemination of scientific, technical, and regulatory information of the 18th century. This process could take a variety of forms (oral, written, printed) — from the transfer of information by the teacher to the student to publications that referred to their approval by the relevant authorities or officials.

Trajectories of nonsuicidal self-injury during adolescence.

Although nonsuicidal self-injury is a public health concern, there is little information on how it changes across adolescence or what contributes to stability or change. We aimed to identify trajectories of stability and change in self-injury from ages 13 to 17 years, and to identify interpersonal and intrapersonal correlates that differentiate between trajectories of stability and change. We used five annual waves of cohort-sequential data, targeting 7th and 8th graders attending all public schools in three municipalities in central Sweden. The data were gathered via questionnaires, using a multi-item measure of non-suicidal self-injury and assessing negative experiences at home, in school, with peers, and in romantic settings, as well as intrapersonal issues (internalizing symptoms and difficulties with emotional, and behavioral regulation). The analytic sample was 3195 adolescents (51.7% boys, 48.3% girls; ages 12-16 years at T1, M = 13.61; SD = 0.66), most of whom were born in Sweden (88.6%) to at least one parent of Swedish origin (77.4%). Latent growth curve modeling revealed three self-injury trajectories: a stable-low, a low-increasing, and an increasing-decreasing trajectory. Adolescents in the stable-low class reported the best overall adjustment at ages 13 and 16. Comparatively, adolescents in the other two classes reported similar levels of difficulty interpersonally and intrapersonally. Where they differed, the increase-decrease class fared worse than the low-increasing class. This study suggests the need to frame self-injury as having multiple directions of development during adolescence and develop theory that aligns with differential patterns of self-injury development.

Carriage of the JP2 Genotype of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans by Periodontitis Patients of Various Geographic Origin, Living in Sweden.

The JP2 genotype of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans serotype b is associated with aggressive forms of periodontitis and was initially identified as affecting adolescents in North and West Africa. The dissemination of this genotype follows the migration routes and can today be detected in samples from periodontitis patients in a high number of countries. In the present study, we aim to describe findings of the JP2 genotype A. actinomycetemcomits in a clinical laboratory at the Dental School, Odontology, Umeå University, Sweden. The findings of JP2 carriers are documented during a 21-year period, and the age and geographic origin of the sampled individuals are described. In addition, the collected JP2 isolates were separated into North or West African origin by analyses of the presence of a point mutation in the hbpA2 pseudogene of the bacterium. In a total of 2296 sampled individuals during this period in this Swedish population of periodontitis patients, 32 JP2 carriers were detected by cultivation and PCR. The geographic background of these individuals was diverse, including sixteen with African origin, ten with a Swedish origin and six additional ones with a non-African origin. The JP2 genotypes of A. actinomycetemcomitans were mainly isolated from young individuals (&lt;35 years of age), and seven out of the 32 isolates were of a West African origin based on the sequence of hbpA2. We conclude that the JP2 genotype of A. actinomycetemcomitans can be detected world-wide in subgingival plaque samples from adolescents affected by periodontitis.

Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Spanish Quality in Psychiatric Care Forensic Inpatient Staff (QPC-FIPS) instrument

"Quality in Psychiatric Care-Forensic Inpatient Staff (QPC-FIPS) is an instrument of Swedish origin validated to measure the perception of the quality of mental health care provided by forensic psychiatry professionals. The aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt the QPC-FIPS instrument and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the instrument. A psychometric study was carried out. For validity, content validity, convergent validity and construct validity were included. For reliability, the analysis of internal consistency and temporal stability was included. The sample consisted of 153 mental health professionals from four Forensic Psychiatry units. The adapted Spanish version of the QPC-FIPS scale was configured with the same number of items and dimensions as the original. The psychometric properties, in terms of temporal stability and internal consistency, were adequate and the factor structure, such as the homogeneity of the dimensions of the Spanish version of the QPC-FIPS, was equivalent to the original Swedish version. We found that the QPC_FIPS-Spanish is a valid, reliable and easy-to-apply instrument for assessing the self-perception of professionals regarding the care they provide.

Strawberry Cultivars Preserved in the Swedish National Gene Bank

Abstract Some 35 cultivars of Fragaria are preserved in the Swedish National Gene Bank for vegetatively propagated crops, which opened in 2016. The genebank includes a field collection in Alnarp, southern Sweden, and a back-up collection of virus-free plants at the Swedish Elite Plant Station. Here we document how the cultivars, the so-called mandate cultivars, were selected. Swedish origin was the primary criteria used in the selection process. In this category cultivars from historic Swedish breeding programmes are of particular interest. During 80 years, starting in the 1920s and ending in the late 1990s, 16 strawberries including three Fragaria × vescana hybrids were developed by Swedish breeders. Unfortunately, for three of these the accessions in the genebank are uncertain and four have not yet been recovered. The 16 cultivars bred in Sweden are presented with their year of introduction, parentage and short descriptions. Additionally, we also briefly describe local cultivars of strawberries and wild strawberries. Another category of mandate cultivars are foreign cultivars with a growing tradition in Sweden dating back to before 1966. Their age, country of origin, and importance for Swedish cultivation are discussed.

Meat tastes good, legumes are healthy and meat substitutes are still strange - The practice of protein consumption among Swedish consumers

Replacing some meat with grain legumes would benefit human health, the environment and agriculture. This study analysed legume and meat consumption practices by investigating consumer perceptions and competences relating to lightly processed grain legumes (LPL), legume-based meat substitutes (LBMS) and meat in Sweden, and how these (and demographic variables) influenced stated intention to change consumption. Major differences in consumer perceptions of LPL and LBMS compared with meat related to product attractiveness and status, with meat seen as more fun, popular, suitable in diets and for festive occasions, and tastier. Most consumers knew of the environmental impact of meat and health benefits of LPL. Country of origin, i.e. Swedish origin, was important for many consumers (especially for meat and women). Preferences relating to health and environmental impact were important for intention to decrease meat consumption. Perceived environmental impact was important for intention to change consumption of LPL, but taste, healthiness, weight control, ease of preparation and suitability in the diet were equally or more important. Leveraging stated consumer willingness and intention to eat more LPL by making LPL more accessible to consumers could increase their consumption. For LBMS, there are still important barriers in terms of taste, familiarity and overall attractiveness of these products that need to be overcome to increase their consumption in Sweden.

HLA variants associated with azathioprine-induced pancreatitis in patients with Crohn's disease.

The immunosuppressant drug azathioprine is associated with a 4% risk of acute pancreatitis in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Studies have demonstrated an increased risk in carriers of HLA‐DQA1*02:01 and HLA‐DRB1*07:01. We investigated whether these human leukocyte antigen (HLA) types were associated with azathioprine‐induced pancreatitis also in Swedish patients with IBD, and whether the type of disease affected the association. Nineteen individuals with IBD who developed acute pancreatitis after initiation of azathioprine were genotyped and compared with a population control cohort (n = 4891) and a control group matched for disease (n = 81). HLA‐DQA1*02:01 and HLA‐DRB1*07:01 were in full linkage disequilibrium, and were significantly associated with acute pancreatitis both when cases were compared with population controls (OR 3.97 [95% CI 1.57–9.97], p = 0.0035) and matched controls (OR 3.55 [95% CI 1.23–10.98], p = 0.0275). In a disease‐specific analysis, the correlation was positive in patients with Crohn's disease versus matched controls (OR 9.27 [95% CI 1.86–46.19], p = 0.0066), but not in those with ulcerative colitis versus matched controls (OR 0.69 [95% CI 0.07–6.74], p = 0.749). In patients with Crohn's disease, we estimated the conditional risk of carriers of HLA‐DQA1*02:01‐HLA‐DRB1*07:01 to 7.3%, and the conditional risk of a non‐carrier to 2.2%. We conclude that HLA‐DQA1*02:01‐HLA‐DRB1*07:01 is a marker for increased risk of acute pancreatitis in individuals of Swedish genetic origin, treated with azathioprine for Crohn's disease.

Anton Martin Lublinský, that is Karl Dankwart : a few words about the painting Martin Středa as defender of Brno and its author

The painting Martin Středa as defender of Brno (Moravian Gallery in Brno) is the most monumental representation of the Jesuit Martin Středa / Stredonius (1587–1649), who won fame and the eternal gratitude of the citizens of Brno for his active participation in the defence of the city during the four-month siege by the Swedish army in 1645. Older authors saw Michael Willmann as the author of the painting. However, Milan Togner attributed this work to Anton Martin Lublinský (1636–1690). As it turns out today, the author of this monumental work was Karl Dankwart († 1704) – the author of numerous fresco decorations and oil paintings and court painter to the Polish king John III Sobieski. The authorship of this Silesian artist of Swedish origin is supported both by formal analogies and the provenance of the painting from the former Jesuit conventin Brno. Dankwart's painting of Father Středa was probably a part of the gallery of full-figure portraits of the founders and benefactors of the convent. We can assume that the picture was not the only work that Dankwart produced for the Jesuits of Brno.

A survey of nursing teachers\u2019 awareness of discrimination and inequity in telephone nursing care

BackgroundNursing care should be respectful of and unrestricted by patients’ age, ethnicity, gender, dis/abilities or social status, and such values should be taught to nursing students. Nursing teachers are crucial as role models, and their values are essential. In telephone nursing, only age, sex and ethnicity are known to the registered nurses, which can be challenging. The aim of this study was to explore awareness of discrimination and inequity in telephone nursing among nursing teachers.MethodsA study specific survey was filled in by 135 nursing teachers from three universities in Sweden. The survey included short descriptions of 12 fictive persons who differed in age, ethnicity and sex and with questions about their estimated life situation. The teachers’ estimations of life situation were ranked from lowest probability to highest probability. A ‘good life index’ was constructed and calculated for each fictive person. It included quality of life, power over one’s own life and experience of discrimination.ResultsThe results indicate that the nursing teachers were aware of how power and age, ethnicity and sex are related; that is, they were aware of discrimination and inequity in healthcare. The persons assessed to be most likely to lead a good life were males of Swedish origin, followed by females of Swedish origin. Persons with non-European origin were estimated to have the highest probability of experiencing discrimination.ConclusionsThe nursing teachers were aware of discrimination and inequity in healthcare. They were able to estimate a fictive person’s life situation based on the limited knowledge of age, ethnicity and sex. This is important, as their values are pivotal in theoretical and practical nursing education.

Formalisation of agricultural research

As an independent component of modern research in natural sciences, branch research developed as a result of the accumulation of knowledge from three spheres of public activity – agriculture, branch-specific education, and agricultural research – under the influence of a complex interaction of many external factors. The purpose of this study is to investigate the initial stage of formalization of agricultural research as a branch of natural sciences with the development of corresponding sign-symbolic systems and terminology. Based on the study of printed and archival research of the Imperial Free Economic Society (IFES), adjustments were made to the scientific periodization of the history of research as a branch of knowledge, considering the personalized contribution of its luminaries. Forgotten or little-known studies of pioneers of Ukrainian research – the IFES members: Swiss mathematician L. Euler; Russian scientist of Swedish origin, botanist and chemist E.G. Laxman; a native of Chernihiv Region, Professor of agriculture V. P. Prokopovich, and others were introduced into scientific discourse. The present paper analyses the areas of diverse research activities in agriculture, which were conducted by IFES figures at the early stages of the first scientific and economic association in the Russian Empire.

Seasonal variation in Norway spruce response to inoculation with bark beetle-associated bluestain fungi one year after a severe drought

In 2018, up to 4 million m3 Norway spruce was killed by the spruce bark beetle Ips typographus in Sweden. The event was unique for Sweden, in terms of both affected volume and the fact that it was triggered by severe drought stress, not by ample availability of relatively defenseless storm-felled trees. The outbreak continued in 2019 and 2020, each year with twice as many trees killed as in 2018. The aim of this study was to quantify seasonal variation and potential lag-effects in tree defense capacity the year after a severe drought stress. Inoculation with a bark beetle-associated bluestain fungus, repeated four times with one-month-intervals between May and August 2019, were carried out at three field sites with spruce provenances of Swedish and East European origin representing early and late bud burst, respectively.All sites had experienced moderate to severe drought stress in 2018, and site-specific defense capacity correlated positively with the cumulative precipitation two months before inoculation. Sites with two-month precipitation levels <100 mm had larger necrotic lesions in the phloem following inoculation, an indication of lower tree defense capacity. Lesion size did not differ between provenances, and all trees were able to confine fungal infection successfully.There were some seasonal differences in necrotic lesion size, with the sites Skärsnäs and Norberg having significantly larger lesions in June than in May, and site Lugnet having large lesions also in May. Lesions were generally smaller in July and August than in June.The cross-sectional area and number of traumatic resin ducts was measured in sapwood samples from one site, Lugnet, to quantify an additional aspect of tree defenses. The area of resin ducts produced in May and June were larger than that in July and August. This is in line with a positive correlation between lesion area and resin duct area, indicating that a stronger fungal infection following inoculation in spring triggered a stronger induced defense response. The East European provenances had more resin ducts than Swedish provenances, but the area of resin ducts did not differ significantly between provenances.

The North-South Civilizational Divide in Osip Mandelstam’s Philosophical and Literary Works

The article discusses the problem of cultural and civilizational self-identification in the works of Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam. According to the family legend, the Mandelstam family descended from Spanish Jews who fled from Spanish kings’ persecution, and then moved, in search of better life, further and further to the north of Europe, until they finally settled in the Russian Empire. In our view, young Osip Mandelstam was formed as a poet in the traditions of the literature of the “Russian North,” derived from Gavriil Derzhavin, Prince Peter Vyazemsky, Anton Delvig, and Alexander Pushkin. Mandelstam was a direct literary follower of the Russian symbolist poet of Swedish origin, I.I. Oreus (who published under the pseudonym of “Ivan Konevskoy”). The name of Oreus-Konevskoy, his magical poetic style, the circumstances of his death, and finally, his romantic grave on the steep bank of the Latvian river Aa (Gauja) – became truly iconic phenomena of the Russian Silver Age. Oreus-Konevskoy had a great influence not only on young Mandelstam’s verse (some of his famous poems are direct “literary duels” with the Teacher) but also on Alexander Blok, Valery Bryusov, and early Boris Pasternak. The author of the article analyzes how in the first post-revolutionary years Osip Mandelstam tried to become one of the theorists of the Soviet “Northern” literature. In the author’s view, when the repressive nature of the new regime became obvious and the “NorthernPetersburgian” Russia showed its totalitarian-Bolshevik appearance, there started a radical turn in Mandelstam’s self-consciousness, which led to an attempt to form a new personal identity, as a person belonging to the “cultural South,” who tragically found himself in the “barbaric North.”

Founder effects facilitate the use of a genotyping-based approach to molecular diagnosis in Swedish patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia.

To investigate whether genotyping could be used as a cost-effective screening step, preceding next-generation sequencing (NGS), in molecular diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) in Swedish patients. Three hundred patients of Swedish origin with clinical suspicion of heterozygous FH were analysed using a specific array genotyping panel embedding 112 FH-causing mutations in the LDLR, APOB and PCSK9 genes. The mutations had been selected from previous reports on FH patients in Scandinavia and Finland. Mutation-negative cases were further analysed by NGS. In 181 patients with probable or definite FH using the Dutch lipid clinics network (DLCN) criteria (score ≥ 6), a causative mutation was identified in 116 (64%). Of these, 94 (81%) were detected by genotyping. Ten mutations accounted for more than 50% of the positive cases, with APOB c.10580G>A being the most common. Mutations in LDLR predominated, with (c.2311+1_2312-1)(2514)del (FH Helsinki) and c.259T>G having the highest frequency. Two novel LDLR mutations were identified. In patients with DLCN score < 6, mutation detection rate was significantly higher at younger age. A limited number of mutations explain a major fraction of FH cases in Sweden. Combination of selective genotyping and NGS facilitates the clinical challenge of cost-effective genetic screening in suspected FH. The frequency of APOB c.10580G>A was higher than previously reported in Sweden. The lack of demonstrable mutations in the LDLR, APOB and PCSK9 genes in ~1/3 of patients with probable FH strongly suggests that additional genetic mechanisms are to be found in phenotypic FH.

Evaluation of microhaplotypes in forensic kinship analysis from a Swedish population perspective

The development of massively parallel sequencing (MPS) technology has enabled the discovery of several new types of forensic markers where microhaplotypes are one of these promising novel genetic markers. Microhaplotypes are, commonly, less than 300 nucleotides in length and consist of two or more closely linked single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In this study, we have examined a custom-made QIAseq Microhaplotype panel (Qiagen), including 45 different microhaplotype loci. DNA libraries were prepared according to the GeneRead DNAseq Targeted Panels V2 library preparation workflow (Qiagen) and sequenced on a MiSeq FGx instrument (Verogen). We evaluated the performance of the panel based on 75 samples of Swedish origin and haplotype frequencies were established. We performed sensitivity studies and could detect haplotypes at input amounts down to 0.8 ng. We also studied mixture samples with two contributors for which haplotypes, for the minor contributor, were detectable down to the level of 1:100. Furthermore, we executed kinship simulations to evaluate the usefulness of this panel in kinship analysis. The results showed that both paternity and full sibling cases can clearly be solved. When simulating a half sibling versus unrelated case scenario, there were, however, some overlap of the likelihood ratio distributions potentially resulting in inconclusiveness. To conclude, the results of this initial study are promising for further implementation of this microhaplotype assay into the forensic field, although we noticed some primer design issues that could be optimized, which possibly would increase the power of the assay.

Service innovation: Using augmented reality in the IKEA Place app

IKEA, a worldwide known “Assemble &amp; Install-It-Yourself” furniture company with Swedish origin, launched an augmented reality app, namely, IKEA Place, that aimed to solve practical problems surrounding furniture shopping in September 2017. The IKEA Place, which used augmented reality to allow its users to visualize how furniture will look in their own home, is examined in this article. Discussion is centered around how the app allowed IKEA to create a service-centered value as it signaled that it understood the hurdles involved in the furniture shopping process for investing to extend technology-based support to its customers.