Högskolan i Skövde

Occupant packaging design is usually done using computer-aided design (CAD) and digital human modelling (DHM) tools. These tools help engineers and designers explore and identify vehicle cabin configurations that meet accommodation targets. However, studies indicate that current working methods are complicated and iterative, leading to time-consuming design procedures and reduced investigations of the solution space, in turn meaning that successful design solutions may not be discovered. This paper investigates potential advantages and challenges in using an automated simulation-based multi-objective optimization (SBMOO) method combined with a DHM tool to improve the occupant packaging design process. Specifically, the paper studies how SBMOO using a genetic algorithm can address challenges introduced by human anthropometric and postural variability in occupant packaging design. The investigation focuses on a fabricated design scenario involving the spatial location of the seat and steering wheel, as well as seat angle, taking into account ergonomics objectives and constraints for various end-users. The study indicates that the SBMOO-based method can improve effectiveness and aid designers in considering human variability in the occupant packaging design process.

Oilseed rape is a crucial crop for vegetable oil, animal feed, and biodiesel production. Sclerotinia Stem Rot (SSR) is a disease caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, and is one of the most economically damaging to oilseed rape. Traditional detection methods for this virulent phytopathogen are often time-consuming and labour-intensive. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of MinION Nanopore sequencing and CCMetagen 1.3 tool, for detecting Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in air samples from oilseed rape fields. In this study, air samples were collected weekly over six weeks from an SSR-infected field, and DNA was extracted from the weekly samples. The fungal internal transcriber spacer (ITS) region is recognized as a barcode for species identification. This fungal ITS region in the air samples DNA, was PCR amplified using primer pair ITS1catta and ITS4ngsUni, after determining optimal annealing temperature. Sequencing of the amplified ITS region was performed using both flow cell and flongle platforms on the MinION device, followed by data analyzed via the CCMetagen 1.3 tool for taxonomic classification. S. sclerotiorum was detected in all six weekly pooled air samples DNA, along with other oilseed rape pathogens like Albugo candida, Alternaria brassicae, Botrytis cinerea, Hyaloperonospora brassicae and H. parasitica, and Pyrenopeziza brassicae. The MinION Nanopore sequencing and CCMetagen 1.3 analysis method demonstrated high sensitivity, highlighting its potential for monitoring minute pathogen presence in agricultural settings. This method provides an effective and efficient alternative to traditional detection techniques, offering significant advantages for early disease detection and management in oilseed rape cultivation.

Co-production in research is not only encouraged but rapidly becoming a required consideration in health research funding. The challenge in defining co-production continues and the misapplication of co-production has led to growing calls for an emphasis on operationalising the values and principles of co-production in research. This commentary considers Rycroft-Malone and colleagues' key messages about co-production being more than a set of activities, and reflects on the challenges within the academic sector when applying co-production. The Co-producing Meaningful Principles and Sharing Standards (Co-MPASS) tool offers a way to consider co-production values in the early stages of collaboration. Rather than a stand-alone tool for co-production, it is intended to be used with established methods and published toolboxes to emphasise co-production principles through reflection, conversation, documentation, and learning.

Background: In today's global world, Sweden has developed into a multicultural nation, where different cultures and nationalities live together. This multicultural country faces challenges, especially language challenges that can prevent foreign-born patients' access to safe and person-centered care. Language is a central and valuable tool for understanding others and making oneself understood. When language barriers arise, it can create significant obstacles for the foreign-born seeking care.

Aim: The purpose of the study was to describe nurses' experiences of language barriers in encounters with patients in healthcare.

Method: A general literature review based on qualitative was done.

Findings: In the analysis, two themes emerged: Strategies and emotions affect communication opportunities and that cultural competence and interpreter opportunities influence carework.

Conclusion: language barriers affect foreign-born patients from several different aspects. Based on the results of the study, it is obvius that this topic should receive more attention and be further researched. More studies are needed to help us understand this topic.

Background: Drug abuse is a growing societal problem that negatively affects mental and physical well-being. People with drug addiction can seek health care for somatic, psychological or addiction-related problems. They often face stigma and prejudice from the healthcare system, which can lead to poorer care. Nurses have a significant role and through increased knowledge and person-centred care they can support patients' well-being and contribute to better care.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate nurses’ experiences and attitudes towards caring for patients with drug addiction.

Method: The method applied in this study is an integrated compilation of qualitative research, based on ten scientific articles.

Findings: The results are presented in four themes and nine subthemes. The themes are frustration and prejudice, fear of threats and violence, demanding patients and the will to improve.

Conclusion: The conclusion of this study shows that the care of patients with drug addiction is complex, unequal and lacks person-centeredness. It is important that nurses see each patient as unique and adapt care based on individual needs. The study also emphasizes the value of increased collaboration between different professions and increased knowledge to strengthen equal and person-centered care.

The need to uncover the bibliographic field of work-integrated learning (WIL) stems from the increased interest to include WIL in higher education and present positive outcomes of WIL. This bibliographic review of WIL aims to understand the connectedness and trajectory of WIL in scientific publications and to explore the most influential actors. The amount of WIL research is increasing rapidly and there is global interest in the research field, even if there are dominating countries, such as Australia. From both citations, co-citations, and bibliographic coupling it is evident that there are highly influential countries, sources, publications, and authors in WIL research, which shape the bibliographic landscape of WIL. As WIL is an emerging research field, additional bibliographic reviews in coming years can show future trends in WIL research and potential differences between countries and disciplines.

Recently the concept of Industry 5.0 has been introduced, reinforcing the human-centric perspective for future industry. The human-centric scientific discipline and profession ergonomics is applied in industry to find solutions that are optimized in regard to both human well-being and overall system performance. It is found, however, that most production development and preparation work carried out in industry tends to address one of these two domains at a time, in a sequential process, typically making optimization slow and complicated. The aim of this paper is to suggest, demonstrate, and evaluate a concept that makes it possible to optimize aspects of human well-being and overall system performance in an efficient and easy parallel process. The concept enables production planning and balancing of human work in terms of two parameters: assembly time as a parameter of productivity (system performance), and risk of musculoskeletal disorders as a parameter of human well-being. A software demonstrator was developed, and results from thirteen test subjects were compared with the traditional sequential way of working. The findings show that the suggested relatively unique parallel approach has a positive impact on the expected musculoskeletal risk and does not necessarily negatively affect productivity, in terms of cycle time and time balance between assembly stations. The time to perform the more complex two-parameter optimization in parallel was shorter than the time in the sequential process. The majority of the subjects stated that they preferred the parallel way of working compared to the traditional serial way of working.

The significant symbol is basic in G. H. Meads sociology/social psychology. Conscious rational intelligence presupposes development of symbols, in species as well as in individuals; symbols are created in social situations where individuals call forth similar responses in all participants. But the concept of significant symbol is not clearly defined by Mead. My contribution: a precise analysis of the emergence of the symbol in bio-social evolution; development and specification of Meads symbol-concept; demonstration of the radically critical potential in Mead’s thesis on vocal gestures’ transformation to symbols. The concepts similarity/difference, proximity/distance are developed and applied to the dimension’s space/time, all six necessary for symbols’ developing from primitive gestures. Argumentation builds on Meads thesis of gestures inf luencing sender and receiver in the same way. Symbols originate socially, physiology being a presupposition. Consequences embrace all communication and intelligence development, even digitalization and medicalization of human relations. In behavioral science symbolizing sociality becomes fundament for sociology and most psychology, social psychology the basis for both. Psycholo-gical questions are answered from social whole, not the other way.

Background: The background includes basic information about what cancer means and the various treatments that may be relevant. Information about Katie Eriksson's nursing theory is linked to suffering. The nurse has a significant function in providing person-centered care and supporting the patient during the health care process.

Aim: The purpose of the thesis was to describe young adults’ experiences of surviving cancer disease.

Method: The study is a literature review of ten selected scientific articles containing qualitative data. The articles were analyzed according to Friberg's analysis model.

Findings: The results were identified by four main themes; “A changed body”, “Fear of confronting difficult situations”, “The important support” and “The positive after the treatment” along with nine subcategories.

Conclusion: Having survived cancer is a stressful experience that brings both physical and mental side effects in the new everyday life. Fear of relapse, stress and gratitude are leading emotions. Through support that is characterized by continuity, accessibility and information, nurses can help reduce suffering and promote health, well-being and security in aftercare at the end of treatment.

Organizational change is essential for the survival and development of organizations and to withstand competitors. Despite the importance of organizational change, studies show that resources are often allocated to the wrong areas, such as advanced technical equipment, rather than focusing on human resources. One factor shown to positively influence organizational change is high employee engagement. Leadership impacts employee engagement. Transformational leadership has proven beneficial for enhancing employee engagement, making it an advantageous leadership style during organizational changes. Employee engagement is considered crucial for the success of organizational change.

The question addressed in this work is how a leader can influence employee engagement during an organizational change. The study aims to answer this question through an analysis of a theoretical framework that includes theories on organizational change, employee engagement, resistance, and transformational leadership.

To answer the question, a case study was conducted using a qualitative method consisting of semi-structured interviews with five respondents from a selected organization, all of whom hold leadership positions.

The results of the study show that leaders can promote employee engagement during organizational change by involving their employees, maintaining transparency in changes, and adapting leadership to the needs of the group and the individual.

This is a Festschrift in honour of Valtteri Arstila, a professor of theoretical philosophy at the University of Turku. The book is structured in three sections. The first two—‘Mind and Action’ and ‘Time and Temporal Experience’—include papers focussed on issues particularly close to Arstila's own research specialisation. The final section contains papers on various further philosophical issues. The first section, ‘Mind and Action’, collects together contributions on a variety of topics such as consciousness, content, agency and normativity; encompassing approaches from within analytic philosophy, phenomenology and the history of philosophy. The second section, ‘Time and Temporal Experience’, collects together papers on topics including the nature of time itself; of our experience of time and of historicity and temporality more broadly; approaching these issues from a variety of perspectives including historical approaches. The final section brings together papers that touch on issues within philosophy of science, logic, philosophy of language, political philosophy and more besides.

The paper examines the potentialities-centred interpretation of quantum theory developed by David Bohm in his 1951 book Quantum Theory and aims to situate it within a general ontological framework, focusing on Charlie Martin's views.

It remains unclear how serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations relate to childhood bone health. We hypothesized that 25(OH)D was inversely associated with bone turnover biomarkers and positively associated with bone stiffness. Cross-sectional analyses were performed using data from participants (2-15-year-old, 51% boys) from the Identification and Prevention of Dietary- and Lifestyle-induced Health Effects in Children and Infants Study (IDEFICS)/I.Family cohort, comprising 3,638 serum 25(OH)D measurements collected in 2007-2008 and 2012-2013 across eight European countries. A biomarker of bone formation (serum osteocalcin), a biomarker of bone resorption (serum C-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen [CTx]), and stiffness index measured using calcaneal quantitative ultrasound were considered outcomes. Linear mixed-effects models were used to adjust for confounders (i.e., age, sex, parental education, time spent in sports club, dairy products consumption, sedentary behavior, height and weight z-scores), the cluster effect of country and repeated measurements. Interactions of calcium intake, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and weight status with 25(OH)D on outcomes were tested. Only 1 in 3 participants reached the sufficient 25(OH) D concentration of 20 ng/mL. Sufficient 25(OH)D was associated with higher stiffness index if participants had MVPA ≥60 min/day (β = 12.14, P < .05). Moreover, 25(OH)D was inversely associated with CTx (β = –7.09, P < .05); this association was positive but not statistically significant among primary school children living with overweight/obesity. No interaction was observed for calcium intake. In conclusion, serum 25(OH)D and CTx were inversely associated. MVPA interacted with the positive association between 25(OH)D and bone stiffness, highlighting the importance of promoting MVPA guidelines in future vitamin D and bone health interventions.

Background: Nurses have an important role in health care, where their responsibilities range from promoting health and preventing disease to providing care without discrimination. This multifaceted professional role means that nurses must have the ability to collaborate effectively with other professional groups and deal with both emotional and professional challenges. Stress and burnout are a common problem among nurses, which can have serious consequences for their health and patient safety. It is of the utmost importance to understand and manage stress factors in order to improve the work environment and ensure high-quality care for patients. Aim: The aim was to shed light on which factors cause stress and burnout in nurses in their profession. Method: A literature review study with qualitative and quantitative scientific articles. Findings: Five main themes emerged from the analysis; high workload, lack of staffing, lack of support from colleagues, lack of support from managers and concern for patient safety. Conclusion: Stress and burnout among nurses is a significant problem. With a better understanding of the underlying stress factors, workplace-adapted measures can be implemented.

The use of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) has become an important part of logistics transportation systems in various factories and industries. Due to their advanced intelligence and automation capabilities, the use of AGVs in the industry is increasing. However, their use in small industries has been limited due to high costs and lack of flexibility. To address this issue, the concept of creating open-source hardware AGVs has emerged. Open-source AGVs can allow smaller industries to customize and scale their automation solutions. By leveraging open-source innovation, these industries can enhance the effectiveness, adaptability, and cost efficiency of their automation processes. With this in mind, the safety of OSH AGVs in industrial settings was investigated in this research. The investigations revealed that building open-source AGVs is indeed possible. The advantages of developing AGV-OSH include economic gains, adaptability, cooperative efforts, heightened creativity, the availability of sophisticated customizable software, cost curtailment, and sustainability enhancement, especially for smaller industries. However, there are various safety concerns and challenges in the construction of AGV-OSH. These include the design approval process and evaluation tests, manufacturing quality control process of AGV-OSH, user expertise, compliance with regulations, responsibility, accountability, security concerns, and changes in the application. Reducing safety concerns for OSH AGVs involves developing robust safety mechanisms to manage updates and modifications while ensuring compliance with the latest safety standards. Advanced virtual testing methods, real-time monitoring, and adaptive algorithms on platforms like Raspberry Pi can enhance safety by dynamically adjusting to environmental changes. Implementing robust maintenance protocols and integrating machine learning algorithms, such as Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning, can further optimize safety and operational efficiency. Additionally, complying with established safety standards like ANSI/ITSDF B56.5-2019 and EN ISO 3691-4:2020 ensures that AGVs meet necessary safety requirements while preserving the flexibility and collaborative spirit of open-source projects. By tackling current challenges, following relevant standards, and adhering to licensing requirements, industries can develop cost-effective, customizable, and safe open-source hardware AGVs.

The potential function of microRNAs (miRNAs) in sepsis has captured the attention of researchers. 

Short, non-coding RNAs known as miRNAs, which usually range from 18-24 nucleotides, govern gene activation by preventing the target mRNA from being translated or prioritizing complementary mRNA for premature disintegration. Several biomarkers have been presented as potential candidates for sepsis diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy guidance. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are among the biomarkers that have been developed to enable early detection of sepsis, which facilitates the prompt application of supportive measures. 

Through thorough sepsis analysis, screening differential genes, constructing gene networks, identifying prospective critical molecular targets, and acquiring early diagnostic indicators of sepsis, it is feasible to give new knowledge of sepsis etiology and treatment suggestions. In this work, we sought to investigate the hub mRNAs and miRNAs associated with sepsis, build a protein interaction network, and identify critical molecular targets using TargetScan, miRDB, miRTarbase, and DIANA. To test for differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) associated with sepsis, we downloaded four microarray datasets: GSE101639, GSE174507, and GSE134358 as miRNA dataset and GSE69063 as mRNA dataset from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). 

This study predicted four differentially expressed overlapping miRNAs (miR-5010-3p, miR-4446-5pm, miR-491-3p, miR-4730) in two datasets with a series of associated regulatory genes in three sepsis datasets, which may have an impact on the pathophysiology of sepsis. In the comparison and evaluation of miRNA target prediction tools for target genes by four selected miRNAs, the findings show that miR-491-3p had eight common genes, miR-4446-5p had 13 common genes, miR-4730 had no common genes, and miR-5010-3p had 30 common genes. It seems that if the results of the tools have a significant difference for a target variable, choosing joint results is a more appropriate option for final data analysis. These genes and miRNAs identified may contribute to developing early diagnostic tools and better therapeutic and prognostic options. However, laboratory analyses are still pending to confirm the role played by these molecules in sepsis. The comparative analysis of enriched results obtained from the tool outputs provides a preliminary understanding of the similarities in sepsis pathogenesis.

High-throughput omics technology has revolutionized biomedicine by integrative analyses of various omics layers such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and epigenomics. Despite the huge progress in this field of study, there are still big challenges to overcome. One of the significant challenges is finding reliable packages for integration of multiple omics. So far, numerous packages have been developed for multi-omics data integration, however there is a lack of benchmarking studies in this area, and more work is needed to evaluate the relative performance of methods. In this study, we focused on evaluating the capabilities of two specific methods, DIABLO and NOLAS, in predicting the survival status of patients. The primary objective was to determine how well these tools can integrate multi-omics data and classify patients based on their survival outcomes. To achieve this, the datasets were first preprocessed to ensure they were suitable for integration. They were then integrated with DIABLO and NOLAS. Finally, the results of DIABLO and NOLAS were evaluated and compared in terms of prediction performance, number of biomarkers, and annotation enrichment analysis. The findings revealed that both DIABLO and NOLAS could not distinguish very clearly between patients who survived and those who did not survive for ten years after cancer diagnosis, which may be due to several factors: including the lack of significant relationships between the selected omics layers (RNA-Seq, miRNA-Seq, RPPA) and survival outcomes, imbalanced datasets, high presence of different proteins and transcription factors in cancer cells, and high heterogeneity and genome instability in omics layers. 

Background: Physical trauma can affect anyone; however, it is the nurse who is responsible for providing care and is part of the acute healthcare team. Physical trauma often requires advanced medical care, which is why the nurse needs sufficient competence in providing care. Safe care and treatment based on person-centered care, must be delivered regardless of the situation. Aim: To highlight the experiences of nurses in caring for patients affected by physical trauma and patients with life-threatening acute conditions. Method: A literature review was conducted by searching for articles. Qualitative articles related to the aim of the study were sought. Search limitations were applied to exclude articles that did not address the study's purpose, and an advanced search was carried out in three different databases relevant to the field of nursing. The quality of the articles was analyzed using Friberg's four-step method. Findings: The results were presented under four main headings with corresponding subheadings. The main headings are: When Emotions Take Over, The Importance of Trust and Support in Teamwork, Something Beyond the Ordinary, and Barriers in Care. Conclusion: It is tough and demanding to work with acutely ill people. It’s clear that teamwork and support are necessary factors for nurses' performance and health.

PURPOSE: It is assumed that sensory taste perception shapes food choices and impacts dietary intake. However, this has rarely been studied in free living subjects of different age-groups with standardised methods. The present study investigated the association of the ability to rank sweet and fat taste intensities with consumption frequency of sweet and fatty foods in children, adolescents and adults from eight European countries.

METHODS: In total, 461 children, 421 adolescents and 612 adults from the IDEFICS/I.Family cohort participated in sensory sweet and fat intensity rating tests. Sweet and fatty food consumption frequencies were assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. The association between the ability to rank sweet and fat intensity with sweet and fatty food consumption frequencies was estimated using linear mixed regression models adjusting for weight status, country, sex, age and family affiliation.

RESULTS: Across all age groups, the largest proportion of participants had medium sweet and fat taste intensity ranking abilities. The next largest proportion had low sweet and fat taste intensity rating abilities, while the smallest proportion had high intensity rating abilities to sweet and fat taste. A negative association of sweet and fat taste intensity ranking ability with sweet and fatty food consumption frequencies was found for children. In adolescents, the association was positive. In adults, there was no association.

CONCLUSION: It seems that the association of taste intensity ratings with food consumption frequencies during adolescence differs from the associations in children and adults. This could be due to hormonal changes during puberty, growth and maturation. Thus, further research focussing on maturation processes in association with taste perception during adolescence may be required.

Inadequate sleep in older adults is linked to health issues such as frailty, cognitive impairment and cardiovascular disorders. Maintaining regular sleep patterns is important for healthy aging, making effective sleep monitoring essential. While polysomnography is the gold-standard for diagnosing sleep disorders, its regular use in home settings is limited. Alternative objective monitoring methods in the home can offer insights into natural sleep patterns and factors affecting them without the limitations of polysomnography. This scoping review aims to examine current technologies, sensors and sleep parameters used for home-based sleep monitoring in older adults. It also aims to explore various predictors and outcomes associated with sleep to understand the factors of sleep monitoring at home. We identified 54 relevant articles using PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and an AI tool (Research Rabbit), with 48 studies using wearable technologies and eight studies using non-wearable technologies. Further, six types of sensors were utilized. The most common technology employed was actigraphy wearables, while ballistocardiography and electroencephalography were less common. The most frequent objective parameters of sleep measured were total sleep time, wakeup after sleep onset and sleep efficiency, with only six studies evaluating sleep architecture in terms of sleep stages. Additionally, six categories of predictors and outcomes associated with sleep were analysed, including Health-related, Environmental, Interventional, Behavioural, Time and Place, and Social associations. These associations correlate with total sleep time, wakeup after sleep onset and sleep efficiency, and include in-bed behaviours, exterior housing conditions, aerobic exercise, living place, relationship status, and seasonal thermal environments. 

In this paper, a work procedure developed to support the collaboration and progress in the research project IDEAL – Integrated product and production platforms supporting agile and demand-driven industrial product realisation – is presented and its functionality discussed. The research project involved in total 13 researchers, five manufacturing companies and one software supplier. The research project was organised in four sub-projects, covering various aspects of a joint research question. The project started in April 2020 and ended in January 2024. The work procedure, called the ‘IDEAL work procedure’, was developed based on the overall principles from interactive research combined with the framework for design research methodology (DRM). The developed work procedure provided a structure for the project, connecting the four subprojects, and thereby supported fulfilment of the joint research question. During the research project, the functionality of the ‘IDEAL work procedure’ has been assessed in different ways, both in terms of how it was perceived and to what extent the planned results have been achieved. During the project we have carried out workshops to follow-up on the progress and the work procedure. In addition, follow-up interviews have been conducted with participants from involved companies. The results from the different assessment activities are synthesised and presented in this paper. To expand the applicability of the ‘IDEAL work procedure’, the potential of the procedure to support transdisciplinary research is elaborated on in this paper.

In this paper, we aim to facilitate regional development through collaborative meta-governance processes, involving municipalities, energy companies and more actors. The case in point involves increased electrification through the development of local energy systems in a sub-region comprising 15 municipalities and 21 grid owners and is an exemplary case where a transdisciplinary engineering approach is not only suitable but the only path forward. The complex problem landscape comprises interdependencies across different roles, such as politicians, civil servants, and engineers at energy companies, where autonomous entities act independently. We employ a design science research approach to create artefacts to support the meta-governance mechanisms needed to accelerate social change processes. One artefact is a system dynamics simulation model to analyze scenarios considering the electrification of vehicles and implementing large wind and solar energy units to enable the establishment of new industries. We provide brief overviews of how three artefacts assist in visualizing 1) roles, 2) structures, and 3) scenarios to the decision-makers, to facilitate various transdisciplinary decision-making processes in regional development. In the discussion, we synthesize our learnings into a model to support mitigating powerlessness in this complex multi-stakeholder context. Finally, we lay out future research to further contribute to the social change and regional development we believe is necessary.

The willingness of victims to report crimes is declining, which leads to an increase in the dark figure of crime and undermines effective crime control. One possible reason is that victims are reluctant to report crimes if they are required to submit their digital devices for forensic examination. Today, a mobile phone holds vast amounts of information that may be valuable for police forensics experts, showing that victims’ phones could be critical in crime investigations. This interview study has investigated the factors that influence Swedish citizens’ willingness to report crimes when reporting involves surrendering their own mobile phones for forensic analysis. The study also uncovered factors that increase their willingness to report crimes under the same circumstances. The gathered data was subjected to a qualitative analysis with thematic coding, resulting in four distinct themes with 12 categories distributed among them. The analysis reveals that the primary factors affecting Swedish citizens’ willingness to report crimes are privacy concerns, with participants feeling uneasy about others accessing their private data, and anxiety over being separated from their mobile phones. Furthermore, the study yields that the most significant factors for increasing the willingness to report crimes are enhanced information and transparency from the police. Participants suggested that better understanding of the process, and increased openness would increase their willingness to report.