Østfold University College

About: Østfold University College is a education organization based out in Halden, Norway. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Health care. The organization has 438 authors who have published 1213 publications receiving 12510 citations. The organization is also known as: HiØ.

Humoral response to Clostridium difficile in inflammatory bowel disease, including correlation with immunomodulatory treatment.

Abstract: Background and Aim: An abnormal immune response to intestinal bacteria has been observed in Crohn's disease (CD). Clostridium difficile infection incidence and severity are increased in CD, but reports on the humoral response have provided conflicting results. We aimed to shed light on the possible role of C. difficile in CD pathogenesis by paying attention to the influence of immunomodulatory treatment on the humoral response.Methods: A total of 71 consecutive outpatients with CD, 67 with ulcerative colitis (UC), and 121 healthy controls were analyzed for serum IgA and IgG to C. difficile toxins A and B.Results: IgA levels were similar in all study groups. IgG to toxin A was increased similarly in CD and UC (P = 0.02 for both). In contrast, IgG to toxin B was elevated only in CD patients not receiving disease-modifying anti-inflammatory bowel disease drugs (DMAID) (n = 16) (P = 0.0001), while the CD medication subgroup (n = 47) had a level similar to healthy controls. The UC results were not influenced by DMAID treatment.Conclusion: Our findings add support to the idea of a disturbed interaction between intestinal cells and the microbiota being part of the CD disease mechanism. An abnormal immune response to C. difficile toxin B may be a critical component of this interaction. (Less)

Modified SEPIC boost converter with constant switching frequency modulation using sliding mode controller

Abstract: This paper presents a sliding mode control (SMC) approach to a novel high output gain SEPIC converter. Power circuit of the conventional SEPIC converter is modified with an inclusion of single inductor and capacitor which improves the efficiency and output gain. Conventional PI type controllers are very common solutions for DC-DC converters. However, it is a difficult task to optimize a single PI controller gain in different loads and disturbances. Proposed SMC based equivalent controller implemented on the modified SEPIC converter overcomes these aforementioned drawbacks. A dynamic hysteresis constant switching frequency method is attempted to operate in the appropriate switching frequency interval. The proposed circuit and controller structure are validated in Matlab/Simulink under different perturbations.

Bug Localization in Model-Based Systems in the Wild

Abstract: The companies that have adopted the Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) paradigm have the advantage of working at a high level of abstraction. Nevertheless, they have the disadvantage of the lack of too...

Influence of polymer coating on release of l-dopa from core-shell Fe@Au nanoparticle systems

Abstract: We report on the effect of different stimuli-responsive polymer shells on Fe@Au core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) with respect to thermoresponse as well as loading and release characteristics. The hybrid NP systems were investigated using a wide array of characterization techniques including dynamic light scattering, electrophoretic mobility, UV-visible spectroscopy, and scanning transmission electron microscopy. Three different polymeric shells were selected for loading and release of l-dopa: thiolated polyethylene glycol (PEG), poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) (PNIPAAM_AAc) microgel crosslinked with N,N′-methylenebis(acrylamide) (BIS), and finally concomitant PEG and PNIPAAM_AAc microgel (Fe@Au_PEG_Microgel). All three shells were found to exhibit high loading (∼10%) and encapsulation efficiencies up to 100 μg l-dopa/mg. Although the loading efficiencies are comparable for the three systems, Fe@Au_PEG_Microgel has the highest release (87%) at elevated temperature and acidic conditions. The attenuated release from the PEG-based systems can be attributed to stronger dipole-dipole interactions between the carboxyl group of PEG and the amino group of l-dopa.

Viewing the problem from different angles: a new diversity measure based on angular distances

Abstract: It is commonly believed that diversity is crucial for an evolutionary system to succeed, especially when the problem to be solved contains local optima from which the population cannot easily escape. There exist numerous methods to measure population diversity, but none of these have been shown to be consistently useful. In this paper, a new diversity measure is introduced, and it is shown that high diversity according to this new measure generally leads to a more successful overall evolution in most of the cases considered.