University of Oulu

The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of lipid abnormalities in Iranian adults by demographic characterization, geographical distribution, and associated risk factors using national and sub-national representative samples of the STEPs 2021 survey in Iran. In this population-based household survey, a total of 18,119 individuals aged over 25 years provided blood samples for biochemical analysis. Dyslipidemia was defined by the presence of at least one of the lipid abnormalities of hypertriglyceridemia (≥ 150 mg/dL), hypercholesterolemia (≥ 200 mg/dL), high LDL-C (≥ 130 mg/dL), and low HDL-C (< 50 mg/dL in women, < 40 mg/dL in men), or self-reported use of lipid-lowering medications. Mixed dyslipidemia was characterized as the coexistence of high LDL-C with at least one of the hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL-C. The prevalence of each lipid abnormality was determined by each population strata, and the determinants of abnormal lipid levels were identified using a multiple logistic regression model. The prevalence was 39.7% for hypertriglyceridemia, 21.2% for hypercholesterolemia, 16.4% for high LDL-C, 68.4% for low HDL-C, and 81.0% for dyslipidemia. Hypercholesterolemia and low HDL-C were more prevalent in women, and hypertriglyceridemia was more prevalent in men. The prevalence of dyslipidemia was higher in women (OR = 1.8), obese (OR = 2.8) and overweight (OR = 2.3) persons, those residents in urban areas (OR = 1.1), those with inappropriate physical activity (OR = 1.2), patients with diabetes (OR = 2.7) and hypertension (OR = 1.9), and participants with a history (OR = 1.6) or familial history of CVDs (OR = 1.2). Mixed dyslipidemia prevalence was 13.6% in women and 11.4% in men (P < 0.05). The prevalence of lipid abnormalities was highly heterogeneous among provinces, and East Azarbaijan with 85.3% (81.5–89.1) and Golestan with 68.5% (64.8–72.2) had the highest and lowest prevalence of dyslipidemia, respectively. Although the prevalence of high cholesterol and LDL-C had a descending trend in the 2016–2021 period, the prevalence of dyslipidemia remained unchanged. There are modifiable risk factors associated with dyslipidemia that can be targeted by the primary healthcare system. To modify these risk factors and promote metabolic health in the country, action plans should come to action through a multi-sectoral and collaborative approach.

This paper addresses the lower limits of encoding and processing the information acquired through interactions between an internal system (robot algorithms or software) and an external system (robot body and its environment) in terms of action and observation histories. Both are modeled as transition systems. We want to know the weakest internal system that is sufficient for achieving passive (filtering) and active (planning) tasks. We introduce the notion of an information transition system (ITS) for the internal system which is a transition system over a space of information states that reflect a robot’s or other observer’s perspective based on limited sensing, memory, computation, and actuation. An ITS is viewed as a filter and a policy or plan is viewed as a function that labels the states of this ITS. Regardless of whether internal systems are obtained by learning algorithms, planning algorithms, or human insight, we want to know the limits of feasibility for given robot hardware and tasks. We establish, in a general setting, that minimal information transition systems (ITSs) exist up to reasonable equivalence assumptions, and are unique under some general conditions. We then apply the theory to generate new insights into several problems, including optimal sensor fusion/filtering, solving basic planning tasks, and finding minimal representations for modeling a system given input-output relations.

What do doors do? Open Close Invite In Shut Out Jam Stick Wedge open Welcome: Entice and Invite Offer a glimpse into Bar SLAM SHUT Get kicked in Get kicked shut Splinter Warp Hang Sit ajar Gently linger in our minds Cause hurt and separation Affecting thoughts Moments of joy or pain Longing, Waiting Fearful longing, Fearful waiting, Anticipating Wondering Haunting “Come-on-in” This article is based on research-creation experimentations arising from the provocations “what do doors do?” and “how do doors matter?” We ponder how knowledge-making practices come to life when you take a little time to notice the mattering of doors. We use collaborative feminist praxis to generate arts-based post-qualitative entanglements as generative invitations for door storying that illuminate the potentialities of commoning practices.

BRAF ‐V600E mutation (mt) is a strong negative prognostic and predictive biomarker in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Non‐V600Emt, designated atypical BRAF mt (a BRAF mt) are rare, and little is known about their frequency, co‐mutations and prognostic and predictive role. These were compared between mutational groups of mCRC patients collected from three Nordic population‐based or real‐world cohorts. Pathology of a BRAF mt was studied. The study included 1449 mCRC patients with 51 (3%) a BRAF mt, 182 (13%) BRAF‐ V600Emt, 456 (31%) RAS & BRAF wild‐type (wt) and 760 (52%) RAS mt tumours. a BRAF mt were seen in 2% of real‐world and 4% of population‐based cohorts. Twenty‐six different a BRAF mt were detected, 11 (22%) class 2 (serrated adenocarcinoma in 2/9 tested), 32 (64%) class 3 (serrated in 15/25) and 4 (8%) unclassified. a BRAF mt patients were predominantly male, had more rectal primaries, less peritoneal metastases, deficient mismatch repair in one (2%), and better survival after metastasectomy (89% 5‐year overall survival [OS]‐rate) compared with BRAF ‐V600Emt. a BRAF mt and BRAF ‐V600Emt had poorer performance status and received fewer treatment lines than RAS & BRAF wt and RAS mt. OS among a BRAF mt (median 14.4 months) was longer than for BRAF‐ V600Emt (11.2 months), but shorter than for RAS & BRAF wt (30.5 months) and RAS mt (23.4 months). Addition of bevacizumab trended for better OS for the a BRAF mt. Nine patients with a BRAF mt received cetuximab/panitumumab without response. a BRAF mt represents a distinct subgroup differing from other RAS / BRAF groups, with serrated adenocarcinoma in only half. OS for patients with a BRAF mt tumours was slightly better than for BRAF ‐V600Emt, but worse than for RAS mt and RAS & BRAF wt. a BRAF mt should not be a contraindication for metastasectomy.

The Muslim expansion in the Mediterranean basin was one the most relevant and rapid cultural changes in human history. This expansion reached the Iberian Peninsula with the replacement of the Visigothic Kingdom by the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate and the Muslim Emirate of Córdoba during the 8th century CE. In this study we made a compilation of western Mediterranean pollen records to gain insight about past climate conditions when this expansion took place. The pollen stack results, together with other paleohydrological records, archaeological data and historical sources, indicate that the statistically significant strongest droughts between the mid-5th and mid-10th centuries CE (450–950 CE) occurred at 545–570, 695–725, 755–770 and 900–935 CE, which could have contributed to the instability of the Visigothic and Muslim reigns in the Iberian Peninsula. Our study supports the great sensitivity of the agriculture-based economy and socio-political unrest of Early Medieval kingdoms to climatic variations.

This paper examines the effect of managers’ personality trait of extraversion on the voluntary disclosure of their firms. Our results from analyzing archival data from Sweden show that the extraversion scores of CEOs and CFOs obtained from psychological tests are positively associated with the voluntary disclosure scores of their firms. The effect of manager extraversion on disclosure is, moreover, stronger when managerial discretion or managerial job demands are higher. We also find that extraversion affects managers’ disclosure styles during earnings conference calls. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Developing circular economy products involves a wide array of stakeholders that affect different phases of the product development process. This article studies stakeholder management in circular economy product development by conducting a case study on a circular materials producer in the mining industry. The key stakeholders were identified, categorized, and the stakeholder relationship between them and the case company was analyzed. The results show that different types of stakeholders exert their influence in different phases of the product development process. Furthermore, the need for more systematic ways of managing different types of stakeholders in circular economy product development was revealed.

Food recommendation systems play a crucial role in promoting personalized recommendations designed to help users find food and recipes that align with their preferences. However, many existing food recommendation systems have overlooked the important aspect of healthy-food and nutritional value of recommended foods, thereby limiting their effectiveness in generating truly healthy recommendations. Our preliminary analysis indicates that users tend to respond positively to unhealthy food and recipes. As a result, existing food recommender systems that neglect health considerations often assign high scores to popular items, inadvertently encouraging unhealthy choices among users. In this study, we propose the development of a fairness-based model that prioritizes health considerations. Our model incorporates fairness constraints from both the user and item perspectives, integrating them into a joint objective framework. Experimental results conducted on real-world food datasets demonstrate that the proposed system not only maintains the ability of food recommendation systems to suggest users’ favorite foods but also improves the health factor compared to unfair models, with an average enhancement of approximately 35%.

A genome‐wide association study was performed in sex‐stratified groups representing three different caries phenotypes among adults. The study sample consisted of 46‐year‐old participants of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 study ( n = 1481). The phenotypes for analyses were the dentin caries phenotype (persons having at least one tooth with dentin caries lesion), and the enamel caries phenotype (those having teeth with more than 10 enamel caries lesions), while the control group had <10 enamel caries lesions and no teeth with dentin caries, respectively. A third phenotype dubbed the caries severity phenotype had a below‐average number of teeth with initial lesions and at least one extensive dentin caries lesion; their controls had an above‐average number of teeth with initial caries lesions and no teeth with extensive dentin caries lesions. All analyses were performed for the whole group and for sex‐stratified subgroups. In females, loci in chromosomes 2, 5, and 15 showed a statistically significant association with caries severity. In males, there was a novel association between chromosome 5 and dentin caries. The results of this study may suggest a genetic background of caries among adults. In the future, the detection of genetic predisposing variants may allow the identification of patients at risk for caries, even in the absence of behavioral and environmental risk factors.

Aim The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between sensory impairment and home care client's received care time. Design A cross‐sectional multi‐source study. Methods Data from a self‐reported staff survey on care time allocation were merged with registry data from the Resident Assessment Instrument registry (n = 1477). The data were collected during 1 week from 17 home care units in Finland in October 2021. The relationship between sensory impairment and clients received care time was examined using linear regression analyses. Results The linear regression analyses showed that having vision impairment alone increased care time, while dual sensory impairment resulted in decreased received care time. Hearing impairment alone was not statistically significantly associated with care time. Conclusion The holistic care need of home care clients with dual sensory impairment may not be adequate. To ensure equality and the individually tailored care of clients, further attention must be paid to clients with sensory impairments, especially those with dual sensory impairment. Furthermore, the competence of home care workers to encounter and communicate with clients with sensory impairment must be developed to support the holistic care. Implications for the patient care The sensory impairments of home care clients must be identified in time and considered in care planning and encountering clients. Impact As there is a risk that clients with dual sensory impairment are not able to fully express themselves, it is imperative that further attention is paid to clients with sensory impairments, to better understand and support this vulnerable group. Increased awareness and continuous education are needed to better identify and support home care clients with sensory impairment. Reporting Method The study adheres to the STROBE reporting guidelines. Patient or public contribution No patient or public contribution.

Development and operations (DevOps) refer to the collaboration and multidisciplinary organizational effort to automate continuous delivery of information systems (IS) development project with an aim to improve the quality of the IS. The flexibility and quality production of software projects motivated the organizations to adopt DevOps paradigm. Organizations face several complexities while management of DevOps process. This study aims to explore and analyze the factors that could positively impact the management of DevOps process. Firstly, literature review was performed and identified 36 success factors that are related to 10 knowledge areas of DevOps project management. Secondly, a questionnaire survey study was conducted to get the insight of industry experts concerning the success factors of DevOps project. Finally, the fuzzy‐AHP was applied for ranking the success factors and examining the relationship between 10 knowledge areas of identified success factors. The results of this study will serve as a body of knowledge for researchers and practitioners to consider the highest priority success factors and develop the effective policies for the successful execution of DevOps project management.