Authors/Task Force Members: Jean-Philippe Collet * (Chairperson) (France), Holger Thiele * (Chairperson) (Germany), Emanuele Barbato (Italy), Olivier Barthélémy (France), Johann Bauersachs (Germany), Deepak L. Bhatt (United States of America), Paul Dendale (Belgium), Maria Dorobantu (Romania), Thor Edvardsen (Norway), Thierry Folliguet (France), Chris P. Gale (United Kingdom), Martine Gilard (France), Alexander Jobs (Germany), Peter Jüni (Canada), Ekaterini Lambrinou (Cyprus), Basil S. Lewis (Israel), Julinda Mehilli (Germany), Emanuele Meliga (Italy), Béla Merkely (Hungary), Christian Mueller (Switzerland), Marco Roffi (Switzerland), Frans H. Rutten (Netherlands), Dirk Sibbing (Germany), George C.M. Siontis (Switzerland)
For three Winter Olympics in a row, tiny nation Norway has out-medalled everyone else, in 2026 winning 18 golds, 12 silvers, 11 bronzes, i.e.~41 medals, compared to e.g.~12 + 12 + 9 = 33 for the USA, 10 + 6 + 14 = 30 for home team Italy, 8 + 10 + 7 = 26 for powerhouse Germany, etc. Never before have we [pluralis proudiensis] or anyone else won as many as 41 medals at a Winter Olympics. But how impressive is this, really, when we factor in that the number of events has increased so drastically?
Anna-Katharina Jung, Gautam Kishore Shahi, Jennifer Fromm
et al.
The framing of events in various media and discourse spaces is crucial in the era of misinformation and polarization. Many studies, however, are limited to specific media or networks, disregarding the importance of cross-platform diffusion. This study overcomes that limitation by conducting a multi-platform framing analysis on Twitter, YouTube, and traditional media analyzing the 2019 Koran burning in Kristiansand, Norway. It examines media and policy frames and uncovers network connections through shared URLs. The findings show that online news emphasizes the incident's legality, while social media focuses on its morality, with harsh hate speech prevalent in YouTube comments. Additionally, YouTube is identified as the most self-contained community, whereas Twitter is the most open to external inputs.
Femke B. Gelderblom, Tron V. Tronstad, Iván López-Espejo
Understanding degraded speech is demanding, requiring increased listening effort (LE). Evaluating processed and unprocessed speech with respect to LE can objectively indicate if speech enhancement systems benefit listeners. However, existing methods for measuring LE are complex and not widely applicable. In this study, we propose a simple method to evaluate speech intelligibility and LE simultaneously without additional strain on subjects or operators. We assess this method using results from two independent studies in Norway and Denmark, testing 76 (50+26) subjects across 9 (6+3) processing conditions. Despite differences in evaluation setups, subject recruitment, and processing systems, trends are strikingly similar, demonstrating the proposed method's robustness and ease of implementation into existing practices.
Siddharth Shanbhag, Carina Kampleitner, Niyaz Al-Sharabi
et al.
Functionalizing biomaterials with conditioned media (CM) from mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) is a promising strategy for enhancing the outcomes of guided bone regeneration (GBR). This study aimed to evaluate the bone regenerative potential of collagen membranes (MEM) functionalized with CM from human bone marrow MSC (MEM-CM) in critical size rat calvarial defects. MEM-CM prepared via soaking (CM-SOAK) or soaking followed by lyophilization (CM-LYO) were applied to critical size rat calvarial defects. Control treatments included native MEM, MEM with rat MSC (CEL) and no treatment. New bone formation was analyzed via micro-CT (2 and 4 weeks) and histology (4 weeks). Greater radiographic new bone formation occurred at 2 weeks in the CM-LYO group vs. all other groups. After 4 weeks, only the CM-LYO group was superior to the untreated control group, whereas the CM-SOAK, CEL and native MEM groups were similar. Histologically, the regenerated tissues showed a combination of regular new bone and hybrid new bone, which formed within the membrane compartment and was characterized by the incorporation of mineralized MEM fibers. Areas of new bone formation and MEM mineralization were greatest in the CM-LYO group. Proteomic analysis of lyophilized CM revealed the enrichment of several proteins and biological processes related to bone formation. In summary, lyophilized MEM-CM enhanced new bone formation in rat calvarial defects, thus representing a novel ‘off-the-shelf’ strategy for GBR.
Kaja Nordengen, Chiara Cappelletti, Shahram Bahrami
et al.
Abstract Parkinson’s disease is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder with a higher incidence in males than females. The causes for this sex difference are unknown. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 90 Parkinson’s disease risk loci, but the genetic studies have not found sex-specific differences in allele frequency on autosomal chromosomes or sex chromosomes. Genetic variants, however, could exert sex-specific effects on gene function and regulation of gene expression. To identify genetic loci that might have sex-specific effects, we studied pleiotropy between Parkinson’s disease and sex-specific traits. Summary statistics from GWASs were acquired from large-scale consortia for Parkinson’s disease (n cases = 13 708; n controls = 95 282), age at menarche (n = 368 888 females) and age at menopause (n = 69 360 females). We applied the conditional/conjunctional false discovery rate (FDR) method to identify shared loci between Parkinson’s disease and these sex-specific traits. Next, we investigated sex-specific gene expression differences in the superior frontal cortex of both neuropathologically healthy individuals and Parkinson’s disease patients (n cases = 61; n controls = 23). To provide biological insights to the genetic pleiotropy, we performed sex-specific expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analysis and sex-specific age-related differential expression analysis for genes mapped to Parkinson’s disease risk loci. Through conditional/conjunctional FDR analysis we found 11 loci shared between Parkinson’s disease and the sex-specific traits age at menarche and age at menopause. Gene-set and pathway analysis of the genes mapped to these loci highlighted the importance of the immune response in determining an increased disease incidence in the male population. Moreover, we highlighted a total of nine genes whose expression or age-related expression in the human brain is influenced by genetic variants in a sex-specific manner. With these analyses we demonstrated that the lack of clear sex-specific differences in allele frequencies for Parkinson’s disease loci does not exclude a genetic contribution to differences in disease incidence. Moreover, further studies are needed to elucidate the role that the candidate genes identified here could have in determining a higher incidence of Parkinson’s disease in the male population.
Liv Cecilie Vestrheim Thomsen, Alfred Honoré, Lars Anders Rokne Reisæter
et al.
AbstractMetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) is an immunologically cold disease with dismal outcomes. Cryoablation destroys cancer tissue, releases tumor-associated antigens and creates a pro-inflammatory microenvironment, while dendritic cells (DCs) activate immune responses through processing of antigens. Immunotherapy combinations could enhance the anti-tumor efficacy. This open-label, single-arm, single-center phase I trial determined the safety and tolerability of combining cryoablation and autologous immature DC, without and with checkpoint inhibitors. Immune responses and clinical outcomes were evaluated. Patients with mCRPC, confirmed metastases and intact prostate gland were included. The first participants underwent prostate cryoablation with intratumoral injection of autologous DCs in a 3 + 3 design. In the second part, patients received cryoablation, the highest acceptable DC dose, and checkpoint inhibition with either ipilimumab or pembrolizumab. Sequentially collected information on adverse events, quality of life, blood values and images were analyzed by standard descriptive statistics. Neither dose-limiting toxicities nor adverse events > grade 3 were observed in the 18 participants. Results indicate antitumor activity through altered T cell receptor repertoires, and 33% durable (> 46 weeks) clinical benefit with median 40.7 months overall survival. Post-treatment pain and fatigue were associated with circulating tumor cell (CTC) presence at inclusion, while CTC responses correlated with clinical outcomes. This trial demonstrates that cryoimmunotherapy in mCRPC is safe and well tolerated, also for the highest DC dose (2.0 × 108) combined with checkpoint inhibitors. Further studies focusing on the biologic indications of antitumor activity and immune system activation could be considered through a phase II trial focusing on treatment responses and immunologic biomarkers.
Caroline Chylinski, Kristin Fløgstad Degnes, Inga Marie Aasen
et al.
AbstractThe antiparasitic potential of plants could offer a vital solution to alleviating the costs of gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections in ruminant production globally. Leveraging known bioactive molecules, however, is complex, where plant species, extraction processes and seasonality impact bioavailability and efficacy. This study assessed the impact of a comprehensive set of factors on the antiparasitic activity of Norwegian conifers to identify bark compounds specific against GIN. Antiparasitic activity was determined using in vitro assays targeting morphologically distinct life stages of ovine GIN: the egg hatch assay and larval motility assay. In depth characterisation of the chemical composition of the bark extracts was carried out using chromatographic separation, UV-absorbance, and molecular mass profiles to identify compounds implicated in the activity. Three key findings emerged: (1) the activity of bark extracts varied markedly from 0 to 100% antiparasitic efficacy, owing to tree species, extraction solvent and seasonality; (2) the GIN exhibited species-and stage-specific susceptibility to the bark extracts; (3) the presence of condensed tannins, amongst other compounds, was associated with anthelmintic activity. These findings add new insights into urgently needed alternative parasite control strategies in livestock.
David Pérez-Piñeiro, Sigurd Skogestad, Stephen Boyd
We consider the problem of operating a battery in a grid-connected home to minimize electricity cost, which includes an energy charge and a tiered peak power charge based on the average of the $N$ largest daily peak powers over a month. With perfect foresight of loads and prices, the minimum cost can be found by solving a mixed-integer linear program (MILP), which provides a lower bound on achievable cost. We propose a model predictive control (MPC) policy that uses simple forecasts of prices and loads and solves a small MILP at each time step. Numerical experiments on data from a home in Trondheim, Norway, show that the MPC policy achieves a cost within $1.7\%$ of the prescient bound.
Ulrika Ahrsjö, René Karadakic, Joachim Kahr Rasmussen
Using harmonized administrative data from Scandinavia, we find that intergenerational rank associations in income have increased uniformly across Sweden, Denmark, and Norway for cohorts born between 1951 and 1979. By gender, father-son mobility remains stable, while correlations for mothers and daughters rise. Similar patterns appear in US survey data, albeit with different timing. We show that the decline in income mobility reflects female income more accurately capturing underlying productivity, rather than stronger intergenerational transmission of human capital or changes in assortative mating. Finally, we show parent-child correlations increase mainly when women gain access to jobs that match their productivity.
Pavitra Chauhan, Mohsen Gamal Saad Askar, Kristian Svendsen
et al.
The translation of clinical decision support system (CDSS) tools from research settings into the clinic is often non-existent, partly because the focus tends to be on training machine learning models rather than tool development using the model for inference. To develop a CDSS tool that can be deployed in the clinical workflow, there is a need to integrate, validate, and test the tool on the Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems that store and manage patient data. Not surprisingly, it is rarely possible for researchers to get the necessary access to an EHR system due to legal restrictions pertaining to the protection of data privacy in patient records. We propose an architecture for using synthetic data in EHR systems to make CDSS tool development and testing much easier. In this study, the architecture is implemented in the SyntHIR system. SyntHIR has three noteworthy architectural features enabling (i) integration with synthetic data generators, (ii) data interoperability, and (iii) tool transportability. The translational value of this approach was evaluated through two primary steps. First, a working proof-of-concept of a machine learning-based CDSS tool was developed using data from patient registries in Norway. Second, the transportability of this CDSS tool was demonstrated by successfully deploying it in Norway's largest EHR system vendor (DIPS). These findings showcase the value of the SyntHIR architecture as a useful reference model to accelerate the translation of "bench to bedside" research of CDSS tools.
Trygve Olav Fossum, Øystein Sture, Petter Norgren-Aamot
et al.
Marine debris originating from human activity has been accumulating in underwater environments such as oceans, lakes, and rivers for decades. The extent, type, and amount of waste is hard to assess as the exact mechanisms for spread are not understood, yielding unknown consequences for the marine environment and human health. Methods for detecting and mapping marine debris is therefore vital in order to gain insight into pollution dynamics, which in turn can be used to effectively plan and execute physical removal. Using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), equipped with an underwater hyperspectral imager (UHI) and stereo-camera, marine debris was autonomously detected, mapped and quantified in the sheltered bay Store Lungegaardsvann in Bergen, Norway.