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- Borg, Ida, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Poor housing conditions in the European Union : Micro and macro level determinants
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of this paper was to study the variations in prevalence of housing deprivation, overcrowding and housing cost overburden between EU countries and to examine to what extent these between-country differences could be explained by measurable factors, either at the individual level or at the country level. We applied a multilevel framework on EU-SILC survey data, to be able to test the explanatory power of both micro level determinants (low income, household type, tenure status, education, joblessness etc.) and of macro level factors, such as national income, structure of housing market, welfare system, etc. Our results regarding the micro level indicated that factors related to permanent income, high costs/needs, and household size/type influenced the risk of facing poor housing conditions in a similar way as has been found for social and material deprivation. Moreover, there was a consistency among micro level risk factors across all dimensions of poor housing conditions. Our results regarding the macro level pointed to the importance of the historical and institutional factors that affect the availability and quality of housing in Eastern and Southern regimes, notably with a large proportion of outright home-ownership. Our results also shed new light on the impact of national wealth on housing deprivation. Despite a clear negative relationship between macro-economic affluence and housing deprivation, GDP or median income did not significantly impact housing deprivation once differences in micro drivers, notably household income, were taken into account.
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| 2. |
- Kollar, J., et al.
(författare)
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Metal surfaces : Surface, step and kink formation energies
- 2000
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Ingår i: Physica status solidi. B, Basic research. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 0370-1972 .- 1521-3951. ; 217:1, s. 405-418
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We review the surface, step, and kink energies in monoatomic metallic systems. A systematic comparison is given between the theoretical results based on density functional theory and available experimental data. Our calculated values are used to predict the equilibrium shapes of small metal particles, monoatomic surface islands, and the instability of different surface geometries.
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| 4. |
- Larsson, Krister, et al.
(författare)
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Nyttoberäkningar av minskat buller från elbusstrafik i Göteborg
- 2016
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Social benefit calculations of reduced noise from electric bus transport in GothenburgIn this study we examine noise from different types of buses. The aim is to calculate the economic benefits of electric buses over other bus types used in Gothenburg in terms of noise reduction. Since there is no established method to investigate the economic effects of noise from buses a large part of this study focuses on if methods currently available to quantify the health effects and economic costs of noise are sufficient to assess the effects of noise from buses. DALYs is a measure that has been developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to quantify the health effects by counting the number of healthy life years lost every year because of the noise. ASEK is a Swedish method used to calculate the costs caused by the transport sector to society every year.In order to calculate noise from buses in a sufficiently correct way, it is necessary to have knowledge on how the different bus types operating in Gothenburg today sound. In Gothenburg there are diesel, gas, hybrid and electric buses. The method we used to calculate the bus noise was Nord2000, which is a more advanced method of calculation than the one usually used for calculations in Sweden, i.e. the Nordic Prediction method from 1996 (RTN: 96). The advantage with Nord2000 is that you can use specific input data for each bus type, something that is impossible with RTN where in-data for light and heavy vehicles are based on measurements carried out in the early 1990s. Nord2000 has been implemented in different noise calculation software, of which SoundPLAN is the computational tool used in this project. The drawback with SoundPLAN however, is that it is not possible to calculate maximum sound levels with the Nord2000 model as this has not been implemented in the software. For calculations with Nord2000 new input data has been collected based on measurements of gas, electrically charged hybrid buses driving in diesel mode, and electrically charged hybrid buses driving in electric mode on a test track in the autumn of 2016. For diesel buses existing input data for Nord2000 was used based on measurements in real traffic in 2015. The results of these measurements are used not only to do outdoor calculations of bus noise, but also for calculations of indoor noise.Another disadvantage of Nord2000 is that the calculations are more time consuming, which meant that we had to limit the geographic calculation area to 32 km2 in central Gothenburg. It is the most densely populated area in Gothenburg is where the bus traffic is most intense. In this area, bus traffic along with car traffic and other heavy vehicles was calculated within 100 meters from the road center, as well as within 30 meters of all bus stops to see the effect of starting and stopping on noise levels.We have also calculated a small residential area in the center of town where buses dominate namely the area around Bäckegatan, to analyze the impact of bus traffic noise in more detail.Measurements of the various bus types demonstrates that there are differences between the bus types and that diesel buses cause more noise than the other bus types. A frequency analysis of the sound also shows that the sound from diesel buses contains much more low frequency sound than electric buses. Gas and hybrid buses lie somewhere in between when it comes to the content of low-frequency sound.The estimates of the health effects and economic costs of bus noise show that diesel buses cause the highest costs of the various bus types included. But despite electric buses being perceived as much quieter it is in general difficult to show any significant difference between the bus types, even if hybrid buses in diesel mode and gas-powered buses contain more low frequency sound than electric buses. There is however a greater difference between bus types at bus stops because diesel, hybrid bus in diesel mode and gas-powered buses make a lot more noise than electric buses during acceleration. When the buses are calculated together with other road traffic, the other road traffic tends to dominate due to the fact that the volume of other traffic tends to be much greater than the volume of buses.However if you only have bus services near homes (without other traffic), the differences in exposure, especially from 55 dBA and above, is large between bus types and the electric bus is by far the quietest option. For exposure at night, calculated both with buses only and with buses and other traffic included, the differences in exposure to sound levels that can cause sleep disturbances are greater between bus types, and electric bus clearly contribute least to increased sleep disturbance.Research shows that the link between annoyance to and loudness of noise from heavy traffic, measured or calculated as a daily equivalent noise level in decibel A, is not particularly good. Low-frequency sounds are perceived as more disturbing and are perceived as louder than sound sources that are dominated by sounds in the higher frequencies, such as car traffic. The methods for quantifying the health impact and economic costs of traffic noise need to be developed or supplemented by other methods which more accurately include annoyance and sleep disturbance from heavy traffic in order to be able to make more accurate cost-benefit calculations.
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| 9. |
- Ahlberg, Gunnar
(författare)
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The role of simulation technology for skills acquisition in image guided surgery
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Technical proficiency is an essential ingredient in surgical competence, which has hitherto been poorly evaluated. The introduction of disruptive technology into the Operating Room (OR) with respect to operative procedures requires an equally disruptive paradigm shift in surgical training that matches the development in OR technology. Automation and overcoming difficulties in navigating these technologies, is probably best achieved outside the OR and, therefore, the conventional apprenticeship model does not fit well with the development of such skills. Simulators have been a part of the aviation training curriculum for over 70 years and this technology has now confronted surgical education. In all fields where simulators have been implemented, error reduction has been the major driving force and the surgical discipline is no exception. In fact, medical errors have become a significant source of patient risk, and increasing complexity, as in surgical care, implies increasing error proneness. The effect of simulator training with respect to transfer of skills from the simulated environment to the OR is of crucial interest if this technology is to reach compulsory status in surgical education. The general aim of this study was to investigate the possible role of simulation technology as an integral component in future educational programs in image guided surgery. Paper I describes a randomised, controlled study where laparoscopic skills were assessed for a group of novices performing, under supervision of an experienced laparoscopic surgeon, in a porcine model in the OR. All procedures were videotaped and reviewed. Performance in the simulator was demonstrated to correlate with performance in the operating room. In a prospective study design. Paper II deals with the learning curve for laparoscopic fundoplication in a group of surgical trainees during the performance of their first 20 supervised procedures. Three independent observers assessed the operations, giving scores for essential parts of the procedure. The shape of the individual's learning curve varied immensely and the level of the teaching surgeon seemed to limit the pupil's possibility to reach a high grade. Papers III and IV were randomised, controlled trials where skills transfer from Virtual Reality (VR) to OR was studied. Simulator-trained subjects performed significantly better during their first 10 colonoscopies (Paper III) and in their first 10 laparoscopic cholecystectomies (Paper IV), as compared to the respective control groups. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that novice performance measured in a VR-simulator seems to predict the ultimate performance in the OR. Moreover, proficiency-based training facilitated skills transfer to the actual clinical environment, thereby, constituting a training curriculum that greatly improves the initial learning curve in endoscopic procedures. Thus, as a result of these studies the AccuTouch® and the LapSim® systems can now be considered as clinically validated for this purpose. In addition, the performance level of the teaching surgeon seemed to greatly influence the proficiency level attainable by the surgeon in training. We believe that the objective methods for assessing technical skills in the OR developed in this study, and by others, will provide the possibility to explore the link between technical performance and patient outcome. Furthermore, the results in this study strongly support the ongoing implementation of simulation technology for skills acquisition and assessment in image-guided surgery.
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| 10. |
- Anstey, KJ, et al.
(författare)
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Dementia Risk Scores and Their Role in the Implementation of Risk Reduction Guidelines
- 2022
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Ingår i: Frontiers in neurology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-2295. ; 12, s. 765454-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dementia prevention is a global health priority. In 2019, the World Health Organisation published its first evidence-based guidelines on dementia risk reduction. We are now at the stage where we need effective tools and resources to assess dementia risk and implement these guidelines into policy and practice. In this paper we review dementia risk scores as a means to facilitate this process. Specifically, we (a) discuss the rationale for dementia risk assessment, (b) outline some conceptual and methodological issues to consider when reviewing risk scores, (c) evaluate some dementia risk scores that are currently in use, and (d) provide some comments about future directions. A dementia risk score is a weighted composite of risk factors that reflects the likelihood of an individual developing dementia. In general, dementia risks scores have a wide range of implementations and benefits including providing early identification of individuals at high risk, improving risk perception for patients and physicians, and helping health professionals recommend targeted interventions to improve lifestyle habits to decrease dementia risk. A number of risk scores for dementia have been published, and some are widely used in research and clinical trials e.g., CAIDE, ANU-ADRI, and LIBRA. However, there are some methodological concerns and limitations associated with the use of these risk scores and more research is needed to increase their effectiveness and applicability. Overall, we conclude that, while further refinement of risk scores is underway, there is adequate evidence to use these assessments to implement guidelines on dementia risk reduction.
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