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| 3. |
- Holmgren, Anita, et al.
(författare)
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High re-arrest rates among drug-impaired drivers despite zero-tolerance legislation
- 2008
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Ingår i: Accident Analysis and Prevention. - : Elsevier BV. - 0001-4575 .- 1879-2057. ; 40:2, s. 534-540
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: A zero-tolerance law for driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) in Sweden led to a 10-fold increase in the number of cases submitted by the police for toxicological analysis. The statutory blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for driving is 0.2 mg/g (∼0.02 g%). Methods: An in-house database (TOXBASE) was used to investigate re-arrests for impaired driving over 4 years (2001-2004), which comprised 36,799 cases. The age, gender, re-arrest rate of the offenders and the concentrations of ethanol and amphetamine in blood samples were evaluated. Results: We found that 44% of individuals (N = 16,277) re-offended 3.2 times on average (range 1-23 arrests). Between 85 and 89% of first-time offenders were men and there was also a male dominance among the recidivists (88-93%). The mean age of drunken drivers was ∼40 years compared with ∼35 years for driving under the influence of amphetamine, which was the drug identified in 50-60% of DUID cases, either alone or together with other licit or illicit drugs. The median BAC was 1.5 mg/g (∼0.15 g%), which suggests a dominance of heavy drinkers. The median BAC was even higher in recidivists (1.6-1.7 mg/g). The median concentration of amphetamine in blood was 1.0 mg/L in recidivists compared with 0.5 mg/L in the first-time offenders. About 14% of drunken drivers re-offended 1-10 times compared with 68% of DUID suspects, who were re-arrested 1-23 times. People with only a scheduled prescription drug in blood were re-arrested much less frequently (∼17%) compared with those taking illicit drugs (68%). Conclusions: The appreciable increase in number of arrests for DUID after a zero-tolerance law might reflect a heightened enthusiasm by the police authorities armed with knowledge that a prosecution is easier to obtain. Zero-tolerance laws do not deter people from impaired driving judging by the high re-arrest rates. During the sentencing of hardcore offenders, the courts should give more consideration to the underlying substance abuse problem. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 4. |
- Holmgren, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Alcohol and drugs in drivers fatally injured in traffic accidents in Sweden during the years 2000-2002
- 2005
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Ingår i: Forensic Science International. - : Elsevier BV. - 0379-0738 .- 1872-6283. ; 151:1, s. 11-17
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During the years 2000-2002, alcohol, pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs were analysed in blood samples from fatally injured drivers in Sweden. The total number of drivers was 920 and in 855 of these, corresponding to 93%, a toxicological investigation was performed. About 85% of the drivers were men and 15% were women. All but three women (96%) were car drivers while the corresponding figure for men was about 78% and about 13% were motorcyclists. The number of positive cases increased from 38.9% in year 2000 to 45.9% in year 2002 and alcohol was the most common drug with frequencies of 19.8%, 25.0% and 21.8% for the studied years 2000, 2001 and 2002, respectively. The median blood alcohol concentration ranged from 1.6 to 2.0 mg/mL for men and from 1.2 to 1.8 mg/mL for women. There was a decrease in cases where alcohol was the only drug detected, from 52 out of 58 cases (90%) in year 2000 to 41 out of 61 cases (67%) in 2002. At the same time there was an increase, from 5.4% to 10.0% of illicit drugs, mainly amphetamine, and the cases with multiple drug intake increased from 10% to 26%. The prevalence of pharmaceuticals as the only drug or drugs detected decreased from 14.0% to 10.4% and in the majority of these cases the drug concentrations were within the therapeutic range.
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| 5. |
- Holmgren, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Stability of drugs in stored postmortem femoral blood and vitreous humor
- 2004
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Ingår i: Journal of Forensic Sciences. - 0022-1198 .- 1556-4029. ; 49:4, s. 820-825
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The stability of 46 drugs in postmortem femoral blood stored for one year at -20°C was investigated. The drugs included benzodiazepines, antidepressants, analgetics and hypnotics. For seven drugs we found a significant change in the concentration between the first and second analysis. Five substances; ethanol, desmethylmianserin, 7-amino-nitrazepam, THC and zopiclone showed a decrease in the concentration whereas the concentrations of two substances; ketobemidone and thioridazine increased. However, the changes observed were not of such an order that it would affect the interpretation in normal forensic casework. We also investigated the possible influence of potassium fluoride on the concentrations of the 46 drugs in vitreous humor after storage for one year. For two substances, ethanol and zopiclone, there were significantly lower concentrations in the samples without potassium fluoride. Furthermore, we also studied the correlation between the concentrations in femoral blood and vitreous humor. For 23 substances there was a significant difference between the concentrations in the vitreous humor and femoral blood. Significant correlations between the concentrations in these two specimens were found for 23 substances, indicating that vitreous humor can be an alternative specimen when blood samples are not available, provided that such correlation exists for the particular substance. Statistical analysis also revealed a correlation between the degree of protein binding of the different drugs and percentage of vitreous/femoral blood concentrations.
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| 6. |
- Vult von Steyern, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Fracture strength of two oxide ceramic crown systems after cyclic pre-loading and thermocycling
- 2006
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Ingår i: Journal of Oral Rehabilitation. - : Wiley. - 1365-2842 .- 0305-182X. ; 33:9, s. 682-689
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of the present study was to investigate the fracture resistance of zirconia crowns and to compare the results with crowns made of a material with known clinical performance (alumina) in away that reflects clinical aspects. Sixty crowns were made, 30 identical crowns of alumina and 30 of zirconia. Each group of 30 was randomly divided into three groups of 10 crowns that were to undergo different treatments: (i) water storage only, (ii) pre-loading (10 000 cycles, 30-300 N, 1 Hz), (iii) thermocycling (5-55 degrees , 5000 cycles) + pre-loading (10 000 cycles, 30-300 N, 1 Hz). Subsequently, all 60 crowns were subjected to load until fracture occurred. There were two types of fracture: total fracture and partial fracture. Fracture strengths (N) were: group 1, alumina 905/zirconia 975 (P = 0.38); group 2, alumina 904/zirconia 1108 (P < 0.007) and group 3, alumina 917/zirconia 910 (P > 0.05). Total fractures were more frequent in the alumina group (P < 0.01). Within the limitations of this in vitro study, it can be concluded that there is no difference in fracture strength between crowns made with zirconia cores compared with those made of alumina if they are subjected to load without any cyclic pre-load or thermocycling. There is, however, a significant difference (P = 0.01) in the fracture mode, suggesting that the zirconia core is stronger than the alumina core. Crowns made with zirconia cores have significantly higher fracture strengths after pre-loading.
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| 7. |
- Aaby, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Vaccinia scars associated with better survival for adults. An observational study from Guinea-Bissau
- 2006
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Ingår i: Vaccine. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2518 .- 0264-410X. ; 24:29-30, s. 5718-5718
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Live vaccines including BCG and measles may have non-targeted beneficial effects on childhood survival in areas with high mortality. The authors therefore undertook a survey of vaccinia scars to evaluate subsequent mortality. SUBJECTS: Based on a population census, a cohort of 1893 adults in urban Guinea-Bissau was examined in 1998 and followed until 2002. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: All cause mortality, excluding accidents. RESULTS: The median age of vaccinia vaccinations had been 16-18 years. Adults with a vaccinia scar had a mortality ratio (MR) of 0.60 (0.41-0.87) compared to those without any scar. The effect was stronger for women. Mortality decreased with each additional vaccinia scar (MR=0.73 (0.56-0.95)). Among 502 individuals with information on HIV infection, the age-adjusted HIV-2 prevalence was 2.45 (1.06-5.65) for those with a vaccinia scar. Control for district, ethnic group, schooling, place of birth, quality of housing and HIV status had little effect on the estimate. Since vaccinia and BCG scars could have been confused, mortality for adults with vaccinia and/or BCG scar was compared to those without, the MR being 0.61 (0.41-0.89). CONCLUSION: Known cultural or socio-economic factors possibly associated with access to vaccination had no influence on the mortality ratio for having a vaccinia scar. Hence, vaccinia vaccination may have a prolonged beneficial effect on adult survival.
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| 8. |
- Ahlsson, Anders, 1962-, et al.
(författare)
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A Swedish consensus on the surgical treatment of concomitant atrial fibrillation
- 2012
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Cardiovascular Journal. - London, United Kingdom : Informa Healthcare. - 1401-7431 .- 1651-2006. ; 46:4, s. 212-218
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia among patients scheduled for open heart surgery and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. According to international guidelines, symptomatic and selected asymptomatic patients should be offered concomitant surgical AF ablation in conjunction with valvular or coronary surgery. The gold standard in AF surgery is the Cox Maze III ("cut-and-sew") procedure, with surgical incisions in both atria according to a specified pattern, in order to prevent AF reentry circuits from developing. Over 90% of patients treated with the Cox Maze III procedure are free of AF after 1 year. Recent developments in ablation technology have introduced several energy sources capable of creating nonconducting atrial wall lesions. In addition, simplified lesion patterns have been suggested, but results with these techniques have been unsatisfactory. There is a clear need for standardization in AF surgery. The Swedish Arrhythmia Surgery Group, represented by surgeons from all Swedish units for cardiothoracic surgery, has therefore reached a consensus on surgical treatment of concomitant AF. This consensus emphasizes adherence to the lesion pattern in the Cox Maze III procedure and the use of biatrial lesions in nonparoxysmal AF.
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| 9. |
- Alvfors, Per, 1954-, et al.
(författare)
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Research and development challenges for Swedish biofuel actors – three illustrative examples : Improvement potential discussed in the context of Well-to-Tank analyses
- 2010
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Currently biofuels have strong political support, both in the EU and Sweden. The EU has, for example, set a target for the use of renewable fuels in the transportation sector stating that all EU member states should use 10% renewable fuels for transport by 2020. Fulfilling this ambition will lead to an enormous market for biofuels during the coming decade. To avoid increasing production of biofuels based on agriculture crops that require considerable use of arable area, focus is now to move towards more advanced second generation (2G) biofuels that can be produced from biomass feedstocks associated with a more efficient land use. Climate benefits and greenhouse gas (GHG) balances are aspects often discussed in conjunction with sustainability and biofuels. The total GHG emissions associated with production and usage of biofuels depend on the entire fuel production chain, mainly the agriculture or forestry feedstock systems and the manufacturing process. To compare different biofuel production pathways it is essential to conduct an environmental assessment using the well-to-tank (WTT) analysis methodology. In Sweden the conditions for biomass production are favourable and we have promising second generation biofuels technologies that are currently in the demonstration phase. In this study we have chosen to focus on cellulose based ethanol, methane from gasification of solid wood as well as DME from gasification of black liquor, with the purpose of identifying research and development potentials that may result in improvements in the WTT emission values. The main objective of this study is thus to identify research and development challenges for Swedish biofuel actors based on literature studies as well as discussions with the the researchers themselves. We have also discussed improvement potentials for the agriculture and forestry part of the WTT chain. The aim of this study is to, in the context of WTT analyses, (i) increase knowledge about the complexity of biofuel production, (ii) identify and discuss improvement potentials, regarding energy efficiency and GHG emissions, for three biofuel production cases, as well as (iii) identify and discuss improvement potentials regarding biomass supply, including agriculture/forestry. The scope of the study is limited to discussing the technologies, system aspects and climate impacts associated with the production stage. Aspects such as the influence on biodiversity and other environmental and social parameters fall beyond the scope of this study. We find that improvement potentials for emissions reductions within the agriculture/forestry part of the WTT chain include changing the use of diesel to low-CO2-emitting fuels, changing to more fuel-efficient tractors, more efficient cultivation and manufacture of fertilizers (commercial nitrogen fertilizer can be produced in plants which have nitrous oxide gas cleaning) as well as improved fertilization strategies (more precise nitrogen application during the cropping season). Furthermore, the cultivation of annual feedstock crops could be avoided on land rich in carbon, such as peat soils and new agriculture systems could be introduced that lower the demand for ploughing and harrowing. Other options for improving the WTT emission values includes introducing new types of crops, such as wheat with higher content of starch or willow with a higher content of cellulose. From the case study on lignocellulosic ethanol we find that 2G ethanol, with co-production of biogas, electricity, heat and/or wood pellet, has a promising role to play in the development of sustainable biofuel production systems. Depending on available raw materials, heat sinks, demand for biogas as vehicle fuel and existing 1G ethanol plants suitable for integration, 2G ethanol production systems may be designed differently to optimize the economic conditions and maximize profitability. However, the complexity connected to the development of the most optimal production systems require improved knowledge and involvement of several actors from different competence areas, such as chemical and biochemical engineering, process design and integration and energy and environmental systems analysis, which may be a potential barrier.
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| 10. |
- Alvfors, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Research and development challenges for Swedish biofuel actors – three illustrative examples
- 2010
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Currently biofuels have strong political support, both in the EU and Sweden. The EU has, for example, set a target for the use of renewable fuels in the transportation sector stating that all EU member states should use 10% renewable fuels for transport by 2020. Fulfilling this ambition will lead to an enormous market for biofuels during the coming decade. To avoid increasing production of biofuels based on agriculture crops that require considerable use of arable area, focus is now to move towards more advanced second generation (2G) biofuels that can be produced from biomass feedstocks associated with a more efficient land use.Climate benefits and greenhouse gas (GHG) balances are aspects often discussed in conjunction with sustainability and biofuels. The total GHG emissions associated with production and usage of biofuels depend on the entire fuel production chain, mainly the agriculture or forestry feedstock systems and the manufacturing process. To compare different biofuel production pathways it is essential to conduct an environmental assessment using the well-to-tank (WTT) analysis methodology. In Sweden the conditions for biomass production are favourable and we have promising second generation biofuels technologies that are currently in the demonstration phase. In this study we have chosen to focus on cellulose based ethanol, methane from gasification of solid wood as well as DME from gasification of black liquor, with the purpose of identifying research and development potentials that may result in improvements in the WTT emission values. The main objective of this study is thus to identify research and development challenges for Swedish biofuel actors based on literature studies as well as discussions with the the researchers themselves. We have also discussed improvement potentials for the agriculture and forestry part of the WTT chain. The aim of this study is to, in the context of WTT analyses, (i) increase knowledge about the complexity of biofuel production, (ii) identify and discuss improvement potentials, regarding energy efficiency and GHG emissions, for three biofuel production cases, as well as (iii) identify and discuss improvement potentials regarding biomass supply, including agriculture/forestry. The scope of the study is limited to discussing the technologies, system aspects and climate impacts associated with the production stage. Aspects such as the influence on biodiversity and other environmental and social parameters fall beyond the scope of this study. We find that improvement potentials for emissions reductions within the agriculture/forestry part of the WTT chain include changing the use of diesel to low-CO2-emitting fuels, changing to more fuel-efficient tractors, more efficient cultivation and manufacture of fertilizers (commercial nitrogen fertilizer can be produced in plants which have nitrous oxide gas cleaning) as well as improved fertilization strategies (more precise nitrogen application during the cropping season). Furthermore, the cultivation of annual feedstock crops could be avoided on land rich in carbon, such as peat soils and new agriculture systems could be introduced that lower the demand for ploughing and harrowing. Other options for improving the WTT emission values includes introducing new types of crops, such as wheat with higher content of starch or willow with a higher content of cellulose. From the case study on lignocellulosic ethanol we find that 2G ethanol, with co-production of biogas, electricity, heat and/or wood pellet, has a promising role to play in the development of sustainable biofuel production systems. Depending on available raw materials, heat sinks, demand for biogas as vehicle fuel and existing 1G ethanol plants suitable for integration, 2G ethanol production systems may be designed differently to optimize the economic conditions and maximize profitability. However, the complexity connected to the development of the most optimal production systems require improved knowledge and involvement of several actors from different competence areas, such as chemical and biochemical engineering, process design and integration and energy and environmental systems analysis, which may be a potential barrier. Three important results from the lignocellulosic ethanol study are: (i) the production systems could be far more complex and intelligently designed than previous studies show, (ii) the potential improvements consist of a large number of combinations of process integration options wich partly depends on specific local conditions, (iii) the environmental performance of individual systems may vary significantly due to systems design and local conditons.From the case study on gasification of solid biomass for the production of biomethane we find that one of the main advantages of this technology is its high efficiency in respect to converting biomass into fuels for transport. For future research we see a need for improvements within the gas up-grading section, including gas cleaning and gas conditioning, to obtain a more efficient process. A major challenge is to remove the tar before the methanation reaction. Three important results from the biomethane study are: (i) it is important not to crack the methane already produced in the syngas, which indicates a need for improved catalysts for selective tar cracking, (ii) there is a need for new gas separation techniques to facilitate the use of air oxidation agent instead of oxygen in the gasifier, and (iii) there is a need for testing the integrated process under realistic conditions, both at atmospheric and pressurized conditions. From the case study on black liquor gasification for the production of DME we find that the process has many advantages compared to other biofuel production options, such as the fact that black liquor is already partially processed and exists in a pumpable, liquid form, and that the process is pressurised and tightly integrated with the pulp mill, which enhances fuel production efficiency. However, to achieve commercial status, some challenges still remain, such as demonstrating that materials and plant equipment meet the high availability required when scaling up to industrial size in the pulp mill, and also proving that the plant can operate according to calculated heat and material balances. Three important results from the DME study are: (i) that modern chemical pulp mills, having a potential surplus of energy, could become important suppliers of renewable fuels for transport, (ii) there is a need to demonstrate that renewable DME/methanol will be proven to function in large scale, and (iii) there is still potential for technology improvements and enhanced energy integration. Although quantitative improvement potentials are given in the three biofuel production cases, it is not obvious how these potentials would affect WTT values, since the biofuel production processes are complex and changing one parameter impacts other parameters. The improvement potentials are therefore discussed qualitatively. From the entire study we have come to agree on the following common conclusions: (i) research and development in Sweden within the three studied 2G biofuel production technologies is extensive, (ii) in general, the processes, within the three cases, work well at pilot and demonstration scale and are now in a phase to be proven in large scale, (iii) there is still room for improvement although some processes have been known for decades, (iv) the biofuel production processes are complex and site specific and process improvements need to be seen and judged from a broad systems perspective (both within the production plant as well as in the entire well-to-tank perspective), and (v) the three studied biofuel production systems are complementary technologies. Futher, the process of conducting this study is worth mentioning as a result itself, i.e. that many different actors within the field have proven their ability and willingness to contribute to a common report, and that the cooperation climate was very positive and bodes well for possible future collaboration within the framework of the f3 center. Finally, judging from the political ambitions it is clear that the demand for renewable fuels will significantly increase during the coming decade. This will most likely result in opportunities for a range of biofuel options. The studied biofuel options all represent 2G biofuels and they can all be part of the solution to meet the increased renewable fuel demand.
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