| 11. |
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| 12. |
- Bjerg, Anders, et al.
(author)
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Time trends in asthma and wheeze in Swedish children 1996-2006 : prevalence and risk factors by sex
- 2010
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In: Allergy. European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. - : Wiley. - 0105-4538 .- 1398-9995. ; 65:1, s. 48-55
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Recent data suggest that the previously rising trend in childhood wheezing symptoms has plateaued in some regions. We sought to investigate sex-specific trends in wheeze, asthma, allergic conditions, allergic sensitization and risk factors for wheeze.Methods: We compared two population-based cohorts of 7 to 8-year olds from the same Swedish towns in 1996 and 2006 using parental expanded ISAAC questionnaires. In 1996, 3430 (97%) and in 2006, 2585 (96%) questionnaires were completed. A subset was skin prick tested: in 1996, 2148 (88%) and in 2006, 1700 (90%) children participated.Results: No significant change in the prevalence of current wheeze (P = 0.13), allergic rhinitis (P = 0.18) or eczema (P = 0.22) was found despite an increase in allergic sensitization (20.6-29.9%, P < 0.01). In boys, however, the prevalence of current wheeze (12.9-16.4%, P < 0.01), physician-diagnosed asthma (7.1-9.3%, P = 0.03) and asthma medication use increased. In girls the prevalence of current symptoms and conditions tended to decrease. The prevalence of all studied risk factors for wheeze and asthma increased in boys relative to girls from 1996 to 2006, thus increasing the boy-to-girl prevalence ratio in risk factors.Conclusions: The previously reported increase in current wheezing indices has plateaued in Sweden. Due to increased diagnostic activity, physician diagnoses continue to increase. Time trends in wheezing symptoms differed between boys and girls, and current wheeze increased in boys. This was seemingly explained by the observed increases in the prevalence of risk factors for asthma in boys compared with girls. In contrast to the current symptoms of wheeze, rhinitis or eczema, the prevalence of allergic sensitization increased considerably.
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| 14. |
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| 15. |
- Bølling, Anette Kocbach, et al.
(author)
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Wood smoke particles from different combustion phases induce similar pro-inflammatory effects in a co-culture of monocyte and pneumocyte cell lines.
- 2012
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In: Particle and fibre toxicology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1743-8977. ; 9:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Exposure to particulate matter (PM) has been linked to several adverse cardiopulmonary effects, probably via biological mechanisms involving inflammation. The pro-inflammatory potential of PM depends on the particles' physical and chemical characteristics, which again depend on the emitting source. Wood combustion is a major source of ambient air pollution in northern countries during the winter season. The overall aim of this study was therefore to investigate the cellular responses to wood smoke particles (WSPs) collected from different phases of the combustion cycle, and from combustion at different temperatures. RESULTS: WSPs from different phases of the combustion cycle induced very similar effects on pro-inflammatory mediator release, cytotoxicity and cell number, whereas WSPs from medium-temperature combustion were more cytotoxic than WSPs from high-temperature incomplete combustion. Furthermore, comparisons of effects induced by native WSPs with the corresponding organic extracts and washed particles revealed that the organic fraction was the most important determinant for the WSP-induced effects. However, the responses induced by the organic fraction could generally not be linked to the content of the measured polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), suggesting that also other organic compounds were involved. CONCLUSION: The toxicity of WSPs seems to a large extent to be determined by stove type and combustion conditions, rather than the phase of the combustion cycle. Notably, this toxicity seems to strongly depend on the organic fraction, and it is probably associated with organic components other than the commonly measured unsubstituted PAHs.
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| 16. |
- Faragardi, Hamid Reza, et al.
(author)
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A communication-aware solution framework for mapping AUTOSAR runnables on multi-core systems
- 2014
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In: 19th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, ETFA 2014. - 9781479948468 ; , s. Article number 7005244-
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An AUTOSAR-based software application contains a set of software components, each of which encapsulates a set of runnable entities. In fact, the mission of the system is fulfilled as result of the collaboration between the runnables. Several trends have recently emerged to utilize multi-core technology to run AUTOSAR-based software. Not only the overhead of communication between the runnables is one of the major performance bottlenecks in multi-core processors but it is also the main source of unpredictability in the system. Appropriate mapping of the runnables onto a set of tasks (called mapping process) along with proper allocation of the tasks to processing cores (called task allocation process) can significantly reduce the communication overhead. In this paper, three solutions are suggested, each of which comprises both the mapping and the allocation processes. The goal is to maximize key performance aspects by reducing the overall inter-runnable communication time besides satisfying given timing and precedence constraints. A large number of randomly generated experiments are carried out to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed solutions.
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| 17. |
- Faragardi, Hamid Reza, et al.
(author)
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An efficient scheduling of AUTOSAR runnables to minimize communication cost in multi-core systems
- 2014
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In: 2014 7th International Symposium on Telecommunications, IST 2014. - 9781479953592 ; , s. 41-48
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The AUTOSAR consortium has developed as the worldwide standard for automotive embedded software systems. From a processor perspective, AUTOSAR was originally developed for single-core processor platforms. Recent trends have raised the desire for using multi-core processors to run AUTOSAR software. However, there are several challenges in reaching a highly efficient and predictable design of AUTOSAR-based embedded software on multi-core processors. In this paper a solution framework comprising both the mapping of runnables onto a set of tasks and the scheduling of the generated task set on a multi-core processor is suggested. The goal of the work presented in this paper is to minimize the overall inter-runnable communication cost besides meeting all corresponding timing and precedence constraints. The proposed solution framework is evaluated and compared with an exhaustive method to demonstrate the convergence to an optimal solution. Since the exhaustive method is not applicable for large size instances of the problem, the proposed framework is also compared with a well-known meta-heuristic algorithm to substantiate the capability of the frameworks to scale up. The experimental results clearly demonstrate high efficiency of the solution in terms of both communication cost and average processor utilization.
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| 18. |
- Farooqi, Nighat, et al.
(author)
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Changes in body weight and physical performance after receiving dietary advice in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) : 1-year follow-up.
- 2011
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In: Archives of gerontology and geriatrics (Print). - : Elsevier. - 0167-4943 .- 1872-6976. ; 53:1, s. 70-75
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nutritional studies in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are often based on oral nutritional supplementation and are of short duration. Our aim was to study the changes in body weight and physical performance in COPD patients after receiving the dietary advice for 1 year. Thirty-six patients with COPD as a primary diagnosis (mean age: 68.5+/-7.8 years), referred to a pulmonary rehabilitation program were studied. Each patient received dietary advice individually. Body weight had increased significantly by 1.3kg (p=0.02) and walking distance by 83.2m (p=0.007) after 1 year. There was an increase in mean handgrip strength after 1 year (1.6kg, p=0.07). The mean intake of energy and protein expressed as percent of energy and protein requirement had increased after 1 year (15%, p<0.001, and 5.6%, p=0.09, respectively). Handgrip strength correlated significantly with energy (r=0.53, p=0.002), fat (r=0.50, p=0.02) and protein intake (r=0.41, p=0.002) after 1 year. In conclusion, positive effects on body weight, handgrip strength and walking distance in patients with COPD were seen after receiving dietary advice with a 1-year follow-up.
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| 19. |
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| 20. |
- Farooqi, Nighat, et al.
(author)
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Validation of SenseWear Armband and ActiHeart monitors for assessments of daily energy expenditure in free-living women with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- 2013
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In: Physiological Reports. - : The American Physiological Society. - 2051-817X. ; 1:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To provide individually adapted nutritional support to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), objective and reliable methods must be used to assess patient energy requirements. The aim of this study was to validate the use of SenseWear Armband (SWA) and ActiHeart (AH) monitors for assessing total daily energy expenditure (TEE) and activity energy expenditure (AEE) and compare these techniques with the doubly labeled water (DLW) method in free‐living women with COPD. TEE and AEE were measured in 19 women with COPD for 14 days using SWAs with software version 5.1 (TEESWA5, AEESWA5) or 6.1 (TEESWA6, AEESWA6) and AH monitors (TEEAH, AEEAH), using DLW (TEEDLW) as the criterion method. The three methods were compared using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland–Altman analyses. The mean TEE did not significantly differ between the DLW and SWA5.1 methods (−21 ± 726 kJ/day; P = 0.9), but it did significantly differ between the DLW and SWA6.1 (709 ± 667 kJ/day) (P < 0.001) and the DLW and AH methods (709 ± 786 kJ/day) (P < 0.001). Strong agreement was observed between the DLW and TEESWA5 methods (ICC = 0.76; 95% CI 0.47–0.90), with moderate agreements between the DLW and TEESWA6 (ICC = 0.66; 95% CI 0.02–0.88) and the DLW and TEEAH methods (ICC = 0.61; 95% CI 0.05–0.85). Compared with the DLW method, the SWA5.1 underestimated AEE by 12% (P = 0.03), whereas the SWA6.1 and AH monitors underestimated AEE by 35% (P < 0.001). Bland–Altman plots revealed no systematic bias for TEE or AEE. The SWA5.1 can reliably assess TEE in women with COPD. However, the SWA6.1 and AH monitors underestimate TEE. The SWA and AH monitors underestimate AEE.
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