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- Boström, Dan, et al.
(författare)
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Ash transformation chemisty during energy conversion of agricultural biomass
- 2009
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There is relatively extensive knowledge available concerning ash transformation reactions during energy conversion of woody biomass. Traditionally, these assortments have constituted the main resources for heating in Sweden. In recent decades the utilization of these energy carriers has increased, from a low technology residential small scale level to industrial scale (i.e. CHP plants). Along this evolution ash‐chemical related phenomena for woody biomass has been observed and studied. So, presently the understanding for these are, if not complete, fairly good. Briefly, from a chemical point of view the ash from woody biomass could be characterized as a silicate dominated systems with varying content of basic oxides and with relatively high degree of volatilization of alkali sulfates and chlorides. Thus, the main ash transformation mechanisms in these systems have been outlined. However, since the demand for CO2‐neutral energy resources has increased the last years and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future, other biomasses as for instance agricultural crops has become highly interesting. Globally, the availability of these shows large variation. In Sweden, for instance, which is a relatively spare populated country with large forests, these bio‐masses will play a secondary role, although not insignificant. In other parts of the world, more densely populated and with a large agricultural sector, such bio‐masses may constitute the main energy bio‐mass resource in the future. However, the content of ash forming matter in agricultural bio‐mass is rather different in comparison to woody biomass. Firstly, the content is much higher; from being about 0.3 – 0.5% (wt) in stem wood, it can amount to between 4 and 10 %(wt) in agricultural biomass. Furthermore, the composition of the ash forming matter is different . Shortly, the main difference is due to a much higher content of phosphorus which has major consequences on the ash‐transformation reactions. In many crops, the concentration of phosphorus and silicon is equivalent, which (depending on the concentration levels of basic oxides) may result in a phosphate dominated ash. The properties of this ash are in several aspects different from the silicate dominated woody biomass ash and will consequently behave differently in various types of energy conversion systems. The knowledge about phosphate dominated ash systems has so far been scarce. We have been working with these systems, both with basic and applied research, for about a decade know. Some general experiences and conclusions as well as some specific examples of our research will be presented.
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- Broström, Erika, et al.
(författare)
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The prevalence of chronic airflow obstruction in three cities in the Nordic-Baltic region
- 2018
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Ingår i: Respiratory Medicine. - : Saunders Elsevier. - 0954-6111 .- 1532-3064. ; 143, s. 8-13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Back ground: Chronic airflow obstruction (CAO) is the primary characteristic of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) but is also seen in chronic asthma. Objective: To compare the prevalence of CAO and possible risk factors between Tartu in Estonia, Reykjavik in Iceland and Uppsala in Sweden. Methods: All participants underwent spirometry testing of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) before and after bronchodilation. CAO was defined as post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC below lower limit of normal. Information on respiratory diseases and smoking status, was obtained through questionnaires administered by trained interviewers. Results: 1037 men and 956 women participated in the study. The prevalence of CAO was lower in women in Tartu compared to the other centres (4.9% vs. 13.4 and 8.7% in Reykjavik and Uppsala, respectively, p = 0.002) while no difference was found for men. A similar picture was seen for the proportion of participants that had smoked 10 pack years or more which was much lower in Tartu for women than in Reykjavik and Uppsala, respectively (13.2% vs. 33.7 and 29.2%, p < 0.001). (Fig. 1). Of the participants with CAO the majority (57-67%) did not have a previous diagnosis of asthma or COPD. Conclusion: The prevalence of CAO was lower in Estonian women than in women from Iceland and Sweden. The reason for this was probably that the Estonian women had smoked less than the female participants from Iceland and Sweden. The majority of those with CAO do not have a diagnosed lung disease.
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- Elfving, Hedvig, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of NTRK immunohistochemistry as a screening method for NTRK gene fusion detection in non-small cell lung cancer
- 2021
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Ingår i: Lung Cancer. - : Elsevier. - 0169-5002 .- 1872-8332. ; 151, s. 53-59
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: The small molecule inhibitors larotrectinib and entrectinib have recently been approved as cancer agnostic drugs in patients with tumours harbouring a rearrangement of the neurotrophic tropomyosin receptor kinase (NTRK). These oncogenic fusions are estimated to occur in 0.1-3 % of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). Although molecular techniques are most reliable for fusion detection, immunohistochemical analysis is considered valuable for screening. Therefore, we evaluated the newly introduced diagnostic immunohistochemical assay (clone EPR17341) on a representative NSCLC cohort.Methods: Cancer tissue from 688 clinically and molecularly extensively annotated NSCLC patients were comprised on tissue microarrays and stained with the pan-TRK antibody clone EPR17341. Positive cases were further analysed with the TruSight Tumor 170 RNA assay (Illumina). Selected cases were also tested with a NanoString NTRK fusion assay. For 199 cases, NTRK RNA expression data were available from previous RNA sequencing analysis.Results: Altogether, staining patterns for 617 NSCLC cases were evaluable. Of these, four cases (0.6 %) demonstrated a strong diffuse cytoplasmic and membranous staining, and seven cases a moderate staining (1.1 %). NanoString or TST170-analysis could not confirm an NTRK fusion in any of the IHC positive cases, or any of the cases with high mRNA levels. In the four cases with strong staining intensity in the tissue microarray, whole section staining revealed marked heterogeneity of NTRK protein expression.Conclusion: The presence of NTRK fusion genes in non-small cell lung cancer is exceedingly rare. The use of the immunohistochemical NTRK assay will result in a small number of false positive cases. This should be considered when the assay is applied as a screening tool in clinical diagnostics.
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- Hardardottir, Hronn, et al.
(författare)
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Psychobiological stress response to a lung cancer diagnosis : a prospective study of patients in Iceland and Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Acta Oncologica. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0284-186X .- 1651-226X. ; 62:10, s. 1338-1347
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: A diagnostic work-up leading to a lung cancer diagnosis is a severely stressful experience that may impact tumor progression. Yet, prospective data are scarce on psychological and biological components of stress at the time of lung cancer diagnosis. The aim of this study was to assess pre-to-post diagnosis change in psychological distress and urinary excretion of catecholamines in patients with suspected lung cancer.Methods: Participants were 167 patients within the LUCASS study, recruited at referral for suspected lung cancer to University Hospitals in Iceland and Sweden. Patients completed questionnaires on perceived distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS) before and after diagnosis of lung cancer or a non-malignant origin. A subpopulation of 85 patients also provided overnight urine for catecholamine analysis before and at a median of 24 days after diagnosis but before treatment.Results: A lung cancer diagnosis was confirmed in 123 (73.7%) patients, with a mean age of 70.1 years. Patients diagnosed with lung cancer experienced a post-diagnosis increase in psychological distress (p = 0.010), while patients with non-malignant lung pathology showed a reduction in distress (p = 0.070). Both urinary epinephrine (p = 0.001) and norepinephrine (p = 0.032) levels were higher before the diagnosis among patients eventually diagnosed with lung cancer compared to those with non-malignant lung pathology. We observed indications of associations between pre-to-post diagnosis changes in perceived distress and changes in urinary catecholamine levels.Conclusion: Receiving a lung cancer diagnosis is associated with an increase in psychological distress, while elevated catecholamine levels are evident already before lung cancer diagnosis.
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- Isaksson, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Predictors of long-term survival and recurrence patterns after definitive chemoradiotherapy in stage III NSCLC – a multicenter cohort study from Mid Sweden
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Stage III NSCLC is heterogeneous but often recurs despite intensive treatment with curative intent. Clinical tools to predict the risk and pattern of recurrence and long-term survival in individual patients are largely lacking. Methods: NSCLC stage III patients (N=193) treated 2009-2018 with definitive, curatively intended chemoradiotherapy (CRT, 60Gy+) were retrospectively identified from three healthcare regions in Mid Sweden. Outcome variables included overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and recurrence patterns. Results: Median follow-up of patients alive was 52 months. 1, 2 and 5-year OS was 80%, 63% and 34% with a mOS of 32 months. Pre-treatment serum inflammatory markers were associated with inferior OS, including leukocyte count > 10 (HR 1.58, 95% CI 1.08-2.31, p=0.018) and CRP > 5 (HR 1.81, 95% CI 1.16-2.83, p=0.009). CRP remained independently associated with OS in multivariable analysis, HR 1.67 (1.05-2.65, p=0.029). No other pre-treatment variable was significantly associated with OS. Progressive disease (PD) was documented in 65% of patients after a median time of 9.5 months, 96% within 3 years from CRT, and was typically either distant or locoregional (12% mixed). Distant PD developed earlier (6.3 months) than locoregional PD (11.5 months; p=0.052). N3 disease (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.2-6.3,; p=0.022) and presence of driver mutations (OR 4.6, 95% CI 1.5-14.0; p=0.0076) increased the risk of distant PD, while ≥2 concurrent chemotherapy courses was protective of locoregional PD (OR 0.38, 9% CI 0.1-1.0; p=0.049). Brain metastases were the first indication of PD in 22 patients (12%) and were in all cases isolated without synchronous extracranial PD. A post-CRT 18F-FDG-PET SUVmax of ≥7 was associated with a shorter time to PD (HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.21-0.79, p=0.008). Conclusions: The study reinforces the prognostic role of systemic inflammation in stage III NSCLC and provides clinically useful indicators of relapse pattern as a basis for rational disease monitoring following CRT.
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