| 1. |
- Wormser, David, et al.
(författare)
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Adult height and the risk of cause-specific death and vascular morbidity in 1 million people : individual participant meta-analysis
- 2012
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Ingår i: International Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0300-5771 .- 1464-3685. ; 41:5, s. 1419-1433
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundThe extent to which adult height, a biomarker of the interplay of genetic endowment and early-life experiences, is related to risk of chronic diseases in adulthood is uncertain.MethodsWe calculated hazard ratios (HRs) for height, assessed in increments of 6.5 cm, using individual-participant data on 174 374 deaths or major non-fatal vascular outcomes recorded among 1 085 949 people in 121 prospective studies.ResultsFor people born between 1900 and 1960, mean adult height increased 0.5-1 cm with each successive decade of birth. After adjustment for age, sex, smoking and year of birth, HRs per 6.5 cm greater height were 0.97 (95% confidence interval: 0.96-0.99) for death from any cause, 0.94 (0.93-0.96) for death from vascular causes, 1.04 (1.03-1.06) for death from cancer and 0.92 (0.90-0.94) for death from other causes. Height was negatively associated with death from coronary disease, stroke subtypes, heart failure, stomach and oral cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, mental disorders, liver disease and external causes. In contrast, height was positively associated with death from ruptured aortic aneurysm, pulmonary embolism, melanoma and cancers of the pancreas, endocrine and nervous systems, ovary, breast, prostate, colorectum, blood and lung. HRs per 6.5 cm greater height ranged from 1.26 (1.12-1.42) for risk of melanoma death to 0.84 (0.80-0.89) for risk of death from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. HRs were not appreciably altered after further adjustment for adiposity, blood pressure, lipids, inflammation biomarkers, diabetes mellitus, alcohol consumption or socio-economic indicators.ConclusionAdult height has directionally opposing relationships with risk of death from several different major causes of chronic diseases.
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| 2. |
- Cremer, Roxana S., et al.
(författare)
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Airmass Analysis of Size-Resolved Black Carbon Particles Observed in the Arctic Based on Cluster Analysis
- 2022
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Ingår i: Atmosphere. - : MDPI AG. - 2073-4433 .- 2073-4433. ; 13:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Here we apply new analysis methods and approaches to existing long-term measurement series that provide additional insights into the atmospheric processes that control black carbon (BC) in the Arctic. Based on clustering size distribution data from Zeppelin Observatory for the years 2002–2010, observations classified as ‘Polluted’ were further investigated based on BC properties. The data were split into two subgroups, and while the microphysical and chemical fingerprints of the two subgroups are very similar, they show larger differences in BC concentration and correlation with the particle size distribution. Therefore, a source–receptor analysis was performed with HYSPLIT 10-days backward trajectories for both subsets. We demonstrate that within this ‘Polluted’ category, the airmasses that contributed to the largest BC signal at the Zeppelin station are not necessarily associated with traditional transport pathways from Eurasia. Instead, the strongest signal is from a region east of the Ural Mountains across the continent to the Kamchatka Peninsula.
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| 3. |
- Cremer, Roxana S., 1993-
(författare)
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Lifecycle of Black Carbon in the Arctic
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This PhD thesis investigates the atmospheric life cycle of Black Carbon (BC) in the Arctic. The Arctic region has been rapidly changing in the last decades and the role of BC aerosols in this is still uncertain. BC aerosols are mainly produced by incomplete combustion of biomass burning and fossil fuel and stand out from other aerosol species due to their strong ability to absorb solar radiation. The impact of BC on the Earth’s radiation budget is estimated to be overall warming. While the indirect effect, interactions with clouds, is estimated to be negative, the direct radiation effect is positive because of the absorption ability of the BC. These estimates are uncertain, especially for aerosol-cloud interactions. To estimate the role of BC in the Arctic, it is necessary to know the size distribution of BC, the transport pattern and the loss processes that affect the BC concentration. In this thesis, in-situ observations from the Zeppelin observatory in the Arctic, as well as global modelling tools, are used to answer the following research questions: 1. What kind of new insights about BC size distributions can be gained from simultaneous long-term measurements of absorption and aerosol number size distributions? 2. How do source regions impact BC size distributions measured at Zeppelin? 3. How are observations of biomass burning tracers at Zeppelin connected to transport from source regions with active fires? 4. How do emissions, as well as, wet and dry removal pathways drive the diversity of the BC life cycle in General Circulation Models (GCMs)?A statistical method to derive BC size distributions from filter-based absorption measurements was developed and applied to long-term data from the Arctic measurement station Zeppelin on Svalbard. Promising results were obtained for inferring BC number size distributions from absorption and size distribution data, except for the most polluted conditions with the air masses arriving from Northern Eurasia and Russia - as identified from an analysis using back trajectories. Trajectory analysis was also used to link events with elevated biomass burning tracers and BC at Zeppelin to fire activity measured by satellites on the continents around the Arctic. To investigate the interplay of emissions and removal processes of BC in models and to understand the diversity in model representation of BC in the Arctic, a detailed analysis of processes in four GCMs was performed. The BC concentrations in the Arctic were compared and their response to removal processes during long-range transport to Zeppelin. The results underline the importance of BC sources and processing far away from the Arctic.The knowledge gained about the BC life cycle will facilitate a better assessment of the large-scale influence of BC on the Arctic climate and environment.
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| 4. |
- Heslin-Rees, Dominic, 1993-, et al.
(författare)
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Increase in precipitation scavenging contributes to long-term reductions of light-absorbing aerosol in the Arctic
- 2024
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Ingår i: Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 24:4, s. 2059-2075
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigated long-term changes using a harmonised 22-year data set of aerosol light absorption measurements, in conjunction with air mass history and aerosol source analysis. The measurements were performed at Zeppelin Observatory, Svalbard, from 2002 to 2023. We report a statistically significant decreasing long-term trend for the light absorption coefficient. However, the last 8 years of 2016–2023 showed a slight increase in the magnitude of the light absorption coefficient for the Arctic haze season. In addition, we observed an increasing trend in the single-scattering albedo from 2002 to 2023. Five distinct source regions, representing different transport pathways, were identified. The trends involving air masses from the five regions showed decreasing absorption coefficients, except for the air masses from Eurasia. We show that the changes in the occurrences of each transport pathway cannot explain the reductions in the absorption coefficient observed at the Zeppelin station. An increase in contributions of air masses from more marine regions, with lower absorption coefficients, is compensated for by an influence from high-emission regions. The proportion of air masses en route to Zeppelin, which have been influenced by active fires, has undergone a noticeable increase starting in 2015. However, this increase has not impacted the long-term trends in the concentration of light-absorbing aerosol. Along with aerosol optical properties, we also show an increasing trend in accumulated surface precipitation experienced by air masses en route to the Zeppelin Observatory. We argue that the increase in precipitation, as experienced by air masses arriving at the station, can explain a quarter of the long-term reduction in the light absorption coefficient. We emphasise that meteorological conditions en route to the Zeppelin Observatory are critical for understanding the observed trends.
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| 5. |
- Kraus, Ludwig, et al.
(författare)
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Estimation of the Number of People With Opioid Addiction in Germany
- 2019
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Ingår i: Deutsches Ärzteblatt International. - : Deutscher Arzte-Verlag GmbH. - 1866-0452. ; 116:9, s. 137-143
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Opioid addiction is one of the most common substance-related disorders worldwide, and morbidity and mortality due to opioid addiction place a heavy burden on society. Knowing the size of the population that is addicted to opioids is a prerequisite for the development and implementation of appropriate health-policy measures.Methods: Our estimate for Germany for 2016 is based on an enumeration of opioid-addicted persons who were entered in a registry of persons receiving substitution therapy, an enumeration of persons receiving outpatient and inpatient care for addiction without substitution therapy, an extrapolation to all addiction care facilities, and an estimation of the number of opioid-addicted persons who were not accounted for either in the substitution registry or in addiction care.Results: The overall estimate of the number of opioid-addicted persons in Germany in 2016 was 166 294 persons (lower and upper bounds: 164 794 and 167 794), including 123 988 men (122 968 to 125 007) and 42 307 women (41 826 to 42 787). The estimates for each German federal state per 1000 inhabitants ranged from 0.1 in Brandenburg to 3.0 in North Rhine-Westphalia and 5.5 in Bremen. The average value across Germany was 3.1 per 1000 inhabitants.Conclusion: Comparisons with earlier estimates suggest that the number of persons addicted to opioids in Germany has hardly changed over the past 20 years. Despite methodological limitations, this estimate can be considered highly valid. Nearly all persons who are addicted to opioids are in contact with the addiction care system.
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| 6. |
- Moens, Annick, et al.
(författare)
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Pregnancy outcomes in inflammatory bowel disease patients treated with vedolizumab, anti-TNF or conventional therapy : results of the European CONCEIVE study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. - : Blackwell Publishing. - 0269-2813 .- 1365-2036. ; 51:1, s. 129-138
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Women with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) often receive biologicals during pregnancy to maintain disease remission. Data on outcome of vedolizumab-exposed pregnancies (VDZE) are sparse.Aims: The aim was to assess pregnancy and child outcomes of VDZE pregnancies and to compare these results to anti-TNF exposed (TNFE) or both immunomodulatory and biologic unexposed (CON IBD) pregnancies.Methods: A retrospective multicentre case-control observational study was performed.Results: VDZE group included 79 pregnancies in 73 IBD women. The TNFE and CON IBD group included 186 pregnancies (162 live births) in 164 IBD women and 184 pregnancies (163 live births) in 155 IBD women, respectively. At conception, cases more often had active disease ([VDZE: 36% vs TNFE: 17%, P = .002] and [VDZE: 36% vs CON IBD: 24%, P = .063]). No significant difference in miscarriage rates were found between groups (VDZE and TNFE: 16% vs 13%, P = .567; VDZE and CON IBD: 16% vs 10%, P = .216). In live-born infants, median gestational age and birthweight were similar between groups. Median Apgar score at birth was numerically equal. Prematurity was similar in the VDZE group compared to the control groups, even when correcting for disease activity during pregnancy. The frequency of congenital anomalies was comparable between groups as were the percentages of breastfed babies. During the first year of life, no malignancies were reported and infants' infection risk did not significantly differ between groups.Conclusion: No new safety signal was detected in VDZE pregnancies although larger, prospective studies are required for confirmation.
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| 7. |
- Schindler, Birgit Karin, et al.
(författare)
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The European COPHES/DEMOCOPHES project: Towards transnational comparability and reliability of human biomonitoring results.
- 2014
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Ingår i: International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. - : Elsevier BV. - 1618-131X .- 1438-4639. ; 217:6, s. 653-661
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- COPHES/DEMOCOPHES has its origins in the European Environment and Health Action Plan of 2004 to "develop a coherent approach on human biomonitoring (HBM) in Europe". Within this twin-project it was targeted to collect specimens from 120 mother-child-pairs in each of the 17 participating European countries. These specimens were investigated for six biomarkers (mercury in hair; creatinine, cotinine, cadmium, phthalate metabolites and bisphenol A in urine). The results for mercury in hair are described in a separate paper. Each participating member state was requested to contract laboratories, for capacity building reasons ideally within its borders, carrying out the chemical analyses. To ensure comparability of analytical data a Quality Assurance Unit (QAU) was established which provided the participating laboratories with standard operating procedures (SOP) and with control material. This material was specially prepared from native, non-spiked, pooled urine samples and was tested for homogeneity and stability. Four external quality assessment exercises were carried out. Highly esteemed laboratories from all over the world served as reference laboratories. Web conferences after each external quality assessment exercise functioned as a new and effective tool to improve analytical performance, to build capacity and to educate less experienced laboratories. Of the 38 laboratories participating in the quality assurance exercises 14 laboratories qualified for cadmium, 14 for creatinine, 9 for cotinine, 7 for phthalate metabolites and 5 for bisphenol A in urine. In the last of the four external quality assessment exercises the laboratories that qualified for DEMOCOPHES performed the determinations in urine with relative standard deviations (low/high concentration) of 18.0/2.1% for cotinine, 14.8/5.1% for cadmium, 4.7/3.4% for creatinine. Relative standard deviations for the newly emerging biomarkers were higher, with values between 13.5 and 20.5% for bisphenol A and between 18.9 and 45.3% for the phthalate metabolites. Plausibility control of the HBM results of all participating countries disclosed analytical shortcomings in the determination of Cd when using certain ICP/MS methods. Results were corrected by reanalyzes. The COPHES/DEMOCOPHES project for the first time succeeded in performing a harmonized pan-European HBM project. All data raised have to be regarded as utmost reliable according to the highest international state of the art, since highly renowned laboratories functioned as reference laboratories. The procedure described here, that has shown its success, can be used as a blueprint for future transnational, multicentre HBM projects.
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| 8. |
- Tunved, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Using correlations between observed equivalent black carbon and aerosol size distribution to derive size resolved BC mass concentration : a method applied on long-term observations performed at Zeppelin station, Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard
- 2021
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Ingår i: Tellus. Series B, Chemical and physical meteorology. - : Stockholm University Press. - 0280-6509 .- 1600-0889. ; 73:1, s. 1-17
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study was to explore particle size dependent properties by combining long-term observations of equivalent black carbon (eBC) and number size distributions to investigate their correlation as function of particle size. The work was conducted in two main parts. The first part consisted of a short laboratory experiment to compare observed total particle light absorption (σabs) with that observed according to particle size by using a combination of a Differential Mobility Analyzer (DMA) and a Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP). The laboratory study confirmed strong similarities between the observed and derived σabs. In the second part the statistical approach using correlation between the σabs and the dN of each bin of the number size distribution was tested on long-term data ranging from 2002 to 2010 observed at Zeppelin station, Ny-Ålesund Svalbard. The data was clustered according to the number size distribution and grouped in four major categories: Washout, Nucleation, Intermediate and Polluted. Each category presented different features with respect to the derived eBC mass distributions, the Intermediate category showed similarities to the few available Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) observations in the Arctic. Overall, the statistical distribution of eBC, according to particle size, presented a larger dynamical range in the location of the mode(s). To check for consistency, the eBC mass distributions were transformed into number based eBC size distribution and compared to the observed total number size distribution. Whereas the Washout, Nucleation and Intermediate categories presented plausible number distributions, the Polluted category displayed a mode at small sizes (about 50 nm) that was significantly exaggerated.
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