| 1. |
- Arndt, D. S., et al.
(författare)
-
State of the Climate in 2016
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Bulletin of The American Meteorological Society - (BAMS). - 0003-0007 .- 1520-0477. ; 98:8, s. S1-S280
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2016, the dominant greenhouse gases released into Earth's atmosphere-carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide-continued to increase and reach new record highs. The 3.5 +/- 0.1 ppm rise in global annual mean carbon dioxide from 2015 to 2016 was the largest annual increase observed in the 58-year measurement record. The annual global average carbon dioxide concentration at Earth's surface surpassed 400 ppm (402.9 +/- 0.1 ppm) for the first time in the modern atmospheric measurement record and in ice core records dating back as far as 800000 years. One of the strongest El Nino events since at least 1950 dissipated in spring, and a weak La Nina evolved later in the year. Owing at least in part to the combination of El Nino conditions early in the year and a long-term upward trend, Earth's surface observed record warmth for a third consecutive year, albeit by a much slimmer margin than by which that record was set in 2015. Above Earth's surface, the annual lower troposphere temperature was record high according to all datasets analyzed, while the lower stratospheric temperature was record low according to most of the in situ and satellite datasets. Several countries, including Mexico and India, reported record high annual temperatures while many others observed near-record highs. A week-long heat wave at the end of April over the northern and eastern Indian peninsula, with temperatures surpassing 44 degrees C, contributed to a water crisis for 330 million people and to 300 fatalities. In the Arctic the 2016 land surface temperature was 2.0 degrees C above the 1981-2010 average, breaking the previous record of 2007, 2011, and 2015 by 0.8 degrees C, representing a 3.5 degrees C increase since the record began in 1900. The increasing temperatures have led to decreasing Arctic sea ice extent and thickness. On 24 March, the sea ice extent at the end of the growth season saw its lowest maximum in the 37-year satellite record, tying with 2015 at 7.2% below the 1981-2010 average. The September 2016 Arctic sea ice minimum extent tied with 2007 for the second lowest value on record, 33% lower than the 1981-2010 average. Arctic sea ice cover remains relatively young and thin, making it vulnerable to continued extensive melt. The mass of the Greenland Ice Sheet, which has the capacity to contribute similar to 7 m to sea level rise, reached a record low value. The onset of its surface melt was the second earliest, after 2012, in the 37-year satellite record. Sea surface temperature was record high at the global scale, surpassing the previous record of 2015 by about 0.01 degrees C. The global sea surface temperature trend for the 21st century-to-date of +0.162 degrees C decade(-1) is much higher than the longer term 1950-2016 trend of +0.100 degrees C decade(-1). Global annual mean sea level also reached a new record high, marking the sixth consecutive year of increase. Global annual ocean heat content saw a slight drop compared to the record high in 2015. Alpine glacier retreat continued around the globe, and preliminary data indicate that 2016 is the 37th consecutive year of negative annual mass balance. Across the Northern Hemisphere, snow cover for each month from February to June was among its four least extensive in the 47-year satellite record. Continuing a pattern below the surface, record high temperatures at 20-m depth were measured at all permafrost observatories on the North Slope of Alaska and at the Canadian observatory on northernmost Ellesmere Island. In the Antarctic, record low monthly surface pressures were broken at many stations, with the southern annular mode setting record high index values in March and June. Monthly high surface pressure records for August and November were set at several stations. During this period, record low daily and monthly sea ice extents were observed, with the November mean sea ice extent more than 5 standard deviations below the 1981-2010 average. These record low sea ice values contrast sharply with the record high values observed during 2012-14. Over the region, springtime Antarctic stratospheric ozone depletion was less severe relative to the 1991-2006 average, but ozone levels were still low compared to pre-1990 levels. Closer to the equator, 93 named tropical storms were observed during 2016, above the 1981-2010 average of 82, but fewer than the 101 storms recorded in 2015. Three basins-the North Atlantic, and eastern and western North Pacific-experienced above-normal activity in 2016. The Australian basin recorded its least active season since the beginning of the satellite era in 1970. Overall, four tropical cyclones reached the Saffir-Simpson category 5 intensity level. The strong El Nino at the beginning of the year that transitioned to a weak La Nina contributed to enhanced precipitation variability around the world. Wet conditions were observed throughout the year across southern South America, causing repeated heavy flooding in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Wetter-than-usual conditions were also observed for eastern Europe and central Asia, alleviating the drought conditions of 2014 and 2015 in southern Russia. In the United States, California had its first wetter-than-average year since 2012, after being plagued by drought for several years. Even so, the area covered by drought in 2016 at the global scale was among the largest in the post-1950 record. For each month, at least 12% of land surfaces experienced severe drought conditions or worse, the longest such stretch in the record. In northeastern Brazil, drought conditions were observed for the fifth consecutive year, making this the longest drought on record in the region. Dry conditions were also observed in western Bolivia and Peru; it was Bolivia's worst drought in the past 25 years. In May, with abnormally warm and dry conditions already prevailing over western Canada for about a year, the human-induced Fort McMurray wildfire burned nearly 590000 hectares and became the costliest disaster in Canadian history, with $3 billion (U.S. dollars) in insured losses.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Baughn, Linda B., et al.
(författare)
-
Targeting TMPRSS2 in SARS-CoV-2 Infection
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Mayo Clinic Proceedings. - : Elsevier BV. - 0025-6196. ; 95:9, s. 1989-1999
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has rapidly caused a global pandemic associated with a novel respiratory infection: coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) is necessary to facilitate SARS-CoV-2 infection, but—owing to its essential metabolic roles—it may be difficult to target it in therapies. Transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2), which interacts with ACE2, may be a better candidate for targeted therapies. Using publicly available expression data, we show that both ACE2 and TMPRSS2 are expressed in many host tissues, including lung. The highest expression of ACE2 is found in the testes, whereas the prostate displays the highest expression of TMPRSS2. Given the increased severity of disease among older men with SARS-CoV-2 infection, we address the potential roles of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in their contribution to the sex differences in severity of disease. We show that expression levels of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 are overall comparable between men and women in multiple tissues, suggesting that differences in the expression levels of TMPRSS2 and ACE2 in the lung and other non–sex-specific tissues may not explain the gender disparities in severity of SARS CoV-2. However, given their instrumental roles for SARS-CoV-2 infection and their pleiotropic expression, targeting the activity and expression levels of TMPRSS2 is a rational approach to treat COVID-19.
|
|
| 4. |
- Bedard, Annabelle, et al.
(författare)
-
Mobile technology offers novel insights into the control and treatment of allergic rhinitis : The MASK study
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. - : MOSBY-ELSEVIER. - 0091-6749 .- 1097-6825. ; 144:1, s. 135-143
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Mobile health can be used to generate innovative insights into optimizing treatment to improve allergic rhinitis (AR) control. Objectives: A cross-sectional real-world observational study was undertaken in 22 countries to complement a pilot study and provide novel information on medication use, disease control, and work productivity in the everyday life of patients with AR. Methods: A mobile phone app (Allergy Diary, which is freely available on Google Play and Apple stores) was used to collect the data of daily visual analogue scale (VAS) scores for (1) overall allergic symptoms; (2) nasal, ocular, and asthma symptoms; (3) work; and (4) medication use by using a treatment scroll list including all allergy medications (prescribed and over-the-counter) customized for 22 countries. The 4 most common intranasal medications containing intranasal corticosteroids and 8 oral H-1-antihistamines were studied. Results: Nine thousand one hundred twenty-two users filled in 112,054 days of VASs in 2016 and 2017. Assessment of days was informative. Control of days with rhinitis differed between no (best control), single (good control for intranasal corticosteroid-treated days), or multiple (worst control) treatments. Users with the worst control increased the range of treatments being used. The same trend was found for asthma, eye symptoms, and work productivity. Differences between oral H-1-antihistamines were found. Conclusions: This study confirms the usefulness of the Allergy Diary in accessing and assessing behavior in patients with AR. This observational study using a very simple assessment tool (VAS) on a mobile phone had the potential to answer questions previously thought infeasible.
|
|
| 5. |
- Bousquet, Jean, et al.
(författare)
-
ARIA digital anamorphosis : Digital transformation of health and care in airway diseases from research to practice
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Allergy. European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0105-4538 .- 1398-9995. ; 76:1, s. 168-190
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Digital anamorphosis is used to define a distorted image of health and care that may be viewed correctly using digital tools and strategies. MASK digital anamorphosis represents the process used by MASK to develop the digital transformation of health and care in rhinitis. It strengthens the ARIA change management strategy in the prevention and management of airway disease. The MASK strategy is based on validated digital tools. Using the MASK digital tool and the CARAT online enhanced clinical framework, solutions for practical steps of digital enhancement of care are proposed.
|
|
| 6. |
- Bousquet, J. Jean, et al.
(författare)
-
Next-generation ARIA care pathways for rhinitis and asthma : a model for multimorbid chronic diseases
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Clinical and Translational Allergy. - : BMC. - 2045-7022. ; 9
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: In all societies, the burden and cost of allergic and chronic respiratory diseases are increasing rapidly. Most economies are struggling to deliver modern health care effectively. There is a need to support the transformation of the health care system into integrated care with organizational health literacy.Main body: As an example for chronic disease care, MASK (Mobile Airways Sentinel NetworK), a new project of the ARIA (Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma) initiative, and POLLAR (Impact of Air POLLution on Asthma and Rhinitis, EIT Health), in collaboration with professional and patient organizations in the field of allergy and airway diseases, are proposing real-life ICPs centred around the patient with rhinitis, and using mHealth to monitor environmental exposure. Three aspects of care pathways are being developed: (i) Patient participation, health literacy and self-care through technology-assisted "patient activation", (ii) Implementation of care pathways by pharmacists and (iii) Next-generation guidelines assessing the recommendations of GRADE guidelines in rhinitis and asthma using real-world evidence (RWE) obtained through mobile technology. The EU and global political agendas are of great importance in supporting the digital transformation of health and care, and MASK has been recognized by DG Sante as a Good Practice in the field of digitally-enabled, integrated, person-centred care.Conclusion: In 20 years, ARIA has considerably evolved from the first multimorbidity guideline in respiratory diseases to the digital transformation of health and care with a strong political involvement.
|
|
| 7. |
- Caliz, Rafael, et al.
(författare)
-
Gender-Specific Effects of Genetic Variants within Th1 and Th17 Cell-Mediated Immune Response Genes on the Risk of Developing Rheumatoid Arthritis
- 2013
-
Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 8:8
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study was conducted to explore whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Th1 and Th17 cell-mediated immune response genes differentially influence the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in women and men. In phase one, 27 functional/tagging polymorphisms in C-type lectins and MCP-1/CCR2 axis were genotyped in 458 RA patients and 512 controls. Carriers of Dectin-2(rs4264222T) allele had an increased risk of RA (OR = 1.47, 95% CI 1.10-1.96) whereas patients harboring the DC-SIGN(rs4804803G), MCP-1(rs1024611G), MCP-1(rs13900T) and MCP-1(rs4586C) alleles had a decreased risk of developing the disease (OR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.49-0.88; OR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.50-0.89; OR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.55-0.97 and OR = 0.68, 95% CI 0.51-0.91). Interestingly, significant gender-specific differences were observed for Dectin-2(rs4264222) and Dectin-2(rs7134303): women carrying the Dectin-2(rs4264222T) and Dectin-2(rs7134303G) alleles had an increased risk of RA (OR = 1.93, 95% CI 1.34-2.79 and OR = 1.90, 95% CI 1.29-2.80). Also five other SNPs showed significant associations only with one gender: women carrying the MCP-1(rs1024611G), MCP-1(rs13900T) and MCP-1(rs4586C) alleles had a decreased risk of RA (OR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.43-0.87; OR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.47-0.95 and OR = 0.60, 95% CI 0.42-0.86). In men, carriers of the DC-SIGN(rs2287886A) allele had an increased risk of RA (OR = 1.70, 95% CI 1.03-2.78), whereas carriers of the DC-SIGN(rs4804803G) had a decreased risk of developing the disease (OR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.32-0.89). In phase 2, we genotyped these SNPs in 754 RA patients and 519 controls, leading to consistent gender-specific associations for Dectin-2(rs4264222), MCP-1(rs1024611), MCP-1(rs13900) and DC-SIGN(rs4804803) polymorphisms in the pooled sample (OR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.08-1.77; OR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.58-0.94; OR = 0.76, 95% CI 0.59-0.97 and OR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.34-0.93). SNP-SNP interaction analysis of significant SNPs also showed a significant two-locus interaction model in women that was not seen in men. This model consisted of Dectin-2(rs4264222) and Dectin-2(rs7134303) SNPs and suggested a synergistic effect between the variants. These findings suggest that Dectin-2, MCP-1 and DC-SIGN polymorphisms may, at least in part, account for gender-associated differences in susceptibility to RA.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Dreier, Dennis, et al.
(författare)
-
The influence of passenger load, driving cycle, fuel price and different types of buses on the cost of transport service in the BRT system in Curitiba, Brazil
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Transportation. - : Springer. - 0049-4488 .- 1572-9435. ; 46:6, s. 2195-2242
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study analyses the influence of passenger load, driving cycle, fuel price and four different types of buses on the cost of transport service for one bus rapid transit (BRT) route in Curitiba, Brazil. First, the energy use is estimated for different passenger loads and driving cycles for a conventional bi-articulated bus (ConvBi), a hybrid-electric two-axle bus (HybTw), a hybrid-electric articulated bus (HybAr) and a plug-in hybrid-electric two-axle bus (PlugTw). Then, the fuel cost and uncertainty are estimated considering the fuel price trends in the past. Based on this and additional cost data, replacement scenarios for the currently operated ConvBi fleet are determined using a techno-economic optimisation model. The lowest fuel cost ranges for the passenger load are estimated for PlugTw amounting to (0.198–0.289) USD/km, followed by (0.255–0.315) USD/km for HybTw, (0.298–0.375) USD/km for HybAr and (0.552–0.809) USD/km for ConvBi. In contrast, the coefficient of variation (Cv'>C v Cv) of the combined standard uncertainty is the highest for PlugTw (Cv'>C v Cv: 15–17%) due to stronger sensitivity to varying bus driver behaviour, whereas it is the least for ConvBi (Cv'>C v Cv: 8%). The scenario analysis shows that a complete replacement of the ConvBi fleet leads to considerable higher cost of transport service on the BRT route, amounting to an increase by 64% to 139%, depending on the bus fleet composition. Meanwhile, the service quality is improved resulting in 42% up to 64% less waiting time for passengers at a bus stop.
|
|
| 10. |
- Duquesne, Amílcar, et al.
(författare)
-
Diagnostic Testing Accuracy for Helicobacter pylori Infection among Adult Patients with Dyspepsia in Cuba’s Primary Care Setting
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Microorganisms. - 2076-2607. ; 11:4
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Evidence of the effectiveness of the tests used to diagnose Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in primary healthcare is limited. This cross-sectional study aims to assess the accuracy of tests used for to diagnose H. pylori infection in primary care patients and its relationship with gastroduodenal pathologies. Over 12 months, 173 primary care patients with dyspeptic symptoms were referred for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy to obtain gastric biopsies, and venous blood was extracted from them. H. pylori infection was detected using a rapid urease test (RUT), real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), H. pylori-IgG ELISA, and Western blot (WB). The culture and histological findings were used as the reference standard for H. pylori infection. H. pylori prevalence was 50%. There were no significant differences between men and women overall or by age group. The presence of H. pylori was associated with chronic moderate gastritis and its absence with chronic inactive gastritis, as well as the combination of gastritis and gastric lesions (p < 0.05). RUT and ELISA H. pylori -IgG tests showed the highest overall performance (accuracy 98.9% and 84.4%), followed by WB and RT-PCR (accuracy 79.3% and 73.9%). These findings support the notion that combined invasive and noninvasive methods, such as RUT and H. pylori-IgG ELISA, can be a primary diagnostic screening tool for detecting H. pylori among adult dyspeptic patients in Cuba’s primary care setting.
|
|
