| 1. |
- Engström, Gunnar, et al.
(författare)
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Pulmonary function and atherosclerosis in the general population : causal associations and clinical implications
- 2024
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Ingår i: European Journal of Epidemiology. - : Springer Nature. - 0393-2990 .- 1573-7284. ; 39:1, s. 35-49
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Reduced lung function is associated with cardiovascular mortality, but the relationships with atherosclerosis are unclear. The population-based Swedish CArdioPulmonary BioImage study measured lung function, emphysema, coronary CT angiography, coronary calcium, carotid plaques and ankle-brachial index in 29,593 men and women aged 50–64 years. The results were confirmed using 2-sample Mendelian randomization. Lower lung function and emphysema were associated with more atherosclerosis, but these relationships were attenuated after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors. Lung function was not associated with coronary atherosclerosis in 14,524 never-smokers. No potentially causal effect of lung function on atherosclerosis, or vice versa, was found in the 2-sample Mendelian randomization analysis. Here we show that reduced lung function and atherosclerosis are correlated in the population, but probably not causally related. Assessing lung function in addition to conventional cardiovascular risk factors to gauge risk of subclinical atherosclerosis is probably not meaningful, but low lung function found by chance should alert for atherosclerosis.
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| 2. |
- Berg, Staffan, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation in pig of an intestinal administration device for oral peptide delivery
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Controlled Release. - : Elsevier. - 0168-3659 .- 1873-4995. ; 353, s. 792-801
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The bioavailability of peptides co-delivered with permeation enhancers following oral administration remains low and highly variable. Two factors that may contribute to this are the dilution of the permeation enhancer in the intestinal fluid, as well as spreading of the released permeation enhancer and peptide in the lumen by intestinal motility. In this work we evaluated an Intestinal Administration Device (IAD) designed to reduce the luminal dilution of drug and permeation enhancer, and to minimize movement of the dosage form in the intestinal lumen. To achieve this, the IAD utilizes an expanding design that holds immediate release mini tablets and places these in contact with the intestinal epithelium, where unidirectional drug release can occur. The expanding conformation limits movement of the IAD in the intestinal tract, thereby enabling drug release at a single focal point in the intestine. A pig model was selected to study the ability of the IAD to promote intestinal absorption of the peptide MEDI7219 formulated together with the permeation enhancer sodium caprate. We compared the IAD to intestinally administered enteric coated capsules and an intestinally administered solution. The IAD restricted movement of the immediate release tablets in the small intestine and histological evaluation of the mucosa indicated that high concentrations of sodium caprate were achieved. Despite significant effect of the permeation enhancer on the integrity of the intestinal epithelium, the bioavailability of MEDI7219 was of the same order of magnitude as that achieved with the solution and enteric coated capsule formulations (2.5–3.8%). The variability in plasma concentrations of MEDI7219 were however lower when delivered using the IAD as compared to the solution and enteric coated capsule formulations. This suggests that dosage forms that can limit intestinal dilution and control the position of drug release can be a way to reduce the absorptive variability of peptides delivered with permeation enhancers but do not offer significant benefits in terms of increasing bioavailability.
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| 3. |
- Berg, Staffan, et al.
(författare)
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Impact of Intestinal Concentration and Colloidal Structure on the Permeation-Enhancing Efficiency of Sodium Caprate in the Rat
- 2022
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Ingår i: Molecular Pharmaceutics. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1543-8384 .- 1543-8392. ; 19:1, s. 200-212
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this work, we set out to better understand how the permeation enhancer sodium caprate (C10) influences the intestinal absorption of macromolecules. FITC-dextran 4000 (FD4) was selected as a model compound and formulated with 50-300 mM C10. Absorption was studied after bolus instillation of liquid formulation to the duodenum of anesthetized rats and intravenously as a reference, whereafter plasma samples were taken and analyzed for FD4 content. It was found that the AUC and C-max of FD4 increased with increasing C10 concentration. Higher C10 concentrations were associated with an increased and extended absorption but also increased epithelial damage. Depending on the C10 concentration, the intestinal epithelium showed significant recovery already at 60-120 min after administration. At the highest studied C10 concentrations (100 and 300 mM), the absorption of FD4 was not affected by the colloidal structures of C10, with similar absorption obtained when C10 was administered as micelles (pH 8.5) and as vesicles (pH 6.5). In contrast, the FD4 absorption was lower when C10 was administered at 50 mM formulated as micelles as compared to vesicles. Intestinal dilution of C10 and FD4 revealed a trend of decreasing FD4 absorption with increasing intestinal dilution. However, the effect was smaller than that of altering the total administered C10 dose. Absorption was similar when the formulations were prepared in simulated intestinal fluids containing mixed micelles of bile salts and phospholipids and in simple buffer solution. The findings in this study suggest that in order to optimally enhance the absorption of macromolecules, high (>= 100 mM) initial intestinal C10 concentrations are likely needed and that both the concentration and total dose of C10 are important parameters.
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| 4. |
- Bonev, Petyo, et al.
(författare)
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Implicit yardstick competition between heating monopolies in urban areas : Theory and evidence from Sweden
- 2022
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Ingår i: Energy Economics. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0140-9883 .- 1873-6181. ; 109
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article examines a novel regulatory mechanism in a setting with multiple local monopolists. The mechanism rests upon the behavioral assumption that customers form opinions about prices by comparing them with prices set by nearby monopolies and that this comparison influences their behavior. In this way, an “implicit yardstick competition” emerges among monopolists although they do not operate in the same markets. We test this mechanism using a unique dataset of unregulated district heating monopolists in Sweden. We find a large effect of neighbors’ prices, which indicates that the implicit yardstick competition has a considerable disciplining effect on monopolies’ pricing behavior. © 2022 The Author(s)
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| 5. |
- Cohen, F., et al.
(författare)
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Consumer myopia, imperfect competition and the energy efficiency gap: Evidence from the UK refrigerator market
- 2017
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Ingår i: European Economic Review. - : Elsevier BV. - 0014-2921. ; 93, s. 1-23
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The empirical literature on the energy efficiency gap concentrates on demand inefficiencies in the energy-using durables markets and finds evidence that consumers underestimate future energy costs when purchasing a new appliance. We take a broader view and also consider the impact of imperfect competition. Using data on the UK refrigerator market (2002-2007), we find that the average energy consumption of appliances sold during this period was only 7.2% higher than what would have been observed under a scenario with a perfectly competitive market and non-myopic consumers. One reason for this small gap is that market power actually reduces energy use. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 6. |
- Cohen, F., et al.
(författare)
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The impact of energy prices on product innovation: Evidence from the UK refrigerator market
- 2017
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Ingår i: Energy Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0140-9883. ; 68:S1, s. 81-88
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper uses product-level data from the UK refrigerator market to evaluate the impact of electricity prices on product innovation. Our best estimate is that a 10% increase in the electricity price reduces the average energy consumption of commercialized refrigerator models by 2%. A large share of this reduction is explained by a reduction of freezing space. We also show that the exit of energy-inefficient products contributes more to energy reduction than the launch of new energy-efficient models. These findings suggest that innovation - the development of better technologies embodied in new products - does not respond strongly to energy price variations. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.
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| 7. |
- Ek, Claes, 1983, et al.
(författare)
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Norm-based feedback on household waste: Large-scale field experiments in two Swedish municipalities
- 2021
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We conduct separate randomized controlled trials of norm-based feedback nudges on household waste in two municipalities in western Sweden. Our main treatment presents recipients with accurate, household-speci c feedback highly similar to the standard Home Energy Report design, but with residual (unsorted) waste as the object of comparison. We also test a novel `dynamic' norm design informed by psychological research. Post-experimental reductions are on the order of 7-12% in both municipalities, substantially larger than in most previous studies. We estimate that the reduction corresponds to a 30-60% increase in unit-based waste fees. E ect di erences between our main treatment and the dynamicnorm treatment are not signi cant. We nd that feedback nudges are highly cost-e ective compared to alternative means for reducing household residual waste. However, net social bene ts depend on whether existing waste fees internalize the marginal social cost of residual waste. Our results have implications for the usefulness of feedback interventions as well as for unit-based pricing of waste, on which our feedback materials rely.
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| 8. |
- Flachenecker, Florian, et al.
(författare)
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The causal impact of economic growth on material use in Europe
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2160-6544 .- 2160-6552. ; 6:4, s. 415-432
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several scholars and policy makers have claimed that Europe, and Western Europe in particular, has managed to ‘decouple’ economic growth from material use. We identify and address one major limitation in the existing literature – failure to take the endogeneity of economic growth into account. Based on a panel data set of 32 European countries from 2000 to 2014, we estimate the causal impact of gross domestic product (GDP) on domestic material consumption (DMC) applying an instrumental variable approach. We use the number of storm occurrences as an instrument for GDP, which we show is both relevant and valid. Our results provide new evidence that increasing the GDP growth rate causes the DMC growth rate to increase for Western Europe, whereas the effect is insignificant for the Eastern European economies and Europe as a whole. As our results partly question current wisdom on the achievements of ‘decoupling’, especially among European policy makers, we offer two explanations that are consistent with these results.
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| 9. |
- Sjögren, Stefan, 1965, et al.
(författare)
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Productivity for Airline Carriers and its Relation to Deregulation, Privatisation and Membership in Strategic Alliances
- 2011
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Ingår i: Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review. - : Elsevier BV. - 1366-5545. ; 47:2, s. 228-237
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study looks at how deregulation, privatisation and the formation of strategic alliances have affected the productivity of international airlines. We evaluate all three factors simultaneously and disaggregate the carriers’ operations into production and sales and allow for unobserved firm-level heterogeneity through random parameters. Estimations of stochastic frontier models reveal that on the aggregate level, deregulation increases productivity, membership in alliances has an ambiguous effect and state ownership has no significant effect. Disaggregating the carriers’ operations confirms the productivity gains from deregulation, and that state ownership and alliances have contradictory effects.
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| 10. |
- Sundström, Johan, Professor, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Rationale for a Swedish cohort consortium
- 2019
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Ingår i: Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 0300-9734 .- 2000-1967. ; 124:1, s. 21-28
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We herein outline the rationale for a Swedish cohort consortium, aiming to facilitate greater use of Swedish cohorts for world-class research. Coordination of all Swedish prospective population-based cohorts in a common infrastructure would enable more precise research findings and facilitate research on rare exposures and outcomes, leading to better utilization of study participants' data, better return of funders' investments, and higher benefit to patients and populations. We motivate the proposed infrastructure partly by lessons learned from a pilot study encompassing data from 21 cohorts. We envisage a standing Swedish cohort consortium that would drive development of epidemiological research methods and strengthen the Swedish as well as international epidemiological competence, community, and competitiveness.
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