| 1. |
- Fritzell, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Bacteria : back pain, leg pain and Modic sign—a surgical multicentre comparative study
- 2019
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Ingår i: European spine journal. - : Springer. - 0940-6719 .- 1432-0932. ; 28:12, s. 2981-2989
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: To compare bacterial findings in pain-generating degenerated discs in adults operated on for lumbar disc herniation (LDH), and mostly also suffering from low back pain (LBP), with findings in adolescent patients with non-degenerated non-pain-generating discs operated on for scoliosis, and to evaluate associations with Modic signs on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Cutibacterium acnes (Propionibacterium acnes) has been found in painful degenerated discs, why it has been suggested treating patients with LDH/LBP with antibiotics. As multidrug-resistant bacteria are a worldwide concern, new indications for using antibiotics should be based on solid scientific evidence.Methods: Between 2015 and 2017, 40 adults with LDH/LBP (median age 43, IQR 33–49) and 20 control patients with scoliosis (median age 17, IQR 15–20) underwent surgery at seven Swedish hospitals. Samples were cultured from skin, surgical wound, discs and vertebrae. Genetic relatedness of C. acnes isolates was investigated using single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis. DNA samples collected from discs/vertebrae were analysed using 16S rRNA-based PCR sequencing. MRI findings were assessed for Modic changes.Results: No bacterial growth was found in 6/40 (15%) LDH patients, compared with 3/20 (15%) scoliosis patients. Most positive samples in both groups were isolated from the skin and then from subcutis or deep within the wound. Of the four disc and vertebral samples from each of the 60 patients, 235/240 (98%) were DNA negative by bacterial PCR. A single species, C. acnes, was found exclusively in the disc/vertebra from one patient in each group. In the LDH group, 29/40 (72%) patients had at least one sample with growth of C. acnes, compared to 14/20 (70%) in the scoliosis group. Bacterial findings and Modic changes were not associated.Conclusions: Cutibacterium acnes found in discs and vertebrae during surgery for disc herniation in adults with degenerated discs may be caused by contamination, as findings in this group were similar to findings in a control group of young patients with scoliosis and non-degenerated discs. Furthermore, such findings were almost always combined with bacterial findings on the skin and/or in the wound. There was no association between preoperative Modic changes and bacterial findings. Antibiotic treatment of lumbar disc herniation with sciatica and/or low back pain, without signs of clinical discitis/spondylitis, should be seriously questioned.
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| 2. |
- Albin, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Cytogenetic and morphologic subgroups of myelodysplastic syndromes in relation to occupational and hobby exposures.
- 2003
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - 0355-3140. ; 29:5, s. 378-387
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the association between occupational and hobby exposure and the risk of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) while focusing on differential patterns of clonal chromosome aberrations and morphologic subgroups. METHODS: A case-referent study was conducted with 330 MDS patients investigated cytogenetically in 1976-1993 (cases) and matched referents. Telephone interviews with either the person or a next-of-kin were used. The participation rate of the cases and referents was 85% and 60%, respectively. Information was obtained from the next-of-kin more often for the cases (88%) than for the referents (26%). Occupational hygienists assessed the exposure using interview data on worktasks and hobbies. Associations with disease risk were evaluated for 10 exposures with a logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The investigated exposures were generally not associated with cytogenetically abnormal MDS. Effect estimates for specific cytogenetic or morphologic subgroups were generally imprecise. Occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (EMF) was associated with MDS with a normal karyotype [odds ratio (OR) 2.0, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.0-4.0]. The exposure-response association was consistent for intensity but inconclusive for duration. A decreased risk was observed for MDS, irrespective of karyotypic pattern, among farmers and farmhands (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.35-0.81). CONCLUSIONS: Cytogenetically abnormal MDS was generally not associated with occupational or hobby exposure to known or suspected genotoxic agents. However, exposure prevalences and intensities were low for several agents. An association was suggested between occupational exposure to EMF and MDS with a normal karyotype. Biases due to differential information quality and selective participation cannot be ruled out.
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| 3. |
- Albin, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Miljöhälsorapport för Skåne
- 2004
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Rapport utifrån de sex miljökvalitetsmålen. Rapporten syftar till att förbättra kunskapen om miljörelaterad ohälsa och fungera som underlag till beslut och prioriteringar i kommuner, företag och hushåll.
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| 4. |
- Albin, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Mortality and cancer morbidity in cohorts of asbestos cement workers and referents
- 1990
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Ingår i: British Journal of Industrial Medicine. - 0007-1072. ; 47:9, s. 602-610
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Total and cause specific mortality and cancer morbidity were studied among 1929 asbestos cement workers with an estimated median cumulative exposure of 2.3 fibre (f)-years/ml (median intensity 1.2 f/ml, predominantly chrysotile). A local reference cohort of 1233 industrial workers and non-case referents from the exposed cohort were used for comparisons. The risk for pleural mesothelioma was significantly increased (13 cases out of 592 deaths in workers with at least 20 years latency). No case of peritoneal mesothelioma was found. A significant dose response relation was found for cumulative exposure 40 years or more before the diagnosis, with a multiplicative relative risk (RR) of 1.9 for each f-year/ml. No relation was found with duration of exposure when latency was accounted for. There was a significant overrisk in non-malignant respiratory disease (RR = 2.6). The overall risks for respiratory cancer, excluding mesothelioma, and for gastrointestinal cancer were not significantly increased. Surprisingly, colorectal cancer displayed a clear relation with cumulative dose, with an estimated increase of 1.6% in the incidence density ratio for each f-year/ml (but not with duration of exposure).
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| 5. |
- Albin, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Retention patterns of asbestos fibres in lung tissue among asbestos cement workers
- 1994
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Ingår i: Occupational and Environmental Medicine. - 1470-7926. ; 51:3, s. 205-211
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Retention patterns in lung tissue (determined by transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometry) of chrysotile, tremolite, and crocidolite fibres were analysed in 69 dead asbestos cement workers and 96 referents. There was an accumulation of tremolite with time of employment. Among workers who died within three years of the end of exposure, the 13 with high tremolite concentrations had a significantly longer duration of exposure than seven in a low to intermediate category (medians 32 v 20 years; p = 0.018, one sided). Crocidolite showed similar patterns of accumulation. In workers who died more than three years after the end of exposure, there were no correlations between concentrations of amphibole fibres and time between the end of exposure and death. Chrysotile concentrations among workers who died shortly after the end of exposure were higher than among the referents (median difference in concentrations 13 million fibres (f)/g dry weight; p = 0.033, one sided). No quantitative differences in exposure (duration or intensity) could be shown between workers with high and low to intermediate concentrations. Interestingly, all seven workers who had had a high intensity at the end of exposure (> 2.5 f/ml), had low to intermediate chrysotile concentrations at death, whereas those with low exposure were evenly distributed (31 subjects in both concentration categories); hence, there was a dependence between last intensity of exposure and chrysotile concentration (p = 0.014). Among 14 workers with a high average intensity of exposure, both those (n = 5) with high tissue concentrations of chrysotile and those (n = 10) with high tissue concentrations of tremolite fibres had more pronounced fibrosis than those with low to intermediate concentrations (median fibrosis grades for chrysotile: 2 v 1, p = 0.021; for tremolite: 2 v 0.5, p = 0.012). Additionally, workers who died shortly after the end of exposure with high concentrations of chrysotile and crocidolite had smoked more than those with low intermediate concentrations (medians for chrysotile 35 v 15 pack-years, p = 0.030; for crocidolite 37 v 15 pack-years, p = 0.012). The present data indicate that chrysotile has a relatively rapid turnover in human lungs, whereas the amphiboles, tremolite and crocidolite, have a slower turnover. Further, chrysotile retention may be dependent on dose rate. Chrysotile and crocidolite deposition and retention may be increased by tobacco smoking; chrysotile and tremolite by fibrosis.
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| 6. |
- Albin, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Survival in cohorts of asbestos cement workers and controls
- 1996
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Ingår i: Occupational and Environmental Medicine. - 1470-7926. ; 53:2, s. 87-93
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: To measure the impact on survival of being exposed to asbestos cement dust. METHODS: Survival of 866 asbestos cement workers and 755 controls was studied with Cox's proportional hazards regression models with age as the basic time variable. The effect of cumulative exposure up to the age of 40 was investigated in an internal analysis of 635 asbestos cement workers who had dose estimates. RESULTS: The death risk was higher for the asbestos cement workers than for the controls with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.15 (95% confidence interval was 1.00 to 1.31). The increased risk found seemed to be confined to the period 20-40 years from start of employment. The estimates of the cohort effect were almost unaffected by adjustment for smoking habits. The estimates of the exposure effect rose with increasing dose (< 4 fibre-years/ml (f-y/ml): HR = 1.00, 4-9.9 f-y/ml: HR = 1.06, > or = 10 f-y/ml: HR = 1.35, for workers with at least five years of employment), and were higher when restricted only to deaths from malignant or non-malignant respiratory disease. However, none of the point estimates were significantly increased. Median age at death was two years lower in the high than in the low, exposure group. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that even a moderate asbestos exposure may shorten the median duration of life in an exposed population. Compared with the estimated effect on duration of life from ever being a smoker, that of ever being an asbestos cement worker was less, although that of having a high exposure was similar.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Baev, A., et al.
(författare)
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A quantum mechanical - Electrodynamical approach to nonlinear properties : Application to optical power limiting with platinum-organic compounds
- 2007
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Ingår i: Journal of nonlinear optical physics and materials. - 0218-8635. ; 16:2, s. 157-169
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Light propagation in a medium is sensitively dependent on the shape and intensity of the optical pulse as well as on the electronic and vibrational structure of the basic molecular units. We review in this paper the results of systematic studies of this problem for isotropic media. Our theoretical approach - the quantum mechanical-electrodynamical (QMED) approach - is based on a quantum mechanical account of the many-level electron-nuclear medium coupled to a numerical solution of the density matrix and Maxwell's equations. This allows us to accommodate a variety of nonlinear effects which accomplish the propagation of strong light pulses. Particular attention is paid to the understanding of the role of coherent and sequential excitations of electron-nuclear degrees of freedom. The QMED combination of quantum chemistry with classical pulse propagation enables us to estimate the optical transmission from cross sections of multi-photon absorption processes and from considerations of propagation effects, saturation and pulse effects. Results of the theory suggest that in the nonlinear regime, it is often necessary to simultaneously account for coherent one-step and incoherent step-wise multi-photon absorption, as well as for off-resonant excitations even when resonance conditions prevail. The dynamic theory of nonlinear propagation of a few interacting intense light pulses is highlighted here in a study of the optical power limiting with platinum-organic molecular compounds. © World Scientific Publishing Company.
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| 9. |
- Baev, A., et al.
(författare)
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Light-matter interaction of strong laser pulses in the micro-, nano-, and picosecond regimes
- 2007
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Ingår i: Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings. - 9781605604206 ; , s. 12-29
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Light propagation in a medium is sensitively dependent on the shape and intensity of the optical pulse as well as on the electronic and vibrational structure of the basic molecular units. We review in this paper results of systematic studies of this problem for isotropic media. Our theoretical approach-the quantum mechanical-electrodynamical (QMED) approach-is based on a quantum mechanical account of the many-level electron-nuclear medium coupled to a numerical solution of the density matrix and Maxwell s equations. This allows to accommodate a variety of nonlinear effects which accomplish the propagation of strong light pulses. Particular attention is paid to the understanding of the role of coherent and sequential excitations of electron-nuclear degrees of freedom. The QMED combination of quantum chemistry with classical pulse propagation allows to estimate the optical transmission from cross sections of multi-photon absorption processes and from considerations of propagation effects, saturation and pulse effects. Results of the theory suggest that in the nonlinear regime it is often necessary to account simultaneously for coherent one-step and incoherent step-wise multi-photon absorption, as well as for off-resonant excitations even when resonance conditions prevail. The dynamic theory of nonlinear propagation of a few interacting intense light pulses is here highlighted in a study of the optical power limiting with platinum-organic molecular compounds. © 2007 Materials Research Society.
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| 10. |
- Björk, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Are occupational, hobby, or lifestyle exposures associated with Philadelphia chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukaemia?
- 2001
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Ingår i: Occupational and Environmental Medicine. - : BMJ. - 1470-7926 .- 1351-0711. ; 58:11, s. 722-727
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: To investigate a broad range of occupational, hobby, and lifestyle exposures, suggested as risk factors for Philadelphia chromosome positive (Ph+) chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). METHODS: A case-control study, comprising 255 Ph+CML patients from southern Sweden and matched controls, was conducted. Individual data on work tasks, hobbies, and lifestyle exposures were obtained by telephone interviews. Occupational hygienists assessed occupational and hobby exposures for each subject individually. Also, occupational titles were obtained from national registries, and group level exposure-that is, the exposure proportion for each occupational title-was assessed with a job exposure matrix. The effects of 11 exposures using individual data and two exposures using group data (organic solvents and animal dust) were estimated. RESULTS: For the individual data on organic solvents, an effect was found for moderate or high intensity of exposure (odds ratio (OR) 3.4, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.1 to 11) and for long duration (15-20 years) of exposure (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.1 to 4.0). By contrast, the group data showed no association (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.27 to 1.8; moderate or high intensity versus no exposure). For extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs), only individual data were available. An association with long occupational exposure to EMFs was found (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.2 to 4.5). However, no effect of EMF intensity was indicated. No significant effects of benzene, gasoline or diesel, or tobacco smoking were found. OR estimates below unity were suggested for personal use of hair dye and for agricultural exposures. CONCLUSIONS: Associations between exposure to organic solvents and EMFs, and Ph+CML were indicated but were not entirely consistent.
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