| 1. |
- Almqvist, Catarina, et al.
(författare)
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Heredity, pet ownership, and confounding control in a population-based birth cohort
- 2003
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Ingår i: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. - : Elsevier. - 0091-6749 .- 1097-6825. ; 111, s. 800-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The association between pet ownership in childhood and subsequent allergic disease is controversial. Bias related to selection of pet exposure has been suggested as a reason for contradictory study results.OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this investigation was to elucidate how pet exposure depends on family history of allergic disease, smoking, and socioeconomic factors in a prospective birth cohort.METHODS: Parents of 4089 two-month-old children answered a questionnaire that included detailed questions about family history of asthma (maternal, paternal, and sibling), rhinoconjunctivitis, atopic eczema/dermatitis syndrome, pollen and pet allergy, smoking habits, parental occupation, and family pet ownership (cat and dog). Dust samples collected from the mothers' beds were analyzed for Fel d 1 and Can f 1 in a subgroup of the cohort.RESULTS: Cats were less frequently kept in families with parental asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis, or pet or pollen allergy (3.5% to 5.8%) than in families without parental allergic disease (10.8% to 11.8%). Dogs were less common in families with (3.3%) than in families without (5.9%) parental atopic eczema/dermatitis syndrome. Families with smoking mothers and those with low socioeconomic index kept cats and dogs more frequently. Cat allergen levels were lower in homes with than in homes without maternal pet allergy, and this tended to hold true even for homes without a cat. Cat ownership decreased from birth to 2 years of age, especially in families with parental history of allergic diseases.CONCLUSION: There seems to be a selection of pet exposure based on parental history of allergy, maternal smoking, and socioeconomic factors. This has to be taken into consideration in evaluations of risk associations between pet exposure and allergic disease in childhood.
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| 2. |
- Andersson, Irene, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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Endothelial dysfunction in growth hormone transgenic mice
- 2006
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Ingår i: Clinical Science. - 0143-5221 .- 1470-8736. ; 110:2, s. 217-25
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Acromegaly [overproduction of GH (growth hormone)] is associated with cardiovascular disease. Transgenic mice overexpressing bGH (bovine GH) develop hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia and could be a model for cardiovascular disease in acromegaly. The aims of the present study were to investigate the effects of excess GH on vascular function and to test whether oxidative stress affects endothelial function in bGH transgenic mice. We studied the ACh (acetylcholine)-induced relaxation response in aortic and carotid rings of young (9-11 weeks) and aged (22-24 weeks) female bGH transgenic mice and littermate control mice, without and with the addition of a free radical scavenger {MnTBAP [Mn(III)tetrakis(4-benzoic acid)porphyrin chloride]}. We also measured mRNA levels of eNOS (endothelial nitric oxide synthase) and EC-SOD (extracellular superoxide dismutase). Intracellular superoxide anion production in the vascular wall was estimated using a dihydroethidium probe. Carotid arteries from bGH transgenic mice had an impaired ACh-induced relaxation response (young, 46 +/- 7% compared with 69 +/- 8%; aged, 52 +/- 5% compared with 80 +/- 3%; P < 0.05), whereas endothelial function in aorta was intact in young but impaired in aged bGH transgenic mice. Endothelial dysfunction was corrected by addition of MnTBAP in carotid arteries from young mice and in aortas from aged mice; however, MnTBAP did not correct endothelial dysfunction in carotid arteries from aged bGH transgenic mice. There was no difference in intracellular superoxide anion production between bGH transgenic mice and control mice, whereas mRNA expression of EC-SOD and eNOS was increased in aortas from young bGH transgenic mice compared with control mice (P < 0.05). We interpret these data to suggest that bGH overexpression is associated with a time- and vessel-specific deterioration in endothelial function, initially caused by increased oxidative stress and later by other alterations in vascular function.
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| 3. |
- Ballardini, Natalia, et al.
(författare)
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Development and comorbidity of eczema, asthma and rhinitis to age 12 : data from the BAMSE birth cohort
- 2012
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Ingår i: Allergy. - Stockholm : Karolinska Institutet, Dept of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. - 0105-4538 .- 1398-9995.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Allergy-related diseases are a public health issue, but knowledge on development and comorbidity among children is scarce. The aim was to study the development of eczema, asthma and rhinitis in relation to sex and parental allergy, in a population-based cohort, during childhood. METHODS: At 1, 2, 4, 8 and 12 years, parental questionnaires were used to obtain data on allergy-related diseases. Complete data for all five follow-up occasions were available from 2916 children. Odds ratios for the risk of any allergy-related disease in relation to heredity and sex were calculated using generalized estimating equations. RESULTS: At 12 years, 58% of the children had had eczema, asthma and/or rhinitis at some time. Disease turnover was high for all three diseases throughout the study. Comorbidity increased with age, and at 12 years, 7.5% of all the children were affected by at least two allergy-related diseases. Parental allergy was associated with increased comorbidity and more persistent disease and increased the risk of having any allergy-related disease (adjusted OR 1.76; 95% CI 1.57-1.97) up to 12 years. Male sex was associated with an increased risk throughout childhood. Boys and girls did not differ in disease persistence, and for comorbidity, the differences were minor. CONCLUSIONS: Allergy-related diseases may affect a majority of children. Eczema, asthma and rhinitis develop dynamically throughout childhood, and allergic comorbidity is common. These findings indicate that allergy-related diseases should be neither seen nor studied as isolated entities.
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| 4. |
- Daşu, Alexandru, et al.
(författare)
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Liquid ionization chamber measurements of dose distributions in small 6 MV photon beams
- 1998
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Ingår i: Physics in Medicine and Biology. - : IOP Publishing. - 0031-9155 .- 1361-6560. ; 43:1, s. 21-36
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new liquid ionization chamber (LIC) design optimized for high spatial resolution was used for measurements of dose distributions in radiation fields intended for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). This work was mainly focused on the properties of this detector in radiation fields from linear accelerators for clinical radiotherapy (pulsed radiation with dose rates from approximately 0.5 to 5 Gy min-1 and beam diameters down to 8 mm). The narrow beams used in stereotactic radiosurgery require detectors with small sizes in order to provide a good spatial resolution. The LIC is investigated to see whether it can be used as a detector for dose measurements in beams currently used for stereotactic radiosurgery. Its properties are compared with those of silicon diodes. The comparisons include output factor (OF), depth dose and profile measurements in 6 MV photon fields of different sizes. For OF measurements, an NACP air ionization chamber was also used in the comparison. The dependence of the response on the detector orientation in the photon beam is also investigated for the diodes and the LIC. The results suggest that LICs can provide better properties than diodes for measuring dose distributions in narrow photon beams.
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| 5. |
- Egecioglu, Emil, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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Growth hormone receptor deficiency in mice results in reduced systolic blood pressure and plasma renin, increased aortic eNOS expression, and altered cardiovascular structure and function
- 2007
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Ingår i: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-ENDOCRINOLOGY AND METABOLISM. - : American Physiological Society. - 0193-1849 .- 1522-1555. ; 292:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To study the role of the growth hormone receptor (GHR) in the development of cardiovascular structure and function, female GHR gene-disrupted or knockout (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice at age 18 wk were used. GHR KO mice had lower plasma renin levels (12 ± 2 vs. 20 ± 4 mGU/ml, P < 0.05) and increased aortic endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) expression (146%, P < 0.05) accompanied by a 25% reduction in systolic blood pressure (BP, 110 ± 4 vs. 147 ± 3 mmHg, P < 0.001) compared with WT mice. Aldosterone levels were unchanged, whereas the plasma potassium concentration was elevated by 14% ( P < 0.05) in GHR KO. Relative left ventricular weight was 14% lower in GHR KO mice ( P < 0.05), and cardiac dimensions as analyzed by echocardiography were similarly reduced. Myograph studies revealed a reduced maximum contractile response in the aorta to norepinephrine (NE) and K+ ( P < 0.05), and aorta media thickness was decreased in GHR KO ( P < 0.05). However, contractile force was normal in mesenteric arteries, whereas sensitivity to NE was increased ( P < 0.05). Maximal acetylcholine-mediated dilatation was similar in WT and GHR KO mice, whereas the aorta of GHR KO mice showed an increased sensitivity to acetylcholine ( P < 0.05). In conclusion, loss of GHR leads to low BP and decreased levels of renin in plasma as well as increase in aortic eNOS expression. Furthermore, GHR deficiency causes functional and morphological changes in both heart and vasculature that are beyond the observed alterations in body size. These data suggest an important role for an intact GH/IGF-I axis in the maintenance of a normal cardiovascular system.
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| 6. |
- Ekström, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
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Nanometer-thick films of titanium oxide acting as electrolyte in the polymer electrolyte fuel cell
- 2007
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Ingår i: Electrochimica Acta. - : Elsevier BV. - 0013-4686 .- 1873-3859. ; 52:12, s. 4239-4245
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 0–18 nm-thick titanium, zirconium and tantalum oxide films are thermally evaporated on Nafion 117 membranes, and used as thin spacer electrolyte layers between the Nafion and a 3 nm Pt catalyst film. Electrochemical characterisation of the films in terms of oxygen reduction activity, high frequency impedance and cyclic voltammetry in nitrogen is performed in a fuel cell at 80 ◦C and full humidification. Titanium oxide films with thicknesses up to 18 nm are shown to conduct protons, whereas zirconium oxide and tantalum oxide block proton transport already at a thickness of 1.5 nm. The performance for oxygen reduction is higher for a bi-layered film of 3 nm platinum on 1.5 or 18 nm titanium oxide, than for a pure 3 nm platinum film with no spacer layer. The improvement in oxygen reduction performance is ascribed to a higher active surface area of platinum, i.e. no beneficial effect of combining platinum with zirconium, tantalum or titanium oxides on the intrinsic oxygen reduction activityis seen. The results suggest that TiO2 may be used as electrolyte in fuel cell electrodes, and that low-temperature proton exchange fuel cells could be possible using TiO2 as electrolyte.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Eriksson, Björn, et al.
(författare)
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Enhanced oxygen reduction activity with rare earth metal alloy catalysts in proton exchange membrane fuel cells
- 2021
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Ingår i: Electrochimica Acta. - : Elsevier BV. - 0013-4686 .- 1873-3859. ; 387
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Alloying platinum is an approach to increase the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity and at the same time reduce the amount of precious platinum catalyst in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). In this work the cathode activity of thin films of rare earth metals (REM) alloys, Pt Y, Pt Gd and Pt Tb, produced by sputter deposition onto gas diffusion layers, are evaluated in a fuel cell by means of polarization curves in O /H , and cyclic- and CO-stripping voltammetry in N /5% H . Prior to evaluation, the model electrodes were acid-treated to obtain a Pt skin covering the PtREM alloy bulk, as was revealed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The core shell alloys of Pt Y and Pt Gd catalysts show a specific activity enhancement at 0.9 V of 2.5 times compared to pure Pt. The slightly lower enhancement factor of 2.0 for Pt Tb is concluded to be due to leaching of the REM, that resulted in a thicker, and subsequently less strained, Pt overlayer. The high activity, combined with the minor changes in surface composition, achieved in the fuel cell environment shows that PtREM core shell catalysts are promising for the cathode reaction in PEMFC.
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