| 1. |
- Furåker, Bengt, 1943, et al.
(författare)
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Trade Union Cooperation in Europe : Patterns, Conditions, Issues
- 2020
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Bok (refereegranskat)abstract
- This open access book discusses transnational trade union cooperation in Europe – its forms, focuses, conditions, and obstacles. It provides an overview of existing trade union cooperation and includes detailed analyses of two specific questions: the debates on statutory minimum wages and the Posting of Workers Directive. Drawing on empirical research, the authors take a comparative approach, considering national industrial relations regimes as well as individual sectors. With the ongoing processes of integration in Europe, it has become increasingly important for unions to cooperate with regard to employers and EU institutions. The authors illustrate the interconnections between national and European industrial relations, and explore the process of European integration in labour markets. Illustrating the potential for and difficulties involved in deepening trade union cooperation across Europe, this work is a vital read for trade unionists, researchers and students interested in European trade unionism and labour markets.
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| 2. |
- Hjort, Bengt, 1949-, et al.
(författare)
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Adoption of a Working Environment Innovation : “Rollout Bar Carpets”
- 2015
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Ingår i: Proceedings CIB W099 Belfast 2015. - Downpatrick : EEI Publishing. - 9781909854017 ; , s. 417-425
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Work environment problems associated with reinforcement work at constructions sites are often great and difficult. This applies especially to the ergonomic situation. The situation is particularly difficult in connection with reinforcement in horizontal structural elements such as slabs and foundation slabs on the ground, where several of the most difficult load factors occur. Since about 15 years there is an innovation (rollout bar carpets) available on the Swedish market. This innovation can many times be used at these structural elements and gives both time savings and working environmental benefits. Despite this the innovation has been and is adopted rather seldom. The reasons for this have been studied through semi structured interviews with with design-engineers, site-managers, workers and persons working at a reinforcement manufacturing company. The main results from the study are as follows: i) Rollout bar carpets have a potential of improving both work environment and time consumption on site. However, this may not be enough in itself to achieve a general adoption of the technology. ii) The implementation and adoption of innovations in construction may be more complex than the novelty of the innovation may suggest. This is due to the contextual delimitations of a project-based industry and the different roles in the construction process.
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| 3. |
- Hjort, Bengt, 1949-, et al.
(författare)
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Success Factors Related to Industrialized Building in Sweden
- 2014
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Ingår i: CIB International Conference 2014. - Salford : School of the Built Environment, University of Salford. - 9781907842542 - 1907842543
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- During the last decade there has been intense discussion in Sweden about industrialization in construction. The discussion has focused on industrialization in connection with erection of multi dwelling houses. It has been argued that industrialization is a key factor as regards obtaining affordable high-quality dwellings. During the last ten years some new industrialization concepts have been developed and tested. Even though some concepts have failed others have been more successful and are under further development. Industrialization is a reality within the Swedish construction sector and can be assumed to play an important role in the future as regards obtaining affordable high-quality dwellings. In this paper success factors related to four industrialized building concepts/methods are described and discussed. The review is based on available literature relating to each of the concepts/methods/producers, from which it was possible to ascertain success and failure factors.
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| 4. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-, et al.
(författare)
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Logistik vid husbyggande : Några praktikfall
- 2008
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Bakgrund: I slutet av 70-talet påbörjades studier om överförbrukning av material i byggproduktionen med FoU-Väst som pådrivare och SBUF som finansiär. Det genomfördes då ett antal “materialspills- projekt” som blev ganska uppmärksammade och som påverkade synen på hur viktigt det är att hantera byggmaterial på rätt sätt. Under de mer än trettio år som gått sedan dess har ett flertal utvecklingsprojekt om byggandets logistik genomförts. Men ämnet är inte uttömt, byggande innebär ständig utveckling och eftersom 50 % av kostnaderna i ett byggprojekt är kostnader för material finns det fortfarande många möjligheter till effektivisering. I detta utvecklingsprojekt har några arbetsplatser studerats samtidigt som samverkan med några byggmaterialleverantörer har undersökts.Syfte: Det finns ett betydande slöseriet inom byggmaterialhanteringen. Brister i inköps- och materialhanteringsprocessen påverkar i hög grad byggandets effektivitet. Exempel på detta är överproduktion, korrigeringsarbete, onödig förflyttning av material, stora materiallager, väntetid i produktionen och onödiga arbetskraftsförflyttningar. Allt detta rör logistiken på byggarbetsplatsen. Bygglogistik omfattar planering, organisering, koordinering och kontroll av materialflöden från råmaterial tills det att materialet byggts in i den färdiga byggnaden. Syftet med detta projekt har varit att identifiera och förklara faktorer som har betydelse för materialflödeskostnadernas struktur och storlek, och som är möjliga att påverka. Normala byggmaterial har valts ut för praktikfallsstudier – material som är besvärliga ur logistikperspektiv och som har en stor besparingspotential.Genomförande: Med stöd från SBUF har arbetet utförts av deltagare från PEAB och Högskolan i Halmstad. För att samla in materialet till rapporten gjordes en omfattande litteraturstudie. Vidare gjordes uppföljningar på sju olika husbyggnadsarbetsplatser och intervjuer med sex byggmaterialtillverkare/leverantörer genomfördes.Resultat: Erfarenheter från tidigare projekt: Det finns alltså en mängd studier gjorda som visar på olika brister i byggandets materialhantering och många menar att med utnyttjande av studiernas rekommendationer borde kostnaderna för material och hantering av material kunna minskas med bortåt 50 %. Den största vinsten kan nås genom att effektivisera hantering och lagring av byggmaterial. Reduktion av materialspill och minskade störningar kan också ge minskade logistikkostnader. Lägsta pris är ofta inte det samma som lägsta totalkostnad. Det fysiska flödet på byggarbetsplatsen kan förbättras genom att försöka skapa tillgång till nödvändigt byggmaterial utan att bygga upp för stora lager. Byggmaterial som lagras länge riskerar att användas till annat, fördärvas eller att stjälas. Byggmaterialterminaler kan i vissa fall vara ett alternativ till lager på byggarbetsplatsen. Många pekar på vikten av långsiktigt samarbete mellan leverantör och entreprenör/projekt. Men denna samverkan försvåras genom att byggarna går från projekt till projekt och att det krävs så många olika byggmaterial. Det kontinuerliga samarbetet och standardisering av kommunikation och produkter blir lidande på grund av detta.Under senare år har det blivit vanligare med import av byggmaterial. Import kan ge billigare priser men risken är att dessa vinster äts upp av ökande logistikkostnader.
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| 5. |
- Riise, Gerdt C., 1956, et al.
(författare)
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Bronchial inflammation in chronic bronchitis assessed by measurement of cell products in bronchial lavage fluid
- 1995
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Ingår i: Thorax. - 0040-6376. ; 50:4, s. 360-5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND--Bronchial inflammation in chronic bronchitis has not been characterised as well as in asthma. The present study was undertaken to assess whether a characteristic pattern of bronchial inflammatory markers could be found in patients with chronic bronchitis. METHODS--Bronchoscopy with bronchial lavage was performed in 42 patients with chronic bronchitis and in 13 healthy controls. Twenty three of the patients had non-obstructive chronic bronchitis and 19 had chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Eighteen of the patients with bronchitis had recurrent infective exacerbations and 24 did not. Intrabronchial bacterial cultures were taken with a protected specimen brush. RESULTS--Increased activity of neutrophils, fibroblasts, and eosinophils was found in the patients with chronic bronchitis as assessed by the levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and interleukin-8 (IL-8), hyaluronan, and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), respectively. The levels of tryptase did not differ from the controls. High correlations were found between the levels of MPO and IL-8, as well as ECP and IL-8. No differences were found between the patients with COPD and those with non-obstructive chronic bronchitis. CONCLUSIONS--Recruitment and activation of both neutrophils and eosinophils seem to be a characteristic of chronic bronchitis. This activation is associated with IL-8. The patients with intrabronchial cultures of Streptococcus pneumoniae had the highest individual levels of MPO, ECP, and IL-8 of all subjects in the study, indicating that colonisation with S pneumoniae could promote bronchial inflammation.
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| 6. |
- Riise, Gerdt C., 1956, et al.
(författare)
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The intrabronchial microbial flora in chronic bronchitis patients: a target for N-acetylcysteine therapy?
- 1994
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Ingår i: Eur Respir J. - 0903-1936. ; 7:1, s. 94-101
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Chronic bronchitis is common among smokers, often together with recurrent infectious exacerbations. Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae are the pathogens traditionally considered most important. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) treatment has been shown to reduce the number of infectious exacerbations in patients with chronic bronchitis. The mechanism behind this is unknown. We attempted to characterize the intrabronchial bacterial flora in patients with chronic bronchitis in an infection-free interval, and to determine whether pharmacological and immunological factors effected the bacterial occurrence. Twenty two smokers with non-obstructive chronic bronchitis, 19 smokers with chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 14 healthy nonsmokers underwent bronchoscopy. To obtain uncontaminated intrabronchial samples, a protected specimen brush was used. Quantitative bacterial cultures and virus isolations were performed. Significantly positive bacterial cultures (> 1,000 colony-forming units (cfu).ml-1) were found only in the patients. S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae were found in five patients, and only in the patients without NAC treatment. The most common bacterium was alpha-haemolytic streptococcus. Negative cultures were more common in the healthy controls. Of the various factors examined, only NAC medication had an influence on bacterial numbers. Significantly fewer patients with NAC medication had positive cultures (3 out of 16) than in the group of patients without NAC therapy (15 out of 21). Our results confirm that chronic bronchitis in smokers leads to increased intrabronchial bacterial colonization. We could also confirm that 1,000 cfu.ml-1 is an adequate cut-off level for significant bacterial growth when using the protected specimen brush. NAC medication was associated with low bacterial numbers.
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| 7. |
- Rundquist, Jonas, 1964-, et al.
(författare)
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Construction Innovation : Addressing the Project–Product Gap in the Swedish Construction Sector
- 2013
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Ingår i: International Journal of Innovation Science. - Brentwood : Multi-Science Publishing. - 1757-2223 .- 1757-2231. ; 5:1, s. 1-9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The construction sector is often accused of being inefficient, conservative and noninnovative, although some commentators have suggested that the construction sector is not backward, it is merely different to other industries. One of these differences is the uniqueness of construction projects, which are determined by the characteristics of the site, interaction of project participants (also partly site specific) and the relationship between contractors and building product producers (which changes from one project to another). These factors are known to colour construction innovation. Previous research into the Swedish construction sector has identified a significant gap between the building product producers who are 'product focused' and the contractors who are 'project focused', with concerns expressed about effectiveness of communication between two. The findings of previous research imply, both implicitly and explicitly, that this gap may be hindering innovation within the construction sector. This appears to have implications for those concerned with construction, the building users and society as a whole. In this paper the authors provide an extensive review of the literature and research findings from which a number of unique insights are offered. The reasons for the gap between producers and contractors are discussed and a number of innovative measures are proposed that may help to bridge the gap, and hence improve innovation systems. The paper concludes with some practical findings for producers and contractors as well as some thoughts on where future research should be targeted.
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| 8. |
- Bjerkeli, Per, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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Odin observations of water in molecular outflows and shocks
- 2009
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 507:3, s. 1455-1466
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims: We investigate the ortho-water abundance in outflows and shocks in order to improve our knowledge of shock chemistry and of the physics behind molecular outflows.Methods: We used the Odin space observatory to observe the H2O(110-101) line. We obtain strip maps and single pointings of 13 outflows and two supernova remnants where we report detections for eight sources. We used RADEX to compute the beam averaged abundances of o-H2O relative to H2. In the case of non-detection, we derive upper limits on the abundance.Results: Observations of CO emission from the literature show that the volume density of H2 can vary to a large extent, a parameter that puts severe uncertainties on the derived abundances. Our analysis shows a wide range of abundances reflecting the degree to which shock chemistry affects the formation and destruction of water. We also compare our results with recent results from the SWAS team.Conclusions: Elevated abundances of ortho-water are found in several sources. The abundance reaches values as high as what would be expected from a theoretical C-type shock where all oxygen, not in the form of CO, is converted to water. However, the high abundances we derive could also be due to the low densities (derived from CO observations) that we assume. The water emission may in reality stem from high density regions much smaller than the Odin beam. We do not find any relationship between the abundance and the mass loss rate. On the other hand, there is a relation between the derived water abundance and the observed maximum outflow velocity.Odin is a Swedish-led satellite project funded jointly by the Swedish National Space Board (SNSB), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the National Technology Agency of Finland (Tekes) and Centre National d'Étude Spatiale (CNES).The Swedish ESO Submillimetre Telescope (SEST) located at La Silla, Chile was funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR) and the European Southern Observatory. It was decommissioned in 2003. Appendix B is only available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
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| 11. |
- Goldsmith, Paul F., et al.
(författare)
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Herschel Measurements of Molecular Oxygen in Orion
- 2011
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 737:2, s. 96 (1-17)
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report observations of three rotational transitions of molecular oxygen (O2) in emission from the H2 Peak 1 position of vibrationally excited molecular hydrogen in Orion. We observed the 487 GHz, 774 GHz, and 1121 GHz lines using the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared on the Herschel Space Observatory, having velocities of 11 km s–1 to 12 km s–1 and widths of 3 km s–1. The beam-averaged column density is N(O2) = 6.5 × 1016 cm–2, and assuming that the source has an equal beam-filling factor for all transitions (beam widths 44, 28, and 19''), the relative line intensities imply a kinetic temperature between 65 K and 120 K. The fractional abundance of O2 relative to H2 is (0.3-7.3) × 10–6. The unusual velocity suggests an association with a ~5'' diameter source, denoted Peak A, the Western Clump, or MF4. The mass of this source is ~10 Msun and the dust temperature is ≥150 K. Our preferred explanation of the enhanced O2 abundance is that dust grains in this region are sufficiently warm (T ≥ 100 K) to desorb water ice and thus keep a significant fraction of elemental oxygen in the gas phase, with a significant fraction as O2. For this small source, the line ratios require a temperature ≥180 K. The inferred O2 column density sime5 × 1018 cm–2 can be produced in Peak A, having N(H2) sime 4 × 1024 cm–2. An alternative mechanism is a low-velocity (10-15 km s–1) C-shock, which can produce N(O2) up to 1017 cm–2.
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| 12. |
- Iresjö, Britt-Marie, 1963, et al.
(författare)
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Appearance of individual amino acid concentrations in arterial blood during steady-state infusions of different amino acid formulations to ICU patients in support of whole-body protein metabolism
- 2006
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Ingår i: JPEN. - 0148-6071. ; 30:4, s. 277-85
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Previous work has demonstrated a relationship between arterial amino acid concentrations and uptake of amino acids across peripheral tissues in healthy volunteers, as well as in chronically and acutely ill patients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether different amino acid profiles in commercially available amino acid formulations are translated into significantly different arterial amino acid concentrations presumably high enough to promote protein metabolism in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. METHODS: Nonprotein calories (60% glucose: 40% lipid) were simultaneously and constantly infused over 72 hours. Different free amino acid solutions were infused at random to each patient for 24 hours in order to determine the appearance of steady-state arterial concentrations of individual amino acids. Basal metabolic and nutrition states were defined after a 12-hour infusion period with glucose in each patient. Healthy volunteers receiving a standardized oral meal served as reference subjects in measurements of venous amino acid concentrations after normal oral food intake. RESULTS: The sum of all amino acids in arterial plasma increased significantly during steady-state infusions of all the free amino acid solutions vs basal state in ICU patients. Only glutamine, taurine, and tyrosine did not increase at all vs basal state during steady-state infusions of the 3 formulations. Alanine, arginine, citrulline, glycine, histidine, serine, methionine, phenylalanine, valine, and ornithine showed different concentration among the amino acid solutions during infusions. Healthy volunteers had significantly higher overall concentrations of amino acids in both fasted and fed state compared with ICU patients, which indicates that free amino acid solutions remain a limiting component in artificial nutrition to patients to promote arterial amino acid concentrations in the artificially fed state. CONCLUSIONS: It appears important to continue further improvement of composition profile in solutions of free amino acids to promote adequate uptake across organ beds in promotion of protein balance in artificially nourished patients.
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| 13. |
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| 14. |
- Josephson, Per-Erik, 1960, et al.
(författare)
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How to detect humans errors earlier?
- 2001
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Ingår i: Construction Economics and Organization, Proceedings of the 2nd Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organization 24-25 April 2001, Göteborg, Sweden. ; , s. 211-218
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)
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| 15. |
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| 16. |
- Josephson, Per-Erik, 1960, et al.
(författare)
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The costs of detecting human errors in building projects
- 2001
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Ingår i: Proceedings International Conference on Costs and Benefits Related to Quality and Safety and Health in Construction, 22-23 October, Barcelona, Spain. ; , s. 191-200
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)
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| 17. |
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| 18. |
- Laan, Martti, 1971, et al.
(författare)
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Increased levels of interleukin-16 in the airways of tobacco smokers: relationship with peripheral blood T lymphocytes
- 1999
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Ingår i: Thorax. - 0040-6376. ; 54:10, s. 911-6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The mechanisms behind the development of systemic immunomodulation among tobacco smokers are not fully understood, but several studies have indicated a role for CD8+ and/or CD4+ T cells. Interleukin (IL)-16, a cytokine released from inflammatory cells as well as bronchial epithelial cells, can recruit and activate CD4+ T cells. A study was undertaken to establish whether the IL-16 level is increased in the airways of tobacco smokers and to determine whether airway levels of IL-16 are related to the number and function of systemic T lymphocytes. METHODS: Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid was collected from eight never smokers and 18 tobacco smokers without clinical airway symptoms, and from 16 tobacco smokers with clinical airway symptoms. Interleukin-16 protein levels in BAL fluid were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Peripheral blood was collected for determination of CD4+ T cell content using flow cytometry. The responsiveness of systemic lymphocytes in smokers was assessed by measuring the proliferative response of peripheral blood lymphocytes to the superantigen staphylococcus enterotoxin A (SEA). RESULTS: The IL-16 protein level in the BAL fluid was significantly higher in tobacco smokers than in non-smokers. However, among tobacco smokers the IL-16 level was similar in asymptomatic smokers and in those with airway symptoms. The level of IL-16 in the BAL fluid of smokers correlated negatively with the percentage of CD4+ T cells and positively with superantigen stimulated lymphocyte proliferation in peripheral blood. CONCLUSIONS: In tobacco smokers the airway IL-16 level is increased and it is possible that this increase in IL-16 influences systemic immunomodulation by altering the number and responsiveness of systemic T lymphocytes.
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| 19. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943
(författare)
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Adoption av ny produktionsteknik på byggarbetsplatsen
- 1992
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this study is to find obstacles and incentives in the adoption process of innovations. Only process innovations that can be used in construction are focussed upon here. The construction firm is described as an intermediate firm. A crucial objective for this type of firm is to develop its capacity to implement new solutions in order to be able to produce a lot of different types of buildings. The firm must be good at adopting innovations and the key person in the adoption process is the site manager. The adoption process is described by a model with four phases; knowledge, persuasion, decision and implementation. The factors that have an impact on the process can be in the environment, the construction firm, the innovation and the adopter. The study is carried out mainly in three sub-projects. Two series of interviews have been used. Although these interviews are mainly with site managers there are also some with their subordinates and their superiors. Finally, there is a questionnaire with responses from 89 site managers in the Gothenburg region. All of these managers are specialized in house construction. The study showed that the site manager is the key person in the adoption process and that this process is a part of the problem solving process on the site. New technology is mostly used as a way of solving current construction problems. The development primarily takes place in small steps, that is the adopted innovations are mainly incremental. Profitability of radical innovations is difficult to calculate. The economic risk is a significant factor. A construction firm is very much a project orientated, and decentralized firm with a short-term planning horizon. These facts combined with the fact that the adoption process takes a long time lead to great difficulty in adopting radical innovations.
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| 20. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-, et al.
(författare)
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Arbete med ställningar
- 2007
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 21. |
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| 22. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-
(författare)
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Climate change : using robustness as a policy response
- 2004
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Ingår i: Building Research & Information. - London : Taylor & Francis Group. - 0961-3218 .- 1466-4321. ; 32:1, s. 71-74
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- This commentary paper deals two issues: There is an insecurity of the predicted climate change and its impact on the built environment and there is a big time gap between the timescale for the climate change predictions and the timescale that is used for making decisions about the built environment. It is advocated that long term decisions for the built environment must be based on reliable predictions and if they are not the decisions will often make more damage than if no decisions were made at all. It is also stated that very few of the stakeholders in the building process have taken any actions to respond to the expected climate change. There is a total discrepancy between the climate change perspective and the stakeholders’ decision making perspective and it is therefore probably more efficient to cope to the current climate situation than to adapt to an uncertain very long-term climate change. For long term climate changes, robustness in the built environment probably is a more valid strategy.
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| 23. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-, et al.
(författare)
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Component manufacturers’ perceptions of managing innovation
- 2006
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Ingår i: Building Research & Information. - London : Informa UK Limited. - 0961-3218 .- 1466-4321. ; 34:6, s. 552-564
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this research is to understand component manufacturers' perception of their role in the innovation process. The role of the component manufacturer is different to other construction sector actors because they are product- not project-orientated. Base information was taken from part of a large benchmarking study conducted in Sweden. This helped to identify a small number of established component manufacturers located in a large geographical area of Sweden suitable for further investigation. Information about ten manufacturers was collected and interviews were conducted with their managing directors. The interviews revealed considerable variation in the manufacturers' perception of their position in the innovation process, their approach to new product development and interaction with their customers. Manufacturers were then graded according to their benchmarking and innovation procedures, which helped to illustrate a link between communication and information-sharing practices, benchmarking and innovation. The main findings are that the more innovative companies use information and benchmarking activities to their benefit. The more innovative companies have established a balance between innovations in process and product, have a clear direction from their managing director, and engage in regular communication with their customers.
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| 24. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-, et al.
(författare)
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Do the building material suppliers use Information Technology less often or less efficiently than other lines of business?
- 2004
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- We know that companies handle their internal processes in different ways. But how do these different approaches affect the way they use information technology? In this paper we will focus the building supply companies and their use of IT. A major survey on manufacturing companies has been carried through in four regions of Sweden. The survey is about finding out to what extent Best Practice is used within the companies and 220 questions have been put to the CEOs of the firms. These questions were grouped into six categories. One of the processes that have been studied is the use of IT. In this survey all of the companies came from the county of Örebro and the region of outer Gothenburg. When this study was carried through it was noticed that the building material suppliers used the IT differently or less efficiently compared to other lines of business. For example, the employees of the building material suppliers seem to use the PC less often than most of other lines of businesses, even though they have the same IT resources. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of IT within the group of building material suppliers compared to other lines of business and also how an improved use of IT in the building supply company can increase the efficiency of construction projects.
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| 25. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-, et al.
(författare)
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From Vision to Sustainability : Can the Environmental program Facilitate to Convey the Message?
- 2005
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Programmes for sustainability are important normative tools for the development of sustainable building. However, environmental visions must be made much more concrete and they must be conveyed to all parties in the building process so that they all receive the same message on how to build and rebuild housing areas. It is obvious that the local authorities are important actors in this conveying process as they are responsible for the city-planning process. One way to facilitate this process is to produce environmental programs for new housing areas – programs to which the developers have to commit in order to get the permission to launch their new housing projects. The aim of this paper is to scrutinise two recent environmental programmes in Sweden and to describe and analyse how the programme writers have tried to transform the visions into more concrete goals and how to put demands on the developers. Much attention has been paid to the housing projects and both have been evaluated in research projects. The housing projects are: Bo01 in Malmo and Hammarby Sjostad in Stockholm. This paper will compare the two programs on issues such as energy optimisation, use of environmentally adjusted material and waste management. The programmes have different ways to describe the environmental goals and to put demands on the different actors in the building process. Some issues are hard facts and easy to make precise but other are soft facts that have been very vaguely described in the programs. The paper will also give some conclusions on the how the programs performed in the real situations and why a well written environmental programme will have a positive environmental impact on future housing projects.
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| 26. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-, et al.
(författare)
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How to Collect Ideas for the Development of Product and Process Innovations in the Building Process
- 2003
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Construction companies can be described as intermediate companies that use many production methods and building materials/components to produce a variety of products. Since construction companies are also very decentralised and project oriented, they are not adapted to developing new process or product technologies. Manufacturers of construction machinery, building materials, and building components must thus be responsible for this task. Construction companies must develop the ability to communicate their technology-development needs to manufacturers and to adopt new technology. There are, however, many indications that communication between manufacturers and construction companies as to what should be developed needs to be improved. This paper describes and analyses two case studies of building-material manufacturers and how they collect product-development ideas; we then present an innovation process model. We conclude that there is a need to improve communication pertaining to technology needs between intermediate and basic-technology companies.
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| 27. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-, et al.
(författare)
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Internal Logistics at the Building Site
- 2007
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A construction project demands large quantities of material, and material therefore endures a big portion of the projects budget. The focus on short-term profitability is therefore a set-back in the effort of the construction industry’s attempt to develop the industry. Construction logistics consists of many processes and activities which are related to each other by complex relationships. Materials are received, moved, etc. creating a pattern of movement on the construction site. Reflecting the reality on site, a study was performed studying the movement of materials connected to activities on site, with the purpose to display the costs of the internal material logistics. The three cases indicate that planning is a key-factor when reducing costs connected to site-logistics. Where to put material, to which activity the material belong, and for what it should be used, are aspects which form the foundation for material-flow and material-cost-flow
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| 28. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-, et al.
(författare)
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Key Business Processes in Building Supply Companies : A Comparison with other Manufacturing Companies
- 2003
-
Ingår i: Construction Economics and Organization. - Lund : Division of Construction Management, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University. - 9197461806 ; , s. 257-263
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The province of Örebro approximately 260 000 inhabitants and 280 manufacturing companies with more than 10 employees. Eleven of these companies are suppliers to the building industry. A survey concerning key business processes in these 280 companies was carried out in the beginning of 2002. The purpose of the survey was to analyse key processes such as customer focus, information & benchmarking, quality & supplier focus and innovation processes. One basic finding is that the manufacturing companies score top levels in “Leadership and planning” but low in ”Information & Benchmarking”. Another finding is that “Innovation” also scores low. This combination of low information and low innovation might have negative effects on the Swedish construction contractors because of their dependence on active suppliers. In this paper we compare those companies which are suppliers to the building companies with the total group of companies in the survey. One result from this study is that the building material suppliers as a group score poorer than other lines of business on innovation
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| 29. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-, et al.
(författare)
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The Effect and Cost Impact of Poor Airtightness : Information for Developers and Clients
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Thermal Performance of the Exterior Envelopes of Whole Buildings. - Orlando : ASHRAE. - 2166-8469. - 9781933742281
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Air movements in and through the building envelope affect the flows of not only heat, but also moisture, gases and particles, in a building. They often play a decisive part in determining moisture conditions, and thus indoor environmental conditions in the building, and ultimately, the durability of the building structure. Air flows affect thermal comfort and ventilation, and thus air quality. In addition, they also cause heat loss, both directly via ventilation, and through their effect on the performance of what are intended to be high-insulation structures.A previous joint project between SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden and Chalmers University of Technology investigated the importance of airtightness in the construction process. The project found that many types of damage and problems were caused by poor airtightness, that airtightness was seldom given the proper consideration that it deserved and that there was a major need for information on the effect of poor airtightness. One of the conclusions was that it is important to get developers/clients to treat airtightness more seriously.The objective of the follow-on project that is described here is therefore to make developers/clients (more) aware of the potential damage that can be caused by poor airtightness, together with the “cost” of this damage/problem in a life-cycle perspective. Hopefully, developers/clients will then specify and monitor airtightness requirements more clearly. The aim is therefore to develop tools and methods for informing developers/clients of the importance of good airtightness, and of the resulting extra costs that incur from paying insufficient attention to airtightness.The project has identified and assessed various consequences of poor airtightness, such as increased energy use, reduced thermal comfort, reduced air quality and moisture damages.The cost calculations show that the developer/client would benefit in most cases from an increased standard and follow up on airtightness. We have projected the work with three different levels of ambition: 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 l/m2s (at 50 Pa pressure difference), and believe that the optimal airtightness lies somewhere in the region of these values, depending on the buildings use and equipment.
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| 30. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-, et al.
(författare)
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The Performance Concept in Road Projects : One Way to Develop the Civil Engineering Sector
- 2004
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Swedish civil engineering sector has problems with the rate of technology and knowledge development. It also has image problem when trying to attract students. The Swedish National Road Administration (SNRA) has addressed these issues by undertaking a number of demonstration road projects. One of these demonstration projects aimed at developing the performance concept in road construction. The road construction project was procured and produced and it is today open for traffic. The performance concept differs from traditional Swedish procurement mainly through the change from extensive technical specifications to demands on road functions. One assumption was that a higher degree of freedom for the contractor would lead to more innovative technical solutions. This paper aims to describe and draw conclusions regarding development of road construction based on the demonstration road project. Observers attended project meetings throughout the project, from design of the procurement documents to production. Interviews were made at different stages of the project with client, tenderer, consultants and contractor. The results from the follow-up indicate a rethinking of design in the tender process, new communication and decision behaviour in production and a changed focus towards finding solutions rather than finding faults. The overall conclusion is that the performance concept has a potential to develop construction in the civil engineering sector although with obstacles in the dissemination process to overcome.
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| 31. |
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| 32. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-
(författare)
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Weather Protection Systems : Experiences from Three Construction Projects
- 2006
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Industrialization is a well-known concept in the Swedish building industry, just as “weather protection systems” (WPS) is; however, WPS is seldom explicitly connected with industrialization. Perhaps this is because of the limited amount of experience that the building industry has so far had with WPS. This paper presents the results of an evaluation of the real advantages and disadvantages of WPS use. To this end, we studied three Swedish construction projects that employed WPS.The results indicate that the studied WPS did function well: benefits such as shorter construction schedules, more precise time of material delivery, and the use of different and more effective construction methods were demonstrated. It is indeed profitable to use a WPS, especially if soft factors are taken into account.
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| 33. |
- Neufeld, David A., et al.
(författare)
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HERSCHEL OBSERVATIONS OF INTERSTELLAR CHLORONIUM
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 748:1, s. 37-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Using the Herschel Space Observatory's Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared, we have observed parachloronium (H2Cl+) toward six sources in the Galaxy. We detected interstellar chloronium absorption in foreground molecular clouds along the sight lines to the bright submillimeter continuum sources Sgr A (+50 km s(-1) cloud) and W31C. Both the para-(H2Cl+)-Cl-35 and para-(H2Cl+)-Cl-37 isotopologues were detected, through observations of their 1(11)-0(00) transitions at rest frequencies of 485.42 and 484.23 GHz, respectively. For an assumed ortho-to-para ratio (OPR) of 3, the observed optical depths imply that chloronium accounts for similar to 4%-12% of chlorine nuclei in the gas phase. We detected interstellar chloronium emission from two sources in the Orion Molecular Cloud 1: the Orion Bar photodissociation region and the Orion South condensation. For an assumed OPR of 3 for chloronium, the observed emission line fluxes imply total beam-averaged column densities of similar to 2 x 10(13) cm(-2) and similar to 1.2 x 10(13) cm(-2), respectively, for chloronium in these two sources. We obtained upper limits on the para-(H2Cl+)-Cl-35 line strengths toward H-2 Peak 1 in the Orion Molecular cloud and toward the massive young star AFGL 2591. The chloronium abundances inferred in this study are typically at least a factor similar to 10 larger than the predictions of steady-state theoretical models for the chemistry of interstellar molecules containing chlorine. Several explanations for this discrepancy were investigated, but none has proven satisfactory, and thus the large observed abundances of chloronium remain puzzling.
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| 34. |
- Persson, Mats, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
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Decision making for sustainable rebuilding : a theoretical approach
- 2012
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In facilities management, decisions regarding how and when maintenance and rebuilding are to be carried out are made on a regular basis. Typically, there is a compromise regarding cost, usability and the possibility of exploring new options. Many case studies indicate that a large number of these decisions are based on simple models and that they are not adequately investigated. This is a problem, especially in cases of public procurement, where a high level of transparency in decision making is desired. There is a need for a proper decision basis in order to build a society that is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. A working method is proposed as a tool for the integration of costs and benefits in decision making on investments in sustainable re-building. The guideline gives an overview as to why, when and how impact assessments and project appraisals can be conducted on different levels on a scale from tactical decisions to strategic decisions. The proposed method can be used to prioritise actions that need attention and to decide which preventive measures are the most efficient from an economic point of view. This paper explores the practical application of the guideline and presents an economic analysis and valuation in sustainable rebuilding management. Finally, the prerequisites for impact assessment and project appraisal and how they can be used and accepted by the users and decision-makers are discussed.
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| 35. |
- Qvarfordt, Ingemar, 1954, et al.
(författare)
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IgG subclasses in smokers with chronic bronchitis and recurrent exacerbations
- 2001
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Ingår i: Thorax. - 0040-6376. ; 56:6, s. 445-9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Tobacco smokers have lower serum levels of IgG than non-smokers. IgG subclass deficiency is common in patients with recurrent respiratory infections. Recurrent bronchial infections are common in smokers with chronic bronchitis (CB). We have investigated whether susceptibility to recurrent exacerbations in smokers with CB is associated with altered IgG subclass levels or IgG subclass deficiency. METHODS: Serum levels of IgG, IgA, IgM, and IgG subclasses 1-4 were determined by radial immunodiffusion in 100 subjects: 33 smokers with stable CB and recurrent exacerbations, 24 asymptomatic smokers, and 43 healthy never smokers. Systemic tobacco exposure was verified and excluded using a serum cotinine ELISA. Immunoglobulin data were log transformed to enable use of parametric statistical methods. RESULTS: Compared with never smokers, both patients with CB and asymptomatic smokers had significantly lower levels of IgG (median 9.7 g/l (range 5.6-15.2) and 9.9 (6.1-12.1) g/l v 12.0 (6.9-18.5) g/l) and IgG2 (2.8 (0.9-5.9) g/l and 2.5 (1.0-6.3) g/l v 4.0 (1.7-10.2) g/l). The estimated ratio of median values between the patients with CB and never smokers was 0.78 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.69 to 0.89) for IgG and 0.65 (95% CI 0.50 to 0.83) for IgG2. The corresponding ratios between asymptomatic smokers and never smokers were 0.79 (95% CI 0.69 to 0.91) and 0.60 (95% CI 0.50 to 0.83), respectively. There were no significant differences between the smoking groups. CONCLUSIONS: Susceptibility to recurrent exacerbations in smokers with CB is not associated with lower levels of IgG subclasses than can be accounted for by smoking per se.
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| 36. |
- Qvarfordt, Ingemar, 1954, et al.
(författare)
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Immunological findings in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in chronic bronchitis patients with recurrent infectious exacerbations
- 1998
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Ingår i: Eur Respir J. - 0903-1936. ; 11:1, s. 46-54
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bronchial infections are common in smokers and seem to be related to the presence of chronic bronchitis (CB). Why only some smokers develop repeated bronchial infections is not known. The aim of this study was to screen for immunological changes associated with disease in patients with CB and recurrent infectious exacerbations compared to asymptomatic smokers. Sixteen smokers with stable CB and recurrent infectious exacerbations, and 18 asymptomatic smokers, all without any immunomodulating treatment, underwent bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Smoking history and current smoking status were comparable. Serum levels of immunoglobulin (Ig)A, IgM, IgG and IgG subclasses were measured. Blood and BAL lymphocyte phenotypes and proliferative responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to various stimulators were analysed. Unstimulated and tetanus toxoid-stimulated production of cytokines in PBMC cultures was measured. Natural killer (NK-) cell activity was analysed. A significantly (p<0.05) lower level of IgG3 was found in the CB group, and a significantly (p<0.01) higher proliferative response of PBMCs was found in the CB group after stimulation with diphtheria toxoid. Detectable levels of interleukin (IL)-6, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interferon-gamma, but not of IL-2, IL-4 or transforming growth factor-beta2, were found in supernatants from cultured cells in both study groups. Stimulated TNF-alpha production was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the CB group. NK-cell activity did not differ significantly between the study groups. There were no major differences between the groups in lymphocyte subpopulations in blood or BAL. In conclusion, no major alterations in the analysed indices of cell-mediated and humoral immunity were found in patients with chronic bronchitis prone to recurrent infectious exacerbations when compared with asymptomatic smoking controls.
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| 37. |
- Qvarfordt, Ingemar, 1954, et al.
(författare)
-
Lower airway bacterial colonization in asymptomatic smokers and smokers with chronic bronchitis and recurrent exacerbations
- 2000
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Ingår i: Respir Med. - 0954-6111. ; 94:9, s. 881-7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bacterial colonization of the lower airways in patients with chronic bronchitis (CB) has been described mainly in patients with co-existing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although smoking has been identified as a risk factor for bacterial colonization it is not known whether asymptomatic smokers (AS) can be colonized. The aim of this study was to study lower airway bacterial colonization in smokers with stable CB and recurrent exacerbations and compare with AS and healthy never-smokers (NS). Thirty-nine smokers with CB and recurrent exacerbations (median FEV1 85% of predicted normal), 10 AS and 10 NS, underwent bronchoscopy and a two-step bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) procedure where the first portion (20 ml, 'pre-BAL') was recovered separately from the rest (140 ml, 'BAL'). The degree of oropharyngeal contamination of pre-BAL and BAL samples was evaluated by cytology. Semiquantitative bacterial cultures were performed on all samples. Higher bacterial numbers than 10(3) colony-forming units (cfu) x ml(-1) in BAL were found only in the two smoking groups. Using 10(3) cfu x ml(-1) as cut-off, 6/10 (60%) in the AS-, and 7/35 (20%) in the CB-group were colonized in the lower airways. In all, 29% of all smokers had bacterial colonization. Only bacteria belonging to the normal oropharyngeal flora were found. The proportion of samples with oropharyngeal contamination was significantly lower in BAL than in pre-BAL (5% vs. 21%, P=0.039). The proportion of sterile samples was significantly higher in BAL than in pre-BAL (49% vs. 26%, P=0.002). Lower airway bacterial colonization was found both in asymptomatic smokers and in patients with CB. Colonization with potential respiratory pathogens is uncommon in patients with CB and recurrent exacerbations without severe airflow obstruction. The two-step BAL procedure seems to decrease oropharyngeal contamination.
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| 38. |
- Riise, Gerdt C., 1956, et al.
(författare)
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A bronchoscopic brush biopsy study of large airway mucosal pathology in smokers with chronic bronchitis and in healthy nonsmokers
- 1992
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Ingår i: Eur Respir J. - 0903-1936. ; 5:4, s. 382-6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigated the use of bronchial brush biopsies of the bronchial epithelium as a diagnostic tool in common airway diseases. Flexible fibreoptic bronchoscopy was performed on 22 smokers with nonobstructive chronic bronchitis and on 14 healthy nonsmoking individuals. Ten of the smokers had recurrent infectious exacerbations. Cell samples were taken from carinal and subsegmental levels of the bronchial tree with a standard cytological brush, and a differential count was made of the different cell types. Smokers with chronic bronchitis had significantly more goblet cells (mean 20.0, SD 8.6), and less ciliated epithelial cells (mean 74.1, SD 9.4), than the healthy nonsmokers (mean 9.2, SD 3.9 and mean 84.7, SD 6.6, respectively). No such changes were found between the chronic bronchitis groups with or without infectious exacerbations. Thus, bronchial brush biopsies can be used as a complement to standard bronchial biopsies in the investigation of airway diseases other than pulmonary malignancies.
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| 39. |
- Riise, Gerdt C., 1956, et al.
(författare)
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Bacterial adhesion to oropharyngeal and bronchial epithelial cells in smokers with chronic bronchitis and in healthy nonsmokers
- 1994
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Ingår i: Eur Respir J. - 0903-1936. ; 7:10, s. 1759-64
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bacterial adhesion is probably a prerequisite for colonization of mucous membranes, but adhesion to the bronchial mucosa has not been studied in detail. We investigated adhesion of respiratory pathogens to bronchial epithelial cells, and asked whether chronic bronchitis had an influence on bacterial adhesion. Oropharyngeal and bronchial cells were collected during bronchoscopy from 14 healthy nonsmokers, 22 smokers with nonobstructive chronic bronchitis, and 19 smokers with chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Patients with a forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) less than 50% predicted were excluded. Adhesion of highly adherent test strains of H. influenzae and S. pneumoniae to these cells were studied. The test strains of H. influenzae and S. pneumoniae were found to adhere well to both oropharyngeal and bronchial cells. H. influenzae showed a higher degree of adhesion both to ciliated and goblet cells from the patients with nonobstructive bronchitis than to cells from the healthy nonsmokers. No corresponding difference was found for S. pneumoniae. The patients with COPD did not differ from the controls in their adhesion values. Our results indicate that bacterial adhesion is of importance for the colonization and retention of H. influenzae in the human airways. For S. pneumoniae the role of adhesion is more uncertain.
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| 40. |
- Riise, Gerdt C., 1956, et al.
(författare)
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Bronchial brush biopsies for studies of epithelial inflammation in stable asthma and nonobstructive chronic bronchitis
- 1996
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Ingår i: Eur Respir J. - 0903-1936. ; 9:8, s. 1665-71
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recently, bronchial brush biopsy (BBB) has been introduced as a complimentary method to bronchial forceps biopsy for the study of bronchial epithelial cells. We wanted to determine whether epithelial inflammatory cells in bronchial brush biopsies can reflect mucosal inflammation assessed indirectly by levels of cellular activation markers in bronchial lavage fluid. We studied 15 healthy controls, 11 asthmatics with regular steroid inhalation therapy, 13 asthmatics without steroids, and 10 smokers with nonobstructive chronic bronchitis. Differential counts of epithelial and inflammatory cells were made from the BBB material. Bronchial lavage levels of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), myeloperoxidase (MPO), tryptase, hyaluronan and interleukin-8 (IL-8) were measured as indirect markers for inflammatory cell activation. We found an increased percentage of eosinophil granulocytes in the BBB from the steroid-untreated asthmatic patients (1.16%) in comparison to the other groups (0.11%, 0.09% and 0.02%, respectively; p<0.01). In the steroid-untreated asthmatic patients, the percentage of eosinophils correlated with ECP in bronchial lavage fluid (r=0.73; p<0.01), indicating that the BBB method can reflect the degree of eosinophilic activation. A negative correlation was found for the percentage of eosinophils in BBB with levels of provocative concentration of methacholine causing a 20% fall in forced expiratory volume in one second (PC20) for the asthmatic patients in the study (r= -0.67; p<0.003). The bronchial brush biopsy method appears to give information on the changes present in superficial bronchial epithelium in inflammatory airways disease. These changes appear to relate to the degree of inflammatory activity and disease severity in asthma.
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| 41. |
- Riise, Gerdt C., 1956, et al.
(författare)
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Circulating cell adhesion molecules in bronchial lavage and serum in COPD patients with chronic bronchitis
- 1994
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Ingår i: Eur Respir J. - 0903-1936. ; 7:9, s. 1673-1677
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The initial phase of inflammation in bronchial asthma appears to be triggered by the expression of leucocyte-endothelial adhesion molecules on endothelial cell surfaces. Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) cause adhesion of leucocytes to the endothelium prior to their subsequent extravasation into inflamed tissue. We wanted to determine whether circulating intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (cICAM-1) and circulating E-selectin (cE-selectin) could be detected in bronchial lavage fluid and serum in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic bronchitis. Bronchoscopy and small volume bronchial lavage was performed in 19 patients with COPD and chronic bronchitis and in 13 control subjects. We found increased mean levels of cICAM-1 both in serum (481 micrograms.l-1) and in bronchial lavage (24 micrograms.l-1) in the COPD patients as compared to the controls (321 micrograms.l-1 in serum, 15 micrograms.l-1 in lavage). We also found higher mean levels of cE-selectin in serum from the COPD patients (86 micrograms.l-1) compared to controls (50 micrograms.l-1). The serum levels of cE-selectin correlated significantly with lung function measured as forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) in percentage of predicted. Patients with significant intrabronchial bacterial colonization had increased levels of serum cE-selectin. Our results indicate that cCAMs may reflect an upregulation of CAMs on endothelial and epithelial airway cells in COPD.
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| 42. |
- Riise, Gerdt C., 1956, et al.
(författare)
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Circulating leukocyte adhesion molecules in stable asthma and nonobstructive chronic bronchitis
- 1995
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Ingår i: Allergy. - 0105-4538. ; 50:8, s. 693-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Leukocyte adhesion molecules have been associated with airway inflammatory diseases such as asthma and obstructive chronic bronchitis. Lately, it has become possible to measure circulating forms of cell adhesion molecules (cCAMs) in body fluids. Elevated serum levels have been found in acute asthma and in obstructive chronic bronchitis. We investigated whether the patterns of cICAM-1, cVCAM-1, and cE-selectin could serve as markers for airway inflammation in stable asthma and stable nonobstructive chronic bronchitis. Small-volume bronchial lavage (BL) and serum from 15 controls, 13 asthmatics without steroid inhalation therapy, 11 asthmatics with regular steroid inhalation therapy, and 10 smokers with chronic bronchitis were analyzed. We found cICAM-1, cVCAM-1, and cE-selectin to be present in serum from patients with stable asthma and stable nonobstructive chronic bronchitis. Only cICAM-1 was found in BL fluid. No differences were seen between the subject groups for either cCAM, but levels of ECP were increased in the non-steroid-treated asthmatic group. Subject atopy or smoking did not increase the cCAM levels. In conclusion, the degree of airway inflammation in stable nonobstructive chronic bronchitis and stable asthma does not appear to be well associated with circulating ICAM-1, cVCAM-1, and cE-selectin.
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| 43. |
- Riise, Gerdt C., 1956, et al.
(författare)
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Inhibitory effect of N-acetylcysteine on adherence of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae to human oropharyngeal epithelial cells in vitro
- 2000
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Ingår i: Respiration. - 0025-7931. ; 67:5, s. 552-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Bacterial adherence to mucosal and epithelial cell structures is of importance for the persistence of bacteria in the airways. Cigarette smoking and chronic bronchitis are associated with increased bacterial adherence. N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) medication reduces the number of infectious exacerbations in patients with chronic bronchitis, and NAC medication has been associated with low intrabronchial bacterial numbers. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether NAC influences bacterial adherence as a possible mechanism behind its clinical effects. METHODS: Highly adhering test strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae were used to investigate the influence of four pharmacological compounds on adherence to oropharyngeal epithelial cells in vitro. Adhesion assays were performed both during short-term exposure to, as well as after long-time incubation with, NAC, lidocaine, hydrocortisone and terbutaline at concentrations not inhibiting bacterial growth. RESULTS: Only NAC showed a significant inhibitory effect on adhesion of H. influenzae during short-term incubation. After long-term incubation, both NAC and hydrocortisone inhibited bacterial adhesion for both strains in a dose-dependent manner. When NAC's effect on three different strains of S. pneumoniae and four strains of H. influenzae was studied, inhibition of bacterial adhesion was found for three strains of each species. CONCLUSIONS: NAC lowers bacterial adhesion in vitro to oropharyngeal epithelial cells in doses equivalent to that is being used clinically. This effect might be a contributory mechanism behind the reduction of infectious exacerbations in chronic bronchitis patients.
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| 44. |
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| 45. |
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| 46. |
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| 47. |
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| 48. |
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| 49. |
- Söderlind, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Framtidens platsbyggande : En förstudie
- 2008
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Rapporten är en förstudie om det framtida platsbyggandet och belyser de produktionsförutsättningar som gör att mänskliga och maskinella resurser utnyttjas bättre än idag. Fokus är såväl på ny teknik och nya metoder som samverkan, ICT och arbetsorganisation. Resultaten bygger på litteraturstudier samt intervjuer med företrädare för byggsektorn.I rapporten beskrivs också byggandet i ett historiskt utvecklingsperspektiv för att på så sätt sätta in visionerna i sitt rätta sammanhang.
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| 50. |
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