| 1. |
- Fridell, Erik, 1963, et al.
(författare)
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Emissions of particulate matter from railways – onboard and tunnel measurements
- 2009
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There are increasing concerns about health risks associated with high levels of particulate matter in air. A major source of these particles is combustion engines but also particles originating from wear of material can be important. It is in this context of interest to study particle emissions from railways. A number of studies have reported high concentrations of particles in underground stations and subways. There are few studies reporting levels of particles in railway environments above ground and no studies reporting emission factors or the variability in emissions with driving pattern.In the report a number of measurements of particle emissions from railway are presented. In the first part of the report, results from tunnel measurements where abrasion particles from different types of trains are measured in two campaigns are reported. Further, emission factors are calculated from these measurements. In the second part of the project, measurements were done with instruments positioned under a train. This provided information on how the particle emissions vary with driving patterns.
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| 2. |
- Andelid, Kristina, 1953, et al.
(författare)
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Myeloperoxidase as a marker of increasing systemic inflammation in smokers without severe airway symptoms
- 2007
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Ingår i: Respiratory medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0954-6111. ; 101:5, s. 888-95
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence of systemic inflammation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but there is very little information on the development of systemic inflammation in smokers without severe airway symptoms. In this longitudinal study, we examined whether smokers with mild or no airway symptoms develop signs of systemic inflammation by assessing inflammatory markers in blood over a 6-year period. METHODS: Forty smokers and 28 male never-smokers were investigated in 1995 (year 0) and 6 years later (year 6). At year 6, 11 smokers had stopped smoking (quitters); these subjects were analysed as a separate group. At year 0 and 6, we measured serum levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO), lysozyme and human neutrophil lipocalin (HNL), regarded as markers of activity in neutrophils plus monocyte-lineage cells, monocyte-lineage cells only and neutrophils only. RESULTS: All systemic markers of inflammation (MPO, HNL and lysozyme) were significantly higher in smokers than in never smokers at year 6. For MPO alone, smokers only displayed a unique pattern compared with the other groups; the concentration of MPO in blood increased among smokers during the 6-year period, and this increase was statistically significant compared with that observed in never-smokers. Even though quitters did not display any clear change in MPO, we observed a statistically significant negative correlation between the change in blood MPO and the duration of smoking cessation in this group. For HNL and lysozyme, the changes over time were similar in smokers and never-smokers, with no statistically significant difference compared with quitters. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence that male smokers without severe airway symptoms develop an increasing systemic inflammation during a 6-year period. The study forwards both direct and indirect evidence that MPO may be an early marker of this systemic inflammation. However, our study also forwards indirect evidence that ongoing tobacco smoking may "drive" the level of systemic HNL and lysozyme. The origin of the increased MPO and its value as an easily measured predictor for future COPD deserves to be further evaluated.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Baumann, Pia, et al.
(författare)
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Outcome in a prospective phase II trial of medically inoperable stage I non-small-cell lung cancer patients treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. - 1527-7755 .- 0732-183X. ; 27:20, s. 3290-6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: The impact of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) on 3-year progression-free survival of medically inoperable patients with stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was analyzed in a prospective phase II study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-seven patients with T1NOMO (70%) and T2N0M0 (30%) were included between August 2003 and September 2005 at seven different centers in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark and observed up to 36 months. SBRT was delivered with 15 Gy times three at the 67% isodose of the planning target volume. RESULTS: Progression-free survival at 3 years was 52%. Overall- and cancer-specific survival at 1, 2, and 3 years was 86%, 65%, 60%, and 93%, 88%, 88%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in survival between patients with T1 or T2 tumors. At a median follow-up of 35 months (range, 4 to 47 months), 27 patients (47%) were deceased, seven as a result of lung cancer and 20 as a result of concurrent disease. Kaplan-Meier estimated local control at 3 years was 92%. Local relapse was observed in four patients (7%). Regional relapse was observed in three patients (5%). Nine patients (16%) developed distant metastases. The estimated risk of all failure (local, regional, or distant metastases) was increased in patients with T2 (41%) compared with those with T1 (18%) tumors (P = .027). CONCLUSION: With a 3-year local tumor control rate higher than 90% with limited toxicity, SBRT emerges as state-of-the-art treatment for medically inoperable stage I NSCLC and may even challenge surgery in operable instances.
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| 5. |
- Baumann, Pia, et al.
(författare)
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Stereotactic body radiotherapy for medically inoperable patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer - a first report of toxicity related to COPD/CVD in a non-randomized prospective phase II study.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8140 .- 1879-0887. ; 88:3, s. 359-67
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In a retrospective study using stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in medically inoperable patients with stage I NSCLC we previously reported a local control rate of 88% utilizing a median dose of 15Gyx3. This report records the toxicity encountered in a prospective phase II trial, and its relation to coexisting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cardio vascular disease (CVD). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty patients were entered in the study between August 2003 and September 2005. Fifty-seven patients (T1 65%, T2 35%) with a median age of 75 years (59-87 years) were evaluable. The baseline mean FEV1% was 64% and median Karnofsky index was 80. A total dose of 45Gy was delivered in three fractions at the 67% isodose of the PTV. Clinical, pulmonary and radiological evaluations were made at 6 weeks, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 36 months post-SBRT. Toxicity was graded according to CTC v2.0 and performance status was graded according to the Karnofsky scale. RESULTS: At a median follow-up of 23 months, 2 patients had relapsed locally. No grade 4 or 5 toxicity was reported. Grade 3 toxicity was seen in 12 patients (21%). There was no significant decline of FEV1% during follow-up. Low grade pneumonitis developed to the same extent in the CVD 3/17 (18%) and COPD 7/40 (18%) groups. The incidence of fibrosis was 9/17 (53%) and pleural effusions was 8/17 (47%) in the CVD group compared with 13/40 (33%) and 5/40 (13%) in the COPD group. CONCLUSION: SBRT for stage I NSCLC patients who are medically inoperable because of COPD and CVD results in a favourable local control rate with a low incidence of grade 3 and no grade 4 or 5 toxicity.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Djärv, Emma, et al.
(författare)
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Dummy run for a phase II study of stereotactic body radiotherapy of T1-T2 N0M0 medical inoperable non-small cell lung cancer.
- 2006
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Ingår i: Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden). - : Informa UK Limited. - 0284-186X .- 1651-226X. ; 45:7, s. 973-7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In forthcoming multicentre studies on stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) compliance with volume and dose prescriptions will be mandatory to avoid unnecessary heterogeneity bias. To evaluate compliance in a multicentre setting we used two cases from an ongoing phase II study of SBRT of T1-T2N0M0 inoperable NSCLC in a dummy run oriented on volumes and doses. Six Scandinavian centres participated. Each centre received CT-scans covering the whole lung volumes of two patients with instructions to follow the study protocol when outlining tumour and target volumes, prescribing doses and creating dose plans. Volumes and doses of the 12 dose plans were evaluated according to the study protocol. For the two patients the GTV volume range was 24 to 39 cm3 and 26 to 41 cm3, respectively. The PTV volume range was 90 to 116 cm3, and 112 to 155 cm3, respectively. For all plans the margin between CTV and PTV in all directions followed in detail the protocol. The prescribed dose was for all centres 45 Gy/3 fractions (isocentre dose about 66 Gy). The mean GTV doses ranged from 63 to 67 Gy and from 63 to 68 Gy, respectively. The minimum doses for GTV were between 50-64 Gy and between 55-65 Gy, respectively. The dose distribution was conformed to PTV for 10 of 12 plans and 2 of 12 plans from one centre had sub-optimal dose distribution. Most of the volume and dose parameters for the participating centres showed fully acceptable compliance with the study protocol.
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| 9. |
- Ekberg, Anders, 1967, et al.
(författare)
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Alarm limits for wheel–rail impact loads – part 2: analysis of crack growth and fracture
- 2009
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The crack growth and subsequent fracture of rails is governed by the imposed rolling contact load from operational vehicles. This study focuses on the growth of longer cracks. In contrast to shorter cracks that are mainly driven by the influence of the contact stress field in combination with the effect of trapped liquid, these cracks are mainly driven by the global bending of the rail. In addition there is, for all-welded rails, a major influence of the rail temperature.The aim of the study is to find a scientific basis for regulations regarding allowed wheel de- fects. These defects generate wheel–rail impact loads that in severe cases may promote fracture from pre-existing cracks in the rail. Present wheel removal criteria relate wheel defect alarm limits to the size (length) of a wheel flat. This is not an optimal situation since it may be both difficult and dangerous to locate and measure the length of a wheel flat. Further, a given size of a wheel flat will result in different impact loads if present on different types of vehicles due to differences in train speed, axle load, etc, and on different tracks with differences in track proper- ties. In this study, the focus is instead on the wheel–rail impact load magnitude and its influence on the risk of rail breaks.
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| 10. |
- Ekberg, Anders, 1967
(författare)
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Fatigue of railway wheels
- 2009
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Ingår i: Wheel-rail interface handbook. - : Elsevier. - 9781845694128 ; , s. 215-244
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Wheel fatigue – the formation of cracks on wheel tread, in wheel rim or on the wheel disk, is a crucial phenomenon in assuring safe and reliable rail transportations. In the current chapter a background to the phenomenon is given. The appearance and mechanisms of different forms of wheel fatigue are discussed and predictive models are presented. The influence of some operational factors and interacting deterioration phenomena are then discussed before the chapter ends with concluding remarks and an outlook on future trends.
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