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| 2. |
- Bergström, Göran, 1964, et al.
(författare)
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Prevalence of Subclinical Coronary Artery Atherosclerosis in the General Population
- 2021
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Ingår i: Circulation. - Philadelphia : American Heart Association. - 0009-7322 .- 1524-4539. ; 144:12, s. 916-929
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Early detection of coronary atherosclerosis using coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA), in addition to coronary artery calcification (CAC) scoring, may help inform prevention strategies. We used CCTA to determine the prevalence, severity, and characteristics of coronary atherosclerosis and its association with CAC scores in a general population.Methods: We recruited 30 154 randomly invited individuals age 50 to 64 years to SCAPIS (the Swedish Cardiopulmonary Bioimage Study). The study includes individuals without known coronary heart disease (ie, no previous myocardial infarctions or cardiac procedures) and with high-quality results from CCTA and CAC imaging performed using dedicated dual-source CT scanners. Noncontrast images were scored for CAC. CCTA images were visually read and scored for coronary atherosclerosis per segment (defined as no atherosclerosis, 1% to 49% stenosis, or ≥50% stenosis). External validity of prevalence estimates was evaluated using inverse probability for participation weighting and Swedish register data.Results: In total, 25 182 individuals without known coronary heart disease were included (50.6% women). Any CCTA-detected atherosclerosis was found in 42.1%; any significant stenosis (≥50%) in 5.2%; left main, proximal left anterior descending artery, or 3-vessel disease in 1.9%; and any noncalcified plaques in 8.3% of this population. Onset of atherosclerosis was delayed on average by 10 years in women. Atherosclerosis was more prevalent in older individuals and predominantly found in the proximal left anterior descending artery. Prevalence of CCTA-detected atherosclerosis increased with increasing CAC scores. Among those with a CAC score >400, all had atherosclerosis and 45.7% had significant stenosis. In those with 0 CAC, 5.5% had atherosclerosis and 0.4% had significant stenosis. In participants with 0 CAC and intermediate 10-year risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease according to the pooled cohort equation, 9.2% had CCTA-verified atherosclerosis. Prevalence estimates had excellent external validity and changed marginally when adjusted to the age-matched Swedish background population.Conclusions: Using CCTA in a large, random sample of the general population without established disease, we showed that silent coronary atherosclerosis is common in this population. High CAC scores convey a significant probability of substantial stenosis, and 0 CAC does not exclude atherosclerosis, particularly in those at higher baseline risk.
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| 3. |
- Bergström, Göran, et al.
(författare)
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Prevalence of Subclinical Coronary Artery Atherosclerosis in the General Population
- 2021
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Ingår i: Circulation. - : Wolters Kluwer. - 0009-7322 .- 1524-4539. ; 144:12, s. 916-929
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Early detection of coronary atherosclerosis using coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA), in addition to coronary artery calcification (CAC) scoring, may help inform prevention strategies. We used CCTA to determine the prevalence, severity, and characteristics of coronary atherosclerosis and its association with CAC scores in a general population.Methods: We recruited 30 154 randomly invited individuals age 50 to 64 years to SCAPIS (the Swedish Cardiopulmonary Bioimage Study). The study includes individuals without known coronary heart disease (ie, no previous myocardial infarctions or cardiac procedures) and with high-quality results from CCTA and CAC imaging performed using dedicated dual-source CT scanners. Noncontrast images were scored for CAC. CCTA images were visually read and scored for coronary atherosclerosis per segment (defined as no atherosclerosis, 1% to 49% stenosis, or ≥50% stenosis). External validity of prevalence estimates was evaluated using inverse probability for participation weighting and Swedish register data.Results: In total, 25 182 individuals without known coronary heart disease were included (50.6% women). Any CCTA-detected atherosclerosis was found in 42.1%; any significant stenosis (≥50%) in 5.2%; left main, proximal left anterior descending artery, or 3-vessel disease in 1.9%; and any noncalcified plaques in 8.3% of this population. Onset of atherosclerosis was delayed on average by 10 years in women. Atherosclerosis was more prevalent in older individuals and predominantly found in the proximal left anterior descending artery. Prevalence of CCTA-detected atherosclerosis increased with increasing CAC scores. Among those with a CAC score >400, all had atherosclerosis and 45.7% had significant stenosis. In those with 0 CAC, 5.5% had atherosclerosis and 0.4% had significant stenosis. In participants with 0 CAC and intermediate 10-year risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease according to the pooled cohort equation, 9.2% had CCTA-verified atherosclerosis. Prevalence estimates had excellent external validity and changed marginally when adjusted to the age-matched Swedish background population.Conclusions: Using CCTA in a large, random sample of the general population without established disease, we showed that silent coronary atherosclerosis is common in this population. High CAC scores convey a significant probability of substantial stenosis, and 0 CAC does not exclude atherosclerosis, particularly in those at higher baseline risk.
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| 4. |
- Blomberg, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Chronic Airflow Limitation, Emphysema and Impaired Diffusing Capacity in Relation to Smoking Habits in a Swedish Middle-Aged Population.
- 2024
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Ingår i: Annals of the American Thoracic Society. - 2329-6933 .- 2325-6621.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- RATIONALE: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) includes respiratory symptoms and chronic airflow limitation (CAL). In some cases, emphysema and impaired diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) are present, but characteristics and symptoms vary with smoking exposure.OBJECTIVES: To study the prevalence of CAL, emphysema and impaired DLCO in relation to smoking and respiratory symptoms in a middle-aged population.METHODS: We investigated 28,746 randomly invited individuals (52% women) aged 50-64 years across six Swedish sites. We performed spirometry, DLCO, high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and asked for smoking habits and respiratory symptoms. CAL was defined as post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second divided by forced expiratory volume (FEV1/FVC)<0.7.RESULTS: The overall prevalence was for CAL 8.8%, for impaired DLCO (DLCOCONCLUSIONS: In this large population-based study of middle-aged people, CAL and impaired DLCO were associated with common respiratory symptoms. Self-reported asthma was not associated with CAL in never-smokers. Our findings suggest that CAL in never-smokers signifies a separate clinical phenotype that may be monitored and, possibly, treated differently from smoking-related COPD. This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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| 6. |
- Eriksson, Benjamin, et al.
(författare)
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Determining the fuel ion ratio for D(T)and T(D) plasmas at JET using neutron time-of-flight spectrometry
- 2022
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Ingår i: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 64
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The fusion fuel ion ratio, nΤ/nD, is an important plasma parameter that needs to be tuned to maximize the power of a tokamak type fusion reactor. It is recognized as a parameter required for optimizing several ITER operating scenarios, and will likely be continuously monitored in future high-performance fusion devices such as DEMO. Tritium was recently introduced in the Joint European Torus (JET) plasma for the first time since the 1997 DTE1 and 2003 TTE campaigns, enabling the possibility to investigate fuel ion ratios. We present a method for measuring nΤ/nD using neutron time-of-flight (TOF) spectrometry. By fitting the measured neutron spectral features, the relative reaction rate intensities between different ion species can be inferred, from which the fuel ion ratio can be extracted for a corresponding modeled reactivity. Unlike previous measurements of nT/nD using neutron spectrometry, we utilize the neutron energy continuum produced in the three-body TT reaction to determine the fuel ion ratio for plasmas with large concentrations of tritium. Furthermore, the use of neutron TOF spectrometry has never previously been demonstrated for evaluating nT/nD. The method is applied to TOF spectra acquired with TOFOR (JET name KM11) and shown to be consistent with the optical JET diagnostic KT5P which uses optical spectroscopy of a modified Penning gauge plasma to measure tritium and deuterium concentrations in the divertor exhaust gas.
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| 7. |
- Eriksson, Benjamin, et al.
(författare)
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First measurement in a magnetic confinement fusion experiment of the T + T -> 5He + n intermediate two-body resonant reaction
- 2024
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Ingår i: Physical Review C. - : American Physical Society. - 2469-9985 .- 2469-9993. ; 109
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the first experimental measurements made at a magnetic confinement fusion device of the T + T → α + 2n reaction indicating the presence of the intermediate two-body resonant reaction T + T → ⁵He + n. During the second deuterium-tritium campaign (DTE2) at the Joint European Torus, measurements of fusion plasmas with high tritium concentrations, n_T/(n_T + n_D) ≈ 0.99, heated with T neutral beam injection (NBI), were performed using the neutron time-of-flight (TOF) spectrometer TOFOR. We detect a peak in the neutron emission TOF spectrum consistent with the two-body resonant reaction. The TT neutron emission energy spectrum is modeled using an R-matrix framework where the distributions of the most likely model parameters given our experimental TOF data are determined utilizing a Markov chain Monte Carlo approach. We compare our best estimate of the TT neutron emission energy spectrum with results obtained at inertial confinement fusion experiments at the OMEGA facility and find a spectral shape that is consistent with the energy dependency in the neutron spectrum observed at OMEGA.
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| 8. |
- Eriksson, Benjamin, et al.
(författare)
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New method for time alignment and time calibration of the TOFOR time-of-flight neutron spectrometer at JET
- 2021
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Ingår i: Review of Scientific Instruments. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 0034-6748 .- 1089-7623. ; 92:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The TOFOR time-of-flight (TOF) neutron spectrometer at the Joint European Torus (JET) is composed of 5 start (S1) and 32 stop (S2) scintillation detectors. Recently, the data acquisition system (DAQ) of TOFOR was upgraded to equip each of the 37 detectors with its own waveform digitizer to allow for correlated time and pulse height analysis of the acquired data. Due to varying cable lengths and different pulse processing pathways in the new DAQ system, the 160 (5.32) different TOF pairs of start-stop detectors must be time-aligned to enable the proper construction of a summed TOF spectrum. Given the time (energy) resolution required by the entire spectrometer system to measure different plasma neutron emission components, it is of importance to align the detector pairs to each other with sub-nanosecond precision. Previously, the alignment partially depended on using fusion neutron data from Ohmic heating phases of JET experimental pulses. The dependence on fusion neutron data in the time alignment process is, however, unsatisfactory as it involves data one would wish to include in an independent analysis for physics results. In this work, we describe a method of time-aligning the detector pairs by using gamma rays. Given the known geometry and response of TOFOR to gamma rays, the time alignment of the detector pairs is found by examining gamma events interacting in coincidence in both S1-S1 and S1-S2 detector combinations. Furthermore, a technique for separating neutron and gamma events in the different detector sets is presented. Finally, the time-aligned system is used to analyze neutron data from Ohmic phases for different plasma conditions and to estimate the Ohmic fuel ion temperature.
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| 9. |
- Eriksson, Benjamin, 1992-
(författare)
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The evolution of TOFu : Developing and utilizing neutron time-of-flight spectrometry of deuterium and tritium fusion plasmas at JET
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Considerable effort has been invested in attempting to generate electricity from the energy released in controlled thermonuclear fusion reactions, with a European fusion research roadmap stretching beyond 2050. Our current endeavors may culminate in a virtually inexhaustible, low-carbon energy source for future generations. Experimental reactors such as the Joint European Torus (JET) and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) are stepping stones on the road to demonstrating the viability of fusion energy. Using various diagnostics and simulations, information on the plasma conditions in such experimental reactors can be obtained.In this thesis, the neutron time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR at JET is used to study the neutron emission spectrum from the JET machine to determine different fusion plasma parameters. The first part of the thesis describes the efforts to upgrade the data acquisition (DAQ) system of TOFOR with a new, fully digital system: TOFu. Data reduction techniques are developed for the new DAQ system, and are shown to increase the signal-to-background ratio significantly. The instrumental response function is improved using the new system by measuring the energy-dependent time resolution and energy thresholds and applying them to the response function. Data analysis routines are developed to generate time-of-flight spectra from the data acquired by the 37 TOFOR sub-detectors.In the second part of the thesis, the data acquired by the new DAQ system is used to perform various physics studies of JET plasmas. We demonstrate the possibility of measuring the fuel ion temperature for Ohmic discharges of pure deuterium plasmas, with a precision that was unattainable with the former DAQ system. Furthermore, during the time of my doctoral studies, two deuterium-tritium experimental campaigns (DTE2 and DTE3) were conducted at JET. In order to contribute to the analysis of these experiments, we developed methods to measure the tritium fuel concentration in the fusion plasma using TOFOR. Also, experiments with pure tritium plasmas gave us the unique opportunity to measure the neutron emission spectrum from the T + T4He + 2n reaction during which we made the first observation in a magnetically confined plasma of the intermediate resonant reaction T + T5He + n.The analysis methods and experimental techniques developed in this thesis may be used in future neutron spectrometry systems, e.g., at ITER where there are plans to build a high-resolution neutron spectrometer (HRNS) consisting of several detection systems, one of which is a TOFOR-like time-of-flight spectrometer.
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| 10. |
- Eriksson, Benjamin, et al.
(författare)
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TOFu : A fully digital data acquisition system upgrade for the neutron time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 1049
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- TOFOR is a time-of-flight (TOF) neutron spectrometer located at the Joint European Torus (JET) with a vertical sightline of the JET plasma. It consists of 5 start (denoted S1) and 32 stop (denoted S2) plastic scintillation detectors which can be used in coincidence to generate a TOF spectrum. Spectroscopic analysis of the neutron TOF spectra produced by the JET plasma is regularly performed to determine, e.g., the fuel ion ratio and the presence of fast ion species in the fusion plasma. TOFOR has been upgraded with a new digital data acquisition (DAQ) system, denoted TOFu, which consists of 10 waveform digitizers with a total of 40 channels, 37 of which are connected to the photomultiplier output of the different S1 and S2 detectors. This paper presents a technical overview of the TOFu system and describes the offline analysis capabilities of TOFu which were not available with the previous DAQ system. Two experimental JET discharges are studied and used to show that the signal-to-background ratio is improved by almost 200% for the 2.5 MeV neutron signal and almost 400% for the 14 MeV neutron signal using the new offline analysis capabilities.
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