| 1. |
- Aaby, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Vaccinia scars associated with better survival for adults. An observational study from Guinea-Bissau
- 2006
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Ingår i: Vaccine. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2518 .- 0264-410X. ; 24:29-30, s. 5718-5718
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Live vaccines including BCG and measles may have non-targeted beneficial effects on childhood survival in areas with high mortality. The authors therefore undertook a survey of vaccinia scars to evaluate subsequent mortality. SUBJECTS: Based on a population census, a cohort of 1893 adults in urban Guinea-Bissau was examined in 1998 and followed until 2002. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: All cause mortality, excluding accidents. RESULTS: The median age of vaccinia vaccinations had been 16-18 years. Adults with a vaccinia scar had a mortality ratio (MR) of 0.60 (0.41-0.87) compared to those without any scar. The effect was stronger for women. Mortality decreased with each additional vaccinia scar (MR=0.73 (0.56-0.95)). Among 502 individuals with information on HIV infection, the age-adjusted HIV-2 prevalence was 2.45 (1.06-5.65) for those with a vaccinia scar. Control for district, ethnic group, schooling, place of birth, quality of housing and HIV status had little effect on the estimate. Since vaccinia and BCG scars could have been confused, mortality for adults with vaccinia and/or BCG scar was compared to those without, the MR being 0.61 (0.41-0.89). CONCLUSION: Known cultural or socio-economic factors possibly associated with access to vaccination had no influence on the mortality ratio for having a vaccinia scar. Hence, vaccinia vaccination may have a prolonged beneficial effect on adult survival.
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| 2. |
- Blomström-Lundqvist, Carina, et al.
(författare)
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A randomized double-blind study of epicardial left atrial cryoablation for permanent atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing mitral valve surgery: the SWEDish Multicentre Atrial Fibrillation study (SWEDMAF).
- 2007
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Ingår i: European heart journal. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0195-668X .- 1522-9645. ; 28:23, s. 2902-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AIMS: The efficacy of epicardial left atrial (LA) cryoablation in eliminating atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients undergoing mitral valve surgery (MVS) is unknown. We hypothesized that MVS combined with LA cryoablation is superior to MVS alone. METHODS AND RESULTS: Sixty-nine patients with permanent AF, included at four centres, underwent MVS with or without epicardial LA cryoablation. The primary endpoint was regained sinus rhythm. Risk factors for failed AF cryoablation were elucidated. Sixty-five out of 69 patients reached the primary endpoint. At 6 and 12 months follow-up, 73.3% of patients who underwent cryoablation had regained sinus rhythm at both follow-ups, compared with 45.7 and 42.9% of patients, respectively, who underwent MVS alone (group differences, at 6 months P = 0.024, after 12 months P = 0.013). The in-hospital complication rate was 11.4% in the MVS group and 26.5% in the cryoablation group (P = 0.110). Risk factors for failed elimination of AF by cryoablation were duration of permanent AF (P = 0.012) and presence of coronary artery disease (P = 0.047), according to multiple logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: This first prospective randomized study showed that combining MVS with epicardial LA cryoablation is significantly better in eliminating pre-operative permanent AF than MVS alone.
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| 3. |
- da Silva, Zacarias, et al.
(författare)
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Decline in human T-cell lymphotropic virus-1 prevalence in urban areas of Bissau, Guinea-Bissau: exploring the association with HIV infections.
- 2009
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Ingår i: AIDS. - 1473-5571. ; 23, s. 637-639
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2006, a cross-sectional survey of 384 randomly selected houses within a community-based follow-up study was conducted to assess the human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) prevalence in Bissau. Changes in prevalence and incidence rates were assessed based on a similar survey carried out 10 years earlier. The prevalence of HTLV-1 declined significantly from 3.5% in 1996 to 2.3% in 2006. The incidence between 1996 and 2006 was only 0.9/1000 person-years and tended to be higher for women than for men.
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| 4. |
- da Silva, Zacarias J., et al.
(författare)
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Changes in prevalence and incidence of HIV-1, HIV-2 and dual infections in urban areas of Bissau, Guinea-Bissau : is HIV-2 disappearing?
- 2008
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Ingår i: AIDS. - London : Gower Academic Journals. - 0269-9370 .- 1473-5571. ; 22:10, s. 1195-1202
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Objectives: To assess the changes in HIV prevalence and incidence between 1996 and 2006 in urban areas of Bissau.Design: A cross-sectional survey of 384 randomly selected houses within a community-based follow-up study of HIV-1 and HIV-2.Methods: A total of 3242 individuals aged at least 15 years were eligible for inclusion. Participants were interviewed about behavioral and socio-economic factors and had a blood sample drawn. A total of 2548 individuals were tested for antibodies to HIV-1 and HIV-2, of whom 649 had taken part in a similar survey in 1996.Results: With 0.5% HIV dual reactions included, the overall HIV-1 prevalence was 4.6% (118 out of 2548) and the HIV-2 prevalence was 4.4% (112 out of 2548). The prevalence of HIV-1 increased more for women than men especially in the 25-34-year age group. HIV-2 prevalence decreased below 45 years of age but not for individuals more than 45 years old. The incidence rate between 1996 and 2006 was 0.5 per 100 person-years for HIV-1 and 0.24 per 100 person-years for HIV-2. Compared with a previous period from 1987 to 1996, the incidence of HIV-2 is declining whereas no significant increase in the incidence of HIV-1 was observed.Conclusions: The present study shows an increasing prevalence of HIV-1 and a decreasing prevalence of HIV-2 in Guinea-Bissau. HIV is generally a bigger problem for women. Despite the general decline in prevalence, HIV-2 may continue as an infection in older people, especially women.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Holmgren, Birgitta G, et al.
(författare)
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Mortality associated with HIV-1, HIV-2, and HTLV-I single and dual infections in a middle-aged and older population in Guinea-Bissau
- 2007
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Ingår i: Retrovirology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1742-4690. ; 4:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: In Guinea-Bissau HIV-1, HIV-2, and HTLV-I are prevalent in the general population. The natural history of HIV/HTLV-I single and dual infections has not been fully elucidated in this population. Previous studies have shown that combinations of these infections are more common in older women than in men. The present study compares mortality associated with HIV-1, HIV-2, and HTLV-I single and dual infections in individuals over 35 years of age within an urban community-based cohort in Guinea-Bissau. RESULTS: A total of 2,839 and 1,075 individuals were included in the HIV and HTLV-I mortality analyses respectively. Compared with HIV-negative individuals, adjusted mortality rate ratios (MRRs) were 4.9 (95 % confidence interval (CI): 2.3, 10.4) for HIV-1, 1.8 (95%CI: 1.5, 2.3) for HIV-2, and 5.9 (2.4, 14.3) for HIV-1/HIV-2 dual infections. MRR for HTLV-I-positive compared with HTLV-I-negative individuals was 1.7 (1.1, 2.7). Excluding all HIV-positive individuals from the analysis, the HTLV-I MRR was 2.3 (1.3, 3.8). The MRR of HTLV-I/HIV-2 dually infected individuals was 1.7 (0.7, 4.3), compared with HIV/HTLV-I-negative individuals. No statistically significant differences were found in retrovirus-associated mortality between men and women. CONCLUSION: HIV-1-associated excess mortality was low compared with community studies from other parts of Africa, presumably because this population was older and the introduction of HIV-1 into the community recent. HIV-2 and HTLV-I-associated mortality was 2-fold higher than the mortality in uninfected individuals. We found no significant differences between the mortality risk for HIV-2 and HTLV-I single infection, respectively, and HIV-2/HTLV-I dual infection. The higher prevalence of retroviral dual infections in older women is not explained by differential retrovirus-associated mortality for men and women.
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| 7. |
- Holmgren Caicedo, Mikael, 1971-
(författare)
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A Passage to Organization
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- How does action turn [into a] substantive and, if it does, how does it turn into action again to perdure or even change?In this endeavor I set out to study organizing and organization by asking myself how organizing becomes a product called organization and how that product turns into the very organizing whence it once was spawned. In other words, I set out to study what I denominate the movements between organizing and organization. To that end a play is put in motion in which actors act and make representations which are subsequently interpreted poetically and rhetorically. This in order to create a stage of evidence from which the movements between organizing and organization can be derived.The imagination put forth consists of two movements, which I dub instantiation and concatenation. These I relate to the motions embodied by metaphor and metonymy and later conflate them into one and the same movement of organizing in the wor[l]d within which materials through their play against each other are gathered to create more or less stable products. These products may be called organizations.In a way, this is an attempt to study the makings of organization by way of a passage into it.
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| 8. |
- Holmgren, Sven-Erik, et al.
(författare)
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An Encapsulated Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar for Testing of Wood at Elevated Strain Rate, Temperature and Pressure
- 2008
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Ingår i: Experimental techniques (Westport, Conn.). - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0732-8818 .- 1747-1567. ; 32:5, s. 44-50
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents a device, based on a split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) setup, by which it is possible to obtain stress vs. strain for a wood specimen at high deformation rate, high temperature and high steam pressure. The need for determining the mechanical properties of wood not only at high deformation rate but also at high temperature and pressure is motivated by the need to model the wood chip refining process in mechanical pulp-ing. At mechanical chip refining, e.g. in thermomechanical pulping processes, preheated wood chips together with added water are fed into the centre of a refiner which in essence consists of two circular discs. Most often one disc is stationary and the other is rotating. The wood chips are transported radially between the discs due to inertia. On their way, due to impacts from radial bars on the discs, they are eventually broken down to individual fibres and fibre fragments. The device presented here is an SHPB set-up, modified so that the bars and the specimen are encapsulated in a pressure vessel within which the temperature is constant. In this way effects of temperature gradients in the bars are avoided. Pilot tests have been carried out which verify the intended per-formance of the device.
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| 9. |
- Jarfelt, Marianne, 1962, et al.
(författare)
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Exercise echocardiography reveals subclinical cardiac dysfunction in young adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia
- 2007
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Ingår i: Pediatr Blood Cancer. - : Wiley. - 1545-5009 .- 1545-5017. ; 49:6, s. 835-40
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Anthracyclines (AC) have contributed significantly to increased survival rate in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), although the use of these drugs is limited due to cardiotoxicity. The aim was to evaluate heart muscle function in asymptomatic adult survivors of ALL treated in early childhood in relation to the combined effects of AC and other potential cardiotoxic factors. PROCEDURE: Twenty-three young adult ALL survivors who had all received treatment with median 120 (120-400) mg AC/m(2) before the onset of puberty were examined median 21 years after remission and compared with 12 healthy controls. Basal echocardiography including two-dimensional (2D) M-mode and Doppler examination was performed, followed by a maximal exercise stress test and stress echocardiography immediately after stress test and after 5 min recovery. RESULTS: We found significant differences in systolic function between patients and controls at maximal exercise despite absence of reported symptoms from the patients. The most marked difference was in ejection fraction at stress 59.5% (32.6-81.1) and 77.3% (66.2-85.3), respectively (P < 0.00006). Ten out of 23 patients reduced their ejection fraction at stress compared with at rest; this was not found in any of the controls. Cardiovascular risk factors such as GH deficiency and a high proportion of trunk fat did not have an impact on cardiac function. CONCLUSIONS: With very long follow up in a homogenous cohort of ALL survivors, we found subclinical cardiac dysfunction with exercise stress echocardiography even after low doses of AC. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2007;49:835-840. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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| 10. |
- Nowroozalizadeh, Salma, et al.
(författare)
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Studies on toll-like receptor stimuli responsiveness in HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections
- 2009
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Ingår i: Cytokine. - : Elsevier BV. - 1096-0023 .- 1043-4666. ; 46:3, s. 325-331
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: HIV-1 and HIV-2 are two related viruses with distinct clinical outcomes, where HIV-1 is more pathogenic and transmissible than HIV-2. The pathogenesis of both infections is influenced by the dysregulation and deterioration of the adaptive immune system. However, their effects on the responsiveness of innate immunity are less well known. Here, we report on toll-like receptor (TLR) stimuli responsiveness in HIV-1 or HIV-2 infections. Methods: Whole blood from 235 individuals living in Guinea-Bissau who were uninfected, infected with HIV-1, infected with HIV-2, and/or infected with HTLV-1, was stimulated with TLR7/8 and TLR9 agonists, R-848 and unmethylated CpG DNA. After TLR7/8 and TLR9 stimuli, the expression levels of IL-12 and IFN-alpha were related to gender, age, infection status, CD4(+) T cell counts. and plasma viral load. Results: Defective TLR9 responsiveness was observed in the advanced disease stage, along with CD4(+) T cell loss in both HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections. Moreover, TLR7/8 responsiveness was reduced in HIV-1 infected individuals compared with uninfected controls. Conclusions: Innate immunity responsiveness can be monitored by whole blood stimulation. Both advanced HIVA and HIV-2 infections may cause innate immunity dysregulation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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