| 1. |
- Sjövall, Katarina, et al.
(author)
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Adjuvant radiotherapy of women with breast cancer – information, support and side-effects
- 2010
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In: European Journal of Oncology Nursing. - : Elsevier. - 1462-3889 .- 1532-2122. ; 14:2, s. 147-153
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this study was to 1) examine the occurrence and burden of side effects over time in the period after post surgical adjuvant radiotherapy in women with breast cancer and 2) explore the women's experiences of given information and need of support to handle side effects. Material and method: 171 women with breast cancer receiving post-surgical adjuvant radiotherapy completed a questionnaire on radiotherapy-related side effects (Treatment Toxicity Assessment Tool OTTAT) at four times between the start of radiotherapy and six months after completion. Comparisons were made between women with breast conservative surgery (group A) and women with modified mastectomy (group B), and for having chemotherapy or not (C+ and C-). Questions regarding the experience of delivered information and support were added. Results: Fatigue was the single most prevalent side effect and, together with skin reactions and pain, it also had the highest mean score over the study period and the largest score increase during treatment. The largest increase during the six months was seen for skin reaction, pain, and dyspnoea. The average score for skin reaction was significantly higher in group B than in group A. A majority of the women experienced the given information and support as satisfying and a need for follow-up of the side-effects was expressed. Conclusion: Nursing for women with breast cancer receiving adjuvant radiotherapy should focus on preventing and treating side effects, and also include the period post treatment. There is a need for developing evidence based guidelines including guidelines for follow-up.
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| 2. |
- Wikby, A, et al.
(author)
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An immune risk phenotype, cognitive impairment and survival in very late life: The impact of alosta-tic load in Swedish Octo- and Nongenarian humans
- 2005
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In: Journal Gerontology: Biological Science. ; , s. 556-565
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the previous OCTO longitudinal study, we identified an immune risk pheno-type (IRP) of high CD8 and low CD4 numbers and poor proliferative response. We also demonstrated that cognitive impairment constitutes a major predictor of nonsurvival. In the present NONA longitudinal study, we simultaneously exam-ine in a model of allostatic load IRP and compromised cognition in 4-year survival in a population-based sample (n = 138, 86-94 years). Immune system measure-ments consisted of determinations of T-cell subsets, plasma interleukin 6 and cy-tomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus serology. Interleukin 2 responsiveness to concanavalin A, using data from the previous OCTO (octogenarians) immune study, hereafter OCTO immune, was also examined. Cognitive status was rated using a battery of neuropsychological tests. Logistic regression indicated that the IRP and cognitive impairment together predicted 58% of observed deaths. IRP was associated with late differentiated CD8+CD28-CD27- cells (p < .001), de-creased interleukin 2 responsiveness (p < .05) and persistent viral infection (p < .01). Cognitive impairment was associated with increased plasma interleukin 6 (p < .001). IRP individuals with cognitive impairment were all deceased at the fol-low-up, indicating an allostatic overload.
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| 3. |
- Wikby, A, et al.
(author)
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The immune risk phenotype is associated with Il-6 in the terminal decline stage: Findings from the Swedish NONA immune longitudinal study of very late life functioning
- 2006
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In: Mechanisms Ageing and Development. - : Elsevier. ; 127:8, s. 695-704
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the present NONA immune longitudinal study, we further examine the previously identi-fied T cell immune risk phenotype (IRP), relative inflammatory activity, morbidity and 2-year mortality in very old individuals >90 years. T-cell subsets as well as the inflammatory mark-ers IL-6, IL-10, C-reactive protein, transthyretin and albumin were evaluated. IRP and low-grade inflammation predicted 57% of observed deaths and 97% of survival over 2 years, and was not significantly affected by individuals' health status, suggesting that the physiological ageing processes of T-cell immunosenescence and low-grade inflammation are of primary importance in late life survival. IRP non-survivors showed only a minor inflammatory activity at baseline, but had in contrast to survivors developed increased activity at follow-up. The re-sults suggest a sequence of stages for IRP individuals that begin with acquisition of CMV in-fection in earlier life, followed by generation of CD8+CD28- cells to control persistent CMV infection and eventually the development of an IRP. Intriguingly, we also found that rare in-dividuals moved out of the IRP category by a process of immune suppression, including in-creases in IL-6 and IL-10 and decreases in the number of CD3+CD8+CD28- cells. The fur-ther characterisation of these exceptional individuals may allow insight into remedial ap-proaches for those who remain in the IRP category until death
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Árnadóttir, Guðrún, et al.
(author)
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Difference in impact of neurobehavioural dysfunction on Activities of Daily Living performance between right and left hemispheric stroke
- 2010
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In: Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine. - : Foundation of Rehabilitation Information. - 1650-1977 .- 1651-2081. ; 42:10, s. 903-907
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: To explore whether persons with right- and left-sided cerebrovascular accidents differ significantly in mean impact of neurobehavioural impairments on ability to perform activities of daily living. Design and subjects: Retrospective study of data from 215 persons (103 right-sided, 112 left-sided cerebrovascular accident). The Activities of daily living-focused Occupation-based Neurobehavioral Evaluation was used to evaluate ability on an activities of daily living scale and the impact of neurobehavioural impairment on ability on another scale. Methods: To control for possible differences in activities of daily living ability between groups, analysis of covariance, with activities of daily living ability as a covariate, was used to test for a significant difference in impact of neurobehavioural impairments on activities of daily living ability between groups. Results: Expected moderate correlation (r=-0.57) was obtained between activities of daily living ability and neurobehavioural impact measures, and there was no difference in mean neurobehavioural impact measures between groups (F [1, 212] = 2.910,p = 0.090). Conclusion: This study is the first: to explore directly the impact of neurobehavioural impairment on activities of daily living ability. While persons with right-sided and left-sided cerebrovascular accidents may differ in type of neurobehavioural impairments, direct evaluation of the impact of such impairments on activities of daily living ability reveals no difference between groups.
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| 6. |
- Arnadottir, Gudrun, 1955-, et al.
(author)
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Dimensionality of nonmotor neurobehavioral impairments when observed in the natural contexts of ADL task performance
- 2009
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In: Neurorehabilitation and neural repair. - : SAGE Publications. - 1545-9683 .- 1552-6844. ; 23:6, s. 579-586
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective. To examine diverse nonmotor neurobehavioral impairments (NBIs) that impact activities of daily living (ADL) task performance and to verify if such impairments can be viewed as one dimension when evaluated in an ecologically-relevant context. Methods. Rasch analysis was performed on data from 206 individuals diagnosed with dementia or cerebral vascular accident (CVA) who had been scored on 50 standardized NBIs from the A-ONE Neurobehavioral Impairment scale, based on naturalistic observation of ADL task performance. Evaluation of mean square (MnSq) infit and outfit values and principal components analysis (PCA) of residuals were used to evaluate unidimensionality of the items. Two evaluations were implemented: (1) to evaluate if there is a single global dimension common for persons with either dementia or CVA, and (2) to evaluate if the 50 NBIs are unidimensional, but comprised of different diagnosis-specific global hierarchies (dementia, left CVA, and right CVA). Results. The PCA indicated that 56.8% of variance was explained by the global measure (Rasch factor) of NBIs, with 4.9% of the unexplained variance explained by the first contrast. Four items showed outfit misfit to the common hierarchy. Developing diagnosis-specific global hierarchies resulted in improved PCA results for all 3 diagnostic groups (Rasch factor = 79.2% to 85.5%; unexplained variance in first contrast = 1.7% to 3.4%) after removal of 2 to 3 misfitting items. Conclusions. Nonmotor NBIs, when evaluated based on naturalistic performance of ADL, can be considered unidimensional, but the hierarchical structure of the dimension likely varies across diagnostic groups. Further study is needed with larger samples to verify these results.
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| 7. |
- Arnadottir, Gudrun, et al.
(author)
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Neurobehavioral functions evaluated in naturalistic contexts : Rasch analysis of the A-ONE Neurobehavioral Impact Scale
- 2012
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy. - London : Informa Healthcare. - 1103-8128 .- 1651-2014. ; 19:5, s. 439-449
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: The fact that different neurobehavioral impairments affect daily life task performance of clients with different neurological diagnoses currently restricts between-group comparisons in rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a single neurobehavioral impact scale could be constructed for use with different diagnostic groups. Methods and results. Rasch analysis of 422 clients (diagnosed with CVA and dementia) demonstrated that 29 of 55 items from the A-ONE Neurobehavioral Scale could be used to construct a short-form, Common Scale. Conclusions: While the use of different and longer diagnostic-specific scales versions may be more useful clinically, the short-form, Common Scale has the potential to be used in research focusing on comparison of groups. Further research will be needed to validate the common, short version.
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| 8. |
- Bagshaw, D, et al.
(author)
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Macro and micro approaches to conflict and drama
- 2007
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In: DRACON International. Bridging the Fields of Drama and Conflict Management: Empowering students to handle conflicts through school based programmes.. - Malmö : Malmö: MUEP (Malmö University Electronic Publishing). - 918881033X ; , s. 130-192
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Researchers from Australia, Malaysia and Sweden form part of DRACON International (DRAma for CONflict management) and share the basic view that drama can be an effective way for adolescents to learn to handle conflicts constructively. The main aims of the DRACON project have been: -to develop research methods in order to map students´ conflicts and strategies for handling conflicts and to study the effects of various drama exercises on individual, class and school levels; -to contribute to the development of a theory of conflict processes in different cultures in order to explain the effects of different types of interference´s in adolescents´ conflicts; -to develop and test integrated drama programmes giving adolescents in the three different cultures the opportunity of handling conflicts in a more constructive way. This book is the result of several years of collaborative teamwork between researchers from Australia, Malaysia and Sweden and aims at providing a starting-point for further development of drama and conflict management in educational settings.
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| 9. |
- Bastos Lima, Mairon G., et al.
(author)
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Large-scale collective action to avoid an Amazon tipping point - key actors and interventions
- 2021
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In: Current Research in Environmental Sustainability. - : Elsevier BV. - 2666-0490. ; 3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The destruction of the Amazon is a major global environmental issue, not only because of greenhouse gas emissions or direct impacts on biodiversity and livelihoods, but also due to the forest's role as a tipping element in the Earth System. With nearly a fifth of the Amazon already lost, there are already signs of an imminent forest dieback process that risks transforming much of the rainforest into a drier ecosystem, with climatic implications across the globe. There is a large body of literature on the underlying drivers of Amazon deforestation. However, insufficient attention has been paid to the behavioral and institutional microfoundations of change. Fundamental issues concerning cooperation, as well as the mechanisms facilitating or hampering such actions, can play a much more central role in attempts to unravel and address Amazon deforestation. We thus present the issue of preventing the Amazon biome from crossing a biophysical tipping point as a large-scale collective action problem. Drawing from collective action theory, we apply a novel analytical framework on Amazon conservation, identifying six variables that synthesize relevant collective action stressors and facilitators: information, accountability, harmony of interests, horizontal trust, knowledge about consequences, and sense of responsibility. Drawing upon literature and data, we assess Amazon deforestation and conservation through our heuristic lens, showing that while growing transparency has made information availability a collective action facilitator, lack of accountability, distrust among actors, and little sense of responsibility for halting deforestation remain key stressors. We finalize by discussing interventions that can help break the gridlock.
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