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- Larsson, Matz, 1955-
(author)
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Secondary exposure to inhaled tobacco products
- 2008
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Även andra individer än rökaren kan påverkas av tobaksrökning. Syftet med denna avhandling var att undersöka några sådana effekter. Studierna omfattar såväl passiv rökning som exponering under graviditet. Mer specifikt handlar studierna om: · Exponering för passiv rökning under barndomen och samband med luftvägssymtom och allergi senare i livet. · Passiv rökning i vuxen ålder och samband med luftvägssymtom. · Exponering hos serveringspersonal och effekter av lagstiftning mot tobaksrökning. · Rökning under graviditet och kontroll och koordination av handrörelser hos barn. Passiv rökning i barndomen hade en koppling till ökad risk för astma och allergi. Passiv rökning hos vuxna var kopplat till förekomst av andnings- och luftvägssymtom på ett dosberoende vis. Besvär i andningsvägar och slemhinnor minskade avsevärt hos icke rökande serveringspersonal efter rökförbudet på restauranger som infördes den 1 juni 2005. Mammans rökning under graviditet var kopplad till nedsatt handkontroll och handkoordination hos avkomman. Sambandet var tydligast för vänsterhanden och pojkarnas handfunktion påverkades betydligt mer än flickornas. Fynden stödjer att rökning under graviditet kan påverka nervsystemets utveckling i negativ riktning. Ett flertal oönskade effekter kan således drabba dem som är nära rökare under någon period i livet och resultaten understryker vikten av att förebygga sådan exponering.
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2. |
- Jalasto, Juuso, et al.
(author)
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Occupation, socioeconomic status and chronic obstructive respiratory diseases – the EpiLung Study in Finland, Estonia and Sweden
- 2022
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In: Respiratory Medicine. - : Elsevier. - 0954-6111 .- 1532-3064. ; 191
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: To study occupational groups and occupational exposure in association with chronic obstructive respiratory diseases.Methods: In early 2000s, structured interviews on chronic respiratory diseases and measurements of lung function as well as fractional expiratory nitric oxide (FENO) were performed in adult random population samples of Finland, Sweden and Estonia. Occupations were categorized according to three classification systems. Occupational exposure to vapours, gases, dusts and fumes (VGDF) was assessed by a Job-Exposure Matrix (JEM). The data from the countries were combined.Results: COPD, smoking and occupational exposure were most common in Estonia, while asthma and occupations requiring higher educational levels in Sweden and Finland. In an adjusted regression model, non-manual workers had a three-fold risk for physician-diagnosed asthma (OR 3.18, 95%CI 1.07-9.47) compared to professionals and executives, and the risk was two-fold for healthcare & social workers (OR 2.28, 95%CI 1.14-4.59) compared to administration and sales. An increased risk for physician-diagnosed COPD was seen in manual workers, regardless of classification system, but in contrast to asthma, the risk was mostly explained by smoking and less by occupational exposure to VGDF. For FENO, no associations with occupation were observed.Conclusions: In this multicenter study from Finland, Sweden and Estonia, COPD was consistently associated with manual occupations with high smoking prevalence, highlighting the need to control for tobacco smoking in studies on occupational associations. In contrast, asthma tended to associate with non-manual occupations requiring higher educational levels. The occupational associations with asthma were not driven by eosinophilic inflammation presented by increased FENO.
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- Kjällmén, Håkan, et al.
(author)
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Effects of a School Tobacco Policy on Student Smoking and Snus Use
- 2020
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In: Health behavior and policy review. - : Paris Scholar Publishing. - 2326-4403. ; 7:4, s. 358-365
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: A school tobacco policy (STP) commonly is used to reduce smoking among adolescents, but the effectiveness of such programs is unclear. We evaluated the impact of an STP on tobacco use in 4 schools.Methods: The study included 4 intervention and 4 control schools, located in the inner city of Stockholm, Sweden. Schools self-selected for assignment to either an intervention program or a comparison group. In total, the study was comprised of 2671 students in grades 9 and 11, ages 15 to 18, and 1998 students (75%) responded to the questionnaire. We used a repeated cross-sectional design with assessment of tobacco use prevalence before implementation of the STP in 2016 and after 2 years under the program, in 2018.Results: Two years after the STP, the intervention school in grade 9 showed a lower prevalence (13.5% vs 1.6%) in the proportion of students who reported smoking (χ2 = 4.54; p < .05) whereas the proportion reporting snus use was practically unchanged. We found no statistically significant impact of the STP for grade 11.Conclusions: The results are promising with regard to smoking, when the STP is implemented in early adolescence.
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4. |
- Larsson, Matz, 1955-, et al.
(author)
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AT-läkare lär sig inte tillräckligt om livsstilsfaktorer och hälsa : de flesta får inte mer än 4 timmars undervisning, visarenkät
- 2013
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In: Läkartidningen. - Stockholm, Sweden : Läkartidningen Förlag AB. - 0023-7205 .- 1652-7518. ; 110:38, s. 1662-1663
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Journal article (pop. science, debate, etc.)abstract
- Sjukligheten hos var femtepatient bedöms betingad av livsstilsfaktorer.Socialstyrelsen presenterade inovember 2011 nationella riktlinjer för arbetet med att stödja hälsosamma levnadsvanor.I vilken omfattning får AT-läkare utbildning i hälsofrämjande arbete? För att besvara den frågan har en webbaserad enkät till landets AT-studierektorer genomförts.Enkäten visar stora variationer beträffande utbildning i hälsofrämjande arbete för AT-läkare.För såväl alkohol-, narkotika-,dopnings- och tobaksfrågor som frågor om kost och motion var utbildningstiden i de flesta fall inte mer än 4 timmar.Mindre än hälften angav att undervisning i strukturerad samtalsmetodik ingår i utbildningen
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5. |
- Larsson, Matz, 1955-, et al.
(author)
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Bipedal Steps in the Development of Rhythmic Behavior in Humans
- 2019
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In: Music & Science. - : Sage Publications. - 2059-2043. ; 2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We contrast two related hypotheses of the evolution of dance: H1: Maternal bipedal walking influenced the fetal experience of sound and associated movement patterns; H2: The human transition to bipedal gait produced more isochronous/predictable locomotion sound resulting in early music-like behavior associated with the acoustic advantages conferred by moving bipedally in pace. The cadence of walking is around 120 beats per minute, similar to the tempo of dance and music. Human walking displays long-term constancies. Dyads often subconsciously synchronize steps. The major amplitude component of the step is a distinctly produced beat. Human locomotion influences, and interacts with, emotions, and passive listening to music activates brain motor areas. Across dance-genres the footwork is most often performed in time to the musical beat. Brain development is largely shaped by early sensory experience, with hearing developed from week 18 of gestation. Newborns reacts to sounds, melodies, and rhythmic poems to which they have been exposed in utero. If the sound and vibrations produced by footfalls of a walking mother are transmitted to the fetus in coordination with the cadence of the motion, a connection between isochronous sound and rhythmical movement may be developed. Rhythmical sounds of the human mother locomotion differ substantially from that of nonhuman primates, while the maternal heartbeat heard is likely to have a similar isochronous character across primates, suggesting a relatively more influential role of footfall in the development of rhythmic/musical abilities in humans. Associations of gait, music, and dance are numerous. The apparent absence of musical and rhythmic abilities in nonhuman primates, which display little bipedal locomotion, corroborates that bipedal gait may be linked to the development of rhythmic abilities in humans. Bipedal stimuli in utero may primarily boost the ontogenetic development. The acoustical advantage hypothesis proposes a mechanism in the phylogenetic development.
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6. |
- Larsson, Matz, 1955-
(author)
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Did heart asymmetry play a role in the evolution of human handedness?
- 2017
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In: Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science. - Heidelberg, Germany : Springer. - 2520-100X .- 2520-1018. ; 1:2, s. 65-76
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Almost 90% of humans are right handed, but why is unclear. It has been suggested that right handedness evolved in the context of escalating motor and cognitive demands related to tool use. Literature indicates that homicide may have been common in early hominins. Since, in combat with sharp implements, handedness may influence the relative level of exposure of left and right thorax, the hypothesis presented here is that thoracic anatomic asymmetry resulted in a survival advantage for right handed individuals. While fighting with sharp tools, a left hand unilateral grip will rotate the left hemi-thorax towards an opponent. The aims of this study were to quantify the degree of thoracic/cardiac asymmetry in humans and to estimate any difference in risk of injury from a sharp implement attack to the left and the right human thorax. CT-scans of 37 men showed a mean of 73% (SD 7%) of the heart volume to be situated in the left hemi-thorax. Nineteen physicians unaware of the hypothesis estimated the outcome of weapons penetrating the left and right thorax/abdomen at random points. The difference in estimated mortality for left and right thorax was significant, p\0.001 (Wilcoxon- signed-ranks-test for two related samples). These results suggest greater vulnerability of the left side of the body in combat, and, accordingly, an adaptive value of right-handedness. Thoracic asymmetry may have contributed to the development of right hand preference in humans.
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7. |
- Larsson, Matz, 1955-, et al.
(author)
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Effects of sounds of locomotion on speech perception
- 2015
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In: Noise & Health. - : Medknow. - 1463-1741 .- 1998-4030. ; 17:77, s. 227-232
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Human locomotion typically creates noise, a possible consequence of which is the masking of sound signals originating in the surroundings. When walking side by side, people often subconsciously synchronize their steps. The neurophysiological and evolutionary background of this behavior is unclear. The present study investigated the potential of sound created by walking to mask perception of speech and compared the masking produced by walking in step with that produced by unsynchronized walking. The masking sound (footsteps on gravel) and the target sound (speech) were presented through the same speaker to 15 normal-hearing subjects. The original recorded walking sound was modified to mimic the sound of two individuals walking in pace or walking out of synchrony. The participants were instructed to adjust the sound level of the target sound until they could just comprehend the speech signal ("just follow conversation" or JFC level) when presented simultaneously with synchronized or unsynchronized walking sound at 40 dBA, 50 dBA, 60 dBA, or 70 dBA. Synchronized walking sounds produced slightly less masking of speech than did unsynchronized sound. The median JFC threshold in the synchronized condition was 38.5 dBA, while the corresponding value for the unsynchronized condition was 41.2 dBA. Combined results at all sound pressure levels showed an improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for synchronized footsteps; the median difference was 2.7 dB and the mean difference was 1.2 dB [P < 0.001, repeated-measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA)]. The difference was significant for masker levels of 50 dBA and 60 dBA, but not for 40 dBA or 70 dBA. This study provides evidence that synchronized walking may reduce the masking potential of footsteps.
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9. |
- Larsson, Matz, 1955-
(author)
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Incidental sounds of locomotion in animal cognition
- 2012
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In: Animal Cognition. - : Springer. - 1435-9448 .- 1435-9456. ; 15:1, s. 1-13
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The highly synchronized formations that characterize schooling in fish and the flight of certain bird groups have frequently been explained as reducing energy expenditure. I present an alternative, or complimentary, hypothesis that synchronization of group movements may improve hearing perception. Although incidental sounds produced as a by-product of locomotion (ISOL) will be an almost constant presence to most animals, the impact on perception and cognition has been little discussed. A consequence of ISOL may be masking of critical sound signals in the surroundings. Birds in flight may generate significant noise; some produce wing beats that are readily heard on the ground at some distance from the source. Synchronization of group movements might reduce auditory masking through periods of relative silence and facilitate auditory grouping processes. Respiratory locomotor coupling and intermittent flight may be other means of reducing masking and improving hearing perception. A distinct border between ISOL and communicative signals is difficult to delineate. ISOL seems to be used by schooling fish as an aid to staying in formation and avoiding collisions. Bird and bat flocks may use ISOL in an analogous way. ISOL and interaction with animal perception, cognition, and synchronized behavior provide an interesting area for future study.
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10. |
- Larsson, Matz, 1955-, et al.
(author)
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Is the Capacity for Vocal Learning in Vertebrates Rooted in Fish Schooling Behavior?
- 2018
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In: Evolutionary biology. - : Springer. - 0071-3260 .- 1934-2845. ; 45:4, s. 359-373
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The capacity to learn and reproduce vocal sounds has evolved in phylogenetically distant tetrapod lineages. Vocal learners in all these lineages express similar neural circuitry and genetic factors when perceiving, processing, and reproducing vocalization, suggesting that brain pathways for vocal learning evolved within strong constraints from a common ancestor, potentially fish. We hypothesize that the auditory-motor circuits and genes involved in entrainment have their origins in fish schooling behavior and respiratory-motor coupling. In this acoustic advantages hypothesis, aural costs and benefits played a key role in shaping a wide variety of traits, which could readily be exapted for entrainment and vocal learning, including social grouping, group movement, and respiratory-motor coupling. Specifically, incidental sounds of locomotion and respiration (ISLR) may have reinforced synchronization by communicating important spatial and temporal information between school-members and extending windows of silence to improve situational awareness. This process would be mutually reinforcing. Neurons in the telencephalon, which were initially involved in linking ISLR with forelimbs, could have switched functions to serve vocal machinery (e.g. mouth, beak, tongue, larynx, syrinx). While previous vocal learning hypotheses invoke transmission of neurons from visual tasks (gestures) to the auditory channel, this hypothesis involves the auditory channel from the onset. Acoustic benefits of locomotor-respiratory coordination in fish may have selected for genetic factors and brain circuitry capable of synchronizing respiratory and limb movements, predisposing tetrapod lines to synchronized movement, vocalization, and vocal learning. We discuss how the capacity to entrain is manifest in fish, amphibians, birds, and mammals, and propose predictions to test our acoustic advantages hypothesis.
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