| 1. |
- Aspengren, Sara, 1977, et al.
(author)
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Noradrenaline- and melatonin-mediated regulation of pigment aggregation in fish melanophores
- 2003
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In: Pigment Cell Research. - : Wiley. - 0893-5785. ; 16:1, s. 59-64
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The effects of melatonin and noradrenaline (NA) on bi-directional melanosome transport were analysed in primary cultures of melanophores from the Atlantic cod. Both agents mediated rapid melanosome aggregation, and by using receptor antagonists, melatonin was found to bind to a melatonin receptor whereas NA binds to an α2-adrenoceptor. It has previously been stated that melatonin-mediated melanosome aggregation in Xenopus is coupled with tyrosine phosphorylation of a so far unidentified high molecular weight protein and we show that although acting through different receptors and through somewhat different downstream signalling events, tyrosine phosphorylation is of the utmost importance for melanosome aggregation mediated by both NA and melatonin in cod melanophores. Together with cyclic adenosine 3-phosphate-fluctuations, tyrosine phosphorylation functions as a switch signal for melanosome aggregation and dispersion in these cells.
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| 2. |
- Bergh, Ingrid, 1956, et al.
(author)
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Comparison of the PainMatcher and the Visual Analogue Scale for assessment of labour pain following administered pain relief treatment.
- 2011
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In: Midwifery. - : Elsevier BV. - 1532-3099 .- 0266-6138. ; 27:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: during childbirth, it is necessary to assess and monitor experienced pain and to evaluate the effect of pain relief treatment. The aim of this study was to compare the PainMatcher((R)) (PM) with the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for the assessment of labour pain and the effect of pain relief treatment. DESIGN: randomised controlled trial. SETTING: labour ward with approximately 2500 childbirths per year in western Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: 57 women with labour pain treated with acupuncture or sterile water injections scored their electrical pain threshold and pain intensity with the PM. Pain intensity was also assessed with the VAS. Electrical pain threshold and pain intensity were assessed immediately after a uterine contraction before and 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180minutes after treatment. MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: the results showed a weak correlation (r=0.13, p<0.05) between the pain intensity scores on the PM and the VAS. The PM detected changes (decrease) in pain intensity to a lower degree than the VAS. Surprisingly, in over 10% of sessions, women scored their pain intensity during a uterine contraction lower than their electrical pain threshold with the PM. However, electrical pain thresholds with the PM correlated well throughout all measurements. CONCLUSIONS: the PM is a reliable tool for the assessment of electrical pain threshold; however, the VAS is more sensitive than the PM for recording changes in pain intensity when assessing the effects of treatment on labour pain. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: the PM and the VAS are not interchangeable in the case of labour pain, and there is still a need for research in this area to find a more suitable assessment instrument for the evaluation of labour pain.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Dahlström, Mia, et al.
(author)
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Evidence for different pharmacological targets for imidazoline compounds inhibiting settlement of the barnacle Balanus improvisus
- 2005
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In: Journal of Experimental Zoology. - : Wiley. - 0022-104X .- 1097-010X. ; 303A:7, s. 551-562
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We describe the effect of eight different imidazoline/guanidinium compounds on the settlement and metamorphosis of larvae of the barnacle Balanus improvisus. These agents were chosen on the basis of their similar pharmacological classification in vertebrates and their chemical similarity to medetomidine and clonidine, previously described as highly potent settlement inhibitors (nanomolar range). Seven of the tested compounds were found to inhibit settlement in a dose-dependent manner in concentrations ranging from 100 nM to 10 microM without any significant lethal effects. In vertebrate systems these substances have overlapping functions and interact with both alpha-adrenoceptors as well as imidazoline binding sites. Antagonizing experiments using the highly specific alpha(2)-antagonist methoxy-idazoxan or agmatine (the putative endogenous ligand at imidazoline receptors) were performed to discriminate between putative pharmacological mechanisms involved in the inhibition of cyprid settlement. Agmatine was not able to reverse the effect of any of the tested compounds. However, methoxy-idazoxan almost completely abolished the settlement inhibition mediated by guanabenz (alpha(2)-agonist, I(2) ligand), moxonidine (alpha(2)-agonist, I(1) ligand) and tetrahydrozoline (alpha-agonist, I(2) ligand). The actions of cirazoline (alpha(1)-agonist, I(2) ligand) BU 224 (I(2) ligand) and metrazoline (I(2) ligand) were not reversed by treatment with methoxy-idazoxan. These results suggest that the settlement inhibition evoked by the I(2) ligands and alpha(2)-agonists used in this study of the neurologically simple but well-organized barnacle larva is mediated through different physiological targets important in the overall settlement process.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Mårtensson, Lena, 1958, et al.
(author)
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Acupuncture versus subcutaneous injections of sterile water as treatment for labour pain
- 2008
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In: Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica. - : Wiley. - 0001-6349 .- 1600-0412. ; 87, s. 171-177
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background. Two methods for pain relief and relaxation during labour are sterile water injections and acupuncture. In several studies, sterile water injections have been shown to provide good pain relief, particularly for low back pain during labour. The acupuncture studies for pain relief during labour are not as concordant. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore if there were any differences between acupuncture and sterile water injections regarding pain relief and relaxation during labour. Methods. A randomised controlled trial. Some 128 pregnant women at term were randomly assigned to receive acupuncture (no 62) sterile water injections (no. 66). The primary endpoint was to compare the differences between pre-treatment pain levels and maximum pain in the 2 groups. Results. The main results of this study were that sterile water injections yielded greater pain relief (pB0.001) during childbirth compared to acupuncture. The secondary outcome showed that women in the sterile water group had a higher degree of relaxation (pB0.001) compared to the acupuncture group. The women’s own assessment of the effects also favoured sterile water injections (pB0.001). There were no significant differences regarding requirements for additional pain relief after treatment between the 2 groups. Conclusions. Women given sterile water injection experience less labour pain compared to women given acupuncture.
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| 7. |
- Rignér, Johan, 1964-
(author)
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Adapting to increased automation in the aviation industry through performance measurement and training : Barriers and potential
- 2020
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The increased use of automation has affected the work on the flight deck. The Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR), deployed with the purpose to increase the European ATM system performance, identifies automation as a key enabler to increase future system performance. The aviation system is a complex large socio-technical system. The system is affected by internal and external stressors at all system levels. At a work process level of this system, the flight deck represents a Joint Cognitive System. When accidents or incidents do occur, the importance to look beyond the label of flight crew error to understand what happened is widely recognized. As flight safety improves, there are fewer incidents and accidents to learn from, which increases the importance to look at normal operations data for improvement.The flight crew training environment is increasingly relying on collected data about an individual airline’s flight operational environment and performance. Through airlines’ performance measurement system, a large amount of performance data is collected. However, this data is not in a format immediately useful for studies of neither complex socio-technical, nor joint cognitive systems. In addition, regulatory, financial, and other constraints limit airlines’ use of collected data as well as how they perform training.The purpose of this research is to increase knowledge about how training content and learning opportunities for flight crew relates to airline performance monitoring and measurement processes, given a highly automated dynamic environment. Against this background, barriers and potential for improvements to support the flight crew for the operation of the highly automated aircraft are identified.This research has been conducted using a mixed method approach for collecting and analyzing data. The overall research approach is conducted in an applied research tradition. The empirical data in this thesis are primarily based on two research projects, HILAS and Brantare, both with explicit goals of knowledge generation and learning among participating organizations. The results are based on the following methods: 1) System analysis using Rasmussen’s model for a socio-technical system involved in risk management as the framework, to describe the aviation system, primarily with a perspective from the flight crew and their automated work environment, 2) Interviews of pilots, 3) Workshops with groups of pilots and safety office staff, 4) Implementation attempt of a proposed method how to use data and 5) Collection of flight operational data.Based on Rasmussen’s model of a dynamic socio-technical system, the aviation system of interest ranges from “A single European Sky” to regulators, national legislation to flight operations, training, and the work on flight deck as well as political and financial pressures on the airline. The conclusions drawn from this comprehensive scope is reliant on the author’s domain knowledge acquired from some 30 years of experience in the aviation industry.Several barriers against the use of performance data for knowledge and learning improvements are identified. The airline monitoring systems are not ideal for specifically measuring automation related problems and flight crew – automation interactions. Due to the already high flight safety levels, new performance measurement processes and activities are neither prioritized, invested in nor explored. When a proposed data-use method was attempted to be implemented it showed difficulties in finding causalities and relationships between available airline parameters. With unclear causality between various parameters recorded and actual outcomes, it is difficult for airlines to use data available as a source for confident training design. This is also the case for the selection of Safety Performance Indicators, that often are outcome based at a high level. More cross-system integration may render the current measurement systems insufficient to understand difficulties and possibilities in the greater aviation system.Potential for improvement related to the use of data, knowledge and learning are also identified. Flight crew show a high acceptability towards a proposed learning concept based on normal flight data. A greater emphasis of using indicators showing airline adaptability and flexibility is proposed. Also, moving from a scheduled training activity mindset to a wider learning and knowledge management and sharing concept is suggested as a cost-efficient way forward. Increased utilization of normal operational flight data should be used for this purpose and have potential to contribute to both efficiency and safety in aviation.This thesis contributes to airline performance measurement and flight crew training knowledge. Results from this research is valuable in other highly automated safety critical domains with a high acceptance of performance being measured and analyzed.
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| 8. |
- Vixner, Linda, et al.
(author)
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Acupuncture with manual and electrical stimulation for labour pain : a longitudinal randomised controlled trial
- 2014
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In: BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1472-6882. ; 14
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Acupuncture is commonly used to reduce pain during labour despite contradictory results. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture with manual stimulation and acupuncture with combined manual and electrical stimulation (electro-acupuncture) compared with standard care in reducing labour pain. Our hypothesis was that both acupuncture stimulation techniques were more effective than standard care, and that electro-acupuncture was most effective.Methods: A longitudinal randomised controlled trial. The recruitment of participants took place at the admission to the labour ward between November 2008 and October 2011 at two Swedish hospitals . 303 nulliparous women with normal pregnancies were randomised to: 40 minutes of manual acupuncture (MA), electro-acupuncture (EA), or standard care without acupuncture (SC). Primary outcome: labour pain, assessed by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Secondary outcomes: relaxation, use of obstetric pain relief during labour and post-partum assessments of labour pain. The sample size calculation was based on the primary outcome and a difference of 15 mm on VAS was regarded as clinically relevant, this gave 101 in each group, including a total of 303 women.Results: Mean estimated pain scores on VAS (SC: 69.0, MA: 66.4 and EA: 68.5), adjusted for: treatment, age, education, and time from baseline, with no interactions did not differ between the groups (SC vs MA: mean difference 2.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] -1.7-6.9 and SC vs EA: mean difference 0.6 [95% CI] -3.6-4.8). Fewer number of women in the EA group used epidural analgesia (46%) than women in the MA group (61%) and SC group (70%) (EA vs SC: odds ratio [OR] 0.35; [95% CI] 0.19-0.67).Conclusions: Acupuncture does not reduce women’s experience of labour pain, neither with manual stimulation nor with combined manual and electrical stimulation. However, fewer women in the EA group used epidural analgesia thus indicating that the effect of acupuncture with electrical stimulation may be underestimated.These findings were obtained in a context with free access to other forms of pain relief.
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| 9. |
- Vixner, Linda, et al.
(author)
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Manual and Electroacupuncture for Labour Pain : Study Design of a Longitudinal Randomized Controlled Trial
- 2012
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In: Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. - : Hindawi Publishing Corporation. - 1741-427X .- 1741-4288. ; , s. Article ID 943198-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Introduction. Results from previous studies on acupuncture for labour pain are contradictory and lack important information on methodology. However, studies indicate that acupuncture has a positive effect on women's experiences of labour pain. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of two different acupuncture stimulations, manual or electrical stimulation, compared with standard care in the relief of labour pain as the primary outcome. This paper will present in-depth information on the design of the study, following the CONSORT and STRICTA recommendations. Methods. The study was designed as a randomized controlled trial based on western medical theories. Nulliparous women with normal pregnancies admitted to the delivery ward after a spontaneous onset of labour were randomly allocated into one of three groups: manual acupuncture, electroacupuncture, or standard care. Sample size calculation gave 101 women in each group, including a total of 303 women. A Visual Analogue Scale was used for assessing pain every 30 minutes for five hours and thereafter every hour until birth. Questionnaires were distributed before treatment, directly after the birth, and at one day and two months postpartum. Blood samples were collected before and after the first treatment. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov:NCT01197950.
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