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- Hammarstrand, Sofia, et al.
(author)
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Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water and risk for polycystic ovarian syndrome, uterine leiomyoma, and endometriosis: A Swedish cohort study
- 2021
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In: Environment International. - : Elsevier BV. - 0160-4120 .- 1873-6750. ; 157
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Perfluorinated substances (PFAS) are chemicals with endocrine disruptive properties that may interfere with the female reproductive system. However, few studies have explored the association between benign gynecological diseases and high PFAS exposure. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the possible associations between PFAS exposure and subsequent diagnosis of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), uterine leiomyoma (fibroids), and endometriosis in a cohort exposed to PFAS through drinking water. Material and methods: In 2013, high levels (with sum of PFAS above 10,000 ng/L), dominated by perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), were found in the drinking water from one of the two waterworks in Ronneby, Sweden. The contamination came from firefighting foams used at a nearby airfield. Females of all ages (n = 29,106) who had ever resided in the municipality between 1985 and 2013 formed a cohort. Individual exposure was assessed based on municipality waterworks distribution data linked to annual residential address data; 27% of the females had ever lived at an address with PFAS-contaminated water. Gynecological health outcomes were retrieved from the Swedish National Patient Register. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate the association between exposure and each diagnosis. Results: There were in all 161 cases of PCOS, 1,122 cases of uterine leiomyoma, and 373 cases of endometriosis. In women aged 20-50 years (n = 18,503), those with the highest estimated PFAS exposure had increased hazard ratios (HR) for PCOS (HR = 2.18; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.43, 3.34) and uterine leiomyoma (HR = 1.28; 95% CI 0.95, 1.74). No increased HR for endometriosis was found (HR = 0.74; 95% CI 0.42, 1.29). Conclusions: Exposure to high levels of PFAS in drinking water was associated with increased risk of PCOS and possibly uterine leiomyoma, but not endometriosis. The findings for PCOS are consistent with prior studies reporting positive associations between PCOS and PFAS exposure at background levels.
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| 2. |
- Alexandersson, Gunnar, et al.
(author)
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Neither market nor hierarchy : coordination costs in the allocation of track capacity in the Swedish railway network
- 2023
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In: Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics. - : Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Inc.. - 1370-4788 .- 1467-8292. ; 94:1, s. 221-239
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Transaction costs have been an issue since the advent of the deregulation of the European railway markets in the 1990s. Transaction cost economics received renewed attention in research on the deregulated railway markets in the EU after the publications of two influential reports in the early 2010s. In this article, we develop a model that enables classification and measurement of transaction costs and other coordination costs in deregulated markets. This model is then used to analyze the costs of path allocation in the Swedish railway sector and to compare the results with findings in previous research. We also discuss the economic rationale of the distribution of coordination costs among the involved parties. Our key empirical findings are that the total coordination costs in the Swedish market-mimicking path allocation process are as low as or lower than the most cost-efficient market coordination processes studied in railway markets, and that the state administrations take on nearly all the coordination costs in order to minimize the effects of opportunism, rent-seeking and information impactedness. Another finding is that the size of the coordination costs found by different studies seems to be dependent on whether a bottom-up or a top-down approach is used.
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| 5. |
- Alsved, Malin, et al.
(author)
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Airborne bacteria in hospital operating rooms during ongoing surgery
- 2018
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- IntroductionPost-operative infections obtained from open-wound surgeries constitute an unnecessary load on both healthcare and affected patients. It is well established that increased air cleanliness reduces the number of post-operative infections. Therefore, the ventilation system is important in order to reduce the number of infectious particles in the air during surgery. Ventilation with high airflow, as in operating rooms, consumes a high amount of energy and it is thus desirable to find energy efficient solutions. ObjectivesThe purpose of this work was to evaluate air quality, energy efficiency and working environment comfort for three different ventilation techniques in operating rooms. MethodThe newly developed ventilation system temperature controlled airflow (TcAF) was compared with the conventionally used turbulent mixed airflow (TMA) and laminar airflow (LAF). In total, 750 air sample measurements were performed during 45 orthopaedic operations: 15 for each type of ventilation system [1]. The concentration of colony forming units (CFU)/m3 was measured at three locations in the rooms: close to the wound (<0.5 m), at the instrument table and peripherally in the room. The working environment comfort was evaluated in a questionnaire.ResultsOur study shows that both LAF and TcAF maintains CFU concentrations in the air during ongoing surgery significantly below 10 CFU/m3 at the wound and at the instrument table, and for TcAF also in the periphery of the room, see Figure 1. The median CFU concentration in TMA was at or above 10 CFU/m3 at all locations. TcAF used less than half the airflow to that of LAF, resulting in a 28% reduction in energy consumption. The working environment comfort was perceived less noisy and having less draft in the TcAF than the LAF ventilation.SummaryBoth the LAF and TcAF ventilation maintain high air cleanliness with low CFU concentrations throughout the operation. TMA is less efficient in removing bacteria from the air close to the patient.
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| 8. |
- Andersson, Elisabeth C, 1951-
(author)
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En utbildning i processledarskap avseende mångfald : utvärdering och aktionsforskning
- 2013
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- With assistance from the European Social Fund, Mälardalen University started the JämBredd project to offer an education in equality and diversity issues. Part of this project has been education in Process Leadership. The aim was to design a skills enhancement Leadership course for creating processes of change in a multicultural working life. Schools, district courts, various municipal health care institutions, housing associations and universities have all requested knowledge about equality and diversity issues, in order to be able to create a better exchange of ideas both internally within organizations and externally in customer contacts. All participants have some form of leadership in their various activities. The professional roles of the 33 participants at the start of the education course were headmasters to preschool or school managers in various municipal administrations, personnel officers, gender instructors, lecturers, counselors, and administrators in various municipalities, counties and District Court. Process Leadership education was offered in nine so-called education modules over one year. The teaching methods varied with different approaches to in equality and diversity issues by researchers. Education modules were organized as full-day educational activities and located outside the university.The overall aim of the study is to identify learning and change processes related to equality and diversity issues among participants in the Process Leadership Education. Another aim is to develop an education model which can be used for skills enhancement in the areas of equality and diversity for different occupations? The questions are: How has participation in the education led to increased knowledge of equality and diversity issues? How has the education given participants increased knowledge that has contributed to a process of change regarding equality and diversity issues? What factors can be seen as important in the change process regarding equality and diversity issues? What conclusions can be drawn from the evaluation to contribute to the future development of process management training?The research strategy of this study has been Action research. The Action researcher has followed the learning process throughout a year and evaluated the program through observations, visual method, interviews and questionnaires. The results showed an understanding among the participants that they had attained increased knowledge about diversity that was mainly due to two factors: One reason was that the lecturers were knowledgeable researchers in various diversity issues and shared their own knowledge with the participants. The second reason was that there was plenty of time for reflection, reference reading and networking since the educational program spanned the entire year. The final result also indicated a training model that might be used to create a better understanding of diversity issues within various occupations. The result show consistent responses from the participants of the education, as described above, and can thus be said to be relevant to further education in equality and diversity issues. Through this education in process management, participants’ attained increased knowledge on the one hand and also on the other hand tools to drive processes that in turn can lead to employees with increasing knowledge about diversity issues.Keywords: process
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| 10. |
- Andersson, Gabriella, et al.
(author)
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Anisotropy Tuning in Tetragonal FeCo Alloys
- 2010
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In: Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. - : American Scientific Publishers. - 1533-4880 .- 1533-4899. ; 10:9, s. 6186-6189
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We review our previous work on magnetocrystalline anisotropy tuning of superlattices based on tetragonally distorted FeCo-alloys. In addition we present new experimental results on the effect of changing the composition of the FeCo alloy. The discussion is based on the separation of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy into contributions from the interfaces and strain, as well as from the composition.
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