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- Barregård, Lars, 1948, et al.
(author)
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Experimental exposure to wood smoke: effects on airway inflammation and oxidative stress.
- 2008
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In: Occupational and environmental medicine. - : BMJ. - 1470-7926 .- 1351-0711. ; 65:5, s. 319-24
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Particulate air pollution affects cardiovascular and pulmonary disease and mortality. A main hypothesis about the mechanisms involved is that particles induce inflammation in lower airways, systemic inflammation and oxidative stress. OBJECTIVES: To examine whether short-term exposure to wood smoke in healthy subjects affects markers of pulmonary inflammation and oxidative stress. METHODS: 13 subjects were exposed first to clean air and then to wood smoke in a chamber during 4-hour sessions, 1 week apart. The mass concentrations of fine particles at wood smoke exposure were 240-280 mug/m(3), and number concentrations were 95 000-180 000/cm(3), about half of the particles being ultrafine (<100 nm). Blood and breath samples were taken before and at various intervals after exposure to wood smoke and clean air and examined for exhaled nitric oxide and Clara cell protein in serum and urine, and malondialdehyde in exhaled breath condensate. RESULTS: Exposure to wood smoke increased alveolar nitric oxide 3 hours post-exposure while malondialdehyde levels in breath condensate were higher both immediately after and 20 hours after exposure. Serum Clara cell protein was increased 20 hours after exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Wood smoke at levels that can be found in smoky indoor environments caused an inflammatory response and signs of increased oxidative stress in the respiratory tract, especially in the lower airways.
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- Alexeyev, Oleg A, et al.
(author)
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Direct visualization of Propionibacterium acnes in prostate tissue by multicolor fluorescent in situ hybridization assay.
- 2007
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In: Journal of Clinical Microbiology. - 0095-1137 .- 1098-660X. ; 45:11, s. 3721-8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Prostate tissues from patients with prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) frequently contain histological inflammation, and a proportion of these patients show evidence of Propionibacterium acnes infection in the prostate gland. We developed a multicolor fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) assay targeting P. acnes 23S rRNA along with a 14-kb region of the P. acnes genome. This assay was used to analyze prostate tissues from patients with prostate cancer and BPH. P. acnes infection of the prostate gland was demonstrated in prostatic tissue in 5 of 10 randomly selected prostate cancer patients. FISH analysis and confocal laser microscopy imaging revealed intracellular localization and stromal biofilm-like aggregates as common forms of P. acnes infection in prostate tissues from both prostate cancer and BPH patients. A sequential analysis of prostate tissue from individual patients suggested that P. acnes can persist for up to 6 years in the prostate gland. These results indicate that P. acnes can establish a persistent infection in the prostate gland. Further study is needed to clarify the link between this bacterium and prostatic inflammation which may contribute to the development of BPH and prostate cancer.
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3. |
- Andersson, Charlotte, et al.
(author)
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Effects of exposure to water and ethanol on silicalite-1 membranes
- 2008
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In: Journal of Membrane Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0376-7388 .- 1873-3123. ; 313:1-2, s. 120-126
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The effects of long exposures to ethanol, water and 0.1 M aqueous solutions of ammonia, sodium hydroxide, tetrapropylammonium hydroxide (TPAOH) and hydrochloric acid on thin TPA-silicalite-1 membranes were studied. Single gas permeation experiments, porosimetry and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the membranes. It was found that a short exposure (24 h) will only dissolve synthesis residues and will not affect membrane quality negatively. The only medium that had an effect after 24 h was sodium hydroxide, which almost dissolved the film completely. After exposing TPA-silicalite-1 membranes for 30 days in the various liquids, the membrane quality decreased in the order ethanol < 0.1 M hydrochloric acid < 0.1 M TPAOH < water < 0.1 M ammonia < 0.1 M sodium hydroxide due to dissolution of the silicalite-1 crystals. This study has shown that prolonged exposure to aqueous solutions will lead to dissolution of silicalite-1 crystals causing an increase in micro- and mesopores in the film. The amount and size of the pores will depend on the pH of the aqueous medium. Higher pH gives a higher dissolution and hence more non-zeolitic pores in the silicalite-1 film. Ethanol has no effect on the dissolution of the zeolite film even after 30 days. This finding has an effect in membrane preparation and in several membrane applications such as pervaporation and separation of hydrocarbons isomer mixtures.
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4. |
- Andersson, Charlotte
(author)
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Factors affecting MFI membrane quality
- 2007
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Zeolites are crystalline aluminosilicates with molecular sieving properties and are widely used in industrial applications such as catalysis, sorption and ion-exchange. Zeolite membranes are highly interesting due to their capability to continuously separate molecules under severe conditions. The MFI zeolite structure has suitable pore diameter for many applications, and its thermal and chemical stability is high. In order to obtain high performance MFI membranes, a thin and defect free film is needed for high flux and high selectivity. In this thesis, parameters affecting quality of zeolite membranes have been investigated. Different MFI-zeolite membranes were prepared using seed crystals and hydrothermal synthesis. Thereafter, membranes were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, single gas permeation measurements, porosimetry and separation experiments. The effect of grain boundaries was investigated by preparing membranes with small crystal size. It was found that a high amount of grain boundaries reduced the quality of the membranes. In another study, the effect of exposure to aqueous solutions was found to increase the amount of non-zeolitic pores in the membrane, and thus it decreased the quality of the membrane. However, no such effect was found for ethanol that was identified as a safe rinsing media. Membranes with different Si/Al ratio were also prepared and evaluated. It was observed that the Si/Al ratio of a MFI membrane influences the performance of the membrane. It was found that an increase of aluminium makes the membrane more polar which leads to an improved adsorption of, and selectivity for polar molecules. The effect of support invasion was also evaluated and the regularity and extension of the support invasion was observed to affect membrane quality. The effect of heating rate during calcination was investigated and no correlation between heating rate and membrane quality was observed. Calcination of membranes was studied in-situ by high temperature synchrotron radiation and a model for crack formation was postulated. In summary, this work has shown that in order to obtain high quality membranes, the amount of grain boundaries, the film thickness and support invasion should be controlled. To obtain the best performance of the membranes the Si/Al ratio should be chosen with respect to the application. Finally, water exposure affects the lifetime of the MFI membranes in certain applications.
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- Andersson, Morgan, et al.
(author)
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Wine produced by ecological methods produces relatively little nasal blockage in wine-sensitive subjects.
- 2009
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In: Acta Oto-Laryngologica. - 1651-2251. ; 129:11, s. 1232-1236
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- CONCLUSION: Subjects with self-reported nasal symptoms following consumption of red wine may respond with less nasal blockage to a wine produced with ecological methods than to wine not labelled as ecologically produced. OBJECTIVE: To compare nasal symptoms following intake of three different wines--one that was ecologically produced and two that were traditionally produced. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Individuals with self-reported nasal symptoms following consumption of red wine were subjected to controlled intake of three different wines in a double-blinded, randomized, and crossover design. Nasal symptoms and peak nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF) were monitored before and 15, 30, 45, and 60 min following intake of wine. RESULTS: All wines produced nasal symptoms, notably nasal blockage. While blockage scores did not differ between the two non-ecological wines, the ecological wine was associated with significantly lower blockage scores, as compared with both the other wines.
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8. |
- Andersson, Niklas, 1970, et al.
(author)
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Investigation of central versus peripheral effects of estradiol in ovariectomized mice
- 2005
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In: J Endocrinol. - : Bioscientifica. - 0022-0795 .- 1479-6805. ; 187:2, s. 303-9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is generally believed that estrogens exert their bone sparing effects directly on the cells within the bone compartment. The aim of the present study was to investigate if central mechanisms might be involved in the bone sparing effect of estrogens. The dose-response of central (i.c.v) 17beta-estradiol (E2) administration was compared with that of peripheral (s.c.) administration in ovariectomized (ovx) mice. The dose-response curves for central and peripheral E2 administration did not differ for any of the studied estrogen-responsive tissues, indicating that these effects were mainly peripheral. In addition, ovx mice were treated with E2 and/or the peripheral estrogen receptor antagonist ICI 182,780. ICI 182,780 attenuated most of the estrogenic response regarding uterus weight, retroperitoneal fat weight, cortical BMC and trabecular bone mineral content (P<0.05). These findings support the notion that the primary target tissue that mediates the effect of E2 on bone is peripheral and not central.
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