| 1. |
- Aad, G., et al.
(author)
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- 2013
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swepub:Mat__t (peer-reviewed)
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| 2. |
- Burisch, J., et al.
(author)
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East-West gradient in the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease in Europe: the ECCO-EpiCom inception cohort
- 2014
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In: Gut. - : BMJ Publishing Group. - 0017-5749 .- 1468-3288. ; 63:4, s. 588-597
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing in Eastern Europe. The reasons for these changes remain unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate whether an East–West gradient in the incidence of IBD in Europe exists.Design A prospective, uniformly diagnosed, population based inception cohort of IBD patients in 31 centres from 14 Western and eight Eastern European countries covering a total background population of approximately 10.1 million people was created. One-third of the centres had previous experience with inception cohorts. Patients were entered into a low cost, web based epidemiological database, making participation possible regardless of socioeconomic status and prior experience.Results 1515 patients aged 15 years or older were included, of whom 535 (35%) were diagnosed with Crohn's disease (CD), 813 (54%) with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 167 (11%) with IBD unclassified (IBDU). The overall incidence rate ratios in all Western European centres were 1.9 (95% CI 1.5 to 2.4) for CD and 2.1 (95% CI 1.8 to 2.6) for UC compared with Eastern European centres. The median crude annual incidence rates per 100 000 in 2010 for CD were 6.5 (range 0–10.7) in Western European centres and 3.1 (range 0.4–11.5) in Eastern European centres, for UC 10.8 (range 2.9–31.5) and 4.1 (range 2.4–10.3), respectively, and for IBDU 1.9 (range 0–39.4) and 0 (range 0–1.2), respectively. In Western Europe, 92% of CD, 78% of UC and 74% of IBDU patients had a colonoscopy performed as the diagnostic procedure compared with 90%, 100% and 96%, respectively, in Eastern Europe. 8% of CD and 1% of UC patients in both regions underwent surgery within the first 3 months of the onset of disease. 7% of CD patients and 3% of UC patients from Western Europe received biological treatment as rescue therapy. Of all European CD patients, 20% received only 5-aminosalicylates as induction therapy.Conclusions An East–West gradient in IBD incidence exists in Europe. Among this inception cohort—including indolent and aggressive cases—international guidelines for diagnosis and initial treatment are not being followed uniformly by physicians.
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| 3. |
- Burisch, J., et al.
(author)
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Environmental factors in a population-based inception cohort of inflammatory bowel disease patients in Europe : An ECCO-EpiCom study
- 2014
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In: Journal of Crohn's & Colitis. - : Oxford University Press. - 1873-9946 .- 1876-4479. ; 8:7, s. 607-616
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and Aims: The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing in Eastern Europe possibly due to changes in environmental factors towards a more "westernised" standard of Living. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in exposure to environmental factors prior to diagnosis in Eastern and Western European IBD patients.Methods: The EpiCom cohort is a population-based, prospective inception cohort of 1560 unselected IBD patients from 31 European countries covering a background population of 10.1 million. At the time of diagnosis patients were asked to complete an 87-item questionnaire concerning environmental factors.Results: A total of 1182 patients (76%) answered the questionnaire, 444 (38%) had Crohn's disease (CD), 627 (53%) ulcerative colitis (UC), and 111 (9%) IBD unclassified. No geographic differences regarding smoking status, caffeine intake, use of oral contraceptives, or number of first-degree relatives with IBD were found. Sugar intake was higher in CD and UC patients from Eastern Europe than in Western Europe while fibre intake was lower (p < 0.01). Daily consumption of fast food as well as appendectomy before the age of 20 was more frequent in Eastern European than in Western European UC patients (p < 0.01). Eastern European CD and UC patients had received more vaccinations and experienced fewer childhood infections than Western European patients (p < 0.01).Conclusions: In this European population-based inception cohort of unselected IBD patients, Eastern and Western European patients differed in environmental factors prior to diagnosis. Eastern European patients exhibited higher occurrences of suspected risk factors for IBD included in the Western lifestyle. (C) 2013 European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 4. |
- Asplund, Maria E., et al.
(author)
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Water column dynamics of Vibrio in relation to phytoplankton community composition and environmental conditions in a tropical coastal area
- 2011
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In: Environmental Microbiology. - 1462-2912 .- 1462-2920. ; 13:10, s. 2738-2751
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Vibrio abundance generally displays seasonal patterns. In temperate coastal areas, temperature and salinity influence Vibrio growth, whereas in tropical areas this pattern is not obvious. The present study assessed the dynamics of Vibrio in the Arabian Sea, 1-2 km off Mangalore on the south-west coast of India, during temporally separated periods. The two sampling periods were signified by oligotrophic conditions, and stable temperatures and salinity. Vibrio abundance was estimated by culture-independent techniques in relation to phytoplankton community composition and environmental variables. The results showed that the Vibrio density during December 2007 was 10- to 100-fold higher compared with the February-March 2008 period. High Vibrio abundance in December coincided with a diatom-dominated phytoplankton assemblage. A partial least squares (PLS) regression model indicated that diatom biomass was the primary predictor variable. Low nutrient levels suggested high water column turnover rate, which bacteria compensated for by using organic molecules leaking from phytoplankton. The abundance of potential Vibrio predators was low during both sampling periods; therefore it is suggested that resource supply from primary producers is more important than top-down control by predators.
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| 5. |
- Burisch, J., et al.
(author)
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Health care and patients' education in a European inflammatory bowel disease inception cohort : an ECCO-EpiCom study
- 2014
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In: Journal of Crohn's & Colitis. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1873-9946 .- 1876-4479. ; 8:8, s. 811-818
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and Aims: The EpiCom study and inception cohort was initiated in 2010 in 31 centers from 14 Western and 8 Eastern European countries, covering a 10.1 million person background population. Our aim was to investigate whether there is a difference between Eastern and Western Europe in health care and education of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).Methods: A quality of care (QoC) questionnaire was developed in the EpiCom group consisting of 16 questions covering 5 items: time interval between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis, information, education, empathy and access to health care providers.Results: Of 1,515 patients, 947 (217 east/730 west) answered the QoC questionnaire. Only 23% of all patients had knowledge about IBD before diagnosis. In Eastern Europe, significantly more patients searched out information about IBD themselves (77% vs. 68%, p < 0.05), the main source was the Internet (92% vs. 88% p = 0.23). In Western Europe, significantly more patients were educated by nurses (19% vs. 1%, p < 0.05), while in Eastern Europe, gastroenterologists were easier to contact (80% vs. 68%, p < 0.05).Conclusion: Health care differed significantly between Eastern and Western Europe in all items, but satisfaction rates were high in both geographic regions. Because of the low awareness and the rising incidence of IBD, general information should be the focus of patient organizations and medical societies. In Western Europe IBD nurses play a very important role in reducing the burden of patient management. (c) 2014 European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 6. |
- Burisch, J., et al.
(author)
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Health-related quality of life improves during one year of medical and surgical treatment in a European population-based inception cohort of patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease : An ECCO-EpiCom study
- 2014
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In: Journal of Crohn's & Colitis. - Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press. - 1873-9946 .- 1876-4479. ; 8:9, s. 1030-1042
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background & Aims: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is impaired in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The aim was prospectively to assess and validate the pattern of HRQoL in an unselected, population-based inception cohort of IBD patients from Eastern and Western Europe.Methods: The EpiCom inception cohort consists of 1560 IBD patients from 31 European centres covering a background population of approximately 10.1 million. Patients answered the disease specific Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (SIBDQ) and generic Short Form 12 (SF-12) questionnaire at diagnosis and after one year of follow-up.Results: In total, 1079 patients were included in this study. Crohn's disease (CD) patients mean SIBDQ scores improved from 45.3 to 55.3 in Eastern Europe and from 44.9 to 53.6 in Western Europe. SIBDQ scores for ulcerative colitis (UC) patients improved from 44.9 to 57.4 and from 48.8 to 55.7, respectively. UC patients needing surgery or biologicals had lower SIBDQ scores before and after compared to the rest, while biological therapy improved SIBDQ scores in CD. CD and UC patients in both regions improved all SF-12 scores. Only Eastern European UC patients achieved SF-12 summary scores equal to or above the normal population.Conclusion: Medical and surgical treatment improved HRQoL during the first year of disease. The majority of IBD patients in both Eastern and Western Europe reported a positive perception of disease-specific but not generic HRQoL. Biological therapy improved HRQoL in CD patients, while UC patients in need of surgery or biological therapy experienced lower perceptions of HRQoL than the rest.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Burisch, Johan, et al.
(author)
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Initial Disease Course and Treatment in an Inflammatory Bowel Disease Inception Cohort in Europe : The ECCO-EpiCom Cohort
- 2014
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In: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. - : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 1078-0998 .- 1536-4844. ; 20:1, s. 36-46
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background:The EpiCom cohort is a prospective, population-based, inception cohort of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients from 31 European centers covering a background population of 10.1 million. The aim of this study was to assess the 1-year outcome in the EpiCom cohort.Methods:Patients were followed-up every third month during the first 12 (3) months, and clinical data, demographics, disease activity, medical therapy, surgery, cancers, and deaths were collected and entered in a Web-based database (www.epicom-ecco.eu).Results:In total, 1367 patients were included in the 1-year follow-up. In western Europe, 65 Crohn's disease (CD) (16%), 20 ulcerative colitis (UC) (4%), and 4 IBD unclassified (4%) patients underwent surgery, and in eastern Europe, 12 CD (12%) and 2 UC (1%) patients underwent surgery. Eighty-one CD (20%), 80 UC (14%), and 13 (9%) IBD unclassified patients were hospitalized in western Europe compared with 17 CD (16%) and 12 UC (8%) patients in eastern Europe. The cumulative probability of receiving immunomodulators was 57% for CD in western (median time to treatment 2 months) and 44% (1 month) in eastern Europe, and 21% (5 months) and 5% (6 months) for biological therapy, respectively. For UC patients, the cumulative probability was 22% (4 months) and 15% (3 months) for immunomodulators and 6% (3 months) and 1% (12 months) for biological therapy, respectively in the western and eastern Europe.Discussion:In this cohort, immunological therapy was initiated within the first months of disease. Surgery and hospitalization rates did not differ between patients from eastern and western Europe, although more western European patients received biological agents and were comparable to previous population-based inception cohorts.
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| 9. |
- Rehnstam-Holm, Ann-Sofi, 1959-, et al.
(author)
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Association between phytoplankton and Vibrio spp. along the southwest coast of India : a mesocosm experiment
- 2010
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In: Aquatic Microbial Ecology. - 0948-3055 .- 1616-1564. ; 58:2, s. 127-139
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report the results from a mesocosm study investigating the interrelationship between microalgae and vibrios. The mesocosms were inoculated with plankton, plankton + sediment, or sediment. We followed the diatom bloom and increases in the abundance of Vibrio spp. and V parahaemolyticus in conjunction with several environmental variables in all mesocosms and at a reference site. The dominating diatom genera were also identified. Temperature, salinity, and pH were nearly invariant in the mesocosms and did not contribute to the results. The principal environmental variables that correlated to vibrio abundance were total bacterial plate counts, phosphorus and ammonia (positive relationship), and oxygen and silica (negative). Nitrate, total bacterial counts and chlorophyll a (chl a) did not correlate with vibrio growth. The highest diatom abundances were followed by increases in vibrios in all mesocosms. This was also observed in field sampling. Together, these results suggest that diatom blooms could support Vibrio spp. growth. V parahaemolyticus was initially favoured by sediment. The contribution of V parahaemolyticus to the total bacterial population was low, on average 0.5 %, but constituted a rather high proportion of the vibrio population in the mesocosm systems, i.e. on average 18 %. Some of the identified diatom genera, e.g. Chaetoceros and Skeletonema, were negatively correlated to vibrios, while Coscinodiscus was positively correlated. The results indicate that phytoplankton blooms, when recorded as high levels of chl a, should be used with caution as predictors for future vibrio epidemics, since the origin of the chl a might have a significant effect on vibrio abundance.
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| 10. |
- Rehnstam-Holm, Ann-Sofi, 1959, et al.
(author)
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Association between Phytoplankton and Vibrio spp along the southwest coast of India- a mesocosm experiment.
- 2010
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In: Aquatic Microbial Ecology. - : Inter-Research. - 0948-3055 .- 1616-1564. ; 58, s. 127-139
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report the results from a mesocosm study investigating the interrelationship between microalgae and vibrios. The mesocosms were inoculated with plankton, plankton + sediment, or sediment. We followed the diatom bloom and increases in the abundance of Vibrio spp. and V parahaemolyticus in conjunction with several environmental variables in all mesocosms and at a reference site. The dominating diatom genera were also identified. Temperature, salinity, and pH were nearly invariant in the mesocosms and did not contribute to the results. The principal environmental variables that correlated to vibrio abundance were total bacterial plate counts, phosphorus and ammonia (positive relationship), and oxygen and silica (negative). Nitrate, total bacterial counts and chlorophyll a (chl a) did not correlate with vibrio growth. The highest diatom abundances were followed by increases in vibrios in all mesocosms. This was also observed in field sampling. Together, these results suggest that diatom blooms could support Vibrio spp. growth. V parahaemolyticus was initially favoured by sediment. The contribution of V parahaemolyticus to the total bacterial population was low, on average 0.5 %, but constituted a rather high proportion of the vibrio population in the mesocosm systems, i.e. on average 18 %. Some of the identified diatom genera, e.g. Chaetoceros and Skeletonema, were negatively correlated to vibrios, while Coscinodiscus was positively correlated. The results indicate that phytoplankton blooms, when recorded as high levels of chl a, should be used with caution as predictors for future vibrio epidemics, since the origin of the chl a might have a significant effect on vibrio abundance.
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| 11. |
- Richards, Stephen, et al.
(author)
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Genome Sequence of the Pea Aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum
- 2010
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In: PLoS biology. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1544-9173 .- 1545-7885. ; 8:2, s. e1000313-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aphids are important agricultural pests and also biological models for studies of insect-plant interactions, symbiosis, virus vectoring, and the developmental causes of extreme phenotypic plasticity. Here we present the 464 Mb draft genome assembly of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. This first published whole genome sequence of a basal hemimetabolous insect provides an outgroup to the multiple published genomes of holometabolous insects. Pea aphids are host-plant specialists, they can reproduce both sexually and asexually, and they have coevolved with an obligate bacterial symbiont. Here we highlight findings from whole genome analysis that may be related to these unusual biological features. These findings include discovery of extensive gene duplication in more than 2000 gene families as well as loss of evolutionarily conserved genes. Gene family expansions relative to other published genomes include genes involved in chromatin modification, miRNA synthesis, and sugar transport. Gene losses include genes central to the IMD immune pathway, selenoprotein utilization, purine salvage, and the entire urea cycle. The pea aphid genome reveals that only a limited number of genes have been acquired from bacteria; thus the reduced gene count of Buchnera does not reflect gene transfer to the host genome. The inventory of metabolic genes in the pea aphid genome suggests that there is extensive metabolite exchange between the aphid and Buchnera, including sharing of amino acid biosynthesis between the aphid and Buchnera. The pea aphid genome provides a foundation for post-genomic studies of fundamental biological questions and applied agricultural problems.
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
- Wiklund, Urban, et al.
(author)
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Experimental and theoretical studies on stainless steel transfer onto a TiN-coated cutting tool
- 2011
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In: Acta Materialia. - : Elsevier BV. - 1359-6454 .- 1873-2453. ; 59:1, s. 68-74
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Stainless steel is a good example of a metal that is not easily machined. To explain such behavior an understanding of the fundamental adhesion between the workpiece and the tool is invaluable. It is a well-known fact that build-up layers form in the interface, but little attention has been given to the very first layer that adheres to the tool surface. Although this layer rapidly becomes covered by successive material transfer, this layer and its ability to stick to the tool surface control the successive material transfer and influence the cutting properties. In this work, a quick stop test is employed to interrupt the cutting of a 316L stainless steel using a TiN-coated cemented carbide cutting insert. Different analytical techniques, such as transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, as well as theoretical atomistic modeling, were used to study the early adhesion.
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