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Publications (10 of 17) Show all publications
Vikström, P., Larsson, M., Engberg, E. & Edvinsson, S. (2023). The demographic database: history of technical and methodological achievements. Historical Life Course Studies, 13, 89-102
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The demographic database: history of technical and methodological achievements
2023 (English)In: Historical Life Course Studies, E-ISSN 2352-6343, Vol. 13, p. 89-102Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The Demographic Data Base (DDB) at the Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research (CEDAR) at Umeå University has since the 1970s been building longitudinal population databases and disseminating data for research. The databases were built to serve as national research infrastructures, useful for addressing an indefinite number of research questions within a broad range of scientific fields, and open to all academic researchers who wanted to use the data. A countless number of customized datasets have been prepared and distributed to researchers in Sweden and abroad and to date, the research has resulted in more than a thousand published scientific reports, books, and articles within a broad range of academic fields. This article will focus on the development of techniques and methods used to store and structure the data at DDB from the beginning in 1973 until today. This includes digitization methods, database design and methods for linkage. The different systems developed for implementing these methods are also described and to some extent, the hardware used.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
International Institute of Social History, 2023
Keywords
Church registers, Database, Digitization, Linkage, RDBMS
National Category
History Sociology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-214551 (URN)10.51964/hlcs12163 (DOI)2-s2.0-85170399818 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council
Available from: 2023-09-21 Created: 2023-09-21 Last updated: 2024-07-02Bibliographically approved
Edvinsson, S. & Engberg, E. (2020). A database for the future major contributions from 47 years of database development and research at the demographic data base. Historical Life Course Studies, 9, 173-196
Open this publication in new window or tab >>A database for the future major contributions from 47 years of database development and research at the demographic data base
2020 (English)In: Historical Life Course Studies, E-ISSN 2352-6343, Vol. 9, p. 173-196Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The Demographic Data Base (DDB) at the Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research (CEDAR) at Umeå University has since the 1970s been building longitudinal population databases and disseminating data for research. The databases were built to serve as national research infrastructures, useful for addressing an indefinite number of research questions within a broad range of scientific fields, and open to all academic researchers who wanted to use the data. A countless number of customised datasets have been prepared and distributed to researchers in Sweden and abroad and to date, the research has resulted in more than a thousand published scientific reports, books, and articles within a broad range of academic fields. While there has long been a clear predominance of research within the humanities and social sciences, it has always been used for research in other fields as well, for example medicine. In this article, we first give a brief presentation of the DDB and its history, characteristics, and development from the 1970s to the present. It includes an overview of the research based on the DDB databases, with a focus on the databases POPUM and POPLINK with individual-level data. A number of major traits of the research from 1973 to now have been outlined, showing the breadth of the research and highlighting some major contributions, with a focus on work that would have been very difficult to perform without data from the DDB.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
International Institute of Social History, 2020
Keywords
Demography, Historical databases, History, Life courses, Life sciences, Population studies, Sociology
National Category
Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology) History
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-214542 (URN)10.51964/hlcs9305 (DOI)2-s2.0-85121127440 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2023-09-26 Created: 2023-09-26 Last updated: 2024-07-02Bibliographically approved
Poveda, A., Chen, Y., Brändström, A., Engberg, E., Hallmans, G., Johansson, I., . . . Franks, P. W. (2017). The heritable basis of gene-environment interactions in cardiometabolic traits. Diabetologia, 60(3), 442-452
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The heritable basis of gene-environment interactions in cardiometabolic traits
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2017 (English)In: Diabetologia, ISSN 0012-186X, E-ISSN 1432-0428, Vol. 60, no 3, p. 442-452Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Aims/hypothesis Little is known about the heritable basis of gene-environment interactions in humans. We therefore screened multiple cardiometabolic traits to assess the probability that they are influenced by genotype-environment interactions.

Methods Fourteen established environmental risk exposures and 11 cardiometabolic traits were analysed in the VIKING study, a cohort of 16,430 Swedish adults from 1682 extended pedigrees with available detailed genealogical, phenotypic and demographic information, using a maximum likelihood variance decomposition method in Sequential Oligogenic Linkage Analysis Routines software.

Results All cardiometabolic traits had statistically significant heritability estimates, with narrow-sense heritabilities (h (2)) ranging from 24% to 47%. Genotype-environment interactions were detected for age and sex (for the majority of traits), physical activity (for triacylglycerols, 2 h glucose and diastolic BP), smoking (for weight), alcohol intake (for weight, BMI and 2 h glucose) and diet pattern (for weight, BMI, glycaemic traits and systolic BP). Genotype-age interactions for weight and systolic BP, genotype-sex interactions for BMI and triacylglycerols and genotype-alcohol intake interactions for weight remained significant after multiple test correction.

Conclusion/hypothesis Age, sex and alcohol intake are likely to be major modifiers of genetic effects for a range of cardiometabolic traits. This information may prove valuable for studies that seek to identify specific loci that modify the effects of lifestyle in cardiometabolic disease.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
SPRINGER, 2017
Keywords
Cardiometabolic traits, Environment, Extended pedigrees, Gene, Heritability, Interaction, VIKINGstudy
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology Medical Genetics and Genomics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-133524 (URN)10.1007/s00125-016-4184-0 (DOI)000394462100010 ()28004149 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-85006954128 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2017-05-20 Created: 2017-05-20 Last updated: 2025-02-10Bibliographically approved
Westberg, A., Engberg, E. & Edvinsson, S. (2016). A Unique Source for Innovative Longitudinal Research: the POPLINK Database. Historical Life Course Studies, 3, 20-31
Open this publication in new window or tab >>A Unique Source for Innovative Longitudinal Research: the POPLINK Database
2016 (English)In: Historical Life Course Studies, E-ISSN 2352-6343, Vol. 3, p. 20-31Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This paper presents the longitudinal database POPLINK, which has been developed at the Demographic Data Base at Umeå University, Sweden. Based on digitized Swedish population registers between c. 1700-1950, the database contains micro-data that covers the agrarian society through industrialization and further on to the Swedish welfare state and contemporary society. It is now possible to study the profound processes of the second demographic transition using individual level data with a proper size population. POPLINK allows for a large array of longitudinal studies, such as social mobility, migration, fertility, mortality, civil status, kinship relations, diseases, disability and causes of death. International standards of occupations (HISCO) and diseases (ICD-10) have been applied, facilitating comparability. POPLINK covers two large regions in Northern Sweden and is built on complete registrations. It is one of the world’s most information-dense historical population databases, covering up to 15 generations and 350,000 individuals described by 300 variables, allowing the ability to monitor populations over time. POPLINK has been built to allow linkage to modern registries, clinical data and medical biobanks, which enables the study of transgenerational effects, heredity and genetic transfers in disease incidence of the population today. DDB serves as an infrastructure for research and is open to researchers of any nationality. 

Keywords
Longitudinal research, Micro-data, Sweden, Historical population database
National Category
Social Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-118448 (URN)10.51964/HLCS9351 (DOI)
Available from: 2016-03-18 Created: 2016-03-18 Last updated: 2024-07-02Bibliographically approved
Axelsson, P., Engberg, E., Lantto, P. & Wisselgren, M. J. (2016). Inledning. In: Per Axelsson, Elisabeth Engberg, Patrik Lantto & Maria J. Wisselgren (Ed.), Samiska Rötter: släktforska i svenska Sápmi (pp. 5-7). Solna: Sveriges släktforskarförbund
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Inledning
2016 (Swedish)In: Samiska Rötter: släktforska i svenska Sápmi / [ed] Per Axelsson, Elisabeth Engberg, Patrik Lantto & Maria J. Wisselgren, Solna: Sveriges släktforskarförbund , 2016, p. 5-7Chapter in book (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Solna: Sveriges släktforskarförbund, 2016
Series
Sveriges Släktforskarförbund Handbok ; 12
National Category
History
Research subject
History
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-124869 (URN)9789188341037 (ISBN)
Available from: 2016-08-29 Created: 2016-08-29 Last updated: 2024-07-02Bibliographically approved
Axelsson, P., Engberg, E., Lantto, P. & Wisselgren, M. J. (Eds.). (2016). Samiska rötter: släktforska i svenska Sápmi. Stockholm: Sveriges släktforskarförbund
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Samiska rötter: släktforska i svenska Sápmi
2016 (Swedish)Collection (editor) (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Stockholm: Sveriges släktforskarförbund, 2016. p. 136
Series
Sveriges släktforskarförbunds handböcker ; 12
Keywords
Släktforskning, samer, Sápmi, statlig politik, namnskick
National Category
History
Research subject
History
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-124870 (URN)978-91-88341-03-7 (ISBN)
Available from: 2016-08-29 Created: 2016-08-29 Last updated: 2024-07-02Bibliographically approved
Kurbasic, A., Poveda, A., Chen, Y., Ågren, Å., Engberg, E., Hu, F. B., . . . Franks, P. W. (2014). Gene-Lifestyle Interactions in Complex Diseases: Design and Description of the GLACIER and VIKING Studies. Current nutrition reports, 3(4), 400-411
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Gene-Lifestyle Interactions in Complex Diseases: Design and Description of the GLACIER and VIKING Studies
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2014 (English)In: Current nutrition reports, ISSN 2161-3311, Vol. 3, no 4, p. 400-411Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Most complex diseases have well-established genetic and non-genetic risk factors. In some instances, these risk factors are likely to interact, whereby their joint effects convey a level of risk that is either significantly more or less than the sum of these risks. Characterizing these gene-environment interactions may help elucidate the biology of complex diseases, as well as to guide strategies for their targeted prevention. In most cases, the detection of gene-environment interactions will require sample sizes in excess of those needed to detect the marginal effects of the genetic and environmental risk factors. Although many consortia have been formed, comprising multiple diverse cohorts to detect gene-environment interactions, few robust examples of such interactions have been discovered. This may be because combining data across studies, usually through meta-analysis of summary data from the contributing cohorts, is often a statistically inefficient approach for the detection of gene-environment interactions. Ideally, single, very large and well-genotyped prospective cohorts, with validated measures of environmental risk factor and disease outcomes should be used to study interactions. The presence of strong founder effects within those cohorts might further strengthen the capacity to detect novel genetic effects and gene-environment interactions. Access to accurate genealogical data would also aid in studying the diploid nature of the human genome, such as genomic imprinting (parent-of-origin effects). Here we describe two studies from northern Sweden (the GLACIER and VIKING studies) that fulfill these characteristics.

National Category
Medical Genetics and Genomics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-96711 (URN)10.1007/s13668-014-0100-8 (DOI)25396097 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-84940008851 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2014-11-27 Created: 2014-11-27 Last updated: 2025-02-10Bibliographically approved
Engberg, E. (2012). "Det är samhällssystemets fel": Norrskensflamman och utbrottet av Spanska sjukan i Arjeplog 1920. In: Anders Brändström & Svante Norrhem (Ed.), Människan, arbetet och historien: en vänbok till professor Tom Ericsson (pp. 9-28). Umeå: Umeå universitet
Open this publication in new window or tab >>"Det är samhällssystemets fel": Norrskensflamman och utbrottet av Spanska sjukan i Arjeplog 1920
2012 (Swedish)In: Människan, arbetet och historien: en vänbok till professor Tom Ericsson / [ed] Anders Brändström & Svante Norrhem, Umeå: Umeå universitet , 2012, p. 9-28Chapter in book (Other academic)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Umeå: Umeå universitet, 2012
Series
Historiska studier: skrifter från Umeå universitet ; 3
Keywords
Historia
National Category
History Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy Social Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-71149 (URN)978-91-7459-473-7 (ISBN)
Note

Sammanfattning på engelska. / Abstract in English.

Available from: 2013-05-20 Created: 2013-05-20 Last updated: 2024-07-02Bibliographically approved
Engberg, E. (2011). Useful and industrious: child labour in 19th century rural Sweden (1ed.). In: Kristoffel Lieten, Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk (Ed.), Child labour’s global past 1650-2000 (pp. 331-342). Bern: Peter Lang
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Useful and industrious: child labour in 19th century rural Sweden
2011 (English)In: Child labour’s global past 1650-2000 / [ed] Kristoffel Lieten, Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk, Bern: Peter Lang , 2011, 1, p. 331-342Chapter in book (Other academic)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Bern: Peter Lang, 2011 Edition: 1
Series
International and comparative social history, ISSN 1420-5297 ; 13
Keywords
child labour, rural, fostering, Sweden
National Category
History
Research subject
History
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-49409 (URN)978-3-0343-0517-4 (ISBN)
Available from: 2011-11-11 Created: 2011-11-11 Last updated: 2024-07-02Bibliographically approved
Engberg, E. (2009). The invisible pandemic: Community response to pandemic influenza in rural northern Sweden 1918-20. Varia Historia, 25(42), 429-456
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The invisible pandemic: Community response to pandemic influenza in rural northern Sweden 1918-20
2009 (Portuguese)In: Varia Historia, ISSN ISSN 0104-8775, Vol. 25, no 42, p. 429-456Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Throughout human history, recurrent influenza pandemics have affected individuals and societies all over the world. Yet the social responses have varied with time and space. This article discusses society's response to the Spanish influenza of 1918-1920 in northern rural Sweden, focusing on measures taken by local communities to meet the advancing pandemic. In the five studied rural communities, the official response was sparse and reactive, and the presence of pandemic influenza is almost invisible in the municipal records. Potentially preventive measures, such as school closures and bans on public gatherings, were used inadequately and introduced far too late to be effective. The current struggle with wartime hardship, food crisis and a strained economy, an insufficient public health administration, a national preventive policy primarily aimed at the prevention of cholera, and the continued use of traditional methods to deal with crises in society are suggested as some explanations for local authorities' apparent inertia during the Spanish influenza.

Keywords
pandemic influenza, social response, rural areas
National Category
History
Research subject
History
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-49408 (URN)
Projects
Previous Influenza Pandemics as a knowledge base for Emergency Planning
Available from: 2011-11-11 Created: 2011-11-11 Last updated: 2024-07-02Bibliographically approved
Organisations
Identifiers
ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0001-8064-4233

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