Kroppsforhold, smerteopplevelse og psykologiske karakteristika hos pasienter med smerteforstyrrelse

Oppgavens problemstilling var å undersøke et smertepasientutvalg (PDK-2; N = 42) med hensyn til diagnoser (DSM-IV), kroppslige karakteristika (holdning, respirasjon, bevegelighet og muskulatur), smerteopplevelse, selvrapporterte psykologiske (SCL-90-R) og interpersonlige (IIP-C) problemer, og utforske eventuelle sammenhenger mellom domenene kropp, smerte og psykologi hos disse pasientene. Videre ble utvalget sammenliknet med et tidligere smertepasientutvalg (PDK-1; N = 40) og et normalt referanseutvalg (N = 302). Studien var knyttet opp til ”Multisenterprosjektet for studier av prosess og utfall i psykoterapi”, og var basert på allerede innsamlet datamateriale. Studien var en naturalistisk undersøkelse uten kontrollgruppe. Utvalget ble analysert med deskriptiv statistikk, MANOVA, prinsipal komponent-analyse og toveis korrelasjonsanalyse. Resultatene viste at utvalget var preget av høy psykiatrisk komorbiditet, betydelige avvikende funn på den fysioterapeutiske kroppsundersøkelsen samt langvarige og moderate smerteplager. Det var signifikante forskjeller mellom utvalget og referanseutvalget hva gjaldt selvrapporterte psykologiske symptomer og interpersonlige problemer knyttet til selvhevdelse og selvavgrensning. Utvalget skilte seg lite fra et tidligere smertepasientutvalg på de samme målene, men var signifikant forskjellig fra dette utvalget med hensyn til smerteopplevelse. Resultatene peker i retning av at smerteopplevelse er nærere relatert til psykologiske mål enn til kroppslige variabler, og at smerteopplevelse og smertevarighet kan sies å representere to ulike dimensjoner ved smerte. Et kroppsmønster bestående av lav bevegelsesmessig fleksibilitet samvarierte med interpersonlig sensitivitet, fobisk angst, tilbaketrekning/ mistenksomhet og en distansert/unnvikende interpersonlig stil

Covid–19 and the Civil Societies of South Asia

This article presents the liberalisation of the economies of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as having downscaled the degree of support for public health care and systems for the needy in the countries of South Asia. Civil society organisations (CSOs) stepped in. Still, they often could not establish sufficient funds to fill the gap and, in many cases, the governments suppressed CSOs and the media due to their critical voice. In many cases, CSOs have toned down such critical voices and limited themselves to improving specific social situations as such activities have been allowed and in some cases supported by the governments. The outbreak of Covid–19 led to ad hoc mobilisation of the civil society and temporary changes in the working situation. Despite this, most governments have limited ability of CSOs to work during the pandemic. In a larger perspective, Covid–19 has not created anything approaching the kind of neoliberal crises predicted by Slovaj Žižek, but the new level of restrictions introduced leads one to consider if they will be turned back after the pandemic, or if the restrictions will be retained, as predicted by Giorgio Agamben

Experiences with energy drink consumption among Norwegian adolescents

The objective of the present study was to describe adolescents’ habits and experiences with energy drink (ED) consumption and the relation to the amount of ED consumed. We used the national cross-sectional study Ungdata, conducted in 2015–16 in Norway. A total of 15 913 adolescents aged 13–19 years answered questions about ED consumption related to the following topics: reasons for, experiences with, habits and parental attitudes. The sample comprised only adolescents reporting to be ED consumers. We estimated the association between the responses and the average daily consumption of ED in multiple regression models. Those who consumed ED ‘to concentrate’ or ‘to perform better in school’ consumed on average 73⋅1 (CI 65⋅8, 80⋅3) and 112⋅0 (CI 102⋅7, 121⋅2) ml more daily, respectively, than those who did not consume ED for these reasons. Up to 80 % of the adolescents reported that ‘my parents think it is OK that I drink energy drink’, but at the same time almost 50 % reported that ‘my parents say that I shouldn't drink energy drink’. Apart from increased endurance and feeling stronger, both desired and adverse effects of ED consumption were reported. Our findings indicate that the expectation created by the ED companies have great influence on the adolescents’ consumption rate and that parental attitudes towards ED have little to no influence on the adolescents’ consumption rate.publishedVersio

Co-working spaces, personlighet og sosiale nettverk: et casestudie av MESH

Formålet med dette studiet har vært å skaffe en bedre forståelse for hvordan nettverk i co-working spaces oppfattes og anvendes av medlemmene. Studiet har også knyttet dette opp mot personlighetsdimensjonen ekstroversjon, for å se om det er noen sammenheng mellom introverte og ekstrovertes oppfatning og bruk av nettverket. Tanken bak co-working spaces er at medlemmer kan jobbe med egne ting, samtidig som de kommer i kontakt med andre likesinnede mennesker. Kjerneverdier som ligger til grunne i co-working spaces er samarbeid, åpenhet, tilgjengelighet, bærekraft og fellesskap. Nettverk er dermed en naturlig del av et co-working space. Co-working spaces er et relativt nytt fenomen og det finnes begrenset forskning på sammenhengen mellom co-working spaces, nettverk og personlighet. Vi syns derfor det var interessant å undersøke fenomenet nærmere. Teorigrunnlaget for denne oppgaven er dermed basert på temaene hver for seg; personlighetsteori, nettverksteori og co-working spaces. Denne undersøkelsen har en kvalitativ tilnærming, nærmere bestemt et casestudie av co-working spacet MESH. Vi har fortetatt dybdeintervjuer og observasjon av medlemmer på MESH, og har skaffet oss en dyp forståelse av fenomenet. Dette studiet konkluderer med at de ekstroverte og introverte medlemmene har ulik oppfattning av hvor viktig nettverket er som en verdi av MESH, samt hvor mye nytte de har av det personlig. Ekstroverte medlemmer av MESH oppfatter nettverket som veldig verdifullt, både som en viktig del av den samlede verdien til MESH og for personlig bruk. Introverte medlemmer har ikke en like positiv oppfattelse av nettverk. Vi antar at nettverk og nettverksbygging faller mer naturlig for ekstroverte da de er pratsomme og trives godt med interaksjon med andre mennesker. Selv om ekstroverte og introverte har ulik oppfattning av nettverk ser vi ingen forskjeller på introverte og ekstroverte hva gjelder bruk. Både introverte og ekstroverte anvender nettverket jevnlig. Det at kulturen på MESH er preget av samarbeid og åpenhet, kan trolig være en av grunnene til at de introverte medlemmene også anvender nettverket i såpass stor gr

Adding fish waste to the diet of Iceland scallop Chlamys islandica: effects on feeding and reproductive ability

Organic enrichment from fish farming may impact benthic species and habitats in adjacent areas. Norwegian salmon farming is continuously growing, but, due to area conflicts and severe sea-lice problems in the western areas, growth of the industry is focused in the northern areas. Knowledge is scarce on how an increase in fish farming will impact Arctic and subarctic species and habitats. One such species is the Iceland scallop Chlamys islandica, distributed from the Lofoten Islands in Nordland County to the Varangerfjord in Troms and Finnmark County. To study the impact of fine-particle fish faeces on feeding and reproductive ability in adult Iceland scallop, particles <41 µm of finfish waste were added to the diet. Effects were tested via short-term (weeks) feeding studies using 2 diets, 100% cultured algal species and a 50% mix of algae and fish waste. In addition, a 100% fish waste diet was used to study longer-term effects on reproductive ability (months). Feeding (% particle clearance and feeding rate) on the microalgae diet tended to be higher than that on the diet containing fish waste, but the difference was significant only in 2 out of 4 cases. We did not find any effect of diets on reproductive ability (gonad development and fatty acid profiles) of scallops. Lack of knowledge on sufficient food levels for gonad maturation in this species may have affected the results. We suggest that future work includes the transplant of scallops from a reference site to fish production sites and that investigations begin immediately after spawning early in scallop gonad development.publishedVersio

Full journal publication of abstracts presented at the Nordic Congress of General Practice in 2009 and 2011

Objective: To determine the overall publication rates for abstracts presented at two consecutive Nordic Congresses of General Practice and to evaluate determinants for these publication rates. Design: Prospective study. Setting: MEDLINE (PubMed) and Google Scholar were searched for relevant publications from 1 January 2009 up until 31 August 2014. Methods: Abstracts accepted for oral or poster presentation were identified from the original congress booklets from the Nordic Congresses of General Practice in 2009 and 2011. Based on PubMed and Google Scholar searches, we subsequently identified full journal publications within a 36-month follow-up from both congresses. In cases of doubt, the first author was contacted directly. Main outcome measures: Full journal publication within 36 months after the congress. Results: A total of 200 abstracts were analyzed. Of these, 85 (42.5%) were identified with a full publication within 36 months after the congress. More abstracts from the 2011 congress were published compared to the 2009 congress odds ratio (OR) 1.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.10; 3.50). Abstracts accepted for oral presentation were more often published OR 1.94, 95% CI (1.08; 3.50) than accepted poster abstracts. In the multivariate analysis, a university affiliation for both first and last author increased the probability for publication OR 4.23, 95% CI (1.71; 10.42), as well as more than two authors. An optimal number, based on the highest OR, seems to be 3–4 authors with OR 2.43, 95% CI (1.07; 5.54). Qualitative studies were published at the same frequency as quantitative studies OR 1.36, 95% CI (0.57; 3.24). Conclusion: Less than half of the abstracts accepted for oral or poster presentation at two consecutive Nordic Congresses of General Practice were published as full text articles within 36 months. Key points Congress abstracts accepted for Nordic Congress of General Practice are not indexed in international search databases. Less than half of the abstracts accepted for oral or poster presentation at two consecutive Nordic Congresses of General Practice were published as full text articles within 36 months. Future congress committees could address this aspect in order to increase the visibility of and accessibility to research within the field of general practice

Implementation of Isavuconazole in a Fluorescence-Based High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Kit Allowing Simultaneous Detection of All Four Currently Licensed Mold-Active Triazoles

ABSTRACT Isavuconazole (ISZ) is a newly available broad-spectrum triazole agent recently approved for the treatment of both invasive aspergillosis and mucormycosis. The aim of this study was to develop a simple and reliable method for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of ISZ in human plasma samples. The method involves using a kit from ChromSystems intended for TDM of itraconazole (ITZ), posaconazole (PSZ), and voriconazole (VRZ) in serum/plasma for sample preparation and high-performance liquid chromatography, using fluorescence detection with emission and excitation wavelengths set to 261 and 366 nm, respectively. The assay was linear over the ISZ concentration range of 0.2 to 20.0 mg/liter, using a 0.1-ml sample volume. The inter- and intraday coefficients of variation were all below 3.7%, whereas the accuracies ranged from 95.0 to 106.2% and the mean extraction recovery was 91.9%. In addition, the method worked well using four different Vacutainer types, with six different healthy volunteers and under a number of relevant storage conditions. Finally, the ISZ detection could be seamlessly implemented in the TDM kit for VRZ, PSZ, and ITZ, enabling simultaneous detection of all four triazoles. This method proved to be simple, accurate, precise, and well suited for routine analysis work. It has been implemented in our laboratory for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of ISZ, VRZ, PSZ, and ITZ for TDM and pharmacokinetic research. IMPORTANCE Isavuconazole is a new broad-spectrum triazole agent recently approved for the treatment of both invasive aspergillosis and mucormycosis. Currently, there is no consensus regarding the potential need for TDM of isavuconazole, and no therapeutic window has been defined. However, at the ECIL-6 meeting in 2015, it was advised that TDM is indicated in a number of different settings. In this study, we describe a rapid and validated isocratic HPLC method for fluorescence-based detection and quantification of isavuconazole in human plasma/serum samples. The method is simple and efficient with good accuracy and precision and importantly only requires a small volume of patient plasma/serum. Furthermore, this method is highly sensitive and selective and can be detected simultaneously with the three other triazoles, itraconazole, voriconazole, and posaconazole, without the need for expensive mass spectrometry equipment

The social gradient in stress and depressive symptoms among adolescent girls: A systematic review and narrative synthesis

Aim: Socioeconomic inequality is found to negatively influence mental health, but studies investigating the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and specific common mental health problems such as stress and depressive symptoms in the general adolescent population are needed. Moreover, gender gaps in mental health among adolescents are evident, but there is a lack of studies that investigate socioeconomic differences in mental health within genders. As girls report consistently more depressive symptoms than do boys, this systematic review specifically investigates whether socioeconomic status is associated with stress and depressive symptoms among adolescent girls in the general population. Methods: Eligible studies according to predefined inclusion criteria were identified from Medline, PsycINFO, ISI Web of Science, Svemed+ and Idunn. Eight studies were identified, whereby only two measured stress; hence, the evidence base for stress was too limited to perform an analysis. A narrative synthesis was conducted of the six studies that measured depressive symptoms. Results: A significant inverse social gradient in depressive symptoms among adolescent girls was revealed in all studies that applied parental employment status and perceived financial difficulties as SES measures, while parental educational level and Family Affluence Scale (FAS) gave inconsistent results. The relatively low number of studies may limit interpretation. Conclusions: Depressive symptoms were more common among adolescent girls with low SES compared to girls with higher SES. SES measures should be applied with care in studies of populations of adolescent girls, as the results can vary based on the chosen indicator. Actions to reduce depressive symptoms among adolescent girls in the general population should include targeting socioeconomic inequalities