Prehospital identification and priority of acute stroke

Treatment of acute ischemic stroke is time critical and early initiated reperfusion treatment increases the chances of good recovery. However, in 2007, only 3% of ischemic stroke patients were treated with thrombolysis in Sweden. Patients’ late arrival to hospital was considered to be one of the reasons for the low treatment rate. The aim of the first study was to evaluate if delay to treatment could be decreased with high priority dispatch of ambulance and thus increase the number of patients eligible for thrombolytic treatment. As high priority of suspected stroke patients is dependent on identification of stroke, the following studies aimed to evaluate identification of stroke. Study I: Patients (n 942) with suspected stroke within 6 h, aged 18-85 were randomized from EMCC or ambulance to intervention, Priority 1 alarm or control, Priority 2. The intervention group randomized from EMCC arrived to hospital 13 minutes (p <0.001) earlier, and 26 minutes (p <0.001) earlier to stroke unit compared to the control group. Furthermore, twice as many patients in the intervention group (35%, p <0.001) were treated with thrombolysis compared to the patients in the control group (17%). The conclusion of the study was that higher priority, both pre- and in-hospital is favorable for patients with acute stroke. Study II was a descriptive study of the use of the Face-Arm-Speech-Time test (FAST) in identification of stroke by the EMCC and the ambulance in the patients included in Study I. In all, 52% of the patients were correctly identified as stroke/TIA. The EMCC included 71% of the patients with stroke/TIA diagnosis and the ambulance included another 29%. At least one FAST symptom was positive in 64% of the included patients. The positive predictive value, PPV, for FAST was 56% in the EMCC included patients and 74% in the ambulance included patients. The conclusion was that FAST is not enough to support identification of stroke in emergency calls. The study demonstrated that more information of how stroke is expressed in emergency calls concerning stroke is needed to improve identification. Study III was a descriptive study of symptoms expressed by the caller in emergency calls concerning stroke of the 179 emergency calls included 64% were dispatched as stroke. Speech disturbance (54%), fall or lying position (38%) and altered mental status (27%) were the most common symptoms in calls. FAST symptoms were presented in 64% of the calls and were more commonly presented in calls dispatched as stroke. The FAST symptoms were presented spontaneously by the caller in 90 %. Fall or the patient being in a lying position (66%) was the most dominating problem presented in the stroke calls dispatched as non-stroke. These result show that FAST is rarely asked for and that the calls dispatched as non-stroke often were presented as a fall or the patient being in a lying position. Questions about FAST symptoms in emergency calls with fall/lying position or altered mental status presented may improve identification of stroke. Study IV was a qualitative study of obstacles and facilitators in communication and interaction of the participants in emergency calls concerning stroke using interpretive phenomenology. Of the 68 emergency calls from Study III where fall/lying position were presented, 29 calls were analyzed. The dispatch codes were blinded in the first step of analysis, 13 calls were dispatched as stroke and 16 as non-stroke. The nurses’ expertise skills were the identified aspect that could be decisive in identification of stroke. Other important findings were aspects of the first call-taker and nurse that can be influenced to improve identification, such as authority, competence and coaching strategies. The result indicated need of education and training to improve identification of stroke and to support the process of developing expertise skills

Early identification and delay to treatment in myocardial infarction and stroke: differences and similarities

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The two major complications of atherosclerosis are acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and acute ischemic stroke. Both are life-threatening conditions characterised by the abrupt cessation of blood flow to respective organs, resulting in an infarction. Depending on the extent of the infarction, loss of organ function varies considerably.</p> <p>In both conditions, it is possible to limit the extent of infarction with early intervention. In both conditions, minutes count.</p> <p>This article aims to describe differences and similarities with regard to the way patients, bystanders and health care providers act in the acute phase of the two diseases with the emphasis on the pre-hospital phase.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>A literature search was performed on the PubMed, Embase (Ovid SP) and Cochrane Library databases.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In both conditions, symptoms vary considerably. Patients appear to suspect AMI more frequently than stroke and, in the former, there is a gender gap (men suspect AMI more frequently than women).</p> <p>With regard to detection of AMI and stroke at dispatch centre and in Emergency Medical Service (EMS) there is room for improvement in both conditions. The use of EMS appears to be higher in stroke but the overall delay to hospital admission is shorter in AMI. In both conditions, the fast track concept has been shown to influence the delay to treatment considerably.</p> <p>In terms of diagnostic evaluation by the EMS, more supported instruments are available in AMI than in stroke. Knowledge of the importance of early treatment has been reported to influence delays in both AMI and stroke.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Both in AMI and stroke minutes count and therefore the fast track concept has been introduced. Time to treatment still appears to be longer in stroke than in AMI. In the future improvement in the early detection as well as further shortening to start of treatment will be in focus in both conditions. A collaboration between cardiologists and neurologists and also between pre-hospital and in-hospital care might be fruitful.</p

Pre-commercial thinning in Norway spruce-birch mixed stands can provide abundant forage for ungulates without losing volume production

Mixed stands of Norway spruce and birch have the potential to simultaneously produce timber and provide large ungulates with a significant amount of forage during the regeneration phase. While the growth and yield of such mixtures are well studied, little is known about potential trade-offs between timber and forage production and which management techniques are suitable for meeting both goals. In this study, four different pre-commercial thinning (PCT) strategies were used to study the trade-offs between production and available forage for free-ranging ungulates in a Norway spruce-birch mixture. The four PCT strategies were: 1) retaining 2000 birch stems ha(-1) with 2000 Norway spruce ha(-1), 2) removing all birches within a 0.75 m radius around Norway spruce stems, 3) removing all birches and other broadleaves, and 4) no PCT (control). Growth of Norway spruce was higher in the 2000 birch ha(-1) and full removal treatments compared to the untreated control, but these two treatments did not differ from one another in volume production of Norway spruce. We found a negative effect of PCT on forage availability but no effect on ungulate browsing. Therefore, PCT strategies that provide both sufficient birch forage and maximize volume production of Norway spruce can be implemented

Phthalate Diesters and Their Metabolites in Human Breast Milk, Blood or Serum, and Urine as Biomarkers of Exposure in Vulnerable Populations

BACKGROUND: Phthalates may pose a risk for perinatal developmental effects. An important question relates to the choice of suitable biological matrices for assessing exposure during this period. OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to measure the concentrations of phthalate diesters or their metabolites in breast milk, blood or serum, and urine and to evaluate their suitability for assessing perinatal exposure to phthalates. METHODS: In 2001, 2-3 weeks after delivery, 42 Swedish primipara provided breast milk, blood, and urine samples at home. Special care was taken to minimize contamination with phthalates (e.g., use of a special breast milk pump, heat treatment of glassware and needles, addition of phosphoric acid). RESULTS: Phthalate diesters and metabolites in milk and blood or serum, if detected, were present at concentrations close to the limit of detection. By contrast, most phthalate metabolites were detectable in urine at concentrations comparable to those from the general population in the United States and in Germany. No correlations existed between urine concentrations and those found in milk or blood/serum for single phthalate metabolites. Our data are at odds with a previous study documenting frequent detection and comparatively high concentrations of phthalate metabolites in Finnish and Danish mothers' milk. CONCLUSIONS: Concentrations of phthalate metabolites in urine are more informative than those in milk or serum. Furthermore, collection of milk or blood may be associated with discomfort and potential technical problems such as contamination (unless oxidative metabolites are measured). Although urine is a suitable matrix for health-related phthalate monitoring, urinary concentrations in nursing mothers cannot be used to estimate exposure to phthalates through milk ingestion by breast-fed infants

Prognostic impact of tumour-specific HMG-CoA reductase expression in primary breast cancer

Introduction We have previously reported that tumour-specific expression of the rate-limiting enzyme, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutharyl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoAR), in the mevalonate pathway is associated with more favourable tumour parameters in breast cancer. In the present study, we examined the prognostic value of HMG-CoAR expression in a large cohort of primary breast cancer patients with long-term follow up. Methods The expression of HMG-CoAR was assessed by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays with tumour specimens from 498 consecutive cases of breast cancer with a median follow-up of 128 months. Kaplan Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards modelling were used to estimate the rate of recurrence-free survival (RFS) and breast cancer specific survival (BCSS). Results In line with our previous findings, tumour-specific HMG-CoAR expression was associated with low grade (p < 0.001), small size (p = 0.007), oestrogen receptor (ER) positive (p = 0.01), low Ki-67 (p = 0.02) tumours. Patients with tumours expressing HMG-CoAR had a significantly prolonged RFS, even when adjusted for established prognostic factors (relative risk [RR] = 0.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.40 to 0.92; p = 0.02). In ER-negative tumours, however, there was a trend, that was not significantly significant, towards a shorter RFS in HMG-CoAR expressing tumours. Conclusions HMG-CoAR expression is an independent predictor of a prolonged RFS in primary breast cancer. This may, however, not be true for ER-negative tumours. Further studies are needed to shed light on the value of HMG-CoAR expression as a surrogate marker of response to statin treatment, especially with respect to hormone receptor status

The ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence Chatbot: How Well Does It Answer Accounting Assessment Questions?

ChatGPT, a language-learning model chatbot, has garnered considerable attention for its ability to respond to users’ questions. Using data from 14 countries and 186 institutions, we compare ChatGPT and student performance for 28,085 questions from accounting assessments and textbook test banks. As of January 2023, ChatGPT provides correct answers for 56.5 percent of questions and partially correct answers for an additional 9.4 percent of questions. When considering point values for questions, students significantly outperform ChatGPT with a 76.7 percent average on assessments compared to 47.5 percent for ChatGPT if no partial credit is awarded and 56.5 percent if partial credit is awarded. Still, ChatGPT performs better than the student average for 15.8 percent of assessments when we include partial credit. We provide evidence of how ChatGPT performs on different question types, accounting topics, class levels, open/closed assessments, and test bank questions. We also discuss implications for accounting education and research

Climate social science—Any future for ‘blue sky research’ in management studies?

Summary The environmental humanities call for post-disciplinary approaches to meet the vexing problem of climate change. However, scholars have not scrutinised how management and organisation studies (MOS) could contribute to such an endeavour. This research note explores common surfaces of contact between the natural and social sciences, with the goal of unravelling the legitimate positions to speak from about climate change. The findings suggest that scholars in MOS are exposed to ecological reasoning, which undergirds underdog heroism, disciplinary confusion and a debasement of political subjectivity. As a counter strategy, I suggest that we affirm a ‘blue-sky research’ approach that would support alternative research paths and a more traditional will to know—to advance ‘climate social science’