Correlation between relative rates of hospital treatment or death due to ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and of IHD-related medication among socio-occupational and economic activities groups in Denmark, 1996–2005

Objective: The aim of the present work was to establish whether or not prescribed medication is a usable risk indicator for work‑related ischaemic heart disease (IHD), in Denmark. Material and Methods: Weighted Spearman rank correlation coefficients (rho) were used to evaluate the agreement between Standardised Hazard Ratios (SHR) for hospital treatment or death due to IHD and SHR for purchase of prescriptions for medicine that may prevent IHD from (re)occurring, among socio-occupational and economic activities groups in Denmark. The SHR were based on a 10-year prospective follow-up of 2 million people in Danish national registers 1996–2005. Results: We found approximately 7 times more cases of medicine usage (N = 411 651) than we did for hospital treatment or death (N = 55 684). The correlations between the 2 types of SHR were strong (rho = 0.94 for the socio-occupational groups; rho = 0.74 for the economic activities groups). We observed, however, one markedly contradictive result; the industrial group entitled ‘general practitioner, dentists etc.’ was associated both with significantly high rates of medicine usage (SHR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.12–1.19) and significantly low rates of hospital treatment or death due to IHD (SHR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.71–0.91). Conclusion: Apart from a few caveats, the strong correlations obtained in the present study signify that purchase of a prescription for IHD-related medication is a usable risk indicator for IHD in the working population of Denmark. The usage of medicine data in addition to or instead of the use of death or hospital data in epidemiological studies on work-related IHD risk will bring about a tremendous increase in statistical power

Cascade oxime formation, cyclization to a nitrone, and intermolecular dipolar cycloaddition.

Simple haloaldehydes, including enolisable aldehydes, were found to be suitable for the formation of cyclic products by cascade (domino) condensation, cyclisation, dipolar cycloaddition chemistry. This multi-component reaction approach to heterocyclic compounds was explored by using hydroxylamine, a selection of aldehydes, and a selection of activated dipolarophiles. Initial condensation gives intermediate oximes that undergo cyclisation with displacement of halide to give intermediate nitrones; these nitrones undergo in situ intermolecular dipolar cycloaddition reactions to give isoxazolidines. The cycloadducts from using dimethyl fumarate were treated with zinc/acetic acid to give lactam products and this provides an easy way to prepare pyrrolizinones, indolizinones, and pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolinones. The chemistry is illustrated with a very short synthesis of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid macronecine and a formal synthesis of petasinecine

Explaining variation in Down's syndrome screening uptake: comparing the Netherlands with England and Denmark using documentary analysis and expert stakeholder interviews.

Background: The offer of prenatal Down’s syndrome screening is part of routine antenatal care in most of Europe; however screening uptake varies significantly across countries. Although a decision to accept or reject screening is a personal choice, it is unlikely that the widely differing uptake rates across countries can be explained by variation in individual values alone. The aim of this study was to compare Down’s syndrome screening policies and programmes in the Netherlands, where uptake is relatively low ( 90% respectively), in an attempt to explain the observed variation in national uptake rates. Methods: We used a mixed methods approach with an embedded design: a) documentary analysis and b) expert stakeholder analysis. National central statistical offices and legal documents were studied first to gain insight in demographic characteristics, cultural background, organization and structure of healthcare followed by documentary analysis of primary and secondary sources on relevant documents on DSS policies and programme. To enhance interpretation of these findings we performed in-depth interviews with relevant expert stakeholders. Results: There were many similarities in the demographics, healthcare systems, government abortion legislation and Down’s syndrome screening policy across the studied countries. However, the additional cost for Down’s syndrome screening over and above standard antenatal care in the Netherlands and an emphasis on the ‘right not to know’ about screening in this country were identified as potential explanations for the ‘low’ uptake rates of Down’s syndrome screening in the Netherlands. The social context and positive framing of the offer at the service delivery level may play a role in the relatively high uptake rates in Denmark. Conclusions: This paper makes an important contribution to understanding how macro-level demographic, social and healthcare delivery factors may have an impact on national uptake rates for Down’s syndrome screening. It has suggested a number of policy level and system characteristics that may go some way to explaining the relatively low uptake rates of Down’s syndrome screening in the Netherlands when compared to England and Denmark

Spider mites and predatory mites (Acari: Tetranychidae, Phytoseiidae) on stone fruit trees (Prunus spp.) in Serbia

The results of a research conducted from 1980 to 2016 of leaf mites of stone fruit trees (Prunus spp.) in Serbia are presented. The species complex of 9 spider mite species and 16 phytoseiid species was recognized on 10 Prunus species. A total of 17 mite species were found on cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera Ehrh.) and blackthorn (Prunus spinosa L.), 16 species were found on sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.), and 13 species were found on plum (Prunus domestica L.). The highest coefficient of constancy among the spider mites was found for Bryobia rubrioculus (Scheuten) (27.9%), and among the phytoseiids for Euseius finlandicus (Oudemans) (58.7%). Very significant positive values of the association index were found for the pairs: Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) pyri Scheuten-Bryobia angustisetis Jakobashvili, Neoseiulella aceri (Collyer)-Panonychus ulmi (Koch), N. aceri-Bryobia sp., Phytoseius corniger Wainstein-T.(T.) pyri, N. aceri-P. echinus, P. macropilis -Paraseiulus soleiger (Ribaga). Significant positive values were noted for the the pairs P. corniger-Bryobia sp., P. echinus-Bryobia sp., and K. aberrans-P. echinus. Very significant negative index values were detected for the pairs E. finlandicus-K. aberrans and E. finlandicus-P. macropilis, and a significant negative index of association for the pair A. andersoni-A. viennensis