Two teams - the power of group dynamics

This paper reports findings from a pilot study regarding the marked differences in academic and extracurricular performance in two teams at the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy. The findings suggest that intelligence (IQ) or General Mental Abilities (GA) do have a say, but the significant differences between the two teams are related to teamwork and cooperation. The data suggest that main drivers for performance are task orientation, caring, engagement and empathy, which was evident in the team with the highest performance. These behavioral markers support other research (Google, 2014; A. Pentland, 2015; Torgersen, 2018) regarding team behavior that boosts team performance. On the other hand, behavior as passivity, selfsufficiency, opposing and spontaneous behaviors was found in the low performance group. The key takeaway is that teams may perform very well if members use fruitful behavior as stated above. This is possible to achieve for most people regardless of their GA. The behavior markers described in this article are perhaps more precise and helpful as trainable skills, skills that require effort on the team’s part to hone and get better at. The data also suggest that proper teamwork can equalize GA differences in teams when it comes to performance

Quantification of endogenous steroid sulfates and glucuronides in human urine after intramuscular administration of testosterone esters

For an effective detection of doping with pseudo-endogenous anabolic steroids, the urinary steroid profile is of high value. In this work, the aim was to investigate steroid metabolism disruption after exogenous intramuscular administration of different testosterone esters. The investigation focused on both sulfo – and glucoro conjugated androgens. A single intramuscular injection of either 1000 mg testosterone undecanoate (Nebido®) or a mixture of 30 mg testosterone propionate, 60 mg testosterone phenylpropionate, 60 mg testosterone isocaproate, and 100 mg testosterone decanoate (Sustanone®), was given to six healthy volunteers. Urine was collected throughout a testing period of 60 days. A LC-MS method was developed and validated for the analysis of eight conjugated steroids in their intact form. The results show that urinary changes in both sulfo – and glucuro conjugated steroid levels are prominent after the injection of testosterone esters. A promising potential marker for the intake of exogenous testosterone is the combined ratio of epitestosterone sulfate/epitestosterone glucuronide to testosterone sulfate/testosterone glucuronide ((ES/EG)/(TS/TG)) as a complementary biomarker for testosterone abuse. This represents a new piece of evidence to detect testosterone doping, representing a new approach and being independent from the metabolic connections of the markers in the steroid passport

Detection of DHCMT long-term metabolite glucuronides with LC-MSMS as an alternative approach to conventional GC-MSMS analysis

Dehydrochloromethyltestosterone (DHCMT) is one of the most detected illicit used anabolic–androgenic steroids in professional sports. Therefore, a fast and accurate analysis of this substance is of great importance for a constructive fight against doping abuse. The conventional method for the analysis of this drug, GC-MSMS, is very sensitive and selective but also very time- and resource-consuming. With the presented work, a new approach for simple detection with LC-HRMSMS without any sample preparation is introduced. The method is based on the direct analysis of two newly described phase-II metabolites of the DHCMT long-term metabolite 4-chloro-18-nor-17β-hydroxymethyl-17α-methyl-5β-androst-13-en-3α-ol (M3). LC-HRMSMS, GC-MSMS, fractionation and derivatization experiments are combined to identify and characterize for the first time two different glucuronide-acid conjugates of this metabolite in positive human urine samples. In addition, a third glucuronide metabolite was identified, however without isomeric structure determination. The detection of these metabolites is particularly interesting for confirmation analyses, as the method is rapid and requires little sample material

Detection of DHCMT long-term metabolite glucuronides with LC-MSMS as an alternative approach to conventional GC-MSMS analysis

Dehydrochloromethyltestosterone (DHCMT) is one of the most detected illicit used anabolic–androgenic steroids in professional sports. Therefore, a fast and accurate analysis of this substance is of great importance for a constructive fight against doping abuse. The conventional method for the analysis of this drug, GC-MSMS, is very sensitive and selective but also very time- and resource-consuming. With the presented work, a new approach for simple detection with LC-HRMSMS without any sample preparation is introduced. The method is based on the direct analysis of two newly described phase-II metabolites of the DHCMT long-term metabolite 4-chloro-18-nor-17β-hydroxymethyl-17α-methyl-5β-androst-13-en-3α-ol (M3). LC-HRMSMS, GC-MSMS, fractionation and derivatization experiments are combined to identify and characterize for the first time two different glucuronide-acid conjugates of this metabolite in positive human urine samples. In addition, a third glucuronide metabolite was identified, however without isomeric structure determination. The detection of these metabolites is particularly interesting for confirmation analyses, as the method is rapid and requires little sample material

Carotid Atherosclerosis and Relation to Growth of Infrarenal Aortic Diameter and Follow-up Diameter: The Tromsø Study

AbstractObjectivesThis research aims to study how carotid atherosclerosis is related to growth of infrarenal aortic diameter and aneurysmal formation.DesignPopulation-based follow-up study.Materials and methodsAt baseline, ultrasound examination of the carotid artery and the abdominal aorta was performed in 4241 persons from a general population with no evidence of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The burden of atherosclerosis was assessed as carotid total plaque area (TPA). After a mean follow-up of 6.3 years, a new ultrasound examination was performed and measurements of the aortic diameter and carotid TPA were repeated. The effects on aortic diameter progression, follow-up diameter and risk for AAA were assessed in multiple linear and logistic regression models according to carotid TPA, adjusted for known risk factors.ResultsWhen analysing AAA as a dichotomous variable, a borderline association between atherosclerosis and AAA could be demonstrated. When modelling aortic diameter as a continuous variable, a 1-SD increase in 5 years' carotid plaque area (ΔTPA) was associated with a 0.12-mm growth in infrarenal aortic diameter (standard error (SE) 0.04) and a 0.20-mm wider aorta at follow-up (SE 0.06). No independent relation was seen for baseline atherosclerosis.ConclusionsCarotid plaque progression was positively related to growth in infrarenal aortic diameter and aortic diameter at follow-up. Whether this co-variation between plaque growth and aortic diameter growth is causally related or independent events is still an open question

Blodtrykksovervåking og blodtrykksmåling

Som ledd i en bedre blodtrykksbehandling, har vi utarbeidet vedlagte skjema for blodtrykksovervåkning. Hensikten med skjemaet er at en skal få en bedre oversikt over anamnese, utredninger og kontroller. Et vesentlig punkt i blodtrykksovervåkningen er også en standardisering av målemetodene. Vi har derfor gitt anbefalinger om standardisering og omtalt en del feilkilder i forbindelse med målingene

Outcomes after coronary angiography for unstable angina compared to stable angina, myocardial infarction and an asymptomatic general population

Background: The outcomes of real-world unstable angina (UA) in the high-sensitivity troponin era are unclear. We aimed to investigate the outcomes of UA referred to coronary angiography compared to stable angina (SA), nonST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), STEMI and a general population. Methods: We included the 9,694 patients with no prior coronary artery disease (CAD) referred to invasive or CT coronary angiography from 2013 to 2018 in Northern Norway (51% SA, 12% UA, 23% NSTEMI and 14% STEMI), and 11,959 asymptomatic individuals recruited from the Tromsø Study. We used Cox models to estimate the hazard ratios (HR) for all-cause mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as cardiovascular death, MI or obstructive CAD. Results: The median follow-up time was 2.8 years. The incidence rate of death was 8.5 per 1000 person-years (95 % confidence interval [CI] 8.0–9.0) in the general population, 9.7 (95 % CI 8.3–11.5) in SA, 14.9 (95 % CI 11.4–19.6) in UA, 29.7 (95 % CI 25.6–34.3) in NSTEMI and 36.5 (95 % CI 30.9–43.2) in STEMI. In multivariable adjusted analyses, compared with UA, SA had a 38 % lower risk of death and a non-significant lower risk of MACE (HR 0.62, 95 % CI 0.44–0.89; HR 0.86, 95 % CI 0.66–1.11). NSTEMI had a 2.4-fold higher risk of death (HR 2.39, 95 % CI 1.38–4.14) and a 1.6-fold higher risk of MACE (HR 1.62, 95 % CI 1.11–2.38) compared tox UA during the first year after coronary angiography, but a similar risk thereafter. There was no difference in the risk of death for UA with non-obstructive CAD and obstructive CAD (HR 0.78, 95 % CI 0.39–1.57). Conclusion: UA had a higher risk of death but a similar risk of MACE compared to SA and a lower 1-year risk of death and MACE compared to NSTEMI

Early Life Socioeconomic Circumstance and Late Life Brain Hyperintensities : A Population Based Cohort Study

Funding: Image acquisition and image analysis for this study was funded by the Alzheimer's Research Trust (now Alzheimer's Research UK). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the participants of the Aberdeen 1936 Birth Cohort (ABC36), without whom this research would not have been possible.Peer reviewedPublisher PD