Association between exposure to crystalline silica and risk of sarcoidosis.

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldOBJECTIVES: The possibility of an association between exposure to silica and autoimmune diseases has recently come under discussion. In the following case-referent study, a cohort exposed to diatomaceous earth and cristobalite provided an opportunity to evaluate such an exposure with reference to sarcoidosis. METHODS: The inhabitants of a district served by a single healthcare centre and a hospital formed the study base. A diatomaceous earth plant is located in this community and the medical institutions are responsible for primary and secondary health care of the population. Cases of sarcoidosis were identified from the hospital records according to certain clinical, radiological, and histological criteria. Referents were selected randomly from the population of the district. Information on exposure to crystalline silica, cristobalite, was obtained by record linkage of the cases and referents with a file which included all present and past workers at the diatomaceous earth plant and those who had worked at loading vessels with the product from the plant. RESULTS: Eight cases of sarcoidosis were found, six of which were in the exposed group. Of the 70 referents, 13 were exposed. The odds ratio (95% confidence interval) was 13.2 (2.0 to 140.9). CONCLUSION: The odds ratios were high and there were some indications of a dose-response relation which will hopefully encourage further studies. To our knowledge this is the first study to indicate a relation between sarcoidosis and exposure to the crystalline silica, cristobalite

Inclusion of fish or fish oil in weight-loss diets for young adults: effects on blood lipids.

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldOBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of fish (lean or oily) and fish oil consumption on blood lipid concentration during weight loss. DESIGN: Randomized, controlled 8-week trial of energy-restricted diet varying in fish and fish oil content. Subjects, 324 men and women, aged 20-40 years, body mass index 27.5-32.5 kg m(-2), from Iceland, Spain and Ireland, were randomized to one of four groups: (1) control (sunflower oil capsules, no seafood), (2) cod diet (3 x 150 g week(-1)), (3) salmon diet (3 x 150 g week(-1)), (4) fish oil (DHA/EPA capsules, no seafood). The macronutrient composition of the diets was similar between the groups and the capsule groups were single-blinded. MEASUREMENTS: Total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triacylglycerol (TG) and anthropometrics were measured at baseline and end point. RESULTS: The difference in logTG lowering between the control group and the cod diet, salmon diet and fish oil from baseline to end point was -0.036 (95% CI -0.079 to 0.006), -0.060 (-0.101 to -0.018) and -0.037 (-0.079 to 0.006), respectively. Reduction in TC was about 0.2 mmol l(-1) greater in the fish groups (cod and salmon) than in the control group, but only of borderline significance when adjusting for weight loss. HDL tended to decrease less in the diet groups consuming a significant amount of n-3 fatty acids (salmon and fish oil). CONCLUSION: Weight-loss diet including oily fish resulted in greater TG reduction than did a diet without fish or fish oil. Controlled trials using whole fish as a test meal are encouraged to be able to elucidate the role of different constituents of fish for human health

As a Matter of Factions: The Budgetary Implications of Shifting Factional Control in Japan’s LDP

For 38 years, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) maintained single-party control over the Japanese government. This lack of partisan turnover in government has frustrated attempts to explain Japanese government policy changes using political variables. In this paper, we look for intraparty changes that may have led to changes in Japanese budgetary policy. Using a simple model of agenda-setting, we hypothesize that changes in which intraparty factions “control” the LDP affect the party’s decisions over spending priorities systematically. This runs contrary to the received wisdom in the voluminous literature on LDP factions, which asserts that factions, whatever their raison d’être, do not exhibit different policy preferences. We find that strong correlations do exist between which factions comprise the agenda-setting party “mainstream” and how the government allocates spending across pork-barrel and public goods items

Nordic dietary surveys. Study designs, methods, results and use in food-based risk assessments

National dietary surveys have been completed in all five Nordic countries for purposes of nutritional assessment. The NORDIRA project started in 2009 with objectives of sharing experiences within collection of food consumption data and applications of it in food-based risk assessment. The NORDIRA-group consisted of experts working within dietary surveys as well within risk assessment. The project collected results and methodological aspects of national dietary surveys, the presentations of food consumption figures and data calculation processes of risk assessment. This TemaNord report is a summary of the presentations and experiences shared during the three year period of the NORDIRA project. The group emphasizes a flexible food aggregation system in reporting food consumption to enable different kind of matching of data from food consumption and occurence of chemical substances

School meal provision, health, and cognitive function in a Nordic setting – the ProMeal-study: description of methodology and the Nordic context

BACKGROUND: School meals, if both nutritious and attractive, provide a unique opportunity to improve health equality and public health.OBJECTIVE: To describe the study rationale, data collection, and background of participants in the study 'Prospects for promoting health and performance by school meals in Nordic countries' (ProMeal). The general aim was to determine whether overall healthiness of the diet and learning conditions in children can be improved by school lunches, and to capture the main concerns regarding school lunches among children in a Nordic context.DESIGN: A cross-sectional, multidisciplinary study was performed in Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden on pupils (n=837) born in 2003.RESULTS: In total 3,928 pictures of school lunches were taken to capture pupils' school lunch intake. A mean of 85% of all parents responded to a questionnaire about socioeconomic background, dietary intake, and habitual physical activity at home. Cognitive function was measured on one occasion on 93% of the pupils during optimal conditions with a Stroop and a Child Operation Span test. A mean of 169 pupils also did an Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test after lunch over 3 days. In total, 37,413 10-sec observations of classroom learning behavior were performed. In addition, 753 empathy-based stories were written and 78 focus groups were conducted. The pupils had high socioeconomic status.CONCLUSIONS: This study will give new insights into which future interventions are needed to improve pupils' school lunch intake and learning. The study will provide valuable information for policy making, not least in countries where the history of school meals is shorter than in some of the Nordic countries.</div

A Patients' Perspective Towards the Injection Devices for Humira® and Imraldi® in a Nationwide Switching Program.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked DownloadObjective: Due to a tender process in Iceland, all patients on Humira® were switched nationwide to its biosimilar Imraldi® in March 2019. The study aimed to explore the patient's perspective of the Humira® and Imraldi® injection devices. Methods: A standard telephone interview was carried out among patients with inflammatory arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis, who underwent this nationwide switching program a few months earlier. Results: The response rate was 84.5% (n = 198). The average age was 50.8 years, and 53.5% were female. The patients self-administered the drugs in 96% of the cases. The majority (90.5%) stated that they received individualized instruction on using the Humira® pen, compared to 18.2% who accepted instruction in the case of the Imraldi® pen. Almost half (46.6%) of the patients found it more difficult to use the Imraldi® pen than the Humira® pen, while only 12.5% found the Imraldi® pen easier to use. Firstly, these differences were due to more painful insertion of the needle (62.2%) and secondly, due to the experience, the injection process was different (63.0%). Conclusion: Patients with inflammatory disorders who have been treated regularly with adalimumab preferred the Humira® injection device over the Imraldi® device, according to our results. After all, these injection devices' structure and content are not the same, although both contain the same active ingredient, i.e. adalimumab. Our results highlight the importance of thorough information, not only with an information letter but also with the possibilities for individualized introduction in planning switching to biosimilars. Keywords: Humira; Imraldi; adalimumab; injection devices; medicine administration at home

Quality of life and neck pain in nurses

Objectives: To investigate the association between neck pain and psychological stress in nurses. Material and Methods: Nurses from the Avon Orthopaedic Centre completed 2 questionnaires: the Short Form-36 (SF-36) and 1 exploring neck pain and associated psychological stress. Results: Thirty four nurses entered the study (68% response). Twelve (35.3%) had current neck pain, 13 (38.2%) reported neck pain within the past year and 9 (26.5%) had no neck pain. Subjects with current neck pain had significantly lower mental health (47.1 vs. 70.4; p = 0.002), physical health (60.8 vs. 76.8; p = 0.010) and overall SF-36 scores (56.8 vs. 74.9; p = 0.003). Five (41.7%) subjects with current neck pain and 5 (38.5%) subjects with neck pain in the previous year attributed it to psychological stress. Conclusions: Over 1/3 of nurses have symptomatic neck pain and significantly lower mental and physical health scores. Managing psychological stress may reduce neck pain, leading to improved quality of life for nurses, financial benefits for the NHS, and improved patient care

Responsibility and laboratory animal research governance

The use of animals in experiments and research remains highly contentious. Laboratory animal research governance provides guidance and regulatory frameworks to oversee the use and welfare of laboratory animals and relies heavily on the replacement, reduction, and refinement (3Rs) principles to demonstrate responsibility. However, the application of the 3Rs is criticized for being too narrow in focus and closing down societal concerns and political questions about the purpose of animal laboratory research. These critiques challenge the legitimacy of responsibility in laboratory animal research governance and call for new approaches. With the advent of the "Responsible Research and Innovation" (RRI) agenda, we investigate whether the notion of responsibility in the controversial area of animal research governance could be enhanced by examining the 3Rs through RRI. Our analysis reveals RRI has the potential to helpfully augment the 3Rs in three key ways: recognizing the need to include a broader range of experts and publics in animal research governance; emphasizing the importance for animal research scientists of taking societal, and not just role, responsibilities into account; and acknowledging the political questions animal research raises

GWAS of bone size yields twelve loci that also affect height, BMD, osteoarthritis or fractures

© 2019, The Author(s). Bone area is one measure of bone size that is easily derived from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans. In a GWA study of DXA bone area of the hip and lumbar spine (N ≥ 28,954), we find thirteen independent association signals at twelve loci that replicate in samples of European and East Asian descent (N = 13,608 – 21,277). Eight DXA area loci associate with osteoarthritis, including rs143384 in GDF5 and a missense variant in COL11A1 (rs3753841). The strongest DXA area association is with rs11614913[T] in the microRNA MIR196A2 gene that associates with lumbar spine area (P = 2.3 × 10−42, β = −0.090) and confers risk of hip fracture (P = 1.0 × 10−8, OR = 1.11). We demonstrate that the risk allele is less efficient in repressing miR-196a-5p target genes. We also show that the DXA area measure contributes to the risk of hip fracture independent of bone density