Temporal and regional differences in the incidence of hospital-diagnosed endometriosis:a Danish population-based study

INTRODUCTION: Due to diagnostic challenges, normalization of symptoms and an overall lack of awareness among both patients and physicians, endometriosis is an underdiagnosed disease. This can result in delayed treatment and potentially worsening of the disease. Despite initiatives, such as patients' support organizations and specialized endometriosis referral centers, differences in awareness, socioeconomic factors and lifestyle, combined with varying distances to specialized referral centers, could result in regional differences in the degree of underdiagnosing. This study aims to explore temporal and regional variations in the incidence of endometriosis based on the Danish hospital discharge register, and shed light on the degree of underdiagnosing of endometriosis in Denmark. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This registry‐based cohort study included all women aged 15–55 living in Denmark from 1990–2017. Participants were identified through the Danish Civil Registration system and endometriosis diagnoses received at a hospital were obtained from the Danish National Patient Registry. Incidence rates of diagnosed endometriosis were calculated for each year of the study period and for each municipality in Denmark. A Cox regression analysis, stratified by calendar time and adjusted for ethnic origin, household composition, highest educational level and family socioeconomic status, was performed to estimate the association between residence and likelihood of receiving a hospital‐based diagnosis of endometriosis. RESULTS: The nationwide incidence rate of hospital‐diagnosed endometriosis was 7.89 (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.80–7.99) per 10 000 person‐years and the prevalence in 2017 was 1.63%. The results showed an overall increase in the incidence of diagnosed endometriosis of 46.8% (95% CI 32.9–62.2) during the study period and also displayed significant regional differences. After adjustments, women living in northern Jutland had the highest probability of receiving a hospital‐based diagnosis of endometriosis (hazard ratio 1.13, 95% CI 1.09–1.18), whereas women living in northern Zealand had the lowest probability (hazard ratio 0.63, 95% CI 0.60–0.67) compared with eastern Jutland. These regional differences have become more evident over time. CONCLUSIONS: Our results reveal significant regional differences in the incidence of hospital‐diagnosed endometriosis, suggesting that a significant number of women may be left behind without a diagnosis. Further studies are needed to assess the underlying reasons for the significant regional differences

Validity and reliability of seismocardiography for the estimation of cardiorespiratory fitness

BACKGROUND: Low cardiorespiratory fitness (ie, peak oxygen consumption [V.O2peak]) is associated with cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality and is recognized as an important clinical tool in the assessment of patients. Cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) is the gold standard procedure for determination of V.O2peak but has methodological challenges as it is time-consuming and requires specialized equipment and trained professionals. Seismofit is a chest-mounted medical device for estimating V.O2peak at rest using seismocardiography.OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of Seismofit V.O2peak estimation in a healthy population.METHODS: On 3 separate days, 20 participants (10 women) underwent estimations of V.O2peak with Seismofit (×2) and Polar Fitness Test (PFT) in randomized order and performed a graded CPET on a cycle ergometer with continuous pulmonary gas exchange measurements.RESULTS: Seismofit V.O2peak showed a significant bias of -3.1 ± 2.4 mL·min-1·kg-1 (mean ± 95% confidence interval) and 95% limits of agreement (LoA) of ±10.8 mL·min-1·kg-1 compared to CPET. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was 12.0%. Seismofit V.O2peak had a coefficient of variation of 4.5% ± 1.3% and an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.95 between test days and a bias of 0.0 ± 0.4 mL·min-1·kg-1 with 95% LoA of ±1.6 mL·min-1·kg-1 in test-retest. In addition, Seismofit showed a 2.4 mL·min-1·kg-1 smaller difference in 95% LoA than PFT compared to CPET.CONCLUSION: The Seismofit is highly reliable in its estimation of V.O2peak. However, based on the measurement error and MAPE &gt;10%, the Seismofit V.O2peak estimation model needs further improvement to be considered for use in clinical settings.</p

Finding the glass half full? Optimism is protective of 10-year incident CHD in a population-based study: The Canadian Nova Scotia Health Survey

While some convenience studies have found that optimism is protective for the risk of incident coronary heart disease (CHD) events, others have not. Optimism is separate from, but related to positive affect. We examined whether optimism was associated with a lower long-term risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) events in a large, population-based sample, independent of positive affect with 10 years follow-up after adjusting for positive affect

The effect of FOXA2 rs1209523 on glucose-related phenotypes and risk of type 2 diabetes in Danish individuals

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Variations within the <it>FOXA </it>family have been studied for a putative contribution to the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D), and recently the minor T-allele of <it>FOXA2 </it>rs1209523 was reported to associate with decreased fasting plasma glucose levels in a study using a weighted false discovery rate control procedure to enhance the statistical power of genome wide association studies in detecting associations between low-frequency variants and a given trait.</p> <p>Thus, the primary aim of this study was to investigate whether the minor T-allele of rs1205923 in <it>FOXA2 </it>associated with 1) decreased fasting plasma glucose and 2) a lower risk of developing T2D. Secondly, we investigated whether rs1205923 in <it>FOXA2 </it>associated with other glucose-related phenotypes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The variant was genotyped in Danish individuals from four different study populations using KASPar^®PCR SNP genotyping system. We examined for associations of the <it>FOXA2 </it>genotype with fasting plasma glucose and estimates of insulin release and insulin sensitivity following an oral glucose tolerance test in 6,162 Danish individuals from the population-based Inter99 study while association with T2D risk was assessed in 10,196 Danish individuals including four different study populations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The <it>FOXA2 </it>rs1209523 was not associated with fasting plasma glucose (effect size (β) = -0.03 mmol/l (95%CI: -0.07; 0.01), <it>p </it>= 0.2) in glucose-tolerant individuals from the general Danish population. Furthermore, when employing a case-control setting the variant showed no association with T2D (odds ratio (OR) = 0.82 (95%CI: 0.62-1.07), <it>p </it>= 0.1) among Danish individuals. However, when we performed the analysis in a subset of 6,022 non-obese individuals (BMI < 30 kg/m²) an association with T2D was observed (OR = 0.68 (95%CI: 0.49-0.94), <it>p </it>= 0.02). Also, several indices of insulin release and β-cell function were associated with the minor T-allele of <it>FOXA2 </it>rs1209523 in non-obese individuals.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We failed to replicate association of the minor T-allele of <it>FOXA2 </it>rs1209523 with fasting plasma glucose in a population based sample of glucose tolerant individuals. More extensive studies are needed in order to fully elucidate the potential role of <it>FOXA2 </it>in glucose homeostasis.</p

Global warming in the pipeline

Improved knowledge of glacial-to-interglacial global temperature change implies that fast-feedback equilibrium climate sensitivity is at least ~4{\deg}C for doubled CO2 (2xCO2), with likely range 3.5-5.5{\deg}C. Greenhouse gas (GHG) climate forcing is 4.1 W/m2 larger in 2021 than in 1750, equivalent to 2xCO2 forcing. Global warming in the pipeline is greater than prior estimates. Eventual global warming due to today's GHG forcing alone -- after slow feedbacks operate -- is about 10{\deg}C. Human-made aerosols are a major climate forcing, mainly via their effect on clouds. We infer from paleoclimate data that aerosol cooling offset GHG warming for several millennia as civilization developed. A hinge-point in global warming occurred in 1970 as increased GHG warming outpaced aerosol cooling, leading to global warming of 0.18{\deg}C per decade. Aerosol cooling is larger than estimated in the current IPCC report, but it has declined since 2010 because of aerosol reductions in China and shipping. Without unprecedented global actions to reduce GHG growth, 2010 could be another hinge point, with global warming in following decades 50-100% greater than in the prior 40 years. The enormity of consequences of warming in the pipeline demands a new approach addressing legacy and future emissions. The essential requirement to "save" young people and future generations is return to Holocene-level global temperature. Three urgently required actions are: 1) a global increasing price on GHG emissions, 2) purposeful intervention to rapidly phase down present massive geoengineering of Earth's climate, and 3) renewed East-West cooperation in a way that accommodates developing world needs.Comment: 48 pages, 27 figures. Correction of formatting error on page 21, which messed up placement of all following figure

Advances in the synthesis of functionalised pyrrolotetrathiafulvalenes

The electron-donor and unique redox properties of the tetrathiafulvalene (TTF, 1) moiety have led to diverse applications in many areas of chemistry. Monopyrrolotetrathiafulvalenes (MPTTFs, 4) and bispyrrolotetrathiafulvalenes (BPTTFs, 5) are useful structural motifs and have found widespread use in fields such as supramolecular chemistry and molecular electronics. Protocols enabling the synthesis of functionalised MPTTFs and BPTTFs are therefore of broad interest. Herein, we present the synthesis of a range of functionalised MPTTF and BPTTF species. Firstly, the large-scale preparation of the precursor species N-tosyl-(1,3)-dithiolo[4,5-c]pyrrole-2-one (6) is described, as well as the synthesis of the analogue N-tosyl-4,6-dimethyl-(1,3)-dithiolo[4,5-c]pyrrole-2-one (7). Thereafter, we show how 6 and 7 can be used to prepare BPTTFs using homocoupling reactions and functionalised MPTTFs using cross-coupling reactions with a variety of 1,3-dithiole-2-thiones (19). Subsequently, the incorporation of more complex functionality is discussed. We show how the 2-cyanoethyl protecting group can be used to afford MPTTFs functionalised with thioethers, exemplified by a series of ethylene glycol derivatives. Additionally, the merits of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) as an alternative to the most common deprotecting agent, CsOH·H2O are discussed. Finally, we show how a copper-mediated Ullman-type reaction can be applied to the N-arylation of MPTTFs and BPTTFs using a variety of aryl halides

Eyetracking and Applied Linguistics

Eyetracking has become a powerful tool in scientific research and has finally found its way into disciplines such as applied linguistics and translation studies, paving the way for new insights and challenges in these fields. The aim of the first International Conference on Eyetracking and Applied Linguistics (ICEAL) was to bring together researchers who use eyetracking to empirically answer their research questions. It was intended to bridge the gaps between applied linguistics, translation studies, cognitive science and computational linguistics on the one hand and to further encourage innovative research methodologies and data triangulation on the other hand. These challenges are also addressed in this proceedings volume: While the studies described in the volume deal with a wide range of topics, they all agree on eyetracking as an appropriate methodology in empirical research

Eyetracking and Applied Linguistics

Eyetracking has become a powerful tool in scientific research and has finally found its way into disciplines such as applied linguistics and translation studies, paving the way for new insights and challenges in these fields. The aim of the first International Conference on Eyetracking and Applied Linguistics (ICEAL) was to bring together researchers who use eyetracking to empirically answer their research questions. It was intended to bridge the gaps between applied linguistics, translation studies, cognitive science and computational linguistics on the one hand and to further encourage innovative research methodologies and data triangulation on the other hand. These challenges are also addressed in this proceedings volume: While the studies described in the volume deal with a wide range of topics, they all agree on eyetracking as an appropriate methodology in empirical research

Eyetracking and Applied Linguistics

Eyetracking has become a powerful tool in scientific research and has finally found its way into disciplines such as applied linguistics and translation studies, paving the way for new insights and challenges in these fields. The aim of the first International Conference on Eyetracking and Applied Linguistics (ICEAL) was to bring together researchers who use eyetracking to empirically answer their research questions. It was intended to bridge the gaps between applied linguistics, translation studies, cognitive science and computational linguistics on the one hand and to further encourage innovative research methodologies and data triangulation on the other hand. These challenges are also addressed in this proceedings volume: While the studies described in the volume deal with a wide range of topics, they all agree on eyetracking as an appropriate methodology in empirical research

Eyetracking and Applied Linguistics

Eyetracking has become a powerful tool in scientific research and has finally found its way into disciplines such as applied linguistics and translation studies, paving the way for new insights and challenges in these fields. The aim of the first International Conference on Eyetracking and Applied Linguistics (ICEAL) was to bring together researchers who use eyetracking to empirically answer their research questions. It was intended to bridge the gaps between applied linguistics, translation studies, cognitive science and computational linguistics on the one hand and to further encourage innovative research methodologies and data triangulation on the other hand. These challenges are also addressed in this proceedings volume: While the studies described in the volume deal with a wide range of topics, they all agree on eyetracking as an appropriate methodology in empirical research