Craniofacial Morphology of Croatian Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Currently, there is no information available regarding craniofacial morphology of Croatian patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The aim of the study was to determine the craniofacial characteristics of patients with OSA and to assess the association of cephalometric and anthropometric variables related to craniofacial morphology with the apnea hypopnea index (AHI). Anthropometric measurements and upright lateral cephalometric radiographs were obtained from 20 male patients with OSA and 20 male controls. The 20 OSA patients were classified into two groups on the basis of body mass index (BMI) as obese and non-obese. Twenty three variables were identified and calculated for each cephalometric radiograph. OSA was defined as AHI ³ 5/hour. The OSA patients showed greater body mass index (BMI), neck circumference (NC) and cranial index (CI) and lower facial index (FI) compared to the controls (p<0.01). The patients with OSA showed significant cephalometric features as opposed to the controls: smaller linear distance between gonion and menton and anterior cranial base, greater linear distance from the hyoid bone to the mandibular plane, and from the posterior nasal spine to the tip of the soft palate. Furthermore, they showed reduced upper airway width at two levels: the nasopharynx, and the region of posterior airway space, smaller linear distance from the hyoid bone to the posterior wall of the nasopharynx and greater upper airway length. They also displayed significantly increased craniocervical angulation, larger angle between supramentale, menton and hyoid bone and larger angle between posterior nasal spine, supramentale and hyoid bone. The obese OSA patients showed greater neck circumference (NC) compared with the non-obese OSA. The obese OSA patients showed significant cephalometric features compared with the non-obese OSA patients: larger craniocervical angles larger angle between the third cervical vertebra, the centre of sella turcica and the posterior nasal spine, furthermore, greater linear distance between the hyoid bone and the third cervical vertebra and smaller linear distance from the hyoid bone to the posterior wall of the nasopharynx. In our study, AHI was significantly correlated with cephalometric measurements S-Go, S-H, H-C3 and S-PNS-C3

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

Att skapa civilsamhället : En analys av SIDA:s diskurser relaterat till bistånd

Civilsamhället har på senare tid kommit att spela en allt större roll i biståndspolitiken. Att arbeta för att skapa eller stärka civilsamhället har fått en central roll i relation till hur bistånd ska fördelas. Men samtidigt är begreppet civilsamhälle problematiskt. Definitionerna har skiftat under årens gång och dess innehåll fortsätter att förändras. Den här studien har sin utgångspunkt i den kritiska diskursanalysen och fokuserar på hur sex publikationer på SIDA: s hemsida tar upp och berör begreppet civilsamhälle. I analysen av dessa publikationer har det framkommit att det finns tre dominerande diskurser som relateras till civilsamhället. Dessa diskurser tar upp vad civilsamhället är och hur det definieras, rollen som civilsamhället spelar eller kan spela samt hur SIDA arbetar för att stödja civilsamhället. I min analys har jag främst utgått från teorier om imperialism/nykolonialism samt till viss del postkoloniala teorier för att förklara hur diskurserna inom SIDA är skapade Abstract This essay is an analysis of the aid discourses within the Swedish organisation SIDA. The main focus lies on the concept of civil society and its relation to the aid policy within SIDA

Att skapa civilsamhället : En analys av SIDA:s diskurser relaterat till bistånd

Civilsamhället har på senare tid kommit att spela en allt större roll i biståndspolitiken. Att arbeta för att skapa eller stärka civilsamhället har fått en central roll i relation till hur bistånd ska fördelas. Men samtidigt är begreppet civilsamhälle problematiskt. Definitionerna har skiftat under årens gång och dess innehåll fortsätter att förändras. Den här studien har sin utgångspunkt i den kritiska diskursanalysen och fokuserar på hur sex publikationer på SIDA: s hemsida tar upp och berör begreppet civilsamhälle. I analysen av dessa publikationer har det framkommit att det finns tre dominerande diskurser som relateras till civilsamhället. Dessa diskurser tar upp vad civilsamhället är och hur det definieras, rollen som civilsamhället spelar eller kan spela samt hur SIDA arbetar för att stödja civilsamhället. I min analys har jag främst utgått från teorier om imperialism/nykolonialism samt till viss del postkoloniala teorier för att förklara hur diskurserna inom SIDA är skapade Abstract This essay is an analysis of the aid discourses within the Swedish organisation SIDA. The main focus lies on the concept of civil society and its relation to the aid policy within SIDA

Stochastic Inductive Logic Programming

Machine learning is an important part of artificial intelligence and its applications. Learning from instances is one of the most active areas within machine learning. Initial successes in the induction of propositional theories have been followed by algorithms that construct hypotheses in the form of (a subset of) the first order relational concepts. Such learning is called Inductive Logic Programming (ILP). This thesis deals with two key problems of machine learning of concepts from instances: hypothesis justification and hypothesis construction which are also a vital part of the form of reasoning called inductive inference. The purpose of concept formation is information compression (a hypothesis describes or &quot;explains&quot; given learning instances). Generally, there is not a single hypothesis that explains the given instances of the target concept. One criterion for hypothesis justification is based on the Minimum description length (MDL) principle which states that a hypothesis which..

Det är alldeles för mycket sport inom idrotten : En antologi om identitetsskapande genom sport och fotboll

Fotboll är idag världens största sport, den utspelar sig på jordens alla hörn, från arenor med kapacitet på över hundratusen besökare till division 6 Östra Götaland. Den speglar på många sätt samhället och dess många sociala skeenden. Detta innebär att den sociala kulturen och de identitetsskapande processer som omger sporten är minst lika intressant att se närmare på, precis som med resten av samhället. Denna antologi handlar om hur fotboll och identitet kan kopplas samman i allt från läktarkultur till konsumtion. Roberts ”Mann kan väll ha vikka skor som helst”, beskriver i den första delen om hur varumärkesföretagen idag marknadsför identitet i samband med sina produkter. Calles del ”Läktarvrål” tar upp vad som sker på läktaren bland åskådarna under en fotbollsmatch. I den tredje delen ”Fotboll, politik, supporterkultur och identitet” så berättar Besnik om den sociala kulturen bakom de italienska fotbollslagen Roma och Lazio, om hur fansen stigmatiserar motståndarlagets supportrar. I den sista delen av antologin ”Maskulinitetsbilder inom fotboll och kampsport”, beskriver Ivan relationerna mellan fotboll, kampsport och maskulinitet samt synen på identitetsskapande genom idrot

Serum Catestatin Level as a Stratification Assessment Tool in Non-Critical COVID-19 Patients

Introduction: Catestatin (CST) is a peptide with immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and anti-microbial activities. There are only a few studies that have investigated plasma CST levels in COVID-19 patients (mostly in ICU patients). In our work, the aim was to demonstrate serum CST levels and their correlation with clinical outcomes in a group of severe COVID-19 patients admitted to the non-ICU department. Methods: The subjects were 32 patients (25 females, 7 males) admitted to the non-ICU unit for COVID-19 patients. Results: CST levels in our cohort were higher (8.91 ± 7.00) than previously reported CST levels in control subjects. We found a significant positive correlation between serum CST levels and C-reactive protein (r = 0.423, p = 0.008), D-dimers (r = 0.395, p = 0.013), hsTNT (high-sensitivity troponin T) (r = 0.603, p p p = 0.014). There was a difference between groups of participants with SOFA n = 18) and SOFA >=3 (n = 14) in catestatin serum levels (7.25 ± 3.66 vs. 11.05 ± 9.52 ng/mL), but the difference was statistically insignificant (p = 0.065). Conclusion: We considered plasma CST level at hospital admission as a possible tool for early risk assessment in non-critical COVID-19 patients. This study is an attempt to clarify the complex pathophysiological mechanisms present in the development of severe forms of SARS-CoV2 infection

Increased bone resorption and osteopenia are a part of the lymphoproliferative phenotype of mice with systemic over-expression of interleukin-7 gene driven by MHC class II promoter

Mice with interleukin (IL)-7 transgene under the control of E(alpha) promoter over-express IL-7 in MHC class II-positive cells and develop specific immune phenotype, marked by an increase in CD45R(+) cells in both the bone marrow and peripheral blood. We show that IL-7 transgenic mice have a bone phenotype characterized by an age-related loss of trabecular bone in both axial and long bones. Osteopenia was the result of increased number of active osteoclasts on the surface of trabecular bone. Furthermore, IL-7 transgenic mice showed increased osteoclastic but unchanged osteoblastic potential of the bone marrow in vitro. IL-7 over-expression also created osteoclastogenic microenvironment within the bone marrow which promoted the commitment of precursors towards the osteoclast lineage. These findings are important for immunological disturbances where IL-7 is involved and where alterations in the immune system are accompanied by changes in bone metabolism, such as multiple myeloma, rheumatoid arthritis and postmenopausal osteoporosis