113 research outputs found

    Smoking, obesity and education of Icelandic women by rural-urban residence

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    Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn Skoða/Opna(view/open)OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of obesity and the association with smoking and education among young Icelandic women residing within and outside the capital area. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was sent to 28.000 Icelandic women, 18-45 years-old, in the period November 2004 to June 2005. The sample was randomly selected from The National Registry, response rate being 54.6%. The study was part of a large Nordic population-based cross-sectional study. Logistic regression was used for assessing the odds ratio of obesity (BMI > or = 30) in a multivariate analysis according to smoking and education, taking also into account age and alcohol consumption. The chi-square test was used for comparing percentages. RESULTS: Thirteen percent of women residing in the capital area were obese compared with 21% outside the capital. In the multivariate analysis obesity was increased among women living outside the capital (OR = 1.66; 95% CI 1,50-1,83), among smokers (OR=1,13; 95% CI 1.01-1.28), and among women who did not have university education (OR=1.53; 95%CI 1.36-1.71). Daily smokers within the capital area were more likely to be obese (OR=1.27; 95%CI 1.07-1.49) but not smokers outside the capital (OR=1.0). . CONCLUSIONS: Residence outside the capital area, daily smoking and non-university education are associated with an increased risk of obesity among young Icelandic women. The relationship between these factors is complex and differs between women residing within and outside the capital area.Tilgangur: Að kanna algengi offitu og tengsl hennar við reykingar og menntun meðal ungra kvenna innan og utan höfuðborgarsvæðisins. Efniviður og aðferðir: Spurningalisti var sendur til 28.000 íslenskra kvenna, 18-45 ára, frá nóvember 2004 til júní 2005. Lagskipt slembiúrtak var fengið úr Þjóðskrá, heildarsvörun var 54,6%. Könnunin er hluti af stórri, norrænni lýðgrundaðri þversniðsrannsókn. Beitt var lógistískri aðhvarfsgreiningu og reiknað gagnlíkindahlutfall (OR) fyrir offitu (BMI³30) og 95% öryggisbil (CI) þar sem tekið var tillit til búsetu, menntunar, aldurs, reykinga og áfengisneyslu. Notað var kí-kvaðratspróf til að bera saman hlutföll. Niðurstöður: 13% kvenna af höfuðborgarsvæðinu flokkuðust með offitu borið saman við 21% utan svæðisins. Fjölbreytugreining sýndi að líkur á offitu voru marktækt hærri meðal kvenna utan en innan höfuðborgarsvæðis (OR=1,66; 95% CI 1,50-1,83), meðal reykingakvenna (OR=1,13; 95% CI 1,01-1,28) og þeirra sem ekki voru með háskólamenntun (OR=1,53; 95% CI 1,36-1,71). Á höfuðborgarsvæðinu voru auknar líkur á offitu meðal kvenna sem reyktu daglega (OR=1,27; 95% CI 1,07-1,49), en ekki utan höfuðborgarsvæðis (OR=1,0). Ályktanir: Búseta utan höfuðborgarsvæðis, dag- legar reykingar og minni menntun tengjast auknum líkum á offitu meðal kvenna á Íslandi. Samspil þessara þátta er flókið og ólíkt eftir búsetu

    Education stategies in european context: a survey of teaching learning approaches, tools and assessment among physiotherapy teachers

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    Background: The context of education in the health professions has been influenced by the same tendencies of development of knowledge and technology that society faces. It is therefore important that educational institutions are capable of promoting an evolutionary profile of professionals that is adapted to the needs of the future society. Purpose: One of the aims of the European Network of Physioth erapy in Higher Education (ENPHE) is to bring together and enhance collaboration between european institutes and physiotherapy educational institutions in the european region in order to encourage and support standards of high quality education in physiotherapy in accordance with the recommendations of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT and ER-WCPT). Methods: In the context of the ENPHE group “Facilitation of Learning” and based on the literature, an online questionnaire was constructed regarding teaching approaches. After a pilot study within 5 institutions, the final version of the survey was disseminated during the ENPHE 2018 seminar. Results: We h ad 143 survey responses from 19 countrys, most of the respondents were fulltime lecturers (54%) at Bachelor´s level (89%). The responses indicated that the most commonly used Learning. Approaches included, Problem Solving (86%) and Content Focus activities (83%) using mainly lectures (78%) and practical training in class (83%) and the most popular tools used were aimed to facilitate retrieving, recalling or recognising knowledge (97%), using written (86%) and/or practical examination (77%) as assessment strategies. Conclusion(s): The results still reflect a classic approach to teaching and learning as shown by the selection of approaches, tools and assessment strategies. Implications: The results have provided some insight and also could guide the ENPHE in devising strategies to facilitate the use of more student inclusive and active learning strategies in Physiotherapy education.N/

    Mapping education strategies in european context: a survey of teaching-learning approaches, tools and assessment among ENPHE members

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    Purpose The context of education in the health professions has been influenced by the same tendencies of development of knowledge and technology that society faces. It is therefore important that educational institutions are capable of promoting an evolutionary profile of professionals that is adapted to the needs of the future society. Subjects Lecturers from Higher education institutions belonging to the ENPHE Network Material / Methods In the context of the ENPHE group “Facilitation of Learning” and based on the literature, an online questionnaire was constructed regarding teaching approaches. After a pilot study within 5 institutions, the final version of the survey was disseminated during the ENPHE 2018 seminar and until July 2018 by email. Results We had 143 survey responses from 19 country's, most of the respondents were fulltime lecturers (54%) at Bachelor´s level (89%). The responses indicated that the most commonly used Learning Approaches included, Problem Solving (86%) and Content Focus activities (83%) using mainly lectures (78%) and practical training in class (83%) and the most popular tools used were aimed to facilitate retrieving, recalling or recognizing knowledge (97%), The use written (86%) and/or practical examination (77%) as assessment strategies. Conclusions The results still reflect a classic approach to teaching and learning as shown by the selection of approaches, tools and assessment strategies. Educational relevance. The results have provided some insight and also could guide ENPHE devising strategies to facilitate the use of more student inclusive and active learning strategies in Physiotherapy education.N/

    Similar decline in mortality rate of older persons with and without type 2 diabetes between 1993 and 2004 the Icelandic population-based Reykjavik and AGES-Reykjavik cohort studies.

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    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 Files. This article is open access.A decline in mortality rates due to cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality has led to increased life expectancy in the Western world in recent decades. At the same time, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes, a disease associated with a twofold excess risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality, has been increasing. The objective of this study was to estimate the secular trend of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality rates in two population-based cohorts of older persons, with and without type 2 diabetes, examined 11 years apart.1506 participants (42% men) from the population-based Reykjavik Study, examined during 1991-1996 (median 1993), mean age 75.0 years, and 4814 participants (43% men) from the AGES-Reykjavik Study, examined during 2002-2006 (median 2004), mean age 77.2 years, age range in both cohorts 70-87 years. The main outcome measures were age-specific mortality rates due to cardiovascular disease and all causes, over two consecutive 5.7- and 5.3-year follow-up periods.A 32% decline in cardiovascular mortality rate and a 19% decline in all-cause mortality rate were observed between 1993 and 2004. The decline was greater in those with type 2 diabetes, as illustrated by the decline in the adjusted hazard ratio of cardiovascular mortality in individuals with diabetes compared to those without diabetes, from 1.88 (95% CI 1.24-2.85) in 1993 to 1.46 (95% CI 1.11-1.91) in 2004. We also observed a concurrent decrease in major cardiovascular risk factors in both those with and without diabetes. A higher proportion of persons with diabetes received glucose-lowering, hypertensive and lipid-lowering medication in 2004.A decline in cardiovascular and all-cause mortality rates was observed in older persons during the period 1993-2004, in both those with and without type 2 diabetes. This decline may be partly explained by improvements in cardiovascular risk factors and medical treatment over the period studied. However, type 2 diabetes still persists as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular mortality.National Institute of Health/N01-AG-1-2100 NIA Intramural Research Program Icelandic Heart Association (Hjartavernd) Icelandic Parliament (Althingi

    Effects of statin medication on mortality risk associated with type 2 diabetes in older persons: the population-based AGES-Reykjavik Study

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    To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field.OBJECTIVE: To examine if the beneficial effect of statin medication on mortality seen in randomised clinical trials of type 2 diabetes applies equally to observational studies in the general population of older people. DESIGN: A prospective, population-based cohort study. SETTING: Reykjavik, Iceland. PARTICIPANTS: 5152 men and women from the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study, mean age 77 years, range of 66-96 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Cardiovascular and all-cause mortalities and the RR of dying according to statin use and history of coronary heart disease (CHD) in persons with type 2 diabetes and those without diabetes with a median follow-up time of 5.3 years, until end of 2009. RESULTS: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes was 12.4% of which 35% used statins. Statin use was associated with a 50% (95% CI 8% to 72%) lower cardiovascular mortality and 53% (29% to 68%) lower all-cause mortalities in persons with diabetes. For those without diabetes, statin use was associated with a 16% (-24% to 43%) lower cardiovascular and 30% (11% to 46%) lower all-cause mortalities. Persons with diabetes using statins had a comparable risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality to that of the general population without diabetes. The effect was independent of the level of glycaemic control. CONCLUSION: This observational study lends important support to existing data from randomised clinical trials. These data suggest that in the general population of older people with diabetes, statin medication markedly reduces the excess cardiovascular and all-cause mortality risk, irrespective of the presence or absence of coronary heart disease or glucose-lowering medication

    The actin-myosin regulatory MRCK kinases: regulation, biological functions and associations with human cancer

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    The contractile actin-myosin cytoskeleton provides much of the force required for numerous cellular activities such as motility, adhesion, cytokinesis and changes in morphology. Key elements that respond to various signal pathways are the myosin II regulatory light chains (MLC), which participate in actin-myosin contraction by modulating the ATPase activity and consequent contractile force generation mediated by myosin heavy chain heads. Considerable effort has focussed on the role of MLC kinases, and yet the contributions of the myotonic dystrophy-related Cdc42-binding kinases (MRCK) proteins in MLC phosphorylation and cytoskeleton regulation have not been well characterized. In contrast to the closely related ROCK1 and ROCK2 kinases that are regulated by the RhoA and RhoC GTPases, there is relatively little information about the CDC42-regulated MRCKα, MRCKβ and MRCKγ members of the AGC (PKA, PKG and PKC) kinase family. As well as differences in upstream activation pathways, MRCK and ROCK kinases apparently differ in the way that they spatially regulate MLC phosphorylation, which ultimately affects their influence on the organization and dynamics of the actin-myosin cytoskeleton. In this review, we will summarize the MRCK protein structures, expression patterns, small molecule inhibitors, biological functions and associations with human diseases such as cancer
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