Uptake of atrial fibrillation screening aiming at stroke prevention: geo-mapping of target population and non-participation

Background: In a screening study for silent atrial fibrillation (AF), which is a frequent source of cardiac emboli with ischemic stroke, the proportion of non-participants was considerable and their clinical profile differed from the participants' profile. We intended to geo-map the target population and non-participation in an attempt to understand factors related to screening uptake and, thereby, obtain useful information needed to intervene for improved uptake. Method: In the municipality of Halmstad, Sweden, all residents born in 1934-1935 were invited to the screening study during April 2010 to February 2012. The total study group included 848 participants and 367 non-participants from 12 parishes. Geo-maps displaying participation, along with target-population-based geo-maps displaying proportion of immigrants and ischemic stroke incidence, were used. Results: Smoothed non-participation ratios (SmNPR) varied from 0.81 to 1.24 across different parishes (SmNRP = 1 corresponds to the expected participation based on the total study group). Among high risk individuals, the geographical variation was more pronounced (SmNPR range 0.75-1.51). Two parishes with higher share of immigrants and elevated population-based ischemic stroke incidence showed markedly lower participation, particularly among high-risk individuals. Conclusion: AF screening uptake varied evidently between parishes, particularly among high-risk individuals. Geo-mapping of target population and non-participation yielded useful information needed to intervene for improved screening uptake

Användningsområden för regn- och dagvatten

Sweden uses pure drinking water for all household areas such as flushing toilets, watering the lawn and so on. This can be seen as a waste and stormwater can therefore be used instead to save resources. When rainwater is going to be used, different possibilities exist. A rainwater tank can be used to collect water from roofs and store it in a sealed tank. A stormwater pond can be used which collects water from a large area, where the water comes from roofs, drainage, and other surfaces. Rainwater tanks is often used abroad but the use of a stormwater pond for the use of rainwater is rare. A literature study with descriptions of both the use and design has therefore been analysed and it has been discovered that there are no technical obstacles and no laws or regulations that could be an obstacle for using either a rainwater tank or a stormwater pond for the use of rainwater in toilets. The study has concluded that the rainwater tank have environmental advantages but is not financially viable in a reasonable time period. The stormwaterpond on the other hand have more environmental advantages and the investment can become viable within a reasonable time period which can show decision-makers and politicians that it can be a good idea to install this system for the use of stormwater to save water and, by extension, money

White paper on inequalities and unmet needs in the detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) and use of therapies to prevent AF-related stroke in Europe

No abstract available

White paper on inequalities and unmet needs in the detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) and use of therapies to prevent AF-related stroke in Europe

No abstract available

Soft-tissue evidence for homeothermy and crypsis in a Jurassic ichthyosaur

Ichthyosaurs are extinct marine reptiles that display a notable external similarity to modern toothed whales. Here we show that this resemblance is more than skin deep. We apply a multidisciplinary experimental approach to characterize the cellular and molecular composition of integumental tissues in an exceptionally preserved specimen of the Early Jurassic ichthyosaur Stenopterygius. Our analyses recovered still-flexible remnants of the original scaleless skin, which comprises morphologically distinct epidermal and dermal layers. These are underlain by insulating blubber that would have augmented streamlining, buoyancy and homeothermy. Additionally, we identify endogenous proteinaceous and lipid constituents, together with keratinocytes and branched melanophores that contain eumelanin pigment. Distributional variation of melanophores across the body suggests countershading, possibly enhanced by physiological adjustments of colour to enable photoprotection, concealment and/or thermoregulation. Convergence of ichthyosaurs with extant marine amniotes thus extends to the ultrastructural and molecular levels, reflecting the omnipresent constraints of their shared adaptation to pelagic life

Mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet from 1992 to 2018

In recent decades, the Greenland Ice Sheet has been a major contributor to global sea-level rise1,2, and it is expected to be so in the future3. Although increases in glacier flow4–6 and surface melting7–9 have been driven by oceanic10–12 and atmospheric13,14 warming, the degree and trajectory of today’s imbalance remain uncertain. Here we compare and combine 26 individual satellite measurements of changes in the ice sheet’s volume, flow and gravitational potential to produce a reconciled estimate of its mass balance. Although the ice sheet was close to a state of balance in the 1990s, annual losses have risen since then, peaking at 335 ± 62 billion tonnes per year in 2011. In all, Greenland lost 3,800 ± 339 billion tonnes of ice between 1992 and 2018, causing the mean sea level to rise by 10.6 ± 0.9 millimetres. Using three regional climate models, we show that reduced surface mass balance has driven 1,971 ± 555 billion tonnes (52%) of the ice loss owing to increased meltwater runoff. The remaining 1,827 ± 538 billion tonnes (48%) of ice loss was due to increased glacier discharge, which rose from 41 ± 37 billion tonnes per year in the 1990s to 87 ± 25 billion tonnes per year since then. Between 2013 and 2017, the total rate of ice loss slowed to 217 ± 32 billion tonnes per year, on average, as atmospheric circulation favoured cooler conditions15 and as ocean temperatures fell at the terminus of Jakobshavn Isbræ16. Cumulative ice losses from Greenland as a whole have been close to the IPCC’s predicted rates for their high-end climate warming scenario17, which forecast an additional 50 to 120 millimetres of global sea-level rise by 2100 when compared to their central estimate

Mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets from 1992 to 2020

Ice losses from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have accelerated since the 1990s, accounting for a significant increase in the global mean sea level. Here, we present a new 29-year record of ice sheet mass balance from 1992 to 2020 from the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE). We compare and combine 50 independent estimates of ice sheet mass balance derived from satellite observations of temporal changes in ice sheet flow, in ice sheet volume, and in Earth's gravity field. Between 1992 and 2020, the ice sheets contributed 21.0±1.9g€¯mm to global mean sea level, with the rate of mass loss rising from 105g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1 between 1992 and 1996 to 372g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1 between 2016 and 2020. In Greenland, the rate of mass loss is 169±9g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1 between 1992 and 2020, but there are large inter-annual variations in mass balance, with mass loss ranging from 86g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1 in 2017 to 444g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1 in 2019 due to large variability in surface mass balance. In Antarctica, ice losses continue to be dominated by mass loss from West Antarctica (82±9g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1) and, to a lesser extent, from the Antarctic Peninsula (13±5g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1). East Antarctica remains close to a state of balance, with a small gain of 3±15g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1, but is the most uncertain component of Antarctica's mass balance. The dataset is publicly available at 10.5285/77B64C55-7166-4A06-9DEF-2E400398E452 (IMBIE Team, 2021)

Tremänning eller syssling : Automatisk sökning i bloggar efter ordisoglosser i Sverige

Ibland används i två dialekter olika ord för samma sak. Syftet med denna studie är att visa vad somkan automatiseras i sökandet efter ord-isoglosser. Detta undersöks genom att skriva och utvärdera ettprogram som genom att analasyera bloggtext söker efter ordisoglosser i Sverige. En isogloss är engeografisk gräns mellan två olika språkliga egenskaper, till exempel prosodi eller betoning, eller som idetta fall ord. Programmet mappar skribentens kommun till orden från bloggtexterna i en databas. Lagttill detta låter programmet användaren söka efter antingen hur vanligt ett ord är i Sveriges kommunerjämfört med riksgenomsnittet; eller vilket av två olika ord som är vanligast inom varje kommun, enligtett två-sidigt proportionstest. Resultatet av de gjorda sökningarna skrevs till en fil och plottades sedanmanuellt. Utvärderingen visar att programmet kan hitta några ordisoglosser mellan kommuner, och attkartorna i viss utsträckning stämmer överrens med de resultat som Parkvall (Parkvall, 2011; Parkvall,2012) påvisar. Detta indikerar att programmet är en bra början för liknande studier. Förbättringar avprogrammet är att användaren tillåts använda reguljära uttryck för att få bort ambuigitet