Immunoglobulin treatment ameliorates myocardial injury in experimental autoimmune myocarditis associated with suppression of reactive oxygen species.

[Aims]We tested the hypothesis that immunoglobulin ameliorated experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) in mice attributing to the suppression of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated myocardial injury. [Methods]We intraperitoneally administered intact type of human immunoglobulin (Ig) or F(ab′)2 fragments of human immunoglobulin, 1 g/kg/day daily for 3 weeks, to male BALB/c mice with heart failure due to EAM. [Results]The results showed that intact type of Ig, but not F(ab′)2 type, reduced the severity of myocarditis by comparing the heart weight/body weight and lung weight/body weight ratios, pericardial effusion score, macroscopic and microscopic scores. Tissue superoxide production was marked in untreated mice with EAM, which was suppressed by the treatment of immunoglobulins. The cytotoxic activities of lymphocytes in mice with EAM treated with Ig were reduced compared with untreated controls. The shift from Th1 toward Th2 cytokine balance was demonstrated by the treatment of immunoglobulins both in vitro and in vivo. [Conclusion]ROS may be involved in the development of myocarditis. Intact Ig ameliorates myocardial damage in mice with myocarditis associated with suppression of ROS and cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes

日露戦争期の都市における多衆行動の一背景 : 新聞号外を焦点として

Summary Background: Management control is important for all kinds of activities, both in trade and industry and in the public sector since you must economize on scarce resources. There are nevertheless many different views on management control, which have changed with the times. With regard to the public sector in Sweden, the management control systems have changed radically the last half century, especially from the 1980s, due to depressions and increased focus on effectiveness. New approaches have been taken by many municipalities and county councils, both in Sweden and internationally, where the former management control systems have been abandoned in favour of result control, target costing, and activity-based-costing, for example. Another new approach has been the Balanced Scorecard, which was introduced by Kaplan & Norton in a pioneering article in 1992. The Balanced scorecard is a multidimensional tool, originally intended to be used in trade and industry, but with regard to its nature, it has been adopted even by many non-commercial organizations, especially in Sweden. The County Councils have generally introduced the concept before the municipalities, even though there is an exception to every rule. One county council which is in the forefront is the County Council of Östergötland, which found the Balanced scorecard interesting as early as in 1992, even though it was then a tentative idea. Today, the whole organization is marked by the Balanced Scorecard approach. Strangely enough, no external evaluation has ever been made of the Balanced scorecard in the County Council of Östergötland, which we consider is an argument for doing so in a master thesis. Purpose: The purpose is to investigate how the primary care sector in the County Council of Östergötland uses the Balanced scorecard as a management control tool, and to discuss if Balanced Scorecard is an appropriate model for managing the organization. Procedure: The study is based on a qualitative method, where we have made six personal interviews with people working at different levels in the primary care sector in the County Council of Östergötland, in order to be able to get some knowledge of the whole chain. This approach coincides with our hermeneutic basic view. We have, with regard to the scarcity of time within the thesis course, been forced to make a delimitation, which means that we have only investigated the primary care in the western part of Östergötland. Then the study contains a documentary investigation, used as the theoretical frame of reference. Results: The results show that the primary care sector in the County Council of Östergötland have been quite successful in their work with the Balanced Scorecard so far. With regard to the management’s purpose, the model is quite adequate to reach their objectives. Nevertheless, we consider that the situation today indicates that they did not use the potential of the scorecards. Further commitments has to be done within the areas of strategic learning and a frame of reference, to be able to use the Balanced Scorecard as a that management control tool its was inteded to be, originallySammanfattning Bakgrund: Ekonomistyrning är viktig i all verksamhet, oavsett om den bedrivs i privata företag eller i offentlig regi, då ekonomi i grunden handlar om att hushålla med knappa resurser. Synen på ekonomistyrning är dock inte homogen och har skiftat över tid. För svenskt vidkommande har ekonomistyrningen inom offentlig sektor under senare år genomgått stora förändringar, inte minst från i mitten av 1980-talet och framåt, en utveckling som varit ett resultat av en ökad fokus på effektivitet och allt knappare ekonomiska ramar, inte minst i kölvattnet av den ekonomiska krisen på 1990-talet. Många kommuner och landsting övergav den traditionella budgetstyrningen till förmån för andra styrverktyg, ofta hämtade från näringslivet. Ett exempel var balanserade styrkort, som ursprungligen introducerades av Kaplan & Norton i en banbrytande artikel 1992 och som fått stor spridning världen över. Balanserade styrkort är ett uttryck för flerdimensionell styrning och var från början ämnat för det privata näringslivet, men har genom sin karaktär vunnit många anhängare också inom offentlig förvaltning, inte minst i Sverige. Landstingen är de organisationer som har varit snabbast att ta till sig konceptet. Till dem som kommit längst hör landstinget i Östergötland, vars intresse vaknade redan samma år som Kaplan & Norton skrev sin artikel. Idag präglar styrkortstänkandet hela organisationen, på alla nivåer. Erfarenheterna av balanserade styrkort i landstinget i Östergötland har däremot inte utretts av någon extern part, vilket är en anledning till varför en sådan studie är motiverad att göra. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur primärvården i landstinget i Östergötland använder och arbetar med balanserade styrkort och om de styr sin verksamhet med hjälp dem, samt om den valda modellen är adekvat för landstinget. Genomförande: För att uppfylla syftet har vi använt oss av en kvalitativ metod, där vi genomfört sex stycken personliga intervjuer med företrädare för primärvården i landstinget i Östergötland, från ekonomidirektören i Landstinget, via regionledningen, ned på enhetsnivå, som utgörs av vårdcentraler. Detta i syfte att få kunskap om hela kedjan, från högsta ledningen till enhetsnivå. Vi har avgränsat vår studie till primärsjukvården i västra länsdelen, eftersom arbetet i annat fall skulle ha blivit alltför tidskrävande inom ramen för uppsatskursen. Intervjumaterialet har kompletterats med en dokumentundersökning, som rymmer teoretisk litteratur och andra sekundärkällor, vilket har använts till referensramen. Slutsatser: Primärvården i landstinget i Östergötland har kommit ganska långt i sitt styrkortsarbete. Utifrån vad ledningen vill få ut av modellen, så är denna förhållandevis adekvat för att nå sitt syfte. Dock menar vi att man i dagsläget inte till fullo styr efter styrkortet. Genom ytterligare satsningar på strategiskt lärande och en tydlig begreppsbas, torde det finnas goda utsikter till att balanserade styrkortet används som ett väl fungerande styrverktyg

Ola Bratteli and his diagrams

This article discusses the life and work of Professor Ola Bratteli (1946--2015). Family, fellow students, his advisor, colleagues and coworkers review aspects of his life and his outstanding mathematical accomplishments.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figure

Effect of SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine on thyroid autoimmunity: A twelve-month follow-up study

ObjectivesGraves’ disease (GD) has been highlighted as a possible adverse effect of the respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine. However, it is unknown if the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine disrupts thyroid autoimmunity. We aimed to present long-term follow-up of thyroid autoimmunity after the SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine.MethodsSerum samples collected from seventy Japanese healthcare workers at baseline, 32 weeks after the second dose (pre-third dose), and 4 weeks after the third dose of the vaccine were analyzed. The time courses of anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody, thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antibody (TRAb), and thyroid function were evaluated. Anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb) and anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) were additionally evaluated in thirty-three participants.ResultsThe median age was 50 (IQR, 38-54) years and 69% were female. The median anti-spike IgG antibody titer was 17627 (IQR, 10898-24175) U/mL 4 weeks after the third dose. The mean TRAb was significantly increased from 0.81 (SD, 0.05) IU/L at baseline to 0.97 (SD, 0.30) IU/L 4 weeks after the third dose without functional changes. An increase in TRAb was positively associated with female sex (β = 0.32, P = 0.008) and low basal FT4 (β = -0.29, P = 0.02) and FT3 (β = -0.33, P = 0.004). TgAb was increased by the third dose. Increase in TgAb was associated with history of the thyroid diseases (β = 0.55, P <0.001).ConclusionsSARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine can disrupt thyroid autoimmunity. Clinicians should consider the possibility that the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine may disrupt thyroid autoimmunity