From Screening to Therapy: Anti-HCV Screening and Linkage to Care in a Network of General Practitioners and a Private Gastroenterology Practice

(1) Background: Low rates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) diagnosis and sub-optimal linkage to care constitute barriers toward eliminating the infection. In 2012/2013, we showed that HCV screening in primary care detects unknown cases. However, hepatitis C patients may not receive further diagnostics and therapy because they drop out during the referral pathway to secondary care. Thus, we used an existing network of primary care physicians and a practice of gastroenterology to investigate the pathway from screening to therapy. (2) Methods: HCV screening was prospectively included in a routine check-up of primary care physicians who cooperated regularly with a private gastroenterology practice. Anti-HCV-positive patients were referred for further specialized diagnostics and treatment if indicated. (3) Results: Seventeen primary care practices screened 1875 patients. Twelve individuals were anti-HCV-positive (0.6%), six of them reported previous antiviral HCV therapy, and one untreated patient was HCV-RNA-positive (0.05% of the population). None of the 12 anti-HCV-positive cases showed up at the private gastroenterology practice. Further clinical details of the pathway from screening to therapy could not be analyzed. (4) Conclusions: The linkage between primary and secondary care appears to be problematic in the HCV setting even among cooperating partners, but robust conclusions require larger datasets

Biologiundervisning på gymnasiet: en jämförelse mellan Sverige och Tyskland

Examensarbetet handlar om en jämförelse av Sveriges och Tysklands skolsystem på gymnasienivå. Syftet är, att utifrån ett lärarperspektiv analysera hur de två olika skolsystemen påverkar undervisning i ämnet biologi. Jämförelsen är baserad på båda ländernas styrdokument samt informationsmaterial som finns allmänt tillgänglig på myndigheternas informationsplattformer och stöds med lärarintervjuer som genomfördes i gymnasieskolor i Sverige och i Tyskland. Den största skillnaden är att Tyskland har ett centralstyrt utbildningssystem där ansvaret ligger på delstaternas regering medan ansvaret för utbildningen i Sverige ligger på varje enskild kommun. En stor skillnad finns i båda ländernas slutexamen. Det tyska ”Abitur” som ger högskolebehörighet är ett helhetsbetyg av alla kurser som ingår i antagningskraven under de sista två åren och prestanda i slutexamen. I motsats till det tyska systemet finns inget slutprov eller slutexamen i den svenska ”studenten”. Resultat visar att elevernas och lärarnas förutsättningar från tyska Sekundarstufe 1 och svenska grundskolan skiljer sig signifikant. I Sverige ingår ämnet biologi i det naturvetenskapliga programmet som är en av sex högskoleförberedande utbildningar på gymnasienivå. I Tyskland är biologi ett av fyra möjliga naturvetenskapliga ämnen som ingår i ”Abitur”. I den svenska biologiundervisningen satsar man på en kombination av teori och praktik medan utbildningen i Tyskland är mestadels teoretisk. Den svenska ämnesplanen fokuserar på att förmedla ämnets bredd medan den tyska ämnesplanen fokuserar på specifika områden som undervisas på djupet. Gymnasieskolor i Sverige erbjuder elevdatorer och har ett intranät där kommunikation mellan lärare och elever sker utanför klassrummet. Detta är ganska ovanligt i Tyskland. Däremot är alla läroböcker som används i skolan granskade av skolministeriet som är inte fallet i Sverige. I slutet av studien diskuteras om det borde vara möjligt att överföra en styrka från ett skolsystem till det andra skolsystemet

Imagining coherence. Local discourses about identities, tradition and religion in Pangani, Tanzania

MasteroppgaveSANT350MASV-SAN

High cell density cultivation of mast cells in fluidized-bed and fixed-bed bioreactors

Noll T. High cell density cultivation of mast cells in fluidized-bed and fixed-bed bioreactors. Presented at the 17th European Society for Animal Cell Technology (ESACT) Meeting on Cell Based Technologies, Sweden

Bioprocess Development for the cultivation of human T-lymphocytes

Bohnenkamp H, Hilbert U, Noll T. Bioprocess Development for the cultivation of human T-lymphocytes. Presented at the 17th European Society for Animal Cell Technology (ESACT) Meeting on Cell Based Technologies, Sweden

Cultivation of human CMV-specific lymphocytes - an example for adoptive immunoterapy

Hilbert U, Biselli M, Noll T. Cultivation of human CMV-specific lymphocytes - an example for adoptive immunoterapy. Presented at the 17th European Society for Animal Cell Technology (ESACT) Meeting on Cell Based Technologies, Sweden

Effects of pH, salt and time on ligand binding properties of overexpressed melanocortin 4 receptor.

The G-protein coupled melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4r) plays an important role in the energy metabolism. We overexpressed the MC4r in CHO cells and performed characterisation studies on the cell membranes to determine functional stability and ligand binding properties of the receptor. The affinity for the ligands [Nle4, Image-Phe7]-αMSH and MTII was lost below pH 6 but could be restored by returning to physiological pH. Increasing NaCl concentration up to 1 M had little influence on the binding of either ligand. At neutral pH, physiological salt concentration and 4 °C the ligand affinity of the receptor was stable for up to 6 days. These findings will facilitate design of purification methods for the receptor

From Screening to Therapy: Anti-HCV Screening and Linkage to Care in a Network of General Practitioners and a Private Gastroenterology Practice

(1) Background: Low rates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) diagnosis and sub-optimal linkage to care constitute barriers toward eliminating the infection. In 2012/2013, we showed that HCV screening in primary care detects unknown cases. However, hepatitis C patients may not receive further diagnostics and therapy because they drop out during the referral pathway to secondary care. Thus, we used an existing network of primary care physicians and a practice of gastroenterology to investigate the pathway from screening to therapy. (2) Methods: HCV screening was prospectively included in a routine check-up of primary care physicians who cooperated regularly with a private gastroenterology practice. Anti-HCV-positive patients were referred for further specialized diagnostics and treatment if indicated. (3) Results: Seventeen primary care practices screened 1875 patients. Twelve individuals were anti-HCV-positive (0.6%), six of them reported previous antiviral HCV therapy, and one untreated patient was HCV-RNA-positive (0.05% of the population). None of the 12 anti-HCV-positive cases showed up at the private gastroenterology practice. Further clinical details of the pathway from screening to therapy could not be analyzed. (4) Conclusions: The linkage between primary and secondary care appears to be problematic in the HCV setting even among cooperating partners, but robust conclusions require larger datasets