Verbbøyning: Hva skjer når hjernen får en skade? Eksperimentell evidens fra afasirammede og Alzheimer-pasienter

En test utviklet for å undersøke tilegnelse av preteritumsformer hos barn er gitt til en gruppe afasirammede, det vil si voksne med språkvansker etter fokal hjerneskade. Testen består av bilder av 60 verb representative for de tre store verbklassene i bokmål. De afasirammedes responser sammenlignes med resultatene fra normalspråklige voksne og Alzheimer-pasienter. Som gruppe skårer de afasirammede langt dårligere enn de to andre gruppene. En analyse av hva slags feil informantene gjør, avslører ulike feilmønstre i de tre informantgruppene. Resultatene diskuteres i forhold til hva de forteller om underliggende årsaker til vanskene, leksikonstruktur og bøyningssystem hos informantene, og vi diskuterer mulige konsekvenser for differensialdiagnostisering. Det er store individuelle forskjeller blant de afasirammede, og artikkelen gir også et innblikk i fire individuelle kasus

ALKYMISTENS DRØM OG FRU BERGMANNS KAFFE: Forankring af viden om atombomber og radioaktivitet mellem videnskab og dagligdag i Danmark 1945-1959.

Formålet med artiklen er at undersøge, hvordan viden om kernespaltning, atom- bomber og radioaktivitet cirkulerede mellem det videnskabelige niveau og den danske dagspresse i perioden fra atombombens ankomst i 1945 til 1959, hvor Sundhedsstyrelsen nedlagde forbud mod brugen af opsamlet regnvand som drikkevand hos borgerne på Saltholm på grund af radioaktivitet. Vi argumenterer gennem artiklen for, at offentlighedens skiftendae holdninger til atomteknologi ikke alene bør forstås i relation til en teknologisk og/eller politisk udvikling, men ligeledes må forstås i relation til, hvordan viden blev søgt formidlet (af hvem) og forankret i den offentlige bevidsthed. På det metodiske område vil artiklen præ- sentere en introduktion til socialpsykologiske teorier om sociale repræsentationer af videnskabelig viden i en bredere offentlighed for herigennem at få indsigt i, hvordan viden om atombomben og radioaktivitet blev skabt og genskabt mellem videnskab og ’sund fornuft’ i en dansk kontekst

Perfluoroalkyl substances in circum-ArcticRangifer: caribou and reindeer

Livers of caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) from Canada (n = 146), Greenland (n = 30), Svalbard (n = 7), and Sweden (n = 60) were analyzed for concentrations of eight perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids and four perfluoroalkane sulfonic acids. In Canadian caribou, PFNA (range < 0.01–7.4 ng/g wet weight, ww) and PFUnDA (<0.01–5.6 ng/g ww) dominated, whereas PFOS predominated in samples from South Greenland, Svalbard, and Sweden, although the highest concentrations were found in caribou from Southwest Greenland (up to 28 ng/g ww). We found the highest median concentrations of all PFAS except PFHxS in Akia-Maniitsoq caribou (Southwest Greenland, PFOS 7.2–19 ng/g ww, median 15 ng/g ww). The highest concentrations of ΣPFAS were also found in Akia-Maniitoq caribou (101 ng/g ww) followed by the nearby Kangerlussuaq caribou (45 ng/g ww), where the largest airport in Greenland is situated, along with a former military base. Decreasing trends in concentrations were seen for PFOS in the one Canadian and three Swedish populations. Furthermore, PFNA, PFDA, PFUnDA, PFDoDA, and PFTrDA showed decreasing trends in Canada’s Porcupine caribou between 2005 and 2016. In Sweden, PFHxS increased in the reindeer from Norrbotten between 2003 and 2011. The reindeer from Västerbotten had higher concentrations of PFNA and lower concentrations of PFHxS in 2010 compared to 2002. Finally, we observed higher concentrations in 2010 compared to 2002 (albeit statistically insignificant) for PFHxS in Jämtland, while PFNA, PFDA, PFUnDA, PFDoDA, and PFTrDA showed no difference at all.publishedVersio

Hypermethylated MAL gene – a silent marker of early colon tumorigenesis

Background Tumor-derived aberrantly methylated DNA might serve as diagnostic biomarkers for cancer, but so far, few such markers have been identified. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential of the MAL (T-cell differentiation protein) gene as an early epigenetic diagnostic marker for colorectal tumors. Methods Using methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) the promoter methylation status of MAL was analyzed in 218 samples, including normal mucosa (n = 44), colorectal adenomas (n = 63), carcinomas (n = 65), and various cancer cell lines (n = 46). Direct bisulphite sequencing was performed to confirm the MSP results. MAL gene expression was investigated with real time quantitative analyses before and after epigenetic drug treatment. Immunohistochemical analysis of MAL was done using normal colon mucosa samples (n = 5) and a tissue microarray with 292 colorectal tumors. Results Bisulphite sequencing revealed that the methylation was unequally distributed within the MAL promoter and by MSP analysis a region close to the transcription start point was shown to be hypermethylated in the majority of colorectal carcinomas (49/61, 80%) as well as in adenomas (45/63, 71%). In contrast, only a minority of the normal mucosa samples displayed hypermethylation (1/23, 4%). The hypermethylation of MAL was significantly associated with reduced or lost gene expression in in vitro models. Furthermore, removal of the methylation re-induced gene expression in colon cancer cell lines. Finally, MAL protein was expressed in epithelial cells of normal colon mucosa, but not in the malignant cells of the same type. Conclusion Promoter hypermethylation of MAL was present in the vast majority of benign and malignant colorectal tumors, and only rarely in normal mucosa, which makes it suitable as a diagnostic marker for early colorectal tumorigenesis

Improved outcomes for emergency department patients whose ambulance off-stretcher time is not delayed

Abstract Objective To describe and compare characteristics and outcomes of patients who arrive by ambulance to the ED. We aimed to (i) compare patients with a delayed ambulance offload time (AOT) >30 min with those who were not delayed; and (ii) identify predictors of an ED length of stay (LOS) of >4 h for ambulance-arriving patients. Methods A retrospective, multi-site cohort study was undertaken in Australia using 12 months of linked health data (September 2007–2008). Outcomes of AOT delayed and non-delayed presentations were compared. Logistic regression analysis was undertaken to identify predictors of an ED LOS of >4 h. Results Of the 40 783 linked, analysable ambulance presentations, AOT delay of >30 min was experienced by 15%, and 63% had an ED LOS of >4 h. Patients with an AOT 4 h included: hospital admission, older age, triage category, and offload delay >30 min. Conclusion Patients arriving to the ED via ambulance and offloaded within 30 min experience better outcomes than those delayed. Given that offload delay is a modifiable predictor of an ED LOS of >4 h, targeted improvements in the ED arrival process for ambulance patients might be useful

Identification of an epigenetic biomarker panel with high sensitivity and specificity for colorectal cancer and adenomas

Background The presence of cancer-specific DNA methylation patterns in epithelial colorectal cells in human feces provides the prospect of a simple, non-invasive screening test for colorectal cancer and its precursor, the adenoma. This study investigates a panel of epigenetic markers for the detection of colorectal cancer and adenomas. Methods Candidate biomarkers were subjected to quantitative methylation analysis in test sets of tissue samples from colorectal cancers, adenomas, and normal colonic mucosa. All findings were verified in independent clinical validation series. A total of 523 human samples were included in the study. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the performance of the biomarker panel. Results Promoter hypermethylation of the genes CNRIP1, FBN1, INA, MAL, SNCA, and SPG20 was frequent in both colorectal cancers (65-94%) and adenomas (35-91%), whereas normal mucosa samples were rarely (0-5%) methylated. The combined sensitivity of at least two positives among the six markers was 94% for colorectal cancers and 93% for adenoma samples, with a specificity of 98%. The resulting areas under the ROC curve were 0.984 for cancers and 0.968 for adenomas versus normal mucosa. Conclusions The novel epigenetic marker panel shows very high sensitivity and specificity for both colorectal cancers and adenomas. Our findings suggest this biomarker panel to be highly suitable for early tumor detection

Agrárgazdasági Figyelő = Agricultural Economics Monitor

Gazdasági folyamatok és statisztikai eredmények Az Agrárgazdasági Kutató Intézet "Agrárgazdasági Figyelő" címmel negyedévenként áttekinti a főbb gazdasági folyamatokat és statisztikai eredményeket. A periodika négy állandó területre fokuszál: Az elmúlt negyedévben megjelent információk. Mi történt az agrárgazdaságban? Az AKI kiadványainak fontosabb megállapításai. Az agrárgazdaságot jellemző adatok ("statisztikai zsebkönyv"). Gyakran feltett kérdések (Esetenként szerepeltetjük azokat az alapkérdéseket, amelyek igénylik a közszereplők és érdeklődők tájékoztatását