Ethnicity, self-reported health, discrimination and socio-economic status: a study of Sami and non-Sami Norwegian populations

Vitenskapelig artikkel som utforsker sammenhengen mellom etnisitet, sosiale faktorer og selv-rapportert helse i samiske og ikke-samiske populasjoner i Norge.Objectives: investigate the association between ethnicity, social factors and self-reported health conditions of Sami and non-Sami Norwegian populations. Study design: cross-sectional questionnaire. Methods: SAMINOR is a population-based study of health and living conditions that was conducted in 24 municipalities in northern Norway during 2003 and 2004. The present study included 12,265 individuals aged between 36 and 79, whose ethnicity was categorized as Sami (33.1%), Kven (7.8%) and Norwegian majority population (59.1%). Results: Sami respondents reported inferior health conditions in comparison to the Norwegian majority population. The most unsatisfactory conditions were reported by Sami females living outside the defined Sami area (with greater integration and assimilation) (p<0.05). Females typically reported less favourable health conditions than did males. Health inequalities varied by age and were more apparent in persons aged in their mid-50s or above. Across ethnic groups, respondents with the highest education and household income were healthier than others. Furthermore, those reporting to have been frequently discriminated against were more likely to report poorer health than those who did not; the odds ratios (95% CI) was found to be 2.88 (1.92-4.32) for women and 1.61 (1.08-2.42) for men. When discrimination was included in the logistical model, the increased risk of poor self-reported health decreased to non-significance for Sami respondents. The estimated risk decreased further when the socio-economic status was taken into account. Conclusions: the findings of this study suggest that self-reported ethnic discrimination combined with low socio-economic status contributes to inequalities in self-reported health when Sami and Norwegian majority population are compared

Prevalence and characteristics of depressive disorders in type 1 diabetes

Background: Persons with diabetes and depression have increased risk of complications and increased mortality. We aimed to investigate the prevalence, clinical characteristics and impact with regard to glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) of depressive disorders in persons with type 1 diabetes at an outpatient specialist diabetes clinic. Findings: A total of 51 persons with type 1 diabetes were diagnosed according to Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I) with regard to dysthymia and previous or ongoing depressive episodes during spring 2005. HbA1c was measured at the day of the interview, and self-reported information on family history of depressive disorders was obtained. Eight persons (16%; 95% CI: 7%, 29%) were in the midst of a major depressive episode, 4 of these also reported a previous episode of depression. Seven of the 8 persons with an ongoing major depressive episode met the criteria for melancholia. Three persons (6%) met the criteria for dysthymia, and 6 persons (12%) had previous episode(s) of depression, without being currently depressed. The 17 (33%; 95% CI: 21%, 48%) persons with ongoing and/or previous depressive disorder had increased HbA1c (8.5%; 95% CI: 7.6%, 9.4%) compared to those without depressive disorders (7.9%; 95% CI: 7.5%, 8.3%), although the difference did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: Persons with type 1 diabetes had a high prevalence of depressive disorders, mainly depressive episodes that also met the criteria for melancholia, a subtype often considered a more serious and “biologic” form of depression. We were not able to demonstrate that persons with depressive disorders had poorer regulated diabetes compared to those without depressive disorders

Editorial: Semantic Algorithms in the Assessment of Attitudes and Personality

Editorial on the Research Topic Semantic Algorithms in the Assessment of Attitudes and Personalit

No association between long-chain n-3 fatty acid intake during pregnancy and risk of type 1 diabetes in offspring in two large Scandinavian pregnancy cohorts

Aims/hypothesis The aim of this study was to investigate whether higher dietary intake of marine n-3 fatty acids during pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of type 1 diabetes in children. Methods The Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) and the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) together include 153,843 mother–child pairs with prospectively collected data on eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake during pregnancy from validated food frequency questionnaires. Type 1 diabetes diagnosis in children (n=634) was ascertained from national diabetes registries. Results There was no association between the sum of EPA and DHA intake during pregnancy and risk of type 1 diabetes in offspring (pooled HR per g/day of intake: 1.00, 95% CI 0.88, 1.14), with consistent results for both the MoBa and the DNBC. Robustness analyses gave very similar results. Conclusions/interpretation Initiation of a trial of EPA and DHA during pregnancy to prevent type 1 diabetes in offspring should not be prioritised.publishedVersio

Prenatal iron exposure and childhood type 1 diabetes

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to all the participating families in Norway who take part in this on-going cohort study. We thank Dr. Maria Vistnes at Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway for help with cytokine assays, PM Ueland and Ø Midttun at BEVITAL, Bergen, Norway, for neopterin and KTR assay, and Kathleen Gillespie at Bristol University, UK for confirmatory HLA genotyping. The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services and the Ministry of Education and Research, NIH/NIEHS (contract no N01-ES-75558), NIH/NINDS (grant no. 1 UO1 NS 047537-01 and grant no. 2 UO1 NS 047537-06A1). The sub-study was funded by a research grant from the Research Council of Norway. The Norwegian Childhood Diabetes Registry is financed by the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority. Dr London was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Dr Størdal was supported by an unrestricted grant from Oak Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Maternal gluten, cereal, and dietary fiber intake during pregnancy and lactation and the risk of islet autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes in the child

Background &amp; aims: Maternal gluten intake in relation to child's risk of type 1 diabetes has been studied in few prospective studies considering the diet during pregnancy but none during lactation. Our aim was to study whether gluten, cereals, or dietary fiber in maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation is associated with the risk of islet autoimmunity or type 1 diabetes in the offspring. Methods: We included 4943 children with genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes from the Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) Study, born between 1996 and 2004. Maternal intake of gluten, different types of cereals, and dietary fiber were derived from a semi-quantitative validated food frequency questionnaire covering the eighth month of pregnancy and the third month of lactation. Children were monitored for islet autoantibodies up to age of 15 years and type 1 diabetes until year 2017. Risk of islet autoimmunity and clinical type 1 diabetes were estimated using Cox regression model, adjusted for energy intake, child's sex, HLA genotype, and familial diabetes. Results: Altogether 312 children (6.4%) developed islet autoimmunity at median age of 3.5 (IQR 1.7, 6.6) years and 178 children (3.6%) developed type 1 diabetes at median age of 7.1 (IQR 4.3, 10.6) years. Gluten intake during pregnancy was not associated with islet autoimmunity (HR 0.96; 95% CI 0.68, 1.35), per 1&nbsp;g/MJ increase in intake nor type 1 diabetes (HR 0.96; 95% CI 0.62, 1.50) in the offspring. Higher barley consumption during lactation was associated with increased risk of type 1 diabetes (HR 3.25; 95% CI 1.21, 8.70) per 1&nbsp;g/MJ increase in intake. Maternal intake of other cereals or dietary fiber was not associated with the offspring outcomes. Conclusions: We observed no association between maternal intake of gluten, most consumed cereals, or dietary fiber during pregnancy or lactation and the risk of islet autoimmunity or type 1 diabetes in children from a high-risk population

A fully general operational semantics for UML sequence diagrams with potential and mandatory choice

UML sequence diagrams is a specification language that has proved itself to be of great value in system development. When put to applications such as simulation, testing and other kinds of automated analysis there is a need for formal semantics. Such methods of automated analysis are by nature operational, and this motivates formalizing an operational semantics. In this report we present an operational semantics for UML 2.0 sequence diagrams that we believe gives a solid starting point for developing methods for automated analysis. The operational semantics has been proved to be sound and complete with respect to a denotational semantics for the same language. It handles negative behavior as well as potential and mandatory choice. We are not aware of any other operational semantics for sequence diagrams of this strength

In memory of Marius

Thanks for teaching me what really matters in lif