Behavioral profiles of adolescent alcohol-preferring/non-preferring (P/NP) and high/low alcohol-drinking (HAD/LAD) rats are dependent on line but not sex

Initial contact with alcohol generally occurs during adolescence, and high consumption during this period is associated with increased risk for later alcohol (AUDs) and/or substance use disorders (SUDs). Rodents selectively bred for high or low alcohol consumption are used to identify behavioral characteristics associated with a propensity for high or low voluntary alcohol intake. The multivariate concentric square field (TM) (MCSF) is a behavioral test developed to study rodents in a semi-naturalistic setting. Testing in the MCSF creates a comprehensive behavioral profile in a single trial. The current aim was to examine the behavioral profiles of adolescent, bidirectionally selectively bred male and female high alcohol-consuming (P and HAD1/2) and low alcohol-consuming (NP and LAD1/2) rat lines, and outbred Wistar rats. Alcohol-naive rats were tested once in the MCSF at an age between postnatal days 30 and 35. No common behavioral profile was found for either high or low alcohol-consuming rat lines, and the effect of sex was small. The P/NP and HAD2/LAD2 lines showed within pair-dependent differences, while the HAD1/LAD1 lines were highly similar. The P rats displayed high activity and risk-associated behaviors, whereas HAD2 rats displayed low activity, high shelter-seeking behavior, and open area avoidance. The results from P rats parallel clinical findings that denser family history and risk-taking behavior are strong predictors of future AUDs, often with early onset. Contrarily, the HAD2 behavioral profile was similar to individuals experiencing negative emotionality, which also is associated with a vulnerability to develop, often with a later onset, AUDs and/or SUDs

Presenting symptoms and clinical findings in HPV-positive and HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancer patients

Objectives: Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is divided in two different disease entities depending on HPV involvement. We investigated differences in presenting symptoms and clinical findings in patients with HPV-positive and -negative OPSCC tumors. Methods: Altogether 118 consecutive patients diagnosed with primary OPSCC between 2012 and 2014 at the Helsinki University Hospital were included. HPV-status of the tumors was assessed by PCR detection of HPV DNA and immunostaining with p16-INK4a antibody. Results: Fifty-one (47.7%) of the patients had HPV-positive and 56 (52.3%) HPV-negative tumors. Forty-nine (49/51, 96.1%) of the HPV+ tumors were also p16+ showing high concordance. The most common presenting symptom among HPV+/p16+ patients was a neck mass (53.1%), whereas any sort of pain in the head and neck area was more frequently related to the HPV-/p16- (60.0%) group. HPV+/p16+ tumors had a tendency to locate in the tonsillar complex and more likely had already spread into regional lymph nodes compared with HPV-/p16- tumors. Smoking and heavy alcohol consumption were significantly more common among HPV-/p16- patients but also rather common among HPV+/p16+ patients. Conclusions: This analysis of symptoms and signs confirm that OPSCC can be dichotomized in two distinct disease entities as defined by HPV status.Peer reviewe

Adolescent behavior : Links to early-life stress and alcohol in male and female rats

Adolescence is an important developmental phase with large changes in behavior, physiology and neurobiology, which transform an individual from immature child to independent adult. Due to these changes, adolescence is a sensitive period for exposure to environmental factors such as stress and drug exposure; it is also a common age of onset for alcohol consumption as well as several psychiatric disorders. Despite these factors, less is known about this developmental period than regarding adult individuals. Behavior is regulated by the central nervous system and can be used as a lens to study these processes as well as for examination of associations between individual differences, early-life stress and alcohol. The aim of this thesis was to experimentally examine adolescent behavior and its links to early-life stress and alcohol in adolescent male and female rats. Different behavioral tests were used to profile adolescent animals together with animal models of early-life stress, voluntary alcohol consumption and alcohol exposure. In addition, stress responsiveness after early-life stress and the impact of alcohol exposure on endogenous opioid peptide levels as well as blood alcohol concentrations were examined. The adolescent behavioral profile in the multivariate concentric square field™ (MCSF) was characterized and validated against the elevated plus maze and open field tests. The main finding was subgroups based on individual variation that revealed three distinct behavioral types: Explorers, Shelter seekers and Main type animals. This pattern was replicated in an additional, independent cohort. Early-life stress, modelled by prolonged maternal separation, showed small effects on behavior in the MCSF and on social play behavior. However, an effect on stress responsiveness in males but not females subjected to prolonged maternal separation was discovered. Predisposition for high alcohol consumption did not have a shared behavioral profile among selectively bred rat lines. However, a subgroup of high drinking individuals in an outbred cohort showed behavioral similarities to one of the selectively bred lines. Alcohol exposure showed small, but sex-dependent, effects on behavior and endogenous opioid peptide levels. Together, these studies provide new information about adolescent behavior and associations to early-life stress and alcohol in males and females, relationships not extensively studied in adolescence

Adolescent behavior : Links to early-life stress and alcohol in male and female rats

Adolescence is an important developmental phase with large changes in behavior, physiology and neurobiology, which transform an individual from immature child to independent adult. Due to these changes, adolescence is a sensitive period for exposure to environmental factors such as stress and drug exposure; it is also a common age of onset for alcohol consumption as well as several psychiatric disorders. Despite these factors, less is known about this developmental period than regarding adult individuals. Behavior is regulated by the central nervous system and can be used as a lens to study these processes as well as for examination of associations between individual differences, early-life stress and alcohol. The aim of this thesis was to experimentally examine adolescent behavior and its links to early-life stress and alcohol in adolescent male and female rats. Different behavioral tests were used to profile adolescent animals together with animal models of early-life stress, voluntary alcohol consumption and alcohol exposure. In addition, stress responsiveness after early-life stress and the impact of alcohol exposure on endogenous opioid peptide levels as well as blood alcohol concentrations were examined. The adolescent behavioral profile in the multivariate concentric square field™ (MCSF) was characterized and validated against the elevated plus maze and open field tests. The main finding was subgroups based on individual variation that revealed three distinct behavioral types: Explorers, Shelter seekers and Main type animals. This pattern was replicated in an additional, independent cohort. Early-life stress, modelled by prolonged maternal separation, showed small effects on behavior in the MCSF and on social play behavior. However, an effect on stress responsiveness in males but not females subjected to prolonged maternal separation was discovered. Predisposition for high alcohol consumption did not have a shared behavioral profile among selectively bred rat lines. However, a subgroup of high drinking individuals in an outbred cohort showed behavioral similarities to one of the selectively bred lines. Alcohol exposure showed small, but sex-dependent, effects on behavior and endogenous opioid peptide levels. Together, these studies provide new information about adolescent behavior and associations to early-life stress and alcohol in males and females, relationships not extensively studied in adolescence

Behavioral Profiling in Early Adolescence and Early Adulthood of Male Wistar Rats After Short and Prolonged Maternal Separation

Early-life stress and its possible correlations to genes, environment, and later health outcomes can only be studied retrospectively in humans. Animal models enable the exploration of such connections with prospective, well-controlled study designs. However, with the recent awareness of replicability issues in preclinical research, the reproducibility of results from animal models has been highlighted. The present study aims to reproduce the behavioral effects of maternal separation (MS) previously observed in the multivariate concentric square field(TM) (MCSF) test. A second objective was to replicate the adolescent behavioral profiles previously described in the MCSF test. Male rats, subjected to short or prolonged MS or standard rearing, were subjected to behavioral testing in early adolescence and early adulthood. As seen in previous studies, the behavioral effects of MS in the MCSF were small at both tested time points. When tested in early adolescence, the animals exhibited a similar behavioral profile as previously seen, and the finding of adolescent behavioral types was also reproduced. The distribution of animals into the behavioral types was different than in the initial study, but in a manner consistent with developmental theories, as the current cohort was younger than the previous. Notably, the Shelter seeker behavioral type persisted through development, while the Explorer type did not. The lack of basal behavioral effect after MS is in line with the literature on this MS paradigm; the working hypothesis is that the prolonged MS gives rise to a phenotype predisposed to negative health outcomes but which is not apparent without additional provocation

Effektivisering av informationsflödet för order med speciella kundkrav

Konkurrensen mellan producerande företag ökar idag i takt med att kundernas krav på kvalitet och flexibilitet ökar. Ett producerande företags förmåga att skapa flexibilitet efter kundens önskemål bygger på en väl fungerande verksamhet med god kommunikation mellan de anställda. Med hög kundanpassning ökar mängden information som måste hanteras i verksamheten vilket ställer krav på företaget att utveckla ett väl fungerande informationsflöde. För att utveckla ett konkurrenskraftigt företag eftersöks den perfekta kombinationen av filosofi, processer, personal och problemlösningsverktyg. Till hjälp för att finna denna kombination väljer ett stort antal företag att gå i den framgångsrika biltillverkaren Toyotas fotspår. Toyotas framgångsmodell står för att skapa värde för kunden genom att eliminera icke värdeskapande aktiviteter i hela verksamheten. Framgångsmodellen bygger på att skapa en resurssnål produktion vilket går under termen Lean produktion. Företaget OSTP i Örnsköldsvik är specialiserade på att tillverka svetsade och rostfria rördelar. Produkternas användningsområden ställer höga krav på kvalitet vilket har bidragit till att kundernas efterfrågan på speciella kundkrav angående kontroll och provning av materialet och produkterna har ökat. Ökningen av kundkrav har förorsakat en ökad belastning på de avdelningar som hanterar order med speciella kundkrav vilket är det bakomliggande problemområdet för detta examensarbete. OSTP i Örnsköldsvik vill förbättra företagets informationsflöde för projektorder som består av de order som innefattar speciella kundkrav. Företaget vill även effektivisera processen för projektorder med målet att minska företagets leveransförseningar. Med hjälp av intervjuer och observationer har en kartläggning av processen för projektorder utfärdats och värdeflödet identifieras. Kartläggningen och det identifierade värdeflödet har visat på ett antal iakttagelser med möjlighet till förbättring. Iakttagelserna har sammanställts och utvärderats där det har framgått att informationskvaliten står för den största orsaken till de aktiviteter som inte är värdeskapande i informationsflödet. Informationskvaliten har visat sig vara opålitlig vilket orsakat osäkerhet hos de anställda. Med litteraturstudier som stöd har iakttagelserna analyserat och utvärderats för att resultera i ett antal förbättringsförslag. Analysen har visat att orsaker till problem i informationsflödet i flera fall är kopplade till sammanställningen av kundkraven. För övriga iakttagelser i processen för projektorder har analysen visat att problem som uppstår är orsakade av stora lager mellan processerna samt bristande standardiserat arbete och teamwork. De identifierade iakttagelsernas förbättringsförslag ligger till grund för den fastställda slutsatsen och till de rekommendationer som är framtagna till företaget. Dessa rekommendationer är anpassade för att kunna appliceras i OSTPs eget förbättringsarbete som bygger på de verktyg och tekniker som används inom Lean produktion. Rekommendationerna är uppdelade i förbättringar som på ett effektivt sätt ger resultat på kort sikt och förbättringar som ger ett hållbart resultat på lång sikt. Förbättringsmöjligheter som rekommenderas på kort sikt är att införa struktur och standardiserat arbete för alla processer, minska lagren så att problem förs upp V till ytan och att företaget ska upprätthålla och utveckla lagarbetet i och mellan alla processer. Förbättringsmöjligheterna som rekommenderas på lång sikt bygger på att de kortsiktiga förbättringarna upprätthålls. Rekommendationer på långsikt är att minska lagren mellan alla processer med hjälp av mindre batchstorlekar, korta ner ledtiderna, bygga in kvalitet i hela verksamheten, arbeta effektivt med produktionsplanering, utbilda och utveckla en flexibel personal samt att skapa en tydligare filosofi inom företaget där alla engagerat strävar mot samma mål

40+ äntligen tid för lite spinning! En pilotstudie om vardagsmotionsvanor bland svenska kvinnor i medelåldern

Den här presentationen bygger på en pilotstudie om medelålders kvinnor och idrott genomförd under våren 2013. Studien är utformad mot bakgrund av statistiska centralbyråns, SCBs material samlat inom ramen för ULF, undersökningar av levnadsförhållanden. Databasen ULF innehåller statistisk information om hur levnadsförhållanden i Sverige ser ut bland olika grupper. Områden som behandlas i är bland annat boende, ekonomi, hälsa, fritid, sociala relationer, sysselsättning och trygghet. Uppgifterna som publiceras i samlas in genom telefonintervjuer med ett urval av Sveriges befolkning över 16 år

Arbetsuppgiftens påverkan på motivation och presation

Validerat; 20101217 (root

40+ äntligen tid för lite spinning! En pilotstudie om vardagsmotionsvanor bland svenska kvinnor i medelåldern

Den här presentationen bygger på en pilotstudie om medelålders kvinnor och idrott genomförd under våren 2013. Studien är utformad mot bakgrund av statistiska centralbyråns, SCBs material samlat inom ramen för ULF, undersökningar av levnadsförhållanden. Databasen ULF innehåller statistisk information om hur levnadsförhållanden i Sverige ser ut bland olika grupper. Områden som behandlas i är bland annat boende, ekonomi, hälsa, fritid, sociala relationer, sysselsättning och trygghet. Uppgifterna som publiceras i samlas in genom telefonintervjuer med ett urval av Sveriges befolkning över 16 år

Key Push and Pull Factors Affecting Return to Work Identified by Patients With Long-Term Pain and General Practitioners in Sweden

Research shows that working is positive for people with long-term pain but that work-related support from health professionals is inadequate. One explanation for this inadequacy is that patients and providers differ in terms of perspectives on motivation to work. In this article, we compare factors that 31 patients and 15 general practitioners consider important to promote return to work for people with long-term pain. We analyzed the interviews with thematic analysis and a motivational push and pull framework to cover different motivational factors, societal and individual, that might push or pull patients from or toward work. Providers said that a difference between working and nonworking patients is their level of individual motivation, while the patients’ stories showed that the main difference was the physical (non)ability to push themselves to work. We suggest that work-related support can be improved by addressing such differences in clinical practice