The reliability of the McCabe score as a marker of co-morbidity in healthcare-associated infection point prevalence studies

This study aimed to ascertain the reliability of the McCabe score in a healthcare-associated infection point prevalence survey.   A 10 European Union Member States survey in 20 hospitals (n = 1912) indicated that there was a moderate level of agreement (κ = 0.57) with the score. The reliability of the application of the score could be increased by training data collectors, particularly with reference to the ultimately fatal criteria. This is important if the score is to be used to risk adjust data to drive infection prevention and control interventions

Rekommendation om måltider för högskolestuderande : Mat ger hälsa.

Motsvarande version på finska har getts ut under namnet Korkeakouluopiskelijoiden ruokailusuositus. Terveyttä ruoasta, 2016. 978-951-669-994-6 (pdf ). Översättning Annika Cavonius.Måltider för studerande vid universitet och yrkeshögskolor subventioneras med statliga medel i form av det måltidsstöd som betalas av FPA. Enligt statsrådets förordning ska måltiderna för studerande fylla de allmänna kvalitetskraven i fråga om hälsosam och näringsrik mat. Den här rekommendationen preciserar förordningen om måltidsstödet och stöder en gynnsam utveckling av de studerandes näringsläge och hälsa. Rekommendationen erbjuder ett arbetsredskap som hjälper studentrestaurangerna vid planeringen och tillredningen av måltider som uppfyller kriterierna för måltidsstöd. Rekommendationen är avsedd som ett arbetsredskap för dem som arbetar inom måltidsservicen och som en informationskälla också för studerande och för dem som svarar för de studerandes hälso- och sjukvård. En studentmåltid ska täcka ungefär en tredjedel av det dagliga energibehovet och följa näringsrekommendationerna till sin sammansättning. Särskild uppmärksamhet måste ägnas åt fetternas och kolhydraternas kvalitet och åt mängden salt. Måltidernas näringskvalitet ska beaktas också vid konkurrensutsättning av studentrestauranger. En studentmåltid ska tillredas av sådana ingredienser som rekommenderas och bilda en helhet som förutom huvudrätt omfattar dryck, sallad, bröd och smörgåsfett. Det måste finnas minst två måltidsalternativ till grundpris att välja mellan. Förutom dem kan man på menyn ha en specialportion, tillredd av dyrare råvaror än de studentmåltider som säljs till grundpris. För planeringen och tillredningen av vegetarisk kost och specialdieter gäller samma rekommendationer som för andra måltider. Det ska finnas en beskrivning av en modellmåltid enligt tallriksmodellen för de studerande och vid behov ska de få vägledning i valet av mat. FPA övervakar att rekommendationen följs. De studerande ska själva ansvara för att dagens övriga måltider och mellanmålen främjar hälsan, viktkontrollen och studieenergin. Det är viktigt att vara uppmärksam både i fråga om fett, kolhydrater och salt och i fråga om måltidsrytmen, portionsstorlekarna, valet av drycker, ett tillräckligt intag av D-vitamin, folat och jod samt tandhälsan

Korkeakouluopiskelijoiden ruokailusuositus : Terveyttä ruoasta

Yliopisto- ja ammattikorkeakouluopiskelijoiden ruokailua tuetaan valtion varoin Kelan maksaman ateriatuen muodossa. Valtioneuvoston asetuksen mukaan opiskelija-aterian tulee täyttää laadultaan yleiset terveydelliset ja ravitsemukselliset vaatimukset. Tämä suositus tarkentaa ateriatukea koskevaa asetusta sekä tukee opiskelijoiden ravitsemuksen ja terveyden myönteistä kehitystä. Suositus tarjoaa työvälineen, joka auttaa opiskelijaravintoloita ateriatuen kriteerit täyttävien aterioiden suunnittelussa ja toteutuksessa. Suositus on tarkoitettu työvälineeksi ruokapalveluhenkilöstölle ja tietolähteeksi myös opiskelijoille ja heidän terveydenhuollostaan vastaaville. Opiskelija-aterian tulee kattaa noin kolmannes päivittäisestä energian tarpeesta ja olla koostumukseltaan ravitsemussuositusten mukainen. Huomiota tulee kiinnittää erityisesti rasvojen ja hiilihydraattien laatuun sekä suolan määrään. Aterioiden ravitsemuksellinen laatu tulee ottaa huomioon myös opiskelijaravintoloiden kilpailutuksessa. Opiskelija-aterian tulee olla suositeltavista ruoka-aineista koostuva ateriakokonaisuus, joka sisältää pääruoan lisäksi juoman, salaatin, leivän ja levitteen. Tarjolla pitää olla vähintään kaksi perushintaista ateriavaihtoehtoa. Näiden lisäksi voidaan tarjota erikoisannos, jonka raaka-ainekustannukset ovat kalliimmat kuin perushintaisessa opiskelija-ateriassa. Kasvis- ja erityisruokavalioiden suunnittelua ja valmistusta koskevat samat suositukset kuin muitakin aterioita. Opiskelijoille tulee kuvata lautasmalliin perustuva malliateria ja antaa tarvittaessa ohjausta ruokavalinnoissa. Kela valvoo suosituksen toteutumista. Opiskelijoiden omalla vastuulla on se, että päivän muutkin ateriat sekä välipalat ovat terveyttä, painonhallintaa ja opiskeluvireyttä tukevia. Tärkeää on kiinnittää huomiota rasvojen, hiilihydraattien ja suolan lisäksi ruokailurytmiin, annoskokoihin, juomien valintaan, D-vitamiinin, folaatin ja jodin riittävään saantiin sekä hammasterveyteen.Toinen, korjattu paino

Genetic determinants of heel bone properties: genome-wide association meta-analysis and replication in the GEFOS/GENOMOS consortium

Quantitative ultrasound of the heel captures heel bone properties that independently predict fracture risk and, with bone mineral density (BMD) assessed by X-ray (DXA), may be convenient alternatives for evaluating osteoporosis and fracture risk. We performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association (GWA) studies to assess the genetic determinants of heel broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA; n = 14 260), velocity of sound (VOS; n = 15 514) and BMD (n = 4566) in 13 discovery cohorts. Independent replication involved seven cohorts with GWA data (in silico n = 11 452) and new genotyping in 15 cohorts (de novo n = 24 902). In combined random effects, meta-analysis of the discovery and replication cohorts, nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) had genome-wide significant (P < 5 × 10(-8)) associations with heel bone properties. Alongside SNPs within or near previously identified osteoporosis susceptibility genes including ESR1 (6q25.1: rs4869739, rs3020331, rs2982552), SPTBN1 (2p16.2: rs11898505), RSPO3 (6q22.33: rs7741021), WNT16 (7q31.31: rs2908007), DKK1 (10q21.1: rs7902708) and GPATCH1 (19q13.11: rs10416265), we identified a new locus on chromosome 11q14.2 (rs597319 close to TMEM135, a gene recently linked to osteoblastogenesis and longevity) significantly associated with both BUA and VOS (P < 8.23 × 10(-14)). In meta-analyses involving 25 cohorts with up to 14 985 fracture cases, six of 10 SNPs associated with heel bone properties at P < 5 × 10(-6) also had the expected direction of association with any fracture (P < 0.05), including three SNPs with P < 0.005: 6q22.33 (rs7741021), 7q31.31 (rs2908007) and 10q21.1 (rs7902708). In conclusion, this GWA study reveals the effect of several genes common to central DXA-derived BMD and heel ultrasound/DXA measures and points to a new genetic locus with potential implications for better understanding of osteoporosis pathophysiology

Genetic predisposition to adiposity is associated with increased objectively assessed sedentary time in young children.

Increased sedentariness has been linked to the growing prevalence of obesity in children, but some longitudinal studies suggest that sedentariness may be a consequence rather than a cause of increased adiposity. We used Mendelian randomization to examine the causal relations between body mass index (BMI) and objectively assessed sedentary time and physical activity in 3-8 year-old children from one Finnish and two Danish cohorts [NTOTAL=679]. A genetic risk score (GRS) comprised of 15 independent genetic variants associated with childhood BMI was used as the instrumental variable to test causal effects of BMI on sedentary time, total physical activity, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). In fixed effects meta-analyses, the GRS was associated with 0.05 SD/allele increase in sedentary time (P=0.019), but there was no significant association with total physical activity (beta=0.011 SD/allele, P=0.58) or MVPA (beta=0.001 SD/allele, P=0.96), adjusting for age, sex, monitor wear-time and first three genome-wide principal components. In two-stage least squares regression analyses, each genetically instrumented one unit increase in BMI z-score increased sedentary time by 0.47 SD (P=0.072). Childhood BMI may have a causal influence on sedentary time but not on total physical activity or MVPA in young children. Our results provide important insights into the regulation of movement behaviour in childhood

Hostility in adolescents and adults : a genome-wide association study of the Young Finns

Peer reviewe

Time-dependent integrity during storage of natural surface water samples for the trace analysis of pharmaceutical products, feminizing hormones and pesticides

Monitoring and analysis of trace contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and pesticides require the preservation of the samples before they can be quantified using the appropriate analytical methods. Our objective is to determine the sample shelf life to insure proper quantification of ultratrace contaminants. To this end, we tested the stability of a variety of pharmaceutical products including caffeine, natural steroids, and selected pesticides under refrigerated storage conditions. The analysis was performed using multi-residue methods using an on-line solid-phase extraction combined with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (SPE-LC-MS/MS) in the selected reaction monitoring mode. After 21 days of storage, no significant difference in the recoveries was observed compared to day 0 for pharmaceutical products, while for pesticides, significant losses occurred for DIA and simazine after 10 days (14% and 17% reduction respectively) and a statistically significant decrease in the recovery was noted for cyanazine (78% disappearance). However, the estrogen and progestogen steroids were unstable during storage. The disappearance rates obtained after 21 days of storage vary from 63 to 72% for the feminizing hormones. Overall, pharmaceuticals and pesticides seem to be stable for refrigerated storage for up to about 10 days (except cyanazine) and steroidal hormones can be quite sensitive to degradation and should not be stored for more than a few days

Site fertility drives temporal turnover of vegetation at high latitudes

Experimental evidence shows that site fertility is a key modulator underlying plant community changes under climate change. Communities on fertile sites, with species having fast dynamics, have been found to react more strongly to climate change than communities on infertile sites with slow dynamics. However, it is still unclear whether this generally applies to high-latitude plant communities in natural environments at broad spatial scales. We tested a hypothesis that vegetation of fertile sites experiences greater changes over several decades and thus would be more responsive under contemporary climate change compared to infertile sites that are expected to show more resistance. We resurveyed understorey communities (vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens) of four infertile and four fertile forest sites along a latitudinal bioclimatic gradient. Sites had remained outside direct human disturbance. We analyzed the magnitude of temporal community turnover, changes in the abundances of plant morphological groups and strategy classes, and changes in species diversity. In agreement with our hypothesis, temporal turnover of communities was consistently greater on fertile sites compared to infertile sites. However, our results suggest that the larger turnover of fertile communities is not primarily related to the direct effects of climatic warming. Furthermore, community changes in both fertile and infertile sites showed remarkable variation in terms of shares of plant functional groups and strategy classes and measures of species diversity. This further emphasizes the essential role of baseline environmental conditions and nonclimatic drivers underlying vegetation changes. Our results show that site fertility is a key determinant of the overall rate of high-latitude vegetation changes but the composition of plant communities in different ecological contexts is variously impacted by nonclimatic drivers over time.Peer reviewe