'Nordic values’ and schooling during COVID-19 : how to balance comprehensive education and sustainable pandemic regulations

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The channels for important new knowledge to medical doctors. The case of Helicobacter pylori and stomach and duodenal ulcers

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/OpenA retrospective survey of the flow of information to medical doctors as regards the relationship between Helicobacter pylori and stomach and duodenal ulcer and other gastrointestinal diseases. This is the Icelandic part of a joint study in five Nordic countries. Objective: The objective of the research was to assess the effectiveness of different sources of information, to measure the length of time it takes for the information to spread and influence medical practice. Material and methods: The information was collected with the help of questionnaires that were sent to 159 general practitioners (GP) and 110 physicians in three medical specialities. Among the questions asked were when and how the information had reached the respondents and when and how it had influenced their medical practices. Results: The knowledge about Helicobacter pylori had generally reached medical doctors six to eight years after it first appeared in the medical journals and had three years later led to changes in the routine examinations and treatment. The specialists got the news one to three years earlier than the GPs and also started to prescribe antibiotics one to three years earlier. The most frequently cited source of information was international medical journals, then scientific conferences, colleagues and The Icelandic Medical Journal. The most important source was considered to be international medical journals, then scientific conferences and colleagues. A certain difference was found between GPs and the specialist doctors. More GPs said they had got information from the pharmaceutical industry or through The Icelandic Medical Journal and relied on clinical diagnosis. More specialist doctors considered the most important source of new knowledge to be the colleagues, they also said they used endoscopy and took tissue samples more often and more often considered it correct to do so. Conclusions: Only a decade after the first reports on Helicobacter pylori appeared in medical journals most Icelandic doctors had got the knowledge and were prescribing appropriate treatment, the specialist doctors in the lead. International medical journals spread the news most effectively but The Icelandic Medical Journal played only a minor role. The question is if the process could have been accelerated any further by some more hitting Icelandic news and by more definite initiative in framing guidelines.Lýst er afturskyggnri rannsókn á upplýsingaflæði til lækna af tengslum Helicobacter pylori við sár í maga og skeifugörn og fleiri meltingarfærasjúkdóma. Þetta er íslenski hlutinn af sameiginlegri rannsókn í fimm Norðurlöndum. Tilgangur: Tilgangur rannsóknarinnar var að fá fram mynd af virkni dreifingarleiða faglegrar þekkingar og sjá hve lengi merk tíðindi eru að berast og valda breytingum á hefbundnum vinnubrögðum. Efniviður og aðferðir: Sendir voru spurningalistar til 159 íslenskra heimilislækna og 110 lækna í þremur sérgreinum. Meðal annars var spurt hvenær og hvaðan umrædd frétt barst, hvenær og hvernig hún breytti vinnubrögðum við greiningu og meðferð. Niðurstöður: Tíðindin um H. pylori höfðu almennt borist læknum sex til átta árum eftir fyrstu skrif um þau í fagritum og þremur árum síðar höfðu þau leitt til viðeigandi breytinga á rannsóknum og meðferð. Sérgreinalæknarnir fengu fréttirnar einu til þremur árum á undan heimilislæknunum og fóru einnig einu til þremur árum á undan þeim að nota sýklalyf í meðferð sýrusára. Fróðleiksuppspretturnar, sem flestir nefndu, voru erlend fagrit, þá vísindaráðstefnur, starfssystkini og íslenskt fagrit. Mikilvægustu heimild töldu flestir erlend fagrit, þá vísindaráðstefnur og starfssystkini. Viss munur kom fram á heimilislæknahópnum og sérgreinalæknahópnum. Fleiri heimilislæknar sögðust fá fréttir frá lyfjaiðnaðinum, fleiri lesa þær í Læknablaðinu og treysta fleiri á klíníska sjúkdómsgreiningu. Sérgreinalæknarnir töldu fleiri mikilvægustu heimildina vera starfssystkini, einnig sögðust þeir fleiri nota og telja rétt að nota speglanir og vefjasýnatökur en heimilislæknarnir. Ályktanir: Aðeins áratugi eftir birtingu fyrstu greina í fagritum um Helicobacter pylori höfðu íslenskir læknar aflað sér þekkingar og tekið upp viðeigandi meðferð, og fóru sérgreinalæknar þar eðlilega fyrir. Fréttin barst flestum með erlendu fagriti, en hlutverk innlends fagrits var lítið. Spurning er hvort hægt hefði verið að hraða þessu ferli enn frekar með markvissari innlendri fréttamiðlun og frumkvæði að gerð vinnureglna

A novel method for poly(A) fractionation reveals a large population of mRNAs with a short poly(A) tail in mammalian cells.

The length of the poly(A) tail of an mRNA plays an important role in translational efficiency, mRNA stability and mRNA degradation. Regulated polyadenylation and deadenylation of specific mRNAs is involved in oogenesis, embryonic development, spermatogenesis, cell cycle progression and synaptic plasticity. Here we report a new technique to analyse the length of poly(A) tails and to separate a mixed population of mRNAs into fractions dependent on the length of their poly(A) tails. The method can be performed on crude lysate or total RNA, is fast, highly reproducible and minor changes in poly(A) tail length distribution are easily detected. We validated the method by analysing mRNAs known to undergo cytoplasmic polyadenylation during Xenopus laevis oocyte maturation. We then separated RNA from NIH3T3 cells into two fractions with short and long poly(A) tails and compared them by microarray analysis. In combination with the validation experiments, the results indicate that approximately 25% of the expressed genes have a poly(A) tail of less than 30 residues in a significant percentage of their transcripts

Human nature relations through the lens’ of three European outdoor education traditions: a case study of a masters programme

Travelling, curiosity and the quest for the unknown has been a key-metaphor for personal growth and human development for at least two thousand years. These ideas re-appeared in the late 13th century when students began to go on so-called peregrinations to foreign universities and reached their peak in the 17th century. Today most universities world-wide value transcultural travelling and cooperation in their internationalization strategies. Financially supported by the European Union’s education-programme Erasmus Mundus, a two-year joint international master’s degree entitled Transcultural European Outdoor Studies (TEOS) was instigated in the fall of 2011 (www.erasmusmundus-teos.eu). The programme is run collaboratively by Phillips-Universität Marburg, Germany, University of Cumbria, UK, and Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. It is explicitly inspired by the ancient idea of Peregrinatio Academica. TEOS allows travelling cohorts of students to spend a semester at each of the universities to explore three main European outdoor traditions in their native contexts: Erlebnispädagogik, Outdoor Education and Friluftsliv, respectively. The concept of journeying or of being under way underpins most philosophies of outdoor education. The presentation will examine the findings of our research examining, through a transcultural lens, the histories and practices of outdoor education in our three cultures. The intention is to deepen and discuss how ideas of travelling and transcultural sensitivity are argued and advanced in the aims, curriculum development, study strategies and comparative research policy within TEOS and, secondly, to discuss the contribution to new understandings of the complexity of human-nature relationships in the increasingly globalizing field of outdoor pedagogies, that TEOS may represent

Future extreme events in European climate: an exploration of regional climate model projections

This paper presents an overview of changes in the extreme events that are most likely to affect Europe in forthcoming decades. A variety of diagnostic methods are used to determine how heat waves, heavy precipitation, drought, wind storms, and storm surges change between present (1961-90) and future (2071-2100) climate on the basis of regional climate model simulations produced by the PRUDENCE project. A summary of the main results follows. Heat waves - Regional surface warming causes the frequency, intensity and duration of heat waves to increase over Europe. By the end of the twenty first century, countries in central Europe will experience the same number of hot days as are currently experienced in southern Europe. The intensity of extreme temperatures increases more rapidly than the intensity of more moderate temperatures over the continental interior due to increases in temperature variability. Precipitation - Heavy winter precipitation increases in central and northern Europe and decreases in the south; heavy summer precipitation increases in north-eastern Europe and decreases in the south. Mediterranean droughts start earlier in the year and last longer. Winter storms - Extreme wind speeds increase between 45°N and 55°N, except over and south of the Alps, and become more north-westerly than cuurently. These changes are associated with reductions in mean sea-level pressure, leading to more North Sea storms and a corresponding increase in storm surges along coastal regions of Holland, Germany and Denmark, in particular. These results are found to depend to different degrees on model formulation. While the responses of heat waves are robust to model formulation, the magnitudes of changes in precipitation and wind speed are sensitive to the choice of regional model, and the detailed patterns of these changes are sensitive to the choice of the driving global model. In the case of precipitation, variation between models can exceed both internal variability and variability between different emissions scenario

The Socio-economic Impact of Social Computing: Proceedings of a Validation and Policy Options Workshop

This report presents the major outcomes of a validation and policy options workshop on social computing, held at IPTS in Seville, on 26-27 February 2008. It points to a number of relevant issues (including methodological and conceptual ones) that need to be taken into account in a study of the socio-economic impacts of social computing. It argues that there is little room for direct policy interventions in social computing but that framework conditions and impacts at sector-level (e.g. education, government) need to be considered. The report also discusses the future of social computing and the opportunities it offers Europe.JRC.J.4-Information Societ

Dopamine agonist serum concentrations and impulse control disorders in Parkinson's disease

Background and purpose: Impulse control disorders (ICDs) are common among Parkinson's disease patients using dopamine agonists. We wanted to determine whether ICD patients have higher dopamine agonist serum concentrations than those without any sign of ICD. Methods: Patients who used either pramipexole or ropinirole depot once daily were screened for ICDs using the validated Questionnaire for Impulsive-Compulsive Disorders in Parkinson's Disease–Rating Scale. Those who scored above the cut-off for one or more of the four defined ICDs (gambling, compulsive sexual behavior, compulsive shopping, and binge-eating) were compared in a case–control study to patients who scored zero points (no evidence of ICD) on the same items. They were examined clinically and evaluated using relevant scales. Three blood samples were taken on the same day: before daily dose, and then 6 and 12 h later. Results: Forty-six patients were included: 19 ICD-positive and 27 controls. Ropinirole serum concentrations 6 h after daily intake (Cmax) were higher in the case group compared to the control group, as was the daily ropinirole dosage. No differences were observed in serum concentrations, dosage or total drug exposure for pramipexole. Disease duration and length of dopamine agonist treatment was significantly longer among ICD patients for ropinirole, but not for pramipexole. Conclusions: The use of pramipexole may in itself confer high ICD risk, whereas ICDs among ropinirole users depend more on serum concentration and drug exposure. The pharmacokinetic properties of ropinirole make it challenging to predict its effects on patients, which supports the need for therapeutic drug monitoring to reduce risk of ICD