Reindeer warble fly larvae found in red deer

Seven third instar larvae of the reindeer warble fly (Hypoderma (=Oedemagena) tarandi) were found in a 2-3 year old male red deer {Cervus elaphus) shot on 14 November 1985 at Todalen, western Norway. This it, the first report of H. tarandi from red deer. In reindeer third instar larvae are found from February to June, and the unusual date of this record indicates a delayed development of the larvae due to abnormal host reactions. Warble fly larvae, probably H. tarandi, are also reported from moose {Alces alces) in northern Norway

Coffee bean extracts rich and poor in kahweol both give rise to elevation of liver enzymes in healthy volunteers

BACKGROUND: Coffee oil potently raises serum cholesterol levels in humans. The diterpenes cafestol and kahweol are responsible for this elevation. Coffee oil also causes elevation of liver enzyme levels in serum. It has been suggested that cafestol is mainly responsible for the effect on serum cholesterol levels and that kahweol is mainly responsible for the effect on liver enzyme levels. The objective of this study was to investigate whether coffee oil that only contains a minute amount of kahweol indeed does not cause elevation of liver enzyme levels. METHODS: The response of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) and aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT) to Robusta coffee oil (62 mg/day cafestol, 1.6 mg/day kahweol) was measured in 18 healthy volunteers. RESULTS: After nine days one subject was taken off Robusta oil treatment due to an ALAT level of 3.6 times the upper limit of normal (ULN). Another two subjects stopped treatment due to other reasons. After 16 days another two subjects were taken off Robusta oil treatment. One of those subjects had levels of 5.8 ULN for ALAT and 2.0 ULN for ASAT; the other subject had an ALAT level of 12.4 ULN and an ASAT level of 4.7 ULN. It was then decided to terminate the study. The median response of subjects to Robusta oil after 16 days was 0.27 ULN (n = 15, 25(th),75(th )percentile: 0.09;0.53) for ALAT and 0.06 ULN (25(th),75(th )percentile -0.06;0.22) for ASAT. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the effect on liver enzyme levels of coffee oil containing hardly any kahweol is similar to that of coffee oil containing high amounts of kahweol. Therefore it is unlikely that kahweol is the component of coffee oil that is responsible for the effect. Furthermore, we conclude that otherwise unexplained elevation of liver enzyme levels observed in patients might be caused by a switch from consumption of filtered coffee to unfiltered coffee

Six pelagic seabird species of the North Atlantic engage in a fly-and-forage strategy during their migratory movements

Funding Information: We thank all the fieldworkers for their hard work collecting data. Funding for this study was provided by the Norwegian Ministry for Climate and the Environment, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association along with 8 oil companies through the SEATRACK project (www. seapop. no/ en/ seatrack). Fieldwork in Norwegian colonies (incl. Svalbard and Jan Mayen) was supported by the SEAPOP program (www.seapop.no, grant no. 192141). The French Polar Institute (IPEV project 330 to O.C.) supported field operation for Kongsfjord kittiwakes. The work on the Isle of May was also supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (Award NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCaPE programme delivering National Capability). We thank Maria Bogdanova for field support and data processing. Finally, we thank 3 anonymous reviewers for their help improving the first version of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Know Your Heart: Rationale, design and conduct of a cross-sectional study of cardiovascular structure, function and risk factors in 4500 men and women aged 35-69 years from two Russian cities, 2015-18

Russia has one of the highest rates of cardiovascular disease in the world. The International Project on Cardiovascular Disease in Russia (IPCDR) was set up to understand the reasons for this. A substantial component of this study was the Know Your Heart Study devoted to characterising the nature and causes of cardiovascular disease in Russia by conducting large cross-sectional surveys in two Russian cities Novosibirsk and Arkhangelsk. The study population was 4542 men and women aged 35-69 years recruited from the general population. Fieldwork took place between 2015-18. There were two study components: 1) a baseline interview to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics and cardiovascular risk factors, usually conducted at home, and 2) a comprehensive health check at a primary care clinic which included detailed examination of the cardiovascular system. In this paper we describe in detail the rationale for, design and conduct of these studies.The International Project on Cardiovascular Disease in Russia (IPCDR) project was supported in part by a Wellcome Trust Strategic Award [100217]. The project was also funded by the Arctic University of Norway, UiT in Tromsø; Norwegian Institute of Public Health; the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Social Affairs

Gait stability and variability measures show effects of impaired cognition and dual tasking in frail people

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Falls in frail elderly are a common problem with a rising incidence. Gait and postural instability are major risk factors for falling, particularly in geriatric patients. As walking requires attention, cognitive impairments are likely to contribute to an increased fall risk. An objective quantification of gait and balance ability is required to identify persons with a high tendency to fall. Recent studies have shown that stride variability is increased in elderly and under dual task condition and might be more sensitive to detect fall risk than walking speed. In the present study we complemented stride related measures with measures that quantify trunk movement patterns as indicators of dynamic balance ability during walking. The aim of the study was to quantify the effect of impaired cognition and dual tasking on gait variability and stability in geriatric patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Thirteen elderly with dementia (mean age: 82.6 ± 4.3 years) and thirteen without dementia (79.4 ± 5.55) recruited from a geriatric day clinic, walked at self-selected speed with and without performing a verbal dual task. The Mini Mental State Examination and the Seven Minute Screen were administered. Trunk accelerations were measured with an accelerometer. In addition to walking speed, mean, and variability of stride times, gait stability was quantified using stochastic dynamical measures, namely regularity (sample entropy, long range correlations) and local stability exponents of trunk accelerations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Dual tasking significantly (p < 0.05) decreased walking speed, while stride time variability increased, and stability and regularity of lateral trunk accelerations decreased. Cognitively impaired elderly showed significantly (p < 0.05) more changes in gait variability than cognitive intact elderly. Differences in dynamic parameters between groups were more discerned under dual task conditions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The observed trunk adaptations were a consistent instability factor. These results support the concept that changes in cognitive functions contribute to changes in the variability and stability of the gait pattern. Walking under dual task conditions and quantifying gait using dynamical parameters can improve detecting walking disorders and might help to identify those elderly who are able to adapt walking ability and those who are not and thus are at greater risk for falling.</p

Changing climate and outbreaks of forest pest insects in a cold northern country, Finland

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Alcohol, metabolic risk and elevated serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) in Indigenous Australians

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The interaction between overweight/obesity and alcohol intake on liver enzyme concentrations have been demonstrated. No studies have yet examined the interaction between metabolic syndrome or multiple metabolic risk factors and alcohol intake on liver enzymes. The aim of this study was to examine if alcohol consumption modifies the effect of metabolic risk on elevated serum GGT in Indigenous Australians.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were from N = 2609 Indigenous Australians who participated in a health screening program in rural far north Queensland in 1999-2000 (44.5% response rate). The individual and interactive effects of metabolic risk and alcohol drinking on elevated serum GGT concentrations (≥50 U/L) were analyzed using logistic regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, 26% of the population had GGT≥50 U/L. Elevated GGT was associated with alcohol drinking (moderate drinking: OR 2.3 [95%CI 1.6 - 3.2]; risky drinking: OR 6.0 [4.4 - 8.2]), and with abdominal obesity (OR 3.7 [2.5 - 5.6]), adverse metabolic risk cluster profile (OR 3.4 [2.6 - 4.3]) and metabolic syndrome (OR 2.7 [2.1 - 3.5]) after adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, smoking, physical activity and BMI. The associations of obesity and metabolic syndrome with elevated GGT were similar across alcohol drinking strata, but the association of an adverse metabolic risk cluster profile with elevated GGT was larger in risky drinkers (OR 4.9 [3.7 - 6.7]) than in moderate drinkers (OR 2.8 [1.6 - 4.9]) and abstainers (OR 1.6 [0.9 - 2.8]).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this Indigenous population, an adverse metabolic profile conferred three times the risk of elevated GGT in risky drinkers compared with abstainers, independent of sex and ethnicity. Community interventions need to target both determinants of the population's metabolic status and alcohol consumption to reduce the risk of elevated GGT.</p

Editorial Board

Source at http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1345-8 Background: The duration of untreated psychosis is determined by both patient and service related factors. Few studies have considered the geographical accessibility of services in relation to treatment delay in early psychosis. To address this, we investigated whether treatment delay is co-determined by straight-line distance to hospital based specialist services in a mainly rural mental health context. Methods: A naturalistic cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of recent onset psychosis patients in northern Norway (n = 62). Data on patient and service related determinants were analysed. Results: Half of the cohort had a treatment delay longer than 4.5 months. In a binary logistic regression model, straight-line distance was found to make an independent contribution to delay in which we controlled for other known risk factors. Conclusions: The determinants of treatment delay are complex. This study adds to previous studies on treatment delay by showing that the spatial location of services also makes an independent contribution. In addition, it may be that insidious onset is a more important factor in treatment delay in remote areas, as the logistical implications of specialist referral are much greater than for urban dwellers. The threshold for making a diagnosis in a remote location may therefore be higher. Strategies to reduce the duration of untreated psychosis in rural areas would benefit from improving appropriate referral by crisis services, and the detection of insidious onset of psychosis in community based specialist services