Swedish general election: a final look at the polls and the party platforms

Sweden will hold a general election on 14 September. Ahead of the vote Jonathan Polk and Henrik Ekengren Oscarsson provide an overview of the polling and the platforms for each of the mainstream parties. They note that while the ‘Red-Green’ opposition parties have been leading the polls, there is some momentum for the governing ‘Alliance’ coalition and it still remains unclear what government will emerge from the election

Protein tau concentration in blood increases after SCUBA diving: an observational study

PURPOSE: It is speculated that diving might be harmful to the nervous system. The aim of this study was to determine if established markers of neuronal injury were increased in the blood after diving. METHODS: Thirty-two divers performed two identical dives, 48 h apart, in a water-filled hyperbaric chamber pressurized to an equivalent of 42 m of sea water for 10 min. After one of the two dives, normobaric oxygen was breathed for 30 min, with air breathed after the other. Blood samples were obtained before and at 30-45 and 120 min after diving. Concentrations of glial fibrillary acidic, neurofilament light, and tau proteins were measured using single molecule array technology. Doppler ultrasound was used to detect venous gas emboli. RESULTS: Tau was significantly increased at 30-45 min after the second dive (p < 0.0098) and at 120 min after both dives (p < 0.0008/p < 0.0041). Comparison of matching samples showed that oxygen breathing after diving did not influence tau results. There was no correlation between tau concentrations and the presence of venous gas emboli. Glial fibrillary acidic protein was decreased 30-45 min after the first dive but at no other point. Neurofilament light concentrations did not change. CONCLUSIONS: Tau seems to be a promising marker of dive-related neuronal stress, which is independent of the presence of venous gas emboli. Future studies could validate these results and determine if there is a quantitative relationship between dive exposure and change in tau blood concentration

Effects of 6 weeks of treatment with dapagliflozin, a sodium- glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitor, on myocardial function and metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes: A randomized, placebo-controlled, exploratory study

Aim: To explore the early effects of dapagliflozin on myocardial function and metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes without heart failure.Materials and methods: Patients with type 2 diabetes on metformin treatment were randomized to double-blind, 6-week placebo or dapagliflozin 10 mg daily treatment. Investigations included cardiac function and structure with myocardial resonance imaging; cardiac oxygen consumption, perfusion and efficiency with [11 C]-acetate positron emission tomography (PET); and cardiac and hepatic fatty acid uptake with [18 F]-6-thia-heptadecanoic acid PET, analysed by ANCOVA as least square means with 95% confidence intervals.Results: Evaluable patients (placebo: n = 24, dapagliflozin: n = 25; 53% males) had a mean age of 64.4 years, a body mass index of 30.2 kg/m2 and an HbA1c of 6.7%. Body weight and HbA1c were significantly decreased by dapagliflozin versus placebo. Dapagliflozin had no effect on myocardial efficiency, but external left ventricular (LV) work (-0.095 [-0.145, -0.043] J/g/min) and LV oxygen consumption were significantly reduced (-0.30 [-0.49, -0.12] J/g/min) by dapagliflozin, although the changes were not statistically significant versus changes in the placebo group. Change in left atrial maximal volume with dapagliflozin versus placebo was -3.19 (-6.32, -0.07) mL/m2 (p = .056). Peak global radial strain decreased with dapagliflozin versus placebo (-3.92% [-7.57%, -0.28%]; p = .035), while peak global longitudinal and circumferential strains were unchanged. Hepatic fatty acid uptake was increased by dapagliflozin versus placebo (0.024 [0.004, 0.044] μmol/g/min; p = .018), while cardiac uptake was unchanged.Conclusions: This exploratory study indicates reduced heart work but limited effects on myocardial function, efficiency and cardiac fatty acid uptake, while hepatic fatty acid uptake increased, after 6 weeks of treatment with dapagliflozin.</p

Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use in early acute respiratory distress syndrome : Insights from the LUNG SAFE study

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Concerns exist regarding the prevalence and impact of unnecessary oxygen use in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We examined this issue in patients with ARDS enrolled in the Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE (LUNG SAFE) study. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE study, we wished to determine the prevalence and the outcomes associated with hyperoxemia on day 1, sustained hyperoxemia, and excessive oxygen use in patients with early ARDS. Patients who fulfilled criteria of ARDS on day 1 and day 2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were categorized based on the presence of hyperoxemia (PaO2 > 100 mmHg) on day 1, sustained (i.e., present on day 1 and day 2) hyperoxemia, or excessive oxygen use (FIO2 ≥ 0.60 during hyperoxemia). Results: Of 2005 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 131 (6.5%) were hypoxemic (PaO2 < 55 mmHg), 607 (30%) had hyperoxemia on day 1, and 250 (12%) had sustained hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use occurred in 400 (66%) out of 607 patients with hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use decreased from day 1 to day 2 of ARDS, with most hyperoxemic patients on day 2 receiving relatively low FIO2. Multivariate analyses found no independent relationship between day 1 hyperoxemia, sustained hyperoxemia, or excess FIO2 use and adverse clinical outcomes. Mortality was 42% in patients with excess FIO2 use, compared to 39% in a propensity-matched sample of normoxemic (PaO2 55-100 mmHg) patients (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use are both prevalent in early ARDS but are most often non-sustained. No relationship was found between hyperoxemia or excessive oxygen use and patient outcome in this cohort. Trial registration: LUNG-SAFE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073publishersversionPeer reviewe

Public Perceptions of Corruption: The Prevalence and Moral Rejection of Corruption in Sweden

This paper analyses citizens´ perception of corruption in Sweden along two dimensions: a) the spread of corruption among public officials, politicians, and businessmen, and b) the degree of acceptance for corrupt behaviors that violate the norm of impartiality, or in any other way represent the exercise of power in the grey zone between legal and directly illegal behavior. Building on a national representative sample from 2010, we show differences in perceptions of the occurrence and acceptance of corruption in different sectors, among different segments of the Swedish population, and for different types of corrupt behavior. Our results show differences between the private and public sector. Businessmen are perceived as more corrupt than public sector employees, which, in their turn, are perceived more corrupt than politicians. Similarly, Swedes believe that it is somewhat more acceptable for a private actor with public power to breach the norm of impartiality, the example being a private doctor letting a friend or close relative advance in the health care queue in comparison to a public sector doctor. We also show that there are differences in the tolerance towards different types of corruption in Swedish society, and that there are regional variations in the acceptance of corruption. In particular, younger persons and citizens of the city of Gothenburg show a somewhat more acceptable attitude towards corruption. The findings have implications for understanding the scope and effects of new public management reforms. They also have implications for understanding the effects of an increased exposure of corruption, and how exposure may gradually shift norms in society and make corruption more acceptable