A new characterization of strict convexity on normed linear spaces

We consider relations between the distance of a set $A$ and the distance of its translated set $A+x$ from 0, for $x\in A$, in a normed linear space. If the relation d(0,A+x)<d(0,A)+\|x\| holds for exactly determined vectors $x\in A$, where $A$ is a convex, closed set with positive distance from 0, which we call (TP) property, then this property is equivalent to strict convexity of the space. We show that in uniformly convex spaces the considered property holds

Paraoksonaza/arilesteraza u serumu ispitanika s dijabetesom tipa II

The aim of this study was to determine whether the paraoxonase (PON1) status, i.e. PON1 activities and phenotypes (AA, AB and BB), and its relationship with lipid status are different in patients with type II diabetes as compared to healthy population. Diabetic group comprised 175 patients with type II diabetes mellitus (94 men and 81 women) who came to their regular control examination and took the oral glucose tolerance test. Patients with type II diabetes mellitus diagnosis for 12 years on average were on peroral antidiabetics, or insulin or diet, and 3 patients had no therapy prescribed yet. Control group comprised 114 apparently healthy individuals (28 men and 86 women) who were not on any medication. The paraoxonase activity was measured with 2.0 mmol L-1 paraoxon in the absence and in the presence of 1.0 mol L-1 NaCl, and with 2.0 mmol L-1 phenylacetate. Both activities were measured spectrophotometrically at 37 oC in 0.1 mol L-1 Tris-HCl buffer, pH = 8.0, containing 2.0 mmol L-1 CaCl2. Sera of diabetic and control subjects were assigned to the paraoxonase phenotypes on the basis of the basal paraoxonase activity distribution. We assigned 45% sera of male and 49% sera of female diabetic patients, and 64% sera of both genders of the control group to the AA low activity phenotype. There were no differences in paraoxonase activities between the gender- and phenotype-matched diabetic and control groups. Enzyme activity against the phenylacetate was higher and phenotype-dependent only in diabetic patients. In contrast to AA phenotype individuals, total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol in the female diabetic group and triglyceride concentration in the male diabetic group assigned to pooled AB and BB phenotypes were higher than in the corresponding controls. It follows from PON1 phenotype distribution that less antiatherogenic paraoxonase B allele is more frequent in type II diabetes mellitus than in the healthy population. Their lipid status is more atherogenic, which could indicate a risk of premature atherosclerosis.Cilj rada je usporediti katalitičku aktivnost paraoksonaze (PON1) te učestalost fenotipova AA, AB i BB paraoksonaze i njihovu povezanost s lipidnim statusom u serumu ispitanika s dijabetesom tipa II i kontrolnoj skupini. U skupini ispitanika s dijabetesom tipa II bilo je 175 osoba (81 žena i 94 muškaraca), s prosječnim trajanjem bolesti od 12 godina, koji su bili na peroralnoj terapiji antidijabeticima ili inzulinom ili na dijeti, dok trojici pacijenata još nije predložena terapija. Aktivnost paraoksonaze mjerena je s paraoksonom (O,O-dietil-O-p-nitrofenilfosfat). Koncentracije reagensa u reakcijskoj smjesi za određivanje bazalne aktivnosti paraoksonaze bile su: 2.0 mmol L-1 paraokson i 2.0 mmol L-1 CaCl2 u 0.1 mol L-1 Tris-HCl puferu, pH=8.0. Reakcijska smjesa za određivanje NaCl-stimulirane aktivnosti paraoksonaze sadržavala je još 1.0 mol L-1 NaCl. Arilesterazna aktivnost enzima mjerena je s fenilacetatom. Reakcijska smjesa je sadržavala 2.0 mmol L-1 fenilacetata i 2.0 mmol L-1 CaCl2 u 0.1 mol L-1 Tris-HCl puferu, pH=8.0. Broj ispitanika s AA fenotipom odnosno skupno AB i BB fenotipom paraoksonaze određen je iz raspodjelne krivulje bazalnih aktivnosti (bez prisutnosti 1.0 mol L-1 NaCl) paraoksonaze u serumu. U serumima 45% žena i 49% muškaraca skupine ispitanika s dijabetesom tipa II te u 64% seruma oba spola u skupini zdravih ispitanika potvrđen je AA homozigotni fenotip paraoksonaze. Katalitičke aktivnosti enzima prema paraoksonu nisu se značajno razlikovale ovisno o spolu i fenotipu izmedu dijabetične i kontrolne skupine, dok su aktivnosti enzima prema fenilacetatu bile veće i ovisne o fenotipu samo u dijabetičnoj skupini ispitanika. Značajno veće koncentracije ukupnog kolesterola i LDL-kolesterola izmjerene su u serumima žena te veće koncentracije triglicerida u serumima muškaraca s dijabetesom tipa II koji su razvrstani u zajedničku skupinu AB+BB fenotipova što bi ukazivalo da su AB i BB fenotipovi uglavnom povezani s lipidnim statusom većeg rizika za razvoj ateroskleroze u ispitanika s dijabetesom tipa II

Paraoksonaza/arilesteraza u serumu ispitanika s dijabetesom tipa II

The aim of this study was to determine whether the paraoxonase (PON1) status, i.e. PON1 activities and phenotypes (AA, AB and BB), and its relationship with lipid status are different in patients with type II diabetes as compared to healthy population. Diabetic group comprised 175 patients with type II diabetes mellitus (94 men and 81 women) who came to their regular control examination and took the oral glucose tolerance test. Patients with type II diabetes mellitus diagnosis for 12 years on average were on peroral antidiabetics, or insulin or diet, and 3 patients had no therapy prescribed yet. Control group comprised 114 apparently healthy individuals (28 men and 86 women) who were not on any medication. The paraoxonase activity was measured with 2.0 mmol L-1 paraoxon in the absence and in the presence of 1.0 mol L-1 NaCl, and with 2.0 mmol L-1 phenylacetate. Both activities were measured spectrophotometrically at 37 oC in 0.1 mol L-1 Tris-HCl buffer, pH = 8.0, containing 2.0 mmol L-1 CaCl2. Sera of diabetic and control subjects were assigned to the paraoxonase phenotypes on the basis of the basal paraoxonase activity distribution. We assigned 45% sera of male and 49% sera of female diabetic patients, and 64% sera of both genders of the control group to the AA low activity phenotype. There were no differences in paraoxonase activities between the gender- and phenotype-matched diabetic and control groups. Enzyme activity against the phenylacetate was higher and phenotype-dependent only in diabetic patients. In contrast to AA phenotype individuals, total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol in the female diabetic group and triglyceride concentration in the male diabetic group assigned to pooled AB and BB phenotypes were higher than in the corresponding controls. It follows from PON1 phenotype distribution that less antiatherogenic paraoxonase B allele is more frequent in type II diabetes mellitus than in the healthy population. Their lipid status is more atherogenic, which could indicate a risk of premature atherosclerosis.Cilj rada je usporediti katalitičku aktivnost paraoksonaze (PON1) te učestalost fenotipova AA, AB i BB paraoksonaze i njihovu povezanost s lipidnim statusom u serumu ispitanika s dijabetesom tipa II i kontrolnoj skupini. U skupini ispitanika s dijabetesom tipa II bilo je 175 osoba (81 žena i 94 muškaraca), s prosječnim trajanjem bolesti od 12 godina, koji su bili na peroralnoj terapiji antidijabeticima ili inzulinom ili na dijeti, dok trojici pacijenata još nije predložena terapija. Aktivnost paraoksonaze mjerena je s paraoksonom (O,O-dietil-O-p-nitrofenilfosfat). Koncentracije reagensa u reakcijskoj smjesi za određivanje bazalne aktivnosti paraoksonaze bile su: 2.0 mmol L-1 paraokson i 2.0 mmol L-1 CaCl2 u 0.1 mol L-1 Tris-HCl puferu, pH=8.0. Reakcijska smjesa za određivanje NaCl-stimulirane aktivnosti paraoksonaze sadržavala je još 1.0 mol L-1 NaCl. Arilesterazna aktivnost enzima mjerena je s fenilacetatom. Reakcijska smjesa je sadržavala 2.0 mmol L-1 fenilacetata i 2.0 mmol L-1 CaCl2 u 0.1 mol L-1 Tris-HCl puferu, pH=8.0. Broj ispitanika s AA fenotipom odnosno skupno AB i BB fenotipom paraoksonaze određen je iz raspodjelne krivulje bazalnih aktivnosti (bez prisutnosti 1.0 mol L-1 NaCl) paraoksonaze u serumu. U serumima 45% žena i 49% muškaraca skupine ispitanika s dijabetesom tipa II te u 64% seruma oba spola u skupini zdravih ispitanika potvrđen je AA homozigotni fenotip paraoksonaze. Katalitičke aktivnosti enzima prema paraoksonu nisu se značajno razlikovale ovisno o spolu i fenotipu izmedu dijabetične i kontrolne skupine, dok su aktivnosti enzima prema fenilacetatu bile veće i ovisne o fenotipu samo u dijabetičnoj skupini ispitanika. Značajno veće koncentracije ukupnog kolesterola i LDL-kolesterola izmjerene su u serumima žena te veće koncentracije triglicerida u serumima muškaraca s dijabetesom tipa II koji su razvrstani u zajedničku skupinu AB+BB fenotipova što bi ukazivalo da su AB i BB fenotipovi uglavnom povezani s lipidnim statusom većeg rizika za razvoj ateroskleroze u ispitanika s dijabetesom tipa II

The influence of tuberculosis treatment on efavirenz clearance in patients co-infected with HIV and tuberculosis.

Purpose: Drug interactions are of concern when treating patients co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis. Concomitant use of efavirenz (EFV) with the enzyme inducer rifampicin might be expected to increase EFV clearance. We investigated the influence of concomitant tuberculosis treatment on the plasma clearance of EFV. Methods: Fifty-eight patients were randomized to receive their EFV-containing antiretroviral therapy either during or after tuberculosis treatment. Steady-state EFV plasma concentrations (n = 209 samples) were measured, 83 in the presence of rifampicin. Data were analyzed using a non-linear mixed effects model, and the model was evaluated using non-parametric bootstrap and visual predictive checks. Results: The patients had a median age of 32 (range 19–55) years and 43.1% were women. There was a bimodal distribution of apparent clearance, with slow EFV metabolizers accounting for 23.6% of the population and having a metabolic capacity 36.4% of that of the faster metabolizers. Apparent EFV clearance after oral administration in fast metabolizers was 12.9 L/h/70 kg whilst off tuberculosis treatment and 9.1 L/h/70 kg when on tuberculosis treatment. In slow metabolizers, the clearance estimates were 3.3 and 4.7 L/h/70 kg in the presence and absence of TB treatment, respectively. Overall there was a 29.5% reduction in EFV clearance during tuberculosis treatment. Conclusion: Unexpectedly, concomitant rifampicin-containing tuberculosis treatment reduced apparent EFV clearance with a corresponding increase in EFV exposure. While the reasons for this interaction require further investigation, cytochrome P450 2B6 polymorphisms in the population studied may provide some explanation

Währungskrisen: Das Beispiel Island

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Svårigheter och begränsningar vid utveckling av dashboards som stöd vid beslutsfattande

Behovet av beslutsstödsystem ökar ständigt bland företagen världen över. För att ett beslutsstödsystem skall vara användbart och generera en nytta till ett företag, så finns det krav på att den information som visualiseras skall uppnå en viss datakvalitet. Således är syftet med detta arbete att undersöka vilka problem som uppstår vid utveckling av dashboards i strävan efter att uppnå en hög datakvalitet. I strävan efter att identifiera vilka problem och svårigheter som uppstår vid utveckling av dashboards för beslutsstöd så utfördes intervjuer med sex olika utvecklare av dashboards från olika företag i Sverige. Fokus under dessa intervjuer fanns på åtta olika aspekter som tillsammans genererar god datakvalitet. Denna studie har visat att samtliga utvecklare var överens om att datakvalitet är en mycket viktig aspekt när det kommer till dashboards och beslutsstödsystem och det framkom en variation av problem som kan uppstå i strävan efter att uppnå detta. Den här studien ger en god insyn i de problem som existerar inom detta område idag. The need for decision support systems is constantly increasing among companies worldwide as well as the need for it to be useful and generate a benefit to a company. There is also a requirement that the information being visualized reaches a certain data quality. Thus, the aim of this research is to investigate the issues that arise during the development of dashboards sincerely with the interest of achieving high data quality. Since the aim of this study is to identify the issues and difficulties that arise during the development of dashboards for decision support, six interviews were conducted with different dashboard developers from various Swedish companies. During the interviews the focus was being put on eight different aspects that together generate good data quality The most relevant discovery made during this study was that the developers agreed on the fact that data quality is a highly relevant aspect when it comes to dashboards and decision support systems. Furthermore, there also emerged a variety of problems that arise with the interest of achieving high data quality. This study gives an insight to the issues that exist in the field today.

Patients’ experiences living with diabetes type 2

  BAKGRUND: Diabetes typ 2 har under de senaste åren blivit en vanlig folksjukdom och det befaras att den ytterligare skall öka på grund av ohälsosamt kostintag och minskad fysisk aktivitet. För att förebygga utvecklingen samt minska sjukdomsprogressionen rekommenderas en livsstilsförändring och ett bra resultat kan uppnås genom vårdpersonalens hjälp och egenvård. SYFTE: Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva patienters upplevelser av att leva med diabetes typ 2. METOD: Studien är en litteraturstudie med analys av kvalitativ forskning av tidigare genomförda studier. Datamaterialet som denna studies resultat grundar sig på består av tio vetenskapliga kvalitativa artiklar. RESULTAT: Resultatet ledde till två teman: Acceptans leder till upplevelse av välbefinnande hos de patienter som har förmågan att acceptera sjukdomen som en del av livet och icke acceptans leder till upplevelse av svårigheter hos de patienter som inte kan acceptera att de har insjuknat i diabetes typ 2. Dessa teman har subteman som beskriver upplevelser i förhållande till välbefinnande och svårigheter. DISKUSSION: Denna studie kan öka kunskaper hos sjuksköterskor om hur patienter upplever av att leva med diabetes typ 2. Denna kunskap kan sjuksköterskor använda som ett grundlag för att anpassa vården efter patienters egna behov och svårigheter i samband med sjukdomsbehandlingen.  BACKGROUND: Diabetes type 2 has in recent years become a regular national disease and there is concern that the further increase due to unhealthy dietary intake and reduced physical activity. A lifestyle change is recommended in order to prevent the development of the disease and reduce the progression of the disease. A god result can be achieved by health care workers and self care. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to describe patients’ experiences living with diabetes type 2. METHOD: The study is a literature review with analysis of qualitative research based on already completed studies. Data material is based on ten scientific qualitative articles. RESULT: The result led to two themes: Acceptance leads to the experience of welfare in patients who have the ability to accept the disease as a part of life and non-acceptance leads to experience difficulties in patients who cannot accept that they have fallen ill in diabetes type 2. These themes have subthemes describing the experiences in relation to the welfare and difficulties. DISCUSSION: This study may increase the skills of nurses how patients experience living with diabetes type 2 and the knowledge can be used by nurses as a constitution to adapt care after the patients´ own needs and difficulties associated with disease treatment