21 research outputs found
Metode til kvalificering af Sundhedsterminologien -baseret på udvikling af systemet URODAP til dokumentering og registrering i én proces
Irrigating the eye after intravitreal injection reduces epithelial damage but not patient discomfort
Configurational comparative methods in working life studies
Arbejdsmiljøproblemer opstår i et komplekst system af organisatoriske og arbejdsmarkedsmæssige forhold. Dette gør det vanskeligt at gennemføre og evaluere forebyggende tiltag på området, da der må tages højde for multikausale og gensidige påvirkninger. Det er derfor vigtigt at gennemføre forskning og evalueringer, som kan informere både praktikere og beslutningstagere om, hvornår og hvorfor tiltagene virker, og hvordan de kan forbedres, så de kan sikre den ønskede effekt. Konfigurationelle komparative metoder er en tilgang, der kan bidrage til at imødekomme disse behov. Formålet med artiklen er at introducere konfigurationelle komparative metoder i arbejdslivsforskningen og diskutere deres muligheder og udfordringer. Dette gøres gennem et eksempel, hvor metoderne har været anvendt i evalueringen af Arbejdstilsynets nye tilsynstilgang i store offentlige virksomheder. Vi konkluderer, at konfigurationelle komparative metoder (KKM) er brugbare til at undersøge effekter af arbejdsmiljøtiltag i arbejdslivsforskningen, og at metodernes fordel blandt andet er, at de kan afdække mulige kausale sammenhænge mellem flere betingelser og udfald, ligesom de kan anvendes på få cases. Metoderne stiller store krav til systematik og transparens i de metodiske valg. Vi håber med artiklen at skabe interesse for metoderne fra praktikere og forskere, der ønsker at bidrage til forsat metodeudvikling i kvalitativ og kvantitativ evaluering i arbejdslivsstudier.Work environment issues arise within a complex system of organizational and labour market related conditions. This makes it challenging to conduct and evaluate preventive initiatives, not least because the relations examined are multi-causal and interrelated. Consequently, there is a need for research that can inform practitioners and decision-makers on when and why such initiatives work and how they can be improved to bring about the desired effects. Configurational comparative methods represent an approach that can contribute to accommodating these needs. The objective of this paper is to introduce configurational comparative methods into the working life research and to discuss their possibilities and challenges. This is done through an example, in which these methods have been applied to an evaluation of the Danish work environment authorities’ new method for work inspections. We conclude that configurational comparative methods (CCM) are useful to investigate the effects of work environment initiatives in working life research, and that some of the advantages of the methods are that they can illuminate possible causal relations across several conditions and outcomes and that they are applicable on few cases. The methods demand systematics and transparency in the methodological choices. We hope with the article to create interest in the methods from practitioners and researchers who want to contribute to continued development in qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods within working life studies
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay characterization of basal variation and heritability of systemic microfibrillar-associated protein 4.
BACKGROUND: Microfibrillar-associated protein 4 (MFAP4) is a systemic biomarker that is significantly elevated in samples from patients suffering from hepatic cirrhosis. The protein is generally localized to elastic fibers and other connective tissue fibers in the extracellular matrix (ECM), and variation in systemic MFAP4 (sMFAP4) has the potential to reflect diverse diseases with increased ECM turnover. Here, we aimed to validate an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the measurement of sMFAP4 with an emphasis on the robustness of the assay. Moreover, we aimed to determine confounders influencing the basal sMFAP4 variability and the genetic contribution to the basal variation. METHODS: The sandwich ELISA was based on two monoclonal anti-MFAP4 antibodies and was optimized and calibrated with a standard of recombinant MFAP4. The importance of pre-analytical sample handling was evaluated regarding sample tube type, time, and temperature conditions. The mean value structure and variance structure was determined in a twin cohort including 1,417 Danish twins (age 18-67 years) by mixed-effect linear regression modeling. RESULTS: The practical working range of the sandwich ELISA was estimated to be 4-75 U/ml. The maximum intra- and inter-assay variation was estimated to be 8.7% and 6.6%, respectively. Sample handling and processing appeared to influence MFAP4 measurements only marginally. The average concentration of sMFAP4 in the serum was 18.9 ± 8.4 (SD) U/ml in the twin cohort (95% CI: 18.5-19.4, median sMFAP4 17.3 U/ml). The mean structure model was demonstrated to include waist-hip ratio, age, and cigarette smoking status in interactions with gender. A relatively low heritability of h(2) = 0.24 was found after applying a model including additive genetic factors and shared and non-shared environmental factors. CONCLUSIONS: The described ELISA provides robust measures of the liver fibrosis marker sMFAP4. The low heritability and the relatively limited basal variation suggest that increased sMFAP4 reflects disease-induced processes