Effects of MediYoga among patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation

Introduction Patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation often experience impaired health-related quality of life. Standard treatment is not always sufficient and changes in life-style habits are suggested as a complement. Also, studies have suggested differences in gender where women have extended side effects of rhythm medications, more symptoms and estimate lower health-related quality of life than men. Yoga has been shown to increase health-related quality of life and decrease blood pressure, heart rate and cardiac biomarkers. The overall aim of this thesis was to study the effects of MediYoga among patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. In addition, to evaluate perceptions and experiences of MediYoga as well as gender differences. Methods and results Paper I: This is a randomized, controlled pilot study in which 80 patients were randomized to MediYoga, n=40, or a control group, n=40 at an University Hospital, in Stockholm, Sweden. The yoga groups had been performing MediYoga for one hour/week over a 12 weeks period. Assessments as health-related quality of life questionnaires (i.e. SF-36, EQ-5D Visual Analogue Scale), blood pressure and heart rate were collected at baseline and at the end of study. The results showed an improvement of health-related quality of life in the yoga group. Blood pressure and heart rate also decreased in the yoga group. Paper II: In this prospective randomized study at an University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, with stratification in gender, 132 patients, with symptomatic PAF, were randomized to yoga (n=44), relaxation (n=44) and a control group (n=44). The yoga groups had been performing MediYoga for one hour/week over a 12 weeks period. Assessments as health-related quality of life questionnaires (i.e. SF-36, ASTA), blood pressure, heart rate as well as NT-proBNP were collected at baseline and at the end of the study. The results showed no differences in the ASTA and SF-36 between the groups. However, improvements were seen in health-related quality of life, SF-36, with-in the MediYoga group. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased in the MediYoga group compared to the control group but there was no difference compared to the relaxation group. There were no differences in heart rate and NT-proBNP between or with-in the groups after 12 weeks. Paper III: A study with a qualitative design was conducted using individual semistructured interviews. The study included 12 participants (7 men and 5 women) who had participated in the yoga group in Paper II. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis with an inductive method and a manifest approach. Three categories were found in the analysis; “A time for a sense of existence and presence”, “A way of gaining well-being and increased consciousness” and “Access to a tool to gain willpower and relieve symptoms”. Paper IV: A comparative design examining gender differences among those who had performed MediYoga (women n=37, men n=34). The yoga groups had been performing MediYoga for one hour/week over a 12 weeks period. Data (i.e healthrelated quality of life [SF-36], blood pressure and heart rate) were collected at baseline and the end of the study. There were no differences between the women or men group in SF-36 at end of study, however, there was improvement with-in the women group in the subscales vitality, social function, mental health and the domain mental component summary score. In the male group, there were improvement within the subscales role-physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social function, role-emotion and the domain mental component summary score (SF-36). There were no differences between the groups in systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as heart rate at the end of the study. With-in the women group differences were observed in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, however, no difference was seen in heart rate. With-in the men group improvement were seen in diastolic blood pressure but no differences were seen in systolic blood pressure or heart rate. Conclusions MediYoga improves health-related quality of life as well as blood pressure among patients with PAF. Also, both genders report benefits, and patients describe MediYoga as an accessible tool with which to handle emotions and symptoms. MediYoga may be a part of a self-management program, as a complementary treatment, among patients with PAF

Friends, corporate parents and pentecostal churches: Unaccompanied asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of Congo in London

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The thesis provides an ethnographic study of the experiences of lone asylum seekers who are provided local authority care in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The research builds on sixteen months’ ethnographic fieldwork between April 2006 and September 2007, examining how the young people adapted to their changing and adverse circumstances and how welfare institutions in the United Kingdom responded to their situations. The young refugees in this research created personal relations of patronage in bureaucratic organisations, quickly formed networks and obtained goods by non-formal routes. They created space for play and spiritual growth, and maintained a position of obliviousness towards much of the events and logistics involved in leaving the DRC and seeking asylum in Europe. It was through these activities that personal agency of the young people emerged. However, the young people were not occupying positions of power. Their ‘agency’ was restricted and confined within social and political structures imposed on them. I argue that the separation of welfare services to religious life was for research subjects an arbitrary distinction. They had come from a Christian fundamentalist (Pentecostal) interpretation of the world in Kinshasa. God and evil were seen as omnipresent and omnipotent, and a true Christian (mukristu ya solo, a Christian of the soul), must be vigilant and pray all the time to be at one with the divine power. The young Congolese viewed their lives within such a theological ‘model’ and fitted all other seemingly ‘competing’ discourses and practices within it. As the young people negotiated their new lives in a new country, they adopted their coping strategies in ways that helped them benefit from the English welfare system and the Pentecostal faith respectively

Phenotypic characterization of patient dengue virus isolates in BALB/c mice differentiates dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever from dengue shock syndrome

International audienceBACKGROUND: Dengue virus (DENV) infection is the most common arthropod-borne viral disease in man and there are approximately 100 million infections annually. Despite the global burden of DENV infections many important questions regarding DENV pathogenesis remain unaddressed due to the lack of appropriate animal models of infection and disease. A major problem is the fact that no non-human species naturally develop disease similar to human dengue fever (DF) or dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Apart from other risk factors for severe dengue such as host genetics and secondary infection with a heterologous DENV, virus virulence is a risk factor that is not well characterized. RESULTS: Three clinical DENV-1 isolates from Cambodian patients experiencing the various forms of dengue disease (DF, DHF, and DSS) were inoculated in BALB/c mice at three different concentrations. The DENV-1 isolates had different organ and cell tropism and replication kinetics. The DENV-1 isolate from a DSS patient infected the largest number of mice and was primarily neurotropic. In contrast, the DENV-1 isolates from milder clinical dengue cases infected predominantly lungs and liver, and to a lesser extent brain. In addition, infection with the DENV isolate derived from a DSS patient persisted for more than two weeks in a majority of mice compared to the other DENV-1 isolates that peaked during the first week. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm the in vitro findings of the same DENV-1 isolates, that showed that the isolate derived from a DSS patient can be distinguished based on phenotypic characteristics that differ from the isolates derived from a DF and DHF case 1. We observed in this study that the DSS virus isolate persist longer in vivo with extensive neuroinvasion in contrast to the other DENV-1 isolates originating in milder human cases. Genomic characterization of the three clinical isolates identified six amino acid substitutions unique for the DSS isolates that were located both in structural genes (M and E) and in non-structural genes (NS1, NS3, and NS5). The characterization of these clinically distinct DENV-1 isolates highlight that DENVs within the same genotype may have different in vivo phenotypes. HIGHLIGHTS: * Clinical DENV-1 isolates have different organ tropism in BALB/c mice.* The isolate from a DSS patient is primarily neurotropic compared to the other isolates.* The DENV-1 isolates have different in vivo replication kinetics.* The isolate from a DSS patient persists longer compared to the other isolates.* These phenotypic differences confirm our earlier in vitro findings with the same DENV-1 isolates. Thus, DENVs within the same serotype and genotype may differ enough to affect clinical conditions in vivo

Kaivannaisjätteen luokittelu pysyväksi – Louhinassa muodostuvat sivukivet

Kaivannaisjäte voidaan kaivannaisjäteasetuksen (379/2008) mukaisesti luokitella pysyväksi, kun kaivannaisjäte täyttää asetuksessa mainitut kriteerit. Oppaan tarkoituksena on auttaa kaivannaisalan toimijoita ja viranomaisia louhinnassa syntyvän kaivannaisjätteen luokittelussa pysyväksi. Oppaassa esitetään menettelyt kaivannaisteollisuudessa syntyvän sivukiven luokittelulle kaivannaisjäteasetuksen mukaisesti pysyväksi jokokansallisen pysyvien kivilajien luettelon tai tapauskohtaisen arvioinnin avulla

Twinfilin is required for actin-dependent developmental processes in Drosophila

The actin cytoskeleton is essential for cellular remodeling and many developmental and morphological processes. Twinfilin is a ubiquitous actin monomer–binding protein whose biological function has remained unclear. We discovered and cloned the Drosophila twinfilin homologue, and show that this protein is ubiquitously expressed in different tissues and developmental stages. A mutation in the twf gene leads to a number of developmental defects, including aberrant bristle morphology. This results from uncontrolled polymerization of actin filaments and misorientation of actin bundles in developing bristles. In wild-type bristles, twinfilin localizes diffusively to cytoplasm and to the ends of actin bundles, and may therefore be involved in localization of actin monomers in cells. We also show that twinfilin and the ADF/cofilin encoding gene twinstar interact genetically in bristle morphogenesis. These results demonstrate that the accurate regulation of size and dynamics of the actin monomer pool by twinfilin is essential for a number of actin-dependent developmental processes in multicellular eukaryotes

Participative development for improving nuclear safety : results and implications of three methods in nuclear maintenance work

This research report summarizes the results and implications of three participative methods, which we applied and evaluated in nuclear maintenance in the PARSA project in 2019–2021. We aimed to assess whether these methods are applicable and whether they add value to participative orientation in nuclear safety improvement. The nuclear industry is highly proceduralized and technology intensive, which sets special demands for bottom-up and human-centred approaches. The changes facing the nuclear industry are ageing personnel and technology, modernization, and new ways of organizing work in nuclear power plants. This situation emphasizes the relevance of participative development (PD). New ways to commit and motivate personnel, and to develop competence, work practices and new learning through human contribution are necessary to maintain high safety levels in the nuclear domain. As an approach, PD is embedded in the art and practice of human factors (HF), which is regarded as mandatory in the nuclear energy industry. HF strives towards improved system performance, safety, and well-being. The three methods evaluated in the PARSA project were video-based reflection of workplace learning, collaborative work process analysis of maintenance work phases, and nuclear-specific human performance (HU) tools, especially pre-job briefings and post-job review. These methods are considered to improve learning and work practices, work process knowledge and mutual co-operation across organizational levels and units. This research report introduces the aims and needs of three evaluated methods as approaches to PD in the nuclear energy industry and summarizes the findings and the implications of our project. The final results of the PARSA project will be published in the end of 2022. PARSA is funded by the SAFIR2022 research programme (2019–2022), funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland, and organized by VTT, the Technical Research Centre of Finland

ENCORT-CDW - Evaluation of the European recovery target for construction and demolition waste

The present EU target for recovery of construction and demolition waste does not promote sustainability. Interpretations of waste and recovery definitions rather than resource efficiency and safe handling affect the monitoring. The general weight-based target has to be altered to favour recycling of resource-rich materials, not only of high weight materials. High grade recycling should be distinguished and prioritized to ensure safe recovery. This requires improved knowledge on waste generation and handling as well as on emissions of dangerous substances. A common Nordic approach is advocated

Combining information from surveys of several species to estimate the probability of freedom from Echinococcus multilocularis in Sweden, Finland and mainland Norway

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The fox tapeworm <it>Echinococcus multilocularis </it>has foxes and other canids as definitive host and rodents as intermediate hosts. However, most mammals can be accidental intermediate hosts and the larval stage may cause serious disease in humans. The parasite has never been detected in Sweden, Finland and mainland Norway. All three countries require currently an anthelminthic treatment for dogs and cats prior to entry in order to prevent introduction of the parasite. Documentation of freedom from <it>E. multilocularis </it>is necessary for justification of the present import requirements.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The probability that Sweden, Finland and mainland Norway were free from <it>E. multilocularis </it>and the sensitivity of the surveillance systems were estimated using scenario trees. Surveillance data from five animal species were included in the study: red fox (<it>Vulpes vulpes</it>), raccoon dog (<it>Nyctereutes procyonoides</it>), domestic pig, wild boar (<it>Sus scrofa</it>) and voles and lemmings (Arvicolinae).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The cumulative probability of freedom from EM in December 2009 was high in all three countries, 0.98 (95% CI 0.96-0.99) in Finland and 0.99 (0.97-0.995) in Sweden and 0.98 (0.95-0.99) in Norway.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Results from the model confirm that there is a high probability that in 2009 the countries were free from <it>E. multilocularis</it>. The sensitivity analyses showed that the choice of the design prevalences in different infected populations was influential. Therefore more knowledge on expected prevalences for <it>E. multilocularis </it>in infected populations of different species is desirable to reduce residual uncertainty of the results.</p