NORDINFO: Research and Academic Library Cooperation across National Borders

NORDINFO, the Nordic Council for Scientific Information was founded as a bridge between research libraries and the growing information and documentation sector. NORDINFO’s secretariat was set up in Helsinki, Finland, and some permanent staff 6 was appointed to coordinate the activities. The full name behind the acronym was “The Nordic Cooperative Council for Research Libraries and Scientific Information and Documentation.” When looking at the history of Nordic research library cooperation, it is clear that the members of the committee that suggested the establishment of an institution that would combine librarianship, documentation and information were people that understood what developments were likely in the future. It is also clear that the field is in such a state of rapid change, that without a strong institution that coordinates cooperative activities and finances developments and experiments, Nordic research libraries would not be as advanced as they are. And, as a consequence, the scientist would not have access to such a good information service as they now have

Skert innsæi (anosognosia) í Alzheimerssjúkdómi

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/OpenEinstaklinga, sem hafa orðið fyrir heilaskaða, virðist stundum skorta innsæi í líkamlegt og vitrænt ástand sitt. Sjúklingar sem hafa lamast sökum heilablóðfalls (hemiplegic) gera sér stundum ekki grein fyrir hreyfihömluninni, sumir með málstol taka ekki eftir breytingum á tali og minnissjúkir einstaklingar taka stundum ekki eftir minniserfiðleikum (McGlynn & Schacter, 1987). Þetta skerta innsæi sem oft fylgir heilaskaða hefur lengi verið þekkt fyrirbæri en Babinski (1914) var fyrstur til að gefa fyrirbærinu heitið: anosognosia

Nya vägar in i ordens värld

Anmeldt værk:Jón Hilmar Jónsson: Orðaheimur. Íslensk hugtakaorðabók með orða- ogorðasambandaskrá. 2002. Reykjavík: JPV útgáfa

The relationship between serum vitamin D levels and cardiovascular risk factors among Icelandic children

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked FilesTilgangur: Að kanna tengsl á milli D-vítamíngilda í blóði og þekktra áhættu­þátta fyrir hjarta- og æðasjúkdómum meðal heilbrigðra íslenskra barna og jafnframt að kanna þessi tengsl óháð líkamsþyngdarstuðli (BMI). Efniviður/aðferðir: Metin voru tengsl milli styrks 25-hydroxyvítamín D í blóði, líkamsþyngdarstuðuls og sjö áhættuþátta hjarta- og æðasjúkdóma (háþrýstings, heildarkólesteróls, HDL, LDL, þríglýceríðs, blóðsykurs og styrks insulíns í blóði). Þátttakendur voru 7 ára skólabörn í 6 grunnskólum Reykjavíkur, haustið 2006. Niðurstöður: D-vítamín var mælt hjá 159 börnum. 35 þeirra (22%) voru undir 37,5 nmól/L, 70 (44%) á milli 37,5 og 50,0 nmól/L og 55 (34%) yfir 50 nmól/L. D vítamínskortur var skilgreindur sem gildi undir 37,5 nmól/L. Ekki reyndist vera marktækur munur á milli kynja, stelpur (n:85 = 44,2 nmól/L), strákar (n:74 = 46,9 nmól/L), p-gildi 0,52 milli hópa. Börn með D-vítamínskort höfðu tilhneigingu til að hafa hærri líkamsþyngdarstuðul (p=0,052), lægra HDL (p=0,044) og hærra HbA1C (p=0,015) og serum insúlín (p=0,014) samanborið við börn með eðlileg D-vítamíngildi, það er yfir 50 nmól/L. Marktæk fylgni var á milli lágs D-vítamíns og hárra gilda insúlíns í blóði (p=0,014) og hárra gilda HbA1c (p=0,015), óháð líkamsþyngdarstuðli. Ályktanir: D-vítamínskortur hefur verið tengdur við þróun hjarta-og æðasjúkdóma. Mikilvægt er að kanna tengsl milli þekktra áhættuþátta hjarta- og æðasjúkdóma og D-vítamíns, sérstaklega hjá börnum og ungu fólki. Hugsanlegt er að D-vítamínskortur auki áhættuna á að þróa með sér hjartasjúkdóm snemma í lífinu gegnum insúlínviðnám og breytta blóðsykurstjórnun. Mikilvægt er að fylgja opinberum ráðleggingum varðandi D-vítamíngjöf fyrir alla aldurshópa, en rannsóknin sýndi að 2/3 barnanna voru undir þeim kjörgildum sem Embætti landlæknis mælir með.Objective: To determine the relationship between serum vitamin D levels and known cardiometabolic risk factors among healthy Icelandic children as well as study these connections independent of body mass index (BMI). Methods: We assessed the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, adiposity measured as BMI and 7 cardiometabolic risk factors (high blood pressure, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, blood glucose and serum insulin). Subjects were 7-year old school children in six randomly selected elementary schools in Reykjavik, Iceland, in the autumn of 2006. Results: Vitamin D was measured amongst 159 children. 35 (22%) were lower than 37,5 nmol/L, 70 (44%) between 37,5-50,0 nmol/L and 55 (34%) over 50 nmol/L. Deficiency was defined as lower than 37,5 nmol/L. No difference was between girls or boys, girls (n:85 = 44,2nmol/L), boys (n:74 = 46,9nmol/L), (p= 0,052). Deficient children had higher BMI (p=0.052), lower HDL (p=0.044) and higher HbA1c (p=0.015), and insulin (p=0.014) than those who had vitamin D higher than 50 nmol/L. Significant correlation was between low levels of vitamin D and high levels of serum insulin (p=0,014) and high levels of HbA1c (p =0,015), independent of BMI. Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with the development of cardiovascular disease. It is important to explore the connection between known risk factors and vitamin D and treat those who are deficient of it, especially children and young adults. It is possible that vitamin D deficiency has an effect on cardiovascular risk early in life through insulin resistance and altered blood sugar control. It is important to follow guidelines for giving vitamin D to children, as the result showed that 2/3 of the children were under 50 nmol/L.Vísindasjóður Félags íslenskra heimilislækna og Rannís, Rannsóknamiðstöð Íslands

Ordböckernas roll i svenskans grammatiska standardisering

During the 18th century the status of Swedish changed from a poorly codified vernacularinto a standardized national language. The bilingual Swedish dictionariesplayed an important part in the standardization process. Standardization is one of thephases of language planning, as presented by Haugen. He defines language planningas “the evaluation of linguistic change”. All the aspects of standardization areincluded in the lexical description of the vocabulary presented in the dictionaries: thegraphization, the lexication and the grammatication of the language. As the lexicalperspective puts every single word in focus, the lexicographers had to present agrammatical description that was in many ways superior to what was generallypresented in the contemporary grammars.The effects of standardization are far too often neglected in historical linguistics.The lexicographers did not only evaluate linguistic change; in the long run theirdecisions also affected the very structure of the language. Thus standardization mustbe accounted for in any description of language change in the 18th century Swedishand onwards