1,069 research outputs found
Genetics of diabetes-associated microvascular complications
Diabetes is associated with excess morbidity and mortality due to both micro- and macrovascular complications, as well as a range of non-classical comorbidities. Diabetes-associated microvascular complications are those considered most closely related to hyperglycaemia in a causal manner. However, some individuals with hyperglycaemia (even those with severe hyperglycaemia) do not develop microvascular diseases, which, together with evidence of co-occurrence of microvascular diseases in families, suggests a role for genetics. While genome-wide association studies (GWASs) produced firm evidence of multiple genetic variants underlying differential susceptibility to type 1 and type 2 diabetes, genetic determinants of microvascular complications are mostly suggestive. Identified susceptibility variants of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) in type 2 diabetes mirror variants underlying chronic kidney disease (CKD) in individuals without diabetes. As for retinopathy and neuropathy, reported risk variants currently lack large-scale replication. The reported associations between type 2 diabetes risk variants and microvascular complications may be explained by hyperglycaemia. More extensive phenotyping, along with adjustments for unmeasured confounding, including both early (fetal) and late-life (hyperglycaemia, hypertension, etc.) environmental factors, are urgently needed to understand the genetics of microvascular complications. Finally, genetic variants associated with reduced glycolysis, mitochondrial dysfunction and DNA damage and sustained cell regeneration may protect against microvascular complications, illustrating the utility of studies in individuals who have escaped these complications.publishedVersio
Collective Leadership Learning (CLL) – Leader reflections on learning during higher-level, experience-based leadership education
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Five-factor personality profiles among Norwegian musicians compared to the general workforce
Author's accepted version (post-print).The aim of the study was to investigate differences in personality traits between professional musicians and the general workforce, as well as differences in personality traits across subgroups of musicians according to types of employment and instrument group. In 2013, 1,600 members of the Norwegian Musicians’ Union answered a questionnaire regarding type of employment, instrument group and a shortened version of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-20). The musicians were compared to a sample of the general Norwegian workforce (n = 6,372) that answered the same personality questionnaire in the Norwegian Generation and Gender Survey of 2007. Multivariable linear regression, adjusted for age, gender, marital status and education, showed that musicians displayed higher degrees of neuroticism and openness to experience, as well as lower degrees of conscientiousness, than the general workforce. A higher degree of openness to experience was especially evident among freelance musicians and those who combined freelance work with employment. Findings also differed according to musicians’ instrument groups, with vocalists scoring higher on openness to experience and bowed string players scoring higher on neuroticism and introversion. In sum, musicians displayed somewhat different patterns of personality traits compared to the general workforce, but our results did not support some of the previously held notions of a specific distinguishable personality structure of musicians. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the major distinguishable trait of musicians was a heightened degree of openness to experience.acceptedVersio
Specific demands and resources in the career of the Norwegian freelance musician
Background: Research indicates that there is a higher degree of mental health
problems, family/work conflicts and sleep-related problems among workers in creative
occupations than in other professions. Research also reveals that musicians have to deal
with a relatively high degree of occupational stress. There is, however, a lack of
research investigating the qualities of freelance musicians’ psychosocial work
environment, as well as possible protective factors for maintaining good mental health.
Methods: Based on 12 in-depth interviews, we used a template analysis to examine the
unique characteristics of the professional life of freelance pop and rock musicians.
Results: Using the job demands-resources model as a conceptual framework, we found
that an unpredictable future, threats to the family/work balance and significant amounts
of external pressure were three broad contextual demands facing freelance musicians.
Social support from family, fellow band members, audiences and their professional
network, as well as having adequate personal resources such as entrepreneurial skills,
value-anchored flexibility, tolerance for ambiguity and dedication to music making
were described as important for managing life as a freelance musician.
Conclusions: Musicians’ psychosocial work environment and health seem to be
related to the three overarching protective factors also described in resilience research:
namely personal dispositions, family coherence and social resources
Anxiety and Depression Symptom Level and Psychotherapy Use among Music and Art Students Compared to the General Student Population
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A Work Environment Under Pressure: Psychosocial Job Demands and Resources Among Saturation Divers
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Individual, lifestyle, and psychosocial factors related to insomnia among Norwegian musicians
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Impact of 9 Days of Bed Rest on Hepatic and Peripheral Insulin Action, Insulin Secretion, and Whole-Body Lipolysis in Healthy Young Male Offspring of Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
Psychosocial work environment among musicians and in the general workforce in Norway
Musicians suffer from physical and mental health symptoms more frequently than the general population. Although their specific demands and challenges have been researched increasingly in the past, explanations still remain somewhat unclear. We use a large epidemiological data set to compare psychosocial work environment among 1,607 members of the Norwegian Musician’s Union with a national sample of 8,517 employees from the general Norwegian workforce. Musicians reported more control over their work; however, they felt less supported and acknowledged, had more work-family conflicts and less motivation, and perceived their work as more demanding compared to the general workforce. In the musician sample, results indicated that classical and contemporary musicians are experiencing a less favorable psychosocial environment in terms of control, demands, and acknowledgment, orchestral players felt less control and soloist less support. Future studies should explore possible interventions to improve musicians’ psychosocial work environment.publishedVersionUnit Licence Agreemen
Skeletal muscle structural lipids improve during weight-maintenance after a very low calorie dietary intervention
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The objective was to investigate in a group of obese subjects the course in skeletal muscle phospholipid (SMPL) fatty acids (FA) during a 24-weeks weight maintenance program, which was preceded by a successful very low calorie dietary intervention (VLCD). Special focus was addressed to SMPL omega-3 FA, which is a lipid entity that influences insulin action.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Nine obese subjects (BMI = 35.7 ± 1.0 kg/m<sup>2</sup>), who had completed an 8 weeks VLCD (weight-loss = -9.7 ± 1.6 kg, P < 0.001), had obtained skeletal muscle biopsies (vastus lateralis) before and after a dietician-guided 24-weeks weight-maintenance program (-1.2 ± 1.5 kg, P = ns). SMPL FA composition was determined by gas liquid chromatography. During the preceding VLCD, insulin sensitivity (HOMA-IR) and glycemic control (HbA1c) improved but no change in SMPL omega-3 FA was observed. During the weight-maintenance program five subjects received the pancreas lipase inhibitor Orlistat 120 mg t.i.d. versus placebo.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HOMA-IR and HbA1c stabilized and SMPL total omega-3 FA, docosahexaenoic acid and ratio of n-3/n-6 polyunsaturated FA increased by 24% (P < 0.01), 35% (P < 0.02) and 26% (P < 0.01), respectively, whereas saturated and monounsaturated FA did not change. Plasma total-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol, which decreased during the VLCD, reverted to pre-VLCD levels (P < 0.01). Orlistat therapy was associated with weight-loss (P < 0.05), trends for better glycemic control (P = 0.15) and greater increase in SMPL docosahexaenoic acid (P = 0.12) but similar reversal of plasma cholesterols compared to placebo.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The data are consistent with the notion that greater SMPL omega-3 FA obtained during a weight-maintenance program may play a role for preserving insulin sensitivity and glycemic control being generated during a preceding VLCD.</p
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