Aerobic power and lean mass are indicators of competitive sprint performance among elite female cross-country skiers.

The purpose of this study was to establish the optimal allometric models to predict International Ski Federation's ski-ranking points for sprint competitions (FISsprint) among elite female cross-country skiers based on maximal oxygen uptake ( [Formula: see text]) and lean mass (LM). Ten elite female cross-country skiers (age: 24.5±2.

Older Swedish Adults with High Self-Perceived Health Show Optimal 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels Whereas Vitamin D Status Is Low in Patients with High Disease Burden.

Controversy pervades the definition of adequate and optimal vitamin D status. The Institutes of Medicine have recommended serum 25(OH)D levels above 50 nmol/L based upon evidence related to bone health, but some experts, including the Endocrine Society and International Osteoporosis Foundation, suggest a minimum serum 25(OH)D level of 75 nmol/L to reduce the risk of falls and fractures in older adults. In a cross-sectional study, we compared vitamin D status in people ≥75 years selected from four groups with a frailty phenotype, combined with a control group free from serious illness, and who considered themselves completely healthy.

Nursing students' awareness of inequity in healthcare - An intersectional perspective.

Objective: The overall aim of the present study was to explore awareness of inequity in healthcare and the intersection between different structures of power among nursing students. Another aim was to delineate the knowledge and use of Swedish Healthcare Direct in this group.

Design: The study had a descriptive design with a quantitative approach.

1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy evidence for occipital involvement in treatment-naive paediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Objective: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic psychiatric disorder leading to considerable distress and disability. Therapies are effective in a majority of paediatric patients, however, many only get partial response. It is therefore important to study the underlying pathophysiology of the disorder.

Left and right ventricular hemodynamic forces in healthy volunteers and elite athletes assessed with 4D flow magnetic resonance imaging.

Intracardiac blood flow is driven by hemodynamic forces that are exchanged between the blood and myocardium. Previous studies have been limited to 2D measurements or investigated only left ventricular (LV) forces. Right ventricular (RV) forces and their mechanistic contribution to asymmetric redirection of flow in the RV have not been measured.

Development of the PHASE-Proxy scale for rating drug-related signs and symptoms in severe cognitive impairment.

Objectives: The need for assessment of possible drug-related signs and symptoms in older people with severe cognitive impairment has increased. In 2009, the PHASE-20 rating scale for identifying symptoms possibly related to medication was the first such scale to be found valid and reliable for use with elderly people. In this project, the aim was to develop and examine the psychometric properties and clinical utility of PHASE-Proxy, a similar scale for proxy use in assessing elderly people with cognitive impairment.

Predictors for Development of Pressure Ulcer in End-of-Life Care: A National Quality Register Study.

Background: The scientific knowledge about pressure ulcers (PUs) is growing, but there is a shortage of studies of PUs at end of life. The recommendations regarding PU prevention in palliative care (PC) are based on consensus documents.

Aim: To use data from a national register to identify predictors for development of PUs at the end of life.

Impact of telephone nursing education program for equity in healthcare.

Background: The Swedish Healthcare Act prescribes that healthcare should be provided according to needs and with respect for each person's human dignity. The goal is equity in health for the whole population. In spite of this, studies have revealed that Swedish healthcare is not always provided equally.

Do Fruit Ripening Volatiles Enable Resource Specialism in Polyphagous Fruit Flies?

Frugivorous tephritid fruit flies have lineages with high levels of host generalism. These insects use olfaction to locate fruits, but how they are able to recognize the odors of so many different host species is poorly understood. We used a series of behavioral experiments to investigate the role of fruit ripening volatiles as host cues in the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt), a polyphagous pest in Australia.

Changes in blood volume shunting in patients with atrial septal defects: assessment of heart function with cardiovascular magnetic resonance during dobutamine stress.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of stress on left-to-right shunting in patients with atrial septal defect (ASD) and to investigate if the degree of shunting, cardiac output (CO), and right ventricular (RV) volumes are related to exercise capacity.

Methods: Twenty-six patients with a secundum ASD and 16 healthy volunteers were studied with rest/stress cardiac magnetic resonance using 20 µg/kg/min dobutamine and 0.25-0.

Temporal Trends in Incidence and Case Fatality of Intracerebral Hemorrhage: The Tromsø Study 1995-2012.

Background: The aim of this study was to explore temporal trends in incidence and case fatality rates of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) over the last two decades in a Norwegian municipality.

Methods: Incident cases of primary ICH were registered in the period from 1995 through 2012 in 32,530 participants of the longitudinal population-based Tromsø Study. Poisson regression models were used to obtain incidence rates over time in age- and sex-adjusted and age- and sex-specific models.

Energy and lipid metabolism during direct and diapause development in a pierid butterfly.

Diapause is a fundamental component of the life cycle in the majority of insects living in environments characterized by strong seasonality. The present study addresses poorly understood associations and trade-offs between endogenous diapause duration, thermal sensitivity of development, energetic cost of development and cold tolerance. Diapause intensity, metabolic rate trajectories and lipid profiles of directly developing and diapausing animals were studied using pupae and adults of Pieris napi butterflies from a population in which endogenous diapause has been well studied.

Extent of Myocardium at Risk for Left Anterior Descending Artery, Right Coronary Artery, and Left Circumflex Artery Occlusion Depicted by Contrast-Enhanced Steady State Free Precession and T2-Weighted Short Tau Inversion Recovery Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Background: Contrast-enhanced steady state free precession (CE-SSFP) and T2-weighted short tau inversion recovery (T2-STIR) have been clinically validated to estimate myocardium at risk (MaR) by cardiovascular magnetic resonance while using myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography as reference standard. Myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography has been used to describe the coronary perfusion territories during myocardial ischemia. Compared with myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography, cardiovascular magnetic resonance offers superior image quality and practical advantages.

A new automatic algorithm for quantification of myocardial infarction imaged by late gadolinium enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance: experimental validation and comparison to expert delineations in multi-center, multi-vendor patient data.

Background: Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) using magnitude inversion recovery (IR) or phase sensitive inversion recovery (PSIR) has become clinical standard for assessment of myocardial infarction (MI). However, there is no clinical standard for quantification of MI even though multiple methods have been proposed. Simple thresholds have yielded varying results and advanced algorithms have only been validated in single center studies.

Regional contribution to ventricular stroke volume is affected on the left side, but not on the right in patients with pulmonary hypertension.

To develop more sensitive measures of impaired cardiac function in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH), since detection of impaired right ventricular (RV) function is important in these patients. With the hypothesis that a change in septal function in patients with PH is associated with altered longitudinal and lateral function of both ventricles, as a compensatory mechanism, we quantified the contributions of these parameters to stroke volume (SV) in both ventricles using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). Seventeen patients (10 females) evaluated for PH underwent right heart catheterization (RHC) and CMR.

Stress-induced ST elevation with or without concomitant ST depression is predictive of presence, location and amount of myocardial ischemia assessed by myocardial perfusion SPECT, whereas isolated stress-induced ST depression is not.

Background: Evaluation of stress-induced ST deviations constitutes a central part when interpreting the findings from an exercise test. The aim of this analysis was to assess the pathophysiologic correlate of stress-induced ST elevation and ST depression with regard to presence, amount and location of myocardial ischemia as assessed by myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS) in patients with suspected coronary artery disease.

Methods And Results: 226 patients who had undergone bicycle stress test in conjunction with MPS were included.

Modifications of the 7-Hydroxyl Group of the Transthyretin Ligand Luteolin Provide Mechanistic Insights into Its Binding Properties and High Plasma Specificity.

Amyloid formation of the plasma protein transthyretin (TTR) has been linked to familial amyloid polyneuropathy and senile systemic amyloidosis. Binding of ligands within its natural hormone binding site can stabilize the tetrameric structure and impair amyloid formation. We have recently shown that the flavonoid luteolin stabilizes TTR in human plasma with a very high selectivity.

Modeling Repeatedly Flaring δ Sunspots.

Active regions (ARs) appearing on the surface of the Sun are classified into α, β, γ, and δ by the rules of the Mount Wilson Observatory, California on the basis of their topological complexity. Amongst these, the δ sunspots are known to be superactive and produce the most x-ray flares. Here, we present results from a simulation of the Sun by mimicking the upper layers and the corona, but starting at a more primitive stage than any earlier treatment.

Multi-vendor, multicentre comparison of contrast-enhanced SSFP and T2-STIR CMR for determining myocardium at risk in ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

Aims: Myocardial salvage, determined by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), is used as end point in cardioprotection trials. To calculate myocardial salvage, infarct size is related to myocardium at risk (MaR), which can be assessed by T2-short tau inversion recovery (T2-STIR) and contrast-enhanced steady-state free precession magnetic resonance imaging (CE-SSFP). We aimed to determine how T2-STIR and CE-SSFP perform in determining MaR when applied in multicentre, multi-vendor settings.

It's All in the Mix: Blend-Specific Behavioral Response to a Sexual Pheromone in a Butterfly.

Among insects, sexual pheromones are typically mixtures of two to several components, all of which are generally required to elicit a behavioral response. Here we show for the first time that a complete blend of sexual pheromone components is needed to elicit a response also in a butterfly. Males of the Green-veined White, Pieris napi, emit an aphrodisiac pheromone, citral, from wing glands.

Sample Size in Clinical Cardioprotection Trials Using Myocardial Salvage Index, Infarct Size, or Biochemical Markers as Endpoint.

Background: Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) can quantify myocardial infarct (MI) size and myocardium at risk (MaR), enabling assessment of myocardial salvage index (MSI). We assessed how MSI impacts the number of patients needed to reach statistical power in relation to MI size alone and levels of biochemical markers in clinical cardioprotection trials and how scan day affect sample size.

Methods And Results: Controls (n=90) from the recent CHILL-MI and MITOCARE trials were included.

Automatic segmentation of myocardium at risk from contrast enhanced SSFP CMR: validation against expert readers and SPECT.

Background: Efficacy of reperfusion therapy can be assessed as myocardial salvage index (MSI) by determining the size of myocardium at risk (MaR) and myocardial infarction (MI), (MSI = 1-MI/MaR). Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) can be used to assess MI by late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and MaR by either T2-weighted imaging or contrast enhanced SSFP (CE-SSFP). Automatic segmentation algorithms have been developed and validated for MI by LGE as well as for MaR by T2-weighted imaging.