Screening and Following Up Harmful Alcohol Use "… is Not Necessarily Your Primary Focus": A Qualitative Study Exploring Health Professionals' Experiences Addressing Harmful Alcohol Use in a Norwegian Hospital.

Introduction: Alcohol use remains a leading cause of excess mortality and morbidity worldwide, and identifying and following up harmful alcohol use represents a key component of alcohol harm reduction policies. This article explores health professionals' experiences implementing these policies in a Norwegian hospital.

Aim: To explore health professionals' views and experiences of systematic screening and tailored follow-up of harmful and hazardous alcohol use in a Norwegian hospital.

Deaths associated with MDMA in the period 2000-2019.

Background: The use of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), also known as ecstasy, has increased in Norway in recent years. Since MDMA has the potential to be toxic and cause death, we studied whether increased availability and use correlates with the increase in MDMA-associated deaths.

Material And Method: The study includes post-mortems with findings of MDMA in blood, linked to information about cause of death from the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry.

Concentrations of psychoactive substances in blood samples from non-fatal and fatal opioid overdoses.

Aim: The primary aim was to compare concentrations of psychoactive substances in blood in non-fatal and fatal opioid overdoses. The secondary aim was to assess the concentration levels of naloxone in blood in non-fatal overdoses and the association between naloxone findings and concomitantly detected drugs.

Method Design: Case-control study.

Opioid related deaths in Norway in 2000-2019.

Aims: The aim of the study is to present autopsy-based findings of the most prevalent opioids in overdose deaths in Norway from 2000 to 2019, as such data are lacking in the current literature.

Methods: Data on cause of death obtained from the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry (NCoDR) were linked with forensic toxicological results from forensic autopsies.

Results: From year 2000 the annual numbers of overdose deaths decreased, specifically during 2000-2003, thereafter a relatively stable annual number was observed.

Post-mortem toxicological analyses of blood samples from 107 patients receiving opioid agonist treatment: substances detected and pooled opioid and benzodiazepine concentrations.

Aims: To present the substances and their concentrations detected post-mortem in patients receiving opioid agonist treatment (OAT) stratified by cause of death, estimate the pooled opioid and benzodiazepine concentrations using established conversion factors for blood concentrations from the Norwegian Road Traffic Act, and explore the association between drug-induced cause of death and the pooled opioid and benzodiazepine concentrations.

Design: Cross-sectional nationwide study.

Setting: Norway.

Fatal poisoning in drug addicts in the Nordic countries in 2017.

This study is the seventh report on fatal poisonings among drug addicts in the Nordic countries. In this report, we analyse data from the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Data on gender, number of deaths, places of deaths, age, main intoxicants and substances detected in blood were recorded to obtain national and comparable Nordic data, and to allow comparison with earlier studies conducted in 1984, 1991, 1997, 2002, 2007 and 2012.

The relative impact of smoking, alcohol use and drug use on general sickness absence among Norwegian employees.

Background: It is well documented that tobacco, alcohol and drug use can be detrimental to health. However, little is known about the relative impact of these factors on sickness absence, and whether the association between use of these substances and sickness absence is different for women and men. The aim of this study was to examine the association between tobacco-, alcohol- and drug use, as well as polydrug use, and sickness absence among Norwegian employees.

Correction to: A systematic comparison of copy number alterations in four types of female cancer.

After publication of the original article [1] the authors found that the article contained an incorrect version of Fig. 4. This does not affect the results and conclusions of the article.

Differences in combinations and concentrations of drugs of abuse in fatal intoxication and driving under the influence cases.

Background: In toxicology, international classification systems focus on single intoxicants as the cause of death. It is, however, well known that very few drug related deaths are caused by a single substance and that information concerning the drug concentrations as well as the combinations of drugs are essential in order to ascertain the cause of death. The aim of the study was to assess whether those prone to fatal intoxications differ significantly from chronic drug users - in terms of demographics and drug exposure patterns.

Parallel artificial liquid membrane extraction of new psychoactive substances in plasma and whole blood.

Parallel artificial liquid membrane extraction (PALME) was combined with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) and the potential for screening of new psychoactive substances (NPS) was investigated for the first time. PALME was performed in 96-well format comprising a donor plate, a supported liquid membrane (SLM), and an acceptor plate. Uncharged NPS were extracted from plasma or whole blood, across an organic SLM, and into an aqueous acceptor solution, facilitated by a pH gradient.

Fatigue During and After Breast Cancer Therapy-A Prospective Study.

Context: Chronic fatigue (CF) in breast cancer (BC) survivors is multifactorial and may be caused by immune activation triggered by BC or its treatment. In the Neoadjuvant Avastin in Breast Cancer study, BC patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (FEC100→taxane) ± bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody with fatigue as a potential side effect.

Objectives: To examine fatigue levels and prevalence of CF before and during chemotherapy and at follow-up, and their associations with C-reactive protein (CRP) and clinical variables.

A systematic comparison of copy number alterations in four types of female cancer.

Background: Detection and localization of genomic alterations and breakpoints are crucial in cancer research. The purpose of this study was to investigate, in a methodological and biological perspective, different female, hormone-dependent cancers to identify common and diverse DNA aberrations, genes, and pathways.

Methods: In this work, we analyzed tissue samples from patients with breast (n = 112), ovarian (n = 74), endometrial (n = 84), or cervical (n = 76) cancer.

Use of alcohol and drugs by employees in selected business areas in Norway: a study using oral fluid testing and questionnaires.

Background: Alcohol or drug use and associated hangover may reduce workplace safety and productivity and also cause sickness absence. The aims of this study were to examine (i) the use of alcohol and drugs, and (ii) reduced efficiency at work and absence due to such use among employees.

Methods: Forty-four companies were invited; half of them agreed to participate.

Genome-wide DNA methylation analyses in lung adenocarcinomas: Association with EGFR, KRAS and TP53 mutation status, gene expression and prognosis.

Background: DNA methylation alterations are early events in tumorigenesis and important in the regulation of gene expression in cancer cells. Lung cancer patients have in general a poor prognosis, and a deeper insight into the epigenetic landscape in lung adenocarcinoma tumors and its prognostic implications is needed.

Results: We determined whole-genome DNA methylation profiles of 164 fresh frozen lung adenocarcinoma samples and 19 samples of matched normal lung tissue using the Illumina Infinium 450K array.

Interaction between p53 mutation and a somatic HDMX biomarker better defines metastatic potential in breast cancer.

TP53 gene mutation is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer, but additional biomarkers that can further refine the impact of the p53 pathway are needed to achieve clinical utility. In this study, we evaluated a role for the HDMX-S/FL ratio as one such biomarker, based on its association with other suppressor mutations that confer worse prognosis in sarcomas, another type of cancer that is surveilled by p53. We found that HDMX-S/FL ratio interacted with p53 mutational status to significantly improve prognostic capability in patients with breast cancer.

Fatal poisoning in drug addicts in the Nordic countries in 2012.

This report is a follow-up to a study on fatal poisoning in drug addicts conducted in 2012 by a Nordic working group. Here we analyse data from the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Data on sex, number of deaths, places of death, age, main intoxicants and other drugs detected in the blood were recorded.

DNA methylation status of key cell-cycle regulators such as CDKNA2/p16 and CCNA1 correlates with treatment response to doxorubicin and 5-fluorouracil in locally advanced breast tumors.

Purpose: To explore alterations in gene promoter methylation as a potential cause of acquired drug resistance to doxorubicin or combined treatment with 5-fluorouracil and mitomycin C in human breast cancers.

Experimental Design: Paired tumor samples from locally advanced breast cancer patients treated with doxorubicin and 5-fluorouracil-mitomycin C were used in the genome-wide DNA methylation analysis as discovery cohort. An enlarged cohort from the same two prospective studies as those in the discovery cohort was used as a validation set in pyrosequencing analysis.

Genome-wide DNA methylation profiles in progression to in situ and invasive carcinoma of the breast with impact on gene transcription and prognosis.

Background: Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast is a precursor of invasive breast carcinoma. DNA methylation alterations are thought to be an early event in progression of cancer, and may prove valuable as a tool in clinical decision making and for understanding neoplastic development.

Results: We generate genome-wide DNA methylation profiles of 285 breast tissue samples representing progression of cancer, and validate methylation changes between normal and DCIS in an independent dataset of 15 normal and 40 DCIS samples.

Differential DNA methylation analysis of breast cancer reveals the impact of immune signaling in radiation therapy.

Radiotherapy (RT) is a central treatment modality for breast cancer patients. The purpose of our study was to investigate the DNA methylation changes in tumors following RT, and to identify epigenetic markers predicting treatment outcome. Paired biopsies from patients with inoperable breast cancer were collected both before irradiation (n = 20) and after receiving 10-24 Gray (Gy) (n = 19).

Use of alcohol and drugs among health professionals in Norway: a study using data from questionnaires and samples of oral fluid.

Working under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol may affect safety and job performance. However, the size of this possible problem among health professionals (HPs) is unknown. The aim of this study was threefold: (i) to analyze samples of oral fluid and self-reported data from questionnaires to investigate the prevalence of alcohol and drugs among a sample of HPs in Norway, (ii) to study self-reported absence from or impairment at work due to alcohol and/or drug use, and (iii) to examine whether such use and absence/impairment due to such use depend on socio-demographic variables.

Integrated analysis of high-resolution DNA methylation profiles, gene expression, germline genotypes and clinical end points in breast cancer patients.

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease for which alterations in DNA methylation patterns have been shown to be of biological and clinical importance. Here we report on the integrated analysis of molecular alterations including the methylation status of 27 gene promoters analyzed by highly quantitative pyrosequencing, and the association to gene expression, germline genotype and clinical parameters including survival. Breast cancer specific deregulation of DNA methylation (both hyper- and hypomethylation) was found in twenty genes including ACVR1, OGG1, IL8 and TFF1.

Quantitative DNA methylation analyses reveal stage dependent DNA methylation and association to clinico-pathological factors in breast tumors.

Background: Aberrant DNA methylation of regulatory genes has frequently been found in human breast cancers and correlated to clinical outcome. In the present study we investigate stage specific changes in the DNA methylation patterns in order to identify valuable markers to understand how these changes affect breast cancer progression.

Methods: Quantitative DNA methylation analyses of 12 candidate genes ABCB1, BRCCA1, CDKN2A, ESR1, GSTP1, IGF2, MGMT, HMLH1, PPP2R2B, PTEN, RASSF1A and FOXC1 was performed by pyrosequencing a series of 238 breast cancer tissue samples from DCIS to invasive tumors stage I to IV.

Genome-wide association study in breast cancer survivors reveals SNPs associated with gene expression of genes belonging to MHC class I and II.

Introduction: We investigated the effect of genetic variation on gene expression in blood from a cohort of BC survivors. Further, we investigated the associations that were specific for BC survivors by performing identical analyses for a group of healthy women and comparing the results.

Methods: eQTL analysis was performed for 288 BC survivors (full data set).

Hand, hip and knee osteoarthritis in a Norwegian population-based study--the MUST protocol.

Background: Knowledge about the prevalence and consequences of osteoarthritis (OA) in the Norwegian population is limited. This study has been designed to gain a greater understanding of musculoskeletal pain in the general population with a focus on clinically and radiologically confirmed OA, as well as risk factors, consequences, and management of OA.

Methods/design: The Musculoskeletal pain in Ullensaker STudy (MUST) has been designed as an observational study comprising a population-based postal survey and a comprehensive clinical examination of a sub-sample with self-reported OA (MUST OA cohort).