Calculations of the effect of catalyst size and structure on the electrocatalytic reduction of CO on Cu nanoclusters.

The structure and catalytic properties of Cu nanoclusters of sizes between 55 and 147 atoms were examined to understand if small Cu clusters could provide enhancement over traditional catalysts for the electrocatalysis of CO to CO and carbon-based fuels, such as CH and CHOH, compared to bulk Cu surfaces and large Cu nanoparticles. Clusters studied included Cu, Cu, Cu, Cu, and Cu, the structures of which were determined using global optimisation. The majority of Cu clusters examined were icosahedral, including the perfect closed-shell, partial-shell, elongated and distorted icosahedral clusters.

How a Scoville aneurysm clip fought in the Cold War and helped to establish neurosurgery in Iceland.

It can be said that the specialty of neurosurgery in Iceland had its beginnings on November 30, 1971, with the arrival of a huge American C-130 Hercules aircraft. It was carrying a small package containing Scoville aneurysm clips. They were sent to the late Bjarni Hannesson (1938-2013), who had received his neurosurgical training in 1967-1971 at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (then known as Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital and located in Hanover, New Hampshire).

The distribution and diversity of eukaryotic phytoplankton in the Icelandic marine environment.

Phytoplankton play a crucial role in the marine food web and are sensitive indicators of environmental change. Iceland is at the center of a contrasting hydrography, with cold Arctic water coming in from the north and warmer Atlantic water from the south, making this geographical location very sensitive to climate change. We used DNA metabarcoding to determine the biogeography of phytoplankton in this area of accelerating change.

Observational evidence linking ocean sulfur compounds to atmospheric dimethyl sulfide during Icelandic Sea phytoplankton blooms.

In two Icelandic Sea spring blooms (May 2018 and 2019) in the North Atlantic Ocean (62.9-68.0°N, 9.

The Current State of Neurosurgery in Iceland.

Background: Although surgical conditions account for 32% of the global burden of diseases, approximately 5 billion people worldwide lack access to timely and affordable, surgical and anesthetic services. Disparities in access to surgical care are most evident in low- and middle-income countries, often resulting from a lack of surgical infrastructure. However, the establishment of surgical infrastructure, particularly for specialty surgical services including neurosurgery, is challenging in countries with small populations, irrespective of income classification, due to the distribution of high costs among a lesser number of individuals.

Inhibitor of DNA binding proteins revealed as orchestrators of steady state, stress and malignant hematopoiesis.

Adult mammalian hematopoiesis is a dynamic cellular process that provides a continuous supply of myeloid, lymphoid, erythroid/megakaryocyte cells for host survival. This process is sustained by regulating hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) quiescence, proliferation and activation under homeostasis and stress, and regulating the proliferation and differentiation of downstream multipotent progenitor (MPP) and more committed progenitor cells. Inhibitor of DNA binding (ID) proteins are small helix-loop-helix (HLH) proteins that lack a basic (b) DNA binding domain present in other family members, and function as dominant-negative regulators of other bHLH proteins (E proteins) by inhibiting their transcriptional activity.

New reimbursement model in Icelandic primary care in 2017: first-year comparison of public and private primary care.

Objective: To analyze and compare the effect of a new reimbursement model (based on a modified version of the Swedish free choice reform) on private and public primary care in Iceland during its first year of use.

Design: Descriptive comparison based on official data from the Ministry of Welfare, Directorate of Health, and the Icelandic Health Insurance on payments in the Icelandic primary care system.

Setting: Primary care system operating in the Reykjavik capital area.

ID2 and HIF-1α collaborate to protect quiescent hematopoietic stem cells from activation, differentiation, and exhaustion.

Defining mechanism(s) that maintain tissue stem quiescence is important for improving tissue regeneration, cell therapies, aging, and cancer. We report here that genetic ablation of Id2 in adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) promotes increased HSC activation and differentiation, which results in HSC exhaustion and bone marrow failure over time. Id2Δ/Δ HSCs showed increased cycling, ROS production, mitochondrial activation, ATP production, and DNA damage compared with Id2+/+ HSCs, supporting the conclusion that Id2Δ/Δ HSCs are less quiescent.

Quiescence regulation by normal haematopoietic stem cells and leukaemia stem cells.

The haematopoietic system is maintained by rare haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which are quiescent most of the time and only divide occasionally to self-renew and/or to undergo commitment to clonal expansion via the generation of highly proliferative progenitor cells. The latter is responsible for the generation of all mature cells of the system through subsequent lineage commitment and terminal differentiation. Cells with similar properties also exist in leukaemias and are known as leukaemia stem cells (LSCs).

Safety of growth hormone replacement in survivors of cancer and intracranial and pituitary tumours: a consensus statement.

Growth hormone (GH) has been used for over 35 years, and its safety and efficacy has been studied extensively. Experimental studies showing the permissive role of GH/insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I) in carcinogenesis have raised concerns regarding the safety of GH replacement in children and adults who have received treatment for cancer and those with intracranial and pituitary tumours. A consensus statement was produced to guide decision-making on GH replacement in children and adult survivors of cancer, in those treated for intracranial and pituitary tumours and in patients with increased cancer risk.

Reconstruction of a large-scale outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Iceland informs vaccination strategies.

Objectives: The spread of SARS-CoV-2 is dependent on several factors, both biological and behavioural. The effectiveness of nonpharmaceutical interventions can be attributed largely to changes in human behaviour, but quantifying this effect remains challenging. Reconstructing the transmission tree of the third wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Iceland using contact tracing and viral sequence data from 2522 cases enables us to directly compare the infectiousness of distinct groups of persons.

Population-level deficit of homozygosity unveils CPSF3 as an intellectual disability syndrome gene.

Predicting the pathogenicity of biallelic missense variants can be challenging. Here, we use a deficit of observed homozygous carriers of missense variants, versus an expected number in a set of 153,054 chip-genotyped Icelanders, to identify potentially pathogenic genotypes. We follow three missense variants with a complete deficit of homozygosity and find that their pathogenic effect in homozygous state ranges from severe childhood disease to early embryonic lethality.

Recruitment of MLL1 complex is essential for SETBP1 to induce myeloid transformation.

Abnormal activation of due to overexpression or missense mutations occurs frequently in various myeloid neoplasms and associates with poor prognosis. Direct activation of transcription by SETBP1 and its missense mutants is essential for their transforming capability; however, the underlying epigenetic mechanisms remain elusive. We found that both SETBP1 and its missense mutant SETBP1(D/N) directly interact with histone methyltransferase MLL1.

[Ablation of ganglionated plexi to treat symptomatic parasympathetic induced atrioventricular block].

According to clinical guidelines a symptomatic atrioventricular block (AV block) is treated with a pacemaker. For young individuals such a therapy can be difficult due to possible long term complications such as infections, lead disruptions and pacemaker induced cardiomyopathy. We describe a twenty year old man with recurrent syncopes due to intermittent parasympathetic caused AV block of grade 2.

Effects of captopril against radiation injuries in the Göttingen minipig model of hematopoietic-acute radiation syndrome.

Our laboratory has demonstrated that captopril, an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, mitigates hematopoietic injury following total body irradiation in mice. Improved survival in mice is correlated with improved recovery of mature blood cells and bone marrow, reduction of radiation-induced inflammation, and suppression of radiation coagulopathy. Here we investigated the effects of captopril treatment against radiation injuries in the Göttingen mini pig model of Hematopoietic-Acute Radiation Syndrome (H-ARS).

Molecular benchmarks of a SARS-CoV-2 epidemic.

A pressing concern in the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic and other viral outbreaks, is the extent to which the containment measures are halting the viral spread. A straightforward way to assess this is to tally the active cases and the recovered ones throughout the epidemic. Here, we show how epidemic control can be assessed with molecular information during a well characterized epidemic in Iceland.

[Complex regional pain syndrome, CRPS].

Complex regional pain syndrome, CRPS, occurs with severe disabling pain, usually in the leg or hand, coupled with changes in pain perception, hyperesthesia and allodynia. There is as well, edema, changes in the color of the skin, trophic changes, and dystonia. The pain syndrome is often triggered by minor trauma.

Gene Inactivation in Adult Long-Term Hematopoietic Stem Cells Using Inducible Mouse Models.

The availability of mouse models that allow inducible long-term hematopoietic stem cell (LT-HSC)-specific gene deletion in adult mice has been limited. Therefore, analysis of gene function in adult LT-HSCs has mostly relied on models such as the interferon inducible Mx1-Cre model. Unfortunately, the Mx1-Cre strain has significant drawbacks due to lack of specificity towards the hematopoietic system, adverse effects of interferon induction on the interpretation of data, and Cre expression leakage.

is a critical regulator of adult long-term hematopoietic stem cell quiescence.

Regulation of quiescence is critical for the maintenance of adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Disruption of transcription factor gene during mouse embryonic development has been shown to cause a severe loss of fetal liver HSCs; however, the underlying mechanisms and the function of in adult HSCs remain unclear. To investigate the role of in adult HSCs, we generated a novel conditional knockout mouse model and deleted in adult mouse hematopoietic system using the IFN-inducible Our results show that deletion in the adult mouse hematopoietic system has a less severe effect on HSCs, causing a gradual decline of adult HSC numbers and a concomitant increase in the multipotent progenitor (MPP) compartment.

Pogz deficiency leads to transcription dysregulation and impaired cerebellar activity underlying autism-like behavior in mice.

Several genes implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are chromatin regulators, including POGZ. The cellular and molecular mechanisms leading to ASD impaired social and cognitive behavior are unclear. Animal models are crucial for studying the effects of mutations on brain function and behavior as well as unveiling the underlying mechanisms.

Humoral Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 in Iceland.

Background: Little is known about the nature and durability of the humoral immune response to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Methods: We measured antibodies in serum samples from 30,576 persons in Iceland, using six assays (including two pan-immunoglobulin [pan-Ig] assays), and we determined that the appropriate measure of seropositivity was a positive result with both pan-Ig assays. We tested 2102 samples collected from 1237 persons up to 4 months after diagnosis by a quantitative polymerase-chain-reaction (qPCR) assay.

Functional joint center of prosthetic feet during level ground and incline walking.

Energy storage and returning prosthetic feet do not provide a well-defined articulation point compared to the human ankle. Calculation of user relevant parameters, such as ankle power, requires such a joint center point when using traditional mechanical models. However, shortcomings of current calculation methods result in some errors.

Placental defects lead to embryonic lethality in mice lacking the Formin and PCP proteins Daam1 and Daam2.

The actin cytoskeleton plays a central role in establishing cell polarity and shape during embryonic morphogenesis. Daam1, a member of the Formin family of actin cytoskeleton regulators, is a Dvl2-binding protein that functions in the Wnt/Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) pathway. To examine the role of the Daam proteins in mammalian development, we generated Daam-deficient mice by gene targeting and found that Daam1, but not Daam2, is necessary for fetal survival.