Strict Danes or relaxed Swedes? Comparing health and daily activities in Sweden and Denmark during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Aims: Amidst the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020, Denmark and Sweden adopted contrasting strategies despite their many cultural similarities. Denmark swiftly imposed strict governmental restrictions, while Sweden favoured a more gradual, voluntary approach. This study aims to analyse the disparities between the two nations in mental health indicators (depressive symptoms, sleep problems and loneliness), daily activities (shopping, going for a walk, visiting family and meeting other people) and medical care after the Covid-19 outbreak.

Do reductions of daily activities mediate the relationship between COVID-19 restrictions and mental ill-health among older persons in Europe?

Objective: Previous research has shown that daily activities are crucial for mental health among older people, and that such activities declined during the COVID-19 pandemic. While previous studies have confirmed a link between stringent restrictions and an increase in mental ill-health, the role of daily activities as a mediator in this relationship remains underexplored. We analyzed whether reductions in daily activities mediated the impact of these COVID-19 restrictions on mental ill-health during the pandemic's initial phase.

Evaluating Effects of AIV Infection Status on Ducks Using a Flow Cytometry-Based Differential Blood Count.

Ducks have recently received a lot of attention from the research community due to their importance as natural reservoirs of avian influenza virus (AIV). Still, there is a lack of tools to efficiently determine the immune status of ducks. The purpose of this work was to develop an automated differential blood count for the mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos), to assess reference values of white blood cell (WBC) counts in this species, and to apply the protocol in an AIV field study.

Sociodemographic Factors and Adjustment of Daily Activities During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Findings from the SHARE Corona Survey.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, older people across Europe have adjusted their daily activities as personal risk avoidance and as an amendment to policy recommendations and restrictions. In this study, we use multilevel logistic regressions to examine to what extent sociodemographic factors are associated with activity reduction among the older population (50+) in Europe and whether these associations are moderated by governmental policy responses to COVID-19. By combining data for~35,000 respondents from the SHARE Corona Survey on reported changes in daily activities and stringency of restrictions at the national level, we find that older age, poorer health and being female versus male were (consistently) associated with greater activity reduction across all activities both in countries with weak and in those with strong restrictions.

Detection of DNA in blood donors in southeastern Sweden.

Background: The tick-borne bacterium can cause persistent asymptomatic bloodstream infections, but transfusion-mediated transmission has not been reported. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of in blood donors, and recipients of blood components from -positive donors were traced.

Methods: In 2019 and 2021, 1007 blood donors were recruited.

A Comparative Study of the Innate Humoral Immune Response to Avian Influenza Virus in Wild and Domestic Mallards.

Domestic mallards () are traditionally used as a model to investigate infection dynamics and immune responses to low pathogenic avian influenza viruses (LPAIVs) in free-living mallards. However, it is unclear whether the immune response of domestic birds reflects the response of their free-living counterparts naturally exposed to these viruses. We investigated the extent to which the innate humoral immune response was similar among (i) wild-type domestic mallards in primary and secondary infection with LPAIV H4N6 in a laboratory setting (laboratory mallards), (ii) wild-type domestic mallards naturally exposed to LPAIVs in a semi-natural setting (sentinel mallards), and (iii) free-living mallards naturally exposed to LPAIVs.

Boomerang Behaviour and Emerging Adulthood: Moving Back to the Parental Home and the Parental Neighbourhood in Sweden.

This paper makes two original contributions to research on young adults' boomerang mobility. First, it reveals the magnitude and complexity of return moves by young people to their parental home and neighbourhood. Secondly, it shows that the determinants and associates of return migration vary significantly when analysed at two different geographical scales-the parental home and the parental neighbourhood area.

Health disparities in Europe's ageing population: the role of social network.

Background: Previous research suggests that the social network may play very different roles in relation to health in countries with differing welfare regimes.

Objective: The study aimed to assess the interplay between social network, socioeconomic position, and self-rated health (SRH) in European countries.

Methods: The study used cross-sectional data on individuals aged 50+ from the fourth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and includes data from 16 countries.

The abundant free-living amoeba, Acanthamoeba polyphaga, increases the survival of Campylobacter jejuni in milk and orange juice.

Background: Campylobacter jejuni is a common cause of human bacterial diarrhea in most parts of the world. Most C. jejuni infections are acquired from contaminated poultry, milk, and water.

Campylobacter jejuni actively invades the amoeba Acanthamoeba polyphaga and survives within non digestive vacuoles.

The Gram-negative bacterium Campylobacter jejuni is able to enter, survive and multiply within the free living amoeba Acanthamoeba polyphaga, but the molecular mechanisms behind these events are still unclear. We have studied the uptake and intracellular trafficking of viable and heat killed bacterial cells of the C. jejuni strain 81-176 in A.

Multilocus sequence typing and FlaA sequencing reveal the genetic stability of Campylobacter jejuni enrichment during coculture with Acanthamoeba polyphaga.

Low concentrations of Campylobacter jejuni cells in environmental samples make them difficult to study with conventional culture methods. Here, we show that enrichment by amoeba cocultures works well with low-concentration samples and that this method can be combined with molecular techniques without loss of genetic specificity.

Increase in acid tolerance of Campylobacter jejuni through coincubation with amoebae.

Campylobacter jejuni is a recognized and common gastrointestinal pathogen in most parts of the world. Human infections are often food borne, and the bacterium is frequent among poultry and other food animals. However, much less is known about the epidemiology of C.

Amoebae and algae can prolong the survival of Campylobacter species in co-culture.

Several species of free-living amoebae can cause disease in humans. However, in addition to the direct pathogenicity of e.g.

A simple method for long-term storage of Acanthamoeba species.

We present a novel and simple technique for storing live Acanthamoeba for long periods of time. The amoebae are maintained at refrigerator temperatures in a peptone-yeast extract-glucose (PYG) medium normally used for cultivation. Using this method, we obtained survival rates of at least 4 years for Acanthamoeba polyphaga and 3 years for Acanthamoeba castellanii and Acanthamoeba rhysodes.

Progenitor cell-derived factors enhance photoreceptor survival in rat retinal explants.

Explantation of postnatal rat retinas is associated with degenerative events that show morphological similarities to human retinal degenerative disorders. The most evident morphological features are photoreceptor apoptosis involving caspase-3 and Müller cell activation. The purpose of the present study was to determine the content of protective factors in rat retinal progenitor cells and analyze the influence of the identified factors on the survival of photoreceptor cells and retinal gliosis.