Blood pressure levels and risk of cardiovascular events and mortality in type-2 diabetes: cohort study of 34 009 primary care patients.

Objective: The optimal blood pressure (BP) in persons with type-2 diabetes is debated. We investigated shapes of the associations of SBP and DBP levels with risk of cardiovascular events and mortality in a large primary care-based sample of diabetic patients.

Methods: We investigated all 34 009 consecutive cardiovascular disease-free type-2 diabetes patients aged 35 years or older (mean age 64 years) at 84 primary care centers in central Sweden between 1999 and 2008.

Lack of adjustment latitude at work as a trigger of taking sick leave-a Swedish case-crossover study.

Objectives: Research has shown that individuals reporting a low level of adjustment latitude, defined as having few possibilities to temporarily adjust work demands to illness, have a higher risk of sick leave. To what extent lack of adjustment latitude influences the individual when making the decision to take sick leave is unknown. We hypothesize that ill individuals are more likely to take sick leave on days when they experience a lack of adjustment latitude at work than on days with access to adjustment latitude.

Organization, relational justice and absenteeism.

Background: There is a need for more knowledge on how to manage companies towards healthier and more prosperous organizations with low levels of absenteeism. Relational Justice can be a useful concept when managing such organizations.

Objective: Organizational factors can help to explain why some companies have relatively low absenteeism rates, even though they are equal to other companies in many other aspects.

Milrinone and levosimendan during porcine myocardial ischemia -- no effects on calcium overload and metabolism.

Background: Although inotropic stimulation is considered harmful in the presence of myocardial ischaemia, both calcium sensitisers and phosphodiesterase inhibitors may offer cardioprotection. We hypothesise that these cardioprotective effects are related to an acute alteration of myocardial metabolism. We studied in vivo effects of milrinone and levosimendan on calcium overload and ischaemic markers using left ventricular microdialysis in pigs with acute myocardial ischaemia.

Combination of budesonide/formoterol more effective than fluticasone/salmeterol in preventing exacerbations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the PATHOS study.

Objectives: Combinations of inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) and long-acting β2 -agonists (LABAs) are recommended for patients with moderate and severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, it is not known whether different fixed combinations are equally effective. The aim of this study was to investigate exacerbation rates in primary care patients with COPD treated with budesonide/formoterol compared with fluticasone/salmeterol.

Relativistic quantum teleportation with superconducting circuits.

We study the effects of relativistic motion on quantum teleportation and propose a realizable experiment where our results can be tested. We compute bounds on the optimal fidelity of teleportation when one of the observers undergoes nonuniform motion for a finite time. The upper bound to the optimal fidelity is degraded due to the observer's motion.

Breakdown of the cross-Kerr scheme for photon counting.

We show, in the context of single-photon detection, that an atomic three-level model for a transmon in a transmission line does not support the predictions of the nonlinear polarizability model known as the cross-Kerr effect. We show that the induced displacement of a probe in the presence or absence of a single photon in the signal field, cannot be resolved above the quantum noise in the probe. This strongly suggests that cross-Kerr media are not suitable for photon counting or related single-photon applications.

Associations of HbA1c and educational level with risk of cardiovascular events in 32,871 drug-treated patients with Type 2 diabetes: a cohort study in primary care.

Aims: To explore the association of HbA1c and educational level with risk of cardiovascular events and mortality in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

Methods: A cohort of 32 871 patients with Type 2 diabetes aged 35 years and older identified by extracting data from electronic patient records for all patients who had a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes and had glucose-lowering agents prescribed between 1999 and 2009 at 84 primary care centres in Sweden. Associations of mean HbA1c levels and educational level with risks of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality were analysed.

Compliance with the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist: deviations and possible improvements.

Background: Previous research suggests that the World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist time-out reduces communication failures and medical complications and supports development of better safety attitudes. Previous research also indicates that different values can affect the implementation of interventions.

Objective: To investigate the actual usage of the checklist in practice and to catalogue deviations for the purpose of identifying improvements.

Steady-state generation of hydrogen peroxide: kinetics and stability of alcohol oxidase immobilized on nanoporous alumina.

Alcohol oxidase from Pichia pastoris was immobilized on nanoporous aluminium oxide membranes by silanization and activation by carbonyldiimidazole to create a flow-through enzyme reactor. Kinetic analysis of the hydrogen peroxide generation was carried out for a number of alcohols using a subsequent reaction with horseradish peroxidase and ABTS. The activity data for the immobilized enzyme showed a general similarity with literature data in solution, and the reactor could generate 80 mmol H2O2/h per litre reactor volume.

Microdialysis in early detection of temporary pancreatic ischemia in a porcine model.

Background: Ischemic injury to the pancreas occurs in various clinical conditions. A method for online monitoring of pathophysiological events in pancreatic parenchyma is missing.

Aims: To assess the timing of microdialysis (MD) technique response on temporary changes in pancreatic perfusion, and to evaluate the relationship between MD data and systemic markers of anaerobic metabolism and inflammation.

Generation of nonclassical microwave states using an artificial atom in 1D open space.

We have embedded an artificial atom, a superconducting transmon qubit, in a 1D open space and investigated the scattering properties of an incident microwave coherent state. By studying the statistics of the reflected and transmitted fields, we demonstrate that the scattered states can be nonclassical. In particular, by measuring the second-order correlation function, g((2)), we show photon antibunching in the reflected field and superbunching in the transmitted field.

Organizational factors related to low levels of sickness absence in a representative set of Swedish companies.

Objective: The aim of this qualitative study was to identify manageable organizational factors that could explain why some companies have low levels of sickness absence. There may be factors at company level that can be managed to influence levels of sickness absence, and promote health and a prosperous organization.

Participants: 38 representative Swedish companies.

Insulin and IGF1 receptors in human cardiac microvascular endothelial cells: metabolic, mitogenic and anti-inflammatory effects.

Diabetes is associated with microcirculatory dysfunction and heart failure and changes in insulin and IGF1 levels. Whether human cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (HMVEC-Cs) are sensitive to insulin and/or IGF1 is not known. We studied the role of insulin receptors (IRs) and IGF1 receptors (IGF1Rs) in metabolic, mitogenic and anti-inflammatory responses to insulin and IGF1 in HMVEC-Cs and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).

Sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores differ between genders in a sepsis cohort: cause or effect?

Background: Controversy exists regarding the influence of gender on sepsis events and outcome. Epidemiological data from other countries may not always apply to local circumstances. The aim of this study was to identify gender differences in patient characteristics, treatment, and outcome related to the occurrence of sepsis at admission to the ICU.

What is a healthy Nordic diet? Foods and nutrients in the NORDIET study.

Background: A healthy Nordic diet (ND), a diet based on foods originating from the Nordic countries, improves blood lipid profile and insulin sensitivity and lowers blood pressure and body weight in hypercholesterolemic subjects.

Objective: To describe and compare food and nutrient composition of the ND in relation to the intake of a Swedish reference population (SRP) and the recommended intake (RI) and average requirement (AR), as described by the Nordic nutrition recommendations (NNR).

Design: The analyses were based on an estimate of actual food and nutrient intake of 44 men and women (mean age 53±8 years, BMI 26±3), representing an intervention arm receiving ND for 6 weeks.

Left ventricular twist is load-dependent as shown in a large animal model with controlled cardiac load.

Background: Left ventricular rotation and twist can be assessed noninvasively by speckle tracking echocardiography. We sought to characterize the effects of acute load change and change in inotropic state on rotation parameters as a measure of left ventricular (LV) contractility.

Methods: Seven anesthetised juvenile pigs were studied, using direct measurement of left ventricular pressure and volume and simultaneous transthoracic echocardiography.

Do job demands and job control affect problem-solving?

Objective: The Job Demand Control model presents combinations of working conditions that may facilitate learning, the active learning hypothesis, or have detrimental effects on health, the strain hypothesis. To test the active learning hypothesis, this study analysed the effects of job demands and job control on general problem-solving strategies.

Participants: A population-based sample of 4,636 individuals (55% women, 45% men) with the same job characteristics measured at two times with a three year time lag was used.

Left ventricular strain and peak systolic velocity: responses to controlled changes in load and contractility, explored in a porcine model.

Background: Tissue velocity echocardiography is increasingly used to evaluate global and regional cardiac function. Previous studies have suggested that the quantitative measurements obtained during ejection are reliable indices of contractility, though their load-sensitivity has been studied in different settings, but still remains a matter of controversy. We sought to characterize the effects of acute load change (both preload and afterload) and change in inotropic state on peak systolic velocity and strain as a measure of LV contractility.

Dietary intakes and food sources of phytoestrogens in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) 24-hour dietary recall cohort.

Background/objectives: Phytoestrogens are estradiol-like natural compounds found in plants that have been associated with protective effects against chronic diseases, including some cancers, cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis. The purpose of this study was to estimate the dietary intake of phytoestrogens, identify their food sources and their association with lifestyle factors in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort.

Subjects/methods: Single 24-hour dietary recalls were collected from 36,037 individuals from 10 European countries, aged 35-74 years using a standardized computerized interview programe (EPIC-Soft).

Ischaemic preconditioning reduces myocardial calcium overload in coronary-occluded pig hearts shown by continuous in vivo assessment using microdialysis.

During ischaemia, ATP depletion leads to insufficient fuelling for Na(+) /K(+) ATPase, decreased electrochemical potential and increased influx of calcium ions. This study demonstrated a means to assess the effects of ischaemic preconditioning (IP) on the free intracellular Ca(2+) pool during prolonged ischaemia. In a porcine myocardial ischaemia model, microdialysis (MD) was used for sampling of metabolic and injury markers in IP and non-IP (control) groups.

Surface microdialysis sampling: a new approach described in a liver ischaemia model.

We recently have shown that samples from microdialysis (MD) probes placed on the surface of the heart reflect metabolic events in the myocardium. This new interesting observation challenges us to consider whether surface application of MD applies to other parenchymatous organs and their surfaces. In 13 anesthetized pigs, transient liver ischaemia was achieved by occlusion of arterial and venous inflow to the liver.

Low workload as a trigger of sick leave: results from a Swedish case-crossover study.

Objectives: To investigate if exposure to an unusually low workload when ill can trigger taking sick leave.

Methods: A case-crossover design was applied to 546 sick-leave spells obtained from a cohort of 1430 employees within six Swedish workplaces. New sick-leave spells were reported from the workplaces during 3 to 12 months follow-up.

Function and regulation of let-7 family microRNAs.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of small noncoding RNAs capable of regulating specific gene expression. Let-7 miRNA was first discovered in Caenorhabditis elegans and it is highly conserved in human tissues. The human let- 7 family of miRNA contains 12 members of miRNA.