Publications by authors named "Lars Gerdes"

Aims: Examine whether the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL -C) determination method influences the rate of statin initiation for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Methods And Results: We conducted a register-based retrospective study in the Region of Southern Denmark. Two hospital-based laboratories in the region directly measure LDL -C whereas four laboratories calculate LDL -C using Friedewald's formula.

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Laser cutting of carbon fibre-reinforced plastics (CFRP) is a promising alternative to traditional manufacturing methods due to its non-contact nature and high automation potential. To establish the process for an industrial application, it is necessary to predict the temperature fields arising as a result of the laser energy input. Elevated temperatures during the cutting process can lead to damage in the composite's matrix material, resulting in local changes in the structural properties and reduced material strength.

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Additive manufacturing of polymers via material extrusion and its future applications are gaining interest. Supporting the evolution from prototype to serial applications, additional testing conditions are needed. The additively manufactured and anisotropic polymers often show a weak point in the interlayer contact area in the manufacturing direction.

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The number of acute admissions in Danish hospitals is increasing and is causing recurrent overcrowding problems. There are fewer hospitalisations on days off, like weekends, public holidays and vacations, and this phenomenon is analysed in our review with data from the period 1.1.

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The purpose of medicines reconciliation (MR) is to avoid medication errors through the complete and accurate transfer of information on patients' medicines during health care sector transitions. We review the rapidly expanding literature on MR showing a need for consensus on taxonomy and research into efficient ways to implement MR. Further, we describe quality improvement initiatives on MR in Denmark and challenge the, in our view, one-sided focus on information technology in MR.

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Digital PCR (dPCR), as a new technology in the field of genetically modified (GM) organism (GMO) testing, enables determination of absolute target copy numbers. The purpose of our study was to test the transferability of methods designed for quantitative PCR (qPCR) to dPCR and to carry out an inter-laboratory comparison of the performance of two different dPCR platforms when determining the absolute GM copy numbers and GM copy number ratio in reference materials certified for GM content in mass fraction. Overall results in terms of measured GM% were within acceptable variation limits for both tested dPCR systems.

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Background And Aims: Anaemia is an important complication of inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of anaemia and the practice of anaemia screening during the first year following diagnosis, in a European prospective population-based inception cohort.

Methods: Newly diagnosed IBD patients were included and followed prospectively for 1 year in 29 European and one Australian centre.

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Digital PCR in droplets (ddPCR) is an emerging method for more and more applications in DNA (and RNA) analysis. Special requirements when establishing ddPCR for analysis of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in a laboratory include the choice between validated official qPCR methods and the optimization of these assays for a ddPCR format. Differentiation between droplets with positive reaction and negative droplets, that is setting of an appropriate threshold, can be crucial for a correct measurement.

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Background And Aims: Helicobacter pylori infection may protect against some chronic inflammatory diseases. This study examined H. pylori infection and its association with the prevalence of the gastrointestinal diseases Crohn's disease [CD], ulcerative colitis [UC], and coeliac disease [CeD].

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Background: According to Regulation (EU) No 619/2011, trace amounts of non-authorised genetically modified organisms (GMO) in feed are tolerated within the EU if certain prerequisites are met. Tolerable traces must not exceed the so-called 'minimum required performance limit' (MRPL), which was defined according to the mentioned regulation to correspond to 0.1% mass fraction per ingredient.

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Manual reviews of health records to identify possible adverse events are time consuming. We are developing a method based on natural language processing to quickly search electronic health records for common triggers and adverse events. Our results agree fairly well with those obtained using manual reviews, and we therefore believe that it is possible to develop automatic tools for monitoring aspects of patient safety.

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Although some patient deaths in hospitals can be prevented if quality of care and patient safety are improved, it is not given that such deaths can be used to track improvements. Since preventable deaths only amount to about 5% of all deaths, a decline in that number will be a weak signal as far as mortality is concerned. The commonly used hospital standardised mortality ratio (HSMR) has a low signal-to-noise ratio and is therefore not suitable for monitoring.

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Hospital standardised mortality ratios (HSMRs) are presumed to reflect an overall quality of patient care in hospitals. Figures for all Danish hospitals are being published quarterly on the Internet, and aggregated values are used to set goals for both regional and nationwide efforts to improve quality of care and patient safety. We have analysed the available data from 2007 through 2011 and cannot reconcile the quite substantial and often sudden changes in HSMRs with changes in quality of care, but believe that they are due to inherent noise in calculating HSMRs, e.

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Background: The aim of the current study was (1) to describe the use of a (13) C-urea breath test (UBT) that was performed by patients at their homes as a part of a test-and-treat strategy in primary care and (2) to investigate the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in patients taking a first-time UBT.

Material And Methods: The patients performed UBTs at home based on the discretion of the general practitioner and mailed the breath bags to a central laboratory for analysis. Each patient was identified by a unique civil registration number.

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Background: Estimates of incidence are crucial to the planning of public health measures, but most studies of incidence of, for example, acute myocardial infarction (MI) are troubled by methodological problems such as; (i) selection biases of the patients being included for study, (ii) lack of identification and control of the cohort under observation, (iii) inconsistencies in the use of diagnostic criteria, and (iv) missing data. We aimed to measure directly the incidence of the entire spectrum of the acute coronary syndrome (ACS), consisting of unstable angina pectoris, MI and sudden cardiac death (SCD), by use of the new criteria for MI as proposed in 2000.

Design: Cohort study.

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Danish laboratories are introducing identical reference intervals for a number of biochemical components in accordance with a Nordic agreement and recommendations during 2007. Danish doctors will consequently experience both changes in reference interval limits as well as adjustments of patients' levels of reported results for some components.

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Parasitism of the cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii is characterized by the formation of syncytial feeding structures in the host root. Syncytia are formed by the fusion of root cells, accompanied by local cell wall degradation, fusion of protoplasts and hypertrophy. Expansins are cell wall-loosening proteins involved in growth and cell wall disassembly.

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The integral membrane proteins Alb3, OxaI, and YidC belong to an evolutionary conserved protein family mediating protein insertion into the thylakoid membrane of chloroplasts, the inner membrane of mitochondria, and bacteria, respectively. Whereas OxaI and YidC are involved in the insertion of a wide range of membrane proteins, the function of Alb3 seems to be limited to the insertion of a subset of the light-harvesting chlorophyll-binding proteins. In this study, we identified a second chloroplast homologue of the Alb3/OxaI/YidC family, named Alb4.

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The Arabidopsis thaliana protein ARTEMIS is an integral component of the chloroplast inner envelope required for chloroplast division. It contains a domain of significant homology to members of the Alb3/Oxa1/YidC protein family. Here, we show that upon expression in yeast mitochondria, ARTEMIS can partially take over the function of yeast Oxa1 in the insertion and assembly of mitochondrial membrane proteins.

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Apolipoprotein E (apoE) has important functions in systemic and local lipid transport, but also has other functions. The gene (APOE) shows a common polymorphism with three alleles--APOE*2, APOE*3, and APOE*4. Their frequencies vary substantially around the world, but APOE*3 is the most common almost everywhere and is often considered to be the ancestral or "wild-type" allele for that reason.

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The genetic susceptibility to basal cell carcinoma (BCC) among Danish psoriatic patients was investigated in association studies with 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms on chromosome 19q13.2-3. The results show a significant association between BCC and the A-allele of a polymorphism in ERCCI exon4 (Odds ratio 12;95% Confidence Interval 1.

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Chloroplasts are endosymbiotic organelles of cyanobacterial origin. It seems reasonable to assume that cell division and organelle division still share general principles, as shown for the FtsZ proteins. However, further components involved in this process are largely unknown.

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Aim: Myocardial infarction incidence declined by 3-5% per year from 1982-92 in the Danish study population of the WHO MONICA project. This study examined whether psychosocial coronary risk factors changed in the population during this period.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from 6,695 Danish men and women aged 30, 40, 50, and 60 years, were examined in 1982-84, 1986-87, and 1991-92.

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