Impact of fixed-dose combination Cal/BD foam on the work productivity of patients with psoriasis: results from the 52-week randomized, double-blind, PSO-LONG trial.

Background: Psoriasis contributes to unemployment, work impairment, missed workdays and substantial indirect costs due to lost productivity. Combination Cal/BD foam is the only topical that is approved for long-term maintenance treatment of plaque psoriasis for 52 weeks. This is the first known investigation of the effect of topical psoriasis therapy on productivity.

Quality of life and patient-perceived symptoms in patients with psoriasis undergoing proactive or reactive management with the fixed-dose combination Cal/BD foam: A post-hoc analysis of PSO-LONG.

Background: Psoriasis has important physical and psychosocial effects that extend beyond the skin. Understanding the impact of treatment on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and patient-perceived symptom severity in psoriasis is key to clinical decision-making.

Objectives: This post hoc analysis of the PSO-LONG trial data assessed the impact of long-term proactive or reactive management with fixed-dose combination calcipotriene 50 µg/g and betamethasone dipropionate 0.

Clinical, patient and estimated cost benefits of proactive management versus reactive management with calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate foam for the treatment of plaque psoriasis in Finland.

Background: Proactive management of plaque psoriasis with twice-weekly topical calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate (Cal/BD) foam has a demonstrated clinical benefit in preventing disease relapse compared to reactive management, where Cal/BD foam is only given as rescue therapy once-daily for four weeks after relapse. The impact of proactive management with Cal/BD foam on a wider range of clinical responses is not yet known, nor is its potential cost-effectiveness in the healthcare system of Finland.

Methods: This study involved a post-hoc analysis exploring the clinical and patient-reported benefits of proactive versus reactive management with Cal/BD foam observed in the PSO-LONG trial (NCT02899962).

The Effect on BSA of Proactive Management versus Reactive Management of Psoriasis With Fixed-Dose Cal/BD Foam in the PSO-LONG Study.

Reduction of psoriasis body surface area (BSA) is associated with improved patient quality of life. Post-hoc analyses of the PSO-LONG study compared impact on BSA of proactive management versus reactive management strategies using calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate (Cal/BD) foam. Mean BSA values, as well as normalized area under the curves (AUCs) for patient BSA were assessed.

Effectiveness comparison and incremental cost-per-responder analysis of calcipotriene 0.005%/betamethasone dipropionate 0.064% foam vs. halobetasol 0.01%/tazarotene 0.045% lotion for plaque psoriasis: a matching-adjusted indirect comparative analysis.

The fixed-dose combination foam formulation of calcipotriene 0.005% plus betamethasone dipropionate 0.064% (Cal/BD) has demonstrated efficacy and a favorable safety profile for the treatment of plaque psoriasis.

Algal growth inhibition test results of 425 organic chemical substances.

The toxicity towards the algal species Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata of 425 organic chemical substances was tested in a growth inhibition test. Precautions were taken to prevent loss of the compounds from the water phase and the test system (closed test system, low biomass, shorter test duration, silanized glass) and to keep pH constant by applying a higher alkalinity. Chemical phase distribution was modelled taking ionization, volatilisation, and adsorption to glass and biomass into consideration.

Diversity in cancer care: exploring social categories in encounters between healthcare professionals and breast cancer patients.

Background: The burden of breast cancer is a key challenge for women's health globally. Rehabilitation needs and strategies for living with long-term consequences of breast cancer and its treatment cannot be isolated from the social contexts of patients, including relationships with relatives and healthcare professionals.

Aim: This study explores how healthcare professionals' categorisations engage with breast cancer patients' social identities in encounters about rehabilitation before hospital discharge.

A three-year national follow-up study on the development of community-level cancer rehabilitation in Denmark.

Scandinavian cancer care policies emphasise community-level rehabilitation services, but little is known about changes in service provision over time. This follow-up study explores development in these services in Danish municipalities, focusing on availability, utilisation and organisation of services, including existing opportunities and challenges. A national survey among all 98 Danish municipalities was conducted in 2013 (baseline) and repeated in 2016 (follow-up).

Slow improvements of metal exposure, health- and breeding conditions of pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) after decreased industrial heavy metal emissions.

The environment around metal industries, such as smelters, is often highly contaminated due to continuous deposition of metals. We studied nest box breeding populations of pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) in a well-studied pollution gradient from a sulfide ore smelter in Northern Sweden, after reduced aerial metal emissions (by 93-99%) from the smelter. The deposition of arsenic, cadmium, copper and zinc (based on moss samples) reflected the reduced emissions fairly well.

Lead exposure and biological effects in pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) before and after the closure of a lead mine in northern Sweden.

Mining activities affect the surrounding environment by increasing exposure to metals. In this study, metal accumulation and its effects on reproduction and health of pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) nestlings were monitored before and up to five years after a lead mine and enrichment plant closed down. The lead concentration in moss, nestling blood, liver and feces all indicated decreased lead exposure by at least 31% after closure, although only blood lead decreased significantly.

Dose-response regressions for algal growth and similar continuous endpoints: calculation of effective concentrations.

We derive equations for the effective concentration giving 10% inhibition (EC10) with 95% confidence limits for probit (log-normal), Weibull, and logistic dose-response models on the basis of experimentally derived median effective concentrations (EC50s) and the curve slope at the central point (50% inhibition). For illustration, data from closed, freshwater algal assays are analyzed using the green alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata with growth rate as the response parameter. Dose-response regressions for four test chemicals (tetraethylammonium bromide, musculamine, benzonitrile, and 4-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy-phenol) with ranges of representative slopes at 50% response (0.

Effects of reduced lead deposition on pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) nestlings: tracing exposure routes using stable lead isotopes.

To what extent the lead burden of birds living in strongly contaminated ecosystems is responding to decreased atmospheric lead deposition is not well known. In this study, we measured lead concentrations and stable lead isotope ratios (206pb/207Pb and 208Pb/207Pb) in liver and feces from pied flycatcher nestlings (Ficedula hypoleuca) along a 90 km pollution gradient from the Rönnskär smelter in northern Sweden. Changes in lead concentration in the birds from 1984 to 2006 were used for assessing the recovery of the environment following reduced lead emissions at the smelter.

Oxidative stress in pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) nestlings from metal contaminated environments in northern Sweden.

Metals have been shown to induce oxidative stress in animals. One of the most metal polluted terrestrial environments in Sweden is the surroundings of a sulfide ore smelter plant located in the northern part of the country. Pied flycatcher nestlings (Ficedula hypoleuca) that grew up close to the industry had accumulated amounts of arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead, iron and zinc in their liver tissue.

Biodegradation rates in adapted surface water can be assessed following a preadaptation period with semi-continuous operation.

The paper presents a semi-continuous preexposure procedure (SCEP) for use with surface water batch simulation biodegradability tests at low test substance concentrations (0.1-100 microg/l). Simple one step batch tests are normally used first of all for determining "initial rates" characteristic of the water as sampled, as by contrast to "adapted" rates obtained as a result of exposure of the microbial community to the test compound.

Large-scale geographical variation confirms that climate change causes birds to lay earlier.

Advances in the phenology of organisms are often attributed to climate change, but alternatively, may reflect a publication bias towards advances and may be caused by environmental factors unrelated to climate change. Both factors are investigated using the breeding dates of 25 long-term studied populations of Ficedula flycatchers across Europe. Trends in spring temperature varied markedly between study sites, and across populations the advancement of laying date was stronger in areas where the spring temperatures increased more, giving support to the theory that climate change causally affects breeding date advancement.

Shifts in biodegradation kinetics of the herbicides MCPP and 2,4-D at low concentrations in aerobic aquifer materials.

Biodegradation kinetics of two phenoxy acid herbicides, MCPP [(+/-)-2-(4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy)propanoic acid; mecoprop] and 2,4-D [2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid] were studied in laboratory batch microcosms at low concentrations (0.025-100 microg/L) using 14C technique with sediments and groundwater from a shallow aerobic sandy aquifer. Below a certain threshold concentration of approximately 1 microg/L for 2,4-D and 10 microg/L for MCPP, the biodegradation followed first-order nongrowth kinetics, and no adaptation was observed within the experimental period of 341 d.

Laboratory shake flask batch tests can predict field biodegradation of aniline in the Rhine.

The aim of this study was to compare degradation rates of aniline in laboratory shake flask simulation tests with field rates in the river Rhine. The combined events of a low flow situation in the Rhine and residual aniline concentrations in the effluent from the BASF treatment plant in Ludwigshafen temporarily higher than normal, made it possible to monitor aniline at trace concentrations in the river water downstream the wastewater outlet by means of a sensitive GC headspace analytical method. Aniline was analyzed along a downstream gradient and the dilution along the gradient was calculated from measurements of conductivity, sulfate and a non-readily biodegradable substance, 1,4-dioxane.

Algal tests with soil suspensions and elutriates: a comparative evaluation for PAH-contaminated soils.

An algal growth inhibition test procedure with soil suspensions is proposed and evaluated for PAH-contaminated soil. The growth rate reduction of the standard freshwater green alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata (formerly known as Selenastrum capricornutum) was used as the toxicity endpoint, and was quantified by measuring the fluorescence of solvent-extracted algal pigments. No growth rate reduction was detected for soil contents up to 20 g/l testing five non-contaminated Danish soils.

Joint action of chemicals in algal toxicity tests: influence of response level and dose-response regression model.

The joint toxicity of nonylamine and decylamine and of atrazine and decylamine was evaluated in assays with the green alga Selenastrum capricornutum based on an isobologram method. In this method, curves of constant response, isoboles, are plotted versus concentrations of two toxicants. The response parameter was growth rate based on biomass, and several response levels were used.

Primary biodegradation of veterinary antibiotics in aerobic and anaerobic surface water simulation systems.

The primary aerobic and anaerobic biodegradability at intermediate concentrations (50-5000 microg/l) of the antibiotics olaquindox (OLA), metronidazole (MET), tylosin (TYL) and oxytetracycline (OTC) was studied in a simple shake flask system simulating the conditions in surface waters. The purpose of the study was to provide rate data for primary biodegradation in the scenario where antibiotics pollute surface waters as a result of run-off from arable land. The source of antibiotics may be application of manure as fertilizer or excreta of grazing animals.

Shake-flask test for determination of biodegradation rates of (14)C-labeled chemicals at low concentrations in surface water systems.

A simple shake-flask surface water biodegradability die away test with (14)C-labeled chemicals added to microgram per liter concentrations (usually 1-100 microg/L) is described and evaluated. The aim was to provide information on biodegradation behavior and kinetic rates at environmental (low) concentrations in surface water systems. The basic principle of measurement was to determine evolved CO(2) indirectly from measurements of total organic activity in subsamples after stripping off their content of CO(2).

Influence of nitrogen status on the bioconcentration of hydrophobic organic compounds to Selenastrum capricornutum.

Changes in algal nitrogen status that increase algal lipid content also affect the bioconcentration of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs). Bioconcentration factors (BCFs) for several HOCs increased up to nine times as the total algal lipid content of the green algae Selenastrum carpricornutum increased from 17 to 44% of the algal dry weight as a consequence of nitrogen starvation. An increase in total lipid from 17 to 44% should theoretically increase the BCFs by a factor of 2.