Introduction: Back pain is common in idiopathic scoliosis. The aim of this study was to study known genetic variants associated with pain in individuals with idiopathic scoliosis.
Methods: We included 1442 individuals with juvenile or adolescent idiopathic scoliosis from Sweden and Denmark.
The early evolution of sex chromosomes has remained obscure for more than a century. The Vandiemenella viatica species group of morabine grasshoppers is highly suited for studying the early stages of sex chromosome divergence and degeneration of the Y chromosome. This stems from the fact that neo-XY sex chromosomes have independently evolved multiple times by X-autosome fusions with different autosomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
September 2024
Children on farms face high risks of work- and non-work-related fatalities, with tractors being a significant contributor. This study examines children's involvement in fatal tractor-related accidents within agriculture in Iceland from 1918 to 2024, explores adult reflections on childhood tractor-driving experiences, and analyses Members of Parliament's arguments against setting a minimum age for off-road tractor driving. The data are based on parliamentary debates on tractor-related legislation, fatal tractor-related accidents documented in newspaper archives and supplementary sources, and narrative interviews with former summer children who stayed at farms during their childhoods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Given its complexity, childbirth can elicit both positive and negative psychological reactions and, in some cases, women may experience symptoms of childbirth-related post-traumatic stress disorder (CB-PTSD). Several risk factors for CB-PTSD have been identified previously, including history of mental health issues and childbirth related complications. The aim of our study was to explore the role of satisfaction with care in CB-PTSD symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrimary mRNA vaccination against COVID-19 typically involves three doses for immunocompromised individuals, including hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) recipients. However, optimal subsequent boosting strategies remain unclear. This study aimed to assess the immunogenicity of a booster dose using the most recently updated vaccine (Comirnaty Omicron XBB.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInnate immunity plays an important role in host defense against pathogenic infections. It involves macrophage polarization into either the pro-inflammatory M1 or the anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype, influencing immune stimulation or suppression, respectively. Epigenetic changes during immune reactions contribute to long-term innate immunity imprinting on macrophage polarization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMorabine grasshoppers in the Vandiemenella viatica species group, which show karyotype diversity, have been studied for their ecological distribution and speciation in relation to their genetic and chromosomal diversity. They are good models for studying sex chromosome evolution as "old" and newly emerged sex chromosomes co-exist within the group. Here we present a reference genome for the viatica19 chromosomal race, that possesses the ancestral karyotype within the group.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRituximab has been used to treat MS patients in Iceland for over a decade. However, long-term effect of rituximab on leukocyte populations has not yet been elucidated. By retrospective analysis of flow cytometric data from 349 patients visiting the neurological ward at The National University Hospital of Iceland from 2012 to 2023 for rituximab treatment, the long-term effect of rituximab and whether the effect was dose dependent (1000mg vs 500mg) was evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn multiple myeloma (MM), advancements in treatments and toxicity management have enhanced survival rates. This, coupled with shifting age demographics in MM, necessitates an updated understanding of infection risks in MM patients compared to the general population. Using Swedish population-based registries, we investigated the incidence of infections in 8,672 Swedish symptomatic MM patients diagnosed 2008-2021 and 34,561 matched controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To investigate the association of potential risk factors for urinary tract infections (UTI) caused by E. coli producing ESBL vs. not producing ESBL in Iceland.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To document the trajectory of early childhood stuttering longitudinally for 14. years with a consideration on the features of overt and covert stuttering related to recovery status.
Method: Thirty-eight participants were observed longitudinally at three different time points: early childhood (Occasion 1), middle childhood (Occasion 2), and late adolescence (Occasion 3).
Reading skills and developmental dyslexia, characterized by difficulties in developing reading skills, have been associated with brain anomalies within the language network. Genetic factors contribute to developmental dyslexia risk, but the mechanisms by which these genes influence reading skills remain unclear. In this preregistered study (https://osf.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLife goals play a major role in shaping people's lives and careers. Although life goals have prior documented associations with occupational and other life outcomes, no prior studies have investigated associations between life goal and occupational outcomes. Using two representative samples of Icelandic youth (Sample 1: = 485, Sample 2: = 1,339), followed across 12 years from adolescence to young adulthood, we examined life goal development and associations with educational attainment and a wide range of occupational outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: It is unknown whether glucocorticoid (GC)-induced adrenal insufficiency may cause premature mortality in GC users. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to investigate if undiagnosed and undertreated GC-induced adrenal insufficiency is a contributor to premature death in GC users.
Methods: Information on dispensed prescriptions in West Sweden from 2007 to 2014 was obtained from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register.
Background: Previous epidemiological studies examining the prospective association between maternal prenatal tobacco smoking and offspring academic achievement have reported conflicting results. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to examine the magnitude and consistency of association reported by those studies.
Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis was guided by the PRISMA protocol.
Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a common and progressive spinal deformity in children that exhibits striking sexual dimorphism, with girls at more than fivefold greater risk of severe disease compared to boys. Despite its medical impact, the molecular mechanisms that drive AIS are largely unknown. We previously defined a female-specific AIS genetic risk locus in an enhancer near the gene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: The primary aim of this cross-sectional study was to provide descriptive data about the lifetime prevalence of trauma exposure with a particular focus on sexual violence and natural disasters and to assess the prevalence of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the Icelandic population. In addition, the aim was to investigate whether PTSD symptoms, trauma types and prevalence differed by gender and geographical location.
Method: A representative sample of the population between the ages of 18 and 80 years was randomly selected from the Icelandic National Registrar.
Burn wound healing is a complex process orchestrated through successive biochemical events that span from weeks to months depending on the depth of the wound. Here, we report an untargeted metabolomics discovery approach to capture metabolic changes during the healing of deep partial-thickness (DPT) and full-thickness (FT) burn wounds in a porcine burn wound model. The metabolic changes during healing could be described with six and seven distinct metabolic trajectories for DPT and FT wounds, respectively.
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