The association between health and sickness absence among Danish and non-Western immigrant cleaners in Denmark.

Purpose: The aim of the study is to investigate the association between health and sickness absence among Danish and non-Western immigrant cleaners in Denmark.

Methods: This study is based on a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from 2007 to 2008. The study population includes 276 cleaners, 144 Danish and 132 non-Western immigrant cleaners.

Clinical Evaluation of NIKS-Based Bioengineered Skin Substitute Tissue in Complex Skin Defects: Phase I/IIa Clinical Trial Results.

Background: Complex skin defects, such as burns and acute cutaneous trauma, are life-threatening injuries, often requiring temporary allograft placement to maintain fluid homeostasis and prevent infection until permanent wound closure is possible.

The Problem: The current standard of care for the management of full-thickness wounds that are unable to be closed in a single surgical stage is temporary coverage with cadaver allograft until an acceptable wound bed has been established. This approach has limitations including limited availability of human cadaver skin, the risk of disease transmission from cadaveric grafts, and inconsistent cadaver allograft quality.

Chimeric Human Skin Substitute Tissue: A Novel Treatment Option for the Delivery of Autologous Keratinocytes.

Background: For patients suffering from catastrophic burns, few treatment options are available. Chimeric coculture of patient-derived autologous cells with a "carrier" cell source of allogeneic keratinocytes has been proposed as a means to address the complex clinical problem of severe skin loss.

The Problem: Currently, autologous keratinocytes are harvested, cultured, and expanded to form graftable epidermal sheets.

Data-driven assessment of the association of polymorphisms in 5-Fluorouracil metabolism genes with outcome in adjuvant treatment of colorectal cancer.

A major challenge in the assessment of medicines, treatment options, etc., is to establish a framework for the comparison of risks and benefits of many different types and magnitudes, a framework that at the same time allows a clear distinction between the roles played by the statistical analyses of data and by judgements based on personal experience and expertise. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate how clinical data can be weighted, scored and presented by the use of an eight-step data-driven benefit-risk assessment method, where two genetic profiles are compared.

Structure/function studies and the effects of memantine in monkeys with experimental glaucoma.

Purpose. The scanning laser polarimetry with variable corneal compensation (GDx VCC) methodology was established and verified in monkeys with experimental glaucoma (ExpG). Terminal GDx parameters were correlated with axon counts and electrophysiologic measures.

Resonant quantum transitions in trapped antihydrogen atoms.

The hydrogen atom is one of the most important and influential model systems in modern physics. Attempts to understand its spectrum are inextricably linked to the early history and development of quantum mechanics. The hydrogen atom's stature lies in its simplicity and in the accuracy with which its spectrum can be measured and compared to theory.

Neuropsychological impairments on the NEPSY-II among children with FASD.

Background: We examined the pattern of neuropsychological impairments of children with FASD (compared to controls) on NEPSY-II measures of attention and executive functioning, language, memory, visuospatial processing, and social perception.

Methods: Participants included 32 children with FASD and 30 typically developing control children, ranging in age from 6 to 16 years. Children were tested on the following subtests of the NEPSY-II: Attention and Executive Functioning (animal sorting, auditory attention/response set, and inhibition), Language (comprehension of instructions and speeded naming), Memory (memory for names/delayed memory for names), Visual-Spatial Processing (arrows), and Social Perception (theory of mind).

Source monitoring in children with and without fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

Objectives: Deficits in memory are well-documented in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD); however, one aspect of memory not yet studied in children with FASD is source monitoring. This study examined overall source monitoring ability and performance profiles of children with FASD compared to controls.

Method: Participants included 19 children with FASD and 38 typically developing children (aged 6-12 years).

A comprehensive approach to benefit-risk assessment in drug development.

Major regulatory agencies, for example, FDA and EMA, have started to request comprehensive benefit-risk analyses of pharmaceutical products prior to approval or labelling expansion. The purpose of this study is to develop a generally applicable and reliable data-driven benefit-risk assessment method, where two or more drugs/doses can be compared. Our aim is to formulate an approach that is simple to apply, allows direct comparison of different types of risks and benefits, and is tailored for application in different disease areas both during clinical development and in the marketing approval phase.

Low complication rate after stoma closure. Consultants attended 90% of the operations.

Aim: To evaluate complications after stoma closure.

Method: Using a retrospective review of 997 medical records, data were collected from all patients undergoing stoma closure at the Department of Surgery P, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, from 1996 to 2010. Patient data after Hartmann reversal and loop-ileostomy closure were compared.

Monte Carlo simulation of cavitation in pores with nonwetting defects.

We investigate the onset of cavitation in a metastable fluid confined to nanoscale pores with nonwetting defects present. Using grand canonical and gauge cell mesocanonical Monte Carlo simulations, we study the degree of metastability (relative vapor pressure), at which the critical bubble forms in a spherical pore with a circular nonwetting defect. It is shown that an increase of the defect size leads to a transition from homogeneous to heterogeneous nucleation of critical bubbles formed at the defect site.

Associations between psychosocial work environment and hypertension among non-Western immigrant and Danish cleaners.

Introduction: Non-Western cleaners have reported better psychosocial work environment but worse health compared with their Danish colleagues. The aim of this study was to compare the association between psychosocial work environment and hypertension among non-Western immigrant cleaners and Danish cleaners.

Methods: Two hundred and eighty-five cleaners from nine workplaces in Denmark participated in this cross-sectional study.

Advanced electrocardiographic parameters change with severity of mitral regurgitation in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels in sinus rhythm.

Background: Multiple advanced resting ECG (A-ECG) techniques have improved the diagnostic or prognostic value of ECG in detecting human cardiac diseases even before onset of clinical signs or changes in conventional ECG.

Objective: To determine which A-ECG parameters, derived from 12-lead A-ECG recordings, change with severity of mitral regurgitation (MR) caused by myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCSs) in sinus rhythm.

Animals: Seventy-six privately owned CKCSs.

Flow-mediated vasodilation measurements in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels with increasing severity of myxomatous mitral valve disease.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is associated with endothelial dysfunction in humans and studies of plasma biomarkers suggest that dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) might also have endothelial dysfunction.

Hypothesis: That progression of mitral regurgitation (MR) is associated with development of endothelial dysfunction.

Animals: Forty-three Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCS) with MR of varying severity.

Heart rate, heart rate variability, and arrhythmias in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease.

Background: Autonomic modulation of heart rhythm is thought to influence the pathophysiology of myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD).

Hypotheses: (1) Holter-derived variables reflecting autonomic modulation of heart rhythm change with MMVD severity in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCS); (2) Holter-derived variables can identify MMVD severity in CKCS; and (3) Holter-derived variables in CKCS in congestive heart failure (CHF) secondary to MMVD differ from those in dogs of other breeds in CHF.

Animals: Ninety privately owned dogs: 70 CKCS with variable MMVD severity and 20 non-CKCS in CHF secondary to MMVD.

Calculation of chemical potentials of chain molecules by the incremental gauge cell method.

The gauge cell Monte Carlo method is extended to calculations of the incremental chemical potentials and free energies of linear chain molecules. The method was applied to chains of Lennard-Jones beads with stiff harmonic bonds up to 500 monomers in length. We show that the suggested method quantitatively reproduces the modified Widom particle insertion method of Kumar et al.

A substantial number of scientific publications originate from non-university hospitals.

Introduction: As we found no recent published reports on the amount and kind of research published from Danish hospitals without university affiliation, we have found it relevant to conduct a bibliometric survey disclosing these research activities.

Material And Methods: We retrieved all scientific papers published in the period 2000-2009 emanating from all seven Danish non-university hospitals in two regions, comprising 1.8 million inhabitants, and which were registered in a minimum of one of the three databases: PubMed MEDLINE, Thomson Reuters Web of Science and Elsevier's Scopus.

The cardiac cycle is a major contributor to variability in size measurements of abdominal aortic aneurysms by ultrasound.

Aim: The objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of the cardiac cycle on ultrasound measurements of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) diameters.

Methods: In total, 603 AAAs detected by screening were investigated with respect to the maximal systolic and diastolic anterior-posterior aortic diameters during the cardiac cycle using recorded ultrasound video sequences.

Results: On average, the systolic AAA diameter was 41.

The effects of IQPLUS Focus on cognitive function, mood and endocrine response before and following acute exercise.

Background: Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a phospholipid found in cell membranes of most animals and plants. PS has been shown to reduce stress and increase performance in runners, cyclists and golfers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a PS containing formulation on cognitive function, mood and endocrine response before and after intense resistance exercise.

A review of social skills deficits in individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and prenatal alcohol exposure: profiles, mechanisms, and interventions.

Background: Individuals gestationally exposed to alcohol experience a multitude of sociobehavioral impairments, including deficits in adaptive behaviors such as social skills.

Methods: The goal of this report is to critically review research on social skills deficits in individuals with prenatal alcohol exposure, including individuals with and without fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD).

Results: Social deficits are found in alcohol-exposed children, adults, and adolescents with and without a clinical presentation.

Model cortical association fields account for the time course and dependence on target complexity of human contour perception.

Can lateral connectivity in the primary visual cortex account for the time dependence and intrinsic task difficulty of human contour detection? To answer this question, we created a synthetic image set that prevents sole reliance on either low-level visual features or high-level context for the detection of target objects. Rendered images consist of smoothly varying, globally aligned contour fragments (amoebas) distributed among groups of randomly rotated fragments (clutter). The time course and accuracy of amoeba detection by humans was measured using a two-alternative forced choice protocol with self-reported confidence and variable image presentation time (20-200 ms), followed by an image mask optimized so as to interrupt visual processing.

Callosphecodes, a little-known bee (Hymenoptera, Halictidae, Sphecodes).

Callosphecodes Friese, 1909, a synonym or perhaps subgenus of Sphecodes Latreille, 1804, is known on the basis of one female of Sphecodes ralunensis (Friese, 1909)from New Britain and one female and one male of a similar species, Sphecodes manskii (Rayment, 1935) from northeastern Australia. The male is here described for the first time and the females of the two species are compared for the first time. In spite of considerable collecting, only these three specimens have appeared in over a century.

Bioactive properties and clinical safety of a novel milk protein peptide.

Background: Milk protein fractions and peptides have been shown to have bioactive properties. This preliminary study examined the potential mechanisms of action and clinical safety of novel milk protein peptide (MP).

Findings: A novel MP mixture inhibits the tyrosine kinase activity of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), and insulin receptor (IR) with IC50 of 9.

Functional and anatomic consequences of subretinal dosing in the cynomolgus macaque.

Objective: To characterize functional and anatomic sequelae of a bleb induced by subretinal injection.

Methods: Subretinal injections (100 μL) of balanced salt solution were placed in the superotemporal macula of 1 eye in 3 cynomolgus macaques. Fellow eyes received intravitreal injections (100 μL) of balanced salt solution.