The importance of microbiology reference laboratories and adequate funding for infectious disease surveillance.

Microbiology reference laboratories perform a crucial role within public health systems. This role was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this Viewpoint, we emphasise the importance of microbiology reference laboratories and highlight the types of digital data and expertise they provide, which benefit national and international public health.

Peer Problems and Prosocial Behavior Among Icelandic Children and Adolescents with ADHD and/or Autism: Gender and Age Differences.

Children with neurodevelopmental disorders tend to have more social difficulties than typically developing children. The aim of the current study was to examine parent and teacher-reported effects of age and gender on social functioning in a large clinical sample of children and adolescents with ADHD, autism, or co-occurring ADHD and autism using a cross-sectional study design. This nationwide clinical sample included 2132 Icelandic children and adolescents (35% girls, 65% boys) aged 5-18 years referred for a neurodevelopmental diagnostic assessment (ADHD and/or autism) in Iceland.

Approaching Hypercalcemia in Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance: Insights from the iStopMM study.

Hypercalcemia in monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) presents a clinical challenge since it may indicate progression to multiple myeloma (MM) but could also be due to a multitude of unrelated disorders. To inform the approach to this clinical challenge, we conducted a nested cohort study within the iStopMM screening study. Of the 75,422 Icelanders aged 40 years and above who underwent screening for MGUS, we included 2,546 with MGUS who were in active follow-up, including regular serum calcium measurements.

Factors Influencing Medication Adherence in Heart Failure Patients-A Survey among Cardiac Healthcare Providers.

Adhering to medication regimens is key behavior to alleviate symptoms and slow disease progression in heart failure (HF). This study explores cardiac healthcare providers' perceptions and experiences of factors influencing medication adherence (MA) in HF patients, with findings contributing to developing a HF-specific MA assessment scale. Using a cross-sectional, mixed methods design, we conducted an online survey with both closed and open-ended questions distributed to cardiac healthcare providers, working at the National University Hospital in Iceland.

Soluble Proteins From Conventional and Organic Eggshell Membranes With Different Proteomic Profiles Show Similar In Vitro Biofunctions.

The eggshell membrane (ESM), resembling the extracellular matrix (ECM), acts as a protective barrier against bacterial invasion and offers various biofunctions due to its porous structure and protein-rich composition, such as ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, collagen, soluble protein, and antimicrobial proteins. However, the structure of ESM primarily comprises disulfide bonds and heterochains, which poses a challenge for protein solubilization/extraction. Therefore, the method of dissolving and extracting bioactive protein components from ESM has significant potential value and importance for exploring the reuse of egg waste and environmental protection.

Impulsive Buying and Deferment of Gratification Among Adults With ADHD.

Background: Impulsivity symptoms have been studied thoroughly in adults with ADHD, including hasty actions and decisions without considering possible consequences. The objective of our study was to investigate impulsive buying and deferment of gratification among adults with ADHD and a comparison group.

Method: The participants were 225 adults with ADHD and 121 university students who completed the Buying Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), the Deferment of Gratification Questionnaire (DOGQ), the Adult ADHD Rating Scale-IV (ADHD-RS), as well as background questions.

Mobility Medicine: A call to unify hyper-fragmented specialties by abstracts sent to 2025Pdm3, and typescripts to Ejtm3, and .

Mega scientific conferences increasingly suffer from the need for short and poster presentations without discussion. An alternative is to organize workshops in hotels large enough to accommodate all participants. This significantly increases the opportunities for constructive discussion during breakfasts, lunches, dinners and long evenings that can bring together experts of scientific and clinical sub-specialties and young fellows.

Prevalence of Life Stressors and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Women in Iceland.

Importance: Comprehensive data on the prevalence of various life stressors and their role in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among women are lacking.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of a broad range of life stressors and their association with PTSD in a large nationally representative cohort of women.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional analysis used data from the population-based Stress-And-Gene-Analysis, which invited women in Iceland to complete an online survey from March 1, 2018, to July 1, 2019.

[Food as migraine trigger].

Background And Aims: Migraine is a neurological disorder that is characterized by severe headaches and temporary motor and sensory disturbances. Migraine triggers are internal or external factors that can increase the likelihood of a migraine attack. Some individuals with migraine associate their attacks with the consumption of certain types of food, but no have been conducted in Iceland.

Perinatal death in the Nordic countries in relation to gestational age: The impact of registration practice.

Introduction: Although perinatal death rates in the Nordic countries are among the lowest in the world, the risk of perinatal death is unevenly distributed across the Nordic countries, despite similarity in health care systems and pregnancy care. Birth registration practices across countries may explain some of the differences. We investigated differences in national registration of perinatal mortality within the Nordic countries and its impact on perinatal mortality according to gestational age.

Retrospective validation of automatic sleep analysis with grey areas model for human-in-the-loop scoring approach.

State-of-the-art automatic sleep staging methods have demonstrated comparable reliability and superior time efficiency to manual sleep staging. However, fully automatic black-box solutions are difficult to adapt into clinical workflow due to the lack of transparency in decision-making processes. Transparency would be crucial for interaction between automatic methods and the work of sleep experts, i.

A partial loss-of-function variant in STAT6 protects against type 2 asthma.

Background: Signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) is central to type 2 (T2) inflammation, and common noncoding variants at the STAT6 locus associate with various T2 inflammatory traits, including diseases, and its pathway is widely targeted in asthma treatment.

Objective: We sought to test the association of a rare missense variant in STAT6, p.L406P, with T2 inflammatory traits, including the risk of asthma and allergic diseases, and to characterize its functional consequences in cell culture.

Circulating Baseline CXCR3Th2 and Th17 Cell Proportions Correlate With Trabecular Bone Loss After 48 Weeks of Biological Treatment in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: The high prevalence of osteoporosis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is due to inflammation that stimulates differentiation of osteoclasts, a process involving circulating monocytes and T cell-derived factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate relations between circulating monocytes, T cell subsets, and changes in bone characteristics before and after treatment with biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) in RA.

Methods: Thirty patients with untreated early RA who met the American College of Rheumatology/EULAR 2010 criteria were included.

Mechanical and Biological Characterization of Ionic and Photo-Crosslinking Effects on Gelatin-Based Hydrogel for Cartilage Tissue Engineering Applications.

Articular cartilage degeneration poses a significant public health challenge; techniques such as 3D bioprinting are being explored for its regeneration Gelatin-based hydrogels represent one of the most promising biopolymers used in cartilage tissue engineering, especially for its collagen composition and tunable mechanical properties. However, there are no standard protocols that define process parameters such as the crosslinking method to apply. To this aim, a reproducible study was conducted for exploring the influence of different crosslinking methods on 3D bioprinted gelatin structures.

Advancing Cartilage Tissue Engineering: A Review of 3D Bioprinting Approaches and Bioink Properties.

Articular cartilage is crucial in human physiology, and its degeneration poses a significant public health challenge. While recent advancements in 3D bioprinting and tissue engineering show promise for cartilage regeneration, there remains a gap between research findings and clinical application. This review critically examines the mechanical and biological properties of hyaline cartilage, along with current 3D manufacturing methods and analysis techniques.

Molecular Pathology of Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 in Iceland.

Background: Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is an autosomal dominant disease with anticipation due to increased number of CTG repeats in the DMPK gene.

Methods: This retrospective, cohort study in Iceland assessed prevalence of DM1, molecular pathology, and patient ascertainment. Data was collected from all major hospitals in Iceland, Medical Director of Health, and independent clinics.