Plague in Small Mammals From an Endemic Focus of the Malagasy Central Highlands: A Longitudinal Survey With a Special Reference on Black Rats (Rattus rattus).

Plague, a zoonotic disease caused by Yersinia pestis, remains a major public health threat in several parts of the world, including Madagascar. Factors underlying long-term persistence and emergence of the pathogen remain poorly understood. We implemented a longitudinal survey to provide insights into plague reservoir ecology within an endemic focus.

Apixaban removal during emergency surgery for type A acute aortic dissection: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) has a high mortality, and acute aortic repair is the only curative treatment. In patients treated with factor Xa (FXa) inhibitors, the risk of severe disease-related complications such as cardiac tamponade and hemodynamic shock must be balanced against the potential for severe perioperative bleeding. The aim was to study intraoperative changes in plasma levels of the FXa inhibitor apixaban when using hemoadsorption during acute thoracic aortic repair.

Diagnosing and managing patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: a consensus survey.

Aim: As heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) prevalence increases, it remains frequently underdiagnosed and poorly managed. Recent positive pharmacological trials have increased interest in HFpEF but challenges of diagnosis and management remain. The survey aim was to examine consensus between primary and secondary care providers regarding HFpEF diagnosis and management.

Heavy slow resistance training, radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy or advice for patients with tennis elbow in the Norwegian secondary care: a randomised controlled feasibility trial.

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility of recruitment, appointment adherence, intervention compliance, acceptance and comprehensibility, in addition to retention rate and data completeness. An ancillary aim was to describe within-group changes in the secondary outcome measures (patient-reported and performance-based).

Design: A single-centre, three-armed, randomised controlled feasibility trial with a parallel design, with follow-up after 3 and 6 months.

Evaluation of the effects of asymmetric lumbosacral transitional vertebra on pelvic morphology in dogs using ventrodorsal radiographs.

Background: A lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LTV) is a congenital anomaly of the caudal vertebral column. It has been associated with asymmetrical canine hip dysplasia (CHD) and cauda equina syndrome (CES) in German Shepherd dogs. This retrospective cross-sectional study aims to report the potential influence of asymmetric LTV on pelvic anatomy using ventrodorsal (VD) radiographs.

Implementation strategies: lessons learned during an e-learning intervention to improve dietary behaviors and feeding practices in early childhood education and care.

Background: Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centers play an important role in fostering healthy dietary habits. The Nutrition Now project focusing on improving dietary habits during the first 1000 days of life. Central to the project is the implementation of an e-learning resource aimed at promoting feeding practices among staff and healthy dietary behaviours for children aged 0-3 years in ECEC.

Strengthening research preparedness for crises: lessons from Norwegian government agencies in using randomized trials and quasi-experimental methods to evaluate public policy interventions.

During public health crises such as pandemics, governments must rapidly adopt and implement wide-reaching policies and programs ("public policy interventions"). A key takeaway from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was that although numerous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) focussed on drugs and vaccines, few policy experiments were conducted to evaluate effects of public policy interventions across various sectors on viral transmission and other consequences. Moreover, many quasi-experimental studies were of spurious quality, thus proving unhelpful for informing public policy.

Bacillus subtilis HGCC-1 improves growth performance and liver health via regulating gut microbiota in golden pompano.

Probiotics as green inputs have been reported to regulate metabolism and immunity of fish. However, the mechanisms by which probiotics improve growth and health of fish are unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Bacillus subtilis HGCC-1, an indigenous probiotic isolated from fish, on growth performance, host lipid metabolism, liver inflammation and gut microbiota of golden pompano.

Quality assessment of fish vaccine data in the Norwegian Veterinary Prescription Register (VetReg).

Background: Vaccination of farmed salmonids has been an integral part of preventing infectious diseases in Norway's aquaculture industry. In Norway, vaccine usage is regulated by the government. There is a need to monitor vaccine usage for both regulatory and research purposes, at local and national scales.

Relationship between motivational climate, anxiety and average mark in pre-service physical education teachers: a cross-sectional study based on structural equation modelling approach.

Background: Motivation is a variable that directly influences task orientation. Within the motivational sphere, the motivational climate determines whether a task is performed with an intrinsic or extrinsic.

Purpose: It has been observed that depending on motivational orientations, anxiety levels and task performance can be increased.

Predictive equation derived from 6,497 doubly labelled water measurements enables the detection of erroneous self-reported energy intake.

Nutritional epidemiology aims to link dietary exposures to chronic disease, but the instruments for evaluating dietary intake are inaccurate. One way to identify unreliable data and the sources of errors is to compare estimated intakes with the total energy expenditure (TEE). In this study, we used the International Atomic Energy Agency Doubly Labeled Water Database to derive a predictive equation for TEE using 6,497 measures of TEE in individuals aged 4 to 96 years.

Foucault's Social, Community, and Cultural Psychology.

In today's debate about a user oriented humanistic turn in the field of mental health care, the early Foucault is once again relevant. In his works from 1954 Foucault shows that the root of understanding mental phenomena is not to be found in universal medical concepts and methods, but in the reflection on lived experiences and in the human being itself. In accordance with contemporary social, community, and cultural psychologists, such as Brinkmann, Kinderman and Prilleltensky, Foucault is critical to the psychology's medical foundations.

Hemispheric asymmetry and its influence on cranioplasty complications after decompressive craniectomy.

To explore temporal dynamics of cerebral herniation through the calvarial defect after decompressive craniectomy. To investigate patterns of hemispheric asymmetry in ischemic stroke and traumatic brain injury after decompressive craniectomy.To assess clinical implications of hemispheric asymmetry evaluation in order to minimize cranioplasty complications.

Using a citizen science approach to assess nanoplastics pollution in remote high-altitude glaciers.

Nanoplastics are suspected to pollute every environment on Earth, including very remote areas reached via atmospheric transport. We approached the challenge of measuring environmental nanoplastics by combining high-sensitivity TD-PTR-MS (thermal desorption-proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry) with trained mountaineers sampling high-altitude glaciers ("citizen science"). Particles < 1 μm were analysed for common polymers (polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene and tire wear particles), revealing nanoplastic concentrations ranging 2-80 ng mL at five of 14 sites.

Mind the leaf anatomy while taking ground truth with portable chlorophyll meters.

A wide range of portable chlorophyll meters are increasingly being used to measure leaf chlorophyll content as an indicator of plant performance, providing reference data for remote sensing studies. We tested the effect of leaf anatomy on the relationship between optical assessments of chlorophyll (Chl) against biochemically determined Chl content as a reference. Optical Chl assessments included measurements taken by four chlorophyll meters: three transmittance-based (SPAD-502, Dualex-4 Scientific, and MultispeQ 2.

Occupational noise exposure and maternal pregnancy complications: register-based cohort from urban areas in four Nordic countries.

Objective: To assess the role of occupational noise exposure on pregnancy complications in urban Nordic populations.

Methods: A study population covering five metropolitan areas in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden was generated using national birth registries linked with occupational and residential environmental exposures and sociodemographic variables. The data covered all pregnancies during 5-11 year periods in 2004‒2016, resulting in 373 184 pregnancies.

User Acceptance of a Home Robotic Assistant for Individuals With Physical Disabilities: Explorative Qualitative Study.

Background: Health care is shifting toward 5 proactive approaches: personalized, participatory, preventive, predictive, and precision-focused services (P5 medicine). This patient-centered care leverages technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI)-powered robots, which can personalize and enhance services for users with disabilities. These advancements are crucial given the World Health Organization's projection of a global shortage of up to 10 million health care workers by 2030.

A system for producing controlled elevation of intraocular pressure in awake Brown Norway rats.

Animal models that help us understand how elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) causes axonal injury will lead to new glaucoma therapies. Because reliable measurements are difficult to obtain in chronic models, we developed the controlled elevation of IOP (CEI) approach. Here, a cannula connected to an elevated balanced salt solution (BSS) reservoir is inserted into the anterior chamber of anesthetized Brown Norway rats.

Uromodulin and Risk of Upper Urinary Tract Infections: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

Rationale & Objective: Observational studies suggest that uromodulin, produced by the kidneys, is associated with a reduced the risk of upper urinary tract infections, but inferences are limited by potential confounding factors. This study sought to explore further the validity of this association using Mendelian randomization.

Study Design: Two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Microplastics in freshwaters: Comparing effects of particle properties and an invertebrate consumer on microbial communities and ecosystem functions.

The effects of microplastic (MP) accumulation in freshwaters on organisms and ecosystem functions are poorly understood, as are the roles of MP particle properties in regulating these effects. In freshwater microcosms, we quantified variation in microbial communities and ecosystem functions and compared effects of MP concentration (0, 1000, 50000 particles/kg), shape (sphere, fragment, fibre), and polymer (polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polystyrene) with those of a model invertebrate consumer (Chironomus riparius). We detected multiple effects of specific MP properties, especially associated with MP fragments and fibres, and the polymer polypropylene.

Physicians' experiences with pharmacists as new members of the interprofessional emergency department team. A qualitative study.

Pharmacists in emergency departments (EDs) can alleviate physicians' workload by handling medication-related tasks and offer valuable contributions in interprofessional teams. We aimed to explore physicians' experiences working with pharmacists in EDs, and their perspectives on future permanent collaboration. We conducted semi-structured interviews with twenty physicians from two EDs and analyzed the data using thematic analysis.

Self-Assembling of Multilayered Polymorphs with Ion Beams.

Polymorphism determines significant variations in materials' properties by lattice symmetry variation. If they are stacked together into multilayers, polymorphs may work as an alternative approach to the sequential deposition of layers with different chemical compositions. However, selective polymorph crystallization during conventional thin film synthesis is not trivial; changes of temperature or pressure when switching from one polymorph to another during synthesis may cause degradation of the structural quality.

Direct anterior and direct lateral approach in patients with femoral neck fractures receiving a total hip arthroplasty: a randomized controlled trial.

Background And Purpose:  The optimal approach to the hip joint in patients with displaced femoral neck fractures (dFNF) receiving a total hip arthroplasty (THA) remains controversial. We compared the direct lateral approach (DLA) with the direct anterior approach (DAA) primarily on Timed Up and Go (TUG), and secondarily on the Forgotten Joint Score (FJS), the Oxford Hip Score (OHS), EQ5D-5L, and the EQ5D-VAS.

Methods:  Between 2018 and 2023, we conducted a randomized controlled trial including elderly patients with dFNFs treated with THA.