Spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the Icelandic Population.

Background: During the current worldwide pandemic, coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) was first diagnosed in Iceland at the end of February. However, data are limited on how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, enters and spreads in a population.

Methods: We targeted testing to persons living in Iceland who were at high risk for infection (mainly those who were symptomatic, had recently traveled to high-risk countries, or had contact with infected persons).

Reduction of antimicrobial resistant pneumococci seven years after introduction of pneumococcal vaccine in Iceland.

Background: Penicillin non-susceptible (PNSP) and multi-resistant pneumococci have been prevalent in Iceland since early nineties, mainly causing problems in treatment of acute otitis media. The 10-valent protein conjugated pneumococcal vaccine (PHiD-CV) was introduced into the childhood vaccination program in 2011. The aim of the study was to investigate the changes in antimicrobial susceptibility and serotype distribution of penicillin non-susceptible pneumococci (PNSP) in Iceland 2011-2017.

Association Between Unrecognized Myocardial Infarction and Cerebral Infarction on Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Importance: It is uncertain whether unrecognized myocardial infarction (MI) is a risk factor for cerebral infarction.

Objective: To determine whether unrecognized MI detected by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is associated with cerebral infarction.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This is a cross-sectional study of ICELAND MI, a cohort substudy of the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study conducted in Iceland.

Complete Inactivation of Sebum-Producing Genes Parallels the Loss of Sebaceous Glands in Cetacea.

Genomes are dynamic biological units, with processes of gene duplication and loss triggering evolutionary novelty. The mammalian skin provides a remarkable case study on the occurrence of adaptive morphological innovations. Skin sebaceous glands (SGs), for instance, emerged in the ancestor of mammals serving pivotal roles, such as lubrication, waterproofing, immunity, and thermoregulation, through the secretion of sebum, a complex mixture of various neutral lipids such as triacylglycerol, free fatty acids, wax esters, cholesterol, and squalene.

Ultrafast X-Ray Scattering Measurements of Coherent Structural Dynamics on the Ground-State Potential Energy Surface of a Diplatinum Molecule.

We report x-ray free electron laser experiments addressing ground-state structural dynamics of the diplatinum anion Pt_{2}POP_{4} following photoexcitation. The structural dynamics are tracked with <100  fs time resolution by x-ray scattering, utilizing the anisotropic component to suppress contributions from the bulk solvent. The x-ray data exhibit a strong oscillatory component with period 0.

Field-based hearing measurements of two seabird species.

Hearing is a primary sensory modality for birds. For seabirds, auditory data is challenging to obtain and hearing data are limited. Here, we present methods to measure seabird hearing in the field, using two Alcid species: the common murre and the Atlantic puffin Tests were conducted in a portable semi-anechoic crate using physiological auditory evoked potential (AEP) methods.

Leave or stay? Video-logger revealed foraging efficiency of humpback whales under temporal change in prey density.

Central place foraging theory (CPF) has been used to predict the optimal patch residence time for air-breathing marine predators in response to patch quality. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) forage on densely aggregated prey, which may induce drastic change in prey density in a single feeding event. Thus, the decision whether to leave or stay after each feeding event in a single dive in response to this drastic change, should have a significant effect on prey exploitation efficiency.

Subarctic singers: Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song structure and progression from an Icelandic feeding ground during winter.

Humpback whale songs associated with breeding behaviors are increasingly reported outside of traditional low latitude breeding grounds. Songs from a subarctic feeding ground during the winter were quantitatively characterized to investigate the structure and temporal changes of the songs at such an atypical location. Recordings were collected from 26.

Structural covariability hubs in old age.

Studies have shown that inter-individual differences in grey matter, as measured by voxel-based morphometry, are coordinated between voxels. This has been done by studying covariance maps based on a limited number of seed regions. Here, we used GPU-based (Graphics Processing Unit) accelerated computing to calculate, for the first time, the aggregated map of the total structural topographical organisation in the brain on voxel level in a large sample of 960 healthy individuals in the age range 68-83 years.

Vaccination of Icelandic Children with the 10-Valent Pneumococcal Vaccine Leads to a Significant Herd Effect among Adults in Iceland.

The introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) into childhood vaccination programs has reduced carriage of vaccine serotypes and pneumococcal disease. The 10-valent PCV was introduced in Iceland in 2011. The aim of this study was to determine PCV impact on the prevalence of serotypes, genetic lineages, and antimicrobial-resistant pneumococci isolated from the lower respiratory tract (LRT) of adults.

[Use of medication, supplements and natural products during pregnancy].

Introduction: Evidence-based information regarding the use of medication during pregnancy is lacking, even though the use of medication during pregnancy is considered common and often neccesary. The aim of this study was to obtain reliable information on the use of medications during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy and the use of vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, herbs and other natural products. Women´s attitude and beliefs towards the use of medications was also examined.

Validity and reliability of an iPad with a three-dimensional camera for posture imaging.

Background: It is important to quantify a static posture to evaluate the need for and effectiveness of interventions such as physical management, physiotherapy, spinal orthosis or surgical treatment on the alignment of body segments. Motion analysis systems can be used for this purpose, but they are expensive, require a high degree of technical experience and are not easily accessible. A simpler method is needed to quantify static posture.

Group B Streptococcal Neonatal and Early Infancy Infections in Iceland, 1976-2015.

Background: Despite a risk-based peripartum chemoprophylaxis approach in Iceland since 1996, Streptococcus agalactiae [group B streptococci (GBS)] remains an important cause of early-onset [<7 days, early-onset disease (EOD)] and late-onset disease (LOD; 7 days to 3 months).

Methods: We studied GBS invasive disease in children <1 year in Iceland in 1976-2015. Bacteria (n = 98) were characterized by susceptibility to a panel of antimicrobials, capsular serotyping, resistance genes, surface protein and pilus-locus profiling and multilocus sequence typing.

A novel cysteine-linked antibacterial surface coating significantly inhibits bacterial colonization of nasal silicone prongs in a phase one pre-clinical trial.

Ventilator associated pneumonia and sepsis are frequent complications in neonatal care. Bacterial colonization of medical devices and interfaces used for respiratory support may contribute by functioning as a bacterial reservoir seeding bacteria into airways. We have developed an antibacterial surface coating based on a cysteine ligand covalently coupled via a spacer to a carboxylic backbone layer on an acrylic acid grafted silicone surface.

Effect of Vaccination on Pneumococci Isolated from the Nasopharynx of Healthy Children and the Middle Ear of Children with Otitis Media in Iceland.

Vaccination with pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) disrupts the pneumococcal population. Our aim was to determine the impact of the 10-valent PCV on the serotypes, genetic lineages, and antimicrobial susceptibility of pneumococci isolated from children in Iceland. Pneumococci were collected between 2009 and 2017 from the nasopharynges of healthy children attending 15 day care centers and from the middle ears (MEs) of children with acute otitis media from the greater Reykjavik capital area.

Electronically ascertained extended pedigrees in breast cancer genetic counseling.

A comprehensive pedigree, usually provided by the counselee and verified by medical records, is essential for risk assessment in cancer genetic counseling. Collecting the relevant information is time-consuming and sometimes impossible. We studied the use of electronically ascertained pedigrees (EGP).

Composition of School Meals in Sweden, Finland, and Iceland: Official Guidelines and Comparison With Practice and Availability.

Background: Nutritious and attractive school meals can improve health equality and public health. Current official guidelines and recommendations on food and nutrient composition of school meals in 3 Nordic countries; Sweden, Finland, and Iceland, are described and compared with actual practice, ie, availability of foods and nutrients in served reference meals in 3 selected areas in each country.

Methods: A country comparison was made between official guidelines, and actual practice was studied in participating schools.

The majority of patients with psoriatic arthritis are not eligible for randomised clinical trials.

Objectives: To identify the proportion of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) who would meet inclusion criteria of the randomised clinical trials that were performed leading up to registration of the tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi).

Methods: Data from 329 patients with PsA were obtained from an Icelandic database, ICEBIO, medical records at the University Hospital of Iceland, and the private out-patient clinic Laeknasetrid Ltd. The patients were classified according to whether they met the inclusion criteria of the clinical trials that were performed ahead of the registration of each respective TNFi.

The attributes of successful de-escalation and restraint teams.

Inpatient violence is a widespread problem on psychiatric wards often with serious consequences, and psychiatric hospitals have set up teams to de-escalate and restrain patients with aggression (D-E&R teams) which are specially trained to respond to it in a safe manner. Successful de-escalation and restraining of patients with aggression depend not only on the methods learned in training but also on the confidence of the team. Therefore, it is of great importance to understand the factors that enhance D-E&R teams' competence in managing patients with aggression in a successful and safe manner.

From Agricultural Benefits to Aviation Safety: Realizing the Potential of Continent-Wide Radar Networks.

Migratory animals provide a multitude of services and disservices-with benefits or costs in the order of billions of dollars annually. Monitoring, quantifying, and forecasting migrations across continents could assist diverse stakeholders in utilizing migrant services, reducing disservices, or mitigating human-wildlife conflicts. Radars are powerful tools for such monitoring as they can assess directional intensities, such as migration traffic rates, and biomass transported.

Understanding Americans' abortion attitudes: The role of the local religious context.

Although abortion became legal over 40 years ago, Americans remain staunchly divided over its acceptability. Personal religious beliefs and behaviors have emerged as some of the most important factors shaping disapproval. Despite religion's importance, very little attention has been given to how the local religious context may shape views and abortion access.

Lifetime of racetrack skyrmions.

The skyrmion racetrack is a promising concept for future information technology. There, binary bits are carried by nanoscale spin swirls-skyrmions-driven along magnetic strips. Stability of the skyrmions is a critical issue for realising this technology.

Antiskyrmions stabilized at interfaces by anisotropic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions.

Chiral magnets are an emerging class of topological matter harboring localized and topologically protected vortex-like magnetic textures called skyrmions, which are currently under intense scrutiny as an entity for information storage and processing. Here, on the level of micromagnetics we rigorously show that chiral magnets can not only host skyrmions but also antiskyrmions as least energy configurations over all non-trivial homotopy classes. We derive practical criteria for their occurrence and coexistence with skyrmions that can be fulfilled by (110)-oriented interfaces depending on the electronic structure.