Evaluation of the Ocular Surface Disease Index Questionnaire as a Discriminative Test for Clinical Findings in Dry Eye Disease Patients.

: To investigate to what extent the OSDI can be utilized as a discriminative test for clinical findings. : One thousand and ninety patients with dry eye disease (DED) were consecutively included and examined for osmolarity, tear film break-up time (TFBUT), ocular protection index (OPI), ocular surface staining (OSS), Schirmer I test (ST), meibum expressibility (ME), meibum quality (MQ), and diagnosis of meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). Receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis considering optimum balanced sensitivity and specificity (close to 50%) was used for assessment.

The healthy body image (HBI) intervention: Effects of a school-based cluster-randomized controlled trial with 12-months follow-up.

We examined the effects of the Healthy Body Image (HBI) intervention on positive embodiment and health-related quality of life among Norwegian high school students. The intervention comprised three interactive workshops, with body image, media literacy, and lifestyle as main themes. In total, 2,446 12 grade boys (43%) and girls (mean age 16.

Different effects of ozone and aqueous ammonia in a combined pretreatment method on rice straw and dairy manure fiber for enhancing biomethane production.

Low digestibility of lignocellulosic feedstock is the most important limitation for biogas production. The synergistic effects of ozone and aqueous ammonia (OSAA) on different types of lignocelluloses including rice straw and dairy manure fiber were investigated. OSAA significantly increased biogas production of rice straw by 114.

The potential of RNA as a target for national screening of pre-cancer.

Whole national screening of pre-cancer is done only in some few countries, dominated by The Netherlands, Denmark, UK, Norway and Finland. These national screenings are done combining national cancer registry, national public health and national medical bodies or hospitals. Until some few years ago national screening was only done using morphological or visual methods or technology.

Azimuthal Anisotropy of Heavy-Flavor Decay Electrons in p-Pb Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02 TeV.

Angular correlations between heavy-flavor decay electrons and charged particles at midrapidity (|η|<0.8) are measured in p-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV.

Meibomian Gland Morphology Is a Sensitive Early Indicator of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between meibomian gland (MG) morphology and clinical dry eye tests in patients with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD).

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Subjects: Total 538 MGD patients and 21 healthy controls.

Cardio-respiratory fitness is associated with a verbal factor across cognitive domains in schizophrenia.

Objective: We investigated whether the relationship between cardio-respiratory fitness (CRF) and cognition in schizophrenia is general, or due to selective relationships between CRF and specific aspects of cognitive function.

Method: Eighty outpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders participated. Neurocognition was assessed with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale version 4 General Ability Index (WAIS GAI), the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) and the Emotion in Biological Motion (EBM) test.

The influence of a submerged meadow on uptake and trophic transfer of legacy mercury from contaminated sediment in the food web in a brackish Norwegian fjord.

There are contradicting results on the importance of legacy mercury (Hg) contaminated sediments to Hg fish tissue concentrations. Still, sediment remediation actions often aim at minimizing ecosystem exposure and human risk caused by the consumption of fish and seafood. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible influence of a permanently submerged meadow on the availability and transfer of Hg from sediment to biota, three decades after the Hg discharges was halted and the previous biota survey was carried out, in the severely contaminated brackish fjord Gunneklevfjorden in southern Norway.

Patients' Evaluation of a Preparatory Online Communication Tool for Older Patients With Cancer Preceding Chemotherapy.

Background: The online tool PatientVOICE has been developed to enhance older patients' participation during educational nursing encounters preceding chemotherapy and to increase their information recall.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate perceived usefulness, usability, satisfaction with emotional support, language use, attractiveness, and visit intention of PatientVOICE by older (ex-)patients with cancer.

Methods: Older (ex-)patients with cancer were invited to evaluate the website via an online questionnaire.

Awareness of disease in Alzheimer's disease: what do patients realize about their own condition?

We aim to assess different objects of awareness of disease of people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in mild and moderate stages Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 participants with AD and qualitative analyses were used to analyze the participants' reports. Cognitive impairment was the most peserved area of awareness. The participants' explanations were mainly categorized as biological/genetic and psychosocial causes.

Mapping anaerobic sludge bed community adaptations to manure supernatant in biogas reactors.

In upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactors, biomass present as granules allows for long solids retention time. Here, granules from a process treating pulp and paper industrial wastewater were successfully applied as inoculum in UASB reactors treating pig manure supernatant, despite high particle content and high ammonium concentrations in the influent. We did a detailed characterization of archaeal and bacterial communities associated with the inoculum and with the aggregated and dispersed fractions of the influent and the reactors after one year of operation.

Foreign educated nurses' work experiences and patient safety-A systematic review of qualitative studies.

Aim: The aim of this systematic review was to identify the evidence contributed by qualitative research studies of foreign educated nurses' work experiences in a new country and to link the results to patient safety competencies.

Design: A systematic literature review of qualitative studies.

Methods: Electronic searches in the Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library and Cinahl databases and additional manual searches in five scientific journals.

Contaminants in Atlantic walruses in Svalbard part 1: Relationships between exposure, diet and pathogen prevalence.

This study investigated relationships between organohalogen compound (OHC) exposure, feeding habits, and pathogen exposure in a recovering population of Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) from the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway. Various samples were collected from 39 free-living, apparently healthy, adult male walruses immobilised at three sampling locations during the summers of 2014 and 2015. Concentrations of lipophilic compounds (polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides and polybrominated diphenyl ethers) were analysed in blubber samples, and concentrations of perfluoroalkylated substances (PFASs) were determined in plasma samples.

Health Promotion at Local Level in Norway: The Use of Public Health Coordinators and Health Overviews to Promote Fair Distribution Among Social Groups.

Background: Norway is internationally known today for its political and socio-economic prioritization of equity. The 2012 Public Health Act (PHA) aimed to further equity in the domain of health by addressing the social gradient in health. The PHA's main policy measures were (1) delegation to the municipal level of responsibility for identifying and targeting underserved groups and (2) the imposition on municipalities of a "Health in All Policies" (HiAP) approach where local policy-making generally is considered in light of public health impact.

"Non-palliative care" - a qualitative study of older cancer patients' and their family members' experiences with the health care system.

Background: Among all cancer patients in the palliative phase, ¾ have reached the age of 65. An aging population will increase the number of people afflicted with cancer, and create challenges for patients, family members and health services. Nevertheless, limited research has focused explicitly on the experiences and needs of older cancer patients in the palliative phase and their families.

Developing a digital communication training tool on information-provision in oncology: uncovering learning needs and training preferences.

Background: Adequate information-provision forms a crucial component of optimal cancer care. However, information-provision is particularly challenging in an oncology setting. It is therefore imperative to help oncological health care practitioners (HCP) optimise their information-giving skills.

Can participants predict where ambulance-requiring cases occur at a half marathon?

Objectives: Despite endurance races leading to a substantial number of ambulance-requiring cases (ARC), little is known regarding where they occur, meaning that knowing where to place medical teams, ambulance pick-up points, etc, is difficult. This article investigates whether the location of ARCs can be identified by race participants.

Methods: Using the world's largest half marathon (Gothenburg half marathon) as a case, 237 runners were asked, post-race, to mark on a map which geographical point of the race was most exhausting.

Impedance-based sensor for potassium ions.

A conductometric sensor for potassium ions in solution is presented. Interdigitated, planar gold electrodes were coated with a potassium-selective polymer membrane composed of a poly(vinyl chloride) matrix with about 65 wt% of plasticiser and 2-5 wt% of a potassium-selective ionophore. The impedance of the membrane was measured, using the electrodes as a transducer, and related to the concentration of potassium in a sample solution in contact with the membrane.

Tear Production Levels and Dry Eye Disease Severity in a Large Norwegian Cohort.

Purpose: To determine if the Schirmer I test (without anesthesia) cut-off value is a predictor of dry eye severity in a large Norwegian cohort of dry eye disease (DED) patients, which are grouped into six levels of tear production.

Methods: Patients (n = 1090) with DED of different etiologies received an extensive dry eye work-up: osmolarity (Osm), tear meniscus height (TMH), tear film break-up time (TFBUT), ocular protection index (OPI), ocular surface staining (OSS), Schirmer I test (ST), meibum expressibility (ME), and meibum quality (MQ). Classification of dry eye severity level (DESL) and diagnosis of meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) were also included.

Worksite physical activity intervention and somatic symptoms burden: The role of coworker support for basic psychological needs and autonomous motivation.

Suffering from somatic symptoms can seriously hamper one's quality of life and ability to function, causing lost work productivity, sickness absence, and extensive medical utilization. Physical activity (PA) has demonstrated promising results related to mild to moderate cases of somatic symptoms. The present study explored whether a worksite health promotion intervention was able to increase PA and cardiorespiratory fitness, and to reduce somatic symptoms and sickness absence.

Cane toads beneath bird rookeries: utilization of a natural disturbance by an invasive species.

Many invasive species exploit anthropogenically disturbed habitats, but most of those taxa evolved long before humans. Presumably, then, an ability to use natural (non-anthropogenic) disturbances pre-adapted invaders to a world later degraded by people. Studies on invasive species in naturally disturbed habitats thus can clarify the ancestral niche of invaders.

Abrupt high-latitude climate events and decoupled seasonal trends during the Eemian.

The Eemian (the Last Interglacial; ca. 129-116 thousand years ago) presents a testbed for assessing environmental responses and climate feedbacks under warmer-than-present boundary conditions. However, climate syntheses for the Eemian remain hampered by lack of data from the high-latitude land areas, masking the climate response and feedbacks in the Arctic.

Effect of sodium chloride on polyhydroxyalkanoate production from food waste fermentation leachate under different organic loading rate.

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production integrated with anaerobic digestion is promising for food waste recycle. However, effect of salinity and high organic load in waste fermentation leachate (FWFL) on PHA production is unknown. Effects of sodium chloride (NaCl, 0, 5.

Serum cytokine profiles and metabolic tumor burden in patients with non-small cell lung cancer undergoing palliative thoracic radiation therapy.

Purpose: Radiation therapy effectively kills cancer cells and elicits local effects in the irradiated tissue. The aim of this study was to investigate the kinetics of cytokines in the serum of patients with lung cancer undergoing radiation therapy and to identify associations with metabolic tumor burden as determined by 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose (F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET).

Methods And Materials: Forty-five patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer were included in a phase 2 clinical trial and randomized between fractionated thoracic radiation therapy alone or concurrent with an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor.

Salinity Gradient Energy from Expansion and Contraction of Poly(allylamine hydrochloride) Hydrogels.

Salinity gradients exhibit a great potential for production of renewable energy. Several techniques such as pressure-retarded osmosis and reverse electrodialysis have been employed to extract this energy. Unfortunately, these techniques are restricted by the high costs of membranes and problems with membrane fouling.