Opsins have been found in the majority of animals and their most apparent functions are related to vision and light-guided behaviour. As an increasing number of sequences have become available it has ...become clear that many opsin-like transcripts are expressed in tissues other than the eyes. Opsins can be divided into three main groups: rhabdomeric opsins (r-opsins), ciliary opsins (c-opsins) and group 4 opsins. In arthropods, the main focus has been on the r-opsins involved in vision. However, with increased sequencing it is becoming clear that arthropods also possess opsins of the c-type, group 4 opsins and the newly discovered arthropsins but the functions of these opsins are unknown in arthropods and data on their localisation is limited or absent.
We identified opsins from the spider Cupiennius salei and the onychophoran Euperipatoides kanangrensis and characterised the phylogeny and localisation of these transcripts. We recovered all known visual opsins in C. salei, and in addition found a peropsin, a c-opsin and an opsin resembling Daphnia pulex arthropsin. The peropsin was expressed in all eye types except the anterior median eyes. The arthropsin and the c-opsin were expressed in the central nervous system but not the eyes. In E. kanangrensis we found: a c-opsin; an opsin resembling D. pulex arthropsins; and an r-opsin with high sequence similarity to previously published onychophoran onychopsins. The E. kanangrensis c-opsin and onychopsin were expressed in both the eyes and the brain but the arthropsin only in the brain.
Our novel finding that opsins of both the ciliary and rhabdomeric type are present in the onychophoran and a spider suggests that these two types of opsins were present in the last common ancestor of the Onychophora and Euarthropoda. The expression of the c-opsin in the eye of an onychophoran indicates that c-opsins may originally have been involved in vision in the arthropod clade. The lack of c-opsin expression in the spider retina suggests that the role for c-opsin in vision was lost in the euarthropods. Our discovery of arthropsin in onychophorans and spiders dates the emergence of arthropsin to the common ancestor of Onychophora and Euarthropoda and their expression in the brain suggests a non-visual function.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Objective To assess whether customised mobile phone reminders would improve adherence to therapy and thus decrease virological failure among HIV infected patients starting antiretroviral treatment ...(ART).Design Randomised controlled trial among HIV infected patients initiating antiretroviral treatment.Setting Three diverse healthcare delivery settings in south India: two ambulatory clinics within the Indian national programme and one private HIV healthcare clinic.Participants 631 HIV infected, ART naïve, adult patients eligible to initiate first line ART were randomly assigned to mobile phone intervention (n=315) or standard care (n=316) and followed for 96 weeks..Intervention The intervention consisted of customised, interactive, automated voice reminders, and a pictorial message that were sent weekly to the patients’ mobile phones for the duration of the study.Main outcome measures The primary outcome was time to virological failure (viral load >400 copies/mL on two consecutive measurements). Secondary outcomes included ART adherence measured by pill count, death rate, and attrition rate. Suboptimal adherence was defined as mean adherence <95%.Results Using an intention-to-treat approach we found no observed difference in time to virological failure between the allocation groups: failures in the intervention and standard care arms were 49/315 (15.6%) and 49/316 (15.5%) respectively (unadjusted hazard ratio 0.98, 95% confidence interval 0.67 to 1.47, P=0.95). The rate of virological failure in the intervention and standard care groups were 10.52 and 10.73 per 100 person years respectively. Comparison of suboptimal adherence was similar between both groups (unadjusted incidence rate ratio 1.24, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.65, P=0.14). Incidence proportion of patients with suboptimal adherence was 81/300 (27.0%) in the intervention arm and 65/299 (21.7%) in the standard care arm. The results of analyses adjusted for potential confounders were similar, indicating no significant difference between the allocation groups. Other secondary outcomes such as death and attrition rates, and subgroup analysis also showed comparable results across allocation groups.Conclusions In this multicentre randomised controlled trial among ART naïve patients initiating first line ART within the Indian national programme, we found no significant effect of the mobile phone intervention on either time to virological failure or ART adherence at the end of two years of therapy.Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN79261738.
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BFBNIB, CMK, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
The aim was to explore experiences of daily occupations among the oldest old. Ten 99-year-old persons were interviewed in their living environment about an ordinary day. The interviews were analysed ...according to the phenomenographic approach. The result showed that participants regarded themselves as competent and that they felt proud because they were involved in daily occupations. Being challenged was experienced as a way of performing difficult tasks, thus being confirmed as a capable person who performs and learns new things. The participants' occupational patterns preserve occupational ability and continuity in life in that they have a rhythm and allow the individuals to predict and handle interruptions. Participants experienced being incapable and being restricted as a result of personal, environmental, and social hindrances. The participants adapted to and reshaped their sense of self, which has been disrupted due to the discrepancy between self, the person's ability, and the real world "outside". Experience of daily occupation is unique, supports the sense of self, builds identities, and describes engagement and creative processes. Individual experience must be recognized as it can mean the difference between success and failure in maintaining meaningful daily occupation.
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DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
This broad survey of children’s health and wellbeing in Sweden’s 290 municipalities converts freely available national data to a set of 13 high quality indicators, and makes local surveillance and ...comparisons possible. Combining the indicators, using equal weights, into relevant domains as 5 sub-indices and then again into one summary index provides one index for the great picture, sub-indices for the various domains of child health and separate indicators for the detailed study of the basic components. This creates a simplified tool for decision makers and professionals in their task to monitor children’s health on the local level. Children’s health in the Swedish municipalities is generally good, with a mean Child Health Index of 88 out of 100, ranging from 81 to 93. Children in economically disadvantaged municipalities have, with few exceptions, more health problems and worse preconditions for health. The indicators Socio-economic standard, Tobacco in utero, Smoking households and Teenage abortions explain most of the municipality variations. But the broader range of indicators gives more information and is a better tool to consider strengths and weaknesses for each municipality, and is thus more useful for policy-oriented efforts. The real value of this kind of monitoring lies in a succession of comparable surveys. The generous, free and easily available data are not available in all other countries, but matters such as philosophy and design, indicator definitions and index constructions might be considered in other regions looking for ways to monitor children’s health and wellbeing on local levels.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Physical training has been shown to reduce mortality in normal subjects, and athletes have a healthier lifestyle after their active career as compared with normal subjects. Since the 1950s, the use ...of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) has been frequent, especially in power sports. The aim of the present study was to investigate mortality, including causes of death, in former Swedish male elite athletes, active 1960–1979, in wrestling, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, and the throwing events in track and field when the suspicion of former AAS use was high. Results indicate that, during the age period of 20–50 years, there was an excess mortality of around 45%. However, when analyzing the total study period, the mortality was not increased. Mortality from suicide was increased 2–4 times among the former athletes during the period of 30–50 years of age compared with the general population of men. Mortality rate from malignancy was lower among the athletes. As the use of AAS was marked between 1960 and 1979 and was not doping‐listed until 1975, it seems probable that the effect of AAS use might play a part in the observed increased mortality and suicide rate. The otherwise healthy lifestyle among the athletes might explain the low malignancy rates.
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BFBNIB, FSPLJ, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract Objectives The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between somatic health and former abuse of AAS in former elite male athletes 30 years after the end of their active ...sports career. Design Retrospective follow-up study. Methods N = 996 former elite male athletes were sent a questionnaire concerning sociodemographic variables, previous and past sport activity and lifetime prevalence of seeking professional help for health problems. N = 683 (68.6%) answered the questionnaire. The lifetime prevalence of AAS-abuse was 21% ( n = 143), while 79% ( n = 540) did not admit having ever used AAS. Results Former AAS-abuse was associated with tendon ruptures (p = 0.01), depression (p = 0.001), anxiety (p = 0.01) and lower prevalence of prostate hypertrophy (p = 0.01) and decreased libido (p = 0.01). Former advanced AAS-abusers had higher anxiety (p = 0.004) compared to the former less advanced AAS-abusers. Moreover, former advanced AAS-abusers, compared to AAS-naïves, reported more psychiatric problems (p = 0.002), depression (p = 0.003) and anxiety (p = 0.00). Conclusions A former AAS-abuse seems to be associated with some somatic and mental health problem, although a former less advanced AAS-abuse is related to lower incidence of prostate hypertrophy. The results raise the question whether some of these associations might be dose- and frequency dependent. These findings should however be seen as hypothesis generating and further studies are needed.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Aim
The study aim was to further clarify the relationship between psychological factors and myocardial infarction (MI) by simultaneously examining anger, depression, and anxiety as risk factors for ...incident MI in a healthy working sample.
Subject and method
Baseline measurements of psychological variables were assessed through a self-reported questionnaire in a healthy cohort of 968 middle-aged men working at the Volvo Corporation. Single-item questions assessed depression and anxiety. Anger was assessed by the Trait Anger subscale of the Spielberger State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. The endpoint was incident MI verified by national registers or medical records with follow up after 22 years. The main outcome was computed through logistic regression, reported as odds ratios. Additional correlation analyses were performed between psychological variables and coronary risk factors.
Results
None of the psychological variables was significantly associated with the outcome; thus, the results failed to show an association between anger, depression, or anxiety and incident MI in this sample. There were some significant, but weak, correlations between psychological factors and negative health behaviors. Other components of traditional risk scoring instruments did not correlate with the psychological factors.
Conclusion
A cohort restricted to middle-age healthy men limits applicability. However, our failure to replicate earlier results of population samples suggests a need for further research on associations between psychological factors and MI in healthy samples.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, VSZLJ, ZAGLJ
The aim of this study was to assess social disparities in food choices and diet quality in a population of 70-year old Swedes.
Cross-sectional study among participants in the 2000 Gerontological and ...Geriatric Population Studies in Goteborg.
A representative population of men (n=233) and women (n=321) from Goteborg, a city on the south western coast of Sweden.
One hour diet history interviews were performed and 35 specific foods and food groups were identified; in addition a diet quality index (DQI) was calculated. Differences in food choices and diet quality scores were tested across educational and socio-economic index categories (SEI).
Men with higher education and SEI had higher diet quality scores than those with lower socio-economic status, while no differences in DQI were noted in women. Further analysis of women based on their husband's occupational group also yielded no differences in diet quality. When studying individual foods, socio-economic differences were observed in women and men.
Selection of food varies by education and occupational status in both sexes although socio-economic disparities in diet quality were observed in men only.
Background. Clinical studies have shown that radiotherapy can induce vascular disease at the site of exposure but is usually not clinically evident until years after treatment. We have studied ...irradiated human arteries and veins to better understand the underlying biology in search of future treatments. The aim was to investigate whether radiotherapy contributed to a sustained expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) in human arteries and veins. Methods. Irradiated arteries and veins were harvested, together with unirradiated control vessels, from patients undergoing free tissue transfer reconstruction at a median time of 90 weeks 5–650 following radiation exposure. Differential gene expression of PAI-1 was analysed, together with immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immunofluorescence (IF). Results. PAI-1 gene expression was increased in both arteries (p=0.012) and veins (p<0.001) in irradiated compared to unirradiated control vessels. IHC and IF indicated that cells expressing PAI-1 were located in the adventitia of both arteries and veins and colocalized with cells positive for CD68, CD45, and α-SMA in arteries and with CD45 and α-SMA in veins. Conclusion. The current study shows a sustained upregulation of PAI-1 in both arteries and veins after exposure to ionizing radiation, indicating a chronic inflammation mainly in the adventitia. We believe that the results contribute to further understanding of radiation-induced vascular disease, where targeting PAI-1 may be a potential treatment.
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DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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