Background We recently showed that interleukin (IL)-6 inhibition by tocilizumab improves myocardial salvage in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, the mechanisms for this effect are not clear.<p> <p>Methods In this exploratory sub-study of the ASSAIL-MI trial, we examined leukocyte differential counts and their relation to myocardial salvage and peak troponin T (TnT) in STEMI ...

Aims To define plasma concentrations, determinants, and optimal prognostic cut-offs of soluble suppression of tumorigenesis-2 (sST2), high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT), and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) in women and men with chronic heart failure (HF).<p> <p>Methods and results Individual data of patients from the Biomarkers In Heart Failure Outpatient Study ...

Background<p> <p>The Saltin-Grimby Physical Activity Level Scale (SGPALS) is commonly used to measure physical activity (PA) in population studies, but its validity in adolescents is unknown. This study aimed to assess the criterion validity of the SGPALS against accelerometry in a large sample of adolescents. A secondary aim was to examine the validity across strata of sex, body mass index (BMI), ...

<p>Chomsky pursues a methodology in linguistics that abstracts from substantial amounts of data about actual language use in a way that has met considerable resistance from many other linguists. He thinks of this method as like that employed by Galileo and later physicists who proposed laws of motion in considerable abstraction from many of the motions we observe in daily life, focusing, for example, ...

Objectives The aim of this systematic review was to examine the effectiveness of pre-anaesthesia assessment clinics (PACs) in improving the quality and safety of perioperative patient care.<p> <p>Design Systematic review. <p>Data sources The electronic databases CINAHL Plus with Full Text (EBSCOhost), Medline and Embase (OvidSP) were systematically searched on 11 September 2018 and updated ...

Hvis vi hvite ikke gjenkjenner rasisten i oss selv, vil vi gjenkjenne rasismen kun hos noen personer, og ikke som et strukturtrekk, skriver Merethe Giertsen i dette innlegget i vår debatt om hvithet og rasisme.

<p><b>Background</b> Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) orchestrate leukocyte trafficking and could link peripheral and neuroinflammation in patients with severe mental illness (SMI), by promoting inflammatory and immune-mediated responses and mediating signals across blood-brain barrier. We hypothesized that CAMs would be dysregulated in SMI and evaluated plasma levels of different vascular and ...

Background: Vitamin D defciency has been associated with autoimmune diseases and oral health. Knowledge about the association between vitamin D status and oral conditions in JIA is limited. We aimed to investigate vitamin D status in a cohort of Norwegian children and adolescents with JIA and possible associations between serum vitamin D levels, clinical indicators of oral health, and JIA disease ...

The article describes a project about ‘experiential education’ at a school in Germany. The main educational objective is to offer an alternative way of teaching pupils who show destructive and aggressive behaviour. After a critical analysis of the concept of experiential education with regard to its educational relevance, the conceptual design and implementation of the project is presented. The ...

Background - To counteract a decreasing number of physician-scientists, a national intercalated Medical Student Research Programme (MSRP) was launched in Norway in 2002. We aimed to assess whether the students’ favourable perceptions and satisfaction with the program had prevailed since the inception in 2002 and until 2015, and to identify factors associated with pursuing a PhD.<p> <p>Methods - ...