The incidence and survival of acute de novo leukaemias in Estonia and in a well defined region of Western Sweden during 1982-1996: a survey of patients aged 16-64 years

In the present work the incidence and survival of acute de novo leukaemias in two neighbouring countries, were studied retrospectively over three 5-year periods, 1982-1996. The aim was to compare the above variables, particularly with respect to political/socio-economic and environmental factors, in a well defined area of Sweden, the so-called Western Swedish Health Care Region, with Estonia. Population-wise the Western Swedish Region and Estonia are very similar; area-wise they are also well comparable. The present report covers only patients diagnosed between the ages of 16-64 years. The number of acute de novo leukaemias in the two regions was quite similar (Western Sweden n = 282 and Estonia n = 237). The age standardized incidence rate regarding total acute de novo leukaemias was slightly lower in Estonia than in Western Sweden (1.49/100,000 inhabitants/year for Estonia and 1.76 for Sweden, respectively), the difference being not statistically significant. However, the survival data for the two countries were highly different (P < 0.001). Thus, the relative survival for the total group of patients aged 16-64 years in Estonia at 1 year was 20.7% and at 5 years 3.6%, respectively. The corresponding figures for the Swedish patients were considerably higher, 65.2 and 29.4%, respectively. Further, the 5 year survival significantly (P < 0.05) increased for the Swedish patients over the 3 consecutive 5-year periods. No such improvement was recorded for the Estonian patients.     

Gastrin, secretin, VIP and motilin in children with mucoviscidosis and Crohn disease

The number of peptide hormones which have been localized in the gut and in neurons of the central and peripheral nervous system has increased considerably. As there is almost no information about their importance in children with gastrointestinal diseases, we developed highly sensitive radioimmunoassays and measured postprandial serum/plasma levels of gastrin, secretin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and motilin in 112 healthy children (N), 28 patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and 17 children with Crohn's disease (CD). Gastrin values were not pathologic in children with CF nor those with Crohn's disease (N = 56.2 +/- 29.6 pg/ml; CF = 57.0 +/- 34.2 pg/ml; CD = 43.6 +/- 26.6 pg/ml). A significant age dependency was established for secretin and VIP. These peptides were elevated in CF-patients. In children with Crohn's disease only Secretin was increased. Motilin was elevated in all patients: N = 78.0 (49.1-124.0) pg/ml; CF = 148.0 (70.8-309) pg/ml; CD = 153.0 (87.6-266).     

Objectives,design and main findings until 2020 from the Rotterdam Study

European Journal of Epidemiology - The Rotterdam Study is an ongoing prospective cohort study that started in 1990 in the city of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The study aims to unravel etiology,...     

Autoregulatory role of interleukin-10 in hepatitis C patients treated with IFN-alpha.

Interferon-alpha2 (IFN-alpha2) is used as standard treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C (cHCV), but little is known about the immunomodulatory effects of this cytokine in vivo. We have studied immunologic parameters in freshly isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 26 patients with cHCV 12 h before and 12 h after the first s.c. injection of 5-6 MU IFN-alpha2. In PBMC obtained after IFN injection, a substantial increase in IL-10 production after antigen-specific and nonspecific stimulation was observed, whereas IFN-gamma production and proliferation were significantly diminished compared with PBMC obtained before IFN injection. Patients were stratified according to single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the interleukin-10 (IL-10) promoter, which have been associated with the response to IFN therapy. Induction of IL-10 and suppression of IFN-gamma levels were more prominent in patients with genotype CC at position -592 (n = 15) compared with patients with genotype AA/AC (n = 11). In conclusion, our data indicate that IFN-alpha2 therapy can potently enhance IL-10 and suppress IFN-gamma production of PBMC, which is, at least partially, dependent on an SNP in the IL-10 promoter. This suggests an autoregulatory role of IL-10 in IFN therapy.     

The incidence and survival of acute de novo leukaemias in Estonia and in a well-defined region of western Sweden during 1982-1996: a survey of patients aged > or =65 years

OBJECTIVES: To compare the incidence and survival of acute de novo leukaemias with particular reference to political/socio-economic and environmental factors in two neighbouring countries over the three 5-year periods (1982-1996). PATIENTS: The present report covers only patients diagnosed when aged > or =65 years. SETTING: A well-defined area of Sweden, the so-called Western Swedish Health Care Region and Estonia. Population-wise, the western Swedish Region and Estonia are very similar; area-wise they are also well comparable. RESULTS: The number of acute de novo leukaemias was quite dissimilar in the two countries (Estonia, n = 137, Sweden, n = 354). The age standardized incidence rates regarding the total number of acute de novo leukaemias was 5.31 per 100,000 inhabitants/year for Estonia and 7.99 for Sweden, this difference being statistically significant. However, the difference was merely attributable to incidence rates as regards acute myeloblastic leukaemias (AML); on the contrary, differences as regards acute lymphoblastic leukaemias (ALL) and non-classifiable, undifferentiated or biphenotypic acute leukaemias (uAL) were negligible. The relative survival for the total material of patients was significantly higher for Swedish when compared with Estonian patients (P < 0.001). Thus, the relative survival for the total material of patients aged > or =65 years in Estonia at 1 year was 8.5% and at 3 years 3.5% respectively. The corresponding figures for the Swedish patients were considerably higher, 22.7 and 7.7% respectively. This difference, however, applied only for patients with AML (P < 0.001), whereas the results for patients with ALL and uAL were equally dismal. CONCLUSION: The results clearly reflect how political and socio-economic factors may influence the survival of acute leukemia patients in two neighbouring countries.     

Trajectories and Determinants of Physical Activity during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Population-Based Study of Middle-Aged and Elderly Individuals in The Netherlands

Physical inactivity is a major public health problem, and there are concerns this might have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to identify distinct trajectories of physical activity over a 6-week period after the first restrictive measures and to explore determinants of these trajectories in a population-based cohort of middle-aged and elderly in the Netherlands (n = 5777). We observed that at least 59% of participants did not meet the World Health Organization recommendations for physical activity. Using latent class trajectory analyses over three time points, we identified five distinct trajectories, including four steady trajectories at different levels (very low, low, medium and high) and one increasing trajectory. Using multinomial logistic regression analyses, we observed that, compared to the ‘steadily high’ trajectory, participants in the ‘steadily very low’ trajectory were more often older, lower educated, reporting poorer physical health, more depressive symptoms, consuming a less healthy diet, smoking, and lower alcohol use, and were less often retired. A similar pattern of determinants was seen for those in the increasing trajectory, albeit with smaller effect sizes. Concluding, we observed low levels of physical activity that generally remained during the pandemic. The determinants we described can help identify groups that require additional preventive interventions.     

The function of questions in developing a preschooler’s verbal reasoning skills during philosophical group discussions

Effective questioning helps preschoolers to reason verbally during philosophical group discussions. The aim of this study was to identify which researcher’s questions preschoolers respond to with verbal reasoning during such discussions. The data were collected through video-recorded group discussions. A total of 1567 questions and 1119 verbal reasons were analysed using mixed-methods. The findings showed that during 20 philosophical group discussions, researchers asked three types of questions: (1) open-ended questions (45.64%) with four functions: Initiating, interpretation, process, and speculative; (2) closed-ended questions (30.5%) with two functions: Yes/No, choice; and (3) off discussion questions (23.86%). Results indicate that the preschoolers yielded proportionally the most verbal reasons at different levels (association based on reality; connection between the words; sense-making explanation) in response to interpretation, process and Yes/No questions.     

From the Cover: The 3-dimensional structure of a hepatitis C virus p7 ion channel by electron microscopy

Infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) has a huge impact on global health putting more than 170 million people at risk of developing severe liver disease. The HCV encoded p7 ion channel is essential for the production of infectious viruses. Despite a growing body of functional data, little is known about the 3-dimensional (3D) structure of the channel. Here, we present the 3D structure of a full-length viroporin, the detergent-solubilized hexameric 42 kDa form of the HCV p7 ion channel, as determined by single-particle electron microscopy using the random conical tilting approach. The reconstruction of such a small protein complex was made possible by a combination of high-contrast staining, the symmetry, and the distinct structural features of the channel. The orientation of the p7 monomers within the density was established using immunolabeling with N and C termini specific F_ab fragments. The density map at a resolution of ≈16 Å reveals a flower-shaped protein architecture with protruding petals oriented toward the ER lumen. This broadest part of the channel presents a comparatively large surface area providing potential interaction sites for cellular and virally encoded ER resident proteins.