25-Hydroxyvitamin D in African-origin populations at varying latitudes challenges the construct of a physiologic norm.

BACKGROUND: The vitamin D-endocrine system is thought to play a role in physiologic processes that range from mineral metabolism to immune function. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] is the accepted biomarker for vitamin D status. Skin color is a key determinant of circulating 25(OH)D concentrations, and genes responsible for melanin content have been shown to be under strong evolutionary selection in populations living in temperate zones. Little is known about the effect of latitude on mean concentrations of 25(OH)D in dark-skinned populations. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to describe the distribution of 25(OH)D and its subcomponents in 5 population samples of African origin from the United States, Jamaica, Ghana, South Africa, and the Seychelles. DESIGN: Participants were drawn from the Modeling of the Epidemiologic Transition Study, a cross-sectional observational study in 2500 adults, ages 25-45 y, enrolled between January 2010 and December 2011. Five hundred participants, ∼50% of whom were female, were enrolled in each of 5 study sites: Chicago, IL (latitude: 41°N); Kingston, Jamaica (17°N); Kumasi, Ghana (6°N); Victoria, Seychelles (4°S); and Cape Town, South Africa (34°S). All participants had an ancestry primarily of African origin; participants from the Seychelles trace their history to East Africa. RESULTS: A negative correlation between 25(OH)D and distance from the equator was observed across population samples. The frequency distribution of 25(OH)D in Ghana was almost perfectly normal (Gaussian), with progressively lower means and increasing skewness observed at higher latitudes. CONCLUSIONS: It is widely assumed that lighter skin color in populations outside the tropics resulted from positive selection, driven in part by the relation between sun exposure, skin melanin content, and 25(OH)D production. Our findings show that robust compensatory mechanisms exist that create tolerance for wide variation in circulating concentrations of 25(OH)D across populations, suggesting a more complex evolutionary relation between skin color and the vitamin D pathway. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02111902.

Associative Issue Ownership as a Determinant of Voters' Campaign Attention

Campaigns raise public interest in politics and allow parties to convey their messages to voters. However, voters' exposure and attention during campaigns are biased towards parties and candidates they like. This hinders parties' ability to reach new voters. This paper theorises and empirically tests a simple way in which parties can break partisan selective attention: owning an issue. When parties own issues that are important for a voter, that voter is more likely to notice them. Using survey data collected prior to the 2009 Belgian regional elections it is shown that this effect exists independent of partisan preferences and while controlling for the absolute visibility of a party in the media. This indicates that issue ownership has an independent impact on voters' attention to campaigns. This finding shows that owning salient issues yields (potential) advantages for parties, since getting noticed is a prerequisite for conveying electoral messages and increasing electoral success.

Do standard burn mortality formulae work on a population of severely burned children and adults?

Accurate prediction of mortality following burns is useful as an audit tool, and for providing treatment plan and resource allocation criteria. Common burn formulae (Ryan Score, Abbreviated Burn Severity Index (ABSI), classic and revised Baux) have not been compared with the standard Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHEII) or re-validated in a severely (≥20% total burn surface area) burned population. Furthermore, the revised Baux (R-Baux) has been externally validated thoroughly only once and the pediatric Baux (P-Baux) has yet to be. Using 522 severely burned patients, we show that burn formulae (ABSI, Baux, revised Baux) outperform APACHEII among adults (AUROC increase p<0.001 adults; p>0.5 children). The Ryan Score performs well especially among the most at-risk populations (estimated mortality [90% CI] original versus current study: 33% [26-41%] versus 30.18% [24.25-36.86%] for Ryan Score 2; 87% [78-93%] versus 66.48% [51.31-78.87%] for Ryan Score 3). The R-Baux shows accurate discrimination (AUROC 0.908 [0.869-0.947]) and is well-calibrated. However, the ABSI and P-Baux, although showing high measures of discrimination (AUROC 0.826 [0.737-0.916] and 0.848 [0.758-0.938]) in children), exceedingly overestimates mortality, indicating poor calibration. We highlight challenges in designing and employing scores that are applicable to a wide range of populations.

Determinación de la glucosa salival en adultos sanos

Objetivos: Determinar la concentración de glucosa salival de individuos sanos y compararla con la glicemia capilar. Diseño del estudio: Se realizó una recolección de saliva total en reposo, en 63 individuos no diabéticos. Se midió la concentración de glucosa salival y sanguinea capilar en todos los individuos. La glucosa salival fue determinada por método enzimático y espectrofotometría. Los datos fueron analizados usando el test de correlación de Spearman, considerando significativos valores de p<0,05. Resultados: Del total de la muestra, 47,6% eran varones y 52,4% mujeres, con una media de edad de 37,5±15,7 años. Las medias del flujo salival en reposo fueron de 0,41±0,2l ml/min en el género masculino y de 0,31±0,15 ml/min en el género femenino. No hubo diferencia significativa (p=0,07S). La media de glucosa sanguínea entre los varones fue de l00,05± 13,51 mg/dL y de 99 ,5± 13,9 mg/dL en las mujeres. La media de glucosa salival en el total de la muestra fue de 5,97±1 ,87 mg/dL, siendo 5,91±2, 19m9/dL en los varones y 5,97±1 ,56mg/dL en las mujeres, sin presentarse diferencias significativas (p=0,908). La concentración de la glucosa salival no presentó correlación estadísticamente significativa con la glicemia capilar (p=0,732). Conclusiones: De los resultados se desprende que: la concentración de la glucosa salival no depende de la glicemia capilar; la concentración de la glucosa salival no presenta diferencias entre géneros

De Borea-Fennia

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Historisk och oeconomisk beskrifning öfwer Calajoki sockn uti Österbotn

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Historisk och oeconomisk beskrifning öfwer Sagu sochn i Åbo lähn

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De Helsingforsia

Osa 1 ilm. 1755, prees. A. Scarin

Historisk och oeconomisk beskrifning öfwer siö-staden Nystad

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Historisk och oeconomisk beskrifning öfwer Cronoby sokn uti Österbotn

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Om Gamle Carleby

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Öfwer Pedersöre sokn i Österbotn

Osa 2 ilm. 1766, prees. Hans Henric Aspegren, resp. Gabriel Aspegren d. y.

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