Search results for "seasonal"
showing 10 items of 484 documents
Seasonality of Congenital Anomalies in Europe
2014
BackgroundThis study describes seasonality of congenital anomalies in Europe to provide a baseline against which to assess the impact of specific time varying exposures such as the H1N1 pandemic influenza, and to provide a comprehensive and recent picture of seasonality and its possible relation to etiologic factors. Methods: Data on births conceived in 2000 to 2008 were extracted from 20 European Surveillance for Congenital Anomalies population-based congenital anomaly registries in 14 European countries. We performed Poisson regression analysis encompassing sine and cosine terms to investigate seasonality of 65,764 nonchromosomal and 12,682 chromosomal congenital anomalies covering 3.3 mi…
Selenium, Copper, and Zinc Indices of Nutritional Status : Influence of Sex and Season on Reference Values
2000
The objective was to estimate the possible influence of season or season and sex on the selenium, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), copper, zinc, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) values in plasma with a view to establishing reference values. For this purpose, 55 healthy volunteers (36 women and 19 men) were selected and their whole-blood samples were collected four times a year at the beginning of each season. In the population as a whole, no statistically significant seasonal differences were detected in copper, selenium, and GSH-Px values in plasma, whereas zinc and SOD values in plasma depended on the season. In general, the variability was higher among the women. In view of the differences…
Inbreeding depression and male fitness in black grouse
2002
The male lifetime lekking performance was studied, and related to inbreeding-outbreeding in a wild population of black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) in central Finland between 1989 and 1995. Inbreeding was measured as the mean heterozygosity and mean d(2) of 15 microsatellite loci. We found a significantly positive relationship between mean d(2) and lifetime copulation success (LCS), while the relationship between heterozygosity and LCS was close to significant. We also found that males that never obtained a lek territory had significantly lower mean heterozygosity than males that were observed on a territory at least during one mating season in their life. Furthermore, among males that were succe…
The Association of Ambient Temperature and Violent Crime
2017
It is controversial if global warming will result into increased crime and conflict rate, and no causal neurobiological mechanisms have been proposed for the putative association between ambient temperature and aggressive behavior. This study shows that during 1996–2013, ambient temperature explained 10% of variance in the violent crime rate in Finland, corresponding to a 1.7% increase/degree centigrade. Ambient temperature also correlated with a one month delay in circannual changes in peripheral serotonin transporter density among both offenders and healthy control subjects, which itself correlated strongly with the monthly violent crime rate. This suggests that rise in temperature modula…
Quality and potency profile of eight recombinant isoallergens, largely mimicking total Bet v 1-specific IgE binding of birch pollen.
2019
Background To date, only limited information on structure, expression levels and IgE binding of Bet v 1 variants, which are simultaneously expressed in birch pollen, is available. Objective To analyse and compare structure and serum IgE/IgG binding of rBet v 1 variants to Bet v 1.0101. Methods Recombinant Bet v 1 variants were studied with sera of 20 subjects allergic to birch pollen. Folding, aggregation and solubility of the rBet v 1 variants were analysed to attribute diverging IgE binding to either allergen structure or methodological features. IgE/IgG binding was studied with rBet v 1 in solution or adsorbed to solid phases. Allergen-mediated cross-linking of FceRI receptors was determ…
Effects of photoperiodically induced reproductive diapause and cold hardening on the cold tolerance of Drosophila montana
2010
Coping with seasonal and daily variation in environmental conditions requires that organisms are able to adjust their reproduction and stress tolerance according to environmental conditions. Females of Drosophila montana populations have adapted to survive over the dark and cold winters at high latitudes and altitudes by spending this season in photoperiodically controlled reproductive diapause and reproducing only in spring/summer. The present study showed that flies of a northern population of this species are quite tolerant of low temperatures and show high seasonal and short-term plasticity in this trait. Culturing the flies in short day length (nearly all females in reproductive diapau…
Effects of ambient temperature, humidity, and other meteorological variables on hospital admissions for angina pectoris.
2012
Background: Seasonal peaks in cardiovascular disease incidence have been widely reported, suggesting weather has a role. Design The aim of our study was to determine the influence of climatic variables on angina pectoris hospital admissions. Methods: We correlated the daily number of angina cases admitted to a western Sicilian hospital over a period of 12 years and local weather conditions (temperature, humidity, wind force and direction, precipitation, sunny hours and atmospheric pressure) on a day-to-day basis. A total of 2459 consecutive patients were admitted over the period 1987–1998 (1562 men, 867 women; M/F – 1:8). Results: A seasonal variation was found with a noticeable winter pea…
Influence of climatic variables on acute myocardial infarction hospital admissions
2009
BACKGROUND: Seasonal peaks in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) incidence have been widely reported. Weather has been postulated to be one of the elements at the basis of this association. The aim of our study was to determine the influence of seasonal variations and weather on AMI hospital admissions. METHODS: We correlated the daily number of AMI cases admitted to a western Sicily hospital over twelve years and weather conditions on a day-to-day basis. Information on temperature, humidity, wind force and direction, precipitation, sunny hours and atmospheric pressure was obtained from the local Birgi Air Force base. A total of 3918 consecutive patients were admitted with AMI over the perio…
Sex-specific differences regarding seasonal variations of incidence and mortality in patients with myocardial infarction in Germany
2019
Seasonal variation regarding the incidence and the short-term mortality of acute myocardial infarction (MI) was frequently reported, but data about sex-specific differences are sparse.We analysed the impact of seasons and temperature on incidence and in-hospital mortality of patients with acute MI in Germany between 2005 and 2015.The nationwide sample comprised 3,008,188 hospitalizations of MI patients (2005-2015). The incidence was 334.7/100,000 citizens/year. Incidence inclined from 316.3 to 341.6/100,000 citizens/year (β 0.17 [0.10 to 0.24], P 0.001), while in-hospital mortality rate decreased from 14.1% to 11.3% (β -0.29 [-0.30 to -0.28], P 0.001). Overall, 377,028 (12.5%) patients di…
Efficacy of Buffered Hypertonic Saline Nasal Irrigation for Nasal Symptoms in Children with Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis: A Randomized Controlled Trial
2017
<b><i>Background:</i></b> Saline nasal irrigation is labelled as an add-on treatment in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR). The primary aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of 21-day use of buffered hypertonic saline (BHS) versus normal saline solution (NSS) on reducing nasal symptoms in children with seasonal AR (SAR). Comparing their efficacy on nasal cytology counts (NCC), quality of life, and sleep quality was the secondary aim. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> In this 21-day,<b> </b>open-label, randomized controlled study, 36 SAR children (aged 6-13 years) with a Total 5 Symptom Score (T5SS) ≥5 received twice-daily BHS or NSS…