Search

Systemic inflammatory markers. (DOCX 387Â kb)

Correlations and change in ejection fraction (pre to post surgery). (DOCX 176Â kb)

The aim of the project Norse Farming in Greenland: Agriculture on the edge was to determine whether the Norse farmers actually cultivated crops in Greenland during colonisation in the Viking age and the medieval period. This was investigated by analysing macrofossils extracted from soil samples of middens, combined with phosphate analyses of the area around Norse farmsteads.In three field seasons 450 kg of soil was sampled from 12 Norse farmsteads together with samples for phosphate analysis covering an area of 12 ha from two farmsteads.The soil samples contained numerous seeds from wild plants giving information about the local vegetation. Charred grains and threshing waste of barley was found in samples from four sites, strongly indicating that barley was cultivated in Greenland by the Norse farmers.The phosphate analyses showed no sign of any deliberate manuring of the infields as high concentrations of phosphate were only found around the houses and pens

In connection with investigations of the aristocratic residence at Tissø from the Viking Age, the earliest evidence so far of lime burning in Denmark has been excavated. The excavations unearthed traces of up to five lime kilns which weresubsequently dated to the end of the ninth century. This corresponds well with the dating of the erection of the hall in the third construction phase at Fugledegård. Finds of mud-and-wattle with whitewashing show that the lime was used to whitewash the halls at Tissø in both the Germanic Iron Age and the Viking Age. Analyses of lime from the lime kilns and the whitewashed mud-and-wattle demonstrate that the raw material for the lime burning was mainly travertine deposited in spring water, but that bryozoan limestone was also used. The lime kilns were just under 2 m in diameter with stone-built edges, and there are indications that the superstructure may have been built up with clay. This resembles the corresponding parallel finds from the Iron Age in the German area.

The immigration of trees and the formation of forest after the Ice Age was one of the greatest transformations of the landscape to take place in our prehistory. With the growth of the forest many of the extensive open landscapes we associate with the Late Glacial period disappeared (figs. 2 and 5). This fundamental change in the natural environment also changed living conditions for humans, since local landscape conditions greatly affected the choice of hunting strategy and tools, as well as the siting and arrangement of settlements, etc. In order to interpret the archaeological find material it is therefore crucial to clarify where and when the forest spread. A number of scientific analyses have enabled us to reconstruct the development of the vegetation in the Late Allerød period and demonstrate that this development was determined by the regional geology (figs. 3 and 5). For example, the forest spread only to the eastern Danish areas that consist of chalky and clayey soils, while western and northern Denmark lay as open heathland throughout the Late Glacial period (fig. 5). The analyses also show that there is a strong link between the contemporary Bromme Culture and the unique landscape types that were created in the Danish and northern German area, where there were a number of different ecological resource areas unlike those found elsewhere in northwestern Europe (fig. 5). The open birch forests in particular must have been attractive, with among other animals elk as game (figs. 7 and 8), while the heathlands were the home of herds of reindeer. It is therefore possible that one should regard the restricted geographical distribution of the Bromme Culture as an adaptation to the rich resources to be found in the birch forests and on the heathlands situated between the wide-ranging pine forests south of Denmark and the Late Glacial Sea in the north.

Colin G Stirrat,1 Alex T Vesey,1 Olivia MB McBride,1 Jennifer MJ Robson,1 Shirjel R Alam,1 William A Wallace,2 Scott I Semple,1,3 Peter A Henriksen,1 David E Newby1 1British Heart Foundation Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; 2Department of Pathology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; 3Clinical Research Imaging Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK Abstract: Ultra-small superparamagnetic particles of iron oxide (USPIO) are iron-oxide based contrast agents that enhance and complement in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by shortening T1, T2, and T2* relaxation times. USPIO can be employed to provide immediate blood pool contrast, or to act as subsequent markers of cellular inflammation through uptake by inflammatory cells. They can also be targeted to specific cell-surface markers using antibody or ligand labeling. This review will discuss the application of USPIO contrast in MRI studies of cardiovascular disease. Keywords: cardiac, aortic, MRI, USPIO, carotid, vascular, molecular imaging

Fødevaresikkerhed i forbindelse med produktion af toskallede bløddyr/ muslinger m.m., er af afgørende betydning for branchen og produktsikkerhed er et ufravigeligt krav fra lovgivning og fra forbrugere. Med fremkomsten af muslingeopdræt på langliner, er antallet af enkeltaktører i skaldyrbranchen øget betydeligt. Da lovgivningen kræver særskilt prøvetagning for fiskeriet efter bundmuslinger og for hver enkelt af de muslingeopdrættere, som ønsker at høste i et givent produktionsområde, er prøvetagningens omfang vokset tilsvarende. Da udgifterne til dokumentation af fødevaresikkerheden udgør en betydelig omkostning for producenterne, er det af stor betydning, at prøveudtagninger og analyser udføres på mest forsvarlige, mest effektive og besparende måde. Fra erhvervets side har det derfor længe været ønsket, at der blev set på mulighederne for at koordinere indsatsen omkring prøvetagning. Projektets formål var at udføre detaljerede undersøgelser på en lokalitet i Limfjorden, hvor begge produktionsformer er repræsenteret, og derved bibringe yderligere viden om algers, algetoksiners og bakteriers forekomst og variation. Den opnåede viden skal supplere Fødevarestyrelsens kontrol- og overvågningsprogram og dermed gøre Fødevarestyrelsen i stand til at foretage den vurdering af de fødevaresikkerhedsmæssige aspekter, som er afgørende for, om det er muligt at foretage fælles prøvetagning for opdrætsanlæg og/eller fiskeri indenfor et produktionsområde. Undersøgelserne blev udført i form af et prøvetagningsprogram, som strakte sig over 26 uger i perioden april til september 2008 i produktionsområderne 9 og 18/19. I hvert område blev der på ugebasis udtaget prøver til undersøgelse for forekomst af potentielt giftige alger i vandet, algetoksiner i muslingerne, visse bakterier i muslingerne og virus i muslingerne. De indsamlede data er blevet analyseret i sammenhæng med de hidtidige data indsamlet ved erhvervets egenkontrolindsats. Dataanalysen har bidraget med en række nye erkendelser om heterogeniteten i produktionsområderne og styrken af det prøvetagningsprogram, som udføres i dag. I forbindelse med en forekomst af PSP-toksinproducerende alger, har projektet bl.a. vist, at der er forskel på ophobning af algetoksiner i muslinger afhængigt af om de vokser på et lineopdrætsanlæg eller som bundmuslinger. Endvidere er der blevet identificeret en række mulige tilpasninger af prøvetagningsprogrammerne, som kan tilføres en større fleksibilitet. Derved kan der i visse situationer formentligt opnås en reduktion i antallet af prøver, en reduktion i antallet af lukninger alene på grund af algeforekomster over grænseværdierne samt en øget smidighed i forbindelse med åbning for høst og fiskeri af muslinger. Food safety in relation to production of bivalves is crucial for the shellfish business and is a specific demand from consumers and legislation. With the emergence of ropeculture of mussels, the number of shellfish producers in Denmark has increased significantly. Due to the fact that the legislation demands separate documentation of food safety for fishing and for each ropeculture unit in a production area, the number of samples taken has increased accordingly. The costs of sampling is a significant expense for the shellfish producers. Therefore it is important that sampling is done in a safe and cost effective way, and the shellfish industry has for a long time wished to engage in a coordinated effort on documentation of food safety. The purpose of this project was to conducted detailed nvestigations on a site in the Limfjord, where both types of mussel production are present, and thereby provide knowledge on the prevalence and variation of microalgae, algae toxins and bacteria. The results are a supplement to the control- and surveillanceprograms of the food safety authorities and should make it possible for them to decide at what level a coordinated sampling effort can be allowed. The investigations were conducted over a period of 26 weeks between april and september 2008 in two production areas. On a weekly basis samples were taken on three rope culture units and one mussel bed in each of the two production areas. Samples were taken for potentially toxic algae in the water, algae toxins in mussels, certain bacteria in mussels and certain vira in mussels. The collected data has been analysed together with data collected as a part of the food safety documentation programs of the shellfish industry. The analysis has given a number of new knowledge about the heterogeneity in the production areas and the strengt hof the control programs as they are performed today. By observations made during a PSP-toxin incident the project has shown that there is a significant difference in toxin accumulation in mussels living on rope mussels and in mussels living on the seabed. Furthermore a number of possible improvements of the control procedures has been identified. It is possible that such improvements may result in a reduction of the number of samples needed and an increased flexibility of the control procedures.