Attitudes to the importance of retaining natural teeth in an adult Swedish population

Objectives . To evaluate the attitudes to retaining natural teeth in an adult Swedish population, and to correlate the attitude to retaining natural teeth with some presumed influencing background factors. Design : Cross-sectional study using a newly developed questionnaire. Subjects : From the national census register of four municipalities in the southern part of the province of Halland, Sweden, with a total population of 126,878 adult (≥20 years) inhabitants, 4,200 persons were selected at random. The sample was randomised by age and sex, and 300 men and 300 women from the age groups 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 years were included. Intervention and main outcome measures : The questionnaire aimed to evaluate the number of remaining natural teeth, the dental care habits, the self-estimated quality of natural teeth, and the attitude t o retaining natural teeth In the studied population, and also to evaluate the possible correlation between those factors, in particular, the attitude to retaining natural teeth versus the other factors. Results : It was found that the attitude to the importance of retaining natural teeth was strongly correlated with the number of remaining natural teeth, the dental care habits, and the self-estimated quality of natural teeth. Also sex had an influence on this attitude but not age. Conclusions : The attitude to the importance of retaining natural teeth in an adult Swedish population is correlated with the number of remaining natural teeth, the dental care habits, the self-estimated quality of natural teeth, and sex, but not with age.     

Herpes virus replication

Herpesviruses are large double stranded DNA animal viruses with the distinguishing ability to establish latent, life-long infections. To date, eight human herpesviruses that exhibit distinct biological and corresponding pathological/clinical properties have been identified. During their life cycles, herpesviruses execute an intricate chain of events geared towards optimizing their replication. This sets an interesting paradigm to study fundamental biological processes. This review summarizes recent developments in herpesvirus research with emphasis on genome transactions, particularly with respect to the prototypic herpes simplex virus type-1.     

The seroepidemiology of Hepatitis A virus in Amman, Jordan

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) has emerged as an important public health problem in many countries of the Middle East region and Jordan is no exception. From January 1991 to December 2001, a total of 1015 patients were diagnosed at Al-Battikhi Medical Laboratories. Samples were collected at seventeen private laboratories distributed throughout areas of the Governorate of Amman (capital of Jordan). A significant variation (P=0.03) was obtained between number of HAV cases and year. Seasonal variation in HAV cases was seen throughout the study period with maximal rates in the spring and summer months (P<0.001). The highest incidence rate (9.6/100,000 population) was detected in the year 1993 and the lowest incidence rate (1.1/100,000 population) was found in the year 2001. There was a significant difference (P<0.0001) between number of HAV cases and age group. The highest number of cases 166 (16.4%) was reported for age group 5-14 years and the lowest number of cases 18 (0.02%). Male to female ratio was 1.25: 1. There was no significant sex variation (P=0.28). A significant variation (P=0.006) was observed between number of HAV cases and districts. The present results suggested a link between the age groups, year, month and occurrence of HAV infection. Male to female ratio indicates no significant sex variation.     

Seroepidemiological study of Herpes simplex virus type 2 in adult women of Costa Rica]

The frequency of genital Herpes simplex type 2 infections in a group of twenty adult Costa Rican women was studied by isolation of the virus and the measurement of neutralizing antibody activity in sera. The virus could not be isolated in any of the vaginal secretions. Neutralizing antibody activity to herpes virus types 1 and 2 was found in sera from sixteen subjects. An antibody II/I index equal to or larger than 87, indicative of infection with Herpes simplex type 2 was found in fifty per cent of the population studied, a second segment was composed by the subjects with indices below 87. Evaluation of antibody activity to Herpes simplex type 2 revealed that: a) only a small percentage of the women lacked detectable antibody activity to the virus; b) there is a significant difference (p < 0.005) between the mean number of years of sexual experience among the two population segments; and c) there is a positive correlation (p < 0.05) between II/I index values and age among the women of the population segment with a II/I index equal to or larger than 87.     

Herpes simplex virus latency

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) are ubiquitous human pathogens. They share with other herpesviruses the ability to establish lifelong latent infection of the host. Periodic reactivation from latency is responsible for most of the clinical disease burden of HSV infection. This review focuses on what we have learned from molecular studies in model systems of HSV latency, and the implications these findings have for treating recurrent HSV disease.     

The genetic structure of the Swedish population

Patterns of genetic diversity have previously been shown to mirror geography on a global scale and within continents and individual countries. Using genome-wide SNP data on 5174 Swedes with extensive geographical coverage, we analyzed the genetic structure of the Swedish population. We observed strong differences between the far northern counties and the remaining counties. The population of Dalarna county, in north middle Sweden, which borders southern Norway, also appears to differ markedly from other counties, possibly due to this county having more individuals with remote Finnish or Norwegian ancestry than other counties. An analysis of genetic differentiation (based on pairwise F(st)) indicated that the population of Sweden's southernmost counties are genetically closer to the HapMap CEU samples of Northern European ancestry than to the populations of Sweden's northernmost counties. In a comparison of extended homozygous segments, we detected a clear divide between southern and northern Sweden with small differences between the southern counties and considerably more segments in northern Sweden. Both the increased degree of homozygosity in the north and the large genetic differences between the south and the north may have arisen due to a small population in the north and the vast geographical distances between towns and villages in the north, in contrast to the more densely settled southern parts of Sweden. Our findings have implications for future genome-wide association studies (GWAS) with respect to the matching of cases and controls and the need for within-county matching. We have shown that genetic differences within a single country may be substantial, even when viewed on a European scale. Thus, population stratification needs to be accounted for, even within a country like Sweden, which is often perceived to be relatively homogenous and a favourable resource for genetic mapping, otherwise inferences based on genetic data may lead to false conclusions.     

Herpes simplex virus latency and the immune response

Following infection, herpes simplex virus establishes latency in the nervous system and recurrences of lytic replication occur periodically. Molecular events which may determine how virus enters latency, how it is maintained and what occurs during reactivation have been investigated. The role of the immune response in limiting infection of the nervous system, influencing the latent state and removing virus from peripheral sites following reactivation has also been studied.     

Herpes simplex virus (HSV)

Herpes simplex virus (HSV), the prototype of the herpesvirus family, causes a variety of diseases in human. In this review, I focus on the molecular mechanism of HSV infection including recent advance on this research field.     

Fatal drug poisonings in a Swedish general population

Background  

Pharmaceutical drug poisonings have previously been reported using single sources of information, either hospital data or forensic data, which might not reveal the true incidence. We therefore aimed to estimate the incidence of suspected fatal drug poisonings, defined as poisonings by pharmaceutical agents, by using all relevant case records from various sources in a Swedish population.     

Reduced adult survival and increased reproduction in Swedish kestrels

Summary The decline of the Swedish kestrel population during the 1950s and 1960s is probably caused by a decrease in yearly adult survival rate, from 0.66±0.03 S.E. to 0.48±0.03 S.E.Contrary to what would be expected from generally harmful effects of pesticides on reproduction, brood size increased from 3.4±0.4 S.E. to 4.2±0.2 S.E. during the same period.We found no relationship between brood size and breeding density. The increased reproduction therefore does not seem to be a density-dependent effect of reduced population size. The increase in brood size may rather be an evolved adaptation, selected for by increased optimal reproduction as a consequence of higher adult mortality.