randomised trial of continuous skin-to-skin contact after preterm birth and the effects on salivary cortisol, parental stress, depression, and breastfeeding, 2015, Early Human Development, (91) Ainsworth's sensitivity scale was used to control for parental sensitivity.Subjects: Thirty-seven families from two different neonatal care units in Sweden, randomised to either almost continuous SSC or standard care (SC).Results: Infants randomised to SSC had a lower salivary cortisol reactivity at one month (p=0.01). There was a correlation between the mothers' and the preterm infants' salivary cortisol levels at four months in the SSC group (ρ=0.65, p=0.005), but not in the SC group (ρ=0.14, p=0.63). Fathers in SSC scored lower on the SPSQ sub-scale spouse relationship problems compared to fathers in SC (p<0.05).Conclusions: Almost continuous SSC decreases infants' cortisol reactivity in response to handling, improves the concordance between mothers' and infants' salivary cortisol levels, and decreases fathers' experiences of spouse relationship problems.

Background: In Sweden, FreeStyle Libre a flash glucose monitoring system came onto the market in 2014 as a complement to self-monitoring of blood glucose. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and treatment experience of the FreeStyle Libre system.Methods: Fifty-eight adults with type 1 diabetes used FreeStyle Libre for 10–14 days and measured capillary blood glucose levels with the HemoCue blood glucose measurement system at least six times a day simultaneously.Results: For the entire study period, the mean absolute relative difference (MARD) was 13.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 12.0%–14.4%). MARD was 13.6% (95% CI 12.1%–15.4%) during week 1 and 12.7% (95% CI 11.5%–13.9%) during week 2. The mean absolute difference (MAD) for the whole study period was 19.8 mg/dL (1.1 mmol/L) (95% CI 17.8–21.8 mg/dL), including 20.5 mg/dL (1.14 mmol/L) during week 1 and 19.0 mg/dL (1.05 mmol/L) during week 2. The overall correlation coefficient was 0.96. For glucose values <72, 72–180, and >180 mg/dL (<4, 4–10, and >10 mmol/L), the MARD was 20.3% (95% CI 17.7%–23.1%), 14.7% (95% CI 13.4%–16%), and 9.6% (95% CI 8.5%–10.8%), respectively, and respective MAD values were 12.3, 17.8, and 23.6 mg/dL (0.69, 0.99, and 1.31 mmol/L). Using the 10-item visual analog scale, patients rated their experience with FreeStyle Libre as generally positive, with mean values ranging from 8.22 to 9.8.Conclusions: FreeStyle Libre had a similar overall MARD as continuous blood glucose monitoring systems in earlier studies when studied in similar at-home conditions. The overall patient satisfaction was high.

In multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN-1), benign enlargement of the adrenal cortex has been found in about one third of necropsy cases. To elucidate the clinical and genetic characteristics of the MEN-1 adrenal lesion, we have investigated 33 MEN-1 patients. Twelve individuals (37%) demonstrated adrenal enlargement, which was bilateral in 7 of them. Histopathology revealed diffuse and nodular cortical hyperplasia, adenomas, and a single case of adrenocortical carcinoma. The apparently benign adrenal enlargements were not associated with presently ascertainable biochemical disturbances in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis, and they were without radiological signs of progression during follow-up. The individual developing unilateral adrenocortical carcinoma showed rapid adrenal expansion, feminization, and an abnormal urinary steroid profile after 4 yr of observation for bilateral minor adrenal enlargements. Pancreatic endocrine tumors were significantly overrepresented and present in all MEN-1 individuals with adrenal involvement. In agreement with findings in sporadic cases, the MEN-1 adrenocortical carcinoma genome showed loss of constitutional heterozygosity for alleles at 17p, 13q, 11p, and 11q. The benign adrenal lesions retained heterozygosity for the MEN-1 locus at chromosome 11 q 13. Despite its prevalence and malignant potential, the pituitary-independent adrenocortical proliferation does not appear to be a primary lesion in MEN-1, but might represent a secondary phenomenon, perhaps related to the pancreatic endocrine tumor.

OBJECTIVE: Some studies have shown a more rapid gastric emptying in obese subjects. Six to twelve months after jejunoileal bypass (JIB) neurotensin (NT) and enteroglucagon have been shown to be elevated after food intake. These hormones, together with peptide YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) have been implicated in the reduction of upper gastrointestinal motility seen after infusion of nutrients into the ileum. AIM: To study if the postprandial gut hormone pattern and gastric emptying is altered 20 y after JIB. SUBJECTS: Seven subjects operated with JIB a mean (s.d.) 20 AE 3 y ago, with a BMI of 44 AE 4 kg/m 2 at the time of surgery and 31 AE 4 at present. For comparison seven sex-matched non-operated obese controls (BMI 43 AE 3) were studied. METHODS: Serial blood samples were obtained every 10 min after intake of a 280 kcal meal. Radioimmunoassays for motilin, cholecystokinin (CCK), NT, PYY and GLP-1 were performed. Gastric emptying of a solid meal was studied using a radioactively labelled omelette (of 310 kcal) for 120 min). RESULTS: After JIB postprandial motilin, CCK, NT, PYY and GLP-1 were elevated compared to non-operated obese subjects. Similarly, basal levels of CCK, motilin, GLP-1 and PYY were elevated in the operated group. No difference was observed in the rate of gastric emptying between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Both fasting and postprandial gut hormone levels are elevated 20 y after JIB. The impact of long-term rapid stimulation of the ileum and subsequent raised gut hormone levels on gastric emptying is not clear.

This study reveals, for the first time, an interspecific synchronization in long-term stress levels. Previously, acute stress, has been shown to be highly contagious both among humans and between individuals of other species. Here, long-term stress synchronization in dogs and their owners was investigated. We studied 58 dog-human dyads and analyzed their hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) at two separate occasions, reflecting levels during previous summer and winter months. The personality traits of both dogs and their owners were determined through owner-completed Dog Personality Questionnaire (DPQ) and human Big Five Inventory (BFI) surveys. In addition, the dogs’ activity levels were continuously monitored with a remote cloud-based activity collar for one week. Shetland sheepdogs (N = 33) and border collies (N = 25), balanced for sex, participated, and both pet dogs and actively competing dogs (agility and obedience) were included to represent different lifestyles. The results showed significant interspecies correlations in long-term stress where human HCC from both summer and winter samplings correlated strongly with dog HCC (summer: N = 57, χ2 = 23.697, P < 0.001, β = 0.235; winter: N = 55, χ2 = 13.796, P < 0.001, β = 0.027). Interestingly, the dogs’ activity levels did not affect HCC, nor did the amount of training sessions per week, showing that the HCC levels were not related to general physical activity. Additionally, there was a seasonal effect in HCC. However, although dogs’ personalities had little effects on their HCC, the human personality traits neuroticism, conscientiousness, and openness significantly affected dog HCC. Hence, we suggest that dogs, to a great extent, mirror the stress level of their owners.

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BackgroundDogs are the most common companion animal, and therefore not surprisingly a popular choice for animal-assisted interventions. Dog-assisted interventions are increasingly used in healthcare. The aim of the review was to conduct a systematic literature review of quantitative studies on dog-assisted interventions in healthcare, with the intention of assessing the effects and cost-effectiveness of the interventions for different categories of patients.MethodsA systematic review of the scientific literature reporting results of studies in healthcare, nursing home or home care settings, was conducted. The inclusion criteria applied for this review were: quantitative studies, inclusion of at least 20 study subjects, existence of a control and performed in healthcare settings including nursing homes and home care. The electronic databases PubMed, AMED, CINAHL and Scopus were searched from their inception date through January 2017, for published articles from peer-reviewed journals with full text in English.ResultsEighteen studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria, and were judged to be of at least moderate quality, were included in the analysis. Three of them showed no effect. Fifteen showed at least one significant positive effect but in most studied outcome measures there was no significant treatment effect. Dog-assisted therapy had the greatest potential in treatment of psychiatric disorders among both young and adult patients. Dog-assisted activities had some positive effects on health, wellbeing, depression and quality of life for patients with severe cognitive disorders. Dog-assisted support had positive effects on stress and mood.ConclusionsThe overall assessment of the included studies indicates minor to moderate effects of dog-assisted therapy in psychiatric conditions, as well as for dog-assisted activities in cognitive disorders and for dog-assisted support in different types of medical interventions. However, the majority of studied outcome measures showed no significant effect.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12906-017-1844-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The use of animal, especially rat, models, is crucial for elucidating the biological effects and mechanisms of the widely used hormone 17β-estradiol. Unfortunately there is a lack of consensus on optimal means of obtaining and maintaining physiological 17β-estradiol concentrations in plasma.This may be the reason for varying results in several studies including the disagreement on whether 17β-estradiol is neuroprotective or not. Very few studies have been devoted to investigating the characteristics and biological relevance of different methods of 17β-estradiol administration. We therefore ovariectomized 75 Sprague-Dawley rats and, following a 2 weeks wash-out period, administered 17β-estradiol using three different methods; daily injections (10 µg 17β-estradiol/kg), slow-release pellets (0.25 mg 60 day-release pellets, 0.10 mg 90 day-release pellets) and silastic capsules (with/without wash-out periods) (silastic laboratory tubing, inner/outer diameter:1.575/3.175 mm, filled with 20 mm columns of 180 µg 17β-estradiol/mL sesame oil). Further 45 animals were used as ovariectomized and native controls, studied in different parts of the estrous cycle. Silastic capsules produced concentrations of 17β-estradiol within the physiological range for 4-5 weeks independent of whether a prior wash-out period was included or not. The slow-release pellets, irrespective of dose or release period, resulted in initial concentrations which were an order of magnitude above physiological concentrations during the first two weeks followed by a substantial decrease. Daily injections resulted in increasing 17β-estradiol concentrations, however within physiological levels. Silastic capsules are conveniently manufactured and used, and are superior to pellets and injections in reliably producing long-term 17β-estradiol concentrations within the physiological range.