Akershus University Hospital (Norwegian: Akershus universitetssykehus, abbreviated Ahus) is a Norwegian public university hospital in the Greater Oslo Region. It is located in the Lørenskog municipality in the region of Viken, northeast of the Norwegian capital Oslo. It is a teaching hospital and one of two university hospitals affiliated with the University of Oslo, alongside the larger Oslo University Hospital. The hospital has around 10,000 employees and a capacity of around 950 beds. In 2018, there were approximately 2,600 health, medical and nursing students in placements or internships within the hospital.
This cross-sectional study examined the network structure and centrality of clinically meaningful psychopathology constructs across adolescence (14–17 years; N = 895), emerging adulthood (18–29 years; N = 717), and established adulthood (30–45 years; N = 381) in a Brazilian sample. Using the clinical scales of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) and PAI-Adolescent (PAI-A), we applied exploratory graph analysis (EGA) and estimated centrality and bridge centrality metrics to identify communities and structurally connected constructs within each age group. Across all three age groups, EGA revealed a three-community structure partially consistent with dimensional models of psychopathology, identifying internalizing, externalizing, and severe dysregulation clusters. Borderline features were the most central across all networks and served as the dominant bridge in emerging and established adulthood groups, whereas somatic complaints played this role in the adolescent group. A notable difference across age groups was observed for mania, which clustered with the severe dysregulation community in adolescents but with the externalizing community in emerging and established adults. These findings highlight both similarities and cross-sectional age-related differences in the organization of broad psychopathology domains across age groups. The use of a large Brazilian sample contributes to addressing geographic inequities in mental health research.
Rapid and accurate whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is increasingly important for detecting antimicrobial resistance and virulence determinants in clinical microbiology. Although short-read platforms remain widely used, long-read sequencing technologies have gained relevance due to their ability to resolve complex genomic regions. We analyzed 92 draft genomes generated from 23 clinical methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates to compare Oxford Nanopore Technologies sequencing protocols using R9.4.1 (Kit V10) and R10.4.1 (Kit V14) flow cells under 20-hour and 48-hour conditions. The 20-hour R10.4.1 protocol (ONT20h R10) showed the best overall performance, with improved detection of antimicrobial resistance genes, virulence factors, plasmids, and mobile genetic elements. This protocol achieved perfect agreement with phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing (accuracy 100
BACKGROUND:Measurement of cardiac troponin (cTn) using high-sensitivity assays is recommended for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction. We determined sex-specific and uniform 99th percentile upper reference limits (URLs) using the new Elecsys® Troponin T high-sensitivity Gen 6 assay in a global, healthy reference range cohort. METHODS:Lithium-heparin plasma and serum samples were prospectively collected from apparently healthy individuals aged ≥20 years across 34 global sites in the United States, Europe, China, and Japan. cTnT was measured using the Troponin T high-sensitivity Gen 6 assay on the Cobas® e 801 analyzer. Exclusion criteria were defined according to the 2022 IFCC guidance. Uniform and sex-specific 99th percentile URLs and nonparametric 95% CIs were determined in plasma and serum separately and combined. RESULTS:The final study population comprised 4147 participants (52.5% female) with a median (25th-75th percentiles) age of 48.0 (33.0-59.0) years; 45.8%, 47.9%, 5.2%, and 1.1% were White, Asian, Black, and other/unknown, respectively. For sample matrices combined (n = 8294), 81.0% and 99.2% of cTnT values were above the limit of detection in females and males, respectively. Sex-specific 99th percentile URLs (95% CI) were 18 (16-23) ng/L for females and 32 (28-35) ng/L for males; the uniform 99th percentile URL was 27 (24-31) ng/L. URLs were comparable in plasma and serum samples. CONCLUSIONS:This study determined sex-specific and uniform 99th percentile URLs for the Troponin T high-sensitivity Gen 6 assay that were comparable irrespective of the matrix used in a large, global, healthy reference population.
The Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT INT4 and CH4) for users of long-term care (LTC) services was translated into Norwegian. ASCOT assesses how LTC services may protect, improve or restore care recipients’ quality of life. The aim of this paper was to assess the psychometric properties of the Norwegian ASCOT for use in older adults in three LTC settings: nursing homes, sheltered housing and homecare. Cross-sectional data were collected between October 2022 and January 2024. The sample included 470 care recipients aged 65 years or older receiving LTC services in three municipalities in Norway. We used ASCOT INT4 and CH4 to collect information on eight domains of current and expected care related quality of life (CRQoL). We used exploratory factor analyses to assess the assumed one-dimensional structure of the ASCOT instruments and Cronbach’s alpha to describe internal consistency. Construct validity was examined using bivariate correlations of previously established associations among the different ASCOT domains and with health-related quality of life and sociodemographic factors. Differences between care settings were assessed with analyses of variance. The analytical sample comprised of 184 residents from nursing homes,138 from sheltered housing and 148 persons receiving homecare services. Factor analyses supported a single underlying factor but factor loadings for the Dignity domain were sub-optimal (< 0.30) in nursing homes and sheltered housing. Cronbach’s alpha for current CRQoL was 0.70 in the total sample and ranged from moderate (0.67 in nursing homes) to good (0.71 in sheltered housing and 0.75 in homecare services). Bivariate correlations of ASCOT with relevant variables were largely consistent with previous studies and associations were higher for expected than current CRQoL. This assessment provides evidence to support the validity and reliability of the Norwegian ASCOT. Currently there are no other instruments assessing care-related aspects of older adults’ quality of life available in Norway. ASCOT provides a satisfactory reliable and valid measure of CRQoL in older adults receiving LTC, which goes beyond assessing functional capacity and health. Future research assessing different aspects of validity and reliability will further strengthen its applicability for evaluation purposes of Norwegian LTC.
