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Background: Cardiomyopathy is a known complication of organic acidemias but generally thought to be secondary to poor metabolic control. Methods: Our patient was found through biochemical testing and Sanger sequencing to harbor an Icelandic founder mutation: NM_052845.4(MMAB):c.571C > T(p.Arg191Trp), leading to an early presentation (4 h after birth) of cblB‐type methylmalonic acidemia (MMA). Biochemical testing of this patient suggested B‐12‐responsiveness and thus the patient was treated with cyanocobalamin throughout life. Informed parental consent was obtained for this report. Results: Our patient had three metabolic decompensations in her life (at birth, at 1 month, and at 5 months). The first decompensation was probably linked to stress of delivery, second to rhinovirus infection, and third by co‐infection of norovirus and enterovirus. At 3 months, the patient was noted to be tachypneic, although this was attributed to her underlying metabolic acidosis. At 5 months and 10 days, the patient was admitted with minor flu‐like symptoms but developed severe diarrhea in hospital and upon rehydration had cardiac decompensation and was found to have undiagnosed dilated cardiomyopathy. Although, patient was treated aggressively with dextrose, hemodialysis, levocarnitine, and vasoactive agents, there was limited response to medications to treat cardiac failure, and eventually the patient passed away before turning 6 months old. Conclusions: Other than these three mild decompensations, patient had very good metabolic control, thus demonstrating that even without frequent metabolic decompensation, cardiomyopathy can be an observed phenotype in cblB‐type MMA even very early in life, suggesting that this phenotype may be independent of metabolic control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particular attention is paid to the risk of carbon dioxide (CO2) leakage in geologic carbon sequestration (GCS) operations, as it might lead to the failure of sequestration efforts and to the contamination of underground sources of drinking water. As carbon dioxide would eventually reach shallower formations under its gaseous state, understanding its multiphase flow behavior is essential. To this aim, a hypothetical gaseous leak of carbon dioxide resulting from a well integrity failure of the GCS system in operation at Hellisheiði (CarbFix2) is here modeled. Simulations show that migration of gaseous carbon dioxide is largely affected by formation stratigraphy, intrinsic permeability, and retention properties, whereas the initial groundwater hydraulic gradient (0.0284) has practically no effect. In two different scenarios, about 18.3 and 30.6% of the CO2 that would have been injected by the GCS system for 3 days could be potentially released again into the atmosphere due to a sustained leakage of the same duration. As the gaseous leak occurs, the aquifer experiences high pressure buildups, and the presence of a less conductive layer further magnifies these. Strikingly, the dimensional analysis showed that buoyant and viscous forces can be comparable over time within the predicted gaseous plumes, even far from the leakage source. Local pressure gradients, buoyant, viscous, and capillary forces all play an important role during leakage. Therefore, neglecting one or more of these contributions might lead to a partial prediction of gaseous CO2 flow behavior in the subsurface, giving space to incorrect interpretations and wrong operational choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. Hardarson T, Gardarsdóttir M, Gudmundsson KTh, Thorgeirsson G, Sigvaldason H, Sigfússon N (National University Hospital, Reykjavík and University of Iceland; and Icelandic Heart Association, Reykjavík, Iceland). The relationship between educational level and mortality. The Reykjavík Study. J Intern Med 2001; 249: 495–502. Objectives. Epidemiological studies have indicated an association between socioeconomic factors and health. It has not been clearly established whether this association is wholly or partly independent of classical risk factors. Our objective was to estimate the relationship between educational level and coronary artery disease (CAD), mortality and all-cause mortality. The Reykjavík Study involving 18 912 participants followed-up 4–30 years provides an ideal opportunity to address this question. Design and subjects. The participants were aged 33–81 years and living in the Reykjavík area. They were divided into four groups according to education. The standard risk factors were assessed on entry and mortality, and cause of death registered during follow-up. Multiple Cox regression analysis was applied to assess the relationship between age at examination, year of examination, educational level and mortality. Results. The all-cause mortality and CAD mortality was significantly related to education, even after adjustment for classical risk factors. For men, 14% (95% CI: 2–24) reduction was found in CAD mortality for those having high school education relative to elementary school. The figures for junior college and university education were 17% (95% CI: 1–31) and 38% (95% CI: 21–32), respectively. These figures were only slightly lower when major CAD risk factors were controlled for and still significant. Similar figures were found for all-cause mortality. For women 34% (95% CI: 18–48) reduction was found in CAD mortality for high school education and 55% (95% CI: 22–74) for junior college, but too few had university education for reliable results. The figures were lower for all-cause mortality, but significant. The figures were reduced when major CAD risk factors were controlled for, but still significant. Conclusion. Education is a strong protective factor both for all-cause and CAD mortality. Only a small part of this effect can be explained through conventional risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation and management of migratory waterbirds use flyway populations as the basic unit, and knowledge of the delineation, rate of exchange and gene flow between populations is fundamental. However, for the majority of global flyway populations, information is too fragmentary to address connectivity between populations and, hence, insufficient to inform management., We investigated the demographic connectivity between the eastern (breeding in Svalbard and wintering in Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium) and western (breeding in Greenland or Iceland and wintering in Britain) flyway populations of pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus based on resightings of marked geese from both populations. Previous genetic analyses suggested a modest gene flow between the two populations., Capture-recapture analysis conservatively estimated that mean annual movement probabilities were low (eastern to western population: 0·071%, 95% CI = 0·033-0·15%; western to eastern: 0·076%, 95% CI = 0·031-0·18%). Movement probability from eastern to western flyway populations increased in years with high snow cover in the southernmost winter range in Belgium. Life histories of exchanged individuals from eastern to western (32 different individuals during 1988-2010) revealed that the majority entered Britain via Belgium and the Netherlands during winter; some returned to the eastern population via Belgium and/or the Netherlands, others moved northwards in Britain during the spring and appear to have migrated directly from Britain (western population) to Norway (eastern population). None of the birds from the eastern population emigrated permanently, but some individuals turned up in Britain in consecutive years. Out of nine individuals switching from western to eastern flyway populations, three returned to Britain; the others were not subsequently resighted. An alternative winter strategy and spring flyway over Britain to Norway is suggested, used by hundreds to thousands of eastern birds, particularly following severe winters. Thus, the two populations currently appear to be demographically closed; low genetic connectivity probably reflects dispersal over longer time., Synthesis and applications. Current initiatives to internationally manage the eastern population of pink-footed geese do not need to consider net immigration in predictive harvest models. For waterbirds in general, a targeted approach to evaluate connectivity, using classic marking studies in combination with molecular methods and focussed sampling on breeding grounds, is recommended to better underpin management decisions at population levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims To study changes over a 25-year period in the gender gap in discharge diagnoses of alcohol use disorder ( AUD) and other substance use disorder ( SUD) in psychiatric in-patients. Design, setting and participants A register-based study of all admissions to psychiatric hospitals in Iceland between January 1983 and December 2007. Measurements Annual rate of admissions to psychiatric hospitals, adjusted for changes in the size of the population. Furthermore, gender-specific analysis of changes in discharge diagnoses of AUD solely and other SUD (including AUD with other SUDs). Findings Of all psychiatric admissions, the proportion of any SUD admissions increased considerably during the study period. This increase was most pronounced in SUDs other than solely AUD. AUD increased for women and decreased for men. The male to female ratio of AUD alone decreased from 4.2 to 1.5 ( P < 0.001). There was no significant change in the gender gap for other SUDs ( P = 0.96). Conclusions There has been a marked convergence of the gender gap in discharge diagnosis of alcohol use disorder among psychiatric in-patients in Iceland over the last decades. For other substance use disorders, the change was not as pronounced. Our results emphasize the importance of monitoring changes in substance use disorder diagnosis as this may uncover different treatment needs in this group of vulnerable individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Journal of Applied Ecology (2004) 41, 315 –334 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Levels of serum lipids and lipoproteins, and the fatty acid composition of plasma phospholipids, were measured in two genetically comparable, but widely separated, populations. The 1975 mortality rates for ischemic heart disease were significantly higher in one of these populations, the Manitoban residents of pure Icelandic descent, than in the other, a rural population from Northeastern Iceland. Two study populations, Icelanders and Icelandic-Canadians, were drawn from these larger populations. The study populations were matched for age and sex and divided into three age groups, 20-39, 40-59, and 60-69 years. In comparison to the Icelandic-Canadians, the Icelanders exhibited significantly higher levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, but lower triglyceride levels. Their plasma phospholipids contained significantly lower levels of saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids, and n−6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA); but their n−3 PUFA levels were three times as high. It was additionally found that fatty acid composition of plasma phospholipids differed among Icelanders of different ages. SFA levels were significantly lower, and n−6 PUFA levels significantly higher, in the 20-39 year group than in the 60-69 year group, possibly due to different dietary fat consumption patterns between generations. No corresponding age-related difference in the fatty acid composition of plasma phospholipids was found in the Icelandic-Canadian study population. As the Icelandic and Icelandic-Canadian groups are assumed to be genetically similar, the biochemical differences between them are evidently due to environmental, probably dietary, differences. The findings indicate that n−3 PUFA may be cardioprotective in the context of an otherwise atherogenic diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The predictive value of cord blood IgE (cIgE) for atopy and related disorders was investigated. Samples were collected from 792 infants delivered consecutively at the National University Hospital in Reykjavik in 1987. The concentration of IgE, but not that of IgA, was found to increase with increasing gestational age at birth. There was no correlation between IgE and IgA levels in individual samples. At the age of 18-23 months 180 of these children were studied for manifestations of allergy and related disorders. Included were all available infants with detectable (⩾ 0.23 kU/L) cIgE. However, infants born by Cesarean section or with IgA exceeding 10 mg/L were excluded because of potential contamination with maternal blood. The clinical evaluation was made without knowledge of the IgE levels. Sixty-six of the 180 participants (36.6%) were judged to have had definite allergic manifestations. However, no striking correlation was found between allergic symptoms and cIgE levels in this study, nor did high levels of IgE add significantly to the predictive value of family history. Children with atopic features had more frequently been affected by otitis media. Unexpectedly, infants with intermediate cIgE levels (0.2-0.6 kU/L) were significantly less affected by otitis media than children with unmeasurable (< 0.2 kU/L) or high (⩾0.7 kU/L) cIgE levels. It is concluded that cord blood IgE can not be used to predict allergic manifestations in I children under the age of 2 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]