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Background. Fast and accurate work-up is crucial to ensure the best possible treatment and prognosis for patients with head and neck cancer. The presence or absence of neck lymph node metastases is important for the prognosis and the choice of treatment. Clinical lymph node (N)-staging is done by palpation and diagnostic imaging of the neck. We investigated the current practice of the initial radiological work-up of patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) in the Nordic countries. Methods. A questionnaire regarding the availability and use of guidelines and imaging modalities for radiological N-staging in OSCC was distributed to 21 Head and Neck centres in Denmark (n == 4), Finland (n == 5), Iceland (n == 1), Norway (n == 4) and Sweden (n == 7). We also asked for a description of the radiological criteria for determining the lymph nodes as clinical positive (cN++) or negative (cN0). Results. All 21 Head and Neck centres responded to the questionnaire. Denmark and Finland have national guidelines, while Norway and Sweden have local or regional guidelines. Seventeen of the 19 centres with available guidelines recommended computed tomography (CT) of the cN0 neck. The waiting time may influence the imaging modalities used. Lymph node size was the most commonly used criteria for radiological cN++, but the cut-off measures vary from 0.8 to 2.0 cm. Conclusion. Overall, CT is the most commonly recommended and used imaging modality for OSCC. Despite availability of national guidelines the type and number of radiological examinations vary between centres within a country, but the implementation of a fast-track programme may facilitate fast access to imaging. The absence of uniform criteria for determining the lymph nodes of the neck as cN++ complicates the comparison of the accuracy of the imaging modalities. Well-defined radiological strategies and criteria are needed to optimise the radiological work-up in OSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breeding populations of southern dunlin Calidris alpina schinzii in South Fennoscandia and the Baltic are severely fragmented and declining dramatically. Information on the genetic structure and diversity is therefore of importance for the conservation and management of these populations. Here we present the results of comparative genetic analyses of these populations with other populations of the schinzii, alpina and arctica subspecies in northern Europe. We sequenced the mitochondrial DNA control region and the Z-chromosome intron VLDLR-9, and analyzed microsatellites and AFLPs, for analyses of within-population genetic diversity. We also extended previous analyses of the phylogeographic structure of dunlins in northern Europe with a larger sample of individuals and populations. Our results revealed no evidence of reduced genetic diversity or increased levels of inbreeding in the small and fragmented populations around the Baltic Sea as compared to the more vital and larger populations elsewhere. Nevertheless, their small population sizes and presumably high degree of isolation may lead to local extinctions, indicating that demographic and ecological factors may pose a greater threat to the survival of these populations than purely genetic factors. Phylogeographically, the schinzii populations in Scandinavia and the Baltic do not form a separate genetic clade, but are part of larger cline of genetic variation encompassing several recognized subspecies of dunlins in the western Palearctic region. Only the Icelandic population showed some distinctiveness in genetic structure and might therefore be considered a separate management unit. Our study highlights the general problem of lack of genetic support for subspecies in avian taxonomy and conservation genetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a broadcast made in August 1997, regarding the sterilization policies of women in Nordic countries. Why policies were implemented; Reference to articles published by Maciej Zaremba; Average number of persons who were sterilized as a result of these policies.