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The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the place of early development in a sample of Danish male elite and youth handball and football players. The sample included 366 handball and football players from the elite Danish league in the season 2011–2012 and a comparison sample of youth players under the age of 12 from 2003, including 147,221 football and 26,290 handball players. Odds ratio analysis showed that both population size and density significantly affected the proportional number of youth players per community and the odds of athletes reaching an elite level in football and handball. The odds for youth player registrations in both handball and football increased in rural in contrast to urban communities. However, elite football players primarily came from communities of high density (>1000 pop./km2), whereas elite handball players primarily came from less densely populated communities (100 to <250 pop./km2). Furthermore, there seems to be a relation between representation of elite and talent clubs in different communities and the probability of becoming an elite player in both sports. The limited number of elite players in both sports from rural communities may be due to national talent development strategies that do not incorporate development support for clubs in rural areas. Additionally, the results of the study clearly suggest the need to include the youth player population to advance research findings in birthplace effect studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution and degradation of albumin were determined in twelve patients with extensive skin disease and in ten control subjects by measuring the metabolic turnover and transcapillary escape of 131I-labelled albumin. The ratio of intravascular to total mass of albumin was normal. Thus the observed hypoalbuminaemia and the low intravascular mass reflect a reduced mass of total body albumin. The rate of synthesis was normal, but the transcapillary escape rate reflecting the micro- vascular leakiness to macromolecules, and the fractional disappearance rate were significantly higher in the patients than in the controls (P<0.001). It is concluded that the hypoalbuininaemia in these patients is the result of an increased endogenous catabolism of albumin without significant loss via urine, stools or skin. A positive correlation between the transcapillary escape rate and fractional catabolic rate of albumin supports the concept of a causal relationship between these parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method for functional imaging of the large airways (bronchoscintigraphy) has been developed. It is based on the administration of aerosolised albumin labelled with technetium-99m using a special inhalation technique to produce central airway deposition. The method was evaluated as a measure of mucociliary clearance by recording the movement of radioactivity in the airways of 11 healthy, non-smoking subjects on two separate days. A series of bronchoscintigrams was acquired at five minute intervals for two hours after termination of the inhalation. After the first bronchoscintigram 1.25 mg terbutaline or placebo was administered from a metered dose inhaler (five puffs) according to a randomised, double blind, crossover design. The scintigrams were evaluated blind. After terbutaline the segmental bronchi were no longer visible after a median time of 10 minutes, the lobar bronchi after 20 minutes and the main bronchi after 30 minutes. In six cases the trachea was cleared after two hours. After placebo the segmental bronchi disappeared after a median of 15 minutes, but at two hours half the lobar bronchi remained visible. In only two cases was it no longer possible to see the main bronchi or the trachea. It is concluded that bronchoscintigraphy can be used to examine regional mucociliary clearance in healthy subjects and that terbutaline significantly increases the clearance of the deposited radioactive aerosol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effect of high-dose cisplatin (40 mg/m2 daily for 5 days), 51Cr-EDTA clearance was used as a measure of glomerular filtration rate (GFR). 51Cr-EDTA clearance decreased significantly from 109 +/- 3 ml/min * 1.73 m2 to 68 +/- 3 ml/min * 1.73 m2 after three cycles of cisplatin and remained at this decreased level during the observation period (24 months). To determine the reliability of creatinine as a measure of GFR, we compared the simultaneous clearance of creatinine to that of 51Cr-EDTA. A good correlation between 51Cr-EDTA clearance and creatinine clearance was observed before and 3 months after termination of treatment, but no correlation was found during treatment. S-creatinine decreased significantly during treatment, probably due to muscle wasting. We conclude that s-creatinine and creatinine clearance are unsuitable measures of glomerular function during high-dose cisplatin treatment. All patients developed proteinuria during treatment. The changes in clearance ratios of beta-2-microglobulin/albumin and IgG/albumin show that the proteinuria observed during cisplatin infusion is predominantly of tubular origin, whereas the proteinuria between the treatment periods is mainly of glomerular origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]