University of Southern Denmark

About: University of Southern Denmark is a education organization based out in Odense, Syddanmark, Denmark. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Randomized controlled trial. The organization has 11928 authors who have published 37918 publications receiving 1258559 citations. The organization is also known as: SDU.

Trends in self-reported sleep duration and insomnia-related symptoms in Finland from 1972 to 2005: a comparative review and re-analysis of Finnish population samples

Abstract: A hypothesis concerning habitual sleep reduction and its adverse consequences among general population in modern societies has received wide publicity in the mass media, although scientific evidence supporting the hypothesis is scarce. Similarly, there is an extensively distributed belief, at least in Finland, that the prevalence of insomnia-related symptoms is increasing, but evidence for this is even sparser. These issues are important because of the known increased risk of mortality and health risks associated with sleep duration deviating from 7 to 8 h. To reveal possible trends in self-reported sleep duration and insomnia-related symptoms, we reanalyzed all available data from surveys carried out in Finland from 1972 to 2005. The main results were that a minor decrease of self-reported sleep duration has taken place in Finland, especially among working aged men. However, the size of the reduction (about 4%) was relatively small, approximately 5.5 min per each 10 years during the 33 years' time interval under study. The proportion of 7 h sleepers has increased and, correspondingly, the proportion of 8 h sleepers has decreased, but the extreme ends of the sleep duration distribution remained unchanged. Tentative evidence suggesting an increase in insomnia-related symptoms among working aged population during the last 10 years was found. In conclusion, the Finnish data during the past 33 years indicate a general decrease in self-reported sleep duration of about 18 min and an increase of sleep complaints, especially among the employed middle-aged population.

Determination of ultra‐low oxygen concentrations in oxygen minimum zones by the STOX sensor

Abstract: The methods used until now have not been able to reliably resolve O2 concentrations in oceanic oxygen minimum zones below 1–2 µmol L−1. We present a new amperometric sensor for the determination of ultra-low O2 concentrations under in situ conditions. The electrochemical STOX O2 sensor contains a primary sensing cathode and a secondary cathode that, when polarized, prevents entry of O2 into the sensor. This arrangement enables frequent in situ zero calibration and confers the sensor with a detection limit of 1-10 nmol L−1 O2, even during application on a Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) profiler at great water depths. The sensor was used during the Galathea 3 Expedition to demonstrate that the core of the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) off Peru contained < 2 nM O2. Application in a reactor on board demonstrated that changes in O2 concentrations in OMZ water containing < 200 nmol L−1 O2 could be monitored over periods of hours to days. The linear decrease in O2 concentration in the reactor indicated very low (< 20 nmol L−1) half saturation constants for the O2 respiring microbial community.

Age- and sex-differences in the validity of questionnaire-based zygosity in twins.

Abstract: Questionnaire-based zygosity assessment in twins has generally been found to be valid. In this report we evaluate sex- and age-differences in the validity of such questionnaire based classification when using the four questions that have been the basis of zygosity assessment in The Danish Twin Registry for half a century. Three hundred and forty-two male and 531 female twin pairs were zygosity diagnosed using genetic markers and the results compared with the original questionnaire based classification. We found significant differences in the accuracy of questionnaire based zygosity diagnosis when stratifying the data for sex as well as age: males and monozygotic having the highest misclassification. However, even in the group with the highest misclassification rate the frequency was less than 8%. The overall misclassification rate was only 4%, with a clear tendency towards a higher proportion of misclassified monozygotic than dizygotic twins. The results demonstrate that questionnaire based zygosity diagnosis can still be regarded as a valid and valuable classification method for most purposes.

Gemin4 A Novel Component of the Smn Complex That Is Found in Both Gems and Nucleoli

Abstract: The survival of motor neurons (SMN) protein, the product of the neurodegenerative disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) gene, is localized both in the cytoplasm and in discrete nuclear bodies called gems. In both compartments SMN is part of a large complex that contains several proteins including Gemin2 (formerly SIP1) and the DEAD box protein Gemin3. In the cytoplasm, the SMN complex is associated with snRNP Sm core proteins and plays a critical role in spliceosomal snRNP assembly. In the nucleus, SMN is required for pre-mRNA splicing by serving in the regeneration of spliceosomes. These functions are likely impaired in cells of SMA patients because they have reduced levels of functional SMN. Here, we report the identification by nanoelectrospray mass spectrometry of a novel component of the SMN complex that we name Gemin4. Gemin4 is associated in vivo with the SMN complex through a direct interaction with Gemin3. The tight interaction of Gemin4 with Gemin3 suggests that it could serve as a cofactor of this DEAD box protein. Gemin4 also interacts directly with several of the Sm core proteins. Monoclonal antibodies against Gemin4 efficiently immunoprecipitate the spliceosomal U snRNAs U1 and U5 from Xenopus oocytes cytoplasm. Immunolocalization experiments show that Gemin4 is colocalized with SMN in the cytoplasm and in gems. Interestingly, Gemin4 is also detected in the nucleoli, suggesting that the SMN complex may also function in preribosomal RNA processing or ribosome assembly.