Cereal alkylresorcinols as dietary biomarkers-absorption and occurrence in biological membranes

Several studies link the consumption of whole-grain products to a lowered risk of chronic diseases, such as certain types of cancer, type II diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. However, the final conclusions of the exact protective mechanisms remain unclear, partly due to a lack of a suitable biomarker for the whole-grain cereals intake. Alkylresorcinols (AR) are phenolic lipids abundant in the outer parts of wheat and rye grains usually with homologues of C15:0- C25:0 alkyl chains, and are suggested to function as whole-grain biomarkers. Mammalian lignan enterolactone has also previously been studied as a potential whole-grain biomarker. In the present work a quantified gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method for the analysis of AR in plasma, erythrocytes, and lipoproteins was developed. The method was used to determine human and pig plasma AR concentrations after the intake of whole-grain wheat and rye products compared to low-fibre wheat bread diets to assess the usability of AR as biomarkers of whole-grain intake. AR plasma concentrations were compared to serum ENL concentrations. AR absorption and elimination kinetics were investigated in a pig model. AR occurrence in human erythrocyte membranes and plasma lipoproteins were determined, and the distribution of AR in blood was evaluated. Plasma AR seem to be absorbed via the lymphatic system from the small intestine, like many other lipophilic compounds. Their apparent elimination half-life is relatively short and is similar to that of tocopherols, which have a similar chemical structure. Plasma AR concentrations increased significantly after a one- to eight-week intake of whole-grain wheat and further on with whole-grain rye bread. The concentrations were also higher after habitual Finnish diet compared to diet with low-fibre bread. Inter-individual variation after a one-week intake of the same amount of bread was high, but the mean plasma AR concentrations increased with increasing AR intake. AR are incorporated into erythrocyte membranes and plasma lipoproteins, and VLDL and HDL were the main AR carriers in human plasma. Based on these studies, plasma AR could function as specific biomarkers of dietary whole-grain products. AR are exclusively found in whole-grains and are more suitable as specific biomarkers of whole-grain intake than previously investigated mammalian lignan enterolactone, that is formed from several plants other than cereals in the diet. Plasma AR C17:0/C21:0 -ratio could distinguish whether whole-grain products in the diet are mainly wheat or rye. AR could be used in epidemiological studies to determine whole-grain intake and to better assess the role of whole-grains in disease prevention.

Individual variation in in vitro efficacy of antiplatelet medication - aspirin and clopidogrel

Antiplatelet medication is known to decrease adverse effects in patients with atherothrombotic disease. However, despite ongoing antiplatelet medication considerable number of patients suffer from atherothrombotic events. The aims of the study were 1) to evaluate the individual variability in platelet functions and compare the usability of different methods in detecting it, 2) to assess variability in efficacy of antiplatelet medication with aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) or the combination of aspirin and clopidogrel and 3) to investigate the main genetic and clinical variables as well as potential underlying mechanisms of variability in efficacy of antiplatelet medication. In comparisons of different platelet function tests in 19 healthy individuals PFA-100® correlated with traditional methods of measuring platelet function and was thus considered appropriate for testing individual variability in platelet activity. Efficacy of ongoing 100mg aspirin daily was studied in 101 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Aspirin response was measured with arachidonic acid (AA)-induced platelet aggregation, which reflects cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-1 dependent thromboxane (Tx) A2 formation, and PFA-100®, which evaluates platelet activation under high shear stress in the presence of collagen and epinephrine. Five percent of patients failed to show inhibition of AA-aggregation and 21% of patients had normal PFA-100® results despite aspirin and were thus considered non-responders to aspirin. Interestingly, the two methods of assessing aspirin efficacy, platelet aggregation and PFA-100®, detected different populations as being aspirin non-responders. It could be postulated that PFA-100® actually measures enhanced platelet function, which is not directly associated with TxA2 inhibition exerted by aspirin. Clopidogrel efficacy was assessed in 50 patients who received a 300mg loading dose of clopidogrel 2.5 h prior to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and in 51 patients who were given a loading dose of 300mg combined with a five day treatment of 75mg clopidogrel daily mimicking ongoing treatment. Clopidogrel response was assessed with ADP-induced aggregations, due to its mechanism of action as an inhibitor of ADP-induced activation. When patients received only a loading dose of clopidogrel prior to PCI, 40% did not gain measurable inhibition of their ADP-induced platelet activity (inhibition of 10% or less). Prolongation of treatment so that all patients had reached a plateau of inhibition exerted by clopidogrel, decreased the incidence of non-responders to 20%. Polymorphisms of COX-1 and GP VI, as well as diabetes and female gender, were associated with decreased in vitro aspirin efficacy. Diabetes also impaired the in vitro efficacy of short-term clopidogrel. Decreased response to clopidogrel was associated with limited inhibition by ARMX, an antagonist of P2Y12-receptor, suggesting the reason for clopidogrel resistance to be receptor-dependent. Conclusions: Considerable numbers of CAD patients were non-responders either to aspirin, clopidogrel or both. In the future, platelet function tests may be helpful to individually select effective and safe antiplatelet medication for these patients.

Männyn neulaskadon arviointi laserkeilauksella

Leaf and needle biomasses are key factors in forest health. Insects that feed on needles cause growth losses and tree mortality. Insect outbreaks in Finnish forests have increased rapidly during the last decade and due to climate change the damages are expected to become more serious. There is a need for cost-efficient methods for inventorying these outbreaks. Remote sensing is a promising means for estimating forests and damages. The purpose of this study is to investigate the usability of airborne laser scanning in estimating Scots pine defoliation caused by the common pine sawfly (Diprion pini L.). The study area is situated in Ilomantsi district, eastern Finland. Study materials included high-pulse airborne laser scannings from July and October 2008. Reference data consisted of 90 circular field plots measured in May-June 2009. Defoliation percentage on these field plots was estimated visually. The study was made on plot-level and methods used were linear regression, unsupervised classification, Maximum likelihood method, and stepwise linear regression. Field plots were divided in defoliation classes in two different ways: When divided in two classes the defoliation percentages used were 0–20 % and 20–100 % and when divided in four classes 0–10 %, 10–20 %, 20–30 % and 30–100 %. The results varied depending on method and laser scanning. In the first laser scanning the best results were obtained with stepwise linear regression. The kappa value was 0,47 when using two classes and 0,37 when divided in four classes. In the second laser scanning the best results were obtained with Maximum likelihood. The kappa values were 0,42 and 0,37, correspondingly. The feature that explained defoliation best was vegetation index (pulses reflected from height > 2m / all pulses). There was no significant difference in the results between the two laser scannings so the seasonal change in defoliation could not be detected in this study.

Vaggvisor i Kvevlax : Språkliga strukturer och konstruktioner

Lullabies in Kvevlax. Linguistic structures and constructions. The study is a linguistic analysis of constructions that shape the texts used in lullabies in Kvevlax in Ostrobothnia in Finland. The empirical goal is to identify linguistic constructions in traditional lullabies that make use of the dialect of the region. The theoretical goal was to test the usability of Construction Grammar (CxG) in analyses of this type of material, and to further develop the formal description of Construction Grammar in such a way as to make it possible to analyze all kinds of linguistically complex texts. The material that I collected in the 1960s comprises approximately 600 lullabies and concomitant interviews with the singers on the use of lullabies. In 1991 I collected additional material in Kvevlax. The number of informants is close to 250. Supplementary material covering the Swedish-language regions in Finland was compiled from the archives of the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland. The first part of the study is mainly based on traditional grammar and gives general information about the language and the structures used in the lullabies. In the detailed study of the Kvevlax lullabies in the latter part of the study I use a version of Construction Grammar intended for the linguistic analysis of usage-based texts. The analysis focuses on the most salient constructions in the lullabies. The study shows that Construction Grammar as a method has more general applicability than traditional linguistic methods. The study identifies important constructions, including elements typical of this genre, that structure the text in different variants of the same lullabies. In addition, CxG made it possible to study pragmatic aspects of the interactional, cultural and contextual language that is used in communication with small children. The constructions found in lullabies are also used in language in general. In addition to being able to give detailed linguistic descriptions of the texts, Construction Grammar can also explain the multidimensionality of language and the variations in the texts. The use of CxG made it possible to show that variations are not random but follow prototypical linguistic patterns, constructions. Constructions are thus found to be linguistic resources with built-in variation potentials.

How do Researchers Find and Retrieve Scientific Publications – A Case study of the Impact of the Internet on the Construction IT and Construction Management Research Communities

The World Wide Web provides the opportunity for a radically changed and much more efficient communication process for scientific results. A survey in the closely related domains of construction information technology and construction management was conducted in February 2000, aimed at measuring to what extent these opportunities are already changing the scientific information exchange and how researchers feel about the changes. The paper presents the results based on 236 replies to an extensive Web based questionnaire. 65% of the respondents stated their primary research interest as IT in A/E/C and 20% as construction management and economics. The questions dealt with how researchers find, access and read different sources; how much and what publications they read; how often and to which conferences they travel; how much they publish, and what are the criteria for where they eventually decide to publish. Some of the questions confronted traditional and electronic publishing with one final section dedicated to opinions about electronic publishing. According to the survey researchers already download half of the material that they read digitally from the Web. The most popular method for retrieving an interesting publication is downloading it for free from the author’s or publisher’s website. Researchers are not particularly willing to pay for electronic scientific publications. There is much support for a scenario of electronic journals available totally freely on the Web, where the costs could be covered by for instance professional societies or the publishing university. The shift that the Web is causing seems to be towards the "just in time" reading of literature. Also, frequent users of the Web rely less on scientific publications and tend to read fewer articles. If available with little effort, papers published in traditional journals are preferred; if not, the papers should be on the Web. In these circumstances, the role of paper-based journals published by established publishers is shifting from the core "information exchange" to the building of authors' prestige. The respondents feel they should build up their reputations by publishing in journals and relevant conferences, but then make their work freely available on the Web.

Use of Customer Information: An Ethnography in Service Development

Service researchers have repeatedly claimed that firms should acquire customer information in order to develop services that fit customer needs. Despite this, studies that would concentrate on the actual use of customer information in service development are lacking. The present study fulfils this research gap by investigating information use during a service development process. It demonstrates that use is not a straightforward task that automatically follows the acquisition of customer information. In fact, out of the six identified types of use, four represent non usage of customer information. Hence, the study demonstrates that the acquisition of customer information does not guarantee that the information will actually be used in development. The current study used an ethnographic approach. Consequently, the study was conducted in the field in real time over an extensive period of 13 months. Participant observation allowed direct access to the investigated phenomenon, i.e. the different types of use by the observed development project members were captured while they emerged. In addition, interviews, informal discussions and internal documents were used to gather data. A development process of a bank’s website constituted the empirical context of the investigation. This ethnography brings novel insights to both academia and practice. It critically questions the traditional focus on the firm’s acquisition of customer information and suggests that this focus ought to be expanded to the actual use of customer information. What is the point in acquiring costly customer information if it is not used in the development? Based on the findings of this study, a holistic view on customer information, “information in use” is generated. This view extends the traditional view of customer information in three ways: the source, timing and form of data collection. First, the study showed that the customer information can come explicitly from the customer, from speculation among the developers or it can already exist implicitly. Prior research has mainly focused on the customer as the information provider and the explicit source to turn to for information. Second, the study identified that the used and non-used customer information was acquired both previously, and currently within the time frame of the focal development process, as well as potentially in the future. Prior research has primarily focused on the currently acquired customer information, i.e. within the timeframe of the development process. Third, the used and non-used customer information was both formally and informally acquired. In prior research a large number of sophisticated formal methods have been suggested for the acquisition of customer information to be used in development. By focusing on “information in use”, new knowledge on types of customer information that are actually used was generated. For example, the findings show that the formal customer information acquired during the development process is used less than customer information already existent within the firm. With this knowledge at hand, better methods to capture this more usable customer information can be developed. Moreover, the thesis suggests that by focusing stronger on use of customer information, service development processes can be restructured in order to facilitate the information that is actually used.

The Value of Being on the Net- the effects of Web sites of companies on consumer decision making

The unique characteristics of marketspace in combination with the fast growing number of consumers interested in e-commerce have created new research areas of interest to both marketing and consumer behaviour researchers. Consumer behaviour researchers interested in the decision making processes of consumers have two new sets of questions to answer. The first set of questions is related to how useful theories developed for a marketplace are in a marketspace context. Cyber auctions, Internet communities and the possibilities for consumers to establish dialogues not only with companies but also with other consumers make marketspace unique. The effects of these distinctive characteristics on the behaviour of consumers have not been systematically analysed and therefore constitute the second set of questions which have to be studied. Most companies feel that they have to be online even though the effects of being on the Net are not unambiguously positive. The relevance of the relationship marketing paradigm in a marketspace context have to be studied. The relationship enhancement effects of websites from the customers’ point of view are therefore emphasized in this research paper. Representatives of the Net-generation were analysed and the results show that companies should develop marketspace strategies while Net presence has a value-added effect on consumers. The results indicate that the decision making processes of the consumers are also changing as a result of the progress of marketspace

Development of foreign direct investment in Finland

During 1990 to 2009, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI henceforth) in Finland has fluctuated greatly. This paper focused on analyzing the overall development and basic characteristics of Foreign Direct Investment in Finland, covering the period from 1990 to present. By comparing FDI in Finland with FDI in other countries, the picture of Finland’s FDI position in the world market is clearer. A lot of statistical data, tables and figures are used to describe the trend of Foreign Direct Investment in Finland. All the data used in this study were obtained from Statistics Finland, UNCTAD, OECD, World Bank and International Labor Office, Investment map website and etc. It is also found that there is a big, long-lasting and increasing imbalance of the inward FDI and outward FDI in Finland, the performance of outward FDI is stronger than the inward FDI in Finland. Finland’s position of FDI in the world is rather modest. And based on existing theories, I tried to analyze the factors that might determine the size of the inflows of FDI in Finland. The econometric model of my thesis is based on time series data ranging from 1990 to 2007. A Log linear regression model is adopted to analyze the impact of each variable. The regression results showed that Labor Cost and Investment in Education have a negative influence on the FDI inflows into Finland. Too high labor cost is the main impediment of FDI in Finland, explaining the relative small size of FDI inflows into Finland. GDP and Economy openness have a significant positive impact on the inflows of FDI into Finland; other variables do not emerge as significant factor in affecting the size of FDI inflows in Finland as expected. Meanwhile, the impacts of the most recent financial and economic crisis on FDI in the world and in Finland are discussed as well. FDI inflows worldwide and in Finland have suffered from a big setback from the 2008 global crisis. The economic crisis has undoubtedly significant negative influence on the FDI flows in the world and in Finland. Nevertheless, apart from the negative impact, the crisis itself also brings in chances for policymakers to implement more efficient policies in order to create a pro-business and pro-investment climate for the recovery of FDI inflows. . The correspondent policies and measures aiming to accelerate the recovery of the falling FDI were discussed correspondently.

Tietokone ikäihmisen arjessa

The aged people in the target group of my study belong to generation, which has experienced the shift from agricultural society via industrial society up to the society which has been described as information society. They have grown up concurrently with the technological development, but during the recent years the technological development has accelerated. One can say that the older the target study group has come the more information technological skills they need to possess to be equal actors in our society. However, especially in case of aged people the learning and maintaining of skills in information technology has mainly been left dependent on their personal motivation. The purpose of this report is to study the use of computers in the life of the aged people. The report studies the will and ability of the aged people to learn the skill of using computers, and the new possibilities which this brings into their lives. The study questions are the following: 1) Why the aged people start to use computers? 2) How the aged people benefit information technology in their own life? 3) How computers have extended the environment of the aged people? 4) What kind of problems the aged people have experienced in use of computers? The research material consists of group interviews and individual interviews (total of 23 people). The interview material has been collected among the participants on information technology courses of the Senior University of Helsinki University during years 2004-2005. The research method used is theme interviewing. In addition, the material of opinions about information technology of people born in decades of 1920 and 1930, gathered as part of the Ikihyvä Päijät-Häme 2002 -research has been used. On basis of this research one can say that the aged people do have motivation to study the use of computers, although many interviewees commented that they also have met problems in use of computers. The motivation has grown also because the fear that without the skills to use computers they could drift into outsiders of the society, whereas instead as skilled computer users they felt to be equal citizens compared with the younger age groups, and that they can maintain their independence and autonomy. Especially, the independent use of banking routines over the Internet and use of emails seem to give them a position as modern actors. Many interview statements also underline that computers will bring both joy and benefit to the users. Studying the use of computers is a new and interesting hobby, which can fill the hole left in the life after leaving the working life. Using skills of text processing and processing of pictures one can, for example, record the traditional knowledge of the family and ancestry to the younger generations, and write articles or even books on the professional area of ones own. Single people emphasize that computers can even act as companionship substitutes. One can use Internet for virtual traveling, which provides a new dimension in use of computers. Internet can also be used to maintain family relationships, especially between grandparents and remote grandchildren. Typical problems in use of computers appeared to be that reaching the right professional helpdesk advisers of the service providers is difficult and requires lots of time and patience. However, the interviewees were not willing to give up their computers, because they had already used to these. Keywords: digital divide, aging, Internet, usability, motivation, information technology, information society.

Molecular profiling of indoor microbial communities in moisture damaged and non-damaged buildings

Epidemiological studies have shown an elevation in the incidence of asthma, allergic symptoms and respiratory infections among people living or working in buildings with moisture and mould problems. Microbial growth is suspected to have a key role, since the severity of microbial contamination and symptoms show a positive correlation, while the removal of contaminated materials relieves the symptoms. However, the cause-and-effect relationship has not been well established and knowledge of the causative agents is incomplete. The present consensus of indoor microbes relies on culture-based methods. Microbial cultivation and identification is known to provide qualitatively and quantitatively biased results, which is suspected to be one of the reasons behind the often inconsistent findings between objectively measured microbiological attributes and health. In the present study the indoor microbial communities were assessed using culture-independent, DNA based methods. Fungal and bacterial diversity was determined by amplifying and sequencing the nucITS- and16S-gene regions, correspondingly. In addition, the cell equivalent numbers of 69 mould species or groups were determined by quantitative PCR (qPCR). The results from molecular analyses were compared with results obtained using traditional plate cultivation for fungi. Using DNA-based tools, the indoor microbial diversity was found to be consistently higher and taxonomically wider than viable diversity. The dominant sequence types of fungi, and also of bacteria were mainly affiliated with well-known microbial species. However, in each building they were accompanied by various rare, uncultivable and unknown species. In both moisture-damaged and undamaged buildings the dominant fungal sequence phylotypes were affiliated with the classes Dothideomycetes (mould-like filamentous ascomycetes); Agaricomycetes (mushroom- and polypore-like filamentous basidiomycetes); Urediniomycetes (rust-like basidiomycetes); Tremellomycetes and the family Malasseziales (both yeast-like basidiomycetes). The most probable source for the majority of fungal types was the outdoor environment. In contrast, the dominant bacterial phylotypes in both damaged and undamaged buildings were affiliated with human-associated members within the phyla Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. Indications of elevated fungal diversity within potentially moisture-damage-associated fungal groups were recorded in two of the damaged buildings, while one of the buildings was characterized by an abundance of members of the Penicillium chrysogenum and P. commune species complexes. However, due to the small sample number and strong normal variation firm conclusions concerning the effect of moisture damage on the species diversity could not be made. The fungal communities in dust samples showed seasonal variation, which reflected the seasonal fluctuation of outdoor fungi. Seasonal variation of bacterial communities was less clear but to some extent attributable to the outdoor sources as well. The comparison of methods showed that clone library sequencing was a feasible method for describing the total microbial diversity, indicated a moderate quantitative correlation between sequencing and qPCR results and confirmed that culture based methods give both a qualitative and quantitative underestimate of microbial diversity in the indoor environment. However, certain important indoor fungi such as Penicillium spp. were clearly underrepresented in the sequence material, probably due to their physiological and genetic properties. Species specific qPCR was a more efficient and sensitive method for detecting and quantitating individual species than sequencing, but in order to exploit the full advantage of the method in building investigations more information is needed about the microbial species growing on damaged materials. In the present study, a new method was also developed for enhanced screening of the marker gene clone libraries. The suitability of the screening method to different kinds of microbial environments including biowaste compost material and indoor settled dusts was evaluated. The usability was found to be restricted to environments that support the growth and subsequent dominance of a small number microbial species, such as compost material.