Keskustajääkäri Aarne Sihvo : näkökulma aseellisen voiman ja yhteiskunnan vuorovaikutukseen itsenäistymisen murroksesta paasikiviläiseen toiseen tasavaltaan

Summary: Middle-of-the-roader : General Aarne Sihvo (1889-1963) and the interaction between the Finnish armed forces and democracy

Kotirintaman aseveljeyttä : suomalaisen siviiliväestön ja saksalaisen sotaväen rinnakkainelo Pohjois-Suomessa 1941-1944

Zusammenfassung: Das Zusammenleben der finnischen Zivilbevölkerung und der deutschen Truppen in Nordfinnland in den Jahren 1941-1944

Vaikea vapaus : sosialidemokratian häviö kirkolle Suomen kulttuuritaistelussa

Summary: A difficult freedom : social democracy's defeat to the church in the Finnish cultural struggle

Measurement of Bioactivity of Immunomodulatory Treatment of Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis. With Emphasis on MxA Protein

Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, which mainly affects young adults. In Finland, approximately 2500 out of 6000 MS patients have relapsing MS and are treated with disease modifying drugs (DMD): interferon- β (INF-β-1a or INF-β-1b) and glatiramer acetate (GA). Depending on the used IFN-β preparation, 2 % to 40 % of patients develop neutralizing antibodies (NAbs), which abolish the biological effects of IFN-β, leading to reduced clinical and MRI detected efficacy. According to the Finnish Current Care Guidelines and European Federation of Neurological Societis (EFNS) guidelines, it is suggested tomeasure the presence of NAbs during the first 24 months of IFN-β therapy. Aims The aim of this thesis was to measure the bioactivity of IFN-β therapy by focusing on the induction of MxA protein (myxovirus resistance protein A) and its correlation to neutralizing antibodies (NAb). A new MxA EIA assay was set up to offer an easier and rapid method for MxA protein detection in clinical practice. In addition, the tolerability and safety of GA were evaluated in patients who haddiscontinued IFN-β therapy due to side effects and lack of efficacy. Results NAbs developed towards the end of 12 months of treatment, and binding antibodies were detectable before or parallel with them. The titer of NAb correlated negatively with the amount of MxA protein and the mean values of preinjection MxA levels never returned to true baseline in NAb negative patients, but tended to drop in the NAb positive group. The test results between MxA EIA and flow cytometric analysis showed significant correlation. GA reduced the relapse rate and was a safe and well-tolerated therapy in IFN-β-intolerant MS patients. Conclusions NAbs inhibit the induction of MxA protein, which can be used as a surrogate marker of the bioactivity of IFN-β therapy. Compared to flow cytometricanalysis and NAb assay, MxA-EIA seemed to be a sensitive and more practical method in clinical use to measure the actual bioactivity of IFN-β treatment, which is of value also from a cost-effective perspective.

Postmodernism and its problems with science

Lecture given in Helsinki at the invitation of the Finnish Mathematical Society.

Suomen kaan-liitteen alkuperä

Summary: The origin of the Finnish enclitic particle -kaan

Järjestystä vai itsehallintoa? Vallan käsite Suomen hallitusmuotokeskustelussa 1918

Abstract: Order or autonomy? The concept of power in the Finnish constitutional debate of 1918

Sanastollinen tieto ja suomen kielen oppikirjojen sanasto

Summary: Lexical knowledge and the vocabulary of course books on the Finnish language