Vitamin D: a review on its effects on muscle strength, the risk of fall, and frailty.

Vitamin D is the main hormone of bone metabolism. However, the ubiquitary nature of vitamin D receptor (VDR) suggests potential for widespread effects, which has led to new research exploring the effects of vitamin D on a variety of tissues, especially in the skeletal muscle. In vitro studies have shown that the active form of vitamin D, calcitriol, acts in myocytes through genomic effects involving VDR activation in the cell nucleus to drive cellular differentiation and proliferation. A putative transmembrane receptor may be responsible for nongenomic effects leading to rapid influx of calcium within muscle cells. Hypovitaminosis D is consistently associated with decrease in muscle function and performance and increase in disability. On the contrary, vitamin D supplementation has been shown to improve muscle strength and gait in different settings, especially in elderly patients. Despite some controversies in the interpretation of meta-analysis, a reduced risk of falls has been attributed to vitamin D supplementation due to direct effects on muscle cells. Finally, a low vitamin D status is consistently associated with the frail phenotype. This is why many authorities recommend vitamin D supplementation in the frail patient.

The rise and fall of evaluation standards

Abstract

Japanin musiikkimarkkinat : Japanin pop- ja rock-markkinoiden erityispiirteet suomalaisen musiikin näkökulmasta

Tämän opinnäytetyön tavoite on selvittää suomalaisen pop- ja rock-musiikin vientimahdollisuuksia yhteen maailman kiinnostavimpaan ja ostovoimaisimpaan maahan, Japaniin, ja tuoda esille sen luonnetta suhteessa suomalaiseen musiikkiin. Opinnäytetyön teoriaosa selvittää Suomen tämän hetkistä musiikkiviennin tilannetta ja syitä siihen, miksi Japanin markkinat on erittäin kiinnostava alue viennin saralla. Kirjallinen viitekehys työlle muodostuu pääasiassa kootuista musiikkialan raporteista, tilastoista ja artikkeleista. Empiirisessä osassa keskeistä tutkimusmateriaalia ovat Tokion Suomen Instituutissa kolmen kuukauden työharjoittelun yhteydessä kertyneet kokemukset ja asiantuntijahaastatteluaineisto. Nämä avaavat Japanin musiikkimarkkinoita luoden parempaa kuvaa siellä vallitsevista kilpailuolosuhteista, maan tavoista ja kiinnostuksen kohteista, sekä japanilaisten mielikuvaa suomalaisesta musiikista. Suomessa musiikkimarkkinat ovat hyvin pienet, mutta niiden laajentamiseen viennillä on alettu keskittyä yhä enenevissä määrin. Koska Japanissa on maailman toiseksi suurimmat musiikkimarkkinat, se on erittäin varteenotettava kohde myös suomalaisen musiikin viennille. Vaikka suomalainen musiikki on toistaiseksi suhteellisen tuntematonta suurelle osalle japanilaisista, suhtaudutaan siihen positiivisesti. Japanilaisten mielestä Suomesta tuleva musiikki on verrattuna moniin muihin maihin paljon omaleimaisempaa ja tämä tekee siitä kiinnostavan. Viennissä ongelmia kuitenkin luovat kielimuuri ja japanilaisten kulttuurisidonnaiset toimintatavat. Ilman hyviä suhteita toiminta Japanin musiikkialan kentällä on lähes mahdotonta. Keskeistä on huomioida paikalliset toimintatavat ja toimia kiireettä kaukonäköisesti. Tuotteen kaikkien osa-alueiden tulisi olla suunniteltu Japanin markkinoihin soveltuviksi jo tarjontavaiheessa. Parantaakseen suomalaisen musiikin vientiä Japaniin on tärkeää tuotteiden menestyksien yhteydessä tuoda esille niiden suomalaisuutta ja näin lisätä kiinnostusta japanilaisten silmissä. Lähtökohtaisesti suomalaisella musiikilla on kuitenkin hyvät mahdollisuudet menestykseen Japanin musiikkimarkkinoilla. Suurimpina ongelmina voidaan pitää vähäistä tietoa japanilaisten mielenkiinnon kohteista, toimintatapojen kulttuurisia eroja ja suomalaisten vientiin panostettavien varojen vähyyttä.

Deep incision in an Aptian carbonate succession indicates major sea-level fall in the Cretaceous

Long-term relative sea-level cycles (0 5 to 6 Myr) have yet to be fully understood for the Cretaceous. During the Aptian, in the northern Maestrat Basin (Eastern Iberian Peninsula), fault-controlled subsidence created depositional space, but eustasy governed changes in depositional trends. Relative sea-level history was reconstructed by sequence stratigraphic analysis. Two forced regressive stages of relative sea-level were recognized within three depositional sequences. The first stage is late Early Aptian age (intra Dufrenoyia furcata Zone) and is characterized by foreshore to upper shoreface sedimentary wedges, which occur detached from a highstand carbonate platform, and were deposited above basin marls. The amplitude of relative sea-level drop was in the order of tens of metres, with a duration of <1 Myr. The second stage of relative sea-level fall occurred within the Late Aptian and is recorded by an incised valley that, when restored to its pre-contractional attitude, was >2 km wide and cut 115 m down into the underlying Aptian succession. With the subsequent transgression, the incision was back-filled with peritidal to shallow subtidal deposits. The changes in depositional trends, lithofacies evolution and geometric relation of the stratigraphic units characterized are similar to those observed in coeval rocks within the Maestrat Basin, as well as in other correlative basins elsewhere. The pace and magnitude of the two relative sea-level drops identified fall within the glacio-eustatic domain. In the Maestrat Basin, terrestrial palynological studies provide evidence that the late Early and Late Aptian climate was cooler than the earliest part of the Early Aptian and the Albian Stage, which were characterized by warmer environmental conditions. The outcrops documented here are significant because they preserve the results of Aptian long-term sea-level trends that are often only recognizable on larger scales (i.e. seismic) such as for the Arabian Plate.

Deep incision in an Aptian carbonate succession indicates major sea-level fall in the Cretaceous

Long-term relative sea-level cycles (0 5 to 6 Myr) have yet to be fully understood for the Cretaceous. During the Aptian, in the northern Maestrat Basin (Eastern Iberian Peninsula), fault-controlled subsidence created depositional space, but eustasy governed changes in depositional trends. Relative sea-level history was reconstructed by sequence stratigraphic analysis. Two forced regressive stages of relative sea-level were recognized within three depositional sequences. The first stage is late Early Aptian age (intra Dufrenoyia furcata Zone) and is characterized by foreshore to upper shoreface sedimentary wedges, which occur detached from a highstand carbonate platform, and were deposited above basin marls. The amplitude of relative sea-level drop was in the order of tens of metres, with a duration of <1 Myr. The second stage of relative sea-level fall occurred within the Late Aptian and is recorded by an incised valley that, when restored to its pre-contractional attitude, was >2 km wide and cut 115 m down into the underlying Aptian succession. With the subsequent transgression, the incision was back-filled with peritidal to shallow subtidal deposits. The changes in depositional trends, lithofacies evolution and geometric relation of the stratigraphic units characterized are similar to those observed in coeval rocks within the Maestrat Basin, as well as in other correlative basins elsewhere. The pace and magnitude of the two relative sea-level drops identified fall within the glacio-eustatic domain. In the Maestrat Basin, terrestrial palynological studies provide evidence that the late Early and Late Aptian climate was cooler than the earliest part of the Early Aptian and the Albian Stage, which were characterized by warmer environmental conditions. The outcrops documented here are significant because they preserve the results of Aptian long-term sea-level trends that are often only recognizable on larger scales (i.e. seismic) such as for the Arabian Plate.