Platelets activated during myocardial infarction release functional miRNA which can be taken up by endothelial cells and regulate ICAM1 expression.

Key points Myocardial infarction patients have altered platelet miRNA profilesActivated platelets release miRNAs that can be taken up by endothelial cells and regulate ICAM1 gene expression

Short-term serotonergic but not noradrenergic antidepressant administration reduces attentional vigilance to threat in healthy volunteers

Anxiety is associated with threat-related biases in information processing such as heightened attentional vigilance to potential threat. Such biases are an important focus of psychological treatments for anxiety disorders. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are effective in the treatment of a range of anxiety disorders. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of an SSRI on the processing of threat in healthy volunteers. A selective noradrenergic reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), which is not generally used in the treatment of anxiety, was used as a contrast to assess the specificity of SSRI effects on threat processing. Forty-two healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to 7 d double-blind intervention with the SSRI citalopram (20 mg/d), the SNRI reboxetine (8 mg/d), or placebo. On the final day, attentional and interpretative bias to threat was assessed using the attentional probe and the homograph primed lexical decision tasks. Citalopram reduced attentional vigilance towards fearful faces but did not affect the interpretation of ambiguous homographs as threatening. Reboxetine had no significant effect on either of these measures. Citalopram reduces attentional orienting to threatening stimuli, which is potentially relevant to its clinical use in the treatment of anxiety disorders. This finding supports a growing literature suggesting that an important mechanism through which pharmacological agents may exert their effects on mood is by reversing the cognitive biases that characterize the disorders that they treat. Future studies are needed to clarify the neural mechanisms through which these effects on threat processing are mediated

The effects of an additive on the release of potassium in biomass combustion

This study focuses on the effects of an aluminosilicate additive on the fate of potassium during biomass combustion. Such additives have shown some success in mitigating slagging and fouling problems in boilers and furnaces, and the mobility of potassium in combustion systems is one of the key factors dictating ash behaviour. To investigate this, a flame emission spectroscopy technique was used to evaluate the differences in the gas-phase potassium release profiles during the combustion of 5 mm diameter pellets of different biomass suspended in a methane-air flame. The biomass pellets were evaluated with various mixes of an aluminosilicate based additive (5, 15 and 25 wt%). Potassium emission detection, coupled with high speed video of the combustion process, indicated that potassium evolves over the three stages of volatile combustion (a sharp peak in the emission profile), char combustion (a broader peak) and “ash cooking” (a very broad peak over an extended period, long after the end of combustion). In the absence of additive, the three biomass studied (softwood, wheat straw, olive residue) behaved quite differently in terms of potassium release profiles. When the results are normalized for the amount of potassium in the fuel, it is clear that a large fraction of potassium enters the gas phase during the volatile and char combustion of the softwood. Olive residue, releases a lower fraction of potassium during the volatile and char combustion stages, indicating that more potassium is fixed in the ash. In contrast, wheat straw shows a release of potassium during combustion, and then, after a period of “ash cooking”, a substantial gradual release with continued exposure to hot combustion gases. The difference in the emission profiles can be interpreted in terms of the K:Cl ratios and the K:(Si+Al) ratios: high chlorine and/or low (Si+Al) facilitates the release of KCl or KOH to the gas phase, while high (Si+Al) helps to fix K in the solid phase. The addition of the aluminosilicate additive shows a clear reduction in the potassium released from all the biomass pellets, particularly during the char-oxidation and “ash cooking” stages, and the level of additive required is related to the amount of K in the biomass. The potassium emission experiments were complemented by laboratory-scale preparation of ash at different temperatures, and detection of residual potassium in the ash using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). These results validated the findings and quantified the higher fractions of potassium retained within the ash when additives are used. For the wood ash 70-100% of K is retained in the ash in the presence of additive; for the wheat straw, this figure is 60-80% and for the olive pellets it is 70-100%

The impact of aluminosilicate-based additives upon the sintering and melting behaviour of biomass ash

The composition of ash arising from biomass combustion can cause significant slagging and fouling issues in pulverised-fuel boilers, particularly if high concentrations of alkalis are present. Al–Si additives have shown promise in improving the ash deposition characteristics of troublesome biomass, converting volatile potassium to potassium aluminosilicates. This article presents results of lab-scale testing for two high-potassium biomass ashes, olive-cake (OCA) and white-wood (WWA), combined with two promising additives, coal pulverised fuel ash (PFA) and kaolin powder, at 5% mass fraction. Ash fusion testing results show that the use of these additives consistently increases flow temperatures. For WWA, kaolin was observed to reduce deformation temperatures and increase flow temperatures to far above combustion temperatures. Sinter strength testing showed that additive use significantly improves the deposition properties of OCA, preventing the precipitation of KCl and formation of deposits that are highly undesirable for removal via sootblower. Sintering was eliminated at all temperatures measured with the use of kaolin. Both additives had negative effects upon the sintering of WWA, indicating that Al–Si additive use should be restricted to high K, high Cl biomass. High temperature viscometry of OCA, combined with thermodynamic modelling, showed that viscosities at combustion temperatures were far below ideal values due high Mg concentration and silicate formation. Kaolin at 5% mass fraction was predicted to significantly improve this behaviour, with aluminosilicate formation producing favourable viscosities. Results indicate that kaolin addition to high K, high Cl biomass such as OCA shows promise in making the ash compositions viable for pulverised-fuel combustion

Should patients with hip joint prosthesis receive antibiotic prophylaxis before dental treatment?

The safety committee of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) recommended in 2009 that clinicians should consider antibiotic prophylaxis for all patients with total joint replacement before any invasive procedure that may cause bacteremia. This has aroused confusion and anger among dentists asking for the evidence. The present review deals with different aspects of the rationale for this recommendation giving attention to views both in favor of and against it

Potentially Malignant Disorders and Oral cancer -A study on Immunosurveillance

ABSTRACT The cancer immunosurveillance hypothesis postulates that the immune system can recognize cancer cell precursors and destroy those cells before a clinical manifestation occurs. During the last decades several groups have presented evidence of the influence and role of immune activation in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients; however, much less is known about the role of immune activation in potentially malignant oral disorders (PMOD). OSCC may be preceded by a PMOD. Two of the most common PMODs in the Western population are oral leukoplakia (LPL), defined as a predominantly white patch in the oral mucosa that cannot be characterized as any other definable lesion, and oral lichen planus (OLP) defined as a chronic inflammation in the oral mucosa manifested as bilateral white hyperkeratotic striations with or without erythema, ulceration, bullae or plaque. The general aim of this thesis was to characterize the immune response in PMODs and oral cancer and to relate immune response to malignant transformation. Another aim was to address whether long-term immunosuppression in a large cohort of solid organ transplant (SOT) patients predisposes for cancer in the oral cavity and lip. In papers I–III clinical data and biopsy specimens were analysed from patients with OLP and healthy oral mucosa (I), patients with LPL with and without dysplasia and OSCC (II) and those with LPL with dysplasia with (LPL-ca) or without (LPL-dys) malignant transformation (III). Immunohistochemistry was used to detect different cell types of interest, in particular, subtypes of dendritic Langerhans cells (LCs) and T cells. In paper IV a cohort of SOT patients were correlated with the Swedish Cancer Register for prevalence of oral and lip cancer and compared with the prevalence in the Swedish population. Overall 5-year survival in SOT patients with oral and lip cancer was compared to an age- and gender-matched control group with oral and lip cancer without previous SOT. In paper I the results showed that OLP patients had a significantly higher number of dendritic Langerhans cells (LCs) in the epithelium and the connective tissue than in healthy control patients. Also, cells with dendritic morphology and expressing the maturation marker CD83 were found in clusters with lymphocytes in the connective tissue. In paper II the results showed that both cytotoxic T cells and dendritic Langerhans cells were significantly increased in connective tissue in LPL with dysplasia compared to LPL without dysplasia, indicating an immune response to cells with cell dysplasia. In OSCC, the influx of T cells and LCs was increased almost a thousand-fold compared to LPL. Confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed a co-localization of LCs and T cells in LPL with dysplasia and OSCC, indicating possible immune activation In paper III quantitative analyses showed that patients with LPL displaying cell dysplasia that transformed into OSCC had lower numbers of T cells than a group of patients with LPL with dysplasia that did not transform into OSCC during the observation period. In paper IV the results showed a standardized incidence ratio (SIR) that was increased for both oral (SIR: 6.3) and lip cancer (SIR: 43.7) in SOT patients compared to non-SOT patients. Also, the overall 5-year survival was decreased for lip cancer in SOT patients compared to non-SOT lip cancer patients. To conclude the findings in papers I, II and III, evidence of immunosurveillance in PMOD and OSCC are presented. After long-standing immunosuppression in patients with SOT there is an increased risk for both lip and oral cancer, and the overall survival for patients with lip cancer is also negatively affected. The concept of immunosurveillance originally proposed by Dunn et al. in 2004 is well in line with the findings in this thesis of PMOD and oral cancer

Differences in the interpretation of the EC-regulations of organic farming between Finland, Sweden and Austria

Luomutuotannon EY asetukset 834/2007 ja 889/2008 pätevät kaikissa EU-maissa, mutta silti sääntöjä toteutetaan erilailla eri maissa. Jokaisessa EU:n jäsenvaltiossa on oma sertifiointielin ja -järjestelmä, ja tulkinta luomutuotannon EY asetuksista tehdään kansallisesti. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoitus on lisätä ymmärtäväisyyttä sitä kohtaan, miten luomutuotannon säännöt eriävät kolmen EU-maan välillä: Suomi, Ruotsi ja Itävalta. Työn tavoitteisiin kuuluu EY asetusten 834/2007 ja 889/2008 kansallisten tulkintojen merkityksen selvittäminen elintarvikeketjun eri vaiheissa. Suurin mielenkiinnon kohde on selvittää syitä, miksi eroja tulkinnoissa esiintyy, ja millaisia tulkintoja missäkin kohtaa elintarvikeketjua tehdään. Tutkimuskysymysten vastaamiseen on käytetty seuraavia metodeja: kirjallisuustarkastelu, asiaankuuluvien alan aiheiden keräystä varten haastattelututkimus kvalitatiivisella haastatteluilla, ja lopuksi vertailu EY asetusten 834/2007 ja 889/2008 ja kansallisten sääntöjen ja toimintaohjeiden välillä Suomessa, Ruotsissa ja Itävallassa. Tämä tutkimus osoittaa, että luomutuotannon EY asetuksissa 834/2007 ja 889/2008 on paljon kohtia, joissa on mahdollisuus monenlaisiin tulkintoihin. Näin ollen jäsenvaltioiden viranomaisille on epäselvää miten asetuksia tulkitaan. Tutkimuksen tärkein tulos on havainto, että osa tulkintojen eroavuuksista johtaa eriarvoisuuteen luomuviljelijöiden välillä eri jäsenvaltiossa. Myös selkeitä ja tarkkoja asetuksia tulkitaan eri lailla jäsenvaltioiden välillä. Työn tulosten perusteella voi todeta, että luomutuottajat hyötyisivät sääntöjen yhtenäistämisestä EU-tasolla koska näin eriarvoisuus maiden välillä pienenisi. Yksi keino saavuttaa tätä voisi olla laadullisten lausuntojen vähentämistä luomutuotannon EY asetuksissa.The EC regulations for organic farming (OF), No. 834/2007 and 889/2008, apply in all EU countries but still, different rules are being implemented. Every country in the EU has its own certification bodies and certification systems, and the interpretation of the EC regulations for organic farming is done nationally. The purpose of this research is to fill a gap in the understanding how rules of organic farming differ between three countries in Europe: Finland, Sweden and Austria. In particular, this study aims to examine the role of the national interpretations of the EC regulations for OF at different stages in the food supply chain. The main interest lies in why these differences in interpretation occur, and what interpretations are made at what stage in the system. The methods chosen for answering the research questions is a literature review, a survey with qualitative interviews for gathering relevant topics from the field and finally a comparison of the EC regulations for OF and the national legislations and guidelines in Finland, Sweden and Austria for these topics. This study shows that there are many topics in OF where the EC regulations for OF leave room for variable interpretations and hence, it is unclear to the implementing authorities in the member states how to interpret these. The most significant result is that some of the differences in interpretation lead to the organic farmers being unequal across the countries. Even for statements with clear reasoning and precise instructions there can be significant differences in interpretation between the countries. Based on the results of this research I can state that the farmers in OF would benefit from a more harmonized landscape of OF rules on EU-level, as this would lower the inequality between farmers in OF in the different countries. One mean of doing this would be to reduce the number of statements of qualitative character.EG förordningarna för ekologisk produktion nr. 834/2007 och 889/2008 (eko-förordningarna) tillämpas i alla EU-länder, men realiseras genom olika regler. Varje EU-land har sina egna certifierings-organ och -system, och tolkningen av eko-förordningarna görs nationellt. Syftet med denna undersökning är att öka förståelsen för olikheterna i reglerna för ekologisk produktion mellan Finland, Sverige och Österrike. Till undersökningens målsättning hör granskning av de nationella tolkningarnas betydelse av ekoförordningarna i olike skeden av livsmedelskedjan. Huvudintresset ligger i orsaken bakom uppkomsten av olikheterna i tolkningarna, hurudana tolkningar som görs och i vilket skede av systemet. Metoderna som använts för att besvara forskningsfrågorna är en litteraturstudie, intervjuundersökning med kvalitativa intervjuer och slutligen en jämförelse mellan eko-förordningarna och de nationella reglerna och riktlinjerna i Finland, Sverige och Österrike för dessa teman. Denna undersökning påvisar att det inom eko-förordningarna på många ställen finns sakframställningar där det lämnas rum för varierande tolkningar. Därmed är det oklart för medlemsstaternas förverkligande myndigheter hur tolkningen skall ske. Det viktigaste resultatet är att en del av olikheterna i tolkningen leder till ojämlikhet mellan producenterna inom ekologisk produktion i de olika medlemsstaterna. Även för sakframställningar med klart resonemang och exakta instruktioner kan det finnas olikheter i tolkningarna mellan medlemsstaterna. På basen av undersökningens resultat kan konstateras att producenterna inom ekologisk produktion skulle dra nytta av mer enhetliga regler på EU-nivå, eftersom ojämlikheten mellan länderna då skulle minska. En reducering av sakframställningar av kvalitativ typ skulle främja detta ändamål

Johan Banér – Lennart Torstensson – Hans Christoph Königsmarck: Drei Feldherren in schwedischen Diensten

The article briefl y introduces the three most famous Swedish com manders of the Thirty Years’ War, Johan Banér, Lennart Torstensson and Hans Christoph Königmarck, their fates before joining the war, and their greatest military achievements

Cultivation and Management of Jatropha curcas L. by Smallholder Farmers in the Kenyan Districts Baringo and Koibatek

The subject of this thesis is the cultivation and management of the tropical oil-crop Jatropha curcas L. (physic/purging nut) by smallholder farmers in the Kenyan districts Baringo and Koibatek. The purpose of this study is to find out the main factors affecting plant development and growth in smallholders Jatropha farms in Baringo and Koibatek, and as a result of this study there is to be helpful information on how to proceed with the Jatropha plantations there. The implementation of this study included interviews and field visits at 20 Jatropha farms in Baringo and Koibatek in autumn 2010, with focus on planting, irrigation, plant nutrition, intercropping, weeding, pest and disease management and pruning of Jatropha. The results show that irrigation and fertilization is needed for better growth rates, and that the small scale farmers lack sufficient knowledge of the plant management and their impact on growth and yields. The occurrence of pests in the plantations should be treated with preventive methods, like proper management and good hygiene, rather than with chemicals. The conclusions are that the Jatropha plant most probably will not be giving optimal yields in Baringo and Koibatek, but through improved irrigation, fertilization and other management the Jatropha plant will have better conditions to give a yield that matches the farmers’ needs. Based on the results I recommend the client of this work, Farming Systems Kenya, to do some research on the farmers' adoption rates concerning the information given about the Jatropha plant, and on how to improve the rate of adoption amongst the farmers within the project.Mitt examensarbete behandlar den tropiska oljeväxten Jatropha curcas L. (på svenska purgerbuske) och dess odling och skötsel hos småbrukare i distrikten Baringo och Koibatek i Kenya. Arbetets syfte är att få fram de huvudfaktorer som påverkar plantans utveckling och tillväxt i småbrukares odlingar i Baringo och Koibatek, för att få veta hur man skall gå vidare med odlingen av Jatropha. Genomförandet skedde genom intervjuer och fältbesök vid 20 Jatrophaodlingar i Baringo och Koibatek under hösten 2010, och behandlar plantering, bevattning, gödsling, samodling, ogräs, skadedjurs och sjukdomsbekämpning samt beskärning av Jatropha. Resultaten visar att bevattning och gödsling behövs för bättre tillväxt, samt att småbrukarna saknar tillräcklig kännedom om skötselåtgärder och deras inverkan på tillväxten och skörden. Förekomsten av skadedjur i odlingarna bör åtgärdas, men framom kemiska medel skulle preventiva metoder, som rätta skötselåtgärder, kunna dra ner på skadedjurens inverkan betydligt. Slutsatserna i detta arbete är att växten Jatropha troligtvis inte kommer att uppnå optimal skörd i områdena Baringo eller Koibatek, men genom förbättrad bevattning, gödsling samt andra skötselåtgärder har Jatrophan bättre förutsättningar att ge en skörd som motsvarar småbrukarnas behov. På basen av resultaten rekommenderar jag också att beställaren till detta examensarbete, organisationen Farming Systems Kenya, skulle forska litet i graden av informationsintaget bland småbrukarna, och eventuellt omstrukturera läroplanen för projekten för framtiden.Opinnäytetyöni aiheena on trooppisen Jatropha curcas L.öljykasvin viljely ja kasvun hallinta pienviljelijöillä Baringon ja Koibatekin alueella Keniassa. Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena on selvittää pääasiat, jotka vaikuttavat kasvin kehittymiseen ja kasvuun pienviljelijöiden viljelmillä, ja näin tuottaa tietoa ja ehdotuksia, miten edetä Jatrophan kasvatuksessa kyseisellä alueella. Toteutin työn haastatteluina vieraillessani 20 pienviljelmällä syksyllä 2010. Keskityin pääasiallisesti Jatrophan hoitoon liittyviin tehtäviin, kuten istutukseen, kastelemiseen, lannoitukseen, sekaviljelyyn, rikkaruohojen, tuholaisten ja tautien torjuntaan sekä karsimiseen. Tulokset osoittavat, että Jatrophan riittävä kasvu vaatii kastelua ja lannoitusta, toisin kuin oli luultu. Pienviljelijöiden tiedot kasvin hoidosta sekä hallinnan vaikuttamisesta kasvuun ja satoon eivät ole myöskään riittävät. Tuholaisongelma viljelmillä pitäisi korjata mieluiten ehkäisevillä toimenpiteillä, kuten oikealla hoidolla, ei kemiallisilla torjuntaaineilla. Johtopäätökset tehtyjen tulosten perusteella ovat, että Jatropha-kasvi ei todennäköisesti tuota optimaalista satoa Baringon ja Koibatekin alueella, mutta parantamalla kastelua, lannoitusta sekä muita hoitotapoja, Jatropha-kasvilla on paremmat edellytykset tuottaa sato, joka vastaa pienviljelijöiden tarpeita. Tulosten perusteella suosittelisin tilaajaa, Farming Systems Kenyaa, selvittämään ja tarkastamaan pienviljelijöiden informaation saannin ja sisäistämisen tason sekä mahdollisesti uusimaan opetussuunnitelman tulevaisuuden projekteihin