Time series analysis of the incidence of acute upper respiratory tract infections, COVID-19 and the use of antibiotics in Finland during the COVID-19 epidemic : a cohort study of 833 444 patients

Objective To evaluate the trajectories of acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), COVID-19, and the use of antibiotics in Finland during the COVID-19 epidemic. Design Population-based cohort study. Setting Electronic medical records from a nationwide healthcare chain in Finland. Participants 833 444 patients from a cohort of 1 970 013 Finns who had used medical services between 2017 and 2020. Main outcome measures Number of weekly patients of acute URTIs, COVID-19, and the prescribed number of antibiotics in Finland between 6 January 2020 and 21 June 2020. We estimated the respective expected numbers from 1 March 2020 onward using autoregressive integrated moving average model from 1 January 2017 to 1 March 2020. We assessed the public interest in COVID-19 by collecting Google search trend frequencies. Results There was a rapid increase in COVID-related internet searches between weeks 10 and 12. At the same time, there was a 106% increase in diagnoses of acute URTIs, from 410 per 100 000 inhabitants to 845 per 100 000. The first COVID-19 cases were diagnosed on week 11. Prescriptions for URTI-related antibiotics declined by 71% (403 per 100 000 to 117 per 100 000) between weeks 11 and 15 while no relevant change took place in prescriptions of antibiotics for urinary tract infections. Conclusions At the beginning of the epidemic, many people contacted healthcare professionals with relatively mild symptoms, as indicated by the reduced rate of URTI-antibiotics prescriptions. Our findings indicate that health service providers should be prepared for rapid variations in service demand. Securing access of true COVID-19 patients to proper diagnostics, care and isolation measures may help in preventing the spread of the disease.Peer reviewe

Time series analysis of the incidence of acute upper respiratory tract infections, COVID-19 and the use of antibiotics in Finland during the COVID-19 epidemic: a cohort study of 833 444 patients

Objective: To evaluate the trajectories of acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), COVID-19, and the use of antibiotics in Finland during the COVID-19 epidemic.Design: Population-based cohort study.Setting: Electronic medical records from a nationwide healthcare chain in Finland.Participants: 833 444 patients from a cohort of 1 970 013 Finns who had used medical services between 2017 and 2020.Main outcome measures: Number of weekly patients of acute URTIs, COVID-19, and the prescribed number of antibiotics in Finland between 6 January 2020 and 21 June 2020. We estimated the respective expected numbers from 1 March 2020 onward using autoregressive integrated moving average model from 1 January 2017 to 1 March 2020. We assessed the public interest in COVID-19 by collecting Google search trend frequencies.Results: There was a rapid increase in COVID-related internet searches between weeks 10 and 12. At the same time, there was a 106% increase in diagnoses of acute URTIs, from 410 per 100 000 inhabitants to 845 per 100 000. The first COVID-19 cases were diagnosed on week 11. Prescriptions for URTI-related antibiotics declined by 71% (403 per 100 000 to 117 per 100 000) between weeks 11 and 15 while no relevant change took place in prescriptions of antibiotics for urinary tract infections.Conclusions: At the beginning of the epidemic, many people contacted healthcare professionals with relatively mild symptoms, as indicated by the reduced rate of URTI-antibiotics prescriptions. Our findings indicate that health service providers should be prepared for rapid variations in service demand. Securing access of true COVID-19 patients to proper diagnostics, care and isolation measures may help in preventing the spread of the disease.</p

Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Into Definitive Endoderm Cells in Various Flexible Three-Dimensional Cell Culture Systems : Possibilities and Limitations

Publisher Copyright: © Copyright © 2021 Bogacheva, Harjumäki, Flander, Taalas, Bystriakova, Yliperttula, Xiang, Leung and Lou.The generation of human stem cell-derived spheroids and organoids represents a major step in solving numerous medical, pharmacological, and biological challenges. Due to the advantages of three-dimensional (3D) cell culture systems and the diverse applications of human pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived definitive endoderm (DE), we studied the influence of spheroid size and 3D cell culture systems on spheroid morphology and the effectiveness of DE differentiation as assessed by quantitative PCR (qPCR), flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and computational modeling. Among the tested hydrogel-based 3D systems, we found that basement membrane extract (BME) hydrogel could not retain spheroid morphology due to dominant cell–matrix interactions. On the other hand, we found that nanofibrillar cellulose (NFC) hydrogel could maintain spheroid morphology but impeded growth factor diffusion, thereby negatively affecting cell differentiation. In contrast, suspension culture provided sufficient mass transfer and was demonstrated by protein expression assays, morphological analyses, and mathematical modeling to be superior to the hydrogel-based systems. In addition, we found that spheroid size was reversely correlated with the effectiveness of DE formation. However, spheroids of insufficient sizes failed to retain 3D morphology during differentiation in all the studied culture conditions. We hereby demonstrate how the properties of a chosen biomaterial influence the differentiation process and the importance of spheroid size control for successful human iPSC differentiation. Our study provides critical parametric information for the generation of human DE-derived, tissue-specific organoids in future studies.Peer reviewe

Ihmisen embryoottisten kantasolujen erilaistaminen definitiiviseksi endodermiksi 3D-viljelyssä: Kohti aikuisia hepatosyyttejä

The aim of this Thesis is the development of three-dimensional culture methods for robust differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) to definitive endoderm (DE), an intermediate stage in the differentiation pathway towards hepatic and pancreatic cell fates. The objective is to induce DE in sufficient quantities to enable robust continued differentiation to functional hepatocytes, the main metabolizing cells of the liver. These cells hold immense potential in regenerative medicine, pharmaceutical development and tissue engineering. During this Thesis work, human embryonic stem cells were first grown on Matrigel, and then transferred to nanofibrillar cellulose (NFC) hydrogel for 3D spheroid structure formation. These spheroids were then differentiated to DE in NFC hydrogel culture with three differing supplementation schemes, and in super-low binding suspension culture with two differing supplementation schemes. The supplementation schemes were designed based on the current knowledge of signaling pathways affecting embryonic development (Nodal/Activin, BMP and Wnt), as well as the latest culturing methods described in literature. Results were analyzed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Additional viability characterization was carried out by Trypan Blue staining and morphology monitoring by phase contrast microscopy. The growth factor permeation within the NFC hydrogel was additionally modelled with Matlab scripts estimating diffusion according to Fick's second law and the Stokes-Einstein relation. NFC was also rheologically characterized for modelling purposes. Resulting yields of 69.9\% CXCR4-positive cells were acquired by NFC gel culture, and these yields were further improved by suspension culture methods leading to 15-fold increases in HNF3beta, and 37-fold increases in SOX17 in reference to NFC culture methods. In other words, the spheroids derived with protocols described in this Thesis potentially contained one of the most homogeneous DE populations found in literature.Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena on kolmiulotteisten kasvatusmenetelmien kehittäminen ihmisen pluripotenttien kantasolujen (hPSC) erilaistamiseksi definitiiviseksi endodermiksi (DE). Tavoitteena on DE-solujen erilaistaminen sellaisissa määrin, että näiden populaation homogeenisuus riittää jatkettuihin erilaistamiskokeisiin, joissa lopputuloksena tuotetaan toimintakykyisiä hepatosyyttejä. Hepatosyytit ovat maksan merkittävimpiä metaboloivia soluja, ja niiden sovelluskohteet regeneratiivisessa lääketieteessä, lääkekehityksessä, ja kudostekniikassa ovat huomattavan laajat. Diplomityön aikana ihmisen embryoottisia kantasoluja ylläpidettiin ensin Matrigel-kasvatusalustalla, minkä jälkeen ne siirrettiin nanofibrillaariseen selluloosaan (NFC), jossa solut muodostivat kantasolusferoideja. Näiden sferoidien erilaistamiseen sovellettiin kahta eri 3D-viljelymentelmää, eli hydrogeeli- ja suspensiokasvatusmenetelmää, sekä useita eriäviä kasvuainekäsittelyjä. Kasvuainekäsittelyt toteutettiin perustuen viimeisipmään tietämykseen kantasolujen signaloinnista (Nodal/aktiviini, BMP, Wnt). Tulokset analysoitiin hyödyntäen fluoresenssilla aktivoituvaa solulajittelu-sytometriaa (FACS), sekä kvantitatiivista polymeraasiketjureaktiota (qPCR). Tämän lisäksi solujen elinkelpoisuutta seurattiin Trypan Blue -värjäyksellä, sekä valomikroskopian keinoin. Kasvuaineiden diffuusiota mallinnettiin omatekoisella Matlab-mallilla, joka perustui Fickin toiseen lakiin ja Stokes-Einstein relaatioon. Tähän tarkoitukseen NFC:tä karakterisoidaan reologisin mittauksin. Lopputuloksena saatiin 69.9\% CXCR4-positiivisia soluja NFC geelikasvatuksessa, ja näitä saantoja nostettiin vielä korkeammaksi suspensiokasvatuksessa. Suspensiosolukasvatus sai aikaan 15-kertaisen nousun HNF3beta-transkriptiofaktorin ekspressiossa, ja 37-kertaisen nousun SOX17-transkriptiofaktorin ekspressiossa verrattuna geelikasvatukseen. Tämän diplomityön aikana tuotetut DE-sferoidit ovat näinollen yksiä homogeenisimmisista 3D-kasvatusmetodein tuotetuista DE-aggregaateista, joita kirjallisuudessa on raportoitu

Biology Meets Mechatronics (BIOMEETSMEX) - Video Reporting for Development of Project Management and Interdisciplinarity Skills

A pilot project BIOMEETSMEX, combines two engineering schools to support the development of cocreative means of project and product presentation, interdisciplinary and problem-solving skills. The aim was to expand students' ability to communicate scientific data through self-produced videos rather than written media, and to offer motivating and informative ways to learn scientific concepts and for teachers to assess learning. A "library" for learning could be developed, to allow for other students to access student selfproduced videos in future courses.Peer reviewe