The Finnish Cardiovascular Study (FINCAVAS): characterising patients with high risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the Finnish Cardiovascular Study (FINCAVAS) is to construct a risk profile – using genetic, haemodynamic and electrocardiographic (ECG) markers – of individuals at high risk of cardiovascular diseases, events and deaths. METHODS AND DESIGN: All patients scheduled for an exercise stress test at Tampere University Hospital and willing to participate have been and will be recruited between October 2001 and December 2007. The final number of participants is estimated to reach 5,000. Technically successful data on exercise tests using a bicycle ergometer have been collected of 2,212 patients (1,400 men and 812 women) by the end of 2004. In addition to repeated measurement of heart rate and blood pressure, digital high-resolution ECG at 500 Hz is recorded continuously during the entire exercise test, including the resting and recovery phases. About 20% of the patients are examined with coronary angiography. Genetic variations known or suspected to alter cardiovascular function or pathophysiology are analysed to elucidate the effects and interactions of these candidate genes, exercise and commonly used cardiovascular medications. DISCUSSION: FINCAVAS compiles an extensive set of data on patient history, genetic variation, cardiovascular parameters, ECG markers as well as follow-up data on clinical events, hospitalisations and deaths. The data enables the development of new diagnostic and prognostic tools as well as assessments of the importance of existing markers

Variability in Soil Food Web Structure Across Time and Space

This chapter focuses on the variability of soil food webs. Information on temporal and spatial heterogeneity is crucial for understanding how soil food webs and soil biodiversity affect key ecosystem processes. Surprisingly little is known about spatial and temporal variability in soil communities and food webs. Variability in food webs has most often been studied in aquatic ecosystems. Sensitivity analyses of soil food web models have shown that small changes in the biomass of particular groups-for example, basal organisms or certain predators-may have a marked and disproportionate effect on soil processes, such as decomposition and mineralization of nutrients. Variability in species composition may not be clearly related to food web variability and ecosystem functioning, because of species redundancy and complementarity within functional groups, and because the scales of spatio-temporal changes in the abundance or biomass of many functional groups are very small compared to the scales at which ecosystem functioning is relevant to the study

Att möta en global recession : - Åtgärder för nuet och framtiden i sju småländska tillverkande företag

Bakgrund: Den globala ekonomin befinner sig våren 2009 i en recession. Under det sista kvartalet2008 försvagades konjunkturläget kraftigt. Det förändrade konjunkturläget har tvingat företagen attanpassa sig efter nya förutsättningar. Många företag anade att en avmattning skulle ske men närvändningen väl kom skedde det för många företag oväntat snabbt. Hur företaget hanterar situationenavgör förutsättningarna för att företaget även långsiktigt ska vara livskraftigt. Syfte: Vår studie syftar till att utifrån några olika perspektiv beskriva och jämföra hur tillverkandeföretag hanterar en akut neddragningssituation. Studien skall också visa på vilka underlag som liggertill grund för de beslut samt förklara hur olika faktorer påverkar beslutsfattandet. Av särskilt intresse äri vilken utsträckning hänsyn till strategiska tankegångar tas i den aktuella situationen. Slutsatser: Samtliga företag har använt sig av en prognostiserad framtida tillverkningsvolym somutgångspunkt när neddragningsåtgärder vidtagits. Nedgången ses endast som tillfällig och någonstrategisk omorientering har ej genomförts i de flesta av företagen. De åtgärder som vidtagits äranpassade för att företagen skall kunna hantera en snabb uppgång

Local and landscape effects of organic farming on butterfly species richness and abundance

1. Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are commonly adopted in Europe to reduce the loss of farmland biodiversity. These schemes have, however, been criticized as not fulfilling this goal, partly because their effectiveness is thought to differ depending on external factors such as landscape heterogeneity, the focal organism and scale of application. 2. We used one AES, organic farming, as a landscape-scale experiment to test whether its effect on butterflies depends on the spatial scale at which it is applied. Our study system consisted of organically and conventionally managed fields within eight pairs of matched landscapes, differing in the proportion of land under organic management at the landscape scale. Butterflies and their nectar and host-plant resources were surveyed along the fields and adjacent field borders. 3. Butterfly species richness and abundance were significantly increased by organic farming at the local scale. However, local butterfly species richness was also positively affected by a large proportion of organic farming in the surrounding landscape, independent of the local farming practice. Local and landscape farming practices interacted such that the farming practice within fields had a larger effect on butterfly abundance if surrounded by conventionally rather than organically managed fields. These results could only partly be explained by variation in local availability of nectar and host-plant resources. 4. The total observed species richness (γ-diversity) was higher in organically managed landscapes, mainly because of higher within-field diversity (α-diversity), whereas the between-field diversity (β-diversity) tended to be similar in both landscape types. 5. Synthesis and applications. Butterflies were positively affected by organic farming at a local scale, but the amount of organic farming in the surrounding landscape had either an additive (species richness) or interactive (abundance) effect. Therefore, the spatial distribution of AES must be taken into account to maximize their potential to increase farmland biodiversity. We have shown that organic farming affected butterfly species richness on nearby conventionally managed land. This suggests a landscape effect of organic farming that may indicate a wider benefit of AES for biodiversity conservation

Appendix A. A bibliographic list of additional data sources.

A bibliographic list of additional data sources