Infants born to women with substance use: Exploring early neurobehavior with the Dubowitz neurological examination

BackgroundThere is a special concern regarding substance using pregnant women due to the possible adverse effects on the infant. While the immediate effects of prenatal substance exposure are well known, the long-term data on the infants' neurodevelopment is inconclusive.AimsThe purpose of this study was to assess early neurobehavior of infants of mothers with substance use using the Dubowitz examination and to follow their neuromotor development until one year of age.Study design and subjectsNinety-five pregnant women with a recent history of substance use were recruited and followed up at the maternity outpatient clinic. Follow-up data was collected from hospital records and maternal interviews. The Dubowitz neurological examination was performed to the 54 clinically healthy term infants. The results were converted into optimality scores and compared to normative values from clinically healthy term infants derived from a separate normative population. The infant's neuromotor development was followed up to one year of age.ResultsOnly 7% of the infants born to women with recent or current substance use reached optimal scores (n = 30) of these infants was found normal.ConclusionsA high percentage of infants of mothers who were referred prenatally to hospital due to substance use showed suboptimal neurological findings during their first days of life.</div

Valuing the commons : an international study on the recreational benefits of the Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea provides benefits to all of the nine nations along its coastline, with some 85 million people living within the catchment area. Achieving improvements in water quality requires international cooperation. The likelihood of effective cooperation is known to depend on the distribution across countries of the benefits and costs of actions needed to improve water quality. In this paper, we estimate the benefits associated with recreational use of the Baltic Sea in current environmental conditions using a travel cost approach, based on data from a large, standardized survey of households in each of the 9 Baltic Sea states. Both the probability of engaging in recreation (participation) and the number of visits people make are modeled. A large variation in the number of trips and the extent of participation is found, along with large differences in current annual economic benefits from Baltic Sea recreation. The total annual recreation benefits are close to 15 billion EUR. Under a water quality improvement scenario, the proportional increases in benefits range from 7 to 18% of the current annual benefits across countries. Depending on how the costs of actions are distributed, this could imply difficulties in achieving more international cooperation to achieve such improvements.PostprintPeer reviewe

Stromal Fibroblasts in Digestive Cancer

The normal gastrointestinal stroma consists of extra-cellular matrix and a community of stromal cells including fibroblasts, myofibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, pericytes, endothelium and inflammatory cells. α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) positive stromal fibroblasts, often referred to as myofibroblasts or activated fibroblasts, are critical in the development of digestive cancer and help to create an environment that is permissive of tumor growth, angiogenesis and invasion. This review focusses on the contribution of activated fibroblasts in carcinogenesis and where possible directly applies this to, and draws on examples from, gastrointestinal cancer. In particular, the review expands on the definition, types and origins of activated fibroblasts. It examines the molecular biology of stromal fibroblasts and their contribution to the peritumoral microenvironment and concludes by exploring some of the potential clinical applications of this exciting branch of cancer research. Understanding the origin and biology of activated fibroblasts will help in the development of an integrated epithelial-stromal sequence to cancer that will ultimately inform cancer pathogenesis, natural history and future therapeutics

Transcription factors zeb1, twist and snai1 in breast carcinoma

Peer reviewe

Multi-trait analysis characterizes the genetics of thyroid function and identifies causal associations with clinical implications.

To date only a fraction of the genetic footprint of thyroid function has been clarified. We report a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of thyroid function in up to 271,040 individuals of European ancestry, including reference range thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4), free and total triiodothyronine (T3), proxies for metabolism (T3/FT4 ratio) as well as dichotomized high and low TSH levels. We revealed 259 independent significant associations for TSH (61% novel), 85 for FT4 (67% novel), and 62 novel signals for the T3 related traits. The loci explained 14.1%, 6.0%, 9.5% and 1.1% of the total variation in TSH, FT4, total T3 and free T3 concentrations, respectively. Genetic correlations indicate that TSH associated loci reflect the thyroid function determined by free T3, whereas the FT4 associations represent the thyroid hormone metabolism. Polygenic risk score and Mendelian randomization analyses showed the effects of genetically determined variation in thyroid function on various clinical outcomes, including cardiovascular risk factors and diseases, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. In conclusion, our results improve the understanding of thyroid hormone physiology and highlight the pleiotropic effects of thyroid function on various diseases

Multi-trait analysis characterizes the genetics of thyroid function and identifies causal associations with clinical implications

To date only a fraction of the genetic footprint of thyroid function has been clarified. We report a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of thyroid function in up to 271,040 individuals of European ancestry, including reference range thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4), free and total triiodothyronine (T3), proxies for metabolism (T3/FT4 ratio) as well as dichotomized high and low TSH levels. We revealed 259 independent significant associations for TSH (61% novel), 85 for FT4 (67% novel), and 62 novel signals for the T3 related traits. The loci explained 14.1%, 6.0%, 9.5% and 1.1% of the total variation in TSH, FT4, total T3 and free T3 concentrations, respectively. Genetic correlations indicate that TSH associated loci reflect the thyroid function determined by free T3, whereas the FT4 associations represent the thyroid hormone metabolism. Polygenic risk score and Mendelian randomization analyses showed the effects of genetically determined variation in thyroid function on various clinical outcomes, including cardiovascular risk factors and diseases, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. In conclusion, our results improve the understanding of thyroid hormone physiology and highlight the pleiotropic effects of thyroid function on various diseases

Econometric Modelling: Basics

AbstractThis chapter addresses basic topics related to choice data analysis. It starts by describing the coding of attribute levels and choosing the functional form of the attributes in the utility function. Next, it focuses on econometric models with special attention devoted to the random parameter mixed logit model. In this context, the chapter compares different coefficient distributions to be used, addresses specifics of the cost attribute coefficient and it pays attention to potential correlations between random coefficients. Finally, topics related to the estimation procedure such as assuring its convergence or random draws are discussed

Phosphorus saturation of Finnish soils: evaluating an easy oxalate extraction method

The aim of this study was to test whether phosphorus saturation of surface sorption sites of (oxyhydr)oxides of aluminium (Al) and iron (Fe) in Finnish soils can be assessed using a single oxalate extraction and, if so, whether the results are closely related to the P forms likely to influence the P concentration in runoff waters. Ten soil samples with varying clay content and P status were studied. Desorption tests were conducted by submitting the soils sequentially to nine anion exchange resin (AER) extractions. Sorption of P was studied by shaking the soils in P standard solutions (0-250 ppm). Soil inorganic P was characterised by sequentially extracting P from the fractions assumed to be connected to Al and Fe compounds and present as the stable apatitic form. The desorption studies and the fractioning of inorganic P suggested that oxalate solution dissolves apatitic P and/or other relatively stable P-bearing compounds, probably referring to the sum of inorganic P fractions rather than labile P. The amount of P desorbed in the nine AER extractions was about 80-280 mg/kg, whereas oxalate extracted about 490-1100 mg P/kg, which approximated the sum of the inorganic P fractions. Therefore, in soils high in apatitic P, oxalate-extractable P does not seem to be a reliable measure of the P saturation of Al and Fe oxide surfaces that regulate the P concentration in soil solution and runoff water.;Lannoituksen lisäksi maan fosforinpidätyskyky vaikuttaa kasvien käytössä olevaan ja toisaalta myös vesistöihin huuhtoutuvan fosforin määrään. Mitä enemmän fosforia on pidättävillä pinnoilla, sitä helpommin liukenevia maan fosforivarat ovat. Jos maassa on runsaasti vapaita fosforinpidätyspintoja, riski liuenneen fosforin huuhtoutumiselle on pieni. Näin ollenfosforin liukoisuutta säätelevien yhdisteiden (hydratoituneiden alumiini- ja rautaoksidien) määrä ja niiden fosforinkyllästysaste tulisi tuntea. Tässä työssä tutkittiin kymmenen erilaisen fosforitilan ja tekstuurin omaavan maanäytteen, sekä laboratoriossa valmistettujen alumiini- ja rautaoksidien avulla miten Hollannissa ja Belgiassa käytetty tapa määrittää fosforin kyllästysaste happamalla oksalaattiuutolla soveltuu suomalaisille maille. Määrittämällä eri epäorgaanisiin yhdisteisiin sitoutunut fosfori voitiin todeta, että happaman oksalaattiliuos liuottaa maasta myös niukkaliukoista apatiittista fosforia ja antaa siten virheellisen kuvan alumiinin ja raudan oksideihin pidättyneen fosforin määrästä. Koska suomalaisissa maissa saattaa olla hyvinkin runsaasti apatiittista fosforia, oksalaattiuutteesta mitattua fosforia ei tulisi käyttää kyllästysasteen laskemiseen. Koska fosforin kyllästysaste on lannoituksen täsmentämisen kannalta tärkeä suure, tulisi sen määritykseen kehittää rutiinimäärityksiin soveltuva luotettava testi