The annual cycle of forest trees : The Sarvas approach revisited

Peer reviewe

A wireless data collecting system implemented using ZigBee protocol

Vanhusten terveydenhoidon luomat paineet lisääntyvät jatkuvasti vanhusten suhteellisen määrän kasvaessa. Samanaikaisesti terveydenhuoltoon käytettävät resurssit pienenevät. Tämän takia on tärkeätä ohjata olemassa olevat resurssit niihin kohteisiin, jotka sitä eniten tarvitsevat. Tämä työ käsittelee Jori Reijulan väitöstutkimuksen yhteydessä tehdyn Con-Dis -laiteen kehittämistä langattomaksi järjestelmäksi. Työssä suunnitellaan ja toteutetaan langaton prototyyppijärjestelmä, joka perustuu 5-portaisen datan keräämiseen. Järjestelmässä käyttäjät antavat dataa käyttämällä langattomia terminaalilaitteita. Terminaalit lähettävät saadun datan halutulle palvelimelle, jossa se tallennetaan taulukoituun muotoon. Järjestelmän tiedonsiirrossa käytetään ZigBee-protokollaa. Lopussa pohditaan verkon ja verkossa käytettävien laitteiden kehitysmahdollisuuksista. Lisäksi keskustellaan järjestelmän eri sovelluskohteista ja paneudutaan sovelluskohdekohtaisiin vaatimuksiin.The pressure caused by elderly health care is increasing as relative amount of elderly people grows. At the same time resources for general health care are decreasing. With mentioned issues combined the resources of general health care are insufficient. As a result, the resources have to be prioritized to targets that need it the most. During Jori Reijula's doctoral research a data collecting device named Con-Dis was built. Con-Dis was used to collect data from elderly people about their perceived well-being. The used concept was experienced good. This thesis is about developing a wireless system prototype for collecting discrete data using 5 steps. The system contains 3 different components. Terminal unit is used to collect data from the object. Collecting unit is for maintaining the wireless ZigBee network and to connect computer to the used network. Computer runs the collecting program and saves collected data to predetermined location in a table form. In the thesis different applications and application specific demands are considered. Also, possible ways to develop the prototype are discussed

L’impartialité du juge de l’Union européenne : sur les conditions d’indépendance, d’empêchement et de récusation du juge devant les juridictions de l’Union

The article deals with the independence and impartiality of the European Judge. After focusing on the legal and ethical rules that guarantee the independence and impartiality of the Judge within the structure of the European Courts, the article analyses the specific rules that allow, or even require, a Judge, for some special reasons, not to take part in the judgment or examination of a particular case or that allow any party in a case to apply for the recusal of a Judge. These specific rules provide conditions under which the European Courts can complete the Chamber after one of theirs Members is prevented from acting. Although compulsory, these conditions are soft enough to give a specific and appropriate answer to any particularity of a case

Terminalia laxiflora and Terminalia brownii contain a broad spectrum of antimycobacterial compounds including ellagitannins, ellagic acid derivatives, triterpenes, fatty acids and fatty alcohols

AbstractEthnopharmacological relevance Terminalia laxiflora Engl. & Diels, (Sudanese Arabic name: Darout الدروت) and Terminalia brownii Fresen (Sudanese Arabic name: Alshaf ألشاف) (Combretaceae) are used in Sudanese traditional folk medicine and in other African countries for treatment of infectious diseases, TB and its symptoms, such as cough, bronchitis and chest pain. Aim of study Because of the frequent use of T. laxiflora and T. brownii in African traditional medicine and due to the absence of studies regarding their antimycobacterial potential there was a need to screen extracts of T. laxiflora and T. brownii for their growth inhibitory potential and to study the chemical composition and compounds in growth inhibitory extracts. Materials and methods The plant species were collected in Sudan (Blue Nile Forest, Ed Damazin Forestry areas) and selected according to their uses in traditional medicine for the treatment of bacterial infections, including TB. Eighty extracts and fractions of the stem bark, stem wood, roots, leaves and fruits of T. laxiflora and T. brownii and nine pure compounds present in the active extracts were screened against Mycobacterium smegmatis ATCC 14468 using agar diffusion and microplate dilution methods. Inhibition zones and MIC values were estimated and compared to rifampicin. HPLC-UV/DAD, GC/MS and UHPLC/Q-TOF MS were employed to identify the compounds in the growth inhibitory extracts. Results The roots of T. laxiflora and T. brownii gave the best antimycobacterial effects (IZ 22–27 mm) against Mycobacterium smegmatis. The lowest MIC of 625 µg/ml was observed for an acetone extract of the root of T. laxiflora followed by methanol and ethyl acetate extracts, both giving MIC values of 1250 µg/ml. Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography purification of T. brownii roots resulted in low MIC values of 62.5 µg/ml and 125 µg/ml for acetone and ethanol fractions, respectively, compared to 5000 µg/ml for the crude methanol extract. Methyl (S)-flavogallonate is suggested to be the main active compound in the Sephadex LH- 20 acetone fraction, while ellagic acid xyloside and methyl ellagic acid xyloside are suggested to give good antimycobacterial activity in the Sephadex LH-20 ethanol fraction. RP-18 TLC purifications of an ethyl acetate extract of T. laxiflora roots resulted in the enrichment of punicalagin in one of the fractions (Fr5). This fraction gave a five times smaller MIC (500 µg/ml) than the crude ethyl acetate extract (2500 µg/ml) and this improved activity is suggested to be mostly due to punicalagin. 1,18-octadec-9-ene-dioate, stigmast-4-en-3-one, 5α-stigmastan-3,6-dione, triacontanol, sitostenone and β-sitosterol were found in antimycobacterial hexane extracts of the stem bark of both studied species. Of these compounds, 1,18-octadec-9-ene-dioate, stigmast-4-en-3-one, 5α-stigmastan-3,6-dione, triacontanol, sitostenone have not been previously identified in T. brownii and T. laxiflora. Moreover, both plant species contained friedelin, betulinic acid, β-amyrine and two unknown oleanane-type triterpenoids. Of the listed compounds, friedelin, triacontanol and sitostenone gave a MIC of 250 µg/ml against M. smegmatis, whereas stigmasterol and β-sitosterol gave MIC values of 500 µg/ml. Conclusions Our results show that T. laxiflora and T. brownii contain antimycobacterial compounds of diverse polarities and support the traditional uses of various parts of T. laxiflora and T.brownii as decoctions for treatment of tuberculosis. Further investigations are warranted to explore additional (new) antimycobacterial compounds in the active extracts of T. laxiflora and T. brownii.Peer reviewe

Human intravenous immunoglobulin provides protection against Aβ toxicity by multiple mechanisms in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Purified intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) obtained from the plasma of healthy humans is indicated for the treatment of primary immunodeficiency disorders associated with defects in humoral immunity. IVIG contains naturally occurring auto-antibodies, including antibodies (Abs) against β-amyloid (Aβ) peptides accumulating in the brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. IVIG has been shown to alleviate AD pathology when studied with mildly affected AD patients. Although its mechanisms-of-action have been broadly studied, it remains unresolved how IVIG affects the removal of natively formed brain Aβ deposits by primary astrocytes and microglia, two major cell types involved in the neuroinflammatory responses.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We first determined the effect of IVIG on Aβ toxicity in primary neuronal cell culture. The mechanisms-of-action of IVIG in reduction of Aβ burden was analyzed with <it>ex vivo </it>assay. We studied whether IVIG solubilizes natively formed Aβ deposits from brain sections of APP/PS1 mice or promotes Aβ removal by primary glial cells. We determined the role of lysosomal degradation pathway and Aβ Abs in the IVIG-promoted reduction of Aβ. Finally, we studied the penetration of IVIG into the brain parenchyma and interaction with brain deposits of human Aβ in a mouse model of AD <it>in vivo</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>IVIG was protective against Aβ toxicity in a primary mouse hippocampal neuron culture. IVIG modestly inhibited the fibrillization of synthetic Aβ1-42 but did not solubilize natively formed brain Aβ deposits <it>ex vivo</it>. IVIG enhanced microglia-mediated Aβ clearance <it>ex vivo</it>, with a mechanism linked to Aβ Abs and lysosomal degradation. The IVIG-enhanced Aβ clearance appears specific for microglia since IVIG did not affect Aβ clearance by astrocytes. The cellular mechanisms of Aβ clearance we observed have potential relevance <it>in vivo </it>since after peripheral administration IVIG penetrated to mouse brain tissue reaching highest concentrations in the hippocampus and bound selectively to Aβ deposits in co-localization with microglia.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results demonstrate that IVIG promotes recognition and removal of natively formed brain Aβ deposits by primary microglia involving natural Aβ Abs in IVIG. These findings may have therapeutic relevance <it>in vivo </it>as IVIG penetrates through the blood-brain barrier and specifically binds to Aβ deposits in brain parenchyma.</p

Biometal Dyshomeostasis in Olfactory Mucosa of Alzheimer's Disease Patients

Olfactory function, orchestrated by the cells of the olfactory mucosa at the rooftop of the nasal cavity, is disturbed early in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Biometals including zinc and calcium are known to be important for sense of smell and to be altered in the brains of AD patients. Little is known about elemental homeostasis in the AD patient olfactory mucosa. Here we aimed to assess whether the disease-related alterations to biometal homeostasis observed in the brain are also reflected in the olfactory mucosa. We applied RNA sequencing to discover gene expression changes related to metals in olfactory mucosal cells of cognitively healthy controls, individuals with mild cognitive impairment and AD patients, and performed analysis of the elemental content to determine metal levels. Results demonstrate that the levels of zinc, calcium and sodium are increased in the AD olfactory mucosa concomitantly with alterations to 17 genes related to metal-ion binding or metal-related function of the protein product. A significant elevation in alpha-2-macroglobulin, a known metal-binding biomarker correlated with brain disease burden, was observed on the gene and protein levels in the olfactory mucosa cells of AD patients. These data demonstrate that the olfactory mucosa cells derived from AD patients recapitulate certain impairments of biometal homeostasis observed in the brains of patients.Peer reviewe

Single-Cell RNA-Seq Analysis of Olfactory Mucosal Cells of Alzheimer's Disease Patients

Olfaction is orchestrated by olfactory mucosal cells located in the upper nasal cavity. Olfactory dysfunction manifests early in several neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease, however, disease-related alterations to the olfactory mucosal cells remain poorly described. The aim of this study was to evaluate the olfactory mucosa differences between cognitively healthy individuals and Alzheimer's disease patients. We report increased amyloid-beta secretion in Alzheimer's disease olfactory mucosal cells and detail cell-type-specific gene expression patterns, unveiling 240 differentially expressed disease-associated genes compared to the cognitively healthy controls, and five distinct cell populations. Overall, alterations of RNA and protein metabolism, inflammatory processes, and signal transduction were observed in multiple cell populations, suggesting their role in Alzheimer's disease-related olfactory mucosa pathophysiology. Furthermore, the single-cell RNA-sequencing proposed alterations in gene expression of mitochondrially located genes in AD OM cells, which were verified by functional assays, demonstrating altered mitochondrial respiration and a reduction of ATP production. Our results reveal disease-related changes of olfactory mucosal cells in Alzheimer's disease and demonstrate the utility of single-cell RNA sequencing data for investigating molecular and cellular mechanisms associated with the disease.Peer reviewe