The density of electronic gambling machines and area-level socioeconomic status in Finland : a country with a legal monopoly on gambling and a decentralised system of EGMs

Background: Electronic gambling machines (EGMs) are considered a risky form of gambling. Internationally, studies have reported that the density of EGMs tends to be higher in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas than in more advantaged ones. We examined whether this holds true in the Finnish context where a decentralised system of EGMs guarantees wide accessibility to this form of gambling. More precisely, we investigated the association between the density of EGMs and area-level socio-economic status (SES). Methods: The primary measure was the EGM density, referring to the number of EGMs per 1000 adults. The area-level SES was defined on the basis of the median income of inhabitants, the proportion of unemployment in the area and educational attainment (% of those beyond primary education). Three additional area characteristics were used as control variables in the analyses; the overall population density, economic activity (the number of jobs in the area per employed inhabitant), and the mean age of the inhabitants. Analyses were based on linear regression. Results: The EGM density was 3.68 per 1000 inhabitants (SD = 2.63). A lower area-level SES was correlated with a higher EGM density. In further analyses, this effect was mostly explained by the income of the inhabitants. Of the control variables, the population density had no detectable effect on the EGM density while areas with a higher mean age of the inhabitants, as well a higher density of jobs, had more EGMs. Conclusions: EGMs are unequally located in Finland, with more EGMs located in socio-economically less advantaged areas. The higher machine density in areas of social disadvantage is not in line with the aim of the Finnish gambling policy, which is to prevent and reduce harm caused by gambling. Changes in policy are required, especially with regard to the decisions on the placement of EGMs. This should not be made solely by gaming operators and/or from fiscal perspectives.Peer reviewe

Effect of cell culture media on extracellular vesicle secretion from mesenchymal stromal cells and neurons

Publisher Copyright: © 2022Background: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by neuronal cells in vitro have promising therapeutic potential for brain diseases. Optimization of cell culture conditions and methodologies for high-yield isolation of EVs for preclinical and clinical applications, however, remains a challenge. Objective: To probe the cell culture conditions required for optimal EV secretion by human-derived neuronal cells. Methodology: First, we optimized the EV purification protocol using human mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) cultures. Next, we compared the effects of different variables in human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived neuronal cultures on EV secretion. EVs were isolated from cell conditioned media (CCM) and control media with no cells (NCC) using ultrafiltration combined with size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). The hPSC neurons were cultured in 2 different media from which EVs were collected at 2 maturation time-points (days 46 and 60). Stimulation with 25 mM KCl was also evaluated as an activator of EV secretion by neurons. The collected SEC fractions were analyzed by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), protein concentration assay, and blinded transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results: A peak in cup-shaped particles was observed in SEC fractions 7–10 of MSC samples, but not corresponding media controls, indicating successful isolation of EVs. Culture medium had no significant effect on EV yield. The EV yield of the samples did not differ significantly according to the culture media used or the cell maturation time-points. Stimulation of neurons with KCl for 3 h reduced rather than increased the EV yield. Conclusions: We demonstrated successful EV isolation from MSC and neuronal cells using an ultrafiltration-SEC method. The EV yield from MSC and neuronal cultures exhibited a large batch effect, apparently related to the culture media used, highlighting the importance of including NCC as a negative control in all cell culture experiments.Peer reviewe

Increasing Prevalence and High Risk of Associated Anomalies in Congenital Vertebral Defects : A Population-based Study

Background: Congenital vertebral anomalies are a heterogeneous group of diagnoses, and studies on their epidemiology are sparse. Our aim was to investigate the national prevalence and mortality of these anomalies, and to identify associated anomalies. Methods: We conducted a population-based nationwide register study and identified all cases with congenital vertebral anomalies in the Finnish Register of Congenital Malformations from 1997 to 2016 including live births, stillbirths, and elective terminations of pregnancy because of major fetal anomalies. Cases were categorized based on the recorded diagnoses, associated major anomalies were analyzed, and prevalence and infant mortality were calculated. Results: We identified 255 cases of congenital vertebral anomalies. Of these, 92 (36%) were diagnosed with formation defects, 18 (7.1%) with segmentation defects, and 145 (57%) had mixed vertebral anomalies. Live birth prevalence was 1.89 per 10,000, and total prevalence was 2.20/10,000, with a significantly increasing trend over time (P < 0.001). Overall infant mortality was 8.2% (18/219); 3.5% (3/86) in patients with formation defects, 5.6% (1/18) in segmentation defects, and 12.2% (14/115) in mixed vertebral anomalies (P = 0.06). Co-occurring anomalies and syndromes were associated with increased mortality, P = 0.006. Majority of the cases (82%) were associated with other major anomalies affecting most often the heart, limbs, and digestive system. Conclusions: In conclusion, the prevalence of congenital vertebral anomalies is increasing significantly in Finnish registers. Detailed and systematic examination is warranted in this patient population to identify underlying comorbidities as the majority of cases are associated with congenital major anomalies.Peer reviewe

Increasing Prevalence and High Risk of Associated Anomalies in Congenital Vertebral Defects: A Population-based Study

Background: Congenital vertebral anomalies are a heterogeneous group of diagnoses, and studies on their epidemiology are sparse. Our aim was to investigate the national prevalence and mortality of these anomalies, and to identify associated anomalies.Methods: We conducted a population-based nationwide register study and identified all cases with congenital vertebral anomalies in the Finnish Register of Congenital Malformations from 1997 to 2016 including live births, stillbirths, and elective terminations of pregnancy because of major fetal anomalies. Cases were categorized based on the recorded diagnoses, associated major anomalies were analyzed, and prevalence and infant mortality were calculated.Results: We identified 255 cases of congenital vertebral anomalies. Of these, 92 (36%) were diagnosed with formation defects, 18 (7.1%) with segmentation defects, and 145 (57%) had mixed vertebral anomalies. Live birth prevalence was 1.89 per 10,000, and total prevalence was 2.20/10,000, with a significantly increasing trend over time (PConclusions: In conclusion, the prevalence of congenital vertebral anomalies is increasing significantly in Finnish registers. Detailed and systematic examination is warranted in this patient population to identify underlying comorbidities as the majority of cases are associated with congenital major anomalies.</p

Risk Factors and Prevalence of Limb Deficiencies Associated With Amniotic Band Sequence: A Population-based Case-control Study

Background: Limb deficiencies associated with amniotic bands comprise a wide range of congenital anomalies. The association of maternal medication and the risk of amniotic band sequence (ABS) has not yet been addressed. Methods: This nationwide population-based case-control study used national registers on congenital anomalies, births and induced abortions, cross-linked with information on maternal prescription medicine use obtained from the registers on Reimbursed Drug Purchases and Medical Special Reimbursements. All cases with congenital limb deficiency associated with amniotic bands born between 1996 and 2008 were included in the study. Five controls without limb deficiency matched for residency and time of conception were randomly selected from the Medical Birth Register. Results: In total, 106 children with limb deficiency associated with ABS were identified and compared with 530 matched controls. Young maternal age (less than 25 y) increased the risk of limb deficiencies [odds ratio=1.72; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06, 2.80]. Primiparity was also associated with increased risk [adjusted odds ratio (aOR)=2.42; 95% CI: 1.52, 3.88]. After adjusting for maternal age, pregestational diabetes, and parity, maternal use of beta-blockers (adjusted OR=24.2; 95% CI: 2.57, 228) and progestogens (adjusted OR=3.79; 95% CI: 1.38, 10.4) during the first trimester of pregnancy significantly increased the risk of limb deficiencies associated with amniotic bands. Conclusions: Primiparity significantly increased the risk of limb defects associated with amniotic bands. Also, a novel association on increased risk of ABS with maternal use of progestogens or beta-blockers during the first trimester of pregnancy was observed.</p

A retrospective assessment of marine biodiversity : a critical analysis of integration and aggregation rules

Oceans around the world are threatened by human pressures. Ecological indicators are useful tools in understanding complex systems and their changes caused by human pressures, and the information they offer is also needed for ecosystem-based management. Integrated assessments combine information produced by several indicators at different spatial scales and thus offer a more holistic view of the status of the ecosystem. In this study, we evaluate the integration of biodiversity indicators at different spatial scales in two study areas in the Baltic Sea: Gulf of Finland and Bothnian Sea. By producing time series of the indicators and integrated assessments, we study the historical changes in the overall marine biodiversity status, and the impact of data availability, indicator selection, and choice of spatial assessment units on the status assessment. The integrated assessments are produced using the Biodiversity Assessment Tool (BEAT 3.0) and following the procedure of the HELCOM integrated assessment of biodiversity. The analysis shows that the results of the integrated assessment depend strongly on which indicators are available for the assessment, and on the chosen spatial assessment units. While the integrated assessments are a strong communication tool, their interpretation needs to be accompanied by information of indicators to avoid misleading conclusions about the marine ecosystem status

The Ontology for Biomedical Investigations

The Ontology for Biomedical Investigations (OBI) is an ontology that provides terms with precisely defined meanings to describe all aspects of how investigations in the biological and medical domains are conducted. OBI re-uses ontologies that provide a representation of biomedical knowledge from the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontologies (OBO) project and adds the ability to describe how this knowledge was derived. We here describe the state of OBI and several applications that are using it, such as adding semantic expressivity to existing databases, building data entry forms, and enabling interoperability between knowledge resources. OBI covers all phases of the investigation process, such as planning, execution and reporting. It represents information and material entities that participate in these processes, as well as roles and functions. Prior to OBI, it was not possible to use a single internally consistent resource that could be applied to multiple types of experiments for these applications. OBI has made this possible by creating terms for entities involved in biological and medical investigations and by importing parts of other biomedical ontologies such as GO, Chemical Entities of Biological Interest (ChEBI) and Phenotype Attribute and Trait Ontology (PATO) without altering their meaning. OBI is being used in a wide range of projects covering genomics, multi-omics, immunology, and catalogs of services. OBI has also spawned other ontologies (Information Artifact Ontology) and methods for importing parts of ontologies (Minimum information to reference an external ontology term (MIREOT)). The OBI project is an open cross-disciplinary collaborative effort, encompassing multiple research communities from around the globe. To date, OBI has created 2366 classes and 40 relations along with textual and formal definitions. The OBI Consortium maintains a web resource (http://obi-ontology.org) providing details on the people, policies, and issues being addressed in association with OBI. The current release of OBI is available at http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/obi.owl

Miehen seksuaaliset toimintahäiriöt varhaisessa aikuisiässä : Opaslehtinen opiskeluterveydenhuoltoon

Suomessa vuonna 2012 korkeakouluopiskelijoille tehdystä terveystutkimuksesta käy ilmi, että 27 prosentilla kyselyyn vastanneista miehistä oli esiintynyt seksuaalisuuteen liittyviä ongelmia. Yleisimmin ongelmat liittyivät siemensyöksyn häiriöihin. Seksuaalisia toimintahäiriöitä nuorilla aikuisilla miehillä on kuitenkin kansainvälisesti tutkittu vielä melko suppeasti, minkä vuoksi luotettavaa ja näyttöön perustuvaa tietoa on jokseenkin vähän. Vaikka seksuaaliset toimintahäiriöt ovatkin nuoressa aikuisuudessa usein tilapäisiä, niihin on silti syytä puuttua, jotta ongelmat eivät pitkity ja hankaloidu. Tämä toiminnallinen opinnäytetyö on tehty toimeksiantona Joensuun kaupungin sosiaali- ja terveystoimen opiskeluterveydenhuoltoon Karelia-ammattikorkeakoululle. Opinnäytetyön tarkoitus on käsitellä nuorilla miehillä yleisimmin esiintyviä seksuaalisia toimintahäiriöitä sekä pohtia niitä seksuaaliterveyden edistämisen näkökulmasta. Opinnäytetyön tehtävänä oli tuottaa opaslehtinen, jonka tarkoituksena on toimia opiskeluterveydenhuollossa seksuaaliterveyden edistämisen työvälineenä sekä terveydenhoitajien apuna nuorten miesten seksuaalisia toimintahäiriöitä käsiteltäessä. Opaslehtinen sisältää luotettavaa tietoa nuorilla miehillä yleisimmin esiintyvistä seksu-aalisista toimintahäiriöistä eli ennenaikaisesta siemensyöksystä, erektiohäiriöstä, sek-suaalisesta haluttomuudesta sekä seksuaalisesta riippuvuudesta. Opaslehtisessä on myös monipuolisesti lisätiedonlähteitä lukijalle. Jatkotutkimusehdotuksina ovat opaslehtisen päivittäminen ajantasaiseksi sekä sen hyödyllisyyden tutkiminen. Toiminnallisena jatkokehitysideana aiheesta voisi laatia luentomateriaalia tai uusia opaslehtisiä muista seksuaalisuuteen liittyvistä ongelmista.It came out in the Finnish Student Health Survey in 2012 that 27 per cent of the men who responded to the survey had problems with their sexuality. The most common problems were difficulties with the ejaculation. Internationally, sexual dysfunctions among young men have been studied briefly, therefore there is not much reliable and evidence-based information. Sexual dysfunctions among young adults are usually temporary, but still it is important to step in to ensure that the problems will not drag out and become more difficult. This practice-based thesis was commissioned by the city of Joensuu to the Student Health Care Services of Karelia University of Applied Sciences. The purpose of this thesis is to deal with the most common sexual dysfunctions among young men and consider those in the perspective of sexual health promotion. The assignment of this thesis was to produce an information leaflet. The purpose of the information leaflet is to serve public health nurses with sexual health promotion and to help them to deal with sexual dysfunctions among young men in Student Health Care Services. The information leaflet includes reliable information about the most common male sexual dysfunctions, like premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, hypoactive sexual desire disorder and sexual addiction. There is also versatile additional information for the reader. Development ideas for further research could be updating the information leaflet and surveying the usefulness of the leaflet. A practice-based development idea could be to draw up lecture material or new information leaflets about other problems with sexuality

Ikäjohtamisella työhyvinvointia : TampereMission henkilöstön kokemuksia työhyvinvoinnista ja ikäjohtamisesta

Opinnäytetyön aiheena oli ikäjohtaminen ja työhyvinvointiin vaikuttavat tekijät. Tässä työssä käsitellään työelämän eri sukupolvia, ikäjohtamista, ikäjohtamisen keinoja, hyötyjä ja haasteita. Tutkimus toteutettiin kvantitatiivisena tutkimuksena ja opinnäytetyössä käytimme aineiston hankintamenetelmänä kyselyä. Kysely kohdistettiin ikäihmisten palveluita tuottavan TampereMission henkilöstölle. Kysely toteutettiin Google Forms lomaketyökalulla. Kyselyssä oli monivalintakysymyksiä sekä avoimia kysymyksiä. Tavoitteena oli tuottaa teoriatietoa työhyvinvoinnista, ikäjohtamisesta sekä työelämän eri sukupolvista. Kyselyn avulla oli tarkoitus tuottaa tietoa työntekijöiden ajatuksista työhyvinvointiin sekä johtamiseen liittyen. Vaikka ikäjohtaminen on yksilöllistä, sen toteuttamiseen tarvitaan tukea niin organisaatiolta kuin työyhteisöltä. Organisaatioissa on lisättävä ikäjohtamiseen liittyvää tietoutta, jotta ikäjohtamisen hyödyt nähtäisiin. Opinnäytetyö toi tärkeää tietoa työhyvinvoinnista, sen kehittämisestä ja johtamisesta. Kyselyn- ja teoriatiedon perusteella suurin työhyvinvointia edistävä tekijä on työilmapiiri. Työhyvinvoinnin rakentaminen ja ylläpitäminen on kaikkien osapuolien vastuulla.Topic of the thesis was age management and factors affecting occupational well-being. Thesis deals with different generations of working life, age management, ways of handling age management, benefits, and challenges. Research carried out quantitatively and in thesis we used inquiry as acquisition method. Inquiry was targeted to employees working with an elderly people service at TampereMissio. Inquiry was handled out with Google Forms. In the inquiry was multiple choice questions and open questions. The target was to produce theoretical information about occupational well-being, age management and different generations of working life. With help of the inquiry was to produce knowledge concerning employee’s thoughts of occupational well-being and management. Although age management is individual it needs support from both organization and work community to its implementation. In organizations they need to add knowledge about age management that they can see the benefits of age management. Thesis brought important information about occupational well-being, how to develop and manage it. By the inquiry and theory knowledge major influence to occupational well-being is work atmosphere. Building and maintaining occupational well-being is everyone’s responsibility