Paradigm shifts in northern art, community and environment studies for art teacher education

In Northern Finland, where this study takes place, nature is a typical setting for recreational activities and employment. At the University of Lapland, attention has been given to art teacher education that supports the continuation of the Northern ecoculture and enhances human–nature connectedness. In this article, we discuss art, community and environmental (ACE) studies developed through international collaborations and joint, long-term action research based on the arts. These studies are part of art teacher training and an international master's degree programme in Arctic art and design. This article explains the paradigm changes that have impacted the aims and methods employed in ACE studies since the 1990s. The discussion is framed by a Western theoretical shift from environmental aesthetics to new materialism, post-humanism and decolonisation. We conclude that ACE projects can enhance revitalisation and increase capacities to retain cultural pride and local ecocultures. Art education that is carried out in a place-specific manner, in cooperation with local communities, is one way to keep traditions alive and foster environmentalism in the North. The article has international relevance for developing art teacher training in Arctic communities but also in other remote locations in which strong bonds between nature and culture are maintained

Relationship between daylength and suicide in Finland

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many previous studies have documented seasonal variation in suicides globally. We re-assessed the seasonal variation of suicides in Finland and tried to relate it to the seasonal variation in daylength and ambient temperature and in the discrepancy between local time and solar time.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The daily data of all suicides from 1969 to 2003 in Finland (N = 43,393) were available. The calendar year was divided into twelve periods according to the length of daylight and the routinely changing time difference between sun time and official time. The daily mean of suicide mortality was calculated for each of these periods and the 95% confidence intervals of the daily means were used to evaluate the statistical significance of the means. In addition, daily changes in sunshine hours and mean temperature were compared to the daily means of suicide mortality in two locations during these afore mentioned periods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A significant peak of the daily mean value of suicide mortality occurred in Finland between May 15th and July 25th, a period that lies symmetrically around the solstice. Concerning the suicide mortality among men in the northern location (Oulu), the peak was postponed as compared with the southern location (Helsinki). The daily variation in temperature or in sunshine did not have significant association with suicide mortality in these two locations.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The period with the longest length of the day associated with the increased suicide mortality. Furthermore, since the peak of suicide mortality seems to manifest later during the year in the north, some other physical or biological signals, besides the variation in daylight, may be involved. In order to have novel means for suicide prevention, the assessment of susceptibility to the circadian misalignment might help.</p

Development of Microbial Analysis – Faster Detection and Business Opportunities

FMA Fast Microbial Analysis project was funded by TEKES, decision numbers 40173/13, 40174/13 and 40175/13Foodborne diseases represent a serious public health issue. For example in the USA it is estimated that the total economic impact is $50 to$80 billion annually in health care costs, lost productivity, and diminished quality of life (Byrd-Bredbenner et al. 2013). For this reason, food safety authorities around the world have realized the need for a strict regulatory framework, including an exhaustive food testing regime. In the European Union (EU) the Comission regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs has been established for food pathogens including Listeria monocytogenes. According to the regulation the manufactures and other food business operators are responsible for the production and delivery of safe food. The follow up will be carried out by self-monitoring methods. Conventional methods are often sensitive, but extremely time-consuming. Depending on the target microorganism, it may take from several days to over two weeks to obtain a fully confirmed positive test result (Velusamy et al. 2010). In present food business this timescale is too long. Because of that Fast Microbe Analysis (FMA) solution was developed in this project. The target of microbiological part of the study was to shorten the lag phase time in L. monocytogenes enrichment procedure and determine the selectivity of growth media combined with IMS. It was clearly seen that it is really difficult to make remarkable improvements in shortening the lag phase time. The selectivity of growth media combined with immunomagnetic separation concluded that, the developed method is applicable in Listeria spp. detection, but not specific for L. monocytogenes detection. By combining surface enhanced Raman spectroscopic (SERS) detection with the sample concentration the detection limit of 104 CFU/ml was obtained. SERS was based on the hybrid nanoparticle and corrugated substrate configuration, while immunomagnetic bead separation and hydrophobic surfaces were utilized to concentrate samples. Business research in FMA project included indetification of market opportunities for developed FMA solution, identification of the food safety business ecosystem and the related possible ecosystem business model for the developed solution. Business opportunities for FMA solution in other industries were also analyzed.201

Schiff base Cu(I) catalyst for aerobic oxidation of primary alcohols

We report here new copper(I)-Schiff base complexes for the selective oxidation of primary alcohols to aldehydes under ambient conditions (with 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperdine-N-oxyl (TEMPO), N-methylimidazole (NMI), ambient air, acetonitril and RT). Particularly, the copper(I) complex bearing N-(4-fluorophenyl)-1-(furan-2-yl)methanimine (L2) showed high activity in the series and gave near- quantitative yields in the oxidations of benzyl alcohol (99% yield in 1 h) and 1-octanol (96% yield in 24 h). Based on the X-ray structure determination, the complex has a square pyramidal coordination accomplished by two L2 ligands and bromide as a counter anion. The oxidation reactions were monitored with UV vis and in situ ATR-IR spectroscopy to study the changes in the catalytic structure and to elucidate the catalytic properties and the mechanistic details. Accordingly, detachment of one of the L2 ligands from the complexes is related to the oxidation activity.Peer reviewe

Effects of four different antihypertensive drugs on plasma metabolomic profiles in patients with essential hypertension

Objective In order to search for metabolic biomarkers of antihypertensive drug responsiveness, we measured > 600 biochemicals in plasma samples of subjects participating in the GENRES Study. Hypertensive men received in a double-blind rotational fashion amlodipine, bisoprolol, hydrochlorothiazide and losartan, each as a monotherapy for one month, with intervening one-month placebo cycles. Methods Metabolomic analysis was carried out using ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Full metabolomic signatures (the drug cycles and the mean of the 3 placebo cycles) became available in 38 to 42 patients for each drug. Blood pressure was monitored by 24-h recordings. Results Amlodipine (P values down to 0.002), bisoprolol (P values down to 2 x 10(-5)) and losartan (P values down to 2 x 10(-4)) consistently decreased the circulating levels of long-chain acylcarnitines. Bisoprolol tended to decrease (P values down to 0.002) the levels of several medium-and long-chain fatty acids. Hydrochlorothiazide administration was associated with an increase of plasma uric acid level (P = 5 x 10(-4)) and urea cycle metabolites. Decreases of both systolic (P = 0.06) and diastolic (P = 0.04) blood pressure after amlodipine administration tended to associate with a decrease of plasma hexadecanedioate, a dicarboxylic fatty acid recently linked to blood pressure regulation. Conclusions Although this systematic metabolomics study failed to identify circulating metabolites convincingly predicting favorable antihypertensive response to four different drug classes, it provided accumulating evidence linking fatty acid metabolism to human hypertension.Peer reviewe

Effect of hydrochlorothiazide on serum uric acid concentration : a genome-wide association study

Aim: To recognize genetic associations of hydrochlorothiazide-induced change in serum uric acid (SUA) concentration. Patients & methods: We conducted a genome-wide association study on hydrochlorothiazide-induced change in SUA in 214 Finnish men from the GENRES study. Replication analyses were performed in 465 Finns from the LIFE study. Results: In GENRES, we identified 31 loci associated with hydrochlorothiazide-induced change in SUA at p <5 x 10(-5). rs1002976 near VEGFC associated with the change in GENRES and in LIFE. rs950569 near BRINP3 associated with the change in SUA in GENRES and LIFE. The analysis of previously reported SNPs and candidate genes provided some proof for PADI4 and ABCC4. Conclusion: We report genetic markers that may predict the increase in SUA concentration during thiazide treatment.Peer reviewe

Pharmacoepigenetics of hypertension : genome-wide methylation analysis of responsiveness to four classes of antihypertensive drugs using a double-blind crossover study design

Essential hypertension remains the leading risk factor of global disease burden, but its treatment goals are often not met. We investigated whether DNA methylation is associated with antihypertensive responses to a diuretic, a beta-blocker, a calcium channel blocker or an angiotensin receptor antagonist. In addition, since we previously showed an SNP at the transcription start site (TSS) of the catecholamine biosynthesis-related ACY3 gene to associate with blood pressure (BP) response to beta-blockers, we specifically analysed the association of methylation sites close to the ACY3 TSS with BP responses to beta-blockers. We conducted an epigenome-wide association study between leukocyte DNA methylation and BP responses to antihypertensive monotherapies in two hypertensive Finnish cohorts: the GENRES (; amlodipine 5 mg, bisoprolol 5 mg, hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg, or losartan 50 mg daily) and the LIFE-Fin studies (; atenolol 50 mg or losartan 50 mg daily). The monotherapy groups consisted of approximately 200 individuals each. We identified 64 methylation sites to suggestively associate (P < 1E-5) with either systolic or diastolic BP responses to a particular study drug in GENRES. These associations did not replicate in LIFE-Fin . Three methylation sites close to the ACY3 TSS were associated with systolic BP responses to bisoprolol in GENRES but not genome-wide significantly (P < 0.05). No robust associations between DNA methylation and BP responses to four different antihypertensive drugs were identified. However, the findings on the methylation sites close to the ACY3 TSS may support the role of ACY3 genetic and epigenetic variation in BP response to bisoprolol.Peer reviewe

Replicated evidence for aminoacylase 3 and nephrin gene variations to predict antihypertensive drug responses

Peer reviewe