Metabolic syndrome – early cardio-metabolic, vascular and hepatic changes

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a combination of several cardio-metabolic risk factors including obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertension and dyslipidemia. MetS has been associated with increased levels of apolipoprotein B (apoB) and low-density lipoprotein oxidation (OxLDL) and with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Aims: To establish the relation of apoB and OxLDL with the MetS development and to determine the status of MetS as a risk factor for adverse liver changes and for subclinical atherosclerosis. Subjects and Methods: The present thesis is part of the two large scale population-based, prospective, observational studies. Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study was launched in 1980 including 3,596 subjects aged 3-18 years. Thereafter follow-up studies have been conducted regularly. In the latest follow-ups that were performed in 2001 (N=2,283) and 2007 (N=2,204), non-invasive ultrasound studies were introduced to the study protocol to measure subclinical atherosclerosis i.e. carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), carotid artery distensibility (Cdist) and brachial flow-mediated dilatation (FMD). Alanine-aminotransferase (ALT) and gammaglutamyltransferase (GGT) were measured in 2007 to assess liver function. The Bogalusa Heart Study is a long-term epidemiologic study of cardiovascular risk factors launched in 1972 in a biracial community of Bogalusa, Louisiana, USA. Total of 374 youths (aged 9-18 years at baseline in 1984-88) who underwent non-invasive ultrasound studies of the carotid artery as adults, were included in the analyses of the present thesis. Results: The odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for MetS incidence during a 6-year follow-up by quartiles of apoB were 2.0(1.0-3.8) for the second quartile, 3.1(1.7-5.7) for the third quartile and 4.2(2.3-7.6) for the fourth quartile. OxLDL was not independently associated with incident MetS. Youth (aged 9-18 years) with MetS or with high body mass index were at 2-3 times the risk of having MetS, high IMT, and type 2 diabetes 24-years later as adults. IMT increased 79±7μm (mean±SEM) in subjects with MetS and 42±2μm in subjects without the MetS (P<0.0001) during 6- years. Subjects who lost the MetS diagnosis during 6-year follow-up had reduced IMT progression compared to persistent MetS group (0.036±0.005vs.0.079±0.010 mm, P=0.001) and reduced Cdist change compared to incident MetS group (-0.12±0.05vs.-0.38±0.10 %/mmHg, P=0.03) over 6-year follow-up. MetS predicted elevated ALT (β±SEM=0.380±0.052, P<0.0001 in men and 0.160±0.052, P=0.002 in women) and GGT (β±SEM=0.240±0.058, P<0.0001 in men and 0.262±0.053, P<0.0001 in women) levels after 6-years. Conclusions: These findings suggest that apoB may give additional information on early metabolic disturbances predisposing MetS. MetS may be used to identify individuals at increased risk of developing atherosclerosis and non-alcoholic liver disease. However, recovery from the MetS may have positive effects on liver and vascular properties.Siirretty Doriast

Selecting inflation indicators under an inflation targeting regime: evidence from the MCL method

This paper seeks to fill a gap in the literature by analyzing inflation in Poland, one of only two transition economies that have adopted a strict inflation-targeting policy. The paper also introduces a new method for selecting inflation indicators. Consistent with the earlier literature, empirical results find a strong link between the producer price index and consumer price index in Poland. This shows the importance of the manufacturing sector in determining the price level in the country. Overall, wages, broad money supply and the exchange rate are good indicators of inflation.inflation; Poland; MCL method

Sähköisen rytminsiirron toteutus (cardioversio ccu:ssa) video : Sairaanhoitajan työtehtävät

Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli tuottaa video sydämen sähköisestä rytminsiirrosta erään keskussairaalan sydänvalvontaosaston (CCU:n) henkilöstölle. Opinnäytetyön tavoitteen saavuttamiseksi laadittiin narratiivinen kirjallisuuskatsaus sähköisen rytminsiirron toteutuksesta osana erään keskussairaalan sydänvalvontaosaston (CCU:n) hoitotyön kehittämistä. Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli videoida sähköinen rytminsiirto toimenpiteenä. Opinnäytetyön teoreettisessä viitekehyksessä käsitellään sydämen sähköistä rytminsiirtoa ja eteisperäisistä rytmihäiriöistä yleisempiä rytmihäiriöitä, jotka ovat eteisvärinä ja eteislepatus. Kirjallisuuskatsauksen perusteella vastataan kysymyksiin: "Mikä on sairaanhoitajan tehtävä sähköisessä rytminsiirrossa?" ja " Mitä tehtäviä sairaanhoitajalla on sähköisesti suoritettavan rytminsiirron aikana?" Opinnäytetyössä tarkastellaan sairaanhoitajan tehtäviä elektiivisesti toteutetun sydämen sähköisen rytminsiirron aikana.The purpose of this thesis was to produce a video on cardioversion for central hospitals’ CCU staff. To achieve the goal of this thesis, a literature view about cardioversion was made to develop central hospitals nursing actions. The purpose of this thesis was to film cardioversion as a procedure. The theoretical framework handles cardioversion and the most common arrhythmias which are atrial fibrillation and atrial fluttery. The theoretical framework answers questions like ''what is the nurses’ role in a cardioversion?'' and ''what tasks nurse have during cardioversion?'' This thesis will observe the nurses’ role during elective cardioversion

Sydämen kroonisen vajaatoiminnan nykyhoito

English summaryPeer reviewe

Clinical validation of automated and rapid mariPOC SARS-CoV-2 antigen test

Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).COVID-19 diagnostics was quickly ramped up worldwide early 2020 based on the detection of viral RNA. However, based on the scientific knowledge for pre-existing coronaviruses, it was expected that the SARS-CoV-2 RNA will be detected from symptomatic and at significant rates also from asymptomatic individuals due to persistence of non-infectious RNA. To increase the efficacy of diagnostics, surveillance, screening and pandemic control, rapid methods, such as antigen tests, are needed for decentralized testing and to assess infectiousness. A novel automated mariPOC SARS-CoV-2 test was developed for the detection of conserved structural viral nucleocapsid proteins. The test utilizes sophisticated optical laser technology for two-photon excitation and individual detection of immunoassay solid-phase particles. We validated the new method against qRT-PCR. Sensitivity of the test was 100.0% (13/13) directly from nasopharyngeal swab specimens and 84.4% (38/45) from swab specimens in undefined transport mediums. Specificity of the test was 100.0% (201/201). The test's limit of detection was 2.7 TCID50/test. It showed no cross-reactions. Our study shows that the new test can detect infectious individuals already in 20 min with clinical sensitivity close to qRT-PCR. The mariPOC is a versatile platform for syndromic testing and for high capacity infection control screening of infectious individuals.Peer reviewe

Thermal sensitivity of growth indicates heritable variation in 1-year-old rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

201

Equations of State in Fighter Aircraft Oleo-pneumatic Shock Absorber Modelling

Most of all modern commercial and military aircraft have oleo-pneumatic shock absorbers in their landing gear. An oleo-pneumatic shock absorber consists of a gas charge and an oil fill. During the stroke oil is forced through orifices which provides damping, while the gas charge is compressed and acts as a spring by increasing the stiffness of the shock absorber. Typically, when the gas behaviour is modelled, the ideal gas law is used as the equation of state as this provides in most cases adequate fidelity with relatively light computational load. However, in a fighter aircraft, especially in naval service, the gas pressure inside a shock absorber raises too high during landing for the ideal gas assumption to be valid. Therefore, other well-established equations of state have been considered. These are Van der Waals, Redlich-Kwong-Soave, and Peng-Robinson equation of state. This paper presents a multi-physics simulation model of a two-chamber oleo-pneumatic shock absorber based on fundamental analytical equations. Using this model, the behaviour of the aforementioned equations of state are studied in two cases: quasi-static and dynamical compression. The simulation results are compared to laboratory measurements. This comparison verifies that the ideal gas law should not be used when modelling naval fighter aircraft shock absorbers.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Data-driven comorbidity analysis of 100 common disorders reveals patient subgroups with differing mortality risks and laboratory correlates

The populational heterogeneity of a disease, in part due to comorbidity, poses several complexities. Individual comorbidity profiles, on the other hand, contain useful information to refine phenotyping, prognostication, and risk assessment, and they provide clues to underlying biology. Nevertheless, the spectrum and the implications of the diagnosis profiles remain largely uncharted. Here we mapped comorbidity patterns in 100 common diseases using 4-year retrospective data from 526,779 patients and developed an online tool to visualize the results. Our analysis exposed disease-specific patient subgroups with distinctive diagnosis patterns, survival functions, and laboratory correlates. Computational modeling and real-world data shed light on the structure, variation, and relevance of populational comorbidity patterns, paving the way for improved diagnostics, risk assessment, and individualization of care. Variation in outcomes and biological correlates of a disease emphasizes the importance of evaluating the generalizability of current treatment strategies, as well as considering the limitations that selective inclusion criteria pose on clinical trials.Peer reviewe

A Graph-Based Model Reduction Method for Digital Twins

Digital twin technology is the talking point of academia and industry. When defining a digital twin, new modeling paradigms and computational methods are needed. Developments in the Internet of Things and advanced simulation and modeling techniques have provided new strategies for building complex digital twins. The digital twin is a virtual entity representation of the physical entity, such as a product or a process. This virtual entity is a collection of computationally complex knowledge models that embeds all the information of the physical world. To that end, this article proposes a graph-based representation of the virtual entity. This graph-based representation provides a method to visualize the parameter and their interactions across different modeling domains. However, the virtual entity graph becomes inherently complex with multiple parameters for a complex multidimensional physical system. This research contributes to the body of knowledge with a novel graph-based model reduction method that simplifies the virtual entity analysis. The graph-based model reduction method uses graph structure preserving algorithms and Dempster–Shaffer Theory to provide the importance of the parameters in the virtual entity. The graph-based model reduction method is validated by benchmarking it against the random forest regressor method. The method is tested on a turbo compressor case study. In the future, a method such as graph-based model reduction needs to be integrated with digital twin frameworks to provide digital services by the twin efficiently.Peer reviewe