Sampling and PCR method for detecting pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum strains in onion harvest

Fusarium basal rot is a worldwide disease problem in onions, and causes substantial losses in onion production, both during the growing season and in the storage. To minimize the post-harvest losses, a protocol for screening of latent infections with pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum strains from harvested onions was developed. This protocol is based on a dual PCR test with primers specific for the fungal species and new SIX3 primers specific for the onion-pathogenic F. oxysporum strains. A pooled sample containing pieces from 50 harvested symptomless onions was prepared for the dual PCR using microwave disruption of the filamentous Fusarium fungi and Whatman FTA(TM) filter paper matrix technology, or as a reference protocol, by extracting DNA with a commercial kit. The two sample preparation protocols gave consistent results with the tested onion samples. Detection limit of the dual PCR protocol was 100 pg of F. oxysporum DNA, in a mixture with onion DNA, when the FTA card was applied. The new protocol reported here is simple and sensitive enough for routine testing, enabling the detection of latent infections in harvest lots even at the infection levels under 10%. Significance and Impact of the Study Fusarium basal rot causes serious problems in onion production. To minimize post-harvest losses, a simple protocol based on FTA(TM) technology and a dual PCR test with Fusarium oxysporum species-specific and pathogenicity-specific primers was developed. By testing pooled onion samples using this method, latent infections with F. oxysporum can be screened from a representative sample of the harvest. This screening method could be a useful tool to manage the post-harvest losses caused by latent infections with F. oxysporum and, with modification of the PCR protocol, with other Fusarium species pathogenic to onion.Peer reviewe

Canadian Lower Risk Gambling Guidelines: Investigating Feasibility of the Guidelines in a Finnish Cultural Context

ABSTRACT At-risk and problem gambling is a significant public health concern globally, and it causes harm not only to the gamblers but also to their significant others as well as the society at large. This study evaluates the feasibility of the Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines (LRGG), developed by the Canadian Centre of Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), in a Finnish cultural context. The LRGG was developed to lessen the harms related to gambling in Canada, using gambling data from eight countries, including Finland. We use both qualitative and quantitative methods to find out whether the established guidelines of: 1) Gamble no more than 1 % of household income, and 2) Gamble no more than 4 days per month, and 3) Avoid regularly gambling at more than 2 types of games apply to the Finns as they are or do they need cultural modifications. We will present and discuss preliminary results of the quantitative online survey results (n = 500–800) and the qualitative focus group interviews (n = 44–70). IMPLICATIONS The goal of our study is to establish culturally sensitive safer gambling guidelines in Finland, which would help Finns to make informed decisions about their gambling. The guidelines also support the implementation of the programs aimed at reducing gambling-related harms and promoting public health. In addition, these programs can provide consistent evidence-informed advice about how to gamble in a lower-risk manner

The e-Business Readiness Composite Indicator for 2003. A Pilot Study

Abstract not availableJRC.G-Institute for the Protection and the Security of the Citizen (Ispra

Gender- and age-stratified analyses of gambling disorder in Finland between 2011 and 2020 based on administrative registers

Aim: Prevalence studies on gambling have largely relied on survey samples. Little is known about the diagnosed prevalence of gambling disorder (GD) based on register data. This study examines the annual prevalence rate of GD between 2011 and 2020 among Finns by gender and age. Methods: Aggregated data on the diagnosis of GD (corresponding to pathological gambling, code F63.0 in the ICD-10) were retrieved from the following national registers: Register of Primary Health Care Visits, and Care Register for Health Care, including specialised outpatient and inpatient health care, and inpatient Care Register for Social Welfare. Primary and secondary diagnoses of adults were included. Average population during a calendar year (4,282,714-4,460,177 individuals) was utilised to calculate annual prevalence. Results: The annual prevalence of diagnosed GD in the population increased from 0.005% (n = 196) to 0.018% (n = 804) within nine years. In 2011, the annual prevalence rate was 0.006% for men and 0.003% for women, compared to rates in 2020 of 0.025% and 0.011%. Gender discrepancy was relatively stable across years: 27.2-33.8% of the diagnoses were for women. The prevalence of GD varied between age groups within genders. GD was most prevalent among 18-44-year-olds. The prevalence rates increased the most among 30-44-year-old women. Conclusion: The extremely low prevalence rate of GD implies that the problem remains under-diagnosed, yet, it has increased among all age groups across genders, except for women aged 60 years or older. Active efforts are needed to increase awareness of GD among both primary and specialised healthcare professionals and the public for better recognition and early detection.</p

An incremental modular technique for checking LTL-X properties on Petri nets

Model-checking is a powerful and widespread technique for the verification of finite state concurrent systems. However, the main hindrance for wider application of this technique is the well-known state explosion problem. Modular verification is a promising natural approach to tackle this problem. It is based on the "divide and conquer" principle and aims at deducing the properties of the system from those of its components analysed in isolation. Unfortunately, several issues make the use of modular verification techniques difficult in practice. First, deciding how to partition the system into components is not trivial and can have a significant impact on the resources needed for verification. Second, when model-checking a component in isolation, how should the environment of this component be described? In this paper, we address these problems in the framework of model-checking LTL\X action-based properties on Petri nets. We propose an incremental and modular verification approach where the system model is partitioned according to the actions occurring in the property to be verified and where the environment of a component is taken into account using the linear place invariants of the system

Type C botulism due to toxic feed affecting 52,000 farmed foxes and minks in Finland

The largest reported outbreak of type C botulism in fur production animals is described. Epidemiological investigation of 117 out of 157 (response rate, 74.5%) farms revealed that 44,130 animals died or were euthanized, while 8,033 animals with milder symptoms recovered. The overall death rate in all animals at risk was 21.7%. The death rates were significantly higher in blue and shadow foxes (24.2 and 27.8%, respectively) than in silver and blue silver foxes and minks (below 4%). All minks had been immunized against botulinum toxin type C. Deaths were associated with feed manufactured by a local processor, 83 of whose customer farms (70.9%) reported dead or sick animals. Five feedlots out of 19 delivered to the farms on the day preceding the onset of the outbreak (day 2) were associated with a death rate higher than 40%. These feedlots consisted of fresh feed processed on day 2 and feed processed 1 day earlier (day 1). In laboratory analysis, the day 2 feed contained botulinum toxin type C (>600 minimum lethal doses/g), while the day 1 feed did not contain toxin. Toxin was not detected in feed raw-material samples. Clostridium botulinum type C was detected by PCR in some feed components and in feed. However, as the feed temperature was continuously 8°C or below and the pH was continuously 5.6 or below according to the manufacturer, it seems unlikely that spore germination and toxin formation occurred during overnight storage. Hence, the events leading to toxin formation were not determined

Meals in western eating and drinking

Meals are a way of organizing eating into events that have a particular structure and form, and they play an indisputable and even self-evident role within the rhythms and routines of everyday life. In late modern societies, concern about the fate of meals has arisen in both public and academic discourse. It has been suggested that eating is characterized today by individualization, destructuration, and informalization and that communal meals are increasingly being replaced by snacks and solitary eating. This chapter focuses on meals in today’s affluent societies and reflects on why meals are considered important, how meals are defined, and what material elements and social dimensions they contain. It looks at how societal and cultural changes and ecological concerns may influence the organization and future of meals, and it suggests that the content of meals will change in response to the need to diminish the ecological burden of food production and consumption. In particular, plant-based options will at least partly need to replace meat and other animal-based foods. However, there is no reason to expect that the meal as a social institution will break down. Despite the fact that not all meals are characterized by conviviality and companionship, they continue to serve as a significant arena of human sociability and togetherness. Sharing food is, after all, an essential part of being human.Non peer reviewe

Association between birth weight and educational attainment : an individual-based pooled analysis of nine twin cohorts

Background There is evidence that birth weight is positively associated with education, but it remains unclear whether this association is explained by familial environmental factors, genetic factors or the intrauterine environment. We analysed the association between birth weight and educational years within twin pairs, which controls for genetic factors and the environment shared between co-twins. Methods The data were derived from nine twin cohorts in eight countries including 6116 complete twin pairs. The association between birth weight and educational attainment was analysed both between individuals and within pairs using linear regression analyses. Results In between-individual analyses, birth weight was not associated with educational years. Within-pairs analyses revealed positive but modest associations for some sex, zygosity and birth year groups. The greatest association was found in dizygotic (DZ) men (0.65 educational years/kg birth weight, p=0.006); smaller effects of 0.3 educational years/kg birth weight were found within monozygotic (MZ) twins of both sexes and opposite-sex DZ twins. The magnitude of the associations differed by birth year in MZ women and opposite-sex DZ twins, showing a positive association in the 1915-1959 birth cohort but no association in the 1960-1984 birth cohort. Conclusion Although associations are weak and somewhat inconsistent, our results suggest that intrauterine environment may play a role when explaining the association between birth weight and educational attainment.Peer reviewe

Clinical, environmental, and genetic risk factors for substance use disorders : characterizing combined effects across multiple cohorts

Substance use disorders (SUDs) incur serious social and personal costs. The risk for SUDs is complex, with risk factors ranging from social conditions to individual genetic variation. We examined whether models that include a clinical/environmental risk index (CERI) and polygenic scores (PGS) are able to identify individuals at increased risk of SUD in young adulthood across four longitudinal cohorts for a combined sample of N = 15,134. Our analyses included participants of European (N-EUR = 12,659) and African (N-AFR = 2475) ancestries. SUD outcomes included: (1) alcohol dependence, (2) nicotine dependence; (3) drug dependence, and (4) any substance dependence. In the models containing the PGS and CERI, the CERI was associated with all three outcomes (ORs = 01.37-1.67). PGS for problematic alcohol use, externalizing, and smoking quantity were associated with alcohol dependence, drug dependence, and nicotine dependence, respectively (OR = 1.11-1.33). PGS for problematic alcohol use and externalizing were also associated with any substance dependence (ORs = 1.09-1.18). The full model explained 6-13% of the variance in SUDs. Those in the top 10% of CERI and PGS had relative risk ratios of 3.86-8.04 for each SUD relative to the bottom 90%. Overall, the combined measures of clinical, environmental, and genetic risk demonstrated modest ability to distinguish between affected and unaffected individuals in young adulthood. PGS were significant but added little in addition to the clinical/environmental risk index. Results from our analysis demonstrate there is still considerable work to be done before tools such as these are ready for clinical applications.Peer reviewe