Sociotechnical Imaginaries as a Lens to Analyze Advances in Biomedicine

Reorganizing Biomedical Research : Biobanks as Conditions of Possibility for Personalized Medicine / Heta Tarkkala. Helsinki : University of Helsinki, 2019

No Effect of Steady Rotation on Solid 4^4He in a Torsional Oscillator

We have measured the response of a torsional oscillator containing polycrystalline hcp solid $^{4}$He to applied steady rotation in an attempt to verify the observations of several other groups that were initially interpreted as evidence for macroscopic quantum effects. The geometry of the cell was that of a simple annulus, with a fill line of relatively narrow diameter in the centre of the torsion rod. Varying the angular velocity of rotation up to 2\,rad\,s$^{-1}$ showed that there were no step-like features in the resonant frequency or dissipation of the oscillator and no history dependence, even though we achieved the sensitivity required to detect the various effects seen in earlier experiments on other rotating cryostats. All small changes during rotation were consistent with those occurring with an empty cell. We thus observed no effects on the samples of solid $^4$He attributable to steady rotation.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted in J. Low Temp. Phy

Gap Filling as Exact Path Length Problem

Peer reviewe

Thermocontrolled Reversible Enzyme Complexation-Inactivation-Protection by Poly(N-acryloyl glycinamide)

A prospective technology for reversible enzyme complexation accompanied with its inactivation and protection followed by reactivation after a fast thermocontrolled release has been demonstrated. A thermoresponsive polymer with upper critical solution temperature, poly(N-acryloyl glycinamide) (PNAGA), which is soluble in water at elevated temperatures but phase separates at low temperatures, has been shown to bind lysozyme, chosen as a model enzyme, at a low temperature (10 °C and lower) but not at room temperature (around 25 °C). The cooling of the mixture of PNAGA and lysozyme solutions from room temperature resulted in the capturing of the protein and the formation of stable complexes; heating it back up was accompanied by dissolving the complexes and the release of the bound lysozyme. Captured by the polymer, lysozyme was inactive, but a temperature-mediated release from the complexes was accompanied by its reactivation. Complexation also partially protected lysozyme from proteolytic degradation by proteinase K, which is useful for biotechnological applications. The obtained results are relevant for important medicinal tasks associated with drug delivery such as the delivery and controlled release of enzyme-based drugs

Thermocontrolled Reversible Enzyme Complexation-Inactivation-Protection by Poly(N-acryloyl glycinamide)

A prospective technology for reversible enzyme complexation accompanied with its inactivation and protection followed by reactivation after a fast thermocontrolled release has been demonstrated. A thermoresponsive polymer with upper critical solution temperature, poly(N-acryloyl glycinamide) (PNAGA), which is soluble in water at elevated temperatures but phase separates at low temperatures, has been shown to bind lysozyme, chosen as a model enzyme, at a low temperature (10 °C and lower) but not at room temperature (around 25 °C). The cooling of the mixture of PNAGA and lysozyme solutions from room temperature resulted in the capturing of the protein and the formation of stable complexes; heating it back up was accompanied by dissolving the complexes and the release of the bound lysozyme. Captured by the polymer, lysozyme was inactive, but a temperature-mediated release from the complexes was accompanied by its reactivation. Complexation also partially protected lysozyme from proteolytic degradation by proteinase K, which is useful for biotechnological applications. The obtained results are relevant for important medicinal tasks associated with drug delivery such as the delivery and controlled release of enzyme-based drugs

Krooninen väsymysoireyhtymä : Etiologia, diagnostiikka, hoito sekä kuntoutusinterventiot

Tämän kroonisen väsymysoireyhtymän (KVO) diagnostiikkaa, etiologiaa ja hoitokeinojen vaikuttavuutta koskevan selvityksen menetelminä ovat systemaattinen kirjallisuuskatsaus ja kysely. Aiheen laajuuden vuoksi liikkeelle lähdettiin julkaistuista systemaattisista kirjallisuuskatsauksista, ja näistä saatavaa tietoa täydennettiin uusilla alkuperäistutkimuksilla. Katsausten ja hoitotutkimusten laatu arvioitiin ja näytönaste arvioitiin lopputulosmuuttujittain. Suomen hoitokäytännöistä haettiin lisätietoa KVO-potilaille sekä heitä hoitaville lääkäreille suunnatulla kyselyllä. Työ on tehty elokuun 2015 ja marraskuun 2016 välisenä aikana. Kroonisen väsymysoireyhtymän riskitekijöitä ovat traumaattiset kokemukset, aiempi masennus, yliaktiivinen elämäntapa ja täydellisyyden tavoittelu mutta toisaalta myös passiivisuus tai liikunnan välttely. Immuunijärjestelmä, neuroendokriininen järjestelmä ja autonominen hermosto ovat osallisia oireyhtymän patofysiologiassa. Pitkäkestoisella stressillä näyttää olevan tärkeä välittävä rooli. Kroonisen väsymysoireyhtymän diagnostiikassa oleellista on muiden väsymystä aiheuttavien, mahdollisesti henkeä uhkaavien, sairauksien poissulku. Erotusdiagnostiikkaa tehdään myös muiden väsymyksenä ilmenevien oireyhtymien tunnistamiseksi. Taudinmääritykseen on käytettävissä useita erilaisia kansainvälisiä diagnostisia kriteeristöjä. Kansallisia hoitosuosituksia tarvittaisiin yhdenmukaistamaan KVO-potilaiden nykyisellään kirjavaa diagnostiikkaa ja hoitoa Suomessa. Porrastettu fyysinen harjoittelu ja kognitiivis-behavioraalinen terapia ovat pitkään olleet ainoita hoitoja, joiden vaikuttavuudesta on kohtalaista näyttöä. Käytössä on myös lääkkeitä ja terapioita, joita on tutkittu vain hyvin vähän tai ei ollenkaan. Rintatolimodi ja rituksimabi ovat laskimonsisäisesti annosteltavia lääkeaineita, joilla näyttö KVO-potilaiden fyysisen toimintakyvyn parantajina on heikko. Sama pätee muun muassa suun kautta annosteltuun hydrokortisoniin, yrttilääkkeisiin ja ravintolisiin.peerReviewedVertaisarvioit

Hardness of Covering Alignment : Phase Transition in Post-Sequence Genomics

Covering alignment problems arise from recent developments in genomics; so called pan-genome graphs are replacing reference genomes, and advances in haplotyping enable full content of diploid genomes to be used as basis of sequence analysis. In this paper, we show that the computational complexity will change for natural extensions of alignments to pan-genome representations and to diploid genomes. More broadly, our approach can also be seen as a minimal extension of sequence alignment to labelled directed acyclic graphs (labeled DAGs). Namely, we show that finding a covering alignment of two labeled DAGs is NP-hard even on binary alphabets. A covering alignment asks for two paths R-1 (red) and G(1) (green) in DAG D-1 and two paths R-2 (red) and G(2) (green) in DAG D-2 that cover the nodes of the graphs and maximize the sum of the global alignment scores: asosp(R-1), sp(R-2)) + asosp(G(1)), sp(G(2))), where sp(P) is the concatenation of labels on the path P. Pair-wise alignment of haplotype sequences forming a diploid chromosome can be converted to a two-path coverable labelled DAG, and then the covering alignment models the similarity of two diploids over arbitrary recombinations. We also give a reduction to the other direction, to show that such a recombination-oblivious diploid alignment is NP-hard on alphabets of size 3.Peer reviewe

Making Sense of Science, University, and Industry : Sensemaking Narratives of Finnish and Israeli Scientists

Academic entrepreneurship and the commercialization of science have transformed higher education in recent decades. Although there is ample research on the topic, less is known about how individual scientists experience and perceive the transformation. Drawing on a narratological approach to sensemaking, this study examines how entrepreneurial scientists in Finland and Israel make sense of and narrate the perceived changes in the interface between science, university, and industry. An analysis of 53 semi-structured interviews reveals three sensemaking narratives demonstrating how scientists’ interactions with the industry have engendered perceived shifts in ‘regimes of value’ in universities. These narratives focus on: (1) bi-directional learning between academy and industry; (2) the use of new valuation devices and practices; and (3) changing relationships between scientists and universities. Our findings advance research on academic entrepreneurship by highlighting the coexisting regimes of value and the consequences they have for science, value, and power.publishedVersionPeer reviewe