Digitaalinen vaaliteltta : Twitter politiikan areenana eduskuntavaaleissa 2015

Peer reviewe

Changes in the serum metabolite profile correlate with decreased brain gray matter volume in moderate-to-heavy drinking young adults

Our aim was to analyze metabolite profile changes in serum associated with moderate-to-heavy consumption of alcohol in young adults and to evaluate whether these changes are connected to reduced brain gray matter volumes. These study population consisted of young adults with a 10-year history of moderate-to-heavy alcohol consumption (n = 35) and light-drinking controls (n = 27). We used the targeted liquid chromatography mass spectrometry method to measure concentrations of metabolites in serum, and 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging to assess brain gray matter volumes. Alterations in amino acid and energy metabolism were observed in the moderate-to-heavy drinking young adults when compared to the controls. After correction for multiple testing, the group of moderate-to-heavy drinking young adults had increased serum concentrations of 1-methylhistamine (p = 0.001, d = 0.82) when compared to the controls. Furthermore, concentrations of 1-methylhistamine (r = 0.48, p = 0.004) and creatine (r = 0.52, p = 0.001) were negatively correlated with the brain gray matter volumes in the females. Overall, our results show association between moderate-to-heavy use of alcohol and altered metabolite profile in young adults as well as suggesting that some of these changes could be associated with the reduced brain gray matter volume. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG Intake Modifies Preschool Children's Intestinal Microbiota, Alleviates Penicillin-Associated Changes, and Reduces Antibiotic Use

Antibiotic use is considered among the most severe causes of disturbance to children's developing intestinal microbiota, and frequently causes adverse gastrointestinal effects ranging from mild and transient diarrhoea to life-threatening infections. Probiotics are commonly advocated to help in preventing antibiotic-associated gastrointestinal symptoms. However, it is currently unknown whether probiotics alleviate the antibiotic-associated changes in children's microbiota. Furthermore, it is not known how long-term probiotic consumption influences the developing microbiota of children. We analysed the influence of long-term Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG intake on preschool children's antibiotic use, and antibiotic-associated gastrointestinal complaints in a double blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial with 231 children aged 2-7. In addition, we analysed the effect of L. rhanmosus GG on the intestinal microbiota in a subset of 88 children. The results show that long-term L. rhamnosus GG supplementation has an influence on the composition of the intestinal microbiota in children, causing an increase in the abundance of Prevotella, Lactococcus, and Ruminococcus, and a decrease in Escherichia. The treatment appeared to prevent some of the changes in the microbiota associated with penicillin use, but not those associated with macrolide use. The treatment, however, did reduce the frequency of gastrointestinal complaints after a macrolide course. Finally, the treatment appeared to prevent certain bacterial infections for up to 3 years after the trial, as indicated by reduced antibiotic use.Peer reviewe

Three key messages concerning the proposal for EU Soil Monitoring Law

Soil health is a prerequisite to food and water security, wood and fiber production, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and biodiversity. Thus, the sustainable use of soils is crucial for the maintenance of human wellbeing. The recently published proposal for EU Soil Monitoring Law supports the sustainable use of soils and facilitates effective measures to secure soil functions and ecosystem services. Still, there is a lot to do to combat the vicious cycle between deforestation, land degradation, biodiversity loss, decreased productivity, and climate change. Besides effective monitoring and relevant soil descriptors for soil health, new thinking and policy measures to support sustainable use of soils are needed

Intestinal microbiome is related to lifetime antibiotic use in Finnish pre-school children

Early-life antibiotic use is associated with increased risk for metabolic and immunological diseases, and mouse studies indicate a causal role of the disrupted microbiome. However, little is known about the impacts of antibiotics on the developing microbiome of children. Here we use phylogenetics, metagenomics and individual antibiotic purchase records to show that macrolide use in 2-7 year-old Finnish children (N = 142; sampled at two time points) is associated with a long-lasting shift in microbiota composition and metabolism. The shift includes depletion of Actinobacteria, increase in Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria, decrease in bile-salt hydrolase and increase in macrolide resistance. Furthermore, macrolide use in early life is associated with increased risk of asthma and predisposes to antibiotic-associated weight gain. Overweight and asthmatic children have distinct microbiota compositions. Penicillins leave a weaker mark on the microbiota than macrolides. Our results support the idea that, without compromising clinical practice, the impact on the intestinal microbiota should be considered when prescribing antibiotics.Peer reviewe

Molecular taxonomic analysis of the plant associations of adult pollen beetles (Nitidulidae: Meligethinae), and the population structure of Brassicogethes aeneus

Pollen beetles (Nitidulidae: Meligethinae) are among the most abundant flower-visiting insects in Europe. While some species damage millions of hectares of crops annually, the biology of many species is little known. We assessed the utility of a 797 base pair fragment of the cytochrome oxidase 1 gene to resolve molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) in 750 adult pollen beetles sampled from flowers of 63 plant species sampled across the UK and continental Europe. We used the same locus to analyse region-scale patterns in population structure and demography in an economically important pest, Brassicogethes aeneus. We identified 44 Meligethinae at ∼2% divergence, 35 of which contained published sequences. A few specimens could not be identified because the MOTUs containing them included published sequences for multiple Linnaean species, suggesting either retention of ancestral haplotype polymorphism or identification errors in published sequences. Over 90% of UK specimens were identifiable as B. aeneus. Plant associations of adult B. aeneus were found to be far wider taxonomically than for their larvae. UK B. aeneus populations showed contrasting affiliations between the north (most similar to Scandinavia and the Baltic) and south (most similar to western continental Europe), with strong signatures of population growth in the south

Askeleita kohti ilmastoviisaampia turvepeltojen viljelykäytäntöjä : Orgaanisten maiden ilmastopäästöjen hillintä nautakarjatiloilla (OMAIHKA) -hankkeen loppuraportti (2. painos)

Eloperäisiä eli orgaanisia maita on Suomen viljelyalasta noin 10 %. Niiden osuus maatalouden kasvihuonekaasupäästöistä on 50–60 %, kun huomioidaan viljeltyjen orgaanisten maiden päästöt sekä maatalous- että maankäyttösektoreilla. Tietoa viljelyteknisistä keinoista alkutuotannon päästöjen hillitsemiseksi orgaanisilta mailta on vähän. Suomen ilmastopolitiikka, EU:n maataloustukipolitiikka sekä Suomen alkutuotannon kilpailukyvyn säilyttäminen kaipaavat lisätietoa kestävän ruoantuotannon kehittämiseksi ja maatalouden ympäristövaikutusten tarkentamiseksi. Yli puolet (60 %) Suomen maataloustuotannon arvosta tulee maidon ja naudanlihan tuotannosta, joten nautasektorin kilpailukyvyn säilyttäminen ja parantaminen sekä negatiivisten ympäristövaikutusten minimointi ovat alalle tärkeitä tavoitteita. Orgaanisten maiden ilmastopäästöjen hillintä nautakarjatiloilla (OMAIHKA) -hankkeen keskeisimmät tavoitteet olivat 1) kehittää ja jalkauttaa viljelyteknisiä ratkaisuja orgaanisten peltomaiden päästöjen hillitsemiseksi ja vähentämiseksi nautakarjatiloilla, 2) kehittää päästölaskentaa 3) tuottaa taustatietoa ja kehittää ratkaisuja käytännön toimien avulla Suomen kansalliseen ilmastopolitiikkaan ja 4) luoda LCA-mallinnuksesta luotettavampi laskentatyökalu tuomalla pellon hiilitase osaksi laskentamenetelmää. Näitä tavoitteita lähdettiin toteuttamaan neljän työpaketin avulla. Hankkeessa tarkasteltiin eri maaperätietokantojen käytettävyyttä turvemaiden tunnistamiseksi. Hankkeessa todennettiin nurmikierrossa olevien turvemaiden kasvihuonekaasupäästöjä ja testattiin eri viljelykiertojen vaikutusta viljeltyjen turvemaiden nurmikierron päästöihin. Lisäksi hankkeessa kokeiltiin kartografisia ja maankäytön päästöihin liittyviä laskentamenetelmiä tilatasolla päästövähennystoimenpiteiden kohdentamiseksi. Mittauksista saatavilla tuloksilla pyrittiin tarkentamaan turvemaiden päästöjä elinkaarilaskennassa. Hankkeen tulokset osoittavat, että kokonaisten pitkäkestoisten nurmikiertojen päästöistä tiedetään vielä varsin vähän. Erityisesti tietoa tarvitaan kokonaisten nurmikiertojen eri vaiheista aina nurmen perustamisesta seuraavaan uusintaan saakka. Kahden vuoden tutkimusten perusteella oli lopulta mahdotonta sanoa, voisiko viljelyteknisin keinoin saavuttaa päästövähennyksiä turvemailla tai parantaa niiden perusteella maidon ja lihan elinkaarimallia. Saadut tulokset tukivat nykyisten päästökerrointen käyttöä turvemaiden dityppioksidi- ja metaanipäästöjen osalta. Hankkeessa saatujen rohkaisevien kokemusten perusteella aktiiviviljelijöitä tulisi nykyistä enemmän osallistaa käytännön viljelykokemusten jakamiseen tiedeyhteisössä. Tarvetta olisi esimerkiksi turvepeltojen viljelykokemusten ja tutkimustiedon vuoropuhelulle

Intestinal Microbiota in Healthy Adults: Temporal Analysis Reveals Individual and Common Core and Relation to Intestinal Symptoms

Peer reviewe

Associations between the human intestinal microbiota, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and serum lipids indicated by integrated analysis of high-throughput profiling data

Peer reviewe

Delineation of Culicoides species by morphology and barcode exemplified by three new species of the subgenus Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from Scandinavia

BACKGROUND: Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) cause biting nuisance to livestock and humans and are vectors of a range of pathogens of medical and veterinary importance. Despite their economic significance, the delineation and identification of species where only morphology is considered, as well as the evolutionary relationships between species within this genus remains problematic. In recent years molecular barcoding has assisted substantially in the identification of biting midges in the multiple entomological survey projects which were initiated in many European countries following the bluetongue outbreak in 2006–2009. These studies revealed potentially new species and “species-complexes” with large genetic and morphological variability. Here we use molecular barcoding, together with morphological analysis, to study subgenus Culicoides Latreille from Scandinavia with focus on three potentially new species. METHODS: Biting midges were collected at various sites in Denmark and Sweden. Culicoides specimens were described by variation of a fragment of their cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene sequence and wing, palp and antennal characters. RESULTS: It is shown that three new species initially separated by DNA barcoding with mitochondrial COI can be distinguished by morphological characters. In this context a key to Scandinavian subgenus Culicoides using wing and maxillary palp characters is presented. The key is including the three new species Culicoides boyi, Culicoides selandicus and Culicoides kalix. CONCLUSION: Three new species of Culicoides biting midges were identified and could be identified by both molecular and morphological differences. Evaluation of differences between and within taxa of biting midges using COI barcode yielded a rough estimate of species delineation; interspecies differences across Culicoides subgenera approaches 20%, whereas intraspecies differences are below 4% and in most cases below 1%. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-015-0750-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users