Small-scale Collembola community composition in a pine forest soil - Overdispersion in functional traits indicates the importance of species interactions

Soil communities are considered to be remarkably species-rich and to have many generalist species with seemingly similar niche requirements. The composition of soil fauna communities is often highly variable even at the plot scale, and both the environment and the spatial configuration of microhabitats are regarded as important forces shaping the structure of local communities. However, to what extent these forces are important in different ecosystems is not clear. We examined the relative roles of environmental (abiotic), vegetation (biotic) and spatial variables (using Moran's eigenvector maps, MEM) for the small-scale variation in springtail (Collembola) communities in a 100 m(2) area of the forest floor of a mature Scots pine forest in central Sweden, with small variation in important environmental variables.We found that most of the small-scale variation in community composition could be explained by spatial variables, either alone or jointly with the environmental variables. Spatial variability in community composition, in turn, could be related to shifts in functional traits of the component species. Within local communities (samples), species showed a higher diversity than expected by chance in almost all examined traits, indicating that differences in resource and micro-habitat utilisation enable Collembola species to coexist. Competition between species is therefore likely to be important for structuring Collembola communities at this spatial scale. The results indicate that the spatial scale of study and heterogeneity of environmental factors influence soil fauna community assembly processes through effects on the relative importance of environmental filtering compared to filtering by limiting similarity or competitive exclusion. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd

Ward managers view on the strategies for successful learning experiences for ELTDP nursing students in acute clinical practice setting in Finland

Ward managers play crucial roles in creating conducive learning environment for nursing students during their clinical practice. The purpose of our final project was to explore ward managers’ view of the strategies for successful learning experiences for ELTDP (English Language Taught Degree Programme) nursing students in acute clinical practice settings in Finland. The study question was: What are the strategies that will enhance ELTDP nursing students clinical practice experience in acute settings in Finland? To answer these questions, five ward managers were interviewed and the data was analyzed through content analysis. The findings were summarized into three themes:(i)language; (ii)cultural competence; (iii) cooperation between educational institutions and clinical placements. Both ELTDP students' and tutor nurses' language skills need improvement for students to achieve successful learning outcomes; cultural competence was not well-discussed and formal training on this topic was missing in the wards; Cooperation between educational institutions and clinical placement need to be intensified to achieve successful clinical practice experience.Osastonhoitajilla on keskeinen rooli sairaanhoitajaopiskelijoiden kliinisen harjoittelujakson opiskeluympäristön luomisessa. Opinnäytetyömme tarkoitus oli selvittää osastonhoitajien näkemyksiä strategioista, jotka johtaisivat onnistuneeseen opiskelukokemukseen englanninkielellä opiskeleville sairaanhoitajaopiskelijoille (ELTDP) heidän kliinisessä harjoittelussa akuuteilla klinikoilla. Tutkimuskysymys oli: Mitkä ovat ne strategiat, jotka edistävät ELTDP sairaanhoitajaopiskelijoiden kliinisen harjoittelun kokemuksia akuuteilla klinikoilla Suomessa? Tutkimusasetelma oli laadullinen. Aineisto kerättiin haastattelemalla viittä osastonhoitajaa; tulokset analysoitiin sisällön analyysillä. Tulokset ryhmiteltiin kolmeen teemaa: (i) kieli; (ii) kulttuurinen kompetenssi; (iii) koulun sekä harjoittelupaikan yhteistyö. ELTDP opiskelijoiden ja ohjaavien sairaanhoitajien kielitaito tulisi parantua sekä yhteistyötä koulun sekä klinikoiden välillä tulisi kehittää, jotta opiskelijat saavuttaisivat onnistuneita opiskelukokemuksia. Monikulttuurisuus ei ylipäänsä ole usein keskusteltu asia ja siihen liittyvä koulutus puuttuu osastoilta

Cryptic Contamination and Phylogenetic Nonsense

Ancient human DNA has been treated cautiously ever since the problems related to this type of material were exposed in the early 1990s, but as sequential genetic data from ancient specimens have been key components in several evolutionary and ecological studies, interest in ancient human DNA is on the increase again. It is especially tempting to approach archaeological and anthropological questions through this type of material, but DNA from ancient human tissue is notoriously complicated to work with due to the risk of contamination with modern human DNA. Various ways of authenticating results based on ancient human DNA have been developed to circumvent the problems. One commonly used method is to predict what the contamination is expected to look like and then test whether the ancient human DNA fulfils this prediction. If it does, the results are rejected as contamination, while if it does not, they are often considered authentic. We show here that human contamination in ancient material may well deviate from local allele frequencies or the distributions to be found among the laboratory workers and archaeologists. We conclude that it is not reliable to authenticate ancient human DNA solely by showing that it is different from what would be expected from people who have handled the material

Legal Fiction

While numerous ancient human DNA datasets from across Europe have been published till date, modern-day Poland in particular, remains uninvestigated. Besides application in the reconstruction of continent-wide human history, data from this region would also contribute towards our understanding of the history of the Slavs, whose origin is hypothesized to be in East or Central Europe. Here, we present the first population-scale ancient human DNA study from the region of modern-day Poland by establishing mitochondrial DNA profiles for 23 samples dated to 200 BC - 500 AD (Roman Iron Age) and for 20 samples dated to 1000-1400 AD (Medieval Age). Our results show that mitochondrial DNA sequences from both periods belong to haplogroups that are characteristic of contemporary West Eurasia. Haplotype sharing analysis indicates that majority of the ancient haplotypes are widespread in some modern Europeans, including Poles. Notably, the Roman Iron Age samples share more rare haplotypes with Central and Northeast Europeans, whereas the Medieval Age samples share more rare haplotypes with East-Central and South-East Europeans, primarily Slavic populations. Our data demonstrates genetic continuity of certain matrilineages (H5a1 and N1a1a2) in the area of present-day Poland from at least the Roman Iron Age until present. As such, the maternal gene pool of present-day Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, categorized as Western Slavs, is likely to have descended from inhabitants of East-Central Europe during the Roman Iron Age

Histological grade provides significant prognostic information in addition to breast cancer subtypes defined according to St Gallen 2013

Background: The St Gallen surrogate definition of the intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer consist of five subgroups based on estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2), and Ki-67. PgR and Ki-67 are used for discriminating between the ‘Luminal A-like’ and ‘Luminal B-like (HER2-negative)’ subtypes. Histological grade (G) has prognostic value in breast cancer; however, its relationship to the St Gallen subtypes is not clear. Based on a previous pilot study, we hypothesized that G could be a primary discriminator for ER-positive/HER2-negative breast cancers that were G1 or G3, whereas Ki-67 and PgR could provide additional prognostic information specifically for patients with G2 tumors. To test this hypothesis, a larger patient cohort was examined. Patients and methods: Six hundred seventy-one patients (≥35 years of age, pT1-2, pN0-1) with ER-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer and complete data for PgR, Ki-67, G, lymph node status, tumor size, age, and distant disease-free survival (DDFS; median follow-up 9.2 years) were included. Results: ‘Luminal A-like’ tumors were mostly G1 or G2 (90%) whereas ‘Luminal B-like’ tumors were mostly G2 or G3 (87%) and corresponded with good and poor DDFS, respectively. In ‘Luminal B-like’ tumors that were G1 (n = 23), no metastasis occurred, whereas 14 of 40 ‘Luminal A-like’ tumors that were G3 metastasized. In the G2 subgroup, low PgR and high Ki-67 were associated with an increased risk of distant metastases, hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.8 (0.95–3.4) and 1.5 (0.80–2.8), respectively. Conclusions: Patients with ER-positive/HER2-negative/G1 breast cancer have a good prognosis, similar to that of ‘Luminal A-like’, while those with ER-positive/HER2-negative/G3 breast cancer have a worse prognosis, similar to that of ‘Luminal B-like’, when assessed independently of PgR and Ki-67. Therapy decisions based on Ki-67 and PgR might thus be restricted to the subgroup G2

Vitamin D, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and airway hyperresponsiveness in infants with recurrent respiratory symptoms

Background: Vitamin D insufficiency might be associated with biased T-cell responses resulting in inflammatory conditions such as atopy and asthma. Little is known about the role of vitamin D in low-grade systemic inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in young children. Objective: To evaluate whether vitamin D insufficiency and increased serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) are linked to AHR in symptomatic infants. Methods: Seventy-nine infants with recurrent or persistent lower respiratory tract symptoms underwent comprehensive lung function testing and a bronchial methacholine challenge test. In addition, skin prick tests were performed and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (S-25-OHD), hs-CRP, total immunoglobulin E, and blood eosinophil levels were determined. Results: S-25-OHD was lowest in infants with blood eosinophilia and AHR (n = 10) compared with those with eosinophilia only (n = 6) or AHR only (n = 50) or those with neither (n = 13; P = .035). Moreover, vitamin D insufficiency (S-25-OHD <50 nmol/L) was most common in infants with blood eosinophilia and AHR (P = .041). Serum hs-CRP was lower in infants with recurrent physician-diagnosed wheezing (P = .048) and in those with blood eosinophilia (P = .015) than in infants without these characteristics and was not associated with S-25-OHD or AHR. S-25-OHD levels were significantly lower (median 54 nmol/L) during the autumn-winter season than in the spring-summer season (median 63 nmol/L; P = .026). Conclusion: Vitamin D insufficiency could underlie eosinophilia and AHR in infants with troublesome lung symptoms, whereas hs-CRPemediated low-grade systemic inflammation is rare in early childhood wheezing. (C) 2017 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Expiratory variability index is associated with asthma risk, wheeze and lung function in infants with recurrent respiratory symptoms

Non peer reviewe

Iloa vanhemmuuteen : vanhemmuutta tukeva teematapahtuma

Kehittämistyömme tarkoituksena oli suunnitella ja toteuttaa lapsiperheille suunnattu, vanhemmuutta vahvistava teematapahtuma kolmessa Helsinkiläisessä neuvolassa. Tavoitteena oli tuottaa kuusi neuvolaympäristöön soveltuvaa tieto- ja toimintapakettia sekä niihin liittyvä materiaali sekä järjestää vanhemmille iloinen, ideoita antava ja voimauttava hetki arjen keskelle ja arkea tukemaan. Pyrimme tuottamaan sisällöllisesti innostavan ja voimauttavan kokonaisuuden, joka olisi vanhempia osallistava. Kokeilimme teematapahtumaa terveyden edistämisen työmenetelmänä vastaamaan neuvolatyön haasteisiin vanhemmuuden tukemisen alueella. Lähtökohtana tälle kehittämistyölle oli sekä käytännön neuvolatyöstä että tutkimuksista esiin noussut tarve tukea perheitä entistä enemmän vanhemmuuteen, kasvatustyöhön, voimavaroihin ja arjessa selviytymiseen liittyen. Kehittämistyömme tuotoksena oli kolme vanhemmuutta vahvistavaa teematapahtumaa sekä tapahtuman toteutukseen tarvittava materiaali. Teematapahtumat koostuivat seuraavista osa-alueista: Vauvan kehollisuus- vauvahieronta ja vauvatus, Liikkeelle vauvan kanssa, Vauvavuoden kulku, Kontakti lapseen - sadutus ja lapsihieronta, Mitä tehdä lapsen kanssa kotona ja kodin ulkopuolella sekä Tahtoikäisen kanssa selviytyminen. Teematapahtuman nimeksi muotoutui Iloa vanhemmuteen. Iloa vanhemmuuteen -tapahtumissa oli yhteensä 78 osallistujaa ja palaute oli positiivista. Osallistujat olivat pääosin vauvojen ja varhaisleikki-ikäisten lasten äitejä, mutta paikalla oli myös joitakin isiä ja terveysaseman henkilökuntaa. Osallistujat kiersivät, keskustelivat ja keräsivät tietoa tarjolla olleista aiheista. Terveydenhoitajaopiskelijoiden ja osallistujien välinen keskustelu oli rakentavaa ja tietoa välittävää, vaikkakin keskustelu jäi enimmäkseen pinnalliseksi, mahdollisesti tapahtuman messumaisen luonteen vuoksi. Tällaisen projektiluonteisen kehittämistyön tekeminen oli mielenkiintoinen, kehittävä ja opettava kokemus. Tapahtuman toteuttaminen kolmessa eri toimipisteessä mahdollisti kolmen varsin erilaisen kokemuksen saannin. Jatkoa ajatelleen olisi tärkeää löytää motivoituneet yhteistyöneuvolat sekä sopiva paikka tapahtuman järjestämiselle, jotta se tavoittaisi mahdollisimman suuren osan kohderyhmästään eli neuvolan asiakkaista.The purpose of this final project was to plan and organise an event that was directed at families with children under school age and conducted in three maternity and child health centres in Helsinki. The aim of this project was to produce informative material that can be used when holding similar events in the future, and to arrange an event with a focus on strengthening parenthood and parental resources. Our aim was also to get into interaction with the maternity and child health centres and their customers. The starting point for this project was that both practice and research show that parents of today need even more support than before regarding parenthood, parenting, parental resources, and everyday life with small children. As an output, we organized three events with a turnout of seventy-eight parents most of which were mothers of small babies. The material consisted of topics concerning parenthood and parenting. The parents gathered up information by talking with the students and by collecting the provided material. Organizing an event such as this one was an interesting and informative experience. Because the event was organized three times in three different locations we were left with three diverse learning experiences that can be of use for future reference. When planning an event similar to this one attention should be paid to finding motivated maternity and child health centres for partners in co-operation and a more suitable location for the event to reach as many parents as possible

Skewed distribution of proinflammatory CD4+CD28null T cells in rheumatoid arthritis

Expanded populations of CD4+ T cells lacking the co-stimulatory molecule CD28 (CD4+CD28null T cells) have been reported in several inflammatory disorders. In rheumatoid arthritis, increased frequencies of CD4+CD28null T cells in peripheral blood have previously been associated with extra-articular manifestations and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection, but their presence in and contribution to joint manifestations is not clear. In the present article we investigated the distribution of CD4+CD28null T cells in the synovial membrane, synovial fluid and peripheral blood of RA patients, and analysed the association with erosive disease and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies. CD4+CD28null T cells were infrequent in the synovial membrane and synovial fluid, despite significant frequencies in the circulation. Strikingly, the dominant TCR-Vβ subsets of CD4+CD28null T cells in peripheral blood were often absent in synovial fluid. CD4+CD28null T cells in blood and synovial fluid showed specificity for HCMV antigens, and their presence was clearly associated with HCMV seropositivity but not with anti-citrullinated protein antibodies in the serum or synovial fluid, nor with erosive disease. Together these data imply a primary role for CD4+CD28null T cells in manifestations elsewhere than in the joints of patients with HCMV-seropositive rheumatoid arthritis