Promiscuous specialists : Host specificity patterns among generalist louse flies

Ectoparasites such as louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) have tendency for host specialization, which is driven by adaptation to host biology as well as competition avoidance between parasites of the same host. However, some louse fly species, especially in genera attacking birds, show wide range of suitable hosts. In the presented study, we have surveyed the current status of bird specific louse flies in Finland to provide comprehensive host association data to analyse the ecological requirements of the generalist species. A thorough sampling of 9342 birds, representing 134 species, recovered 576 specimens of louse flies, belonging to six species: Crataerina hirundinis, C. pallida, Ornithomya avicularia, O. chloropus, O. fringillina and Ornithophila metallica. Despite some overlapping hosts, the three Ornithomya species showed a notable pattern in their host preference, which was influenced not only by the host size but also by the habitat and host breeding strategy. We also provide DNA barcodes for ten Finnish species of Hippoboscidae, which can be used as a resource for species identification as well as metabarcoding studies in the future.Peer reviewe

Passive exposure to speech sounds induces long-term memory representations in the auditory cortex of adult rats

Experience-induced changes in the functioning of the auditory cortex are prominent in early life, especially during a critical period. Although auditory perceptual learning takes place automatically during this critical period, it is thought to require active training in later life. Previous studies demonstrated rapid changes in single-cell responses of anesthetized adult animals while exposed to sounds presented in a statistical learning paradigm. However, whether passive exposure to sounds can form long-term memory representations remains to be demonstrated. To investigate this issue, we first exposed adult rats to human speech sounds for 3 consecutive days, 12 h/d. Two groups of rats exposed to either spectrotemporal or tonal changes in speech sounds served as controls for each other. Then, electrophysiological brain responses from the auditory cortex were recorded to the same stimuli. In both the exposure and test phase statistical learning paradigm, was applied. The exposure effect was found for the spectrotemporal sounds, but not for the tonal sounds. Only the animals exposed to spectrotemporal sounds differentiated subtle changes in these stimuli as indexed by the mismatch negativity response. The results point to the occurrence of long-term memory traces for the speech sounds due to passive exposure in adult animals.Peer reviewe

Synthesis, Stability and Relaxivity of TEEPO-Met : An Organic Radical as a Potential Tumour Targeting Contrast Agent for Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Cancer is a widespread and life-threatening disease and its early-stage diagnosis is vital. One of the most effective, non-invasive tools in medical diagnostics is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with the aid of contrast agents. Contrast agents that are currently in clinical use contain metals, causing some restrictions in their use. Also, these contrast agents are mainly non-specific without any tissue targeting capabilities. Subsequently, the interest has notably increased in the research of organic, metal-free contrast agents. This study presents a new, stable organic radical, TEEPO-Met, where a radical moiety 2,2,6,6-tetraethylpiperidinoxide (TEEPO) is attached to an amino acid, methionine (Met), as a potentially tumour-targeting moiety. We describe the synthesis, stability assessment with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and relaxation enhancement abilities by an in vitro nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and phantom MRI studies of TEEPO-Met. The new compound proved to be stable notably longer than the average imaging time in conditions mimicking a biological matrix. Also, it significantly reduced the relaxation times of water, making it a promising candidate as a novel tumour targeting contrast agent for MRI.Peer reviewe

Molecular epidemiology of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales in Finland, 2012-2018

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) pose an increasing threat to patient safety and healthcare systems globally. We present molecular epidemiology of CPE in Finland during 2012-2018 with detailed characteristics of CPE strains causing clusters during the same time period. All Finnish clinical microbiology laboratories send Enterobacterales isolates with reduced susceptibility to carbapenems or isolates producing carbapenemase to the reference laboratory for further characterization by whole genome sequencing (WGS). In total, 231 CPE strains from 202 patients were identified during 2012-2018. Of the strains, 59% were found by screening and 32% from clinical specimens, the latter were most commonly urine. Travel and/or hospitalization history abroad was reported for 108/171 strains (63%). The most common species were Klebsiella pneumoniae (45%), Escherichia coli (40%), and Citrobacter freundii (6%), and the most common carbapenemase genes bla(NDM-like) (35%), bla(OXA-48-like) (33%), and bla(KPC-like) (31%). During 2012-2018, the annual number of CPE strains increased from 9 to 70 and different sequence types from 7 to 33, and bla(OXA-48-like) genes became the most prevalent. Of the clusters, 3/8 were linked to traveling or hospitalization abroad and 5/8 were caused by K. pneumoniae clone clonal complex 258. Most of the clusters were caused by K. pneumoniae producing KPC. High variety among different sequence types indicates that majority of CPE cases detected in Finland are likely imported from foreign countries. Nearly one-third of the cases are not found by screening suggesting that there is hidden transmission occurring in the healthcare settings.Peer reviewe

Measuring psychosocial stress with heart rate variability-based methods in different health and age groups

Objective. Autonomic nervous system function and thereby bodily stress and recovery reactions may be assessed by wearable devices measuring heart rate (HR) and its variability (HRV). So far, the validity of HRV-based stress assessments has been mainly studied in healthy populations. In this study, we determined how psychosocial stress affects physiological and psychological stress responses in both young (18-30 years) and middle-aged (45-64 years) healthy individuals as well as in patients with arterial hypertension and/or either prior evidence of prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. We also studied how an HRV-based stress index (Relax-Stress Intensity, RSI) relates to perceived stress (PS) and cortisol (CRT) responses during psychosocial stress. Approach. A total of 197 participants were divided into three groups: (1) healthy young (HY, N = 63), (2) healthy middle-aged (HM, N = 61) and (3) patients with cardiometabolic risk factors (Pts, N = 73, 32-65 years). The participants underwent a group version of Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-G). HR, HRV (quantified as root mean square of successive differences of R-R intervals, RMSSD), RSI, PS, and salivary CRT were measured regularly during TSST-G and a subsequent recovery period. Main results. All groups showed significant stress reactions during TSST-G as indicated by significant responses of HR, RMSSD, RSI, PS, and salivary CRT. Between-group differences were also observed in all measures. Correlation and regression analyses implied RSI being the strongest predictor of CRT response, while HR was more closely associated with PS. Significance. The HRV-based stress index mirrors responses of CRT, which is an independent marker for physiological stress, around TSST-G. Thus, the HRV-based stress index may be used to quantify physiological responses to psychosocial stress across various health and age groups.Peer reviewe

Neural generators of the frequency-following response elicited to stimuli of low and high frequency: a magnetoencephalographic (MEG) study

The frequency-following response (FFR) to periodic complex sounds has gained recent interest in auditory cognitive neuroscience as it captures with great fidelity the tracking accuracy of the periodic sound features in the ascending auditory system. Seminal studies suggested the FFR as a correlate of subcortical sound encoding, yet recent studies aiming to locate its sources challenged this assumption, demonstrating that FFR receives some contribution from the auditory cortex. Based on frequency-specific phase-locking capabilities along the auditory hierarchy, we hypothesized that FFRs to higher frequencies would receive less cortical contribution than those to lower frequencies, hence supporting a major subcortical involvement for these high frequency sounds. Here, we used a magnetoencephalographic (MEG) approach to trace the neural sources of the FFR elicited in healthy adults (N = 19) to low (89 Hz) and high (333 Hz) frequency sounds. FFRs elicited to the high and low frequency sounds were clearly observable on MEG and comparable to those obtained in simultaneous electroencephalographic recordings. Distributed source modeling analyses revealed midbrain, thalamic, and cortical contributions to FFR, arranged in frequency-specific configurations. Our results showed that the main contribution to the highfrequency sound FFR originated in the inferior colliculus and the medial geniculate body of the thalamus, with no significant cortical contribution. In contrast, the low-frequency sound FFR had a major contribution located in the auditory cortices, and also received contributions originating in the midbrain and thalamic structures. These findings support the multiple generator hypothesis of the FFR and are relevant for our understanding of the neural encoding of sounds along the auditory hierarchy, suggesting a hierarchical organization of periodicity encoding

Wireless in-situ sensor network for agriculture and water monitoring on a river basin scale in Southern Finland: evaluation from a data user's perspective

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Neuropsychological intervention of dyslexia has a positive effect on aspects of psychological well-being in young adults - a randomized controlled study

Effectiveness of individual- and group-based neuropsychological intervention on aspects of psychological well-being of dyslexic adults was evaluated. Dyslexic young adults (n = 120) were randomly assigned into individual intervention, group intervention or wait-list control group. Both interventions focussed on cognitive strategy learning, supporting self-esteem, and using psychoeducation. In group format peer support was also utilized. Cognitive and behavioural strategies, mood states, quality of life and self-esteem were assessed via self-report questionnaires at baseline, after the intervention/wait-list control time at 5 months and 10 months. Results indicated that the neuropsychological interventions had a positive effect on self-evaluated cognitive and behavioural strategies, especially in increasing success expectations and to a lesser degree in diminishing task-avoidance and in group intervention in diminishing social pessimism. The interventions also improved cognition-related quality of life and, to a lesser degree, self-esteem. These results indicate that structured neuropsychological interventions can positively affect self-evaluated psychological well-being, especially on cognitive and behavioural strategies. Considering the secondary consequences of dyslexia, support among young adults is often needed beyond the cognitive and reading-based challenges dyslexia poses.Peer reviewe

Azulene-based compounds for targeting orexin receptors

A library of 70 000 synthetically accessible azulene-based compounds was virtually screened at the OX2 receptor. Based on the results, a series of azulene derivatives was synthesized and the binding to and activation of both orexin receptor subtypes were assessed. Two most promising binders were determined to have inhibition constants in the 3-9 mu M range and two other compounds showed weak OX2 receptor agonism. Furthermore, three compounds exhibited a concentration-dependent potentiation of the response to orexin-A at the OX1 but not the OX2 receptors. Altogether this data opens new approaches for further development of antagonists, agonists, and potentiators of orexin response based on the azulene scaffold. (C) 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Multimedia delivery in the future internet

The term “Networked Media” implies that all kinds of media including text, image, 3D graphics, audio and video are produced, distributed, shared, managed and consumed on-line through various networks, like the Internet, Fiber, WiFi, WiMAX, GPRS, 3G and so on, in a convergent manner [1]. This white paper is the contribution of the Media Delivery Platform (MDP) cluster and aims to cover the Networked challenges of the Networked Media in the transition to the Future of the Internet. Internet has evolved and changed the way we work and live. End users of the Internet have been confronted with a bewildering range of media, services and applications and of technological innovations concerning media formats, wireless networks, terminal types and capabilities. And there is little evidence that the pace of this innovation is slowing. Today, over one billion of users access the Internet on regular basis, more than 100 million users have downloaded at least one (multi)media file and over 47 millions of them do so regularly, searching in more than 160 Exabytes1 of content. In the near future these numbers are expected to exponentially rise. It is expected that the Internet content will be increased by at least a factor of 6, rising to more than 990 Exabytes before 2012, fuelled mainly by the users themselves. Moreover, it is envisaged that in a near- to mid-term future, the Internet will provide the means to share and distribute (new) multimedia content and services with superior quality and striking flexibility, in a trusted and personalized way, improving citizens’ quality of life, working conditions, edutainment and safety. In this evolving environment, new transport protocols, new multimedia encoding schemes, cross-layer inthe network adaptation, machine-to-machine communication (including RFIDs), rich 3D content as well as community networks and the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) overlays are expected to generate new models of interaction and cooperation, and be able to support enhanced perceived quality-of-experience (PQoE) and innovative applications “on the move”, like virtual collaboration environments, personalised services/ media, virtual sport groups, on-line gaming, edutainment. In this context, the interaction with content combined with interactive/multimedia search capabilities across distributed repositories, opportunistic P2P networks and the dynamic adaptation to the characteristics of diverse mobile terminals are expected to contribute towards such a vision. Based on work that has taken place in a number of EC co-funded projects, in Framework Program 6 (FP6) and Framework Program 7 (FP7), a group of experts and technology visionaries have voluntarily contributed in this white paper aiming to describe the status, the state-of-the art, the challenges and the way ahead in the area of Content Aware media delivery platforms