Laboratory animal science and promotion of research for development

No abstract availabl

Pale Europeans and Dark Africans share sun and common health problems:constancy in regional health differences and sunshine

Regional risk of cardiovascular mortality has only recently been added to the group of major risk factors, but its effective sub-factors are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to assess the CHD mortality in Finland and other Europe, its stability and association with capability in vitamin D synthesis. In a worldwide assay several causes besides geographical and climatological factors restrict vitamin D synthesis in skin and several factors affect the activation as also the inactivation of vitamin D. Sunshine anyhow is the constant source of vitamin D, while dietary habits have changed. Effects of vitamin D could be based on mineral, anti-inflammatory and structural factors. Different availability of sunshine has thus associated with the constancy in proportional difference in CHD mortality in Finland as an example country.Conclusion: Sunshine is associated with lower CHD mortality in Europe. Other additive mechanisms are suggested.Keywords: CHD mortality, regional risk, sunshine, inflammation, silico

Towards Individualized Physiology Lecturing in Africa

Physiology lecturers meet students with variable knowledge. The teachers follow their own habituation and experience to fulfill accepted teaching program goals. Internet allows free of charge survey tools for a formative assessment. With hand-held response devices (clickers) it is possible to start every lecture with sets of multiple choice questions to allow an orientation to students’ cognitive skills before a lecture entity. The responses can be collected with handheld clickers or smart phones in a flexible and fast way using instant and complex calculations which enable even in depth analysis to tailor the lecture for that specific student group. A continuous feedback data collection and analysis including monitoring of learned issues through different courses enables quality assessment of teaching and learning processes. Our Department of Physiology began the development of Interactive Presenter TM software to provide a text format and validated test question bank for all teachers and to allow building of level thresholds in physiology teaching in 1995. The idea was also to provide a library of physiology slides, animations, diagrams and problem illustrations and real life case films in digital form. Digital storage brings them easily available and modifiable to all teachers with the software that works as integration platform for all digital material and feedback data. Open import from validated text format question series and seamless use of any computer program or internet source simultaneously broadens flexibility. An open connection to all free of charge internet sources was also integrated. In student groups there are usually participants who have experience due their former studies and work service to suggest problem cases. Thus a dialog with a large group using ad hoc posed questions serves to discuss opinions and prelearned beliefs, understanding and interpretations. If the digital technology is used as an aid and not as a replacement, new forms of modern constructive lecturing are made possible. Several experiments on new ways to have lecture sessions confirm the positive impact on learning and enhanced participation of the students in the university lecturing of the 21st century. The case banks can naturally be collected and shared in digital format. Using technology in a right way to enable student understanding serves the needs of participating students like the university needs in monitoring and guidance of achieved cognitive levels.Keywords: evaluation of teaching and learning, multiple choice questions, online answering, teacher and student feedback, automatic statistics calculatio

Mg/Ca ratio in fertilization and agricultural soils, Mg percent of liming agents and human mortality in Finland during 1961-90

Background: Mg is a cofactor in more than 300 enzymatic reactions and its deficiency has been reported to be associated with cardiovascular diseases. Human Mg balance depends on food composition, food processing and Mg variation in foodstuffs, which can be roughly prognostigated by Mg proportion in fertilization and soil. Strong increase of NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) in mineral fertilization (fm) included relative delay in Mg supplementation and dilution in plant available silicon (Si) via recycled nutrients (rcl). (Silicon is not included in essential fertilizers in Finland.) Methods: We have assessed old data on Ca and Mg in agricultural soils and approximate data on fm, rcl, as well as Mg % of liming agents (Mg-%.lim) and total (TOT), CHD and non-CHD (nCHD) death-rates of humans by R squares and graphics, in order to clarify their associations and possible causality. Results: Mg/Ca ratio in total fertilization (ft =fm + rcl) was decreasing in 1951-64 and after that mainly increasing. Soil (Mg/Ca) in 1961- 2000 responded on (Mg/Ca).ft with delay of ca 5 years. During 1961-90 (Mg/Ca).fm "explained" CHD by 74-89 %, non-CHD by 87 - 96 % and TOT by 90 - 94 %. (Mg/Ca) fertilization ratios "explained" better female than male CHD, but TOT and non-CHD more similarly. Soil (Mg/Ca) "explained" male CHD by 94 %, but all other death-rates weaker than (Mg/Ca).fm. Different smoking habits could explain this sex difference. All given associations were highly significant (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Mg/Ca changes in fertilization preceded respective changes in soil Ca by five years. They explained in general better than the soil value changes in death-rates, except M.CHD with obvious “tobacco delay”. Effects of silicon and its association with rcl/ft ratio are discussed

Cardiovascular Responses to Electromagnetic Radiation

Electromagnetic signaling has recently greatly increased due to mobile telephony and computers some of which radiate much and have wide spectra. The radiations are also reflected and thus form standing waves with incoming ones. In cities both the direct and reflected radiations form complex networks of waves. People may get symptoms, if they are highly exposed. Radiations and standing waves can be best studied outside cities where there is much less man made electromagnetic activity. Also Faraday cages permit cleaning of the extra radiation. We have used both these methods and shown that people sense those maxima and minima. Their hands move involuntarily when they cross these. People can also become sensitive to irradiation, and their finger temperatures cool down when blood flow lessens when having mobile phones in their hands and when typing laptop computers, if these cause high radiation. They also may get hand pain and become clumsy. If a person has a pacemaker and the heart rate remains constant, the mobile phone opening and closing can be reflected in the measured blood pressure. If highly radiation sensitive people stop using mobile phone, their symptoms can lessen as seen in the control of circulation. In valleys of hilly rocky countryside the radiation level is low and sensitized humans get less problems. Unnecessary exposure to mobile telephony is recommended.Keywords: Mobile phones, FM radio, heart rate, blood pressure, head ache, fatigu

Exercise training with dietary counselling increases mitochondrial chaperone expression in middle-aged subjects with impaired glucose tolerance

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Insulin resistance and diabetes are associated with increased oxidative stress and impairment of cellular defence systems. Our purpose was to investigate the interaction between glucose metabolism, antioxidative capacity and heat shock protein (HSP) defence in different skeletal muscle phenotypes among middle-aged obese subjects during a long-term exercise and dietary intervention. As a sub-study of the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study (DPS), 22 persons with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) taking part in the intervention volunteered to give samples from the <it>vastus lateralis </it>muscle. Subjects were divided into two sub-groups (IGTslow and IGTfast) on the basis of their baseline myosin heavy chain profile. Glucose metabolism, oxidative stress and HSP expressions were measured before and after the 2-year intervention.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Exercise training, combined with dietary counselling, increased the expression of mitochondrial chaperones HSP60 and glucose-regulated protein 75 (GRP75) in the <it>vastus lateralis </it>muscle in the IGTslow group and that of HSP60 in the IGTfast group. In cytoplasmic chaperones HSP72 or HSP90 no changes took place. In the IGTslow group, a significant positive correlation between the increased muscle content of HSP60 and the oxygen radical absorbing capacity values and, in the IGTfast group, between the improved VO_2maxvalue and the increased protein expression of GRP75 were found. Serum uric acid concentrations decreased in both sub-groups and serum protein carbonyl concentrations decreased in the IGTfast group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The 2-year intervention up-regulated mitochondrial HSP expressions in middle-aged subjects with impaired glucose tolerance. These improvements, however, were not correlated directly with enhanced glucose tolerance.</p