The Effect of a Femoral Fracture Sustained before Skeletal Maturity on Bone Mineral Density: A Long-Term Follow-Up Study

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Association of breathing sound spectra with glottal dimensions in exercise-induced vocal cord dysfunction

The objective of this study was to evaluate associations between the breathing sound spectra and glottal dimensions in exercise-induced vocal cord dysfunction (EIVCD) during a bicycle ergometry test. Nineteen subjects (mean age 21.8 years and range 13-39 years) with suspected EIVCD were studied. Vocal folds were continuously imaged with videolaryngoscopy and breathing sounds were recorded during the bicycle exercise test. Twelve subjects showed paradoxical movement of the vocal folds during inspiration by the end of the exercise. In seven subjects, no abnormal reactions in vocal folds were found; they served as control subjects. The glottal quotient (interarytenoid distance divided by the anteroposterior glottal distance) was calculated. From the same time period, the tracheal-vocal tract resonance peaks of the breathing sound spectra were analyzed, and stridor sounds were detected and measured. Subjects with EIVCD showed significantly higher resonance peaks during the inspiratory phase compared to the expiratory phase (p <0.014). The glottal quotient decreased significantly in the EIVCD group (p <0.001), but not in the control group. 8 out of 12 EIVCD patients (67%) showed stridor sounds, while none of the controls did. There was a significant inverse correlation between the frequencies of the breathing sound resonance peaks and the glottal quotient. The findings indicate that the typical EIVCD reaction of a paradoxical approximation of the vocal folds during inspiration, measured here as a decrease in the glottal quotient, is significantly associated with an increase in inspiratory resonance peaks. The findings are applicable in the documentation of EIVCD findings using videolaryngoscopy, in addition to giving clinicians tools for EIVCD recognition. However, the study is limited by the small number of subjects.Peer reviewe

Triangular-shaped landforms reveal subglacial drainage routes in SW Finland

The aim of this study is to present the first evidence of triangular-shaped till landforms and related erosional features indicative of subglacial drainage within the ice stream bed of the Scandinavian ice sheet in Finland. Previously unidentified grouped patterns of Quaternary deposits with triangular landforms can be recognized from LiDAR-based DEMs. The triangular landforms occur as segments within geomorphologically distinguishable routes that are associated with eskers. The morphological and sedimentological characteristics as well as the distribution of the triangular landforms are interpreted to involve the creep of saturated deforming till, flow and pressure fluctuations of subglacial meltwater associated with meltwater erosion. There are no existing models for the formation of this kind of large-scale drainage systems, but we claim that they represent an efficient drainage system for sub glacial meltwater transfer under high pressure conditions. Our hypothesis is that the routed, large-scale subglacial drainage systems described herein form a continuum between channelized (eskers) and more widely spread small-scale distributed subglacial drainage. Moreover, the transition from the conduit dominated drainage to triangular-shaped subglacial landforms takes place about 50-60 km from the ice margin. We provide an important contribution towards a more realistic representation of ice sheet hydrological drainage systems that could be used to improve paleoglaciological models and to simulate likely responses of ice sheets to increased meltwater production. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Asthma medication in Finnish Olympic Athletes : No signs of overuse of inhaled β2-agonists.

Introduction: Occurrence of asthma has been reported to be frequent in endurance athletes and especially high in winter sport athletes. Recently, the International Olympic Committee has restricted the use of inhaled [beta]2-agonists and requires documentation for their use. However, epidemiologic data comparing the use of antiasthmatic medication in different sport events are mostly missing. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was carried out in 2002. All the athletes (N = 494) financially supported by National Olympic Committee comprised the study group. Of them, 446 (90.3%) filled in a structured questionnaire concerning asthma and allergies, use of medication, characteristics of sport activities, and smoking habits. A representative sample of Finnish young adults (N = 1 504) served as controls. Results: Physician-diagnosed asthma was more common in athletes as compared with controls (13.9% vs 8.4%). Use of any asthma medication was reported by 9.6% of the athletes and by 4.2% of the controls. No difference was observed in the frequency of asthma medication used by winter or summer sport athletes (10.0% vs 9.4%). Inhaled [beta]2-agonists were used by 7.4% and 3.0% of the athletes and controls, respectively. After adjusting for age, sex, and smoking, odds ratio with 95% confidence interval for use of any asthma medication was 0.69 (0.17-2.92) for motor skills demanding events, 1.87 (0.85-4.11) for speed and power sports, 3.00 (1.68-5.37) for team sports, and 4.16 (2.22-7.78) for endurance events as compared with controls. None of the athletes used antiasthmatic medication without physician diagnosis. Conclusions: The frequency of antiasthmatic medication is clearly lower than the occurrence of physician-diagnosed asthma in Finnish Olympic athletes. No evidence of overuse of inhaled [beta]2-agonists is found

Development of an ancient shoreline database to reconstruct the Litorina Sea maximum extension and the highest shoreline of the Baltic Sea basin in Finland

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Characterization of C-nucleoside Antimicrobials from Streptomyces albus DSM 40763: Strepturidin is Pseudouridimycin

Pseudouridimycin (PUM), a selective inhibitor of bacterial RNA polymerase has been previously detected in microbial-extracts of two strains of Streptomyces species (strain ID38640 and ID38673). Here, we isolated PUM and its deoxygenated analogue desoxy-pseudouridimycin (dPUM) from Streptomyces albus DSM 40763, previously reported to produce the metabolite strepturidin (STU). The isolated compounds were characterized by HRMS and spectroscopic techniques and they selectively inhibited transcription by bacterial RNA polymerase as previously reported for PUM. In contrast, STU could not be detected in the cultures of S. albus DSM 40763. As the reported characteristics reported for STU are almost identical with that of PUM, the existence of STU was questioned. We further sequenced the genome of S. albus DSM 40763 and identified a gene cluster that contains orthologs of all PUM biosynthesis enzymes but lacks the enzymes that would conceivably allow biosynthesis of STU as an additional product

Health benefit for the child and promotion of the common good were the two most important reasons for participation in the FinIP vaccine trial

Background and aims: The Finnish Invasive Pneumococcal disease (FinIP) vaccine trial was a nationwide cluster-randomised double-blind trial designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in vaccinated children and indirect effects in unvaccinated populations. Together with the parallel carriage/AOM trial, over 47,000 children were enrolled, 52% of the initial target. We conducted a questionnaire study to find out which factors affected parents’ decision on their child’s study participation. Methods: A questionnaire designed to evaluate parents’ attitudes to vaccine trial participation in general and the FinIP trial in particular was mailed after the trial enrolment period had ended to parents of randomly selected children: 1,484 who participated in the trial and 1,485 who did not participate. Results: Altogether 1,438 parents (48%) responded to the questionnaire. The response rate was higher among FinIP participants (65%, 965/1,484) than among FinIP non-participants (32%, 473/1,485). The two most important reasons for giving consent to the FinIP trial were the potential benefit of immunisation against pneumococcal diseases (75% of consenters) and the promotion of the common good and public health (11%). The reasons reported as most important for declining consent were suspicions of vaccine safety (36%) and the double-blind trial design (12%). Up to 65% of the non-consenters declared that drug and vaccine trials should not be conducted in children at all. Conclusions: The expected health benefit for the child was by far the most important reason for consenting to the vaccine trial. Safety concern was the main reason for decline. Importance and necessity of clinical drug and vaccine trials among children and the rationale of the blinded studies should be thoroughly explained to the public. This may increase participation in future vaccine trials

Oxazinomycin arrests RNA polymerase at the polythymidine sequences

Oxazinomycin is a C-nucleoside antibiotic that is produced by Streptomyces hygroscopicus and closely resembles uridine. Here, we show that the oxazinomycin triphosphate is a good substrate for bacterial and eukaryotic RNA polymerases (RNAPs) and that a single incorporated oxazinomycin is rapidly extended by the next nucleotide. However, the incorporation of several successive oxazinomycins or a single oxazinomycin in a certain sequence context arrested a fraction of the transcribing RNAP. The addition of Gre RNA cleavage factors eliminated the transcriptional arrest at a single oxazinomycin and shortened the nascent RNAs arrested at the polythymidine sequences suggesting that the transcriptional arrest was caused by backtracking of RNAP along the DNA template. We further demonstrate that the ubiquitous C-nucleoside pseudouridine is also a good substrate for RNA polymerases in a triphosphorylated form but does not inhibit transcription of the polythymidine sequences. Our results collectively suggest that oxazinomycin functions as a Trojan horse substrate and its inhibitory effect is attributable to the oxygen atom in the position corresponding to carbon five of the uracil ring

Similar Antibody Levels in 3-Year-Old Children Vaccinated Against Measles, Mumps, and Rubella at the Age of 12 Months or 18 Months

Background. Measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccinations have been offered to Finnish children at 14-18 months and 6 years of age. In May 2011, the recommended age for the first vaccine dose was lowered to 12 months because of the European measles epidemic. Methods. Fingertip capillary blood samples were collected from 3-year-old Finnish children vaccinated once with MMR vaccine at 11-19 months of age. The immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to all 3 MMR antigens were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Neutralizing antibodies and the avidity of antibodies were measured for measles virus. Results. From April through October 2013, 187 children were enrolled. Equally high proportions of the samples were seropositive for measles virus, mumps virus, or rubella virus antibodies, and there were no significant differences in the IgG antibody concentrations in children vaccinated at 11-13 months of age, compared with those vaccinated at 17-19 months of age. However, among children vaccinated at 11-13 months of age, boys had lower antibody concentrations than girls. Neutralizing measles virus antibody titers were above the threshold for protective immunity in all 78 samples analyzed. The measles virus antibody avidity indexes were high for all children. Conclusions. MMR induces similar antibody responses in 12-month-old children as compared to 18-month-old children, but in boys increasing age appears to improve the antibody responses.Peer reviewe