Tietokoneen sekä muun informaatio- ja kommunikaatioteknologian käyttö ja nuorten tuki- ja liikuntaelinoireet

Lasten ja nuorten selkäkivut ovat lisääntyneet merkittävästi 1980-luvulta aina 2000-luvulle saakka. Samaan aikaan tietokoneen ja matkapuhelimen käyttö, pelaaminen sekä muun informaatio- ja kommunikaatioteknologian käyttö on lisääntynyt nuorilla. Tytöistä niska-hartiaoireita esiintyi lähes joka toisella ja alaselkäoireita joka kuudennella, pojilla oireita esiintyi vähemmän. Päänsärky ja silmäoireet olivat myös yleisiä. Käsi-, sormi- ja ranneoireita esiintyi vähemmän. Nuorten oman käsityksen mukaan tietokone aiheutti heille oireita eniten silmiin, päähän ja niska-hartioihin. Päivittäinen 1-2 tunnin tietokoneen käyttö aiheutti nuorille niska-hartiakipuja sekä 4-5 tunnin käyttö alaselkäkipua. Vastaavasti yli neljä tuntia tietokoneen parissa aiheutti päänsärkyä ja silmäoireita. Käsi-, sormi- ja ranneoireita ilmeni vastaajilla jo noin tunnin päivittäisellä tietokoneen käytöllä. Oireet olivat valtaosin lieviä ja aiheuttivat lievää haittaa. Kuitenkin yli kahden tunnin tietokoneen käyttö aiheutti nuorille voimakkaita tai kohtalaisia oireita, jotka haittasivat myös päivittäistä elämää. Vastaavanlaisia tuloksia ei kirjallisuudessa ole aiemmin julkaistu. Tutkimuksen aineistoina käytettiin valtakunnallisesti edustavia väestötason aineistoja. Niihin osallistui runsaat 200 000 lasta ja nuorta kolmella eri vuosikymmenellä. Tuki- ja liikuntaelinoireet (TULE), varsinkin selkäsairaudet ja niiden seuraukset ovat vakava kansanterveyden ja -talouden ongelma Suomessa. Lasten tietokoneen käyttö alkaa jo alle kouluikäisenä, ja nuorilla on takanaan yli kymmenen vuoden kokemus tietokoneen käytöstä ennen kuin he siirtyvät työelämään. Oireiden ennaltaehkäisy ja varhainen puuttuminen on aloitettava jo lapsuudessa. Nuorten tietokoneen käyttötavat, tehtävät ja tietokoneympäristöt ovat erilaisia kuin aikuisten. Tutkimuksessa todettiin, että suuri osa nuorista jäi vaille ergonomiaohjeita. Koululla on merkittävä rooli ohjatessaan ja opastaessaan oppilaita käyttämään tietokonetta oikealla tavalla. Kodeissa, kouluissa ja oppilaitoksissa tulisi olla ergonomisesti sopivat työpisteet eri kasvu- ja kehitysvaiheissa oleville nuorille. Oireiden ennaltaehkäisyssä varsinkin koulu- ja opiskelijaterveydenhuollon henkilöstöllä on merkittävä rooli. Vanhempien tulee rajoittaa ja valvoa lastensa tietokoneen käyttöä ja huolehtia muutoinkin terveellisten elintapojen noudattamisesta. Lapsia ja nuoria tulee myös itse omaehtoisesti kannustaa huolehtimaan terveydestään. Tietokoneen turvallisesta ja oikeanlaisista käyttötavoista tulee kehittää ohjeet yhteistyössä laitevalmistajien ja ohjelmistojen kehittäjien kanssa.The purpose of this study, which was based on three different data sets, was to investigate the occurrence and nature of musculoskeletal symptoms, and the relation to information and communication technology (ICT), especially relation to computer use. The first data set was obtained from a cross-sectional survey of the Adolescent Health and Lifestyle Survey (AHLS) from 1985 to 2003 (n=69 438, response rate 76). A structured questionnaire including questions about frequency of musculoskeletal and computer-associated health complaints, use of ICT, computer use and questions about ergonomic instructions was mailed biennially to samples of 12, 14, 16 and 18-year-olds. Prevalence of back and neck pain varied between 6-40% in girls and 4-20% in boys. Correspondingly prevalence of neck or shoulder pain (NSP) varied between 7-45% in girls and 5-20% in boys, and low back pain (LBP) between 1-18% in girls and 1-16% in boys. The second set of data was based on a classroom survey from the School Health Promotion Survey (SHPS). The data included questions of frequency of NSP and LBP of 14-16-year olds from the period 1996-2001 (n=145 707). Prevalence of NSP was 28-37% in girls and 14-21% in boys, and LBP was 10-15% and 8-13%, respectively. The third set of data was from a cross-sectional study of schoolchildren´s welfare and ICT (SWICT) in conducted in Tampere from 2006. The study population consisted pupils of the 6th and 9th grades (12-13- and 15-16-yrs, n=436). The main outcomes were frequency of musculoskeletal symptoms, frequency of computer-associated musculoskeletal symptoms, pain intensity, inconvenience to everyday life and computer use. Prevalence of NSP varied 5-18% in girls and 14-17% in boys, and prevalence of LBP varied 5-7% and 7-9%, respectively. In this data set we also investigated the prevalence of symptoms in head (15-27%), in eyes (3-12%) and in hands, fingers or wrists (1-5%). Symptoms were more common in older age groups, and weekly symptoms occurred more frequently than daily ones. The prevalence of back, neck and shoulder pain increased in the period 1985-2001. Prevalence of NSP and LBP increased markedly during the period 1991-2001. Regardless of data sets or point of time, symptoms were more prevalent among girls and older age groups. In young people´s own perceptions computer use causes symptoms weekly or often in eyes (girls 6-12%, boys 3-8%), head (girls 2-13%, boys 2-13%), neck-shoulders (girls 2-12%, boys 2-14%), low back (girls 1-6%, boys 0-11%), and hands, fingers or wrists (girls 1-4%, boys 1-8%). Daily computer use > 1-2 hours was statistically significantly related to NSP (OR=1.3 1.5), and > 4-5 hours to LBP (OR=2.0 2.6). Furthermore, computer use ? 4 hours/day was related to head ache (OR=2.8) and pain in the eyes (OR=2.0), and computer use ? 1 hour/day was related to symptoms in hands, fingers or wrists (OR=1.6). It was also found that digital gaming > 5 hours/day was related to LBP (OR=2.0). In this study, computer users reported mostly mild pain or mild inconvenience to everyday life. However, they had moderate or severe pain in neck-shoulders (21%), head (20%) and eyes (14%). Correspondingly, the prevalence of moderate or severe inconvenience to everyday life was 29% due to head pain, 21% due to neck-shoulder pain, and 16% due to low back pain. When daily computer use was ? 2 hours, moderate or severe intensity of computer-associated musculoskeletal pain increased in all anatomic sites (OR=2.9-4.4). Inconvenience to everyday life was statistically significantly lower in lower back (OR=2.5) and in head (OR=2.0) in those adolescents who used computer daily about half an hour. A large proportion of adolescents did not receive ergonomic instructions on how to arrange desk, chair and screen in the right position or to take rest breaks. Receiving instructions or being self-instructed was more common in older age groups than in younger age groups (p This study showed a remarkable increase of back and neck-shoulder pain from the 1980s to 2000s. We showed thresholds between the symptoms and computer exposure, which have not been published before. In addition, we reported the pain intensity and inconvenience to everyday life caused by computer use. Evidence based instructions, created with processor manufacturers, for safe and proper computer use should be available to all children and adolescents. Future studies with longitudinal designs are needed to examine the persistence of musculoskeletal symptoms, with accurate measurements of computer use and to evaluate the changes between symptoms and computer use, and the effects of ergonomics

Toponyms and place heritage as sources of place brand value

Commercial producers have long seen the advantage of branding their products, and the idea of branding also attracts place managers. In general, the core component of a brand is its name. In place branding, the name is even more crucial. It marks a geographical entity and creates the identity and image of the place. Having stayed unchanged, it represents longevity and stability and can be regarded as the place’s memory. In addition, place names carry of strong emotional attachment. The longer the history behind a name, the more meaningful it is as a word. A strong place brand is built upon a strong place heritage. Heritage is acknowledged as one of the future priorities in branding research. It is one of the intangible factors, in other words associations that differentiate brands from each other and are a source of tangible prosperity. Many of these associations are susceptible to competitor copying them – however, not the heritage or the name.This paper will introduce the conceptualisation of place heritage, with the place name being one of the focal components. For this, we will use data from our previous empirical survey carried out in 2013 on the 28 municipalities in Southwestern Finland. This survey investigated residents’ attitudes towards municipality names and name changes. Herein, we will focus on answers to two statements in the survey – The name of my place of domicile is important to me, and A name change will weaken the sense of community and solidarity in the municipality – and correlations between them and the place heritage value of each municipality. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of a place name in reference to place heritage value and to show an example of utilising this value in place branding. </p

Kunnan nimellä on väliä

Kunnan nimellä on asukkaille suuri merkitys. Kotikunnan nimen muuttaminen voi herättää kiihkeitä tunteita, minkä vuoksi kuntaliitostilanteissa pitäisi käytännön asioiden lisäksi käsitellä perusteellisesti myös nimikysymystä. Tämä käy ilmi Turun yliopiston tutkijoiden tekemästä selvityksestä.</p

Cystatin B deficiency results in sustained histone H3 tail cleavage in postnatal mouse brain mediated by increased chromatin-associated cathepsin L activity

Cystatin B (CSTB) is a cysteine cathepsin inhibitor whose biallelic loss-of-function mutations in human result in defects in brain development and in neurodegeneration. The physiological function of CSTB is largely unknown, and the mechanisms underlying the human brain diseases remain poorly understood. We previously showed that CSTB modulates the proteolysis of the N-terminal tail of histone H3 (H3cs1) during in vitro neurogenesis. Here we investigated the significance of this mechanism in postnatal mouse brain. Spatiotemporal analysis of H3cs1 intensity showed that while H3cs1 in wild-type (wt) mice was found at varying levels during the first postnatal month, it was virtually absent in adult brain. We further showed that the high level of H3cs1 coincides with chromatin association of de novo synthesized cathepsin L suggesting a role for nuclear cathepsin L in brain development and maturation. On the contrary, the brains of Cstb(-/-) mice showed sustained H3cs1 proteolysis to adulthood with increased chromatin-associated cathepsin L activity, implying that CSTB regulates chromatin-associated cathepsin L activity in the postnatal mouse brain. As H3 tail proteolysis has been linked to cellular senescence in vitro, we explored the presence of several cellular senescence markers in the maturing Cstb(-/-) cerebellum, where we see increased levels of H3cs1. While several markers showed alterations in Cstb(-/-) mice, the results remained inconclusive regarding the association of deficient CSTB function with H3cs1-induced senescence. Together, we identify a molecular role for CSTB in brain with implications for brain development and disease.Peer reviewe

Kommunens namn i kommunsloganer : perspektiv från lingvistik och marknadsföring

Peer reviewe

Cystatin B-deficiency triggers ectopic histone H3 tail cleavage during neurogenesis

Cystatin B (CSTB) acts as an inhibitor of cysteine proteases of the cathepsin family and loss-of-function mutations result in human brain diseases with a genotype-phenotype correlation. In the most severe case, CSTB-deficiency disrupts brain development, and yet the molecular basis of this mechanism is missing. Here, we establish CSTB as a regulator of chromatin structure during neural stem cell renewal and differentiation. Murine neural precursor cells (NPCs) undergo transient proteolytic cleavage of the N-terminal histone H3 tail by cathepsins B and L upon induction of differentiation into neurons and glia. In contrast, CSTB-deficiency triggers premature H3 tail cleavage in undifferentiated self-renewing NPCs and sustained H3 tail proteolysis in differentiating neural cells. This leads to significant transcriptional changes in NPCs, particularly of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes. In turn, these transcriptional alterations impair the enhanced mitochondrial respiration that is induced upon neural stem cell differentiation. Collectively, our findings reveal the basis of epigenetic regulation in the molecular pathogenesis of CSTB deficiency.Peer reviewe

TESS Photometry of AM Her and AR UMa: Binary Parameters, Cyclotron Emission Modeling, and Mass Transfer Duty Cycles

Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) photometry of the polars AM Herculis (AM Her) and AR Ursae Majoris (AR UMa) is presented, along with high-speed photometry. AM Her shows a variety of high states with frequent transitions between them. TESS photometry of AR UMa in the low state reveals no evidence of accretion, while the McDonald 2.1 m telescope caught AR UMa in its high accretion state. Roche-lobe overflow is shut off during low states of AR UMa, while accretion often still takes place during low states of AM Her. We derive inclinations of 50° and 70° for AM Her and AR UMa respectively. To model the high-state light curves of AM Her, we employ a self-organized map light-curve classification scheme to establish common accretion configurations. The cyclotron radiation properties then allow the production of emission region maps on the surface of the white dwarf. The accretion geometry of AM Her is most consistent with a multipolar field structure. The high-state photometry of AR UMa has stochastic accretion flaring, which we attribute to magnetically buffeted mass transfer through the inner Lagrangian point L1. To consider this possibility, we examine the magnetism of both stars and argue that the local magnetic field near L1 can initiate short-lived accretion events and affect transitions between high and low accretion states in both AM Her and AR UMa. In particular, AR UMa has the low state as its default, while AM Her and most other active polars are in the high state by default