Ympäristötekijöiden yhteys musikaalisuuden kehittymiseen ja ilmenemiseen

Helsingin yliopiston Lääketieteellisen genetiikan osaston ja Sibelius-Akatemian yhteistyönä tekemä vuonna 2003 alkanut tutkimus tutkii musikaalisuuden perinnöllisyyttä ja biologista taustaa. Aihetta ei ole tutkittu aiemmin juurikaan koko maailmassa. Aineistona siinä on noin 870 suomalaisen, pääosin suurista suvuista tai perheistä koostuva joukko. Tutkimus koostui kolmesta erilaisesta musikaalisuustestistä, kyselylomakkeesta ja yli 12-vuotiailta otetusta DNA-näytteestä. Lisäksi ympäristötekijöiden yhteyksien ilmentämisen selventämiseksi loppukeväästä 2013 valmistui uusi tarkentava kyselylomake. Pro gradu -tutkielmani tavoitteena oli löytää ympäristötekijöitä, joilla on vahva yhteys musiikillisen koulutuksen ja ammattimuusikoksi päätymisen sekä musiikillisen luovuuden harjoittamisen kanssa. Aineiston pääasiallisina analyysimenetelminä käytin faktori- ja klusterianalyysia. Pääkiinnostuksen kohteina olleita muuttujia, musiikillinen koulutus (erityisesti ammattimuusikkous) ja luovuus, selitettiin lineaarisen ja logistisen regressioanalyysin avulla. Faktorianalyysimenetelmällä saadut tulokset puoltavat hypoteeseja musikaalisuuden monimuotoisuudesta ja piilevistä musikaalisuuden ja sen ilmenemisen ominaisuuksista. Jaottelu on tulosten perusteella selväpiirteinen. Faktoripistemäärien käyttäminen musiikillisen koulutuksen ja luovuuden alojen selittämisessä antaa viitteitä geenien ja ympäristötekijöiden vaikutuksesta ihmisen musikaalisuuden ilmenemisessä. Kiinnostuksen kohteina olevilta muuttujilta löytyi vahva yhteys erityisesti musiikillista toimintaa ja musikaalisuustestejä ilmentäviin faktoripistemuuttujiin. Klusterianalyysia käytettiin musiikillista luovuutta harjoittavien ihmisten jaotteluun eri ryhmiin luovuuden ammattimaisuuden ja luomistapojen perusteella. Tutkimuksessa käytetty aineisto ei vastannut otanta-asetelmaltaan otosta vaan oli luonteeltaan näyte. Tutkimustuloksia ei näin ollen voitu yleistää koskemaan kaikkia suomalaisia. Erilaisten painotusmenetelmien käyttö ei myöskään ollut mahdollista, sillä koko väestöä koskevia tarvittavia perustietoja ei ollut saatavilla tai määritelmät (esim. ammattimuusikkous) erosivat tutkimuksen ja virallisten määritelmien perusteella jonkin verran. Keräyksen näyteluonteesta oli kuitenkin myös hyötyä: Musiikin ammattilaisten huomattavan suuri suhteellinen osuus (n. satakertainen Suomen väestöön nähden) auttoi analysoitaessa ammattimuusikkouteen johtavia syitä. Lisäksi luovien ihmisten määrä oli tarpeeksi suuri henkilöiden jaotteluun erilaisten luomistapojen mukaan klusterianalyyseissa. Suurin perhekokonaisuuksiin keskittyvä aineisto mahdollisti myös musikaalisuuden perinnöllisyyden tarkastelun ja ympäristötekijöiden kattavamman huomioinnin. Musikaalisuustesteihin tulleista henkilöistä Musikaalisuuden perinnöllisyystutkimus -lomakkeen palautti yli 85 %. Myös tarkentavan kyselylomakkeen vastausprosentti oli hyvä (yli 60 %). Aineiston näyteluonteisuudesta huolimatta tutkimusta voi pitää hyvin onnistuneena. Se paljasti monia uusia piirteitä musikaalisuuden monimuotoisuudesta sekä biologian ja ympäristötekijöiden yhteyksistä musikaalisuuden ilmenemisessä. Tarkentava kyselylomake antaa myös mahdollisuuden monipuolisempiin musiikillisen luovuuden biologisten taustojen jatkotutkimuksiin

A rare disease and education: Neurofibromatosis type 1 decreases educational attainment

Rare heritable syndromes may affect educational attainment. Here, we study education in neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) that is associated with multifaceted medical, social and cognitive consequences. Educational attainment in the Finnish population‐based cohort of 1408 individuals with verified NF1 was compared with matched controls using Cox proportional hazards model with delayed entry and competing risk for death. Moreover, models accounting for the effects of cancer at age 15–30 years, parental NF1 and developmental disorders were constructed. Overall, the attainment of secondary education was reduced in individuals with NF1 compared to controls (hazard ratio 0.83, 95%CI 0.74–0.92). History of cancer and developmental disorders were major predictors of lack of secondary education. Individuals with NF1 obtained vocational secondary education more often than general upper secondary education. Consequently, NF1 decreased the attainment of Bachelor's and Master's degrees by 46%–49% and 64%–74%, respectively. Surprisingly, the non‐NF1 siblings of individuals with NF1 also had lower educational attainment than controls, irrespective of parental NF1. In conclusion, NF1 is associated with reduced educational attainment and tendency for affected individuals to obtain vocational instead of academic education. Individuals living with NF1, especially those with cancer, developmental disorders or familial NF1, need effective student counseling and learning assistance.</p

The 1.88 Ga Kotalahti and Vammala nickel belts, Finland: geochemistry of the mafic and ultramafic metavolcanic rocks

The mafic and ultramafic volcanic rocks within the Svecofennian (1.88 Ga) Kotalahti and Vammala Nickel Belts, Finland, are spatially associated and coeval with a suite of mineralized mafic–ultramafic intrusions. They have been divided into five suites based on major element geochemistry and spatial distribution: the Rantasalmi high- and low-Mg suites, the Vammala high-Mg suite, and the Rantasalmi, Kestilä and Pielavesi low-Mg suites. The Rantasalmi and Vammala high-Mg suites are very similar and probably comagmatic, and the Kestilä and Rantasalmi low-Mg suites are derived from them by a combination of fractionation and crustal assimilation. The Pielavesi suite is interpreted as an unrelated suite of island-arc affinity.On the basis of their trace element contents, the Kotalahti Belt intrusions are comagmatic with part of the analyzed volcanic rocks. In the Vammala Belt it is likely that the parent magmas to the intrusions and picrite magmas have a common mantle source but have evolved along distinct paths, and the picrites probably do not represent parent magmas tapped directly from the intrusions. Platinum-group element data show localised evidence for depletionby sulfide extraction. Vammala picrites are predominantly S-undersaturated, with the exception of lavas in the Stormi area. In the Kotalahti Belt the volcanic rocks are predominantlyS-undersaturated, while the volcanic rocks in the more northern part of the Belt are predominantly S-saturated. These spatial differences imply that the PGE contents of the metavolcanic rocks can be used as regional area selection criteria for intrusive nickel-copper-(PGE) deposits within the Finnish Svecofennian

An impedimetric study of DNA hybridization on paper-supported inkjet-printed gold electrodes

In this study, two different supramolecular recognition architectures for impedimetric detection of DNA hybridization have been formed on disposable paper-supported inkjet-printed gold electrodes. The gold electrodes were fabricated using a gold nanoparticle based ink. The first recognition architecture consists of subsequent layers of biotinylated self-assembly monolayer (SAM), streptavidin and biotinylated DNA probe. The other recognition architecture is constructed by immobilization of thiol-functionalized DNA probe (HSDNA) and subsequent backfill with 11mercapto1undecanol (MUOH) SAM. The binding capacity and selectivity of the recognition architectures were examined by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) measurements. SPR results showed that the HSDNA/MUOH system had a higher binding capacity for the complementary DNA target. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements showed that the hybridization can be detected with impedimetric spectroscopy in picomol range for both systems. EIS signal indicated a good selectivity for both recognition architectures, whereas SPR showed very high unspecific binding for the HSDNA/MUOH system. The factors affecting the impedance signal were interpreted in terms of the complexity of the supramolecular architecture. The more complex architecture acts as a less ideal capacitive sensor and the impedance signal is dominated by the resistive elements

Structural and Functional Dynamics of Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms and Biofilm Matrix Proteins on Different Clinical Materials

Medical device-associated staphylococcal infections are a common and challenging problem. However, detailed knowledge of staphylococcal biofilm dynamics on clinically relevant surfaces is still limited. In the present study, biofilm formation of the Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 strain was studied on clinically relevant materials-borosilicate glass, plexiglass, hydroxyapatite, titanium and polystyrene-at 18, 42 and 66 h. Materials with the highest surface roughness and porosity (hydroxyapatite and plexiglass) did not promote biofilm formation as efficiently as some other selected materials. Matrix-associated poly-N-acetyl-beta-(1-6)-glucosamine (PNAG) was considered important in young (18 h) biofilms, whereas proteins appeared to play a more important role at later stages of biofilm development. A total of 460 proteins were identified from biofilm matrices formed on the indicated materials and time points-from which, 66 proteins were proposed to form the core surfaceome. At 18 h, the appearance of several r-proteins and glycolytic adhesive moonlighters, possibly via an autolysin (AtlA)-mediated release, was demonstrated in all materials, whereas classical surface adhesins, resistance- and virulence-associated proteins displayed greater variation in their abundances depending on the used material. Hydroxyapatite-associated biofilms were more susceptible to antibiotics than biofilms formed on titanium, but no clear correlation between the tolerance and biofilm age was observed. Thus, other factors, possibly the adhesive moonlighters, could have contributed to the observed chemotolerant phenotype. In addition, a protein-dependent matrix network was observed to be already well-established at the 18 h time point. To the best of our knowledge, this is among the first studies shedding light into matrix-associated surfaceomes of S. aureus biofilms grown on different clinically relevant materials and at different time points.Peer reviewe

Structural and Functional Dynamics of Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms and Biofilm Matrix Proteins on Different Clinical Materials

Medical device-associated staphylococcal infections are a common and challenging problem. However, detailed knowledge of staphylococcal biofilm dynamics on clinically relevant surfaces is still limited. In the present study, biofilm formation of the Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 strain was studied on clinically relevant materials—borosilicate glass, plexiglass, hydroxyapatite, titanium and polystyrene—at 18, 42 and 66 h. Materials with the highest surface roughness and porosity (hydroxyapatite and plexiglass) did not promote biofilm formation as efficiently as some other selected materials. Matrix-associated poly-N-acetyl-β-(1-6)-glucosamine (PNAG) was considered important in young (18 h) biofilms, whereas proteins appeared to play a more important role at later stages of biofilm development. A total of 460 proteins were identified from biofilm matrices formed on the indicated materials and time points—from which, 66 proteins were proposed to form the core surfaceome. At 18 h, the appearance of several r-proteins and glycolytic adhesive moonlighters, possibly via an autolysin (AtlA)-mediated release, was demonstrated in all materials, whereas classical surface adhesins, resistance- and virulence-associated proteins displayed greater variation in their abundances depending on the used material. Hydroxyapatite-associated biofilms were more susceptible to antibiotics than biofilms formed on titanium, but no clear correlation between the tolerance and biofilm age was observed. Thus, other factors, possibly the adhesive moonlighters, could have contributed to the observed chemotolerant phenotype. In addition, a protein-dependent matrix network was observed to be already well-established at the 18 h time point. To the best of our knowledge, this is among the first studies shedding light into matrix-associated surfaceomes of S. aureus biofilms grown on different clinically relevant materials and at different time points

Interactive Intent Modeling for Exploratory Search

Exploratory search requires the system to assist the user in comprehending the information space and expressing evolving search intents for iterative exploration and retrieval of information. We introduce interactive intent modeling, a technique that models a user’s evolving search intents and visualizes them as keywords for interaction. The user can provide feedback on the keywords, from which the system learns and visualizes an improved intent estimate and retrieves information. We report experiments comparing variants of a system implementing interactive intent modeling to a control system. Data comprising search logs, interaction logs, essay answers, and questionnaires indicate significant improvements in task performance, information retrieval performance over the session, information comprehension performance, and user experience. The improvements in retrieval effectiveness can be attributed to the intent modeling and the effect on users’ task performance, breadth of information comprehension, and user experience are shown to be dependent on a richer visualization. Our results demonstrate the utility of combining interactive modeling of search intentions with interactive visualization of the models that can benefit both directing the exploratory search process and making sense of the information space. Our findings can help design personalized systems that support exploratory information seeking and discovery of novel information.Peer reviewe

Development of a rapid co-prototyping environment for industrial services

Service-oriented industrial companies need to manage the complexity of developing new services (NSD) besides products. Prototyping offers a way to increase the success of NSD. There are service prototyping environments, but they fall short in effectiveness. CoProtolab concept was developed for effective, comprehensive, immersive and collaborative prototyping of industrial services in a physical and virtual environments. The research follows an axiomatic design theory and results in a theoretical model for studying and developing virtual, physical and social service prototyping environments.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed