Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) : Traditional and Present Use, and Future Potential

Hop (Humulus lupulus L.): Traditional and Present Use, and Future Potential. Hop (Humulus lupulus) is best known for its use in beer brewing owing to its bittering flavor and floral aroma. Today, the brewing industry uses as much as 98% of the produced hop crop worldwide. However, there are many other uses, some of them known since prehistoric times. Hops, the cone-like female structures called strobili, are the most frequently used part of the hop plant, but other tissues are of interest as well. The present review compiles existing knowledge of the chemical and pharmacological properties, traditional and present uses and further use potential, genetic resources, and breeding attempts in H. lupulus, and discusses climate change challenges to hop production. It contains hundreds of phytochemicals, and some of the secondary metabolites have definite potential pharmacological and medicinal value, but further investigations are desirable. Hop substances are potential alternatives, e.g., in antimicrobial, cancer, metabolic syndrome, and hormone replacement therapy treatments, as well as insecticides, preservatives, and fragrances. There are presently a few hundred cultivated hop varieties, and new cultivars are being developed and tested. Future hop breeding efforts with different quality and adaptation targets can utilize existing genetic resources, such as wild populations and landraces present in many regions.Peer reviewe

Chaos and rectification of electromagnetic wave in a lateral semiconductor superlattice

We find the conditions for a rectification of electromagnetic wave in a lateral semiconductor superlattice with a high mobility of electrons. The rectification is assisted by a transition to a dissipative chaos at a very high mobility. We show that mechanism responsible for the rectification is a creation of warm electrons in the superlattice miniband caused by an interplay of the effects of nonlinearity and finite band width.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures (2 color figs). Sufficient revision in comparison with version1: More explanations on physics of the effect are added. Removed from version1 material will be published elsewher

The effects of sample age and taxonomic origin on the success rate of DNA barcoding when using herbarium material

We have produced DNA barcodes for Finnish plant taxa. In this study, we specifically report the barcoding success for herbarium materials varying widely in age, also paying attention on success rate variation and genetic distances among different plant families. Additionally, we investigated whether the level of intraspecific variation differs between native and introduced species. The specimens had been collected between years 1867 and 2013. Among all studied specimens, the average success rates for any barcode (matK or rbcL), rbcL, matK and both barcodes equaled 81, 79, 55 and 53%, respectively, and among species (at least one specimen per species barcoded successfully) 95, 95, 74 and 73%, respectively. We found significant age effects on the barcoding success, the greatest decline being visible in over 100-year-old samples. Plant families showed differences in overall success rates and sample age effects, as well as in intraspecific and interspecific variation levels, while the average level of intraspecific variation appeared similar among native and introduced species. Besides being valuable for the identification of species, DNA barcoding with sufficient sampling is also a tool to investigate specific evolutionary questions, such as biogeographic patterns or the adaptive capacity of invasive and other alien plant species.Peer reviewe

The Magnitude of Occupational Class Differences in Sickness Absence : 15-Year Trends among Young and Middle-Aged Municipal Employees

Background: Our aim was to examine the magnitude of relative occupational class differences in sickness absence (SA) days over a 15-year period among female and male municipal employees in two age-groups. Methods: 18-34 and 35-59-year-old employees of the City of Helsinki from 2002 to 2016 were included in our data (n = similar to 37,500 per year). Occupational class was classified into four groups. The magnitude of relative occupational class differences in SA was studied using the relative index of inequality (RII). Results: The relative occupational class differences were larger among older than younger employees; the largest differences were among 35-59-year-old men. Among women in both age-groups the relative class differences remained stable during 2002-2016. Among younger and older men, the differences were larger during the beginning of study period than in the end. Among women in both age-groups the RII values were between 2.19 (95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.98, 2.42) and 3.60 (95% CI 3.28, 3.95). The corresponding differences varied from 3.74 (95% CI 3.13, 4.48) to 1.68 (95% CI 1.44, 1.97) among younger and from 6.43 (95% CI 5.85, 7.06) to 3.31 (95% CI 2.98, 3.68) among older men. Conclusions: Relative occupational class differences were persistent among employees irrespective of age group and gender. Preventive measures should be started at young age.Peer reviewe

Improved Building Energy Consumption with the Help of Modern ICT

Kyoto process and the global combat against climate change will require more intensive energy saving efforts especially in all developed countries. Key for the success in building sector is the energy efficiency of the existing building stock. Reliable information on realised energy consumption is the basis for all kind of improvements. Monitoring and targeting systems based on modern information and communication technologies can support daily building operations and saving actions. Based on the internet technologies information and benchmarking services can be developed in order to improve the dissemination of best practices and the networking both on national and international level. Some results of the latest developments carried out at VTT in Finland (www.vtt.fi) will be discussed

A longitudinal study of changes in interactional justice and subsequent short-term sickness absence among municipal employees

Objectives Level of perceived interactional justice has been shown to be associated with sickness absence, but less is known about the effects of changes in interactional justice. It is also unknown to what extent unmeasured, time-invariant differences contribute to the association. We investigated the association between interactional justice changes and subsequent short-term (1-3 days) sickness absences over a 12-year follow-up using between- and within-individual modeling among ageing municipal employees. Methods The data was derived from Helsinki Health Study cohort with baseline survey in 2000-2002 (N=8960, response rate 67%) and follow-up surveys in 2007 and 2012 (response rates 79% and 83%, respectively). At baseline, participants were 40-60-year-old employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland. Sickness absences from the employer's registry were linked with the responses (78%). The analytic sample was 2109 and 2070 individuals for between-individual and 4433 individuals and 8425 observations for within-individual associations. Results Negative change in interactional justice was associated with an increased risk of short-term sickness absence in between-individual models after adjusting for age and gender. Adjustment for sickness absence history attenuated the association. In within-individual models, a negative change in perceived interactional justice was associated with an increased risk of short-term sickness absence spells [incidence rate ratios (IRR) 1.05 (95% confidence interval 1.01-1.09)]. This association was robust to adjustments for gender, age, health behaviors and sickness absence history. Conclusions Paying attention to management principles - especially managerial behavior and treatment of employees to avoid the deterioration of the level of interactional justice - may provide a way of reducing self-certified short-term sickness absence spells.Peer reviewe