Variability of BVOC Emissions from Commercially Used willow (<i>Salix</i> spp.) Varieties

Willow (Salix spp.) trees are commonly used in short rotation coppices (SRC) to produce renewable energy. However, these plants are also known to emit high concentrations of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), which have a large influence on air quality. Many different clones of commercially used Salix varieties exist today, but only a few studies have focused on BVOC emissions from these newer varieties. In this study, four varieties commercially propagated for biofuel production have been studied on a leaf-scale in the southern part of Sweden. The trees had either their first or second growing season, and measurements on BVOC emissions were done during the growing season in 2017 from the end of May to the beginning of September. Isoprene was the dominant emitted compound for all varieties but the average emission amongst varieties varied from 4.00 to 12.66 µg gdw−1 h−1. Average monoterpene (MT) (0.78–1.87 µg gdw−1 h−1) and sesquiterpene (SQT) emission rates (0.22–0.57 µg gdw−1 h−1) differed as well among the varieties. Besides isoprene, other compounds like ocimene, linalool and caryophyllene also showed a response to light but not for all varieties. Younger plants had several times higher emissions of non-isoprenoids (other VOCs) than the corresponding 1-year-old trees. The conclusions from this study show that the choice of variety can have a large impact on the regional BVOC emission budget. Genetics, together with stand age, should be taken into account when modelling BVOC emissions on a regional scale, for example, for air quality assessments

Insomnia symptoms increase during pregnancy, but no increase in sleepiness - Associations with symptoms of depression and anxiety

Objective: To evaluate alteration in insomnia and sleepiness symptoms during pregnancy and assess early pregnancy risk factors for these symptoms, especially depressive and anxiety symptoms. Methods: A cohort of 1858 women was enrolled from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. Insomnia and sleepiness symptoms were measured in early, mid- and late pregnancy with the Basic Nordic Sleep Questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and anxiety symptoms with the Symptom Checklist-90/Anxiety Scale. General linear models for repeated measures were conducted. Results: General sleep quality decreased (p < 0.001) and all insomnia types (p < 0.001) and sleep latencies (p < 0.001) increased as pregnancy proceeded. Snoring increased, but witnessed apneas remained rare. Nevertheless, morning (p ¼ 0.019) and daytime (p < 0.001) sleepiness decreased from early to both mid-pregnancy and late pregnancy (p ¼ 0.006 and p ¼ 0.039). Women took more naps in early and late pregnancy compared to mid-pregnancy (both p < 0.001). Women with higher baseline anxiety symptoms had greater increase in sleep latency. At each pregnancy point, higher depressive and anxiety symptoms were associated with higher insomnia (p < 0.001) and sleepiness scores (p < 0.001) and higher depressive symptoms with longer sleep latencies (p < 0.001). Conclusion: We found a marked increase in insomnia symptoms throughout pregnancy. However, sleepiness symptoms did not increase correspondingly. Both depressive and anxiety symptoms in early pregnancy were associated with higher insomnia and sleepiness symptoms in later stages of pregnancy which emphasizes the importance of their assessment in early pregnancy.Peer reviewe

Sleep during infancy, inhibitory control and working memory in toddlers:findings from the FinnBrain cohort study

Background: Sleep difficulties are associated with impaired executive functions (EFs) in school-aged children. However, much less is known about how sleep during infancy relates to EF in infants and toddlers. The aim of this study was to investigate whether parent-reported sleep patterns at 6 and 12 months were associated with their inhibitory control (IC) and working memory (WM) performances at 30 months.Methods: This study included children whose parents filled in a sleep questionnaire at 6 or 12 months and who participated in the development assessment at 30 months (initial available sample at 30 months; N = 472). The final sample comprised (a) 359 infants with IC task and sleep questionnaire at 6 months and 322 toddlers at 12 months and (b) 364 infants with WM task and sleep questionnaire at 6 months and 327 toddlers at 12 months. Nighttime, daytime and total sleep duration, frequency of night awakenings, time awake at night, and proportion of daytime sleep were assessed at 6 and 12 months using the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire. IC at 30 months was measured using a modified version of the Snack Delay task, and WM was measured at 30 months using the Spin the Pots task. Further, children were divided into three groups (i.e., “poor sleepers”, “intermediate sleepers”, and “good sleepers”) based on percentile cut-offs (i.e., &lt;10th, 10th–90th and &gt; 90th percentiles) to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the direction and nature of the associations between sleep and EF in early childhood.Results: Our results showed an inverted U-shaped association between proportion of daytime sleep at 12 months and IC at 30 months, indicating that average proportions of daytime sleep were longitudinally associated with better IC performance. Furthermore, a linear relation between time awake at night at 12 months and WM at 30 months was found, with more time awake at night associating with worse WM.Conclusions: Our findings support the hypothesis that sleep disruption in early childhood is associated with the development of later EF and suggest that various sleep difficulties at 12 months distinctively affect WM and IC in toddlers, possibly in a nonlinear manner.<br/

Sleep during infancy, inhibitory control and working memory in toddlers: findings from the FinnBrain cohort study

Sleep difficulties are associated with impaired executive functions (EFs) in school-aged children. However, much less is known about how sleep during infancy relates to EF in infants and toddlers. The aim of this study was to investigate whether parent-reported sleep patterns at 6 and 12 months were associated with their inhibitory control (IC) and working memory (WM) performances at 30 months.Peer reviewe

Vanhempien masennus- ja ahdistusoireet lisääntyivät COVID-19-pandemian alkuvaiheessa - FinnBrain-syntymäkohorttitutkimus

JOHDANTO : Aikuisten psyykkisen oireilun on havaittu lisääntyneen COVID-19-pandemian aikana. Harvassa tutkimuksessa on selvitetty pienten ja kouluikäisten lasten vanhempien oireiden muutosta toistomittausasetelmassa.MENETELMÄT : FinnBrain-syntymäkohorttiin osallistuvien 5-8-vuotiaiden lasten 651 vanhemman pandemiakeväänä (toukokuu 2020) raportoimia masennus- ja ahdistusoireita verrattiin pandemiaa edeltäneeseen aikaan (kun lapsi oli kahden tai neljän vuoden ikäinen vuosina 2014-2019). TULOKSET : Vastaajien masennus- ja ahdistusoireet lisääntyivät pandemiaa edeltäneeseen aikaan verrattuna. Masennuksen seulonta-arvon (EPDS ≥ 10) ylittävien vastaajien määrä jopa kaksinkertaistui (15 % vs 28 %, p ​​​​​​​PÄÄTELMÄT : Koska vanhempien psyykkinen hyvinvointi on ratkaisevaa lasten hyvinvoinnin kannalta, on tärkeää tunnistaa pandemiaan liittyvä pienten ja kouluikäisten lasten vanhempien kuormittuneisuus. Elinpiirin kaventumisesta kärsiville ja jo oireileville vanhemmille tulisi tarjota riittävää tukea.</p

Maternal Executive Functioning, Emotional Availability and Psychological Distress During Toddlerhood: A FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

Executive functioning (EF) is one of the building blocks in parental caregiving behavior, and contextual variables have been reported to moderate the link between EF and caregiving behavior. Although psychological distress due to various factors is prevalent during early parenthood and is negatively associated with adult EF, it is not known whether psychological distress influences the maternal EF/caregiving link. This study explored the association between maternal EF and caregiving behavior (more specifically, Emotional Availability/EA), and whether single and cumulative maternal psychological distress domains moderated the EF/EA association in a general population sample of 137 Finnish birth cohort mothers with 2.5-year-old children. EF was measured with a composite of five computerized Cogstate tasks, EA with the Emotional Availability Scales, and three psychological distress domains with self-report questionnaires (depression: EPDS, anxiety: SCL-90, insomnia: AIS). Better EF was significantly associated with more positive, sensitive caregiving, but this association was no longer significant when controlling for education level. Neither individual nor cumulative distress domains moderated the EF/EA association significantly, although the observed moderation effects were in the expected direction. These findings suggest that EF should be recognized alongside socioemotional factors as variables that are associated with parental caregiving behavior during toddlerhood. Furthermore, if the non-significant moderation results are replicated, they indicate that mothers in community samples are not at great risk for psychological distress that would compromise their capacity to utilize their EF while caring for their child. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings, as well as to examine these associations among fathers and in samples that have higher levels of chronic stressors. Studies with more diverse samples in terms of distress levels and EF performance would provide further insight into early childhood parenting and its risk factors