Metsätalouden vaikutukset Fennoskandian tikkoihin ja tiaisiin

Tiivistelmä. Fennoskandiassa on harjoitettu intensiivistä metsätaloutta kahdensadan vuoden ajan, ja erityisesti 1900-luvun puolestavälistä lähtien se on muuttanut radikaalisti alueen metsien rakennetta. Metsätalous muuttaa metsän luonnollista sukkessiodynamiikkaa muun muassa aiheuttamalla metsähabitaattien pirstaloitumista, yksipuolistamalla puuston ikärakennetta ja lajistoa sekä vähentämällä vanhojen metsien määrää. Lisäksi metsien biodiversiteetti on heikentynyt metsätalouden takia, myös metsälintujen osalta. Kolopesivinä paikkalintuina tikat ja tiaiset ovat erityisen metsätalouden uhan alla. Tutkielmani tarkoitus on selvittää, miten Fennoskandian metsätalous vaikuttaa alueella pesiviin tikka- ja tiaislajeihin. Metsätalouden vaikutukset ovat lajeille pääosin negatiivisia. Metsien pirstaloituminen sekä rakenteen yksipuolistuminen näyttävät vaikuttavan negatiivisesti moneen tikka- ja tiaislajiin vähentämällä sopivia habitaatteja ja laskemalla habitaatin laatua suuressa mittakaavassa, vaikka pirstaloitumisella on myös positiivisia reunavaikutuksia. Lahopuun väheneminen haittaa erityisesti tikkoja. Lajien välillä on silti suuria eroja: habitaattigeneralistit eivät juuri reagoi metsätalouteen, niin sanotut osittaisspesialistit reagoivat joiltakin osin negatiivisesti ja vanhojen metsien spesialistit voimakkaan negatiivisesti. Muuttolintuihin verrattuna tikat ja tiaiset näyttävät olevan herkempiä metsätalouden vaikutuksille, sillä lajiryhmät sisältävät enemmän vanhoihin metsiin erikoistuneita lajeja. Metsätalouden uhkaamia tikka- ja tiaislajeja voidaan suojella luonnonmukaistamalla metsätaloutta esimerkiksi jatkuvapeitteisen kasvatuksen (CCF) ja säilytyshakkuiden (GTR) avulla, lisäämällä laho- ja lehtipuiden määrää sekä vähentämällä metsätalouden vaikutusaluetta keskittämällä hakkuita

Cost analysis of antiretroviral agents available in India

Background: AIDS is one of the most prevalent causes of death due to infectious origin which requires a lifelong therapy. There is variation in prices of antiretroviral drugs available in Indian market. Thus, a study was planned to find out variation in prices of antiretroviral drugs either as a single drug or in combination and to evaluate the difference in cost of various brands of the same antiretroviral drugs by calculating percentage variation in cost in Indian rupees.Methods: Cost of antiretroviral drugs manufactured by different pharmaceutical companies, in the same strength and dosage forms was obtained from “Current Index of Medical Specialties” July-October 2014 and “Indian Drug Review” Vol. XXI, Issue No. 4, 2014. The difference in the maximum and minimum price of the same drug manufactured by different pharmaceutical companies and percentage variation in cost was calculated.Results: Percentage variation in cost for antiretroviral drugs marketed in India was found to be zidovudine (100 mg) - 436%, lamivudine (100 mg) - 268%, tenofovir (300 mg) - 149.5%, didanosine (250 mg) - 73.75%, indinavir (400 mg) - 35.26%. Among the combination therapy, price variation was lamivudine + zidovudine (150 + 300 mg) - 314%, lamivudine + stavudine (150 + 40 mg) - 105%, lopinavir + ritonavir (133.3 + 33 mg) - 25%.Conclusion: There is wide variation in the prices of antiretroviral agents available in the market. Regulatory authorities, pharma companies, physicians should maximize their efforts to reduce the cost of drugs

Cure of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome: promising future prospects at horizon

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease caused by humanimmunodeficiency virus and characterized by profound immunosuppression thatleads to opportunistic infections, secondary neoplasms, and neurologic complications.AIDS is among the leading causes of death worldwide. Current therapeutic optionsare directed only toward management of AIDS, but not toward its prevention or cure.In addition, it also possesses numerous problems like drug resistance, drug toxicity,drug interactions, non-adherence to therapy, life-long and expensive treatment, etc.Recent years in drug development have shown promising prospects for prevention/treatment/cure of AIDS like histone deacetylase inhibitors, Vpu ion channel inhibitors,viral decay acceleration, maturation inhibitors, tat antagonists, gene/stem cell therapy,and antiretroviral vaccines

Diagnostic Utility of Wireless Video-Electroencephalography in Unsedated Dogs

Background: Poor agreement between observers on whether an unusual event is a seizure drives the need for a specific diagnostic tool provided by video-electroencephalography (video-EEG) in human pediatric epileptology. Objective: That successful classification of events would be positively associated with increasing EEG recording length and higher event frequency reported before video-EEG evaluation; that a novel wireless video-EEG technique would clarify whether unusual behavioral events were seizures in unsedated dogs. Animals: Eighty-one client-owned dogs of various breeds undergoing investigation of unusual behavioral events at 4 institutions. Methods: Retrospective case series: evaluation of wireless video-EEG recordings in unsedated dogs performed at 4 institutions. Results: Electroencephalography achieved/excluded diagnosis of epilepsy in 58 dogs (72%); 25 dogs confirmed with epileptic seizures based on ictal/interictal epileptiform discharges, and 33 dogs with no EEG abnormalities associated with their target events. As reported frequency of the target events decreased (annually, monthly, weekly, daily, hourly, minutes, seconds), EEG was less likely to achieve diagnosis (P <0.001). Every increase in event frequency increased the odds of achieving diagnosis by 2.315 (95% confidence interval: 1.36-4.34). EEG recording length (mean = 3.69 hours, range: 0.17-22.5) was not associated (P = 0.2) with the likelihood of achieving a diagnosis. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Wireless video-EEG in unsedated dogs had a high success for diagnosis of unusual behavioral events. This technique offered a reliable clinical tool to investigate the epileptic origin of behavioral events in dogs.Peer reviewe

Benign Familial Juvenile Epilepsy in Lagotto Romagnolo Dogs

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Association between dog ownership and type 2 diabetes in later life : the Helsinki birth cohort study

Dog ownership has been reported to have beneficial effects on physical activity and emotional well-being, both known to reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D). The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between dog ownership during the whole life course and having T2D in later life. The study subjects consisted of 731 people (307 men and 424 women) from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study. We assessed dog ownership with questionnaires, for every decade of life as well as current dog ownership. We investigated the associations between dog ownership and T2D with generalised estimating equation models and with generalised linear models. At a mean age of 71.0 (standard deviation [SD] 2.6) years, 13% of the participants had T2D. Dog ownership prior to the clinical examination was not associated with T2D (p >= 0.51). In men, but not in women, current dog owners had greater odds of having T2D compared with the non-owners when adjusted for age when clinically examined, socio-economic status, smoking, leisure-time physical activity, chronic diseases (OR = 3.32, 95% confidence interval 1.25-8.79, p = 0.016). In the age group of people around 70 years, dog ownership is not associated with reduced odds for developing T2D.Peer reviewe

A novel genomic region on chromosome 11 associated with fearfulness in dogs

The complex phenotypic and genetic nature of anxieties hampers progress in unravelling their molecular etiologies. Dogs present extensive natural variation in fear and anxiety behaviour and could advance the understanding of the molecular background of behaviour due to their unique breeding history and genetic architecture. As dogs live as part of human families under constant care and monitoring, information from their behaviour and experiences are easily available. Here we have studied the genetic background of fearfulness in the Great Dane breed. Dogs were scored and categorised into cases and controls based on the results of the validated owner-completed behavioural survey. A genome-wide association study in a cohort of 124 dogs with and without socialisation as a covariate revealed a genome-wide significant locus on chromosome 11. Whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing revealed extensive regions of opposite homozygosity in the same locus on chromosome 11 between the cases and controls with interesting neuronal candidate genes such as MAPK9/JNK2, a known hippocampal regulator of anxiety. Further characterisation of the identified locus will pave the way for molecular understanding of fear in dogs and may provide a natural animal model for human anxieties.Peer reviewe

A Missense Variant in the Bardet-Biedl Syndrome 2 Gene (BBS2) Leads to a Novel Syndromic Retinal Degeneration in the Shetland Sheepdog

Canine progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) describes a group of hereditary diseases characterized by photoreceptor cell death in the retina, leading to visual impairment. Despite the identification of multiple PRA-causing variants, extensive heterogeneity of PRA is observed across and within dog breeds, with many still genetically unsolved. This study sought to elucidate the causal variant for a distinct form of PRA in the Shetland sheepdog, using a whole-genome sequencing approach. Filtering variants from a single PRA-affected Shetland sheepdog genome compared to 176 genomes of other breeds identified a single nucleotide variant in exon 11 of the Bardet–Biedl syndrome-2 gene (BBS2) (c.1222G>C; p.Ala408Pro). Genotyping 1386 canids of 155 dog breeds, 15 cross breeds and 8 wolves indicated the c.1222G>C variant was only segregated within Shetland sheepdogs. Out of 505 Shetland sheepdogs, seven were homozygous for the variant. Clinical history and photographs for three homozygotes indicated the presence of a novel phenotype. In addition to PRA, additional clinical features in homozygous dogs support the discovery of a novel syndromic PRA in the breed. The development and utilization of a diagnostic DNA test aim to prevent the mutation from becoming more prevalent in the breed

A Missense Variant in the Bardet-Biedl Syndrome 2 Gene (BBS2) Leads to a Novel Syndromic Retinal Degeneration in the Shetland Sheepdog

Canine progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) describes a group of hereditary diseases characterized by photoreceptor cell death in the retina, leading to visual impairment. Despite the identification of multiple PRA-causing variants, extensive heterogeneity of PRA is observed across and within dog breeds, with many still genetically unsolved. This study sought to elucidate the causal variant for a distinct form of PRA in the Shetland sheepdog, using a whole-genome sequencing approach. Filtering variants from a single PRA-affected Shetland sheepdog genome compared to 176 genomes of other breeds identified a single nucleotide variant in exon 11 of the Bardet–Biedl syndrome-2 gene (BBS2) (c.1222G>C; p.Ala408Pro). Genotyping 1386 canids of 155 dog breeds, 15 cross breeds and 8 wolves indicated the c.1222G>C variant was only segregated within Shetland sheepdogs. Out of 505 Shetland sheepdogs, seven were homozygous for the variant. Clinical history and photographs for three homozygotes indicated the presence of a novel phenotype. In addition to PRA, additional clinical features in homozygous dogs support the discovery of a novel syndromic PRA in the breed. The development and utilization of a diagnostic DNA test aim to prevent the mutation from becoming more prevalent in the breed

Effect of prior general anesthesia or sedation and antiseizure drugs on the diagnostic utility of wireless video electroencephalography in dogs

Background Ambulatory wireless video electroencephalography (AEEG) is the method of choice to discriminate epileptic seizures from other nonepileptic episodes. However, the influence of prior general anesthesia (GA), sedation, or antiseizure drug (ASD) on the diagnostic ability of AEEG is unknown. Hypothesis/Objectives The use of sedation/GA or ASD treatment before AEEG recording may affect the diagnostic ability of AEEG and the time to first abnormality on AEEG. Animals A total of 108 client-owned dogs undergoing ambulatory AEEG for paroxysmal episodes. Methods Retrospective cohort study. Proportions of diagnostic AEEG and time to first abnormality were compared between dogs that received sedation/GA or neither for instrumentation as well as dogs receiving at least 1 ASD and untreated dogs. Results Ambulatory EEG was diagnostic in 60.2% of all dogs including 49% of the sedation/GA dogs and 68% of dogs that received neither (odds ratio [OR], 2.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-5.00;P= .05). The AEEG was diagnostic in 51% of dogs receiving at least 1 ASD and 66% of untreated dogs (OR, 1.95; 95% CI, 0.9-4.3;P= .11). No difference was found in time to first abnormality between sedation/GA or neither or ASD-treated or untreated dogs (P= .1 andP= .3 respectively). Ninety-five percent of dogs had at least 1 abnormality within 277 minutes. Conclusion and Clinical Importance Sedation/GA and concurrent ASD administration were not identified as confounding factors for decreasing AEEG diagnostic capability nor did they delay the time to first abnormality. A 4-hour minimal recording period is recommended.Peer reviewe