Matter-positronium interaction: An exact diagonalization study of the He atom - positronium system

The many-body system comprising a He nucleus, three electrons, and a positron has been studied using the exact diagonalization technique. The purpose has been to clarify to which extent the system can be considered as a distinguishable positronium (Ps) atom interacting with a He atom and, thereby, to pave the way to a practical atomistic modeling of Ps states and annihilation in matter. The maximum value of the distance between the positron and the nucleus is constrained and the Ps atom at different distances from the nucleus is identified from the electron and positron densities, as well as from the electron-positron distance and center-of-mass distributions. The polarization of the Ps atom increases as its distance from the nucleus decreases. A depletion of the He electron density, particularly large at low density values, has been observed. The ortho-Ps pick-off annihilation rate calculated as the overlap of the positron and the free He electron densities has to be corrected for the observed depletion, specially at large pores/voids.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figure

Regional differences in long-term cycles and seasonality of Puumala virus infections, Finland, 1995-2014

Puumala hantavirus (PUUV) causes haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in humans, an endemic disease in Finland. We aimed to study recent trends in PUUV infections in Finland, to evaluate whether there are regional differences in seasonality and long-term cycles and whether the patterns have changed over time. We analysed serologically confirmed acute PUUV infections reported to the National Infectious Disease Register from 1 April 1995 to 31 March 2014. A total of 30 942 cases of PUUV infections were identified during the study period. The average annual incidence was 31 cases/100 000 person-years with the highest in Eastern Finland and the lowest in Southwestern Finland. Throughout Finland there was not an increasing trend in incidence but changes in incidence, seasonality and long-term cycles differed regionally. Long-term cycles supported by high Bayesian posterior probabilities (73-100%) differed between the south and the north, shifting from 3 to 4 years, respectively. Temporal changes in seasonality were most prominent in Southwestern Finland. The pattern of human PUUV infection epidemiology probably primarily reflects the spatio-temporal interaction between bank-vole population dynamics and climate.Peer reviewe

Pour une agriculture intelligente face au changement climatique au Sénégal: Recueil de bonnes pratiques d'adaptation et d'atténuation

Climate change is at the present time a new threat which leads to increased frequency and intensity of floods, droughts and cyclones with rising sea levels; thus placing additional demands on a situation already critical in rural areas. In Senegal, as in many countries of the Sahel, those natural phenomena result in a significant drop in harvests, water shortages and worsening health crisis which leads to consequences such as growing food insecurity of the population; thus threatening the progress achieved in regards with the fight against poverty during the last century. Indeed, many farmers live in rural areas which are characterized as low rainfall, saline soils, fragile or degraded soils and limited market access areas. The poverty in which they live, especially those of women, is often worsened by social exclusion. Such farmers are vulnerable because they depend directly on rainfall and seasons. They have little savings while supports from the government or their local authorities remain inadequate. It is essential to strengthen the adaptive capacity of vulnerable countries and communities to cope with the impacts of climate change on agriculture and food security. This document is the result of a multi-criteria analysis of experiences of tackling climate variability, drought and desertification, and land degradation on one hand, and Adaptation to Climate Change in Senegal on the other. It is carried out on the initiative of the national platform for science-policy dialogue on adaptation of agriculture and food security to climate change (C-CASA) for capacity building and informed decision making for adaptation to climate change. This work has received technical and financial support from CCAFS Program (www.ccafs.cgiar.org). It is intended for the use of field workers in the area of adaptation to climate change. It also serves as technologies and tools guide to adapt to climate change impacts in the area of agriculture and food security. The manual is based primarily on (1) both the institutional and peasant experiences of the actors; (2) the recommendations of the reports of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); (3) the procedures manual for assessing climate change impacts and adaptation strategies; (4) the results of development projects and applied research. This is a collection that comes as a complement to other initiatives in the country and ongoing operations which provide practical examples of using the technological options for successful implementation of projects and programs and for the definition of agricultural policies in the Sahel

Towards integrated surveillance of zoonoses : spatiotemporal joint modeling of rodent population data and human tularemia cases in Finland

Abstract Background There are an increasing number of geo-coded information streams available which could improve public health surveillance accuracy and efficiency when properly integrated. Specifically, for zoonotic diseases, knowledge of spatial and temporal patterns of animal host distribution can be used to raise awareness of human risk and enhance early prediction accuracy of human incidence. Methods To this end, we develop a spatiotemporal joint modeling framework to integrate human case data and animal host data to offer a modeling alternative for combining multiple surveillance data streams in a novel way. A case study is provided of spatiotemporal modeling of human tularemia incidence and rodent population data from Finnish health care districts during years 1995–2012. Results Spatial and temporal information of rodent abundance was shown to be useful in predicting human cases and in improving tularemia risk estimates in 40 and 75% of health care districts, respectively. The human relative risk estimates’ standard deviation with rodent’s information incorporated are smaller than those from the model that has only human incidence. Conclusions These results support the integration of rodent population variables to reduce the uncertainty of tularemia risk estimates. However, more information on several covariates such as environmental, behavioral, and socio-economic factors can be investigated further to deeper understand the zoonotic relationship

Lyme borreliosis in Finland: a register-based linkage study

BackgroundIn Finland, the routine surveillance of Lyme borreliosis (LB) is laboratory-based. In addition, we have well established national health care registers where countrywide data from patient visits in public health care units are collected. In our previous study based on these registers, we reported an increasing incidence of both microbiologically confirmed and clinically diagnosed LB cases in Finland during the past years. Here, we evaluated our register data, refined LB incidence estimates provided in our previous study, and evaluated treatment practices considering LB in the primary health care.MethodsThree national health care registers were used. The Register for Primary Health Care Visits (Avohilmo) and the National Hospital Discharge Register (Hilmo) collect physician-recorded data from the outpatient and inpatient health care visits, respectively, whereas the National Infectious Diseases Register (NIDR) represents positive findings in LB diagnostics notified electronically by microbiological laboratories. We used a personal identification number in register-linkage to identify LB cases on an individual level in the study year 2014. In addition, antibiotic purchase data was retrieved from the Finnish Social Insurance Institution in order to evaluate the LB treatment practices in the primary health care in Finland.ResultsAvohilmo was found to be useful in monitoring clinically diagnosed LB (i.e. erythema migrans (EM) infections), whereas Hilmo did not add much value next to existing laboratory-based surveillance of disseminated LB. However, Hilmo gave valuable information about uncertainties related to physician-based surveillance of disseminated LB and the total annual number of EM infections in our country. Antibiotic purchases associated with the LB-related outpatient visits in the primary health care indicated a good compliance with the recommended treatment guidelines.ConclusionsAvohilmo and laboratory-based NIDR together are useful in monitoring LB incidence in Finland. A good compliance was observed with the recommended treatment guidelines of clinically diagnosed LB in the primary health care. In 2018, Avohilmo was introduced in the routine surveillance of LB in Finland next to laboratory-based surveillance of disseminated LB

COVID-19 outbreak at a reception centre for asylum seekers in Espoo, Finland

Publisher Copyright: © 2021Background shared accommodation may increase the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. In April 2020, an increasing number of asylum seekers at a reception centre in Espoo, Finland presented with COVID-19 despite earlier implementation of preventive measures. We decided to screen the entire population of the centre for SARS-CoV-2. Methods we offered nasopharyngeal swab collection and SARS-CoV-2 real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis to the centre's clients. Symptoms were recorded at the time of diagnostic sample collection using electronic forms and followed up for two weeks through phone interviews and a review of medical records. Findings 260 clients were screened. Of them, 96 (37%) were found positive for SARS-CoV-2 and isolated. The high attack rate prompted the local public health authority to set the other clients in quarantine for 14 days to prevent further spread. Of the positive cases, 61 (64%) reported having had symptoms at the time of the screening or one week prior. Of the 35 initially asymptomatic individuals, 12 developed symptoms during follow-up, while 23 (or 18% of all screened SARS-CoV-2 positive clients) remained asymptomatic. No widespread transmission of COVID-19 was detected after the quarantine was lifted. Interpretation in this large COVID-19 outbreak, voluntary mass screening provided valuable information about its extent and helped guide the public health response. Comprehensive quarantine and isolation measures were likely instrumental in containing the outbreak. Funding Finnish Institution for Health and Welfare, Finnish Immigration Agency, City of EspooPeer reviewe

Lyme Borreliosis in Finland, 1995-2014

We investigated the epidemiology of Lyme borreliosis (LB) in Finland for the period 1995-2014 by using data from 3 different healthcare registers. We reviewed data on disseminated LB cases from the National Infectious Diseases Register (21,051 cases) and the National Hospital Discharge Register (10,402 cases) and data on primary LB (erythema migrans) cases from the Register for Primary Health Care Visits (11,793 cases). Incidence of microbiologically confirmed disseminated LB cases increased from 7/100,000 population in 1995 to 31/100,000 in 2014. Incidence of primary LB cases increased from 44/100,000 in 2011 to 61/100,000 in 2014. Overall, cases occurred predominantly in women, and we observed a bimodal age distribution in all 3 registers. Our results clearly demonstrate that the geographic distribution of LB has expanded in Finland and underscore the importance of LB as an increasing public health concern in Finland and in northern Europe in general

Flapping and Flexible Wing Aerodynamics of Low Reynolds Number Flight Vehicles

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76905/1/AIAA-2006-503-331.pd

Respiratory diphtheria in an asylum seeker from Afghanistan arriving to Finland via Sweden, December 2015

In December 2015, an asylum seeker originating from Afghanistan was diagnosed with respiratory diphtheria in Finland. He arrived in Finland from Sweden where he had already been clinically suspected and tested for diphtheria. Corynebacterium diphtheriae was confirmed in Sweden and shown to be genotypically and phenotypically toxigenic. The event highlights the importance of early case detection, rapid communication within the country and internationally as well as preparedness plans of diphtheria antitoxin availability.Peer reviewe