Aktiivisuutta elämään -hyvinvointitapahtumat - hyvää oloa kaikille

Aktiivisuutta Elämään ‑hyvinvointitapahtumat ovat tukeneet hyvin InnoEspoo-projektin tavoitteita, kuten innovatiivisten palveluiden tuottamista espoolaisille, koulutusorganisaatioiden yli ulottuvaa yhteistyötä ja yhteistyömallin kehittämistä sekä yrittäjyyden ja pk-yritysten toiminnan tukemista. Tapahtumat ovat tuottaneet yhteisöllisessä prosessissa hyvinvointiosaamisen kehittymistä niin opiskelijoille kuin muillekin projektissa toimijoille ja ennen kaikkea hyvää eloa espoolaisille. Tapahtumakonseptien kehittämisen siemeninä ovat olleet Laurean kehittämispohjainen oppimismalli LbD, palvelumuotoilun teoriat ja työkalut ja tapahtumarkkinoinnin teoriat. Toiminnan tuloksena on saatu aikaan pysyviä toimintakonsepteja ja huikeita hyvinvointikokemuksia, jotka ovat koskettaneet kaikkia. Kokemusten innoittamina eri ryhmille suunnatut hyvinvointitapahtumat tulevat jatkumaan vuosittain

Äidinkielen pedagogiikan näkökulma Isoon suomen kielioppiin

Kirja-arvioHakulinen, Auli & Vilkuna, Maria & Korhonen, Riitta & Koivisto, Vesa & Heinonen, Tarja Riitta & Alho, Irja (toim.): Iso suomen kieliopp

Stress and cellular aging : Associations between stress-related factors and leukocyte telomere length

It is well established that stress poses an elevated risk for non-communicable diseases and early mortality. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. There is strong, yet not conclusive, evidence showing that telomeres, non-coding DNA-protein complexes (TTAGGG) located at the end of chromosomes, are associated with aging-related diseases including cardiovascular diseases, stroke and type 2 diabetes. The aim of this thesis is to expand the relatively scant literature on stress and telomere length and to study whether stress-related factors are associated with leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a possible biomarker of cellular aging. The participants were from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study, which comprises 13,345 individuals born from 1934 to 1944 in Finland. Between the years 2001 and 2004 a randomly selected sample of subjects participated in a detailed clinical examination including blood sampling for LTL measurement. LTL data, measured by the quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) method, was available for 1964 participants (men n = 912 and women n = 1052) at a mean age of 61.5 (SD = 2.9, Range = 56.7 - 69.8) years. In conjunction with the clinical examination, the participants reported on the following stress-related factors: the Beck Depression Inventory (n = 1954), the Mental Health Index (n = 1950) and the Vitality Scale (n = 1950) from the SF36/RAND to capture depressive symptoms. After clinical examination they completed the NEO Personality Inventory (n = 1671) to capture personality dimensions that either render individuals vulnerable to or buffer them from stress and the Traumatic events checklist (n = 1486) to capture traumatic experiences across the lifespan. Objective stress-related factors were derived from Finnish registries. These included mental disorders (n = 116 vs. 1840), sleep apnea (n = 44 vs. 1875) and snoring (n = 29 vs. 1875) that were identified from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register, psychotropic medication use (n = 665 vs. 1291) that was identified from the Finnish National Social Insurance Institution Register, and early life stress (n = 215 vs. 1271), namely temporary separation from both parent(s) due to child evacuations from Finland during World War II, that was identified from the National Archives register. In addition, a subsample of the participants with LTL measurement underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (n = 287) during which HPA axis stress reactivity was measured. The results showed no associations between personality dimensions, mental disorders, depressive symptoms, objectively measured early life stress, self-reported traumatic experiences across the lifespan, or HPA axis stress reactivity and LTL. However, a combination of objectively measured early life stress and self-reported traumatic experiences, and a history of sleep apnea, were associated with shorter LTL. Two unpredicted findings were also made. Individuals hospitalized for mental disorders who also used psychotropic medication had longer LTL than non-hospitalized controls; also an agreeable personality dimension was associated with LTL in a sex-specific manner such that more agreeable men and less agreeable women had shorter LTL. As a majority of the findings did not support the study hypotheses, and the effect sizes in the few existing associations were relatively small, the results in this PhD thesis suggest that stress related factors are not strongly associated LTL, at least when measured with qPCR in an elderly sample showing little variation in age.Aikaisemmat tutkimukset ovat osoittaneet että stressi lisää riskiä sairastua ikääntymiseen liittyviin sairauksiin sekä todennäköisyyttä ennenaikaiseen kuolemaan. Välittävää mekanismia ei kuitenkaan tunneta vielä täysin. On olemassa vahvaa, ei kuitenkaan täysin yhdenmukaista, tutkimusnäyttöä siitä, että ikääntymiseen liittyvät sairaudet ovat yhteydessä telomeereihin. Telomeerit ovat kromosomien päissä olevia toistuvia DNA jaksoja (TTAGGG), jotka eivät sisällä informaatiota proteiinien koodaamiseen. Lyhemmät telomeerit on yhdistetty ikääntymiseen liittyviin sairauksiin, kuten sydän- ja verisuonitauteihin, aivohalvaukseen ja 2 tyypin diabetekseen. Tämän väitöskirjan tarkoitus on laajentaa olemassa olevaa suhteellisen suppeaa kirjallisuutta stressin ja telomeeripituuden välisistä yhteyksistä, ja tutkia ovatko stressiin liittyvät tekijät yhteydessä lyhempään veren leukosyyttien telomeeripituuteen; mahdolliseen fyysisen ikääntymisen biomarkkeriin. Tutkimukseen osallistuneet olivat osa Helsinki Syntymäkohorttia, johon kuuluu kokonaisuudessaan 13,345 vuosina 1934 - 1944 syntynyttä suomalaista. Vuosien 2001 - 2004 aikana sattumanvaraisesti valittu otos osallistui tarkkoihin kliinisiin tutkimuksiin, joiden aikana kerättiin myös verinäyte leukosyyttien telomeeripituuden määritystä varten. Leukosyyttien telomeeripituus määritettiin Kvantitatiivista polymeraasiketjureaktio (qPCR) mittausmenetelmää käyttäen 1964 osallistujalta (miehiä n = 912 ja naisia n = 1052) keskimäärin 61.5 (keskihajonta = 2.9, vaihteluväli = 56.7 - 69.8) vuoden iässä. Kliinisen tutkimuksen yhteydessä osallistujat täyttivät seuraavat stressiin liittyvät kyselyt; depressiivisiä oireita kuvastavat Beckin depressiokyselyn (n = 1954) sekä mielenterveysindeksin (n = 1950) ja vitaliteetti-indeksin (n = 1950) SF-36/RAND kyselystä. Kliinisen tutkimuksen jälkeen tutkittavat täyttivät heille lähetetyt Viiden faktorin mallin persoonallisuuskyselyn (n = 1671) stressille altistavien ja stressiltä suojaavien persoonallisuuspiirteiden kartoittamiseksi ja Traumaattisten tapahtumien kyselyn (n = 1486) elämän aikana koettujen traumaattisten tapahtumien selvittämiseksi. Objektiivisesti mitatut stressiin liittyvät tekijät koottiin suomalaisista rekistereistä. Tiedot sairaalahoitoa vaatineista mielenterveyshäiriöistä (n = 116 vs. 1840), uniapneasta (n = 44 vs. 1875) ja kuorsauksesta (n = 29 vs. 1875) kerättiin sairaalapoistorekisteristä, psyykelääkkeiden käyttö (n = 665 vs. 1291) Kansaneläkelaitoksen lääkekorvausrekisteristä ja varhainen stressikokemus, jollaiseksi määriteltiin väliaikainen erokokemus molemmista vanhemmista toiseen maailmansotaan liittyneiden väliaikaisten sotaevakoiden vuoksi (n = 215 vs. 1271), Suomen Kansallisarkistosta. Tämä lisäksi osa tutkittavista (n = 287) osallistui Trierin sosiaaliseen stressitestiin, jossa tutkittiin HPA akselin stressireagoivuutta. Tulokset osoittivat, että persoonallisuuspiirteet, mielenterveyshäiriöt, depressiiviset oireet, objektiivisesti mitattu varhainen stressikokemus, itseraportoidut traumakokemukset ja stressireagoivuus eivät olleet yhteydessä leukosyyttien telomeeripituuteen. Havaitsimme kuitenkin, että yhdistelmänä varhainen stressikokemus ja myöhemmät traumakokemukset olivat yhteydessä lyhempiin leukosyyttien telomeereihin, kuten myös uniapnea. Tämän lisäksi teimme kaksi yllättävää löydöstä. Havaitsimme, että tutkittavat joilla oli mielenterveyshäiriö ja jotka käyttivät psyykelääkkeitä, oli pidemmät telomeerit kuin terveillä verrokeilla; myös sovinnollinen persoonallisuus oli yhteydessä leukosyyttien telomeereihin sukupuolispesifisti niin, että enemmän sovinnollisilla miehillä ja vähemmän sovinnollisilla naisilla oli lyhemmät leukosyyttien telomeerit. Koska suurin osa löydöksistä ei tukenut alkuperäistä tutkimushypoteesia, eivätkä muutamat löydetyt yhteydet olleet vaikutukseltaan suuria, viittaavat tämän väitöskirjan tulokset siihen, ettei leukosyyttien telomeeripituus, ainakaan mitattuna qPCR:llä ikäjakaumaltaan kapeasta iäkkäiden henkilöiden otoksesta, ole vahvassa yhteydessä stressiin liittyviin tekijöihin

Children's health and parental socioeconomic factors: a population-based survey in Finland

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Socioeconomic inequalities in health are a global problem, not only among the adult population but also among children. However, studies concerning young children especially are rare. The aim of this study was to describe the health of Finnish children under 12 years of age, and the socioeconomic factors associated with health. The socioeconomic factors were parental education level, household net income, and working status.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A population-based survey among Finnish children aged under 12 years (n = 6,000) was conducted in spring 2007. A questionnaire was sent to parents, and a response rate of 67% was achieved. Each child's health was explored by asking a parent to report the child's health status on a 5-point Likert scale, current symptoms from a symptoms list, and current disease(s) diagnosed by a physician. The final three outcome measures were poor health, the prevalences of psychosomatic symptoms, and long-term diseases. Data were analysed using Pearson's Chi-Square tests, and logistic regression analysis with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). P-values ≤0.05 were considered as statistically significant.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In total, 3% of parents reported that their child's health status was poor. The prevalences of psychosomatic symptoms and long-term diseases were both 11%. The probability for poor health status was lowest among children aged 3-6 and 7-11 years, and for psychosomatic symptoms among 3-6-year-old children, whereas the odds ratios for long-term diseases was highest among children aged 7-11 years. Parental socioeconomic factors were not associated with the children's health.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Most of the children were reported by their parent to have good health status, and approximately one tenth had experienced some psychosomatic symptoms or long-term diseases. Our study suggests that parental socioeconomic factors are not associated with the health of children aged under 12 years in Finland.</p

The Impact of Early Life Stress on Anxiety Symptoms in Late Adulthood

Early life stress (ELS) may increase the risk of anxiety throughout the life course. Whether this effect extends to late adulthood is poorly known. In our study comprising 1872 participants from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study born in 1934-1944, we investigated the association of various forms of ELS and their accumulation with self-reported anxiety symptoms at the age of 65-77 years. Data on childhood socioeconomic status and separation from parents were based on national registers for all participants. Information on self-reported emotional and physical trauma, parental divorce, and death of a family member in childhood was obtained from 1277 participants. We found that experiencing emotional trauma, physical trauma, and low socioeconomic status in childhood were associated with increased anxiety symptoms in late adulthood [B = 0.44 (95% CI = 0.31-0.58); B = 0.33 (95%CI = 0.20-0.46); B = 0.10 (95%CI = 0.01-0.19), respectively]. These associations remained significant even after controlling for other forms of ELS. Accumulation of early life stress also increased the levels of late-adulthood anxiety symptoms and the risk of anxiety regarded as clinically significant. Screening for potentially stressful childhood experiences in elderly populations may help identifying individuals with increased anxiety symptoms and planning preventive and therapeutic interventions for those exposed to ELS.Peer reviewe

Maternal Depressive Symptoms During and After Pregnancy and Psychiatric Problems in Children

OBJECTIVE: Maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy are associated with increased risk of psychiatric problems in children. A more precise understanding of the timing of the symptoms during pregnancy and their independence of other prenatal and postnatal factors in predicting child psychopathology risk is needed. We examined whether maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy predict child psychiatric problems, whether these associations are trimester- or gestational-week-specific and/or independent of pregnancy disorders, and whether maternal depressive symptoms after pregnancy mediate or add to the prenatal effects. METHOD: The study sample comprised 2,296 women and their children born in Finland between 2006-2010, participating in the prospective pregnancy cohort study Prediction and Prevention of Preeclampsia and Intrauterine Growth Restriction (PREDO) and followed up from 1.9 to 5.9 years of age. The women completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale biweekly between gestational weeks+days 12+0/13+6 and 38+0/39+6 or delivery. In the follow-up, they completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II and Child Behavior Checklist 1½-5. RESULTS: Maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy predicted significantly higher internalizing (0.28 SD unit per SD unit increase [95% CI = 0.24-0.32]), externalizing (0.26 [0.23-0.30]), and total problems (0.31 [0.27-0.35]) in children. These associations were nonspecific to gestational week and hence pregnancy trimester, independent of pregnancy disorders, and independent of, although partially mediated by, maternal depressive symptoms after pregnancy. Psychiatric problems were greatest in children whose mothers reported clinically significant depressive symptoms across pregnancy trimesters and during and after pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy predict increased psychiatric problems in young children. Preventive interventions from early pregnancy onward may benefit offspring mental health.Peer reviewe

A novel variant in SMG9 causes intellectual disability, confirming a role for nonsense-mediated decay components in neurocognitive development

Biallelic loss-of-function variants in the SMG9 gene, encoding a regulatory subunit of the mRNA nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) machinery, are reported to cause heart and brain malformation syndrome. Here we report five patients from three unrelated families with intellectual disability (ID) and a novel pathogenic SMG9 c.551 T > C p.(Val184Ala) homozygous missense variant, identified using exome sequencing. Sanger sequencing confirmed recessive segregation in each family. SMG9 c.551T > C p.(Val184Ala) is most likely an autozygous variant identical by descent. Characteristic clinical findings in patients were mild to moderate ID, intention tremor, pyramidal signs, dyspraxia, and ocular manifestations. We used RNA sequencing of patients and age- and sex-matched healthy controls to assess the effect of the variant. RNA sequencing revealed that the SMG9 c.551T > C variant did not affect the splicing or expression level of SMG9 gene products, and allele-specific expression analysis did not provide evidence that the nonsense mRNA-induced NMD was affected. Differential gene expression analysis identified prevalent upregulation of genes in patients, including the genes SMOX, OSBP2, GPX3, and ZNF155. These findings suggest that normal SMG9 function may be involved in transcriptional regulation without affecting nonsense mRNA-induced NMD. In conclusion, we demonstrate that the SMG9 c.551T > C missense variant causes a neurodevelopmental disorder and impacts gene expression. NMD components have roles beyond aberrant mRNA degradation that are crucial for neurocognitive development.Peer reviewe

Taming the massive genome of Scots pine with PiSy50k, a new genotyping array for conifer research

Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) is the most widespread coniferous tree in the boreal forests of Eurasia, with major economic and ecological importance. However, its large and repetitive genome presents a challenge for conducting genome-wide analyses such as association studies, genetic mapping and genomic selection. We present a new 50K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping array for Scots pine research, breeding and other applications. To select the SNP set, we first genotyped 480 Scots pine samples on a 407 540 SNP screening array and identified 47 712 high-quality SNPs for the final array (called 'PiSy50k'). Here, we provide details of the design and testing, as well as allele frequency estimates from the discovery panel, functional annotation, tissue-specific expression patterns and expression level information for the SNPs or corresponding genes, when available. We validated the performance of the PiSy50k array using samples from Finland and Scotland. Overall, 39 678 (83.2%) SNPs showed low error rates (mean = 0.9%). Relatedness estimates based on array genotypes were consistent with the expected pedigrees, and the level of Mendelian error was negligible. In addition, array genotypes successfully discriminate between Scots pine populations of Finnish and Scottish origins. The PiSy50k SNP array will be a valuable tool for a wide variety of future genetic studies and forestry applications.Peer reviewe

The GenTree Dendroecological Collection, tree-ring and wood density data from seven tree species across Europe

The dataset presented here was collected by the GenTree project (EU-Horizon 2020), which aims to improve the use of forest genetic resources across Europe by better understanding how trees adapt to their local environment. This dataset of individual tree-core characteristics including ring-width series and whole-core wood density was collected for seven ecologically and economically important European tree species: silver birch (Betula pendula), European beech (Fagus sylvatica), Norway spruce (Picea abies), European black poplar (Populus nigra), maritime pine (Pinus pinaster), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), and sessile oak (Quercus petraea). Tree-ring width measurements were obtained from 3600 trees in 142 populations and whole-core wood density was measured for 3098 trees in 125 populations. This dataset covers most of the geographical and climatic range occupied by the selected species. The potential use of it will be highly valuable for assessing ecological and evolutionary responses to environmental conditions as well as for model development and parameterization, to predict adaptability under climate change scenarios