Aikuisena sisäkorvaistutteen saaneen kieli-identiteetistä

Tiivistelmä. Tiivistelmä suomalaisella viittomakielellä: https://vimeo.com/369564639/c50d399d7cTiivistelmä. Tässä pro gradu -työssäni tutkin aikuisena sisäkorvaistutteen saaneen henkilön kieli-identiteettiä. Lähestyn aihetta sosiokulttuurisesta näkökulmasta, jolloin painotan henkilön omia kokemuksia ja käsityksiä asiasta. Tutkimuksia ja selvityksiä sisäkorvaistutekuntoutuksesta ja istutetta käyttävien lasten ja nuorten kielenkehityksestä, kielivalinnoista, kouluratkaisuista ja oppimisesta on tehty Suomessa jo verrattain paljon. Sen sijaan aikuisena sisäkorvaistutteen saaneen kieli-identiteettiä ei tietääkseni ole Suomessa aiemmin tutkittu. Ensimmäisen tutkimuskysymykseni avulla selvitän aikuisena sisäkorvaistutteen saaneen kielenkäyttöä arjessaan ja istutteen mahdollisesti mukanaan tuomia muutoksia siihen. Toisen tutkimuskysymykseni avulla pyrin saamaan käsityksen siitä, samastuuko sisäkorvaistutetta käyttävä henkilö huonokuuloisten, viittomakielisten kuurojen vai kuulevien kieli- ja kulttuuriyhteisöön. Tarkastelen, miten kielivalinnat, aikuisiällä alkanut sisäkorvaistutteen käyttö ja mahdolliset muut seikat ovat vaikuttaneet kieli-identiteetin muodostumiseen. Tutkimusaineiston keräsin kahdelta suomalaiselta huonokuuloiselta, sisäkorvaistutetta käyttävältä henkilöltä teemahaastattelun avulla. Ensimmäisessä haastattelussa kielenä oli puhuttu suomen kieli, toisessa suomalainen viittomakieli. Informanteista toinen oli haastatteluhetkellä 48-vuotias ja käyttänyt istutetta kuusi vuotta, toinen 50-vuotias ja käyttänyt istutetta kaksi vuotta. Tutkimuksessani vertailen informanttieni kieli-identiteettiä toisiinsa. Tutkimusmetodini on sekä aineistolähtöinen että teoriaohjaava sisällönanalyysi. Tutkimukseni perusteella perhetaustan, koulumuodon ja -ympäristön sekä niissä käytetyn kielen voi nähdä merkittävästi vaikuttaneen informanttien kieli-identiteetin rakentumiseen. Sisäkorvaistutteen saamisen jälkeen kummankaan kieli-identiteetissä ei näytä juuri tapahtuneen muutosta. Tutkimukseni osoittaa, että informanteista toinen identifioi itsensä vahvimmin huonokuuloisten ryhmään, mutta samastuu hieman kaikkiin mainittuihin ryhmiin. Toinen informantti puolestaan identifioi itsensä vahvasti viittomakielisiin kuuroihin, mutta samastuu myös huonokuuloisiin. Tutkimukseni tulokset vahvistavat aiempaa tutkimusta, joiden mukaan sisäkorvaistutetta käyttävän henkilön kieli-identiteetti on moninainen ja yksilöllinen ja voi vaihdella tilannekohtaisesti (Most, Blitzer & Weisel 2007; Lauronen 2008; Rich, Levinger, Werner & Adelman 2013; Takala & Sume 2016a; Goldblat & Most 2018). Näyttää siltä, että aikuisena sisäkorvaistutteen saaneiden joukko on varsin heterogeeninen niin pääasiallisesti käyttämänsä kielen, ryhmiin identifioitumisen kuin sitä myöten kieli-identiteetin osalta. Tästä tiedosta voivat hyötyä viittomakieli- ja kuuloalan tutkijat, opettajat, lääkärit ja muut kuntouttajat sekä kuulovikaisten lasten vanhemmat ja sisäkorvaistutetta harkitsevat aikuiset

Combined and single effects of pesticide carbaryl and toxic Microcystis aeruginosa on the life history of Daphnia pulicaria

The combined influence of a pesticide (carbaryl) and a cyanotoxin (microcystin LR) on the life history of Daphnia pulicaria was investigated. At the beginning of the experiments animals were pulse exposed to carbaryl for 24 h and microcystins were delivered bound in Microcystis’ cells at different, sub-lethal concentrations (chronic exposure). In order to determine the actual carbaryl concentrations in the water LC–MS/MS was used. For analyses of the cyanotoxin concentration in Daphnia’s body enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used. Individual daphnids were cultured in a flow-through system under constant light (16 h of light: 8 h of dark), temperature (20°C), and food conditions (Scenedesmus obliquus, 1 mg of C l−1). The results showed that in the treatments with carbaryl egg numbers per female did not differ significantly from controls, but the mortality of newborns increased significantly. Increasing microcystin concentrations significantly delayed maturation, reduced size at first reproduction, number of eggs, and newborns. The interaction between carbaryl and Microcystis was highly significant. Animals matured later and at a smaller size than in controls. The number of eggs per female was reduced as well. Moreover, combined stressors caused frequent premature delivery of offspring with body deformations such as dented carapax or an undeveloped heart. This effect is concluded to be synergistic and could not be predicted from the effects of the single stressors.

The swinholide biosynthesis gene cluster from a terrestrial cyanobacterium, Nostoc sp. strain UHCC 0450

Swinholides are 42-carbon ring polyketides with a 2-fold axis of symmetry. They are potent cytotoxins that disrupt the actin cytoskeleton. Swinholides were discovered from the marine sponge Theonella sp. and were long suspected to be produced by symbiotic bacteria. Misakinolide, a structural variant of swinholide, was recently demonstrated to be the product of a symbiotic heterotrophic proteobacterium. Here, we report the production of swinholide A by an axenic strain of the terrestrial cyanobacterium Nostoc sp. strain UHCC 0450. We located the 85-kb trans-AT polyketide synthase (PKS) swinholide biosynthesis gene cluster from a draft genome of Nostoc sp. UHCC 0450. The swinholide and misakinolide biosynthesis gene clusters share an almost identical order of catalytic domains, with 85% nucleotide sequence identity, and they group together in phylogenetic analysis. Our results resolve speculation around the true producer of swinholides and demonstrate that bacteria belonging to two distantly related phyla both produce structural variants of the same natural product. In addition, we described a biosynthesis cluster from Anabaena sp. strain UHCC 0451 for the synthesis of the cytotoxic and antifungal scytophycin. All of these biosynthesis gene clusters were closely related to each other and created a group of cytotoxic macrolide compounds produced by trans-AT PKSs of cyanobacteria and proteobacteria. © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.We thank Lyudmila Saari for purifying the cyanobacterial strains into axenic cultures. This work was supported by the Academy of Finland grants 258827 and 273798 to K.S. and 288235 to P.P. A.H. is a student at the Doctoral Programme in Microbiology and Biotechnology. A.A. was funded in part by the Strategic Funding grant UID/Multi/ 04423/2013 through national funds provided by the Portuguese National Science Foundation (FCT) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in the framework of the program PT2020, by the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) through the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program-COMPETE 2020, and by the Structured Programs of R&D&I INNOVMAR (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000035-NOVELMAR), CORAL NORTE (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000036), and MarInfo (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000031), funded by the Northern Regional Operational Pro-gram (NORTE2020) through the ERDF. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publicatio

Maximum rates of N2 fixation and primary production are out of phase in a developing cyanobacterial bloom in the Baltic Sea

Although N2-fixing cyanobacteria contribute significantly to oceanic sequestration of atmospheric CO2, little is known about how N2 fixation and carbon fixation (primary production) interact in natural populations of marine cyanobacteria. In a developing cyanobacterial bloom in the Baltic Sea, rates of N2 fixation (acetylene reduction) showed both diurnal and longer-term fluctuations. The latter reflected fluctuations in the nitrogen status of the cyanobacterial population and could be correlated with variations in the ratio of acetylene reduced to 15N2 assimilated. The value of this ratio may provide useful information about the release of newly fixed nitrogen by a cyanobacterial population. However, although the diurnal fluctuations in N2 fixation broadly paralleled diurnal fluctuations in carbon fixation, the longer-term fluctuations in these two processes were out of phase

The apoptosis-inducing activity towards leukemia and lymphoma cells in a cyanobacterial culture collection is not associated with mouse bioassay toxicity

Cyanobacteria (83 strains and seven natural populations) were screened for content of apoptosis (cell death)-inducing activity towards neoplastic cells of the immune (jurkat acute T-cell lymphoma) and hematopoetic (acute myelogenic leukemia) lineage. Apoptogenic activity was frequent, even in strains cultured for decades, and was unrelated to whether the cyanobacteria had been collected from polar, temperate, or tropic environments. The activity was more abundant in the genera Anabaena and Microcystis compared to Nostoc, Phormidium, Planktothrix, and Pseudanabaena. Whereas the T-cell lymphoma apoptogens were frequent in organic extracts, the cell death-inducing activity towards leukemia cells resided mainly in aqueous extracts. The cyanobacteria were from a culture collection established for public health purposes to detect toxic cyanobacterial blooms, and 54 of them were tested for toxicity by the mouse bioassay. We found no correlation between the apoptogenic activity in the cyanobacterial isolates with their content of microcystin, nor with their ability to elicit a positive standard mouse bioassay. Several strains produced more than one apoptogen, differing in biophysical or biological activity. In fact, two strains contained microcystin in addition to one apoptogen specific for the AML cells, and one apoptogen specific for the T-cell lymphoma. This study shows the potential of cyanobacterial culture collections as libraries for bioactive compounds, since strains kept in cultures for decades produced apoptogens unrelated to the mouse bioassay detectable bloom-associated toxins

Application of an universal DNA microarray to cyanobacterial diversity assessment

peer reviewedOur technological goal was to test the new technology of DNA microarrays in the field of biodiversity assessments. The efficiency of DNA microarrays; was compared against the "classical" methods for measuring and monitoring the biodiversity. We use cyanobacteria from freshwater lakes as model organisms belonging to a well defined phylum of much ecological relevance. The combination of the information about cyanobacterial biodiversity together with the data describing the water quality of the lakes may reveal useful information to design management actions to control the unwanted mass developments of cyanobacteria. Such blooms prevent the use of water for drinking and for recreation and can be toxic to animals and humans. The possibility to automate the microarray technology in water quality monitoring will be an interesting alternative to time-consuming microscopic enumerations.MIDI-CHI

Recreational and occupational field exposure to freshwater cyanobacteria – a review of anecdotal and case reports, epidemiological studies and the challenges for epidemiologic assessment

Cyanobacteria are common inhabitants of freshwater lakes and reservoirs throughout the world. Under favourable conditions, certain cyanobacteria can dominate the phytoplankton within a waterbody and form nuisance blooms. Case reports and anecdotal references dating from 1949 describe a range of illnesses associated with recreational exposure to cyanobacteria: hay fever-like symptoms, pruritic skin rashes and gastro-intestinal symptoms are most frequently reported. Some papers give convincing descriptions of allergic reactions while others describe more serious acute illnesses, with symptoms such as severe headache, pneumonia, fever, myalgia, vertigo and blistering in the mouth. A coroner in the United States found that a teenage boy died as a result of accidentally ingesting a neurotoxic cyanotoxin from a golf course pond. This death is the first recorded human fatality attributed to recreational exposure to cyanobacteria, although uncertainties surround the forensic identification of the suspected cyanotoxin in this case. We systematically reviewed the literature on recreational exposure to freshwater cyanobacteria. Epidemiological data are limited, with six studies conducted since 1990. Statistically significant increases in symptoms were reported in individuals exposed to cyanobacteria compared to unexposed counterparts in two Australian cohort studies, though minor morbidity appeared to be the main finding. The four other small studies (three from the UK, one Australian) did not report any significant association. However, the potential for serious injury or death remains, as freshwater cyanobacteria under bloom conditions are capable of producing potent toxins that cause specific and severe dysfunction to hepatic or central nervous systems. The exposure route for these toxins is oral, from ingestion of recreational water, and possibly by inhalation. A range of freshwater microbial agents may cause acute conditions that present with features that resemble illnesses attributed to contact with cyanobacteria and, conversely, acute illness resulting from exposure to cyanobacteria or cyanotoxins in recreational waters could be misdiagnosed. Accurately assessing exposure to cyanobacteria in recreational waters is difficult and unreliable at present, as specific biomarkers are unavailable. However, diagnosis of cyanobacteria-related illness should be considered for individuals presenting with acute illness following freshwater contact if a description is given of a waterbody visibly affected by planktonic mass development

A Molecular and Co-Evolutionary Context for Grazer Induced Toxin Production in Alexandrium tamarense

Marine dinoflagellates of the genus Alexandrium are the proximal source of neurotoxins associated with Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning. The production of these toxins, the toxin biosynthesis and, thus, the cellular toxicity can be influenced by abiotic and biotic factors. There is, however, a lack of substantial evidence concerning the toxins' ecological function such as grazing defense. Waterborne cues from copepods have been previously found to induce a species-specific increase in toxin content in Alexandrium minutum. However, it remains speculative in which context these species-specific responses evolved and if it occurs in other Alexandrium species as well. In this study we exposed Alexandrium tamarense to three copepod species (Calanus helgolandicus, Acartia clausii, and Oithona similis) and their corresponding cues. We show that the species-specific response towards copepod-cues is not restricted to one Alexandrium species and that co-evolutionary processes might be involved in these responses, thus giving additional evidence for the defensive role of phycotoxins. Through a functional genomic approach we gained insights into the underlying molecular processes which could trigger the different outcomes of these species-specific responses and consequently lead to increased toxin content in Alexandrium tamarense. We propose that the regulation of serine/threonine kinase signaling pathways has a major influence in directing the external stimuli i.e. copepod-cues, into different intracellular cascades and networks in A. tamarense. Our results show that A. tamarense can sense potential predating copepods and respond to the received information by increasing its toxin production. Furthermore, we demonstrate how a functional genomic approach can be used to investigate species interactions within the plankton community