Clinical Diagnosis of the Dampness and Mold Hypersensitivity Syndrome : Review of the Literature and Suggested Diagnostic Criteria

A great variety of non-specific symptoms may occur in patients living or working in moisture-damaged buildings. In the beginning, these symptoms are usually reversible, mild, and present irritation of mucosa and increased morbidity due to respiratory tract infections and asthma-like symptoms. Later, the disease may become chronic and a patient is referred to a doctor where the assessment of dampness and mold hypersensitivity syndrome (DMHS) often presents diagnostic challenges. Currently, unanimously accepted laboratory tests are not yet available. Therefore, the diagnosis of DMHS is clinical and is based on the patient's history and careful examination. In this publication, I reviewed contemporary knowledge on clinical presentations, laboratory methods, and clinical assessment of DMHS. From the literature, I have not found any proposed diagnostic clinical criteria. Therefore, I propose five clinical criteria to diagnose DMHS: (1) the history of mold exposure in water-damaged buildings, (2) increased morbidity to due infections, (3) sick building syndrome, (4) multiple chemical sensitivity, and (5) enhanced scent sensitivity. If all the five criteria are met, the patient has a very probable DMHS. To resolve the current problems in assigning correct DMHS diagnosis, we also need novel assays to estimate potential risks of developing DMHS.Peer reviewe

MARKKINOINTITUTKIMUS NISSAN-ASIAKKAISTA POHJOIS-KARJALASSA

Tämän opinnäytetyön aiheena on markkinointitutkimus Nissan-asiakkaista Pohjois-Karjalassa. Veljekset Laakkosen toimeksiannosta tehdyn tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää vuosien 2008 ja 2012 välisenä aikana myytyjen Nissan-henkilö- ja hyötyautojen omistajien asiakastyytyväisyyttä, sitoutuneisuutta sekä ostokäyttäytymistä Pohjois-Karjalan markkina-alueella. Tutkimuskohteina ovat automyynti, huoltopalvelu, varaosapalvelu sekä Nissanin maksulliset lisäpalvelut huolenpitosopimus ja Jatkoturva. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on mitata yleistä asiakastyytyväisyyttä, asiakkaiden sitoutuneisuuden tasoa sekä eri palveluiden valintakriteereitä. Tutkimus on kvantitatiivinen ja se suoritettiin osatutkimuksena. Tiedonkeruumenetelmänä käytettiin henkilökohtaisia puhelinhaastatteluita kyselylomaketta hyödyntäen kesällä 2013. Tutkimustuloksissa kävi ilmi, että Nissan-asiakkaat ovat todella tyytyväisiä Nissan-autoihinsa sekä Veljekset Laakkosen automyynnin ja huoltopalvelun toimintaan. Nissan-asiakkaat ovat myös tulosten perusteella potentiaalisia asiakkaita tulevaisuudessa ja sen takia aktiivinen yhteydenpito heihin on kannattavaa. Maksullisten lisäpalveluiden tulevaisuus on tutkimuksen perusteella valoisa ja niiden kehittämiseen kannattaa jatkossakin panostaa.The subject of this thesis is a marketing research about Nissan-customers in North Karelia. The objective of the research, which was commissioned by Veljekset Laakkonen Ltd, was to disentangle customer satisfaction, commitment and buying behavior of Nissan-car and -van owners regarding cars and vans sold in North Karelia between the years 2008 and 2012. Targets of the research were car sales, workshop, spare part service and paid extra services of Nissan: service contract and enlarged warranty. The goal of the research was to measure customer satisfaction in general, the commitment level of customers and the choosing criteria of different services. The research was quantitative and was executed as partial research. Personal interviews by phone calls with questionnaires were used as data collection method during the summer 2013. On the basis of the results it can be concluded that Nissan-customers are very satisfied with their Nissan-cars as well as with the car sales and workshop of Veljekset Laakkonen Ltd. Moreover, Nissan-customers are potential customers in the future and there-fore active communication with them is beneficial. Finally, it can be stated that the future of paid extra services seems bright and further development in this field would be valuable in the future

Sensitive, homogeneous, and label-free protein-probe assay for antibody aggregation and thermal stability studies

Protein aggregation is a spontaneous process affected by multiple external and internal properties, such as buffer composition and storage temperature. Aggregation of protein-based drugs can endanger patient safety due, for example, to increased immunogenicity. Aggregation can also inactivate protein drugs and prevent target engagement, and thus regulatory requirements are strict regarding drug stability monitoring during manufacturing and storage. Many of the current technologies for aggregation monitoring are time- and material-consuming and require specific instruments and expertise. These types of assays are not only expensive, but also unsuitable for larger sample panels. Here we report a label-free time-resolved luminescence-based method using an external Eu3+-conjugated probe for the simple and fast detection of protein stability and aggregation. We focused on monitoring the properties of IgG, which is a common format for biological drugs. The Protein-Probe assay enables IgG aggregation detection with a simple single-well mix-and-measure assay performed at room temperature. Further information can be obtained in a thermal ramping, where IgG thermal stability is monitored. We showed that with the Protein-Probe, trastuzumab aggregation was detected already after 18 hours of storage at 60 degrees C, 4 to 8 days earlier compared to SYPRO Orange- and UV250-based assays, respectively. The ultra-high sensitivity of less than 0.1% IgG aggregates enables the Protein-Probe to reduce assay time and material consumption compared to existing techniques

Is sleep apnea a risk factor for Covid-19? findings from a retrospective cohort study

Background: In the early phase of the coronavirus disease-19 (Covid-19) pandemic, Southwest Finland remained relatively spared. By the 3rd of May 2020, a total of 28 patients have been admitted to the Turku University Hospital. We explore baseline characteristics in order to identify risk for severe disease and critical care admission.Methods: For this retrospective cohort study, data were derived from hospital records. Basic descriptive statistics were used to characterise patients, including medians, percentiles and frequencies. Differences were tested with Mann Whitney U-test and Pearson’s chi-square test.Results: Pre-existent obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was present in 29% of patients admitted in the hospital for Covid-19. Overall, other findings on admission were comparable with those reported elsewhere. C-reactive protein and procalcitonin were higher in patients who were eventually transferred to critical care in comparison to in those who were not (median CRP 187 mg/L versus 52 mg/L, pConclusion: OSA was pre-existent in a disproportional large group of patients, which suggests that it is an important risk factor for severe Covid-19. Furthermore, we identified high CRP, PCT and possibly native oxygen saturation as useful clinical measures to identify patients at risk for critical care.</p

Sensitive Label-Free Thermal Stability Assay for Protein Denaturation and Protein-Ligand Interaction Studies

In modern biochemistry, protein stability and ligand interactions are of high interest. These properties are often studied with methods requiring labeled biomolecules, as the existing methods utilizing luminescent external probes suffer from low sensitivity. Currently available label-free technologies, e.g., thermal shift assays, circular dichroism, and differential scanning calorimetry, enable studies on protein unfolding and protein-ligand interactions (PLI). Unfortunately, the required micromolar protein concentration increases the costs and predisposes these methods for spontaneous protein aggregation. Here, we report a time-resolved luminescence method for protein unfolding and PLI detection with nanomolar sensitivity. The Protein-Probe method is based on highly luminescent europium chelate-conjugated probe, which is the key component in sensing the hydrophobic regions exposed to solution after protein unfolding. With the same Eu-probe, we also demonstrate ligand-interaction induced thermal stabilization with model proteins. The developed Protein-Probe method provides a sensitive approach overcoming the problems of the current label-free methodologies

Tehohoidon kapasiteetti COVID-19-epidemiassa

Mitkä ovat käytössä olevat resurssit, miten ne saadaan riittämään ja kuinka hoito kohdennetaan mahdollisimman vaikuttavasti COVID-19-epidemian aikana? Tehohoitolääkärit vastaavat

Tehohoidon kapasiteetti COVID-19-epidemiassa

Mitkä ovat käytössä olevat resurssit, miten ne saadaan riittämään ja kuinka hoito kohdennetaan mahdollisimman vaikuttavasti COVID-19-epidemian aikana? Tehohoitolääkärit vastaavat

Urheilijan COVID-19 : tarvitaanko rutiininomaisia kardiologisia selvityksiä?

Nuorten urheilijoiden COVID-19-infektiot ovat pääosin olleet lieväoireisia tai oireettomia. SARS-CoV-2-virus ei ole erityisen sydänhakuinen, mutta vaikeissa, sairaalahoitoa vaatineissa tilanteissa sydänlihaksen tai -pussin tulehdusta on nähty usein. Tutkimuksissa pienellä osalla urheilijoista on todettu magneettikuvauksella sydäntulehdukseen ­sopivia löydöksiä. Paluu urheiluun COVID-19-taudin jälkeen tulee aina tehdä vähitellen. Mikäli infektioon on liittynyt ­sydäntulehdus, täysipainoinen urheilu voi alkaa vasta täydellisen toipumisen jälkeen.</p