Selenium and mercury contents in northern pike (Esox Iucius, L.) of Finnish man-made and natural lakes

Seleenin ja elohopean pitoisuus Suomen tekoaltaiden ja luonnonjärvien hauiss

Metsäbiomassan energiakäytön ilmastovaikutukset Suomessa

Metsäbiomassan energiakäyttöä suunnitellaan lisättävän merkittävästi Suomessa. Tämän tutkimushankkeen tavoitteena oli arvioida hakkutähteiden, kantojen ja harvennusten tähdepuun energiakäytön aiheuttamat kasvihuonekaasupäästöt ilmakehään ja näiden päästöjen aiheuttama ilmastoa lämmittävä vaikutus. Hankkeessa huomioitiin metsäbiomassan korjuu- ja käyttöketjusta sekä metsän hiilivarastojen muutoksista johtuvat kasvihuonekaasupäästöt. Lisäksi hankkeessa arvioitiin metsäbiomassan energiakäytön aiheuttamat pienhiukkasvaikutukset. Metsäbiomassan energiakäytön aiheuttamat kasvihuonekaasupäästöt ja ilmastovaikutukset arvioitiin sekä metsikkötasolla että koko Suomen tasolla. Metsikkötason tarkastelujen avulla haarukoitiin päästöjen ja ilmastovaikutusten vaihteluväli Suomessa. Koko Suomen tason laskelmien avulla arvioitiin tähän asti toteutuneen metsäbiomassan energiakäytön sekä suunnitellun käytön lisäyksen vaikutukset Suomen metsien hiilitaseeseen ja Suomen kasvihuonekaasupäästöihin. Pienhiukkasvaikutukset arvioitiin metsäbioenergian korjuu- ja käyttöketjun tasolla Etelä- ja Pohjois-Suomessa. Metsäbiomassan energiakäytön aiheuttamia kasvihuonekaasupäästöjä ja ilmastovaikutuksia verrattiin fossiilisten polttoaineiden käytön päästöihin ja vaikutuksiin sadan vuoden aikana. Suomen tason laskelmissa tarkasteltiin jo toteutuneen ja suunnitellun metsäbiomassan energiakäytön lisäämisen vaikutuksia Suomen kasvihuonekaasutaseeseen ja metsien hiilinieluun vuosina 2000-2025. Tuloksista tehtiin johtopäätöksiä, jotka koskivat 1) metsäbiomassan energiakäytön tehokkuutta energiantuotannon päästöjen vähentämisessä ja ilmastonmuutoksen hillinnässä, 2) metsäbiomassan energiakäytön ilmastovaikutusten vähentämismahdollisuuksia sekä 3) metsäbiomassan energiakäytön päästöjen ja ilmastovaikutusten huomioimista ilmastopolitiikan taustalla olevissa laskentajärjestelmissä ja -säännöissä

Climate impacts of peat fuel utilization chains – a critical review of the Finnish and Swedish life cycle assessments

In recent years there has been a lively debate in Finland and Sweden on the climate impact of peat fuel utilization. The aim of this study was to clarify the contradictions between the Finnish and Swedish studies and provide a better basis for energy policy decision-making by summarizing the recent scientific knowledge about the climate impacts of peat fuel utilization chains based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. A starting point for this study was to carry out a critical review of Finnish and Swedish life cycle studies of the climate impacts of peat fuel utilization chains. The critical review was conducted according to the recommendations of international standards and its aim was to ensure that the methods, data and interpretation of results were carried out in a scientifically and technically valid way. During the review the available data (mostly published) on the greenhouse gas (GHG) balances and the radiative forcing impacts of GHGs were gathered and updated.  The re-calculations showed that the climate impact of "Pristine mire – afforestation" utilization chain is similar to the climate impact of coal utilization, whereas the result of the peat utilization chain "Pristine mire – restoration" is slightly worse than for the coal utilization chain. The results were similar in the reviewed studies. The peat utilization chain "Forestry-drained peatlands – afforestration" causes a slightly higher climate impact on average than the coal utilization chain does. From the viewpoint of peat utilization the result was similar to the result of Finnish study. According to the reviewed studies the use of cultivated peatlands causes the lowest climate impact compared to the climate impacts of the other peatlands. However, cultivated peatlands do not play important role as an extraction area for peat utilization. From the viewpoint of peat utilization the result of cultivated peatland was worse compared to the result produced by the Finnish and Swedish studies. The climate impacts of peat fuel utilization chains are mostly caused by the carbon dioxide released by peat combustion. These emissions are known quite  well. However, the emission assessments of different peat types include large uncertainty before, during and after peat extraction. In spite of that it can be said that land change options related to peat extraction and after-treatments have very limited effects on the climate impacts of peat utilization chain

Optical and geometrical aerosol particle properties over the United Arab Emirates

One year of ground-based night-time Raman lidar observations has been analysed under the Optimization of Aerosol Seeding In rain enhancement Strategies (OASIS) project, in order to characterize the aerosol particle properties over a rural site in the United Arab Emirates. In total, 1130 aerosol particle layers were detected during the 1-year measurement campaign which took place between March 2018 and February 2019. Several subsequent aerosol layers could be observed simultaneously in the atmosphere up to 11 km. The observations indicate that the measurement site is a receptor of frequent dust events, but predominantly the dust is mixed with aerosols of anthropogenic and/or marine origin. The mean aerosol optical depth over the measurement site ranged at 0.37±0.12 and 0.21±0.11 for 355 and 532 nm, respectively. Moreover, mean lidar ratios of 43±11 sr at a wavelength of 355 nm and 39±10 sr at 532 nm were found. The average linear particle depolarization ratio measured over the course of the campaign was 15±6% and 19±7% at the 355 and 532 nm wavelengths, respectively. Since the region is both a source and a receptor of mineral dust, we have also explored the properties of Arabian mineral dust of the greater area of the United Arab of Emirates and the Arabian Peninsula. The observed Arabian dust particle properties were 45±5 (42±5) sr at 355 (532) nm for the lidar ratio, 25±2% (31±2 %) for the linear particle depolarization ratio at 355 (532) nm, and 0.3±0.2 (0.2±0.2) for the extinction-related Angstrom exponent (backscatterrelated Angstrom exponent) between 355 and 532 nm. This study is the first to report comprehensive optical properties of the Arabian dust particles based on 1-year long observations, using to their fullest the capabilities of a multi-wavelength Raman lidar instrument. The results suggest that the mineral dust properties over the Middle East and western Asia, including the observation site, are comparable to those of African mineral dust with regard to the particle depolarization ratios, but not for lidar ratios. The smaller lidar ratio values in this study compared to the reference studies are attributed to the difference in the geochemical characteristics of the soil originating in the study region compared to northern Africa. © 2020 Royal Society of Chemistry. All rights reserved

The type of the functional cardiovascular response to upright posture is associated with arterial stiffness: a cross-sectional study in 470 volunteers

In a cross-sectional study we examined whether the haemodynamic response to upright posture could be divided into different functional phenotypes, and whether the observed phenotypes were associated with known determinants of cardiovascular risk. METHODS: Volunteers (n = 470) without medication with cardiovascular effects were examined using radial pulse wave analysis, whole-body impedance cardiography, and heart rate variability analysis. Based on the passive head-up tilt induced changes in systemic vascular resistance and cardiac output, the principal determinants of blood pressure, a cluster analysis was performed. RESULTS: The haemodynamic response could be clustered into 3 categories: upright increase in vascular resistance and decrease in cardiac output were greatest in the first (+45 % and -27 %, respectively), smallest in the second (+2 % and -2 %, respectively), and intermediate (+22 % and -13 %, respectively) in the third group. These groups were named as 'constrictor' (n = 109), 'sustainer' (n = 222), and 'intermediate' (n = 139) phenotypes, respectively. The sustainers were characterized by male predominance, higher body mass index, blood pressure, and also by higher pulse wave velocity, an index of large arterial stiffness, than the other groups (p < 0.01 for all). Heart rate variability analysis showed higher supine and upright low frequency/high frequency (LF/HF) ratio in the sustainers than constrictors, indicating increased sympathovagal balance. Upright LF/HF ratio was also higher in the sustainer than intermediate group. In multivariate analysis, independent explanatory factors for higher pulse wave velocity were the sustainer (p < 0.022) and intermediate phenotypes (p < 0.046), age (p < 0.001), body mass index (p < 0.001), and hypertension (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The response to upright posture could be clustered to 3 functional phenotypes. The sustainer phenotype, with smallest upright decrease in cardiac output and highest sympathovagal balance, was independently associated with increased large arterial stiffness. These results indicate an association of the functional haemodynamic phenotype with an acknowledged marker of cardiovascular risk. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01742702.BioMed Central open acces

Early life origins cognitive decline: findings in elderly men in the helsinki birth cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: To examine whether the adverse effects of slow prenatal and postnatal growth on cognitive function persist to old age and predict age related cognitive decline. DESIGN AND SETTING: A longitudinal birth cohort study of men born in Helsinki, Finland 1934-44. PARTICIPANTS: Nine-hundred-thirty-one men of the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study, with detailed data on growth from birth to adulthood, aged 20.1 (SD = 1.4) at the first and 67.9 (SD = 2.5) years at the second cognitive testing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Finnish Defense Forces Basic Intellectual Ability Test assessed twice over nearly five decades apart. RESULTS: Lower weight, length and head circumference at birth were associated with lower cognitive ability at 67.9 years (1.04-1.55 points lower ability per each standard deviation [SD] unit decrease in body size, 95% Confidence Interval [95%CI]: 0.05 to 2.72) and with cognitive decline after 20.1 years (0.07-0.11 SD decline over time per each SD decrease in body size, 95%CI:0.00 to 0.19). Men who were born larger were more likely to perform better in the cognitive ability test over time (1.22-1.43 increase in odds to remain in the top relative to the lower two thirds in ability over time per each SD increase in body size, 95%CI:1.04 to 1.79) and were more resilient to cognitive decline after 20.1 years (0.69 to 0.76 decrease in odds to decline from than remain in the top third of ability over time per each SD increase in body size, 95%CI:0.49 to 0.99). Slower growth between birth and two years in weight, height and body mass index was associated with lower cognitive ability at 67.9 years, but not with cognitive decline. CONCLUSIONS: Poorer lifetime cognitive ability is predicted by slower growth before and after birth. In predicting resilience to age related cognitive decline, the period before birth seems to be more critical.Peer reviewe

Luken visio suomalaisesta eläintuotannosta ja sen tutkimuksesta vuoteen 2040

Suomalaisen eläintuotannon ja sen tutkimuksen tulevaisuuden visio vuoteen 2040 tehtiin vuosina 2021 ja 2022 Luken Ruokavisio 2040 -työn ohessa. Visio pohjautuu Luken tutkijoiden, asiantuntijoiden ja professorien keskustelutilaisuuksiin ja työpajoihin, sidosryhmäkeskusteluihin, kirjallisuuteen ja tutkimustuloksiin. Luken vision mukaan vuonna 2040 eläintuotanto on 1) osa ravitsevaa, terveellistä ja turvallista ruokavaliota, 2) osa omavaraista ja huoltovarmaa ruoantuotantoa, 3) kiertotalouteen perustuvaa, 4) ilmasto- ja ympäristökestävää, 5) biodiversiteettiä lisäävää, 6) kannattavaa ja kilpailukykyistä, 7) eläinten hyvinvoinnin ja eläinterveyden kattavasti huomioivaa, sekä 8) hyväksyttävää ja vastuullista. Tutkimuksen tuottama tieto ja ratkaisut sekä paikallisesti että globaalisti auttavat koko elinkeinoa saavuttamaan nämä tavoitteet. Visiossa on nostettu esille myös tulevaisuuden tutkimusaiheita tutkimusalakohtaisesti ja lisäksi hahmotettu seitsemän tulevaisuuden merkittävintä tutkimuskysymystä, joiden ratkaisemiseksi tarvitaan pitkäjänteistä ja poikkitieteellistä tutkimusta. Vision muodostamista varten tunnistettiin kattavasti eläintuotannossa viime vuosikymmenten aikana tapahtuneita toimintaympäristön muutoksia. Muutoksia on tapahtunut muun muassa ruoan kysynnässä ja kulutuksessa, ilmastossa ja ympäristössä, omavaraisuuden merkityksessä, vientimahdollisuuksissa ja maatalouden rakenteessa. Näiden lisäksi pohdintaan on nostettu niin sanottuja entä jos -kysymyksiä, herättelemään ajatuksia mahdollisista radikaaleistakin muutoksista tulevaisuudessa. Tutkimusprojektien ja rahoituksen suunnitelmallisuus vaatii lyhyen ja pitkän aikavälin yhteistä näkemystä Luken sisällä ja tätä varten nyt kehitetty visio on hyödynnettävissä