Ohjeita järvien ja jokien pohjaeläimistöseurannan näytteenottoon ja raportointiin

Ohje on laadittu ympäristökeskusten alueilla tapahtuvaa, lähinnä velvoitetarkkailuihin kuuluvaa pohjaeläinseurantaa varten. Ohje on tarkoitettu sekä konsulttien että aluekeskuksissa velvoitetarkkailuja hoitavien käyttöön ja sitä voidaan hyödyntää mm. tarkkailuohjelmien laadintavaiheessa. Ohjeen avulla pyritään yhdenmukaistamaan pohjaeläinseurantoja, koskien lähinnä pohjaeläimistön näytteenottoa. Tulosten raportointia ja käsittelyä ei ole ohjeistettu kovin pitkälle, mutta olennaisimmat huomioitavat tekijät on kerrottu. Lisäksi on esitetty lisätietolähteitä ja keskeisin pohjaeläimistön määrityskirjallisuus

Presence of high-risk HLA genotype is the most important individual risk factor for coeliac disease among at-risk relatives

Background Family screening has been advocated as a means to reduce the major underdiagnosis of coeliac disease. However, the precise risk of the disease in relatives and the impact of patient- and relative-related individual factors remain obscure. Aims To investigate the individual risk of coeliac disease among patients' relatives. Methods Altogether 2943 relatives of 624 index patients were assessed for the presence of previous coeliac disease diagnosis, or were screened for the disease. Coeliac disease-associated human leucocyte antigen (HLA) genotype was determined from all participants. The association between individual factors and new screening positivity was assessed by logistic regression. Results There were 229 previously diagnosed non-index relatives with coeliac disease and 2714 non-affected (2067 first-degree, 647 more distant) relatives. Of these 2714 relatives, 129 (4.8%) were screening-positive (first-degree 5.1%, second-degree 3.6%, more distant 3.5%). The combined prevalence of the previously diagnosed and now detected cases in relatives was 12.2% (6.3% clinically detected, 5.9% screen-detected). In univariate analysis, agePeer reviewe

Headwater chemistry in subarctic areas with different plant communities (Finnish Lapland)

The study determines the differences in the chemistry of small headwater streams located in areas with different plant communities in Finnish Lapland. Water samples from 76 catchments with four different plant communities were collected and analyzed. The statistical analyses of water temperature, water specific electric conductivity and the concentration of main ions, revealed the greatest variation in ion concentrations related to rock weathering: Ca2+, Mg2+, HCO3- in the studied catchments. Enrichment of water with these ions occurred in catchments representing forest communities with thick soils, especially in the boreal forest community. This suggests that future changes in the northern treeline may affect the surface water chemistry depending on the direction of changes. In case of the expansion of the treeline to the north due to climate warming, an increase in water mineralization and a shift of hydrochemical facies towards a Ca-Mg-HCO3-type can be expected. On the other hand, the regression of the northern treeline could be expected to result in a reduction of nutrient pools and leaching them into streams. Eventually, it could result in the depletion of soils and the dominance of atmosphere-derived ions in waters, and the hydrochemical facies will shift towards Na-Cl-type.Peer reviewe

Monitoring of ticks and tick-borne pathogens through a nationwide research station network in Finland

In 2015 a long-term, nationwide tick and tick-borne pathogen (TBP) monitoring project was started by the Finnish Tick Project and the Finnish Research Station network (RESTAT), with the goal of producing temporally and geographically extensive data regarding exophilic ticks in Finland. In the current study, we present results from the first four years of this collaboration. Ticks were collected by cloth dragging from 11 research stations across Finland in May September 2015-2018 (2012-2018 in Seili). Collected ticks were screened for twelve different pathogens by qPCR: Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii, Borrelia valaisiana, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia miyamotoi, Babesia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Rickettsia spp., Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis, Francisella tularensis, Bartonella spp. and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Altogether 15 067 Ixodes ricinus and 46 Ixodes persulcatus were collected during 68 km of dragging. Field collections revealed different seasonal activity patterns for the two species. The activity of I. persulcatus adults (only one nymph detected) was unimodal, with activity only in May July, whereas Ixodes ricinus was active from May to September, with activity peaks in September (nymphs) or July August (adults). Overall, tick densities were higher during the latter years of the study. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato were the most common pathogens detected, with 48.9 +/- 8.4% (95% Cl) of adults and 25.3 +/- 4.4% of nymphs carrying the bacteria. No samples positive for F. tularensis, Bartonella or TBEV were detected. This collaboration project involving the extensive Finnish Research Station network has ensured enduring and spatially extensive, long-term tick data collection to the foreseeable future.Peer reviewe

White paper on Terrestrial Ecological and Environmental Research Infrastructures in Finland

This White Paper presents a vision of globally leading, scientifically important and socially relevant environmental research infrastructures (RIs) in Finland, and identifies what we consider as the key issues to be developed to improve the impact and to support the Finnish national infrastructures in their international visibility. The focus is on: 1. The scientific questions driving the terrestrial ecosystem and environmental research globally and in Finland; 2. Specific requirements by different user groups in Finland for ecological and environmental RIs; and 3. Roadmap for the sustainable ecological and environmental RI in Finland. We also present the strategies of organizations regarding their RI development, and the existing infrastructures and networks which form the basis for future development. The final goal of this document is to encourage the development of a coherent vision at national level, and to increase the scientific significance, national synergies and benefits towards a stronger research community. The need for developing a national RI strategy for environmental field arises from the global challenges, which threaten the ecosystems’ functioning. Human activities are imposing many identified, but also previously unknown pressures to ecosystem properties and functions, which are also feeding back to the societies via the quality and quantity of ecosystem services. However, the ecosystem responses to changes in environment are in many cases poorly quantified and the studies only cover short time scales. In order to succeed in providing answers to the grand challenges (ICSU 2010), integrated research infrastructures and efficient analysis tools are crucially needed. The request to improve our knowledge of the state of the environment and the complex biosphere-hydrosphere-atmosphere interactions, and to detect and analyze the impact of global change on these systems has been recognized as a general priority in developing environmental research infrastructures in EU and globally. Currently, Finland is one of the world leaders in atmospheric and environmental sciences, both in terms of research and in coordinating the European and global observation station networks and infrastructures. With this existing experience from close-by research fields and the high research outputs from ecology and ecophysiology in our research organizations, Finland has also the potential to actively promote the ecosystem RI concept, and to act as an example of integrated RIs for other countries. The vision is to develop the capacity of the Finnish ecosystem research community to integrate, upscale and synthesize the observations with relevant holistic process understanding as well as open and reliable data management practices. This can be implemented by creating functional and cost-efficient in-situ platforms and by providing quality-checked data in findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) manner for high-level environmental research. This White paper was made in connection with the INAR Ecosystems initiative funded by Academy of Finland and updated with proceeding of European processes, and it provides a starting point for national cooperation in environmental research infrastructures

White paper on Terrestrial Ecological and Environmental Research Infrastructures in Finland: Analysis of the current landscape and proposal for future steps

This White Paper presents a vision of globally leading, scientifically important and socially relevant environmental research infrastructures (RIs) in Finland, and identifies what we consider as the key issues to be developed to improve the impact and to support the Finnish national infrastructures in their international visibility. The focus is on: 1. The scientific questions driving the terrestrial ecosystem and environmental research globally and in Finland; 2. Specific requirements by different user groups in Finland for ecological and environmental RIs; and 3. Roadmap for the sustainable ecological and environmental RI in Finland. We also present the strategies of organizations regarding their RI development, and the existing infrastructures and networks which form the basis for future development. The final goal of this document is to encourage the development of a coherent vision at national level, and to increase the scientific significance, national synergies and benefits towards a stronger research community. The need for developing a national RI strategy for environmental field arises from the global challenges, which threaten the ecosystems’ functioning. Human activities are imposing many identified, but also previously unknown pressures to ecosystem properties and functions, which are also feeding back to the societies via the quality and quantity of ecosystem services. However, the ecosystem responses to changes in environment are in many cases poorly quantified and the studies only cover short time scales. In order to succeed in providing answers to the grand challenges (ICSU 2010), integrated research infrastructures and efficient analysis tools are crucially needed. The request to improve our knowledge of the state of the environment and the complex biosphere-hydrosphere-atmosphere interactions, and to detect and analyze the impact of global change on these systems has been recognized as a general priority in developing environmental research infrastructures in EU and globally. Currently, Finland is one of the world leaders in atmospheric and environmental sciences, both in terms of research and in coordinating the European and global observation station networks and infrastructures. With this existing experience from close-by research fields and the high research outputs from ecology and ecophysiology in our research organizations, Finland has also the potential to actively promote the ecosystem RI concept, and to act as an example of integrated RIs for other countries. The vision is to develop the capacity of the Finnish ecosystem research community to integrate, upscale and synthesize the observations with relevant holistic process understanding as well as open and reliable data management practices. This can be implemented by creating functional and cost-efficient in-situ platforms and by providing quality-checked data in findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) manner for high-level environmental research. This White paper was made in connection with the INAR Ecosystems initiative funded by Academy of Finland and updated with proceeding of European processes, and it provides a starting point for national cooperation in environmental research infrastructures. Keywords: Terrestrial ecosystems, research infrastructures, ESFRI</p

Response of boreal lakes to episodic weather-induced events

Weather-induced episodic mixing events in lake ecosystems are often unpredictable, and their impacts are therefore poorly known. The impacts can be short-lived, including changes in water temperature and stratification, but long-lasting effects on the lake&rsquo;s biology may also occur. In this study we used automated water quality monitoring (AWQM) data from 8 boreal lakes to examine how the episodic weather-induced mixing events influenced thermal structure, hypolimnetic dissolved oxygen (DO), fluorometric chlorophyll estimates (Chl-a), and lake metabolism and how these events varied in frequency and magnitude in lakes with different characteristics. Rise in wind speed alone had an effect on the lakes with the weakest thermal stability, but a decrease in air temperature together with strong wind induced mixing events in all lakes. The return period of these mixing events varied widely (from 20 to 92 d) and was dependent on the magnitude of change in weather. In lakes with strong stability, thermal structure and hypolimnetic DO concentration were only slightly affected. Weather-induced mixing in the upper water column diluted the surface water Chl-a repeatedly, whereas seasonal maximum occurred in late summer on each lake. Although Finnish lakes have been characterized with stable stratification during summer, we observed many substantial mixing events of relatively short return periods relevant to both chemical and biological properties of the lakes

Monitoring of ticks and tick-borne pathogens through a nationwide research station network in Finland

In 2015 a long-term, nationwide tick and tick-borne pathogen (TBP) monitoring project was started by the Finnish Tick Project and the Finnish Research Station network (RESTAT), with the goal of producing temporally and geographically extensive data regarding exophilic ticks in Finland. In the current study, we present results from the first four years of this collaboration. Ticks were collected by cloth dragging from 11 research stations across Finland in May–September 2015–2018 (2012–2018 in Seili). Collected ticks were screened for twelve different pathogens by qPCR: Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii, Borrelia valaisiana, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia miyamotoi, Babesia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Rickettsia spp., Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis, Francisella tularensis, Bartonella spp. and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Altogether 15 067 Ixodes ricinus and 46 Ixodes persulcatus were collected during 68 km of dragging. Field collections revealed different seasonal activity patterns for the two species. The activity of I. persulcatus adults (only one nymph detected) was unimodal, with activity only in May–July, whereas Ixodes ricinus was active from May to September, with activity peaks in September (nymphs) or July–August (adults). Overall, tick densities were higher during the latter years of the study. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato were the most common pathogens detected, with 48.9 ± 8.4% (95% Cl) of adults and 25.3 ± 4.4% of nymphs carrying the bacteria. No samples positive for F. tularensis, Bartonella or TBEV were detected. This collaboration project involving the extensive Finnish Research Station network has ensured enduring and spatially extensive, long-term tick data collection to the foreseeable future

Hydroclimatic Controls on the Isotopic (δ18 O, δ2 H, d-excess) Traits of Pan-Arctic Summer Rainfall Events

Arctic sea-ice loss is emblematic of an amplified Arctic water cycle and has critical feedback implications for global climate. Stable isotopes (delta O-18, delta H-2, d-excess) are valuable tracers for constraining water cycle and climate processes through space and time. Yet, the paucity of well-resolved Arctic isotope data preclude an empirically derived understanding of the hydrologic changes occurring today, in the deep (geologic) past, and in the future. To address this knowledge gap, the Pan-Arctic Precipitation Isotope Network (PAPIN) was established in 2018 to coordinate precipitation sampling at 19 stations across key tundra, subarctic, maritime, and continental climate zones. Here, we present a first assessment of rainfall samples collected in summer 2018 (n = 281) and combine new isotope and meteorological data with sea ice observations, reanalysis data, and model simulations. Data collectively establish a summer Arctic Meteoric Water Line where delta H-2 = 7.6.delta O-18-1.8 (r(2) = 0.96, p 0.75 parts per thousand/degrees C) were observed at continental sites, while statistically significant temperature relations were generally absent at coastal stations. Model outputs indicate that 68% of the summer precipitating air masses were transported into the Arctic from mid-latitudes and were characterized by relatively high delta O-18 values. Yet 32% of precipitation events, characterized by lower delta O-18 and high d-excess values, derived from northerly air masses transported from the Arctic Ocean and/or its marginal seas, highlighting key emergent oceanic moisture sources as sea ice cover declines. Resolving these processes across broader spatial-temporal scales is an ongoing research priority, and will be key to quantifying the past, present, and future feedbacks of an amplified Arctic water cycle on the global climate system

Intracranial Aneurysm Classifier Using Phenotypic Factors: An International Pooled Analysis

Intracranial aneurysms (IAs) are usually asymptomatic with a low risk of rupture, but consequences of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) are severe. Identifying IAs at risk of rupture has important clinical and socio-economic consequences. The goal of this study was to assess the effect of patient and IA characteristics on the likelihood of IA being diagnosed incidentally versus ruptured. Patients were recruited at 21 international centers. Seven phenotypic patient characteristics and three IA characteristics were recorded. The analyzed cohort included 7992 patients. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that: (1) IA location is the strongest factor associated with IA rupture status at diagnosis; (2) Risk factor awareness (hypertension, smoking) increases the likelihood of being diagnosed with unruptured IA; (3) Patients with ruptured IAs in high-risk locations tend to be older, and their IAs are smaller; (4) Smokers with ruptured IAs tend to be younger, and their IAs are larger; (5) Female patients with ruptured IAs tend to be older, and their IAs are smaller; (6) IA size and age at rupture correlate. The assessment of associations regarding patient and IA characteristics with IA rupture allows us to refine IA disease models and provide data to develop risk instruments for clinicians to support personalized decision-making