| 1. |
- Aakala, Tuomas, et al.
(author)
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Drivers of snag fall rates in Fennoscandian boreal forests
- 2024
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In: Journal of Applied Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0021-8901 .- 1365-2664.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Persistence of standing dead trees (snags) is an important determinant for their role for biodiversity and dead wood associated carbon fluxes. How fast snags fall varies widely among species and regions and is further influenced by a variety of stand- and tree-level factors. However, our understanding of this variation is fragmentary at best, partly due to lack of empirical data. Here, we took advantage of the accruing time series of snag observations in the Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish National Forest Inventories that have been followed in these programs since the mid-1990s. We first harmonized observations from slightly different inventory protocols and then, using this harmonized dataset of ca. 43,000 observations that had a consistent 5-year census interval, we modelled the probability of snags of the main boreal tree species Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies and Betula spp. falling, as a function of tree- and stand-level variables, using Bayesian logistic regression modelling. The models were moderately good at predicting snags remaining standing or falling, with a correct classification rate ranging from 68% to 75% among species. In general, snag persistence increased with tree size and climatic wetness, and decreased with temperature sum, advancing stage of decay, site productivity and disturbance intensity (mainly harvesting). Synthesis and applications: The effect of harvesting demonstrates that an efficient avenue to increase the amount of snags in managed forests is protecting them during silvicultural operations. In the warmer future, negative relationship between snag persistence and temperature suggests decreasing the time snags remain standing and hence decreasing habitat availability for associated species. As decomposition rates generally increase after fall, decreasing snag persistence also implies substantially faster release of carbon from dead wood. The effect of harvesting demonstrates that an efficient avenue to increase the amount of snags in managed forests is protecting them during silvicultural operations. In the warmer future, negative relationship between snag persistence and temperature suggests decreasing the time snags remain standing and hence decreasing habitat availability for associated species. As decomposition rates generally increase after fall, decreasing snag persistence also implies substantially faster release of carbon from dead wood.image
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| 2. |
- Böttiger, Ylva, et al.
(author)
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Development and pilot testing of PHARAO-a decision support system for pharmacological risk assessment in the elderly
- 2018
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In: European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. - : SPRINGER HEIDELBERG. - 0031-6970 .- 1432-1041. ; 74:3, s. 365-371
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aims of this study are to describe the development of PHARAO (Pharmacological Risk Assessment Online), a decision support system providing a risk profile for adverse events, associated with combined effects of multiple medicines, and to present data from a pilot study, testing the use, functionality, and acceptance of the PHARAO system in a clinical setting. About 1400 substances were scored in relation to their risk to cause any of nine common and/or serious adverse effects. Algorithms for each adverse effect score were developed to create individual risk profiles from the patients list of medication. The system was tested and integrated to the electronic medical record, during a 4-month period in two geriatric wards and three primary healthcare centers, and a questionnaire was answered by the users before and after the test period. A total of 732 substances were tagged with one or more of the nine risks, most commonly with the risk of sedation or seizures. During the pilot, the system was used 933 times in 871 patients. The most common signals generated by PHARAO in these patients were related to the risks of constipation, sedation, and bleeding. A majority of responders considered PHARAO easy to use and that it gives useful support in performing medication reviews. The PHARAO decision support system, designed as a complement to a database on drug-drug interactions used nationally, worked as intended and was appreciated by the users during a 4-month test period. Integration aspects need to be improved to minimize unnecessary signaling.
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| 3. |
- Heikkinen, Milja, et al.
(author)
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Climate partners of Helsinki : Participation-based structures and performance in a city-to-business network addressing climate change in 2011-2018
- 2022
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In: Urban Climate. - : Elsevier. - 2212-0955. ; 45
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Private actors are important for urban climate action, because the public sector can control the carbon footprint of a city only partly. Public-private partnerships have been created through different voluntary approaches, such as city-level voluntary networks for companies with the aim to engage private actors in climate change mitigation and to support learning processes by bringing different actors together. If these processes are to happen, network members should connect with each other through voluntary networking activities. These connections can be studied using methods from network science. As a case example, we study the event-participationbased structures of the Climate Partners network of the City of Helsinki between 2011 and 2018, and develop an index to measure whether active event participation by a company is associated with taking more ambitious mitigation measures. The results show that the network manages to bring together companies from different fields but has difficulties with engaging them and encouraging ambitious climate goals. Our results can help to further develop networking activities. The tools we develop and share allow the replication of the analysis for other data sets, offering a basis for a comparative analysis of different networks. This opens new horizons for studying public-private networking and its effects.
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| 4. |
- Luikku, Antti J., et al.
(author)
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Predicting Development of Alzheimer's Disease in Patients with Shunted Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus
- 2019
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In: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 71:4, s. 1233-1243
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) patients often develop Alzheimer's disease (AD) related brain pathology. Disease State Index (DSI) is a method to combine data from various sources for differential diagnosis and progression of neurodegenerative disorders.Objective: To apply DSI to predict clinical AD in shunted iNPH-patients in a defined population.Methods: 335 shunted iNPH-patients (median 74 years) were followed until death (n = 185) or 6/2015 (n = 150). DSI model (including symptom profile, onset age of NPH symptoms, atrophy of medial temporal lobe in CT/MRI, cortical brain biopsy finding, and APOE genotype) was applied. Performance of DSI model was evaluated with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.Results: A total of 70 (21%) patients developed clinical AD during median follow-up of 5.3 years. DSI-model predicted clinical AD with moderate effectiveness (AUC= 0.75). Significant factors were cortical biopsy (0.69), clinical symptoms (0.66), and medial temporal lobe atrophy (0.66).Conclusion: We found increased occurrence of clinical AD in previously shunted iNPH patients as compared with general population. DSI supported the prediction of AD. Cortical biopsy during shunt insertion seems indicated for earlier diagnosis of comorbid AD.
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| 5. |
- Lukkarinen, Heikki, et al.
(author)
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Time Trends of Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers of Neurodegeneration in Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus.
- 2021
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In: Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. - 1875-8908. ; 80:4, s. 1629-1642
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Longitudinal changes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers are seldom studied. Furthermore, data on biomarker gradient between lumbar (L-) and ventricular (V-) compartments seems to be discordant.To examine alteration of CSF biomarkers reflecting Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregation, tau pathology, neurodegeneration, and early synaptic degeneration by CSF shunt surgery in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) in relation to AD-related changes in brain biopsy. In addition, biomarker levels in L- and V-CSF were compared.L-CSF was collected prior to shunt placement and, together with V-CSF, 3-73 months after surgery. Thereafter, additional CSF sampling took place at 3, 6, and 18 months after the baseline sample from 26 iNPH patients with confirmed Aβ plaques in frontal cortical brain biopsy and 13 iNPH patients without Aβ pathology. CSF Amyloid-β42 (Aβ42), total tau (T-tau), phosphorylated tau (P-tau181), neurofilament light (NFL), and neurogranin (NRGN) were analyzed with customized ELISAs.All biomarkers but Aβ42 increased notably by 140-810% in L-CSF after CSF diversion and then stabilized. Aβ42 instead showed divergent longitudinal decrease between Aβ-positive and -negative patients in L-CSF, and thereafter increase in Aβ-negative iNPH patients in both L- and V-CSF. All five biomarkers correlated highly between V-CSF and L-CSF (Aβ42 R=0.87, T-tau R=0.83, P-tau R=0.92, NFL R=0.94, NRGN R=0.9; all p< 0.0001) but were systematically lower in V-CSF (Aβ42 14 %, T-tau 22%, P-tau 20%, NFL 32%, NRGN 19%). With APOE genotype-grouping, only Aβ42 showed higher concentration in non-carriers of allele ɛ4.Longitudinal follow up shows that after an initial post-surgery increase, T-tau, P-tau, and NRGN are stable in iNPH patients regardless of brain biopsy Aβ pathology, while NFL normalized toward its pre-shunt levels. Aβ42 as biomarker seems to be the least affected by the surgical procedure or shunt and may be the best predictor of AD risk in iNPH patients. All biomarker concentrations were lower in V- than L-CSF yet showing strong correlations.
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