Search

During the 4th millennium BC, an intensive artefact circulation system existed among the hunter-gatherer peoples of north-eastern Europe. Along with other goods, ring-shaped ornaments that were mainly made of different kinds of slates or tuffites were commonly distributed. Although commonly referred to as 'slate rings', these ornaments consist mainly of fragments of rings. In this paper, we suggest that the 'slate rings' were never meant to be intact, complete rings, but were instead fragmented on purpose and used as tokens of social relationships relating to the gift-giving system. By refitting artefact fragments together, analysing their geochemical composition, micro details, and use-wear, we were able to prove that these items were not only intentionally fragmented but also likely worn as personal ornaments. Moreover, ED-XRF analysis of 56 of the artefacts showed a correlation between their geochemical characteristics and stylistic detailing, suggesting different production phases or batches. Comparative data analysis confirmed the provenance hypothesis that the majority of the analysed objects, or at least their raw materials, were exported over hundreds of kilometres from the Lake Onega region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the links between stressful life events and labor market outcomes. We use twin data for Finnish men and women combined with register-based individual information on earnings, employment and social income transfers. The twin data allow us to account for shared environmental and genetic confounders. We measure the exposure to stressful life events in 1990. The labor market outcomes are measured during a 20-year follow-up over the period 1990-2009. Three findings stand out. First, stressors lead to worse labor market outcomes. Second, both men and women are distressed by labor market shocks, but they respond differently to marital problems and health shocks within the family. For example, women respond to marital problems by working more, whereas men respond similarly after facing a random health shock within the family. Third, the relationship between health shocks and labor market outcomes diminishes as time passes, whereas the consequences of labor market shocks are more permanent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Challenges in estimating total whole grain intake have led to the use of surrogate estimates, of which accuracy has not been assessed. We examined the suitability of five potential surrogates (dietary fiber; bread; rye bread; rye, oat and barley combined; rye) and a whole grain food definition to measure total whole grain intake in the Finnish adult population. Methods: Our data comprised 5094 Finnish adults participating in the national FinHealth 2017 Study. Dietary intake was assessed by a validated FFQ. Food and nutrient intakes, including total whole grain, were calculated utilizing the Finnish Food Composition Database. The Healthgrain Forum whole grain food definition was applied to examine definition-based whole grain intake. Spearman correlations and quintile cross-classifications were calculated. Results: Definition-based whole grain intake and consumption of rye, oat and barley combined had consistently the strongest correspondence with total whole grain intake. Rye and rye bread consumption also corresponded well with total whole grain intake. The correspondences of dietary fiber and bread with total whole grain were lower and more affected by the exclusion of energy under-reporters. Furthermore, their correlations with total whole grain intake varied the most between population subgroups. Conclusions: Rye-based estimates, especially rye, oat and barley combined, and definition-based whole grain intake appeared suitable surrogate estimates of total whole grain intake for epidemiological research of Finnish adults. The variation between surrogate estimates in their correspondence with total whole grain intake demonstrated the need for further evaluation of their accuracy in different populations and regarding specific health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study health selection in rural–urban migration in Finland using register data. Specifically, we ask whether 'movers' differ from 'stayers' in their use of special health care services prior to moving. We focus on migration to twelve growing urban centres in different sub-groups of the population as well as in different regions, using multinomial logistic regression and multilevel modelling and by distinguishing between short- and long-distance moves. The results show that urban centres attract healthier individuals, while people with health problems are also prone to move, but not to urban centres. The results were similar when looking only at psychiatric diagnoses. The findings suggest that it is important to distinguish between different types of moves when studying health-selective migration. Studying the patterns of migration according to health enables us to understand drivers of regional health differences. Moreover, such evidence will help in projecting future demand for healthcare across the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest resource data is important in targeting the forestry operations, and it is in the hearth of the precision forestry concept. The forest resource data can be produced with many techniques, and the number of existing forest data sources has increased during the years. In addition to the forest resource data, other data describing the circumstances of the forest site, such as trafficability and weather conditions, are available. In Finland, a forest data platform gathers the data sources under a single service for easier implementation of the precision forestry applications. This data is useful in operations planning, but it also describes the conditions that prevail when the forest machine arrives to the forest site. This study proposes data fusion between fieldbus time series of the forest machine and the forest data. The fused dataset enables explorative statistical analysis for examining the relationship between the machine performance and the forest attributes and provides data for building predictive models between the two. The presented methods are applied into a dataset generated from a field test data. The results show that some fieldbus time series features are predictable from forest attributes with R 2 value over 0.80, and clustering methods help in interpreting the machine behavior in different environments. In addition, an idea for generating a new forest data source to the forest data platform based on the fusion is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The suitability of the GUHA data mining method in analyzing a big data matrix is studied in this report in general, and, in particular, a data matrix containing more than 80,000 road traffic accidents occurred in Finland in 2004-2008 is examined by LISp-Miner, a software implementation of GUHA. The general principles of GUHA are first outlined, and then, the road accident data is analyzed. As a result, more than 10,000 associations and dependencies, called hypothesis in the GUHA language, were found; some easily understandable of them are presented here. Our conclusion is that the GUHA method is useful, in particular when one wants to explore relatively small size, but still significant dependencies in a given large data matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 10-item Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Questionnaire-Revised (PRAQ-R) is a widely used instrument to assess and identify pregnancy-specific anxiety in nulliparous women. It has good psychometric values and predictive validity for birth and childhood outcomes. Nonetheless, the PRAQ-R is not designed for use in parous women, as particularly one item of the questionnaire is not relevant for women who gave birth before. We tested the factorial and scalar invariance of a modified PRAQ-R2 across nulliparous and parous women with an adapted item to fit both groups of pregnant women. A longitudinal study among 1144 pregnant women ( n = 608 nulliparous and n = 536 parous) with two repeated measures of the PRAQ-R2 was used to test for measurement invariance of the instrument. Results show metric and scalar invariance, indicating that the PRAQ-R2 measures similar constructs on the same scale for all pregnant women at two different times during pregnancy. We conclude that the PRAQ-R2 can be used, compared, or combined in a sample of nulliparous and parous women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Type A personality was introduced in the 1950s and was defined as an action-emotion complex characterized by excessive competitive drive, intense striving for achievement, easily provoked hostility, aggressiveness, impatience, and exaggerated sense of time urgency. Despite many positive findings earlier, almost 50 years of studies have not yielded conclusive results regarding Type A as a risk factor for negative health outcomes and early death. This may partly be due to methodological weaknesses such as small and selected samples, short follow-up times, and varying ways to assess Type A across studies. Purpose: We re-examined the association between the Type A concept with cardiovascular (CVD) and non-cardiovascular (non-CVD) mortality by using a long follow-up (on average 20.6 years) of a large population-based sample of elderly males ( N = 2,682), by applying multiple Type A measures at baseline, and looking separately at early and later follow-up years. Method: The study sample were the participants of the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study, (KIHD), which includes a randomly selected representative sample of Eastern Finnish men, aged 42-60 years at baseline in the 1980s. They were followed up until the end of 2011 through linkage with the National Death Registry. Four self-administered scales, Bortner Short Rating Scale, Framingham Type A Behavior Pattern Scale, Jenkins Activity Survey, and Finnish Type A Scale, were used for Type A assessment at the start of follow-up. Results: Type A measures were inconsistently associated with cardiovascular mortality, and most associations were non-significant. Some scales suggested slightly decreased, rather than increased, risk of CVD death during the follow-up. Associations with non-cardiovascular deaths were even weaker. Conclusion: Our findings further suggest that there is no evidence to support the Type A as a risk factor for CVD and non-CVD mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tramadol is widely used for acute, chronic, and neuropathic pain. Its primary active metabolite is O-desmethyltramadol (M1), which is mainly accountable for the μ-opioid receptor-related analgesic effect. Tramadol is metabolized to M1 mainly by cytochrome P450 (CYP)2D6 enzyme and to other metabolites by CYP3A4 and CYP2B6. We investigated the possible interaction of tramadol with the antifungal agents terbinafine (CYP2D6 inhibitor) and itraconazole (CYP3A4 inhibitor). Methods: We used a randomized placebo-controlled crossover study design with 12 healthy subjects, of which 8 were extensive and 4 were ultrarapid CYP2D6 metabolizers. On the pretreatment day 4 with terbinafine (250 mg once daily), itraconazole (200 mg once daily) or placebo, subjects were given tramadol 50 mg orally. Plasma concentrations of tramadol and M1 were determined over 48 h and some pharmacodynamic effects over 12 h. Pharmacokinetic variables were calculated using standard non-compartmental methods. Results: Terbinafine increased the area under plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) of tramadol by 115 % and decreased the AUC of M1 by 64 % ( P < 0.001). Terbinafine increased the peak concentration ( C) of tramadol by 53 % ( P < 0.001) and decreased the C of M1 by 79 % ( P < 0.001). After terbinafine pretreatment the elimination half-life of tramadol and M1 were increased by 48 and 50 %, respectively ( P < 0.001). Terbinafine reduced subjective drug effect of tramadol ( P < 0.001). Itraconazole had minor effects on tramadol pharmacokinetics. Conclusions: Terbinafine may reduce the opioid effect of tramadol and increase the risk of its monoaminergic adverse effects. Itraconazole has no meaningful interaction with tramadol in subjects who have functional CYP2D6 enzyme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-seven boys and eight girls with ASD and thirty-five controls matched for gender, age and total score intelligence were studied to ascertain whether boys and girls with ASD display stronger reactive aggression than boys and girls without ASD. Participants performed a computerized version of the Pulkkinen aggression machine that examines the intensity of reactive aggression against attackers of varying gender and age. Relative to the control group boys, the boys with ASD reacted with more serious forms of aggression when subjected to mild aggressive attacks and did not consider a child attacker's opposite sex an inhibitory factor. The girls with ASD, on the other hand, reacted less aggressively than the girls without ASD. According to the results boys with ASD may not follow the typical development in cognitive regulation of reactive aggression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]