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Abstract A living lab is a physical or virtual space in which to solve societal challenges, especially for urban areas, by bringing together various stakeholders for collaboration and collective ideation. Although the notion has received increasing attention from scholars, practitioners and policy makers, its essence remains unclear to many. We therefore performed a systematic literature review of a sample of 114 scholarly articles about living labs to understand the central facets discussed in the nascent literature. In particular, we explored the origin of the living lab concept and its key paradigms and characteristics, including stakeholder roles, contexts, challenges, main outcomes, and sustainability. While doing this, we discovered that the number of publications about living labs has increased significantly since 2015, and several journals are very active in publishing articles on the topic. The living lab is considered a multidisciplinary phenomenon and it encompasses various research domains despite typically being discussed under open and user innovation paradigms. What is more, the existing literature views living labs simultaneously as landscapes, real-life environments, and methodologies, and it suggests that they include heterogeneous stakeholders and apply various business models, methods, tools and approaches. Finally, living labs face some challenges, such as temporality, governance, efficiency, user recruitment, sustainability, scalability and unpredictable outcomes. In contrast, the benefits include tangible and intangible innovation and a broader diversity of innovation. Based on our analysis, we provide some implications and suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How is morphological and morphosyntactic information processed during sentence reading? Are the neural mechanisms underlying word- and phrase-level combinatorial processing overlapping or distinct? Here, electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) responses were recorded simultaneously during silent reading of Finnish sentences. The experimental conditions included 1) well-formed grammatical sentences (correct condition), 2) sentences containing morphosyntactic violations (adjective–noun number agreement violations), 3) morphological violations (incorrect stem allomorph and inflectional suffix combination), and 4) combined violations, containing both morphosyntactic and morphological violations. Signal space and source modeling results showed that morphosyntactic violations elicited a left anterior negativity effect, generated particularly in the left inferior frontal area. Morphological violations elicited a widespread negativity, resembling the N400. The neural sources of this negativity were localized most prominently to the right temporal cortical networks. Furthermore, all violations elicited P600 effects with similar widespread bilateral fronto-temporal neural generators that did not differ between morphosyntactic and morphological conditions. Our findings suggest at least partially distinct subnetworks in the fronto-temporal cortices for morphological and morphosyntactic parsing during the earlier stages of processes (∼400 ms post stimulus onset) and shared neural generators for the later processing stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In specific language impairment (SLI), there is a delay in the child’s oral language skills when compared with nonverbal cognitive abilities. The problems typically relate to phonological and morphological processing and word learning. This article reviews studies which have used mismatch negativity (MMN) in investigating low-level neural auditory dysfunctions in this disorder. With MMN, it is possible to tap the accuracy of neural sound discrimination and sensory memory functions. These studies have found smaller response amplitudes and longer latencies for speech and non-speech sound changes in children with SLI than in typically developing children, suggesting impaired and slow auditory discrimination in SLI. Furthermore, they suggest shortened sensory memory duration and vulnerability of the sensory memory to masking effects. Importantly, some studies reported associations between MMN parameters and language test measures. In addition, it was found that language intervention can influence the abnormal MMN in children with SLI, enhancing its amplitude. These results suggest that the MMN can shed light on the neural basis of various auditory and memory impairments in SLI, which are likely to influence speech perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalization and automation play essential roles in how companies create value for their customers in emerging industries, including autonomous vehicle solutions (AVSs) and automated driving. In this study, we explore digital servitization business models in the context of AVS ecosystems. We utilize publicly available company data to discuss cases that illustrate the emerging business models of AVSs in the business-to-business (B2B) context. We contribute to research on autonomous solutions by identifying four types of AVSs: (i) advanced-data-assisted solutions, (ii) semiautonomous platooning solutions, (iii) autonomous demarcated solutions, and (iv) autonomous swarmed solutions. We advance digital servitization and business model research by revealing business models associated with those AVSs, namely: (i) safety as a service, (ii) efficiency as a service, (iii) capacity as a service, and (iv) flexibility as a service. By combining these three fields of research, we enrich the digital servitization research and address the current gap in research on autonomous solutions by focusing on business models. Our analysis enables the development of novel conceptual tools for autonomous solutions and servitization driven by digitalization. Moreover, we suggest the concept of business model fluidity to explain rapid and autonomous business model changes and adaptation to different use contexts and customer contexts. • This study explores four digital servitization business models in the context of AVSs. • Such archetypes advance AVSs in B2B context. • Digital servitization business models contribute servitization literature. • The study introduces a fluidity in digital servitization business models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children’s obligatory auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) to speech and nonspeech sounds have been shown to associate with reading performance in children at risk or with dyslexia and their controls. However, very little is known of the cognitive processes these responses reflect. To investigate this question, we recorded ERPs to semisynthetic syllables and their acoustically matched nonspeech counterparts in 63 typically developed preschoolers, and assessed their verbal skills with an extensive set of neurocognitive tests. P1 and N2 amplitudes were larger for nonspeech than speech stimuli, whereas the opposite was true for N4. Furthermore, left-lateralized P1s were associated with better phonological and prereading skills, and larger P1s to nonspeech than speech stimuli with poorer verbal reasoning performance. Moreover, left-lateralized N2s, and equal-sized N4s to both speech and nonspeech stimuli were associated with slower naming. In contrast, children with equal-sized N2 amplitudes at left and right scalp locations, and larger N4s for speech than nonspeech stimuli, performed fastest. We discuss the possibility that children’s ERPs reflect not only neural encoding of sounds, but also sound quality processing, memory-trace construction, and lexical access. The results also corroborate previous findings that speech and nonspeech sounds are processed by at least partially distinct neural substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study uses event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to investigate the temporal sequencing of structural (grammatical) and lexical (semantic) properties of complex words during language comprehension. Morphologically complex words do not only consist of stems and affixes (e.g., ‘feel’+‘-s’), but affixes also contain grammatical structure, viz. feature bundles specifying their morpho-syntactic functions (e.g., -s= [3rd person, singular, present tense]). We examined inflected adjectives of German, which consist of an unaltered stem plus a portmanteau affix encoding case, number and gender. The same group of 24 adult native speakers was tested in two cross-modal ERP priming experiments separately studying effects of lexical–semantic relatedness and related affixes. The results of these experiments revealed clearly distinct brain potentials. Prime-target overlap with respect to morpho-syntactic features was associated with a reduced positivity, whereas lexical-level priming led to a reduced negativity. The former was most pronounced between 200 and 300ms and the latter in a later time window, between 300 and 400ms. We interpret the reduced early positivity as reflecting ease of grammatical processing effort in case of primed (relative to unprimed) morpho-syntactic features and the reduced negativity as signaling facilitation in lexical retrieval for primed (compared to unprimed) words. Our ERP results indicate that grammatical information becomes available earlier than semantic information providing support for structure-first models of language processing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Formation of neural mechanisms for morphosyntactic processing in young children is still poorly understood. Here, we addressed neural processing and rapid online acquisition of familiar and unfamiliar combinations of morphemes. Three different types of morphologically complex words – derived, inflected, and novel (pseudostem + real suffix) – were presented in a passive listening setting to 16 typically developing 3-4-year old children (as part of a longitudinal Helsinki SLI follow-up study). The mismatch negativity (MMN) component of event-related potentials (ERP), an established index of long-term linguistic memory traces in the brain, was analysed separately for the initial and final periods of the exposure to these items. We found MMN response enhancement for the inflected words towards the end of the recording session, whereas no response change was observed for the derived or novel complex forms. This enhancement indicates rapid build-up of a new memory trace for the combination of real morphemes, suggesting a capacity for online formation of whole-form lexicalized representations as one of the morphological mechanisms in the developing brain. Furthermore, this enhancement increased with age, suggesting the development of automatic morphological processing circuits in the age range of 3–4 years. Image 1 • We studied the acquisition of morphologically complex words in passive listening. • 3-4-year-old children showed evidence of rapid learning of complex words. • The results demonstrate children's greater flexibility to rearrange lexical storage. • The effect was specific to inflected words and gradually increased with age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: The aim was to study how the measurement error affects the repeatability of mismatch negativity (MMN) measurements. Methods: Event-related potentials (ERPs) to changes in sound frequency, location, intensity, duration, and composition were recorded five times during 1–3weeks from 13 healthy adults using a multi-feature MMN paradigm. The accumulation of MMN was modeled empirically with respect to measurement error, and repeatability was estimated at 0.6–3.5-μV error levels. The analysis was made for the results in the single deviant conditions and their pattern (auditory discrimination profile). Results: At the single-subject level, the measurement error significantly affected the repeatability until it went below 9–17% of MMN peak amplitude. At the group level, the threshold was higher. Peak amplitude was generally the most repeatable parameter. Latency was superior when the error was moderate or small (<2–3μV). Conclusions: The measurement error affects the repeatability of MMN. In single-subject studies, it should not be neglected if it exceeds 10% of the MMN amplitude. The application of the auditory discrimination profile is recommended for future applications. Significance: The study provided quantitative results to support the discussion on improving the repeatability of the MMN measurements. They are expected to apply conditionally to other ERP measurements, too. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

New integrative, collaborative, and innovative approaches are needed to overcome global sustainability challenges. Exploring the diversity of collaborative innovation in six Nordic cities, this study aims to advance our understanding of collaborative innovation for sustainability in urban contexts. By adopting a multiple case approach, we investigate 49 cases aiming at collaborative innovation for sustainability, including co-working spaces, Fab labs, green public procurement, hackathons, hubs, makerspaces, participatory budgeting, and living labs. Our findings reveal a diverse range of models supporting collaborative innovation for sustainability. Further, we develop a conceptual framework that identifies four archetypes of collaborative innovation and apply it to analyse how those archetypes advance sustainability. The results illustrate how collaborative innovation archetypes contribute to sustainability in urban areas. • This study contributes to sustainability literature. • Collaborative innovations (CI) contribute to environmental and social sustainability. • Cities require collaborative innovations to overcome their complex challenges. • Four (CI) archetypes advance sustainability. • CI models boost social sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Various regimens of mifepristone and misoprostol are used in medical abortion. We examined the effect of a change in protocol from a fixed mifepristone–misoprostol interval to a flexible one on the efficacy and uptake of medical abortion. In addition, risk factors of incomplete abortions were evaluated. Study Design: Altogether, 1289 medical abortions were carried out between August 2000 and December 2002. Between August 2000 and August 2001, a fixed protocol of 200 mg of oral mifepristone followed by 0.4 mg of vaginally administered misoprostol 2 days later was used. From September 2001, a flexible dosing interval of 1, 2 or 3 days between mifepristone and misoprostol was adopted. At the same time, the upper limit of gestational age was increased from 56 to 63 days. Results: The uptake of medical abortion increased during the study period and was 45.8% during the use of fixed protocol versus 54.6% during flexible protocol (p<.0001). The rates of complete abortion were 94.9% and 94.4% (n.s.), respectively. Continuing pregnancy was rare (0.7%). Among all subjects, a history of abortion was associated with a significantly lower rate of complete abortion (90.9 vs. 96.3%, p<.002). The other parameters analyzed (age, parity, duration of pregnancy, smoking, mifepristone–misoprostol interval) did not have a significant effect on the rate of complete abortion. Conclusions: A flexible dosing protocol of mifepristone and misoprostol is effective; thus, its use is encouraged. Previous abortion is a significant risk factor of incomplete medical abortion. Thus, special attention should be paid to the follow-up of these women. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The results of several randomized studies have verified the efficacy of 10 mg mifepristone in emergency contraception. In the present study we characterized the pharmacokinetics of 10 mg mifepristone. Eight healthy female volunteers received a single oral dose of mifepristone on the day 10 or 11 of their menstrual cycle. Blood samples were collected at 0, 1, 2, 4 and 8 h, daily for the next 6 days and on day 10 after mifepristone. Mifepristone concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay preceded by column chromatography. A peak level of 1.41 ± 0.31 μmol/L (mean ± SD) was measured at 1 h. Individual elimination phase half-lives varied from 15.3 to 26.8 h, the mean (± SD) value being 19.6 ± 4.50 h. Serum mifepristone concentrations exceeded 10 nmol/L in all volunteers for an average of 4.9 days. The pharmacokinetic data on 10 mg mifepristone are in line with previous pharmacokinetic and clinical data, and encourage further development of the 10-mg dose in emergency contraception. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The ability of mifepristone to delay ovulation is thought to be based on the antigonadotropic effects of the drug. In the current work, late–follicular phase administration of mifepristone resulted in decrease in both circulating FSH and inhibin B, suggesting both central and ovarian sites of action. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

How does the brain process and control languages that are learned at a different age, when proficiency in all these languages is high? Early acquired strong languages are likely to have higher baseline activation levels than later learned less-dominant languages. However, it is still largely unknown how the activation levels of these different languages are controlled, and how interference from an irrelevant language is prevented. In this magnetoencephalography (MEG) study on language switching during auditory perception, early Finnish-Swedish bilinguals (N = 18) who mastered English with high proficiency after childhood were presented with spoken words in each of the three languages, while performing a simple semantic categorisation task. Switches from the later learned English to either of the native languages resulted in increased neural activation in the superior temporal gyrus (STG) 400–600 ms after word onset (N400m response), whereas such increase was not detected for switches from native languages to English or between the native languages. In an earlier time window of 350–450 ms, English non-switch trials showed higher activation levels in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), pointing to ongoing inhibition of the native languages during the use of English. Taken together, these asymmetric switch costs suggest that native languages are suppressed during the use of a non-native language, despite the receptive nature of the language task. This effect seems to be driven mostly by age of acquisition or language exposure, rather than proficiency. Our results indicate that mechanisms of control between two native languages differ from those of a later learned language, as upbringing in an early bilingual environment has likely promoted automatiation of language control specifically for the native languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The environmental impact of the recovery options of repulping rejects was identified. • Waste incineration had the maximum negative environmental impact. • Mechanical recycling processes showed a better environmental impact. • Composite material could be another option for mechanical recycling. • Mechanical and chemical recycling should complement each other. Liquid packaging board is one of the highly demanded packaging mediums for liquid food and beverages, generating substantial waste each year. Even though the fibre part of the liquid packaging board is recycled through a repulping process, the plastic and aluminium are usually used for energy recovery and as alternative raw materials in cement factories. This practice reduces the life span and economic value of plastic and aluminium, which does not fit within a circular economy. The plastic and aluminium from liquid packaging board waste can be recycled mechanically and chemically. This study used the consequential life-cycle assessment method to compare the environmental impact of the recovery options of rejected materials from liquid packaging board waste treatment. Four scenarios were established: (1) energy recovery by waste incineration, (2) composite pallet production by mechanical recycling, (3) plastic pallet production by mechanical recycling, and (4) plastic pallet production by chemical recycling. The study showed that when the consumed energy was supplied from renewable sources, plastic pallet production by mechanical recycling process had the lowest environmental impact, and energy recovery by waste incineration had the highest impact. A sensitivity analysis revealed that composite pallet production by mechanical recycling process showed the best impact if the energy was sourced from the average production mix, and plastic pallet production by chemical recycling had the lowest impact when mechanically recycled plastic substituted for 0%, 30%, and 50% of virgin plastic. These results should be of interest to liquid packaging board manufacturers and other related stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To evaluate health-related quality of Life (HRQoL) in patients with abnormal cervical cytology referred for colposcopy. Study design: An observational study with prospective and retrospective cohorts. In the prospective arm 240 women referred for colposcopy filled in the 15D HRQoL and the State Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaires and were followed up for 12 months. In the retrospective arm 208 patients who had been treated for cervical dysplasia eight years earlier filled in the 15D HRQoL questionnaire. Results were compared with the age- and sex-standardized general population. Results: In the prospective part of the study, the mean 15D score of the patients did not differ from that of the general population. On the dimensions of sleeping, distress and sexual activity, however, the patients scored lower than the general population (p <0.001). Patients with higher levels of anxiety at baseline, according to the STAI questionnaire, had lower HRQoL during the whole 12-month observation period (p <0.001). The overall HRQoL score of the patients treated for cervical dysplasia eight years earlier did not differ from that of the general population. Conclusions: Abnormal cytology and referral for colposcopy were associated with anxiety and slightly impaired psychosocial components of HRQoL but did not reduce the overall HRQoL. High anxiety levels at baseline were associated with impaired HRQoL. Previous treatment for cervical dysplasia was not associated with impaired overall HRQoL. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• The task performed by a listener modulated neural activations in widespread regions. • Selective attention to speech engaged areas involved in one-stream speech processing. • Speech motor and somatosensory areas were most activated by a phonological task. • The orbitofrontal cortex was mainly engaged by the most ecologically valid task. Selective listening to speech depends on widespread networks of the brain, but how the involvement of different neural systems in speech processing is affected by factors such as the task performed by a listener and speech intelligibility remains poorly understood. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to systematically examine the effects that performing different tasks has on neural activations during selective attention to continuous audiovisual speech in the presence of task-irrelevant speech. Participants viewed audiovisual dialogues and attended either to the semantic or the phonological content of speech, or ignored speech altogether and performed a visual control task. The tasks were factorially combined with good and poor auditory and visual speech qualities. Selective attention to speech engaged superior temporal regions and the left inferior frontal gyrus regardless of the task. Frontoparietal regions implicated in selective auditory attention to simple sounds (e.g., tones, syllables) were not engaged by the semantic task, suggesting that this network may not be not as crucial when attending to continuous speech. The medial orbitofrontal cortex, implicated in social cognition, was most activated by the semantic task. Activity levels during the phonological task in the left prefrontal, premotor, and secondary somatosensory regions had a distinct temporal profile as well as the highest overall activity, possibly relating to the role of the dorsal speech processing stream in sub-lexical processing. Our results demonstrate that the task type influences neural activations during selective attention to speech, and emphasize the importance of ecologically valid experimental designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This prospective nation-wide study was performed to evaluate the effect of hospital category and subspeciality training on surgical treatment of ovarian cancer. Data were obtained from a questionnaire filled in by the operating unit, and from the surgical and histopathology reports. The survey included 307 patients. Half of them were operated in the university hospitals where gynaecologic oncologists performed 72% of the operations. This was the case in only 4% and 19% in the central and district hospitals, respectively. In university hospitals, pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed in 88%, and para-aortic lymphadenectomy in 73%, of the patients with stage I disease. The corresponding figures ranged from 11% to 21% in central and district hospitals. For stage III patients operated by gynaecologic oncologists, the estimated odds ratio for no macroscopic tumour was 3.0 times higher (95% CI 1.2-7.5) than for those operated by general gynaecologists. These results favour centralisation of surgical treatment of ovarian cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bilingualism is a sustained experience associated with structural changes in cortical grey matter (GM) morphology. Apart from a few studies, a dominant method used to assess bilingualism-induced GM changes has been the voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis. While VBM is sensitive to GM volume/density differences in general, it cannot be used to identify whether the observed difference is due to relative changes in, e.g., cortical thickness, area or folding, as it uses a single combined measure of them all. Here, we used surface-based analysis (SBA) approach to investigate whether early acquisition of a second language (L2) affects the cortical GM morphology relative to late L2 acquisition. More specifically, our aim was to test a hypothesis that early acquisition of two languages induces GM changes that are predominantly surface area-driven, while late acquisition is supposedly characterised with primarily thickness-driven changes. To this end, several surface-based measures were concurrently compared between the groups. In line with the hypothesis, the results revealed that early bilingual experience is associated with significantly extended cortical surface area over the left pars opercularis and the right superior temporal gyrus. Contrary to our expectations, however, we found no evidence supporting the postulated association between late L2 acquisition and increased cortical thickness. Nevertheless, our study highlights the importance of including cortical surface measures when investigating bilingualism-related GM modulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hazard and risk perception has been studied extensively among car drivers, and their link to crash involvement is established. Bicyclists, in particular, are vulnerable road users. Better understanding of their risk and hazard perception could help to improve their traffic safety. In this study, we investigated the risk perception of bicyclists in a city environment. Two groups of bicyclists were compared: 19 frequent and 19 infrequent bicyclists. Participants were shown video clips taken with a camera attached to the handlebar of a bicycle, and they were asked to continuously indicate with a slider how much caution the situation needed. The frequent cyclists had more frequent rises in the caution estimate, which suggest that they anticipated or detected more hazards than infrequent cyclists. This is in line with the classical hazard perception results, which link the car driving experience to faster and more accurate hazard perception. The overall level or caution was not directly related to the rise event rate or bicycling frequency. Those cyclists who reported typically cycling faster than others showed elevated overall level of caution on sidewalks compared with others, but there was no difference on bike paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: We have previously shown that the antigestagen mifepristone is contraceptive when given in a daily dose of 5 mg, po. Epidemiological studies suggest that gestagen-only contraceptives may increase the risk of transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) due to effects on the vaginal defenses to infection. We investigate the effects of mifepristone on vaginal thickness, steroid receptor and natural antimicrobial content and pharmacokinetics of mifepristone. Methods: In a pilot study, eight women were given mifepristone 5 mg/day for an average of 33 days. Ovarian function was assessed by measurement of estradiol and progesterone in blood and their metabolites in urine and by serial ultrasound of their ovaries. Vaginal biopsies were collected before (late proliferative) and after taking mifepristone. Results: All subjects showed a similar pattern of descending serum concentrations of mifepristone. The elimination phase half-life was 18±5.1 h (mean±SD). Mean C max measured at 1 h was 641.7 nmol/L (range, 502–740 nmol/L). All eight women reported amenorrhea for the duration of treatment and seven of eight women showed biochemical and ultrasound evidence of anovulation. There was no significant change in vaginal thickness following treatment [342±40 μm pretreatment, 303±69 μm posttreatment (mean±SEM); p>.05]. Estrogen (ERα, ERβ) and androgen receptor were expressed in both vaginal epithelium and subepithelial stroma, whereas progesterone receptor was expressed predominantly in the subepithelial stroma. There was no change in receptor content and distribution following mifepristone treatment. Natural antimicrobial mRNA [secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor, human beta defensins mRNA (HBD1, HBD2, HBD3, HBD5), granulysin and elafin] was extracted from the vaginal tissues, and the content was unaffected by mifepristone treatment. Conclusion: The absence of changes in vaginal thickness, steroid receptor and natural antimicrobial content and its distribution in this preliminary study suggests that in contrast to other estrogen-free contraceptives, mifepristone is unlikely to be associated with the increased risk of transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Women with stage III ovarian cancer and with ⩽2cm residual tumour were randomly assigned to receive either conventionally dosed chemotherapy (group A) or HDCT (group B). Patients allocated to group A received 6 cycles of paclitaxel (T) 135mg/m2 and cisplatin (P) 75mg/m2 every 3 weeks, and those allocated to HDCT received 3 TP cycles followed by peripheral blood stem cell mobilisation with cyclophosphamide (C) 3000mg/m2 and T 175mg/m2, and subsequently HDCT with carboplatin 1500mg/m2, C 120mg/kg, and mitoxantrone 75mg/m2. The trial was closed early after 42 patients were entered due to slow accrual. The median follow-up time of patients who were alive was 81 months. The median progression-free survival time was 15.9 and 16.6 months (hazard ratio, HR 0.83; 95% CI 0.41–1.69, P =0.61) and the median overall survival time was 43.7 and 64.3 months (HR, 0.74; 95% CI 0.34–1.61, P =0.44) in groups A and B, respectively. Although one patient died of HDCT-related toxicity, the regimen was otherwise relatively well tolerated. We conclude that the HDCT regimen used was feasible, but did not result in significantly improved survival in this prematurely closed trial. A clinically important survival benefit cannot be excluded due to the small sample size. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We conducted a retrospective seroepidemiological study to evaluate the relationship between past chlamydial infection and primary fallopian tube carcinoma (PFTC). Postoperative serum samples were drawn from 79 consecutive patients treated for PFTC in 1985–2000. For each case two controls were selected. Serum samples were analysed for IgG antibodies to different C. trachomatis serotype pools and to C. pneumoniae. Seropositivity in general or serum antibody levels to different C. trachomatis serovars or C. pneumoniae did not differ between PFTC patients and controls. The lack of association between anti-chlamydial antibodies and PFTC suggests that past chlamydial infection does not play a role in the etiopathogenesis of PFTC. However, because chlamydial infection is common at young age and PFTC develops decades later, we cannot definitively exclude the possibility that C.trachomatis contributes to the development of PFTC. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite extensive behavioral research on complex word recognition, the neural mechanisms involved in the production of inflections in agglutinative languages, such as Finnish, are still poorly understood. Finnish inflected nouns typically involve morphophonological alternations of the stem (i.e. consonant gradation; CG), which is less common in other languages. Behavioral research on recognition of inflected nouns containing consonant gradation has shown that the number of stem allomorphs results in faster recognition times. To our knowledge, no functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have explicitly investigated consonant gradation in word production. In this study, participants performed covert and overt production tasks during event-related fMRI. Our stimuli comprised real word stems of high and medium frequency as well as pseudoword stems. The stems either included consonant gradation or were non-gradating. Our findings showed that the production of inflected forms containing high frequency stems or CG stems (irrespective of frequency and lexicality) yield enhanced activation of the left inferior frontal and middle frontal gyri (LIFG and MFG, respectively). This suggests that CG stems, that is, stems with more than one allomorph, facilitate lexical lookup, and that the activation of multiple stem allomorphs is reflected in increased recruitment of frontal brain regions. • We examined the effect of stem allomorphy on Finnish inflected word production. • Stem allomorphy increases error rates when producing gradated inflected forms. • Gradated stems cause stronger LIFG/MFG activation compared to non-gradated. • Higher LIFG/MFG activation was present for real stems compared to pseudo-stems. • This robust frontal activation may underpin lexical allomorph access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]