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Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the demography and epidemiology of Finnish patients with TBI and to analyse the representativeness of a study sample. Materials and methods: This prospective multi-centre study was conducted as part of an international collaboration within the EU-funded TBIcare project. The study group was recruited from patients attending the regional emergency department (ED) of the Turku University Hospital, Finland. Pre-defined exclusion criteria included age < 18 years, more than 2 weeks from the injury and uncertain diagnosis of TBI. To be included, a need for an acute head CT (NICE-criteria) was required. Results: Of the 620 patients with TBI or suspected TBI, 203 patients were recruited to the study. Falls were the most common injury mechanism. The study group included more males than the total eligible population (p = 0.011), but no other statistical differences were found. The most common cause for being excluded was lack of information available to the research group before discharge (34%). Conclusion: This study supports previous findings that falls are the most common injury mechanism in the Western countries. Uncertainty about the diagnosis of TBI, lack of representativeness without continuous recruitment and poor information transfer about the ED attendees are major challenges for prospective TBI studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To examine how body composition changes in different body mass index (BMI) categories among young Finnish men during military service, which is associated with marked changes in diet and physical activity. In addition, this study examined how reported previous physical activity affected the body composition changes., Methods: Altogether 1003 men (19 yr) were followed throughout their military service (6-12 months). Height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were recorded. Previous physical activity was assessed at the beginning of the service by a questionnaire. Body composition was measured by bioelectrical impedance assessments (BIA) at the beginning and at the end of the service. The measured parameters were fat mass (FM), fat percentage (fat %), fat-free mass (FFM), visceral fat area (VFA), lean body mass (LBM), and skeletal muscle mass (SMM)., Results: On average, military training decreased weight by 0.7%, FM by 9.7%, fat % by 6.6%, and VFA by 43.4%. FFM increased by 1.3%, LBM by 1.2%, and SMM by 1.7%. The group of underweight and normal-weight men gained weight, FM, and FFM, whereas overweight and obese men lost weight and FM and gained FFM. FM was most reduced in the groups of overweight (20.8%) and obese (24.9%) men. The amount of VFA was reduced in all BMI groups (38%-44%). Among overweight men who reported being inactive previous to the military service, more beneficial changes in body composition were observed compared with those who reported being physically active., Conclusions: The lifestyle changes associated with military service markedly reduce fat tissue and increase the amount of lean tissue. These beneficial changes are prominent among previously inactive subjects with high BMI.

Objectives: This study attempted to simulate indoor concentrations and the indoor-to-outdoor (I:O) number concentration ratios of aerosol particles in the submicron size range., Methods: The developed model used size-segregated outdoor number concentrations of particles as inputs and produced the indoor aerosol size spectrum. It covered all the major dynamic processes associated with the indoor aerosol concentration: transport and filtration in the air exchange system, deposition, coagulation, nucleation, condensation, and indoor sources. The model results were compared with measured particle concentrations. Numerous sensitivity analyses were also made for testing the effect of different dynamic processes on the model results. No indoor particle sources were considered in the sensitivity simulations., Results: Changes in the air exchange rate had the strongest effect on the simulated I:O ratios of particle number concentrations. Filtration in the air exchange system also had a large effect on the indoor concentrations. Deposition did not significantly change the particle number concentrations within a realistic range of turbulence intensity indoors and the temperature differences between the ambient air and surfaces. Coagulation affected only the smallest particle size ranges. Condensation and nucleation had potentially large effects on the particle size spectrum., Conclusions: The model reproduced the measured I:O ratios of fine and ultrafine particle concentrations with reasonable accuracy. The model can be a valuable tool with which to estimate the I:O ratios for human exposure assessment.