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Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) have a unique capacity to self‐renew and differentiate into all the cell types found in human body. Although the transcriptional regulators of pluripotency are well studied, the role of cytoplasmic regulators is still poorly characterized. Here, we report a new stem cell‐specific RNA‐binding protein L1TD1 (ECAT11, FLJ10884) required for hESC self‐renewal and cancer cell proliferation. Depletion of L1TD1 results in immediate downregulation of OCT4 and NANOG. Furthermore, we demonstrate that OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG all bind to the promoter of L1TD1. Moreover, L1TD1 is highly expressed in seminomas, and depletion of L1TD1 in these cancer cells influences self‐renewal and proliferation. We show that L1TD1 colocalizes and interacts with LIN28 via RNA and directly with RNA helicase A (RHA). LIN28 has been reported to regulate translation of OCT4 in complex with RHA. Thus, we hypothesize that L1TD1 is part of the L1TD1‐RHA‐LIN28 complex that could influence levels of OCT4. Our results strongly suggest that L1TD1 has an important role in the regulation of stemness. STEMCELLS2012;30:452–460

Background: Self-reported angina symptoms are collected in epidemiological surveys. We aimed at validating the angina symptoms assessed by the Rose Questionnaire against registry data on coronary heart disease. A further aim was to examine the sex paradox in angina implying that women report more symptoms, whereas men have more coronary events.Design: Angina symptoms of 6601 employees of the City of Helsinki were examined using the postal questionnaire survey data combined with coronary heart disease registries.Methods: The self-reported angina was classified as no symptoms, atypical pain, exertional chest pain, and stable angina symptoms. Reimbursed medications and hospital admissions were available from registries 10 years before the survey. Binomial regression analysis was used.Results: Stable angina symptoms were associated with hospital admissions and reimbursed medications [prevalence ratio (PR), 6.75; 95% confidence interval (CI), 4.56–9.99]. In addition, exertional chest pain (PR, 5.31; 95% CI, 3.45–8.18) was associated with coronary events. All events were more prevalent among men than women (PR, 2.36; 95% CI, 1.72–3.25).Conclusion: The Rose Questionnaire remains a valid tool to distinguish healthy people from those with coronary heart disease. However, a notable part of those reporting symptoms have no confirmation of coronary heart disease in the registries. The female excess of symptoms and male excess of events may reflect inequality or delay in access to treatment, problems in identification and diagnosis, or more complex issues related to self-reported angina symptoms.

Delirium is the most common neuropsychiatric syndrome in elderly ill patients. Previously, associations between delirium and the dopamine transporter gene (solute carrier family 6, member 3 (SLC6A3)) and dopamine receptor 2 gene (DRD2) were found. The aim of this study was to validate whether markers of the SLC6A3 and DRD2 genes are were associated with delirium in independent populations. Six European populations collected DNA of older delirious patients. Associations were determined per population and results were combined in a meta‐analysis. In total 820 medical inpatients, 185 cardiac surgery patients, 134 non‐cardiac surgery patients and 502 population‐based elderly subjects were included. Mean age was 82 years (SD 7.5 years), 598 (36%) were male, 665 (41%) had pre‐existing cognitive impairment, and 558 (34%) experienced delirium. The SLC6A3 rs393795 homozygous AA genotype was more frequent in patients without delirium in all populations. The meta‐analysis showed an Odds Ratio (OR) for delirium of 0.4 (95% confidence interval (C.I.) 0.2–0.6, P= 0.0003) for subjects with AA genotype compared to the AG and GG genotypes. SLC6A3 marker rs1042098 showed no association with delirium. In meta‐analysis the DRD2 rs6276 homozygous GG genotype showed an OR of 0.8 for delirium (95% C.I. 0.6–1.1, P= 0.24). When subjects were stratified for cognitive status the rs6276 GG genotype showed ORs of 0.6 (95% C.I. 0.4–1.0, P= 0.06) and 0.8 (95% C.I. 0.5–1.5, P= 0.51) for delirium in patients with and without cognitive impairment, respectively. In independent cohorts, a variation in the SLC6A3 gene and possibly the DRD2 gene were found to protect for delirium. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

The article features pianist Sigrid Sundgrén-Schnéevoigt. Sundgrén-Schnéevoigt had concert tours of Europe, the U.S. and Australia. Her solo repertoire includes standard works from the Classical and Romantic eras, the works of composer Johann Sebastian Bach, and Spanish music composed by the likes of Albeniz, Granados, and Halffter. The author notes that Sundgrén-Scnéevoigt is in her best element when playing the virtuoso repertoire of the Romantic period.

In a power plant a fire cell forms the basic subunit. Since the fire is initially located there, the full-scale time dependent fire simulation and estimation of target response must be performed within the fire cell. Conditional, time dependent damage probabilities in a fire cell can now be calculated for arbitrary targets (component or a subsystem) combining probabilistic (Monte Carlo) and deterministic simulation. For the latter a spectrum from simple correlations up to latest computational fluid dynamics models is available. Selection of the code is made according to the requirements from the target cell. Although calculations are numerically heavy, it is now economically possible and feasible to carry out quantitative fire-PSA for a complete plant iteratively with the main PSA. From real applications examples are shown on assessment of fire spread possibility in a relay room, and potential of fire spread on cables in a tunnel.

This article examines the coverage of social and health policy issues in three major Finnish newspapers, i.e. Ilkka, Aamulehti, and Helsingin Sanomat, in 1986 1996, and 2006. The empirical data consist of 186 articles published during the first two weeks of February in each year. The data are analysed by means of quantitative content analysis and qualitative discourse analysis. Ever since the 1980s the political and other elite in Finland has shown a growing tendency towards neo-liberal thinking. Although Finland still remains a Scandinavian welfare state, a more market-oriented style of government and planning is challenging its basic elements, such as the principles of universalism. As part of the neoliberal era, some politicians have suggested that the socalled third sector (NGOs, voluntary work and charity) be given greater responsibility for the production and provision of welfare services. In short, the tax-funded welfare state is coming under increasing challenge. This article aims to find out whether this challenge affects the media coverage of social and health policy issues. The main finding is that the three newspapers support the current situation, i.e. the tax-funded welfare state. Their reporting on social and health policy seems to have remained mainly untouched by neo-liberalism. However, the coverage of the three newspapers varies widely and their articles (even news) are closely in line with their respective ideological and political positions. Among the three dailies, the largest number of articles (91) was published by Helsingin Sanomat, which also shows the strongest support for the welfare state. Although not politically affiliated, its ideological position could best be described as social democratic, at least as far as social policy issues are concerned. The ideological position ofAamulehti is more right-wing: in 1986 and 1996 it ran several articles that heavily criticised the strong role played by the state in Finnish society. Taxes were framed negatively almost without exception, and this was also the case in many articles concerning the social security system. Echoes of a rural, religious past still resound on the pages of Ilkka. Ideologically close to the Centre Party, it also maintains Christian values on the agenda. Among the newspapers studied here, IIkka had the largest number and proportion of articles about charity. Many of these articles were in one way or another related to the church. The three newspapers present a surprisingly different picture of social and health policy issues, even though the samples of articles were collected from the same period. The ideological differences have become less pronounced since 1986, but they have certainly not disappeared. The findings of the article support a constructivist interpretation of social policy coverage. Although some basic presuppositions are shared, each newspaper seems to have its own social political reality that it conveys to its readers. This also carries a message to politicians: the understanding of social and health policy is not as monolithic and unanimous as it may sometimes appear in the light of politicians' pragmatic discourse, but rather it is complex and diverse and involves several alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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AbstractIn the population-based FinnTwin16study, proportions of genetic and environmental factors contributing to muscle dissatisfaction and muscle-enhancing substance use were assessed in 319 pairs of twin brothers: 141 monozygotic (MZ) and 178 dizygotic (DZ) pairs. In addition there were 86 twin individuals from pairs in which only one co-twin responded. Of all respondents, 30% experienced high muscle dissatisfaction. The corresponding proportion of muscle-enhancing substance use was 10%. The subjects were similar in age (23.8 years, 95% confidence interval [CI] 23.76?23.84), body mass index (23.7, 95% CI 23.5?23.9), and waist circumference (84.5 cm, 95% CI 83.7?85.2), independent of their muscle dissatisfaction or muscle-enhancing substance use status and independent of their zygosity. The MZ polychoric correlation for muscle dissatisfaction was .39 (95% CI .17?.58) and .27 for DZ pairs (95% CI .07?.46). The MZ tetrachoric correlation for muscle-enhancing substance use was .65 (95% CI .28?.87) and .56 for DZ pairs (95% CI .26?.78). The AE model, where additive genetic factors (A) accounted for 42% (95% CI .23?.59) and unique environmental factors (E) 58% (95% CI .41?.77) of the liability, provided the best fit for muscle dissatisfaction. The CE model, where common environmental factors (C) accounted for 60% (95% CI .37?.77) and unique environmental factors (E) 40% (95% CI .23?.63) of the liability, provided the best fit for muscle-enhancing substance use. Both genetic and unique (nonfamilial) environmental factors are involved in muscle dissatisfaction in the population. Nongenetic factors (both familial and non-familial) appear to best explain the use of muscle-enhancing substances.

The present study aimed to examine the use of psychotropics and its relation to survival in demented elderly persons. A random sample of 700 individuals, aged 75 years or older, was drawn from the population of Kuopio city in January 1998. A geriatrician and a nurse carried out clinical examinations of 601 individuals, of whom 137 suffered from dementia according to DSM-IV criteria. The lifespan was calculated from the date of examination in 1998 to the end of 2003. In survival analyses, subjects were divided according to psychotropic use into groups (i) users of only one of kind of psychotropics and (ii) concomitant users of all kinds of psychotropics. Psychotropics were classified into antipsychotics, antidepressants and a group of anxiolytics and hypnoticssedatives. Seventy-one percent (n97) of demented elderly individuals used a psychotropic drug. Age- and sex-adjusted survival did not differ by severity of dementia (P0.076) or by the diagnosis of dementia (P0.54). When survival was compared with nonusers of psychotropics, the hazard ratio was 2.75 (P0.002) for individuals who used antipsychotics as their only psychotropic medicine and 1.76 (95 confidence interval 1.09–2.86) for concomitant users of all kinds of psychotropics. The use of several psychotropics or antipsychotics is a risk factor for death in demented elderly persons.

Objective: To explore eating styles associated with intentional weight loss (IWL) and to determine whether the genetic liability in IWL is entirely shared with genetic liability affecting BMI. Research Methods and Procedures: As part of a longitudinal assessment of various health‐related behaviors in a large population‐based sample of twins, eating styles, BMI, and the number of times the study participants had intentionally lost ≥5 kg were assessed by questionnaire from 4667 male and female twins (22 to 27 years of age). Associations of eating styles and IWL were explored using polytomous logistic regression models adjusted for BMI. Sex‐specific bivariate structural equation modeling was used to explore genetic and environmental correlations of BMI and IWL. Results: Individuals who had engaged in IWL exhibited markedly more restricting, overeating, and alternating restricting/overeating than those in the no‐IWL group. Snacking and eating in the evening were characteristic of women with at least two IWL attempts. Eating in response to visual and emotional cues was very pronounced in women who had engaged in IWL but much less so in men. IWL was estimated to have a heritability of 38% [95% confidence interval (CI), 19% to 55%] in men and 66% (95% CI, 55% to 75%) in women. The genetic covariance of BMI and IWL was 0.38 (95% CI, 0.28 to 0.47) for men and 0.45 (95% CI, 0.41 to 0.52) for women. Discussion: Distinct sex differences exist in eating styles associated with IWL and in the heritability of IWL. Most genetic factors affecting BMI are different from those affecting IWL.

The post-war babyboom cohorts became of age in the late 1960s, during a period of intense migration and cultural change in Finland. The country also saw dramatic changes in its economic structure, developing from an agrarian society into one dominated by manufacturing and service sectors, and a rapid expansion of its educational system. The aim of this study was to explore the social and geographic origins of babyboomers representing the occupational elite of the Helsinki area, i.e. those in upper white-collar occupations. We were interested both in class recruitment (inflow analyses) and chances of upward social mobility (outflow analyses). More specifically, we had the following research questions: (1) Is the occupational elite in the Helsinki area recruited from the occupational elite of the previous generations in Helsinki, or is this elite also composed of men and women from lower social classes and other regions? (2) Does the Helsinki elite differ from the elite in other areas? (3) Does the male elite differ from the female elite? (4) How likely is it for men and women from different social backgrounds to rise the Helsinki elite? The analyses were based on a 10% sample of the 1950 census records linked to 1990 census records at the individual level. Babyboom cohorts born in 1945-50 were 0-5 years old at the rime of the 1950 census. Social class of origin was determined according to head of household in 1950 and social class of destination according to the subjects' social class in 1990. The data comprised about 48,500 babyboomers: The results showed that the Helsinki area elite was recruited from close by. Almost one-third of the Helsinki babyboom elite was recruited from the Helsinki area, and almost one-half descended from the white-collar and managerial class. Furthermore, the Helsinki elite is somewhat more elitist in its social background than the corresponding elite elsewhere in the country. The structural changes behind the expansion of upper... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elderly use more psychotropic medication than the general population, and its use has grown during recent decades. The aim of this study was to describe the use of psychotropics in the homedwelling elderly aged 75 years or older in Finland. This Kuopio 75 Study is a populationbased health survey. A random sample of 700 subjects were drawn from the total population of people aged 75 years or more in January 1998. A geriatrician and a trained nurse carried out clinical examination and interview about the use of medicines for 523 homedwelling elderly. At least one psychotropic medication was used by 37 of the sample, and 12 were using two or more psychotropics concomitantly. The psychotropic users were older, more often widowed and living alone compared to subjects without psychotropic medication. The probability of psychotropic use increased linearly with age for anxiolyticshypnotics or antipsychotics, but not for antidepressants. Psychotropics are commonly used in the elderly, particularly among those aged 85 years or more, who are most vulnerable to adverse effects. Careful consideration is needed before prescribing psychotropics to the elderly.

Objectives: To investigate what kind of changes spouse caregivers of demented patients experience after the onset of dementia (a) in the general atmosphere, happiness, and relations of marriage and (b) in the sexual side of marriage. Design: Semistructured telephone interviews of spouse caregivers of demented patients. Setting: Community-living demented patients and their spouse caregivers in eastern Finland. Participants: The spouse caregivers of 42 demented patients recruited from a previous intervention study. Measures: The questionnaire covered different areas of marriage from the time before and after the onset of dementia. Results: A statistically significant decline had occured in extent of happiness (p = .012), in equal relations (p = .001), and in patients' expressions of sexual needs (p < .001) when compared the time before and after dementia. Twenty-five (60%) of the caregivers reported that the demented patient had shown at least one negative sexual behavioral change during the course of dementia. Seven male patients (24%) had shown the behavioral symptom of constantly expressing need for making love. One in 10 caregivers had experienced positive sexual behavioral changes. In one third of the patients, the expressions of tenderness towards the caregiver had increased. Dementia did not affect significantly the general atmosphere of the marriage. Out of those still in home care, at 3 years from the onset of dementia, 19 couples (46%) continued to practice intercourse, at 5 years the number was 15 couples (41%), and at 7 years it had declined to 7 couples (28%). Conclusions: Dementing illness has a major negative impact on many dimensions of marriage. However, there are also positive changes and preserved aspects of marriage. Dementia seems to have a surprisingly little impact on whether the couple continues to have intercourse when compared with the general aging population.

Objective: To investigate the effects of a systematic intervention with a case manager concept and rehabilitation periods compared to standard aftercare in elderly community-dwelling patients discharged from the hospital after a delirium episode. Design: Before/after intervention cohort study with 3-year follow-up. Settings: Acute geriatric wards of a city hospital and a private rehabilitation center. Subjects and Methods: The intervention group consisted of 51 community-dwelling people over 65 years of age without severe underlying disorders, who were consequently admitted as emergency cases to the hospital because of a delirious state or who were delirious immediately after admission. The intervention included continuous support and counseling by a nurse specialist and rehabilitation periods at a rehabilitation center. The control group consisted of 51 age- and gender-matched patients admitted to the same hospital for delirium fulfilling the same inclusion and exclusion criteria during preceding years. The main outcome measures were duration of community care, the use of long-term institutional care, the use of short-term hospitalizations during the follow-up, and the death of the patients. Results: Delirium even in the healthy community-dwelling subjects indicated a poor prognosis. After 3 years, 18 patients (35%) from the intervention group and 9 patients (18%) from the controls were in community care. The mean duration of community care was 671 days in the intervention group and 503 days in the control group, p = .025. A reduction of 19 years was achieved in the cumulative time spent in long-term institutionalized care. The use of short-duration hospitalization was similar in both groups. Conclusion: The institutionalization of elderly patients after a delirious state could be delayed using rehabilitation periods and systematic intervention with the case manager concept.

Background: The etiologic factors of delirium have been frequently studied in hospitalized elderly patients who usually have an underlying disorder, i.e., hip fracture or dementia predisposing to delirium. The etiologic factors of delirium and prognosis in healthy elderly remain unstudied. The aim of our study was to detect the primary and additional etiologic factors contributing to delirium among community-dwelling healthy elderly people without predisposing disorders to delirium and to evaluate 1-year prognosis after discharge to home. Method: The study subjects consisted of 51 community-dwelling people over 65 years of age, without severe underlying disorders predisposing to delirium, admitted consecutively to the hospital because of a delirious state. The diagnosis of delirium was based on the DSM-III-R criteria. After discharge to home, the subjects were followed up for 1 year. Results: The most important primary causes of delirium were infections in 22 cases (43%) and cerebrovascular attacks in 13 cases (25%). After the 1-year follow-up period, 10 patients (20%) had been taken into long-term care and 5 patients (10%) had died. Discussion: The plausible etiologic factor of delirium was detected in all cases. Among healthy elderly people, infections and cerebrovascular attacks were the most important etiologic factors for delirium. After discharge to home, 30% of the patients had to be taken into long-term care or had died within 1 year of the delirium.

The aim of this study was to get a preliminary picture of how aged female workers use typical applications of new technology in daily life. The study group consisted of 29 sixty-year-old female workers and recently retired women who had mainly worked in light physical indoor work. The subjects completed a questionnaire, dexterity of the hands and reaction time of the subjects were measured, and user-trials with a computer and remote control device were performed. Almost all subjects had used remote control device daily at home. In a user-trial 28% of the subjects had experienced difficulties in using the device, although the model of the device used was a simple one. A computer had been used by 31% of the subjects. In a user-trial with a word processor most of the subjects experienced difficulties in operating the mouse. Measured dexterity of the hands was slightly better among the subjects who performed well on the computer test. The attitudes towards new technology varied greatly, but most of the opinions were positive. The present study illustrates that a lot of work is still needed to design technological products suitable to the needs of an aged population.

The aims of this study were to investigate whether the relationship between income and self-perceived health is similar for men and women in two contrasting welfare states, Britain and Finland; whether the relationship between income and health is accounted for by employment status, education, and occupational social class; and whether the association differs when using alternative ways of measuring income: gross individual and net household equivalent income. Among British and Finnish men, low household and low individual income were related to poor health, even after adjusting for employment status, education, and social class. The adjusted relationship between individual income and health was stronger for British than Finnish men. Among British and Finnish women, net household equivalent income was strongly related to health, but after adjusting for employment status, education, and social class this relationship became weaker for British women and practically disappeared for Finnish women. For British women the association between income and health differed strongly depending on the income measure used; gross individual income had almost no effect on health. These results indicate that the association between health and income has no threshold in the sense that only people in poverty have poorer health than others. In further studies of income and health, household equivalent income should be used as the principal measure of income with adjustments for employment status, and men and women should be studied separately.

ABSTRACTThe effects of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) flaming on soil microbial biomass and soil temperature were studied in a laboratory trial. The trial was arranged to imitate the most common weed flaming practice, non-selective flaming pre-emergence of the crop. Soil samples were taken, without disturbing the soil surface, before the germination of the crop from a field cultivated and sown in the spring. The microbial biomass in the 0–5 mm depth, measured by substrate induced respiration (SIR), was decreased by 19% when the soils were flamed with open flame burners using a flaming intensity of 4600 MJ ha−1. The treatment was quite extreme, corresponding to a propane dose of 100 kg ha−1, while the usual dose in practice is 20–80 kg ha−1. Flaming had little effect on microbial biomass deeper in the soil (5–10 mm). The soil temperature at 5 mm depth was raised by 4.0°C and at 10 mm by 1.2°C. It is concluded that the threat that flaming poses to soil microorganisms is small.

Apoptosis is an important mechanism in organogenesis, but its role in heart development has been poorly characterized. We have here studied apoptosis in the developing ventricular wall of mouse embryonic heart. Developing mice hearts on days 11 to 16 of gestation were studied using in situ end-labeling of degraded DNA (TUNEL), immunocytochemistry of regulatory genes Bcl-2 and Bax, and light and electron microscopy. TUNEL end-labeled apoptotic cells were found in the ventricular wall on days 11 to 16 of gestation. The proportions of apoptotic cells of all cells in the ventricular wall differed between the trabecular and compact regions (P = 0.003) and between the days of gestation (P = 0.0001), the calculated apoptotic index was greater in the compact region at all ages except day 14. Ultrastructural analysis showed typical apoptotic shrinkage, chromatin degradation, and apoptotic bodies in several myoblastic and myocardial endothelial cells which were also positive by DNA end-labeling. Immunocytochemical reaction for the apoptosis checkpoint proteins in the ventricular wall showed clearly more Bcl-2 positive cells than Bax positive cells. The numerical densities of all cells in the compact and trabecular regions remained always higher in the compact region (P = 0.04) despite the fact that apoptosis was present in both areas at the same time. In conclusion, apoptosis takes place in the developing myocardial muscle as well as the myocardial endothelium during ventricular morphogenesis on days 11 through 16 and decreases clearly on day 16. We suggest that apoptosis and its regulatory factors are closely involved in the morphogenesis of the ventricular wall of the mammalian heart. Anat Rec 256:208–217, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The purpose of this paper was to investigate how well children's health until age 7 years can be predicted by perinatal outcome using routine health registers.

To study the socio-demographic determinants of body-height and the bearing of these determinants on the association between body-height and health among Finnish adults.

The aims of the study were to describe the health of older men and women and to investigate the social patterning of health and functional disability among older men and women, with special reference to social class differences. The data were derived from the 1994 nationwide Finnish Survey on Living Conditions (N = 1,448). Functional disability, limiting long-standing illness, and self-assessed health were used as health measures. Sociodemographic measures were social class, marital status, and urbanization. The age-adjusted social class differences were clear. Farmers and workers reported more functional disability and poorer health than did the white-collar class. Differences were somewhat smaller among women than among men. Social class was a stronger determinant than urbanization and marital status of functional disability and health.

It has been widely debated whether the association between alcohol and health is linear or a U-shaped curve and whether having a daily drink is hazardous to one's health or not. The aim of this paper is to describe associations between drinking, self-reported health and strenuous life-style among young people in a cross-sectional setting. Are abstainers healthier than drinkers?This study is a part of a larger research programme in progress, the Adolescent Health and Life-style Survey. The data came from questionnaires sent to a representative nationwide sample of 16-18-year-olds in 1987 (N=5002, response rate 80%). The young people were divided into four groups according to their drinking; 'heavy drinkers' (heavily drunk at least once a week); 'frequent drinkers' (drink at least once a week but get heavily drunk once or twice a month at the most); 'moderate drinkers' (drink less frequently); and 'abstainers' (do not use alcohol).No association was observed between drinking and limiting long-standing illness. In terms of other health measures, the association between drinking and health was linear; the heavier the young people drank, the less likely they were to perceive their health as excellent or good, or to feel active in the morning. In addition, they felt tired during the daytime more often and also reported symptoms (headache, stomachache, sleeplessness etc.); they had had the flu more often, and were more likely to have visited a physician.

A 'plate type' temperature gradient incubator (GradiplateR, Biodata Ltd., Helsinki, Finland) was used to expose raw sausage material to 81 different combinations of cooking (9 levels in the range of 54-69°C) and then cold storage temperatures (9 levels in the range of 54-69°C) and then cold storage temperatures (9 levels in the range of 1-11°C) according to a 92factorial design. Following these two incubations, the numbers of naturally present aerobic, coliform, and lactic acid bacteria in the sausage material were determined. The bacterial counts were plotted against the corresponding cooking and cold storage temperature to give three-dimensional maps. A six-order polynomial model was fitted to the experimental data. In general low bacterial counts corresponded with high cooking temperatures and low storage temperatures, but the overall pattern of growth was not readily predictable. Therefore the three-dimensional maps can be used as a model to predict the probable numbers of bacteria in cooked and cold stored sausages. With the help of a polynomial model the combined effect of cooking and cold storage temperatures on quantities of coliform and lactic acid bacteria was discovered. This temperature mapping study also confirms that avoidance of post cookery recontamination provides the method of choice for improving the microbiological quality of cooked sausages.

A systems approach to fire safety is a way to evaluate fire safety of buildings, especially large and complex buildings. One tool for building fire risk analysis is the computer programme FIRE (Fire Simulation Program) de veloped at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in USA by Professor R. Fitz gerald and his group. The computational utility of the code was improved and adapted to the Finnish environment by Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) and two engineering consultants, Rakennus-Ekono and LCA-Engin eering.We simulated fires in a four-floor building where one wing (single fire com partment) was selected for simulation. We chose four representative room types in the building for which fire engineering data were selected. By simulation, we studied the impact of different design alternatives to fire risk of the total building. Fire risk in each design alternative was computed as expectation of loss. Costs caused by structural changes and active fire safety systems were taken into account. The compilations proved that it is possible to design differently from the current fire code and still reduce the fire risk level. FIRE does not yet support the evaluation of life safety, but the results can be used for that purpose indirectly.

Usingα-particles in the energy range 42–51 MeV, the209Bi(α, 4n)209At reaction was studied with the intention of investigating the properties of excited high spin states in209At. In-beam prompt and delayed gamma-ray and conversion electron spectroscopy reveal two isomeric states at 2429 and 1428 keV having the half-lives of 875±100 ns and 25±1 ns, respectively. The spins and parities of these states are found to be 29/2+ and 21/2−, respectively. Theg-factors of the isomeric states are 1.06±0.02 and 0.88±0.06, which, within the experimental errors, are the same as theg-factors of the corresponding states in211At. This suggests that the isomeric states are due to the and configurations, respectively. The deviation between the calculated and experimentally found excitation energies of the isomeric levels are −146±26 and +72 ±26 keV. This deviation which in cases of a208Pb-core usually is smaller than 15 keV, is likely to be due to the neglect of the interaction between two particles via the exchange of virtual 2+ phonons in the206Pb core. This two-particle polarization interaction is found to be approximately described by aP2-force.

This paper describes the use of drugs among middle-aged Massachusetts women from 1982 to 1986. Data were obtained from follow-up interviews of women (n 2565) who were premenopausal in a baseline survey of a representative sample of women with an age range of 45–55. In the first follow-up interview, 92 of women had used nonprescribed drugs (“current use”), but most only sporadically, while 47 had used prescribed drugs. The use of different types of drugs was concentrated in the same women, and women who had used prescribed drugs had also used nonprescribed drugs more often than the other women. In the first follow-up, women were classified as nonusers (includes sporadic nonprescribed drug use), nonprescribed medicine users, prescribed drug users, and mixed users; 43 of the women were in a different class three years later. Comparison of individual drug groups also showed changes in the user status between the two surveys. With the exception of poorer health, users of nonprescribed and prescribed drugs were similar to nonusers. Because use of drugs is common, further research on both its determinants and appropriateness is needed.

Selective health-related social mobility has been suggested as one possible explanation for health inequalities. The aim of this paper is to examine the size and significance of the contribution which health-related social mobility makes to social class differences in health. We do this by examining the association between intergenerational social mobility and health among currently employed men and women in Britain and Finland. We used comparable nationally representative interview surveys from Britain and Finland. The British data is derived from the General Household Survey for 1988 and 1989, and the Finnish data from the 1986 Survey on Living Conditions. Health measures included limiting long-standing illness and self-assessed health as below good. Social mobility was measured comparing the respondent's class of origin (father's occupation) with his/her class of destination (own current occupation). Social structural changes and related social mobility have been more dramatic in Finland than in Britain during the last few decades. Downward mobility has been relatively rare, and mobility has taken place predominantly upwards. In Finland downward mobility from upper non-manual to manual worker was associated with a somewhat higher risk of limiting long-standing illness than expected among men as well as women. However, there was no statistically significant interaction effect on health between the respondent's father's occupational class and his/her own current class. In Britain, neither self-assessed health nor limiting long-standing illness were related to social mobility. Some weak evidence for health-related downward social mobility was found for currently employed Finnish men and women, but not for their British counterparts. Moreover, the evidence is weaker for self-assessed health than for limiting long-standing illness. Where social mobility may have been health-related, it concerns very rare and small groups; therefore health inequalities among the currently employed cannot be explained by intergenerational health-related social mobility.

In order to stay competitive in the mining and mineral processing business, it has become increasingly important to have well functioning automation systems. New requirements on these systems arise from a number of different sources. Customers continuously ask for further refined products of higher quality. This, together with a demand for increased efficiency generates requirements on sophisticated control functionality and display of relevant information to operators and maintenance personnel. Integration of different systems is required in order to improve over-all efficiency and quality of services. Altogether, the new requirements make it increasingly important to be a skilled procurer of computer-based automation systems. This paper presents some practical experience from LKAB in the field of systems integration and discusses whether to separate the procurement of a machine from the procurement of its control system. The results presented should be of interest for automation system suppliers and users effective in all kinds of process and manufacturing industries.

The integration of information and control functions in the sub-systems of a production system requires some kind of central coordination, an Industrial Control System, ICS. The choice of ICS for a given process, however, is a delicate one. The ICS should provide the required functionality and performance at a minimum cost, while providing sufficient long-term flexibility to assure a low life cycle cost. Today, it is not uncommon that a user chooses a too expensive or, even worse, too “restricted” ICS. In this study, a number of commercially available ICS's, normally used within different fields of application, have been investigated.

The article describes the two waves of popularity for medium beer in Finland. Medium beer contains 3.7-4.7 percent alcohol per volume whereas strong beer (sold only in the state retail monopoly shops) contains 4.7-5.8 alcohol per volume. The first wave occurred after deregulation of the sale of the medium strength beer in 1969. The second was in the beginning of the 1990s. During the first wave, the total consumption of beer increased; the consumption of medium beer rose in parallel with the consumption of strong beer. During the second wave, medium beer became a substitute for the strong variety.Finnish drinkers of medium strength beer are described using data from two data sets: Monitoring of Health Behaviour among the Finnish Adult Population (1978–93) and Alcohol Interview Surveys (1984 and 1992).Consumption of medium beer has increased in all age, gender and socio-economic groups, but it has increased more among younger and middle-age people than among older people. The differences between educational groups diminished after adjustment for age. Since 1984 medium beer bars have become increasingly popular and women, in particular, have joined the clientele.

Excited levels in208Po and209At were populated in the reactions (p, 2n) and (3He, 3n), and208Po also in the EC-decay of the208At ground state, which was produced in the209Bi(3He, 4n) reaction. The experimental procedures comprised gamma-ray excitation functions,?- ? coincidences, as well as gamma-ray angular distribution and conversionelectron measurements, both on- and off-line. The properties of about twenty-five levels in each nuclide were studied. In208Po the energy of the 8+?6+ transition could be determined to be 4.0±0.2keV and the 8+ state thus has an excitation energy of 1,528 keV. The effective quadrupole charge of theh9/2 proton can be derived aseeff(t h9/2)=1.69(15)e. For the previously reported isomeric half-lives more accurate values are obtained, the systematics of electricL=1, 2 and 3 transition rates are discussed, and their microscopic structure is elucidated. Shell model considerations are used to support the configuration assignments, as are the logft values for the strongest208At(EC)208Po decay branches. The effect of core polarixation on the excitation energies of yrast states is studied in both208Po and209At. Many of the states populated in the208At EC decay are shown to be of core-excited character.

Excited states in199,200,201Po were populated in the reactions12C+194Pt and12C+195Pt. The subsequent?-radiation was studied using conventional in-beam spectroscopic methods. States with spins up to (29/2), 18 and ?35/2h, respectively, were populated in the three nuclides. Three isomeric states with the following half-lives were observed in200Po:T1/2(8+)=90(15) ns,T1/2(11-)=120(20) ns andT1/2(12+)=267(4) ns. The structure of the excited states was interpreted within the framework of the spherical shell model. The three isomers are suggested to be two-quasiparticle states with configurationsp(h22)8J, p(h9i13/2)11- and v(i1 3/2-2)12+. A self-consistent Hartree-Fock calculation was performed to obtain ground-state deformations of the neighbouring Pb cores. From the results of the experiments and the calculations it was concluded that no appreciable deformations of the cores are manifested in the yrast states of these three Po nuclei.