A topic network analysis of the system turn in the environmental sciences

Scientometrics - The concept of Earth system science denotes a shift in the scientific discourse from disciplinary accounts of isolated components of the global environment towards the holistic and...     

Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis in Finland--a forecast

Since the collapse of the Soviet system, travel between the St Petersburg district and the Baltic states and Finland has increased substantially. Although it is difficult to obtain exact figures on the number of cases of tuberculosis (TB) and multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB in these countries, there is strong evidence of growing epidemics, bringing added epidemiological threat to Finland. The purpose of this study is to produce a short-term "worst case" forecast of the spatial development of a threatened MDR-TB epidemic in Finland. The method applied is a chorological multistep procedure using statistical and geographical methods and a simulation technique. Instead of focusing on populations of carriers and susceptibles, emphasis is placed on identifying the primary influences directing the epidemic as a spatial process. This was done by dividing Finland into small-area units and by assigning the risk of obtaining MDR-TB to each unit based on socioeconomic and structural characteristics of the population. The simulated 6 year cumulative distribution of new MDR-TB cases showed a marked concentration of cases in the capital region and in a cluster of municipalities along the west coast. Although socioeconomic factors are important in explaining the distribution of cases, frequent and widespread international contacts seemed to be equally important at the beginning of the epidemic.     

High resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis as a tool to differentiate wild from farmed cod (Gadus morhua) and to assess the protein composition of klipfish

Tris and CHAPS–urea extracts from wild and farmed cod muscle and from rehydrated cod klipfish fillets were analyzed by one (1DE) and two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE). 2DE maps of tris extracts from farmed cod differed from the wild in a series of spots of Mw 35 and 45 kDa. The CHAPS–urea extracts from farmed cod had a several spots of Mw between 100 and 45 kDa, which were hardly detectable in wild cod and very prominent in klipfish. Klipfish was clearly different from the other samples: the myosin heavy chain was hardly detectable in these samples, and the tris extracts contained fewer, and the CHAPS–urea more spots than the corresponding extracts from the raw muscles. Further identification of these potentially diagnostic spots will make it easier the differentiation of farmed from wild cod and the evaluation of klipfish processing on the protein content of the product.