Multivariate Analysis of Finnish Dialect Data An Overview of Lexical Variation

During the process of writing a comprehensive dictionary ofFinnish dialects, a large set of maps describing the regionaldistribution of the dialect words have been compiled in electronicform. In this article, we set out to analyse this corpus ofdata in order to gain new insight on the variation of Finnishdialects. We use a wide range of multivariate data analysismethods, including principal components analysis, independentcomponents analysis, clustering, and multidimensional scaling.We explain how to preprocess the data to overcome the problemof uneven sampling caused by the way the data has been collected.We discuss the results obtained by these methods and comparethem to the traditional view of Finnish dialect groups.     

Tissue localization of bovine dander allergen Bos d 2

We examined serum levels of a CD44 splice variant that contained variant exons 8-10 (CD44v8-10) as a tumor marker in colorectal cancer patients. We performed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in 81 sera obtained from 71 colorectal cancer patients and 10 healthy controls. Serum CD44v8-10 levels were significantly higher in the colorectal cancer patients than in the healthy controls (0.209 +/- 0.098 versus 0.114 +/- 0.019 OD; P < 0.01). There was a close correlation between immunohistochemical expression and serum CD44v8-10 levels. Surgical resection of the tumors resulted in a reduction of serum CD44v8-10 levels. There was no significant correlation between serum CD44v8-10 level and serosal invasion or histologic type. However, a significant correlation was observed between serum CD44v8-10 level and lymphatic or venous invasion. In addition, serum CD44v8-10 levels were significantly higher in carcinomas associated with lymph node or liver metastasis than in those without metastasis. These findings suggest the usefulness of serum CD44v8-10 level in the prediction of colorectal cancer metastasis.     

Main results of the losartan versus amlodipine (LOA) study on drug tolerability and psychological general well-being. LOA Study Group

OBJECTIVE: To compare two losartan regimens (with and without hydrochlorothiazide) and amlodipine in treating mild-to-moderate hypertension regarding their blood-pressure-lowering effect, drug tolerability and quality of life. DESIGN: A 12-week, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, multi-centre study. After 4 weeks of placebo, patients with a diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in the range 95-115 mmHg were allocated randomly to be administered 50 mg losartan (increased to 100 mg if the DBP was 90 mmHg or more after 6 weeks), 50 mg losartan (plus 12.5 mg hydrochlorothiazide under the above conditions), or 5 mg amlodipine (increased to 10 mg under the above condition). The tolerability of the treatment and the quality of life were evaluated by spontaneous reporting, active questioning and the Psychological General Well-Being (PGWB) index. STUDY POPULATION: In total 898 hypertensives, mainly referred from primary health care (mean age 57.8 years) of whom 52% were men. RESULTS: Administration of 50 mg losartan (plus 12.5 hydrochlorothiazide if necessary) and of 5 mg amlodipine (or 10 mg if necessary) lowered the blood pressure as well as or better than did 50 mg losartan (or 100 mg if necessary). The incidence of 'any discomfort' and 'swollen ankles' increased with amlodipine but not with losartan treatment. The opposite was found for 'dizziness upon standing'. The incidence of drug-related adverse events and the number of patients withdrawn from therapy were higher with amlodipine than they were with losartan treatment. The PGWB index at week 12 indicated that improvements from baseline had occurred in some domains for the losartan groups whereas it remained unchanged for the amlodipine group. CONCLUSION: Both losartan and amlodipine were effective in lowering the blood pressure and were tolerated well. Administration of 50 mg losartan (plus 12.5 mg hydrochlorothiazide if necessary) and of 5 mg amlodipine (or 10 mg if necessary) lowered the blood pressure equally well or better than did 50 mg losartan (or 100 mg if necessary). Drug-related adverse effects and withdrawal from the study were more common for the amlodipine group. The clinical significance of the improvements in the PGWB index with losartan needs to be studied further.     

The core domain of retrotransposon integrase in Hordeum: predicted structure and evolution

Propagation of long terminal repeat (LTR)-bearing retrotransposons and retroviruses requires integrase (IN, EC 2.7.7.-), encoded by the retroelements themselves, which mediates the insertion of cDNA copies back into the genome. An active retrotransposon family, BARE-1, comprises approximately 7% of the barley (Hordeum vulgare subsp. vulgare) genome. We have generated models for the secondary and tertiary structure of BARE-1 IN and demonstrate their similarity to structures for human immunodeficiency virus 1 and avian sarcoma virus INs. The IN core domains were compared for 80 clones from 28 Hordeum accessions representative of the diversity of the genus. Based on the structural model, variations in the predicted, aligned translations from these clones would have minimal structural and functional effects on the encoded enzymes. This indicates that Hordeum retrotransposon IN has been under purifying selection to maintain a structure typical of retroviral INs. These represent the first such analyses for plant INs.     

Analysis of EMG and acceleration signals for quantifying the effects of deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is effective in reducing motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, objective methods for quantifying its efficacy are lacking. We present a principal component (PC)-based tracking method for quantifying the effects of DBS in PD by using electromyography (EMG) and acceleration measurements. Ten parameters capturing PD characteristic signal features were initially extracted from isometric EMG and acceleration recordings. Using a PC approach, the original parameters were transformed into a smaller number of PCs. Finally, the effects of DBS were quantified by examining the PCs in a low-dimensional feature space. The EMG and acceleration data from 13 PD patients with DBS ON and OFF, and 13 healthy age-matched controls were used for analysis. Clinical evaluation of patients showed that their motor symptoms were effectively reduced with DBS. The analysis results showed that the signal characteristics of 12 patients were more similar to those of the healthy controls with DBS ON than with DBS OFF. These observations indicate that the PC-based tracking method can be used to objectively quantify the effects of DBS on the neuromuscular function of PD patients. Further studies are suggested to estimate the clinical sensitivity of the method to different types of PD.     

Effect of 2-propanol and water contents on the crystallization and particle size of titanium dioxide synthesized at low-temperature

Two series of titanium dioxide, TiO₂, powder were prepared at a temperature of 50 °C without any catalyst. The effects of 2-propanol and water contents on the formation of crystalline powder mixture of anatase and brookite were systematically studied. The characteristics of produced powder were determined by employing X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption test and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.     

Scale-up of manufacturing of printed enzyme electrodes for enzymatic power source applications

Production of printable enzymatic power sources was scaled up from laboratory to roll-to-roll (R2R) pilot production. The anode and cathode enzymes were glucose oxidase (GOx) and laccase, respectively. The best laboratory-scale cells had a maximum power and energy density of 1.4 ± 0.1 µW cm^?2 and 5.5 ± 0.2 µWh cm^?2, respectively. These values are 5 and 28 times higher compared to our previously published values. The R2R-produced cells had a maximum power and energy density of 0.40 ± 0.03 µW cm^?2 and 0.6 ± 0.1 µWh cm^?2, respectively. This is 11 % of the best laboratory manufactured cells. It is suspected that the decrease in electrochemical performance originates from the lower mediator amount and higher drying temperature than that of the laboratory produced cells. However, the trials conducted in this work showed that printed enzymatic active layers can be fabricated and dried with a rotary screen-printing machine in R2R process. Hence, fully printed GOx//laccase power sources could be produced from R2R on a large scale for printed electronics applications.     

Real‐Time Label‐Free Monitoring of Nanoparticle Cell Uptake

The surface plasmon resonance technique in combination with whole cell sensing is used for the first time for real‐time label‐free monitoring of nanoparticle cell uptake. The uptake kinetics of several types of nanoparticles relevant to drug delivery applications into HeLa cells is determined. The cell uptake of the nanoparticles is confirmed by confocal microscopy. The cell uptake of silica nanoparticles and polyethylenimine–plasmid DNA polyplexes is studied as a function of temperature, and the uptake energies are determined by Arrhenius plots. The phase transition temperature of the HeLa cell membrane is detected when monitoring cell uptake of silica nanoparticles at different temperatures. The HeLa cell uptake of the mesoporous silica nanoparticles is energy‐independent at temperatures slightly higher than the phase transition temperature of the HeLa cell membrane, while the uptake of polyethylenimine–DNA polyplexes is energy‐dependent and linear as a function of temperature with an activation energy of Ea = 62 ± 7 kJ mol^?1 = 15 ± 2 kcal mol^?1. The HeLa cell uptake of red blood cell derived extracellular vesicles is also studied as a function of the extracellular vesicle concentration. The results show a concentration dependent behavior reaching a saturation level of the extracellular vesicle uptake by HeLa cells.