• Energy Research
• Research Council of Finland close
• 3. Good health close
• US close

Abstract Aims Alcohol exposure during adolescence is associated with both increased risk for alcohol use disorders and anxiety in adulthood. Our present experiments examined this association using alcohol-preferring AA (Alko Alcohol) rats selected for high voluntary alcohol drinking. Methods Two groups of female AA rats acquired alcohol drinking at different ages. We gave the adolescent-onset group free choice to 10% alcohol and water for seven weeks, starting on post-natal day 42 (PND 42), whereas the adult-onset group started drinking alcohol on PND 112. After the 7-week drinking, we withdrew the adolescent group from alcohol for two weeks, followed by another voluntary 7-week drinking period, started at the same age as the adult-onset group. We assessed anxiety-like behaviour repeatedly during alcohol drinking with open field and elevated plus maze tests. At the end of alcohol drinking, we also tested the rats using the light/dark box, stress-induced body temperature test and social dominance test. Results During the first 7-week alcohol drinking, adolescent rats exhibited significantly slower acquisition of alcohol drinking and lower alcohol preference than the adult-onset group. However, when tested at the same age as the adult-onset rats, they displayed identical alcohol intake and preference. We found no alcohol-induced effects on anxiety- or stress-related behaviour in the experimental groups at any time points. Conclusions These data show that the genetically determined phenotype of high alcohol drinking of the female alcohol-preferring AA rats is not associated with a predisposition to develop anxiety-like behaviour following voluntary alcohol exposure, even when initiated during adolescence.

Evidence on alcohol consumption as a risk factor for dementia usually relates to overall consumption. The role of alcohol-induced loss of consciousness is uncertain.To examine the risk of future dementia associated with overall alcohol consumption and alcohol-induced loss of consciousness in a population of current drinkers.Seven cohort studies from the UK, France, Sweden, and Finland (IPD-Work consortium) including 131 415 participants were examined. At baseline (1986-2012), participants were aged 18 to 77 years, reported alcohol consumption, and were free of diagnosed dementia. Dementia was examined during a mean follow-up of 14.4 years (range, 12.3-30.1). Data analysis was conducted from November 17, 2019, to May 23, 2020.Self-reported overall consumption and loss of consciousness due to alcohol consumption were assessed at baseline. Two thresholds were used to define heavy overall consumption: greater than 14 units (U) (UK definition) and greater than 21 U (US definition) per week.Dementia and alcohol-related disorders to 2016 were ascertained from linked electronic health records.Of the 131 415 participants (mean [SD] age, 43.0 [10.4] years; 80 344 [61.1%] women), 1081 individuals (0.8%) developed dementia. After adjustment for potential confounders, the hazard ratio (HR) was 1.16 (95% CI, 0.98-1.37) for consuming greater than 14 vs 1 to 14 U of alcohol per week and 1.22 (95% CI, 1.01-1.48) for greater than 21 vs 1 to 21 U/wk. Of the 96 591 participants with data on loss of consciousness, 10 004 individuals (10.4%) reported having lost consciousness due to alcohol consumption in the past 12 months. The association between loss of consciousness and dementia was observed in men (HR, 2.86; 95% CI, 1.77-4.63) and women (HR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.34-3.25) during the first 10 years of follow-up (HR, 2.72; 95% CI, 1.78-4.15), after excluding the first 10 years of follow-up (HR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.16-2.99), and for early-onset (<65 y: HR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.46-3.34) and late-onset (≥65 y: HR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.38-3.66) dementia, Alzheimer disease (HR, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.28-3.07), and dementia with features of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (HR, 4.18; 95% CI, 1.86-9.37). The association with dementia was not explained by 14 other alcohol-related conditions. With moderate drinkers (1-14 U/wk) who had not lost consciousness as the reference group, the HR for dementia was twice as high in participants who reported having lost consciousness, whether their mean weekly consumption was moderate (HR, 2.19; 95% CI, 1.42-3.37) or heavy (HR, 2.36; 95% CI, 1.57-3.54).The findings of this study suggest that alcohol-induced loss of consciousness, irrespective of overall alcohol consumption, is associated with a subsequent increase in the risk of dementia.

Vegetation fires can release substantial quantities of fine particles (PM2.5), which are harmful to health. The fire smoke may be transported over long distances and can cause adverse health effects over wide areas.We aimed to assess annual mortality attributable to short-term exposures to vegetation fire-originated PM2.5 in different regions of Europe.PM2.5 emissions from vegetation fires in Europe in 2005 and 2008 were evaluated based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data on fire radiative power. Atmospheric transport of the emissions was modeled using the System for Integrated modeLling of Atmospheric coMposition (SILAM) chemical transport model. Mortality impacts were estimated for 27 European countries based on a) modeled daily PM2.5 concentrations and b) population data, both presented in a 50 × 50 km2 spatial grid; c) an exposure-response function for short-term PM2.5 exposure and daily nonaccidental mortality; and d) country-level data for background mortality risk.In the 27 countries overall, an estimated 1,483 and 1,080 premature deaths were attributable to the vegetation fire-originated PM2.5 in 2005 and 2008, respectively. Estimated impacts were highest in southern and eastern Europe. However, all countries were affected by fire-originated PM2.5, and even the lower concentrations in western and northern Europe contributed substantially (~ 30%) to the overall estimate of attributable mortality.Our assessment suggests that air pollution caused by PM2.5 released from vegetation fires is a notable risk factor for public health in Europe. Moreover, the risk can be expected to increase in the future as climate change proceeds. This factor should be taken into consideration when evaluating the overall health and socioeconomic impacts of these fires. Citation: Kollanus V, Prank M, Gens A, Soares J, Vira J, Kukkonen J, Sofiev M, Salonen RO, Lanki T. 2017. Mortality due to vegetation fire-originated PM2.5 exposure in Europe-assessment for the years 2005 and 2008. Environ Health Perspect 125:30-37; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP194.

AbstractEngineered light-dependent switches provide uniquely powerful opportunities to investigate and control cell regulatory mechanisms. Existing tools offer high spatiotemporal resolution, reversibility and repeatability. Cellular optogenetics applications remain limited with diffusible targets as the response of the actuator is difficult to independently validate. Blue light levels commonly needed for actuation can be cytotoxic, precluding long-term experiments. We describe a simple approach overcoming these obstacles. Resonance energy transfer can be used to constitutively or dynamically modulate actuation sensitivity. This simultaneously offers on-line monitoring of light-dependent switching and precise quantification of activation-relaxation properties in intact living cells. Applying this approach to different LOV2-based switches reveals that flanking sequences can lead to relaxation times up to 11-fold faster than anticipated. In situ–measured parameter values guide the design of target-inhibiting actuation trains with minimal blue-light exposure, and context-based optimisation can increase sensitivity and experimental throughput a further 10-fold without loss of temporal precision.

Suicide is a notable cause of death worldwide, and while suicidal behavior appears to be associated with variations in temperature, no estimations are available of climate change impacts on suicide rates. The study aims to evaluate the influence of temperature on suicide mortality, especially on multi-decadal and longer time scales, that is, at scales on which the ongoing warming distinctly operates and is correspondingly appropriate for the current policy responses to warming climate.Our results are based on an extraordinarily long record of deaths from suicide in Finland from 1751 to 2008, and a similarly long climatic record of ambient temperatures correlative of environmental change in the study region.We show that temperature variability explains more than 60 % of the total suicide variance up until the initiation of a national suicide prevention program. Despite ongoing warming, suicide rates have declined since the initiation of the program.By understanding the complexity of suicidal behavior as a response to ambient warming and the observed effects of interventions, our results underline the pressing need for a network of prevention programs to battle against temperature-mediated health hazards.

Encouraging individuals to take action is important for the overall success of climate change mitigation. Campaigns promoting climate change mitigation could address particular groups of the population on the basis of what kind of mitigation actions the group is already taking. To increase the knowledge of such groups performing similar mitigation actions we conducted a population-based cross-sectional study in Finland. The study population comprised 1623 young adults who returned a self-administered questionnaire (response rate 64%). Our aims were to identify groups of people engaged in similar climate change mitigation actions and to study the gender differences in the grouping. We also determined if socio-demographic characteristics can predict group membership. We performed latent class analysis using 14 mitigation actions as manifest variables. Three classes were identified among men: the Inactive (26%), the Semi-active (63%) and the Active (11%) and two classes among women: the Semi-active (72%) and the Active (28%). The Active among both genders were likely to have mitigated climate change through several actions, such as recycling, using environmentally friendly products, preferring public transport, and conserving energy. The Semi-Active had most probably recycled and preferred public transport because of climate change. The Inactive, a class identified among men only, had very probably done nothing to mitigate climate change. Among males, being single or divorced predicted little involvement in climate change mitigation. Among females, those without tertiary degree and those with annual income €≥16801 were less involved in climate change mitigation. Our results illustrate to what extent young adults are engaged in climate change mitigation, which factors predict little involvement in mitigation and give insight to which segments of the public could be the audiences of targeted mitigation campaigns.

There is no cure for osteoarthritis. Current drug delivery relies on systemic delivery or injections into the joint. Because articular cartilage (AC) degeneration can be local and drug exposure outside the lesion can cause adverse effects, localized drug delivery could permit new drug treatment strategies. We investigated whether intense megahertz ultrasound (frequency: 1.138 MHz, peak positive pressure: 2.7 MPa, Ispta: 5 W/cm(2), beam width: 5.7 mm at -6 dB, duty cycle: 5%, pulse repetition frequency: 285 Hz, mechanical index: 1.1) can deliver agents into AC without damaging it. Using ultrasound, we delivered a drug surrogate down to a depth corresponding to 53% depth of the AC thickness without causing histologically detectable damage to the AC. This may be important because early osteoarthritis typically exhibits histopathologic changes in the superficial AC. In conclusion, we identify intense megahertz ultrasound as a technique that potentially enables localized non-destructive delivery of osteoarthritis drugs or drug carriers into articular cartilage.