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T Niskanen

Publications and source records attributed to T Niskanen.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Different Yersinia enterocolitica 4:O3 genotypes found in pig tonsils in Southern Germany and Finland.

The distribution of different genotypes of Y. enterocolitica 4:O3 strains recovered from pig tonsils in Southern Germany and Finland in 1999-2000 was investigated. A total of 96 and 207 Y. enterococolitica 4:O3 isolates recovered from 47 and 66 tonsils of finishing pigs in Germany and Finland, respectively, were characterised with PFGE using NotI enzyme. In all, 39 different NotI profiles were obtained, only one of which, NB1, was found in both Germany and Finland. All strains were further characterised with ApaI and XhoI enzymes. When the 54 German and 74 Finnish strains were characterised with all three enzymes, 51 genotypes were obtained. The 23 genotypes found in German strains differed from the 28 found in Finnish strains. These results indicate that Y. enterocolitica 4:O3 genotypes have a differential geographical distribution and thus can be used in epidemiological studies.

Abattoirs↗
PubMed2002

Characterisation of sucrose-negative Yersinia enterocolitica 4/O:3 isolates recovered from pig tonsils.

Sucrose-negative Yersinia enterocolitica isolates of bioserotype 4/O:3 have been recovered for the first time. They were found in 2% of the tonsils of clinically healthy fattening pigs. These sucrose-negative Y. enterocolitica isolates could not be differentiated from Y. kristensenii isolates using API 20E; thus, they were identified using PCR and sequencing. Using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). NotI profiles of sucrose-negative Y. enterocolitica 4/O:3 isolates showed a high similarity to sucrose-positive Y. enterocolitica 4/O:3 isolates. This study demonstrated that sucrose-negative Y. enterocolitica 4/O:3 isolates of porcine origin can harbour virulence genes; plasmid-encoded virulence markers were found in 8 out of 11 isolates and all isolates contained chromosomal-encoded virulence markers. Thus, the pathogenicity of sucrose-negative Yersinia isolates should always be assessed.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Child psychiatric skills in primary healthcare--self-evaluation of Finnish health centre doctors.

OBJECTIVE: To study Finnish general practitioners' (GP's) perceptions of their child psychiatric skills. METHODS: The study sample consisted of physicians (n=755) working in health centres situated in the special response area of the Tampere University Hospital, Finland. They were requested to assess their competence in 16 areas on a four-step Likert scale. The response rate was 66.1% (n=499). RESULTS: Physicians evaluated their child psychiatric skills as inadequate on many issues. The ability to identify depression was poorer the younger the child in question. Only a minority (14%) felt they were well able to identify a depressed infant. Many physicians considered themselves poorly skilled in assessing the relationship between infant and parents (39.8%), in assessing a child's need for psychiatric treatment (42.7%) and in identifying a child with attention-deficit disorder (40.7%). A majority (75.9%) rated their skills poor in co-operating with daycare personnel or school staff in matters concerning a child with conduct disturbance. Only 26.8% could assess the necessity of taking a child into custody. Women gave higher ratings of their skills in identifying depressed infants and in assessing the infant-parent relationship than men, whereas men assessed their skills as better in cases in which there were problems in co-operation with parents. CONCLUSIONS: In order to provide good psychiatric services for children, attention should be paid to the GPs' child psychiatric skills.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2002

Applicability of the Scandinavian Odor Identification Test: a Finnish-Swedish comparison.

The possibility of using the Scandinavian Odor Identification Test (SOIT), developed for clinical purposes for use with Swedish subjects, for assessment of another northern European population was studied by comparing test performance between 127 Finnish and 127 Swedish participants, who were matched for age (19-85 years) and gender. The results showed very similar performance between countries and demonstrated, as expected, age- and gender-related differences in performance. Test-retest reliability was as good in Finnish as in Swedish subgroups of participants and no significant difference between countries in terms of diagnostic distribution (normosmia, hyposmia and anosmia) was found when using existing cut-off scores. The findings suggest that the SOIT, with its diagnostic cut-off scores, is reliable and valid for use with Finnish populations.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Optical inspection of punches: flat surfaces.

Optical inspection techniques for estimation of surface roughness and surface quality of flat punches, which are used in the pharmaceutical industry for tablet compression, were studied. It was observed that a simple specular reflection technique is useful for surface roughness assessment of flat punches. A diffractive element based sensor was used for the surface quality detection, such as mirror property or flatness, with the aid of image information of a test pattern. It was observed that a new punch may have a poorer surface quality than a used one.

Optics and Photonics↗
PubMed1999

'Eczema school' to improve compliance in an occupational dermatology clinic.

From the beginning of 1990 a trained nurse has been employed at our Department of Dermatology to give information about skin care, allergen avoidance and skin protection to the patients. To find out the possible benefit obtained by this patient education, a questionnaire was sent out to 540 patients who had been diagnosed with an occupational skin disease established at the Department of Dermatology between 1985 and 1992. It is evident that direct comparison in this kind of longitudinal follow-up must be carried out with great criticism, since changes in patients' work exposure and socioeconomical situation during the follow-up time will also affect the prognosis. In this study, 424 patients returned the questionnaire, 252 who had been examined before 1990 and 172 later. According to the answers, it appeared that during the last 12 months, the majority (65%) had suffered from dermatitis, 13% from constant and 52% from periodic symptoms. However, when the diagnosis had been irritant contact dermatitis without allergens found, the prognosis was significantly better (p<0.008) among those who had received "extra education" and none had persistent dermatitis. Patients with contact allergy to metals or synthetic resins had also managed better, as compared to those who had received traditional treatment (p<0.002, p<0.003). Other factors such as personal motivation and possibilities for work reorganization were also important for the prognosis. 60% of patients were not initially aware of the decision given by the insurance companies, although 94% of their skin diseases had been accepted as occupational dermatoses. Generally, the patients were satisfied with the extra information given by the nurse.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Dependence between dissolution rate and porosity of compressed erythromycin acistrate tablets.

The correlation between dissolution rate and porosity of compressed erythromycin acistrate tablets was studied. The total porosity of the tablets, the pore size distribution and the specific surface area of the pores were determined using high-pressure mercury porosimetry. The particle size and specific surface area of the raw material and of the dry granulated mass of the tablets were also determined. The results show that the pore size distribution, showing the differences in pore structure, is more informative than total intruded volume of mercury. However, it is very difficult to explain the dissolution behaviour of erythromycin acistrate tablets only by porosity results of the tablets, and more work is still needed in this field.

Erythromycin↗
PubMed1998

The effect of compression force on surface structure, crushing strength, friability and disintegration time of erythromycin acistrate tablets.

The surface roughness of erythromycin acistrate tablets was studied by non-contact laser profilometry. Seven roughness parameters and 3D fractal dimension were examined. The mechanical properties (including crushing strength, friability and disintegration time) were determined, and SEM data were taken from the tablets. According to the results, the crushing strength and the disintegration time of the tablets increased with increasing compression force. At higher compression forces the crushing strength reached a constant level. The friability of the tablets behaved quite unexpectedly and minimum friability was observed at a compression force of 14 kN. Except for fractal dimension, the roughness parameters behaved very much in the same way as the friability of the tablets. The SEM data supported the friability and surface roughness data of the tablets.

Chemistry, Pharmaceutical↗
PubMed1997

Is it possible to improve the prognosis in nickel contact dermatitis?

A questionnaire was sent to 143 patients who had shown a positive patch test reaction to nickel sulfate more than 10 years earlier. 91 patients returned the questionnaire, revealing that after the testing, 73 had suffered from dermatitis, 61 especially from hand dermatitis. 37 of these patients were clinically examined and patch tested with standard series and in addition, 12 patients were tested with nickel sulfate and nickel chloride with different occlusion times. At the clinic visit, 23 patients had dermatitis, 16 hand dermatitis, and 11 were symptom-free. 26 of the patients had metal items close to their skin and 21 of them had current dermatitis, 14 hand dermatitis. Of the 11 patients who had no metal exposure, 9 were symptom-free. The association of dermatitis with exposure to metal objects was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Those patients who had current dermatitis had also developed multiple allergies and reacted to nickel with shorter application times in patch tests, as compared to those who were symptom-free. It seemed possible that the prognosis for nickel dermatitis could be improved if nickel-allergic patients would strictly avoid metal contact, especially in clothing and jewelry.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Insulin increases blood volume in human skeletal muscle: studies using [15O]CO and positron emission tomography.

High insulin concentrations increase blood flow in the leg, but it is unknown whether this effect is associated with a change in muscle blood volume. In the present study, we used positron emission tomography combined with inhalation of [15O]carbon monoxide to quantitate the effect of insulin on skeletal muscle blood volume in humans. The reproducibility of the method was determined from two consecutive measurements performed in the basal state in five normal subjects. The coefficient of variation of the repeated measurements was 3.0 +/- 1.8%. In 14 normal subjects [age 35 +/- 3 yr, body mass index 24.9 +/- 1.3 (SE) kg/m2], skeletal muscle blood volume was determined in the femoral region in the basal state and during euglycemic hyperinsulinemia (serum insulin 3,200 +/- 190 pmol/l). The mean muscle blood volume was 3.3 +/- 0.1 ml/0.1 kg muscle in the basal state. Insulin increased muscle blood volume by 9 +/- 2% to 3.6 +/- 0.2 ml/0.1 kg muscle (P < 0.01). The rate of whole body glucose uptake was 53 +/- 6 mumol.kg-1.min-1 and correlated with muscle blood volume during insulin stimulation (r = 0.65, P < 0.02). We conclude that high insulin concentrations exert a true vasodilatory effect in human skeletal muscle.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Assessing the safety environment in work organization of road maintenance jobs.

The present study examines workers' responses to the safety environment in relation to organizational, individual, and situational factors in road maintenance jobs. A self-administered questionnaire including 80 variables was used to collect data from the workers. The study population consisted of 207 workers at nine work places. The survey response rate was 93% (193 workers). The attitudes of coworkers, and judgments and attentiveness had a statistically highly significant effect on the worker's own attitude. The attitudes of supervisors, attitudes of coworkers, and the manner of instructing had a statistically highly significant effect on the performance feedback. The workers felt that the establishment of safe work habits would be most affected by the road supervisor's management methods and feedback. A considerable proportion of the workers believed that risk taking was part of their job.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1985

Strain on the back in concrete reinforcement work.

To investigate the long term effect of heavy construction work on the back the occurrence of postures, lifting, carrying, and accidents in concrete reinforcement work and in maintenance house painting were measured. The 32 620 observations covering 272 work hours showed that reinforcement work necessitated stooped postures and heavy lifting more often than did painting. Reported minor back accidents were more than ten times as common in reinforcement work than in painting (1.3 compared with 0.11 accidents per man-year, p less than 0.001). Accidents of the musculoskeletal system, registered by the insurance companies, were also several times more common in reinforcement work (81 compared with 25 per 1000 man-years, p less than 0.001). The premature development of lumbar degeneration detected in the clinical study of the reinforcement workers was evidently due to the occupational strain on the back. The different types of hazardous back loads probably potentiate the effects of each other.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1983

Knee degeneration in concrete reinforcement workers.

The loads on the knees in concrete reinforcement work and maintenance painting were analysed on eight construction work sites. A total of 352 reinforcement workers and 231 painters. Finnish men aged 20-64, were clinically and radiologically examined to determine the condition of the knee joints in active workers. The loads on the knees and the occurrence of minor injuries and accidents were higher in reinforcement work than in painting, but the occurrence of symptoms, clinical signs, and radiological findings was equally common in both groups. Reinforcement work seemed to provoke more symptoms from degenerated knees than painting.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Quantitative analysis of 1H NMR detected proteins in the rat cerebral cortex in vivo and in vitro.

Spectral editing experiments were used to quantify CH3 groups from macromolecular species in the chemical shift region from 1.2 to 1.4 ppm of rat cerebrum in vivo. Two peaks centred at 1.22 and 1.40 ppm were revealed when irradiation was positioned at 4.35 or 4.30 ppm. These peaks had lower saturation factors (1 vs. 1.72 +/- 0.10) than N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) and shorter T2 [60 +/- 5.8 (1.22 ppm) and 51 +/- 2.2 (1.40 ppm) vs. 123 +/- 12 (NAA) ms]. The concentrations of the peaks at 1.22 and 1.40 ppm were calculated to be 0.65 +/- 0.09 and 1.37 +/- 0.18 mmol of CH3 equivalents/kg brain. Acid extract from cerebral cortices contained macromolecular peaks at the same chemical shifts with approximately the same area ratios to NAA as in vivo. These data show that the macromolecular peaks in the brain at TE > 100 ms arise predominantly from proteins which are acid soluble. The assignment of macromolecular signals in the cerebral spectrum to a given polypeptide (thymosin beta 4 and histone H1) is discussed in the light of protein analyses of brain acid extracts.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗