Publications by authors named "Hannele Virtanen"

Sexual and reproductive health is a challenge worldwide, and much progress is needed to reach the relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals. This paper presents cross-sectional data collected in Sierra Leone on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), family planning (FP), child, early and forced marriage (CEFM), and female genital mutilation (FGM) using an innovative method of measurement: situational judgment tests (SJTs), as a subset of questions within a larger survey tool. For the SJTs, respondents saw hypothetical scenarios on these themes and had to indicate how they would react.

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Background: Allergic contact dermatitis caused by glucose sensors has become an increasing problem. Contact allergies to isobornyl acrylate, colophonium, ethyl cyanoacrylate and N,N-dimethylacrylamide have been reported. However, there is a paucity of information regarding the prevalence of sensor-related dermatitis and detailed patient histories.

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Background: In 2016, dermatologists in Finland suspected contact allergy in several patients using moisturizers under the trade name Apobase®. Following a formulation change, Phenostat™, which is a mixture of phenoxyethanol, caprylhydroxamic acid, and methylpropanediol, was used as a preservative in Apobase® moisturizers in Finland.

Objectives: To confirm the suspected contact allergy to Apobase® cream, oily cream, and/or lotion, and to identify the specific contact allergen and define its optimal patch test concentration.

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The contribution of filaggrin null mutations to predicting atopic dermatitis (AD) treatment response is not clear, nor have such mutations been studied in the Finnish population. This study tested the association of the 4 most prevalent European FLG null mutations, the 2 Finnish enriched FLG null mutations, the FLG 12-repeat allele, and 50 additional epidermal barrier gene variants, with risk of AD, disease severity, clinical features, risk of other atopic diseases, age of onset, and treatment response in 501 patients with AD and 1,710 controls. AD, early-onset AD, palmar hyperlinearity, and asthma showed significant associations with the combined FLG null genotype.

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Two bottles of beer from an about 170-year-old shipwreck (M1 Fö 403.3) near the Åland Islands in the Baltic Sea were analyzed. Hop components and their degradation compounds showed that the bottles contained two different beers, one more strongly hopped than the other.

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Background: Oxidative hair dyes commonly contain paraphenylene diamine (PPD) and its derivatives, a well-known cause of delayed hypersensitivity among both consumers and hairdressers. They are also considered possible causes of occupational respiratory diseases. Despite the widespread use of hair dyes, there are only a few reports of asthma, rhinitis, and contact urticaria caused by PPD and related compounds.

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Objectives: To examine the 10-year outcome of affected body surface area (BSA), respiratory symptoms, and serum IgE in adult AD patients 6 years after a 4-year intervention with topical tacrolimus.

Methods: Patients who 10 years ago participated in a 4-year, open tacrolimus study (n = 65) were contacted for assessment of affected BSA, bronchial hyper-reactivity (BHR), respiratory symptoms, skin prick tests and serum IgE.

Results: Altogether, 50 (77%) patients attended the follow-up visit.

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A one-year, randomized, double-blind study was conducted in 80 patients with atopic dermatitis treated with tacrolimus ointment or a corticosteroid regimen (hydrocortisone acetate 1% ointment for head and neck, hydrocortisone butyrate 0.1% ointment for trunk and limbs) to compare efficacy and safety, and effects on Th2-reactivity. The study was completed by 36/40 patients in the tacrolimus group, and 31/40 patients in the corticosteroid group.

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The use of more concentrated, so-called high-gravity and very-high-gravity (VHG) brewer's worts for the manufacture of beer has economic and environmental advantages. However, many current strains of brewer's yeasts ferment VHG worts slowly and incompletely, leaving undesirably large amounts of maltose and especially maltotriose in the final beers. alpha-Glucosides are transported into Saccharomyces yeasts by several transporters, including Agt1, which is a good carrier of both maltose and maltotriose.

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Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and effect of tacrolimus ointment on conjunctival cytology in patients with atopic blepharoconjunctivitis or keratoconjunctivitis.

Methods: Ten patients with severe atopic blepharoconjunctivitis treated with 0.03% tacrolimus ointment once daily as an intermittent treatment were analysed retrospectively.

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Background: In vitro fermentation models have been used widely for studies of shortchain fatty acid (SCFA) formation from carbohydrates, whereas the suitability of these methods for enterolactone (ENL) formation has received less attention.

Aim: The aim was to study the suitability of an in vitro fermentation model for prediction of bioconversion of lignans to ENL, to compare the approach with that of an in vivo rat model and to study the SCFA formation in both models.

Methods: Predigested samples of rye bran (R), flaxseed meal (F) alone, or in combination with rye bran (R&F) and a faecal control were incubated in an in vitro fermentation model using human faecal microbiota.

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