Extending the SUSI peatland simulator to include dissolved organic carbon formation, transport and biodegradation - Proper water management reduces lateral carbon fluxes and improves carbon balance.

Drainage intensity and forest management in peatlands affect carbon dioxide (CO) emissions to the atmosphere and export of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to water courses. The peatland carbon (C) balance results from a complex network of ecosystem processes from where lateral C fluxes have typically been ignored. Here, we present a new version of the SUSI Peatland simulator, the first advanced process-based ecosystem model that compiles a full C balance in drained forested peatland including DOC formation, transport and biodegradation.

Seizures, focal neurological signs, and pneumococcal aetiology associate with impaired consciousness in childhood bacterial meningitis.

Aim: A low Glasgow Coma Scale Score (GCS) on admission is a known predictor of poor outcome from childhood bacterial meningitis. In turn, the factors associated with the admission GCS are less known. Our aim was to identify them, both for clinical alerts of reserved prognosis and to find potential targets for intervention.

Clinical Picture and Risk Factors for Poor Outcome in Streptococcus pneumoniae Meningitis of Childhood on Three Continents.

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis (SpM) remains a major health burden worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Identifying the patients at highest risk for mortality and disabling sequelae may reveal potentially avoidable predisposing factors and identify patients most in need of intensive care. We searched for factors that do not require laboratory facilities.

Pneumonia in childhood bacterial meningitis-Experience from three continents.

Introduction: Although concomitant pneumonia is sometimes diagnosed in childhood bacterial meningitis, its role in the illness course and prognosis is not known. We examined these associations using prospectively collected data from Finland, Latin America and Angola.

Methods: This was a secondary descriptive analysis of prospectively collected data (clinical and laboratory findings at admission, during hospitalisation and outcome) from five clinical bacterial meningitis trials.

The Effect of Blood Transfusion on the Survival of Children with Both Severe Anemia and Bacterial Meningitis.

In areas with suboptimal resources, blood transfusion may not be feasible even when mandatory for severely anemic children with a life-threatening disease. We evaluated how much not having received a transfusion affected the survival in 171 children with an admission blood hemoglobin level of < 6 g/dL and bacterial meningitis in Luanda, Angola. Of these children, 75% (128 of 171) had received a blood transfusion during hospitalization, but 25% (43 of 171) had not.

Bacterial Meningitis in Children With Sickle Cell Disease in Angola.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) was found in 10% of children with bacterial meningitis (BM) in Luanda, 5-fold more than in the general population. BM children with SCD versus BM children without SCD had higher inflammatory markers, more often had pneumococcal meningitis (71% vs. 39%), and either died (39% vs.

Hearing impairment in Angolan children with acute bacterial meningitis with and without otitis media.

Aim: Bacterial meningitis (BM) is a common cause of hearing loss in childhood. Our aim was to investigate bacterial aetiology, hearing impairment and outcome in childhood BM with vs. without otitis media (OM) in Angola.

Unusual Gram-negative bacteria cause more severe bacterial meningitis than the three classical agents in children.

Aim: To compare the characteristics, mortality and sequelae at hospital discharge of childhood bacterial meningitis (BM) caused by the three "classical" agents Neisseria meningitidis, Haemophilus influenzae or Streptococcus pneumoniae versus BM due to other aetiology in Finland, Latin America and Angola.

Methods: This observational study is a secondary analysis of data from five prospective treatment trials on non-neonatal BM in Finland, Latin America and Angola in 1984-2017.

Results: Of the 1568 cases, 1459 (93%) were caused by the classics, 80 (5%) by other Gram-negative and 29 (2%) by other Gram-positive bacteria.

Prevalence and significance of anaemia in childhood bacterial meningitis: a secondary analysis of prospectively collected data from clinical trials in Finland, Latin America and Angola.

Objectives: To describe the prevalence and severity of anaemia and to examine its associations with outcome in children with bacterial meningitis (BM).

Design: Secondary analysis of descriptive data from five randomised BM treatment trials.

Setting: Hospitals in Finland, Latin America and Angola.

Responses in growth and emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds in Scots pine, Norway spruce and silver birch seedlings to different warming treatments in a controlled field experiment.

We investigated the responses in growth and emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.

Outcome of childhood bacterial meningitis on three continents.

Our objective was to quantify the differences in the outcomes from childhood bacterial meningitis (BM) and to describe the factors associated with them in different parts of the world. This study is a secondary analysis of prospectively collected data from five clinical BM trials conducted in Finland, Latin America (LatAm), and Angola between 1984 and 2017. As all data were collected uniformly, direct comparison of the series was possible.

Accuracy of Clinical and Cerebrospinal Fluid Indicators in the Diagnosis of Bacterial Meningitis in Infants <90 Days of Age in Luanda, Angola.

Background: The diagnosis of bacterial meningitis (BM) is problematic in young infants, as clinical features may be nonspecific or even absent. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis usually confirms the diagnosis, but the CSF parameters can be normal also in culture-proven BM. Our objective was to identify the clinical and CSF indices, that quickly and without laboratory likely lead to the diagnosis of confirmed of probable BM in young infants in Angola.

Health-related Quality of Life After Childhood Bacterial Meningitis.

Background: Survivors of bacterial meningitis (BM) often suffer from impaired quality of life that stems from disabling sequelae. The authors aimed to estimate health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and the influence of neurologic and audiologic sequelae among pediatric BM survivors.

Methods: Survivors of 2 BM treatment trials at Luanda Children's Hospital, Angola were evaluated for severity of disability via the modified Glasgow Outcome Scale, which considers neurologic and audiologic sequelae.

Being moved by listening to unfamiliar sad music induces reward-related hormonal changes in empathic listeners.

Many people enjoy sad music, and the appeal for tragedy is widespread among the consumers of film and literature. The underlying mechanisms of such aesthetic experiences are not well understood. We tested whether pleasure induced by sad, unfamiliar instrumental music is explained with a homeostatic or a reward theory, each of which is associated with opposite patterns of changes in the key hormones.

The Role of Music in Everyday Life During the First Wave of the Coronavirus Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Exploratory Study.

Although music is known to be a part of everyday life and a resource for mood and emotion management, everyday life has changed significantly for many due to the global coronavirus pandemic, making the role of music in everyday life less certain. An online survey in which participants responded to Likert scale questions as well as providing free text responses was used to explore how participants were engaging with music during the first wave of the pandemic, whether and how they were using music for mood regulation, and how their engagement with music related to their experiences of worry and anxiety resulting from the pandemic. Results indicated that, for the majority of participants, while many felt their use of music had changed since the beginning of the pandemic, the amount of their music listening behaviors were either unaffected by the pandemic or increased.

Risk factors for death in suspected severe bacterial infection in infants aged <90 days in Luanda, Angola.

Background: Yearly, about two million infants die during the first 28 days of life. Most of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and a third of those are caused by severe infections. The early identification of infants at risk of death is important when trying to prevent poor outcomes.

Aetiology of bacterial meningitis in infants aged <90 days: Prospective surveillance in Luanda, Angola.

Background: Despite effective antibiotics and vaccines, bacterial meningitis (BM) remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in young infants worldwide. Data from Africa on the aetiology and antibiotic susceptibility are scarce.

Objective: To describe the aetiology of BM in Angolan infants <90 days of age.

Climate change induces multiple risks to boreal forests and forestry in Finland: A literature review.

Climate change induces multiple abiotic and biotic risks to forests and forestry. Risks in different spatial and temporal scales must be considered to ensure preconditions for sustainable multifunctional management of forests for different ecosystem services. For this purpose, the present review article summarizes the most recent findings on major abiotic and biotic risks to boreal forests in Finland under the current and changing climate, with the focus on windstorms, heavy snow loading, drought and forest fires and major insect pests and pathogens of trees.

Extended Continuous β-Lactam Infusion With Oral Acetaminophen in Childhood Bacterial Meningitis: A Randomized, Double-blind Clinical Trial.

Background: In our previous study in Luanda, Angola, initial continuous β-lactam infusion for 24 hours combined with oral acetaminophen for 48 hours showed promising results as a new treatment for childhood bacterial meningitis. We investigated whether extending this treatment regimen to 4 days would improve the outcomes further.

Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study at the same hospital in Luanda.

Responses in growth and phenolics accumulation to lateral bud removal in male and female saplings of Populus tremula (L.) under simulated climate change.

The responses in growth and defense after tissue damage are highly variable in plants depending on species, damaged-tissue type and the intensity of damage. The prevailing abiotic conditions can also influence these responses. In this study, our aim was to examine how the removal of lateral vegetative buds affects the growth and accumulation of phenolics in saplings of the dioecious Populus tremula grown under simulated climate change.

The Potential Role of Matrix Metalloproteinases 8 and 9 and Myeloperoxidase in Predicting Outcomes of Bacterial Meningitis of Childhood.

Background: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) contribute to the inflammatory cascade in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) during bacterial meningitis. We determined levels of MPO, MMP-8, MMP-9, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase- (TIMP-) 1 in the CSF of children with bacterial meningitis and investigated how these inflammatory mediators relate to each other and to the disease outcomes.

Methods: Clinical data and the diagnostic CSF samples from 245 children (median age eight months) with bacterial meningitis were obtained from a clinical trial in Latin America in 1996-2003.

Protein Oxidation Biomarkers and Myeloperoxidase Activation in Cerebrospinal Fluid in Childhood Bacterial Meningitis.

The immunological response in bacterial meningitis (BM) causes the formation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS, RNS) and activates myeloperoxidase (MPO), an inflammatory enzyme. Thus, structural oxidative and nitrosative damage to proteins and DNA occurs. We aimed to asses these events in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of pediatric BM patients.