The Significance of Information Quality for the Secondary Use of the Information in the National Healthcare Quality Registers in Finland.

Background The aim of the national healthcare quality registers is to monitor, assess, and improve the quality of care. The information utilized in quality registers must be of high quality to ensure that the information produced by the registers is reliable and useful. In Finland, one of the key sources of information for the quality registers is the national Kanta services.

Magnetic fields from indoor transformer stations and risk of cancer in adults: a cohort study.

Objectives: Studies assessing the association of adult cancers with extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields (MF) have provided inconclusive results, probably affected by limitations such as low exposure levels, confounding and various forms of bias. This study investigated the association between residential ELF MF exposure and adult cancer using a design that avoids the main limitations of previous studies.

Methods: Persons who have lived in buildings with indoor transformer stations during the period 1971-2016 formed the study cohort.

Clinical effects of equine-assisted therapeutic exercises in static and dynamic balance of children with cerebral palsy.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of equine-assisted therapy for the static and dynamic balance in the rehabilitation of children and adolescents with cerebral palsy maintaining obtained improvement 8-weeks after the end of the intervention.

Method: The study lasted 28 weeks, of which the intervention lasted 12 weeks. Measurements were taken before, in the middle, after the end of the intervention and follow-up after 12 weeks.

X-ray scatter in projection radiography.

Projection radiography is the most common radiological modality, and radiation safety of it concerns both radiation workers and the public. We measured and generated a series of scattered radiation maps for projection radiography and estimated effective doses of the supporting person during exposure. Measured adult patient protocols included chest posterior-anterior, chest lateral, pelvis anterior-posterior (AP), abdomen AP and bedside chest AP.

Elective Cardiac Procedure Patients Have Low Preoperative Cardiorespiratory Fitness.

Preoperative cardiorespiratory fitness may influence the recovery after cardiac procedure. The aim of this study was to investigate the cardiorespiratory fitness of patients scheduled for elective cardiac procedures, using a six-minute walk test, and compare the results with a population-based sample of Finnish adults. Patients (n=234) awaiting percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary angiography, coronary artery bypass grafting, aortic valve replacement or mitral valve surgery performed the six-minute walk test.

Leadership and work community - views of graduating dental students.

Purpose: This study aims to explore what kind of perceptions dental students at graduation stage have on leadership and work communities, and themselves as leaders and work community members after completing a leadership course tailored for them.

Design/methodology/approach: The research material comprised reflective essays written by fifth-year dental students who had participated in a leadership course. The essays were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Bioprocess development of 2, 3-butanediol production using agro-industrial residues.

The valorization of agricultural and industrial wastes for fuel and chemical production benefits environmental sustainability. 2, 3-Butanediol (2,3-BDO) is a value-added platform chemical covering many industrial applications. Since the global market is increasing drastically, production rates have to increase.

Association of psychological distress and widespread pain with sympatoms of temporomandibular disorders and self-reported bruxism in students.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of psychosocial distress and widespread pain with self-reported symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and bruxism, in two cross-sectional surveys in 2012 and 2016, and whether there are temporal changes in the magnitude of associations.

Materials And Methods: The data were gathered from Finnish university students in 2012 and 2016. TMD symptoms were assessed with three validated questions and bruxism with one frequently used question.

Metformin decreases hyaluronan synthesis by vascular smooth muscle cells.

Metformin is the first-line drug in the treatment of type 2 diabetes worldwide based on its effectiveness and cardiovascular safety. Currently metformin is increasingly used during pregnancy in women with gestational diabetes mellitus, even if the long-term effects of metformin on offspring are not exactly known. We have previously shown that high glucose concentration increases hyaluronan (HA) production of cultured human vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) via stimulating the expression of hyaluronan synthase 2 ().

Radiofrequency Hyperthermia of Cancer Cells Enhanced by Silicic Acid Ions Released During the Biodegradation of Porous Silicon Nanowires.

The radiofrequency (RF) mild hyperthermia effect sensitized by biodegradable nanoparticles is a promising approach for therapy and diagnostics of numerous human diseases including cancer. Herein, we report the significant enhancement of local destruction of cancer cells induced by RF hyperthermia in the presence of degraded low-toxic porous silicon (PSi) nanowires (NWs). Proper selection of RF irradiation time (10 min), intensity, concentration of PSi NWs, and incubation time (24 h) decreased cell viability to 10%, which can be potentially used for cancer treatment.

Randomised controlled trial (RCT) study design for a large-scale municipal fall prevention exercise programme in community-living older women: study protocol for the Kuopio Fall Prevention Study (KFPS).

Introduction: Falls are a substantial health problem in seniors, causing fractures and being the leading cause of fatal injuries. The benefits of physical activity in fall prevention have been shown in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in small cohorts (eg, ≤200 persons), but there is a gap between the known health effects of exercise and the large-scale implementation of effective activity in communities. Mental health and subjective well-being (SWB) should also be studied since they are strongly related to healthy ageing.

eUTOPIA: solUTion for Omics data PreprocessIng and Analysis.

Background: Application of microarrays in omics technologies enables quantification of many biomolecules simultaneously. It is widely applied to observe the positive or negative effect on biomolecule activity in perturbed versus the steady state by quantitative comparison. Community resources, such as Bioconductor and CRAN, host tools based on R language that have become standard for high-throughput analytics.

Consortium-based genome-wide meta-analysis for childhood dental caries traits.

Prior studies suggest dental caries traits in children and adolescents are partially heritable, but there has been no large-scale consortium genome-wide association study (GWAS) to date. We therefore performed GWAS for caries in participants aged 2.5-18.

The association between self-perceived health status and satisfaction with healthcare services: Evidence from Armenia.

Background: Armenians very rarely seek healthcare services and, consequently experience more serious health conditions. With its ongoing reforms, Armenia is focusing on linking health system financing to the quality and volume of care provided. We examine the relationship between the perceived health status of the population and the satisfaction with healthcare services.

Use of Headings and Classifications by Physicians in Medical Narratives of EHRs: An evaluation study in a Finnish hospital.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe and evaluate patient care documentation by hospital physicians in EHRs and especially the use of national headings and classifications in these documentations.

Material And Methods: The initial material consisted of a random sample of 3,481 medical narratives documented in EHRs during the period 2004-2005 in one department of a Finnish central hospital. The final material comprised a subset of 1,974 medical records with a focus on consultation requests and consultation responses by two specialist groups from 871 patients.

Evaluation of electronic nursing documentation--nursing process model and standardized terminologies as keys to visible and transparent nursing.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe and evaluate whether nurses have documented patient care in compliance with the national nursing documentation model in electronic health records, which means the use of the nursing process and the use of standardized terminology in different phases of the nursing process.

Methods: The data were collected from a central hospital in 2003-2006. The data consist of the electronic nursing care plans of 67 neurological patients and 422 surgical patients.

Use of electronic information systems in nursing management.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe nurse managers' perceptions of the use of electronic information systems in their daily work. Several kinds of software are used for administrative and information management purposes in health care organizations, but the issue has been studied less from nurse managers' perspective.

Methods: The material for this qualitative study was acquired according to the principles of focus group interview.