Tallinn University of Technology

About: Tallinn University of Technology is a education organization based out in Tallinn, Estonia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: European union & Oil shale. The organization has 3688 authors who have published 10313 publications receiving 145058 citations. The organization is also known as: Tallinn Technical University & Tallinna Tehnikaülikool.

Poststroke delivery of MANF promotes functional recovery in rats

Abstract: Stroke is the most common cause of adult disability in developed countries, largely because spontaneous recovery is often incomplete, and no pharmacological means to hasten the recovery exist. It was recently shown that mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF) induces alternative or M2 activation of immune cells after retinal damage in both fruit fly and mouse and mediates retinal repair. Therefore, we set out to study whether poststroke MANF administration would enhance brain tissue repair and affect behavioral recovery of rats after cerebral ischemic injury. We used the distal middle cerebral artery occlusion (dMCAo) model of ischemia-reperfusion injury and administered MANF either as a recombinant protein or via adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector. We discovered that, when MANF was administered to the peri-infarct region 2 or 3 days after stroke, it promoted functional recovery of the animals without affecting the lesion volume. Further, AAV7-MANF treatment transiently increased the number of phagocytic macrophages in the subcortical peri-infarct regions. In addition, the analysis of knockout mice revealed the neuroprotective effects of endogenous MANF against ischemic injury, although endogenous MANF had no effect on immune cell-related gene expression. The beneficial effect of MANF treatment on the reversal of stroke-induced behavioral deficits implies that MANF-based therapies could be used for the repair of brain tissue after stroke.

The copying paradox: Why converging policies but diverging capacities development in Eastern European Innovation Systems?

Abstract: This paper analyses the development of Eastern European innovation systems since the 1990s by looking together at the theoretical and empirical accounts of two discourses that have had a siginificant impact on the development of innovation systems: innovation policy and public administration and management. We propose a framework for analysing the development of innovation policies distinguishing between two concepts - policy and administrative capacity . that are necessary for innovation policy making and implementation. Using the framework we show how the Eastern European innovation systems have, because of past legacies and international policy transfer, developed a highly specific understanding of innovation policy based on the initial impact of the Washington Consensus policies and later the European Union. We argue that because of the interplay between the principles and policy reccomendations of the two international discourses we can see the emergence of a .copying paradoxy in Eastern European innovation systems: that is, despite the perception of policy convergence, we can witness a divergence in the policy from the intended results, and as a result can talk about limited and de-contextualised policy-making capacities.

Using quantitative pollen-based land-cover estimations and a spatial CA_Markov model to reconstruct the development of cultural landscape at Rouge, South Estonia

Abstract: Quantitative pollen-based land-cover reconstruction covering the last 4,000 years was performed using transformation coefficients derived from a modern pollen land-cover database and a palynological record from an annually laminated sequence in Lake Rouge Tougjarv. Proportions of four land-cover classes characteristic of cultural landscape were reconstructed: habitation area, arable land, grassland and woodland. A land-use change model using CA_Markov analysis was applied for spatial reconstructions for seven periods: 600 b.c., a.d. 300, 800, 1200, 1700, 1870 and 1940. Historical maps from a.d. 1684, 1870–1899 and 1935 were used for calibration of quantitative estimates and to validate spatial reconstructions. The accuracy of the estimates depends on the availability of modern analogues and differs among land-cover classes, being highest for classes with directly connectable pollen indicator types (arable land, forest) and lowest for settlement areas. Spatial reconstructions produced by the CA_Markov land-cover change model show moderate accordance with historical data. However, the large uncertainties in land-cover input data must be considered in the evaluation of the KIA results of the spatial model. Permanent low intensity, rural land-use in the Rouge area started at the beginning of the Bronze Age (c. 1800 b.c.). The major increase in the extent of rural land-use took place at the beginning of the 13th century and culminated during the 19th century when c. 90% of the RSAP of Rouge Tougjarv was open. During the last century, rural land-use decreased constantly.