University of Turku

About: University of Turku is a education organization based out in Turku, Finland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 16296 authors who have published 45124 publications receiving 1505428 citations. The organization is also known as: Turun yliopisto & Åbo universitet.

Parent-adolescent agreement on emotional and behavioral problems

Abstract: Background: The aim of the study is to report parent/youth self-report agreement on emotional and behavioral symptoms among 15- to 16-year-old adolescents. Methods: A completed Child Behavior Checklist and Youth Self-Report were obtained from 580 subjects. Results: Adolescents reported significantly more problem behaviors than their parents. Adolescent girls reported a significantly higher level of distress than boys in most symptom domains. The discrepancies between parent reports and youth self-reports were greater, especially for internalizing symptoms, for girls than for boys. Conclusions: Many adolescents in need of psychiatric assessment do not receive appropriate help because their problems remain unnoticed by adults. Internalizing problems among girls seem especially likely to remain unrecognized by adults.

Genetic association study of QT interval highlights role for calcium signaling pathways in myocardial repolarization

Abstract: The QT interval, an electrocardiographic measure reflecting myocardial repolarization, is a heritable trait. QT prolongation is a risk factor for ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD) and could indicate the presence of the potentially lethal mendelian long-QT syndrome (LQTS). Using a genome-wide association and replication study in up to 100,000 individuals, we identified 35 common variant loci associated with QT interval that collectively explain ∼8-10% of QT-interval variation and highlight the importance of calcium regulation in myocardial repolarization. Rare variant analysis of 6 new QT interval-associated loci in 298 unrelated probands with LQTS identified coding variants not found in controls but of uncertain causality and therefore requiring validation. Several newly identified loci encode proteins that physically interact with other recognized repolarization proteins. Our integration of common variant association, expression and orthogonal protein-protein interaction screens provides new insights into cardiac electrophysiology and identifies new candidate genes for ventricular arrhythmias, LQTS and SCD.

Persistence of rhinovirus and enterovirus RNA after acute respiratory illness in children.

Abstract: The persistence of rhinovirus and enterovirus RNAs was studied in the nasal secretions of children with acute expiratory wheezing (median age: 1.7 years). On admission, 84 samples from 161 (52%) children admitted to hospital were positive by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which detects rhino- and enteroviruses simultaneously. Of the samples, 26 (16%) were positive for rhinovirus, 29 (18%) enterovirus and 29 (18%) nontypable rhino-enterovirus. After 2 weeks, 16 of these 84 (19%) samples were still positive. Rhinovirus RNA remained positive in 13 of 26 (50%) cases, whereas enterovirus RNA remained positive only in 1 of 29 (3%) cases (P=0.0001). Respiratory symptoms at 2 weeks or systemic glucocorticoid treatment during hospital stay were not related to the persistence of viral RNA. After 5 weeks, only one sample remained PCR-positive. Thirteen of the 79 (16%) asymptomatic control children were PCR-positive for respiratory picornavirus. Five of the 13 (38%) PCR-positive children developed respiratory symptoms in the following week. The study shows that after the onset of symptomatic respiratory infection enterovirus RNA may take 2-3 weeks and rhinovirus RNA 5-6 weeks to disappear from nasal mucus.

Adenovirus-mediated gene delivery of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-3 inhibits invasion and induces apoptosis in melanoma cells.

Abstract: We have used adenovirus-mediated gene delivery of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1, -2, and -3 to examine their effect on the invasion capacity of metastatic melanoma cell lines SK-Mel-5 and A2058. Infection of melanoma cells with recombinant replication-deficient adenoviruses coding for TIMP-1, TIMP-2, and TIMP-3 resulted in marked secretion of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 to culture medium and accumulation of TIMP-3 to matrix. Overexpression of TIMP-3 inhibited invasion of SK-Mel-5 and A2058 cells through reconstituted basement membrane (Matrigel) even more potently than TIMP-1 and TIMP-2. In addition, overproduction of TIMP-3 reduced attachment of melanoma cells to type I and IV collagen and fibronectin and resulted in apoptosis in both SK-Mel-5 and A2058 cells. These results propose a novel role for TIMP-3 in regulation of invasion and survival of malignant cells and suggest potential use for TIMP-3 in adenovirus-mediated gene therapy of malignant melanoma.