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.

Euglycemic Hyperinsulinemic Clamp and Oral Glucose Load in Stimulating Myocardial Glucose Utilization During Positron Emission Tomography

Abstract: To enable assessment of myocardial viability, myocardial glucose utilization has commonly been stimulated by oral glucose loading. To compare the effects of glucose loading and insulin and glucose infusion (insulin clamp) on PET fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) myocardial scan image quality and regional myocardial glucose utilization rate (rMGU), eight patients with angiographically documented coronary artery disease and previous myocardial Q-wave infarction were studied twice, once during insulin clamp and once 1 hr after oral glucose loading. The rMGU rates were derived by graphic Patlak analysis in 33 normal, 10 scar and 6 "hot spot" myocardial segments. Infusion of insulin and glucose gave stable plasma-glucose and serum-insulin levels during imaging. In contrast, glucose loading caused marked changes in plasma-glucose and insulin concentrations. The image quality was clearly superior and the fractional utilization rates of [18F]FDG were twice as high during insulin clamp than after glucose loading (p less than 0.0001). Due to the higher plasma-glucose levels after glucose loading, the calculated rMGU in normal, scar and hot spot myocardial segments was comparable between the two protocols. The insulin clamp technique makes it possible to adjust and maintain a metabolic steady state during the PET study. It does not alter [18F]FDG uptake patterns in different myocardial areas when compared to the standard glucose loading protocol, but this technique results in superior image quality and permits the use of smaller [18F] FDG patient doses.

A new molecular phylogeny offers hope for a stable family level classification of the Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera)

Abstract: Zahiri, R., Kitching, I. J., Lafontaine, J. D., Mutanen, M., Kaila, L., Holloway, J. D. & Wahlberg, N. (2010). A new molecular phylogeny offers hope for a stable family level classification of the Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera). —Zoologica Scripta, 40, 158–173. To examine the higher level phylogeny and evolutionary affinities of the megadiverse superfamily Noctuoidea, an extensive molecular systematic study was undertaken with special emphasis on Noctuidae, the most controversial group in Noctuoidea and arguably the entire Lepidoptera. DNA sequence data for one mitochondrial gene (cytochrome oxidase subunit I) and seven nuclear genes (Elongation Factor-1α, wingless, Ribosomal protein S5, Isocitrate dehydrogenase, Cytosolic malate dehydrogenase, Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and Carbamoylphosphate synthase domain protein) were analysed for 152 taxa of principally type genera/species for family group taxa. Data matrices (6407 bp total) were analysed by parsimony with equal weighting and model-based evolutionary methods (maximum likelihood), which revealed a new high-level phylogenetic hypothesis comprising six major, well-supported lineages that we here interpret as families: Oenosandridae, Notodontidae, Erebidae, Nolidae, Euteliidae and Noctuidae.