UTU Annual of
Science 2013
University of Turku UTU Annual of Science
Feel Free to Explore In the future, universities have increasing ethical responsibility to focus their research into the solution of the big problems of the earth. Research can be used to work out rising problems or hidden regularities, but it requires the best knowledge of all disciplines and an open-minded exceeding of boundaries. We here at the University of Turku, UTU, have what it takes. Editors and layout: Hannu Aaltonen and Henna Borisoff, University of Turku Communications Center.
We are building an inspiring working and learning environment, which is multidisciplinary and our community is active in international cooperation.
We hope that more and more people will be able to enjoy the achievements of the free science. In this ebook you will find some of the remarkable studies that we did in the University of Turku during the year of 2012. Feel free to explore. Perhaps we will take the next steps of research, studying and the discovery of new things together. Rector of UTU, professor Kalervo V채채n채nen
Visit us University of Turku
Contents Why are Men Attracted to Women who Look Like their Mom?................................................................4 Augmented Reality for Shipyards.......................................................................................................................... 6
HUM
Faculty of Humanities
New Possibilities for the Treatment of Breast Cancer with Poor Prognosis........................................ 10
Faculty of Mathematics SCI and Natural Sciences
MED LAW SOC
Microbes Producing Fuel and Flavor.....................................................................................................................8
Faculty of Medicine Faculty of Law Faculty of Social Sciences
What is the Secret of a Successful Festival?.....................................................................................................12 Genetic Link Discovered Between Intrauterine Growth and Disease in Adulthood..........................14 Arctic Research Receives Recognition from the European Commission...............................................16 Obesity is Associated with Altered Brain Function........................................................................................18 An Antibullying Programme Goes Abroad...................................................................................................... 20 Shedding Light on the Mystery of Human Consciousness.........................................................................22 New Supernova Observations Shed Light on Star Formation...................................................................24 Docent Ilari E. Sääksjärvi is the Scientist of the Year.....................................................................................26 Create a Happy Ending to Your Nightmare.......................................................................................................28
EDU
Faculty of Education
Strong Emotions Make Peoples’ Brains ‘Tick Together’...............................................................................30 A New Mechanism of Bacterial Pathogenesis has been Identified........................................................32
TSE
Turku School of Economics
Bright Light to Brighten the Mind........................................................................................................................34
Why are Men Attracted to Women who Look Like their Mom? Research of PhD Student Urszula Marcinkowska and Academy Researcher, Docent Markus Rantala from the University of Turku sheds light on partner selection.
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The research project was funded by Turku University Foundation and the Academy of Finland. Research discovered that men tend to pair more often with women who resemble the men’s own mothers than one might presume by chance. Nevertheless there was no perceived facial similarity between women’s partners and their fathers.
– Choosing a partner is a complicated process that is influenced by countless internal and external factors. Subconscious triggers, life experiences and different upbringing and contemporary circumstances have an effect on our overall preference, Marcinkowska explains. In the study, 70 heterosexual adults were examined to test if their partners resembled facially their opposite sex parents. External judges assessed the facial similarity between each participant’s partner and his or her parent.
The Subconscious Effects Evolutionary psychology can provide explanations for these results. Sexual imprinting like mechanism is a subconscious process by which individuals use physical characteristics of their parent as a template for searching future mates. Sexual imprinting has been thoroughly investigated in many species of animals; however in humans the results of the studies have been ambiguous.
– Our research shows that although we avoid mating with close relatives, men seem to favour their mothers` features in their spouses regardless of what the quality of their parental relationship has been. It is possible that sexual imprinting is caused by similar mechanisms as in other animals, Marcinkowska tells.
Women are more selective Marcinkowska explains that the differences between female and male selections can be caused by the fact that the cost of inbreeding is higher for women than for men. Minimal parental effort of females will always be higher than males.
In previous studies, cubs were switched and taken care of parents from different species than themselves. The studies showed that, during pair formation, these adults tend to prefer the sexual partners of the species that gave them parental care, rather than partner of their own biological species.
The minimal invest from women`s side is can be 9 months of pregnancy plus lactation time and bringing up the children, while men’s minimal investment can be narrowed down to a couple of minutes. Because of the bigger investment, women are more selective when it comes to choosing a partner.
However, mating with an individual who is too closely related to us is far from beneficial, because inbreeding causes many disadvantages for the born children. That is why people avoid mating with persons, who they have spent their early childhood with.
– Based on this principle difference, women need to be more careful and hence pickier when choosing mates, Marcinkowska says. The study Sexual Imprinting on Facial Traits of Opposite-Sex Parents in Humans was published in the Evolutionary Psychology. ■
Text: Henna Borisoff Photos: Peter Hellberg (cc) and Quinn Dombrowski (cc) UTU Annual of Science | 5
Augmented Reality for Shipyards Augmented reality is reflected into a pair of glasses and you are able to see constructions, walls and elements, which are not yet built. Science fiction? Maybe not for long.
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The Business and Innovation Development (BID) unit of the University of Turku has launched an interesting MARIN project, which develops augmented reality (AR) to help the marine industry. The goal is to transfer the ship’s blueprints from an ordinary mobile phone into the builder’s glasses. The glasses are see-through but they add elements to the environment. Therefore it is possible to work while wearing the glasses. Products which reflect augmented reality to glasses or to a car’s windshield are already on the market. What makes the BID’s project exceptional is that even when not connected to a network, the mobile phone knows in which part of the ship the builder is or to which direction is she looking. Through the glasses the builder can see precisely where the lead-throughs should be drilled.
Effectiveness and easiness The project is led by Senior Researcher, PhD Teijo Lehtonen from the University of Turku. The project was started because of a clear demand on the marine industry’s side. Last winter Lehtonen participated in marine and ICT branches’ shared innovation forum in which the project kicked off. – I remember that one shipbuilding supervisor told what’s it like when you go to the shipyard and it’s cold and dark and it rains. You take out the ship’s blueprints, try to make sense of them and compare them to the actual hull structure and try to piece together what to do and where to start and which part is which, Lehtonen recalls.
– Anyone who has ever drilled a hole to the middle of a wall knows that you tend to want to measure the place twice or thrice. It takes 5–10 minutes, so it’s not a big deal. However, in a ship you might make thousands of holes and if you get five minutes savings on each, it has a big financial impact. – These are the type of things we concentrate on in product development, things that help and make the shipbuilders’ work more effective, Lehtonen summs.
The MARIN project’s partner companies are Nokia, STX Finland, Cadmatic, Premode, Kovilta, BA Group, Lloyd’s Register, Nextfour Group, Wallius Welding Machines, Microsoft, Yrityssalo and Machine Technology Center Turku. The project is funded by Tekes.
View after the renovation Could the project benefit other areas than shipyards? At home the system could be for example utilized for securing shelves on the walls. Before drilling you need to know, if there are wires or outriggers behind the wall. You could reflect the right places for the shelf fasteners on the glasses. – In this project we have mainly used line graphics. When the basic technical structure is solid enough, more complex pictures become available as well. In future, augmented reality might look very good. – One possible application target could be renovation. You could go inside the renovated building with the glasses on and see how the place will look after the renovations are done. There could be several architectural plans downloaded in the mobile phone and you could switch them on the fly, envisages Lehtonen. ■
Text: Hannu Aaltonen and Henna Borisoff Picture: Maarit Kotiranta UTU Annual of Science | 7
Microbes Producing Fuel and Flavor Researchers at the University of Turku and University of Manchester have identified a versatile enzyme, which can make cells produce ready-to-use fuel or household chemicals. It can potentially also be used to modify the olfactory perception of aroma compounds. 8 | UTU Annual of Science
Research group of the Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry, University of Turku.
energy, the entire process becomes “renewable”.
The process is based on a biotechnological application, where hydrocarbon chemicals produced by microbes can be modified inside the cell with the help of specified enzymes. Hydrocarbon chemicals are everywhere in our daily lives; as fragrance in soap, thickener in shampoo and fuel in the car.
Key-enzyme Can Generate Fuel
– The chain-length (number of carbons) and chemical group (e.g. acid, aldehyde, alcohol and alkane) of hydrocarbon chemicals are important parameters that influence their toxicity to biological organisms, combustion properties as a fuel and the olfactory perception of aroma, tells Senior Researcher Patrik R. Jones from the Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry of the University of Turku.
Let´s Take Our Cue from Microbes Biological organisms are capable of synthesizing some of these hydrocarbon chemicals. – Using synthetic biology we can hijack the naturally existing fatty acid biosynthesis pathway of microorganisms and direct those fatty acid molecules towards the production of ready-to-use fuel and household chemicals, Jones explains. By coupling this process to the photosynthetic conversion of carbon dioxide and sunlight to chemical
Up until now, our ability to tailor the specification (chain-length, chemical group) of the end-product has been limited by the availability of suitable enzymes with appropriate substrate specificity and catalytic capabilities.
Senior Researcher Kalim Akhtar
Researchers of the University of Turku and University of Manchester have designed a versatile pathway that allows fatty acid biosynthesis to be used for the production of targeted chemical commodities with tuneable properties.
Additional information The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) magazine.
The key-enzyme in the study now published in PNAS, a promiscuous carboxylic acid reductase, allows fatty acids of a wide range of carbon chain-lengths to be converted into the corresponding fatty aldehydes. While fatty aldehydes are typically used as fragrance in food and household industries, they also serve as the entrypoint to the synthesis of fatty alcohols and alkanes, engine-ready combustants that may serve as a “drop-in” replacement of fossil fuel. The research was funded by European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme. ■
Text: Henna Borisoff Photos: Patrik Jones UTU Annual of Science | 9
New Possibilities for the Treatment of Breast Cancer with Poor Prognosis
Researcher Johanna Tuominen works with cell and molecular biology.
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A recent study declared that the TLR9 protein expressed by cancer cells has an effect on the prognosis of triple-negative breast cancer. The new discovery creates possibilities for the development of much needed cancer therapy and medication. In the future, it may benefit hundreds of Finnish women.
Researchers Johanna Tuomela and Jouko Sandholm from the University of Turku have been a part of a research project in which a new subtype of poor prognosis triplenegative breast cancer was identified. The research was coordinated by University of Turku’s Cell Biology Docent Katri Selander, who works mainly as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology in the UAB in Alabama, USA.
Researchers indicated that this action is also connected to low oxygen concentration, because lack of oxygen in tissues may increase invasion of the triple-negative cancer cells via innate immunity. Out of all breast cancers, about 9% are these types of tumors.
Medical Treatment Is Developed in Further Studies
Triple-negative breast cancer is a form of cancer where the cancer cells don’t express hormone and Her2 receptors and therefore they don’t respond to usual treatments.
– The result is significant, because the lack of TLR9 has never before been connected to the spreading of breast cancer. The result might benefit annually over 400 Finnish women, says Tuomela.
Even though breast cancer treatment and with it the prognosis have both improved, there are still approximately 850 people, who die of breast cancer every year in Finland. The majority of them has had the triple-negative breast cancer.
Presently, poor prognosis triple-negative breast cancer can be treated only with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Because aggressive cancer easily forms metastases, there is a real demand for medication.
– Some of the patients with this type of cancer make a full recovery while others deteriorate quickly. Before it wasn’t possible to identify which group the patient falls into, says researcher Johanna Tuomela from PET Centre. The results of this study give light to the matter. The cells of the breast cancer subtype found in the study express low levels or none of the TLR9 protein which is a part of our immune system and causes inflammation reaction when activated. In triple-negative cancers low levels of TLR9 are related with fast spreading and poor prognosis.
The results were published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment
Tuomela, Sandholm, Selander, Professor Pirkko Härkönen from the subject of Cell Biology and Anatomy of the University of Turku’s and Turku PET Centre are already proceeding with further studies, which aim to gain more information about the spreading mechanisms of the triple-negative cancer. – The project has already received funding and we are applying for more. The development of new pharmaceuticals is a very long process and it isn’t certain that the end result will be an effective drug. The results of this study have nonetheless opened a possibility for this, Tuomela says. ■
Text: Henna Borisoff Photo: Markku Saari
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What is the Secret of a Successful Festival?
In summer, Finland is full of interesting festivals, concerts and events that are of high quality even measuring by international standards 12 | UTU Annual of Science
People go to the festivals actively and all age and interest groups are presented among the different festival audiences. According to Project Researcher Mervi Luonila, who studies festival management in the Pori unit of Turku School of Economics, there is a wide choice of festivals in different culture genres. Most of the Finnish festivals are music events, and there are something for every taste; opera, jazz, folk music and rock etc. There are also other events and celebrations for those, who hunger for culture. – Even the older consumers of culture have easily found their place in festival audiences, Luonila says. But what makes the festival bloom and the people to attend in strength? A good brand and networking are keystones of success Clearly, festivals need to have an appealing and qualitative programme and arrangements that function well, but that´s not all. – Keys to success are skillful management of networks and strong partnerships, since festivals are always realized in cooperation with multiple organisations. A good cooperation with municipality is essential, for example, and the significance of festivals to the regional development is understood well in Finland, Luonila explains.
There are festivals all around Finland and some established festivals are located in remote districts. More important than the location is the brand. The older and more known the festival is, the more likely it will succeed. – Festivals, that have been running long, have had time to establish a strong brand. This can be seen as a promise of quality, Luonila says.
Bad weather can be a kiss of death In Finland, June, July and August are usually full of warm and sunny days although the temperature varies in the northern and southern parts of the country. But sometimes it rains cats and dogs. Even the most skillful organizers can´t control all the factors and there is no guaranteed recipe for a successful festival. – Especially, the younger festivals are influenced by poor weather. The established festivals sell more tickets in advance and they don´t go down so easily. In new events, the advance booking is rarer and the rain can drive away both attendees and profits, Luonila tells. – It is interesting to study, which is the point, where the festival achieves a trusted brand and becomes established, Luonila says, referring to her current festival management research. ■
Text: Henna Borisoff and Liisa Reunanen Photo: Jussi Hellsten, Flow Festival
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Genetic Link Discovered Between Intrauterine Growth and Disease in Adulthood Scientists have identified four new genetic regions that influence birth weight. Experts at the University of Turku took part in the international collaboration project. Growth-regulating genes begin to take effect at a very early stage. The results of a major international research project shed important light on the mechanisms that affect intrauterine growth. Eventually these results may lead to a better understanding of how to manage growth problems during pregnancy. One of the new genetic regions is associated with blood pressure in adulthood, and three of them are also linked to adult metabolism. This is the first time that evidence has been presented of a genetic link between birth weight and blood pressure measured in adulthood.
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Two of the gene regions are known to be associated with adult height. The genetic link to metabolism goes some way towards explaining why lower-weight babies have higher rates of chronic disease later in life. – Previously, the connection between a child´s birth weight and certain diseases later in live has been registered. The mechanisms behind these things are known quite poorly. We observed the connections from a large data and found genetic areas, which affect the birth weight and are connected among other things to adult metabolism, says Academy Professor Olli Raitakari, who works in the University of Turku.
Genetic Research Requires Extensive Data The project analysed almost 70,000 individuals of European descent in 43 different studies of pregnancy and birth. As well as identifying the four new genetic regions, the project team also confirmed three regions previously identified as influencing birth weight. So far scientists have identified three genetic regions that affect birth weight, and two of these regions have also been linked with an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes. – You must have very large examination groups in this kind of research. Often, genetic influences are weak and there are millions of genetic variables. If the birth weight
is correlated with million variables, the results must be confirmed with extensive data, Raitakari explains. Birth weight is also heavily influenced by many environmental factors. That is why the research teams were surprised to see that the discovered genes, taken together, have a similar impact on birth weight as regular maternal smoking in pregnancy, which is known to lead to lower birth weight babies.
Additional information: • The article in the Nature Genetics • The press release of the Academy of Finland
The Finnish contributions to the international project include the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study; two Northern Finland Birth Cohort studies NFBC (1966 and 1985–1986); the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study HBCS; the Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project STRIP; and the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children project PANIC. Funding for the research in Finland has been provided by The Academy of Finland, Biocentrum Helsinki, the Emil Aaltonen Foundation, the European Union, the Juho Vainio Foundation, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Medical Research Council (UK), the University of Oulu and Biocenter Oulu, the Paavo Nurmi Foundation, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Sigrid Juselius Foundation, the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, the Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research, the Turku University Foundation, the Wellcome Trust (UK), the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation, and the University Hospitals of Kuopio, Oulu, Tampere and Turku. ■
Text: Henna Borisoff Photo: MestreechCity (cc)
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Arctic Research Receives Recognition from the European Commission
The Kevo research station is situated in the town of Utsjoki, the Northernmost municipality in Finnish Lapland.
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The Kevo Research Station of the University of Turku is a partner in the INTERACT (International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic) project, which the European Commission has labelled a success story.
The objective of the INTERACT project is to build capacity for identifying and documenting environmental changes in cold environments and for facilitating their prediction. Research stations through-out Artic and northern alpine regions collaborate in the EU funded project. Success hasn´t come as a surprise to Otso Suominen, Station Manager of the Kevo Research Station. – The project has worked well from the start. It has intensified the use of the research stations and publicized them more, Suominen says. The Arctic research is increasingly important, because the Arctic’s climate is changing faster than climate elsewhere and the economic and political interest on arctic areas are rapidly increasing. The INTERACT project offers increased opportunities for the new communities of researchers to access to Arctic research stations. Since the Arctic is vast and sparsely populated, international cooperation in environmental observation is in a key role. – We are creating mutual codes of conduct and common standards for measurements. Interoperability of measurements and comparability of research results are of course essential, Suominen says. – Research groups from five different countries have already visited Kevo Research Station in Lapland and we have stated new research projects together, he continues.
Transnational access program of INTERACT provides funding for travel and subsistence to 20 INTERACT research stations for research groups from EU countries and associate states (outside the station operating country) based on open calls for proposals reviewed by an international expert board.
Additional information: • INTERACT website • European Commission website
Greenhouse Gases, Ice and Animals in Focus INTERACT is a multidisciplinary project and scientists from the fields of biology, geology, glaciology, permafrost, climate, ecology and biodiversity are involved. For example, researchers measure greenhouse gas, flood and ice levels and vegetation. – We all benefit from each other´s strong areas. The Kevo Research Station has specialized in the research of tree line areas, palsas and subarctic mountain birch zone. We have also got to offer a long experience, since the research station has operated about fifty years, Suominen tells. The four year INTERACT project will still continue for two and a half years. It belongs to the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union and it is under the auspices of SCANNET, a network of 33 terrestrial field bases in northern Europe, Russia, US, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Scotland. ■
Text: Henna Borisoff Photo: Elina Vainio
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Obesity is Associated with Altered Brain Function
Researchers at the University of Turku and Aalto University have found new evidence for the role of the brain in obesity. 18 | UTU Annual of Science
In most Western countries the annual increase in the prevalence and the severity of obesity is currently substantial. Although obesity typically results simply from excessive energy intake, it is currently unclear why some people are prone to overeating and gaining weight.
“The results suggest that obese individuals’ brains might constantly generate signals that promote eating even when the body would not require additional energy uptake,” says Adjunct Professor Lauri Nummenmaa from the University of Turku.
Because the central nervous system is intimately involved in processing of hunger signals and controlling food intake, it is possible that the cause of weight gain and obesity might be in the brain.
“The results highlight the role of the brain in obesity and weight gaining. The results have major implications on the current models of obesity, but also on development of pharmacological and psychological treatments of obesity,” Nummenmaa says.
Researchers at the University of Turku and Aalto University have now found new evidence for the role of the brain in obesity. The researchers measured the functioning brain circuits involved in with multiple brain imaging methods. The results revealed that in obese versus lean individuals, brain glucose metabolism was significantly higher in the brain’s striatal regions, which are involved in processing of rewards. Moreover, obese individual’s reward system responded more vigorously to food pictures, whereas responses in the frontal cortical regions involved in cognitive control were dampened.
The research is funded by the Academy of Finland, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University and Aalto University. The results were published on January 27th, 2012 in scientific journal PLoS ONE.
The participants were morbidly obese individuals and lean, healthy controls. Their brain glucose metabolism was measured with positron emission tomography during conditions in which the body was satiated in terms of insulin signalling. Brain responses to pictures of foods were measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging. ■
Text: Henna Borisoff Photo: Benjamin Linh VU (cc)
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An Antibullying Programme Goes Abroad KiVa School is a research-based antibullying program developed in the University of Turku, Finland. Now, it is launched internationally. 20 | UTU Annual of Science
The KiVa School programme provides comprehensive schools ways to prevent systematic school bullying and handle bullying situations.
- The concept includes for example training for the teaching personnel, lesson materials, yearly follow-up inquiry with school-specific feedback and a computer game for the schoolchildren, Director of the programme, Professor Christina Salmivalli says. The programme has already shown its effectiveness in Finland and about 2500 schools have registered to use it. This is about 90 % of all comprehensive schools in the country. Now, the aim is to make a significant export from the programme. The programme is tested the next term in Holland, Wales and Delaware, USA. Project Manager Juha Ollila, who is in charge of the international launching of the programme, is presenting the concept at the moment in South-America. Similar trips will also be made to Asia and a delegation from South-Korea will come to Turku. - First of all, we are looking for international partners, who could buy the KiVa School license and sell it forward to the end users, Salmivalli sums up. - The materials of the programme have already been translated into different languages. KiVa School needs to be modified according to the communication culture of each country so that it would work as well as possible. We will hire a senior researcher for this and we will also cooperate with local experts. At the moment, there is a group of teachers in Japan, who do this work, Salmivalli tells.
From Science to Business in the University of Turku (TILI) Tekes has given funding for the international launching of the KiVa School. The other sponsor of the internationalizing is The University of Turku. The KiVa School belongs to its innovation development program TILI. TILI venture develops significant business from the innovations of the University of Turku. The business is based on products and services that enrich of simplify life and the emphasis is especially on technological, service and social innovations. - The goal is to create a clear process for the development of the growth companies, which yearly creates on average of two companies that have international growth potential, Business Development Manager of the university, Ilkka Kouvonen tells. Besides the researchers, business development experts from the university and from the business life take part in developing the innovations that are selected for the TILI venture. An application to Tekes is made from the most promising innovations. If Tekes accepts the application, it will give a 70 per cent funding for the costs of international ventures. The University is in charge of the rest of the costs and commits to the development of the innovations. â–
Text: Henna Borisoff Photo: Hanna Oksanen
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Shedding Light on the Mystery of Human Consciousness Scientists at the University of Turku and the Primitive consciousness emerges University of California have now imaged the Awakening from anesthesia is often associated with process of returning to consciousness after an initial phase of delirious struggle before the full general anesthesia. Results help to understand restoration of awareness and orientation to one’s “We expected to see the outer bits of the human consciousness and they reveal that surroundings. brain, the cerebral cortex, which is often thought to be primitive consciousness emerges first as you the seat of higher human consciousness, to turn back on awaken from anesthesia. when consciousness was restored following anesthesia. Using brain imaging techniques in healthy volunteers, a team of scientists led by Adjunct Professor Harry Scheinin, M.D. from the University of Turku, Turku, Finland in collaboration with investigators from the University of California, Irvine, USA, have imaged the process of returning consciousness after general anesthesia. This study was designed to give the clearest picture so far of the internal brain processes involved in this phenomenon. The emergence of consciousness was found to be associated with activations of deep, primitive brain structures rather than the evolutionary younger neocortex. The study is published in the 4th of April 2012 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. 22 | UTU Annual of Science
Surprisingly, that is not what the images showed us” Scheinin tells.
“In fact, the central core structures of the more primitive brain structures including the thalamus and parts of the limbic system appeared to become functional first, suggesting that a foundational primitive conscious state must be restored before higher order conscious activity can occur” Scheinin says. In the study twenty volunteers were put under anesthesia in a brain scanner and they were then woken up while brain activity pictures were being taken. The state-related changes in brain activity were imaged with positron emission tomography (PET).
The subjects were put under anesthesia using either dexmedetomidine or propofol anesthetic drugs. Dexmedetomidine is used as a sedative in the intensive care unit setting and propofol is widely used for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. Dexmedetomidineinduced unconsciousness has a close resemblance to normal physiological sleep, as it can be reversed with mild physical stimulation or loud voices without requiring any change in the dosing of the drug. This unique property was critical to the study design, as it enabled the investigators to separate the brain activity changes associated with the changing level of consciousness from the drug-related effects on the brain. The emergence of consciousness, as assessed with a motor response to a spoken command, was associated with the activation of a core network involving subcortical and limbic regions that became functionally coupled with parts of frontal and inferior parietal cortices upon awakening from dexmedetomidine-induced unconsciousness. This network thus enabled the subjective awareness of the external world and the capacity to behaviorally express the contents of consciousness through voluntary responses. Interestingly, the same deep brain structures, i.e. the brain stem, thalamus, hypothalamus and the anterior cingulate cortex, were activated also upon emergence from propofol anesthesia, suggesting a common, drug-independent mechanism of arousal. For both drugs, activations seen upon regaining consciousness were thus mostly localized in deep, phylogenetically old brain structures rather than in the neocortex.
A need for better depth-of-anesthesia technology The researchers speculate that because current depthof-anesthesia monitoring technology is based on cortical electroencephalography (EEG) measurement (i.e., measuring electrical signals on the surface of the scalp that arise from the brain’s cortical surface), their results help to explain why these devices fail in differentiating the conscious and unconscious states and why patient awareness during general anesthesia may not always be detected. The results presented here also add to the current understanding of anesthesia mechanisms and form the foundation for developing more reliable depthof-anesthesia technology.
The unique awareness of self The demonstration of which brain mechanisms are involved in the emergence of the conscious state is an important step forward in the scientific explanation of consciousness. Anesthesia offers a unique window for imaging internal brain activity when the subjective phenomenon of consciousness first vanishes and then re-emerges. Yet, the ultimate nature of consciousness still remains a mystery. How and why do these neural mechanisms create the subjective feeling of being, the awareness of self and environment - the state of being conscious? That´s the next big challenge to resolve. â–
Text: Henna Borisoff UTU Annual of Science | 23
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New Supernova Observations Shed Light on Star Formation Massive stars die young and explode as bright supernovae. Astronomers can use these explosions to study how fast galaxies made stars earlier in the Universe’s history.
International team of astronomers lead by Seppo Mattila from FINCA has now determined how many supernovae have remained undiscovered because they are hidden by interstellar dust in their host galaxies. The team which has members from most continents, and also included Erkki Kankare from Tuorla Observatory, studied core-collapse supernovae in two kinds of galaxies: the “normal” ones, and those that are heavily obscured by dust, the so-called luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (known respectively as LIRGs and ULIRGs). In the nearby Universe, most of the star-formation goes on in “normal” galaxies, while
earlier in the history of the Universe most of it occurred in LIRGs and ULIRGs. The new results published in Astrophysical Journal (doi:10.1088/0004-637X/756/2/111/) indicate that in the near-by universe one in five supernovae are missed and the number increases to two in five for the distant Universe. In LIRGs and ULIRGs the number of missed supernovae could be as high as four in five. These results enable accurate determination of the supernova rate, and thus also the starformation rate, in the distant Universe. ■
Additional Information: • Australian Astronomical Observatory’s press release
Text: Henna Borisoff & Hannu Aaltonen Image: Gemini Observatory / AURA / Dr Angel R. López-Sánchez (AAO)
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Docent Ilari E. Sääksjärvi is the Scientist of the Year The Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers (FUURT) has chosen Docent Ilari E. Sääksjärvi from the University of Turku as the Scientist of the Year. From the year 2010, Sääksjärvi (36), has worked as the Head Curator and director of the Zoological Museum of the University of Turku. FUURT emphasizes in their criteria that Sääksjärvi is an exemplary scientist. All of the key tasks of the university can be seen beautifully in his work: research, teaching and social influencing.
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Sääksjärvi is a biologist who, in addition to research, writes and teaches. He has numerous administrative tasks as well as confidential posts. From the beginning of August, he has acted as the vice-head of University of Turku’s Department of Biology. Sääksjärvi has been a member of the board of directors of the Finnish Museum of Natural History since 2009. He has also been on the editorial council of the Luonnon tutkija magazine since 2007. Sääksjärvi has annually about 150–200 teaching hours and he tutors several basic and post graduate degree students. Biology students of the University of Turku have voted Sääksjärvi as the Teacher of the Year four times.
Productive Researcher and Popularizer of Science
international scientific articles and numerous popularized articles to Finnish magazines. In 2008, he received the Risto Tuomikoski Biological Taxonomy Fund. Docent Sääksjärvi has written several popularized nonfiction books about the diversity of nature and one children’s book about rainforests. For his merits as an accomplished science popularizer he has received, for example, Kone Foundation’s award for Vuoden Tiedekynä (“science pen of the year”) in 2011. Sääksjärvi has been a popular lecturer in the University of Turku’s annual Children’s University activity. He has also taken part to the Children’s University’s science camps. The Scientist of the Year award was announced on 11th Semptember 2012 in the Young Researchers’ Club meeting in Oulu. ■
Ilari Sääksjärvi defended his doctoral thesis on zoology at the University of Turku in 2003. The subject of his PhD-thesis was the diversity of Peruvian Amazonian insects. His present research themes include the diversity of parasitoid wasps and tropical entomology. He has written about 27 Text: Tuomas Koivula
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Create a Happy Ending to Your Nightmare Waking up to your own scream in the middle of the night is far from pleasant but luckily there are ways to calm the mind. Katja Valli, Postdoctoral Researcher in Psychology, studies sleeping disorders and dream threats. Compared to the everyday life dreams include a considerable number of threating situations. About two thirds of all dreams include some type of threating situation and many times the menace is life-threatening. Situations like chases, falling and being trapped are familiar from dreams but they are not usually a part of our daily routine. – If a person has suffered from a traumatic experience or if she or he lives in a dangerous environment, the number of threatening situations in dreams increases, says Valli.
We Inherit Nightmares Valli is researching Threat Simulation Theory, which might explain why our dreams feature threatening situations. According to the theory, dreams have a genetically hereditary function which is linked to reproduction and survival. Dreams are a safe place to practice encountering threatening situations. Practice 28 | UTU Annual of Science
makes perfect and the mechanisms in brain start to recognize threatening situations faster. – If the theory is correct, nightmares and threatening dreams are relics like the tailbone and the appendix. When people’s living environment changes, the dream threat simulator no longer fulfills its original purpose but still continues to produce threat dreams. However, it is possible that dreams have no specific function and they are only the byproduct of sleep, Valli ponders. Occasional unpleasant feelings and experiences connected with dreams are perfectly normal but sometimes they can be an indication of a more serious sleeping disorder that needs medical attention.
Patients May Act Out Their Dreams Valli studies a quite rare rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD). The disorder is named after REM
sleep. REM sleep is a phase of sleep in which the most vivid dreaming takes place. RBD in itself is rather uncommon but it is more prevalent among patients suffering from neurological disorders, like Parkinson’s disease. With these patients, the mechanisms of the brainstem, which normally block movement signals from the brain to the muscles during REM sleep, have stopped working. These patients experience a variety of muscle movements during sleep: from small jerks to coordinated moving. – It is believed that, in a way, RBD patients act out their dreams so that their mind experiences the events of the dream world and the body moves in the physical reality. This makes them very prone to accidents and waking up in the middle of moving is also very distressing, Valli says. There is a functional treatment available for RDB: benzodiazepine clonazepam, which calms and relaxes muscles.
Connect to Happy Visualizations Another sleeping disorder connected to REM sleep is chronic nightmares. Constant and disturbing nightmares can be eased with therapy. Visualization therapy is a form of cognitive therapy, in which the nightmare is rewritten with a happy ending. The idea is that while it’s not possible to erase the unpleasant memory trace, it’s possible to create and activate a competing memory trace. – Visualization therapy is something everybody can try themselves at home. First, you write down the nightmare
and after that you modify the story to a more pleasant one. The key point is to connect with the new ending and go through it several times. This technique helps especially with repetitive nightmares but also decreases all nightmares in general, Valli explains. – As a general rule, talking about nightmares also helps to reduce the anxiety that they may bring, Valli continues.
P.h.D Katja Valli studies Threat Simulation Theory, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder and neutral correlatives of dreaming with the funding of Turku Institute for Advanced Studies (TIAS) in the Subject of Psychology of the University of Turku.
Dreams Are the Key to Self-knowledge Dreams can also be very rewarding. At the time, the events of the dream are real to the dreamer and no game or other content offered by media can produce such an authentic experience. Dreams can also act as keys to self-knowledge. – The evolutionary function and meaning of dreams are two different matters. Whatever the fundamental function of dreams is, they have different personal meanings to everyone. It is up to you how important your dreams are and what you take from them, Valli reminds. So what has been a wonderful and memorable dream to the dream researcher? – Usually people experience dreams as themselves but sometimes you can act in different roles. These types of distortions of the dream-me are uncommon and maybe that is why I remember a dream where I was a wolf and hunted, Valli smiles. ■
Text: Henna Borisoff Photo: Sami Paakkarinen and Stéfan (cc) UTU Annual of Science | 29
Strong Emotions Make Peoples’ Brains ‘Tick Together’ Feeling strong unpleasant emotions synchronized emotion processing networks in the frontal and midline regions of the brain.
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Researchers at Turku PET Centre and Aalto University have now found that feeling strong emotions make different individuals’ brain activity literally synchronous.
The results were published on May 24th 2012 in the scientific journal Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America.
Human emotions are highly contagious. Seeing others’ emotional expressions such as smiles often triggers the corresponding emotional response in the observer. Such synchronization of emotional states across individuals may support social interaction: When all group members share a common emotional state, their brains and bodies process the environment in a similar way. The results revealed that especially feeling strong unpleasant emotions synchronized brain’s emotion processing networks in the frontal and midline regions. On the contrary, experiencing highly arousing events synchronized activity in the networks supporting vision, attention and sense of touch. – Sharing others’ emotional states provides the observers a somatosensory and neural framework that facilitates the understanding of others’ intentions and actions and allows one to ‘tune in’ or ‘sync’ with them. Such automatic tuning facilitates social interaction and group processes, says Adjunct Professor Lauri Nummenmaa.
– The results have major implications for current neural models of human emotions and group behaviour, but they also deepen our understanding of mental disorders that are related to abnormal socio-emotional processing, Nummenmaa says. Participants’ brain activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging while they were viewing short, pleasant, neutral and unpleasant movies. ■
Text: Tuomas Koivula
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A New Mechanism of Bacterial Pathogenesis has been Identified The work of Biologist, PhD, Arto Pulliainen at the University of Turku, and the Biozentrum University of Basel, Switzerland, has led to identification of anovel mechanism of bacterial pathogenesis. 32 | UTU Annual of Science
Bacteria that cause chronic infections have a strong, yet poorly known, ability to subvert immune response, live and produce offspring, enter and wake up from a dormant phase to cause, in some instances, deadly complications. The research project focused on solving how do the bacteria of the genus Bartonella cause harmful changes in the vascular endothelium. Results demonstrate that BepA manipulates host cell signaling in a subtle sophisticated manner, which is ideal for chronic persistence of B. henselae in the infected vascular endothelium.
The significant role of BepA protein Results show that via its type IV secretion system (VirB/ VirD4-T4SS) Bartonella henselae injects a protein called BepA into vascular endothelial cells and that this protein manipulates the cAMP-mediated cell signaling using a previously unknown mechanism. BepA directly binds the host cell adenylyl cyclase, which is an enzyme responsible for the production of cAMP.
However, the binding of BepA to the adenylyl cyclase does not activate cAMP production per se. The adenylyl cyclase rather becomes more sensitive to its natural activator, stimulatory G-protein (Gas), the cellular concentration of cAMP increases and death of the host cell is prevented. BepA significantly prolongs the lifespan of the host cell and in part contributes to the formation of vasoproliferative tumors.
Results of the research project have recently been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS).
Bacteria of the genus Bartonella cause chronic infections in mammals, including human. These bacteria are typically transmitted to new hosts by arthropod vectors like fleas and lice. These bacteria have an ability to cause vasoproliferative tumors that resemble Kaposi’s sarcoma in patients suffering from immunodeficiency. If left untreated, these foci of inflammation maintain the chronic infection. â–
Text: Henna Borisoff Photo: Hannu Aaltonen
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Bright Light to Brighten the Mind During autumn and winter about twenty per cent of Finns suffer from low moods and tiredness. Light therapy may help.
The seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a disorder which occurs during autumn and winter. It is explained by the lower amount of daylight and possibly by the drop in temperatures. Symptoms include increased appetite, weight gain and increased sleep. Individuals may also feel sluggish and slow.
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The early symptoms start usually in October when the amount of light decreases and the weather can be rainy and dark. If you are prone to SAD, the symptoms will worsen by November. – The quantity and severity of the symptoms depend on the individual. Genetics and the changing amounts of melatonin and serotonin in the central nervous system have a joint effect on the end result, says Professor of Psychiatry Simo Saarijärvi, who has studied SAD.
– The issue could then be a severe depression, which is not treatable with just adding bright light to your life, says Saarijärvi. If you feel like the light therapy is helping, you can continue it until the spring. By then the amount of natural light has increased and temperatures have started to rise so the symptoms usually go away.
Adaptation to Darkness and Cold
Professor Saarijärvi recommends light therapy as treatment. – Light therapy helps with the most typical symptoms. There have been 20–30 controlled studies about the matter and they have given us scientifically valid evidence. Light therapy brightens the mood and makes you feel more energetic, Saarijärvi explains.
Light Bath Once a Day Light therapy is administrated once a day from 30 minutes to two hours depending on the brightness of the light box. You should avoid looking directly into the light as it may cause eye irritation and headache. Those suffering from eye fundus illnesses should first contact their doctor before starting light therapy. If light therapy and adding vitamin D to your diet doesn’t help with the symptoms or if they disturb your daily life you should go see a doctor.
The seasonal affective disorder is the most common seasonal mood disorder and it is more common in women than in men. – Darkness and cold have an effect on mammals. Humans, like all other mammals, react to darkness. For example bears go into hibernation. With humans the corresponding reaction is seasonal affective disorder, Saarijärvi says. In addition to light therapy lamps, there are also wakeup lights and light therapy ear phones on the market. Professor Saarijärvi recommends only one of the before mentioned. – Wake-up light is used as an alarm clock. The slowly increasing amount of brightness helps with waking up. In other words, the wake-up light actually works. There isn´t scientific proof of the effectiveness of ear lights so I can’t comment their functionality, Saarijärvi finishes. ■
Text: Susanna Eronen Photo: Susanna Eronen Translation: SM
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