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Alusta-paviljonki Helsingissä Arkkitehtuuri- ja Designmuseoiden tapahtumapihalla tarjoaa tilan monilajisille kohtaamisille heinäkuusta 2022 lokakuuhun 2023. Tutkimuspaviljonki etsii keinoja tukea luonnon monimuotoisuutta rakennetussa ympäristössä sekä ilmentää luonnon ja kulttuurin yhteenkietoutunutta luonnetta arkkitehtuurin keinoin. Pölyttäjäystävälliset perennat, lahopuu sekä savesta muovatut rakenteet kutsuvat ihmisiä ja toislajisia eläimiä viihtymään jaetussa tilassa. Alustan on toteuttanut Suomi/Koivisto arkkitehtien luotsaama monialainen työryhmä. Paviljonki on osa Maiju Suomen käytäntölähtöistä väitöskirjatutkimusta Aalto-yliopiston muotoilun laitoksen Empirica-tutkimusryhmässä. Työssään hän tutkii, miten arkkitehtuurin tekeminen ja kokeminen muuttuu, kun haastamme ihmiskeskeisen maailmankuvan arkkitehtuurin perustana. Samalla paviljonki toimii koelaboratoriona Elina Koiviston luonnonmateriaalien rakennuskäyttöä tarkastelevassa tutkimuksessa.

The objective of this study is to provide new insights into social media marketing of luxury fashion. Consequently, this conceptual article addresses the User-Generated Content (UCG) within experiential marketing events. To demonstrate how a branded exhibition can facilitate the co-creation of visual content and its dissemination on social media, the article presents an illustrative visual frame analysis of the UCG. Theoretically, the study presents a new perspective on the dynamics of company-consumer co-creation, and demonstrates the application of a novel methodology for visual analysis of luxury that enables an understanding of the meanings in consumer-generated images. In managerial terms, this study provides new insights into UCG in social media marketing. To this end, experiential marketing event provide brands a platform for co-creating content with customers, and in so doing, engaging them to disseminate the brand value proposition.

Competing species and predators can alter the habitat use of animals, but both factors are rarely simultaneously controlled. We studied in experimental enclosures how closely related species, the sibling vole (Microtus levis Miller, 1908) and the field vole (Microtus agrestis (Linnaeus, 1761)), adjust their habitat use when facing either the competing species or simultaneously competition and predation risk. The species responded differently in their proportional use of two habitat types, a low cover (productive but riskier) and a high cover (safer but poorer). When alone, field voles used the low-cover habitat according to availability at low densities, but decreased its use with increasing density. Sibling voles, however, avoided the low-cover habitat in single-species populations. Under interspecific competition, the habitat-use patterns switched between species: sibling voles used the low-cover habitat according to availability, with decreasing use as densities increased. Sibling voles responded to predation risk by showing a stronger density-dependent decrease in the use of low-cover habitat. Field voles, initially using mostly high cover, did not change behaviour under risk of predation. Our results highlight the importance of considering both predation risk and interspecific competition when interpreting patterns of habitat selection among coexisting species.

Branding has traditionally been a staple interest in fashion marketing research, although it has only been studied from the perspective of business-to-consumer markets. Recently, however, corporate...

This study contributes to combustion research and fuel development by reporting the effect of the phenyl group in alkylbenzenes on combustion characteristics and exhaust gas emissions. The experiments were conducted in a single cylinder compression ignition engine. Three alkylbenzenes with long alkyl chains, three alkane/toluene mixtures and seven alkanes were tested. Additionally, three alcohols were tested to allow comparisons between the effects of a phenyl group and a hydroxyl group. It was found that both the phenyl group and the hydroxyl group have a significant effect on the ignition delay and the exhaust gas emissions. The rate of alkylbenzene combustion was lower than that of the corresponding alkane. Additionally, the phenyl groups in alkane/toluene mixtures had longer ignition delays than the corresponding alkylbenzene molecules. Adding a hydroxyl group to an alkane was observed to increase the ignition delay more than the addition of a phenyl group. It is suggested that these changes in ignition delay are mainly caused by the formation of relatively stable radicals in the combustion of compounds with a phenyl group. The presence of a phenyl group in the fuel molecule also increased the NOx emissions and the mass of particulate emissions in the exhaust gas compared to both alcohols and alkanes.

European aspen (Populus tremula L.) is a keystone species in boreal forests that are dominated by coniferous tree species. Both living and dead aspen trees contribute significantly to the species diversity of forest landscapes. Thus, spatial and temporal continuity of aspen is a prerequisite for the long-term persistence of viable populations of numerous aspen-associated species. In this review, we collate existing knowledge on the ecological role of European aspen, assess the knowledge needs for aspen occurrence patterns and dynamics in boreal forests and discuss the potential of different remote sensing techniques in mapping aspen at various spatiotemporal scales. The role of aspen as a key ecological feature has received significant attention, and studies have recognised the negative effects of modern forest management methods and heavy browsing on aspen occurrence and regeneration. However, the spatial knowledge of occurrence, abundance and temporal dynamics of aspen is scarce and incomprehensive. The remote sensing studies reviewed here highlight particularly the potential of three-dimensional data derived from airborne laser scanning or photogrammetric point clouds and airborne imaging spectroscopy in mapping European aspen, quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) and other Populus species. In addition to tree species discrimination, these methods can provide information on biophysical, biochemical properties and even genetic diversity of aspen trees. Major obstacles in aspen detection using remote sensing are the low proportion and scattered occurrence of European aspen in boreal forests and the overlap of spectral and/or structural properties of European aspen and quaking aspen with some other tree species. Furthermore, the suitability of remote sensing data for aspen mapping and monitoring depends on the geographical coverage of data, the availability of multitemporal data and the costs of data acquisition. Our review highlights that integration of ecological knowledge with spatiotemporal information acquired by remote sensing is key to understanding the current and future distribution patterns of aspen-related biodiversity.

This study relates to the development of future biofuels and it reports the effects of fuel molecular structure of various oxygenated compounds on compression auto ignition and exhaust emissions. The experimental study was conducted on a single cylinder compression ignition research engine. Ethers and various carbonyl compounds were investigated, including ketones, carboxylic acids and methyl esters. The results for these compounds were also compared to those for alcohol and alkane combustion obtained in a previous study. It was found that oxygen-bearing functional groups within various C8–C16 fuel molecules have a significant influence on the ignition delay and on engine in-cylinder temperatures. Carbonyl compounds had longer ignition delays compared to the corresponding alkanes, whereas ether compounds decreased the ignition delay. It is suggested that these observations relate to the changes in the relative ease of hydrogen abstraction and the ability of a fuel peroxy radical to undergo isomerization during the low-temperature combustion chemistry preceding ignition. In addition, it was observed that, both moving a carbonyl group closer to the centre of the carbon chain of a molecule and adding a double bond to a carboxylic acid increased the ignition delay. Oxygen in the fuel molecule, excluding carboxylic acids, was observed to increase the NOx emissions and decrease the mass of particulates in the exhaust gas.

Competition, habitat structure and predation risk may alter mobility and activity of animals. In particular, small predators need to weigh the positive and negative impacts of the presence of competing larger predator species. Other predators present a risk but may also enhance the predation efficiency of smaller predators if avoiding one predator species increases prey exposure to the other. We studied how habitat structure and the presence of avian predators affected the activity patterns of radio-collared least weasels Mustela nivalis nivalis, small-bodied predators highly specialized on hunting small rodents and subject to intraguild predation. Least weasels appeared to schedule their mobility according to the peak activity of the avian predator present in large outdoor enclosures. In the presence of diurnal European kestrels Falco tinnunculus, least weasels moved less during night compared with evening and day, whereas in the presence of nocturnal Tengmalm's owls Aegolius funereus, least weasels moved more during night than during other time periods. Least weasels almost exclusively used the tall grass habitat in all treatments, whereas owls used the short grass habitat most and kestrels used both habitats equally. Our results suggest that beneficial interactions play an important role in the interaction between least weasels, kestrels and owls, and that the avoidance of risky habitats by least weasels minimizes the risk of intraguild predation.

This paper presents the results of combustion experiments conducted in a single cylinder compression ignition engine with several fuel molecules which can be produced from lignocellulosic biomass through a variety of processing routes. The lignocellulosic fuel molecules tested were ethyl levulinate, butyl levulinate, ethyl valerate, butyl valerate, pentyl valerate, 5-nonanone, 3-heptanone, dipentyl ether and three alkanes. To ensure reliable compression ignition of all of the molecules, all of the molecules were tested after adding 30 wt % of heptane to them. Levulinates were observed to have longer ignition delays than valeric esters, which in turn had longer ignition delays compared to ketones. All of the tested oxygenated molecules ignited later than the corresponding alkanes, excluding dipentyl ether. The differences in ignition delays were mainly attributed to the higher electronegativity of oxygen atoms compared to that of carbon and hydrogen atoms. The tested molecules, excluding 3-heptanone, had s...

This paper present the results of experiments conducted in a single cylinder compression ignition research engine to investigate the combustion performance of various alcohol fuel molecules. Alcohols of C8-C16 chain lengths were tested and the results of these experiments were compared with those for corresponding hydrocarbon molecules. Alcohols had higher ignition delays than the various hydrocarbons tested. This is believed to be due to the increased difficulty of both hydrogen abstraction and isomerization, caused by the higher electronegativity of the oxygen atoms in alcohols compared to carbon atoms. Additionally, the location of the hydroxyl group was found to affect ignition delay; molecules in which the hydroxyl group was closer to the centre of the carbon chain were observed to have longer ignition delays. In addition, both higher degree of unsaturation and methyl branching were shown to increase the ignition delay of alcohols, as was expected. Due to higher ignition delays, alcohol combustion resulted in higher in-cylinder temperatures than those corresponding to hydrocarbon combustion, giving rise to greater NO x emissions. In the case of exhaust particulate matter, a shift was observed for alcohols towards a greater number of nucleation particles, in comparison to corresponding alkane molecules.

In this study, the organizational knowledge creation process of microenterprises exhibiting in trade shows is explored. Specifically, this article examines how knowledge processes are manifested through different trade show activities. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and ethnographic observation at international B2B fashion trade shows. The study shows that knowledge is created through observing and interpreting the trade show environment and other actors within it. Moreover, knowledge processes are embedded in the informal social interaction that takes place at trade shows. In this way, the participants absorb and adopt industry-specific practices and routines through their physical proximity to other industry actors.

The negative impacts of mammalian herbivores on plants have been studied quite extensively, but typically with only a single herbivore species at a time. We conducted a novel comparison of the browsing effects of voles, hares and cervids upon the growth and survival of boreal tree seedlings. This was done by excluding varying assemblages of these key mammalian herbivores from silver birch, Scots pine and Norway spruce seedlings for 3 years. We hypothesised that the pooled impacts of the herbivores would be greater than that of any individual group, while the cervids would be the group with the strongest impact. Growth of birch seedlings advanced when cervids were excluded whereas growth of seedlings accessible to cervids was hindered. Survival of all seedlings was lowest when they were accessible to voles and voles plus hares, whereas cervids seemed not to influence seedling survival. Our results show that the impact of herbivores upon woody plants can be potent in the boreal forests, but the mechanism and strength of this link depends on the tree and herbivore species in question. Risk of abated stand regeneration appears highest for the deciduous birch, though there is need for seedling protection also in coniferous stands. The clear cervid-mediated growth limitation of birch also indicates potential for a trophic cascade effect by mammalian top predators, currently returning to boreal ecosystems.

This study illustrates the individual motivations and outcomes of professional community participation. The data for the study were collected using an online questionnaire, which was distributed among highly educated commercial professionals in various business areas. The questionnaire was composed of questions mapping attitudes and behaviors in professional communities. These data were analyzed using factor analysis and cluster analysis in order to define the underlying dimensions of professional communality and to form a typology of participants attending communal events and contributing to the knowledge of these communities.On the basis of factor analysis of the data, 11 factors influencing community participation emerged. These were: identification, employer's attitude, social interaction ties, trust, altruism, knowledge power, time and effort, reciprocity, brand image versus identity, reputation and status, and knowledge self-efficacy. Furthermore, when applying cluster analysis to the data, four dif...

Aim Melusin is an integrin β1-interacting protein proposed to act as a biomechanical sensor in the heart. We characterized mechanisms and signalling pathways regulating cardiac melusin expression. Methods Infusion of arginine8-vasopressin (AVP) in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and double transgenic rats (dTGR) harbouring both human angiotensinogen and renin genes as well as infusion of angiotensin II (Ang II) in SD rats were used. The effect of direct left ventricular (LV) wall stretch was analysed by using isolated perfused rat heart preparation. For the cell culture studies, mouse atrial HL-1 cell line and neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs) were used. Results Left atrial melusin mRNA levels increased already after 30 min of AVP infusion. Ang II caused significant upregulation of left atrial melusin mRNA (2.1-fold at 6 h, P

This study addresses brand management in the context of raw material for the luxury fashion industry. The research is conducted in the form of a case study of Saga Furs, which is an auction company whose operations range from co-operation with-local fur breeders supplying the raw materialto marketing and sellingto globally prestigious fashion houses and clothing manufacturers. In this inquiry, changes in the stakeholder relations of Saga Furs Ltd are investigated and their implications for brand management are presented with regard to customer-based brand equity. In conclusion, this case study illustrates the benefits of branding in a controversial material industry and provides best practices for carrying out brand communications.

Large predators may affect the hunting efficiency of smaller ones directly by decreasing their numbers, or indirectly by altering their behaviour. Either way this may have positive effects on the density of shared prey. Using large outdoor enclosures, we experimentally studied whether the presence of the Tengmalm's owl Aegolius funereus affects the hunting efficiency of the smallest member of the vole-eating predator guild, the least weasel Mustela nivalis, as measured by population responses of coexisting prey species, the field vole Microtus agrestis and the sibling vole M. levis. We compared the density and survival probability of vole populations exposed to no predation, weasel predation or combined predation by a weasel and an owl. The combined predation of both owl and weasel did not result in obvious changes in the density of sibling and field vole populations compared to the control populations without predators, while predation by least weasel alone decreased the densities of sibling voles and induced a similar trend in field vole densities. Survival of field voles was not affected by predator treatment while sibling vole survival was lower in predator treated populations than in control populations. Our results suggest that weasels are intimidated by avian predators, but without changing the effects of predators on competitive situations between the two vole species. Non-lethal effects of intraguild predation therefore will not necessarily change competitive interactions between shared prey species.

Interspecific competition is usually understood as different species competing directly with each other for limited resources. However, predators can alter such competitive interactions substantially. Predation can promote the coexistence of species in a situation where it would otherwise be impossible, for example if a tradeoff between the competitive abilities and predation resistance of the prey species exists. The field vole Microtus agrestis and the sibling vole M. rossiaemeridionalis are sympatric grassland species, which compete for the same resources. At the population level sibling voles are suggested to be superior competitors to field voles, yet more vulnerable to predation. We tested the effects of predation on the two species in 0.5 ha outdoor enclosures by exposing vole populations to radio-collared freely-hunting least weasels Mustela nivalis nivalis for three weeks. Lethal and non-lethal impacts of predation limited population densities of both species during and after the experimental period, but the effect was more pronounced in sibling voles in which population densities decreased markedly during the treatment period and even after that. Field vole population densities remained stable under weasel predation, while densities increased in controls. Survival in both species was lower in treatment populations compared to controls, but the effect tended to be more pronounced in sibling voles and in females of both species. The average mass of adults in both species declined in the treatment populations. These results suggest that predation by least weasels can limit vole populations locally, even during favourable summer conditions, and have extended negative effects on the dynamics of vole populations. In addition, predation alleviated interspecific competition between the vole species and is, therefore, a potential factor enabling the coexistence of them.

Previous studies on intraguild predation have mainly focused on within-class assemblages, even though avian top predators may also influence mammalian mesopredator prey. By using nation-wide long-term data from Finland, northern Europe, we examined the impacts of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) together with red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and pine martens (Martes martes) on forest-dwelling herbivores, black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) and hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia). We hypothesized that eagles may alleviate the overall predation pressure on grouse by imposing intraguild predation risk on mesopredators. The predation impact of eagle was modelled using eagle density estimates and distance to eagle nest. Wildlife triangle counts were used as predation impact proxies of mammalian mesopredators and as measures of response in grouse. Our results show that eagle density correlated negatively with black grouse abundance indices while being positively associated with the proportion of juveniles in both grouse species, irrespective of the abundance of mesopredators. Yet, foxes and martens alone had a negative effect on the abundance indices and the proportion of young in the two grouse species. This suggests that the possible cascading effects of eagles are not mediated by decreased mesopredator numbers, but instead by fear effects. Alternatively, they may be mediated by other species than fox or marten studied here. In conclusion, we found support for the hypothesis that eagles provide protection for juvenile black and hazel grouse, whereas they are a threat for adult grouse. This important information helps us to better understand the role of avian top predators in terrestrial ecosystems.

International audience; Top predators may induce extensive cascading effects on lower trophic levels,for example, through intraguild predation (IGP). The impacts of both mamma-lian and avian top predators on species of the same class have been extensivelystudied, but the effects of the latter upon mammalian mesopredators are notyet as well known. We examined the impact of the predation risk imposed by alarge avian predator, the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos, L.), on its potentialmammalian mesopredator prey, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes, L.), and the pinemarten (Martes martes, L.). The study combined 23 years of countrywide datafrom nesting records of eagles and wildlife track counts of mesopredators inFinland, northern Europe. The predation risk of the golden eagle was modeledas a function of territory density, density of fledglings produced, and distanceto nearest active eagle territory, with the expectation that a high predation riskwould reduce the abundances of smaller sized pine martens in particular. Redfoxes appeared not to suffer from eagle predation, being in fact most numerousclose to eagle nests and in areas with more eagle territories. This is likely dueto similar prey preferences of the two predators and the larger size of foxesenabling them to escape eagle predation risk. Somewhat contrary to our predic-tion, the abundance of pine martens increased from low to intermediate terri-tory density and at close proximity to eagle nests, possibly because of similarhabitat preferences of martens and eagles. We found a slightly decreasing trendof marten abundance at high territory density, which could indicate that theresponse in marten populations is dependent on eagle density. However, moreresearch is needed to better establish whether mesopredators are intimidated orpredated by golden eagles, and whether such effects could in turn cascade tolower trophic levels, benefitting herbivorous species.

Interspecific competition is assumed to generate negative effects on coexisting species, possibly including slower population growth and lower survival. The field vole (Microtus agrestis) and the sibling vole (M. rossiaemeridionalis) are sympatric close relatives which compete for similar resources. Previous non-experimental studies suggest that the smaller sibling vole is a superior competitor, yet more vulnerable to predation than the larger field vole. We studied the effects of coexistence on population densities, reproductive parameters, and survival in these two species by means of experimentation in large, predator-free outdoor enclosures. While populations of both species reached higher densities in the absence of the other, field voles appeared to suffer more from interspecific competition than sibling voles. The proportion of young individuals in the population was higher in the sibling vole than in the field vole at the end of the experiment. The presence of a coexisting species reduced the survival of field voles. Sibling voles, on the other hand, appeared to suffer more from intraspecific competition than interspecific competition. On a population level, the sibling vole seems to be a superior competitor in the absence of predators due to better survival and possibly a higher reproductive capacity. However, predation probably has a profound influence on the interspecific dynamics of these two species indicating that in natural surroundings apparent competition (i.e. competition via shared predators) is stronger than direct competition.

Predation risk tends to vary in time. Thus prey animals face a problem of allocating feeding and antipredator effort across different risk situations. A recent model of Lima and Bednekoff (1999) predicts that a prey should allocate more feeding effort to low risk situations and more antipredator effort to high risk situations with increasing relative degree of risk in high risk situations (attack ratio). Furthermore when the proportion of time the prey spends in the high risk situation (p) increases, the prey have to eventually feed also in the high risk situations. However the increase in feeding effort in low risk situations should clearly exceed that in high risk situations as p increases. To test these predictions we measured feeding effort of field voles (Microtus agrestis) exposed to varying presence of least weasel (Mustela nivalis) and its feces in laboratory conditions. We generated quantitative predictions by estimating attack ratios from results of a pilot experiment. The model explained 15% of the observed variation in feeding effort of voles. Further analyses indicated that feeding effort was lower in high risk situations than in low risk situations at high attack ratio, but not at a lower one. Voles exposed to a presence of a weasel for extended periods showed signs of nutritional stress. Still we did not find any increase in feeding effort with increasing p. This was obviously due to the relatively low maximal p we used as we included only conditions likely to occur in nature.

AimsActivating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) is a stress-activated immediate early gene suggested to have both detrimental and cardioprotective role in the heart. Here we studied the mechanisms of ATF3 activation by hypertrophic stimuli and ATF3 downstream targets in rat cardiomyocytes.Methods and resultsWhen neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were exposed to endothelin-1 (ET-1, 100 nM) and mechanical stretching in vitro, maximal increase in ATF3 expression occurred at 1 hour. Inhibition of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) by PD98059 decreased ET-1- and stretch-induced increase of ATF3 protein but not ATF3 mRNA levels, whereas protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor H89 attenuated both ATF3 mRNA transcription and protein expression in response to ET-1 and stretch. To characterize further the regulatory mechanisms upstream of ATF3, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling was investigated using a gain-of-function approach. Adenoviral overexpression of p38α, but not p38β, increased ATF3 mRNA and protein levels as well as DNA binding activity. To investigate the role of ATF3 in hypertrophic process, we overexpressed ATF3 by adenovirus-mediated gene transfer. In vitro, ATF3 gene delivery attenuated the mRNA transcription of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), and enhanced nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and Nkx-2.5 DNA binding activities. Reduced PAI-1 expression was also detected in vivo in adult rat heart by direct intramyocardial adenovirus-mediated ATF3 gene delivery.ConclusionsThese data demonstrate that ATF3 activation by ET-1 and mechanical stretch is partly mediated through ERK and cAMP-PKA pathways, whereas p38 MAPK pathway is involved in ATF3 activation exclusively through p38α isoform. ATF3 activation caused induction of modulators of the inflammatory response NF-κB and Nkx-2.5, as well as attenuation of pro-fibrotic and pro-inflammatory proteins IL-6 and PAI-1, suggesting cardioprotective role for ATF3 in the heart.

Objectives: Transforming-growth-factor β-stimulated clone 22 (TSC-22) is a leucine zipper protein expressed in many tissues and possessing various transcription-modulating activities. However, its function in the heart remains largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to characterize the cardiac TSC-22 expression. Methods: Acute pressure overload was accomplished in conscious Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats by intravenous infusion of arginine 8 -vasopressin (AVP, 0.05 μg/kg/min) for 4 hours and subcutaneous infusion of angiotensin II (Ang II, 33 μg/kg/h) with and without Ang II receptor type 1 blocker losartan (400 μg/kg/h) by using osmotic minipumps for 2 weeks. Adenovirus-mediated intramyocardial gene transfer of TSC-22 was performed into left ventricle (LV) of SD rats. Experimental myocardial infarction (MI) was produced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Cultured neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVM) were treated with endothelin-1 (ET-1, 100 nM). Results: A significant 1.6-fold increase ( P P P P P P P P Conclusion: These results indicate that TSC-22 expression is rapidly activated in response to pressure overload, MI and in ET-1 treated cultured NRVM. Moreover, adenovirus-mediated overexpression of TSC-22 mRNA was associated with elevated left ventricular BNP mRNA levels.

Rationale: p38 MAPK is a negative regulator of cardiac contractile function, but the underlying molecular mechanism is not well understood. Objective: To determine the molecular mechanism mediating the positive inotropic effect of p38 inhibition. Methods and Results: The effect of p38 inhibition on calcium regulatory proteins and calcium cycling was investigated in isolated neonatal and adult rodent cardiomyocytes using chemical inhibitors, recombinant adenoviruses and RNAi. Chemical inhibition of p38 enhanced phospholamban (PLB) phosphorylation at serine 16 residue. This was recapitulated with dominant negative p38α adenovirus and by p38α RNAi, but not with dominant negative p38β adenovirus. Chemical inhibition of p38 and dominant negative p38α resulted in significant decrease in Ca 2+ -transient decay time in adult rat cardiomyocytes. Inhibition of p38α, but not p38β, induced an increase in phosphorylation of protein phosphatase inhibitor-1 at the protein kinase A site threonine 35. Analysis of underlying mechanisms revealed that p38 inhibition increased phosphorylation of G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2), but not GRK3 or GRK5. p38 inhibition- induced PLB phosphorylation was abolished in cardiomyocytes overexpressing wild type GRK2. In contrast, increased PLB phosphorylation upon p38 inhibition was not reduced in cardiomyocytes overexpressing GRK2 harboring a non-phosphorylatable mutation in serine 670 residue. Finally, p38 inhibition-induced shortening of Ca 2+ -transient decay time was absent in cardiomyocytes overexpressing wild type GRK2. Conclusions: Inhibition of p38α regulates protein phosphatase inhibitor-1 resulting in increased PLB phosphorylation and enhanced SERCA2a function.

cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) regulates the L-type calcium channel, the ryanodine receptor, and phospholamban (PLB) thereby increasing inotropy. Cardiac contractility is also regulated by p38 MAPK, which is a negative regulator of cardiac contractile function. The aim of this study was to identify the mechanism mediating the positive inotropic effect of p38 inhibition. Isolated adult and neonatal cardiomyocytes and perfused rat hearts were utilized to investigate the molecular mechanisms regulated by p38. PLB phosphorylation was enhanced in cardiomyocytes by chemical p38 inhibition, by overexpression of dominant negative p38α and by p38α RNAi, but not with dominant negative p38β. Treatment of cardiomyocytes with dominant negative p38α significantly decreased Ca(2+)-transient decay time indicating enhanced sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase function and increased cardiomyocyte contractility. Analysis of signaling mechanisms involved showed that inhibition of p38 decreased the activity of protein phosphatase 2A, which renders protein phosphatase inhibitor-1 phosphorylated and thereby inhibits PP1. In conclusion, inhibition of p38α enhances PLB phosphorylation and diastolic Ca(2+) uptake. Our findings provide evidence for novel mechanism regulating cardiac contractility upon p38 inhibition.

The phosphatase and actin regulator 1 (PHACTR1) locus is a very commonly identified hit in genome-wide association studies investigating coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction (MI). However, the function of PHACTR1 in the heart is still unknown. We characterized the mechanisms regulating Phactr1 expression in the heart, used adenoviral gene delivery to investigate the effects of Phactr1 on cardiac function, and analyzed the relationship between MI associated PHACTR1 allele and cardiac function in human subjects. Phactr1 mRNA and protein levels were markedly reduced (60%, P

Compliance behaviour is a multi-factorial phenomenon. In psychotic patients, it includes patient-related, medication-related, and environmental components. Compliance is a crucial factor in relation to outcome. The aim of this study was to explore indicators of compliance in a sample of 59 patients with a first-onset psychosis during their initial phase of treatment. Dependent variables in the logistic regression analysis included predictions made by the patients about their compliance in the initial phase and the observed compliance during the first 3 months according to patient record data. Explanatory variables comprised age, sex, living situation, education and social activities, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) score, Hamilton Depression Scale score, Global Assessment of Functioning Scale score, Strauss–Carpenter Outcome Scale score, self-rated side effects, and insight and treatment-related variables. Predictions made by the patients about their compliance were determined by their self-rated attitude and insight measures. Determinants of observed non-compliance included experienced harmful side effects, male sex, lack of social activities, low score on PANSS positive symptoms, high PANSS total score and young age. The duration of untreated psychosis was not associated with compliance. Indicators of compliance in first-episode psychosis resemble those in the overall psychotic population. During the acute phase of psychosis, insight and attitudes toward treatment are the sole determinants of the patients’ prediction of compliance.

Introduction Food availability is an important environmental cue for animals for deciding how much to invest in reproduction, and it ultimately affects population size. The importance of food limitation has been extensively studied in terrestrial vertebrate populations, especially in birds, by experimentally manipulating food supply. However, the factors explaining variation in reproductive decisions in response to food supplementation remain unclear. By performing meta-analyses, we aim to quantify the extent to which supplementary feeding affects several reproductive parameters in birds, and identify the key factors (life-history traits, behavioural factors, environmental factors, and experimental design) that can induce variation in laying date, clutch size and breeding success (i.e., number of fledglings produced) in response to food supplementation. Results Food supplementation produced variable but mostly positive effects across reproductive parameters in a total of 201 experiments from 82 independent studies. The outcomes of the food effect were modulated by environmental factors, e.g., laying dates advanced more towards low latitudes, and food supplementation appeared not to produce any obvious effect on bird reproduction when the background level of food abundance in the environment was high. Moreover, the increase in clutch size following food addition was more pronounced in birds that cache food, as compared to birds that do not. Supplementation timing was identified as a major cause of variation in breeding success responses. We also document the absence of a detectable food effect on clutch size and breeding success when the target species had poor access to the feed due to competitive interactions with other animals. Conclusions Our findings indicate that, from the pool of bird species and environments reviewed, extra food is allocated to immediate reproduction in most cases. Our results also support the view that bird species have evolved different life-history strategies to cope with environmental variability in food supply. However, we encourage more research at low latitudes to gain knowledge on how resource allocation in birds changes along a latitudinal gradient. Our results also emphasize the importance of developing experimental designs that minimise competition for the supplemented food and the risk of reproductive bottle-necks due to inappropriate supplementation timings. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12983-014-0080-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: The transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta is one of the key mediators in cardiac remodelling occurring after myocardial infarction (MI) and in hypertensive heart disease. The TGF-beta-stimulated clone 22 (TSC-22) is a leucine zipper protein expressed in many tissues and possessing various transcription-modulating activities. However, its function in the heart remains unknown. Methods: The aim of the present study was to characterize cardiac TSC-22 expression in vivo in cardiac remodelling and in myocytes in vitro. In addition, we used TSC-22 gene transfer in order to examine the effects of TSC-22 on cardiac gene expression and function. Results: We found that TSC-22 is rapidly up-regulated by multiple hypertrophic stimuli, and in post-MI remodelling both TSC-22 mRNA and protein levels were up-regulated (4.1-fold, P