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Background: ​In adults, vegetarian and vegan diets have been associated with decreased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. At the same time, lower plasma LDL-concentrations are reported in vegans than in omnivores. Classification of a vegetarian diet can be challenging, as the diets vary in the degree and categories of the avoided food products. Recently, plant-based diet indices (PDI), such as the provegetarian food pattern, have been introduced as​ a priori ​method to study vegetarianism as a continuum. Plant-based dietary indices weigh positively foods derived from plant sources, whereas animal foods are weighed negatively. Greater adherence to PDI has been associated with lower CVD mortality and lower incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD). Meanwhile, little is known about the associations of plant-based eating and the risk of CVD in children. Aims:​ The aim of this thesis is to study plant-based eating as a continuous phenomenon in a group of Finnish preschoolers. Furthermore, the focus is on the animal source energy and its associations with dietary intakes, and cholesterol and bile acid metabolism. Materials and methods: ​In this thesis, the data from the cross-sectional MIRA Helsinki Study is used. In 2017, City of Helsinki started a pilot project, in which a vegan food option was offered in municipal daycare. At the same year, MIRA Helsinki Study was started to examine the nutritional status of children following a vegan diet. Altogether 42 children, aged 1–7-years, participated. At daycare, 18 of the children consumed a vegan diet, whereas 24 were omnivores. However, these diet categories did not apply to the child’s diet outside daycare. Children’s diet was assessed with 4-day food records and with food frequency questionnaires (FFQs). Anthropometric measurements were taken and fasting blood samples collected. Blood samples were analysed with standard laboratory tests. Gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) methods were used to examine serum cholesterol metabolism biomarkers and bile acids, respectively. For each food item (n=719) in the food record data, the weight proportion of animal content was estimated. The animal-origin energy content of each food item was calculated by multiplying the known energy content of the food item with the aforementioned score. The proportion of animal source energy (ASE) per subject across the 4-day food record was calculated by dividing the energy derived from animal sources with total energy intake. The correlations of ASE proportion with dietary intakes and surrogate markers of cholesterol and bile acid metabolism were investigated with the Pearson correlation analysis. A multiple linear regression model was used to test whether the ASE proportion explained the plasma LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) concentration when controlling for the child’s sex and maternal education. In addition, the associations between the ASE proportion and serum concentrations of 20 bile acid variables were examined with the Pearson correlation coefficient. The Benjamini-Hochberg procedure was used to correct for multiple analyses. Results: ​Among all of the participants, ASE proportions ranged from 0.00 to 0.52, with a median value of 0.275 (that is, 27.5% of total energy derived from animal sources).​ ​I​ntake of animal source energy correlated positively with SAFA (r=0.815, p<0.000), cholesterol (r=0.707, p<0.000) and protein (r=0.493, p<0.001) intakes. There was a strong negative correlation between the ASE proportion and fibre intake (r=–0.836, p<0.000). In a linear regression model, adjusted for child’s sex and mother’s educational level, the model explained 44% (p<.000) of the variance in the plasma LDL-C concentration. Every 0.1 increase in the ASE proportion (10E% increase in energy derived from animal sources) was associated with a 0.32 mmol/L higher plasma LDL-C concentration. Associations of ASE proportion and cholesterol surrogate markers were present: a higher intake of ASE correlated with lower concentrations of cholesterol absorption markers. A similar negative association with ASE proportion was present for two out of four cholesterol synthesis biomarkers. In addition, the bile acid synthesis biomarker (​7α-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one) correlated negatively with the ASE proportion. From the 20 serum bile acid variables studied only the ratio of tauro- to glyco-conjugated bile acids was significantly associated with the ASE proportion after correcting for multiple analyses. Conclusion:​ Among the study participants, animal source energy ratio was a powerful predictor of plasma LDL-C concentrations. Dietary patterns characterised by high intake of animal source energy were less likely to meet the dietary recommendations of fatty acid (SAFA and PUFA) intake. Our results on cholesterol metabolism need to be confirmed and replicated in future studies, which should include data on absolute measurements of cholesterol synthesis and absorption.

Bakgrunden till studien är den ökade medvetenheten kring hållbarhet och ansvarsfullhet, vilket har resulterat i olika former av offentlig styrning såsom lagar, direktiv, rekommendationer, certifikat, normer och standarder. I fokus för denna studie står Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), som specifikt riktar sig till stora aktörer. Studien undersöker små- och medelstora företag (SME) som verkar inom leveranskedjan för stora skogsbolag med fokus på virkesanskaffning och skogsvård. Dessa SME-företag löper en potentiell risk att omfattas av krav på ansvarsfullhets- och hållbarhetsåtgärder i och med att de ingår i en leveranskedja som ska uppfylla de stora bolagens kriterier. För att utforska SME-företagens ståndpunkter genomfördes semi-strukturerade telefonintervjuer. Respondenterna tillhörde något eller flera av de tre stora skogsbolagens leveranskedja, nämligen Stora Enso Oyj, Metsä Group och UPM Kymmene Oyj, och utförde skogsvårdstjänster, virkesdrivning och logistik åt skogsbolagen. I intervjuerna identifierades olika teman som var kopplade till respondenternas ståndpunkter, vilka framkom i flera intervjuer. Tematiska analysen utfördes med programvaran ATLAS.ti. Studien rättfärdigades genom en analys av relevanta aspekter från skogsbolagens årsrapporter, vilket också användes som bakgrund till formuleringen av intervjufrågorna. Samtliga årsrapporter innehöll information om bolagens CSRD-strategi och andra initiativ för ansvarsfullhet och hållbarhet, även med avseende på leveranskedjan. Resultaten av studien visade att samtliga respondenter påverkades av skogsbolagens ansvarsfullhetsåtgärder och dessutom frivilligt genomförde ansvarsfullhetsåtgärder. Åtgärderna delades in i ekologiska, sociala och förvaltningsmässiga åtgärder, där de ekologiska och sociala var vanligast förekommande. Exempel på åtgärder inkluderade utredning av koldioxidavtryck, efterlevnad av olika frivilliga miljöcertifieringar, förbättring av anställdas arbetshälsovård utöver lagkrav samt frivillig efterlevnad av CSRD-direktivet. Studien ger klara indikationer på att SME-företagen i finska skogsbolagens leveranskedja har integrerat ansvarsfullhet i sina verksamheter och strategier.

The biodegradation of wood by fungi in natural forest environment is of vital importance for carbon and nutrient replenishment. Additionally, the ecological functions, maintenance of biodiversity and fungal succession in forest ecosystems is partly dependent on the availability of utilizable organic substances. The fungal group of basidiomycetes are known to play important functional roles in these processes. There is however scarcity of information on how co-cultures of multiple fungi affect wood biomass decomposition as well as the consequent effect of interspecific interaction on niche colonization and substrate utilization. This study investigated and evaluated the role and efficiency of interspecific fungal interaction on biodegradation of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L), Norway spruce (Picea abies L. (H) Karst) and birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh) wood. Five fungal isolates were selected for the test in co-cultivation assay: Antrodia sinuosa P. Karst, Bjerkandera adusta (Willd.) P. Karst, Gloeophyllum sepiarium (Wulfen) P. Karst, Heterobasidion annosum (Fr.) Bref, and Phlebiopsis gigantea Jülich (Basidiomycota). The results revealed that antagonistic and competitive fungal interaction does not largely appear to speed up wood decay process. However, the rare combination of Phlebiopsis, Antrodia and Gloeophyllum had significant positive effect on degradation of spruce wood whereas Heterobasidion, Phlebiopsis, and Gloeophyllum had synergistic effect on pine wood decay. It is therefore likely that in nature, wood decay by fungi is mostly facilitated by parallel niche colonization and by fungal succession.

The spread of antibiotic resistance is a global health threat. Hospitals are a potential source of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which may disseminate into the environment via wastewater. Hospital water environments, such as sink traps and shower drains, are known to harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which might spread from the drains to the patients causing nosocomial infections that are hard to treat because of the limited number of treatments available. However, the current understanding of antibiotic resistance in the drains of residences, and how it relates to the situation in hospitals is limited. The aim of this study was to compare the microbial communities and ARGs in the water environments of homes and hospitals. The sink traps and shower drains of three hospital rooms and eighteen homes were sampled for metagenomic sequencing, and bioinformatic tools were used to detect the microbial taxa and ARGs in the metagenomes. The resistomes of hospital environments were distinct from those of homes and exhibited a higher diversity of ARGs. On the other hand, the microbial communities of homes and hospital rooms could not be clearly distinguished, although there were some differences in the abundances of certain taxa. The abundance of ARGs was higher in the hospital shower drains than in the corresponding samples in homes, but there was no statistical difference in the abundance of ARGs between the sink traps of homes and the hospital. Although the study had limitations, such as the low number of hospital samples, it indicates that the water environments of hospitals have a resistome that is distinct from that of homes and highlights the role of hospital sink traps and shower drains as potential hotspots of antibiotic resistance.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a new respiratory virus capable of transmitting between interspecies and has caused outbreaks in mink farms since April 2020. The infection in mink farms has been a concern due to the overcrowded mink population which allows viral transmission and mutation to rapidly develop. The development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines for mink is needed to prevent an outbreak in mink farms. In this study, we tested the safety and efficacy of our SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in a mink model. Our vaccine tests reveal no side effects of the vaccine on vaccinated mink, of which 40 mg/dose was found to be the optimal dosage, and was used as a standard for the later infection experiments. Microneutralization tests indicated that the neutralizing antibodies from vaccinated mink can protect cells line against early 2020 dominant variants (Wuhan, and Alpha), but poorly against later dominant strains (Beta, and Delta). The vaccinated mink were further observed the changes in antibody levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the results suggested that the antibodies could be detected in sera samples of vaccinated subjects for at least 23 weeks after receiving two dosages of the vaccine. The presence of the virus was monitored in collected saliva samples throughout the infection days to study the effect of the vaccine on preventing the mink from SARS-CoV-2 infection by reverse transcription (RT)PCR. The quantification cycles (Cq) values were similar between vaccinated and non-vaccinated mink of both genders and between different gender, indicating that the vaccine could not help with preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection. Although the vaccine does not protect the vaccinated mink from the infection, the monitoring of clinical signs suggested that it helps the mink by reducing the severity of the disease. In conclusion, the vaccine showed promising results in inducing the mink body to produce neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 and relieved the symptoms of the disease.

The rapid emergence of drug resistant pathogens prevents effective treatment of diseases and threatens the lives of millions of people. Similarly, resistance to chemotherapeutic agents has been observed in several types of cancer. Therefore, screening for novel antimicrobial and antileukemic substances is urgently needed. Screening microorganisms for bioactive molecules has resulted in the discovery of several substances that are currently used for disease treatment. Cyanobacteria represent an ancient group of oxygenic, photosynthetic prokaryotes that produce a variety of functionally diverse and structurally complex natural compounds, some of which have already been used as source of inspiration in drug development process. In this study, I evaluated the antimicrobial and antileukemic potential of filamentous cyanobacteria against Gram-positive, Gram-negative and fungal potential pathogens and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) MOLM-13 cell line. Extracts showing antibiotic and/or antileukemic activity were subjected to reversed-phase HPLC and individual fractions were re-evaluated for their ability to kill the abovementioned pathogens and/or induce cell death in MOLM-13 cell line. Metabolites present in the active HPLC fractions were analysed by UPLC/ESI/Q-TOF and elemental compositions were obtained. Identification of metabolites was accomplished by searching online databases for compounds with identical elemental composition. Chemical structures were further confirmed by comparing mass spectrometry data with publicly available data. New bioactive metabolites, new variants of known metabolites and a number of yet unidentified metabolites exhibiting antimicrobial and/or antileukemic activity are reported herein. In detail, novel metabolites belonging to aromatic polyketides and their new variants were present in the active fractions of Nostoc sp. CENA69. The cyanobacterium Aliinostoc sp. CENA513 produced the recently discovered metabolite nocuolin A, a compound with antimicrobial and antiproliferative properties, lipids and unidentified lipidic compounds that showed only bactericidal activity against B. cereus. Interestingly, none of the abovementioned strains had any effect on the growth of Gram-negative pathogens. Planktothrix agardhii UHCC 0018 and Anabaena sp. UHCC 0187 strains showed only antileukemic activity. The majority of the bioactive fractions deriving from these two strains contained either lipids or pigments and their derivatives. The remaining active HPLC fractions of these two strains contained a great number of unidentified compounds. Further studies are required to identify the unknown compounds and purify the novel metabolites and antibacterial lipids. The results presented herein clearly show that Cyanobacteria are an emerging source of bioactive metabolites that can be used in drug development process or act as a source of inspiration for the production of novel synthetic drugs.

The purpose of the study was to determine the possibilities of utilizing the by-product streams of fish processing industry in the production of fish oil and silage. In this thesis the effect of different antioxidants on the preservation of salmon scraps was studied and the utilisation of the dregs from which the oil was extracted as feed was considered. The scarps preserved in this study were from farmed salmon and consisted of internal organs and roe. The study had two experiments. The first one lasted for 65 days and in it formic acid was added to the scraps for a final acid content of 3 %. The scraps with only the formic acid acted as the control and the four different antioxidants studied were butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), ethoxyquin mixture (Helmlox) and butylated hydroxytoluene (Ionol). The amount of Ionol was 100 ppm and for BHA, TBHQ and Helmlox there were two different amounts, 50 and 100 ppm. The second experiment lasted for 29 days and the formic acid content was 1 %. BHA and Helmlox antioxidants were used with an amount of 10 ppm. The oil and sediment parts from the experiments were analyzed separately. Based on the analyses the antioxidants or their amounts did not have an effect on the values extracted from the sediment. In the first experiment the analyses from the oil gave mostly highly significant (p<0,001) differences between the control and the antioxidants. There were also clear differences between the antioxidants but the different amounts did not have an effect on the AV-, PV- and TOTOX-values. In the second experiment the analyses from the oil gave only minor differences between the control and the antioxidants, the differences between different antioxidants being larger. The peroxide value of BHA was clearly larger than that of the control and Helmlox and therefore also the TOTOX-value was larger, which contradicts the results of the first experiment. In the second experiment also the measured amino acid contents diminished when the antioxidants were added which contradicts previous research. TBHQ worked best as an antioxidant, then BHA, Ionol and Helmlox in order. The usage of the dregs from the scraps as feed for pigs and chicken is limited by its high fish oil content. However for fur animals salmon scraps are suitable as feed products if the amino acid deficiencies are compensated with other feed products.

För att driva ett lantbruksföretag framgångsrikt har tillgången till aktuell information stor betydelse. Det är viktigt att det finns bra informationskällor som kan utnyttjas då lantbrukarna t.ex. planerar att göra investeringar på gården som kanske kräver extern finansiering. Olika företag inom finansbranschen bör känna till vilken sorts information som lantbrukarna är i behov av samt vilka olika källor som företagarna använder för att skaffa information om olika finansieringsmöjligheter. Målsättningen med denna undersökning är att studera lantbruksföretagarnas användning av informationskällot. Problemfrågorna är: Vilka informationskällot använder lantbrukarna mest som hjälp för sitt yrkesutövande och inverkar bakgrundsfaktorer på användningen av informationskällor då man gör beslut? Vilken sorts information anser sig lantbrukarna behöva mest då de är i behov av extern finansiering? Forskningsmaterialet består av gårdar i Östra Nyland, Nyland, Åboland och Österbotten. Materialet samlades in via en enkätundersökning som utfördes våren 2009. Enkäten skickades ut åt 500 jordbrukare som var under 65 år. På enkäten svarade 165 jordbrukare dvs svarsprocenten var 33 %. Lantbruksföretagarna använder flere olika informationskällot är bara en för att klara av sin verksamhet på gården. De mest använda informationskällorna är tidningarna Landsbygdens Folk och Maaseudun Tulevaisuus samt övriga tidskrifter, lokaltidningar och kontakt med andra odlare. Internet används också ofta eller mycket ofta av närmare 56 % av lantbruksföretagarna vid yrkesutövande men har mycket mindre betydelse då man är mitt i en beslutsprocess. Internet används oftare av mera yngre personer. Över 80 % av lantbrukarna bedömer att de är i behov av finansieringsrådgivning inom närmaste framtid. I huvudsak vill lantbrukarna ha rådgivning om vanliga banklån men man vill även ha hjälp med investeringsstöd, räntestödslån och frågor kring generationsväxling. Undersökningens resultat visar också att bakgrundsfaktorer såsom ålder, utbildning och företagsstorlek styr valet av vilka informationskällor som lantbruksföretagarna använder sig mest av då de gör beslut på sina gårdar.

Filamentous basidiomycete fungi are an abundant source of laccase (benzedio:oxygen oxidoreductases, E.C.1.10.3.2) enzymes that oxidize phenolic compounds by a one electron removal resulting in free radicals with concomitant reduction of oxygen to water. Because of this, laccases are regarded as “green catalysts”, making them of great interest for industrial applications. Phenolic compounds of plant origin are of special interest to the food industry because of their low toxicity and high antioxidant, antimicrobial activities. Because of large number of laccase candidates present in fungal genomes and time demanding methods for their biochemical characterization, in silico methods for the prediction of their activity towards phenolic compounds are needed to be developed to better use the potential of fungal laccases in applications. The goal of this study was to utilize in silico predictions on 19 preselected basidiomycete laccases to determine their activities towards six selected phenolic compounds that are used in food related applications. Based on the structural and functional predictions, two laccases with the best docking characteristics, Pycnoporus cinnabarinus laccase 4273 and Trametes cingulata laccase 1498596, were then selected for recombinant production in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris, and their biochemical characteristics and activity towards the phenolic compounds were determined experimentally. The recombinant laccases presented optimal working pH in the acidic range from pH 2.0 to 6.0. Both laccases also presented good solvent stability in ethanol and DMSO. The T. cingulata laccase showed thermal tolerance up to 60°C while the P. cinnabarinus laccase was stable up to 40°C. Both recombinant laccases had activity towards 2,6-DMP and the phenolic compound sinapic acid, low activity (<1.9 µkat/L) was observed towards caffeic acid, and no activity (<1.1 µkat/L) was observed towards cinnamic acid, ferulic acid and p-couamaric acid. Experimental and in silico results were compared to evaluate if it is possible to accurately predict laccase activity towards the selected phenolic compounds using in silico approaches. From the in-silico predictions, it was suggested that hydrogen bonding between a substrate molecule and amino acid residue Ser-113 of P. cinnabarinus laccase 4273 and His-111 of T. cingulata laccase 1498596 may be important for the activity towards phenolic compounds. Formation of hydrogen bonds between other amino acid residues and the substrates might be detrimental for laccase activity. The predicted substrate binding site of the laccases differ from yet very close to that of crystal structures of Melanocarpus albomyces laccase. However, the activity towards selected phenolic compounds were somewhat consistent with predictions indicating a possible applicability of structural and functional predictions in the study of fungal laccase activities.

Risk management is essential in forest management planning. However, decision making with risk analysis is rarely done in forestry. This study presents an example of the application of conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) as a decision tool and optimizes the management planning problem from a risk perspective. Stochastic programming is used to solve the problem. The model contains four different types of risk using an assumed probability distribution and quantifies these risks, namely, inventory errors, growth model errors, price uncertainty and policy uncertainty. The results suggest that forest owners’ risk tolerance, i.e., their willingness and ability to assume risk determines to the greatest extent the return potential. When the expected first period income is maximized, the subsequent period always experiences a loss that is the greatest of the entire management horizon. The proportion of carbon subsidy in the first period is also the highest. With this model it is possible to hedge some risks or to use it as means to assess the amount of insurance to purchase in order to transfer risks. The use of CVaR in forest management planning can be seen as a useful tool to manage risk and to assist in the decision making process to assess forest owners’ willingness and ability to tolerate risks.