Julkaisuarkisto

This article examines interwar intelligence activities in the Baltic Sea region through the NKVD/NKGB interrogations of high-ranking Estonian political police officers in 1940–1942. The study reflects critically on Soviet interrogation reports as historical sources, concurrently arguing that they are instrumental since the material of the Estonian political police was destroyed in 1939–40. New insights are provided into the use of agents, Estonian military intelligence targeting the Soviet Union, the role of Russian émigrés in MI6’s operations, Estonian, Finnish, and Latvian intelligence cooperation, and the use of a notable Baltic German agent in countering Nazi-German influence operations and Estonian far-right subversion.

Background

Periodontal diseases are associated with dysbiotic oral microbial communities, but clinically applicable measures that reflect microbial burden across disease severity and progression remain limited. This study aimed to assess the oral microbial burden of periodontal diseases by evaluating salivary and subgingival lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activity and lipoteichoic acid (LTA) levels, to explore their relationships with microbial dysbiosis and clinical periodontal parameters in individuals with periodontal health (n = 52), gingivitis (n = 194), and periodontitis of varying stages, grades, and furcation involvement (n = 78), and to assess their diagnostic potential.

Methods

Saliva and subgingival plaque samples from 324 SECRETO cohort participants were analyzed for microbial virulence factors using a recombinant Factor C assay for LPS and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for LTA. Microbial dysbiosis was assessed using a sequencing-derived, simplified dysbiosis index, calculated from subgingival 16S rRNA gene sequencing and salivary shotgun metagenomic profiles, based on the relative abundances of health-associated and periodontitis-associated taxa.

Results

Subgingival LPS activity was significantly higher in periodontitis patients compared to healthy individuals and increased progressively across disease stages and grades. Salivary LPS activity differed only by periodontal diagnosis and correlated with full-mouth bleeding score (FMBS). LTA levels showed no statistical variations across periodontal conditions. Subgingival LPS activity and LPS/LTA ratio were strongly associated with simplified dysbiosis index. Salivary dysbiosis index was significantly higher in patients with furcation involvement. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses identified subgingival LPS, salivary LPS, and simplified dysbiosis index as diagnostic biomarkers with good clinical utility (area under the curve [AUC] 0.59–0.87).

Conclusions

This study highlights the importance of periodontitis diagnoses, stages and grades of periodontitis and furcation involvement as determining factors for increased salivary and subgingival bioburden. In addition, LPS activity could be used as a reliable periodontal biomarker, while the LPS/LTA ratio is an indirect indicator of microbial dysbiosis.

Tutkimuksessa tarkastelemme omaishoitosopimuksia ja -suunnitelmia osana omaishoidon käytäntöjä. Tutkimme, mitä tietoa asiakirjoihin muodostetaan ja millaisia funktioita niillä on omaishoidossa. Aineistomme koostuu tyhjistä omaishoitosopimuksen ja omaishoidon tuen suunnitelman lomakepohjista, omaishoitajilta saaduista täytetyistä asiakirjoista sekä hyvinvointialueilla ja Omaishoitajaliitossa työskentelevien omaishoidon työntekijöiden pari- ja ryhmähaastatteluista. Analyysin perusteella asiakirjoilla on kolme keskeistä funktiota: 1) sitoutumista ja vastuita heijastava funktio, 2) omaishoidettavan palvelukokonaisuutta kuvaava funktio sekä 3) omaishoidettavan toimintakykyä korostava funktio. Työntekijät tulkitsevat ja valikoivat dokumentoitavaa tietoa. Omaishoidettavan avun ja tuen tarvetta dokumentoidaan usein työntekijöiden näkökulmasta. Omaishoitajien ja omaishoidettavien tuottama tieto nähtiin kokemuksellisena, ei objektiivisena tietona. Tutkimuksen tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää julkishallinnon sopimuskäytäntöjen kehittämisessä.

Phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisphosphate [PI(3,5)P₂] is a lysosomal signaling lipid whose deficiency, caused by mutations in the PIKfyve complex subunits FIG4 or VAC14, underlies a spectrum of fatal neurologic diseases including Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 4J (CMT4J) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). To map the molecular consequences of PI(3,5)P₂ insufficiency in the brain, we performed quantitative proteomic and transcriptomic analyses of three mouse lines bearing distinct loss-of-function mutations in Fig4 or Vac14, examining the brain at the presymptomatic and end stages. Strikingly, profound neuroinflammation was already present at postnatal day 5 (before significant neurodegeneration), characterized by complement activation, interferon signaling, and parenchymal infiltration of peripheral myeloid cells and T-cells. Isolated mutant microglia exhibited a markedly pro-oxidative transcriptional state with elevated reactive oxygen species, a partly non-cell-autonomous phenotype, being present in microglia from mice with conditional Fig4 inactivation in just neurons and astrocytes. Comparison of early (P5) and late (P25) proteomics data revealed that PI(3,5)P₂ insufficiency impairs developmental remodeling of the brain proteome: proteins typically upregulated during postnatal maturation failed to accumulate, implicating lysosomal function in neurodevelopment. We identify coordinated elevation of p53, Fas receptor, inflammatory caspases, Gasdermin D, RIPK1, and ZBP1, consistent with multifactorial inflammatory cell death with features of apoptosis, pyroptosis, and necroptosis. Many of the dysregulated proteins are encoded by genes mutated in lysosomal storage disorders, ALS, CMT, Alzheimer's and Parkinson diseases, extending the pathogenic relevance of PI(3,5)P₂ insufficiency. Together, these findings establish that early neuroinflammation is a defining - and likely initiating - feature of neurodegeneration caused by disruption of lysosomal PI(3,5)P₂.