Keyword: Press release

A new test has been developed in Turku, Finland, that helps in separating heart attack patients from those whose cardiac troponin values are elevated due to renal insufficiency. Blood sample tests for cardiac troponins are an important cornerstone in the diagnostics of heart attack, but the result may be elevated also due to other transient or chronic conditions, such as renal insufficiency, atrial fibrillation or strenuous physical exercise. The new test may help in identifying myocardial infarction (MI) faster and more specifically and thus improve the treatment of MI patients.

Transmigration programs are known to have relocated millions of people from the centers of domestic economies to the national geographical peripheries to support a more equitable resource distribution. The practice is salient to the nation-building process in many developing countries, most notably in Indonesia, dating back to the 1905 Dutch settlement programs pre-independence. The transmigration programs seek to solve the unequal national development in the country's peripheries while also unifying the nation's diverse ethnic groups.

Researchers from the University of Turku determined geometrical parameters of a neutron star floating in the Galaxy 21,000 light years away. The finding confirms old ideas that this star precesses like a whirligig.

Researchers at Turku University and Åbo Akademi University, Finland, have identified that finger-like cellular extensions called filopodia contribute to building a barrier surrounding breast tumours.

Researchers used artificial nests to test two methods for reducing the nest predation of vulnerable and endangered ground-nesting birds. The study showed that red foxes can be more easily deceived into not eating bird eggs than raccoon dogs. The methods could be used alongside hunting and offer an alternative, non-lethal solution for creating protection for vulnerable prey. 

Liedon Säästöpankki offers the former bank office on the Hämeenkatu street for the use of the University of Turku. The Entrepreneurial Hub has been named Konttori (Finnish for bank office) and will be introduced as a working space for students and staff.

Researchers at the Universities of Turku and Oulu, Finland, found out how Roundup, a herbicide containing glyphosate, affects the learning and memory of bumblebees. Already a small dose affected their ability to learn and memorise connections between colours and taste. The weakened fine colour vision can severely impair bumblebees’ foraging and nesting success.

Researchers from the Turku PET Centre, Finland, have observed that the length of daylight hours impacts opioid receptor levels in brown fat. When daylight hours shorten, the receptor activity levels elevate. A similar phenomenon also takes place in the brain. Both phenomena help people and animals in the adaptation to seasonal changes. 

Former Rector and Chancellor of the University of Turku Keijo Paunio has passed away at the age of 87. Paunio had an impressive career as Professor of Periodontology as well as in the University management and more extensively in science and university policy.

The Finnish Retirement and Aging study FIREA of the University of Turku used accelerometers to study how the 24-hour movement behaviours, i.e. sleep, sedentary behaviour, light physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity change in relation to each other when a person retires. The results show an increase in the amount of sleep, which contributed to decreased amount of physical activity.