Physical activity, social-communicative skills and fitness for military service.

INTRODUCTION: Research has suggested that increased difficulties in social-communicative skills are associated with release from military service. A few studies have focused on the association between physical activity and military fitness; however, studies of the association between social-communicative skills and physical activity remain scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the amount of leisure time physical activity and fitness for military service, as well as to investigate the association between social-communicative difficulties and physical activity. METHODS: This is a population-based cross-sectional 'Young Men in the North Project', in which 2614 men (M age=18.1 years) participated in an obligatory military fitness call-up and filled out the study questionnaire. RESULTS: The results showed that higher physical performance compared with peers and attaining the weekly amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were associated with lower likelihood of being permanently or temporarily released from the service. In addition, difficulties in social-communicative skills were associated with lower physical performance and lower weekly amounts of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The results also showed that higher physical performance or attaining the recommended weekly amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, together with higher social-communicative skills, lowered the likelihood of being permanently or temporarily released from the service. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that better physical performance, or a higher level of physical activity, together with better social-communicative skills, lowers the likelihood of being permanently and temporarily released from the military service more than physical performance or physical activity alone.

School success in childhood and subsequent prodromal symptoms and psychoses in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986.

BACKGROUND: Low IQ is a risk factor for psychosis, but the effect of high IQ is more controversial. The aim was to explore the association of childhood school success with prodromal symptoms in adolescence and psychoses in adulthood. METHODS: In the general population-based Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (n = 8 229), we studied the relationship between teacher-assessed learning deficits, special talents and general school success at age 8 years and both prodromal symptoms (PROD-screen) at age 15-16 years and the occurrence of psychoses by age 30 years. RESULTS: More prodromal symptoms were experienced by those talented in oral presentation [boys: adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.49; 95% confidence interval 1.14-1.96; girls: 1.23; 1.00-1.52] or drawing (boys: 1.44; 1.10-1.87). Conversely, being talented in athletics decreased the probability of psychotic-like symptoms (boys: OR 0.72; 0.58-0.90). School success below average predicted less prodromal symptoms with boys (OR 0.68; 0.48-0.97), whereas above-average success predicted more prodromal symptoms with girls (OR 1.22; 1.03-1.44). The occurrence of psychoses was not affected. Learning deficits did not associate with prodromal symptoms or psychoses. CONCLUSIONS: Learning deficits in childhood did not increase the risk of prodromal symptoms in adolescence or later psychosis in this large birth cohort. Learning deficits are not always associated with increased risk of psychosis, which might be due to, e.g. special support given in schools. The higher prevalence of prodromal symptoms in talented children may reflect a different kind of relationship of school success with prodromal symptoms compared to full psychoses.

A setup for studies of laminar flame under microwave irradiation.

Plasma assisted combustion is a very active research field due to the potential of using the technology to improve combustion efficiency and decrease pollutant emission by stabilizing lean burning flames. It has been shown in a number of studies that a small amount of electrical energy can be deposited in the flame by applying microwaves, resulting in enhanced flame propagation and thus improved flame stabilization and delayed lean blow-out. However, the effects have not yet been properly quantified since there are significant experimental challenges related to the determination of both the laminar burning velocity and the electric field strength. In the present work, a novel setup is described, where a well-defined burner system is coupled to a microwave cavity. The burner is of heat flux type, where a flat laminar flame is stabilized on a perforated burner head. The advantage of this burner for the current use is that the method and related uncertainties are well studied and quantified, and the geometry is suitable for coupling with the microwave cavity. The setup, experimental procedure, and data analysis are described in detail in this article. Laminar burning velocity for a methane-air flame at ϕ = 0.7 is determined to certify that the burner works properly in the microwave cavity. The flame is then exposed to pulsed microwaves at 1 kHz with a pulse duration of 50 µs. The laminar burning velocity at these conditions is determined to be 18.4 cm/s, which is an increase by about 12% compared to the laminar burning velocity that is measured without microwave exposure. The setup shows potential for further investigations of lean flames subjected to various microwave pulse sequences. The data are of high quality with well-defined uncertainties and are therefore suitable to use for validation of chemical kinetics models.

The Finnish psychiatric birth cohort consortium (PSYCOHORTS) - content, plans and perspectives.

Background: Psychiatric disorders tend to be developmental, and longitudinal settings are required to examine predictors of psychiatric phenomena. Replicating and combining data and results from different birth cohorts, which are a source of reliable data, can make research even more valuable. The Finnish Psychiatric Birth Cohort Consortium (PSYCOHORTS) project combines birth cohorts in Finland. Aim: The aim of this paper is to introduce content, plans and perspectives of the PSYCOHORTS project that brings together researchers from Finland. In addition, we illustrate an example of data harmonization using available data on causes of death. Content: PSYCOHORTS includes eight Finnish birth cohorts. The project has several plans: to harmonize different data from birth cohorts, to incorporate biobanks into psychiatric birth cohort research, to apply multigenerational perspectives, to integrate longitudinal patterns of marginalization and inequality in mental health, and to utilize data in health economics research. Data on causes of death, originally obtained from Finnish Cause of Death register, were harmonized across the six birth cohorts using SAS macro facility. Results: Harmonization of the cause of death data resulted in a total of 21,993 observations from 1965 to 2015. For example, the percentage of deaths due to suicide and the sequelae of intentional self-harm was 14% and alcohol-related diseases, including accidental poisoning by alcohol, was 13%. Conclusions: PSYCOHORTS lays the foundation for complex examinations of psychiatric disorders that is based on compatible datasets, use of biobanks and multigenerational approach to risk factors, and extensive data on marginalization and inequality.

Early motor developmental milestones and schizophrenia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia proposes that impaired brain development is a cause of the illness. Early motor developmental milestones, such as learning to walk, are predictors of later schizophrenia but studies have not been systematically reviewed. The aim of the present systematic review and meta-analysis was to explore the association between early motor developmental milestones and the risk of adult schizophrenia. In addition, we updated a systematic review on motor function and risk of schizophrenia. The PubMed, PsycINFO and Scopus databases were searched for original research articles published up to July 2015. Motor milestones were measured between ages 0 and 13years. Random effect meta-analysis calculated effect estimates (Hedges' g) for the association between individual motor milestones and schizophrenia risk. An electronic database and selected articles reference list search identified 5990 articles after removing duplicates. Sixty-nine full text articles were assessed for eligibility of which six were included in the review. Five studies provided sufficient data for meta-analyses. The following motor milestones were significantly associated with adult schizophrenia risk: walking unsupported (g=0.46; 95% CI 0.27-0.64; p<0.001), standing unsupported (g=0.28; 0.16-0.40; p<0.001) and sitting unsupported (g=0.18; 0.05-0.31; p=0.007). Results for the milestones 'holding head up' and 'grabbing object' were not statistically significant. Delayed walking, sitting and standing unsupported were associated with adult onset schizophrenia. The findings emphasise the importance of timely achievement of these motor milestones in childhood and can contribute to the identification of individuals at risk of psychosis.

Mental health promotion in comprehensive schools.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a participatory action research process on the development of a professional practice model of mental health nurses in mental health promotion in a comprehensive school environment in the city of Oulu, Finland. The developed model is a new method of mental health promotion for mental health nurses working in comprehensive schools. The professional practice model has been developed in workshops together with school staff, interest groups, parents and students. Information gathered from the workshops was analysed using action research methods. Mental health promotion interventions are delivered at three levels: universal, which is an intervention that affects the whole school or community; selective, which is an intervention focusing on a certain group of students; and indicated, which is an individually focused intervention. All interventions are delivered within the school setting, which is a universal setting for all school-aged children. The interventions share the goal of promoting mental health. The purposes of the interventions are enhancing protective factors, reducing risk factors relating to mental health problems and early identification of mental health problems as well as rapid delivery of support or referral to specialized services. The common effect of the interventions on all levels is the increase in the experience of positive mental health.

Disruptive behaviour disorder with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a risk of psychiatric hospitalization.

AIM: To evaluate the psychiatric hospitalization among adolescents diagnosed with disruptive behaviour disorders (DBD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHODS: The sample (N = 457) was drawn from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986. Four groups were formed, based on the K-SADS-PL diagnostic interview procedure: adolescents with DBD (n = 44), ADHD (n = 91), comorbid DBD and ADHD (n = 72) and without either DBD or ADHD (n = 250). Information from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register (FHDR) was used to evaluate the psychiatric hospitalization among the study subjects. RESULTS: When compared with no diagnosis group, the adolescents with behavioural disorders had an increased risk (adjusted odds ratios: DBD = 4.4, ADHD = 2.2, comorbid DBD & ADHD = 5.6) of having also psychiatric disorder in the FHDR. The onset age of the psychiatric disorders in the FHDR (medians: DBD = 14.9, ADHD = 7.5 and DBD & ADHD = 15.3 years) and the combined length of hospitalization (medians: 25, 50 and 26 days, respectively) differed among adolescents with behavioural disorders compared with those with no diagnosis (median age 12.1 years and length of hospitalization 4 days). CONCLUSION: Adolescents diagnosed with DBD (with and without ADHD) are at high risk of undergoing psychiatric hospitalization during their life.