Outdoor activities foster local plant knowledge in Karelia, NE Europe.

Wild edible plants, particularly berries, are relevant nutritional elements in the Nordic countries. In contrast to decreasing global trends, approximately 60% of the Finnish population is actively involved in (berry) foraging. We conducted 67 interviews with Finns and Karelians living in Finnish Karelia to: (a) detect the use of wild edible plants, (b) compare those results with the published data about neighbouring Russian Karelians, and (c) document the sources of local plant knowledge. The results revealed three main findings. First, we observed a similarity in wild food plant knowledge among Karelians and Finns from Karelia. Second, we detected divergences in wild food plant knowledge among Karelians living on both sides of the Finnish-Russian border. Third, the sources of local plant knowledge include vertical transmission, acquisition through literary sources, acquisition from "green" nature shops promoting healthy lifestyles, childhood foraging activities performed during the famine period following WWII, and outdoor recreational activities. We argue that the last two types of activities in particular may have influenced knowledge and connectedness with the surrounding environment and its resources at a stage of life that is crucial for shaping adult environmental behaviours. Future research should address the role of outdoor activities in maintaining (and possibly enhancing) local ecological knowledge in the Nordic countries.

Effects of combined oral contraceptive ethinylestradiol (30 microg) and dienogest (2 mg) on carbohydrate metabolism during 1 year of conventional or extended-cycle use.

The effects of extended regimens of combined oral contraceptives (COCs) on carbohydrate metabolism are largely unknown. The present study compared the effects of a COC containing 30 microg ethinylestradiol and 2 mg dienogest (EE/DNG) in conventional and extended-cycle regimen over 1 year. Parameters of carbohydrate metabolism were measured in 59 women treated with EE/DNG either conventionally (13 cycles of 21+7 days) or in extended-cycle regimen (4 cycles of 84+7 days). Blood samples were taken in a control cycle, and at 3 and 12 months of treatment. The mean levels of HbA1c and fasting glucose levels remained stable in both conventional and extended-regimen of EE/DNG. The mean levels of fasting insulin and C-peptide underwent comparable increases in both regimens, suggesting a similar readjustment of glucose metabolism via slightly increased insulin secretion. For both regimens, the response to the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) showed a slightly impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance at 3 months. These changes improved or returned to baseline at 12 months. Accordingly, the mean index for insulin resistance (homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, HOMA-IR) increased and the mean insulin sensitivity index [ISI (composite)] decreased modestly in both groups. The present study demonstrates that there are no statistically significant differences between the effects of conventional and extended-cycle treatment on carbohydrate metabolism over 1 year of treatment. In general, the effects of both regimens were moderate and mostly transient.

Sperm-cell volumetric measurements as parameters in bull semen function evaluation: correlation with nonreturn rate.

Sperm-cell volume, measured electronically by cell counter, is a parameter providing information about the state and integrity of the plasma membrane by determining cell osmotic reactivity (swelling level). Electronic volume measurement is a modification of the hypo-osmotic swelling test, based on the increase in sperm volume in response to hypo-osmotic stress. In this study the volumetric method was applied to bull ejaculates, and the relationships of volumetric parameters, osmolality of seminal plasma, and concentration of sodium and potassium ions in seminal plasma, with the nonreturn rate (NRR) were examined. Significant correlations were found between volumetric parameters, conventional spermatological parameters, and NRR. The relative volume shift of the mean volume correlated significantly with motility before and after thawing (P < 0.05). NRR correlated significantly with iso-osmotic cell volume (- 0.49; P < 0.05) and with the relative volume shift (0.51, P < 0.05). The prediction level of regression models was improved when volumetric parameters (iso-osmotic cell volume) were included in the multiple regression model. Therefore, using electronic volume measurement as a component for fast, correct and valid (up to 50,000 cells), recording sperm-cell population may help to evaluate ejaculate quality more precisely.