Uudised

Aune Valk, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs of the University of Tartu, confirms that life at the university goes on despite the emergency situation and high-quality teaching and research activities continue. The university is ready to provide individual solutions to difficulties students may face.

Healthy ageing has become one of the priorities of research in Europe. University of Tartu researchers looked for differences in the immune systems of young and old people. They focused on monocytes and found that the monocytes of the elderly do not seem to produce as much energy, and there is an increase in inflammation markers compared to younger people. Looking into the future, this research gives food for thought as to how to slow down age-related changes.

Today, the dean, vice deans, heads of institutes and student representatives met to put together an action plan for the next weeks when classroom teaching is cancelled. For now, the Estonian Health Board has contacted students and lecturers who came into contact with the infected student. Anyone who has not been contacted should remain calm and follow the usual Health Board instructions.

On March 13th, all classroom studies (lectures, seminars, practical trainings) will be canceled in the whole Faculty. Please stay at home and stay calm. We will send further instructions during March 13. People who suspect coronavirus infection should contact their family doctor, ask for advice from the GP helpline 1220 (+372 634 6630 when calling from abroad) or if necessary, call the emergency line 112.

Today, on 19 February, the traineeship and job fair of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities is held in the Philosophicum, and the Maarjavälja career day for students of medicine and science and technology takes place in the Physicum.

Foreigners who have obtained a master's degree in Estonia and stay in Estonia are beneficial to the Estonian state and business in any case. The question may be whether our society is ready for them to stay here, writes Aune Valk, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, University of Tartu. It is definitely useful for Estonia and Estonia’s business sector if foreigners who have obtained a master’s degree in Estonia stay here to work. The question could be, whether our society is ready for this, Aune Valk writes.

On 26 February, the University of Tartu (UT) holds an Open Doors Day during which final-year secondary school students and other future applicants can take part in various activities. The University of Tartu library hosts a study fair on the UT curricula at which experienced specialists give admission and career advice. Together with representatives of student organisations, participants can find out how to be more than a student and what else they can do for personal development during their studies at the university.

Seahorses are wonderful fish. The male fish grows the developing embryos in his pouch with an organ similar to the placenta – studying the pregnancy of seahorses also enables scientists to better understand the adaptive processes of pregnancy in humans. An expert on seahorses from the Canary Islands is working together with the scientists from the University of Tartu.

Chronic inflammatory skin diseases, such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, may in certain cases, based on visual inspection, be very similar and this complicates their accurate diagnosis. University of Tartu scientists together with Tartu University Hospital dermatologists studied a novel approach for diagnosing psoriasis vulgaris. The purpose of this research was to drive forward the development of biomarker-based diagnostics in the field of inflammatory skin diseases.

When did you start speaking? Conventional wisdom would suggest that it would be around the one-year old mark. The conventional wisdom could be off by quite a bit in this case. I believe that the first word of our lives was uttered even before we opened our eyes. We have been talking since we were embryos. Yes, embryos do talk. The language is not well understood, and it is inaudible, but embryos do speak to their mothers even before implanting in the uterus. In fact, one big reason we are here is probably because we were such big talkers in utero.

A doctoral thesis written at the University of Tartu studied a rare genetic disorder of the connective tissue, Osteogenesis imperfecta, more commonly known as brittle bone disease. It affects 1 in 20,000 people. In about 90% of cases, the main target of the disease is type I collagen, which is the base structure of bone, tendons, cartilage and other connective tissues. The results of the doctoral thesis help improve diagnosing and further studying of the disease.

Ageing cannot be prevented, but with regular exercise we can do much for our health later in life. A doctoral student at the University of Tartu, Anni Rava, studied the associations between body composition, mobility and blood inflammatory biomarkers with physical activity in 113 older women. The study confirmed the fundamental truth that physical activity helps maintain physical capability, which is important for maintaining independence in older age.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common movement disorder in the world, and difficult to diagnose and treat. A doctoral student at the University of Tartu’s Faculty of Medicine, Toomas Toomsoo, conducted the first extensive brain sonography study in Estonia, which enables to see changes occurring in the midbrain. The results of the doctoral thesis confirmed the value of sonography in diagnosing PD.

On Friday, September 27 at 10.30 everybody is welcome to join a guest seminar by Francisco Otero-Ferrer "Seahorses: Unusual and strange parents". It takes plce at Ravila 14b (Tartu), seminar room at 2nd floor.

Written by: Alireza Fazeli, Professor of Clinical Genomics and Personalized Medicine at the University of Tartu Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine.

2–3% of the population and about 4% of adults suffer from psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Another widespread disease is atherosclerosis, which affects the life quality of many older people. For the first time, machine-learning models developed at the University of Tartu Faculty of Medicine found markers that have never been associated with these diseases before. New knowledge helps diseases to be diagnosed better and to monitor the course of treatment.

In recent years, the HIV infection rate in Estonia has continued to be around 200 new cases each year, which is still one of the highest incidence rates per 100,000 inhabitants in Europe. As parenteral transmission of HIV is the most effective, people who inject drugs (PWID) are considered to be one of the most vulnerable groups to HIV infection. Doctoral student, Ene-Ly Jõgeda, from the University of Tartu, included 345 PWID in her doctoral thesis to study the factors influencing the acquisition of HIV infection.

We are happy to invite you to a Science Café by James Ord, PhD (researcher, Department of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine at Sheffield University, UK). Dr James Ord is a molecular biologist, specialising in non-genetic inheritance. He completed his PhD at the University of Sheffield, UK, where he studied environmental influences on reproduction and offspring in small fish. Seminar title: "Fins of our fathers: how daddy fish influence their offspring in unexpected ways".

The growing discipline of nanomedicine is about to make new leaps in Estonia, as the University of Tartu recently established professorship for the branch of study. The leader of the research team, Tambet Teesalu, says that it’s easier to turn one’s research ambition and thoughts into reality in Estonia.

In the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tartu, the first animal testings were conducted using antioxidant peptides designed and synthesised by scientists in Tartu, which may reduce oxidative stress. Oxidative stress also develops with a rare incurable genetic disease called Wolfram syndrome and it is studied profoundly by scientists all over the world.