Extracting Urban Morphology for Atmospheric Modeling from Multispectral and SAR Satellite Imagery

This paper presents an approach designed to derive an urban morphology map from satellite data while aiming to minimize the cost of data and user interference. The approach will help to provide updates to the current morphological databases around the world. The proposed urban morphology maps consist of two layers: 1) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and 2) land cover map. Sentinel-2 data was used to create a land cover map, which was realized through image classification using optical range indices calculated from image data. For the purpose of atmospheric modeling, the most important classes are water and vegetation areas. The rest of the area includes bare soil and built-up areas among others, and they were merged into one class in the end. The classification result was validated with ground truth data collected both from field measurements and aerial imagery. The overall classification accuracy for the three classes is 91 %. TanDEM-X data was processed into two DEMs with different grid sizes using interferometric SAR processing. The resulting DEM has a RMSE of 3.2 meters compared to a high resolution DEM, which was estimated through 20 control points in flat areas. Comparing the derived DEM with the ground truth DEM from airborne LIDAR data, it can be seen that the street canyons, that are of high importance for urban atmospheric modeling are not detectable in the TanDEM-X DEM. However, the derived DEM is suitable for a class of urban atmospheric models. Based on the numerical modeling needs for regional atmospheric pollutant dispersion studies, the generated files enable the extraction of relevant parametrizations, such as Urban Canopy Parameters (UCP).Peer reviewe

Luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden käsityksiä autismikirjosta ja opetuksen järjestämisestä

Tiivistelmä. Luokanopettajan työssä autismikirjolla olevan oppilaan kohtaaminen on todennäköistä, sillä eri tuen asteen piirissä olevien oppilaiden opetus pyritään mahdollisuuksien mukaan järjestämään yleisopetuksen ryhmissä. Tutkimusaiheen valintaan vaikutti huoli tulevien luokanopettajien taidoista järjestää autismikirjolla olevan oppilaan opetusta. Tämän tutkielman teoreettisessa viitekehyksessä määritellään autismikirjo sen piirteiden ja ominaisuuksien kautta. Lisäksi esitellään tärkeimmät autismikirjoa selittävät teoriat. Autismikirjo on neurologisen kehityksen tila, jonka piirteet tulevat esiin käyttäytymisessä. Autismikirjoon kuuluu erilaisia piirteitä, jotka vaikuttavat myös henkilön koulunkäyntiin ja oppimiseen. Käsitykset autismikirjosta vaikuttavat siihen, miten luokanopettajat suhtautuvat autismikirjon oppilaan oppimisen tukemiseen. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, millaisia käsityksiä luokanopettajaopiskelijoilla on autismikirjosta ja autismikirjolla olevan oppilaan opetuksen järjestämisestä. Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan autismikirjolla olevan oppilaan opetuksen suunnitteluun ja toteutukseen liittyviä tekijöitä, esimerkiksi oppimisen tukemista ja mahdollistamista kouluympäristössä. Autismikirjolla olevan oppilaan opetuksessa hyödynnetään erilaisia oppimisen ja koulunkäynnin tukikeinoja, kuten opetuksen strukturointia. Tutkielma on toteutettu kvalitatiivisin menetelmin, hyödyntäen teoriaohjaavaa sisällönanalyysiä ja fenomenografista otetta. Tutkimuksen tulokset eivät täten ole yleistettävissä. Aineisto on kerätty kuudeltatoista luokanopettajaopiskelijalta ympäri Suomen kirjoitelmien muodossa. Mukana oli opiskelijoita eri vuosikursseilta, joten heillä oli kokemusta autismikirjosta vaihtelevasti. Tutkimustulosten perusteella luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden käsitykset vaihtelevat, mutta pohjautuvat pitkälti tutkittuun tietoon autismikirjosta. Opiskelijat määrittelivät autismikirjoa siinä esiintyvien, erityisesti käyttäytymisessä ilmenevien, piirteiden kautta. Käsityksissä oli eroteltavissa autismikirjon taustatekijöitä, vaikutuksia kognitiivisiin taitoihin, autismikirjon erityispiirteitä sekä tyypillisen vuorovaikutuksen piirteitä. Luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden omasta mielestä heillä ei ole riittävästi tietoa, kuinka tukea autismikirjon oppilasta, mutta tuloksista näkyy, että opiskelijoilla on pedagogista taitoa huomioida autismikirjon oppilas

Development and evaluation of a rapid nucleic acid amplification method to detect influenza A and B viruses in human respiratory specimens

Isothermal nucleic acid amplification methods can potentially shorten the amount of time required to diagnose influenza. We developed and evaluated a novel isothermal nucleic acid amplification method, RT-SIBA to rapidly detect and differentiate between influenza A and B viruses in a single reaction tube. The performance of the RT-SIBA Influenza assay was compared with two established RT-PCR methods. The sensitivities of the RT-SIBA, RealStar RT-PCR, and CDC RT-PCR assays for the detection of influenza A and B viruses in the clinical specimens were 98.8%, 100%, and 89.3%, respectively. All three assays demonstrated a specificity of 100%. The average time to positive result was significantly shorter with the RT-SIBA Influenza assay (90 min). The method can be run using battery-operated, portable devices with a small footprint and therefore has potential applications in both laboratory and near-patient settings. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Comparison of six tag types in sea-trout tagging experiments in the Baltic Sea

In the international Baltic Sea trout tagging experiment 27 753 hatchery reared sea trout smolts were tagged in Denmark, Finland, Poland and Sweden in 1979 and 1980. The fish were tagged with the original Carlin tag, two modified Carlin tag types (Canadian and Finnish polythene), streamer and Floy tags and Polish tags attached with Monel metal wire. The tag returns were affected by the place of release and smolt quality. The best results were obtained in the case of tags attached with double wire or thread -original Carlin, Canadian and Finnish polythene. The poorest results were obtained with streamer tags

Gut microbiota in Parkinson's disease : Temporal stability and relations to disease progression

Background: Several publications have described differences in cross-sectional comparisons of gut microbiota between patients with Parkinson's disease and control subjects, with considerable variability of the reported differentially abundant taxa. The temporal stability of such microbiota alterations and their relationship to disease progression have not been previously studied with a high-throughput sequencing based approach. Methods: We collected clinical data and stool samples from 64 Parkinson's patients and 64 control subjects twice, on average 2.25 years apart. Disease progression was evaluated based on changes in Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale and Levodopa Equivalent Dose, and microbiota were characterized with 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Findings: We compared patients to controls, and patients with stable disease to those with faster progression. There were significant differences between microbial communities of patients and controls when corrected for confounders, but not between timepoints. Specific bacterial taxa that differed between patients and controls at both timepoints included several previously reported ones, such as Roseburia, Prevotella and Bifidobacterium. In progression comparisons, differentially abundant taxa were inconsistent across methods and timepoints, but there was some support for a different distribution of enterotypes and a decreased abundance of Prevotella in faster-progressing patients. Interpretation: The previously detected gut microbiota differences between Parkinson's patients and controls persisted after 2 years. While we found some evidence for a connection between microbiota and disease progression, a longer follow-up period is required to confirm these findings. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

European Code against Cancer 4th edition: Ultraviolet radiation and cancer

Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is part of the electromagnetic spectrum emitted naturally from the sun or from artificial sources such as tanning devices. Acute skin reactions induced by UVR exposure are erythema (skin reddening), or sunburn, and the acquisition of a suntan triggered by UVR-induced DNA damage. UVR exposure is the main cause of skin cancer, including cutaneous malignant melanoma, basal-cell carcinoma, and squamous-cell carcinoma. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in fair-skinned populations, and its incidence has increased steeply over recent decades. According to estimates for 2012, about 100,000 new cases of cutaneous melanoma and about 22,000 deaths from it occurred in Europe. The main mechanisms by which UVR causes cancer are well understood. Exposure during childhood appears to be particularly harmful. Exposure to UVR is a risk factor modifiable by individuals' behaviour. Excessive exposure from natural sources can be avoided by seeking shade when the sun is strongest, by wearing appropriate clothing, and by appropriately applying sunscreens if direct sunlight is unavoidable. Exposure from artificial sources can be completely avoided by not using sunbeds. Beneficial effects of sun or UVR exposure, such as for vitamin D production, can be fully achieved while still avoiding too much sun exposure and the use of sunbeds. Taking all the scientific evidence together, the recommendation of the 4th edition of the European Code Against Cancer for ultraviolet radiation is: "Avoid too much sun, especially for children. Use sun protection. Do not use sunbeds."