Plastic anisotropy of soft reconstituted clays

The aim of the paper is to extend the experimental validation of the S-CLAY1 model, which is a recently proposed elastoplastic constitutive model that accounts for initial and plastic strain-induced anisotropy. Drained stress path controlled tests were performed on reconstituted samples of four Finnish clays to study the effects of anisotropy in the absence of the complexities of structure present in natural undisturbed clays. Each test involved several loading, unloading, and reloading stages with different values of stress ratio and, hence, induced noticeable changes in the fabric anisotropy. Comparisons between test results and model predictions with the S-CLAY1 model and the modified Cam clay model demonstrate that despite its simplicity, the S-CLAY1 model can provide excellent predictions of the behaviour of unstructured soil

Parental financial support : A safety net for young adults with debt problems

Parental financial support benefits young adults in societies with decreasing welfare-state support and a pattern of early home-leaving. This article focuses on the association between young adults' debt problems and parental financial support: the extent to which indebted young adults receive financial help from their parents. We also investigate the extent to which specific benefits are associated with debt problems or parental financial support. The data were gathered in an online survey conducted among 18-to-35-year-old Finns (n = 1,019). The results revealed, first, that many parents safeguard their indebted adult children's lives by means of financial support and second, that heavy cash-welfare-benefit users are particularly likely to receive parental financial support. Our analysis also revealed that the prevalence of debt problems as well as of parental financial support were especially high among those who had received social assistance, sickness benefit or labour-market subsidy within the previous 12 months. In a society open to new social risks as well as to debt problems, young people who lack financial support from their parents have a rockier transition to adulthood than those who receive support.Peer reviewe

Sequential Linkage of Carbohydrate Antigens to Mimic Capsular Polysaccharides: Toward Semisynthetic Glycoconjugate Vaccine Candidates against Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotype 14

Vaccines based on isolated polysaccharides successfully protect humans from bacterial pathogens such as Streptococcus pneumoniae. Because polysaccharide production and isolation can be technically challenging, glycoconjugates containing synthetic antigens are an attractive alternative. Typically, the shortest possible oligosaccharide antigen is preferable as syntheses of longer structures are more difficult and time-consuming. Combining several protective epitopes or polysaccharide repeating units as blocks by bonds other than glycosidic linkages would greatly reduce the synthetic effort if the immunological response to the polysaccharide could be retained. To explore this concept, we bridged the well-understood and immunologically potent RU of S. pneumoniae serotype 14 (ST14) with an aliphatic spacer and conjugated it to the carrier protein CRM197. Mice immunized with the spacer-bridged glycan conjugates produced high levels of specific antibodies after just one or two vaccine doses, while the tetrasaccharide repeating unit alone required three doses. The antibodies recognized specifically ST14 CPS, while no significant antibody levels were raised against the spacer or unrelated CPS. Synthetic vaccines generated antibodies with opsonic activity. Mimicking polysaccharides by coupling repeating unit antigens via an aliphatic spacer may prove useful also for the development of other glycoconjugate vaccine candidates, thereby reducing the synthetic complexity while enhancing a faster immune response

Murphy tools: Utilizing extracted gui models for industrial software testing

Abstract-One of the main challenges in adopting modelbased testing (MBT) is the effort and expertise required to produce the formal models. For an existing system, there are various approaches to automate the process of creating the models. In this paper, we share our experiences from a long term industrial evaluation on automatically extracting models of graphical user interface (GUI) applications and utilizing the extracted models to automate and support GUI testing. While model extraction and GUI testing has been recently a popular research topic, most proposed approaches have limitations on what can be modeled and industry adoption has been lacking. We describe the process of using Murphy tools to extract GUI models and utilize these models to automate and support various testing activities. During the evaluation, test engineers of an industrial software company used Murphy tools to support their daily efforts in testing commercial software products during 1 year time period. The results from the evaluation were promising, significantly reducing time and effort required for GUI testing

Is catchment geodiversity a useful surrogate of aquatic plant species richness?

Aim Conserving freshwater biodiversity in a rapidly changing world requires updated planning schemes and research efforts. Geodiversity – the diversity of Earth surface forms, materials and processes – and biodiversity are interlinked at a fundamental level. This relationship is being considered in a growing number of studies, yet research from freshwater environments is scarce. We used geodiversity (rock-type, soil-type and geomorphological richness), local and climatic variables to explore whether geodiversity can be used as a surrogate for aquatic plant species richness in lakes and rivers. Location Finland. Taxon Aquatic plants. Methods We compared geodiversity variables (measured within 1-km2 grid cells) to well-studied local (e.g. area, alkalinity) and climate (e.g. growing degree-days) variables, and examined the patterns between habitat types (lakes and rivers) and among all taxa and major functional groups (helophytes and hydrophytes). We modelled lake (n = 145) and river (n = 146) plant species richness with generalized linear models, and further partitioned variation to measure the independent and shared contributions of the geodiversity, climate and local environmental variable groups. As a complementary analysis, and to identify single important variables explaining variation in aquatic plant species richness, we utilized boosted regression trees. Results We found a positive relationship between aquatic plant species richness and catchment geodiversity variation with recurring patterns across two different freshwater habitat types and two aquatic plant functional groups. Higher variation in geodiversity (measured at landscape scale) supported higher freshwater biodiversity (measured at the local scale) of lakes and rivers. Main conclusions Geodiversity can be a useful addition to biodiversity modelling, and it should be considered in conservation schemes and monitoring efforts, further supporting the principle of conserving nature's stage. Yet, differences between habitats and functional groups suggest that more habitat-specific approaches and multiple biodiversity measures should be considered. Our study is an important signpost guiding further studies on the biodiversity–geodiversity relationship in freshwater ecosystems

Associations between partial sickness benefit and disability pensions: initial findings of a Finnish nationwide register study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Timely return to work after longterm sickness absence and the increased use of flexible work arrangements together with partial health-related benefits are tools intended to increase participation in work life. Although partial sickness benefit and partial disability pension are used in many countries, prospective studies on their use are largely lacking. Partial sickness benefit was introduced in Finland in 2007. This register study aimed to investigate the use of health-related benefits by subjects with prolonged sickness absence, initially on either partial or full sick leave.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Representative population data (13 375 men and 16 052 women either on partial or full sick leave in 2007) were drawn from national registers and followed over an average of 18 months. The registers provided information on the study outcomes: diagnoses and days of payment for compensated sick leaves, and the occurrence of disability pension. Survival analysis and multinomial regression were carried out using sociodemographic variables and prior sickness absence as covariates.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Approximately 60% of subjects on partial sick leave and 30% of those on full sick leave had at least one recurrent sick leave over the follow up. A larger proportion of those on partial sick leave (16%) compared to those on full sick leave (1%) had their first recurrent sick leave during the first month of follow up. The adjusted risks of the first recurrent sick leave were 1.8 and 1.7 for men and women, respectively, when subjects on partial sick leave were compared with those on full sick leave. There was no increased risk when those with their first recurrent sick leave in the first month were excluded from the analyses. The risks of a full disability pension were smaller and risks of a partial disability pension approximately two-fold among men and women initially on partial sick leave, compared to subjects on full sick leave.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first follow up study of the newly adopted partial sickness benefit in Finland. The results show that compared to full sick leave, partial sick leave - when not followed by lasting return to work - is more typically followed by partial disability pension and less frequently by full disability pension. It is anticipated that the use of partial benefits in connection with part-time participation in work life will have favourable effects on future disability pension rates in Finland.</p