The World’s First Spent Fuel Repository : How to tackle safety, security and safeguards needs?

How to dispose of spent nuclear fuel safely and permanently? This is one of the fundamental questions related to the use of nuclear energy, that has been waiting for an answer since criticality of the first commercial reactors some sixty years ago. Also, in Finland, discussion on the question of nuclear waste was on the public agenda already when the first reactor was commissioned in the late 1970s and nuclear waste management policy and strategy were actively developed on the national level. In 1978, the Finnish Government decided that each producer of nuclear waste is responsible for the management of spent nuclear fuel. This decision was the beginning of a long process, the result of which is the world’s first spent spent nuclear fuel repository Onkalo, where the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel inside the Finnish bedrock is expected to start in 2025. This paper describes from the regulatory perspective how Finland changed the game and how Finland is developing a safe1 and sustainable solution for disposal of spent nuclear fuel. It will explain how this became politically acceptable, how the long-term safety of the solution is being demonstrated and how regulatory challenges related to safety, security and safeguards are being resolved in this first-of-its-kind facility. In broad terms, it will illustrate how the progress in geological disposal has been made possible in Finland and further highlight topical issues that are of interest to professionals and policymakers. The first chapter is focused on public acceptance and development of nuclear waste management policy and strategy in Finland. The second chapter explains how the long-term safety of the final repository has been handled and what the supporting technical solutions are. In the third and final chapter, an overview of safeguards of the disposal process is provided. Safeguards, a prerequisite for peaceful use of nuclear energy, is a topic of utmost importance also in the last leg of the nuclear fuel cycle. The scope of this short paper is rather limited and far from complete, but hopefully it manages to pass on certain lessons: responsible decision-making and a long-term political commitment to the chosen method, together with the research and development of the technical solution and enabling regulatory framework, are the keys for accomplishing the difficult task of disposing of spent nuclear fuel safely and permanently

The Smartphone Brain Scanner: A Portable Real-Time Neuroimaging System

Combining low cost wireless EEG sensors with smartphones offers novel opportunities for mobile brain imaging in an everyday context. We present a framework for building multi-platform, portable EEG applications with real-time 3D source reconstruction. The system - Smartphone Brain Scanner - combines an off-the-shelf neuroheadset or EEG cap with a smartphone or tablet, and as such represents the first fully mobile system for real-time 3D EEG imaging. We discuss the benefits and challenges of a fully portable system, including technical limitations as well as real-time reconstruction of 3D images of brain activity. We present examples of the brain activity captured in a simple experiment involving imagined finger tapping, showing that the acquired signal in a relevant brain region is similar to that obtained with standard EEG lab equipment. Although the quality of the signal in a mobile solution using a off-the-shelf consumer neuroheadset is lower compared to that obtained using high density standard EEG equipment, we propose that mobile application development may offset the disadvantages and provide completely new opportunities for neuroimaging in natural settings

Power-Law Scaling in the Brain Surface Electric Potential

Recent studies have identified broadband phenomena in the electric potentials produced by the brain. We report the finding of power-law scaling in these signals using subdural electrocorticographic recordings from the surface of human cortex. The power spectral density (PSD) of the electric potential has the power-law form from 80 to 500 Hz. This scaling index, , is conserved across subjects, area in the cortex, and local neural activity levels. The shape of the PSD does not change with increases in local cortical activity, but the amplitude, , increases. We observe a “knee” in the spectra at , implying the existence of a characteristic time scale . Below , we explore two-power-law forms of the PSD, and demonstrate that there are activity-related fluctuations in the amplitude of a power-law process lying beneath the rhythms. Finally, we illustrate through simulation how, small-scale, simplified neuronal models could lead to these power-law observations. This suggests a new paradigm of non-oscillatory “asynchronous,” scale-free, changes in cortical potentials, corresponding to changes in mean population-averaged firing rate, to complement the prevalent “synchronous” rhythm-based paradigm

Cerebral small vessel disease genomics and its implications across the lifespan

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are the most common brain-imaging feature of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), hypertension being the main known risk factor. Here, we identify 27 genome-wide loci for WMH-volume in a cohort of 50,970 older individuals, accounting for modification/confounding by hypertension. Aggregated WMH risk variants were associated with altered white matter integrity (p = 2.5×10-7) in brain images from 1,738 young healthy adults, providing insight into the lifetime impact of SVD genetic risk. Mendelian randomization suggested causal association of increasing WMH-volume with stroke, Alzheimer-type dementia, and of increasing blood pressure (BP) with larger WMH-volume, notably also in persons without clinical hypertension. Transcriptome-wide colocalization analyses showed association of WMH-volume with expression of 39 genes, of which four encode known drug targets. Finally, we provide insight into BP-independent biological pathways underlying SVD and suggest potential for genetic stratification of high-risk individuals and for genetically-informed prioritization of drug targets for prevention trials.Peer reviewe

Analysis of shared heritability in common disorders of the brain

ience, this issue p. eaap8757 Structured Abstract INTRODUCTION Brain disorders may exhibit shared symptoms and substantial epidemiological comorbidity, inciting debate about their etiologic overlap. However, detailed study of phenotypes with different ages of onset, severity, and presentation poses a considerable challenge. Recently developed heritability methods allow us to accurately measure correlation of genome-wide common variant risk between two phenotypes from pools of different individuals and assess how connected they, or at least their genetic risks, are on the genomic level. We used genome-wide association data for 265,218 patients and 784,643 control participants, as well as 17 phenotypes from a total of 1,191,588 individuals, to quantify the degree of overlap for genetic risk factors of 25 common brain disorders. RATIONALE Over the past century, the classification of brain disorders has evolved to reflect the medical and scientific communities' assessments of the presumed root causes of clinical phenomena such as behavioral change, loss of motor function, or alterations of consciousness. Directly observable phenomena (such as the presence of emboli, protein tangles, or unusual electrical activity patterns) generally define and separate neurological disorders from psychiatric disorders. Understanding the genetic underpinnings and categorical distinctions for brain disorders and related phenotypes may inform the search for their biological mechanisms. RESULTS Common variant risk for psychiatric disorders was shown to correlate significantly, especially among attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder (MDD), and schizophrenia. By contrast, neurological disorders appear more distinct from one another and from the psychiatric disorders, except for migraine, which was significantly correlated to ADHD, MDD, and Tourette syndrome. We demonstrate that, in the general population, the personality trait neuroticism is significantly correlated with almost every psychiatric disorder and migraine. We also identify significant genetic sharing between disorders and early life cognitive measures (e.g., years of education and college attainment) in the general population, demonstrating positive correlation with several psychiatric disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa and bipolar disorder) and negative correlation with several neurological phenotypes (e.g., Alzheimer's disease and ischemic stroke), even though the latter are considered to result from specific processes that occur later in life. Extensive simulations were also performed to inform how statistical power, diagnostic misclassification, and phenotypic heterogeneity influence genetic correlations. CONCLUSION The high degree of genetic correlation among many of the psychiatric disorders adds further evidence that their current clinical boundaries do not reflect distinct underlying pathogenic processes, at least on the genetic level. This suggests a deeply interconnected nature for psychiatric disorders, in contrast to neurological disorders, and underscores the need to refine psychiatric diagnostics. Genetically informed analyses may provide important "scaffolding" to support such restructuring of psychiatric nosology, which likely requires incorporating many levels of information. By contrast, we find limited evidence for widespread common genetic risk sharing among neurological disorders or across neurological and psychiatric disorders. We show that both psychiatric and neurological disorders have robust correlations with cognitive and personality measures. Further study is needed to evaluate whether overlapping genetic contributions to psychiatric pathology may influence treatment choices. Ultimately, such developments may pave the way toward reduced heterogeneity and improved diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders

Large-scale sequencing identifies multiple genes and rare variants associated with Crohn’s disease susceptibility

peer reviewe

Meta-analysis of 375,000 individuals identifies 38 susceptibility loci for migraine

Migraine is a debilitating neurological disorder affecting around one in seven people worldwide, but its molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. There is some debate about whether migraine is a disease of vascular dysfunction or a result of neuronal dysfunction with secondary vascular changes. Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have thus far identified 13 independent loci associated with migraine. To identify new susceptibility loci, we carried out a genetic study of migraine on 59,674 affected subjects and 316,078 controls from 22 GWA studies. We identified 44 independent single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) significantly associated with migraine risk (P < 5 × 10−8) that mapped to 38 distinct genomic loci, including 28 loci not previously reported and a locus that to our knowledge is the first to be identified on chromosome X. In subsequent computational analyses, the identified loci showed enrichment for genes expressed in vascular and smooth muscle tissues, consistent with a predominant theory of migraine that highlights vascular etiologies

Ammatillisen koulutuksen haasteita : Ammatillisen koulutuksen haasteita heikkenevässä taloustilanteessa kone- ja metallialoilla Pirkanmaalla

Makrotasolla Pirkanmaan metallialan osaavan työvoiman tarve eli kuinka paljon koulutuspaikkoja on lähihistoriassa ollut, on tällä hetkellä ja on suunnitteilla lähitulevaisuudessa ja missä oppilaitoksissa. Mesotasolla Pirkanmaan kone- ja metalliteollisuudessa tarvitaan yhä enemmän yrittäjyyttä, koska vanhat teollisuus-yritykset eivät enää työllistä samoin kuin aiemmin. Kehittämishanketyössä keskityttiin Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulun (TAMKin) osuuteen pirkanmaalaisessa yrittäjyys-koulutuksessa ja mikrotasolla: mitä autoinsinöörien pitäisi osata moottoritekniikasta valmistuessaan ja mahdollisesti myöhemminkin työuransa aikana? Pirkanmaan metallialan osaavan työvoiman tarve yhtäältä kasvaa eläköitymisen vuoksi ja toisaalta vähentyy maailmanlaajuisen taloudellisen laman aiheuttamien tuonti- ja vienti-ongelmien takia. Koulutustarpeiden voi olettaa joko vähentyneen tai vaihtoehtoisesti painottuvan jatkossa täydennys- ja työvoimakoulutukseen johtuen tarkastelussa olevien alojen suurista konkurssien, irtisanomisten ja lomautusten sekä työttömien työntekijöiden määristä. Jos vientiteollisuus elpyy ja talouskehitys muuttuu myönteiseksi, myös tavoitekehitykseksi luokitellut luvut ja tarpeet voivat toteutua. Mesotasolla Pirkanmaan metalliteollisuudessa tarvitaan yhä enemmän yrittäjyyttä, koska vanhat teollisuusyritykset eivät enää työllistä samalla tavalla kuin aiemmin. Pitää panostaa yrittäjyyskoulutukseen, jota tarvitaan viralliseksi osaksi ammatillisen koulutuksen opetussuunnitelmiin niin toisella asteella kuin korkeakouluissakin. Yhtäältä pitää lisätä yhteistyötä metalliteollisuuden ja alan yritysten kanssa sekä toisaalta lisätä myös yrittäjyyskoulutusta ja -kasvatusta kiinteänä osana opetussuunnitelmia. Eräs suurimmista haasteista on muuttaa asioita opettajien asenteissa eli saada opettajat ymmärtämään, että yrittäjyyskasvatus on tämänpäiväinen tavoite- ja tahtotila sekä osa koulutusohjelmia. Samanaikaisesti yrittäjyydestä kiinnostuneiden opiskelijoiden määrä kasvaa. Mikrotasolla autoinsinööreiksi valmistuvien pitäisi osata moottoritekniikasta sellaiset perustiedot, että heillä on riittävät edellytykset omaksua alan uusin tieto työelämään siirtyessään säännöllisin väliajoin omatoimisestikin. Kun tutkintojen laajuudet ovat eurooppalaisittain yhdenmukaistetut, ovatko kaikki suoritetut tutkinnot lopulta samanarvoisia ja pätevöittävätkö ne samanlaiseen ammattitaitoon maasta tai alueesta riippumatta? Jos koulutus tähtää teollisiin töihin ja jollei teollisuudesta löydy töitä, voiko koulutusta soveltaa paikallisissa olosuhteissa esimerkiksi suhdanteiden osoittamalla tavalla? Tutkimus ja tuotekehitys sekä innovaatiot ovat kuitenkin asioita, joita Suomessa kannattaa tehdä ja niiden tekemiseen pitäisi panostaa. Erityisesti yrittäjyys ja koulutus sekä kasvatus siihen liittyen voi lisätä uusia kone- ja metalliteollisuuden yrityksiä sekä uusia työpaikkoja. Opettajiksi täytyy saada lisää työuria teollisuudessa tehneitä ja yrittäjinä toimivia tai toimineita asiantuntijoita

Strateginen tiedolla johtaminen : tapaus Kotkan kaupunki

Tämän pro gradu-tutkielman tarkoituksena oli selvittää, miten strategista tiedolla johtamista toteutetaan Kotkan kaupungilla: miten tiedolla johtaminen on linjattu suhteessa organisaation strategiaan ja millaisista tekijöistä tiedolla johtaminen muodostuu. Tutkimus toteutettiin laadullisena tapaustutkimuksena, jonka aineisto kerättiin yksilöhaastatteluiden avulla kaupungin vastuualueiden johtotehtävissä työskenteleviltä henkilöiltä. Tulokset analysointiin laadullisen sisällönanalyysin avulla. Tutkimus osoitti, että kaupungilla ei ole ennalta määriteltyä tiedolla johtamisen strategiaa vielä valmiina, mutta sen osia on kuitenkin olemassa ja nähtävillä. Tiedolla johtamisen käytänteitä kehitetään jatkuvasti, ja vaikka valmista tavoiteasetantaa tai tiedolla johtamisen mallia ei ole olemassa, on toiminta tulosten perusteella kuitenkin linjassa organisaation strategian ja siinä määriteltyjen tavoitteiden kanssa. Tulokset myös osoittivat, että tiedolla johtamisen strateginen ulottuvuus tarvitsee tuekseen tiedolla johtamisen tavoitteen asettamista ja lisää koordinointia, jotta päästään johdonmukaiseen ja systemaattiseen strategiseen tiedolla johtamiseen. Tulosten perusteella tälle on kuitenkin edellytykset olemassa: Tiedolla johtaminen on organisoitu kaupungilla hajautetun mallin perusteella, jossa vastuu ja myös toisaalta vaikuttamismahdollisuudet tietoon ja tiedolla johtamisen prosesseihin eivät ole yksittäisellä yksiköllä, vaan jokaisella vastuualueella itsellään. Tämän kokonaisuuden koordinoinnissa tiedolla johtamisen työryhmällä on aktiivinen ja tärkeä rooli, ja myös tätä kautta tiedolla johtamisen strategista näkökulmaa voidaan edistää tulevaisuudessa