Historiallisten digitoitujen sanoma- ja aikakauslehtien avaaminen avoimena datana tutkijoille

Informaatiotutkimuksen päivät 2016

Creating and Using Ground Truth OCR Sample Data for Finnish Historical Newspapers and Journals

The National Library of Finland (NLF) has digitized historical newspapers, journals and ephemera published in Finland since the late 1990s. The present collection consists of about 12.9 million pages mainly in Finnish and Swedish. Out of these about 7.36 million pages are freely available on the web site digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi. The copyright restricted part of the collection can be used at six legal deposit libraries in different parts of Finland. The time period of the open collection is from 1771 to 1929. The years 1920–1929 were opened in January 2018. This paper presents the ground truth Optical Character Recognition data of about 500 000 Finnish words that has been compiled at the NLF for development of a new OCR process for the collection. We discuss compilation of the data and show basic results of the new OCR process in comparison to current OCR using the ground truth data.Peer reviewe

Analytical Characterization of Monoclonal Antibodies with Novel Fc Receptor-Based Chromatography Technique

Most clinically approved large biotherapeutics are monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), primarily belonging to immunoglobulin G subclass-1 (IgG1) and, to a lesser extent, IgG2 and IgG4. Glycosylation is the main source of post-translational heterogeneity of mAbs, impacting their drug therapeutic mechanism of action (MOA). Glycosylation is also one of the critical factors in drug product solubility, kinetics, stability and efficacy. Thus, monitoring glycan critical quality attributes (CQAs) is an essential part of any biopharmaceutical development. The binding affinity of an IgG to its cellular Fc receptor (FcR) depends on both its IgG subclass and Fc domain glycosylation pattern. Since composition of the N-glycans also correlates to the Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity (ADCC), the glycosylation pattern needs to be monitored for consistency in potency and efficacy. This applies for the original mAb biologics as well as biosimilars. In this chapter, we present a truly novel way to assess the variances in mAb glycoforms using FcγRIIIa-based affinity chromatography. First, a brief overview of the Fc receptor function is presented. Then, the principle of FcR-based affinity chromatography is explained including how this column’s potential to analyze a variety of mAbs according to their N-glycan content is highly selective and robust. Finally, we provide examples of the FcR column’s potential to improve analytical characterization of mAbs with practical applications such as effective cell line screening, monitoring of glycoengineering, process development and process control in manufacturing

Analyzing and Improving the Quality of a Historical News Collection using Language Technology and Statistical Machine Learning Methods

In this paper, we study how to analyze and improve the quality of a large historical newspaper collection. The National Library of Finland has digitized millions of newspaper pages. The quality of the outcome of the OCR process is limited especially with regard to the oldest parts of the collection. Approaches such as crowd-sourcing has been used in this field to improve the quality of the texts, but in this case the volume of the materials makes it impossible to edit manually any substantial proportion of the texts. Therefore, we experiment with quality evaluation and improvement methods based on corpus statistics, language technology and machine learning in order to find ways to automate analysis and improvement process. The final objective is to reach a clear reduction in the human effort needed in the post-processing of the texts. We present quantitative evaluations of the current quality of the corpus, describe challenges related to texts written in a morphologically complex language, and describe two different approaches to achieve quality improvements.Peer reviewe

Genetic basis and outcome in a nationwide study of Finnish patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Aims Nationwide large-scale genetic and outcome studies in cohorts with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) have not been previously published. Methods and results We sequenced 59 cardiomyopathy-associated genes in 382 unrelated Finnish patients with HCM and found 24 pathogenic or likely pathogenic mutations in six genes in 38.2% of patients. Most mutations were located in sarcomere genes (MYBPC3, MYH7, TPM1, and MYL2). Previously reported mutations by our study group (MYBPC3-Gln1061Ter, MYH7-Arg1053Gln, and TPM1-Asp175Asn) and a fourth major mutation MYH7-Val606Met accounted for 28.0% of cases. Mutations in GLA and PRKAG2 were found in three patients. Furthermore, we found 49 variants of unknown significance in 31 genes in 20.4% of cases. During a 6.7 +/- 4.2 year follow-up, annual all-cause mortality in 482 index patients and their relatives with HCM was higher than that in the matched Finnish population (1.70 vs. 0.87%; P <0.001). Sudden cardiac deaths were rare (n = 8). Systolic heart failure (hazard ratio 17.256, 95% confidence interval 3.266-91.170, P = 0.001) and maximal left ventricular wall thickness (hazard ratio 1.223, 95% confidence interval 1.098-1.363, P <0.001) were independent predictors of HCM-related mortality and life-threatening cardiac events. The patients with a pathogenic or likely pathogenic mutation underwent an implantable cardioverter defibrillator implantation more often than patients without a pathogenic or likely pathogenic mutation (12.9 vs. 3.5%, P <0.001), but there was no difference in all-cause or HCM-related mortality between the two groups. Mortality due to HCM during 10 year follow-up among the 5.2 million population of Finland was studied from death certificates of the National Registry, showing 269 HCM-related deaths, of which 32% were sudden. Conclusions We identified pathogenic and likely pathogenic mutations in 38% of Finnish patients with HCM. Four major sarcomere mutations accounted for 28% of HCM cases, whereas HCM-related mutations in non-sarcomeric genes were rare. Mortality in patients with HCM exceeded that of the general population. Finally, among 5.2 million Finns, there were at least 27 HCM-related deaths annually.Peer reviewe

Biokaasulaitteiston suunnittelu, rakentaminen ja validointi

Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli suunnitella, rakentaa ja validoida laboratoriomittakaavan biokaasutuslaitteisto, joka tulee palvelemaan sekä Savonia-ammattikorkeakoulua että Itä-Suomen yliopistoa yhteisissä laboratoriotiloissa. Taustana työlle toimi lisääntynyt tarve eri ainesten kaasuuntuvuustutkimuksille tarve sekä puutteet olemassa olevassa laitteistossa. Biokaasualan tutkimus- ja kehitystyö on yksi Savonia-ammattikorkeakoulun ympäristötekniikan painopisteistä. Työssä vertailtiin muualla käytössä olevia vastaavia biokaasutuslaitteistoja ja tutkittiin eri materiaalien soveltuvuutta suunniteltavaan laitteistoon. Näiden ja työn tilaajan tarpeiden pohjalta suunniteltiin uusi laitteisto. Laitteistolle asetettiin vaatimuksiksi läpinäkyvyys ja autoklaavin kestävyys. Valmiin ja hyväksytyn suunnitelman pohjalta kilpailutettiin laitteiston eri osien valmistaminen eri yrityksillä ja rakennettiin prototyyppi, jossa on vastaavat rakenteet. Prototyypillä tutkittiin laitteiston yleistä toimintaa, käyttöä ja tulosten luotettavuutta osana validointia. Suunnittelun mukaisesti rakennettiin neljän reaktorin muodostama kokonaisuus. Valmis laitteisto koepaineistettiin kaasutiiviyden varmistamiseksi. Rakennettu laitteisto todettiin luotettavaksi, toimivaksi ja edulliseksi. Kehitetylle laitteistolle laadittiin käyttöohjeet laitteen opetus- ja tutkimuskäyttöön.The purpose of this thesis was to design, construct and validate a new laboratory-scale biogas plant for continuous tests. The subscriber was Savonia University of Applied Sciences. The apparatus will be used for testing the gasification and anaerobic digestion of different organic materials, like biomass and biowaste. Writing the manual for the apparatus was also part of the thesis. Main requirements set for the apparatus were transparency and autoclave durability. The designing process was based on similar apparatuses currently in use. Designing also included charting of suitable materials for the biogas reactor. With these and after finding an affordable manufacturer, the final design was formed after a few sketches. Before constructing the actual apparatus, a prototype was made. This prototype included all the features of the actual one, except that it was much cheaper to construct. The prototype was used for the validating process along with some other tests carried out before ordering the parts for the actual apparatus. The main parts of the plant were constructed by subcontractors, leaving practically only the assembly to be done within this thesis. The apparatus constructed combined all of the best features of the apparatuses used by others and was made out of lasting materials. The requirements set were all met and the design works perfectly

Digitisation and Digital Library Presentation System – A Resource-Conscientious Approach

Peer reviewe