Tools for reactor evaluation in bioprocesses

Aerobic microbial cultivations are industrially important group of processes and pose challenges for the reactor design. In particular, estimation of industrial scale conditions is difficult from laboratory and pilot scale data. Due to complex interaction of gas/liquid phase hydrodynamics, mass transfer parameters and microbial metabolism, both improvement of modelling tools and reactor design are desired. We present an approach to estimate growth conditions in industrial scale reactor by combining black-box metabolic models with CFD-model. The reactor type used here is Outotec OKTOP9000®, which is used in the industrial hydrometallurgical processes at 900 m3 scale. It is adopted to a laboratory setting and compared to stirred tank reactor (STR) in gas dispersion, mass transfer and yeast cultivation experiments. In addition, a kinetic model for the yeast growth is developed based on literature sources and validated by the laboratory scale batch cultivations. This kinetic model is used along with CFD-model that is developed to describe the flow and mass transfer conditions in the industrial scale reactor. The laboratory scale experiments show the feasibility of OKTOP9000® reactor when compared to STR, particularly with improved gas handling capacity. The modelling approach shows qualitatively similar behavior in the large scale simulations when compared to laboratory scale cultivations

A Natural History of Erectile Dysfunction in Elderly Men: A Population-Based, Twelve-Year Prospective Study

There is a wide variation in the development and course of erectile dysfunction (ED) in men, which confirms the need for prospective studies. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis among the general male population at the baseline (n = 359) and in a follow-up survey (n = 218) 12 years later. The prospective 12-year study included 189 men. ED was assessed using the International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire. The mean age of the participants was 62.0 years at the baseline, while at the 12-year follow-up it was 71.6 years. The crude prevalence of ED was 61.6% at the baseline and 78.9% at the follow-up, and the prevalence tended to increase with age. All of the men aged 75 years or more had at least mild ED. The incidence of ED in every thousand person years was 53.5. A total of 54.5% of the men experienced ED progression, while 39.2% reported no changes in erectile function, and 6.3% experienced ED regression during the 12-year study. The likelihood of ED progression was higher in the older compared with younger age group (odds ratio, OR 5.2 (95% CI: 1.1–26.2)), and the likelihood of ED regression was lower among men with increased depression symptoms (OR 0.3 (95% CI: 0.1–0.6)) and among men with a decreased interest in their sexual life (OR 0.1 (95% CI: 0.0–0.6)). Lifestyle factors such as the consumption of alcohol and smoking were not significantly associated with ED

A Natural History of Erectile Dysfunction in Elderly Men: A Population-Based, Twelve-Year Prospective Study

There is a wide variation in the development and course of erectile dysfunction (ED) in men, which confirms the need for prospective studies. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis among the general male population at the baseline (n = 359) and in a follow-up survey (n = 218) 12 years later. The prospective 12-year study included 189 men. ED was assessed using the International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire. The mean age of the participants was 62.0 years at the baseline, while at the 12-year follow-up it was 71.6 years. The crude prevalence of ED was 61.6% at the baseline and 78.9% at the follow-up, and the prevalence tended to increase with age. All of the men aged 75 years or more had at least mild ED. The incidence of ED in every thousand person years was 53.5. A total of 54.5% of the men experienced ED progression, while 39.2% reported no changes in erectile function, and 6.3% experienced ED regression during the 12-year study. The likelihood of ED progression was higher in the older compared with younger age group (odds ratio, OR 5.2 (95% CI: 1.1–26.2)), and the likelihood of ED regression was lower among men with increased depression symptoms (OR 0.3 (95% CI: 0.1–0.6)) and among men with a decreased interest in their sexual life (OR 0.1 (95% CI: 0.0–0.6)). Lifestyle factors such as the consumption of alcohol and smoking were not significantly associated with ED

qSNE: quadratic rate t-SNE optimizer with automatic parameter tuning for large datasets

Peer reviewe

Early Environment and Neurobehavioral Development Predict Adult Temperament Clusters

Peer reviewe

Temperament Clusters in a Normal Population : Implications for Health and Disease

Peer reviewe

Hundreds of variants clustered in genomic loci and biological pathways affect human height

Most common human traits and diseases have a polygenic pattern of inheritance: DNA sequence variants at many genetic loci influence the phenotype. Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have identified more than 600 variants associated with human traits, but these typically explain small fractions of phenotypic variation, raising questions about the use of further studies. Here, using 183,727 individuals, we show that hundreds of genetic variants, in at least 180 loci, influence adult height, a highly heritable and classic polygenic trait. The large number of loci reveals patterns with important implications for genetic studies of common human diseases and traits. First, the 180 loci are not random, but instead are enriched for genes that are connected in biological pathways (P = 0.016) and that underlie skeletal growth defects (P < 0.001). Second, the likely causal gene is often located near the most strongly associated variant: in 13 of 21 loci containing a known skeletal growth gene, that gene was closest to the associated variant. Third, at least 19 loci have multiple independently associated variants, suggesting that allelic heterogeneity is a frequent feature of polygenic traits, that comprehensive explorations of already-discovered loci should discover additional variants and that an appreciable fraction of associated loci may have been identified. Fourth, associated variants are enriched for likely functional effects on genes, being over-represented among variants that alter amino-acid structure of proteins and expression levels of nearby genes. Our data explain approximately 10% of the phenotypic variation in height, and we estimate that unidentified common variants of similar effect sizes would increase this figure to approximately 16% of phenotypic variation (approximately 20% of heritable variation). Although additional approaches are needed to dissect the genetic architecture of polygenic human traits fully, our findings indicate that GWA studies can identify large numbers of loci that implicate biologically relevant genes and pathways.

Yhteishankintakoulutusten yhteensovittaminen : Case Menestyvä yritys - työllistävä Satakunta

Opinnäytetyöni tarkoituksena oli tutkia ja arvioida henkilöstön koulutusmahdollisuuksia Satakunnan alueella, erityisesti yhteishankintakoulutusten ja Satakunnan TE-keskuksen organisoiman Menestyvä yritys - työllistävä Satakunta - projektin kautta. Satakunnan työttömyysaste on ollut 90-luvun alun lamasta lähtien selvästi muuta maata korkeampi. Kierre alkoi jo 70-luvulla teollisuuden rakennemuutoksen yhteydessä ja tilanne jatkui pahana läpi 80-luvun. Vasta 2000-luvun taitteessa on havahduttu tilanteeseen: työttömyys on muutakin kuin prosenttiyksiköitä taulukoissa. Se aiheuttaa niin henkilökohtaisia kuin laajempiakin yhteiskunnallisia ongelmia, erityisesti alueilla joissa työttömyyttä on ollut pitkään. Alueellisiin työvoimaongelmiin tulisi tarttua entistä hanakammin, sekä rohkaista ihmisiä vaihtamaan alaa tai muuttamaan alueille, joista löytyisi oman alan töitä. Koska työttömyys on tällä hetkellä niin koko Suomessa kuin Satakunnassakin lähinnä rakenteellista, ohjaa työhallinto määrärahoja erityisesti työmarkkinoilla heikommassa asemassa olevien työllistämiseen. Nuoria, pitkäaikaistyöttömiä ja ikääntyneitä pyritään aktivoimaan olemaan itse aktiivisia. Erilaisia työvoimakoulutusjärjestelmiä on 2000-luvulla putkahdellut esiin eri puolella Suomea, erilaisella menestyksellä. Menestyvä yritys - työllistävä Satakunta-hankkeen tarkoituksena on järjestää yhteishankintakoulutuksia yritysten kanssa silloin, kun yrityksellä on tarvetta osaamisen kehittämiseen, rekrytointiin tai lomautusaikaiseen koulutukseen. Tutkimuksessa tuli esiin monipuolinen ja muuntautumiskykyinen koulutusmuoto, joka kerää lähes pelkästään positiivista palautetta käyttäjiltä. Sitä voidaan käyttää niin isommissa kuin pienemmissäkin yrityksissä, alasta riippumatta. Ongelmia ja parannettavan varaa tietysti on, mutta Satakunnan esimerkki osoittaa, että yhteishankintakoulutukset tulevat olemaan tärkeässä osassa Suomen painiessa lisääntyvien työllisyysongelmien kanssa.The goal of my thesis was to study and evaluate the staff training possibilities in the Satakunta region, especially within the programme of joint training and Menestyvä yritys - työllistävä Satakunta-project (Successful company - employing Satakunta), organized by the Employment and Economic Development Centre of Satakunta (TEcentre). Since the depression of the 90’s the unemployment rate of Satakunta has been higher than elsewhere in Finland. The increase started already in the 70s with the structural change in the industry and the situation remained miserable through the 80s. Not until the turn of the 21st century have authorities become aware of the actual state of the matter: unemployment is more than just numbers in the tables. It incurs personal problems and even wider issues in society, especially in the regions where unemployment has existed for a longer period. Regional employment issues should be addressed more efficiently with a stronger will and encourage people to change their line of work or move to regions where they could find a job they have a training to. As the unemployment in Finland as well as in Satakunta is mainly structural, the employment administration provides councelling mainly to people who are in the weakest position in the labour market. Young people, long-term unemployed and aged are encouraged to activate themselves. Various labour training programmes have been started in Finland in this century with varying success. The purpose of the successful company - employing Satakunta-project is to set up joint training programmes with companies when the company has a need to develop its know-how, to recruit new personnel or to train during temporary lay-offs. A versatile and adaptable training method was designed during the research. The comments from the people involved in the joint training programmes were mainly positive and the programme can be used in bigger and in smaller companies, regardless of their line of business. Certainly there are problems and lot to improve in the training programme, but the positive example of Satakunta shows that joint training programme will have a great part to play with Finland battling against the increasing employment issues

A Natural History of Erectile Dysfunction in Elderly Men : A Population-Based, Twelve-Year Prospective Study

There is a wide variation in the development and course of erectile dysfunction (ED) in men, which confirms the need for prospective studies. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis among the general male population at the baseline (n = 359) and in a follow-up survey (n = 218) 12 years later. The prospective 12-year study included 189 men. ED was assessed using the International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire. The mean age of the participants was 62.0 years at the baseline, while at the 12-year follow-up it was 71.6 years. The crude prevalence of ED was 61.6% at the baseline and 78.9% at the follow-up, and the prevalence tended to increase with age. All of the men aged 75 years or more had at least mild ED. The incidence of ED in every thousand person years was 53.5. A total of 54.5% of the men experienced ED progression, while 39.2% reported no changes in erectile function, and 6.3% experienced ED regression during the 12-year study. The likelihood of ED progression was higher in the older compared with younger age group (odds ratio, OR 5.2 (95% CI: 1.1–26.2)), and the likelihood of ED regression was lower among men with increased depression symptoms (OR 0.3 (95% CI: 0.1–0.6)) and among men with a decreased interest in their sexual life (OR 0.1 (95% CI: 0.0–0.6)). Lifestyle factors such as the consumption of alcohol and smoking were not significantly associated with ED.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Factors predicting 31-year survival among a population cohort in Northern Finland

Abstract We evaluated the survival of a subarctic population and the significance of traditional risk factors for mortality, causes of death and their seasonal variation from the period of 1984–2014. By the end of 2014 (follow-up), 644 (34.4% from 1,869) participants had died (42.1% of cardiovascular causes, 22.4% of neoplastic diseases). The average age at death±SD was 74.6±11.4 years for women (n=284) and 70.2±12.0 years for men (n=360). After adjusting for baseline age, the major risk factors predicting death were male sex (hazard ratio [HR] 1.80; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.54–2.10), current smoking (HR 1.85; 95% CI 1.58–2.17), obesity (HR 1.75; 95% CI 1.45–2.12), high blood pressure (HR 1.46; 95% CI 1.24–1.72), cardiovascular disease (HR 1.62; 95% CI 1.36–1.93) and depression (HR 1.61; 95% CI 1.21–2.14) at baseline. The most common causes of death and the main risk factors predicting death in this population were the same as reported globally. Lifestyle factors had an important impact in predicting survival. The most common causes of death were the same for men and women. There was no significant difference in overall mortality rate between winter and summer, but cerebrovascular and pulmonary causes of death were more common during winter