Experimental Evidence on Connections between Speech and Music : Possible Applications on Learning

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Laminitis-related lesions and lameness detection in dairy cattle in Finland

During the last few years of structural changes in agriculture, lameness has become to one of the most important farm issues in Finland. An estimated 90% of lameness is due to hoof problems. However, a national recording system for hoof diseases of cows did not exist in Finland prior to 2002, nor have analyses of risks been investigated. The co-operation project Healthy Hooves (HH) between The Finnish Hoof-trimmers' Association, Suomen Rehu and Vetman was established in 2001 to attempt to improve national hoof health. This research part followed the project and was concentrated on the most predominant hoof problems (haemorrhages, sole ulcer (SU) and white line disease (WLD)) in the HH pilot year 2002. The full HH study-dataset for 2003-2004 consisted of 74410 observations on 41087 cows from 1430 farms. In addition to specific lameness-related hoof lesions and their incidences/ prevalences, increasing interest has been directed towards the lameness detection itself. One aim of this study was to develop an automatic lameness detection system operating in a milking robot by force plates and compare it with lameness scoring (LS) and hoof-trimming data. In the final stage, a neural network model was established to detect/identify lame cows. In WLD and SU cases that produced lameness, acute phase proteins were investigated to determine whether an acute phase reaction (APR) was connected to these hoof lesions, and to evaluate the severity of these reactions. The HH project established a national recording system for hoof problems and identified the most important risk factors. According to the results, WLD and SU were important hoof diseases in Finland, which also might cause clear acute phase reaction in cows. The lactational risks of WLD and SU were strongly affected by the number of times a cow's hooves were trimmed during lactation. In addition, the most important risk factors for WLD (in LH herds) and SU were breed (higher risk in Holsteins compared to Ayrshire), farm type (higher risk in LH than in TS) and parity, but neither high levels of milk yield nor feeding type were found to be risk factors. Parity and breed were dependent on each others in TS-model in WLD and the largest cooperative action was seen with older Holstein cows. Hard flooring in cubicles, compared with mats, was clearly a risk factor for both diseases. In addition, a strong effect existed between other hoof lesions and WLD/SU. While carrying out the HH project, I concluded that the effect of feeding on laminitis- related lesions is probably overestimated in Finland. Laminitis-related lesions are multifactorial problems, with breed, parity (including growing heifers) and cow comfort having the greatest impact. However, when already a risk for laminitis exists, inappropriate feeding may further increase the risk.Sorkkakuume ja ontuvien lehmien havainnointi suomalaisissa karjoissa Terveet Sorkat yhteistyö-projektin avulla (yhteistyössä Suomen Rehu, Suomen sorkkahoitajien yhdistys ja Vetman) luotiin Suomeen 2002 kansallinen sorkkasairauksien rekisteröinti- ja tallennus-järjestelmä. Sen jälkeen tietopankki on siirtynyt Suomen Rehulta FABAlle, mutta tiedostoja käytetään edelleen nautojen jalkaterveyden parantamiseksi. Tässä väitöskirjassa vuoden 2003-2004 Terveet Sorkat aineiston 74410 merkintää (41087 lehmää 1430 tilalta) analysoitiin ja arvioitiin sorkkaterveyden riskien kartoittamiseksi. Pilottivuonna 2002 merkityksellisimmiksi sorkkasairauksiksi maatiloilla osoittautuivat vertymät anturassa, valkoviivan repeämä (WLD) ja anturahaavauma (SU), jotka ovat sorkkakuumeeseen liittyviä muutoksia ja joihin tutkimus keskitettiin. Sorkkasairauksien esiintyvyydet lypsykauden aikana ja mahdolliset riskitekijätarvioitiin monimuuttujamallien avulla. Ontumaa aiheuttavat WLD ja SU saivat elimistössä aikaan kokonaisvaltaisen tulehdusreaktion, mikä aiheutti seerumin akuutin faasin proteiinien pitoisuuksien nousun. Suomessa on ruokintaa yleisesti pidetty sorkkakuumeen ja sen seurauksien aiheuttajana. Nämä tutkimukset viittaavat kuitenkin siihen, että ruokinnan merkitystä Suomessa on yliarvioitu. Suurimman riskin lehmille aiheuttivat rotu (Holstein-lehmillä suurempi riski kuin Ayrshire-lehmillä), poikimakerta (kerran poikineet ja vanhat lehmät ovat suurimmassa riskiryhmässä), navettatyyppi (pihatoissa lehmät herkempiä; kylmäpihatossa lehmät pärjäsivät parhaiten) ja ympäristö (parsimatot ehkäisivät sairastumisriskiä). Kuitenkin, mikäli karjassa on lisääntynyt riski sairastua sorkkakuumeeseen jonkun muun syyn takia, epäsopiva ruokinta saattaa pahentaa tai laukaista tilanteen. Maitotuotoksella ei sen sijaan löydetty yhteyttä sairastuvuuteen. Sorkkahoitajien välillä löydettiin suurta vaihtelua. Lisäksi sorkkahoitokertojen määrä vaikutti voimakkaasti tuloksiin, mikä kannustaa kehittämään sorkkahoidon laatua. Kasvava kiinnostuksen aihe - sorkkakuumeen lisäksi- on ontuvien lehmien tunnistaminen. Kehitimme automaattista ontuvan lehmän tunnistamismenetelmää käyttämällä lypsyrobotin alle asennettuja painojakaumalevyjä ja vertasimme tuloksia kävelytyskokeisiin ja sorkkahoito-merkintöihin. Loppuvaiheessa neuroverkkomalli ontuvien lehmien tunnistamiseksi oli valmis. Painojakaumalevyt antoivat mahdollisuuden objektiiviseen ontumien havaitsemiseen ja ovat tulevaisuudessa mahdollisuus suurien karjojen ontumisen seuraamiseen. Niiden käytöstä voisi myös olla hyötyä eri hoitomenetelmien ja lääkkeiden tutkimuksessa ontumasairauksissa

Stabilization of sulphidic mine tailings with MgO activated blast furnace slag

The mining industry is the biggest producer of waste materials in the form of waste rock and tailings. Tailings ponds create potential ecological risks due to hazardous substances the tailings themselves and the toxic additives used in the metal processing phase include (1). For example, in China, tailings storage is rated to be 18/93 among the most dangerous environmental risk sources (2). Serious environmental accidents worldwide, increased public awareness and increasingly stringent environmental regulations have promoted research to develop new innovative approaches to mitigate the risks caused by tailings. The Pyhäsalmi mine in Finland is one of the largest massive sulphidic ore mines in the world. The tailings potentially generate acid, mostly due to oxidation of iron sulphides (58 %). The total area of the tailings ponds is 150 ha which has mainly been covered with conventional methods at the beginning of the millennium. The mine will be closed in the near future, and the principal aim of the tailings recovery plan is to decrease environmental risks in the long-term by restricting acid generation caused by water and oxygen ingress. Several tailings pond cover liner options are currently under consideration. This study compares tailings stabilization with two alternative binder materials; alkali activated blast furnace slag (AAC) and Portland cement (PC). Stabilization is a commonly used technology to prevent the leaching of hazardous substances into the natural environment. Stabilization encapsulates hazardous substances both chemically and physically. In the research, MgO-activated blast furnace slag was compared with PC as a stabilization binder using a dosage of 10 w%. According to the literature, MgO activated BFS binder has not been studied or used earlier in the stabilization of tailings while PC is the most commonly used stabilization binder. However, the long-term durability of PC, especially in highly sulphidic environments, is questionable due to its vulnerability to sulphate attack and ecological impacts. These vulnerabilities are significant due to the need for high binder amounts and consequently required investments. In addition, commonly used liquid alkali activators, for example sodium and potassium hydroxides and silicates, have safety, cost and ecological issues. In this research, by-product based MgO was used as an activator in BFS instead of liquid alkali activators. The laboratory studies tested hydraulic conductivity, compression strength, oxygen diffusion, leaching, freeze-thaw resistance and water resistance, in addition to chemical, mineralogical, microscopic and thermal analysis. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method was used to compare environmental impacts of the used binder materials. A stabilized tailings layer with a thickness of 300 mm was constructed as a part of the advanced hardpan cover pilot structure of 100 m2 in the tailings pond area. According to the tests, the hydraulic conductivity (6.08E-09 m/s) and compressive strength (11.5 MPa/28 days) of AAC were better than when using the corresponding amount of PC (2.04E-08 m/s and 10.3 MPa/28 days) indicating better immobilization efficiency and thus improved technical performance, in addition to competitive costs. LCA shows clear ecological benefits when using AAC instead of PC: a 35 % lower amount of generated greenhouse gas emissions due to the use of waste based binders. In addition, using the stabilization method in tailings storage reduces the need for natural moraine in the cover structure. The video script illustrates the use of AAC binder in the pilot structure. References (1) Manjunatha L.S. & Sunil B.M. (2013) Stabillization/solidification of iron ore mine tailings using cement, lime and fly ash, International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology, Vol.02,12:625-636 Xie X., Tian W., Wang Y., Zhan G.X. (2009) The safety analysis of current situation and management countermeasure on tailing reservoir in China. Journal of Safety Science and Technology, 5(2): 5−9

Lypsylehmien sorkkasairauksien perinnölliset tunnusluvut

Sorkkasairaudet  heikentävät  lypsylehmien  hyvinvointia.  Vakavat  sorkkaviat  johtavat  usein  lehmän ennenaikaiseen poistamiseen ja aiheuttavat taloudellisia tappioita lypsykarjatiloilla. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli määrittää eri sorkkasairauksien periytymisasteen arvioita sekä tutkia muita sorkkasairauksiin vaikuttavia tekijöitä.Tutkimusaineistona  käytettiin  Terveet  SorkatTM ­-ohjelman  havaintoja  lypsylehmien  sorkkatervey­destä. Terveet Sorkat ­ohjelma on Suomen Sorkkahoitajien Yhdistyksen, Suomen Rehun ja Vetman Oy:n valtakunnallinen ohjelma. Aineistossa on arvioitu joko-­tai-­ eli 0/1 ­-asteikolla seuraavat sorkka­sairaudet: vertymiä anturassa, krooninen sorkkakuume, valkoviivan repeämä, anturahaavauma, sork­kavälin ihotulehdus, kantasyöpymä, sorkka­alueen ihotulehdus, sorkkakiertymä ja muu sorkkasairaus. Muihin sorkkasairauksiin luokitellaan esimerkiksi vierasesineet, sorkkaluun murtumat ja muut viat, joille ei ole erillistä koodia. Sairaudet olivat 43 sorkkahoitajan arvioimia. Lopullisessa aineistossa oli 74 410 havaintoa 41 087 lypsylehmältä ja hieholta. Lopullisen aineiston eläimet olivat 1 462 tilalta. Roduittain aineisto jakaantui seuraavasti: ayrshire 29 159, holstein­friisiläinen 11 637 ja suomenkarja 291 yksilöä. Aineiston eläimet olivat syntyneet vuosina 1987–2004. Aineiston eläimet olivat 2 381 sonnin jälkeläisiä. Aineiston esikäsittelyyn, alustaviin tilastollisiin analyyseihin ja kiinteiden tekijöiden merkitsevyy­den testaamiseen F -­testillä käytettiin WSYS­-ohjelmistoa. Lisäksi kiinteiden tekijöiden tilastollista merkitsevyyttä testattiin logit­mallilla SAS­-ohjelmistolla. Sorkkasairauksien periytymisasteiden arvi­ointiin tarvittavat varianssikomponentit laskettiin Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) -­menetelmällä käyttäen VCE4­-ohjelmistoa. Eläimistä 54,2 prosenttia oli terveitä eli yksi tai useampi sorkkasairaus oli 45,8 prosentilla eläimistä. Vertymiä anturassa oli 28,2, kroonista sorkkakuumetta 1,7, valkoviivan repeämää 10,6, anturahaa­vaumaa 3,5, sorkkavälin ihotulehdusta 0,9, kantasyöpymää 8,1, sorkka-­alueen ihotulehdusta 0,2, sork­kakiertymää 9,2 ja muita sorkkasairauksia 0,8 prosentilla havainnoista.Suomenkarjan sorkkaterveys  oli  muita rotuja parempi,  mutta suomenkarjan eläimiä oli tutkimuk­sessa vain vähän. Ayrshire­ -rotuisten eläinten sorkkaterveys oli sorkkakiertymää lukuun ottamatta hol­stein-­friisiläis ­-rotuisia eläimiä parempi. Navettatyyppi oli tilastollisesti erittäin merkitsevä selittäjä jokaisen sorkkasairauden kohdalla. Erot navettatyyppien välillä olivat selkeitä ja kaikkia sorkkasaira­uksia esiintyi vähiten parsinavetoissa. Kova, kuivittamaton makuualusta lisäsi sorkkasairausriskiä. Poikimakerran ja vuodenajan vaikutus oli erilainen eri sorkkasairauksiin. Sorkkasairauksia esiintyi yleisesti ottaen enemmän alkulypsykau­della (60–180 päivää poikimisesta) ja korkeatuottoisimmilla eläimillä, mutta näin ei ollut kaikkien sorkkasairauksien kohdalla. Kaikille sorkkasairauksille saadut periytymisasteiden arviot olivat alhaisia. Alhaisin periytymisas­teen arvio saatiin kantasyöpymälle (0,02), joka on tartunnallinen sorkkasairaus ja korkein periyty­misasteen arvio saatiin sorkkasairauksille yhtenä ominaisuutena (0,06–0,07).Tutkimuksen  perusteella  perimän  osuus  0/1­ -asteikolla  arvioituihin  sorkkasairauksiin  ei  ole  kovin suuri. Sorkkasairauksien ennaltaehkäisyssä tulisi kiinnittää erityistä huomiota navetan olosuhteisiin, säännölliseen sorkkahoitoon ja oikeaan ruokintaan

Applying and Extending the FITT Framework to Identify the Challenges and Opportunities of Successful eHealth Services for Patient Self-Management : Qualitative Interview Study

Background: The number of public eHealth services that support patient self-management is rapidly increasing. However, the implementation of these eHealth services for self-management has encountered challenges. Objective: The purpose of this paper was to analyze the challenges and opportunities of implementing eHealth services for self-management by focusing on the fit between the technical solution and clinical use. Methods: We performed in-depth interviews with 10 clinical project coordinators and managers who were responsible for developing and implementing various eHealth services for self-management interventions in five university hospitals in Finland The results were analyzed using content analysis and open coding. The Fit between Individuals, Task, and Technology (FITT) framework was used to interpret the findings. Results: The implementation of self-management services involved many challenges related to technical problems, health professional acceptance, patient motivation, and health organization and management. The implementers identified practices to manage the identified challenges, including improving the design of the technology, supporting health professionals in the adoption of the eHealth services, changing the work processes and tasks, involving patients, and collectively planning the implementation inside an organization. The findings could be mostly attributed to the dimensions of the FITT framework. Conclusions: The FITT framework helped to analyze the challenges related to the implementation, and most of them were related to poor fit. The importance of patients as stakeholders in eHealth services for patient self-management needs to be highlighted. Thus, we propose that patients should be added as a different type of individual dimension to the FITT framework. In addition, the framework could be extended to include organization and management in a new context dimension.Peer reviewe

Comparison of ozonated water and acidified copper sulphate in prevention of digital dermatitis in dairy cows

Digital dermatitis (DD) is the most significant infectious hoof disorder of cattle in Europe. Hoof baths are one of the most common control methods. Copper sulphate and formalin are commonly used in hoof baths, but their use is problematic in many European countries for health, environmental and safety reasons. Ozonated water and acidified copper sulphate were tested as prevention of DD in a 5-month study. Data were derived from 302 hind feet of Holstein and Estonian Red cows (no. of cows = 151) from a commercial dairy farm in Estonia. Altogether 168 hind feet were included in the acidified copper sulphate group and 134 feet in the ozonated water group. Hoof bathing was carried out three days a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) for two months and then two days a week (Mon, Wed) for three and a half months, in both groups. Ozonated water was sprayed on to the digital skin of hind feet of cows twice a day on treatment days, while the cows were eating. The copper sulphate bath consisted of copper sulphate (2%) mixed with an organic acid compound to acidify and ionize the solution. Cows walked through acidified copper sulphate solution twice a day on treatment days as they were exiting the milking parlor. DD negative and DD positive test results in both groups were compared and statistically tested for differences. The copper sulphate solution was more effective than ozonated water at preventing acute DD lesions. A random maximum likelihood model demonstrated that the odds ratio for DD in the ozonated water group was six times higher compared with DD in the acidified copper sulphate group. Most of the cows that were initially without any DD lesions (M0 + no other severe hoof lesion), remained lesion-free in both groups (copper sulphate group 97% and ozonated water group 88%). Despite trial design deficiencies, the findings indicate that acidified copper sulphate was a more effective solution in preventing DD than ozonated water.Peer reviewe

Developmental links between speech perception in noise, singing, and cortical processing of music in children with cochlear implants

THE PERCEPTION OF SPEECH IN NOISE IS challenging for children with cochlear implants (CIs). Singing and musical instrument playing have been associated with improved auditory skills in normal-hearing (NH) children. Therefore, we assessed how children with CIs who sing informally develop in the perception of speech in noise compared to those who do not. We also sought evidence of links of speech perception in noise with MMN and P3a brain responses to musical sounds and studied effects of age and changes over a 14-17 month time period in the speech-in-noise performance of children with CIs. Compared to the NH group, the entire CI group was less tolerant of noise in speech perception, but both groups improved similarly. The CI singing group showed better speech-in-noise perception than the CI non-singing group. The perception of speech in noise in children with CIs was associated with the amplitude of MMN to a change of sound from piano to cymbal, and in the CI singing group only, with earlier P3a for changes in timbre. While our results cannot address causality, they suggest that singing and musical instrument playing may have a potential to enhance the perception of speech in noise in children with CIs.Peer reviewe

Modification of Alkali Activated Blast Furnace Slag for Pothole Repairs

Potholes denote small, typically sharp edged holes in the pavement. The aim of this research was to study the usability of alkali activated (AA) blast furnace slag based material in the repair of paved roads, especially during the cold winter and spring seasons when such repairs are needed most and the use of hot asphalt is not possible. The objective was to a find material which is both more cost-efficient and durable than plain cold asphalt. Properties like rapid strength development, good bonding with old paving material, weather resistance, abrasion resistance, and low shrinkage were required. The influence of the chosen factors on the performance of the material was studied applying the multi-attribute optimization method. The impact of different additives, such as Portland cement, fibers and crushed tire rubber were studied. The results indicated that the AA slag based materials studied can be improved by suitable additives to make them reach desired performance. According to the tests, adding Portland cement increased compressive strength threefold after 3 hours and reduced shrinkage by 34% but should be a negative impact on higher levels related to freeze-thaw resistance. In addition, crushed rubber was indicated to have a positive impact related to all the studied performance properties

MISMATCH NEGATIVITY (MMN) -VASTE PUHEEN HAVAITSEMISEN HEIJASTAJANA

Selvitettäessä äidinkielen ja vieraiden kielten äänteiden havaitsemistaaivojen herätevasteisiin kuuluva mismatch negativity (MMN) on osoittautunuterinomaiseksi menetelmäksi behavioraalisten tutkimustulosten täydentäjänä.MMN-vaste syntyy mille tahansa havaittavissaolevalle muutokselle muutenhomogeenisessa ääniympäristössä. Se syntyy myös silloin, kun ääniärsykkeitäei tarkkailla, joten sillä voidaan tutkia jopa vauvojen kuulohavaintoa. MMNheijastaa paitsi äänten fysikaalisten erojen erottelukykyä, myös kielispesifejämuistijälkiä, jotka yleensä painottuvat aivojen vasempaan puoliskoon. MMN:lIä pystytään myös selvittämään vieraan kielen oppimisen vaikutuksia aivojenäänne-edustumiin. Erityisen hyödyllinen tämä aivojen reaktio on tutkittaessalapsen kielen kehitystä. Sen avulla on mm. osoitettu, että äidinkielelle tyypillisetvokaalikategoriat alkavat muodostua vauvoilla 6-12 kuukauden iässä.Avainsanat: puheäänteiden havaitseminen, kielen oppiminen, aivojenherätevasteet, mismatch negativity (MMN) -vasteThe mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the auditory event related potential(ERP) has proven to be very useful in investigating the perception of the speech soundsof the mother tongue and foreign languages. It is elicited by any discriminable changeoccurring in a homogeneous sound environment even when the subjeet is not attendingto the sounds. Therefore, it can be used for studying speech perception even in individualswith whom behavioural measurements are problematic. The MMN reflectsboth the discrimination of physical sound features and the presence of language-specificspeech-sound traces of the left cerebral hemisphere. Recently it has also been used to determinethe effects offoreign-language learning on the cortical speech-sound representations.Being an attention-independent response, the MMN is particularly useful for investigatingthe early development ofspeech perception. It has been shown, for example,that language-specific speech-sound traces develop between 6-12 months after birth.Keywords: speech perception, language learning, event-related brain potentials, mismatchnegativity (MMN

Learning-induced neural plasticity of speech processing before birth

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