Sample preparation and EFTEM of meat samples for nanoparticle analysis in food

Nanoparticles are used in industry for personal care products and the preparation of food. In the latter application, their functions include the prevention of microbes' growth, increase of the foods nutritional value and sensory quality. EU regulations require a risk assessment of the nanoparticles used in foods and food contact materials before the products can reach the market. However, availability of validated analytical methodologies for detection and characterisation of the nanoparticles in food hampers appropriate risk assessment. As part of a research on the evaluation of the methods for screening and quantification of Ag nanoparticles in meat we have tested a new TEM sample preparation alternative to resin embedding and cryo-sectioning. Energy filtered TEM analysis was applied to evaluate thickness and the uniformity of thin meat layers acquired at increasing input of the sample demonstrating that the protocols used ensured good stability under the electron beam, reliable sample concentration and reproducibility

Improving service scalability in IoT platform business

Abstract. This thesis aims to improve the scalability of several case companies’ business which offer their services through their own IoT platforms. The case companies are still in the early stages of their lifecycle, and their aim is to grow their businesses significantly in the future. Thus, enabling high scalability in service production is important for them. A literature review was conducted to find the most critical factors that affect scalability of services that are provided through an IoT platform. Interviews with open-ended questions were used to determine the current state of the case companies regarding the factors that were presented by the literature review. Based on the literature review and the current state analysis, two productization models were created including commercial and technical portfolios. Resource drivers were also included in the models. The created productization models for IoT service offerings are suggested to ease sales item management and to clarify the service offerings for both the provider and the buyer. Further, linking the resource drivers to the processes needed to offer the services illustrates the needed resources in different service production processes. The presented productized service models are one step that the case companies can take to improve their service scalability, but the models are not a solution to all scalability problems. However, similar models could be used in other companies that provide their service offerings through an IoT platform to improve their service scalability as well.Palvelutuotannon skaalautuvuuden parantaminen alustan kautta toimivissa yrityksissä. Tiivistelmä. Tämän opinnäytetyön tavoitteena on parantaa alustatalouden kautta palveluitaan tarjoavien case yritysten skaalautuvuutta. Case-yritykset ovat vielä elinkaarensa alkuvaiheessa ja niiden tavoitteena on kasvattaa liiketoimintaa merkittävästi tulevaisuudessa. Tämän johdosta korkean skaalautuvuuden mahdollistaminen yrityksien palvelutuotannossa on tärkeää. Kirjallisuuskatsauksessa pyritään löytämään merkittävimmät tekijät, jotka vaikuttavat skaalautuvuuteen alustatalouden kautta tehtävässä palveluntarjonnassa. Case yritysten nykytila analysoidaan avoimin kysymyksin suoritettavilla haastatteluilla, joilla pyritään selvittämään tekijät, joissa case yrityksillä olisi parantamisen varaa. Kirjallisuuskatsauksen ja yritysten nykytila-analyysin pohjalta luodaan kaksi tuotteistusmallia, joissa kaupallinen ja tekninen tuoteportfolio on eroteltu toisistaan, lisäksi resurssiajurit on kuvattu mukaan malleihin. Tuotteistusmalli helpottaa eri tuotenimikkeiden hallintaa ja lisää palvelun selkeyttä niin myyjän kuin ostajankin puolella, lisäksi resurssiajureiden ottaminen mukaan malliin havainnollistaa tarjoajayritykselle sen tarvitsemia resursseja eri palveluprosessin vaiheissa. Työn loppupäätelmänä luodut tuotteistusmallit toimivat yksinä toimenpiteinä, joidenka voidaan nähdä parantavan case-yrityksien skaalautuvuutta, mutta ne eivät ole ratkaisu kaikkiin skaalautuvuuden ongelmiin. Samankaltaisia malleja voitaisiin kuitenkin hyödyntää muissakin yrityksissä, jotka tarjoavat palveluitaan alustatalouden kautta toimialasta riippumatta

Unit testing methods for Internet of Things Mbed OS operating system

Abstract. Embedded operating systems for Internet of Things are responsible for managing hardware and software in these systems. From the vast number of IoT operating system projects available, some projects are backed by large companies or institutes and some are developed completely by the open source community. IoT operating system testing focuses on the key features of IoT such as networking and limited resources. In this thesis, problems in Mbed OS operating system testing methods are identified and a unit testing solution is implemented. The implemented unit testing framework allows developers to write and run unit tests. The framework is also integrated into Mbed OS continuous integration to increase test coverage. This thesis shows how functional testing and unit testing are the most common types of testing in open source embedded operating system projects. Mbed OS unit testing framework results shows how running tests on PC platforms is faster than running tests on IoT devices. This framework also enables developers to write unit tests more freely and improve Mbed OS development process. The implemented unit testing framework solved issues in Mbed OS testing but more in depth research is needed to improve testing methods further.Yksikkötestausmenetelmät esineiden internet Mbed OS käyttöjärjestelmälle. Tiivistelmä. Esineiden internettiin tarkoitetut sulautetut käyttöjärjestelmät ovat tarvittavia laitteiston ja sovellusten hallintaan IoT järjestelmissä. Saatavilla olevien IoT käyttöjärjestelmien joukosta osa on suurten yritysten tai instituutioiden tukemia, ja osa on täysin vapaan lähdekoodin yhteisön kehittämiä. IoT käyttöjärjestelmän testaus keskittyy esineiden internetin avainominaisuuksiin kuten verkkotietoliikenteeseen ja rajallisiin resursseihin. Työssä tunnistetaan Mbed OS käyttöjärjestelmän testausmenetelmien ongelmia ja kehitetään yksikkötestaustyökalu. Kehitetty yksikkötestausympäristö mahdollistaa kehittäjille yksikkötestien kirjoittamisen ja ajamisen. Testaustyökalu yhdistetään myös Mbed OS jatkuvan integraation prosessiin testauskattavuuden parantamiseksi. Työssä katsotaan kuinka funktionaaliset testit ja yksikkötestit ovat yleisimmät testityypit avoimen lähdekoodin sulautetuissa käyttöjärjestelmäprojekteissa. Mbed OS yksikkötestaustyökalu näyttää kuinka testien ajaminen PC ympäristössä on nopeampaa kuin IoT laitteissa. Tämä työkalu myös mahdollistaa kehittäjien kirjoittaa yksikkötestejä vapaammin ja siten parantaa kehitysprosessia. Kehitetty yksikkötestaustyökalu ratkaisi Mbed OS testauksen ongelmia, mutta syventävää tutkimusta tarvitaan enemmän testausmenetelmien parantamiseksi edelleen

Scheduling the installation of the LHC injection lines

The installation of the two Large Hadron Collider (LHC) injection lines has to fit within tight milestones of the LHC project and of CERN's accelerator activity in general. For instance, the transfer line from the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) to LHC point 8 (to fill the anti-clockwise LHC ring) should be tested with beam before the end of 2004 since the SPS will not run in 2005. It will first serve during the LHC sector test in 2006. Time constraints are also very strong on the installation of the transfer line from the SPS to LHC point 2 (for the clockwise LHC ring): its tunnel is the sole access for the LHC cryo-magnets and a large part of the beam line can only be installed once practically all LHC cryo-magnets are in place. Of course, the line must be operational when the LHC starts. This paper presents the various constraints and how they are taken into account for the logistics and installation planning of the LHC injection lines

Use of independent component analysis for head movement artifact detection in EEG

Resumen. EEG data is often contaminated with artifacts and noise from various sources, such as eye blinks, jaw movement and AC outlets. VR opens up many new interesting opportunities for EEG research. However, VR usually involves head movement, which can also cause notable artifacts in EEG data. We need an effective method to remove the head movement related artifacts, so that VR can be effectively used in EEG experiments. In this study, we apply independent component analysis (ICA) for removing head movement artifacts from EEG data. We constructed an experiment where a subject is placed into a VR environment that incentivizes them to move their head. At the same time, the subject is performing a conventional auditory oddball experiment, which is known to cause an ERP containing a measurable P300 component. We attempt to remove head movement related artifacts from the data without removing ERP components of interest, such as the P300, as a side effect. Our data processing pipeline was implemented using Matlab with the EEGLAB and ERPLAB toolboxes, along with AMICA as our chosen ICA implementation. We explain the design and implementation of both the experiment and the following data processing. We then discuss the results and how they could help future research. We were able to distinguish head movement related components with ICA, but the impact of their removal ended up being fairly limited. We also found out that the head movements seem to have an effect on the shape and amplitude of the P300 component.Independent component analysis -menetelmän käyttö pään liikkeistä aiheutuvien häiriöiden havaitsemiseen EEG:ssä. Tiivistelmä. EEG-data sisältää tyyppillisesti useista eri lähteistä peräisin olevia häiriöitä. Näitä lähteitä voivat olla esimerkiksi silmänräpäytykset, leuan liikkeet sekä koetilassa olevat vaihtovirtaa kuljettavat sähköjohdot ja pistorasiat. VR avaa uusia mielenkiintoisia mahdollisuuksia EEG-tutkimuksia varten, mutta VR-ympäristöissä koehenkilö tyypillisesti liikuttelee päätään, mikä voi aiheuttaa merkittäviä häiriöitä EEG-dataan. Tämän takia tarvitaan menetelmä poistamaan pään liikkeistä aiheutuvia häiriöitä, jotta VR:n käyttö voi yleistyä EEG-tutkimuksissa. Tässä tutkimuksessa pyrimme käyttämään ICA-menetelmää pään liikkeistä aiheutuvien häiriöiden poistamiseksi. Rakensimme koeasetelman, jossa koehenkilö asetetaan VR-ympäristöön, joka kannustaa häntä liikuttamaan päätään. Samaan aikaan koehenkilö suorittaa tavanomaista "oddball-koetta", jonka tiedetään aiheuttavan P300-komponentin sisältävän ERP:n. Pyrimme poistamaan pään liikkeistä aiheutuvat häiriöt ilman että poistamme samalla kertaa mahdollisesti kiinnostavia komponentteja, kuten P300:n. Data-analyysin toteuttamiseen käytimme Matlab-ohjelmistoa yhdessä EEGLAB- ja ERPLAB-lisäosien kanssa. Käyttämämme ICA-algoritmi oli AMICA. Kerromme sekä koeasetelman että sitä seuranneen data-analyysivaiheen suunnittelusta ja toteutuksesta. Lisäksi käymme läpi tutkimuksen tulokset ja pohdimme miten ne voivat auttaa tutkimustyötä tulevaisuudessa. Onnistuimme erottelemaan pään liikkeisiin liittyviä komponentteja ICA-menetelmän avulla, mutta niiden poistamisella oli hieman odotettua pienempi vaikutus. Havaitsimme myös, että pään liikkeillä näyttää olevan jonkinlaista vaikutusta P300-komponentin muotoon ja amplitudiin

Relationship between social support, quality of life, and Th2 cytokines in a biobehavioral cancer survivorship trial.

ObjectiveBenefits of social support (SS) during cancer survivorship are complex. This study examines change in SS over time in cervical cancer (CXCA) survivors who have completed definitive treatment and how changing SS impacts quality of life (QOL) and T-helper type 2 (Th2) cytokines.MethodsWe conducted a randomized trial in 204 CXCA survivors to test if psychosocial telephone counseling (PTC) could improve QOL compared to usual care (UC). Although PTC did not target SS, data were collected at baseline, 4 and 9 months post-enrollment using the Medical Outcomes Survey Social Support scale. Biospecimens were collected to investigate associations with patient-reported outcomes. Data were analyzed using multivariate linear models and stepwise regression.ResultsParticipants' mean age was 43. PTC participants experienced increasing SS compared to UC at 4 months (PTC-UC = 5.1; p = 0.055) and 9 months (PTC-UC = 6.0; p = 0.046). Higher baseline SS and increasing SS were independently associated with improved QOL at 4 and 9 months after adjusting for patient characteristics (p < 0.05). Differences between study arms were not statistically significant. Improvements in QOL at 4 months were observed with increases in emotional/informational and tangible SS. Increasing SS predicted significant longitudinal decreases in IL-4 and IL-13 at 4 months that were larger in the PTC arm (interactions p = 0.041 and p = 0.057, respectively).ConclusionImproved SS was significantly associated with improved QOL independent of patient characteristics and study arm. Decreasing Th2 cytokines with increasing SS and QOL are consistent with a biobehavioral paradigm in which modulation of the chronic stress response is associated with shifts in immune stance

A New Method for ISOCAM Data Reduction - I. Application to the European Large Area ISO Survey Southern Field: Method and Results

We have developed a new data reduction technique for ISOCAM LW data and have applied it to the European Large Area ISO Survey (ELAIS) LW3 (15 micron) observations in the southern hemisphere (S1). This method, known as LARI technique and based on the assumption of the existence of two different time scales in ISOCAM transients (accounting either for fast or slow detector response), was particularly designed for the detection of faint sources. In the ELAIS S1 field we obtained a catalogue of 462 15 micron sources with signal-to-noise ratio >= 5 and flux densities in the range 0.45 - 150 mJy (filling the whole flux range between the Deep ISOCAM Surveys and the IRAS Faint Source Survey). The completeness at different flux levels and the photometric accuracy of this catalogue have been tested with simulations. Here we present a detailed description of the method and discuss the results obtained by its application to the S1 LW3 data.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, MNRAS style, 20 postscript figures, full catalogue not yet available at http://boas5.bo.astro.it/~elais/catalogues/. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Towards characterizing LNAPL remediation endpoints

Remediating sites contaminated with light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs) is a demanding and often prolonged task. It is vital to determine when it is appropriate to cease engineered remedial efforts based on the long-term effectiveness of remediation technology options. For the first time, the long term effectiveness of a range of LNAPL remediation approaches including skimming and vacuum-enhanced skimming each with and without water table drawdown was simulated through a multi-phase and multi-component approach. LNAPL components of gasoline were simulated to show how component changes affect the LNAPL\u27s multi-phase behaviour and to inform the risk profile of the LNAPL. The four remediation approaches along with five types of soils, two states of the LNAPL specific mass and finite and infinite LNAPL plumes resulted in 80 simulation scenarios. Effective conservative mass removal endpoints for all the simulations were determined. As a key driver of risk, the persistence and mass removal of benzene was investigated across the scenarios. The time to effectively achieve a technology endpoint varied from 2 to 6 years. The recovered LNAPL in the liquid phase varied from 5% to 53% of the initial mass. The recovered LNAPL mass as extracted vapour was also quantified. Additional mass loss through induced biodegradation was not determined. Across numerous field conditions and release incidents, graphical outcomes provide conservative (i.e. more prolonged or greater mass recovery potential) LNAPL remediation endpoints for use in discussing the halting or continuance of engineered remedial efforts

Towards a digital twin for characterising natural source zone depletion: A feasibility study based on the Bemidji site

Natural source zone depletion (NSZD) of light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs) may be a valid long-term management option at petroleum impacted sites. However, its future long-term reliability needs to be established. NSZD includes partitioning, biotic and abiotic degradation of LNAPL components plus multiphase fluid dynamics in the subsurface. Over time, LNAPL components are depleted and those partitioning to various phases change, as do those available for biodegradation. To accommodate these processes and predict trends and NSZD over decades to centuries, for the first time, we incorporated a multi-phase multi-component multi-microbe non-isothermal approach to representatively simulate NSZD at field scale. To validate the approach we successfully mimic data from the LNAPL release at the Bemidji site. We simulate the entire depth of saturated and unsaturated zones over the 27 years of post-release measurements. The study progresses the idea of creating a generic digital twin of NSZD processes and future trends. Outcomes show the feasibility and affordability of such detailed computational approaches to improve decision-making for site management and restoration strategies. The study provided a basis to progress a computational digital twin for complex subsurface systems

The obscured X-ray source population in the HELLAS2XMM survey: the Spitzer view

Recent X-ray surveys have provided a large number of high-luminosity, obscured Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), the so-called Type 2 quasars. Despite the large amount of multi-wavelength supporting data, the main parameters related to the black holes harbored in such AGN are still poorly known. Here we present the results obtained for a sample of eight Type 2 quasars in the redshift range 0.9-2.1 selected from the HELLAS2XMM survey, for which we used Ks-band, Spitzer IRAC and MIPS data at 24 micron to estimate bolometric corrections, black hole masses, and Eddington ratios.Comment: 6 pages, to appear in "The Multicoloured Landscape of Compact Objects and their Explosive Progenitors: Theory vs Observations" (Cefalu, Sicily, June 2006). Eds. L. Burderi et al. (New York: AIP