May the Diversity of Epiphytic Lichens Be Used in Environmental Forensics?

Epiphytic (tree inhabiting) lichens, well-known biomonitors of atmospheric pollution, have a great potential for being used in environmental forensics. Monitoring changes in biodiversity is a useful method for evaluating the quality of an ecosystem. Lichen species occurring within an area show measurable responses to environmental changes, and lichen biodiversity counts can be taken as reliable estimates of environmental quality, with high values corresponding to unpolluted or low polluted conditions and low values to polluted ones. Lichen diversity studies may be very useful in the framework of environmental forensics, since they may highlight the biological effects of pollutants and constitute the base for epidemiological studies. It is thus of paramount importance that great care is taken in the interpretation of the results, especially in the context of a rapidly changing environment and facing global change scenarios. For this reason, it seems advisable to produce several zonal maps, each based on different species groups, and each interpreted in a different way. This exercise could also be a valid support in the framework of a sensitivity analysis, to support or reject the primary results. In addition, a clear and formal expression of the overall uncertainty of the outputs is absolutely necessary

High-order incompressible computational fluid dynamics on modern hardware architectures

In this thesis, a high-order incompressible Navier-Stokes solver is developed in the Python-based PyFR framework. The solver is based on the artificial compressibility formulation with a Flux Reconstruction (FR) discretisation in space and explicit dual time stepping in time. In order to reduce time to solution, explicit convergence acceleration techniques are developed and implemented. These techniques include polynomial multigrid, a novel locally adaptive pseudo-time stepping approach and novel stability-optimised Runge-Kutta schemes. Choices regarding the numerical methods and implementation are motivated as follows. Firstly, high-order FR is selected as the spatial discretisation due to its low dissipation and ability to work with unstructured meshes of complex geometries. Be- ing discontinuous, it also allows the majority of computation to be performed locally. Secondly, convergence acceleration techniques are restricted to explicit methods in order to retain the spatial locality provided by FR, which allows efficient harnessing of the massively parallel compute capability of modern hardware. Thirdly, the solver is implemented in the PyFR framework with cross-platform support such that it can run on modern heterogeneous systems via an MPI + X model, with X being CUDA, OpenCL or OpenMP. As such, it is well-placed to remain relevant in an era of rapidly evolving hardware architectures. The new software constitutes the first high-order accurate cross-platform imple- mentation of an incompressible Navier-Stokes solver via artificial compressibility. The solver and the convergence acceleration techniques are validated for a range of turbu- lent test cases. Furthermore, performance of the convergence acceleration techniques is assessed with a 2D cylinder test case, showing speed-up factors of over 20 relative to global RK4 pseudo-time stepping when all of the technologies are combined. Fi- nally, a simulation of the DARPA SUBOFF submarine model is undertaken using the solver and all convergence acceleration techniques. Excellent agreement with previ- ous studies is obtained, demonstrating that the technology can be used to conduct high-fidelity implicit Large Eddy Simulation of industrially relevant problems at scale using hundreds of GPUs.Open Acces

Nuorten äitien kokemuksia hoitohenkilökunnan kohtaamisista raskausaikana

Terveydenhuollon palvelut ovat jokaisen raskaana olevan elämässä merkityksellisiä. Nuori ja raskaus yhdistelmänä on jokaisen kohdalla erilainen. Kohtaamis- ja vuorovaikutustilanteiden avulla saadaan selville nuorten äitien tarpeet ja toiveet. Nuorten raskaana olevien kokemuksia hoitohenkilökunnan kohtaamisista on kuitenkin tutkittu vain vähän. Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli selvittää nuorten äitien kokemuksia kohtaamis- ja vuorovaikutustilanteista hoitohenkilökunnan kanssa raskauden aikana. Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli löytää keinoja nuorten äitien kohtaamis- ja vuorovaikutustilanteiden kehittämiseksi raskauden aikana sekä tuoda ne hoitohenkilökunnan tietoisuuteen. Opinnäytetyössä nuorella äidillä tarkoitetaan alle 21-vuotiaana synnyttänyttä naista. Opinnäytetyö toteutettiin laadullisena tutkimuksena. Aineisto kerättiin kirjallisen kyselyn avulla Helsingin Tyttöjen Talon sekä Jyvälän Setlementti Ry nuoret äidit toiminnan kautta. Lisäksi vastauksia kyselyyn kerättiin myös Länsi- ja Itä-Suomesta muutamilta yksittäisiltä henkilöiltä. Vastauksia kyselyyn saatiin yhteensä neljätoista. Aineiston analysoinnissa käytettiin menetelmänä sisällönanalyysiä. Tuloksista kävi ilmi, että nuoret äidit kokivat kohtaamis- ja vuorovaikutustilanteet hoitohenkilökunnan kanssa vaihtelevina, myönteisinä ja kielteisinä. Noin puolella vastaajista oli myönteisiä kokemuksia ja noin puolella kielteisiä kokemuksia kohtaamis- ja vuorovaikutustilanteista. Tutkimustuloksista kävi ilmi, että nuoret äidit toivoisivat tasa-arvoista, ennakkoluulotonta ja kokonaisvaltaista kohtaamista hoitohenkilökunnalta. Nuoret äidit toivoisivat myös tiivistä suhdetta vain yhteen hoitajaan. Tutkimustulosten mukaan osalla nuorista äideistä ei ollut erityistoiveita kohtaamistilanteisiin.Health care services are meaningful in every pregnant woman’s life. The combination of young age and pregnancy is different with every individual. The needs and hopes of young mothers can only be found in encounter and interaction situations. There is still only a little research about young pregnant women’s experiences of encounters with the nursing staff. The purpose of this thesis was to examine young mothers’ experiences of encountering and interacting with the nursing staff during pregnancy. The aim of the thesis was to find ways to develop those situations and bring those ways to nursing personnel’s attention. In this thesis the concept of “a young mother” meant women who had given birth under the age of 21. This thesis was carried out as qualitative research. The data was collected by using a written questionnaire. The respondents came from Helsingin Tyttöjen Talo and Jyvälän Setlementti Ry. A few answers were also collected from individuals living in Western and Eastern Finland. A total of fourteen answers to the questionnaire were received. The data was analysed by using content analysis. According to the results, the young mothers experienced the encounter and interaction situations in three different ways, namely, as varied, positive or negative. About half of the respondents had had positive experiences, and the other half of the respondents had had negative experiences related to the encounters and interaction situations with the nursing staff. The results also revealed that the young mothers hoped for more equal, open-minded and comprehensive encounters from the nursing staff. They also hoped for a close relationship to only one nurse. Some of the respondents did not have any specific wishes related to the encounters

Vaikeavammaisten kuljetuspalvelut yhdenvertaisuuden toteuttajina

Tämän tutkielman aiheena on vammaispalvelulain mukaiset kuljetuspalvelut ja niiden merkitys vaikeavammaisten henkilöiden yhdenvertaisuuden toteutumiseen. Vaikea-vammaisella henkilöllä on subjektiivinen oikeus kuljetuspalveluihin niihin liittyvine saattajapalveluineen, joiden järjestäminen kuuluu kunnan erityisen järjestämisvelvolli-suuden piiriin. Kunnan on lain mukaan järjestettävä vaikeavammaiselle henkilölle kohtuulliset kuljetuspalvelut niihin liittyvine saattajapalveluineen, jos henkilö vammansa tai sairautensa johdosta välttämättä tarvitsee palvelua suoriutuakseen tavanomaisista elämän toiminnoista. Tutkielmassa on käytetty pääosin oikeusdogmaattista metodia, jonka avulla haetaan vastausta voimassa olevan oikeuden sisällölle. Oikeuden sisältöä on tutkielmassa tulkittu muun muassa lainsäädännön ja oikeuskäytännön avulla. Tutkielman keskeisimpänä tavoitteena on selvittää, miten kuljetuspalvelut vaikuttavat vaikeavammaisten henkilöiden yhdenvertaisuuden toteutumiseen yhteiskunnassa. Lisäksi tutkielmassa analysoidaan kunnallisia soveltamisohjeita, jotka antavat viitteitä kunnissa omaksutusta laintulkinnasta. Soveltamisohjeita tutkimalla selvitetään, sovelletaanko lakia kunnissa yhdenmukaisesti ja ilmeneekö kuntien omaksumista käytänteistä lainvastaisuutta. Yksi keskeisimmistä johtopäätöksistä on, että yhdenvertaisuuden toteutuminen jokaisen osalta on monista erilaisista seikoista johtuen vähintäänkin hankalaa. Kuljetuspalveluiden rooli vaikeavammaisten yhdenvertaisuuden kannalta on kaksijakoinen siinä määrin, että niiden avulla vaikeavammaisen henkilön liikkumis-, osallistumis- ja vaikutusmahdollisuudet kohenevat, mutta samalla kuljetuspalvelut ovat riittämättömiä verrattuna vammattomien ihmisten mahdollisuuksiin liikkua, toimia itsenäisesti ja osallistua yhteiskuntaan. Kunnallisten soveltamisohjeiden osalta voidaan sanoa, että tutkimusotantaan sisällytetyt kunnat soveltavat lakia osittain yhdenmukaisesti, mutta joiltakin osin ilmeni eroavaisuuksia ohjeiden välillä. Ohjeet ovat hyvin vaihtelevia keskenään niin sisällöllisesti kuin laadullisestikin. Joiltakin osin ilmeni myös lainvastaisuutta. Tutkielman perusteella voidaan yleisesti todeta, ettei kuljetuspalvelusäännösten osalta yli neljännesvuosisadan muuttumattomana pysynyt vammaispalvelulainsäädäntö enää vastaa muuttunen yhteiskunnan tarpeisiin riittävästi. Uudistustyö vammaispalvelulain-säädännön muuttamiseksi onkin aloitettu hiljattain, ja sosiaali- ja terveysministeriön asettaman työryhmän on määrä jättää luonnos hallituksen esitykseksi vuoden 2014 loppuun mennessä. Lainsäädäntöuudistuksella pyritään edistämään vammaisten edellytyksiä elää yhdenvertaisina yhteiskunnan jäseninä

Foliar Application of Wood Distillate Alleviates Ozone-Induced Damage in Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)

This study examined whether foliar applications of wood distillate (WD) have a protective effect on photosynthesis and the antioxidant power of lettuce when exposed to an ecologically relevant O3 concentration. Seedlings of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) were fumigated daily with 60 ppb of O3 for 30 days, five hours per day. Once per week, 50% of the fumigated plants were treated with foliar applications of 0.2% WD, while control plants were treated with water. The results clearly showed the ability of WD to protect lettuce plants from ozone-induced damage. Specifically, WD-treated plants exhibited lower damage to the photosynthetic machinery, assessed through a series of chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, a higher chlorophyll content, higher antioxidant power, as well as antioxidant molecules, i.e., caffeic acid and quercetin, and higher biomass. Counteracting the overproduction of ozone-generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) is speculated to be the main mechanism by which WD protects the plant from ozone-induced damage

Lichen biomonitoring of trace elements in the Mt. Amiata geothermal area (central Italy)

The possible contribution of Al, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Pb, Sb, Sr, Ti, V and Zn from geothermal exploitation to the environmental contamination of Mt. Amiata was evaluated by assaying the epiphytic lichen Parmelia sulcata from two sampling areas: Piancastagnaio, where there are geothermal power plants, and a remote site distant from geothermal power plants. The results showed that the geothermal power plants at Piancastagnaio do not represent a macroscopic source of atmospheric contamination by most elements. On the other hand, there are indications that for Co, Mo and Sb emissions from the geothermal power plants are a source of air pollution

d3p - A Python Package for Differentially-Private Probabilistic Programming

We present d3p, a software package designed to help fielding runtime efficient widely-applicable Bayesian inference under differential privacy guarantees. d3p achieves general applicability to a wide range of probabilistic modelling problems by implementing the differentially private variational inference algorithm, allowing users to fit any parametric probabilistic model with a differentiable density function. d3p adopts the probabilistic programming paradigm as a powerful way for the user to flexibly define such models. We demonstrate the use of our software on a hierarchical logistic regression example, showing the expressiveness of the modelling approach as well as the ease of running the parameter inference. We also perform an empirical evaluation of the runtime of the private inference on a complex model and find a ∼10 fold speed-up compared to an implementation using TensorFlow Privacy.Peer reviewe

Effect of Biochar Type, Concentration and Washing Conditions on the Germination Parameters of Three Model Crops

Biochar has been recognized as a promising and efficient material for soil amendment. However, its effects on seed germination are variable due to its alkaline pH and/or the presence of phytotoxic substances. In this study, two types of biochar (B1 and B2) were mixed with soil at different concentrations (0%, 5%, 10%, 25%, 50% and 100%, w:w), and both the solid and liquid fractions of these mixtures were tested on the germination of basil, lettuce and tomato seeds. Furthermore, solid fractions subjected to a pre-washing treatment (B1W and B2W) were also investigated for their effects on seed germination. Three germination parameters were then measured: seed germination number (GN), radicle length (RL) and germination index (GI). Biochar B2W at 10% increased both RL and GI in basil by 50% and 70%, respectively, while B1 at 25% increased these parameters in tomato by 25%. No effects or negative effects were recorded for lettuce. Liquid fractions (L1 and L2) generally hampered seed germination, suggesting the presence of potentially water-soluble phytotoxic compounds in biochar. These results point to biochar as a suitable component for germination substrates and highlight that germination tests are critical to select the best performing biochar according to the target crop

Wood distillate (pyroligneous acid) boosts nutritional traits of potato tubers

Potato is the fourth most widely consumed staple food in the world. This study investigated the effectiveness of 0.2% wood distillate (WD), a biostimulant derived from the pyrolysis of waste plant biomass, in boosting the nutritional quality of potato tubers. The results showed that application of WD significantly increased the content of soluble sugars (sucrose +56.3%; glucose +44.9%; fructose +62.2%), starch (+35.1%) and total carbohydrates (+16.8%). Antioxidants (total antioxidant power, polyphenols, flavonoids) and most mineral elements (K, Mg, Ca, Na, Fe, Zn) were not affected. A lower content of Cu (−17.8%) and P (−24.5%) was found in WD-treated potato