Transient cosmic ray increase associated with a geomagnetic storm

On the basis of worldwide network data of cosmic ray nucleonic components, the transient cosmic ray increase due to the depression of cosmic ray cutoff rigidity during a severe geomagnetic storm was investigated in terms of the longitudinal dependence. Multiple correlation analysis among isotropic and diurnal terms of cosmic ray intensity variations and Dst term of the geomagnetic field is applied to each of various station's data. It is shown that the amplitude of the transient cosmic ray increase associated with Dst depends on the local time of the station, and that its maximum phase is found in the evening sector. This fact is consistent with the theoretical estimation based on the azimuthally asymmetric ring current model for the magnetic DS field

Neurobiologinen naturalismi:Miten tietoisuus syntyy materiasta

Tiivistelmä. Tietoisuuden olemassaoloa on tutkittu kauan filosofisessa mielessä ja kandidaatintyössäni halusin selvittää, miten tietoisuutta selitetään luonnontieteellisestä perspektiivistä. Yksi kyseistä perspektiiviä edustava teoria on Feinbergin ja Mallattin neurobiologinen naturalismi. Työ on tehty kirjallisuuskatsauksen muodossa, lähteinä eri tieteellisistä tietokannoista löydetyt artikkelit. Tietoisuus on tuntevan tai havaitsevan organismin sisäinen, subjektiivinen, kvalitatiivinen ja mielentilan prosessi. Feinbergin ja Mallatin neurobiologisessa teoriassa tietoisuuden yksinkertaisin muoto on sensorinen tietoisuus, joka on organismin välitön kokemus ympäristöstä ja kehon tilasta. Sensorinen tietoisuus syntyy neljästä neuro-ontologisesti redusoimattomasta tietoisuuden ominaisuudesta: Hermostotilan heijastus, kvalia, mielensisäinen yhtenäisyys ja -kausaatio. Kukin ominaisuus rakentuu toistensa päälle, mutta niitä ei kyetä redusoimaan tieteelliselle tutkimukselle tyypilliseen tapaan pienempiin osiin, joka tunnetaan tietoisuuden ”kovana ongelmana”. Neurobiologinen naturalismi ratkaisee tietoisuuden kovan ongelman sillä, että tietoisuus on biologisille ilmiöille tyypillisen piirteen, hierarkkisen itseorganisoivan järjestelmän emergentti ominaisuus. Muista biologisista ilmiöistä poiketen tietoisuudella on subjektiivinen luonne, joka syntyy neuronien omalaatuisesta hierarkiasta. Neuronien hierarkkinen järjestelmä vastaanottaa tietoa reseptorisoluilla organismin ympäristöstä ja kehosta. Informaatio välitetään hierarkian huipulle aivojen isomorfisille kartoille, joissa tietoisuuden kokemus syntyy. Nahkiaisten ja laakaeläinten sikiönkehityksen vaiheita seuraamalla selviää, että laakaeläimen sikiöllä ei kehity selkärankaisille tyypillisiä rakenteita, jotka johtaisivat isomorfisten karttojen muodostumiseen. Sen sijaan nahkiaisilla sikiönkehityksessä muodostuu isomorfisia karttoja vastaavia alueita aivoissa. Tästä voidaan tehdä johtopäätös, että tietoisuus on syntynyt nahkiaisten kehittyessä ja kaikilla sen jälkeen kehittyneillä selkärankaisilla on myös jonkinasteinen tietoisuus

Viral and Bacterial Pathogens in Bovine Respiratory Disease in Finland

Pathogens causing bovine respiratory tract disease in Finland were investigated. Eighteen cattle herds with bovine respiratory disease were included. Five diseased calves from each farm were chosen for closer examination and tracheobronchial lavage. Blood samples were taken from the calves at the time of the investigation and from 86 calves 3–4 weeks later. In addition, 6–10 blood samples from animals of different ages were collected from each herd, resulting in 169 samples. Serum samples were tested for antibodies to bovine parainfluenza virus-3 (PIV-3), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), bovine coronavirus (BCV), bovine adenovirus-3 (BAV-3) and bovine adenovirus-7 (BAV-7). About one third of the samples were also tested for antibodies to bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVDV) with negative results. Bacteria were cultured from lavage fluid and in vitro susceptibility to selected antimicrobials was tested. According to serological findings, PIV-3, BAV-7, BAV-3, BCV and BRSV are common pathogens in Finnish cattle with respiratory problems. A titre rise especially for BAV-7 and BAV-3, the dual growth of Mycoplasma dispar and Pasteurella multocida, were typical findings in diseased calves. Pasteurella sp. strains showed no resistance to tested antimicrobials. Mycoplasma bovis and Mannheimia haemolytica were not found

Differences in the solar cycle variability of simple and complex active regions during 1996-2018

Aims. Our aim is to examine the solar cycle variability of magnetically simple and complex active region. Methods. We studied simple (alpha and beta) and complex (beta gamma and beta gamma delta) active regions based on the Mount Wilson magnetic classification by applying our newly developed daily approach. We analyzed the daily number of the simple active regions (SARs) and compared that to the abundance of the complex active regions (CARs) over the entire solar cycle 23 and cycle 24 until December 2018. Results. We show that CARs evolve differently over the solar cycle from SARs. The time evolution of SARs and CARs on different hemispheres also shows differences, even though on average their latitudinal distributions are shown to be similar. The time evolution of SARs closely follows that of the sunspot number, and their maximum abundance was observed to occur during the early maximum phase, while that of the CARs was seen roughly two years later. We furthermore found that the peak of CARs was reached before the latitudinal width of the activity band starts to decease. Conclusion. Our results suggest that the active region formation process is a competition between the large-scale dynamo (LSD) and the small-scale dynamo (SSD) near the surface, the former varying cyclically and the latter being independent of the solar cycle. During solar maximum, LSD is dominant, giving a preference to SARs, while during the declining phase the relative role of SSD increases. Therefore, a preference for CARs is seen due to the influence of the SSD on the emerging flux.Peer reviewe

Functional genomics provides insights into the role of Propionibacterium freudenreichii ssp shermanii JS in cheese ripening

Propionibacterium freudenreichii is a commercially important bacterium that is essential for the development of the characteristic eyes and flavor of Swiss-type cheeses. These bacteria grow actively and produce large quantities of flavor compounds during cheese ripening at warm temperatures but also appear to contribute to the aroma development during the subsequent cold storage of cheese. Here, we advance our understanding of the role of P. freudenreichii in cheese ripening by presenting the 2.68-Mbp annotated genome sequence of P. freudenreichii ssp. shermanii JS and determining its global transcriptional profiles during industrial cheese-making using transcriptome sequencing. The annotation of the genome identified a total of 2377 protein-coding genes and revealed the presence of enzymes and pathways for formation of several flavor compounds. Based on transcriptome profiling, the expression of 348 protein-coding genes was altered between the warm and cold room ripening of cheese. Several propionate, acetate, and diacetyl/acetoin production related genes had higher expression levels in the warm room, whereas a general slowing down of the metabolism and an activation of mobile genetic elements was seen in the cold room. A few ripening-related and aminoacid catabolism involved genes were induced or remained active in cold room, indicating that strain JS contributes to the aroma development also during cold room ripening. In addition, we performed a comparative genomic analysis of strain JS and 29 other Propionibacterium strains of 10 different species, including an isolate of both P. freudenreichii subspecies freudenreichii and shermanii. Ortholog grouping of the predicted protein sequences revealed that close to 86% of the ortholog groups of strain JS, including a variety of ripening-related ortholog groups, were conserved across the P. freudenreichii isolates. Taken together, this study contributes to the understanding of the genomic basis of P. freudenreichii and sheds light on its activities during cheese ripening. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Parametric study of EEG sensitivity to phase noise during face processing

<b>Background: </b> The present paper examines the visual processing speed of complex objects, here faces, by mapping the relationship between object physical properties and single-trial brain responses. Measuring visual processing speed is challenging because uncontrolled physical differences that co-vary with object categories might affect brain measurements, thus biasing our speed estimates. Recently, we demonstrated that early event-related potential (ERP) differences between faces and objects are preserved even when images differ only in phase information, and amplitude spectra are equated across image categories. Here, we use a parametric design to study how early ERP to faces are shaped by phase information. Subjects performed a two-alternative force choice discrimination between two faces (Experiment 1) or textures (two control experiments). All stimuli had the same amplitude spectrum and were presented at 11 phase noise levels, varying from 0% to 100% in 10% increments, using a linear phase interpolation technique. Single-trial ERP data from each subject were analysed using a multiple linear regression model. <b>Results: </b> Our results show that sensitivity to phase noise in faces emerges progressively in a short time window between the P1 and the N170 ERP visual components. The sensitivity to phase noise starts at about 120–130 ms after stimulus onset and continues for another 25–40 ms. This result was robust both within and across subjects. A control experiment using pink noise textures, which had the same second-order statistics as the faces used in Experiment 1, demonstrated that the sensitivity to phase noise observed for faces cannot be explained by the presence of global image structure alone. A second control experiment used wavelet textures that were matched to the face stimuli in terms of second- and higher-order image statistics. Results from this experiment suggest that higher-order statistics of faces are necessary but not sufficient to obtain the sensitivity to phase noise function observed in response to faces. <b>Conclusion: </b> Our results constitute the first quantitative assessment of the time course of phase information processing by the human visual brain. We interpret our results in a framework that focuses on image statistics and single-trial analyses

Closed ended structured questionnaire in fast track familiarization of nurses to conduct telephone follow-up after open carpal tunnel release

Background: Open carpal tunnel release (OCTR) due to chronic carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common procedure in hand surgery. CTS is often bilateral. A follow-up is required to detect any complications and confirm successful recovery before contralateral procedure is booked. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate a closed ended questionnaire to assist nurses when starting routine follow-up telephone interviews after carpal tunnel surgery. Methods: In our hospital routine follow-up phone calls to the patients 3 months after OCTR were allocated to nurse practitioners instead of surgeons. Once the practice was started a structured face validated closed ended questionnaire was used to collect data from a total of 61 consecutive patients. Results: Nurse practitioners performed the follow-up independently in 97 % (59/61) of the cases. Ten per cent (6/61) of the patients were assigned further appointments to a surgeon and one patient was referred to an occupational therapist. 2 patients contacted the hospital after the telephone interview because of minor complaints. Patient charts were reviewed 18 months after the phone calls. No missed complications were detected. Conclusions: We conclude that a structured closed ended questionnaire is useful assist in fast track familiarization of nurse practitioners for the follow-up contact after OCTR.</p

Grandparental Child Care in Europe : Evidence for Preferential Investment in More Certain Kin

Peer reviewe

Integration of 150 Gbps/fiber optical engines based on multicore fibers and 6-channel VCSELs and PDs

Multicore fiber enables a parallel optic data link with a single optical fiber, thus providing an attractive way to increase the total throughput and the integration density of the interconnections. We study and present photonics integration technologies and optical coupling approaches for multicore transmitter and receiver subassemblies. Such optical engines are implemented and characterized using multimode 6-core fibers and multicore-optimized active devices: 850-nm VCSEL and PD arrays with circular layout and multi-channel driver and receiver ICs. They are developed for bit-rates of 25 Gbps/channel and beyond, i.e. <150 Gbps per fiber, and also optimized for ruggedized transceivers with extended operation temperature range, for harsh environment applications, including space