The hydration of paper studied with solid-state magnetisation-exchange H-1 NMR spectroscopy

The wide-line H-1 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum of paper in equilibrium with ambient humidity consists of super-imposed relatively broad and narrow lines. The narrower line is of the order of 2 kHz wide at half the maximum height, while the broader line is of the order of 40 kHz in width at half height. On the basis of these line widths, the narrow line is assigned to water sorbed to the paper, and the broad line to the polymeric constituents of the paper. It was not possible to distinguish between the various polymeric components of paper contributing to the H-1 NMR spectra. A modified Goldman-Shen pulse sequence was used to generate a spatial magnetisation gradient between the polymer and water phases. The exchange of magnetisation between protons associated with water and those associated with the macromolecules in paper was observed. The exchange of magnetisation is discussed within a heat transfer model for homonuclear dipolar coupling, with exchange being characterised by a spin-diffusion coefficient. Consideration of the magnitude of the initial rate of the exchange process and estimates of the spin-spin relaxation times based on H-1 line widths indicate that some water must exist in a sufficiently immobile state as to allow homonuclear dipolar interactions between adjacent polymer and water protons. Thus, water sorbed onto paper must exist in at least two states in mass exchange with each other. This observation allows certain conclusions to be drawn about the ratio of free/bound water as a function of moisture content and the dispersal of water within the polymer matrix

Kehitysvammainen lapsi päivähoidossa - kuvakirja varhaiskasvatuksen käyttöön

Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli tuottaa kuvakirja kehitysvammaisen lapsen normaalista päiväkotipäivästä. Nykyisin pyritään inklusiiviseen ajatteluun; kehitysvammaisia ei eristetä muista, vaan he ovat osa ryhmää. Kehitysvammaisuus voi kuitenkin herättää monia kysymyksiä lapsissa, ja kirjassa tekijät halusivat nostaa näitä asioita esiin. Kirjassa kehitysvammainen lapsi osallistuu muiden mukana arkipäivän toimintoihin aikuisilta tukea saaden sekä apuvälineitä käyttäen. Teoreettisessa viitekehyksessä käsitellään kehitysvammaisuutta, sen eri asteita, varhaiskasvatusta, inkluusiota sekä kuvakirjallisuutta. Kyseessä on toiminnallinen opinnäytetyö, jonka tavoitteena on tuottaa työväline varhaiskasvatuksen käyttöön. Päiväkodeissa henkilökunta voi lukea kirjaa yhdessä lasten kanssa, ja käsitellä niitä kysymyksiä, joita kehitysvammaisuus lapsissa herättää. Vastaavanlaista kuvakirjaa ei opinnäytetyön tekijöiden saamien tietojen mukaan ole aiemmin tehty.The purpose of this thesis was to produce a children´s book about a normal day at a day care centre for a child with disabilities. At the present time in Finnish society the aim is to think inclusively. Children with disabilities are not separated from the others; they are part of the group. Different kinds of disabilities can cause many questions among the children. The aim of this book was to answer some of those questions. The child in the story is disabled, and takes part in all everyday activities with the other children. He also gets help and needs support from adults, and uses some assistive devices, too. In the theory part of this work, mental retardation and its classifications, early childhood education, inclusion, and children´s literature are discussed. This is a functional thesis, and the goal is to produce a tool for day care centres. The staff of the day care centres can read the book with the children and discuss the questions that different kinds of disabilities arouse in children. According to the knowledge of the writers of this thesis, there is no similar book available in Finnish

A Model for the Prediction of Fiber Elasticity

A model is presented that enables the elastic properties of wood fibers to be estimated from the properties of its polymeric constituents, cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. The influence of the value of the axial stiffness of the cellulose crystal is demonstrated, its proper value being discussed in comparison with experimental data on fibers. The effects on fiber stiffness of the S2 fibril angle, the fibril angles of other layers, the crystallinity, and layer thicknesses are analyzed. The manner in which the effect of a variation in yield can be simulated by a change in shape factor of the reinforcing cellulose crystals is demonstrated, the cell wall thus being considered to be a discontinuous reinforced composite

Viscoelastic properties of green wood across the grain measured by harmonic tests in the range of 0\degree C to 95\degree C. Hardwood vs. softwood and normal wood vs. reaction wood

The viscoelastic properties of wood have been investigated with a dynamic mechanical analyser (DMA) specifically conceived for wooden materials, the WAVET device (environmental vibration analyser for wood). Measurements were carried out on four wood species in the temperature range of 0\degree C to 100\degree C at frequencies varying between 5 mHz and 10 Hz. Wood samples were tested in water-saturated conditions, in radial and tangential directions. As expected, the radial direction always revealed a higher storage modulus than the tangential direction. Great differences were also observed in the loss factor. The tan\delta peak and the internal friction are higher in tangential direction than in radial direction. This behaviour is attributed to the fact that anatomical elements act depending on the direction. Viscoelastic behaviour of reaction wood differs from that of normal or opposite wood. Compression wood of spruce, which has higher lignin content, is denser and stiffer in transverse directions than normal wood, and has lower softening temperature (Tg). In tension wood, the G-layer is weakly attached to the rest of the wall layers. This may explain why the storage modulus and the softening temperature of tension wood are lower than those for the opposite wood. In this work, we also point out that the time-temperature equivalence fits only around the transition region, i.e. between Tg and Tg + 30\degree C. Apart from these regions, the wood response combines the effect of all constitutive polymers, so that the equivalence is not valid anymore

Sähkökirjojen tuotannon työnkulku

Insinöörityön tavoitteena oli selvittää erilaisia mahdollisia työnkulkuja sähkökirjojen valmistukseen. Työnkulkuja syntyy erilaisten lähdemateriaalien takia. Painettuja kirjoja on monenlaisissa tiedostoformaateissa riippuen siitä, millä ohjelmalla taitto on tehty. Näistä formaateista tulee saada sellainen muoto, että niitä voidaan käsitellä Adoben InDesign-taitto-ohjelmassa. Jotkin kirjojen taitot ovat jo valmiiksi InDesign-formaatissa. Yksi työnkulku on siis saada kirjojen taitot sellaiseen tiedostoformaattiin, että niitä voidaan muokata InDesignissa. Toinen työnkulku syntyy, kun teksti muokataan InDesignissa. Eri tiedostoformaatit sisältävät erilaista tietoa tekstin osalta. Esimerkiksi InDesign-taitto sisältää valmiiksi käyttökelpoisia kappale- ja merkkityylejä, kun taas PDF-tiedosto ei välttämättä sisällä ollenkaan käytettäviä kappale- ja merkkityylejä. Molemmissa tapauksissa tyylejä tulee kuitenkin muokata, jotta ne soveltuisivat sähkökirjoihin. Työssä tutkittiin myös eri työkaluja sähkökirjojen tekemiseen. Suuri suomalainen kustantamo, jolle insinöörityö tehtiin, käyttää painettujen kirjojen tekemiseen pääosin InDesignia. InDesignin valinta myös sähkökirjojen tekemiseen tuntuu selvältä, koska ohjelmalla pystyy tekemään sähkökirjoja samoista taitoista kuin painettuja kirjojakin. Työssä kuitenkin kokeiltiin muitakin yleisimpiä sähkökirjoille soveltuvia työkaluja ja mahdollisia työnkulkuja niitä käyttäen. Tehokkaimmat työnkulut sähkökirjojen valmistuksessa selvisivät kokeilemalla eri vaihtoehtoja ja etsimällä tietoa Internetistä. Tuloksena syntyi käyttökelpoisia työnkulkuja eri lähdemateriaaleista aina sähkökirjaksi asti. InDesign on selvästi paras vaihtoehto kustantamon tarkoituksiin sähkökirjojen valmistuksessa ainakin toistaiseksi. Muiden työkalujen kehitystä kannattaa kuitenkin seurata. Sähkökirjojen tuotanto on uusi ala, ja työkalut muuttuvat monipuolisemmiksi ja kehittyvät alan mukana. Uusien innovaatioiden myötä työkalujen on kehityttävä ja vastattava uusiin tarpeisiin. Insinöörityö vastaa tämän päivän haasteisiin ja ottaa huomioon mahdollisuuksien mukaan myös tulevaisuuden haasteita. Työ on merkityksellinen niille, jotka suunnittelevat sähkökirjojen tehokasta tuotantoa. Työssä otetaan kuitenkin huomioon yhden kustantamon tarpeet, joten työ ei vastaa kaikkia tarpeita yleispätevästi.The goal of the bachelor's thesis was to find out different possible workflows for e-book production. Different source materials create new workflows. Printed books are in various file formats depending on which program was used to make the page layout. These formats should be made in such a form that it enables their processing in Adobe's InDesign publishing program. Some printed book file formats are already in InDesign file format. Another workflow is being created when editing the text with InDesign. Different file formats contains various data of text. For example, InDesign file contains usable paragraph and character styles, whereas PDF file does not necessarily contain any usable paragraph or character styles. In both cases styles must be edited to be suitable for e-books. Also other tools for manufacturing e-books were examined in the thesis. This study was commissioned by a big Finnish publishing house which uses mainly InDesign for manufacturing printed books. InDesign seems to be an obvious choice for manufacturing e-books as well because both types of books are made using the same files. However, other possible tools designed for manufacturing e-books and possible workflows for those tools were experimented in this thesis. The most efficient workflows in e-book production became clear by trying out different options and searching information on the Internet. As a result of this study, usable workflows from different source materials to e-books were developed. InDesign is the best option so far for the publishing house's needs in e-book production. However, development of the other tools should be followed. Production of e-books is a new field which means that tools for e-books develop in different ways. Tools must develop and react to new needs along with new innovations. Bachelor thesis answers the today's challenges and takes into account challenges of future, if possible. This study tried to meet the current and future challenges and it will benefit those who are planning efficient e-book production

Experimental micromechanical characterisation of wood cell walls

International audienceThe properties of wood and wood based materials are strongly dependent on the properties of its fibres; i.e. the cell wall properties. The ability to characterize these in order to increase our understanding of structure-property relationships is thus highly important. This article gives a brief overview of the state of the art in experimental techniques to characterize the mechanical properties of wood at both the level of the single cell and that of the cell-wall. Challenges, opportunities, drawbacks and limitations of single fibre tensile tests and nanoindentation are discussed with respect to the wood material properties

Identification of the stress granule transcriptome via RNA-editing in single cells and in vivo

Stress granules are phase-separated assemblies formed around RNAs. So far, the techniques available to identify these RNAs are not suitable for single cells and small tissues displaying cell heterogeneity. Here, we used TRIBE (target of RNA-binding proteins identified by editing) to profile stress granule RNAs. We used an RNA-binding protein (FMR1) fused to the catalytic domain of an RNA-editing enzyme (ADAR), which coalesces into stress granules upon oxidative stress. RNAs colocalized with this fusion are edited, producing mutations that are detectable by VASA sequencing. Using single-molecule FISH, we validated that this purification-free method can reliably identify stress granule RNAs in bulk and single S2 cells and in Drosophila neurons. Similar to mammalian cells, we find that stress granule mRNAs encode ATP binding, cell cycle, and transcription factors. This method opens the possibility to identify stress granule RNAs and other RNA-based assemblies in other single cells and tissues