A STOCHASTIC SHAPE AND ORIENTATION MODEL FOR FIBRES WITH AN APPLICATION TO CARBON NANOTUBES

Methods are introduced for analysing the shape and orientation of planar fibres from greyscale images of fibrous systems. The sequence of image processing techniques needed for segmentation of fibres is described. The identified fibres were interpreted as deformed line segments for which two shape and two orientation parameters are estimated by the maximum likelihood method. The methods introduced are shown to perform quite well for simulated systems of deformed line segments with known properties. They were applied to TEM images of carbon nanotubes embedded in polycarbonate

European aerosol phenomenology - 8 : Harmonised source apportionment of organic aerosol using 22 Year-long ACSM/AMS datasets

Organic aerosol (OA) is a key component of total submicron particulate matter (PM1), and comprehensive knowledge of OA sources across Europe is crucial to mitigate PM1 levels. Europe has a well-established air quality research infrastructure from which yearlong datasets using 21 aerosol chemical speciation monitors (ACSMs) and 1 aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) were gathered during 2013-2019. It includes 9 non-urban and 13 urban sites. This study developed a state-of-the-art source apportionment protocol to analyse long-term OA mass spectrum data by applying the most advanced source apportionment strategies (i.e., rolling PMF, ME-2, and bootstrap). This harmonised protocol was followed strictly for all 22 datasets, making the source apportionment results more comparable. In addition, it enables quantification of the most common OA components such as hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA), biomass burning OA (BBOA), cooking-like OA (COA), more oxidised-oxygenated OA (MO-OOA), and less oxidised-oxygenated OA (LO-OOA). Other components such as coal combustion OA (CCOA), solid fuel OA (SFOA: mainly mixture of coal and peat combustion), cigarette smoke OA (CSOA), sea salt (mostly inorganic but part of the OA mass spectrum), coffee OA, and ship industry OA could also be separated at a few specific sites. Oxygenated OA (OOA) components make up most of the submicron OA mass (average = 71.1%, range from 43.7 to 100%). Solid fuel combustion-related OA components (i.e., BBOA, CCOA, and SFOA) are still considerable with in total 16.0% yearly contribution to the OA, yet mainly during winter months (21.4%). Overall, this comprehensive protocol works effectively across all sites governed by different sources and generates robust and consistent source apportionment results. Our work presents a comprehensive overview of OA sources in Europe with a unique combination of high time resolution (30-240 min) and long-term data coverage (9-36 months), providing essential information to improve/validate air quality, health impact, and climate models.Peer reviewe

The responses of an anaerobic microorganism, Yersinia intermedia MASE-LG-1 to individual and combined simulated Martian stresses

The limits of life of aerobic microorganisms are well understood, but the responses of anaerobic microorganisms to individual and combined extreme stressors are less well known. Motivated by an interest in understanding the survivability of anaerobic microorganisms under Martian conditions, we investigated the responses of a new isolate, Yersinia intermedia MASE-LG-1 to individual and combined stresses associated with the Martian surface. This organism belongs to an adaptable and persistent genus of anaerobic microorganisms found in many environments worldwide. The effects of desiccation, low pressure, ionizing radiation, varying temperature, osmotic pressure, and oxidizing chemical compounds were investigated. The strain showed a high tolerance to desiccation, with a decline of survivability by four orders of magnitude during a storage time of 85 days. Exposure to X-rays resulted in dose-dependent inactivation for exposure up to 600 Gy while applied doses above 750 Gy led to complete inactivation. The effects of the combination of desiccation and irradiation were additive and the survivability was influenced by the order in which they were imposed. Ionizing irradiation and subsequent desiccation was more deleterious than vice versa. By contrast, the presence of perchlorates was not found to significantly affect the survival of the Yersinia strain after ionizing radiation. These data show that the organism has the capacity to survive and grow in physical and chemical stresses, imposed individually or in combination that are associated with Martian environment. Eventually it lost its viability showing that many of the most adaptable anaerobic organisms on Earth would be killed on Mars today

Genome-wide identification and phenotypic characterization of seizure-associated copy number variations in 741,075 individuals

Copy number variants (CNV) are established risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders with seizures or epilepsy. With the hypothesis that seizure disorders share genetic risk factors, we pooled CNV data from 10,590 individuals with seizure disorders, 16,109 individuals with clinically validated epilepsy, and 492,324 population controls and identified 25 genome-wide significant loci, 22 of which are novel for seizure disorders, such as deletions at 1p36.33, 1q44, 2p21-p16.3, 3q29, 8p23.3-p23.2, 9p24.3, 10q26.3, 15q11.2, 15q12-q13.1, 16p12.2, 17q21.31, duplications at 2q13, 9q34.3, 16p13.3, 17q12, 19p13.3, 20q13.33, and reciprocal CNVs at 16p11.2, and 22q11.21. Using genetic data from additional 248,751 individuals with 23 neuropsychiatric phenotypes, we explored the pleiotropy of these 25 loci. Finally, in a subset of individuals with epilepsy and detailed clinical data available, we performed phenome-wide association analyses between individual CNVs and clinical annotations categorized through the Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO). For six CNVs, we identified 19 significant associations with specific HPO terms and generated, for all CNVs, phenotype signatures across 17 clinical categories relevant for epileptologists. This is the most comprehensive investigation of CNVs in epilepsy and related seizure disorders, with potential implications for clinical practice

Kriittisesti sairaan potilaan verenkiertoa tukevan lääkityksen perusteet : opetusvideot syventävän vaiheen sairaanhoitaja- ja terveydenhoitajaopiskelijoille

Tiivistelmä Työskentely teho-osastolla kriittisesti sairaiden potilaiden parissa vaatii sairaanhoitajalta laajaa tiedollista ja taidollista osaamista niin lääke- ja nestehoidon, perushoidon kuin myös hoitotyön teknologian saralla. Tehohoitoon joutumisen syynä voi olla esimerkiksi henkeä uhkaava tila, joka aiheuttaa potilaalle yhden tai useamman elinjärjestelmän toimintahäiriön tai sen merkittävän uhan ilman tehostettua hoitoa. Tämän vuoksi suurella osalla kriittisesti sairaista potilaista on jossain hoidon vaiheessa verenkiertovaje, jonka hoidossa käytetään erilaisia verenkiertoa tukevia lääkkeitä. Kriittisesti sairaiden potilaiden lääkehoito on monimutkainen kokonaisuus, jonka onnistuminen edellyttää kaikkien siihen osallistuvien osapuolten saumatonta yhteistyötä. Lääkehoidon vaativuustasoon vaikuttavat muun muassa paljon käytössä olevat suoraan suoneen annettavat lääkkeet, joiden vaikutus on välitön, sekä välitöntä hengen vaaraa aiheuttavat tilanteet. Sairaanhoitaja on vastuussa lääkkeen oikeasta annosta eli viimekädessä lääkehoidon toteuttamisesta. Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli lisätä syventävän vaiheen sairaanhoitaja- ja terveydenhoitajaopiskelijoiden tietoa verenkiertoa tukevasta lääkehoidosta kriittisesti sairailla potilailla. Opinnäytetyön tehtävänä oli tuottaa toimeksiantajalle neljä videota kriittisesti sairaan potilaan verenkiertoa tukevan lääkehoidon perusteista. Videoilla avataan käytetyimmät lääkeaineryhmät ja niiden vaikutusmekanismit sekä jokaisesta ryhmästä tietyt lääkeaineet syvemmin

Leikki-ikäisen ensiapuopas : Pikku Leijona päiväkotien henkilökunnalle

Leikki-ikäisellä tarkoitetaan 1–6-vuotiasta lasta. Ympäristön monipuolistuessa ja karkeamotoriikan kehittyessä leikki-ikäinen koettelee rajojaan, eikä vielä osaa arvioida toimintansa riskejä. Suurin osa tapaturmista on estettävissä aikuisen valvonnalla ja tapaturman sattuessa Suomen lait velvoittavat auttamaan apua tarvitsevaa. Opinnäytetyön toimeksiantaja oli Pikku Leijona Oy, jonka päiväkotien johtajana toimii Kirsi Tuppurainen. Opinnäytetyö oli kehittämistyö, jonka lopputuotos oli ensiapuopas päiväkotien henkilökunnalle. Pikku Leijona päiväkotien henkilökunnan toiveet kartoitettiin sähköpostikyselyllä. Oppaaseen valikoitui 14 aihetta ja opas sisälsi kuvaohjeistuksia sekä kaavioita. Opinnäytetyössä käsiteltiin oppaan aiheet teoreettisesti, kartoitettiin yleisimpiä tapaturmia sekä Suomessa että muualla maailmalla ja käsiteltiin varhaiskasvatusta. Oppaasta oli tarkoitus tehdä helposti mukana kuljetettava työväline, jossa on selkeät ja yksinkertaiset ohjeet ensiaputilanteisiin. Tavoitteena oli antaa henkilökunnalle varmuutta toimia tapaturman tai sairaskohtauksen tapahtuessa. Tulevaisuudessa opinnäytetyön pohjalta Pikku Leijona päiväkodeille voisi pitää koulutuspäivän ensiapuoppaan aiheiden perusteella, jossa työntekijät pääsisivät ohjattuna käytännössä harjoittelemaan ensiaputaitojaan.1-to 6-year-old children are in play age. As the environment expands and children´s coarse motor skills develop, the play-agitators start testing their limits but still cannot evaluate the risks of their actions. Most accidents can be prevented by adult supervision. Finnish law obliges to assist the one in need when required. This thesis was assigned by Pikku Leijona Ltd. Kirsi Tuppurainen is the manager of the kindergartens Pikku Leijona. The thesis was a development work and the final product was a first aid guide for the kindergarten staff. Via an e-mail survey the wishes of the staff were mapped, and then implemented in a guide in accordance with the wishes. There were 14 topics selected into the guide and it contained illustrations and charts. The thesis consists of the theoretical themes of the guide, mapping the most common accidents in Finland and elsewhere in the world and addressing early childhood education. The purpose of the thesis was to make a handy toolkit with easy and simple instructions for first aid situations in kindergarten. The aim was to give kindergarten staff confidence to act rightly when an accident or illness occurred. Based on the thesis subjects a first aid training day to Pikku Leijona kindergartens could be considered in the future. Staff could practise their first aid skills under supervision and guidance

A stochastic shape and orientation model for fibres with an application to carbon nanotubes

Methods are introduced for analysing the shape and orientation of planar fibres from greyscale images of fibrous systems. The sequence of image processing techniques needed for segmentation of fibres is described. The identified fibres were interpreted as deformed line segments for which two shape and two orientation parameters are estimated by the maximum likelihood method. The methods introduced are shown to perform quite well for simulated systems of deformed line segments with known properties. They were applied to TEM images of carbon nanotubes embedded in polycarbonate