MINING BLOCK STABILITY ANALYSIS IN ESTONIAN OIL SHALE MINES BY STATISTICAL METHODS

This paper analysis the stability o f the mining blocks in Estonian oil shale mines, where the room-and-pillar mining system is used. The pillars are arranged in a singular grid. The processes in overburden rocks and pillars have caused the subsidence of the ground surface. Statistical analysis o f the pillars cross-sectional area evaluated the calculations. Normal distribution control allows determing the stability of a mining block. By normal distribution of the pillars cross-section area a potential collapse of a mining block can be expected. Theoretical and in situ investigations in Estonian oil shale mines showed that their results are close to the modeling ones. The surface subsidence parameters will be determined by conventional calculation schemes. Presented method suits well for mining block stability analysis and spontaneous failure prognosis

Cantilever-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy of Radioactive Methane

We report the first high-resolution spectroscopy study of radiocarbon methane, 14CH4. Several absorption lines of the fundamental vibrational band v3 were measured using a continuous-wave mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator with cantilever-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy. © 2020 OSA.Peer reviewe

Bi-allelic variants in TSPOAP1, encoding the active zone protein RIMBP1, cause autosomal recessive dystonia

Dystonia is a debilitating hyperkinetic movement disorder, which can be transmitted as a monogenic trait. Here, we describe homozygous frameshift, nonsense and missense variants in TSPOAP1, encoding the active zone RIM-binding protein 1 (RIMBP1), as a novel genetic cause of autosomal recessive dystonia in seven subjects from three unrelated families. Subjects carrying loss-of-function variants presented with juvenile-onset progressive generalized dystonia, associated with intellectual disability and cerebellar atrophy. Conversely, subjects carrying a pathogenic missense variant (p.Gly1808Ser) presented with isolated adult-onset focal dystonia. In mice, complete loss of RIMBP1, known to reduce neurotransmission, led to motor abnormalities reminiscent of dystonia, decreased Purkinje cell dendritic arborization, and reduced numbers of cerebellar synapses. In vitro analysis of the p.Gly1808Ser variant showed larger spike-evoked calcium transients and enhanced neurotransmission, suggesting that RIMBP1-linked dystonia can be caused by either reduced or enhanced rates of spike-evoked release in relevant neural networks. Our findings establish a direct link between dysfunction of the presynaptic active zone and dystonia and highlight the critical role played by well-balanced neurotransmission in motor control and disease pathogenesis

A transition from unimodal to multimodal activations in four sensory modalities in humans: an electrophysiological study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To investigate the long-latency activities common to all sensory modalities, electroencephalographic responses to auditory (1000 Hz pure tone), tactile (electrical stimulation to the index finger), visual (simple figure of a star), and noxious (intra-epidermal electrical stimulation to the dorsum of the hand) stimuli were recorded from 27 scalp electrodes in 14 healthy volunteers.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Results of source modeling showed multimodal activations in the anterior part of the cingulate cortex (ACC) and hippocampal region (Hip). The activity in the ACC was biphasic. In all sensory modalities, the first component of ACC activity peaked 30–56 ms later than the peak of the major modality-specific activity, the second component of ACC activity peaked 117–145 ms later than the peak of the first component, and the activity in Hip peaked 43–77 ms later than the second component of ACC activity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The temporal sequence of activations through modality-specific and multimodal pathways was similar among all sensory modalities.</p

Biallelic variants in TSPOAP1, encoding the active-zone protein RIMBP1, cause autosomal recessive dystonia.

Dystonia is a debilitating hyperkinetic movement disorder, which can be transmitted as a monogenic trait. Here, we describe homozygous frameshift, nonsense, and missense variants in TSPOAP1, which encodes the active-zone RIM-binding protein 1 (RIMBP1), as a genetic cause of autosomal recessive dystonia in 7 subjects from 3 unrelated families. Subjects carrying loss-of-function variants presented with juvenile-onset progressive generalized dystonia, associated with intellectual disability and cerebellar atrophy. Conversely, subjects carrying a pathogenic missense variant (p.Gly1808Ser) presented with isolated adult-onset focal dystonia. In mice, complete loss of RIMBP1, known to reduce neurotransmission, led to motor abnormalities reminiscent of dystonia, decreased Purkinje cell dendritic arborization, and reduced numbers of cerebellar synapses. In vitro analysis of the p.Gly1808Ser variant showed larger spike-evoked calcium transients and enhanced neurotransmission, suggesting that RIMBP1-linked dystonia can be caused by either reduced or enhanced rates of spike-evoked release in relevant neural networks. Our findings establish a direct link between dysfunction of the presynaptic active zone and dystonia and highlight the critical role played by well-balanced neurotransmission in motor control and disease pathogenesis

Pohjois-Pohjanmaan lukiolaisten valmiudet ilmastotekoihin koulun viitekehyksessä

Abstract Climate change is a significant societal discourse in politics and education. Climate change is being discussed in schools in increasing amounts and the prevention of climate change has become a key element in the foundational values and transversal competencies of the curriculum of general upper secondary school, which is coming into effect in the year 2021. The prevention of climate change is also brought up in the targeted learning outcomes of each subject. According to the 2018 Youth Barometer, climate change is the most concern causing factor amongst the youth and the amount of concern related to climate change has increased during the past ten years. Climate Change in Upper Secondary Schools! -project funded by the Finnish National Agency for Education has produced this report on the readiness of Northern Ostrobothnia general upper secondary school students to take part in climate actions in the school context. The purpose of this project is to pick up the pace in general upper secondary schools’ climate work and to build a realistic, scientific research-based overview of climate change. The Faculty of Education of the University of Oulu has executed together with the project the survey analyzed in this report. Students (n = 1889) from 22 general upper secondary schools in the Northern Ostrobothnia area took part in the survey during January and February 2020. The purpose of the survey was to inquire about general upper secondary school students’ readiness to take part in different kinds of climate action. This report compares the survey answers of general upper secondary school students of Oulu to the rest of the Northern Ostrobothnia area. The participants of the survey were divided into groups based on the physical location of the schools. The results indicate that students are generally willing to take part in climate actions. Students in Oulu seem to be slightly more willing to take part in climate actions in school context compared to the students of other areas of Northern Ostrobothnia.Tiivistelmä Ilmastonmuutos on merkittävä yhteiskunnallinen keskustelunaihe niin politiikassa kuin koulutuksessa. Ilmastonmuutokseen liittyviä aiheita käsitellään myös kouluissa yhä enemmän. Vuonna 2021 voimaan astuvan Lukion opetussuunnitelman perusteissa ilmastonmuutoksen hidastaminen on osa koulutuksen arvoperustaa ja laaja-alaista osaamista. Ilmastonmuutoksen hidastamisen näkökulma tuodaan esille myös oppiainekohtaisissa tavoitteissa. Vuoden 2018 nuorisobarometrin mukaan ilmastonmuutos on eniten huolta aiheuttava tekijä nuorten keskuudessa ja huoli ilmastonmuutoksesta on kasvanut kymmenen viime vuoden aikana. Opetushallituksen rahoittama Ilmastonmuutos lukioihin! -hanke on tuottanut tämän raportin lukiolaisten valmiuksista toimia ilmaston puolesta koulun viitekehyksessä. Hankkeen tavoitteena on nopeuttaa lukioiden ilmastotyötä ja rakentaa lukioissa realistista, tieteelliseen tutkimukseen perustuvaa tilannekuvaa ilmaston lämpenemisestä. Oulun yliopiston kasvatustieteiden tiedekunta on tuottanut yhdessä hankkeen kanssa tässä raportissa analysoidun kyselyn, johon vastasi lukiolaisia (n = 1889) 22 eri lukiosta Pohjois-Pohjanmaan alueelta vuoden 2020 tammi- ja helmikuun aikana. Kyselyn tarkoituksena oli pyrkiä selvittämään lukiolaisten valmiuksia erilaisiin ilmastotekoihin. Tässä raportissa vertaillaan Oulun ja muun Pohjois-Pohjanmaan lukiolaisten kyselyvastauksia ilmaston puolesta toimimisen näkökulmasta. Kyselyyn osallistuneiden jako näihin kahteen ryhmään tehtiin lukioiden fyysisen sijainnin perusteella. Yleisellä tasolla lukiolaisilla on tulosten perusteella halukkuutta ja valmiutta toimia ilmaston puolesta. Oulun lukiolaisilla näyttää olevan muihin Pohjois-Pohjanmaan lukiolaisiin verrattuna hieman enemmän valmiutta ilmastotekoihin koulun viitekehyksessä