Kuusen ja männyn paksuuskasvu on sopeutunut paikalliseen ilmastoon

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Optical quality assurance of GEM foils

An analysis software was developed for the high aspect ratio optical scanning system in the Detec- tor Laboratory of the University of Helsinki and the Helsinki Institute of Physics. The system is used e.g. in the quality assurance of the GEM-TPC detectors being developed for the beam diagnostics system of the SuperFRS at future FAIR facility. The software was tested by analyzing five CERN standard GEM foils scanned with the optical scanning system. The measurement uncertainty of the diameter of the GEM holes and the pitch of the hole pattern was found to be 0.5 {\mu}m and 0.3 {\mu}m, respectively. The software design and the performance are discussed. The correlation between the GEM hole size distribution and the corresponding gain variation was studied by comparing them against a detailed gain mapping of a foil and a set of six lower precision control measurements. It can be seen that a qualitative estimation of the behavior of the local variation in gain across the GEM foil can be made based on the measured sizes of the outer and inner holes.Comment: 12 pages, 29 figure

Different Predictors of Right and Left Ventricular Metabolism in Healthy Middle-Aged Men

Dysfunction of the right ventricle (RV) plays a crucial role in the outcome of various cardiovascular diseases. Previous studies on RV metabolism are sparse although evidence implies it may differ from left ventricular (LV) metabolism. Therefore, the aims of this study were (1) to determine predictors of RV glucose uptake (GU) and free fatty acid uptake (FFAU) and (2) to compare them to predictors of LV metabolism in healthy middle-aged men. Altogether 28 healthy, sedentary, middle-aged (40-55 years) men were studied. Insulin-stimulated GU and fasting FFAU were measured by positron emission tomography and RV and LV structural and functional parameters by cardiac magnetic resonance. Several parameters related to whole-body health were also measured. Predictors of RV and LV metabolism were determined by pairwise correlation analysis, lasso regression models, and variable clustering using heatmap. RVGU was most strongly predicted by age and moderately by RV ejection fraction (EF). The strongest determinants of RVFFAU were exercise capacity (peak oxygen uptake), resting heart rate, LVEF, and whole body insulin stimulated glucose uptake rate. When considering LV metabolism, age and RVEF were associated also with LVGU. In addition, LVGU was strongly, and negatively, influenced by whole-body insulin-stimulated glucose uptake rate. LVFFAU was predicted only by LVEF. This study shows that while RV and LV metabolism have shared characteristics, they also have unique properties. Age of the subject should be taken into account when measuring myocardial glucose utilization. Ejection fraction is related to myocardial metabolism, and even so that RVEF may be more closely related to GU of both ventricles and LVEF to FFAU of both ventricles, a finding supporting the ventricular interdependence. However, only RV fatty acid utilization associates with exercise capacity so that better physical fitness in a relatively sedentary population is related with decreased RV fat metabolism. To conclude, this study highlights the need for further study designed specifically on less known RV as the results on LV metabolism and physiology may not be directly applicable to the RV.</p

Airway obstruction in competetive swimmers.

Background: Swimming has been shown to cause beneficial effects on lung function. However, increased adverse effects have been hypothesized due to the air quality of indoor swimming pools. Objectives: To compare competitive swimmers present lung function to swimmers twenty to thirty years ago and examine the associations between lung function and medical history and reported respiratory symptoms in present swimmers. Methods: One hundred swimmers, 47 females and 53 males were studied with flow-volume spirometry. These findings were compared with ones obtained 20 - 30 years ago among 98 swimmers, 40 females and 58 males. Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced expiratory volume (FVC) and their ratio (FEV%) were analysed for airways obstruction. Associations between lung function and asthma, allergy, and respiratory symptoms were examined using questionnaire. In addition airways inflammation was measured with exhaled nitric oxide measurement (FENO) in present swimmers. Airborne trichloramine was measured in air of indoor swimming pools. Results: Airway obstruction was found in 15%, 15 out of 100 studied swimmers, which all reported physician diagnosed asthma and/or family history of asthma. Most, 12 out of 15 of swimmers with obstruction finding, were males. Twenty to thirty years ago obstruction was found in 17 of the 98 swimmers. Airborne concentrations of trichloramine in the present swimming pools, were low, less than 0.1 mg/m3. Conclusion: Airway obstruction was associated with asthma and family history of asthma. There was no increase in obstruction findings among competitive swimmers within 2 - 3 decades. Measured concentrations of trichloramine raised no concern on swimmers health.</p

Affective Adaptation to Repeated SIT and MICT Protocols in Insulin-Resistant Subjects

Introduction The aim of this study was to investigate affective responses to repeated sessions of sprint interval training (SIT) in comparison with moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) in insulin-resistant subjects.Methods Twenty-six insulin-resistant adults (age, 49 (4) yr; 10 women) were randomized into SIT (n = 13) or MICT (n = 13) groups. Subjects completed six supervised training sessions within 2 wk (SIT session, 4-6 x 30 s all-out cycling/4-min recovery; MICT session, 40-60 min at 60% peak work load). Perceived exertion, stress, and affective state were assessed with questionnaires before, during and after each training session.Results Perceived exertion, displeasure, and arousal were higher during the SIT compared with MICT sessions (all P 0.05).Conclusions The perceptual and affective responses are more negative both during and acutely after SIT compared with MICT in untrained insulin-resistant adults. These responses, however, show significant improvements already within six training sessions, indicating rapid positive affective and physiological adaptations to continual exercise training, both SIT and MICT. These findings suggest that even very intense SIT is mentally tolerable alternative for untrained people with insulin resistance

Characterization of magnetic Czochralski silicon devices with aluminium oxide field insulator : effect of oxygen precursor on electrical properties and radiation hardness

Aluminium oxide (Al2O3) has been proposed as an alternative to thermal silicon dioxide (SiO2) as field insulator and surface passivation for silicon detectors, where it could substitute p-stop/p-spray insulation implants between pixels due to its negative oxide charge, and enable capacitive coupling of segments by means of its higher dielectric constant. Al2O3 is commonly grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD), which allows the deposition of thin layers with excellent precision. In this work, we report the electrical characterization of single pad detectors (diodes) and MOS capacitors fabricated on magnetic Czochralski silicon substrates and using Al2O3 as field insulator. Devices are studied by capacitance-voltage, current-voltage, and transient current technique measurements. We evaluate the influence of the oxygen precursors in the ALD process, as well as the effect of gamma irradiation, on the properties of these devices. We observe that leakage currents in diodes before the onset of breakdown are low for all studied ALD processes. Charge collection as measured by transient current technique (TCT) is also independent of the choice of oxygen precursor. The Al2O3 films deposited with O-3 possess a higher negative oxide charge than films deposited by H2O, However, in diodes a higher oxide charge is linked to earlier breakdown, as has been predicted by simulation studies. A combination of H2O and O-3 precursors results in a good compromise between the beneficial properties provided by the respective individual precursors.Peer reviewe

Processing of AC-coupled n-in-p pixel detectors on MCz silicon using atomic layer deposited aluminium oxide

We report on the fabrication of capacitively (AC) coupled n(+)-in-p pixel detectors on magnetic Czochralski silicon substrates. In our devices, we employ a layer of aluminium oxide (Al2O3) grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) as dielectric and field insulator, instead of the commonly used silicon dioxide (SiO2). As shown in earlier research, Al2O3 thin films exhibit high negative oxide charge, and can thus serve as a substitute for p-stop/p-spray insulation implants between pixels. In addition, they provide far higher capacitance densities than SiO2 due to their high dielectric constant, permitting more efficient capacitive coupling of pixels. Furthermore, metallic titanium nitride (TiN) bias resistors are presented as an alternative to punch-through or poly-Si resistors. Devices obtained by the above mentioned process are characterized by capacitance-voltage and current-voltage measurements, and by 2 MeV proton microprobe. Results show the expected high negative charge of the Al2O3 dielectric, uniform charge collection efficiency over large areas of pixels, and acceptable leakage current densities.Peer reviewe

The LAGUNA design study- towards giant liquid based underground detectors for neutrino physics and astrophysics and proton decay searches

The feasibility of a next generation neutrino observatory in Europe is being considered within the LAGUNA design study. To accommodate giant neutrino detectors and shield them from cosmic rays, a new very large underground infrastructure is required. Seven potential candidate sites in different parts of Europe and at several distances from CERN are being studied: Boulby (UK), Canfranc (Spain), Fr\'ejus (France/Italy), Pyh\"asalmi (Finland), Polkowice-Sieroszowice (Poland), Slanic (Romania) and Umbria (Italy). The design study aims at the comprehensive and coordinated technical assessment of each site, at a coherent cost estimation, and at a prioritization of the sites within the summer 2010.Comment: 5 pages, contribution to the Workshop "European Strategy for Future Neutrino Physics", CERN, Oct. 200

Intramyocellular lipid accumulation after sprint interval and moderate-intensity continuous training in healthy and diabetic subjects

The effects of sprint interval training (SIT) on intramyocellular (IMCL) and extramyocellular (EMCL) lipid accumulation are unclear. We tested the effects of SIT and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) on IMCL and EMCL accumulation in a randomized controlled setting in two different study populations; healthy untrained men (n 28) and subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D) or prediabetes (n 26). Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-1 MRS) was used to determine IMCL and EMCL in the Tibialis anterior muscle (TA) before and after a 2-week exercise period. The exercise period comprised six sessions of SIT or MICT cycling on a cycle ergometer. IMCL increased after SIT compared to MICT (P = 0.042) in both healthy and T2D/prediabetic subjects. On EMCL the training intervention had no significant effect. In conclusion, IMCL serves as an important energy depot during exercise and can be extended by high intensity exercise. The effects of high intensity interval exercise on IMCL seem to be similar regardless of insulin sensitivity or the presence of T2D

Nudging service providers and assessing service trade-offs to reduce the social inefficiencies of payments for ecosystem services schemes

Socially inefficient payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes result when adverse shifts in the provisioning of other ecosystem services (ES) or overpayment to service providers occur. To address these inefficiencies, a holistic evaluation of trade-offs between services should be conducted in parallel with determining land owners' service provisioning preferences. Recent evidence also suggests that nudging stakeholders' preferences could be a useful policy design tool to address global change challenges. Forest owners' landscape management preferences were nudged to determine the impact on the social efficiency of PES schemes for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation in Finland. ES indicators for biodiversity conservation, carbon storage, and the albedo effect were included with traditional provisioning services (i.e. timber) and bioenergy to assess the consequent intra-service trade-offs. Synergies in provisioning of regulating services were identified, but were found to be more efficient when the management objective is for biodiversity conservation rather than climate change regulation. Nudging led to marginal gains in service provisioning above the baseline management and above neutral owner preferences, and increased aggregate service provisioning. This demonstrates the importance of considering intra-service trade-offs and that nudging could be an important tool for designing efficient PES schemes. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe