Implementing Soak Testing for an Access Network Solution

Tietoliikennelaitteiden ohjelmistojen toiminnalle asetetaan erittäin kovat laatuvaatimukset. Operaattoreilla on yleensä asiakkaiden kanssa SLA sopimukset, joiden rikkomisesta operaattorit saattavat joutua maksamaan suuriakin korvauksia. Lisäksi jokainen hetki, jolloin laite ei ole toimintavalmis, tuottaa operaattorille kustannuksia menetettyjen tulojen muodossa. Tämän vuoksi on erittäin tärkeää, että laitteet ovat jatkuvasti toimintakunnossa eikä palvelukatkoksia tule. Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena oli kehittää automatisoitu pitkän ajan testausjärjestelmä IP/MPLS pohjaiselle Tellabs 8600 reititinperheelle. Testattava järjestelmä koostuu useista verkkoelementeistä sekä graafisesta Tellabs 8000 verkonhallintajärjestelmästä. Tämän testausympäristön tavoitteena on paljastaa ongelmia, jotka eivät tule esiin normaalissa toiminnallisessa tai regressiotestauksessa vaan vaativat ilmaantuakseen pidempää ajoaikaa tai useita toistoja. Työssä kehitettiin kehys sille, kuinka testausympäristössä voidaan suorittaa automaattisesti erilaisia operaatioita sekä voidaan ohjelmallisesti havaita mahdollisia ongelmatilanteita. Testausjärjestelmä toteutettiin onnistuneesti ja täyttää sille asetetut tavoitteet. Testausjärjestelmä on otettu käyttöön Tellabsin systeemitestauksessa ja on käyttöönoton jälkeen osoittautunut hyödylliseksi ja tehokkaaksi järjestelmäksi. Systeemitestauksen käyttöön toteutettiin myös toinen täysin identtinen ympäristö.The quality requirements are extremely demanding for telecommunications software. Operators usually have SLA agreements with their customers, and violations to that contract may lead to serious compensations. Furthermore, every moment that equipment or some service is not operating correctly means lost income for the operator. For these reasons, it is extremely important for a telecommunications equipment to continue functioning properly without service affecting breaks. The purpose of this thesis was to design and implement automated soak testing for the IP/MPLS-based Tellabs 8600 router series. The system under test is composed of several network elements and a graphical Tellabs 8000 Network Management System. The purpose of this testing environment is to reveal defects that do not show up immediately in functional or regression testing but may manifest when the system is used for longer periods or operations are executed many times. A framework for automatically operating the test network and detecting problems programmatically was implemented in this thesis. The testing environment was successfully implemented and satisfies the objectives initially set for it. Testing environment has been taken into use in system testing at Tellabs and after deployment has turned out to be useful and effective. Another identical environment was also implemented for the system testing group

FOXP3(+) T cells are present in kidney biopsy samples in children with tubulointerstitial nephritis and uveitis syndrome

Tubulointerstitial nephritis (TIN) is an inflammatory disease of unknown pathogenesis. To evaluate a possible role of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the pathophysiology of TIN with (TINU) and without uveitis, we investigated the presence and quantity of FOXP3(+) T regulatory lymphocytes in diagnostic kidney biopsies from pediatric patients. A total of 33 patients (14 TIN and 19 TINU) were enrolled. The quantity of CD4(+), FOXP3(+) and double-positive T cells in formalin-fixed kidney biopsies was determined using double label immunohistochemistry with anti-human CD4 and FOXP3 antibodies. FOXP3 staining was successful in all 33 patients. In patients with chronic uveitis, the density of FOXP3(+) cells was significantly lower (p = 0.046) than in TIN patients without uveitis or with uveitis lasting <3 months. CD4(+) staining was successful in 23 patients. The density of all lymphocytes (CD4(+), CD4(+)FOXP3(+) and FOXP3(+) cells) was significantly lower (p = 0.023) in patients with chronic uveitis than in other patients. FOXP3(+) T cells are present in kidney biopsy samples from TIN and TINU patients. In patients with chronic uveitis, the density of FOXP3(+) T cells is significantly lower than in other patients, suggesting a different pathomechanism for these clinical conditions.Peer reviewe

Young male patients are at elevated risk of developing serious central nervous system complications during acute Puumala hantavirus infection

Peer reviewe

Soil as part of climate solution – agricultural policy reform to promote climate-smart agriculture

As part of Finland’s goal of being carbon neutral in 2035, also agriculture must reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. About half of agricultural GHG emissions is caused by the cultivation of peat soils. Hence, the largest and quickest emission reductions are possible by changes in the agricultural practices on peat soils. Furthermore, croplands on mineral soils can be converted from emission sources to carbon sinks by diversifying cultivation methods and, thus, improving soil health. The Finnish agricultural policy should guide agriculture to take on climate measures on both peat and mineral soils. A sufficiently extensive selection of measures is required so that different farms can choose alternatives suitable for them. The adoption of new methods requires changes in the farmers’ thinking, and in their approach to farm management. In order to ensure a fair transition to climate-smart land use, we must know the income effects of the climate measures in different areas and for different production sectors

Maaperä osana ilmastoratkaisua - maatalouspolitiikkauudistus edistämään ilmastoviisasta maataloutta

Osana Suomen pyrkimystä hiilineutraaliuteen vuonna 2035 myös maatalouden on vähennettävä kasvihuonekaasupäästöjään. Maatalouden päästöistä noin puolet syntyy turvemaiden viljelystä. Siksi myös suurimmat ja nopeimmat päästövähennykset on mahdollista saada turvemaiden käytön muutoksilla. Lisäksi kivennäismaapeltoja voidaan muuttaa päästölähteestä hiilinieluksi viljelymenetelmiä monipuolistamalla samalla parantaen maaperän kasvukuntoa

Role of Lipids in Spheroidal High Density Lipoproteins

We study the structure and dynamics of spherical high density lipoprotein (HDL) particles through coarse-grained multi-microsecond molecular dynamics simulations. We simulate both a lipid droplet without the apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) and the full HDL particle including two apoA-I molecules surrounding the lipid compartment. The present models are the first ones among computational studies where the size and lipid composition of HDL are realistic, corresponding to human serum HDL. We focus on the role of lipids in HDL structure and dynamics. Particular attention is paid to the assembly of lipids and the influence of lipid-protein interactions on HDL properties. We find that the properties of lipids depend significantly on their location in the particle (core, intermediate region, surface). Unlike the hydrophobic core, the intermediate and surface regions are characterized by prominent conformational lipid order. Yet, not only the conformations but also the dynamics of lipids are found to be distinctly different in the different regions of HDL, highlighting the importance of dynamics in considering the functionalization of HDL. The structure of the lipid droplet close to the HDL-water interface is altered by the presence of apoA-Is, with most prominent changes being observed for cholesterol and polar lipids. For cholesterol, slow trafficking between the surface layer and the regimes underneath is observed. The lipid-protein interactions are strongest for cholesterol, in particular its interaction with hydrophobic residues of apoA-I. Our results reveal that not only hydrophobicity but also conformational entropy of the molecules are the driving forces in the formation of HDL structure. The results provide the first detailed structural model for HDL and its dynamics with and without apoA-I, and indicate how the interplay and competition between entropy and detailed interactions may be used in nanoparticle and drug design through self-assembly