Data analysis methods for cellular network performance optimization

Modern cellular networks including GSM/GPRS and UMTS networks offer faster and more versatile communication services for the network subscribers. As a result, it becomes more and more challenging for the cellular network operators to enhance the usage of available radio resources in order to meet the expectations of the customers. Cellular networks collect vast amounts of measurement information that can be used to monitor and analyze the network performance as well as the quality of service. In this thesis, the application of various data-analysis methods for the processing of the available measurement information is studied in order to provide more efficient methods for performance optimization. In this thesis, expert-based methods have been presented for the monitoring and analysis of multivariate cellular network performance data. These methods allow the analysis of performance bottlenecks having an effect in multiple performance indicators. In addition, methods for more advanced failure diagnosis have been presented aiming in identification of the causes of the performance bottlenecks. This is important in the analysis of failures having effect on multiple performance indicators in several network elements. Finally, the use of measurement information in selection of most useful optimization action have been studied. In order to obtain good network performance efficiently, the expected performance of the alternative optimization actions must be possible to evaluate. In this thesis, methods to combine measurement information and application domain models are presented in order to build predictive regression models that can be used to select the optimization actions providing the best network performance

Laki sosiaali- ja terveystietojen toissijaisesta käytöstä (toisiolaki) : Toimeenpanon valmistelun kokonaiskuva

Sote-tietojen ensisijaisella käytöllä viitataan käyttötarkoitukseen, jota varten tiedot on alun perin tallennettu asiakasrekisteriin. Toissijaisella käytöllä tarkoitetaan näiden tietojen käyttöä muihin käyttötarkoituksiin. Laki sosiaali- ja terveystietojen toissijaisesta käytöstä (552/2019), jatkossa toisiolaki, on tullut voimaan toukokuun 2019 alussa. Toisiolaki luo yhdenmukaiset edellytykset käyttää sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollossa syntyvä asiakastietoja sekä muita liittyviä henkilötietoja tietoturvallisesti. Tietolupien käsittelyä halutaan sujuvoittaa sekä suojata paremmin asiakkaiden yksityisyyttä. Asiakastietoja voidaan jatkossa käyttää mahdollisimman joustavasti ja turvallisesti laissa sallituissa käyttötarkoituksissa, kuten tutkimukseen, kehittämiseen, innovaatiotoimintaa ja johtamiseen. Tietolupahakemukset ja tietojen tuottaminen eri lähteistä selkeytyy ja nopeutuu. Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö asetti vuoden 2018 alussa va. ohjausryhmän toisiolain mukaisen Tietolupaviranomaisen toiminnan käynnistämisen ja sen palvelujen kehittämisen tueksi. Tämän va. ohjausryhmän alaisuuteen perustettiin joukko työryhmiä, jotka ovat rakentaneet valmiuksia toisiolain toimeenpanoa varten. Tämä dokumentti kokoaa yhteen vuoden 2018 aikana tehdystä työstä, jossa valmisteltiin sosiaali- ja terveystietojen toisiolain toimeenpanoa

Metabolic profiling of fatty liver in young and middle-aged adults : Cross-sectional and prospective analyses of the Young Finns Study

Nonalcoholic fatty liver is associated with obesity-related metabolic disturbances, but little is known about the metabolic perturbations preceding fatty liver disease. We performed comprehensive metabolic profiling to assess how circulating metabolites, such as lipoprotein lipids, fatty acids, amino acids, and glycolysis-related metabolites, reflect the presence of and future risk for fatty liver in young adults. Sixty-eight lipids and metabolites were quantified by nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics in the population-based Young Finns Study from serum collected in 2001 (n = 1,575), 2007 (n = 1,509), and 2011 (n = 2,002). Fatty liver was diagnosed by ultrasound in 2011 when participants were aged 34-49 years (19% prevalence). Cross-sectional associations as well as 4-year and 10-year risks for fatty liver were assessed by logistic regression. Metabolites across multiple pathways were strongly associated with the presence of fatty liver (P <0.0007 for 60 measures in age-adjusted and sex-adjusted cross-sectional analyses). The strongest direct associations were observed for extremely large very-low-density lipoprotein triglycerides (odds ratio [OR] = 4.86 per 1 standard deviation, 95% confidence interval 3.48-6.78), other very-low-density lipoprotein measures, and branched-chain amino acids (e.g., leucine OR = 2.94, 2.51-3.44). Strong inverse associations were observed for high-density lipoprotein measures, e.g., high-density lipoprotein size (OR = 0.36, 0.30-0.42) and several fatty acids including omega-6 (OR = 0.37, 0.32-0.42). The metabolic associations were attenuated but remained significant after adjusting for waist, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and smoking (P <0.0007). Similar aberrations in the metabolic profile were observed already 10 years before fatty liver diagnosis. Conclusion: Circulating lipids, fatty acids, and amino acids reflect fatty liver independently of routine metabolic risk factors; these metabolic aberrations appear to precede the development of fatty liver in young adults. (Hepatology 2017;65:491-500).Peer reviewe

Assessing multivariate gene-metabolome associations with rare variants using Bayesian reduced rank regression

Motivation: A typical genome-wide association study searches for associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and a univariate phenotype. However, there is a growing interest to investigate associations between genomics data and multivariate phenotypes, for example, in gene expression or metabolomics studies. A common approach is to perform a univariate test between each genotype–phenotype pair, and then to apply a stringent significance cutoff to account for the large number of tests performed. However, this approach has limited ability to uncover dependencies involving multiple variables. Another trend in the current genetics is the investigation of the impact of rare variants on the phenotype, where the standard methods often fail owing to lack of power when the minor allele is present in only a limited number of individuals. Results: We propose a new statistical approach based on Bayesian reduced rank regression to assess the impact of multiple SNPs on a high-dimensional phenotype. Because of the method’s ability to combine information over multiple SNPs and phenotypes, it is particularly suitable for detecting associations involving rare variants. We demonstrate the potential of our method and compare it with alternatives using the Northern Finland Birth Cohort with 4702 individuals, for whom genome-wide SNP data along with lipoprotein profiles comprising 74 traits are available. We discovered two genes (XRCC4 and MTHFD2L) without previously reported associations, which replicated in a combined analysis of two additional cohorts: 2390 individuals from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study and 3659 individuals from the FINRISK study. Availability and implementation: R-code freely available for download at http://users.ics.aalto.fi/pemartti/gene_metabolome/. Contact: [email protected]; [email protected] Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online

Association of circulating metabolites with healthy diet and risk of cardiovascular disease : analysis of two cohort studies

Diet may modify metabolomic profiles towards higher or lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. We aimed to identify metabolite profiles associated with high adherence to dietary recommendations-the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) - and the extent to which metabolites associated with AHEI also predict incident CVD. Relations between AHEI score and 80 circulating lipids and metabolites, quantified by nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics, were examined using linear regression models in the Whitehall II study (n = 4824, 55.9 +/- 6.1 years, 28.0% women) and were replicated in the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (n = 1716, 37.7 +/- 5.0 years, 56.3% women). We used Cox models to study associations between metabolites and incident CVD over the 15.8-year follow-up in the Whitehall II study. After adjustment for confounders, higher AHEI score (indicating healthier diet) was associated with higher degree of unsaturation of fatty acids (FA) and higher ratios of polyunsaturated FA, omega-3 and docosahexaenoic acid relative to total FA in both Whitehall II and Young Finns studies. A concordance of associations of metabolites with higher AHEI score and lower CVD risk was observed in Whitehall II. Adherence to healthy diet seems to be associated with specific FA that reduce risk of CVD.Peer reviewe

The biomarker and causal roles of homoarginine in the development of cardiometabolic diseases: an observational and Mendelian randomization analysis

High L-homoarginine (hArg) levels are directly associated with several risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases whereas low levels predict increased mortality in prospective studies. The biomarker role of hArg in young adults remains unknown. To study the predictive value of hArg in the development of cardiometabolic risk factors and diseases, we utilized data on high-pressure liquid chromatography-measured hArg, cardiovascular risk factors, ultrasound markers of preclinical atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes from the population-based Young Finns Study involving 2,106 young adults (54.6% females, aged 24-39). We used a Mendelian randomization approach involving tens to hundreds of thousands of individuals to test causal associations. In our 10-year follow-up analysis, hArg served as an independent predictor for future hyperglycaemia (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.06-1.63) and abdominal obesity (OR 1.60, 95% 1.14-2.30) in men and type 2 diabetes in women (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.02-2.41). The MR analysis revealed no evidence of causal associations between serum hArg and any of the studied cardiometabolic outcomes. In conclusion, lifetime exposure to higher levels of circulating hArg does not seem to alter cardiometabolic disease risk. Whether hArg could be used as a biomarker for identification of individuals at risk developing cardiometabolic abnormalities merits further investigation

Blood hsa-miR-122-5p and hsa-miR-885-5p levels associate with fatty liver and related lipoprotein metabolism : The Young Finns Study

MicroRNAs are involved in disease development and may be utilized as biomarkers. We investigated the association of blood miRNA levels and a) fatty liver (FL), b) lipoprotein and lipid pathways involved in liver lipid accumulation and c) levels of predicted mRNA targets in general population based cohort. Blood microRNA profiling (TaqMan OpenArray), genome-wide gene expression arrays and nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics were performed for Young Finns Study participants aged 34-49 years (n = 871). Liver fat status was assessed ultrasonographically. Levels of hsa-miR-122-5p and -885-5p were up-regulated in individuals with FL (fold change (FC) = 1.55, p = 1.36 * 10-14 and FC = 1.25, p = 4.86 * 10-4, respectively). In regression model adjusted with age, sex and BMI, hsa-miR-122-5p and -885-5p predicted FL (OR = 2.07, p = 1.29 * 10-8 and OR = 1.41, p = 0.002, respectively). Together hsa-miR-122-5p and -885-5p slightly improved the detection of FL beyond established risk factors. These miRNAs may be associated with FL formation through the regulation of lipoprotein metabolism as hsa-miR-122-5p levels associated with small VLDL, IDL, and large LDL lipoprotein subclass components, while hsa-miR-885-5p levels associated inversely with XL HDL cholesterol levels. Hsa-miR-885-5p levels correlated inversely with oxysterol-binding protein 2 (OSBPL2) expression (r = -0.143, p = 1.00 * 10-4) and suppressing the expression of this lipid receptor and sterol transporter could link hsa-miR-885-5p with HDL cholesterol levels

Systematic evaluation of the association between hemoglobin levels and metabolic profile implicates beneficial effects of hypoxia

Activation of the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathway reprograms energy metabolism. Hemoglobin (Hb) is the main carrier of oxygen. Using its normal variation as a surrogate measure for hypoxia, we explored whether lower Hb levels could lead to healthier metabolic profiles in mice and humans (n = 7175) and used Mendelian randomization (MR) to evaluate potential causality (n = 173,480). The results showed evidence for lower Hb levels being associated with lower body mass index, better glucose tolerance and other metabolic profiles, lower inflammatory load, and blood pressure. Expression of the key HIF target genes SLC2A4 and Slc2a1 in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue, respectively, associated with systolic blood pressure in MR analyses and body weight, liver weight, and adiposity in mice. Last, manipulation of murine Hb levels mediated changes to key metabolic parameters. In conclusion, low-end normal Hb levels may be favorable for metabolic health involving mild chronic activation of the HIF response

The COVID-19 epidemic and its effects on Finland : Medium-term scenarios

This memorandum describes three potential evolution trends that the corona epidemic might follow in Finland, together with their economic and social impacts. The scenarios start from the coming summer and extend until the end of 2023. The analysis presented here is a follow- up to the short-term scenarios (covering approx. 6 months) published in December 2020 that examined the combined and mutual effects of the epidemic and its economic and social consequences. Compared with many other countries, Finland has so far survived the COVID-19 epidemic with relatively little damage in terms of health protection and the economy. By the beginning of February 2021, the lowest number of COVID-19 cases relative to the population than anywhere else in the EU/EEA area was recorded in Finland. In the early part of this year, the evolution has essentially followed the base case scenario of the models published last December. Since the second half of February, infections have increased rapidly, virus variants are spreading fast, and there is a growing demand for hospital beds. At present, at the turn of February and March 2021, Finland faces a very challenging epidemiological situation

Covid-19-epidemin och dess konsekvenser i Finland : Scenarier på medellång sikt

I denna promemoria redogörs för tre möjliga scenarier för hur covid-19-pandemin kommer att utvecklas och vilka ekonomiska och sociala konsekvenser den får. Scenarierna omspänner tiden från den inkommande sommaren till slutet av år 2023. Analysen som presenteras här är en fortsättning på de scenarier på kortare sikt (ca 6 mån.) som gavs ut i december 2020 och som på samma sätt gällde de sammanlagda och inbördes effekterna av pandemin och de ekonomiska och sociala konsekvenserna . Tills vidare har Finland klarat av covid-19-pandemin med relativt små skador i jämförelse med andra länder med hänseende till hälsoskyddet eller ekonomin. Fram till början av februari hade det till exempel i Finland i förhållande till befolkningen konstaterats minst covid-19-fall inom hela EU/EES-området. Utvecklingen har i början av året huvudsakligen följt scenariot för basnivån av de alternativ som offentliggjordes i december. Från mitten av februari har antalet smittfall börjat öka, och olika virusmutationer har snabbt börjat sprida sig. Samtidigt har behovet av vårdplatser på sjukhus börjat öka. I skrivande stund i början av mars är den epidemiologiska situationen i Finland mycket utmanande