Convergence of packet communications over the evolved mobile networks; signal processing and protocol performance

In this thesis, the convergence of packet communications over the evolved mobile networks is studied. The Long Term Evolution (LTE) process is dominating the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) in order to bring technologies to the markets in the spirit of continuous innovation. The global markets of mobile information services are growing towards the Mobile Information Society. The thesis begins with the principles and theories of the multiple-access transmission schemes, transmitter receiver techniques and signal processing algorithms. Next, packet communications and Internet protocols are referred from the IETF standards with the characteristics of mobile communications in the focus. The mobile network architecture and protocols bind together the evolved packet system of Internet communications to the radio access network technologies. Specifics of the traffic models are shortly visited for their statistical meaning in the radio performance analysis. Radio resource management algorithms and protocols, also procedures, are covered addressing their relevance for the system performance. Throughout these Chapters, the commonalities and differentiators of the WCDMA, WCDMA/HSPA and LTE are covered. The main outcome of the thesis is the performance analysis of the LTE technology beginning from the early discoveries to the analysis of various system features and finally converging to an extensive system analysis campaign. The system performance is analysed with the characteristics of voice over the Internet and best effort traffic of the Internet. These traffic classes represent the majority of the mobile traffic in the converged packet networks, and yet they are simple enough for a fair and generic analysis of technologies. The thesis consists of publications and inventions created by the author that proposed several improvements to the 3G technologies towards the LTE. In the system analysis, the LTE showed by the factor of at least 2.5 to 3 times higher system measures compared to the WCDMA/HSPA reference. The WCDMA/HSPA networks are currently available with over 400 million subscribers and showing increasing growth, in the meanwhile the first LTE roll-outs are scheduled to begin in 2010. Sophisticated 3G LTE mobile devices are expected to appear fluently for all consumer segments in the following years

A Simple Method to Determine the Timing of Snow Melt by Remote Sensing with Application to the CO2 Balances of Northern Mire and Heath Ecosystems

Peer reviewe

Tolerability of ORM-12741 and effects on episodic memory in patients with Alzheimer's disease

Introduction ORM-12741 is a novel selective antagonist of alpha-2C adrenoceptors. This trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of ORM-12741 in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, exploratory phase 2a trial was conducted in 100 subjects with AD and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Participants were randomized to receive one of two flexible doses of ORM-12741 (30–60 mg or 100–200 mg) or placebo b.i.d. for 12 weeks in addition to standard therapy with cholinesterase inhibitors. Efficacy was assessed primarily with the Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) computerized assessment system and secondarily with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). Results A statistically significant treatment effect was seen in one of the four primary CDR system end points, Quality of Episodic Memory (P = .030; not adjusted for multiple comparisons), favoring ORM-12741 over placebo. NPI caregiver distress scores also favored ORM-12741 (P = .034). ORM-12741 was well tolerated. Discussion This is the first clinical trial providing evidence on an acceptable safety profile for ORM-12741 in patients with AD and neuropsychiatric symptoms. In addition, the trial provided hints of potential therapeutic benefit, primarily on episodic memory, in this patient population

Is forest management a significant source of monoterpenes into the boreal atmosphere?

Peer reviewe

Temporal Variation of Ecosystem Scale Methane Emission From a Boreal Fen in Relation to Temperature, Water Table Position, and Carbon Dioxide Fluxes

We have analyzed decade-long methane flux data set from a boreal fen, Siikaneva, together with data on environmental parameters and carbon dioxide exchange. The methane flux showed seasonal cycle but no systematic diel cycle. The highest fluxes were observed in July-August with average value of 73 nmol m(-2) s(-1). Wintertime fluxes were small but positive, with January-March average of 6.7 nmol m(-2) s(-1). Daily average methane emission correlated best with peat temperatures at 20-35 cm depths. The second highest correlation was with gross primary production (GPP). The best correspondence between emission algorithm and measured fluxes was found for a variable-slope generalized linear model (r(2) = 0.89) with peat temperature at 35 cm depth and GPP as explanatory variables, slopes varying between years. The homogeneity of slope approach indicated that seasonal variation explained 79% of the sum of squares variation of daily average methane emission, the interannual variation in explanatory factors 7.0%, functional change 5.3%, and random variation 9.1%. Significant correlation between interannual variability of growing season methane emission and that of GPP indicates that on interannual time scales GPP controls methane emission variability, crucially for development of process-based methane emission models. Annual methane emission ranged from 6.0 to 14 gC m(-2) and was 2.7 +/- 0.4% of annual GPP. Over 10-year period methane emission was 18% of net ecosystem exchange as carbon. The weak relation of methane emission to water table position indicates that space-to-time analogy, used to extrapolate spatial chamber data in time, may not be applicable in seasonal time scales.Peer reviewe

Sublingual administration of detomidine to calves prior to disbudding: a comparison with the intravenous route.

Objective: To study the effects of oromucosal detomidine gel administered sublingually to calves prior to disbudding, and to compare its efficacy with intravenously administered detomidine. Study design: Randomised, prospective clinical study. Animals: Twenty dairy calves aged 12.4 ± 4.4 days (mean ± SD), weight 50.5 ± 9.0 kg. Methods: Detomidine at 80 μg kg-1 was administered to ten calves sublingually (GEL) and at 30 μg kg-1 to ten control calves intravenously (IV). Meloxicam (0.5 mg kg-1) and  local anaesthetic (lidocaine 3 mg kg-1) were administered before heat cauterization of horn buds. Heart rate (HR), body temperature and clinical sedation were monitored over  240 minutes. Blood was collected during the same period for drug concentration  analysis. Pharmacokinetic variables were calculated from the plasma detomidine  concentration-time data using non-compartmental methods.  Results: The maximum plasma detomidine concentration after GEL was 2.1 ± 1.2 ng  mL-1 (mean ± SD) and the time of maximum concentration was 66.0 ± 36.9 minutes. The bioavailability of detomidine was approximately 34% with GEL. Similar sedation  scores were reached in both groups after administration of detomidine, but maximal sedation was reached earlier in the IV group (10 minutes) than in the GEL group (40 minutes). HR was lower after IV than GEL from 5 to 10 minutes after administration. All animals were adequately sedated, and we were able to administer local anaesthetic without resistance to all of the calves before disbudding. Conclusions and clinical relevance: Oromucosally administered detomidine is an  effective sedative agent for calves prior to disbudding.Peer reviewe

Upscaling Northern Peatland CO2 Fluxes Using Satellite Remote Sensing Data

Peatlands play an important role in the global carbon cycle as they contain a large soil carbon stock. However, current climate change could potentially shift peatlands from being carbon sinks to carbon sources. Remote sensing methods provide an opportunity to monitor carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange in peatland ecosystems at large scales under these changing conditions. In this study, we developed empirical models of the CO2 balance (net ecosystem exchange, NEE), gross primary production (GPP), and ecosystem respiration (ER) that could be used for upscaling CO2 fluxes with remotely sensed data. Two to three years of eddy covariance (EC) data from five peatlands in Sweden and Finland were compared to modelled NEE, GPP and ER based on vegetation indices from 10 m resolution Sentinel-2 MSI and land surface temperature from 1 km resolution MODIS data. To ensure a precise match between the EC data and the Sentinel-2 observations, a footprint model was applied to derive footprint-weighted daily means of the vegetation indices. Average model parameters for all sites were acquired with a leave-one-out-cross-validation procedure. Both the GPP and the ER models gave high agreement with the EC-derived fluxes (R-2 = 0.70 and 0.56, NRMSE = 14% and 15%, respectively). The performance of the NEE model was weaker (average R-2 = 0.36 and NRMSE = 13%). Our findings demonstrate that using optical and thermal satellite sensor data is a feasible method for upscaling the GPP and ER of northern boreal peatlands, although further studies are needed to investigate the sources of the unexplained spatial and temporal variation of the CO2 fluxes.Peer reviewe

Root-zone soil moisture variability across African savannas : From pulsed rainfall to land‐cover switches

The main source of soil moisture variability in savanna ecosystems is pulsed rainfall. Rainfall pulsing impacts water-stress durations, soil moisture switching between wet-to-dry and dry-to-wet states, and soil moisture spectra as well as derived measures from it such as soil moisture memory. Rainfall pulsing is also responsible for rapid changes in grassland leaf area and concomitant changes in evapotranspirational (ET) losses, which then impact soil moisture variability. With the use of a hierarchy of models and soil moisture measurements, temporal variability in root-zone soil moisture and water-stress periods are analysed at four African sites ranging from grass to miombo savannas. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and potential ET (PET)-adjusted ET model predict memory timescale and dry persistence in agreement with measurements. The model comparisons demonstrate that dry persistence and mean annual dry periods must account for seasonal and interannual changes in maximum ET represented by NDVI and to a lesser extent PET. Interestingly, the precipitation intensity and soil moisture memory were linearly related across three savannas with ET/infiltration similar to 1.0. This relation and the variability of length and timing of dry periods are also discussed.Peer reviewe

Fast recovery of suppressed Norway spruce trees after selection harvesting on a drained peatland forest site

Continuous cover forestry (CCF) has been promoted as an environmentally sustainable option for drained peatlands. The CCF management has been challenged due to potentially lower tree growth compared to tradi-tional even-aged management, especially with suppressed trees that are released during a selection harvesting under CCF management. Our objective was to quantify the time lag of stem diameter growth response of suppressed Norway spruce trees (Picea abies Karst.) after a selection harvesting compared to that of dominant trees. We also tested if the carbon assimilation of the trees increased immediately after selection harvesting. We used radial increment cores from suppressed Norway spruce trees to estimate the impact of selection harvesting on the diameter growth and intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE). We measured carbon isotope composition (delta 13C) of wood, to quantify how the reduced competition between trees altered iWUE and its components, the photosynthetic rate (A) and sto-matal conductance (g). The study was conducted in the Lettosuo experimental site on fertile forestry drained peatland area in southern Finland. Approximately 70 % of the initial stand area (18.5 ha) was harvested according to CCF principles by applying selection harvesting, and the rest of the area was divided to intact control area and to clear-cut area. In the study site, by selection harvest, trees were removed from multiple age classes, but especially mature trees individually or in a small groups were taken away to maintain uneven-aged structure of the forest. All the target trees grew in the similar competitive position before selection harvesting. Our results show that there was a delay with the diameter growth of the suppressed trees to selection har-vesting, whereas the most significant growth-enhancing effect occurred three-four years after selection har-vesting. In contrast to the delay in the increment, the photosynthetic rate relative to stomatal conductance increased immediately after selection harvesting, as shown by the instant 2.5 parts per thousand increase in delta 13C to a post-harvest level. Our results show that carbon uptake increased immediately for suppressed Norway spruce trees after selection harvesting, but the harvest did not induce a clear increase in stem diameter growth during the first years after the harvest.Peer reviewe

Pro-opiomelanocortin and its Processing Enzymes Associate with Plaque Stability in Human Atherosclerosis -Tampere Vascular Study

alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) is processed from pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) and mediates anti-inflammatory actions in leukocytes. alpha-MSH also promotes macrophage reverse cholesterol transport by inducing ATP-binding cassette transporters ABCA1 and ABCG1. Here we investigated the regulation of POMC and alpha-MSH expression in atherosclerosis. First, transcript levels of POMC and its processing enzymes were analyzed in human arterial plaques (n = 68) and non-atherosclerotic controls (n = 24) as well as in whole blood samples from coronary artery disease patients (n = 55) and controls (n = 45) by microarray. POMC expression was increased in femoral plaques compared to control samples as well as in unstable advanced plaques. alpha-MSH-producing enzyme, carboxypeptidase E, was down-regulated, whereas prolylcarboxypeptidase, an enzyme inactivating alpha-MSH, was up-regulated in unstable plaques compared to stable plaques, suggesting a possible reduction in intraplaque alpha-MSH levels. Second, immunohistochemical analyses revealed the presence of alpha-MSH in atherosclerotic plaques and its localization in macrophages and other cell types. Lastly, supporting the role of alpha-MSH in reverse cholesterol transport, POMC expression correlated with ABCA1 and ABCG1 in human plaque and whole blood samples. In conclusion, alpha-MSH is expressed in atherosclerotic plaques and its processing enzymes associate with plaque stability, suggesting that measures to enhance the local bioavailability of alpha-MSH might protect against atherosclerosis