Lexical Adaptation of Link Grammar to the Biomedical Sublanguage: a Comparative Evaluation of Three Approaches

We study the adaptation of Link Grammar Parser to the biomedical sublanguage with a focus on domain terms not found in a general parser lexicon. Using two biomedical corpora, we implement and evaluate three approaches to addressing unknown words: automatic lexicon expansion, the use of morphological clues, and disambiguation using a part-of-speech tagger. We evaluate each approach separately for its effect on parsing performance and consider combinations of these approaches. In addition to a 45% increase in parsing efficiency, we find that the best approach, incorporating information from a domain part-of-speech tagger, offers a statistically signicant 10% relative decrease in error. The adapted parser is available under an open-source license at http://www.it.utu.fi/biolg

Verkkotoimittajan työkalupakki : Verkkopalvelu Opintopolun sisällöntuottajan oppaan suunnittelu

Tämän produktityyppisen opinnäytetyön aiheena on verkkopalvelu Opintopolun sisällöntuottajan oppaan suunnittelu ja toteutus. Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli verkkopalvelu Opintopolun sisältökonseptin kehittäminen sekä tuottaa konkreettinen sisällöntuotannon työkalu. Opintopolku avataan vuoden 2013 lopussa. Sen tavoitteena on olla kansalaisten keskeisin koulutustiedon lähde Suomessa. Sisällöntuottajan opasta tarvitaan yhteistyökumppaneiden ja alihankkijoiden briiffaamiseen, toimitustyön korkean laadun varmistamiseen sekä verkkopalvelun käytettävyyden edistämiseen. Tavoitteena oli myös näyttää konkreettisesti se osaaminen ja ammattitaito, mikä on saavutettu HAAGA-HELIAn journalismin koulutusohjelmassa. Sisällöntuottajan opas ja raportti perustuvat Oppijan verkkopalvelu -hankkeessa tuotettuun materiaaliin, käyttäjätutkimukseen ja konseptimäärittelyyn, tekijän omiin kokemuksiin verkkotoimittajana sekä alan kirjallisuuteen. Raportissa esitellään konseptisuunnitteluun ja sisällöntuotantoon liittyvät keskeiset käsitteet. Siinä kuvataan kehitysprojektin suunnittelu ja toteutus: sisältökonseptin määrittely ja juttutyyppien suunnittelu. Raportissa arvioidaan myös suunnitteluprosessia, tavoitteiden onnistumista ja kehittämisprojektissa opittua. Opinnäytetyön toimeksiantaja on Opetushallitus. Opinnäytetyön suunnittelu alkoi syksyllä 2011, mutta sen tekeminen huipentui syksyyn 2012. Lopputulos on viimeistelty Opintopolun sisällöntuottajan opas, joka julkaistaan sähköisenä pdf-julkaisuna. Valmis opas sai hyvän vastaanoton, ja se otettiin heti käyttöön. Opasta hyödynnetään myös sisällöntuotannon suunnittelussa.The subject of this product-related thesis is the planning and implementation of a content planning guide for the web service Studyinfo. Its purpose was to develop an outline definition of the web service and to produce a concrete content production tool. Studyinfo will be opened at the end of 2013. Its objective is to be the most central comprehensive source of information regarding the education of Finnish citizens. A guide on content planning was needed to brief co-operative partners and subcontractors, to insure high quality editorial work and to promote usability of the web service. The objective was also to concretely show the know-how and professional skills achieved through the journalism degree programme at HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences. The guide on content planning and the report are based on material produced in the project Learner’s Online Service, a user study, outline definitions, the author’s own experiences as a web editor and relevant literature of the field. Central concepts related to outline planning and content production are presented in the report. In it, the planning and implementation of the development project are described, including definitions of outline contents and the planning of story types. In the report the planning process, the reaching of objectives and what was learned in this development project are all looked at. The commissioner of the thesis is Finnish National Board of Education. The planning of the thesis began in the autumn of 2011; work on it culminated in the autumn of 2012. The final result is a finished guide on content planning, published as an electric PDF publication. This guide got a good reception and was taken into use immediately; it has also been utilised in the planning of content production

AMM-mittarin hyödyntäminen sähkönlaatumittauksissa

Tämä opinnäytetyö tehtiin Caruna Oy:lle ja tavoitteena oli selvittää, kuinka hyvin nykyisiä verkkoyhtiön etäluettavia AMM-mittareita pystytään hyödyntämään kuluttaja-asiakkaiden sähkönlaatumittauksissa. Työ aloitettiin tutustumalla mittarin tietoihin ja tutkimalla, miten siinä olevia sähkönlaatuominaisuuksia on mahdollista käyttää ja hyödyntää. Teoriaosuudessa käydään läpi sähkönlaatustandardia ja sille asetettuja raja-arvoja ja nykyisten sähkönlaatumittareiden ominaisuuksia sekä tutustutaan AMM-mittarin tarjoamiin palveluihin ja ominaisuuksiin. Tarkoituksena oli ohjelmoida mittarille sähkönlaatumittausohjelma testimittauksia varten ja verrata saatuja arvoja nykyiseen laatumittariin. Työssä luotiin suuntaa antava ohjeistus ja testiohjelma verkkoyhtiön mittareiden sähkönlaatumittausominaisuuksien määrittämiseen. Ohjelman asentamisen aikana ilmeni kuitenkin haasteita, joiden vuoksi suunnitellut mittaukset eivät toteutuneet.This thesis was made for Caruna Oy and the aim was to find out how well the company's existing AMM meters can be utilized in consumer-customer power quality measurements. The work was started by getting to know the meter data and by examining how the existing power quality characteristics can be used and utilized. In the theoretical part the power quality standard and the limit values, and the existing power quality meter features are introduced. Also the services and features offered by the AMM meter are familiarized with. The aim was to program the meter with power quality program for test measurements and to compare the values obtained from the current power quality meter. In this thesis, illustrative guidance and test program to help determine the characteristics for the power quality measurement were created. However, the installation of the program revealed challenges, which is why the planned measurements were not realized

Exchange-torque-induced excitation of perpendicular standing spin waves in nanometer-thick YIG films

Spin waves in ferrimagnetic yttrium iron garnet (YIG) films with ultralow magnetic damping are relevant for magnon-based spintronics and low-power wave-like computing. The excitation frequency of spin waves in YIG is rather low in weak external magnetic fields because of its small saturation magnetization, which limits the potential of YIG films for high-frequency applications. Here, we demonstrate how exchange-coupling to a CoFeB film enables efficient excitation of high-frequency perpendicular standing spin waves (PSSWs) in nanometer-thick (80 nm and 295 nm) YIG films using uniform microwave magnetic fields. In the 295-nm-thick YIG film, we measure intense PSSW modes up to 10th order. Strong hybridization between the PSSW modes and the ferromagnetic resonance mode of CoFeB leads to characteristic anti-crossing behavior in broadband spin-wave spectra. A dynamic exchange torque at the YIG/CoFeB interface explains the excitation of PSSWs. The localized torque originates from exchange coupling between two dissimilar magnetization precessions in the YIG and CoFeB layers. As a consequence, spin waves are emitted from the YIG/CoFeB interface and PSSWs form when their wave vector matches the perpendicular confinement condition. PSSWs are not excited when the exchange coupling between YIG and CoFeB is suppressed by a Ta spacer layer. Micromagnetic simulations confirm the exchange-torque mechanism.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Studies on binaural and monaural signal analysis methods and applications

Sound signals can contain a lot of information about the environment and the sound sources present in it. This thesis presents novel contributions to the analysis of binaural and monaural sound signals. Some new applications are introduced in this work, but the emphasis is on analysis methods. The three main topics of the thesis are computational estimation of sound source distance, analysis of binaural room impulse responses, and applications intended for augmented reality audio. A novel method for binaural sound source distance estimation is proposed. The method is based on learning the coherence between the sounds entering the left and right ears. Comparisons to an earlier approach are also made. It is shown that these kinds of learning methods can correctly recognize the distance of a speech sound source in most cases. Methods for analyzing binaural room impulse responses are investigated. These methods are able to locate the early reflections in time and also to estimate their directions of arrival. This challenging problem could not be tackled completely, but this part of the work is an important step towards accurate estimation of the individual early reflections from a binaural room impulse response. As the third part of the thesis, applications of sound signal analysis are studied. The most notable contributions are a novel eyes-free user interface controlled by finger snaps, and an investigation on the importance of features in audio surveillance. The results of this thesis are steps towards building machines that can obtain information on the surrounding environment based on sound. In particular, the research into sound source distance estimation functions as important basic research in this area. The applications presented could be valuable in future telecommunications scenarios, such as augmented reality audio

Laurea-ammattikorkeakoulun turvallisuusalan koulutusohjelman nykytila ja kehittämistarpeet

Tämän opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli selvittää mikä on Laurea-ammattikorkeakoulun turvallisuusalan koulutusohjelman nykytila ja mitä kehittämistarpeita koulutuksessa on. Työn tarkoituksena oli myös koota aineistoa laajempaan kansalliseen turvallisuusalan koulutusta koskevaan tutkimukseen, jonka toteuttaa empiirisen turvallisuustutkimuksen tutkimusryhmä. Opinnäytetyö toteutettiin kyselynä, jossa käytettiin sekä määrällistä että laadullista tutkimusmenetelmää. Kyselylomakkeena käytettiin sähköistä E-lomaketta, joka lähetettiin vastaajille sähköpostin välityksellä. Kohderyhmiksi valittiin turvallisuusalan koulutusohjelmasta valmistuneet ja vielä opiskelevat henkilöt. Kyselylomakkeessa vastaajilta kysyttiin taustatietoja ja esitettiin teemoihin jaoteltuja väittämiä turvallisuusalan koulutusohjelmasta. Kyselyssä käytetyt teemat olivat koulutuksen sisältö, koulutuksen laatu, koulutuksen työelämään valmistaminen ja koulutuksesta saatu hyöty. Kyselyn tulosten perusteella turvallisuusalan koulutusohjelmassa nähtiin paljon kehitettävää, mutta voidaan kuitenkin todeta, että molemmat kohderyhmät näkivät koulutuksen nykytilan enimmäkseen hyvänä ja työelämään hyvin valmistavana. Molemmat kohderyhmät olivat yleisesti sitä mieltä, että liiketoimintaosaamiseen, organisaatioiden lakisääteisiin velvoitteisiin ja tietoturvallisuuteen liittyviä asioita voisi opetuksessa painottaa lisää. Myös projektityöskentely nähtiin hyvänä, mutta opiskelijoiden mielestä perusteet aihealueista tulisi opettaa paremmin ennen työelämän kehittämishankkeen aloittamista. Vaikka opintojaksotarjontaa pidettiin tulosten mukaan monipuolisena, niin yleisesti haluttiin kuitenkin enemmän suuntautumisvaih- toehtoja opintojaksoille, jotka helpottaisivat erikoistumista. Kyselyn avulla saatiin kartoitettua hyvin turvallisuusalan koulutusohjelman opiskelijoiden ja tutkinnon suorittaneiden mielipiteet koulutuksen nykytilasta sekä sen kehittämistarpeista. Opinnäytetyön tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää Laurea-ammattikorkeakoulun turvallisuusalan koulutusohjelman kehittämisessä.The objective of this thesis was to examine what is the present state of the Security Management Programme at Laurea University of Applied Sciences and whether there is a need for development. Another objective of this thesis was to collect data for a research project that studies the education nationally in the field of safety and security. The thesis was carried out as a survey. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the survey. The survey was posted via e-mail to present students in the Security Management Programme and to those who had already graduated. The questionnaires included some background questions and claims that were divided into four themes. The selected themes were the contents of the programme, the quality of the programme, the viewpoint of working life and the benefits of the programme. According to the results, the present state of the Security Management Programme is quite good and the programme prepares students well for working life, but there is still a need for development. Both respondent groups saw that it would be important to increase the level of education in business skills, in legal obligations of organizations and in information security. The students saw that working in projects is a good way to learn, but the basics should be taught better before starting the development projects with working life associates. Even though the curriculum was considered versatile, the respondent groups wanted more options that would give the opportunity to specialize in a specific field in safety or security. The survey gathered the main opinions of the present state and the development needs of the Security Management Programme from the viewpoint of students and graduates. The results of this thesis can be used in developing the Security Management Programme

Consumer adoption of access-based consumption services - Case AirBnB

Increasing internet and smart phone penetration has given rise to a new business model, in which the service companies act as intermediaries and allow consumers to exchange value between them. Usually this is done by facilitating resource exchange between the consumers - one party that needs a resource such as a car, a designer bag or a place to stay rents or shares this resource with another party that has no need for the resource at the moment. This phenomenon has been dubbed collaborative consumption, the sharing economy or access-based consumption and is the focus of this research. The current growth of this sector is extremely high, and several companies operating in this field have received valuations in excess of 10 billion USD and are preparing for large-scale initial public offerings. Because this phenomenon is quite a recent one, scant quantitative research currently exists that studies why consumers engage in using these services. This study attempts to fill this gap by studying the consumer adoption process of AirBnB. The main questions are; what factors influence consumer adoption of AirBnB and what is the relative importance of the different factors. By using established theories from marketing, psychology and information systems research, a multi-tiered structural equation model is created based on empirical data from a survey of 124 consumers to test different factors influencing adoption. The results indicate that expected performance and hedonic motivations are the primary drivers of adoption of AirBnB. Social influence is another driver of adoption, albeit to a lesser extent than expected performance and hedonic motivations. In addition, the more materialistic the consumer, the less likely she/he is to adopt AirBnB. Moreover, expected performance is positively influenced by perceived price value and trust. Trust in turn is positively influenced by perceived effectiveness of the feedback mechanisms and the perceived quality of the web site. Based on the results, it can be argued that adopters of AirBnB are willing to exchange regulation and the safety that comes with it - that are inherent in traditional services such as hotels - in exchange for increased price value, increased perceived fun, and a working trust architecture

Development of NMR methods to study disordered proteins

In the field of bioscience there is an ongoing explosive growth in discovery and information. Novel means in biotechnology as well as in medicines are introduced at an unseen rate. One of the aspects contributing to this development is the increased understanding of protein function and structure. Proteins have a role in almost every biological process. The function and structure of proteins are linked. Recent studies have discovered that the understanding of the protein structure has been biased. Namely, the studies have unearthed a previously dismissed protein structure state: intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). In this highly dynamic state a protein is without a globular fold, but does not meet the requirements of a random coil either. Rapid transition between folds renders most of the established research techniques to be poor methods to study the IDPs. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a spectroscopy method, which enables the study of molecules at atomic resolution. The technique is based upon manipulation of the nuclear spins in specifically produced sample under strong magnetic field. In this method, spins of the system generate quantum coherence state(s), which is utilized to obtain information about the system. NMR is suitable for studying samples in solid and liquid mediums, but in case of biomolecules, water solution is preferable as it resembles in vivo environment. Highly mobile structure and chemical composition of IDPs cause many established NMR experiments to fail. Development of NMR pulse sequences is an obvious approach to solve the problem. This thesis presents a number of NMR pulse sequences, which are designed to improve acquisition of information from highly mobile sections of proteins. The key aspect is to utilize H atom instead of HN in coherence transfer. Additional improvements include limited residue specific identification and novel coherence transfer pathways. Articles I, II, and III present triple resonance experiments, which correlate protein backbone atoms. Combination of the spectra enables full sequential assignment. Article IV introduces an improved pulse sequence for measuring J couplings between nitrogen and amide proton. The experiments were subjected to experimental verification. Comparisons were drawn between established pulse sequences. In both globular proteins and IDPs the results show improvement over established pulse sequences. The proposed sequences yielded improved assignment coverage, resolution and sensitivity enhancement.Biotieteiden alalla on käynnissä räjähdysmäinen kehitys. Uusia tutkimusmetodeja ja tuloksia julkaistaan ennennäkemättömällä tahdilla. Yksi tämän kehityksen mahdollistava tekijä on ymmärrys proteiinien rakenteesta ja toiminnasta. Proteiineilla on merkittävä rooli miltei kaikissa bio-prosesseissa. Proteiinien rakenteen muutoksilla on merkittävä rooli niiden toiminnassa. Viimeaikaiset tutkimukset ovat osoittaneet, että käsitys proteiinien rakenteesta on ollut puutteellinen. Rakenteellisen ja rakenteettomien tilojen välillä esiintyvä ns. intrinsically disordered proteiinit (IDP) esiintyvät dynaamisessa muodossa. Tämän tilan tutkiminen vakiintuneilla metodeilla on vaikeaa. Ydinmagneettinen resonanssi (NMR) mahdollistaa molekyylien tutkimisen atomaarisella resoluutiolla. Tekniikka perustuu ydinspinin manipulaatioon voimakkaassa magneettikentässä. Spinit saatetaan kvanttikoherenssitilaan, joita observoimalla voidaan systeemistä saada tietoa. Metodi soveltuu dynaamisten systeemien tutkimiseen. Tämä tekee NMR:stä hyvän tekniikan IDP:n tutkimiseen. Kuitenkin vakiintuneet NMR:n metodit eivät suoraan sovellut IDP:n tutkimiseen. Väitöskirjassa esitellään muuteltuja ja paranneltuja NMR pulssisarjoja, jotka soveltuvat paremmin IDP:n tutkimiseen