Effects of dexmedetomidine, propofol, sevoflurane and S-ketamine on the human metabolome A randomised trial using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

BACKGROUND Pharmacometabolomics uses large-scale data capturing methods to uncover drug-induced shifts in the metabolic profile. The specific effects of anaesthetics on the human metabolome are largely unknown. OBJECTIVE We aimed to discover whether exposure to routinely used anaesthetics have an acute effect on the human metabolic profile. DESIGN Randomised, open-label, controlled, parallel group, phase IV clinical drug trial. SETTING The study was conducted at Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Finland, 2016 to 2017. PARTICIPANTS One hundred and sixty healthy male volunteers were recruited. The metabolomic data of 159 were evaluable. INTERVENTIONS Volunteers were randomised to receive a 1-h exposure to equipotent doses (EC50 for verbal command) of dexmedetomidine (1.5 ng ml(-1); n = 40), propofol (1.7 mu g ml(-1); n = 40), sevoflurane (0.9% end-tidal; n = 39), S-ketamine (0.75 mu g ml(-1); n = 20) or placebo (n = 20). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Metabolite subgroups of apolipoproteins and lipoproteins, cholesterol, glycerides and phospholipids, fatty acids, glycolysis, amino acids, ketone bodies, creatinine and albumin and the inflammatory marker GlycA, were analysed with nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy from arterial blood samples collected at baseline, after anaesthetic administration and 70 min post-anaesthesia. RESULTS All metabolite subgroups were affected. Statistically significant changes vs. placebo were observed in 11.0, 41.3, 0.65 and 3.9% of the 155 analytes in the dexmedetomidine, propofol, sevoflurane and S-ketamine groups, respectively. Dexmedetomidine increased glucose, decreased ketone bodies and affected lipoproteins and apolipoproteins. Propofol altered lipoproteins, fatty acids, glycerides and phospholipids and slightly increased inflammatory marker glycoprotein acetylation. Sevoflurane was relatively inert. S-ketamine increased glucose and lactate, whereasbranched chain amino acids and tyrosine decreased. CONCLUSION A 1-h exposure to moderate doses of routinely used anaesthetics led to significant and characteristic alterations in the metabolic profile. Dexmedetomidine-induced alterations mirror a2-adrenoceptor agonism. Propofol emulsion altered the lipid profile. The inertness of sevoflurane might prove useful in vulnerable patients. S-ketamine induced amino acid alterations might be linked to its suggested antidepressive properties.Peer reviewe

Control of Flowering in Strawberries

Strawberries (Fragaria sp.) are small perennial plants capable of both sexual reproduction through seeds and clonal reproduction via runners. Because vegetative and generative developmental programs are tightly connected, the control of flowering is presented here in the context of the yearly growth cycle. The rosette crown of strawberry consists of a stem with short internodes produced from the apical meristem. Each node harbors one trifoliate leaf and an axillary bud. The fate of axillary buds is dictated by environmental conditions; high temperatures and long days (LDs) promote axillary bud development into runners, whereas cool temperature and short days (SDs) favor the formation of branch crowns. SDs and cool temperature also promote flowering; under these conditions, the main shoot apical meristem is converted into a terminal inflorescence, and vegetative growth is continued from the uppermost axillary branch crown. The environmental factors that regulate vegetative and generative development in strawberries have been reasonably well characterized and are reviewed in the first two chapters. The genetic basis of the physiological responses in strawberries is much less clear. To provide a point of reference for the flowering pathways described in strawberries so far, a short review on the molecular mechanisms controlling flowering in the model plant Arabidopsis is given. The last two chapters will then describe the current knowledge on the molecular mechanisms controlling the physiological responses in strawberries.Peer reviewe

Community-centric mobile peer-to-peer services: performance evaluation and user studies

Abstract The popularity of social networking services emphasises the importance of user communities. As the next evolutionary step, social networking will evolve towards user communities that are dynamically established according to contextual aspects such as the shared location and/or activities of people. In this vision, distributed peer-to-peer (P2P) technologies provide a respectable alternative to the centralised client-server technologies for implementing the upcoming community-centric mobile services. This thesis focuses on the development of enabling techniques and methods for a community-centric mobile service environment and on the evaluation of users’ perceptions and user acceptance of novel community-centric mobile services. The research was carried out by first examining the applicability of different P2P system architectures for implementing the management of user communities. Next, an experimental prototype of a community-centric mobile service environment was implemented. The experimental prototype was used for evaluating the performance of the community-centric mobile service environment and for conducting the user studies of novel community-centric mobile services. The evaluation was conducted in a real deployment environment with test users. The main results are the following: (1) a conceptual analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of P2P group management systems that are implemented using architecturally distinct P2P system architectures; (2) a performance evaluation of a P2P community management system, in which each community is implemented as an independent structured P2P overlay network; (3) a novel community-centric mobile service environment and its core component, a mobile middleware, which enables the use of P2P technologies and context information as part of Web-based applications running on a Web browser; (4) an evaluation of users’ perceptions and user acceptance of novel community-centric mobile services that are related to making a selection of an entertainment premise based on its music style and voting for music in a user community.Tiivistelmä Käyttäjäyhteisöiden tärkeys on korostunut sosiaalista verkottumista edistävien palveluiden suosion kautta. Seuraavaksi sosiaalinen verkottuminen tulee laajentumaan yhteisöihin, jotka perustetaan dynaamisesti muun muassa ihmisten yhteisen sijainnin ja/tai toiminnan perusteella. Tulevaisuuden yhteisöllisten mobiilipalveluiden toteutuksessa hajautetut vertaisverkkoteknologiat tarjoavat varteenotettavan vaihtoehdon keskitetyille asiakas-palvelin -teknologioille. Tämä väitöskirjatyö keskittyy kehittämään tarvittavia tekniikoita ja menetelmiä yhteisöllisen mobiilipalveluympäristön toteuttamiseen sekä arvioimaan käyttäjien kokemuksia uusista yhteisöllisistä mobiilipalveluista. Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin aluksi arkkitehtuurillisesti erilaisten vertaisverkkojärjestelmien sopivuutta käyttäjäyhteisöjen hallinnan toteutettamiseksi. Seuraavaksi tutkimuksessa toteutettiin kokeellinen prototyyppi yhteisöllisestä mobiilipalveluympäristöstä. Kokeellista prototyyppiä hyödynnettiin sekä yhteisöllisen mobiilipalveluympäristön suorituskyvyn että uusien yhteisöllisten mobiilipalveluiden käyttäjäkokemuksen arvioinnissa. Arviointi suoritettiin aidossa käyttöympäristössä testikäyttäjien avulla. Väitöskirjatyön keskisimmät tulokset ovat seuraavat: (1) käsitteellinen analyysi arkkitehtuurillisesti erilaisten vertaisverkkojärjestelmien vahvuuksista ja heikkouksista ryhmänhallintajärjestelmän toteuttamisessa; (2) sellaisen yhteisönhallintajärjestelmän arviointi, jossa jokainen yhteisö on toteutettu erillisen ja itsenäisen rakenteellisen vertaisverkon avulla; (3) uusi yhteisöllinen mobiilipalveluympäristö, jonka keskeisin osa mobiili välikerrosohjelmisto mahdollistaa vertaisverkkoteknologioiden ja kontekstitiedon käyttämisen selaimessa toimivissa Web-sovelluksissa; (4) sellaisten uusien yhteisöllisten mobiilipalveluiden käyttäjäkokemuksen arviointi, jotka liittyvät vapaa-ajan viettopaikan valitaan musiikin perusteella ja soitettavan musiikin äänestämiseen käyttäjäyhteisöissä

Interaction in asset-based value creation within innovation networks:the case of software industry

Abstract Knowledge management is a new academic discipline that has been growing during the past decade but is still in its embryonic stage with much potential left. What makes knowledge management an attractive research field is its multi-discipline perspective. In the knowledge management the context is important because the value of an organization’s knowledge is context-based. In this research the context are the innovation networks within the software industry and thus besides knowledge management the research contributes to the software business literature. The aim of this study was to get an understanding about the interaction the in asset-based value creation within innovation networks. This was done by examining the effects of the interaction in asset development and deployment in innovation networks, where activities are related to research, development and innovation collaboration. This was studied against the theoretical framework that was developed in this research based on earlier studies. This study shows that in the examined research context actors from outside of the software industry have a direct effect on both asset development and deployment based on their funding requirements and aims. The study shows that in this wider environment trust, openness and mutual benefits are important factors of the interaction atmosphere, regarding where funding is targeted and where the actual work is done. This study shows the importance of the interaction framework as a motivator and an entity that enables direct benefits to participating actors from their interaction and collaboration. It also shows that some of the episodes where interactions occur need to be regular, on-going and have a certain rhythm. As a result of this research a framework of interaction in the asset-based value creation in innovation networks was created. It shows how funding mechanisms affect the asset development and deployment, as well as that some episodes where interactions occur are especially important, because they limit or support value creation. Moreover, the role, contributions, aims and motivations of actors are seemingly different within these episodes.Tiivistelmä Tietojohtaminen on uusi akateeminen tieteenala, joka on ollut kasvussa viimeisen vuosikymmen ajan, mutta on silti alkuvaiheessa ja omaa paljon potentiaalia. Tietojohtamisesta tekee vetovoimaisen tutkimusalan sen monitieteinen perspektiivi. Tietojohtamisessa konteksti on tärkeää, koska organisaation tiedon arvo on kontekstipohjainen. Tässä tutkimuksessa tutkimuskontekstina ovat ohjelmistoteollisuuden innovaatioverkostot ja siispä tietojohtamisen lisäksi tutkimus myötävaikuttaa ohjelmistoliiketoiminnan kirjallisuutta. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli ymmärtää vuorovaikutusta varantoihin pohjautuvassa arvonluonnissa innovaatioverkostoissa. Tämä tehtiin tutkimalla vuorovaikutuksen vaikutusta varantojen kehittämisessä ja käyttöönotossa innovaatioverkostoissa, joissa aktiviteetit liittyvät tutkimus-, kehittämis- ja innovointiyhteistyöhön. Tätä tutkittiin teoreettista kehikkoa vasten, joka kehitettiin tutkimuksen aikana aiempiin tutkimuksiin pohjautuen. Tutkimus osoittaa, että tarkastellussa tutkimuskontekstissa ohjelmistoteollisuuden ulkopuolisilla toimijoilla on suora vaikutus, sekä varantojen kehittämiseen, että käyttöönottoon rahoitusvaatimustensa ja tavoitteidensa pohjalta. Tutkimus osoittaa, että tässä laajemmassa ympäristössä luottamus, avoimuus ja molemminpuoliset hyödyt ovat vuorovaikutusilmapiirin tärkeitä osatekijöitä sen suhteen mihin rahoitus ohjataan ja missä tosiasiallinen työ tehdään. Tutkimus osoittaa vuorovaikutuskehikon tärkeyden motivaattorina ja kokonaisuutena, joka mahdollistaa suorat hyödyt osallistuville toimijoille heidän vuorovaikutuksestaan ja yhteistyöstään. Se myös osoittaa, että joittenkin niistä tapahtumista, joissa vuorovaikutusta tapahtuu, täytyy olla säännöllisiä, jatkuvia ja omata tietty rytmi. Tutkimuksen tuloksena luotiin vuorovaikutus varantoihin pohjautuvassa arvonluonnissa innovaatioverkoissa kehikko. Se osoittaa kuinka rahoitusmekanismit vaikuttavat varantojen kehittämiseen ja käyttöönottoon. Kuten myös, että jotkin tapahtumat, joissa vuorovaikutusta tapahtuu, ovat erityisen tärkeitä, koska ne rajoittavat tai tukevat arvonluontia. Sen lisäksi toimijoiden rooli, myötävaikutus, tavoitteet ja motivaatio ovat ilmeisen erilaisia näissä tapahtumissa

Interaction between coal and lignin briquettes in co-carbonization

Abstract The utilization of bio-based side streams in metallurgical coke making promotes two major factors in the mitigation of climate impact in the steel industry. Circular economy as the waste material from biorefinery industry is utilized as a raw material in the steel industry, and mitigation of the production of fossil-based CO2 emissions. In this work, lignin from the hydrolysis process was used in a briquetted form as part of the raw material blend in metallurgical coke making. For the experiments and analyses, lignin briquettes were pyrolyzed at 450, 600 and 1200 °C, while one sample was left non-pyrolyzed. In the co-carbonization of briquetted lignin, lignin chars and bituminous coal, the focus was to evaluate the interaction between char and coal in the carbonization. This was studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), optical dilatometry, and light optical microscopy. The results suggested that the interaction between the coal and lignin reduced when the pyrolysis temperature of the briquettes, prior to co-carbonization, was elevated. This was due to the decrease of overlapping of the pyrolysis rates of chars and coking coal. Combined with the dilation and shrinking behaviour of the chars, presented in this paper, separate char and coke structures were formed in the final coke in co-carbonization

Two real-world case studies on 3D web applications for participatory urban planning

Abstract 3D Web is a potential platform for publishing and distributing 3D visualizations that have proven useful in enabling the participation of the general public in urban planning. However, technical requirements imposed by detailed and rich real-world plans and related functionalities are demanding for 3D web technologies. In this paper we explore the maturity of modern 3D web technologies in participatory urban planning through two real-world case studies. Applications built on Unity-based platform are published on the web to allow the general public to create, browse and comment on urban plans. The virtual models of seven urban development sites of different visual styles are optimized in terms of download sizes and memory use to be feasible on browsers used by the general public. We report qualitative feedback from users and present a technical analysis of the applications in terms of download sizes, runtime performance and memory use. We summarize the findings of the case studies into an assessment of the general feasibility of modern 3D web technologies in web-based urban planning

“Nice to see you virtually”:thoughtful design and evaluation of virtual avatar of the other user in AR and VR based telexistence systems

Abstract This paper presents two studies investigating how physically remote telexistence users wish to see other users visualized as virtual avatars in a) augmented reality, and b) immersive virtual reality while conducting a collaborative task. To answer this research question, a telexistence system was designed and implemented with simple avatar designs. After that, visual examples of alternative avatar representations for both use cases were designed by thoughtfully altering the visual parameters of 36 virtual avatar examples. The avatar designs were first evaluated in a user study with 16 participants in conjunction with using an implemented telexistence system. As a follow-up an online survey with 43 respondents was used to record their preferences regarding virtual avatar appearance. The results suggest that users prefer the other user to be represented in a photorealistic full-body human avatar in both augmented reality and virtual reality due to its humanlike representation and affordances for interaction. In augmented reality, the choice for a hologram full body avatar was also popular due to its see-through appearance, which prevents a mix-up with a real person in the physical space

sleepyCAM:power management mechanism for wireless video-surveillance cameras

Abstract In this paper, we propose an energy efficient motion detection and power management mechanism, called sleepyCAM, for wireless camera sensor nodes that do not otherwise support low-power modes. In the proposed solution, a low-power sensor node accompanied with a Pyroelectric Infrared (PIR) sensor and a relay is used to detect motion and manage the power usage of a high-power and high-resolution camera sensor node. To validate our work, we used two baseline benchmarks for comparison that are commonly used as motion detection mechanisms on wireless surveillance cameras: (a) hardware based motion detection using a PIR sensor and (b) software based motion detection using video frame comparison. The main contributions of this paper are the prototype implementation of the sleepyCAM, the surveillance application and the comparison of power consumption between the proposed and the baseline methods. The measurement results indicate that the power consumption of a surveillance camera node can be reduced significantly with the proposed mechanism

DRUMM:dynamic viewing of large-scale 3D city models on the web

Abstract 3D city models have become an important user interface for various applications, ranging from entertainment to civil engineering. Today, 3D city models can also be accessed on the web without installing any additional software, which has significantly widened their potential audience. However, visually accurate 3D city models are typically large in terms of file size, and hence, require ample network bandwidth for minimizing download delays and providing a smooth user experience. In this paper, we introduce a method called DRUMM, which enables dynamic resource management for viewing 3D city models on the web. DRUMM supports both the use of varying criteria for prioritizing the download order of 3D graphics, and the division of 3D graphics into chunks facilitating parallel downloads that can be suspended and later continued. The performance of DRUMM was evaluated in terms of (1) starting delay; (2) used network bandwidth; and (3) the number of buildings with textures in the view using the developed prototype implementation. Based on the results, DRUMM improves the usability of 3D city applications, particularly when the network bandwidth is scarce