Korkean käytettävyyden klusterointiteknologioiden vertailu

Tutkielma käsittelee korkean käytettävyyden klustereita. Tavoitteena on vertailla eri klusteriteknologioiden eroja ja arvioida tulosten perusteella sopivia käyttökohteita eri klusterituotteille. Samoja funktioita tarjoavat eri klusterituotteet asetetaan paremmuusjärjestykseen. Arviointi perustuu erilaisiin määrällisiin arvoihin, kuten solmulaitteiden maksimilukumäärä, sekä laadullisiin arvoihin, kuten käyttöönoton ja hallinnoinnin helppous. Erityisesti tavoitteena on tuoda esille eri tuotteiden vahvuuksia ja heikkouksia. Vertailtavia tuotteita ovat Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS), TruCluster Server for Tru64 UNIX, Steeleye Lifekeeper for Windows ja Sun Cluster. ACM Computing Classification System (CSS): D.4 OPERATING SYSTEMS (C) D.4.5 Reliability

Pathophysiology of Congenital Nephrotic Syndrome of the Finnish type

Congenital nephrotic syndrome of the Finnish type (NPHS1) is an autosomal recessive disease which is highly enriched in the Finnish population. It is caused by mutations in the NPHS1 gene encoding for nephrin, which is a major component of the glomerular filtration barrier in the kidney. Patients with NPHS1 have heavy proteinuria and nephrotic syndrome (NS) from birth and develop renal fibrosis in early childhood. Renal transplantation (TX) is the only curative treatment for NPHS1. These patients form the largest group of pediatric kidney transplant children in our country. The NPHS1 kidneys are removed in infancy and they serve as an excellent human material for studies of the pathophysiology of proteinuric kidney diseases. Sustained proteinuria is a major factor leading to end-stage renal failure and understanding this process is crucial for nephrology. In this study we investigated the glomerular and tubulointerstitial changes that occur in the NPHS1 kidneys during infancy as well as the expression of nephrin in non-renal tissues. We also studied the pathology and management of recurrent proteinuria in kidney grafts transplanted to NPHS1 children. Severe renal lesions evolved in patients with NPHS1 during the first months of life. Glomerular sclerosis developed through progressive mesangial sclerosis, and capillary obliteration was an early consequence of this process. Shrinkage of the glomerular tuft was common, whereas occlusion of tubular opening or protrusion of the glomerular tuft into subepithelial space or through the Bowman's capsule were not detected. Few inflammatory cells were detected in the mesangial area. The glomerular epithelial cells (podocytes) showed severe ultrastructural changes and hypertrophy. Podocyte proliferation and apoptosis were rare, but moderate amounts of podocytes were detached and ended up in the urine. The results showed that endocapillary lesions not extracapillary lesions, as generally believed were important for the sclerotic process in the NPHS1 glomeruli. In the tubulointerstitium, severe lesions developed in NPHS1 kidneys during infancy. Despite heavy proteinuria, tubular epithelial cells (TECs) did not show transition into myofibroblasts. The most abundant chemokines in NPHS1 tissue were neutrophil activating protein-2 (NAP-2), macrophage inhibiting factor (MIF), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1). Interstitial inflammation and fibrosis were first detected in the paraglomerular areas and the most abundant inflammatory cells were monocytes/macrophages. Arteries and arterioles showed intimal hypertrophy, but the pericapillary microvasculature remained quite normal. However, excessive oxidative stress was evident in NPHS1 kidneys. The results indicated that TECs were relatively resistant to the heavy tubular protein load. Nephrin was at first thought to be podocyte specific, but some studies especially in experimental animals have suggested that nephrin might also be expressed in non-renal tissues such as pancreas and central nervous system. The knowledge of nephrin biology is important for the evaluation of nephrin related diseases. In our study, no significant amounts of nephrin protein or mRNA were detected in non-renal tissues of man and pig as studied by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. The phenotype analysis of NPHS1 children, who totally lack nephrin, revealed no marked impairment in the neurological, testicular, or pancreatic function speaking against the idea that nephrin would play an important functional role outside the kidney. The NPHS1 kidneys do not express nephrin and antibodies against this major glomerular filter protein have been observed in NPHS1 children after renal TX most likely as an immune reaction against a novel antigen. These antibodies have been associated with the development of recurrent NS in the kidney graft of NPHS1 patients. In our study, a third of the NPHS1 patients homozygous for Fin-Major mutation developed recurrent NS in the transplanted graft. Re-transplantations were performed to patients who lost their graft due to recurrent NS and heavy proteinuria immediately developed in all cases. While 73% of the patients had detectable serum anti-nephrin antibodies, the kidney biopsy findings were minimal. Introduction of plasma exchange (PE) to the treatment of recurrent nephroses increased the remission rate from 54% to 89%. If remission was achieved, recurrent NS did not significantly deteriorate the long term graft function. In conclusion, the results show that the lack of nephrin in podocyte slit diaphragm in NPHS1 kidneys induces progressive mesangial expansion and glomerular capillary obliteration and inflicts interstitial fibrosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress with surprisingly little involvement of the TECs in this process. Nephrin appears to have no clinical significance outside the kidney. Development of antibodies against nephrin seems to be a major cause of recurrent NS in kidney grafts of NPHS1 patients and combined use of PE and cyclophosphamide markedly improved remission rates.

HALLINNONTASOJEN VÄLINEN DIALOGI JA ERITYISOPETUKSEN MUUTOS BYROKRAATTISENA INSTITUUTIONA : - Kymppikuntien loppuraportin ja Erityisopetuksen strategian sisällönanalyyttinen vertailu

The rise of Special education numbers in Finland has caused a situation where Finland s ten largest LEA s so called kymppikunnat (ten communes) have expressed their growing concern of organizing the special education in the current institutional settings. The LEA s started the conversation of redefining special education system in 2004. Their aim was to target the governments attention to the problematics of special education. By the request of the Ministry of Education the LEA s prepared a final report concerning the central questions in the Finnish special education system. On the basis of the LEA s survey it became even clearer that the legislation, funding system and curriculum are tightly linked together. The following LEA s took part into the writing process Espoo, Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Tampere, Turku and Vantaa. The report was hand over to the Ministry of Education at 18.8.2006. After the delivery the Ministry organized special education development group meetings 17 times in the year 2007. The result of the LEA s report and the development meetings was a new Special Education Strategy 2007. I am observing the dialogue between administrational levels in governmental institutions change process. The research is a content analysis where I compare the Erityistä tukea tarvitsevan oppilaan opetuksen järjestämisen uudistaminen osana yhtenäistä perusopetusta- kohti laatua ja joustavuutta (The renewal of the organization of teaching for student with special educational needs as part of unified education for all - towards quality and flexibility) document to Erityisopetuksen strategia (Special education strategy) document. My aim was to find out how much of their own interests have the LEA s been able to integrate into the official governmental documentation. The data has been organized and analyzed quantitatively with Macros created as additional parts in Microsoft Excel software. The document material has also been arranged manually on sentence based categorization into an Excel matrix. The results have been theoretically viewed from the special education reform dialogue perspective, and from the angle of the change process of a bureaucratic institution. My target has been to provide a new viewpoint to the change of special education system as a bureaucratic institution. The education system has traditionally been understood as a machine bureaucracy. By the review provided in my pro gradu analysis it seems however that the administrational system in special education is more of a postmodern network bureaucracy than machine bureaucracy. The system appears to be constructed by overlapping, crossing and complex networks where things are been decided. These kinds of networks are called "governance networks . It seems that the governmental administrational - and politic levels, the third sector actors and other society s operators are mixed in decision making.

Opaskoirien pentutestin perinnölliset tunnusluvut

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää Opaskoirakoulun pentutestissä mitattavien ominaisuuksien perinnölliset tunnusluvut sekä niihin vaikuttavat tekijät. Aineisto koostui Opaskoirakoululla vuosina 1988–2008 pentutestin suorittaneista koirista (900 kpl). Suomen Kennelliito ry:stä saatiin sukulaisuusaineisto, johon täydennettiin rekisteriin kuulumattomat koirat. Tutkittavia ominaisuuksia oli 11 kappaletta: käyttäytyminen sylissä, luoksetulo, kontakti, taistelu, alistus, palautuminen, ääniherkkyys, käyttäytyminen pöydällä, seuraaminen, toimintakyky ja hermorakenne. Kaikki ominaisuudet arvostellaan pentutestissä valmiiden käyttäytymismallien mukaisesti. Aineiston esikäsittelyyn ja alustaviin analyyseihin käytettiin Microsoft Office Excel 2003-ohjelmaa sekä WSYS-L ja XWSYS-ohjelmistoja. Kiinteiden tekijöiden luokitteluun ja merkitsevyyden testaamiseen käytettiin WSYS-L ja XWSYS-ohjelmistoa. Varianssikomponentit sekä periytymisasteet laskettiin Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML)-menetelmällä käyttäen VCE6-ohjelmistoa Tutkittujen ominaisuuksien periytymisasteiden arviot olivat alhaisia tai keskinkertaisia (h2= 0,07-0,39). Korkeimmat periytymisasteiden arviot olivat ominaisuuksilla alistus (0,39), toimintakyky (0,32) ja kontakti (0,31). Ominaisuuksien väliset geneettiset korrelaatiot olivat pääosin positiivisia. Poikkeuksen muodosti ominaisuus alistus, joka oli negatiivisesti korreloitunut palautumisen (-0,47) ja seuraamisen (-0,64) kanssa. Osa ominaisuuksista oli erittäin voimakkaasti korreloituneita (r > 0,8). Fenotyyppiset korrelaatiot vaihtelivat välillä 0,11–0,73 ja olivat geneettisiä korrelaatioita matalampia. Tämän tutkimuksen perusteella ominaisuuksissa käyttäytyminen sylissä, luoksetulo, kontakti, taistelu, alistus, ääniherkkyys, käyttäytyminen pöydällä ja toimintakyky on geneettistä vaihtelua ja sen perusteella niitä on mahdollista muuttaa haluttuun suuntaan jalostuksen avulla.

Accurate mass-based analysis in human sport doping control : Application of liquid chromatography - time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Human sport doping control analysis is a complex and challenging task for anti-doping laboratories. The List of Prohibited Substances and Methods, updated annually by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), consists of hundreds of chemically and pharmacologically different low and high molecular weight compounds. This poses a considerable challenge for laboratories to analyze for them all in a limited amount of time from a limited sample aliquot. The continuous expansion of the Prohibited List obliges laboratories to keep their analytical methods updated and to research new available methodologies. In this thesis, an accurate mass-based analysis employing liquid chromatography - time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOFMS) was developed and validated to improve the power of doping control analysis. New analytical methods were developed utilizing the high mass accuracy and high information content obtained by TOFMS to generate comprehensive and generic screening procedures. The suitability of LC-TOFMS for comprehensive screening was demonstrated for the first time in the field with mass accuracies better than 1 mDa. Further attention was given to generic sample preparation, an essential part of screening analysis, to rationalize the whole work flow and minimize the need for several separate sample preparation methods. Utilizing both positive and negative ionization allowed the detection of almost 200 prohibited substances. Automatic data processing produced a Microsoft Excel based report highlighting the entries fulfilling the criteria of the reverse data base search (retention time (RT), mass accuracy, isotope match). The quantitative performance of LC-TOFMS was demonstrated with morphine, codeine and their intact glucuronide conjugates. After a straightforward sample preparation the compounds were analyzed directly without the need for hydrolysis, solvent transfer, evaporation or reconstitution. The hydrophilic interaction technique (HILIC) provided good chromatographic separation, which was critical for the morphine glucuronide isomers. A wide linear range (50-5000 ng/ml) with good precision (RSD<10%) and accuracy (±10%) was obtained, showing comparable or better performance to other methods used. In-source collision-induced dissociation (ISCID) allowed confirmation analysis with three diagnostic ions with a median mass accuracy of 1.08 mDa and repeatable ion ratios fulfilling WADA s identification criteria. The suitability of LC-TOFMS for screening of high molecular weight doping agents was demonstrated with plasma volume expanders (PVE), namely dextran and hydroxyethylstarch (HES). Specificity of the assay was improved, since interfering matrix compounds were removed by size exclusion chromatography (SEC). ISCID produced three characteristic ions with an excellent mean mass accuracy of 0.82 mDa at physiological concentration levels. In summary, by combining TOFMS with a proper sample preparation and chromatographic separation, the technique can be utilized extensively in doping control laboratories for comprehensive screening of chemically different low and high molecular weight compounds, for quantification of threshold substances and even for confirmation. LC-TOFMS rationalized the work flow in doping control laboratories by simplifying the screening scheme, expediting reporting and minimizing the analysis costs. Therefore LC-TOFMS can be exploited widely in doping control, and the need for several separate analysis techniques is reduced.