Effect of water vapour stabilization of raw materials on the quality of the inhalation product

Generation of raw materials for dry powder inhalers by different size reduction methods can be expected to influence physical and chemical properties of the powders. This can cause differences in particle size, size distribution, shape, crystalline properties, surface texture and energy. These physical properties of powders influence the behaviour of particles before and after inhalation. Materials with an amorphous surface have different surface energy compared to materials with crystalline surface. This can affect the adhesion and cohesion of particles. Changes in the surface nature of the drug particles results in a change in product performance. By stabilization of the raw materials the amorphous surfaces are converted into crystalline surfaces. The primary aim of the study was to investigate the influence of the surface properties of the inhalation particles on the quality of the product. The quality of the inhalation product is evaluated by measuring the fine particle dose (FPD). FDP is the total dose of particles with aerodynamic diameters smaller than 5,0 μm. The secondary aim of this study was to achieve the target level of the FPD and the stability of the FPD. This study was also used to evaluate the importance of the stabilization of the inhalation powders. The study included manufacturing and analysing drug substance 200 μg/dose inhalation powder batches using non-stabilized or stabilized raw materials. The inhaler formulation consisted of micronized drug substance, lactose <100μm and micronized lactose <10μm. The inhaler device was Easyhaler®. Stabilization of the raw materials was done in different relative humidity, temperature and time. Surface properties of the raw materials were studied by dynamic vapour sorption, scanning electron microscopy and three-point nitrogen adsorption technique. Particle size was studied by laser diffraction particle size analyzer. Aerodynamic particle size distribution from inhalers was measured by new generation impactor. Stabilization of all three raw materials was successful. A clear difference between nonstabilized and stabilized raw materials was achieved for drug substance and lactose <10μm. However for lactose <100μm the difference wasn’t as clear as wanted. The surface of the non-stabilized drug substance was more irregular and the particles had more roughness on the surface compared to the stabilized drug substances particles surface. The surface of the stabilized drug particles was more regular and smoother than non-stabilized. Even though a good difference between stabilized and non-stabilized raw materials was achieved, a clear evidence of the effect of the surface properties of the inhalation particles on the quality of the product was not observed. Stabilization of the raw materials didn’t lead to a higher FPD. Possible explanations for the unexpected result might be too rough conditions in the stabilization of the drug substance or smaller than wanted difference in the degree of stabilization of the main component of the product <100μm. Despite positive effects on the quality of the product were not seen there appears to be some evidence that stabilized drug substance results in smaller particle size of dry powder inhalers.

Soil hydrological properties and conditions, site preparation, and the long-term performance of planted Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) on upland forest sites in Finnish Lapland

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) forests dominate in Finnish Lapland. The need to study the effect of both soil factors and site preparation on the performance of planted Scots pine has increased due to the problems encountered in reforestation, especially on mesic and moist, formerly spruce-dominated sites. The present thesis examines soil hydrological properties and conditions, and effect of site preparation on them on 10 pine- and 10 spruce-dominated upland forest sites. Finally, the effects of both the site preparation and reforestation methods, and soil hydrology on the long-term performance of planted Scots pine are summarized. The results showed that pine and spruce sites differ significantly in their soil physical properties. Under field capacity or wetter soil moisture conditions, planted pines presumably suffer from excessive soil water and poor soil aeration on most of the originally spruce sites, but not on the pine sites. The results also suggested that site preparation affects the soil-water regime and thus prerequisites for forest growth over two decades after site preparation. High variation in the survival and mean height of planted pine was found. The study suggested that on spruce sites, pine survival is the lowest on sites that dry out slowly after rainfall events, and that height growth is the fastest on soils that reach favourable aeration conditions for root growth soon after saturation, and/or where the average air-filled porosity near field capacity is large enough for good root growth. Survival, but not mean height can be enhanced by employing intensive site preparation methods on spruce sites. On coarser-textured pine sites, site preparation methods don t affect survival, but methods affecting soil fertility, such as prescribed burning and ploughing, seem to enhance the height growth of planted Scots pines over several decades. The use of soil water content in situ as the sole criterion for sites suitable for pine reforestation was tested and found to be a relatively uncertain parameter. The thesis identified new potential soil variables, which should be tested using other data in the future.

Effects of seed origin latitude on the timing of height growth cessation and field performance of silver birch

The aim of this thesis was to increase our knowledge about the effects of seed origin on the timing of height growth cessation and field performance of silver birch from different latitudes, with special attention paid to the browsing damage by moose in young birch plantations. The effect of seed origin latitude and sowing time on timing of height growth cessation of first-year seedlings was studied in a greenhouse experiment with seven seed origins (lat. 58º - 67ºN). Variation in critical night length (CNL) for 50 % bud set within two latitudinally distant stands (60º and 67ºN) was studied in three phytotron experiments. Browsing by moose on 5-11 -year-old silver birch saplings from latitudinally different seed origins (53º - 67ºN) was studied in a field experiment in southern Finland. Yield and stem quality of 22-year-old silver birch trees of Baltic, Finnish and Russian origin (54º - 63ºN) and the effect of latitudinal seed transfers were studied in two provenance trials at Tuusula, southern and Viitasaari, central Finland. The timing of height growth cessation depended systematically on latitude of seed origin and sowing date. The more northern the seed origin, the earlier the growth cessation and the shorter the growth period. Later sowing dates delayed growth cessation but also shortened the growth period. The mean CNL of the southern ecotype was longer, 6.3 ± 0.2 h (95 % confidence interval), than that of the northern ecotype, 3.1 ± 0.3 h. Within-ecotype variance of the CNL was higher in the northern ecotype (0.484 h2) than in the southern ecotype (0.150 h2). Browsing by moose decreased with increasing latitude of seed origin and sapling height. Origins transferred from more southern latitudes were more heavily browsed than the more northern native ones. Southern Finnish seed origins produced the highest volume per unit area in central Finland (lat. 63º11'N). Estonian and north Latvian stand seed origins, and the southern Finnish plus tree origins, were the most productive ones in southern Finland (lat. 60º21'N). Latitudinal seed transfer distance had a significant effect on survival, stem volume/ha and proportion of trees with a stem defect. The relationship of both survival and stem volume/ha to the latitudinal seed transfer distance was curvilinear. Volume was increased by transferring seed from ca. 2 degrees of latitude from the south. A longer transfer from the south, and transfer from the north, decreased the yield. The proportion of trees with a stem defect increased linearly in relation to the latitudinal seed transfer distance from the south.

Modifications of surface materials and their effects on cleanability as studied by radiochemical methods

Modifications of surface materials and their effects on cleanability have important impacts in many fields of activity. In this study the primary aim was to develop radiochemical methods suitable for evaluating cleanability in material research for different environments. Another aim was to investigate the effects of surface modifications on cleanabilitity and surface properties of plastics, ceramics, concrete materials and also their coatings in conditions simulating their typical environments. Several new 51Cr and 14C labelled soils were developed for testing situations. The new radiochemical methods developed were suitable for examining different surface materials and different soil types, providing quantitative information about the amount of soil on surfaces. They also take into account soil soaked into surfaces. The supporting methods colorimetric determination and ATP bioluminescence provided semi-quantitative results. The results from the radiochemical and supporting methods partly correlated with each other. From a material research point of view numerous new materials were evaluated. These included both laboratory-made model materials and commercial products. Increasing the amount of plasticizer decreased the cleanability of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) materials. Microstructured surfaces of plastics improved the cleanability of PVC from particle soils, whereas for oil soil microstructuring reduced the cleanability. In the case of glazed ceramic materials, coatings affected the cleanability. The roughness of surfaces correlated with cleanability from particle soils and the cleanability from oil soil correlated with the contact angles. Organic particle soil was removed more efficiently from TiO2-coated ceramic surfaces after UV-radiation than without UV treatment, whereas no effect was observed on the cleanability of oil soil. Coatings improved the cleanability of concrete flooring materials intended for use in animal houses.

Performance of Ajax Applications on Mobile Devices

The Ajax approach has outgrown its origin as shorthand for "Asynchronous JavaScript + XML". Three years after its naming, Ajax has become widely adopted by web applications. Therefore, there exists a growing interest in using those applications with mobile devices. This thesis evaluates the presentational capability and measures the performance of five mobile browsers on the Apple iPhone and Nokia models N95 and N800. Performance is benchmarked through user-experienced response times as measured with a stopwatch. 12 Ajax toolkit examples and 8 production-quality applications are targeted, all except one in their real environments. In total, over 1750 observations are analyzed and included in the appendix. Communication delays are not considered; the network connection type is WLAN. Results indicate that the initial loading time of an Ajax application can often exceed 20 seconds. Content reordering may be used to partially overcome this limitation. Proper testing is the key for success: the selected browsers are capable of presenting Ajax applications if their differing implementations are overcome, perhaps using a suitable toolkit.

Expected Performance of the ATLAS Experiment - Detector, Trigger and Physics

A detailed study is presented of the expected performance of the ATLAS detector. The reconstruction of tracks, leptons, photons, missing energy and jets is investigated, together with the performance of b-tagging and the trigger. The physics potential for a variety of interesting physics processes, within the Standard Model and beyond, is examined. The study comprises a series of notes based on simulations of the detector and physics processes, with particular emphasis given to the data expected from the first years of operation of the LHC at CERN.

Performance of Finnish Mutual Funds: A Decomposition Approach

Mutual funds have increased in popularity among Finnish investors in recent years. In this study returns on domestic funds have been decomposed into several elements that measure different aspects of fund performance. The results indicate that fund managers in the long run tend to allocate fund capital between different stock categories in a profitable way. When it comes to the short term timing of their allocation decisions they are however unable to further improve overall performance. The evidence also suggests that managers possess the ability to pick above average performing stocks within the individual stock categories. During the investigated period most funds returned more than a broad benchmark index even after fees and indirect costs were taken into account.