Climate driven changes in temperature, pH and food quality : effects on copepod reproduction

Increased emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere are causing an anthropogenic climate change. The resulting global warming challenges the ability of organisms to adapt to the new temperature conditions. However, warming is not the only major threat. In marine environments, dissolution of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere causes a decrease in surface water pH, the so called ocean acidification. The temperature and acidification effects can interact, and create even larger problems for the marine flora and fauna than either of the effects would cause alone. I have used Baltic calanoid copepods (crustacean zooplankton) as my research object and studied their growth and stress responses using climate predictions projected for the next century. I have studied both direct temperature and pH effects on copepods, and indirect effects via their food: the changing phytoplankton spring bloom composition and toxic cyanobacterium. The main aims of my thesis were: 1) to find out how warming and acidification combined with a toxic cyanobacterium affect copepod reproductive success (egg production, egg viability, egg hatching success, offspring development) and oxidative balance (antioxidant capacity, oxidative damage), and 2) to reveal the possible food quality effects of spring phytoplankton bloom composition dominated by diatoms or dinoflagellates on reproducing copepods (egg production, egg hatching, RNA:DNA ratio). The two copepod genera used, Acartia sp. and Eurytemora affinis are the dominating mesozooplankton taxa (0.2 – 2 mm) in my study area the Gulf of Finland. The 20°C temperature seems to be within the tolerance limits of Acartia spp., because copepods can adapt to the temperature phenotypically by adjusting their body size. Copepods are also able to tolerate a pH decrease of 0.4 from present values, but the combination of warm water and decreased pH causes problems for them. In my studies, the copepod oxidative balance was negatively influenced by the interaction of these two environmental factors, and egg and nauplii production were lower at 20°C and lower pH, than at 20°C and ambient pH. However, presence of toxic cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena improved the copepod oxidative balance and helped to resist the environmental stress, in question. In addition, adaptive maternal effects seem to be an important adaptation mechanism in a changing environment, but it depends on the condition of the female copepod and her diet how much she can invest in her offspring. I did not find systematic food quality difference between diatoms and dinoflagellates. There are both good and bad diatom and dinoflagellate species. Instead, the dominating species in the phytoplankton bloom composition has a central role in determining the food quality, although copepods aim at obtaining as a balanced diet as possible by foraging on several species. If the dominating species is of poor quality it can cause stress when ingested, or lead to non-optimal foraging if rejected. My thesis demonstrates that climate change induced water temperature and pH changes can cause problems to Baltic Sea copepod communities. However, their resilience depends substantially on their diet, and therefore the response of phytoplankton to the environmental changes. As copepods are an important link in pelagic food webs, their future success can have far reaching consequences, for example on fish stocks.

New perspectives on the melanocortins and their cardiovascular effects: Potential implications for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases with melanocortin analogues

The melanocortin peptides, including melanocyte-stimulating hormones, α-, β- and γ-MSH, are derived from the precursor peptide proopiomelanocortin and mediate their biological actions via five different melanocortin receptors, named from MC1 to MC5. Melanocortins have been implicated in the central regulation of energy balance and cardiovascular functions, but their local effects, via yet unidentified sites of action, in the vasculature, and their therapeutic potential in major vascular pathologies remain unclear. Therefore, the main aim of this thesis was to characterise the role of melanocortins in circulatory regulation, and to investigate whether targeting of the melanocortin system by pharmacological means could translate into therapeutic benefits in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension. In experiments designed to elucidate the local effects of α-MSH on vascular tone, it was found that α-MSH improved blood vessel relaxation via a nitric oxide (NO)-dependent mechanism without directly contracting or relaxing blood vessels. Furthermore, α-MSH was shown to regulate the expression and function of endothelial NO synthase in cultured human endothelial cells via melanocortin 1 receptors. In keeping with the vascular protective role, pharmacological treatment of mice with α-MSH analogues displayed therapeutic efficacy in conditions associated with vascular dysfunction such as obesity. Furthermore, α-MSH analogues elicited marked diuretic and natriuretic responses, which together with their vascular effects, seemed to provide protection against sodium retention and blood pressure elevation in experimental models of hypertension. In conclusion, the present results identify novel effects for melanocortins in the local control of vascular function, pointing to the potential future use of melanocortin analogues in the treatment of cardiovascular pathologies.

Russia’s WTO membership and its effects on global wood sourcing

The aim of the thesis was to find the effects of World Trade Organization and economic integration on the wood sourcing process from Russia to Finland and to the European Union. Also, the fo reign direct investments to Russian forest industry are studied within the WTO and Economic integration framework. Qualitative interviews were carried out as primary data (total of 5 interviews). Research studies and articles regarding the same subject were used as secondary data. Results show that companies may increase their volumes of imported timber from Russia due to the reduction of custom tariffs. Russian companies are becoming more productive, but there are still several problems with legislation, infrastructure, availability and harvesting profitability in some areas. These suggest that sourcing process may not be profitable in the future. The Russian forest industry sector will not gain significant foreign direct investments in the recent years because of the infrastructure and overall atmosphere of investments. Forest industry is not seen as profitable enough. The demand for cellulose and paper in Russia is not increasing fast enough and the cost inflation is cutting the profits made from producing in Russia.

Paperitehtaan sähkötasehallinta ja sähkön kysyntäjousto energiakustannusten hallinnassa

Paperiteollisuus on energiaintensiivistä teollisuutta, jossa on tehty pitkään työtä tuotantoprosessien energiatehokkuuden parantamiseksi. Paperitehtaan energiakustannuksiin voidaan kuitenkin vaikuttaa myös sähkötaseen hallinnalla ja sähkön kysyntäjouston avulla. Tehtaan seuraavan vuorokauden sähkön kulutus pyritään ennustamaan mahdollisimman tarkasti, mutta esimerkiksi paperitehtaan häiriötilanteissa sähkötase poikkeaa ennustetusta. Tällöin sähkötasetta voidaan korjata ensisijaisesti sähkön jälkimarkkinoiden eli Elbas- kaupankäynnin avulla. Ellei tasetta saada korjattua sähkön jälkimarkkinoilla tase-ero korjataan tasesähköllä, jonka hinta muodostuu säätösähkömarkkinoilla. Tasesähkön hinta saattaa poiketa Elspot- markkinahinnasta voimakkaasti, jolloin tase-erosta joko hyödytään tai hävitään kustannusmielessä. Tämän työn tarkoituksena on selvittää sähkötasehallinnan parantamisen ja sähkön kysyntäjouston vaikutukset paperitehtaan energiakustannuksiin. Työssä tutkittiin tehtaan sähkö-tasehallinnan nykytilannetta ja selvitettiin tase-erojen kustannusvaikuttavuutta. Lisäksi työssä luotiin ajomalleja sähkön kysyntäjouston toteuttamiselle massatehtaan eri tuotantoprosesseille, sekä määritettiin rajahintoja seuraavan vuorokauden energiaennusteeseen. Onnistunut energiaennuste perustuu paperitehtaan käynnin tarkkoihin ja ajankohtaisiin lähtötietoihin. Sähkötaseen poikkeamiin voidaan puolestaan varautua paremmin, kun informaatio tehtaan prosessien alasajosta tulee voimalaitoksen tietoon mahdollisimman aikaisin. Sähkötaseen poikkeamien hallinta voidaan tehdä, joko Elbas- kaupan tai tasesähkön avulla. Ajankohdasta ja tasepoikkeaman volyymista riippuen täytyy tehdä valinta, kumpi vaihtoehdoista on kustannusmielessä kannattavampi. Paperitehtaan eri prosesseille luoduilla ajomalleilla saatiin esiin huomattava säästöpotentiaali. Ajomallien noudattaminen vaatii suunnitelmallista tuotannon hallintaa ja sähkön Elspot- hinnan käyttäytymisen säännöllistä seurantaa. Seuraavan vuorokauden rajahintatietojen määrittämisen pohjalta voidaan arvioida, millä Elspot- hinnalla sähkön myynti muuttuu paperin tuotantoa kannattavammaksi.

Practical Data Curation and Management for Institutional Repositories

Workshop at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Biogas production in regional integrated biodegradable waste treatment – Possibilities for improving energy performance and reducing GHG emissions

The greatest threat that the biodegradable waste causes on the environment is the methane produced in landfills by the decomposition of this waste. The Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) aims to reduce the landfilling of biodegradable waste. In Finland, 31% of biodegradable municipal waste ended up into landfills in 2012. The pressure of reducing disposing into landfills is greatly increased by the forthcoming landfill ban on biodegradable waste in Finland. There is a need to discuss the need for increasing the utilization of biodegradable waste in regional renewable energy production to utilize the waste in a way that allows the best possibilities to reduce GHG emissions. The objectives of the thesis are: (1) to find important factors affecting renewable energy recovery possibilities from biodegradable waste, (2) to determine the main factors affecting the GHG balance of biogas production system and how to improve it and (3) to find ways to define energy performance of biogas production systems and what affects it. According to the thesis, the most important factors affecting the regional renewable energy possibilities from biodegradable waste are: the amount of available feedstock, properties of feedstock, selected utilization technologies, demand of energy and material products and the economic situation of utilizing the feedstocks. The biogas production by anaerobic digestion was seen as the main technology for utilizing biodegradable waste in agriculturally dense areas. The main reason for this is that manure was seen as the main feedstock, and it can be best utilized with anaerobic digestion, which can produce renewable energy while maintaining the spreading of nutrients on arable land. Biogas plants should be located close to the heat demand that would be enough to receive the produced heat also in the summer months and located close to the agricultural area where the digestate could be utilized. Another option for biogas use is to upgrade it to biomethane, which would require a location close to the natural gas grid. The most attractive masses for biogas production are municipal and industrial biodegradable waste because of gate fees the plant receives from them can provide over 80% of the income. On the other hand, directing gate fee masses for small-scale biogas plants could make dispersed biogas production more economical. In addition, the combustion of dry agricultural waste such as straw would provide a greater energy amount than utilizing them by anaerobic digestion. The complete energy performance assessment of biogas production system requires the use of more than one system boundary. These can then be used in calculating output–input ratios of biogas production, biogas plant, biogas utilization and biogas production system, which can be used to analyze different parts of the biogas production chain. At the moment, it is difficult to compare different biogas plants since there is a wide variation of definitions for energy performance of biogas production. A more consistent way of analyzing energy performance would allow comparing biogas plants with each other and other recovery systems and finding possible locations for further improvement. Both from the GHG emission balance and energy performance point of view, the energy consumption at the biogas plant was the most significant factor. Renewable energy use to fulfil the parasitic energy demand at the plant would be the most efficient way to reduce the GHG emissions at the plant. The GHG emission reductions could be increased by upgrading biogas to biomethane and displacing natural gas or petrol use in cars when compared to biogas CHP production. The emission reductions from displacing mineral fertilizers with digestate were seen less significant, and the greater N2O emissions from spreading digestate might surpass the emission reductions from displacing mineral fertilizers.

VVER-440 Thermal Hydraulics as a Computer Code Validation Challenge

This thesis concentrates on the validation of a generic thermal hydraulic computer code TRACE under the challenges of the VVER-440 reactor type. The code capability to model the VVER-440 geometry and thermal hydraulic phenomena specific to this reactor design has been examined and demonstrated acceptable. The main challenge in VVER-440 thermal hydraulics appeared in the modelling of the horizontal steam generator. The major challenge here is not in the code physics or numerics but in the formulation of a representative nodalization structure. Another VVER-440 specialty, the hot leg loop seals, challenges the system codes functionally in general, but proved readily representable. Computer code models have to be validated against experiments to achieve confidence in code models. When new computer code is to be used for nuclear power plant safety analysis, it must first be validated against a large variety of different experiments. The validation process has to cover both the code itself and the code input. Uncertainties of different nature are identified in the different phases of the validation procedure and can even be quantified. This thesis presents a novel approach to the input model validation and uncertainty evaluation in the different stages of the computer code validation procedure. This thesis also demonstrates that in the safety analysis, there are inevitably significant uncertainties that are not statistically quantifiable; they need to be and can be addressed by other, less simplistic means, ultimately relying on the competence of the analysts and the capability of the community to support the experimental verification of analytical assumptions. This method completes essentially the commonly used uncertainty assessment methods, which are usually conducted using only statistical methods.

JNK regulates dendrite and spine architecture in the central nervous system influencing spatial learning and motor tasks

JNK1 is a MAP-kinase that has proven a significant player in the central nervous system. It regulates brain development and the maintenance of dendrites and axons. Several novel phosphorylation targets of JNK1 were identified in a screen performed in the Coffey lab. These proteins were mainly involved in the regulation of neuronal cytoskeleton, influencing the dynamics and stability of microtubules and actin. These structural proteins form the dynamic backbone for the elaborate architecture of the dendritic tree of a neuron. The initiation and branching of the dendrites requires a dynamic interplay between the cytoskeletal building blocks. Both microtubules and actin are decorated by associated proteins which regulate their dynamics. The dendrite-specific, high molecular weight microtubule associated protein 2 (MAP2) is an abundant protein in the brain, the binding of which stabilizes microtubules and influences their bundling. Its expression in non-neuronal cells induces the formation of neurite-like processes from the cell body, and its function is highly regulated by phosphorylation. JNK1 was shown to phosphorylate the proline-rich domain of MAP2 in vivo in a previous study performed in the group. Here we verify three threonine residues (T1619, T1622 and T1625) as JNK1 targets, the phosphorylation of which increases the binding of MAP2 to microtubules. This binding stabilizes the microtubules and increases process formation in non-neuronal cells. Phosphorylation-site mutants were engineered in the lab. The non-phosphorylatable mutant of MAP2 (MAP2- T1619A, T1622A, T1625A) in these residues fails to bind microtubules, while the pseudo-phosphorylated form, MAP2- T1619D, T1622D, Thr1625D, efficiently binds and induces process formation even without the presence of active JNK1. Ectopic expression of the MAP2- T1619D, T1622D, Thr1625D in vivo in mouse brain led to a striking increase in the branching of cortical layer 2/3 (L2/3) pyramidal neurons, compared to MAP2-WT. The dendritic complexity defines the receptive field of a neuron and dictates the output to the postsynaptic cells. Previous studies in the group indicated altered dendrite architecture of the pyramidal neurons in the Jnk1-/- mouse motor cortex. Here, we used Lucifer Yellow loading and Sholl analysis of neurons in order to study the dendritic branching in more detail. We report a striking, opposing effect in the absence of Jnk1 in the cortical layers 2/3 and 5 of the primary motor cortex. The basal dendrites of pyramidal neurons close to the pial surface at L2/3 show a reduced complexity. In contrast, the L5 neurons, which receive massive input from the L2/3 neurons, show greatly increased branching. Another novel substrate identified for JNK1 was MARCKSL1, a protein that regulates actin dynamics. It is highly expressed in neurons, but also in various cancer tissues. Three phosphorylation target residues for JNK1 were identified, and it was demonstrated that their phosphorylation reduces actin turnover and retards migration of these cells. Actin is the main cytoskeletal component in dendritic spines, the site of most excitatory synapses in pyramidal neurons. The density and gross morphology of the Lucifer Yellow filled dendrites were characterized and we show reduced density and altered morphology of spines in the motor cortex and in the hippocampal area CA3. The dynamic dendritic spines are widely considered to function as the cellular correlate during learning. We used a Morris water maze to test spatial memory. Here, the wild-type mice outperformed the knock-out mice during the acquisition phase of the experiment indicating impaired special memory. The L5 pyramidal neurons of the motor cortex project to the spinal cord and regulate the movement of distinct muscle groups. Thus the altered dendrite morphology in the motor cortex was expected to have an effect on the input-output balance in the signaling from the cortex to the lower motor circuits. A battery of behavioral tests were conducted for the wild-type and Jnk1-/- mice, and the knock-outs performed poorly compared to wild-type mice in tests assessing balance and fine motor movements. This study expands our knowledge of JNK1 as an important regulator of the dendritic fields of neurons and their manifestations in behavior.

Bacterial community structure and petroleum hydrocarbon degradation in the Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is unique by its biological, geochemical and physical features. The number of species of larger organisms is small and the species composition is distinctive. On the contrary microbial communities are diverse. Because of the low salinity levels, bacterial communities differ from the ones in the oceans. Knowing the structure of these communities better and how they response to different environmental conditions helps us to estimate how different factors affect the balance and function of the Baltic Sea ecosystem. Bacteria are the key players when it comes to natural biogeochemical processes and human-induced phenomena like eutrophication, oil spills or disposal of other harmful substances to the sea ecosystem. In this thesis, bacterial community structure in the sea surface microlayer and subsurface water of the Archipelago Sea were compared. In addition, the effect of diatom derived polyunsaturated aldehydes on bacterial community structure was studied by a mesocosm experiment. Diesel, crude oil and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degradation capacity of the Baltic Sea bacteria was studied in smaller scale microcosm experiments. In diesel oil experiments bacteria from water phase of the Archipelago Sea was studied. Sediment and iron manganese concretions collected from the Gulf of Finland were used in the crude oil and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon experiments. The amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degradation genes was measured in all of the oil degradation experiments. The results show how differences in bacterial community structure can be seen in the sea surface when compared to the subsurface waters. The mesocosm experiment demonstrated how diatom-bacteria interactions depend on other factors than diatom derived polyunsaturated aldehydes, which do not seem to have an effect on the bacterial community structure as has been suggested in earlier studies. The dominant bacterial groups in the diesel microcosms differed in samples taken from a pristine site when compared to a site with previous oil exposure in the Archipelago Sea area. Results of the study with sediment and iron-manganese concretions indicate that there are diverse bacterial communities, typical to each bottom type, inhabiting the bottoms of the Gulf of Finland capable to degrade oil and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds.