The Regulation of Skeletal and Cardiac Muscle Blood Flow in Humans. Studies by positron emission tomography with special reference to exercise, adenosine and nitric oxide

Virtually every cell and organ in the human body is dependent on a proper oxygen supply. This is taken care of by the cardiovascular system that supplies tissues with oxygen precisely according to their metabolic needs. Physical exercise is one of the most demanding challenges the human circulatory system can face. During exercise skeletal muscle blood flow can easily increase some 20-fold and its proper distribution to and within muscles is of importance for optimal oxygen delivery. The local regulation of skeletal muscle blood flow during exercise remains little understood, but adenosine and nitric oxide may take part in this process. In addition to acute exercise, long-term vigorous physical conditioning also induces changes in the cardiovasculature, which leads to improved maximal physical performance. The changes are largely central, such as structural and functional changes in the heart. The function and reserve of the heart’s own vasculature can be studied by adenosine infusion, which according to animal studies evokes vasodilation via it’s a_2A receptors. This has, however, never been addressed in humans in vivo and also studies in endurance athletes have shown inconsistent results regarding the effects of sport training on myocardial blood flow. This study was performed on healthy young adults and endurance athletes and local skeletal and cardiac muscle blod flow was measured by positron emission tomography. In the heart, myocardial blood flow reserve and adenosine A_2A receptor density, and in skeletal muscle, oxygen extraction and consumption was also measured. The role of adenosine in the control of skeletal muscle blood flow during exercise, and its vasodilator effects, were addressed by infusing competitive inhibitors and adenosine into the femoral artery. The formation of skeletal muscle nitric oxide was also inhibited by a drug, with and without prostanoid blockade. As a result and conclusion, it can be said that skeletal muscle blood flow heterogeneity decreases with increasing exercise intensity most likely due to increased vascular unit recruitment, but exercise hyperemia is a very complex phenomenon that cannot be mimicked by pharmacological infusions, and no single regulator factor (e.g. adenosine or nitric oxide) accounts for a significant part of exercise-induced muscle hyperemia. However, in the present study it was observed for the first time in humans that nitric oxide is not only important regulator of the basal level of muscle blood flow, but also oxygen consumption, and together with prostanoids affects muscle blood flow and oxygen consumption during exercise. Finally, even vigorous endurance training does not seem to lead to supranormal myocardial blood flow reserve, and also other receptors than A_2A mediate the vasodilator effects of adenosine. In respect to cardiac work, atheletes heart seems to be luxuriously perfused at rest, which may result from reduced oxygen extraction or impaired efficiency due to pronouncedly enhanced myocardial mass developed to excel in strenuous exercise.

Toimintajärjestelmä LVI-urakointiin

Tässä työssä suunniteltiin toimintajärjestelmän rakentamista pieneen Lappeenrantalaiseen ilmastointiasennus yritykseen. Toimintajärjestelmän laatujärjestelmä suunniteltiin toteutettavaksi ISO 9000- standardin muotoon. ISO 9000- standardin yleiskielellä selitetyt asiat käännettiin yrityksen tarpeita vastaavaksi. Työ tehtiin Ilmastointiasennus Partanen Oy:n tarpeisiin ja työ rajattiin toimintajärjestelmän suunnitteluksi. Tämän työn pohjalta tullaan rakentamaan varsinainen toimintajärjestelmä lähitulevaisuudessa. Työn alustana käytetty ISO 9000- standardi mahdollistaa myös laatujärjestelmän standardisoinnin.

DISAGREEING OVER EVALUATIVES: PREFERENCE, NORMATIVE AND MORAL DISCOURSE

Abstract Why would we argue about taste, norms or morality when we know that these topics are relative to taste preferences, systems of norms or values to which we are committed? Yet, disagreements over these topics are common in our evaluative discourses. I will claim that the motives to discuss rely on our attitudes towards the standard held by the speakers in each domain of discourse, relating different attitudes to different motives -mainly, conviction and correction. These notions of attitudes and motives will allow me to claim that different domains of evaluative discourse have a different distribution of disagreements driven by them.

Sewage Sludge Electro-Dewatering

Original sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) usually has a poor dewaterability. Conventionally, mechanical dewatering methods are used to increase the dry solids (DS) content of the sludge. However, sludge dewatering is an important economic factor in the operation of WWTPs, high water content in the final sludge cake is commonly related to an increase in transport and disposal costs. Electro‐dewatering could be a potential technique to reduce the water content of the final sludge cake, but the parameters affecting the performance of electro‐dewatering and the quality of the resulting sludge cake, as well as removed water, are not sufficiently well known. In this research, non‐pressure and pressure‐driven experiments were set up to investigate the effect of various parameters and experimental strategies on electro‐dewatering. Migration behaviour of organic compounds and metals was also studied. Application of electrical field significantly improved the dewatering performance in comparison to experiments without electric field. Electro‐dewatering increased the DS content of the sludge from 15% to 40 % in non‐pressure applications and from 8% to 41% in pressure‐driven applications. DS contents were significantly higher than typically obtained with mechanical dewatering techniques in wastewater treatment plant. The better performance of the pressure‐driven dewatering was associated to a higher current density at the beginning and higher electric field strength later on in the experiments. The applied voltage was one of the major parameters affecting dewatering time, water removal rate and DS content of the sludge cake. By decreasing the sludge loading rate, higher electrical field strength was established between the electrodes, which has a positive effect on an increase in DS content of the final sludge cake. However interrupted voltage application had anegative impact on dewatering in this study, probably because the off‐times were too long. Other factors affecting dewatering performance were associated to the original sludge characteristics and sludge conditioning. Anaerobic digestion of the sludge with high pH buffering capacity, polymer addition and freeze/thaw conditioning had a positive impact on dewatering. The impact of pH on electro‐dewatering was related to the surface charge of the particles measured as zeta‐potential. One of the differences between electro‐dewatering and mechanical dewatering technologies is that electro‐dewatering actively removes ionic compounds from the sludge. In this study, dissolution and migration of organic compounds (such as shortchain fatty acids), macro metals (Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe) and trace metals (Ni, Mn, Zn, Cr) was investigated. The migration of the metals depended on the fractionation and electrical field strength. These compounds may have both negative and positive impacts on the reuse and recycling of the sludge and removed water. Based on the experimental results of this study, electro‐dewatering process can be optimized in terms of dewatering time, desired DS content, power consumption and chemical usage.

Hippokampuksen theta-aktiivisuuden rooli klassisessa silmäniskuehdollistamisessa kaneilla

Miriam S. Nokian väitöskirja The role of the hippocampal theta activity in classical eyeblink conditioning in rabbits (Jyväskylän yliopisto 2009).

Tritiumin kulkeutumisreitit ja tritiuminventaari Loviisan voimalaitoksella

Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena oli selvittää Loviisan voimalaitoksen vesijärjestelmien tritiuminventaari sekä tritiumin kulkeutuminen eri järjestelmissä. Kulkeutumisreittien kartoittamisessa keskityttiin erityisesti kaasujenkäsittely- ja ilmastointiprosesseihin, ilmapäästöjen lähteen selvittämiseksi. Työssä perehdyttiin tritiumin tuottoon ja päästöihin Loviisan VVER- tyyppisessä ydinvoimalaitoksessa. Lisäksi esiteltiin selvitystä varten tarkasteltavat voimalaitoksen vesiilmastointi- ja kaasujenkäsittelyjärjestelmät. Työssä esiteltiin myös tritiumpäästöjä sekä tritiumin mittausmenetelmiä Loviisan voimalaitoksella. Tritiuminventaarin selvittämiseksi otettiin vesinäytteitä niiden järjestelmien säiliöistä, joiden oli tunnistettu sisältävän tritiumpitoisia vesiä. Tritiumin kulkeutumisreittien selvittämiseksi vesinäytteiden lisäksi otettiin ilmasta ja eri järjestelmistä näytteitä tritiumkerääjillä. Tehtyjen mittausten perusteella määritettiin Loviisan voimalaitoksen tritiuminventaari. Tarkasteltujen järjestelmien sisältämä tritiuminventaari on alle puolet normaalista vuotuisesta tritiumvesipäästöstä eikä sen vuoksi aiheuta toimenpiteitä käytöstä poistoa ajatellen. Ilmapäästöjen tritiumin kulkeutumisreittien määrityksessä tunnistettiin pääreiteiksi TL-ilmastoinnit. Kaasujenkäsittelyjärjestelmien osuus ilmapäästöjen tritiumista oli huomattavasti pienempi.

Benefits of automated acclimatization during the pre-milking phase of lactating girolando cows

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the automated acclimatization effects during pre-milking of cows on thermal conditioning, physiology, milk production and cost-benefit of the automated adiabatic evaporative cooling system (AECS). The treatments 20; 30; 40 min and control consisted of exposure time of pre-milking cows to the automated AECS. Sixteen cows were used with an average daily milk yield of 19 kg, distributed in a 4 x 4 Latin square design. The Tukey's test (P<0.05) was used to compare the means. The environmental variables, dry bulb temperature (DBT, ºC) and relative humidity (RH, %), were recorded every minute, which allowed the determination of the system efficiency through the Temperature and Humidity Index (THI). The respiratory rate (RR), rectal temperature (RT) and temperature of the coat (TC) were measured before and after the acclimatization. The 40 min treatment kept the environmental variables and the comfort indexes within recommended limits. The physiological variables (RR, RT and TC) were lower in the 40 min treatment and reflected positively on milk production, which increased 3.66% compared to the control treatment. The system was profitable, having a 43 days return on investment and a monthly revenue increase of R$ 1,992.67.

Water absorbent polymer in sugarcane crop

The water absorbent polymer effect on vegetative growth and production of Theoretical Recovery Sugar (TRS) of sugarcane cv. RB 86 7515 was evaluated on two field tests installed in randomized blocks, with four treatments and five repetitions. The polymer doses were 0; 4; 8 and 12 g m-1 of furrow (test 1) and 0; 1.4; 2.8 and 4.2 g m-1 of furrow (test 2). Test 1 (dec/2007 to may/2009) was implanted in a Distroferric Red Argisol soil in Presidente Prudente - State of São Paulo (SP), Brazil; and the test 2 (Aug/2008 to Aug/2009) was implanted in a Red Yellow Argisol soil in Lucélia - State of São Paulo (SP), Brazil. In test 2, there were no significant differences for any evaluated parameters. In both tests the polymer doses equal to or less than 4 g m-1 of furrow showed no significant effect on the evaluated parameters. In test 1, the polymer doses of 8 and 12 g m-1 of the conditioning polymer increased the number of tillers in stage II of development and led to the largest amount of straw. The gross income per hectare has positive relation with the polymer doses. The polymer had no significant effect on the sugarcane stems productivity and technological parameters.

Mechanical properties of castor beans subject to different drying temperatures aiming to disrupt the bean coat

In castor oil extraction process, the bean coat is abrasive to the equipment and releases substances that modify the oil color, reducing its quality. A potential solution would be to run the extraction by compressing only the endosperm. Due to lack of information, the objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of forced air drying at 40, 60, 80 and 100 ºC and farmyard drying, in the mechanical properties of the beans, aiming to break the bean coat. Castor beans were subjected to compression tests, in two perpendicular directions, at a strain rate of 0.6 mm.s-1. Average values of force, deformation energy, strain, all at rupture, and stiffness were used to evaluate the effects of dehydration. It was observed that the heat treatments did not alter the mechanical properties of castor beans, the strain and stiffness values discriminate the differences between the directions and had the lowest coefficients of variation. It was concluded that forced air drying, more costly than farmyard drying, does not bring benefits to the decortication. However, regardless the heat treatment used, the mechanical stress lengthwise is the most suitable to promote decortication.

Corn productivity in function of surface application of lime in differents management systems and cultural preparation

The evaluation of technologies employed at the agricultural production system such as crop rotation and soil preparation, both associated with crop-livestock integration, is crucial. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the incorporation of lime for three no-tillage systems and cultural managements in system of crop-livestock integration, with emphasis on corn grain yield. The experiment was conducted from January 2003 to April 2005 at Selvíria city, MS, in Dystroferric Red Latosol, clay texture. The experimental design was randomized blocks with split plots consisted of three main treatments, aimed the soil physics conditioning and the incorporation of lime: PD - No-no-tillage; CM - minimum no-tillage, and PC - conventional no-tillage; and of two secondary treatments related to the management: rotation and crop succession, with four replications. Data on agronomic traits of maize were analyzed: plant height, stem diameter, height of the first spike insertion, 100 grains weight and grain yield. The results showed that the maize produced under the system of crop-livestock integration is quite feasible, showing that grain yields are comparable to averages in the region and the different soil physical conditioning and incorporation of lime did not influence the corn yield as well as the cultural managements, rotation and succession, did not affect the maize crop behavior after two years of cultivation.

Ion selective electrodes for determination of low and ultra low concentrations of lead (II) in natural waters

Att övervaka förekomsten av giftiga komponenter i naturliga vattendrag är nödvändigt för människans välmående. Eftersom halten av föroreningar i naturens ekosystem bör hållas möjligast låg, pågår en ständig jakt efter kemiska analysmetoder med allt lägre detektionsgränser. I dagens läge görs miljöanalyser med dyr och sofistikerad instrumentering som kräver mycket underhåll. Jonselektiva elektroder har flera goda egenskaper som t.ex. bärbarhet, låg energiförbrukning, och dessutom är de relativt kostnadseffektiva. Att använda jonselektiva elektroder vid miljöanalyser är möjligt om deras känslighetsområde kan utvidgas genom att sänka deras detektionsgränser. För att sänka detektionsgränsen för Pb(II)-selektiva elektroder undersöktes olika typer av jonselektiva membran som baserades på polyakrylat-kopolymerer, PVC och PbS/Ag2S. Fast-fas elektroder med membran av PbS/Ag2S är i allmänhet enklare och mer robusta än konventionella elektroder vid spårämnesanalys av joniska föroreningar. Fast-fas elektrodernas detektionsgräns sänktes i detta arbete med en nyutvecklad galvanostatisk polariseringsmetod och de kunde sedan framgångsrikt användas för kvantitativa bestämningar av bly(II)-halter i miljöprov som hade samlats in i den finska skärgården nära tidigare industriområden. Analysresultaten som erhölls med jonselektiva elektroder bekräftades med andra analytiska metoder. Att sänka detektionsgränsen m.hj.a. den nyutvecklade polariseringsmetoden möjliggör bestämning av låga och ultra-låga blyhalter som inte kunde nås med klassisk potentiometri. Den verkliga fördelen med att använda dessa blyselektiva elektroder är möjligheten att utföra mätningar i obehandlade miljöprov trots närvaron av fasta partiklar vilket inte är möjligt att göra med andra analysmetoder. Jag väntar mig att den nyutvecklade polariseringsmetoden kommer att sätta en trend i spårämnesanalys med jonselektiva elektroder.

Täyteainepitoisuuden ja retentioainesysteemin optimointi

Työssä tutkittiin tarrapaperikoneen pohjapaperin täyteainepitoisuuden nostamisen vaikutusta koneen ajettavuuteen ja paperin ominaisuuksiin. Työn tavoitteena oli löytää ne prosessitekniset keinot, joilla voitaisiin saavuttaa raskaiden pintapapereiden tavoitetuhkatasot. Lisäksi pyrittiin optimoimaan retentioaineiden annokset ja ajotavat korkeilla tuhkatasoilla. Kirjallisuusosassa tarkasteltiin pinta- ja kolloidikemian perusteita sekä täyteainepitoisuuden vaikutusta paperin ominaisuuksiin ja prosessoitavuuteen. Lisäk-si syvennyttiin märänpään kemiaan selvittämällä mm. kalsiumkarbonaatin vesiliuoskemiaa ja erilaisten retentioaineiden ominaisuuksia ja niiden reaktiomekanismeja. Työn kokeellinen osa koostui kahdesta koeajosta. Ensimmäisessä koeajossa selvitettiin täyteainesaostumien muodostumismekanismeja ja paperikoneen ajettavuutta täyteainepitoisuutta nostettaessa yli raskaiden pintapapereiden tavoitetasojen. Saadut tulokset osoittivat, että märänpään kemiantila pysyi koeajon aikana muuttumattomana eikä mitään saostumien muodostumista havaittu. Täyteainepitoisuudessa päästiin 3 % yli lajikohtaisen tuhkatavoitteen ilman ajettavuusongelmia. Toisessa koeajossa keskityttiin erityisesti märänpään retentioaineiden määrien optimointiin ja paperin laatuominaisuuksiin. Koeajossa täyteainepitoisuutta nostettiin yli tavoitetasojen. Saadut tulokset osoittivat, että täyteainepitoisuuden nostolla ei ollut vaikutusta paperin laatuun tai paperikoneen ajettavuuteen. Massatärkkelyksen avulla pystyttiin korvaamaan kationisen polymeerin retentiovaste ja kompensoimaan täyteainepitoisuuden noston myötä tullut paperin lujuuksien lasku. Koeajoissa ja prosessin seurannassa tuli ilmi myös useita eri tekijöitä, joilla oli vaikutusta retentioon, retentioaineiden tehoon ja prosessin stabiilisuuteen. Tehdyistä yksittäisistä havainnoista on hyötyä pyrittäessä ymmärtämään märänpään prosessin tilaa ja sen vaikutusta paperikoneen ajettavuuteen. Työ saavutti sille asetetut tavoitteet ja sen ansiosta paperikoneen märänpään raaka-aineiden ja kemikaalien syöttösuhteita pystyttiin muuttamaan tavalla, joka vähensi paperinvalmistuksen kustannuksia ilman että paperin laatuominaisuudet huononivat.

The energy efficiency of chilled beam systems in an office building at different climates

Besides the sustaining of healthy and comfortable indoor climate, the air conditioning system should also achieve for energy efficiency. The target indoor climate can be ob-tained with different systems; this study focuses on comparing the energy efficiency of different air conditioning room unit systems in different climates. The calculations are made with dynamic energy simulation software IDA ICE by comparing the indoor cli-mate and energy consumption of an office building with different systems in different climates. The aim of the study is to compare the energy efficiency of chilled beam systems to other common systems: variable air volume, fan coil and radiant ceiling systems. Besides the annual energy consumption also the sustainability of target indoor climate is compared between the simulations. Another aim is to provide conclusions to be used in the product development of the chilled beam systems’ energy efficiency. The adaptable chilled beam system and the radiant ceiling system prove to be energy efficient independent of the climate. The challenge of reliable comparison is that other systems are not able to reach the target indoor climate as well as the others. The complex calculation environment of the simulation software, made assumptions and excluding of the financial aspects complicate comparing the big picture. The results show that the development of the chilled beam systems should concentrate on energy efficient night heating, flexible demand based ventilation and capacity control and possibilities on integrating the best practices with other systems. 

Development of conditioned taste aversion to Mascagnia rigida in goats

The aim of this study was to determine whether goats could be averted from consuming Mascagnia rigida, a toxic plant found in the semiarid region of northeastern Brazil. Fourteen male goats not previously familiarized to M. rigida were randomly allocated to two treatment groups: control (treated with 5.5mL water orally by a drenching gun) and lithium group (treated with 100mg LiCl/kg body weight orally by a drenching gun). For conditioning, goats were allowed to feed on M. rigida leaves for 15 min, followed by LiCl or water administration. The time spent on eating M. rigida leaves was measured. The conditioning was repeated daily until the LiCl-treated goats stopped eating M. rigida. On the 10th, 17th, and 24th day after conditioning, extinction trials of the M. rigida aversion were performed in goats by using single-choice tests. There was no difference between the two treatment groups with respect to the consumption of M. rigida on the first day of aversion conditioning, however, controls ingested increasing amounts of the plant on consecutive conditioning days. On the second day, five out of the seven goats in the lithium group did not eat the leaves, but on the third day, all the goats in the lithium group did not ingest M. rigida. This aversion persisted throughout all evaluated days. This indicates that goats can be easily conditioned by using lithium chloride to avoid eating M. rigida temporarily.

Conditioned food aversion to Ipomoea carnea var. fistulosa induced by Baccharis coridifolia in goats

Baccharis coridifolia is a plant that induces strong conditioned food aversion in ruminants. This research aimed to induce a conditioned food aversion to Ipomoea carnea var. fistulosa in goats, using B. coridifolia as an aversive agent, and to compare the aversion induced by this plant with the aversion induced by lithium chloride (LiCl). Thirteen goats were allotted into two groups: Group 1 with six goats was averted with 175mg/kg of body weight of LiCl and Group 2 with seven goats was averted with 0,25g/kg of bw of dried B. coridifolia. All goats were averted on day 1 after the ingestion of I. carnea. The aversion procedure with LiCl or B. coridifolia in goats from Groups 1 and 2, respectively, was repeated in those goats that again consumed the plant during tests on days 2, 3, and 7. The goats of both groups were challenged in pens on 23 and 38 days after the last day of aversion and challenged in the pasture on days 11, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 27 and 29 after the last day of aversion. After this period goats were challenged every 15 days on pasture until the 330º day after the last day of aversion (7th day). Two goats from Group 1 ingested I. carnea on the first day of the pasture challenge, 4 days after the last day of aversive conditioning in the pen. In addition, another goat in Group 1 started to consume the plant on day 18, and other two goats ate it on day 20. One goat in Group 1 that had never eaten I. carnea died on day 155. One goat from Group 2 started to ingest I. carnea on the first day of the pasture challenge, and a second goat started to consume this plant on day 182. At the end of the experiment, on day 330, the other five goats averted with B. coridifolia remained averted. These results suggest that B. coridifolia or an active compound from the plant could be used to induce aversion to toxic plants. Using B. coridifolia would be cheaper and, particularly in flocks with large number of animals, possibly easier than using LiCl, which requires the use of oral gavage and qualified personnel for its implementation.