COMP1205 LEPP: BCS Code of Conduct

Notes, slides, links

Multithread parallelization of lepp-bisection algorithms

[EN]Longest edge (nested) algorithms for triangulation refinement in two dimensions are able to produce hierarchies of quality and nested irregular triangulations as needed both for adaptive finite element methods and for multigrid methods. They can be formulated in terms of the longest edge propagation path (Lepp) and terminal edge concepts, to refine the target triangles and some related neighbors. We discuss a parallel multithread algorithm, where every thread is in charge of refining a triangle t and its associated Lepp neighbors. The thread manages a changing Lepp(t) (ordered set of increasing triangles) both to find a last longest (terminal) edge and to refine the pair of triangles sharing this edge...

Neurotoxicity of dibutyltin in aggregating brain cell cultures.

Dibutyltin (DBT) compounds are used primarily as stabilizers for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics. Small quantities can be released from PVC containers into stored liquids. The neurotoxicological potential of DBT was tested in aggregating brain cell cultures after a 10-day treatment with concentrations ranging from 10(-10) to 10(-6)m, either during an early developmental period, or during a phase of advanced maturation. Changes in protein content, DNA labelling and cell type-specific enzyme activities were measured as end points. DBT caused general cytotoxicity at 10(-6)m in both immature and differentiated cultures. At 10(-7)m, it affected the myelin content and the cholinergic neurons in both states of maturation, while GABAergic neurons remained unchanged. Astrocyte and oligodendrocyte markers were diminished at 10(-7)m of DBT exclusively in immature cultures. DBT uptake by undifferentiated and differentiated cells was similar at this concentration. Whereas trimethyltin (TMT) is known to induce gliosis and triethyltin (TET) to cause demyelination and affect GABAergic neurons, DBT appeared to be more toxic than TMT, and to present a distinct toxicological pattern.

Kestomagneettitahtikonekäytön soveltaminen paperiteollisuuden linjakäytöissä

Tässä työssä tutkitaan kestomagneettitahtimoottorin soveltuvuutta paperiteollisuuden linjakäyttöihin. Aluksi perehdytään taajuusohjatun kestomagneettitahtimoottorin häviöiden syntymiseen ja niiden jakautumiseen. Työssä esitellään kestomagneettitahtimoottorin koon valintaan vaikuttavia tekijöitä ja vertaillaan oikosulkumoottorin ja kestomagneettitahtimoottorin mitoituksen eroja. Lisäksi tarkasteltiin linjakäytön vaihtosuuntaajan ja syöttöryhmän mitoitusta, kun kestomagneettitahtimoottoria käytetään paperiteollisuuden linjakäytössä. Kestomagneettitahtimoottorin virran riippuvuutta kuormituksesta laskettiin ja mitattiin yhden kestomagneettitahtimoottorin virta eri kuormituksilla. Näin voitiin suorittaa vertailu laskennan ja todellisuuden välillä. Mittaus osoitti laskentatavan tarkkuuden. Selvityksessä löydettiin riittävän tarkka laskentatapa, jonka avulla voidaan määrittää linjakäytön invertterin koko.

Activating mutations of STAT5B and STAT3 in lymphomas derived from γδ-T or NK cells.

Lymphomas arising from NK or γδ-T cells are very aggressive diseases and little is known regarding their pathogenesis. Here we report frequent activating mutations of STAT3 and STAT5B in NK/T-cell lymphomas (n=51), γδ-T-cell lymphomas (n=43) and their cell lines (n=9) through next generation and/or Sanger sequencing. STAT5B N642H is particularly frequent in all forms of γδ-T-cell lymphomas. STAT3 and STAT5B mutations are associated with increased phosphorylated protein and a growth advantage to transduced cell lines or normal NK cells. Growth-promoting activity of the mutants can be partially inhibited by a JAK1/2 inhibitor. Molecular modelling and surface plasmon resonance measurements of the N642H mutant indicate a marked increase in binding affinity of the phosphotyrosine-Y699 with the mutant histidine. This is associated with the prolonged persistence of the mutant phosphoSTAT5B and marked increase of binding to target sites. Our findings suggest that JAK-STAT pathway inhibition may represent a therapeutic strategy.

Tanniinien ja proteiinien väliseen vuorovaikutuksen tutkimiseen käytettävät kemialliset menetelmät

Tanniinit ovat kasvien tuottamiin sekundaarimetaboliitteihin kuuluva polyfenolinen yhdisteryhmä. Maakasvit tuottavat aineenvaihdunnaassaan kahdenlaisia tanniineja: hydrolysoituvia tanniineja sekä kondensoituneita tanniineja eli proantosyanidiineja. Tanniinien on jo satojen vuosien ajan tiedetty saostavan proteiineja, mutta vasta nykyaikaisilla analyysitekniikoilla on onnistuttu tutkimaan saostureaktion aikana vallitsevia vuorovaikutuksia ja sidoksen muodostusta. Merkittävimpiä analyysitekniikoita tanniini‒proteiini -kompleksien tutkimuksessa ovat isoterminen titrauskalorimetria, massaspektrometria, turbidimetriset menetelmät sekä elektroforeettiset menetelmät. Tanniini‒proteiini -kompleksit muodostuvat olosuhteista riippuen joko kovalenttisesti tai ei-kovalenttisesti. Kovalenttiset kompleksit muodostuvat alkaalisissa ja hapettavissa olosuhteissa ja ne pysyvät todennäköisesti liukoisessa muodossa. Neutraaleissa tai heikosti happamissa olosuhteissa syntyy ei-kovalenttisia tanniini‒proteiini -komplekseja, jotka ovat herkästi saostuvia. Merkittävimipiä ei-kovalenttisia vuorovaikutuksia kompleksinmuodostuksessa ovat vetysitoutuminen ja hydrofobiset vuorovaikutukset. Liukoisten ja liukenemattomien kompleksien tutkimuksessa on usein turvauduttava eri analyysimenetelmiin, koska vain harva kokeellinen menetelmä soveltuu sekä liukoisille että saostuville analyyteille. Tämän tutkielman kirjallisessa osassa käsitellään lyhyesti tämänhetkinen käsitys ei-kovalenttisesta ja kovalenttisesta tanniini‒proteiini -kompleksinmuodostuksesta. Kirjallisessa osassa keskitytään niiden analyysimenetelmien käsittelyyn, joita on käytetty tanniini‒proteiini -vuorovaikutusten tutkimuksessa. Kokeellisessa osassa kehitettiin uusia menetelmiä tanniini‒proteiini -kompleksien tutkimiseen sekä yksi menetelmä proteiiniaffiniteettisten yhdisteiden tunnistamiseen kasviuutteesta. Ensimmäisessä kehitetyssä menetelmässä tanniini‒proteiini -komplekseja sekä reagoimatonta proteiinia analysoitiin UHPLC- ja HPLC-DAD-MS/MS-laitteistojen avulla, jolloin voitiin tarkkailla proteiinin massaspektrin muutoksia sekä eluutiokäyttäytymistä käänteisfaasiolosuhteissa ennen ja jälkeen kompleksin muodostuksen. Toisessa uudessa menetelmässä proteiiniin sitoutuneiden tanniinien osuus määritettiin käänteisesti kokonaisfenolipitoisuuden mittaukseen tarkoitetulla spektrofotometrisella menetelmällä. Lopuksi määritettiin kasviuutteen proteiiniin sitoutuvat yhdisteet vertaamalla alkuperäisen uutteen yhdistekoostumusta sellaisen uutteen yhdistekoostumukseen, josta proteiineihin sitoutuvat yhdisteet oli poistettu. Yhdisteiden määritykseen käytettiin UHPLC-DAD-MS/MS-laitteistoa.

How are Girls' Attitudes Toward Cyberbullying Affected by Drama for Social Intervention?

This is a study exploring teenaged girls’ understanding and experiences of cyberbullying as a contemporary social phenomenon. Participants included 4 Grade 11 and 12 girls from a medium-sized independent school in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The girls participated in 9 extracurricular study sessions from January to April 2013. During the sessions, they engaged with Drama for Social Intervention (Clark, 2009; Conrad, 2004; Lepp, 2011) activities with the intended goal of producing a collective creation. Qualitative data were collected throughout the sessions using fieldnotes, participant journals, interviews, and participant artefacts. The findings are presented as an ethnodrama (Campbell & Conrad, 2006; Denzin, 2003; Saldaña, 1999) with each thematic statement forming a title of a scene in the script (Rogers, Frellick, & Babinski, 2002). The study found that girl identity online consists of many disconnected avatars. It also suggested that distancing (Eriksson, 2011) techniques, used to engender safety in Drama for Social Intervention, might have contributed to participant disengagement with the study’s content. Implications for further research included the utility of arts-based methods to promote participants’ feelings of growth and reflection, and a reevaluation of cyberbullying discourses to better reflect girls’ multiple avatar identities. Implications for teachers and administrators encompassed a need for preventative approaches to cyberbullying education, incorporating affective empathy-building (Ang & Goh, 2010) and addressing girls’ feelings of safety in perceived anonymity online.

The role of microRNAs and retinoid signaling during spinal cord regeneration in the adult newt.

The molecular events after spinal cord injury that lead to the establishment of a permissive environment and epimorphic regeneration remain unclear. Two molecular pathway regulators that may converge to create a spinal cord regeneration-permissive environment in the urodele are retinoic acid (RA) and microRNAs (miRNAs). Recent evidence suggests that RARβ-mediated signaling is necessary for tail and caudal spinal cord regeneration in the adult newt. MicroRNAs are attractive candidates as mediators of retinoid signaling during regeneration, as their pleiotropic effects are vital in situations where global changes in gene expression are required. Thus, the overall aim of this thesis was to determine if miRNAs are involved in tail and caudal spinal cord regeneration in the adult newt, and if they act as regulators and/or effectors of retinoid signaling during this process. I have demonstrated here, for the first time, that multiple miRNAs are dysregulated in response to spinal cord injury in the adult newt, as well as in response to inhibition of retinoid signaling. Two of these miRNAs, miR-133a and miR-1, appear to target RARβ2 transcripts both in vivo and in vitro. Inhibition of RA signaling via RARβ with a selective antagonist, LE135, alters the pattern of expression of these miRNAs, which leads to an inhibition of tail regeneration. These data are indicative of a negative feed back loop, albeit potentially an indirect one. I also aimed to examine which miRNAs are affected by inhibiting RA synthesis during regeneration, and provided a long list of miRNAs that are dysregulated. These data provide the foundation for future studies on the putative roles of these miRNAs, as well as their function in retinoid signaling. Overall, these studies provide the first evidence for a role for miRNAs as mediators of retinoid signaling during caudal spinal cord regeneration in any system.

Field trials to assess the uptake of arsenic by vegetables from contaminated soils and soil remediation with iron oxides

The uptake of arsenic (As) by plants from contaminated soils presents a health hazard that may affect the use of agricultural and former industrial land. Methods for limiting the hazard are desirable. A proposed remediation treatment comprises the precipitation of iron (Fe) oxides in the contaminated soil by adding ferrous sulfate and lime. The effects on As bioavailability were assessed using a range of vegetable crops grown in the field. Four UK locations were used, where soil was contaminated by As from different sources. At the most contaminated site, a clay loam containing a mean of 748 mg As kg(-1) soil, beetroot, calabrese, cauliflower, lettuce, potato, radish and spinach were grown. For all crops except spinach, ferrous sulfate treatment caused a significant reduction in the bioavailability of As in some part of the crop. Application of ferrous sulfate in solution, providing 0.2% Fe oxides in the soil (0-10 cm), reduced As uptake by a mean of 22%. Solid ferrous sulfate was applied to give concentrations of 0.5% and 1% Fe oxides: the 0.5% concentration reduced As uptake by a mean of 32% and the 1% concentration gave no significant additional benefit. On a sandy loam containing 65 mg As kg(-1) soil, there was tentative evidence that ferrous sulfate treatment up to 2% Fe oxides caused a significant reduction in lettuce As, but calabrese did not respond. At the other two sites, the effects of ferrous sulfate treatment were not significant, but the uptake of soil As was low in treated and untreated soils. Differences between sites in the bioavailable fraction of soil As may be related to the soil texture or the source of As. The highest bioavailability was found on the soil which had been contaminated by aerial deposition and had a high sand content. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Field trials to assess the uptake of arsenic by vegetables from contaminated soils and soil remediation with iron oxides

The uptake of arsenic (As) by plants from contaminated soils presents a health hazard that may affect the use of agricultural and former industrial land. Methods for limiting the hazard are desirable. A proposed remediation treatment comprises the precipitation of iron (Fe) oxides in the contaminated soil by adding ferrous sulfate and lime. The effects on As bioavailability were assessed using a range of vegetable crops grown in the field. Four UK locations were used, where soil was contaminated by As from different sources. At the most contaminated site, a clay loam containing a mean of 748 mg As kg(-1) soil, beetroot, calabrese, cauliflower, lettuce, potato, radish and spinach were grown. For all crops except spinach, ferrous sulfate treatment caused a significant reduction in the bioavailability of As in some part of the crop. Application of ferrous sulfate in solution, providing 0.2% Fe oxides in the soil (0-10 cm), reduced As uptake by a mean of 22%. Solid ferrous sulfate was applied to give concentrations of 0.5% and 1% Fe oxides: the 0.5% concentration reduced As uptake by a mean of 32% and the 1% concentration gave no significant additional benefit. On a sandy loam containing 65 mg As kg(-1) soil, there was tentative evidence that ferrous sulfate treatment up to 2% Fe oxides caused a significant reduction in lettuce As, but calabrese did not respond. At the other two sites, the effects of ferrous sulfate treatment were not significant, but the uptake of soil As was low in treated and untreated soils. Differences between sites in the bioavailable fraction of soil As may be related to the soil texture or the source of As. The highest bioavailability was found on the soil which had been contaminated by aerial deposition and had a high sand content. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Coupling an aerosol box model with one-dimensional flow: a tool for understanding observations of new particle formation events

Field observations of new particle formation and the subsequent particle growth are typically only possible at a fixed measurement location, and hence do not follow the temporal evolution of an air parcel in a Lagrangian sense. Standard analysis for determining formation and growth rates requires that the time-dependent formation rate and growth rate of the particles are spatially invariant; air parcel advection means that the observed temporal evolution of the particle size distribution at a fixed measurement location may not represent the true evolution if there are spatial variations in the formation and growth rates. Here we present a zero-dimensional aerosol box model coupled with one-dimensional atmospheric flow to describe the impact of advection on the evolution of simulated new particle formation events. Wind speed, particle formation rates and growth rates are input parameters that can vary as a function of time and location, using wind speed to connect location to time. The output simulates measurements at a fixed location; formation and growth rates of the particle mode can then be calculated from the simulated observations at a stationary point for different scenarios and be compared with the ‘true’ input parameters. Hence, we can investigate how spatial variations in the formation and growth rates of new particles would appear in observations of particle number size distributions at a fixed measurement site. We show that the particle size distribution and growth rate at a fixed location is dependent on the formation and growth parameters upwind, even if local conditions do not vary. We also show that different input parameters used may result in very similar simulated measurements. Erroneous interpretation of observations in terms of particle formation and growth rates, and the time span and areal extent of new particle formation, is possible if the spatial effects are not accounted for.

The Nurse Professional Competence (NPC) scale : self-reported competence among nursing students on the point of graduation

BACKGROUND: International organisations, e.g. WHO, stress the importance of competent registered nurses (RN) for the safety and quality of healthcare systems. Low competence among RNs has been shown to increase the morbidity and mortality of inpatients. OBJECTIVES: To investigate self-reported competence among nursing students on the point of graduation (NSPGs), using the Nurse Professional Competence (NPC) Scale, and to relate the findings to background factors. METHODS AND PARTICIPANTS: The NPC Scale consists of 88 items within eight competence areas (CAs) and two overarching themes. Questions about socio-economic background and perceived overall quality of the degree programme were added. In total, 1086 NSPGs (mean age, 28.1 [20-56]years, 87.3% women) from 11 universities/university colleges participated. RESULTS: NSPGs reported significantly higher scores for Theme I "Patient-Related Nursing" than for Theme II "Organisation and Development of Nursing Care". Younger NSPGs (20-27years) reported significantly higher scores for the CAs "Medical and Technical Care" and "Documentation and Information Technology". Female NSPGs scored significantly higher for "Value-Based Nursing". Those who had taken the nursing care programme at upper secondary school before the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programme scored significantly higher on "Nursing Care", "Medical and Technical Care", "Teaching/Learning and Support", "Legislation in Nursing and Safety Planning" and on Theme I. Working extra paid hours in healthcare alongside the BSN programme contributed to significantly higher self-reported scores for four CAs and both themes. Clinical courses within the BSN programme contributed to perceived competence to a significantly higher degree than theoretical courses (93.2% vs 87.5% of NSPGs). SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION: Mean scores reported by NSPGs were highest for the four CAs connected with patient-related nursing and lowest for CAs relating to organisation and development of nursing care. We conclude that the NPC Scale can be used to identify and measure aspects of self-reported competence among NSPGs.