Browsing by study line "ingen studieinriktning"
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(2022)Saccharomyces boulardii is a probiotic yeast related to Saccharomyces cerevisiae but with distinct genetic, taxonomic, and metabolic properties. S. cerevisiae has been used extensively in biotechnological applications. Currently, many strains are available, and multiple genetic tools have been developed, which allow the expression of several exogenous proteins of interest with applications in the fields of medicine, biofuels, the food industry, and scientific research, among others. Although S. boulardii has been widely studied due to its probiotic properties against several gastrointestinal tract disorders, very few studies addressed the use of this yeast as a vector for expression of foreign genes of interest with biotechnological applications. I studied the previously constructed S. boulardii SAC12, which secretes the anti-listerial bacteriocin leucocin C originating from Leuconostoc carnosum 4010. The objective was to study if the bacteriocin leucocin C producing S. boulardii could produce leucocin C in beer fermentation and if leucocin C containing beer can be used as marinade to control Listeria monocytogenes in raw chicken breast strips. The results showed that SAC12 has good ability to secrete LecC, and thus it was used to brew anti-listerial beer. According to results, beer could maintain its anti-listerial activity for 38 days. The anti-listerial effect of the beer stored for different times was analyzed through marinating chicken breast strips (spiked with L. monocytogenes) with the beer for overnight. Results indicated a positive impact of anti-listerial beer in reduction of the viable cells of L. monocytogenes by about 1.6 log from (2.2 ± 0.6) × 10⁷ CFU/g (beer from day 24), and 2.2 log from (1.8 ± 0.3) × 10⁵ CFU/g (beer from day 38). To sum up, the S. boulardii SAC12 efficiently secreted the bacteriocin leucocin C. Brewing beer with S. boulardii SAC12 resulted in beer containing leucocin C. Such beer showed anti-listerial effect when used as marinade for chicken breast strips.
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(2020)3-Chloro-1,2-propanediol (3-MCPD), 2-chloro-1,3-propanediol (2-MCPD) and 2,3-epoxy-1-propanol (glycidol) and their fatty acid esters are contaminants formed during processing fat containing foodstuffs at high temperatures. Mainly MCPD and glycidyl esters have been found to be formed in the deodorization process of oils, and in vegetable oils, such as palm oil, they have been measured at high concentrations. In accordance with the restrictions imposed by the European Commission, the levels of glycidyl esters must be especially monitored, as they have been identified as potentially carcinogenic compounds. The aim of the study was to introduce and validate a gas chromatographic analysis method for glycidyl esters and MCPD esters for the Customs Laboratory. The method was validated for two matrices: first for oils and then for powdered infant formulas. In addition, the success of the validation was examined by analyzing various oil samples previously received by the Customs Laboratory. The Customs Laboratory is also involved in the activities of the European Union Reference Laboratory, for which it was intended to participate in the reference measurement organized by the EU Reference Laboratory. The method for the determination of 3-MCPD, 2-MCPD and glycidyl esters in oils and infant formulas was carried out according to the guidelines of the European Union Reference Laboratory for Contaminants (EURL-PC). Determination of MCPD and glycidyl ester concentrations in oils and infant formulas included the following steps: fat extraction by liquid-liquid extraction (for infant formulas), addition of standards, solid-phase extraction, conversion of glycidyl esters to 3-MBPD esters, transesterification, neutralization, salting out, derivatization and analysis with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry system. Concentrations were determined using internal standard method. The method was validated for the following parameters: specificity, selectivity, limit of detection and quantitation, reproducibility, repeatability, trueness, linearity and working range, stability and measurement uncertainty. The analytical method developed for the determination of MCPD and glycidyl esters was successfully validated for oils and powdered infant formulas. The developed method proved to be specific and selective. The limit of determination was found to be 6.3 µg/kg, 1.3 µg/kg and 0.8 µg/kg for the oil matrix 3-MCPD, 2-MCPD and glycidyl esters. The limits of determination for the infant formula were 5.4 µg/kg, 3.0 µg/kg and 1.6 µg/kg for 3-MCPD, 2-MCPD and glycidyl esters. Recoveries for MCPD and glycidyl esters in the oil and powdered infant formulas were 83-105%. R2 for calibration lines were greater than 0.99, and the lines were linear over the entire measurement range of 2-1000 µg/kg. The relative standard deviation of repeatability and reproducibility was less than 20% for both matrices. The expanded measurement uncertainty for the MCPD and glycidyl esters of the oil and powdered infant formula was less than 50%. For all parameters, the requirements set by the Customs Laboratory and the performance requirements of Regulation (EU) 1881/2006 were met. A method validated for two matrices can then be accredited. The customs laboratory may use the developed method in the future to control 3-MCPD, 2-MCPD and glycidyl esters levels of oils and powdered infant formulas. In the future, the method could also be validated for new matrices, such as liquid infant formulas.
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(2024)Maisterintutkielmassani kysyn, miten feministiteoreetikko Sara Ahmed käsittelee toiseutta teoksissaan Strange Encounters: Embodied Others in Post Coloniality (2000) sekä Tunteiden kulttuuripolitiikka (2004) ja miten nämä toiseuden käsitykset kahdessa eri teoksessa suhteutuvat toisiinsa. Erityisesti kysyn, miten Ahmed käsittelee teoksissaan toiseutta kollektiivisten ruumiiden muodostajana. Tutkielmani on teoreettinen ja asettuu osaksi feministisen teorian tutkimuskeskusteluja toiseudesta. Tutkielmani aihetta on aikaisemmassa teoreettisessa tutkimuksessa tutkittu vähän, joten tutkielmani asettuu osaksi nykyistä tutkimuskeskustelua tarkastelemalla Ahmedin varhaistuotantoa uudesta näkökulmasta. Argumentoin, että molemmissa teoksissa toiseus muodostuu ruumiiden välisissä suhteissa. Teorian toiseudesta ruumiiden välisissä suhteissa Ahmed esittää Strange Encountersissa ja tutkielmassani osoitan hänen asettavan tämän saman teorian lähtökohdakseen myös Tunteiden kulttuuripolitiikassa. Tämän jälkeen analysoin, miten Ahmed teoretisoi kulttuurista ja rodullista toiseutta eli vierautta kollektiivisen ruumiin muodostajana Strange Encountersissa. Osoitan, että Ahmedin vierauden teoriasta on löydettävissä performatiivinen ulottuvuus, jolloin vierauden sekä vierauden kautta muodostuvan länsimaisen kollektiivisen ruumiin voi ymmärtää muodostuvan performatiivisesti ruumiiden välisissä suhteissa. Lopuksi tarkastelen toiseutta Tunteiden kulttuuripolitiikassa. Argumentoin, että teoksessa Ahmed jatkaa Strange Encountersin vierauden teoriaa tuomalla esiin, miten tunteet tuottavat vierautta ja kiinnittävät vierautta ylläpitäviin rakenteisiin. Lisäksi esitän, että tunteiden performatiivisuus täydentää Strange Encountersin performatiivisuudesta tekemääni analyysia tuomalla keskusteluun diskursiivisen performatiivisuuden. Lopuksi osoitan, että Ahmedin voi nähdä Tunteiden kulttuuripolitiikassa siirtyvän osittain kulttuurisesta ja rodullisesta toiseudesta eli vieraudesta sekä vierauden kautta muodostuvasta kollektiivisesta ruumiista kohti queeria toiseutta. Jatkotutkimuksen tehtäväksi jää syventää argumenttiani toiseuden muodostumisesta performatiivisesti ruumiillisissa teoissa sekä kenties laajentaa toiseuden teeman analyysia kohti Ahmedin muuta tuotantoa.
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(2023)The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions has created a need to develop, deploy and maintain AI/ML those to production reliably and efficiently. MLOps (Machine Learning Operations) framework is a collection of tools and practices that aims to address this challenge. Within the MLOps framework, a concept called the feature store is introduced, serving as a central repository responsible for storing, managing, and facilitating the sharing and reuse of extracted features derived from raw data. This study gives first an overview of the MLOps framework and delves deeper into feature engineering and feature data management, and explores the challenges related to these processes. Further, feature stores are presented, what they exactly are and what benefits do they introduce to organizations and companies developing ML solutions. The study also reviews some of the currently popular feature store tools. The primary goal of this study is to provide recommendations for organizations to leverage feature stores as a solution to the challenges they encounter in managing feature data currently. Through an analysis of the current state-of-the-art and a comprehensive study of organizations' practices and challenges, this research presents key insights into the benefits of feature stores in the context of MLOps. Overall, the thesis highlights the potential of feature stores as a valuable tool for organizations seeking to optimize their ML practices and achieve a competitive advantage in today's data-driven landscape. The research aims to explore and gather practitioners' experiences and opinions on the aforementioned topics through interviews conducted with experts from Finnish organizations.
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(2023)This thesis analyses COVID-19 vaccine discourse in online news in December 2022 by applying APPRAISAL, in particular, the APPRECIATION subsystem, and corpus-based methods such as frequency, keyword, and concordance line. The analysis addresses three research questions based on a dataset of 599 concordance lines, from the Coronavirus corpus representing twenty English speaking countries. The study identifies the top twenty adjectives associated with COVID-19 vaccines, classifying them into four main categories according to their social value and particular characteristics. The main findings show that positive attitudes emerge through interpersonal meaning in online news. Mainly, journalists portray the vaccine discourse under WHO’s ideology, hoping for a ‘New normality’. On the other hand, negative attitudes showcased challenges and controversies. Hence, the study emphasizes the importance of shaping public health communication and opinions built on transparent scientific and consensual information. That is the study stresses the value of providing the public with accurate and well-supported information to shape a better understanding and opinions related to health concerns. Finally, the methodological contribution suggests implementing uniqueness as a new subcategory, but the existing subcategory, balance, deserves more attention whether to implement it or not in future studies. The study also highlights the impact of political ideologies on COVID-19 vaccine discourse, and thus recommends future research on attitudes in non-English-languages areas.
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(2021)Physical and social anhedonia have shown some promise as possible indicators of later mental illness, especially of depression and schizophrenia. However, previous studies have focused on college students and clinical populations, limiting their generalizability into the whole population. Most previous studies have also been cross-sectional. The aim of this longitudinal study with a general population sample is to examine whether high social or physical anhedonia in young adulthood precedes later psychiatric diagnoses. In addition, cross-sectional connections between demographic factors (sex, age, marital status, education) and social and physical anhedonia were examined. The study sample (n=453) of young adults was recruited through the Health 2000 study, which is a representative sample of the adult Finnish population. In the beginning of the study, participants filled in the self-report Chapman Revised Anhedonia Scales, and their demographic factors were clarified using a questionnaire (marital status, education level) and health records (age, sex). After this there was a follow-up period of 9 to 12 years. The psychiatric diagnoses of the participants from the follow-up period were retrieved from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register, which includes both inpatient and outpatient specialized psychiatric care. Two sets of analyses were done: analyses of variance (ANOVA) examining the cross-sectional associations between anhedonia and demographic factors (age, sex, marital status, education) and Cox regression analyses examining longitudinal associations between aforementioned variables and later psychiatric diagnoses. Male sex was associated with both higher physical and higher social anhedonia. 63 participants (13%) received at least one psychiatric diagnosis during the follow-up period. Three diagnostic groups were examined; one for receiving a depression diagnosis, one for receiving any anxiety diagnosis and one for receiving any psychiatric diagnosis. Physical or social anhedonia during young adulthood was not found to be associated with later psychiatric diagnoses. Instead, lack of marriage/cohabitation and female sex were found to be possible risk factors for receiving a diagnosis. Contrary to the hypotheses of this study, no association between anhedonia and later psychiatric diagnoses were found. However, the relatively small amount of diagnoses during the follow-up period restricted the statistical strength of the results. The results of this study suggest that anhedonia is not a major predictor of for receiving a later depression diagnosis, any anxiety diagnosis or any psychiatric diagnosis in the general young adult population.
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(2024)Työssä kuvataan eri puolilta Suomea toukokuussa 1976 eläinsuojista kerättyjen talvehtineiden hibernaatiossa olleiden naaraiden insektaariossa munimien munien morfologiaa. Valomikroskoopilla munista määritettiin yläpinnan kirjailu, mitattiin munan kokonaispituus, yläpinnan leveys,kellukkeiden pituus sekä laskettiin kellukkeiden kaarien määrä. Munan yläpinnan kirjailuun ja yläpinnan leveyden - munan kokonaispituuden väliseen suhteeseen perustuvien määritysten avulla aineistosta oli todettavissa kaksi lajia: Anopheles messeae messeae Falleroni sekä Anopheles beklemishevi beklemishevi Stegnii & Kabanova. A. b. beklemishevi määritetään Suomesta ensimmäistä kertaa. SEM- ja TEM-kuvauksissa tutkitaan Hintonin (1968) mainitsemia piirteitä, joiden hän katsoo eroavan eri Anopheles lajeilla. Lajinmäärityksen kannalta SEM-tarkastelu ei ole tarpeellinen, sillä mainittavia eroja ei löytynyt kuin yläpintaa ympäröivän reunuksen ja kellukkeiden liittymäkohdasta. Lisäksi työssä esitetään em. lajien levinneisyys ja vertaillaan saatuja levinneisyyskarttoja vanhoihin malarian levinneisyyttä Suomessa ja muualla Pohjoismaissa käsitteleviin tietoihin.
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(2019)Käsittelen valtaeliitin oikeudenmukaisuuskäsityksiä vuoden 1984 työttömyysturvalaista. Sosiaaliturvan eriarvoistavia vaikutuksia ennen 1990-luvun lamaa käsitteleviä tutkimuksia on tehty vain vähän, joten tämä tutkimus lisää tietoa jo 1980-luvulla tapahtuneesta sosiaaliturvasta johtuneesta eriarvoistumisesta. Tarkastelen ajanjakson valtaeliitin osapuolten välisiä suhteita ja vallan jakautumista. Lisäksi analysoin ja arvoin valtaeliitin osapuolien perusteluja oikeudenmukaiseen työttömyysturvaan. Arvioin työttömien oikeuksien ja velvollisuuksien muutoksia verrattuna edelliseen vuonna 1971 laadittuun työttömiä koskevaan lainsäädäntöön. Perustelen kuinka vuoden 1984 työttömyysturvauudistuksella oli työttömien oikeuksia heikentäviä vaikutuksia. Valtaeliitti tutkimuksessani tarkoittaa työmarkkinoiden keskusjärjestöjä (Suomen Työnantajien Keskusliitto, Suomen Ammattiliittojen Keskusjärjestö) sekä parlamentaarisen lainsäädäntöprosessin virallisia osapuolia eli hallitusta ja eduskuntaa. Aineistona käytän aiheeni kannalta oleellisia lainsäädäntöprosessissa laadittuja asiakirjoja: päälähteinäni ovat työttömyysturvakomiteanmietinnöt, vuoden 1984 hallituksen esitys työttömyysturvalaiksi ja vuoden 1984 valtiopäivämietintöjä. Lisäksi täydennän aineistoani Helsingin Sanomien uutisoinnin ja työmarkkinajärjestöjen pöytäkirjojen avulla. Analysoin tutkimuskirjallisuutta ja alkuperäislähteitä lähdekritiikin, triangulaation ja hermeneutiikan keinoin. Aineiston perusteella voidaan osoittaa, että työmarkkinajärjestöt vaikuttivat lainsäädäntöprosessiin. Työmarkkinajärjestöjen ja Suomen Sosialidemokraattisen Puolueen tukema työttömyysturvauudistus vahvisti työttömyysturvan ansiosidonnaisuutta ja lisäsi työttömyysturvan tasoeroja työttömien välillä. Ansiosidonnaisuutta voimistettiin, vaikka hallituksen enemmistö ja osa oppositiosta olisi halunnut luopua ansioturvajärjestelmästä ja siirtyä kaikille kuuluvaan perusturvaan. Kaikkien työttömien työttömyysturvan tasoa nostettiin, mutta ammattiliittojen työttömyyskassojen hallinnoiman ansioturvaan oikeutettujen lyhyen aikaa työttömänä olleiden perheellisten työttömien työttömyysturvaa nostettiin kaikista eniten. Työttömien väliset tuloerot kasvoivat sekä perusturvan ja ansioturvan välillä että ansioturvan sisällä, mutta työttömien ja palkansaajien välinen taloudellinen kuilu kapeni. Uusien työttömien ryhmien (yrittäjät, osa-aikatyöntekijät) oikeudet olivat muita ryhmiä heikompia. Tarveharkinnasta ei luovuttu, vaikka käytäntöä pidettiin epäoikeudenmukaisena. Työttömyysturvauudistus perustui yhä oletukseen kokoaikatyöstä, jossa työttömyysjaksot selitettiin katkoksina työurassa. Työttömyyden syiden selittämisessä keskityttiin työttömän vaikutukseen omaan työttömyyteensä ennemmin kuin työttömyyden rakenteellisiin syihin. Työttömien oikeuksia kavennettiin suhteessa vanhaan lainsäädäntöön. Työttömyysturvassa siirryttiin aiempaa velvoittavampaan tulkintaan alueellisesta liikkuvuudesta, ammattisuojan kesto yhtenäistettiin lyhyemmän keston mukaisesti ja uusia karensseja laadittiin työttömien aktiivisen työn vastaanottamisen varmistamiseksi. Tutkimus antaa viitteitä siitä, että sosiaaliturvaa kiristettiin jo talouden nousukaudella, vaikka leikkaukset työttömyysturvaan tehtiin vasta 1990-luvulla. Sosiaaliturvan kiristävää vaikutusta voisi tutkia vielä monipuolisemmin kuin vain työttömyysturvan osalta. Vuoden 1984 työttömyysturvauudistuksesta olisi perusteltua myös tutkia lainsäätäjien taloususkomuksia. Jatkotutkimuksessa tulisi selvittää Suomen asema verrattuna 1980- luvun kansainvälisen sosiaaliturvan ja talouskasvun keskinäiseen suhteeseen.
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(2021)Biodiversity is decreasing globally due to human activity. At times, on-time monitoring of the state of habitats and biodiversity is challenging. One useful way to study these is to use certain species as indicators for the state of habitats and biodiversity. One group that are often used, are birds. They are easy to detect and they have specialized to most terrestrial ecosystems. Changes in the population sizes of different bird species can reflect changes in different habitats and their biodiversity. Therefore, it is essential that different bird monitoring practices produce reliable and comparable results. I compared datasets produced by two different Finnish bird census programs in my thesis. The census programs were national breeding bird survey program and Hanko Bird Observatory´s migratory bird census program. Both programs produce data on population abundances and changes in population sizes. Because methods between these programs differ greatly, their data may differ for some species. I compared the datasets by comparing population change indexes of the same species. I also tested whether species traits would be associated with the comparability of the datasets. These traits were mean body size, migratory behavior, favored habitats, and number of sightings for each species. I made models for all combinations of traits. I used a generalized linear model in my analysis. I compared the models by using Akaike´s information criterion (AIC) with correction for small sample sizes (AICc). My results showed that both national breeding bird survey program and Hanko Bird Observatory´s migratory bird census program produce parallel population trends for species. From the tested species traits, only migratory behavior was associated with comparability of the datasets. The datasets were highly comparable for long- and short-distance migratory birds but only moderately comparable for resident birds. This is likely due to migratory bird census program recording the local population dynamics of resident birds of Hanko peninsula. These local population trends may differ from the national trends of the same species. The breeding bird survey program should better reflect the national population trends. My results also showed that more numerous common bird species are declining faster than uncommon species. This is an alarming scenario because it points at extensive habitat degradation and biodiversity loss. Also, population trends of species favoring mires and mountains were clearly declining compared to species favoring other environments. This may be due to endangering of mire and mountain habitats due to climate change and human land use such as peatland drainage. Strong declines of species may also be explained by changes in the wintering areas of these species. Finnish breeding bird survey program and Hanko Bird Observatory´s migratory bird census program both produce overall comparable data on population trends of birds. They could be used to complement one another and to provide supporting evidence on the validity of bird population trends. Producing quality bird census data is highly important in tracking the state of biodiversity and when deciding on conservation acts. The data on the census programs provide support for the research on state of Finnish and European habitats and biodiversity.
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(2024)The linguistic landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) is an established high-interest topic, with AI researchers expressing concern toward anthropomorphisms (the use of human terms to describe inanimate entities or concepts) in AI design and discourse (Watson 2019; Salles, Evers, and Farisco 2020; Weidinger et al. 2022; Deshpande et al. 2023). Even the term itself implies “intelligence” in order to illustrate advanced computational capacity. By employing Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) (Lakoff and Johnson 1980) and Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) (Pragglejaz Group 2007), the specific human terms employed in a technology journalism context, and what these metaphors may convey to their readers, can be named and examined. For this purpose, a corpus was compiled of AI news from the US technology news site The Verge during the year 2023. Concordance lines were analyzed for anthropomorphic language surrounding a single term: the acronym “AI”. This study sought to answer whether anthropomorphic conceptual metaphors can be identified within AI reporting in a tech news site corpus (RQ1), what source domains are represented among these metaphors and how these metaphors can be categorized (RQ2), and what effects these metaphors may have on their readers (RQ3). The roughly 300 articles examined reveal a pattern of agency, labor, and physicality metaphors. Agency metaphors illustrated AI in terms of self-determination and autonomy, further categorized into cognition, behavior, and affect. Labor metaphors had AI take on the role of the laborer in a broad variety of AI use cases, as opposed to the role of a tool. Physicality metaphors used physical human terms for the structural analogies they provide. Conceptual metaphors that do not fit this categorization are analyzed as miscellanea. This study argues that these anthropomorphic conceptual metaphors can function as effective explanatory analogies but may at times create or proliferate misleading notions about AI capabilities.
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(2021)The spread of antibiotic resistance is a global health threat. Hospitals are a potential source of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which may disseminate into the environment via wastewater. Hospital water environments, such as sink traps and shower drains, are known to harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which might spread from the drains to the patients causing nosocomial infections that are hard to treat because of the limited number of treatments available. However, the current understanding of antibiotic resistance in the drains of residences, and how it relates to the situation in hospitals is limited. The aim of this study was to compare the microbial communities and ARGs in the water environments of homes and hospitals. The sink traps and shower drains of three hospital rooms and eighteen homes were sampled for metagenomic sequencing, and bioinformatic tools were used to detect the microbial taxa and ARGs in the metagenomes. The resistomes of hospital environments were distinct from those of homes and exhibited a higher diversity of ARGs. On the other hand, the microbial communities of homes and hospital rooms could not be clearly distinguished, although there were some differences in the abundances of certain taxa. The abundance of ARGs was higher in the hospital shower drains than in the corresponding samples in homes, but there was no statistical difference in the abundance of ARGs between the sink traps of homes and the hospital. Although the study had limitations, such as the low number of hospital samples, it indicates that the water environments of hospitals have a resistome that is distinct from that of homes and highlights the role of hospital sink traps and shower drains as potential hotspots of antibiotic resistance.
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(2019)Lactic acid bacteria have a long history of use in food industry due to their favorable metabolic properties and health benefits for human health. Therefore, they are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by FDA (U.S Food and Drug Administration) and have QPS (Qualified Presumption of Safety) status granted by EFSA (European Food Safety Authority). Nowadays, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious global risk and due to the increasing AMRs, more and more microbial infections have become more difficult to treat with antibiotics. AMR has mainly been of concern in relation to pathogenic microbes. However, since fermented foods are favorable environments for AMR gene transfer it should also be considered in the context of beneficial bacteria and their potential to spread AMR genes into pathogenic microbes. The aim of this study was to determine antibiotic susceptibilities of Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Leuconostoc sp. and Weissella sp. strains by E-test method and to detect selected specific antibiotic resistance genes by PCR. In addition, the goal was to define new cut-off values for Weissella strains since, so far, these have not been defined by EFSA. Antibiotic susceptibilities were determined against eight antibiotics: ampicillin, chloramphenicol, clindamycin, erythromycin, gentamicin, kanamycin, streptomycin and tetracycline. The detected AMR genes were blaZ, mecA, cat, lnuA, tetK and tetM. Most of the determined strains were observed to exhibit a notable resistance to kanamycin. Several Leuconostoc sp. and L. rhamnosus strains showed also resistance to chloramphenicol. Interestingly, one L. rhamnosus strain was observed to exhibit multiresistance to chloramphenicol and clindamycin. Moreover, 48% Leuconostoc strains had higher MIC value for streptomycin than the cut-off value defined by EFSA. Any of the selected AMR genes were not detected even though a notable resistance during the phenotypic testing was observed. However, this might be explained by the small amount of detected AMR genes. The results obtained in the present study provided more information about the antibiotic susceptibility and the safety of L. plantarum, L. rhamnosus, Leuconostoc sp. and Weissella sp. strains. Moreover, new cut-off values were proposed for Weissella sp. strains.
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(2022)Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a new respiratory virus capable of transmitting between interspecies and has caused outbreaks in mink farms since April 2020. The infection in mink farms has been a concern due to the overcrowded mink population which allows viral transmission and mutation to rapidly develop. The development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines for mink is needed to prevent an outbreak in mink farms. In this study, we tested the safety and efficacy of our SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in a mink model. Our vaccine tests reveal no side effects of the vaccine on vaccinated mink, of which 40 mg/dose was found to be the optimal dosage, and was used as a standard for the later infection experiments. Microneutralization tests indicated that the neutralizing antibodies from vaccinated mink can protect cells line against early 2020 dominant variants (Wuhan, and Alpha), but poorly against later dominant strains (Beta, and Delta). The vaccinated mink were further observed the changes in antibody levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the results suggested that the antibodies could be detected in sera samples of vaccinated subjects for at least 23 weeks after receiving two dosages of the vaccine. The presence of the virus was monitored in collected saliva samples throughout the infection days to study the effect of the vaccine on preventing the mink from SARS-CoV-2 infection by reverse transcription (RT)PCR. The quantification cycles (Cq) values were similar between vaccinated and non-vaccinated mink of both genders and between different gender, indicating that the vaccine could not help with preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection. Although the vaccine does not protect the vaccinated mink from the infection, the monitoring of clinical signs suggested that it helps the mink by reducing the severity of the disease. In conclusion, the vaccine showed promising results in inducing the mink body to produce neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 and relieved the symptoms of the disease.
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(2023)Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the seventh leading cause of death worldwide. One hallmark of AD includes the amyloid beta (Aβ1-42) peptide that accumulates into oligomers, fibrils, and plaques. Aβ1-42 has been shown to be structurally and functionally similar to antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Publications have reported that Borrelia burgdorferi can be found in the brain of AD patients. B. burgdorferi and B. garinii cause Lyme disease (LD). B. duttonii is responsible for relapsing fever (RF), a disease characterized by recurrent episodes of high fever. The aim of this research was to study whether synthetic Aβ1-42 binds to LD and RF Borrelia sp. and several bacterial molecules important for their virulence, and whether Borrelia sp. have evolved strategies to evade Aβ1-42-mediated killing. Binding of Aβ1-42 to B. burgdorferi, B. garinii and B. duttonii and several microbial molecules was studied by ELISA and immunoblotting. Bacterial culturing and microscopy were used to study survival, agglutination, and phagocytosis of Borrelia sp. in the presence of Aβ1-42 and microglia. In this research, Aβ1-42 was able to bind and agglutinate all of the three studied Borrelia sp. However, Aβ1-42 reduced the survival and increased the phagocytosis of B. duttonii. while B. burgdorferi and B. garinii were unaffected. In addition, potential Aβ1-42 binding molecules were detected from several bacterial species, including FhbA expressed by B. duttonii. In conclusion, this study suggests that some restricted species of bacteria may evade Aβ1-42 entrapment and thus may be involved in the ability of the species to invade the CNS that may trigger neuroinflammation related to AD.
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(2021)The aim of the study. Conduct disorder and antisocial behaviour are externalizing symptoms. Furthermore antisocial behaviour is associsiated with substance use. Conduct disorder at adolescence have continuity with antisocial behaviour in adulthood and alcohol misuse in adolescence predict alcohol misuse in adulthood. This study examines association between conduct disorder and alcohol use in adolescence and antisocial behaviour and alcohol use in adulthood. Additionally this study examines ADHD symptoms effect to potential association. Methods. The data of this study is a part of a Finnish FinnTwin12 longitudinal study. The sample of this study consists of 1336 person. This study used 14 years and early adulthood (ages between 21 and 26 years) follow-up. Conduct symptoms, alcohol use and ADHD symptoms at adolescence were assessed with the C-SSAGA -psychiatric interview method for children. Antisocial behaviour and alcohol use at early adulthood were assessed with SSAGA -psychiatric interview method. Association between antisocial behaviour and alcohol use were analyzed with cross-lagged panel model. Results and conclusions. Conduct symptoms in adolescence is connected with antisocial behaviour and alcohol use at adulthood. However, alcohol use in adolescence is not connected with antisocial behaviour in adulthood. According to this study, support methods would be important to focus to children and youth with conduct symptoms. This create a possibility to prevent future problems related with alcohol use and antisocial behaviour.
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(2020)Aims: The transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral model of eating disorders (ED) views EDs as a single disorder with different clinical manifestations, but the CBT effectiveness research thus far has mostly only pooled results within individual ED categories. A panoramic meta-analysis (PMA) synthesizes evidence across indications, and here the aim is to explore whether a PMA in the context of CBT for EDs provides an unbiased and precise effect estimate when pooling across the ED diagnoses. Methods: Reviews that synthesize RCTs of CBT for EDs were searched, and reviews that met inclusion criteria and included meta-analytic data or valid data from a single RCT were included in the PMA. Two PMAs (CBT vs active controls, CBT vs inactive controls) were performed. The outcome most commonly employed in the meta-analyses identified in the search was chosen as the outcome of interest. Findings: Of the n=24 meta-analyses, only n=7 were eligible for the PMA. The analysis provided support for the effectiveness of CBT vs inactive controls ((SMD: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.59, I2= 38.1%) but results were inconclusive when CBT was compared to active controls (SMD: 0.01, 95% CI: -0.35 to 0.36, I2=75.2%). Conclusions: Due to the methodological limitations of this thesis, several central comprehensive meta-analyses had to be excluded from the PMA. Thus, this PMA failed to provide a precise and unbiased synthesis of existing data of the effectiveness of CBT for EDs across the diagnoses.
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(2021)Application Performance Management (APM) is a growing field, and APM tools on the market tend to be complex enterprise solutions with features ranging from traffic analysis and error reporting to real- user monitoring and business transaction management. This thesis is a study done on behalf of Veikkaus Oy, a Finnish government-owned game company and betting agency. It serves as a look into the current state-of-the-art field of leading APM tools as well as a requirements analysis done from the perspective of the company’s IT personnel. A list of requirements was gathered and scored based on perceived importance, and four APM tools on the market—Datadog APM, Dynatrace, New Relic and AppDynamics—were each compared to each other and scored based on the gathered requirements. In addition, open-source alternatives were considered and investigated. Our results suggest that the leading APM vendors have products very similar to each other with marginal differences between them, feature-wise. In general, APMs were deemed useful and valuable to the company, able to assist in the work of a wide variety of IT personnel, as well as able to replace many tools currently in use by Veikkaus Oy and simplify their application ecosystem.
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(2023)Filamentous basidiomycete fungi are an abundant source of laccase (benzedio:oxygen oxidoreductases, E.C.1.10.3.2) enzymes that oxidize phenolic compounds by a one electron removal resulting in free radicals with concomitant reduction of oxygen to water. Because of this, laccases are regarded as “green catalysts”, making them of great interest for industrial applications. Phenolic compounds of plant origin are of special interest to the food industry because of their low toxicity and high antioxidant, antimicrobial activities. Because of large number of laccase candidates present in fungal genomes and time demanding methods for their biochemical characterization, in silico methods for the prediction of their activity towards phenolic compounds are needed to be developed to better use the potential of fungal laccases in applications. The goal of this study was to utilize in silico predictions on 19 preselected basidiomycete laccases to determine their activities towards six selected phenolic compounds that are used in food related applications. Based on the structural and functional predictions, two laccases with the best docking characteristics, Pycnoporus cinnabarinus laccase 4273 and Trametes cingulata laccase 1498596, were then selected for recombinant production in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris, and their biochemical characteristics and activity towards the phenolic compounds were determined experimentally. The recombinant laccases presented optimal working pH in the acidic range from pH 2.0 to 6.0. Both laccases also presented good solvent stability in ethanol and DMSO. The T. cingulata laccase showed thermal tolerance up to 60°C while the P. cinnabarinus laccase was stable up to 40°C. Both recombinant laccases had activity towards 2,6-DMP and the phenolic compound sinapic acid, low activity (<1.9 µkat/L) was observed towards caffeic acid, and no activity (<1.1 µkat/L) was observed towards cinnamic acid, ferulic acid and p-couamaric acid. Experimental and in silico results were compared to evaluate if it is possible to accurately predict laccase activity towards the selected phenolic compounds using in silico approaches. From the in-silico predictions, it was suggested that hydrogen bonding between a substrate molecule and amino acid residue Ser-113 of P. cinnabarinus laccase 4273 and His-111 of T. cingulata laccase 1498596 may be important for the activity towards phenolic compounds. Formation of hydrogen bonds between other amino acid residues and the substrates might be detrimental for laccase activity. The predicted substrate binding site of the laccases differ from yet very close to that of crystal structures of Melanocarpus albomyces laccase. However, the activity towards selected phenolic compounds were somewhat consistent with predictions indicating a possible applicability of structural and functional predictions in the study of fungal laccase activities.
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(2024)In recent years, consumer interest for probiotic products has significantly grown due to their health benefits, however challenges regarding viability and controlled release of probiotic bacteria during their processing and storage still exist. Microencapsulation of probiotics by spray drying with a suitable protective material could alleviate these challenges. This research aims to assess the viability of utilizing wood hemicelluloses recovered from forest industry side-streams, specifically galactoglucomannans (GGM) and glucuronoxylans (GX), as protective agents for the probiotic strain Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) during spray drying. The study results were compared to those of maltodextrins, considering varying solid concentrations (15 and 20%) and inlet air drying temperatures (105 and 140 oC). Feed dispersion properties including viscosity, pH, particle diameter and physical stability were determined. The probiotic's viability pre- and post-spray drying was evaluated, alongside powder characterization for moisture content, water activity, particle size, morphology and structure. Results indicated that both GGM and GX effectively shield LGG from heat impact during spray drying, yielding microcapsule powders with desirable attributes such as amorphous structure and low water activity. High encapsulation efficiency (>90%) comparable to maltodextrins suggested hemicelluloses as sustainable alternatives for conventionally used wall materials. Inlet air temperature or solid concentration did not affect encapsulation efficiency of hemicelluloses. Probiotic counts met a recommended level for probiotic products, signifying potential applications in food and pharmaceuticals. Powder yield, which varied between 35 and 58%, was significantly influenced by the encapsulating material. Morphological studies demonstrated well-formed, spherical particles at a specific drying temperature. The study proposes the potential use of wood hemicelluloses for effective probiotic protection, offering new possibilities for synbiotic powder applications in diverse industries due to their prebiotic properties which have been well reported in literature. Despite promising results, long-term stability and process optimization to improve the process yield and achieve lower moisture content for the microcapsule powders require further investigation. Adjusting feed dispersion parameters and exploring varied concentrations of hemicelluloses could enhance product yield. Meanwhile, increasing outlet air temperature possibly reduces the moisture content. This research fosters sustainable development in the forest industry, presenting a novel avenue for natural functional ingredient production.
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Applying fluctuations to simulations of early universe bubble collisions in O(N) scalar field theory (2023)Many beyond the Standard Model theories include a first order phase transition in the early universe. A phase transition of this kind is presumed to be able to source gravitational waves that might be be observed with future detectors, such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. A first order phase transition from a symmetric (metastable) minimum to the broken (stable) one causes the nucleation of broken phase bubbles. These bubbles expand and then collide. It is of importance to examine how the bubbles collide in depth, as the events during the collision affect the gravitational wave spectrum. We assume the field to interact very weakly or not at all with the particle fluid in the early universe. The universe also experiences fluctuations due to thermal or quantum effects. We look into how these background fluctuations affect the field evolution and bubble collisions during the phase transition in O(N) scalar field theory. Specifically, we numerically simulate two colliding bubbles nucleated on top of the background fluctuations, with the field being a N-dimensional vector in the O(N) group. Due to the symmetries present, the system can be examined in cylindrical coordinates, lowering the number of simulated spatial dimensions. In this thesis, we perform the calculation of initial state fluctuations and simulate them and two bubbles numerically. We present results of the simulation of the field, concentrating on the effects of fluctuations on the O(N) scalar field theory.
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