WorldWideScience

Sample records for finnish population samples

  1. Orofacial pain and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders in Finnish and Thai populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sipilä, Kirsi; Tolvanen, Mimmi; Mitrirattanakul, Somsak; Sitthisomwong, Panupen; Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Taanila, Anja; Anttonen, Vuokko; Lahti, Satu

    2015-07-01

    Cultural or ethnic factors may play an important role in subjects' pain reports. The aim of the study was to compare the prevalence of orofacial pain symptoms between Finnish and Thai populations. The Finnish study population comprised the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, of which 5696 subjects participated in the present study. The Thai sample consisted of 1501 randomly selected people living in 10 different districts in Bangkok. Data on orofacial pain was collected based on questionnaires. After adjusting for age, gender and education, the logistic regression analysis showed that Thai subjects had an increased risk for reporting oral pain (OR = 4.5, 95% CI = 3.7-5.4), tooth pain (OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.8-2.4) and pain in the face (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.2-1.7). It can be concluded that Thai people report more orofacial pain symptoms than Finnish subjects. Cross-cultural factors exist in the background of reporting pain symptoms in the oral and facial area.

  2. Genome-Wide Meta-Analysis of Sciatica in Finnish Population.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susanna Lemmelä

    Full Text Available Sciatica or the sciatic syndrome is a common and often disabling low back disorder in the working-age population. It has a relatively high heritability but poorly understood molecular mechanisms. The Finnish population is a genetic isolate where small founder population and bottleneck events have led to enrichment of certain rare and low frequency variants. We performed here the first genome-wide association (GWAS and meta-analysis of sciatica. The meta-analysis was conducted across two GWAS covering 291 Finnish sciatica cases and 3671 controls genotyped and imputed at 7.7 million autosomal variants. The most promising loci (p<1x10-6 were replicated in 776 Finnish sciatica patients and 18,489 controls. We identified five intragenic variants, with relatively low frequencies, at two novel loci associated with sciatica at genome-wide significance. These included chr9:14344410:I (rs71321981 at 9p22.3 (NFIB gene; p = 1.30x10-8, MAF = 0.08 and four variants at 15q21.2: rs145901849, rs80035109, rs190200374 and rs117458827 (MYO5A; p = 1.34x10-8, MAF = 0.06; p = 2.32x10-8, MAF = 0.07; p = 3.85x10-8, MAF = 0.06; p = 4.78x10-8, MAF = 0.07, respectively. The most significant association in the meta-analysis, a single base insertion rs71321981 within the regulatory region of the transcription factor NFIB, replicated in an independent Finnish population sample (p = 0.04. Despite identifying 15q21.2 as a promising locus, we were not able to replicate it. It was differentiated; the lead variants within 15q21.2 were more frequent in Finland (6-7% than in other European populations (1-2%. Imputation accuracies of the three significantly associated variants (chr9:14344410:I, rs190200374, and rs80035109 were validated by genotyping. In summary, our results suggest a novel locus, 9p22.3 (NFIB, which may be involved in susceptibility to sciatica. In addition, another locus, 15q21.2, emerged as a promising one, but failed to replicate.

  3. Weapon carrying and psychopathic-like features in a population-based sample of Finnish adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saukkonen, Suvi; Laajasalo, Taina; Jokela, Markus; Kivivuori, Janne; Salmi, Venla; Aronen, Eeva T

    2016-02-01

    We investigated the prevalence of juvenile weapon carrying and psychosocial and personality-related risk factors for carrying different types of weapons in a nationally representative, population-based sample of Finnish adolescents. Specifically, we aimed to investigate psychopathic-like personality features as a risk factor for weapon carrying. The participants were 15-16-year-old adolescents from the Finnish self-report delinquency study (n = 4855). Four different groups were formed based on self-reported weapon carrying: no weapon carrying, carrying knife, gun or other weapon. The associations between psychosocial factors, psychopathic-like features and weapon carrying were examined with multinomial logistic regression analysis. 9% of the participants had carried a weapon in the past 12 months. Adolescents with a history of delinquency, victimization and antisocial friends were more likely to carry weapons in general; however, delinquency and victimization were most strongly related to gun carrying, while perceived peer delinquency (antisocial friends) was most strongly related to carrying a knife. Better academic performance was associated with a reduced likelihood of carrying a gun and knife, while feeling secure correlated with a reduced likelihood of gun carrying only. Psychopathic-like features were related to a higher likelihood of weapon carrying, even after adjusting for other risk factors. The findings of the study suggest that adolescents carrying a weapon have a large cluster of problems in their lives, which may vary based on the type of weapon carried. Furthermore, psychopathic-like features strongly relate to a higher risk of carrying a weapon.

  4. Genome-Wide Meta-Analysis of Sciatica in Finnish Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemmelä, Susanna; Solovieva, Svetlana; Shiri, Rahman; Benner, Christian; Heliövaara, Markku; Kettunen, Johannes; Anttila, Verneri; Ripatti, Samuli; Perola, Markus; Seppälä, Ilkka; Juonala, Markus; Kähönen, Mika; Salomaa, Veikko; Viikari, Jorma; Raitakari, Olli T; Lehtimäki, Terho; Palotie, Aarno; Viikari-Juntura, Eira; Husgafvel-Pursiainen, Kirsti

    2016-01-01

    Sciatica or the sciatic syndrome is a common and often disabling low back disorder in the working-age population. It has a relatively high heritability but poorly understood molecular mechanisms. The Finnish population is a genetic isolate where small founder population and bottleneck events have led to enrichment of certain rare and low frequency variants. We performed here the first genome-wide association (GWAS) and meta-analysis of sciatica. The meta-analysis was conducted across two GWAS covering 291 Finnish sciatica cases and 3671 controls genotyped and imputed at 7.7 million autosomal variants. The most promising loci (psciatica patients and 18,489 controls. We identified five intragenic variants, with relatively low frequencies, at two novel loci associated with sciatica at genome-wide significance. These included chr9:14344410:I (rs71321981) at 9p22.3 (NFIB gene; p = 1.30x10-8, MAF = 0.08) and four variants at 15q21.2: rs145901849, rs80035109, rs190200374 and rs117458827 (MYO5A; p = 1.34x10-8, MAF = 0.06; p = 2.32x10-8, MAF = 0.07; p = 3.85x10-8, MAF = 0.06; p = 4.78x10-8, MAF = 0.07, respectively). The most significant association in the meta-analysis, a single base insertion rs71321981 within the regulatory region of the transcription factor NFIB, replicated in an independent Finnish population sample (p = 0.04). Despite identifying 15q21.2 as a promising locus, we were not able to replicate it. It was differentiated; the lead variants within 15q21.2 were more frequent in Finland (6-7%) than in other European populations (1-2%). Imputation accuracies of the three significantly associated variants (chr9:14344410:I, rs190200374, and rs80035109) were validated by genotyping. In summary, our results suggest a novel locus, 9p22.3 (NFIB), which may be involved in susceptibility to sciatica. In addition, another locus, 15q21.2, emerged as a promising one, but failed to replicate.

  5. Sense of mastery differences between working-age Swedish- and Finnish-speaking Finns: a population-based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reini, Kaarina; Nyqvist, Fredrica

    2017-06-01

    To examine the probability of a high sense of mastery in a population-representative sample of working-age people and to study the differences in mastery between Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking Finns in particular. The data originates from the Western Finland Mental Health Surveys (2008-2014). Associations between sense of mastery and language groups were analyzed with logistic regressions. Swedish-speaking Finns have a higher sense of mastery and the association is mediated by social support. Moreover, a difference in a high sense of mastery is found between Swedish- and Finnish-speaking married women that are outside the labor market. Our findings imply that Finnish-speaking women that are outside the labor market, e.g. on maternity leave or taking care of the household, should be recognized in health and social care services as a group that can benefit from additional support.

  6. Founder representation and effective population size in old versus young breeds-genetic diversity of Finnish and Nordic Spitz.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumpulainen, M; Anderson, H; Svevar, T; Kangasvuo, I; Donner, J; Pohjoismäki, J

    2017-10-01

    Finnish Spitz is 130-year-old breed and has been highly popular in Finland throughout its history. Nordic Spitz is very similar to Finnish Spitz by origin and use, but is a relatively recent breed with much smaller population size. To see how breed age and breeding history have influenced the current population, we performed comprehensive population genetic analysis using pedigree data of 28,119 Finnish and 9,009 Nordic Spitzes combined with genomewide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data from 135 Finnish and 110 Nordic Spitzes. We found that the Finnish Spitz has undergone repeated male bottlenecks resulting in dramatic loss of genetic diversity, reflected by 20 effective founders (f a ) and mean heterozygosity (Hz) of 0.313. The realized effective population size in the breed based on pedigree analysis (N¯ec) is 168, whereas the genetic effective population size (N eg ) computed the decay of linkage disequilibrium (r 2 ) is only 57 individuals. Nordic Spitz, although once been near extinction, has not been exposed to similar repeated bottlenecks than Finnish Spitz and had f a of 27 individuals. However, due to the smaller total population size, the breed has also smaller effective population size than Finnish Spitz (N¯ec = 98 and N eg  = 49). Interestingly, the r 2 data show that the effective population size has contracted dramatically since the establishment of the breed, emphasizing the role of breed standards as constrains for the breeding population. Despite the small population size, Nordic Spitz still maintains SNP heterozygosity levels similar to mixed breed dogs (mean Hz = 0.409). Our study demonstrates that although pedigree analyses cannot provide estimates of the present diversity within a breed, the effective population sizes inferred from them correlate with the genotyping results. The genetic relationships of the northern Spitz breeds and the benefits of the open breed registry are discussed. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  7. Intercomparison of Finnish and Russian whole-body counters used for the determination of 137Cs body burden in reindeer-herding populations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rahola, T.; Tillander, M.

    1995-01-01

    Intercalibration is a very important quality control in whole-body counting, as the human body is a very difficult ''sample'' to calibrate for. In 1994 the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK), the Laboratory of Radiochemistry of the University of Helsinki and the Institute of Radiation Hygiene (IRH) of St. Petersburg agreed to undertake the first Finnish-Russian intercalibration project for whole-body counters. The monitoring of body burdens of indigenous inhabitants in the far north of Russia, from the Kola Peninsula to Chuhodka, has been the responsibility of the ISH since 1960; the above-.mentioned Finnish institutes have monitored reindeer breeders in Finnish Lapland since 1961. The intercalibration was done in the field by measuring the same persons with both systems in Finnish Lapland and in the Kola Peninsula. Mean body burdens in the reindeer-herding population in the areas of current interest are presented in the present paper. 7 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab

  8. IL23R in the Swedish, Finnish, Hungarian and Italian populations: association with IBD and psoriasis, and linkage to celiac disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vatta Serena

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Association of the interleukin-23 receptor (IL23R with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD has been confirmed in several populations. IL23R also associates with psoriasis, suggesting that the gene may be an important candidate for many chronic inflammatory diseases. Methods We studied association of single-nucleotide variants in IL23R with IBD in Swedish patients, in both Crohn's disease (CD and ulcerative colitis (UC subsets. The same genetic variants were also studied in Finnish patients with psoriasis or celiac disease, and in Hungarian and Italian patients with celiac disease. Results Association of IL23R with IBD was replicated in our Swedish patients, and linkage and association of the IL23R region with psoriasis was found in the Finnish population. The IL23R region was also linked to celiac disease in Finnish families, but no association of IL23R variants with celiac disease was found in the Finnish, Hungarian or Italian samples. Conclusion Our study is the first to demonstrate association of IL23R with CD and UC in Swedish patients with IBD. It is also the first study to report linkage and association of the IL23R region with psoriasis in the Finnish population. Importantly, this is the first report of linkage of the IL23R region to celiac disease, a chronic inflammatory condition in which IL23R has not been previously implicated.

  9. Moyamoya vasculopathy - Patient demographics and characteristics in the Finnish population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saarela, Marika; Mustanoja, Satu; Pekkola, Johanna; Tyni, Tiina; Hernesniemi, Juha; Kivipelto, Leena; Tatlisumak, Turgut

    2017-01-01

    Background and purpose Moyamoya vasculopathy, a rare steno-occlusive progressive cerebrovascular disorder, has not been thoroughly studied in Caucasian populations. We established a registry of Finnish patients treated at the Helsinki University Hospital, to collect and report demographic and clinical data. Methods We collected data both retrospectively and prospectively from all the patients with a moyamoya vasculopathy referred to our hospital between January 1987 and December 2014. All patients underwent a neurological outpatient clinic visit. Results We diagnosed 61 patients (50 females, 10 children) with moyamoya vasculopathy. The mean age at the disease-onset was 31.5 ± 17.9 years. The two most common presenting symptoms were ischemic stroke (n = 31) and hemorrhage (n = 8). Forty-four percent underwent revascularization surgery, and 70% were prescribed antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The results support in part the Western phenotype of the disease considering the later presentation and larger female predominance compared to the Asian moyamoya vasculopathy reports. However, the proportion of ischemic strokes and hemorrhagic strokes is closer to Japanese population than German population. The absence of familial cases points to a different genetic profile in the Finnish patients.

  10. The ethnic gap in mobility: a comparison of Russian, Somali and Kurdish origin migrants and the general Finnish population

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Rask

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Many ethnic minority populations have poorer health than the general population. However, there is limited knowledge on the possible ethnic gap in physical mobility. We aim to examine the prevalence of mobility limitations in working-age Russian, Somali and Kurdish origin migrants in comparison to the general population in Finland. We also determine whether the association between ethnic group and mobility limitation remains after taking into account socio-economic and health-related factors. Methods We used data from the Finnish Migrant Health and Wellbeing Study (Maamu and the Finnish Health 2011 Survey. The participants comprised 1880 persons aged 29–64 years. The age-adjusted prevalence of difficulties in various mobility tasks was calculated using predictive margins. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between socio-economic, health- and migration-related factors and mobility limitation (self-reported difficulty in walking 500 m or stair climbing. The association between ethnic group and mobility limitation was calculated using logistic regression analysis. Results Mobility limitations were much more prevalent among Somali origin women (46 % and Kurdish origin men (32 % and women (57 % compared to men and women in the general Finnish population (5–12 %. In Russian origin men and women, the prevalence of mobility limitation (7–17 % was similar to the general Finnish population. Socio-economic and health-related factors, but not migration-related factors (time lived in Finland and language proficiency in Finnish or Swedish, were found to be associated with mobility limitation in the studied populations. Somali and Kurdish origin migrants were found to have increased odds for mobility limitation compared to the general Finnish population, even after adjusting for socio-economic and health-related factors (Somalis odds ratio [OR] 3.61; 95 % confidence interval [CI] 2.07–6.29, Kurds

  11. Intrinsic structural variation of the complex microsatellite marker MYCL1 in Finnish and Somali populations and its relevance to gastrointestinal tumors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanna Vauhkonen

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The structurally complex MYCL1 microsatellite marker is often used to determine microsatellite instability in colorectal cancers but the allelic variation of this marker has remained largely uncharacterized in both populations and in cancers. Our study describes the allelic distributions of MYCL1 in Finnish (n = 117 and Somali population samples (n = 61 of non-related individuals and compares this distribution with the instability pattern obtained from 61 gastrointestinal tumors.

  12. Exposure of Finnish population to solar UV radiation and consequent carcinogenic effects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huurto, L; Jansen, C [Turku Univ. Hospital, Turku (Finland); Jokela, K [Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, Helsinki (Finland)

    1997-12-31

    Depletion of stratospheric ozone increases irradiance of terrestrial ultraviolet (UV) radiation at short wavelengths, which may be harmful to the human health. To understand quantitatively the risks caused by increasing UV radiation to the Finnish population, the actual UV exposure of the population has to be assessed. It was shown that the snow reflection increases the UV exposure to the face and eyes particularly in the northern Finland. In 1993 exceptionally low ozone levels persisted up to the end of May, which resulted in a theoretical increase in the annual UV dose ranging from 8 % to 13 % in Finland. The maximal increase in the measured erythemally effective dose rate was 34 % on 23 April, when compared with the theoretical normal value. During this study exposure models have been developed. The models have been combined them with Green`s radiation transfer model to estimate annual facial UV doses received by different groups of Finnish population. Also, an updated estimate for increase in skin cancer incidence due to the ozone depletion is presented. It is estimated that the maximal increase in UV doses caused by the depletion of the stratospheric ozone will be 12 % in the first years of the next century in Finland. This may result in increase in skin carcinomas by 20-30 % if the people do not improve their protection against solar UV radiation. At the moment the annual facial UV dose of the Finnish indoor worker varies from 3 % to 6 % of the annual ambient dose. In the worst case an outdoor worker may receive even 16% of the annual ambient dose. However, the doses received by indoor workers during vacation to an untanned skin may be more harmful due to the increased risk of malignant melanoma.

  13. Exposure of Finnish population to solar UV radiation and consequent carcinogenic effects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huurto, L.; Jansen, C. [Turku Univ. Hospital, Turku (Finland); Jokela, K. [Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, Helsinki (Finland)

    1996-12-31

    Depletion of stratospheric ozone increases irradiance of terrestrial ultraviolet (UV) radiation at short wavelengths, which may be harmful to the human health. To understand quantitatively the risks caused by increasing UV radiation to the Finnish population, the actual UV exposure of the population has to be assessed. It was shown that the snow reflection increases the UV exposure to the face and eyes particularly in the northern Finland. In 1993 exceptionally low ozone levels persisted up to the end of May, which resulted in a theoretical increase in the annual UV dose ranging from 8 % to 13 % in Finland. The maximal increase in the measured erythemally effective dose rate was 34 % on 23 April, when compared with the theoretical normal value. During this study exposure models have been developed. The models have been combined them with Green`s radiation transfer model to estimate annual facial UV doses received by different groups of Finnish population. Also, an updated estimate for increase in skin cancer incidence due to the ozone depletion is presented. It is estimated that the maximal increase in UV doses caused by the depletion of the stratospheric ozone will be 12 % in the first years of the next century in Finland. This may result in increase in skin carcinomas by 20-30 % if the people do not improve their protection against solar UV radiation. At the moment the annual facial UV dose of the Finnish indoor worker varies from 3 % to 6 % of the annual ambient dose. In the worst case an outdoor worker may receive even 16% of the annual ambient dose. However, the doses received by indoor workers during vacation to an untanned skin may be more harmful due to the increased risk of malignant melanoma.

  14. Investigating the cross-cultural validity of DSM-5 autism spectrum disorder: evidence from Finnish and UK samples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mandy, William; Charman, Tony; Puura, Kaija; Skuse, David

    2014-01-01

    The recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) reformulation of autism spectrum disorder has received empirical support from North American and UK samples. Autism spectrum disorder is an increasingly global diagnosis, and research is needed to discover how well it generalises beyond North America and the United Kingdom. We tested the applicability of the DSM-5 model to a sample of Finnish young people with autism spectrum disorder (n = 130) or the broader autism phenotype (n = 110). Confirmatory factor analysis tested the DSM-5 model in Finland and compared the fit of this model between Finnish and UK participants (autism spectrum disorder, n = 488; broader autism phenotype, n = 220). In both countries, autistic symptoms were measured using the Developmental, Diagnostic and Dimensional Interview. Replicating findings from English-speaking samples, the DSM-5 model fitted well in Finnish autism spectrum disorder participants, outperforming a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) model. The DSM-5 model fitted equally well in Finnish and UK autism spectrum disorder samples. Among broader autism phenotype participants, this model fitted well in the United Kingdom but poorly in Finland, suggesting that cross-cultural variability may be greatest for milder autistic characteristics. We encourage researchers with data from other cultures to emulate our methodological approach, to map any cultural variability in the manifestation of autism spectrum disorder and the broader autism phenotype. This would be especially valuable given the ongoing revision of the International Classification of Diseases-11th Edition, the most global of the diagnostic manuals.

  15. Distribution and medical impact of loss-of-function variants in the Finnish founder population.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elaine T Lim

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Exome sequencing studies in complex diseases are challenged by the allelic heterogeneity, large number and modest effect sizes of associated variants on disease risk and the presence of large numbers of neutral variants, even in phenotypically relevant genes. Isolated populations with recent bottlenecks offer advantages for studying rare variants in complex diseases as they have deleterious variants that are present at higher frequencies as well as a substantial reduction in rare neutral variation. To explore the potential of the Finnish founder population for studying low-frequency (0.5-5% variants in complex diseases, we compared exome sequence data on 3,000 Finns to the same number of non-Finnish Europeans and discovered that, despite having fewer variable sites overall, the average Finn has more low-frequency loss-of-function variants and complete gene knockouts. We then used several well-characterized Finnish population cohorts to study the phenotypic effects of 83 enriched loss-of-function variants across 60 phenotypes in 36,262 Finns. Using a deep set of quantitative traits collected on these cohorts, we show 5 associations (p<5×10⁻⁸ including splice variants in LPA that lowered plasma lipoprotein(a levels (P = 1.5×10⁻¹¹⁷. Through accessing the national medical records of these participants, we evaluate the LPA finding via Mendelian randomization and confirm that these splice variants confer protection from cardiovascular disease (OR = 0.84, P = 3×10⁻⁴, demonstrating for the first time the correlation between very low levels of LPA in humans with potential therapeutic implications for cardiovascular diseases. More generally, this study articulates substantial advantages for studying the role of rare variation in complex phenotypes in founder populations like the Finns and by combining a unique population genetic history with data from large population cohorts and centralized research access to National Health

  16. Exposure of Finnish population to ultraviolet radiation and radiation measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoikkala, M.; Lappalainen, J.; Leszczynski, K.; Paile, W.

    1990-01-01

    This report is based on a survey of the literature on radiation risks involved in sunbathing and the use of solaria. The purpose of the report is to provide background information for the development of regulations on solaria and for informing the public about the risks posed by solaria and the sun. The report gives an overview of the properties and biological effects of ultraviolet radiation. The most important regulations and recommendations issued in various countries are presented. The connection between ultraviolet radiation and the risks of skin cancer is examined both on a general level and in reference to information obtained from the Finnish Cancer Registry. In Finland, the incidence of melanomas nearly tripled between 1960 and 1980. The most important cause is considered to be the population's increased exposure to the su's ultraviolet radiation. There are no reliable data on the connection between the use of solaria and the risks of skin cancer. It is estimated, however, that solaria account for less than 10 per cent of the skin cancer risk of the whole population. There are some difficult physical problems associated with the measurement of ultraviolet radiation emitted by both natural sources and solaria. A preliminary study of these problems has been undertaken by means of a survey of the available literature, supplemented by a review of measurements performed by the Finnish Centre For Radiation and Nuclear Safety. The estimated inaccuracy of the Optronic 742 spectroradiometer used by the Centre in the measurement of ultraviolet radiation emitted by the sun and solaria is about +-14%

  17. Victimization and psychopathic features in a population-based sample of Finnish adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saukkonen, Suvi; Aronen, Eeva T; Laajasalo, Taina; Salmi, Venla; Kivivuori, Janne; Jokela, Markus

    2016-10-01

    We examined different forms of victimization experiences in relation to psychopathic features and whether these associations differed in boys and girls among 4855 Finnish school adolescents aged 15-16 years. Psychopathic features were measured with the Antisocial Process Screening Device- Self Report (APSD-SR). Victimization was assessed with questions about violent and abusive experiences across lifetime and within the last 12 months. Results from linear regression analysis showed that victimization was significantly associated with higher APSD-SR total scores, more strongly in girls than boys. Recent (12-month) victimization showed significance in the relationship between victimization and psychopathic features; especially recent sexual abuse and parental corporal punishment were strong determinants of higher APSD-SR total scores. The present study demonstrates novel findings on how severe victimization experiences relate to psychopathic features in community youth, especially in girls. The findings underscore the need for comprehensive evaluation of victimization experiences when psychopathic features are present in youth. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Finnish version of the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia: Reference values in the Finnish general population and associations with leisure-time physical activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koho, Petteri; Borodulin, Katja; Kautiainen, Hannu; Kujala, Urho; Pohjolainen, Timo; Hurri, Heikki

    2015-03-01

    To create reference values for the general Finnish population using the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK-FIN), to study gender differences in the TSK-FIN, to assess the internal consistency of the TSK-FIN, to estimate the prevalence of high levels of kinesiophobia in Finnish men and women, and to examine the association between kinesiophobia and leisure-time physical activity and the impact of co-morbidities on kinesiophobia. The study population comprised 455 men and 579 women. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire about their socio-demographic factors, leisure-time physical activity, co-morbidities and kinesiophobia. The mean TSK-FIN score was significantly higher for men (mean 34.2, standard deviation (SD) 6.9) compared with women (mean 32.9, SD 6.5), with an age-adjusted p = 0.004 for the difference between men and women. Cronbach's alpha was 0.72, indicating substantial internal consistency. Men over 55 years of age and women over 65 years of age had a higher (p physical activity among both sexes. The presence of cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disease or a mental disorder was associated with a higher TSK-FIN score compared with the absence of the aforementioned disorders. We present here the reference values for the TSK-FIN. The reference values and prevalence among the general population may help clinicians to define the level of kinesiophobia among patients. Disorders other than musculoskeletal diseases were associated with kinesiophobia, which should be noted in daily practice.

  19. Gender differences in health information behaviour: a Finnish population-based survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ek, Stefan

    2015-09-01

    Narrowing the gaps in health outcomes, including those between men and women, has been a pronounced goal on the agenda of the Finnish health authorities since the mid-1980s. But still there is a huge gap in favour of women when it comes to life expectancy at birth. People's health information behaviour, that is how people seek, obtain, evaluate, categorize and use relevant health-related information to perform desired health behaviours, is a critical prerequisite to appropriate and consistent performances of these behaviours. With respect to gender, it has been noted that men often are unwilling and lack the motivation to engage with health-related information. The purpose of this study was to investigate how gender affects health information behaviour in the Finnish population aged 18-65 years. The survey data were collected via a questionnaire which was posted to a representative cross section consisting of 1500 Finnish citizens. The statistical analysis consists of ANOVA F-tests and Fisher's exact tests. The results show that women were more interested in and reported much more active seeking of health-related information, paid more attention to potential worldwide pandemics and were much more attentive as to how the goods they purchase in everyday life affect their health than men did. Women also reported receiving far more informal health-related information from close family members, other kin and friends/workmates than men did. Thus, to succeed in public health promotion and interventions the measures taken should be much more sensitive to the gender gap in health information behaviour. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  20. Use of sunbeds by Finnish population

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jalarvo, V.

    2000-10-01

    The sun is clearly the most important source of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) in environment. The UVR doses caused to the population by the sun have been estimated in several studies. However, the use of sunbeds and the UVR exposure caused by them have been assessed only by few surveys. Therefore, the main objective of this study was set to collect data about the use of sunbeds in Finland and to estimate the UVR doses caused to the population by sunbeds. The basic material for this research was collected during year 1998 by a questionnaire mailed to 4000 Finns older than 15 years. 28,7% of the respondents had visited sunbed sometime during their life, and 8,6% had used sunbed during the year 1997. Consequently it was estimated that in 1997 approximately 360 000 Finns aged over 15 years were using sunbeds. Young people, 20-34 years, were using sunbeds more than older people and two of three sunbed users were women. During the year 1997, an average sunbed user visited sunbeds 6,8 times. When UVR doses caused by sunbeds and sun were compared, it was estimated that by average use of sunbeds the annual UVR dose of outdoor and indoor workers might increase 2% and 30%, respectively. The annual UVR dose of an average sunbed user was assessed to increase by 13% because of sunbed use. Sunbeds were estimated to be responsible for 1% addition to the annual UVR dose of Finnish population. The sun is still the major source of VVR doses when the whole population is concerned, but enthusiastic sunbed users may even triple their annual UVR doses. The best tools for keeping the annual UVR doses reasonably low are to deliver information of the hazards of W-radiation to the groups at risk and to monitor the radiation safety of sunbeds. It is worthwhile to aim information campaigns for the biggest user groups found by this study. Attention should be drawn to the attitudes and ideals towards tanned skin. (orig.)

  1. Pre-pregnancy body mass index and inter-pregnancy weight change among women of Russian, Somali and Kurdish origin and the general Finnish population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bastola, Kalpana; Koponen, Päivikki; Härkänen, Tommi; Gissler, Mika; Kinnunen, Tarja I

    2017-05-01

    We studied the differences in the mean pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and mean inter-pregnancy weight change in women of Russian, Somali and Kurdish origin and women in the general Finnish population. The population-based samples were from the Migrant Health and Wellbeing Study and the Health 2011 Survey conducted in six cities in Finland in 2010-2012. This study included women with at least one birth in Finland. Data on their previous pregnancies in Finland were obtained from the National Medical Birth Register for 318 Russian, 584 Somali and 373 Kurdish origin women and for 243 women in the general Finnish population (reference group). Data on pre-pregnancy weight and height were self-reported in early pregnancy. Linear logistic regression was the main method of analysis. The unadjusted mean pre-pregnancy BMI was higher in Somali (27.0 kg/m 2 , p<0.001) and Kurdish (25.8 kg/m 2 , p<0.001) women, but lower in Russian (22.2 kg/m 2 , p<0.001) women than in the reference group (24.1 kg/m 2 ). The adjusted coefficients for the difference in the mean pre-pregnancy BMI were -1.93 (95% CI -2.77 to -1.09) for Russian, 1.82 (95% CI 0.89-2.75) for Somali and 1.30 (95% CI 0.43-2.17) for Kurdish women compared with the reference group. Among women with at least two births, no statistically significant difference was observed in the mean inter-pregnancy weight change between the migrant groups and the reference group. Somali and Kurdish women had higher mean pre-pregnancy BMIs than women in the general Finnish population and may need special support and health promotion strategies for weight management.

  2. Genetic variances, trends and mode of inheritance for hip and elbow dysplasia in Finnish dog populations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mäki, K.; Groen, A.F.; Liinamo, A.E.; Ojala, M.

    2002-01-01

    The aims of this study were to assess genetic variances, trends and mode of inheritance for hip and elbow dysplasia in Finnish dog populations. The influence of time-dependent fixed effects in the model when estimating the genetic trends was also studied. Official hip and elbow dysplasia screening

  3. A cohort effect on serum testosterone levels in Finnish men

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Perheentupa, A; Mäkinen, J; Laatikainen, T

    2013-01-01

    To investigate whether a population-level decline in serum testosterone exists in Finnish men. In comparison with other European populations, Finnish men have compared well in the studies of reproductive health (i.e. semen quality, incidence of cryptorchidism and testicular cancer); thus, we...... expected no significant cohort-dependent decrease in serum testosterone....

  4. Monitoring of radioactivity in the environs of Finnish nuclear power stations in 1986

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ilus, E.; Sjoeblom, K.L.; Aaltonen, H.; Klemola, S.; Arvela, H.

    1987-06-01

    Results of the environmental programmes monitoring radioactivity around the Finnish nuclear power stations in 1986 are reported. After the end of April the fallout nuclides from the Chernobyl accident predominated in all samples taken from the environs of the two power stations Loviisa and Olkiluoto. Radionuclides originating from the Finnish power stations were detected mainly in samples taken from the aquatic environment. The concentrations of the locally discharged nuclides were very low in comparison with the fallout nuclides and their impact on the radiation doses of the population was insignificant. Both nuclear power stations are situated in the main fallout area in Finland. The results of these large monitoring programmes give a good picture of the behaviour of the Chernobyl fallout in the specific areas in Finland

  5. Bibliometric evaluation of Finnish astronomy

    OpenAIRE

    Isaksson, Eva

    2007-01-01

    Finnish astronomy publishing provides us with an interesting data sample. It is small but not too small: approximately one thousand articles have been published in a decade. There are only four astronomy institutes to be compared. An interesting paradox also emerges in the field: while Finnish science assessments usually value highly the impact of scientific publishing, no serious evaluations using real bibliometric data have been made. To remedy this, a comprehensive ten-year database of ref...

  6. Psychosocial correlates of police-registered youth crime. A Finnish population-based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elonheimo, Henrik; Sourander, Andre; Niemelä, Solja; Nuutila, Ari-Matti; Helenius, Hans; Sillanmäki, Lauri; Ristkari, Terja; Parkkola, Kai

    2009-01-01

    This study is focused on psychosocial correlates of youth crime in a sample of 2330 Finnish boys born in 1981. Two kinds of data were combined: questionnaires completed by the boys at call-up in 1999 and crime registered in the Finnish National Police Register between 1998 and 2001. One-fifth of the boys were registered to offending during the 4-year period in late adolescence; 14% were registered for one or two offences, 4% for three to five offences, and 3% for more than five offences. Crime accumulated heavily in those with more than five offences, as they accounted for 68% of all crime. Independent correlates of crime were living in a small community, parents' low educational level and divorce, having a regular relationship, self-reported delinquency, daily smoking, and weekly drunkenness, whereas anxious-depressiveness was reversely associated with crime. Most psychosocial problems covaried linearly with offending frequency, being particularly manifested by multiple recidivists. However, recidivists had very rarely used mental health services. The results indicate that offending and various psychosocial problems accumulate in a small minority of boys not reached by mental health services.

  7. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report 3rd, quarter 1995

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sillanpaeae, T.

    1996-05-01

    Quarterly Reports on the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants describe events and observations relating to nuclear and radiation safety which the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK) considers safety significant. Safety improvements at the plants are also described. The Report includes a summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and of the environment and tabulated data on the plants' production and load factors. Except for the annual maintenance outages of Loviisa plant units and for TVO II's brief outage to repair a failed component, Finnish nuclear power plant units were in power operation in the third quarter of 1995. The load factor average of all plant units was 90.4 %. Events in this quarter were level 0 on the INES scale. Occupational doses and radioactive releases off-site were below authorised limits. Radioactive substances were measurable in samples collected around the plants in such quantities only as have no bearing on the radiation exposure of the population. (orig.) (4 figs., 4 tabs.)

  8. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report 3rd, quarter 1995

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sillanpaeae, T [ed.

    1996-05-01

    Quarterly Reports on the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants describe events and observations relating to nuclear and radiation safety which the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK) considers safety significant. Safety improvements at the plants are also described. The Report includes a summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and of the environment and tabulated data on the plants` production and load factors. Except for the annual maintenance outages of Loviisa plant units and for TVO II`s brief outage to repair a failed component, Finnish nuclear power plant units were in power operation in the third quarter of 1995. The load factor average of all plant units was 90.4 %. Events in this quarter were level 0 on the INES scale. Occupational doses and radioactive releases off-site were below authorised limits. Radioactive substances were measurable in samples collected around the plants in such quantities only as have no bearing on the radiation exposure of the population. (orig.) (4 figs., 4 tabs.).

  9. Psychometric properties of the Finnish version of the Women's Health Questionnaire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katainen, Riina E; Engblom, Janne R; Vahlberg, Tero J; Polo-Kantola, Päivi

    2017-08-01

    The Women's Health Questionnaire (WHQ) is a validated and commonly used instrument for measuring climacteric-related symptoms. A revised version was previously developed. However, validation in a Finnish population is lacking. As it is important to use qualified instruments, we performed a validation study of the WHQ in a Finnish population. In all, 3,421 women, aged 41 to 54 years, formed the study population. In the original 36-item WHQ, the items were rated on a 1 to 4 scale and on a binary scale (0-1). The scaling of the revised 23-item WHQ was 0 to 100. We evaluated the psychometric properties (internal consistency, correlations between the symptom domains, factor structure, and sampling adequacy) in all three versions. For the 1 to 4 scale and on the revised version of the WHQ, the internal consistency was acceptable (the Cronbach's α coefficients >0.70) for most of the domains. On the binary scale, the majority of the coefficient values were below the acceptable level. The original symptom domains, especially those on the revised version, were recognizable from the factors in the exploratory factor analysis, but there were some limitations. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin values were high. The WHQ is a valid instrument for measuring climacteric-related symptoms in Finnish middle-aged women. The psychometric properties of the revised 23-item WHQ were as good or even better than those of the original 36-item WHQ. Thus, we encourage use of the revised version.

  10. Awareness and use of the Heart Symbol by Finnish consumers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lahti-Koski, Marjaana; Helakorpi, Satu; Olli, Mari; Vartiainen, Erkki; Puska, Pekka

    2012-03-01

    To study the awareness of the Heart Symbol in different age and educational groups, and changes in the awareness over a 9-year period. In addition, the reported use of products with the symbol was examined. A series of annual cross-sectional postal surveys on Health Behaviour and Health among the Finnish Adult Population. A random sample (n 5000 per annum) from the Finnish population aged 15-64 years, drawn from the National Population Register, received a questionnaire. Men and women (n 29 378) participating in the surveys in 2000-2009. At the early 2000s, 48 % of men and 73 % of women reported to be familiar with the symbol. The corresponding rates were 66 % for men and 91 % for women in 2009. The reported use of products with the symbol increased from 29 % to 52 % in men and from 40 % to 72 % in women. In men, the awareness did not vary by age, whereas older women (45-64 years) were less likely to be aware of the symbol compared with younger women (25-34 years). Men and women with the highest education were best aware of the symbol and more likely to use the products in the early 2000s. The educational differences diminished or disappeared during the study period. The majority of Finnish adults are familiar with the Heart Symbol, and the reported use of such products increased in all age and educational groups, especially among the less educated. The symbol may work as an effective measure to diminish nutrition-related health inequalities.

  11. Technetium-99 in Fucus and seawater samples in the Finnish coastal area of the Baltic Sea, 1999

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikaeheimonen, T.K.; Vartti, V.P.; Ilus, E.; Mattila, J.

    2002-01-01

    Liquid discharges of 99 Tc from the Sellafield nuclear facilities increased largely in the mid 90's. These releases are transported to the Nordic sea areas by the ocean currents. Results of the 99 Tc activities along the Norwegian coastal areas and in the North Sea have been reported but then again, the spreading of 99 Tc into Baltic Sea has not been studied thoroughly. Fucus vesiculosus and seawater samples were collected in the summer 1999 from the Finnish coastal areas for measuring 99 Tc in the Baltic Sea area. A modified analytical method for measuring 99 Tc in the environmental samples was developed at that time. The method based on extraction chromatography and liquid scintillation measurement of 99 Tc. The 99 Tc concentration in the Fucus vesiculosus in the Finnish coast of the Baltic Sea varied from 1.6 to 11.6 Bq/kg (dry weight) being highest at the most northern sampling sites. These values were considerable lower than those in the Danish and Norwegian coasts. The variation in the concentrations observed are probably due to biological factors. The 99 Tc concentration in the Baltic Sea water studied was below 0.2 Bq/m 3 . (author)

  12. Mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms associated with longevity in a Finnish population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niemi, Anna-Kaisa; Hervonen, Antti; Hurme, Mikko; Karhunen, Pekka J; Jylhä, Marja; Majamaa, Kari

    2003-01-01

    Sequence variation in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) may cause slight differences both in the functioning of the respiratory chain and in free radical production, and an association between certain mtDNA haplogroups and longevity has been suggested. In order to determine further the role of mtDNA in longevity, we studied the frequencies of mtDNA haplogroups and haplogroup clusters among elderly subjects and controls in a Finnish population. Samples were obtained from 225 persons aged 90-91 years (Vitality 90+) and from 400 middle-aged controls and 257 infants. MtDNA haplogroups were determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism. The haplogroup frequencies of the Vitality 90+ group differed from both those of the middle-aged controls ( P=0.01) and the infants ( P=0.00005), haplogroup H being less frequent than among the middle-aged subjects ( P=0.001) and infants ( P=0.00001), whereas haplogroups U and J were more frequent. Haplogroup clusters also differed between Vitality 90+ and both the middle-aged subjects ( P=0.002) and infants ( P=0.00001), the frequency of haplogroup cluster HV being lower in the former and that of UK and WIX being higher. These data suggest an association between certain mtDNA haplogroups or haplogroup clusters and longevity. Furthermore, our data appear to favour the presence of advantageous polymorphisms and support a role for mitochondria and mtDNA in the degenerative processes involved in ageing.

  13. Monitoring of radioactivity in the environs of Finnish nuclear power stations in 1987

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sjoeblom, K.-L.; Klemola, S.; Ilus, E.; Arvela, H.; Blomqvist, L.

    1989-06-01

    Results of the environmental programmes for monitoring radioactive contamination around Finnish nuclear power plants in 1987 are reported. Fallout from the Chernobyl accident, which took place in April 1986, was still dominating the artificial radiation situation in Finland. Thus, large amounts of 137 Cs and other long-lived fallout nuclides predominated in the environmental samples taken in the vicinity of nuclear power plants. The extremely small airborne releases from Finnish nuclear power plants were almost totally covered by fallout nuclides. The somewhat higher aquatic releases were easier to distinguish, and it was possible to follow their spread in the marine environment. The contribution of locally discharged nuclides to radiation doses of the population was insignificant

  14. Use of sunbeds by Finnish population; Suomalaisten solariuminkaeyttoe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jalarvo, V

    2000-10-01

    The sun is clearly the most important source of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) in environment. The UVR doses caused to the population by the sun have been estimated in several studies. However, the use of sunbeds and the UVR exposure caused by them have been assessed only by few surveys. Therefore, the main objective of this study was set to collect data about the use of sunbeds in Finland and to estimate the UVR doses caused to the population by sunbeds. The basic material for this research was collected during year 1998 by a questionnaire mailed to 4000 Finns older than 15 years. 28,7% of the respondents had visited sunbed sometime during their life, and 8,6% had used sunbed during the year 1997. Consequently it was estimated that in 1997 approximately 360 000 Finns aged over 15 years were using sunbeds. Young people, 20-34 years, were using sunbeds more than older people and two of three sunbed users were women. During the year 1997, an average sunbed user visited sunbeds 6,8 times. When UVR doses caused by sunbeds and sun were compared, it was estimated that by average use of sunbeds the annual UVR dose of outdoor and indoor workers might increase 2% and 30%, respectively. The annual UVR dose of an average sunbed user was assessed to increase by 13% because of sunbed use. Sunbeds were estimated to be responsible for 1% addition to the annual UVR dose of Finnish population. The sun is still the major source of VVR doses when the whole population is concerned, but enthusiastic sunbed users may even triple their annual UVR doses. The best tools for keeping the annual UVR doses reasonably low are to deliver information of the hazards of W-radiation to the groups at risk and to monitor the radiation safety of sunbeds. It is worthwhile to aim information campaigns for the biggest user groups found by this study. Attention should be drawn to the attitudes and ideals towards tanned skin. (orig.)

  15. Genotyping and surveillance for scrapie in Finnish sheep

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hautaniemi Maria

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The progression of scrapie is known to be influenced by the amino acid polymorphisms of the host prion protein (PrP gene. There is no breeding programme for TSE resistance in sheep in Finland, but a scrapie control programme has been in place since 1995. In this study we have analysed PrP genotypes of total of 928 purebred and crossbred sheep together with the data of scrapie survey carried out in Finland during 2002–2008 in order to gain knowledge of the genotype distribution and scrapie prevalence in Finnish sheep. Results The ARQ/ARQ genotype was the most common genotype in all breeds studied. ARR allele frequency was less than 12% in purebred Finnish sheep and in most genotypes heterozygous for ARR, the second allele was ARQ. The VRQ allele was not detected in the Grey race sheep of Kainuu or in the Aland sheep, and it was present in less than 6% of the Finnish Landrace sheep. Leucine was the most prominent amino acid found in codon 141. In addition, one novel prion dimorphisms of Q220L was detected. During the scrapie survey of over 15 000 sheep in 2002–2008, no classical scrapie cases and only five atypical scrapie cases were detected. Conclusions The results indicate that the Finnish sheep populations have genetically little resistance to classical scrapie, but no classical scrapie was detected during an extensive survey in 2002–2008. However, five atypical scrapie cases emerged; thus, the disease is present in the Finnish sheep population at a low level.

  16. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report, 4th quarter 1996

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1997-05-01

    Quarterly reports on the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants describe events and observations relating to nuclear and radiation safety which the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK) considers safety significant. Safety improvements at the plants are also described. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and of the environment and tabulated data on the plants's production and load factors. In the fourth quarter of 1996, the Finnish nuclear power plant units were in power operation except for the annual maintenance outage of Loviisa 2 and a shutdown at Olkiluoto 1 to repair a condensate system stop valve. The load factor average of all plant units was 96.5%. Events in the fourth quarter of 1996 were level 0 on the International Nuclear Event Scale. Occupational doses and radioactive releases off-site were below authorised limits. Radioactive substances were measurable in samples collected around the plants in such quantities only as have no bearing on the radiation exposure of the population. (orig.)

  17. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report, 2nd quarter, 1995

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tossavainen, K. [ed.

    1995-10-01

    Quarterly reports on the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants describe events and observations relating to nuclear and radiation safety which the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK) considers safety significant. Fasety improvements at the plants are also described. The report includes a summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and of the evironment and tabulated data on the plants` production and load factors. Except for the annual maintenance outages of the TVO plant units and for TVO II`s Midsummer outage which was due to low electricity demand, the Finnish nuclear power plants were in power operation during the second quarter of 1995. The load factor average of all four plant units was 91.2 %. Events during the second annual quarter were level 0 on the INES scale. Occupational doses and radioactive releases off-site were below authorized limits. Radioactive substances were measurable in samples collected around the plants in such quantities only as have no bearing on the radiation exposure of the population. (4 figs., 4 tabs.).

  18. BRCA2 Mutations in 154 Finnish Male Breast Cancer Patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kirsi Syrjäkoski

    2004-09-01

    Full Text Available The etiology and pathogenesis of male breast cancer (MBC are poorly known. This is due to the fact that the disease is rare, and large-scale genetic epidemiologic studies have been difficult to carry out. Here, we studied the frequency of eight recurrent Finnish BRCA2 founder mutations in a large cohort of 154 MBC patients (65% diagnosed in Finland from 1967 to 1996. Founder mutations were detected in 10 patients (6.5%, eight of whom carried the 9346(-2 A>G mutation. Two novel mutations (4075 delGT and 5808 del5 were discovered in a screening of the entire BRCA2 coding region in 34 samples. However, these mutations were not found in the rest of the 120 patients studied. Patients with positive family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer were often BRCA2 mutation carriers (44%, whereas those with no family history showed a low frequency of involvement (3.6%; P < .0001. Finally, we found only one Finnish MBC patient with 999 dell, the most common founder mutation in Finnish female breast cancer (FBC patients, and one that explains most of the hereditary FBC and MBC cases in Iceland. The variation in BRCA2 mutation spectrum between Finnish MBC patients and FBC patients in Finland and breast cancer patients in Iceland suggests that modifying genetic and environmental factors may significantly influence the penetrance of MBC and FBC in individuals carrying germline BRCA2 mutations in some populations.

  19. Objectively measured sedentary behavior and physical activity in a sample of Finnish adults: a cross-sectional study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pauliina Husu

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Regular physical activity (PA confers many positive effects on health and well-being. Sedentary behavior (SB, in turn, is a risk factor for health, regardless of the level of moderate to vigorous PA. The present study describes the levels of objectively measured SB, breaks in SB, standing still and PA among Finnish adults. Methods This cross-sectional analysis is based on the sub-sample of the population-based Health 2011 Study of Finnish adults. The study population consisted of 18-to-85-year old men and women who wore a waist-worn triaxial accelerometer (Hookie AM 20 for at least 4 days, for at least 10 h per day (n = 1587 during a week. PA and SB were objectively assessed from the raw accelerometric data using novel processing and analysis algorithms with mean amplitude deviation as the processing method. The data was statistically analyzed using cross-tabulations, analysis of variance and analysis of covariance. Results The participants were on average 52 years old, 57 % being women. Participants were sedentary 59 % of their waking wear time, mainly sitting. They spent 17 % of the time standing still, 15 % in light intensity PA, 9 % in moderate PA and less than 1 % in vigorous PA. Participants aged 30–39 years had the highest number of breaks in SB per day. Younger participants (<30 years of age had more moderate and vigorous PA than older ones (≥60 years of age, and 30–60-year-olds had the greatest amount of light PA. Conclusions Participants spent nearly 60 % of their waking time sedentary, and the majority of their daily PA was light. From a public health perspective it is important to find effective ways to decrease SB as well as to increase the level of PA. Our analysis method of raw accelerometer data may allow more precise assessment of dose-response relationships between objectively measured PA and SB and various indicators of health and well-being.

  20. Radionuclide analysis of environmental field trial samples at STUK. Report on Task FIN A 847 of the Finnish Support Programme to IAEA Safeguards

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rantavaara, A.; Klemola, S.; Saxen, R.; Ikaeheimonen, T.K.; Moring, M.

    1994-12-01

    Radionuclide determinations on seventeen field trial test samples were carried out for the International Atomic Energy Agency by the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK). All the samples, i.e., samples of sea water, grass and biota were analysed for gamma emitting nuclides. 3 H was determined in water, 90 Sr in grass and 238 Pu, 239 Pu, 240 Pu and 241 Am in biota samples. To avoid losses of radionuclides before gamma activity measurements, the sequence of treatments was adjusted considering the unknown radionuclide composition. The radionuclide contents found in the samples were roughly the same or lower than contents in same types of environmental samples in the Northern hemisphere. The ratios of Pu and Am nuclides in two of the biota samples referred to an origin other than the global atmospheric fallout. The work was carried out under Task FIN A 847 of the Finnish Support Programme to IAEA Safeguards. (orig.) (21 refs., 3 figs., 7 tabs.)

  1. A Finnish validation study of the SCL-90.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holi, M M; Sammallahti, P R; Aalberg, V A

    1998-01-01

    The Symptom Check-List-90 (SCL-90) is a widely used psychiatric questionnaire which has not yet been validated in Finland. We investigated the utility of the translated version of the SCL-90 in the Finnish population, and set community norms for it. The internal consistency of the original subscales was checked and found to be good. Discriminant function analysis, based on the nine original subscales, showed that the power of the SCL-90 to discriminate between patients and the community is good. Factor analysis of the items of the questionnaire yielded a very strong unrotated first factor, suggesting that a general factor may be present. This together with the fact that high intercorrelations were found between the nine original subscales suggests that the instrument is not multidimensional. The SCL-90 may be useful in a research setting as an instrument for measuring the change in symptomatic distress, or as a screening instrument. The American community norms should be used with caution, as the Finnish community sample scored consistently higher on all subscales.

  2. Multiple independent variants in 6q21-22 associated with susceptibility to celiac disease in the Dutch, Finnish and Hungarian populations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Einarsdottir, Elisabet; Bevova, Marianna R.; Zhernakova, Alexandra; Monsuur, Alienke; Koskinen, Lotta L. E.; van't Slot, Ruben; Mulder, Chris; Mearin, M. Luisa; Korponay-Szabo, Ilma R.; Kaukinen, Katri; Kurppa, Kalle; Kere, Juha; Maki, Markku; Wijmenga, Cisca; Saavalainen, Paivi

    Celiac disease is an inflammatory enteropathy caused by intolerance to gluten. Previous linkage studies in the Dutch, Finnish and Hungarian populations have revealed a locus on chromosome 6q21-22 conferring susceptibility to celiac disease. This locus has previously been implicated in susceptibility

  3. The role of aldehyde dehydrogenase-1 (ALDH1A1 polymorphisms in harmful alcohol consumption in a Finnish population

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lind Penelope A

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Liver cystolic aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1A1 has been previously associated with both alcohol dependence and alcohol consumption behaviour, and has been implicated in alcohol-induced flushing and alcohol sensitivity in Caucasians. The present study tested for association between ALDH1A1 and alcohol consumption behaviour and susceptibility to problem drinking or alcohol dependence in Finnish cohorts of unrelated male subjects recruited from alcoholism clinical treatment facilities (n = 104 and from the general population (n = 201. All participants completed the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT and were genotyped for eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs within or flanking ALDH1A1. To test for association between alcohol consumption behaviour and these polymorphisms, we used generalised linear models and haplotypic analysis. Three SNPs were nominally associated (rs348449, p = 0.043; rs610529, p = 0.013; rs348479, p = 0.025 with the quantitative AUDIT score, which evaluates alcohol consumption behaviour. Two-locus (rs6I0529-rs2288087 haplotype analysis increased the strength of association with AUDIT score (p = 0.00I5. Additionally, rs348449 is highly associated with problem drinking (allelic odds ratio [OR] 7.87, 95 per cent confidence interval [CI] 1.67-37.01 but due to the low minor allele frequency (0.01 and 0.07 in controls and problem drinkers, respectively, more samples are required to validate this observation. Conversely, rs348479 (p = 0.019 and rs6I0529 (allelic OR 0.65, 95 per cent CI 0.43-0.98; genotypic OR 0.32, 95 per cent CI 0.12-0.84 are implicated in alcohol dependence status. This study provides further evidence for a role for ALDH1A1 in alcohol consumption behaviour, including problem drinking and possibly alcohol dependence, in our Finnish population.

  4. Burnout among Finnish and Chinese university students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernesniemi, Elina; Räty, Hannu; Kasanen, Kati; Cheng, Xuejiao; Hong, Jianzhong; Kuittinen, Matti

    2017-10-01

    In this study the levels of experienced burnout of Finnish and Chinese university students are compared using School Burnout Inventory (SBI). This study is motivated by earlier studies, which suggest that the level of student burnout is different in the culturally distinct Finnish and Chinese university systems, but which are based on different research instruments for the two groups. The sample studied consisted of 3,035 Finnish students and 2,309 Chinese students. Because of the cross-cultural nature of this study the level of structural equivalence of SBI between the cultural groups was examined and the effect of different response styles on the results was taken into account. Both standard and robust statistical methods were used for the analyses. The results showed that SBI with two extracted components is suitable for cross-cultural analysis between Finnish and Chinese university students. Virtually no difference was found in experienced overall burnout between the Finnish and Chinese students, which means that both university systems contain factors causing similar levels of student burnout. This study also verified that controlling for the response styles is important in cross-cultural studies as it was found to have a distinct effect on the results obtained from mean-level comparisons. © 2017 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. How Is Interreligious Sensitivity Related to Finnish Pupils' Religiousness Profiles?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuusisto, Elina; Kuusisto, Arniika; Kallioniemi, Arto

    2016-01-01

    This paper examines, through a non-probability sample of 451 Finnish lower secondary-school pupils belonging to the 15- to 16-year-old age group, how interreligious sensitivity is related to religiousness profiles of Finnish youth. The data were gathered in two geographical locations: Helsinki, Finland's capital, and a smaller municipality in the…

  6. Protective Low-Frequency Variants for Preeclampsia in the Fms Related Tyrosine Kinase 1 Gene in the Finnish Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lokki, A Inkeri; Daly, Emma; Triebwasser, Michael; Kurki, Mitja I; Roberson, Elisha D O; Häppölä, Paavo; Auro, Kirsi; Perola, Markus; Heinonen, Seppo; Kajantie, Eero; Kere, Juha; Kivinen, Katja; Pouta, Anneli; Salmon, Jane E; Meri, Seppo; Daly, Mark; Atkinson, John P; Laivuori, Hannele

    2017-08-01

    Preeclampsia is a common pregnancy-specific vascular disorder characterized by new-onset hypertension and proteinuria during the second half of pregnancy. Predisposition to preeclampsia is in part heritable. It is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. We have sequenced 124 candidate genes implicated in preeclampsia to pinpoint genetic variants contributing to predisposition to or protection from preeclampsia. First, targeted exomic sequencing was performed in 500 preeclamptic women and 190 controls from the FINNPEC cohort (Finnish Genetics of Preeclampsia Consortium). Then 122 women with a history of preeclampsia and 1905 parous women with no such history from the National FINRISK Study (a large Finnish population survey on risk factors of chronic, noncommunicable diseases) were included in the analyses. We tested 146 rare and low-frequency variants and found an excess (observed 13 versus expected 7.3) nominally associated with preeclampsia ( P preeclampsia. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

  7. Radionuclide analysis of environmental field trial samples at STUK/II. Second report on task FIN A 847 of the Finnish support programme to IAEA safeguards

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikaeheimonen, T.K.; Rantavaara, A.; Moring, M.; Klemola, S.

    1995-06-01

    Radionuclide determinations of 35 environmental samples of eight different materials were carried out for the International Atomic Energy Agency by the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK). All the samples were analysed for gamma emitting nuclides, 90 Sr, 238 Pu and 239 , 240 Pu. In most of the samples the found radionuclide contents were roughly at the same levels as in the same types of environmental samples in the northern hemisphere. However, some samples of grass, moss, lichen and sheep faeces showed exceptionally great contents of radionuclides measured. The maximum contents of 90 Sr, 137 Cs, 238 Pu and 239 , 240 Pu were found in the sam individual samples. The ratios of nuclide concentrations in these samples also deviated from ratios in other samples. This referred to an origin of these nuclides other than the global fallout. The work was a continuation to the study carried out under the Task FIN A 847 of the Finnish Support Programme to IAEA Safeguard. (orig.) (1 ref., 1 fig., 4 tabs.)

  8. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report, 3rd quarter 1996

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sillanpaeae, T.

    1997-02-01

    Quarterly Reports on the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants describe events and observations relating to nuclear and radiation safety which the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK) considers safety significant. Safety improvements at the plants are also described. The Report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and of the environment and tabulated data on the plants' production and load factors. In the third quarter of 1996, the Finnish nuclear power plant units were in power operation except for the annual maintenance outages of Loviisa plant units and a shutdown at Olkiluoto 1 to identify and repair malfunctions of a high pressure turbine control valve. The load factor average of all plant units was 77.2%. Events in the third quarter of 1996 were classified level 0 on the International Nuclear Event Scale. Occupational doses and radioactive releases off-site were below authorised limits. Radioactive substances were measurable in samples collected around the plants in such quantities only as have no bearing on the radiation exposure of the population. The names of Teollisuuden Voima Oy's plant units have changed. Olkiluoto 1 and Olkiluoto 2 now replace the names TVO I and TVO II previously used in quarterly reports. (orig.)

  9. 210Pb and 210Po in Finnish cereals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turtiainen, Tuukka; Kostiainen, Eila; Hallikainen, Anja

    2011-01-01

    A survey was carried out on the activity concentrations of 210 Pb and 210 Po in cereal grains produced in Finland. The cereal species were wheat (Triticum aestivum), rye (Secale cereale), oats (Avena sativa) and barley (Hordeum vulgare), which account for 90% of the Finnish consumption of cereal products. The survey consisted of 18 flour and 13 unprocessed cereal samples and one hulled grain sample from 22 flour mills. According to the results, the mean 210 Pb/ 210 Po concentrations in wheat grains, wheat flour, rye flour, oat grains and barley grains were 0.29, 0.12, 0.29, 0.36 and 0.36 Bq kg -1 , respectively. Combined with the consumption rates of the products, we assess that the mean effective doses from 210 Pb and 210 Po in cereal products for the adult male and female population are 22 and 17 μSv per year, respectively.

  10. Finnish Kullervo and chinese martial arts stories

    OpenAIRE

    Chen, Chapmen

    2006-01-01

    Introduction: There are many important Finnish plays but, due to language barrier, Finnish drama is seldom exported, particularly to Hong Kong and China.. Objective: To find out differences in mentality between the Finnish and Chinese peoples by comparing the partially localized Chinese translation of Aleksis Kivi’s tragedy, Kullervo, with genuine Chinese martial arts literature. Methodology: 1. Chapman Chen has translated the Finnish classic, Kullervo, directly from Finnish...

  11. Social phobia in Finnish general adolescent population: prevalence, comorbidity, individual and family correlates, and service use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranta, Klaus; Kaltiala-Heino, Riittakerttu; Rantanen, Päivi; Marttunen, Mauri

    2009-01-01

    Few studies have investigated the epidemiology of social phobia (SP) among early to middle adolescents, at the time of suggested mean onset of the disorder. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence, comorbidity, individual and familial correlates, and service use associated with SP among Finnish 12-17-year-old adolescents in general population. A sample of 784 adolescents was screened with the Social Phobia Inventory, and a sub-sample (n=350) was interviewed with a semi-structured clinical interview to identify SP, sub-clinical SP (SSP), and a range of other axis I DSM-IV disorders. Individual and familial correlates, and service use associated with SP were also inquired. We found a 12-month prevalence of 3.2% for SP, and 4.6% for SSP. The prevalence rose and the gender ratio shifted to female preponderance as age increased. SP was frequently comorbid with other anxiety disorders (41%) and depressive disorders (41%). Adolescents with SP/SSP were impaired in their academic and global functioning, and reported more parental psychiatric treatment contacts. Two thirds (68%) of adolescents with SP reported having been bullied by peers. Only one fifth of adolescents with non-comorbid SP had been in contact with a mental health professional. We conclude that adolescent SP is a relatively frequent, undertreated and highly comorbid condition, associated with educational impairment, depression and anxiety in parents, and peer victimization. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  12. At the Roots of Finnish Elementary Education – How Were Children Raised in the First Finnish Elementary Schools?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satu UUSIAUTTI

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available This study dissects the history of Finnish elementary education and the way children were raised during the initial phase of Finnish education in the 18th century. The development of Finnish education was studied through contemporary decrees and laws and studies of Finnish school history. The preliminary aim was to focus on the principles and practices of raising children in Finnish schools. This study focuses on (1 describing the birth, goals, and practices of Finnish elementary education and development toward compulsory education, (2 describing the way children were raised toward the contemporary goals, and (3 dissecting the connection between teacher training and the goals of raising children in Finnish schools. All these viewpoints are discussed from the viewpoint of how the aspirations and objectives were realized and implemented in practice in raising children. As a conclusion, we discuss the influence of the past in today’s educational practices.

  13. At the Roots of Finnish Elementary Education –How Were Children Raised in the First Finnish Elementary Schools?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satu UUSIAUTTI

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available This study dissects the history of Finnish elementary education and the way children were raised during the initial phase of Finnish education in the 18th century. The development of Finnish education was studied through contemporary decrees and laws and studies of Finnish school history. The preliminary aim was to focus on the principles and practices of raising children in Finnish schools. This study focuses on (1 describing the birth, goals, and practices of Finnish elementary education and development toward compulsory education, (2 describing the way children were raised toward the contemporary goals, and (3 dissecting the connection between teacher training and the goals of raising children in Finnish schools. All these viewpoints are discussed from the viewpoint of how the aspirations and objectives were realized and implemented in practice in raising children. As a conclusion, we discuss the influence of the past in today’s educational practices.

  14. Joint Polish–Finnish sampling of surface waters around the phosphogypsum waste stacks in Gdańsk and Police from 1 to 3 July 2013 – Results of the expedition

    OpenAIRE

    Räike, Antti; Koskela, Jarkko; Knuuttila, Seppo; Lehtoranta, Jouni; Pitkänen, Heikki; Risto, Maarit; Vuorinen, Jyrki

    2015-01-01

    The report describes the results of the joint Polish–Finnish sampling expedition aimed at estimating the possible effects of the two Polish phosphogypsum stacks located in Wislinka (Gdańsk) and Police on the loading of the Baltic Sea and the nearby watercourses. The joint expedition was based on the agreement between the Polish and Finnish Ministers of the Environment in June 2013. The results indicate a clear effect of the phosphogypsum stack on phosphate and total phosphorus concentratio...

  15. Reference values of spirometry for Finnish adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kainu, A; Timonen, K L; Toikka, J; Qaiser, B; Pitkäniemi, J; Kotaniemi, J T; Lindqvist, A; Vanninen, E; Länsimies, E; Sovijärvi, A R A

    2016-09-01

    Diagnostic assessment of lung function necessitates up-to-date reference values. The aim of this study was to estimate reference values for spirometry for the Finnish population between 18 and 80 years and to compare them with the existing Finnish, European and the recently published global GLI2012 reference values. Spirometry was performed for 1380 adults in the population-based FinEsS studies and for 662 healthy non-smoking volunteer adults. Detailed predefined questionnaire screening of diseases and symptoms, and quality control of spirometry yielded a sample of 1000 native Finns (387 men) healthy non-smokers aged 18-83 years. Sex-specific reference values, which are estimated using the GAMLSS method and adjusted for age and height, are provided. The predicted values for lung volumes are larger than those obtained by GLI2012 prediction for the Caucasian subgroup for forced vital capacity (FVC) by an average 6·2% and 5·1% and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) by an average 4·2% and 3·0% in men and women, respectively. GLI2012 slightly overestimated the ratio FEV1/FVC with an age-dependent trend. Most reference equations from other European countries, with the exception of the Swiss SAPALDIA study, showed an underestimation of FVC and FEV1 to varying degrees, and a slight overestimation of FEV1/FVC. This study offers up-to-date reference values of spirometry for native Finns with a wide age range. The GLI2012 predictions seem not to be suitable for clinical use for native Finns due to underestimation of lung volumes. © 2015 The Authors. Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Scandinavian Society of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine.

  16. 210Pb and 210Po in Finnish cereals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turtiainen, Tuukka; Kostiainen, Eila; Hallikainen, Anja

    2011-05-01

    A survey was carried out on the activity concentrations of (210)Pb and (210)Po in cereal grains produced in Finland. The cereal species were wheat (Triticum aestivum), rye (Secale cereale), oats (Avena sativa) and barley (Hordeum vulgare), which account for 90% of the Finnish consumption of cereal products. The survey consisted of 18 flour and 13 unprocessed cereal samples and one hulled grain sample from 22 flour mills. According to the results, the mean (210)Pb/(210)Po concentrations in wheat grains, wheat flour, rye flour, oat grains and barley grains were 0.29, 0.12, 0.29, 0.36 and 0.36 Bq kg(-1), respectively. Combined with the consumption rates of the products, we assess that the mean effective doses from (210)Pb and (210)Po in cereal products for the adult male and female population are 22 and 17 μSv per year, respectively. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Finnish Bioenergy Association - Finbio

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sopo, R.

    1999-01-01

    The Finnish Bioenergy Association, was founded in November 1991 in the city of Jyvaeskylae. In November 1996, the membership of FINBIO consisted of 17 contributing collective members and 75 individual members. Members of the organization include e.g. the Association of Finnish Peat Industries, Wood Energy Association and Finnish Biogas Centre, all of which represent specific bioenergy fields in Finland. The Finnish Bioenergy Association is a private, non-profit organization the objectives of which are to promote and develop harvesting, transportation and processing of biofuels and other biomass (wood-based biofuels, non-food crops, peat, biowaste); to promote the use of biomass in energy production and in other applications, in accordance with environmentally sound and sustainable development. The objectives of FINBIO is to promote the production and application of all forms of bioenergy in Finland. FINBIO acts as a coordinator for AEBIOM (the European Biomass Association) and its member associations, as well as for other international bioenergy-related organizations

  18. Differences in incidence and co-occurrence of vaccine and nonvaccine human papillomavirus types in Finnish population before human papillomavirus mass vaccination suggest competitive advantage for HPV33.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merikukka, Marko; Kaasila, Marjo; Namujju, Proscovia B; Palmroth, Johanna; Kirnbauer, Reinhard; Paavonen, Jorma; Surcel, Heljä-Marja; Lehtinen, Matti

    2011-03-01

    To understand likelihood of type replacement after vaccination against the high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types, we evaluated competition of the seven most common genital HPV types in a population sample of unvaccinated, fertile-aged Finnish women. First trimester sera from two consecutive pregnancies were retrieved from 3,183 Finnish women (mean age, 23.1 years) of whom 42.3% had antibodies to at least one HPV type (6/11/16/18/31/33/45) at the baseline. Antibody positivity to more than one HPV types by the second pregnancy was common among the baseline HPV seropositives. However, compared to baseline HPV-seronegative women, significantly increased incidence rate ratios (IRRs), indicating an increased risk to seroconvert for another HPV type, were consistently noted only for HPV33 among baseline HPV16 or HPV18 antibody (ab)-positive women: HPV(16ab only) (→) (16&33ab) IRR 2.9 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6-5.4] and HPV(18ab only) (→) (18&33ab) IRR 2.5 (95% CI 1.1-6.0), irrespectively of the presence of antibodies to other HPV types at baseline: HPV(16ab) (→) (16&33ab) IRR 3.2 (95% CI 2.0-5.2) and HPV(18ab) (→) (18&33ab) IRR 3.6 (95% CI 2.1-5.9). Our findings suggest a possible competitive advantage for HPV33 over other genital HPV types in the unvaccinated population. HPV33 should be monitored for type replacement after HPV mass vaccination. Copyright © 2010 UICC.

  19. Mutational analysis of the HGO gene in Finnish alkaptonuria patients

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Bernabe, D. B.-V.; Peterson, P.; Luopajarvi, K.; Matintalo, P.; Alho, A.; Konttinen, Y.; Krohn, K.; de Cordoba, S. R.; Ranki, A.

    1999-01-01

    Alkaptonuria (AKU), the prototypic inborn error of metabolism, has recently been shown to be caused by loss of function mutations in the homogentisate-1,2-dioxygenase gene (HGO). So far 17 mutations have been characterised in AKU patients of different ethnic origin. We describe three novel mutations (R58fs, R330S, and H371R) and one common AKU mutation (M368V), detected by mutational and polymorphism analysis of the HGO gene in five Finnish AKU pedigrees. The three novel AKU mutations are most likely specific for the Finnish population and have originated recently.


Keywords: alkaptonuria; homogentisate-1,2-dioxygenase; Finland PMID:10594001

  20. Are Cross-National Differences in IQ Profiles Stable? A Comparison of Finnish and U.S. WAIS Norms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roivainen, Eka

    2013-01-01

    To study the concept of national IQ profile, we compared U.S. and Finnish WAIS, WAIS-R, and WAIS III nonverbal and working memory subtest norms. The U.S. standardization samples had consistently higher scores on the Coding and Digit span subtests, while the Finnish samples had higher scores on the Block design subtest. No stable cross-national…

  1. The Finnish "social wilderness"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ville Hallikainen

    2000-01-01

    The cultural roots and images of the Finnish wilderness lie in its use as a source of livelihood practiced in southern and central Finland during the Middle Ages. There are statutory wilderness areas in Finland, but Finnish people consider many other areas as wilderness. It is important for management of the areas, statutory wilderness areas and the other wilderness-...

  2. Musical Sophistication and the Effect of Complexity on Auditory Discrimination in Finnish Speakers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dawson, Caitlin; Aalto, Daniel; Šimko, Juraj; Vainio, Martti; Tervaniemi, Mari

    2017-01-01

    Musical experiences and native language are both known to affect auditory processing. The present work aims to disentangle the influences of native language phonology and musicality on behavioral and subcortical sound feature processing in a population of musically diverse Finnish speakers as well as to investigate the specificity of enhancement from musical training. Finnish speakers are highly sensitive to duration cues since in Finnish, vowel and consonant duration determine word meaning. Using a correlational approach with a set of behavioral sound feature discrimination tasks, brainstem recordings, and a musical sophistication questionnaire, we find no evidence for an association between musical sophistication and more precise duration processing in Finnish speakers either in the auditory brainstem response or in behavioral tasks, but they do show an enhanced pitch discrimination compared to Finnish speakers with less musical experience and show greater duration modulation in a complex task. These results are consistent with a ceiling effect set for certain sound features which corresponds to the phonology of the native language, leaving an opportunity for music experience-based enhancement of sound features not explicitly encoded in the language (such as pitch, which is not explicitly encoded in Finnish). Finally, the pattern of duration modulation in more musically sophisticated Finnish speakers suggests integrated feature processing for greater efficiency in a real world musical situation. These results have implications for research into the specificity of plasticity in the auditory system as well as to the effects of interaction of specific language features with musical experiences. PMID:28450829

  3. Musical Sophistication and the Effect of Complexity on Auditory Discrimination in Finnish Speakers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dawson, Caitlin; Aalto, Daniel; Šimko, Juraj; Vainio, Martti; Tervaniemi, Mari

    2017-01-01

    Musical experiences and native language are both known to affect auditory processing. The present work aims to disentangle the influences of native language phonology and musicality on behavioral and subcortical sound feature processing in a population of musically diverse Finnish speakers as well as to investigate the specificity of enhancement from musical training. Finnish speakers are highly sensitive to duration cues since in Finnish, vowel and consonant duration determine word meaning. Using a correlational approach with a set of behavioral sound feature discrimination tasks, brainstem recordings, and a musical sophistication questionnaire, we find no evidence for an association between musical sophistication and more precise duration processing in Finnish speakers either in the auditory brainstem response or in behavioral tasks, but they do show an enhanced pitch discrimination compared to Finnish speakers with less musical experience and show greater duration modulation in a complex task. These results are consistent with a ceiling effect set for certain sound features which corresponds to the phonology of the native language, leaving an opportunity for music experience-based enhancement of sound features not explicitly encoded in the language (such as pitch, which is not explicitly encoded in Finnish). Finally, the pattern of duration modulation in more musically sophisticated Finnish speakers suggests integrated feature processing for greater efficiency in a real world musical situation. These results have implications for research into the specificity of plasticity in the auditory system as well as to the effects of interaction of specific language features with musical experiences.

  4. Finnish bioenergy research programme

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Asplund, D. [VTT Energy, Jyvaeskylae (Finland)

    1996-12-31

    Finland is a leading country in the use of biofuels and has excellent opportunities to increase the use of biofuels by up to 25-30 %. The Finnish Government has set an objective for the promotion of bioenergy. The aim is to increase the use of bioenergy by about 25 % from the present level by 2005, and the increment corresponds to 1.5 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) per year. The R and D work has been considered as an important factor to achieve this ambitious goal. Energy research was organised into a series of research programmes in 1988 in accordance with the proposal of Finnish Energy Research Committee. The object of the research programmes is to enhance research activities and to bundle individual projects together into larger research packages. The common target of the Finnish energy research programmes is to proceed from basic and applied research to product development and pilot operation, and after that to the first commercial applications, e.g. demonstrations. As the organisation of energy research to programmes has led to good results, the Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry decided to go on with this practice by launching new six-year programmes in 1993-1998. One of these programmes is the Bioenergy Research Programme and the co-ordination of this programme is carried out by VTT Energy. Besides VTT Energy the Finnish Forest Research Institute, Work Efficiency Institute, Metsaeteho and University of Joensuu are participating in the programme 7 refs.

  5. Finnish bioenergy research programme

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Asplund, D [VTT Energy, Jyvaeskylae (Finland)

    1997-12-31

    Finland is a leading country in the use of biofuels and has excellent opportunities to increase the use of biofuels by up to 25-30 %. The Finnish Government has set an objective for the promotion of bioenergy. The aim is to increase the use of bioenergy by about 25 % from the present level by 2005, and the increment corresponds to 1.5 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) per year. The R and D work has been considered as an important factor to achieve this ambitious goal. Energy research was organised into a series of research programmes in 1988 in accordance with the proposal of Finnish Energy Research Committee. The object of the research programmes is to enhance research activities and to bundle individual projects together into larger research packages. The common target of the Finnish energy research programmes is to proceed from basic and applied research to product development and pilot operation, and after that to the first commercial applications, e.g. demonstrations. As the organisation of energy research to programmes has led to good results, the Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry decided to go on with this practice by launching new six-year programmes in 1993-1998. One of these programmes is the Bioenergy Research Programme and the co-ordination of this programme is carried out by VTT Energy. Besides VTT Energy the Finnish Forest Research Institute, Work Efficiency Institute, Metsaeteho and University of Joensuu are participating in the programme 7 refs.

  6. Big data in Finnish financial services

    OpenAIRE

    Laurila, M. (Mikko)

    2017-01-01

    Abstract This thesis aims to explore the concept of big data, and create understanding of big data maturity in the Finnish financial services industry. The research questions of this thesis are “What kind of big data solutions are being implemented in the Finnish financial services sector?” and “Which factors impede faster implementation of big data solutions in the Finnish financial services sector?”. ...

  7. Final disposal of spent nuclear fuel in the Finnish bedrock

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-12-01

    Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO) studies Finnish bedrock for the final disposal of the spent nuclear fuel from the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant. The study is in accordance with the decision in principle by Finnish government in 1983. The report is the summary of the preliminary site investigations carried out during the years 1987-1992. On the basis of these investigations a few areas will be selected for detailed site investigation. The characterization comprises five areas selected from the shortlist of potential candidate areas resulted in the earlier study during 1983-1985. Areas are located in different parts of Finland and they represent the main formations of the Finnish bedrock. Romuvaara area in Kuhmo and Veitsivaara area in Hyrynsalmi represent the Archean basement. Kivetty area in Konginkangas consists of mainly younger granitic rocks. Syyry in Sievi is located in transition area of Svecofennidic rocks and granitic rocks. Olkiluoto in Eurajoki represents migmatites in southern Finland. For the field investigations area-specific programs were planned and executed. The field investigations have comprised airborne survey by helicopter, geophysical surveys, geological mappings and samplings, deep and shallow core drillings, geophysical and hydrological borehole measurements and groundwater samplings

  8. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report, 1st quarter 1998

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1998-11-01

    Quarterly reports on the operation of Finnish NPPs describe events and observations relating to nuclear and radiation safety that the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) considers safety significant. Safety improvements at the plants are also described. The report includes a summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and the environment and tabulated data on the plants' production and load factors. The Finnish NPP units were in power operation for the whole first quarter of 1998. All the units were in long-term test operation at uprated power level authorised by STUK. The load factor average of the plant units was 100.8%. An oil leak at Olkiluoto NPP Unit 2 caused an ignition that was promptly extinguished. A subsequent appraisal of the event disclosed deficiencies in the functioning of the plant unit's operating organization and the event was classified INES level 1. Other events in this quarter had no bearing on nuclear or radiation safety. Occupational doses and radioactive releases off-site were below authorized limits. Radioactive substances were measurable in samples collected around the plants in such quantities only as have no bearing on the radiation exposure of the population. (orig.)

  9. Finnish in America: Two Kinds of Finglish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karttunen, Frances; Moore, Kate

    The Finnish language spoken by Finns who emigrated to America is often called "Finglish;" two distinct varieties are discussed in this paper. American Finnish differs from native Finnish in its assimilation of a substantial number of loan words that augment and sometimes replace the original vocabulary. Many loan words deal with employment,…

  10. Speech perception and vocabulary growth: A longitudinal study of Finnish-Russian bilinguals and Finnish monolinguals from infancy to three years

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Silvén, M.; Voeten, M.J.M.; Kouvo, A.M.; Lundén, M.

    2014-01-01

    Growth modeling was applied to monolingual (N = 26) and bilingual (N = 28) word learning from 14 to 36 months. Level and growth rate of vocabulary were lower for Finnish-Russian bilinguals than for Finnish monolinguals. Processing of Finnish speech sounds at 7 but not at 11 months predicted level,

  11. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1991-08-01

    In the Quarterly Reports on the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants such events and observations are described relating to nuclear and radiation safety which the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety considers safety significant. Also other events of general interest are reported. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the plants' workers and the environment, as well as tabulated data on the production and load factors of the plants. The Finnish nuclear power plant units Loviisa 1 and 2 as well as TVO I and II were in commercial operation during the whole first quarter of 1991. The load factor average was 99.1 %. Failures have been detected in the uppermost spacing lattices of nuclear fuel bundles removed from the Loviisa nuclear reactors. Further investigations into the significance of the failures have been initiated. In this quarter, renewed cooling systems for the instrumentation area were introduced at Loviisa 1. The modifications made in the systems serve to ensure reliable cooling of the area even during the hottest summer months when the possibility exists that the temperature of the automation equipment could rise too high causing malfunctions which could endanger plant safety. Occupational radiation doses and external releases of radioactivity were below prescribed limits in this quarter. Only small amounts of radioactive substances originating in nuclear power plants were detected in samples taken in the vicinity of nuclear power plants

  12. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report 4th quarter, 1994 and annual summary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1995-05-01

    The Loviisa NPP units were in power operation the whole last quarter, with the exception of a reactor scram at Loviisa 1. The load factor average of all Finnish plant units was 100.2 %. The annual average was 90.0 %. All events in the fourth annual quarter were assigned level 0 (no safety significance) on the international INES scale. Four events in 1994 were classified level 1 (an anomaly). The Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety in December approved Imatran Voima Oy's application to extend the operation of the reactor pressure vessel of Loviisa 2 until the annual maintenance outage of 2010. During this quarter, a batch of spent fuel from Loviisa power plant was transported to Russia. Occupational doses and radioactive releases off-site were below authorised limits. Only such quantities of plant-based radioactive materials were measurable in samples collected around the plants as have no bearing on the radiation exposure of the population. The report includes a summary of all the items described in the Quarterly Reports of 1994. (8 figs., 4 tabs.)

  13. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report 4th quarter, 1994 and annual summary

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tossavainen, K [ed.

    1995-05-01

    The Loviisa NPP units were in power operation the whole last quarter, with the exception of a reactor scram at Loviisa 1. The load factor average of all Finnish plant units was 100.2 %. The annual average was 90.0 %. All events in the fourth annual quarter were assigned level 0 (no safety significance) on the international INES scale. Four events in 1994 were classified level 1 (an anomaly). The Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety in December approved Imatran Voima Oy`s application to extend the operation of the reactor pressure vessel of Loviisa 2 until the annual maintenance outage of 2010. During this quarter, a batch of spent fuel from Loviisa power plant was transported to Russia. Occupational doses and radioactive releases off-site were below authorised limits. Only such quantities of plant-based radioactive materials were measurable in samples collected around the plants as have no bearing on the radiation exposure of the population. The report includes a summary of all the items described in the Quarterly Reports of 1994. (8 figs., 4 tabs.).

  14. Oral health-related self-efficacy beliefs and toothbrushing: Finnish and Turkish pre-adolescents' and their mothers' responses

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cinar, Ayse Basak; Tseveenjav, Battsetseg; Murtomaa, Heikki

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the association between cognitive and behavioural factors of preadolescents and those of their mothers, assessed in terms of self-efficacy beliefs and toothbrushing among Turkish and Finnish population in the framework of Social Cognitive Theory. The speci....... The specific objective was to test if this possible association worked regardless of cultural differences.......The aim of this study was to investigate the association between cognitive and behavioural factors of preadolescents and those of their mothers, assessed in terms of self-efficacy beliefs and toothbrushing among Turkish and Finnish population in the framework of Social Cognitive Theory...

  15. From Ridiculed Deviants towards Normal Citizens. The Representation of Homosexuals in the Finnish Media 1990 - 2010

    OpenAIRE

    Ylppö, Myrsky

    2016-01-01

    This thesis explores how the Finnish media’s representations of homosexual men and women changed between 1990 and 2010, from negative public portrayals towards more positive ones. The thesis also examines if these changes reflect attitudes and opinions of the Finnish society and population overall during this time period. The primary sources consist of newspaper articles from the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, along with material from other newspapers, tabloids, and supporting research material...

  16. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report, 2nd quarter 1999

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1999-12-01

    Quarterly reports on the operation of Finnish NPPs describe events and observations relating to nuclear and radiation safety that the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) considers safety significant. Safety improvements at the plants are also described. The report includes a summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and the environment and tabulated data on the plants' production and load factors. All Finnish NPP units were in power operation for the whole second quarter of 1999, with the exception of the annual maintenance outages of the Olkiluoto plant units. The load factor average of the plant units in this quarter was 93.1%. Two events in this quarter were classified Level 1 on the INKS Scale. At Olkiluoto 1, a valve of the containment gas treatment system had been in an incorrect position for almost a month, owing to which the system would not have been available as planned in an accident. At Olkiluoto 2, main circulation pump work was done during the annual maintenance outage and a containment personnel air lock was briefly open in violation of the Technical Specifications. Water leaking out of the reactor in an accident could not have been directed to the emergency cooling system because it would have leaked out from the containment via the open personnel air lock. Other events in this quarter had no bearing on the nuclear or radiation safety of the plant units. The individual doses of NPP personnel and also radioactive releases off-site were well below authorised limits. Radioactive substances were measurable in samples collected around the plants in such quantities only as have no bearing on the radiation exposure of the population. (orig.)

  17. An Obesity-Related FTO Variant and the Risk of Preeclampsia in a Finnish Study Population

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miira Klemetti

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies have demonstrated a common variant of the obesity and fat mass-related FTO gene, rs9939609, to be associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and elevated blood pressure. We investigated whether the FTO SNP rs9939609 is associated with the risk of preeclampsia (PE in a Finnish study population. 485 women with prior PE and 449 women who had given birth after a normotensive pregnancy were genotyped (TaqMan for the SNP rs9939609. The prevalences of genotypes AA, AT, and TT were 15%, 53%, and 32%, respectively, among the PE cases, and 16%, 47%, and 37%, respectively, among the controls (P=0.199. We found no evidence of an association between the FTO SNP rs9939609 and PE. However, our cases were dominated by severe, early-onset PE. Thus, we are unable to exclude an association with the milder, later-onset form of the disease in which the role of maternal metabolic predisposition could be more significant.

  18. Sex-Free and Sex-Related Components of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ Neuroticism Scale among Finnish and Turkish Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Timo Lajunen

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies have suggested that the Neuroticism scale (N of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ reflects two different dimensions, of which the first is sex-related (N-S and the second sex-free (N-A. The N-S component is characterized by social sensitivity and worry while N-A reflects moodiness, irritability and boredom. The purpose of this study was to investigate the internal structure of the N scale in samples of 320 Finnish and 230 Turkish students. The bi-dimensional structure suggested by Francis had an acceptable fit to data in the Finnish and Turkish samples. Higher N-S and N scores correlated with being a woman in the Turkish sample. Neither N nor N-S scores were related to sex in the Finnish sample. ANOVA results showed the main effect of sex on N and N-S scores and the main effect of culture (Finnish vs. Turkish on N and N-A. Turkish women scored higher in N and N-S scales than the other groups. The possible cultural and social reasons for the sex differences on the N scale score were discussed.

  19. Late-life functional capacity and health among Finnish war veterans:Veteran Project 1992 and 2004 surveys

    OpenAIRE

    Leskinen, R. (Riitta)

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Becoming involved in war is an experience that has the potential to shape later-life health. The aim of the present study was to explore Finnish Second World War veterans’ health status and the determinants of self-rated health (SRH) and functional capacity, especially the ability to walk, and to identify risk factors and their combinations that predict late-life mortality among veterans. The study population comprised Finnish Second World War veterans who participated in the ...

  20. Construct validity and reliability of the Finnish version of the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Multanen, Juhani; Honkanen, Mikko; Häkkinen, Arja; Kiviranta, Ilkka

    2018-05-22

    evaluate the predictive ability of KOOS in the Finnish population.

  1. Quality of the relationship between origin of childhood perception of attachment and outcome of attachment associated with diagnosis of PTSD in adult Finnish war children and Finnish combat veterans from World War II (1939-1945) - DSM-IV applications of the attachment theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersson, Pentti Kalevi

    2015-06-01

    Using diagnoses exclusively, comparable evaluations of the empirical evidence relevant to the content can be made. The term holocaust survivor syndrome according to the DSM-IV classification encompasses people with diagnoses of posttraumatic stress disorders and psychopathological symptoms exposed to the Nazi genocide from 1933-1945 identified by Natan Kellermann, AMCHA, Israel (1999). The relationships between disorders of affectionate parenting and the development of dysfunctional models on one hand, and various psychopathological disorders on the other hand were investigated. Multi-axial assessment based on PTSD diagnosis (APA, 2000) with DSM-IV classification criteria of holocaust survivor syndrome and child survivor syndrome earlier found in holocaust survivors was used as criteria for comparison among Finnish sub-populations. Symptoms similar to those previously described in association with holocaust survivor syndrome and child survivor syndrome were found in the population of Finnish people who had been displaced as children between 1939-1945. Complex PTSD syndrome is found among survivors of prolonged or repeated trauma who have coping strategies intended to assist their mental survival. Surviving Finnish child evacuees had symptoms at similar level to those reported among holocaust survivors, though Finnish combat veterans exhibited good mental adjustment with secure attachment.

  2. Association of Finnish Members of Parliament and Researchers: Social Democratic Parliamentary group MP K. Olin, Former Finnish MP M. Tiuri, Finnish Centre Party MP P. Vilkuna, Senior Assistant Professor I. Ruostetsaari and Finnish Parliament Committee of Future Researcher U. Gabrielsson at ATLAS experiment with P. Jenn, M. Nordberg and M. Kotamaki on 15 September 2006.

    CERN Document Server

    Maximilien Brice

    2006-01-01

    Association of Finnish Members of Parliament and Researchers: Social Democratic Parliamentary group MP K. Olin, Former Finnish MP M. Tiuri, Finnish Centre Party MP P. Vilkuna, Senior Assistant Professor I. Ruostetsaari and Finnish Parliament Committee of Future Researcher U. Gabrielsson at ATLAS experiment with P. Jenn, M. Nordberg and M. Kotamaki on 15 September 2006.

  3. Associations of Weight Concerns With Self-Efficacy and Motivation to Quit Smoking: A Population-Based Study Among Finnish Daily Smokers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuovinen, Eeva-Liisa; Saarni, Suoma E; Kinnunen, Taru H; Haukkala, Ari; Jousilahti, Pekka; Patja, Kristiina; Kaprio, Jaakko; Korhonen, Tellervo

    2015-09-01

    Concerns about weight gain occurring after smoking cessation may affect motivation and self-efficacy towards quitting smoking. We examined associations of smoking-specific weight concerns with smoking cessation motivation and self-efficacy in a population-based cross-sectional sample of daily smokers. Six-hundred biochemically verified (blood cotinine) current daily smokers comprising 318 men and 282 women aged 25-74 years, were studied as part of the National FINRISK (Finnish Population Survey on Risk Factors on Chronic, Noncommunicable Diseases) study and its DIetary, Lifestyle and Genetic factors in the development of Obesity and Metabolic syndrome (DILGOM) sub-study that was conducted in Finland in 2007. Self-reported scales were used to assess weight concerns, motivation and self-efficacy regarding the cessation of smoking. Multiple regression analyses of concerns about weight in relation to motivation and self-efficacy were conducted with adjustments for sex, age (years), body mass index (BMI, [kg/m(2)]), physical activity (times per week), and further controlled for nicotine dependence (Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence). Higher levels of weight concerns were associated with lower self-efficacy (β = -0.07, p motivation for smoking cessation (β = 0.02, p = 0.16). These cross-sectional population-based data do not support earlier findings that suggest that smokers with high levels of weight concerns are less motivated to quit smoking. Our data suggest that daily smokers who are highly concerned about weight may have lower self-efficacy for cessation of smoking. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  4. Reference values of inspiratory spirometry for Finnish adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kainu, Annette; Timonen, Kirsi L; Vanninen, Esko; Sovijärvi, Anssi R

    2018-03-07

    Inspiratory spirometry is used in evaluation of upper airway disorders e.g. fixed or variable obstruction. There are, however, very few published data on normal values for inspiratory spirometry. The main aim of this study was to produce reference values for inspiratory spirometry for healthy Finnish adults. Inspiratory spirometry was preplanned to a sample of the Finnish spirometry reference values sample. Data was successfully retrieved from 368 healthy nonsmoking adults (132 males) between 19 and 83 years of age. Reference equations were produced for forced inspiratory vital capacity (FIVC), forced inspiratory volume in one second (FIV1), FIV1/FIVC, peak inspiratory flow (PIF) and the ratios of FIV1/forced expiratory volume in one second and PIF/peak expiratory flow. The present values were compared to PIF values from previously used Finnish study of Viljanen et al. (1982) reference values and Norwegian values for FIV1, FIVC and FIV1/FIVC presented by Gulsvik et al. (2001). The predicted values from the Gulsvik et al. (2001), provided a good fit for FIVC, but smaller values for FIV1 with mean 108.3 and 109.1% of predicted values for males and females, respectively. PIF values were 87.4 and 91.2% of Viljanen et al. (1982) predicted values in males and females, respectively. Differences in measurement methods and selection of results may contribute to the observed differences. Inspiratory spirometry is technically more demanding and needs repeatability criteria to improve validity. New reference values are suggested to clinical use in Finland when assessing inspiratory spirometry. Utility of inspiratory to expiratory values indices in assessment of airway collapse need further study.

  5. Exporting Finnish teacher education: Transnational pressures on national models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer Chung

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available This article analyses empirical data to assess the possible transfer of Finnish teacher education policy, and more specifically, the university training school, into another context. Transnational organisations increasingly pressure nation-states to carry out education policy change, especially due to dissatisfaction with international assessment outcomes. As a high performer in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA, administered by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, Finland has been at the centre of international attention. PISA revealed that the high quality of Finnish teachers contributes to the overall calibre of the country’s education system. Thus, Finnish teacher education has become a model for other education systems. This article uses empirical research to explore the export possibilities of the Finnish normaalikoulu, or university training school. It implements qualitative methodology, using semi-structured interviews with Finnish educationalists to explore the possible export of Finnish education, the implications in terms of policy transfer, and the migration of ideas, specifically the university-affiliated, teacher training school. The export and migration of Finnish education and its impact on education policy are discussed in this article, along with educational export’s position in transnational policy formation.

  6. LEAN thinking in Finnish healthcare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jorma, Tapani; Tiirinki, Hanna; Bloigu, Risto; Turkki, Leena

    2016-01-01

    Purpose - The purpose of this study is to evaluate how LEAN thinking is used as a management and development tool in the Finnish public healthcare system and what kind of outcomes have been achieved or expected by using it. The main focus is in managing and developing patient and treatment processes. Design/methodology/approach - A mixed-method approach incorporating the Webropol survey was used. Findings - LEAN is quite a new concept in Finnish public healthcare. It is mainly used as a development tool to seek financial savings and to improve the efficiency of patient processes, but has not yet been deeply implemented. However, the experiences from LEAN initiatives have been positive, and the methodology is already quite well-known. It can be concluded that, because of positive experiences from LEAN, the environment in Finnish healthcare is ready for the deeper implementation of LEAN. Originality/value - This paper evaluates the usage of LEAN thinking for the first time in the public healthcare system of Finland as a development tool and a management system. It highlights the implementation and achieved results of LEAN thinking when used in the healthcare environment. It also highlights the expectations for LEAN thinking in Finnish public healthcare.

  7. The population distribution of the sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) and SAD/height ratio among Finnish adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahn, H S; Rissanen, H; Bullard, K M; Knekt, P

    2014-12-01

    Sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD; 'abdominal height' measured in supine position) may improve upon conventional anthropometry for predicting incident cardiometabolic diseases. However, the SAD is used infrequently by practitioners and epidemiologists. A representative survey of Finnish adults in 2000-2001 collected body measurements including SAD (by sliding-beam calliper) using standardized protocols. Sampled non-pregnant adults (ages 30+ years; 79% participation) provided 6123 SAD measurements from 80 health centre districts. Through stratified, complex survey design, these data represented 2.86 million adults at ages 30+ years. SAD ranged from 13.5 to 38.0 cm, with a population mean (standard error) of 21.7 (0.05) cm and median (interquartile range) of 21.0 (19.1-23.4). Median SAD was higher at ages 50+ years compared with ages 30-49 both for men (22.4 [20.5-24.6] vs. 20.8 [19.3-22.7]) and women (21.7 [19.6-23.9] vs. 19.4 [17.8-21.4]). The SAD/height ratio was similar (0.118) for both sexes at 30-39 years, rising more steeply with age for women than men. Attaining only a basic education, compared with a high level, was associated with increased mean (95% confidence interval) SADs for men (22.6 [22.3-22.8] vs. 22.0 [21.7-22.2]) and women (21.8 [21.5-22.0] vs. 20.6 [20.4-20.8]). Finland's early experience with nationally representative SAD measurements provides normative reference values and physiological insights useful for investigations of cardiometabolic risk. © 2014 World Obesity.

  8. Cause-specific mortality in Finnish ferrochromium and stainless steel production workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huvinen, M; Pukkala, E

    2016-04-01

    Although stainless steel has been produced for more than a hundred years, exposure-related mortality data for production workers are limited. To describe cause-specific mortality in Finnish ferrochromium and stainless steel workers. We studied Finnish stainless steel production chain workers employed between 1967 and 2004, from chromite mining to cold rolling of stainless steel, divided into sub-cohorts by production units with specific exposure patterns. We obtained causes of death for the years 1971-2012 from Statistics Finland. We calculated standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) as ratios of observed and expected numbers of deaths based on population mortality rates of the same region. Among 8088 workers studied, overall mortality was significantly decreased (SMR 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.70-0.84), largely due to low mortality from diseases of the circulatory system (SMR 0.71; 95% CI 0.61-0.81). In chromite mine, stainless steel melting shop and metallurgical laboratory workers, the SMR for circulatory disease was below 0.4 (SMR 0.33; 95% CI 0.07-0.95, SMR 0.22; 95% CI 0.05-0.65 and SMR 0.16; 95% CI 0.00-0.90, respectively). Mortality from accidents (SMR 0.84; 95% CI 0.67-1.04) and suicides (SMR 0.72; 95% CI 0.56-0.91) was also lower than in the reference population. Working in the Finnish ferrochromium and stainless steel industry appears not to be associated with increased mortality. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine.

  9. Finnish Students’ Engagement in Science Lessons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janna Linnansaari

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The decreasing number of students who are engaged in science learning has been recognised as a problem. The pre-conditions of engagement and actual engagement were examined using a novel research method to obtain detailed information on Finnish students’ engagement in different situations and to gain a better understanding of this phenomenon. The study’s participants consisted of 68 students (31 girls, 37 boys from 9th grade and 67 students (46 girls, 21 boys from 1st grade in upper secondary school. The research aimed to answer the following question: How does Finnish students’ engagement occur in exact and life science lessons? Participants received smartphones equipped with a smartphone application that included an experience sampling method questionnaire. The smartphones were programmed to emit a signal during every science lesson and otherwise randomly during the day (from 8 am to 8 pm. The results reveal that situation and grade had significant effects on students’ pre-conditions of engagement and actual engagement. Our results also show that girls had the highest interest in life science lessons and boys in exact science lessons.

  10. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report, 2nd quarter 1997

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1997-12-01

    Quarterly Reports on the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants describe events and observations relating to nuclear and radiation safety which STUK - Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority considers safety significant. Safety improvements at the plants are also described. The Report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and of the environment and tabulated data on the plants' production and load factors. The Finnish nuclear power plant units were in power operation in the second quarter of 1997, except for the annual maintenance outages of Olkiluoto plant units and the Midsummer outage at Olkiluoto 2 due to reduced demand for electricity. There were also brief interruptions in power operation at the Olkiluoto plant units due to three reactor scrams. All plant units are undergoing long-term test operation at upgraded reactor power level which has been approved by STUK The load factor average of all plant units was 88.7 %. One event in the second quarter of 1997 was classified level 1 on the INES. The event in question was a scram at Olkiluoto 1 which was caused by erroneous opening of switches. Other events in this quarter were level 0. Occupational doses and radioactive releases off-site were below authorized limits. Radioactive substances were measurable in samples collected around the plants in such quantities only as have no bearing on the radiation exposure of the population. (orig.)

  11. Excess mortality in winter in Finnish intensive care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reinikainen, M; Uusaro, A; Ruokonen, E; Niskanen, M

    2006-07-01

    In the general population, mortality from acute myocardial infarctions, strokes and respiratory causes is increased in winter. The winter climate in Finland is harsh. The aim of this study was to find out whether there are seasonal variations in mortality rates in Finnish intensive care units (ICUs). We analysed data on 31,040 patients treated in 18 Finnish ICUs. We measured severity of illness with acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) scores and intensity of care with therapeutic intervention scoring system (TISS) scores. We assessed mortality rates in different months and seasons and used logistic regression analysis to test the independent effect of various seasons on hospital mortality. We defined 'winter' as the period from December to February, inclusive. The crude hospital mortality rate was 17.9% in winter and 16.4% in non-winter, P = 0.003. Even after adjustment for case mix, winter season was an independent risk factor for increased hospital mortality (adjusted odds ratio 1.13, 95% confidence interval 1.04-1.22, P = 0.005). In particular, the risk of respiratory failure was increased in winter. Crude hospital mortality was increased during the main holiday season in July. However, the severity of illness-adjusted risk of death was not higher in July than in other months. An increase in the mean daily TISS score was an independent predictor of increased hospital mortality. Severity of illness-adjusted hospital mortality for Finnish ICU patients is higher in winter than in other seasons.

  12. Marketing communication in Finnish industrial companies

    OpenAIRE

    Vuorio, Mikko

    2010-01-01

    Marketing communication has a significant role for profitable businesses in industrial markets, and its role is only expected to rise in the future. Especially, integrated marketing communication (IMC) and customer-oriented approach are universally regarded fundamental developments in the field of marketing. Secondly, Finnish companies’ marketing competences are commonly considered insufficient in general. The purpose of this study was to describe how Finnish industrial companies execute t...

  13. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1993-06-01

    Quarterly reports on the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants describe events and observations, relating to nuclear and radiation safety, which the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety considers significant. Also other events of general interest are reported. The reports also include a summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and the environment, as well as tabulated data on the plants' production and load factors

  14. Evaluation of the Finnish CERN activities panel report

    CERN Document Server

    Paul, Peter; Juuti, Pauli; Kullander, Sven; Ikonen, Eeva; Maalampi, Jukka

    2001-01-01

    The Academy of Finland decided in November 2000 that Finnish CERN-activities should be evaluated. The first ten years of the Finnish membership in CERN have been successful. Also in the future, Finland has great opportunities and benefits of the collaboration with CERN. The Finnish presentations clearly show the rapid development in experimental physics since the joining of CERN. Still, Finland can be considered as a relatively young Member State in CERN, but one of the most dynamic new partners for CERN.

  15. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1990-08-01

    During the first quarter of 1990 the Finnish nuclear power plant units Loviisa 1 and 2 and TVO I and II were in commercial operation for most of the time. Nuclear electricity accounted for 32.5% of the total Finnish electricity production during this quarter. The load factor average of the nuclear power plant units was 99.0%. An international nuclear event scale has been introduced for the classification of nuclear power plant events according to their nuclear and radiation safety significance. The scale first undergoes about a year long trial period in several countries. on the scale, events are divided into levels from 1 to 7 of which events at Level 7 are the most serious. Furthermore, Level 0 (Below Scale) is used for events with no safety significance. All events which occurred at the Finnish nuclear power plants this quarter are classified as Level 0. Occupational radiation doses and external releases of radioactivity were considerably below authorised limits. At the Loviisa plant, a back-up emergency feedwater system independent of the plant's other systems has been introduced which offers a new, alternative means of removing residual heat from the reactor. Owing to this system, the risk of a severe accident has been further reduced. At the TVO plants, systems have been introduced by which accident sequences which lead to containment failure could be eliminated and the consequences of a potential severe accident could be mitigated. In this report, also the release of short-lived radioactive materials along the transfer route of an irradiated sample is described which occured at the FiR 1 research reactor. The amounts of radioactive materials individuals received in their bodies in connection with this event were very low

  16. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1993-03-01

    Quarterly reports on the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants describe events and observations, relating to nuclear and radiation safety, which the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety considers safety significant. Also other events of general interest are reported. The reports also include a summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and the environment, as well as tabulated data on the plants' production and load factors

  17. Finnish Teachers’ Ethical Sensitivity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elina Kuusisto

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The study examined the ethical sensitivity of Finnish teachers (=864 using a 28-item Ethical Sensitivity Scale Questionnaire (ESSQ. The psychometric qualities of this instrument were analyzed, as were the differences in self-reported ethical sensitivity between practicing and student teachers and teachers of different subjects. The results showed that the psychometric qualities of the ESSQ were satisfactory and enabled the use of an explorative factor analysis. All Finnish teachers rated their level of ethical sensitivity as high, which indicates that they had internalized the ethical professionalism of teaching. However, practicing teachers’ assessments were higher than student teachers’. Moreover, science as a subject was associated with lower self-ratings of ethical sensitivity.

  18. A new Finnish nuclear power unit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-01-01

    In Finland, nuclear power is considered a natural part of a sustainable energy system. The Finnish Parliament has decided that development of nuclear power is consistent with the overall interests of society when climate issues, environmental targets, supply security and stable and competitive prices of electric power are considered as a whole. In 2002, the Finnish Parliament approved the Government's decision in principle to build a fifth nuclear power plant. The new project is the most advanced energy project in the Nordic countries with respect to the availability of energy free of carbon dioxide. The decision is also welcomed by the EU. The new reactor will be of the EPR (European Pressurized Water Reactor) type. In addition to supplying power to the Finnish industries, the plant is considered necessary if Finland is to comply with international conventions on CO 2 emissions

  19. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1994-06-01

    Quarterly reports on the operation of the Finnish NPPs describe nuclear and radiation safety related events and observations which the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety considers significant. Safety improvements at the plants and general matters relating to the use of nuclear energy are also reported. A summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and the environment, and tabulated data on the plants' production and load factors are also given. One event during the last quarter of 1993 was rated on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) as level 1. During this event at Loviisa 2, the secondary circuit emergency feedwater system was erroneously isolated from automatic start-up readiness. The error went unnoticed for 4.5 hours. During 1993 one level 2 incident and three level 1 incidents occurred at the Finnish NPPs. (8 figs., 4 tabs.)

  20. Piloting Snapchat for Finnish Defence Forces

    OpenAIRE

    Immonen, Helena

    2016-01-01

    This thesis is about piloting Snapchat for Finnish Defence Forces. The goals for the thesis are to find out how Snapchat can be used as part of Finnish Defence Forces’ social media communication and strategy. Conscripts are the most important target group for social media communication in the Defence Forces. Young conscripts are the main target group for Snapchat. This thesis is theoretically based on organizational communication, stakeholder communication and social media communicati...

  1. Various Portraits of Finnish Open University Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jauhiainen, Arto; Nori, Hanna; Alho-Malmelin, Marika

    2007-01-01

    This article describes and analyses the background and goals of students at the Finnish open university in the beginning of the twenty-first century. The material consists of statistics based on the student records of the Finnish open university in 2000 (n = 9080) and of the stories, educational autobiographies written by the adult learners (n =…

  2. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1991-02-01

    During the third quarter of 1990 the Finnish nuclear power plant units Loviisa 1 and 2 and TVO I and II were in commercial operation for most of the time. The annual maintenance outages of the Loviisa plant units were held during the report period. All events during this quarter are classified as Level hero (Below Scale) on the International Nuclear Event Scale. Occupational radiation doses and external releases of radioactivity were below authorised limits. Only small amounts of radioactive substances originating in nuclear power plants were detected in samples taken in the vicinity of nuclear power plants

  3. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1992-09-01

    The Finnish nuclear power plant units Loviisa 1 and 2 as well as TVO I and II were in operation for almost all the time in the first quarter of 1992. The load factor average was 99.8%. All events which are classified on the International Nuclear Event Scale were level 0/below scale on the Scale. Occupational radiation doses and releases of radioactive material off-site remained well below authorised limits. Only quantities of radioactive material insignificant to radiation exposure, originating from the nuclear power plants, were detected in samples collected in the vicinity of the nuclear power plants

  4. Finnish participation in the European utility requirements work

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Patrakka, E.

    2000-01-01

    The Finnish participation in the EUR process started already in April 1994 when IVO (Imatran Voima Oy presently Fortum Oyj) and TVO (Teollisuuden Voima Oy) were asked to comment EUR Volume 1 and 2 Revision A in April 1994. A formal application for the Finnish membership in the EUR organisation was sent on 20 November 1995, and Finland was accepted as an associated member on the next day. The Finnish representatives in the various EUR bodies were appointed in March 1996, at which time the formal participation in these bodies commenced. On 7 November 1996, EUR Steering Committee approved a full membership of IVO and TVO that are joint EUR members representing Finland together. A major Finnish contribution was made in 1997 when IVO and TVO performed a comparison between the EUR document and YVL guides. The period of the Finnish membership has been characterised by the compilation of EUR Volume 3 subsets, in which process IVO/Fortum and TVO have been actively participating. From the Finnish point of view, the EUR work can also be seen as a part of getting prepared to proceed with a possible new NPP project. The EUR document is a substantial aid when preparing the technical specifications for a NPP bid inquiry. The information received in connection with the detailed assessment work for Volume 3 subsets is very valuable when considering the feasibility of NPP concepts. In addition. the experiences gained in the Volume 3 activities enable to develop even better requirements that are manifested by Revision C of Volumes 1 and 2. (author)

  5. The stubborn peasant and the Frenchmen of the North : Swedish and Finnish ethnicity and national historical writing in Swedish and Finland-Swedish textbooks 1866-1939

    OpenAIRE

    Spjut, Lina

    2014-01-01

    Sweden and Finland were one country for more than 600 years and there are many remaining links between the two countries. Throughout the period, but even today there are Swedish and Finnish populations on both sides of the Gulf of Bothnia. When Russia conquered the Finnish part of the country in 1809, the state and its population were separated and the situations for the language groups changed and developed differently in Sweden and Finland. During the period studied in this thesis, 1866-193...

  6. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report, 3rd quarter 1997

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1998-04-01

    Quarterly reports on the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants describe events and observations relating to nuclear and radiation safety that the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland (STUK) considers safety significant. Safety improvements at the plants are also described. The Report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and of the environment and tabulated data on the plants' production and load factors. The Finnish nuclear power plant units were in power operation in the third quarter of 1997, except for the annual maintenance outages of Loviisa plant units which lasted well over a month in all. There was also a brief interruption in electricity generation at Olkiluoto 1 for repairs and at Olkiluoto 2 due to a disturbance at the turbine plant. All plant units were in long-term test operation at upgraded reactor power level approved by STUK. The load factor average of all plant units was 87.6 %. One event in the third quarter was classified level 1 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES). It was noted at Loviisa 2 that one of four pressurized water tanks in the plant unit's emergency cooling system had been inoperable for a year. Other events in this quarter were INES level 0. Occupational doses and radioactive releases off-site were below authorized limits. Radioactive substances were measurable in samples collected around the plants in such quantities only as have no bearing on the radiation exposure of the population. (orig.)

  7. Electricity prices in the Finnish retail market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lehto, Eero

    2011-01-01

    This study focuses, firstly, on the pricing of electricity in the Finnish retail market. In particular, the impact of the ownership structure on prices is tested empirically. Secondly, the influence of low-cost electricity sources on retail prices is considered. The question about whether the average fuel costs rather than the wholesale price determine the retail prices is thus addressed. The supply side behaviour characterised may explain the passivity of client activity in the seemingly competitive Finnish market. - Research highlights: → Ownership has a strong impact on retail prices in the Finnish electricity market. → Locally owned companies' rates are 5-15 per cent lower than investor owned companies' rates. → Own low cost acquisition of electricity helps local firms to keep prices at low levels.

  8. Ernst Mach and the Epistemological Ideas Specific for Finnish Science Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siemsen, Hayo

    2011-03-01

    Where does Finnish science education come from? Where will it go? The following outside view reflects on relations, which Finns consider "normal" (and thus unrecognizable in introspection) in science education. But what is "normal" in Finnish culture cannot be considered "normal" for science education in other cultures, for example in Germany. The following article will trace the central ideas, which had a larger influence in the development of this difference. The question is, if and why the Finnish uniqueness in the philosophy of science education is empirically important. This puts Finnish science education into the perspective of a more general epistemological debate around Ernst Mach's Erkenntnistheorie (a German term similar to the meaning of history and philosophy of science, though more general; literally translated "cognition/knowledge theory"). From this perspective, an outlook will be given on open questions within the epistemology of Finnish science education. Following such questions could lead to the adaptation of the "successful" ideas in Finnish science education (indicated by empirical studies, such as the OECD PISA study) as well as the further development of the central ideas of Finnish science education.

  9. Finnish Society of Soil Sciences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rankinen, Katri; Hänninen, Pekka; Soinne, Helena; Leppälammi-Kujansuu, Jaana; Salo, Tapio; Pennanen, Taina

    2017-04-01

    In 1998 the organization of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) was renewed to better support national activities. That was also the new start in the operation of the Finnish Society of Soil Sciences, which became affiliated to the IUSS. The society was originally established in 1971 but it remained relatively inactive. Currently, there are around 200 members in the Finnish Society of Soil Sciences. The members of the executive board cover different fields of soil science from geology to microbiology. Mission statement of the society is to promote the soil sciences and their application in Finland, to act as a forum for creation of better links between soil scientists, interested end users and the public, and to promote distribution and appreciation of general and Finnish research findings in soil science. Every second year the society organizes a national two-day long conference. In 2017 the theme 'circular economy' collected all together 57 presentations. The members of the incoming student division carried responsibility in practical co-ordination committee, acting also as session chairs. In the intervening years the society organizes a weekend excursion to neighboring areas. Lately we have explored the use of biochar in landscaping of Stockholm.

  10. Safety-related incidents at the Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lehtinen, P.

    1986-03-01

    This report contains detailed descriptions of operating incidents and other safety-related matters at the Finnish nuclear power plants regarded as significant by the regulatory authority, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety. In this connection, an account is given of the practical actions caused by the incidents, and their significance to reactor safety is evaluated. The main features of the incidents are also described in the general Quartely Reports, Operation of Finnish Nuclear Power Plants, which are supplemented by this report intended for experts. (author)

  11. Safety-related incidents at the Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lehtinen, P.

    1985-01-01

    This report contains detailed descriptions of operating incidents and other safety-related matters at the Finnish nuclear power plants regarded as significant by the regulatory authority, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety. In this connection, an account is given of the practical actions caused by the incidents, and their significance to reactor safety is evaluated. The main features of the incidents are also described in the general Quartely Reports, Operation of Finnish Nuclear Power Plants, which are supplemented by this report intended for experts. (author)

  12. How Do Finnish Teacher Educators Implement Entrepreneurship Education?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seikkula-Leino, Jaana; Satuvuori, Timo; Ruskovaara, Elena; Hannula, Heikki

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to ascertain how the people who train Finnish teachers implement entrepreneurship education in the guidance they provide. The authors show how learning through, for and about entrepreneurship manifests in the self-evaluations of Finnish teacher educators. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected in…

  13. Updated survey of Fusarium species and toxins in Finnish cereal grains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hietaniemi, Veli; Rämö, Sari; Yli-Mattila, Tapani; Jestoi, Marika; Peltonen, Sari; Kartio, Mirja; Sieviläinen, Elina; Koivisto, Tauno; Parikka, Päivi

    2016-05-01

    The aim of the project was to produce updated information during 2005-14 on the Fusarium species found in Finnish cereal grains, and the toxins produced by them, as the last comprehensive survey study of Fusarium species and their toxins in Finland was carried out at the turn of the 1960s and the 1970s. Another aim was to use the latest molecular and chemical methods to investigate the occurrence and correlation of Fusarium species and their mycotoxins in Finland. The most common Fusarium species found in Finland in the FinMyco project 2005 and 2006 were F. avenaceum, F. culmorum, F. graminearum, F. poae, F. sporotrichioides and F. langsethiae. F. avenaceum was the most dominant species in barley, spring wheat and oat samples. The occurrence of F. culmorum and F. graminearum was high in oats and barley. Infection by Fusarium fungi was the lowest in winter cereal grains. The incidence of Fusarium species in 2005 was much higher than in 2006 due to weather conditions. F. langsethiae has become much more common in Finland since 2001. F. graminearum has also risen in the order of importance. A highly significant correlation was found between Fusarium graminearum DNA and deoxynivalenol (DON) levels in Finnish oats, barley and wheat. When comparing the FinMyco data in 2005-06 with the results of the Finnish safety monitoring programme for 2005-14, spring cereals were noted as being more susceptible to infection by Fusarium fungi and the formation of toxins. The contents of T-2 and HT-2 toxins and the frequency of exceptionally high DON concentrations all increased in Finland during 2005-14. Beauvericin (BEA), enniatins (ENNs) and moniliformin (MON) were also very common contaminants of Finnish grains in 2005-06. Climate change is leading to warmer weather, and this may indicate more changes in Finnish Fusarium mycobiota and toxin contents and profiles in the near future.

  14. New Finnish radiation law

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Niittyla, A.

    1992-01-01

    The new Finnish Radiation Act will enter into force on 1.1.1992. The Act aims to protect man's health against the harmful effects of radiation. The Act applies to the utilization of ionising radiation and natural radiation as well as non-ionising radiation. It emphasises the fact that a licensed organization or entrepreneur carrying out a practice which causes radiation exposure is responsible for the safety of the activity. The organization or entrepreneur in question is also obliged to take care of radioactive waste. The provisions of the Radiation Act which apply to monitoring of worker exposure are also applied to the use of nuclear energy. Activities involving the use of radiation and the use of nuclear energy are regulated by one authority, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety. (author)

  15. Genome-wide association study in Finnish twins highlights the connection between nicotine addiction and neurotrophin signaling pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hällfors, Jenni; Palviainen, Teemu; Surakka, Ida; Gupta, Richa; Buchwald, Jadwiga; Raevuori, Anu; Ripatti, Samuli; Korhonen, Tellervo; Jousilahti, Pekka; Madden, Pamela A F; Kaprio, Jaakko; Loukola, Anu

    2018-03-13

    The heritability of nicotine dependence based on family studies is substantial. Nevertheless, knowledge of the underlying genetic architecture remains meager. Our aim was to identify novel genetic variants responsible for interindividual differences in smoking behavior. We performed a genome-wide association study on 1715 ever smokers ascertained from the population-based Finnish Twin Cohort enriched for heavy smoking. Data imputation used the 1000 Genomes Phase I reference panel together with a whole genome sequence-based Finnish reference panel. We analyzed three measures of nicotine addiction-smoking quantity, nicotine dependence and nicotine withdrawal. We annotated all genome-wide significant SNPs for their functional potential. First, we detected genome-wide significant association on 16p12 with smoking quantity (P = 8.5 × 10 -9 ), near CLEC19A. The lead-SNP stands 22 kb from a binding site for NF-κB transcription factors, which play a role in the neurotrophin signaling pathway. However, the signal was not replicated in an independent Finnish population-based sample, FINRISK (n = 6763). Second, nicotine withdrawal showed association on 2q21 in an intron of TMEM163 (P = 2.1 × 10 -9 ), and on 11p15 (P = 6.6 × 10 -8 ) in an intron of AP2A2, and P = 4.2 × 10 -7 for a missense variant in MUC6, both involved in the neurotrophin signaling pathway). Third, association was detected on 3p22.3 for maximum number of cigarettes smoked per day (P = 3.1 × 10 -8 ) near STAC. Associating CLEC19A and TMEM163 SNPs were annotated to influence gene expression or methylation. The neurotrophin signaling pathway has previously been associated with smoking behavior. Our findings further support the role in nicotine addiction. © 2018 The Authors. Addiction Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction.

  16. Safety-related occurrences at the Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reponen, H.; Viitasaari, O.

    1985-04-01

    This report contains detailed descriptions of operating incidents and other safety-related matters at the Finnish nuclear power plants regarded as significant by the regulatory authority, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety. In this connection, an account is given of the practical actions caused by the incidents, and their significance to reactor safety is evaluated. The main features of the incidents are also described in the general Quartely Report for this period, Operation of Finnish Nuclear Power Plants (STUK-B-YTO 7), which is supplemented by this report intended for experts. (author)

  17. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1990-12-01

    During the second quarter of 1990 the Finnish nuclear plant units Loviisa 1 and 2 and TVO and II were in commercial operation for most of the time. The feedwater pipe rupture at Loviisa 1 and the resulting inspections and repairs at both Loviisa plant units brought about an outage the overall duration of which was 32 days. The annual maintenance outages of the TVO plant units were arranged during the report period and their combined duration was 31.5 days. Nuclear electricity accounted for 35.3% of the total Finnish electricity production during this quarter. The load factor average of the nuclear power plant units was 83.0%. Three events occurred during the report period which are classified as Level 1 on the International Nuclear Event Scale: feedwater pipe rupture at Loviisa 1, control rod withdrawal at TVO I in a test during an outage when the hydraulic scram system was rendered inoperable and erroneous fuel bundle transfers during control rod drives maintenance at TVO II. Other events during this quarter are classified as Level Zero (Below Scale) on the International Nuclear Event Scale. Occupational radiation doses and external releases of radioactivity were considerably below authorised limits. Only small amounts of nuclides originating in nuclear power plants were detected in samples taken in the vicinity of nuclear power plants

  18. Police-registered offenses and psychiatric disorders among young males : the Finnish "From a boy to a man" birth cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elonheimo, Henrik; Niemelä, Solja; Parkkola, Kai; Multimäki, Petteri; Helenius, Hans; Nuutila, Ari-Matti; Sourander, Andre

    2007-06-01

    To study associations between crime and psychiatric disorders among adolescent males in a representative population-based cohort study. The sample includes 2,712 Finnish boys born in 1981. Information on criminality consists of offenses registered in the Finnish National Police Register 1998-2001. Crime was classified according to frequency and type (drug, violent, property, traffic, and drunk driving offenses). Information on psychiatric diagnoses between 1999 and 2004 was collected from the Finnish National Military Register. Of the 2,712 boys, 22% had a crime registration during the 4-year period, and 10% had at least one psychiatric disorder according to the Military Register. Those with psychiatric disorders accounted for 49% of all crimes. Of those with more than five crimes (n = 98), 59% had psychiatric diagnoses. After adjusting for other crime types and childhood socio-economic status, property crime was independently associated with several diagnoses: antisocial personality (APD), substance use (SUD), psychotic, anxiety, and adjustment disorders. Drug offending was independently associated with APD, SUD, and psychotic disorder, and traffic offenses with APD. Youth crime is predominantly associated with antisocial personality and substance use disorders. Crime prevention efforts should focus on boys showing a risk for antisocial and substance use problems. In particular, property, drug, and repeat offenders need mental health and substance use assessment. There is a need to develop integrated mental health and substance use treatment services for young offenders within or alongside the criminal justice system.

  19. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reponen, H.; Viitasaari, O.

    1985-09-01

    These general reviews of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants concentrate on such events and discoveries related to reactor and radiation safety that the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as significant. In the report period, no event essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hazard to the personnel or the environment. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment and tabulated data on the production and capacity factors of the plants. (author)

  20. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1988-04-01

    This general review of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants concentrates on such events and discoveries related to nuclear and radiation safety as the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as noteworthy. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment, as well as tubulated data on the production and load factors of the plants. In the report period, no event essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hazard to the personnel or the environment

  1. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lehtinen, P.

    1986-08-01

    These general reviews of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants concentrate on such events and discoveries related to reactor and radiation safety that the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as noteworthy. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment, as well as tabulated data on the production and load factors of the plants. In the report period, no event essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hazard to the personnel or the environment. (author)

  2. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reponen, H.; Viitasaari, O.; Lehtinen, P.

    1985-11-01

    These general reviews of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants concentrate on such events and discoveries related to reactor and radiation safety that the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as significant. In the report period, no event essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hazard to the personnel or the environment. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment and tabulated data on the production and load factors of the plants. (author)

  3. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heimburger, H.

    1988-08-01

    This general review of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants concentrates on such events and discoveries related to nuclear and radiation safety as the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as noteworthy. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment, as well as tabulated data on the production and load factors of the plants. In the report period, no event essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hazard to the personnel or the environment

  4. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ottosson, C.

    1989-05-01

    This general review of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants concentrates on such events and discoveries related to nuclear and radiation safety as the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as noteworthy. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment, as well as tabulated data on the production and load factors of the plants. In the report period, no event essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hazard to the personnel or the environment

  5. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haenninen, R.; Koponen, H.; Nevander, O.; Paltemaa, R.; Poellaenen, I.; Rannila, P.; Valtonen, K.; Vilkamo, O.

    1988-02-01

    This general review of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants concentrates on such events and discoveries related to nuclear and radiation safety as the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as noteworthy. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment, as well as tabulated data on the production and load factors of the plants. In the report period, no event essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hazard to the personnel or the environment

  6. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haenninen, R.

    1988-09-01

    This general review of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants concentrates on such events and discoveries related to nuclear and radiation safety as the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as noteworthy. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment, as well as tabulated data on the production and load factors of the plants. In the report period, no event essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hzard to the personnel or the environment

  7. FIN-EPOS - Finnish national initiative of the European Plate Observing System: Bringing Finnish solid Earth infrastructures into EPOS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vuorinen, Tommi; Korja, Annakaisa

    2017-04-01

    FIN-EPOS consortium is a joint community of Finnish national research institutes tasked with operating and maintaining solid-earth geophysical and geological observatories and laboratories in Finland. These national research infrastructures (NRIs) seek to join EPOS research infrastructure (EPOS RI) and further pursue Finland's participation as a founding member in EPOS ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium). Current partners of FIN-EPOS are the University of Helsinki (UH), the University of and Oulu (UO), Finnish Geospatial Research Institute (FGI) of the National Land Survey (NLS), Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Geological Survey of Finland (GTK), CSC - IT Center for Science and MIKES Metrology at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. The consortium is hosted by the Institute of Seismology, UH (ISUH). The primary purpose of the consortium is to act as a coordinating body between various NRIs and the EPOS RI. FIN-EPOS engages in planning and development of the national EPOS RI and will provide support in EPOS implementation phase (IP) for the partner NRIs. FIN-EPOS also promotes the awareness of EPOS in Finland and is open to new partner NRIs that would benefit from participating in EPOS. The consortium additionally seeks to advance solid Earth science education, technologies and innovations in Finland and is actively engaging in Nordic co-operation and collaboration of solid Earth RIs. The main short term objective of FIN-EPOS is to make Finnish geoscientific data provided by NRIs interoperable with the Thematic Core Services (TCS) in the EPOS IP. Consortium partners commit into applying and following metadata and data format standards provided by EPOS. FIN-EPOS will also provide a national Finnish language web portal where users are identified and their user rights for EPOS resources are defined.

  8. Indoor climate and the performance of ventilation in Finnish residences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruotsalainen, R.; Roennberg, R.; Saeteri, J.; Majanen, A.; Seppaenen, O.; Jaakkola, J.J.K.

    1992-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to gather information about the actual ventilation and indoor air quality and to evaluate the differences between houses and apartments with different ventilation systems. A sample of 242 dwellings in the Helsinki metropolitan area was studied over periods of two weeks during the 1988-1989 heating season. The mean air-exchange rates had a high variation (average 0.52 l/h, range 0.07-1.55 l/h). The ASHRAE minimum value of 0.35 l/h was not achieved in 28% of the dwellings. The air-exchange rates were significantly lower in the houses than in the apartments (averages 0.45/0.64 l/h, p 3 (range 5-866 Bq/m 3 ); the Finnish target value of 200 Bq/m 3 was exceeded in 17% of the houses but in none of the apartments. The measurements indicate that the indoor air quality in Finnish dwellings is not always satisfactory with reference to human health and comfort. (au)

  9. Safety-related occurrences at the Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Viitasaari, O.; Rantavaara, A.

    1984-03-01

    This report contains detailed descriptions of operating incidents and other safety-related matters at the Finnish nuclear power plants regarded as significant by the regulatory authority, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety. In this connection, an account is given of the practical actions caused by the incidents, and their significance to reactor safety is evaluated. The main features of the incidents are also described in the general Quartely Report for this period, Operation of Finnish Nuclear Power Plants (STL-B-RTO-83/7), which is supplemented by this report intended principally for experts. (author)

  10. Finnish and Swedish business cycles in a global context

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bergman, Ulf Michael

    2008-01-01

    This paper evaluates the decisions made by the Finnish government to join EMU and the Swedish government not to join EMU in the early 1990s. Focusing on the characteristics of business cycles during the postwar period, we find that output fluctuations in Sweden and Finland are correlated to two...... measures of the international business cycle, a European and a non-European cycle. The Finnish cycle has become more synchronized to the European cycle but less synchronized to the non-EU cycle after 1999. For Sweden we find the opposite result. The decision by the Finnish government to join EMU...

  11. Visual impairment in Finnish Usher syndrome type III.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Plantinga, R.F.; Pennings, R.J.E.; Huygen, P.L.M.; Sankila, E.M.; Tuppurainen, K.; Kleemola, L.; Cremers, C.W.R.J.; Deutman, A.F.

    2006-01-01

    PURPOSE: To evaluate visual impairment in Finnish Usher syndrome type 3 (USH3) and compare this with visual impairment in Usher syndrome types 1b (USH1b) and 2a (USH2a). METHODS: We carried out a retrospective study of 28 Finnish USH3 patients, 24 Dutch USH2a patients and 17 Dutch USH1b patients.

  12. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1990-03-01

    In the Quarterly Reports on the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants such incidents and observations are described relating to nuclear and radiation safety which the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, considers safety-related. During the third quarter of 1989 the Finnish nuclear power plant units Loviisa 1 and 2 and TVO I and II were in commercial operation for most of the time. Nuclear electricity accounted for 39.0% of the total Finnish electricity production in this quarter. The load factor average of the nuclear power plant units was 78.9%. At Loviisa 1, two holes were found in the feedwater distributor of one steam generator. Corresponding wall thinning corrosion was also detected in the walls of two other distributors. The holes were found on the feedwater distributor upper surface in the joint of the secondary circuit feedwater pipe. One hole was about 20 mm x 50 mm in size and the other was a pit hole ca 5 mm in diameter. Metal power had entered the primary circuit at TVO I. This was observed during a post-scram plant start-up. Several control rod drive units had become jammed so tight that control rod withdrawal failed. Metal powder did not hamper reactor scram under the prevailing circumstances because the drive units are prone to jamming only after a control rod is almost fully inserted and because the forces which insert a control rod by various means (electrical, hydraulic) are 6-8 fold compared with the withdrawing force

  13. Remote monitoring field trial. Application to automated air sampling. Report on Task FIN-E935 of the Finnish Support Programme to IAEA Safeguards

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poellaenen, R.; Ilander, T.; Lehtinen, J.; Leppaenen, A.; Nikkinen, M.; Toivonen, H.; Ylaetalo, S.; Smartt, H.; Garcia, R.; Martinez, R.; Glidewell, D.; Krantz, K.

    1999-01-01

    An automated air sampling station has recently been developed by Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK). The station is furnished with equipment that allows comprehensive remote monitoring of the station and the data. Under the Finnish Support Programme to IAEA Safeguards, STUK and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) established a field trial to demonstrate the use of remote monitoring technologies. STUK provided means for real-lime radiation monitoring and sample authentication whereas SNL delivered means for authenticated surveillance of the equipment and its location. The field trial showed that remote monitoring can be carried out using simple means although advanced facilities are needed for comprehensive surveillance. Authenticated measurement data could be reliably transferred from the monitoring site to the headquarters without the presence of authorized personnel in the monitoring site. The operation of the station and the remote monitoring system were reliable. (orig.)

  14. Insulin‐degrading enzyme is genetically associated with Alzheimer's disease in the Finnish population

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vepsäläinen, Saila; Parkinson, Michele; Helisalmi, Seppo; Mannermaa, Arto; Soininen, Hilkka; Tanzi, Rudolph E; Bertram, Lars; Hiltunen, Mikko

    2007-01-01

    The gene for insulin‐degrading enzyme (IDE), which is located at chromosome 10q24, has been previously proposed as a candidate gene for late‐onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) based on its ability to degrade amyloid β‐protein. Genotyping of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the IDE gene in Finnish patients with AD and controls revealed SNPs rs4646953 and rs4646955 to be associated with AD, conferring an approximately two‐fold increased risk. Single locus findings were corroborated by the results obtained from haplotype analyses. This suggests that genetic alterations in or near the IDE gene may increase the risk for developing AD. PMID:17496198

  15. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reponen, H.; Viitasaari, O.

    1985-01-01

    This general review of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants in the second quarter of the year 1984 concentrates on such events and discoveries related to reactor and radiation safety that the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as significant. In the report period, no event essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hazard to the personnel or the environment. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment and tabulated data on the production and availability of the plants. (author)

  16. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reponen, H.; Viitasaari, O.

    1985-05-01

    This general review of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants in the third quarter of the year 1984 concentrates on such events and discoveries related to reactor and radiation safety that the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as significant. In the report period, no event essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hazard to the personnel or the environment. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment and tabulated data on the production and capacity factors of the plants. (author)

  17. The styles of the Finnish nuclear waste policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kojo, Matti

    2010-09-01

    The Finnish government determined the aims and schedule for nuclear waste management in 1983. Nearly three decades later spent nuclear fuel (SNF) management is approaching the construction licensing phase of the repository, on schedule. The parliamentary decision on the final disposal of SNF was taken almost unanimously in 2001. The location of the SNF facility was chosen at the same time. The smoothness of this raises questions about the main factors behind the progress in Finland. The aim of the paper is to analyse the Finnish nuclear waste policy from the point of view of policy style. In the paper policy style is defined as 'the interaction between (a) the government's approach to problem-solving and (b) the relationship between government and the other actors in policy process'. According to this definition by Richardson, Gustafsson and Jordan, the focus of style is both on policymaking and on implementation. The policy style approach is used to identify the standard operating procedures of Finnish nuclear waste policy. The paper aims to contribute to the discussion on the formation of national nuclear waste policy and its institutions by analysing the Finnish case

  18. Sampling Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Populations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, Ilan H.; Wilson, Patrick A.

    2009-01-01

    Sampling has been the single most influential component of conducting research with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations. Poor sampling designs can result in biased results that will mislead other researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. Investigators wishing to study LGB populations must therefore devote significant energy and…

  19. On the early history of the Finnish Meteorological Institute

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nevanlinna, H.

    2014-03-01

    This article is a review of the foundation (in 1838) and later developments of the Helsinki (Finland) magnetic and meteorological observatory, today the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI). The main focus of the study is in the early history of the FMI up to the beginning of the 20th century. The first director of the observatory was Physics Professor Johan Jakob Nervander (1805-1848). He was a famous person of the Finnish scientific, academic and cultural community in the early decades of the 19th century. Finland was an autonomously part of the Russian Empire from 1809 to 1917, but the observatory remained organizationally under the University of Helsinki, independent of Russian scientific institutions, and funded by the Finnish Government. Throughout the late-19th century the Meteorological Institute was responsible of nationwide meteorological, hydrological and marine observations and research. The observatory was transferred to the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters under the name the Central Meteorological Institute in 1881. The focus of the work carried out in the Institute was changed gradually towards meteorology. Magnetic measurements were still continued but in a lower level of importance. The culmination of Finnish geophysical achievements in the 19th century was the participation to the International Polar Year programme in 1882-1883 by setting up a full-scale meteorological and magnetic observatory in Sodankylä, Lapland.

  20. Differences in Sickness Allowance Receipt between Swedish Speakers and Finnish Speakers in Finland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaarina S. Reini

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Previous research has documented lower disability retirement and mortality rates of Swedish speakers as compared with Finnish speakers in Finland. This paper is the first to compare the two language groups with regard to the receipt of sickness allowance, which is an objective health measure that reflects a less severe poor health condition. Register-based data covering the years 1988-2011 are used. We estimate logistic regression models with generalized estimating equations to account for repeated observations at the individual level. We find that Swedish-speaking men have approximately 30 percent lower odds of receiving sickness allowance than Finnish-speaking men, whereas the difference in women is about 15 percent. In correspondence with previous research on all-cause mortality at working ages, we find no language-group difference in sickness allowance receipt in the socially most successful subgroup of the population.

  1. Bibliography of Finnish forestry literature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-01-01

    The bibliography consists primarily of material from Finnish publications. Although, relevant articles published outside Finland are also included in the bibliography. The references listed in the bibliography include articles on forestry sciences taken from 200 different Finnish journals as well as all the material in the journals published by the various departments of forestry of the University of Helsinki, the Society of Forestry in Finland and the Finnish Forest Research Institute. The bibliography is published four times per year, and is compiled annually in a single volume. The bibliography consists of about 2000 references per year. The material is categorized according to the FDC (Forest Decimal Classification, formerly Oxford Decimal Classification). The bibliography contains material of following subject categories: (0) Forests, forestry and the utilization of forest products (general). Dictionaries. Bibliographies. (1) Factors of the environment. Biology. (2) Silviculture. (3) Work science (Work studies). Harvesting of wood: Logging and transport. Forest engineering. (4) Forest injuries and protection. (5) Forest mensuration. Increment; development and structure of stands. Surveying and mapping. (6) Forest management. Business economics of forestry. Administration and organization of forest enterprises. (7) Marketing of forest products: Economics of forest transport and the wood industries. (8) forest products and their utilization. (9) Forests and forestry from the national point of view. Social economics of forestry. The bibliography includes author and subject indexes

  2. Bibliography of Finnish forestry literature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1997-01-01

    The bibliography consists primarily of material from Finnish publications. Although, relevant articles published outside Finland are also included in the bibliography. The references listed in the bibliography include articles on forestry sciences taken from 200 different Finnish journals as well as all the material in the journals published by the various departments of forestry of the University of Helsinki, the Society of Forestry in Finland and the Finnish Forest Research Institute. The bibliography is published four times per year, and is compiled annually in a single volume. The bibliography consists of about 2000 references per year. The material is categorised according to the FDC (Forest Decimal Classification, formerly Oxford Decimal Classification). The bibliography contains material of following subject categories: (0) Forests, forestry and the utilisation of forest products (general). Dictionaries. Bibliographies. (1) Factors of the environment. Biology. (2) Silviculture. (3) Work science (Work studies). Harvesting of wood: Logging and transport. Forest engineering. (4) Forest injuries and protection. (5) Forest mensuration. Increment; development and structure of stands. Surveying and mapping. (6) Forest management. Business economics of forestry. Administration and organisation of forest enterprises. (7) Marketing of forest products: Economics of forest transport and the wood industries. (8) forest products and their utilisation. (9) Forests and forestry from the national point of view. Social economics of forestry. The bibliography includes author and subject indexes

  3. Finnish support programme to IAEA safeguards. Annual report 1994

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tarvainen, M.

    1995-05-01

    Implementation of the Finnish Support Programme to IAEA Safeguards (FINSP) during the calender year in question is summarized. FINSP is carried out trough separate tasks concentrating on verification of nuclear material, training and expert services to the IAEA. In addition to the Finnish summary, the report includes detailed description of each task in English

  4. Association of cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus with cognitive functioning and risk of dementia in the general population: 11-year follow-up study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torniainen-Holm, Minna; Suvisaari, Jaana; Lindgren, Maija; Härkänen, Tommi; Dickerson, Faith; Yolken, Robert H

    2018-03-01

    Earlier studies have documented an association between cytomegalovirus and cognitive impairment, but results have been inconsistent. Few studies have investigated the association of cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus with cognitive decline longitudinally. Our aim was to examine whether cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus are associated with cognitive decline in adults. The study sample is from the Finnish Health 2000 Survey (BRIF8901, n = 7112), which is representative of the Finnish adult population. The sample was followed up after 11 years in the Health 2011 Survey. In addition, persons with dementia were identified from healthcare registers. In the Finnish population aged 30 and over, the seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus was estimated to be 84% and the seroprevalence of Epstein-Barr virus 98%. Seropositivity of the viruses and antibody levels were mostly not associated with cognitive performance. In the middle-aged adult group, cytomegalovirus serointensity was associated with impaired performance in verbal learning. However, the association disappeared when corrected for multiple testing. No interactions between infection and time or between the two infections were significant when corrected for multiple testing. Seropositivity did not predict dementia diagnosis. The results suggest that adult levels of antibodies to cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus may not be associated with a significant decline in cognitive function or with dementia at population level. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  5. Literacy Development among Language Minority Background and Dyslexic Children in Finnish Orthography Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sikiö, Riitta; Siekkinen, Martti; Holopainen, Leena

    2016-01-01

    This study examines the development of reading and writing from first to second grade in transparent orthography (Finnish) among three groups: language minority children (n = 49), Finnish children at risk of reading difficulties (n = 347), and Finnish speaking children (n = 1747). Findings indicated that reading and writing skills in the language…

  6. Constructions of Bilingualism in Finnish Government Programmes and a Newspaper Discussion Site Debate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pöyhönen, Sari; Saarinen, Taina

    2015-01-01

    The concept of bilingualism in Finnish political discourse is predominantly used in the meaning of official or state bilingualism, focusing on the two constitutionally defined "national languages;" that is, Finnish and Swedish. Legally, both Finnish and Swedish-speakers have a right for public services, such as schooling or health care,…

  7. Fusarium toxins and fungi associated with handling of grain on eight Finnish farms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lappalainen, Sanna; Nikulin, Marjo; Berg, Seija; Parikka, Päivi; Hintikka, Eeva-Liisa; Pasanen, Anna-Liisa

    Farmers' exposure to airborne dust, fungi and possibly also to Fusarium toxins during the drying and milling of grain and feeding of cattle was studied on eight Finnish farms. Airborne viable and total spores were collected on polycarbonate filters. Spore concentrations and fungal flora were determined by cultivation and epifluorescence microscope counting. Eighteen airborne dust samples were taken on glass-fiber filters with a high-volume sampler, and biological toxicity was tested from those samples. In toxic dust samples, Fusarium toxins were analyzed with a gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Fungi and Fusarium toxins were also analyzed in ten grain samples collected from the farms during the air sampling. Yeasts, as well as species of Cladosporium, Penicillium, Aspergillus, Absidia and Fusarium occurred in the air at all three stages of grain handling. Airborne spore concentrations ranged from 103 to 10 6 cfu m -3 for viable fungi and from 10 5 to 10 7 spores m -3 for total spores; airborne dust concentrations varied from 0.04 to 81.1 mg m -3. Low deoxynivalenol concentrations (3 and 20 ng m -3) were found in two air samples collected during milling. Fusarium spp. were identified in eight grain samples, and DON concentrations of 0.004-11 mg kg -1 were detected in all samples analyzed. Although any conclusion on Finnish farmers' exposure to mycotoxins cannot be done on the basis of this small data, it can be assumed that toxigenic fungi and Fusarium toxins may occur in the air and inhalation exposure of farmers to Fusarium toxins is possible in agricultural environment.

  8. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1992-05-01

    The Finnish nuclear power plant units Loviisa 1 and 2 as well as TVO I and II were in operation for almost the whole fourth quarter of 1991. The load factor average was 94.7 % (the whole year 90.9 %). All the events in the last annual quarter, which are classified on the International Nuclear Event Scale, were below scale/level 0. Also the events which occurred in the other quarters of the year 1991 were rated at the scale's lowest levels. Occupational radiation doses and releases of radioactive material off-site remained well below authorised limits. Only quantities of radioactive material insignificant to radiation exposure originating in nuclear power plants were detected in the samples collected in the vicinity of the nuclear power plants

  9. Structural Development of Finnish Universities: Achieving Competitiveness and Academic Excellence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tirronen, Jarkko; Nokkala, Terhi

    2009-01-01

    This paper discusses strategic instruments that are used to enhance the competitiveness of Finnish universities in the context of globalisation, internationalisation and commercialisation of research and education. The Finnish higher education system is currently undergoing a major policy reform, which aims to enhance the competitiveness of…

  10. Immediate effects of the Finnish resonance tube method on behavioral dysphonia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paes, Sabrina Mazzer; Zambon, Fabiana; Yamasaki, Rosiane; Simberg, Susanna; Behlau, Mara

    2013-11-01

    To investigate the immediate effects of the Finnish resonance tube method for teachers with behavioral dysphonia. Twenty-five female teachers (m=39.9 years of age) with at least a 5-year history of dysphonia were included. Additional inclusion criteria were the diagnosis of chronic behavioral dysphonia with an indication for speech therapy and the absence of any prior speech therapy. Subjects produced three sets of 10 tokens of sustained phonation with a 1-minute rest interval between tokens into a 27-cm glass tube immersed in at least 2 cm of water. Voice samples were recorded before and after these sets. The effects of these exercises were evaluated by self-assessment, auditory perceptual analysis, and acoustic evaluation involving extraction of fundamental frequency and visual spectrographic analysis. Sixty-eight percent of the teachers reported increased phonatory comfort and 52% reported improved voice quality after performing the exercises. Perceptual analysis indicated improved voice quality in the samples of counting numbers, confirmed by decreased instability, subharmonics, noise in high frequencies, and the tendency for reduced low frequency noise on spectrographic evaluation. Additionally, mean fundamental frequency decreased. The Finnish resonance tube method increased phonatory comfort and vocal changes suggestive diminished hyperfunction. Copyright © 2013 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lehtinen, Pekka

    1987-05-01

    These general reviews of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants concentrate on such events and discoveries related to reactor and radiation safety that the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as noteworthy. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment, as well as tabulated data on the production and load factors of the plants. In the report period, no event essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hazard to the perssonnel or the environment. For remedying certain defects found in the administrative procedures concerning plant operation and maintenance, the Loviisa power plant was shut down for several days

  12. Attitudes towards gambling, gambling participation, and gambling-related harm: cross-sectional Finnish population studies in 2011 and 2015

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne H. Salonen

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Information about public gambling attitudes and gambling participation is crucial for the effective prevention of gambling-related harm. This study investigates female and male attitudes towards gambling, gambling participation, and gambling-related harm in the Finnish population aged 15–74. Methods Cross-sectional random sample data were collected in 2011 (n = 4484 and 2015 (n = 4515. The data were weighted based on gender, age and region of residence. Attitudes were measured using the Attitudes Towards Gambling Scale (ATGS-8. Gambling-related harms were studied using the Problem Gambling Severity Index and the South Oaks Gambling Screen. Results Attitudes towards gambling became more positive from 2011 to 2015. Female attitudes were generally negative, but nonetheless moved in a positive direction except in age groups under 25. Occasional gambling increased among women aged 18–24. Women aged 18–24 and 45–54 experienced more harms in 2015 than in 2011. Both land and online gambling increased among women aged 65–74. Male attitudes towards gambling were generally positive, and became more positive from 2011 to 2015 in all age groups except 15–17. Weekly gambling decreased among males aged 15–17. Gambling overall increased among males aged 18–24. Gambling several times a week decreased among men aged 35–44 and 45–54, and gambling 1–3 times a month increased in the latter age group. Online gambling increased only among men aged 55–64. Conclusions Attitudes towards gambling became more positive in all except the youngest age groups. Under-age male gambling continued to decrease. We need to make decision-makers better aware of the continuing growth of online gambling among older people and women’s increasing experiences of gambling-related harm. This is vital to ensure more effective prevention.

  13. Mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene analysis indicates a restricted genetic background in Finnish noble crayfish (Astacus astacus stocks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Makkonen J.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The IUCN Red List indexes the noble crayfish (Astacus astacus as vulnerable, with a declining population trend. The main threats to the species are the crayfish plague caused by the oomycete Aphanomyces astaci and the introduced North American crayfish that act as the carriers of this disease. In Finland, the noble crayfish is considered as a native species, which original distribution area covers the southern part of the country, but the species distribution has been dispersed to cover almost the whole country. The aim of this study was to survey the genetic diversity among the Finnish noble crayfish populations. The mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI-gene was sequenced from 742 individuals representing 59 populations from Finland and Estonia. As a result, only a single haplotype was found. Based on these results, the genetic diversity of noble crayfish in its Northern distribution range is remarkably low. The observed lack of variation can result from several mechanisms including small size of the founder population and the intense spreading of the species by manmade stockings. The restricted diversity can also be caused by eradication of the original populations due to crayfish plague epidemics and spreading of the invasive crayfish species carrying the crayfish plague. It is also possible that all contemporary Finnish noble crayfish populations originate from stockings with no variation in respect to COI-gene.

  14. The occurrence of rare earth elements in some Finnish mires

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yliruokanen, I.

    1995-12-01

    Full Text Available The content of the more abundant rare earths (RE (Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd and Sm in the ash of 399 peat samples from 26 Finnish mires was determined by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The content of all rare earths (La-Lu, Y in 29 samples was also determined by spark source mass spectrometry. The median RE contents in peat ashes from areas where the bedrock consists of rapakivi granite, granite or archean gneiss are reported. Detailed data concerning the individual mires are also presented. The highest RE contents were found in samples from rapakivi granite areas where a strong negative Eu anomaly was also observed. The RE contents were in general highest at the basal peat layers.

  15. Content of copper, zinc, lead, cadmium and mercury in muscle, liver and kidney of Finnish cattle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stabel-Taucher, R; Nurmi, E; Karppanen, E

    1975-01-01

    A total of 120 normal slaughter cows were analyzed with respect to Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and Hg in muscle, liver and kidneys. The cows originated from 6 different slaughter-houses throughout the country. Imported cow livers, were also analyzed for comparison with the Finnish material. The Cu content in the Finnish animals turned out to be relatively low. The imported samples had even lower contents. There seemed to be no correlation between the Cu contents in muscle, liver and kidneys. Statistical tests established that the mean Cu content in livers from Oulu was significantly higher than most of the others at the 5% level. The Zn determinations revealed the highest amounts in the muscle. No correlation between the contents in muscle, liver and kidneys was shown. The animals from Seinaejoki had the highest Zn contents, significantly different from most of the others. The imported livers did not differ much from the domestic ones with regards to the Zn content. The same was true for the Pb content. The correlation coefficients of Pb in muscles, liver and kidneys were low. The animals from Kouvola contained the highest amounts of Pb, and the mean Pb content of these animals' kidneys was significantly different from all the others. The Cd content was highest in the animals from Turku. A good correlation was observed between the Cd contents in liver and kidneys. The Cd content of the imported livers was of the same order as that of the Finnish ones. No correlation was found between the Zn, Pb and Cd contents. The amounts of Hg in Finnish cattle were very low, especially so in animals from the North of Finland. The Hg content of the imported samples was of the same order as the figures recorded from the South of Finland. 24 references, 5 tables.

  16. The role of the Finnish Meteorological Institute

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Savolainen, A.L.; Valkama, I.

    1993-01-01

    The Finnish Meteorological Institute is responsible for the dispersion forecasts for the radiation control in Finland. In addition to the normal weather forecasts the duty forecaster has the work station based three dimensional trajectory model and the short range dispersion model YDINO at his disposal. For expert use, dispersion and dose model TRADOS is available. The TRADOS, developed by the Finnish Meteorological Institute and by the Technical Research Centre of Finland, includes a meteorological data base that utilizes the numerical forecasts of the High Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM) weather prediction model. The transport is described by three-dimensional air-parcel trajectories. For each time step the integrated air concentrations as well as dry and wet deposition for selected groups of radionuclides are computed. In the operational emergency application only external dose rates are computed. In the statistical version also individual and population dose estimates via several external and internal pathways can be made. The TRADOS is currently run under two separate user interfaces. The trajectory and dispersion model interface includes ready-made lists of the nuclear power plants and other installations. The dose model has a set of release terms for several groups of radionuclides. There is also a graphical module that enables the computed results to be presented in grid or also isolines. A new graphical user interface and presentation lay-outs redesigned as visual and end-user friendly as possible and with the aim of possible and with the aim of possible adoption as a Nordic standard will be installed in the near future. (orig.)

  17. Finnish market entry planning of franchising Kungfu catering

    OpenAIRE

    Liu, Yun

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this thesis was to carry out a market entry planning by franchising Kungfu catering in Finland. Kungfu catering was a typical Chinese fast food restaurant, of which there was a gap in Finnish fast food market. McDonald’s and Hesburger were succesful examples of franchise business, experiences of those 2 restaurants were used for reference to create a suitable franchise strategy for Kungfu Finland. Finnish market entry planning of Kungfu Finland has been explained from several a...

  18. Towards automated processing of clinical Finnish: sublanguage analysis and a rule-based parser.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laippala, Veronika; Ginter, Filip; Pyysalo, Sampo; Salakoski, Tapio

    2009-12-01

    In this paper, we present steps taken towards more efficient automated processing of clinical Finnish, focusing on daily nursing notes in a Finnish Intensive Care Unit (ICU). First, we analyze ICU Finnish as a sublanguage, identifying its specific features facilitating, for example, the development of a specialized syntactic analyser. The identified features include frequent omission of finite verbs, limitations in allowed syntactic structures, and domain-specific vocabulary. Second, we develop a formal grammar and a parser for ICU Finnish, thus providing better tools for the development of further applications in the clinical domain. The grammar is implemented in the LKB system in a typed feature structure formalism. The lexicon is automatically generated based on the output of the FinTWOL morphological analyzer adapted to the clinical domain. As an additional experiment, we study the effect of using Finnish constraint grammar to reduce the size of the lexicon. The parser construction thus makes efficient use of existing resources for Finnish. The grammar currently covers 76.6% of ICU Finnish sentences, producing highly accurate best-parse analyzes with F-score of 91.1%. We find that building a parser for the highly specialized domain sublanguage is not only feasible, but also surprisingly efficient, given an existing morphological analyzer with broad vocabulary coverage. The resulting parser enables a deeper analysis of the text than was previously possible.

  19. Finnish Pupils' Views on the Place of Religion in School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuusisto, Arniika; Poulter, Saila; Kallioniemi, Arto

    2017-01-01

    This mixed method study examines Finnish pupils' (N = 825; age groups 12-13, 15-16) views on the place of religion in the public school. Religious landscape in Finnish society has changed significantly in recent years, as the "new" diversity (Vertovec 2015) has supplemented the "old" one. The role of institutionalized religion…

  20. HANSENULA WICKERHAMII SP. N., A NEW YEAST FROM FINNISH SOIL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capriotti, Augusto

    1961-01-01

    Capriotti, Augusto (l'Università di Perugia, Perugia, Italy). Hansenula wickerhamii sp. n., a new yeast from Finnish soil. J. Bacteriol. 82:259–360. 1961.—Hansenula wickerhamii sp. n. is described; it was isolated from a Finnish soil, and is named in honor of Lynferd J. Wickerham. Images PMID:13690638

  1. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lehtinen, Pekka

    1987-07-01

    These general reviews of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants concentrate on such events and discoveries related to reactor and radiation safety that the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as noteworthy. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment, as well as tabulated data on the production and load factors of the plants. No event in the report period, or in the whole year of 1986, essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hazard to the personnel or the environment. For remedying certain defects found in the adminstrative procedures concerning plant operation and maintenance, the Loviisa power plant was shut down for several days in September

  2. Outsourcing Equality: Migrant Care Worker Imaginary in Finnish Media

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camilla Nordberg

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Implications from the restructuring of Nordic eldercare include the incorporation of new categories of care workers and a redefinition of the terms of citizenship and participation in working life. Drawing on the idea that policy actors script care worker subjectivities, this article examines print media as a key arena where the cultural imaginary of care work is played out. The media has the potential to accommodate ideological complexity through the possible range of participatory actors. From the scripts promoted through the mediascape, we can learn about the positions understood as being (inappropriate for migrant care workers. This study draws on the analysis of news and feature stories from 2003 to 2013 in the largest Finnish daily, Helsingin Sanomat, and in the periodical Kuntalehti, published by the Finnish Association of Local and Regional Authorities. The article points to tensions in Finnish media discourse, identifying ambiguous occupational scripts for migrant care workers—rooted in neoliberal repertoires of self-sufficiency and normative individualism on the one hand and helplessness and naivety on the other hand. It draws attention to an unsettling construction whereby migrant care workers are excluded from a long-term contract with the Finnish care labor market, and where social equality is conditioned to global redistribution.

  3. Characteristics and international comparability of the Finnish matrix sentence test in cochlear implant recipients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dietz, Aarno; Buschermöhle, Michael; Sivonen, Ville; Willberg, Tytti; Aarnisalo, Antti A; Lenarz, Thomas; Kollmeier, Birger

    2015-01-01

    The first Finnish sentence-based speech test in noise--the Finnish matrix sentence test--was recently developed. The aim of this study was to determine the characteristics of the new test with respect to test-retest reliability, speech recognition curve, and international comparability in Finnish cochlear implant (CI) recipients. The speech reception thresholds (SRT) were measured by means of an adaptive test procedure and compared with the results of the traditional Finnish word test. Additional measurements for concurrent slope and SRT estimation were conducted to determine the speech recognition curve and to check the test-retest reliability. The measurements were performed on 78 Finnish CI recipients. In a subset of 25 patients, additional measurements for test-retest reliability and slope determination were performed. The mean SRT was -3.5 ± 1.7 dB SNR, with only a weak correlation with the Finnish word test. Test-retest reliability was within ± 1 dB and the mean slope of the speech recognition curve was 14.6 ± 3.6 %/dB. The rehabilitation results were similar to the results published for the German matrix test. The Finnish matrix test was found to be suitable and efficient in CI recipients with similar characteristics as the German matrix test.

  4. Anabolic-androgenic steroid use among young Finnish males.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattila, V M; Rimpelä, A; Jormanainen, V; Sahi, T; Pihlajamäki, H

    2010-04-01

    The aim of the present study was to describe the lifetime occurrence and associated factors of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) among young Finnish males. Of the 10 829 male conscripts (median age 19), 10 396 (96%) answered a questionnaire during the first days of their conscription in the years 2001-2007. The main outcome was lifetime AAS use. We also studied associations between 13 socioeconomic, health, and health behavioral background variables and AAS use by logistic regression. Eighty-nine (0.9%) respondents reported having used AAS. In addition, 26 (0.3%) respondents reported that they would use AAS if they could obtain them. In multivariate analysis, which included all significant variables and age, the strongest associated factors were weight training at fitness centers more than three times a week [odds ratio (OR) 11.8; 95% confidence interval (CI): 7.1-19.6], low educational status (OR 3.7; 95% CI: 2.0-7.0), and weekly drunkenness as drinking style (OR 2.4; 95% CI: 1.4-4.5). Sports other than weight training were not associated with AAS in our sample. The use of AAS is relatively uncommon among Finnish males. It is strongly associated with weight training at fitness centers but also with lower educational status and a drunkenness-oriented lifestyle. Prevention should be targeted at those males participating in weight training.

  5. Healthcare professionals' work engagement in Finnish university hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lepistö, Sari; Alanen, Seija; Aalto, Pirjo; Järvinen, Päivi; Leino, Kaija; Mattila, Elina; Kaunonen, Marja

    2017-10-10

    Concerns about the sufficiency and dedication of the healthcare workforce have arisen as the baby boomer generation is retiring and the generation Y might have different working environment demands. To describe the association between work engagement of healthcare professionals' and its background factors at five Finnish university hospitals. Survey data were collected from nurses, physicians and administrative staff (n = 561) at all five university hospitals in Finland. Data were collected using an electronic questionnaire that comprised the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (9 items) and 13 questions regarding the respondents' backgrounds. Descriptive and correlational analyses were used to examine the data. Most respondents were female (85%) and nursing staff (72%). Baby boomers (49%) were the largest generational cohort. The work engagement composite mean for the total sample was 5.0, indicating high work engagement. Significant differences in work engagement existed only among sex and age groups. The highest work engagement scores were among administrative staff. Work engagement among healthcare professionals in Finnish university hospitals is high. High work engagement might be explained by suitable job resources and challenges, as well as opportunities provided by a frontline care environment. Attention should especially be paid to meeting the needs of young people entering the workforce to strengthen their dedication and absorption. © 2017 Nordic College of Caring Science.

  6. Spiritually Ours, Factually Yours: Karelia and Russia in Finnish Public Consciousness

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Laine, J.; Velde, B.M.R. van der

    2017-01-01

    Based on an analysis of the leading Finnish newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, this paper explores Finnish attitudes towards and understandings of Russia. It pays special attention to the so-called Karelia Question and the way it has shaped public discussion in Finland. The article seeks to investigate

  7. Drinking Water Quality and Occurrence of Giardia in Finnish Small Groundwater Supplies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tarja Pitkänen

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The microbiological and chemical drinking water quality of 20 vulnerable Finnish small groundwater supplies was studied in relation to environmental risk factors associated with potential sources of contamination. The microbiological parameters analyzed included the following enteric pathogens: Giardia and Cryptosporidium, Campylobacter species, noroviruses, as well as indicator microbes (Escherichia coli, intestinal enterococci, coliform bacteria, Clostridium perfringens, Aeromonas spp. and heterotrophic bacteria. Chemical analyses included the determination of pH, conductivity, TOC, color, turbidity, and phosphorus, nitrate and nitrite nitrogen, iron, and manganese concentrations. Giardia intestinalis was detected from four of the water supplies, all of which had wastewater treatment activities in the neighborhood. Mesophilic Aeromonas salmonicida, coliform bacteria and E. coli were also detected. None of the samples were positive for both coliforms and Giardia. Low pH and high iron and manganese concentrations in some samples compromised the water quality. Giardia intestinalis was isolated for the first time in Finland in groundwater wells of public water works. In Europe, small water supplies are of great importance since they serve a significant sector of the population. In our study, the presence of fecal indicator bacteria, Aeromonas and Giardia revealed surface water access to the wells and health risks associated with small water supplies.

  8. Bacteriological etiology and treatment of mastitis in Finnish dairy herds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vakkamäki, Johanna; Taponen, Suvi; Heikkilä, Anna-Maija; Pyörälä, Satu

    2017-05-25

    The Finnish dairy herd recording system maintains production and health records of cows and herds. Veterinarians and farmers register veterinary treatments in the system. Milk samples for microbiological analysis are routinely taken from mastitic cows. The laboratory of the largest dairy company in Finland, Valio Ltd., analyzes most samples using real-time PCR. This study addressed pathogen-specific microbiological data and treatment and culling records, in combination with cow and herd characteristics, from the Finnish dairy herd recording system during 2010-2012. The data derived from 240,067 quarter milk samples from 93,529 dairy cows with mastitis; 238,235 cows from the same herds served as the control group. No target pathogen DNA was detected in 12% of the samples. In 49% of the positive samples, only one target species and in 19%, two species with one dominant species were present. The most common species in the samples with a single species only were coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) (43%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (21%), Streptococcus uberis (9%), Streptococcus dysgalactiae (8%), Corynebacterium bovis (7%), and Escherichia coli (5%). On average, 36% of the study cows and 6% of the control cows had recorded mastitis treatments during lactation. The corresponding proportions were 16 and 6% at drying-off. For more than 75% of the treatments during lactation, diagnosis was acute clinical mastitis. In the milk samples from cows with a recorded mastitis treatment during lactation, CNS and S. aureus were most common, followed by streptococci. Altogether, 48% of the cows were culled during the study. Mastitis was reported as the most common reason to cull; 49% of study cows and 18% of control cows were culled because of mastitis. Culling was most likely if S. aureus was detected in the milk sample submitted during the culling year. The PCR test has proven to be an applicable method also for large-scale use in bacterial diagnostics. In the present

  9. Sociodemographic and socioeconomic differences in sleep duration and insomnia-related symptoms in Finnish adults

    OpenAIRE

    Lallukka Tea; Sares-Jäske Laura; Kronholm Erkki; Sääksjärvi Katri; Lundqvist Annamari; Partonen Timo; Rahkonen Ossi; Knekt Paul

    2012-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Poor sleep tends to be patterned by sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors. The aim of this study was to examine the associations of sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors with sleep duration and insomnia-related symptoms across life course. METHODS: We used cross-sectional Health 2000 Survey (2000-2001) among a total of 5,578 adult Finns, aged 30-79 years, representative of adult Finnish population. Data about sociodemographic and socioeconomic circumstances, insomnia-rel...

  10. Finnish energy technology programmes 1998

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-12-01

    The Finnish Technology Development Centre (Tekes) is responsible for the financing of research and development in the field of energy production technology. A considerable part of the financing goes to technology programmes. Each technology programme involves major Finnish institutions - companies, research institutes, universities and other relevant interests. Many of the energy technology programmes running in 1998 were launched collectively in 1993 and will be completed at the end of 1998. They are complemented by a number of other energy-related technology programmes, each with a timetable of its own. Because energy production technology is horizontal by nature, it is closely connected with research and development in other fields, too, and is an important aspect in several other Tekes technology programmes. For this reason this brochure also presents technology programmes where energy is only one of the aspects considered but which nevertheless contribute considerably to research and development in the energy production sector

  11. Serum TSH reference interval in healthy Finnish adults using the Abbott Architect 2000i Analyzer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schalin-Jäntti, Camilla; Tanner, Pirjo; Välimäki, Matti J; Hämäläinen, Esa

    2011-07-01

    Current serum TSH reference intervals have been criticized as they were established from unselected background populations. A special concern is that the upper limit, which defines subclinical hypothyroidism, is too high. The objective was to redefine the TSH reference interval in the adult Finnish population. The current reference interval for the widely used Abbott Architect method in Finland is 0.4-4.0 mU/L. Serum TSH and free T4 concentrations were derived from 606 healthy, non-pregnant, 18-91-year-old Finns from the Nordic Reference Interval Project (NORIP) and the possible effects of age, sex and thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) status were evaluated. After excluding TPOAb-positive subjects and outliers, a reference population of 511 subjects was obtained. In the reference population, no statistically significant gender- or age-specific differences in mean TSH (1.55 ± 3.30 mU/L) or TSH reference intervals were observed. The new reference interval was 0.5-3.6 mU/L (2.5th-97.5th percentiles). The current upper TSH reference limit is 10% too high. A TSH > 3.6 mU/L, confirmed with a repeat TSH sampling, may indicate subclinical hypothyroidism. Differences in ethnicity, regional iodine-intake and analytical methods underline the need for redefining the TSH reference interval in central laboratories in different countries.

  12. Quantitative Trait Loci for Fertility Traits in Finnish Ayrshire Cattle

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schulman, Nina F; Sahana, Goutam; Lund, Mogens S

    2008-01-01

    A whole genome scan was carried out to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for fertility traits in Finnish Ayrshire cattle. The mapping population consisted of 12 bulls and 493 sons. Estimated breeding values for days open, fertility treatments, maternal calf mortality and paternal non-return rate...... combinations, which were observed significant in the regression method. Twenty-two chromosome-wise significant QTL were detected. Several of the detected QTL areas were overlapping with milk production QTL previously identified in the same population. Multi-trait QTL analyses were carried out to test...... if these effects were due to a pleiotropic QTL affecting fertility and milk yield traits or to linked QTL causing the effects. This distinction could only be made with confidence on BTA1 where a QTL affecting milk yield is linked to a pleiotropic QTL affecting days open and fertility treatments...

  13. Does perceived social support and parental attitude relate to alexithymia? A study in Finnish late adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karukivi, Max; Joukamaa, Matti; Hautala, Lea; Kaleva, Olli; Haapasalo-Pesu, Kirsi-Maria; Liuksila, Pirjo-Riitta; Saarijärvi, Simo

    2011-05-15

    The aim of the present study was to explore the associations of perceived social support and parental attitude with alexithymia in a Finnish adolescent population sample. Of the initial sample of 935 adolescents, 729 (78%) answered the questionnaire and formed the final sample. The mean age of the subjects was 19 years (range 17-21 years). The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was used for assessment of alexithymia. Perceived social support from family, friends, and significant other people was measured using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Perceived parental care and overprotection were assessed using the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), and separately for mother and father. After controlling for the sociodemographic factors, alexithymia was significantly associated with a lower degree of experienced social support and higher parental overprotection both in females and males. Maternal overprotection was associated (poverprotective parental attitudes as a possible risk factor for development of alexithymia. However, to assess causality, we need longitudinal studies. The results also emphasize the need for further studies to establish the significance of peer relationships in the development of alexithymia. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Source Taxation of Technological Services in Finnish Tax Treaties

    OpenAIRE

    Kiviranta, Tuomas

    2016-01-01

    In this study, I analyze the various means of source taxation of technological and other services permitted by Finnish double taxation conventions and the future of source taxation of technological and other services. I attempt to shed light on the various means of source taxation of technological services permitted by Finnish tax treaties and by tax treaties also more generally. I analyze 1) the taxation of technological services in the source country as the profits of a permanent establishm...

  15. The XXXV annual conference of the Finnish physical society. Proceedings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kolhinen, V.; Eskola, K.J.; Ruuskanen, V.; Tuominen, K.

    2001-01-01

    The 35th Physics Days of the Finnish Physical Society will have the traditional structure with plenary lectures, short contributions of young researchers, poster sessions, and social events. The number of members of the society has exceeded 1000 and nearly half of them, more than 400, are expected to participate the Physics Days. The Finnish physicists and the Society can be proud of keeping up this tradition. The annual meeting of the Finnish Physical Society will take place during the Physics Days. I wish all the members of the Finnish Physical Society to attend the meeting and continue the discussions more informally at the conference dinner following the annual meeting. The fifth Magnus Ehrnrooth Price for Physics will be given during the opening ceremony of the Physics Days. Also the winners of the SOLIS competition for high school students will be announced. Traditionally, the Days will end by giving prices for the best poster and the best talk. The 35th Physics Days are held in the new congress center Jyvaeskylae Paviljonki and arranged by the University of Jyvaeskylae. The proceedings includes all the abstracts of the presentations given during the 35th Physics Days

  16. Prevalence of Pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica in Finnish Slaughter Pigs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahikainen Ibañez, T; Laukkanen-Ninios, R; Hakkinen, M; Johansson, T; Vilar, M; Korkeala, H

    2016-04-01

    The prevalence of human pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica was determined in tonsil and intestinal content samples from 388 healthy fattening pigs at the four biggest Finnish slaughterhouses. These slaughterhouses process 73% of pigs in Finland. Tonsil samples were tested by PCR targeted for yadA, and intestinal samples were cultured. All pathogenic Y. enterocolitica isolates represented bioserotype 4/O:3. The prevalence of Y. enterocolitica in tonsil samples was 60% (95% confidence limit, 55.4 to 65.1%), and its prevalence in intestinal samples was 26% (95% confidence limit, 22.1 to 31.2%). The prevalence of Y. enterocolitica in tonsil and intestinal samples varied between the four slaughterhouses. The tonsil prevalence of Y. enterocolitica was higher in slaughterhouse B, and the prevalence in intestinal content was higher in slaughterhouse C. There were more positive results in both tonsil and intestinal samples in pigs coming from fattening farms than in pigs coming from farrowing-and-fattening farms. A seasonal variation was observed in the prevalence of Y. enterocolitica in intestinal samples, with the highest prevalence during July and August, but no seasonal variation was detected in tonsil samples.

  17. Factors effecting Corporate Social Responsibility disclosure ratings:an empirical study of Finnish listed companies

    OpenAIRE

    Roitto, A. (Artturi)

    2013-01-01

    Abstract As Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure is becoming more common practise amongst companies, it is valuable to understand the underlying factors involved. The Goal of this thesis is to examine if the factors suggested by previous studies seem to have significance in a Finnish sample composed of 31 listed companies. As an ancillary research question linkage between Corporate Governance recommendation devi...

  18. An open-population hierarchical distance sampling model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sollmann, Rachel; Beth Gardner,; Richard B Chandler,; Royle, J. Andrew; T Scott Sillett,

    2015-01-01

    Modeling population dynamics while accounting for imperfect detection is essential to monitoring programs. Distance sampling allows estimating population size while accounting for imperfect detection, but existing methods do not allow for direct estimation of demographic parameters. We develop a model that uses temporal correlation in abundance arising from underlying population dynamics to estimate demographic parameters from repeated distance sampling surveys. Using a simulation study motivated by designing a monitoring program for island scrub-jays (Aphelocoma insularis), we investigated the power of this model to detect population trends. We generated temporally autocorrelated abundance and distance sampling data over six surveys, using population rates of change of 0.95 and 0.90. We fit the data generating Markovian model and a mis-specified model with a log-linear time effect on abundance, and derived post hoc trend estimates from a model estimating abundance for each survey separately. We performed these analyses for varying number of survey points. Power to detect population changes was consistently greater under the Markov model than under the alternatives, particularly for reduced numbers of survey points. The model can readily be extended to more complex demographic processes than considered in our simulations. This novel framework can be widely adopted for wildlife population monitoring.

  19. An open-population hierarchical distance sampling model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sollmann, Rahel; Gardner, Beth; Chandler, Richard B; Royle, J Andrew; Sillett, T Scott

    2015-02-01

    Modeling population dynamics while accounting for imperfect detection is essential to monitoring programs. Distance sampling allows estimating population size while accounting for imperfect detection, but existing methods do not allow for estimation of demographic parameters. We develop a model that uses temporal correlation in abundance arising from underlying population dynamics to estimate demographic parameters from repeated distance sampling surveys. Using a simulation study motivated by designing a monitoring program for Island Scrub-Jays (Aphelocoma insularis), we investigated the power of this model to detect population trends. We generated temporally autocorrelated abundance and distance sampling data over six surveys, using population rates of change of 0.95 and 0.90. We fit the data generating Markovian model and a mis-specified model with a log-linear time effect on abundance, and derived post hoc trend estimates from a model estimating abundance for each survey separately. We performed these analyses for varying numbers of survey points. Power to detect population changes was consistently greater under the Markov model than under the alternatives, particularly for reduced numbers of survey points. The model can readily be extended to more complex demographic processes than considered in our simulations. This novel framework can be widely adopted for wildlife population monitoring.

  20. Finnish and English Children's Color Use to Depict Affectively Characterized Figures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burkitt, Esther; Tala, Katri; Low, Jason

    2007-01-01

    Recent research has shown that children use colors systematically in relation to how they feel about certain colors and the figures that they draw. This study explored cultural differences between Finnish and English children's use of color to represent figures with contrasting emotional characters. One hundred and eight children (54 Finnish, 54…

  1. Finnish Fusion Research Programme Yearbook 1993-1994

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karttunen, S.; Paettikangas, T.

    1995-05-01

    Finnish Fusion Research Programme (FFUSION) is one of the national energy research programmes funded by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and from 1995 by TEKES. National organization for fusion research is necessary for efficient and successful participation in international fusion programmes. FFUSION programme serves well for this purpose and it made possible to establish relations and the dialogue with the European Fusion Programme. The process led to the Finnish Association Euratom-TEKES in early 1995. The first period of the FFUSION programme (1993-1994) was preparation for the association to the Community Programme. The strategy was to emphasize fusion technology parallel with the basic fusion and plasma physics and to activate the related Finnish industry to collaborate and participate in the FFUSION programme and later in the European Fusion Programme. The key element in the strategy is the focusing our fairly small R and D effort to a few topics, which increases possibilities to be competitive in Europe. The physics programme in FFUSION deals mainly with theoretical and computational studies of radio-frequency heating in tokamak plasmas. Technology programme started with prestudies in 1993 and it concentrates into two areas: fusion reactor materials and remote handling systems. (8 figs., 3 tabs.)

  2. Awareness of child sex tourism among young Finnish travellers

    OpenAIRE

    Calderon Nurmi, Sara Liliana

    2014-01-01

    This bachelor’s thesis is written about one of the dark sides of tourism: child sex tourism. It is commisioned by a Finnish NGO, Reilun Matkailun Yhdistys and the aim was to conduct a research in order to find out about the awareness and attitudes of young Finnish travelers about child sex tourism. The theoretical framework consists of theory about child sex tourism and abot the much wider problem from which child sex tourism is origined: commercial sexual exploitation of children. Furth...

  3. East and West on the Finnish Screen. Early Transnational Television in Finland

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pajala, Mari

    2014-01-01

    abstractResearch on Finnish television history has so far emphasized Western influences. However, the Finnish television environment was also in many ways shaped by contacts with socialist television cultures. This article analyses the first volume (1960) of the television magazine Katso to trace

  4. Brief Report: Syndromes in Autistic Children in a Finnish Birth Cohort

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timonen-Soivio, Laura; Vanhala, Raija; Malm, Heli; Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki, Susanna; Gissler, Mika; Brown, Alan; Sourander, Andre

    2016-01-01

    We studied the association between specific congenital syndromes and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in the large Finnish Register material. Our data include all children diagnosed with ASD (n = 4441) according to Finnish Hospital Discharge Register in 1987-2000. Four controls per each case were matched to sex, birthplace, date of birth (±30 days)…

  5. Polarised Multiangular Reflectance Measurements Using the Finnish Geodetic Institute Field Goniospectrometer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jouni Peltoniemi

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available The design, operation, and properties of the Finnish Geodetic Institute Field Goniospectrometer (FIGIFIGO are presented. FIGIFIGO is a portable instrument for the measurement of surface Bidirectional Reflectance Factor (BRF for samples with diameters of 10 – 50 cm. A set of polarising optics enable the measurement of linearly polarised BRF over the full solar spectrum (350 – 2,500 nm. FIGIFIGO is designed mainly for field operation using sunlight, but operation in a laboratory environment is also possible. The acquired BRF have an accuracy of 1 – 5% depending on wavelength, sample properties, and measurement conditions. The angles are registered at accuracies better than 2°. During 2004 – 2008, FIGIFIGO has been used in the measurement of over 150 samples, all around northern Europe. The samples concentrate mostly on boreal forest understorey, snow, urban surfaces, and reflectance calibration surfaces.

  6. Energy potential of Finnish peatlands

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Virtanen, K. (Geological Survey of Finland, Kuopio (Finland)); Valpola, S. (Geological Survey of Finland, Kokkola (Finland)), e-mail: kimmo.virtanen@gtk.fi, e-mail: samu.valpola@gtk.fi

    2011-07-01

    One-third of the Finnish land area is covered by mires and peat. GTK has investigated 2.0 million ha of the 9.3 million ha area covered by mires in Finland. According to the EU Commission, the broadly-based Finnish energy economy, with various energy sources, is the best in the EU. As a fuel, peat fulfils the goals of the EU energy policy in Finland well: it is local, its availability is good and the price is stable. The use of peat also enhances national security. At present, peat is used in around one hundred larger applications that co-generate electricity and heat. In Finland, the development of mires has led to several mire complex types and three main types: raised bogs in Southern Finland, aapa mires in Ostrobothnia and Lapland, and palsa mires in Northern Lapland. Peat layers are deepest in southern Finland and partly in the southern Finnish Lake area, the Region of North Karelia and in the area of central Lapland. The mean depth of geological mires is 1.41 m and the thickest drilled peat is 12.3 m. According to peat investigations, the national peat reserve totals 69.3 billion m3 in situ (peatlands larger than 20 hectares). The dry solids of peat are estimated at 6.3 billion tones. Sphagnum peat accounts for 54% and Carex peat for 45% of feasible peat reserves. Peatlands that are technically suitable for the peat industry cover a total area of 1.2 million ha and contain 29.6 billion m3 of peat in situ. Slightly humified peat suitable for horticultural and environmental use totals 5.9 billion m3 in situ. The energy peat reserve is 23.7 billion m3 in situ and its energy content is 12 800 TWh. (orig.)

  7. International outreach for promoting open geoscience content in Finnish university libraries - libraries as the advocates of citizen science awareness on emerging open geospatial data repositories in Finnish society

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rousi, A. M.; Branch, B. D.; Kong, N.; Fosmire, M.

    2013-12-01

    In their Finnish National Spatial Strategy 2010-2015 the Finland's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry delineated e.g. that spatial data skills should support citizens everyday activities and facilitate decision-making and participation of citizens. Studies also predict that open data, particularly open spatial data, would create, when fully realizing their potential, a 15% increase into the turnovers of Finnish private sector companies. Finnish libraries have a long tradition of serving at the heart of Finnish information society. However, with the emerging possibilities of educating their users on open spatial data a very few initiatives have been made. The National Survey of Finland opened its data in 2012. Finnish technology university libraries, such as Aalto University Library, are open environments for all citizens, and seem suitable of being the first thriving entities in educating citizens on open geospatial data. There are however many obstacles to overcome, such as lack of knowledge about policies, lack of understanding of geospatial data services and insufficient know-how of GIS software among the personnel. This framework examines the benefits derived from an international collaboration between Purdue University Libraries and Aalto University Library to create local strategies in implementing open spatial data education initiatives in Aalto University Library's context. The results of this international collaboration are explicated for the benefit of the field as a whole.

  8. How Finnish and Swedish Learners’ Academic Self-Control Relates to Time Spent Online in Class, Perceptions of Educator Qualities, and School Appreciation: A Cross-Sectional Comparison

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Arnesen

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available In school settings, self-control is central to the ability of learners to complete their academic work successfully. Learners’ self-control is directly influenced by the ways in which educators execute their work, including their instructional explanations, their classroom management, and the expectations that they express to their learners. Our research on this phenomenon investigated Finnish and Swedish learners in upper secondary schools. Not only is the use of digital technology very different in these two countries; the autonomy and status of educators are as well. This article compares the empirical significance of antecedents of learners’ academic self-control in the two national settings by surveying 2191 learners in Swedish and Finnish schools. Our analysis applies structural equation modeling to two cross-sectional datasets, and the results reveal that the associations between educators’ instructional explanations, classroom management, and their high expectations on the one hand and learners’ academic self-control on the other are stronger overall among Finnish students than among Swedish students. Furthermore, the association between digital technology use and learners’ perceptions of conflict between school norms and Internet opportunities are much stronger in the Swedish sample than the Finnish sample. Lastly, we discuss the meaning of these results and their possible implications for research and practice.

  9. New Finnish reference for head circumference from birth to 7 years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karvonen, Marjo; Hannila, Marja-Leena; Saari, Antti; Dunkel, Leo

    2012-06-01

    In the evaluation of the growth of head circumference (HC), charts depicting normal growth are of paramount importance. Current Finnish HC growth charts are based on data from only 130 children born 1953-1964. As a secular trend in HC growth has been reported, we updated the HC charts using a large sample of contemporary HC data. Mixed cross-sectional HC data of 19,715 healthy subjects aged 0-7 years were collected from primary health care providers. References for HC for age and HC/height ratio for age were fitted using generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape (GAMLSS). Increased HC for age was seen particularly after 2 years of age in both genders compared to the 1953-1964 reference. The SD for HC was remarkably larger in the 1953-1964 reference. The proportion of 1986-2008 reference subjects exceeding the +2 SD limit of the 1953-1964 reference was much bigger than the proportion below -2 SD. Because of the secular change in HC growth, the HC reference has to be renewed periodically. The new Finnish reference for HC for age should be implemented for monitoring HC growth of children in Finland.

  10. Finnish remote environmental monitoring field demonstration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toivonen, H.; Leppaenen, A.; Ylaetalo, S.; Lehtinen, J.; Hokkinen, J.; Tarvainen, M.; Crawford, T.; Glidewell, D.; Smartt, H.; Torres, J.

    1997-10-01

    Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), Helsinki, Finland and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), working under the Finnish Support Program to IAEA Safeguards and the United States Department of Energy (DOE) funded International Remote Monitoring Program (Task FIN E 935), have undertaken a joint effort to demonstrate the use of remote monitoring for environmental air sampling and safeguards applications. The results of the task will be used by the IAEA to identify the feasibility, cost-effectiveness, reliability, advantages, and problems associated with remote environmental monitoring. An essential prerequisite for a reliable remote air sampling system is the protection of samples against tampering. Means must be developed to guarantee that the sampling itself has been performed as designed and the original samples are not substituted with samples produced with other equipment at another site. One such method is to label the samples with an unequivocal tag. In addition, the inspection personnel must have the capability to remotely monitor and access the automated environmental air sampling system through the use of various sensors and video imagery equipment. A unique aspect to this project is the network integration of remote monitoring equipment with a STUK radiation monitoring system. This integration will allow inspectors to remotely view air sampler radiation data and sensor/image data through separate software applications on the same review station. A sensor network and video system will be integrated with the SNL developed Modular Integrated Monitoring System (MIMS) to provide a comprehensive remote monitoring approach for safeguards purposes. This field trial system is being implemented through a multiphase approach for use by STUK, SNL, and for possible future use by the IAEA

  11. Evaluation of the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score to predict type 2 diabetes mellitus in a Colombian population: A longitudinal observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gomez-Arbelaez, Diego; Alvarado-Jurado, Laura; Ayala-Castillo, Miguel; Forero-Naranjo, Leonardo; Camacho, Paul Anthony; Lopez-Jaramillo, Patricio

    2015-12-10

    To assess the performance of the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) questionnaire for detecting and predicting type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) in a Colombian population. This is a longitudinal observational study conducted in Floridablanca, Colombia. Adult subjects (age ≥ 35 years) without known diabetes, were included. A modified version of FINDRISC was completed, and the glycemia values from all the subjects were collected from the hospital's database. Firstly, a cross-sectional analysis was performed and then, the subsample of prediabetic participants was followed for diabetes incidence. A total of 772 subjects were suitable for the study. The overall prevalence of undiagnosed DM2 was 2.59%, and the incidence of DM2 among the prediabetic participants was 7.5 per 100 person-years after a total of 265257 person-years follow-up. The FINDRISC at baseline was significantly associated with undiagnosed and incident DM2. The area under receiver operating characteristics curve of the FINDRISC score for detecting undiagnosed DM2 in both men and women was 0.7477 and 0.7175, respectively; and for predicting the incidence of DM2 among prediabetics was 71.99% in men and 67.74% in women. The FINDRISC questionnaire is a useful screening tool to identify cross-sectionally unknown DM2 and to predict the incidence of DM2 among prediabetics in the Colombian population.

  12. Guidelines for Finnish start-ups on how to utilize crowdfunding

    OpenAIRE

    Rouhiainen, Anneli

    2016-01-01

    This thesis aims to show how a Finnish start-up could benefit from crowdfunding.Other funding methods are explained shortly in the beginning and the rest of the thesis focusing on crowdfunding. The current Finnish legislation does not yet include anything aimed directly at crowdfunding, but a proposal is to be presented in spring 2016 to the ministry of Finance. There are some crowdfunding websites operating in Finland, including Mesenaatti.me and Invesdor.com. Other more popular we...

  13. Association of the World War II Finnish Evacuation of Children With Psychiatric Hospitalization in the Next Generation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santavirta, Torsten; Santavirta, Nina; Gilman, Stephen E

    2018-01-01

    Although there is evidence that adverse childhood experiences are associated with worse mental health in adulthood, scarce evidence is available regarding an emerging concern that the next generation might also be affected. To compare the risk of psychiatric hospitalization in cousins whose parents were vs were not exposed to the Finnish evacuation policy that involved a mean 2-year stay with a Swedish foster family. This multigenerational, population-based cohort study of Finnish individuals and their siblings born between January 1, 1933, and December 31, 1944, analyzed the association of evacuee status as a child during World War II in the first generation with the risk of psychiatric hospitalization among offspring in the second generation. Evacuee status during World War II was determined using the Finnish National Archive's registry of participants in the Finnish evacuation. Data on evacuee status were linked to the psychiatric diagnoses in the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register from January 1, 1971, through December 31, 2012, for offspring (n = 93 391) born between January 1, 1950, and December 31, 2010. Sex-specific Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios for risk of psychiatric hospitalization during the follow-up period. Because offspring of evacuees and their nonevacuated siblings are cousins, the Cox proportional hazards regression models included fixed effects to adjust for confounding factors in families. Data analysis was performed from June 15, 2016, to August 26, 2017. Parental participation in the evacuation during World War II (coded 1 for parents who were evacuated and placed in foster care and 0 for those not evacuated). Offspring's initial admission to the hospital for a psychiatric disorder, obtained from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register from January 1, 1971, through December 31, 2012. Of the 93 391 study persons, 45 955 (49.2%) were women and 47 436 (50.8) were men; mean (SD) age in

  14. Ensuring the operational safety of finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vuorinen, A.

    1991-01-01

    The Finnish nuclear energy programme has been successful both from the safety and economical point of view. These achievements are based on different factors which are discussed in the paper. Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK) has specified the technical requirements and procedures to be followed in the design, construction, commissioning and operation of NPPs in a series of guides. The guides are quite demanding and latest results of safety research and technical development are taken into account. Regulatory supervision of Finnish NPPs is comprehensive. As an example of this the regulatory inspection program for operational phase is presented. An important way to ensure operational safety of a NPP is to define a set of limits and conditions to identify limiting safety envelope for plant operation. Practices in Finland are reviewed in the paper. The strategy of Defence in Depth is amongst the fundamental principles of nuclear safety. Two corollary principles of defence of depth are accident prevention and accident mitigation. Means used in following these principles are discussed. (author)

  15. Probability Sampling Method for a Hidden Population Using Respondent-Driven Sampling: Simulation for Cancer Survivors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Minsoo

    2015-01-01

    When there is no sampling frame within a certain group or the group is concerned that making its population public would bring social stigma, we say the population is hidden. It is difficult to approach this kind of population survey-methodologically because the response rate is low and its members are not quite honest with their responses when probability sampling is used. The only alternative known to address the problems caused by previous methods such as snowball sampling is respondent-driven sampling (RDS), which was developed by Heckathorn and his colleagues. RDS is based on a Markov chain, and uses the social network information of the respondent. This characteristic allows for probability sampling when we survey a hidden population. We verified through computer simulation whether RDS can be used on a hidden population of cancer survivors. According to the simulation results of this thesis, the chain-referral sampling of RDS tends to minimize as the sample gets bigger, and it becomes stabilized as the wave progresses. Therefore, it shows that the final sample information can be completely independent from the initial seeds if a certain level of sample size is secured even if the initial seeds were selected through convenient sampling. Thus, RDS can be considered as an alternative which can improve upon both key informant sampling and ethnographic surveys, and it needs to be utilized for various cases domestically as well.

  16. Cross-cultural differences of self-reported oral health behaviour in Japanese and Finnish dental students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawamura, M; Honkala, E; Widström, E; Komabayashi, T

    2000-02-01

    To determine whether any differences existed in dental health behaviour between Japanese and Finnish dental students. Hiroshima University School of Dentistry and the University of Helsinki. Comparison of cross-cultural differences of self-reported oral health behaviour. Dental students, 337 in Japan and 113 in Finland. Subjects were surveyed using the Japanese and Finnish versions of a 20-item questionnaire entitled Hiroshima University--Dental Behavioural Inventory (HU-DBI). Only 2 per cent of Finnish students reported that they put off going to the dentist until they had toothache, compared to 56 per cent of Japanese students. Similarly, significantly more Japanese students thought that their teeth were getting worse despite their daily brushing, compared to their Finnish peers. The mean HU-DBI score of Year 1 Finnish students was higher than that of their Japanese peers, which suggested a higher level of dental health awareness in Finnish students upon entry into dental school. The mean scores of the Japanese students were lower than those of their Finnish peers until Year 3. The mean scores of Year 5 and Year 6 Japanese students were higher than that of Year 1 students, indicating raised self-care levels influenced by the course in preventive dentistry. The gender difference of the HU-DBI score was not a major feature in either country. Self-reported oral health behaviours seemed to be very different between the two countries, which reflected different culture and/or health education systems of the students.

  17. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1993-09-01

    Quarterly reports on the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants describe events and observations, relating to nuclear safety and radiation protection which the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety considers safety significant. Safety-enhancing modifications at the nuclear power plants and issues relating to the use of nuclear energy which are of general interest are also reported. The reports include a summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and the environment, as well as tabulated data on the production and load factors of the plants. In the first quarter of 1993, a primary feedwater system pipe break occurred at Loviisa 2, in a section of piping after a feedwater pump. The break was erosion-corrosion induced. Repairs and inspections interrupted power generation for seven days. On the International Nuclear Event Scale the event is classified as a level 2 incident. Other events in the first quarter of 1993 had no bearing on nuclear safety and radiation protection

  18. Entrepreneurship in a Finnish public institution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marin Burcea

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available During the last decades the idea of entrepreneurship in public institutions has been the subject of intense debates, activities and academic research. The scopes of our article are to briefly underline the importance of developing an entrepreneurial spirit by presenting a case study from a Finnish local public administration and making aware the proactive aspect in the process of managing public institutions in Romania. Our hypotheses have been mainly of an interrogative nature. Hypothesis testing was achieved through the analysis of statistical data and conducting a set of sociological interviews with key people from Finnish institutions which were used in the survey. The results of the research emphasize that where there is an entrepreneurial behaviour with the local administration management, the community undergoes a process of conservation and development. The way in which they relate to community partners (such as entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations, citizens is essential to the entrepreneurial spirit within the local public institution.

  19. Finnish industry's energy requirement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Punnonen, J.

    2000-01-01

    Industry uses around half of the electricity consumed in Finland. In 1999, this amounted to 42.3 TWh and 420 PJ of fuel. Despite the continual improvements that have been made in energy efficiency, energy needs look set to continue growing at nearly 2% a year. Finnish industrial output rose by some 5.5% in 1999. In energy-intensive sectors such as pulp and paper, output rose by 3.4%, in the metal industry by 4%, and in the chemical industry by 3.1%. Growth across Finnish industry is largely focused on the electrical and electronics industries, however, where growth last year was 24.3% The Finnish forest products industry used a total of 26.1 TWh of electricity last year, up 1% on 1998. This small increase was the result of the industry's lower-than-average operating rate in the early part of the year The metal industry used 7.2 TWh of electricity, an increase of 5.8% on 1998. Usage in the chemical industry rose by 2% to 5.2 TWh. Usage by the rest of industry totalled 3.8 TWh, up 2.3% on 1998. All in all, industry's use of electricity rose by 2% in 1999 to 42,3 TWh. Increased demand on industry's main markets in Europe will serve to boost industrial output and export growth this year. This increased demand will be particularly felt in energy-intensive industries in the shape of an increased demand for electricity. Overall, electricity demand is expected to grow by 3% this year, 1% more than industry's longterm projected electricity usage growth figure of 2%. The structure of industry's fuel use in Finland has changed significantly over the last 25 years. Oil, for example, now accounts for only some 10% of fuel use compared to the 40% typical around the time of the first oil crisis. Oil has been replaced by biofuels, peat, and natural gas. The pulp and paper industry is the largest industrial user of renewable energy sources in Finland, and uses wood-related fuels to cover nearly 70% of its fuel needs

  20. Engines without Fuel?--Empirical Findings on Finnish Higher Education Institutions as Education Exporters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schatz, Monika

    2016-01-01

    In 2010, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture formulated Finland's first education export strategy. This policy document attributed Finnish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) a significant role in the emerging sector by declaring them as "engines" of education export. Situated in a phenomenological approach towards…

  1. Finnish High Tech in China - A Study of Business Culture

    OpenAIRE

    Suhonen, Petri

    2013-01-01

    The objective of this thesis was to study the challenges caused by differences in Finnish and Chinese business cultures in the high technology industry. The study explains the main characteristics of the Chinese national and business cultures which every company operating in China will be dealing with, and offers examples of how these affect a high tech company. The study was conducted as a case study of a Finnish high technology company running a project in China. The company encountere...

  2. Management by Results at Finnish Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuoppala, Kari

    2005-01-01

    The funding of Finnish Universities has been based on a "management by results" strategy since 1991. This paper analyses the effects of this strategy on university management and administration. Empirically the study is based on material collected from four multidisciplinary universities. Theoretically it is based on organization theory…

  3. Cross-language similarity and difference in quantity categorization of Finnish and Japanese

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yoshida, Kenji; J de Jong, Kenneth; Kruschke, John K

    2015-01-01

    quantity categorization was conducted with 22 Finnish and 20 Japanese listeners, using natural speech stimuli with systematically manipulated closure durations. Stimuli were created from Finnish and Japanese productions of both long and short plosives. In the naturally produced stimuli, the duration...... to be language specific, and such durational differences may interfere with categorization in an unfamiliar language....

  4. Internationalizing Services : Market research on exporting Finnish educational solutions to Nigeria

    OpenAIRE

    Asemokha, Agnes

    2012-01-01

    This thesis is aimed to bring clarity to the concept of internationalization and service (education) exports as an International Business tool. The study is commissioned by Finpros’ (The Finnish export organization) Future Learning Finland project an umbrella programme whose objective is internationalizing and exporting Finnish educational solutions to other countries. The commissioning party aims to use the study in its marketing activities. Therefore, this paper is built based on a hypothet...

  5. Finnish Kalevala and Estonian Kalevipoeg / Jaan Puhvel

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Puhvel, Jaan, 1932-

    2003-01-01

    Tõlgitud kogumikust: The world of the Kalevala : essays in celebration of the 150 year jubilee of the publication of the Finnish national epic / ed. Kai Laitinen. Los Angeles : UCLA Centre for the Study of Folklore & Mythology, 1987

  6. Finnish vocational education and training in comparison: Strengths and weaknesses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maarit Virolainen

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The study investigates how the Finnish model of providing initial vocational education and training (IVET has succeeded in terms of enhancing educational progress and employability. A relatively high level of participation in IVET makes the Finnish model distinctive from those of three other Nordic countries: Denmark, Norway and Sweden. All four Nordic countries have wellorganised labour markets and universal types of welfare states. Priority is given to goals related to equal opportunities and social inclusion. At the same time, these countries have different models of IVET. While the study compares the Finnish model of organising IVET to those of other Nordic countries, it also examines the German and UK models, which represent differing societal approaches to IVET. The differences in the outcomes of the IVET systems are described and analysed through reviewing secondary data provided by Eurydice and Eurostat, along with country reports produced in a Nordic comparative project, Nord-VET.

  7. Sampling low-density gypsy moth populations

    Science.gov (United States)

    William E. Wallner; Clive G. Jones; Joseph S. Elkinton; Bruce L. Parker

    1991-01-01

    The techniques and methodology for sampling gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar L., at low densities, less than 100 egg masses/ha (EM/ha), are compared. Forest managers have constraints of time and cost, and need a useful, simple predictable means to assist them in sampling gypsy moth populations. A comparison of various techniques coupled with results of...

  8. Precursors of Reading Skill From Infancy to First Grade in Finnish: Continuity and Change in a Highly Inflected Language

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Silvén, M.; Poskiparta, E.H.; Niemi, P.; Voeten, M.J.M.

    2007-01-01

    The course of language acquisition from infancy to public primary school was followed in a sample of 56 Finnish children to examine precursors to reading at first grade. Structural equation modeling of continuity suggested effects from growth in early vocabulary to mastery of inflectional forms at

  9. Retrospective reports of parental physical affection and parenting style: a study of Finnish twins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harlaar, Nicole; Santtila, Pekka; Björklund, Johanna; Alanko, Katarina; Jern, Patrick; Varjonen, Markus; von der Pahlen, Bettina; Sandnabba, Kenneth

    2008-08-01

    Individual differences in parenting behaviors are due, in part, to genetic factors. In the present study, the authors sought to determine whether the degree of genetic influence varied according to the type of parental behavior under consideration. A population-based sample of 2,334 pairs of Finnish twins provided ratings on the physical affection, control, abusiveness, and indifference shown by their father and mother during childhood. Genetic influences, shared environmental influences, and nonshared environmental influences accounted for a small-to-medium proportion (17%-30%), a small-to-large proportion (22%-44%), and a medium-to-large proportion (37%-55%) of the variance in each parenting measure, respectively. There were no significant differences in effect sizes for mothers and fathers or across the 4 types of parental behavior. The genetic results may reflect characteristic styles with which parents respond to genetically influenced behaviors of individuals (gene-environment correlations) or individual perceptions of this relationship (gene-person correlation processes). The findings have implications for intervention and prevention work with families and for interpretation of evidence for interactions between genes and parenting behaviors.

  10. Country-specific chemical signatures of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in breast milk of French, Danish and Finnish women

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Antignac, J P; Main, K M; Virtanen, H E

    2016-01-01

    The present study compares concentrations and chemical profiles of an extended range of persistent organic pollutants (dioxins, polychlorobiphenyls, brominated flame retardants and organochlorine pesticides) in breast milk samples from French (n = 96), Danish (n = 438) and Finnish (n = 22) women....... Median exposure levels observed in French women (WHO-TEQ2005 PCDD/F = 6.1 pg/g l.w., WHO-TEQ2005 dl-PCB = 4.3 pg/g l.w., sum of 6 ndl-PCB = 85.2 ng/g l.w., sum of 7 i-PBDE = 1.5 ng/g l.w.) appeared overall lower than in Danish and Finnish women for all examined POPs, except for α-HBCD (2-fold higher...... level at 0.6 ng/g l.w.). Furthermore, the observed exposure levels of dioxins and PCBs were higher in Danish women (WHO-TEQ2005 PCDD/F = 13.2 pg/g l.w., WHO-TEQ2005 dl-PCB = 6.6 pg/g l.w., sum of 6 ndl-PCB = 162.8 ng/g l.w.) compared to Finnish women (WHO-TEQ2005 PCDD/F = 9.0 pg/g l.w., WHO-TEQ2005 dl...

  11. Comparison of the GHQ-36, the GHQ-12 and the SCL-90 as psychiatric screening instruments in the Finnish population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holi, Matti M; Marttunen, Mauri; Aalberg, Veikko

    2003-01-01

    The aim of the study was to compare the screening properties of two General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) versions and the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90), and to evaluate them as psychiatric screening instruments in Finland. We administered the GHQ-36 and the SCL-90 to psychiatric outpatients (n=207) and to a community sample (n=315). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to estimate the screening performance of the two instruments and of the GHQ-12 extracted from the GHQ-36. The screening properties of the scales were found to be good and similar. Suggested optimal cut-off points were 3/4 for the GHQ-12, 8/9 for the GHQ-36 and 0.90/0.91 for the SCL-90. In conclusion, the scales functioned equally well in screening. This favors the GHQ-12 for pure screening. When information on the symptom level is also needed, the GHQ-36 and the SCL-90 become better choices. The cut-off points presented here should be considered in the future Finnish psychiatric screening studies.

  12. 'From Start to Finnish': Handbook For Exporting A Theatre Play

    OpenAIRE

    Tanskanen, Milka; Mäkinen, Annemari

    2014-01-01

    Exporting Finnish culture is one of the themes the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture has carried out over the last few years. ‘From Start to Finnish’ project was a mission to strenghten the state of theatre export in Finland. In the project, government subsidised theatres in Finland export their plays to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world. The thesis is product-based as the authors created a handbook to combine all the steps to be taken when expo...

  13. Finnish Secondary School Students' Interreligious Sensitivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holm, Kristiina; Nokelainen, Petri; Tirri, Kirsi

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study was to assess the self-evaluations of Finnish secondary school students' (N?=?549) interreligious sensitivity. The data were collected from 12-16-year-old young people with a 15-item Interreligious Sensitivity Scale Questionnaire (IRRSSQ). The IRRSSQ is based on Abu-Nimer's Developmental Model of Interreligious Sensitivity,…

  14. Users and non-users of web-based health advice service among Finnish university students – chronic conditions and self-reported health status (a cross-sectional study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Castrén Johanna

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The Internet is increasingly used by citizens as source of health information. Young, highly educated adults use the Internet frequently to search for health-related information. Our study explores whether reported chronic conditions or self-reported health status differed among Finnish university students using the Finnish Student Health Services web-based health advice service compared with those not using the service. Methods Cross-sectional study performed by a national postal survey in 2004. Material: A random sample (n = 5 030 of a population of 101 805 undergraduate Finnish university students aged 19–35. The response rate: 63% (n = 3 153. Main outcome measures: Proportion of university students reporting use a of web-based health advice service, diagnosed chronic conditions, and self-reported health status of users and non-users of a web-based health advice service. Statistical methods: Data were presented with frequency distributions and cross-tabulations and the χ2 test was used. Results 12% (n = 370 of Finnish undergraduate students had used the web-based health advice service and were identified as 'users'. The proportion of male students reporting allergic rhinitis or conjunctivitis was greater among users than non-users (24%, n = 22 vs. 15%, n = 154, χ2, P = .03. The proportion of female students reporting chronic mental health problems was greater among users than non-users (12%, n = 34 vs. 8%, n = 140, χ2, P = .03. There was no statistical significance between the group differences of male or female users and non-users in self-reported health status (good or fairly good, average, rather poor or poor. Conclusion Among young, highly educated adults the use of a web-based health advice service is not associated with self-reported health status. However, a web-based health advice service could offer support for managing several specific chronic conditions. More research data is needed to evaluate the role of

  15. Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia (VHS) outbreaks in Finnish-rainbow trout farms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Raja-Halli, M.; Vehmas, T.K.; Rimaila-Parnanen, E.

    2006-01-01

    and NV gene regions of Finnish VHSV isolates collected between 2000 and 2004 revealed that all isolates were closely related, with 99.3 to 100% nucleotide identity, which suggests the same origin of infection. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that they were closely related to the old freshwater isolates...... from rainbow trout in Denmark and to one old marine isolate from cod in the Baltic Sea, and that they were located close to the presumed ancestral source. As the Finnish isolates induce lower mortality than freshwater VHSV isolates in infection experiments, they could represent an intermediate stage...

  16. GPS positioning and desktop mapping. Applications to environmental monitoring. Report on task JNT B898 on the Finnish support programme to IAEA safeguards

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kansanaho, A.; Ilander, T.; Toivonen, H.

    1995-10-01

    Satellite navigation has been used for in-field applications by the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety since 1993. Because of this experience, training in the use of GPS positioning and desktop mapping was chosen as a task under the Finnish Support programme to IAEA safeguards. A lecture and a field experiment was held in the training course on environmental monitoring at the IAEA headquarters in June 1995. Real-time mapping of the co-ordinates and storing information on sampling sites and procedures can make safeguards implementation more efficient and effective. Further software development are needed for these purposes. (author) (6 figs.)

  17. Monitoring of radionuclides in the environs of the Finnish nuclear power stations in 1988

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klemola, S.; Ilus, E.; Sjoeblom, K.L.; Arvela, H.; Blomqvist, L.

    1991-03-01

    Monitoring of radionuclides around Finnish nuclear power plants continued in 1988 with the regular programmes. About 1000 samples were analysed from both terrestrial and aquatic environments.The dominant artificial radioactive substances in the vicinity of power plants were still the fallout nuclides from the Chernobyl accident, but the concentrations in all the objects monitored are lower than in the previous year. Trace amounts of activation products originating from the airborne releases of local power plants were detected in some air and deposition samples. Discharged nuclides were more abundant in the aquatic environment, especially in samples of indicator organisms. However, their contribution to the radiation doses received by the the public was very small. (orig.)

  18. Calcification of the intervertebral discs and curvature of the radius and ulna: A radiographic survey of Finnish miniature dachshunds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lappalainen, A.; Norrgaard, M.; Alm, K.; Snellman, M.; Laitinen, O.

    2001-01-01

    The vertebral column of 124 randomly selected miniature dachshunds, representing 4.5% of the population registered by the Finnish Kennel Club during the years 1988 to 1996, were radiographed. The front legs were also radiographed in order to evaluate the curvature of the radius and ulna. Calcified discs were found in 75.9% of the longhaired miniature dachshunds and in 86.7% of the wirehaired ones. The occurrence of signs associated with IDD was 16.5% in longhaired and 15.6% in wirehaired miniature dachshunds. The occurrence of signs of IDD in dogs with calcified discs was 20.0% and 17.9% in longhaired and wirehaired miniature dachshunds, respectively. In dogs without calcifications only one dog showed signs of IDD. The curvature of the radius and the ulna did not differ between the dogs with signs of IDD and the healthy ones, or between the dogs with and without intervertebral calcifications. Our results indicate that radiographic eradication based on the presence of intervertebral calcifications is not suitable for breeding purposes for the Finnish miniature dachshund population because the percentage of dogs without calcifications is small

  19. Efficacy of the pentavalent rotavirus vaccine, RotaTeq®, in Finnish infants up to 3 years of age: the Finnish Extension Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vesikari, Timo; Karvonen, Aino; Ferrante, Shannon Allen; Ciarlet, Max

    2010-11-01

    Rotavirus Efficacy and Safety Trial (REST) enrolled nearly 70,000 infants, of whom more than 23,000 were from Finland. REST determined the efficacy of the pentavalent rotavirus vaccine (RV5) against rotavirus-related hospitalisations and emergency department (ED) visits in the first year after vaccination. Finnish infants initially in REST transitioned into the Finnish Extension Study (FES), where they were followed for rotavirus-related hospitalisations and ED visits through their second year of life and beyond. FES identified 150 (31%) additional rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE) cases beyond those identified in REST in the Finnish participants. Overall, RV5 reduced RVGE hospitalisations and ED visits, regardless of the rotavirus serotype, by 93.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 90.8-95.9%) for up to 3.1 years following the last vaccine dose. Vaccine efficacy against combined hospitalisations and ED visits between ages 4 months to 11 months, 12 months to 23 months, and 24 months to 35 months was 93.9% (95% CI: 89.1-96.9%), 94.4% (95% CI: 90.2-97.0%), and 85.9% (95% CI: 51.6-97.2%), respectively. The reduction of hospitalisations and ED visits due to any acute gastroenteritis, rotavirus or not, was 62.4% (95% CI: 57.6-66.6%) over the entire follow-up period. The results from FES confirm that RV5 induces high and sustained protection against rotavirus-related hospitalisations and ED visits, and has a very substantial impact on all gastroenteritis-related hospitalisations and ED visits into the third year of life in Finnish children.

  20. Influence of population versus convenience sampling on sample characteristics in studies of cognitive aging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brodaty, Henry; Mothakunnel, Annu; de Vel-Palumbo, Melissa; Ames, David; Ellis, Kathryn A; Reppermund, Simone; Kochan, Nicole A; Savage, Greg; Trollor, Julian N; Crawford, John; Sachdev, Perminder S

    2014-01-01

    We examined whether differences in findings of studies examining mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were associated with recruitment methods by comparing sample characteristics in two contemporaneous Australian studies, using population-based and convenience sampling. The Sydney Memory and Aging Study invited participants randomly from the electoral roll in defined geographic areas in Sydney. The Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle Study of Ageing recruited cognitively normal (CN) individuals via media appeals and MCI participants via referrals from clinicians in Melbourne and Perth. Demographic and cognitive variables were harmonized, and similar diagnostic criteria were applied to both samples retrospectively. CN participants recruited via convenience sampling were younger, better educated, more likely to be married and have a family history of dementia, and performed better cognitively than those recruited via population-based sampling. MCI participants recruited via population-based sampling had better memory performance and were less likely to carry the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele than clinically referred participants but did not differ on other demographic variables. A convenience sample of normal controls is likely to be younger and better functioning and that of an MCI group likely to perform worse than a purportedly random sample. Sampling bias should be considered when interpreting findings. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Dematerialization in Finnish energy use, 1972-1996

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sun, J.W. [Turku School of Economics, P.O. Box 110, FIN-20521, Turku (Finland)

    2003-01-01

    This paper analyzes dematerialization, particularity decarbonization and energy saving with regard to Finnish energy use. The results show that Finland has achieved good results in decarbonization and energy saving. However, the results are not as impressive when compared to other developed countries.

  2. The Associations between Seventh Grade Finnish Students' Motivational Climate, Perceived Competence, Self-Determined Motivation, and Fundamental Movement Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalaja, Sami; Jaakkola, Timo; Watt, Anthony; Liukkonen, Jarmo; Ommundsen, Yngvar

    2009-01-01

    The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships between motivational climate, perceived competence, self-determined motivation towards physical education (PE) and the fundamental movement skills of Finnish secondary school students. A sample of 370 seventh-grade PE students (girls n = 189; boys n = 181; mean age = 13.08; SD = 0.25)…

  3. Foreign-language teaching and studying in Chilean and Finnish classrooms as seen by teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harjanne Pirjo

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This article reports Chilean and Finnish foreign-language (FL teachers’ perceptions of teaching and study realities in their own FL classrooms. Communicative language teaching (CLT is used as the teaching–studying–learning methodological framework of an international KIELO project (= the acronym for Finnish “kieltenopetus” meaning “language teaching”, whose online survey was used to collect data for this article. We aim at answering the following research question: What are the FL teachers’ main approaches to teaching and studying in Chilean and Finnish FL classrooms and what is the FL classroom teaching and study reality like in these two countries? The data were collected from 83 Chilean and 147 Finnish FL teachers through an online survey covering 15 key themes of CLT and including 115 Likert-scale statements and 8 open-ended questions. In the descriptive data analysis, both Chilean and Finnish FL teachers claim that they encourage their students to use the target language considerably and that they use communicative oral tasks. For both groups of participants, however, teacher-centeredness and use of textbook score relatively high. The two-cluster analysis revealed a context-dependent cluster and a context-independent cluster. Context-dependent teachers tended to favor communicative oral tasks, real-life tasks and their own language tasks, whereas context-independent teachers favored more non-communicative tasks. Context-dependent teachers proved more student-centered than context-independent teachers. For Chilean and Finnish research participants, the use of mother tongue in foreign language classrooms appears to be an issue despite the growing need of foreign language communication.

  4. Reform, change, and continuity in Finnish health care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Häkkinen, Unto; Lehto, Juhani

    2005-01-01

    This article describes some essential aspects of the Finnish political and governmental system and the evolution of the basic institutional elements of the health care system. We examine the developments that gave rise to a series of health care reforms and reform proposals in the late 1980s and early 1990s and relate them to changes in health care expenditure, structure, and performance. Finally, we discuss the relationship between policy changes, reforms, and health system changes and the strength of neo-institutional theory in explaining both continuity and change. Much of the change in Finnish health care can be explained by institutional path dependency. The tradition of strong but small local authorities and the lack of legitimate democratic regional authorities as well as the coexistence of a dominant Beveridge-style health system with a marginal Bismarckian element explain the specific path of Finnish health care reform. Public responsibility for health care has been decentralized to smaller local authorities (known as municipalities) more than in any other country. Even an exceptionally deep economic recession in the early 1990s did not lead to systems change; rather, the economic imperative was met by the traditional centralized policy pattern. Some of the developments of the 1990s are, however, difficult to explain by institutional theory. Thus, there is a need for testing alternative theories as well.

  5. Occlusion in the primary and early mixed dentitions in a group of Tanzanian and Finnish children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerosuo, H

    1990-01-01

    Two high and two low socioeconomic areas were selected for the Tanzanian portion of this study, with all nursery schools located in those areas included, for a subtotal of 580 children. The Finnish group was comprised of a total of 575 Caucasian children examined. The Tanzanian children (83 percent Black African, 10 percent Asian, 7 percent Arab) had fewer occlusal anomalies than the Finnish children did. Finnish children had a 13-percent incidence rate of lateral cross-bite; among African children, 8 percent showed anterior crossbite; and among the combined Asian/Arab group of children, 10 percent had an anterior open bite. African children had significantly fewer prevalences of distal bite, lateral crossbite and crowding than Finnish children did.

  6. Occupational injuries in the Finnish furniture industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aaltonen, M V

    1996-06-01

    The purpose of the study was to determine the types of occupational injuries that occur in the Finnish furniture industry and to see whether they differ as regards production type and company size. During a one-year registration period accident events, the actual and potential severity of the injuries, the causes of the accidents, and the measures needed to prevent such accidents were examined in 18 Finnish furniture factories of different types. An analysis of covariance determined the variables affecting the actual and potential severity of the injuries. The 214 accidents registered were lost-time injuries; two of them resulted in slight partial loss of fingertips. The disabling injury rate was 14.4 per 100 workers per year. Wooden furniture production and kitchen cupboard production in large companies had the highest rate. Accidents involving machines comprised half of the material. Saws were the most common machine type. Forty-two percent of the injuries could have been more severe; one injury could have been fatal. The injured persons and their foremen identified the causal factors of the accidents and the needed safety countermeasures well. Sixty-six percent of the causes and 65% of the safety countermeasures were associated with the actions of the workers and the workplace procedures. Nevertheless, only 6% of the identified safety countermeasures were put into force. It was estimated that, in 1987, 2000 on-site accidents leading to at least first-aid at some health care center occurred in the Finnish furniture industry. Special efforts should be taken to improve safety in furniture production in Finland.

  7. Stress and Burnout Among Finnish Dairy Farmers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kallioniemi, Marja K; Simola, Ahti; Kaseva, Janne; Kymäläinen, Hanna-Riitta

    2016-01-01

    Psychosocial risks among farmers have increasingly been examined because of the ongoing changes in agriculture, such as restructuring of the industry, transition from family farming towards entrepreneurship, and climate change. The aims of the study were to determine the stressors, prevalence of stress and burnout, and variables associated with these symptoms among Finnish dairy farmers. In total 265 respondents completed a postal survey; their average age was 48 years, 44% were females and 56% males. The farms of the survey sample were larger (54 field hectares, 29 cows) than an average farm in Finland (37 hectares, 24 cows) in 2010. The most common stressors were external, such as "agricultural policy of the EU" (European Union) and "the treatment of farmers in society and the media." In addition, common stressors were related to farm and work, e.g., "amount of work," unpredictability, and "animal diseases." The prevalence of stress (42%) was found to have increased compared with earlier studies and was greater than among the general working population. All respondents as a group were classified as having slight symptoms of burnout, and one tenth (9%) of dairy farmers had experienced severe burnout. Stressors related to the workload and health were associated with stress and burnout symptoms. Also, a poor economic situation and loneliness were related to stress. Burnout correlated with a tie stall barn type and with a farm not being involved in the milk production record system. Factors protecting against burnout included positive features of the work and living environment. The study revealed changes during the past decade and new features of the well-being at work on dairy farms in Finland.

  8. Comparison of different methods for imputing genome-wide marker genotypes in Swedish and Finnish Red Cattle

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ma, Peipei; Brøndum, Rasmus Froberg; Qin, Zahng

    2013-01-01

    This study investigated the imputation accuracy of different methods, considering both the minor allele frequency and relatedness between individuals in the reference and test data sets. Two data sets from the combined population of Swedish and Finnish Red Cattle were used to test the influence...... coefficient was lower when the minor allele frequency was lower. The results indicate that Beagle and IMPUTE2 provide the most robust and accurate imputation accuracies, but considering computing time and memory usage, FImpute is another alternative method....

  9. The Soviet Union and Soviet citizens in Finnish magazines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tuija Saarinen

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The focus of this article’s is to study Finnish popular journalism in 1970s and 1980s. A magazine studied in this article is Hymy (Smile, and it has been estimated that in the beginning of 1970s approximately the whole literary population of Finland read it. The purpose of this study is to analyze the different images Hymy created and published of the Soviet Union and the Soviet citizens. The central research question analyzes what kinds of issues Hymy published about the Soviet Union and its citizens before 1991. This study gives special attention to the reasons why the articles were written in the first place, and secondly, what was the nature of their content.        Hymy published 224 articles on the Soviet Union. The articles were mostly written in the spirit of criticism – not in the spirit of “friendship of the peoples” that was the official political stance of Finland toward the Soviet Union. Magazines had to be aware of the official Finnish political rhetoric concerning the relationship with the Soviet Union. Hymy as a popular magazine found a way to evade the official mandate. In Hymy, people were able to read anti-Soviet sentiments without any censoring. Therefore, Hymy not only provided its readers views and beliefs that expressed the popular beliefs and values, but also sympathized with them. The Cold War era in the 1970s and 1980s was still a post-traumatic period for Finns. The magazine Hymy was an important channel to publish stories on painful, embarrassing, and tragic subjects.

  10. Health and behavioral survey of over 8000 Finnish cats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katariina Vapalahti

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available A comprehensive feline health survey was conducted to reveal breed-specific inheritable diseases in Finnish pedigree cats for genetic research. Prevalences of 19 disease categories and 227 feline diseases were defined in a study population of 8175 cats belonging to 30 breeds. Dental and oral diseases with a prevalence of 28% and dental calculus and gingivitis (21% and 8%, respectively were the most prevalent disease category and diseases among all cats and in most of the breeds. An exception was Korats, which were more often affected by the diseases of the respiratory tract (23% and asthma (19%. Other prevalent disease categories affected various organ systems such as the skin (12%, the urinary system (12%, the digestive tract (11%, eyes, (10%, the musculoskeletal system (10%, and genitals of female cats (17%. Prevalent health or developmental issues included repetitive vomiting (4%, tail kink (4%, feline odontoclastic resorption lesion (FORL (4%, urinary tract infections (4%, as well as caesarean section (6% and stillborn kittens (6% among female cats. We found 57 breed-specific conditions by Fisher’s exact tests and logistic regression analyses, including 32 previously described and 19 new breed-specific diseases. The genetic defect has already been found in six of them: polycystic kidney disease (PKD, progressive retinal atrophy (PRA, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM and three types of tail malformations. Behavioral profiling revealed breed-specific traits, such as an increased human avoidance in British Short and Longhairs and a higher level of aggression in Turkish vans. Our epidemiological study reveals the overall health profile in Finnish pure and mixed breed cats and identifies many breed-specific conditions without molecular identity for genetic research.

  11. Reliability and Validity Study of the Finnish Adaptation of Scoliosis Research Society Questionnaire Version SRS-30.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kyrölä, Kati; Järvenpää, Salme; Ylinen, Jari; Mecklin, Jukka-Pekka; Repo, Jussi Petteri; Häkkinen, Arja

    2017-06-15

    A prospective clinical study to test and adapt a Finnish version of the Scoliosis Research Society 30 (SRS-30) questionnaire. The aim of this study was to perform cross-cultural adaptation and evaluate the validity of the adapted Finnish version of the SRS-30 questionnaire. The SRS-30 questionnaire has proved to be a valid instrument in evaluating health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adolescent and adult population with spine deformities in the United States. Multinational availability requires cross-cultural and linguistic adaptation and validation of the instrument. The SRS-30 was translated into Finnish using accepted methods for translation of quality-of-life questionnaires. A total of 274 adult patients with degenerative radiographic sagittal spinal disorder answered the questionnaire with sociodemographic data, RAND 36-item health survey questionnaire (RAND Corp. Health, Santa Monica, CA, US), Oswestry disability index, DEPS depression scale, and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) back and leg pain scales within 2 weeks' interval. The cohort included patients with and without previous spine surgery. Internal consistency and validity were tested with Cronbach α, intraclass correlation (ICC), standard error of measurement, and Spearman correlation coefficient with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The internal consistency of SRS-30 was good in both surgery and nonsurgery groups, with Cronbach α 0.853 (95% CI, 0.670 to 0.960) and 0.885 (95% CI, 0.854 to 0.911), respectively. The test-retest reproducibility ICC of the SRS-30 total and subscore domains of patients with stable symptoms was 0.905 (95% CI, 0.870-0.930) and 0.904 (95% CI, 0.871-0.929), respectively. The questionnaire had discriminative validity in the pain, self-image, and satisfaction with management domains compared with other questionnaires. The SRS-30 questionnaire proved to be valid and applicable in evaluating HRQoL in Finnish adult spinal deformity patients. It has two domains related to deformity

  12. Population data for 15 Y-chromosome STRs in a population sample from Quito (Ecuador).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baeza, Carlos; Guzmán, Rodrigo; Tirado, Miriam; López-Parra, Ana María; Rodríguez, Tatiana; Mesa, María Soledad; Fernández, Eva; Arroyo-Pardo, Eduardo

    2007-12-20

    Population frequencies for the 9 Y-STR loci included in the "minimal haplotype" from Y-STR Haplotype Reference Database (YHRD), plus other 6 Y-STRs (DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, GATA A7.2, GATA H4 and GATA A10) were obtained for a sample of 120 males from Quito (Ecuador). One hundred and sixteen unique haplotypes were identified within the sample. Haplotype diversity (0.9994) was among the highest in comparison to other populations from Iberia and South-America. Genetic distances were calculated and our sample presented significative differences with all other samples, the lowest values being with a Guinean sample.

  13. Integrating mental health services: the Finnish experience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ville Lehtinen

    2001-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to give a short description of the most important developments of mental health services in Finland during the 1990s, examine their influences on the organisation and provision of services, and describe shortly some national efforts to handle the new situation. The Finnish mental health service system experienced profound changes in the beginning of the 1990s. These included the integration of mental health services, being earlier under own separate administration, with other specialised health services, decentralisation of the financing of health services, and de-institutionalisation of the services. The same time Finland underwent the deepest economic recession in Western Europe, which resulted in cut-offs especially in the mental health budgets. Conducting extensive national research and development programmes in the field of mental health has been one typically Finnish way of supporting the mental health service development. The first of these national programmes was the Schizophrenia Project 1981–97, whose main aims were to decrease the incidence of new long-term patients and the prevalence of old long-stay patients by developing an integrated treatment model. The Suicide Prevention Project 1986–96 aimed at raising awareness of this special problem and decreasing by 20% the proportionally high suicide rate in Finland. The National Depression Programme 1994–98 focused at this clearly increasing public health concern by several research and development project targeted both to the general population and specifically to children, primary care and specialised services. The latest, still on-going Meaningful Life Programme 1998–2003 which main aim is, by multi-sectoral co-operation, to improve the quality of life for people suffering from or living with the threat of mental disorders. Furthermore, the government launched in 1999 a new Goal and Action Programme for Social Welfare and Health Care 2000–2003, in

  14. Search for intracranial aneurysm susceptibility gene(s using Finnish families

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryynänen Markku

    2002-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Cerebrovascular disease is the third leading cause of death in the United States, and about one-fourth of cerebrovascular deaths are attributed to ruptured intracranial aneurysms (IA. Epidemiological evidence suggests that IAs cluster in families, and are therefore probably genetic. Identification of individuals at risk for developing IAs by genetic tests will allow concentration of diagnostic imaging on high-risk individuals. We used model-free linkage analysis based on allele sharing with a two-stage design for a genome-wide scan to identify chromosomal regions that may harbor IA loci. Methods We previously estimated sibling relative risk in the Finnish population at between 9 and 16, and proceeded with a genome-wide scan for loci predisposing to IA. In 85 Finnish families with two or more affected members, 48 affected sibling pairs (ASPs were available for our genetic study. Power calculations indicated that 48 ASPs were adequate to identify chromosomal regions likely to harbor predisposing genes and that a liberal stage I lod score threshold of 0.8 provided a reasonable balance between detection of false positive regions and failure to detect real loci with moderate effect. Results Seven chromosomal regions exceeded the stage I lod score threshold of 0.8 and five exceeded 1.0. The most significant region, on chromosome 19q, had a maximum multipoint lod score (MLS of 2.6. Conclusions Our study provides evidence for the locations of genes predisposing to IA. Further studies are necessary to elucidate the genes and their role in the pathophysiology of IA, and to design genetic tests.

  15. Finnish Archaeologists’ Contacts with the Baltic Countries during the Second World War

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Timo Salminen

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Finnish archaeologists, especially Aarne Michaël Tallgren, had established contacts with their colleagues in the Baltic countries before the Second World War. In the summer of 1939, the world situation became a dominant theme in letters between archaeologists. The outbreak of war in Europe and the military base negotiations in Moscow evoked increasing concern. After the Soviet attack on Finland, only a few Finnish and Baltic archaeologists stayed in contact, but communications revived quickly after the Finnish-Soviet peace treaty of 1940. Estonian archaeologist Harri Moora saw the trials of war as a punishment for forgetting all spiritual values in previous years. The Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries in 1940 broke all contacts for longer than a year. After Germany had occupied the Baltic countries in 1941 and was allied with Finland in war against the Soviet Union, connections could be resumed to some extent. Tallgren, together with the Swedish State Antiquarian Sigurd Curman, now started planning the evacuation of children from Estonia to Sweden. In 1942, scholarly discussion returned to the correspondence, although only on a practical level, but already in early 1943 all correspondence became impossible. At the same time, Finnish archaeologists were in contact with Baltic refugees, especially Francis Balodis from Latvia. There were also Scandinavian and British archaeologists with whom Finnish researchers exchanged information about colleagues in the Baltic countries. The communications mainly focused on three things: getting and spreading information regarding the current situation, offering both practical help and psychological support to colleagues in the Baltic countries, and attempting to re-establish the exchange of ideas within the scholarly community.

  16. Impulse control disorders and depression in Finnish patients with Parkinson's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joutsa, Juho; Martikainen, Kirsti; Vahlberg, Tero; Voon, Valerie; Kaasinen, Valtteri

    2012-02-01

    Impulse control disorders occur frequently in patients with Parkinson's disease. However, the frequencies have been investigated mainly in patients from secondary or tertiary care centers, and thus, the prevalence rates in general community are not known. Our objective was to study the prevalence rates of impulse control disorders and related factors in a large, non-selected sample of Parkinson's disease patients. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among Parkinson's disease patients from Finnish Parkinson Association [n = 575; 365 men, 240 women, median age 64 (range 43-90) years]. Problem and pathological gambling were estimated with the South Oaks Gambling Screen, risk for impulse control disorders with the validated Questionnaire for Impulsive-Compulsive Disorders in Parkinson's Disease, and depression with the Beck Depression Inventory. The frequency of pathological gambling was 7.0%. The overall frequency of a positive screen for an impulse control disorder was 34.8%, and 12.5% of the patients screened positive for multiple disorders. Depressive symptoms were statistically the most important factor in explaining variance in impulse control disorder risk, even more than sex, age, age of disease onset, alcohol use, or medication. The high proportion of patients screened positive for impulse control disorders in a non-selected sample emphasize the importance of routine screening of these disorders in Parkinson's disease. Pathological gambling prevalence in Parkinson's disease is seven times higher than in the general population in Finland. The results underline the importance of depression in impulse control disorders associated with Parkinson's disease. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Fate of the herbicides glyphosate, glufosinate-ammonium, phenmedipham, ethofumesate and metamitron in two Finnish arable soils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laitinen, Pirkko; Siimes, Katri; Eronen, Liisa; Rämö, Sari; Welling, Leena; Oinonen, Seija; Mattsoff, Leona; Ruohonen-Lehto, Marja

    2006-06-01

    The fate of five herbicides (glyphosate, glufosinate-ammonium, phenmedipham, ethofumesate and metamitron) was studied in two Finnish sugar beet fields for 26 months. Soil types were sandy loam and clay. Two different herbicide-tolerant sugar beet cultivars and three different herbicide application schedules were used. Meteorological data were collected throughout the study and soil properties were thoroughly analysed. An extensive data set of herbicide residue concentrations in soil was collected. Five different soil depths were sampled. The study was carried out using common Finnish agricultural practices and represents typical sugar beet cultivation conditions in Finland. The overall observed order of persistence was ethofumesate > glyphosate > phenmedipham > metamitron > glufosinate-ammonium. Only ethofumesate and glyphosate persisted until the subsequent spring. Seasonal variation in herbicide dissipation was very high and dissipation ceased almost completely during winter. During the 2 year experiment no indication of potential groundwater pollution risk was obtained, but herbicides may cause surface water pollution. Copyright (c) 2006 Society of Chemical Industry

  18. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Finnish Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) in 590 Professional Musicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vastamäki, Heidi; Vastamäki, Martti; Laimi, Katri; Saltychev, Michail

    2017-07-01

    Poorly functioning work environments may lead to dissatisfaction for the employees and financial loss for the employers. The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) was designed to measure social and psychological characteristics of work environments. To investigate the factor construct of the Finnish 14-item version of JCQ when applied to professional orchestra musicians. In a cross-sectional survey, the questionnaire was sent by mail to 1550 orchestra musicians and students. 630 responses were received. Full data were available for 590 respondents (response rate 38%).The questionnaire also contained questions on demographics, job satisfaction, health status, health behaviors, and intensity of playing music. Confirmatory factor analysis of the 2-factor model of JCQ was conducted. Of the 5 estimates, JCQ items in the "job demand" construct, the "conflicting demands" (question 5) explained most of the total variance in this construct (79%) demonstrating almost perfect correlation of 0.63. In the construct of "job control," "opinions influential" (question 10) demonstrated a perfect correlation index of 0.84 and the items "little decision freedom" (question 14) and "allows own decisions" (question 6) showed substantial correlations of 0.77 and 0.65. The 2-factor model of the Finnish 14-item version of JCQ proposed in this study fitted well into the observed data. The "conflicting demands," "opinions influential," "little decision freedom," and "allows own decisions" items demonstrated the strongest correlations with latent factors suggesting that in a population similar to the studied one, especially these items should be taken into account when observed in the response of a population.

  19. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report, 2nd quarter 1996

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sillanpaeae, T.

    1996-11-01

    Quarterly Reports on the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants describe events and observations relating to nuclear and radiation safety which the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK) considers safety significant. Safety improvements at the plants are also described. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and of the environment and tabulated data on the plants' production and load factors. In the second quarter of 1996, the Finnish nuclear power plant units were in power operation except for the annual maintenance outages of TVO plant units and the Midsummer shutdown at TVO II which was due to low electricity demand, a turbine generator inspection and repairs. The load factor average of all plant units was 88.9 %. Events in the second quarter of 1996 were classified level 0 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES)

  20. Recent fertility patterns of Finnish women by union status: A descriptive account

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marika Jalovaara

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND Remarkably little is known about the significance of consensual unions for fertility. This is true everywhere, but the lacuna is more important in the Nordic countries where there is so much childbearing outside of marriage, mostly in consensual unions. The purpose of this paper is to help fill this hole in our knowledge for Finland. OBJECTIVE Unusually good register data enable us to study recent fertility trends by union status (married, cohabiting, neither using records for some 112,000 Finnish women, or 11Š of all women at fertile ages. METHODS Our description of fertility is based on group-specific duration-based TFRs, which is the number of children borne by a woman who remains in the group throughout her reproductive life, as computed from the fertility rates for a synthetic cohort. This is an intuitively appealing metric that has been taken into systematic use only recently. RESULTS We find substantial fertility differences between women who cohabit, women who marry directly (i.e., without pre-marital cohabitation, and women who marry their cohabitational partner. As one would also expect in Finland, cohabiting women have much lower fertility than married women. The marital TFR is highest among the directly-married and declines monotonically as the length of pre-marital cohabitation increases, even when premarital childbearing is included in the count. As far as we know the latter relationship has not been shown before, because extensive data for complete cohabitational unions have not been available for other populations. CONCLUSIONS The Finnish data are unique, even among the Nordic countries, in that they contain individual-level life histories of family dynamics that cover consensual unions from their very start. Fertility analysis would benefit if data similar to the Finnish were to become available, because analyses that rely on civil status as an indicator of union status barely add anything to what we already know

  1. The Future of the Retail Advertising: Implications for the Finnish Newspaper Industry

    OpenAIRE

    FLINK, SOILE-MARI

    2011-01-01

    Starting point for this research was the future changes Internet will cause to Finnish newspaper economies. When evaluating the economic importance of future development to newspapers? economies, one of the most important areas is retail advertising and its shifting to online environment. So far Finnish retail advertising has been very much focused on printed newspapers and retailers? online investments have been moderate and conservative. The change is about to happen and this research answe...

  2. Visual impairment in Finnish Usher syndrome type III.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plantinga, Rutger F; Pennings, Ronald J E; Huygen, Patrick L M; Sankila, Eeva-Marja; Tuppurainen, Kaija; Kleemola, Leenamaija; Cremers, Cor W R J; Deutman, August F

    2006-02-01

    To evaluate visual impairment in Finnish Usher syndrome type 3 (USH3) and compare this with visual impairment in Usher syndrome types 1b (USH1b) and 2a (USH2a). We carried out a retrospective study of 28 Finnish USH3 patients, 24 Dutch USH2a patients and 17 Dutch USH1b patients. Cross-sectional regression analyses of the functional acuity score (FAS), functional field score (FFS*) and functional vision score (FVS*) related to age were performed for all patients. The FFS* and FVS* were calculated using the isoptre V-4 test target instead of the usual III-4 target. Statistical tests relating to regression lines and Student's t-test were used to compare between USH3 patients and the other genetic subtypes of Usher syndrome. Cross-sectional analyses revealed significant deterioration in the FAS (1.3% per year), FFS* (1.4% per year) and FVS* (1.8% per year) with advancing age in the USH3 patient group. At a given age the USH3 patients showed significantly poorer visual field function than the USH2a patients. The rate of deterioration in visual function in Finnish USH3 patients was fairly similar to that in Dutch USH1b or USH2a patients. At a given age, visual field impairment in USH3 patients was similar to that in USH1b patients but poorer than in USH2a patients.

  3. Rational use of energy. Finnish technology cases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-11-01

    This publication has been produced within the THERMIE B project `Interactive Promotion of Energy Technologies between Finland and Other EUCountries and to Estonia` (STR-0622-95-FI) as carried out for DG XVII of the European Commission. MOTIVA of Finntech Finnish Technology Ltd Oy has acted as the project co-ordinating body, with Ekono B.E., Ekono Energy Ltd and Friedemann and Johnson Consultants GmbH as partners. The main aim of the second phase of the project, as documented here, was to produce a publication in English on Finnish energy technologies, primarily in the building, industry and traffic sectors. The target distribution for this publication is primarily the EU countries through public and commercial information networks. During the work, the latest information on Finnish energy technologies has been collected, reviewed, screened and analysed in relation to the THERMIE programme. The following presentation consists of descriptions of case technologies; their background, technical aspects and energy saving potentials where applicable. The three RUE sectors; buildings, industry and traffic, are put forward in separate chapters. The building sector concentrates mostly in different control systems. New lighting and heating systems increase energy savings both in the large industrial sites and in private homes. In the industry sector new enhanced processes are introduced along with new products to increase energy efficiency. Traffic sector concentrates in traffic control and reducing exhaust gas emissions by new systems and programmes. The aim in Finland is to reduce exhaust gas emissions both by controlling the traffic efficiently and by developing fuels with lower emission levels. A lot is being done by educating the drivers and the public in efficient driving methods

  4. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report, 3. quarter 1988

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koponen, H.

    1989-02-01

    This general review of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants concentrates on such events and discoveries related to nuclear and radiation safety as the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as noteworthy. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment, as well as tabulated data on the production and load factors of the plants. In the report period, no event essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hazard to the personnel or the environment

  5. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report, 2. quarter 1988

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koponen, H.

    1988-12-01

    This general review of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants concentrates on such events and discoveries related to nuclear and radiation safety as the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as noteworthy. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment, as well as tabulated data on the production and load factors of the plants. In the report period, no event essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hazard to the personnel or the environement

  6. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report 3. quarter 1987

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haenninen, R.

    1988-06-01

    This general review of the operation of the Finnish nuclear power plants concentrates on such events and discoveries related to nuclear and radiation safety as the regulatory body, the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, regards as noteworthy. The report also includes a summary of the radiation safety of the personnel and the environment, as well as tabulated data on the production and load factors of the plants. In the report period, no event essentially degraded plant safety nor posed a radiation hazard to the personnel o the environment

  7. Are Students Customers in Finnish Higher Education?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vuori, Johanna

    2013-01-01

    This study examines Finnish higher education students' perceptions of whether students are customers, based on qualitative interview data. The article contributes to the discussion on students as customers by giving attention to students' own voices from a country where tuition fees are not generally collected. The data are presented and analysed…

  8. Received and needed social support at the workplace in Norwegian and Finnish stage 1 breast cancer survivors: a study from the Nordic Study Group of Cancer and Work (NOCWO).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gudbergsson, Saevar B; Fosså, Sophie D; Lindbohm, Marja-Liisa; Dahl, Alv A

    2009-01-01

    Cross-cultural studies of comparable patients can identify differences of health care services and point to issues of possible improvement. In this cross-sectional study we compared self-reported received and needed social support at the workplace of disease-free breast cancer survivors (BCSs) stage I from Norway and Finland. Age-matched samples of 135 BCSs from Norway and 148 from Finland were examined using a questionnaire including socio-demographic factors, employment data, measurements of social support at work from supervisors, colleagues and the occupational health service (OHS), and several other measurements. Finnish BCSs had significantly higher education and a higher rate of full-time employment than Norwegian ones. With adjustment for education and work time, Finnish compared to Norwegian BCSs reported significantly less received social support from supervisors, while they received significantly more social support from OHS. No differences were observed in received support from colleagues between Finnish and Norwegian BCSs. Somatic health was most strongly associated with received and needed support from supervisors, colleagues and OHS. The differences in received and needed social support at work observed between Norwegian and Finnish BCSs treated for stage I disease challenge strengthening of OHS for Norwegian BCSs and increased attention by supervisors in Finnish BCSs.

  9. Finnish psychiatry--past and present.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pylkkänen, Kari

    2012-03-01

    The history of Finnish psychiatry has been characterized by polarizations: priority in hospitals vs. outpatient care, centralized vs. decentralized organization, independent vs. integrated administration, biological vs. psychological treatments, private vs. public production, special psychiatric policies vs. general health policies. The independent psychiatric organizations on District level lasted from the 1920s until 1990. Since then, the formerly independent psychiatry was subordinated to General Hospital administration and the centralized system of state planning and financing of healthcare was gradually decentralized and run down. During the heavy Finnish economic recession of the early 1990 s, the cuts of the public sector were unfortunately focused most heavily on psychiatric services. The main focus of research and teaching has shifted from earlier emphasis on psychoanalytical approach to biological psychiatry since the late 1980s. The administrative position of psychiatry has been repeatedly changing and unstable during the last 20 years. At the level of the contents of the services, however, there have been many very positive and promising developments. Psychiatry has come closer to other specialties from its formerly isolated position, when the separate administrations have been integrated. Provision of outpatient services has increased remarkably, while the number of hospital beds has decreased radically. Interest and resources in research have increased remarkably, and numerous new and good quality psychiatric research reports are being published.

  10. Why low doses at Finnish NPPs?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wahlstroem, B.; Vaehaemaa, T.

    1995-01-01

    The Finnish nuclear power units - two BWRs (ABB Atom) and two PWRs (VVER) -are known for their high load factors. Finland's reactors have topped the world ranking list for more than ten years. This explains why their collective radiation doses are among the lowest in the world. During normal operation a collective dose of less than ten millisieverts per month is received at one site

  11. Finnish research programmes on nuclear power plant safety

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Puska, E. K.

    2010-01-01

    The current Finnish national research programme on nuclear power plant safety SAFIR2010 for the years 2007-2010 as well as the coming SAFIR2014 programme for the years 2011-2014 are based on the chapter 7a, 'Ensuring expertise', of the Finnish Nuclear Energy Act. The objective of this chapter is realised in the research work and education of experts in the projects of these research programmes. SAFIR2010 research programme is divided in eight research areas that are Organisation and human, Automation and control room, Fuel and reactor physics, Thermal hydraulics, Severe accidents, Structural safety of reactor circuit, Construction safety, and Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA). All the research areas include both projects in their own area and interdisciplinary co-operational projects. Research projects of the programme are chosen on the basis of annual call for proposals. In 2010 research is carried out in 33 projects in SAFIR2010. VTT is the responsible research organisation in 26 of these projects and VTT is also the coordination unit of SAFIR2010 and SAFIR2014. In 2007-2009 SAFIR2010 produced 497 Specified research results (Deliverables), 618 Publications, and 33 Academic degrees. SAFIR2010 programme covers approximately half of the reactor safety research volume in Finland currently. In 2010 the programme volume is EUR 7.1 million and 47 person years. The major funding partners are VYR with EUR 2.96 million, VTT with EUR 2.66 million, Fortum with EUR 0.28 million, TVO with EUR 0.19 million, NKS with EUR 0.15 million, EU with only EUR 0.03 million and other partners with EUR 0.85 million. The new decisions-in-principle on Olkiluoto unit 4 for Teollisuuden Voima and new nuclear power plant for Fennovoima ratified by the Finnish Parliament on 1 July 2010 increase the annual funding collected according to the Finnish Nuclear Energy Act from Fennovoima, Fortum and Teollisuuden Voima for the SAFIR2014 programme to EUR 5.2 million from the current level of EUR 3

  12. Analysis of autism susceptibility gene loci on chromosomes 1p, 4p, 6q, 7q, 13q, 15q, 16p, 17q, 19q and 22q in Finnish multiplex families.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Auranen, M; Nieminen, T; Majuri, S; Vanhala, R; Peltonen, L; Järvelä, I

    2000-05-01

    The role of genetic factors in the etiology of the autistic spectrum of disorders has clearly been demonstrated. Ten chromosomal regions, on chromosomes 1p, 4p, 6q, 7q, 13q, 15q, 16p, 17q, 19q and 22q have potentially been linked to autism.1-8 We have analyzed these chromosomal regions in a total of 17 multiplex families with autism originating from the isolated Finnish population by pairwise linkage analysis and sib-pair analysis. Mild evidence for putative contribution was found only with the 1p chromosomal region in the susceptibility to autism. Our data suggest that additional gene loci exist for autism which will be detectable in and even restricted to the isolated Finnish population.

  13. The Finnish research programme on climate change. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roos, J [ed.

    1997-12-31

    This is the final report of the Finnish Research Programme on Climate Change (SILMU). This report includes the final results and conclusions made by the individual research groups. The aim of this report is to lay out the research work, and to present the main results and conclusions obtained during the six-year work. The Finnish Research Programme on Climate Change (SILMU) was a multidisciplinary national research programme on climate and global change. The principal goals of SILMU were: (1) to increase our knowledge on climate change, its causes, mechanisms and consequences, (2) to strengthen the research on climate change in Finland, (3) to increase the participation of Finnish researchers in international research programmes, and (4) to prepare and disseminate information for policy makers on adaptation and mitigation. The key areas of the research were: (1) quantification of the greenhouse effect and the magnitude of anticipated climatic changes,(2) assessment of the effects of changing climate on ecosystems, and (3) development of mitigation and adaptation strategies. The research programme started in June 1990, and it comprised more than 80 individual research projects, ranging from atmospheric chemistry to economics. There were approximately two hundred scientists working within the programme in seven universities and eleven research institutions. The research activities that comprise SILMU were grouped into four interdisciplinary subprogrammes: atmosphere, waters, terrestrial ecosystems and integration and human interactions

  14. The Finnish research programme on climate change. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roos, J. [ed.

    1996-12-31

    This is the final report of the Finnish Research Programme on Climate Change (SILMU). This report includes the final results and conclusions made by the individual research groups. The aim of this report is to lay out the research work, and to present the main results and conclusions obtained during the six-year work. The Finnish Research Programme on Climate Change (SILMU) was a multidisciplinary national research programme on climate and global change. The principal goals of SILMU were: (1) to increase our knowledge on climate change, its causes, mechanisms and consequences, (2) to strengthen the research on climate change in Finland, (3) to increase the participation of Finnish researchers in international research programmes, and (4) to prepare and disseminate information for policy makers on adaptation and mitigation. The key areas of the research were: (1) quantification of the greenhouse effect and the magnitude of anticipated climatic changes,(2) assessment of the effects of changing climate on ecosystems, and (3) development of mitigation and adaptation strategies. The research programme started in June 1990, and it comprised more than 80 individual research projects, ranging from atmospheric chemistry to economics. There were approximately two hundred scientists working within the programme in seven universities and eleven research institutions. The research activities that comprise SILMU were grouped into four interdisciplinary subprogrammes: atmosphere, waters, terrestrial ecosystems and integration and human interactions

  15. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report 3rd quarter, 1994

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tossavainen, K. [ed.

    1995-03-01

    Quarterly Reports on the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants describe nuclear and radiation safety related events and observations which the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK) considers safety significant. Safety improvements at the plants and general matters relating to the use of nuclear energy are also reported. A summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and of the environment, and tabulated data on the plants` production and load factors are also given. (4 figs., 4 tabs.).

  16. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report 3rd quarter, 1994

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1995-03-01

    Quarterly Reports on the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants describe nuclear and radiation safety related events and observations which the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK) considers safety significant. Safety improvements at the plants and general matters relating to the use of nuclear energy are also reported. A summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and of the environment, and tabulated data on the plants' production and load factors are also given. (4 figs., 4 tabs.)

  17. Evaluation of the Finnish nuclear waste management programme

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-05-01

    In response to a request from Finland in November 1992, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) set up a Team of four experts (representatives from Belgium, Canada, Germany and Switzerland) to review the Finnish nuclear waste management programme within the auspices of IAEA's Waste Management programme (WATRP). During the early summer of 1993, the Team reviewed a large amount of documentation supplied by the Finnish industry, government and research organizations. The radioactive waste management programme areas within the Team's terms of reference included: (1) work being done in siting and building a conditional facility for spent nuclear fuel and siting and constructing a co-located repository, (2) the plans and activities for conditioning and disposing of the low and intermediate level waste from Finland's NPPs and (3) the plans for decommissioning Finland's reactors when that becomes necessary. The evaluation work and the recommendations of the Team are detailed in the report

  18. Mental disorder and long-term risk of mortality: 41 years of follow-up of a population sample in Stockholm, Sweden.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lundin, A; Modig, K; Halldin, J; Carlsson, A C; Wändell, P; Theobald, H

    2016-08-01

    -participants (n = 349) had mortality rates similar to participants (HR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.81-1.18). In subgroup analyses of those with psychoses, depression or alcohol use disorder, adjusting for the potential mediators smoking and pulmonary function, showed only slight changes in the HRs. This study confirms the increased risk of mortality for several psychiatric diagnoses in follow-up studies on American, Finnish and Swedish population-based samples. Only a small part of the increased mortality hazard was attributable to differences in somatic health or hazardous health behaviour measured at baseline.

  19. The key elements for genetic response in Finnish dairy cattle breeding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jarmo Juga

    1998-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper reviews some key elements of Finnish animal breeding research contributing to the Finnish dairy cattle breeding programme and discusses the possibilities and problems in collecting data for genetic evaluation, prediction of breeding values both within and across countries, estimation of the economic value of important traits, and selection of bulls and cows. Economic values are calculated for fertility, udder health and production traits when one genetic standard deviation unit (gen. sd. is changed in each trait independently and the financial returns from selection response in the Finnish dairy cattle breeding programme are estimated. The following components were used to calculate the economic value of mastitis treatments: 1 cost of mastitis including discarded milk and treatment costs, 2 reduction in milk price due to higher somatic cell count, 3 replacement costs and 4 lower production level of the herd due to involuntary culling of cows because of udder problems. A high somatic cell count lowers the price of milk and eventually leads to involuntary culling. For treatments for fertility disorders the following costs were included: 1 treatment costs 2 higher replacement costs and 3 decreased milk production in the herd. Days open included the following costs: 1 extra insemination, 2 reduced annual milk yield and 3 fewer calves born. Animal breeding was found to be a very cost effective investment, yielding returns of FIM 876.9 per cow from one round of selection when the gene flow was followed for over 25 years in the Finnish dairy cattle breeding programme.

  20. Finnish Higher Education Expansion and Regional Policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saarivirta, Toni

    2010-01-01

    This paper concentrates on the expansion of Finnish higher education between the 1960s and 1970s, exposes its background in the light of the policy decisions that were made, compares the unique features of this expansion with those of certain other countries, discusses the impact of the controlled "top down" governance of higher…

  1. Individualized Sex Equality in Transforming Finnish Academia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lätti, Johanna

    2017-01-01

    This article examines the equality agenda in the context of Finnish university reform in the 21st century. In Finland, the academic regime went through an organizational transformation after the Universities Act in 2009. However, little attention has been paid to the questions of sex or equality. Since the policy influences on equality in…

  2. Monitoring of radionuclides in the vicinities of Finnish nuclear power plants in 1991-1992

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ikaeheimonen, T.K.; Klemola, S.; Ilus, E.; Sjoeblom, K.-L.

    1995-06-01

    Surveillance of radioactive substances around Finnish nuclear power plants continued in 1991-1992 according to regular monitoring programmes, in which about 1000 samples were analysed annually from terrestrial and aquatic environments of the two power plants. Trace amounts of activation products originating from the airborne releases of the local power plants were detected in several air, deposition and soil samples. Discharged nuclides were more abundant in the aquatic environment, especially in samples of indicator organisms, sinking matter and sediments. However, the concentrations were so low that they did not markedly increase the radiation burden in the environment. The dominant artificial radionuclides in the vicinity of the power plants remained the cesium isotopes, {sup 137}Cs and {sup 134}Cs, originating from the Chernobyl accident. (orig.) (21 figs., 40 tabs.).

  3. Monitoring of radionuclides in the vicinities of Finnish nuclear power plants in 1993 and 1994

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klemola, S.; Ilus, E.; Ikaeheimonen, T.K.

    1998-08-01

    Monitoring of radioactive substances around Finnish nuclear power plants continued in 1993-1994 in accordance with the regular programmes. Some 1000 samples are analysed annually from the terrestrial and aquatic environments of the two power plant sites. Trace amounts of activation products originating from airborne releases from the local power plants were detected in several air, deposition and soil samples. Discharged nuclides were more abundant in the aquatic environment, especially in samples of indicator organisms, sinking matter and sediments. However, the concentrations were so low that they did not significantly increase the radiation burden in the environment. The dominant artificial radionuclides in the vicinity of the power plants remained the cesium isotopes, especially 137 Cs but also 134 Cs, originating from the Chernobyl accident. (orig.)

  4. Comparison of distance sampling estimates to a known population ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Line-transect sampling was used to obtain abundance estimates of an Ant-eating Chat Myrmecocichla formicivora population to compare these with the true size of the population. The population size was determined by a long-term banding study, and abundance estimates were obtained by surveying line transects.

  5. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Finnish Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ in 590 Professional Musicians

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heidi Vastamäki

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Poorly functioning work environments may lead to dissatisfaction for the employees and financial loss for the employers. The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ was designed to measure social and psychological characteristics of work environments. Objective: To investigate the factor construct of the Finnish 14-item version of JCQ when applied to professional orchestra musicians. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey, the questionnaire was sent by mail to 1550 orchestra musicians and students. 630 responses were received. Full data were available for 590 respondents (response rate 38%.The questionnaire also contained questions on demographics, job satisfaction, health status, health behaviors, and intensity of playing music. Confirmatory factor analysis of the 2-factor model of JCQ was conducted. Results: Of the 5 estimates, JCQ items in the “job demand” construct, the “conflicting demands” (question 5 explained most of the total variance in this construct (79% demonstrating almost perfect correlation of 0.63. In the construct of “job control,” “repetitive work” (question 10 demonstrated a perfect correlation index of 0.84 and the items “little decision freedom” (question 14 and “allows own decisions” (question 6 showed substantial correlations of 0.77 and 0.65. Conclusion: The 2-factor model of the Finnish 14-item version of JCQ proposed in this study fitted well into the observed data. The “conflicting demands,” “repetitive work,” “little decision freedom,” and “allows own decisions” items demonstrated the strongest correlations with latent factors suggesting that in a population similar to the studied one, especially these items should be taken into account when observed in the response of a population.

  6. Establishing a culturally specific nursing home for Finnish-speaking older persons in Sweden: A case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadziabdic, Emina; Hjelm, Katarina

    2018-04-01

    The study aims to describe the establishment of a culturally specific nursing home for Finnish-speaking older persons in Sweden. A descriptive qualitative study. A descriptive case study based on a review of 14 public documents and individual interviews with two experts in the area, analysed with qualitative content analysis. This study found that shared language, preservation of customs and habits and collaboration between the representatives of the municipality, Finnish-speaking migrant associations and staff at the nursing home influenced the development of the culturally specific nursing home for older Finnish-speaking people intended to avoid loneliness, isolation and misunderstandings among older Finnish-speaking. Collaboration between healthcare service for older persons and minority people resulted in an optimal culturally specific nursing home, simultaneously encountering the majority culture. Nursing and healthcare services need to be aware of positive effects of collaboration with stakeholders to achieve optimal culturally specific nursing homes.

  7. Work Ability of Finnish Physical Education Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mäkelä, Kasper; Hirvensalo, Mirja

    2015-01-01

    In the physical education (PE) teachers' profession, physical tasks comprise a large part of the job. PE teachers identify their health as good, and they are satisfied with their job. Nevertheless, the work ability of PE teachers may be decreasing. Purpose: The purpose of this article was to explore the work ability of Finnish PE teachers. What…

  8. Accuracy and Coverage of Diagnosis and Procedural Coding of Severely Injured Patients in the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register: Comparison to Patient Files and the Helsinki Trauma Registry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heinänen, M; Brinck, T; Handolin, L; Mattila, V M; Söderlund, T

    2017-09-01

    The Finnish Hospital Discharge Register data are frequently used for research purposes. The Finnish Hospital Discharge Register has shown excellent validity in single injuries or disease groups, but no studies have assessed patients with multiple trauma diagnoses. We aimed to evaluate the accuracy and coverage of the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register but at the same time validate the data of the trauma registry of the Helsinki University Hospital's Trauma Unit. We assessed the accuracy and coverage of the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register data by comparing them to the original patient files and trauma registry files from the trauma registry of the Helsinki University Hospital's Trauma Unit. We identified a baseline cohort of patients with severe thorax injury from the trauma registry of the Helsinki University Hospital's Trauma Unit of 2013 (sample of 107 patients). We hypothesized that the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register would lack valuable information about these patients. Using patient files, we identified 965 trauma diagnoses in these 107 patients. From the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register, we identified 632 (65.5%) diagnoses and from the trauma registry of the Helsinki University Hospital's Trauma Unit, 924 (95.8%) diagnoses. A total of 170 (17.6%) trauma diagnoses were missing from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register data and 41 (4.2%) from the trauma registry of the Helsinki University Hospital's Trauma Unit data. The coverage and accuracy of diagnoses in the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register were 65.5% (95% confidence interval: 62.5%-68.5%) and 73.8% (95% confidence interval: 70.4%-77.2%), respectively, and for the trauma registry of the Helsinki University Hospital's Trauma Unit, 95.8% (95% confidence interval: 94.5%-97.0%) and 97.6% (95% confidence interval: 96.7%-98.6%), respectively. According to patient records, these patients were subjects in 249 operations. We identified 40 (16.1%) missing operation codes from the Finnish Hospital

  9. Background information for NDT qualification of Finnish disposal canisters of spent fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sarkimo, M.; Pitkaenen, J.

    2013-12-01

    This report presents a review to basic concepts, which are applied in the qualification of non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques. The qualification systems developed and used in some countries are briefly described in the beginning of the report. Anyway the report mainly discusses the qualification practices applied in the Finnish nuclear industry. The Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) in the YVL Guide 3.8 define the Finnish qualification approach applied for the in-service inspections. The principles presented in this document follow the views of the international organisations: Nuclear Regulator Working Group (NRWG) and European Network for Inspection and Qualification (ENIQ). For the practical qualification work a national guideline is established using so called SP-documents that include specific rules and instructions for execution of qualifications in accordance with YVL Guide 3.8 principles. Altogether the Finnish qualification system can be seen very well to follow the European (ENIQ) methodology. The report discusses several qualification terms and documents. Thus the normally necessary tasks and parts of a qualification are described. The qualification can be seen as a project that includes several tasks, which will be performed by different parties. Enough resources and time should be reserved for the planning and control of a qualification project to ensure its fluent progress. Some tasks are discussed in the report taking into account the situation in the qualification cases that are seen to be linked to the inspections of disposal canisters of spent fuel. (orig.)

  10. Background information for NDT qualification of Finnish disposal canisters of spent fuel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sarkimo, M. [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo (Finland); Pitkaenen, J.

    2013-12-15

    This report presents a review to basic concepts, which are applied in the qualification of non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques. The qualification systems developed and used in some countries are briefly described in the beginning of the report. Anyway the report mainly discusses the qualification practices applied in the Finnish nuclear industry. The Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) in the YVL Guide 3.8 define the Finnish qualification approach applied for the in-service inspections. The principles presented in this document follow the views of the international organisations: Nuclear Regulator Working Group (NRWG) and European Network for Inspection and Qualification (ENIQ). For the practical qualification work a national guideline is established using so called SP-documents that include specific rules and instructions for execution of qualifications in accordance with YVL Guide 3.8 principles. Altogether the Finnish qualification system can be seen very well to follow the European (ENIQ) methodology. The report discusses several qualification terms and documents. Thus the normally necessary tasks and parts of a qualification are described. The qualification can be seen as a project that includes several tasks, which will be performed by different parties. Enough resources and time should be reserved for the planning and control of a qualification project to ensure its fluent progress. Some tasks are discussed in the report taking into account the situation in the qualification cases that are seen to be linked to the inspections of disposal canisters of spent fuel. (orig.)

  11. Reliability and validity study of the Finnish version 2.0 of the oswestry disability index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pekkanen, Liisa; Kautiainen, Hannu; Ylinen, Jari; Salo, Petri; Häkkinen, Arja

    2011-02-15

    Prospective clinical validation study. The aims of this study were to translate into Finnish and culturally adapt and study the psycho-metric properties of the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) version 2.0. The ODI is one of the most commonly reported back-specific disability questionnaires. It is widely used both in clinical work and in medical studies. To date, no validated Finnish version of the ODI version 2.0 has been reported. The ODI version 2.0 was translated into the Finnish language. A total of 115 patients with back pain, referred by the primary care physician to the outpatient clinic of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation, were recruited for this study. The patients answered a questionnaire package that included the Finnish ODI 2.0, Back Pain Questionnaire for Visual Analogue Assessment (Million-VAS), Visual Analogue Scales of back and leg pain (VASback, VASleg), the Depressions Scale, and a question on their subjectively perceived health. The package was administered twice; 2 weeks before and at the arrival to the clinic. Reproducibility of the ODI was 0.90 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.85-0.94) and the internal consistency was 0.86 (95% CI = 0.81-0.90). Factor analysis showed that the ODI was loaded on 2 factors, which explained 51% of the total variance. In testing convergent validity ODI correlated with Million-VAS, r = 0.75 (95% CI = 0.64-0.84); VASback, r = 0.48 (95% CI = 0.32-0.62); and VAS leg, r = 0.41 (95% CI = 0.23-0.57). The Finnish ODI version 2.0 proved to be a valid and reliable instrument that showed psychometric properties comparable with the original English version. Therefore, it can be used in assessing the disability among Finnish-speaking patients with back pain for both clinical and scientific purposes.

  12. Auditor recommendations resulting from three clinical audit rounds in Finnish radiology units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miettunen, Kirsi; Metsälä, Eija

    2017-06-01

    Background The purpose of clinical audits performed in radiology units is to reduce the radiation dose of patients and staff and to implement evidence-based best practices. Purpose To describe auditor recommendations in three Finnish clinical audit rounds performed in 2002-2014, and to determine if auditor recommendations have had any impact on improving medical imaging practice. Material and Methods The retrospective observational study was performed in radiology units holding a radiation safety license issued by the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority. The data comprised a systematic sample (n = 120) of auditor reports produced in three auditing rounds in these units during the years 2002-2014. The data were analyzed by descriptive methods and by using the Friedman two-way ANOVA test. Results The number of auditor recommendations given varied between clinical audit rounds and according to the type of imaging unit, as well as according to calculation method. Proportionally, the most recommendations in all three clinical audit rounds were given about defining and using quality assurance functions and about guidelines and practices for carrying out procedures involving radiation exposure. Demanding radiology units improved their practices more than basic imaging units towards the third round. Conclusion Auditor recommendations help to address the deficiencies in imaging practices. There is a need to develop uniform guidelines and to provide tutoring for clinical auditors in order to produce comparable clinical audit results.

  13. Professionalism Mini-Evaluation Exercise in Finland: A preliminary investigation introducing the Finnish version of the P-MEX instrument.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karukivi, Max; Kortekangas-Savolainen, Outi; Saxén, Ulla; Haapasalo-Pesu, Kirsi-Maria

    2015-10-01

    Teaching medical professionalism is increasingly acknowledged as an important aspect of medical education. The Professionalism Mini-Evaluation Exercise (P-MEX) is an assessment tool for evaluating medical professionalism, but no studies using it as a self-assessment instrument have been reported. This paper reports on a preliminary investigation of the Finnish version of the P-MEX instrument as an assessment and self-assessment measure. The sample in the present cross-sectional study comprised all 23 medical students and recent graduates (15 females and 8 males) participating in a summer school of psychiatry program in 2014. The two-month program combines clinical work with multifaceted teaching and intensive tutoring. At the end of the program, the participants' medical professionalism was assessed by the tutors and other members of the work community as well as the students themselves using the Finnish version of the P-MEX instrument. The P-MEX scores were compared, using the Friedman test. The mean values and SD for the P-MEX assessments were as follows: tutor assessment 3.26±0.21, work community assessment 3.32±0.26 and self-assessment 3.01±0.07. No significant gender differences were observed. The tutor and work community assessments were significantly correlated (r=0.573, p=0.040), but the self-assessment scores did not correlate with either of the other assessments. Overall, the students evaluated their skills significantly poorer in comparison to the other assessments. Although the small sample size limits the generalization of these preliminary results, the Finnish version of the P-MEX instrument appears to be a feasible measure of medical professionalism. The instrument can also be used as a self-assessment instrument, but subjective evaluations should be complemented with external assessments or feedback in order to take individual and cultural aspects into account.

  14. Association of galanin haplotypes with alcoholism and anxiety in two ethnically distinct populations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belfer, I; Hipp, H; McKnight, C; Evans, C; Buzas, B; Bollettino, A; Albaugh, B; Virkkunen, M; Yuan, Q; Max, MB; Goldman, D; Enoch, MA

    2009-01-01

    The neuropeptide galanin (GAL) is widely expressed in the central nervous system. Animal studies have implicated GAL in alcohol abuse and anxiety: chronic ethanol intake increases hypothalamic GAL mRNA; high levels of stress increase GAL release in the central amygdala. The coding sequence of the galanin gene, GAL, is highly conserved and a functional polymorphism has not yet been found. The aim of our study was, for the first time, to identify GAL haplotypes and investigate associations with alcoholism and anxiety. Seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) spanning GAL were genotyped in 65 controls from five populations: US and Finnish Caucasians, African Americans, Plains and Southwestern Indians. A single haplotype block with little evidence of historical recombination was observed for each population. Four tag SNPs were then genotyped in DSM-III-R lifetime alcoholics and nonalcoholics from two population isolates: 514 Finnish Caucasian men and 331 Plains Indian men and women. Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire harm avoidance (HA) scores, a dimensional measure of anxiety, were obtained. There was a haplotype association with alcoholism in both the Finnish (P=0.001) and Plains Indian (P=0.004) men. The SNPs were also significantly associated. Alcoholics were divided into high and low HA groups (≥ and alcoholics, low HA alcoholics and nonalcoholics. Our results from two independent populations suggest that GAL may contribute to vulnerability to alcoholism, perhaps mediated by dimensional anxiety. PMID:16314872

  15. Quantitative trait loci for fertility traits in Finnish Ayrshire cattle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Viitala Sirja M

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract A whole genome scan was carried out to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL for fertility traits in Finnish Ayrshire cattle. The mapping population consisted of 12 bulls and 493 sons. Estimated breeding values for days open, fertility treatments, maternal calf mortality and paternal non-return rate were used as phenotypic data. In a granddaughter design, 171 markers were typed on all 29 bovine autosomes. Associations between markers and traits were analysed by multiple marker regression. Multi-trait analyses were carried out with a variance component based approach for the chromosomes and trait combinations, which were observed significant in the regression method. Twenty-two chromosome-wise significant QTL were detected. Several of the detected QTL areas were overlapping with milk production QTL previously identified in the same population. Multi-trait QTL analyses were carried out to test if these effects were due to a pleiotropic QTL affecting fertility and milk yield traits or to linked QTL causing the effects. This distinction could only be made with confidence on BTA1 where a QTL affecting milk yield is linked to a pleiotropic QTL affecting days open and fertility treatments.

  16. MARKETING STRATEGY FOR THE FINNISH TOURIST COMPANY BASED ON SAINT PETERSBURG MARKET RESEARCH

    OpenAIRE

    Miroshnichenko, Julia

    2014-01-01

    The goal of this thesis is to get a marketing strategy for proposed tourist business through the field-work marketing research. The purpose of this marketing research was to investigate the attitudes of Russian tourists in Saint Pe-tersburg towards Finland as a destination. The research examines the respondents’ own evaluation of the Finnish tourism possibilities, as well as the expert evaluation (made by the professionals of tourist agencies in Saint Petersburg) of the Finnish tourist ma...

  17. Monitoring of radionuclides in the environs of Finnish nuclear power plants in 1989-1990

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ilus, E.; Sjoeblom, K-L.; Klemola, S.; Arvela, H.

    1992-01-01

    Surveillance of radioactive substances around Finnish nuclear power plants continued in 1989-1990 according to the regular monitoring programmes. About 1000 samples were analysed annually from both terrestrial and aquatic environments. The dominant artificial radionuclides in the vicinity of the power plants were still the cesium isotopes, 137 Cs and 134 Cs, originating from the Chernobyl accident. Owing to radioactive decay, other fallout nuclides with shorter half-lives disappeared from the environmental samples during the period in question. Trace amounts of activation products originating from the airborne releases of the local power plants were detected in some air and deposition samples. Discharged nuclides were more abundant in the aquatic environment, especially in samples of indicator organisms and sinking matter collected from the Olkiluoto area in 1990. However, the concentrations were so low that they did not markedly raise the radiation burden in the environment. (orig.)

  18. Open source in Finnish software companies

    OpenAIRE

    Seppä, Arto

    2006-01-01

    This paper explores survey data focusing on open source software supply collected from 170 Finnish software firms using descriptive statistical analysis. The first half of the report contains general data about software companies and the differences between proprietary and open source firms. The second half focuses on open source firms. A subject of analysis are copyrights, products and services supply, the firms’ relationships with the open source community, and their views on opportunities ...

  19. The 1993 Finnish Interdisciplinary Seminar on SETI - A review of aims, approaches and conclusions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seppanen, Jouko

    1993-10-01

    The communications of the International Interdisciplinary Seminar on SETI, held on March 6-7, 1993 in Vantaa, Finland, are reviewed and the contents and conclusions of papers summarized. The seminar was organized jointly by the Finnish Artificial Intelligence Society (FAIS), Finnish Astronomical Society, Ursa Astronomical Association and Heureka - The Finnish Science Centre. As the ninth in a series of intelligence-related seminars of FAIS, SETI was chosen as the topic for spring 1993, noting the new ten year NASA SETI program HRMS (High Resolution Micro-wave Survey), commenced on Columbus Day, October 12, 1992. The aims and the interdisciplinary format of the seminar are described, the main results and conclusions of papers are restated, and the seminar publications introduced. The summaries of papers are based on their abstracts and contain excerpts from texts.

  20. Attitudes towards care robots among Finnish home care personnel - a comparison of two approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rantanen, Teemu; Lehto, Paula; Vuorinen, Pertti; Coco, Kirsi

    2017-08-22

    The significance of care robotics has been highlighted in recent years. The article examines the adoption of care robots in home care settings, and in particular Finnish home care personnel's attitudes towards robots. The study compares the importance of the Negative Attitudes towards Robots Scale advanced by Nomura and specific positive attitudes related to the usefulness of care robots for different tasks in the home care. A cross-sectional study conducted by questionnaire. The research data were gathered from a survey of Finnish home care personnel (n = 200). Exploratory factor analysis, Pearson's correlation coefficient and linear regression analysis. The Negative Attitudes towards Robots Scale (NARS), by Nomura, with a specific behavioural intention scale based on Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour, and a measure of positive attitudes towards the usefulness of care robots for different tasks in home care and the promotion of independent living of older persons. The study shows that NARS helps to explain psychological resistance related to the introduction of care robots, although the scale is susceptible to cultural differences. Care personnel's behavioural intentions related to the introduction of robot applications are influenced also by the perception of the usefulness of care robots. The study is based only on a Finnish sample, and the response rate of the study was relatively small (18.2%), which limits the generalisability of the results. The study shows that the examination of home care personnel's attitudes towards robots is not justified to focus only on one aspect, but a better explanation is achieved by combining the perspectives of societal attitudes, attitudes related to psychological reactions and the practical care and promotion of the independent living of older people. © 2017 Nordic College of Caring Science.

  1. Romance Tourism and Finnish Women

    OpenAIRE

    Jussila, Johanna

    2015-01-01

    Romance tourism is a discussed quite a lot in media both in Finland and abroad. The media has create a certain kind of image of women`s romance tourism. The main aim of this study was to study how Finnish women perceive the romance tourism. The research questions were: does women travel to abroad to seek for holiday romance and why do they travel to abroad to seek for the romance. To find out women’s mental images of romance tourism was also one aim of the research. The phenomenon of women’s ...

  2. The SKVR Database of Ancient Poems of the Finnish People in Kalevala Meter and the Semantic Kalevala

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lauri Harvilahti

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available This essay presents the principal aims of establishing a web-based infrastructure for epic research and demonstrates possibilities for using this infrastructure for textual research on epics. The web infrastructure discussed here has developed out of the Finnish Literature Society’s pioneering open-access digitized edition of Kalevala-meter poetry Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot (“The Ancient Poems of the Finnish People”; 34 volumes, SKVR and the Semantic Kalevala, an electronic indexing of the Finnish national epic Kalevala that uses the Culture Sampo web portal.

  3. Estimating mean change in population salt intake using spot urine samples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petersen, Kristina S; Wu, Jason H Y; Webster, Jacqui; Grimes, Carley; Woodward, Mark; Nowson, Caryl A; Neal, Bruce

    2017-10-01

    Spot urine samples are easier to collect than 24-h urine samples and have been used with estimating equations to derive the mean daily salt intake of a population. Whether equations using data from spot urine samples can also be used to estimate change in mean daily population salt intake over time is unknown. We compared estimates of change in mean daily population salt intake based upon 24-h urine collections with estimates derived using equations based on spot urine samples. Paired and unpaired 24-h urine samples and spot urine samples were collected from individuals in two Australian populations, in 2011 and 2014. Estimates of change in daily mean population salt intake between 2011 and 2014 were obtained directly from the 24-h urine samples and by applying established estimating equations (Kawasaki, Tanaka, Mage, Toft, INTERSALT) to the data from spot urine samples. Differences between 2011 and 2014 were calculated using mixed models. A total of 1000 participants provided a 24-h urine sample and a spot urine sample in 2011, and 1012 did so in 2014 (paired samples n = 870; unpaired samples n = 1142). The participants were community-dwelling individuals living in the State of Victoria or the town of Lithgow in the State of New South Wales, Australia, with a mean age of 55 years in 2011. The mean (95% confidence interval) difference in population salt intake between 2011 and 2014 determined from the 24-h urine samples was -0.48g/day (-0.74 to -0.21; P spot urine samples was -0.24 g/day (-0.42 to -0.06; P = 0.01) using the Tanaka equation, -0.42 g/day (-0.70 to -0.13; p = 0.004) using the Kawasaki equation, -0.51 g/day (-1.00 to -0.01; P = 0.046) using the Mage equation, -0.26 g/day (-0.42 to -0.10; P = 0.001) using the Toft equation, -0.20 g/day (-0.32 to -0.09; P = 0.001) using the INTERSALT equation and -0.27 g/day (-0.39 to -0.15; P  0.058). Separate analysis of the unpaired and paired data showed that detection of

  4. Systematic sampling of discrete and continuous populations: sample selection and the choice of estimator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harry T. Valentine; David L. R. Affleck; Timothy G. Gregoire

    2009-01-01

    Systematic sampling is easy, efficient, and widely used, though it is not generally recognized that a systematic sample may be drawn from the population of interest with or without restrictions on randomization. The restrictions or the lack of them determine which estimators are unbiased, when using the sampling design as the basis for inference. We describe the...

  5. Nonindustrial private forest owners' opinions to and awareness of energy wood market and forest-based bioenergy certification. Results of a case study from Finnish Karelia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Halder, Pradipta; Mei, Qu; Pelkonen, Paavo [Eastern Finland Univ., Joensuu (Finland). School of Forest Sciences; Weckroth, Timo

    2012-12-01

    Nonindustrial private forest owners (NIPFs) in Finland are important stakeholders of forest management and roundwood supply decisions. Their role will also be significant to supply energy wood to meet Finland's target for renewable energy in the future. The main objectives of this study were to explore the opinions and awareness of the Finnish NIPFs related to the energy wood market and forest-based bioenergy certification issues in Finland and their relevance for future bioenergy policies. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among NIPFs in Finnish Karelia (N = 79). NIPFs considered price as the main deciding factor in harvesting and selling of energy wood. The present low price of energy wood compared to pulpwood did not motivate them to increase harvesting and selling of energy wood. The NIPFs appeared to be unaware of the forest-based bioenergy certification. However, they expected that such certification schemes would be easy to follow, develop energy wood market, and promote environmentally sound forest management practices in Finland. Private forest owners' associations and personal information letters emerged as the most favored means to disseminate information on forest-based bioenergy certification to the Finnish NIPFs. The study explored the opinions and awareness of the Finnish NIPFs related to energy wood market and forest based bioenergy certification from Finnish Karelia. The conclusions derived from the study might be highly policy-relevant concerning the development of energy wood market and related certification schemes. Future studies should include larger sample size for increasing the representativeness of the findings. (orig.)

  6. Efficient computation of the joint sample frequency spectra for multiple populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamm, John A; Terhorst, Jonathan; Song, Yun S

    2017-01-01

    A wide range of studies in population genetics have employed the sample frequency spectrum (SFS), a summary statistic which describes the distribution of mutant alleles at a polymorphic site in a sample of DNA sequences and provides a highly efficient dimensional reduction of large-scale population genomic variation data. Recently, there has been much interest in analyzing the joint SFS data from multiple populations to infer parameters of complex demographic histories, including variable population sizes, population split times, migration rates, admixture proportions, and so on. SFS-based inference methods require accurate computation of the expected SFS under a given demographic model. Although much methodological progress has been made, existing methods suffer from numerical instability and high computational complexity when multiple populations are involved and the sample size is large. In this paper, we present new analytic formulas and algorithms that enable accurate, efficient computation of the expected joint SFS for thousands of individuals sampled from hundreds of populations related by a complex demographic model with arbitrary population size histories (including piecewise-exponential growth). Our results are implemented in a new software package called momi (MOran Models for Inference). Through an empirical study we demonstrate our improvements to numerical stability and computational complexity.

  7. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1992-03-01

    The Finnish nuclear power plant units Loviisa 1 and 2 as well as TVO I and II were in operation for almost the whole third quarter of 1991. Longer interruptions in electricity generation were caused by the annual maintenances of the Loviisa plant units. The load factor average was 81.7 %. In a test conducted during the annual maintenance outage of Loviisa 1 it was detected that the check valve of the discharge line of one pressurized emergency make-up tank did not open sufficiently at the tank's hydrostatic pressure. In connection with a 1988 modification, a too tightly dimensioned bearing had been mounted on the valve's axle rod and the valve had not been duly tested after the operation. The event is classified as Level 1 on the International Nuclear Event Scale. Other events in this quarter which are classified according to the International Nuclear Event Scale are Level Zero (Below Scale). Occupational radiation doses and releases of radioactive material off-site were below authorised limits in this quarter. Only small amounts of radioactive materials originating in nuclear power plants were detected in samples taken in the vicinity of nuclear power plants

  8. Airborne fallout mapping of 137Cs Finnish defence forces team

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kettunen, M.; Heininen, T.; Pulakka, M.

    1997-01-01

    The main task of the team was to create a fallout map of 137 Cs in a specified area in Padasjoki Auttoinen village. The team used an MI-8 helicopter of the Finnish Air Force. The team had an HPGe system (relative efficiency 70%) to measure nuclide specific ground contamination level. For navigation the team took advantage of the DGPS service provided by Finnish Broadcasting company utilizing the RDS-channel to get position accuracy within 2 meters. The correction signal is reachable nationwide on the FM transmitter network. The system produced a distribution map for 40 K and fallout maps for 134,137 Cs using a Micro Station Program with TerraModeler application. The maximum measured 137 Cs ground contamination exceeded 130-140 kBqm -2 . (au)

  9. Sample Size Calculations for Population Size Estimation Studies Using Multiplier Methods With Respondent-Driven Sampling Surveys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fearon, Elizabeth; Chabata, Sungai T; Thompson, Jennifer A; Cowan, Frances M; Hargreaves, James R

    2017-09-14

    While guidance exists for obtaining population size estimates using multiplier methods with respondent-driven sampling surveys, we lack specific guidance for making sample size decisions. To guide the design of multiplier method population size estimation studies using respondent-driven sampling surveys to reduce the random error around the estimate obtained. The population size estimate is obtained by dividing the number of individuals receiving a service or the number of unique objects distributed (M) by the proportion of individuals in a representative survey who report receipt of the service or object (P). We have developed an approach to sample size calculation, interpreting methods to estimate the variance around estimates obtained using multiplier methods in conjunction with research into design effects and respondent-driven sampling. We describe an application to estimate the number of female sex workers in Harare, Zimbabwe. There is high variance in estimates. Random error around the size estimate reflects uncertainty from M and P, particularly when the estimate of P in the respondent-driven sampling survey is low. As expected, sample size requirements are higher when the design effect of the survey is assumed to be greater. We suggest a method for investigating the effects of sample size on the precision of a population size estimate obtained using multipler methods and respondent-driven sampling. Uncertainty in the size estimate is high, particularly when P is small, so balancing against other potential sources of bias, we advise researchers to consider longer service attendance reference periods and to distribute more unique objects, which is likely to result in a higher estimate of P in the respondent-driven sampling survey. ©Elizabeth Fearon, Sungai T Chabata, Jennifer A Thompson, Frances M Cowan, James R Hargreaves. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 14.09.2017.

  10. Implications of the Bologna Process for Throughput in the Higher Education Sector: An Empirical Illustration Based on a Finnish-British Comparison

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindberg, Matti

    2014-01-01

    This study illustrates the differences between Finnish and British graduates in the higher education-to-work transition and related market mechanisms in the year 2000. Specifically, the differences between the Finnish and British students' academic careers and ability to find employment after graduation were evaluated in relation to the Finnish HE…

  11. Confidence intervals for population allele frequencies: the general case of sampling from a finite diploid population of any size.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fung, Tak; Keenan, Kevin

    2014-01-01

    The estimation of population allele frequencies using sample data forms a central component of studies in population genetics. These estimates can be used to test hypotheses on the evolutionary processes governing changes in genetic variation among populations. However, existing studies frequently do not account for sampling uncertainty in these estimates, thus compromising their utility. Incorporation of this uncertainty has been hindered by the lack of a method for constructing confidence intervals containing the population allele frequencies, for the general case of sampling from a finite diploid population of any size. In this study, we address this important knowledge gap by presenting a rigorous mathematical method to construct such confidence intervals. For a range of scenarios, the method is used to demonstrate that for a particular allele, in order to obtain accurate estimates within 0.05 of the population allele frequency with high probability (> or = 95%), a sample size of > 30 is often required. This analysis is augmented by an application of the method to empirical sample allele frequency data for two populations of the checkerspot butterfly (Melitaea cinxia L.), occupying meadows in Finland. For each population, the method is used to derive > or = 98.3% confidence intervals for the population frequencies of three alleles. These intervals are then used to construct two joint > or = 95% confidence regions, one for the set of three frequencies for each population. These regions are then used to derive a > or = 95%% confidence interval for Jost's D, a measure of genetic differentiation between the two populations. Overall, the results demonstrate the practical utility of the method with respect to informing sampling design and accounting for sampling uncertainty in studies of population genetics, important for scientific hypothesis-testing and also for risk-based natural resource management.

  12. Confidence intervals for population allele frequencies: the general case of sampling from a finite diploid population of any size.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tak Fung

    Full Text Available The estimation of population allele frequencies using sample data forms a central component of studies in population genetics. These estimates can be used to test hypotheses on the evolutionary processes governing changes in genetic variation among populations. However, existing studies frequently do not account for sampling uncertainty in these estimates, thus compromising their utility. Incorporation of this uncertainty has been hindered by the lack of a method for constructing confidence intervals containing the population allele frequencies, for the general case of sampling from a finite diploid population of any size. In this study, we address this important knowledge gap by presenting a rigorous mathematical method to construct such confidence intervals. For a range of scenarios, the method is used to demonstrate that for a particular allele, in order to obtain accurate estimates within 0.05 of the population allele frequency with high probability (> or = 95%, a sample size of > 30 is often required. This analysis is augmented by an application of the method to empirical sample allele frequency data for two populations of the checkerspot butterfly (Melitaea cinxia L., occupying meadows in Finland. For each population, the method is used to derive > or = 98.3% confidence intervals for the population frequencies of three alleles. These intervals are then used to construct two joint > or = 95% confidence regions, one for the set of three frequencies for each population. These regions are then used to derive a > or = 95%% confidence interval for Jost's D, a measure of genetic differentiation between the two populations. Overall, the results demonstrate the practical utility of the method with respect to informing sampling design and accounting for sampling uncertainty in studies of population genetics, important for scientific hypothesis-testing and also for risk-based natural resource management.

  13. Finnish HLW disposal programme : site selection in 2000

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ryhsnen, Veijo

    1997-01-01

    This paper covers the technical concepts for final disposal in the Finnish geological conditions, the approach for site selection and implementation, the safety assessments and development of criteria, the environmental impact assessment, the licensing stages and acceptance, and the financial provisions, the project organization in 1997 - 2000. 2 refs., 9 figs

  14. Finnish HLW disposal programme : site selection in 2000

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ryhsnen, Veijo [Posiva Oy, Helsinki (Finland)

    1997-12-31

    This paper covers the technical concepts for final disposal in the Finnish geological conditions, the approach for site selection and implementation, the safety assessments and development of criteria, the environmental impact assessment, the licensing stages and acceptance, and the financial provisions, the project organization in 1997 - 2000. 2 refs., 9 figs.

  15. Young Finnish Unemployed Men's Experiences of Having Participated in a Specific Active Labor Market Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Björklund, Ove; Häggström, Elisabeth; Nyström, Lisbet

    2017-09-01

    The purpose of the present study was to describe young Finnish unemployed men's experiences of having participated in a specific active labor market program, intended to fight unemployment and offered at a resource center. Fifteen young unemployed Finnish men in the age range 18 to 27 years were interviewed face-to-face. Purposive sampling was used to increase the variation among informants. The interview texts were analyzed using both manifest and latent qualitative content analysis. The present results reported that the young men felt that they, thanks to the program at the resource center, had acquired daily routines and could ultimately believe in the future. The young men described how they now had a structure, economic support, and that they could return to their daily life. The informants also described how they could see new possibilities and believe in oneself. There is a lack of empirical studies assessing the possible impact of active labor market programs on the unemployed based on participants' own experiences. Further research is needed to describe and elucidate in more detail the effects of targeted support measures and the needs of unemployed men of different ages and living in different contexts.

  16. Monitoring of radionuclides in the vicinities of Finnish nuclear power plants in 1993 and 1994

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Klemola, S.; Ilus, E.; Ikaeheimonen, T.K

    1998-08-01

    Monitoring of radioactive substances around Finnish nuclear power plants continued in 1993-1994 in accordance with the regular programmes. Some 1000 samples are analysed annually from the terrestrial and aquatic environments of the two power plant sites. Trace amounts of activation products originating from airborne releases from the local power plants were detected in several air, deposition and soil samples. Discharged nuclides were more abundant in the aquatic environment, especially in samples of indicator organisms, sinking matter and sediments. However, the concentrations were so low that they did not significantly increase the radiation burden in the environment. The dominant artificial radionuclides in the vicinity of the power plants remained the cesium isotopes, especially {sup 137}Cs but also {sup 134}Cs, originating from the Chernobyl accident. (orig.) 14 refs.

  17. Generic and crime type specific correlates of youth crime: a Finnish population-based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elonheimo, Henrik; Sourander, Andre; Niemelä, Solja; Helenius, Hans

    2011-09-01

    The aim of this study was to examine the psychosocial correlates of various crime types among adolescent males born in Finland in 1981. Data on crime registered in the Finnish National Police Register between 1998 and 2001 were received for 2,866 boys, of whom 81% (n = 2,330) filled in a questionnaire at obligatory military call-up at age 18 in 1999. Crime was divided into five types: drug, violent, property, traffic, and drunk driving offences. Of the 2,866 boys, 23% had been registered for offending; 4% for drug, 7% for violent, 11% for property, 11% for traffic, and 5% for drunk driving offences during the 4-year period in late adolescence. All the crime types correlated with each other and shared many of the psychosocial problems. Small community size, parents' divorce, aggressiveness, daily smoking, and weekly drunkenness were generic correlates of crime, being independently related to various crime types. The results support general rather than specific accounts of youth crime. In particular, measures moderating the adverse effects of divorce, alleviating parental adversities and supporting parenthood, and tackling substance abuse seem relevant in social and criminal policy because they address psychosocial problems characterizing youth crime in general.

  18. Sampling strategies for estimating brook trout effective population size

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrew R. Whiteley; Jason A. Coombs; Mark Hudy; Zachary Robinson; Keith H. Nislow; Benjamin H. Letcher

    2012-01-01

    The influence of sampling strategy on estimates of effective population size (Ne) from single-sample genetic methods has not been rigorously examined, though these methods are increasingly used. For headwater salmonids, spatially close kin association among age-0 individuals suggests that sampling strategy (number of individuals and location from...

  19. The association between team climate at work and mental health in the Finnish Health 2000 Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sinokki, M; Hinkka, K; Ahola, K; Koskinen, S; Klaukka, T; Kivimäki, M; Puukka, P; Lönnqvist, J; Virtanen, M

    2009-08-01

    Depression, anxiety and alcohol use disorders are common mental health problems in the working population. However, the team climate at work related to these disorders has not been studied using standardised interview methods and it is not known whether poor team climate predicts antidepressant use. This study investigated whether team climate at work was associated with DSM-IV depressive, anxiety and alcohol use disorders and subsequent antidepressant medication in a random sample of Finnish employees. The nationally representative sample comprised 3347 employees aged 30-64 years. Team climate was measured with a self-assessment scale. Diagnoses of depressive, anxiety and alcohol use disorders were based on the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Data on the purchase of antidepressant medication in a 3-year follow-up period were collected from a nationwide pharmaceutical register of the Social Insurance Institution. In the risk factor adjusted models, poor team climate at work was significantly associated with depressive disorders (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.10 to 2.36) but not with alcohol use disorders. The significance of the association between team climate and anxiety disorders disappeared when the model was adjusted for job control and job demands. Poor team climate also predicted antidepressant medication (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.30). A poor team climate at work is associated with depressive disorders and subsequent antidepressant use.

  20. PRKCA and multiple sclerosis: association in two independent populations.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janna Saarela

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available Multiple sclerosis (MS is a chronic disease of the central nervous system responsible for a large portion of neurological disabilities in young adults. Similar to what occurs in numerous complex diseases, both unknown environmental factors and genetic predisposition are required to generate MS. We ascertained a set of 63 Finnish MS families, originating from a high-risk region of the country, to identify a susceptibility gene within the previously established 3.4-Mb region on 17q24. Initial single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP-based association implicated PRKCA (protein kinase C alpha gene, and this association was replicated in an independent set of 148 Finnish MS families (p = 0.0004; remaining significant after correction for multiple testing. Further, a dense set of 211 SNPs evenly covering the PRKCA gene and the flanking regions was selected from the dbSNP database and analyzed in two large, independent MS cohorts: in 211 Finnish and 554 Canadian MS families. A multipoint SNP analysis indicated linkage to PRKCA and its telomeric flanking region in both populations, and SNP haplotype and genotype combination analyses revealed an allelic variant of PRKCA, which covers the region between introns 3 and 8, to be over-represented in Finnish MS cases (odds ratio = 1.34, 95% confidence interval 1.07-1.68. A second allelic variant, covering the same region of the PRKCA gene, showed somewhat stronger evidence for association in the Canadian families (odds ratio = 1.64, 95% confidence interval 1.39-1.94. Initial functional relevance for disease predisposition was suggested by the expression analysis: The transcript levels of PRKCA showed correlation with the copy number of the Finnish and Canadian "risk" haplotypes in CD4-negative mononuclear cells of five Finnish multiplex families and in lymphoblast cell lines of 11 Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain (CEPH individuals of European origin.

  1. Distributed leadership in Finnish and Shanghai schools

    OpenAIRE

    Tian, Meng

    2016-01-01

    The present research employed mixed-methods approach to further theorise distributed leadership and to investigate its manifestations in Finnish and Shanghai schools. The whole research comprised two phases. The first phase contained a meta-analysis (Sub-study I), which systematically reviewed 85 key distributed leadership articles published between 2002 and 2013. The meta-analysis identified two main research paradigms: the descriptive-analytical paradigm and the prescrip...

  2. Chinese and Finnish Undergraduates’ Online Shopping Behaviour

    OpenAIRE

    Wan, Ning

    2015-01-01

    The main goal of the thesis was to recognise similar and different characteristics of online shopping behaviour between Chinese and Finnish undergraduates. Additionally, this thesis would give meaningful proposals for merchants and managers on offering better online marketing. This thesis report was conducted in both theoretical and practical parts. The theoretical parts include marketing research and online shopping consumption behaviour. The study describes the marketing research progre...

  3. International risk factors affecting Finnish energy supplies. Suomen energiahuollon kansainvaeliset uhkatekijaet

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kasanen, P.; Koponen, M.; Kaekoenen, J. (Oulu Univ., Oulu (Finland). Dept. of Geography)

    1989-01-01

    An examination is made of the structure and development of Finnish fuel imports, world fuel market trends and prospects, and the impact of global environmental concerns on Finnish energy supplies. Attention is focused on the political and economic developments to be expected in the major fuel producing or consuming countries. The aim is to look for factors that could treaten the functioning of Finnish fuel supplies and to suggest ways to avoid or overcome these threats. The research is based on Finnish and international energy statistics, published forecasts for the development of the fuel trade and fuel resources and the latest literature on energy economics and political science. Finland is heavily dependent on foreign fuels, over two thirds of her fuels supply being imported. By far the most important source of imports is the Soviet Union, although Poland is a major supplier of coal. The increase in domestic demands for fuels in these countries, will make it necessary for Finland to diversify the sources of her fuel imports. The suggestions made here include the following: Saudi-Arabia and Kuwait should be considered as possible new sources of oil. Coal could be imported from South Africa, provided that the apartheid policy is discontinued. Norway could provide some natural gas, although a Nordic pipeline system would be needed for this to be possible. Finland should invest in fuel resource exploration and development and in building the necessary infrastructure in the producing countries in order to improve the possibilities for reaching long-term agreements on fuel imports. Imporovements in the effiency of the end users of energy and an increase in the proportion of renewable sources of energy would not only be steps towards a sustainable fuel economy, but would also reduce the country's dependence on imported fuels.

  4. Studies of potential severe accidents in Finnish nuclear power plants. Quarterly report 3. quarter 1987

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aro, Ilari.

    1989-07-01

    This thesis is based on six publications dealing with severe accident studies in Finnish nuclear power plants. Main emphasis has been put on general technical bases and methodologies applied in severe accident evaluation in Finland. As an example of the use of the analysis and evaluation methods, the analysis of one representative accident sequence, t otal loss of AC power , has been presented for both Finnish power plant types. This accident sequence is required to be analyzed in the Finnish safety guide YVL 2.2 which deals with transient and accident analyses as a basis of technical solutions at nuclear powr plants. Two different analysis methods, MAAP 3.0 and MARCH 3/STCP have been used for receiving as complete a picture as possible of the flow of events and for verifying the models to some extent. Besides the use of the two different models, the method of sensitivity analysis has been used for evaluating the effects of some important technical parameters on the accident flow. Finally, conclusions of the applicability of the two methods for analyzing severe accident sequences in Finnish plants have been discussed

  5. Hyperglycemia and a Common Variant of GCKR Are Associated With the Levels of Eight Amino Acids in 9,369 Finnish Men

    OpenAIRE

    Stan??kov?, Alena; Civelek, Mete; Saleem, Niyas K.; Soininen, Pasi; Kangas, Antti J.; Cederberg, Henna; Paananen, Jussi; Pihlajam?ki, Jussi; Bonnycastle, Lori L.; Morken, Mario A.; Boehnke, Michael; Pajukanta, P?ivi; Lusis, Aldons J.; Collins, Francis S.; Kuusisto, Johanna

    2012-01-01

    We investigated the association of glycemia and 43 genetic risk variants for hyperglycemia/type 2 diabetes with amino acid levels in the population-based Metabolic Syndrome in Men (METSIM) Study, including 9,369 nondiabetic or newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic Finnish men. Plasma levels of eight amino acids were measured with proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Increasing fasting and 2-h plasma glucose levels were associated with increasing levels of several amino acids and decreasi...

  6. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1993-12-01

    Quarterly reports on the operation of Finnish nuclear power plants describe events and observations related to nuclear and radiation safety which the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety considers safety significant. Safety-enhancing plant modifications and general matters relating to the use of nuclear energy are also reported. A summary of the radiation safety of plant personnel and the environment, and tabulated data on the plants' production and their load factors are also given. At the Loviisa 1 plant unit one of two specially-backed AC busbars was lost during the second quarter of 1993. A ca. 30 minute voltage break caused malfunctions in the plant unit's electrical equipment and rendered inoperable certain components important to safety. The event is rated on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) at level 1. In inspections carried out at TVO II during the annual maintenance outage, the number of cracks detected in control rod structural material was higher than usual. When cracks occur, part of boron carbide, the power regulating medium in control rods, may wash into the reactor water and control rod shutdown capability may be impaired. The event is rated on the INES at level 1. Other events in the second quarter of 1993 had no bearing on nuclear or radiation safety. (4 figs., 5 tabs.)

  7. Finnish physicians' stress related to information systems keeps increasing: a longitudinal three-wave survey study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heponiemi, Tarja; Hyppönen, Hannele; Vehko, Tuulikki; Kujala, Sari; Aalto, Anna-Mari; Vänskä, Jukka; Elovainio, Marko

    2017-10-17

    Poorly functioning, time-consuming, and inadequate information systems are among the most important work-related psychosocial factors causing stress in physicians. The present study examined the trend in the perceived stress that was related to information systems (SRIS) among Finnish physicians during a nine-year follow-up. In addition, we examined the associations of gender, age, employment sector, specialization status, leadership position, on-call burden, and time pressure with SRIS change and levels. A longitudinal design with three survey data collection waves (2006, 2010 and 2015) based on a random sample of Finnish physicians in 2006 was used. The study sample included 1095 physicians (62.3% women, mean age 54.4 years) who provided data on SRIS in every wave. GLM repeated measures analyses were used to examine the associations between independent variables and the SRIS trend during the years 2006, 2010, and 2015. SRIS increased during the study period. The estimated marginal mean of SRIS in 2006 was 2.80 (95% CI = 2.68-2.92) and the mean increase was 0.46 (95% CI = 0.30-0.61) points from 2006 to 2010 and 0.25 (95% CI = 0.11-0.39) points from 2010 to 2015. Moreover, our results show that the increase was most pronounced in primary care, whereas in hospitals SRIS did not increase between 2010 and 2015. SRIS increased more among those in a leadership position. On-call duties and high time-pressures were associated with higher SRIS levels during all waves. Changing, difficult, and poorly functioning information systems (IS) are a prominent source of stress among Finnish physicians and this perceived stress continues to increase. Organizations should implement arrangements to ease stress stemming from IS especially for those with a high workload and on-call or leadership duties. To decrease IS-related stress, it would be important to study in more detail the main IS factors that contribute to SRIS. Earlier studies indicate that the usability and stability

  8. ADHD in the Context of Finnish Basic Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Honkasilta, J.; Sandberg, E.; Närhi, V.; Jahnukainen, M.

    2014-01-01

    Students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are a growing group served under special education services in many western societies. This article describes the history and current state of the services, as well as the assessment procedure. Our conclusion is that the status of students with ADHD in Finnish basic education (Grades 1…

  9. Religious Conviction, Morality and Social Convention among Finnish Adolescents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vainio, Annukka

    2011-01-01

    The assumptions of Kohlberg, Turiel and Shweder regarding the features of moral reasoning were compared empirically. The moral reasoning of Finnish Evangelical Lutheran, Conservative Laestadian and non-religious adolescents was studied using Kohlberg's Moral Judgment Interview and Turiel Rule Transgression Interview methods. Religiosity and choice…

  10. Personality Preferences and Career Expectations of Finnish Business Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jarlstrom, Maria

    2000-01-01

    Predominant Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) scores for 533 Finnish business students were as follows: 67% extraverted, 53% intuitive, 67% thinking, and 33% feeling. For Schein's career anchors, 26% preferred Technical Competence, 17% Managerial Competence, and 14% Independence. Significant relationships between MBTI preferences and career…

  11. Job boredom and its correlates in 87 Finnish organizations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Harju, Lotta; Hakanen, Jari J.; Schaufeli, Wilmar B.

    2014-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlates of job boredom in 87 Finnish workplaces (N = 11,468) and to examine the associations between job boredom, health outcomes, and job attitudes. METHODS: We applied the Dutch Boredom Scale to measure job boredom. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis and

  12. Reliability of self-reported eating disorders : Optimizing population screening

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Keski-Rahkonen, Anna; Sihvola, Elina; Raevuori, Anu; Kaukoranta, Jutta; Bulik, Cynthia M.; Hoek, Hans W.; Rissanen, Aila; Kaprio, Jaakko

    2006-01-01

    Objective: The objective of this study was to assess whether short self-report eating disorder screening questions are useful population screening methods. Method: We screened the female participants (N = 2881) from the 1975-1079 birth cohorts of Finnish twins for eating disorders, using several

  13. Physical activity and sleep profiles in Finnish men and women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wennman, Heini; Kronholm, Erkki; Partonen, Timo; Tolvanen, Asko; Peltonen, Markku; Vasankari, Tommi; Borodulin, Katja

    2014-01-27

    Physical activity (PA) and sleep are related to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and their risk factors. The interrelationship between these behaviors has been studied, but there remain questions regarding the association of different types of PA, such as occupational, commuting, and leisure time to sleep, including quality, duration and sufficiency. It is also unclear to what extent sleep affects peoples' PA levels and patterns. Our aim is to investigate the interrelationship between PA and sleep behaviors in the Finnish population, including employment status and gender. The study comprised population based data from the FINRISK 2012 Study. A stratified, random sample of 10,000 Finns, 25 to 74 years-old, were sent a questionnaire and an invitation to a health examination. The participation rate was 64% (n = 6,414). Latent class analysis was used to search for different underlying profiles of PA and sleep behavior in men and women, respectively. Models with one through five latent profiles were fitted to the data. Based on fit indicators, a four-class model for men and women, respectively, was decided to be the best fitted model. Four different profiles of PA and sleep were found in both men and women. The most common profile of men comprised 45% of the total participants, and in women, 47%. These profiles were distinguished by probabilities for high leisure time PA and sleep, subjectively rated as sufficient, as well as sleep duration of 7-7.9 hours. The least common profiles represented 5% (men) and 11% (women) of the population, and were characterized by probabilities for physical inactivity, short sleep, and evening type for women and morning type for men. There was also one profile in both genders characterized by likelihood for both high occupational PA and subjectively experienced insufficient sleep. The use of latent class analysis in investigating the interrelationship between PA and sleep is a novel perspective. The method provides information on the

  14. The Finnish EPR dependent on a bridge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dupin, L.

    2010-01-01

    A new conflict has emerged between the main contractor Areva and its client TVO, the Finnish energy group. The qualification of a handling bridge has delayed the OL3 project of third EPR reactor at Olkiluoto, Finland. The disagreement concerns the testing procedure and may induce a two year delay in the completion of the project which is now planned for 2012 instead of 2010 initially. (J.S.)

  15. Identifying and Improving the image of Vietnam Tourism as a Tourism destination among Finnish tourist

    OpenAIRE

    Pham, Anh

    2012-01-01

    This writing attempts to identify the images of Vietnam as a tourism destination for Finnish tourists and suggests marketing solution for Vietnamese traveling company to improve the images of Vietnam by enhancing marketing activities in the Finnish market. Saigontourist Transportation Corporation (STC), Vietnam which is a commissioner of this thesis project, has provided updated information about the current situation of tourism in Vietnam as well as marketing activities of company durin...

  16. The Finnish power market: Are imports from Russia low-cost?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ochoa, Camila; Gore, Olga

    2015-01-01

    Electricity market integration of high- and low-price areas is expected to bring benefits to the consumers in a high-price area. However, these potential benefits are highly dependent on the market characteristics and the policy interventions. We use simulation to study the effects of different alternatives for the expansion and operation of the interconnector Finland–Russia on the Finnish market (a high-price area). Our results show that the current trading arrangement, where a single trader owns the transmission rights, and limits the trade during peak hours to avoid capacity charges in Russia, is beneficial for Finland at the current interconnection capacity. However, if the interconnector is expanded, the behaviour of the trader would create significant distortions in the Finnish market. We also analyse the pros and cons of maintaining a strategic reserve in Finland in combination with the different scenarios of interconnection expansion and trading arrangements. We conclude that in the absence of trust in imports, the need for a strategic reserve is undeniable. This will slightly reduce the economic benefits of integration for Finnish consumers, but it will significantly improve reliability. - Highlights: • We model the likely long-term dynamics of the interconnection Finland–Russia. • Different cross-border arrangements and capacity adequacy policies are considered. • Discriminatory access to the interconnector undermines the benefits of integration. • Market coupling reduces supply costs but creates reliability concerns. • Keeping a strategic reserve reduces the benefits of market coupling

  17. Peptides in fermented Finnish milk products

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Minna Kahala

    1993-09-01

    Full Text Available This study was conducted to investigate the rate of proteolysis and peptide profiles of different Finnish fermented milk products. The highest rate of proteolysis was observed in Biokefir, while the greatest change in the rate of proteolysis was observed in Gefilus®. Differences in starters and manufacturing processes reflected on the peptide profiles of the products. Most of the identified peptides originated from either the N- or C-terminal region of β-casein or from the N-terminal region of αs1-casein.

  18. Attitudes toward guidelines in Finnish primary care nursing: a questionnaire survey

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seija, Alanen; Kaila, Minna; Välimäki, Marita

    2009-01-01

    to be shaped by perceptions of others, which makes the role of organizational implementation interventions interesting. AIMS: This article describes primary care nurses' attitudes toward guidelines among Finnish primary care nurses and the associations between attitudes, implementation interventions...... more positively and that guidelines were more easily available. Further, nurses who were familiar or very familiar with the guidelines had more positive attitudes toward them. Attitudes were also associated with self-reported guideline use. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence-based guidelines were accepted...... as a reliable source of advice in patient care in Finnish primary care. It seems that implementation interventions improve attitudes toward guidelines and enhance guideline use. These interventions might also be important from another point of view; they presumably improve familiarity with guidelines, which...

  19. Primers As Socializing Agents in American and Finnish Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hyona, Jukka; And Others

    1995-01-01

    Content analysis of 12 Finnish and 18 American primers for grades 3 through 6 published primarily during the 1980s examined story type, plot setting, protagonist's characteristics, dramatic tasks, portrayals of family structure and parental responsibility, and extrafamilial peer and adult relationships. Results suggest that a nation's cultural…

  20. On Moral Education in the Finnish Comprehensive School Curriculum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hakkarainen, Pentti

    1978-01-01

    Basic values of moral education in Finnish schools come from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Moral tenets are taught in religion and civics. The textbooks deal with moral questions mainly on the individual level and provide limited opportunities for practice necessary for the internalization of values. (Author/SJL)

  1. Well-being in a Czech population sample

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kebza, V.; Kodl, M.; Šolcová, Iva; Kernová, V.

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 47, Suppl. 1 (2012), s. 414-414 ISSN 0020-7594. [International Congress of Psychology /30./. 22.07.2012-27.07.2012, Cape Town] R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP407/10/2410 Institutional support: RVO:68081740 Keywords : well-being * Czech population sample * determinants Subject RIV: AN - Psychology

  2. Using temporal sampling to improve attribution of source populations for invasive species.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharyn J Goldstien

    Full Text Available Numerous studies have applied genetic tools to the identification of source populations and transport pathways for invasive species. However, there are many gaps in the knowledge obtained from such studies because comprehensive and meaningful spatial sampling to meet these goals is difficult to achieve. Sampling populations as they arrive at the border should fill the gaps in source population identification, but such an advance has not yet been achieved with genetic data. Here we use previously acquired genetic data to assign new incursions as they invade populations within New Zealand ports and marinas. We also investigated allelelic frequency change in these recently established populations over a two-year period, and assessed the effect of temporal genetic sampling on our ability to assign new incursions to their population of source. We observed shifts in the allele frequencies among populations, as well as the complete loss of some alleles and the addition of alleles novel to New Zealand, within these recently established populations. There was no significant level of genetic differentiation observed in our samples between years, and the use of these temporal data did alter the assignment probability of new incursions. Our study further suggests that new incursions can add genetic variation to the population in a single introduction event as the founders themselves are often more genetically diverse than theory initially predicted.

  3. Hip fracture prevention with a multifactorial educational program in elderly community-dwelling Finnish women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pekkarinen, T; Löyttyniemi, E; Välimäki, M

    2013-12-01

    Guidelines suggest identification of women at fracture risk by bone density measurement and subsequently pharmacotherapy. However, most women who sustain a hip fracture do not have osteoporosis in terms of bone density. The present non-pharmacological intervention among elderly women unselected for osteoporosis reduced hip fracture risk by 55 % providing an alternative approach to fracture prevention. Hip fractures are expensive for society and cause disability for those who sustain them. We studied whether a multifactorial non-pharmacological prevention program reduces hip fracture risk in elderly women. A controlled trial concerning 60- to 70-year-old community-dwelling Finnish women was undertaken. A random sample was drawn from the Population Information System and assigned into the intervention group (IG) and control group (CG). Of the 2,547 women who were invited to the IG, 1,004 (39 %) and of the 2,120 invited to the CG, 1,174 (55 %) participated. The IG participated in a fracture prevention program for 1 week at a rehabilitation center followed by review days twice. The CG received no intervention. During the 10-year follow-up, both groups participated in survey questionnaire by mail. Outcome of interest was occurrence of hip fractures and changes in bone-health-related lifestyle. During the follow-up, 12 (1.2 %) women in the IG and 29 (2.5 %) in the CG sustained a hip fracture (P = 0.039). The determinants of hip fractures by stepwise logistic regression were baseline smoking (odds ratio (OR) 4.32 (95 % confidence interval [CI] 2.14-8.71), age OR 1.15/year (95 % CI 1.03-1.28), fall history OR 2.7 (95 % CI 1.24-5.9), stroke history OR 2.99 (95 % CI 1.19-7.54) and participating in this program OR 0.45 (95 % CI 0.22-0.93). Starting vitamin D and calcium supplement use was more common in the IG compared with the CG. The results suggest that this non-pharmacological fracture prevention program may reduce the risk of hip fractures in elderly

  4. Sociodemographic and socioeconomic differences in sleep duration and insomnia-related symptoms in Finnish adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lallukka Tea

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Poor sleep tends to be patterned by sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors. The aim of this study was to examine the associations of sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors with sleep duration and insomnia-related symptoms across life course. Methods We used cross-sectional Health 2000 Survey (2000–2001 among a total of 5,578 adult Finns, aged 30–79 years, representative of adult Finnish population. Data about sociodemographic and socioeconomic circumstances, insomnia-related symptoms over the previous month as well as average sleep duration were collected by questionnaires. Multinomial logistic regression models were adjusted first for gender and age, second for sociodemographic factors, third additionally for socioeconomic factors, and fourth for all covariates and self-perceived health simultaneously. Results On average 70% of Finnish adults slept 7–8 hours a day. Frequent insomnia-related symptoms were more prevalent among women (14% than men (10%. Not being married, not having children, having low education, low income, being unemployed, and being a disability retiree were associated with frequent insomnia-related symptoms. Similar factors were associated with short and long sleep duration. However, childhood socioeconomic position was mostly unrelated to sleep in adulthood except parental education had some associations with short sleep duration. Conclusions Disadvantaged socioeconomic position in adulthood, in particular income and employment status, is associated with poorer sleep. When promoting optimal sleep duration and better sleep quality, families with low incomes, unemployed people, and disability retirees should be targeted.

  5. Exports of Finnish wind power technology gaining momentum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2005-01-01

    In the 1990s, Finnish companies in the wind power sector focused on supplying advanced components and materials. This capability has now extended to cover entire turbines and wind farms. Winwind Oy, based in northern Finland, has developed a new type of solution for the export market, combining the advantages of modem direct drives with those of traditional high-speed gear systems

  6. Estimating Aquatic Insect Populations. Introduction to Sampling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chihuahuan Desert Research Inst., Alpine, TX.

    This booklet introduces high school and junior high school students to the major groups of aquatic insects and to population sampling techniques. Chapter 1 consists of a short field guide which can be used to identify five separate orders of aquatic insects: odonata (dragonflies and damselflies); ephemeroptera (mayflies); diptera (true flies);…

  7. Recent adverse trends in semen quality and testis cancer incidence among Finnish men

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jorgensen, N.; Vierula, M.; Jacobsen, R.

    2011-01-01

    Impaired semen quality and testicular cancer may be linked through a testicular dysgenesis syndrome of foetal origin. The incidence of testis cancer has been shown to increase among Finnish men, whereas there is no recent publication describing temporal trends in semen quality. Therefore, we...... carried out a prospective semen quality study and a registry study of testis cancer incidence among Finnish men to explore recent trends. A total of 858 men were investigated in the semen quality study during 1998-2006. Median sperm concentrations were 67 (95% CI 57-80) million/mL, 60 (51-71) and 48 (39...

  8. "Virtuoso Ideal Daddy": Finnish Children's Perceptions of Good Fatherhood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hietanen, Riika; Määttä, Kaarina; Uusiautti, Satu

    2013-01-01

    Changes in family structures, such as the increase in the number of cohabiting couples, divorces, and blended families pose new challenges for fatherhood and research on fatherhood has been mainly adult-centred. This research studied how Finnish children perceive good fatherhood and what expectations they set for fathers. The following research…

  9. SAFIR2014. The Finnish Research Programme on Nuclear Power Plant Safety 2011-2014. Interim Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Simola, K. [ed.

    2013-02-15

    The Finnish Nuclear Power Plant Safety Research Programme 2011-2014, SAFIR2014, is a 4-year publicly funded national technical and scientific research programme on the safety of nuclear power plants. The programme is funded by the State Nuclear Waste Management Fund (VYR), as well as other key organisations operating in the area of nuclear energy. The programme provides the necessary conditions for retaining knowledge needed for ensuring the continuance of safe use of nuclear power, for developing new know-how and for participation in international co-operation. The SAFIR2014 Steering Group, responsible of the strategic alignements of the programme, consists of representatives of the Finnish Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), Ministry of Employment and the Economy (MEE), Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO), Fortum Power and Heat Oy (Fortum), Fennovoima Oy, Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), Aalto University (Aalto), Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes), Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (TTL) and the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM). The research programme is divided into nine areas: Man, organisation and society, Automation and control room, Fuel research and reactor analysis, Thermal hydraulics, Severe accidents, Structural safety of reactor circuits, Construction safety, Probabilistic risk analysis (PRA), and Development of research infrastructure. A reference group is assigned to each of these areas to respond for the strategic planning and to supervise the projects in its respective field. Research projects are selected annually based on a public call for proposals. Most of the projects are planned for the entire duration of the programme, but there can also be shorter one- or two-year projects. The annual volume of the SAFIR2014 programme in 2011-2012 has been 9,5-9,9 M euro. Main funding organisations were the State Nuclear Waste Management Fund (VYR) with over 5 M euro and

  10. SAFIR2014. The Finnish Research Programme on Nuclear Power Plant Safety 2011-2014. Interim Report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simola, K.

    2013-02-01

    The Finnish Nuclear Power Plant Safety Research Programme 2011-2014, SAFIR2014, is a 4-year publicly funded national technical and scientific research programme on the safety of nuclear power plants. The programme is funded by the State Nuclear Waste Management Fund (VYR), as well as other key organisations operating in the area of nuclear energy. The programme provides the necessary conditions for retaining knowledge needed for ensuring the continuance of safe use of nuclear power, for developing new know-how and for participation in international co-operation. The SAFIR2014 Steering Group, responsible of the strategic alignements of the programme, consists of representatives of the Finnish Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), Ministry of Employment and the Economy (MEE), Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO), Fortum Power and Heat Oy (Fortum), Fennovoima Oy, Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), Aalto University (Aalto), Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes), Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (TTL) and the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM). The research programme is divided into nine areas: Man, organisation and society, Automation and control room, Fuel research and reactor analysis, Thermal hydraulics, Severe accidents, Structural safety of reactor circuits, Construction safety, Probabilistic risk analysis (PRA), and Development of research infrastructure. A reference group is assigned to each of these areas to respond for the strategic planning and to supervise the projects in its respective field. Research projects are selected annually based on a public call for proposals. Most of the projects are planned for the entire duration of the programme, but there can also be shorter one- or two-year projects. The annual volume of the SAFIR2014 programme in 2011-2012 has been 9,5-9,9 M euro. Main funding organisations were the State Nuclear Waste Management Fund (VYR) with over 5 M euro and

  11. Adsorption of sugar beet herbicides to Finnish soils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Autio, Sari; Siimes, Katri; Laitinen, Pirkko; Rämö, Sari; Oinonen, Seija; Eronen, Liisa

    2004-04-01

    Three sugar beet herbicides, ethofumesate, phenmedipham and metamitron, are currently used on conventional sugar beet cultivation, while new varieties of herbicide resistant (HR) sugar beet, tolerant of glyphosate or glufosinate-ammonium, are under field testing in Finland. Little knowledge has so far been available on the adsorption of these herbicides to Finnish soils. The adsorption of these five herbicides was studied using the batch equilibrium method in 21 soil samples collected from different depths. Soil properties like organic carbon content, texture, pH and partly the phosphorus and oxide content of the soils were tested against the adsorption coefficients of the herbicides. In general, the herbicides studied could be arranged according to their adsorption coefficients as follows: glyphosate>phenmedipham>ethofumesate approximately glufosinate-ammonium>metamitron, metamitron meaning the highest risk of leaching. None of the measured soil parameters could alone explain the adsorption mechanism of these five herbicides. The results can be used in model assessments of risk for leaching to ground water resulting from weed control of sugar beet in Finland.

  12. Effects of sample size on estimates of population growth rates calculated with matrix models.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ian J Fiske

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Matrix models are widely used to study the dynamics and demography of populations. An important but overlooked issue is how the number of individuals sampled influences estimates of the population growth rate (lambda calculated with matrix models. Even unbiased estimates of vital rates do not ensure unbiased estimates of lambda-Jensen's Inequality implies that even when the estimates of the vital rates are accurate, small sample sizes lead to biased estimates of lambda due to increased sampling variance. We investigated if sampling variability and the distribution of sampling effort among size classes lead to biases in estimates of lambda. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using data from a long-term field study of plant demography, we simulated the effects of sampling variance by drawing vital rates and calculating lambda for increasingly larger populations drawn from a total population of 3842 plants. We then compared these estimates of lambda with those based on the entire population and calculated the resulting bias. Finally, we conducted a review of the literature to determine the sample sizes typically used when parameterizing matrix models used to study plant demography. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We found significant bias at small sample sizes when survival was low (survival = 0.5, and that sampling with a more-realistic inverse J-shaped population structure exacerbated this bias. However our simulations also demonstrate that these biases rapidly become negligible with increasing sample sizes or as survival increases. For many of the sample sizes used in demographic studies, matrix models are probably robust to the biases resulting from sampling variance of vital rates. However, this conclusion may depend on the structure of populations or the distribution of sampling effort in ways that are unexplored. We suggest more intensive sampling of populations when individual survival is low and greater sampling of stages with high

  13. Effects of sample size on estimates of population growth rates calculated with matrix models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fiske, Ian J; Bruna, Emilio M; Bolker, Benjamin M

    2008-08-28

    Matrix models are widely used to study the dynamics and demography of populations. An important but overlooked issue is how the number of individuals sampled influences estimates of the population growth rate (lambda) calculated with matrix models. Even unbiased estimates of vital rates do not ensure unbiased estimates of lambda-Jensen's Inequality implies that even when the estimates of the vital rates are accurate, small sample sizes lead to biased estimates of lambda due to increased sampling variance. We investigated if sampling variability and the distribution of sampling effort among size classes lead to biases in estimates of lambda. Using data from a long-term field study of plant demography, we simulated the effects of sampling variance by drawing vital rates and calculating lambda for increasingly larger populations drawn from a total population of 3842 plants. We then compared these estimates of lambda with those based on the entire population and calculated the resulting bias. Finally, we conducted a review of the literature to determine the sample sizes typically used when parameterizing matrix models used to study plant demography. We found significant bias at small sample sizes when survival was low (survival = 0.5), and that sampling with a more-realistic inverse J-shaped population structure exacerbated this bias. However our simulations also demonstrate that these biases rapidly become negligible with increasing sample sizes or as survival increases. For many of the sample sizes used in demographic studies, matrix models are probably robust to the biases resulting from sampling variance of vital rates. However, this conclusion may depend on the structure of populations or the distribution of sampling effort in ways that are unexplored. We suggest more intensive sampling of populations when individual survival is low and greater sampling of stages with high elasticities.

  14. Finnish Play Becomes Chinese Local Opera

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    1993-01-01

    IN the fall of 1992 an unusualpremiere took place in Xi′an:Totisesti totisesti,adapted from aFinnish stage play,was performed asan opera in Chinese by the HuaOpera Troupe,a part of the ShaanxiOpera Research Institute.Ms.InkeriKilpinen,the playwright,and Ms.Leena Laulajainen,vice-chairman ofFinland Writers′Association,cameto see the performance.Hua opera,also known as“Wanwan Opera,”is one of the localforms of opera in Shaanxi Province.It was originally performed in theform of shadow play,and was for-

  15. Risk factors for skin cancer among Finnish airline cabin crew.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kojo, Katja; Helminen, Mika; Pukkala, Eero; Auvinen, Anssi

    2013-07-01

    Increased incidence of skin cancers among airline cabin crew has been reported in several studies. We evaluated whether the difference in risk factor prevalence between Finnish airline cabin crew and the general population could explain the increased incidence of skin cancers among cabin crew, and the possible contribution of estimated occupational cosmic radiation exposure. A self-administered questionnaire survey on occupational, host, and ultraviolet radiation exposure factors was conducted among female cabin crew members and females presenting the general population. The impact of occupational cosmic radiation dose was estimated in a separate nested case-control analysis among the participating cabin crew (with 9 melanoma and 35 basal cell carcinoma cases). No considerable difference in the prevalence of risk factors of skin cancer was found between the cabin crew (N = 702) and the general population subjects (N = 1007) participating the study. The mean risk score based on all the conventional skin cancer risk factors was 1.43 for cabin crew and 1.44 for general population (P = 0.24). Among the cabin crew, the estimated cumulative cosmic radiation dose was not related to the increased skin cancer risk [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.75, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.57-1.00]. The highest plausible risk of skin cancer for estimated cosmic radiation dose was estimated as 9% per 10 mSv. The skin cancer cases had higher host characteristics scores than the non-cases among cabin crew (adjusted OR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.01-2.04). Our results indicate no difference between the female cabin crew and the general female population in the prevalence of factors generally associated with incidence of skin cancer. Exposure to cosmic radiation did not explain the excess of skin cancer among the studied cabin crew in this study.

  16. Hot spot mutations in Finnish non-small cell lung cancers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mäki-Nevala, Satu; Sarhadi, Virinder Kaur; Rönty, Mikko; Kettunen, Eeva; Husgafvel-Pursiainen, Kirsti; Wolff, Henrik; Knuuttila, Aija; Knuutila, Sakari

    2016-09-01

    Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a common cancer with a poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to screen Finnish NSCLC tumor samples for common cancer-related mutations by targeted next generation sequencing and to determine their concurrences and associations with clinical features. Sequencing libraries were prepared from DNA isolated from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor material of 425 patients using the AmpliSeq Colon and Lung panel covering mutational hot spot regions of 22 cancer genes. Sequencing was performed with the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM). Data analysis of the hot spot mutations revealed mutations in 77% of the patients, with 7% having 3 or more mutations reported in the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) database. Two of the most frequently mutated genes were TP53 (46%) and KRAS (25%). KRAS codon 12 mutations were the most recurrently occurring mutations. EGFR mutations were significantly associated with adenocarcinoma, female gender and never/light-smoking history; CTNNB1 mutations with light ex-smokers, PIK3CA and TP53 mutations with squamous cell carcinoma, and KRAS with adenocarcinoma. TP53 mutations were most prevalent in current smokers and ERBB2, ERBB4, PIK3CA, NRAS, NOTCH1, FBWX7, PTEN and STK11 mutations occurred exclusively in a group of ever-smokers, however the association was not statistically significant. No mutation was found that associated with asbestos exposure. Finnish NSCLC patients have a similar mutation profile as other Western patients, however with a higher frequency of BRAF mutations but a lower frequency of STK11 and ERBB2 mutations. Moreover, TP53 mutations occurred frequently with other gene mutations, most commonly with KRAS, MET, EGFR and PIK3CA mutations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. The history of Finnish nuclear non-proliferation policy during the cold war. What did the Finns know about nuclear weapons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahosniemi, A.

    2004-03-01

    This article is a summary of the Finnish historical survey during the Cold War. In the article, I try to show how the Finnish Nuclear Non-Proliferation Policy during the Cold War is linked to the broader context of the Finnish foreign and security policy. In the research report I have focused on several questions. One of the most important is the following: What did the Finns know about nuclear weapons during the Cold War? And in this context scientific knowledge is meant by knowing something about nuclear weapons. Basically, the Finnish national based survey of nuclear non-proliferation policy attempted to investigate issues like the kind of research concerning Nuclear Technology in general, Nuclear weapons, and Nuclear weapon policies of super powers in Finland during the Cold War era. (author)

  18. Assessment of reliability and maintenance of motor operated valves at Finnish NPPS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laakso, K.; Haenninen, S.; Simola, K.

    1994-01-01

    This paper summarizes two studies on motor operated valve (MOV) failure and maintenance experiences in Finnish nuclear power plants. In the first study, described in section 2 of this paper, the failure reports of MOVs at Finnish BWR units from a nine years' time period were analyzed in a systematic way. The dominant failure mechanisms were identified and time-dependencies in failure occurrence were studied. This study initiated an experience based reliability centered maintenance (RCM) analysis of motor operated valve drives, which is summarized in chapter 3 of this paper. The RCM analysis resulted in the identification and proposal of the most suitable and effective maintenance tasks for consideration. 9 refs, 3 figs, 1 tab

  19. Procurement of timber for the Finnish forest industries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hakkila, P.

    1995-01-01

    The procurement of timber to the forest industries in the Nordic countries is based on the log-length or shortwood system, and employs load-carrying forwarders and chainsaw of single-grip harvesters. This technology is characterized by high productivity, safety, suitability for small-sized trees, high recovery of timber, and environmental friendliness. About one fourth of the industrial timber in the whole world is harvested using the log-length system. The challenge of ecological sustainability, multiple use of forests, adoption of thinnings as a tool of management, trend toward improved utilization of forest biomass, and shift from natural forests to plantations all increase the global interest in the log-length system. The paper presents a review of the Finnish forest sector, the technology of timber harvesting and transport, productivity of logging work, and costs of timber at the mill. The highly mechanized logging systems of the forest industries and the lighter technology of self-employed forest owners are discussed separately. Furthermore, the use of residual biomass as a source of clean and renewable energy, the Finnish logging machine industry, and forest operations research in Finland are also reviewed. (46 refs., 35 figs., 8 tabs.)

  20. The efficacy of respondent-driven sampling for the health assessment of minority populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Badowski, Grazyna; Somera, Lilnabeth P; Simsiman, Brayan; Lee, Hye-Ryeon; Cassel, Kevin; Yamanaka, Alisha; Ren, JunHao

    2017-10-01

    Respondent driven sampling (RDS) is a relatively new network sampling technique typically employed for hard-to-reach populations. Like snowball sampling, initial respondents or "seeds" recruit additional respondents from their network of friends. Under certain assumptions, the method promises to produce a sample independent from the biases that may have been introduced by the non-random choice of "seeds." We conducted a survey on health communication in Guam's general population using the RDS method, the first survey that has utilized this methodology in Guam. It was conducted in hopes of identifying a cost-efficient non-probability sampling strategy that could generate reasonable population estimates for both minority and general populations. RDS data was collected in Guam in 2013 (n=511) and population estimates were compared with 2012 BRFSS data (n=2031) and the 2010 census data. The estimates were calculated using the unweighted RDS sample and the weighted sample using RDS inference methods and compared with known population characteristics. The sample size was reached in 23days, providing evidence that the RDS method is a viable, cost-effective data collection method, which can provide reasonable population estimates. However, the results also suggest that the RDS inference methods used to reduce bias, based on self-reported estimates of network sizes, may not always work. Caution is needed when interpreting RDS study findings. For a more diverse sample, data collection should not be conducted in just one location. Fewer questions about network estimates should be asked, and more careful consideration should be given to the kind of incentives offered to participants. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  1. Airborne fallout mapping of {sup 137}Cs Finnish defence forces team

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kettunen, M.; Heininen, T. [Finnish Defence Forces Research Centre, Lakiala (Finland); Pulakka, M. [Finnish Air Force Depot, Tampere (Finland)

    1997-12-31

    The main task of the team was to create a fallout map of {sup 137}Cs in a specified area in Padasjoki Auttoinen village. The team used an MI-8 helicopter of the Finnish Air Force. The team had an HPGe system (relative efficiency 70%) to measure nuclide specific ground contamination level. For navigation the team took advantage of the DGPS service provided by Finnish Broadcasting company utilizing the RDS-channel to get position accuracy within 2 meters. The correction signal is reachable nationwide on the FM transmitter network. The system produced a distribution map for {sup 40}K and fallout maps for {sup 134,137}Cs using a Micro Station Program with TerraModeler application. The maximum measured {sup 137}Cs ground contamination exceeded 130-140 kBqm{sup -2}. (au).

  2. Airborne fallout mapping of {sup 137}Cs Finnish defence forces team

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kettunen, M; Heininen, T [Finnish Defence Forces Research Centre, Lakiala (Finland); Pulakka, M [Finnish Air Force Depot, Tampere (Finland)

    1998-12-31

    The main task of the team was to create a fallout map of {sup 137}Cs in a specified area in Padasjoki Auttoinen village. The team used an MI-8 helicopter of the Finnish Air Force. The team had an HPGe system (relative efficiency 70%) to measure nuclide specific ground contamination level. For navigation the team took advantage of the DGPS service provided by Finnish Broadcasting company utilizing the RDS-channel to get position accuracy within 2 meters. The correction signal is reachable nationwide on the FM transmitter network. The system produced a distribution map for {sup 40}K and fallout maps for {sup 134,137}Cs using a Micro Station Program with TerraModeler application. The maximum measured {sup 137}Cs ground contamination exceeded 130-140 kBqm{sup -2}. (au).

  3. Problematic digital gaming behavior and its relation to the psychological, social and physical health of Finnish adolescents and young adults

    OpenAIRE

    M?nnikk?, Niko; Billieux, Jo?l; K??ri?inen, Maria

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The aim of this study was to identify problematic gaming behavior among Finnish adolescents and young adults, and evaluate its connection to a variety of psychological, social, and physical health symptoms. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted with a random sample of 293 respondents aged from 13 to 24 years. Participants completed an online survey. Problematic gaming behavior was measured with the Game Addiction Scale (GAS). Self-reports covered health measur...

  4. Sample size for monitoring sirex populations and their natural enemies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susete do Rocio Chiarello Penteado

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The woodwasp Sirex noctilio Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Siricidae was introduced in Brazil in 1988 and became the main pest in pine plantations. It has spread to about 1.000.000 ha, at different population levels, in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo and Minas Gerais. Control is done mainly by using a nematode, Deladenus siricidicola Bedding (Nematoda: Neothylenchidae. The evaluation of the efficiency of natural enemies has been difficult because there are no appropriate sampling systems. This study tested a hierarchical sampling system to define the sample size to monitor the S. noctilio population and the efficiency of their natural enemies, which was found to be perfectly adequate.

  5. Ground beetle (Coleoptera, Carabidae diversity in Finnish arable land

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J.K. HELENIUS

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Carabid data compiled from six independent studies, consisting of 97 799 individuals trapped by pitfalls from Finnish agricultural fields and identified to 111 species were analyzed. Shannon-Wiener H' diversity index was typically around 2.5 and expected species number rarefied to 600 trapped individuals was typically around 30 species. The five most abundant species accounted for 42% of the total catch, and the thirty most abundant species made up 98% of the total catch. Percentage similarities among the assemblages by PS-index were from 16% to 48%. In comparison to published data about carabid diversity in boreal forests, which form the dominating habitat matrix in which Finnish farmland is embedded as relatively small patches, arable fields harbor more species rich assemblages, with more even rank-abundance distributions but variable species composition. Importance of landscape (regional level, instead of spatial level of crop fields, in understanding carabid diversity in farmland is discussed. Inclusion of carabids into monitoring schemes of agro-biodiversity at landscape level is suggested.

  6. Ozone and UV research at Finnish Meteorological Inst.: review of selected results

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Taalas, P; Koskela, T; Damski, J; Supperi, A [Finnish Meteorological Inst., Helsinki (Finland). Section of Ozone and UV Research; Kyroe, E [Finnish Meteorologican Inst., Sodankylae (Finland). Sodankylae Observatory; Ginzburg, M [Servicio Meteorologico Nacional, Buenos Aires (Argentina); Dijkhuis, J L [Finnish Meteorological Inst., Helsinki (Finland). EUMETSAT

    1996-12-31

    Ozone and UV radiation research have become an important part of atmospheric research at Finnish Meteorological Institute after the discovery of chlorine based ozone loss in the Antarctic stratosphere

  7. Ozone and UV research at Finnish Meteorological Inst.: review of selected results

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Taalas, P.; Koskela, T.; Damski, J.; Supperi, A. [Finnish Meteorological Inst., Helsinki (Finland). Section of Ozone and UV Research; Kyroe, E. [Finnish Meteorologican Inst., Sodankylae (Finland). Sodankylae Observatory; Ginzburg, M. [Servicio Meteorologico Nacional, Buenos Aires (Argentina); Dijkhuis, J.L. [Finnish Meteorological Inst., Helsinki (Finland). EUMETSAT

    1995-12-31

    Ozone and UV radiation research have become an important part of atmospheric research at Finnish Meteorological Institute after the discovery of chlorine based ozone loss in the Antarctic stratosphere

  8. Finnish support programme to IAEA safeguards. Annual report 1994; Suomen tukiohjelma IAEA:n safeguards-valvonnalle. Vuoden 1994 toimintakertomus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tarvainen, M [ed.

    1995-05-01

    Implementation of the Finnish Support Programme to IAEA Safeguards (FINSP) during the calender year in question is summarized. FINSP is carried out trough separate tasks concentrating on verification of nuclear material, training and expert services to the IAEA. In addition to the Finnish summary, the report includes detailed description of each task in English.

  9. Teaching Islamic Education in Finnish Schools: A Field of Negotiations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rissanen, Inkeri

    2012-01-01

    The challenges of contemporary multicultural societies have resulted in changing aims for religious education and the necessity to adjust teacher education accordingly. The processes of negotiation related to the coexistence of different religious and cultural groups are intertwined in the Finnish curriculum for religious education. This case…

  10. Radioactivity of Focus vesiculosus along the Finnish coast in 1987

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ilus, E.; Klemola, S.; Sjoeblom, K.-L.; Ikaeheimonen, T.K.

    1988-05-01

    Samples of Fucus vesiculosus were collected along the west and south coast of Finland at 25 stations in June-October 1987. More detailed surveys were conducted in the marine areas surrounding the nuclear power stations at Olkiluoto and Loviisa. The samples were analysed for gamma-emitting radionuclides and partly also for 90 Sr and transuranic elements. From the twelve gamma-emitting radionuclides detected in the Focus samples, 40 K, 106 Ru, 110m Ag, 134 Cs and 137 Cs were found in nearly all samples. 54 Mn and 65 Zn were almost regularly detected in the samples from the Olkiluoto and Loviisa areas and commonly also along the whole coast, whereas 60 Co was rarely found at the coastal stations outside the immediate vicinities of the power stations. The activity concentrations of 137 Cs varied in the Fucus samples from 80 to 670 Bq kg -1 dry weight. The highest values were found in the Loviisa area and in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland and the lowest in the Archipelago Sea. The values reflect differences in the amounts of local fallout and runoff, but also the transport of radionuclides by river waters and currents in the sea. The results provide evidence of the indicator value of Fucus vesiculosus in the monitoring of radioactive substances, both in the environs of the nuclear power stations and also in studies regarding the dispersion and behaviour of fallout nuclides in the marine environment. Among the great number of samples taken in the Finnish monitoring programme, Fucus was the most sensitive bioindicator of 60 Co and 65 Zn, and thus enabled detection of these radionuclides in the fallout from Chernobyl

  11. Rotavirus Vaccination and the Risk of Celiac Disease or Type 1 Diabetes in Finnish Children at Early Life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaarala, Outi; Jokinen, Jukka; Lahdenkari, Mika; Leino, Tuija

    2017-07-01

    Rotavirus infection has been suggested as a trigger of type 1 diabetes (T1D)-related autoimmunity and celiac disease (CD)-related autoimmunity. We carried out a nationwide, population-based cohort study evaluating whether prevention of rotavirus infection with vaccination affects the risk of CD and T1D diagnosed during 2009-2014 in Finnish children by comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated children in a cohort born in 2009-2010. Nationwide rotavirus vaccination records were collected from healthcare databases during 2009-2011 and validated for a sample of 495 children born from July 2009 to December 2009. Incident diagnoses of CD and T1D during 2009-2014 in the cohort were identified in the National Care Register. The adjusted relative risks (with 95% confidence intervals) were 0.91 (0.69-1.20) for T1D and 0.87 (0.65-1.17) for CD in vaccinated children compared with unvaccinated, suggesting that oral rotavirus vaccination does not alter the risk of CD or T1D during 4-6 years follow-up after vaccination. Our results suggest that oral rotavirus vaccination is considered safe in the individuals at risk of CD and T1D.

  12. Characteristics and Costs of Disability Pensions in Finnish Agriculture Based on 5-Year Insurance Records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karttunen, Janne P; Rautiainen, Risto H; Leppälä, Jarkko

    2015-01-01

    The characteristics and costs of disability pensions in Finnish farmers were investigated. The data included a total of 4,088 permanent or temporary disability pensions of the self-employed Finnish farming population over a 5-year period (2008-2012), an annual rate of 1.04 new cases per 100 person-years (males 0.94/100 and females 1.24/100). These cases resulted in the loss of almost 6,800 person-years and 60.2 million Euros in pension costs in the 5-year period. Almost half of the outcomes (44.6%) were primarily related to diseases of the musculoskeletal system (MSDs). Other common outcomes were mental and behavioral disorders (17.5%), injuries (9.8%), diseases of the circulatory system (7.8%), and diseases of the nervous system (6.6%). Relative proportions of these outcomes and their costs were similar with few exceptions. Although farmers have high risk of acute traumatic injuries, they also have a high risk of chronic conditions that affect their work ability. Particularly MSDs were common primary reasons for disability pension among farmers in general and among female farmers in particular. In addition to healthy lifestyle choices, improvements in the working environment and methods to reduce heavy or repetitive manual labor should be emphasized in vocational and extension education of farmers. Modern working conditions with meaningful and varied work tasks could enhance both physical and mental well-being of farmers and thus reinforce and extend their careers.

  13. Transnational sense of place: cinematic scenes of Finnish war child memories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna-Kaisa Kuusisto-Arponen

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available In this article I discuss the role of popular geopolitics and people's performative repertoires in voicing the social silence. I have selected for close-reading some of the episodes of the film Mother of Mine, which tells the story of a Finnish war child. In my analysis I ask what the transnational memory sites of forced displacement are, how they are depicted, and in general what kind of socio-spatial identity struggles they are involved in. Moreover, in this article I argue that the many forms through which silence becomes expressive need to be studied on the scale of the body and daily performative practices. Thus, I conclude that through several daily practices the Finnish war children unconsciously developed transnational agencies in order to survive and re-create the existential social and spatial ties of belonging.

  14. Finnish perspectives of wireless in healthcare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alasaarela, Esko

    2009-01-01

    Wireless solutions are a good choice for healthcare development in Finland. A survey of 135 experts in Finland show that (1) the competences needed for developing wireless solutions exist (2) the Finnish healthcare system is integrated enough and (3) the technology industry in this area is too weak for global marketing. The following recommendations can be concluded: (1) Cooperate internationally (2) Develop integrated solutions and health managing concepts for the important health problems (such as diabetes), (3) Harness the healthcare system to act as a test bed for new solutions and (4) Help companies to grow and take global roles.

  15. Yfiler® Plus population samples and dilution series

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Mikkel Meyer; Mogensen, Helle Smidt; Eriksen, Poul Svante

    2017-01-01

    DNA complicated the analysis by causing drop-ins of characteristic female DNA artefacts. Even though the customised analytical threshold in combination with the custom-made artefact filters gave more alleles, crime scene samples still needed special attention from the forensic geneticist....... dynamics and performance. We determined dye-dependent analytical thresholds by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) and made a customised artefact filter that includes theoretical known artefacts by use of previously analysed population samples. Dilution series of known male DNA and a selection...

  16. Sex inequalities in physical and mental functioning of British, Finnish, and Japanese civil servants: role of job demand, control and work hours.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sekine, Michikazu; Tatsuse, Takashi; Kagamimori, Sadanobu; Chandola, Tarani; Cable, Noriko; Marmot, Michael; Martikainen, Pekka; Lallukka, Tea; Rahkonen, Ossi; Lahelma, Eero

    2011-08-01

    In general, women report more physical and mental symptoms than men. International comparisons of countries with different welfare state regimes may provide further understanding of the social determinants of sex inequalities in health. This study aims to evaluate (1) whether there are sex inequalities in health functioning as measured by the Short Form 36 (SF-36), and (2) whether work characteristics contribute to the sex inequalities in health among employees from Britain, Finland, and Japan, representing liberal, social democratic, and conservative welfare state regimes, respectively. The participants were 7340 (5122 men and 2218 women) British employees, 2297 (1638 men and 659 women) Japanese employees, and 8164 (1649 men and 6515 women) Finnish employees. All the participants were civil servants aged 40-60 years. We found that more women than men tended to have disadvantaged work characteristics (i.e. low employment grade, low job control, high job demands, and long work hours) but such sex differences were relatively smaller among employees from Finland, where more gender equal policies exist than Britain and Japan. The age-adjusted odds ratio (OR) of women for poor physical functioning was the largest for British women (OR = 2.08), followed by for Japanese women (OR = 1.72), and then for Finnish women (OR = 1.51). The age-adjusted OR of women for poor mental functioning was the largest for Japanese women (OR = 1.91), followed by for British women (OR = 1.45), and then for Finnish women (OR = 1.07). Thus, sex differences in physical and mental health was the smallest in the Finnish population. The larger the sex differences in work characteristics, the larger the sex differences in health and the reduction in the sex differences in health after adjustment for work characteristics. These results suggest that egalitarian and gender equal policies may contribute to smaller sex differences in health, through smaller differences in disadvantaged work

  17. Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Flavobacterium psychrophilum from Finnish fish farms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madetoja, J.; Hanninen, M.L.; Hirvela-Koski, V.

    2001-01-01

    Finnish isolates (n = 37) of Flavobacterium psychrophilum isolated from farmed salmonids were studied using phenotypic and genotypic characteristics. The characteristics of isolates were compared with the characteristics of Swedish and Estonian F. psychrophilum isolates and the type strain, F...

  18. B-graph sampling to estimate the size of a hidden population

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Spreen, M.; Bogaerts, S.

    2015-01-01

    Link-tracing designs are often used to estimate the size of hidden populations by utilizing the relational links between their members. A major problem in studies of hidden populations is the lack of a convenient sampling frame. The most frequently applied design in studies of hidden populations is

  19. Effective Mathematics Teaching in Finnish and Swedish Teacher Education Discourses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hemmi, Kirsti; Ryve, Andreas

    2015-01-01

    This article explores effective mathematics teaching as constructed in Finnish and Swedish teacher educators' discourses. Based on interview data from teacher educators as well as data from feedback discussions between teacher educators and prospective teachers in Sweden and Finland, the analysis shows that several aspects of the recent…

  20. Computer-Based Molecular Modelling: Finnish School Teachers' Experiences and Views

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aksela, Maija; Lundell, Jan

    2008-01-01

    Modern computer-based molecular modelling opens up new possibilities for chemistry teaching at different levels. This article presents a case study seeking insight into Finnish school teachers' use of computer-based molecular modelling in teaching chemistry, into the different working and teaching methods used, and their opinions about necessary…

  1. Finnish Government contribution in Haiphong Water Supply, Drainage, Sewerage and Sanitation Management Programs in Hai Phong city, Vietnam : A Case Study

    OpenAIRE

    Nguyen Hoang, Duy

    2015-01-01

    The objective of the thesis is to bring out a general point of view in the contribution of the Finnish aid of Finnish Government, targeted in the development of urban area as well as water supply and sanitation of Hai Phong city, the most Northern port city of Vietnam, which holds an important role in the economy system of Vietnam. Moreover, Hai Phong is one of three targeted cities that get Foreign Direct Investment as well as support from Finnish government for the development of local wate...

  2. Estimation of population mean under systematic sampling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noor-ul-amin, Muhammad; Javaid, Amjad

    2017-11-01

    In this study we propose a generalized ratio estimator under non-response for systematic random sampling. We also generate a class of estimators through special cases of generalized estimator using different combinations of coefficients of correlation, kurtosis and variation. The mean square errors and mathematical conditions are also derived to prove the efficiency of proposed estimators. Numerical illustration is included using three populations to support the results.

  3. LOD score exclusion analyses for candidate genes using random population samples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, H W; Li, J; Recker, R R

    2001-05-01

    While extensive analyses have been conducted to test for, no formal analyses have been conducted to test against, the importance of candidate genes with random population samples. We develop a LOD score approach for exclusion analyses of candidate genes with random population samples. Under this approach, specific genetic effects and inheritance models at candidate genes can be analysed and if a LOD score is < or = - 2.0, the locus can be excluded from having an effect larger than that specified. Computer simulations show that, with sample sizes often employed in association studies, this approach has high power to exclude a gene from having moderate genetic effects. In contrast to regular association analyses, population admixture will not affect the robustness of our analyses; in fact, it renders our analyses more conservative and thus any significant exclusion result is robust. Our exclusion analysis complements association analysis for candidate genes in random population samples and is parallel to the exclusion mapping analyses that may be conducted in linkage analyses with pedigrees or relative pairs. The usefulness of the approach is demonstrated by an application to test the importance of vitamin D receptor and estrogen receptor genes underlying the differential risk to osteoporotic fractures.

  4. Economic Co-operation Across the Finnish-Russian Border - Factors of Sluggish Development and Success of Enterprises

    OpenAIRE

    Rautio, V.; Tykkylaeinen, M.

    2000-01-01

    The post-Cold War era in Europe in the 1990s has caused people to recognize the complexity of economic development and economic co-operation. The opening of borders has not always meant an increase cross-border economic activities in general. On the contrary, the adverse socio-economic development of many border areas has been unanticipated. The Finnish-Russian border is one example of this dissonance. This paper analyses the operation of Finnish companies in economic activities in Russ...

  5. Genetic polymorphism of adult reindeer coat colour in a herding cooperative in Finnish Lapland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean J. Lauvergne

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available In a random sample of 188 adult reindeer belonging to a reindeer herding cooperative in Finnish Lapland, the following coat colour mutants were identified: Abf at the locus Agouti (A, kalppinokka (WNk at the locus White Nose (WN and white at the locus W (White. Coefficients of coat colour phenotypic polymorphism K were estimated, in order to quantify this genetic polymorphism. Estimations of K were 12.8% for the locus A (Agouti, 5.1% for the locus WN (White Nose, and 7.5% for the locus W (White. This polymorphism results probably from a change in fitness coefficient of genotypes carrying colour mutants following domestication in a random mating context which has not yet been proved.

  6. Important themes in research on and education of young children in day care centres: Finnish viewpoints

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maritta Hännikäinen

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this article is to outline important themes, according to Finnish early childhood education researchers, that need to be addressed in researching and educating children under three years of age in Finland. To achieve this aim, the article divides into two parts. First, we present and discuss the results of a small-scale survey, conducted in Finland, on the views of key informants in the early childhood education units of Finnish universities. Second, the views presented in the survey are used as a starting point to introduce two ongoing qualitative case studies on the everyday life of toddlers in Finnish day care centres. In line with the survey findings, these case studies emphasize in particular the importance of the relational, social nature of children, the educational community, and the sensitivity of the adult for children’s wellbeing in day care groups.

  7. Adaptive list sequential sampling method for population-based observational studies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hof, Michel H.; Ravelli, Anita C. J.; Zwinderman, Aeilko H.

    2014-01-01

    In population-based observational studies, non-participation and delayed response to the invitation to participate are complications that often arise during the recruitment of a sample. When both are not properly dealt with, the composition of the sample can be different from the desired

  8. Conversion rate optimization in Finnish online businesses

    OpenAIRE

    Ratia, Miramaria; Ruoho, Vilma

    2016-01-01

    Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is an unfamiliar term to many online business owners even though it has become almost as important as search engine optimization is in e-commerce today. It is a method that is used to turn passive visitors into active users in order to improve a website’s performance. The main objective of this thesis was to find out what kinds of conversion rate optimization methods do Finnish small and medium-sized online businesses use. The thesis also studies what ar...

  9. Project Management in the Finnish Music Industry

    OpenAIRE

    Hypén, Joel

    2009-01-01

    The term project is a widely used phrase in today’s working life. This thesis explains what project management theory is, how it has evolved through history and how it is applied in managing modern business projects in the contexts of the Finnish music business sector. The literature review contains a description of the key phases a project is typically organised in as well as the terms and tools used to plan and run a successful project. Through qualitative research means the thesis inves...

  10. Finnish Cooperating Physics Teachers' Conceptions of Physics Teachers' Teacher Knowledge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asikainen, Mervi A.; Hirvonen, Pekka E.

    2010-01-01

    This article examines Finnish cooperating physics teachers' conceptions of teacher knowledge in physics. Six experienced teachers were interviewed. The data was analyzed to form categories concerning the basis of teacher knowledge, and the tradition of German Didaktik and Shulman's theory of teacher knowledge were used in order to understand the…

  11. Implementing the Finnish Literacy Curriculum in a First-Grade Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Räisänen, Sari; Korkeamäki, Riitta-Liisa

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated the first author's process of implementing new literacy practices as a teacher in a Finnish first-grade classroom from a poststructuralist perspective by using nexus analysis (NA). We concentrated on two essential concepts in NA, Bourdieu's habitus and Goffman's interaction order, which we linked to Grundy's curriculum…

  12. Exploring Finnish university students' perceived level of critical thinking

    OpenAIRE

    Orszag, Aaron

    2015-01-01

    Critical thinking is believed to be a 21 st century skill that many employers consider crucial when hiring recent graduates. However, it is debated whether critical thinking should be taught in academic foreign language courses at the tertiary level, which primarily aim to develop students’ language and communication skills. This localized, exploratory research examines Finnish university students’ self-reported critical thinking skills a...

  13. Objectively measured physical activity in Finnish employees: a cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mutikainen, Sara; Helander, Elina; Pietilä, Julia; Korhonen, Ilkka; Kujala, Urho M

    2014-12-10

    To objectively measure the amount of intensity-specific physical activity by gender and age with respect to body mass index (BMI) during workdays and days off among Finnish employees. A cross-sectional study. Primary care occupational healthcare units. A sample of 9554 Finnish employees (4221 men and 5333 women; age range 18-65 years; BMI range 18.5-40 kg/m(2)) who participated in health assessments related to occupational health promotion. The amount of moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) and vigorous (VPA) physical activity (≥3 and ≥6 metabolic equivalents, respectively) was assessed by estimating the minute-to-minute oxygen consumption from the recorded beat-to-beat R-R interval data. The estimation method used heart rate, respiration rate and on/off response information from R-R interval data calibrated by age, gender, height, weight and self-reported physical activity class. The proportion of participants fulfilling the aerobic physical activity recommendation of ≥150 min/week was calculated on the basis of ≥10 min bouts, by multiplying the VPA minutes by 2. Both MVPA and VPA were higher among men and during days off, and decreased with increasing age and BMI (pphysical activity recommendation was highest for normal weight men (65%; 95% CI 62% to 67%) and lowest for obese women (10%; 95% CI 8% to 12%). Objectively measured physical activity is higher among men and during days off, and decreases with increasing age and BMI. The amount of VPA is very low among obese, overweight and older women. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  14. Cyber risk management in the Finnish healthcare sector

    OpenAIRE

    Hellstén, Hanne

    2018-01-01

    Advances in technology and digitalization have been widely adopted by Finnish healthcare organizations. This development has led to improvements in the efficiency and outcomes of patient care, but has also exposed healthcare providers to new kinds of risks. Cyber risks are becoming an increasingly common occurrence in the healthcare sector, and can lead to serious consequences for patients and organizations alike. The significance of cyber risks within healthcare has been projected to grow...

  15. Comparison of knowledge, attitudes and behaviour regarding smoking among Estonian and Finnish physicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pärna, Kersti; Rahu, Kaja; Barengo, Noël C; Rahu, Mati; Sandström, Patrick H; Jormanainen, Vesa J; Myllykangas, Markku T

    2005-01-01

    To compare smoking behaviour, attitudes and opinions towards smoking and smoking cessation among Estonian and Finnish physicians. A cross-sectional postal survey using a self-administered questionnaire was carried out among 2,480 Estonian and 2,075 Finnish physicians. Daily smoking prevalence was higher among Estonian physicians than among their Finnish counterparts in both male (18.6% and 6.7%) and female (6.6% and 3.6%). Compared to Estonia, physicians in Finland more often agreed that smoking is very harmful to their health, that trying to convince people to stop smoking is their responsibility and that smoking prevention should be part of the normal and special training of health professionals. In both countries, non-smoking physicians held more unfavourable attitudes towards smoking than those who were smoking. Physicians' own smoking patterns and quitting behaviour are important because physicians serve as models for their patients and play a key role in the reinforcement of smoke-free health facilities. These results remain a challenge to medical educators, especially in Estonia. Estonia needs to improve medical education in terms of motivating physicians to ask about the smoking patterns of their patients and of training medical students and resident physicians to counsel their patients to stop smoking.

  16. Genetic variation of loin and ham quality in Finnish Landrace and Large White pigs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M-L. SEVÓN-AIMONEN

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Selection potential for meat quality of economically important loin (longissimus and ham muscles (adductor, semimembranosus, biceps femoris has been assessed. Ultimate pH (pHu, meat colour (lightness, redness and yellowness, drip loss and two visually scored colour traits were recorded from 483 Finnish Landrace and 494 Finnish Large White station test pigs in a half-sib design. A univariate restricted maximum likelihood procedure was used to estimate variance components. The statistical model contained age at beginning of test, sex and time lapse from slaughter to dissection as fixed effects and slaughter batch, common environment of littermates and additive genetic effect of the animal as random effects. The average pHu values in adductor and semispinalis were between 5.6 and 6.1. The pHu were on average 5.4 and 5.5 in longissimus and semimembranosus respectively, with the latter two being lower than optimum values of 5.6 to 5.9. Lightness for semimembranosus turned to be clearly lighter (62 than for other muscles. Lightness for longissimus (56 was slightly lighter than optimum (from 48 to 54. The heritability varied from zero to 0.45 for pHu, from 0.02 to 0.34 for lightness, from 0.17 to 0.56 for redness, from zero to 0.28 for yellowness and from 0.05 to 0.16 for drip loss. Heritability for redness values was considerably higher than heritability for other meat quality traits. The heritability of quality traits spoke for possibilities for genetic improvement of meat quality. Genetic correlations between quality traits (pHu and lightness and average daily gain varied strongly among breeds and muscles. Genetic correlations between meat-% and pHu were in most cases high and unfavourable (rg from –0.36 to –0.68 except in longissimus, where it was 0.11. Genetic correlations between meat-% and lightness were unfavourable in Finnish Large White (from 0.47 to 0.92 but in Finnish Landrace estimates varied among muscles (from –0.40 to 0.47. Due to

  17. DIGITALISATION IN FINNISH MUSEUMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magdalena Laine-Zamojska

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available W artykule omówiono generalny obraz digitalizacji w fińskim sektorze muzealnym. Przedstawiono szacunkowe liczby dotyczące digitalizacji dziedzictwa kulturowego na podstawie przeprowadzonych statystycznych badań, oraz zaprezentowano wiele projektów związanych z ucyfrowieniem fińskich muzeów.\tFiński sektor muzealny jest niezwykle zróżnicowany, podobnie jak stopień skatalogowania i zdigitalizowania kolekcji. W projektach rozwojowych aktywnie uczestniczy cały sektor muzealny. W ostatnich latach, dzięki wielu inicjatywom i badaniom udało się uzyskać szczegółowy obraz fińskiego sektora muzealnego. Największą inicjatywą jest projekt utworzenia Narodowej Biblioteki Cyfrowej, podlegający Ministerstwu Edukacji i Kultury. Celem projektu jest połączenie i udostępnienie zasobów z instytucji pamięci (bibliotek, archiwów i muzeów. Towarzyszą mu rozległe projekty digitalizacji.\tW związku z ogromną różnorodnością systemów do zarządzania kolekcją i praktykami katalogowymi w muzeach, w 2011 r. Państwowy Urząd Muzealny (Museovirasto / National Board of Antiquities, Fiński Związek Muzeów (Suomen museoliitto / Finnish Museums Association i Państwowa Galeria Sztuki (Valtion taidemuseo / Finnish National Gallery zainicjowały projekt Muzeum2015 (Museo2015 / Museum2015. Jego głównymi celami są: unifikacja procesów związanych z zarządzaniem kolekcją, stworzenie architektury korporacyjnej dla zarządzania muzealną kolekcją, stworzenie modelu zarządzania dla architektury korporacyjnej, oraz określenie i stworzenie warunków do zakupu i implementacji ogólnofińskiego systemu zarządzania kolekcją.\tRozwój cyfrowych narzędzi dla najmniejszych, prowadzonych przez wolontariuszy, muzeów lokalnych jest jednym z celów projektu badawczego ViMuseo, prowadzonego na Uniwersytecie w Jyväskylä (Jyväskylän yliopisto / University of Jyväskylä.

  18. The finnish guide to radon-resistant homes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arvela, H.

    2006-01-01

    Full text of publication follows: New regulations of the National Finnish Building Code require consideration of radon risks and as a main rule radon technical design in the building permission documents. Slab-on-grade is the prevalent substructure in Finnish low-rise residential buildings. Building statistics show that the prevalent practices in foundation construction promote the flow of radon-bearing soil air into living spaces. Without prevention the normal practices would result in high indoor radon concentrations in Finland. In wide areas more than 50% of houses exceed the reference level of 200 Bq/m 3 given for new buildings. The new guide published in 2003 requires installation of protective sheet in the slab-on-ground foundation and a preparatory radon piping. A protective sheet of durable reinforced bitumen felt with a width of 50 - 100 cm should be installed in the slab-foundation wall joint. Careful sealing of lead-troughs plays also an important role. In the case the sealing work does not result in low indoor radon concentration, the radon piping should be activated through radon-fan installation. Careful implementation of the sealing work reduces indoor radon concentration to a level of less than 50 Bq/m 3 , also in areas where the normal building practices result in indoor radon concentrations exceeding the reference level of 200 Bq/m 3 in more than 50% of new houses. Recent experiences from the implementation of the guide will be considered. (author)

  19. Operation of Finnish nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tossavainen, K.

    1991-12-01

    The Finnish nuclear power plant units Loviisa 1 and 2 as well as TVO 1 and II were in operation for almost the whole second quarter of 1991. The load factor average was 87.4 %. In consequence of a fire, which broke out in the switchgear building, connections to both external grids were lost and TVO II relied on power supplied by four back-up diesels for 7.5 hrs. The event is classified as Level 2 on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The process of examining the non-leaking fuel bundles removed from the Loviisa nuclear reactors has continued. The examinations have revealed, so far, that the uppermost spacing lattices of the bundles exhibit deformations similar to those detected in the leaking fuel bundles removed from the reactors. This event is classified as Level 1 on the International Nuclear Event Scale. Other events in this quarter which are classified according to the International Nuclear Event Scale are Level Zero (Below Scale) on the Scale. The Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety has assessed the safety of the Loviisa and Olkiluoto nuclear power plants based on the new regulations issued on 14.2.1991 by the Council of State. The safety regulations are much more stringent than those in force when the Loviisa and Olkiluoto nuclear power plants were built. The assessment indicated that the TVO nuclear power plant meets these safety regulations. The Loviisa nuclear power plant meets the requirements with the exception of certain requirements related to the ensuring of safety functions and provision for accidents. At the Loviisa nuclear power plant there are several projects under consideration to enhance safety

  20. Displaying Now-Understanding: The Finnish Change-of-State Token "aa"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koivisto, Aino

    2015-01-01

    This article discusses the use of the Finnish change-of-state token "aa" that has previously not been identified. The central claim is that even though "aa" indicates a cognitive shift experienced by the speaker, it does not function as a receipt of new information. Instead, the token "aa" indicates that the speaker…

  1. Sampling populations of humans across the world: ELSI issues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knoppers, Bartha Maria; Zawati, Ma'n H; Kirby, Emily S

    2012-01-01

    There are an increasing number of population studies collecting data and samples to illuminate gene-environment contributions to disease risk and health. The rising affordability of innovative technologies capable of generating large amounts of data helps achieve statistical power and has paved the way for new international research collaborations. Most data and sample collections can be grouped into longitudinal, disease-specific, or residual tissue biobanks, with accompanying ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI). Issues pertaining to consent, confidentiality, and oversight cannot be examined using a one-size-fits-all approach-the particularities of each biobank must be taken into account. It remains to be seen whether current governance approaches will be adequate to handle the impact of next-generation sequencing technologies on communication with participants in population biobanking studies.

  2. Finnish studies on radioactivity in the Baltic sea after the Chernobyl accident in 1986

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ilus, E.; Sjoeblom, K.L.; Saxen, R.; Aaltonen, H.; Taipale, T.K.

    1987-04-01

    After the Chernobyl accident extensive studies were started in the Baltic Sea area. Samples of sea water, bottom sediment, fish, plnkton, littoral algae and benthic animals were collected for radionuclide analyses. All the samples were analysed gammaspectrometrically. From some of the samples ''8''9Sr, ''9''0Sr and transuranic elements were determined. The fallout from the Chernobyl accident was areally unevenly distributed, contrary to the fallout situation in the 1960s. This also reflects in the results of the measurements in the marine environment. After the decay of short-lived radionuclides, ''1''3''7Cs and ''1''3''4Cs were the most important nuclides. The ''1''3''7Cs concentrations in sea water were considerably higher in 1986 than the values reported from the 1960s. Due to the low accumulation of caesium isotopes in brackish-water fish, the concentrations in Baltic Sea fish were clearly lower than in freshwater fish. Thus the consumption of Baltic fish contributes only insignificantly to internal radiation doses of Finnish people

  3. Recruitment of hard-to-reach population subgroups via adaptations of the snowball sampling strategy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadler, Georgia Robins; Lee, Hau-Chen; Lim, Rod Seung-Hwan; Fullerton, Judith

    2010-09-01

    Nurse researchers and educators often engage in outreach to narrowly defined populations. This article offers examples of how variations on the snowball sampling recruitment strategy can be applied in the creation of culturally appropriate, community-based information dissemination efforts related to recruitment to health education programs and research studies. Examples from the primary author's program of research are provided to demonstrate how adaptations of snowball sampling can be used effectively in the recruitment of members of traditionally underserved or vulnerable populations. The adaptation of snowball sampling techniques, as described in this article, helped the authors to gain access to each of the more-vulnerable population groups of interest. The use of culturally sensitive recruitment strategies is both appropriate and effective in enlisting the involvement of members of vulnerable populations. Adaptations of snowball sampling strategies should be considered when recruiting participants for education programs or for research studies when the recruitment of a population-based sample is not essential.

  4. Finnish support programme to IAEA safeguards. Annual report 1993; Suomen tukiohjelma IAEA:n safeguards-valvonnalle. Vuoden 1993 toimintakertomus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tarvainen, M [ed.

    1994-03-01

    Implementation of the Finnish Support Programme to IAEA Safeguards (FINSP) during the calender year in question is summarized. FINSP is carried out through separate tasks related to development of non-destructive measurement methods (NDA methods) for verification of nuclear material, training and expert services to the IAEA. In addition to a Finnish summary, the report includes detailed description of each task in English. (editor).

  5. Finnish support programme to IAEA safeguards. Annual report 1992; Suomen tukiohjelma IAEA:n safeguards-valvonnalle. Vuoden 1992 toimintakertomus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tarvainen, M [ed.

    1993-04-01

    Implementation of the Finnish Support Programme to IAEA Safeguards (FINSP) during the calender year in question is summarized. FINSP is carried out through separate tasks related to development of non-destructive measurement methods (NDA methods) for verification of nuclear material, training and expert services to the IAEA. In addition to a Finnish summary, the report includes detailed description of each task in English. (editor).

  6. Methane oxidation in soil profiles of Dutch and Finnish coniferous forests with different soil texture and atmospheric nitrogen deposition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Saari, A.; Martikainen, P.J.; Ferm, A.; Ruuskanen, J.; De Boer, W.; Troelstra, S.R.; Laanbroek, H.J.

    1997-01-01

    We studied methane oxidation capacity in soil profiles of Dutch and Finnish coniferous forests. The Finnish sites (n = 9) had nitrogen depositions from 3 to 36 kg N ha(-1) a(-1). The deposition of N on the Dutch sites (n = 13) was higher ranging from 50 to 92 kg N ha(-1) a(-1). The Dutch sites had

  7. Applying open innovation in business strategies : Evidence from Finnish software firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Harison, Elad; Koski, Heli

    Our study aims at shedding light on the innovative business strategies in the software sector and understanding better the economics that underlies the supply of Open Source Software (OSS). We use survey data collected from 170 Finnish software companies to investigate how different properties of

  8. Studies of U in the blood of two population samples

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Segovia, N.; Olguin, M.E.; Romero, M.

    1986-01-01

    The present work, attempts to establish the statistical distribution of blood uranium in a population of the same community, similar in age and in living patterns. U traces were evaluated by a fission track technique both in whole blood and plasma samples. Dried samples were compressed into pellets and irradiated in a nuclear reactor using the external detector method. For U quantification, standard U samples were used. A comparative sampling of U content in blood samples from a group of radiation exposed workers and another of leukemia patients was also carried out. Results from the sampling groups are reported and discussed. (author)

  9. Co-occurrence of substance use related and mental health problems in the Finnish social and health care system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuussaari, Kristiina; Hirschovits-Gerz, Tanja

    2016-03-01

    Many studies have noted that substance abuse and mental health problems often occur simultaneously. The aim of the work reported here was to study the co-occurrence of mental health problems and problems related to substance use in a sample of clients visiting the Finnish social and health care services for issues related to substance use. We collected background information on the clients and considered the parts of the treatment system in which these clients were treated. Survey data on intoxicant-related cases in the Finnish health care and social services were gathered on a single day in 2011. During the 24 hours of data collection, all intoxicant-related cases were reported and data were obtained for 11,738 intoxicant-related cases. In this analysis we took into account the clients' background variables, mental health variables, information on the treatment type and the main reasons for the client being in treatment. The χ(2) test, Fisher's exact test and binary logistic regression analysis were used. Half of the visiting clients had both substance use related and mental health problems. The strongest factors associated with the co-occurrence of substance use related and mental health problems were female sex, younger age and single marital status. Clients with co-occurring problems were more often treated in the health care services, whereas clients with only substance use related problems were primarily treated in specialized services for the treatment of substance abuse. It is important to identify clients with co-occurring substance use related and mental health problems. In this study, half of the clients presenting to the Finnish social and health care treatment system had both these problems. © 2015 the Nordic Societies of Public Health.

  10. Comparing Russian and Finnish standards of water purification

    OpenAIRE

    Maria, Pupkova

    2012-01-01

    The subject of this thesis is water purification. The first aim of this thesis is to consider different ways of water purification. The second aim is to compare Finnish and Russian standards of water purification. The third one is to show water purification methods on the pattern of Mikkeli water purification plan. Water purification methods of water intended for human consumption will be described.Combined tables will be done according to the quality requirement of drinking water of both,...

  11. The Finnish research programme on climate change SILMU

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heikinheimo, P.; Kanninen, M.

    1995-01-01

    SILMU, which runs from 1990 to 1995, aims at studying climate change and its impacts. It also seeks to provide information to Finnish policy makers on adaptation and mitigation. The topics range from air chemistry to sociology, and the total number of projects is 74. Interim evaluation of the programme was carried out in 1992. During the second half of SILMU, 10% of the total budget (total: 14 Million ECU) has been devoted to programme integration. 8 refs

  12. Creating visual guidelines for a Finnish fashion brand

    OpenAIRE

    Morozova, Elizaveta

    2017-01-01

    Visual communication is an essential part of branding. Visual elements like logo, brand colours, and typography create associations with a brand and make it distinctive. Graphic design is a tool for visual communication that allows creating aesthetic and functional visual elements that convey some messages. The client of this thesis is a Finnish fashion company that does not have clear and consistent visual image, and the goal is to create it based on company’s values and desired image...

  13. The Populist Toolkit : Finnish Populism in Action 2007–2016

    OpenAIRE

    Ylä-Anttila, Tuukka

    2017-01-01

    Populism has often been understood as a description of political parties and politicians, who have been labelled either populist or not. This dissertation argues that it is more useful to conceive of populism in action: as something that is done rather than something that is. I propose that the populist toolkit is a collection of cultural practices, which politicians and citizens use to make sense of and do politics, by claiming that ‘the people’ are opposed by a corrupt elite – a powerful cl...

  14. Finnish Baby Boomers and the Emergence of the Third Age

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antti Karisto

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the lives of baby boomers in Finland, and is based on several studies previously published in Finnish. The article considers the particular characteristics of this group of baby boomers. It then discusses whether the baby boom cohorts can also be called a generation. Following this, the life course of the boomer generation is contrasted with various images that have appeared in the media and elsewhere about their lives. Boomers have been presented as a radical’ or ‘selfish’ generation. This article proposes two new themes: boomers as a crossroads generation and boomers as a bridging generation. The paper also considers the emergence of the third age as approached from a generational perspective. The third age has been defined as a generational field underpinned by agency and consumption, with its roots in the youth culture of the post-war decades. This characterization is also highly relevant to the Finnish case, but needs to be elaborated by taking into account socio-historical knowledge of the distinctive life course of the boomer generation.

  15. Standardizing serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D data from four Nordic population samples using the Vitamin D Standardization Program protocols: Shedding new light on vitamin D status in Nordic individuals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cashman, Kevin D; Dowling, Kirsten G; Škrabáková, Zuzana

    2015-01-01

    for the European Union are of variable quality making it difficult to estimate the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency across member states. As a consequence of the widespread, method-related differences in measurements of serum 25(OH)D concentrations, the Vitamin D Standardization Program (VDSP) developed...... protocols for standardizing existing serum 25(OH)D data from national surveys around the world. The objective of the present work was to apply the VDSP protocols to existing serum 25(OH)D data from a Danish, a Norwegian, and a Finnish population-based health survey and from a Danish randomized controlled...

  16. Are great apes able to reason from multi-item samples to populations of food items?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eckert, Johanna; Rakoczy, Hannes; Call, Josep

    2017-10-01

    Inductive learning from limited observations is a cognitive capacity of fundamental importance. In humans, it is underwritten by our intuitive statistics, the ability to draw systematic inferences from populations to randomly drawn samples and vice versa. According to recent research in cognitive development, human intuitive statistics develops early in infancy. Recent work in comparative psychology has produced first evidence for analogous cognitive capacities in great apes who flexibly drew inferences from populations to samples. In the present study, we investigated whether great apes (Pongo abelii, Pan troglodytes, Pan paniscus, Gorilla gorilla) also draw inductive inferences in the opposite direction, from samples to populations. In two experiments, apes saw an experimenter randomly drawing one multi-item sample from each of two populations of food items. The populations differed in their proportion of preferred to neutral items (24:6 vs. 6:24) but apes saw only the distribution of food items in the samples that reflected the distribution of the respective populations (e.g., 4:1 vs. 1:4). Based on this observation they were then allowed to choose between the two populations. Results show that apes seemed to make inferences from samples to populations and thus chose the population from which the more favorable (4:1) sample was drawn in Experiment 1. In this experiment, the more attractive sample not only contained proportionally but also absolutely more preferred food items than the less attractive sample. Experiment 2, however, revealed that when absolute and relative frequencies were disentangled, apes performed at chance level. Whether these limitations in apes' performance reflect true limits of cognitive competence or merely performance limitations due to accessory task demands is still an open question. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  17. Methane oxidation in soil profiles of Dutch and Finnish coniferous forests with different soil texture and atmospheric nitrogen deposition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Saari, A.; Martikainen, P.J.; Ferm, A.; Ruuskanen, J.; Boer, W. de; Troelstra, S.R.; Laanbroek, H.J.

    1997-01-01

    We studied methane oxidation capacity in soil profiles of Dutch and Finnish coniferous forests. The Finnish sites (n = 9) had nitrogen depositions from 3 to 36 kg N ha⁻¹ a⁻¹. The deposition of N on the Dutch sites (n = 13) was higher ranging from 50 to 92 kg N ha⁻¹ a⁻¹. The Dutch sites had also

  18. Cyberbullying among Finnish adolescents – a population-based study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lindfors Pirjo L

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Cyberbullying, threatening or harassing another via the internet or mobile phones, does not cause physically harm and thus the consequences are less visible. Little research has been performed on the occurrence of cyberbullying among adolescents or the perception of its seriousness. Only a few population-based studies have been published, none of which included research on the witnessing of cyberbullying. Here, we examined exposure to cyberbullying during the last year, and its frequency and perceived seriousness among 12 to 18-year-old adolescents in Finland. We studied four dimensions of cyberbullying: being a victim, bully, or both victim and bully of cyberbullying, and witnessing the cyberbullying of friends. Methods Self-administered questionnaires, including four questions on cyberbullying, were mailed to a representative sample of 12-, 14-, 16-, and 18-year-old Finns in 2009 (the Adolescent Health and Lifestyle Survey. The respondents could answer via the internet or paper questionnaire. Results The number of respondents was 5516 and the response rate was 56%. Girls more often than boys reported experiencing at least one dimension of cyberbullying during the last year. The proportion was highest among 14-year-olds and lowest among 18-year-olds of both sexes. Among girls, the most commonly encountered dimension was witnessing the cyberbullying of friends (16%; and being a victim was slightly more common than being a bully (11% vs. 9%. Among boys, an equal proportion, approximately 10%, had been a victim, a bully, or had witnessed cyberbullying. The proportion of bully-victims was 4%. Serious and disruptive cyberbullying was experienced by 2% of respondents and weekly cyberbullying by 1%; only 0.5% of respondents had been bullied weekly and considered bullying serious and disruptive. Conclusions Adolescents are commonly exposed to cyberbullying, but it is rarely frequent or considered serious or disruptive. Cyberbullying

  19. Cyberbullying among Finnish adolescents – a population-based study

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Cyberbullying, threatening or harassing another via the internet or mobile phones, does not cause physically harm and thus the consequences are less visible. Little research has been performed on the occurrence of cyberbullying among adolescents or the perception of its seriousness. Only a few population-based studies have been published, none of which included research on the witnessing of cyberbullying. Here, we examined exposure to cyberbullying during the last year, and its frequency and perceived seriousness among 12 to 18-year-old adolescents in Finland. We studied four dimensions of cyberbullying: being a victim, bully, or both victim and bully of cyberbullying, and witnessing the cyberbullying of friends. Methods Self-administered questionnaires, including four questions on cyberbullying, were mailed to a representative sample of 12-, 14-, 16-, and 18-year-old Finns in 2009 (the Adolescent Health and Lifestyle Survey). The respondents could answer via the internet or paper questionnaire. Results The number of respondents was 5516 and the response rate was 56%. Girls more often than boys reported experiencing at least one dimension of cyberbullying during the last year. The proportion was highest among 14-year-olds and lowest among 18-year-olds of both sexes. Among girls, the most commonly encountered dimension was witnessing the cyberbullying of friends (16%); and being a victim was slightly more common than being a bully (11% vs. 9%). Among boys, an equal proportion, approximately 10%, had been a victim, a bully, or had witnessed cyberbullying. The proportion of bully-victims was 4%. Serious and disruptive cyberbullying was experienced by 2% of respondents and weekly cyberbullying by 1%; only 0.5% of respondents had been bullied weekly and considered bullying serious and disruptive. Conclusions Adolescents are commonly exposed to cyberbullying, but it is rarely frequent or considered serious or disruptive. Cyberbullying exposure differed between

  20. Association between a disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) single nucleotide polymorphism and schizophrenia in a combined Scandinavian case-control sample

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Saetre, Peter; Agartz, Ingrid; De Franciscis, Alessandra

    2008-01-01

    Disrupted-in-schizophrenia-1 (DISC1), located on chromosome 1q42.1, is linked to rare familial schizophrenia in a large Scottish family. The chromosomal translocation that segregates with the disease results in a truncated protein that impairs neurite outgrowth and proper development...... of the cerebral cortex, suggesting that lost DISC1 function may underlie neurodevelopmental dysfunction in schizophrenia. DISC1 has been associated with schizophrenia in multiple populations, but there is little evidence of convergence across populations. In the present case-control study three Scandinavian...... after correction for multiple testing. However, the minor allele of rs3737597 (frequency 2%) in the 3'-untranslated region (UTR), previously identified as a risk allele in Finnish families, was significantly and consistently associated with the disorder across the three samples, (p-value corrected...

  1. Y-chromosomal STR haplotypes in Inuit and Danish population samples

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bosch, Elena; Rosser, Zoë H; Nørby, Søren

    2003-01-01

    Nineteen Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (STRs), DYS19, DYS389-I, DYS389-II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385, DYS388, DYS434, DYS435, DYS436, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS460, DYS461 and DYS462 were typed in Inuit (n=70) and Danish (n=62) population samples.......Nineteen Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (STRs), DYS19, DYS389-I, DYS389-II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385, DYS388, DYS434, DYS435, DYS436, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS460, DYS461 and DYS462 were typed in Inuit (n=70) and Danish (n=62) population samples....

  2. URN:NBN:fi:tsv-oa7031 DOI: 10.11143/7031 The island monastery of Valaam in Finnish homeland tourism: Constructing a “Thirdspace” in the Russian borderlands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mikula, Maja

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The Orthodox island monastery of Valaam in Russian Karelia is today a popular destination for Finnish tourists visiting Russia’s western borderlands. Many of these tourists are descendants of the Karelians who had evacuated the area following World War II. The monastery’s institutionally sanctioned genealogies construct it as the civilizing force, which had brought Christian enlightenment to the local heathen population. This discursive template is played out in the way the place is presented to visitors, with each highlight telling a carefully constructed story that promotes the monastery’s significance for the Russian religious and national identity. Yet, drawing on lived experience, as well as on popular culture, family lore and meanings from collective memory, the Finnish visitors break the monolithic official discourse and produce a complex “thirdspace” in their own measure. This paper is based on participant observation and semi-structured interviews conducted during a homeland visit to Ladogan Karelia in June 2010.

  3. Parental age and the risk of obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome / chronic tic disorder in a nationwide population-based sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chudal, Roshan; Leivonen, Susanna; Rintala, Hanna; Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki, Susanna; Sourander, Andre

    2017-12-01

    Advancing paternal age has been associated with several neuropsychiatric disorders in children. However, there is limited understanding of this association with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette syndrome/chronic tic disorder (TS/CT) with inconsistent findings. We examined the association between parental age and offspring OCD and TS/CT. This nested case-control study used the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register (FHDR) to identify 1358 individuals with OCD and 1195 with TS/CT, born from 1991 to 2009 and diagnosed by 2010. Each case was matched with four controls from the Finnish Population Register (FPR), without diagnoses of OCD, TS/CT or severe or profound mental retardation. Conditional logistic regression was used to examine the association between parental age and OCD, TS/CT. A trend of increasing odds was seen with advancing maternal age. In the final model, offspring of mothers aged 35-39 years had a 1.3-fold increased odd (OR = 1,31, 95% confidence interval (95% CI:1.03-1.66)) of OCD compared with maternal aged 25-29 years. Offspring of fathers younger than 20 years had increased odds of TS/CT in the unadjusted analysis (OR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.27-4.56). The study limitations included using hospital diagnoses to identify cases, with limited diagnostic validity, and the possible over representation of moderate to severe cases. The lack of association between advancing paternal age and OCD is in contrast with schizophrenia, despite sharing demographic characteristics and possible shared neuropathology. Furthermore, these differences suggest different etiological pathways among TS/CT, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD), despite their frequently comorbid existence. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Internationalization of Finnish Technology Startups : Case: Goodwille Ltd

    OpenAIRE

    Goncalves, Miriam

    2014-01-01

    The United Kingdom is a large European market that offers vast market potential for companies that enter it. Finnish start-up companies are especially drawn to this market by the venture capital opportunities. A presence in the United Kingdom is necessary for companies that want to become truly international. The sponsor of the thesis is Goodwille Ltd., a British company that provides services to foreign companies who want to start or expand their business in the UK. Goodwille’s newly se...

  5. Sampling Key Populations for HIV Surveillance: Results From Eight Cross-Sectional Studies Using Respondent-Driven Sampling and Venue-Based Snowball Sampling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, Amrita; Stahlman, Shauna; Hargreaves, James; Weir, Sharon; Edwards, Jessie; Rice, Brian; Kochelani, Duncan; Mavimbela, Mpumelelo; Baral, Stefan

    2017-10-20

    In using regularly collected or existing surveillance data to characterize engagement in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) services among marginalized populations, differences in sampling methods may produce different pictures of the target population and may therefore result in different priorities for response. The objective of this study was to use existing data to evaluate the sample distribution of eight studies of female sex workers (FSW) and men who have sex with men (MSM), who were recruited using different sampling approaches in two locations within Sub-Saharan Africa: Manzini, Swaziland and Yaoundé, Cameroon. MSM and FSW participants were recruited using either respondent-driven sampling (RDS) or venue-based snowball sampling. Recruitment took place between 2011 and 2016. Participants at each study site were administered a face-to-face survey to assess sociodemographics, along with the prevalence of self-reported HIV status, frequency of HIV testing, stigma, and other HIV-related characteristics. Crude and RDS-adjusted prevalence estimates were calculated. Crude prevalence estimates from the venue-based snowball samples were compared with the overlap of the RDS-adjusted prevalence estimates, between both FSW and MSM in Cameroon and Swaziland. RDS samples tended to be younger (MSM aged 18-21 years in Swaziland: 47.6% [139/310] in RDS vs 24.3% [42/173] in Snowball, in Cameroon: 47.9% [99/306] in RDS vs 20.1% [52/259] in Snowball; FSW aged 18-21 years in Swaziland 42.5% [82/325] in RDS vs 8.0% [20/249] in Snowball; in Cameroon 15.6% [75/576] in RDS vs 8.1% [25/306] in Snowball). They were less educated (MSM: primary school completed or less in Swaziland 42.6% [109/310] in RDS vs 4.0% [7/173] in Snowball, in Cameroon 46.2% [138/306] in RDS vs 14.3% [37/259] in Snowball; FSW: primary school completed or less in Swaziland 86.6% [281/325] in RDS vs 23.9% [59/247] in Snowball, in Cameroon 87.4% [520/576] in RDS vs 77.5% [238/307] in Snowball) than the snowball

  6. Analysis of large deletions in BRCA1, BRCA2 and PALB2 genes in Finnish breast and ovarian cancer families

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pylkäs, Katri; Erkko, Hannele; Nikkilä, Jenni; Sólyom, Szilvia; Winqvist, Robert

    2008-01-01

    BRCA1 and BRCA2 are the two most important genes associated with familial breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility. In addition, PALB2 has recently been identified as a breast cancer susceptibility gene in several populations. Here we have evaluated whether large genomic rearrangement in these genes could explain some of Finnish breast and/or ovarian cancer families. Altogether 61 index patients of Northern Finnish breast and/or ovarian cancer families were analyzed by Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) method in order to identify exon deletions and duplications in BRCA1, BRCA2 and PALB2. The families have been comprehensively screened for germline mutation in these genes by conventional methods of mutation analysis and were found negative. We identified one large deletion in BRCA1, deleting the most part of the gene (exon 1A-13) in one family with family history of ovarian cancer. No large genomic rearrangements were identified in either BRCA2 or PALB2. In Finland, women eligible for BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation screening, when found negative, could benefit from screening for large genomic rearrangements at least in BRCA1. On the contrary, the genomic rearrangements in PALB2 seem not to contribute to the hereditary breast cancer susceptibility

  7. Future of energy efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions of Finnish road freight transport

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liimatainen, H.

    2013-05-15

    The targets to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions to mitigate climate change are as much applicable to the road freight transport sector as they are to all other sectors of society. The aim of this research is to support the initiatives of the Finnish government for improving the energy efficiency and reducing the CO{sub 2} emissions of road freight transport. This is done by forecasting the future development and giving the policy makers guidance on effective measures for promoting road freight energy efficiency and CO{sub 2} reduction. In the study a new method was introduced for connecting the fuel consumption data and goods transport data gathered from the official Finnish road statistics. This method enabled a detailed analysis of the interrelations between the economy, road freight transport, energy consumption and emissions. This analysis was conducted for the years 1995-2010 and the results were used as background information in the Delphi panel of experts. The experts estimated the development of the Finnish road freight sector to the year 2030. Furthermore, a web-based survey was conducted among Finnish road freight hauliers and shippers in order to explore the attitudes and measures related to the energy efficiency. Expert panel workshops were also organised to identify obstacles for the development of the energy efficiency of road freight transport as well as a wide selection of measures to overcome them. The results indicate that the economic development of different branches has a great effect on the energy efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions of road freight transport. Reaching the carbon emission target for the year 2030 is possible in the light of the scenarios which were formed based on expert forecasts. However, the target can be achieved with very different development paths, e.g. the structure of the national economy and the volume of transport seem to vary widely in the different scenarios. In the proposed recommendations on the measures

  8. Attitudes towards schizophrenia on YouTube: A content analysis of Finnish and Greek videos.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Athanasopoulou, Christina; Suni, Sanna; Hätönen, Heli; Apostolakis, Ioannis; Lionis, Christos; Välimäki, Maritta

    2016-01-01

    To investigate attitudes towards schizophrenia and people with schizophrenia presented in YouTube videos. We searched YouTube using the search terms "schizophrenia" and "psychosis" in Finnish and Greek language on April 3rd, 2013. The first 20 videos from each search (N = 80) were retrieved. Deductive content analysis was first applied for coding and data interpretation and it was followed by descriptive statistical analysis. A total of 52 videos were analyzed (65%). The majority of the videos were in the "Music" category (50%, n = 26). Most of the videos (83%, n = 43) tended to present schizophrenia in a negative way, while less than a fifth (17%, n = 9) presented schizophrenia in a positive or neutral way. Specifically, the most common negative attitude towards schizophrenia was dangerousness (29%, n = 15), while the most often identified positive attitude was objective, medically appropriate beliefs (21%, n = 11). All attitudes identified were similarly present in the Finnish and Greek videos, without any statistically significant difference. Negative presentations of schizophrenia are most likely to be accessed when searching YouTube for schizophrenia in Finnish and Greek language. More research is needed to investigate to what extent, if any, YouTube viewers' attitudes are affected by the videos they watch.

  9. The fifth Finnish national aerosol symposium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mikkanen, P.; Haemeri, K.; Kauppinen, E.

    1993-01-01

    The Fifth Finnish Aerosol Symposium was held June 1-3, 1993. Symposium is jointly organized by FAAR, Aerosol Technology Group of Technical Research Centre of Finland and Helsinki University, Department of Physics. Aerosols, the suspensions of solid and liquid particles and gases, are receiving increasing importance in many areas of science and technology. These include industrial hygiene, ambient and indoor air pollution, pollution control technologies, cloud physics, nuclear safety engineering, combustion science and engineering, clean manufacturing technologies and material processing. The importance of aerosol issues during the development of advanced fuel conversion and material processing technologies can be realized when looking at the numerous papers presented on these topics at the Symposium

  10. An alternative procedure for estimating the population mean in simple random sampling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Housila P. Singh

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the problem of estimating the finite population mean using auxiliary information in simple random sampling. Firstly we have suggested a correction to the mean squared error of the estimator proposed by Gupta and Shabbir [On improvement in estimating the population mean in simple random sampling. Jour. Appl. Statist. 35(5 (2008, pp. 559-566]. Later we have proposed a ratio type estimator and its properties are studied in simple random sampling. Numerically we have shown that the proposed class of estimators is more efficient than different known estimators including Gupta and Shabbir (2008 estimator.

  11. Intersectionality in Finnish adult education research: insights from the journal Aikuiskasvatus 2010-2016

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seija Keskitalo-Foley

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The article studies intersectionality in Finnish research on adult education. Specifically, we investigate the kinds of discussions on differences and their relations that are going on in such research. To this end we seek to identify intersectional approaches in the articles published in the journal Aikuiskasvatus between 2010 and 2016, a period marked by an increase in multiculturalism and social division as well as in gendered and sexual diversity in Finnish society. We understand intersectional differences as performative processes, not stable essences. Our study indicates that only few articles analysed intersectional differences explicitly. Implicitly recognised differences were mostly seen as givens. Categories such as ethnicity and race were found to be lacking in the data, but age, gender, social class, education, occupation and learning difficulties were discussed.

  12. Glocal Religion and Feeling at Home: Ethnography of Artistry in Finnish Orthodox Liturgy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatiana Tiaynen-Qadir

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper adapts a glocalization framework in a transnational, anthropological exploration of liturgy in the Orthodox Church of Finland (OCF. It draws on long-term ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with participants of liturgy from Finnish, Russian, and Greek cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The main argument of the paper is that generic processes of nationalization and transnationalization are not mutually exclusive in practitioners’ experiences of liturgy in OCF, but rather generate a glocal space that incorporates Finnish, Russian, Karelian, and Byzantine elements. Individuals artistically engage with glocal liturgy on sensorial, cognitive, social, and semantic levels. What is important for the participants is a therapeutic sense that comes from a feeling of ‘being at home’, metaphorically, spiritually, and literally. People’s ongoing, creative work constitutes Orthodoxy as their national and transnational home.

  13. Organization and Management of Continuing Education in German and Finnish Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zawacki-Richter, Olaf; Knust, Michaela; Hanft, Anke

    2009-01-01

    In 2006, an international comparison study investigated the organization and management of university continuing education (UCE). The Finnish continuing education system proved to be especially advanced in this study. On the other hand, it became clear that Germany was still lagging behind in continuing education. In this article, German and…

  14. Relationship of Gender and Academic Achievement to Finnish Students' Intercultural Sensitivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holm, Kristiina; Nokelainen, Petri; Tirri, Kirsi

    2009-01-01

    This study examined the intercultural sensitivity of Finnish 12-16-year-old secondary school students (N=549) with a 23-item Intercultural Sensitivity Scale Questionnaire (ICSSQ). The ICSSQ is based on Bennett's (1993) Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS), which is a conceptual tool to situate certain reactions towards cultural…

  15. DISC1 conditioned GWAS for psychosis proneness in a large Finnish birth cohort.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liisa Tomppo

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Genetic evidence implicates the DISC1 gene in the etiology of a number of mental illnesses. Previously, we have reported association between DISC1 and measures of psychosis proneness, the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (RSAS and Revised Physical Anhedonia Scale (RPAS, in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC66. As part of the studies of this Finnish birth cohort genome-wide association analysis has recently been performed. METHODOLOGY: In the present study, we re-analyzed the genome-wide association data with regard to these two measures of psychosis proneness, conditioning on our previous DISC1 observation. From the original NFBC66 sample (N = 12 058, 4 561 individuals provided phenotype and genotype data. No markers were significant at the genome-wide level. However, several genes with biological relevance to mental illnesses were highlighted through loci displaying suggestive evidence for association (≥3 SNP with P<10E-4. These included the protein coding genes, CXCL3, KIAA1128, LCT, MED13L, TMCO7, TTN, and the micro RNA MIR620. CONCLUSIONS: By conditioning a previous genome-wide association study on DISC1, we have been able to identify eight genes as associating to psychosis proneness. Further, these molecules predominantly link to the DISC1 pathway, strengthening the evidence for the role of this gene network in the etiology of mental illness. The use of quantitative measures of psychosis proneness in a large population cohort will make these findings, once verified; more generalized to a broad selection of disorders related to psychoses and psychosis proneness.

  16. Discipline, availability of electronic resources and the use of Finnish National Electronic Library - FinELib

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanna Torma

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available This study elaborated relations between digital library use by university faculty, users' discipline and the availability of key resources in the Finnish National Electronic Library (FinELib, Finnish national digital library, by using nationwide representative survey data. The results show that the perceived availability of key electronic resources by researchers in FinELib was a stronger predictor of the frequency and purpose of use of its services than users' discipline. Regardless of discipline a good perceived provision of central resources led to a more frequent use of FinELib. The satisfaction with the services did not vary with the discipline, but with the perceived availability of resources.

  17. The problem of sampling families rather than populations: Relatedness among individuals in samples of juvenile brown trout Salmo trutta L

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Michael Møller; Eg Nielsen, Einar; Mensberg, Karen-Lise Dons

    1997-01-01

    In species exhibiting a nonrandom distribution of closely related individuals, sampling of a few families may lead to biased estimates of allele frequencies in populations. This problem was studied in two brown trout populations, based on analysis of mtDNA and microsatellites. In both samples mt......DNA haplotype frequencies differed significantly between age classes, and in one sample 17 out of 18 individuals less than 1 year of age shared one particular mtDNA haplotype. Estimates of relatedness showed that these individuals most likely represented only three full-sib families. Older trout exhibiting...

  18. Topical review of the Finnish forest sector 1996

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuuluvainen, K.

    1996-01-01

    The present report is e review of the Finnish forest sector, made by several authors. The topics reviewed are: Economic trends of forest sector; The operational conditions of the forest sector; Development of the forest sector; Conjuncture reviews; Special topics including the certification of the forests, the forest reserves in Finland, the financial support forest economy, export prices of sawn timber and cellulose, raw-wood markets, forests and forest industry shares as targets for investments, recreational use of the state owned areas. (8 refs.)

  19. MAURITIUS: A SUNNY HOLIDAY DESTINATION FOR FINNISH PEOPLE

    OpenAIRE

    Goburdhun Bhurtun, Ishina

    2016-01-01

    The tourism market of Mauritius is booming as tourists are nowadays coming from many countries, thus improving the economy of the island. However, few Finnish tourists travel to Mauritius as it is still not well-known among Finns. The aim of this study is to find out how Mauritius can be promoted as a holiday destination in Finland. This study was conducted via an analysis of the tourism business environment and interviews. The analytical tools used were a SWOT analysis and Porter’s five ...

  20. Some viewpoints on reference biospheres in Finnish performance assessments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rasilainen, K.; Kattilakoski, E.; Suolanen, V.; Vieno, T.; Vuori, S.

    2002-01-01

    Viewpoints are presented concerning biosphere studies in performance assessments of nuclear waste disposal. The points are based on experiences from several Finnish performance assessments. The latest performance assessment for spent fuel disposal, TILA-99, was considered in the Decision in Principle process for the site selection of the repository. The points given are also based on experiences from participation in international projects dealing with biosphere modelling, for instance BIOMOVS and BIOMASS. (author)

  1. Recruiting hard-to-reach United States population sub-groups via adaptations of snowball sampling strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadler, Georgia Robins; Lee, Hau-Chen; Seung-Hwan Lim, Rod; Fullerton, Judith

    2011-01-01

    Nurse researchers and educators often engage in outreach to narrowly defined populations. This article offers examples of how variations on the snowball sampling recruitment strategy can be applied in the creation of culturally appropriate, community-based information dissemination efforts related to recruitment to health education programs and research studies. Examples from the primary author’s program of research are provided to demonstrate how adaptations of snowball sampling can be effectively used in the recruitment of members of traditionally underserved or vulnerable populations. The adaptation of snowball sampling techniques, as described in this article, helped the authors to gain access to each of the more vulnerable population groups of interest. The use of culturally sensitive recruitment strategies is both appropriate and effective in enlisting the involvement of members of vulnerable populations. Adaptations of snowball sampling strategies should be considered when recruiting participants for education programs or subjects for research studies when recruitment of a population based sample is not essential. PMID:20727089

  2. Mapping of fertility traits in Finnish Ayrshire by genome-wide association analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schulmann, Nina F; Sahana, Goutam; Iso-Touru, T

    2011-01-01

    A whole-genome scan using single marker association was used to detect chromosome regions associated with seven female fertility traits in Finnish Ayrshire dairy cattle. The phenotypic data consisted of de-regressed estimated breeding values for 340 bulls which were estimated using a single trait...

  3. Marginal bone level in two Danish cross-sectional population samples in 1997-1998 and 2007-2008.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahrami, Golnosh; Vaeth, Michael; Wenzel, Ann; Isidor, Flemming

    2018-04-12

    The aim of this study was to compare the marginal bone level of two randomly selected population samples from 1997/1998 and 2007/2008, with special emphasis on the role of smoking habits and gender. Two cross-sectional randomly selected population samples [1997/1998 (N = 616) and 2007/2008 (N = 396)] were analysed with respect to the marginal bone level. The marginal bone level was measured in full-mouth intraoral radiographs. Information on smoking was gathered using questionnaires. Multiple regression analysis was used in order to adjust for correlating factors (gender, age, smoking habits and number of teeth). After adjusting for confounding factors, the population sample from 2007/2008 had on average a slightly, but statistically significantly, more reduced average marginal bone level (0.15 mm) than the population sample from 1997/1998. Men had more reduced marginal bone level than women (0.12 mm). Smokers in both population samples had more reduced marginal bone level than non-smokers (0.39 mm and 0.12 mm for 1997/1998; 0.65 mm and 0.16 mm for 2007/2008). In these populations, sampled 10 years apart, the 2007/2008 population sample had a slightly more reduced marginal bone level than the 1997/1998 population sample. Men had more reduced marginal bone level than women, and smoking is considered a major risk factor for a reduced marginal bone level.

  4. Cumulative trauma and current posttraumatic stress disorder status in general population and inmate samples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Briere, John; Agee, Elisha; Dietrich, Anne

    2016-07-01

    This research was undertaken to examine the role between cumulative exposure to different types of traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) status in general population and prison samples. Two archival datasets were examined: the standardization sample for the Detailed Assessment of Posttraumatic States (DAPS; Briere, 2001), and data from a study on trauma and posttraumatic sequelae among inmates and others. PTSD was found in 4% of the general population sample and 48% of the prison sample. Trauma exposure was very common among prisoners, including a 70% rate of childhood sexual abuse for women and a 50% rate for men. Lifetime number of different types of trauma was associated with PTSD in both the general population and prison samples, even when controlling for the effects of sexual trauma. Cumulative interpersonal trauma predicted PTSD, whereas cumulative noninterpersonal trauma did not. In the general population sample, participants who had only 1 type of trauma exposure had a 0% likelihood of current PTSD, whereas those with 6 or more other trauma types had a 12% likelihood. In the prison sample, those with only 1 type of trauma exposure had a 17% percent likelihood of current PTSD, whereas those exposed to 6 or more other trauma types had a 64% chance of PTSD. Cumulative trauma predicts current PTSD in both general population and prison samples, even after controlling for sexual trauma. PTSD appears to develop generally as a function of exposure to multiple types of interpersonal trauma, as opposed to a single traumatic event. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  5. Leadership styles of Finnish nurse managers and factors influencing it.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vesterinen, Soili; Isola, Arja; Paasivaara, Leena

    2009-05-01

    The purpose of the present study was to explore nurse managers' perceptions of their leadership styles and factors influencing it. It is a challenge for nurse managers to retain nurses in hospitals and to ensure a high quality of care in nursing practice. Leadership style is an important part of leadership. Knowledge concerning nurse managers' resonant and non-resonant leadership styles provides nurse managers with tools to reflect on their own leadership style. Open-ended, tape-recorded interviews were conducted with 13 nurse managers from five Finnish hospitals and two long-term care facilities. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Five categories of leadership style were discerned: visionary, coaching, affiliate, democratic, commanding. Factors that influence leadership style were identified: earlier superiors, values, information, cooperation, employees and education. The results of this study show that Finnish nurse managers use both resonant and non-resonant leadership styles. The findings of this study show that nurse managers use a variety of leadership styles. The study demonstrates the importance of knowledge about leadership styles and factors influencing it among nurse managers providing future leadership and management education.

  6. Spatially explicit population estimates for black bears based on cluster sampling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Humm, J.; McCown, J. Walter; Scheick, B.K.; Clark, Joseph D.

    2017-01-01

    We estimated abundance and density of the 5 major black bear (Ursus americanus) subpopulations (i.e., Eglin, Apalachicola, Osceola, Ocala-St. Johns, Big Cypress) in Florida, USA with spatially explicit capture-mark-recapture (SCR) by extracting DNA from hair samples collected at barbed-wire hair sampling sites. We employed a clustered sampling configuration with sampling sites arranged in 3 × 3 clusters spaced 2 km apart within each cluster and cluster centers spaced 16 km apart (center to center). We surveyed all 5 subpopulations encompassing 38,960 km2 during 2014 and 2015. Several landscape variables, most associated with forest cover, helped refine density estimates for the 5 subpopulations we sampled. Detection probabilities were affected by site-specific behavioral responses coupled with individual capture heterogeneity associated with sex. Model-averaged bear population estimates ranged from 120 (95% CI = 59–276) bears or a mean 0.025 bears/km2 (95% CI = 0.011–0.44) for the Eglin subpopulation to 1,198 bears (95% CI = 949–1,537) or 0.127 bears/km2 (95% CI = 0.101–0.163) for the Ocala-St. Johns subpopulation. The total population estimate for our 5 study areas was 3,916 bears (95% CI = 2,914–5,451). The clustered sampling method coupled with information on land cover was efficient and allowed us to estimate abundance across extensive areas that would not have been possible otherwise. Clustered sampling combined with spatially explicit capture-recapture methods has the potential to provide rigorous population estimates for a wide array of species that are extensive and heterogeneous in their distribution.

  7. Long term mental health outcomes of Finnish children evacuated to Swedish families during the second world war and their non-evacuated siblings: cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santavirta, Torsten; Santavirta, Nina; Betancourt, Theresa S; Gilman, Stephen E

    2015-01-05

    To compare the risks of admission to hospital for any type of psychiatric disorder and for four specific psychiatric disorders among adults who as children were evacuated to Swedish foster families during the second world war and their non-evacuated siblings, and to evaluate whether these risks differ between the sexes. Cohort study. National child evacuation scheme in Finland during the second world war. Children born in Finland between 1933 and 1944 who were later included in a 10% sample of the 1950 Finnish census ascertained in 1997 (n = 45,463; women: n = 22,021; men: n = 23,442). Evacuees in the sample were identified from war time government records. Adults admitted to hospital for psychiatric disorders recorded between 1971 and 2011 in the Finnish hospital discharge register. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the association between evacuation to temporary foster care in Sweden during the second world war and admission to hospital for a psychiatric disorder between ages 38 and 78 years. Fixed effects methods were employed to control for all unobserved social and genetic characteristics shared among siblings. Among men and women combined, the risk of admission to hospital for a psychiatric disorder did not differ between Finnish adults evacuated to Swedish foster families and their non-evacuated siblings (hazard ratio 0.89, 95% confidence interval 0.64 to 1.26). Evidence suggested a lower risk of admission for any mental disorder (0.67, 0.44 to 1.03) among evacuated men, whereas for women there was no association between evacuation and the overall risk of admission for a psychiatric disorder (1.21, 0.80 to 1.83). When admissions for individual psychiatric disorders were analyzed, evacuated girls were significantly more likely than their non-evacuated sisters to be admitted to hospital for a mood disorder as an adult (2.19, 1.10 to 4.33). The Finnish evacuation policy was not associated with an increased overall risk of admission to hospital

  8. A two-stage cluster sampling method using gridded population data, a GIS, and Google EarthTM imagery in a population-based mortality survey in Iraq

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Galway LP

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Mortality estimates can measure and monitor the impacts of conflict on a population, guide humanitarian efforts, and help to better understand the public health impacts of conflict. Vital statistics registration and surveillance systems are rarely functional in conflict settings, posing a challenge of estimating mortality using retrospective population-based surveys. Results We present a two-stage cluster sampling method for application in population-based mortality surveys. The sampling method utilizes gridded population data and a geographic information system (GIS to select clusters in the first sampling stage and Google Earth TM imagery and sampling grids to select households in the second sampling stage. The sampling method is implemented in a household mortality study in Iraq in 2011. Factors affecting feasibility and methodological quality are described. Conclusion Sampling is a challenge in retrospective population-based mortality studies and alternatives that improve on the conventional approaches are needed. The sampling strategy presented here was designed to generate a representative sample of the Iraqi population while reducing the potential for bias and considering the context specific challenges of the study setting. This sampling strategy, or variations on it, are adaptable and should be considered and tested in other conflict settings.

  9. Energy security impacts of a severe drought on the future Finnish energy system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jääskeläinen, Jaakko; Veijalainen, Noora; Syri, Sanna; Marttunen, Mika; Zakeri, Behnam

    2018-07-01

    Finland updated its Energy and Climate Strategy in late 2016 with the aim of increasing the share of renewable energy sources, increasing energy self-sufficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Concurrently, the issue of generation adequacy has grown more topical, especially since the record-high demand peak in Finland in January 2016. This paper analyses the Finnish energy system in years 2020 and 2030 by using the EnergyPLAN simulation tool to model whether different energy policy scenarios result in a plausible generation inadequacy. Moreover, as the Nordic energy system is so heavily dependent on hydropower production, we model and analyse the impacts of a severe drought on the Finnish energy system. We simulate hydropower availability according to the weather of the worst drought of the last century (in 1939-1942) with Finnish Environment Institute's Watershed Simulation and Forecasting System and we analyse the indirect impacts via reduced availability of electricity imports based on recent realised dry periods. Moreover, we analyse the environmental impacts of hydropower production during the drought and peak demand period and the impacts of climate change on generation adequacy in Finland. The results show that the scenarios of the new Energy and Climate Strategy result in an improved generation adequacy comparing to the current situation. However, a severe drought similar to that experienced in 1940s could cause a serious energy security threat. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. How magnetic are Finnish hospitals measured by transformational leadership and empirical quality outcomes?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kvist, Tarja; Mäntynen, Raija; Turunen, Hannele; Partanen, Pirjo; Miettinen, Merja; Wolf, Gail A; Vehviläinen-Julkunen, Katri

    2013-01-01

      The overall aim of this study was to examine nurses' and patients' perceptions of the Magnet model components of transformational leadership and empirical quality outcomes in four Finnish hospitals and to determine if the evidence for transformational leadership and empirical quality outcomes is the same or different in the four hospitals.   This report presents baseline measurements for a longitudinal study of the adaptation of the Magnet model in Finnish hospitals.   Web-based surveys and mailed questionnaires were used in 2008-2009 to collect data from patients (n = 2566) about their satisfaction with care, and from nursing staff about transformational leadership (n = 1151), job satisfaction (n = 2707) and patient safety culture (n = 925) in the selected hospitals.   Awareness of the work of nursing leaders was low. Nurses reported a high level of job satisfaction. Patient safety culture varied considerably between the four hospitals. Patients believed they generally received excellent quality care.   Leadership systems are in transition at the hospitals. Patient safety culture is a complex phenomenon that may be unfamiliar to respondents. The results of the study provide a baseline description to guide the journey toward development of Magnet standards.   Finnish nursing leaders, especially nursing directors, should increase their visibility by working more closely with their staff. They should also pay attention to giving direct feedback about work generally and patient safety issues in particular. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  11. Occupational injury and disease incidence and risk factors in Finnish agriculture based on 5-year insurance records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karttunen, Janne P; Rautiainen, Risto H

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the incidence of and risk factors for compensated occupational injuries and diseases in agriculture. The study population consisted of 78,679 Finnish farmers, spouses, and salaried family members covered by mandatory workers' compensation insurance. This population had a total of 24,424 occupational injuries and 1684 diseases from 2000 to 2004. In the 5-year period, 20.2% of the population had (one or more) injuries and 2.0% had occupational diseases. Multiple claims were common particularly among livestock producers. Using Poisson regression analyses, we identified several personal and farm-related risk factors, with relative risk estimates ranging from 1.07 to 3.08 for injuries and from 1.45 to 3.01 for diseases. Cattle-intensive geographic regions, occupational health service membership, large farm size, and farming alone were identified as risk factors for both outcomes. Further, male gender, higher number of insurance years, and residing on the farm were among risk factors for injury. These risk factors identified from a large longitudinal data set can be considered for developing and targeting interventions for farmers at highest risk of occupational injury and disease.

  12. Geography in the Finnish School Curriculum: Part of the "Success Story"?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tani, Sirpa

    2014-01-01

    The article investigates the status of geography education in the Finnish national curricula from the 1970s until today. Conceptions of teaching, learning and change in society are traced through curriculum texts; in addition, the ways in which these are applied in the subject-specified aims and content of the geography curriculum are explored.…

  13. Examining gambling-related crime reports in the National Finnish Police Register.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuoppamäki, Sanna-Mari; Kääriäinen, Juha; Lind, Kalle

    2014-12-01

    The aim of this study is to examine the connection between gambling and criminal activity in the National Finnish Police Register. First, a method was created that enabled the search for gambling-related police reports in the National Finnish Police Register. The method is based on finding gambling-related police reports by using gambling-related headwords. Second, all police reports from 2011 that included any mention of gambling were read through (n = 2,233). Suspected gambling-related of crimes (n = 737) were selected from these reports. Those suspected gambling-related crimes were then described and categorized into six different categories: suspected online-related crimes; suspected crimes that were related to lifestyle-gaming; suspected crimes that involved a gambler as a victim of a crime; criminal activity related to problem gambling; casino-connected crimes, and intimate partnership violence resulting from gambling problems. This study, being the first in Finland, generated information on the connection between gambling and criminal activity from the perspective of police reports. Moreover, the study highlights methodological issues that are involved in studying police reports.

  14. Are Foreign Investments Replacing Domestic Investments? - Evidence from Finnish Manufacturing

    OpenAIRE

    Oksanen, Olli-Pekka

    2006-01-01

    This study analyses the relationship between firms’ foreign and domestic investments using a panel dataset containing 218 Finnish manufacturing firms during the years 1998-2002. The study examines whether foreign investments increase or decrease domestic investments and whether the effect varies between investments directed to developed markets or emerging markets. Financial constraints’ effect on the relationship is also investigated. The empirical part estimates an empirical investment equa...

  15. The association of psychological factors and healthcare use with the discrepancy between subjective and objective respiratory-health complaints in the general population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Selinheimo, Sanna; Vasankari, Tuula; Jokela, Markus; Kanervisto, Merja; Pirkola, Sami; Suvisaari, Jaana; Paunio, Tiina

    2018-03-20

    We examined the prevalence of self-perceived respiratory symptoms (SRS) in the absence of any objective findings of respiratory pathology, and the association of such prevalence with psychological factors and healthcare use in the general population. The study was conducted among a nationally representative sample of Finnish adults (BRIF8901). Respiratory functioning was measured by a spirometry test. Structured questionnaires were used to measure SRS, physician visits and psychological factors of alexithymia, sense of coherence, illness worry and common mental disorders. Individuals with a diagnosed respiratory disease or a severe psychiatric disorder, determined in a diagnostic interview, were excluded, giving a sample comprising 4544 participants. Twenty-six per cent of the general population and 36% of those with no diagnosed severe psychiatric disorder or respiratory disease experienced SRS despite a normal spirometry result. Psychological factors were associated with SRS (0.0001 Respiratory symptoms without objective findings are common in the general population. The study results underline the role of psychological factors in the reporting of respiratory symptoms and the associated medical burden, thereby indicating the functional nature of the symptomatology.

  16. Explaining technical change in a small country the Finnish national innovation system

    CERN Document Server

    Vuorinen, Pentti

    1994-01-01

    Technical change is produced by the interaction of a large number of technical, economic, social and institutional factors. One of the starting points is the concept of national innovation systems. The aim of this book is to take Finland as an example illustrating the challenges faced by small countries. The characteristics and performance of the Finnish national innovation system of the last couple of decades are analyzed. The Finnish experience is put in a broader context by comparing it with a few other countries. The development paths possible in the near future are assessed. According to the results, many problems remain despite favourable developments in several technology indicators. The rigidities of the social institutions created during the 1970s and 1980s seem to have become obstacles for economic and technological development. There are fairly large differences between the countries studied, and even between the culturally and historically close Nordic countries. However,Finland and Sweden seem to...

  17. Finnish energy technologies for the future

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2007-01-01

    The global energy sector is going through major changes: the need for energy is growing explosively, while at the same time climate change is forcing US to find new, and cleaner, ways to generate energy. Finland is one of the forerunners in energy technology development, partly because of its northern location and partly thanks to efficient innovations. A network of centres of expertise was established in Finland in 1994 to boost the competitiveness and internationalisation of Finnish industry and, consequently, that of the EU region. During the expertise centre programme period 2007-2013, substantial resources will be allocated to efficient utilisation of top level expertise in thirteen selected clusters of expertise. The energy cluster, focusing on developing energy technologies for the future, is one of these

  18. Sampling Methods and the Accredited Population in Athletic Training Education Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carr, W. David; Volberding, Jennifer

    2009-01-01

    Context: We describe methods of sampling the widely-studied, yet poorly defined, population of accredited athletic training education programs (ATEPs). Objective: There are two purposes to this study; first to describe the incidence and types of sampling methods used in athletic training education research, and second to clearly define the…

  19. Cleanup techniques for Finnish urban environments and external doses from 137Cs - modelling and calculations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moring, M.; Markkula, M.L.

    1997-03-01

    The external doses under various radioactive deposition conditions are assessed and the efficiencies of some simple decontamination techniques (grass cutting, vacuum sweeping, hosing of paved surfaces and roofs, and felling trees) are compared in the study. The present model has been constructed for the Finnish conditions and housing areas, using 137 Cs transfer data from the Nordic and Central European studies and models. The compartment model concerns behaviour and decontamination of 137 Cs in the urban environment under summer conditions. Doses to man have been calculated for wet (light rain) and dry deposition in four typical Finnish building areas: single-family wooden houses, brick terraced-houses, blocks of flats and urban office buildings. (26 refs.)

  20. Examining the Differences of Linear Systems between Finnish and Taiwanese Textbooks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Der-Ching; Lin, Yung-Chi

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between Finnish and Taiwanese textbooks for grades 7 to 9 on the topic of solving systems of linear equations (simultaneous equations). The specific textbooks examined were TK in Taiwan and FL in Finland. The content analysis method was used to examine (a) the teaching sequence, (b)…

  1. Mitochondrial DNA sequence variation in Finnish patients with matrilineal diabetes mellitus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soini Heidi K

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The genetic background of type 2 diabetes is complex involving contribution by both nuclear and mitochondrial genes. There is an excess of maternal inheritance in patients with type 2 diabetes and, furthermore, diabetes is a common symptom in patients with mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA. Polymorphisms in mtDNA have been reported to act as risk factors in several complex diseases. Findings We examined the nucleotide variation in complete mtDNA sequences of 64 Finnish patients with matrilineal diabetes. We used conformation sensitive gel electrophoresis and sequencing to detect sequence variation. We analysed the pathogenic potential of nonsynonymous variants detected in the sequences and examined the role of the m.16189 T>C variant. Controls consisted of non-diabetic subjects ascertained in the same population. The frequency of mtDNA haplogroup V was 3-fold higher in patients with diabetes. Patients harboured many nonsynonymous mtDNA substitutions that were predicted to be possibly or probably damaging. Furthermore, a novel m.13762 T>G in MTND5 leading to p.Ser476Ala and several rare mtDNA variants were found. Haplogroup H1b harbouring m.16189 T > C and m.3010 G > A was found to be more frequent in patients with diabetes than in controls. Conclusions Mildly deleterious nonsynonymous mtDNA variants and rare population-specific haplotypes constitute genetic risk factors for maternally inherited diabetes.

  2. Operating experiences at the Finnish TRIGA reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salmenhaara, Seppo

    1988-01-01

    The Finnish TRIGA reactor has been in operation since March 1962. There are still 57 original Al-clad fuel elements in the core. So far we have had only two fuel cladding failures in 1981 and 1988. The first one was an Al-clad element and the second one a SS-clad. The low rate of fuel cladding failures has made it possible to use continuously also the Al-clad fuel elements. Although some conventional irradiations of certain type have been repeated successfully tens of times, new and unexpected incidents can still take place. As an example an event of a leaking irradiation capsule is described

  3. Level of 90Sr in the urine of a small group of Finnish people

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Puhakainen, M.; Suomela, M.; Rahola, T.

    1999-01-01

    The aim of the study was to test the feasibility of the applied analysis method for 90 Sr and if possible to estimate the current level of the 90 Sr concentration in the urine. Urine samples were collected from seven Finnish volunteers in connection with studies of 137 Cs body burdens. The activity measurements of urine samples were performed 14 - 18 days after chemical separation of 90 Sr to allow ingrowing of 90 Y. The 90 Sr and 90 Y activities were measured simultaneously using a Quantulus liquid scintillation spectrometer. The detection limit for 90 Sr was 0.0033 Bq per sample, or 0.0007-0.0015 Bq 1 -1 . The 90 Sr activities in urine varied between 0.006 and 0.046 Bq 1 1 . The daily urinary excretion was found to be 0.007-0.018 Bq for the five volunteers that collected three-day urine samples. Assuming that the daily 90 Sr intake was constant and that 18% of the ingested activity was excreted in urine, the mean intake in the investigated group would vary between 0.039 and 0.1 Bq d -1 . Based on these estimated intake values the respective annual effective internal doses from 90 Sr and 90 Y varied from 0.4 to 1 Sv during the sampling period. (au)

  4. Secular Ethics Education as an Alternative to Religious Education--Finnish Teachers' Views

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zilliacus, Harriet; Kallioniemi, Arto

    2016-01-01

    This study provides a Finnish perspective to international discussions on religious and worldviews education through the subject of secular ethics. This subject has been offered in Finland since 1985 throughout comprehensive schools and is primarily directed at students who are non-affiliated. Secular ethics education has scarcely been researched…

  5. Happy Spouses, Happy Parents? Family Relationships among Finnish and Dutch Dual Earners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malinen, Kaisa; Kinnunen, Ulla; Tolvanen, Asko; Ronka, Anna; Wierda-Boer, Hilde; Gerris, Jan

    2010-01-01

    In this study links between spousal and parent-child relationships among Finnish (n = 157 couples) and Dutch (n = 276 couples) dual earners with young children were examined using paired questionnaire data. Variable-oriented analyses (structural equation modeling with a multigroup procedure) supported the spillover hypothesis, as higher levels of…

  6. The positive impact of general vitamin D food fortification policy on vitamin D status in a representative adult Finnish population: evidence from an 11-y follow-up based on standardized 25-hydroxyvitamin D data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jääskeläinen, Tuija; Itkonen, Suvi T; Lundqvist, Annamari; Erkkola, Maijaliisa; Koskela, Tapani; Lakkala, Kaisa; Dowling, Kirsten G; Hull, George Lj; Kröger, Heikki; Karppinen, Jaro; Kyllönen, Eero; Härkänen, Tommi; Cashman, Kevin D; Männistö, Satu; Lamberg-Allardt, Christel

    2017-06-01

    Background: A systematic vitamin D fortification of fluid milk products and fat spreads was started in 2003 in Finland to improve vitamin D status. Objective: We investigated the effects of the vitamin D fortification policy on vitamin D status in Finland between 2000 and 2011. Design: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [S-25(OH)D] concentrations of a nationally representative sample comprising 6134 and 4051 adults aged ≥30 y from the Health 2000 and Health 2011 surveys, respectively, were standardized according to the Vitamin D Standardization Program with the use of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Linear and logistic regression models were used to assess the change in S-25(OH)D concentrations. Results: Between 2000 and 2011, the mean S-25(OH)D increased from 48 nmol/L (95% CI: 47, 48 nmol/L) to 65 nmol/L (95% CI: 65, 66 nmol/L) ( P vitamin D supplement users increased from 11% to 41% ( P 50 nmol/L in 2011. Conclusions: The vitamin D status of the Finnish adult population has improved considerably during the time period studied. The increase is mainly explained by food fortification, especially of fluid milk products, and augmented vitamin D supplement use. Other factors, such as the difference in the ultraviolet radiation index between 2000 and 2011, may partly explain the results. When consuming vitamin D sources based on the nutritional recommendations, vitamin D status is sufficient [S-25(OH)D ≥50 nmol/L], and supplementation is generally not needed. © 2017 American Society for Nutrition.

  7. Determination of the optimal sample size for a clinical trial accounting for the population size.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stallard, Nigel; Miller, Frank; Day, Simon; Hee, Siew Wan; Madan, Jason; Zohar, Sarah; Posch, Martin

    2017-07-01

    The problem of choosing a sample size for a clinical trial is a very common one. In some settings, such as rare diseases or other small populations, the large sample sizes usually associated with the standard frequentist approach may be infeasible, suggesting that the sample size chosen should reflect the size of the population under consideration. Incorporation of the population size is possible in a decision-theoretic approach either explicitly by assuming that the population size is fixed and known, or implicitly through geometric discounting of the gain from future patients reflecting the expected population size. This paper develops such approaches. Building on previous work, an asymptotic expression is derived for the sample size for single and two-arm clinical trials in the general case of a clinical trial with a primary endpoint with a distribution of one parameter exponential family form that optimizes a utility function that quantifies the cost and gain per patient as a continuous function of this parameter. It is shown that as the size of the population, N, or expected size, N∗ in the case of geometric discounting, becomes large, the optimal trial size is O(N1/2) or O(N∗1/2). The sample size obtained from the asymptotic expression is also compared with the exact optimal sample size in examples with responses with Bernoulli and Poisson distributions, showing that the asymptotic approximations can also be reasonable in relatively small sample sizes. © 2016 The Author. Biometrical Journal published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  8. Epidemiology of Anorexia Nervosa in Men : A Nationwide Study of Finnish Twins

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Raevuori, Anu; Hoek, Hans W.; Susser, Ezra; Kaprio, Jaakko; Rissanen, Aila; Keski-Rahkonen, Anna

    2009-01-01

    Background: To examine the epidemiology of anorexia nervosa in men, we screened Finnish male twins born in 1975-79. Methods and Findings: Men (N = 2122) from FinnTwin16 birth cohorts were screened for lifetime eating disorders by a questionnaire. The screen positives (N = 18), their male co-twins (N

  9. School-External Factors in Finnish Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aro, Sophie; Mikkilä-Erdmann, Mirjamaija

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated the relationship between the English language competence of Finnish bilingual pupils and school-external factors such as parental expectations, home involvement, and exposure to English outside the classroom. Data on the pupils' language competence was collected from n?=?122 6th graders in bilingual education, and compared…

  10. The Implementation of Entrepreneurship Education through Curriculum Reform in Finnish Comprehensive Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seikkula-Leino, Jaana

    2011-01-01

    How has entrepreneurship education been implemented in Finnish comprehensive schools. A two-part survey was undertaken in 43 municipalities with different educational and socio-economic backgrounds. The first part, in 2005, dealt with the local curriculum reform with a focus on the development of entrepreneurship education. The second part, in…

  11. Enacting the Common Script: Management Ideas at Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vuori, Johanna

    2015-01-01

    This article discusses the work of mid-level management at Finnish universities of applied sciences. Based on in-depth interviews with 15 line managers, this study investigates how the standardized management ideas of rational management and employee empowerment are used in the leadership of lecturers at these institutions. The findings indicate…

  12. HOLIDAY FROM HELL : Bad travel experiences of Finnish people

    OpenAIRE

    Miettinen, Milja

    2015-01-01

    The topic of this thesis was the bad travel experiences of Finnish people. This thesis is divided into two parts. The theoretical framework consists of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, tourism consumer behaviour, experience and experience economy. In the empirical part, a survey was used and answers were collected by a questionnaire on the Internet. The link to the questionnaire was published in Facebook and also on Suomi24 forum’s travel section. It was possible to answer to the questionnai...

  13. Overcoming Barriers to Frugal Innovation: Emerging Opportunities for Finnish SMEs in Brazilian Markets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mirva Hyypiä

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Frugal innovation has become a popular concept, in academia but also in industry at large. Although there has been a great deal of discussion about the relevance of frugal innovation to the developed world, the notion’s full acceptance within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs still seems far in the distance. The opportunities and barriers seen with practical implementation of frugal innovation during the development processes have received little attention. This article considers these opportunities and barriers in the context of Finnish SMEs, providing insight specifically into the approaches these companies take in Brazilian markets. Qualitative data were drawn from a case study forming part of an extensive action research-based development project called SCALA, aimed at creating suitable and scalable mobile learning services for global markets. The concepts of frugal innovation and proceeding from user needs – essential parts of the development processes – are examined by observing three Finnish SMEs and their top managers, with particular focus on their interaction with Brazilian partners. Development sessions and meetings shed light on how the companies perceived and responded to testing their products/services with six individual schools in Brazil. Although frugal innovation is seen as essential for guaranteeing long-term competitiveness of Finnish SMEs – and access to rapidly growing, unsaturated emerging markets such as Brazil can be a step in the right direction – our study highlights numerous barriers and ways to overcome them in the real-world implementation of frugality in SMEs’ development processes.

  14. “The Terrible Visitation”: Famine in Finland and Ireland 1845-68 - Towards An Agenda for Comparative Irish-Finnish Famine Studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Newby, Andrew; Myllyntaus, Timo

    2015-01-01

    national history, and has had a considerable impact on Irish identity. Since the 150th anniversary of the Great Famine in the late 1990s, prodigious amounts of academic and popular literature have been published on the subject. From an Irish perspective, the historiography of the Great Finnish Famine......, which culminated in 1868, seems somewhat limited. Cormac Ó Gráda, one of the most renowned Irish economic historians, has described the Finnish catastrophe as the “last great subsistence crisis of the western world,” but has also complained that it remains “unduly neglected,” and stressed the potential...... for comparative studies with Ireland. This period of Finnish history tends to be presented as a period of general economic malaise, associated with national “growing pains” as Finland sought to establish itself as an autonomous country....

  15. Metal and engineering industry in the Finnish economy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maeenpaeae, I.; Viitanen, M.; Juutinen, A.

    1996-01-01

    The study analyses quantitatively the position, internal structures and environmental aspects of the metal sector (basic metal industry, mechanical engineering, electronics and electrotechnics) in the recent past of the Finnish economy. The changes in the sector by the year 2005 are assessed by means of a macroeconomic simulation model as well. The future development of the metal sector by the year 2005 was assessed by the FMS model system, for which a detailed metal sector sub-model was constructed. The scenario of the general development of the Finnish economy was tuned so that it corresponds as closely as possible to the recent basic projections of the economy made by the government authorities. Three scenarios for the metal sector were constructed: base scenario, rapid and slow growth scenarios. In the base scenario the production volume of the metal sector grows by 6 per cent annually between 1994-2005 while the annual growth rate of the whole industry is 4 per cent and that of the GDP 3 per cent. In the rapid growth scenario, the growth rate of the metal sector goes up to 10 per cent and in the slow growth scenario down to 3 per cent. In the assessment of environmental effects of the metal sector are included energy consumption, emissions into the air, use on natural resources, waste formation and recycling of metals. Although the production volume of the metal sector almost doubles between 1990 - 2000, the consumption of primary energy grows only about one fourth and that of the electricity by 50 per cent

  16. Regional Growth and Unemployment: The Validity of Okun's Law for the Finnish Regions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kangasharju, A.; Tavera, C.; Nijkamp, P.

    2012-01-01

    This paper offers a concise critical overview of Okun's Law, with particular attention for its relevance in open economic systems of regions. Based on an extensive set of economic data for Finnish regions, the existence of cointegration is tested using alternative statistical methods, viz. the

  17. A comparison of genetic map distance and linkage disequilibrium between 15 polymorphic dinucleotide repeat loci in two populations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Urbanek, M.; Goldman, D.; Long, J.C. [Lab. of Neurogenetics, Rockville, MD (United States)

    1994-09-01

    Linkage disequilibrium has recently been used to map the diastrophic dysplasia gene in a Finnish sample. One advantage of this method is that the large pedigrees required by some other methods are unnecessary. Another advantage is that linkage disequilibrium mapping capitalizes on the cumulative history of recombination events, rather than those occurring within the sampled individuals. A potential limitation of linkage disequilibrium mapping is that linkage equilibrium is likely to prevail in all but the most isolated populations, e.g., those which have recently experienced founder effects or severe population bottlenecks. In order to test the method`s generality, we examined patterns of linkage disequilibrium between pairs of loci within a known genetic map. Two populations were analyzed. The first population, Navajo Indians (N=45), is an isolate that experienced a severe bottleneck in the 1860`s. The second population, Maryland Caucasians (N=45), is cosmopolitan. We expected the Navajo sample to display more linkage disequilibrium than the Caucasian sample, and possibly that the Navajo disequilibrium pattern would reflect the genetic map. Linkage disequilibrium coefficients were estimated between pairs of alleles at different loci using maximum likelihood. The genetic isolate structure of Navajo Indians is confirmed by the DNA typings. Heterozygosity is lower than in the Caucasians, and fewer different alleles are observed. However, a relationship between genetic map distance and linkage disequilibrium could be discerned in neither the Navajo nor the Maryland samples. Slightly more linkage disequilibrium was observed in the Navajos, but both data sets were characterized by very low disequilibrium levels. We tentatively conclude that linkage disequilibrium mapping with dinucleotide repeats will only be useful with close linkage between markers and diseases, even in very isolated populations.

  18. Principals' Perceptions for Finnish- and Swedish-Language Schools in Finland: An Analysis of School-Level Indices from Programme for International Student Assessment 2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harju-Luukkainen, Heidi; Vettenranta, Jouni; Kanervio, Pekka; Pulkkinen, Seppo

    2014-01-01

    The Finnish educational system is known for its equality. However, in many key areas in national and international assessments, Swedish-language schools in Finland have lagged behind their Finnish-language counterparts. So far there is little research into the underlying reasons for this discrepancy. In this article, in order to illuminate the…

  19. Precision of systematic and random sampling in clustered populations: habitat patches and aggregating organisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGarvey, Richard; Burch, Paul; Matthews, Janet M

    2016-01-01

    Natural populations of plants and animals spatially cluster because (1) suitable habitat is patchy, and (2) within suitable habitat, individuals aggregate further into clusters of higher density. We compare the precision of random and systematic field sampling survey designs under these two processes of species clustering. Second, we evaluate the performance of 13 estimators for the variance of the sample mean from a systematic survey. Replicated simulated surveys, as counts from 100 transects, allocated either randomly or systematically within the study region, were used to estimate population density in six spatial point populations including habitat patches and Matérn circular clustered aggregations of organisms, together and in combination. The standard one-start aligned systematic survey design, a uniform 10 x 10 grid of transects, was much more precise. Variances of the 10 000 replicated systematic survey mean densities were one-third to one-fifth of those from randomly allocated transects, implying transect sample sizes giving equivalent precision by random survey would need to be three to five times larger. Organisms being restricted to patches of habitat was alone sufficient to yield this precision advantage for the systematic design. But this improved precision for systematic sampling in clustered populations is underestimated by standard variance estimators used to compute confidence intervals. True variance for the survey sample mean was computed from the variance of 10 000 simulated survey mean estimates. Testing 10 published and three newly proposed variance estimators, the two variance estimators (v) that corrected for inter-transect correlation (ν₈ and ν(W)) were the most accurate and also the most precise in clustered populations. These greatly outperformed the two "post-stratification" variance estimators (ν₂ and ν₃) that are now more commonly applied in systematic surveys. Similar variance estimator performance rankings were found with

  20. Is working in culturally diverse working environment associated with physicians' work-related well-being? A cross-sectional survey study among Finnish physicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aalto, Anna-Mari; Heponiemi, Tarja; Väänänen, Ari; Bergbom, Barbara; Sinervo, Timo; Elovainio, Marko

    2014-08-01

    International mobility of health care professionals is increasing, though little is known about how working in a culturally diverse team affects the native physicians' psychosocial work environment. We examined Finnish physicians' perceptions of work-related wellbeing according to whether they had foreign-born colleagues (FBCs) in their work unit. We also examined whether work-related resources moderate the potential association between work-related wellbeing and working alongside FBCs. A cross-sectional survey was conducted for a random sample of physicians in Finland in 2010 (3826 respondents, response rate 55%). Analyses were restricted to native Finnish physicians working in public health care. The results were analyzed by ANCOVA. In unadjusted analyses, having FBCs was related to poor team climate (pwork unit (p=0.007 for interaction between FBCs and procedural justice and pculturally diverse work units face challenges related to team climate and job satisfaction. The results also show that leadership plays an important role in culturally diverse work units. The potential challenges of culturally diverse teams for native physicians may be reduced by fair decision-making and by increasing physicians' job control. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Biotechnology as a competitive edge for the Finnish forest cluster

    OpenAIRE

    Hakala, Terhi

    2007-01-01

    In this study we have collected information by interviewing all identified parties within the Finnish forest sector who might have a potential biotechnology connection : university research groups, research institutions, small and medium-sized biotechnology-companies and up to the largest forest companies. The ultimate goal was to assess how resources have been allocated and biotechnologies utilized within the value chain of the entire forest sector. This study aimed at providing answers to t...

  2. Biotechnology as a Competitive Edge for the Finnish Forest Cluster

    OpenAIRE

    Hakala, Terhi; Haltia, Olli; Hermans, Raine; Kulvik, Martti; Nikinmaa, Hanna; Porcar-Castell, Albert; Pursula, Tiina

    2007-01-01

    In this study we have collected information by interviewing all identified parties within the Finnish forest sector who might have a potential biotechnology connection : university research groups, research institutions, small and medium-sized biotechnology-companies and up to the largest forest companies. The ultimate goal was to assess how resources have been allocated and biotechnologies utilized within the value chain of the entire forest sector. This study aimed at providing answers to t...

  3. Americium in the Finnish environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lehto, J. (Helsinki Univ., Lab. of Radiochemistry (Finland))

    2009-07-01

    This paper reviews studies on environmental americium,241 Am, in Finland. There are two sources of americium in the Finnish environment: fallouts from nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s and 1960s and from the Chernobyl accident in 1986, the former constituting around 98% of the total environmental load. The weapons test fallout was distributed more or less uniformly over Finland, while the Chernobyl fallout was deposited on a sector from southwestern coast to northeast. The total deposition of 241 Am in Finland is approximately 20 Bq m-2 and the amount is still somewhat increasing due to decay of 241 Pu. In this paper, the distribution and migration of americium in forest and aquatic environments is described. Americium concentrations in natural waters, sediments, soils, vegetation and fishes are given. In addition, the behaviour of americium in the food chain from lichen via reindeer into man is discussed. Radiation doses to humans due to the environmental americium in Finland are of no practical importance (orig.)

  4. A design-based approximation to the Bayes Information Criterion in finite population sampling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enrico Fabrizi

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available In this article, various issues related to the implementation of the usual Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC are critically examined in the context of modelling a finite population. A suitable design-based approximation to the BIC is proposed in order to avoid the derivation of the exact likelihood of the sample which is often very complex in a finite population sampling. The approximation is justified using a theoretical argument and a Monte Carlo simulation study.

  5. Self-Reported Bruxism and Symptoms of Temporomandibular Disorders in Finnish University Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huhtela, Outi S; Näpänkangas, Ritva; Joensuu, Tiina; Raustia, Aune; Kunttu, Kristina; Sipilä, Kirsi

    2016-01-01

    To evaluate the prevalence of self-reported bruxism and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and to investigate their association in academic and applied science university students in Finland. The data were gathered from 4,403 Finnish students included in the Finnish Student Health Survey 2012. The comprehensive questionnaire included five questions concerning bruxism and TMD symptoms. Bivariate associations between self-reported bruxism and TMD symptoms were evaluated using chi-square tests, and logistic regression model was used with age and gender as factors. Sleep bruxism was reported by 21.0% of women and by 12.5% of men, awake bruxism by 2.0% of women and by 2.8% of men, and both sleep and awake bruxism by 7.2% of women and by 3.2% of men. TMD pain was reported by 25.9% of women and by 11.4% of men and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain on jaw movement by 9.6% of women and by 4.2% of men. Report of sleep bruxism increased the risk for all TMD symptoms in both genders. Among women, report of awake bruxism increased the risk for TMD pain and TMJ pain on jaw movement. Reporting stress as a perpetuating factor for TMD pain increased the risk for both sleep and awake bruxism in both genders. The logistic regression analysis (including age and gender) showed that report of sleep bruxism and/or awake bruxism was associated with TMD pain (Odds Ratio [OR] = 5.71; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.86-6.70), TMJ pain on jaw movement (OR = 4.49; 95% CI = 3.54-5.69), and TMJ locking (OR = 2.98; 95% CI = 2.17-4.10). Bruxism and TMD symptoms are frequent in Finnish university students. Self-reported bruxism is associated with TMD symptoms, confirming earlier findings.

  6. Multilayered Word Structure Model for Assessing Spelling of Finnish Children in Shallow Orthography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulju, Pirjo; Mäkinen, Marita

    2017-01-01

    This study explores Finnish children's word-level spelling by applying a linguistically based multilayered word structure model for assessing spelling performance. The model contributes to the analytical qualitative assessment approach in order to identify children's spelling performance for enhancing writing skills. The children (N = 105)…

  7. Students' Views on Thesis Supervision in International Master's Degree Programmes in Finnish Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Filippou, Kalypso; Kallo, Johanna; Mikkilä-Erdmann, Mirjamaija

    2017-01-01

    This paper employs an intercultural perspective to examine students' views on master's thesis supervision and the roles and responsibilities of supervisors and students. The 302 respondents who answered the online questionnaire were enrolled in international master's degree programmes in four Finnish universities. The study revealed asymmetric…

  8. Methylobacterium sp. isolated from a Finnish paper machine produces highly pyruvated galactan exopolysaccharide.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verhoef, R.P.; Waard, de P.; Schols, H.A.; Siika-aho, M.; Voragen, A.G.J.

    2003-01-01

    The slime-forming bacterium Methylobacterium sp. was isolated from a Finnish paper machine and its exopolysaccharide (EPS) was produced on laboratory scale. Sugar compositional analysis revealed a 100% galactan (EPS). However, FT-IR showed a very strong peak at 1611 cm-1 showing the presence of

  9. A Moral Economy of Patents: Case of Finnish Research Universities' Patent Policies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kauppinen, Ilkka

    2014-01-01

    The primary objective of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of the concept of moral economy for higher education studies through a study of Finnish research universities' patent policies. Patent policies not only stimulate the commercialization of research, they also set norms for behavior and aim to clarify how to distribute rights and…

  10. A premodern legacy: the "easy" criminalization of homosexual acts between women in the Finnish Penal Code of 1889.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Löfström, J

    1998-01-01

    Homosexual acts between women were criminalized in Finland in the 1889 Penal Code which also criminalized men's homosexual acts for the first time explicitly in Finnish legislation. The inclusion of women in the Penal Code took place without much ado. In the article it is argued that the uncomplicated juxtaposing of men and women was due to the legacy of a cultural pattern where man and woman, as categories, were not in an all-pervasive polarity to each other, for example, in sexual subjectivity. A cultural pattern of low gender polarization was typical of preindustrial rural culture, and it can help us apprehend also certain other features in contemporary Finnish social and political life, for example, women obtaining a general franchise and eligibility for the parliament first in the world, in 1906. A modern image of "public man" and "private woman" was only making its way in Finnish society; hence, there was not much anxiety at women's entry in politics, or, for that matter, at their potential for (homo)sexual subjectivity becoming recognized publicly in criminal law.

  11. Semiparametric efficient and robust estimation of an unknown symmetric population under arbitrary sample selection bias

    KAUST Repository

    Ma, Yanyuan

    2013-09-01

    We propose semiparametric methods to estimate the center and shape of a symmetric population when a representative sample of the population is unavailable due to selection bias. We allow an arbitrary sample selection mechanism determined by the data collection procedure, and we do not impose any parametric form on the population distribution. Under this general framework, we construct a family of consistent estimators of the center that is robust to population model misspecification, and we identify the efficient member that reaches the minimum possible estimation variance. The asymptotic properties and finite sample performance of the estimation and inference procedures are illustrated through theoretical analysis and simulations. A data example is also provided to illustrate the usefulness of the methods in practice. © 2013 American Statistical Association.

  12. Governance and political consumerism in Finnish energy policy-making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruostetsaari, Ilkka

    2009-01-01

    The research task in the study was, firstly, to analyse citizens' perceptions of the power structure underlying Finnish energy policy-making. Secondly, we analysed the role of civil society in the energy sector, addressing the question whether Finns feel that they can influence energy policy-making as citizens through general elections (civic participation) or as consumers via their own consumption choices (political consumerism). Methodologically, the study was based on postal survey conducted in 2007 among a random sample representing 18-75-year-old Finns (N=4000). According to the views expressed, the innermost core of the influence structure of Finland's energy policy-making today comprises only the Cabinet and Parliament, while the second circle is composed of energy-producer firms and big firms. The European Union, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Trade and Industry belong to the third circle of influence. The power relations in Finland's energy sector have continued particularly stable since the late 1980s despite the liberalization and globalization of the energy markets. In order to influence energy policy-making, citizens consider their own consumption choices more useful than voting in elections or contacts with MPs, authorities and energy-producing companies. The least useful devices are radical environmental activism and participation in mass demonstrations

  13. FFUSION yearbook 1996. Annual report of the Finnish research unit. Association EURATOM-TEKES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karttunen, S; Paettikangas, T [eds.; VTT Energy, Espoo (Finland)

    1997-05-01

    Finnish fusion programme (FFUSION) is one of the eleven national energy research programmes funded by the Technological Development Centre of Finland (TEKES). The FFUSION programme was fully integrated into European Fusion Programme just after Finland joined the European Union. The contract of Association Euratom and Tekes was signed in 1995 and extends to the end of 1999. Finland became a member of JET Joint Undertaking in 1996, other contracts with Euratom include NET agreement and the Staff Mobility Agreement. FFUSION programme with participating research institutes and universities forms the Fusion Research Unit of the Association Euratom-Tekes. This annual report summarises the research activities of the Finnish Research Unit in 1996. The programme consists of two parts: Physics and Technology. The research areas of the physics are: Fusion plasma engineering, Radio-frequency heating and plasma diagnostics, and Plasma-wall interactions - ion-beam studies. The technology is focused into three areas: Fusion reactor materials (first wall components and joining techniques), Remote handling and viewing systems, and Superconductors

  14. Working with children with special needs in Finnish kindergartens: Professionals and/or specialists?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mari Nislin

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim is to investigate the links between job satisfaction of Finnish early childhood professionals (ECPs and the appreciation they receive for their work, and how these are associated with their competence to work with children with diverse needs and backgrounds. Data was collected via nationwide online survey for practitioners (n = 885 working in Finnish kindergartens. The main findings show that ECPs experience their work as satisfactory and receive appreciation from colleagues, friends and the children’s parents. It was also evident form the data that ECPs felt themselves to be incompetent to work with children with disabilities or children who had experienced trauma. This may reflect that more in-service training regarding these special education issues is needed. We argue that satisfaction, appreciation and competence, are key factors in the development of a strong professional identity, enhanced well-being at work and in other domains of life and particularly for high quality and inclusive early childhood education.

  15. The implication of the concept “nikotiiniriippuvuus” in the Finnish tobacco discussion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hellman Matilda

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND - We examined the Finnish concept of “nikotiiniriippuvuus” (nicotine addiction or dependency in English in two public arenas in recent Finnish history (1970s, 1990s and 2000s. One was the biggest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, the other the medical professional journal Lääkärilehti. DATA & DESIGN - A total of 102 print press items from the 1990s and the 2000s were collected through electronic archives with the search word “nikotiiniriippuvuus”. In addition, 41 texts were collected manually from the 1970s. RESULTS - Of the items from the 1970s, only three mentioned the concept of “riippuvuus”. Overall, we found that the use of “nikotiiniriippuvuus” has increased greatly over time. In order to know more about the implications of this, we identified some themes as meaning-making traits surrounding the concept in the materials. The analysis points to four main meaning-making functions of the concept: i agenda-setting, ii introducing and explaining self-governance techniques, iii introducing a medical understanding, and iv, mediating views on responsibility division.

  16. Service Design Outcomes in Finnish Book Industry : From Transition to Transformation

    OpenAIRE

    Nousiainen, Anu K.

    2013-01-01

    Service Design Outcomes in Finnish Book Industry - From Transition to Transformation Book industry is in transition especially due to technology advancements, converging operational environment and evolving consumer values and practices in the digital context. Simultaneously, the post-industrial paradigm shift from products to services, systems and experiences highlights the intangibles-driven economy, where existing value chain members need to find new directions and new business oppo...

  17. Online mixted sampling: An application in hidden populations Muestreo mixto online: Una aplicación en poblaciones ocultas Online mixted sampling: An application in hidden populations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Tatiana Gorjup

    2012-04-01

    inmigrante argentino y utilizando como fuentes de información los grupos virtuales.Purpose: The objective of the article is to explore the possibilities offered by new technologies and virtual social networks for the recruitment of sampling units in hidden populations and as a support of the use of mixed methods.Design/methodology: The objective was to identify Argentinean entrepreneurs who start their business in Spain. The observation unit has the characteristics of a hidden population: 1 high geographic dispersion which makes it difficult to localize them; 2 underestimation of the size of Argentinean residents in the official statistics; 3 Argentinean residents in illegal situation; and, 4 in some cases, the factors that led the emigration were negative, making them reluctant to answer. In this context, the researchers used (1 an online virtual sampling and, (2 the traditional snowball sampling. The online virtual sampling was carried out by using a social network (Facebook through which 52 virtual groups of ‘Argentinean living in Spain’ were identified. Subsequently, each member was contacted by an individual message which explained the aim of the research and invited them to participate in the study. Findings: Through the development of this study, it was possible to prove that the use of virtual groups in social networks led to detect observation units that are not registered officially (administrative register, census, etc.. This finding contributed to increase the scope and size of the sample, it favoured the design of the qualitative sample and the triangulation of the results. Therefore, it increased the validity of the hidden population.Originality/value: The article presents an experience of application of virtual sampling and mixed methods in the study of hidden populations. In particular, it analysed Argentinean immigrant entrepreneurs by using virtual groups as a source of information.Purpose: The objective of the article is to explore the possibilities

  18. Communications highlights of the Finnish nuclear industry in 1997

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heininen-Ojanperae, Marke

    1998-01-01

    Full text: The Poster will contain two major issues i.e. description of the information Centre Renovation Project at Loviisa Power Plant and a presentation with material of the Sunray III Project. The Sunray Project: The Sunray Project is a national radiation project intended for all ninth graders in the Finnish school system. The project started two years ago. Attention has been focused on the topic of radiation. The topic has been dealt with in connection with different subject as history, English, Swedish, French, Finnish, mathematics, physics, chemistry, geography, health and home economics, as well as vocational counselling. The aim of the project is to provide extensive information on the subject of radiation and radioactivity, to investigate benefits and disadvantages and to help pupils understand units and see things in correct proportions. Sunray I focused on radon, Sunray II on light. Sunray III will start this autumn and its main theme will be risk perception. The programme of the Sunray III is structured as follows: Part One: Articles on risk provided by experts from different fields. Part Two: A risk management game Part Three: A special view on natural radiation. The project is coordinated by Economic Information Bureau in cooperation with the Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety and two major power companies Imatran Voima and Teollisuuden Voima. The coordinator of the Sunray III Project is Mr. Matti Lattu. The Information Centre Renovation Project (ICRP) The ICRP has been a two-year project which was completed for the 20th anniversary celebration of Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant in February 1997. The main emphasis was to harness the local natural environment as much as possible. The focal point of the project was presented by a new, large-sized map as a water-colour painting (a printed version), a bird-eye view of the Haestholinen Island environment. The information signs system was completely renewed. A large sea-water aquarium containing

  19. Pilot Study on the Genetic Background of an Active Matrix Metalloproteinase-8 Test in Finnish Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heikkinen, Anna Maria; Raivisto, Teija; Kettunen, Kaisa; Kovanen, Leena; Haukka, Jari; Pakbaznejad Esmaeili, Elmira; Elg, Jessica; Gieselmann, Dirk-Rolf; Rathnayake, Nilminie; Ruokonen, Hellevi; Tervahartiala, Taina; Sorsa, Timo

    2017-05-01

    In periodontitis, genetics and smoking play important roles in host immune system response. The aim of this study is to determine whether the genetic background of initial periodontitis and caries could be detected using an active matrix metalloproteinase (aMMP)-8 chairside test in Finnish adolescents. Forty-seven participants gave approval for analysis of both oral fluid collection and DNA. An aMMP-8 chairside test was performed on participants (adolescents aged 15 to 17 years), and full-mouth clinical parameters of oral health were assessed including periodontal, oral mucosal, and caries status in Eastern Finland from 2014 to 2015. DNA was extracted from oral fluid samples and genotyped for 71 polymorphisms in 29 candidate genes for periodontitis. Results were analyzed using a logistic regression model. P values were corrected for multiple testing using false discovery rate (<0.05). aMMP-8 chairside test positivity and three or more ≥4 mm pockets were associated with vitamin D receptor (VDR) (rs2228570, P = 0.002, q = 0.04) and MMP3 (rs520540, rs639752, rs679620, P = 0.0009, 0.003, 0.003, q = 0.04, respectively). None of the other single-nucleotide polymorphisms studied showed a significant association with the aMMP-8 chairside test and at least one caries lesion positivity. Genetic polymorphisms of MMP3 and VDR are linked to initial periodontitis in Finnish adolescents, and the aMMP-8 chairside test can eventually detect initial periodontitis in young patients with predisposing genetic background.

  20. Inspecting close maternal relatedness: Towards better mtDNA population samples in forensic databases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bodner, Martin; Irwin, Jodi A; Coble, Michael D; Parson, Walther

    2011-03-01

    Reliable data are crucial for all research fields applying mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) as a genetic marker. Quality control measures have been introduced to ensure the highest standards in sequence data generation, validation and a posteriori inspection. A phylogenetic alignment strategy has been widely accepted as a prerequisite for data comparability and database searches, for forensic applications, for reconstructions of human migrations and for correct interpretation of mtDNA mutations in medical genetics. There is continuing effort to enhance the number of worldwide population samples in order to contribute to a better understanding of human mtDNA variation. This has often lead to the analysis of convenience samples collected for other purposes, which might not meet the quality requirement of random sampling for mtDNA data sets. Here, we introduce an additional quality control means that deals with one aspect of this limitation: by combining autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) marker with mtDNA information, it helps to avoid the bias introduced by related individuals included in the same (small) sample. By STR analysis of individuals sharing their mitochondrial haplotype, pedigree construction and subsequent software-assisted calculation of likelihood ratios based on the allele frequencies found in the population, closely maternally related individuals can be identified and excluded. We also discuss scenarios that allow related individuals in the same set. An ideal population sample would be representative for its population: this new approach represents another contribution towards this goal. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Exploring origin of food as a source of meanings for Finnish consumers: A qualitative comparison of meanings in Swedish, German and French food

    OpenAIRE

    Luomala, Harri

    2004-01-01

    The findings show that Finnish consumers attach partly overlapping partly distinct cognitive, affective, and normative meanings to Swedish, German, and French food. Swedish and French foods are perceived healthier than German food. Finnish consumers also think that Swedish and French food is of high quality, safe and pure while in the case of German food consumers were more doubtful.

  2. Natural gas - too expensive alternative for the Finnish industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lyytinen, A.-M.

    2001-01-01

    the environmental reasons. The fair division of emission quota between countries is discussed. Some time ago the per capita sharing of the emission quota was presented in a seminar of climatic equity, arranged by different civil organizations. This proposal would guarantee higher emissions quota for large countries with dense population. The Finnish Climate Strategy is based on national measures, so it relies neither on carbon sinks nor on the Kyoto mechanisms

  3. Inverse sampled Bernoulli (ISB) procedure for estimating a population proportion, with nuclear material applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wright, T.

    1982-01-01

    A new sampling procedure is introduced for estimating a population proportion. The procedure combines the ideas of inverse binomial sampling and Bernoulli sampling. An unbiased estimator is given with its variance. The procedure can be viewed as a generalization of inverse binomial sampling

  4. LOD score exclusion analyses for candidate QTLs using random population samples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Hong-Wen

    2003-11-01

    While extensive analyses have been conducted to test for, no formal analyses have been conducted to test against, the importance of candidate genes as putative QTLs using random population samples. Previously, we developed an LOD score exclusion mapping approach for candidate genes for complex diseases. Here, we extend this LOD score approach for exclusion analyses of candidate genes for quantitative traits. Under this approach, specific genetic effects (as reflected by heritability) and inheritance models at candidate QTLs can be analyzed and if an LOD score is < or = -2.0, the locus can be excluded from having a heritability larger than that specified. Simulations show that this approach has high power to exclude a candidate gene from having moderate genetic effects if it is not a QTL and is robust to population admixture. Our exclusion analysis complements association analysis for candidate genes as putative QTLs in random population samples. The approach is applied to test the importance of Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene as a potential QTL underlying the variation of bone mass, an important determinant of osteoporosis.

  5. Optimal sampling plan for clean development mechanism lighting projects with lamp population decay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ye, Xianming; Xia, Xiaohua; Zhang, Jiangfeng

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A metering cost minimisation model is built with the lamp population decay to optimise CDM lighting projects sampling plan. • The model minimises the total metering cost and optimise the annual sample size during the crediting period. • The required 90/10 criterion sampling accuracy is satisfied for each CDM monitoring report. - Abstract: This paper proposes a metering cost minimisation model that minimises metering cost under the constraints of sampling accuracy requirement for clean development mechanism (CDM) energy efficiency (EE) lighting project. Usually small scale (SSC) CDM EE lighting projects expect a crediting period of 10 years given that the lighting population will decay as time goes by. The SSC CDM sampling guideline requires that the monitored key parameters for the carbon emission reduction quantification must satisfy the sampling accuracy of 90% confidence and 10% precision, known as the 90/10 criterion. For the existing registered CDM lighting projects, sample sizes are either decided by professional judgment or by rule-of-thumb without considering any optimisation. Lighting samples are randomly selected and their energy consumptions are monitored continuously by power meters. In this study, the sampling size determination problem is formulated as a metering cost minimisation model by incorporating a linear lighting decay model as given by the CDM guideline AMS-II.J. The 90/10 criterion is formulated as constraints to the metering cost minimisation problem. Optimal solutions to the problem minimise the metering cost whilst satisfying the 90/10 criterion for each reporting period. The proposed metering cost minimisation model is applicable to other CDM lighting projects with different population decay characteristics as well

  6. The Finnish multisource national forest inventory: small-area estimation and map production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erkki Tomppo

    2009-01-01

    A driving force motivating development of the multisource national forest inventory (MS-NFI) in connection with the Finnish national forest inventory (NFI) was the desire to obtain forest resource information for smaller areas than is possible using field data only without significantly increasing the cost of the inventory. A basic requirement for the method was that...

  7. Dinosaurs and fossils living without dangerous tools: Social representations of computers and the Internet by elderly Finnish and American non-users

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Päivi Rasi (previously Hakkarainen

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available This study compares the computer- and Internet-related conceptions of Finnish and American elderly people who deliberately refuse to use the Internet. It seeks to answer the following questions based on various social representations: Are there similarities and differences in the way the Finnish and American respondents classify the computer and the Internet? Are there similarities and differences in the images the Finnish and American respondents use to depict the computer and the Internet? How do the social representations of the computer and the Internet express the respondents’ distinct identities, history and culture? An analysis of written accounts provided by elderly Finnish and American people showed that both groups expressed an understanding of the computer and the Internet as a ‘Tool and Thing’ and ‘Danger’. However, differences existed between their understanding of the computer as a ‘Depriver of Freedom’ and ‘Marker of Differences’. The study concludes that their distinct identities, interests, history and culture may be some of the factors that limit their motivation and capacity to welcome and use the computer. To promote digital inclusion, the elderly should be provided with Internet-related information, training and support. At the same time, however, digital inclusion policies should also encompass a choice for Internet non-use.

  8. Finnish Mentor Mathematics Teachers' Views of the Teacher Knowledge Required for Teaching Mathematics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asikainen, Mervi A.; Pehkonen, Erkki; Hirvonen, Pekka E.

    2013-01-01

    Seven Finnish mentor mathematics teachers were interviewed about their views regarding the teacher knowledge required for teaching mathematics. The results of the interviews revealed not only the teachers' spontaneous views of the knowledge base needed for effective mathematics teaching but also their views of the particular types of teacher…

  9. Towards ICT in Everyday Life in Finnish Schools: Seeking Conditions for Good Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niemi, Hannele; Kynaslahti, Heikki; Vahtivuori-Hanninen, Sanna

    2013-01-01

    The article discusses how to strengthen educational use of information and communication technology (ICT) in Finnish schools. The conceptions and experiences of the successful integration of ICT in everyday school settings are reported. Participant observations in 20 schools in different parts of Finland were carried out, including discussions…

  10. Evaluation of current care effectiveness: a survey of hypertension guideline implementation in Finnish health centres

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Alanen, Seija I; Johannala-Kemppainen, Riitta; Ijäs, Jarja J

    2007-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To assess the extent and style of implementation of the Hypertension Guideline (HT Guideline) in Finnish primary health centres, and to identify a scale of contrasting implementation styles in the health centres (with the two ends of the scale being referred to as information...... implementers or disseminators respectively). DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. Development of a questionnaire and criteria for assessing the extent and style of implementation of the HT Guideline. SETTING: Primary healthcare. SUBJECTS: All head physicians and senior nursing officers in Finnish health centres (n...... =290). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The extent of adoption of the HT Guideline in health centres and the characteristics associated with the implementation style. RESULTS: Responses were received from 410 senior medical staff (246 senior nursing officers and 164 head physicians) representing altogether 264...

  11. Population data for 12 Y-chromosome STR loci in a sample from Honduras.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matamoros, Mireya; Yurrebaso, Iñaki; Gusmão, Leonor; García, Oscar

    2009-09-01

    Haplotype, allele frequencies and population data of 12 Y-chromosome STR loci DYS19, DYS385, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS437, DYS438 and DYS439 were determined from a sample of 128 unrelated male individuals from Honduras, Central America. A total of 112 haplotypes were identified by the 12 Y-STR loci of which 98 were unique. The haplotype diversity (98.99%) and the proportion of different haplotypes (87.50%) were estimated. Genetic distances were calculated between Honduras and other populations from Southern and Central America, Europe and Africa. The analysis of a Multi Dimensional Scaling (MDS) plot, based on pairwise R(ST) genetic distances, allowed to conclude that Honduras is highly differentiated from the African samples (0.343Honduras showed a lower genetic distance to the European cluster (composed by European and South American general population samples from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela) than to the Central American cluster (Mexico and El Salvador).

  12. Future of Finnish energy business - scenarios and strategies. Summary report of the SALKKU research project; Suomalainen tulevaisuuden energialiiketoiminta - skenaariot ja strategiat. SALKKU-hankkeen yhteenvetoraportti

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koljonen, T.; Koreneff, G.; Simila, L. [and others

    2012-05-15

    This report gives a summary of the results of the research project 'Future of Finnish energy business - scenarios and strategies' (SALKKU). The SALKKU research was carried out as a joint research project of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) and MTT Agrifood Research Finland (MTT). The coordinating partner was VTT. The objective of the project was to assess the future energy business and factors contributing to it up to year 2050. The research in SALKKU is partly a continuation of the work done in the research project 'SEKKI - The Competitiveness of Finnish Energy Industry under Developing Climate Policy', which was a part of the ClimBus-programme of Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology, and the results of which have been published in VTT's and MTT's report series in 2009. The focus in SALKKU project was on assessing future energy businesses by analysing the development of energy demands and supplies as well as energy markets under the influence of future energy and climate policies, depleting fossil resources, growing population, and the economic development. The demand for energy was studied on a global, an EU, and especially on an Asian level. On the supply side the focus was both on fossil reserves and resources and on the technical and the techno-economical potential of field bioenergy. There are vast uncertainties concerning the growth in food demand and changing eating habits on one hand, and the demand for bioenergy on the other hand. The EnTech project by Etlatieto, a subsidiary of ETLA, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, was carried out as a parallel project to SALKKU. The EnTech project assessed the development of energy technology export of the Finnish energy industry. One part of the work at VTT was to analyse the impacts of future climate policies on greenhouse gas emissions, on the development of the energy systems, and on clean energy investments. The area of focus was on long term

  13. Finnish EPR Olkiluoto 3. The world's first third-generation reactor now under construction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2007-01-01

    The EPR was developed by Framatome and Siemens KWU (the nuclear division of Siemens), whose nuclear activities were combined in January 2001 to form Framatome ANP, now AREVA NP. The French electricity utility EDF (Electricite de France), together with the major German utilities, played an active role in the project. The safety authorities of the two countries joined forces to bring their respective safety standards into line and draw up joint design rules for the new reactor. On December 18, 2003, the consortium formed by AREVA and Siemens - and led by AREVA - signed a contract with TVO for the turnkey construction of the EPR. The overall Olkiluoto 3 project cost has been estimated by TVO at around euros 3 Billion. TVO is responsible for the overall project management and licensing process with the Finnish Safety Authority STUK. In the pre-qualification phase, STUK concluded that the EPR can meet the Finnish licensing requirements. All specific comments will be taken into account for the realization of the project. In January 2005, STUK emphasized in its safety assessment that the evolutionary EPR design compared to predecessor product lines has been further enhanced by AREVA. This paper presents first, The Finnish energy situation (Electricity consumption and supply, Finland's Kyoto CO 2 cutback, Competitiveness of nuclear power), and then the EPR in Olkiluoto (General schedule of responsibilities, Important milestones of the project). Finally, the EPR third-generation and advanced reactor is presented with its position in the international competition (Targeted design objectives, Main characteristics, competitiveness, safety, Additional measures to prevent the occurrence of events likely to damage the core, Increased protection against the consequences of core melt)

  14. Genotyping faecal samples of Bengal tiger Panthera tigris tigris for population estimation: A pilot study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Singh Lalji

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Bengal tiger Panthera tigris tigris the National Animal of India, is an endangered species. Estimating populations for such species is the main objective for designing conservation measures and for evaluating those that are already in place. Due to the tiger's cryptic and secretive behaviour, it is not possible to enumerate and monitor its populations through direct observations; instead indirect methods have always been used for studying tigers in the wild. DNA methods based on non-invasive sampling have not been attempted so far for tiger population studies in India. We describe here a pilot study using DNA extracted from faecal samples of tigers for the purpose of population estimation. Results In this study, PCR primers were developed based on tiger-specific variations in the mitochondrial cytochrome b for reliably identifying tiger faecal samples from those of sympatric carnivores. Microsatellite markers were developed for the identification of individual tigers with a sibling Probability of Identity of 0.005 that can distinguish even closely related individuals with 99.9% certainty. The effectiveness of using field-collected tiger faecal samples for DNA analysis was evaluated by sampling, identification and subsequently genotyping samples from two protected areas in southern India. Conclusion Our results demonstrate the feasibility of using tiger faecal matter as a potential source of DNA for population estimation of tigers in protected areas in India in addition to the methods currently in use.

  15. Bridging the gaps between non-invasive genetic sampling and population parameter estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Francesca Marucco; Luigi Boitani; Daniel H. Pletscher; Michael K. Schwartz

    2011-01-01

    Reliable estimates of population parameters are necessary for effective management and conservation actions. The use of genetic data for capture­recapture (CR) analyses has become an important tool to estimate population parameters for elusive species. Strong emphasis has been placed on the genetic analysis of non-invasive samples, or on the CR analysis; however,...

  16. Finnish-Karelian symposium on mire conservation and classification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heikkilae, H.

    1995-01-01

    This publication is a collection of papers based on presentations in a Finnish-karelischen symposium on the classification and conservation of mires, held in 1992. The symposium was arranged according to the contract of cooperation between the ministries of environment of Finland and Karelia, about mire conservation research. The aim of the cooperation is to improve the conservation of mires in the biogeographically uniform area of Eastern Fennoscandia, taking into account the great differences in mire utilization in Finland and Karelia. Another aim is to develop and unify the research methods. Paludification and development of mires is treated in three papers. Lake terrestrialization in Finland has been studied. Mires in fault valleys on the northwestern side of Lake Onega in Karelia have interesting stratigraphical features. The nutrient status of mires at different stages of development has been studied in Karelia, and the usability of the method is studied. The annual growth of hummock and lawn layer Sphagna and its dependence on the weather of the growth period as been studied in Karelia. The relationships of carbon balance, growth and different forms of mire utilization in Finland have been studied. The vegetation of the mires in Vodlozersky national park in Karelia has been studied in Finnish-Karelian cooperation. The main features of the vegetation are presented in one paper. For articles deal with mire conservation. Threatened mire plants and their conservation are treated in one paper. Another deals with the present state of mires in the raised bog zone in Finland, and the success of mire reservation. Gaps in mire conservation and possibilities to improve the protection of mires in Finland have been studied

  17. Twin study of heritability of eating bread in Danish and Finnish men and women

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hasselbalch, Ann Louise; Silventoinen, Karri; Keskitalo, Kaisu

    2010-01-01

    Bread is an elementary part of the western diet, and especially rye bread is regarded as an important source of fibre. We investigated the heritability of eating bread in terms of choice of white and rye bread and use-frequency of bread in female and male twins in Denmark and Finland. The study...... cohorts included 575 Danish (age range 18-67 years) and 2009 Finnish (age range 22-27 years) adult twin pairs. Self-reported frequency of eating bread was obtained by food frequency questionnaires. Univariate models based on linear structural equations for twin data were used to estimate the relative...... magnitude of the additive genetic, shared environmental and individual environmental effects on bread eating frequency and choice of bread. The analysis of bread intake frequency demonstrated moderate heritability ranging from 37-40% in the Finnish cohort and 23-26% in the Danish cohort. The genetic...

  18. Openness and Continuous Collaboration as the Foundation for Entrepreneurial Discovery Process in Finnish Regions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mona ROMAN

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Entrepreneurial discovery process (EDP is a bottom-up process engaging regional actors from academic, business, government and civil society together to identify new market opportunities and overcome the potential barriers to innovation. While EDP forms the key principle behind the smart specialization policy of European Commission, its operationalization has remained a challenge. We adopted a grounded theory approach to explore the dynamics of EDP through a case study in Finnish regions. Our aim is to identify the key underlying factors of EDP. Based on the semi-structured interviews with 10 Finnish regions during September 2016, we identified openness, engaging, focused networking and continuous collaboration as the key factors underlying EDP. Our findings contribute to the theoretical debate on what constitutes EDP in the context of smart specialization. We also provide examples for policymakers how to implement these factors based on our case study.

  19. Effects of a Group Intervention on the Career Network Ties of Finnish Adolescents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jokisaari, Markku; Vuori, Jukka

    2011-01-01

    The authors evaluated how a group-based career intervention affected career network ties among Finnish adolescents as they made educational choices and prepared for their transition to secondary education. They examined the career-related network ties of 868 students during their last year in comprehensive school (junior high school) in a…

  20. Sixth Finnish research seminar on solid waste management. Proceedings; Kuudes jaetehuollon tutkimusseminaari 2001

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pelkonen, M. (ed.)

    2001-07-01

    The sixth Finnish seminar on solid waste management includes mostly question regarding landfills. The focus has been on the quality of waste and the pre-treatment before disposal as well as on the control of landfill emissions. Other questions discussed at the seminar included organic waste treatment and waste management systems.