NORDEK : A Plan for Increased Nordic Economic Co-operation and Integration 1968-1970

For the first time the attempt of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden to increase Nordic economic co-operation and integration (NORDEK 1968-1970) is analysed by using records from the four governments archives and interviews with central actors participating. A dominating argument has until now been that dynamics in Nordic economic integration is different from dynamics in European integration. This archive based study disproves the myth however of ideological Nordism and of short term political developments outside Norden as most important for the NORDEK initiative. The NORDEK initiative was actually more a consequence of a long term socioeconomic and socio-political path dependant process. The study also disproves the myth that the NORDEK plan was a political and ideological symbol without socioeconomic substance. The purpose with NORDEK was to create a better basis for generating economic growth and social welfare. The proposed NORDEK institutions were therefore developed to promote economic progress. The study finally shows that the NORDEK failure in 1970 was not a result of lacking economic rationale or incompatible economic interests. The failure was a result of a power struggle in Finnish domestic policy and lacking political will in the other Nordic countries to continue without Finland.

Common and rare variants of the renin-angiotensin system and their relation to antihypertensive drug responses

Most of the diseases affecting public health, like hypertension, are multifactorial by etiology. Hypertension is influenced by genetic, life style and environmental factors. Estimation of the influence of genes to the risk of essential hypertension varies from 30 to 50%. It is plausible that in most of the cases susceptibility to hypertension is determined by the action of more than one gene. Although the exact molecular mechanism underlying essential hypertension remains obscure, several monogenic forms of hypertension have been identified. Since common genetic variations may predict, not only to susceptibility to hypertension, but also response to antihypertensive drug therapy, pharmacogenetic approaches may provide useful markers in finding relations between candidate genes and phenotypes of hypertension. The aim of this study was to identify genetic mutations and polymorphisms contributing to human hypertension, and examine their relationships to intermediate phenotypes of hypertension, such as blood pressure (BP) responses to antihypertensive drugs or biochemical laboratory values. Two groups of patients were investigated in the present study. The first group was collected from the database of patients investigated in the Hypertension Outpatient Ward, Helsinki University Central Hospital, and consisted of 399 subjects considered to have essential hypertension. Frequncies of the mutant or variant alleles were compared with those in two reference groups, healthy blood donors (n = 301) and normotensive males (n = 175). The second group of subjects with hypertension was collected prospectively. The study subjects (n=313) underwent a protocol lasting eight months, including four one-month drug treatment periods with antihypertensive medications (thiazide diuretic, β-blocker, calcium channel antagonist, and an angiotensin II receptor antagonist). BP responses and laboratory values were related to polymorphims of several candidate genes of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). In addition, two patients with typical features of Liddle’s syndrome were screened for mutations in kidney epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) subunits. Two novel mutations causing Liddle’s syndrome were identified. The first mutation identified located in the beta-subunit of ENaC and the second mutation found located in the gamma-subunit, constituting the first identified Liddle mutation locating in the extracellular domain. This mutation showed 2-fold increase in channel activity in vitro. Three gene variants, of which two are novel, were identified in ENaC subunits. The prevalence of the variants was three times higher in hypertensive patients (9%) than in reference groups (3%). The variant carriers had increased daily urinary potassium excretion rate in relation to their renin levels compared with controls suggesting increased ENaC activity, although in vitro they did not show increased channel activity. Of the common polymorphisms of the RAS studied, angiotensin II receptor type I (AGTR1) 1166 A/C polymorphism was associated with modest changes in RAS activity. Thus, patients homozygous for the C allele tended to have increased aldosterone and decreased renin levels. In vitro functional studies using transfected HEK293 cells provided additional evidence that the AGTR1 1166 C allele may be associated with increased expression of the AGTR1. Common polymorphisms of the alpha-adducin and the RAS genes did not significantly predict BP responses to one-month monotherapies with hydroclorothiazide, bisoprolol, amlodipin, or losartan. In conclusion, two novel mutations of ENaC subunits causing Liddle’s syndrome were identified. In addition, three common ENaC polymorphisms were shown to be associated with occurrence of essential hypertension, but their exact functional and clinical consequences remain to be explored. The AGTR1 1166 C allele may modify the endocrine phenotype of hypertensive patients, when present in homozygous form. Certain widely studied polymorphisms of the ACE, angiotensinogen, AGTR1 and alpha-adducin genes did not significantly affect responses to a thiazide, β-blocker, calcium channel antagonist, and angiotensin II receptor antagonist.

Kriminaalipolitiikan paradoksi : Tutkimuksia huumausainerikollisuudesta ja sen kontrollista Suomessa

This doctoral thesis explores the development of drug markets and drug related crime in Finland since the mid 1990s, as well as public control measures aimed at solving problems related to drug crime. The research further examines the criminal career of persons having committed drug crime, as well as their socio-economic background. The period since the mid 1990s is, on the one hand, characterized by increasing use of drugs and increasingly severe drug problems. On the other hand, this period is also characterized by intensified drug control. Also criminality associated with drugs has increased and become more severe. During this period the prevention of drug problems became a focal issue for authorities, and resources were increased for activities geared towards fighting drugs. Along with this development, Finnish drug policy has been balancing between therapeutic activities and control. A focal point in this thesis is the question how society addresses drug problems, as well as how this differs from efforts to solve other problems. Why are criminal means so readily used when dealing with drug problems; why have the police received an extended mandate to use coercive force; and why has the field for imposing administrative sanctions been extended? How has the extension of drug control affected general thinking in criminal policy? The subject matter in this thesis is approached in a criminological and criminal policy perspective. The thesis is made up of four research articles and a Summary Article. In the Summary Article the studies were placed into the Finnish research context of drug criminality and drug control as well as criminal policy. Furthermore, the author has assessed his own research location as a drug control researcher. Applying the notion of risk, an analysis was made of threats posed by drugs to society. Theoretical perspectives were also brought to the fore on how society may regulate drug problems and threats associated with them. Based on research literature and administrative documents, an analysis was made of the relation between drug related social and health policy and criminal justice control. An account was also made of the development of drug control in Finland since the mid 1990s. There has been a strong increase in control by the criminal justice system since the mid 1990s. Penalties have been made more stringent, more efficient means have been developed to trace the financial gain from the offence, opportunities for money laundering have been prevented and the police has obtained ample new powers of inquiry. New administrative measures have been directed towards drug users, such as introducing drug tests in working life, checking the applicants criminal record for certain jobs, as well as the threat of losing one s driving licence in cases where a physician has established drug addiction. In the 1990s the prevention of drug crimes and their disclosure were made part of the police s control activities nationwide. This could clearly be seen in increased criminal statistics. There are humiliating elements associated with the police s drug control that should be eliminated for the benefit of everybody. Furthermore, the criminal control is directed towards persons in a weak socio-economic position. A drug verdict may set off a marginalization process that may be very difficult to halt. Drug control is selective and generates repressive practises. The special status accorded drug problems is also revealed in the way in which the treatment of drug addicts has developed.

Painehaavapotilaille tehtyjen hoitointerventioiden määrä ja tulokset HYKS:n plastiikkakirurgian klinikassa

Keräsimme ICD-10 koodilla L89 HYKS:n plastiikkakirurgian klinikassa hoidetuista 401:stä potilaasta hoitotiedot vuosilta 2000-2008. Plastiikkakirurgiseen leikkaukseen ja hoidon arvioon päätyneiden potilaiden keski-ikä oli 60,3 (18-97v.). Painehaavan riskitekijät selvitettiin. Yksittäisistä riskitekijöistä yleisimpiä olivat paraplegia ( n=77; 17% ) ja diabetes/ASO tauti ( n=53; 12 % ). Yhteensä painehaavaleikkauksia tehtiin 347 , joista revisioleikkauksia 108 ja varsinaisia sulkuleikkauksia oli 239. Keskimäärin potilaat tarvitsivat 1.7 operaatiota. Leikatuista painehaavoista gradus III- haavoja oli 35,1% ; n= 84 ja gradus IV 25,5% ; n= 61, pinta-ala haavoilla oli keskimäärin 30,5 cm2. Istuinkyhmyjen ja sacrumin painehaavat olivat potilasaineistossamme yleisiä (20% ja 27% operoiduista painehaavoista). Gradus III haavoja leikattiin keskimäärin 1,6 kertaa ja gradus IV haavoja keskimäärin 2,0 kertaa. Postoperatiivisia poliklinikkakäyntejä tarvittiin keskimäärin 2,3, gradus III painehaavapotilailla 2,0 ja gradus IV potilailla 2,6 käyntiä. Leikkausmenetelmistä eri kielekerekonstruktiot olivat selkeästi eniten käytetty leikkausmenetelmä painehaavaleikkauksissa: 58 % rekonstruktioleikkauksista suoritettiin käyttäen jonkinlaista iho- lihaskielekettä. (134 sanaa)

Language and the Circuits of Power in a Merging Multinational Corporation

We argue in this paper that corporate language policies have significant power implications that are easily overlooked. By drawing on previous work on power in organizations (Clegg, 1989), we examine the complex power implications of language policy decisions by looking at three levels of analysis: episodic social interaction, identity/subjectivity construction, and reconstruction of structures of domination. In our empirical analysis, we focus on the power implications of the choice of Swedish as the corporate language in the case of the recent banking sector merger between the Finnish Merita and the Swedish Nordbanken. Our findings show how language skills become empowering or disempowering resources in organizational communication, how these skills are associated with professional competence, and how this leads to the creation of new social networks. The case also illustrates how language skills are an essential element in the construction of international confrontation, lead to a construction of superiority and inferiority, and also reproduce post-colonial identities in the merging bank. Finally, we also point out how such policies ultimately lead to the reification of post-colonial and neo-colonial structures of domination in multinational corporations.

Tests for Cointegration Rank and the Initial Condition

Many economic events involve initial observations that substantially deviate from long-run steady state. Initial conditions of this type have been found to impact diversely on the power of univariate unit root tests, whereas the impact on multivariate tests is largely unknown. This paper investigates the impact of the initial condition on tests for cointegration rank. We compare the local power of the widely used likelihood ratio (LR) test with the local power of a test based on the eigenvalues of the companion matrix. We find that the power of the LR test is increasing in the magnitude of the initial condition, whereas the power of the other test is decreasing. The behaviour of the tests is investigated in an application to price convergence.

Toksoplasman esiintyvyys suomalaisissa kissoissa

Toxoplasma gondii on kokkideihin kuuluva alkueläinloinen. Sen pääisäntiä ovat kissaeläimet, joissa tapahtuvan suvullisen lisääntymisen tuloksena tuotetaan ympäristöön ookystia. Väli-isäntiä voivat olla kaikki tasalämpöiset eläimet. Toksoplasma muodostaa isäntien kudoksiin infektiivisiä kudoskystia. Ihminen voi saada tartunnan syömällä kudoskystia tai ookystia, tai sikiö voi infektoitua jo kohdussa istukan kautta. Toxoplasma gondii voi aiheuttaa isäntänsä vakavan sairastumisen ja on siksi maailmanlaajuisesti merkittävä zoonoottinen loinen. Toksoplasman torjunnassa on oleellista tuntea alueen kissojen toksoplasmaseroprevalenssi ja arvioida ympäristön ookystakuormitusta: seropositiivisten kissojen voidaan olettaa joskus erittäneen ookystia. Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitettiin toksoplasman esiintymistä suomalaisissa kissoissa: suoralla agglutinaatiotestillä (ToxoScreen-DA) määritettiin IgG-vasta-aineiden esiintymistä seerumissa sekä vasta-ainetasoja (tiitteri). Flotac® - flotaatiomenetelmällä tutkittiin ookystien esiintymistä ulostenäytteissä. Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin kissojen toksoplasma-vasta-aineiden esiintymiseen vaikuttavia tekijöitä: serologisessa tutkimuksessa oli mukana sekä löytöettä rotukissoja, ja lisäksi tutkittiin kissojen sukupuolen, iän, sekä rotukissoilla lihansyönnin vaikutusta vastaaineiden esiintymiseen seerumissa. Serologisessa tutkimuksessa 398 kissan aineistossa seroprevalenssiksi saatiin 48,2 %. Tutkituista 369 rotukissasta 49,9 % oli seropositiivisia, kun taas 27 tutkitusta löytökissasta seropositiivisia oli 25,9 % (P<0,05). Sukupuolella ei todettu olevan merkitystä kissan seropositiivisuuteen. Aikuiset kissat olivat nuoria kissoja useammin seropositiivisia (53,7 % vs. 23,5 %) (P<0,001), koska kerran tartunnan saaneen kissan seerumista voidaan todeta vasta-aineita, ja vanhemmat kissat ovat nuoria todennäköisemmin ehtineet törmätä loiseen elämänsä aikana ja saada tartunnan. Ruokavalio oli tiedossa 347 rotukissalta, ja näistä 270 (77,8 %) oli joskus saanut raakaa lihaa. Raakaa lihaa saaneista kissoista 151 (55,9 %) oli seropositiivisia; 77 kissasta, jotka eivät olleet saaneet raakaa lihaa sitä vastoin ainoastaan 26 (33,8 %) oli seropositiivisia (P<0,001). Ulostenäytteistä 131 kissan aineistosta 1,5 % eritti toksoplasman kaltaisia ookystia ulosteessaan tutkimushetkellä. Suomessa kissojen ravinnon ja toksoplasmaseropositiivisuuden välistä yhteyttä ei ole aikaisemmin tutkittu. Näiden uusien tulosten valossa olisi toksoplasman torjunnassa erityisen tärkeää kiinnittää huomiota loisen tartuntareitteihin kissan osalta. Kissoja ei tulisi ruokkia raa’alla lihalla: kissalle annettava liha olisi hyvä kuumentaa yli 67ºC:een tai pakastaa alle -12ºC:n lämpötilassa toksoplasmatartunnan ehkäisemiseksi.

Historical considerations and evolution of the forest policies for small woodlot owners of Quebec.

XVIII IUFRO World Congress, Ljubljana 1986.

Use of wetland buffer areas to reduce nitrogen transport from forested catchments: Retention capacity, emissions of N2O and CH4 and vegetation composition dynamics

The use of buffer areas in forested catchments has been actively researched during the last 15 years; but until now, the research has mainly concentrated on the reduction of sediment and phosphorus loads, instead of nitrogen (N). The aim of this thesis was to examine the use of wetland buffer areas to reduce the nitrogen transport in forested catchments and to investigate the environmental impacts involved in their use. Besides the retention capacity, particular attention was paid to the main factors contributing to the N retention, the potential for increased N2O emissions after large N loading, the effects of peatland restoration for use as buffer areas on CH4 emissions, as well as the vegetation composition dynamics induced by the use of peatlands as buffer areas. To study the capacity of buffer areas to reduce N transport in forested catchments, we first used large artificial loadings of N, and then studied the capacity of buffer areas to reduce ammonium (NH4-N) export originating from ditch network maintenance areas in forested catchments. The potential for increased N2O emissions were studied using the closed chamber technique and a large artificial N loading at five buffer areas. Sampling for CH4 emissions and methane-cycling microbial populations were done on three restored buffer areas and on three buffers constructed on natural peatlands. Vegetation composition dynamics was studied at three buffer areas between 1996 and 2009. Wetland buffer areas were efficient in retaining inorganic N from inflow. The key factors contributing to the retention were the size and the length of the buffer, the hydrological loading and the rate of nutrient loading. Our results show that although the N2O emissions may increase temporarily to very high levels after a large N loading into the buffer area, the buffer areas in forested catchments should be viewed as insignificant sources of N2O. CH4 fluxes were substantially higher from buffers constructed on natural peatlands than from the restored buffer areas, probably because of the slow recovery of methanogens after restoration. The use of peatlands as buffer areas was followed by clear changes in plant species composition and the largest changes occurred in the upstream parts of the buffer areas and the wet lawn-level surfaces, where the contact between the vegetation and the through-flow waters was closer than for the downstream parts and dry hummock sites. The changes in the plant species composition may be an undesired phenomenon especially in the case of the mires representing endangered mire site types, and therefore the construction of new buffer areas should be primarily directed into drained peatland areas.