The Roman Republican Navy : from the sixth century to 167 BC

Työ käsittelee Rooman laivaston kehitystä, toimintaa ja osallistumista laajenemispolitiikkaan, jossa Rooma kasvoi kaupunkivaltiosta Välimeren hallitsijaksi. Rooma on aikaisemmissa tutkimuksissa nähty maavaltiona vailla kiinnostusta merenkulkuun. On katsottu, että ainoa merkittävä merisota Rooman historiassa on ensimmäinen puunilaissota (264-241 eKr.) ja että siinäkin roomalaiset (jotka historioitsija Polybius kuvaa vasta-alkajiksi) menestyivät Karthagoa vastaan turvautumalla laskusiltoihin, joiden avulla he saattoivat muuttaa meritaistelun maataisteluksi. Polybiuksen kuvaukseen on aina tähän asti luotettu. On katsottu että Roomalla ei ollut laivastoa ennen ensimmäistä puunilaissotaa ja että Rooma kaikissa sodissaan panosti merisodankäyntiin mahdollisimman vähän. Tämä työ pyrkii kumoamaan nämä käsitykset. Laivasto oli osallisena ja ehdottoman välttämätön kaikissa Rooman laajenemispolitiikan käänteissä. Arkeologian tiedot osoittavat, että ennen ensimmäistä puunilaissotaa Rooma kehittyi ja siitä tuli merkittävä kaupunki nimenomaan kaupankäynnin ja ulkomaisten kontaktien seurauksena. Se ei siis ollut puhdas agraarivaltio. Roomalaisilla oli laivasto jo viimeistään 500-luvulta lähtien eKr. ja sitä käytettiin Rooman laajentaessa valtaansa Italiassa. Näin ollen ensimmäisessä puunilaissodassa läntisen Välimeren herruudesta kilpaili kaksi merivaltiota, Rooma ja Karthago. Toinen puunilaissota (218-201) tunnetaan yleensä Hannibalin tulosta Alppien yli Italiaan, mutta se oli myöskin merkittävä merisota ja karthagolaiset hävisivät sen nimenomaan merellä. Rooma osallistui kilpailuun itäisen Välimeren hallinnasta ja kukisti Makedonian ja Syyrian laivastot, jotka eivät olleet mitenkään Rooman laivaston veroisia. Kaikista Rooman vastustajista Karthagolla olisi ollut suurin mahdollisuus pysäyttää Rooman laivaston voittokulu toisessa puunilaissodassa. Laivastoa käytettiin moniin eri tarkoituksiin. Suuret meritaistelut eivät ole ainoa osoitus laivastojen mukanaolosta ja merkityksestä, vaan on myös otettava huomion sotalaivojen rakenne ja toimintaedellytykset. Sotalaivat oli rakennettu taisteluita varten ja niissä oli hyvin niukasti säilytystilaa. Niiden oli päästävä laskemaan maihin aina kun miehistö tarvitsi vettä, ruokaa ja lepoa. Laivastot saattoivat toimia vain niiden rannikoiden tuntumassa, joiden satamiin ja laskupaikkoihin niillä oli turvallinen pääsy. Roomalaiset olivat hyvin tietoisia tästä. Suuret merentakaiset sotaretket Afrikkaan, Espanjaan, Kreikkaan ja Vähän-Aasian rannikolle perustuivat kaikki siihen, että Rooman laivasto hallitsi purjehdusreittejä ja sopivia laskupaikkoja ja saattoi huolehtia joukkojen ja varusteiden kuljettamisesta kaukana taisteleville armeijoille. Samalla Rooman laivasto kävi itsenäistä sotaa merellä ja haastoi ja kukisti kaikki Välimeren merivaltiot. 130-luvulle eKr. tultaessa se oli lyönyt vihollisensa ja riisunut aseista liittolaisensa; Rooman laivasto hallitsi Välimerta yksin.

Kansallista vai modernia : Taidegrafiikka osana 1930-luvun taidejärjestelmää

The theme of this doctoral thesis is the Finnish printmaking in the years 1930-1939. During this decade, there were approximately 100 artists making prints in Finland. Indeed, the period was an especially important one for printmaking. Associations for printmakers were founded in Helsinki and Turku, training in the field was launched, and the number of printmaking exhibitions increased considerably. Through their national organisations, Finnish printmakers participated in many exhibitions abroad, interaction with Nordic printmakers being especially intense. Thus, a firm basis for post-war developments was created. However, printmakers' activity- which had continued throughout the 1930s - declined notably after the Winter War broke out in the autumn of 1939. As a result, the period 1930-1939 forms a coherent and distinct unity in Finnish printmaking history. The study consists of two parts: the main text and an appendix in which the production of each printmaking artist active in the 1930s is examined separately. The study also includes a comprehensive list of the prints made in the course of the decade. One of the central themes is the printmakers' relationship to "Finnish nationalist" art and concepts of art in the 1930s. I analyse the various manifestations of this way of thinking in the visual arts of the period. Finnish fine art in the period between the world wars has usually been characterised as conservative, introverted and spiritually isolated from the modern European trends of the time. On the basis of this study, such a view is too simple. Many artists and printmakers adopted a modernistic notion of art that approached the newest in European modernism, including such trends as avant-garde classicism and general European new Objective Realism (Die neue Sachlichkeit). On the other hand, choosing Finnish nationalist motifs did not necessarily mean that the artist was opposed to modernism: modernist artists could still be interested in national themes. The relationship of 1930s printmaking to the world of nationalist ideas is examined in this doctoral thesis from several perspectives. Towards the end of the main text, I examine the issue from the point of view of selected artists. Another feature that emerged during the study and turned out to be surprisingly widespread was the close relationship of many artists to religious, theosophical and pantheistic views. I deal with this issue in greater detail through a few representative printmakers.

Metsäpirulainen : Liikemies Erik Johan Längman (1799-1863) talousjärjestelmän murroksessa

The Forest devil. Businessman Erik Johan Längman (1799 1863) in the transition of economic system In Finnish historiography, Erik Johan Längman (1799-1863) bears a bad reputation of his own level: a mean, profit-seeking businessman who did not care too much about methods in his operations. Although little known, Längman has been praised as one of the pioneers of modern industry in the Grand Duchy of Finland, which belonged to the Russian Empire. From the mid 1830s Längman owned iron mill and several sawmills around the country. The growing demand of the markets in the 1830s, especially in Great Britain, marked a strong stimulus to Finnish lumber industry. At the same time claims for stricter rule over the sawmill industry were raised by high officials. The momentum of the conflict, the Forest Act of 1851, brought an end to illegal overproduction. In this biography, particular emphasis is laid on the entrepreneurial behaviour of Längman, but also on the effect the entrepreneurs had on the Crown s policies. On the other hand, how did the limitations imposed by the Crown guide the actions of the sawmill owners? The solutions adopted by the sawmill owners and the manoeuvring of the government are in a constant dialogue in this study. The Finnish sawmill industry experienced a major change in its techniques and methods of acquiring timber during the 1830s. Längman particularly, with his acquisition organisation, was able to find and reach faraway forests with unexpected results. The official regulating system with its strict producing quotas couldn t follow the changes. When the battle against the sawmill industry really started on, in 1840, it didn t happen for the benefit of iron industry, as argued previously, but to save Crown forests from depletion. After the mid 1840s Längman and the leader of the Finnish nationalistic movement, J. V. Snellman questioned the rationality of the entire regulation system and in doing so they also posed a threat against the aristocratic power. The influential but now also badly provoked chairman of the economic division of senate, Lars Gabriel von Haartman, accused the sawmill-owners harder than ever and took the advantage of the reactionary spirit of imperial Russia to launch the state forest administration. Längman circumvented the conditions of privileges, felled Crown forests illegally and accusations were brought against him for destroying his competitors. The repeated conflicts spoke primarily about a superior business idea and organisational ability. Although Längman spent his last years mostly abroad he still had interests in Finnish timber business when the liberation of sawmill-industry was established, in 1861. Surprisingly, the antagonism around the Crown forests continued, probably even more heated.

Playing "Nordic": The Women of Niskavuori, Agri/Culture, and Imagining Finland on the Third Reich Stage

The theatrical censorship of the Third Reich considered the playwright's race and politics alongside the content of the drama. Given the political stigma of its "leftist" author, it is rather surprising that Hella Wuolijoki's Niskavuoren naiset opened in 1938 at the Staatliches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. The play ran for fourteen performances before being closed by the Reichsdramaturgie, apparently at the instigation of Finnish critics. Yet this was not the end of the play's or its author's fortunes in the Third Reich, as the possibility of staging the play was raised several times over the next four years, coming to a close in 1942. Playing "Nordic" examines the ideological and theatrical background of this extended "cultural performance," as a means to reopening and reconstructing the work of the 1938 Die Frauen auf Niskavuori. Written by a Finnish, northern, "Nordic" author, and preoccupied with the dynamics of rural culture in an increasingly urbanized world, Niskavuoren naiset was understood in the Third Reich to illustrate and reinforce the racial, agri/cultural themes of Blut und Boden ("veri ja maa"). Playing "Nordic" examines this thematic relationship in three phases. The first phase uses archival materials to investigate the Reichsdramaturgie's understanding of the play and its author, and its ongoing discussion of Wuolijoki from 1937 to 1942. Play evaluator Sigmund Graff's description of Niskavuoren naiset as hamsunartig, or "Hamsun-esque," inspires the second phase of the dissertation, which first elaborates the meanings of Blut und Boden through a reading of contemporary "racial" theory and anthropology, and then assesses the representation of Finland within this discourse, one of the dominant cultural paradigms of the Third Reich. Imaging Finland for German audiences, the play stood among analogous, continued efforts to represent Finland and the rural life in the Third Reich, colored by Blut und Boden: art and agricultural exhibitions, essays and propaganda literature, mass demonstrations of the peasantry. This wider framework for the performance of "Finland" materializes the abstract or theoretical program of Blut und Boden in its everyday performed meanings; as such it provides the essential background for reading the Hamburg production of Die Frauen auf Niskavuori, which sustains the third and final phase. The German translation and the Hamburg photographic record are compared with the Helsinki premiere to assess the impact of Blut und Boden on the representation of Wuolijoki's play in the Third Reich. The journalistic critical response illuminates the effect that the dramatic complex of rural and racial values - generically identified as Bauerndrama in the Third Reich - had on the reception of the play; at the same time, both visual and critical documents also suggest possible moments of theatrical dissent in the Hamburg production. Playing "Nordic" undertakes a documentary and cultural reading of the changing theatrical meanings of Wuolijoki's Niskavuoren naiset as it crossed the frontier from Finland to the stage of the Third Reich. It also provides a model for the ways theatrical signification operates within a network of cultural and ideological meanings, suggesting the ideological work of theatrical production depends on, reinforces, and contests that tissue of values. Although Finnish criticism of Niskavuoren naiset has assumed the play's Blut und Boden resonance contributed to Wuolijoki's success in the Third Reich, this study shows a considerably more complex situation. This revealing production dramatizes the changing uses of plays in a politicized national and transnational context. As part of the framing of "Nordic" identity on the wider stage of the Third Reich, Die Frauen auf Niskavuori exemplifies the conjunction of concurrent - sometimes independent, sometimes interlocking - "racial" and national ideologies.

Behagets betydelser : Döttrarnas edukation i det sena 1700-talets adelskultur

By the end of the 18th century the daughters of the nobility in the northern parts of Europe received a quite different kind of education from their brothers. Although the cultural aims of the upbringing of girls were similar to that of boys, the practice of the raising of girls was less influenced by tradition. The education of boys was one of classical humanistic and military training, but the girls were more freely educated. The unity and exclusiveness of the culture of nobility were of great importance to the continued influence of this elite. The importance of education became even greater, partly because of the unstable political situation, and partly because of the changes the Enlightenment had caused in the perception of the human essence. The delicate and ambitious hônnete homme was expected to constantly strive to a greater perfection as a Christian. On the other hand, the great weight given to aesthetics - etiquette and taste - made individual variation of the contents of education possible. Education consisted mainly in aesthetic studies; girls studied music, dancing, fine arts, epistolary skills and also the art of polite conversation. On the other hand, there was a demand for enlightenment, and one often finds personal political and social ambitions, which made competition in all skills necessary for the daughters as well. Literary sources for the education of girls are Madame LePrince de Beaumont, Madame d'Epinay, Madame de Genlis and Charles Rollin. Other, perhaps even more important sources are the letters between parents and children and papers originating from studies. Diaries and memoirs also tell us about the practice of education in day to day life. The approach of this study is semiotic. It can be stated that the code of the culture was well hidden from the outsider. This was achieved, for instance, by the adaptation of the foreign French language and culture. The core of the culture consisted of texts which only thorough examples stated the norms which were expressed as good taste. Another important feature of the culture was its tendency towards theatricalisation. The way of life was dictated by taste, and moral values were included in the aesthetic norms through the constant striving for modesty. Pleasant manners were also correct in an ethical perspective. Morality could thus also be taught through etiquette.

Ruumiinkuvia! : Suomalainen performanssi- ja kehotaide 1980- ja1990-luvulla psykoanalyysin valossa

My PhD-thesis Body Images! Psychoanalytical Analysis of Finnish Performance and Body Art in the 1980s and 1990s considers Finnish performance and body art performed mainly by visual artists. In Part I, I chart the historical construction of performance art and its extension since the beginning of the 21st century. There are several wievs of the historical background of performance art. I introduce three different genealogies of performance art. One is Rose-Lee Goldberg s view. She connects performance art with the European avant-garde already at the beginning of the 20th century from futurists and dadaists to Russian avant-garde and the Bauhaus. I prefer to present performance art as contemporary art, which began to take shape in connection with visual arts in the 1950s and 1960s. The focus on the body is apparent in nearly all performance art. Nevertheless, throug the concept of body art I want to empasize the artist s body as the place of art. Body art (as part of performance art) functions as thematic and interpretive concept, which allows me to focus on performances where the questions of body image, narcissism, desire, language and pleasure are incorporated in particular intensive ways. In Part II, I explore the arrival of performance art in Finnish visual arts in the 1980s. I study the new generation s relation to earlier Finnish happenings (1960s) and performative actions in 1970 s. I briefly introduce performance groups of the 1980s art scene and consider their reception in media. The main focus is on the group Jack Helen Brut, in which I see many similarities to the so- called Theatre of Images. The goal of this part II is to provide historical context for the performance analysis that follows. In Part III, I develop the concept of body image which is my main theoretical term. The concept of body image is used according to Lacanian psychoanalytical theory, especially his considerations of mirror stages. My first mapping of body image, which I call imaginary body image, is based on Lacan s famous mirror stage article (1949). According to my reading, body image is narcistic and aggressive. The important concepts here are ego, imaginary, méconnaisance and alienation. In 1953 Lacan began to develop different version on mirror stage, in which he emphasized the primacy of symbolic dimension. It is not image, but language which constructs the foundations of body image. Central concepts in this chater are Other as language, ego-ideal, demand and desire. In the last chapter I connect the third version of the mirror stage to concepts of gaze, phantasy, real, jouissance and object a. In previous chapters I had considered body image in relation to ego. Now I explore it in relation to subject. In my reading the body image is fragile phenomen, which oscillates between yearning for coherence and phantasies of fragmented images. Part IV of the thesis begins with an introduction to the central concepts and debates in performace studies over the last few decades. Important concepts are presence, performativity and theatricality. The main substance of my thesis, however, is the performance analysis, which focuses on works by three Finnish artists and one Finnish group. The first analysis concerns the performance (1992) of Kimmo Schroderus. I discuss the relationship between narcissism and body art and the changes in demands projected on body images of men in recent decades in a Euro-American context. I also explore this performance in relation to the myth of Narcissus, which I reinterpret through Narcissus s aggression against his own body. The group Homo S is the main subject of the next analysis. I discuss the relationship between feminist art and performance art, especially in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. Homo S is different from this early performance art because of its anarchism, humor and rejection of all ideals. Homo S characterizes its performance Body Body (1983) as liberating vulgar feminism . Sociality and performance of erotic relations between women are central in Body Body. Pia Lindman s performances are the subjects of my third analysis. I study three of her performances: Olen muoto (1993), 17 and in love (1994) and Arranged views (1995). I interpret these performances as efforts to disperse the imaginary and symbolic structures of the body image. She constructs the peculiar object a and phantasy space of her own. In the last analysis I move from questions of image and gaze to a study of language, sound and jouissance. I discuss at a general level the performance of orality and helplesness (Hilflosigkeit) in body art. The central elements in Pentti Otto Koskinen s performances are the ear, listening and receptive gestures and postions. Perseveraatio (1998) can be understood representing as submission to the super-ego s power, which compels one to enjoy. I examine particularly closely the performance Maissi on hyvää ei missään nimessä maissia (1995), which I interpret as the return of a baby s body image to the liminal site of choice: language or jouissance?

Environmental change and human history in the Jabal Harun area, Jordan

The research is related to the Finnish Jabal Harun Project (FJHP), which is part of the research unit directed by Professor Jaakko Frösén. The project consists of two interrelated parts: the excavation of a Byzantine monastery/pilgrimage centre on Jabal Harun, and a multiperiod archaeological survey of the surrounding landscape. It is generally held that the Near Eastern landscape has been modified by millennia of human habitation and activity. Past climatic changes and human activities could be expected to have significantly changed also the landscape of the Jabal Harun area. Therefore it was considered that a study of erosion in the Jabal Harun area could shed light on the environmental and human history of the area. It was hoped that it would be possible to connect the results of the sedimentological studies either to wider climatic changes in the Near East, or to archaeologically observable periods of human activity and land use. As evidence of some archaeological periods is completely missing from the Jabal Harun area, it was also of interest whether catastrophic erosion or unfavourable environmental change, caused either by natural forces or by human agency, could explain the gaps in the archaeological record. Changes in climate and/or land-use were expected to be reflected in the sedimentary record. The field research, carried out as part of the FJHP survey fieldwork, included the mapping of wadi terraces and cleaning of sediment profiles which were recorded and sampled for laboratory analyses of facies and lithology. To obtain a chronology for the sedimentation and erosion phases also OSL (optically stimulated luminescence) dating samples were collected. The results were compared to the record of the Near Eastern palaeoclimate, and to data from geoarchaeological studies in central and southern Jordan. The picture of the environmental development was then compared to the human history in the area, based on archaeological evidence from the FJHP survey and the published archaeological research in the Petra region, and the question of the relationship between human activity and environmental change was critically discussed. Using the palaeoclimatic data and the results from geoarchaeological studies it was possible to outline the environmental development in the Jabal Harun area from the Pleistocene to the present.It is appears that there was a phase of accumulation of sediment before the Middle Palaeolithic period, possibly related to tectonic movement. This phase was later followed by erosion, tentatively suggested to have taken place during the Upper Palaeolithic. A period of wadi aggradation probably occurred during the Late Glacial and continued until the end of the Pleistocene, followed by significant channel degradation, attributed to increased rainfall during the Early Holocene. It seems that during the later Holocene channel incision has been dominant in the Jabal Harûn area although there have been also small-scale channel aggradation phases, two of which were OSL-dated to around 4000-3000 BP and 2400-2000 BP. As there is no evidence of tectonic movements in the Jabal Harun area after the early Pleistocene, it is suggested that climate change and human activity have been the major causes of environmental change in the area. At a brief glance it seems that many of the changes in the settlement and land use in the Jabal Harun area can be explained by climatic and environmental conditions. However, the responses of human societies to environmental change are dependent on many factors. Therefore an evaluation of the significance of environmental, cultural, socio-economic and political factors is needed to decide whether certain phenomena are environmentally induced. Comparison with the wider Petra region is also needed to judge whether the phenomena are characteristic of the Jabal Harun area only, or can they be connected to social, political and economic development over a wider area.

Rauta ja Ristilukki : Vilho Helasen salapoliisiromaanisarja

Vilho Helanen (1899 1952) was a right-wing opinion leader in interwar Finland. But following the Second World War, the political situation in the country changed dramatically, and Helanen lost his job as well as his influential social station. He began to write detective fiction, and between 1946 and 1952 published seven novels (one had already been published in 1941). The novels protagonist is Kaarlo Rauta, a lawyer who acts as a private investigator. This doctoral dissertation analyzes the Rauta series from three different points of view. It investigates the extent to which the author s life and his strong political background appears in the series. The study also situates the series within Finnish society during and after the war. Finally, the study examines the Rauta series in terms of the genre conventions of detective fiction, that is, the study compares the Rauta series with other Finnish crime fiction and international crime fiction written during the 1940s. The Iron and The Cross Spider uses the term citizenship education when analyzing how Helanen implicitly continued his political teaching when writing crime fiction. The series includes a didactic register, which instructs the middle class in appropriate behaviour and manners, and the social roles entailed by gender. A special area of focus in this didacticism are norms of correct masculinity and femininity. The study devotes specific attention to the status of character in the series. The masculine detective and his beautiful wife are prominent, as is the fictive community and the tensions that criss-cross it. After the war, the Rauta series takes on a positive tone. Men can earn their place in society by fighting at the front, and after the war a homosocial bond exists between all the former soldiers. Women are shut out of the war experience. The detective hero has served in the war, but he is physically and psychologically untouched by it. The community is threatened by artists and immoral bohemians, but not the working class. Artists have affairs outside of marriage and abnormal sexual habits. The members of the upper class are also described as immoral in the series. Sadistic sexuality is often characteristic of the criminals, who are mostly femme fatales in the fashion of hard-boiled detective stories and film noir. Also, strong feelings have a negative connotation in the series, and showing them is forbidden behaviour. Men become criminals when they are insufficiently masculine or when they have not carried out their duty by fighting in the war. Helanen portrayed the communists, his political opponents from the 1930s, as criminals in his post-war series, but they were not openly represented as Russians or communists. Instead, Helanen used the cross spider as their symbol, a symbol which the readers of the time would recognize.

Stalking and violence victimization among Finnish university students

This study examined the nature and lifetime prevalence of two types of victimization among Finnish university students: stalking and violence victimization (i.e. general violence). This study was a cross-sectional study using two different datasets of Finnish university students. The stalking data was collected via an electronic questionnaire and the violence victimization data was collected via a postal questionnaire. There were 615 participants in the stalking study (I-III) and 905 participants in the violence victimization study. The thesis consists of four studies. The aims regarding the stalking substudies (Studies I-III) were to examine the lifetime prevalence of stalking among university students and to analyze how stalking is related to victim and stalker characteristics and certain central variables of stalking (victim-stalker relationship, stalking episodes, stalking duration). Specifically, the aim was to identify factors that are associated with stalking violence and to factors contributing to the stalking duration. Furthermore, the aim was also to investigate how university students cope with stalking and whether coping is related to victim and stalker background characteristics and to certain other core variables (victim-stalker relationship, stalking episodes, stalking duration, prior victimization, and stalking violence). The aims for the violence victimization substudy (Study IV) were to examine the prevalence of violence victimization, i.e. general violence (minor and serious physical violence and threats) and how violence victimization is associated with victim/abuser characteristics, symptomology, and the use of student health care services. The present study shows that both stalking and violence victimization (i.e. general violence) are markedly prevalent among Finnish university students. The lifetime prevalence rate for stalking was 48.5% and 46.5% for violence victimization. When the lifetime prevalence rate was restricted to violent stalking and physical violence only, the prevalence decreased to 22% and 42% respectively. The students reported exposure to multiple forms of stalking and violence victimization, demonstrating the diversity of victimization among university students. Stalking victimization was found to be more prevalent among female students, while violence victimization was found to be more prevalent among male students. Most of the victims of stalking knew their stalkers, while the offender in general violence was typically a stranger. Stalking victimization often included violence and continued for a lengthy period. The victim-stalking relationship and stalking behaviors were found to be associated with stalking violence and stalking duration. Based on three identified stalking dimensions (violence, surveillance, contact seeking), the present study found five distinct victim subgroups (classes). Along with the victim-stalker relationship, the victim subgroups emerged as important factors contributing to the stalking duration. Victims of violent stalking did not differ greatly from victims of non-violent stalking in their use of behavioral coping tactics, while exposure to violent stalking had an effect on the use of coping strategies. The victim-offender relationship was also associated to a set of symptoms regarding violence victimization. Furthermore, violence victimization had a significant main effect on specific symptoms (mental health symptoms, alcohol consumption, symptom index), while gender had a significant main effect on most symptoms, yet no interaction effect was found. The present results also show that victims of violence are overrepresented among frequent health care users. The present findings add to the literature on the prevalence and nature of stalking and violence victimization among Finnish university students. Moreover, the present findings stress the importance of violence prevention and intervention in student health care, and may be used as a guideline for policy makers, as well as health care and law enforcement professionals dealing with youth violence prevention.

Erityistä tukea tarvitsevien lasten polut esiopetuksesta alkuopetukseen : tukitoimet ja suoriutuminen

The purpose of this follow-up study is to analyse stages of learning and teaching of children with special needs in pre-school and the first two grades of elementary school. The target group included 270 children with special needs. The three year follow-up period for each child began during the pre-school year, and continued until the spring of the second grade in elementary school. Various diagnoses were detected among children in the study group. The disorders were categorised in six classes: the developmentally delayed, children with language development disorder, children with emotional and behavioural disorders, children with attention deficit, children with other non-cognitive disorders and children with extensive developmental disorders. The study's starting point was the situation in pre-school: how the children were placed in pre-school, and what kinds of support they were offered? The purpose of the study was to describe how children with special needs move from different types of groups in pre-school to the different types of classes in the first two grades of elementary school. I also examined how well the children with special needs succeeded in the first two grades of elementary school. An additional purpose was to find out what connections there may be between the paths taken by children with special needs when they move from pre-school to elementary school, the types of support they get, and how they succeed academically in elementary school. The data were gathered mainly by means of questionnaires. In addition the children were studied by means of tests designed to estimate their academic skills at the end of the second grade. In analysing the data I used both quantitative and qualitative methods. Six paths were identified among the children in the study group, based on whether a child was in a group or a class given special teaching or in an ordinary group or class during pre-school and the first two grades of elementary school. In this study, about 53% of the children with special needs moved from pre-school to a regular class in elementary school, and about 47% of the children received special education in elementary school. Among the ordinary groups (n = 69) in pre-school the majority of children (73 %) moved to a regular class in elementary school. Among the children receiving special education (n = 201) in pre-school, 46% moved to a regular class in elementary school. That path turned out to be the one followed by the greatest number of children. Only rarely did children move from an ordinary group in pre-school to a special education class in elementary school. Examination of the results according to the children's transition paths also links together with the viewpoint of integration and segregation. This study indicates that in pre-school special education groups, a significantly greater number of methods supporting children's development were used than in the conventional education groups. The difference was at its greatest inconnection with the use of so-called special rehabilitation methods. A quite wide range of variation was observed in how the children succeeded in elementary school. Success in the tests designed to estimate the children's academic skills was poor for 31% of the children (n = 230) in the first grade study group. For 69 % of the children, however, success in the tests was at least satisfactory. In the second grade study group 34 % of the children (N = 216) got through all the three tests estimating academic skills acceptably. According to this study, a number of children with special needs require special support throughout pre-school and the first two grades of elementary school. The results show that if the children received special support during the pre-school year, a number were able to participate in regular education in elementary school. Keywords: a child with special needs, measures of support, transitions, achievements in school

Expression of cytochrome P450 enzymes and metabolism of timolol in human ocular tissue

Glaucoma is a group of progressive optic neuropathies causing irreversible blindness if not diagnosed and treated in the early state of progression. Disease is often, but not always, associated with increased intraocular pressure (IOP), which is also the most important risk factor for glaucoma. Ophthlamic timolol preparations have been used for decades to lower increased intraocular pressure (IOP). Timolol is locally well tolerated but may cause e.g. cardiovascular and pulmonary adverse effects due to systemic absorption. It has been reported that approximately 80% of a topically administered eye drop is systemically absorbed. However, only limited information is available on timolol metabolism in the liver or especially in the human eye. The aim of this work was to investigate metabolism of timolol in human liver and human ocular tissues. The expression of drug metabolizing cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes in the human ciliary epithelial cells was studied. The metabolism of timolol and the interaction potential of timolol with other commercially available medicines were investigated in vitro using different liver preparations. The absorption of timolol to the aqueous humor from two commercially available products: 0.1% eye gel and 0.5% eye drops and the presence of timolol metabolites in the aqueous humor were investigated in a clinical trial. Timolol was confirmed to be metabolized mainly by CYP2D6 as previously suggested. Potent CYP2D6 inhibitors especially fluoxetine, paroxetine and quinidine inhibited the metabolism of timolol. The inhibition may be of clinical significance in patients using ophthalmic timolol products. CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 mRNAs were expressed in the human ciliary epithelial cells. CYP1B1 was also expressed at protein level and the expression was strongly induced by a known potent CYP1B1 inducer 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). The CYP1B1 induction is suggested to be mediated by aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). Low levels of CYP2D6 mRNA splice variants were expressed in the human ciliary epithelial cells and very low levels of timolol metabolites were detected in the human aqueous humor. It seems that negligible amount of CYP2D6 protein is expressed in the human ocular tissues. Timolol 0.1% eye gel leads to aqueous humor concentration high enough to achieve therapeutic effect. Inter-individual variation in concentrations is low and intraocular as well as systemic safety can be increased when using this product with lower timolol concentration instead of timolol 0.5% eye drops.

Characterization of cytokines, matrix metalloproteinases and toll-like receptors in human periodontal tissue destruction

Periodontal Disease affects the supporting structures of the teeth and is initiated by a microbial biofilm called dental plaque. Severity ranges from superficial inflammation of the gingiva (gingivitis) to extensive destruction of connective tissue and bone leading to tooth loss (periodontitis). In periodontitis the destruction of tissue is caused by a cascade of microbial and host factors together with proteolytic enzymes. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are known to be central mediators of the pathologic destruction in periodontitis. Initially plaque bacteria provide pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) which are sensed by Toll-like receptors (TLRs), and initiate intracellular signaling cascades leading to host inflammation. Our aim was to characterize TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor-alpha) and its type I and II receptors in periodontal tissues, as well as, the effects of TNF-α, IL-1β (interleukin-1beta) and IL-17 on the production and/or activation of MMP-3, MMP-8 and MMP-9. Furthermore we mapped the TLRs in periodontal tissues and assessed how some of the PAMPs binding to the key TLRs found in periodontal tissues affect production of TNF-α and IL-1β by gingival epithelial cells with or without combination of IL-17. TNF-α and its receptors were detected in pericoronitis. Furthermore, increased expression of interleukin-1β and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 was found as a biological indicator of TNF-α ligand-receptor interaction. MMP-3, -8, and 9 were investigated in periodontitis affected human gingival crevicular fluid and gingival fibroblasts produced pro-MMP-3. Following that, the effect of IL-17 was studied on MMP and pro-inflammatory cytokine production. IL-17 was increased in periodontitis and up-regulated IL-1β, TNF-α, MMP-1 and MMP-3. We continued by demonstrating TLRs in gingival tissues, in which significant differences between patients with periodontitis and healthy controls were found. Finally, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were performed to show that the gingival cells response to inflammatory responses in a TLR-dependent manner. Briefly, this thesis demonstrates that TLRs are present in periodontal tissues and present differences in periodontitis compared to healthy controls. The cells of gingival tissues respond to inflammatory process in a TLR-dependent manner by producing pro-inflammatory cytokines. During the destruction of periodontal tissues, the release (IL-1β and TNF-α) and co-operation with other pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-17), which in turn increase the inflammation and thus be more harmful to the host with the increased presence of MMPs (MMP-1, MMP-3, MMP-8, MMP-9) in diseased over healthy sites.

Prevention of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention - emphasis on dietary composition and identification of high-risk individuals

Type 2 diabetes is an increasing, serious, and costly public health problem. The increase in the prevalence of the disease can mainly be attributed to changing lifestyles leading to physical inactivity, overweight, and obesity. These lifestyle-related risk factors offer also a possibility for preventive interventions. Until recently, proper evidence regarding the prevention of type 2 diabetes has been virtually missing. To be cost-effective, intensive interventions to prevent type 2 diabetes should be directed to people at an increased risk of the disease. The aim of this series of studies was to investigate whether type 2 diabetes can be prevented by lifestyle intervention in high-risk individuals, and to develop a practical method to identify individuals who are at high risk of type 2 diabetes and would benefit from such an intervention. To study the effect of lifestyle intervention on diabetes risk, we recruited 522 volunteer, middle-aged (aged 40 - 64 at baseline), overweight (body mass index > 25 kg/m2) men (n = 172) and women (n = 350) with impaired glucose tolerance to the Diabetes Prevention Study (DPS). The participants were randomly allocated either to the intensive lifestyle intervention group or the control group. The control group received general dietary and exercise advice at baseline, and had annual physician's examination. The participants in the intervention group received, in addition, individualised dietary counselling by a nutritionist. They were also offered circuit-type resistance training sessions and were advised to increase overall physical activity. The intervention goals were to reduce body weight (5% or more reduction from baseline weight), limit dietary fat (< 30% of total energy consumed) and saturated fat (< 10% of total energy consumed), and to increase dietary fibre intake (15 g / 1000 kcal or more) and physical activity (≥ 30 minutes/day). Diabetes status was assessed annually by a repeated 75 g oral glucose tolerance testing. First analysis on end-points was completed after a mean follow-up of 3.2 years, and the intervention phase was terminated after a mean duration of 3.9 years. After that, the study participants continued to visit the study clinics for the annual examinations, for a mean of 3 years. The intervention group showed significantly greater improvement in each intervention goal. After 1 and 3 years, mean weight reductions were 4.5 and 3.5 kg in the intervention group and 1.0 kg and 0.9 kg in the control group. Cardiovascular risk factors improved more in the intervention group. After a mean follow-up of 3.2 years, the risk of diabetes was reduced by 58% in the intervention group compared with the control group. The reduction in the incidence of diabetes was directly associated with achieved lifestyle goals. Furthermore, those who consumed moderate-fat, high-fibre diet achieved the largest weight reduction and, even after adjustment for weight reduction, the lowest diabetes risk during the intervention period. After discontinuation of the counselling, the differences in lifestyle variables between the groups still remained favourable for the intervention group. During the post-intervention follow-up period of 3 years, the risk of diabetes was still 36% lower among the former intervention group participants, compared with the former control group participants. To develop a simple screening tool to identify individuals who are at high risk of type 2 diabetes, follow-up data of two population-based cohorts of 35-64 year old men and women was used. The National FINRISK Study 1987 cohort (model development data) included 4435 subjects, with 182 new drug-treated cases of diabetes identified during ten years, and the FINRISK Study 1992 cohort (model validation data) included 4615 subjects, with 67 new cases of drug-treated diabetes during five years, ascertained using the Social Insurance Institution's Drug register. Baseline age, body mass index, waist circumference, history of antihypertensive drug treatment and high blood glucose, physical activity and daily consumption of fruits, berries or vegetables were selected into the risk score as categorical variables. In the 1987 cohort the optimal cut-off point of the risk score identified 78% of those who got diabetes during the follow-up (= sensitivity of the test) and 77% of those who remained free of diabetes (= specificity of the test). In the 1992 cohort the risk score performed equally well. The final Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) form includes, in addition to the predictors of the model, a question about family history of diabetes and the age category of over 64 years. When applied to the DPS population, the baseline FINDRISC value was associated with diabetes risk among the control group participants only, indicating that the intensive lifestyle intervention given to the intervention group participants abolished the diabetes risk associated with baseline risk factors. In conclusion, the intensive lifestyle intervention produced long-term beneficial changes in diet, physical activity, body weight, and cardiovascular risk factors, and reduced diabetes risk. Furthermore, the effects of the intervention were sustained after the intervention was discontinued. The FINDRISC proved to be a simple, fast, inexpensive, non-invasive, and reliable tool to identify individuals at high risk of type 2 diabetes. The use of FINDRISC to identify high-risk subjects, followed by lifestyle intervention, provides a feasible scheme in preventing type 2 diabetes, which could be implemented in the primary health care system.

Array Comparative Genomic Hybridization in Sarcomas

Over the past years, much research on sarcomas based on low-resolution cytogenetic and molecular cytogenetic methods has been published, leading to the identification of genetic abnormalities partially underlying the tumourigenesis. Continued progress in the identification of genetic events such as copy number aberrations relies upon adapting the rapidly evolving high-resolution microarray technology, which will eventually provide novel insights into sarcoma biology, and targets for both diagnostics and drug development. The aim of this Thesis was to characterize DNA copy number changes that are involved in the pathogenesis of soft tissue leiomyosarcoma (LMS), dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP), osteosarcoma (OS), malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH), and uterine leiomyosarcoma (ULMS) by applying fine resolution array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) technology. Both low- and high-grade LMS tumours showed distinct copy number patterns, in addition to sharing two minimal common regions of gains and losses. Small aberrations were detected by aCGH, which were beyond the resolution of chromosomal comparative genomic hybridization (cCGH). DFSP tumours analysed by aCGH showed gains in 17q, 22q, and 21 additional gained regions, but only one region (22q) with copy number loss. Recurrent amplicons identified in OS by aCGH were 12q11-q15, 8q, 6p12-p21, and 17p. Amplicons 12q and 17p were further characterized in detail. The amplicon at 17p was characterized by aCGH in low- and high-grade LMS, OS, and MFH. In all but one case this amplicon, with minimal common regions of gains at 17p11-p12, started with the distal loss of 17p13-pter. OS and high-grade LMS were grouped together as they showed a complex pattern of copy number gains and amplifications at 17p, whereas MFH and low-grade LMS showed a continuous pattern of copy number gains and amplification at 17p. In addition to the commonly gained and lost regions identified in ULMS by aCGH, various biological processes affected by these copy number changes were also indicated by pathway analysis. The three novel findings obtained in this work were: characterization of amplicon 17p in low- and high-grade LMS and MFH, profiles of DNA copy number changes in LMS, and detection of various pathways affected by copy number changes in ULMS. These studies have not been undertaken previously by aCGH technology, thus this Thesis adds new information regarding DNA copy number changes in sarcomas. In conclusion, the aCGH technique used in this Thesis has provided new insights into the genetics of sarcomas by detecting the precise regions affected by copy number changes and some potential candidate target genes within those regions, which had not been uncovered by previously applied low resolution techniques.