The Soviet Union, Finland and the Cold War : The Finnish Card in Soviet Foreign Policy, 1956-1959

From the Soviet point of view the actual substance of Soviet-Finnish relations in the second half of 1950s clearly differed from the contemporary and later public image, based on friendship and confidence rhetoric. As the polarization between the right and the left became more underlined in Finland in the latter half of the 1950s, the criticism towards the Soviet Union became stronger, and the USSR feared that this development would have influence on Finnish foreign policy. From the Soviet point of view, the security commitments of FCMA-treaty needed additional guarantees through control of Finnish domestic politics and economic relations, especially during international crises. In relation to Scandinavia, Finland was, from the Soviet point of view, the model country of friendship or neutrality policy. The influence of the Second Berlin Crisis or the Soviet-Finnish Night Frost Crisis in 1958-1959 to Soviet policy towards Scandinavia needs to be observed from this point of view. The Soviet Union used Finland as a tool, in agreement with Finnish highest political leadership, for weakening of the NATO membership of Norway and Denmark, and for maintaining Swedish non-alliance. The Finnish interest to EFTA membership in the summer of 1959, at the same time with the Scandinavian countries, seems to have caused a panic reaction in the USSR, as the Soviets feared that these economic arrangements would reverse the political advantages the country had received in Finland after the Night Frost Crisis. Together with history of events, this study observes the interaction of practical interests and ideologies, both in individuals and in decision-making organizations. The necessary social and ideological reforms in the Soviet Union after 1956 had influence both on the legitimacy of the regime, and led to contradictions in the argumentation of Soviet foreign policy. This was observed both in the own camp as well as in the West. Also, in Finland a breakthrough took place in the late 1950's: as the so-called counter reaction lost to the K-line, "a special relationship" developed with the Soviet Union. As a consequence of the Night Frost Crisis the Soviet relationship became a factor decisively defining the limits of domestic politics in Finland, a part of Finnish domestic political argumentation. Understood from this basis, finlandization is not, even from the viewpoint of international relations, a special case, but a domestic political culture formed by the relationship between a dominant state, a superpower, and a subordinate state, Finland.

Koko kansan koti vai kommunistien pesäke? Helsingin Kulttuuritalon rakentaminen ja paikan henki 1955-1959

Helsingin Kulttuuritalo rakennettiin vuosina 1955–1958 vastaamaan Suomen kommunistisen puolueen ja muiden kansandemokraattisten järjestöjen toimitilojen puutteeseen. Kulttuuritalo oli myös kommunistien vastaus Helsingissä jo 1900-luvun alusta lähtien käytyyn konserttisali keskusteluun. Kulttuuritalo rakennettiin SKP:n päämajaksi, mutta sinne asettui myös lukuisia muita kansandemokraattisia järjestöjä. Kulttuuritalon suunnitteli professori Alvar Aalto. Pro gradu -tutkielmassani olen tarkastellut Helsingin Kulttuuritalon rakentamista ja paikan hengen muodostumista vuosien 1955–1959 välillä. Aikarajaus kattaa Kulttuuritalon rakennusvuodet sekä sen ensimmäisen kokonaisen toimintavuoden. Tutkielman ensisijaiset tutkimuskysymykset ovat: Miksi Helsingin Kulttuuritalo rakennettiin, millainen rakennusprosessi oli ja millainen paikan henki Kulttuuritalolle muodostui vuosien 1955–1959 aikana? Teoreettisen viitekehyksen tutkielmalle muodostaa paikan hengen käsite. Primäärilähteinä tutkielmassa ovat Kansan Arkistosta löytyvät Kulttuuritalo Oy:n ja Kulttuurityö ry:n kokoelmat sekä sanomalehdet. Sanomalehtiä käytetään Kulttuuritalon paikan hengen ilmentämiseen. Kulttuuritalo rakennettiin pääasiassa talkoovoimin. Talkoisiin osallistui runsaasti ihmisiä niin pääkaupunkiseudulta kuin ulkopaikkakunnilta. Suurin osa Kulttuuritalon rakentamisen rahoituksesta tuli kommunistisilta poliittisilta järjestöiltä ja ammattijärjestöiltä. Pyynnöistä huolimatta Helsingin kaupungilta tai Suomen valtiolta ei tippunut tukea kommunistien hankkeelle. NKP osallistui Kulttuuritalon rakennuskustannuksiin sekä suorin tavaralahjoituksia että epäsuoraan Bukarestissa sijainneen kansainvälisen rahaston kautta, joka toimi SKP:n rahoittajana. Kulttuuritalon paikan hengen luominen liittyi tiiviisti Kulttuuritalon rakentamiseen, sillä paikan henki alkoi muodostua jo talon rakennusvaiheessa. Kulttuuritalon paikan hengen rakentamiseen osallistuivat niin kommunistit ja kansandemokraatit kuin kommunismin vastustajat. Kommunismin vastustajilla tarkoitan tutkielmassa oikeistoa ja sosiaalidemokraatteja. Kommunismin vastustajat vastustivat tavallisesti myös Kulttuuritaloa, mikä kytkee 1950-luvun suomalaisen antikommunismin Kulttuuritalon paikan hengen muodostamiseen. Kun kommunistit rakensivat Kulttuuritalon paikan hengen positiivista puolta, sosiaalidemokraatit ja oikeistolaiset lehdet osallistuivat sen negatiivisen puolen muodostamiseen. Kulttuuritalon paikan hengestä muodostui vuosien 1955–1959 aikana voimakkaan punainen. Kulttuuritalon punaisuus sai kuitenkin kaksi merkitystä: Kommunisteille ja kansandemokraateille se merkitsi työväenliikkeen solidaarisuutta, tasa-arvoa ja voimaa. Kulttuuritalo oli heille osoitus työväen voimasta, ja he toivoivat sen auttavan kommunisteja saavuttamaan laajemman kannatuksen ja hyväksytyn aseman yhteiskunnassa. Kommunismin vastustajille Kulttuuritalo puolestaan merkitsi perinteistä yhteiskuntaa uhkaavaa tekijää. Kulttuuritalon oli heidän mielestään vaarallinen paikka, jonka avulla kommunistit pyrkivät vahvistamaan asemiaan yhteiskunnassa. Kulttuuritalon paikan henki heijasti näin suomalaisen yhteiskunnan kahtiajakautuneisuutta. Kulttuuritalon paikan henki vaikutti myös talon käyttöön. Kulttuuritalon ottivat innolla omakseen kommunistit ja kansandemokraatit, mutta sosiaalidemokraatit ja oikeistolaiset eivät halunneet sitä käyttää, vaikka Kulttuuritalon juhlasali olikin Helsingissä ainoa, joka täytti kansainvälisestikin tasokkaan akustiikan vaatimukset.

Englanniksiko maailmanmaineeseen? : Suomalaisen proosakaunokirjallisuuden kääntäminen englanniksi Isossa-Britanniassa vuosina 1945 2003

This doctoral thesis focuses on the translation of Finnish prose literature into English in the United Kingdom between 1945 and 2003. The subject is approached using translation archaeology, interviews, archival material, detailed text analysis and reception material. The main theoretical framework is Descriptive Translation Studies, and certain sociological theories (Bourdieu s field theory, actor-network theory) are also used. After charting the published translations, two periods of time are selected for closer analysis: an earlier period from 1955 to 1959, involving eight translations, and a later one from 1990 to 2003, with a total of six translations. While these translation numbers may appear low, they are actually rather high in proportion to the total number of 28 one-author literary prose translations published in the UK over the approximately 60 years being studied. The two periods of time, the 1950s and 1990s, are compared in terms of the sociological context of translation activity, the reception of translations and their textual features. The comparisons show that the main changes in translation practice between these two periods are increased completeness (translations in the 1950s group often being shortened by hundreds of pages) and lesser use of indirect translation via an intermediary language (about half of the 1950s translations having been translated via Swedish). Otherwise, translation practices have not changed much: except for large omissions, which are far more frequent in the 1950s, variation within each group is larger than between groups. As to the sociological context, the main changes are an increase in long-term institution-level contacts and an increase in the promotion of foreign translation rights by Finnish publishing houses. This is in contrast to the 1950s when translation rights were mainly sold through personal contacts by individual authors and translators. The reception of translations is difficult to study because of scarce material. However, the 1950s translations were aggressively marketed and therefore obtained far more reviews and reprints than the 1990s translations. Several of the 1950s books, mostly historical novels by Mika Waltari, were mainstream bestsellers at the time, while current translations are frequently made for niche markets. The thesis introduces ample new material on the translation of Finnish prose literature into English in the UK. The results are also relevant to translation from a minority literature into a majority one. As to translation theory, they lead us to question the social nature of translation norms and the assumption of a static target culture. The translations analysed here are located in a very fragmented interculture and gain a stronger position in the Finnish culture than in the British one.

Literaturnaja skazka A.M. Remizova (1900-1920-e gody)

Literary tale of A.M. Remizov (1900’s – 1920’s) The thesis is devoted to a detailed historical-literary description of a tale as a genre tradition in the creative work of Alexei Mikhailovich Remizov (1877-1957), one of the major Russian prose writers of the 20’s century. This very approach allows to specify the place and functional meaning of this genre in literary practice of the writer and to appeal to one of the key problems of the 20-21 century literature history – a specific of modernistic literature composition principle and a role of montage techniques in its formation. Remizov was working on tales during his whole life, though the most productive years of folklore studies fell to 1900’s – 1910’s. During this period he intensively studied folklore materials, narrated several hundreds of folk tales and in 1900’s – 1920’s published eight tale collections which played a significant role in the formation of stylistic and compositional principles of his prose of the 1910’s – 1920’s, especially montage techniques, which in its turn influenced the development of the narrative forms in the Russian post-revolutionary literature. At the same time a tale has specified not only poetics but also problematics of Remizov’s creative work, as when choosing folklore sources the writer always alluded to modern themes and relevant intellectual trends. The current research work, based on various archive materials and a wide spectrum of modern historical-literary data, complies four chapters with a consistent description of creation history, publication and critics’ reviews of Remizov’s tale collections and single tales contributing to his creative evolution characteristic. Furthermore, the work refers to composition and subject of the particular collections. On the whole it enables to follow up genre dynamics. The first chapter of the work is devoted to Posolon’ (Sunwise), the earliest tale collection of Remizov. The main feature of the collection is that its composition is oriented on the agrarian calendar and the subject – on the system of mythological views reflected in the Russian folklore. This very collection to a large extent corresponds to the writer’s views on the myth represented in Pis’mo v redaktsiyu (Letter to the Editor). The history of this manifesto appearing is analyzed in the second chapter. The incident which caused its forthcoming contributed to ‘legitimization’ of Remizov’s narrations as a relevant genre of modern literature and to upgrading the writer in professional hierarchy. The third chapter analyzes Remizov’s collections of 1900’s – early 1920’s, a result of Remizov’s scrupulous work with a specific tale material. He is acting here as a tale repertory researcher and in some cases as a collector as well. The means of such collections’ topical organization is not the myth but the hero of the tale. According to this principle single pieces are grouped into cycles, which then form complicated montage constructs. Texts themselves can be viewed as a sort of hyper-quotations, as they in fact entirely coincide with their original sources. Besides, collections usually have their own ideal patterns. In the fourth chapter a connection of Remizov’s creative work with folk fun culture and a tradition of the folklore noel story is being demonstrated on Zavetnyie skazy (Secret Tales) material. A consistent collections’ history creation analysis convinces us that the tale was a sort of laboratory in which main writer’s prose methods were being worked out.

Historiebruk kring Nådendal : och den kommemorativa anatomin av klostrets minnesplats

This thesis examines the ruins of the medieval Bridgettine (Birgittan) monastery of Naantali (Vallis Gratiae, f. 1443) in Finland and the transformation of the site into a national heritage and a memory landscape. It was archaeologically surveyed in the 19th century by Professor Sven Gabriel Elmgren (1817 1897). His work was followed by Dr. Reinhold Hausen (1850 1942), who excavated the site in the 1870s. During this time the memories of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) in Sweden were also invented as heritage. Hausen published his results in 1922 thus forming the connection with the next generation of actors involved with the Naantali site: the magnate Amos Anderson (1878 1961), the teacher Julius Finnberg (1877 1955) and the archaeologist Juhani Rinne (1872 1950). They erected commemorative monuments etc. on the Naantali site, thus creating a memory landscape there. For them, the site represented the good homeland in connection with a western-oriented view of the history of Finland. The network of actors was connected to the Swedish researchers and so-called Birgitta Friends, such as state antiquarian Sigurd Curman (1879 1966), but also to the members of the Societas Sanctae Birgittae and the Society for the Embellishment of Pirita, among others. Historical jubilees as manifestations of the use of history were also arranged in Naantali in 1943, 1993 and 2003. It seems as if Naantali is needed in Finnish history from time to time after a period of crisis, i.e. after the Crimean War in the 1850s, the civil war of 1918, during World War II and also after the economic crisis of the early 1990s. In 2003, there was a stronger focus on the international Saint Bridget Jubilee in Sweden and all over Europe. Methodologically, the thesis belongs to the history of ideas, but also to research on the use of history, invented traditions and lieux de mémoire. The material for the work consists of public articles and scholarly texts in books or newspapers and letters produced by the actors and kept in archives in Finland, Sweden and Estonia, in addition to pictures and erected commemorative monuments in situ in the Western Finnish region. Keywords: Nådendal, Naantali monastery, Bridgettines, St. Bridget, use of history, lieux de mémoire, invented traditions, commemorative anatomy, memory landscape, Saint Bridget jubilees , S. G. Elmgren, R. Hausen, A. Anderson, J. Finnberg, J. Rinne, S. Curman, High Church Movement, Pirita, Vadstena.

Svengi ja groove rytmimusiikissa : Rytmiikkaan ja hienorytmiikkaan keskittyvä vertaileva musiikkianalyysi

Käsitteillä svengi ja groove viitataan useimmiten kappaleen tietyn tulkinnan eli esityksen pääasiallisesti rytmisten ominaisuuksien laatuun. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on kehittää musiikin rytmiikkaan ja hienorytmiikkaan keskittyviä musiikkikognitiivisia analyysimetodeja, joita soveltamalla nämä ominaisuudet voitaisiin tavoittaa. Käsitteiden monitulkintaisuus, joka tuodaan esiin tutkimuksen alussa aiheuttaa tälle monenlaisia haasteita. -- Tutkimuksen rytmiikkaan keskittyviä analyysimetodeja sovellettaessa musiikkia tarkastellaan tietystä esityksestä tehdyn nuottiesityksen, transkription välityksellä. Hienorytmisiä analyysimetodeja käytettäessä musiikkia tarkastellaan esitysten instrumenttiosuuksien sävelten alukehetkien tarkkojen sijaintien kautta. Alukehetket poimitaan erilaisin automaattisin ja manuaalisin tietokoneavusteisin menetelmin äänitteiltä. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan musiikissa esiintyviä ilmiöitä myös laajemmalla, musiikin havaitsemiseen ja tuottamiseen yleisesti liittyvällä musiikkikognition tasolla. Tärkeänä näkökulmana musiikin rytmiikan esitetään jakautuvan kognitiivisesti karkeampaan tekstuaaliseen rytmiikkaan ja tätä hienoisesti varioivaan ei-tekstuaaliseen hienorytmiikkaan. Analyysiosuudessa kehitettyjä metodeja sovelletaan seuraavien kappaleiden soolo-osuuksiin: Miles Davis – 'Freddie Freeloader' (1959), James Brown – 'Doing it to Death' (1973) ja Led Zeppelin – 'Stairway to Heaven' (1971). Kappaleet edustavat tutkimuksessa jazz-, funk- ja rock-tyylilajeja. Analyysi tarkastelee ja vertailee kappaleiden metristä stabiiliutta, instrumenttiosuuksien suhdetta pulssin iskuihin, rytmiikan kolmimuunteisuutta, soolojen metrisiä painopisteitä, soolojen rytmistä tiheyttä sekä tempojen muutoksia. -- Kehitetyt menetelmät osoittautuvat kaikki käyttökelpoisiksi. Kappaleille yhteiseksi piirteeksi paljastuu instrumenttiosuuksien säännönmukainen sijoittuminen pulssin iskuihin nähden kappaleiden sisällä. Kappaleiden välillä eri instrumentit sijoittuvat kuitenkin pulssin ympärille eroavin tavoin, jonka oletetaan johtuvan ennen kaikkea tyylilajien eroista. Tempot pysyvät kappaleissa varsin muuttumattomina. Jatkotutkimuksen kannalta mielenkiintoisia näkymiä ovat muun muassa metodien laajempi soveltaminen, automaattisten menetelmien kehittäminen

"Kokonainen elämä on ihmisen pyhin oikeus" : Rolf Lagerborgin seksuaaliradikalismi ja ylempien yhteiskuntaryhmien keskinäiset esiaviolliset suhteet 1900-luvun alun Suomessa.

Tutkielman aiheena on Rolf Lagerborgin seksuaaliradikalismi ja ylempien yhteiskuntaryhmien keskinäiset esiaviolliset suhteet 1900-luvun alun Suomessa. Filosofian tohtori, sittemmin professori Rolf Lagerborg (1874-1959) oli aikakauden näkyvin seksuaaliradikaalien aatteiden yläluokkainen kannattaja. Hänen 'vapaata rakkautta' ja naisen vapautta puolustaneista kirjoituksistaan sekä tuomioistuinavioliitostaan sukeutui kiivassanainen väittely, joka laajuudessaan oli Suomessa ennennäkemätön. Keskustelu levisi kaikkiin sivistyneistön tärkeimpiin äänitorviin ja siihen osallistui suuri joukko aikansa huomattavimpia mielipidevaikuttajia. Tutkielmassa selvitetään, mitä Rolf Lagerborg vuosisadan alussa esitti sukupuolikysymyksestä, mihin muihin toimiin hän sanaradikalismin lisäksi ryhtyi sekä miksi hän tämän kaiken teki. Siinä perehdytään myös Lagerborgin muuhun kirjalliseen tuotantoon ja jäljitetään sitä laajempaa kontekstia, josta seksuaaliradikaalit käsitykset muodostivat yhden osan. Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan lisäksi Lagerborgin provosoimaa julkista keskustelua. Huomio kiinnitetään erityisesti niihin perustaviin näkemyseroihin, joita kiistaan osallistuneiden sivistyneistön edustajien keskuudessa ilmeni. Lähtökohtana on oletus, että sukupuolikysymyksen aktualisoituminen vuosisadan vaihteessa oli osa länsimaisessa maailmankuvassa tapahtunutta fundamentaalista muutosta. Lopuksi hahmotetaan kirkonkirjoista kerätyn empiirisen tilastoaineiston kautta sitä sukupuolielämän ruohonjuuritasoa, jonka päällä erilaiset hyvinkin korkealentoiset diskurssit risteilivät. Pyrkimyksenä on tutkia yksilön, yhteisön sekä tilastollisen aineiston vuorovaikutusta. Lagerborgin seksuaaliradikalismin keskeisimmäksi piirteeksi nousi yksilön itsemääräämisoikeutta ja valinnanvapautta korostanut individualismi. Taustalla vaikuttivat myös reformistinen sosialismi sekä nietzscheläis-westermarckilainen relativismi. Tärkein motiivi oli taistelu uskonnonvapauden puolesta, mikä Lagerborgille merkitsi samalla henkilökohtaista vapaustaistelua uskonnosta. 'Vapaan rakkauden' kannattajat ja vastustajat on maailmankatsomuksensa perusteella tutkielmassa jaettu viiteen ryhmään. Lagerborgin edustaman eettisen pluralismin lisäksi erotetaan vanhaluterilainen arvomaailma, moderni kristillisyys, suomalais-kansallinen idealismi sekä luonnon korottaminen absoluutiksi. Osaltaan sukupuolinen pidättyvyys osoitetaan valtastrategiaksi, johon eräät yläluokkaiset naiset ja nouseva sivistyneistö tukeutuivat. Lagerborgin toiminnan välittömin tulos oli siviiliavioliittohankkeen nopeutuminen Suomessa. Näkyvin seuraus taas oli ankara absoluuttisen sukupuolimoraalin puolustus. Julkinen keskustelu ei kuitenkaan ollut suorassa suhteessa sukupuolielämän käytäntöihin. Tutkimusajanjakso 1904-1914 ei ollut tutkielman tilastollisen aineiston valossa murroskausi sen paremmin absoluuttisen kuin relativistisenkaan sukupuolimoraalin suuntaan. Tutkimuksessa Lagerborg osoittautuu marginaaliseksi hahmoksi. Syynä tähän marginalisoitumiseen oli konservatiivinen ympäristö, johon nähden monet Lagerborgin ajatukset olivat ns. aikaansa edellä. Lisäksi ongelmia aiheutti Lagerborgin konfliktinhaluinen ja epädiplomaattinen esiintyminen. Marginaalisuus ei kuitenkaan ole merkityksetöntä. Lagerborg-kiista paljastaa kiinnostavalla tavalla yhteyden, joka vallitsee individualisoitumisen ja modernin seksuaalisuuden muotoutumisen välillä.

Olla elävän sanat : Roolirunon laji Maila Pylkkösen teoksessa Arvo. Vanhaäiti puhuu runonsa

Maila Pylkkönen (1931 1986) was one of the most important modernist poets in Finland and a central figure in developing the dramatic monologue in Finnish literature. The study examines Pylkkönen s poetic work Arvo. Vanhaäiti puhuu runonsa (Value. An old woman speaks her poem, 1959) as an example of the dramatic monologue, approaching it from three perspectives: its generic features and background, and the poetic framework to which it connects in the context of Pylkkönen s poetry. In addition to methods of literary scholarship, the poetic analysis benefits from a linguistic approach. The study shows that the dramatic monologue genre drives Pylkkönen s first work, Klassilliset tunteet (Classical feelings, 1957), in a context of finding poetic identity, characterised by the expression to be the words of a living creature . The study demonstrates that important generic features of the dramatic monologue, namely, a poem representing a speech-event and a hierarchical structure, are also Arvo s most significant generic features. Arvo s poems as speech-events are examined for their internal progressive, pragmatic unity constructed through single line units; for their function as narratives dealing with the life story of an old woman, Arvo s speaker; and from the perspective of the communication between the old woman and the poems other characters. Arvo s speech-events can also be seen as semantic shifts from one poem to another: the poems construct semantic stages representing different phases of the old woman s life. The study demonstrates that analysis of Arvo s hierarchical structure, that is, the relationship between the speaker and the rhetorical levels, reveals the work s structural and ideological wholeness by focusing on the old woman s emotions: longing, loneliness and alienation from the world. In other words, the contradictions between the explicit level of the speaker and an implied rhetorical level open up the tragedy of an old woman s daily life. Study of Arvo s hierarchical structure also highlights the special position of the reader in the framework of a dramatic monologue. The elements of a dramatic present in which the old woman s emotions are conveyed, an italicized opening poem, and the work s title Value invite the reader to consider Arvo as a structural and ideological whole. The function of Arvo s hierarchical structure is to ask the reader to recognise the hopelessness of the old woman s situation, understand it, and even identify with it.

Testicular function in adolescent boys with Klinefelter syndrome

Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is the most frequent karyotype disorder of male reproductive function. Since its original clinical description in 1942 and the identification of its chromosomal basis 47,XXY in 1959, the typical KS phenotype has become well recognized, but the mechanisms behind the testicular degeneration process have remained unrevealed. This prospective study was undertaken to increase knowledge about testicular function in adolescent KS boys. It comprised a longitudinal follow-up of growth, pubertal development, and serum reproductive hormone levels in 14 prepubertal and pubertal KS boys. Each boy had a testicular biopsy that was analyzed with histomorphometric and immunohistochemical methods. The KS boys had sufficient testosterone levels to allow normal onset and progression of puberty. Their serum testosterone levels remained within the low-normal range throughout puberty, but from midpuberty onwards, findings like a leveling-off in testosterone and insulin-like factor 3 (INSL3) concentrations, high gonadotropin levels, and exaggerated responses to gonadotropin-releasing hormone stimulation suggest diminished testosterone secretion. We also showed that the Leydig cell differentiation marker INSL3 may serve as a novel marker for onset and normal progression of puberty in boys. In the KS boys the number of germ cells was already markedly lower at the onset of puberty. The pubertal activation of the pituitary-testicular axis accelerated germ cell depletion, and germ cell differentiation was at least partly blocked at the spermatogonium or early primary spermatocyte stages. The presence of germ cells correlated with serum reproductive hormone levels. The immature Sertoli cells were incapable of transforming to the adult type, and during puberty the degeneration of Sertoli cells increased markedly. The older KS boys displayed an evident Leydig cell hyperplasia, as well as fibrosis and hyalinization of the interstitium and peritubular connective tissue. Altered immunoexpression of the androgen receptor (AR) suggested that in KS boys during puberty a relative androgen deficiency develops at testicular level. The impact of genetic features of the supernumerary X chromosome on the KS phenotype was also studied. The present study suggests that parental origin of the supernumerary X chromosome and the length of the CAG repeat of the AR gene influence pubertal development and testicular degeneration. The current study characterized by several means the testicular degeneration process in the testes of adolescent KS boys and confirmed that this process accelerates at the onset of puberty. Although serum reproductive hormone levels indicated no hypogonadism during early puberty, the histological analyses showed an already markedly reduced fertility potential in prepubertal KS boys. Genetic features of the X chromosome affect the KS phenotype.

Vitamin E may affect the life expectancy of men, depending on dietary vitamin C intake and smoking

Background: Antioxidants might protect against oxidative stress, which has been suggested as a cause of aging. Methods: The ATBC Study recruited males aged 50-69 years who smoked at least 5 cigarettes per day at the baseline. The current study was restricted to participants who were followed up past the age of 65. Deaths were identified in the National Death Registry (1445 deaths). We constructed Kaplan-Meier survival curves for all participants, and for four subgroups defined by dietary vitamin C intake and level of smoking. We also constructed Cox regression models allowing a different vitamin E effect for low and high age ranges. Results: Among all 10,837 participants, vitamin E had no effect on those who were 65 to 70 years old, but reduced mortality by 24% when participants were 71 or older. Among 2284 men with dietary vitamin C intakes above the median who smoked less than a pack of cigarettes per day, vitamin E extended life-span by two years at the upper limit of the follow-up age span. In this subgroup, the survival curves of vitamin E and no-vitamin E participants diverged at 71 years. In the other three subgroups covering 80% of the participants, vitamin E did not affect mortality. Conclusions: This is the first study to strongly indicate that protection against oxidative stress can increase the life expectancy of some initially healthy population groups. Nevertheless, the lack of effect in 80% of this male cohort shows that vitamin E is no panacea for extending life expectancy.

Prosopis, an Alien among the Sacred Trees of South India

The problematic of invasive species in an alien environment has aroused the attention of scientists all over the world for quite some time. One of the exotic tree species that has provoked special attention in the tropical drylands is Prosopis juliflora. Originating in South America, prosopis (hereafter referred to as prosopis) has been introduced in the hot and semi-arid zones of the world particularly to provide fuelwood, to stabilize sand dunes and to combat desertification. The tree has become an essential source for fuelwood and a provider of several other products and services in areas where it has become established. However, despite the numerous benefits the tree provides to rural people, in several regions prosopis has become a noxious weed with a negative impact on the environment and to the economy of farmers and landowners. In India, prosopis was introduced in Andhra Pradesh in 1877. The tree was then proclaimed as the precious child of the plant world by scientists and local people alike. The purpose of this study was to investigate the overall impact of prosopis on local rural livelihoods in the drylands of South India. Of particular interest was the examination of the different usages of the tree, especially as fuelwood, and people s perceptions of it. Furthermore, the study examined the negative impacts of the uncontrolled invasion of prosopis on croplands, and its occupation of the banks of irrigation canals and other water sources. As another central theme, this study analysed the Hindu classification system for nature and for trees in particular. In India, several tree species are regarded as sacred. This study examined the position of the exotic prosopis among sacred trees, such as the bodhi, banyan and neem trees. The principle method for collecting the field data was by using individual and thematic group interviews. These interviews were semi-structured with open ended questions. Moreover, unstructured interviews as well as general observations provided complementary information. The data were gathered during two fieldwork periods in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, in South India. The results confirmed that prosopis both provides benefits and causes hazards to different stakeholders. Farmers and agriculturalists suffer economic losses in areas where prosopis has invaded crop fields and competes with other plants for water and nutrients. On the other hand, for a significant number of poor rural people, prosopis has become an important source of livelihood benefits. This tree, which grows on government wastelands, is commonly a free resource for all and has thus become a major local source of fuelwood. It also provides several other goods and services and cash income that contributes to improve livelihoods in rural communities. Prosopis ranked lowest in the tree classificatioin system of the Hindus of South India. Although it is appreciated for many benefits it provides for poor people, it has remained an outsider compared with the indigenous tree species. On the other hand, the most sacred trees, such as the bodhi or the banyan, are completely excluded from extraction and it is seen as a sacrilege to even cut branches from any of these trees. An unexpected finding was that, in a few cases, prosopis had also been elevated to the status of a sacred tree. Goods and services from prosopis are not utilized in the most beneficial way. Silvicultural management practices are suggested that would provide additional income and employment opportunities. Interventions are recommended to control further invasion of the tree that might cause serious negative effects in the future. For Hindus, the sacred always ranks highest, even above economic gain. The conservation of sacred groves and sacred trees is a tradition that has its roots in ancient history. These socio-religious practices need to be respected and continued. Successful management of tree and forest resources depends on the willingness of the local people to manage their natural resources, and this willingness exists and has always existed in South India. Keywords: South India, drylands, livelihood, fuelwood, invasive, resource, silviculture.

Moral Education in the Japanese Primary School Curricular Revision at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century: Aiming at a Rich and Beautiful Kokoro

This study examines values education in Japanese schools at the beginning of the millennium. The topic was approached by asking the following three questions concerning the curricular background, the morality conveyed through textbooks and the characterization of moral education from a comparative viewpoint: 1) What role did moral education play in the curriculum revision which was initiated in 1998 and implemented in 2002? 2) What kinds of moral responsibilities and moral autonomy do the moral texts develop? 3) What does Japanese moral education look like in terms of the comparative framework? The research was based on curriculum research. Its primary empirical data consisted of the national curriculum guidelines for primary school, which were taken into use in 2002, and moral texts, Kokoro no nôto, published by the Ministry of Education in the same context. Since moral education was approached in the education reform context, the secondary research material involved some key documents of the revision process from the mid-1990s to 2003. The research material was collected during three fieldwork periods in Japan (in 2002, 2003 and 2005). The text-analysis was conducted as a theory-dependent qualitative content analysis. Japanese moral education was analyzed as a product of its own cultural tradition and societal answer to the current educational challenges. In order to understand better its character, secular moral education was reflected upon from a comparative viewpoint. The theory chosen for the comparative framework, the value realistic theory of education, represented the European rational education tradition as well as the Christian tradition of values education. Moral education, which was the most important school subject at the beginning of modern school, was eliminated from the curriculum for political reasons in a school reform after the Second World War, but has gradually regained a stronger position since then. It was reinforced particularly at the turn of millennium, when a curriculum revision attempted to respond to educational and learning problems by emphasizing qualitative and value aspects. Although the number of moral lessons and their status as a non-official-subject remained unchanged, the Ministry of Education made efforts to improve moral education by new curricular emphases, new teaching material and additional in-service training possibilities for teachers. The content of the moral texts was summarized in terms of moral responsibility in four moral areas (intrapersonal, interpersonal, natural-supranatural and societal) as follows: 1) continuous self-development, 2) caring for others, 3) awe of life and forces beyond human power, and 4) societal contribution. There was a social-societal and emotional emphasis in what was taught. Moral autonomy, which was studied from the perspectives of rational, affective and individuality development, stressed independence in action through self-discipline and responsibility more than rational self-direction. Japanese moral education can be characterized as the education of kokoro (heart) and the development of character, which arises from virtue ethics. It aims to overcome egoistic individualism by reciprocal and interdependent moral responsibility based on responsible interconnectedness.