Kuka vedättää ja ketä? : esiintymispalkkioiden eettiset ongelmat dokumentaarisissa teoksissa

Opinnäytetyössä pohditaan dokumentaarisissa teoksissa esiintyvien ihmisten palkkiokäytäntöjä ja niihin liittyviä eettisiä ongelmia. Näyttelijöille, juontajille ja asiantuntijoille maksetaan sähköisissä viestimissä esiintymisestä. Samalla lailla dokumentaarin tai reportaasin päähenkilö uhraa aikaansa ja voimavarojaan antaakseen kasvot tekijän tärkeäksi kokemalle asialle. Eikö myös dokumentaarisessa teoksessa esiintyvä henkilö ansaitse palkkiota? Erityisesti tilanteen eriarvoisuutta korostaa, jos esiintyjä tulee todella kurjista oloista. Dokumentaari voi menestyä, mutta henkilön elämä jatkuu yhtä vaatimattomana kuin ennenkin. Kiinnostuin aiheesta oman kokemukseni kautta ollessani kuvaamassa tv-inserttejä Brasiliassa. Capoeirasta kertovassa insertissä esiintyvän lapsen opettaja vastusti kuvauksia, ellen maksaisi niistä palkkiota. Asiasta syntyi kiivas kädenvääntö, sillä minulla oli jo lapsen vanhemmilta lupa kuvauksiin. Tapahtuma sai miettimään esiintymispalkkojen ongelmallisuutta niin esiintyjien kuin tekijöidenkin kannalta. Huomasin, ettei asiasta ole paljon kirjallisuutta, eikä tekijöiden keskuudessa ole mitään sääntöjä tai suosituksia asiasta. Lähdin tutkimaan aihetta kirjallisuudesta löytyvien pienien viitteiden ja lehtiartikkelien pohjalta sekä haastattelemalla ohjaajia, toimittajia ja tuottajia. Palkkio ei saa olla motiivina dokumentaarisessa teoksessa esiintymiselle. On tapauskohtaista, palkitaanko henkilö lopuksi rahalla tai muulla tavoin. Itse tekemisen täytyy kuitenkin olla vapaaehtoista. Esiintyjän voi lähes aina korvata toisella, sillä dokumentaarinen teos on teema- eikä henkilökeskeinen. Dokumentaristi tai journalisti ei ole avustusjärjestö, eikä kaikkia teoksessa esiintyneitä voida pelastaa. Sen sijaan yksittäisten ihmisten kautta voidaan tuoda esiin suurempia teemoja. Yleensä teema on tärkeä myös esiintyjälle, joten ihmiset pääosin lähtevät mielellään mukaan. Myös oman elämänsä ja näkökulmansa julkinen esiintuominen imartelee. Koska dokumentaarisessa teoksessa esiintyminen ei perustu palkkioihin, ohjaajalla on suuri vastuu siinä mukana olevista ihmisistä. Vaikka henkilön taloudellinen tilanne ei kohentuisikaan, jollain lailla kokemuksen toivoisi häntä rikastuttavan.

Osteoclastic tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b. Diagnostic use and biological significance in bone physiology

The skeleton undergoes continuous turnover throughout life. In women, an increase in bone turnover is pronounced during childhood and puberty and after menopause. Bone turnover can be monitored by measuring biochemical markers of bone resorption and bone formation. Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRACP) is an enzyme secreted by osteoclasts, macrophages and dendritic cells. The secreted enzyme can be detected from the blood circulation by recently developed immunoassays. In blood circulation, the enzyme exists as two isoforms, TRACP 5a with an intact polypeptide chain and TRACP 5b in which the polypeptide chain consists of two subunits. The 5b form is predominantly secreted by osteoclasts and is thus associated with bone turnover. The secretion of TRACP 5b is not directly related to bone resorption; instead, the levels are shown to be proportional to the number of osteoclasts. Therefore, the combination of TRACP 5b and a marker reflecting bone degradation, such as C-terminal cross-linked telopeptides of type I collagen (CTX), enables a more profound analysis of the changes in bone turnover. In this study, recombinant TRACP 5a-like protein was proteolytically processed into TRACP 5b-like two subunit form. The 5b-like form was more active both as an acid phosphatase and in producing reactive oxygen species, suggesting a possible function for TRACP 5b in osteoclastic bone resorption. Even though both TRACP 5a and 5b were detected in osteoclasts, serum TRACP 5a levels demonstrated no change in response to alendronate treatment of postmenopausal women. However, TRACP 5b levels decreased substantially, demonstrating that alendronate decreases the number of osteoclasts. This was confirmed in human osteoclast cultures, showing that alendronate decreased the number of osteoclats by inducing osteoclast apoptosis, and TRACP 5b was not secreted as an active enzyme from the apoptotic osteoclasts. In peripubertal girls, the highest levels of TRACP 5b and other bone turnover markers were observed at the time of menarche, whereas at the same time the ratio of CTX to TRACP 5b was lowest, indicating the presence of a high number of osteoclasts with decreased resorptive activity. These results support the earlier findings that TRACP 5b is the predominant form of TRACP secreted by osteoclasts. The major source of circulating TRACP 5a remains to be established, but is most likely other cells of the macrophage-monocyte system. The results also suggest that bone turnover can be differentially affected by both osteoclast number and their resorptive activity, and provide further support for the possible clinical use of TRACP 5b as a marker of osteoclast number.

Finska sångare, varför är dom så bra? : Agneta Myreberg och Björn W Stålne på jakt efter ett svar

Radio-ohjelma suomalaisesta klassisen laulun kulttuurista, sisältää Suomessa äänitettyjä haastatteluja ja musiikkinäytteitä.

Televisiosta vastakarvaan

Kirjallisuusarvostelu

Muistelmat lottatyön arjesta

Kirjallisuusarvostelu

Carbonation of Mg(OH)2 in a pressurised fluidised bed for CO2 sequestration

I takt med den ekonomiska tillväxten har CO2-utsläppen till atmosfären ständigt ökat, och utan kraftiga åtgärder kommer de att fortsätta att öka i allt snabbare takt. Konsekvenserna av en påtagligt förhöjd atmosfärisk CO2-halt är fortfarande osäkra (men eventuellt katastrofala) och fenomenet går under namnet global uppvärmning eller klimatförändring. CCS från engelskans ”carbon dioxide capture and storage” framstår som ett alternativ för att bekämpa de ständigt ökande CO2-utsläppen. Ett av de mer intressanta, och för Finlands del ända CCS-alternativet, baserar sig på naturens egna sätt att begränsa atmosfärisk CO2, nämligen vittring. Naturlig vittring, som förenklat innefattar nedbrytningen av sten/berg (även känd som erosion) och de därpå följande reaktionerna med CO2-mättat regnvatten. Slutresultatet är en utfällning av fasta mineraler som nu bundit CO2 i form av kalcium- och magnesiumkarbonat. Kalciumkarbonat är även bättre känt som kalksten, d.v.s. CO2 blir bundet i sten. Det gäller dock att snabba upp denna process, som i naturen är ytterst långsam, på ett ekonomiskt och miljömässigt hållbart sätt. Hittills har ett antal metoder för att påskynda naturlig vittring, eller med andra ord öka CO2-upptagningsförmågan av olika mineraler föreslagits. De mera etablerade uttrycken (lånade från engelskan) talar om mineralkarbonatisering och CO2-mineralisering. Till skillnad från många andra CO2-mineraliseringsalternativ är det alternativ som behandlas i denna avhandling i hög grad baserat på möjligheten att utnyttja den värme som frigörs vid karbonatisering. I teorin är det möjligt att föreställa sig en mineraliseringsprocess som inte kräver extern energi, men tillsvidare har man dock inte lyckats uppnå detta mål. Den process som presenteras i denna avhandling går ut på att man utvinner magnesium ur i naturen vanligt förekommande magnesiumrika mineraler, konverterar det till magnesiumhydroxid och därefter karbonatiserar det till magnesiumkarbonat. I rätta förhållanden kan magnesiumhydroxid reagera med CO2 mycket snabbt och i nuläget har processen potential att minska CO2-utsläppen från industri där spillvärme finns till förfogande (t.ex. cement- och stålindustrin). Fortsatt forskning är dock ett måste för att kunna påverka CO2-utsläppen i en globalt signifikant skala.

Understanding the in vitro dissolution rate of glasses with respect to future clinical applications

Glass is a unique material with a long history. Several glass products are used daily in our everyday life, often unnoticed. Glass can be found not only in obvious applications such as tableware, windows, and light bulbs, but also in tennis rackets, windmill turbine blades, optical devices, and medical implants. The glasses used at present as implants are inorganic silica-based melt-derived compositions mainly for hard-tissue repair as bone graft substitute in dentistry and orthopedics. The degree of glass reactivity desired varies according to implantation situation and it is vital that the ion release from any glasses used in medical applications is controlled. Understanding the in vitro dissolution rate of glasses provides a first approximation of their behavior in vivo. Specific studies concerning dissolution properties of bioactive glasses have been relatively scarce and mostly concentrated to static condition studies. The motivation behind this work was to develop a simple and accurate method for quantifying the in vitro dissolution rate of highly different types of glass compositions with interest for future clinical applications. By combining information from various experimental conditions, a better knowledge of glass dissolution and the suitability of different glasses for different medical applications can be obtained. Thus, two traditional and one novel approach were utilized in this thesis to study glass dissolution. The chemical durability of silicate glasses was tested in water and TRIS-buffered solution at static and dynamic conditions. The traditional in vitro testing with a TRISbuffered solution under static conditions works well with bioactive or with readily dissolving glasses, and it is easy to follow the ion dissolution reactions. However, in the buffered solution no marked differences between the more durable glasses were observed. The hydrolytic resistance of the glasses was studied using the standard procedure ISO 719. The relative scale given by the standard failed to provide any relevant information when bioactive glasses were studied. However, the clear differences in the hydrolytic resistance values imply that the method could be used as a rapid test to get an overall idea of the biodegradability of glasses. The standard method combined with the ion concentration and pH measurements gives a better estimate of the hydrolytic resistance because of the high silicon amount released from a glass. A sensitive on-line analysis method utilizing inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer and a flow-through micro-volume pH electrode was developed to study the initial dissolution of biocompatible glasses. This approach was found suitable for compositions within a large range of chemical durability. With this approach, the initial dissolution of all ions could be measured simultaneously and quantitatively, which gave a good overall idea of the initial dissolution rates for the individual ions and the dissolution mechanism. These types of results with glass dissolution were presented for the first time during the course of writing this thesis. Based on the initial dissolution patterns obtained with the novel approach using TRIS, the experimental glasses could be divided into four distinct categories. The initial dissolution patterns of glasses correlated well with the anticipated bioactivity. Moreover, the normalized surface-specific mass loss rates and the different in vivo models and the actual in vivo data correlated well. The results suggest that this type of approach can be used for prescreening the suitability of novel glass compositions for future clinical applications. Furthermore, the results shed light on the possible bioactivity of glasses. An additional goal in this thesis was to gain insight into the phase changes occurring during various heat treatments of glasses with three selected compositions. Engineering-type T-T-T curves for glasses 1-98 and 13-93 were stablished. The information gained is essential in manufacturing amorphous porous implants or for drawing of continuous fibers of the glasses. Although both glasses can be hot worked to amorphous products at carefully controlled conditions, 1-98 showed one magnitude greater nucleation and crystal growth rate than 13-93. Thus, 13-93 is better suited than 1-98 for working processes which require long residence times at high temperatures. It was also shown that amorphous and partially crystalline porous implants can be sintered from bioactive glass S53P4. Surface crystallization of S53P4, forming Na2O∙CaO∙2SiO2, was observed to start at 650°C. The secondary crystals of Na2Ca4(PO4)2SiO4, reported for the first time in this thesis, were detected at higher temperatures, from 850°C to 1000°C. The crystal phases formed affected the dissolution behavior of the implants in simulated body fluid. This study opens up new possibilities for using S53P4 to manufacture various structures, while tailoring their bioactivity by controlling the proportions of the different phases. The results obtained in this thesis give valuable additional information and tools to the state of the art for designing glasses with respect to future clinical applications. With the knowledge gained we can identify different dissolution patters and use this information to improve the tuning of glass compositions. In addition, the novel online analysis approach provides an excellent opportunity to further enhance our knowledge of glass behavior in simulated body conditions.

Naidun waimon tilasta

13 x 20 cm

Epävarmuustarkastelun soveltaminen deterministisissä turvallisuusanalyyseissä

Tässä diplomityössä esitetään selvitys käytössä olevista deterministisistä turvallisuusanalyysimenetelmistä. Deterministisillä turvallisuusanalyyseillä arvioidaan ydinvoimalaitosten turvallisuutta eri käyttötilojen aikana. Voimalaitoksen turvallisuusjärjestelmät mitoitetaan deterministisen turvallisuusanalyysin tulosten perusteella. Deterministiset turvallisuusanalyysit voidaan laatia konservatiivista tai tilastollista menetelmää käyttäen. Konservatiivinen menetelmä pyrkii mallintamaan tarkasteltavan tilanteen siten, että laitoksen todellinen käyttäytyminen on hyvällä varmuudella lievempää kuin analyysitulos. Konservatiivisessa menetelmässä analyysin epävarmuudet huomioidaan konservatiivisilla oletuksilla. Tilastollinen menetelmä perustuu parhaan arvion menetelmään eli pyrkimykseen mallintaa laitoksen käyttäytyminen mahdollisimman todenmukaisesti. Tilastollisessa menetelmässä analyysin epävarmuudet määritetään systemaattisesti tilastomatematiikan keinoin. Työssä painotetaan tilastollisen analyysin epävarmuuksien määritykseen käytettäviä epävarmuustarkastelumenetelmiä. Diplomityön laskennallisessa osassa vertaillaan deterministisen turvallisuusanalyysin laadintaan käytettäviä menetelmiä termohydraulisen turvallisuusanalyysiesimerkin laskennan kautta. Laskennassa tarkasteltavana onnettomuutena on Olkiluoto 3-laitosyksikössä tapahtuva primäärijäähdytepiirin putkikatkosta aiheutuva jäähdytteenmenetysonnettomuus. Lasketun esimerkkitapauksen perusteella tilastollista ja konservatiivista menetelmää voidaan pitää vaihtoehtoisina turvallisuusanalyysin laadintaan. Molemmat analyysit tuottivat hyväksyttäviä ja toisilleen verrannollisia tuloksia, joiden suuruusluokka on sama.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in Finnish children and adolescents : diagnosis, cognition, behavior, adaptation and brain metabolic alterations

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can potentially affect the developing fetus in devastating ways, leading to a range of physical, neurological, and behavioral alterations most accurately termed Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Despite the fact that it is a preventable disorder, prenatal alcohol exposure today constitutes a leading cause of intellectual disability in the Western world. In Western countries where prevalence studies have been performed the rates of FASD exceed, for example, autism spectrum disorders, Down’s syndrome and cerebral palsy. In addition to the direct effects of alcohol, children and adolescents with FASD are often exposed to a double burden in life, as their neurological sequelae are accompanied by adverse living surroundings exposing them to further environmental risk. However, children with FASD today remain remarkably underdiagnosed by the health care system. This thesis forms part of a larger multinational research project, The Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (the CIFASD), initiated by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in the U.S.A. The general aim of the present thesis was to examine a cohort of children and adolescents growing up with fetal alcohol-related damage in Finland. The thesis consists of five studies with a broad focus on diagnosis, cognition, behavior, adaptation and brain metabolic alterations in children and adolescents with FASD. The participants consisted of four different groups: one group with histories of prenatal exposure to alcohol, the FASD group; one IQ matched contrast group mostly consisting of children with specific learning disorder (SLD); and two typically-developing control groups (CON1 and CON2). Participants were identified through medical records, random sampling from the Finnish national population registry and email alerts to students. Importantly, the participants in the present studies comprise a group of very carefully clinically characterized children with FASD as the studies were performed in close collaboration with leading experts in the field (Prof. Edward Riley and Prof. Sarah Mattson, Center for Behavioral Teratology, San Diego State University, U.S.A; Prof. Eugene Hoyme, Sanford School of Medicine, University of South Dakota, U.S.A.). In the present thesis, the revised Institute of Medicine diagnostic criteria for FASD were tested on a Finnish population and found to be a reliable tool for differentiating among the subgroups of FASD. A weighted dysmorphology scoring system proved to be a valuable additional adjunct in quantification of growth deficits and dysmorphic features in children with FASD (Study 1). The purpose of Study 2 was to clarify the relationship between alcohol-related dysmorphic features and general cognitive capacity. Results showed a significant correlation between dysmorphic features and cognitive capacity, suggesting that children with more severe growth deficiency and dysmorphic features have more cognitive limitations. This association was, however, only moderate, indicating that physical markers and cognitive capacity not always go hand in hand in individuals with FASD. Behavioral problems in the FASD group proved substantial compared to the typically developing control group. In Study 3 risk and protective factors associated with behavioral problems in the FASD group were explored further focusing on diagnostic and environmental factors. Two groups with elevated risks for behavioral problems emerged: length of time spent in residential care and a low dysmorphology score proved to be the most pervasive risk factor for behavioral problems. The results underscore the clinical importance of appropriate services and care for less visibly alcohol affected children and highlight the need to attend to children with FASD being raised in institutions. With their background of early biological and psychological impairment compounded with less opportunity for a close and continuous caregiver relationship, such children seem to run an especially great risk of adverse life outcomes. Study 4 focused on adaptive abilities such as communication, daily living skills and social skills, in other words skills that are important for gradually enabling an independent life, maintain social relationships and allow the individual to become integrated into society. The results showed that adaptive abilities of children and adolescents growing up with FASD were significantly compromised compared to both typically-developing peers and IQ-matched children with SLD. Clearly different adaptive profiles were revealed where the FASD group performed worse than the SLD group, who in turn performed worse than the CON1 group. Importantly, the SLD group outperformed the FASD group on adaptive behavior in spite of comparable cognitive levels. This is the first study to compare adaptive abilities in a group of children and adolescents with FASD relative to both a contrast group of IQ-matched children with SLD and to a group of typically-developing peers. Finally, in Study 5, through magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRS) evidence of longstanding neurochemical alterations were observed in adolescents and young adults with FASD related to alcohol exposure in utero 14-20 years earlier. Neurochemical alterations were seen in several brain areas: in frontal and parietal cortices, corpus callosum, thalamus and frontal white matter areas as well as in the cerebellar dentate nucleus. The findings are compatible with neuropsychological findings in FASD. Glial cells seemed to be more affected than neurons. In conclusion, more societal efforts and resources should be focused on recognizing and diagnosing FASD, and supporting subgroups with elevated risk of poor outcome. Without adequate intervention children and adolescents with FASD run a great risk of marginalization and social maladjustment, costly not only to society but also to the lives of the many young people with FASD.

Ikäihmisten kotona asumista tukeva osaaminen : ideoita koulutuksen kehittämiseen

Ilm. v. 2013