Impact of thermal proofing of a church on its indoor air-quality - The combustion of candles and incense as a source of pollution

Some years ago, a parish in Geneva decided to reduce heating costs by insulating its church to make it more energy efficient. Three years after the last renovations, it was observed that the internal surfaces of the naves had already become dusty compared with the customary frequency of 10-12 years. Dust even deposited on various surfaces during religious services. Our investigation showed that nearly all the dust found inside the church may in fact be soot from incense and candle combustion. Incense appears to be a significant source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. With a mechanical ventilation system and petrol lamps resembling candles the problem can be resolved.

National character does not reflect mean personality trait levels in 49 cultures

Most people hold beliefs about personality characteristics typical members of their own and others' cultures. These perceptions of national character may be generalizations from personal experience, stereotypes with a "kernel of truth", or inaccurate stereotypes. We obtained national character ratings of 3989 people from 49 cultures and compared them with the average personality scores of culture members assessed by observer ratings and self-reports. National character ratings were reliable but did not converge with assessed traits. Perceptions of national character thus appear to be unfounded stereotypes that may serve the function of maintaining a national identity.

Asthme professionnel dû aux isocyanates: nouvelles orientations des recherches en hygiène du travail

The replacement of the HDI monomer by less volatile prepolymers is not accompanied by a decrease of the incidence of occupational asthma in Switzerland. Field measurements show that the prepolymer concentration levels may be high although the monomer is hardly detectable or complies with the norm. Our researches are focused on the improvement of generation and measurement techniques (international quality control), on the characterization of the prepolymers to study their transformation in biological media. Field surveys will be conducted to establish the prepolymer concentration profiles. We recommend for the introduction in Switzerland of threshold limit values for HDI-biuret and isocyanurate.

Insulin-like growth factor-I and C-reactive protein during pregnancy and maternal risk of non-epithelial ovarian cancer: a nested case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and C-reactive protein (CRP) may be positively associated with the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) but no previous studies have investigated their associations with non-epithelial ovarian cancers (NEOC). METHODS: A case-control study was nested within the Finnish Maternity Cohort. Case subjects were 58 women diagnosed with sex cord-stromal tumors (SCST) and 30 with germ cell tumors (GCT) after recruitment. Control subjects (144 for SCST and 74 for GCT) were matched for age, parity, and date of blood donation of the index case. RESULTS: Doubling of IGF-I concentration was not related to maternal risk of either SCST (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.58-1.62) or GCT (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.51-2.51). Similarly, doubling of CRP concentrations was not related to maternal risk of either SCST (OR 1.10, 95% CI 0.85-1.43) or GCT (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.68-1.28). CONCLUSIONS: Pre-diagnostic IGF-I and CRP concentrations during the first trimester of pregnancy were not associated with increased risk of NEOC in the mother. Risk factors for NEOC may differ from those of EOC.

Circulating insulin-like growth factor-I in pregnancy and maternal risk of breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Elevated serum concentrations of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 have been associated with increased risk of breast cancer. Previously, we reported a similar association in samples obtained during pregnancy. The current study was conducted to further characterize the association of IGF-1 during pregnancy with maternal breast cancer risk. METHODS: A case-control study was nested within the Finnish Maternity Cohort. The study was limited to primiparous women less than 40 years of age, who donated blood samples during early (median, 12 weeks) pregnancy and delivered a single child at term. Seven hundred and nineteen women with invasive breast cancer were eligible. Two controls (n = 1,434) were matched to each case on age and date at blood donation. Serum IGF-1 concentration was measured using an Immulite 2000 analyzer. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).RESULTS: No significant associations were observed between serum IGF-1 concentrations and breast cancer risk in both the overall analysis (OR 1.08 (95% CI 0.80-1.47) and in analyses stratified by histological subtype, lag-time to cancer diagnosis, age at pregnancy or age at diagnosis.CONCLUSIONS: There was no association between IGF-1 and maternal breast cancer risk during early pregnancy in this large nested case-control study.Impact:Serum IGF-1 concentrations during early pregnancy may not be related to maternal risk of breast cancer.

Host factors in occupational diisocyanate asthma: a Swiss longitudinal study

Objective: To investigate the usefulness of surrogates for individual susceptibility to organic diisocyanates in occupational asthma. Subjects: All new cases declared to the Swiss National Accident Insurance Company (SUVA) for establishment of a case for compensable occupational disease during 1993. Sixty-nine persons, of whom three were women, were suspected of having occupational asthma due to isocyanates. Of these, 47 subjects fulfilled the criteria to be accepted as an occupational disease case. Methods: All subjects were studied clinically and gave a blood sample for the phenotyping of their alpha-antitrypsin status and for immunological studies. The subjects were also given a peroral dose of caffeine for the determination of their N-acetylation capacity. Finally, those with an occupational disease were subjected to the methacholine provocation test. Results: Forty-four persons with occupational disease, out of 47, were heterozygous antitrypsin carriers and/or slow acetylators of primary amines. In the bronchial provocation with methacholine, 12 of these subjects had an unaltered response and seven had a mild reaction, 13 a moderate one and 15 a severe reaction. Interpretation: The study confirms the finding that slow N-acetylators are susceptible to asthma from exposure to common diisocyanate monomers at work. The same applies to heterozygous antitrypsin-phenotype carriers. Thus, the use of these markers may reinforce the diagnostic procedure, but they cannot completely replace the immunological tests. [Authors]

Sähkökoneen staattorikäämityksen kehittäminen

Tämä insinöörityö tehtiin ABB:n Pitäjänmäen konetehtaalle Tahtikoneet-tulosyksikölle. Työssä tutkittiin mahdollisuuksia valmistaa murtovakovyyhtejä kestomagneettituuligeneraattoreihin, joissa vakoluku on alle yhden. Työ tehtiin tutustumalla aluksi Pitäjänmäen konetehtaan käytössä oleviin vyyhden valmistus- ja käämintämenetelmiin. Lisäksi tutkittiin erilaisia mahdollisia murtovakovyyhden valmistusmenetelmiä, joista lupaavimpia myös kokeiltiin. Saatujen kokemusten pohjalta valittiin vyyhden valmistusmenetelmä, jonka mukaan valmistettiin koe-erä. Koe-erälle suoritettiin mittauksia, joilla varmistettiin niiden sähköinen kestävyys Työn tuloksena valitulla valmistusmenetelmällä valmistettiin vyyhdet prototyyppi tuuligeneraattorin.

Puhelinjärjestelmän kehitystyö

Tässä insinöörityössä tutkittiin ja laskettiin Yliopiston Apteekin kustannusrakenteita puhelinliikenteen osalta. Lisäksi tutkittiin tämän hetken infrastruktuurin tilanne ja luotiin kehitysehdotuksia puhelinliikenteelle kuin laitteistolle. Työssä tuotiin esille VoIP-tekniikka, jolla kustannuksia voidaan laskea nykyisestä. Uudelle järjestelmälle luotiin vaatimusmäärittely, johon uusi puhelinjärjestelmä perustuu. Koko yrityksen kattava puhelinliikenneratkaisu kilpailutettiin neljän toimijan välillä. Tarjouksista valittiin yksi toimija, joka toimittaa seuraavaksi viideksi vuodeksi Yliopiston Apteekin lanka- ja matkapuhelinpalvelut.

Syvä ajatus : YleQ-radiokanavan ääni-imago Yleisradion brändin rakentajana

Tarkastelen opinnäytetyössäni Yleisradion brändin rakentamista YleQ-radiokanavalle tekemieni imagopuffien kautta. Brändin käsite ymmärretään monella eri tavalla. Opinnäytetyössäni olen kilpailevien määritelmien pohjalta rajannut brändin tarkoittamaan Yleisradion pyrkimystä vaikuttaa kuluttajien tunteisiin ja mielikuviin. Pyrin työssäni alan kirjallisuuden, YLEn itsensä laatimien brändi-, arvo- ja visiokirjelmien, julkisen mediakeskustelun sekä haastattelujen pohjalta hahmottelemaan hyvään brändiin vaikuttavat arvot ja tekijät. Tutkimuksessani tarkennan brändin tarkastelun YleQ-radiokanavaan ja arvioin, onnistuivatko tekemäni imagopuffit niille asetetuissa tavoitteissa. Tarkastelen Yleisradion brändityön komentotietä ja pohdin yksilön merkitystä yhtiön brändäyksen onnistumisessa. Pohdin myös brändityön suunnittelun merkitystä YleQ-kanavan lopettamispäätöksessä. YLEn itselleen laatimat arvot eivät tutkimukseni mukaan toteudu käytännössä ja siksi yhtiön brändi on haasteen edessä. Yhtiöllä olisi mielestäni kaksi tärkeää kehittämiskohtaa. Ensinnäkin yhtiön tulisi luottaa työntekijöihinsä ja ottaa rohkeasti vastaan heidän ajatuksiaan, jotta Yleisradion toiminnassa saataisiin esille kaikki mahdollinen luovuus ja intohimo. Yleisradion pitäisi myös rajata markkinointinsa viestit tarkemmin. Tämä parantaisi kuluttajan tiedonsaantia Yleisradion tarjoamista palveluista ja helpottaisi yhtiön yhtenäisen brändin rakentamista.

Productivity development at construction branch after the last recession

EPC 2006 kansainvälinen tuottavuuskonfrenssi