Diet and Probiotics during Pregnancy - Endorsing developmental Programming

Maternal obesity has been shown to increase the risk for adverse reproductive health outcomes such as gestational diabetes, hypertension, and preeclampsia. Moreover, several studies have indicated that overnutrition and maternal obesity adversely program the development of offspring by predisposing them to obesity and other chronic diseases later in life. The exact molecular mechanisms leading to developmental programming are not known, but it has recently been suggested that obesity-related low-grade inflammation, gut microbiota and epigenetic gene regulation (in particularly DNA methylation) participate in the developmental programming phenomenon. The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the effect of diet, dietary counseling and probiotic intervention during pregnancy in endorsing favorable developmental programming. The study population consisted of 256 mother-child pairs participating in a prospective, double-blinded dietary counselling and probiotic intervention (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bifidobacterium lactis Bb12) NAMI (Nutrition, Allergy, Mucosal immunology and Intestinal microbiota) study. Further overweight women were recruited from maternal welfare clinics in the area of Southwest Finland and from the prenatal outpatient clinic at Turku University Hospital. Dietary counseling was aimed to modify women’s dietary intake to comply with the recommended intake for pregnant women. Specifically, counseling aimed to affect the type of fat consumed and to increase the amount of fiber in the women’s diets. Leptin concentration was used as a marker for obesity-related low-grade inflammation, antioxidant vitamin status as an efficiency marker for dietary counselling and epigenetic DNA methylation of obesity related genes as a marker for probiotics influence. Results revealed that dietary intake may modify obesity-associated low-grade inflammation as measured by serum leptin concentration. Specifically, dietary fiber intake may lower leptin concentration in women, whereas the intakes of saturated fatty acids and sucrose have an opposite effect. Neither dietary counselling nor probiotic intervention modified leptin concentration in women, but probiotics tended to increase children’s leptin concentration. Dietary counseling was an efficient tool for improving antioxidant vitamin intake in women, which was reflected in the breast milk vitamin concentration. Probiotic intervention affected DNA methylation of dozens of obesity and weight gain related genes both in women and their children. Altogether these results indicate that dietary components, dietary counseling and probiotic supplementation during pregnancy may modify the intrauterine environment towards favorable developmental programming.

Identifying New Business Opportunities and Customer Value Creation: Case Vuosaari

Previously conducted research projects in the field of logistics services have emphasized the importance of value added services in customer value creation. Through value added services companies can extend their service portfolio and gain higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. In more general level service marketing has been recognized to be challenging due the intangible nature of services. This has caused issues in pricing and value perceptions. To tackle these issues scholars have suggested well–managed customer reference marketing practices. The main goal of this research work is to identify shortages in the current service offering. Additionally, the focus is on, how these shortages can be fixed. Due the low capacity utilization of warehouse premises, there is a need to find the main factors, which are causing or affecting on the current situation. The research aims to offer a set of alternatives how to come over these issues. All the potential business opportunities are evaluated and the promising prospects are discussed. The focus is on logistics value added services and how those effect on route decisions in logistics. Simultaneously the aim is to create a holistic understanding of how added value and offered services effect on logistics centralization. Moreover, customer value creation and customer references’ effectiveness in logistics service marketing are emphasized in this project. Logistics value added services have a minor effect on logistics decision. Routes are chosen on a low–cost basis. However, it is challenging to track down logistics costs and break those down into different phases. Customer value as such is a difficult concept. This causes challenges when services are sold with value–based principles. Customer references are useful for logistics service providers and this should be exploited in marketing. Those reduce the perceived risk and give credibility to the service provider.

Low-Volatility Anomaly in Helsinki Stock Exchange

International research shows that low-volatility stocks have beaten high-volatility stocks in terms of returns for decades on multiple markets. This abbreviation from traditional risk-return framework is known as low-volatility anomaly. This study focuses on explaining the anomaly and finding how strongly it appears in NASDAQ OMX Helsinki stock exchange. Data consists of all listed companies starting from 2001 and ending close to 2015. Methodology follows closely Baker and Haugen (2012) by sorting companies into deciles according to 3-month volatility and then calculating monthly returns for these different volatility groups. Annualized return for the lowest volatility decile is 8.85 %, while highest volatility decile destroys wealth at rate of -19.96 % per annum. Results are parallel also in quintiles that represent larger amount of companies and thus dilute outliers. Observation period captures financial crisis of 2007-2008 and European debt crisis, which embodies as low main index annual return of 1 %, but at the same time proves the success of low-volatility strategy. Low-volatility anomaly is driven by multiple reasons such as leverage constrained trading and managerial incentives which both prompt to invest in risky assets, but behavioral matters also have major weight in maintaining the anomaly.

Yrityskokoilmiö Euroopan osakemarkkinoilla

Tämän kandidaatintutkielman tarkoituksena on perehtyä yrityskokoanomaliaan ja sen esiintymiseen Euroopan osakemarkkinoilla. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on myös selvittää, että voidaanko yrityksen markkina-arvoihin perustuvilla sijoitusportfolioilla saavuttaa ylituottoja markkinoilta. Tutkimusaineisto koostuu kolmesta indeksistä, jotka kuvaavat Euroopan 15 merkittävimmän pörssin kuukausittaisia päätösarvoja ajalta 1/2001–1/2015. Anomalian tunnistamiseksi vertaillaan kolmea markkina-arvoon perustuvaa portfoliota erilaisin kuvailevin tunnusluvuin sekä tilastollisin menetelmin. Tutkielmassa kolmea portfolioita analysoidaan myös hyödyntäen menestysmittarina Sharpen lukua. Näiden tutkimusmenetelmien avulla pyritään selvittämään yrityskokoanomalian esiintymistä Euroopan osakemarkkinoilla sekä löytämään vanhoja tutkimustuloksia tukevia johtopäätöksiä ilmiöstä. Tulosten perusteella tutkimusaikavälillä ylivoimaisesti parhaiten pärjäsivät eurooppalaiset markkina-arvoltaan pienimmät yhtiöt. Eurooppalaiset suuret yhtiöt olivat häviäjiä tässä tapauksessa, kuten aikaisemmat tutkimustulokset antoivatkin odottaa. Pienet yhtiöt pärjäsivät parhaiten lähes jokaisella mittarilla: kumulatiivisella tuotolla sekä Sharpen luvun perusteella. Tutkimuksessa vertailtiin myös portfolioiden riskiä volatiliteetilla sekä betalla, jonka perusteella pienet yhtiöt eivät olleet erityisesti riskisempiä kuin vertailuportfoliot tutkimusaikavälillä. Vaikkei millään portfoliolla pystytty saavuttamaan tilastollisesti merkittävää riskikorjattua ylituottoa, pystytään tulosten perusteella antamaan jalansijaa yrityskokoilmiölle muiden mittareiden perusteella.