Bidirectional relationship between the Body Mass Index and Substance Use in Young Men

BACKGROUND: Obesity and substance use are major concern in young people. This study explored the bidirectional longitudinal relationships between the body mass index (BMI) of young men and their use of: 1) four classes of non-medical prescription drugs; 2) alcohol; 3) tobacco; and 4) cannabis. METHODS: Baseline and follow-up data from the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors were used (n=5,007). A cross-lagged panel model, complemented by probit models as sensitivity analysis, was run to determine the bidirectional relationships between BMI and substance use. Alcohol was assessed using risky single-occasion drinking (RSOD); tobacco, using daily smoking; and cannabis, using hazardous cannabis use (defined as twice-weekly or more cannabis use). Non-medical prescription drugs use (NMPDU) included opioid analgesics, sedatives/sleeping pills, anxiolytics and stimulants. RESULTS: Different associations were found between BMI and substance use. Only RSOD (β= -.053, p=.005) and NMPDU of anxiolytics (β=.040, p=.020) at baseline significantly predicted BMI at follow-up. Baseline RSOD predicted a lower BMI at follow-up while baseline NMPDU of anxiolytics predicted higher BMI at follow-up. Furthermore, BMI at baseline significantly predicted daily smoking (β=.050, p=.007) and hazardous cannabis use (β=.058, p=.030). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest different associations between BMI and the use of various substances by young men. However, only RSOD and NMPDU of anxiolytics predicted BMI, whereas BMI predicted daily smoking and hazardous cannabis use.

Cuticular and Suberin Polymers of Edible Plants. Analysis by Gas Chromatographic-Mass Spectrometric and Solid State Spectroscopic Methods

Cutin and suberin are structural and protective polymers of plant surfaces. The epidermal cells of the aerial parts of plants are covered with an extracellular cuticular layer, which consists of polyester cutin, highly resistant cutan, cuticular waxes and polysaccharides which link the layer to the epidermal cells. A similar protective layer is formed by a polyaromatic-polyaliphatic biopolymer suberin, which is present particularly in the cell walls of the phellem layer of periderm of the underground parts of plants (e.g. roots and tubers) and the bark of trees. In addition, suberization is also a major factor in wound healing and wound periderm formation regardless of the plants’ tissue. Knowledge of the composition and functions of cuticular and suberin polymers is important for understanding the physiological properties for the plants and for nutritional quality when these plants are consumed as foods. The aims of the practical work were to assess the chemical composition of cuticular polymers of several northern berries and seeds and suberin of two varieties of potatoes. Cutin and suberin were studied as isolated polymers and further after depolymerization as soluble monomers and solid residues. Chemical and enzymatic depolymerization techniques were compared and a new chemical depolymerization method was developed. Gas chromatographic analysis with mass spectrometric detection (GC-MS) was used to assess the monomer compositions. Polymer investigations were conducted with solid state carbon-13 cross polarization magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (13C CP-MAS NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and microscopic analysis. Furthermore, the development of suberin over one year of post-harvest storage was investigated and the cuticular layers from berries grown in the North and South of Finland were compared. The results show that the amounts of isolated cuticular layers and cutin monomers, as well as monomeric compositions vary greatly between the berries. The monomer composition of seeds was found to differ from the corresponding berry peel monomers. The berry cutin monomers were composed mostly of long-chain aliphatic ω-hydroxy acids, with various mid-chain functionalities (double-bonds, epoxy, hydroxy and keto groups). Substituted α,ω-diacids predominated over ω-hydroxy acids in potato suberin monomers and slight differences were found between the varieties. The newly-developed closed tube chemical method was found to be suitable for cutin and suberin analysis and preferred over the solvent-consuming and laborious reflux method. Enzymatic hydrolysis with cutinase was less effective than chemical methanolysis and showed specificity towards α,ω-diacid bonds. According to ₁₃C CP-MAS NMR and FTIR, the depolymerization residues contained significant amounts of aromatic structures, polysaccharides and possible cutan-type aliphatic moieties. Cultivation location seems to have effect on cuticular composition. The materials studied contained significant amounts of different types of biopolymers that could be utilized for several purposes with or without further processing. The importance of the so-called waste material from industrial processes of berries and potatoes as a source of either dietary fiber or specialty chemicals should be further investigated in detail. The evident impact of cuticular and suberin polymers, among other fiber components, on human health should be investigated in clinical trials. These by-product materials may be used as value-added fiber fractions in the food industry and as raw materials for specialty chemicals such as lubricants and emulsifiers, or as building blocks for novel polymers.

SaaS and Public Cloud from Custom Application Provider’s Perspective

The main objective of this master’s thesis is to provide a comprehensive view to cloud computing and SaaS, and analyze how well CADM, a unit of Capgemini Finland Ltd., would fit to the cloud-based SaaS business. Another objective for this thesis is to investigate how public clouds would fit for CADM as a delivery model, if they would provide SaaS applications to their customers. This master’s thesis is executed by investigating characteristics of cloud computing and SaaS especially from application provider point of view. This is done by exploring what kinds of researches and analysis there have been done regarding these two phenomena during past few years. Then CADM’s current business model and operations are analyzed from SaaS’s and public cloud’s perspective. This analyzing part is conducted by using SWOT analysis which is widely used analytical tool when observing company’s strategic position and when figuring out possibilities how to improve company’s operations. The conducted analysis and observations reveals that CADM should pursue SaaS business as it could provide remarkable advantages and strengthen their position in current markets. However, pure SaaS model would not be the optimal solution for CADM because they do not have own product which could be transformed to SaaS model, and they lack of Infrastructure Management ability. Also public cloud would not be the most suitable delivery model for them if providing SaaS services. The main observation of this thesis is that CADM should adopt the SaaS model via Capgemini Immediate offering.

Application of social media and ICT-tools in new and small business ventures.

The current research emphasizes on various questions raised and deliberated upon by different entrepreneurs. It provides a valuable contribution to comprehend the importance of social media and ICT-applications. Furthermore, it demonstrates how to support and implement the management consulting and business coaching start-ups with the help of social media and ICT-tools. The thesis presents a literary review from different information systems science, SME and e-business journals, web articles, as well as, survey analysis reports on social media applications. The methodology incorporated into a qualitative research method in which social anthropological approaches were used to oversee the case study activities in order to collect data. The collaborative social research approach was used to shelter the action research method. The research discovered that new business start-ups, as well as small businesses do not use social media and ICT-tools, unlike most of the large corporations use. At present, the current open-source ICT-technologies and social media applications are equally available for new and small businesses as they are available for larger companies. Successful implementation of social media and ICT-applications can easily enhance start-up performance and overcome business hassles. The thesis sheds some light on effective and innovative implementation of social media and ICT-applications for new business risk takers and small business birds. Key words

Accounting for competition, governance and accountability during institutional change in not-for-profit and public sector organisations

Purpose The aim of this thesis1 is to analyse theoretically how institutionalisation of competitive tendering2, governance and budgetary policies cannot be taken for granted to lead to accountability among institutional actors3. The nature of an institutionalised management accounting policy, its relevance as a source of power in organisational decision making, and in negotiating inter-organisational relationships, are also analysed. Practical motivation The practical motivation of the thesis is to show how practitioners and policy makers can institutionalise changes which improve the power of management accounting and control systems4 as a mechanism of accountability among institutional actors and in negotiating relationships with other organisations. Theoretical motivation and conceptual approach The theoretical motivation of the thesis is to extend the institutional framework of management accounting change proposed by Burns and Scapens (2000) by using the theories of critical realism, communicative action, negotiated order and the framework of circuits of power. The Burns and Scapens framework needs further theorisation to analyse the relationship between the institutionalisation of management accounting and accountability; and the relevance of management accounting information in negotiating in inter-organisational relationships. Methodology and field studies Field research took place in public and not-for-profit health care organisations and a municipality in Finland from 2008 to 2013. Data were gathered by document analysis, interviews, participation in meetings and observations. Findings The findings are explained in four different essays that show that institutionalisation of competitive tendering, governance and budgetary policies cannot be taken for granted to lead to accountability among institutional actors. The ways by which institutional actors think and act can be influenced by other institutional mechanisms, such as inter-organisational circuits of power and intraorganisational governance policies, independent of the institutional change process. The relevance of institutionalised management accounting policies in negotiating relationships between two or more organisations depends on processes and contexts through which institutional actors use management accounting information as a tool of communication, mutual understanding and power. Research limitations / implications The theoretical framework used can be applied validly in other studies. The empirical findings cannot be generalised directly to other organisations than the organisations analysed. Practical implications Competitive tendering and budgetary policies can be institutionalised to shape actions of institutional actors within an organisation. To lead to accountability, practitioners and policy makers should implement governance policies that increase the use of management accounting information in institutional actors’ thinking, actions and responsibility for their actions. To reach a negotiated order between organisations, institutionalised management accounting policies should be used as one of the tools of communication aiming to reach mutual agreement among institutional actors.

Let Go and Remember. How Finnish Communities Experienced and Memorialized School Shootings

This study examines the aftermath of mass violence in local communities. Two rampage school shootings that occurred in Finland are analyzed and compared to examine the ways in which communities experience, make sense of, and recover from sudden acts of mass violence. The studied cases took place at Jokela High School, in southern Finland, and at a polytechnic university in Kauhajoki, in western Finland, in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Including the perpetrators, 20 people lost their lives in these shootings. These incidents are part of the global school shooting phenomenon with increasing numbers of incidents occurring in the last two decades, mostly in North America and Europe. The dynamic of solidarity and conflict is one of the main themes of this study. It builds upon previous research on mass violence and disasters which suggests that solidarity increases after a crisis, and that this increase is often followed by conflict in the affected communities. This dissertation also draws from theoretical discussions on remembering, narrating, and commemorating traumatic incidents, as well as the idea of a cultural trauma process in which the origins and consequences of traumas are negotiated alongside collective identities. Memorialization practices and narratives about what happened are vital parts of the social memory of crises and disasters, and their inclusive and exclusive characteristics are discussed in this study. The data include two types of qualitative interviews; focused interviews with 11 crisis workers, and focused, narrative interviews with 21 residents of Jokela and 22 residents of Kauhajoki. A quantitative mail survey of the Jokela population (N=330) provided data used in one of the research articles. The results indicate that both communities experienced a process of simultaneous solidarity and conflict after the shootings. In Jokela, the community was constructed as a victim, and public expressions of solidarity and memorialization were promoted as part of the recovery process. In Kauhajoki, the community was portrayed as an incidental site of mass violence, and public expressions of solidarity by distant witnesses were labeled as unnecessary and often criticized. However, after the shooting, the community was somewhat united in its desire to avoid victimization and a prolonged liminal period. This can be understood as a more modest and invisible process of “silent solidarity”. The processes of enforced solidarity were partly made possible by exclusion. In some accounts, the family of the perpetrator in Jokela was excluded from the community. In Kauhajoki, the whole incident was externalized. In both communities, this exclusion included associating the shooting events, certain places, and certain individuals with the concept of evil, which helped to understand and explain the inconceivable incidents. Differences concerning appropriate emotional orientations, memorialization practices and the pace of the recovery created conflict in both communities. In Jokela, attitudes towards the perpetrator and his family were also a source of friction. Traditional gender roles regarding the expression of emotions remained fairly stable after the school shootings, but in an exceptional situation, conflicting interpretations arose concerning how men and women should express emotion. The results from the Jokela community also suggest that while increased solidarity was seen as important part of the recovery process, some negative effects such as collective guilt, group divisions, and stigmatization also emerged. Based on the results, two simultaneous strategies that took place after mass violence were identified; one was a process of fast-paced normalization, and the other was that of memorialization. Both strategies are ways to restore the feeling of security shattered by violent incidents. The Jokela community emphasized remembering while the Kauhajoki community turned more to the normalization strategy. Both strategies have positive and negative consequences. It is important to note that the tendency to memorialize is not the only way of expressing solidarity, as fast normalization includes its own kind of solidarity and helps prevent the negative consequences of intense solidarity.

Non-profit maximising organisations and the impact of privatisation, liberalisation, and public-sector reform

I denna avhandling analyserar jag både offentliga och privata företag och organisationer, inklusive universitet, särskilt när det existerar potentiell inre motivation. Jag behandlar både industriell produktion, inklusive infrastruktursektorer med vertikala relationer, och tjänstesektorn. Man tänker sig att ägandet kan påverka kostnadseffektiviteten dels genom olika storlek hos lönetillägg och andra förmåner för de anställda (eng. Internal Rent Capture), och dels via asymmetrisk information. Jag frågar dessutom om det finns andra faktorer än ägande och konkurrens som kan påverka prestandan hos kommersiella företag och ideella organisationer. Dessa frågeställningar aktualiseras av pågående reformer inom den offentliga sektorn, särskilt i samband med den så kallade nya offentliga förvaltningen (eng. New Public Management). Jag analyserar reformernas inverkan på hur bra en organisation fungerar och på den sociala välfärden. Analysen i denna avhandling är teoretisk, men resultaten är relaterade också till den empiriska litteraturen. Avhandlingen är uppdelad i del I och II. I del I sammanfattar jag avhandlingen och sätter den i ett sammanhang, medan del II består av fem redan publicerade essäer. De två första (I–II) är mera traditionella, i och med att de baserar sig på homo economicus (eng. the economic man), utan att beakta den inre motivationen. I essä I (publicerad 2008) bedömer vi fördelar och nackdelar av privatisering och avreglering innanför en sådan ram, men med en betoning också på icke återvinningsbara fasta kostnader och vertikala relationer. I essä II (publicerad 2012) fokuserar vi oss på vertikal separation, och konkurrensutsättning och privatisering i nätverksindustrier. I essäerna III–V vidgas perspektivet genom att införa potentiell inre motivation i en agentmodell. Analysen i essä III (publicerad 2014) tillämpas på offentligt ägande och privatisering. I essäerna IV och V (publicerade 2009 respektive 2013) utvidgas analysen till att även gälla kreativa branscher, särskilt arbete inom universiteten, där den inre motivationen hos de anställda kan tänkas vara avgörande. I dessa essäer tillämpas en analys som inbegriper ett intra-personellt spel inom ramen för en agentmodell med potentiell inre motivation. Vi analyserar sålunda avvägningen mellan ekonomiska incitament och inre motivation.

Egg size, yolk mass extrusion and hatching behavior in two cryptic speciesof Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) (Diptera, Tephritidae)

Variations in egg length were observed for two populations of cryptic species of Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann). The eggs of type I flies were smaller than those of type II individuals. For both types, in regard to yolk mass extrusion, four classes of embryos were detected. Class 1: embryos that extrude masses at both extremities; class 2: embryos in which extrusion occurs only at the anterior pole; class 3: embryos that eliminate mass only at the posterior pole, and class 4: embryos that do not extrude any mass. Embryo class frequencies were similar for populations belonging to the same type, but different between types. Individual females may produce eggs from different embryo classes, but for any given female the pattern remains constant during a long period of oviposition. Variation in size of the extruded masses was similar for both populations. Individual females produced embryos with a small range of mass diameters, and different females produced masses of different mean size. However, individual mass size remained constant during oviposition. The results suggest the existence of genetic components involved in the control of this unusual process. Larvae of both types presented, just before eclosion, similar unusual behaviors: they ingest the anterior extruded mass, rotate 180°, absorb the posterior mass and eclose near the posterior pole. Data show that cryptic A. fraterculus type I and type II differs in regard to egg size as well as to the phenomenon of yolk mass extrusion

Combined effect of short stature and socioeconomic status on body mass index and weight gain during reproductive age in Brazilian women

Short stature, a marker for undernutrition early in life, has been associated with obesity in Brazilian women, but not in men. We tested the hypothesis that weight gain during the reproductive years could explain this gender difference. A national two-stage household survey of mothers with one or more children under five years of age was conducted in Brazil in 1996. The subjects were women aged 20 to 45 years (N = 2297), with last delivery seven months or more prior to the interview. The regions of the country were divided into rural, North/Northeast (urban underdeveloped) and South/Southeast/Midwest (urban developed). The dependent variables were current body mass index (BMI) measured, BMI prior to childbearing (reported), and BMI change. Socioeconomic variables included mother's years of education and family purchasing power score. A secondary analysis was restricted to primiparous women. The prevalence of current overweight and overweight prior to childbearing (BMI > or = 25 kg/m²) was higher among shorter women (<1.50 m) compared to normal stature women only in the urban developed region (P < 0.05). After adjustment for socioeconomic variables, age, parity, BMI prior to childbearing, and age at first birth, current BMI was 2.39 units higher (P = 0.008) for short stature women living in the urban developed area compared with short stature women living in the urban underdeveloped area. For both multiparous and primiparous women, BMI gain compared to the value prior to childbearing was significantly higher among short stature women living in the urban developed region (P <= 0.04). These results provide clear evidence that short stature was associated with a higher BMI and with an increased risk of weight gain/retention with pregnancy in the developed areas of Brazil, but not in the underdeveloped ones.

Effects of chronic treadmill training on body mass gain and visceral fat accumulation in overfed rats

This study evaluated the effects of chronic treadmill training on body mass gain and visceral fat accumulation in overfed rats. Overfeeding was induced by reducing the litter size to 3 male pups per mother during the suckling period. The litter size of control rats was adjusted to 10 male pups per mother. Seven weeks after birth overfed and normally fed rats were selected and assigned to a sedentary protocol or to a low-intensity treadmill training protocol (60 min, 5 times/week, for 9 weeks). Four groups (overfed sedentary, N = 23; normally fed sedentary, N = 32; overfed exercised, N = 18, and normally fed exercised, N = 18) were evaluated at 18 weeks. Data are reported as means ± SEM. Initial body weight was similar in control and overfed rats [8.0 ± 0.2 g (N = 42) vs 8.0 ± 0.1 g (N = 50); P > 0.05] and body weight gain during the suckling period was higher in the overfed rats (30.6 ± 0.9 vs 23.1 ± 0.3 g; P < 0.05). Exercise attenuated the body weight gain of overfed compared to sedentary rats (505 ± 14 vs 537 ± 12 g; P < 0.05). The sedentary overfed rats showed higher visceral fat weight compared to normally fed animals (31.22 ± 2.08 vs 21.94 ± 1.76 g; P < 0.05). Exercise reduced visceral fat by 36.5% in normally fed rats and by 35.7% in overfed rats. Exercise attenuated obesity in overfed rats and induced an important reduction of visceral fat.

Characterization and classification of pequi trees (Caryocar brasiliense Camb.) based on the profile of volatile constituents using headspace solid-phase microextraction - gas chromatography - mass spectrometry and multivariate analysis

In order to determine the variability of pequi tree (Caryocar brasiliense Camb.) populations, volatile compounds from fruits of eighteen trees representing five populations were extracted by headspace solid-phase microextraction and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Seventy-seven compounds were identified, including esters, hydrocarbons, terpenoids, ketones, lactones, and alcohols. Several compounds had not been previously reported in the pequi fruit. The amount of total volatile compounds and the individual compound contents varied between plants. The volatile profile enabled the differentiation of all of the eighteen plants, indicating that there is a characteristic profile in terms of their origin. The use of Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis enabled the establishment of markers (dendrolasin, ethyl octanoate, ethyl 2-octenoate and β-cis-ocimene) that discriminated among the pequi trees. According to the Cluster Analysis, the plants were classified into three main clusters, and four other plants showed a tendency to isolation. The results from multivariate analysis did not always group plants from the same population together, indicating that there is greater variability within the populations than between pequi tree populations.