Regulation of lymphocyte response in vitro and in vivo

CD4+ T helper (Th) cells have an important role in the defence against diverse pathogens. Th cells can differentiate into several functionally distinct subtypes including Th1 and Th2 cells. Th1 cells are important for eradicating intracellular pathogens, whereas Th2 cells pro¬tect our body against extracellular parasites. However if uncontrolled, Th cells can mediate immunopathology such as asthma or allergies, but inappropriate Th response can also lead to autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis or type 1 diabetes. Deeper knowledge of the regulation of the lymphocyte response both in vitro and in vivo is important for un¬derstanding the pathogenesis of immune-mediated diseases and microbe-host interactions. In the work presented in this thesis, the first goal was to elucidate the role of novel factors, PIM kinases and c-FLIP in the regulation of human Th cell differentiation. The oncogenic serine-threonine kinases of the PIM family were shown to be preferentially expressed in Th1 cells and in addition, by using RNA interference, they were also shown to be positive regulators of Th1 differentiation. The PIM depletion experiments suggest that PIM kinases promote the expression of the hallmark cytokine of Th1 cells, IFNγ, and influence the IL12/STAT4 pathway during the early Th1 cell differentiation. In addition to cytokine and T cell receptor (TCR) induced pathways, caspase activity has been shown to regulate Th cell proliferation. In the work presented in this thesis, the two isoforms of the caspase regulator protein, c-FLIP, were shown to be differentially ex¬pressed in Th1 and Th2 cells. Both of the isoforms were up-regulated in response to TCR activation, but the expression of the short isoform was selectively induced by IL4, the Th2 inducing cytokine. Furthermore, the c-FLIP isoforms had distinct and opposite roles during the early differentiation of Th1 and Th2 cells. The knockdown of the long isoform of c-FLIP led to the induction of Th1 marker genes, such as IFNγ and TBET, whereas the depletion of c-FLIP short down-regulated Th2 marker genes IL-4 and GATA3. The third goal was to elucidate the gene expression profiles characterizing the T- and B-lymphocyte responses in vivo during experimental infection by intracellular bacte¬rium Chlamydia pneumoniae. Previously, it has been shown that CD8+ and CD4+ T cells are important for the protection against Chlamydia pneumoniae. In this study, the analysis revealed up-regulation of interferon induced genes during recurrent infection underlining the importance of IFNγ secreted by Th1 and CD8+ T cells in the protection against this pathogen. Taken together, in this study novel regulators of Th cell differ¬entiation were discovered and in addition the gene expression profiles of lymphocytes induced by Chlamydia pneumoniae infection were characterized.

Taistelunjohtokurssin fyysisen oppimisympäristön tarkastelu

Taistelunjohtajat toimivat lennostoissa osana ilmavoimien taistelujärjestelmää. Heidän tehtävänään on hävittäjätorjunnan johtaminen puheella tai tietovuolla. Taistelunjohtajien koulutus järjestetään Ilmasotakoululla Tikkakoskella ja lennostoissa. Tämä tutkimus käsittelee Ilmasotakoulussa annettavan peruskurssin fyysistä oppimisympäristöä. Tutkimusongelmat ovat: Millainen on taistelunjohtokurssin oppimisen osa-alueena ilmenevä fyysinen oppimisympäristö? Tukeeko oppimisympäristö taistelunjohdon taidon oppimista? Millaisia tavoitteita oppilaat oman kokemuksensa perusteella asettavat kurssin fyysiselle oppimisympäristölle? Tutkimusote on kvalitatiivinen. Aineisto, johon luetaan tutkimuksessa kuuluvaksi teoriakirjallisuus, sekä teoriaa täydentävä oppilaskysely, on käsitelty fenomenografisella menetelmällä. Tutkimuksessa selvisi, että taistelunjohtokurssin oppimisympäristö fyysisen osaalueensa osalta ei vielä täysin vastaa avoimelle oppimis- ja työskentelyympäristölle ( AVOT) asetettuja tavoitteita. Kaikilta osin oppimisympäristö ei ole onnistunut tukemaan taistelunjohdon taidon oppimista. Tavoitteiden osalta havaittiin, että oppilaille olisi tarkennettava peruskurssille asetettuja tavoitteita. Myös intensiivisemmästä laitteistokoulutuksesta esitettiin toiveita. Kurssin palautejärjestelyt saivat oppilailta kiitosta.

Taistelunjohtokurssin fyysisen oppimisympäristön tarkastelu

Taistelunjohtajat toimivat lennostoissa osana ilmavoimien taistelujärjestelmää. Heidän tehtävänään on hävittäjätorjunnan johtaminen puheella tai tietovuolla. Taistelunjohtajien koulutus järjestetään Ilmasotakoululla Tikkakoskella ja lennostoissa. Tämä tutkimus käsittelee Ilmasotakoulussa annettavan peruskurssin fyysistä oppimisympäristöä. Tutkimusongelmat ovat: Millainen on taistelunjohtokurssin oppimisen osa-alueena ilmenevä fyysinen oppimisympäristö? Tukeeko oppimisympäristö taistelunjohdon taidon oppimista? Millaisia tavoitteita oppilaat oman kokemuksensa perusteella asettavat kurssin fyysiselle oppimisympäristölle? Tutkimusote on kvalitatiivinen. Aineisto, johon luetaan tutkimuksessa kuuluvaksi teoriakirjallisuus, sekä teoriaa täydentävä oppilaskysely, on käsitelty fenomenografisella menetelmällä. Tutkimuksessa selvisi, että taistelunjohtokurssin oppimisympäristö fyysisen osaalueensa osalta ei vielä täysin vastaa avoimelle oppimis- ja työskentelyympäristölle ( AVOT) asetettuja tavoitteita. Kaikilta osin oppimisympäristö ei ole onnistunut tukemaan taistelunjohdon taidon oppimista. Tavoitteiden osalta havaittiin, että oppilaille olisi tarkennettava peruskurssille asetettuja tavoitteita. Myös intensiivisemmästä laitteistokoulutuksesta esitettiin toiveita. Kurssin palautejärjestelyt saivat oppilailta kiitosta.

Valistuksen kirjakulttuuri Suomessa

Kirjallisuusarvostelu

Työn glokalisaatio

Erikoisnumero: Työn glokalisaatio.

Kasvun vuosi Melindassa. Yhteistyö jatkuu!

Minna Olkinuora-Taurun esitys Kirjastoverkkopäivillä 23.10.2013 Helsingissä.

Key factors in transforming university internationalization into commercial activity in Finland. Case of University of Turku

Globalization, developments in ICT, emergence of knowledge society and other changes have reformed the environment for international higher education during the past few decades. Consequently, higher education sector has moved towards more marketing-oriented system, and universities have started to undertake commercial activities as part of their internationalization. This development has emerged to Finland as well, which forms the basis for this study. The purpose is to examine commercialization in Finnish university landscape and to investigate the ways Finnish university could capitalize its international activities and educational knowledge for export. The research question of the study is: What are the key factors in transforming university internationalization into commercial activity in the Finnish university landscape? The main problem is further divided into three sub-questions: 1) How can a university internationalize; 2) what are the motivational factors behind university internationalization and commercialization; and 3) how can higher education be developed into export services and products? The research was conducted as a qualitative case study of University of Turku. Methods used for gathering and examining data were interviewing and document analysis. Primary data was collected through four individual semi-structured interviews, which were conducted face-to-face. Secondary data that included reports, articles and electronic materials such as university web pages, was used to complement the primary data. The results were analyzed by theming the data into three broader categories of internationalization activities; drivers and motivations and; education export activities. After the data was organized in themes, analysis continued by comparing different parts of data and finding patterns that would explain the phenomenon in Finnish universities. According to the empirical data, University of Turku is currently on the growth state of internationalization with strategies such as internationalization of curriculum, establishment of international research groups, mobility of students and academics, international networking and support services. Commercialization phenomenon is still rather new to the case university, but it has already developed educational products and services for export. The study concludes that university internationalization cannot be directly transformed into commercial activities in the Finnish context, but the universities need to be active in actually creating educational products. The key factors found in this study include: 1) the Finnish government policies behind the current hype of export education; 2) the potential and knowledge capacity of universities for exports; 3) need for additional profits; 4) further internationalization through commercial activities; 5) recognizing and exploiting the specific areas of strength and 6) establishing of cooperative partnerships for better products.