Process of burnout: structure, antecedents, and consequences

The major changes that have been witnessed in today's workplaces are challenging the mental well-being of employed people. Stress and burnout are considered to be modern epidemics, and their importance to physical health and work ability has been acknowledged world-wide. The aim of the thesis was to study the concept of burnout as a process proceeding from its antecedents, through the development of the syndrome, and to its outcomes. Several work-related factors considered antecedents of burnout were studied in different occupational groups. The syndrome of burnout is seen as consisting of three dimensions - exhaustion, cynicism and lack of professional efficacy - and different alternatives for the sequential development of these dimensions were tested. Furthermore, several indicators of the severely detrimental health and work ability outcomes of burnout were investigated in a longitudinal study design. The research questions were as follows. 1) Is burnout, as measured with the Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey (MBI-GS), a three-dimensional construct and how invariant is the factorial structure across occupations (Finnish) and national samples (Finnish, Swedish and Dutch)? How persistent is exhaustion over time? 2) What is the sequential process of burnout? Is it similar across occupations? How do work stressors relate to the process? 3) How does burnout relate to severe health consequences as well as temporary and chronic work disability according to hospitalization periods, sick-leave episodes and receiving disability pensions? The data were collected between 1986 and 2005. The population of the study consisted of respondents to a company-wide questionnaire survey carried out in 1996-1997 (N=9705, response rate 63%). The participants comprised 6025 blue-collar workers and 3680 white-collar workers. The majority were men (N=7494) and the average age was 43.7 years. In addition, a sample from the population had responded to a questionnaire survey in 1988, which was combined with the 1996 data to form panel data on 713 respondents. The register-based data were collected between 1986 and 2005 from 1) the company's occupational health services' records for a sample of respondents from the 1996 questionnaire survey (sick-leave data), 2) hospitalization records from the Hospital discharge register, and 3) disability pension records from the Finnish Centre for Pensions. These data were combined person by person with the 1996 questionnaire survey data with the help of personal identification numbers which were saved with the study numbers by the researchers. The results showed that burnout consists of three separate but correlating symptoms: exhaustion, cynicism and lack of professional efficacy. As a syndrome, burnout was strongly related to job stressors at work, and seemed to develop from exhaustion through cynicism to lack of professional efficacy in a similar manner among white-collar and blue-collar employees. The results also showed that exhaustion persisted even after eight years of follow-up but did not predict cynicism or lack of professional efficacy after that amount of time. Nor were job stressors longitudinally related to burnout. Longitudinal results were obtained for the severe health-related consequences of burnout. The investigated outcomes represented different phases of health deterioration ranging from sick-leaves and hospitalization periods to receiving work disability pensions. The results showed that burnout syndrome, and its elements of exhaustion and cynicism, were related to future mental and cardiovascular disorders as indicated by hospitalization periods. Burnout was also related to future sick-leave periods due to mental, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal disorders. Of the separate elements, exhaustion was related to the same three categories of disorder, cynicism to mental, musculoskeletal and digestive disorders, and lack of professional efficacy to mental and musculoskeletal disorders. Burnout also predicted receiving disability pensions due to mental and musculoskeletal disorders among initially healthy subjects. Exhaustion was related to receiving disability pensions even when self-reported chronic illness was taken into account. The results suggest that burnout is a multidimensional, chronic, work-related syndrome, which may have serious consequences for health and work ability.

Identification and Epidemiological Typing of Campylobacter strains isolated from Patients in Finland

C. jejuni constitutes the majority of Campylobacter strains isolated from patients in Finland, and C. coli strains are also reported. To improve the species identification, a combination of phenotype- and genotype-based methods was applied. Standardising the cell suspension turbidity in the hippurate hydrolysis test enabled the reliable identification of hippurate-positive Campylobacter strains as C. jejuni. The detection of species-specific genes by PCR showed that about 30% of the hippurate-negative strains were C. jejuni. Three typing methods, serotyping, PCR-RFLP analysis of LOS biosynthesis genes and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were evaluated as epidemiological typing tools for C. jejuni. The high number of non-typeable strains lowered the discriminatory ability of serotyping. PCR-RFLP typing offered high discrimination for both serotypeable and non-typeable strains, but the correlation between serotypes and RFLP-types was not high enough to enable its use for molecular serotyping of non-typeable strains. PFGE was a highly discriminative typing method. Although the use of two restriction enzymes generally increases the discriminatory ability, KpnI alone offered almost as high discrimination as the use of SmaI and KpnI. The characteristic seasonal distribution of Campylobacter infections with a peak in summer and low incidence in winter was mainly due to domestically acquired infections. Of the C. jejuni strains, 41% were of domestic origin compared to only 17% of the C. coli strains. Serotypes Pen 12, Pen 6,7 and Pen 27 were significantly associated with domestic C. jejuni infections, Pen 1,44, Pen 3 and Pen 37 with travel-related infections. Pen 2 and Pen 4-complex were common both in domestic and travel-related infections. Serotype Pen 2 was less common among patients 60 years or older than in younger patients, more prevalent in Western Finland than in other parts of the country and more prevalent than other serotypes in winter. The source of Pen 2 infections may be related to cattle, since Pen 2 is the most common serotype in isolates from Finnish cattle. PFGE subtypes among isolates from patients and chickens during the summer 2003 and from cattle during the whole year were compared. The analysis of indistinguishable SmaI/KpnI subtypes suggested that up to 31% of the human infections may have been mediated by chickens and 19% by cattle. Human strains isolated during two one-year sampling periods were studied by PFGE. Of the domestic strains, 69% belonged to SmaI subtypes found during both sampling periods. Four SmaI subtypes accounted for 45% of the domestic strains, further typing of these subtypes by KpnI revealed six temporally persistent SmaI/KpnI subtypes. They were only occasionally identified in travel-related strains, and therefore, can be considered to be national subtypes. Each subtype was associated with a serotype: Pen 2, Pen 12, Pen 27, Pen 4-complex, Pen 41, and Pen 57. Five of these subtypes were identified in cattle (S5/K27, S7/K1, S7/K2, S7/K5 and S64/K19), and two in chickens (S7/K1 and S64/K19) with a temporal association with human infections in 2003. Cattle are more likely potential sources of these persistent subtypes, since long-term excretion of Campylobacter strains by cattle has been reported.

Perinatal mortality and maternal health in rural China

Background and context Since the economic reforms of 1978, China has been acclaimed as a remarkable economy, achieving 9% annual growth per head for more than 25 years. However, China's health sector has not fared well. The population health gains slowed down and health disparities increased. In the field of health and health care, significant progress in maternal care has been achieved. However, there still remain important disparities between the urban and rural areas and among the rural areas in terms of economic development. The excess female infant deaths and the rapidly increasing sex ratio at birth in the last decade aroused serious concerns among policy makers and scholars. Decentralization of the government administration and health sector reform impacts maternal care. Many studies using census data have been conducted to explore the determinants of a high sex ratio at birth, but no agreement has been so far reached on the possible contributing factors. No study using family planning system data has been conducted to explore perinatal mortality and sex ratio at birth and only few studies have examined the impact of the decentralization of government and health sector reforms on the provision and organization of maternal care in rural China. Objectives The general objective of this study was to investigate the state of perinatal health and maternal care and their determinants in rural China under the historic context of major socioeconomic reforms and the one child family planning policy. The specific objectives of the study included: 1) to study pregnancy outcomes and perinatal health and their correlates in a rural Chinese county; 2) to examine the issue of sex ratio at birth and its determinants in a rural Chinese county; 3) to explore the patterns of provision, utilization, and content of maternal care in a rural Chinese county; 4) to investigate the changes in the use of maternal care in China from 1991 to 2003. Materials and Methods This study is based on a project for evaluating the prenatal care programme in Dingyuan county in 1999-2003, Anhui province, China and a nationwide household health survey to describe the changes in maternal care utilization. The approaches used included a retrospective cohort study, cross sectional interview surveys, informant interviews, observations and the use of statistical data. The data sources included the following: 1) A cohort of pregnant women followed from pregnancy up to 7 days after birth in 20 townships in the study county, collecting information on pregnancy outcomes using family planning records; 2) A questionnaire interview survey given to women who gave birth between 2001 and 2003; 3) Various statistical and informant surveys data collected from the study county; 4) Three national household health interview survey data sets (1993-2003) were utilized, and reanalyzed to described the changes in maternity care utilization. Relative risks (RR) and their confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for comparison between parity, approval status, infant sex and township groups. The chi-square test was used to analyse the disparity of use of maternal care between and within urban and rural areas and its trend across the years in China. Logistic regression was used to analyse the factors associated with hospital delivery in rural areas. Results There were 3697 pregnancies in the study cohort, resulting in 3092 live births in a total population of 299463 in the 20 study townships during 1999-2000. The average age at pregnancy in the cohort was 25.9 years. Of the women, 61% were childless, 38% already had one child and 0.3% had two children before the current pregnancy. About 90% of approved pregnancies ended in a live birth while 73% of the unapproved ones were aborted. The perinatal mortality rate was 69 per thousand births. If the 30 induced abortions in which the gestational age was more than 28 weeks had been counted as perinatal deaths, the perinatal mortality rate would have been as high as 78 per thousand. The perinatal mortality rate was negatively associated with the wealth of the township. Approximately two thirds of the perinatal deaths occurred in the early neonatal period. Both the still birth rate and the early neonatal death rate increased with parity. The risk of a stillbirth in a second pregnancy was almost four times that for a first pregnancy, while the risk of early neonatal deaths doubled. The early neonatal mortality rate was twice as high for female as for male infants. The sex difference in the early neonatal mortality rate was mainly attributable to mortality in second births. The male early neonatal mortality rate was not affected by parity, while the female early neonatal mortality rate increased dramatically with parity: it was about six times higher for second births than for first births. About 82% early neonatal deaths happened within 24 hours after birth, and during that time, girls were almost three times more likely to die than boys. The death rate of females on the day of birth increased much more sharply with parity than that of males. The total sex ratio at birth of 3697 registered pregnancies was 152 males to 100 females, with 118 and 287 in first and second pregnancies, respectively. Among unapproved pregnancies, there were almost 5 live-born boys for each girl. Most prenatal and delivery care was to be taken care of in township hospitals. At the village level, there were small private clinics. There was no limitation period for the provision of prenatal and postnatal care by private practitioners. They were not permitted to provide delivery care by the county health bureau, but as some 12% of all births occurred either at home or at private clinics; some village health workers might have been involved. The county level hospitals served as the referral centers for the township hospitals in the county. However, there was no formal regulation or guideline on how the referral system should work. Whether or not a woman was referred to a higher level hospital depended on the individual midwife's professional judgment and on the clients' compliance. The county health bureau had little power over township hospitals, because township hospitals had in the decentralization process become directly accountable to the township government. In the township and county hospitals only 10-20% of the recurrent costs were funded by local government (the township hospital was funded by the township government and the county hospital was funded by the county government) and the hospitals collected user fees to balance their budgets. Also the staff salaries depended on fee incomes by the hospital. The hospitals could define the user charges themselves. Prenatal care consultations were however free in most township hospitals. None of the midwives made postnatal home visits, because of low profit of these services. The three national household health survey data showed that the proportion of women receiving their first prenatal visit within 12 weeks increased greatly from the early to middle 1990s in all areas except for large cities. The increase was much larger in the rural areas, reducing the urban-rural difference from more than 4 times to about 1.4 times. The proportion of women that received antenatal care visits meeting the Ministry of Health s standard (at least 5 times) in the rural areas increased sharply from 12% in 1991-1993 to 36% in 2001-2003. In rural areas, the proportion increase was much faster in less developed areas than in developed areas. The hospital delivery rate increased slightly from 90% to 94% in urban areas while the proportion increased from 27% to 69% in rural areas. The fastest change was found to be in type 4 rural areas, where the utilization even quadrupled. The overall difference between rural and urban areas was substantially narrowed over the period. Multiple logistic regression analysis shows that time periods, residency in rural or urban areas, income levels, age group, education levels, delivery history, occupation, health insurance and distance from the nearest health care facilities were significantly associated with hospital delivery rates. Conclusions 1. Perinatal mortality in this study was much higher than that for urban areas as well as any reported rate from specific studies in rural areas of China. Previous studies in which calculations of infant mortality were not based on epidemiological surveys have been shown to underestimate the rates by more than 50%. 2. Routine statistics collected by the Chinese family planning system proved to be a reliable data source for studying perinatal health, including still births, neonatal deaths, sex ratio at birth and among newborns. National Household Health Survey data proved to be a useful and reliable data source for studying population health and health services. Prior to this research there were few studies in these areas available to international audiences. 3.Though perinatal mortality rate was negatively associated with the level of township economic development, the excess female early neonatal mortality rate contributed much more to high perinatal mortality rate than economic factors. This was likely a result of the role of the family planning policy and the traditional preferences for sons, which leads to lethal neglect of female newborns and high perinatal mortality. 4. The selective abortions of female foetuses were likely to contribute most to the high sex ratio at birth. The underreporting of female births seemed to have played a secondary role. The higher early neonatal mortality rate in second-born as compared to first-born children, particularly in females, may indicate that neglect or poorer care of female newborn infants also contributes to the high sex ratio at birth or among newborns. Existing family planning policy proved not to effectively control the steadily increased birth sex ratio. 5. The rural-urban gap in service utilization was on average significantly narrowed in terms of maternal healthcare in China from 1991 to 2003. This demonstrates that significant achievements in reducing inequities can be made through a combination of socio-economic development and targeted investments in improving health services, including infrastructure, staff capacities, and subsidies to reduce the costs of service utilization for the poorest. However, the huge gap which persisted among cities of different size and within different types of rural areas indicated the need for further efforts to support the poorest areas. 6. Hospital delivery care in the study county was better accepted by women because most of women think delivery care was very important while prenatal and postnatal care were not. Hospital delivery care was more systematically provided and promoted than prenatal and postnatal care by township hospital in the study area. The reliance of hospital staff income on user fees gave the hospitals an incentive to put more emphasis on revenue generating activities such as delivery care instead of prenatal and postnatal care, since delivery care generated much profits than prenatal and postnatal care . Recommendations 1. It is essential for the central government to re-assess and modify existing family planning policies. In order to keep national sex balance, the existing practice of one couple one child in urban areas and at-least-one-son a couple in rural areas should be gradually changed to a two-children-a-couple policy throughout the country. The government should establish a favourable social security policy for couples, especially for rural couples who have only daughters, with particular emphasis on their pension and medical care insurance, combined with an educational campaign for equal rights for boys and girls in society. 2. There is currently no routine vital-statistics registration system in rural China. Using the findings of this study, the central government could set up a routine vital-statistics registration system using family planning routine work records, which could be used by policy makers and researchers. 3. It is possible for the central and provincial government to invest more in the less developed and poor rural areas to increase the access of pregnant women in these areas to maternal care services. Central government together with local government should gradually provide free maternal care including prenatal and postnatal as well as delivery care to the women in poor and less developed rural areas. 4. Future research could be done to explore if county and the township level health care sector and the family planning system could be merged to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of maternal and child care. 5. Future research could be done to explore the relative contribution of maternal care, economic development and family planning policy on perinatal and child health using prospective cohort studies and community based randomized trials. Key words: perinatal health, perinatal mortality, stillbirth, neonatal death, sex selective abortion, sex ratio at birth, family planning, son preference, maternal care, prenatal care, postnatal care, equity, China

Plant communities of field margins : the effects of management and environmental factors on species composition and diversity

Agri-environmental schemes have so far resulted in only minor positive implications for the biodiversity of agricultural environments, in contrast to what has been expected. Land-use intensification has decreased landscape heterogeneity and the amount of semi-natural habitats. Field margins are uncultivated areas of permanent vegetation located adjacent to fields. Since the number of these habitats is high, investing in their quality may result in more diverse agricultural landscapes. Field margins can be considered as multifunctional habitats providing agronomic, environmental and wildlife services. This thesis aimed at examining the plant communities of different types of field margin habitats and the factors affecting their species diversity and composition. The importance of edaphic, spatial and management factors was studied on regional, landscape and habitat scales. Vegetation surveys were conducted on regional and landscape scales and a field experiment on cutting management was conducted on a habitat scale. In field margin plant communities, species appeared to be indicators of high or intermediate soil fertility and moist soil conditions. The plant species diversity found was rather low, compared with most species-rich agricultural habitats in Finland, such as dry meadows. Among regions, land-use history, main production line, natural species and human induced distribution, climate and edaphic factors were elements inducing differences in species composition. The lowest regional species diversity of field margins was related to intensive and long-term cereal production. Management by cutting and removal or grazing had a positive effect on plant species diversity. The positive effect of cutting and removal on species richness was also dependent on the adjacent source of colonizing species. Therefore, in species-poor habitats and landscapes, establishment of margins with diverse seed mixtures can be recommended for enhancing the development of species richness. However, seed mixtures should include only native species preferably local origin. Management by cutting once a year for 5 years did not result in a decline in dominance of a harmful weed species, Elymus repens, showing that E. repens probably needs cutting more frequently than once per year. Agri-environmental schemes should include long-term contracts with farmers for the establishment, and management by cutting and removal or grazing, of field margins that are several metres wide. In such schemes, the timing and frequency of management should be planned so as not to harm other taxa, such as the insects and birds that are dependent on these habitats. All accidental herbicide drifts to field margins should be avoided when spraying the cultivated area to minimize the negative effects of sprayings on vegetation. The harmful effects of herbicides can be avoided by organic farming methods.

Kelan kuntoutustilasto 2010

Kelan kuntoutustilasto 2010 -julkaisu sisältää keskeiset tiedot Kelan kuntoutuspalveluista ja niiden ajalta toimeentuloturvana maksettavasta kuntoutusrahasta. Julkaisussa on tietoja kuntoutujista, kuntoutustoimenpiteistä, toimenpiteistä aiheutuneista kustannuksista ja kuntoutusrahasta. Kelan kuntoutustilasto ilmestyy vuosittain. Sitä on julkaistu tilastovuodesta 1978 lähtien. Tämä vuoden 2010 tilasto on ensimmäinen, jota ei enää julkaista painetussa muodossa.

Systems between information and knowledge : In a memory management model of an extended enterprise

The research question of this thesis was how knowledge can be managed with information systems. Information systems can support but not replace knowledge management. Systems can mainly store epistemic organisational knowledge included in content, and process data and information. Certain value can be achieved by adding communication technology to systems. All communication, however, can not be managed. A new layer between communication and manageable information was named as knowformation. Knowledge management literature was surveyed, together with information species from philosophy, physics, communication theory, and information system science. Positivism, post-positivism, and critical theory were studied, but knowformation in extended organisational memory seemed to be socially constructed. A memory management model of an extended enterprise (M3.exe) and knowformation concept were findings from iterative case studies, covering data, information and knowledge management systems. The cases varied from groups towards extended organisation. Systems were investigated, and administrators, users (knowledge workers) and managers interviewed. The model building required alternative sets of data, information and knowledge, instead of using the traditional pyramid. Also the explicit-tacit dichotomy was reconsidered. As human knowledge is the final aim of all data and information in the systems, the distinction between management of information vs. management of people was harmonised. Information systems were classified as the core of organisational memory. The content of the systems is in practice between communication and presentation. Firstly, the epistemic criterion of knowledge is not required neither in the knowledge management literature, nor from the content of the systems. Secondly, systems deal mostly with containers, and the knowledge management literature with applied knowledge. Also the construction of reality based on the system content and communication supports the knowformation concept. Knowformation belongs to memory management model of an extended enterprise (M3.exe) that is divided into horizontal and vertical key dimensions. Vertically, processes deal with content that can be managed, whereas communication can be supported, mainly by infrastructure. Horizontally, the right hand side of the model contains systems, and the left hand side content, which should be independent from each other. A strategy based on the model was defined.

Asiakassuhteiden johtaminen ja sen merkitys Valion kuluttajapalvelun arvioinnissa ja kehittämisessä

Tutkielman kohdeilmiönä tarkasteltiin asiakassuhdejohtamista ja asiakassuhteen ulottuvuuksia palvelukontekstissa. Tavoitteena oli selvittää, mikä merkitys asiakassuhteiden johtamisella on Valion kuluttajapalvelun arvioinnissa ja kehittämisessä. Valion kuluttajapalvelua tarkasteltiin asiakassuhdejohtamisen osaprosessina. Tutkimuksen teoriaosassa tutustuttiin asiakassuhtejohtamisen taustalla vaikuttaviin näkökulmiin ja määrittelyihin. Asiakassuhteiden johtamista kuvattiin erilaisten prosessimallien avulla yrityksen toimintojen näkökulmasta. Lisäksi tarkasteltiin asiakassuhteen ulottuvuuksia, kuten palvelutarjoomaa, vuorovaikutusta, tyytyväisyyttä, luottamusta sekä uskollisuutta ja sitoutumista. Lopuksi tarkasteltiin arvoa käsitteenä ja arvon merkitystä palvelukontekstissa. Teoriaosan perusteella asiakassuhdejohtaminen on kokonaisvaltainen prosessi, jonka tavoitteena ovat tuottavat ja pitkäkestoiset asiakassuhteet. Yritykseltä vaaditaan kykyä nähdä ja havaita asiakkaiden tarpeita ja mieltymyksiä. Asiakkaan kokema arvo voi välittyä itse palvelusta, prosesseista, ihmisistä, vuorovaikutuksesta, kanavista ja niin edelleen. Myönteisten kokemusten lisääminen palvelu¬prosessin aikana kasvattaa asiakkaan tyytyväisyyttä. Empiirinen osa toteutettiin tapaustutkimuksena, jossa tutkimuskohteena oli Valion kuluttajapalvelu. Tavoitteena oli kerätä tietoa asiakkaiden kokemuksista kuluttajapalvelussa asioinnista. Tutkittavina kohteina olivat asiakasprosessi ja sen sujuvuus, palvelutarjooman sisältö, vuorovaikutus prosessin aikana, asiakkaan kokema tyytyväisyys sekä luottamus yritystä ja sen palvelua kohtaan. Tutkimusaineisto koostui kymmenestä teemahaastattelusta. Haastateltavat olivat olleet yhteydessä Valion kuluttajapalveluun Internetin välityksellä vuoden 2010 aikana. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että Valion kuluttajapalvelu nähtiin kanavana, joka vahvistaa ja ylläpitää asiakkaiden suhdetta Valion kanssa. Ihmiset kuluttajapalvelussa nähdään merkittävinä myötävaikuttajina asiakkaiden tyytyväisyyteen ja pysyvyyteen samalla kun ovat vuorovaikutuksessa heidän kanssaan. Kuluttajapalvelun käyttö koettiin helpoksi ja Internet kanavana tuntui joustavalta. Palvelulta odotettiin ensisijaisesti palautteen vastaanottamisen lisäksi ongelmanratkaisua ja tuotetietousneuvontaa. Asiantuntijuus, palvelun nopeus sekä asiakkaan kuunteleminen tulivat esille tärkeimpinä palvelutekijöinä. Haasteena Valion kuluttajapalvelulle nousi esiin asiakaspalvelijan kyky havaita ja ymmärtää asiakkaan kokemien uhrausten määrä sekä kyky vastata niihin oikealla palvelutarjoomalla eli hyötyjen muodostamalla kokonaisuudella. Asiakaspalvelijan toimintaa kuvasi asiallisuus, virallisuus, huomioon ottava tyyli sekä yleinen ystävällisyys. Tutkimustulosten mukaan Valion kuluttajapalvelulla on olemassa keskeiset arvoa tuottavat palvelutekijät, mutta niiden toimivuus strategisina yhdistelminä asettaa haasteita jokaiseen palvelukohtaamiseen asiakkaan kanssa. Asiakkaan arvo-odotukset eivät aina olleet niitä, joita palvelukohtaamisessa oli realisoitunut. Tulosten perusteella voidaan todeta, että mitä paremmin Valion kuluttajapalvelu huomioi myös asiakkaiden emotionaaliset tarpeet, sitä suurempi on sen tuottama arvo asiakkaalle ja sitä kautta koko yritykselle.

Suomalaisen alkuperäiskarjan liha – kuluttajien osto- ja maksuhalukkuus

Tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää suomalaisen alkuperäiskarjan lihan potentiaalista kysyntää. Alkuperäiskarjan lihan erikoistuotemarkkinat voivat auttaa pitämään uhanalaiset, kotimaiset karjarodut tuotantokäytössä. Näin ollen erikoistuotemarkkinat voivat auttaa arvokkaiden suomalaisten eläingeenivarojen säilyttämisessä. Koska alkuperäiskarjan lihan tuotannon kannattavuus riippuu lihasta saatavasta lisähinnasta, tutkimuksen tavoitteena on myös tutkia, millainen kuluttajien maksuhalukkuus alkuperäiskarjan lihasta on verrattuna tavanomaiseen lihaan. Tutkimusaineisto kerättiin Maa- ja elintarviketalouden tutkimuskeskuksen ja Kuluttajatutkimuskeskuksen suunnittelemalla kyselytutkimuksella keväällä 2010. Tutkimuksessa käytettiin ehdollisen käyttäytymisen ja ehdollisen arvottamisen menetelmiä ja sen otoskoko on 1623. Kuluttajien ostohalukkuutta ja siihen vaikuttavia tekijöitä tutkittiin sekä binäärisen että ordinaalisen regression malleilla. Kuluttajien maksuhalukkuutta alkuperäiskarjan lihasta ja siihen vaikuttavia tekijöitä tutkittiin grouped data -mallin avulla. Malleissa käytettiin selittävinä muuttujina sosioekonomisten muuttujien lisäksi kuluttajien asenteita ja käyttäytymistä kuvaavia muuttujia. Tutkielman tulosten mukaan jopa 86 % vastaajista ostaisi alkuperäiskarjan lihaa, jos sitä olisi tarjolla kaupoissa. Ostohalukkuutta lisää muun muassa, jos vastaajalla on alle 18-vuotiaita lapsia ja vastaaja arvostaa lähellä tuotettua, paikallista ruokaa sekä ympäristöystävällisyyttä. Miehet ostaisivat alkuperäiskarjan lihaa todennäköisemmin kuin naiset. Suurin osa vastaajista ostaisi alkuperäiskarjan lihaa, jos se olisi samanhintaista kuin tavanomainen liha, mutta noin neljäsosa (23,5 %) vastaajista olisi valmis maksamaan alkuperäiskarjan lihasta korkeampaa hintaa kuin tavanomaisesta lihasta. Maksuhalukkuuteen vaikuttivat positiivisesti muun muassa kuuluminen ympäristöjärjestöön ja korkea tulotaso. Negatiivisesti vaikutti puolestaan esimerkiksi se, että vastaaja on nainen. Keskimääräinen maksuhalukkuus alkuperäiskarjan lihasta oli 6,25 % korkeampi kuin tavanomaisesta lihasta. Maksuhalukkuus alkuperäiskarjan lihasta oli selvästi yhteydessä siihen, kuinka usein vastaaja olisi halukas ostamaan sitä. Maksuhalukkuus oli korkein niillä vastaajilla, jotka haluaisivat ostaa lihaa säännöllisesti.

Työvoiman määrällinen ja laadullinen tarve kirjastoalalla

Työvoiman määrällinen ja laadullinen tarve kirjastoalalla 2008-2010 -selvitys on tehty kirjastoalan valtakunnallisen koulutustyöryhmän toimeksiannosta 2010 - 2011. Koulutustyöryhmään on kuulunut edustajia eri kirjastosektoreilta sekä alan oppilaitoksista. Selvityksen ensimmäinen osa kartoittaa työvoiman määrällistä tarvetta. Siinä tarkastellaan joitakin kirjastoalan koulutuksen ja työvoimatarpeiden kohtaamisen kannalta keskeisimpiä tekijöitä: suoritettujen kirjastoalan tutkintojen määriä eri koulutusasteilla, työttömien työnhakijoiden ja avointen työpaikkojen keskinäistä suhdetta, toteutunutta eläköitymistä ja tulevaisuuden eläköitymisennusteita. Tietoja on kerätty useista eri lähteistä. Vakinaisen virka- tai työsuhteisen kokopäivätyön lisäksi selvityksessä on pyritty mahdollisuuksien mukaan huomioimaan myös osa-aikaiset ja määräaikaiset työsuhteet, erilaiset harjottelut ja vuokratyö. Selvityksen toinen osa analysoi sitä, millaista osaamista kirjastoissa tällä hetkellä tarvitaan. Aineistona käytetään kirjastot.fi - portaalissa vuosina 2008 - 2010 julkaistuja työpaikkailmoituksia. Aineiston perusteella kirjastoalan työntekijöihin kohdistetaan monenlaisia toiveita ja vaatimuksia, jotka liittyvät niin aiempaan työkokemukseen ja henkilökohtaisiin ominaisuuksiin kuin varsinaiseen osaamiseenkin. Eri osaamisalueet painottuvat ilmoituksissa sen mukaan, millaista koulutusta tehtävään vaaditaan ja mille kirjastosektorille työ sijoittuu. Julkisen sektorin työvoimatarve on sidoksissa viime kädessä poliittisiin päätöksiin. Suurten ikäluokkien eläköityminen ei automaattisesti luo kirjastoalalle työpaikkoja eikä odotetusta työvoimapulasta selvityksen perusteella näy merkkejä. Kirjastoasetuksen määrittämät kelpoisuusvaatimukset säätelevät henkilöstörakennetta ja henkilöstön osaamisen tasoa yleisissä kirjastoissa. Näiden vaatimusten täyttäminen kunnissa kuitenkin ontuu. Henkilöstösäästöihin liittyvät vaatimukset kuullaan herkemmin. Selvityksen aihepiiri on laaja. Niinpä siinä on ensisijaisesti pyritty paikallistamaan sellaisia avoimeksi jääviä kysymyksiä ja kiinnostavia aineistoja, joiden perusteellinen tarkastelu laajemmassa lisäselvityksessä olisi hyödyllistä. Erityisesti kaivattaisiin laadullista tutkimusta kirjastoissa tehdyn "epätyypillisen" työn sisällöistä ja tekijöistä sekä rekrytointiprosessien tosiasiallisesta kulusta.

Toisen kielen oppijan identiteetti ja arkielämän vuorovaikutustilanteet : Tapaustutkimus viiden maahanmuuttajanaisen suomen kielen oppimisesta

Tutkielma on haastatteluaineistoon perustuva tapaustutkimus, jossa tarkastellaan viittä pääkaupunkiseudulla elävää maahanmuuttajanaista suomen kielen oppijoina ja käyttäjinä. Työssä paneudutaan toisaalta identiteetin ja toisen kielen oppimisen suhteeseen ja toisaalta siihen, millaisissa arjen vuorovaikutustilanteissa toisen kielen oppija pääsee puhumista harjoittelemaan. Tutkimuksen teoreettisena kehyksenä ovat sosiokulttuurinen kielentutkimus ja jälkistrukturalistinen identiteettikäsitys. Työn innoittajana ja esikuvana on kanadalaisen Bonny Nortonin tapaustutkimus Identity and Language Learning: Gender, Ethnicity and Educational Change (2000), jonka keskeisistä käsitteistä on omaksuttu muun muassa kielenoppijan panostus. Aineisto on kerätty puolentoista vuoden aikana ja koostuu 14 nauhoitetusta ja litteroidusta haastattelusta. Analyysi jakautuu kahteen osaan. Ensimmäisessä osassa osoitetaan yksilön sosiaalisen identiteetin yhteys toisen kielen oppimiseen kolmen ulottuvuuden kautta, joita ovat Suomeen muuton syyt ja tulevaisuudensuunnitelmat, kielenoppijuus ja monikielisyys sekä sukupuoli ja ikä. Olennainen päätelmä on, ettei yksilön toisen kielen oppimismenestystä voi erottaa identiteetistä. Toisessa osassa analysoidaan arkielämän vuorovaikutustilanteita: ensinnäkin sitä, millaisia mahdollisuuksia toisen kielen oppijalla on päästä puhumaan kohdekieltä ja toiseksi sitä, millaisiksi nuo tilanteet muotoutuvat. Keskeisin tutkimustulos on, että toisen kielen oppijalle tarjoutuu liian vähän vapaamuotoisia suomen puhumisen mahdollisuuksia. Vuorovaikutustilanteita hallitsevat usein epätasapainoiset valtasuhteet, jotka rajoittavat kielenoppijaa, toisinaan jopa vaientavat tämän. Toisen kielen oppimisen ja identiteetin suhdetta on Suomessa tutkittu varsin vähän. Niin ikään oppijan vaientaminen vuorovaikutustilanteissa on jäänyt huomiotta. Tutkielma avaa ajankohtaista aihepiiriä ja mielenkiintoisia jatkotutkimusnäkymiä, joista yksi olisi vuorovaikutustilanteiden etnografinen havainnointi.

Sotilasseurakunta merellä - Koulutuspurjehdukselle osallistuneiden kokemukset kirkollisesta työstä miinalaiva Pohjanmaalla vuonna 2010

Tutkimuksen tehtävänä oli selvittää, minkälaista oli kirkollinen työ koulutuspurjehduksella miinalaiva Pohjanmaalla vuonna 2010 ja miten koulutuspurjehdukselle osallistuneet olivat kokeneet sen. Kirkolliseen työhön puolustusvoimissa kuuluu julistus, opetus ja sielunhoito. Koulutuspurjehduksella pääosassa on sotilaspapin tekemä sielunhoitotyö. Itsenäisen Suomen laivastossa koulutuspurjehdukset alkoivat 1930-luvulla ja pappi on ollut aina mukana pitkillä purjehduksilla. Ennen vuoden 2010 koulutuspurjehdusta tehtiin yhdeksän taustahaastattelua, joiden tarkoituksena oli kartoittaa seuraavia osa-alueita: mikä on koulutuspurjehdus, millainen sosiaalinen yhteisö miinalaiva on, millainen sotilashierarkia koulutuspurjehduksella on, millainen on sotilaspapin asema sotilashierarkiassa ja mitä papilta odotetaan koulutuspurjehduksella ja mitä pappi tekee koulutuspurjehduksella. Varsinainen tutkimusaineisto kerättiin kyselylomakkeilla koulutuspurjehduksen aikana. Vastaajilta kysyttiin erilaisia taustatietoja, kuten: ikä, perhesuhteet, uskonnollinen vakaumus, odotukset kirkollista työtä kohtaan sekä huolenaiheet, jotka olivat ilmenneet koulutuspurjehduksen aikana. Nämä toimivat aineistossa taustamuuttujina. Näitä taustamuuttujia testattiin vastaajien kokemuksiin kirkollisesta työstä ja sotilaspappeudesta. Kyselylomakkeessa oli myös avoimia kysymyksiä, joiden vastaukset analysoitiin kvalitatiivisesti. Kyselylomakkeiden kvantitatiivisen ja kvalitatiivisen analysoinnin jälkeen tehtiin vielä neljä haastattelua. Näissä haastatteluissa haettiin tarkennuksia määrällisessä analyysissa esiintyneisiin erityispiirteisiin. Vastaajista vain osa (13 %) keskusteli luottamuksellisesti papin kanssa. Yksi tutkimustulos oli se, että suurin osa (93 %) vastaajista oli sitä mieltä, että on hyvä asia, että kaikilla halukkailla on mahdollisuus keskustella luottamuksellisesti papin kanssa, jos tarvetta siihen ilmenee. Papin läsnäoloa pidettiin tärkeänä ja osa jopa toivoi lisää papin näkyvyyttä. Jumalanpalvelusten ja hartauksien määrään suurin osa oli tyytyväinen, eikä niitä toivottu enempää. Yhtä merkittävä tutkimustulos oli myös se, että papin läsnäolon tärkeyden lisäksi tärkeämpää on se, millainen pappi on. Pappi on osa sotilashierarkiaa, mutta silti hiukan erillään siitä. Pappiin, tai lähinnä hänen persoonaansa kohdistuu paljon odotuksia. Sotilaspapin toivottiin olevan läsnä, avoin, sosiaalinen, sopeutuva, ei liian jyrkkä eikä ahdasmielinen.

Uhrihaastatteluista poliitikkojen kovisteluun : Tutkimus Jokelan ja Kauhajoen koulusurmien tv-uutisoinnin kerrontatavoista

Medialla on valta päättää, miten väkivallasta kerrotaan, ja miten kriisit esitetään. Median kerrontatavoilla on suuri vaikutus siihen, miten katastrofi näyttäytyy tavalliselle kansalaiselle. Keskityn tutkielmassani siihen, millaisia kerrontatapoja Jokelan ja Kauhajoen koulusurmien tv-uutisointiin on rakennettu. Selvitän, mitä eroja ja yhtäläisyyksiä uutiskerronnassa oli kahden koulusurmatapauksen välillä sekä eri tv-kanavien välillä. Tarkastelen myös, mitkä toimijat korostuvat uutisten eri kerrontatavoissa. Laadullisen tutkimusotteen piirissä metodologinen tutkimustapani on representaatioanalyysi. Tutkielman lähtökohtana on malli katastrofiuutisoinnin kerrontatavoista. Gert Z. Nordström (1996) on kehittänyt mallin alun perin kuva-analyysiä varten. Myöhemmin sitä on sovellettu mediatekstien analyysiin (Huhtala jaa Hakala 2007). Tässä tutkielmassa sovellan mallia audiovisuaalisen kerronnan analyysiin. Tutkimusaineistoni koostuu television uutislähetyksistä seitsemän päivän ajalta sekä Jokelan että Kauhajoen tapahtumien jälkeen neljällä valtakunnallisella tv-kanavalla. Analyysimallin mukaisesti koulusurmat esitetään televisiossa käyttäen eeppistä, dramaattista, lyyristä ja didaktista kerrontatapaa. Lisäksi kyseessä olleesta tv-aineistosta nousi viides kerronnan luokka, kriittinen kerronta. Eeppisellä kerronnalla tarkoitetaan tyypillistä raportoivaa ja referoivaa uutiskerrontaa. Dramaattista kerrontaa käytetään raportoitaessa suoraan tapahtumapaikalta. Lyyrinen kerronta kuvaa tunteita. Didaktisessa kerronnassa pohditaan, mitä tapahtuneesta voi oppia. Kriittisen kerronnan keinoin vaaditaan vastuunottoa tapahtuneesta. Tv-uutisten kerrontatavoissa näyttäisi korostuvan eeppisen kerronnan määrä. Kauhajoen ja Jokelan uutiskerronnat kuitenkin erosivat toisistaan niin, että eeppinen kerronta lisääntyi entisestään Kauhajoen uutisoinnissa. Myös kriittinen kerronta korostui Kauhajoen uutisoinnissa. Jokelan uutisoinnissa esiintyi puolestaan enemmän dramaattista, lyyristä ja didaktista kerrontaa. MTV3-kanavalla käytettiin muita kanavia vähemmän eeppistä kerrontaa. Didaktista kerrontaa esiintyi MTV3:lla muita kanavia reilusti enemmän molempien koulusurmatapausten yhteydessä. Lisäksi MTV3-kanavalla esiintyi eniten kriittistä kerrontaa Kauhajoen uutisoinnissa. YLEn ja Nelosen kerrontatapojen esiintyminen oli lähes samankaltaista sekä Jokelan että Kauhajoen uutisoinnissa. Jokelan uutisoinnissa Nelonen käytti kuitenkin merkittävästi enemmän dramaattista kerrontaa YLEen verrattuna. Jokelan uutisoinnissa toimijoina korostuivat ampuja, ja uhrit, kun taas Kauhajoella päätoimijoita olivat poliisi ja poliitikot. Jokelan tv-uutisoinnissa sekä uhrit että ampuja olivat kolmen keskeisimmän toimijan joukossa useassa kerrontatavan luokassa. Kauhajoen uutisoinnissa puolestaan uhrit eivät olleet missään kerrontatavan luokassa kolmen keskeisimmän toimijan joukossa, ja ampujakin vain yhdessä luokassa. Eeppisen ja kriittisen kerrontatavan korostuminen sekä poliitikkojen keskeisyys toimijoina Kauhajoen tv-uutisoinnissa kertoo siitä, että Jokelaan nähden Kauhajoen koulusurmien uutisointi oli selvästi yhteiskuntakeskeisempää. Jokelan uutisointi painottui enemmän yksittäisen tapahtuman traagisuuteen sekä henkilökohtaloihin.

Miten esiopetusmateriaaleissa esitetään sukupuolta

Earlier school text book studies (eg Tainio and Teräs 2010, Blumberg 2007; Ohlander 2010) have shown that women are underrepresented in school books, both in illustrations and texts, and the genders are represented stereotyped. The study will examine how gender in seen on pre-school education materials. The aim of this study is to determine what kind of representations, discourses and the subject positions of the gender are presented in pre-school materials. This study utilizes a feminist research method. The theoretical starting points are the social constructivist, poststructuralist theory and gender studies. The concept of gender as a social construct. The research used content analysis as well as discource analysis and deconstructive reading. The material was used four different publishers, WSOY, Tammi, Otava and Lasten Keskus preschool integrated material packages, which contain the child's exercise book or booklet, and teacher's guide. The analysis examined the quantity of gender-specific images and gendered words and phrases, and representations of gender, subject position, and discourses, and what linguistic means had been used for representation of masculinity and femininity. Based on the results there were on average more masculine characters and words as feminine in the illustrations and stories of pre-school materials. Feminine and masculine characters representations emphasized traditional gender stereotypes, especially in external characteristics and clothing. Genders had the highest available, with the subject position of stereotypes with reduced mobility, but also other kinds of subject position was observed. The data found in the following gender discources: difference discource, diversity discource and similarity discource. The highest number occurred in the difference and diversity discources. However, there were differences between the different materials. In some materials there were more diverse gender representations and other materials highlighted the differences between genders. Overall, the genders were represented stereotypically in the pre-school materials.

Fast- and drift-ice communities in the Bothnian Bay and the impact of UVA radiation on the Baltic Sea ice ecology

The aim of this thesis was to study ecology of Baltic Sea ice from two perspectives. In the first two studies, sea-ice ecology from riverine-influenced fast ice to drift ice in the Bothnian Bay was investigated, whereas the last two studies focus on the sensitivity of sea-ice bacteria and algae to UVA examined in situ. The seasonal sea ice cover is one of the main characteristics of the Baltic Sea, and despite the brackish parental water, the ice structure is similar to polar ice with saline brine inclusions, the sea ice habitat. The decreasing seawater salinity from the northern Baltic Sea to the Bothnian Bay translates to decreasing brine volumes along the gradient, governing the size and community structure of the food webs in ice. However, the drift and fast ice in the Bothnian Bay may differ greatly in this sense, as drift ice may have been formed at more southern locations. Rafting and the formation of snow ice are common processes in the ice field of the Bothnian Bay. As evidenced in this thesis, rafting altered the vertical distribution of organisms and snow-ice formation provided habitable space in the better-illuminated, nitrogen-rich surface layer. The divergence between fast and drift ice became apparent at the more advanced stages, and chlorophyte biomass decreased from fast to drift ice, while the opposite held true for protozoan and metazoan biomass. The brine volumes affected the communities somewhat, and a higher percentage of flagellate species was generally linked to lower brine volumes, whereas chain-forming diatoms were mostly concentrated in layers with larger brine volumes. These results add to knowledge of the ecological significance of the ice cover lasting up to 7 months per year in this area. Sea-ice food webs are generally light-limited, but while increasing light irradiances typically enhance the primary production and further, the secondary production in sea ice, any increase in solar radiation also includes an increase in harmful UVA radiation. The Baltic Sea ice microbial communities were clearly sensitive to UVA and the responses were strongly linked to the earlier light history, as well as to the solar irradiances they were exposed to. The increased biomass of chlorophytes and pennate diatoms, when UVA was excluded, indicates that their normally minor contribution to the biomass in the upper layers of sea ice might be partly dictated by UVA. The effects of UVA on bacterial production in Baltic Sea ice mostly followed the responses in algal growth, but occasionally the exposure to UVA even enhanced the bacterial production. The dominant bacterial class, Flavobacteria, seemed to be UVA-tolerant, whereas all the Alpha-, Beta- and Gammaproteobacteria present in the surface layer showed UVA sensitivity. These results indicate that changes in the light field of ice may alter the community structure and affect the functioning of ice food webs, and are of importance when the effects of thinning of the ice cover are assessed.

Psychologically-Based and Content-Oriented Experience in Entertainment Virtual Environments

In daily life, rich experiences evolve in every environmental and social interaction. Because experience has a strong impact on how people behave, scholars in different fields are interested in understanding what constitutes an experience. Yet even if interest in conscious experience is on the increase, there is no consensus on how such experience should be studied. Whatever approach is taken, the subjective and psychologically multidimensional nature of experience should be respected. This study endeavours to understand and evaluate conscious experiences. First I intro-duce a theoretical approach to psychologically-based and content-oriented experience. In the experiential cycle presented here, classical psychology and orienting-environmental content are connected. This generic approach is applicable to any human-environment interaction. Here I apply the approach to entertainment virtual environments (VEs) such as digital games and develop a framework with the potential for studying experiences in VEs. The development of the methodological framework included subjective and objective data from experiences in the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) and with numerous digital games (N=2,414). The final framework consisted of fifteen factor-analytically formed subcomponents of the sense of presence, involvement and flow. Together, these show the multidimensional experiential profile of VEs. The results present general experiential laws of VEs and show that the interface of a VE is related to (physical) presence, which psychologically means attention, perception and the cognitively evaluated realness and spatiality of the VE. The narrative of the VE elicits (social) presence and involvement and affects emotional outcomes. Psychologically, these outcomes are related to social cognition, motivation and emotion. The mechanics of a VE affect the cognitive evaluations and emotional outcomes related to flow. In addition, at the very least, user background, prior experience and use context affect the experiential variation. VEs are part of many peoples lives and many different outcomes are related to them, such as enjoyment, learning and addiction, depending on who is making the evalua-tion. This makes VEs societally important and psychologically fruitful to study. The approach and framework presented here contribute to our understanding of experiences in general and VEs in particular. The research can provide VE developers with a state-of-the art method (www.eveqgp.fi) that can be utilized whenever new product and service concepts are designed, prototyped and tested.