Yhteiskehittäminen vihreän infrastruktuurin suunnittelun edistämisessä : arviointitutkimus Virtuaalivehreä-hankkeesta

Vihreällä infrastruktuurilla voidaan tukea kaupunkiympäristön luonnon monimuotoisuutta sekä ekosysteemipalveluiden elinvoimaisuutta. Vihreän infrastruktuurin onnistunut suunnittelu ja toteuttaminen vaatii kuitenkin monialaisen osaamisen yhdistämistä. Keskeiseksi vihreän infrastruktuurin suunnittelua haastavaksi tekijäksi on tunnistettu monialaisen yhteistyön vähäisyys. Tässä pro gradu -tutkielmassa arvioitiin Virtuaalivehreä-hankkeessa käytetyn design sprint -konseptin soveltuvuutta vihreän infrastruktuurin monialaiseen yhteiskehittämiseen. Lisäksi tutkielmassa arvioitiin Virtuaalivehreä-hankkeen prosessia ja hankkeen aikaisten toimintojen onnistumista hankkeen tavoitteiden näkökulmasta. Arviointiaineisto kerättiin asiantuntijahaasttateluiden, osallistuvan havainnoinnin sekä palautekyselyiden avulla. Arvioinnin tavoitteena oli tuottaa tietoa yhteiskehittämiskonseptin sekä hankeprosessin kehittämisen tueksi. Tutkielma tehtiin toimeksiantona Helsingin kaupungin omistamalle innovaatioyhtiö Forum Virium Helsingille. Työ tehtiin osana Forum Virium Helsingin koordinoimaa Virtuaalivehreä-hanketta. Hanke oli osa Fiksu Kalasatama -ohjelmaa, jossa kokeillaan älykkään kaupungin toimintoja Kalasataman alueella. Virtuaalivehreä-hankkeen tavoitteena oli yhteiskehittää julkisen ja yksityisen sektorin toimijoiden kanssa toimintamallia vihreän infrastruktuurin suunnitteluun, joka auttaisi huomioimaan kaupungin ekosysteemipalvelut kokonaisvaltaisesti koko kaavoitusprosessin ajan. Uudenmaan liiton rahoittama Virtuaalivehreä-hanke toteutettiin 1.9.2019–31.5.2020. Hankkeen osatoteuttajina toimivat WSP Finland Oy ja Innogreen. Lisäksi hankkeessa oli mukana tiiviisti Helsingin kaupungin Kalasatama-Länsisatama asemakaavoitustiimi. Kehittämisen tapauskohteena toimivat Kalasataman rakentamishankealueen pohjoisosassa sijaitsevat Kyläsaari ja Hermanninranta. Prosessiarvioinnin näkökulmasta Virtuaalivehreä eteni johdonmukaisesti ja saavutti myös pääosan asetetuista tavoitteista. Yhteiskehittämisen arviointi keskittyi hankkeen aikana järjestettyihin kolmeen design sprint -yhteiskehittämistapahtumaan. Design sprint -tapahtumat osoittautuivat toimivaksi tavaksi tuoda yhteen eri alan asiantuntijoita julkiselta ja yksityiseltä sektorilta yhteiskehittämään ratkaisuja ja syvempää ymmärrystä vihreän infrastruktuurin suunnittelusta ja sen tarpeista. Design sprint - tapahtumat toimivat eräänlaisena keskustelun ja luovan ongelmanratkaisun foorumeina, joissa uudenlaista lähestymistapaa suunnitteluun voitiin kokeilla konkreettisen tekemisen kautta. Hankkeen jälkeen kaavoittajien ymmärrys vihreästä infrastruktuurista ja sen suunnittelun tarpeista syveni. Hankkeen yrityspartnerit toivat omaa asiantuntijuutta yhteiskehittämiseen ja samalla saivat parempaa ymmärrystä omien vihreää infrastruktuuria edistävien tuotteiden ja palveluiden kehittämiseen. Virtuaalivehreä-hankkeessa onnistuttiin myös tuomaan alueellinen viherkerroin -työkalu saataville Suomen suunnittelukontekstiin. Alueellisen viherkertoimen pohjalta tuotettiin Kyläsaaren alueellinen viherkerroinlaskenta, joka tukee alueen ekosysteemipalveluiden huomioimista kaavoituksessa. Virtuaalivehreän lopuksi tuotettiin myös vihreän infrastruktuurin ratkaisuja kuvaavat ohjekortit sekä hankkeen loppujulkaisu, jossa esitellään hankkeen monialaisen yhteiskehittämisen oppeja sekä annetaan suositukset vihreän infrastruktuurin huomioimiseen suunnittelun ja toteutuksen eri vaiheissa. Tutkielman tulosten perusteella voidaan todeta, että kestävän kaupunkikehityksen takaamiseksi tulisi eri asiantuntijoiden ja muiden sidosryhmien yhteiselle tekemiselle ja oppimiselle keskittää enemmän huomioita ja resursseja. Tämä vaatii tiedon ja ymmärryksen viemistä myös poliittisille päättäjille ja strategisen suunnittelun tasolle. Tutkielman tuloksia tullaan myös hyödyntämään Virtuaalivehreä-hankkeen työtä jatkavassa B.Green-hankkeessa, jossa tullaan keskittymään erityisesti digitaalisiin työkaluihin sekä osallistavaan kaupunkisuunnitteluun.Green infrastructure supports biodiversity and vitality of ecosystem services in urban environments. A successful planning and implementation of green infrastructure require, however, cross-sectoral and multidisciplinary collaboration. Yet, the lack of this multidisciplinary collaboration has been identified to be one of the central factors challenging the planning and implementation of green infrastructure. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of design sprint concept in cross-sectoral joint development for green infrastructure used in a Virtual Verdure project. Further, this study assessed the process and the operations in the pursuit of the project’s objectives. The evaluation material was collected by using semi-structured expert interviews, participative observation, and feedback surveys. The evaluation framework used in the study aimed to provide knowledge on the use of design sprint concept in collaborative green infrastructure planning and for the development of similar project processes. This master’s thesis was executed as an assignment for Helsinki City owned innovation company Forum Virium Helsinki. The study was part of the Virtual Verdure project, coordinated by Forum Virium Helsinki. The project aimed to co-create an operating model, that would holistically consider cities’ ecosystem services in the planning process for green infrastructure development with public and private organizations. The Virtual Verdure project, financed by Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council, was carried out in 1.9.2019-31.5.2020. Partner companies for the project were WSP Finland Oy ja Innogreen. Further, the project collaborated tightly with Kalasatama area development project, environmental services and city planners of Kalasatama and Western Harbour of the City of Helsinki’s Urban Environment Division. The case areas for the Virtual Verdure project were Kyläsaari ja Hermanninranta, that are located in the northern part of Kalasatama development project area. The evaluation of the co-creation focused on three design sprint events organized during the project. From the perspective of process evaluation, the Virtual Verdure project proceeded logically and achieved most of the set objectives. The design sprint events proved to be a successful practice to bring together experts from different sectors to co-create solutions for the planning of green infrastructure and deepen knowledge on green infrastructure and the multiple benefits it provides in urban environments. The design sprint process facilitated discussion and creative problem-solving by utilizing design thinking, multidisciplinary collaboration and practical workshop methods. As results from the project, planners’ knowledge on green infrastructure and the requirements for its successful planning deepened. The partner companies of the Virtual Verdure project contributed to the project with their expertise, and further gained deeper knowledge on opportunities of their own products and services focused on developing green infrastructure. Four deliverables were produced during the Virtual Verdure project to support the planning and implementation of green infrastructure in Kalasatama and other areas: green area factor tool, that was translated into Finnish and is now available for all the planners, green factor analysis from the Kyläsaari area, info cards, that provide technical and ecological information about different green infrastructure solutions, and a final publication, that showcases the learnings of the joint development in the project and provides recommendations for considering green infrastructure in different phases of planning, execution, and maintenance in urban environment. The results of this study will be utilized in a next project, B.Green, that will continue the work of Virtual Verdure

Generational Relations, Technology and Digital Communication: a Comparison between Multicultural and Native Families

The paper presents some first results of an ongoing research on the transformational decision-making processes within the family dialogue in relation to the use of digital technologies by adults and adolescents for study and work. Are these processes perceived differently within multicultural families than within native families? Besides analysing these issues, the paper presents an interesting insight into the so-called “media diet” of adolescents, with a focus on the pandemic period. The research was carried out by administering a questionnaire to almost four hundred students at a high school in Reggio Emilia (Italy)

Fractal lacunarity of trabecular bone in vertebral MRI to predict osteoporotic fracture risk in over-fifties women. The LOTO study

Background. Osteoporotic fractures are a major cause of morbidity in the elderly. Menopausal women represent the population with the highest risk of early osteoporosis onset, often accompanied by vertebral fractures (VF). Bone mineral density (BMD) is commonly assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for osteoporosis diagnosis; however, BMD alone does not represent a significant predictor of fracture risk. Bone microarchitecture, instead, arises as a determinant of bone fragility independent of BMD. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an effective noninvasive/nonionizing tool for in vivo characterisation of trabecular bone microarchitecture (TBA). We have previously set up an MRI method able to characterise TBA changes in aging and osteoporosis by one parameter, trabecular bone lacunarity parameter beta (TBL beta). Fractal lacunarity was used for TBA texture analysis as it describes discontinuity of bone network and size of bone marrow spaces, changes of which increase the risk of bone fracture. This study aims to assess the potential of TBL beta method as a tool for osteoporotic fracture risk. Methods. An observational, cross-sectional, and prospective study on over-50s women at risk for VF was designed. TBL beta, our index of osteoporotic fracture risk, is the main outcome measure. It was calculated on lumbar vertebra axial images, acquired by 1.5T MRI spin-echo technique, from 279 osteopenic/osteoporotic women with/without prior VF. Diagnostic power of TBL beta method, by Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve and other diagnostic accuracy measurements were compared with lumbar spine DXA-BMD. Results. Baseline results show that TBL beta is able to discriminate patients with/without prevalent VF (p=0.003). AUC (area under the curve from ROC) is 0.63 for TBL beta, statistically higher (p=0.012) than BMD one (0.53). Contribution of TBL beta to prevalent VF is statistically higher (p<0.001) than BMD (sensitivity: 66% vs. 52% respectively; OR: 3.20, p<0.0001 for TBL beta vs. 1.31, p=0.297 for BMD). Preliminary 1-year prospective results suggest that TBA contribution to incident VF is even higher (sensitivity: 73% for TBL beta vs. 55% for BMD; RR: 3.00, p=0.002 for TBL beta vs. 1.31, p=0.380 for BMD). Conclusion. Results from this study further highlight the usefulness of TBL beta as a biomarker of TBA degeneration and an index of osteoporotic fracture risk

The Sso7d protein of Sulfolobus solfataricus

The physiological role of the nonspecific DNA-binding protein Sso7d from the crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus is unknown. In vitro studies have shown that Sso7d promotes annealing of complementary DNA strands (Guagliardi et al. 1997), induces negative supercoiling (Lopez-Garcia et al. 1998), and chaperones the disassembly and renaturation of protein aggregates in an ATP hydrolysis-dependent manner (Guagliardi et al. 2000). In this study, we examined the relationships among the binding of Sso7d to double-stranded DNA, its interaction with protein aggregates, and its ATPase activity. Experiments with 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonic acid as probe demonstrated that exposed hydrophobic surfaces in Sso7d are responsible for interactions with protein aggregates and double-stranded DNA, whereas the site of ATPase activity has a non-hydrophobic character. The interactions of Sso7d with double-stranded DNA and with protein aggregates are mutually exclusive events, suggesting that the disassembly activity and the DNA-related activities of Sso7d may be competitive in vivo. In contrast, the hydrolysis of ATP by Sso7d is independent of the binding of Sso7d to double-stranded DNA or protein aggregates

Use of Electrical Coductivity Sensors to monitor Health Status and Quality of Milk in Dairy Goats

Intramammary infection (IMI) can adversely affect, in dairy goats, milk quality and milk yield leading to high economical losses. Although somatic cell count (SCC) and microbiological tests could be valid approaches to detect IMI, other methods of IMI early detection may be useful to detect infected animals and to improve milk quality.The aim of this study was to test a new multivariate model developed with the fuzzy logic technology and based on the milk EC - acquired on-line for each gland by dedicated sensors - and on new qualitative and quantitative indexes derived from the spectrum of the recorded signals.Results obtained showed that the fuzzy logic model tested could achive better results than those already reached in dairy goat research. Nevertheless, further experiment and more field data could be useful to reach the best possible accuracy that this multivariate approach could show

Experiences of participating in intergenerational interventions in older people's care settings: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative literature

Aims: To synthesize the findings of qualitative research exploring the experiences of being involved in intergenerational interventions in older people's care settings. Design: A meta-synthesis of the qualitative literature, employing Sandelowski and Barroso's method, was conducted. Data Sources: Eight databases were searched in March 2017. Review Methods: The PRISMA statement was used for reporting the different phases of the literature search and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) qualitative research checklist was used as an appraisal framework. Data synthesis was conducted using Sandelowski and Barroso's method. Results: Four qualitative studies were included in the meta-synthesis. Thematic analysis revealed four themes: ‘Recreating the family’; ‘Building intergenerational empathy and respect’;‘Uplifting and energizing’; and ‘Engagement risks and challenges’. Conclusion: The meta-synthesis strengthens the evidence that intergenerational interventions can be positive. However, it also shows that there may also be some negative aspects if not planned or managed carefully. Impact: This review contributes to the body of evidence by synthesizing the experiences of older people and children involved in intergenerational interventions. Although qualitative literature supports the quantitative evidence that intergenerational interventions can have a positive effect, intergenerational interventions could also have negative effects on some participants. Older people may feel tired, or experience feelings of infantilization. Practitioners need to be more aware of the potential negative effects of intergenerational interventions and include risk assessment, possibly by requiring ethical scrutiny

Brown and Beige Adipose Tissue and Aging

Across aging, adipose tissue (AT) changes its quantity and distribution: AT becomes dysfunctional with an increase in production of inflammatory peptides, a decline of those with anti-inflammatory activity and infiltration of macrophages. Adipose organ dysfunction may lead to age-related metabolic alterations. Aging is characterized by an increase in adiposity and a decline in brown adipose tissue (BAT) depots and activity, and UCP1 expression. There are many possible links to age-associated involution of BAT, including the loss of mitochondrial function, impairment of the sympathetic nervous system, age-induced alteration of brown adipogenic stem/progenitor cell function and changes in endocrine signals. Aging is also associated with a reduction in beige adipocyte formation. Beige adipocytes are known to differentiate from a sub-population of progenitors resident in white adipose tissue (WAT); a defective ability of progenitor cells to proliferate and differentiate has been hypothesized with aging. The loss of beige adipocytes with age may be caused by changes in trophic factors in the adipose tissue microenvironment, which regulate progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation. This review focuses on possible mechanisms involved in the reduction of BAT and beige activity with aging, along with possible targets for age-related metabolic disease therapy

Preventable Cases of Oral Anticoagulant-Induced Bleeding: Data From the Spontaneous Reporting System

Background: Despite the risk of bleeding is a well-known adverse effect of oral anticoagulants, there is scarce evidence on the preventability of oral anticoagulant-induced bleedings. Therefore, we investigated the potential risk factors related to preventable cases of oral anticoagulant-induced bleedings. Methods: We performed a study using Individual Case Safety Reports (ICSRs) with an oral anticoagulant as suspected drug among those reported through the spontaneous reporting system of Campania Region from 1 July 2012 to 31 December 2017. The P-method was used for the preventability assessment of all cases of bleeding. Results: In total, 58 cases out of 253 (22.9%) were preventable, and the most reported suspected drug was an indirect oral anticoagulant (warfarin). Sixty-eight critical criteria for preventability were identified, all related to healthcare professionals' practices. The most detected risk factor related to healthcare professionals' practices was the labeled drug-drug interaction for both direct and indirect oral anticoagulants. Conclusion: Our findings describe the most reported risk factors for preventability of oral anticoagulant-induced bleedings. These factors may be useful for targeting interventions to improve pharmacovigilance activities in our regional territory and to reduce the burden of medication errors and inappropriate prescription

Title: A cross sectional multisite exploration of Italian paediatric nurses' reported burnout and its relationship to perceptions of clinical safety and adverse events using the RN4CAST@IT-Ped

AimTo explore Italian paediatric nurses’ reported burnout and its relationship to their perceptions of safety and adverse events.DesignA cross‐sectional study using the RN4CAST@IT‐Ped database with a web‐based survey design.MethodsThe RN4CAST@IT‐Ped questionnaire was used to collect data in 2017. This comprised three main components: three dimensions (22 items) of the Maslach Burnout Inventory including emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Participants also scored an overall grade of patient safety and estimated the occurrence of adverse clinical events.ResultsNurses (N = 2,243) reported high levels of burnout. Most rated clinical safety as high. The risk of adverse events ranged from 1.3–12.4%. The degree of burnout appeared to influence the perception of safety and adverse events.ConclusionThe association between nurses’ burnout and perceptions of higher rates of adverse events and reduced safety in clinical practice is an important finding. However, it is unclear whether this was influenced by a negative state of mind, and whether reduced safety and increased adverse events negatively influenced nurses’ well‐being, thus leading to burnout. Regardless, the association between nurses’ burnout and these quality concepts needs further exploration to examine the effect, if any, on burnout and safety, and identify supportive mechanisms for nurses.ImpactThe association between reported burnout and perception of safety and risk of adverse events in Italian paediatric nurses has been reported for the first time. Nurses reporting burnout are at greater risk of intensely negative perceptions of clinical safety and adverse events. This is an important finding as perceptions can influence practice and behaviours. Quality measures in children's clinical environments need to go beyond obvious indicators to examine nurses’ well‐being as this also influences quality and safety

Infrared singularities in the renormalization group flow of Yang-Mills theories in the axial gauge

It is shown, by explicit calculation in the axial gauge, that the renormalization group flow for the Wilson loop in perturbation theory does exhibit singularities and consequently it can not eventually reproduce the gauge invariant result, when the infrared cut off is removedComment: 12 pages, 3 figures, revised version to appear in Phys. Lett.