Disputes over custody and residency at district courts of Finland 2004–2015

When couples with children split or divorce, they are often unable to come to a mutual agreement concerning their child's place of residency, custody, the child's meetings with the other parent and the frequency of these meetings, or financial aid one parent is obliged to pay the other parent for the child. In many countries, these disagreements quite often lead to long disputes in court. A lot of research has been made (both in Finland and internationally) concerning the court's consideration of disputes about children. This thesis studies the disputes on custody and residency of a child in the district courts of Finland. The objective is to find out which factors play the biggest role in solving these disputes in court. Nine district courts of Finland have kindly provided the documents of the disputes concerning custody and residency of children from the period of 2004 - 2015. Only the cases where a dispute was solely between the parents of a child (no other relatives) and where the final decision was made by court (no agreement between the parties) are taken into analysis. Disputes are divided into two types - the ones where residency of a child was involved in a dispute (residency disputes) and the ones where it was not involved (custody disputes). The winner of a dispute is a dependent variable. A logistic regression model is applied for the custody disputes, and a cumulative logistic regression model is applied for the residency disputes. Due to results of the analysis, mothers win more disputes than fathers, but the difference is statistically significant only for the residency disputes. When only father is of a foreign background, it lowers father's winning chances in a custody dispute, but neither father's nor mother's foreign backgrounds are statistically significant for the residency disputes. A substantiated violence of father towards mother again acts negatively for fathers in custody disputes, and so does a non-substantiated accusation regarding alcohol or drug abuse by father. For the residency disputes, the main factors decreasing fathers' probability to win are mother hiring a legal assistant and father receiving legal aid (which takes place when father is not financially capable of hiring a legal assistant). Established conditions of a child at one of the parents increase the winning chances of that parent, but the effect is higher for fathers. All the accusations (both substantiated and non-substantiated in court) act in favor of fathers; these are substantiated mother's mental disorder, non-substantiated alcohol or drug abuse by mother and non-substantiated accusation regarding father's violence towards mother. At the same time, no variables regarding genders of children disputed about, genders of a judge or of legal assistants are statistically significant in the models. The same concerns the parents' demands in court, as well as the ages of parents (and their difference) and of children involved in disputes. This investigation can be extended by adding the disputes from other years and from other district courts into the analysis

Sensory Island Task (SIT): A New Behavioral Paradigm to Study Sensory Perception and Neural Processing in Freely Moving Animals

A central function of sensory systems is the gathering of information about dynamic interactions with the environment during self-motion. To determine whether modulation of a sensory cue was externally caused or a result of self-motion is fundamental to perceptual invariance and requires the continuous update of sensory processing about recent movements. This process is highly context-dependent and crucial for perceptual performances such as decision-making and sensory object formation. Yet despite its fundamental ecological role, voluntary self-motion is rarely incorporated in perceptual or neurophysiological investigations of sensory processing in animals. Here, we present the Sensory Island Task (SIT), a new freely moving search paradigm to study sensory processing and perception. In SIT, animals explore an open-field arena to find a sensory target relying solely on changes in the presented stimulus, which is controlled by closed-loop position tracking in real-time. Within a few sessions, animals are trained via positive reinforcement to search for a particular area in the arena (“target island”), which triggers the presentation of the target stimulus. The location of the target island is randomized across trials, making the modulated stimulus feature the only informative cue for task completion. Animals report detection of the target stimulus by remaining within the island for a defined time (“sit-time”). Multiple “non-target” islands can be incorporated to test psychometric discrimination and identification performance. We exemplify the suitability of SIT for rodents (Mongolian gerbil, Meriones unguiculatus) and small primates (mouse lemur, Microcebus murinus) and for studying various sensory perceptual performances (auditory frequency discrimination, sound source localization, visual orientation discrimination). Furthermore, we show that pairing SIT with chronic electrophysiological recordings allows revealing neuronal signatures of sensory processing under ecologically relevant conditions during goal-oriented behavior. In conclusion, SIT represents a flexible and easily implementable behavioral paradigm for mammals that combines self-motion and natural exploratory behavior to study sensory sensitivity and decision-making and their underlying neuronal processing

Effects of upper mantle heterogeneities on the lithospheric stress field and dynamic topography

The orientation and tectonic regime of the observed crustal/lithospheric stress field contribute to our knowledge of different deformation processes occurring within the Earth's crust and lithosphere. In this study, we analyze the influence of the thermal and density structure of the upper mantle on the lithospheric stress field and topography. We use a 3-D lithosphere–asthenosphere numerical model with power-law rheology, coupled to a spectral mantle flow code at 300 km depth. Our results are validated against the World Stress Map 2016 (WSM2016) and the observation-based residual topography. We derive the upper mantle thermal structure from either a heat flow model combined with a seafloor age model (TM1) or a global S-wave velocity model (TM2). We show that lateral density heterogeneities in the upper 300 km have a limited influence on the modeled horizontal stress field as opposed to the resulting dynamic topography that appears more sensitive to such heterogeneities. The modeled stress field directions, using only the mantle heterogeneities below 300 km, are not perturbed much when the effects of lithosphere and crust above 300 km are added. In contrast, modeled stress magnitudes and dynamic topography are to a greater extent controlled by the upper mantle density structure. After correction for the chemical depletion of continents, the TM2 model leads to a much better fit with the observed residual topography giving a good correlation of 0.51 in continents, but this correction leads to no significant improvement of the fit between the WSM2016 and the resulting lithosphere stresses. In continental regions with abundant heat flow data, TM1 results in relatively small angular misfits. For example, in western Europe the misfit between the modeled and observation-based stress is 18.3°. Our findings emphasize that the relative contributions coming from shallow and deep mantle dynamic forces are quite different for the lithospheric stress field and dynamic topography

EVOLUTION OF THE MICROSTRUCTURE OF MINERAL SYSTEMS IN ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS OF WEAK INTENSITY

Study of phase and structural effects in solid mineral systems caused by the development of spin-selective chemical reactions initiated by the action of a weak magnetic field

EVOLUTION OF THE MICROSTRUCTURE OF MINERAL SYSTEMS IN ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS OF WEAK INTENSITY

Study of phase and structural effects in solid mineral systems caused by the development of spin-selective chemical reactions initiated by the action of a weak magnetic field

The Phanerozoic δ88/86Sr Record of Seawater: New Constraints on Past Changes in Oceanic Carbonate Fluxes

The isotopic composition of Phanerozoic marine sediments provides important information about changes in seawater chemistry. In particular, the radiogenic strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) system is a powerful tool for constraining plate tectonic processes and their influence on atmospheric CO2 concentrations. However, the 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratio of seawater is not sensitive to temporal changes in the marine strontium (Sr) output flux, which is primarily controlled by the burial of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) at the ocean floor. The Sr budget of the Phanerozoic ocean, including the associated changes in the amount of CaCO3 burial, is therefore only poorly constrained. Here, we present the first stable isotope record of Sr for Phanerozoic skeletal carbonates, and by inference for Phanerozoic seawater (δ88/86Srsw), which we find to be sensitive to imbalances in the Sr input and output fluxes. This δ88/86Srsw record varies from ∼0.25‰ to ∼0.60‰ (vs. SRM987) with a mean of ∼0.37‰. The fractionation factor between modern seawater and skeletal calcite Δ88/86Srcc-sw, based on the analysis of 13 modern brachiopods (mean δ88/86Sr of 0.176±0.016‰, 2 standard deviations (s.d.)), is -0.21‰ and was found to be independent of species, water temperature, and habitat location. Overall, the Phanerozoic δ88/86Srsw record is positively correlated with the Ca isotope record (δ44/40Casw), but not with the radiogenic Sr isotope record ((87Sr/86Sr)sw). A new numerical modeling approach, which considers both δ88/86Srsw and (87Sr/86Sr)sw, yields improved estimates for Phanerozoic fluxes and concentrations for seawater Sr. The oceanic net carbonate flux of Sr (F(Sr)carb) varied between an output of -4.7x1010mol/Myr and an input of +2.3x1010mol/Myr with a mean of -1.6x1010mol/Myr. On time scales in excess of 100Myrs the F(Sr)carb is proposed to have been controlled by the relative importance of calcium carbonate precipitates during the “aragonite” and “calcite” sea episodes. On time scales less than 20Myrs the F(Sr)carb seems to be controlled by variable combinations of carbonate burial rate, shelf carbonate weathering and recrystallization, ocean acidification, and ocean anoxia. In particular, the Permian/Triassic transition is marked by a prominent positive δ88/86Srsw-peak that reflects a significantly enhanced burial flux of Sr and carbonate, likely driven by bacterial sulfate reduction (BSR) and the related alkalinity production in deeper anoxic waters. We also argue that the residence time of Sr in the Phanerozoic ocean ranged from ∼1Myrs to ∼20Myrs

Markkinointi venäläisille turisteille – asiantuntijaportfolio

Suomessa on saatavilla hyvin tietoa ”Venäjä”-kaupasta, mutta kyseessä on valtaosaksi vientiprosesseihin keskittyvää tietämystä. Jos yritys haluaisi kiinnittää venäläisten turistien huomiota Suomessa – aiheesta ei ole saatavilla paljon kokemukseen perustuvaa tietoa ja taitoa. Etenkin aiheeseen liittyvien hyödyllisten verkkosisältöjen määrä on vähäinen. Tämän opinnäytetyön tavoitteena on suunnitella ja toteuttaa venäläisten turistien ostokäyttäytymisestä ja venäjänkielisistä verkkomarkkinointikanavista kertova blogimainen asiantuntijaportfolio verkkoon. Tehtäväksi tulee perehtyä henkilöbrändäykseen, asiantuntijablogin kirjoittamiseen ja Kyvyt.fi-alustan toimintaan. Tämä on produktityppinen opinnäytetyö. Tietoa produktin toteuttamiseen on kerätty henkilöbrändiä, HTML-koodausta, hakukonenäkyvyyttä ja verkkomarkkinointia käsittelevistä lähteistä. Portfolio koostuu kuudesta osiosta: laskeutumissivusta – johon on koottu kokonaisuuden esittely, sekä viidestä artikkelista ja niihin liittyvistä materiaaleista. Portfolion alustana on käytetty Kyvyt.fi-alustaa ja samalla testattu sen toimivuutta. Produktin tekeminen alkoi maaliskuussa 2018 ja se valmistui suunnitellun aikataulun mukaisesti syyskuussa 2018. Portfoliota on tarkoitus käyttää dynaamisesti ja tulevaisuudessa päivittää uudella sisällöllä. Kyvyt.fi-alusta ei osoittautunut parhaaksi mahdolliseksi alustaksi blogimaiselle portfoliolle. Asiantuntijaportfolion sisältö voi helposti siirtää tulevaisuudessa toiselle verkkoalustalle. Työ voi mahdollisesti toimia myös esimerkkinä henkilöille, jotka vastaavasti haluaisivat perustaa blogimuotoisen portfolion verkkoon

The role of macroeconomic variables in the formation of housing prices in the largest Finnish municipalities

The average prices on housing in Finland has been rising almost constantly since 2000, with an only decrease occurring during the global financial crisis of 2008. The larger cities of Finland (the so-called growing centers of the country) have seen a more rapid increase in the prices, which can be partly explained by an accelerated migration flow towards these cities. This process is expected to continue, creating a wider gap between these cities and other parts of the country, in terms of population and housing prices. At the same time, the fall in housing prices in 2008 – 2009 demonstrates that, besides population, there seem to be other factors associated with the prices. This thesis has two objectives – to analyze which macroeconomic variables can best explain the dynamics of housing prices in the largest cities of Finland and whether any differences can be found in the formation of housing prices in these cities. Nine cities with the population exceeding 100 000 people are included in the analysis: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Jyväskylä, Lahti, Kuopio, Oulu, Tampere and Turku. The scope of analysis was limited to the apartments in block of flats with one, two or three rooms. In contrast to other related publications, which used Statistics Finland as the main data source, the data on prices for this analysis was taken from the KVKL-portal, with the prices on each sold apartment. These prices were aggregated to calculate the average quarterly prices. The factors taken as potential explanatory variables in the models for apartment prices were construction costs, construction levels, average indebtedness of a household, GDP per capita, inflation (as consumer price index), interest rates, average disposable income of a household, unemployment, population and the intention of a household to buy an apartment in the next 12 months. The data on each variable was used on a quarterly level. Only the first order differences of all variables (including apartment prices) were included in the model, due to the non-stationarity of the time series for the original variables. The adaptive elastic net regression was employed to model the dynamics of the apartment prices, followed by a desparsified Lasso for the statistical inference. According to the results of the analysis, inflation levels and intention to buy an apartment in the next 12 months were the only statistically significant variables, when modelling the overall apartment prices. GDP, construction costs and interest rates were later included in this list, when the analysis was performed for 1-, 2- and 3-room apartments separately. The model for 3-room apartments was the only one containing the average disposable income of households, suggesting that the incomes mostly affect the demand for 3-room apartments. The separate models for each city indicated a clear difference of the capital region (Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa) with the other cities involved. Construction costs, construction levels, interest rates and the average disposable income of households were only present as statistically significant variables in the models for the cities inside the capital region. Intention to buy an apartment in the next 12 months was only included in the models for the cities outside the capital region. The results of this analysis are in line with some of the earlier research conducted both in Finland and internationally. At the same time, population, unemployment and average indebtedness of household were not included in any of the models, thus contradicting some of the earlier publications conducted elsewhere than in Finland. This could still be explained by the certain country-specific factors. The main drawback of the analysis is the non-availability of macroeconomic data on a city-level, leading to the models with only population and apartment prices calculated separately for each city. The analysis can also be improved by extending the list of potential explanatory variables and by splitting the data into shorter time periods to observe whether different factors affect apartment prices in different periods

Essays on consumer search

Diese Dissertation besteht aus drei Teilen, welche zur Suchtheorie beitragen, indem sie Annahmen uber die Verfugbarkeit und Verteilung von Informationen lockern und Anreize von Firmen erforschen, private Informationen freiwillig zu Verfugung zu stellen. Der erste Artikel befasst sich mit den Anreizen von Firmen in Suchmarkten, Information mit anderen Marktteilnehmern zu teilen. Viele Benchmarks in sogenannten "over-the-counter" Markten, wie beispielsweise der LIBOR, basieren auf der freiwilligen Zuerfugungstellung von privaten Informationen. Solche Benchmarks sind von Bedeutung um Konsumenten die Suche zu erleichtern und Firmen als Grundlage zur Preissezuung zu dienen. Dieser Artikel untersucht die Anreize von Firmen private Information uber Produktionskosten zum Bilden einer Benchmark zu Verfugung zu stellen. Weiters zeigen wir, dass Benchmarkformation zum Beeinflussen des Suchverhaltens optimal fur Firmen ist, wenn Informationskosten ausreichend hoch sind. Aufgrund der verringerten Suche sinkt in solchen Markten die Wohlfahrt drastisch. Der zweite Artikel analysiert ein oligopolistisches Wettbewerbsmodell, in dem Konsumenten nach Preisen suchen ohne a-priori Annahmen uber die Verteilung der Preise zu haben. Sie versuchen daher robustes Suchverhalten anzuwenden, wobei das Verlustrisiko gegenuber einem Suchenden, welcher die Preisverteilung kennt, reduziert wird. Aus unserer Analyse geht hervor, dass optimales Suchverhalten ein stochastisches Abbruchkriterium aufweist. Fur eine gegebene Verteilung von Informationskosten existiert ein eindeutiges Marktgleichgewicht, welches durch Preisdispersion charakterisiert ist. Obwohl Preise gegen den Monopolpreis konvergieren wenn die Anzahl der Firmen steigt, bleibt der Preis, den Konsumenten zu zahlen erwarten, davon unberuhrt. Der dritte Artikel befasst sich mit dem Problem der sequentiellen Suche, in dem ein Konsument - abhangig von seinen ursprunglichen Annahmen - Schlusse uber die unbekannte Verteilung von Alternativen zieht. Bayesianische Suchalgorithmen eignen sich nur unter bestimmten Umstanden und sind oft schwierig zu charakterisieren. Wir schlagen einen robusten Suchalgorithmus vor, der neue, durch Suche erworbene Informationen berucksichtigt und gegenuber Bayesianischen Algorithen unter beliebige Verteilungsannahmen vergleichsweise gute Ergebnisse liefert. Wenn Nutzwerte binar Verteilt sind, zeigen wir, dass anfangliche Informationen und Lernen die Menge an moglichen Umgebungen beschranken und einen adaptiven Suchalgorithmus ermoglichen, der bessere Ergebnisse liefert.This dissertation consists of three papers which are aimed at extending consumer search theory by relaxing some of the informational assumptions and by inquiring into the incentives of firms to share information. The first paper analyses firm's incentives to share information in search markets. Many benchmarks in over-the-counter markets, such as LIBOR, are formed based on the submission of banks' interbank interest rates. Benchmarks are important, as they help consumers to search and provide firms with a basis for price setting. This paper explores firms' incentives to contribute information about their costs for the purpose of benchmark formation. We find that in order to deter consumer search, firms find it optimal to share their private costs if the search friction is sufficiently high. Moreover, the reduction of search in these markets can dramatically decrease social welfare. The second analyses a model of oligopolistic competition in which consumers search without priors. Consumers do not have prior beliefs about the distribution of prices charged by firms and thus try to use a robust search procedure: they minimise the loss relative to the searcher, who knows the price distribution, in the worst case scenario. We show that the optimal stopping rule is stochastic and that for any distribution of search costs there is a unique market equilibrium which is characterised by price dispersion. Although listed prices approach the monopoly price as the number of firms increases, the effective price paid by consumers does not depend on the number of firms. The third paper considers a problem of sequential search, in which a searcher relies on her initial information to make inferences about the unknown distribution of alternatives. Bayesian search rules are good only for specific environments and are often difficult to characterize. In this paper, we propose a robust search rule that adapts to the information acquired while searching and performs well with respect to Bayesian optimal strategies for any priors. In a setting with binary-valued payoffs, we show that initial information and learning restrict the set of possible environments which gives rise to the adaptive rule with improved performance