Seasonality in stock returns: Seasonal Affective Disorder on Nordic Indices

The general theory of market efficiency assumes that the markets are efficient and deviations, in other words anomalies, do not exist. The theory of behavioural finance takes different approach because inefficiencies and deviations are appearing in the real world. This thesis concentrates on a seasonal anomaly called the Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). When the daylight is decreasing, SAD effect causes seasonal depression for people in different locations and the impact seems to be more powerful when moving away from equator to up north. The main aims are to solve significance of controversial weather variables and examine the inefficiencies and the implication in some Nordic stock markets, which can be caused by the SAD during the years 2000-2016. In this thesis, the efficient market section goes through the principles of asset pricing, dynamics of the efficient market theory and limits of arbitrage. The behavioural finance section explains by means of psychological biases, why investors could act irrationally. The topic introduces fundamental and calendar anomalies, including the SAD phenomenon. The empirical part run regression for Finnish indices with and without weather variables. The aim is to solve necessity of weather variables due to contradictory conclusions of recent research work about the SAD with weather variables. The regressions are run without weather variables also for all Nordic indices because the second aim is to find out the seasonal impact of the SAD to stock returns. Daily log returns are used in the regression analysis with seasonal dummies and SAD variables, which tells the length of the night in specific latitude. A Significant seasonal pattern of average stock returns and a weak SAD phenomenon are appearing among all indices during 2000-2016. However, the weather variables seem to be unnecessary for empirical analysis. The SAD is asymmetrical for several indices but in opposite direction than a known theory assumes.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Vanhemmuuden tukeminen varhaiskasvatuksessa : vanhempien kokemuksia kuunnellen

Tässä opinnäytetyössä on tutkittu viiden varhaiskasvatuspalveluita käyttäneen vanhemman kokemuksia vanhemmuuden tukemisesta. Tutkimuskysymys oli ”Millaisia kokemuksia vanhemmilla on vanhemmuuteensa saamasta tuesta varhaiskasvatuksen kontekstissa?” Tarkoitus on ollut tutkia varhaiskasvatuslain määrittelemää velvoitetta tukea vanhempia lapsen kasvatustehtävässä vanhempien omia kokemuksia kuunnellen. Ensisijaisesti tavoitteena on ollut syventää ymmärrystä vanhemmuuden tukemisesta tiedostaen, että vanhemman tai huoltajan voimavaroja lisäämällä edistetään lapsen hyvinvointia. Opinnäytetyö on toteutettu kvalitatiivisena tutkimuksena, jonka metodologinen lähestymistapa on sisältänyt fenomenologis-hermeneuttisia piirteitä. Tutkimusaineisto on kerätty videoidun teemahaastattelun avulla ja sen analyysi on toteutettu sisällönanalyysin rakennetta mukaillen. Tutkimus toteutettiin Ruskon kunnan Hiidenvainion päivähoitoyksikössä syksyn 2016 aikana. Tutkimusjoukko koostui viidestä vapaaehtoisesta vanhemmasta, joiden lapset osallistuivat kyseisen päiväkodin varhaiskasvatukseen. Tutkimustulokset myötäilevät hyvin Varhaiskasvatussuunnitelman perusteissa kirjattuja tapoja ylläpitää ja vahvistaa vanhempien ja huoltajien kanssa tehtävää yhteistyötä lapsen kasvun, kehityksen ja oppimisen edistämiseksi. Vuorovaikutuksellinen tukeminen nousi haastateltujen kokemuksista merkityksellisemmäksi tavaksi kannatella vanhemmuutta. Luottamuksellisuus kasvatuskumppanuudessa sekä yhteisöllisyyden kokemukset olivat toimineet myös vanhemmuutta vahvistavina elementteinä. Tämän kohdennetun ja rajatun tutkimuksen perusteella ei voida yleistää tutkimustuloksia koskemaan valtaosaa varhaiskasvatuspalveluita käytäviä vanhempia, mutta niiden avulla voidaan ymmärtää, sisäistää ja vahvistaa lastentarhanopettajana työskentelevän sosionomin tavoitteellisen yhteistyön merkitystä lasten vanhempien tai huoltajien kanssa. Vanhempien kokemukset ovat todellisia ja aitoja, joten niiden merkitykset kasvatusyhteistyöhön ovat vaikuttavia. Tutkimustulosten avulla on myös mahdollista kehittää varhaiskasvatuksen laatua Ruskon kunnassa vanhempien kanssa tehtävän kasvatusyhteistyön osalta.This thesis studies the experiences of five parents who have used early childhood education services, focusing on their experiences in parenthood support. The research question was “What kind of experiences do the parents have in getting support for their parenthood in the context of early childhood education?”. The aim was to study the obligation defined in early childhood education legislation that parents be supported in raising the child, through the parents’ own experiences. The primary goal was to deepen the understanding of parenthood support recognizing that by increasing the assets of the parent or caregiver, the child’s wellbeing is enhanced. The thesis has been carried out as a qualitative research and the methodological approach has included hermeneutic phenomenological features. The research material has been gathered via a recorded theme interview and its analysis was carried out according to the structure of content analysis. The research was carried out in the municipality of Rusko, in Hiidenvainio daycare unit, during autumn 2016. The researched group was formed by five voluntary parents whose children took part in the early childhood education in the daycare in question. The research findings conform well to the ways stated in the Basics of Early Childhood Education Planning, about maintaining and enforcing the co-operation with the parents and caregivers to enhance the child’s growth, development and learning. Interactive support turned out to be the most meaningful way to support parenthood according to the experiences of the interviewees. Also confidentiality in the education partnership and the experiences of communality had been elements that had strengthened the parenthood. Based on this rather small research, the findings cannot be generalized to apply to the majority of parents using early childhood education services, but they can help to understand and assimilate the meaning of goal-directed co-operation between the children’s parents and caregivers and a bachelor of social services who works as a kindergarten teacher. The experiences of the parents are real and genuine so their significance in education co-operation is meaningful. Also, based on the research findings it is possible to develop the quality of early childhood education in the municipality of Rusko, for the part of education co-operation with the parents

Transdisciplinary research in natural resources management : Towards an integrative and transformative use of co-concepts

Transdisciplinary research often utilizes collaborative ways of knowledge production to enable deliberate transformations towards sustainability. Multiple concepts with varying definitions are applied, leading to confusion in the aims and uses of these concepts. In this article, we review five concepts relevant to the current debate on the new collaborative ways of knowledge production in transdisciplinary research. We focus on the concepts of co-creation, co-production, co-design, co-learning, and adaptive co-management in the context of natural resources management (NRM). This study couples a literature review and a conceptual analysis, and aims to clarify definitions, use, the interlinkages of these concepts and to shed light on their intertwined nature. We propose an integrative understanding of the concepts to facilitate collaborative modes and to enable the transformative aims of research processes. To this end, we discuss how to harvest the transformative potential of the "co-concepts" by focusing on reflexivity, power analysis and process orientation.Peer reviewe

Natural Course of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Type 2 Diabetes in Patients With Human Immunodeficiency Virus With and Without Combination Antiretroviral Therapy-associated Lipodystrophy : A 16-Year Follow-up Study

Background: Abnormal glucose metabolism and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are common in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV+ patients), but longitudinal data are lacking. We determined the natural course of NAFLD (liver fat [LFAT]) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in HIV+ patients with and without lipodystrophy (LD+ and LD-, respectively) during a 16-year longitudinal study. Methods: LFAT (by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy) and clinical characteristics were measured in 41 HIV+ patients at baseline and after 16 years. Liver fibrosis was estimated by measuring liver stiffness using transient elastography (TE) and magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) at 16 years. We also longitudinally studied 28 healthy subjects. Results: During follow-up, the HIV+ patients gained more body fat (8.6% 0.7%) than the control patients (4.5% 0.6%, P <.001). Features of insulin resistance increased significantly in the HIV+ patients but not the control patients. A significant proportion (20%, P <.01 vs 0% at baseline) of the HIV+ but none of the control patients developed T2DM. LFAT was significantly higher at baseline in the LD+ (4.3 [1.9-11.8]) than the LD- (1.0 [0.5-1.5]; P <.001) HIV+ patients. LFAT remained stable during follow-up in all groups. At follow-up, liver stiffness measured with TE was similar among all HIV, LD+, LD-, and control patients and between the LD+ and LD- patients measured with MRE. Advanced fibrosis by MRE was observed in 3 of LD+ and none of LD- patients. Conclusions: During 16 years of follow-up, progression of NAFLD is rare compared to development of T2DM in HIV+ patients.Peer reviewe

Identifying childhood movement profiles and comparing differences in mathematical skills between clusters : A latent profile analysis

The aims of this study were; 1) to identify different movement profiles in sixth graders, and 2) to investigate if there are differences in their mathematical basic (BasicMath) and problem solving (ProbSol) skills between existing movement profiles. The sample included 461 (223 girls, 238 boys) students with a mean age of 11.27 +/- .32 years from southern and middle Finland. A latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed four movement profiles: "poor movers", "average movers", "skilled movers" and "expert movers". These profiles differed substantially in their motor competence (MC) and health-related fitness (HRF). A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) also revealed that "poor movers" and "average movers" obtained lower results in BasicMath comparing with "skilled movers". The results of this study suggest that cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, MC and BasicMath are interrelated.Peer reviewe

Phosphorylated IGFBP-1 as a non-invasive predictor of liver fat in NAFLD

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 (IGFBP-1) is a potentially interesting marker for liver fat in NAFLD as it is exclusively produced by the liver, and insulin is its main regulator. We determined whether measurement of fasting serum phosphorylated IGFBP-1 (fS-pIGFBP-1) helps to predict liver fat compared to routinely available clinical parameters and PNPLA3 genotype at rs738409. Liver fat content (proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy) was measured in 378 subjects (62% women, age 43 [30-54] years, BMI 32.7 [28.1-39.7] kg/m(2), 46% with NAFLD). Subjects were randomized to discovery and validation groups, which were matched for clinical and biochemical parameters and PNPLA3 genotype. Multiple linear regression and Random Forest modeling were used to identify predictors of liver fat. The final model, % Liver Fat Equation', included age, fS-pIGFBP-1, S-ALT, waist-to-hip ratio, fP-Glucose and fS-Insulin (adjusted R-2 = 0.44 in the discovery group, 0.49 in the validation group, 0.47 in all subjects). The model was significantly better than a model without fS-pIGFBP-1 or S-ALT or S-AST alone. Random Forest modeling identified fS-p-IGFBP-1 as one of the top five predictors of liver fat (adjusted R-2 = 0.39). Therefore, measurement of fS-pIGFBP-1 may help in non-invasive prediction of liver fat content.Peer reviewe

Do allopatric male Calopteryx virgo damselflies learn species recognition?

Peer reviewe