Early Sámi visual artists - Western fine art meets Sámi culture

Johan Turi (1854–1936), Nils Nilsson Skum (1872–1951) and John Savio (1902–1938) were among the first Sámi visual artists. The production of their art work occurred between the 1910s and the early 1950s. Sámi aesthetics had its basis in folklore, i.e., handicraft or duodji, which did not follow the principle of art for art’s sake but combined beauty and practicality. Art was part of community life. Not until the 1970s was the word daidda, which is Finnish in origin and which means “art”, adopted into the Sámi language. Turi and Skum became famous through their books. They drew and wrote in order to pass the traditional knowledge of their people on to succeeding generations. They also wanted to introduce Sámi life and culture to non-Sámi people. One typical feature of their work is that they depicted Sáminess in a realistic way and sought to strengthen and preserve the Sámi identity through their art. In Turi and Skum’s work, both the documentation of community life and their own personal expression were strongly present and equally important; for this reason their pictures and texts have both practical and aesthetic dimensions. They did not attend school and were self-taught artists. The third pioneer of Sámi visual arts was John Savio, who, unlike the other two, attended secondary school and studied visual arts both independently and under the guidance of a mentor. He expressively combined Western ways of depiction with Sámi subjects. My article examines what made these early Sámi artists change over from Sámi handicraft, duodji, to Western visual arts, how they used Western pictorial conventions in dealing with their Sámi subjects, and the significance of their art for Sámi identity and culture. They lived and worked under cross pressure: the first few decades of the 20th century were characterized by racial theories that denigrated Sámi people, and the period following World War II was marked by demands for modernization and assimilation. Therefore, I also discuss how the conflicts of the time influenced the art of these three early Sámi artists

Evaluation of an ‘open box’ undergraduate laboratory experiment for understanding how a UV-Vis spectrometer works

In this study, a novel ‘open box’ spectrometer experiment that was introduced in a first-year undergraduate chemistry laboratory course in Durham University in 2018 was evaluated with the aim to determine its success and further improvement of the experiment. The learning objectives of the experiment and their alignment with it was examined. Furthermore, the impact of the open box nature of the experiment on students in understanding how a UV-Vis spectrometer works and how the assessment determines the level of students’ understanding was analysed. The focus group method was used as a research method. The focus groups involved developers and demonstrators of the experiment and four undergraduate students. Transcripts of the focus groups were analysed thematically to identify emerging themes. Findings from the focus groups suggested that the novel approach of the experiment was considered positive, but improvements are needed to make the experiment more efficient. The learning objectives were not completely achieved because they were not communicated properly to students. There was also too much content in the experiment. The open box nature was found to aid students’ understanding by enabling them to visualise the inside of a spectrometer, but the assessment should determine the level of students’ understanding more precisely

Kun joulu on – Ko juovlah láá : Saamenkieliset kauneimmat joululaulut Turun tuomiokirkossa dekolonisaation välineenä

Tämän tutkielman aiheena on Turun alueen historian toinen Saamenkieliset kauneimmat joululaulut -tilaisuus, joka järjestettiin Turun tuomiokirkossa 2. joulukuuta 2020. Tilaisuuden järjestivät Turun arkkihiippakunta ja Suomen evankelisluterilainen kirkko yhteistyössä Turun alueen saamelaisten kanssa. Tutkielma on laadullinen etnografinen tutkimus ja pyrkii etnografisen havainnoinnin ja tutkimushaastatteluiden keinoin selvittämään uusintaako vai purkaako tilaisuus saamelaisiin historiallisesti kohdistunutta kolonialismia. Tilaisuus niin havainnoituna kuin tutkimushaastatteluiden perusteella osoittautui sisältämään laajalti dekoloniaalisia elementtejä. Eri kielten sisällyttäminen tilaisuuteen ja niiden käyttäminen joululauluissa elvyttää kieltä sekä historiallista saamelaisten virsilauluperinnettä ja näin ollen edistää dekolonisaatiota. Tilaisuus tarjoaa valtaväestölle erilaisen kuvan saamelaisuudesta, joka ei perustu uhridiskurssiin tai historiallisesti epärealistiseen representaatioon. Saamelaisia, joita pyydettiin osaksi järjestämään tapahtumaa, kohdeltiin tilaisuudessa kulttuurisesti sensitiivisellä tavalla ja heille annettiin erityistä toimijuutta tilaisuuden ajan. Saamelaiset itse kokivat osallistumisen tilaisuuden järjestämiseen mielekkääksi ja asianmukaiseksi ottaen huomioon saamelaisten ja kirkon välisen historian. Tutkielma osoittaa miten Saamelaiset kauneimmat joululaulut -tilaisuuden kaltaiset dekolonisaatiota edistävät ilmiöt ovat merkittäviä saamelaisille eritoten kaupunkikulttuurin kontekstissa nyt ja tulevaisuudessa, kun saamelaiset entistä enemmän muuttavat saamelaisten kotiseutualueelta kohti Etelä-Suomen kasvukeskuksia. Vaikka erilaisten instituutioiden aktiivinen rooli keventää saamelaisten omaa taakkaa esimerkiksi etnostressiin liittyen, on myös instituutioiden vastuulla tukea saamelaisten dekolonisaatiopyrkimyksiä asiaankuuluvalla tavalla

IFRS-standardien käyttöönoton vaikutus pörssiyhtiöiden tuloksen laatuun Suomessa voittojen vastekertoimella mitattuna

Yrityksen tuottama laskentainformaatio on tärkeässä roolissa sijoittajien päätöksenteossa. Pääomamarkkinoiden kansainvälistymisen edellytyksenä on laskentainformaation vertailukelpoisuus, ja tämä onkin ollut yksi Euroopan unionin direktiivien mukaisten IFRS-standardien käyttöönoton päätavoitteista. IFRSstandardien noudattaminen on tullut pakolliseksi pörssiyhtiöiden laskentaraportoinnissa 1.1.2005 tai sen jälkeen alkavista tilikausista lähtien. Eräs tapa mitata laskentainformaation laatua on osakemarkkinoilla tapahtuva arvopaperin hinnanmuodostus, jota voidaan tutkia muun muassa voittojen vastekertoimen avulla. Voittojen vastekerroin mittaa arvopaperin hinnan ja tuloksen välistä suhdetta, ja kirjallisuus tuntee useita malleja voittojen vastekertoimen määrittelemiseksi. Tässä tutkielmassa on käytetty kolmea erilaista mallia. Aineistona tutkielmassa käytetään 92 suomalaisen pörssiyhtiön tietoja vuosilta 2001–2010. Yritysten voittojen vastekertoimia on estimoitu periodeilla ennen ja jälkeen IFRS-standardien käyttöönoton. Regressioanalyysit on tehty sekä transformoimattomalla että rank-transformoidulla aineistolla. Tulosten mukaan IFRS-standardien käyttöönotto ei parantanut yksiselitteisesti tuloksen laatua ainakaan voittojen vastekertoimella mitattuna. Käytetyt laskentastandardit eivät ole ainoa tuloksen laatuun vaikuttava tekijä, ja tämä voi olla yksi selitys sille, ettei tuloksen laadun paranemista tässä tutkielmassa havaittu. Muita tuloksen laadun kannalta merkityksellisiä tekijöitä ovat muun muassa johdon kannustimet, oikeusjärjestelmän vaikutukset, omistajaohjausjärjestelmä, verotus ja inflaatio. Myös standardien tulkinnat vaihtelevat maittain. Vaikka laskentastandardit ovatkin yhtenäiset, liittyy niihin kuitenkin valinnaisuuksia, jotka vaikuttavat osaltaan tuloksen laatuun

Johdanto

The Faculty of Arts and design at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi Finland, and the RegionalMuseum of Lapland decided together to organize an international conference Souvenirsin Motion: Cultural and Historical Perspectives on the Souvenir as a Research with the support ofthe Finnish Cultural Foundation. The reason for organizing the conference was the observationthat there is very few research on souvenirs in Finland. There are many souvenirs related toLapland tourism in the collection of the museums, especially in the Regional Museum of Lapland.The conference was originally supposed to be in Rovaniemi in April 2020, but due to thecovid-19 pandemic, it was postponed for one year. In the end, the conference was held onlinefrom 22 April to 23 April 2021. The conference was well received and there were about 120 participants.The conference included five keynote presentations and nine inspiring and versatileparallel sessions (c.f. Karikko in this issue). Souvenirs proved to be diverse and contain manymeanings. The articles of this publication are associated with the conference.The Faculty of Arts and Design at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi Finland, and the Regional Museum of Lapland organized an international conference Souvenirs in Motion: Cultural and Historical Perspectives on the Souvenir as a Research Object with the support of the Finnish Cultural Foundation. The reason for organizing the conference was the observation that there is very few research on souvenirs in Finland. There are many souvenirs related to Lapland tourism in the collection of the museums, especially in the Regional Museum of Lapland. The conference was originally supposed to be in Rovaniemi in April 2020, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was postponed for one year. In the end, the  conference was held online from 22 April to 23 April 2021. The conference was well received and there were about 120 participants. The conference included five keynote presentations and nine inspiring and versatile parallel sessions (c.f. Karikko in this issue). Souvenirs proved to be diverse and contain many meanings. The articles of this publication are associated with the conference

Early administration of tocilizumab in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with elevated inflammatory markers; COVIDSTORM—a prospective, randomized, single-centre, open-label study

ObjectivesSevere COVID-19 is associated with an imbalanced immune response. We hypothesized that patients with enhanced inflammation, as demonstrated by increased levels of certain inflammatory biomarkers, would benefit from interleukin-6 blockage.MethodsPatients hospitalized with COVID-19, hypoxemia, and at least two of four markedly elevated markers of inflammation (interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, ferritin, and/or D-dimer) were randomized for tocilizumab (TCZ) plus standard of care (SoC) or SoC alone. The primary endpoint was clinical status at day 28 assessed using a seven-category ordinal scale, and the secondary endpoints included intensive care unit admission, respiratory support, and duration of hospital admission.ResultsClinical status at day 28 was significantly better in patients who received TCZ in addition to SoC compared with those who received SoC alone (p = 0.037). By then, 93% of patients who received TCZ (n = 53 of 57) and 86% of control patients (n = 25 of 29) had been discharged from the hospital. In addition, 47% of TCZ patients (n = 27 of 57) and 24% of control patients (n = 7 of 29) had resumed normal daily activities. The median length of hospitalization was 9 days (interquartile range, 7–12) in the TCZ group and 12 days (interquartile range, 9–15) in the control group (p = 0.014).DiscussionIn patients hospitalized with COVID-19, hypoxemia, and elevated inflammation markers, administration of TCZ in addition to SoC was associated with significantly better clinical recovery by day 28 and a shorter hospitalization compared with SoC alone.</p

Changing epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a low endemicity area- new challenges for MRSA control

The incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has increased sharply in Hospital District of Southwest Finland (HD). To understand reasons behind this, a retrospective, population-based study covering 10 years was conducted. All new 983 MRSA cases in HD from January 2007 to December 2016 were analysed. Several data sources were used to gather background information on the cases. MRSA cases were classified as healthcare-associated (HA-MRSA), community-associated (CA-MRSA), and livestock contact was determined (livestock-associated MRSA, LA-MRSA). Spa typing was performed to all available strains. The incidence of MRSA doubled from 12.4 to 24.9 cases/100000 persons/year. The proportion of clinical infections increased from 25 to 32% in the 5-year periods, respectively, (p </p