Consumption of healthy foods and associated socio-demographic factors among Russian, Somali and Kurdish immigrants in Finland

Aims: We evaluated the consumption of healthy foods among Russian, Somali and Kurdish immigrants in Finland, and examined the relationship between socio-demographic factors and food consumption. Methods: We used data from the Migrant Health and Wellbeing Study (Maamu), a population-based health interview and examination survey in six different municipalities in Finland between 2010 and 2012. Altogether, 635 men and 737 women, aged 18-64 years, of Russian (n = 527), Somali (n = 337) and Kurdish (n = 508) origin were included. The important socio-demographic determinants of healthy food consumption - sex, age, education, place of residence and household size - were assessed by logistic regression. Results: Based on the consumption frequencies of recommended healthy foods - fruits, berries, vegetables, fish and rye bread - immigrants of Russian origin had higher consumption of healthy foods than their peers of Kurdish and Somali origin. Low consumption of fresh vegetables, fruits and berries was found among Somali immigrants. Sex and age were the most important determinants of healthy food consumption, as women and older age groups had diets closer to the national nutrition recommendations. High educational level was also positively associated with healthy food consumption. Conclusions: We found ethnic differences in the consumption of healthy foods among the immigrant groups of Russian, Somali and Kurdish origin in Finland. Socio-demographic factors, especially age, sex and education, seem to also play an important role in immigrants' food consumption. Further studies examining the consumption of fruits, berries and fresh vegetables among Somali immigrants in Finland are needed.Peer reviewe

DevOps in practice : A multiple case study of five companies

Context: DevOps is considered important in the ability to frequently and reliably update a system in operational state. DevOps presumes cross-functional collaboration and automation between software development and operations. DevOps adoption and implementation in companies is non-trivial due to required changes in technical, organisational and cultural aspects. Objectives: This exploratory study presents detailed descriptions of how DevOps is implemented in practice. The context of our empirical investigation is web application and service development in small and medium sized companies. Method: A multiple-case study was conducted in five different development contexts with successful DevOps implementations since its benefits, such as quick releases and minimum deployment errors, were achieved. Data was mainly collected through interviews with 26 practitioners and observations made at the companies. Data was analysed by first coding each case individually using a set of predefined themes and thereafter perform a cross-case synthesis. Results: Our analysis yielded some of the following results: (I) software development team attaining ownership and responsibility to deploy software changes in production is crucial in DevOps. (ii) toolchain usage and support in deployment pipeline activities accelerates the delivery of software changes, bug fixes and handling of production incidents. (ii) the delivery speed to production is affected by context factors, such as manual approvals by the product owner (iii) steep learning curve for new skills is experienced by both software developers and operations staff, who also have to cope with working under pressure. Conclusion: Our findings contributes to the overall understanding of DevOps concept, practices and its perceived impacts, particularly in small and medium sized companies. We discuss two practical implications of the results.Peer reviewe

Uusiutuvaan energiaan perustuvan hybridilämmitysjärjestelmän toiminta omakotitalokohteessa

Maalämpöpumppujen käyttö omakotitalojen lämmityksessä ja lämpimän veden tuotossa on yleistynyt 2000 -luvun alusta lähtien pienentäen samalla perinteisempien lämmitysmuotojen osuutta. Nykyään useat maalämpöpumppuvalmistajat tarjoavat mahdollisuuden liittää maalämpöpumppuun myös avustavia lämmönlähteitä, jolloin järjestelmää voidaan kutsua hybridilämmitysjärjestelmäksi. Tässä työssä tutkittiin Jyväskylässä sijaitsevan omakotitalon puu- ja aurinkoavusteisen maalämpöpumppujärjestelmän toimintaa, taloudellisuutta sekä ympäristövaikutuksia CO2 - päästöjen osalta. Järjestelmä koostuu maalämpöpumpusta, aurinkokeräimistä, vesikiertoisesta kaminasta sekä kahdesta lämminvesivaraajasta. Tutkimuksessa arvioitiin eri lämmitysjärjestelmävaihtoehtojen hankinnasta ja käytöstä aiheutuvia kustannuksia 10 vuoden ajalle sekä laskettiin nykyisen maalämpöpumppujärjestelmän diskontattu takaisinmaksuaika. Lisäksi pohdittiin vesikiertoisen kaminan optimaalista käyttötapaa osana muuta lämmitysjärjestelmää sekä arvioitiin eri lämmitysjärjestelmävaihtoehtojen käytöstä aiheutuvia CO2 -päästöjä. Tehdyt kustannuslaskelmat osoittavat, että 10 vuoden ajanjaksolla kaukolämpö tulisi halvimmaksi lämmitysmuodoksi kyseisessä kohteessa maalämmön ja suoran sähkölämmityksen ollessa tasaväkisesti toiseksi edullisin vaihtoehto. Järjestelmän takaisinmaksuaika sijoittuu laskelmissa tehdyistä oletuksista riippuen 5,5–13,5 vuoden välille. Vesikiertoisen kaminan käytöllä saavutetaan paras hyöty silloin, kun siitä saatavalla lämpöenergialla korvataan muutoin maalämpöpumpun sähkövastuksilla tuotettua lämpöä. Kaminaa tulisi siis käyttää ainakin kovimpien pakkasten aikana. Eri lämmitysmuodoista vähiten CO2 -päästöjä tuottaa nykyinen hybridijärjestelmä alhaisen sähkönkulutuksen ansiosta. Päästöjä voidaan edelleen pienentää korvattaessa maalämpöpumpulta saatavaa lämpöenergiaa mahdollisimman paljon aurinkolämmöllä ja kaminasta saatavalla lämmöllä

Improvement in Vitamin D Status and Long-Term Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in the General Finnish Population—Evidence Based on Cohort and Register Datasets

Background and objectives: Large improvements in vitamin D status (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D; S-25(OH)D) have been recorded among the general Finnish population, mainly due to vitamin D fortification policies and supplement use. Vitamin D intake has increased since the beginning of the fortification scheme in 2003 and subsequently by its increment in 2010. Also, vitamin D supplement use has increased over the years. However, whether sufficient vitamin D status lowers the risk of diabetes is unclear. Hence, we investigated the association between the improved vitamin D status in the Finnish adult population and long-term incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods: This study evaluated data of Finnish adults aged ≥30 years (n = 3014) in a longitudinal setting (Health 2000/2011 cohort) who did not have T2D at baseline. The S-25(OH)D concentrations from both time points (years 2000 and 2011) were standardized according to the Vitamin D Standardization Program. The survey datasets were linked with incident T2D datasets from the national register for the time period 2000–2019. Associations between vitamin D status, change in S-25(OH)D concentrations and incidence of T2D over the 8-year follow-up period were assessed using logistic and Cox regression models (adjusted for age, sex and blood sampling season, etc.). Results: Over the 8-year follow-up period, 214 T2D incident cases were observed in subjects who participated in both Health 2000 and Health 2011. We observed a borderline significantly lower mean baseline S-25(OH)D concentration among T2D cases (45.4 [SD = 12.3] nmol/L) compared with participants not having T2D (48.1 [SD = 134.6] nmol/L) (p = 0.01). Having a sufficient vitamin D status (S-25(OH)D ≥50 nmol/L) at baseline was associated with lower odds of T2D (adjusted OR 0.94 [95% CI 0.89–0.98]). In participants whose S-25(OH)D concentrations increased over the years, the T2D incidence was lowered (adjusted HR 0.01 [95% CI 0.00–0.01] and 0.82 [95% CI 0.76–0.89] for ∆ ≥50 nmol/L). Discussion: Our preliminary findings indicate a protective effect of increased 25(OH)D (up to 50 nmol/L) against T2D among Finnish adults with an initially low vitamin D status. This study shows that well-designed longitudinal cohorts using standardized methods carry valuable potential to evaluate national nutrition status and to investigate the relationship between nutrition status and chronic diseases

Atmospheric oxidation and carbon contamination of silver and its effect on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is considered a highly promising technology for different analytical purposes. The applications of SERS are still quite limited due its relatively poor quantitative repeatability and the fact that SERS is very sensitive to oxidation, which is a challenge especially with silver based SERS substrates. Here, the link between these phenomena is investigated by exposing silver SERS substrates to ambient laboratory air. We show that SERS intensity decreases exponentially after the exposure, which consequently leads to an increasing standard deviation (σ) in intensity. Within a five-hour measurement window, the SERS intensity already drops by 60%, while σ triples from 7% to 21%. The SERS results are supplemented by elemental analysis, which shows that oxidation and atmospheric carbon contamination coincide with the rapid SERS intensity decrease. The results emphasize how sensitive SERS is towards atmospheric contamination and how it can also reduce the measurement repeatability – even if the substrates are exposed to air just for a very short period of time

DevOps in practice

Context: DevOps is considered important in the ability to frequently and reliably update a system in operational state. DevOps presumes cross-functional collaboration and automation between software development and operations. DevOps adoption and implementation in companies is non-trivial due to required changes in technical, organisational and cultural aspects. Objectives: This exploratory study presents detailed descriptions of how DevOps is implemented in practice. The context of our empirical investigation is web application and service development in small and medium sized companies. Method: A multiple-case study was conducted in five different development contexts with successful DevOps implementations since its benefits, such as quick releases and minimum deployment errors, were achieved. Data was mainly collected through interviews with 26 practitioners and observations made at the companies. Data was analysed by first coding each case individually using a set of predefined themes and thereafter perform a cross-case synthesis. Results: Our analysis yielded some of the following results: (i) software development team attaining ownership and responsibility to deploy software changes in production is crucial in DevOps. (ii) toolchain usage and support in deployment pipeline activities accelerates the delivery of software changes, bug fixes and handling of production incidents. (ii) the delivery speed to production is affected by context factors, such as manual approvals by the product owner (iii) steep learning curve for new skills is experienced by both software developers and operations staff, who also have to cope with working under pressure. Conclusion: Our findings contributes to the overall understanding of DevOps concept, practices and its perceived impacts, particularly in small and medium sized companies. We discuss two practical implications of the results.Peer reviewe

The contribution of travel-related urban zones, cycling and pedestrian networks and green space to commuting physical activity among adults - a cross-sectional population-based study using geographical information systems.

BACKGROUND The current political agenda aims to promote active environments and physical activity while commuting to work, but research on it has provided mixed results. This study examines whether the proximity of green space and people's residence in different travel-related urban zones contributes to commuting physical activity. METHODS Population-based cross-sectional health examination survey, Health 2011 study, and geographical information system (GIS) data were utilized. The GIS data on green space and travel-related urban zones were linked to the individuals of the Health 2011 study, based on their home geocoordinates. Commuting physical activity was self-reported. Logistic regression models were applied, and age, gender, education, leisure-time and occupational physical activity were adjusted. Analyses were limited to those of working age, living in the core-urban areas of Finland and having completed information on commuting physical activity (n = 2 098). RESULTS Home location in a pedestrian zone of a main centre (odds ratio = 1.63; 95 % confidence interval = 1.06-2.51) or a pedestrian zone of a sub-centre (2.03; 1.09-3.80) and higher proportion of cycling and pedestrian networks (3.28; 1.71-6.31) contributed to higher levels of commuting physical activity. The contribution remained after adjusting for all the environmental attributes and individuals. Based on interaction analyses, women living in a public transport zone were almost two times more likely to be physically active while commuting compared to men. A high proportion of recreational green space contributed negatively to the levels of commuting physical activity (0.73; 0.57-0.94) after adjusting for several background factors. Based on interaction analyses, individuals aged from 44 to 54 years and living in sub-centres, men living in pedestrian zones of sub-centres, and those individuals who are physically inactive during leisure-time were less likely to be physically active while commuting. CONCLUSIONS Good pedestrian and cycling infrastructure may play an important role in promoting commuting physical activity among the employed population, regardless of educational background, leisure-time and occupational physical activity. Close proximity to green space and a high proportion of green space near the home may not be sufficient to initiate commuting physical activity in Finland, where homes surrounded by green areas are often situated in car-oriented zones far from work places