European Nature and Health Network Initiatives

Attention to the importance of nature and human health linkages has increased in the past years, both in science and in policy. While knowledge about and recognition of the importance of nature and human health linkages are increasing rapidly, challenges still remain. Among them are building bridges between relevant but often still somewhat disconnected sectors and topics. There is a need to bring together researchers in the fields of health sciences, ecology, social sciences, sustainability sciences and other interdisciplinary sciences, as well as for cooperation between governments, companies and citizens. In this chapter, we introduce European networking initiatives aimed at building such bridges

Innovative Technologies for District Heating and Cooling: InDeal Project

The paper discusses the outcomes of the conference organized by the InDeal project. The conference took place on 12 December 2018 in Montpellier as part of the EnerGaia energy forum 2018. A holistic interdisciplinary approach for district heating and cooling (DHC) networks is presented that integrates heterogeneous innovative technologies from various scientific sectors. The solution is based on a multi-layer control and modelling framework that has been designed to minimize the total plant production costs and optimize heating/cooling distribution. Artificial intelligence tools are employed to model uncertainties associated with weather and energy demand forecasts, as well as quantify the energy storage capacity. Smart metering devices are utilized to collect information about all the crucial heat substations’ parameters, whereas a web-based platform offers a unique user environment for network operators. Three new technologies have been further developed to improve the efficiency of pipe design of DHC systems: (i) A new sustainable insulation material for reducing heat losses, (ii) a new quick-fit joint for an easy installation, and (iii) a new coating for reducing pressure head losses. The results of a study on the development and optimization of two energy harvesting systems are also provided. The assessment of the environmental, economic and social impact of the proposed holistic approach is performed through a life cycle analysis. The validation methodology of the integrated solution is also described, whereas conclusions and future work are finally given

Fetal-derived macrophages dominate in adult mammary glands

Macrophages serve multiple functions including immune regulation, morphogenesis, tissue homeostasis and healing reactions. The current paradigm holds that mammary gland macrophages first arise postnatally during the prepubertal period from the bone marrow-derived monocytes. Here we delineate the origins of tissue-resident mammary gland macrophages using high-dimension phenotypic analyses, cell-fate mapping experiments, gene-deficient mice lacking selective macrophage subtypes, and antibody-based depletion strategies. We show that tissue-resident macrophages are found in mammary glands already before birth, and that the yolk sac-derived and fetal liver-derived macrophages outnumber the adult-derived macrophages in the mammary gland also in the adulthood. In addition, fetal-derived mammary gland macrophages have a characteristic phenotype, display preferential periductal and perivascular localization, and are highly active in scavenging. These findings identify fetal-derived macrophages as the predominant leukocyte type in the adult mammary gland stroma, and reveal previously unknown complexity of macrophage biology in the breast

Ruling Relations Coordinating the 'Migrant Family' in Institutional Encounters between Finnish Social Work Professionals and Migrant Service Users

Despite the growing body of literature on how migrancy transforms family relations, surprisingly little research exists on how 'migrant family' takes shape in institutional encounters. In this article, we analyse the negotiations on when and how family relations become addressed in encounters between social workers and migrant service users. Drawing from institutional ethnography, we understand the local service encounters as actively regulated by extra-local relations of ruling, represented here mainly by texts such as legislative acts, service descriptions and professional guidelines. The results show that the ways in which family is present and addressed in the institutional encounters often became an act of balancing between a broader understanding of family relations building on the service user's self-definition as well as psychosocial and holistic professional ideals, and a narrower administrative understanding rooted in the Finnish legislation on social security and immigration. The legislative texts thus become a strong relation of ruling that coordinates the actual encounters and what happens in them. Nevertheless, family is essential to human subjectivity, and if the institutional encounters focus only on those family relations recognised by the legislation, important aspects of human relations remain unseenPeer reviewe

18th International Conference on Nanotechnology (IEEE-NANO)

We have used a thermal acetylene treatment on ZnO nanorods in order to investigate the possibility of carbon-doping-induced room temperature ferromagnetism in them. The properties of the rods were investigated using SQUID magnetometry and photoelectron spectroscopy and the findings compared to previously reported results. Ferromagnetism was detected in all investigated samples, but no clear correlation between acetylene and the strength of ferromagnetism was observed. A weakening of the hybridization of Zn 3d and O 2p states as a result of acetylene treatment was detected. The coercivity of acetylene-doped samples was observed to be higher than in annealed samples. The findings support the view that ferromagnetism in ZnO is intrinsic in origin and not caused by carbon doping. However, the treatment can still be used to engineer the magnetic properties of the material, as it can tune its surface properties

[Progress in Machine Translation, ed. Sergei Nirenburg. Amsterdam: IOS Press, 1993.] KIELIKONE Machine Translation Workstation

The great majority of Finns speak a language which differs radically from main Indo-European languages. Finnish is highly inflectional and words have potentially thousands of distinct forms. Word forms carry syntactic information in their suffixes and therefore word order is relatively free in Finnish sentences. Because Finnish is syntactically so different from most other Western languages, Finns face a higher language barrier than other Western Europeans do. Increasing foreign trade has forced major Finnish companies to systematically look for ways of making language translation more productive. Machine translation would of course seem to provide an ideal solution, but in practice both the state-of-the-art of MT research and the lack of computational models of Finnish have so far discouraged the companies in their attempts to apply MT software to alleviate the translation load. SITRA Foundation in Finland is a public fund which allocates money for projects of notable national importance. In 1982 SITRA established the KIELIKONE project for the purpose of designing computational models of the Finnish language. The short term goals were to obtain concrete language technology products; the simultaneous long term goal was to build an infrastructure for MT research. During its period of activity so far the project has designed, implemented, and introduced to the market various software products for th