Future Citizens or Useful Workforce? Finnish Immigrants and the Communist Party of Finland in Svirstroi, 1931–1934

This article focuses on the construction site of Svirstroi and the activities of its Finnish immigrant population and their supervisors. Due to illegal border-crossing, the immigrants had to serve their time in Svirstroi and became subordinates of the OGPU through forced labour. The organisation of work and political education of the illegal immigrants was delegated between the OGPU, the Communist Party of Finland, and the Bolsheviks who were all responsible for the immigrants and their fates. Based on archival sources and letters of the immigrants, this article analyses how perceptions of labour, propaganda work, and freedom changed from the perspective of the immigrants and their supervisors. Moreover, this study highlights the role of the Communist Party of Finland as a mediator between the immigrants and the OGPU. The history of Finnish immigrants and communists sheds light on the role of cultural-political work and minority experiences within the Gulag system.This article focuses on the construction site of Svirstroi and the activities of its Finnish immigrant population and their supervisors. Due to illegal border-crossing, the immigrants had to serve their time in Svirstroi and became subordinates of the OGPU through forced labour. The organisation of work and political education of the illegal immigrants was delegated between the OGPU, the Communist Party of Finland, and the Bolsheviks who were all responsible for the immigrants and their fates. Based on archival sources and letters of the immigrants, this article analyses how perceptions of labour, propaganda work, and freedom changed from the perspective of the immigrants and their supervisors. Moreover, this study highlights the role of the Communist Party of Finland as a mediator between the immigrants and the OGPU. The history of Finnish immigrants and communists sheds light on the role of cultural-political work and minority experiences within the Gulag system.Peer reviewe

Vesiensuojelun kehitys ja merkitykset Neuvostoliitossa

Vaikka kaupunkien, teollisuuden ja maatalouden jätevedenpuhdistamot ovat olleet vesiensuojelun tärkeimmät välineet kaikissa teollisuusmaissa, ei yhdenkään suuren teollisuusmaan vesiensuojelun ympäristöhistoriasta ole tehty monitieteistä ja kattavaa kansallista tutkimusta. Tämä koskee myös Neuvostoliittoa. Useimmat tutkimukset käsittelevät Neuvostoliiton ympäristöteemoja laajasti, jolloin suurtenkin yksittäisten sektoreiden, kuten vesiensuojelun, esittelyt ovat jääneet pinnallisiksi. Tästä syystä artikkelimme tavoitteena on pyrkiä luomaan ensimmäinen, suomeksi kirjoitettu yleiskuva Neuvostoliiton vesiensuojelun ympäristöhistoriasta vuosina 1917–1991. Keskitymme kolmeen alateemaan: vesistöjä koskevan lehdistökeskustelun, vesistöjen luonnontieteellisen tutkimuksen ja jätevedenpuhdistuksen kehityksen ympäristöhistoriaan. Esittelemme myös vesiensuojelun normatiivisen ohjauksen päävaiheita. Tutkimuskirjallisuuden lisäksi olemme käyneet läpi luonnontieteilijöiden ja insinöörien ammatillisia raportteja, artikkeleita ja kirjoja sekä neuvostolehdistöä (Pravda ja Izvestija). Metodologisesti tutkimuksemme edustaa autoritaaristen yhteiskuntien ympäristöhistorian tutkimuksen uutta koulukuntaa, jonka tavoitteena on tarkastella eri yhteiskuntajärjestelmiä edustavia maita monitieteisten lähestymistapojen ja empiiristen lähdeaineistojen avulla aiempaa avoimemmin. Ilmeisistä ongelmista huolimatta vesistöjen saastumisesta muotoutui Neuvostoliiton varhaisin ja merkittävin yleisesti tunnustettu ympäristöongelma ja vesiensuojelusta tuli sen ympäristönsuojelun vanhin, laajin ja ehkä tehokkain sektori.Peer reviewe

Accessibility-based reranking in multimedia search engines

Traditional multimedia search engines retrieve results based mostly on the query submitted by the user, or using a log of previous searches to provide personalized results, while not considering the accessibility of the results for users with vision or other types of impairments. In this paper, a novel approach is presented which incorporates the accessibility of images for users with various vision impairments, such as color blindness, cataract and glaucoma, in order to rerank the results of an image search engine. The accessibility of individual images is measured through the use of vision simulation filters. Multi-objective optimization techniques utilizing the image accessibility scores are used to handle users with multiple vision impairments, while the impairment profile of a specific user is used to select one from the Pareto-optimal solutions. The proposed approach has been tested with two image datasets, using both simulated and real impaired users, and the results verify its applicability. Although the proposed method has been used for vision accessibility-based reranking, it can also be extended for other types of personalization context

Evaluating digital diabetic retinopathy screening in people aged 90 years and over

To evaluate the effectiveness of digital diabetic retinopathy screening in patients aged 90 years and over.MethodsThis is a retrospective analysis of 200 randomly selected patients eligible for diabetic retinopathy screening aged 90 years and over within the Birmingham, Solihull, and Black Country Screening Programme.ResultsOne hundred and seventy-nine (90%) patients attended screening at least once. 133 (74%) annual screening after their first screen, of whom 59% had no detectable diabetic retinopathy; 38 (21%) were referred for ophthalmology clinical assessment-36 for nondiabetic retinopathy reasons and two for diabetic maculopathy. Cataract accounted for 50% of all referrals for ophthalmology clinical assessment. Of the 133 patients placed on annual screening, 93 (70%) were screened at least once more. In terms of level of diabetic retinopathy, assessability or other ocular pathologies, 8 improved, 51 remained stable, and 31 deteriorated. Of the latter, 19 patients were referred for ophthalmology clinical assessment; none of these for diabetic retinopathy.ConclusionsScreening provides opportunistic identification of important nondiabetic retinopathy eye conditions. However, in view of the low identification rate of sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy in patients aged 90 years and over, and the current mission statement of the NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme, systematic annual diabetic retinopathy screening may not be justified in this age group of patients, but rather be performed in optometric practice

Cystic Echinococcosis in Spain: Current Situation and Relevance for Other Endemic Areas in Europe

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) remains an important health problem in many regions of the world, both where no control measures have been implemented, and where control programs have been incompletely successful with ensuing re-emergence of the disease. In Spain, official data on CE show an increase in the proportion of intermediate hosts with CE during the last few years, and autochthonous pediatric patients have been reported, a sign of active local transmission of disease. A similar picture emerges from data reported to the European Food Safety Authority by other European countries. Nevertheless, several crucial aspects related to CE that would help better understand and control the disease have not been tackled appropriately, in particular the emergence of infection in specific geographical areas. In this respect, while some data are missing, other data are conflicting because they come from different databases. We review the current situation of CE in Spain compared with areas in which similar problems in the CE field exist, and offer recommendations on how to overcome those limitations. Specifically, we believe that the introduction of national registries for CE with online data entry, following the example set by the European Registry for Alveolar Echinococcosis, would help streamline data collection on CE by eliminating the need for evaluating and integrating data from multiple regions, by avoiding duplication of data from patients who access several different health facilities over time, and by providing much needed clinical and epidemiological data that are currently accessible only to clinicians

Species Used for Drug Testing Reveal Different Inhibition Susceptibility for 17beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 1

Steroid-related cancers can be treated by inhibitors of steroid metabolism. In searching for new inhibitors of human 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (17β-HSD 1) for the treatment of breast cancer or endometriosis, novel substances based on 15-substituted estrone were validated. We checked the specificity for different 17β-HSD types and species. Compounds were tested for specificity in vitro not only towards recombinant human 17β-HSD types 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 but also against 17β-HSD 1 of several other species including marmoset, pig, mouse, and rat. The latter are used in the processes of pharmacophore screening. We present the quantification of inhibitor preferences between human and animal models. Profound differences in the susceptibility to inhibition of steroid conversion among all 17β-HSDs analyzed were observed. Especially, the rodent 17β-HSDs 1 were significantly less sensitive to inhibition compared to the human ortholog, while the most similar inhibition pattern to the human 17β-HSD 1 was obtained with the marmoset enzyme. Molecular docking experiments predicted estrone as the most potent inhibitor. The best performing compound in enzymatic assays was also highly ranked by docking scoring for the human enzyme. However, species-specific prediction of inhibitor performance by molecular docking was not possible. We show that experiments with good candidate compounds would out-select them in the rodent model during preclinical optimization steps. Potentially active human-relevant drugs, therefore, would no longer be further developed. Activity and efficacy screens in heterologous species systems must be evaluated with caution

Vesiensuojelun kehitys ja merkitykset Neuvostoliitossa

Vaikka kaupunkien, teollisuuden ja maatalouden jätevedenpuhdistamot ovat olleet vesiensuojelun tärkeimmät välineet kaikissa teollisuusmaissa, ei yhdenkään suuren teollisuusmaan vesiensuojelun ympäristöhistoriasta ole tehty monitieteistä ja kattavaa kansallista tutkimusta. Tämä koskee myös Neuvostoliittoa. Useimmat tutkimukset käsittelevät Neuvostoliiton ympäristöteemoja laajasti, jolloin suurtenkin yksittäisten sektoreiden, kuten vesiensuojelun, esittelyt ovat jääneet pinnallisiksi. Tästä syystä artikkelimme tavoitteena on pyrkiä luomaan ensimmäinen, suomeksi kirjoitettu yleiskuva Neuvostoliiton vesiensuojelun ympäristöhistoriasta vuosina 1917–1991. Keskitymme kolmeen alateemaan: vesistöjä koskevan lehdistökeskustelun, vesistöjen luonnontieteellisen tutkimuksen ja jätevedenpuhdistuksen kehityksen ympäristöhistoriaan. Esittelemme myös vesiensuojelun normatiivisen ohjauksen päävaiheita. Tutkimuskirjallisuuden lisäksi olemme käyneet läpi luonnontieteilijöiden ja insinöörien ammatillisia raportteja, artikkeleita ja kirjoja sekä neuvostolehdistöä (Pravda ja Izvestija). Metodologisesti tutkimuksemme edustaa autoritaaristen yhteiskuntien ympäristöhistorian tutkimuksen uutta koulukuntaa, jonka tavoitteena on tarkastella eri yhteiskuntajärjestelmiä edustavia maita monitieteisten lähestymistapojen ja empiiristen lähdeaineistojen avulla aiempaa avoimemmin. Ilmeisistä ongelmista huolimatta vesistöjen saastumisesta muotoutui Neuvostoliiton varhaisin ja merkittävin yleisesti tunnustettu ympäristöongelma ja vesiensuojelusta tuli sen ympäristönsuojelun vanhin, laajin ja ehkä tehokkain sektori.Peer reviewe