Maailmankansalaisen kulttuuripolun tavoitteiden merkitys ja toteutuminen oululaisissa kouluissa kuudesluokkalaisten oppilaiden näkökulmasta

Tiivistelmä. Tutkimuksemme on alkukartoitus, jonka avulla tarkasteltiin, kuinka merkityksellisiä Oulun kaupungin maailmankansalaisen kulttuuripolun tavoitteet ovat oppilaiden mielestä ja kuinka hyvin nämä tavoitteet toteutuvat tällä hetkellä kouluissa. Lisäksi selvitettiin, kuinka turvalliseksi oppilaat kokevat kouluympäristönsä ja mitkä tekijät vaikuttavat turvallisuuden kokemukseen. Oulun kaupungilla on käytössä perusasteen opetussuunnitelman tukimateriaaliksi laadittuja OPS-polkuja, joista yksi on maailmankansalaisen polku. Maailmankansalaisen polun tarkoituksena on tukea oppilaiden maailmankansalaiseksi kasvamista. Maailmankansalaisen polku koostuu kulttuuri- ja kielipoluista. Tässä tutkimuksessa keskitymme tarkastelemaan kulttuuripolkua kuudesluokkalaisten oppilaiden näkökulmasta. Maailmankansalaisen kulttuuripolussa on jokaiselle vuosiluokalle omat kompetenssimäärittelyt tiedoille, taidoille ja asenteille. Tutkimuksen teoreettisina viitekehyksinä toimivat maailmankansalaisuus sekä interkulttuurinen komptenssi. Maailmankansalainen haluaa kohdata kulttuurista erilaisuutta ja kykenee eläytymään toisen todellisuuteen. Maailmankansalaisuuden toteutuessa lopputuloksena on yhteenkuuluvuudesta syntyvä turvallisuuden kokemus. Interkulttuurisella kompetenssilla puolestaan viitataan yksilön kykyyn työskennellä eri kulttuurisista taustoista olevien ihmisten kanssa. Interkulttuurinen osaaminen vaatii avointa elämänasennetta sekä oppimisen ja mukautumisen taitoja. Näiden taitojen avulla osataan toimia tilanteissa, joissa erilaiset kulttuurit kohtaavat. Tutkimus toteutettiin kvantitatiivisena kyselylomaketutkimuksena, johon osallistui 88 oululaista kuudesluokkalaista oppilasta neljästä eri peruskoulusta. Kyselylomake koostui Likert-asteikolla esitetyistä kysymyksistä sekä avoimista kysymyksistä. Aineisto analysointiin kuiluanalyysiin avulla. Näin saatiin esiin erot kulttuuripolun tavoitteiden merkitysten ja toteutumisen välillä. Avoimiin kysymyksiin saadut vastaukset analysoitiin määrällisin menetelmin eli luokittelun ja prosenttijakaumien avulla. Tutkimustulosten mukaan oppilaat pitävät maailmankansalaisen kulttuuripolun tavoitteita merkittävinä. Kuiluanalyysin avulla huomattiin, että maailmankansalaisuuden tavoitteet toteutuvat kouluissa oppilaiden mielestä keskimääräisesti jo melko hyvin. Kaikkien kysymysparien kohdalla esiintyi kuitenkin kuilu niin, että osa-alueille annettu merkitys oli arvioitu korkeammaksi kuin sen toteutuminen koulussa. Tutkimuksen suurin kuilu esiintyi erilaisuuden hyväksymisessä. Avointen kysymysten perusteella, maailmankansalaisen polun tavoitteiden mukaiset, kuudesluokkalaisten kompetenssit eivät kuitenkaan toteudu vielä halutulla tavalla. Etenkin kulttuurienvälisten yhtäläisyyksien ja erojen sekä kulttuurien piirteiden tunnistaminen oli haastavaa oppilaille.The meaning and actualisation of the aims of the culture grid by grade from the student’s perspectives. Abstract. The aim of this research was to find out how well the objectives of the Intercultural Grid for Cross-Cultural Education used by the City of Oulu actualise in schools according to students. With this study we found out how important the aims of the Intercultural Grid for Cross-Cultural Education are for students, and how well the students think that these goals actualise in schools. This study also researched how safe the students perceive their school to be and what factors affect their experience of safety. The City of Oulu utilizes the Intercultural Grid for Cross-Cultural Education to support the National Core Curriculum. The Intercultural Grid for Cross-Cultural Educations aims to support children in their growth in to a world citizen. The Intercultural Grid consists of the Language Grid by Grade and Culture Grid by Grade. In this study we limit our research to the Culture Grid by Grade from the perspective of sixth graders. The Culture Grid by Grade includes different competences for each grade regarding the knowledge, skills and attitudes students should develop. The theoretical frameworks of this research are world citizenship and intercultural competence. A world citizen is someone who wants to face cultural differences and can empathize with other people’s realities. Actualised world citizenship results to a sense of safety which stems from social cohesion. Intercultural competence refers to an individual’s ability to work with people who come from different cultural backgrounds. Intercultural competence requires an open attitude towards life as well as skills of learning and adaptation, which allow people to act in situations where different cultures meet. This research was done as a quantitative questionnaire survey with 88 sixth grade students from four different schools. The questionnaire consisted of Likert-scale questions and open-ended questions. The data was analysed with gap-analysis, which allowed us to highlight any possible gaps between assessed meaning and actualization. The data collected with the open-ended questions was also analysed quantitively with classifications and percentages. According to the results the students consider the goals of the Culture Grid by Grade to be important. The gap-analysis indicates that according to students these goals actualise in schools already fairly well, but each pair of questions presented a gap indicating that the meaning given to the goal was evaluated higher than its actualisation in schools. The biggest gap in this research was found in acceptance of difference. However, the open-ended questions indicate that the competencies for sixth graders presented by the Culture Grid by Grade are not fulfilled as well as the gap-analysis suggests. Identifying differences and similarities between cultures as well as cultural features was especially difficult for the students

Polyneuropathy monitoring in Parkinson's disease patients treated with levodopa/carbidopa intestinal gel

Objectives Levodopa-carbidopa-intestinal-gel (LCIG) infusion is an effective treatment for advanced PD with motor fluctuations. Polyneuropathy occurs as a complication in 10-15% of patients. We wanted to assess the frequency of polyneuropathy in Finnish advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with continuous LCIG infusion, and the value of different clinical monitoring parameters during follow-up. Materials and methods Patient records of PD patients started on LCIG infusion at Helsinki University Hospital who received nerve conduction studies at baseline and 6 months after treatment initiation were reviewed for epidemiological information, mini mental state examination, baseline and 6 months' UPRDS-III, weight, body mass index, levodopa dose (LD), plasma homocysteine levels, folate, vitamin B6 and B12. Results Out of 19 patients (n = 6 on B-vitamin substitution), two (10.5%) developed new-onset polyneuropathy after initiation of LCIG therapy (n = 0 with vitamin substitution). Neuropathy was associated with significant weight loss (BMI reduction > 1.5), but not with other monitoring parameters. Homocysteine rose significantly in patients not substituted with B-vitamin complex, but not in patients with B-vitamin substitution. Homocysteine changes correlated with LD changes in the absence of vitamin B substitution. After oral B-vitamin substitution, both patients' polyneuropathy remained electrophysiologically and clinically stable. Conclusions Rates of polyneuropathy in Finnish PD patients with LCIG treatment are comparable to previous studies. Patients' weight should be included in regular follow up monitoring and can be used for patient self-monitoring. Vitamin B substitution appears to reduce coupling between levodopa dose and homocysteine and may be useful to prevent polyneuropathy related to LCIG.Peer reviewe

Structural characterization of EGFR exon 19 deletion mutation using molecular dynamics simulation

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a tyrosine kinase receptor important in diverse biological processes including cell proliferation and survival. Upregulation of EGFR activity due to over-expression or mutation is widely implicated in cancer. Activating somatic mutations of the EGFR kinase are postulated to affect the conformation and/or stability of the protein, shifting the EGFR inactive-active state equilibrium towards the activated state. Here, we examined a common EGFR deletion mutation, Δ746ELREA750, which is frequently observed in non-small cell lung cancer patients. By using molecular dynamics simulation, we investigated the structural effects of the mutation that lead to the experimentally reported increases in kinase activity. Simulations of the active form wild-type and ΔELREA EGFRs revealed the deletion stabilizes the αC helix of the kinase domain, which is located adjacent to the deletion site, by rigidifying the flexible β3-αC loop that accommodates the ELREA sequence. Consequently, the αC helix is stabilized in the “αC-in” active conformation that would prolong the time of the activated state. Moreover, in the mutant kinase, a salt bridge between E762 and K745, which is key for EGFR activity, was also stabilized during the simulation. Additionally, the interaction between EGFR and ATP was favored by ΔELREA EGFR over wild-type EGFR, as reflected by the number of hydrogen bonds formed and the free energy of binding. Simulation of inactive EGFR suggested the deletion would promote a shift from the inactive conformation towards active EGFR, which is supported by the inward movement of the αC helix. The MDS results also align with the effects of tyrosine kinase inhibitors on ΔELREA and wild-type EGFR lung cancer cell lines, where more pronounced inhibition was observed against ΔELREA than for wild-type EGFR by inhibitors recognizing the active kinase conformation.</p

Evolutionary multi-stage financial scenario tree generation

Multi-stage financial decision optimization under uncertainty depends on a careful numerical approximation of the underlying stochastic process, which describes the future returns of the selected assets or asset categories. Various approaches towards an optimal generation of discrete-time, discrete-state approximations (represented as scenario trees) have been suggested in the literature. In this paper, a new evolutionary algorithm to create scenario trees for multi-stage financial optimization models will be presented. Numerical results and implementation details conclude the paper

How the reliability and validity of the patient classification system can be ensured in daily nursing work? A follow-up study

Abstract Aims and Objectives This study aimed to determine the reliability and validity of the RAFAELA patient classification system (PCS) for qualified and efficient nurses. Background The number of patients per nurse or diagnosis-based determination of nursing workload are imprecise measures that do not consider the variation in patients' care needs. Ensuring the reliability and validity of the RAFAELA is important for the efficient allocation of nursing resources. Methods In this study, we investigated how the maintenance (parallel classification measurement and professional assessment of optimal nursing care intensity level measurement) of the RAFAELA was done with 9?years of follow-up data. The results were analysed using quantitative methods supplemented with qualitative audit descriptions. The STROBE checklist was used. Results The RAFAELA was used continuously in 44?units (40%). The length of use of the RAFAELA influenced the success of parallel classification measurements. Six per cent of units passed parallel classification measurement over 75% after 1?3?years' use, 42% after 4?6?years and 83% after 7?9?years. Among the units that used the RAFAELA PCS continuously, only four (9%) passed the professional assessment of optimal nursing care intensity level measurement. Conclusions This study shows that ensuring the reliability and validity of the use of the RAFAELA is laborious, requires several years of use and continuous investments in nurses' skills and motivation. Relevance to Clinical Practice Qualified use of PCS is challenging, and organisations should invest to maintenance, training, support and user motivation. Each patient should be classified comprehensively, and nursing resources should be calculated correctly. In addition, utilisation of the nursing intensity level should be maximised. Clinical Trial Registration Number Kuopio University Hospital organisation permit number 73/2014. Patient or Public Contribution Information regarding individual patients or nurses was not available to the researchers. All materials are in the form of summary tables.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Haasteena suomalaisen tiedepääoman vahvistaminen

Yhteiskuntamme polarisoituu sen suhteen, kuinka kansalaiset kartuttavat arjessa tarvittavia kykyjä ja osaamista. Osa kansasta hankkii aktiivisesti tietoa ja arvioi sitä kriittisesti ja objektiivisuuteen pyrkien. Osalle tähän ei tarjoudu mahdollisuutta tai siihen ei ole halua, kykyä tai motivaatiota. Eriarvoistuminen näkyy asenteissa ja suhtautumisessa tutkittuun tietoon. Tiedettä kohtaan esitetään kritiikkiä, jollaista siihen ei ole aiemmin kohdistunut ja joka asettaa tieteen uudenlaiseen puolustusasemaan. Vaikka tieteen asema instituutiona on tehtyjen tutkimusten valossa etenkin Suomessa vakaa, pohditaan erityisesti tiedekasvatuksen ja tiedeviestinnän parissa tapoja saada tiede merkitsevämpään rooliin ihmisten arjessa. Moderni yhteiskunta lepää tutkitun tiedon, teknologian ja alati uudistuvan osaamisen varassa. Osallisuuden laajentaminen lisää myös tasa-arvoa ja oikeudenmukaisuutta sekä yleistä hyvinvointia

Haasteena suomalaisen tiedepääoman vahvistaminen

Yhteiskuntamme polarisoituu sen suhteen, kuinka kansalaiset kartuttavat arjessa tarvittavia kykyjä ja osaamista. Osa kansasta hankkii aktiivisesti tietoa ja arvioi sitä kriittisesti ja objektiivisuuteen pyrkien. Osalle tähän ei tarjoudu mahdollisuutta tai siihen ei ole halua, kykyä tai motivaatiota. Eriarvoistuminen näkyy asenteissa ja suhtautumisessa tutkittuun tietoon. Tiedettä kohtaan esitetään kritiikkiä, jollaista siihen ei ole aiemmin kohdistunut ja joka asettaa tieteen uudenlaiseen puolustusasemaan. Vaikka tieteen asema instituutiona on tehtyjen tutkimusten valossa etenkin Suomessa vakaa, pohditaan erityisesti tiedekasvatuksen ja tiedeviestinnän parissa tapoja saada tiede merkitsevämpään rooliin ihmisten arjessa. Moderni yhteiskunta lepää tutkitun tiedon, teknologian ja alati uudistuvan osaamisen varassa. Osallisuuden laajentaminen lisää myös tasa-arvoa ja oikeudenmukaisuutta sekä yleistä hyvinvointia.</p

The Hard Life: A Pedagogical Experience in Industrial Design

Thispaperseekstoanalyzeanddiscussaredesignprojectdeveloped by students of master’s degree in industrial design. Based on the book The Hard Life, from English designer Jasper Morrison, the briefing proposed the devel- opment of concepts for new products inspired by the selection of objects in the book, and respective written interpretations. It seeks to explore the dialogue between the original objects – their use, Morrison’s interpretation - and the reinterpretation made by the students considering the current material culture. Accompanied and coordinated with Bisarro, contemporary studio dedicated to the artisan production of small series in Bisalhães black clay, UNESCO Immaterial Cultural Heritage, the project seeks to explore the boundaries and common ground between memory and contemporary times. More than the results, it is intended to discuss proposals and approaches, from functional interpretations, formal inspiration, to the appropriation of affordance and gesture.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An unbiased in vitro screen for activating epidermal growth factor receptor mutations

Cancer tissues harbor thousands of mutations, and a given oncogene may be mutated at hundreds of sites. Yet, only a few of these mutations have been functionally tested. Here, we describe an unbiased platform for the functional characterization of thousands of variants of a single receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) gene in a single assay. Our in vitro screen for activating mutations (iSCREAM) platform enabled rapid analysis of mutations conferring gain-of-function RTK activity promoting clonal growth. The screening strategy included a somatic model of cancer evolution and utilized a library of 7,216 randomly mutated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) single-nucleotide variants, that were tested in murine lymphoid Ba/F3 cells. These cells depend on exogenous interleukin-3 (IL-3) for growth, but this dependency can be compensated by ectopic EGFR overexpression, enabling selection for gain-of-function EGFR mutants. Analysis of the enriched mutants revealed EGFR A702V, a novel activating variant that structurally stabilized the EGFR kinase dimer interface and conferred sensitivity to kinase inhibition by afatinib. As proof of concept for our approach, we recapitulated clinical observations and identified the EGFR L858R as the major enriched EGFR variant. Altogether iSCREAM enabled robust enrichment of 21 variants from a total of 7,216 EGFR mutations. These findings indicate the power of this screening platform for unbiased identification of activating RTK variants that are enriched under selection pressure in a model of cancer heterogeneity and evolution