How to Support Prison Workers’ Perceived Readiness to Identify and Respond to Possible Gambling Problems : a Pilot Study from Two Finnish Prisons

Problem gambling is known to be prevalent among prisoners. However, it is not systematically screened and often remains undetected. This pilot study explores prison workers’ (N = 21) knowledge, views, and opinions about problem gambling in two Finnish prisons with a view to improving training and to developing better guidelines for identifying and responding to gambling problems. Four-fifths (81%) of prison workers considered problem gambling a serious issue in Finland. During the past year, more than nine in ten (94.1%) had encountered a prisoner with a gambling problem. Problem gambling was identified in connection with discussions about prisoners’ illegal activity (50%), financial situation (25%), or other problems (25%). Nearly half of the participants felt they did not have adequate training or information about problem gambling and related issues and expressed an interest in continuing education. This pilot study provides important direction for the development of tailored training programs for prison workers. The next step is to increase awareness of gambling programs in a wider national context and to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of training programs.Peer reviewe

A Teacher–Researcher Partnership for Professional Learning : Co-Designing Project-Based Learning Units to Increase Student Engagement in Science Classes

We present teacher-researcher partnership (TRP) as a way of fostering teachers' professional learning. Teachers' participation as research group members is an essential aspect of the partnership. Teachers and researchers share the same goal, which is to improve their understanding of and enhance students' engagement in science. Project-based learning (PBL) was selected as a means of enhancing student engagement. The activities of the partnership focused on the co-design and enactment of and co-reflection on PBL units. Teachers participated in the design of the data collection process and the interpretation of initial findings. As an indicator of teachers' professional learning, we examined students' engagement during different implementations of the PBL units. Student engagement was measured using a situational experience sampling questionnaire delivered via mobile phones. The students' experiences of scientific practices and engagement in actual learning situations were measured in the first and second years of the teachers' implementation of the teaching units. An analysis of the students' responses showed that the students were 20% more engaged in the second year than in the first year. We argue that TRP has the potential to enhance teachers' professional learning.Peer reviewe

Gambling-Related Harms for Affected Others: A Finnish Population-Based Survey

Aims This study explores the prevalence of being a past-year affected other (AO) of a problem gambler by gender. The aims were to study the amount and type of gambling-related harms (GRHs) for subgroups of AOs and to distinguish GRH profiles for AO subgroups. Methods A total of 7186 adults aged 18 years and over participated in the Gambling Harms Survey evaluating year 2016. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression. Results Of all respondents, 12.9% were defined as past-year AOs (women 13.7%; men 12.1%). The proportion of affected non-family members (ANFs) was 8.4%, and 5.6% were affected family members (AFMs). AFMs were usually women, and ANFs were usually men. Emotional, relationship, and financial harms were the most common types of harm. The odds of experiencing financial harm were highest for the 18- to 34-year-olds (OR 1.82) and for those whose partner/ex-partner had a gambling problem (OR 3.91). Having a parent/step-parent (OR 1.93) and child/stepchild (OR 3.64) increased the odds of experiencing emotional harm, whereas male gender (OR 0.50) and being an ANF (OR 0.58) decreased emotional harm. Relationship harm was evident for partners/ex-partners (OR 1.97-5.07). Conclusions GRH profiles for AO subgroups varied, which emphasizes the need for effective harm minimization strategies for those in need

Rahapelaaminen, peliongelmat ja rahapelaamiseen liittyvät asenteet ja mielipiteet vuosina 2007-2019 : Suomalaisten rahapelaaminen 2019

Suomalaisten rahapelaamista on kartoitettu säännöllisesti toistettujen väestötutkimusten avulla. Rahapelejä ovat muun muassa arvontapelit kuten Lotto, urheilu- ja hevospelit, rahapeliautomaatit, raaputusarvat ja kasinopelit. Näitä pelejä voi pelata myös internetissä. Raportissa tarkastellaan suomalaisten rahapelaamista, rahapeliongelmia sekä pelaamiseen liittyviä mielipiteitä ja asenteita. Tähän raporttiin on koottu keväällä 2020 julkaistut tulokset ja aiemmin julkaisemattomia tuloksia sosiaaliryhmittäisenä tarkasteluna sekä tietoa pelaamisympäristöstä, motivaatiotekijöistä ja rahapelihaitoista. Uusina teemoina mukana ovat myös digitaalinen pelaaminen, digipeliongelmat, alkoholin riskikäyttö ja psyykkinen kuormittuneisuus. Ajallisessa vertailussa on mukana vuodet 2007, 2011, 2015 ja 2019. Tieto tukee päätöksentekoa ja palvelee rahapelihaittojen ehkäisyn, hoidon ja hoitopalvelujen parissa työskenteleviä sekä tutkijoita. Tutkimus tarjoaa luotettavaa tietoa myös rahapelihaittojen ehkäisytyön tarpeisiin. Raportti on tuotettu sosiaali- ja terveysministeriön toimeksiannosta Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitoksessa

SH3 Domain-Mediated Recruitment of Host Cell Amphiphysins by Alphavirus nsP3 Promotes Viral RNA Replication

Among the four non-structural proteins of alphaviruses the function of nsP3 is the least well understood. NsP3 is a component of the viral replication complex, and composed of a conserved aminoterminal macro domain implicated in viral RNA synthesis, and a poorly conserved carboxyterminal region. Despite the lack of overall homology we noted a carboxyterminal proline-rich sequence motif shared by many alphaviral nsP3 proteins, and found it to serve as a preferred target site for the Src-homology 3 (SH3) domains of amphiphysin-1 and -2. Nsp3 proteins of Semliki Forest (SFV), Sindbis (SINV), and Chikungunya viruses all showed avid and SH3-dependent binding to amphiphysins. Upon alphavirus infection the intracellular distribution of amphiphysin was dramatically altered and colocalized with nsP3. Mutations in nsP3 disrupting the amphiphysin SH3 binding motif as well as RNAi-mediated silencing of amphiphysin-2 expression resulted in impaired viral RNA replication in HeLa cells infected with SINV or SFV. Infection of Balb/c mice with SFV carrying an SH3 binding-defective nsP3 was associated with significantly decreased mortality. These data establish SH3 domain-mediated binding of nsP3 with amphiphysin as an important host cell interaction promoting alphavirus replication

Teknisen asiantuntijayrityksen tukipalveluprosessin kartoitus

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli kartoittaa Yritys Oy:n palvelupisteen palveluprosessit. Palvelupisteessä käsitellään tällä hetkellä päivittäin 50–150 yhteydenottoa. Yhteydenotot tulevat joko puhelimitse, sähköpostilla tai tikettijärjestelmän kautta. Näin suuren yhteydenottomäärän hallitseminen vaatii tarkkaa prosessisuunnittelua ja kuvaamista, jotta yhteydenottojen käsittely saataisiin mahdollisimman tehokkaaksi. Tutkimus toteutettiin kyselylomakkeen, SWOT-analyysin, erilaisten dokumenttien tarkastelulla ja omien havaintojen perusteella. Tutkimuksen teoriaosuus tukee näitä tutkimusmenetelmiä. Teoriaosuudessa keskityttiin prosessikäsitteisiin, prosessien kehittämiseen ja määrittelyyn sekä prosessien tarkempaan analysointiin. Teoriaosuudessa käydään läpi myös prosessien johtamisen periaatteet ja edellytykset. Jotta voimme ymmärtää Yritys Oy:n palvelupisteen palveluprosesseja, kartoitimme Yritys Oy:n käyttöympäristön. Käyttöympäristöön kuuluvat asiakkaat, asiantuntijat, järjestelmän ylläpitäjät, myynnin edustajat ja palvelupisteen henkilöstö. Aikaisemmin yritys oli myyntiorganisaatio, joka tarjosi vähäistä tukea. Ajan saatossa tuen merkitys on kasvanut palveluiden muodossa ja laite ja ohjelmistokauppa on siirtynyt sivutuotteeksi. Yritys Oy:n prosesseja ei ollut aikaisemmin kartoitettu. Liiketoiminnan kannalta on elintärkeää pysyä kilpailussa mukana. Se vaatii jatkuvia panostuksia prosessien kehittämiseen ja prosessien tehostamiseen. Prosessimuutokset ovat yrityksen sisällä nykyään pysyvä ilmiö. Prosessien muutoksen johtamisen perusteet on hyvä tietää, jotta muutokset onnistuisivat mahdollisimman kivuttomasti. Yhteenvetona tästä tutkimuksesta voidaan todeta, että palvelupisteen prosessien kartoittamisella on positiivinen vaikutus Yritys OY:lle. Tutkimuksen tavoitteet saavutettiin ja prosessien kartoitus onnistui. Saimme tärkeää tietoa työntekijöiden asenteista muuttuviin prosesseihin ja niiden johtamistapaan. Prosessien tunnistamisen avulla Yritys Oy voi myydä enemmän kohdistettuja palveluita ja lisäarvoa tuottavia palveluja. Samalla havaittiin ongelmakohdat, jotka tarvitsevat jatkossa lisää syventymistä. Näiden ongelmakohtien löytäminen on iso etu, kun halutaan tehostaa liiketoimintaa.Survey of the service process of a technical specialist organization The purpose of this research was to survey the service processes for Business Ltds Service Desk. 50-150 contacts from customers are processed in Service Desk daily. The contacts are made by phone, email or ticket system. Moderations for such a voluminous number of contacts require specific process planning and description so that the handling of contacts is highly efficient. The survey was conducted with a questionnaire, a SWOT analysis, a document analysis and the writers' own observations. The theory section of this research supports the methods used. The theory section focused on process notions, process development and definition, and also process analysis. The theory section covers the principles of leadership of processes and their requirements. Business Ltd.’s user platform was analysed so that it was possible to understand the Service Desks processes more efficiently. The user platform includes customers, specialists, system administrators, sales representatives and Service Desk personnel. Before Business Ltd was a sales organization with less technical support. Over time technical support has grown and computer and software sales have become a byproduct. The processes of Business Ltd have never been surveyed. For business operations it is vital to stay in the competition. That requires continuous efforts to develop processes and make them more efficient. Changes in the processes within the company are a permanent phenomenon. To lead the change in the processes without problems is the reason to learn about the basics of process leadership. The summary of this research concludes that the mapping of the Service Desk processes has proven to have a positive effect on Business Ltd. The objectives of this research were accomplished and mapping of the processes was successful. Valuable information was found about the attitudes of the personnel towards processes that were changing and the way they were managed. By identifying the processes, Business Ltd can market more specialised services and add value to them. At the same time it was discoverable that troubleshooting is a significant benefit when a business aims at boosting its business operations