How moral disengagement links to destination marketing organisations’ moral muteness in their sustainability communications

If destination marketing organisations (DMOs) are to contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, they have a moral responsibility to encourage the development of more sustainable tourism, to promote this to consumers and engage them to behave more sustainably. However, we know little about how these DMOs frame the sustainability discourses of their destinations or how they urge potential consumers to act. We conducted a content and discourse analysis of six European Arctic DMO consumer websites. The findings reveal examples of euphemistic labelling and using morally neutral language to conceal unsustainable activity. There is a sustainability communication discourse in what can be interpreted as moral muteness. Moral muteness helps us to interpret how DMOs downplay the negative impacts of tourism and promote low-effort pro-environmental behaviour to provide a narrative that allows the clients to morally disengage. This article contributes to the call for discussion on the ethics of sustainable tourism and the need to overcome an innately economic growth-friendly tourism science

Factors associated with dropout during recruitment and follow-up periods of a mHealth-based randomized controlled trial for Mobile.Net to encourage treatment adherence for people with serious mental health problems

Background: Clinical trials are the gold standard of evidence-based practice. Still many papers inadequately report methodology in randomized controlled trials (RCTs), particularly for mHealth interventions for people with serious mental health problems. To ensure robust enough evidence, it is important to understand which study phases are the most vulnerable in the field of mental health care. Objective: We mapped the recruitment and the trial follow-up periods of participants to provide a picture of the dropout predictors from a mHealth-based trial. As an example, we used a mHealth-based multicenter RCT, titled “Mobile.Net,” targeted at people with serious mental health problems. Methods: Recruitment and follow-up processes of the Mobile.Net trial were monitored and analyzed. Recruitment outcomes were recorded as screened, eligible, consent not asked, refused, and enrolled. Patient engagement was recorded as follow-up outcomes: (1) attrition during short message service (SMS) text message intervention and (2) attrition during the 12-month follow-up period. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify which demographic factors were related to recruitment and retention. Results: We recruited 1139 patients during a 15-month period. Of 11,530 people screened, 36.31% (n=4186) were eligible. This eligible group tended to be significantly younger (mean 39.2, SD 13.2 years, P<.001) and more often women (2103/4181, 50.30%) than those who were not eligible (age: mean 43.7, SD 14.6 years; women: 3633/6514, 55.78%). At the point when potential participants were asked to give consent, a further 2278 refused. Those who refused were a little older (mean 40.2, SD 13.9 years) than those who agreed to participate (mean 38.3, SD 12.5 years; t1842=3.2, P<.001). We measured the outcomes after 12 months of the SMS text message intervention. Attrition from the SMS text message intervention was 4.8% (27/563). The patient dropout rate after 12 months was 0.36% (4/1123), as discovered from the register data. In all, 3.12% (35/1123) of the participants withdrew from the trial. However, dropout rates from the patient survey (either by paper or telephone interview) were 52.45% (589/1123) and 27.8% (155/558), respectively. Almost all participants (536/563, 95.2%) tolerated the intervention, but those who discontinued were more often women (21/27, 78%; P=.009). Finally, participants’ age (P<.001), gender (P<.001), vocational education (P=.04), and employment status (P<.001) seemed to predict their risk of dropping out from the postal survey. Conclusions: Patient recruitment and engagement in the 12-month follow-up conducted with a postal survey were the most vulnerable phases in the SMS text message-based trial. People with serious mental health problems may need extra support during the recruitment process and in engaging them in SMS text message-based trials to ensure robust enough evidence for mental health care

Dominant Distal Myopathy 3 (MPD3) Caused by a Deletion in the HNRNPA1 Gene

Background and Objectives To determine the genetic cause of the disease in the previously reported family with adult-onset autosomal dominant distal myopathy (myopathy, distal, 3; MPD3). Methods Continued clinical evaluation including muscle MRI and muscle pathology. A linkage analysis with single nucleotide polymorphism arrays and genome sequencing were used to identify the genetic defect, which was verified by Sanger sequencing. RNA sequencing was used to investigate the transcriptional effects of the identified genetic defect. Results Small hand muscles (intrinsic, thenar, and hypothenar) were first involved with spread to the lower legs and later proximal muscles. Dystrophic changes with rimmed vacuoles and cytoplasmic inclusions were observed in muscle biopsies at advanced stage. A single nucleotide polymorphism array confirmed the previous microsatellite-based linkage to 8p22-q11 and 12q13-q22. Genome sequencing of three affected family members combined with structural variant calling revealed a small heterozygous deletion of 160 base pairs spanning the second last exon 10 of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 (HNRNPA1) gene, which is in the linked region on chromosome 12. Segregation of the mutation with the disease was confirmed by Sanger sequencing. RNA sequencing showed that the mutant allele produces a shorter mutant mRNA transcript compared with the wild-type allele Immunofluorescence studies on muscle biopsies revealed small p62 and larger TDP-43 inclusions. Discussion A small exon 10 deletion in the gene HNRNPA1 was identified as the cause of MPD3 in this family. The new HNRNPA1-related phenotype, upper limb presenting distal myopathy, was thus confirmed, and the family displays the complexities of gene identification.Peer reviewe

The Pro-Oncogenic Adaptor CIN85 Acts as an Inhibitory Binding Partner of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor Prolyl Hydroxylase 2

The EGFR adaptor protein, CIN85, has been shown to promote breast cancer malignancy and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) stability. However, the mechanisms underlying cancer promotion remain ill defined. Here we show that CIN85 is a novel binding partner of the main HIF-prolyl hydroxylase, PHD2, but not of PHD1 or PHD3. Mechanistically, the N-terminal SRC homology 3 domains of CIN85 interacted with the proline-arginine-rich region within the N-terminus of PHD2, thereby inhibiting PHD2 activity and HIF degradation. This activity is essential in vivo, as specific loss of the CIN85-PHD2 interaction in CRISPR/Cas9-edited cells affected growth and migration properties, as well as tumor growth in mice. Overall, we discovered a previously unrecognized tumor growth checkpoint that is regulated by CIN85-PHD2 and uncovered an essential survival function in tumor cells by linking growth factor adaptors with hypoxia signaling. Significance: This study provides unprecedented evidence for an oxygen-independent mechanism of PHD2 regulation that has important implications in cancer cell survival.Peer reviewe

Esimies johtamassa muutosta : case Nordea Pankki Suomi Oyj

Muutoksia tapahtuu nykyajan organisaatioissa jatkuvasti ja muutoksen johtaminen onnistuneesti on haastavaa. Tämän opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli selvittää kohdeorganisaation, Nordea Pankki Suomi Oyj:n, esimiesten muutosjohtamisvalmiudet esimiesten näkökulmasta. Opinnäytetyössä etsittiin vastauksia siihen, minkälainen on esimiesten esimies- ja muutosjohtamistaitojen nykytilanne ja miten muutosjohtamistaitoja tulisi kehittää. Teoria-osuudessa on käsitelty esimiestyötä ja muutosjohtamista esimiehen näkökulmasta. Empiirinen tutkimus toteutettiin kvalitatiivisena case -tutkimuksena rajatulla kohdejoukolle Nordea Pankki Suomessa. Tutkimus toteutettiin kaksivaiheisena, ensimmäinen vaihe käsitti sähköisen kysely-tutkimuksen koko kohdejoukolle ja toinen vaihe käsitti haastattelun kohdejoukosta valikoiduille esimiehille. Tutkimuksen tuloksina ilmeni muun muassa että vaikkakin esimiesten muutosjohtamiskokemus oli hyvin erilaista, esimiehet itse kokivat omaavansa hyvät valmiudet muutoksen johtamiseen onnistuneesti. Esimiehet halusivat kehittää muutosjohtamistaitojaan tärkeiksi kokemillaan muutosjohtamisen osa-alueilla, mm. muutosviestinnässä. Tukea esimiesten kehittymisessä muutosjohtamisessa ja esimiestyössä voidaan saada hyödyntämällä haastatteluissa esille tulleita esimiesten erilaisia kehittymisenpolkuja.In modern organizations, changes happen continuously and the management of these changes successfully is challenging. The purpose of this thesis is to find out the change management skills of superiors in the target organization Nordea Bank Finland Ltd, from the superiors’ own point of view. In the thesis examined the current state of the superiors management and change management skills and how their change management skills should be developed in the future. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with management work and change management from the superior’s point of view. The empirical study was implemented as a qualitative case-study for restricted target group from Nordea Bank Finland. The study was implemented in two stages. The first stage covered an electronical questionnaire survey to the whole study group, and the second stage consisted of interviews to a selected group of superiors from the first survey. The results of this thesis showed that although the level of change management experience differs, superiors themselves felt that they possess good readiness to manage change successfully. Superiors wanted to develop their change manage-ment skills in areas they considered important, for example in communications during changes. The survey resulted in different sorts of development paths for superiors, and the findings can be used to support the superiors to develop their management work and change management skills

ISO 14001:2015 mukaisen ympäristöjärjestelmän luominen ja ylläpito : Case: Tamtron Oy

Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli luoda ympäristöjärjestelmä osaksi mittauslaitteiden alalla toimivan Tamtron Oy:n laatujärjestelmää. Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli laatia ja ottaa käyttöön ISO 14001:2015 -standardin mukainen ympäristöjärjestelmä tehostamaan Tamtron Oy:n ympäristöasioiden hallintaa. Lisäksi tarkoituksena oli selvittää, mitä toimenpiteitä järjestelmän sertifiointi ja ylläpito tulisi jatkossa vaatimaan, ja laatia muistityökalu ylläpidon avuksi. Opinnäytetyön teoreettisessa viitekehyksessä käsiteltiin johtamisjärjestelmien käyttöä ja tarkoitusta osana kokonaisvaltaista laadunhallintaa, ja kuvattiin ISO 14001:2015 ympäristöstandardin asettamia vaatimuksia ympäristöjärjestelmän rakentamiselle. Standardi ohjeistaa ympäristöjärjestelmän suunnittelussa ja auttaa organisaatioita ympäristöasioiden hallinnassa ja johtamisessa. Ympäristöasioita ei ole aiemmin huomioitu järjestelmällisesti Tamtron Oy:n toiminnassa, joten järjestelmän luominen aloitettiin tutustumalla yrityksen toimintaympäristöön. Näiden pohjalta Tamtron Oy:lle laadittiin laatujärjestelmän prosesseihin sopiva ISO 14001:2015 mukainen ympäristöjärjestelmä, joka sisälsi järjestelmän yleiset toimintaperiaatteet kuvaavan dokumentin lisäksi menettelyohjeet ja prosessikuvaukset käytännön toimien, kuten vaatimustenmukaisuuden ylläpidon tai ympäristönäkökohtien käsittelyn tueksi. Menettelyohjeet toimivat ohjeistuksena järjestelmän ylläpidolle, ja työn teoriaosuudessa käsitellyt sertifiointiin ja ylläpitoon liittyvät toimenpiteet ovat myös tulevaisuudessa Tamtron Oy:n käytössä. Lisäksi muistityökaluksi laadittiin laatujärjestelmänkin kannalta hyödylliseksi havaittu vuosikello järjestelmään liittyvien säännöllisesti toistuvien toimien suunnittelun ja toteutuksen seurannan helpottamiseksi. Työ pohjautuu ISO 14001:2015 -standardin lisäksi aiheeseen liittyvään kirjallisuuteen, verkkolähteisiin, johdon ja laadusta vastaavan tahon haastatteluihin sekä Tamtron Oy:n laatujärjestelmään. Laatujärjestelmään kuuluvia tiedostoja käytettiin erityisesti ympäristö- ja laatujärjestelmän prosessien yhdistämisen apuna. Opinnäytetyön liitteet, eli ympäristöjärjestelmä, siihen liittyvät menettelyohjeet ja prosessikuvaukset sekä järjestelmän käyttöönoton tuloksena laaditut dokumentit ovat salassa pidettäviä.The goal of this thesis was to create an environmental management system as part of the quality management system for Tamtron Oy, a manufacturer of digital weighing equipment. The purpose was to create and implement an ISO 14001:2015 based environmental management system in order to better control the environmental aspects of Tamtron Oy. In addition, the purpose was to create a supportive memory tool, and to find out which measures are needed later to certify and upkeep the system. The theoretical framework examined the use of management systems and their purpose as part of total quality management, and described the requirements of creating an environmental management system set by ISO 14001:2015 standard. The standard guides the planning of an environmental management system, and helps organizations to control and manage environmental aspects. Previously, Tamtron Oy has not had a systematic approach to environmental aspects in their operations, so the creation of the system began by learning about the operational environment of the organization. Based on these findings, an environmental management system in compliance with the existing processes of Tamtron Oy’s quality management system was created. The environmental management system included a document describing the general principles of the system, guidance documents for the operations as well as process descriptions to support and assist in the set operations, such as ensuring the compliance or handling the environmental aspects. The guidance documents serve as instructions for keeping up the system, and the measures required for the certification and upkeep as described in the theoretical framework are available for the use of Tamtron Oy in the future. In addition, a memory tool, which was chosen to be in the form of an annual clock due to its proven functionality in the quality management system, was created to further help with the planning, and to ensure the proper execution of the regularly occurring tasks. The thesis was based on the ISO 14001:2015 standard, the documents related to the quality management system of Tamtron Oy, and relevant literature and online sources. The information gathered through the quality management system was mainly used to integrate the environmental system with the existing processes of the quality management system. In addition, the interviews of the management and the personnel in charge of quality management were conducted to gain deeper understanding of the subject. The appendices of the thesis are confidential

Hankintojen automatisointiprojekti : Muutos onnistuu yhteistyöllä

Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli kehittää yritykselle tietojärjestelmämuutoksen läpivientiin soveltuva muutosjohtamisen toimintamalli, jota voidaan tulevaisuudessa käyttää vastaavanlaisissa muutosprojekteissa. Tavoitteena oli saada hyödynnettyä työyhteisön hiljainen tieto ja ammatillinen osaaminen muutoksen toteutuksessa, sekä pienentää muutoksen aiheuttamaa muutosvastarintaa. Työ toteutettiin toimintatutkimuksena. Toimintatutkimukseksi kutsutaan tutkimusstrategiaa, jonka tarkoituksena on vaikuttaa tutkimuskohteeseen, sen toimintaan tai ympäristöön, niitä kehittävästi tai parantavasti. Vaikuttamisen ja kehittämisen perustana on tutkimus, jota tutkija tekee tutkimuskohteen ympäristössä. Tutkimusongelmaksi asetettiin; millainen muutosjohtamisen toimintamalli parhaiten soveltuu tietojärjestelmän muutoshankkeen läpivientiin? Tutkimusongelma purettiin kolmeksi tutkimuskysymykseksi: 1. Miten muutos johdetaan tietojärjestelmän muutosprojektissa? 2. Miten strategiasta johdettu muutos viedään osaksi organisaation toimintaa? 3. Miten työntekijät saadaan osallistettua muutokseen? Kehitystyö oli osa hankintojen automatisointiprojektia. Tutkimuksen teknisen toteutuksen selkärangaksi muodostui laajennettu teknologian hyväksymismalli TAM, joka tarkastelee teknologian käyttöönottoa ja siihen liittyvää omaksumisprosessia yksilön perspektiivistä. Muutoksen johtamisessa organisaatiossa sovellettiin suhteissa rakentuvan muutoksen näkökulmaa ja Lewinin kolmen askeleen muutosmallia. Muutoksen toteutuksessa käytettiin myös osallistavia menetelmiä. Hankintaorganisaation kehitystyön tuloksena saavutettiin toimintavarma automaattinen hankintajärjestelmä ja osa yrityksen varastoon ostettavien nimikkeiden hankintaprosessista on muuttunut pysyvästi automaattiseksi. Kehitystyö on helpottanut myös manuaalisen ostotyön tekemistä.The main purpose of this Master’s Thesis was to design a change management approach that was suitable to support an information system change. The model could then be used with similar change projects in the future. The objective was to utilize the silent knowledge and the professional skills of the working community in implementing the change and to reduce resistance to change. The study was carried out as an action research. The research problem was to identify what management approach best suits the information system change implementation. The research problem was narrowed down to three research questions: 1. How should the change be managed in information system change project? 2. How should the strategy driven change be incorporated into the organization’s daily activities? 3. How to involve the people in the change? The study was a part of purchasing automation project. The backbone of the technical implementation of this study was built on the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). It is a model that examines the technology adaption process from the perspective of an individual. The relationship- based management and Lewin’s Three Step Change Theory were applied in the change management. Participatory methods were used in the change implementation. As a result of the development work done by the purchasing organization, a dependable automated purchasing system was created. A part of the purchasing process for items purchased to stock is now permanently automated. The development work has also made the manual purchasing easier