Statistical downscaling of a climate simulation of the last glacial cycle : Temperature and precipitation over Europe

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Kokonaisarkkitehtuuri julkisen sektorin digitalisaatiossa

Digitalization has been shaping our society already for decades. However, despite the rapid development of new technologies, the change from paper-based systems and processes in the public sector has been slow and somewhat painful. These challenges often relate to the difficulties in institutional restructuring, process redesign and inter-organizational collaboration. Enterprise architecture, on the other hand, aims to support the issues of alignment and integration, between the information systems and business processes. In this thesis digitalization and enterprise architecture are studied in public sector context. Also, the conceptual dimensions of both digitalization and enterprise architecture are investigated based on existing literature. It appeared that the adoption of digital opportunities in a public sector organization can be either reinforcing or transformational. The latter one, however, requires major effort throughout the organization to support horizontal integration in order to enable a customer-oriented organization. Also, it was found out that enterprise architecture, rather than a single concept, constitutes a number of dimensions that steer its value-creation logic as well as adoption in an organization. Most importantly, enterprise architecture can be characterized as the realized organizing logic of the ICT and processes or as a meta process consisting of methods and artefacts that support decision making in order to build a such realized organizing logic. This study concludes that in order to adopt digital transformation in the case organization, enterprise architecture should a) be exploited to create a common architectural vision of the enterprise and b) provide understanding of the current organization to move towards the vision. Also, enterprise architecture should support the sense-making of the novel technological developments and the adoption of them in the case organization. Finally, enterprise architecture should act both as a structure and a guiding vision for implementing the digital opportunities.Digitalisaatio on muovannut yhteiskuntaamme jo vuosikymmenten ajan. Uusien teknologioiden nopeasta kehitystahdista huolimatta muutos paperipohjaisista järjestelmistä ja prosesseista on ollut julkisella sektorilla hidasta ja jokseenkin kivuliasta. Haasteet liittyvät usein muutoksiin organisaatioissa ja prosesseissa, sekä organisaatioidenväliseen yhteistyöhön. Kokonaisarkkitehtuuri pyrkii tukemaan organisaatioita järjestelmien ja prosessien yhteensovittamisessa sekä integroinnissa. Tässä työssä tutkitaan kokonaisarkkitehtuuria ja digitalisaatiota julkisella sektorilla. Toisaalta tutkimuksen kohteena on myös kokonaisarkkitehtuurin ja digitalisaation käsitteellinen sisältö ja ulottuvuudet olemassa olevan kirjallisuuden perusteella. Työn perusteella voidaan todeta, että digitalisaatiota voidaan omaksua organisaatiossa joko olemassa olevia prosesseja vahvistavalla tai muuttavalla tavalla. Jälkimmäinen edellyttää kuitenkin koko organisaatiota koskettavia toimenpiteitä poikittaisen integraation ja edelleen asiakaslähtöisen organisaation mahdollistamiseksi. Toisaalta, kokonaisarkkitehtuuri näyttää yhden käsitteen sijaan kattavan joukon eri ulottuvuuksia, jotka vaikuttavat sen arvonluonnin logiikkaan sekä omaksumiseen. Ennen kaikkea kokonaisarkkitehtuuri voidaan käsittää realisoituneeksi toimintaprosessien ja tietojärjestelmien väliseksi rakenteeksi, tai vaihtoehtoisesti tällaisen rakenteen syntyä ohjaavaksi metaprosessiksi. Työn tuloksena selvisi, että prosesseja muuttavan digitalisaation omaksumiseen kohdeorganisaation kokonaisarkkitehtuurin tulisi luoda yhteinen visio tavoitearkkitehtuurista sekä tarjota ymmärrystä organisaation nykytilasta nyky- ja tavoitetilan välisen eron hahmottamiseksi. Lisäksi kokonaisarkkitehtuurin pitäisi tukea uusien digitalisaation myötä syntyvien teknologisten mahdollisuuksien tunnistamisessa sekä hyödyntämisessä. Laajemmin, kokonaisarkkitehtuurin tulisi toimia sekä rakenteena että ohjaavana visiona digitalisaation tuomien uusien mahdollisuuksien hyödyntämisessä

Kansainvälisen sääntelyn vaikutukset suomalaisen metsätalouden kilpailukykyyn

Tieteen tor

Continuous assessment with self-checking tasks

This paper discusses the applicability and benefits of self-checking tasks in continuous assessment in an electrical engineering course. The method was implemented in the first-year online graduate course of Advanced Power Electronics. The method uses a two-week cycle, where during the first week a task is accomplished on the topic of that week. The tasks include working with data from component datasheets, reading and employing application notes, calculations, and simulations. During the second week, the students self-check their tasks using a rubric provided for them and then turn in a corrected version of the task. To keep the cycle going, during the second week, a new topic is also introduced, and a new task is given. The method was assessed based on a student questionnaire and teacher experiences. The method was new to all students. One of the main findings from the questionnaire was that correcting the original task submission supported student learning more than any other form of teaching on the course. However, there were different interpretations of how this support actually worked. The study also showed that there was significant variation between different types of tasks in how the students assessed the relevance of tasks and their difficulty level. Furthermore, students found that some tasks or their outcomes were more suitable for selfchecking than others. This was confirmed by the teacher’s insights on the course

Human population dynamics in Europe over the Last Glacial Maximum

The severe cooling and the expansion of the ice sheets during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), 27,000-19,000 y ago (27-19 ky ago) had a major impact on plant and animal populations, including humans. Changes in human population size and range have affected our genetic evolution, and recent modeling efforts have reaffirmed the importance of population dynamics in cultural and linguistic evolution, as well. However, in the absence of historical records, estimating past population levels has remained difficult. Here we show that it is possible to model spatially explicit human population dynamics from the pre-LGM at 30 ky ago through the LGM to the Late Glacial in Europe by using climate envelope modeling tools and modern ethnographic datasets to construct a population calibration model. The simulated range and size of the human population correspond significantly with spatiotemporal patterns in the archaeological data, suggesting that climate was a major driver of population dynamics 30-13 ky ago. The simulated population size declined from about 330,000 people at 30 ky ago to a minimum of 130,000 people at 23 ky ago. The Late Glacial population growth was fastest during Greenland interstadial 1, and by 13 ky ago, therewere almost 410,000 people in Europe. Even during the coldest part of the LGM, the climatically suitable area for human habitation remained unfragmented and covered 36% of Europe.Peer reviewe

Työvoiman liikkuvuus Euroopassa ESR -hanke: Työpaikkasuomi -koulutusten ja Kansainvälinen työyhteisö -valmennusten vaikuttavuus

Raportissa tarkastellaan Pohjois-Karjalan ELY-keskuksen toteuttaman Työvoiman liikkuvuus Euroopassa ESR -hankkeen alla järjestettävien Työpaikkasuomi-koulutusten ja Kansainvälinen työyhteisö -valmennusten vaikuttavuutta. Työpaikkasuomi-koulutuksissa tarjotaan kielikoulutusta Suomessa toimivien yritysten / työnantajien ulkomaalaistaustaisille työntekijöille. Kansainvälinen työyhteisö -valmennusten avulla annetaan työkaluja kansainvälisten työyhteisöjen vuorovaikutuksen, toimivuuden ja johtamisen kehittämiseen. Työpaikkasuomi-koulutuksia on järjestetty kesäkuuhun 2019 mennessä vuodenvaihteesta 2015/2016 lähtien noin 180 kpl 15 kouluttajaorganisaation voimin ja Kansainvälinen työyhteisö -valmennuksia keväästä 2017 alkaen kolmen kouluttajaorganisaation toimesta 6 kpl. Hankkeessa on tarjolla myös Työpaikkaruotsi-koulutusta suomenruotsalaisilla alueilla (Uusimaa, Varsinais-Suomi ja Satakunta sekä Pohjanmaa). Kysyntä on Työpaikkaruotsissa ollut kuitenkin vähäistä, joten tutkimuksessa keskitytään Työpaikkasuomen vaikuttavuuteen. Raportin ovat laatineet Heikki Rannikko (Ramboll Finland Oy), Katri Haila (Owal Group Oy) ja Teemu Korhonen. Saavutettavuus on tarkistettu

Self-reported health problems in a health risk appraisal predict permanent work disability : a prospective cohort study of 22,023 employees from different sectors in Finland with up to 6-year follow-up

Purpose Work disability (WD) as a medico-legal concept refers to disability benefits (DB) that are granted due to diseases that permanently reduce work ability. We studied whether an occupational healthcare instrument for the prediction of sickness absence (SA) risk-a health risk appraisal (HRA)-also predicts permanent WD. Methods HRA results were combined with registry data on DB of 22,023 employees from different industry sectors. We analysed how the HRA risk categories predict DB and considered occupational group, gender, age, and prior SA as confounding variables. Cumulative incidence function illustrates the difference between the HRA risk categories, and the Fine-Gray model estimates the predictors of WD during 6-year follow-up. Results The most common primary reasons for permanent WD were musculoskeletal (39%) and mental disorders (21%). Self-reported health problems in the HRA, labelled as "WD risk factors", predicted DB when controlling for age and prior SA. Hazard ratios were 10.9 or over with the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval 3.3 or over among those with two simultaneous WD risk factors. 14% of the females and 17% of the males with three or more simultaneous WD risk factors had received a DB, whereas the respective figures among those without findings were 1.9% and 0.3%. Conclusions Self-reported health problems in the HRA, especially multiple simultaneous WD risk factors, predict permanent WD among both genders across occupational groups. Screening WD risk with a self-administered questionnaire is a potential means for identifying high-risk employees for targeting occupational healthcare actions.Peer reviewe

The lifetime risk of pneumonia in patients with neuromuscular scoliosis at a mean age of 21 years : the role of spinal deformity surgery

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