rRNA gene restriction patterns as a characterization tool for Lactobacillus sake strains producing ropy slime

http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/01681605The rRNA gene restriction patterns (ribotypes) of 69 ropy slime producing Lactobacillus sake strains isolated mainly from vacuum-packaged meat products of ten meat plants were determined. Ribotypes of these spoilage bacteria were compared to the corresponding pat-terns of non-ropy L. sake strains, and also to other species of the genus Lactobacillus, Carnobacterium and Weissella associated with meat products. Ribotyping divided the ropy slime-producing L. sake strains into four characteristic groups corresponding to the phenotypic carbohydrate grouping. The major group was contaminating nine plants located in different parts of Finland and no association between certain ribotypes and individual plants was detected. Dif-ferences between ribotypes of slime producing and non-ropy strains of L. sake group sharing the same carbohydrate pattern were not found. Otherwise ribotyping distinguished the ropy slime producing strains from the non-ropy L. sake reference strains. All L. sake strains were distinguished from other species of the genus Lactobacillus, Carnobacterium and Weissella by characteristic band-ing patterns obtained especially with Hind III digestion. These results suggest that ribotyping is a suitable method for detection and surveillance of the contamination of ropy slime producing L. sake strains but the patterns alone cannot be used as markers of slime production capability. Comparison of ribotypes between differ-ent species of the genus Lactobacillus suggest that ribotyping may also be a suitable method for species identification within the genus Lactobacillus

Distributional impact analysis of past climate variability in rural Indonesia

In rural Indonesia, around 60 percent of workers engage in agriculture and face regular climatic shocks that may threaten their crop production, household income, and human capital investments. Little is known about households’ ability to maintain consumption in response to these shocks. This paper uses both longitudinal and repeated cross-sectional data to examine the extent to which farm profits and household consumption are reduced by delayed monsoon onset, an important determinant of rice production in Indonesia. It also investigates whether poor households are more vulnerable to delayed onset. Overall, delayed onset has minor effects on rural households’ profit and consumption. For poor households, defined as those with average per capita consumption in the lowest quintile, delayed onset the previous year is associated with a 13 percent decline in per capita consumption. Most of this decline is due to an increase in household size, however, and delayed onset two years ago is positively correlated with consumption. The findings suggest that poor households experience greater volatility but no lasting reduction in consumption following delayed monsoon onset.Rural Poverty Reduction,Small Area Estimation Poverty Mapping,Consumption,Regional Economic Development

The spoilage flora of vacuum-packaged, sodium nitrite or potassium nitrate treated, cold-smoked rainbow trout stored at 4°C or 8°C

http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/01681605The spoilage flora of vacuum-packaged, salted, cold-smoked rainbow trout fillets, with or without the addition of nitrate or nitrite, stored at 4°C and 8°C, was studied. Of 620 isolates, lactic acid bacteria were the major fraction (76%), predominating in all samples of spoiled product. However, the phenotypical tests used were insufficient to identify the lactic acid bacteria to the species level. Gram-positive, catalase-positive cocci, Gram-negative, oxidase-negative rods and Gram-negative, oxidase-positive rods were found in 6%, 16% and 2% of the samples, respectively. Of 39 Gram-positive, catalase-positive cocci, 29 were identified as staphylococci and 10 as micrococci. Eighty-five isolates were found to belong to the family Enterobacteriaceae, with 45 of those being Serratia plymuthica. Eleven isolates from the nitrate treated samples stored at 8°C were identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The occurrence of P. aeruginosa and staphylococci in the nitrate-containing samples, stored at 8°C, may cause problems with respect to the safety of the product. The types of lactic acid and other bacteria in the spoilage flora were generally reduced by the addition of nitrate or nitrite to fillets

Climate and land in turmoil: Welfare impacts of extreme weather events and palm oil production expansion in Indonesia.

Climate variability and climate change have become important research topics also in economics. The objective of this thesis is not to forecast the future but to learn from the past by studying how two important climate change-related topics have affected Indonesian households. Delayed monsoon onset, El Niño, will become more frequent with climate change whereas palm oil production is a contributor to climate change. The first essay examines how variability in monsoon onset affects rural households' welfare in terms of household expenditure and farm profits. Using the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS) data I find that households in the middle tercile of the expenditure distribution face the biggest albeit temporary losses from delayed monsoon onset. Half of the expenditure decline is due to increase in household size. Conditional on onset, rainfall intensity has only minor effects. The second essay uses the IFLS data to study how schooling and child labour are affected by delayed monsoon onset. The probability of continuing from primary to secondary school is reduced when a delayed onset coincides with the transition year. In other respects, monsoon onset does not affect education of rural children. However, riskier distribution of rain postpones school entry for young children. Moreover, delayed onset increases child labour. Using district-level data on palm oil production and area planted and national household survey (SUSENAS) the third essay studies the impact of oil palm expansion on household expenditure and health. Instrumental variable estimates exploit the historical production and district forest area as an exogenous source of variation. I find that smallholder production has a weak negative impact on household expenditure but this effect is not present among rural households. More, total production increases incidence of asthma in Kalimantan. The findings suggest that palm oil is not a panacea to increase rural welfare

Variation in the prevalence of enteropathogenic Yersinia in slaughter pigs from Belgium, Italy, and Spain

Tonsils of 829 fattening pigs originating from Belgium (n = 201), Italy (n = 428), and Spain (n 200) were collected between 2005 and 2007 to study the prevalence of enteropathogenic Yersinia in slaughter pigs. Isolation of Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis was done by selective enrichment and by cold enrichment for 7 and 14 days. Pathogenic Y. enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis isolates were identified by polymerase chain reaction targeting the chromosomal genes ail and inv, respectively, as well as the plasmid-encoded virF of both species. A significantly higher (p < 0.001) prevalence of ail-positive Y. enterocolitica in Spain (93%) than in Belgium (44%) or Italy (32%) was observed. virF-positive Y. enterocolitica was present in 77% of ail-positive samples. Bioserotype 4/O:3 was the most common type in all three countries. Bioserotypes 2/O:5 and 3/O:9 were found in Italy (1%) and Belgium (9%), respectively. The prevalence of inv- and virF-positive Y. pseudotuberculosis was 2% and 1% in Belgium and Italy, respectively. Y. pseudotuberculosis was not detected in pigs from Spain. Bioserotypes 1/O:1 (20%), 1/O:2 (20%), and 2/O:3 (60%) were found in Belgium, and 1/O:1 (60%) and 2/O:3 (20%) in Italy. The most efficient method for isolation of Y. enterocolitica was combined cold enrichment for 7 and 14 days; however, the isolation method for Y. pseudotuberculosis was cold enrichment for 14 days. Fattening pigs seemto be an important reservoir of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica in Belgium, Italy, and Spain. Bioserotype 4/O:3 of Y. enterocolitica and bioserotypes 2/O:3 and 1/O:1 of Y. pseudotuberculosis have been shown to predominate

Ecuadorin dollarisaatio : Perusteltu valinta vai tuhoon tuomittu vakauttamisyritys?

Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan dollarisaation hyötyjä ja kustannuksia kehittyvien maiden näkökulmasta. Dollarisaatiolla tarkoitetaan, että maa luopuu kansallisesta valuutastaan ja itsenäisestä rahapolitiikastaan ottamalla käyttöön jonkun toisen maan valuutan. Ecuador otti käyttöönsä Yhdysvaltain dollarin vuonna 2000, ja tutkielman tarkoituksena on selvittää, voidaanko Ecuadorin dollarisaatiota pitää kirjallisuuden perusteella perusteltuna valintana. Dollarisaatiosta keskustellaan muissakin Latinalaisen Amerikan maissa. Empiirinen evidenssi dollarisaatiosta on kuitenkin vähäistä, joten Ecuadorin kokemukset tulevat olemaan tärkeitä sekä myöhemmän tutkimuksen että politiikkavalintojen kannalta. Tutkielmassa selvitetään lyhyesti Ecuadorin talouden erityispiirteitä ja 1990-luvun rahoituskriisiä, mutta pääpaino on dollarisaation teoreettisessa tarkastelussa. Tutkielmassa esitellään kaksi lähestymistapaa dollarisaatioon. Galen ja Vivesin pankkisektorin vakautta painottavassa mallissa keskuspankki kärsii aikaepäjohdonmukaisuusongelmasta. Dollarisaation avulla keskuspankki voi ostaa uskottavuutta, mutta dollarisaatio voi estää keskuspankkia tarjoamasta likviditeettiapua silloinkin, kun se olisi vakauden kannalta tehokasta. Mallin perusteella dollarisaatio on pankkisektorin vakauden kannalta hyvä järjestelmä maissa, joissa pankinjohtaja kärsii moraalikato-ongelmasta ja johtajan työpanos on merkittävä tuottojen parantamiseksi. Projektien likvidointikustannukset eivät kuitenkaan saa olla suuria. Alesinan ja Barron malli perustuu perinteiseen optimaalisen valuutta-alueen teoriaan. Mitä suurempi on tuotantosokkien korrelaatio kiinnittäjämaan ja ankkurimaan välillä, sitä pienempi on itsenäisen rahapolitiikan hyöty, kun kiinnittäjämaa ei pysty sitoutumaan alhaiseen inflaatioon, mutta ankkurimaa pystyy. Dollarisaation hyödyt seuraavat kasvaneesta ulkomaankaupasta ja alentuneesta inflaatiosta. Mallin perusteella dollarisaatiosta hyötyvät pienet avotaloudet, joilla on historiallisesti ollut korkea inflaatio ja jotka käyvät paljon kauppaa mahdollisen ankkurimaan kanssa. Pankkisektorin vakauden kannalta Ecuadorin ongelmana saattavat olla projektien suuret likvidointikustannukset. Alesinan ja Barron lähestymistavan kannalta ongelmallista on, ettei Ecuadorin suhdannesykli ole merkittävästi korreloinut Yhdysvaltojen suhdannesyklin kanssa. Mallien perusteella Ecuadorin dollarisaatiota voidaan kuitenkin pitää perusteltuna. Toisaalta dollarisaation onnistumisen kannalta merkittäviä ovat pankkisektorin valvonnan ja sääntelyn tehostaminen sekä valtiontalouden hallinnan kehittäminen. Ei kuitenkaan ole evidenssiä siitä, että dollarisaatio johtaisi tarvittavien taloudellisten uudistusten toteutumiseen. Ecuadorin dollarisaation merkittävimmät riskit liittyvätkin tarvittavien uudistusten toteuttamiseen. Tärkeimmät käytetyt lähteet: ALESINA, A. – BARRO, R. J. (2002): Currency Unions; EICHENGREEN, B. (2002): When to Dollarize; GALE, D. – VIVES, X. (2002): Dollarization, Bailouts, and the Stability of the Banking System; BECKERMAN, P. – SOLIMANO, A. (2002): Crisis and Dollarization in Ecuador

Sudenkuopasta suksee : Millainen johtajuus tukee organisaation resilienssiä

Tutkimuksessa lähestyttiin johtajuuden näkökulmasta organisaation resilienssiä ja tarkasteltiin autenttisen johtajuuden, transformationaalisen johtajuuden sekä osallistavan johtajuuden suhdetta organisaation resilienssiin. Tutkimuksen taustateoriaksi valikoitui oppivan organisaation teoria, jossa organisaatio nähdään avoimena, oppimishaluisena ja muuttuvana sekä yhteisen vision pohjalta toimivana yhteisönä. Laadullisen tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli tuoda teorian luomisen ja teemahaastattelujen avulla resilienssin käsite yksilötasolta organisaatiotasolle ja selvittää, millainen johtajuus tukee organisaation resilienssiä sekä tuoda uutta näkökulmaa organisaatiotason resilienssikeskusteluun. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tuottaa tietoa siitä, millainen johtajuus vahvistaa organisaation resilienssiä, sekä selvittää, millaisia vaikutuksia johtamistyylillä on organisaation resilienssiin. Tutkimus toteutettiin laadullisena haastattelututkimuksena, jossa haastateltiin kahdeksaa (8) kansalaisjärjestössä tai sosiaali- tai terveyspalveluissa toimivaa esimiestä. Haastattelut toteutettiin puolistrukturoituina teemahaastatteluina ja ne toteutettiin etäyhteyden välityksellä. Aineisto analysoitiin sisällönanalyysin avulla. Tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan sanoa, että sekä autenttisessa johtajuudessa, transformationaalisessa johtajuudessa, että osallistavassa johtajuudessa on organisaation resilienssiä vahvistavia elementtejä, kuten yhteistyö ja vuorovaikutus, selkeät roolit, yhteinen visio ja luottamus. Tärkeämpää kuin tietty johtamisstrategia tai johtajuustyyli, on kontekstin huomioiminen ja johtajuustyylien yhdistely tarpeen ja tilanteen mukaan. Oppimiseen, arvostukseen ja yhteistyöhön perustuvat organisaatiokulttuurit luovat vahvempaa resilienssiä, joka auttaa organisaatiota säilyttämään toimintakykynsä yllättävissä tilanteissa. Tutkimus osoittaa, että organisaation resilienssin vahvistamisessa esimiehellä on olennainen rooli ja merkitys, ja esimiehen vahvat vuorovaikutustaidot ovat keskeisessä asemassa. Johtajuus voi sisältää useita erilaisia ominaisuuksia, jotka ovat merkityksellisiä organisaation resilienssin vahvistamisessa. Nämä ominaisuudet ilmenevät eri tavoin ja näkyvät erilaisina toimintamuotoina. Havaittavissa oli myös esteitä, jotka vaikuttavat organisaation resilienssiin. Resilienssiä vahvistava johtajuus on avointa, joustavaa, luotettavaa, sekä yhteistyöhön ja läsnäoloon perustuvaa

Pathogenic Yersinia and Listeria monocytogenes in organic pork production

The goal of this study is to determine the prevalence of pathogenic Yersinia and Listeria monocytogenes in organic pork production and assess risks in different steps of the pork production chain

Screening of the two-component-system histidine kinases of Listeria monocytogenes EGD-e. LiaS is needed for growth under heat, acid, alkali, osmotic, ethanol and oxidative stresses

To study the role of each two-component system (TCS) histidine kinase (HK) in stress tolerance of Listeria monocytogenes EGD-e, we monitored the growth of individual HIC deletion mutant strains under heat (42.5 degrees C), acid (pH 5.6), alkali (pH 9.4), osmotic (6% NaCl), ethanol (3.5 vol%), and oxidative (5 mM H2O2) stresses. The growth of Delta liaS (Delta lmo1021) strain was impaired under each stress, with the most notable decrease under heat and osmotic stresses. The Delta ivirS (Delta lmo1741) strain showed nearly completely restricted growth at high temperature and impaired growth in ethanol. The growth of Delta agrC (Delta lmo0050) strain was impaired under osmotic stress and slightly under oxidative stress. We successfully complemented the HIC mutations using a novel allelic exchange based approach. This approach avoided the copy-number problems associated with in trans complementation from a plasmid. The mutant phenotypes were restored to the wild-type level in the complemented strains. This study reveals novel knowledge on the HKs needed for growth of L monocytogenes EGD-e under abovementioned stress conditions, with LiaS playing multiple roles in stress tolerance of L monocytogenes EGD-e. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

System for Cross-domain Identity Management palveluiden pääsynhallintaan palvelupohjaisessa arkkitehtuurissa

Identity and Access Management systems are usually fundamental services in organizations. In Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) they can be used to provide three different services: authentication, authorization and information about users and their access rights. For the latter, there has not been a widely used standard in SOA to provide user information to other services. System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM) is a new emerging Representational state transfer (REST) based standard to help provision user information to cloud services. This Master Thesis discusses how SCIM can be used to provide user information to consuming services in a SOA based solution. The first part of the thesis studies what are the advantages and disadvantages using REST based solutions compared to SOAP based solutions. Based on a literary review, REST has better performance, measured by throughout put, and it is independent of data format. SOAP has the advantage of being very standardized and has mature tools and frameworks compared to REST. REST is more based on conventions than standards, so tools and frameworks behave differently which might lead to interoperability problems. The second part of the thesis focuses on whether SCIM can be used to provide user information service to consuming services. Three scenarios were designed and implemented in SCIM to find out whether the access right model of the SCIM is expressive enough and whether the resources defined by SCIM provide a required set of attributes. The presented scenarios have different requirements: the first one models internal access rights of an organization, the second scenario a use case in which an organization offers services to its customers and the third one a use case in which role based access rights are restricted to certain objects. The last two scenarios required extending the SCIM core resource schema. The models were tested in a proof-of-concept implementation and they were able to fulfill all the requirements. This indicates that SCIM can be used to implement user and user’s access right information service. To conclude, a five step process is presented that an organization can use to assess if SCIM is suitable for its use