Horse Entrepreneurs and Their Customers as Partners in Combating the Coronavirus Pandemic : A Preliminary Study of the Principal-Agent Relationship

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Vaccination and deworming of foals : Owners’ perspective

Foals are susceptible to many infectious diseases and they should be treated and protected differently compared to adult horses. Objectives of this study were to investigate vaccination and deworming practices of foal owners in Finland. The questionnaire study was executed. Foal owners (n = 236) gave a response and 217 of them told that they vaccinate their foals against equine influenza and tetanus (combination vaccine) (88 %) and herpes (12 %), but not against rabies (1,8 %). About 8 % did not vaccinated their foal at all and a risk of being non-vaccinated was regionally distributed (p<0,05). Among foal owners deworming (99,2 %) preferred over vaccination (92 %). Foals were dewormed by taking regular fecal samples first (76%), but also routine treatments without samples were favored (22 %). Differences between foals of this study and horse population in general (horses of all ages) need to take seriously when conclusions are drawn. Different recommendations come from different veterinarians should be taken under further research.Peer reviewe

Coronal mass ejections and their sheath regions in interplanetary space

Interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) are large-scale heliospheric transients that originate from the Sun. When an ICME is sufficiently faster than the preceding solar wind, a shock wave develops ahead of the ICME. The turbulent region between the shock and the ICME is called the sheath region. ICMEs and their sheaths and shocks are all interesting structures from the fundamental plasma physics viewpoint. They are also key drivers of space weather disturbances in the heliosphere and planetary environments. ICME-driven shock waves can accelerate charged particles to high energies. Sheaths and ICMEs drive practically all intense geospace storms at the Earth, and they can also affect dramatically the planetary radiation environments and atmospheres. This review focuses on the current understanding of observational signatures and properties of ICMEs and the associated sheath regions based on five decades of studies. In addition, we discuss modelling of ICMEs and many fundamental outstanding questions on their origin, evolution and effects, largely due to the limitations of single spacecraft observations of these macro-scale structures. We also present current understanding of space weather consequences of these large-scale solar wind structures, including effects at the other Solar System planets and exoplanets. We specially emphasize the different origin, properties and consequences of the sheaths and ICMEs.Interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) are large-scale heliospheric transients that originate from the Sun. When an ICME is sufficiently faster than the preceding solar wind, a shock wave develops ahead of the ICME. The turbulent region between the shock and the ICME is called the sheath region. ICMEs and their sheaths and shocks are all interesting structures from the fundamental plasma physics viewpoint. They are also key drivers of space weather disturbances in the heliosphere and planetary environments. ICME-driven shock waves can accelerate charged particles to high energies. Sheaths and ICMEs drive practically all intense geospace storms at the Earth, and they can also affect dramatically the planetary radiation environments and atmospheres. This review focuses on the current understanding of observational signatures and properties of ICMEs and the associated sheath regions based on five decades of studies. In addition, we discuss modelling of ICMEs and many fundamental outstanding questions on their origin, evolution and effects, largely due to the limitations of single spacecraft observations of these macro-scale structures. We also present current understanding of space weather consequences of these large-scale solar wind structures, including effects at the other Solar System planets and exoplanets. We specially emphasize the different origin, properties and consequences of the sheaths and ICMEs.Interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) are large-scale heliospheric transients that originate from the Sun. When an ICME is sufficiently faster than the preceding solar wind, a shock wave develops ahead of the ICME. The turbulent region between the shock and the ICME is called the sheath region. ICMEs and their sheaths and shocks are all interesting structures from the fundamental plasma physics viewpoint. They are also key drivers of space weather disturbances in the heliosphere and planetary environments. ICME-driven shock waves can accelerate charged particles to high energies. Sheaths and ICMEs drive practically all intense geospace storms at the Earth, and they can also affect dramatically the planetary radiation environments and atmospheres. This review focuses on the current understanding of observational signatures and properties of ICMEs and the associated sheath regions based on five decades of studies. In addition, we discuss modelling of ICMEs and many fundamental outstanding questions on their origin, evolution and effects, largely due to the limitations of single spacecraft observations of these macro-scale structures. We also present current understanding of space weather consequences of these large-scale solar wind structures, including effects at the other Solar System planets and exoplanets. We specially emphasize the different origin, properties and consequences of the sheaths and ICMEs.Peer reviewe

Viranomaisyhteistyö ja eläintautien vastustaminen ympäristöterveydenhuollon hallinnossa

The task of environmental health care is to ensure the safety of the living environment. Infectious diseases dangerous to health are not present in a safe living environment. Several authorities of different administrative sectors from all levels of government are involved in preventing and resisting infectious diseases. Often, cooperation between these different authorities is also needed. Cooperation between authorities is governed by several national laws and supplementary regulations, so cooperation between authorities must be considered in the discursive reality created by the statutory texts. Review of the reality created by the statutory text is particularly important in the context of regional government reform when the statutory tasks of environmental health care are transferred from municipalities to provinces. In the reform, many laws change and some are even abolished. It is reflected in the activities of the authorities in a way that is as yet unknown. At this stage, it is only known that the notification practices between municipal veterinarian and regional state administrative agency’s provincial veterinarian regulated by the laws currently in force will change with the abolition of regional state administrative agencies when anyone suspecting an animal disease or observing such notifies about the suspicions or observation directly to the province instead of a municipal veterinarian. The strategic level of legislation on environmental health care and the practical activity level of authorities form two interrelated activity levels which, however, deviate from each other. This study observed the cooperation between authorities from the point of view of legislation and a situation requiring practical activity. The aim was to study the way in which the reality of cooperation between authorities is manifested in the discourses of previous and current laws regulating environmental health care and what kind of cooperation and communication between authorities is in practice in the field of animal disease control and resistance. As laws were chosen both Finnish national laws (the state’s internal cooperation between authorities) and Russian animal disease and foodstuffs legislation (cooperation between authorities of the states). A case study of cooperation between authorities was carried out in connection with intensive surveillance situations of pet imports. The study was conducted in the framework of social constructionism, in which the language and the meanings generated by it play a central role, but the study also observed the symbolic meanings generated by the images. The research material was a collection of legislative and law proposal text dealing with cooperation between authorities and regulations, instructions, circulars and decisions related to the law, the observation logs produced in the observation of the cooperation between authorities, and the freely available image material on the Internet taken from cooperation situations between authorities. The analysis was based on the qualitative analysis of the texts formed by the language and image material. As an aid to the analysis, the question-answer technique, verb analysis and personal relationship analysis were used, complementing the principles of hermeneutics. The cooperation between the authorities was communication between the authorities either in the chain from lower to upper or back and forth between two authorities. The legal texts answered to who notifies and who shall be notified types of questions. The position and status of the Finnish authorities and the resulting responsibilities and powers were clearly defined in the statutory text. The Russian statutory text also included recommendations concerning cooperation. The Act and the Regulation text were used to make sure that the authorities of both countries knew what to notify and how quickly to notify. Active and mandatory verbs dominated the two countries' statutory discourse. In import control cases, the authorities had more room for discretion to form communication chain reactions appropriate for the situation without separately agreeing on them with other authorities, and the cooperation between authorities was tightened around some authorities. The cooperation between the authorities was also tightened around the target of inspection, i.e. the dog to be imported. In the cooperation situation, adaptation to the prevailing situation was made and, therefore, intermittent exclusion from the center of the most active activity was experienced. Cooperation between the authorities is, according to the situation, a live, dynamic activity open to various interpretations, which should continue to form more coherent practices. This would be particularly important now in the change phase of administration. In their background Finnish authorities have a common language and culture and, in particular, the common symbols provided by culture, which may have surprisingly profound meaning in times of change. Above all, it should be remembered that cooperation between authorities is not merely a linguistic activity between human beings, which is intensified around some authorities and personified in some specific person, but an authority in interaction is in a nonverbal and symbolic interaction also with the wider physical environment.Ympäristöterveydenhuollon tehtävänä on varmistaa elinympäristön turvallisuus. Turvallisessa elinympäristössä ei esiinny ihmisen terveydelle vaarallisia tarttuvia tauteja. Tarttuvien tautien ehkäisyyn ja vastustamiseen osallistuu useita eri hallinnonalan viranomaisia kaikilta hallinnon tasoilta. Usein tarvitaan myös näiden eri viranomaisten välistä yhteistyötä. Viranomaisyhteistyötä säätelevät useat kansalliset lait ja niitä täydentävät asetukset, joten viranomaisyhteistyötä on tarkasteltava säädöstekstien luomassa diskursiivisessa todellisuudessa. Säädöstekstin luoman todellisuuden tarkastelu on erityisen tärkeää maakuntauudistuksen yhteydessä, kun ympäristöterveydenhuollon lakisääteisten tehtävien pitäisi siirtyä kunnilta maakunnille. Uudistuksessa useat lait muuttuvat ja joitakin jopa kumotaan. Se heijastuu viranomaisten toimintaan vielä tuntemattomalla tavalla. Tässä vaiheessa tiedetään ainoastaan, että nykyisin voimassa olevissa laeissa säädellyt kunnaneläinlääkärin ja aluehallintoviraston läänineläinlääkärin väliset ilmoituskäytännöt muuttuvat aluehallintovirastojen lakkauttamisen myötä, kun kuka tahansa eläintautia epäilevä tai sellaisen toteava ilmoittaa epäilyistään tai havainnostaan kunnaneläinlääkärin sijaan suoraan maakunnalle. Ympäristöterveydenhuollon strateginen taso (lainsäädäntö) ja ympäristöterveydenhuollon viranomaisten käytännön toiminnan taso muodostavat kaksi toisiinsa sidottua, mutta toisistaan poikkeavaa toimintatasoa. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin viranomaisyhteistyötä sekä lainsäädännön että käytännön toimintaa edellyttävän tilanteen näkökulmasta. Tavoitteena oli tutkia, minkälaisena viranomaisyhteistyön todellisuus näyttäytyy entisten ja nykyisten ympäristöterveydenhuoltoa säätelevien lakien diskursseissa sekä minkälaista viranomaisyhteistyö ja -viestintä on eläintautivalvonnan ja -vastustuksen käytännön tilanteessa. Laeiksi valittiin sekä suomalaisia kansallisia lakeja (valtion sisäinen viranomaisyhteistyö) että venäläistä eläintauti -ja elintarvikelainsäädäntöä (valtioiden välinen viranomaisyhteistyö). Viranomaisyhteistyön tapaustutkimus toteutettiin lemmikkien maahantuonnin tehovalvontatilanteiden yhteydessä. Tutkimus tehtiin sosiaalisen konstruktionismin viitekehyksessä, jossa kielellä ja sen tuottamilla merkityksillä on keskeinen asema, mutta tutkimuksessa otettiin myös kuvien tuottamat symboliset merkitykset huomioon. Tutkimusaineistoksi kerättiin viranomaisyhteistyötä käsittelevää laki -ja lakiesitystekstiä sekä lakiin liittyviä asetuksia, ohjeita, yleiskirjeitä ja päätöksiä, viranomaisyhteistyön havainnoinnissa syntynyttä havaintopäiväkirja-aineistoa sekä viranomaisyhteistyötilanteista otettua, internetissä vapaasti saatavilla olevaa kuva-aineistoa. Analyysi perustui kielen ja kuva-aineiston muodostamien tekstien laadulliseen analyysiin. Analyysin apuna käytettiin hermeneutiikan periaatteita täydentävä kysymys-vastaus -tekniikkaa, verbianalyysiä ja henkilösuhteiden analyysiä. Viranomaisyhteistyö oli viranomaisten välistä tiedonvälitystä joko ketjussa alemmalta ylemmälle tai edestakaisin kahden viranomaisen välillä. Lakitekstit vastasivat kuka ilmoittaa ja kenelle ilmoitetaan -tyyppisiin kysymyksiin. Suomalaisten viranomaiset paikka ja asema ja siitä seuraavat vastuut ja toimivaltuudet oli tarkoin määritelty säädöstekstissä. Venäläinen säädösteksti piti sisällään myös yhteistyötä koskevia suosituksia. Laki -ja asetustekstillä varmistettiin, että molempien maiden viranomaiset tiesivät, mistä ilmoittaa ja kuinka nopeasti ilmoittaa. Aktiivimuotoiset ja velvoittavat verbit hallitsivat kummankin maan säädösdiskurssia. Tuontivalvontatilanteissa viranomaisilla oli enemmän harkinnanvaraa muodostaa tilanteen kannalta tarkoituksenmukaisia tiedonvälityksen ketjureaktioita niistä muiden viranomaisen kanssa erikseen sopimatta ja viranomaisyhteistyö oli joidenkin viranomaisten ympärille tiivistynyttä. Viranomaisyhteistyö oli myös tarkastuksen kohteen eli maahantuotavan koiran ympärille tiivistynyttä. Yhteistyötilanteessa sopeuduttiin vallitsevaan tilanteeseen ja koettiin sen vuoksi ajoittaista aktiivisimman toiminnan keskuksesta syrjäytymistä. Viranomaisyhteistyö on tilanteen mukaan elävää, dynaamista ja tulkinnanvaraista toimintaa, josta soisi edelleenkin muodostuvan yhtenäisempiä käytäntöjä. Se olisi erityisen tärkeää nyt hallinnon muutosvaiheessa. Suomalaisilla viranomaisilla on taustallaan yhteinen kieli ja kulttuuri ja erityisesti kulttuurin tarjoamia yhteisiä symboleita, joilla voi olla muutoksen aikoina yllättävänkin syvällistä merkitystä. Ennen kaikkea tulisi muistaa, että viranomaisyhteistyö ei ole vain ihmisolentojen välistä kielellistä toimintaa, joka tiivistyy joidenkin viranomaisten ympärille ja henkilöityy johonkin nimenomaiseen persoonaan, vaan viranomainen on vuorovaikutuksessaan sanattomassa ja symbolisessa vuorovaikutuksessa myös laajemman fyysisen ympäristönsä kanssa

Incidence and survival in oral and pharyngeal cancers in Finland and Sweden through half century

Background Cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx encompass a heterogeneous group of cancers for which known risk factors include smoking, alcohol consumption and human papilloma virus (HPV) infection but their influence is site-specific with HPV mainly influencing oropharyngeal cancer. Their incidence and survival rates are not well known over extended periods of time. Patients/methods Data were obtained for Finnish (FI) and Swedish (SE) patients from the Nordcan database recently updated through 2019. Age-adjusted incidence trends (FI from 1953, SE from 1960) and relative survival rates for years 1970 through 2019 were calculated. Results We observed a prominent increase in oral and oropharyngeal cancers in FI and SE men and women but the trend for oral cancer was interrupted for SE men in 1985 and possibly also for FI and SE women in 2015. The trend changes in male and female oral cancer was confirmed in data for Denmark and Norway. Relative survival for these cancers has improved overall but they differed for one cluster of oral, oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal cancers with 60-70% 5-year survival in the last period and hypopharyngeal cancer with 25% male survival. In all these cancers, survival for old patients was unfavorable. Discussion/conclusion We hypothesize that reduction in smoking prevalence helped to stop the increase in oral cancer especially in men. As the prevalence of smoking is decreasing, HPV is becoming a dominant risk factor, particularly for the increasing oropharyngeal cancer. Prevention needs to emphasize sexual hygiene and HPV vaccination.Peer reviewe

Matkanjärjestäjien lakisääteinen vastuu ihmisten sekä ihmisten ja eläinten välillä tarttuvien tautien leviämisen ehkäisystä

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