Tiedon markkinoilla – pörssiyhtiön tuloksen hallintaa viestinnän keinoin

Pörssiyhtiöt suunnittelevat liiketoiminnan tulosta ja siitä tiedottamista tarkoituksena välittää positiivinen kuva yhtiön toiminnasta ja talousjohdon pätevyydestä. Ilmiö tunnetaan laskentatoimen alueella tuloksen hallintana (earnings management; earnings game). Aiempi tutkimus liiketaloustieteissä ja yritysviestinnän alueella on keskittynyt määrällisiin tutkimusmenetelmiin ja haastatteluihin. Tässä artikkelissa tutkitaan genreen perustuvin tekstianalyysin menetelmin tuloksenhallintaa suomalaisessa sijoittajaviestinnässä: miten ilmiö näkyy diskursiivisesti ja kielellisesti tilinpäätöstiedotteissa? Tutkimus tuo lisää tietoa tuloksenhallinnan viestinnällisistä keinoista ja ilmiön yhteiskunnallisesta merkityksestä ja osoittaa, että tiettyjen kielellisten ja rakenteellisten valintojen kautta taloushallinnon ja viestinnän ammattikäytännöt kohtaavat pörssitiedotteiden säännellyssä tekstilajissa. Samalla eri tekstilajien piirteet sekoittuvat niin, että pörssiyhtiöiden vertailu sijoituskohteen näkökulmasta tekstien pohjalta vaikeutuu. Tutkimusaineistona on Suomessa listattujen eri toimialojen yhtiöiden tilinpäätöstiedotteita keväältä 2006

Tekstin kokonaisrakenne ja kappalejako monitieteisessä tarkastelussa

Arvioitu teos:Johanna Komppa: Retorisen rakenteen teoria suomi toisena kielenä -ylioppilaskokeen kirjoitelman kokonaisrakenteen ja kappalejaon tarkastelussa. Helsingin yliopisto, humanistinen tiedekunta. Unigrafia 2012. 218 s. ISBN 978-952-10-8163-7 (nid.), ISBN 978-952-10-8164-4 (pdf), http://ethesis.helsinki.f

Durability and Hygiene of Aspen Tubes Used for Providing Environmental Complexity for Laboratory Rats

In Europe the provision of environmental complexity for laboratory animals is mandatory unless there is  some welfare-related or scientific reason to prevent their inclusion. Any chemical compound present in the  added item to the cage represents a potential confounding factor in the study. The best remedy to this problem  is to use a material, such as the wooden bedding material which is already present in the cage. The  durability of wooden items means they can be used several times, but they are considered difficult to sanitise.  Furthermore, items that are made of several parts may be more easily destroyed than those made of a  single unit. This study was designed to explore the durability and possible practical problems associated  with sanitation and hygiene of a commercially available aspen tube intended for routine use with rats. The  wooden items used were rectangular tubes (20 x 11 x 11 cm) made of dried aspen board with the walls  being held together with aspen pins. Before the first use, all of the aspen tubes were autoclaved. At each  cage change, the tubes were rinsed either under a pressure washer without detergent or rinsed combined  with autoclaving. The tubes were observed for durability and sampled for microbes after use and after sanitation.  All of the tubes were discarded before the 14th use. Washing as the sole sanitation method  decreased total bacterial burden and coliforms during the first three cycles as compared counts prior to  wash. With respect to fungi there were no differences between the sanitation groups. In conclusion, when  aspen tubes are cleaned with plain water and pressure, they can be effectively cleaned for up to four cycles.  When autoclave treatment is added to the wash cycle, it is the macroscopic damage, which determines the  usable life of the item. It appears that aspen blocks can be used in rat cages more than once without any  danger of elevating the microbiological burden.

Use of anti-dementia drugs in home care and residential care and associations with neuropsychiatric symptoms : a cross-sectional study

Background: The number of people with dementia is increasing alongside the aging population, and most of these patients manifest with neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS). The objective of this study was to investigate anti-dementia drug use and its associations with NPS. Methods: Questionnaires on demographic information, current drug use, activities of daily living and NPS were sent to all municipal home care producers and to all institutions providing long-term residential care in the South Savo Hospital District, Finland. Results: The study population comprised 2821 persons. Their mean age was 81 years and 68 % were female. Dementia had been diagnosed in 31 % (n = 410) in home care and in 56 % (n = 774) in residential care. Anti-dementia drugs were used by 69 % of patients with dementia. Hyperactivity symptoms were common in residential care patients (n = 456, 33 %), while problems with mood and apathy dominated in home care patients (n = 486, 54 %). In multivariate regression analysis, the mood symptoms and apathy subgroup was associated with use of an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI) (OR 1.44; 95 % Cl 1.03-2.02), memantine (OR 1.77, 95 % Cl 1.15-2.72) or their combinations (OR 1.56, 95 % Cl 1.03-2.34). Hyperactivity symptoms were associated with combination therapy of this type (OR 2.03, 95 % Cl 1.36-2.34). Conclusions: The use of anti-dementia drugs was common in both care settings. The use of any anti-dementia drug or combination was associated with the mood and apathy subgroup. The hyperactivity subgroup was associated with combination use of memantine and AChEI.Peer reviewe

Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Drives Dynamics of Local and Systemic Stress Responses in Mitochondrial Myopathy with mtDNA Deletions

AbstractMitochondrial dysfunction elicits stress responses that safeguard cellular homeostasis against metabolic insults. Mitochondrial integrated stress response (ISRmt) is a major response to mitochondrial (mt)DNA expression stress (mtDNA maintenance, translation defects), but the knowledge of dynamics or interdependence of components is lacking. We report that in mitochondrial myopathy, ISRmt progresses in temporal stages and development from early to chronic and is regulated by autocrine and endocrine effects of FGF21, a metabolic hormone with pleiotropic effects. Initial disease signs induce transcriptional ISRmt (ATF5, mitochondrial one-carbon cycle, FGF21, and GDF15). The local progression to 2nd metabolic ISRmt stage (ATF3, ATF4, glucose uptake, serine biosynthesis, and transsulfuration) is FGF21 dependent. Mitochondrial unfolded protein response marks the 3rd ISRmt stage of failing tissue. Systemically, FGF21 drives weight loss and glucose preference, and modifies metabolism and respiratory chain deficiency in a specific hippocampal brain region. Our evidence indicates that FGF21 is a local and systemic messenger of mtDNA stress in mice and humans with mitochondrial disease.</div

Systemic Design Approach to the Finnish Funeral Ecosystem

In our time, funerals have become more private within the community, and the processes related to dying have shifted from involving only relatives to having to include various professionals, hospitals, morgues and crematoriums. Relatives are now bystanders during their loved one’s funeral process, and the lack of rituals that fit one’s life view can result in unprocessed grief. In many ways, the post-mortem process has become effective, and efficient but often meaningless for relatives. The process is governed by laws and operated by different administrations, churches, agencies, and ministries. In addition, social relationships, paradigms, and norms affect bereavement’s experience as they are arranging funerals. The study explores how design thinking and systems thinking can be applied in understanding and developing Finnish funeral services and processes. By utilizing frameworks like systems-oriented design and service design it is possible to understand and make initiatives towards a more socially sustainable and inclusive funeral future. With the systems-oriented design, it is possible to observe the operating environment with wider lenses and the approach enables identifying the complexity of the systems that are included in the dynamics and decision-making of the entire ecosystem. While the service design approach provides processes and tools to understand the end-user and develop services that are meaningful for them. The master’s thesis at hand is a continuation of author’s first master’s thesis “Funeral service development for the needs in the near future” (Master’s degree in Service design and Leadership / Novia UAS) in which she discovered the future demands for funeral services and processes from the relative’s point of view. In the thesis at hand, she zooms out from the relative’s angle to the ecosystem and culture that creates the relative’s experience. The aim of the master’s thesis is to explore the Finnish funeral ecosystem and its dynamics to make initiatives towards a change that serves next of kin in the future. The thesis consists of a literature review and design-based research. In the literature review, the findings of desk research about the Finnish funeral culture and design as a methodology for shifting the systems are outlined. The findings of the study are drawn from the desk research as well as from the applied study. In the report research objective, research question and research design are outlined. Next, the thesis explores shortly the current state of the Finnish funerals and theory of service design and systemic design. This is followed by an overview of methods and their implications regarding the topic at hand. The findings are then presented, and their implications discussed. The findings explain, for example, how a Finnish funeral culture could be developed to meet the needs of relatives

Funeral Service Development for Needs in the Near Future: Utilizing Design Thinking and a Future-oriented Approach in the Development of Finnish Funeral-related Services and Business

In this thesis I studied how design thinking and a future-oriented approach can be applied when developing Finnish funeral services to meet the requirements of a changing business environment and customer expectations for the future. The research questions were as follows: What kinds of signals of future needs can be found by studying funeral organizers and the funeral operating environment? How funeral-related services would benefit from design thinking and future-oriented development? The topic is important and timely as it has not been studied from the point of view of service design, even though the changes in society show that development of the industry is necessary. Furthermore, by studying this sensitive subject, death is made visible and exposing this vague phenomenon enables change. The operating environment, as well as customers’ needs, are acceleratingly changing in different business areas, including traditional services such as the funeral industry. Future-oriented thinking and the design thinking approach can help service providers to develop business and services to be relevant in the future. The methodology included desk research, a survey, interviews, observation, storytelling, and co-design using the future-oriented approach. The study was implemented in wide co-operation with the funeral industry stakeholders and customers. The study showed that in the near future funeral services and rituals will have to evolve to be relevant to customers. In this development work, service providers in the industry would benefit from design thinking and a future-oriented approach