Voices behind indicators for welfare and healthcare in Finland

The voices of different kinds (i.e., stated or unstated expectations of the entities) affect the functioning of the systems. Voices of authorities (VoA), processes (VoP) and shareholders (VoS) are seen in controls interacting with an environment. Therefore, control-related indicators are prescriptive, and they provide expectations for the functioning of the systems. In the study, the entity-related approach of the voices (VoA, VoP, and VoS) adapted to formalize rules for the evaluation metadata of the KUVA and SOTKANET indicators the meaning of which is to control welfare and health in Finland. The KUVA indicators are meant to control especially cost-effectiveness. The region classifications of the KUVA and SOTKANET indicators used to figure out whether responsible information providers (VoP) and information consumers (VoA and VoS) can be established. When 15 region classifications mapped within the voices by the nine rules the result of which was that nine region classifications mapped within VoA, three within VoS, and two within VoP. The main information providers are municipalities and hospital districts and municipalities. Despite our metadata-based KUVA and SOTKANET content research, without the deployment instructions of the indicators, the municipalities and other service providers do not get a complete picture of how the authorities and shareholders see them and what is expected of them, i.e., control-related cost-effectiveness will not be transparent.The voices of different kinds (i.e., stated or unstated expectations of the entities) affect the functioning of the systems. Voices of authorities (VoA), processes (VoP) and shareholders (VoS) are seen in controls interacting with an environment. Therefore, control-related indicators are prescriptive, and they provide expectations for the functioning of the systems. In the study, the entity-related approach of the voices (VoA, VoP, and VoS) adapted to formalize rules for the evaluation metadata of the KUVA and SOTKANET indicators the meaning of which is to control welfare and health in Finland. The KUVA indicators are meant to control especially cost-effectiveness. The region classifications of the KUVA and SOTKANET indicators used to figure out whether responsible information providers (VoP) and information consumers (VoA and VoS) can be established. When 15 region classifications mapped within the voices by the nine rules the result of which was that nine region classifications mapped within VoA, three within VoS, and two within VoP. The main information providers are municipalities and hospital districts and municipalities. Despite our metadata-based KUVA and SOTKANET content research, without the deployment instructions of the indicators, the municipalities and other service providers do not get a complete picture of how the authorities and shareholders see them and what is expected of them, i.e., control-related cost-effectiveness will not be transparent

Comparison of Corporate Venture Capital and Independent Venture Capital through information asymmetries

Growth ventures play a vital part in economic revival as developers and producers of novel services and technologies. An integral part of the growth venture process is venture capital. A field in which information asymmetries are severe and the issues of moral hazard and adverse selection can be utilized to scrutinize the competitive advantages of different types of investors. This thesis is a literature review researching how corporate venture capital (CVC) compares with a more traditional source of venture financing, independent venture capital (IVC) through information asymmetries. Previous research on the topic has remained scarce and scattered. This can be seen through contradictory results within the previous studies. This thesis seeks to argue that the research is insufficient, and the contradictory results in previous research may be explained through the uniform grouping of different type of CVCs. In essence, CVCs should be divided into different groups based on their strategic objectives. These groups tend to face different types of information asymmetries leading to divergent competitive advantages. This aspect has largely gone unnoticed by the previous literature. Based on the empirical evidence, it is proposed that CVCs and IVCs play complementary roles in growth venture financing. Compared to their IVC counterparts, CVCs tend to invest in more mature growth ventures and provide diverse support services to their portfolio companies. In continuation, their problems of information asymmetries towards growth ventures tend to be more severe, causing the potential dealflow to be more limited. However, due to the lack of applicable studies, the specific hypothesis that uniform grouping of CVCs has caused the contradictory results between previous studies is left indefinite. Based on the evaluation of previous literature, this thesis casts a doubt on the public operations to fund growth ventures. Only highly skilled and specialized venture capitalists tend to be efficient within their work, which questions the effectiveness of any public initiatives within the field

Meluesteet: Opas rakentamiseen ja suunnitteluun

Työn tarkoituksena oli tehdä ohjekirja meluesteiden suunnitteluun ja rakentamiseen. Työ on suunnattu Destian suunnittelijoiden ja työnjohtajien käyttöön. Opinnäytetyön alussa on käsitelty suunnittelutyön taustoja ja suunnittelun laatuvaatimuksia. Suunnittelutyön taustoja ja laatuvaatimuksia käsiteltiin Ympäristöministeriön MELUTTA-hankkeen loppuraportin ja Liikenneviraston suunnitteluohjeen avulla. Rakenneteknistä suunnit-telua varten tietoa saatiin meluesteisiin liittyvistä standardeista sekä Liikenneviraston suunnitte-luohjeesta. Suunnitteluosan jälkeen esiteltiin meluesteiden perustyypit sekä kolme vaihtoehtois-ta tapaa meluntorjuntaan. Rakentamista käsittelevässä osassa on kerrottu rakentamisen laatu-vaatimuksista InfraRYL:n pohjalta. Samassa osassa on annettu ohjeistusta elementtirakenteis-ten meluesteiden rakentamiseen. Viimeisessä osassa on käsitelty myös työturvallisuutta kaivan-to- ja nostotöiden sekä tiealueella tehtävien töiden osalta. Elementtirakenteiden pystyttämistä ja työturvallisuutta koskevien asioiden käsittely pohjautuu kokemuksiin E-18 Koskenkylä-Kotka työmaalla. Työn tuloksena on melko tiivis, mutta hyvin kattava otanta meluesteiden suunnittelusta ja ra-kentamisesta. Työstä on rajattu rakentamisen aikataulutus pois, mutta annettujen ohjeiden ja kokemuksen perusteella voidaan tehdä suuntaa-antava aikataulu. Tuloksena saatiin myös pohja toimintamallille työvaiheiden tehokkaaseen toteuttamiseen.The aim of this final year project was to make a guidebook for planning and building noise re-ducing devices. This document is aimed to be used by planners and foremen of Destia Ltd. The background and quality requirements for planning noise reducing devices were carried out first. Information was searched from Finnish national legislation and guidelines produced by Liikennevirasto. Information for structural engineering was gathered from SFS standards. After the planning phase the basic options combined with three alternative options for noise reducing devices were presented. The last part of the study covered the construction phase of noise reducing devices. Quality requirements for earthworks were searched from InfraRYL. In the last part, the guidelines for erecting prefabricated noise reducing device units were given. In the last part work safety issues concerning excavations, lifting and working at road area were also discussed. As a result of the project a quite extensive but compact introduction to planning and construct-ing noise reducing devices was achieved. This final year project does not include scheduling although an approximate timetable can be drawn by using the given guidelines and experience. A base for improving the operation model was achieved as well

Cancer Incidence of Finnish Sami in the Light of Exposure to Radioactive Fallout

This article summarizes the results of studies on the exposure of the Finnish Sami people to radioactive fallout and the estimations of the related cancer risk. We also discuss the lifestyle, genetic origin and diet of this population. The Sami people are an indigenous people who live in the northern part of Scandinavia and Finland. The review is based on the available scientific literature of Finnish Sami. The traditional Sami diet, high in animal products, persists in Sami groups still involved in reindeer-herding, but others have adopted the typical diet of western cultures. Studies have consistently shown an overall reduced cancer risk among the Finnish Sami people, except for stomach cancer among the Skolt Sami. Common cancers among the Finnish main population, such as prostate, breast and skin cancer are especially rare among the Finnish Sami. The incidence of cancer among the Finnish Sami are mostly similar to those of the Swedish and Norwegian Sami. To conclude, we observed no effect of radioactive pollution on cancer incidence. The lifestyles and environments of the Sami are changing, and their cancer mortality rate today is similar to that of the majority of the Finnish and western population

The effect of earnings management on audit fees. Evidence from the manufacturing industry

This study focuses on understanding the effect earnings management has on audit fees. Earnings management is studied by examining real earnings manipulation through sales manipulation and overproduction. The study is done using an OLS regression analysis. The sample consists of companies in the manufacturing industry, chosen using two-digit SIC codes, data collected from the COMPUSTAT and AUDIT ANALYTICS databases. Observations are from US based firms, total of 9541 firm-year observations during the period of 2008 to 2014. The results suggest that earnings management through sales manipulation and overproduction are inversely associated with the audit fee, suggesting that higher quality auditors decrease earnings manipulation practices

Grain drying on a Small Scale Dryer : Design and Measurements

The aim of this study was to design a small scale grain drying facility and measure the effectiveness of grain drying. The small scale dryer was built by Antti-Teollisuus, a Finnish grain dryer manufacturer, near their research, development and production plant. Measurements were carried out in the autumn of 2008. The dryer could be used as a continuous flow dryer or as a batch dryer. Dryer was instrumented with suitable sensors to measure air temperature, relative humidity of air and air velocity. This information was then used to solve the efficiency of drying. Measurements went reasonably well, although moisture content from grain was quite high when compared to results given by moisture meter that grinds grain and gives the results straight away. Dryer performance was approx. 50-75 kW, which is quite near to the results found in earlier studies on the same subject. Energy consumption 3-6 MJ/kg water removed from grain was very near the results in previous studies of grain drying whether the dryer was large scale or small scale. In general, a small scale dryer can be used to study the phenomenon in grain drying quite well. For future studies are left for example inspecting how the shape or distance between air ducts inside the drying cells can be altered or what effect does increasing or decreasing drying air temperature or air velocity have on drying. For improved efficiency the grain dryer should be insulated, this could also prevent some air leaks and ensure that the data measured by the sensors is even more accurate.Tämän työn tavoitteena oli suunnitella pienoiskuivuri ja tutkia sen avulla viljan kuivumista. Kuivurin mitoitusta varten tarkasteltiin aiempia tutkimuksia joissa oli esitelty pienoiskuivureita. Kuivuri rakennettiin Kuusjoelle Antti-Teollisuuden tiloihin. Mittaukset suoritettiin syksyllä 2008 ja tässä työssä käsitellään mittauksia joissa kuivattiin kauraa ja ohraa. Pienoiskuivuria voidaan käyttää sekä jatkuvatoimiseen kuivaukseen että eräkuivaukseen. Kuivumisen seuraamista varten pienoiskuivuriin asennettiin anturit kuivumisen kannalta olennaisten tekijöiden mittaamista varten. Tulo- ja poistoilmasta mitattiin lämpötila ja suhteellinen kosteus. Tuloilmakanavasta mitattiin virtauspaine. Näiden tietojen avulla saatiin laskettua kosteuden poistuminen viljasta, viljan kosteus, kuivausteho ja energian kulutus viljasta haihtunutta vesikiloa kohti. Viljan kosteutta tarkasteltiin lisäksi myös pikakosteusmittarin avulla. Mittaukset onnistuivat hyvin, mutta viljankosteuden mittauksissa laskennallisella kosteudella ei päästy lähelle pikakosteusmittauksilla saatuja tuloksia. Kosteuden poistumisnopeus viljasta vaihteli välillä 7-26 g/kg ilmaa molemmilla mittauskerroilla. Kuivaustehon osalta päästiin hyvin lähelle aiemmissa samasta aiheesta tehdyissä tutkimuksissa, noin 50-75 kW. Myös energian kulutus viljasta poistunutta vesikiloa kohti oli hyvin samassa suuruusluokassa kuin aiemmissa tutkimuksissa, noin 3-6 MJ/kg. Pienoiskuivuri tarjoaa hyvän alustan viljan kuivumiseen vaikuttavien tekijöiden tutkimiseen. Näitä tekijöitä ovat esimerkiksi harjojen välinen etäisyys, ilmamäärä ja kuivausilman lämpötila. Rakennetta on kuitenkin syytä kehittää lisäämällä eristystä, jolloin saadaan kuivauksesta tehokkaampaa, pystytään estämään mahdolliset ilmavuodot ja parannetaan näin antureilta saatavien tietojen tarkkuutta

Biomedical Courses Should Also Be Designed for Dental Students: The Perceptions of Dental Students

Introduction: It can be challenging integrating biomedical sciences into dentistry programs. The aim was to examine students’ perceptions of how joint biomedical courses with medical students and courses tailored for dental students supported their clinical studies. Materials and methods: The target group was clinical phase dental students. Cross-sectional survey data were collected using a questionnaire, which consisted of questions covering biomedical and clinical study content and learning methods. Results: A total of 110 (82%) students completed the survey. Students had difficulty recognising the relevance of joint biomedical courses for clinical work, but when the link was clear, their interest in the content increased. The closer the respondents were to graduation, the less relevance they expressed the biomedical sciences had. Almost all students (95%) wanted more dental content for the early study years. Discussion: The student perspective provides valuable information for the development of biomedical courses. Students should be offered customised courses that include dental content and perspectives on clinical work, whenever suitable to the didactic content of the basic science course. Our study shows that the dental perspective needs greater integration with the biomedical content. This also supports interprofessional learning and appreciation for the other field’s contribution to human health

Biomedical Courses Should Also Be Designed for Dental Students : The Perceptions of Dental Students

Introduction: It can be challenging integrating biomedical sciences into dentistry programs. The aim was to examine students’ perceptions of how joint biomedical courses with medical students and courses tailored for dental students supported their clinical studies. Materials and methods: The target group was clinical phase dental students. Cross-sectional survey data were collected using a questionnaire, which consisted of questions covering biomedical and clinical study content and learning methods. Results: A total of 110 (82%) students completed the survey. Students had difficulty recognising the relevance of joint biomedical courses for clinical work, but when the link was clear, their interest in the content increased. The closer the respondents were to graduation, the less relevance they expressed the biomedical sciences had. Almost all students (95%) wanted more dental content for the early study years. Discussion: The student perspective provides valuable information for the development of biomedical courses. Students should be offered customised courses that include dental content and perspectives on clinical work, whenever suitable to the didactic content of the basic science course. Our study shows that the dental perspective needs greater integration with the biomedical content. This also supports interprofessional learning and appreciation for the other field’s contribution to human health