Kotoutumisen tekijät

Opinnäytetyömme tavoitteena oli kartoittaa maahanmuuttajien kotoutumiskokemuksia sekä selvittää mitkä tekijät ovat edesauttaneet haastateltaviemme kotoutumisessa Suomeen. Lisäksi tavoitteenamme oli koostaa katsaus kotoutumiseen liittyvistä tutkimuksista. Tutkimuskysymyksemme olivat: miten työllistyminen, kielitaito ja asenneilmasto vaikuttavat kotoutumiseen sekä mitkä ovat maahanmuuttajien omasta mielestä kotoutumisen keskeisimpiä tekijöitä. Opinnäytetyömme tiedonkeruumenetelmänä käytimme teemahaastattelua. Haastattelimme viittä maahanmuuttajataustaista henkilöä, jotka ovat asuneet Suomessa jo useita vuosia. Jokainen heistä on työllistynyt, kouluttautunut ja päässyt omalla tavallaan kiinni suomalaiseen arkeen ja yhteiskuntaan. Kartoitimme teemahaastattelumme avulla avaintekijöitä kotoutumiseen ja etsimme kotoutumisen ongelmakohtia. Opinnäytetyön tuloksena tulimme siihen johtopäätökseen, että maahanmuuttajien kotoutumista merkittävimmin edistävä yksittäinen tekijä on työllistyminen. Tätä ennen on suoriuduttava kuitenkin maahanmuuttajalle usein monimutkaisesta palvelujärjestelmästä ja opeteltava suomenkieli. Asenneilmastolla on myös suuri merkitys siihen, miten kotoutuminen etenee. Asenneilmaston nähtiin muuttuvan sitä mukaa, kun kohtaamiset maahanmuuttajien kanssa lisääntyvät. Vaikka asennevastaisuutta onkin, niin se käy yhä vähäisemmäksi sitä mukaa, kun omaan elinpiiriin tulee ulkomaalaistaustaisia henkilöitä.The objective of our thesis was to survey the experiences of immigrant integration, and to clarify the factors that have contributed to integrating to Finland for our interviewees. Furthermore, we aimed to compile a review on studies conducted on integration. Our research questions were: how do employment, language skills and attitudes affect integration, and what do the immigrants find to be the central factors of integration? Our method of data collection was thematic interview. We interviewed five persons with immigrant backgrounds who have lived in Finland for several years. Each of them has found work, acquired education and in their own respective ways, found a way to become a part of the Finnish everyday life and society. Through the interviews, we surveyed the key factors of integration, and sought for problem issues therein. As the result of the thesis, we came to the conclusion that the single most important factor in immigrant integration is employment. However, before finding work, the immigrant must learn the Finnish language and cope with the Finnish system of several services, which is often complicated for the immigrant. The general attitude environment also affects the proceeding of integration. This was seen to change as people and immigrants meet more often. Although negative attitudes do exist in the population, the stance grows more positive as people with foreign backgrounds become more common in everyday life

Impacts of residential infilling on private gardens in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area

Peer reviewe

Biocultural diversity (BCD) in European cities : interactions between motivations, experiences and environment in public parks

Urban green spaces (UGS) provide multiple benefits, and public parks in particular have a key role in supporting ecological and social sustainability in cities, contributing to human-nature interactions. We studied the interrelationships between uses, experiences and the environment by adopting a novel concept of urban biocultural diversity (BCD). The concept identifies three interlinked spheres of urban BCD: materialised, lived and stewardship. We conducted place-based research in 33 parks located in four European capitals: Helsinki, Berlin, Bucharest and Lisbon. A total of 1474 visitors were interviewed concerning their motivations to use the park and their experiences during the visit. Using an open-ended survey, we revealed more than 50 motivations for park use and over 100 features people enjoyed during their visits. On the other hand, visitors mentioned far fewer things that disturbed them (60). We revealed that despite the fact motivations to use parks were strongly human-oriented, visitors widely enjoyed the environmental characteristics of parks, and especially nature. We found that parks located in neighbourhoods with low socio-economic status and outside the central area of the city were structurally less diverse than parks located in the city core. The structurally diverse parks enhanced motivations to use them, and increased overall enjoyments of the environment. We revealed clear differences in motivations and enjoyments between cities, implying that the day-to-day practices of people using and experiencing nature varies between cities.peerReviewe

Hepcidin is potential regulator for renin activity

An association between genetic variants in the genes HFE, HJV, BMP4 and arterial hypertension has been shown earlier. Proteins encoded by these genes participate in the signalling routes leading eventually to the production of the peptide hormone hepcidin. Mutations in these genes have been associated with the abnormal production of hepcidin in the body. This finding led to studies exploring the possible role of hepcidin in regulating the activity of blood pressure related renin-angiotensin system enzymes. We used molecular modelling to find out if it is possible for hepcidin to bind to the active site of the renin-angiotensin system enzymes, especially renin. Fluorometric assays were used to evaluate the inhibitory effect of hepcidin on renin as well as angiotensin converting enzymes 1 and 2. Finally, bio-layer interferometry technique was used to study hepcidin binding to renin. The molecular modelling showed that hepcidin seems to have similar binding properties to the renin active site as angiotensinogen does. Based on fluorometric enzyme activity assay, hepcidin has an inhibitory effect on renin in vitro, too. However, angiotensin converting enzymes 1 and 2 were not inhibited remarkably by hepcidin-25. In bio-layer interferometry analysis hepcidin-renin binding was concentration dependent. Our results suggest that hepcidin could act as an inhibitor to the renin. Nowadays, there is no known biological inhibitor for renin in vivo and our finding may thus have important clinical implications.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

The effect of metal dissolution on carbon production by high-temperature molten salt electrolysis

High-temperature molten salt electrolysis is suitable for the production of carbon morphologies such as carbon nanotubes and nano-onions. In this study, CO2 was electrochemically reduced to solid carbon by molten lithium carbonate electrolysis in an Inconel 625 vessel at a fixed temperature of 750°C. Four different cathodes (clean nickel, used nickel, stainless steel, and galvanized steel) were used to determine the effect of the electrode material on the morphology produced. The carbonaceous products obtained were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Raman microscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). With nickel cathodes, the dominant forms of carbon were spherical, whereas tubular structures dominated with steel-based cathodes. Nano-onion was the structure of carbon with the least metal impurities. Iron was discovered to promote carbon nanotube growth. In the presence of iron, nanotube wool was also found. A greater number of different morphologies were observed when the amount of metal impurities increased. The correlation found between XRD results and sample masses suggests that the amount of metal impurities in the sample varied more than the carbon content. Thus, the yield of the process can be expected to be fairly similar between parallel experiments.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Poor long-term outcome in acute coronary syndrome in a real-life setting: Ten-year outcome of the TACOS study

Background: Long-term outcome of the three categories of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in real-life patient cohorts is not well known. The objective of this study was to survey the 10-year outcome of an ACS patient cohort admitted to a university hospital and to explore factors affecting the outcome.Methods: A total of 1188 consecutive patients (median age 73 years) with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) or unstable angina pectoris (UA) in 2002–2003 were included and followed up for ≥ 10 years.Results: Mortality for STEMI, NSTEMI and UA patients during the follow-up period was 52.5%, 69.9% and 41.0% (p < 0.001), respectively. In multivariable Cox regression analysis, only age and creatinine level at admission were independently associated with patient outcome in all the three ACS categories when analyzed separately.Conclusions: All the three ACS categories proved to have high mortality rates during long-term followup in a real-life patient cohort. NSTEMI patients had worse outcome than STEMI and UA patients during the whole follow-up period. Our study results indicate clear differences in the prognostic significance of various demographic and therapeutic parameters within the three ACS categories