PuuAsTe : puutuoteteollisuuden asiantuntija- ja testauspalvelujen kehittäminen

PuuAsTe-hankkeen tavoitteena oli kehittää ja tuotteistaa toiminta-alueelle kattava puutuoteyrityksiä palveleva asiantuntijaverkosto ja testauspalveluvalikoima tuotekehitys- ja vaatimustenmukaisuuden osoitustestauksiin. Tavoitteena oli myös aktivoida yrityksiä käyttämään ja kehittämään t&k ja koulutusorganisaatioiden tutkimus- ja kehityspalveluita. PuuAsTe - Puuteollisuuden asiantuntija- ja testauspalveluiden kehittäminen -hankkeen aikana kehitettiin 13 palvelutuotetta. Palvelutuotteiden kehitystyöhön osallistui 17 yritystä. Hankkeen aikana toteutettiin yhteensä 21 palvelupilottia

Mental health and labour market participation among young adults

Mental disorders are the leading cause of work disability among young adults. This study examined the background of young adults who were granted temporary work disability pension due to mental disorders in Finland, their clinical profile, the interventions targeted at them, and employment outcomes over five years. The data comprised people aged 18–34 (n = 1,163) who were granted a fixed-term work disability pension in 2008 due to a mental disorder (ICD-10 codes F10–69, F80–99) by an occupational pension institute. The data included patients’ pension applications and attached medical certifications, which were linked to employment data from the Finnish Centre for Pensions. The most common diagnoses were depressive mood disorders (39%), schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders (34%), and mania or bipolar disorder (14%). Half of the young adults were attached to the labour market or education prior to the granted pension. Three clinical profiles were identified: ‘Childhood (including adolescence) adversity’, associated with depressive disorders; ‘Comorbidity’, associated with bipolar disorder; and ‘Undefined’, associated with psychotic disorders. Half of the non-student young adults had received work-oriented interventions or had them in their treatment and rehabilitation plan. Forty per cent had received psychotherapy or had a plan for it. A total of 22% of the sample were employed at the end of the 5.6-year follow-up, whereas 48% had been employed at some time during this period. Having planned psychotherapeutic intervention or rehabilitative courses and training at baseline was associated with quicker entry into the labour market. Having both planned psychotherapeutic and work-oriented interventions was associated with being employed at the end of the follow-up. Both psychotherapy and work-oriented interventions are likely to be beneficial for the future employment of young adults on disability pension.32,00 euro

Enhancing collaboration between participants in a research and development consortium

Due to an accelerated technology change and market globalization, various forms of strategic collaborations have become an increasingly important venue through which organizations strive to gain a competitive advantage. Despite their popularity, not all collaborations are successful and there is a lack of agreement on the factors regarding performance. Thus, the research focus has turned towards management factors and the knowledge gained over the course of a collaboration. As knowledge gain has become one of the most important motivations to enter strategic collaboration, this study examines the creation of knowledge and learning in a research and development project in Finnish health and wellbeing sector. In more detail, the purpose of the study is to understand the collaboration between individual project members coming from participating companies and research organizations and to form practical implications for the ongoing project and future collaborations alike. Approach to the research topic was explorative, and the study was executed as a single case study. To gain an in-depth understanding of the case, qualitative research methods were chosen to best suit the data gathering. A total of ten semistructured interviews were conducted and all premises of participating organizations were visited. In addition, participative observation was carried out in the project related activities. The data was analysed using a constant comparative method. Based on the results, participating organizations of the project worked mainly independently. The coordination of the project was slack partly due to leadership having changed from being the responsibility of research organizations to that of the companies. Moreover, intellectual property rules were considered to have decreased the openness of their communication. However, participants were motivated to conduct research, hoped it had relevance in the future and weighed the consortium as significant. To enhance the current state of collaboration, interaction between participants should be increased further and knowledge creation activities diversified. This study contributes to strategic collaboration literature by forming an in-depth understanding of the mechanics and the influencing factors of a collaborative project. As practical contributions, several activities were designed to enhance the collaboration of the on-going project and future collaborations. As the research concentrated on one single case, findings regarding the state of the collaboration cannot directly be generally applied to all collaborative projects and industry sectors. However, as several influencing factors form the base of any collaborative behaviour, the suggested activities might be applicable to a varying extent to diverse forms of collaborative projects.Kiihtyneen teknologiakehityksen ja globalisoituneiden markkinoiden takia eri strategiset yhteistyön muodot ovat lisääntyneet kilpailuedun saamiseksi. Vaikka yhteistyö on lisääntynyt, projektien onnistumisesta on kuitenkin ristiriitaisia tuloksia. Onnistuneen projektin läpiviemiseksi on siirrytty tutkimaan tarkemmin projektin johtamis- ja oppimistekijöitä projektin aikana. Tiedon on koettu olevan yhä tärkeämpi resurssi organisaatioiden kilpailukyvyn säilyttämisessä. Tämä työ käsittelee tiedon tuottamista ja oppimista organisaatioiden välisessä yhteistyössä tapaustutkimuksena. Valittuna kohteena oli usean tutkimusorganisaation ja yrityksen välinen tutkimus- ja kehitysprojekti terveydenhuollon alalla. Tavoitteena oli tutkia yhteistyöprosessia yksittäisten osallistujien välillä ja luoda tulosten perusteella käytännön ehdotuksia nykyisen ja tulevan projektitoiminnan tueksi. Tutkimusaihetta lähestyttiin eksploratiivisesti tapaustutkimuksena. Laadullisia tutkimusmenetelmiä käyttäen projektin toiminnasta pyrittiin saamaan laaja-alainen ymmärrys. Empiirinen osa koostui kymmenestä puoli-strukturoidusta haastattelusta sekä havainnoinnista osallistuvien organisaatioiden tiloissa. Lisäksi osallistuvaa havainnointia tehtiin projektiin liittyvissä tapahtumissa. Löydökset analysoitiin jatkuvalla vertailevalla metodilla. Tulosten perusteella projektin tutkimusta tehtiin itsenäisesti ja eristyksissä. Projektin löyhä koordinointi johtui mahdollisesti projektien vetovastuun siirtymisestä tutkimusorganisaatioilta yritysten vastuulle. Projektin osallistujat olivat kuitenkin motivoituneita ja kokivat projektin tärkeäksi mahdollistajaksi tutkimuksen tekemisessä. Osallistujien välistä vuorovaikutusta lisäämällä ja tiedon luontitapoja monipuolistamalla projektin toimintaa voitaisiin edelleen kehittää. Tutkimus edistää yhteistoimintakirjallisuutta antamalla paremman ymmärryksen yhteistoiminnallisten projektien toimintamekanismeista ja yhteistyötä parantavista tekijöistä. Löydösten perusteella käytännön kontribuutiona kehitettiin useita aktiviteettiehdotuksia sekä käynnissä olevan että tulevan projektitoiminnan edistämiseksi. Koska tutkimus kohdistui yksittäiseen tapaukseen, löydöksiä ei voida suoraan yleistää kaikkiin yhteistoiminnallisiin projekteihin tai eri toimialoihin. Ehdotetut aktiviteetit saattavat kuitenkin toimia laajemmassa projektitoimintakontekstissa, koska universaali yhteistoiminta perustuu monille tutkimuksesta löytyneille tekijöille

Health and work well-being associated with employment precariousness among permanent and temporary nurses: A cross-sectional survey

Nursing is at risk of becoming precarious employment with low wages, poor working conditions, heavy workload and underdeveloped career development possibilities. This study aimed to explore employment precariousness, health and work well-being among permanent and temporary practical nurses and registered nurses. The data were collected from Finnish nurses (n = 5867) using an online questionnaire in autumn 2020. This cross-sectional study was reported by applying the STROBE guidelines. Temporary nurses perceived their health and work well-being as being better than permanent nurses; however, they also perceived higher employment precariousness. Vulnerability, such as being treated in an authoritarian manner, had the strongest negative association with health and work well-being among permanent and temporary nurses. Practical nurses and registered nurses perceived employment precariousness in several dimensions, but this needs to be further studied because the results of this study are somewhat contradictory. Also, further studies are required to survey post-COVID-19 care work, as the pandemic likely affected the study, resulting in higher experiences of precariousness.</p

Alternative duty work as workplace-initiated procedure to reduce sickness absence

PurposeAlternative duty work is a procedure that enables an employee with a short-term disability to perform modified duties as an alternative to sickness absence. We examined whether the implementation of an alternative duty policy was associated with reduced sickness absence in the Finnish public sector.MethodsTwo city administrations (A and D) that implemented an alternative duty work policy to their employees (n=5341 and n=7538) served as our intervention cities, and two city administrations (B and C) that did not implement the policy represented the reference cities (n=6976 and n=6720). The outcomes were the number of annual days, all episodes, and short-term (Peer reviewe

Työelämässä oppiminen, ohjaus ja oppilaitosyhteistyö työpaikkojen näkökulmasta

The reform of vocational education and training (VET) in Finland increases learning in workplaces. Simultaneously, workplaces’ role in guiding students is likely to increase, as well as their cooperation with VET institutions. This article examines the VET reform from the perspective of the workplaces: what kind of guidance resources workplaces have, how prepared they are for the reform and how they see the cooperation with the institutions. Particularly, we examine whether industrial sector, number of personnel, personnel training on guidance and being a workplace trainer are related to respondents’ views on the reform. Data is based on a questionnaire study conducted in 2018 (n=501, women 50.2%). The respondents recognized several developmental needs in guidance resources and cooperation with the institutions. The awareness of the VET reform was rather limited. Industrial sector, personnel training and workplace trainer status were related to several indicators on guidance resources, preparedness and cooperation with the institutions. Developmental needs related to guidance knowhow and resources as well as cooperation practices are discussed. In addition, the importance of safety and well-being in workplace learning are highlighted.Ammatillisen koulutuksen uudistus siirtää oppimista työpaikoille, ja työpaikkojen rooli opiskelijoiden ammatillisen oppimisen tukijana sekä oppilaitosten kumppanina kasvaa. Tämä artikkeli tuo esille vähemmän tutkitun työpaikan näkökulman koulutusuudistusta koskevaan keskusteluun. Selvitämme, millaisia ovat työpaikkojen valmiudet ja resurssit ohjaamiseen, miten työpaikoilla tunnetaan uudistunut ammatillinen koulutus, miten siihen on valmistauduttu sekä millaisena työpaikkojen ja oppilaitosten välinen yhteistyö näyttäytyy. Tarkastelemme näitä kysymyksiä organisaatio- ja yksilönäkökulmista (toimiala, organisaation henkilöstömäärä, ohjausta tukeva henkilöstökoulutus ja vastaajan työpaikkaohjaajastatus). Aineistona on syksyllä 2018 kerätty kyselyaineisto (n=501, naisia 50,2 %). Vastaajat näkivät useita kehittämistarpeita työpaikkojen ohjausosaamisessa ja -resursseissa sekä oppilaitosyhteistyössä. Eniten ohjaamiseen liittyvää tuen tarvetta oli eri kieli- ja kulttuuritaustaisten opiskelijoiden ohjaamiseen, osaamisen arviointiin sekä työskentelyä koskevan palautteen antamiseen. Tietoisuus ammatillisen koulutuksen uudistuksesta oli varsin heikkoa. Toimiala, ohjausta tukeva henkilöstökoulutus sekä työpaikkaohjaajastatus olivat yhteydessä useisiin ohjausosaamista ja -resursseja, valmistautuneisuutta ja oppilaitosyhteistyötä kuvaaviin muuttujiin. Tarkastelemme kehittämistarpeita mm. ohjausosaamisen ja yhteistyökäytäntöjen näkökulmista. Lisäksi tuomme esiin työturvallisuuden ja työhyvinvoinnin näkökulman työelämässä oppimiseen

Absence of NEFL in patient-specific neurons in early-onset Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy

Objective: We used patient-specific neuronal cultures to characterize the molecular genetic mechanism of recessive nonsense mutations in neurofilament light (NEFL) underlying early-onset Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease. Methods: Motor neurons were differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells of a patient with early-onset CMT carrying a novel homozygous nonsense mutation in NEFL. Quantitative PCR, protein analytics, immunocytochemistry, electron microscopy, and single-cell transcriptomics were used to investigate patient and control neurons. Results: We show that the recessive nonsense mutation causes a nearly total loss of NEFL messenger RNA (mRNA), leading to the complete absence of NEFL protein in patient's cultured neurons. Yet the cultured neurons were able to differentiate and form neuronal networks and neurofilaments. Single-neuron gene expression fingerprinting pinpointed NEFL as the most downregulated gene in the patient neurons and provided data of intermediate filament transcript abundancy and dynamics in cultured neurons. Blocking of nonsense-mediated decay partially rescued the loss of NEFL mRNA. Conclusions: The strict neuronal specificity of neurofilament has hindered the mechanistic studies of recessive NEFL nonsense mutations. Here, we show that such mutation leads to the absence of NEFL, causing childhood-onset neuropathy through a loss-of-function mechanism. We propose that the neurofilament accumulation, a common feature of many neurodegenerative diseases, mimics the absence of NEFL seen in recessive CMT if aggregation prevents the proper localization of wild-type NEFL in neurons. Our results suggest that the removal of NEFL as a proposed treatment option is harmful in humans.Peer reviewe