Keskustelua suomalaisen työelämän luonteesta ja sen muuttumisesta

Artikkelissa tarkastellaan suomalaista työkulttuuria ja sen muuttumista vertailevasta näkökulmasta käyttäen apuna hollantilaisen Geert Hofsteden 74 maata koskevia tutkimustuloksia. Suomalaisen työelämän muutoksia edistäviä ja hidastavia tekijöitä pohditaan vuosien 1997 ja 2003 Tilastokeskuksen Työolotutkimusten tietojen pohjalta. Artikkeli pyrkii jäsentämään uudella tavalla laajaa ja rönsyilevää työhyvinvoinnin käsitettä

Workplace innovation in Finland: Towards sustainable productivity growth?

This paper examines challenges that Finnish companies are facing in the global productivity race and means they have used in responding to these challenges, with a special reference to work organization, personnel competence development and utilization of external sources in acquiring new knowledge. In recent years, Finnish companies have been actively modernising their work organization. In the ‘innovative work organization index’ developed by Valeyre et al. (2009), for example, Finland ranked third of all the EU27 countries in 2005. One special feature of Finnish companies’ modernization strategies compared with those of the other highest ranking countries – Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands – was a more widespread use of ‘lean production’ approach, whereas in the dissemination of ‘discretionary learning’ forms of work organization Finland was lagging behind these three countries. In concrete terms and in comparison with the other highest ranking countries, Finnish companies have laid more emphasis on teamwork, task rotation, multi-skilling and decentralization of quality control in their strategies to renovate work organization, while less notion than in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands has been paid to increasing individuals’ autonomy and variety in work and reducing constraints that pace work. These differences may be explained by the strong engineering orientation in Finnish management culture, the lesser influence by the socio-technical systems design approach and the fact that quality of working life entered the Finnish policy agenda later than in the three above-mentioned countries (Alasoini, 2004; Kasvio, 1994; Koistinen – Lilja, 1988). This paper examines work organization modernization strategies of Finnish companies with the help of establishment-level data and by looking at companies in industry and private services separately, with a view to finding similarities and differences in the operation logics and change strategies between these two sectors. The paper includes an analysis on decision-making structures, nature of teamwork, personnel competence development practices and utilization of external sources of knowledge in these two sectors. The empirical material is based on a survey, carried out by the Finnish Workplace Development Programme TYKES (2004–2010). The paper starts with an introduction to different approaches to workplace innovation in companies and to different policy options in tackling with the problem of low level of workplace innovation in Europe. Thereafter, the paper provides an overview on the main problems facing Finland’s future economic growth and on policies to promote workplace innovation. Thirdly, the article presents the survey data and results. Finally, conclusions based on the empirical analysis will be drawn

Role of oral pathogens in the pathogenesis of intracranial aneurysm : review of existing evidence and potential mechanisms

Degeneration of intracranial aneurysm wall is under active research and recent studies indicate an increased risk of rupture of intracranial aneurysm among patients with periodontal diseases. In addition, oral bacterial DNA has been identified from wall samples of ruptured and unruptured aneurysms. These novel findings led us to evaluate if oral diseases could predispose to pathological changes seen on intracranial aneurysm walls eventually leading to subarachnoid hemorrhage. The aim of this review is to consider mechanisms on the relationship between periodontitis and aneurysm rupture, focusing on recent evidence.Peer reviewe

Yhtenäiset vaatimukset lääketieteen ja hammaslääketieteen tohtorintutkinnolle Suomessa

Vertaisarvioitu. English summary.Peer reviewe

Number of teeth and myocardial infarction and stroke among elderly never smokers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In most previous studies the association between number of teeth and cardiovascular diseases has been found to be stronger among younger age groups than in older age groups, which indicates that age may modify the association between number of teeth and cardiovascular diseases.</p> <p>We investigated the association between tooth loss and atherosclerotic vascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke in a homogeneous elderly population.</p> <p>The study population was comprised of a subpopulation of 392 community-living elderly people who participated in the population-based Kuopio 75+ study. The data were collected through an interview, a structured clinical health examination and from patient records. The main outcome measures were a history of diagnosed myocardial infarction and diagnosed ischemic stroke. Prevalence proportion ratios (PPR) were estimated using generalised linear models.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Edentate subjects had a weakly, statistically non-significantly increased likelihood of a history of myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke compared with dentate subjects. Those with a large number of teeth had a slightly, but not statistically significantly increased likelihood of a history of myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke compared with those with a small number of teeth.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data did not show evidence that total or partial tooth loss would be associated with atherosclerotic vascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke among an elderly population aged 75 years or older.</p

Dental health, lifestyle and cardiovascular risk factors—a study among a cohort of young adult population in northern Finland

Abstract To date, most epidemiological studies have shown a weak or moderate association between dental diseases such as periodontal infections, dental caries and tooth loss, and atherosclerotic vascular diseases. However, the nature of this association is not known; it may be due to the biological effect of oral infections on initiation or progress of atherosclerosis or it may be non-causal due to determinants in common, either biological or behavioural. Methodological shortcomings, inconsistent results and a lack of definite proof from intervention studies have led to the conclusion that causality between dental diseases and atherosclerotic vascular diseases has not been established. The aim of this study was to produce evidence on the nature of the association between dental diseases and atherosclerotic vascular diseases. The study uses data from the 1966 Birth Cohort of Northern Finland (N = 11,637). The data were collected in 1997–1998, when the cohort members had reached 31 years of age. The respondents were asked through a postal questionnaire about their oral health. In addition, respondents were asked about their general health and oral and general health habits. The response rate was 75.3%. Those who lived in Northern Finland or the capital city region were invited to clinical health examination (N = 8,463). Altogether 5,696 subjects supplied the data, representing 67.3% of those who were invited to the clinical examination. While the study showed an association of self-reported gingivitis, dental caries and tooth loss with the prevalent angina pectoris, it also showed that these self-reported dental diseases were not important determinants for elevated C-reactive protein levels. This suggests that the associations that were found between dental conditions and prevalent angina pectoris are mainly caused by factors other than biological mechanisms related to infection or inflammation. The lack of a biological explanation related to infections or inflammatory processes suggests that other biological mechanisms or biases, including confounding, should be considered as an alternative explanation. However, it must be noted that the possibility that oral infections also contribute to the development of atherosclerosis should not be rejected either