Notes on the Corona Crisis

Non peer reviewe

British? The Discursive Construction of Collective Identities amongst British Expatriates living in Contemporary Finland

Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.In the final decade of the twentieth century the term ‘identity’ achieved ubiquity in the social sciences. Alongside this, it has become somewhat of a buzzword in wider society today. The literature review chapter of this thesis seeks to place the following research within the sociological discussion of ‘identity’. In this thesis I propose to discuss the collective (national, state, and supranational) identifications of British expatriates in contemporary Finland with reference to the following research question: How do British expatriates construct their collective identities in discourse? The ‘ethnographic discourse analysis’ that I have employed in this study seeks combine the ethnographic study of British expatriates in contemporary Finland with a discursive analysis of my data collected. The ethnographic fieldwork conducted does not follow a traditional style: rather than collecting data from various sources and compiling it together for analysis, I recognize the contribution of my own expatriate experiences and some eighteen months plus of participant observations to the qualitative interviews conducted, which comprise the corpus of my data. In total over ten hours of digital audio recordings were made, transcribed and analyzed herein. The following discursive analysis focuses upon the language and means employed by those interviewed to construct their various collective identifications. It explores the complex relationships between these discursive identity constructions and seeks to explain their subjective importance

Reading and writing skills for business: the students’ voice

This paper contributes to the emerging discussion around student writing through its focus on writing for Business for first-year students at the London Metropolitan University Business School. We focus on the student writing experience in one compulsory Management module, (People Management: Challenges and Choices – PMCC) which was introduced as part of a broader revision of the first year Business syllabus designed to make transparent to students the discourse of Business studies and of Higher Education more generally. Against the background of Business Students entering higher education with increasing diverse biographies, expectations and constraints, many Business Schools have recently embarked on re-designing large parts of the curriculum. Our findings give impetus to future syllabus and pedagogical changes which will make the reading experience of first-year students more rewarding and also more formative for their future development as students where they will be expected to read more extensively

Development and pilot testing of HEXORR: Hand EXOskeleton Rehabilitation Robot

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Following acute therapeutic interventions, the majority of stroke survivors are left with a poorly functioning hemiparetic hand. Rehabilitation robotics has shown promise in providing patients with intensive therapy leading to functional gains. Because of the hand's crucial role in performing activities of daily living, attention to hand therapy has recently increased.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This paper introduces a newly developed Hand Exoskeleton Rehabilitation Robot (HEXORR). This device has been designed to provide full range of motion (ROM) for all of the hand's digits. The thumb actuator allows for variable thumb plane of motion to incorporate different degrees of extension/flexion and abduction/adduction. Compensation algorithms have been developed to improve the exoskeleton's backdrivability by counteracting gravity, stiction and kinetic friction. We have also designed a force assistance mode that provides extension assistance based on each individual's needs. A pilot study was conducted on 9 unimpaired and 5 chronic stroke subjects to investigate the device's ability to allow physiologically accurate hand movements throughout the full ROM. The study also tested the efficacy of the force assistance mode with the goal of increasing stroke subjects' active ROM while still requiring active extension torque on the part of the subject.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>For 12 of the hand digits'15 joints in neurologically normal subjects, there were no significant ROM differences (P > 0.05) between active movements performed inside and outside of HEXORR. Interjoint coordination was examined in the 1^stand 3^rddigits, and no differences were found between inside and outside of the device (P > 0.05). Stroke subjects were capable of performing free hand movements inside of the exoskeleton and the force assistance mode was successful in increasing active ROM by 43 ± 5% (P < 0.001) and 24 ± 6% (P = 0.041) for the fingers and thumb, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our pilot study shows that this device is capable of moving the hand's digits through nearly the entire ROM with physiologically accurate trajectories. Stroke subjects received the device intervention well and device impedance was minimized so that subjects could freely extend and flex their digits inside of HEXORR. Our active force-assisted condition was successful in increasing the subjects' ROM while promoting active participation.</p

Asegurar el futuro en circunstancias inciertas. La seguridad social de los trabajadores inmigrantes temporales en Finlandia

This article deals with temporary migrant workers experiences of social security in Finland, and the question how temporality influences the motivations of migrant workers to find out about their rights in the welfare system. What kinds of experiences do temporary migrants have? Have they met specific problems related to temporariness? The article shows how motivations to find out about the welfare system are linked to the length of stay of the migrant, sector of work, gender of the temporary worker, country of origin of the worker. Finally motivations are in a high degree influenced by objective possibilities of accessing the welfare benefits of the country, for instance related to problems in receiving work permits, residence permits, and the national insurance institution (KELA) insurance cards. The article shows how many temporary workers, especially within seasonal agricultural work, are in Finland solely in order to work, and are not directed towards other aspects of life while in Finland. Temporary migrants learn about the Finnish Social Security System through their own experience, which makes their knowledge dependent on initiation processes at work places. In many cases a private insurance is required from the temporary worker in order to get the visa and many immigrants are not motivated to contribute to a system, which they don’t benefit of. Migrants incorporate possibilities provided by the social system. They thus adjust their subjective expectations to the objective conditions. Sometimes this adjustment is done in frustration as benefits are out of reach despite having to contribute to the system financially by paying taxes.Este artículo se centra en las experiencias en materia de seguridad social de los trabajadores migrantes temporales en Finlandia y analiza la influencia de su estatuto temporal en las motivaciones para obtener información sobre sus derechos, así como los problemas específicos derivados de su condición temporal. Esta motivación está determinada por diversos factores como son la duración de su estancia, el sector productivo, el género y el país de origen. Por último, el artículo muestra que las motivaciones están muy influidas por las posibilidades objetivas de acceso a los beneficios sociales del país y sostiene que la presencia de trabajadores inmigrantes temporales, especialmente los insertos en el sector agrario, se restringe al ámbito laboral, encontrado limitaciones de acceso a otras esferas de la vida social. El conocimiento de los trabajadores temporales sobre el sistema finés de seguridad social se adquiere a través de la experiencia, por lo que este está condicionado por las condiciones de la incorporación inicial al mercado de trabajo. Los migrantes adaptan sus expectativas subjetivas a sus condiciones objetivas; un ajuste marcado por la frustración debido a sus dificultades de acceso a beneficios sociales, a pesar de las contribuciones que realizan al sistema a través del pago de impuestos

Towards a 'Scandinavian model' for Scotland

The fiscal powers of the Scottish Government have recently been significantly enhanced as a consequence of the implementation of the Scotland Act 2012, which required the Parliament to set a Scottish Rate of Income Tax (SRIT) from April 2016. The SRIT can vary from that in the rest of the UK by up to 10p in the pound. More extensive powers over income tax will come into effect in April 2017 as a consequence of the Scotland Act 2016, which sought to implement the proposals of the Smith Commission (2014). The Scottish Government will then gain the power to set income tax rates and thresholds (but not personal allowances). All income tax receipts on wage income collected in Scotland will be received by the Scottish Government, with a corresponding adjustment in the block grant, as detailed in the new Fiscal Framework (2016). These changes will make Scotland one of the most powerful devolved governments in the world in terms of the proportion of public spending and tax revenues under its control, although there of course remains a debate about how effective these new powers are and whether or not they go far enough