Strategiaan osallistaminen ja vuorovaikutteinen jatkuvuus : case Huittisten, Kalannin ja Liedon Säästöpankit

Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli selvittää, miten nykyinen strategia ohjaa arkea Huittisten, Kalannin ja Liedon Säästöpankeissa sekä miten henkilöstö voisi osallistua strategiaan tulevaisuudessa nykyistä paremmin. Tutkijat valitsivat aiheen, koska aiemmat tutkimukset ovat olleet lähinnä strategian laatimiseen tai jalkauttamiseen liittyviä, joissa ei ole käsitelty henkilöstön osallistamista strategiaprosessiin. Tutkimuksen teoriapohjana on strategiaan, vuorovaikutukseen ja osallistamiseen liittyvä teoria. Tutkimuksen asiaongelmaksi muodostui hypoteesi: Strategia ei ohjaa arkea Säästöpankeissa. Asiaongelman pohjalta muodostui kolme tutkimuskysymystä: Mitkä ovat henkilöstön kokemukset strategian ohjaavuuden nykymallista? Mitkä ovat henkilöstön näkemykset toimivammasta mallista? Miten elävä, jatkuva ja vuorovaikutteinen strategia varmistetaan? Tutkimusmenetelmiksi valittiin kyselytutkimus, haastattelututkimus sekä triangulaatio. Henkilöstöt kokivat strategian jonkin verran ohjaavaksi tekijäksi päivittäisen työnsä kannalta. Strategiaan vaikuttaminen koettiin tutkimushetkellä vaikeaksi tai melko vaikeaksi. Vaikuttamistapojen osalta hyviksi koettiin koko henkilöstön pienryhmissä osallistavat tilaisuudet, joita järjestetään 1-2 kertaa vuodessa. Strategiasta täytyy lisäksi puhua jatkuvasti yksiköissä, jotta ymmärretään, minkä vuoksi yrityksessä toimitaan tietyllä tavalla tietyissä tilanteissa. Myös yrityksen aloitetoiminnan täytyy olla helppoa, aloitteen tekemisestä täytyy saada palautetta ja siitä voidaan tarvittaessa palkita. Yrityksen organisaatiokulttuurilla huomattiin olevan merkittävä rooli siihen, halutaanko palautetta antaa nimettömänä vai omaa nimeään käyttäen. Tällä puolestaan on suuri merkitys siihen henkilöstön halukkuuteen liiketoiminnan kehittäjänä. Tutkimuksen tuloksena laadittiin strategiaan osallistamisen malli, jota voidaan käyttää hyödyksi yrityksissä. Strategiaan osallistamisen mallin hyväksikäyttäminen organisaatioissa jatkuu tämän tutkimuksen jälkeen.The aim of this research was to examine how the current strategy guides the daily life of Huittinen, Kalanti and Lieto Savings banks, as well as how staff could be involved in strategy better in the future. The researchers chose the topic because previous studies have been mainly focused in the preparation or implementation of strategy, where studies have not been treated personnel involvement as a resource in a strategy process. The research’s theoretical basis is strategy, interaction and involving-related theory. The issue problem of research was formed of hypothesis: The strategy does not guide the everyday life in savings a bank. Based on the issue problem three research questions were formed: What are the personnel’s experiences of strategy’s guiding now? What are the personnel’s visions of a better working model? How can living, continuous and interactive strategy be ensured in the future? A survey, interviews and triangulation were chosen as research methods. The employees experienced strategy as somewhat a guiding factor in their daily work. Influencing in strategy was experienced hard or quite hard at the time of research. When employees were asked of influencing methods, 1-2 a year organized whole personnel involving events in small groups were felt to be in favor. The strategy must also be discussed constantly in units, in order to understand why you must operate certainly in certain situations in the company. Also the company initiative action must be easy to use, people must get feedback from their initiatives and possibly get rewarded for good initiatives. The company's organizational culture was found to play a significant role in whether employees want to give feedback anonymously or using their own names. This, in turn, has a great impact on how the employees want to develop business. As a result of this research was formed involving in a strategy model, which can be used for the benefit of companies. Benefiting from involving in the strategy model will continue in organizations after this research

Enrichment of Human Epidermal Langerhans Cells by Attachment to Erythrocyte Monolayers

The present investigation introduces a method for purification of human epidermal Langerhans cells (LC). The method is based on the attachment of LC to IgG-coated sheep erythrocyte monolayers via their Fc receptors. To optimize the enrichment assay, several variables were tested. The best results were obtained when epidermal cells were centrifuged against erythrocyte monolayers; the purification procedure was performed at 4°C in the presence of 5% fetal calf serum, using about 6 × 106 epidermal cells per erythrocyte plate (diameter 5 cm). The average purity of the recovered LC was 80.9% and LC-depleted fractions contained an average of 0.5% DR-positive cells. LC were able to enhance significantly leukoagglutinin- and purified protein derivative-induced T lymphocyte proliferation and leukocyte migration inhibitory factor production

Noroviruses in children seen in a hospital for acute gastroenteritis in Finland

Noroviruses (NoVs) are second only to rotaviruses (RVs) as causative agents of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in children. The proportional role of NoVs is likely to increase after control of RV by vaccination. We investigated NoVs in children seen in Tampere University Hospital either treated as outpatients or hospitalized because of AGE before universal RV vaccination was implemented in Finland. This prospective study was conducted from September 2006 to August 2008. A total of 1,128 children <15 years of age with symptoms of AGE were enrolled either in the hospital clinic or in a ward, and stool samples for NoV studies were obtained from 759 children. NoVs were found in 196 (26%) cases. In the first year, NoVs were found in 116 (34%) out of 341, and in the second year, in 80 (19%) out of 418 cases. RVs were found respectively in 128 (38%) and 260 (62%) cases in these two seasons. Both RV and NoV were present in 24 cases. NoV genotype GII.4 predominated with a 96% share of the NoV cases in the first season and an 80% share in the second season. Other NoV genotypes seen infrequently were GII.7, GIIb, GI.6, GII.1, GII.2, and GIIc. The median clinical severity of NoV AGE was 14 compared to 16 for RV AGE on a 20-point scale. Conclusion: NoVs were nearly as common as RVs as causative agents of severe AGE in children seen in hospital. After implementing universal RV vaccination, the importance of NoVs will still increase further

Antenatal hemodynamic findings and heart rate variability in early school-age children born with fetal growth restriction

Background: According to epidemiological studies, impaired intrauterine growth increases the risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in adulthood. Heart rate variability (HRV), which reflects the autonomic nervous system function, has been used for risk assessment in adults while its dysfunction has been linked to poor cardiovascular outcome. Objective: We hypothesized that children who were born with fetal growth restriction (FGR) and antenatal blood flow redistribution have decreased HRV at early school age compared to their gestational age matched peers with normal intrauterine growth. Study design: A prospectively collected cohort of children born with FGR (birth weight = -2SD. Conclusions: Early school age children born with FGR and intrauterine blood flow redistribution demonstrated altered heart rate variability. These prenatal and postnatal findings may be helpful in targeting preventive cardiovascular measures in FGR.Peer reviewe

Overexpression of HSP27 and HSP70 is associated with decreased survival among patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND Overexpression of heat shock proteins (HSPs) is associated with several malignancies and contributes to the development, progression, and metastasis of cancer, in addition to the inhibition of cellular death. In recent years, there has been active research into using HSP inhibitors in several malignancies. Due to the poor prognosis of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), it would be valuable to find new biomarkers for the development of cancer treatments. AIM To evaluate the expressions of HSP27 and HSP70 and their effect on survival in EAC. METHODS Immunohislochemical analyses and evaluations of HSP27 and HSP70 expression were performed on all available samples from 93 patients diagnosed with EAC between 1990 and 2007 at two university hospitals. Fifteen cases with Barrett's metaplasia and 5 control cases from the same patient population were included in the analysis. HSP expression was quantitatively assessed and classified as high or low. Kaplan-Meier analyses and Cox regression models adjusting for age and sex as well as tumor site, stage, and grade were used to evaluate the effect on survival. RESULTS Tumor stage and surgical treatment were the main prognostic factors. High HSP27 expression in cancer cases was a strong negative predictive factor, with a mean survival of 23 mo compared to the 49 mo in cases with a low expression (P = 0.018). The results were similar for HSP70, with a poorer survival of 17 mo in cases with high HSP70 expression, in contrast to 40 mo (P = 0.006) in cases with a low expression. A Cox regression survival analysis was performed, adjusting for possible confounding factors, and higher HSP27 and HSP70 expressions remained an independent negative prognostic factor. The HSPs' correlation with survival was not affected by cancer treatments. When the analysis was adjusted for all factors, the odds ratios for HSP27 and HSP70 were 3.3 (CI: 1.6-6.6, P = 0.001) and 2.2 (CI: 1.2-3.9, P = 0.02), respectively. CONCLUSION HSP27 and HSP70 overexpression is associated with poor survival in EAC, which is, to the best of our knowledge, reported for the first time.Peer reviewe

Soil greenhouse gas emissions from a sisal chronosequence in Kenya

Sisal (Agave sisalana) is a climate-resilient crop grown on large-scale farms in semi-arid areas. However, no studies have investigated soil greenhouse gas (GHGs: CO2, N2O and CH4) fluxes from these plantations and how they relate to other land cover types. We examined GHG fluxes (Fs) in a sisal chronosequence at Teita Sisal Estate in southern Kenya. The effects of stand age on Fs were examined using static GHG chambers and gas chromatography for a period of one year in seven stands: young stands aged 1-3 years, mature stands aged 7-8 years, and old stands aged 13-14 years. Adjacent bushland served as a control site representing the surrounding land use type. Mean CO2 fluxes were highest in the oldest stand (56 +/- 3 mg C m(-2) h(-1)) and lowest in the 8-year old stand (38 +/- 3 mg C m(-2) h(-1)), which we attribute to difference in root respiration between the stand. All stands had 13-28% higher CO2 fluxes than bushland (32 +/- 3 mg C m(-2) h(-1)). CO2 fluxes in the wet season were about 70% higher than dry season across all sites. They were influenced by soil water content (W-S) and vegetation phenology. Mean N2O fluxes were very low (Peer reviewe

Akalasia

Vertaisarvioitu.Akalasia on harvinainen ruokatorven sairaus, joka aiheuttaa ruokatorven alasulkijan relaksaatiohäiriön ja runko-osan motiliteettihäiriön. Nämä johtavat ruuan nielemisvaikeuteen, käänteisvirtaukseen, rintakipuihin ja joskus painon vähenemiseen. Diagnoosiin päästään tarkkuusmanometrialla. Parantavaa hoitoa ei ole, mutta oireita voidaan lievittää löystyttämällä ruokatorven alasulkijaa joko endoskooppisella pallolaajennnuksella tai leikkaamalla sulkijalihas poikki joko laparoskopiassa (Heller-Dorin leikkaus) tai endoskopiassa (peroraalinen endoskooppinen myotomia, POEM). Monisairaiden potilaiden hoidossa voidaan joskus turvautua farmakologisiin hoitokeinoihin eli suun kautta otettaviin nitraatteihin tai kalsiumin estäjiin taikka botuliinitoksiiniruiskeisiin, mutta niiden teho on rajallinen. Pieni osa potilaista päätyy ruokatorviresektioon taudin edettyä.Peer reviewe

Evaluation of RUSLE and spatial assessment of agricultural soil erosion in Finland

Agricultural soil erosion has negative effects on surface water quality and aquatic ecosystems. A major impediment to agricultural erosion management in Finland has been the lack of high-resolution country-scale data on the spatial distribution of erosion. As a result, erosion mitigation measures have been targeted with limited information. Therefore, we evaluated the performance of the widely used RUSLE model against measurements from experimental fields, used the model to produce a two-metre resolution crop and management independent erosion estimate for all agricultural lands of Finland, and analysed erosion over different spatial scales. RUSLE showed skill (R2 = 0.76, NSE = 0.72) in estimating the observed erosion at experimental fields (55–2100 kg ha−1 yr−1) but with large errors (mean: −134 kg ha−1 yr−1, 90% range: −711 and 218 kg ha−1 yr−1). The evaluation, however, suggests that RUSLE performs similarly in Finland as elsewhere. The analysis of the developed country-scale data, in turn, revealed high erosion regions, and it showed how erosion varies between sub-catchment and between and within field parcels. For example, high-erosion areas concentrated in the proximity of water bodies were identified at the sub-catchment and within-field parcel scales. Altogether, the results demonstrate the predictive skill of RUSLE in high-latitude conditions, fill the earlier data gap in country-scale erosion, provide information for targeting erosion mitigation measures, and considerably improve the understanding of the spatial distribution of erosion in Finland

An Attempt to Utilize a Regional Dew Formation Model in Kenya

Model evaluation against experimental data is an important step towards accurate model predictions and simulations. Here, we evaluated an energy-balance model to predict dew formation occurrence and estimate its amount for East-African arid-climate conditions against 13 months of experimental dew harvesting data in Maktau, Kenya. The model was capable of predicting the dew formation occurrence effectively. However, it overestimated the harvestable dew amount by about a ratio of 1.7. As such, a factor of 0.6 was applied for a long-term period (1979–2018) to investigate the spatial and temporal variation of the dew formation in Kenya. The annual average of dew occurrence in Kenya was ~130 days with dew yield > 0.1 L/m2/day. The dew formation showed a seasonal cycle with the maximum yield in winter and minimum in summer. Three major dew formation zones were identified after cluster analysis: arid and semi-arid regions; mountain regions; and coastal regions. The average daily and yearly maximum dew yield were 0.05 and 18; 0.9 and 25; and 0.15 and 40 L/m2/day; respectively. A precise prediction of dew occurrence and dew yield is very challenging due to inherent limitations in numerical models and meteorological input parameters