Sosiaalinen media musiikintekijöiden apuvälineena

Sosiaalisen verkkokulttuurin yleistyminen ja arkipäiväistyminen on lähentänyt ihmisiä verkossa. Internet on käyttäjälleen päivä päivältä sosiaalisempi sähköisine kohtauspaikkoineen. Tämän hetken suosituimmat www-palvelut perustuvat yhteisöllisyyteen, jossa virtuaaliyhteisöt houkuttelevat käyttäjiä osallistumaan ja luomaan itse sisältöä palveluihin. Yhteisölliset palvelut tarjoavat yrityksille uudenlaisia ansaintamalleja ja tapoja olla yhteydessä ihmisiin yhä läheisemmin. Myös musiikintekijät hyödyntävät sosiaalista mediaa tuodessaan musiikkiaan esille. Lokakuussa 2010 pidetyn kyselytutkimuksen avulla kartoitettiin musiikintekijöiden mielipiteitä siitä, millaisena he kokevat sosiaalisen median hyödyntämisen osana uuden musiikin tuomisessa ihmisten tietoisuuteen. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää sitä, kuinka tärkeänä Internetin musiikkipalvelut koetaan musiikintekijöiden keskuudessa ja miten artistit hyötyvät palveluista. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin kyselylomakkeen avulla. Kyselytutkimuksesta saatujen tulosten perusteella voidaan päätellä, että Internetin sosiaalinen media koetaan hyödylliseksi ja käytännölliseksi kanavaksi musiikkipiireissä. Bändiprofiilin tekeminen suosituun musiikkipalveluun on houkuttelevaa, koska profiilin teko on nopeaa, sen päivittäminen on helppoa, ja se tarjoaa laajan käyttäjäkunnan ansiosta verkostoitumismahdollisuuksia myös kansainvälisesti

Observing diatom diversity and community composition along environmental gradients in subarctic mountain ponds

Cold subarctic pond ecosystems will be threatened due to the increase in global temperatures. Therefore, it is important to gain more knowledge on how their biota may respond to global warming. The aim of this research was to illustrate the variability in diatom species richness and community composition along environmental gradients in northernmost Finland and Norway and reveal the variables most strongly associated with diatom biodiversity. We also compared diatom biodiversity among different biotope types and placed emphasis on the distribution of rare diatom taxa. A total of 100 subarctic ponds from the Finnish and Norwegian Lapland covering an elevational gradient of 8-887 m above sea level were sampled. A generalised linear model and hierarchical partitioning were used to identify variables associated with diatom species richness. To identify variables associated with diatom community composition, a non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination was performed. Finally, a principal component analysis and permutational multivariate analysis of variance were used for the investigation of environmental and biotic differences among biotope types. Water pH, aluminium concentration, and air temperature best explained the variation in species richness and community composition. Diatom species richness and community composition did not differ among the biotope types, but environmental variables in pine forests differed significantly from other biotope types. Many diatom species occupied the entire elevational gradient, while rare taxa seemed to appear at the ends of the elevational gradient as well around the mid-elevational zone. We found that elevation was not sufficient to explain the variation in diatom species richness and community composition, but diatom biodiversity was shaped by a variety of local-scale environmental variables, some of which are in turn correlated with elevation. Our findings suggest that local abiotic factors and especially water chemistry are important factors in describing the variability in diatom community composition and species richness in subarctic ponds. It seems that the lowest and the highest elevations provide suitable habitats for rare diatom taxa that have unique environmental preferences but some of the rare taxa were also constrained to mid elevations. Our study provides new insights into the role of local abiotic variables in shaping subarctic mountain pond biodiversity. We urge researchers not only to study elevational gradients per se in mountain areas, but also pay special attention to environmental covariates that may play a notable role in maintaining freshwater biodiversity in the subarctic.Peer reviewe

Manner-Suomen maaseutuohjelman 2014-2020 arviointia tukeva selvitys

Luken kirjat, raportit, oppaat ja esitteet. Raportti Maa- ja metsätalousministeriölle201

Aivokavernooma - pitääkö olla huolissaan?

Aivokavernooma on laskimoepämuodostumasairaus, jonka nykyisiä hoitovaihtoehtoja ovat seuranta, leikkaus ja sädehoito. Aivokavernoomasta tunnetaan sporadinen ja familiaalinen muoto. Magneettikuvausten saatavuuden lisäännyttyä aivokavernoomia diagnosoidaan entistä enemmän, joten moni kliinikko saattaa törmätä tähän tautiin. Sen luonnollinen kulku on yleensä hyvälaatuinen. Pelätyin tapahtuma, aivokavernooman vuoto, on harvinainen. Uusimpia tautiin liittyviä tutkimushavaintoja on tehty vuodon ennustamisesta sekä mikrobiomin osuudesta taudin synnyssä ja kulussa. Tutkimustiedon lisääntymisen myötä uusia hoito- ja seurantamahdollisuuksia tulee kliiniseen käyttöön merkittävästi todennäköisesti jo lähivuosina. Aivokavernoomasta ei pidä olla huolissaan, mutta taudin erityispiirteiden vuoksi sen seurannasta ja hoidosta tulisi konsultoida yliopistosairaaloiden moniammatillista neurovaskulaarihoitotyöryhmää

Functional properties of native and cheese whey protein concentrate powders

v2007okBEL/PR

How to measure success in rural small business?

Despite of increasing urbanisation, rural areas play a very important role in Western economies. The field of rural small businesses has been under reorganisation during the latest decades in many European countries. The new situation can be traced, sub-stantially, to the change within farm businesses. As a result of the ongoing changes, the clear-cut distinction between farms and other small businesses is not obvious anymore. Success is one of the key issues addressed in one form or another in many - if not the most - studies concerning small businesses. However, the firm success can be under-stood and approached from various ways, for instance from firm survival, financial of subjective success perspectives. If a study is made from the point view of entrepre-neurial venture the financial success variables such as turnover, sales growth, profit-ability or return on investment are appropriate. Financial measures are used for two different purposes. They are often used directly as indicators of firm size or as growth measures. In addition, they are used to measure of the "relative success', such as for profitability or efficient use of critical resources relative to other firms. Growth and success are frequently linked, although growing firms might not be successful when analysed with other measures, and successful small firms do not necessarily grow. When success of the firms is explored, it is essential to understand the multidimen-sional nature of the performance constructs, i.e. a firm might be successful in on one performance dimension and unsuccessful in another. Due to the change on in the farming sector and increasing diversification enterprises on farms, there is a clear need for evaluating different sectors from the firm success perspective. This kind of evaluation requests measures that are valid and reliable in different kind of firm groups. In this paper we approach the success from the entre-preneurial venture perspective and use mainly financial success measures. The subjec-tive of this study is to find appropriate common measures for success that can be used in comparative studies on rural small businesses. We agree that success should be measured in multiple ways. In this paper key research questions asked are: 1) can one identify the main dimensions of success; and if yes, what are they? 2) How these main dimensions and individual success indicators that are common in small business research function when different types of rural firms are compared? Two data sets are utilised in this study: 1) data collected in a postal survey in 2001 (N= 1093) and 2) data collected in a follow up survey in 2006 (N = 871). The 2006 data consists of two data sets: panel data from the 2001 survey and an additional sam-ple. In both cases, the data consisted of three main groups: 1) non-agricultural small-scale businesses (`non-farm enterprisesŽ), 2) farmers who also had non-agricultural business (`diversified farmsŽ), 3) conventional farmers concentrating only on agricul-ture (`conventional farmsŽ). The data was analysed by using factor analysis and other qualitative methods. Firm success was measured by 9 different common success measures. Three main dimensions of financial success were identified from the data. These dimensions were size, profitability and growth. These same dimensions were found from both separate data sets, which gives good evidence that these kinds of dimensions really exists and the dimensional structure is not a coincidence. The fact that the structure of dimen-sions is lasting shows high reliability. Used measures and found success dimensions separate different groups, and thus are functioning criteria. The results indicate that non-farm rural enterprises perform better that conventional farms and diversified farms are in most cases in-between, when financial success measures are applied. The found differences between groups (conventional farms, diversified farms and non-farm businesses) are plausible as farm incomes and profitability have been declining for years. These findings show good validity of dimensions and measures. The results of this study clearly indicate that firm success truly is multidimensional phenomenon. Even though the focus of this paper was on the financial indicators of success, differ-ent dimensions were identified. Thus, the results support earlier arguments using mul-tiple success criteria instead just one.vo

How the measure success in rural small business?

vo

Muuttuva maaseutuyrittäjyys - Monialaisten tilojen, perusmaatilojen ja maaseudun muiden yritysten yrittäjyys ja resurssienhallinta 2000-2006

Suomalaisen maatalouden rakennekehitys on ollut viime vuosina nopeaa ja yrityskoon kasvattaminen on ollut jo nyt monille suomalaisille viljelijöille elinehto. Voidaan kuitenkin arvioida, että jo lähivuosina viljelijöillä ja koko elinkeinolla on edessään vielä huomatta-vasti suurempia haasteita. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastelukohteena on monialaisen tilan muodostama kokonaisuus, johon kuuluvat niin maatilatalous, muu yritystoiminta kuin viljelijäperhekin. Vertailukohteina ovat perustuotantotilat ja -tilayhtymät sekä maaseudun muut pienyritykset. Tutkimushankkeen tarkoituksena on auttaa viljelijää johtamaan maata-lous- tai maaseutuyrityksensä kokonaisuutta ja näin edistää suomalaisten maaseutuyritys-ten kilpailukykyä ja maaseudun elinvoimaisuutta. Johtamista tarkasteltiin resurssijohtami-sen ja yrittäjyyden näkökulmista soveltaen sosiaalipsykologian, liiketaloustieteen ja tekno-logiatutkimuksen lähestymistapoja. Tutkimusaineistona käytettiin kahta postikyselyaineis-toa, jotka kerättiin vuonna 2001 (N=1 093) ja vuonna 2006 (N=871). Yrittäjäidentiteettiä koskevan osion keskeisimmäksi tulokseksi nousi se, että vaikka suo-malaiset viljelijät vahvasti identifioivat itsensä tuottajiksi, niin se ei estä heitä näkemästä itseään myös yrittäjinä. Suurin osa tavanomaisista viljelijöistä piti itseään sekä tuottajina että yrittäjinä. Monialaisilla viljelijöillä, joilla harjoittivat myös muuta yritystoimintaa maatalouden ohella, yrittäjä-identiteetti oli vielä tavanomaisia viljelijöitä vahvempi, eivät-kä monialaiset viljelijät tässä suhteessa poikenneet kovin paljoa muista maaseutuyrittäjistä. Liiketaloustieteen näkökulmasta tehdyn osion keskeisten tulosten mukaan yrityksen talou-dellinen menestymisen ja sen erilaisten resurssien välillä on yhteys. Yrittäjien oman arvion mukaan yrityksillä on keskimäärin kohtuullisen hyvin erilaisia resursseja. Tulosten perus-teella voidaan sanoa, että maaseutuyrityksissä on keskimäärin hyvät sisäiset valmiudet sopeutua muutoksiin ja rakentaa tulevaa. Maataloustöiden organisointia koskevan osion keskeisin tulos on se, että kaikkien töiden tekeminen itse on hyvin harvinaista sekä perustuotanto- että monialaisilla tiloilla. Töitä jaetaan hyvin yleisesti tilayhteistyöllä ja ulkoistamalla tai niitä tehdään edellä mainittujen ja oman työn yhdistelminä. Kuvaavaa maamme maatiloille on monimuotoisuus maatilata-louden töiden organisoinnissa. Perustuotanto- ja monialaisten tilojen omistajat korostavat tilayhteistyössä erityisesti yhteistyön tuomia taloudellisia etuja. Lisäksi yhteistyön koetaan antavan henkisiä virikkeitä. Urakoitsijan palkkaamisen koetaan puolestaan vähentävän maatalousyrittäjän työperäistä kuormitusta ja edistävän yrittäjäperheen työturvallisuutta.At the moment rural areas are going through a rapid socio-economic change in Finland. Agriculture is under severe pressures. Farmers and other rural entrepreneurs, who are developing their enterprises in this uncertain situation, face demands towards better com-petitiveness and efficiency. The most common "development trends" among farmers are A) enlargement of farm size and specialisation within agriculture or B) diversification to non-agricultural industries. The number of diversified farms has increased during past years. However, the management of the diversified or enlarged farm is a very challenging task. The main objectives of this research are: 1) to investigate entrepreneurial identities of farmers, diversified farmers and other rural entrepreneurs. 2) To study the farms, diversi-fied farms and other rural enterprises from resource-based view and 3) To investigate what kind of the different forms of co-operation exists between farms and outsourcing. Two data sets were utilised in this study: first, data collected in a postal survey in 2001, and second, data collected in a follow-up survey in 2006. The 2006 data consist of two data sets: panel data from the 2001 survey and an additional sample. In both cases, the data consisted of three main groups: 1) non-agricultural small-scale businesses ('non-farm enterprises'), 2) farmers who also had non-agricultural business ('diversified farms'), and 3) conventional farmers concentrating only on agriculture ('conventional farms'). The findings of the study indicate that even though Finnish farmers had strong producer identity, they simultaneously had also strong entrepreneurial identity. However, the self-definitions of diversified farmers appear more entrepreneurial than those of conventional farmers. According to the management study, there is link between resources and financial success. Farmers who have diversified are well placed in possessing general resources to run their farm-firm complexes. In addition also conventional farms and non-farm enter-prises had reasonable situation possessing needed resources. According to the 2006 survey, outsourcing and co-operation are very commvo

Brain Plasticity Modulator p75 Neurotrophin Receptor in Human Urine after Different Acute Brain Injuries—A Prospective Cohort Study

Acute brain injuries (ABIs) pose a substantial global burden, demanding effective prognostic indicators for outcomes. This study explores the potential of urinary p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) concentration as a prognostic biomarker, particularly in relation to unfavorable outcomes. The study involved 46 ABI patients, comprising sub-cohorts of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, ischemic stroke, and traumatic brain injury. Furthermore, we had four healthy controls. Samples were systematically collected from patients treated at the University Hospital of Turku between 2017 and 2019, at early (1.50 ± 0.70 days) and late (9.17 ± 3.40 days) post-admission time points. Urinary p75NTR levels, measured by ELISA and normalized to creatinine, were compared against patients’ outcomes using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). Early urine samples showed no significant p75NTR concentration difference between favorable and unfavorable mRS groups. In contrast, late samples exhibited a statistically significant increase in p75NTR concentrations in the unfavorable group (p = 0.033), demonstrating good prognostic accuracy (AUC = 70.9%, 95% CI = 53–89%, p = 0.03). Assessment of p75NTR concentration changes over time revealed no significant variation in the favorable group (p = 0.992) but a significant increase in the unfavorable group (p = 0.009). Moreover, p75NTR concentration was significantly higher in ABI patients (mean ± SD 40.49 ± 28.83–65.85 ± 35.04 ng/mg) compared to healthy controls (mean ± SD 0.54 ± 0.44 ng/mg), irrespective of sampling time or outcome (p < 0.0001). In conclusion, late urinary p75NTR concentrations emerged as a potential prognostic biomarker for ABIs, showing increased levels associated with unfavorable outcomes regardless of the specific type of brain injury. While early samples exhibited no significant differences, the observed late increases emphasize the time-dependent nature of this potential biomarker. Further validation in larger patient cohorts is crucial, highlighting the need for additional research to establish p75NTR as a reliable prognostic biomarker across various ABIs. Additionally, its potential role as a diagnostic biomarker warrants exploration