Curators with and without Collections: A Comparative Study of Changes in the Curator’s Work at National Museums in Finland and in the Baltic States

Traditionally, the curator’s work has been in close connection with the main functions of the museum – preservation, research, and communication. The changes that have occurred at museums over the past few decades have also influenced the profession of curator. Specialisation has taken place inside the museum, and so the curator’s functions have also changed. This article focuses on the curator’s field of work at national museums in Finland and in the Baltic states. The analysis is mainly based on interviews conducted with curators and other museum professionals at the Estonian National Museum, the Estonian History Museum, the National History Museum of Latvia, the National Museum of Lithuania, and the National Museum of Finland. Emanating from the PRC model provided by the Reinwardt Academy as well as the global changes induced by the new museology, the focus is on the curator’s connection with museum collections. The analysis shows that the curator’s role is not similar in all the museums under discussion; there are regional differences in structure, curatorial duties, and priorities. While at some museums the curator is regarded as a collection keeper who can also do some research, at others they are rather researchers and have only infrequent contact with collections

Inimembrüo elu ja inimväärikuse kaitse biomeditsiinis embrüonaalsete tüvirakuliinide eraldamise, CRISPR/Cas9 ning mitokondri asendamise meetodite näitel

http://www.ester.ee/record=b4678844*es

Productivity of Estonian dairy farming and factors affecting it in 2006-2013

Bakalaureusetöö eesmärgiks on analüüsida piimakarjakasvatuse testettevõtete tootlikkust aastatel 2006 – 2013 erinevate tootlikkusnäitajate põhjal. Töös püstitatakse järgmised ülesanded: anda ülevaade piimakarjakasvatusest Eestis; iseloomustada tootlikkuse olemust ja mõõtmist ning piimakarjakasvatuse tootlikkust mõjutavaid tegureid; anda ülevaade piimkarjakasvatuse olulisematest majandusnäitajatest; võrrelda ja hinnata piimakarjakasvatuse testettevõtteid suurusgrupi osa-, kogu- ja tegurirühma tootlikkuse keskmiste näitajate põhjal. Bakalaureusetöös on kasutatud võrdlusuuringut, milles võrreldakse erineva suurusega piimakarjakasvatuse testettevõtete kogutoodangut, kulusid ja tootlikkust. FADN piimakarjakasvatuse testettevõtetest moodustavad suurema osa väikeettevõtted, mille arv on vaadeldaval perioodil vähenenud, samas kui suurettevõtete arv on suurenenud. Piimakarjakasvatuses on tasustamata töö maht aasta-aastalt vähenenud – 2006. aastaga võrreldes oli tasustamata töö 2013. aastaks vähenenud 46%. Kulude struktuuris olid suurima osakaaluga erikulud, mis moodustasid üle 40% kõikides suurusgruppides kogu vaadeldava perioodi jooksul. Erikuludest moodustasid suurima osa söödad koresööda sööjatele. Aastatel 2006 – 2013 olid väikeettevõtted (karja suurusega <21) osatootlikkuse ja tegurirühma tootlikkuse näitajate põhjal kõige madalama tootlikkusega. Töö ja maa tootlikkus oli suurim suurettevõtetes ning söödakulude ja materjalitootlikkus keskmise suurusega (piimakarja suurusega 21-<51 ja 51- <101) testettevõtetes. Vaadeldaval perioodil suurenesid piimakarjakasvatuse testettevõtetes maa ja töö tootlikkus ning ülejäänud tootlikkuse näitajad pigem vähenesid. Kulude tootlikkuse järgi olid piimakarjakasvatuse testettevõtted ajavahemikul 2006 – 2013 enamasti madala tootlikkusega ning ainult tänu toetustele jõuti kasumisse. Kulude tootlikkus oli nii toetusteta kui ka koos toetustega kõige suurem väikeettevõtetes juhul, kui ei arvestatud tasustamata tööjõudu. Kui arvesse võeti ka tasustamata tööjõud, osutus kulude tootlikkus kõige väiksemaks väikeettevõtetes. Varade tootlikkus oli vaadeldaval perioodil suhteliselt stabiilne. Kõiki vaadeldud tootlikkuse näitajaid arvesse võttes on väikeettevõtted madala tootlikkusega.Throughout the history dairy farming has been one of the most important branches of the Estonian agriculture. The productivity of dairy farming has been influenced, on the one hand, by the breeding, which has increased the productivity of the dairy cattle, and on the other hand by the development of technology, which has decreased working hours and increased the wellbeing of both the workers and the animals. The main aim of this Bachelor´s thesis is to analyse the productivity of the sample dairy farms during the period of 2006 – 2013 based on various productivity indicators. In order to achieve this goal firstly a brief overview about the Estonian dairy farming and the factors influencing it is given and the essence of the productivity and the means of measuring it are characterized. Secondly, an overview about the most important economic indicators of dairy farming is given and five size groups of dairy farming sample farms based on the average productivity indicator should be compared. The secondary data used in the Bachelor´s thesis comes from The Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) database. The data consists of economic indicators of the Estonian dairy farms during the period of 2006 – 2013. In studying this data comparative analysis was used. The theoretical part of the Bachelor´s thesis gives an overview about the Estonian dairy farming as well as describes the essence of the productivity, the means of measurement, the productivity indicators and the factors influencing dairy farming. The empirical part of the thesis gives the economic indicators of dairy farming sample farms during the period of 2006 – 2013 and compares different farm size categories based on single factor, multifactor and total factor productivity. Small farms form the biggest group of FADN sample farms although this number has declined during the research period while the number of big farms has increased. According to the FADN database the amount of unpaid work has decreased year by year – by the year 2013 it had declined as much as 46% (as compared to the year 2006). The amount of paid work has decreased during the same period only by 13%. The average land-use of the dairy farming sample farms increased until 2011 (15% as compared to 2006), but since 2012 the average land-use per farm has started to decrease again and by the year 2013 it had decreased by 11% (as compared to 2011). During this period the highest percentage of the cost structure of dairy farms was formed by specific costs, forming more than 40% in all farms, regardless their size. The feed for grazing livestock formed the biggest percentage of the specific costs. The percentage of the feed costs depended on the size of the farm. In the small farms the percentage was higher (~80%) and in the big farms lower (~60%). Out of all the feeds the biggest part was formed by the homegrown feeds. According to the data studied the small farms were the least productive on the bases of single factor and multifactor productivity indicators. The labour productivity and the land productivity were the highest in the big farms but the material productivity and the productivity of the feed costs were the highest in the medium sized farms. In 2006 – 2013 the land productivity and the labour productivity increased but the rest of productivity indicators rather decreased. The analysis of the costs productivity demonstrated that dairy farming during the research period was often characterized by the low productivity and the profit was achieved only thanks to the subsidies. During this period the costs productivity with as well as without subsidies was the biggest in the small farms. When unpaid work was taken into account, then the costs productivity was the smallest in the small farms, as most of the workforce was unpaid. In the Bachelor´s thesis the following conclusions were reached: • in 2006 – 2013 the labour productivity increased but the productivity of the feed costs and the material productivity decreased, • the asset productivity was the greatest in medium size (with the cattle size of 21-<51 and 51-<101) dairy farms, • the costs productivity was the highest in the small farms (with the cattle size of <21) excluding unpaid work in the input but when the actual cost of unpaid work was included in the input, then the costs productivity was the lowest in the small farms, • taking into account all the productivity indicators and data studied it can be concluded that medium and big dairy farms are more productive than small dairy farms

Sustainability of dairy farming in the Baltic States

Magistritöö Majandusarvestuse ja finantsjuhtimise õppekavalMagistritöö eesmärk on pakkuda välja näitajad Balti riikide piimakarjakasvatuse ettevõtete jätkusuutlikkuse hindamiseks. Töös analüüsiti võrdlusmeetodi abil FADN-ist ja Eurostatist pärinevaid andmeid, pakkumaks välja sobilikke näitajaid, et hinnata Balti riikide piimakarjakasvatuse ettevõtete jätkusuutlikkust. Eesti, Läti ja Leedu piimakarjakasvatuse ettevõtete jätkusuutlikkust aastatel 2007–2015 hinnati 18 näitaja alusel, millest 11 iseloomustas majanduslikku, neli sotsiaalset ja kolm keskkondlikku jätkusuutlikkust. Majandusliku jätkusuutlikkuse hindamiseks välja valitud näitajate abil oli võimalik kindlaks teha, et Balti riikide piimakarjakasvatust mõjutasid 2008. aasta ülemaailmne majanduskriis, 2014. aasta Venemaa embargo ja 2015. aasta piimakvootide kaotamine Euroopa Liidu turul. Seega saab neid näitajaid pidada piisavaks, et hinnata Balti riikide piimakarjakasvatuse ettevõtete majanduslikku jätkusuutlikkust. Väljavalitud sotsiaalse jätkusuutlikkuse näitajad võimaldasid iseloomustada olulisi sotsiaalse jätkusuutlikkuse aspekte nt tööaega ja töötasu. Sotsiaalse jätkusuutlikkuse igakülgsemaks hindamiseks võiks kasutusele võtta aga ka nt omanike ja töötajate haridustaset, töötingimusi ja töötajate rahulolu iseloomustavad näitajad. Keskkondliku jätkusuutlikkuse hindamiseks välja valitud näitajad demonstreerisid, et vaadeldaval perioodil oli Eesti Balti riikide veisekasvatuse üks suuremaid saastajaid. Kuigi väljavalitud näitajate abil oli võimalik iseloomustada veisekasvatusest lähtuvaid suuremaid keskkondlikke ohte, võiks kasutada veel soolesise fermentatsiooni CH4 emissiooni toodangu ühiku kohta. Kõik väljavalitud majandusliku jätkusuutlikkuse näitajad sobisid Balti riikide piimakarjakasvatuse ettevõtete jätkusuutlikkuse võrdlemiseks. Kuigi sotsiaalse ja keskkondliku jätkusuutlikkuse näitajad suutsid hästi iseloomustada piimakarjakasvatuse ettevõtete jätkusuutlikkust, võiks võtta kasutusele ka täiendavaid näitajaid. Paljud väljavalitud näitajad sobivad iseloomustama ka FIE-de ja äriühingute piimakarjakasvatuse ettevõtete jätkusuutlikkuse erisusi, kuid soovitud eesmärkide saavutamiseks ei sobinud nt maa tootlikkuse kasutamine näitajana. Seega sobis enamik piimakarjakasvatuse ettevõtete jätkusuutlikkuse hindamiseks välja valitud näitajaid võrdluse koostamiseks nii riikide kui ka FIE-de ja äriühingute tasandil.The main aim of this Master´s Thesis is to propose the indicators to assess sustainability of dairy farms in the Baltic States. Raw data was obtained from the FADN and Eurostat databases. Comparative analysis is the analytical method used in this study. Sustainability of dairy farms in the Baltic States were assessed on the bases of 18 indicators: 11 characterised economic, four social and three enviormental sustainability in 2007–2015. Indicators selected for assessment of economic sustainability offered a good possibility to ascertain that economic crisis in 2008, Russian imposed an embargo on the milk and milk products of the European Union in 2014 and the quota system was abolished in the European Union in 2015 affected dairy farms of the Baltic States. Four indicators offered possibility to characterise important aspects of social sustainability. To assess social sustainability more comprehensively some additional indicators were proposed. Three indicators selected for assessment of environmental sustainability demonstrated that during the review period Estonia was the highest polluter among the Baltic States. Therefore, most of indicators selected for assessment of sustainability of dairy farms offered possipility to compare dairy farms on the level of the countries as well as on the level of enterprises – companies and self-employed workers

Analysis of Polymorphism of Uniparental Markers in Reindeer-Herding Populations: The Tozhu Tuvans of Russia and The Tsaatans Of Mongolia

We analyzed the data on the variability of the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in populations of the Tsaatans of Mongolia and the Tozhu Tuvans of Russia. The populations studied are characterized by low genetic diver¬sity for both marker systems. The analysis of Y chromosome haplogroups in the Tsaatan and Tozhu revealed three hap¬logroups in the Tsaatan and seven haplogroups in the Tozhu. The composition of the haplogroups is coherent to literature data on the Tuvans, which is explained by common origin. According to the data on mitochondrial DNA variability, 12 haplogroups were determined in 46 Tozhus, of which C4b (30.43%) and F1b1b (23.91%) are major haplogroups. According to the HVS–1 (HyperVariable Segment) data, 15 haplotypes were found in the Tozhu Tuvans and the diversity coefficient of 0.8677 turned out to be much lower than among the Torghut of Mongolia (0.9857). In 23 Tsaatans, 14 haplogroups were determined; the most common of which are C4b (22.73%) and C5a1 (18.18%). According to HVS-1, 14 haplotypes were revealed in the Tsaatan, the diversity is 0.9486. The data obtained on uniparental marker systems in the Tozhus and Tsaatans are due to the isolated and inaccessible taiga region and the manifestation of the “founder effect”. The Tsaatans are less polymorphic in terms of the variety of Y chromosome haplogroups, while the Tozhus are less polymorphic in terms of mitochondrial DNA, which is probably a consequence of a high rate of endogamic marriages in the populations studied

Genetic ancestry changes in Stone to Bronze Age transition in the East European plain

The transition from Stone to Bronze Age in Central and Western Europe was a period of major population movements originating from the Ponto-Caspian Steppe. Here, we report new genome-wide sequence data from 30 individuals north of this area, from the understudied western part of present-day Russia, including 3 Stone Age hunter-gatherers (10, 800 to 4250 cal BCE) and 26 Bronze Age farmers from the Corded Ware complex Fatyanovo Culture (2900 to 2050 cal BCE). We show that Eastern hunter-gatherer ancestry was present in northwestern Russia already from around 10, 000 BCE. Furthermore, we see a change in ancestry with the arrival of farming - Fatyanovo Culture individuals were genetically similar to other Corded Ware cultures, carrying a mixture of Steppe and European early farmer ancestry. Thus, they likely originate from a fast migration toward the northeast from somewhere near modern-day Ukraine - the closest area where these ancestries coexisted from around 3000 BCE

Mitochondrial DNA signals of late glacial recolonization of Europe from near Eastern refugia

Human populations, along with those of many other species, are thought to have contracted into a number of refuge areas at the height of the last Ice Age. European populations are believed to be, to a large extent, the descendants of the inhabitants of these refugia, and some extant mtDNA lineages can be traced to refugia in Franco-Cantabria (haplogroups H1, H3, V, and U5b1), the Italian Peninsula (U5b3), and the East European Plain (U4 and U5a). Parts of the Near East, such as the Levant, were also continuously inhabited throughout the Last Glacial Maximum, but unlike western and eastern Europe, no archaeological or genetic evidence for Late Glacial expansions into Europe from the Near East has hitherto been discovered. Here we report, on the basis of an enlarged whole-genome mitochondrial database, that a substantial, perhaps predominant, signal from mitochondrial haplogroups J and T, previously thought to have spread primarily from the Near East into Europe with the Neolithic population, may in fact reflect dispersals during the Late Glacial period, ?19–12 thousand years (ka) ago.<br/

Uniparental Genetic Heritage of Belarusians: Encounter of Rare Middle Eastern Matrilineages with a Central European Mitochondrial DNA Pool

Ethnic Belarusians make up more than 80% of the nine and half million people inhabiting the Republic of Belarus. Belarusians together with Ukrainians and Russians represent the East Slavic linguistic group, largest both in numbers and territory, inhabiting East Europe alongside Baltic-, Finno-Permic- and Turkic-speaking people. Till date, only a limited number of low resolution genetic studies have been performed on this population. Therefore, with the phylogeographic analysis of 565 Y-chromosomes and 267 mitochondrial DNAs from six well covered geographic sub-regions of Belarus we strove to complement the existing genetic profile of eastern Europeans. Our results reveal that around 80% of the paternal Belarusian gene pool is composed of R1a, I2a and N1c Y-chromosome haplogroups – a profile which is very similar to the two other eastern European populations – Ukrainians and Russians. The maternal Belarusian gene pool encompasses a full range of West Eurasian haplogroups and agrees well with the genetic structure of central-east European populations. Our data attest that latitudinal gradients characterize the variation of the uniparentally transmitted gene pools of modern Belarusians. In particular, the Y-chromosome reflects movements of people in central-east Europe, starting probably as early as the beginning of the Holocene. Furthermore, the matrilineal legacy of Belarusians retains two rare mitochondrial DNA haplogroups, N1a3 and N3, whose phylogeographies were explored in detail after de novo sequencing of 20 and 13 complete mitogenomes, respectively, from all over Eurasia. Our phylogeographic analyses reveal that two mitochondrial DNA lineages, N3 and N1a3, both of Middle Eastern origin, might mark distinct events of matrilineal gene flow to Europe: during the mid-Holocene period and around the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, respectively

"Like sugar in milk": reconstructing the genetic history of the Parsi population.

BACKGROUND: The Parsis are one of the smallest religious communities in the world. To understand the population structure and demographic history of this group in detail, we analyzed Indian and Pakistani Parsi populations using high-resolution genetic variation data on autosomal and uniparental loci (Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA). Additionally, we also assayed mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms among ancient Parsi DNA samples excavated from Sanjan, in present day Gujarat, the place of their original settlement in India. RESULTS: Among present-day populations, the Parsis are genetically closest to Iranian and the Caucasus populations rather than their South Asian neighbors. They also share the highest number of haplotypes with present-day Iranians and we estimate that the admixture of the Parsis with Indian populations occurred ~1,200 years ago. Enriched homozygosity in the Parsi reflects their recent isolation and inbreeding. We also observed 48% South-Asian-specific mitochondrial lineages among the ancient samples, which might have resulted from the assimilation of local females during the initial settlement. Finally, we show that Parsis are genetically closer to Neolithic Iranians than to modern Iranians, who have witnessed a more recent wave of admixture from the Near East. CONCLUSIONS: Our results are consistent with the historically-recorded migration of the Parsi populations to South Asia in the 7th century and in agreement with their assimilation into the Indian sub-continent's population and cultural milieu "like sugar in milk". Moreover, in a wider context our results support a major demographic transition in West Asia due to the Islamic conquest