Request for 2 New Cyrillic Characters for the Khanty and Nenets Languages

This is a proposal to add 2 characters to the international character encoding standard Unicode to represent Khanty and Nenets languages in Far North (Siberia). These additions were published in Unicode Standard version 7.0 in June 2014

A Reappraisal of M. Alexander Castrén's Forest Nenets Records

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Improvement of Process for Managing Fixed Manufacturing Lead Time Promises

Precise and reliable delivery promises are essential to manufacturing companies. A make-to-order or assemble-to-order company may make delivery time a strong competitive advantage. The case company, a Nordic high-tech electronics manufacturer, uses fixed manufacturing lead time promises (FMLTP) as a basis for delivery time promising. This is a case study that aims at identifying the need of improving the actual FMLTPs of certain products as well as providing improvement suggestions for the process of managing the FMLTPs. In addition, the target of the study is to present alternative delivery time promising models; to analyze the impact of manufacturing environment decisions to delivery time promises; and to discuss the importance of delivery time for manufacturing companies. To address these objectives a literature review and an extensive current state analysis were conducted. The analysis consists of semi-structured interviews, a quantitative sales data analysis and of a brief competitor benchmark study. 18 employees of the case case company were interviewed in order to understand the pros and cons as well as to identify the improvement possibilities in the current state of the FMLTP model. Sales data analysis enabled making data-based recommendations for improving the FMLTPs. The results imply that the case company’s delivery times are in general competitive but the FMLTP model causes additional unnecessary work and could be improved. The literature review suggests that supply chain resources based advanced-available-to-promise (AATP) model could be a promising alternative for the FMLTP model. Based on the results of the current state study, this thesis provides a list of the case company’s products whose FMLTPs need improvement. Likewise, improvement suggestions for the process for managing FMLTPs are provided. Process related improvement suggestions are given for new product introduction (NPI) process to standardize and ensure justified FMLTP decisions. Additionally proposals are provided for reviewing the performance of the FMLTP model and revising the FMLTPs

Uralilaisten kielten käsikirja vihdoin ilmestynyt

Kirja-arvioSinor, Denis (toim.): The Uralic languages: description, history and foreign influences

Development of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) Antibodies Against Vascular Homograft Donor in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients

Background: The appearance of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies after solid organ transplantation predisposes recipients to graft dysfunction. In theory, vascular homografts, which are widely used in children with congenital heart defects, may cause allosensitization. Material/Methods: In this single-center retrospective study, the presence of pre-existing HLA antibodies in pediatric heart trans- plant (HTx) recipients with a vascular homograft was evaluated in a cohort of 12 patients. HLA antibodies were screened before and after HTx and positive screening results were confirmed and identified using the Luminex (R) single antigen bead method. Endomyocardial biopsies (EMB) and coronary angiography studies were re-evaluated to assess the prevalence of acute rejections and coronary artery change in these patients. Results: At the time of HTx, 8 patients (67%) had HLA antibodies detected by the Luminex assay, none of which were heart donor specific (DSA). All patients had negative leukocyte crossmatch. One patient developed DSAs against homograft donor prior to HTx. After the HTx, 5 patients (42%) developed DSAs against the heart donor and 4 patients (40%) against the homograft donor. In 2 patients (17%), the antibodies were against both heart and homograft donors. The rejection rate or prevalence of coronary artery vasculopathy did not differ significantly between the homograft cohort and our historical controls. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the prevalence of DSAs against homograft donor prior to HTx is relatively rare. However, almost half of the patients developed DSAs against homograft post-HTx. The clinical importance of these antibodies warrants further studies.Peer reviewe

Exploring contested authenticity among speakers of a contested language: the case of ‘Francoprovençal'

This paper explores the notion of speaker authenticity in the context of obsolescent ‘Francoprovençal’: a highly fragmented grouping of Romance varieties spoken in parts of France, Italy, and Switzerland by less than 1% of the total regional population. While Francoprovençal has long been losing ground to the dominant language(s) with which it is in contact, new speakers have begun to emerge within the context of revitalisation movements and activities geared more favourable language planning policies and increased literacy. The emergence of these new speakers has polarised native-speaker communities, and has blurred the lines associated with the traditional view of sociolinguistic authenticity. Through an analysis of qualitative data collected in 2012, this article argues in particular that it may not be sufficient to simply examine contested authenticities from a native–non-native perspective, but rather it is important to consider how new speakers might themselves form a complex spectrum of speaker types with new sets of tensions as has been argued elsewhere