Power Transformer Market Review

The global transformer market is changing rapidly with new players entering the market. In this article, the Five Forces Analysis Model is used to see what we can expect from the transformers market. Market drivers are changing and more focus is on the renewable energy generation as well as smart grid. Finally, an estimate of the transformer market growth is made

Vapaa-ajan fyysisen aktiivisuuden merkitys työpaikalla toteutetussa niskan 12 viikon dynaamisessa, progressiivisessa voimaharjoittelussa

Yksi yleisimmistä tuki- ja liikuntaelinvaivoista varsinkin istumatyötä tekevillä henkilöillä ovat niska - hartiaseudun vaivat. Niskan spesifin voimaharjoittelun on useissa tutkimuksissa todettu merkittävästi kasvattavan niskan voimantuottoa sekä vähentävän niska-hartiaseudun vaivoja. Matalatehoisella työpaikkaharjoittelulla on todettu olevan positiivisia vaikutuksia koettuun vointiin ja sen on todettu vähentävän tuki- ja liikuntaelinten oireita. Tutkimuksemme tarkoituksena oli selvittää, onnistuuko niskan spesifin progressiivisen voimaharjoittelun toteuttaminen työpaikalla, koehenkilöiden toteuttaessa harjoittelua pääosin itsenäisesti. Tutkimme myös vapaa-ajan fyysisen aktiivisuuden yhteyttä harjoittelun määrään sekä niskan isometriseen voimantuottoon. Niskan isometristä voimantuottoa mitattiin alku- ja loppumittauksissa Rehax-dynamometrillä. Vapaa-ajan fyysistä aktiivisuutta mittasimme kyselylomakkeella sekä Polar-kuntotestillä. Tutkimukseen valittiin toimistotyötä tekeviä naisia, joilla ei viimeisen puolen vuoden aikana ollut esiintynyt merkittäviä niskakipuja. Tutkimukseen ilmoittautuneista 33 vapaaehtoisesta 32 täytti kriteerit. Alkumittausten jälkeen heidät satunnaistettiin 17 henkilön harjoitusryhmään ja 15 henkilön kontrolliryhmään. Harjoitusryhmäläiset ohjattiin toteuttamaan niskan progressiivista, dynaamista voimaharjoittelua 12 viikon ajan, kolme kertaa viikossa. Harjoittelu tapahtui kokeilukäytössä olevalla HUR:n paineilmalaitteella fleksio- ja ekstensiosuuntiin. Harjoitteluryhmäläisistä kuusi keskeytti harjoittelun eikä osallistunut loppumittauksiin. Harjoitteluryhmäläisten esktensiosuuntainen voima kasvoi tilastollisesti merkitsevästi. Sen sijaan fleksiosuuntainen voima ei kasvanut juuri ollenkaan. Vapaa-ajan fyysisellä aktiivisuudella ja niskan isometrisellä voimantuotolla ei todettu tilastollisesti merkitsevää yhteyttä. Vapaa-ajan fyysisellä aktiivisuudella ja harjoituskertojen määrällä oli tilastollisesti erittäin merkitsevä yhteys. Tulokset antavat viitteitä siitä, että niskan spesifiä voimaharjoittelua voidaan toteuttaa työpaikalla, mutta ohjauksessa on tarkemmin kiinnitettävä huomiota henkilöihin, jotka eivät omaksu oikeanlaista harjoittelutapaa, eivätkä ole motivoituneita harjoitteluun. Tulosten perusteella vapaa-ajallaan fyysisesti aktiiviset henkilöt sitoutuvat työpaikkaharjoitteluun inaktiivisia paremmin. Jatkossa olisi kiinnostavaa tutkia keinoja, joilla myös vapaa-ajallaan vähän liikkuvat ja harjoitteluun huonosti sitoutuvat henkilöt saadaan motivoitumaan harjoitteluun.The effect of leisure time physical activity on a dynamic, progressive 12-week strength training program of the neck at work One of the most common problems of the musculosceletal system, particularly among persons conducting sedentary work, are the problems of the neck and shoulder region. In many recent studies, specific strength training of the neck has been found effective in increasing muscular strength, and in reducing pain in the region. Low intensity exercise carried out in the workplace has shown positive effects in the subjective well-being of the subjects and has been found to reduce symptoms in the musculoskeletal system. The object of the present study was to determine whether conducting specific progressive strength training of the neck is feasible at the workplace, when most of the training of the subjects was conducted independently. Another object was to study whether leisure time physical activity correlates with the frequency of training sessions and the isometric strength of the neck. The isometric strength of the neck was measured in the beginning and in the end of the study using a Rehax dynamometer. Leisure time physical activity was measured using a questionnaire and a Polar fitness test. Female office workers with no significant neck or shoulder symptoms for the past six months were chosen for research subjects. Of the 33 people interested in participating, 32 filled the criteria for subjects. After an initial measuring, the subjects were randomly picked to two groups, an exercise group of 17 and a control group of 15 persons. The exercise group were instructed to perform progressive, dynamic strength training for 12 weeks, three times a week. Neck exercises were conducted in flexion and extension directions using a pneumatic machine by HUR, which is currently in experimental stage. Six of the subjects in the exercise group interrupted and did not participate in the final measuring. The subjects’ strength in extension direction showed statistically significant increases. Instead, no substantial increases were found in flexion direction. Statistically significant correlation between leisure time physical activity and isometric strength of the neck could not be found. In contrast, the correlation between leisure time physical activity and frequency of training sessions was very significant. The results suggest that it is feasible to conduct specific neck training in the workplace, but when giving guidance, special attention must be paid to persons who do not adopt correct training methods and suffer from lack of motivation. Further, the results show that people that are physically active in the leisure time are more committed to exercising in the workplace than inactive people. Future studies related to finding ways to motivate the less actice and poor committed people to exercise to exercise, could be interesting

Suicide among Sámi – Cultural meanings of suicide and interventions for suicide prevention in Nordic parts of Sápmi

Background: In suicidological research, it is well known that suicide rates differ, sometimes to a great extent, between countries, sexes, religious and ethnic populations. It has been suggested that in-depth exploration of social, cultural, contextual and historical perspectives on suicide is needed to explain this, and increase efficacy of prevention efforts. Sámi are the Indigenous people who traditionally live in northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and north-western Russia (the Kola Peninsula). Generally, Sámi seem to enjoy good health along with the majority populations, at least in jurisdictions where some data is available (no Russian data is available). However, suicide is considered a major public health issue among Sámi, as it is globally. Sámi men have died more often by suicide than the majority populations in Nordic countries, ranging from 17% excess in Sweden (1961–2000), to 150% excess in Finland (1997–2005). An increased focus on the importance of reducing suicide among Sámi has led to creation of a ‘Plan for suicide prevention among Sámi in Norway, Sweden and Finland’ in 2017. However, research on this issue is still very limited and mainly includes cohort studies on suicide mortality and cross-sectional studies on suicidal behaviour. There are no studies that have evaluated suicide prevention programs among Sámi. Objective: The overarching aim of this thesis was to explore and elucidate how suicide is understood among Sámi and what specific actions have been taken to prevent suicide among Sámi in Nordic parts of Sápmi. Methods: This thesis is composed of three studies. Studies I and II utilized qualitative focus group discussions (FGDs) to explore and describe cultural meanings of suicide among Sámi, in Sweden and Norway, respectively. Study III identified, described and analysed suicide prevention initiatives targeting Sámi in Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden and Finland), during 2005 – 2019. Results: Studies I and II found that specific cultural meanings were attached to suicide among Sámi, focussing on how suicide is understood to occur when Sámi are unable to maintain their Sámi identity. Contextual issues that enable such interpretations to make sense included perceptions of shortcomings in mental health services for Sámi, strong Sámi networks that increase the impacts of suicide among Sámi, and internal as well as external threats that lead to Sámi struggling. Study III identified seventeen initiatives in Sweden (9), Norway (5), Finland (1), and internationally (2). Analysis of initiatives yielded 40 problematizations regarding how initiatives aimed to prevent suicide among Sámi, addressing shortcomings on individual, relational, community/cultural, societal and health systems levels. Initiatives generally lacked evaluation components. Conclusions: The findings in studies I and II show that there are ways of investigating culture-specific understandings of suicide among Sámi, and that suicide among Sámi is currently understood to be linked to the difficulties of maintaining Sámi identities. As regards prevention, it is suggested that the dominant rationales for suicide prevention were addressing shortcomings on individual and relational levels, and raising awareness in the general public. This threatens to obscure more critical approaches such as broadening perspectives in prevention planning, improving health systems for Sámi, and promoting cultural empowerment among Sámi. To improve evaluation and identify most promising practices, increased support regarding development of plans and implementation for evaluation components is needed

Transformers in HVDC Transmission

Power transformers are integral in the HVDC transmission systems and provide multiple functions. Correctly optimised transformers lower the cost for other equipment in HVDC schemes. This article describes the basics of HVDC and gives a view of where the HVDC development stands today. Both the LCC and VSC technologies are described, as well as newer converter concepts that lower losses and harmonic stresses. Finally the authors call for innovative solutions in order to boost the power density of transformers

Jogurttimakujen kehittäminen Valiolle ja uuden kuluttajatestimenetelmän pilotointi

Opinnäytetyömme tavoitteena oli antaa Valiolle selvitys, olisiko heille hyötyä toimintatapojen muuttamisesta jogurtin uutuusmakujen valintaa koskien. Perinteisesti Valiolla valitaan jogurt-tien uutuusmaut tutkimus- ja tuotekehitysyksikössä eli T&K:ssa tehtävällä mieltymystestillä valitsemalla muutamien vaihtoehtojen joukosta paras. Uutta valintamenetelmää eli kulutta-jatutkimusta testaamalla selvitimme tutkimuksen tuloksen eli kuluttajien mielestä parhaan jogurttimaun kuudesta eri mausta. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää, kaipaavatko ku-luttajat uusia makuja vai ovatko vanhat, tutut maut edelleen suosikkeja. Tutkimus perustui aistinvaraiseen arviointiin. Opinnäytetyöllämme oli siis kaksi tavoitetta: vertailla Valion ny-kyistä menetelmää ja uudenlaista kuluttajatutkimusta uutuusmakujen valintatapoina sekä kuluttajatutkimuksen tulosten perusteella selvittää paras uutuusmaku. Opinnäytetyön tekoon sisältyi kolme tärkeää työtehtävää. Ensimmäinen tehtävä oli uusien jogurttimakujen kehittäminen Valion tutkimus- ja tuotekehitysyksikössä. Tämän jälkeen läh-dimme maistattamaan uusia jogurtteja kuluttajilla ja samalla pilotoimme uuden kuluttajates-timenetelmän. Maistattaminen tapahtui myymälöissä eri puolilla Suomea. Lopuksi analysoim-me myymälätesteistä saadut tulokset ja selvitimme kuluttajien parhaaksi valitseman maun. Aineistonkeruumenetelminä käytimme sekä kvalitatiivista eli laadullista että kvantitatiivista eli määrällistä menetelmää. Olemme siis keränneet aineistoa, joka on analysoitu aineistonkä-sittelyohjelma SPSS:n avulla sekä keränneet kuluttajien mielipiteitä. Numeeriset tulokset ovat kuitenkin työmme kannalta informatiivisempia ja enimmäkseen keskitymme niihin. Tulosten perusteella voimme todeta X-jogurtin olleen kuluttajille mieluisin. X-jogurtti olisi sekä Valiolle että markkinoille uusi tulokas, joten tuotteen kehittäminen olisi kannattavaa viedä loppuun asti. Erityisesti kiinnittäisimme huomiota tuotteen markkinointiin, koska on jo olemassa useita jogurttimakuja ja –tuotteita. Ehdottaisimme jatkotoimenpiteenä edelleen X-jogurtin maistattamista, jotta kuluttajat pääsisivät tutustumaan tuotteeseen, jolloin he eivät joutuisi ostamaan tuntematonta makua. Uskoisimme tämän lisäävän tuotteen myyntiä, koska tällöin syntyisi vähemmän tilanteita, joissa kuluttaja joutuu valitsemaan joko tutun ja turval-lisen tai täysin uuden ja erikoisen maun välillä. Erot eri paikkakunnilta saatujen tulosten ja Valion tulosten välillä johtuivat suurilta osin ar-vioijista. Myymälöissä haastattelimme suurempaa otosta ihmisiä, kuin mitä T&K:n raadissa oli mukana. On myös otettava huomioon, että Valion minikuluttajaraadilla on alan osaamista ja mahdollisesti harjoitetumpi makuaisti kuin kuluttajilla. Tulosten perusteella voimme ainakin todeta, että T&K:n tulokset poikkeavat huomattavasti paikkakuntien tuloksista. Ihmisten ma-kutottumukset ovat erilaiset ja makuaisti muuttuu iän myötä. Vanhemmat ihmiset eivät vält-tämättä maista enää niin tarkasti kuin nuoremmat, lisäksi nuoret ovat tavallisesti miel-tyneempiä makeaan kuin vanhat. Olemme sitä mieltä, että molemmilla testaustavoilla on omat hyvät puolensa, mutta uusi testaustapa on kuluttajaläheisempi ja sitä edelleen kehittä-mällä voitaisiin saada tarkkoja ja informatiivisia tuloksia sekä tietoa kuluttajista ja heidän mieltymyksistään.Developing yoghurt flavours and piloting a new consumer study method The purpose of our thesis was to research if Valio would benefit from changing their method of choosing new yoghurt flavours. Traditionally, new yoghurt flavours have been chosen by Valio’s research and development unit, R&D, by organizing a preference test and choosing the best flavour from a few choices. By testing the new method of choice, a consumer study, we found the yoghurt flavour that consumers preferred out of the six choices. The purpose of the study was to determine if consumers want new flavours or if they prefer the old, familiar ones. The study was based on sensory evaluation. Our thesis had two goals: to compare Va-lio’s current procedure and the new consumer study as the methods of choosing new flavours, and to find the best new flavour based on the results of the consumer study. Testing the thesis included three important tasks. The first one was to develop new yoghurt flavours in Valio’s research and development unit. After that we went to stores around Fin-land to have the yoghurt flavours tasted by consumers and to test the new consumer study method. Finally we analyzed the results of the tastings and found the best yoghurt flavour chosen by the consumers. When collecting the material we used both qualitative and quantitative methods. We have collected material that has been analyzed with SPSS, the computer program used for statisti-cal analysis, and also collected consumers’ opinions. The numerical results are more informa-tive, considering our thesis, and we focus primarily on them. Based on the results, we can say that X yoghurt was the one preferred by consumers. X yo-ghurt would be new for both Valio and the market, so it would be profitable to complete the development of this product. We would focus especially on marketing of the product, because there are already several yoghurt products on the market. As a follow-up step we would rec-ommend further tasting of the X yoghurt so that consumers could become familiar with the product and thus would not have to buy an unknown flavour. We believe this would increase sales of the product because then there would be fewer situations where consumers would be choosing between a familiar and safe product and completely new and different flavour. The differences between the results from the localities and the results from Valio mostly re-sult from the tasters. In the stores we interviewed a larger number of people than had par-ticipated in the R&D tasting. Also to be taken into account is the fact that the R&D members are more knowledgeable and possibly have a more trained taste than consumers have. Based on the results we can note that the R&D results differ significantly from the results in the lo-calities. People’s taste habits are different and taste changes with age. The elderly don’t necessarily taste as precisely as the young, while the young usually prefer sweet tastes more than the elderly do. We think that both of the testing methods have their good sides, but the new testing method is more consumer-friendly; with further development it would be possible to get more accurate and informative results and information about consumers and their pre-ferences

The use of patient-specific implants in orthognathic surgery : A series of 32 maxillary osteotomy patients

The use of virtual surgery, patient-specific saw and drill guides, and custom-made osteosynthesis plates is rapidly spreading from deformity surgery to orthognathic surgery. Most of the commercially available systems are using computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacture (CAD/CAM) wafers to produce patient-specific saw guides. However, most plate systems provided are still the conventional "in stock" mini plates that can be individually designed by pre-bending according to the stereolithographic model of the patient. Custom made three-dimensional (3D) printed implants have earlier been demonstrated to be an ideal solution in deformity surgery and in reconstruction of complex posttraumatic cases. In this study, we report the novel use of patient-specific saw and drill guides combined with patient-specific 3D titanium alloy implants as a fixation system in maxillary movement after Le Fort I and bimaxillary osteotomies (n = 32). The implants were individually designed for each patient to follow anatomical structures and to provide exact positioning and stability of the repositioned maxilla. (C) 2016 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

A population-based study on health and living conditions among Sámi in Sweden: the SámiHET study

The aim of this paper was to describe the study design, data collection procedure and participation of the population-based study “Sámi Health on Equal Terms” (SámiHET) conducted among the Sámi in Sweden in 2021. A Sámi sample was constructed, drawing from three pre-existing-registers: the Sámi electoral roll, the reindeer mark register and the “Labour statistics based on administrative sources” register to identify reindeer herding businesses. All identified persons aged 18–84 were invited to participate during February–May 2021. Among the 9,249 invitations, 3,779 answered the survey (participation rate of 40.9%). More women than men participated, and the age group 45–64 was the most common in both sexes. Around 10% of participants were in the youngest group. A majority of participants were residents of Norrbotten (48%), while almost one fourth were living outside Sápmi (22%). SámiHET has been demonstrated to be a feasible and cost-effective way of investigating health and living conditions among the Sámi in Sweden, providing information easy to compare with Swedish data. The knowledge to be produced may be used to inform policy to guide and improve Sámi health, thus contributing to realising the equal health rights of the Indigenous Sámi in Sweden

The past is present : Death systems among the Indigenous Sámi in Northern Scandinavia today

Disclosure statement This study was funded by: the Swedish Research Council for Health, Welfare and Working Life (FORTE) (grant # 2014-4071) for the DöBra Research Programme; Umeå University Dept. of Nursing; and the Centre for Rural Medicine. Funding The present work was supported financially by Swedish Research Council for Health, Welfare and Working Life (FORTE) for the DöBra Research Programme; Umeå University Dept. of Nursing and the Centre for Rural MedicinePeer reviewedPublisher PD

The use of patient-specific implants in orthognathic surgery : A series of 30 mandible sagittal split osteotomy patients

Purpose: Virtual surgery combined with patient-specific saw and drill guides and osteosynthesis materials are rapidly spreading from reconstructive surgery to orthognathic surgery. Most commercial partners are already providing computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacture (CAD/CAM) wafers and patient-specific saw guides. Clear benefits have been demonstrated for custom-made drill guides combined with individually designed three-dimensional (3D) printed patient-specific implants (PSI) as a reposition and fixation system in Le Fort I osteotomy. Materials and methods: We treated 30 patients who underwent bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO) due to class II dento-skeletal deformities with the additional use of drill guides combined with PSI as a fixation and positioning system. Results: The PSIs fitted bilaterally with total precision in 11 of the 30 patients. In 17 patients, the PSIs were used with some modifications. In 2 of 30 patients, the PSIs could not be used as a fixation due to misfit. Conclusion: Due to unpredictable fitting, the use of PSIs with drill guides alone in BSSO without wafers cannot be recommended. Further studies are needed to evaluate the interfering parts, which seem to be related to condylar positioning and bony interferences at the osteotomy sites. (C) 2017 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe