Cultural Identities in Sustaining Religious Communities in the Arctic Region: An Ethnographic Analysis on Religiosity from the Northern Viewpoint

Northern countries are facing the challenges of declining human capital, and admitting immigrants, many of whom belong to religious minorities, to satisfy the demand for labour. If northern societies accept multiculturalism and immigrants, they should not disregard the cultures and religious practices (for example, ritual slaughter) of immigrants, as they need to survive and integrate as a minority community in a secular society. However, there is clash between secularism and religions permitting animal slaughter, which is prohibited by some and allowed by other European countries. Community viability and sustainability depend partly on the exercise of community beliefs and ideology that support identity behaviour. This study will present an ethnographic analysis of the religiosity related to ritual slaughter and Muslim cultural identity in the European Arctic region and explore how religious relativism and practice sustain the community and support the overall integration of the Muslim minority in the North

Kestävä maahanmuuttajayrittäjyys Lapissa

Julkaistu versi

Understanding inclusive entrepreneurship:With special reference to women immigrants in Arctic Finland

A recent OECD report recognises that the limited scope for immigrant women to integrate into mainstream Finnish society has kept them out of the labour market. In fact, a woman with migrant background faces several challenges to get access to the Finnish labour force and this has prompted them to become self-employed in small business, particularly in the northern part of Finland. However, establishing a small business and its operation induces diverse problems in this remote, mainly rural region. An inclusive entrepreneurship policy may support improving their condition in entrepreneurship. The study explores the main factors hindering the financial and socio-cultural inclusion of women immigrants in Northern Finland. A thematic analysis of cultural and economic inclusivity, based on descriptive phenomenology, helps understand and reconstruct a policy of inclusive societies in the context of rural entrepreneurship

Yrittäjyyttä Lapin osuuskunnissa

Yhteiskunnallisia ongelmia on mahdollista ratkaista yhteiskunnallisten yritysten avulla. Osuuskuntamuotoisissa yrityksissä yrittäjyyttä voi oppia pienemmällä riskillä kuin vaikkapa kevytyrittäjäksi alkamalla. Kevytyrittäjyydettä on monenlaista, eikä aloitteleva yrittäjä aina ymmärrä, millaiseen toimintamuotoon hän on tarttunut. Osuuskunnat voisivat olla erityisesti Lappiin tuleville ja maahanmuuttajanaisille tai pitkäaikaistyöttömille ensimmäinen askel työelämään. Osuuskuntien kautta näille kohderyhmän jäsenille voidaan tarjota erilaisia matalan kynnyksen töitä. Hankkeen havaintojen mukaan osuuskunnat tarvitsevat eniten julkisen sektorin tukea kunnilta. Hankkeen työpajoissa on tullut esiin osasta Lapin kuntia erilaisia malleja, jotka voisivat olla hyviä käytäntöjä muissakin kunnissa. Sekä Lapissa, että Suomessa, yhteiskunnallisten yritysten kokeilutoiminta on entistä enemmän tärkeämpää, kun Lapin väki vähenee ja samalla osa väestöstä jää työelämän ulkopuolelle. Yhteiskunnallinen yritys on yksi erilainen vaihtoehto, jotta saamme lisää veronmaksajia kuntiin. Osuuskuntien tai muiden yhteiskunnallisten yritysten toimintaa tulee tukea ensimmäisten toimintavuosien ajan. Yritystoiminnan ”kuolemanlaakson” yli päästään, kun yhdessä löydetään erilaisia tuen muotoja, joita hankkeen aikana on tullut esiin. Viimeisenä havainnointina hanke osoitti, että pitkäaikaistyöttömien osuuskunnilla on tarve perustaa oman verkosto. Näin osuuskunnan jäsenet voivat pohjoisella alueella oppia toisilta sosiaalisen yrittäjyyden toimioilta ja motivoida toisiaan. Osuuskunnilla tulisi olla yhteinen foorumi, yhteistyöelin, joka kokoontuu 3-4 kertaa vuodessa. Silloin jäsenet, sidosryhmät, muut yritykset ja yksityiset ihmiset voisivat yhdessä̈ kehittää̈ toimintaa, synnyttää̈ luottamusta ja lisätä̈ yhteistyötä̈.Social problems can be solved with the help of social enterprises. In Cooperative companies, entrepreneurship can be learned with less risk than, for example, becoming a light entrepreneur. There are many forms of light entrepreneurship, and the novice entrepreneur does not always understand what kind of activity he has taken. Cooperatives could be a first step for those who come to Lapland in particular, as well as for immigrant women, or for the long-term unemployed as well. Through Cooperatives, these target group members can be offered a variety of low-threshold jobs. According to the findings of the project, Cooperatives are most in need of support from the municipalities (from the public sector), and separate models from some of the municipalities in Lapland, which could come from the project workshops, could be good practice for other municipalities. In both Lapland and Finland, experimenting with social enterprises is becoming increasingly important as the population of Lapland shrinks and at the same time the population is excluded from the labor market. Social enterprise is one of the different options for getting more taxpayers through municipal companies. Cooperative or social enterprise activities must at least be supported for the first few years so that they can pass the death period together with various forms of support, which is (what the support points) have revealed during the project. As a final observation, their long-term unemployed Cooperatives need to establish their own network where they can learn from and motivate other social entrepreneurs in the northern region. The Cooperatives should have a common forum, a co-operative body, which meets 3-4 times a year. Then members, stakeholders, other companies and individuals could work together to build activity, build trust and increase collaboration.publishedVersio

CLIP and cohibin separate rDNA from nucleolar proteins destined for degradation by nucleophagy

Nutrient starvation or inactivation of target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) in budding yeast induces nucleophagy, a selective autophagy process that preferentially degrades nucleolar components. DNA, including ribosomal DNA (rDNA), is not degraded by nucleophagy, even though rDNA is embedded in the nucleolus. Here, we show that TORC1 inactivation promotes relocalization of nucleolar proteins and rDNA to different sites. Nucleolar proteins move to sites proximal to the nuclear-vacuolar junction (NVJ), where micronucleophagy (or piecemeal microautophagy of the nucleus) occurs, whereas rDNA dissociates from nucleolar proteins and moves to sites distal to NVJs. CLIP and cohibin, which tether rDNA to the inner nuclear membrane, were required for repositioning of nucleolar proteins and rDNA, as well as effective nucleophagic degradation of the nucleolar proteins. Furthermore, micronucleophagy itself was necessary for the repositioning of rDNA and nucleolar proteins. However, rDNA escaped from nucleophagic degradation in CLIP- or cohibin-deficient cells. This study reveals that rDNA-nucleolar protein separation is important for the nucleophagic degradation of nucleolar proteins

Spike protein mutations and structural insights of pangolin lineage B.1.1.25 with implications for viral pathogenicity and ACE2 binding affinity

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID -19, is constantly evolving, requiring continuous genomic surveillance. In this study, we used whole-genome sequencing to investigate the genetic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Bangladesh, with particular emphasis on identifying dominant variants and associated mutations. We used high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) to obtain DNA sequences from COVID-19 patient samples and compared these sequences to the Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 reference genome using the Global Initiative for Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID). Our phylogenetic and mutational analyzes revealed that the majority (88%) of the samples belonged to the pangolin lineage B.1.1.25, whereas the remaining 11% were assigned to the parental lineage B.1.1. Two main mutations, D614G and P681R, were identified in the spike protein sequences of the samples. The D614G mutation, which is the most common, decreases S1 domain flexibility, whereas the P681R mutation may increase the severity of viral infections by increasing the binding affinity between the spike protein and the ACE2 receptor. We employed molecular modeling techniques, including protein modeling, molecular docking, and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) geometry optimization, to build and validate three-dimensional models of the S_D614G-ACE2 and S_P681R-ACE2 complexes from the predominant strains. The description of the binding mode and intermolecular contacts of the referenced systems suggests that the P681R mutation may be associated with increased viral pathogenicity in Bangladeshi patients due to enhanced electrostatic interactions between the mutant spike protein and the human ACE2 receptor, underscoring the importance of continuous genomic surveillance in the fight against COVID -19. Finally, the binding profile of the S_D614G-ACE2 and S_P681R-ACE2 complexes offer valuable insights to deeply understand the binding site characteristics that could help to develop antiviral therapeutics that inhibit protein–protein interactions between SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and human ACE2 receptor