Costume as art and as a Tool : Stage costume in three different opera productions

The idea of this research was to articulate the meanings of costume and costume design through three contemporary operas Helsinkiin 2005, Le Saxophone 2011 ja Kohtaus kadulla 2013 process descriptions. The aim of this study was to research the meaning of costume and costume design in different opera contexts from the point of view of the costume design-er, but also from the viewpoint of the composer, stage director, performers and the audience. These meanings are considered in the entirety of the above-mentioned operas. Besides will be asked, how do production, performing context and the quality of the collaboration and interaction influence to the artistic pro-cesses from the viewpoint of costume design. As the basis of the multiple case study there was fenomenographic and semi-otic approach to the opera phenomena and producing and interpreting the mean-ings of the costume. The meanings of the costume were to be introduced by adapting methods of craft science, practice-led and artistic research. As main research material was used artists descriptions of their processes, diaries, notes and visual documents like sketches and photographs of the productions. Also material collected by interviewing and inquiry methods was used. As the research result I pronounce the context-based meaning of the costume. The role and meaning of the costume changes according to which phase of the process and from whose viewpoint it is considered. The meaning of the costume is different to different artists or producers and it changes during the processes. To the director costuming can give, besides visual stage picture, tools to create action with, and to the performer it for example will function as a help to create the character and as a protection during performances. To the audience costume tells of the backgrounds or the nature of the characters or something from the stories behind the artwork. When compared, the sketches produced during the artistic processes and the photographs taken from the stages, it was clearly to be seen that the costume sketches had their impact to the stage picture. Through the sketches of the com-poser it was to be noticed that the creative processes in different arts to some extent remind each other. The documentation and analyzing documents of the artistic processes opens up a great chance to create a picture of what happens during art making.Tutkimuksen ideana oli tuoda esiin näyttämöpuvun ja pukusuunnittelun merkityksiä kolmen nykyoopperan Helsinkiin 2005, Le Saxophonen 2011 ja Kohtaus kadulla 2013 prosessikuvausten kautta. Tavoitteena oli tutkia näyttämöpukusuunnittelun ja -puvustuksen merkityksiä erilaisissa oopperakonteksteissa pukusuunnittelijan, mutta myös säveltäjän, ohjaajan, esiintyjien ja katsojien näkökulmista. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan näitä merkityksiä edellä mainittujen oopperateosten kokonaisuuksissa. Lisäksi kysytään, miten tuotantotapa, esityskonteksti ja taiteellisen työryhmän yhteistyön ja vuorovaikutuksen laatu vaikuttavat työskentelyprosesseihin pukusuunnittelun kannalta katsottuna. Monitapaustutkimuksen lähtökohtina olivat fenomenografinen tutkimusote oopperaprosesseihin ja semioottinen lähestymistapa pukujen merkitysten tuottamiseen ja tulkitsemiseen. Käsityksiä puvuista ja pukusuunnittelusta sekä näyttämöpuvun merkityksiä tuotiin esiin käsityötieteen, käytäntölähtöisen ja taiteellisen tutkimuksen menetelmien avulla. Aineistona käytettiin taiteilijoiden prosessikuvauksia, päiväkirjoja, muistiinpanoja ja visuaalisia dokumentteja, kuten luonnoksia ja valokuvia teoksista. Tutkimuksessa käytettiin myös haastattelu- ja kyselymenetelmillä hankittua materiaalia. Tutkimuksen mukaan näyttämöpuvun merkitys vaihteli esityskontekstin, prosessin vaiheen ja tarkastelunäkökulman mukaan. Puvun merkitys on erilainen oopperan eri tekijöille. Ohjaajalle puku toimii visuaalisen näyttämökuvan luomisen lisäksi työvälineenä näyttämötoiminnan suunnittelussa, esiintyjälle se toimii muun muassa roolinrakennuksen tukena ja suojana esitystilanteissa. Katsojille näyttämöpuku antaa esimerkiksi mahdollisuuden luoda tulkintoja roolihahmojen luonteista, teosten tarinoista tai esitysten taustoista. Suunnitteluprosesseissa tuotettujen luonnosten vaikutus teosten näyttämökuviin näkyi selkeästi vertailtaessa luonnoksia ja valokuvia näyttämötilanteista. Sävellysluonnosten kautta oli huomattavissa, että eri alojen luovat prosessit jossain määrin muistuttavat toisiaan. Taiteellisten prosessien mahdollisimman tarkka dokumentointi ja dokumenttien analysointi avaa mahdollisuuden ymmärtää, mitä taiteen tekemisen prosesseissa tapahtuu

University teaching assistants' metaphors about teachers' role

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Length of sickness absence and sustained return-to-work in mental disorders and musculoskeletal diseases : a cohort study of public sector employees

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the length of sickness absence and sustained return to work (SRTW) and the predictors of SRTW in depression, anxiety disorders, intervertebral disc disorders, and back pain in a population-based cohort of employees in the Finnish public sector. Methods We linked data from employers' registers and four national population registers. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis with a cluster option was applied. SRTW was defined as the end of the sickness benefit period not followed by a recurrent sickness benefit period in 30 days. Results For depression, the median time to SRTW was 46 and 38 days among men and women, respectively. For anxiety disorders, the figures were 24 and 22 days, for intervertebral disc disorders, 42 and 41 days, and, for back pain, 21 and 22 days among men and women respectively. Higher age and the persistence of the health problem predicted longer time to SRTW throughout the diagnostic categories. Comorbid conditions predicted longer time to SRTW in depression and back pain among women. Conclusions This large cohort study adds scientific evidence on the length of sickness absence and SRTW in four important diagnostic categories among public sector employees in Finland. Further research taking into account, eg, features of the work environment is suggested. Recommendations on the length of sickness absence at this point should be based on expert opinion and supplemented with research findings.Peer reviewe

Asymmetric flow field flow fractionation methods for virus purification

Detailed biochemical and biophysical characterization of viruses requires viral preparations of high quantity and purity. The optimization of virus production and purification is an essential, but laborious and time-consuming process. Asymmetric flow field flow fractionation (AF4) is an attractive alternative method for virus purification because it is a rapid and gentle separation method that should preserve viral infectivity. Here we optimized the AF4 conditions to be used for purification of a model virus, bacteriophage PRD1, from various types of starting materials. Our results show that AF4 is well suited for PRD1 purification as monitored by virus recovery and specific infectivity. Short analysis time and high sample loads enabled us to use AF4 for preparative scale purification of PRD1. Furthermore, we show that AF4 enables the rapid real-time analysis of progeny virus production in infected cells. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Alternative duty work as workplace-initiated procedure to reduce sickness absence

PurposeAlternative duty work is a procedure that enables an employee with a short-term disability to perform modified duties as an alternative to sickness absence. We examined whether the implementation of an alternative duty policy was associated with reduced sickness absence in the Finnish public sector.MethodsTwo city administrations (A and D) that implemented an alternative duty work policy to their employees (n=5341 and n=7538) served as our intervention cities, and two city administrations (B and C) that did not implement the policy represented the reference cities (n=6976 and n=6720). The outcomes were the number of annual days, all episodes, and short-term (Peer reviewe