Kuusamon rautatiehanke Suomen itsenäistymisestä talvisotaan

Tiivistelmä. Pro gradu -tutkielmani käsittelee Kuusamon rautatiehanketta Suomen itsenäistymisen ja talvisodan välisellä ajanjaksolla. Kyseessä on edelleen enemmän tai vähemmän vireillä oleva toteutumaton hanke rautatien puuttuessa kyseiseltä paikkakunnalta. Raideliikenteen merkityksen ollessa tänä päivänä huomionarvoinen muun muassa ilmastokysymyksen vuoksi, tarkastelee tutkielmani raideliikenteen historiaa ja aikaa, jolloin rautatieverkon rakentaminen oli vielä vilkasta. Tutkimusajanjaksolla tehtiin myös lopulliset, vielä tänä päivänä voimassa olevat ratkaisut nykyisen Koillismaan rautatiekysymyksessä. Tutkielmani kannalta keskeisin tutkimuskirjallisuus koostuu Valtionrautateiden historiateoksista, Kuusamon historiaa käsittelevistä paikallishistorioista ja -tutkimuksista sekä muun muassa teollisuuteen, talouteen, infrastruktuuriin sekä maanpuolustukseen liittyvästä tutkimuskirjallisuudesta. Lähdeaineistoni koostuu seuraavista: Pohjois-Suomessa ilmestyneet sanomalehdet, valtiopäivien keskustelupöytäkirjat sekä asiakirjat, Kuusamon kunnanvaltuuston pöytäkirjat sekä rautatiehankkeessa mukana olleiden toimijoiden ja viranomaisten tekemät rautatiekirjat ja muut aineistot. Tutkimusotteeni on historiallis-kvalitatiivinen. Tutkimus etenee pääosin kronologisesti prosessin eli rautatiehankkeen etenemisen mukaan huomioiden lähdekriittiset peruskysymykset. Suomen itsenäistyessä maan rautatiepolitiikka ja myös Kuusamon rautatiehanke muuttuivat maan sisäiseksi kysymykseksi ja kehyksiksi muodostuivat talouselämä, maanpuolustus ja valtakunnan yhdistäminen. Ratapolitiikkaa ohjasivat eduskunnassa kuitenkin pitkälti paikallisintressit kansanedustajien pyrkiessä saamaan ratoja omille seuduilleen. Näitä paikallisintressejä pyrittiin kitkemään pois laatimalla useampivuotisia rautatierakennuslakeja asiantuntijoiden johdolla. Rautateiden rakentaminen oli myös aluepolitiikkaa, jossa syrjäseutuja pyrittiin kytkemään tiiviimmin valtakunnan yhteyteen asutustoiminnan ohella ja toisaalta pääsemään runsaiden luonnonresurssien, etenkin metsävarojen yhteyteen valtioperiferiassa, johon Kuusamo ja muu Pohjois-Suomi laskettiin. Maa- ja metsätalousvaltaisessa Suomessa luonnonresurssit olivat merkittävässä roolissa ulkomaankaupan kannalta. Tutkielmani osoittaa teollisuuden ja valtakunnallisen kehityksen vahvan roolin ratakysymysten ohjaajana, toisin kuin varsinkin paikallishistorialliset teokset, jotka ovat keskittyneet paikallisten toimijoiden välisiin ristiriitoihin koskien Kuusamon radan suuntakysymystä. 1920-luvulla sahatavara eli vahvaa nousukautta, mikä suosi ratojen rakentamista rannikolla sijaitseville sahalaitoksille ja satamiin. Suhdanneherkkä sahateollisuus ajautui 1920- ja 1930-luvun taitteen laman myötä vaikeuksiin, kun taas korkeampiasteinen maan sisäosissa sijainnut puunjalostusteollisuus pystyi nostamaan tuotantoaan. Ratapolitiikkaa punnittiin myös suhteessa kasvaneeseen maantieliikenteeseen ja edelleen käytössä olleisiin ja hinnoiltaan edullisiin uittoihin. Näin ollen suhdannevaihtelut ja liikenteen kokonaiskehitys joko edistivät tai heikensivät paikallisten rata-aktiivien vaatimuksia ja niiden perusteluja

Removal of ammonium from wastewater with geopolymer sorbents fabricated via additive manufacturing

Geopolymers have been recently explored as sorbents for wastewater treatment, thanks to their mechanical and chemical stability and to their low-energy manufacturing process. One specific application could be the removal of ammonium (NH4+) through exchange with Na+ ions. Additive manufacturing (AM) represents an especially interesting option for fabrication, as it allows to tailor the size, distribution, shape, and interconnectivity of pores, and therefore the access to charge-bearing sites. The present study provides a proof of concept for NH4+ removal from wastewater using porous geopolymer components fabricated via direct ink writing (DIW) AM approach. A metakaolin-based ink was employed for the fabrication of a log-pile structure with 45\ub0 rotation between layers, producing continuous yet tortuous macropores which are responsible for the high permeability of the sorbents. The ink consolidates in an amorphous, mesoporous network, with the mesopores acting as preferential sites for ion exchange. The printed sorbents were characterized for their physicochemical and mechanical properties and the NH4+ removal capacity in continuous-flow column experiments by using a model effluent. The lattices present high permeability and high cation exchange capacity and maintained a high amount of active ions after four cycles, allowing to reuse them multiple times

The Effect of Low-Dose Aspirin On Serum Placental Growth Factor Levels In a High-Risk PREDO Cohort

Objectives: Our first aim was to study the longitudinal changes of serum placental growth factor (PlGF) concentration between 12(+0) and 28(+0) weeks of gestation in the prospective PREDO cohort. Our second aim was to study the effect of low-dose acetylsalicylic acid (LDA; 100 mg/day), started before the 14th week of gestation, on PlGF concentration. Study design: Blood samples were collected at 12(+0)-14(+0), 18(+0)-20(+0) and 26(+0)-28(+0) weeks of gestation in 101 women without and 309 with clinical risk factors for pre-eclampsia. Risk-women were divided into two groups: to those who had medium risk for pre-eclampsia and to those who had high risk for pre-eclampsia. Finally there were seven groups according to risk, treatment (no prevention/placebo/LDA) and outcome measure pre-eclampsia. Longitudinal changes in the PlGF concentration between groups were compared. To investigate the effect of LDA on serum PlGF concentration, placebo (N = 62) and LDA (N = 61) groups were compared. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze differences in PlGF levels between the groups. Results: The increase in serum PlGF concentration was higher in LDA than in placebo group (time x group effect, p = 0.046). The increase in serum PlGF concentration during pregnancy was lower in high-risk women who had placebo and developed pre-eclampsia and in medium-risk women who developed pre-eclampsia compared to the other women (time x group effect, p <0.001). There were no differences in PlGF change between low-risk women, medium-risk women who did not develop pre-eclampsia, high-risk women in the placebo group without pre-eclampsia and high-risk women in the LDA group with and without pre-eclampsia (p = 0.15). Conclusions: Our finding suggests an association between LDA started before 14 weeks of gestation and higher increase in serum PlGF concentration.Peer reviewe

Incidence and familial risk of premature ovarian insufficiency in the Finnish female population

STUDY QUESTION: What is the incidence of premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), has the incidence of POI changed over time, and what is the risk of POI among relatives of POI women? SUMMARY ANSWER: The incidence of POI increased among females aged 15-19 years from 2007 onwards and decreased in older age groups, and among relatives of women with POI the risk of POI is significantly increased. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: So far, there has been no good quality, nationwide studies of the incidence of POI. Early menopause has been associated with the elevated risk of early menopause among relatives, but the knowledge of the familial risk of POI is scarce. Lower socioeconomic status has been associated with lower age at natural menopause. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: Population-based study with 5011 women diagnosed with POI in 1988-2017. The data were collected from national registries and covers POI subjects in entire Finland. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Women with hormone replacement therapy reimbursement for POI were identified from Social Insurance Institution (SII). We calculated POI incidence in different age groups and studied the changes in the incidence rate over time in 5-year segments. Four population-based controls were selected from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV) for each POI woman. Family members of the POI cases and controls were identified from the DVV and linked to SII reimbursement data to identify POI diagnoses among them. The familial risk of POI was estimated with a logistical regression model. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: The incidence was highest in the 35-39 age group, ranging from 73.8/100 000 women-years in 1993-1997 to 39.9/100 000 women-years in 2013-2017. From 2007, the incidence among 15- to 19-year-olds rose from 7.0 to 10.0/100 000 women-years in 2015-2017. Cumulative incidence of POI for women under 40 years in 1988-2017 was 478/100 000 women. The relative risk of POI among relatives of women with POI was 4.6 (95% CI 3.3-6.5) compared to relatives of women without POI. POI women tended to have slightly lower socioeconomic status and level of education compared to controls. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: For some women with POI, diagnosis or reimbursement may be lacking. However, we presume that these women represent a minority due to the nature of the disease and the economic benefits of reimbursement. Some changes in the incidence of POI can reflect changes in clinical practice and changing treatments and reimbursement criteria. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: The risk of developing POI is significantly higher in women who have first-degree relatives diagnosed with POI. Raising awareness of the increased risk might lead to earlier diagnosis and initiation of hormonal replacement therapy, possibly preventing adverse effects of low oestrogen levels, such as osteoporosis. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): This work was financially supported by the Oulu University Hospital. H.S. received a grant from Finnish Menopause Society. S.M.S. received a grant from the Finnish Menopause Society, the Finnish Medical Foundation and the Juho Vainio Foundation. The authors do not have any competing interests to declare.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Plasmids Shaped the Recent Emergence of the Major Nosocomial Pathogen Enterococcus faecium

Enterococcus faecium is a gut commensal of humans and animals but is also listed on the WHO global priority list of multidrug-resistant pathogens. Many of its antibiotic resistance traits reside on plasmids and have the potential to be disseminated by horizontal gene transfer. Here, we present the first comprehensive population-wide analysis of the pan-plasmidome of a clinically important bacterium, by whole-genome sequence analysis of 1,644 isolates from hospital, commensal, and animal sources of E. faecium. Long-read sequencing on a selection of isolates resulted in the completion of 305 plasmids that exhibited high levels of sequence modularity. We further investigated the entirety of all plasmids of each isolate (plasmidome) using a combination of short-read sequencing and machine-learning classifiers. Clustering of the plasmid sequences unraveled different E. faecium populations with a clear association with hospitalized patient isolates, suggesting different optimal configurations of plasmids in the hospital environment. The characterization of these populations allowed us to identify common mechanisms of plasmid stabilization such as toxin-antitoxin systems and genes exclusively present in particular plasmidome populations exemplified by copper resistance, phosphotransferase systems, or bacteriocin genes potentially involved in niche adaptation. Based on the distribution of k-mer distances between isolates, we concluded that plasmidomes rather than chromosomes are most informative for source specificity of E. faecium. IMPORTANCE Enterococcus faecium is one of the most frequent nosocomial pathogens of hospital-acquired infections. E. faecium has gained resistance against most commonly available antibiotics, most notably, against ampicillin, gentamicin, and vancomycin, which renders infections difficult to treat. Many antibiotic resistance traits, in particular, vancomycin resistance, can be encoded in autonomous and extrachromosomal elements called plasmids. These sequences can be disseminated to other isolates by horizontal gene transfer and confer novel mechanisms to source specificity. In our study, we elucidated the total plasmid content, referred to as the plasmidome, of 1,644 E. faecium isolates by using short- and long-read whole-genome technologies with the combination of a machine-learning classifier. This was fundamental to investigate the full collection of plasmid sequences present in our collection (pan-plasmidome) and to observe the potential transfer of plasmid sequences between E. faecium hosts. We observed that E. faecium isolates from hospitalized patients carried a larger number of plasmid sequences compared to that from other sources, and they elucidated different configurations of plasmidome populations in the hospital environment. We assessed the contribution of different genomic components and observed that plasmid sequences have the highest contribution to source specificity. Our study suggests that E. faecium plasmids are regulated by complex ecological constraints rather than physical interaction between hosts.Peer reviewe

Understanding developmental language disorder -The Helsinki longitudinal SLI study (HelSLI) : A study protocol

Background: Developmental language disorder (DLD, also called specific language impairment, SLI) is a common developmental disorder comprising the largest disability group in pre-school-aged children. Approximately 7% of the population is expected to have developmental language difficulties. However, the specific etiological factors leading to DLD are not yet known and even the typical linguistic features appear to vary by language. We present here a project that investigates DLD at multiple levels of analysis and aims to make the reliable prediction and early identification of the difficulties possible. Following the multiple deficit model of developmental disorders, we investigate the DLD phenomenon at the etiological, neural, cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial levels, in a longitudinal study of preschool children. Methods: In January 2013, we launched the Helsinki Longitudinal SLI study (HelSLI) at the Helsinki University Hospital ( http://tiny.cc/HelSLI ). We will study 227 children aged 3-6 years with suspected DLD and their 160 typically developing peers. Five subprojects will determine how the child's psychological characteristics and environment correlate with DLD and how the child's well-being relates to DLD, the characteristics of DLD in monolingual versus bilingual children, nonlinguistic cognitive correlates of DLD, electrophysiological underpinnings of DLD, and the role of genetic risk factors. Methods include saliva samples, EEG, computerized cognitive tasks, neuropsychological and speech and language assessments, video-observations, and questionnaires. Discussion: The project aims to increase our understanding of the multiple interactive risk and protective factors that affect the developing heterogeneous cognitive and behavioral profile of DLD, including factors affecting literacy development. This accumulated knowledge will form a heuristic basis for the development of new interventions targeting linguistic and non-linguistic aspects of DLD. © 2018 The Author(s).Non peer reviewe

Yhteistoimintaa ja yksilöllisiä valintoja kuntoutumisen polulla : Kelan työhönkuntoutuksen kehittämishankkeen tapaustutkimus

Tämä tutkimus on osa Kelan työhönkuntoutuksen kehittämishankkeeseen (TK2-hanke) kohdistunutta arviointitutkimusta, jonka tehtävä oli arvioida kuntoutusmallin toteutumista ja toimivuutta sekä sen vaikutuksia ja hyötyjä kuntoutujan, työpaikan, työterveyshuollon ja kuntoutuksen palvelutuottajan näkökulmista. Tapaustutkimuksen tavoite oli tuottaa tietoa kuntoutujan kuntoutus- ja kuntoutumisprosessista, sen sisällöstä ja etenemisestä sekä kuntoutumista edistävistä ja haittaavista mekanismeista. Monimenetelmällinen tapaustutkimus koski 11:tä kuntoutujaa. Siinä sovellettiin fenomenologista ajattelutapaa, realistisen arvioinnin käsitteitä ja vertailevan analyysin metodia. Tutkimuksessa oli moninäkökulmainen haastatteluaineisto sekä asiakirja- ja kyselyaineistot. Aineistojen analyysissä koottiin ensin kaikista aineistoista tutkimuskysymyksittäin tapauskuvaukset, ja toisessa vaiheessa tapauksia vertailtiin kuntoutujan työuraan liittyvien vaikutusten näkökulmasta. Toimijoiden yhteistoiminta edisti kuntoutumista. Kuntoutujan oman toimijuuden lisäksi keskeistä oli esimiehen tai työpaikan osallistuminen. Vaikutukset, jotka kytkeytyivät työhön ja työuraan, edellyttivät työpaikan ja esimiehen aktiivista osallistumista kuntoutusprosessiin. Kuntoutuksen tulokset rajoittuivat kuntoutujan omaan terveyteen ja hyvinvointiin, jos kuntoutumista edistävä mekanismi työpaikalla ja esimiestyössä ei toiminut. Työterveyshuollon aktiivinen kumppanuus edisti erityisesti osatyökykyisten kuntoutumista. TK2-malli vaikutti merkittävästi yksilön hyvinvointiin ja tuki työssä jatkamista, kun kuntoutujan toimijuutta tuettiin ja hän sai riittävästi tietoa tavoitteiden asettamista ja päätöksentekoa varten.25,00 euro

Trends in suicide in a Lithuanian urban population over the period 1984–2003

BACKGROUND: Throughout the last decade of the twentieth century, Lithuania had the highest suicide rates in Europe among both men and women aged 25–64 years. The rates increased from 1986 until 1995, but later there was a slight decrease. This paper describes the trends in suicide deaths in urban population in Lithuania by gender, dates and suicide method over the period 1984–2003. METHODS: Data from the regional mortality register were used to analyze suicide deaths among all men and women aged 25–64 years in Kaunas city, Lithuania over the period 1984–2003. Age-standardized death rates per 100,000 persons (using European standard population) were calculated by gender, suicide method and dates. A joinpoint regression method was used to estimate annual percentage changes (EPACs) and to detect points where the trends changed significantly. RESULTS: The frequency of death by suicide among males was 48% higher in 1994–2003 than in 1984–1993. The corresponding increase among females was 28%. The most common methods of suicide among men were hanging, strangulation and suffocation (87.4% among all suicide deaths). The proportions of hanging, strangulation and suffocation in males increased by 6.9% – from 83.9% to 89.7% – compared to a 24.2% increase in deaths from handgun, rifle and shotgun firearm discharges and a 216.7% increase in deaths from poisoning with solvents, gases, pesticides and vapors. Among females, the most common methods of suicide were hanging, strangulation and suffocation (68.3% of all suicide deaths). The proportion of hanging deaths among females increased during the time period examined, whereas the proportion of poisonings with solid or liquid substances decreased. CONCLUSION: Suicide rates increased significantly among urban men aged 25–64 years in Lithuania throughout the period 1984–2003, whereas among women an increasing but statistically insignificant trend was observed. There were changes in the suicide methods used by both men and women. Changes in the choice of method may have contributed to the changes in suicide rates