Language and happiness : Cultural epistemologies and ideological conflicts in Finnish online discourses on the causes of happiness

This article approaches "happiness" as a discursive construct. We examine different understandings of happiness as socially transmitted, linguistically formulated epistemological models by which humans reflexively evaluate and rationalize their experiences and identities. Our data consists of a set of Finnish online discourses that discuss the causes of happiness. We examine media platforms that mass-mediate popular discourses of happiness to individuals and allow individuals to voice their "indigenous" understandings. We analyze the linguistic, interactional, and interdiscursive characteristics of such views of happiness and show how they emerge and circulate in society disseminating mutually competing epistemologies of happiness. We also aim to show how the cross-cultural and culture-internal variation of these models becomes linked to ideological conflicts and politics of identity. On the one hand, our examples echo the kinds of individualistic, depoliticized views of happiness that have been seen as characteristic of modern media. On the other hand, they show that smaller-scale, local views of happiness tend to be more varied and attract explicit identity-political debates. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Oikeudet ja velvollisuudet Kansalaisarkiston tiedonhallinnassa

Tämä raportti on laadittu Itä-Suomen yliopiston oikeustieteiden laitoksella osana Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulun hallinnoimaa Digitaalisen tiedonhallinnan tutkimus- ja kehittämiskeskus – Digitalia -hanketta. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, mitä vaatimuksia lainsäädäntö asettaa kansalaisille tarjottavalle henkilökohtaisen tiedon säilyttämisen verkkopalvelulle. Kansalaisarkiston ylläpitäjä on käyttäjärekisterin rekisterinpitäjä ja arkiston käyttäjä rekisteröity. Rekisterinpitäjän on huolehdittava henkilötietolain asettamista velvoitteista ja käyttäjien oikeuksista. Käyttäjä voi olla myös rekisterinpitäjä, jos hän säilyttää palvelussa tietoja, joista muodostuu henkilörekisteri. Palvelun ylläpitäjän on huolehdittava, että palvelun tietosuojan taso vastaa ennalta määriteltyä käyttötarkoitusta. Sopimus ja käyttöehdoissa voidaan tarkentaa palvelun käytön ja henkilötietojen käsittelyn vastuita. Palvelun ylläpitäjä ei ole vastuussa Kansalaisarkistossa säilytettävästä ja julkaistavasta materiaalista, mutta ylläpitäjän on valvottava palvelun käyttöä. Palvelun ylläpitäjän on pystyttävä rajoittamaan palvelusta julkaistun aineiston levittämistä, jos aineiston levittäminen rikkoo lakia. Tietojen hallinta perustuu ennen kaikkea hyvin tehtyyn suunnittelutyöhön ja suunnitelmassa pysymiseen

Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Gene Polymorphism Modifies the Effect of Coffee Intake on Incidence of Acute Coronary Events

BACKGROUND: The role of coffee intake as a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) has been debated for decades. We examined whether the relationship between coffee intake and incidence of CHD events is dependent on the metabolism of circulating catecholamines, as determined by functional polymorphism of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In a cohort of 773 men who were 42 to 60 years old and free of symptomatic CHD at baseline in 1984–89, 78 participants experienced an acute coronary event during an average follow-up of 13 years. In logistic regression adjusting for age, smoking, family history of CHD, vitamin C deficiency, blood pressure, plasma cholesterol concentration, and diabetes, the odds ratio (90% confidence interval) comparing heavy coffee drinkers with the low activity COMT genotype with those with the high activity or heterozygotic genotypes was 3.2 (1.2–8.4). Urinary adrenaline excretion increased with increasing coffee intake, being over two-fold in heavy drinkers compared with nondrinkers (p = 0.008 for trend). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Heavy coffee consumption increases the incidence of acute coronary events in men with low but not high COMT activity. Further studies are required to determine to which extent circulating catecholamines mediate the relationship between coffee intake and CHD

Cardiometabolic risk profile among young adult females with a history of premature adrenarche

Context: Premature adrenarche (PA) is associated with childhood overweight and hyperinsulinemia; the long-term cardiometabolic outcome is unknown. Objective: To study cardiometabolic profile in adult women with previous PA. Design and participants: Thirty women with PA and 41 control subjects were followed from prepuberty to young adulthood. Main outcome measures: Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and clinical and biochemical cardiovascular risk factors. Results: There were no differences in the prevalence of MetS or in any parameters indicating dyslipidemia, hypertension, hepatosteatosis, atherosclerosis, or low-grade inflammation between the study groups. However, prevalence of insulin resistance (IR; P = 0.014) and acanthosis nigricans (P = 0.010) was higher in the PA group. Neither fasting glucose nor insulin concentrations differed between the study groups, but HbA1c [adjusted for body mass index (BMI) P = 0.011] and Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (P = 0.044; BMI-adjusted P = nonsignificant) were higher in the PA group. Although BMI and fat percentage were comparable between the study groups, the PA group had higher central fat mass than the control group. In the whole study population, MetS and IR were associated with greater adult fat mass, but no prepubertal factors predicting later IR were found. Conclusion: PA does not seem to be associated with MetS, dyslipidemia, hypertension, atherosclerosis, or low-grade inflammation in young adult women. However, some women with PA may be at an increased risk of unfavorable glucose metabolism, which is associated with increased central adiposity at adult age rather than determined by prepubertal factors. Copyright (C) 2019 Endocrine SocietyPeer reviewe

Tiedonhallinnan lainsäädännön kehittämistarpeista: Tutkimusraportti

Julkisen hallinnon tiedonhallinnan lainsäädännön yleislaintasoiset säännökset ovat olleet pääosiltaan muuttumattomia viimeiset 15 vuotta. Sääntelyn kohteena oleva toimintaympäristö on kuitenkin muuttunut muun muassa digitalisaatiokehityksen ja kehittyneiden tiedonhallintamenetelmien vuoksi. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää tiedonhallinnan asiantuntijoiden näkemyksiä tiedonhallintalainsäädännön kehittämistarpeist

Sujuva kasvatus- ja koulutustietojen hyödyntäminen : Selvitysryhmän loppuraportti

Tämä julkaisu sisältää selvityksen kasvatus- ja koulutustietojen tuottamisen ja hyödyntämisen nykytilasta sekä joukon toimenpide-ehdotuksia kasvatus- ja koulutustietojen hyödyntämisen sujuvoittamiseksi opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön selvitystehtävän toimeksiannon mukaisesti. Selvityksessä kuvataan kasvatus- ja koulutusalan eri toimijoiden esille nostamia tiedon tuottamisen ja hyödyntämisen nykytilan esteitä ja haasteita, mitkä pohjautuvat selvityksen yhteydessä kahdella kyselyllä ja työpajamuotoisessa sidosryhmätapaamisessa kerättyihin tietoihin. Selvitys sisältää analyysin kasvatus- ja koulutustietojen tuottamista ja hyödyntämistä ohjaavasta lainsäädännöstä sekä kasvatus- ja koulutusalan toimijoiden tehtävistä, vastuista ja velvollisuuksista niissä. Selvityksessä esitetään konkreettisia toimenpide-ehdotuksia kasvatus- ja koulutustietojen hyödyntämisen sujuvoittamiseksi muun muassa oikeudellisen, organisatorisen, semanttisen ja teknisen yhteentoimivuuden näkökulmasta. Selvityksen yksi keskeinen johtopäätös on, että kasvatuksen- ja koulutustietojen sujuva hyödyntäminen edellyttää koko hallinnonalan kattavaa valtakunnallista visiota eli tavoitetilan kuvausta. Kasvatus- ja koulutustietojen hyödyntämisen nykytilan haasteiden sekä niitä vastaavien toimenpide-ehdotusten lisäksi selvityksellä pyritään lisäämään hallinnonalan toimijoiden yhteistä ymmärrystä kasvatus- ja koulutusalan tiedonhallinnan ja digitalisaation toimintaympäristöstä

Potential consequences of hypothetical nuclear power plant accidents in Finland

An assessment of the environmental consequences of radioactive releases from severe reactor accidents was performed for Finnish nuclear power plants (NPP) in operation (Loviisa 1 and 2, and Olkiluoto 1 and 2), in commissioning (Olkiluoto 3) and in the preparatory phase (Hanhikivi 1). Three hypothetical radioactive releases (Basic, Large and Very Large cases) with different magnitudes were considered. Basic case represents a release corresponding to the limit set in requirements for severe reactor accidents, and thus, the other two represent extremely unlikely situations where severe accident management has failed. The magnitude of Very Large case is similar to the Fukushima NPP accident and roughly one order of magnitude smaller than the Chernobyl NPP accident, while the magnitude of Large case is roughly one order of magnitude smaller. The environmental assessment on the consequences of the releases was performed using a probabilistic approach. The aim is to estimate radiation doses to the population around the NPP and land contamination resulting from the release of radioactive material. The results of the assessment were compared to the protective action criteria for radioactive release from an NPP, and further used to evaluate the sufficiency of the Precautionary Action Zone (PAZ) and Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) given in Finnish regulation. The probability of exceeding different operational intervention levels (OIL) and dose criteria set for external dose rate, effective dose, thyroid dose, deposition of strong gamma emitters, deposition of cesium, and concentration of gamma emitters in the air were estimated for distances up to 300 km from each site. Dispersion and deposition of releases were modelled with the dispersion model SILAM of the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The modelling applied historical weather forecast data from the years 2012–2015 retrieved with operative weather forecast models AROME and HARMONIE. Dose rates and doses were determined from the radionuclide air concentrations and depositions with the threat assessment tool TIUKU. The assessment was preformed using 2920 dispersion realizations for each reactor type and release scenario. For the assessment, the 95th percentile of the modelled dispersion, deposition and dose data was selected. The assessment showed that it is unlikely that any OILs or dose criteria would be exceeded outside PAZ and EPZ in a Basic case. In a Large case, the OILs may be exceeded up to about 110 km from the NPP sites, while it could be up to 170 km for dose criteria for the recommendation to limit being outside and iodine prophylaxis for children and pregnant females. The assessment indicated that it is unlikely that sheltering indoors or evacuation are needed outside the PAZ and EPZ during the early phase of the emergency due to the release in a Large case. In a Very Large case, extensive protective actions including permanent or temporary relocation are needed outside EPZ and less restrictive protective actions (i.e., recommendation to limit being outside and iodine prophylaxis for children and pregnant females) are needed beyond the area considered in this study (> 300 km). It was shown, however, that the protective actions outside the PAZ and EPZ are strongly dependent on prevailing weather conditions. It was observed that the dose criteria for an adult’s effective and thyroid dose were exceeded in larger areas than suggested by the criteria based on the external dose rate. Furthermore, dose criteria for a child’s thyroid dose were exceeded in larger areas than the dose criteria for the recommendation to limit being outside, even though the iodine prophylaxis for children and pregnant females is set as a complementary protective action for the recommendation to limit being outside. The observation demonstrates that the content of the radioactive release must be carefully considered in a severe NPP accident as the amount of released iodine isotopes affect the thyroid dose, while other nuclides make only a small contribution to it. It was also observed that precipitation may cause the deposition of radioactive substances such that in large areas the criteria for protective action based on deposition may be exceeded, even when protective actions would not be warranted according to dose criteria for effective doses. In Large and Very Large cases, the deposition may lead to the need for decontamination of large areas, and temporary or even permanent relocation of people. These findings demonstrate the importance of primarily using dose criteria in decision making if dose calculations can be performed reliably during the actual nuclear or radiological emergency. The OILs shall be used only if measures with dose criteria cannot be determined reliably e.g., due to a lack of information. Based on the results, it was concluded that further study is needed to set an Extended Planning Distance (EPD) and Ingestion and Commodities Planning Distance (ICPD). In such a study, a level 2 Probabilistic Risk Assessments (PRA) considering the probability of atmospheric releases should be better linked with environmental consequence assessment. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommends the EPD and ICPD to facilitate preparedness planning and the execution of protective actions beyond the PAZ and EPZ. The existence of an EPD and ICPD could also improve the effective co-operation of different authorities and emergency workers in a nuclear emergency. In Large and Very Large cases, the seasonal variations between summer and winter were found to be significant especially when considering deposition of cesium and strong gamma emitters. It was observed that precipitation during the winter season causes more wet deposition than in the summer. In a Very Large case, the seasonal variations were also significant in other measures