Finnish Groups Research Articles

Implementing multilingual pedagogy in Finnish ECEC groups – from monolingual practices towards more systematic approaches

Implementing multilingual pedagogy in Finnish ECEC groups – from monolingual practices towards more systematic approaches

Barriers to adopting a plant-based diet in various Finnish sociodemographic groups

Abstract Background According to nutrition recommendations, plant-based diets are favorable for both climate and health. However, the adoption of such diets varies between sociodemographic groups. Aims of this study are to examine how large proportions of the population have shifted towards plant-based diets to combat climate change, and to identify perceived barriers to dietary changes by gender, age, urbanization level, education, and household income. Methods The study is based on the Healthy Finland Survey conducted in 2022-2023, including 5390 participants (56% women) aged 20-74 years. Questions related to plant-based diet had pre-defined response options. Results Women reported that they had changed their diets to be more plant-based more often than men (46% vs. 31%). Women and men living in urban areas, having high education, or belonging to the highest income quartile had made changes more often than those in other sociodemographic groups. Women and men reported barriers in shifting to more plant-based diets, such as uncertainty about nutritional value (20% and 24%) and lacking skills to prepare tasty vegetarian food (30% and 28%). Disliking vegetarian foods (23%) or not being interested in the topic (28%) were also frequent issues in men, while women commonly cited the preferences of their close ones as preventing them from making vegetarian food (17%). These perceived barriers also differed between sociodemographic groups. For example, while uncertainty about nutritiousness of plant-based diets was most common in the oldest age group (29%), lack of skills to prepare tasty vegetarian food was most common in the youngest age group (35%). One third of men living in remote rural areas or with basic education reported not being interested in the topic. Conclusions Understanding barriers that prevent people in different sociodemographic groups from changing their diets to more plant-based is critical in tailoring more targeted and effective health promotion and policy. Key messages • Moving towards more plant-based diets to combat climate change and perceived barriers to dietary changes vary by gender, age, urbanization level, education, and household income. • Understanding barriers preventing people in different sociodemographic groups from changing their diets to more plant-based is critical in tailoring targeted and effective health promotion and policy.

Disentangling differing relationships between internalizing disorders and alcohol use.

Both internalizing disorders and alcohol use have dramatic, wide-spread implications for global health. Previous work has established common phenotypic comorbidity among these disorders, as well as shared genetic variation underlying them both. We used genomic structural equation modeling to investigate the shared genetics of internalizing, externalizing, and alcohol use traits, as well as to explore whether specific domains of internalizing symptoms mediate the contrasting relationships with problematic alcohol use compared to alcohol consumption. We also examined patterns of genetic correlations between similar traits within additional Finnish and East Asian ancestry groups. When the shared genetic influence of externalizing psychopathology was accounted for, the genetic effect of internalizing traits on alcohol use was reduced, suggesting the important role of common genetic factors underlying multiple psychiatric disorders and their genetic influences on comorbidity of internalizing and alcohol use traits. Individual internalizing domains had contrasting effects on frequency of alcohol consumption, which demonstrate the complex system of pleiotropy that exists, even within similar disorders, and can be missed when evaluating only relationships among formal diagnoses. Future work must consider the broad effects of shared psychopathology along with the fine-scale effects of heterogeneity within disorders to more fully understand the biology underlying complex traits.

Forming an anti‐imperialist national identity in Republican China: The Finnish interpretation

AbstractThis article focuses on Finnish national identities because they expressed the shared experiences of newly established Finnish communities, and they were crucial in constructing a new nation. It also explores created images of the Finnish and Finland, as well as community construction in Republican China, especially after Finland gained independence in 1917. Another aim is to examine those Finnish political, cultural and economic activities that supported their identity construction in China. The specific emphasis will be on analysing the largest and sometimes cross‐functioning Finnish groups in China: the governmental officials and the commercial community. By using qualitative methods, namely, discourse analysis and historical analysis, this study shows how the Finnish community created alternative, sometimes imaginative and frequently anti‐imperialist national identities in the new Republican China. Indeed, by signing the Treaty Principles of Reciprocity and Equal Treatment, it was agreed that Finland and China ‘shall enjoy same rights, privileges, favours, immunities and exemptions which [might] be accorded to similar foreign agents in accordance with the principles of international law’. This article argues that Finnish aspirations were positively regarded by many Chinese, and they respected this quite unique national connection with Finland.

Teachers’ language practices and choices in a bilingual, co-located kindergarten in Finland

This article explores the language practices and choices of four teachers in a co-located kindergarten in Finland. Following Finland’s official bilingualism, the education system is built on two tracks – Finnish and Swedish. As official languages of Finland, the two languages share the same status, but since Finnish is the registered language of the vast majority of the population, Swedish can be seen as a de facto minority language – one reason why Swedish education has been seen as an important space for maintaining Swedish language and culture. This constitutes an important perspective for research on Finnish and Swedish early childhood education units that are located in the same building. In this article, the language practices and choices of four kindergarten teachers are examined. The teachers worked in different groups: two of them in Swedish groups and two in Finnish groups. These teachers’ everyday activities were observed and recorded, and the teachers were interviewed about their language practices and choices. Through data source and methodological triangulation, this article illustrates how the teachers worked side by side in collaboration and across language borders, and thus created a feeling of community between the Finnish and Swedish groups. Sharing some of the spaces and activities broadened the space and made it more bilingual. At the same time, the teachers’ language practices gave extra support to Swedish, which was used not only in the Swedish groups but also with bilinguals in the Finnish groups.

Movement for Finnish Autonomy: from the “Great Petition of the Sejm” of 1904 to the Manifest of 22 October 1905

The article examines the history of the creation of the manifesto of 22 October 1905 “On the transformation of the supreme laws of Finland”. The appearance of the manifesto is connected both with the revolutionary events in Finland in October 1905 and with previous political conflicts. The role of the leaders of the constitutionalist party, including L. Michelin, in the preparation of the manifesto is indicated. It is shown that the development of the manifesto was carried out against the background of a political struggle between various Finnish political groups. Based on the documents of the Finnish Governor-General I. M. Obolensky, the author concludes that during the First Russian Revolution, the attitude of the autocracy towards the representatives of the constitutionalist party changed. They started to be recognized as the most promising force for stopping revolutionary actions.

The owners of information: Content curation practices of middle-level gatekeepers in political Facebook groups

Volunteer moderators play a key role when making judgements about which online content should be accepted and which should be removed. As such, their work fundamentally shapes the digital social and political spheres. Using the data obtained from 15 Facebook group moderator interviews as research data, this study focused on the content curation work by the middle-level gatekeepers of Finnish political discussion groups on Facebook. The findings show that the moderators feel strong ownership of the groups they moderate and of the information such groups provide, and as a result, they strongly shape the groups’ discussion and governing policy. Facebook’s governing policy for groups is vague, which gives space for group norms and identities to develop. The stakeholder groups (i.e. the platform administration, moderators and users) do not attend to the governance process all together, so negotiations among them are almost non-existent.

Analysis of Worldwide Carrier Frequency and Predicted Genetic Prevalence of Autosomal Recessive Congenital Hypothyroidism Based on a General Population Database.

To assess how genomic information of the general population reflects probabilities of developing diseases and the differences in those probabilities among ethnic groups, a general population database was analyzed with an example of congenital hypothyroidism. Twelve candidate genes that follow an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern in congenital hypothyroidism (SLC5A5, TPO, TG, IYD, DUOXA2, DUOX2, TSHR, SLC26A7, GLIS3, FOXE1, TSHB, TRHR) in the gnomAD database (v2.1.1) were analyzed. The carrier frequency (CF) and predicted genetic prevalence (pGP) were estimated. The total CF in the overall population was 3.6%. DUOX2 showed the highest CF (1.8%), followed by TG (0.46%), TPO (0.44%), TSHR (0.31%), SLC26A7 (0.144%), DUOXA2 (0.141%), IYD (0.08%), SLC5A5 (0.06%), TRHR (0.059%), GLIS3 (0.059%), TSHB (0.04%), and FOXE1 (0%). The pGP in the overall population was 10.01 individuals per 100,000 births (1:9992). The highest pGP was in the East Asian population at 52.48 per 100,000 births (1:1905), followed by Finnish (35.96), Non-Finnish European (9.56), African/African American (4.0), Latino/Admixed American (3.89), South Asian (3.56), and Ashkenazi Jewish (1.81) groups. Comparing the pGP with the real incidence of congenital hypothyroidism, the pGP in East Asian populations was highly consistent with the real incidence.

”Maailma jota ei enää ole – vaikka onkin”


 
 
 “A world which doesn’t exist – even though it does.”The urban space and past of Vyborg in Finnish and Russian interpretations
 The article analyses the interpretations of the past given to the town space of Vyborg. Utilising survey and interview material collected from Finnish and Russian target groups, it examines which places in the city become the main objects of description and what meanings are attached to these. The article looks at the urban space in Vyborg via an assessment of public-level meanings on the one hand and private-level meanings on the other, and the space is strongly understood as a social product for which the users of the space actively create meanings. In both Finnish and Russian interpretations of the history of Vyborg’s urban space, the city appears as a kind of imaginary space, and, especially in the speech of Finns, is romanticised by the tradition of remem- brance. The Russians have built new memory environments in Vyborg to create national memory sites in the city space. For both Finns and Russians, history is an important part of Vyborg’s urban space, but its contents and starting points are related to different layers of recognition.
 
 

Playing with science: manifestation of scientific play in early science inquiry

ABSTRACT Drawing on sociocultural theorizing, this case study investigates and unpacks the qualities of scientific play during children’s inquiry-based science activities framed by imagination and play (i.e. Poetry Science). The data were gathered in Finnish preschool groups with children aged five to six years old (N: 31) over a five-week period. The data consist of video recordings, observational field notes, and artifacts, subjected to multimodal analysis. The results show that scientific play that manifested throughout young children’s inquiry process has the following four characteristics: (i) creating and maintaining an imaginary science situation, (ii) assigning new meanings to science objects and processes, (iii) combining imaginary situations and problem solving, and (iv) engaging in science talk in an imaginary situation. The study shows how imagination and play are important elements of children’s science inquiry, with implications for early science education.

Novel and prevalent non-East Asian ALDH2 variants; Implications for global susceptibility to aldehydes’ toxicity

BackgroundAldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) catalyzes the detoxification of aliphatic aldehydes, including acetaldehyde. About 45% of Han Chinese (East Asians), accounting for 8% of humans, carry a single point mutation in ALDH2*2 (E504K) that leads to accumulation of toxic reactive aldehydes. MethodsSequencing of a small Mexican cohort and a search in the ExAC genomic database for additional ALDH2 variants common in various ethnic groups was set to identify missense variants. These were evaluated in vitro, and in cultured cells expressing these new and common variants. FindingsIn a cohort of Hispanic donors, we identified 2 novel mutations in ALDH2. Using the ExAC genomic database, we found these identified variants and at least three other ALDH2 variants with a single point mutation among Latino, African, South Asian, and Finnish ethnic groups, at a frequency of >5/1000. Although located in different parts of the ALDH2 molecule, these common ALDH2 mutants exhibited a significant reduction in activity compared with the wild type enzyme in vitro and in 3T3 cells overexpressing each of the variants, and a greater ethanol-induced toxicity. As Alda-1, previously identified activator, did not activate some of the new mutant ALDH2 enzymes, we continued the screen and identified Alda-64, which is effective in correcting the loss of activity in most of these new and common ALDH2 variants. InterpretationSince ~80% of the world population consumes ethanol and since acetaldehyde accumulation contributes to a variety of diseases, the identification of additional inactivating variants of ALDH2 in different ethnic groups may help develop new ‘precision medicine’ for carriers of these inactive ALDH2.

Low prevalence red blood cell antigens: transfusions, babies, and changing demographics

See article on page 870–874, in this issue

Multispectral photon-counting for medical imaging and beam characterization

We present the current status of our project of developing a photon counting detector for medical imaging. An example motivation lays in producing a monitoring and dosimetry device for boron neutron capture therapy, currently not commercially available. Our approach combines in-house developed detectors based on cadmium telluride or thick silicon with readout chip technology developed for particle physics experiments at CERN. Here we describe the manufacturing process of our sensors as well as the processing steps for the assembly of first prototypes. The prototypes use currently the PSI46digV2.1-r readout chip. The accompanying readout electronics chain that was used for first measurements will also be discussed. Finally we present an advanced algorithm developed by us for image reconstruction using such photon counting detectors with focus on boron neutron capture therapy. This work is conducted within a consortium of Finnish research groups from Helsinki Institute of Physics, Aalto University, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT and Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) under the RADDESS program of Academy of Finland.

Sosiaalinen luottamus ryhmäilmiönä

Tutkin artikkelissa sosiaalisen luottamuksen muodostumista ryhmäprosessina. Käsitteellistän sosiaalista luottamusta relationaalisesti ja intersubjektiivisesti vuorovaikutuksessa kehkeytyvänä ilmiönä, ja pidän sitä keskeisenä resurssina yhteiskuntaan ja sen yhteisöihin kiinnittymisessä. Empiirisenä tapaustutkimuksena hyödynnän kahden ammatillisen opiskelijaryhmän (A ja B) vuorovaikutusta ryhmähaastattelutilanteessa. Aineiston analyysissa sovellan keskustelunanalyysin työkaluja. Ryhmä A:ssa puheenvuorot ja vuorovaikutukseen osallistuminen jakautuivat epätasaisesti eikä ryhmällä ollut valmiuksia säädellä itse omaa yhteistoimintaansa. Ryhmä B ilmeni vuorovaikutuksen suhteen tasapuolisena sekä ruokki jäsentensä yhteistyötä, aktiivista osallistumista ja tuotti myönteistä palautetta kaikille ryhmän jäsenille. Esitän, että ryhmä B antaa jäsenilleen ryhmä A:ta paremmat valmiudet sosiaaliseen luottamukseen sekä sitä tukeviin toimintatapoihin. Keskeiseksi selittäväksi tekijäksi ryhmien vuorovaikutuksessa nousi oppilaitosten ja ryhmänohjaaja-opettajien panos ja rooli ryhmien yhteistyökyvyn rakentajina. Sosiaalipedagogiikan ja koulutuspolitiikan näkökulmasta tulokset kertovat, että sosiaalista luottamusta sekä laajemminyhteisöllisyyttä ja yhteisöihin kasvamista on mahdollista ohjata ja harjoitella aktiivisesti. Koulut ja oppilaitokset ovat luonteva toimintaympäristö tehdä tätä, mutta se edellyttää oppilaitosten henkilökunnalta valmiuksia ja resursseja.

The Implementation of the Controlled Foreign Company Rules in the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive in Finland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – The Effects on the Holding Company Structures of Finnish Groups

In this article, the author considers the implications of the implementation of the controlled foreign company rules in the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (2016/1164) in Finland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, with special emphasis on the effects regarding the holding company structures of Finnish groups.

Does sugar sweeten the pill of low income? Inequalities in the consumption of various foods between Finnish income groups from 1985 to 2012

Numerous studies have shown that social inequality can be reflected through poor food choices. Factors such as low-income, low level of education and low socio-economic position are associated with food consumption behaviours that are considered less beneficial. This study explores the disparities found among income and other socio-economic groups in terms of their food consumption shares. To find out how the food consumption patterns have developed in Finland, a nationally representative Household Budget Survey for the years 1985–2012 is used. Food consumption trends of the income quintiles are analyzed with ANOVA. The shares of food consumption expenditure spent on Meat, Vegetables, Fruit and berries, and Sugars are used as dependent variables; while education, age and household type are used as control variables. The disparities between the income groups have diminished, with meat and sugar consumption being most affected by the studied factors. Low income does not necessarily translate to a household’s less healthy eating habits. Rather, households in the lowest quintile are now depicted by the convergence of their fruit and vegetable consumption with the other income groups.

Groups of Companies - The Finnish Model

Companies organize into groups for various reasons. From a legal point of view a group of companies is an interesting subject of research, since it is a topic that affects various different areas of law. Also, groups of companies are often transnational so that the parent company and the subsidiaries operate in different jurisdictions. Legal provisions concerning groups are, however, quite national and therefore it is important to know, how groups of companies are regulated in different countries. In light of this background, the purpose of this article is to give a comprehensive overview of the law regarding Finnish groups of companies. The research has been conducted so that the initial focus is on company law and cooperative law-related issues, as well as accounting. After the main analysis, there is a brief overview of other group-specific rules. Here the focus is on tax law, insolvency law and labor law matters. Finally, the research findings are summarized in a brief conclusions section. The article is part of the International Academy of Comparative Law’s “Groups of Companies” research project and the research findings will be presented at the Academy’s XXth International Congress 2018, Fukuoka, Japan.

Language as a determinant of participation rates in Finnish health examination surveys

A high participation rate is considered as a prerequisite for representative survey results, especially when it is known that non-participation is selective. In many countries migration is increasing and the proportion of people speaking other language(s) than the official language(s) of the country is also increasing. How does this affect survey participation rates? Data from four cross-sectional health examination surveys (the FINRISK Study) were used to evaluate the effect of the registered mother tongue to participation in the survey. Finland has two official languages (Finnish and Swedish). Between 1997 and 2012, the proportion of the population with some other language as their registered mother tongue has increased significantly. Participation rates in the health surveys have been highest among the Finnish language group (68% in men in 1997 and 76% in women in 1997), while lowest among the foreign language group (43% in men in 1997 and 57% in women in 1997). In 2012, the participation rates had declined in all language groups: for men, 58%, 62% and 41% for Finnish, Swedish and foreign groups respectively, and for women 68%, 75% and 56%. The participation rate for the foreign language group was significantly lower than for the Finnish and Swedish groups. In future surveys it will be important to include actions to promote participation, e.g. providing survey material in several languages. These actions will increase costs but will be essential to ensure high participation rates and reliable results for the total population.

Does International Migration Pay Off? The Labor Market Situation of Finnish Return Migrants Based on Longitudinal Register Data

International mobility is a form of flexible labor market adaptation available for young Nordic nationals who have the privilege of relatively easy return if life abroad does not work out. The article considers mobility as a labor market transition and examines the pre- and post-migration situation of two Finnish return migrant groups—those who lived abroad in 1999 and in 2004—based on longitudinal register data. It considers the consequences of return for an individual migrant: is it a form of failure in labor market integration in the country of destination or rather a sign of success whereby the skills, resources, and experiences gained abroad are brought back to the country of origin. Migrants who leave Finland nowadays often opt to move to other Nordic countries and are younger, more educated, and have a better socio-economic status than previous migrant generations. The article demonstrates that international migration does not deteriorate the returnees’ labor market status. While re-entry into the Finnish labor market may take some time and flexibility, mobility seems to pay off and have beneficial consequences: return migrants earn higher taxable incomes and have lower unemployment rates than their peers who only stayed in the national labor markets..

Children’s participation in Finnish pre-school education - Identifying, Describing and Documenting Children’s Participation

This article describes, analyzes, and evaluates children’s participatory in Finnish pre-school groups. Children’s participation is viewed in the context of the Core Curriculum for Pre-school Education in Finland (2010), in which children are considered active subjects, who interact with both other people and the environment. However, in practical data, collected via survey from pre-school educators, this ideology is restricted and the educators in pre-school groups focus on children’s participation from a narrow point of view that reflects a lack of connection between the Core Curriculum goals for pre-school education and the actual participatory practices children face.