University Of Eastern Finland Research Articles

Virtual Reality simulation and Video Lecture are Equally Effective in Abscess Incision Training: A Multicentre Randomised Controlled Trial

Introduction The aim of the study was to evaluate undergraduate medical students’ knowledge and self-confidence to perform abscess incision after virtual reality-simulation or video lecture. Pre and post-knowledge assessment was conducted. Materials and Methods This was a multicentre randomised controlled trial from October 2021 to January 2022. The study was carried out at two universities providing medical education. Undergraduate medical students were randomized into either fully immersive head mounted display virtual reality-simulation (VR) or video lecture. Pre- and post-learning surveys probed self-confidence and student’s own assessment of competence. Participants were third-, fourth- and fifth-year medical students from the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Helsinki. All students were sent an email informing them of the opportunity to participate in this voluntary study. All willing students were included in the study. Results 42 medical students participated in the study. Most were fourth year medical students, 52% of the participants had previously used VR in some context and the mean age of participants was around 25 years. Both methods increased knowledge and self-confidence equally. In VR subgroup, those with technical support available experienced greater learning than those without. Conclusions Interestingly, in the present study, both VR and video lecture increased knowledge and professional self-confidence equally.

European Journal of Geography (Year 2023): Reviewer Appreciation & Publication Recap

European Journal of Geography (Year 2023): Reviewer Appreciation & Publication Recap

Member Spotlight: Ismaila Sanusi

Ismaila Sanusi is a Doctoral Researcher, Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology, School of Computing, at the University of Eastern Finland.

Adolescents with neuropsychiatric symptoms in the turmoil of the service system: The NEPSOS interdisciplinary study of social work, adolescent psychiatry, special education, and expert organisations

Existing social, health and education services do not respond to the needs of adolescents with neuropsychiatric symptoms. These services are usually fragmented and their professionals’ expertise is insufficient. In this interprofessional context, the integration of specialisations, multidisciplinary expertise and knowledge is a challenge. In the NEPSOS study, we explore the services aimed at and service needs of adolescents with neuropsychiatric symptoms and their families. The NEPSOS study is collaboratively designed and carried out by experts from the University of Turku and the University of Eastern Finland, including researchers of adolescent psychiatry, social work and special education, as well as expert organisations such as the Southwest Finland Centre of Excellence on Social Welfare and the Nationwide Association of Different Learners. These organisations provide their expertise for the implementation and integration of the research results into the service system and the development of recommendations. 
 In this study, the appropriateness of services and service paths are examined from the perspectives of adolescents and families, professionals and interprofessional collaboration. The study has four different lines. Line 1 examines the relationships between a) the socio-economic status of the parent and the situation of the adolescent and b) neuropsychiatric symptoms and child protection support measures. Line 2 examines the experiences and views of adolescents and their parents concerning the functionality of the service system and the functional forms of psychosocial support. Line 3 studies the professionals’ perspectives on the functionality of the service system and interprofessional collaboration in the context of adolescent service paths. Line 4 focuses on communication and interaction activities, including the implementation of the research results.
 The NEPSOS study will provide knowledge and deepen the understanding of the following topics:
 •How interprofessional cooperation is implemented in the service paths for adolescents with neuropsychiatric symptoms from the perspective of professionals from the fields of social work, adolescent psychiatry and education.
 •How existing service networks meet the needs of adolescents and their families, and what kind of psychosocial support is provided to them by the professionals of social work, adolescent psychiatry, and special education. 
 •How psychosocial services and interprofessional collaboration are performed to improve the timeliness, targeting and integration of services for adolescents with neuropsychiatric symptoms and their families.
 Furthermore, the impact of this study’s findings will be manifested as practical recommendations and training materials for professionals. The NEPSOS study forms part of an interdisciplinary research consortium whose ongoing and future studies specifically aim at strengthening the integration of social care, health care and education for the health and wellbeing of children and families. Our experiences regarding interdisciplinary collaboration and the future results of the study can be applied internationally both in higher education and the integration of child social, health and education services.
 Keywords: neuropsychiatric symptoms, adolescents, interdisciplinary collaboration, social work, adolescent psychiatry, special education.

Epilepsy phenotype and its reproducibility after lateral fluid percussion-induced traumatic brain injury in rats: Multicenter EpiBioS4Rx study project 1.

This study was undertaken to assess reproducibility of the epilepsy outcome and phenotype in a lateral fluid percussion model of posttraumatic epilepsy (PTE) across three study sites. A total of 525 adult male Sprague Dawley rats were randomized to lateral fluid percussion-induced brain injury (FPI) or sham operation. Of these, 264 were assigned to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI cohort, 43 sham, 221 traumatic brain injury [TBI]) and 261 to electrophysiological follow-up (EEG cohort, 41 sham, 220 TBI). A major effort was made to harmonize the rats, materials, equipment, procedures, and monitoring systems. On the 7th post-TBI month, rats were video-EEG monitored for epilepsy diagnosis. A total of 245 rats were video-EEG phenotyped for epilepsy on the 7th postinjury month (121 in MRI cohort, 124 in EEG cohort). In the whole cohort (n = 245), the prevalence of PTE in rats with TBI was 22%, being 27% in the MRI and 18% in the EEG cohort (p > .05). Prevalence of PTE did not differ between the three study sites (p > .05). The average seizure frequency was .317 ± .725 seizures/day at University of Eastern Finland (UEF; Finland), .085 ± .067 at Monash University (Monash; Australia), and .299 ± .266 at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA; USA; p < .01 as compared to Monash). The average seizure duration did not differ between UEF (104 ± 48 s), Monash (90 ± 33 s), and UCLA (105 ± 473 s; p > .05). Of the 219 seizures, 53% occurred as part of a seizure cluster (≥3 seizures/24 h; p >.05 between the study sites). Of the 209 seizures, 56% occurred during lights-on period and 44% during lights-off period (p > .05 between the study sites). The PTE phenotype induced by lateral FPI is reproducible in a multicenter design. Our study supports the feasibility of performing preclinical multicenter trials in PTE to increase statistical power and experimental rigor to produce clinically translatable data to combat epileptogenesis after TBI.

Rehabilitation, Recognition and Misrecognition

The paper is a lightly edited transcript of McNeill’s plenary address at the Finnish Society of Criminology (Suomen Kriminologinen Yhdistys ry) Conference, which took place at the University of Eastern Finland in Joensuu on 3-4th November 2022.

Cross-national analysis of wellness tourism concepts, tourists’ motivations and service preferences

The following text is based on the lectio praecursoria presented at the defence of the doctoral dissertation “The market perspectives of wellness tourism: A multiple case study” which was publicly defended on June 7, 2023, at Joensuu, University of Eastern Finland. The full version of the dissertation can be found at https://erepo.uef.fi/handle/123456789/29639.

Unsupervised Spectral Analysis of Bio-Dyed Textile Samples

Article Unsupervised Spectral Analysis of Bio-Dyed Textile Samples Zong-Yue Li 1,*, Joni Hyttinen 1, Riikka Räisänen 2, Xiao-Zhi Gao 1, and Markku Hauta-Kasari 1 1 School of Computing, Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, 80101, Kuopio, 70211, Finland 2 Department of Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014 , Finland * Correspondence: winstonli711@gmail.com Received: 12 March 2023 Accepted: 23 March 2023 Abstract: Natural compounds such as biological colorants (biocolorants) have long been employed as crucial ingredients for dying textile in the textile industry. As one part of the BioColour Consortium project, our goal is to take advantage of machine learning (in cluster analysis) to discover possible clusters of bio-dyed textile in the absence of ground truth labels or other knowledge of expert domains. Specifically, we use unsupervised learning methods of agglomerative clustering, fuzzy c-means, ordering points to identify the clustering structure (OPTICS) and self-organizing maps (SOMs), resulting in an investigation that combines data visualization and cluster analysis. In summary, we apply some selected data mining methods to 1) discover hidden clusters emerging among products that are colored with biocolorant (specifically bio-dyed textile samples), and 2) show the potentials of clustering techniques in the case study.

Experiencing a Lament Performance in a Mire

The article addresses the topical issue of environmental emotions from the perspective of individual experiences of environmental art reception. The research focuses on how the audience experienced lament performances by singer and musician Noora Kauppila in natural mires in Finland, and it asks the research question: What kinds of environmental emotions have laments in the mire provoked, and how are emotions contextualised in audience interviews? Art performances in the mire have become part of a growing international mire trend in the 21st century. I understand mires as a living heritage that reflects the diversity and inter-connectedness of heritage elements (e.g. practices and knowledge concerning nature) experienced by community members and individuals. The effectiveness of art (lament performances) is linked to reception research, which has not previously been applied to mire art performances. In the debate on the impact of art, the experiential perspective has been marginal. In the interview material, individuals’ experiences reveal strong emotions about the endangered environment. The lament performance transformed a mire into a culturally appropriated space for the collective and individual processing of emotions regarding a fragile natural environment. The interviewees reported unwanted changes in their own surroundings, and their feelings about the changes were reflected in the observed decline in the habitats of birds and other mire animals. In a broad sense, the article offers insights into the meanings and changes of an individual’s relationship with nature. The research evidence suggests that a communal context is needed to deal with environmental emotions, especially negative emotions like sorrow, hatred and grief. Likewise, the individual accounts reveal a need for a communal change in abandoning unsustainable lifestyles. The article is based on research that has been undertaken as part of the ‘Mire Trend’ research project at the University of Eastern Finland.

Lectio praecursoria: Recognizing the plurality of knowledge, values, and experiences interwoven in Mexican community forestry

During my doctoral defense at the University of Eastern Finland on January 27th, 2023, I introduced my doctoral research with the present lectio praecursoria. This lectio delves into the plurality of experiences, values and knowledge interwoven in the development of community forestry in the Sierra Sur of Oaxaca, Mexico. In the last 40 years, Mexico has promoted community forestry as an alternative to forest management directed by the central government or private companies. As an alternative, community forestry is based on social justice and environmental sustainability principles, aiming for communities to use forests for social and economic development while conserving them. The research examines how forest communities have created their paths to achieve these objectives, like creating community forestry companies for wood and non-wood forest products. Based on ethnographic methods and documental analysis in the Sierra Sur of Oaxaca state, the research investigated the challenges, paradoxes and changes forest dwellers face when managing and working in their community forestry companies while conserving their forests. Furthermore, this study contributes to understanding how different environmental governing rationalities intersect when 1) socio-territorial conflicts arise, 2) women's access to productive labor is encouraged, and 3) the plural values of the forest are adapted. The lecture addresses one of the critical inquiries of this research: how various environmental governing rationalities intertwine in community forestry to shape and regulate people's behavior and interactions with forests.

High Fitness Levels Attenuate the Increased Risk of Chronic Kidney Disease in Men With High Systolic Blood Pressure: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Diabetes Research Centre, Leicester General Hospital, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom (Dr Kunutsor); Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition (Drs Kurl and Laukkanen) and Institute of Clinical Medicine, Department of Medicine (Dr Laukkanen), University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland; and Wellbeing Services County of Central Finland, Department of Medicine, Jyväskylä, Finland (Dr Laukkanen). Correspondence: Setor K. Kunutsor, PhD, Diabetes Research Centre, Leicester General Hospital, University of Leicester, Gwendolen Rd, Leicester LE5 4WP, United Kingdom ([email protected]). All authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Meet the First Authors

Meet the First Authors

Health check-ups as interventions for work disability management: supervisors and occupational healthcare follow the recommendations to a great extent

ObjectivesWork disability management is a problem globally. This study was designed to find out whether the initiation, process and outcome of health check-ups (HCUs) follow the national legislation and whether...

Journal Digest: Treatment-Emergent Mania, Fingerprint Scans, and More

Journal Digest: Treatment-Emergent Mania, Fingerprint Scans, and More

Koli Calling Conference Report

Koli Calling is a single-track conference covering a range of topics related to education in the computing disciplines. The 22nd Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research was held in the beautiful Koli National Park from November 17-20, 2022. The conference was held in cooperation with the ACM and SIGCSE and was organized by the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Toronto Mississauga.

The Consumer Value of Nature-based Tourism: An Examination of National Park Visitors

The following text is based on the lectio praecursoria presented at the defense of the doctoral dissertation ‘The Consumer Value of Nature-based Tourism: An Examination of National Park Visitors’ on 23 September, 2022, at the University of Eastern Finland. The full version of the dissertation can be found at https://erepo.uef.fi/handle/123456789/28295

Near‐Infrared Spectroscopic Characterization of Cardiac and Renal Fibrosis in Fixed and Fresh Rat Tissue

AbstractInvited for this month‘s cover are the collaborating group(s) of Center for Biospectroscopy at Monash University and Austin Health at the University of Melbourne, University of Eastern Finland and the University of Queensland. The cover‐art shows a handheld near‐infrared spectroscopic probe to detect fibrosis in real time using a murine model. More information can be found in the Research Article by John A. Adegoke, Jaishankar Raman, Bayden R. Wood, and co‐workers.

Service provider’s perspective on luxury tourism experiences in Finland – unconventional luxury tourism experience products

The following piece is based on the lectio praecursoria presented at the defense of the doctoral dissertation “The Challenge of Luxury Experience – Service Provider’s Perspective” which was publicly defended on December 3, 2021, at Joensuu, University of Eastern Finland. The full version of the dissertation can be found at https://erepo.uef.fi/handle/123456789/26447

Explore the Characteristics of Destination Image in the New Era of Information Technology, Case of Online Travel Reviews

The follwing piece is based on the Lectio praecursoria presented at the defense of the doctoral dissertation ‘The Nature of Destination Image Concept in Online Travel Reviews’, which was publicly discussed on March 4, 2022, at the University of Eastern Finland. The full version of the dissertation can be found at: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-61-4483-2

Development and strengthening of educational potential in the field of fisheries at the K.I. Skryabin Kyrgyz national agrarian university

The Kyrgyz National Agrarian University named after K.I. Scriabin has created an educational and practical base for university, college students, as well as for training fish farmers from the private sector of aquaculture. The demonstration fishery is a place for scientific research and short-term courses for farmers. Teachers of KNAU together with teachers of the University of Eastern Finland have prepared educational and methodological complexes and other educational materials. The first stage of the FishEDU project was the training of teachers in fisheries disciplines. The training was conducted in Kyrgyzstan by international-level teachers, as well as foreign experts. All teachers and trainers have been trained in the fisheries of Kyrgyzstan and Finland. On the basis of KNAU, an electronic library, a laboratory for water research and a kitchen for making fish dishes are organized for students and farmers. At the second stage, a demonstration fish farm was built on the territory of KNAU, consisting of two blocks of trout and carp. Trout are grown in plastic pools, and 1 pond with a geomembrane is equipped for keeping carp. Water from the well enters the intake system, is degassed from underground nitrogen, and is saturated with oxygen. Having studied the local reservoirs of Kyrgyzstan, the stocking was carried out safely. Thus, the demonstration fish farm was built thanks to the hard work of KNAU employees and UVF representatives.