23098 research outputs found
Sort by
Koivurova on Buchanan, 'Red Arctic: Russian Strategy Under Putin':Book review
No full textBuchanan, Elizabeth. Red Arctic: Russian Strategy Under Putin. : Brookings Institution Press, 2023. xvi + 208 pp. ISBN 9780815738886
Probiotics and Plant-Based Foods as Preventive Agents of Urinary Tract Infection:A Narrative Review of Possible Mechanisms Related to Health
No full textUrinary tract infections (UTIs) are a prevalent global health issue, often requiring antibiotic treatment, which contributes to antimicrobial resistance. This narrative review explores the potential of probiotics and plant-based foods as alternative or complementary preventive strategies against UTIs. Fermented foods, such as yogurt, kefir, and kombucha, contain probiotic strains that can modulate the gut and urogenital microbiota, enhancing resistance to uropathogens. Likewise, plant-based foods, including cranberry, garlic, bearberry, juniper, and nettle, possess bioactive compounds with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and diuretic properties. Laboratory and clinical studies suggest that these natural interventions may reduce the incidence of UTIs by inhibiting pathogen adhesion, modulating immune responses, and promoting urinary tract health. However, despite promising findings, inconsistencies in study methodologies, dosage standardization, and long-term efficacy warrant further investigation. Future research should focus on optimizing probiotic formulations, standardizing plant-based supplement dosages, and assessing potential food–drug interactions to establish evidence-based guidelines for UTI prevention
Ecological Pilgrimage:Repairing Human-Forest Relations
No full textThe paper joins the search for new ontologies, conceptual frameworks, approaches, metaphors, and practices to repair the weakened relations between ecosystems and human sociocultural worlds. It introduces the notion of an “ecological pilgrimage” as a walking methodology and social innovation that departs from historical connotations of colonial expeditions or religious ceremonies and enables rethinking what walking, and tourism can do in times of ecological crisis. Our work draws guidance from the discussions on “ecological reparation” as a bottom-up approach attentive to the mundane processes and everyday practices of solidarity and care that maintain life and foster liveable futures.Driven by a curiosity of what an ecological pilgrimage could be and become, themembers of our team embarked on a pilot walk along the 1000 km long "UKK trail” through the boreal forests of Eastern and Northern Finland. Along with reflection on the future lines of inquiry, the paper shares a formative iteration of a video artwork of this almost forgotten, fragmented trail that reflects the imprint of historic and contemporary land use practices and industrial exploitation. The paper welcomes further discussion about the ways in which the recreational use of hiking trails can enable transforming and repairing more-than-human relations
Domestication and adaptation of pastoral animals and human livelihoods to the Arctic:An integrated genetic-anthropological approach
No full textThis chapter investigates the added value of genetic-anthropological integrated research on Arctic pastoralism for contributing to the question how the adaptation of living organisms to an environment is determined by both natural and socio-cultural influence. Rather than testing one vs the other, we follow a ʼnatureculture approach’ (Valkonen et al. 2022). In doing so, we stand on the shoulders of anthropological giants, who 20 years ago, urged for overcoming the divide between ʼnature’ and ‘culture’ in our perception of the environment (Ingold 2004). Correspondingly, research design on domestication and adaptation can strive to dismantle disciplinary borders between natural and social sciences. We review, on the one hand, the evidence from genetics on the adaptive capacity of native domestic pastoral animal breeds in the Arctic to adapt to a harsh environment. On the other hand, we document how people have contributed with management and selection practices to the specific character traits of these animal breeds that enhance their ‘Arctic fitness.' This allows us to illustrate our main argument: native breeds of Arctic domesticated pastoral animal species are a co-creation of humans jointly with other beings in the environment. Hence, they are a ʼnaturalcultural’ heritage, an outcome of reciprocal human-animal intentional relationality.</p
Synthesis Report on Ecosystem Status, Human Impacts and Management Measures in the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO-SR)
No full textRecognizing the importance of understanding the current and future state of the marine ecosystem in the Central Arctic Ocean, Arctic Council Ministers adopted the 2021 Arctic Council Strategic Plan that outlined the goal of “Synthesizing relevant information on the status, trends and projected changes in the Central Arctic Ocean, human activities and pressures in the area, and the current management measures in place in order to inform future policy and decision making.” The CAO-SR undertakes to respond to the above goal, with the express purpose of synthesizing existing information in order to inform future decisions around the Central Arctic Ocean
Following the Waste through Multi-Sited Ethnography
No full textTaru Lehtokunnas: Enacting a Circular Economy: A Multi-Sited Ethnography on Food Waste Practices in Finnish Supermarkets, Households and Biogas Plants. Tampere: University of Tampere, 2023, 115 pp. ISBN 978-952-03-2923-5Taru Lehtokunnas: Enacting a Circular Economy: A Multi-Sited Ethnography on Food Waste Practices in Finnish Supermarkets, Households and Biogas Plants. Tampere: University of Tampere, 2023, 115 pp. ISBN 978-952-03-2923-
Iäkkäiden erityisen tuen tarpeen määrittyminen sosiaalityöntekijöiden ja palveluohjaajien kuvauksissa työstään
No full textTarkastelemme tutkimuksessamme iäkkäiden palveluissa toimivien sosiaalityöntekijöiden sekä asiakas- ja palveluohjaajien kuvauksia asiakkaiden erityisen tuen tarpeesta. Kysymme, millaisia erityisen tuen tarpeen piirteitä sosiaalityöntekijöiden sekä asiakas- ja palveluohjaajien ryhmäkeskusteluista on tunnistettavissa. Aineistona on viisi asiakas- ja palveluohjaajien sekä seitsemän gerontologisten sosiaalityöntekijöiden ryhmäkeskustelua. Analysoimme aineistot teoriasidonnaisen sisällönanalyysin avulla. Tulosten mukaan erityisen tuen tarve määrittyy asiakkaiden erityisten elämäntilanteiden, erityisten palveluiden sekä työnjaon kysymysten kautta. Eettistä harkintaa vaativat tilanteet nivoutuvat kaikkiin edellä mainittuihin erityisen tuen tarpeen ulottuvuuksiin. Koska erityisen tuen tarve on sidoksissa kunkin asiakkaan elämäntilanteisiin, tarpeisiin ja palveluihin, käydään käsitteestä jatkuvaa neuvottelua, eikä sitä ole mahdollista määritellä niin tarkkarajaisesti ja yksiselitteisesti, että tulkinnoille ei jäisi sijaa. Tästä huolimatta erityisen tuen tarpeen määrittelyyn on syytä kiinnittää huomiota ja keskustelua siitä jatkaa, jotta iäkkään oikeus sosiaalityön palveluihin toteutuisi yhdenvertaisesti kaikilla hyvinvointialueilla Suomessa
Displaced Placemaking, Bioart and Beyond-Human Communication
No full textThis article develops the concept of displaced placemaking as a theoretical and methodological framework for examining how individuals experiencing forced migration engage with environments through art-based practice and Earth–outer space perspectives. Drawing on observations and creative work at sites in northern and southern Finland, the study explores how experiences of spatial and cultural rupture shape human–environment relationships across multiple temporal and spatial scales. Rather than treating displacement solely as a condition of loss, the framework emphasises how observation, documentation and engagement with more-than-human systems can generate new, non-assimilative forms of environmental connection.Displaced placemaking draws from complexity theory, environmental humanities, and critical bioart practices to offer methods that are both materially accessible and conceptually responsive to structural exclusions. Through tools such as scalar analysis, temporal recalibration and boundary identification, the approach situates localised environmental experience within broader planetary systems without assuming continuity, origin or territorial fixity. The study contributes to scholarship on migration and environmental ethics by articulating practices of attention, co-creation and situated accountability, while interrogating the boundaries of ecological knowledge production across disciplines and scales.Keywords: displacement, placemaking, bioart, complex systems, environmental humanities, beyond human, Earth-outer space systems, more-than-huma
Promoting learning in the rescue department:A community of practice perspective
No full textThe modern digitalised workplace requires continuous learning to maintain the skills and knowledge required for civil protection work. The purpose of this study is to identify the primary factors that enable learning in the rescue department. Data was collected in semi-structured interviews with firefighters and fire officers from a Finnish rescue department. The results of the study show that peer support and learning preference are valued across organisational ranks. Technology has a crucial role as it disrupts workflows and necessitates new work requirements, while serving as a tool in social interactions, learning and knowledge management. The findings contribute to research on workplace learning through the development of communities of practice for civil protection workers, emphasising the need for collaboration and adaptive strategies for learning in the workplace