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Assessing engineering students' attitudes towards corporate social responsibility principles
No full textEthical and sustainable thinking is an important competence in the engineering education to support students' abilities to act and perform in a responsible manner in corporate contexts, and consequently contribute to a sustainable future. This paper investigates engineering students' attitudes towards ethical and sustainable thinking focusing on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) principles in the context of entrepreneurship courses as a part of larger research project. Engineering students from a Finnish and an Estonian university (N = 342) responded to a self-assessment survey. The students' attitudes towards CSR principles were assessed both on the enterprise level and the individual level as expectations of potential future employees. The findings indicate that engineering students acknowledge the need to take into account responsible thinking and that it is important for enterprises to be both socially and environmentally responsible in their activities. The self-assessment tool of ethical and sustainable thinking associated with the entrepreneurship competence model and CSR principles can be helpful in practice when university teachers wish to support and assess their students' attitudes towards CSR principles among other entrepreneurship competencies when creating new course content
Diet- and microbiota-related metabolite, 5-aminovaleric acid betaine (5-AVAB), in health and disease
Full text link5-Aminovaleric acid betaine (5-AVAB) is a trimethylated compound associated with the gut microbiota, potentially produced endogenously, and related to the dietary intake of certain foods such as whole grains. 5-AVAB accumulates within the metabolically active tissues and has been typically found in higher concentrations in the heart, muscle, and brown adipose tissue. Furthermore, 5-AVAB has been associated with positive health effects such as fetal brain development, insulin secretion, and reduced cancer risk. However, it also has been linked with some negative health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease and fatty liver disease. At the cellular level, 5-AVAB can influence cellular energy metabolism by reducing β-oxidation of fatty acids. This review will focus on the metabolic role of 5-AVAB with respect to both physiology and pathology. Moreover, the analytics and origin of 5-AVAB and related compounds will be reviewed. © 2022 The AuthorsAuthor keywords5-aminovaleric acid betaine (5-AVAB); aminovaleric acid betaine; N,N,N-trimethyl-5-aminovalerate (TMAV); N,N,N-trimethyl-5-aminovaleric acid (TMAVA); δ-valerobetaine (δVB)</p
How spending decisions shape happiness in everyday life
Full text linkThis study examines the emotional consequences of spending choices in everyday life across a diverse multinational sample. Based on a dataset of 200 participants across 7 countries who received $10,000 USD, we analyzed how happy they felt from different types of purchases made with that money. Participants derived high levels of happiness from some types of purchases that have been examined in past research (e.g., buying experiences), but also from other purchases (e.g., education) that have not been the focus of previous work. We found some evidence that the emotional benefits of spending choices varied depending on whether participants lived in higher vs. lower-income countries; specifically, we found differences in the benefits of spending on gifts, housing, debt, and time-saving services. Around the world, people who spent money in ways that made them happy experienced greater improvements in overall subjective well-being 3 and 6 months later
Explaining discrepancies in the study of maternal effects: the role of context and embryo
Full text linkWearable edge machine learning with synthetic photoplethysmograms
Full text linkStrict privacy regulations pose challenges to the development of machine learning (ML) in the field of health technology where data is particularly sensitive. Gathering and using robust, bias-free, and suitably anonymized datasets required by ML models is difficult, time-consuming, and thus expensive. Parametric synthetic data offers a solution by mimicking real-world processes with easily adjustable parameters that shape the information content of the data as desired. This article presents a system demonstrating how synthetic data can be used in conjunction with wearable edge devices. Importantly, the system preserves privacy as there is no risk of leaking sensitive information from the model or during the use of the wearable device. The system consists of (1) a synthetic photoplethysmogram (PPG) model, (2) convolutional neural network (CNN) models trained with the synthetic signals, (3) a wearable edge device that computes heart rate from real-time PPG signals using the developed CNN models, and (4) an accompanying mobile phone application receiving the results. The synthetic model produces realistic PPG signals together with labels that can be used in CNN model training. The quality of the synthetic data is sufficient to train even a tiny CNN model with only two convolutional layers and 28 parameters to detect PPG waveform feet. The developed wearable device is able to run the model smoothly and the performance of the model is on par with the more complex models and other foot detection algorithms.</p
Combined search in dwarf spheroidal galaxies for branon dark matter annihilation signatures with the MAGIC telescopes
Full text linkMassive brane fluctuations, called branons, behave as weakly interacting massive particles, which is one of the most favored class of candidates to fulfill the role of the dark matter (DM), an elusive kind of matter beyond the Standard Model. We present a multi-target search in dwarf spheroidal galaxies for branon DM annihilation signatures with a total exposure of 354 hours with the ground-based gamma-ray telescope system MAGIC. This search led to the most constraining limits on branon DM in the sub-TeV and multi-TeV DM mass range. Our most stringent limit on the thermally-averaged annihilation cross-section (at 95% confidence level) corresponds to similar or equal to 1.9x10-24 cm3s-1 at a branon mass of ∼ 1.5TeV.</p
Early-life environment and the risk of eczema at 2 years-Meta-analyses of six Finnish birth cohorts
Full text linkBackground: Urban-related nature exposures are suggested to contribute to the rising prevalence of allergic diseases despite little supporting evidence. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of 12 land cover classes and two greenness indices around homes at birth on the development of doctor-diagnosed eczema by the age of 2 years, and the influence of birth season.Methods: Data from 5085 children were obtained from six Finnish birth cohorts. Exposures were provided by the Coordination of Information on the Environment in three predefined grid sizes. Adjusted logistic regression was run in each cohort, and pooled effects across cohorts were estimated using fixed or random effect meta-analyses.Results: In meta-analyses, neither greenness indices (NDVI or VCDI, 250 m × 250 m grid size) nor residential or industrial/commercial areas were associated with eczema by age of 2 years. Coniferous forest (adjusted odds ratio 1.19; 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.39 for the middle and 1.16; 0.98-1.28 for the highest vs. lowest tertile) and mixed forest (1.21; 1.02-1.42 middle vs. lowest tertile) were associated with elevated eczema risk. Higher coverage with agricultural areas tended to associate with elevated eczema risk (1.20; 0.98-1.48 vs. none). In contrast, transport infrastructure was inversely associated with eczema (0.77; 0.65-0.91 highest vs. lowest tertile).Conclusion: Greenness around the home during early childhood does not seem to protect from eczema. In contrast, nearby coniferous and mixed forests may increase eczema risk, as well as being born in spring close to forest or high-green areas.</p
Politics of Quality in Education: A Comparative Study of Brazil, China and Russia
No full textWe start the book with a reiteration of the idea that quality has become
one of the most important framing factors in education policies and
practices. The introductory chapter coins the concept of quality
assurance and evaluation (QAE), its differing and contested
interpretations, and its seemingly uniform transnational agenda. The
chapter discusses how QAE is linked to the questions of politics and
power as well as how it is used as a governance tool. The chapter also
describes the project’s ontological premises, which are contingency and
complexity theory. These ontological premises are then discussed in the
light of contemporary comparative education and political science
theories. The book’s analytical framework, called Comparative Analytics
of Dynamics in Education Politics (CADEP), is introduced. The CADEP
framework focuses the analysis on the dimensions of political
situations, political possibilities, and the use of political space. The
chapter concludes with a discussion of the book’s aim, which is to
analyse how QAE as a transnational flow and governance tool changes the
role of state, expertise, governance, and the room for action which
exists for politicians, teachers, and other actors in varying contexts.</p
Copyright and digital fashion designers: the democratization of authorship?
Full text link‘Digital fashion’ has been widely recognized by the fashion media and increasingly embraced by companies and institutions. This article gives a multidisciplinary perspective on copyright protection of digital fashion designs. It places particular focus on the concepts of ‘authorship’ and ‘originality’.Authorship conventions of the traditional, physical fashion industry differ significantly from those of copyright law. In fashion, generally, authorship is hierarchic and includes many ‘gatekeepers’. However, in digital fashion specifically, authorship is more democratic and resembles its legal definition. This democratizes the authorship practices of fashion, bringing the concept of ‘author’ in fashion closer to the legal meaning of authorship. Moreover, certain practices of digital fashion designers suggest that it might be easier for digital fashion to comply with European Union copyright law.The digital leap that the fashion industry is taking deserves to be recognized from an IP law perspective. The diverging meanings of authorship between law and fashion must be inspected to avoid various legal risks related to the ownership of fashion designs.</p