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Climate risk and Biodiversity exposure
No full textThis study investigates the impact of climate and biodiversity-related risks on financial stress in the EU, USA, and UK using the DCC-MGARCH model. The results indicate that stringent environmental policies initially increase financial stress in the short term, however, these effects diminish over time, leading to reductions in stress by promoting sustainable growth. Persistent volatility spillovers across regions highlight the interconnectedness of global financial systems and the systemic nature of climate-related shock. Although there is short-term volatility, markets generally stabilize as policy impacts become evident.peerReviewe
Growth and biomass composition of Chlorella vulgaris using nutrient-rich water and CO2 from a recirculating aquaculture system
No full textRecycling waste to new products is a key concept in circular economy with benefits to environmental sustainability and climate change mitigation. Microalgae cultivation integrated to aquaculture is an example of circular economy that has potential to increase environmental sustainability of aquaculture via capture of nutrients and use of CO2 efflux, and production of valuable, renewable biomass and biomolecules. Here we studied the simultaneous utilization of Recirculating Aquaculture System's (RAS) water and CO2 exhaust (ca. 600–1100 ppm) on growth and biochemical composition of Chlorella vulgaris, a widely used microalga. C. vulgaris had high growth rates (μmax up to 0.95) even at the relatively low temperature of 18–19 °C used in the experiments and captured on average 98–100 % of phosphate, 82–99 % of nitrate, and 68–95 % of total nitrogen in the RAS water during 8–16 day experiments. Growth, biomass accumulation, and nutrient capture were improved by using high light intensity (ca. 90 μmol m−2 s−1) and/or RAS exhaust air. The highest lipid content (∼18 % DW) in C. vulgaris was achieved in two-stage cultivation under sulphur limitation, but nitrogen limitation by adding phosphorus (decreasing N:P ratio) into RAS water did not increase lipid content. Fatty acid composition of C. vulgaris was mainly determined by culture medium and light intensity. Overall, we produced stable and fast-growing cultures of C. vulgaris using RAS water and biogenic CO2 in conditions relevant for potential future integration of microalgal production to RAS while examining also biochemical composition of the produced biomass.peerReviewe
Associations between cumulative family environmental stress exposures and hair cortisol concentrations among 2.5- and 5-year-olds with different social competences
No full textThere is a vast amount of research indicating the associations between prenatal and postnatal environmental stress exposures and the human hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning in early childhood. However, less is known about the protective factors among these associations. This study aimed to examine the associations between cumulative family environmental stress (CFES) exposure and a child's hair cortisol concentration (HCC) at the ages of 2.5 (n = 213) and 5 (n = 372) years. We further analyzed whether toddlers' social competence (by The Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment) and preschoolers' pro- or antisocial behavior (by The Multisource Assessment of Children's Social Competence) would moderate the associations between CFES and HCC. Results showed that neither pre- nor postnatal CFES exposure was associated with child's HCC. However, children with higher social competence had lower HCC at the age of 2.5 independent of the environmental stress. Moreover, at the age of 5 years, in males with lower antisocial behavior, the HCC levels decreased along with the increased prenatal CFES exposure. The effect sizes were small, and the results should be considered with caution. The study provides some indications that a child's social and emotional abilities contribute to HPA axis functioning and could protect a child from family environmental related stress exposure during early childhood. Moreover, there may be sex differences in these associations. Further research is needed to examine whether a child's socioemotional competence could protect against stress arising from the early rearing environment as well as its contributions to the maturation of a child’ stress regulation.peerReviewe
Four Types of Politicians : Towards a Condensing Interpretation of Conceptual Histories
No full textpeerReviewe
Examination of self-harm clustering in adolescent peer networks : a nationwide registry cohort study in Finland
No full textBackground
Clusters of self-harming behaviour among adolescents have been observed, yet population-based epidemiological evidence is lacking. This study aims to address this lack by examining the clustering of self-harming behaviour within adolescent peer networks at the population level.
Methods
We used nationwide registry data on Finnish people born between January 1, 1985, and December 31, 2000, to examine whether having same-grade schoolmates who had self-harmed was associated with greater subsequent self-harm risk. Cohort members were followed up until first recorded self-harm episode, emigration, death, or December 31, 2020, whichever came first. Hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using mixed-effects Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for a comprehensive set of individual-, parental-, school-, and area-level covariates.
Findings
The cohort comprised 913,149 Finnish residents. Having same-grade schoolmates who had self-harmed between school-starting age and finishing ninth grade was associated with a higher, albeit small in magnitude, HR of subsequent self-harm over a median of 11.6 years of follow-up (HR 1.05, [95% CI 1.01–1.09]). HR was not consistently higher over follow-up time but was highest in the beginning of follow-up when the cohort members were around age 16 (1.45 [1.25–1.69]). Limiting exposure to schoolmates’ self-harm episodes to 1 year consistently showed the highest risk around age 16, regardless of whether the exposure occurred in ninth grade (1.49 [1.21–1.82]) or eighth grade (1.36 [1.07–1.74]), with follow-up commencing after the respective grade.
Interpretation
While we cannot rule out residual confounding, our findings suggest that self-harm may socially transmit within adolescent peer networks. The observed highest risk around age 16 suggests that external stressors associated with transitioning to new life stages at this age may moderate the impact of peer self-harm exposure. Prevention and intervention measures that consider possible peer influences on adolescents’ self-harming behaviour may help reduce the public health burden of self-harm.peerReviewe
Predation risk magnifies fungicide-driven suppression of keystone shredder feeding and behaviour, slowing freshwater leaf-litter degradation
No full textChemical pollution is a growing global threat, and freshwater habitats, which harbor disproportionate biodiversity and provide key ecosystem services, now face overlapping chemical and biological stressors whose combined effects can accelerate biodiversity loss. Fungicides, heavily used in forestry and agriculture, often leach to freshwater environments, but their impacts remain understudied, especially sub-lethal impacts such as changes in prey behaviour or detritivore-mediated decomposition. We examined the interactive effects of a widely used triazole fungicide (Tebuconazole) and a common biotic stressor (dragonfly predators) on a keystone detritivore, the freshwater isopod Asellus aquaticus, using a 2x2 factorial microcosm experiment in the laboratory. We reared isopods in groups in a combination of two fungicide (0 vs 50 μg/L Tebuconazole) and two predator (presence or absence of a caged predator) treatments and assessed changes in performance (behavioural activity, food consumption) after 21 days, followed by a survival assay in presence of a free-ranging predator. We found that Tebuconazole alone reduced feeding by 89% and predator cues by 44% relative to benign (clean water-no predator present) conditions, while both stressors together reduced feeding by 91%, indicating that chemical stress overrode effects of predators. Isopods reared in the absence of a caged predator reduced their behavioural activity by 35% when exposed to predator cues, whereas fungicide-exposed conspecifics showed no behavioural change, indicating impaired threat detection. Prior experience with predators nearly doubled survival against a free-ranging predator (45% for predator-naive isopods vs 80% for isopods reared with a caged predator), but this advantage vanished in the fungicide treatments (62% survival). Collectively, our results demonstrate that environmentally relevant pesticide concentrations can change prey behaviour, increase predation risk, and potentially destabilize trophic interactions that regulate nutrient cycling. These findings underscore the need for freshwater risk assessments that capture how multiple interacting stressors affect organisms and the ecosystem functions they support.peerReviewe
Rural Nordic Youth’s Transition to Upper Secondary School : Challenges and Dilemmas
No full textStarting from the Nordic policy idea of equal educational opportunities for all children and youth, this chapter examines the challenges and dilemmas that some young people from rural regions in Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden faced when they transitioned from lower to upper secondary school. The chapter highlights how the structural conditions of living in a rural area often, but not always, complicated the young people’s transition, forcing them to set priorities and opt out of certain interests and educational ‘options’, thus enacting their agency in relation to restricted options. It further highlights the challenges of enacting agency in relation to societal ideas of what represents a ‘successful’ transition, balancing ‘not wasting time’ with ‘buying oneself time’ and ‘keeping doors open’. Overall, and thanks to longitudinal interview data, the chapter demonstrates how the challenges and dilemmas accompanying the transition to upper secondary school played out over time and how the structural, symbolic, and affective dimensions of enacting transitions were present in different ways in different times.peerReviewe
Minimizing extractivism through 3D printing with law and policy support
No full textThe concept of ‘extractivism’ refers to the mindset and processes that facilitate for-profit large-scale exploitation of natural resources. Extractivism has a strong connection with how the markets work in this era of factory mass-production. This article seeks to understand if and how 3D printing (3DP), guided by effective legislation and policy, could help reduce overproduction practices and minimize resource extraction, thereby limiting the consumeristic attitude on which the concept of extractivism is based. The research utilized scenario building, following a multiphased-qualitative approach involving literature review, an expert workshop, and two focus group interviews. The primary outcome includes four scenarios for the year 2032, which are from most-likely, normative, optimistic, and pessimistic perspectives. Since the normative scenario calls for action to reach a preferable future, further analysis involved mapping out the strategies for utilizing 3DP to reduce extractivism. The findings support positioning 3DP as a low-volume production tool for prolonging product lifecycle and material value, highlighting the strategic areas of ‘material circulation’ and ‘product upgrade and repair-reuse systems’. Key legal and policy actions that could support these approaches are also identified, which primarily pertain to the fields of IPR and environmental legislation.peerReviewe
Growing Up Rural : Qualitative Longitudinal Explorations of Young People Living in the Nordic Countries
No full textThis open access book explores the everyday lives of young people living in rural areas in Nordic countries, drawing on qualitative longitudinal methods. The young people’s life stories are set against a backdrop of Nordic welfare states under increasing global pressure. Growing Up Rural contributes to the growing literature on spatialized youth studies by providing a refreshing antidote to one-sided stories about depraved young lives in rural areas. By drawing on novel empirical analyses of longitudinal data, thereby foregrounding processual shifts and changes over time, it highlights the vast varieties in young people’s lives as well as the agency and navigation skills required to master vulnerabilities in transitions to adulthood. It contributes to ongoing discussions about how longitudinal qualitative research design provides a deeper understanding of the lives of young people as they unfold. This book provides useful and inspiring insights for scholars and students of youth studies, rural studies, life course studies, and qualitative research more generally.peerReviewe
