Search

Sustainability scientists are increasingly expressing concerns about the lack of creativity and reflexivity, vital elements for driving sustainability transformations, in their profession. We argue that these concerns stem from established scientific practices of knowledge accumulation and interdisciplinary research, often neglecting the influence of group values and disciplinary paradigms. In response, we propose the narrative-led dialog as a tool for sustainability scientists to recognize, analyze and engage with such values and paradigms within interdisciplinary scientific practice. Building upon existing methods, the use of narratives offers scientists an additional way to identify and address the complexities of conflicts, overlaps, and uncertainties inherent in the values and paradigms that guide scientific research and collaboration. This process of revelation can assist sustainability scientists in disrupting traditional academic boundaries, fostering an environment that better nurtures sustainability transformation. Through the narrative-led dialog, scientists can achieve several crucial objectives; they can (1) deepen their scientific practice, (2) identify, discuss and negotiate the underlying values shaping their research, and (3) create an environment conducive to breakthrough ideas, both within their specific fields and across broader sustainability science communities.

Supermarkets play an important role in industrialized food systems, which is why many in academia, politics, industry, and civil society view them as key players in transforming the food system toward greater sustainability. We analyse narratives and proposed solutions in this context, as well as the role of supermarkets in Germany, home to some of the largest retailers worldwide. We show that many actors in the German food system, including supermarkets themselves, perceive the structural problems of overproduction and dysfunctional markets as major obstacles to achieving food system transformation. Despite this, they tend to propose solutions focused on optimization and efficiency in supermarket logistics and retail management or greater consumer awareness. These solutions show little transformative potential. Regarding the structural problem of dysfunctional markets, supermarkets are perceived to be in a quandary due to the drive for profits, competitive markets, and consumer demand. Thus, supermarkets are not likely to drive a transformation of the food system. However, a broadly shared understanding of the core problems of overproduction and dysfunctional markets presents an opportunity for ‘discourse coalitions’ to push for more systemic solutions. The findings may enhance food system stakeholders' understanding of the need for more holistic approaches to addressing sustainability.

The current enthusiasm for the circular economy (CE) offers a unique opportunity to advance the impact of research on sustainability transitions. Diverse interpretations of CE by scholars, however, produce partly opposing assessments of its potential benefits, which can hinder progress. Here, we synthesize policy-relevant lessons and research directions for a sustainable CE and identify three narratives—optimist, reformist, and skeptical—that underpin the ambiguity in CE assessments. Based on 54 key CE scholars’ insights, we identify three research needs: the articulation and discussion of ontologically distinct CE narratives; bridging of technical, managerial, socio-economic, environmental, and political CE perspectives; and critical assessment of opportunities and limits of CE science–policy interactions. Our findings offer practical guidance for scholars to engage reflexively with the rapid expansion of CE knowledge, identify and pursue high-impact research directions, and communicate more effectively with practitioners and policymakers.

This chapter provides a comparative study of education provision for the Indigenous language of Saami and the minority heritage of Scottish Gaelic. Due to historical factors, both languages are considered endangered according to UNESCO listings. Whilst North Saami and Scottish Gaelic receive government support, which would appear to be providing a reasonably stable position at least within their geographically core areas, assimilation continues resulting in the overall numbers of speakers remaining small. As education is viewed as key to the promotion of both languages, following an introduction to the background historical and societal context of both language contexts, the chapter presents educational practices and challenges in education for comparison over the past forty years. The comparative study highlights that similarities between these two languages exist in language revitalisation efforts to reverse language shift but the forms vary. The chapter concludes with some emerging recommendations for the successful maintenance and revitalisation of minority heritage and Indigenous languages in the twenty-first century despite the continued dominance of surrounding majority languages.

The current enthusiasm for the circular economy (CE) offers a unique opportunity to advance the impact of research on sustainability transitions. Diverse interpretations of CE by scholars, however, produce partly opposing assessments of its potential benefits, which can hinder progress. Here, we synthesize policy-relevant lessons and research directions for a sustainable CE and identify three narratives—optimist, reformist, and skeptical—that underpin the ambiguity in CE assessments. Based on 54 key CE scholars’ insights, we identify three research needs: the articulation and discussion of ontologically distinct CE narratives; bridging of technical, managerial, socio-economic, environmental, and political CE perspectives; and critical assessment of opportunities and limits of CE science–policy interactions. Our findings offer practical guidance for scholars to engage reflexively with the rapid expansion of CE knowledge, identify and pursue high-impact research directions, and communicate more effectively with practitioners and policymakers.

The current enthusiasm for the circular economy (CE) offers a unique opportunity to advance the impact of research on sustainability transitions. Diverse interpretations of CE by scholars, however, produce partly opposing assessments of its potential benefits, which can hinder progress. Here, we synthesize policy-relevant lessons and research directions for a sustainable CE and identify three narratives—optimist, reformist, and skeptical—that underpin the ambiguity in CE assessments. Based on 54 key CE scholars’ insights, we identify three research needs: the articulation and discussion of ontologically distinct CE narratives; bridging of technical, managerial, socio-economic, environmental, and political CE perspectives; and critical assessment of opportunities and limits of CE science–policy interactions. Our findings offer practical guidance for scholars to engage reflexively with the rapid expansion of CE knowledge, identify and pursue high-impact research directions, and communicate more effectively with practitioners and policymakers.

Objective: Paediatric movement disorder patients can benefit from deep brain stimulation (DBS) treatment and it should be offered in a timely manner. In this paper we describe our experience establishing a DBS service for paediatric patients. Methods: We set out to establish a paediatric DBS (pDBS) procedure in Oulu University Hospital in northern Finland, where up to this point DBS treatment for movement disorders had been available for adult patients. Collaboration with experienced centres aided in the process. Results: A multidisciplinary team was assembled and a systematic protocol for patient evaluation and treatment was created, with attention to special features of the regional health care system. All of our first paediatric patients had very severe movement disorders, which is typical for a new DBS centre. The patients benefitted from pDBS treatment despite variable aetiologies of movement disorders, which included cerebral palsy and rare genetic disorders with variants in PDE10A, TPK1 and ARX. We also present our high-quality paediatric MR-imaging protocol with tractography. Conclusions: Establishment of a pDBS centre requires expertise in classification of paediatric movement disorders, longstanding experience in adult DBS and a committed multidisciplinary team. Besides high-quality imaging and a skilled neurosurgery team, careful patient selection, realistic treatment goals and experience in rehabilitation are imperative in pDBS treatment.

Background: The role of cytokines in the pathogenesis of febrile seizures (FSs) is unclear, and information regarding cytokine production outside of FS episodes is scarce. Methods: In our controlled follow-up study of patients with FSs, we compared the levels of 12 serum cytokines after the patients’ first FSs, during febrile episodes without FSs, after recurrent FSs, during healthy periods after FSs, and between patients and controls. Results: Two-hundred fifty-one patients with first FS participated in the study, of whom 17 (mean age 1.6 years, SD 0.7) with recurrent FSs completed the protocol as required by the sample size calculations. The mean IL-1RA level was higher after the first FSs (2580 pg/mL, SD 1516) than during febrile episodes without FSs (1336 pg/mL, SD 1364, P = 0.006) and healthy periods after FSs (474 pg/mL, SD 901, P = 0.001). IL-1RA levels were also higher during first (2580 pg/mL) and recurrent FSs (2666 pg/mL, SD 1747) in comparison with febrile controls (746 pg/mL, SD 551) (P < 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively), but there was no difference in the IL-1RA between febrile episodes without FSs and febrile controls. Conclusions: Patients with FSs produce stronger inflammatory reactions during febrile episodes with FSs compared with febrile episodes without FSs and febrile controls.

The current enthusiasm for circular economy (CE) offers a unique opportunity to advance the impact of research on sustainability transitions. Diverse interpretations of CE by scholars, however, produce partly opposing assessments of its potential benefits, which can hinder progress. Here, we synthesize policy-relevant lessons and research directions for a sustainable CE and identify three narratives – optimist, reformist and skeptical – that underpin the ambiguity in CE assessments. Based on 54 key CE scholars’ insights, we identify three research needs: the articulation and discussion of ontologically distinct CE narratives; bridging of technical, managerial, socio-economic, environmental and political CE perspectives; and critical assessment of opportunities and limits of CE science-policy interactions. Our findings offer practical guidance for scholars to engage reflexively with the rapid expansion of CE knowledge, identify and pursue high-impact research directions, and communicate more effectively with practitioners and policymakers.

Tiivistelmä Lasten ja nuorten migreenin esiintyvyys ja ilmaantuvuus ovat lisääntyneet. Perusterveydenhuollossa on tärkeää selvittää migreenin taustasyitä ja esiintymistä. Migreenin diagnostiikassa tarvitaan lääkärin tutkimuksen lisäksi harvoin muita tutkimuksia. Lapsen ja nuoren on tärkeä saada tietoa päänsäryn hoito- ja itsehoitokeinoista. Estolääkitys voidaan aloittaa perusterveydenhuollossa, mikäli migreenikohtaukset ovat viikoittaisia., Migraine in children and adolescents Considering its increasing prevalence and incidence, paediatric migraine is a common condition requiring attention in primary care. When a child presents with a headache, it is crucial to survey his/her migraine background using a headache questionnaire and a symptom diary. These may also reveal individual migraine triggers, e.g. missed meals, lack of sleep or school related issues that should be addressed first of all. The website Terveyskylä (www.terveyskyla.fi/lastentalo/tietoa-lasten-sairauksista/päänsärky) provides a practical and family-friendly way to do this digitally. Children and their families need psychoeducation about headache and Terveyskylä offers reliable information about paediatric headache. A migraine diagnosis seldom needs more than a thorough history and clinical examination. If red flags exist, considering a brain MRI is appropriate. If a child or adolescent suffers from migraine on a weekly basis and common triggers have been excluded, a general practitioner, too, can consider preventive medication. If using propranolol fails to achieve a reduction in the number of headaches, the child should be referred to a specialist.

Tiivistelmä Lasten liikehäiriöt ovat etiologialtaan ja taudinkuvaltaan heterogeeninen ryhmä. Vaikeissa häiriöissä vaste lääkehoitoon on usein vähäinen. Syväaivostimulaatio voi merkittävästi auttaa osaa potilaista. Hoitopäätös vaatii moniammatillisen työryhmän arvion liikehäiriön laadusta, neurofysiologiset tutkimukset ja korkealaatuisen kuvantamisen. Lapsia ja nuoria hoitavien yksiköiden on tärkeää verkostoitua kansallisesti ja kansainvälisesti., Movement disorders are disabling conditions that can cause abnormal posture, torsion, repetitive movement or tremor via the disruption of regulatory areas in the brain. Among paediatric patients, generalised dystonia is the most common primary movement disorder, and dyskinetic CP the most common secondary phenotype, both with limited or unsatisfactory traditional treatment options. The prevalence of dystonia is suggested to be higher than reported since it is not always easy to recognise. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established treatment method for movement disorders in adults, and it has emerged as a significant option for children as well. Treatment seems to be more beneficial when initiated early, since the time spent with dystonia is inversely correlated with the effectiveness of treatment. DBS modifies the basal ganglia-thalamocortical pathways, resulting in alleviation of symptoms. The careful selection of patients and accurate location of the electrodes are important contributors to treatment success. The most prevalent adverse effects are infections or hardware failure; however, these complications are not more prevalent in DBS than in other surgical procedures. DBS is an effective treatment option for severe paediatric movement disorders and it should be offered in a timely manner to patients with severe symptoms.

The contribution of de novo variants in severe intellectual disability (ID) has been extensively studied whereas the genetics of mild ID has been less characterized. To elucidate the genetics of milder ID we studied 442 ID patients enriched for mild ID (>50%) from a population isolate of Finland. Using exome sequencing, we show that rare damaging variants in known ID genes are observed significantly more often in severe (27%) than in mild ID (13%) patients. We further observe a significant enrichment of functional variants in genes not yet associated with ID (OR: 2.1). We show that a common variant polygenic risk significantly contributes to ID. The heritability explained by polygenic risk score is the highest for educational attainment (EDU) in mild ID (2.2%) but lower for more severe ID (0.6%). Finally, we identify a Finland enriched homozygote variant in the CRADD ID associated gene.

Global demand for wood fuel energy is high and rising due to population increases, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where firewood and charcoal are the main sources of cooking energy. Inefficient cooking techniques consume large amounts of fuel and create indoor pollution, with negative health impacts particularly among women and small children. Efficient cooking stoves can potentially save fuel and reduce the health risks of smoke in the kitchen. This study compared the ease of use, energy consumption, fuel use efficiency and gas and particle emissions of a small-scale gasifier cooking stove with that of a traditional three-stone stove and an improved Hifadhi stove in a smallholder farming setting in Kenya. This was done by participatory evaluation of these cooking techniques by women on smallholder farms, assessing fuel consumption, time used in cooking and indoor air concentrations of carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter. It was found that compared with traditional and improved cooking stoves, the gasifier domestic cooking system saved 27-40% of fuel, reduced cooking time by 19-23% and reduced emissions by 40-90%. Thus the gasifier system has potential to alleviate energy and time poverty among small-scale farmers, while improving kitchen air quality. These new findings can assist in development of cleaner biomass cooking technologies in developing countries. Women who cooked using the gasifier preferred it to current cooking practices due to perceived benefits. Thus the gasifier is appropriate for rural areas; it constitutes a cleaner cooking system that saves fuel, produces charcoal for another round of cooking, cooks rapidly, and reduces indoor air pollution from cooking with biomass fuel. However, there is a need to improve the design to make it more stable and safer., QC 20170411