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Several individuals reported gastrointestinal symptoms following meals consumed in late January 2021 at a restaurant in western Finland. We conducted a retrospective cohort study and defined a case as a person who ate at the lunch restaurant between 27 and 29 January 2021 and had stomach pain, vomiting or diarrhoea and/or a laboratory-confirmed Salmonella Typhimurium infection within 2 weeks after the exposure. We collected faecal and food samples for microbiological analysis. Salmonella isolates were characterised in detail using whole genome sequencing (WGS) and cluster analysis by core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST). Altogether, 393 meals were sold and 101 people (who ate 142 meals) participated in the cohort study. There were 49 cases; 23 were laboratory-confirmed infections with a multidrug-resistant S. Typhimurium. The S. Typhimurium isolates from cases and frozen tomato cubes used uncooked in salads were closely related and clustered together in cgMLST comparison. These salads were consumed by 76% of the cases. Based on the cgMLST clustering, they were the suggested source of the outbreak. Statistical association was not significant between eating the salads and being a case. Following the outbreak investigation, the producer decided to recommend cooking of their frozen tomato products before consumption.

In December 2017, two suspected outbreaks of Yersinia enterocolitica 4/O:3 were notified in Finland. We analyzed the surveillance and outbreak investigation data and genotyped Y. enterocolitica strains in order to understand Y. enterocolitica epidemiology in Finland and to find out whether the notified outbreaks were related. A total of 13,344 Y. enterocolitica cases were reported in 1995-2018 to the National Infectious Diseases Register. The mean annual incidence ranged from 7.9 to 15.9/100,000 inhabitants. The highest incidence was observed in young adults (14/100,000). Incidence varied geographically. The incidence was higher in spring compared to other seasons. The most common pathogenic bioserotype was 4/O:3 but the information on bio/serotype was missing in 64% of the surveillance cases. For most of the cases, 87%, no travel history was reported. In the YE 4/O:3 outbreak investigation, whole genome sequencing was performed for isolates from 29/69 (42%) of the outbreak cases. The sequencing results showed that cases consisted of six independent clusters with 2 - 6 isolates in each cluster, and 5 sporadic isolates. No food item was found to be common to all of the clusters. In order to improve monitoring and facilitate the detection and investigation of Y. enterocolitica outbreaks, more comprehensive information on bio/serotype and on travel history is required in the surveillance.

Vuosina 2017–2019 Ruokaviraston ylläpitämään elintarvike- ja vesivälitteisten epidemioiden rekisteriin luokiteltiin tehtyjen epidemiaselvitysten perusteella yhteensä 169 elintarvike- tai talousvesivälitteistä epidemiaa, joista 96 % oli elintarvikevälitteisiä. Talousvesivälitteisiä epidemioita raportoitiin samana ajanjaksona 7. Elintarvikkeiden välityksellä ilmoitettiin sairastuneen yhteensä 2 900 henkilöä ja talousveden välityksellä 567 henkilöä. Kuten aikaisemminkin 2000-luvulla, norovirus oli vuosina 2017–2019 yleisin raportoitu elintarvikevälitteisten epidemioiden aiheuttaja. Norovirus aiheutti 57 (35 %) elintarvikevälitteistä epidemiaa. Suurimmat elintarvikevälitteiset epidemiat aiheutti norovirus hoitolaitosruokailun välityksellä vuonna 2018 (292 ja 110 sairastunutta). Yleisimmät raportoidut välittäjäelintarvikkeet olivat kala ja kalavalmisteet sisältäen äyriäiset ja simpukat. Ne aiheuttivat 14 (9 %) epidemiaa. Toiseksi yleisin välittäjä oli liha ja lihavalmisteet sekä kasvikset ja niistä valmistetut tuotteet (kumpikin 12 epidemiaa; 7 %). Yli 70 %:ssa epidemioista välittäjäelintarvike jäi tuntemattomaksi tai välittäjäksi epäiltiin useita ruokia. Saastuneen raaka-aineen käytöllä oli selvä yhteys 33 (20 %) epidemian syntyyn. Raportoiduista epidemioista 22 %:n taustalla oli lämpötilaan ja säilytysaikaan liittyviä puutteita ja virheitä. Infektoituneen keittiötyöntekijän osallistuminen ruoanvalmistukseen ja puutteellinen käsihygienia oli syynä 19 %:iin elintarvikevälitteisistä epidemioista ja näissä melkein kaikissa tapauksissa aiheuttajana oli norovirus. Elintarvikevälitteisten epidemioiden tapahtumapaikaksi raportoitiin useimmiten ravintola, kahvila tai hotelli (90 kpl; 56 %) ja toiseksi yleisimmin koti (12 kpl; 7 %). Norovirukset aiheuttivat suurimman osan (3 kpl) tunnistetuista talousvesiepidemioista. Yhdessä epidemiassa epäiltiin sapovirusta aiheuttajaksi. Suurin talousvesivälitteinen epidemia havaittiin Nousiaisissa vuonna 2018. Sairastuneita raportoitiin 463. Taudinaiheuttajiksi epäiltiin mm. sapoviruksia. Vuosien 2017–2019 aikana taudinaiheuttaja jäi tuntemattomaksi 67 (41 %) elintarvikevälitteisessä ja kolmessa talousvesiepidemiassa. Uimavesivälitteisten epidemioiden raportointi alkoi vuonna 2012. Suomessa raportoitiin vuosina 2017–2019 neljä uimavesivälitteistä epidemiaa, joissa sairastui noin 200 henkilöä. Kolme epidemioista aiheutui noroviruksen ja yksi kampylobakteerin saastuttamasta uimavedestä tai uimarantaympäristöstä. Ulostevahingon saastuttamalla allasvedellä oli mahdollinen yhteys kylpyläympäristön epidemiaan. Jätevedellä saastunut luonnonvesi aiheutti yhden epidemian. Kahdessa uimarantaympäristöön liittyneessä epidemiassa uimaveden saastumisen syytä ei saatu selville.

The aim of the present longitudinal study was to quantitatively examine whether an ethical organizational culture predicts turnover among managers. To complement the quantitative results, a further important aim was to examine the self-reported reasons behind manager turnover, and the associations of ethical organizational culture with these reasons. The participants were Finnish managers working in technical and commercial fields. Logistic regression analyses indicated that, of the eight virtues investigated, congruency of supervisors, congruency of senior management, discussability, and sanctionability were negatively related to manager turnover. The results also revealed that the turnover group is not homogeneous, and that there are several different reasons for leaving. The reasons given for turnover were grouped into five different categories: (1) lay-off, (2) career challenges, (3) dissatisfaction with the job or organization, (4) organizational change, and (5) decreased well-being/motivation. ANCOVA analyses showed that those managers who stayed in their organization perceived their ethical culture to be stronger than those in turnover groups, and especially compared to groups 3 and 5. The results acquired through different methods complemented and confirmed each other, showing that by nurturing ethical virtues an organization can decrease job changes and encourage managers and supervisors to want to remain in their organization. peerReviewed

SUMMARYDuring one week in July 2012, two patients from the same ward at the municipal hospital in Vaasa, Finland, were diagnosed with septicaemia caused byListeria monocytogenes. An outbreak investigation revealed eight concomitant cases of febrile gastroenteritis caused byL. monocytogeneson the same ward. Median age of the cases was 82 years and median incubation time for listerial gastroenteritis was 21 h (range 9–107). An additional 10 cases of invasive listeriosis caused by the same outbreak strain were identified across the whole country during the summer of 2012. Environmental investigation at the affected municipal hospital ward revealed ready-sliced meat jelly as the suspected source of the infection. During inspection of the meat jelly production plant, one pooled sample taken from a floor drain and a trolley wheel in the food processing environment was positive for the outbreak strain ofL. monocytogenes. After the producer stopped the production of meat jelly, no further cases of listeriosis with the outbreak strain were identified via nationwide surveillance.

SUMMARYIn August to October 2012, a nationwide outbreak ofSalmonella enteritidisphase type (PT) 1B with 53 cases occurred in Finland. Hypothesis generating interviews pointed toward ready-to-eat chicken salad from a Finnish company and at the same time Estonian authorities informed of aS. enteritidisPT 1B outbreak linked to chicken wrap prepared at an Estonian restaurant. We found that chicken salad was associated with the infection (odds ratio (OR) 16·1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·7–148·7 for consumption and OR 17·5. 95% CI 4·0–76·0 for purchase). The frozen pre-cooked chicken cubes used in Finnish salad and in Estonian wraps were traced back to a production plant in China. Great Britain made two Rapid Alert Systems for Food and Feed notifications on chicken cubes imported to the UK from the same Chinese production plant. Microbiological investigation confirmed that the patient isolates in Estonia and in Finland were indistinguishable from the strains isolated from chicken cubes in Estonia and in the UK. We recommend that despite certificates for testedSalmonella, food items should be analyzed whenSalmonellacontamination in outbreak investigations is suspected. In outbreak investigations, electronically implemented case–case study saves time, effort, and money compared with case–control study.

The present study tested the factorial validity of the 9-item Bergen Burnout Inventory (BBI-9) 1) . The BBI-9 is comprised of three core dimensions: (1) exhaustion at work; (2) cynicism toward the meaning of work; and (3) sense of inadequacy at work. The study further investigated whether the three-factor structure of the BBI-9 remains the same across different organizations (group invariance) and measurement time points (time invariance). The factorial group invariance was tested using a cross-sectional design with data pertaining to managers (n=742), and employees working in a bank (n=162), an engineering office (n=236), a public sector organization divided into three service areas: administration (n=102), education and culture (n=581), and social affairs and health (n=1,505). Factorial time invariance was tested using longitudinal data pertaining to manag- ers, with three measurements over a four-year follow-up period. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the three-factor structure of the BBI-9 was invariant across cross-sectional samples. The factorial invariance was also supported across measurement times. To conclude, the factorial structure of the BBI-9 was found to remain the same regardless of the sample properties and mea- surement times.

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli tunnistaa työntekijöiden eettisten dilemmojen profiileja ja tutkia eroavatko työntekijät eri profiileissa työuupumuksen suhteen toisistaan. Kyselytutkimus kohdistui kaupunkiorganisaation henkilöstöön (n = 2470). Eettisiä dilemmoja tutkittiin kysymällä kuinka usein vastaaja koki 1) epätietoisuutta organisaationsa eettisistä toimintatavoista (A-tyypin dilemma) ja 2) arvoristiriitoja (B-tyypin dilemma). Työuupumusta tutkittiin 9-osioisella Bergen Burnout Indicator -kyselyllä. Latentin profiilianalyysin avulla löydettiin neljä dilemmojen yleisyyttä kuvaavaa profiilia: 1) A- ja B -tyypin dilemmoja kohdattiin harvoin; 2) A- ja B -tyypin dilemmoja kohdattiin viikoittain; 3) A-tyypin dilemmoja kohdattiin viikoittain ja B-tyypin dilemmoja harvoin; 4) A-tyypin dilemmoja kohdattiin kuukausittain ja B-tyypin dilemmoja harvoin. Toiseen profiiliin kuuluneet työntekijät raportoivat enemmän työuupumusta kuin muut työntekijät. Tulokset osoittivat, että toistuva epätietoisuus eettisistä toimintatavoista ja paine sääntöjen, normien tai omien arvojen vastaiseen toimintaan ovat työuupumuksen riskitekijöitä.

The research investigated the associations between ethical organizational cul ture, ethical strain (stress caused by ethical dilemmas) and job turnover. The first study investigated differences in employees’ ethical strain and their evalua tions of the ethical culture of their organizations between a public sector city organization (n = 3,123), an engineering firm (n = 287) and a bank (n = 187). In the second study, the connections between resources and personal authority for ethical actions (one dimension of the ethical culture of an organization) and eth ical strain in social affairs and health services in a public sector city organization were analyzed at the work-unit (n = 142) level as well as at the employee (n = 1,243) level. In the third study, profiles of employees’ ethical dilemmas in a public sector city organization (n = 2,470) were identified and differences in job burnout in these profiles were examined. The fourth study examined the asso ciations between ethical organizational culture and managers’ (n = 453) job turnover. The findings showed that the organizations differed in their ethical culture and employees´ ethical strain. In all organizations, a high ethical culture was associated with employees’ low ethical strain. In those social affairs and health work units where the resources and personal authority were considered low, the ethical strain was higher than it was in other work units. Furthermore, the weaker the evaluations of possibilities to act ethically were, the more often ethical dilemmas were faced and the more stress was experienced. The third study, which was based on a person-oriented approach, showed that for the profile in which ethical dilemmas were faced weekly, employees reported sig nificantly more job burnout symptoms than employees in other profiles did. The study concerning managers indicated that the more weakly the managers evaluated the congruency of their supervisors’ and upper managements’ ethical role modelling, the greater the probability of manager turnover was. Overall, the results showed that ethical organizational culture has a significant role in promoting occupational well-being and in remaining in the same workplace.

In March 2014, a Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (YP) outbreak was detected by a municipal authority in southern Finland. We conducted epidemiological, microbiological and traceback investigations to identify the source. We defined a case as a person with YP infection notified to the National Infectious Disease Registry between February and April 2014, or their household member, with abdominal pain and fever ≥ 38 °C or erythema nodosum. Healthy household members were used as household-matched controls. We identified 43 cases and 50 controls. The illness was strongly associated with the consumption of raw milk from a single producer. The odds ratio of illness increased with the amount of raw milk consumed. Also previously healthy adults became infected by consuming raw milk. Identical YP strains were identified from cases’ stool samples, raw milk sampled from a case’s refrigerator and from the milk filter at the producer’s farm. The producer fulfilled the legal requirements for raw milk production and voluntarily recalled the raw milk and stopped its production. We advised consumers to heat the raw milk to 72 °C for 15 s. Current legislation for raw milk producers should be reviewed and public awareness of health risks linked to raw milk consumption should be increased.

An increasing desire to port learning objects on mobile phones exists. However, there is limited understanding on how to pedagogically obtain access to and use learning objects on mobile phones. The limited understanding is caused by a dearth in frameworks for underpinning the development of mobile learning objects applications. Following Design Research methodology, we developed a Mobile Learning Objects Deployment and Utilisation Framework (MoLODUF) to address this problem. MoLODUF is composed of twelve dimensions, including: MLearning Objects, MLearning Device, MLearning Interface, MLearning Connectivity, MLearning Process, MLearning Costs, MLearning Resources, MLearning Context, MLearning Pedagogy, MLearning Ethics, MLearning Policy and MLearning Evaluation. The MoLODUF makes significant extensions to existing electronic and mLearning frameworks. It provides a competency set of guidelines for developing and/or evaluating applications for deploying and utilising learning objects on mobile phones.

Summary Over 250 individuals fell ill in five outbreaks caused by Cryptosporidium parvum in Finland, October–November 2012. The cases were connected by lunch meals at restaurants in four different cities. In two outbreaks, the same C. parvumIIdA17G1 subtype was found in patients’ stool samples which supports a single source of infection. Frisee salad was the only common food item served at the restaurants, and consumption of lunch salad containing the frisee salad was associated with the illness. Lunch customers who responded that they had eaten lunch salad were three times more likely to have become ill than those who had not answered whether they had eaten the salad or not (RR 2.66; 95% Cl 1.02–6.9, P-value

SUMMARYIn 2010, a marked increase in listeriosis incidence was observed in Finland.Listeria monocytogenesPFGE profile 96 was responsible for one-fifth of the reported cases and a cluster of PFGE profile 62 was also detected. Investigations revealed two fishery production plants with persistentListeriacontamination. It appears likely that the plants were at least partly responsible for the increase of listeriosis. Epidemiological investigation revealed that 57% (31/54) of cases with underlying immunosuppressive condition or medication reported eating gravad or cold-smoked fish. Two public notices were issued by THL and Evira informing which groups were most at risk from the effects of listeriosis and should therefore be cautious in consuming certain products. Systematic sampling of foods and adequate epidemiological investigation methods are required to identify the sources ofListeriainfections. Continuous control measures at fishery production plants producing risk products are essential.

We propose an algorithm for the analysis of robustness of timed automata, that is, the correctness of a model in the presence of small drifts of the clocks. The algorithm is an extension of the region based algorithm of Puri and uses the idea of stable zones as introduced by Daws and Kordy. Similarly to the assumptions made by Puri, we restrict our analysis to the class of timed automata with closed guards, progress cycles, and bounded clocks. We have implemented the algorithm and applied it to several benchmark specifications. The algorithm is a depth-first search based on on-the-fly reachability using zones.

The study investigated inter-organisational differences in employees’ ethical strain and their evaluations of the ethical culture of their organisations. The second aim was to investigate associations between the ethical culture of organisations and employees’ experiences of ethical strain. Altogether 3894 employees responded to a web-based questionnaire in May 2011. Ethical strain was assessed by measuring the prevalence of ethical dilemmas (2 items) and the stress related to them (2 items). Ethical culture was measured using the 58-item Corporate Ethical Virtues scale (Kaptein 2008). Ethical strain was found to be highest among employees working in social and health services. Employees in an engineering company reported the lowest levels of strain. On average the employees surveyed gave quite positive evaluations of their organizations’ ethical culture. Ethical culture was related to ethical strain in all organizations: The lower the evaluations of ethical culture, the more ethical strain was experienced. This study confirms previous results (Huhtala et al. 2011a) demonstrating connections between ethical organizational culture and ethical strain, and calls for more research to increase awareness of the role of ethics in Finnish worklife. peerReviewed

SUMMARYIn 2010, 7/44 (16%) reported foodborne outbreaks in Finland were linked with raw beetroot consumption. We reviewed data from the national outbreak registry in order to hypothesize the aetiology of illness and to prevent further outbreaks. In the seven outbreaks, 124 cases among 623 respondents were identified. Consumption of raw beetroot was strongly associated with gastrointestinal illness (relative risk 8·99, 95% confidence interval 6·06–13·35). The illness was characterized by sudden onset of gastrointestinal symptoms; the median incubation time was 40 min and duration of illness 5 h. No common foodborne pathogens or toxins were found in either clinical or beetroot samples, but all tested beetroot samples were of poor quality according to total bacterial counts. Beta-haemolytic Pseudomonas fluorescens was detected in several beetroot samples but its effect on human health is unknown. No outbreaks were reported after the Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira advised against serving raw beetroot in institutional canteens.

In October 2011 in Finland, two persons fell ill with symptoms compatible with botulism after having eaten conserved olives stuffed with almonds. One of these two died. Clostridium botulinum type B and its neurotoxin were detected in the implicated olives by PCR and mouse bioassay, respectively. The olives were traced back to an Italian manufacturer and withdrawn from the market. The public and other European countries were informed through media and Europe-wide notifications.