The role of building morphology on pedestrian level comfort in Northern climate

Due to the rapid densification of cities, improving outdoor comfort is becoming increasingly important. To address this need, the current study introduces a methodology to evaluate outdoor comfort in the proximity of typical buildings in Tallinn, Estonia. The microclimate simulation software ENVI-met was employed to investigate the outdoor comfort conditions. The research outcomes show that the building's form, height, density, and orientation change consistently the pedestrian comfort around the buildings. The findings suggest that the integrated analysis of different building morphologies, massing, orientation, and their influences on the surrounding microclimate, thermal, and wind comfort are important.

A People’s Green New Deal: Obstacles and Prospects

Within the past years, the Green New Deal (GND) became the common language for Northern climate politics, offering a seeming exit path from Northern social and ecological crises while erasing an older Northern climate discourse tied to Southern demands for climate reparations and rights to development. This Eurocentric GND has become the environmental program for an equally Eurocentric social democratic renewal. This article situates the GND in world-systemic shifts, and Northern reactions to such shifts. It situates the GND as one of three possible Eurocentric solutions to the climate crisis: a great elite transformation from above; a left-liberal “reformist” resolution; a social democratic resolution. It then elaborates a possible “People’s Green New Deal,” a revolutionary transformation focused on state sovereignty, climate debt, auto-centered development, and agriculture. Within each proposed resolution, it traces the role of the land, agriculture, and peasants.

The Composition, Physicochemical Properties, Antioxidant Activity, and Sensory Properties of Estonian Honeys

Thirty honey samples from different regions of Estonia were investigated to determine the chemical compositions, physicochemical properties, bioactive compounds, and sensory characteristics of typical honeys from a northern climate. The physicochemical parameters, such as electrical conductivity, moisture content, free acidity, hydroxymethylfurfural, diastase, and invertase activity were measured. The color was measured and expressed by L*-, a*-, and b*-coordinates. Sensory parameters were determined by using “fruity”, “floral”, “berry-like”, “herbal”, “woody”, “spicy”, “sweet”, and “animal-like” as the main odor and flavor attributes. The total polyphenol and flavonoid contents were in the range of 26.2–88.7 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per 100 g and 1.9–6.4 mg quercetin equivalents (QE) per 100 g, respectively. The identified polyphenols showed the highest intensities of caffeic acid, coumaric acid, and abscisic acid and its derivatives. The protocatechuic acid intensity was highest in honeys containing traces of honeydew elements and of cinnamic acid and myricetin in heather honey. The water-soluble antioxidant values were 37.8–311.2 mg ascorbic acid equivalents (AAE) per 100 g and the lipid soluble antioxidant values were 14.4–60.7 mg Trolox equivalents (TE) per 100 g. The major amino acid in the analyzed honeys was proline, with variable values depending on the honey’s botanical source. Correlations were calculated based on the results obtained. It was revealed that the typical Estonian honey has floral, berry-like, sweet, and rather mild sensory characteristics. Most of the honeys lacked stronger spicy, woody, and animal-like attributes. The typical color of Estonian honey is quite light.

The Imaginary North in Finnish Comics on Migration

This article analyses three comics published in Finland that are focused on migration and offer differing insights into the representation of ‘the north’: Pentti Otsamo’s Kahvitauko (2012), Leen van Hulst’s Maitoa ja lunta / Milk and Snow (2011) and Lauri Ahtinen’s Elias (2018). These albums are both representative of the field in general and unique with respect to their treatment of the connections between place and migration. The analysis of the imaginary north is structured around the three tropes of the northern suburb, the northern climate, and the northern natural environment. What is common to them all is a construction of the north as a place without clear limitations and as an amalgamation of various relationships. A central aspect of what a place is in the globalized world is that it constitutes a meeting place. In Kahvitauko, the drinking of coffee is used to show how ‘north’ and ‘south’ are connected on a global scale. In Elias, the symbols of the north, the snow, and the bear, are tied together with Afghanistan. Maitoa ja lunta / Milk and Snow provides another viewpoint, as it lacks the representation of xenophobia. Read in parallel with the other two comics it not only shows that migrants of different kinds are treated differently, but also highlights how a place such as the north is defined in different terms depending on reasons for migration, race and ethnicity, and privilege in general. A place is precisely a place for articulation of networks of meanings, experiences, and people. In addition, the three albums are posited in the broader field of Finnish comics on migration. This is carried out with a focus on how the very concrete places in the comics in the field are named and visually anchored.

Heat, Heatwaves and Cardiorespiratory Hospital Admissions in Helsinki, Finland

Background: There is a lack of knowledge concerning the effects of ambient heat exposure on morbidity in Northern Europe. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the relationships of daily summertime temperature and heatwaves with cardiorespiratory hospital admissions in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland. Methods: Time series models adjusted for potential confounders, such as air pollution, were used to investigate the associations of daily temperature and heatwaves with cause-specific cardiorespiratory hospital admissions during summer months of 2001–2017. Daily number of hospitalizations was obtained from the national hospital discharge register and weather information from the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Results: Increased daily temperature was associated with a decreased risk of total respiratory hospital admissions and asthma. Heatwave days were associated with 20.5% (95% CI: 6.9, 35.9) increased risk of pneumonia admissions and during long or intense heatwaves also with total respiratory admissions in the oldest age group (≥75 years). There were also suggestive positive associations between heatwave days and admissions due to myocardial infarction and cerebrovascular diseases. In contrast, risk of arrhythmia admissions decreased 20.8% (95% CI: 8.0, 31.8) during heatwaves. Conclusions: Heatwaves, rather than single hot days, are a health threat affecting morbidity even in a Northern climate.

Heat, Heatwaves and Cardiorespiratory Hospital Admissions in Helsinki, Finland

There is a lack of knowledge concerning the effects of ambient heat exposure on morbidity in Northern Europe. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the relationships of daily summer-time temperature and heatwaves with cardiorespiratory hospital admissions in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland. Methods: Time-series models adjusted for potential confounders such as air pollution were used to investigate the associations of daily temperature and heatwaves with cause-specific cardiorespiratory hospital admissions, during summer months of 2001-2017. Daily number of hospitalizations was obtained from the national hospital discharge register, weather information from the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Results: Increased daily temperature was associated with decreased risk of total respiratory hospital admissions and asthma. Heatwave days were associated with 20.5% (95% CI: 6.9, 35.9) increased risk of pneumonia admissions and during long or intense heatwaves also with total respiratory admissions in the oldest age group (≥ 75 years). There were also suggestive positive associations between heatwave days and admissions due to myocardial infarction and cerebrovascular diseases. In contrast, risk of arrhythmia admissions was decreased 20.8% (95% CI: 8.0, 31.8) during heatwaves. Conclusions: Heatwaves, rather than single hot days, are a health threat affecting the morbidity even in a Northern climate.

Sex and age characteristics of daily activity of distance learning students in northern climate

The purpose of the work is to study the time preferences of students performing daily tasks during distance learning and to determine if such preferences depend on sex and the year of study. In the absence of social regulation, the daytime and nighttime activity of students corresponded to the distribution of chronotypes that typifies a northern region, with arrhythmic and evening types prevailing but the morning bio-rhythmic stereotype having a minimal representation. With no ‘master timer’ in distance learning, students demonstrated pronounced sex differences in the daily dynamics of performance. Young females had maximum performance during the day and minimum performance at night, which corresponds to the most common type. Young males were observed to have several ascents in their performance during the 24-hour period. First-year and second-year students’ learning behavior was less synchronized with the day-night cycle. The wavelet analysis found insignificant four to five hourrhythmic fluctuations that occurred in the evening hours, during the period of students’ high educational performance.