Hankintariskienhallinta Suomen IVD-teollisuudessa

Kansainvälinen ja kiristyvä kilpailu on muuttanut yritysten liiketoimintaympäristöä yhä monimutkaisemmaksi ja riskialttiimmaksi. Yritysten keskittyessä yhä syvemmin omaan ydinosaamiseensa on ulkoisten resurssien hallinnan merkitys korostunut. Työnjakoa syventämällä tavoitellaan parempaa joustavuutta, ajanhallintaa sekä kustannustehokkuutta. Myös hankintatoimen tehtävät ja vastuualueet muuttuvat ennakoivampaan ja riskialttiimpaan suuntaan. Modernin hankintatoimen on kyettävä tunnistamaan, analysoimaan ja hallitsemaan riskejä yhä pirstaloituneemmista lähteistä ja muodoista. Proaktiivinen hankintatoimi osallistuu yrityksen strategiseen suunnitteluun ja riskienhallintaan. Hankintariskit voidaan luokitella seuraaviin kymmeneen riskiluokkaan: keskeytymisriskit, saatavuusriskit, hintariskit, varasto- ja aikatauluriskit, teknologiariskit, luottamuksellisen tiedon vuotoriskit, laaturiskit, konfiguraatioriskit, opportunismiriskit sekä riippuvuusriskit. Tässä tutkimuksessa hankintariskienhallintaa tarkastellaan hankintastrategian valinnan näkökulmasta. Hankintastrategian yksi elementti on toimittajasuhteen ja toimittajien lukumäärän valinta. Tilanteesta riippuen yhteistyöstrategialla tai perinteisellä kilpailuttamisella voidaan tavoitella parempaa riskienhallintaa. Yhteistyöstrategioita ovat eri tasoiset kumppanuussuhteet ja liittoutumat, jolloin suhde toimittajaan on syvä ja luottamuksellinen hyödyttäen aidosti molempia osapuolia. Riskienhallinnan näkökulmasta yhteistyöstrategia soveltuu parhaiten tilanteissa, joissa toimittajista on pitkä kokemus sekä hankintanimikkeen tuottama arvo on merkittävä. Kilpailuttamisstrategia eli hankintojen toteuttaminen usealta toimittajalta vaatii ostavalta organisaatiolta tehokkaasti hyödynnettynä suurempia resursseja kuin yhteistyöstrategian käyttö. Kilpailuttaminen soveltuu usein parhaiten silloin, kun hankintanimikkeet ovat tavanomaisia ja vaihtoehtoisia hankintalähteitä on runsaasti. Lisäksi usean toimittajan käyttö suojaa materiaalivirran katkoksilta sekä lisää hankintamarkkinoiden tuntemusta. Empiirisessä tutkimusosassa tutkitaan, miten soveltuviksi riskienhallintamenetelmiksi erilaiset hankintastrategiat koetaan Suomen IVD-teollisuudessa. Lisäksi tunnistetaan Suomen IVD-teollisuudessa merkittävimmiksi koetut hankintariskiluokat sekä selvitetään millä organisaation tasolla hankintariskienhallinta pääasiassa suoritetaan. Lisäksi selvitetään, millä menetelmin hankintariskejä pääasiassa analysoidaan.

Image and value of product brand in industrial markets: Case Stora Enso Consumer Packaging Boards

TUTKIMUKSEN TAVOITTEET Tutkielman tavoitteena oli luoda ensin yleiskäsitys tuotemerkkimarkkinoinnin roolista teollisilla markkinoilla, sekä suhdemarkkinoinnin merkityksestä teollisessa merkkituotemarkkinoinnissa. Toisena oleellisena tavoitteena oli kuvata teoreettisesti merkkituoteidentiteetin rakenne teollisessa yrityksessä ja sen vaikutukset myyntihenkilöstöön, ja lisäksi haluttiin tutkia tuotemerkkien lisäarvoa sekä asiakkaalle että myyjälle. Identiteetti ja sen vaikutukset, erityisesti imago haluttiin tutkia myös empiirisesti. LÄHDEAINEISTO JA TUTKIMUSMENETELMÄT Tämän tutkielman teoreettinen osuus perustuu kirjallisuuteen, akateemisiin julkaisuihin ja aikaisempiin tutkimuksiin; keskittyen merkkituotteiden markkinointiin, identiteettiin ja imagoon, sekä suhdemarkkinointiin osana merkkituotemarkkinointia. Tutkimuksen lähestymistapa on kuvaileva eli deskriptiivinen ja sekä kvalitatiivinen että kvantitatiivinen. Tutkimus on tapaustutkimus, jossa caseyritykseksi valittiin kansainvälinen pakkauskartonki-teollisuuden yritys. Empiirisen osuuden toteuttamiseen käytettiin www-pohjaista surveytä, jonka avulla tietoja kerättiin myyntihenkilöstöltä case-yrityksessä. Lisäksi empiiristä osuutta laajennettiin tutkimalla sekundäärilähteitä kuten yrityksen sisäisiä kirjallisia dokumentteja ja tutkimuksia. TULOKSET. Teoreettisen ja empiirisen tutkimuksen tuloksena luotiin malli jota voidaan hyödyntää merkkituotemarkkinoinnin päätöksenteon tukena pakkauskartonki-teollisuudessa. Teollisen brandinhallinnan tulee keskittyä erityisesti asiakas-suhteiden brandaukseen – tätä voisi kutsua teolliseksi suhdebrandaukseksi. Tuote-elementit ja –arvot, differointi ja positiointi, sisäinen yrityskuva ja viestintä ovat teollisen brandi-identiteetin peruskiviä, jotka luovat brandi-imagon. Case-yrityksen myyntihenkilöstön tuote- ja yritysmielikuvat osoittautuivat kokonaisuudessaan hyviksi. Paras imago on CKB tuotteilla, kun taas heikoin on WLC tuotteilla. Teolliset brandit voivat luoda monenlaisia lisäarvoja sekä asiakas- että myyjäyritykselle.

Odor emission control and reduce in betaine manufacture

This thesis was made in Naantali plant of Finnfeeds Finland Oy. In this thesis the main study was in reducing, controlling, measuring and processing odour effluents in various methods. Also are considered legislation, marketing issues and environmental requirements of reducing of odour effluents. The literature review introduces odours complications, legislations and various methods of odour removal. There is also a review of volatile organic compounds detection and measuring methods. The experimental section consists TD-GC-MS-measurements and expansive measurements with electronic nose. Electronic nose is a new solution for recognition and measuring industrial odours. In this thesis the electronic nose was adapted into reliable recognition and measuring method. Measurements with electronic nose was made in betaine factory and main targets were odour removal process and other odours from factory. As a result of experimental work with TD-GC-MS-measurements becomes odour compound of 2-and 3- methylbutanal and dimethyldisulfide, which odour is sweet and fug. Extensive study with electronic nose found many developmental subjects. Odour balance measurements of factory and after calculation made adjustment of odour removal process, over all odour effluent to environment will reduce 25 %.

Proportionality and Party Success in Europe

This thesis consists of four articles and an introductory section. The main research questions in all the articles are about proportionality and party success in Europe, at European, national or district levels. Proportionality in this thesis denotes the proximity of seat shares parties receive compared to their respective vote shares, after the electoral system’s allocation process. This proportionality can be measured through numerous indices that illustrate either the overall proportionality of an electoral system or a particular election. The correspondence of a single party’s seat shares to its vote shares can also be measured. The overall proportionality is essential in three of the articles (1, 2 and 4), where the system’s performance is studied by means of plots. In article 3, minority party success is measured by advantage-ratios that reveal single party’s winnings or losses in the votes to seat allocation process. The first article asks how proportional are the European parliamentary (EP) electoral systems, how do they compare with results gained from earlier studies and how do the EP electoral systems treat different sized parties. The reasons for different outcomes are looked for in explanations given by traditional electoral studies i.e. electoral system variables. The countries studied (EU15) apply electoral systems that vary in many important aspects, even though a certain amount of uniformity has been aspired to for decades. Since the electoral systems of the EP elections closely resemble the national elections, the same kinds of profiles emerge as in the national elections. The electoral systems indeed treat the parties differentially and six different profile types can be found. The counting method seems to somewhat determine the profile group, but the strongest variables determining the shape of a countries’ profile appears to be the average district magnitude and number of seats allocated to each country. The second article also focuses on overall proportionality performance of an electoral system, but here the focus is on the impact of electoral system changes. I have developed a new method of visualizing some previously used indices and some new indices for this purpose. The aim is to draw a comparable picture of these electoral systems’ changes and their effects. The cases, which illustrate this method, are four elections systems, where a change has occurred in one of the system variables, while the rest remained unchanged. The studied cases include the French, Greek and British European parliamentary systems and the Swedish national parliamentary system. The changed variables are electoral type (plurality changed to PR in the UK), magnitude (France splitting the nationwide district into eight smaller districts), legal threshold (Greece introducing a three percent threshold) and counting method (d’Hondt was changed to modified Sainte-Laguë in Sweden). The radar plots from elections after and before the changes are drawn for all country cases. When quantifying the change, the change in the plots area that is created has also been calculated. Using these radar plots we can observe that the change in electoral system type, magnitude, and also to some extent legal threshold had an effect on overall proportionality and accessibility for small parties, while the change between the two highest averages counting method had none. The third article studies the success minority parties have had in nine electoral systems in European heterogeneous countries. This article aims to add more motivation as to why we should care how different sized parties are treated by the electoral systems. Since many of the parties that aspire to represent minorities in European countries are small, the possibilities for small parties are highlighted. The theory of consociational (or power-sharing) democracy suggests that, in heterogeneous societies, a proportional electoral system will provide the fairest treatment of minority parties. The OSCE Lund Recommendations propose a number of electoral system features, which would improve minority representation. In this article some party variables, namely the unity of the minority parties and the geographical concentration of the minorities were included among possible explanations. The conclusions are that the central points affecting minority success were indeed these non-electoral system variables rather than the electoral system itself. Moreover, the size of the party was a major factor governing success in all the systems investigated; large parties benefited in all the studied electoral systems. In the fourth article the proportionality profiles are again applied, but this time to district level results in Finnish parliamentary elections. The level of proportionality distortion is also studied by way of indices. The average magnitudes during the studied periodrange from 7.5 to 26.2 in the Finnish electoral districts and this opens up unequal opportunities for parties in different districts and affects the shape of the profiles. The intra-country case allows the focus to be placed on the effect of district magnitude, since all other electoral systems are kept constant in an intra-country study. The time span in the study is from 1962 to 2007, i.e. the time that the districts have largely been the same geographically. The plots and indices tell the same story, district magnitude and electoral alliances matter. The district magnitude is connected to the overall proportionality of the electoral districts according to both indices, and the profiles are, as expected, also closer to perfect proportionality in large districts. Alliances have helped some small parties to gain a much higher seat share than their respective vote share and these successes affect some of the profiles. The profiles also show a consistent pattern of benefits for the small parties who ally with the larger parties.

The Effect of Operational Disturbances on Reliability and Operation Time Distribution of NCmachine Tools in FMS

This thesis concentrates on studying the operational disturbance behavior of machine tools integrated into FMS. Operational disturbances are short term failures of machine tools which are especially disruptive to unattended or unmanned operation of FMS. The main objective was to examine the effect of operational disturbances on reliability and operation time distribution for machine tools. The theoretical part of the thesis covers the fimdamentals of FMS relating to the subject of this study. The concept of FMS, its benefits and operator's role in FMS operation are reviewed. The importance of reliability is presented. The terms describing the operation time of machine tools are formed by adopting standards and references. The concept of failure and indicators describing reliability and operational performance for machine tools in FMSs are presented. The empirical part of the thesis describes the research methodology which is a combination of automated (ADC) and manual data collection. By using this methodology it is possible to have a complete view of the operation time distribution for studied machine tools. Data collection was carried out in four FMSs consisting of a total of 17 machine tools. Each FMS's basic features and the signals of ADC are described. The indicators describing the reliability and operation time distribution of machine tools were calculated according to collected data. The results showed that operational disturbances have a significant influence on machine tool reliability and operational performance. On average, an operational disturbance occurs every 8,6 hours of operation time and has a down time of 0,53 hours. Operational disturbances cause a 9,4% loss in operation time which is twice the amount of losses caused by technical failures (4,3%). Operational disturbances have a decreasing influence on the utilization rate. A poor operational disturbance behavior decreases the utilization rate. It was found that the features of a part family to be machined and the method technology related to it are defining the operational disturbance behavior of the machine tool. Main causes for operational disturbances were related to material quality variations, tool maintenance, NC program errors, ATC and machine tool control. Operator's role was emphasized. It was found that failure recording activity of the operators correlates with the utilization rate. The more precisely the operators record the failure, the higher is the utilization rate. Also the FMS organizations which record failures more precisely have fewer operational disturbances.

Utilization of a Time Domain Simulator in the Technical and Economic Analysis of a Wind Turbine Electric Drive Train

The amount of installed wind power has been growing exponentially during the past ten years. As wind turbines have become a significant source of electrical energy, the interactions between the turbines and the electric power network need to be studied more thoroughly than before. Especially, the behavior of the turbines in fault situations is of prime importance; simply disconnecting all wind turbines from the network during a voltage drop is no longer acceptable, since this would contribute to a total network collapse. These requirements have been a contributor to the increased role of simulations in the study and design of the electric drive train of a wind turbine. When planning a wind power investment, the selection of the site and the turbine are crucial for the economic feasibility of the installation. Economic feasibility, on the other hand, is the factor that determines whether or not investment in wind power will continue, contributing to green electricity production and reduction of emissions. In the selection of the installation site and the turbine (siting and site matching), the properties of the electric drive train of the planned turbine have so far been generally not been taken into account. Additionally, although the loss minimization of some of the individual components of the drive train has been studied, the drive train as a whole has received less attention. Furthermore, as a wind turbine will typically operate at a power level lower than the nominal most of the time, efficiency analysis in the nominal operating point is not sufficient. This doctoral dissertation attempts to combine the two aforementioned areas of interest by studying the applicability of time domain simulations in the analysis of the economicfeasibility of a wind turbine. The utilization of a general-purpose time domain simulator, otherwise applied to the study of network interactions and control systems, in the economic analysis of the wind energy conversion system is studied. The main benefits of the simulation-based method over traditional methods based on analytic calculation of losses include the ability to reuse and recombine existing models, the ability to analyze interactions between the components and subsystems in the electric drive train (something which is impossible when considering different subsystems as independent blocks, as is commonly done in theanalytical calculation of efficiencies), the ability to analyze in a rather straightforward manner the effect of selections other than physical components, for example control algorithms, and the ability to verify assumptions of the effects of a particular design change on the efficiency of the whole system. Based on the work, it can be concluded that differences between two configurations can be seen in the economic performance with only minor modifications to the simulation models used in the network interaction and control method study. This eliminates the need ofdeveloping analytic expressions for losses and enables the study of the system as a whole instead of modeling it as series connection of independent blocks with no lossinterdependencies. Three example cases (site matching, component selection, control principle selection) are provided to illustrate the usage of the approach and analyze its performance.

The Possibilities and Dosimetric Limitations of MLC-Based Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy Delivery and Optimization Techniques

The use of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) has increased extensively in the modern radiotherapy (RT) treatments over the past two decades. Radiation dose distributions can be delivered with higher conformality with IMRT when compared to the conventional 3D-conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT). Higher conformality and target coverage increases the probability of tumour control and decreases the normal tissue complications. The primary goal of this work is to improve and evaluate the accuracy, efficiency and delivery techniques of RT treatments by using IMRT. This study evaluated the dosimetric limitations and possibilities of IMRT in small (treatments of head-and-neck, prostate and lung cancer) and large volumes (primitive neuroectodermal tumours). The dose coverage of target volumes and the sparing of critical organs were increased with IMRT when compared to 3D-CRT. The developed split field IMRT technique was found to be safe and accurate method in craniospinal irradiations. By using IMRT in simultaneous integrated boosting of biologically defined target volumes of localized prostate cancer high doses were achievable with only small increase in the treatment complexity. Biological plan optimization increased the probability of uncomplicated control on average by 28% when compared to standard IMRT delivery. Unfortunately IMRT carries also some drawbacks. In IMRT the beam modulation is realized by splitting a large radiation field to small apertures. The smaller the beam apertures are the larger the rebuild-up and rebuild-down effects are at the tissue interfaces. The limitations to use IMRT with small apertures in the treatments of small lung tumours were investigated with dosimetric film measurements. The results confirmed that the peripheral doses of the small lung tumours were decreased as the effective field size was decreased. The studied calculation algorithms were not able to model the dose deficiency of the tumours accurately. The use of small sliding window apertures of 2 mm and 4 mm decreased the tumour peripheral dose by 6% when compared to 3D-CRT treatment plan. A direct aperture based optimization (DABO) technique was examined as a solution to decrease the treatment complexity. The DABO IMRT technique was able to achieve treatment plans equivalent with the conventional IMRT fluence based optimization techniques in the concave head-and-neck target volumes. With DABO the effective field sizes were increased and the number of MUs was reduced with a factor of two. The optimality of a treatment plan and the therapeutic ratio can be further enhanced by using dose painting based on regional radiosensitivities imaged with functional imaging methods.

A platform for anti-biofilm assays combining viability, biomass and matrix quantifications in susceptibility assessments of antimicrobials against Staphylococcus aureus biofilms

Bacteria can exist as planktonic, the lifestyle in which single cells exist in suspension, and as biofilms, which are surface-attached bacterial communities embedded in a selfproduced matrix. Most of the antibiotics and the methods for antimicrobial work have been developed for planktonic bacteria. However, the majority of the bacteria in natural habitats live as biofilms. Biofilms develop dauntingly fast high resistance towards conventional antibacterial treatments and thus, there is a great need to meet the demands of effective anti-biofilm therapy. In this thesis project it was attempted to fill the void of anti-biofilm screening methods by developing a platform of assays that evaluate the effect that screened compounds have on the total biomass, viability and the extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) layer of the biofilms. Additionally, a new method for studying biofilms and their interactions with compounds in a continuous flow system was developed using capillary electrochromatography (CEC). The screening platform was utilized with a screening campaign using a small library of cinchona alkaloids. The assays were optimized to be statistically robust enough for screening. The first assay, based on crystal violet staining, measures total biofilm biomass, and it was automated using a liquid handling workstation to decrease the manual workload and signal variation. The second assay, based on resazurin staining, measures viability of the biofilm, and it was thoroughly optimized for the strain used, but was then a very simple and fast method to be used for primary screening. The fluorescent resazurin probe is not toxic to the biofilms. In fact, it was also shown in this project that staining the biofilms with resazurin prior to staining with crystal violet had no effect on the latter and they can be used in sequence on the same screening plate. This sequential addition step was indeed a major improvement on the use of reagents and consumables and also shortened the work time. As a third assay in the platform a wheat germ agglutinin based assay was added to evaluate the effect a compound has on the EPS layer. Using this assay it was found that even if compounds might have clear effect on both biomass and viability, the EPS layer can be left untouched or even be increased. This is a clear implication of the importance of using several assays to be able to find “true hits” in a screening setting. In the pilot study of screening for antimicrobial and anti-biofilm effects using a cinchona alkaloid library, one compound was found to have antimicrobial effect against planktonic bacteria and prevent biofilm formation at low micromolar concentration. To eradicate biofilms, a higher concentration was needed. It was also shown that the chemical space occupied by the active compound was slightly different than the rest of the cinchona alkaloids as well as the rest of the compounds used for validatory screening during the optimization processes of the separate assays.

Characterization of fiber and vessel elements in pulp suspension images

The thesis is related to the topic of image-based characterization of fibers in pulp suspension during the papermaking process. Papermaking industry is focusing on process control optimization and automatization, which makes it possible to manufacture highquality products in a resource-efficient way. Being a part of the process control, pulp suspension analysis allows to predict and modify properties of the end product. This work is a part of the tree species identification task and focuses on analysis of fiber parameters in the pulp suspension at the wet stage of paper production. The existing machine vision methods for pulp characterization were investigated, and a method exploiting direction sensitive filtering, non-maximum suppression, hysteresis thresholding, tensor voting, and curve extraction from tensor maps was developed. Application of the method to the microscopic grayscale pulp images made it possible to detect curves corresponding to fibers in the pulp image and to compute their morphological characteristics. Performance of the method was evaluated based on the manually produced ground truth data. An accuracy of fiber characteristics estimation, including length, width, and curvature, for the acacia pulp images was found to be 84, 85, and 60% correspondingly.

Hissien tasonovien palotestauspalveluiden arviointi.

Elevator landing doors are fire tested to measure their fire resistance. The objective of this master’s thesis was to create a method to evaluate the fire tests and the organizations that provide these testing services. The main focus area was in creating accurate evaluation criteria and weighting the criteria. The thesis was formed by first presenting the reader with the literature review of the closest related theories. The theories which were chosen were systematic decision making, supplier selection, and make or buy and outsourcing theories. In the empirical section the created process of evaluating fire testing is presented, with analysis of the current situation of fire testing processes and evaluation methods. Evaluating fire testing services required two types of criteria to be formed, technical criteria to evaluate the technical requirements, and service criteria to evaluate the organization which was offering the testing service. These criteria formed the core for the evaluation process which consisted of five different phases that were developed based on the literature review. The process was tested to create best practices and to make improvement proposals accordingly. Systematical process for evaluating fire testing helps to recognize the most important technical and service related aspects. The created criteria can be also used in future to benchmark and monitor the situation of fire testing. The results of the process can be used when deciding whether to outsource the service or to keep it in-house.

Ultraviolet light protection and weathering properties of wood-polypropylene composites

The main aim of this thesis is to study the effect of pigments on the weathering properties of wood-polypropylene composites (WPC). The studied properties are color change, water absorption, thickness swelling and Charpy impact strength. The impact of weathering and UV exposure on WPCs was studied by using pigments and minerals as protective agents. The study shows that the pigments and/or mineral fillers can be used to improve the weathering properties of WPCs. The effect of pigments was found to vary with the type of pigment and the method of weathering. The black pigment, an inorganic carbon black master-batch, was found to be the most effective one in reduction of the discoloration of WPCs. By preventing discoloration, and further reducing the degradation of the surface of the WPC, the pigments were found to reduce the decrease in the impact strength after weathering. As well as UV protection, the moisture resistance is a significant factor affecting the durability of WPCs. The addition of mineral fillers was found to improve the moisture-related properties, such as water absorption and thickness swelling, of WPC significantly. According to the findings, addition of pigments and mineral fillers to wood-polypropylene composites appears to be beneficial: color stability and moisture resistance can be enhanced especially in outdoor weathering. The combined effect of black pigment (carbon black master-batch) and wollastonite as a mineral filler was found to bring about the most effective properties against weathering.

Female pelvic floor disorders – outcome after mesh-augmented procedures and studies on vaginal connective tissue

Pelvic floor disorders, such as urinary incontinence (UI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP), are common disorders in women. Because of the prolonged life expectancy the prevalence of UI and POP and the probability of ending up in surgery are increasing. However, the pathophysiology behind these disorders is still unsolved. The aim of this thesis is to study possible alterations in the connective tissue in the vaginal wall in patients with and without POP. The long-term outcome and complications of mid-urethral slings (MUS) and mesh-augmented POP surgery were studied in heterogenic patient populations. More elastin and a slight increase in immunostaining of type III and V collagens in tissue samples were obtained from patients with POP compared to controls in whom type I collagen was more prominent. The studies assessing the mesh-augmented procedures revealed good efficacy and high patient satisfaction after a long-term follow-up. Patients operated on because of mixed incontinence and with BMI >30 kg/m² reported significantly more urinary symptoms and a lower quality of life than the patients operated on because of stress urinary incontinence and the ones with BMI ≤30 kg/m². The objective outcome was equal between the groups. Mesh exposure through vaginal mucosa occurred in 23 % of the patients after POP surgery, most of these being asymptomatic. There are alterations in connective tissues in patients with POP. Mid-urethral sling procedures produced good long-term cure rates and patient satisfaction. As to the prolapse surgery, in spite of relatively high exposure rate, mesh-augmented procedure proved to be safe and effective method for the correction of POP.

Isolation and Characterization of Ovomucin - a Bioactive Agent of Egg White

The hen’s egg is a source of new life. Therefore, it contains many biologically active compounds. In addition to being a very nutritious food and also commonly used in the food industry due to its many techno-functional properties, the egg can serve as a source of compounds used as nutra-, pharmaand cosmeceuticals. One such interesting compound is ovomucin, an egg white protein responsible for the gel-like properties of thick egg white. Previous studies have indicated that ovomucin and ovomucin-derived peptides have several different bioactive properties. The objectives of the present study were to develop isolation methods for ovomucin, to characterize the structure of ovomucin, to compare various egg fractions as sources of ovomucin, to study the effects of various dissolving methods for ovomucin, and to investigate the bioactive properties of ovomucin and ovomucin-derived peptides. A simple and rapid method for crude ovomucin separation was developed. By using this method crude ovomucin was isolated within hours, compared to the 1-2 days (including a dialysis step) needed when using several other methods. Structural characterization revealed that ovomucin is composed of two subunits, α- and β-ovomucin, as egg white protein formerly called α1-ovomucin seemed to be ovostatin. However, it might be possible that ovostatin is associated within β- and α-ovomucin. This interaction could even have some effect on the physical nature of various egg white layers. Although filtration by-product fraction was a very prominent source of both crude and β-ovomucin, process development has reduced its amount so significantly that it has no practical meaning anymore. Thus, the commercial liquid egg white is probably the best option, especially if it generally contains amounts of β-ovomucin as high as were found in these studies. Crude ovomucin was dissolved both by using physical and enzymic methods. Although sonication was the most effective physical method for ovomucin solubilisation, colloid milling seemed to be a very promising alternative. A milk-like, smooth and opaque crude ovomucin suspension was attained by using a colloid mill. The dissolved ovomucin fractions were further tested for bioactive properties, and it was found that three dissolving methods tested produced moderate antiviral activity against Newcastle disease virus, namely colloid milling, enzymatic hydrolysis and a combination of sonicaton and enzymatic hydrolysis. Moreover, trypsin-digested crude ovomucin was found to have moderate antiviral activity against avian influenza virus: both subtype H5 and H7.

“Who is steering the ship and which constellation guides the way? Exploring transparency in the European Central Bank during the time of crisis”

This paper explores transparency in the decision-making of the European Central Bank (ECB). According to ECB´s definition, transparency means that the central bank provides the general public with all relevant information on its strategy, assessments and policy decisions as well as its procedures in an open, clear and timely manner. In this paper, however, the interpretation of transparency is somewhat broader: Information is freely available and directly accessible to those who will be affected by the decisions. Moreover, the individuals shall be able to master this material. ECB´s negative attitude towards publication of documents has demonstrated central bank´s reluctance to strive towards more extensive transparency. By virtue of the definition adopted by the ECB the bank itself is responsible for determining what is considered as relevant information. On the grounds of EU treaties, this paper assesses ECB`s accountability concentrating especially on transparency by employing principal-agent theory and constitutional approach. Traditionally, the definite mandate and the tenet of central bank independence have been used to justify the limited accountability. The de facto competence of the ECB has, however, considerably expanded as the central bank has decisively resorted to non-standard measures in order to combat the economic turbulences facing Europe. It is alleged that non-standard monetary policy constitutes a grey zone occasionally resembling economic policy or fiscal policy. Notwithstanding, the European Court of Justice has repeatedly approved these measures. This dynamic interpretation of the treaties seems to allow temporarily exceptions from the central bank´s primary objective during extraordinary times. Regardless, the paper suggests that the accountability nexus defined in the treaties is not sufficient in order to guarantee the accountability of the ECB after the adoption of the new, more active role. Enhanced transparency would help the ECB to maintain its credibility. Investing in the quality of monetary dialogue between the Parliament and the ECB appears to constitute the most adequate and practicable method to accomplish this intention. As a result of upgraded transparency the legitimacy of the central bank would not solely rest on its policy outputs.

THE ADAPTATION PROCESS AND CHALLENGES OF EDUCATION EXPORT

The purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges of the adaptation process of education export. The research is conducted as a single case study that concentrates on three education export projects. The case company in the research is Team Academy. The study goes through the different forms of education export, the adaptation of education export and the challenges of the education export –process by means of theory and empirical data. The research is carried out as a qualitative research and the method used is a qualitative content analysis. More specifically the research is an abductive content analysis. The research data is collected in four in-depth interviews from Team academy representatives who have been strongly involved in certain education export –project of Team Academy. The research confirms the theory in the challenge of hierarchy, funding and registration issues, and refutes it in the challenge of competition, legislation, different governmental attitudes and knowledge in productization. The main challenges of the adaptation process are related to funding, differences in values, sudden changes, the complex nature of the learning model, concept of time, teamwork as method and accreditation. It is highlighted that in the future operations, anticipating problems that arise from for example cultural differences and differences in values, communication, managing the money flows and the company form is recommended. Future research could continue with investigating the suitable company form for education exports of this kind, and how to stand out and communicate when operating under another institution. It is considered a potential risk that a brand encloses the brand that operates under it.