Handshake ecosystem for Educational Contents between Institutional Repository and OER based Repository

Poster at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Alterations in The States and Contents of Consciousness: Empirical and Theoretical Aspects

The main purpose of the present doctoral thesis is to investigate subjective experiences and cognitive processes in four different types of altered states of consciousness: naturally occurring dreaming, cognitively induced hypnosis, pharmacologically induced sedation, and pathological psychosis. Both empirical and theoretical research is carried out, resulting in four empirical and four theoretical studies. The thesis begins with a review of the main concepts used in consciousness research, the most influential philosophical and neurobiological theories of subjective experience, the classification of altered states of consciousness, and the main empirical methods used to study consciousness alterations. Next, findings of the original studies are discussed, as follows. Phenomenal consciousness is found to be dissociable from responsiveness, as subjective experiences do occur in unresponsive states, including anaesthetic-induced sedation and natural sleep, as demonstrated by post-awakening subjective reports. Two new tools for the content analysis of subjective experiences and dreams are presented, focusing on the diversity, complexity and dynamics of phenomenal consciousness. In addition, a new experimental paradigm of serial awakenings from non-rapid eye movement sleep is introduced, which enables more rapid sampling of dream reports than has been available in previous studies. It is also suggested that lucid dreaming can be studied using transcranial brain stimulation techniques and systematic analysis of pre-lucid dreaming. For blind judges, dreams of psychotic patients appear to be indistinguishable from waking mentation reports collected from the same patients, which indicates a close resemblance of these states of mind. However, despite phenomenological similarities, dreaming should not be treated as a uniform research model of psychotic or intact consciousness. Contrary to this, there seems to be a multiplicity of routes of how different states of consciousness can be associated. For instance, seemingly identical time perception distortions in different alterations of consciousness may have diverse underlying causes for these distortions. It is also shown that altered states do not necessarily exhibit impaired cognitive processing compared to a baseline waking state of consciousness: a case study of time perception in a hypnotic virtuoso indicates a more consistent perceptual timing under hypnosis than in a waking state. The thesis ends with a brief discussion of the most promising new perspectives for the study of alterations of consciousness.

Lignin oxidation by PCD technology

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether commercial Kraft lignin can be treated with pulsed corona discharge apparatus so that it becomes active. Active lignin refers to the kind of lignin that can be precipitated on the surface of a fiber by lowering the pH. A secondary agenda here is to remove the pungent smell of kraft lignin, which is caused by organically bound sulfur. It is expected that the study will identify mild processing conditions and parameters for achievement of the desired outcome. In the literature review, the properties of lignin are explained, as is their impact on any further processing. In addition, a number of processes are described for the oxidation of lignin in a variety of applications. In the experimental part of the study, test runs were conducted to determine the effects of oxygen supply and pulse frequency on oxidation results, where the purpose is to produce reactive lignin and to find a process that is feasible at an industrial scale. Based on the reported experiments, lignin could not be made active or precipitated to the surface of the fiber. Actual changes in the structure of lignin were not observed, but the pungent smell of lignin was removed. The exact reason for this change could not be established because sulfur NMR analysis did not work for the lignin samples.

Perceptions of corporate social responsibility: A case study of the perceived contents and outcomes

CSR has been subject of broad debate and research over the decades and has gained attention recently. The purpose of this thesis is to find out how companies perceive CSR. In addition this thesis is researching what is CSR in Finnish companies, how do companies measure CSR, what are the effects of CSR and how companies perceive those effects and what actors and factors support CSR. This research is a case study where altogether nine informants from seven companies were interviewed. This research is qualitative case study implemented with theme interviews. The analysis method is content analysis. Several interesting issues emerged from the empirical findings. CSR is playing pivotal role in companies values, vision and mission. CSR was perceived differently in companies but also mutual points emerged. The role of stakeholders is essential in CSR. In addition the communication with stakeholders was seen very important. Companies perceived that they can gain many benefits when acting responsibly for instance in issues related to cost reduction, reputation and personnel. However measuring these effects from CSR point of view was seen challenging. Other CSR related challenges are for example change and lack of resources. When considering empirical findings from a theoretical point of view, three interesting issues emerged. CSR reports play an important role in measuring and developing of CSR. However, this is not the case with all companies and some of them argued that reporting has too much attention nowadays when talking about CSR. The benefits of CSR are mostly related to responsive CSR. However maybe in a long-term follow-up strategic CSR related competitive advantage benefits could be more easily noticed. Many different issues supported CSR. Some issues are driven by outside of companies like NGO`s and media and some inside like the motivation of personnel and management. Vastuullista liiketoimintaa on tutkittu vuosien saatossa laajalti ja se on saanut viime vuosina erityisen paljon huomiota. Tämän pro gradu –tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää, miten yritykset kokevat vastuullisen liiketoiminnan. Tämän lisäksi tutkimuksessa selvitetään, mitä vastuullinen liiketoiminta suomalaisissa yrityksissä tarkoittaa, miten yritykset mittaavat omaa vastuullisuuttaan, mitkä ovat vastuullisuuden vaikutukset, miten yritykset kokevat vastuullisuuden vaikutukset ja mitkä tekijät tukevat vastuullisen liiketoiminnan syntyä. Tutkimus toteutettiin haastattelemalla yhdeksää suomalaisen yrityksen yritysvastuusta vastaavaa tai sen kanssa työskentelevää henkilöä seitsemästä eri organisaatiosta loppuvuodesta 2014 ja alkuvuodesta 2015. Tutkimus on laadullinen, teemahaastatteluilla toteutettu haastattelututkimus. Aineisto on analysoitu teemoittain. Tutkimusaineiston perusteella vaikuttaa siltä, että vastuullinen liiketoiminta on tärkeässä roolissa yritysten arvoissa, visiossa ja missiossa. Yritysvastuu koettiin yrityksissä erilailla, mutta myös yhtäläisyyksiä on nähtävissä. Sidosryhmien rooli on erittäin tärkeä yritysvastuusta puhuttaessa ja myös kommunikointi sidosryhmien kanssa nousi tärkeäksi aiheeksi. Yritykset kokivat saavuttavansa monia hyötyjä vastuullisesta toiminnasta kuten kustannussäästöihin, maineeseen ja työntekijöihin liittyvissä asioissa. Näiden hyötyjen mittaaminen yritysvastuun näkökulmasta koettiin kuitenkin haasteelliseksi. Muita vastuullisuuteen liittyviä haasteita olivat esimerkiksi siihen liittyvä muutos sekä niukat resurssit. Tutkimuksen johtopäätöksistä nousi esille kolme merkittävää seikkaa. Vastuullisuusraportoinnin koettiin olevan hyödyllinen yritysvastuun mittaamisessa ja kehittämisessä. Kaikki yritykset eivät kuitenkaan olleet tätä mieltä ja osa koki raportoinnin saavan liian paljon huomiota nykypäivänä. Yritysten kokemat hyödyt vastuullisuuteen liittyen syntyivät pääosin reaktiivisesta vastuullisuudesta. Tässä kohdin on kuitenkin huomionarvoista mainita, että strategisen vastuullisuuden hyödyt olisivat saattaneet nousta paremmin esille pidemmän aikavälin tutkimuksessa. Yritysvastuun syntyä tukevia tekijöitä löytyi monia. Osa tekijöistä oli yrityksen ulkopuolisia kuten kansalaisjärjestöt ja media ja jotkut taas kumpusivat yrityksen sisältä esimerkiksi työntekijöiden ja johdon motivaatio.

Separation of lignin in Pulp Mill process and its effect on sodium sulphur balance

The aim of this thesis is to define effects of lignin separation process on Pulp mill chemical balance especially on sodium/sulphur-balance. The objective is to develop a simulation model with WinGEMS Process Simulator and use that model to simulate the chemical balances and process changes. The literature part explains what lignin is and how kraft pulp is produced. It also introduces to the methods that can be used to extract lignin from black liquor stream and how those methods affect the pulping process. In experimental part seven different cases are simulated with the created simulation model. The simulations are based on selected reference mill that produces 500 000 tons of bleached air-dried (90 %) pulp per year. The simulations include the chemical balance calculation and the estimated production increase. Based on the simulations the heat load of the recovery boiler can be reduced and the pulp production increased when lignin is extracted. The simulations showed that decreasing the waste acid stream intake from the chlorine dioxide plant is an effective method to control the sulphidity level when about 10 % of lignin is extracted. With higher lignin removal rates the in-mill sulphuric acid production has been discovered to be a better alternative to the sulphidity control.

Chemical changes in biomass during torrefaction

Torrefaction is moderate thermal treatment (~200-300 °C) of biomass in an inert atmosphere. The torrefied fuel offers advantages to traditional biomass, such as higher heating value, reduced hydrophilic nature, increased its resistance to biological decay, and improved grindability. These factors could, for instance, lead to better handling and storage of biomass and increased use of biomass in pulverized combustors. In this work, we look at several aspects of changes in the biomass during torrefaction. We investigate the fate of carboxylic groups during torrefaction and its dependency to equilibrium moisture content. The changes in the wood components including carbohydrates, lignin, extractable materials and ashforming matters are also studied. And at last, the effect of K on torrefaction is investigated and then modeled. In biomass, carboxylic sites are partially responsible for its hydrophilic characteristic. These sites are degraded to varying extents during torrefaction. In this work, methylene blue sorption and potentiometric titration were applied to measure the concentration of carboxylic groups in torrefied spruce wood. The results from both methods were applicable and the values agreed well. A decrease in the equilibrium moisture content at different humidity was also measured for the torrefied wood samples, which is in good agreement with the decrease in carboxylic group contents. Thus, both methods offer a means of directly measuring the decomposition of carboxylic groups in biomass during torrefaction as a valuable parameter in evaluating the extent of torrefaction. This provides new information to the chemical changes occurring during torrefaction. The effect of torrefaction temperature on the chemistry of birch wood was investigated. The samples were from a pilot plant at Energy research Center of the Netherlands (ECN). And in that way they were representative of industrially produced samples. Sugar analysis was applied to analyze the hemicellulose and cellulose content during torrefaction. The results show a significant degradation of hemicellulose already at 240 °C, while cellulose degradation becomes significant above 270 °C torrefaction. Several methods including Klason lignin method, solid state NMR and Py-GC-MS analyses were applied to measure the changes in lignin during torrefaction. The changes in the ratio of phenyl, guaiacyl and syringyl units show that lignin degrades already at 240 °C to a small extent. To investigate the changes in the extractives from acetone extraction during torrefaction, gravimetric method, HP-SEC and GC-FID followed by GC-MS analysis were performed. The content of acetone-extractable material increases already at 240 °C torrefaction through the degradation of carbohydrate and lignin. The molecular weight of the acetone-extractable material decreases with increasing the torrefaction temperature. The formation of some valuable materials like syringaresinol or vanillin is also observed which is important from biorefinery perspective. To investigate the change in the chemical association of ash-forming elements in birch wood during torrefaction, chemical fractionation was performed on the original and torrefied birch samples. These results give a first understanding of the changes in the association of ashforming elements during torrefaction. The most significant changes can be seen in the distribution of calcium, magnesium and manganese, with some change in water solubility seen in potassium. These changes may in part be due to the destruction of carboxylic groups. In addition to some changes in water and acid solubility of phosphorous, a clear decrease in the concentration of both chlorine and sulfur was observed. This would be a significant additional benefit for the combustion of torrefied biomass. Another objective of this work is studying the impact of organically bound K, Na, Ca and Mn on mass loss of biomass during torrefaction. These elements were of interest because they have been shown to be catalytically active in solid fuels during pyrolysis and/or gasification. The biomasses were first acid washed to remove the ash-forming matters and then organic sites were doped with K, Na, Ca or Mn. The results show that K and Na bound to organic sites can significantly increase the mass loss during torrefaction. It is also seen that Mn bound to organic sites increases the mass loss and Ca addition does not influence the mass loss rate on torrefaction. This increase in mass loss during torrefaction with alkali addition is unlike what has been found in the case of pyrolysis where alkali addition resulted in a reduced mass loss. These results are important for the future operation of torrefaction plants, which will likely be designed to handle various biomasses with significantly different contents of K. The results imply that shorter retention times are possible for high K-containing biomasses. The mass loss of spruce wood with different content of K was modeled using a two-step reaction model based on four kinetic rate constants. The results show that it is possible to model the mass loss of spruce wood doped with different levels of K using the same activation energies but different pre-exponential factors for the rate constants. Three of the pre-exponential factors increased linearly with increasing K content, while one of the preexponential factors decreased with increasing K content. Therefore, a new torrefaction model was formulated using the hemicellulose and cellulose content and K content. The new torrefaction model was validated against the mass loss during the torrefaction of aspen, miscanthus, straw and bark. There is good agreement between the model and the experimental data for the other biomasses, except bark. For bark, the mass loss of acetone extractable material is also needed to be taken into account. The new model can describe the kinetics of mass loss during torrefaction of different types of biomass. This is important for considering fuel flexibility in torrefaction plants.