But in this twilight our choices seal our fate : the interplay autonomy and dignity in defining the international legal response to the beginning of life

Tutkielman aiheena on kansainvälisen oikeuden kysymys elämän alkamisesta ja elämän alkamisen ajankohdasta. Tutkielma lähestyy aihetta Yhdistyneiden kansakuntien lasten oikeuksien sopimuksen kolmannen lisäpöytäkirjan valossa. Astuessaan voimaan lisäpöytäkirja tulee mahdollistamaan yksilövalitusten käsittelyn erillisessä ihmisoikeuskomiteassa. Koska lasten oikeuksien sopimus jättää määrittelemättä elämän alkamisen ajankohdan, tutkielman perushypoteesina on, miten tuleva komitea ratkaisisi lasten oikeuksien sopimukseen jääneen jännitteen. Tämän hypoteesin ohella tutkielmaa suuntaa olettamus elämän alun määrittymisestä pitkälti oikeusperiaatteisiin rinnastuvien autonomian ja ihmisarvon käsitteiden kautta. Tutkielma lähestyy aihettaan sekä oikeuskäytännön että -kirjallisuuden valossa, sitoutumatta sen tarkemmin mihinkään yksittäiseen oikeustieteelliseen tutkimusmetodiin. Oikeuskäytännön kohdalla tarkastelu perustuu pääosin länsimaisten ylimpien oikeuksien antamille tuomioille kysymyksissä, jotka liittyvät elämän alkamisen tematiikkaan. Tämän ohella, rajatummin, käsitellään pohjoismaista elämän alun sääntelyä. Oikeuskäytännön sekä säädösten tarkastelun keskiössä on ennen kaikkea oikeudellinen argumentaatio sekä esiintuodun argumentaation jännitteisyys. Oikeuskäytännön pohjalta muotoutuu moniääninen ja usein kontekstisidonnainen kuva elämän alusta. Tämän oikeudellisen moniäänisyyden analyysi muodostaa tutkielman keskeisen sisällön. Autonomian ja ihmisarvon käsitteiden merkitystä oikeuskäytännön ja säädösten arvioinnille perustellaan tutkimuksessa yhtäältä niiden merkityksellä tuomioistuinten argumentaatiossa toisaalta periaatteiden saamalla tuella oikeustieteellisessä kirjallisuudessa. Tutkielma suhtautuu kriittisesti autonomian ja ihmisarvon käsitteisiin. Kriittisen luennan tarkoituksena on paljastaa oikeudellisen argumentaation sumeus ja sumeuden oikeudelliselle tulkinnalle aiheuttama epävarmuus. Tulkinnan epävarmuuden seurauksena myös vastaus elämän alulle näyttäytyy tutkielmassa ristiriitaisena ja osin perustelemattomana. Tutkielman keskeinen tulos on ennen kaikkea oikeuden jännitteiden tunnistamisessa sen lähestyessä elämän alun määrittelyä. Tutkielman tulosten pohjalta on mahdollista pyrkiä löytämään muotoutumassa olevan kansainvälisen oikeuden vastaus elämän alulle. Tuon vastauksen vakaus, perusteltavuus ja pysyvyys riippuvat siitä, miten onnistuneesti oikeudellinen argumentaatio kykenee yhdistämään yksilön autonomisen oikeuden päättää elämästään kollektiivin intressiin ylläpitää elämää.

The early activities of front end of innovation in oem companies using a new fei platform as a framework for renewal

The main goal of this study is to create a seamless chain of actions and more detailed structure to the front end of innovation to be able to increase the front end performance and finally to influence the renewal of companies. The main goal is achieved through by the new concept of an integrated model of early activities of FEI leading to a discovery of new elements of opportunities and the identification of new business and growth areas. The procedure offers one possible solution to a dynamic strategy formation process in innovation development cycle. In this study the front end of innovation is positioned between a strategy reviews and a concept creation with needed procedures, tools, and frameworks. The starting point of the study is that the origins of innovation are not well enough understood. The study focuses attention on the early activities of FEI. These first activities are conceptualized in order to find out successful innovation initiatives and strategic renewal agendas. A seamless chain of activities resulting in faster and more precise identification of opportunities and growth areas available on markets and inside companies is needed. Three case studies were conducted in order to study company views on available theory doctrine and to identify the first practical experiences and procedures in the beginning of the front end of innovation. Successful innovation requires focus on renewal in both internal and external directions and they should be carefully balanced for best results. Instead of inside-out mode of actions the studied companies have a strong outside-in thinking mode and they mainly co-develop their innovation initiatives in close proximity with customers i.e. successful companies are an integral part of customers business and success. Companies have tailor-made innovation processes combined their way of working linked to their business goals, and priorities of actual needs of transformation. The result of this study is a new modular FEI platform which can be configured by companies against their actual business needs and drivers. This platform includes new elements of FEI documenting an architecture presenting how the system components work together. The system is a conceptual approach from theories of emergent strategy formation, opportunity identification and creation, interpretation-analysis-experimentation triad and the present FEI theories. The platform includes new features compared to actual models of FEI. It allows managers to better understand the importance of FEI in the whole innovation development stage and FEI as a phase and procedure to discover and implement emergent strategy. An adaptable company rethinks and redirects strategy proactively from time to time. Different parts of the business model are changed to remove identified obstacles for growth and renewal which gives them avenues to find right reforms for renewal.

Effects of life cycle profits on the profitability of industrial heavy duty cranes

The goal of the thesis was to investigate how much after-sales profits a crane sale generates over the life cycle of the crane and the effects of these after-sales profits on the overall profitability of the crane. The thesis utilizes theories about life cycle costing from an equipment and service supplier’s point of view. However, instead of costs, the thesis is focused on the life cycle after-sales profits from maintenance services and spare parts provided for the sold crane. The case study approach was chosen and a total of five cranes from three different segments were investigated. An eight-step life cycle profit calculation model was developed in order to analyze the chosen cases’ life cycle profits systematically. The results of the investigation suggest that the life cycle after-sales profits are significant in value. In the case analyses they accounted for between 20% and 44% of the overall life cycle profits of the case cranes. The after-sales profits should be taken into account already in the pricing when offering a crane to a customer.

Psychological well-being of the parents and child development, behavior, and quality of life in very low birth weight infants

The parents of premature infants, especially the mothers, are at increased risk for distress. Infants born prematurely are at risk for developmental problems. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the psychological well-being of both parents is associated with child development in very low birth weight (VLBW, ≤1500g) children. The burden of prematurity-related morbidity to the children and to the family was also assessed. A cohort of 201 VLBW infants born during 2001–2006 in the Turku University Hospital, Finland, and their parents were studied (I–IV). One study included a control group (n=166) of full-term infants (IV). The psychological well-being of the parents was evaluated by assessments of depressive symptoms, parenting stress, the sense of coherence and general family functioning. Cognitive, behavioral, and socio-emotional development, and the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of the children were determined when the children were 2 to 8 years old. The psychological well-being of the parents was associated with the cognitive, behavioral and social development of the VLBW children. The VLBW infants with prematurity-related morbidities had a poorer HRQoL and the general functioning of the family was inferior compared to the control children and their families. 64.5% of the VLBW children survived without morbidities. Most of the VLBW children did not have significant behavior problems (93%), had normal social skills (63%), had no emotional problems (64%), and had no problems in executive functioning (62%). Only 3% of the surviving VLBW infants had significant cognitive delay. In conclusion, the depressive symptoms and stress of the parents can be risk factors for disadvantageous child development, while a strong sense of coherence can be protective. Parents of the premature children with developmental delays might also experience more depressive symptoms and stress than other parents. Prematurity-related morbidities were a burden to the VLBW child as well as to the family.

Developing asset management in district heating and cooling business in a large energy company

The purpose of this Master´s Thesis is to develop asset management and its practices in case company. District heating and cooling systems operated by case company around Finland, Sweden, Poland and the Baltics form an enormous-sized asset base where some parts are starting to reach their end of life-cycles. Large-sized asset renewal actions are under discussion and maintenance spending is increasing. Financially justified decisions in changing business environment are needed. Asset management is one of the most important concepts for production organization which operates with capital-intensive production assets. Organizations profitability is highly dependent on assets´ performance. Such assets, like district heating and cooling systems, should be utilized as efficiently as possible within their life-cycles but also maintained and renewed optimally. In this qualitative thesis, empirical interview study was conducted to describe the current situation on how the assets are managed in the case company and to examine the readiness to implement a new, risk-based solution. Asset management revealed to be a very well-known concept. From proposed risk-based asset management point of view, several key observations were made. It was seen as a suitable solution, but further development will be needed. Based on the need and findings, several key processes and frameworks were created and also tested with a case study. Assets` condition monitoring should be improved, which would have a positive impact on event probability assessment. Risk acceptance is also a thing to be discussed further. When the evaluation becomes fluent in single investment cases, portfolio-level expansion should be considered and started. As a result, thesis proposes a solution how risk-based asset management could be performed practically in a capital-intensive case company in order to optimize the maintenance spending in a long run. Created practical framework is made universal: similar principles can be applied into multiple cases in case company but also in other energy companies. Risk-based asset management`s benefits could be utilized best in portfolio-level optimization where the capital would be invested to the most important objects from total risk point of view. Eventually, such approach would allow case company to optimize capital spending in a situation where funds are not adequate to cover all the mandatory needs and prioritization between the investment alternatives will truly be needed.

Performance Degradation Modelling and Techno-Economic Analysis of Lithium-Ion Battery Energy Storage Systems

Transmission system operators and distribution system operators are experiencing new challenges in terms of reliability, power quality, and cost efficiency. Although the potential of energy storages to face those challenges is recognized, the economic implications are still obscure, which introduce the risk into the business models. This thesis aims to investigate the technical and economic value indicators of lithium-ion battery energy storage systems (BESS) in grid-scale applications. In order to do that, a comprehensive performance lithium-ion BESS model with degradation effects estimation is developed. The model development process implies literature review on lifetime modelling, use, and modification of previous study progress, building the additional system parts and integrating it into a complete tool. The constructed model is capable of describing the dynamic behavior of the BESS voltage, state of charge, temperature and capacity loss. Five control strategies for BESS unit providing primary frequency regulation are implemented, in addition to the model. The questions related to BESS dimensioning and the end of life (EoL) criterion are addressed. Simulations are performed with one-month real frequency data acquired from Fingrid. The lifetime and cost-benefit analysis of the simulation results allow to compare and determine the preferable control strategy. Finally, the study performs the sensitivity analysis of economic profitability with variable size, EoL and system price. The research reports that BESS can be profitable in certain cases and presents the recommendations.