BALANSED SCORECARDIN IMPLEMENTOINTI JA HYÖDYNTÄMINEN CASE: PROAGRIA ETELÄ-KARJALAN MAASEUTUKESKUS

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tutkia ProAgria Etelä-Karjalan Maaseutukeskuksen balanced scorecard -mittaristoa. Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin mittariston käyttöönottoprosessia muodostamispäätöksestä hyödyntämiseen. Tutkimusmetodologiaksi on valittu case-tutkimus. Teoriaosassa käsitellään strategista johtamista yleisesti ja asiantuntija- ja voittoa tavoittelemattomien organisaatioiden osalta sekä balanced scorecardin muodostumista, suorituskyvyn mittaamista ja mittariston käyttömahdollisuuksia. Tutkimuksen empiirisessä osassa analysoidaan Maaseutukeskuksen mittariston käyttöönottoprosessin nykytilaa ja esitetään tulosten perusteella muodostetut kehitysehdotukset. Tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan todeta, että Maaseutukeskuksen käyttöönottoprosessi ei ole sujunut odotusten mukaisesti, mutta strategian ja mittariston yhteyden selvittämisen jälkeen voi sisäistämisprosessi alkaa koko organisaation laajuudessa. Mittariston tavoitteiden mukainen hyödyntäminen vaatii koko henkilöstön sitoutumista strategiaan ja seuraamista henkilökohtaisten ja koko organisaation tavoitteiden toteutumista mittariston avulla.

Macroporous Scaffolds for Bone Engineering. Studies on Cell Culture and Ectopic Bone Formation

Bone engineering is a rapidly developing area of reconstructive medicine where bone inducing factors and/or cells are combined with a scaffold material to regenerate the structure and function of the original tissue. The aim of this study was to compare the suitability of different macroporous scaffold types for bone engineering applications. The two scaffold categories studied were a) the mechanically strong and stable titanium fiber meshes and b) the elastic and biodegradable porous polymers. Furthermore, bioactive modifications were applied to these basic scaffold types, and their effect on the osteogenic responses was evaluated in cell culture and ectopic bone formation studies. The osteogenic phenotype of cultured cell-scaffold constructs was heightened with a sol-gel derived titania coating, but not with a mixed titania-silica coating. The latter coating also resulted in delayed ectopic bone formation in bone marrow stromal cell seeded scaffolds. However, the better bone contact in early implantation times and more even bone tissue distribution at later times indicated enhanced osteoconductivity of both the coated scaffold types. Overall, the most promising bone engineering results were obtained with titania coated fiber meshes. Elastic and biodegradable poly(ε-caprolactone/D,L-lactide) based scaffolds were also developed in this study. The degradation rates of the scaffolds in vitro were governed by the hydrophilicity of the polymer matrix, and the porous architecture was controlled by the amount and type of porogen used. A continuous phase macroporosity was obtained using a novel CaCl2 • 6H2O porogen. Dynamic culture conditions increased cell invasion, but decreased cell numbers and osteogenicity, within the scaffolds. Osteogenic differentiation in static cultures and ectopic bone formation in cell seeded scaffolds were enhanced in composites, with 30 wt-% of bioactive glass filler.

Partnering in the Dynamic Environment: The Role of Trust in Asymmetric Technology Partnership Formation

The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of the role and nature of trust in asymmetric technology partnership formation. In the knowledge-based "learning race" knowledge is considered as a primary source for competitive advantage. In the emerging ICT sector the high pace of technological change, the convergence of technologies and industries as well as the increasing complexity and uncertainty have forced even the largest players to seek cooperation for complementary knowledge and capabilities. Small technology firms need the complementary resources and legitimacy of the large firms to grow and compete in the global market place. Most of the earlier research indicates, however, that partnerships with asymmetric size, managerial resources and cultures have failed. A basic assumption supported by earlier research was that trust is a critical factor in asymmetric technology partnership formation. Asymmetric technology partnership formation is a dynamic and multi-dimensional process, and consequently a holistic research approach was selected. Research issue was approached from different levels: the individual decision-maker, the firm and the relationship between the parties. Also the impact of the dynamic environment and technology content was analyzed. A multitheoretical approach and a qualitative research method with in-depth interviews in five large ICT companies and eight small ICT companies enabled a holistic and rich view of the research issue. Study contributes on the scarce understanding on the nature and evolution of trust in asymmetric technology partnership formation. It sheds also light on the specific nature of asymmetric technology partnerships. The partnerships were found to be tentative and the diverse strategic intent of small and large technology firms appeared as a major challenge. The role of the boundary spanner was highlighted as a possibility to match the incompatible organizational cultures. A shared vision was found to be a pre-condition for individual-based fast trust leading to intuitive decision-making and experimentation. The relationships were tentative and they were continuously re-evaluated through the key actors' sense making of the technology content, asymmetry and the dynamic environment. A multi-dimensional conceptualization for trust was created and propositions on the role and nature of trust for further research are given. The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of the role and nature of trust in asymmetric technology partnership formation. In the knowledge-based "learning race" knowledge is considered as a primary source for competitive advantage. In the emerging ICT sector the high pace of technological change, the convergence of technologies and industries as well as the increasing complexity and uncertainty have forced even the largest players to seek cooperation for complementary knowledge and capabilities. Small technology firms need the complementary resources and legitimacy of the large firms to grow and compete in the global market place. Most of the earlier research indicates, however, that partnerships with asymmetric size, managerial resources and cultures have failed. A basic assumption supported by earlier research was that trust is a critical factor in asymmetric technology partnership formation. Asymmetric technology partnership formation is a dynamic and multi-dimensional process, and consequently a holistic research approach was selected. Research issue was approached from different levels: the individual decision-maker, the firm and the relationship between the parties. Also the impact of the dynamic environment and technology content was analyzed. A multitheoretical approach and a qualitative research method with in-depth interviews in five large ICT companies and eight small ICT companies enabled a holistic and rich view of the research issue. Study contributes on the scarce understanding on the nature and evolution of trust in asymmetric technology partnership formation. It sheds also light on the specific nature of asymmetric technology partnerships. The partnerships were found to be tentative and the diverse strategic intent of small and large technology firms appeared as a major challenge. The role of the boundary spanner was highlighted as a possibility to match the incompatible organizational cultures. A shared vision was found to be a pre-condition for individual-based fast trust leading to intuitive decision-making and experimentation. The relationships were tentative and they were continuously re-evaluated through the key actors' sense making of the technology content, asymmetry and the dynamic environment. A multi-dimensional conceptualization for trust was created and propositions on the role and nature of trust for further research are given.

Reduction and Analysis Methods of Indigo

Throughout history indigo was derived from various plants for example Dyer’s Woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) in Europe. In the 19th century were the synthetic dyes developed and nowadays indigo is mainly synthesized from by-products of fossil fuels. Indigo is a so-called vat dye, which means that it needs to be reduced to its water soluble leucoform before dyeing. Nowadays, most of the industrial reduction is performed chemically by sodium dithionite. However, this is considered environmentally unfavourable because of waste waters contaminating degradation products. Therefore there has been interest to find new possibilities to reduce indigo. Possible alternatives for the application of dithionite as the reducing agent are biologically induced reduction and electrochemical reduction. Glucose and other reducing sugars have recently been suggested as possible environmentally friendly alternatives as reducing agents for sulphur dyes and there have also been interest in using glucose to reduce indigo. In spite of the development of several types of processes, very little is known about the mechanism and kinetics associated with the reduction of indigo. This study aims at investigating the reduction and electrochemical analysis methods of indigo and give insight on the reduction mechanism of indigo. Anthraquinone as well as it’s derivative 1,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone were discovered to act as catalysts for the glucose induced reduction of indigo. Anthraquinone introduces a strong catalytic effect which is explained by invoking a molecular “wedge effect” during co-intercalation of Na+ and anthraquinone into the layered indigo crystal. The study includes also research on the extraction of plant-derived indigo from woad and the examination of the effect of this method to the yield and purity of indigo. The purity has been conventionally studied spectrophotometrically and a new hydrodynamic electrode system is introduced in this study. A vibrating probe is used in following electrochemically the leuco-indigo formation with glucose as a reducing agent.

Power Consumption in Carbon Capture and Storage Systems (CCS) and Possibilities to Reduce Power Consumption with Variable Speed Drives

The aim of this master´s thesis is to study which processes increase the auxiliary power consumption in carbon capture and storage processes and if it is possible to reduce the auxiliary power consumption with variable speed drives. Also the cost of carbon capture and storage is studied. Data about auxiliary power consumption in carbon capture is gathered from various studies and estimates made by various research centres. Based on these studies a view is presented how the power auxiliary power consumption is divided between different processes in carbon capture processes. In a literary study, the operation of three basic carbon capture systems is described. Also different methods to transport carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide storage options are described in this section. At the end of the thesis processes that consume most of the auxiliary power are defined and possibilities to reduce the auxiliary power consumption are evaluated. Cost of carbon capture, transport and storage are also evaluated at this point and in the case that the carbon capture and storage systems are fully deployed. According to the results, it can be estimated what are the processes are where variable speed drives can be used and what kind of cost and power consumption reduction could be achieved. Results also show how large a project carbon capture and storage is if it is fully deployed.

Offering planning process development: Bridging the Offering Gaps and Consolidating Top Priority Needs in Product Offering

The aim of this Thesis is to study how to manage the front-end of the offering planning process. This includes actual process development and methods to gather and analyze information to achieve the best outcome in customer oriented product offering. Study is carried out in two parts: theoretical part and company related part. Theoretical framework is created introducing different types of approaches to manage product planning processes. Products are seen as platforms and they are broken down to subsystems to show different parts of the development. With the help of the matrix-based approaches product platform related information is gathered and analyzed. In this kind of analysis business/market drivers and cus-tomer/competitor information are connected with product subsystems. This gives possibilities to study product gaps/needs and possible future ideas/scenarios in different customer segments. Company related part consists of offering planning process development in real company environment. Process formation includes documents and tools that guide planning from the information gathering to the prioritization and decision making.

Commodity Price Driven Risk Management from Viewpoint of High Grade Steel Alloys

The study of price risk management concerning high grade steel alloys and their components was conducted. This study was focused in metal commodities, of which nickel, chrome and molybdenum were in a central role. Also possible hedging instruments and strategies for referred metals were studied. In the literature part main themes are price formation of Ni, Cr and Mo, the functioning of metal exchanges and main hedging instruments for metal commodities. This section also covers how micro and macro variables may affect metal prices from the viewpoint of short as well as longer time period. The experimental part consists of three sections. In the first part, multiple regression model with seven explanatory variables was constructed to describe price behavior of nickel. Results were compared after this with information created with comparable simple regression model. Additionally, long time mean price reversion of nickel was studied. In the second part, theoretical price of CF8M alloy was studied by using nickel, ferro-chrome and ferro-molybdenum as explanatory variables. In the last section, cross hedging possibilities for illiquid FeCr -metal was studied with five LME futures. Also this section covers new information concerning possible forthcoming molybdenum future contracts as well. The results of this study confirm, that linear regression models which are based on the assumption of market rationality, are not able to reliably describe price development of metals at issue. Models fulfilling assumptions for linear regression may though include useful information of statistical significant variables which have effect on metal prices. According to the experimental part, short futures were found to incorporate the most accurate information concerning the price movements in the future. However, not even 3M futures were able to predict turning point in the market before the faced slump. Cross hedging seemed to be very doubtful risk management strategy for illiquid metals, because correlations coefficients were found to be very sensitive for the chosen time span.

Business opportunities in power sector of Ukraine : focus small-scale hydro and wind power sectors

In the last few years, the Ukrainian investment market has constantly shown strong performance and significant growth. This is primarily due to the investment attractiveness of Ukraine. From the perspective of investments in energy sector, Ukraine can be described as a country providing significant number of opportunities to multiply invested funds. But there are numbers of risks which hamper large investments. The work objective was to discover opportunities in small-scale hydropower and wind power sectors of Ukraine and more importantly to prove economic expediency of such investments. Thesis covers major of issues, concerning entering the Ukrainian power market as a foreign investor. It provides basic information about the structure of power market, the state of renewables sector in Ukraine, development of power sector in the regions, functioning of Wholesale Electricity Market, formation of electricity prices, possibilities for implementing joint Implementation mechanism, while the most attention, nevertheless, is concentrated on the opportunities in small-scale hydro and wind power sectors. Theoretical part of the study disclosed that Crimea peninsula has perfect wind conditions and could be a prospective area for wind project development. Investment analysis revealed that project profits will be excellent if green tariff for renewable energy is adopted. By the moment uncertainties about green law adoption bring additional risk to the projects and complicate any investment decision.

Granulation tissue formation -The effect of hydroxyapatite coating of cellulose on cellular differentiation

Haavan jyväiskudoksen muodostuminen – Hydroksiapatiittipinnoi-tetun selluloosasienen vaikutus solujen erilaistumiseen paranemisprosessin aikana Etsittäessä uusia luun bioyhteensopivia täytemateriaaleja selluloosasieni päällystettiin luun koostumusta muistuttavalla runsaasti piitä sisältävällä hydroksiapatiittikerroksella. Vastoin odotuksia hydroksiapatiittipinnoitettu selluloosa ei parantanut luun kasvua, vaan päinvastoin ylläpiti tulehdusta ja sidekudossolujen hakeutumista vamma-alueelle. Ihon alle implantoituna sama sienimateriaali edisti merkittävästi haavan verekkään jyväiskudoksen kasvua. Tämän löydöksen perusteella hydroksiapatiittipinnoitetun selluloosasienen vaikutusta haavan soluihin paranemisprosessin aikana tutkittiin tarkemmin ja havaittiin, että tulehdussolujen lisäksi sieniin kertyi tavallista enemmän sekä hematopoieettisia että mesenkymaalisia kantasoluja. Hematopoieettiset kantasolut sijaitsevat luuytimessä lähellä luun sisäpintaa. Luun hydroksiapatiitista vapautuu kalsiumioneja luun jatkuvan fysiologisen uudismuodostuksen ja hajottamisen yhteydessä. Kantasolut etsiytyvät luuytimeen kalsiumia aistivien reseptorien välityksellä. Koska luun pintakerrosta muistuttavasta hydroksiapatiittipinnoitteesta vapautuu kalsiumia, tämän ajateltiin toimivan selityksenä sille, että hematopoieettiset kantasolut hakeutuvat runsaslukuisesti juuri hydroksiapatiittipinnoitettuihin selluloosasieniin. Tämän hypoteesin mukaisesti hydroksiapatiittipinnoitettujen selluloosapalkkien läheisyydestä löydettiin suuria määriä kalsiumreseptoreja sisältäviä soluja. Jatkotutkimuksissa todettiin lisäksi, että hematopoieettiset kantasolut pystyivät sienissä erilaistumaan hemoglobiinia tuottaviksi soluiksi. Havaittujen punasolulinjan merkkiaineiden perusteella näyttäisikin siltä, että haavan paranemiskudoksessa tapahtuu paranemisen aikana ekstramedullaarista erytropoieesia. Nämä soluja ohjaavat vaikutukset saattavat olla hyödyllisiä vaikeasti paranevien haavojen hoidossa.

Quasi-objects and actors in the web of belief. Formation of a national nuclear waste management system: the case of Finland

Paper presented in ISA RC23 meeting, Gothenburg July 16th 2010

Targeted Therapy Possibilities for Metastatic Melanoma

The incidence of malignant melanoma of the skin has been steadily rising worldwide during the past decades. Most early detected primary tumors can be removed surgically and the prognosis is good. However, at the same time there still is no permanent cure for metastatic melanoma and its prognosis is poor, although lately new effective drugs have emerged. In this thesis, four different approaches of experimental therapy for metastatic melanoma were studied. Endogenous cis-Urocanic acid (UCA) is found in every individual’s skin, where exposure to UV light from the sun generates it from its inactive trans conformation. Cis- UCA was found to destroy malignant melanoma cells in culture under an acidified pH and sufficient concentration through caspase-3 mediated apoptosis. Furthermore, cis-UCA is able to considerably diminish the growth rate in human melanoma tumors on living SCID mice. Using replication-competent Semliki Forest viruses, human melanoma tumors grown in SCID mice were dramatically shrunken as the fulminant production of viruses in melanoma cells leads them to apoptosis within 72 hours. Small oligopeptides attaching to melanoma cells were identified using in vivo phage display. The melanoma-specific peptides found were further tested in vitro on adenoviruses. Ultimately, the adenoviral retargeting using the peptides was tested in vivo. One peptide homed to human transferring receptor upregulated on melanoma cells. In order to kill the malignant melanoma cells with the retargeted adenoviruses, the viruses should carry genetic material producing apoptotic proteins in the cancer tissue. TIMP-3 has been identified as a good candidate for such a protein, as it inhibits malignant cell adhesion as well as promotes apoptosis through a caspase-8 pathway. It is further shown here that adenovirally delivered TIMP-3 is even more potent, as it could kill non-adherent cancer cells, lacking the fully functional death receptor signalling pathway. Adenovirally delivered TIMP-2 also showed marked antitumor effects in human malignant melanoma xenografts on SCID mice both in ex vivo and systemic delivery.

Effect of pulps fractionation on formation and strength properties of laboratory hand sheets

The objectives of the work were to study the effect of dewatering time varying on formation properties of papersheets, to determine the role of fines fraction in creation of paper with good formation and strength properties of papersheets, and also to study the effect of charge modification of fibers fractionations on formation properties of handsheets. The paper formation is one of the most important structural properties of paper. This property has effect on physical and optical characteristics of paper. In thi work the effect of formation on tensile strength was determined. The formation properties were analyzed by using the AMBERTEC Beta Formation Tester. The PAM addition as a f;locculant agent did some changes in the formation of paper. Paper sheets were also made from different furnishes of both birch and pine pulps. The fibers particles as a fines have great effect on drainability changes. Fines fraction played important role in papermaking. The two kinds of pulps (pine and birch pulps) were also used in this work for investigation of fines role. As it was expected the fines fraction gave positive effect on paper formation, but when fines fraction was added above initial fines content the formation of paper was deteriorated. The effect of paper formation on tensile strength was also determined. In many cases the poor formation of paper had negative effect on strength properties of paper..