Governmental Measures to Enhance the Finnish Innovation System to Respond to the Challenge of Mitigating Climate Change

Climate innovations, that cover both technological applications and process and service innovations, play a key role in climate change mitigation. The purpose of this study was to examine how the Finnish innovation system could be enhanced with governmental measures so that the diffusion of climate innovations could be speeded up. During the study, it became evident that the governmental measures need to support the whole innovation chain, which comprises of research, development, demonstration and deployment. Only this can lead to the successful birth and diffusion of low carbon innovations. The study found that the strengths of the Finnish innovation system are research and development, and the current national innovation policies strongly support these activities. However, these have been emphasised at the expense of the demonstration and deployment. Consequently, the biggest bottlenecks in the Finnish innovation landscape are the lack of pilot and demonstration projects and slow commercialisation, thus the high price of the innovation. To meet with the challenge, the government should firstly promote strict greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. This would boost up the innovation activities, which would also lower the prices of the innovations. To speed up the commercialisation process, measures that stimulate the domestic market, such as feed-in-tariffs and public procurements, are needed. Special attention should also be paid to the measures that could shift the traditional closed innovation chain towards open innovation. This means that the product development should involve experts from several fields such as the user and marketing experts to speed up the commercialisation. In addition, efficient innovation co-operation between both private and public sector is essential. Finally, as the domestic resources are not adequate for producing all the innovations needed, the domestic innovation activities should be focused on a few sectors, and at the same time promote efficient import policies.

Foodstuffs and medicines as legal categories in the EU and China. Functional foods as a borderline case

The thesis discusses the regulation of foodstuffs and medicines, and particularly the regulation of functional foods. Legal systems investigated are the EU and China. Both are members of the WTO and Codex Alimentarius, which binds European and Chinese rules together. The study uses three Chinese berries as case examples of how product development faces regulation in practice. The berries have traditional uses as herbal medicines. Europe and China have similar nutrition problems to be resolved, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. The three berries might be suitable raw materials for functional foods. Consumer products with health-enhancing functions, such as lowering blood pressure, might legally be classifi ed either as foodstuffs or medicines. The classifi cation will depend on functions and presentation of the product. In our opinion, food and medicine regulation should come closer together so the classifi cation issue would no longer be an issue. Safety of both foodstuffs and medicines is strictly regulated. With medicines, safety is a more relative concept, where benefi ts of the product are compared to side-effects in thorough scientifi c tests and trials. Foods, on the other hand, are not allowed to have side-effects. Hygiene rules and rules on the use of chemicals apply. In China, food safety is currently at focus as China has had several severe food scandals. Newly developed foods are called novel foods, and are specifi cally regulated. The current European novel food regulation from 1997 treats traditional third country products as novel. The Chinese regulation of 2007 also defi nes novel foods as something unfamiliar to a Chinese consumer. The concepts of novel food thus serve a protectionist purpose. As regards marketing, foods are allowed to bear health claims, whereas medicines bear medicinal claims. The separation is legally strict: foods are not to be presented as having medicinal functions. European nutrition and health claim regulation exists since 2006. China also has its regulation on health foods, listing the permitted claims and how to substantiate them. Health claims are allowed only on health foods. The European rules on medicines include separate categories for herbal medicines, traditional herbal medicines, and homeopathic medicines, where there are differing requirements for scientifi c substantiation. The scientifi c and political grounds for the separate categories provoke criticism. At surface, the Chinese legal system seems similar to the European one. To facilitate trade, China has enacted modern laws. Laws are needed as the country moves from planned economy to market economy: ‘rule of law’ needs to replace ‘rule of man’. Instead of being citizens, Chinese people long were subordinates to the Emperor. Confucius himself advised to avoid confl ict. Still, Chinese people do not and cannot always trust the legal system, as laws are enforced in an inconsistent manner, and courts are weak. In China, there have been problems with confl icting national and local laws. In Europe, the competence of the EU vs. the competence of the Member States is still not resolved, even though the European Commission often states that free trade requires harmonisation. Food and medicine regulation is created by international organisations, food and medicine control agencies, standards agencies, companies and their organisations. Regulation can be divided in ‘hard law’ and ‘soft law’. One might claim that hard law is in crisis, as soft law is gaining importance. If law is out of fashion, regulation certainly isn’t. In the future, ‘law’ might mean a process where rules and incentives are created by states, NGOs, companies, consumers, and other stakeholders. ‘Law’ might thus refer to a constant negotiation between public and private actors. Legal principles such as transparency, equal treatment, and the right to be heard would still be important.

Sähköinen jakokirja

Varhaisjakelu ja lehdenjakajan työ on muuttumassa yhä monipuolisemmaksi ja vaikeammin hallittavaksi. Uusien haasteiden myötä vanha paperinen jakokirja kaipaa päivitystä. Sähköisen jakokirjan sekä uudenlaisen jakelun osapuolten välisen viestinvälitysjärjestelmän käyttöönotto helpottaisi, ja nopeuttaisi jakajan jokaöistä työtä. Sähköisen jakokirjan kehityksen jarruna on ollut kannettavien päätelaitteiden kehittymättömyys sekä niiden käytön ongelmat. Sanomalehdenjakajan fyysisesti raskas työ ja kuluttava työympäristö asettavat tiukat vaatimukset käytettävälle sähköisen jakokirjan kannettavalle päätelaitteelle. Tässä diplomityössä toteutetaan automaattisesti päivittyvä sekä helposti muokattavissa oleva sähköinen jakokirja. Sen yhteyteen toteutetaan jakajalle ja jakelupäivystäjälle työympäristöt sekä viestinvälitysjärjestelmä. Lisäksi tutkitaan varhaisjakelua ja sen järjestelmiä, lehdenjakajan työtä sekä erilaisia olemassa olevia jakokirjoja. Diplomityön lopussa kartoitetaan kehitetyn sähköisen jakokirjan jatkokehitystä sekä pohditaan vaihtoehtoja tulevaisuuden sähköiseksi jakokirjaksi. Työn tuloksena on kehitetty jakelujärjestelmä, jota sanomalehdenjakaja ja jakelupäivystäjä käyttävät matkapuhelimella, ja tietokoneella Internetin kautta. Tämän jakelujärjestelmän osana toimivan sähköisen jakokirjan testauksen tulokset olivat jatkokehitystä, ja käyttöönottoa ajatellen erittäin positiiviset.

Yhtiöittämisen näkyminen työtyytyväisyydessä muutosprosessin eri vaiheissa

Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan kunnallisten toimintojen muuttamista osakeyhtiömuotoon eli yhtiöittämistä henkilöstön työtyytyväisyyden näkökulmasta. Kyseessä on tapaustutkimus, jossa ilmiötä kuvataan tyypillisten tapausten avulla. Tarkastelun kohteena on neljä Lappeenranta-konserniin kuuluvaa osakeyhtiötä, joiden omistaja on Lappeenrannan kaupunki. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin puolistrukturoiduilla teemahaastatteluilla. Tutkimus on tehty Lappeenrannan kaupungin tarkastuslautakunnan toimeksiannosta. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että työtyytymättömyyttä aiheuttavat liiallinen työn määrä, johtaminen, tiukka omistajaohjaus, riittämätön tiedottaminen sekä useat peräkkäiset muutokset. Työtyytyväisyyden pääasiallinen tuottaja on haasteelliset ja mielekkäät työtehtävät, jotka tarjoavat onnistumisen mahdollisuuksia sekä hyvä yhteishenki työpaikalla. Myös yksilön omalla asennoitumisella muutoksiin on ratkaiseva merkitys muutoksista selviytymisessä ja siten työtyytyväisyydessä.

Customized agile development process for embedded software development

Agile software development has grown in popularity starting from the agile manifesto declared in 2001. However there is a strong belief that the agile methods are not suitable for embedded, critical or real-time software development, even though multiple studies and cases show differently. This thesis will present a custom agile process that can be used in embedded software development. The reasons for presumed unfitness of agile methods in embedded software development have mainly based on the feeling of these methods providing no real control, no strict discipline and less rigor engineering practices. One starting point is to provide a light process with disciplined approach to the embedded software development. Agile software development has gained popularity due to the fact that there are still big issues in software development as a whole. Projects fail due to schedule slips, budget surpassing or failing to meet the business needs. This does not change when talking about embedded software development. These issues are still valid, with multiple new ones rising from the quite complex and hard domain the embedded software developers work in. These issues are another starting point for this thesis. The thesis is based heavily on Feature Driven Development, a software development methodology that can be seen as a runner up to the most popular agile methodologies. The FDD as such is quite process oriented and is lacking few practices considered commonly as extremely important in agile development methodologies. In order for FDD to gain acceptance in the software development community it needs to be modified and enhanced. This thesis presents an improved custom agile process that can be used in embedded software development projects with size varying from 10 to 500 persons. This process is based on Feature Driven Development and by suitable parts to Extreme Programming, Scrum and Agile Modeling. Finally this thesis will present how the new process responds to the common issues in the embedded software development. The process of creating the new process is evaluated at the retrospective and guidelines for such process creation work are introduced. These emphasize the agility also in the process development through early and frequent deliveries and the team work needed to create suitable process.

Introduktionen av kärnkraften i Finland

Finlands industri har av tradition varit starkt energikrävande. Träförädlingsindustrin, som fick sin egentliga start i medlet på 1800-talet, använde stora mängder energi liksom metallförädlingsföretagen i ett senare skede. Krigstiden med sin energiransonering visade handgripligen för allmänheten liksom för specialisterna att en tillräcklig tillgång till energi är ett livsvillkor för vår industri och därmed för vårt land. Efterkrigstiden kännetecknades av en allt snabbare utbyggnad av den på vatten- och ångkraft baserade elkraftskapaciteten, en utbyggnad som den inhemska verkstadsindustrin i stor utsträckning deltog i. Men redan på 1950-talet var vattenkraften till stor del utbyggd, varför den privata såväl som den statliga sektorns intresse allt mera inriktade sig på den speciellt i USA favoriserade atomenergin. Efter fördjupade studier i kärnfysik och kärnteknik vid the International School of Nuclear Science and Engineering i USA deltog författaren av dessa rader intensivt (först som Ahlströmanställd och senare som VD för Finnatom) i den utvecklingsverksamhet inom det kärntekniska området som inte bara elproducenterna utan även verkstadsindustrin i vårt land genomförde. Det var därför naturligt för mig att som objekt för min doktorsavhandling välja introduktionen av kärnkraften i Finland med speciell fokus på den inhemska verkstadsindustrins roll. Jag ställde följande forskningsfrågor: a. När och hur skedde introduktionen av kärnkraften i Finland? b. Vilka var orsakerna till och resultatet av denna introduktion? c. Vilken var den inhemska verkstadsindustrins roll? Ett grundligt studium av litteraturen inklusive mötesprotokoll och tidningsreferat samt personligen genomförda intervjuer med ett trettiotal av de verkliga aktörerna i den långa och komplicerade introduktionsprocessen ledde till en teori, vars riktighet jag anser mig ha kunnat bevisa. Den inhemska verkstadsindustrins roll var synnerligen central. Dess representanter lyckades, bl.a. refererande till erfarenheterna från utbyggnaden av vatten- och ångkraften liksom till byggandet av den underkritiska milan YXP samt forskningsreaktorn TRIGA, övertyga beslutsfattarna om att den besatt nödig kompetens för att kompensera den kompetensbrist som kunde iakttas inom vissa områden hos den sovjetiska kärnkraftverksleverantören. De inhemska leveranserna påverkade även driftsresultatet, speciellt i fallet Lovisa, i positiv riktning. Introduktionsprocessen, som omfattade tiden från slutet av 1950-talet till början på 1980-talet, beskrevs, noterande bl.a. J. W. Creswells anvisningar, i detalj i avhandlingen. Introduktionen fick som resultat konkurrenskraftig elkraft, impuls till start av nya företag, exempelvis Nokia Elektronik, liksom en klar höjning av den tekniska nivån hos vår industri, inkluderande kärnteknisk tillverkning i stor skala. Katastrofen i Tjernobyl i slutet av april 1986 innebar emellertid att utvecklingen tog en paus på ett par decennier. Erfarenheterna från introduktionsfasen kan förhoppningsvis utnyttjas till fullo nu, när utbyggnaden av kärnkraften återupptagits i vårt land.

Carbohydrate intake in children - associations with dietary intakes, growth, serum lipids,and dental health. The STRIP Project

This study is part of the STRIP study, which is a long-term, randomized controlled trial, designed to decrease the exposure of children in the intervention group (n=540) to known risk factors of atherosclerosis. The main focus of the intervention was the quality of dietary fat. The control group (n=522) did not receive any individualized counselling. Food consumption was evaluated with food records, and blood samples were drawn and growth was measured regularly for all participating children from 13 months to 9 years. A subsample of 66 children participated in a dental health survey. The number of studies on children’s carbohydrate intake, especially fibre intake, is insufficient. The current international recommendations for fibre intake in children are based on average assumptions and data extrapolated from intakes in adults and intake recommendations for adults. Finnish nutrition recommendations lack strict recommendations for dietary fibre in children. Due to fibre’s high bulk volume, excessive dietary fibre is considered to decrease energy density and hence it may have an adverse effect on growth. If fats are reduced from the diet, the low-fat diet may become high in sucrose. Therefore, especially in the STRIP study, it is important to determine the use of fibre and sucrose in children and possible associations with growth and nutrition as well as dental health. The results of the present study indicate that a high fibre intake does not displace energy or disturb growth in children and that children with high fibre intake have better quality of diet than those with low fibre intake. Additionally, dietary fibre intake associated inversely with serum cholesterol concentration. Other carbohydrates also affected serum lipid levels as well, since total carbohydrates, sucrose, and fructose increased serum triglyceride concentration. Total carbohydrate intake reduced HDL cholesterol concentration only in children with apoE3 or apoE4 phenotype. Over the period from the 1970s to the 1990s the dental health of children in Finland has substantially improved despite an increase in sucrose intake. The improvement was thought to be due to improved dental hygiene and the use of fluorine. However, during the past twenty years improvement in dental health has stopped. The present study showed that high long-term sugar intake increases risk of caries in children. High intake of sugar had also negative effects on the diet of children, because it worsens dietary quality by displacing essential nutrients. Furthermore, the quality of dietary fat was worse in children with high sucrose intake. In this study the children’s high sucrose intake was not associated with overweight, but interestingly, it associated inversely with growth.

First dice your dill – new methods and techniques in sample handling

This book is dedicated to celebrate the 60th birthday of Professor Rainer Huopalahti. Professor Rainer “Repe” Huopalahti has had, and in fact is still enjoying a distinguished career in the analysis of food and food related flavor compounds. One will find it hard to make any progress in this particular field without a valid and innovative sample handling technique and this is a field in which Professor Huopalahti has made great contributions. The title and the front cover of this book honors Professor Huopahti’s early steps in science. His PhD thesis which was published on 1985 is entitled “Composition and content of aroma compounds in the dill herb, Anethum graveolens L., affected by different factors”. At that time, the thesis introduced new technology being applied to sample handling and analysis of flavoring compounds of dill. Sample handling is an essential task that in just about every analysis. If one is working with minor compounds in a sample or trying to detect trace levels of the analytes, one of the aims of sample handling may be to increase the sensitivity of the analytical method. On the other hand, if one is working with a challenging matrix such as the kind found in biological samples, one of the aims is to increase the selectivity. However, quite often the aim is to increase both the selectivity and the sensitivity. This book provides good and representative examples about the necessity of valid sample handling and the role of the sample handling in the analytical method. The contributors of the book are leading Finnish scientists on the field of organic instrumental analytical chemistry. Some of them are also Repe’ s personal friends and former students from the University of Turku, Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry. Importantly, the authors all know Repe in one way or another and are well aware of his achievements on the field of analytical chemistry. The editorial team had a great time during the planning phase and during the “hard work editorial phase” of the book. For example, we came up with many ideas on how to publish the book. After many long discussions, we decided to have a limited edition as an “old school hard cover book” – and to acknowledge more modern ways of disseminating knowledge by publishing an internet version of the book on the webpages of the University of Turku. Downloading the book from the webpage for personal use is free of charge. We believe and hope that the book will be read with great interest by scientists working in the fascinating field of organic instrumental analytical chemistry. We decided to publish our book in English for two main reasons. First, we believe that in the near future, more and more teaching in Finnish Universities will be delivered in English. To facilitate this process and encourage students to develop good language skills, it was decided to be published the book in English. Secondly, we believe that the book will also interest scientists outside Finland – particularly in the other member states of the European Union. The editorial team thanks all the authors for their willingness to contribute to this book – and to adhere to the very strict schedule. We also want to thank the various individuals and enterprises who financially supported the book project. Without that support, it would not have been possible to publish the hardcover book.

Post-industrial 2.0 – Social Web as the second coming of the post-industrial society

This study presents a review of theories of the so-called post-industrial society, and proposes that the concept of post-industrial society can be used to understand the recent developments of the World Wide Web, often described as Web 2.0 or social Web. The study combines theories ranging from post-war management science and cultural studies to software development, and tries to build a holistic view of the development of the post-industrial society, and especially the Internet. The discourse on the emergence of a post-industrial society after the World Wars has addressed the ways in which the growing importance of information, and innovations in digital communications technology, are changing our society. It is furthermore deeply connected with the discourse on the postmodern society, which emphasizes cultural fragmentation, intertextuality, and pluralism. The Internet age is characterized by increasing masses of information that are managed through various technologies. While 1990s Internet technologies often used the network as a traditional broadcasting channel with added interactivity, Web 2.0 technologies are specifically designed to utilize the network model by facilitating communication between various services and devices, and analyzing the relationships between users and objects in order to produce intelligent insight. The wide adoption of the Internet, and recently of Internet-enabled mobile devices, is furthermore continuously producing new ways of communicating, consuming, and producing. Applications of the social Web, such as social media or social networking services, are permanently changing our traditional social, cultural, and economic practices. The study first presents an overview of the post-industrial society, the Internet, and the concept of Web 2.0. Then the concept of social Web is described with an analysis of the term social media, the brief histories of the interactive Web and social networking services, and a description of the concept ―long tail‖, used to represent the masses of information available in the Web that do not receive mainstream attention. Finally, methods for retrieving and filtering information, modeling social and cultural relationships, and communicating with customers, are presented.

Nettipohjainen voimalaitosratkaisujen hinta-arviojärjestelmä

Työn tarkoitus on suunnitella ja toteuttaa nettipohjainen voimalaitosratkaisujen hinta-arviojärjestelmä Savonia Power Oy:n käyttöön. Järjestelmän tarkoitus on automatisoida voimalaitosratkaisujen tunnuslukujen laskeminen asiakkaan antamien alkuarvojen pohjalta ja tallentaa mahdollinen yhteydenottopyyntö. Järjestelmän vaatimuksina ovat laskentakaavojen helppo päivitettävyys, kaavojen automaattinen hakeminen Excel 2007–muotoisesta tiedostosta ja asiakasrajapinnan nettipohjaisuus. Työ jakaantuu kahteen osaan. Teoriaosassa selvitetään työssä käytettyjen tekniikoiden taustaa ja selvitetään Microsoftin OOXML-tiedostomuodon rakenne työssä vaadittavin osin. Käytännön osassa suunnitellaan ja osin toteutetaan valmis järjestelmä käyttäen PHP-kieltä, XML-määrittelykieltä ja MySQL-tietokantaa. Suurimmat haasteet järjestelmän toteutuksessa ovat laskentakaavojen parsiminen Excel-tiedostosta ilman sen sisällön tiukkaa rajoittamista tiettyihin raameihin ja järjestelmän helppo päivitys saaduilla laskentakaavoilla. Työn lopputuloksena on toimiva, muttei viimeistelty järjestelmä sekä tämä dokumentti. Työn suurin merkitys tulee olemaan edellä mainittujen suunnitteluhaasteiden selvittäminen, sekä valmis ohjelmarunko yleiseen käyttöön otetulle järjestelmälle.

Performance and scalability of isolated DC-DC converter topologies in low voltage, high current applications

Fuel cells are a promising alternative for clean and efficient energy production. A fuel cell is probably the most demanding of all distributed generation power sources. It resembles a solar cell in many ways, but sets strict limits to current ripple, common mode voltages and load variations. The typically low output voltage from the fuel cell stack needs to be boosted to a higher voltage level for grid interfacing. Due to the high electrical efficiency of the fuel cell, there is a need for high efficiency power converters, and in the case of low voltage, high current and galvanic isolation, the implementation of such converters is not a trivial task. This thesis presents galvanically isolated DC-DC converter topologies that have favorable characteristics for fuel cell usage and reviews the topologies from the viewpoint of electrical efficiency and cost efficiency. The focus is on evaluating the design issues when considering a single converter module having large current stresses. The dominating loss mechanism in low voltage, high current applications is conduction losses. In the case of MOSFETs, the conduction losses can be efficiently reduced by paralleling, but in the case of diodes, the effectiveness of paralleling depends strongly on the semiconductor material, diode parameters and output configuration. The transformer winding losses can be a major source of losses if the windings are not optimized according to the topology and the operating conditions. Transformer prototyping can be expensive and time consuming, and thus it is preferable to utilize various calculation methods during the design process in order to evaluate the performance of the transformer. This thesis reviews calculation methods for solid wire, litz wire and copper foil winding losses, and in order to evaluate the applicability of the methods, the calculations are compared against measurements and FEM simulations. By selecting a proper calculation method for each winding type, the winding losses can be predicted quite accurately before actually constructing the transformer. The transformer leakage inductance, the amount of which can also be calculated with reasonable accuracy, has a significant impact on the semiconductor switching losses. Therefore, the leakage inductance effects should also be taken into account when considering the overall efficiency of the converter. It is demonstrated in this thesis that although there are some distinctive differences in the loss distributions between the converter topologies, the differences in the overall efficiency can remain within a range of a few percentage points. However, the optimization effort required in order to achieve the high efficiencies is quite different in each topology. In the presence of practical constraints such as manufacturing complexity or cost, the question of topology selection can become crucial.

Design of salient pole PM synchronous machines for a vehicle traction application – Analysis and

This doctoral thesis presents a study on the development of a liquid-cooled frame salient pole permanent-magnet-exited traction machine for a four-wheel-driven electric car. The emphasis of the thesis is put on a radial flux machine design in order to achieve a light-weight machine structure for traction applications. The design features combine electromagnetic and thermal design methods, because traction machine operation does not have a strict operating point. Arbitrary load cycles and the flexible supply require special attention in the design process. It is shown that accurate modelling of the machine magnetic state is essential for high-performance operation. The saturation effect related to the cross-saturation has to be taken carefully into account in order to achieve the desired operation. Two prototype machines have been designed and built for testing: one totally enclosed machine with a special magnet module pole arrangement and another through-ventilated machine with a more traditional embedded magnet structure. Both structures are built with magnetically salient structures in order to increase the torque production capability with the reluctance torque component. Both machine structures show potential for traction usage. However, the traditional embedded magnet design turns out to be mechanically the more secure one of these two machine options.

Two-Photon Excited Fluorescence Detection Technology in Screening for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Control of the world-wide spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been unsuccessful in most developed countries. A few countries have been able to maintain a low MRSA prevalence, plausibly due to their strict MRSA control policies. Such policies require wide-scale screening of patients with suspected MRSA colonization, in order to nurse the MRSA-positive patients in contact isolation. The aim of this study was to develop and introduce a 2-photon excited fluorescence detection (TPX) technique for screening of MRSA directly from clinical samples. The assay principle involves specific online immunometric monitoring of S. aureus growth under selective antibiotic pressure. After the novel TPX approach had been set up, its applicability for the detection of MRSA was evaluated using a large MRSA collection including practically all epidemic MRSA strains identified in Finland between 1991 and 2009. The TPX assay was found both sensitive (97.9%) and specific (94.1%) in this epidemiological setting, illustrating that the method is tolerant to wide biological variation as well as to environments with rapidly emerging MRSA strains. When MRSA was screened directly from colonization samples, all patients positive for MRSA by conventional methods were positive also by the TPX assay. The assay capacity was 48 samples per a test run, and the median time required for confirmation of a true-positive screening test result was 3 h 26 min. Collectively, the findings presented in this thesis suggest that the TPX MRSA screening assay could be applicable for direct screening of MRSA colonization samples without any prior steps of isolation. This can potentially mean that contact isolation of suspected carriers testing negative could be discontinued earlier, thereby reducing the costs and burden associated with the containment of MRSA. In case of infection, a positive test result would ensure an early onset of effective therapy.

IFRS-standardien noudattaminen liikearvon raportoinnissa suomalaisissa listayhtiöissä

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tutkia liikearvoon liittyvien IFRS 3- ja IAS 36 –standardien säännösten noudattamista suomalaisten korkean liikearvon määrän omaavien listayhtiöiden tilinpäätöksissä. Teoria muodostettiin tarkastelemalla aihepiirin tieteellisiä julkaisuja, sekä yritysten kirjanpitoa ohjailevia liikearvoon liittyviä säännöksiä. Tutkimusmenetelmä oli kvalitatiivinen, ja empiirisenä aineistona käytettiin viiden yrityksen tilinpäätöksiä vuodelta 2011. Yritykset valittiin tarkastelemalla liikearvon suhteellista osuutta omasta pääomasta. Analysointimenetelmänä käytettiin sisällönanalyysia, ja tutkimuksen runko muodostettiin tilintarkastukseen tarkoitetun tarkastuslistan avulla. Tutkimuksessa tuotettiin tarkkaa ja kuvailevaa tietoa säännösten noudattamisesta kohdeyrityksissä. IFRS 3- ja IAS 36 –standardeissa on määritelty tarkat esitysvaatimukset tilinpäätöksissä esitettävälle liikearvoon liittyvälle tiedolle. Esitettäviä tietoja ovat esimerkiksi kuvaus yritysostojen yhteydessä syntyneestä liikearvosta, sekä selvitys liikearvon arvonalentumistestauksessa käytetyistä avainoletuksista. Kohdeyritysten havaittiin noudattavan tutkimuksessa tarkasteltuja esitysvaatimuksia noin 94 % tarkkuudella. Virheet eivät keskittyneet tiettyihin esitysvaatimuksiin, vaan eri yritykset tekivät erilaisia virheitä liikearvon raportoinnissa.

Hydrometallurgical recovery of valuable metals from secondary raw materials

Wastes and side streams in the mining industry and different anthropogenic wastes often contain valuable metals in such concentrations their recovery may be economically viable. These raw materials are collectively called secondary raw materials. The recovery of metals from these materials is also environmentally favorable, since many of the metals, for example heavy metals, are hazardous to the environment. This has been noticed in legislative bodies, and strict regulations for handling both mining and anthropogenic wastes have been developed, mainly in the last decade. In the mining and metallurgy industry, important secondary raw materials include, for example, steelmaking dusts (recoverable metals e.g. Zn and Mo), zinc plant residues (Ag, Au, Ga, Ge, In) and waste slurry from Bayer process alumina production (Ga, REE, Ti, V). From anthropogenic wastes, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), among them LCD screens and fluorescent lamps, are clearly the most important from a metals recovery point of view. Metals that are commonly recovered from WEEE include, for example, Ag, Au, Cu, Pd and Pt. In LCD screens indium, and in fluorescent lamps, REEs, are possible target metals. Hydrometallurgical processing routes are highly suitable for the treatment of complex and/or low grade raw materials, as secondary raw materials often are. These solid or liquid raw materials often contain large amounts of base metals, for example. Thus, in order to recover valuable metals, with small concentrations, highly selective separation methods, such as hydrometallurgical routes, are needed. In addition, hydrometallurgical processes are also seen as more environmental friendly, and they have lower energy consumption, when compared to pyrometallurgical processes. In this thesis, solvent extraction and ion exchange are the most important hydrometallurgical separation methods studied. Solvent extraction is a mainstream unit operation in the metallurgical industry for all kinds of metals, but for ion exchange, practical applications are not as widespread. However, ion exchange is known to be particularly suitable for dilute feed solutions and complex separation tasks, which makes it a viable option, especially for processing secondary raw materials. Recovering valuable metals was studied with five different raw materials, which included liquid and solid side streams from metallurgical industries and WEEE. Recovery of high purity (99.7%) In, from LCD screens, was achieved by leaching with H2SO4, extracting In and Sn to D2EHPA, and selectively stripping In to HCl. In was also concentrated in the solvent extraction stage from 44 mg/L to 6.5 g/L. Ge was recovered as a side product from two different base metal process liquors with Nmethylglucamine functional chelating ion exchange resin (IRA-743). Based on equilibrium and dynamic modeling, a mechanism for this moderately complex adsorption process was suggested. Eu and Y were leached with high yields (91 and 83%) by 2 M H2SO4 from a fluorescent lamp precipitate of waste treatment plant. The waste also contained significant amounts of other REEs such as Gd and Tb, but these were not leached with common mineral acids in ambient conditions. Zn was selectively leached over Fe from steelmaking dusts with a controlled acidic leaching method, in which the pH did not go below, but was held close as possible to, 3. Mo was also present in the other studied dust, and was leached with pure water more effectively than with the acidic methods. Good yield and selectivity in the solvent extraction of Zn was achieved by D2EHPA. However, Fe needs to be eliminated in advance, either by the controlled leaching method or, for example, by precipitation. 100% Pure Mo/Cr product was achieved with quaternary ammonium salt (Aliquat 336) directly from the water leachate, without pH adjustment (pH 13.7). A Mo/Cr mixture was also obtained from H2SO4 leachates with hydroxyoxime LIX 84-I and trioctylamine (TOA), but the purities were 70% at most. However with Aliquat 336, again an over 99% pure mixture was obtained. High selectivity for Mo over Cr was not achieved with any of the studied reagents. Ag-NaCl solution was purified from divalent impurity metals by aminomethylphosphonium functional Lewatit TP-260 ion exchange resin. A novel preconditioning method, named controlled partial neutralization, with conjugate bases of weak organic acids, was used to control the pH in the column to avoid capacity losses or precipitations. Counter-current SMB was shown to be a better process configuration than either batch column operation or the cross-current operation conventionally used in the metallurgical industry. The raw materials used in this thesis were also evaluated from an economic point of view, and the precipitate from a waste fluorescent lamp treatment process was clearly shown to be the most promising.