Kokeellisen moodianalyysin jälkikäsittely ominaismuotojen visuaaliseksi tarkastelemiseksi

Kokeellinen moodianalyysi on kokeellinen menetelmä, jolla voidaan selvittää rakenteille ominaista värähtelyä. Työssä oli kolme tavoitetta, jotka pyrittiin saavuttamaan. Ensimmäinen tavoite oli ohjeistuksen luominen rakenteiden ominaismuotojen visuaaliseksi tarkastelemiseksi Lappeenrannan teknillisellä yliopistolla käytettävissä olevilla laitteistoilla ja ohjelmilla. Ohjeistuksen perustana on ajatus siitä, että kokeellinen moodianalyysi saataisiin tehokkaampaan käyttöön koneensuunnittelun opetuksessa. Ohjeistus tehtiin pääasiassa kuvien ja kuvia tukevien selitysten avulla. Työn toisena tavoitteena oli verrata rakenteen ominaisvärähtelyä, kun se oli tuettu vapaasti ja kun se oli tuettu kiinteästi sen luonnolliseen ympäristöön. Taajuuksia verrattaessa huomattiin, että eri tavoin tuetut rakenteet käyttäytyvät eri tavalla, mikä on otettava huomioon, kun tutkitaan kriittisiä värähtelyjä. Ominaisvärähtelyjä voidaan selvittää myös matemaattisesti esimerkiksi äärellisten elementtien menetelmällä. Työn kolmantena tavoitteena oli verrata elementtimenetelmällä ja kokeellisesti saatuja ominaisvärähtelyn arvoja. Elementtimallia pyrittiin tarkentamaan eri parametrejä muuttamalla niin, että ominaistaajuuksien arvot vastaavat mahdollisimman hyvin toisiaan. Tavoite saavutettiin.

Brand positioning for sport goods

The objective of this study was to find out how Exel position itself against its most important competitors, and how it could strengthen its own position in the future. Both end and intermediate customers was researched about their preferences and how the decision process could be influenced. The research was done by telephone interviews and the data was analyzed by statistical methods. The results showed that the decision making when buying floorball sticks is mainly influenced by the image of the brand and the popularity of the brand, rather than the actual technical abilities of the stick.

The Role of Cytochrome P450 3A Inducers and Inhibitors in the Metabolism and the Effects of Oxycodone

Oxycodone is an opioid used in the treatment of moderate or severe pain. It is principally metabolized in the liver by cytochrome P450 3A (CYP3A) enzymes whereas approximately 10% is metabolized by CYP2D6. Little is known about the interactions between oxycodone and other drugs, herbals and nutritional substances. In this work the effects of CYP3A inducers rifampicin and St. John’s wort and CYP3A inhibitors voriconazole, grapefruit juice, ritonavir and lopinavir/ritonavir were investigated on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of oxycodone. All studies were randomized, balanced, placebo-controlled crossover clinical studies in healthy volunteers. The plasma concentrations of oxycodone and its metabolites were determined for 48 hours and pharmacodynamic parameters were recorded for 12 hours in each study. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by noncompartmental methods. Rifampicin decreased the plasma concentrations, analgesic effects, and oral bioavailability of oral oxycodone. St. John’s wort reduced the concentrations of oxycodone and diminished the self-reported drug effect. Voriconazole increased the exposure to oral oxycodone by 3.6-fold whereas grapefruit juice, which inhibits predominantly the intestinal CYP3A, elevated the mean concentrations of oxycodone by 1.7-fold. Ritonavir and lopinavir/ritonavir increased the mean AUC of oxycodone by 3.0- and 2.6-fold, respectively, and prolonged its elimination half-life. In spite of increased oxycodone plasma concentrations during concomitant administration of CYP3A inhibitors, the analgesic effects were not increased. These studies show that the induction or inhibition of CYP3A alters the pharmacokinetics and pharmacologic effects of oxycodone. The exposure to oxycodone decreased after induction and increased after inhibition of CYP3A. As a conclusion, the clinicians should avoid concomitant administration of CYP3A inducers or inhibitors and oral oxycodone. If this is not possible, they should be prepared to interactions leading to impaired analgesia after CYP3A inducers or increased adverse effects after CYP3A inhibitors and oral oxycodone.

Tool-supported invariant-based programming

The development of correct programs is a core problem in computer science. Although formal verification methods for establishing correctness with mathematical rigor are available, programmers often find these difficult to put into practice. One hurdle is deriving the loop invariants and proving that the code maintains them. So called correct-by-construction methods aim to alleviate this issue by integrating verification into the programming workflow. Invariant-based programming is a practical correct-by-construction method in which the programmer first establishes the invariant structure, and then incrementally extends the program in steps of adding code and proving after each addition that the code is consistent with the invariants. In this way, the program is kept internally consistent throughout its development, and the construction of the correctness arguments (proofs) becomes an integral part of the programming workflow. A characteristic of the approach is that programs are described as invariant diagrams, a graphical notation similar to the state charts familiar to programmers. Invariant-based programming is a new method that has not been evaluated in large scale studies yet. The most important prerequisite for feasibility on a larger scale is a high degree of automation. The goal of the Socos project has been to build tools to assist the construction and verification of programs using the method. This thesis describes the implementation and evaluation of a prototype tool in the context of the Socos project. The tool supports the drawing of the diagrams, automatic derivation and discharging of verification conditions, and interactive proofs. It is used to develop programs that are correct by construction. The tool consists of a diagrammatic environment connected to a verification condition generator and an existing state-of-the-art theorem prover. Its core is a semantics for translating diagrams into verification conditions, which are sent to the underlying theorem prover. We describe a concrete method for 1) deriving sufficient conditions for total correctness of an invariant diagram; 2) sending the conditions to the theorem prover for simplification; and 3) reporting the results of the simplification to the programmer in a way that is consistent with the invariantbased programming workflow and that allows errors in the program specification to be efficiently detected. The tool uses an efficient automatic proof strategy to prove as many conditions as possible automatically and lets the remaining conditions be proved interactively. The tool is based on the verification system PVS and i uses the SMT (Satisfiability Modulo Theories) solver Yices as a catch-all decision procedure. Conditions that were not discharged automatically may be proved interactively using the PVS proof assistant. The programming workflow is very similar to the process by which a mathematical theory is developed inside a computer supported theorem prover environment such as PVS. The programmer reduces a large verification problem with the aid of the tool into a set of smaller problems (lemmas), and he can substantially improve the degree of proof automation by developing specialized background theories and proof strategies to support the specification and verification of a specific class of programs. We demonstrate this workflow by describing in detail the construction of a verified sorting algorithm. Tool-supported verification often has little to no presence in computer science (CS) curricula. Furthermore, program verification is frequently introduced as an advanced and purely theoretical topic that is not connected to the workflow taught in the early and practically oriented programming courses. Our hypothesis is that verification could be introduced early in the CS education, and that verification tools could be used in the classroom to support the teaching of formal methods. A prototype of Socos has been used in a course at Åbo Akademi University targeted at first and second year undergraduate students. We evaluate the use of Socos in the course as part of a case study carried out in 2007.

Metsähakkeeseen liittyvä liiketoiminta Keski-Suomessa

Tämän työn ensisijaisena tavoitteena on keskisuomalaisen metsähakeliiketoiminnan arvoverkon kuvaaminen, sisältäen keskeiset toimijat ja toiminnot sekä näkemyksiä innovaatiokyvykkyydestä ja informaatiosta. Toinen tavoite on uusien liiketoimintamallien esittäminen. Työ jakautuu teoreettiseen ja empiiriseen osaan. Teoreettisessa osiossa esitetään Porterin (1984) arvojärjestelmä ja Parolinin (1999) arvoverkko. Näiden avulla kuvaillaan empiirisessä osiossa selvitettyjä arvoverkon keskeisiä ominaisuuksia. Innovaatioon liittyvä teoria pohjautuu pääosin innovaatiojärjestelmän, avoimen innovaation ja käytäntölähtöisen innovaatioteorian pohjalle (Harmaakorpi ja Melkas 2008). Liiketoimintamahdollisuuksien tarkastelu perustuu usean erillisen teoreettisen viitekehyksen yhdistelmään. Empiirisen osuuden materiaali on kerätty yritys- ja asiantuntijahaastattelut. Haastattelut on suoritettu kvalitatiivisen tapaustutkimuksen tyyliin, teemahaastatteluin. Laadullisesta materiaalista rakennetut kuvaukset nojaavat vankasti työn teoreettiseen osuuteen.

Use of pyrosequencing to identify streptococci and to detect mutations causing antimicrobial resistance

Rapid identification and resistance determination of pathogens in clinical specimens is vital for accurate treatment and monitoring of infectious diseases. Antimicrobial drug resistance is increasing globally and healthcare settings are facing this cost-intensive and even life-threatening problem. The incidence of resistant pathogens in Finland has remained relatively steady and manageable at least for the time being. DNA sequencing is the gold standard method for genotyping, mutation analysis, and identification of bacteria. Due to significant cost decrease in recent years, this technique is available to many research and clinical laboratories. Pyrosequencing technique, a rapid real-time DNA sequencing method especially suitable for analyzing fairly short stretches of DNA, was used in this study. Due to its robustness and versatility, pyrosequencing was applied in this study for identification of streptococci and detection of certain mutations causing antimicrobial resistance in different bacteria. Certain streptococcal species such as S. pneumoniae and S. pyogenes are significantly important clinical pathogens. S. pneumoniae causes e.g. pneumonia and otitis media and is one of the most important community-acquired pathogens. S. pyogenes, also known as group A streptococcus, causes e.g. angina and erysipelas. In contrast, the socalled alpha-haemolytic streptococci, such as S. mitis and S. oralis, belong to the normal microbiota, which are regarded to be non-pathogenic and are nearly impossible to identify by phenotypic methods. In this thesis, a pyrosequencing method was developed for identification of streptococcal species based on the 16S rRNA sequences. Almost all streptococcal species could be differentiated from one another by the developed method, including S. pneumoniae from its close relatives S. mitis and S. oralis . New resistance genes and their variants are constantly discovered and reported. In this study, new methods for detecting certain mutations causing macrolide resistance or extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) phenotype were developed. These resistance detection approaches are not only suitable for surveillance of mechanisms causing antimicrobial resistance but also for routine analysis of clinical samples particularly in epidemic settings. In conclusion, pyrosequencing was found to be an accurate, versatile, cost-effective, and rapid DNA sequencing method that is especially suitable for mutation analysis of short DNA fragments and identification of certain bacteria.

Tavaran toimitusasiakirjojen sähköistäminen

Tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää sähköisten tavaran toimitusasiakirjojen käytön vaikutukset hankinta- ja logistiikkapalveluita tarjoavan yrityksen toimitusketjun loppupään toimintoihin. Lisäksi työssä rakennetaan konstruktiivisen tutkimusmenetelmän viitekehyksen mukainen toimintamalli yrityksen käyttöä varten. Toimintamallin avulla tarkastellaan kohdeyrityksen mahdollisuutta parantaa toimitusketjun läpinäkyvyyttä, tehostaa sidosryhmien välistä tiedonsiirtoa ja vähentää virheitä ja manuaalista työtä nykyisissä prosesseissa. Työn keskeisin sisältö rakentuu kohdeyrityksen käyttämille kuljetusyrityksille tehdyn kuljetusliikekyselyn, tarkkaan kuvatun nykytilan sekä käytännön ongelmaan rakennetun konstruktion ympärille. Kuljetusliikekyselyn avulla saadaan käyttökelpoinen kuva kuljetusyritysten nykytilasta sekä tulevaisuuden suunnitelmista sähköisiin tavaran toimitusasiakirjoihin liittyen. Nykytilan kuvauksella nostetaan esiin prosesseja ja toimintoja joiden toimintaan voidaan oleellisesti vaikuttaa informaatioteknologian sekä prosessimuutosten avulla. Konstruktion rakentamisessa pääpaino on suunnattu läpinäkyvän ja tehokkaan toimitusketjun aikaansaamisessa. Tutkielman konstruktiota, sähköisten tavaran toimitusasiakirjojen toimintamallia, tarkastellaan yrityksen liiketoiminnan näkökulmasta peilaamalla oletettuja parannuksia aikaisempaan teoriapohjaan. Lisäksi toimintamallin soveltumista reaalimaailman ongelman ratkaisuun arvioidaan diplomityön ohjausryhmästä koostuvan johtajapaneelin tekemällä SWOT-analyysillä sekä heikolla markkinatestillä. Sidosryhmien välisen toiminnan tehostumista arvioidaan kvalitatiivisin menetelmin

Growth, magnetic and transport properties of InSb and II-IV-As2 semiconductors doped with manganese

This thesis is devoted to growth and investigations of Mn-doped InSb and II-IV-As2 semiconductors, including Cd1-xZnxGeAs2:Mn, ZnSiAs2:Mn bulk crystals, ZnSiAs2:Mn/Si heterostructures. Bulk crystals were grown by direct melting of starting components followed by fast cooling. Mn-doped ZnSiAs2/Si heterostructures were grown by vacuum-thermal deposition of ZnAs2 and Mn layers on Si substrates followed by annealing. The compositional and structural properties of samples were investigated by different methods. The samples consist of micro- and nano- sizes clusters of an additional ferromagnetic Mn-X phases (X = Sb or As). Influence of magnetic precipitations on magnetic and electrical properties of the investigated materials was examined. With relatively high Mn concentration the main contribution to magnetization of samples is by MnSb or MnAs clusters. These clusters are responsible for high temperature behavior of magnetization and relatively high Curie temperature: up to 350 K for Mn-doped II-IV-As2 and about 600 K for InMnSb. The low-field magnetic properties of Mn-doped II-IV-As2 semiconductors and ZnSiAs2:Mn/Si heterostructures are connected to the nanosize MnAs particles. Also influence of nanosized MnSb clusters on low-field magnetic properties of InMnSb have been observed. The contribution of paramagnetic phase to magnetization rises at low temperatures or in samples with low Mn concentration. Source of this contribution is not only isolated Mn ions, but also small complexes, mainly dimmers and trimmers formed by Mn ions, substituting cation positions in crystal lattice. Resistivity, magnetoresistance and Hall resistivity properties in bulk Mn-doped II-IV-As2 and InSb crystals was analyzed. The interaction between delocalized holes and 3d shells of the Mn ions together with giant Zeeman splitting near the cluster interface are respond for negative magnetoresistance. Additionally to high temperature critical pointthe low-temperature ferromagnetic transition was observed Anomalous Hall effect was observed in Mn doped samples and analyzed for InMnSb. It was found that MnX clusters influence significantly on magnetic scattering of carriers.

Kahden merkkijonon pisimmän yhteisen alijonon ongelma ja sen ratkaiseminen

Tämä tutkielma kuuluu merkkijonoalgoritmiikan piiriin. Merkkijono S on merkkijonojen X[1..m] ja Y[1..n] yhteinen alijono, mikäli se voidaan muodostaa poistamalla X:stä 0..m ja Y:stä 0..n kappaletta merkkejä mielivaltaisista paikoista. Jos yksikään X:n ja Y:n yhteinen alijono ei ole S:ää pidempi, sanotaan, että S on X:n ja Y:n pisin yhteinen alijono (lyh. PYA). Tässä työssä keskitytään kahden merkkijonon PYAn ratkaisemiseen, mutta ongelma on yleistettävissä myös useammalle jonolle. PYA-ongelmalle on sovelluskohteita – paitsi tietojenkäsittelytieteen niin myös bioinformatiikan osa-alueilla. Tunnetuimpia niistä ovat tekstin ja kuvien tiivistäminen, tiedostojen versionhallinta, hahmontunnistus sekä DNA- ja proteiiniketjujen rakennetta vertaileva tutkimus. Ongelman ratkaisemisen tekee hankalaksi ratkaisualgoritmien riippuvuus syötejonojen useista eri parametreista. Näitä ovat syötejonojen pituuden lisäksi mm. syöttöaakkoston koko, syötteiden merkkijakauma, PYAn suhteellinen osuus lyhyemmän syötejonon pituudesta ja täsmäävien merkkiparien lukumäärä. Täten on vaikeaa kehittää algoritmia, joka toimisi tehokkaasti kaikille ongelman esiintymille. Tutkielman on määrä toimia yhtäältä käsikirjana, jossa esitellään ongelman peruskäsitteiden kuvauksen jälkeen jo aikaisemmin kehitettyjä tarkkoja PYAalgoritmeja. Niiden tarkastelu on ryhmitelty algoritmin toimintamallin mukaan joko rivi, korkeuskäyrä tai diagonaali kerrallaan sekä monisuuntaisesti prosessoiviin. Tarkkojen menetelmien lisäksi esitellään PYAn pituuden ylä- tai alarajan laskevia heuristisia menetelmiä, joiden laskemia tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää joko sellaisinaan tai ohjaamaan tarkan algoritmin suoritusta. Tämä osuus perustuu tutkimusryhmämme julkaisemiin artikkeleihin. Niissä käsitellään ensimmäistä kertaa heuristiikoilla tehostettuja tarkkoja menetelmiä. Toisaalta työ sisältää laajahkon empiirisen tutkimusosuuden, jonka tavoitteena on ollut tehostaa olemassa olevien tarkkojen algoritmien ajoaikaa ja muistinkäyttöä. Kyseiseen tavoitteeseen on pyritty ohjelmointiteknisesti esittelemällä algoritmien toimintamallia hyvin tukevia tietorakenteita ja rajoittamalla algoritmien suorittamaa tuloksetonta laskentaa parantamalla niiden kykyä havainnoida suorituksen aikana saavutettuja välituloksia ja hyödyntää niitä. Tutkielman johtopäätöksinä voidaan yleisesti todeta tarkkojen PYA-algoritmien heuristisen esiprosessoinnin lähes systemaattisesti pienentävän niiden suoritusaikaa ja erityisesti muistintarvetta. Lisäksi algoritmin käyttämällä tietorakenteella on ratkaiseva vaikutus laskennan tehokkuuteen: mitä paikallisempia haku- ja päivitysoperaatiot ovat, sitä tehokkaampaa algoritmin suorittama laskenta on.

Ulkomaalaisen yrityksen verkostosuhteet Venäjällä

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on konkreettisen yritysverkoston avulla selvittää, minkälaisia ovat ulkomaalaisen yrityksen potentiaaliset kumppanit ja yritysten väliset suhteet Venäjällä. Toisena tavoitteena on kuvata käytännön työelämään sopivalla menetelmällä riittävän kokonaisvaltaisesti yritysverkoston kumppanit sekä kumppaneiden ja kärkiyrityksen väliset suhteet. Samalla tarkastellaan yritysten välisten suhteiden riskejä. Selvitysmenetelmällä pyritään nopeuteen ja ketteryyteen ja sen tavoitteena on lisätä ulkomaisen johdon käsitystä yritysverkostosta johdon päätöksentekoa varten. Tutkimus jakaantuu teoria tarkasteluun ja yhden Venäjällä toimivan ulkomaisen yrityksen osto-osaston verkostoa selvittävään empiiriseen osaan. Teoriatarkastelussa selvitetään erilaisia lähestymistapoja ja laajempia viitekehyksiä yritysverkostojen tutkimukseen. Teoriatarkastelun perusteella valittiin viitekehykset yrityskumppaneiden ja yritysten välisen suhteen sekä riskien arviointiin. Empiirisen osan tutkimus toteutettiin haastattelukyselytutkimuksena perustuen näihin viitekehyksiin. Yrityskumppaneita ja yritysten välisiä suhteita tarkastellaan tilastollisin menetelmin ja riskejä arvioidaan laadullisella tutkimusotteella. Tutkimustulokset vastaavat monelta osin liiketoimintakulttuurista ja –ympäristöstä saatua kokemukseen ja tutkimustietoon perustuvaa käsitystä. Verkostoitumisen kulmakivet ovat hyvin toimivat ja määritellyt vaihdannan liiketoiminta- ja tukiprosessit, hyvin tunnetut kumppanit ja tälle perustalle rakennetut sosiaaliset suhteet sekä liiketoimintaympäristöön ja –kulttuuriin soveltuvat yhteistyökompetenssit. Tutkitun yritysverkoston yhteistyösuhteet voidaan jakaa hierarkkiseen organisaatiokumppanuuteen, toimittajakumppanuuteen, luottamukseen perustuvaan markkinaehtoiseen suhteeseen ja opportunistiseen markkinasuhteeseen. Hyviä yhteistyökumppaneita ja –suhteita löytyy taustaltaan erilaisista toimittajista. Tutkimuksessa käytetyt viitekehykset toimivat hyvin erityisesti yrityskumppanin arvioinnissa. Yritysten välisen suhteen arviointiin käytetyn viitekehyksen ongelmat liittyivät lähinnä erilaiseen liiketoimintakulttuuriin ja käsitykseen yritysten välisestä strategisesta suhteesta. Riskit liittyivät toimitussuhteeseen useammin kuin omaan organisaatioon tai toimittajaan.

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.

Electro-Oxidation Treatment of Pulp and Paper Mill Circulating Waters and Wastewaters

Interest in water treatment by electrochemical methods has grown in recent years. Electrochemical oxidation has been applied particularly successfully to degrade different organic pollutants and disinfect drinking water. This study summarizes the effectiveness of the electrochemical oxidation technique in inactivating different primary biofilm forming paper mill bacteria as well as sulphide and organic material in pulp and paper mill wastewater in laboratory scale batch experiments. Three different electrodes, borondoped diamond (BDD), mixed metal oxide (MMO) and PbO2, were employed as anodes. The impact on inactivation efficiency of parameters such as current density and initial pH or chloride concentration of synthetic paper machine water was studied. The electrochemical behaviour of the electrodes was investigated by cyclic voltammetry with MMO, BDD and PbO2 electrodes in synthetic paper mill water as also with MMO and stainless steel electrodes with biocides. Some suggestions on the formation of different oxidants and oxidation mechanisms were also presented during the treatment. Aerobic paper mill bacteria species (Deinococcus geothermalis, Pseudoxanthomonas taiwanensis and Meiothermus silvanus) were inactivated effectively (>2 log) at MMO electrodes by current density of 50 mA/cm2 and the time taken three minutes. Increasing current density and initial chloride concentration of paper mill water increased the inactivation rate of Deinococcus geothermalis. The inactivation order of different bacteria species was Meiothermus silvanus > Pseudoxanthomonas taiwanensis > Deinococcus geothermalis. It was observed that inactivation was mainly due to the electrochemically generated chlorine/hypochlorite from chloride present in the water and also residual disinfection by chlorine/hypochlorite occurred. In real paper mill effluent treatment sulphide oxidation was effective with all the different initial concentrations (almost 100% reduction, current density 42.9 mA/cm2) and also anaerobic bacteria inactivation was observed (almost 90% reduction by chloride concentration of 164 mg/L and current density of 42.9 mA/cm2 in five minutes). Organic material removal was not as effective when comparing with other tested techniques, probably due to the relatively low treatment times. Cyclic voltammograms in synthetic paper mill water with stainless steel electrode showed that H2O2 could be degraded to radicals during the cathodic runs. This emphasises strong potential of combined electrochemical treatment with this biocide in bacteria inactivation in paper mill environments.

Yrittäjyyskasvatuksen arvoja etsimässä. Design-tutkimus opettajankoulutuksen opetussuunnitelmien kehittämisessä

This research is a survey on values related to entrepreneurship education and a participatory action research on entrepreneurship education curricula in teacher education. Research problems, rising from the practical development work, were solved by several methods, following the principles of design-based research. Values related to entrepreneurship education were studied among teachers, headmasters, teacher educators, researchers and officers in the field of entrepreneurship education in 16 European Union countries. Fifteen most important values related to entrepreneurship education were listed based on two qualitative surveys (N 124 and N 66). Values were also surveyed among Finnish teacher trainees (N 71). Results of the surveys show that the values given by the teacher trainees did not differ much from the ones given by the professionals already working in the field. Subsequently, emergence of these values was studied in documents that steer education. The values gathered in the surveys did not occur in the documents to a substantial degree. Development of entrepreneurship education curricula in teacher education was conducted by means of participatory action research. The development project gathered 55 teacher trainers from 15 teacher education organisations in Finland. The starting point of the phenomenon based project (see Annala and Mäkinen 2011) was the activity plan created for developing entrepreneurship education curricula. During the project, the learning of the teacher educators proceeded in a balanced way as brightening visions, stronger motivation, increasing understanding and new practices, following Shulman and Shulman’s model (2004). Goals of the development project were set to each teacher educator acquiring basic knowledge on entrepreneurship education, organization of obligatory courses on entrepreneurship education, and making entrepreneurship education a cross-curricular theme in teacher education. The process increased the understanding and motivation of teacher educators to develop and teach entrepreneurship education. It also facilitated collaboration as well as creating visions on entrepreneurship education. Based on the results, the concept of enterprisingness was defined, and recommendations were given for developing curricula in entrepreneurship education.

Industrial solution business – transition from product to solution offering

The business logic in the manufacturing industry has changed in the 21st century. In the current industrial market, manufacturers are driven to provide more comprehensive offerings that go beyond the traditional product-orientation by providing capacity and availability for their customers. From incidental merchandise, services have become the core of manufacturers’ offerings with long-lasting service agreements over the life-cycles of their products. This change is driven both by the need of providers to grow and gain competitive advantage and by increased customer demand caused by customers’ outsourcing trends. The three key drivers for manufacturers’ service strategies are outsourcing trends, saturation of the installed base, and commoditization in product markets. Thus, manufacturers focus on providing industrial solutions which are delivered through relational processes with customers by using solution-driven business models. In the management of marketing activities, this can be regarded as closer customer relationships, service-dominant business logic, and collaboration in solving customers’ problems. However, there are few studies on comprehensive conceptualizations of a solution offering that include different elements and their roles, especially in the context of capital goods industry. Also the transition process needs further studies in a real life context. This study explores the transition process of an industrial company from product to solution business and, as an aid to managing the solution business, explicates the structure and management of an industrial solution offering. There are two themes, the industrial transition process and industrial solution offering. Regarding the industrial transition process, the aim is to understand the supplier view on the process and its execution and to determine the challenges related to the transition process. The industrial solution offering is discussed by its elements and characteristics, as well as management. Furthermore, a special type of build-own-operate-transfer business model is presented and its suitability in the industrial context analyzed. The study includes findings achieved by qualitative methods and from four case companies. Based on the results, it is tentatively suggested that in the industrial solution business, the transition from product to solution business is not a linear project but an evolving process that varies according to customer needs, which suggests that companies need to possess an ability to develop new business models for different customer needs. The industrial solution offering is dynamic as it evolves in collaboration according to the prevailing and latent customer needs, which suggest restructuring of the organization from a product-centric to a customer-centric one. Furthermore, based on the findings, the concept of industrial solutions is defined as an ongoing relational process to satisfy a customer’s particular business or operational requirements, and the concept of industrial solution offering as an entity comprising the customized goods, services, collaboration, and finance needed to fulfill the industrial solution. Finally, the study offers several managerial implications for industrial managers involved in the transition and management of the solution business and its offering.

Importance of considering food waste in the development of sustainable food packaging systems

Meeting the needs of both present and future generations forms the foundation of sustainable development. Concern about food demand is increasing alongside the continuously growing population. In the pursuit of food security preventing food waste is one solution avoiding the negative environmental impacts that result from producing food unnecessarily. Packages offer one answer to preventing food waste, as they 1) preserve and protect food, 2) introduce the user to the correct way to handle and use the food and package and 3) allow the user to consume the food in its entirety. This thesis aims to enhance the sustainability of food packages by giving special emphasis to preventing food waste. The focus of this thesis is to assist the packaging designer in being able to take into account the requirements for the sustainability of food packages and to be able to integrate these requirements into the product development process. In addition, life cycle methods that can be used as a tool in the packaging design process or in assessing the sustainability of finished food-packaging combinations are evaluated. The methods of life cycle costing (LCC) and life cycle working environment (LCWE) are briefly discussed. The method of life cycle assessment (LCA) is examined more thoroughly through the lens of the literature review of food-package LCA case studies published in the 21st century in three relevant journals. Based on this review and on experiences learned from conducting LCAs, recommendations are given as to how the LCA practitioner should conduct a food packaging study to make most of the results. Two case studies are presented in this thesis. The first case study relates the results of a life cycle assessment conducted for three food items (cold cut (ham), sliced dark bread (rye) and Soygurt drink) and the alternative packaging options of each. Results of this study show that the packaging constitutes only 1–12 % of the total environmental impacts of the food-packaging combination. The greatest effect is derived from the food itself and the wasted food. Even just a small percentage of wasted food causes more environmental impacts than does the packaging. The second case study presents the results of LCC and LCWE analysis done for fruit and vegetable transport packages. In this thesis, the specific results of the study itself are not the focus, but rather the study methods and scope are analysed based on how these complement the sustainability assessment of food packages. This thesis presents reasons why prevention of food waste should be more thoroughly taken into account in food packaging design. In addition, the task of the packaging designer is facilitated by the requirements of sustainable food packaging, by the methods and step-by-step guidance on how to integrate sustainability issues into the design process, and by the recommendations on how to assess the sustainability of food packages. The intention of this thesis is to express the issues that are important in the field of the food packaging industry. Having recognised and implemented these issues, businesses can better manage the risks that could follow from neglecting these sustainability aspects.