Pilvisovelluskehitys Google App Engine -pilvisovellusalustalla

Tämä Diplomityö keskittyy tutkimaan pilvisovelluskehitystä Google App Engine – pilvisovellusalustalle perustuen kuusi –vaiheiseen vesiputousmalliin sekä tutkimaan Google App Engine -pilvisovellusalustan tarjoamia mahdollisuuksia ja rajoituksia sovelluskehityksen muodossa. Tutkimuksen perusteella kuusi –vaiheinen vesiputousmalli soveltuu pilvisovelluskehitykseen,mikäli vaatimusmäärittely on tarkka jo sovelluskehityksen alkuvaiheessa. Tutkimuksen tuloksena syntyi vaatimusmäärittely MikkoMail –pilvisovellukselle. Vaatimusmäärittelyn pohjalta luotiin MikkoMail –pilvisovellus Google App Engine –pilvisovellusalustalle. Google App Engine –pilvisovellusalusta tukee vain Python- ja Java –ohjelmointikieliä eikä sisällä lainkaan ulkoista tietokantapalveluiden tukea. Tästä syystä Google App Engine -pilvisovellusalusta soveltuu pieniin, keskisuuriin ja pilottiprojektinomaisiin sovelluskehitysprojekteihin.

The Productivity, Economy and Quality of Welding in the Different Geographical Areas of China - Today and in the Future

This master’s thesis gives out the real situation of the China welding industry and factories nowadays in different geographical areas, in order to inform the Finnish companies who have the willing to find a Chinese welding subcontractor a proper and correct selection concept by analyzing and supplying the information of different scale and form welding factories in different Chinese areas. The first section of this thesis gives out the general situation about the co-operation between China and Finland in the welding industry, also includes the general introduction of the Chinese welding industry. The second section gives out the geographical compartmentalization result of Chinese welding industry, which is where and how many areas will be studied in this thesis. The main body of this thesis is the real information of welding productivity, welding cost, and welding quality in China. All the information was collected from real factories in China by the author. The last section of this thesis is the improvements to the Chinese welding factories that have the willing to become a subcontractor, and the suggestions to the Finnish companies who may find a Chinese welding factory as their subcontractor in future.

Economic Geographical Analysis of The Finnish Paper Industry

The purpose of this academic economic geographical dissertation is to study and describe how competitiveness in the Finnish paper industry has developed during 2001–2008. During these years, the Finnish paper industry has faced economically challenging times. This dissertation attempts to fill the existing gap between theoretical and empirical discussions concerning economic geographical issues in the paper industry. The main research questions are: How have the supply chain costs and margins developed during 2001–2008? How do sales prices, transportation, and fixed and variable costs correlate with gross margins in a spatial context? The research object for this case study is a typical large Finnish paper mill that exports over 90 % of its production. The economic longitudinal research data were obtained from the case mill’s controlled economic system and, correlation (R2) analysis was used as the main research method. The time series data cover monthly economic and manufacturing observations from the mill from 2001 to 2008. The study reveals the development of prices, costs and transportation in the case mill, and it shows how economic variables correlate with the paper mills’ gross margins in various markets in Europe. The research methods of economic geography offer perspectives that pay attention to the spatial (market) heterogeneity. This type of research has been quite scarce in the research tradition of Finnish economic geography and supply chain management. This case study gives new insight into the research tradition of Finnish economic geography and supply chain management and its applications. As a concrete empirical result, this dissertation states that the competitive advantages of the Finnish paper industry were significantly weakened during 2001–2008 by low paper prices, costly manufacturing and expensive transportation. Statistical analysis expose that, in several important markets, transport costs lower gross margins as much as decreasing paper prices, which was a new finding. Paper companies should continuously pay attention to lowering manufacturing and transporting costs to achieve more profitable economic performance. The location of a mill being far from markets clearly has an economic impact on paper manufacturing, as paper demand is decreasing and oversupply is pressuring paper prices down. Therefore, market and economic forecasting in the paper industry is advantageous at the country and product levels while simultaneously taking into account the economic geographically specific dimensions.

In search of Lost Childhood

The article is located at the Daily Sun's editorial section's subsection "Post-Log."

On Innovative Search: the use of internal and external sources of innovation among Finnish innovators

This dissertation explores the use of internal and external sources of knowledge in modern innovation processes. It builds on a framework that combines theories such as a behavioural theory of the firm, the evolutionary theory of economic change, and modern approaches to strategic management. It follows the recent increase in innovation research focusing on the firm-level examination of innovative activities instead of traditional industry-level determinants. The innovation process is seen as a problem- and slack- driven search process, which can take several directions in terms of organizational boundaries in the pursuit of new knowledge and other resources. It thus draws on recent models of technological change, according to which firms nowadays should build their innovative activities on both internal and external sources of innovation rather than relying solely on internal resources. Four different research questions are addressed, all of which are empirically investigated via a rich dataset covering Finnish innovators collected by Statistics Finland. Firstly, the study examines how the nature of problems shapes the direction of any search for new knowledge. In general it demonstrates that the nature of the problem does affect the direction of the search, although under resource constraints firms tend to use external rather than internal sources of knowledge. At the same time, it shows that those firms that are constrained in terms of finance seem to search both internally and externally. Secondly, the dissertation investigates the relationships between different kinds of internal and external sources of knowledge in an attempt to find out where firms should direct their search in order to exploit the potential of a distributed innovation process. The concept of complementarities is applied in this context. The third research question concerns how the use of external knowledge sources – openness to external knowledge – influences the financial performance of firms. Given the many advantages of openness presented in the current literature, the focus is on how it shapes profitability. The results reveal a curvilinear relationship between profitability and openness (taking an inverted U-shape), the implication being that it pays to be open up to a certain point, but being too open to external sources may be detrimental to financial performance. Finally, the dissertation addresses some challenges in CISbased innovation research that have received relatively little attention in prior studies. The general aim is to underline the fact that comprehensive understanding of the complex process of technological change requires the constant development of methodological approaches (in terms of data and measures, for example). All the empirical analyses included in the dissertation are based on the Finnish CIS (Finnish Innovation Survey 1998-2000).

Search and Paper SKU Analysis of Recipes Meeting EUPS Standard

The theoretical research of the study concentrated on finding theoretical frameworks to optimize the amount of needed stock keeping units (SKUs) in manufacturing industry. The goal was to find ways for a company to acquire an optimal collection of stock keeping units needed for manufacturing needed amount of end products. The research follows constructive research approach leaning towards practical problem solving. In the empirical part of this study, a recipe search tool was developed to an existing database used in the target company. The purpose of the tools was to find all the recipes meeting the EUPS performance standard and put the recipes in a ranking order using the data available in the database. The ranking of the recipes was formed from the combination of the performance measures and price of the recipes. In addition, the tool researched what kind of paper SKUs were needed to manufacture the best performing recipes. The tool developed during this process meets the requirements. It eases and makes it much faster to search for all the recipes meeting the EUPS standard. Furthermore, many future development possibilities for the tool were discovered while writing the thesis.

Heat transfer inside internal combustion engine: modelling and comparison with experimental data

The paper is devoted to study specific aspects of heat transfer in the combustion chamber of compression ignited reciprocating internal combustion engines and possibility to directly measure the heat flux by means of Gradient Heat Flux Sensors (GHFS). A one – dimensional single zone model proposed by Kyung Tae Yun et al. and implemented with the aid of Matlab, was used to obtain approximate picture of heat flux behavior in the combustion chamber with relation to the crank angle. The model’s numerical output was compared to the experimental results. The experiment was accomplished by A. Mityakov at four stroke diesel engine Indenor XL4D. Local heat fluxes on the surface of cylinder head were measured with fast – response, high – sensitive GHFS. The comparison of numerical data with experimental results has revealed a small deviation in obtained heat flux values throughout the cycle and different behavior of heat flux curve after Top Dead Center.

Heat flux measurement inside internal combustion engine with gradient heat flux sensor.

This master’s thesis is devoted to study different heat flux measurement techniques such as differential temperature sensors, semi-infinite surface temperature methods, calorimetric sensors and gradient heat flux sensors. The possibility to use Gradient Heat Flux Sensors (GHFS) to measure heat flux in the combustion chamber of compression ignited reciprocating internal combustion engines was considered in more detail. A. Mityakov conducted an experiment, where Gradient Heat Flux Sensor was placed in four stroke diesel engine Indenor XL4D to measure heat flux in the combustion chamber. The results which were obtained from the experiment were compared with model’s numerical output. This model (a one – dimensional single zone model) was implemented with help of MathCAD and the result of this implementation is graph of heat flux in combustion chamber in relation to the crank angle. The values of heat flux throughout the cycle obtained with aid of heat flux sensor and theoretically were sufficiently similar, but not identical. Such deviation is rather common for this type of experiment.

In search of information systems value : a case study of the EHR benefits realisation efforts of three Swedish hospitals.

The Swedish public health care organisation could very well be undergoing its most significant change since its specialisation during the late 19th and early 20th century. At the heart of this change is a move from using manual patient journals to electronic health records (EHR). EHR are complex integrated organisational wide information systems (IS) that promise great benefits and value as well as presenting great challenges to the organisation. The Swedish public health care is not the first organisation to implement integrated IS, and by no means alone in their quest for realising the potential benefits and value that it has to offer. As organisations invest in IS they embark on a journey of value-creation and capture. A journey where a costbased approach towards their IS-investments is replaced with a value-centric focus, and where the main challenges lie in the practical day-to-day task of finding ways to intertwine technology, people and business processes. This has however proven to be a problematic task. The problematic situation arises from a shift of perspective regarding how to manage IS in order to gain value. This is a shift from technology delivery to benefits delivery; from an ISimplementation plan to a change management plan. The shift gives rise to challenges related to the inability of IS and the elusiveness of value. As a response to these challenges the field of IS-benefits management has emerged offering a framework and a process in order to better understand and formalise benefits realisation activities. In this thesis the benefits realisation efforts of three Swedish hospitals within the same county council are studied. The thesis focuses on the participants of benefits analysis projects; their perceptions, judgments, negotiations and descriptions of potential benefits. The purpose is to address the process where organisations seek to identify which potential IS-benefits to pursue and realise, this in order to better understand what affects the process, so that realisation actions of potential IS-benefits could be supported. A qualitative case study research design is adopted and provides a framework for sample selection, data collection, and data analysis. It also provides a framework for discussions of validity, reliability and generalizability. Findings displayed a benefits fluctuation, which showed that participants’ perception of what constituted potential benefits and value changed throughout the formal benefits management process. Issues like structure, knowledge, expectation and experience affected perception differently, and this in the end changed the amount and composition of potential benefits and value. Five dimensions of benefits judgment were identified and used by participants when finding accommodations of potential benefits and value to pursue. Identified dimensions affected participants’ perceptions, which in turn affected the amount and composition of potential benefits. During the formal benefits management process participants shifted between judgment dimensions. These movements emerged through debates and interactions between participants. Judgments based on what was perceived as expected due to one’s role and perceived best for the organisation as a whole were the two dominant benefits judgment dimensions. A benefits negotiation was identified. Negotiations were divided into two main categories, rational and irrational, depending on participants’ drive when initiating and participating in negotiations. In each category three different types of negotiations were identified having different characteristics and generating different outcomes. There was also a benefits negotiation process identified that displayed management challenges corresponding to its five phases. A discrepancy was also found between how IS-benefits are spoken of and how actions of IS benefits realisation are understood. This was a discrepancy between an evaluation and a realisation focus towards IS value creation. An evaluation focus described IS-benefits as well-defined and measurable effects and a realisation focus spoke of establishing and managing an on-going place of value creation. The notion of valuescape was introduced in order to describe and support the understanding of IS value creation. Valuescape corresponded to a realisation focus and outlined a value configuration consisting of activities, logic, structure, drivers and role of IS.

It’s a workflow engine. It’s working with linked data. It’s repository! – Supporting electronic thesis related processes in University of Helsinki library

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

AgEcon Search: Evolution of a Subject Repository

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

Tag Cloud of Search Queries for Repository System

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

The Human Communication Science Virtual Lab (HCS vLab): A repository microclimate in a rapidly evolving research-ecosystem

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

A Business continuity management maturity model : the search for an ISO 22301 Compliant BCM Maturity model

BCM (business continuity Management) is a holistic management process aiming at ensuring business continuity and building organizational resilience. Maturity models offer organizations a tool for evaluating their current maturity in a certain process. In the recent years BCM has been subject to international ISO standardization, while the interest of organizations to bechmark their state of BCM agains standards and the use of maturity models for these asessments has increased. However, although new standards have been introduced, very little attention has been paid to reviewing the existing BCM maturity models in research - especially in the light of the new ISO 22301 standard for BCM. In this thesis the existing BCM maturily models are carefully evaluated to determine whetherthey could be improved. In order to accomplish this, the compliance of the existing models to the ISO 22301 standard is measured and a framework for assessing a maturitymodel´s quality is defined. After carefully evaluating the existing frameworks for maturity model development and evaluation, an approach suggested by Becker et al. (2009) was chosen as the basis for the research. An additionto the procedural model a set of seven research guidelines proposed by the same authors was applied, drawing on the design-science research guidelines as suggested by Hevner et al. (2004). Furthermore, the existing models´ form and function was evaluated to address their usability. Based on the evaluation of the existing BCM maturity models, the existing models were found to have shortcomings in each dimension of the evaluation. Utilizing the best of the existing models, a draft version for an enhanced model was developed. This draft model was then iteratively developed by conducting six semi-structured interviews with BCM professionals in finland with the aim of validating and improving it. As a Result, a final version of the enhanced BCM maturity model was developed, conforming to the seven key clauses in the ISO 22301 standard and the maturity model development guidelines suggested by Becker et al. (2009).

Westerners in search of the legendary potion : ayahuasca travel in the borderland between tourism and pilgrimage

The thesis examines the phenomenon most commonly known as “ayahuasca tourism” – i.e. the practice of westerners traveling to South America and partaking in ceremonies in which a powerful entheogenic brew, ayahuasca, is consumed. While this popular phenomenon has been steadily increasing during the last decades, it has, however, been insufficiently studied by scholars. An important question which has not been properly addressed in earlier studies is how ayahuasca tourism relates to the wider occurrence of travel and how it should be perceived with reference to the theoretical frameworks on the subject of travel. Drawing on theories regarding pilgrimage and tourism, the main purpose of this thesis is to examine the relationship between ayahuasca tourism and the broader spectrum of travel. In particular, the study tests the designations “pilgrimage”, “religious tourism” and “spiritual tourism” with reference to ayahuasca tourism. Utilizing earlier literature as well as ayahuasca tourists‟ reports obtained from an Internet forum as a basis for analysis, I search for a suitable terminology to be used for the phenomenon. The study lays special emphasis on the protagonists‟ motivations, experiences and outcomes in order to take note of various aspects of the wide-ranging occurrence of ayahuasca tourism. Key findings indicate that ayahuasca tourism is best understood as a combination of pilgrimage and tourism. On the basis of the analysis I argue that ayahuasca tourism should be labeled as “pilgrimage” and/or “spiritual tourism”, and the tourists respectively as “pilgrims” and/or “spiritual tourists”. The category of “religious tourism/tourist”, on the other hand, turns out to be an inappropriate designation when describing the phenomenon. In general, through my study I show that the results are consistent with the present trend in the study of travel to perceive pilgrimage and tourism as theoretically similar phenomena. The study of ayahuasca tourism serves thus as living proof of contemporary travel, in which the categories of pilgrimage and tourism are often indistinguishable. I suggest that ayahuasca tourism is by no means exceptional on this point, but can rather be used as an illustration of modern travel forms on a general level. Thus, the present study does not only add to the research of ayahuasca tourism, but also provides additional insights into the study of travel.