Uskontotiedettä rajoilla : Religion on the Borders

Ajankohtaista

The Use of Radiostereometric Analysis in Fractures of the Distal Radius: From Phantom Models to Clinical Application

Radiostereometric analysis (RSA) is a highly accurate method for the measurement of in vivo micromotion of orthopaedic implants. Validation of the RSA method is a prerequisite for performing clinical RSA studies. Only a limited number of studies have utilised the RSA method in the evaluation of migration and inducible micromotion during fracture healing. Volar plate fixation of distal radial fractures has increased in popularity. There is still very little prospective randomised evidence supporting the use of these implants over other treatments. The aim of this study was to investigate the precision, accuracy, and feasibility of using RSA in the evaluation of healing in distal radius fractures treated with a volar fixed-angle plate. A physical phantom model was used to validate the RSA method for simple distal radius fractures. A computer simulation model was then used to validate the RSA method for more complex interfragmentary motion in intra-articular fractures. A separate pre-clinical investigation was performed in order to evaluate the possibility of using novel resorbable markers for RSA. Based on the validation studies, a prospective RSA cohort study of fifteen patients with plated AO type-C distal radius fractures with a 1-year follow-up was performed. RSA was shown to be highly accurate and precise in the measurement of fracture micromotion using both physical and computer simulated models of distal radius fractures. Resorbable RSA markers demonstrated potential for use in RSA. The RSA method was found to have a high clinical precision. The fractures underwent significant translational and rotational migration during the first two weeks after surgery, but not thereafter. Maximal grip caused significant translational and rotational interfragmentary micromotion. This inducible micromotion was detectable up to eighteen weeks, even after the achievement of radiographic union. The application of RSA in the measurement of fracture fragment migration and inducible interfragmentary micromotion in AO type-C distal radius fractures is feasible but technically demanding. RSA may be a unique tool in defining the progress of fracture union.

Bodies, Borders, Crossings -näyttely Covernors Island, New York

Bodies, Borders, Crossings -ryhmänäyttely, Covernors Island rantakasarmi, kuraattorit Leena-Maija Rossi ja Kari Soinio, tuottaja Frame ja Suomen New Yorkin kulttuuri-instituutti. Esillä videoteos Miss Kong.

Integration of Logistics Systems across Companies’ Borders

The growth of the companies working in the Logistics area has raised the need for using several Logistics systems that can meet the increased requirements in business processes. Different companies may use one or more Logistics systems internally and may use different Logistics systems that other collaborated companies use. Furthermore, these Logistics systems are required to communicate with each other in order to process and manage the flow of the information. Integrating the Logistics systems is beneficial as it allows interaction between the whole systems and services instead of the need to replace them. In addition, it improves the efficiency, lowers the possible errors in the supply chain, reduces the costs and facilitates the access of suppliers and customers to the information. This in turn leads to better relationships with both suppliers and customers. Usually local integration of several Logistics systems is not very difficult, especially that mostly the companies buy their system from a single source. However, the case is different for integrating several logistics systems across the companies’ borders. In this case, there are many factors play major roles in limiting the integration, such as using different systems and different output. This thesis highlights these factors and challenges, demonstrates some solutions for the logistics inter-organizational integration from the perspective of information systems and presents some approaches for integrating these systems. There are many studies about the integration inside a company but fewer studies focused about the technical side and the information systems integration across company’s borders or what is called inter-organizational integration. This study is a literature review that aims at illustrating the challenges, the requirements and some approaches in inter-organizational logistics information systems integration of logistics systems across the companies’ borders.

Turvallisuusrajat muuttuvien uhkien maailmassa

Abstract: Security borders in a world of changing threats

Prosessijohtamisen soveltaminen energialaitoksen kunnossapidossa

Diplomityössä tarkastellaan prosessijohtamista energialaitoksen kunnossapidossa. Tarkastelun kohteena on Helsingin Energian voimalaitosten kunnossapito. Asioita tarkastellaan kunnossapitoliiketoiminnon näkökulmasta. Työ kertoo tapahtuneista muutoksista, nykyisestä toimintatavasta ja tulevaisuuden kehitystarpeista. Työn lähtökohtana ovat energia-alalla tapahtuneet toimintaympäristön muutokset ja yrityksen organisaation muutos. Yrityksen organisaatio on muutettu funktionaalisesta organisaatiosta liiketoimintopohjaiseksi, joka toi mukanaan sisäisen kaupankäynnin. Kunnossapidon toimittamiseen asiakkaalle sovelletaan prosessijohtamista. Prosessin kehittyminen on hidasta ja vaatii määrätietoista työtä edistyäkseen. Prosessit on kuvattava ja otettava käyttöön, jonka jälkeen voidaan tunnistaa kehityskohteita. Kunnossapitoprosessi ylittää liiketoimintojen välisen rajan, jonka toimivuus on ratkaisevaa prosessin suorituskyvylle. Prosessijohtamisen edistämiseksi on tunnistettu tärkeimmiksi kehityskohteiksi kunnossapitostrategian kehittäminen, rajapinnan selkiyttäminen ja prosessin mittaaminen.

Liiketoimintaprosessien uudistaminen rakennusteollisuudessa

Työn tavoitteena oli etsiä ongelmakohtia olemassa olevasta prosessikuvauksesta ja prosessimaisesta toiminnasta. Samalla luotiin ehdotus uudesta mallista ja parannuksista. Uuden mallin avulla perustajaurakoinnin hankevaihe voidaan hahmottaa paremmin ja henkilöiden tehtäväkuvat tarkentuvat. Toinen tärkeä tavoite oli asettaa prosessimainen työskentely merkittävämpään asemaan yrityksessä. Työn teoriaosassa esitellään näkökulmia jotka vaikuttavat yrityksen tehokkaaseen toimintaan. Laatuajattelu, laatujohtaminen, prosessit ja niiden johtaminen standardi sekä prosessien uudistamisen laajuuden vaihtoehdot antavat hyvän kuvan siitä mihin kaikkeen prosessimainen toiminta vaikuttaa, ja mitkä tekijät ovat tehokkaan toiminnan takana. Empiriaosuudessa sovelletaan teoriaosuudessa esitettyjä tekniikoita tutkittaessa uuden mallin luomista. Havaittiin monia ongelmia prosessimaisen toiminnan tunnistamisessa ja tehtäväkuvauksien epämääräisyyttä. Tuloksena päädyttiin tekemään ehdotus jatkokehitystyölle ja esiteltiin prosessien tehokkuuden mittaamiseen erilaisia näkökulmia ja mittareita.

Etelä-Savon energiatase 2006

The aim of this thesis is to create the energy balance from county of South Savo and 20 municipalities comprising the year 2006. The energy balance is restricted to county and municipality borders. Purpose of energy balance is to clarify the present state of energy supply and present information for future decisions. The main objectives for the future are e.g. replacing oil with renewable energy sources and exploiting the forest reserves of South Savo more effectively. Today South Savo is known as being one of the forerunners in use of renewable energy. The growing demand for energy is in South Savo mostly covered with renewable energy sources such as forest chips. The initial data for this thesis is gathered from local energy companies and energy producers. This thesis also exploits formerly made energy balances, publications and statistic from different organisations. The literature study of thesis begins with the basic information about South Savo and energy sources used in the year 2006. Following the thesis includes the energy balance consisting of primary energy sources and consumption of energy. Rest of the thesis includes facts about carbon dioxide emissions, future energy sources and conclusions of results, reliability and expected use of this thesis. Results of this thesis define well the present state of South Savo and are in line with county goals. The results will be used as an aid for policy-making and for considering the condition of current energy supply in South Savo. The method of doing this energy balance can be adapted for other counties as well.

Performance and Methodological Aspects in Positron Emission Tomography

Performance standards for Positron emission tomography (PET) were developed to be able to compare systems from different generations and manufacturers. This resulted in the NEMA methodology in North America and the IEC in Europe. In practices, the NEMA NU 2- 2001 is the method of choice today. These standardized methods allow assessment of the physical performance of new commercial dedicated PET/CT tomographs. The point spread in image formation is one of the factors that blur the image. The phenomenon is often called the partial volume effect. Several methods for correcting for partial volume are under research but no real agreement exists on how to solve it. The influence of the effect varies in different clinical settings and it is likely that new methods are needed to solve this problem. Most of the clinical PET work is done in the field of oncology. The whole body PET combined with a CT is the standard investigation today in oncology. Despite the progress in PET imaging technique visualization, especially quantification of small lesions is a challenge. In addition to partial volume, the movement of the object is a significant source of error. The main causes of movement are respiratory and cardiac motions. Most of the new commercial scanners are in addition to cardiac gating, also capable of respiratory gating and this technique has been used in patients with cancer of the thoracic region and patients being studied for the planning of radiation therapy. For routine cardiac applications such as assessment of viability and perfusion only cardiac gating has been used. However, the new targets such as plaque or molecular imaging of new therapies require better control of the cardiac motion also caused by respiratory motion. To overcome these problems in cardiac work, a dual gating approach has been proposed. In this study we investigated the physical performance of a new whole body PET/CT scanner with NEMA standard, compared methods for partial volume correction in PET studies of the brain and developed and tested a new robust method for dual cardiac-respiratory gated PET with phantom, animal and human data. Results from performance measurements showed the feasibility of the new scanner design in 2D and 3D whole body studies. Partial volume was corrected, but there is no best method among those tested as the correction also depends on the radiotracer and its distribution. New methods need to be developed for proper correction. The dual gating algorithm generated is shown to handle dual-gated data, preserving quantification and clearly eliminating the majority of contraction and respiration movement

Development of IT Service Management in a Large International Company

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to examine the IT Service Management (ITSM) capabilities of a large international company and develop a design for the IT Service Management of the company. The thesis consists of two parts: a literature review and a case study. The first part is the literature review. It examines different aspects of IT Service Management. The purpose of the literature review is to increase the credibility of the case study. In the case study, the IT Service Management of a large industrial company is assessed, and an improved design for IT Service Management is created. The services are limited to common IT services, and management is limited to operative management. To assess and develop the case company’s IT Service Management, the IT organization and its ITSM capabilities are analyzed, and on the basis of the analyses, an improved IT Service Management model is created. As a result of the analyses, it was found out that the management of the IT organization is function-oriented. Therefore, the organization needs a management model that breaks the functional borders and brings services to the center of management. The designed model aspires to achieve this by defining IT services and modeling management processes from the service perspective.