Kuljettajien työn turvallisuus ja sen kehittäminen energia-alan kuljetustoiminnoissa

Työ kuuluu osana työn ja työliikenteen turvallisuuden kehittämishankkeeseen tavarankuljetusalalla. Hankkeen tavoitteena on selvittää kuorma-autonkuljettajan työpaikkatapaturmatilanteet ja tapaturmavaarat muun tutkimuksen pohjaksi. Diplomityössä kiinnitetään huomio tutkimushanketta tarkemmin energia-alan kuljetusten turvallisuustekijöihin. Diplomityön ja koko työn ja työliikenteen turvallisuuden kehittämishankkeen lähtökohtana on kuljettajan työnkuvan ongelmallisuus ja laajeneminen. Kuljettajien työ on tiukasti aikataulutettua ja työolot usein varsin vaihtelevia. Kuljettajien työ on yksintyöskentelyä vierailla paikoilla ja usein yötyötä. Työmääräykset kuljettajille tulevat lyhyellä varoitusajalla. Kuljettajien työturvallisuutta selvitettiin kirjallisuustutkimuksella, kenttätyöllä, kyselytutkimuksella kuljetusyrityksille sekä tilastoja tarkastelemalla.

Roundwood shipping in the Baltic Sea region

Itämeren liikenteen on ennustettu kasvavan voimakkaasti tulevaisuudessa. Metsäteollisuus toimialana on kuitenkin syklinen. Tällä hetkellä raakapuun tuonti Suomeen on hienoisessa nousussa, kun taas Ruotsissa tuonnin alamäki jatkuu. Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena oli kuvata ja arvioida raakapuun merikuljetuksia Itämeren alueella. Tutkimuksessa esitetään keskeisimmät raakapuun materiaalivirrat Itämerellä ja kuvataan satamatekniikan ja alustyypin valinnan vaikutusta, kun tavoitteena on saavuttaa tehokas raakapuun kuljetusketju. Tutkimuksen merkittävin tulos on teoreettinen edestakaisen matkan laskentamalli, jonka on tarkoitus kuvata aluskohtaista kustannustehokkuutta sekä kapasiteettia tietyllä laivausreitillä. Malli sopii käytettäväksi varsinaisen linjaliikenteen reittisuunnittelun perustana.

Transitoliikenteen lisäarvopalvelut

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on selvittää Suomen transito- eli kauttakulkuliikenteessä käytössä olevia lisäarvopalveluja ja niiden kehitysnäkymiä. Tutkimuksessa selvitetään myös Suomen transitoliikenteen nykytilaa ja tulevaisuutta. Suomen kauttakulkureitin ohella tarkastellaan muita tärkeimpiä Venäjän ulkomaankaupan kuljetusreittejä. Tutkimus jakautuu 1) kauttakulkuliikennettä koskevaan kirjallisuusselvitykseen ja 2) lisäarvopalveluja selvittävään haastattelututkimukseen, jonka yhteydessä haastateltiin Suomessa toimivia kansallisia ja kansainvälisiä transitoliikenteen toimijoita. Tutkimustulosten perusteella Suomi toimii erityisesti itään suuntautuvien arvotavaroiden kauttakulkureittinä. Transitokuljetusten yhteydessä tarvitaan erilaisia lisäarvopalveluja. Haastatteluissa saatiin selville, että tavaratoimituksille on tarjolla Suomessa yli 30 erilaista lisäarvopalvelua, jotka syntyvät yleensä asiakkaan erityistarpeista. Lisäarvopalvelut keskittyvät aineettomiin toimintoihin, kuljetuksiin, laadunhallintaan ja tavarankäsittelyyn. Eniten tarjottuja lisäarvopalveluja ovat räätälöity asiakaspalvelu, IT-palvelut, dokumentointi ja konsultointi. Lisäarvopalvelut eivät yleensä yksistään vaikuta kuljetusreitin valintaan, mutta yhdessä tehokkaiden, laadukkaiden ja turvallisten logistiikkapalvelujen kanssa lisäarvopalvelut muodostavat merkittävän kilpailutekijän Suomen transitoreitille.

Effects of group size and early handling on some behavioural and physiological welfare parameters in farmed blue foxes

Selostus: Ryhmäkoon ja varhaisen käsittelyn vaikutus tarhattujen sinikettujen hyvinvointiin

Container Handling Equipment Monitoring System, case: Steveco Oy

Container Handling Equipment Monitoring System (CHEMS) is a system developed by Savcor One Oy. CHEMS measures important information for container ports performance and produces performance indicators. The aim of this thesis was to clarify performance measurement contents to Savcor and to develop, as an example, performance measures to Steveco Oy's container operations. The theoretical part of the thesis clarifies performance measurement and which of its components are important to container port. Performance measurement and measures are presented from the operational level's point of view, in which CHEMS is planned to aim. The theory of development process of performance measures is introduced at the end of the theoretical part. To make sure that performance measures are efficiently used, Steveco Oy's performance measures are developed in cooperation with the users. The measurement in operational level is continuous and the results must be reacted asquickly as possible. CHEMS is very suitable to continuous measurement and to produce real time-measures of container operations which are hard to get any otherway.

T&K-yhteistyöprojektinvalintakriteerit ja - päätösprosessi: Case VR Cargo

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli löytää yritysten välisten tutkimus- ja kehityshankkeiden valintaan liittyviä kriittisiä tekijöitä ja luoda T&K-verkostojen analysointiin soveltuva malli, jonka avulla tutkimuksen caseyritys VR Cargo voi tehdä päätöksiä panostuksistaan eri hankkeisiin ja ylipäätänsä siitä, missä kannattaa olla mukana sekä kuinka löytää strategisia kehityskumppaneita. Työn teoriaosuus tehtiin kirjallisuuskatsauksena aiempaan T&K-tutkimukseen ja empiria osuus suoritettiin tekemällä teemahaastatteluja VR Cargossa sekä kahdessa vertailuyrityksessä. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin useita erilaisia kriittisiä tekijöitä T&K-yhteistyöhankkeisiin liittyen. Yrityksen on mm. huomioitava T&K-hankkeen strateginen sopivuus ja lisäarvo, määriteltävä motiivit ja riskit, yrityskohtaisten tekijöiden ovat oltava kunnossa, on tiedettävä millainen on yritykselle hyvä ja sopiva partneri sekä yhteistyötason tekijät on huomioitava. Tutkimuksessa rakennettua hankkeiden valintaan liittyvää päätöspuumallia, ei ole tarkoitettu tekemään lopullista valintapäätöstä, vaan sen tarkoituksena on helpottaa ja tukea valintaprosessia ja alentaa näin todennäköisyyttä unohtaa jokin tärkeä seikka valintaprosessissa.

Cultural differences affecting claim handling process and perceived quality in Finnish-Japanese paperboardbusiness

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää Suomen ja Japanin välisten kulttuurierojen vaikutus valitustenkäsittelyprosessiin ja laatukäsityksiin case-yrityksen ja sen asiakkaiden välillä. Teoreettisen viitekehyksen muodostamisessa käytettiin näkemyksiä kulttuurista, kulttuurienvälisestä viestinnästä, valitustenkäsittelystä ja laatukäsityksistä. Kulttuurierojen tarkastelemiseksi esiteltiin kulttuurien ulottuvuuksia eritteleviä viitekehyksiä ja kulturaalisten tekijöiden vaikutusta viestintään. Suomen ja Japanin kulttuureja esiteltiin myös yksityiskohtaisemmin aikaisempien tutkimusten valossa. Työn empiirisessä osassa tutkittiin case-yrityksen sisäisiä sekä yrityksen ja sen asiakkaiden välisiä näkemyseroja. Tutkimus suoritettiin laadullisena case-tutkimuksena, jossa tarkasteltiin myös toimenpiteitä case-yrityksen liiketoimintaympäristön parantamiseksi. Tarvittava tieto kerättiin kirjallisuudesta, artikkeleista, taustahaastatteluilla sekä haastattelemalla yrityksen henkilöstöä Suomessa ja Japanissa samoin kuin sen japanilaisia asiakkaita. Japanilaiset asiakas/toimittaja-suhteet ovat ulkomaalaiselle yritykselle haastava liiketoimintaympäristö. Luottamuksen rakentaminen pitkällä tähtäimellä vaatii läheistä kommunikointia vastapuolen tuntemiseksi, jotta voidaan kehittää tuotteita paremmiksi ja vähentää valituskustannuksia. Laatuajattelua tulee myös yhdenmukaistaa tuotteiden ja palvelujen laadun parantamiseksi.

Tapahtumapohjainen simulointi kuljetusketjun automatisoinnin kehittämisessä

Työn tavoitteena oli tutkia kuljetusketjun automatisoinnin kehittämistä tapahtumapohjaisen simuloinnin avulla. Työn teoria osassa käsitellään yleisellä tasolla simuloinnin teoriaa, siihen liittyviä käsitteitä ja erityisesti simulointiprojektin läpiviennin vaiheita. Tässä osassa saadaan vastaukset seuraaviin kysymyksiin: - Mitä tapahtumapohjaisella simuloinnilla tarkoitetaan? - Mitkä ovat simuloinnin hyödyt ja rajoitteet? - Mitä käyttökohteita simuloinnilla on? - Minkälaisia ohjelmia simulointiin käytetään? - Mitä vaiheita simulointiprojekti sisältää? Soveltavassa osassa tutkitaan kuinka tapahtumapohjaista simulointia hyödynnettiin Veto-Ketju -projektissa ja millaisia tuloksia rakennetulla simulointimallilla saavutettiin. Veto-Ketju -projekti käsittelee kuljetusketjun sekä varasto- ja satamakäsittelyn tehostamista automatisoinnin avulla. Projektin vetäjänä ja automaattisen tavarankäsittelyjärjestelmän toimittajana on Pesmel Oy ja satamatoimintojen ja logistiikan asiantuntijana SysOpen-konserniin kuuluva suunnittelu- ja konsulttitoimisto EP-Logistics Oy. Paperiteollisuudesta mukana ovat UPM-Kymmene ja M-real, satamaoperaattorina toimii Rauma Stevedoring ja kuljetusoperaattorina VR Cargo. Veto-Ketju –projektin simulointitutkimuksessa varmistettiin suunnitellun automaattisen junavaunujen purkausjärjestelmän toiminta ennen sen käyttöönottoa ja tutkittiin erilaisten toimintatapojen vaikutuksia satamatoimintoihin, satamassa tarvittavien resurssien määrään ja määritettiin tarvittavien varastojen koko. Simulointimallin avulla pystyttiin osoittamaan selkeästi erilaisten toimintavaihtoehtojen erot. Tällä tavoin saatiin tuotetuksi lisää tietoa päätöksenteon tueksi muun muassa järjestelmän sijoituspaikan ja mahdollisen uuden varaston rakentamisen suhteen.

Handling of TDM Connections with Cello Media Gateway

UMTS is a 3rd generation telecommunication system, which introduces new network architecture. The change in the network architecture introduces new logical network nodes and changes the role of existing nodes in the network. This architecture changes the current vertically specialized network into a horizontally layered structure. In practice, the layering means that different levels in network hierarchy are separated, and they communicate over well-specified interfaces. The Connectivity Layer, at the bottom of the UMTS network architecture, contains Media Gateways (MGW). The GSM radio access network and UMTS access network are connected to the connectivity network via a MGW. External networks, e.g. ISDN networks, are accessed via other MGWs. The user plane is transported across the connectivity network between/via MGWs. ATM network is used as the backbone in Ericsson’s UMTS core network release 2.0. The main goal of this thesis is to study how the MGW is used to bridge ATM and TDM networks. The Circuit Emulation Service (CES) for ATM is studied, as the conversion from TDM to ATM is made according it. The transportation is made using AAL2 and the issues that it has with voice traffic are studied. The implementation and usage of TDM switching service in MGW are described in detail.

Development of Russian Ports in The Gulf of Finland

Russia has been one of the fastest developing economic areas in the world. Based on the GDP, the Russian economy grew evenly since the crisis in 1998 up till 2008. The growth in the gross domestic product has annually been some 5–10%. In 2007, the growth reached 8.1%, which is the highest figure after the 10% growth in 2000. Due to the growth of the economy and wage levels, purchasing power and consumption have been strongly increasing. The growing consumption has especially increased the imports of durables, such as passenger cars, domestic appliances and electronics. The Russian ports and infrastructure have not been able to satisfy the growing needs of exports and imports, which is why quite a large share of Russian foreign trade is going through third countries as transit transports. Finnish ports play a major role in transit transports to and from Russia. About 15% of the total value of Russian imports was transported through Finland in 2008. The economic recession that started in autumn 2008 and continues to date has had an impact on the economic development of Russia. The export income has decreased, mainly due to the reduced world market prices of energy products (oil and gas) and raw minerals. Investments have been postponed, getting credit is more difficult than before, and the ruble has weakened in relation to the euro and the dollar. The imports are decreasing remarkably, and are not forecast to reach the 2008 volumes even in 2012. The economic crisis is reflected in Finland's transit traffic. The volume of goods transported through Finland to and from Russia has decreased almost in the same proportion as the imports of goods to Russia. The biggest risk threatening the development of the Russian economy over long term is its dependence on export income from oil, gas, metals, minerals and forest products, as well as the trends of the world market prices of these products. Nevertheless, it is expected that the GDP of Russia will start to grow again in the forthcoming years due to the increased demand for energy products and raw minerals in the world. At the same time, it is obvious that the world market prices of these products will go up with the increasing demand. The increased income from exports will lead to a growth of imports, especially those of consumer goods, as the living standard of Russian citizens rises. The forecasts produced by the Russian Government concerning the economic development of Russia up till 2030 also indicate a shift in exported goods from raw materials to processed products, which together with energy products will become the main export goods of Russia. As a consequence, Russia may need export routes through third countries, which can be seen as an opportunity for increased transit transports through the ports of Finland. The ports competing with the ports of Finland for Russian foreign trade traffic are the Russian Baltic Sea ports and the ports of the Baltic countries. The strongest competitors are the Baltic Sea ports handling containers. On the Russian Baltic Sea, these ports include Saint Petersburg, Kaliningrad and, in the near future, the ports of Ust-Luga and possibly Vyborg. There are plans to develop Ust-Luga and Vyborg as modern container ports, which would become serious competitors to the Finnish ports. Russia is aiming to redirect as large a share as possible of foreign trade traffic to its own ports. The ports of Russia and the infrastructure associated with them are under constant development. On the other hand, the logistic capacity of Russia is not able to satisfy the continually growing needs of the Russian foreign trade. The capacity problem is emphasized by a structural incompatibility between the exports and imports in the Russian foreign trade. Russian exports can only use a small part of the containers brought in with imports. Problems are also caused by the difficult ice conditions and narrow waterways leading to the ports. It is predicted that Finland will maintain its position as a transit route for the Russian foreign trade, at least in the near future. The Russian foreign trade is increasing, and Russia will not be able to develop its ports in proportion with the increasing foreign trade. With the development of port capacity, cargo flows through the ports of Russia will grow. Structural changes in transit traffic are already visible. Firms are more and more relocating their production to Russia, for example as regards the assembly of cars and warehousing services. Simultaneously, an increasing part of transit cargoes are sent directly to Russia without unloading and reloading in Finland. New product groups have nevertheless been transported through Finland (textile products and tools), replacing the lost cargos. The global recession that started in autumn 2008 has influenced the volume of Russian imports and, consequently, the transit volumes of Finland, but the recession is not expected to be of long duration, and will thus only have a short-term impact on transit volumes. The Finnish infrastructure and services offered by the logistic chain should also be ready to react to the changes in imported product groups as well as to the change in Russian export products in the future. If the development plans of the Russian economy are realized, export products will be more refined, and the share of energy and raw material products will decrease. The other notable factor to be taken into consideration is the extremely fast-changing business environment in Russia. Operators in the logistic chain should be flexible enough to adapt to all kinds of changes to capitalise on business opportunities offered by the Russian foreign trade for the companies and for the transit volumes of Finnish ports, also in the future.

Certificate Handling Middleware for Mobile Devices

The purpose of this thesis was to study how certificates could be used to improve security of mobile devices. In the theoretical part the usage of certificates to improve security is explained. In the practical part a concept of certificate handling middleware is introduced and implemented. This is to demonstrate what kind of functionality is needed to provide an improvement over the current situation in security with mobile devices. The certificate handling middleware is a concept that would work better if implemented directly into mobile device's core functionality. Many of the mobile devices have a certificate store to some degree and often it is not used to store other people's certificates. A certificate store combined with address book and added with possibility to add attributes to the people such as group memberships would be sufficient to satisfy the needs of many emerging sharing and social applications.

Kropp, handling och ritual: hur förstå religion och personer med grava funktionshinder?

Arbetet som omsorgspräst sedan 1990 har väckt många frågor samband med mötet med personer som har grava funktionshinder. Det har skett framför allt i skriftskolor och konfirmationsundervisning från år 1984 framåt. Men speciellt samarbetet med fysioterapeut Karin Isaksson fick betydelse. Vi inbjöd personer med svåra spänningar och lite aktivitet att delta i en grupp med avslappning och kontemplativ sång. Gruppen (1997-2001)som höll på en timme gav uppmuntrande resultat. Men det var lättare för Isaksson att tänka på det i termer av avslappning och fysiskt välbefinnande då det för mig ingick sådant som helig närvaro och tystnad i mötet med deltagarna. Det resulterade så småningom i ett forskningsprojekt som jag kallar för Aaa-gruppen efter de kontemplativa intonationsövningar som ingår i ritualen. (AÅOM). Sex par (deltagare och handledare) anmälde sig till forskningsprojektet. Materialet samlades in åren 2002-2003. Aaa-gruppens ritual består av kontemplativ gregoriansk sång(intonationsövningar + antifoner som Kyrie eleison, Hosanna Filio David, Sanctus, Non i solo pane - Människan skall icke leva av bröd allenast och Fader Vår bönen.) Samarbetet i Aaa-gruppen mellan deltagare och handledare omfattade taktil stimulans (beröring enligt strykningar och ”Keep in Touch”) Materialet samlades in som observationsprotokoll, frågeformulär och intervjuer. Materialet har jag använt för att reflektera över hur vi kan förstå Aaa-gruppen och verklighet. I avhandlingen utgår jag från tankar om kontextens betydelse för en förståelse. Jag uppfattar att tre sammanhang är av betydelse för förståelsen. Dem har jag kallat för omsorgssammanhang, religiöst sammanhang och forskarsammanhang. I avhandlingen användes tre perspektiv som jag kallar för dialogfilosofi, neurofilosofi och livsformsfilosofi för att reflektera materialet. Den nära relationen mellan deltagare och handledare i Aaa-gruppen kan förstås ur olika sammanhang. Resultatet av den religionsfilosofiska reflektionen är att sammanhangen liksom de olika filosofiska perspektiven kompletterar och ger en mångsidig förståelse för religion och personer med grava funktionshinder. Reflektionen berör grundläggande frågeställningar kring kropp och medvetande och frågan om språk (nonverbalt och verbalt) och verklighet. En dualistisk uppfattning om jaget, som delbart i kropp och medvetande, avisas till förmån för ett så kallat ”kroppsjag”. Religion i Aaa-gruppen kan förstås som ett möte i en nära relation. Ett möte som är nonverbalt men inbegriper en mänskligt förhållningssätt som inom dialogfilosofin kan beskrivas med ordparet Jag-Du.

Cargo Traffic on the Helsinki-Tallinn Route

The twin-city model has found to increase economical activity and well-being. The similar economical, social and cultural background of Finland and Estonia as well as the EU integration give good preconditions to create a twin-city of Helsinki and Tallinn. The relatively long distance between Helsinki and Tallinn is challenging. Therefore, good transport infrastructure and functioning connections are required to form a twin-city of Helsinki and Tallinn. The connections between these cities can be considered also in broader perspective than only from the viewpoint of the twin-city concept. New markets areas have been emerged in Europe due to collapse of planned economy and integration of Europe. Also the transport routes to the markets are changing. The Hel-sinki-Tallinn sea route can be considered as a fast route to the new markets in the Cen-tral and Eastern Europe. The Helsinki-Tallinn sea route is also a potential route to the Western European markets. This study provides an analysis of transport and cargo flows between Finland and Esto-nia for regional and local planners. The main purpose of the study is to clarify the pre-sent situation of the seaborne cargo flows on the Helsinki-Tallinn route and how the cargo flows will develop in the future. The study focuses on the following thematic enti-ties: the Finnish and Estonian seaborne transport system and cargo flows, the structure and volume of the cargo flows on the Helsinki-Tallinn route, the hinterland cargo flows on the Helsinki-Tallinn route and the transport methods used on the Helsinki-Tallinn route. The study was carried out as a desk research, a statistical analysis and an inter-view study during the spring–autumn 2011. The study reveals that during the period 2002–2010 the volume of the seaborne cargo traffic between Finland and Estonia has increased significantly while the trend of the trade volume between Finland and Estonia has remained nearly constant. This indicates that the route via Estonia is increasingly used in the Finnish foreign trade. Because the ports of Helsinki and Tallinn are the main ports in the cargo traffic between Finland and Estonia, the role of the Helsinki-Tallinn route as a sea leg in the hinterland connections of Finland has increased. The growth of the cargo volume on the Helsinki-Tallinn route was estimated to continue on the annual level of 10 % during the next couple of years. In the long run the growth of the cargo volumes depends on the economical and indus-trial development of the former Eastern European countries. If the IMO’s sulphur regu-lations will come in force, the Helsinki-Tallinn route will become one of the main routes also to the Western European markets, besides of the route via Sweden. The study also shows that the fast and reliable connections year round on the Helsinki-Tallinn route have made it possible for service and logistics companies to reconsider their logistics strategies in a new way in the both side of the Gulf of Finland. Anyway, the ropax concept is seen as the only economical profitable solution on the Helsinki-Tallinn route because cargo and passenger traffic are supporting each other. The trucks (vehicle combinations) will remain the main mode of transport on the Helsinki-Tallinn route because general cargo is the main commodity on the route. IMO’s sulphur regula-tions and the changes in the structure of the Finnish industry may create prerequisites for rail road transport in the hinterland connections of Finland. The twin-city model has found to increase economical activity and well-being. The similar economical, social and cultural background of Finland and Estonia as well as the EU integration give good preconditions to create a twin-city of Helsinki and Tallinn. The relatively long distance between Helsinki and Tallinn is challenging. Therefore, good transport infrastructure and functioning connections are required to form a twin-city of Helsinki and Tallinn. The connections between these cities can be considered also in broader perspective than only from the viewpoint of the twin-city concept. New markets areas have been emerged in Europe due to collapse of planned economy and integration of Europe. Also the transport routes to the markets are changing. The Hel-sinki-Tallinn sea route can be considered as a fast route to the new markets in the Cen-tral and Eastern Europe. The Helsinki-Tallinn sea route is also a potential route to the Western European markets. This study provides an analysis of transport and cargo flows between Finland and Esto-nia for regional and local planners. The main purpose of the study is to clarify the pre-sent situation of the seaborne cargo flows on the Helsinki-Tallinn route and how the cargo flows will develop in the future. The study focuses on the following thematic enti-ties: the Finnish and Estonian seaborne transport system and cargo flows, the structure and volume of the cargo flows on the Helsinki-Tallinn route, the hinterland cargo flows on the Helsinki-Tallinn route and the transport methods used on the Helsinki-Tallinn route. The study was carried out as a desk research, a statistical analysis and an inter-view study during the spring–autumn 2011. The study reveals that during the period 2002–2010 the volume of the seaborne cargo traffic between Finland and Estonia has increased significantly while the trend of the trade volume between Finland and Estonia has remained nearly constant. This indicates that the route via Estonia is increasingly used in the Finnish foreign trade. Because the ports of Helsinki and Tallinn are the main ports in the cargo traffic between Finland and Estonia, the role of the Helsinki-Tallinn route as a sea leg in the hinterland connections of Finland has increased. The growth of the cargo volume on the Helsinki-Tallinn route was estimated to continue on the annual level of 10 % during the next couple of years. In the long run the growth of the cargo volumes depends on the economical and indus-trial development of the former Eastern European countries. If the IMO’s sulphur regu-lations will come in force, the Helsinki-Tallinn route will become one of the main routes also to the Western European markets, besides of the route via Sweden. The study also shows that the fast and reliable connections year round on the Helsinki-Tallinn route have made it possible for service and logistics companies to reconsider their logistics strategies in a new way in the both side of the Gulf of Finland. Anyway, the ropax concept is seen as the only economical profitable solution on the Helsinki-Tallinn route because cargo and passenger traffic are supporting each other. The trucks (vehicle combinations) will remain the main mode of transport on the Helsinki-Tallinn route because general cargo is the main commodity on the route. IMO’s sulphur regula-tions and the changes in the structure of the Finnish industry may create prerequisites for rail road transport in the hinterland connections of Finland.

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.