Retail sub - dealer's agreement

kuv., 41 x 26 cm

Retail sub - dealer's agreement

kuv., 41 x 26 cm

Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers in traceability of retail beef samples

Several characteristics are important in a traceability system of animal products, such as age at slaughter, breed composition, besides information of the productive chain. In general, the certification agent records information about the animals and the system which it came from, although cannot guarantee that the slaughtering, meat processing and distribution are error proof. Besides, there is a differential price, at least at the international market, based on sex and breed composition of the animals. Genetic markers allow identification of characteristics controlled in the beef cattle traceability program, as sex and breed composition, in order to correctly identify and appraise the final product for the consumer. The hypothesis of this study was that the majority beef samples retailed in the local market originate from female with a great participation of zebu breeds. Therefore, the objective of this work was to characterize retail beef samples with DNA markers that identify cattle sex and breed composition. Within 10 beef shops localized in Pirassununga, SP, Brazil, 61 samples were collected, all were genotyped as harboring Bos taurus mitochondrial DNA and 18 were positive for the Y chromosome amplification (male). For the marker sat1711b-Msp I the frequency of the allele A was 0.278 and for the marker Lhr-Hha I the frequency of the allele T was 0.417. The results of sat1711b-Msp I and Lhr-Hha I allelic frequencies are suggestive that the proportion of indicus genome compared with the taurine genome in the market meat is smaller than the observed in the Nellore breed. The procedure described in this study identified sex and subspecies characteristics of beef meat samples, with potential application in meat products certification in special as an auxiliary tool in beef cattle traceability programs.

Learning to Understand the Retailers - The New Approach of a Paperboard Manufacturer

The aim of the study is to expand networking between a packaging material manufacturer and retailers in order to develop products which appeal to brand owners and their customers. The in-built targets are to understand the retailer’s role in the value chain, clarify who makes packaging decision of private label products, and canvass the importance of sustainability. The present value chain of the packaging material manufacturer is reviewed first. It is assumed that sustainability could be a common interest, and The Consumer Goods Forum’s “A Global Language for Packaging and Sustainability” report is shortly discussed. The presentation of the most common packaging materials is based on a guide called “Packaging in the Sustainability Agenda: A Guide for Corporate Decision Makers”. The terms manufacturer’s brand and private label are defined. A retail value chain with emphasis on the role of customers as partners is introduced. The study area is the Nordic countries, and the information about Nordic retailers was provided first by desk research. The interviews were made in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The study method is qualitative: the intention was to get initial insights, ideas and understandings. The results are compiled under the headings: sustainability, private labels, cooperation and packaging development. Also the reasons for good profitability of private labels are explained. Sustainability or responsibility is a key driver for innovation in the retail sector. Private labels have become brands. The ways of cooperation between a packaging material manufacturer and a retailer could be education and training. Packaging development is of great interest to retailers and they are willing to contribute.

The importance of Leptospira interrogans serovars Icterohaemorrhagiae and Canicola in coastal zone and in southern fields of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

This study aimed to describe the occurrence of Leptospira interrogans serovars Icterohaemorrhagiae and Canicola, in coastal zone and in southern grasslands of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In each one of the four analyzed farms blood samples were collected from free-living wild animals, domestic animals and humans to perform serological testing for leptospirosis. The presence of antibodies was verified by microscopic agglutination test (MAT). The criterion adopted to consider a serum as agglutination reactant was at least 50% of leptospira for a microscopic field of 100x. From 17 blood samples collected at Chuí, five (29.41%) were positive, three (60.00%) for serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae and two (40.00%) for Canicola. From 21 samples collected in the County of Santana da Boa Vista, six (28.57%) were positive, four (66.67%) for serovar Canicola and two (33.33%) for serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae. From 32 samples collected at Alegrete, 10 (31.25%) were positive, seven (70.00%) for serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae and three (30.00%) foro serovar Canicola. From 17 blood samples collected in Cruz Alta, three (17.64%) were positive, two (66.67%) for serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae and one (33.33%) for Canicola. It is necessary to improve sanitary practices on farms in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in order to achieve success in leptospirosis control programs.

Fluid dynamic modelling and simulation of circulating fluidized bed reactors: importance of the interface turbulence transfer

The main objective of this work is to analyze the importance of the gas-solid interface transfer of the kinetic energy of the turbulent motion on the accuracy of prediction of the fluid dynamic of Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) reactors. CFB reactors are used in a variety of industrial applications related to combustion, incineration and catalytic cracking. In this work a two-dimensional fluid dynamic model for gas-particle flow has been used to compute the porosity, the pressure, and the velocity fields of both phases in 2-D axisymmetrical cylindrical co-ordinates. The fluid dynamic model is based on the two fluid model approach in which both phases are considered to be continuous and fully interpenetrating. CFB processes are essentially turbulent. The model of effective stress on each phase is that of a Newtonian fluid, where the effective gas viscosity was calculated from the standard k-epsilon turbulence model and the transport coefficients of the particulate phase were calculated from the kinetic theory of granular flow (KTGF). This work shows that the turbulence transfer between the phases is very important for a better representation of the fluid dynamics of CFB reactors, especially for systems with internal recirculation and high gradients of particle concentration. Two systems with different characteristics were analyzed. The results were compared with experimental data available in the literature. The results were obtained by using a computer code developed by the authors. The finite volume method with collocated grid, the hybrid interpolation scheme, the false time step strategy and SIMPLEC (Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure Linked Equations - Consistent) algorithm were used to obtain the numerical solution.

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.

Interpreting marine benthic ecosystem functioning in coastal waters: validating the biological trait concept

Coastal areas harbour high biodiversity, but are simultaneously affected by rapid degradations of species and habitats due to human interactions. Such alterations also affect the functioning of the ecosystem, which is primarily governed by the characteristics or traits expressed by the organisms present. Marine benthic fauna is nvolved in numerous functions such as organic matter transformation and transport, secondary production, oxygen transport as well as nutrient cycling. Approaches utilising the variety of faunal traits to assess benthic community functioning have rapidly increased and shown the need for further development of the concept. In this thesis, I applied biological trait analysis that allows for assessments of a multitude of categorical traits and thus evaluation of multiple functional aspects simultaneously. I determined the functional trait structure, diversity and variability of coastal zoobenthic communities in the Baltic Sea. The measures were related to recruitment processes, habitat heterogeneity, large-scale environmental and taxonomic gradients as well as anthropogenic impacts. The studies comprised spatial scales from metres to thousands of kilometres, and temporal scales spanning one season as well as a decade. The benthic functional structure was found to vary within and between seagrass landscape microhabitats and four different habitats within a coastal bay, in papers I and II respectively. Expressions of trait categories varied within habitats, while the density of individuals was found to drive the functional differences between habitats. The findings in paper III unveiled high trait richness of Finnish coastal benthos (25 traits and 102 cateogries) although this differed between areas high and low in salinity and human pressure. In paper IV, the natural reduction in taxonomic richness across the Baltic Sea led to an overall reduction in function. However, functional richness in terms of number of trait categories remained comparatively high at low taxon richness. Changes in number of taxa within trait categories were also subtle and some individual categories were maintained or even increased. The temporal analysis in papers I and III highlighted generalities in trait expressions and dominant trait categories in a seagrass landscape as well as a “type organism” for the northern Baltic Sea. Some initial findings were made in all four papers on the role of common and rare species and traits for benthic community functioning. The findings show that common and rare species may not always express the same trait categories in relation to each other. Rare species in general did not express unique functional properties. In order to advance the understanding of the approach, I also assessed some issues concerning the limitations of the concept. This was conducted by evaluating the link between trait category and taxonomic richness using especially univariate measures. My results also show the need to collaborate nationally and internationally on safeguarding the utility of taxonomic and trait data. The findings also highlight the importance of including functional trait information into current efforts in marine spatial planning and biomonitoring.

Soil organisms associated to the weed suppressant Crotalaria juncea (fabaceae) and its importance as a refuge for natural enemies

Soil organisms play an important role in organic crops of Crotalaria juncea (Fabaceae) and are associated with the natural conservation of the environment. The present study was aimed to investigate the population of soil organisms in the organic culture of C. juncea, as well as its importance as a refuge for natural enemies. Dalbulus maidis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), Diabrotica sp. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Doru luteipes (Dermaptera: Forficulidae), Gryllus assimilis (Orthoptera: Gryllidae), Lagria villosa (Coleoptera: Lagriidae), Melanotus sp. (Coleoptera: Elateridae), Meloidogyne incognita (Tylenchida: Heteroderidae), Nephila clavipes (Araneae: Nephilidae), Orius insidiosus (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), Pheidole sp. (Hymenoptera: Myrmicidae), Phyllophaga sp. (Coleoptera: Scarabeidae), Procornitermes sp. (Isoptera: Termitidae), Solenopsis sp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), and Utetheisa ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) were identified in C. juncea. The organisms that were found during a 3-month period in 144 trenches in C. juncea were pest species (84.47%) and natural enemies (15.53%) as well. Natural enemies had an average of 11.89 individuals per 1.08 m³ of soil cultivated with C. juncea. The abundance of organisms in the pod stage (5.49%) of C. juncea was lower than that in the vegetative (83.50%) and flowering (11.01%) stages. Crotalaria juncea plants can be used as part of a crop system for Integrated Pest Management.

Weeds occurrence and importance under distinct intercropping systems

Intercropping systems involving corn are often subjected to stress caused by weeds, which usually result in 30-70 per cent yield loss when no control practice is applied. This study aimed to assess the composition of weed communities due to soil coverage, at neighboring areas submitted to distinct soil managements. The soil was collected at field and the study was conducted under a greenhouse in three steps: (1) weeds composition and importance within each treatment; (2) comparison between treatments (distinct crop and intercropping managements); (3) infestation in the area as a whole. The weed composition in the short term is influenced by the management of the area, but this shift requires some more years to be reflected at the soil seed bank. Some weed species occur in high densities and even this way they may not be the most serious weed species present in a given field. Just a few species are adapted to a given system of management in a level enough to be a troublesome weed. Areas differed in relation to weed infestation as a function of management adopted and number of years the new management was applied.

Julkiset luomu- ja lähiruokahankkeet toimitusketjunäkökulmasta tarkasteltuna

Luomu- ja lähiruokaliiketoiminta on vielä varsin marginaalista Suomessa, mutta alalla on selkeästi kasvupotentiaalia. Sektoria on pyritty kehittämään julkisten, muun muassa EU-rahoitettujen, hankkeiden avulla. Tässä työssä on tutkittu vuosina 2007 – 2013 toteutettuja luomu- ja lähiruokahankkeita toimitusketjunäkökulmasta käsin. Tutkimuksen kohteena ovat olleet hankkeisiin liittyvät toimitusketjun osaamisalueet sekä hankkeiden tavoitteet, kohderyhmät ja tulokset. Bechmarking-mielessä on luotu silmäys Ranskan, Italian ja Itävallan luomu- ja lähiruokaliiketoimintaan. Työn otoksen muodostavat 105 julkista luomu- ja lähiruokahanketta. Työssä muodostettiin teorialähtöisesti kuusi toimitusketjun osaamisaluetta, joiden avulla hankkeita kategorisoitiin ja analysoitiin. Osaamisalueet ovat yhteistyö-/verkosto-osaaminen, logistiikka-/jakeluosaaminen, markkinointi-/myyntiosaaminen, talous-/yrittäjyysosaaminen, tuote-/tuotekehitysosaaminen sekä tuotanto-osaaminen. Tutkittujen hankkeiden yleisin tavoite liittyy yhteistyö- ja verkosto-osaamisen kehittämiseen. Hankkeista voitiin osoittaa neljä erilaista yhteistyön muotoa. Yleisin kohderyhmä on luomu- ja lähiruoan tuottaja. Eurooppalaisissa esimerkeissä korostuvat kuluttajalähtöisyys, järjestäytyneet yhteistyömuodot sekä vähittäiskaupan merkittävä rooli luomu- ja lähiruoan jakelijana.

AOD 2.0: A category based submission add-on for DSpace 4.0

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

Carrier selection and management : A case study on Neste Oil Retail

Service provider selection has been said to be a critical factor in the formation of supply chains. Through successful selection companies can attain competitive advantage, cost savings and more flexible operations. Service provider management is the next crucial step in outsourcing process after the selection has been made. Without proper management companies cannot be sure about the level of service they have bought and they may suffer from service provider's opportunistic behavior. In worst case scenario the buyer company may end up in locked-in situation in which it is totally dependent of the service provider. This thesis studies how the case company conducts its carrier selection process along with the criteria related to it. A model for the final selection is also provided. In addition, case company's carrier management procedures are reflected against recommendations from previous researches. The research was conducted as a qualitative case study on the principal company, Neste Oil Retail. A literature review was made on outsourcing, service provider selection and service provider management. On the basis of the literature review, this thesis ended up recommending Analytic hierarchy process as the preferred model for the carrier selection. Furthermore, Agency theory was seen to be a functional framework for carrier management in this study. Empirical part of this thesis was conducted in the case company by interviewing the key persons in the selection process, making observations and going through documentations related to the subject. According to the results from the study, both carrier selection process as well as carrier management were closely in line with suggestions from literature review. Analytic hierarchy process results revealed that the case company considers service quality as the most important criteria with financial situation and price of service following behind with almost identical weights with each other. Equipment and personnel was seen as the least important selection criterion. Regarding carrier management, the study resulted in the conclusion that the company should consider engaging more in carrier development and working towards beneficial and effective relationships. Otherwise, no major changes were recommended for the case company processes.

On advancing business intelligence in the electricity retail market

In recent decades, business intelligence (BI) has gained momentum in real-world practice. At the same time, business intelligence has evolved as an important research subject of Information Systems (IS) within the decision support domain. Today’s growing competitive pressure in business has led to increased needs for real-time analytics, i.e., so called real-time BI or operational BI. This is especially true with respect to the electricity production, transmission, distribution, and retail business since the law of physics determines that electricity as a commodity is nearly impossible to be stored economically, and therefore demand-supply needs to be constantly in balance. The current power sector is subject to complex changes, innovation opportunities, and technical and regulatory constraints. These range from low carbon transition, renewable energy sources (RES) development, market design to new technologies (e.g., smart metering, smart grids, electric vehicles, etc.), and new independent power producers (e.g., commercial buildings or households with rooftop solar panel installments, a.k.a. Distributed Generation). Among them, the ongoing deployment of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) has profound impacts on the electricity retail market. From the view point of BI research, the AMI is enabling real-time or near real-time analytics in the electricity retail business. Following Design Science Research (DSR) paradigm in the IS field, this research presents four aspects of BI for efficient pricing in a competitive electricity retail market: (i) visual data-mining based descriptive analytics, namely electricity consumption profiling, for pricing decision-making support; (ii) real-time BI enterprise architecture for enhancing management’s capacity on real-time decision-making; (iii) prescriptive analytics through agent-based modeling for price-responsive demand simulation; (iv) visual data-mining application for electricity distribution benchmarking. Even though this study is from the perspective of the European electricity industry, particularly focused on Finland and Estonia, the BI approaches investigated can: (i) provide managerial implications to support the utility’s pricing decision-making; (ii) add empirical knowledge to the landscape of BI research; (iii) be transferred to a wide body of practice in the power sector and BI research community.

Diagnosing Gender: Transitivity Analysis on the Diagnostic Category of Gender Dysphoria in DSM-5

Tässä tutkielmassa analysoidaan teoksessa ’Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Men-tal Disorders, Fifth Edition’ (DSM-5) ja tarkemmin sen kappaleessa ’Gender Dysphoria’ käytettyä kieltä. DSM-5 on mielenterveydenalan ammattilaisille suunnattu luokittelu virallisesti tunnustetuista mielenterveyden häiriöistä ja se sisältää myös oireiden kuvai-luun perustuvat ohjeet näiden mielenterveyshäiriöiden diagnosoimiseksi. ’Gender dys-phoria’ (vapaasti suomennettuna sukupuolidysforia) on lääketieteellinen termi, joka viittaa biologisesta sukupuolesta eriävän sukupuoli-identiteetin aiheuttamaan henki-seen pahoinvointiin. Sukupuoli-identiteetin ja mielenterveysongelman yhdistäminen sisältää ideologisiin arvoihin pohjautuvia perusteluja ja tässä tutkielmassa analysoi-daan ’Gender Dysphoria’ – kappaleen ideologista sisältöä kriittisestä näkökulmasta. Tutkimuksen tarkastellaan ’Gender Dysphoria’ – kappaleessa käytetyn kielen ideologi-sia heijastumia ja niiden sosiaalisia vaikutuksia kolmen tutkimuskysymyksen avulla: 1) Kuinka diagnosoitu henkilö esitetään tekstissä? 2) Kuinka tekstissä rakennetaan kuvaa sukupuolidysforiasta mielenterveyshäiriönä? 3) Miten analyysin tulokset saattavat vai-kuttaa käsitykseen sukupuolen yhteydestä mielenterveyteen ja sukupuolidysforian diagnosoimiseen. Analyysissä käytetään metodina M. A. K. Hallidayn transitiivisuusteo-riaa ja tulosten sosiaalisia vaikutuksia analysoidaan Norman Faircloughn diskurssiana-lyysimallin avulla. Transitiivisuusanalyysin avulla tarkastellaan kirjoittajien tekemiä va-lintoja kielenkäytön suhteen, jotka Hallidayn teorian mukaan heijastavat kirjoittajien henkilökohtaisia kokemuksia ympäröivästä maailmasta. Tutkimus paljasti, että sukupuolidysforia esitetään mielenterveysongelmana erotta-malla se yksilöstä erilliseksi toimijaksi, joka suorittaa erilaisia prosesseja yksilön sisällä. Yksilöistä erityisesti lapset esitetään tekstissä voimakkaasti perinteisiin sukupuoliroo-leihin pohjautuvan ideologian valossa, joka heijastuu oireiden kuvailuun. Analyysi osoittaa myös logiikkaongelmia lasten oireiden kuvailussa, jotka johtavat ristiriitoihin oireiden ja mielenterveysongelman yhteydessä ja kumoavat perusteet, joiden pohjalta lapset diagnosoidaan. Tutkimuksen lopussa ehdotetaan, että sukupuolidysforiaan liit-tyvien diagnoosiohjeiden ja – kriteerien perusteita muokataan yleisesti sukupuoli-identiteetin itsemääräämisoikeuteen pohjautuvaksi ja lasten osalta tekstiin sisällytet-täisiin mahdollisia tieteellisiä perusteluja, jotka kumoaisivat diagnoosiohjeiden nyky-muodossaan sisältämät ristiriidat ja perustelisivat lasten diagnosoinnin oikeellisuuden