Qualidade de carambolas azedas cv. 'Golden Star' tratadas com CaCl2 por imersão e armazenadas sob refrigeração

No presente trabalho, avaliou-se o efeito de diferentes concentrações de CaCl2 aplicadas na pós-colheita de carambolas cv. 'Golden Star, durante o armazenamento refrigerado (AR). Os frutos colhidos fisiologicamente maturos foram selecionados pela ausência de defeitos e imersos em soluções de CaCl2, em diferentes concentrações, em temperatura ambiente (22 °C) por 20 minutos. Após aplicação dos tratamentos T1 - controle (0% de CaCl2); T2 - CaCl2 a 1%; T3 - CaCl2 a 2%; T4 - CaCl2 a 3%, e T5 - CaCl2 a 4%, os frutos foram colocados em câmara frigorífica, por 35 dias, a 12 ± 0,5ºC e 95 ± 3%, e mais 3 dias a 22 ± 3°C e 72 ± 5% de umidade relativa (UR). 24 horas após a colheita e a cada sete dias, amostras foram retiradas da AR, mantidas por 12 horas em condições ambiente (22 ± 3°C e 72 ± 5% UR) e analisadas quanto ao teor de cálcio na polpa, perda de massa fresca, coloração da epiderme, firmeza de polpa (FP), sólidos solúveis totais (SST), acidez total titulável (ATT) e a ocorrência de distúrbios fisiológicos. Ao final do experimento, foi feita uma análise sensorial. Observou-se que os frutos imersos em solução de CaCl2 a 2% apresentaram menor perda de massa fresca e maior firmeza de polpa. As carambolas deste tratamento também não apresentaram manchas e podridões e foram preferidas pelos julgadores no teste de preferência. Os sólidos solúveis totais, a acidez total titulável e a coloração não apresentaram diferença estatística entre os tratamentos. Na análise de teores de cálcio adsorvido pelos frutos, determinou-se que quanto, maior a concentração da solução de CaCl2 aplicada, maior a concentração de cálcio presente na polpa.

Procurement in Project Implementation

Tutkimus keskittyy hankintatoimen kehittämiseen osana laitosprojektien toteutusta. Työ pohjautuu empiiriseltä taustaltaan Pöyry Oyj:n projektiliiketoimintaan ja työn tarkastelunäkökulmaksi onvalittu projektihallinnosta vastaavan yrityksen näkökulma. Tutkimus on hyvin käytännönläheinen ¿ se lähtee hankinnan ja sen seurannan ongelmista ja pyrkii tarjoamaan niihin uudenlaisia ratkaisuja. Pohjimmiltaan tutkimus kuuluu teollisuustalouden piiriin, vaikka tietojärjestelmätieteellä on vahva tukirooli. Työn tavoitteet ja tulokset liittyvät teollisuustaloudelle ominaisesti yrityksen toiminnan kehittämiseen, käytetyt välineet ja ratkaisut puolestaan hyödyntävät tietojärjestelmätieteen antamia mahdollisuuksia. Tutkimuksessa on käytetty konstruktiivista tutkimusotetta, jonka mukaisesti on luotu innovatiivisia konstruktioita ratkaisemaan aitoja reaalimaailman ongelmia ja tätä kautta tuotettu kontribuutioita teollisuustaloudelle. Tavoitteena oli järjestää hankintatoimi ja sen seuranta suurissa laitosprojekteissa tehokkaammin. Tätä varten uudistettiin ensin projektihallinnon ja hankintatoimen toimintaohjeet vastaamaan paremmin nykyajan vaatimuksia. Toimintaohjeiden perusteella ryhdyttiin toteuttamaan hankintaohjelmistoa, joka pystyisi kattamaan kaikki toimintaohjeissa kuvatut piirteet. Lopulta hankintaohjelmisto toi mukanaan uusia piirteitä projektihallintoon ja hankintatoimeen ja nämä sisällytettiin toimintaohjeisiin. Tähän kehitystyöhön ryhdyttiin, jotta laitosprojektien projektihallinto ja hankintatoimi toimisivat paremmin, eli pienemmin kustannuksin tuottaen projekteissa tarvittavat tulokset nopeammin, tarkemmin ja laadukkaammin. Tutkimuksella on kolmenlaisia tuloksia: hankintatoimen parannetut metodit, hankintaohjelmiston pohjana olevat toiminta- ja laskentamallit sekä implementaationa hankintasovellus. Uudistetut projekti- ja hankintaohjeet kuvaavat hankintatoiminnan parannettuja metodeja. Hankintaohjelmistoasuunnitellessa ja kehitettäessä tehdyt kuvaukset sisältävät uusia malleja niin hankintaprosessille kuin hankinnan seuraamiseksi suurissa laitosprojekteissa. Itse ohjelmisto on tuloksena implementaatio, joka perustuu parannettuihin hankintametodeihin ja uusiin toiminta- ja laskentamalleihin. Uudistetut projekti- ja hankintaohjeet ovat olleet käytössä Pöyry Oyj:ssä vuodesta 1991. Vuosien varrella nämä toimintaohjeet ovat auttaneet ja tukeneet satojen laitosprojektientoteutusta ja ylläpitäneet Pöyry Oyj:n kilpailukykyä kansainvälisenä projektitalona. Hankintasovellus puolestaan on ollut käytössä useissa projekteissa ja sen on havaittu pienentävän hankintatoimen suoria työkustannuksia laitosprojekteissa. Sovelluksen katsotaan myös tuovan epäsuoria kustannussäästöjä parempien hankintapäätösten muodossa, mutta näiden säästöjen suuruutta ei pystytä luotettavasti arvioimaan.

Project Success through Effective Decisions: Case Studies on Project Goal Setting, Success Evaluation and Managerial Decision Making

The objective of the thesis is to structure and model the factors that contribute to and can be used in evaluating project success. The purpose of this thesis is to enhance the understanding of three research topics. The goal setting process, success evaluation and decision-making process are studied in the context of a project, business unitand its business environment. To achieve the objective three research questionsare posed. These are 1) how to set measurable project goals, 2) how to evaluateproject success and 3) how to affect project success with managerial decisions.The main theoretical contribution comes from deriving a synthesis of these research topics which have mostly been discussed apart from each other in prior research. The research strategy of the study has features from at least the constructive, nomothetical, and decision-oriented research approaches. This strategy guides the theoretical and empirical part of the study. Relevant concepts and a framework are composed on the basis of the prior research contributions within the problem area. A literature review is used to derive constructs of factors withinthe framework. They are related to project goal setting, success evaluation, and decision making. On the basis of this, the case study method is applied to complement the framework. The empirical data includes one product development program, three construction projects, as well as one organization development, hardware/software, and marketing project in their contexts. In two of the case studiesthe analytic hierarchy process is used to formulate a hierarchical model that returns a numerical evaluation of the degree of project success. It has its origin in the solution idea which in turn has its foundation in the notion of projectsuccess. The achieved results are condensed in the form of a process model thatintegrates project goal setting, success evaluation and decision making. The process of project goal setting is analysed as a part of an open system that includes a project, the business unit and its competitive environment. Four main constructs of factors are suggested. First, the project characteristics and requirements are clarified. The second and the third construct comprise the components of client/market segment attractiveness and sources of competitive advantage. Together they determine the competitive position of a business unit. Fourth, the relevant goals and the situation of a business unit are clarified to stress their contribution to the project goals. Empirical evidence is gained on the exploitation of increased knowledge and on the reaction to changes in the business environment during a project to ensure project success. The relevance of a successful project to a company or a business unit tends to increase the higher the reference level of project goals is set. However, normal performance or sometimes performance below this normal level is intentionally accepted. Success measures make project success quantifiable. There are result-oriented, process-oriented and resource-oriented success measures. The study also links result measurements to enablers that portray the key processes. The success measures can be classified into success domains determining the areas on which success is assessed. Empiricalevidence is gained on six success domains: strategy, project implementation, product, stakeholder relationships, learning situation and company functions. However, some project goals, like safety, can be assessed using success measures that belong to two success domains. For example a safety index is used for assessing occupational safety during a project, which is related to project implementation. Product safety requirements, in turn, are connected to the product characteristics and thus to the product-related success domain. Strategic success measures can be used to weave the project phases together. Empirical evidence on their static nature is gained. In order-oriented projects the project phases are oftencontractually divided into different suppliers or contractors. A project from the supplier's perspective can represent only a part of the ¿whole project¿ viewed from the client's perspective. Therefore static success measures are mostly used within the contractually agreed project scope and duration. Proof is also acquired on the dynamic use of operational success measures. They help to focus on the key issues during each project phase. Furthermore, it is shown that the original success domains and success measures, their weights and target values can change dynamically. New success measures can replace the old ones to correspond better with the emphasis of the particular project phase. This adjustment concentrates on the key decision milestones. As a conclusion, the study suggests a combination of static and dynamic success measures. Their linkage to an incentive system can make the project management proactive, enable fast feedback and enhancethe motivation of the personnel. It is argued that the sequence of effective decisions is closely linked to the dynamic control of project success. According to the used definition, effective decisions aim at adequate decision quality and decision implementation. The findings support that project managers construct and use a chain of key decision milestones to evaluate and affect success during aproject. These milestones can be seen as a part of the business processes. Different managers prioritise the key decision milestones to a varying degree. Divergent managerial perspectives, power, responsibilities and involvement during a project offer some explanation for this. Finally, the study introduces the use ofHard Gate and Soft Gate decision milestones. The managers may use the former milestones to provide decision support on result measurements and ad hoc critical conditions. In the latter milestones they may make intermediate success evaluation also on the basis of other types of success measures, like process and resource measures.

Extension des prestations de type "équipe mobile" aux foyers socio-éducatifs: projet pilote dans le canton de Vaud [Extension of mobile team services to socio-educational home: pilot project in the Vaud canton].

L'objectif principal de ce projet d'extension des prestations, de type Antenne d'intervention dans le milieu pour enfants et adolescents (AIMEA) aux foyers socio-éducatifs pour l'ensemble du canton de Vaud, vise à décloisonner les champs socio-éducatifs et pédopsychiatriques. 64 patients ont fait l'objet d'une évaluation au cours de la phase pilote (après une année de fonctionnement). De plus, une enquête de satisfaction a été effectuée soit à la fin du suivi, soit à la fin de la phase pilote de ce projet (au 31.12.2012). Cette expérience très positive, relevée par une grande majorité des acteurs impliqués dans la prise en charge socio-éducative et pédopsychiatrique des mineurs, suscite un désir d'extension des prestations de type équipe mobile à d'autres structures ou à d'autres types de situations. The main objective of this project about mobile team service extension to the socio-educational home of the whole Vaud canton targets to decompartmentalize the socio-educational and youth-psychiatry domains. 64 patient were assessed during this pilot phase (after one-year functioning). In addition, a satisfaction survey was done either at the end of the follow up or at the end of the pilot phase of the project (31.12.2012). This experience was very positive as highlighted by the vast majority of the person involved in the socio-educational and youth-psychiatric domains taking care of youth. A desire of extension of mobile team service to other institutional structure or other situations was expressed.

Observations on Software Project Deviations

Software projects have proved to be troublesome to be implemented and as the size of software keeps increasing it is more and more important to follow-up the projects. The proportion of succeeded software projects is still quite low in spite of the research and the development of the project control methodologies. The success and failure factors of projects are known, as well as the project risks but nevertheless the projects still have problems with keeping the schedule and the budget and achieving the defined functionality and adequate quality. The purpose of this thesis was to find out what deviations are there in projects at the moment, what causes them, and what is measured in projects. Also project deviation was defined in the viewpoint of literature and field experts. The analysis was made using a qualitative research approach. It was found out that there are still deviations in software projects with schedule, budget, quality, requirements, documenting, effort, and resources. In addition also changes in requirements were identified. It was also found out that for example schedule deviations can be affected by reducing the size of a task and adding measurements.

Project d¿un edifice pour la Bibliothèque de l¿Université d¿Alexandre. Helsingfors Fasade

Helsinki 1833

Dendrochronological study of the avalanche path Canal del Roc Roig: first results of the ALUDEX Project in the Pyrenees

Historical data about ancient avalanches are scarce in the Pyrenees. Dendrochronology can provide new data about past avalanches and their return period, but up to now little research has been carried out with this purpose. The Aludex project aims to obtain information about the frequency and extent of extreme avalanches, using a dendrochronological and a nivo-meteorological approach. In this paper, we present the results of a dendrochronological study of the Canal del Roc Roig avalanche path which was affected by two extreme avalanches in February 1996. This first dendrochronological study has permitted us to assess the tree-ring signals due to avalanche events in 53 out of 132 dated trees. The trees presented a variety of responses to the 1996 avalanche events. It is shown that the type of tree-ring signal depends on tree age. The methodology has proved successful in detecting the 1996 and 1972 documented avalanche events, and provided outstanding evidence of undocumented past events such as one in 1930.

A Be-type star with a black-hole companion

Stellar-mass black holes have all been discovered through X-ray emission, which arises from the accretion of gas from their binary companions (this gas is either stripped from low-mass stars or supplied as winds from massive ones). Binary evolution models also predict the existence of black holes accreting from the equatorial envelope of rapidly spinning Be-type stars (stars of the Be type are hot blue irregular variables showing characteristic spectral emission lines of hydrogen). Of the ~80 Be X-ray binaries known in the Galaxy, however, only pulsating neutron stars have been found as companions. A black hole was formally allowed as a solution for the companion to the Be star MWC 656 (also known as HD 215227), although that was based on a single radial velocity curve of the Be star, a mistaken spectral classification and rough estimates of the inclination angle. Here we report observations of an accretion disk line mirroring the orbit of the Be star. This, together with an improved radial velocity curve of the Be star through fitting sharp Fe II profiles from the equatorial disk, and a refined Be classification (to that of a B1.5-B2 III star), reveals a black hole of 3.8 to 6.9 solar masses orbiting MWC 656, the candidate counterpart of the gamma-ray source AGL J2241+4454. The black hole is X-ray quiescent and fed by a radiatively inefficient accretion flow giving a luminosity less than 1.6 x 10-7 times the Eddington luminosity. This implies that Be binaries with black-hole companions are difficult to detect by conventional X-ray surveys.

Biological impact assessment of nanomaterial used in nanomedicine. Introduction to the NanoTEST project.

Therapeutic nanoparticles (NPs) are used in nanomedicine as drug carriers or imaging agents, providing increased selectivity/specificity for diseased tissues. The first NPs in nanomedicine were developed for increasing the efficacy of known drugs displaying dose-limiting toxicity and poor bioavailability and for enhancing disease detection. Nanotechnologies have gained much interest owing to their huge potential for applications in industry and medicine. It is necessary to ensure and control the biocompatibility of the components of therapeutic NPs to guarantee that intrinsic toxicity does not overtake the benefits. In addition to monitoring their toxicity in vitro, in vivo and in silico, it is also necessary to understand their distribution in the human body, their biodegradation and excretion routes and dispersion in the environment. Therefore, a deep understanding of their interactions with living tissues and of their possible effects in the human (and animal) body is required for the safe use of nanoparticulate formulations. Obtaining this information was the main aim of the NanoTEST project, and the goals of the reports collected together in this special issue are to summarise the observations and results obtained by the participating research teams and to provide methodological tools for evaluating the biological impact of NPs.

The star forming region Monoceros R2 as a gamma-ray source

After the release of the gamma-ray source catalog produced by the Fermi satellite during its first two years of operation, a significant fraction of sources still remain unassociated at lower energies. In addition to well-known high-energy emitters (pulsars, blazars, supernova remnants, etc.), theoretical expectations predict new classes of gamma-ray sources. In particular, gamma-ray emission could be associated with some of the early phases of stellar evolution, but this interesting possibility is still poorly understood. Aims: The aim of this paper is to assess the possibility of the Fermi gamma-ray source 2FGL J0607.5-0618c being associated with the massive star forming region Monoceros R2. Methods: A multi-wavelength analysis of the Monoceros R2 region is carried out using archival data at radio, infrared, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths. The resulting observational properties are used to estimate the physical parameters needed to test the different physical scenarios. Results: We confirm the 2FGL J0607.5-0618c detection with improved confidence over the Fermi two-year catalog. We find that a combined effect of the multiple young stellar objects in Monoceros R2 is a viable picture for the nature of the source.

Produção de mudas de caramboleiras 'B-10' e 'Golden Star': I - parâmetros biológicos

O Brasil é um dos maiores produtores de carambola do mundo, entretanto há poucas informações científicas, especialmente estudos de nutrição mineral com mudas dessa frutífera. Objetivando contribuir com o conhecimento desse importante aspecto, desenvolveu-se estudo que permitisse avaliar o crescimento e o acúmulo de nutrientes em mudas de caramboleiras, cultivadas em solução nutritiva. O experimento foi realizado em parcelas subdivididas, sendo utilizadas como parcela as duas cultivares de caramboleira ('B-10' e 'Golden Star') e, como subparcelas, as cinco épocas de coleta de plantas, realizadas aos 208; 233; 258; 283 e 308 dias após o transplantio para a solução nutritiva. O delineamento foi inteiramente casualizado, com três repetições. As mudas foram cultivadas em vasos (8L) com solução nutritiva (pH=5,5 ± 0,5), com aeração. O experimento iniciou-se em 24-08-2005. Nos diferentes órgãos das mudas (folhas, caule e raízes), avaliaram-se o crescimento e o acúmulo de nutrientes, e os índices nutricionais. Não houve diferenças no crescimento e, em geral, no acúmulo da massa da matéria seca entre as duas cultivares. Houve acúmulo linear da massa da matéria seca das mudas de caramboleira com o tempo de cultivo, sendo maior nas folhas > caule > raízes. O período de maior acúmulo da massa de matéria seca e da taxa de crescimento relativo na planta inteira esteve compreendido entre 208 - 233 e 233 - 258 dias após o transplantio para a 'B-10' e a 'Golden Star', respectivamente.