Effectiveness of Diquat, Copper Hydroxide, Copper Oxychloride and their Association in Control of Submerged Macrophytes Ceratophyllum demersum

The aims of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of diquat, copper hydroxide, copper oxychloride and their associations diquat + 0.1% copper oxychloride and diquat + 0.1% copper hydroxide to control Cerathophyllum demersum. Therefore, the concentrations used were 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0 and 1.5 mg L-1 oxychloride and copper hydroxide and 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 mg L-1 diquat and their associations with 0.1% copper oxychloride and 0.1% copper and a control hydroxide. The experimental design was completely randomized with ten replications for 45 days. For evaluation we used a scale of 0-100% control of notes and rated the weight (g) and length (cm) of pointers at the end of the trial period. Diquat showed 100% efficacy at 30 DAA, associations in 21 DAA and copper sources promoted regrowth of C. demersum. Diquat and its associations were more effective in controlling C. demersum. The use of herbicide in combination with a copper source is more efficient for the control of submerged weeds because it potentiates the effect of the herbicide in weed control

Liiketoimintatiedonhallinnan hyödyntämisen esteet päätettäessä palveluista. Case: Kunnalliset pelastustoimen liikelaitokset ja eriytetyt taseyksiköt

Pelastuslaitosten liiketoimintatiedonhallinnalla, tietoperusteisuudella ja tietojohtamisella on tulevaisuudessa merkittävä rooli päätettäessä palveluista. Julkisen pelastustoimen kuntien liikelaitoksina ja eriytettyinä taseyksiköinä toimivien pelastuslaitosten haasteet tulevat olemaan jatkossa tehokkaiden ja vaikuttavien palveluiden strategisessa johtamisessa ja suunnittelussa. Näistä asioista päättäminen on kriittinen vaihe onnistumisen kannalta. Päätöksenteko eri tasoilla tarvitsee tuekseen toiminnasta ja palveluista kanavoitua analysoitua tietoa. Asiakastarpeesta lähtevä vaikuttavuus ja laatu korostuvat. Liiketoimintatiedonhallinta ja tietoperusteisuus haastavat pelastuslaitoksen johtamisjärjestelmän. Johtamisen kyvykkyys ja henkilöstön osaaminen ovat tietoperusteisuuden ja tiedonhallinnan keskiössä. Systemaattisen liiketoimintatiedonhallinnan ja tietoperusteisuuden erottaa perinteisestä virkamiehen tietojen hyväksikäytöstä käsitteen kokonaisvaltaisuus ja järjestelmällisyys kaikessa tiedollisessa toiminnassa. Tämä kattaa tietojärjestelmät, mittarit, prosessit, strategian suunnitelmat, asiakirjat, raportoinnin, kehittämisen ja tutkimuksen. Liiketoimin-tatiedonhallinta ja tietojohtaminen linkittävät kaiken toisiinsa muodostaen keskinäisriippuvaisen yhtenäisen järjestelmän ja kokonaisvaltaisen ymmärryksen. Tutkimukseni on laadullinen tutkimus jossa tiedon keruu ja analysointi on toteutettu toisiaan tukevilla tutkimusotteilla. Metodologia nojaa teorialähtöiseen systemaattiseen analyysiin, jossa on valikoituja osia sisällön analyysistä. Tutkimuksessa on käytetty aineisto- ja menetelmätriangulaatioita. Tutkimuksen aineisto on kerätty teemahaastatteluilla valittujen kohde pelastuslaitosten asiantuntijoilta palveluiden päätös- ja suunnittelutasolta, johtoryhmistä ja joh-tokunnista. Haastatteluja varten tutkija on tutustunut kohdepelastuslaitosten palveluita mää-rittävään tiedolliseen dokumentaatioon kuten palvelutasopäätöksiin ja riskianalyyseihin. Ai-neisto keruun kohteiksi valikoitui pääkaupunkiseudun alueen pelastuslaitokset: Helsingin kaupungin pelastuslaitos sekä Itä-, Keski- ja Länsi-Uudenmaan pelastuslaitokset. Tulosten mukaan pelastuslaitosten keskeiset liiketoimintatiedonhallinnan esteet muodostuvat johtamisen ongelmista, organisaation muutosvastarinnasta ja päätöksenteon tietoperusteen puutteesta. Nämä ilmenevät strategisen johtamisen puutteina, vaikuttavuuden mittaamisen sekä tiedon jalostamisen ongelmina. Keskeistä tiedollista yhdistävää ja linkittävää tekijää ei tunnisteta ja löydetä. Tiedollisessa liiketoimintatiedonhallinnan prosessityössä voisi olla tulos-ten mukaan mahdollisuuksia tämän tyhjiön täyttämiseen. Pelastuslaitoksille jää tulevaisuudessa valinta suunnasta johon ne haluavat edetä tiedonhal-linnan, tietojohtamisen ja tietoperusteisuuden kanssa. Tämä vaikuttaa kehitykseen ja tavoitteeseen keskeisistä palveluiden päätöksentekoa tukevista johtamis- ja tietojärjestelmistä, tietoa kokoavista ja luovista dokumenteista sekä organisaation joustavasta rakenteesta. Tietoprosessiin, tiedon prosessimaiseen johtamiseen ja systemaattiseen tiedonhallintaan meneminen vaikuttaa tutkimuksen tulosten mukaan lupaavalta mahdollisuudelta. Samalla se haastaa pelauslaitokset suureen kulttuuriseen muutokseen ja asettaa uusien vaikuttavuusmittareiden tuottaman tiedon ennakoivan hyväksynnän vaateen strategiselle suunnittelulle. Tämä vaatii pelastuslaitosten johdolta ja henkilöstöltä osaamista, yhteisymmärrystä, muutostarpeiden hyväksyntää sekä asiakkaan asettamista vaikuttavuuden keskiöön.

Yksilöarvot, konformisuus, sitoutuminen ja vastavuoroisuus yritysarvojen toteutumisen selittäjinä

Yritysarvojen toteutumisesta ei raportoidun tieteellisen tutkimuksen perusteella ole toistaiseksi tehty empiiristä tutkimusta, jossa yritysarvojen toteutumista selittävinä tekijöinä tarkasteltaisiin yhtäaikaisesti henkilöstön yksilöarvoja ja konformisuutta, yritykseen sitoutumista, yritykseltä saatua tukea sekä yritystä kohtaan koettua velvollisuuden tunnetta. Tässä tutkimuksessa analysoitiin edellä mainittujen tekijöiden vaikutusta kohdeyrityksen yritysarvojen toteutumiseen yksilönäkökulmasta sekä koko yrityksen että sen eri toimialojen osalta. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli kartoittaa yritysarvojen toteutumiseen vaikuttavia tekijöitä sekä tekijöiden vaikuttavuutta kohdeyrityksessä yritysarvojen toteutumisen tehostamiseksi. Tutkimus toteutettiin tapaustutkimuksena suomalaisessa kaupanalan yrityksessä. Tutkimuksen empiirinen osa toteutettiin yrityksen henkilöstölle suunnattuna strukturoituna kyselynä ja saatu aineisto analysoitiin kvantitatiivisesti. Tutkimustulosten perusteella merkittävimmät tekijät tapausyrityksen yritysarvojen toteutumisessa olivat koettu yritykseltä saatu tuki sekä velvollisuuden tunne yritystä kohtaan. Tarkastellussa aineistossa nämä tekijät selittivät yritysarvojen toteutumisen vaihtelusta 23 - 29 prosenttia toimialasta riippuen. Yksilöarvot ja konformisuus selittivät yritysarvojen toteutumisen vaihtelusta enintään kymmenen prosenttia. Yritykseen sitoutumisen selitysosuus puolestaan oli enintään viisi prosenttia affektiivisen sitoutumisen merkityksen ollessa suurempi kuin jatkuvuuteen perustuvan sitoutumisen.

Effectiveness of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria in facilitating lead and nutrient uptake by little seed canary grass

We investigated the effectiveness of Nitroxin inoculation on lead (Pb) and nutrient uptakes by little seed canary grass. The factors tested included inoculation (or not) with Nitroxin and different soil concentrations of Pb (0, 200, 400 and 800mgPbkg-1 soil). Increasing soil concentrations of Pb decreased stem, leaf and root dry weights. Shoot phosphorus concentrations increased in parallel with increasing soil Pb concentrations. Nitroxin inoculation did not alter the phosphorus concentration of the roots. The Pb translocation factor was >1 in inoculated treatments in the Pb soil concentration range of 200 to 400mgkg-1; the translocation factor for 800mgPbkg‑1 with no inoculation of Nitroxin was, however, <1. Our results indicated that the Pb bioaccumulation factor for little seed canary grass was <1, indicating that it is a Pb excluding plant.

Pursuit of change versus organizational inertia: a study on strategic renewal in the Finnish broadcasting company

This doctoral dissertation explores the intra-organizational dynamics of a strategic renewal process. The main research question is how the pursuit of change and organizational inertia co-exist, intertwine, and collide in organizational cognition and capabilities during the strategic renewal. It is a comprehensive study on how organizational capabilities, organizational cognition, and structure enhance and inhibit change. Theoretically, the study is positioned in the modern tradition of strategy research, using the dynamic capability view and the organizational and managerial cognition research tradition as the main theoretical frames. Empirically, the study is a longitudinal case study of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle), following the organizational changes during the years of 2011-1014. The analysis is based on both quantitative and qualitative data, which was collected during the research process using surveys, interviews, and archives. The main theoretical contribution is the application of the two theoretical approaches in one study. Empirically, the study contributes to operationalization of the concepts related to the dynamic capability view and organizational cognition, in a media context that is going through drastic changes due to digitalization. Furthermore, the case of a public broadcasting company extends the application of the theoretical concepts to the context of public management. The results suggest that renewal is a complex process, in which an organization’s perceptions intertwine with the strategic actions and decision-making. The change evolves pathdependently: the past experiences, routines, and organizational structures tend to dictate the future visions, desires, and actions. The study also reveals how the public nature of an organization adds to the tensions between change and organizational inertia, and hampers the decision-making. The doctoral dissertation consists of six research papers, each of which explores the phenomenon under study from a different perspective.

Organizing for Systemic Innovations – Research on Knowledge, Interaction and Organizational Interdependencies

Systemic innovation has emerged as an important topic due to the interconnected technological and sociotechnical change of our current complex world. This study approaches the phenomenon from an organizing perspective, by analyzing the various actors, collaborative activities and resources available in innovation systems. It presents knowledge production for innovation and discusses the organizational challenges of shared innovation activities from a dynamic perspective. Knowledge, interaction, and organizational interdependencies are seen as the core elements of organizing for systemic innovations. This dissertation is divided into two parts. The first part introduces the focus of the study and the relevant literature and summarizes conclusions. The second part includes seven publications, each reporting on an important aspect of the phenomenon studied. Each of the in-depth single-case studies takes a distinct and complementary systems approach to innovation activities – linking the refining of knowledge to the enabling of organizations to participate in shared innovation processes. These aspects are summarized as theoretical and practical implications for recognizing innovation opportunities and turning ideas into innovations by means of using information and organizing activities in an efficient manner. Through its investigation of the existing literature and empirical case studies, this study makes three main contributions. First, it describes the challenges inherent in utilizing information and transforming it into innovation knowledge. Secondly, it presents the role of interaction and organizational interdependencies in innovation activities from various novel perspectives. Third, it highlights the interconnection between innovations and organizations, and the related path dependency and anticipatory aspects in innovation activities. In general, the thesis adds to our knowledge of how different aspects of systems form innovations through interaction and organizational interdependencies. It highlights the continuous need to redefine information and adjust organizations and networks based on ongoing activities – stressing the emergent, systemic nature of innovation.

Understanding organizational wrongdoing

The topic is white collar crime in its organizational form. The research question is why otherwise law-abiding people engage in wrongful behavior within legitimate organizations and what kinds of dynamics are involved in wrongful organizational processes. This is a theoretical inquiry the method of which is to bring together relevant literature on organizational behavior regardless of the branch of science. In addition to criminological and sociolegal writings, I mostly refer to works of social psychology and organization theory. At first, I discuss the terminological multiplicity related to organizational white collar crime. In conclusion from a critical analysis of the dominant terms and definitions, I argue for the concept of organizational wrongdoing. The approach of organizational wrongdoing captures unethical, illegal and criminal organizational behavior. Thus, it is not retricted by legislative categories but ethical reasoning. The approach aims at grasping a behavioral entity, and state law crimes do not constitute an ontology of behavior. In order to understand organizational wrongdoing, the dominant criminological theories applied to white collar crime are discussed. To a surprisingly large extent, they lack a sophisticated organizational perspective and do not offer viable frameworks for building a plausible theory of organizational white collar crime. In order to fill the gap, I incorporate the social psychological dynamics of organizational behavior and present several findings on collective behavior that criminological theorization must come to terms with. ------ This publication has been first presented and accepted as a master's thesis at the Faculty of Law, University of Turku. It has been published on the series: Criminal Law and Judicial Procedure, Series B: 15, in print format. The publication was digitized in 2015 and published online.

From statin efficacy to everyday effectiveness: Studying the gap in between.

Statins are indicated for preventing cardiovascular disease events. Patients with diabetes have a risk of major cardiovascular events double the risk of their peers without diabetes. Thus, clinical treatment guidelines recommend statins for the management of diabetic dyslipidemia. The evidence base for statin use in cardiovascular disease derives from the randomized controlled statin trials designed to prove statin efficacy under ideal conditions, among a homogenous study population meeting strict trial eligibility criteria. This thesis was implemented as four pharmacoepidemiological statin studies using register data on realworld statin users. The overall purpose was to evaluate the trends, patterns and effectiveness of statin use in everyday life. More specifically, nationwide secular trends in statin use in Finland were analysed, especially among patient groups which had been underrepresented in the statin trials. Furthermore, the benchmarking statin trials in diabetes, the Heart Protection Study and the Collaborative Atorvastatin Diabetes Study, were evaluated for their representativeness for real-world diabetes care with the emphasis placed on adherence to statin use. The association between good adherence and the incidence of major cardiovascular events in the real-world was further investigated in diabetes. These studies demonstrate that statin initiations increased from 1995 to 2005 in Finland. The increase was most pronounced among those aged at least 75 years and was observed already before the publication of rigorous trial data conducted in elderly subjects. Thus, statins seem to have been initiated in clinical practice also going beyond the strict trial eligibility criteria. Nonetheless, low adherence to statin use among the real-world patients with diabetes was found not only to limit the representativeness of the trials for clinical care but also to attenuate in all likelihood their benefits in the real-world. In fact, good adherence to statin use was found to associate with a decreased risk for major cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes. In conclusion, these studies highlight the importance of good adherence to statin use in clinical practice in order to obtain the full therapeutic value demonstrated in the statin trials. Simply increasing the number of statin users will not alone suffice in sharing our common resources appropriately.

Effectiveness of highly active antiretroviral therapy using non-brand name drugs in Brazil

In Brazil, HIV-infected individuals receive drugs (including non-brand name drugs which comprise locally produced generics and drugs that have not been tested in bioequivalence trials) free of charge from the government. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where non-brand drugs are widely used. For this purpose, we estimated the proportion of subjects with virologic failure (plasma HIV viral load greater than 400 copies/mL at 6 months after initiation of treatment). This was a retrospective cohort study of drug-naive HIV-infected subjects who initiated HAART. Subjects were included in the analysis if they were 18 years of age or older, were treatment naive, started HAART with a minimum of 3 drugs, and had available information on blood plasma HIV-1 viral load after 6 months on therapy. All subjects used antiretrovirals in dosing regimens recommended by the Brazilian National Advisory Committee for Antiretroviral Therapy. Chart reviews were conducted in three settings: at two public health outpatient units, at one clinical trial unit and at one private office. No comparisons of the effectiveness of non-brand name with the effectiveness of brand name drugs were made. We present results for 485 patients; of these, 354 (73%), 55 (11%), and 76 (16%) were seen at the public health outpatient units, private office, and clinical trial unit, respectively. Virologic failure was observed in 119 (25%) of the subjects. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of HAART in a setting where non-brand name drugs are widely used.

Comparison of the effectiveness of initial combined antiretroviral therapy with nelfinavir or efavirenz at a university-based outpatient service in Brazil

Since there are some concerns about the effectiveness of highly active antiretroviral therapy in developing countries, we compared the initial combination antiretroviral therapy with zidovudine and lamivudine plus either nelfinavir or efavirenz at a university-based outpatient service in Brazil. This was a retrospective comparative cohort study carried out in a tertiary level hospital. A total of 194 patients receiving either nelfinavir or efavirenz were identified through our electronic database search, but only 126 patients met the inclusion criteria. Patients were included if they were older than 18 years old, naive for antiretroviral therapy, and had at least 1 follow-up visit after starting the antiretroviral regimen. Fifty-one of the included patients were receiving a nelfinavir-based regimen and 75 an efavirenz-based regimen as outpatients. Antiretroviral therapy was prescribed to all patients according to current guidelines. By intention-to-treat (missing/switch = failure), after a 12-month period, 65% of the patients in the efavirenz group reached a viral load <400 copies/mL compared to 41% of the patients in the nelfinavir group (P = 0.01). The mean CD4 cell count increase after a 12-month period was also greater in the efavirenz group (195 x 10(6) cells/L) than in the nelfinavir group (119 x 10(6) cells/L; P = 0.002). The efavirenz-based regimen was superior compared to the nelfinavir-based regimen. The low response rate in the nelfinavir group might be partially explained by the difficulty of using a regimen requiring a higher patient compliance (12 vs 3 pills a day) in a developing country.

Innovation Process and Organizational Adoption of Disruptive Innovation: Empirical Evidence from Finnish Bio-Economy Companies.

The thesis aims to build a coherent view and understanding of the innovation process and organizational technology adoption in Finnish bio-economy companies with a focus on innovations of a disruptive nature. Disruptive innovations are exceptional hence in order to create generalizations and a unified view of the subject the perspective is also on less radical innovations. Other interests of the thesis are how ideas are discovered and generated and how the nature of the innovation and size of the company affect the technology adoption and innovation process. The data was collected by interviewing six small and six large Finnish bio-economy companies. The results suggest companies regardless of size consider innovation as a core asset in the competitive markets. Organizations want to be considered innovators and early adopters yet these qualities are limited by certain, mainly resource-based factors. In addition the industry, scalability and Finland’s geographical location when seeking funding provide certain challenges. The innovation process may be considered relatively similar whether the idea or technology stems from an internal or external source suggesting the technology adoption process can in fact be linked to the innovation process theories. Thus the thesis introduces a new theoretical model which based on the results of the study and the theories of technology adoption and innovation process aims on characterizing how ideas and technology from both external and internal sources generate into innovations. The innovation process is in large bio-economy companies most often similar to or a modified version of the stage-gate model, while small companies generally have less structured processes. Nevertheless the more disruptive the innovation, the less it fits in the structured processes. This implies disruptive innovation cannot be put in a certain mould but it is rather processed case-by-case.

Measuring Effectiveness of Marketing Message: The Role of Verbal, Visual and Brand Elements

The aim of this paper is to study the role of verbal, visual and brand elements while meas-uring effectiveness of marketing message. The thesis is written in the context of mobile gaming industry. The object of the study is marketing message. To achieve the aim, the main research question was formulated: How do the elements of marketing message, such as verbal, visual and brand, affect the consumer’s attitude toward the ad, emotional response and attention capture? The theory development chapter lays on three corner stones – analysis of previous litera-ture on marketing message and its elements, namely verbal, visual and brand; overview of literature on attitude formation and particularly attitude toward the ad. In addition, investiga-tion of key points of emotional response and attention capture literature finalizes the chap-ter. The empirical part consists of experiment, conducted with 27 participants. Experiment includes the self-report semantically anchored scale, measuring the attitude toward the ad, as well as autonomic measures – eye tracking (attention capture) and facial expressions (emotional response). The results of the experiment showed that the size of the brand element – the logo – has an effect on the attention capture and the overall attitude toward the ad. The bigger the logo, the more time people spend viewing it, and they realise the message is more educa-tional and factual. The measure related to the visual element – the visual complexity – in-creases the intensity of participant’s facial expression. While the measure of verbal ele-ment – the contrast between text and background colours – leads to a better attitude to-ward the ad. The higher the contrast between text and background, the more known the message appears to the viewer.

Empirical studies on software quality construction: Exploring human factors and organizational influences

Software quality has become an important research subject, not only in the Information and Communication Technology spheres, but also in other industries at large where software is applied. Software quality is not a happenstance; it is defined, planned and created into the software product throughout the Software Development Life Cycle. The research objective of this study is to investigate the roles of human and organizational factors that influence software quality construction. The study employs the Straussian grounded theory. The empirical data has been collected from 13 software companies, and the data includes 40 interviews. The results of the study suggest that tools, infrastructure and other resources have a positive impact on software quality, but human factors involved in the software development processes will determine the quality of the products developed. On the other hand, methods of development were found to bring little effect on software quality. The research suggests that software quality is an information-intensive process whereby organizational structures, mode of operation, and information flow within the company variably affect software quality. The results also suggest that software development managers influence the productivity of developers and the quality of the software products. Several challenges of software testing that affect software quality are also brought to light. The findings of this research are expected to benefit the academic community and software practitioners by providing an insight into the issues pertaining to software quality construction undertakings.