Sleep Characteristics in Early Stages of Chronic Kidney Disease in the HypnoLaus Cohort.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between early stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and sleep disordered breathing (SDB), restless legs syndrome (RLS), and subjective and objective sleep quality (SQ). METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of a general population-based cohort (HypnoLaus). 1,760 adults (862 men, 898 women; age 59.3 (± 11.4) y) underwent complete polysomnography at home. RESULTS: 8.2% of participants had mild CKD (stage 1-2, estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] ≥ 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) with albuminuria) and 7.8% moderate CKD (stage 3, eGFR 30-60 mL/min/1.73 m(2)). 37.3% of our sample had moderate-to-severe SDB (apnea-hypopnea index [AHI] ≥ 15/h) and 15.3% had severe SDB (AHI ≥ 30/h). SDB prevalence was positively associated with CKD stages and negatively with eGFR. In multivariate analysis, age, male sex, and body mass index were independently associated with SDB (all P < 0.001), but kidney function was not. The prevalence of RLS was 17.5%, without difference between CKD stages. Periodic leg movements index (PLMI) was independently associated with CKD stages. Subjective and objective SQ decreased and the use of sleep medication was more frequent with declining kidney function. Older age, female sex, and the severity of SDB were the strongest predictors of poor SQ in multivariate regression analysis but CKD stage was also independently associated with reduced objective SQ. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with early stages of CKD have impaired SQ, use more hypnotic drugs, and have an increased prevalence of SDB and PLM. After controlling for confounders, objective SQ and PLMI were still independently associated with declining kidney function.

Developing a conceptual framework to analyse professionalisation in sport federations

Existing research on sport organisations is imprecise in the use of the concept 'professionalisation'. Furthermore, we do not know if analytical concepts of professionalisation correspond with the understanding in practice. This study explores the perceptions of practitioners and proposes a framework to analyse professionalisation in national sport federations. Expert interviews were conducted with six key people from Swiss national sport federations and then analysed these for characteristics of professionalisation using a hermeneutic approach. The characteristics were divided into three areas: (1) changed management philosophy, (2) functional differentiation and specialisation, and (3) application of management tools. However, professionalisation is primarily perceived to be a matter of 'professional' attitude that transforms into federation culture. The practitioners disclose an ambivalent view of professionalisation, e.g. business-like culture vs. voluntarism, for-profit vs. non-profit orientation, autonomy vs. control. A framework is developed that synthesises analytical concepts and practitioners' perceptions to support future comprehensive research into causes, forms and consequences of professionalisation in national sport federations.

CRM and higher education : developing a monitoring system to improve relationships in e-learning environments

Peer-reviewed

Developing of AC magnetometer and investigation of magnetic properties of LSMO

In this work AC magnetometer was developed and primary test measurements were performed for temperature range from 77 K up to 350 K in frequency range from 1 kHz up to 20 kHz. In the course of the present work dependencies of magnetization on temperature for Lao7Sr03Mni _yFeyO3 with y = 0.15, 0.20, 0.25 were obtained in DC magnetic field using SQUID magnetometer and in AC magnetic field using the developed AC magnetometer. Lai.XSrXMnO3 (LSMO) compounds belong to the class of Mn perovskites, which demonstrate very high degree of spin polarization. These materials are of great importance for nowadays applications in spintronics, where spin polarized electron transport is used. Spin glass like behavior was found as a characteristic feature of these solid solutions with the freezing temperature in the range 65 — 210 K.

Developing a new service business model for an industrial supplier

Project business companies are moving towards solution offering in order to avoid discontinuity of project business and to gain other advantages. An option to implement solution business could be BOOT (Build-Own-Operate-Transfer) business model where a company is given the responsibilities to design, finance, build, own, operate and maintain for example production facilities of a client. The contract is made for 10-30 years, the client pays the solution during this period of time and after contract termination the facilities are transferred to the ownership of the client. The purpose of this study was to provide knowledge about BOOT business model for the company in question and its employees and to create a settlement of the advantages, disadvantages and risks of it. Furthermore, one of the main objectives was to create a description of the network needed to run a BOOT project. The objectives were met through a literature study and an explorative case study with appropriate interviews. Based on this study, the company should be able to evaluate the applicability of BOOT business model to their business environment better.

Developing a Service-Oriented Software Platform

Tehokkaasti toimiva sähköinen tiedonvälitys yrityksen omien sovellusten välillä sekä sen liikekumppaneiden kanssa on kasvanut merkittäväksi yrityksen kilpailukykyä lisääväksi tekijäksi. Yritysten erilaiset tietojärjestelmät asettavat haasteita tehokkaalle tiedonvälitykselle näiden järjestelmien välillä. Perinteiset EDI teknologioihin perustuvat sähköisen tiedonvälityksen ratkaisut eivät pysty mukautumaan nykyisin nopeasti muuttuviin markkinatilanteisiin. Palvelukeskeiseen arkkitehtuuriin ja Web-palveluihin perustuvat teknologiat mahdollistavat mukautumisen erilaisiin muutoksiin liiketoiminnassa nopeammin ja helpommin. Lisäksi ne nopeuttavat tiedon integrointia erilaisten tietojärjestelmien välillä, koska tiedonvälityksessä käytetään yleisesti hyväksyttyihin standardeihin perustuvia tiedonsiirtoprotokollia sekä tietoformaatteja. Diplomityössä esitellään keskeiset teknologiat ja menetelmät sähköisen tiedonvälityksen toteuttamiseen. Lisäksi työssä vertaillaan erilaisia vaihtoehtoja, joilla sähköinen tiedonvälitys voidaan toteuttaa. Vaihtoehtoina työssä ovat tiedonvälityspalveluiden ostaminen toiselta yritykseltä, olemassa olevan valmiin ohjelmiston hyödyntäminen, tai kokonaan uuden sovellusalustan kehittäminen. Työssä kuvaillaan palvelukeskeisen sovellusalustan toteutus, joka mahdollistaa tehokkaan sekä joustavan tiedonvälityksen sovellusten välillä. Alustan tarjoamien palveluiden päälle voidaan rakentaa erilaisia liiketoimintaa tukevia palveluita, jotka voivat hyödyntää sovellusalustan tarjoamia toiminnallisuuksia. Alustan toteutusta arvioidaan kolmen liiketoimintaskenaarion toteutuksesta saatujen kokemusten perusteella.

Developing the environmental marketing of an industrial company

The objective of this study was to examine how the customers of Larox Flowsys value environmental issues and how environmental issues affect their purchasing behaviour. A comparison between Larox peristaltic pumps and competing pump brands and types was also made in order to find out whether LPP pumps possess some more environmentally beneficial features that other pumps do not have. Finally, if the answers to the first two research questions show that a need for a new marketing message does exist, then the final stage is to select the most appropriate environmental arguments for Larox Flowsys. The empirical data in the study was collected from several different sources, but the main sources were the customer interviews and the outsourced market research. The data was analysed mainly by using content analysis, but theme formation and quantification were also utilized. The results showed that the customers do not consider environmental issues as a main purchasing criterion, but they may well be the criterion that differentiates the product from competing ones. The comparison proved that LPP pumps do possess some significant environmental benefits over competing pumps and therefore, the prerequisite for the use of environmental arguments exists. The final stage in the study was to select the proper environmental arguments for Larox Flowsys.

The Determinants of Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries

We address the question of what determines entrepreneurship in developing countries. In particular, because of the influence that this may have on the design of entrepreneurship policies, our main concern is whether the determinants of entrepreneurship are the same and/or have the same impact in developed and developing countries. To this end, we discuss the arguments put forward in the literature in support of the existence of differences in the determinants of entrepreneurship between developed and developing countries. We also analyse the results found in empirical studies on the determinants of formal firm entry (following the World Bank, our proxy of entrepreneurship) in developing countries and compare these results with those typically found in developed countries. Our main conclusion is that policy makers in developing economies should be careful when using evidence from developed countries to design entrepreneurship-promoting policies. Key words: entrepreneurship, developing countries. JEL: O1; O12; L26; M13

Developing an Improved System for Allocating Support Unit Costs to Business Units

The objective of this study is to develop an improved support unit cost allocation system for a medium-sized technology company, and to examine which options for overhead cost accounting exist. The study begins with presenting the terminology and methods associated with overhead cost accounting and responsibility accounting. Also the most common challenges and resulting benefits of overhead cost allocation system development are brought up. As one research method two case studies were conducted for benchmarking purposes. These external cases are compared with the principal company’s cost allocation system and reflected against the theoretical background. In the empirical section interviews were used as the primary source of information alongside self studying principal company’s old cost allocation method. Interviews revealed the main weaknesses of the old system and proposals for a new one, which were utilized in setting targets for developing the new system. As a result of the development process an improved support unit cost allocation system was realized for year 2009. The new system is able to handle support unit costs in more detail enhancing the transparency and fairness of resulting cost allocations. Parts of support unit costs are now seen as business units’ own costs rather than group-level overhead. Also recommendations for further development are made after analyzing how well the targets were reached.

Developing A Knowledge Management Process Model for Internal IT Organization, Case: Stora Enso Oyj, Corporate IT

The objectives of this Master’s Thesis were to find out what kind of knowledge management strategy would fit best an IT organization that uses ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) framework for IT Service Management and to create a knowledge management process model to support chosen strategy. The empirical material for this research was collected through qualitative semi-structured interviews of a case organization Stora Enso Corporate IT. The results of the qualitative interviews indicate that codification knowledge management strategy would fit best for the case organization. The knowledge management process model was created based on earlier studies and a literature of knowledge management. The model was evaluated in the interview research and the results showed that the created process model is realistic, useful, and it responds to a real life phenomenon.

'Situaciones problema' y desarrollo de la competencia motriz en educación física escolar: cuestiones didácticas = Problem situations and developing motor competence in Physical Education at school: didactic questions

From the areas of motor learning and the teaching of Physical Education we promote coherent methodological orientationswith the present curricular guide that are focused in such a way so that the student is able to act independently. In thissense we may consider the problem situations as a good example for methodological proposals. So as to determine its useand adequateness for Physical Education it is conveniente to analyse the characteristics of the motor tasks that areproposed as well as the features of the teaching intervention in such a way as to ease the adquisition and development ofthe motor competence of the students

In vitro effect of isoschaftoside isolated from Syngonium podophyllum on pig kidney Na+, K+-ATPase

The present study aimed to investigate the in vitro effects of isoschaftoside isolated from Syngonium podophyllum on pig kidney Na+,K+-ATPase. The Na+, K+-ATPase activity was determined by colorimetric measurement of inorganic phosphate (Pi), resulting from ATP hydrolysis. Isoschaftoside significantly decreased the renal Na+, K+-ATPase activity at the highest concentration as well as at a lower concentration. Our work suggests that isoschaftoside is a promising compound for the treatment of hypertension.