Trasporti e sviluppo territoriale negli spazi intermedi : l'esempio della regione transfrontaliera Insubrica

Avec cette thèse de doctorat nous proposons une réflexion transversale concernant les relations entre infrastructures de transport et développement territorial dans des espaces dits « intermédiaires ». Le concept d'espace intermédiaire, relativement nouveau en géographie, est conçu en fonction d'une double approche : celle des infrastructures où les espaces intermédiaires constituent des zones de transit obligées entre des pôles urbains hiérarchiquement supérieurs (par rapport une échelle horizontale) et celle des frontières où les espaces intermédiaires constituent des territoires de coopération entre différents niveaux politico-institutionnels (par rapport à une échelle verticale). Cette problématique de recherche est traitée aussi bien du point de vue théorique qu'avec des études de cas portant sur les effets des nouvelles infrastructures de transports dans la région transfrontalière insubrique (entre le Canton du Tessin et la Lombardie). L'objectif visé est de défendre un scénario d'organisation spatiale polycentrique à plusieurs niveaux comme solution pour le développement durable et cohérent de ces espaces intermédiaires. Ainsi, pour le « niveau macro », nous proposons une analyse des changements d'accessibilité spatiale et des potentiels de développement territorial pour les agglomérations concernées par la mise en service du nouveau tunnel ferroviaire de base du Monte Ceneri (TBC) et de la nouvelle ligne Lugano/Como-Mendrisio-Varese-Malpensa (FMV) à l'horizon 2020. Pour le « niveau meso », nous analysons les effets de la nouvelle ligne FMV en termes de potentiel de densification polycentrique autours des gares ferroviaires. Pour le « niveau micro », nous proposons une analyse sur les comportements de mobilité ainsi que des améliorations ciblées du système de transport pour la ville de Mendrisio visant à promouvoir le développement polycentrique de cette commune. De plus, un système d'analyse permettant de mettre en lien les divers facteurs explicatifs dans l'analyse des relations entre les nouvelles infrastructures de transport et les effets sur la mobilité et le développement territorial est également élaboré et testé dans notre recherche. -- With this Ph.D. thesis we investigate the relationship between transport infrastructures and territory development inside the so called "in-between spaces". The idea of "in-between space", relatively novel in geography, is the formal outcome of a double approach: the one of the infrastructures, saying that these spaces can be described as areas of constrained transit between urban centres of superior hierarchical level (on a horizontal scale), and the one of the borders, stating that in-between spaces are areas of cooperation between various political-institutional levels. The above mentioned research issues are deepened both at theoretical and empirical level, being the latter based on field studies of the cross-boundary Western-Lombard area (between the Swiss canton of Ticino and the Italian region of Lombardy). This research pursues the goal of defending the argument that a multi-level polycentric spatial scenario can be a possible solution fora sustainable development of the above described in- between areas. From a "macro" perspective, what we submit here is an analysis on the expected changes in spatial accessibility and on the potential territorial development for the built-up areas influenced by the construction of the new train tunnel of the Monte Ceneri (TBC) and of the new railway line Lugano/Como-Mendrisio-Varese-Malpensa (FMV). At a "meso" level we analyse the effects exerted by the new FMV line taking into account the potential densification of the areas surrounding the railway stations. Finally, at a "micro" level, we analyse the mobility behaviours in the town of Mendrisio and we propose some possible improvements to the local public transport system, with the scope to promote a polycentric development of this municipality. Moreover, we developed and tested an analytic system able to define the existing links between the various explaining factors characterizing the relationship between new transport infrastructures and effects on mobility. -- With this Ph.D. thesis we investigate the relationship between transport infrastructures and territory development inside the so called "in-between spaces". The idea of "in-between space", relatively novel in geography, is the formal outcome of a double approach: the one of the infrastructures, saying that these spaces can be described as areas of constrained transit between urban centres of superior hierarchical level (on a horizontal scale), and the one of the borders, stating that in-between spaces are areas of cooperation between various political-institutional levels. The above mentioned research issues are deepened both at theoretical and empirical level, being the latter based on field studies of the cross-boundary Western-Lombard area (between the Swiss canton of Ticino and the Italian region of Lombardy). This research pursues the goal of defending the argument that a multi-level polycentric spatial scenario can be a possible solution for a sustainable development of the above described in- between areas. From a "macro" perspective, what we submit here is an analysis on the expected changes in spatial accessibility and on the potential territorial development for the built-up areas influenced by the construction of the new train tunnel of the Monte Ceneri (TBC) and of the new railway line Lugano/Como-Mendrisio-Varese-Malpensa (FMV). At a "meso" level we analyse the effects exerted by the new FMV line taking into account the potential densification of the areas surrounding the railway stations. Finally, at a "micro" level, we analyse the mobility behaviours in the town of Mendrisio and we propose some possible improvements to the local public transport system, with the scope to promote a polycentric development of this municipality. Moreover, we developed and tested an analytic system able to define the existing links between the various explaining factors characterizing the relationship between new transport infrastructures and effects on mobility.

New Distance Transforms for Gray Level Image Compression

This thesis deals with distance transforms which are a fundamental issue in image processing and computer vision. In this thesis, two new distance transforms for gray level images are presented. As a new application for distance transforms, they are applied to gray level image compression. The new distance transforms are both new extensions of the well known distance transform algorithm developed by Rosenfeld, Pfaltz and Lay. With some modification their algorithm which calculates a distance transform on binary images with a chosen kernel has been made to calculate a chessboard like distance transform with integer numbers (DTOCS) and a real value distance transform (EDTOCS) on gray level images. Both distance transforms, the DTOCS and EDTOCS, require only two passes over the graylevel image and are extremely simple to implement. Only two image buffers are needed: The original gray level image and the binary image which defines the region(s) of calculation. No other image buffers are needed even if more than one iteration round is performed. For large neighborhoods and complicated images the two pass distance algorithm has to be applied to the image more than once, typically 3 10 times. Different types of kernels can be adopted. It is important to notice that no other existing transform calculates the same kind of distance map as the DTOCS. All the other gray weighted distance function, GRAYMAT etc. algorithms find the minimum path joining two points by the smallest sum of gray levels or weighting the distance values directly by the gray levels in some manner. The DTOCS does not weight them that way. The DTOCS gives a weighted version of the chessboard distance map. The weights are not constant, but gray value differences of the original image. The difference between the DTOCS map and other distance transforms for gray level images is shown. The difference between the DTOCS and EDTOCS is that the EDTOCS calculates these gray level differences in a different way. It propagates local Euclidean distances inside a kernel. Analytical derivations of some results concerning the DTOCS and the EDTOCS are presented. Commonly distance transforms are used for feature extraction in pattern recognition and learning. Their use in image compression is very rare. This thesis introduces a new application area for distance transforms. Three new image compression algorithms based on the DTOCS and one based on the EDTOCS are presented. Control points, i.e. points that are considered fundamental for the reconstruction of the image, are selected from the gray level image using the DTOCS and the EDTOCS. The first group of methods select the maximas of the distance image to new control points and the second group of methods compare the DTOCS distance to binary image chessboard distance. The effect of applying threshold masks of different sizes along the threshold boundaries is studied. The time complexity of the compression algorithms is analyzed both analytically and experimentally. It is shown that the time complexity of the algorithms is independent of the number of control points, i.e. the compression ratio. Also a new morphological image decompression scheme is presented, the 8 kernels' method. Several decompressed images are presented. The best results are obtained using the Delaunay triangulation. The obtained image quality equals that of the DCT images with a 4 x 4

Pikkunäppäriä ajatuksia territoriaalisuudesta

Kirjallisuusarvostelu

Pk-yrityksen polku systemaattiseen tuote- ja elinkaaritiedon hallintaan

Tutkimus on tehty Tekesin DTP-ohjelman Sinfonet-tutkimusprojektin puitteissa aikavälillä 2009-2011. Työssä on laadittu kokonaisvaltainen tuote- ja elinkaaritiedon hallinnan (eng. Product Lifecycle Management, PLM) tiekartta ja kehityssuunnitelma pienelle engineering-yritykselle. Työ käsittelee asiakkaan erikoisvaatimusten mukaan räätälöitävän tuotteen tuote- ja elinkaaritiedon hallinnan systematisointia pk-yrityksessä. Vaikka PLM-tiekartta on laadittu yksittäiselle yritykselle, sitä voidaan tietyin edellytyksin soveltaa myös toisten pk-yritysten tai engineeringyritysten PLM:n kehittämiseen. Teoriassa tarkastellaan ensinnäkin kohdeyritykseen liittyviä erityispiirteitä, pyritään ymmärtämään engineering–yrityksen ja pk-yrityksen erikoispiirteitä sekä niiden vaikutusta PLM:n kehittämiseen. Toiseksi esitellään PLM:n viittä keskeistä osaaluetta, yksi- ja viisiulotteisten PLM-kypsyysmallien käyttöä yrityksen nykytilan arvioimiseksi sekä rakennetaan engineering-yrityksen kokonaisvaltainen PLM-malli ja kahdeksan askeleen PLM-kehityspolku. PLM-malli jäsentää tiedonhallintaa prosessien kautta ja se koostuu viidestä osaalueesta: strategia identifioi asiakastarpeet sekä määrittelee kuinka tuotteiden ja prosessien avulla asiakastarpeet tyydytetään; prosessit ovat yrityksen toiminnan ydin, joissa tuotemallit ja tuote- ja tietorakenteet kehitetään sekä tuoteyksilöt toimitetaan asiakkaalle; rakenteet pohjautuvat strategiassa valittuun tuote- ja tiedonhallinnan strategiaan ja niiden tehtävänä on tukea ja tehostaa toimintaprosesseja; kulttuuri ja ihmiset muodostavat aineettoman pääoman, jonka vaikutuksesta prosessit toimivat ja tuotteet pystytään toimittamaan asiakkaalle; informaatioteknologia on työkalu, jota käytetään prosesseissa ja tietorakenteiden ylläpidossa, pääosin dokumentoidun tiedon luomiseen, hankitaan, varastoimiseen, jakamiseen ja soveltamiseen. Tapaustutkimuksessa kuvataan kohdeyrityksen nykytilaa PLM:n viidellä keskeisellä osa-alueella, tehdään PLM kypsyysarvio kahdella menetelmällä, määritellään yrityksen tavoitetila ja laaditaan yritykselle ensin alustava PLM roadmap ja lopulta kokonaisvaltaiseen PLM-malliin perustuva PLM roadmap ja PLM:n jatkokehityssuunnitelma.

Computational methods for tactical simulations

Tämä taktiikan tutkimus keskittyy tietokoneavusteisen simuloinnin laskennallisiin menetelmiin, joita voidaan käyttää taktisen tason sotapeleissä. Työn tärkeimmät tuotokset ovat laskennalliset mallit todennäköisyyspohjaisen analyysin mahdollistaviin taktisen tason taistelusimulaattoreihin, joita voidaan käyttää vertailevaan analyysiin joukkue-prikaatitason tarkastelutilanteissa. Laskentamallit keskittyvät vaikuttamiseen. Mallit liittyvät vahingoittavan osuman todennäköisyyteen, jonka perusteella vaikutus joukossa on mallinnettu tilakoneina ja Markovin ketjuina. Edelleen näiden tulokset siirretään tapahtumapuuanalyysiin operaation onnistumisen todennäköisyyden osalta. Pienimmän laskentayksikön mallinnustaso on joukkue- tai ryhmätasolla, jotta laskenta-aika prikaatitason sotapelitarkasteluissa pysyisi riittävän lyhyenä samalla, kun tulokset ovat riittävän tarkkoja suomalaiseen maastoon. Joukkueiden mies- ja asejärjestelmävahvuudet ovat jakaumamuodossa, eivätkä yksittäisiä lukuja. Simuloinnin integroinnissa voidaan käyttää asejärjestelmäkohtaisia predictor corrector –parametreja, mikä mahdollistaa aika-askelta lyhytaikaisempien taistelukentän ilmiöiden mallintamisen. Asemallien pohjana ovat aiemmat tutkimukset ja kenttäkokeet, joista osa kuuluu tähän väitöstutkimukseen. Laskentamallien ohjelmoitavuus ja käytettävyys osana simulointityökalua on osoitettu tekijän johtaman tutkijaryhmän ohjelmoiman ”Sandis”- taistelusimulointiohjelmiston avulla, jota on kehitetty ja käytetty Puolustusvoimien Teknillisessä Tutkimuslaitoksessa. Sandikseen on ohjelmoitu karttakäyttöliittymä ja taistelun kulkua simuloivia laskennallisia malleja. Käyttäjä tai käyttäjäryhmä tekee taktiset päätökset ja syöttää nämä karttakäyttöliittymän avulla simulointiin, jonka tuloksena saadaan kunkin joukkuetason peliyksikön tappioiden jakauma, keskimääräisten tappioiden osalta kunkin asejärjestelmän aiheuttamat tappiot kuhunkin maaliin, ammuskulutus ja radioyhteydet ja niiden tila sekä haavoittuneiden evakuointi-tilanne joukkuetasolta evakuointisairaalaan asti. Tutkimuksen keskeisiä tuloksia (kontribuutio) ovat 1) uusi prikaatitason sotapelitilanteiden laskentamalli, jonka pienin yksikkö on joukkue tai ryhmä; 2) joukon murtumispisteen määritys tappioiden ja haavoittuneiden evakuointiin sitoutuvien taistelijoiden avulla; 3) todennäköisyyspohjaisen riskianalyysin käyttömahdollisuus vertailevassa tutkimuksessa sekä 4) kokeellisesti testatut tulen vaikutusmallit ja 5) toimivat integrointiratkaisut. Työ rajataan maavoimien taistelun joukkuetason todennäköisyysjakaumat luovaan laskentamalliin, kenttälääkinnän malliin ja epäsuoran tulen malliin integrointimenetelmineen sekä niiden antamien tulosten sovellettavuuteen. Ilmasta ja mereltä maahan -asevaikutusta voidaan tarkastella, mutta ei ilma- ja meritaistelua. Menetelmiä soveltavan Sandis -ohjelmiston malleja, käyttötapaa ja ohjelmistotekniikkaa kehitetään edelleen. Merkittäviä jatkotutkimuskohteita mallinnukseen osalta ovat muun muassa kaupunkitaistelu, vaunujen kaksintaistelu ja maaston vaikutus tykistön tuleen sekä materiaalikulutuksen arviointi.

Comparison measures of maps generated by geostatistical methods

This study uses several measures derived from the error matrix for comparing two thematic maps generated with the same sample set. The reference map was generated with all the sample elements and the map set as the model was generated without the two points detected as influential by the analysis of local influence diagnostics. The data analyzed refer to the wheat productivity in an agricultural area of 13.55 ha considering a sampling grid of 50 x 50 m comprising 50 georeferenced sample elements. The comparison measures derived from the error matrix indicated that despite some similarity on the maps, they are different. The difference between the estimated production by the reference map and the actual production was of 350 kilograms. The same difference calculated with the mode map was of 50 kilograms, indicating that the study of influential points is of fundamental importance to obtain a more reliable estimative and use of measures obtained from the error matrix is a good option to make comparisons between thematic maps.

Mapping the Value Network Potential in Cross-sector Collaboration: Case welfare Services for Elderly in Finland

Value network has been studied greatly in the academic research, but a tool for value network mapping is missing. The objective of this study was to design a tool (process) for value network mapping in cross-sector collaboration. Furthermore, the study addressed a future perspective of collaboration, aiming to map the value network potential. During the study was investigated and pondered how to get the full potential of collaboration, by creating new value in collaboration process. These actions are parts of mapping process proposed in the study. The implementation and testing of the mapping process were realized through a case study of cross-sector collaboration in welfare services for elderly in the Eastern Finland. Key representatives in elderly care from public, private and third sectors were interviewed and a workshop with experts from every sector was also conducted in this regard. The value network mapping process designed in this study consists of specific steps that help managers and experts to understand how to get a complex value network map and how to enhance it. Furthermore, it make easier the understanding of how new value can be created in collaboration process. The map can be used in order to motivate participants to be engaged with responsibility in collaboration and to be fully committed in their interactions. It can be also used as a motivator tool for those organizations that intend to engage in collaboration process. Additionally, value network map is a starting point in many value network analyses. Furthermore, the enhanced value network map can be used as a performance measurement tool in cross-sector collaboration.

Comparison of three methods for the determination of baroreflex sensitivity in conscious rats

Baroreflex sensitivity was studied in the same group of conscious rats using vasoactive drugs (phenylephrine and sodium nitroprusside) administered by three different approaches: 1) bolus injection, 2) steady-state (blood pressure (BP) changes produced in steps), 3) ramp infusion (30 s, brief infusion). The heart rate (HR) responses were evaluated by the mean index (mean ratio of all HR changes and mean arterial pressure (MAP) changes), by linear regression and by the logistic method (maximum gain of the sigmoid curve by a logistic function). The experiments were performed on three consecutive days. Basal MAP and resting HR were similar on all days of the study. Bradycardic responses evaluated by the mean index (-1.5 ± 0.2, -2.1 ± 0.2 and -1.6 ± 0.2 bpm/mmHg) and linear regression (-1.8 ± 0.3, -1.4 ± 0.3 and -1.7 ± 0.2 bpm/mmHg) were similar for all three approaches used to change blood pressure. The tachycardic responses to decreases of MAP were similar when evaluated by linear regression (-3.9 ± 0.8, -2.1 ± 0.7 and -3.8 ± 0.4 bpm/mmHg). However, the tachycardic mean index (-3.1 ± 0.4, -6.6 ± 1 and -3.6 ± 0.5 bpm/mmHg) was higher when assessed by the steady-state method. The average gain evaluated by logistic function (-3.5 ± 0.6, -7.6 ± 1.3 and -3.8 ± 0.4 bpm/mmHg) was similar to the reflex tachycardic values, but different from the bradycardic values. Since different ways to change BP may alter the afferent baroreceptor function, the MAP changes obtained during short periods of time (up to 30 s: bolus and ramp infusion) are more appropriate to prevent the acute resetting. Assessment of the baroreflex sensitivity by mean index and linear regression permits a separate analysis of gain for reflex bradycardia and reflex tachycardia. Although two values of baroreflex sensitivity cannot be evaluated by a single symmetric logistic function, this method has the advantage of better comparing the baroreflex sensitivity of animals with different basal blood pressures.

Variations in gastric compliance induced by acute blood volume changes in anesthetized rats

The impact of acute volume imbalances on gastric volume (GV) was studied in anesthetized rats (250-300 g). After cervical and femoral vessel cannulation, a balloon catheter was positioned in the proximal stomach. The opposite end of the catheter was connected to a barostat with an electronic sensor coupled to a plethysmometer. A standard ionic solution was used to fill the balloon (about 3.0 ml) and the communicating vessel system, and to raise the reservoir liquid level 4 cm above the animals' xiphoid appendix. Due to constant barostat pressure, GV values were considered to represent the gastric compliance index. All animals were monitored for 90 min. After a basal interval, they were randomly assigned to normovolemic, hypervolemic, hypovolemic or restored protocols. Data were compared by ANOVA followed by Bonferroni's test. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), central venous pressure (CVP) and GV values did not change in normovolemic animals (N = 5). Hypervolemic animals (N = 12) were transfused at 0.5 ml/min with a suspension of red blood cells in Ringer-lactate solution with albumin (12.5 ml/kg), which reduced GV values by 11.3% (P<0.05). Hypovolemic rats (N = 12) were bled up to 10 ml/kg, a procedure that increased GV values by 15.8% (P<0.05). In the restored group (N = 12), shed blood replacement brought GV values back to basal levels in bled animals (P>0.05). MAP and CVP values increased (P<0.05) after hypervolemia but decreased (P<0.05) with hypovolemia. In conclusion, blood volume level modulates gastric compliance, turning the stomach into an adjustable reservoir, which could be part of the homeostatic process to balance blood volume.

An improved strategy for evaluating the extent of chronic arterial baroreceptor denervation in conscious rats

There is no index or criterion of aortic barodenervation, nor can we differentiate among rats that have suffered chronic sham, aortic or sino-aortic denervation. The objective of this study was to develop a procedure to generate at least one quantitative, reproducible and validated index that precisely evaluates the extent of chronic arterial barodenervation performed in conscious rats. Data from 79 conscious male Wistar rats of about 65-70 days of age with diverse extents of chronic arterial barodenervation and used in previous experiments were reanalyzed. The mean arterial pressure (MAP) and the heart rate (HR) of all rats were measured systematically before (over 1 h) and after three consecutive iv bolus injections of phenylephrine (PHE) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP). Four expressions of the effectiveness of barodenervation (MAP lability, PHE ratio, SNP ratio, and SNP-PHE slope) were assessed with linear fixed models, three-level average variance, average separation among levels, outlier box plot analysis, and overlapping graphic analysis. The analysis indicated that a) neither MAP lability nor SNP-PHE slope was affected by the level of chronic sodium intake; b) even though the Box-Cox transformations of both MAP lability [transformed lability index (TLI)] and SNP-PHE slope [transformed general sensitivity index (TGSI), {((3-(ΔHRSNP-ΔHRPHE/ΔMAPSNP-ΔMAPPHE))-0.4-1)/-0.04597}] could be two promising indexes, TGSI proved to be the best index; c) TLI and TGSI were not freely interchangeable indexes for this purpose. TGSI ranges that permit differentiation between sham (10.09 to 11.46), aortic (8.40 to 9.94) and sino-aortic (7.68 to 8.24) barodenervated conscious rats were defined.

Effect of tamoxifen on the coronary vascular reactivity of spontaneously hypertensive female rats

Tamoxifen has been associated with a reduction in the incidence of myocardial infarction. However, the effects of tamoxifen on coronary reactivity have not been fully elucidated. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of chronic treatment with tamoxifen on coronary vascular reactivity in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Female SHR were divided into four groups (N = 7 each): sham-operated (SHAM), sham-operated and treated with tamoxifen (10 mg/kg) by gavage for 90 days (TAMOX), ovariectomized (OVX), and ovariectomized and treated with tamoxifen (OVX+TAMOX). Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), coronary perfusion pressure (CPP), and coronary vascular reactivity were measured. MAP and HR were reduced (9.42 and 11.67%, respectively) in the OVX+TAMOX group compared to the OVX group (P < 0.01). The coronary vascular reactivity of the OVX+TAMOX group presented smaller vasoconstrictor responses to acetylcholine (2-64 µg) when compared to the OVX group (P < 0.01) and this response was similar to that of the SHAM group. The adenosine-induced vasodilator response was greater in the TAMOX group compared to the SHAM and OVX groups (P < 0.05). Baseline CPP was higher in OVX+TAMOX and TAMOX groups (136 ± 3.6 and 130 ± 1.5 mmHg) than in OVX and SHAM groups (96 ± 2 and 119 ± 2.3 mmHg; P < 0.01). Tamoxifen, when combined with OVX, attenuated the vasoconstriction induced by acetylcholine and increased the adenosine-induced vasodilatory response, as well as reducing the MAP, suggesting beneficial effects of tamoxifen therapy on coronary vascular reactivity after menopause.

Location intelligence strategisen päätöksenteon tukena

Kilpailuetua tavoittelevan yrityksen pitää kyetä jalostamaan tietoa ja tunnistamaan sen avulla uusia tulevaisuuden mahdollisuuksia. Tulevaisuuden mielikuvien luomiseksi yrityksen on tunnettava toimintaympäristönsä ja olla herkkänä havaitsemaan muutostrendit ja muut toimintaympäristön signaalit. Ympäristön elintärkeät signaalit liittyvät kilpailijoihin, teknologian kehittymiseen, arvomaailman muutoksiin, globaaleihin väestötrendeihin tai jopa ympäristön muutoksiin. Spatiaaliset suhteet ovat peruspilareita käsitteellistää maailmaamme. Pitney (2015) on arvioinut, että 80 % kaikesta bisnesdatasta sisältää jollakin tavoin viittauksia paikkatietoon. Siitä huolimatta paikkatietoa on vielä huonosti hyödynnetty yritysten strategisten päätösten tukena. Teknologioiden kehittyminen, tiedon nopea siirto ja paikannustekniikoiden integroiminen eri laitteisiin ovat mahdollistaneet sen, että paikkatietoa hyödyntäviä palveluja ja ratkaisuja tullaan yhä enemmän näkemään yrityskentässä. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää voiko location intelligence toimia strategisen päätöksenteon tukena ja jos voi, niin miten. Työ toteutettiin konstruktiivista tutkimusmenetelmää käyttäen, jolla pyritään ratkaisemaan jokin relevantti ongelma. Konstruktiivinen tutkimus tehtiin tiiviissä yhteistyössä kolmen pk-yrityksen kanssa ja siihen haastateltiin kuutta eri strategiasta vastaavaa henkilöä. Tutkimuksen tuloksena löydettiin, että location intelligenceä voidaan hyödyntää strategisen päätöksenteon tukena usealla eri tasolla. Yksinkertaisimmassa karttaratkaisussa halutut tiedot tuodaan kartalle ja luodaan visuaalinen esitys, jonka avulla johtopäätöksien tekeminen helpottuu. Toisen tason karttaratkaisu pitää sisällään sekä sijainti- että ominaisuustietoa, jota on yhdistetty eri lähteistä. Tämä toisen tason karttaratkaisu on usein kuvailevaa analytiikkaa, joka mahdollistaa erilaisten ilmiöiden analysoinnin. Kolmannen eli ylimmän tason karttaratkaisu tarjoaa ennakoivaa analytiikkaa ja malleja tulevaisuudesta. Tällöin ohjelmaan koodataan älykkyyttä, jossa informaation keskinäisiä suhteita on määritelty joko tiedon louhintaa tai tilastollisia analyysejä hyödyntäen. Tutkimuksen johtopäätöksenä voidaan todeta, että location intelligence pystyy tarjoamaan lisäarvoa strategisen päätöksenteon tueksi, mikäli yritykselle on hyödyllistä ymmärtää eri ilmiöiden, asiakastarpeiden, kilpailijoiden ja markkinamuutoksien maantieteellisiä eroavaisuuksia. Parhaimmillaan location intelligence -ratkaisu tarjoaa luotettavan analyysin, jossa tieto välittyy muuttumattomana päätöksentekijältä toiselle ja johtopäätökseen johtaneita syitä on mahdollista palata tarkastelemaan tarvittaessa uudelleen.

Pearl millet seed pelleting

The pearl millet seed is small and its size varies, making sowing more difficult. The pelleting technique increases and homogenizes seed size, but it is essential to determine the physical and physiological characteristics of pelleted seeds. The physiological analysis consisted of: first germination count, final germination, speed emergence index, and seedling emergence. Physical analysis consisted of determining the 1000-seed weight, 1000-seed volume and fragmentation. The control treatment did not receive any coating, and the other 36 treatments combined four binders: bentonite, polyvinyl acetate (PVA), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and methyl cellulose (Methocel®), and nine powder coating products: microcellulose, plaster, vermiculite, magnesium thermophosphate (Yoorin®), phytic acid, dicalcium phosphate, super simple phosphate (SS), monoamonic phosphate (MAP) and reactive phosphate. Among the materials used to form the pearl millet pellet, the most efficient binders were the polyvinyl acetate and the methyl cellulose, and as coaters, the vermiculite and the microcellulose.

Business modeling in turbulent environments

This study presents an agile tool set for the business modeling in companies, entering the turbulent environment. The study’s aim is to explore business modeling techniques and their tooling by utilizing a case study of a Finnish media monitoring company, expanding to the Russian market. This work proposes a tailored “two-approach” of business modeling development that analyzes both the past and future conditions of two key factors of business modeling for companies – internal and external environments. The study explores a case company by investigating the benefits and disadvantages of firm’s present business modeling tools, developing a new tooling and applying it to the case company. Among primary data utilization, such as interviews with media monitoring industry analysts and representatives of the competing companies, and academic experts, study leans up on the comprehensive analysis of Russian media monitoring niche and its players. This study benefits the business modeling research area and combines traditional analysis tools, such as market, PESTLE and competitor analyses, in a systemic manner, with the business modeling techniques. This transformation proceeds through applying of the integrated scenario, heat map and critical design issues’ analyses in the societal, industrial and competitive context of turbulent environments. The practical outcome of this approach is the development of agile business modeling tool set, customizable by company’s requirements.