Web-based reference databases and subject gateways to locate current research information in agricultural and food sciences : a Finnish perspective

Selostus: Maatalous- ja elintarviketieteiden www-pohjaiset viitetietokannat ja aihehakemistot - suomalaisen tiedonetsijän näkökulma

Long-Life Concrete: How Long Will My Concrete Last? A Synthesis of Knowledge of Potential Durability of Concrete, TPF-5(159), 2013

There is an ongoing discussion about moving toward performance-based specifications for concrete pavements. This document seeks to move the discussion forward by outlining the needs and the challenges, and proposing some immediate actions. However, this approach may increase risk for all parties until performance requirements are agreed upon and, more importantly, how the requirements can be measured. A fundamental issue behind pavement construction activities is that the owner/designer needs to be assured that the concrete in place will survive for the intended period (assuming there are no changes in the environment or loading) and, therefore, that full payment should be made. At the same time, each party along the supply chain needs to be assured that the material being supplied to them is able to meet the required performance, as is the product/system they are delivering. The focus of this document is a discussion of the issues behind this need, and the technologies that are available, or still needed, to meet this need, particularly from the point of view of potential durability

Embodying feminist research: learning from action research, political practices, diffractions and collective knowledge.

In the past three decades, feminists and critical theorists have discussed and argued the importance of deconstructing and problematizing social science research methodology in order to question normalized hierarchies concerning the production of knowledge and the status of truth claims. Nevertheless, often, these ideas have basically remained theoretical propositions not embodied in research practices. In fact there is very little published discussion about the difficulties and limits of their practical application. In this paper we introduce some interconnected reflections starting from two different but related experiences of embodying 'feminist activist research'. Our aim is to emphasise the importance of attending to process, making mistakes and learning during fieldwork, as well as experimenting with personalized forms of analysis, such as the construction of narratives and the story-telling process.

Embodying feminist research: learning from action research, political practices, diffractions and collective knowledge.

In the past three decades, feminists and critical theorists have discussed and argued the importance of deconstructing and problematizing social science research methodology in order to question normalized hierarchies concerning the production of knowledge and the status of truth claims. Nevertheless, often, these ideas have basically remained theoretical propositions not embodied in research practices. In fact there is very little published discussion about the difficulties and limits of their practical application. In this paper we introduce some interconnected reflections starting from two different but related experiences of embodying 'feminist activist research'. Our aim is to emphasise the importance of attending to process, making mistakes and learning during fieldwork, as well as experimenting with personalized forms of analysis, such as the construction of narratives and the story-telling process.

The INTERNORM Project: Bridging Two Worlds of Expert- and Lay-Knowledge in Standardization

This paper presents a pilot project to reinforce participatory practices in standardization. The INTERNORM project creates an interactive knowledge center based on the sharing of academic skills and experiences accumulated by the civil society, especially consumer associations, environmental associations and trade unions to strengthen the participatory process of standardization. The first objective of the project is action-oriented: INTERNORM provides a common knowledge pool supporting the participation of civil society actors to international standard-setting activities by bringing them together with academic experts in working groups and providing logistic and financial support to their participation in meetings of national and international technical committees. The second objective is analytical: the standardization action provides a research field for a better understanding of the participatory dynamics underpinning international standardization. This paper presents three incentives that explain civil society (non-)involvement in standardization that overcome conventional resource-based hypotheses: an operational incentive related to the use of standards in the selective goods provided by associations to their membership; a thematic incentive provided by the setting of priorities by strategic committees created in some standardization organization; and a rhetorical incentive related to the discursive resource that civil society concerns offers to the different stakeholders.

1st Conference on Arts-Based and Artistic Research. Critical reflections on the intersection between art and research

[eng] Proceedings for the 1st Conference on Arts-Based and Artistic Research: Critical Reflections on the Intersection of Art and Research. University of Barcelona, January 31st - February 1st, 2013.

The Lausanne Institutional Biobank: a new resource to catalyse research in personalised medicine and pharmaceutical sciences.

Breakthrough technologies which now enable the sequencing of individual genomes will irreversibly modify the way diseases are diagnosed, predicted, prevented and treated. For these technologies to reach their full potential requires, upstream, access to high-quality biomedical data and samples from large number of properly informed and consenting individuals and, downstream, the possibility to transform the emerging knowledge into a clinical utility. The Lausanne Institutional Biobank was designed as an integrated, highly versatile infrastructure to harness the power of these emerging technologies and catalyse the discovery and development of innovative therapeutics and biomarkers, and advance the field of personalised medicine. Described here are its rationale, design and governance, as well as parallel initiatives which have been launched locally to address the societal, ethical and technological issues associated with this new bio-resource. Since January 2013, inpatients admitted at Lausanne CHUV University Hospital have been systematically invited to provide a general consent for the use of their biomedical data and samples for research, to complete a standardised questionnaire, to donate a 10-ml sample of blood for future DNA extraction and to be re-contacted for future clinical trials. Over the first 18 months of operation, 14,459 patients were contacted, and 11,051 accepted to participate in the study. This initial 18-month experience illustrates that a systematic hospital-based biobank is feasible; it shows a strong engagement in research from the patient population in this University Hospital setting, and the need for a broad, integrated approach for the future of medicine to reach its full potential.

The Network Company in Catalonia : ICT, Productivity, Competitiveness, Salaries and Performance in Catalonia's Companies. Research report (synthesis document)

Resum en anglès del projecte de recerca L'empresa xarxa a Catalunya. TIC, productivitat, competitivitat, salaris i beneficis a l'empresa catalana té com a objectiu principal constatar que la consolidació d'un nou model estratègic, organitzatiu i d'activitat empresarial, vinculat amb la inversió i l'ús de les TIC (o empresa xarxa), modifica substancialment els patrons de comportament dels resultats empresarials, en especial la productivitat, la competitivitat, les retribucions dels treballadors i el benefici. La contrastació empírica de les hipòtesis de treball l'hem feta per mitjà de les dades d'una enquesta a una mostra representativa de 2.038 empreses catalanes. Amb la perspectiva de l'impacte de la inversió i l'ús de les TIC no s'aprecia una relació directa entre els processos d'innovació digital i els resultats de l'activitat de l'empresa catalana. En aquest sentit, hem hagut de segmentar el teixit productiu català per a buscar les organitzacions en què el procés de coinnovació tecnològica digital i organitzativa és més present i en què la intensitat de l'ús del coneixement és un recurs molt freqüent per a poder copsar impactes rellevants en els principals resultats empresarials. Això és així perquè l'economia catalana, avui, presenta una estructura productiva dual.

Low utilization of health care services following screening for hypertension in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania): a prospective population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Drug therapy in high-risk individuals has been advocated as an important strategy to reduce cardiovascular disease in low income countries. We determined, in a low-income urban population, the proportion of persons who utilized health services after having been diagnosed as hypertensive and advised to seek health care for further hypertension management. METHODS: A population-based survey of 9254 persons aged 25-64 years was conducted in Dar es Salaam. Among the 540 persons with high blood pressure (defined here as BP >or= 160/95 mmHg) at the initial contact, 253 (47%) had high BP on a 4th visit 45 days later. Among them, 208 were untreated and advised to attend health care in a health center of their choice for further management of their hypertension. One year later, 161 were seen again and asked about their use of health services during the interval. RESULTS: Among the 161 hypertensive persons advised to seek health care, 34% reported to have attended a formal health care provider during the 12-month interval (63% public facility; 30% private; 7% both). Antihypertensive treatment was taken by 34% at some point of time (suggesting poor uptake of health services) and 3% at the end of the 12-month follow-up (suggesting poor long-term compliance). Health services utilization tended to be associated with older age, previous history of high BP, being overweight and non-smoking, but not with education or wealth. Lack of symptoms and cost of treatment were the reasons reported most often for not attending health care. CONCLUSION: Low utilization of health services after hypertension screening suggests a small impact of a patient-centered screen-and-treat strategy in this low-income population. These findings emphasize the need to identify and address barriers to health care utilization for non-communicable diseases in this setting and, indirectly, the importance of public health measures for primary prevention of these diseases.

Harmonization ofsignificant environmental aspects and their risk assessment in UPM paper and pulp mills

Työn tavoite onharmonisoida yhtenäiset rakenteet UPM:n paperi- ja sellutehtaiden merkittävilleympäristönäkökohdille sekä niiden ympäristöriskienhallintajärjestelmille. Näin saavutetaan yhteneväiset tavoitteet ja analysointikeinot yrityksen yksiköille. Harmonisointiprosessi on osa koko yrityksen ympäristöhallintajärjestelmän kehittämistä. Ja konsernin EMS -prosessi puolestaan konvergoi konsernin integroidun johtamisjärjestelmän kehitystä. Lisäksi työn tapaustutkimuksessa selvitettiin riskienhallintajärjestelmien integroitumispotentiaalia. Sen avulla saavutettaisiin paremmin suuren yrityksen synergia-etuja ja vuorovaikutteisuutta toimijoiden kesken, sekä parannettaisiin riskienhallintajärjestelmän mukautuvuutta ja käytettävyyttä. Työssä käsitellään kolmea esimerkkiä, joiden pohjalta tehdään esitys harmonisoiduille merkittäville ympäristönäkökohdille sekä riskienhallintajärjestelmien parametreille. Tutkimusongelmaa lähestytään haastattelujen, kirjallisuuden, yrityksen PWC:llä teettämän selvityksen sekä omien päätelmien avulla. Lisäksi työssä esitetään ympäristöhallintajärjestelmän tehokkuuden todentaminen ympäristösuorituskyvyn muuttujiin suhteutettuna. Pohjana jatkuvan kehityksen päämäärälle on organisaatio-oppiminen, niin yksittäisen työntekijän, tiimien kuin eri yksiköiden kesken. Se antaa sysäyksen aineettoman omaisuuden, kuten ympäristö-osaamisen, hyödyntämiseen parhaalla mahdollisella tavalla. Tärkeimpinä lopputuloksina työssä ovat ehdotukset harmonisoiduille merkittäville ympäristönäkökohdille sekä ympäristöriskienhallintajärjestelmän määritetyille komponenteille. Niitä ovat määritelmät ja skaalat riskien todennäköisyydelle, seurauksille sekä riskiluokille. Työn viimeisenä osana luodaan pohja tapaustutkimuksen avulla Rauman tehtaan jätevedenpuhdistamon kahden erilaisen riskienhallintajärjestelmän integroitumiselle.

Modeling competencies and capabilities in knowledge intensive business environment

Tämän diplomityön päämääränä oli tutkia Perloksen teknologiaosaamisia. Perloksen tavoitteena on tulevaisuudessa yhdistää ja soveltaa uusia teknologioita ja älykkäitä materiaaleja muovimekaniikkaan.Ideana oli mallintaa Perloksen osaamisia ja osaamisgapeja ottaen huomioon heidän tulevaisuuden visionsa. Projektituotteena osaamisten mallintamisessa oli Perlos Healthcaren asiakkaan analysoiva mittauslaite. Tutkimuksen arvo on huomattava sillä tunnistamalla osaamisensa ja kyvykkyytensä yritys pystyy luomaan paremman tarjooman vastatessaan koko ajan kasvaviin asiakasvaatimuksiin. Tutkimus on osa TEKESin rahoittamaa LIIMA -projektia. Työn ensimmäisessä osassa esitellään osaamiseen ja partneroitumiseen liittyviä teorioita. Osaamisten mallintaminen tehtiin Excel -pohjaisella työkalulla. Se sisältää projektituotteeseen liittyen osaamisriippuvuuksien mallintamisen ja gap -analyysin. Yhtenä tutkimusmetodina käytettiin haastattelututkimusta. Työ ja sen tulokset antavat operatiivista hyötyä teknologioiden ja markkinoiden välisessä kentässä.

Utilization of Knowledge Management in Business Process Modeling and Process Improvements

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tutkia telekommunikaatioalalla toimivan kohdeyrityksen ohjelmistojen toimitusprosessia° Tutkimus keskittyy mallintamaan toimitusprosessin, määrittelemään roolit ja vastuualueet, havaitsemaan ongelmakohdat ja ehdottamaan prosessille kehityskohteita. Näitä tavoitteita tarkastellaan teoreettisten prosessimallinnustekniikoiden ja tietojohtamisen SECI-prosessikehyksen läpi. Tärkein tiedonkeruun lähde oli haastatteluihin perustuva tutkimus, johon osallistuvat kaikki kohdeprosessiin kuuluvat yksiköt. Mallinnettu toimitusprosessi antoi kohdeyritykselle paremman käsityksen tarkasteltavasta prosessista ja siinä toimivien yksiköiden rooleistaja vastuualueista. Parannusehdotuksia olivat tiedonjaon kanavoinnin määritteleminen, luottamuksen ja sosiaalisten verkostojen parantaminen, ja tietojohtamisen laajamittainen implementointi.