GLOBAL AND LOCAL REACTIVITY DESCRIPTORS FOR PICLORAM HERBICIDE: A THEORETICAL QUANTUM STUDY

In this work, we studied the reactivity of picloram in the aqueous phase at the B3LYP/6-311++G(2d,2p) and MP2/6-311++G(2d,2p) levels of theory through global and local reactivity descriptors. The results obtained at the MP2 level indicate that the cationic form of picloram exhibits the highest hardness while the anionic form is the most nucleophilic. From the Fukui function values, the most reactive site for electrophilic and free radical attacks are on the nitrogen in the pyridine ring. The more reactive sites for nucleophilic attacks are located on the nitrogen atom of the amide group and on the carbon atoms located at positions 2 and 3 in the pyridine ring.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Global Mining Industry

Corporate Social Responsibility is company’s interest and actions towards its environment and the society that the company takes from its free will, to give back to the community and environment. Corporate Social Responsibility is current topic as companies are challenged to take responsibility for their action, due to the constant tightening environmental legislations and raising pressure for transparency from the public. The objective of this Master’s Thesis research is to study if Corporate Social Responsibility affects suppliers’ brand image and mining companies’ buying decisions within global mining industry. The research method is qualitative and the research is conducted with secondary and primary research methods. The research aims to find out what are the implications of the research for the case company Larox. The objective is to answer to the question; how should case company Larox start to develop Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program of its own, and how the case company could benefit from CSR as a competitive advantage and what actions could be taken in the company marketing. Conclusions are drawn based on both the secondary and primary research results. Both of the researches imply that CSR is well present in the global mining industry, and that suppliers’ CSR policy has positive effect on company image, which positively affects company’s brand, and furthermore brand has a positive effect on mining companies buying decision. It can be concluded that indirectly CSR has an effect on buying decisions, and case company should consider developing a CSR program of its own.

Sukupolvenvaihdos yrityskauppana Case: Global Research & Data Services

Sukupolvenvaihdoksella tarkoitetaan yrityksen omistajasuhteiden muutoksia. Siinä yritys siirretään omistajan elinaikana tai se siirtyy hänen kuoltuaan henkilölle, joka jatkaa yrityksen toimintaa. Suomessa on lähivuosina odotettavissa 60–80.000 sukupolvenvaihdosta. Vaihdosten onnistuminen ei ole itsestäänselvyys, sillä yleinen ongelma näyttäisi olevan, että sukupolvenvaihdosta tarvitsevia yrityksiä on enemmän kuin sopivia jatkajia. Sukupolvenvaihdosten onnistuminen on merkittävä lähivuosien yhteiskunnallinen kysymys sekä yritysten liiketoiminnan jatkuvuuden että työpaikkojen säilymisen kannalta. Tällä hetkellä epäonnistuneet sukupolvenvaihdokset maksavat valtiolle noin 1,25 miljardia euroa eikä Suomella ole varaa menettää yhtään yritystä. Sukupolvenvaihdos on ajankohtainen asia myös tämän tutkimuksen case-yrityksessä, Global Research & Data Services:ssa. Yrityksen toimialana on markkinatutkimus. Tutkimuksia tehdään eri toimialoilta ja eri maista. Vaihdos on tarkoitus suorittaa kevään/kesän 2010 aikana ja se on tarkoitus toteuttaa yrityskauppana. Tässä tutkimuksessa on tarkoituksena selvittää mm., mitä eri vaihtoehtoja yrityksellä on toteuttaa sukupolvenvaihdos yrityskauppana, mitä tulee ottaa huomioon, miten kauppaa tulisi valmistella ja mitkä ovat mahdolliset rahoituslähteet. Tutkimuksen laatimisessa käytettiin apuna valmiina olevaa materiaalia, niin kirjoja kuin Internet-lähteitäkin. Tutkimuksen toisessa luvussa on käsitelty sukupolvenvaihdosta yleisesti käsitteenä sekä tämän hetkistä tilannetta Suomessa. Kolmannessa luvussa on esitelty tutkimuksen case-yritys. Neljännessä luvussa on esitelty sukupolvenvaihdoksen juridiset toteutusmallit lyhyesti. Tutkimuksen viidennessä luvussa on keskitytty tutkimuksen ydinasiaan eli sukupolvenvaihdoksen suorittamiseen yrityskauppana. Käsiteltyjä aiheita ovat mm. yrityksen valmistaminen vaihdosta varten, yrityksen arvon määritys ja yrityskaupan rahoitusvaihtoehdot. Asioita on käsitelty niin yleisesti kuin case-yrityksen tilanne huomioiden. Viimeisessä luvussa on tutkimuksen yhteenveto.

Preconditions for Successful Global Sourcing and Production Ramp up

Työn tavoitteena oli tutkia The Switch Drive Systems Oy:n edellytyksiä globaalille hankintatoiminnalle ja tuotannon aloittamiselle Kiinassa. Lisäksi pyrittiin keräämään empiiristä tietoa ja palautetta yrityksen prosesseista niiden kehittämistä varten. Yrityksen tuotantostrategia perustuu mallitehdaskonseptiin ja yrityksellä on kaksi mallitehdasta Suomessa. Työ keskittyy tutkimaan näiden mallitehtaiden valmiuksia aloittaa globaali ja ulkoistettu sarjatuotanto. Tutkimus suoritettiin empiirisenä tutkimuksena haastattelemalla yhteensä yhdeksää edustajaa yrityksen kolmesta yksiköstä Suomessa. Empiirinen tutkimus perustui riskienhallinnan keinoihin. Kvantitatiivisen tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli kartoittaa merkittävimmät riskit tarkempaa tarkastelua varten. Kvalitatiivisen tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli löytää syitä merkittävimmille riskeille. Tutkimuksen keskeisimmäksi tulokseksi on saatu lista merkittävimmistä syistä, jotka vaikeuttavat yrityksen tuotantostrategian toteuttamista. Lisäksi tuloksia ovat kvantitatiiviset tulokset merkittävimmistä riskeistä ja niihin liittyvät syyseuraussuhteet.

Production planning development in global manufacturing company

Larox Corporation is a provider of full service filtration in solid and liquid separation. Larox develops, designs, manufactures and supplies industrial filters. By Larox’s continuous development principle, a project for more efficient production was started. At the same time production planning was taken under review. Aim for this Master’s thesis was to find software designed for production planning purposes replacement for old Microsoft Excel based method. In this Master’s thesis current way of production planning was thoroughly analyzed and improvement targets were specified and also requirements for new software were assigned. Primary requirements for new software were possibility to production scheduling, planning, follow-up and also for long-time capacity planning and tracking. Also one demand was that new software should have data link to Larox’s current ERP-system. Result of this Master’s thesis was to start using Larox’s ERP-system also for production planning purposes. New mode of operation fulfils all requirements which were placed to new system. By using new method of production planning, production planners can get more easier and reliable data than from current system.

Distribution development in global business environment

The purpose of this master’s thesis was to analyze a case company’s distribution and its elements. With different distribution structure options a customer can be served with different ways. However, cost elements and service elements create different trade-offs. In this work the case company’s distribution’s present state was analyzed and conclusions were made. Based on these conclusions different alternatives for distribution were created. These different alternatives were analyzed through simulations and with more traditional calculations to compose the total operative costs of each alternative. Also other aspects were considered, such as required organizational changes and the possible better customer service. With the suggested 3-stock distribution structure shorter delivery times and possibly more punctual deliveries for products kept in stock could be achieved with the same operative costs as in current direct delivery model. Also, similar benefits could be achieved with other products with the 3-stock model.

On convergence of transforms based on parabolic scaling

This thesis studies properties of transforms based on parabolic scaling, like Curvelet-, Contourlet-, Shearlet- and Hart-Smith-transform. Essentially, two di erent questions are considered: How these transforms can characterize H older regularity and how non-linear approximation of a piecewise smooth function converges. In study of Hölder regularities, several theorems that relate regularity of a function f : R2 → R to decay properties of its transform are presented. Of particular interest is the case where a function has lower regularity along some line segment than elsewhere. Theorems that give estimates for direction and location of this line, and regularity of the function are presented. Numerical demonstrations suggest also that similar theorems would hold for more general shape of segment of low regularity. Theorems related to uniform and pointwise Hölder regularity are presented as well. Although none of the theorems presented give full characterization of regularity, the su cient and necessary conditions are very similar. Another theme of the thesis is the study of convergence of non-linear M ─term approximation of functions that have discontinuous on some curves and otherwise are smooth. With particular smoothness assumptions, it is well known that squared L2 approximation error is O(M-2(logM)3) for curvelet, shearlet or contourlet bases. Here it is shown that assuming higher smoothness properties, the log-factor can be removed, even if the function still is discontinuous.

Understanding change processes in business networks : a study of convergence in Finnish telecommunications 1985-2005

Aktörer inom telekommunikationsbranschen i Finland har genomgått en intensiv förändring under de senaste 25 åren, från 1980-talets självständiga företag till företag beroende av varandra, och även av aktörer inom närliggande branscher. I dag skapas telekommunikationsmarknaden inte endast av operatörerna, utan också av mediebolag (t.ex. MTV Media) och IT-företag (t.ex. TietoEnator). Gränserna mellan olika industrier håller därmed på att suddas ut - ett fenomen som allmänt benämns som teknologisk konvergens. Konvergens innebär att någonting integreras; det kan handla om t.ex. teknologier (telefoni och Internet), företag (AOL och Time Warner), industrier (telekom, media och IT-branscherna), tjänster (mobilt TV), produkter (PDA) osv. Detta innebär att ytterst få telekomaktörer ensamma kan vidareutveckla marknaden och tekniska lösningar. Samarbete mellan aktörer krävs; mobiltelefontillverkare, innehållsproducenter, operatörer osv. bör intesifiera sitt samarbete för att kunna erbjuda attraktiva tjänster och produkter till kunder och slutanvändare. Avhandlingen fokuserar speciellt på affärsnätverk och samarbetsmönster mellan nätverksaktörer som medel för att få tillgång till resurser som krävs i en konvergenskarakteriserad affärsomgivning. Avhandlingen lyfter fram vad den teknologiska konvergensen har inneburit för telekomaktörer, dvs. att företag tvingats förändra sina strategier och verksamhetsmodeller. För många företag i branschen har anpassningen till konvergenstänkande varit utmanande, och i vissa fall kan man till och med tala om att företagen upplevt en identitetskris. Den utförda forskningen visar att konvergens uppfattas på marknaden som en pågående förändringsprocess, där varje telekomaktör är tvungen att utvärdera sin roll och position i relation till andra aktörer inom branschen. Konvergensprocesser forsätter i framtiden med ökad intensitet. Aktörerna skapar medvetet sin omgivning genom att agera i olika roller, som kan sträcka sig över industrigränser. Avhandlingen påvisar även att externa händelser och industrikontexten påverkar dynamiken i ett affärsnätverk.

Autonomy and islands: a global study of the factors that determine island autonomy

Att ett geografiskt territorium uppnår autonomi förklaras ofta av skillnad I etnicitet, språk eller religion. En region som skiljer sig i någon av dessa kulturella aspekter från övriga regioner i ett land anses därför ha större sannolikhet att utveckla autonomi. Pär M. Olausson visar i sin avhandling att kulturella aspekter inte är den viktigaste förklaringen till att vissa öar utvecklar autonomi. Kulturella aspekter är bara en del i förklaringen till varför vissa öar utvecklar autonomi medan andra förblir en integrerad del av moderlandet. Kulturella aspekter måste kombineras med andra aspekter för att utgöra en tillräcklig förklaring till skillnaden i autonomi. Bland de autonoma regionerna i världen idag utgör öar en klar majoritet. Öar anses ofta ha speciella egenskaper som gör att de skiljer sig från fastlandet. Känslan av samhörighet och gemenskap är ofta starkare på öar pga deras ofta isolerade läge vilket i sin tur anses förklara varför många öar utvecklar autonomi. Genom att studera både autonoma och icke-autonoma öar visar Olausson att autonomi kan förklaras av att ön ligger längre än 1 000 km från fastlandet eller att den skiljer sig från fastlandet i någon av de kulturella aspekterna, att den har varit ockuperad av främmande stat och därmed avskiljd från övriga landet eller utgjort en egen stat. Den viktigaste förklaringen till varför vissa öar utvecklar autonomi men inte andra är emellertid öns strategiska betydelse.

Potential impact of the global climate changes on the spatial distribution of areas of risk for the occurrence of eucalyptus rust in Brazil

Rust, caused by Puccinia psidii, is one of the most important diseases affecting eucalyptus in Brazil. This pathogen causes disease in mini-clonal garden and in young plants in the field, especially in leaves and juvenile shoots. Favorable climate conditions for infection by this pathogen in eucalyptus include temperature between 18 and 25 ºC, together with at least 6-hour leaf wetness periods, for 5 to 7 consecutive days. Considering the interaction between the environment and the pathogen, this study aimed to evaluate the potential impact of global climate changes on the spatial distribution of areas of risk for the occurrence of eucalyptus rust in Brazil. Thus, monthly maps of the areas of risk for the occurrence of this disease were elaborated, considering the current climate conditions, based on a historic series between 1961 and 1990, and the future scenarios A2 and B2, predicted by IPCC. The climate conditions were classified into three categories, according to the potential risk for the disease occurrence, considering temperature (T) and air relative humidity (RH): i) high risk (18 < T < 25 ºC and RH > 90%); ii) medium risk (18 < T < 25 ºC and RH < 90%; T< 18 or T > 25 ºC and RH > 90%); and iii) low risk (T < 18 or T > 25 ºC and RH < 90%). Data about the future climate scenarios were supplied by GCM Change Fields. In this study, the simulation model Hadley Centers for Climate Prediction and Research (HadCm3) was adopted, using the software Idrisi 32. The obtained results led to the conclusion that there will be a reduction in the area favorable to eucalyptus rust occurrence, and such a reduction will be gradual for the decades of 2020, 2050 and 2080 but more marked in scenario A2 than in B2. However, it is important to point out that extensive areas will still be favorable to the disease development, especially in the coldest months of the year, i.e., June and July. Therefore, the zoning of areas and periods of higher occurrence risk, considering the global climate changes, becomes important knowledge for the elaboration of predicting models and an alert for the integrated management of this disease.

Conceito global: um método de avaliação de competência clínica

Muito se tem feito para desenvolver métodos que avaliem de forma confiável a proficiência em habilidade clínica dos alunos de graduação médica. Há fortes evidências de que a avaliação global pode ser uma alternativa viável e confiável na avaliação de estudantes de graduação no ambiente clínico. Rotineiramente, a competência clínica tem sido avaliada pelos docentes por meio de um conceito subjetivo. Essa nota, dada por um especialista, não é objetiva e está sujeita a vieses. O uso de um instrumento bem delineado, com diversos itens pontuados numa escala, oferece a vantagem de especificar o que deve ser avaliado, auxiliando os avaliadores a distinguir os diferentes níveis do desempenho. Usando este método, os docentes podem expressar sua percepção global dos alunos, de forma mais objetiva, em relação a duas esferas distintas da competência: técnica (contendo itens como história clínica, exame físico, conhecimento médico, julgamento clínico, solução de problemas e hábitos no trabalho) e humanista (incluindo comunicação com pacientes e familiares, respeito, habilidades reflexivas, sensibilidade ao contexto e trabalho em equipe).

Influência dos cursos preparatórios para residência médica em uma avaliação global

INTRODUÇÃO: O desenvolvimento cognitivo é um processo complexo e o mais intenso na formação médica, necessitando ser acompanhado minuciosa e criteriosamente. Várias ferramentas foram criadas com o intuito de acompanhar tal processo, entre elas o teste global (ou de situação) de conhecimento, cuja finalidade é avaliar o desempenho cognitivo durante o curso e o próprio curso, bem como treinar acadêmicos para concursos. Outra forma de treinamento para provas de qualificação, muito usada atualmente, são os Cursos Preparatórios (CP) para residência médica. OBJETIVO: Analisar a influência e eficácia dos CP no ganho cognitivo dos acadêmicos do internato bienal de um curso de Medicina. METODOLOGIA: Estudo transversal, quantitativo, com aplicação de uma prova de situação aos internos que cursam ou não CP. RESULTADOS: Realizaram a prova 127 internos, sendo 63 do primeiro semestre e 64 do terceiro. A média de acerto geral foi de 5,1 ± 1,0 (5,0 ± 0,9 para quintanistas e 5,1 ± 1,2 para sextanistas; p = 0,533). Do total dos internos, 77,2% participavam de CP, sendo menor a proporção dos quintanistas (65,1% vs. 89,1%; p = 0,001). Não se observou diferença estatística no desempenho cognitivo dos internos relacionado à "frequência ou não de CP" (5,1 ± 1,1 vs. 4,8 ± 1,0; p = 0,203). CONCLUSÃO: O teste do tipo global não apresentou diferença estatística significativa no desempenho cognitivo dos estudantes de uma série para outra, não demonstrando no CP fator diferenciador neste tipo de avaliação (testes de múltipla escolha), colocando em dúvida a real influência e efetividade do CP.

Efficient installed base information management and utilization in global after sales service business

This Master´s thesis explores how the a global industrial corporation’s after sales service department should arrange its installed base management practices in order to maintain and utilize the installed base information effectively. Case company has product-related records, such as product’s lifecycle information, service history information and information about product’s performance. Information is collected and organized often case by case, therefore the systematic and effective use of installed base information is difficult also the overview of installed base is missing. The goal of the thesis study was to find out how the case company can improve the installed base maintenance and management practices and improve the installed base information availability and reliability. Installed base information management practices were first examined through the literature. The empirical research was conducted by the interviews and questionnaire survey, targeted to the case company’s service department. The research purpose was to find out the challenges related to case company´s service department’s information management practices. The study also identified the installed base information needs and improvement potential in the availability of information. Based on the empirical research findings, recommendations for improve installed base management practices and information availability were created. Grounding of the recommendations, the case company is suggested the following proposals for action: Service report development, improving the change management process, ensuring the quality of the product documentation in early stages of product life cycle and decision to improve installed base management practices.

Effects of global climate changes on geographical distribution patterns of economically important plant species in cerrado

Different climate models, modeling methods and carbon emission scenarios were used in this paper to evaluate the effects of future climate changes on geographical distribution of species of economic and cultural importance across the Cerrado biome. As the results of several studies have shown, there are still many uncertainties associated with these projections, although bioclimatic models are still widely used and effective method to evaluate the consequences for biodiversity of these climate changes. In this article, it was found that 90% of these uncertainties are related to methods of modeling, although, regardless of the uncertainties, the results revealed that the studied species will reduce about 78% of their geographic distribution in Cerrado. For an effective work on the conservation of these species, many studies still need to be carried out, although it is already possible to observe that climate change will have a strong influence on the pattern of distribution of these species.