From creative ideas to new emerging ventures: the process of identification and exploitation among finnish design entrepreneurs

This study focuses on identification and exploitation processes among Finnish design entrepreneurs (i.e. selfemployed industrial designers). More specifically, this study strives to find out what design entrepreneurs do when they create new ventures, how venture ideas are identified and how entrepreneurial processes are organized to identify and exploit such venture ideas in the given industrial context. Indeed, what does educated and creative individuals do when they decide to create new ventures, where do the venture ideas originally come from, and moreover, how are venture ideas identified and developed into viable business concepts that are introduced on the markets? From an academic perspective: there is a need to increase our understanding of the interaction between the identification and exploitation of emerging ventures, in this and other empirical contexts. Rather than assuming that venture ideas are constant in time, this study examines how emerging ideas are adjusted to enable exploitation in dynamic market settings. It builds on the insights from previous entrepreneurship process research. The interpretations from the theoretical discussion build on the assumption that the subprocesses of identification and exploitation interact, and moreover, they are closely entwined with each other (e.g. McKelvie & Wiklund, 2004, Davidsson, 2005). This explanation challenges the common assumption that entrepreneurs would first identify venture ideas and then exploit them (e.g. Shane, 2003). The assumption is that exploitation influences identification, just as identification influences exploitation. Based on interviews with design entrepreneurs and external actors (e.g. potential customers, suppliers and collaborators), it appears as identification and exploitation of venture ideas are carried out in close interaction between a number of actors, rather than alone by entrepreneurs. Due to their available resources, design entrepreneurs have a desire to focus on identification related activities and to find external actors that take care of exploitation related activities. The involvement of external actors may have a direct impact on decisionmaking and various activities along the processes of identification and exploitation, which is something that previous research does not particularly emphasize. For instance, Bhave (1994) suggests both operative and strategic feedback from the market, but does not explain how external parties are actually involved in the decisionmaking, and in carrying out various activities along the entrepreneurial process.

Pervasive positive selection on duplicated and nonduplicated vertebrate protein coding genes.

A stringent branch-site codon model was used to detect positive selection in vertebrate evolution. We show that the test is robust to the large evolutionary distances involved. Positive selection was detected in 77% of 884 genes studied. Most positive selection concerns a few sites on a single branch of the phylogenetic tree: Between 0.9% and 4.7% of sites are affected by positive selection depending on the branches. No functional category was overrepresented among genes under positive selection. Surprisingly, whole genome duplication had no effect on the prevalence of positive selection, whether the fish-specific genome duplication or the two rounds at the origin of vertebrates. Thus positive selection has not been limited to a few gene classes, or to specific evolutionary events such as duplication, but has been pervasive during vertebrate evolution.

Codificació i transmissió interactiva d'imatges en dispositius mòbils

JPEG2000 és el nou estàndard de compressió d’imatges impulsat pel Joint Photographics Experts Group, el qual defineix un protocol eficient per la transmissió interactiva d’imatges, anomenat JPIP. El Group on Interactive Coding of Images (GICI) té una implementació d’aquest protocol, CADI. En aquest projecte es realitza l’implementació del client d’aquest protocol en un dispositiu mòbil. Per això s’ha realitzat un estudi de les plataformes mòbils que hi ha actualment en el mercat. Finalment s’han proposat millores, en el descodificador, per reduir el temps de computació i la carrega de memòria.

Representació no-lineal de les imatges per a codificació perceptiva

JPEG2000 és un estàndard de compressió d’imatges que utilitza la transformada wavelet i, posteriorment, una quantificació uniforme dels coeficients amb dead-zone. Els coeficients wavelet presenten certes dependències tant estadístiques com visuals. Les dependències estadístiques es tenen en compte a l'esquema JPEG2000, no obstant, no passa el mateix amb les dependències visuals. En aquest treball, es pretén trobar una representació més adaptada al sistema visual que la que proporciona JPEG2000 directament. Per trobar-la utilitzarem la normalització divisiva dels coeficients, tècnica que ja ha demostrat resultats tant en decorrelació estadística de coeficients com perceptiva. Idealment, el que es voldria fer és reconvertir els coeficients a un espai de valors en els quals un valor més elevat dels coeficients impliqui un valor més elevat d'aportació visual, i utilitzar aquest espai de valors per a codificar. A la pràctica, però, volem que el nostre sistema de codificació estigui integrat a un estàndard. És per això que utilitzarem JPEG2000, estàndard de la ITU que permet una elecció de les distorsions en la codificació, i utilitzarem la distorsió en el domini de coeficients normalitzats com a mesura de distorsió per a escollir quines dades s'envien abans.

Implementació d'un demostrador wireless: network cording i virtualització d'interfícies sense fils

El treball realitzat en aquest projecte es basa en l'implementació d'un demostrador wireless, i més específicament, en l'estudi de les tècniques network coding i virtualització. Network coding és un nou mètode de transmissió de dades que es basa en la codificació de paquets per incrementar el rendiment fins ara obtingut als mètodes de transmissió convencionals. La virtualització és una tècnica que consisteix en compartir de forma més eficient els recursos d'un sistema. En el nostre cas s'utilitzarà la virtualització per dividir una interfície sense fils en diferents usuaris virtuals transmetent i rebent dades simultàniament. L'objectiu del projecte és realitzar un seguit de proves i estudis per veure els avantatges d'aquestes dues tècniques.

Emerging roles of non-coding RNAs in pancreatic β-cell function and dysfunction.

Pancreatic β-cells play a central role in glucose homeostasis by tightly regulating insulin release according to the organism's demand. Impairment of β-cell function due to hostile environment, such as hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia, or due to autoimmune destruction of β-cells, results in diabetes onset. Both environmental factors and genetic predisposition are known to be involved in the development of the disease, but the exact mechanisms leading to β-cell dysfunction and death remain to be characterized. Non-coding RNA molecules, such as microRNAs (miRNAs), have been suggested to be necessary for proper β-cell development and function. The present review aims at summarizing the most recent findings about the role of non-coding RNAs in the control of β-cell functions and their involvement in diabetes. We will also provide a perspective view of the future research directions in the field of non-coding RNAs. In particular, we will discuss the implications for diabetes research of the discovery of a new communication mechanism based on cell-to-cell miRNA transfer. Moreover, we will highlight the emerging interconnections between miRNAs and epigenetics and the possible role of long non-coding RNAs in the control of β-cell activities.

Why do creative industries cluster? An analysis of the determinants of clustering of creative industries

Creative industries tend to concentrate mainly around large- and medium-sized cities, forming creative local production systems. The text analyses the forces behind clustering of creative industries to provide the first empirical explanation of the determinants of creative employment clustering following a multidisciplinary approach based on cultural and creative economics, evolutionary geography and urban economics. A comparative analysis has been performed for Italy and Spain. The results show different patterns of creative employment clustering in both countries. The small role of historical and cultural endowments, the size of the place, the average size of creative industries, the productive diversity and the concentration of human capital and creative class have been found as common factors of clustering in both countries.

Technological innovation in creative clusters. The case of laser in conservation of artworks in Florence

The field of laser application to the restoration and cleaning of cultural assets is amongst the most thriving developments of recent times. Ablative laser technological systems are able to clean and protect inestimable works of art subject to atmospheric agents and degradation over time. This new technology, which has been developing for the last forty year, is now available to restorers and has received a significant success all over Europe. An important contribution in the process of laser innovation has been carried out in Florence by local actors belonging to a creative cluster. The objects of the analysis are the genesis of this innovation in this local Florentine context, and the relationships among the main actors who have contributed in it. The study investigates how culture can play a part in the generation of ideas and innovations, and which are the creative environments that can favour it. In this context, the issue of laser technologies for the restoration of cultural heritage has been analysed as a case study in the various paths taken by the Creative Capacity of the Culture (CCC).

Plasmodium falciparum proteinases: cloning of the putative gene coding for the merozoite proteinase for erythrocyte invasion (MPEI) and determination of hydrolysis sites of spectrin by Pf37 proteinase

Numerous proteinase activities have been shown to be essential for the survival of Plasmodium falciparum. One approach to antimalarial chemotherapy, would be to block specifically one or several of these activities, by using compounds structurally analogous to the substrates of these proteinases. Such a strategy requires a detailed knowledge of the active site of the proteinase, in order to identify the best substrate for the proteinase. Aiming at developing such a strategy, two proteinases previously identified in our laboratory, were chosen for further characterization of their molecular structure and properties: the merozoite proteinase for erythrocytic invasion (MPEI), involved in the erythrocyte invasion by the merozoites, and the Pf37 proteinase, which hydrolyses human spectrin in vitro.

Ribonucleotide reductase genes of Bacillus prophages: a refuge to introns and intein coding sequences.

The ribonucleotide reductase gene tandem bnrdE/bnrdF in SPbeta-related prophages of different Bacillus spp. isolates presents different configurations of intervening sequences, comprising one to three of six non-homologous splicing elements. Insertion sites of group I introns and intein DNA are clustered in three relatively short segments encoding functionally important domains of the ribonucleotide reductase. Comparison of the bnrdE homologs reveals mutual exclusion of a group I intron and an intein coding sequence flanking the codon that specifies a conserved cysteine. In vivo splicing was demonstrated for all introns. However, for two of them a part of the mRNA precursor molecules remains unspliced. Intergenic bnrdE-bnrdF regions are unexpectedly long, comprising between 238 and 541 nt. The longest encodes a putative polypeptide related to HNH homing endonucleases.

Analysis and optimization of the satellite-to-plane link of an aeronautical global system

En aquest projecte s’ha analitzat i optimitzat l’enllaç satèl·lit amb avió per a un sistema aeronàutic global. Aquest nou sistema anomenat ANTARES està dissenyat per a comunicar avions amb estacions base mitjançant un satèl·lit. Aquesta és una iniciativa on hi participen institucions oficials en l’aviació com ara l’ECAC i que és desenvolupat en una col·laboració europea d’universitats i empreses. El treball dut a terme en el projecte compren bàsicament tres aspectes. El disseny i anàlisi de la gestió de recursos. La idoneïtat d’utilitzar correcció d’errors en la capa d’enllaç i en cas que sigui necessària dissenyar una opció de codificació preliminar. Finalment, estudiar i analitzar l’efecte de la interferència co-canal en sistemes multifeix. Tots aquests temes són considerats només per al “forward link”. L’estructura que segueix el projecte és primer presentar les característiques globals del sistema, després centrar-se i analitzar els temes mencionats per a poder donar resultats i extreure conclusions.

The Body Action and Posture Coding System (BAP): Development and Reliability

Several methods are available for coding body movement in nonverbal behavior research, but there is no consensus on a reliable coding system that can be used for the study of emotion expression. Adopting an integrative approach, we developed a new method, the Body Action and Posture (BAP) coding system, for the time-aligned micro description of body movement on an anatomical level (different articulations of body parts), a form level (direction and orientation of movement), and a functional level (communicative and self-regulatory functions). We applied the system to a new corpus of acted emotion portrayals, examined its comprehensiveness and demonstrated intercoder reliability at three levels: a) occurrence, b) temporal precision and c) segmentation. We discuss issues for further validation and propose some research applications.