Evaluation of Teacher Education Programs by Students and Graduates

The purpose of this research was to do a repeated cross-sectional research on class teachers who study in the 4th year and also graduated at the Faculty of Education, University of Turku between the years of 2000 through 2004. Specifically, seven research questions were addressed to target the main purpose of the study: How do class teacher education masters’ degree senior students and graduates rate “importance; effectiveness; and quality” of training they have received at the Faculty of Education? Are there significant differences between overall ratings of importance; effectiveness and quality of training by year of graduation, sex, and age (for graduates) and sex and age (for senior students)? Is there significant relationship between respondents’ overall ratings of importance; effectiveness and their overall ratings of the quality of training and preparation they have received? Are there significant differences between graduates and senior students about importance, effectiveness, and quality of teacher education programs? And what do teachers’ [Graduates] believe about how increasing work experience has changed their opinions of their preservice training? Moreover the following concepts related to the instructional activities were studied: critical thinking skills, communication skills, attention to ethics, curriculum and instruction (planning), role of teacher and teaching knowledge, assessment skills, attention to continuous professional development, subject matters knowledge, knowledge of learning environment, and using educational technology. Researcher also tried to find influence of some moderator variables e.g. year of graduation, sex, and age on the dependent and independent variables. This study consisted of two questionnaires (a structured likert-scale and an open ended questionnaire). The population in study 1 was all senior students and 2000-2004 class teacher education masters’ degree from the departments of Teacher Education Faculty of Education at University of Turku. Of the 1020 students and graduates the researcher was able to find current addresses of 675 of the subjects and of the 675 graduates contacted, 439 or 66.2 percent responded to the survey. The population in study 2 was all class teachers who graduated from Turku University and now work in the few basic schools (59 Schools) in South- West Finland. 257 teachers answered to the open ended web-based questions. SPSS was used to produce standard deviations; Analysis of Variance; Pearson Product Moment Correlation (r); T-test; ANOVA, Bonferroni post-hoc test; and Polynomial Contrast tests meant to analyze linear trend. An alpha level of .05 was used to determine statistical significance. The results of the study showed that: A majority of the respondents (graduates and students) rated the overall importance, effectiveness and quality of the teacher education programs as important, effective and good. Generally speaking there were only a few significant differences between the cohorts and groups related to the background variables (gender, age). The different cohorts were rating the quality of the programs very similarly but some differences between the cohorts were found in the importance and effectiveness ratings. Graduates of 2001 and 2002 rated the importance of the program significantly higher than 2000 graduates. The effectiveness of the programs was rated significantly higher by 2001 and 2003 graduates than other groups. In spite of these individual differences between cohorts there were no linear trends among the year cohorts in any measure. In respondents’ ratings of the effectiveness of teacher education programs there was significant difference between males and females; females rated it higher than males. There were no significant differences between males’ and females’ ratings of the importance and quality of programs. In the ratings there was only one difference between age groups. Older graduates (35 years or older) rated the importance of the teacher training significantly higher that 25-35 years old graduates. In graduates’ ratings there were positive but relatively low correlations between all variables related to importance, effectiveness and quality of Teacher Education Programs. Generally speaking students’ ratings about importance, effectiveness and quality of teacher education program were very positive. There was only one significant difference related to the background variables. Females rated higher the effectiveness of the program. The comparison of students’ and graduates’ perception about importance, effectiveness, and quality of teacher education programs showed that there were no significant differences between graduates and students in the overall ratings. However there were differences in some individual variables. Students rated higher in importance of “Continuous Professional Development”, effectiveness of “Critical Thinking Skills” and “Using Educational Technology” and quality of “Advice received from the advisor”. Graduates rated higher in importance of “Knowledge of Learning Environment” and effectiveness of “Continuous Professional Development”. According to the qualitative data of study 2 some graduates expressed that their perceptions have not changed about the importance, effectiveness, and quality of training that they received during their study time. They pointed out that teacher education programs have provided them the basic theoretical/formal knowledge and some training of practical routines. However, a majority of the teachers seems to have somewhat critical opinions about the teacher education. These teachers were not satisfied with teacher education programs because they argued that the programs failed to meet their practical demands in different everyday situations of the classroom e.g. in coping with students’ learning difficulties, multiprofessional communication with parents and other professional groups (psychologists and social workers), and classroom management problems. Participants also emphasized more practice oriented knowledge of subject matter, evaluation methods and teachers’ rights and responsibilities. Therefore, they (54.1% of participants) suggested that teacher education departments should provide more practice-based courses and programs as well as closer collaboration between regular schools and teacher education departments in order to fill gap between theory and practice.

Fiber-reinforced Composite as Oral Implant Material. Experimental studies of glass fiber and bioactive glass in vitro and in vivo

Fiber-reinforced composite as oral implant material: Experimental studies of glass fiber and bioactive glass in vitro and in vivo Department of Prosthetic Dentistry and Biomaterials Science, Institute of Dentistry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland 2008. Biocompatibility and mechanical properties are important variables that need to be determined when new materials are considered for medical implants. Special emphasis was placed on these characteristics in the present work, which aimed to investigate the potential of fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) material as an oral implant. Furthermore, the purpose of this study was to explore the effect of bioactive glass (BAG) on osseointegration of FRC implants. The biocompatibility and mechanical properties of FRC implants were studied both in vitro and in vivo. The mechanical properties of the bulk FRC implant were tested with a cantilever bending test, torsional test and push-out test. The biocompatibility was first evaluated with osteoblast cells cultured on FRC substrates. Bone bonding was determined with the mechanical push-out test and histological as well as histomorplanimetric evaluation. Implant surface was characterized with SEM and EDS analysis. The results of these studies showed that FRC implants can withstand the static load values comparably to titanium. Threaded FRC implants had significantly higher push-out strength than the threaded titanium implants. Cell culture study revealed no cytotoxic effect of FRC materials on the osteoblast-like-cells. Addition of BAG particles enhanced cell proliferation and mineralization of the FRC substrates The in vivo study showed that FRC implants can withstand static loading until failure without fracture. The results also suggest that the FRC implant is biocompatible in bone. The biological behavior of FRC was comparable to that of titanium after 4 and 12 weeks of implantation. Furthermore, addition of BAG to FRC implant increases peri-implant osteogenesis and bone maturation.

Taxation of nuclear waste in Spain

Law 15/2012 established in Spain four new environmental taxes and extended the scope objective excise duties on mineral oils to tax the use of natural gas and coal as sources of electricity. One of the newly created taxes falls on all electric power producers, and has as tax base the turnover. The second one tax hydropower production, and the other two fall on the nuclear industry. So, there are two new taxes in Spain on the production of electricity from nuclear sources. The first one is a tax on nuclear waste production; the second one is a tax on the storage of nuclear waste. However, these are not the only levies in the Spanish tax system affecting nuclear waste. At the State level there are already several charges on nuclear waste. At the regional level, on the other hand, two Autonomous Communities were taxing nuclear waste. The creation of these new State taxes will finish with the regional taxes, but the State will be oblige to compensate these regions for losing revenues. The purpose of this work is to carry out a critical analysis of the Spanish system of taxation on nuclear waste.

The Changing Face of Psychiatric Nursing –Care or Control?

This report has been written as part of the project “Toward improved quality – developing nurse’s continuing vocational training in hospitals and inpatient units”. Its overall goal is to ensure high quality, ethically appropriate and therapeutically effective interventions to enable nurses to manage distressed and disturbed patients in European psychiatric hospitals and inpatient units. In this large-scale, multinational projects there are all together six European countries involved: Finland, Ireland, England, Portugal, Italy and Lithuania. The project work plan were during autumn 2006 and spring 2007. The content of this publication was produced in the first stage of the project aiming to collect the preliminary source material for the project. The literature review was carried out in the project stage, providing the groundwork for the next steps for the project. This project aims to develop an interactive multinational portal with training material. Therefore, it is important to share an understanding of basic information, psychiatric nurse’s continuing vocational education, laws and ethical codes and patient restriction used in mental health care. In this publication, the purpose of the material produced here is to understand nurses’ educational need related to vocational continuing education and to be used in further project stages as an empirical data collection. The data were collected as a preliminary source material for latter phases where nurse’s perceptions of the current practice, nurse’s attitudes to mental illness, prevalence of use of seclusion room and existing and desired vocational training provision will be collected in six different European countries. The following organisations are involved in this project: University of Turku, Dublin City University, St. Vincent Hospital, National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Padova, Klaipeda College - Health Faculty, Klaipeda Psychiatric Hospital, Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Lisboa, Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa, Omnia Vocational Institution the Espoo Region, Kellokoski psychiatric hospital, Hyvinkää hospital area, Pirkanmaa Hospital District, Kingston University & St. George’s Medical School and South West London & St. George’s Mental Health NHS Trust. A wide variety of different countries, organisations and individuals in this project give us a strong confidence that theoretical, practical, ethical and political issues around the topic of interest will be taken account during this project lifetime. We are aware the content of this book will be partially outdated almost as soon as it has been published. We still hope that this publication will encourage nurses and different professions working in mental health care field to have a basic understanding of similarities and differences between different European countries related in mental health care. We also hope that this publication will inspirate and motivate nurses in maintaining and developing the quality of psychiatric care in Europe.

Identification of imaging selection patterns in acute ischemic stroke patients and the influence on treatment and clinical trial enrollment decision making.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: For the STroke Imaging Research (STIR) and VISTA-Imaging Investigators The purpose of this study was to collect precise information on the typical imaging decisions given specific clinical acute stroke scenarios. Stroke centers worldwide were surveyed regarding typical imaging used to work up representative acute stroke patients, make treatment decisions, and willingness to enroll in clinical trials. METHODS: STroke Imaging Research and Virtual International Stroke Trials Archive-Imaging circulated an online survey of clinical case vignettes through its website, the websites of national professional societies from multiple countries as well as through email distribution lists from STroke Imaging Research and participating societies. Survey responders were asked to select the typical imaging work-up for each clinical vignette presented. Actual images were not presented to the survey responders. Instead, the survey then displayed several types of imaging findings offered by the imaging strategy, and the responders selected the appropriate therapy and whether to enroll into a clinical trial considering time from onset, clinical presentation, and imaging findings. A follow-up survey focusing on 6 h from onset was conducted after the release of the positive endovascular trials. RESULTS: We received 548 responses from 35 countries including 282 individual centers; 78% of the centers originating from Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States. The specific onset windows presented influenced the type of imaging work-up selected more than the clinical scenario. Magnetic Resonance Imaging usage (27-28%) was substantial, in particular for wake-up stroke. Following the release of the positive trials, selection of perfusion imaging significantly increased for imaging strategy. CONCLUSIONS: Usage of vascular or perfusion imaging by Computed Tomography or Magnetic Resonance Imaging beyond just parenchymal imaging was the primary work-up (62-87%) across all clinical vignettes and time windows. Perfusion imaging with Computed Tomography or Magnetic Resonance Imaging was associated with increased probability of enrollment into clinical trials for 0-3 h. Following the release of the positive endovascular trials, selection of endovascular only treatment for 6 h increased across all clinical vignettes.

The effects of ICT on school: teachers’ and students’ perspectives

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) on school from teachers’ and students’ perspectives. The focus was on three main subject matters: on ICT use and competence, on teacher and school community, and on learning environment and teaching practices. The study is closely connected to the national educational policy which has aimed strongly at supporting the implementation of ICT in pedagogical practices at all institutional levels. The phenomena were investigated using a mixed methods approach. The qualitative data from three cases studies and the quantitative data from three statistical studies were combined. In this study, mixed methods were used to investigate the complex phenomena from various stakeholders’ points of view, and to support validation by combining different perspectives in order to give a fuller and more complete picture of the phenomena. The data were used in a complementary manner. The results indicate that the technical resources for using ICT both at school and at homes are very good. In general, students are capable and motivated users of new technology; these skills and attitudes are mainly based on home resources and leisuretime use. Students have the skills to use new kinds of applications and new forms of technology, and their ICT skills are wide, although not necessarily adequate; the working habits might be ineffective and even wrong. Some students have a special kind of ICT-related adaptive expertise which develops in a beneficial interaction between school guidance and challenges, and individual interest and activity. Teachers’ skills are more heterogeneous. The large majority of teachers have sufficient skills for everyday and routine working practices, but many of them still have difficulties in finding a meaningful pedagogical use for technology. The intensive case study indicated that for the majority of teachers the intensive ICT projects offer a possibility for learning new skills and competences intertwined in the work, often also supported by external experts and a collaborative teacher community; a possibility that “ordinary” teachers usually do not have. Further, teachers’ good ICT competence help them to adopt new pedagogical practices and integrate ICT in a meaningful way. The genders differ in their use of and skills in ICT: males show better skills especially in purely technical issues also in schools and classrooms, whereas female students and younger female teachers use ICT in their ordinary practices quite naturally. With time, the technology has become less technical and its communication and creation affordances have become stronger, easier to use, more popular and motivating, all of which has increased female interest in the technology. There is a generation gap in ICT use and competence between teachers and students. This is apparent especially in the ICT-related pedagogical practices in the majority of schools. The new digital affordances not only replace some previous practices; the new functionalities change many of our existing conceptions, values, attitudes and practices. The very different conceptions that generations have about technology leads, in the worst case, to a digital gap in education; the technology used in school is boring and ineffective compared to the ICT use outside school, and it does not provide the competence needed for using advanced technology in learning. The results indicate that in schools which have special ICT projects (“ICT pilot schools”) for improving pedagogy, these have led to true changes in teaching practices. Many teachers adopted student-centred and collaborative, inquiry-oriented teaching practices as well as practices that supported students' authentic activities, independent work, knowledge building, and students' responsibility. This is, indeed, strongly dependent on the ICT-related pedagogical competence of the teacher. However, the daily practices of some teachers still reflected a rather traditional teacher-centred approach. As a matter of fact, very few teachers ever represented solely, e.g. the knowledge building approach; teachers used various approaches or mixed them, based on the situation, teaching and learning goals, and on their pedagogical and technical competence. In general, changes towards pedagogical improvements even in wellorganised developmental projects are slow. As a result, there are two kinds of ICT stories: successful “ICT pilot schools” with pedagogical innovations related to ICT and with school community level agreement about the visions and aims, and “ordinary schools”, which have no particular interest in or external support for using ICT for improvement, and in which ICT is used in a more routine way, and as a tool for individual teachers, not for the school community.

Mechanical Design of Hydraulic Vise

The general task of clamping devise is to connect the parts to the machining centers so that the work piece could be fixed on its position during the whole machining process. Additionally, the work piece should be clamped easily and rapidly by the machine users. The purpose of this Master’s thesis project was to develop a product design and find out the dimensioning of a hydraulic vise system for Astex Engineering OY, which was taking care of the general principles of product design and development during the design process. Throughout the process, the needs of manufacturing and assembling were taken into consideration for the machinability and minimization of the cost of manufacturing. The most critical component of the clamping devise was modeled by FEM for the issue of strength requirements. This 3D model was created with Solidworks and FEM-analysis was done with Cosmos software. As the result of this design work, a prototype of the hydraulic vise was manufactured for Astex Engineering OY and the practical test.

The grammar of psychosis

This thesis is concerned with the philosophical grammar of certain psychiatric concepts, which play a central role in delineating the field of psychiatric work. The concepts studied are ‘psychosis’, ‘delusion’, ‘person’, ‘understanding’ and ‘incomprehensibility’. The purpose of this conceptual analysis is to provide a more perspicuous view of the logic of these concepts, how psychiatric work is constituted in relation to them, and what this tells us about the relationships between the conceptual and the empirical in psychiatric concepts. The method used in the thesis is indebted primarily to Ludwig Wittgenstein’s conception of philosophy, where we are urged to look at language uses in relation to practices in order to obtain a clearer overview of practices of interest; this will enable us to resolve the conceptual problems related to these practices. This questioning takes as its starting point the concept of psychosis, a central psychiatric concept during the twentieth century. The conceptual analysis of ‘psychosis’ shows that the concept is logically dependent on the concepts of ‘understanding’ and ‘person’. Following the lead found in this analysis, the logic of person-concepts in psychiatric discourse is analysed by a detailed textual analysis of a psychiatric journal article. The main finding is the ambiguous uses of ‘person’, enabling a specifically psychiatric form of concern in human affairs. The grammar of ‘understanding’ is then tackled from the opposite end, by exploring the logic of the concept of ‘incomprehensibility’. First, by studying the DSM-IV definition of delusion it is shown that its ambiguities boil down to the question of whether psychiatric practice is better accounted for in terms of the grammar of ‘incorrectness’ or ‘incomprehensibility’. Second, the grammar of ‘incomprehensibility’ is further focused on by introducing the distinction between positive and negative conceptions of ‘incomprehensibility’. The main finding is that this distinction has wide-ranging implications for our understanding of psychiatric concepts. Finally, some of the findings gained in these studies are ‘put into practice’ in studying the more practical question of the conceptual and ethical problems associated with the concept of ‘prodromal symptom of schizophrenia’ and the agenda of early detection and intervention in schizophrenia more generally.

Transforming Maritime Safety Culture. Evaluation of the impacts of the ISM Code on maritime safety culture in Finland

The purpose of the METKU Project (Development of Maritime Safety Culture) is to study how the ISM Code has influenced the safety culture in the maritime industry. This literature review is written as a part of the Work Package 2 which is conducted by the University of Turku, Centre for Maritime Studies. The maritime traffic is rapidly growing in the Baltic Sea which leads to a growing risk of maritime accidents. Particularly in the Gulf of Finland, the high volume of traffic causes a high risk of maritime accidents. The growing risks give us good reasons for implementing the research project concerning maritime safety and the effectiveness of the safety measures, such as the safety management systems. In order to reduce maritime safety risks, the safety management systems should be further developed. The METKU Project has been launched to examine the improvements which can be done to the safety management systems. Human errors are considered as the most important reason for maritime accidents. The international safety management code (the ISM Code) has been established to cut down the occurrence of human errors by creating a safety-oriented organizational culture for the maritime industry. The ISM Code requires that a company should provide safe practices in ship operation and a safe working environment and establish safeguards against all identified risk. The fundamental idea of the ISM Code is that companies should continuously improve safety. The commitment of the top management is essential for implementing a safety-oriented culture in a company. The ISM Code has brought a significant contribution to the progress of maritime safety in recent years. Shipping companies and ships’ crews are more environmentally friendly and more safety-oriented than 12 years ago. This has been showed by several studies which have been analysed for this literature research. Nevertheless, the direct effect and influence of the ISM Code on maritime safety could not be isolated very well. No quantitative measurement (statistics/hard data) could be found in order to present the impacts of the ISM Code on maritime safety. In this study it has been discovered that safety culture has emerged and it is developing in the maritime industry. Even though the roots of the safety culture have been established there are still serious barriers to the breakthrough of the safety management. These barriers could be envisaged as cultural factors preventing the safety process. Even though the ISM Code has been effective over a decade, the old-established behaviour which is based on the old day’s maritime culture still occurs. In the next phase of this research project, these cultural factors shall be analysed in regard to the present safety culture of the maritime industry in Finland.

Productivity of Business Services - Towards A New Taxonomy

Statistics show that the expanding service sector accounts already for three quarters of GDP in the developed economies. Moreover, there is abundant evidence on high variation in productive performance across the service industries. This suggests divergent technological and institutional trajectories within the tertiary sector. While conceptual knowledge on services and their performance has accumulated substantially, the overall landscape on productivity and competitiveness is still inconclusive. As noted by number of authors the research on service productivity is still in its infancy. The purpose of this paper is to develop further the analytical framework of service productivity. The approach is based on the notion that service definitions, classifications and performance measurement are strongly interdependent. Given the ongoing restructuring of businesses activities with higher information content, it is argued that the dichotomy between manufacturing and services should not be taken too far. Industrial evolution also suggests that the official industry classifications are increasingly outdated and new taxonomies for empirical research are therefore needed. Based on the previous analyses and new insights the paper clarifies the debated concept of service productivity and identifies the critical dimensions by which the service industries cluster. It is also demonstrated that the dimensions enable to construct new service taxonomies which bear essentially on productivity opportunities at the business level. Needles to say the key determinant explaining the development and potential of productivity growth is innovation activity. As an extensive topic of research, however, service innovation is tackled here only in a cursory way. The paper is constructed as follows: the first section focuses on the conceptual issues and evolving nature of service activities. A workable definition of service should capture the diversity of service activities, as well as the aspects of service processes, comprehensively. The distinctions and similarities between services and manufacturing are discussed, too. Section 2 deals with the service productivity, a persistent and controversial issue in academic literature and policy. With the assessments of strengths and weaknesses of the main schools new insights based on value creation will be brought in. Industry classifications and taxonomies are discussed in Section 3. It begins with a short analysis of the official classifications and their evaluation from the perspective of empirical research. Using well-known examples it is shown that the taxonomies on the manufacturing industries have a clear analogy with the business services. As there is a growing interest to regroup services too, the work to date, has been less systematic and inherently qualitative. Based on the earlier contributions threedimensional service taxonomy is constructed which highlight the key dimensions of productive performance. The main findings and implications are summed up in Section 4.

Development of a Filter Aid Proportioning, Mixing, and Feeding System for a Polishing Filter

The purpose of this work was to study the characteristics of the most commonly used filter aid materials and their influences on the design of proportioning, mixing, and feeding system for polishing filter family. Based on the literature survey and hands-on experience a system was designed with defined equipment and capital and operating costs. The system was designed to serve precoating and bodyfeeding applications and is easily extended to be used in multiple filter processes. Also a test procedure was carried out where influences of flux and filter cloths to accumulated cake were studied. Filter aid is needed in challenging conditions to improve filtration efficiency and cleaning, and thus extend the operating life of the filter media. Filter aid preparation and feeding system was designed for the use of two different filter aids; precoat and bodyfeed. Precoating is used before the filtration step initiates. If the solids in the filterable solution have a tendency to clog the filter bag easily, precoat is used on the filter bag to obtain better filtration efficiency and quality. Diatomite or perlite is usually used as a precoating substance. The intention is to create a uniform cake to the overall surface of the filter cloth, with predetermined thickness, 2 – 5 mm. This ensures that the clogging of the filter cloth is reduced and the filtration efficiency is increased. Bodyfeed is used if the solids in the filterable solution have a tendency to form a sticky impermeable filter cake. The cake properties are enhanced by maintaining the permeability of the accumulating cake by using the filter aid substance as bodyfeed during the filtration process.

Design and physicochemical stability studies of paediatric oral formulations of sildenafil

Personalized medicine is a challenging research area in paediatric treatments. Elaborating new paediatric formulations when no commercial forms are available is a common practice in pharmacy laboratories; among these, oral liquid formulations are the most common. But due to the lack of specialized equipment, frequently studies to assure the efficiency and safety of the final medicine cannot be carried out. Thus the purpose of this work was the development, characterization and stability evaluation of two oral formulations of sildenafil for the treatment of neonatal persistent pulmonary hypertension. After the establishment of a standard operating procedure (SOP) and elaboration, the physicochemical stability parameters appearance, pH, particle size, rheological behaviour and drug content of formulations were evaluated at three different temperatures for 90 days. Equally, prediction of long term stability, as well as, microbiological stability was performed. Formulations resulted in a suspension and a solution slightly coloured exhibiting fruity odour. Formulation I (suspension) exhibited the best physicochemical properties including Newtonian behaviour and uniformity of API content above 90% to assure an exact dosification process.

Quantitative analysis of phenol and alkylphenols in Brazilian coal tar

The main purpose of this work is the identification and quantification of phenolic compounds in coal tar samples from a ceramics factory in Cocal (SC), Brazil. The samples were subjected to preparative scale liquid chromatography, using Amberlyst A-27TM ion-exchange resin as stationary phase. The fractions obtained were classified as "acids" and "BN" (bases and neutrals). The identification and quantification of phenols, in the acid fraction, was made by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Nearly twenty-five phenols were identified in the samples and nine of them were also quantified. The results showed that coal tar has large quantities of phenolic compounds of industrial interest.

The Impact of Aspen and Alder on the Quality of NHBK

The purpose of this work was to study the effect of aspen and alder on birch cooking and the quality of the pulp produced. Three different birch kraft pulps were studied. As a reference, pure aspen and alder were included. The laboratory trials were done at the UPM Research Centre in Lappeenranta, Finland. The materials used were birch, aspen and alder mill chips that were collected around the area of South-Carelia in Finland. The chips used in the study were pulped using a standard kraft process. The pulps including birch fibres were ECF-bleached at laboratory scale to a target brightness of 85 %. The bleached pulps were beaten at low consistency by a laboratory Voith Sulzer refiner and tested for optical and physical properties. The theoretical part is a study of hardwoods that takes into accounts the differences between birch, aspen and alder. Major sub-areas were fibre and paper-technical properties as well as chemical composition and their influence on the different properties. The pulp properties of birch, aspen and alder found in previous studies were reported. Russian hardwood forest resources were also investigated. The fundamentals of kraft pulping and bleaching were studied at the end of theoretical part. The major effect of replacing birch with aspen and alder was the deterioration (lowering) of tensile and tear strengths. In other words, addition of aspen and alder to a birch furnish reduced strength properties. The reinforcement ability of the tested pulps was the following: 100 % birch > 80 % birch, 20 % aspen > 70 % birch, 20 % aspen, 10 % alder. The second thing noted was that blending of birch together with aspen and alder give better smoothness, optical properties and also formation. It can be concluded, that replacement of birch with alder during cooking by more than 10 % can negatively affect on the paper-technical properties of birch pulp. Mixing pure birch and aspen pulps would be more beneficial when producing printing paper made from chemical pulp.

The effects of social networks on work-team effectiveness

This is a study of team social networks, their antecedents and outcomes. In focusing attention on the structural configuration of the team this research contributes to a new wave of thinking concerning group social capital. The research site was a random sample of Finnish work organisations. The data consisted of 499 employees in 76 teams representing 48 different organisations. A systematic literature review and quantitative methods were used in conducting the research: the former primarily to establish the current theoretical position on the relationships among the variables and the latter to test these relationships. Social network analysis was the primary method used in identifying the social-network relations among the work-team members. The first and key contribution of this study is that it relates the structuralnetwork properties of work teams to behavioural outcomes, attitudinal outcomes and, ultimately, team performance. Moreover, it shows that addressing attitudinal outcomes is also important in terms of team performance; attitudinal outcomes (team identity) mediated the relationship between the team’s performance and its social network. The second contribution is that it examines the possible antecedents of the social structure. It is thus one response to Salancik’s (1995) call for a network theory in that it explains why certain network characteristics exist. Itdemonstrates that irrespective of whether or not a team is heterogeneous in terms of age or gender, educational diversity may protect it from centralisation. However, heterogeneity in terms of gender turned out to have a negative impact on density. Thirdly, given the observation that the benefits of (team) networks are typically theorised and modelled without reference to the nature of the relationships comprising the structure, the study directly tested whether team knowledge mediated the effects of instrumental and expressive network relationships on team performance. Furthermore, with its focus on expressive networks that link the workplace to a more informal world, which have been rather neglected in previous research, it enhances knowledge of teams andnetworks. The results indicate that knowledge sharing fully mediates the influence of complementarities between dense and fragmented instrumental network relationships, thus providing empirical validation of the implicit understanding that networks transfer knowledge. Fourthly, the study findings suggest that an optimal configuration of the work-team social-network structure combines both bridging and bonding social relationships.