Potential of biogas production from swine manure supplemented with glycerine waste

In this study, was studied the biogas generation from swine manure, using residual glycerine supplementation. The biogas production by digestion occurred in the anaerobic batch system under mesophilic conditions (35°C), with a hydraulic retention time of 48 days. The experiment was performed with 48 samples divided into four groups, from these, one was kept as a control (without glycerin) and the other three groups were respectively supplemented with residual glycerine in the percentage of 3%, 6% and 9% of the total volume of the samples. The volume of biogas was controlled by an automated system for reading in laboratory scale and the quality of the biogas (CH4) measured from a specific sensor. The results showed that the residual glycerine has high potential for biogas production, with increases of 124.95%, 156.98% and 197.83% in the groups 3%, 6% and 9%, respectively, relative to the sample control. However, very high organic loads can compromise the process of digestion affecting the quality of the biogas generated in relation to methane.

CHARACTERIZATION AND EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL USE OF SLUDGE FROM STP AND WTP IN PAVING

ABSTRACT Water and sewage treatment plants (STP and WTP) generate as byproduct a significant amount of sludge with environment harmful elements. Sending to landfills or depositing on the ground or rivers are respectively expensive and dangerous alternatives. In this scenario, the use of this waste in paving processes is a promising alternative for disposal thereof. In this study, we focused on characterizing sludge and evaluating its use in paving, which showed satisfactory results for use in base and sub-base floors.

Exploring the role and transformative potential of human rights in development practice and food security : case study from Malawi

Avhandlingen är en analys av den roll som mänskliga rättigheter spelar i utvecklingssamarbete i allmänhet och tre matsäkerhetsprojekt i Malawi i synnerhet. Författaren undersöker huruvida mänskliga rättigheter kan bidra till samhälleliga förändringsprocesser. Undersökningen har en diskursiv syn på mänskliga rättigheter; rättigheter ses som sociala konstruktioner skapade av människor, konstruktioner som förändras i takt med att aktörerna ger dem ny mening. Människorättsbaserade utvecklingsstrategier riktar uppmärksamheten mot olika aktörers skyldigheter samt vikten av att mänskliga rättigheter inte kränks genom utvecklingspolitiska beslut. En analys som utgår från mänskliga rättigheter kan leda till att nya frågor lyfts fram: vem har skyldigheter, vem har rättigheter, och varför förverkligas inte dessa? Fokus flyttas till hur politiska, ekonomiska och juridiska strukturer kan förändras så att de främjar mänskliga rättigheter. Författaren använder empiriskt material från Malawi för att visa vilken roll mänskliga rättigheter och så kallade människorättsprinciper spelar inom tre projekt: (1) ett mathjälpsprojekt; (2) ett rättighetsbaserat projekt med fokus på att stärka strategier för livsuppehälle; (3) ett juridiskt projekt inom ramen för vilket man skapat ett lagförslag om rätten till föda. Analysen visar att det rättighetsbaserade projektet strävade efter den mest djupgående samhälleliga förändringen. Människorättsprinciperna ansvarighet och deltagande handlade inte endast om verksamheten inom projektet utan man strävade även efter att stärka dessa principer mellan medborgare och myndigheter. Rättigheter, som ett sätt att tala, tänka och handla, inte som abstrakta juridiska normer, påverkade de lokala aktörernas sätt att kräva bl.a. tjänster av lokala myndigheter. Teoretiskt kan man säga att det rättighetsbaserade projektet representerar ett aktörsperspektiv på mänskliga rättigheter där aktörernas egna uppfattningar om vad de är berättigade till samt krav på myndigheters ansvar formade vilken mening rättigheterna kom att få.

Education export as a form of knowledge transfer : The potential of Finnish education export in Chile

Knowledge transfer is a complex process. Knowledge transfer in the form of exporting education products from one system of education to another is particularly complicated, because each system has been developed in a particular context to meet the requirements seen as relevant at each time. National innovation systems are often seen to form an essential framework within which the development of a country, its economy and level of knowledge are considered and promoted. These systems are orientated towards the future, and as such they also provide a framework for the knowledge transfer related to the development of education. In the best of circumstances they are able to facilitate and boost this transfer both from the viewpoint of the provider and the recipient. The leading thought and the idea of the study is that education export is a form of knowledge transfer, which is illustrated by the existing models included. The purpose of this study is to explore, analyze and describe the factors and phenomena related to education export, and more specifically, those related to the experiences and potential of Finnish education export to Chile. For better understanding, of the multiplicity of the issue involved, the current status of education export between Finland and Chile and he existing efforts within the Finnish innovation network will be outlined as well as new forms of co-operation between Finland and Chile in educational matters explored. Several countries have started to commercialize their education system in order to establish themselves as emerging education exporters. Moreover, the demand for education reform is accurate in many developing countries. This offers a good match between Finland and Chile to be the example countries of the research. The main research findings suggest that there are several business areas in education export. These include degrees in education, training services and education technologies for example The factors that influence education export can be divided into four groups, including academic, cultural, political and economic aspects. Challenges to overcome include the lack of product or services to be sold, lack of market and cultural knowledge of the buyer country, financing and lack of suitable pricing model. National innovation systems could be seen as enabling entities for successful education export. The extensive networks that national innovation systems aim to form, could operate as a basis for joining the forces in selling knowledge as well as receiving knowledge in a constructive way.

New perspectives on the melanocortins and their cardiovascular effects: Potential implications for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases with melanocortin analogues

The melanocortin peptides, including melanocyte-stimulating hormones, α-, β- and γ-MSH, are derived from the precursor peptide proopiomelanocortin and mediate their biological actions via five different melanocortin receptors, named from MC1 to MC5. Melanocortins have been implicated in the central regulation of energy balance and cardiovascular functions, but their local effects, via yet unidentified sites of action, in the vasculature, and their therapeutic potential in major vascular pathologies remain unclear. Therefore, the main aim of this thesis was to characterise the role of melanocortins in circulatory regulation, and to investigate whether targeting of the melanocortin system by pharmacological means could translate into therapeutic benefits in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension. In experiments designed to elucidate the local effects of α-MSH on vascular tone, it was found that α-MSH improved blood vessel relaxation via a nitric oxide (NO)-dependent mechanism without directly contracting or relaxing blood vessels. Furthermore, α-MSH was shown to regulate the expression and function of endothelial NO synthase in cultured human endothelial cells via melanocortin 1 receptors. In keeping with the vascular protective role, pharmacological treatment of mice with α-MSH analogues displayed therapeutic efficacy in conditions associated with vascular dysfunction such as obesity. Furthermore, α-MSH analogues elicited marked diuretic and natriuretic responses, which together with their vascular effects, seemed to provide protection against sodium retention and blood pressure elevation in experimental models of hypertension. In conclusion, the present results identify novel effects for melanocortins in the local control of vascular function, pointing to the potential future use of melanocortin analogues in the treatment of cardiovascular pathologies.

Role of the canonical transient receptor potential channel 2 (TRPC2) in thyroid cell function

Kalciumjonen reglerar flera processer i celler såsom transkribering av gener, celldelning, cellernas rörlighet och celldöd. Därför har cellerna utvecklat många mekanismer för att reglera den intracellulära kalciumkoncentrationen. Kalciumkanaler spelar en viktig roll i denna regleringsprocess. TRPC-kanalerna (eng. canonical transient receptor potential) är en familj av jonkanaler med sju medlemmar (TRPC1-7) vars regleringsmekanismer och fysiologiska roller är varierande. TRPC2-kanalens fysiologiska signifikans, samt hur kanalen regleras, är dåligt karakteriserad. För första gången, rapporterar vi närvaron av TRPC2 kanalen i råttans sköldkörtelceller samt primära sköldkörtelceller från råtta. Hos gnagare har TRPC2 antagits vara exklusivt uttryckt i det vomeronasala organet. För att undersöka den fysiologiska betydelsen av kanalen, har vi utvecklat stabila celler med nedreglerat TRPC2 (shTRPC2) m.h.a. shRNA-teknik. Nedreglering av TRPC2 resulterade i stora skillnader i flera viktiga cellulära funktioner och i regleringen av sköldkörtelcellernas cellsignalering. Nedreglering av TRPC2 orsakade minskad agonist-beroende frigivning av kalcium från det endoplasmatiska nätverket, samt minskat agonist-beroende inflöde av extracellulärt kalcium, men ökade det basala kalciuminflödet. Uttrycket av PKCβ1 och PKCδ, SERCA-aktiviteten och kalciumhalten i det endoplasmatiska nätverket minskade i shTRPC2 celler. Kommunikation mellan kalcium- och cAMP-signalering påvisades vara TRPC2-beroende, vilket visades reglera uttrycket av TSH-receptorn. Vi undersökte också betydelsen av TRPC2 kanalen i reglering av sköldkörtelcellers proliferation, migration, vidhäftning och invasion; processer som alla var dämpade i shTRPC2 celler. Samamnfattningsvis påvisade dessa resultat en ny och viktig fysiologisk betydelse för TRPC2 kanalerna.

The potential of social networking sites in inpatriate adjustment

People make up one of the most important resources for a corporation and therefore it has to continuously seek an ever more diverse and international workforce. Inpatriation is another way of utilizing foreign expertise in a corporation. An inpatriate refers to a person that is on an international assignment at the headquarters of a corporation, where they have been sent either from a subsidiary abroad or from a third country outside the corporation. Strengthening the social network of the inpatriate and their family contributes to the adjustment process and furthermore the success of the work assignment. As social networking sites are currently the fastest developing personal networking tools in the world, it is interesting to see how they can help in inpatriate adjustment. The objective of this thesis is to explore the potential of social networking sites (SNS) in inpatriate adjustment. The main objective can be divided into three sub objectives: 1. What is SNS used for during the inpatriate assignment? 2. What are the inpatriates’ motivations to use SNS? 3. Could the three facets of adjustment (work, interaction and general) be gained through SNS? This qualitative study utilizes the theme interview data collection method and the thematic analysis approach for analysing the interview data. From the interviews with five Indian inpatriates in Finland the most mentioned uses of SNS were related to participating (sharing opinions, recommendations and discussing things and connecting to friends, family and colleagues) and consuming (collecting information for work and free time), the least mentioned use of SNS was producing (posting videos, photos and updates). An interesting finding was that the five interviewees did not use SNS for purely entertainment motives at all during their assignment. This thesis found that all three facets of adjustment could potentially be gained through SNS.

Brainstem auditory-evoked potential in Boxer dogs

Brainstem auditory-evoked potential (BAEP) has been widely used for different purposes in veterinary practice and is commonly used to identify inherited deafness and presbycusis. In this study, 43 Boxer dogs were evaluated using the BAEP. Deafness was diagnosed in 3 dogs (2 bilateral and 1 unilateral) allowing the remaining 40 Boxers to be included for normative data analysis including an evaluation on the influence of age on the BAEP. The animals were divided into 2 groups of 20 Boxers each based on age. The mean age was 4.54 years (range, 1-8) in group I, and 9.83 years (range, 8.5-12) in group II. The mean latency for I, III, and V waves were 1.14 (±0.07), 2.64 (±0.11), and 3.48 (±0.10) ms in group I, and 1.20 (±0.12), 2.73 (±0.15), and 3.58 (±0.22) ms in group II, respectively. The mean inter-peak latencies for the I-III, III-V and I-V intervals were 1.50 (±0.15), 0.84 (±0.15), and 2.34 (±0.11) ms in group I, and 1.53 (±0.16), 0.85 (±0.15), and 2.38 (±0.19) ms in group II, respectively. Latencies of waves I and III were significant different between group I and II. For the I-III, III-V and I-V intervals, no significant differences were observed between the 2 groups. As far as we know, this is the first normative study of BAEP obtained from Boxer dogs.

Conservation laws for non-potential operators

The aim of this work is to study the conservation laws of continuous means mechanics and also to extend the Hamiltonian method for these kind of systems in order to valid for non-potential operators through variational approach. Besides illustrating with various examples of mechanical applications we also introduce in this work the new technique in order to treat such problems as the non-potential problem.

Potential benefits of building information modeling for building material supplier

This thesis investigated building information modeling (BIM) from a material supplier’s point of view. The objective was to gain understanding about how a building material supplier could benefit from the growing use of BIM in the AEC (architectural, engineering and construction) industry. Increasing amount of inquiries related to BIM from customers and other interest groups had awoken target company’s interest towards BIM. This thesis acts as a pre-study for the target company related to potential of BIM. First of all BIM and its meaning from a material supplier’s point of view was defined based on a literature review. To reveal the potential benefits of BIM for a material supplier a questionnaire survey and in total of 11 interviews were conducted. Based on the literature review and analyzed results it came clear that BIM offers benefits also for material suppliers. Product libraries and material databases for BIM tools can act as an important marketing channel for material suppliers. Material suppliers could also utilize the information from the BIM models to schedule their deliveries more precisely and potentially even to schedule their own production. All this needs deeper cooperation between material suppliers, contractors and other stakeholders in the AEC industry. Based on the results also first steps for the target company to utilize the growing use of BIM were defined.

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.

Potential for seed bank formation of two weed species from Brazilian Amazonia

The potential for seed bank formation of two perennial weed species, Ipomoea asarifolia (Desr.) Roem. & Schult. (Convolvulaceae) and Stachytarpheta cayennensis (Rich.) M. Vahl (Verbenaceae), both common in Amazonia , was evaluated in a degraded pasture area in eastern Brazilian Amazonia . Seeds were enclosed in nylon mesh packets and placed at the soil surface or buried at 5 or 10 cm deep. The number of viable seeds was recorded at 6, 10, 14 and 18 months after burial. Results showed that S. cayennensis has the ability to form persistent soil seed bank, while I. asarifolia seeds do not build up in the soil seed bank. For S. cayennensis and, to some extent, for I. asarifolia, seed survival was highest at greater burial depths.