Chemical characterization of tin-lead glazed pottery from the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Islands: initial steps toward a better understanding of Spanish Colonial pottery in Americas

Majolica pottery was the most characteristic tableware produced in Europe during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. Because of the prestige and importance attributed to this ware, Spanish majolica was imported in vast quantities into the Americas during the Spanish Colonial period. A study of Spanish majolica was conducted on a set of 186 samples from the 10 primary majolica production centres on the Iberian Peninsula and 22 sherds from two early colonial archaeological sites on the Canary Islands. The samples were analysed by neutron activation analysis (NAA), and the resulting data were interpreted using an array of multivariate statistical approaches. Our results show a clear discrimination between different production centres, allowing a reliable provenance attribution of the sherds from the Canary Islands.

Remoção de corante por uso de Aspergillus niger AN400 em reator em bateladas sequenciais

A sequential batch reactor (4 L) inoculated with Aspergillus niger was operated in order to remove congo red dye (10 mg L-1). The feeding of the reactor was done to each 7 days. The glucose was added in the concentration of 1 g.L-1 (Stage I) and 0.5 g L-1 (Stage II). The Stage III occurred without glucose addition. The Stage I was great to process, because the system reached the greater dye removal (95%) as well as the kinetic parameters ware the best - K M (0.7 g L-1) and k1 (0.025 h-1).

Geo-enabling repositories - techniques, tools, and challenges

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Tulevaisuuden työkonepuomin globaali optimointi -esiselvitys

Monitavoiteoptimointia käytetään laajasti auto- ja lentokoneteollisuudessa suunnittelun apu-välineenä, mutta muuten sen käyttö ei ole vielä yleistynyt laajemmin. Tässä työssä on tarkoi-tus tehdä laaja esiselvitys monitavoiteoptimoinnista ja sen hyödyntämisestä työkonepuomien suunnittelun apuvälineenä. Työ tehtiin yhteistyössä Lappeenrannan teknillisen yliopiston ja projektiin osallistuvien FIMA ry:n jäsenten kanssa. Tulosten ja johtopäätösten perusteella tutkimusta tullaan mahdollisesti jatkamaan Tampereen teknillisen yliopiston tohtorikoulussa. Työssä selvitettiin mitä monitavoiteoptimoinnilla tarkoitetaan ja esitellään sen etenemisvai-heet. Lisäksi työssä esitellään lyhyesti kuusi monitavoiteoptimointiohjelmistoa pääominai-suuksineen sekä selvitetään ohjelmistolisenssien hintoja. Työssä optimointiin perehdyttiin teleskooppipuomin jatkoksen case -tutkimuksen avulla. Ni-velpuomit ja nivel- ja teleskooppipuomien yhdistelmät rajattiin työn ulkopuolelle. Työssä muodostettiin teleskooppipuomin jatkoksen poikkileikkauksen optimointityökalu. Sen avulla voidaan laskea luotettavasti optimit mitat painon suhteen niin, että lommahdusrajoitteet, tai-vutusvastus sekä taipuma otetaan huomioon ja samalla voitiin arvioida optimointiprosessin etuja ja haittoja. Optimoinnin tuloksia voidaan käyttää edelleen monitavoiteoptimoinnin lähtö-arvoina. Optimointi tehtiin Matlabin avulla ja tulokset verifioitiin AGIFAP -elementtimenetelmäohjelmistolla. Optimoituja tuloksia tutkittiin edelleen Femap -elementtimenetelmäohjelmistolla, jolla haettiin vuorovaikutussuhteita monitavoiteoptimoinnin tueksi. FE -analyysien avulla muodostettiin kaksi apuohjelmaa optimoinnin tueksi. Työssä havaittiin, että teleskooppipuomin jatkoksen optimointi vaatii FE -analyysiohjelmiston rinnalleen, jotta voidaan varmistua rakenteen kestävyydestä ja optimoida väsymiskestävyyt-tä. Liukupalojen vaikutus teleskooppipuomin käytökseen sekä väsymiskestävyyden optimoin-ti vaatii jatkotutkimusta.

Pascaart vant Canaal

Julkaisussa: Het vyfde deel des Grooten Atlas, vervattende de water-weerelt. Vol. V

Pascaart van de Noort-Zee

Julkaisussa: Het vyfde deel des Grooten Atlas, vervattende de water-weerelt. Vol. V

The best practices in the formation phase of Sino-Finnish joint ventures in China: For Finnish software companies

This study discusses the formation phase of Chinese-Finnish joint ventures in China. The purpose of this thesis is to create best practices for Finnish software companies in forming a joint venture with a local Chinese company in China. Therefore, the main research question, in what are the best practices for forming Sino-Finnish joint ventures in China for Finnish software firms, is examined through four different themes within the joint venture formation phase; the motives, the partner se- lection, the choice of a joint venture type and joint venture negotiations. The theoretical background of the study consists of literature relating to the establishment process of Sino-Western joint ventures in China. The empirical research conducted for this study is based on the expert interviews. The empirical data was gathered via nine semi-structured interviews with both Chinese and Finnish experts in software and technology industry, who have experience or knowledge in establishing Sino-Finnish joint ventures in China. Thematic analysis was used to cat- egorize and interpret the interview data. In addition, a thematic network was built to act as a basis of the analysis. According to the main findings, the main motives for Finnish software companies to establish a joint venture in China are lack of skills or experience, little resources to enter on their own, and China’s large market. The main motives for Chinese companies are to gain new technology or man- agerial skills, and expand internationally. The intellectual property rights (IPR) have recently im- proved a lot in China, but the Finnish companies’ knowledge on IPR is inadequate. The Finnish software companies should conduct a market and industry research in order to understand their po- sition in the market and to find a suitable location and potential joint venture partners. It is essential to define partner selection criteria and partner attributes. In addition, it is important to build the joint venture around complementary motives and a win-win situation between the joint venture partners. The Finnish companies should be prepared that the joint venture negotiations will be challenging and they will take a long time. The challenges can be overcome by gaining understanding about the Chinese culture and business environment. The findings of this study enhance understanding of the joint venture formation phase in China. This study provides guidelines for Finnish software companies to establish a joint venture in China. In addition, this study brings new insights to the Sino-Western joint venture literature with its soft- ware industry context. Future research is, however, necessary in order to gain an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of a joint venture as an entry mode into China for Finnish soft- ware companies

Metrics for Predicting User Behavior and Experience in an Interactive Storytelling System

In much of the previous research into the field of interactive storytelling, the focus has been on the creation of complete systems, then evaluating the performance of those systems based on user experience. Less focus has been placed on finding general solutions to problems that manifest in many different types of interactive storytelling systems. The goal of this thesis was to identify potential candidates for metrics that a system could use to predict player behavior or how players experience the story they are presented with, and to put these metrics to an empirical test. The three metrics that were used were morality, relationships and conflict. The game used for user testing of the metrics, Regicide is an interactive storytelling experience that was created in conjunction with Eero Itkonen. Data, in the forms of internal system data and survey answers, collected through user testing, was used to evaluate hypotheses for each metric. Out of the three chosen metrics, morality performed the best in this study. Though further research and refinement may be required, the results were promising, and point to the conclusion that user responses to questions of morality are a strong predictor for their choices in similar situations later on in the course of an interactive story. A similar examination for user relationships with other characters in the story did not produce promising results, but several problems were recognized in terms of methodology and further research with a better optimized system may yield different results. On the subject of conflict, several aspects, proposed by Ware et al. (2012), were evaluated separately. Results were inconclusive, with the aspect of directness showing the most promise.

The best practices in the formation phase of Sino-Finnish joint ventures in China: For Finnish software companies

This study discusses the formation phase of Chinese-Finnish joint ventures in China. The purpose of this thesis is to create best practices for Finnish software companies in forming a joint venture with a local Chinese company in China. Therefore, the main research question, in what are the best practices for forming Sino-Finnish joint ventures in China for Finnish software firms, is examined through four different themes within the joint venture formation phase; the motives, the partner se-lection, the choice of a joint venture type and joint venture negotiations. The theoretical background of the study consists of literature relating to the establishment process of Sino-Western joint ventures in China. The empirical research conducted for this study is based on the expert interviews. The empirical data was gathered via nine semi-structured interviews with both Chinese and Finnish experts in software and technology industry, who have experience or knowledge in establishing Sino-Finnish joint ventures in China. Thematic analysis was used to cat-egorize and interpret the interview data. In addition, a thematic network was built to act as a basis of the analysis. According to the main findings, the main motives for Finnish software companies to establish a joint venture in China are lack of skills or experience, little resources to enter on their own, and China’s large market. The main motives for Chinese companies are to gain new technology or man-agerial skills, and expand internationally. The intellectual property rights (IPR) have recently im-proved a lot in China, but the Finnish companies’ knowledge on IPR is inadequate. The Finnish software companies should conduct a market and industry research in order to understand their po-sition in the market and to find a suitable location and potential joint venture partners. It is essential to define partner selection criteria and partner attributes. In addition, it is important to build the joint venture around complementary motives and a win-win situation between the joint venture partners. The Finnish companies should be prepared that the joint venture negotiations will be challenging and they will take a long time. The challenges can be overcome by gaining understanding about the Chinese culture and business environment. The findings of this study enhance understanding of the joint venture formation phase in China. This study provides guidelines for Finnish software companies to establish a joint venture in China. In addition, this study brings new insights to the Sino-Western joint venture literature with its soft-ware industry context. Future research is, however, necessary in order to gain an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of a joint venture as an entry mode into China for Finnish soft-ware companies.