Generating competitiveness through interfirm co-operation: the forest industry of South Karelia and small and medium size subcontracting companies

After the depression in the beginning of 1990's the regional development has been unequal in Finland, favouring some rapidly growing growth centres. The motors of the development in these centres have essentially been universities and IT-firms. At the same time when IT-based regions have been very successful many of the more traditionally oriented production areas have had problems in ensuring economic growth and balanced development of the whole region. In South-Karelia (province which lies at the South-East border of Finland) the development of the whole region is heavily related to one economic branch, forest industry. This is due to the fact that South-Karelia and it's surroundings forms production area in which the production is (even in the world scale) most intensively focused on chemical forest industry. There are four major forest industry production plants in the area: Stora-Enso / Imatra Mills, UPM-Kymmene / Kaukas Mills, Metsä-Serla / Simpele Mills and Metsä-Botnina / Joutseno Mills. In South Karelia case it is very clear that large scale enterprises have a significant role in the balanced and comprehensive development of the whole province. This applies especially to the development of economical circumstances and smaller companies in the area, but also to other aspects of human life: social, cultural and political. When we look at the structure of the companies in the area, we can determine that the situation is very biased. There are large scale companies and small companies but almost none of the medium size companies. In these economical conditions it's very clear that there might be several barriers to develop successful and multilateral co-operation between the two company-clusters, which are formulated according to company size. One of the most important barriers between the two parties is the capacity of production: The differences in production capacities hinders companies ability to develop interfirm co-operation. This study focuses on two central concepts, interfirm co-operation and competitiveness. The aim of the study was to find operation modes through which the companies in the South-Karelian region would be able to improve their competitiveness. The main objective of the study was to determine how the large scale enterprises of the woodprocessing industry in the South-Karelian region could increase their subcontracting activities among local small and medium size companies. The sub-objective of the study was to clarify the weight that those companies have on the economic structure of the South-Karelian region, and to determine the different interfirm co-operation forms that were used in the area. The methodology of the study included several characteristics of both concept analytical and constructive paradigms. The study was divided into two parts: theoretical and empirical. The theoretical part of the study forms a frame of reference in order to determine the concept of interfirm co-operation and also to classify different forms of interfirm co-operation. The theoretical part of the study was used as a basis for questionnaire and interviews. The results of the study show that interfirm co-operation is significant if the woodprocessing industry increases their subcontracting activities among the local small and medium size companies. The results show quite clearly, that interfirm co-operation can increase the competitiveness of companies. Especially useful are those modes of action which are based on long term relationships and create so called win-win situations.

Eteisvärinäpotilaat ensihoidossa

Eteisvärinä on yleisin pitkäkestoinen rytmihäiriö, jota sairastaa yli 10 % yli 75-vuotiaista suomalaisista. Jatkossa eteisvärinän esiintyvyyden on ennustettu kasvavan väestön vanhenemisen vuoksi. Eteisvärinä kuormittaa ensihoitoa ja päivystystä akuuttien eteisvärinäkohtausten muodossa. Yleensä eteisvärinä käännetään sähköisesti takaisin sydämen normaaliin sinusrytmiin. Käännön voi tehdä vain, mikäli potilaalla on käytössä antikoagulaatiolääkitys, tai eteisvärinäkohtaus on kestänyt alle 48 tuntia. Sähköinen rytminsiirto vaatii kevyen anestesian, joka vaatii telemetriaseurannan ja lisäksi rytminsiirron jälkeen muutaman tunnin seurannan sairaalassa. Tämän retrospektiivisen rekisteritutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää mitä oireita eteisvärinäpotilaat valittavat ensihoitajille, onko potilaiden verenkierto vakaata, toteuttaako ensihoito hoitotoimia ja kuljettaako ensihoito potilaat päivystykseen. Taustalla on ajatus, voisiko osan eteisvärinäpotilaista jättää kuljettamatta ilta- ja yöaikaan ja pyytää saapumaan päivystykseen virka-aikana. Aineistona oli 1.3.2018-31.3.2018 HUS ensihoidon Helsinki, Jorvi ja Peijas -alueiden hälytykset. Kuukauden aikana ensihoito kohtasi 282 eteisvärinäpotilasta, mikä oli 2,5 % saman ajanjakson kaikista hälytyksistä. Epävakaa hemodynamiikka oli 8 % potilaista. Hälytykset jakaantuivat melko tasaisesti ympäri vuorokauden, aamupäivä oli kiireisintä. Lähes kaikki potilaat kuljetettiin päivystykseen. Yleisin oire oli rytmihäiriötuntemukset, jota valitti lähes puolet potilaista. Noin kolmanneksella oli oireena rintakipua tai huimausta tai heikotusta ja hieman harvemmalla hengenahdistusta. Tutkimuspopulaatiossa 10 % potilaista oli vähäiset oireet, antikoagulaatiolääkitys käytössä ja maltillinen syke. Tämän tutkimuksen valossa nämä potilaat voisi mahdollisesti jättää kuljettamatta yöaikaan. Ennen linjauksia aihe vaatii vielä tarkempia tutkimuksia, tämä tutkielma oli vasta aihetta raapaiseva katsaus

Generating competitiveness through interfirm co-operation: the forest industry of South Karelia and small and medium size subcontracting companies

After the depression in the beginning of 1990's the regional development has been unequal in Finland, favouring some rapidly growing growth centres. The motors of the development in these centres have essentially been universities and IT-firms. At the same time when IT-based regions have been very successful many of the more traditionally oriented production areas have had problems in ensuring economic growth and balanced development of the whole region. In South-Karelia (province which lies at the South-East border of Finland) the development of the whole region is heavily related to one economic branch, forest industry. This is due to the fact that South-Karelia and it's surroundings forms production area in which the production is (even in the world scale) most intensively focused on chemical forest industry. There are four major forest industry production plants in the area: Stora-Enso / Imatra Mills, UPM-Kymmene / Kaukas Mills, Metsä-Serla / Simpele Mills and Metsä-Botnina / Joutseno Mills. In South Karelia case it is very clear that large scale enterprises have a significant role in the balanced and comprehensive development of the whole province. This applies especially to the development of economical circumstances and smaller companies in the area, but also to other aspects of human life: social, cultural and political. When we look at the structure of the companies in the area, we can determine that the situation is very biased. There are large scale companies and small companies but almost none of the medium size companies. In these economical conditions it's very clear that there might be several barriers to develop successful and multilateral co-operation between the two company-clusters, which are formulated according to company size. One of the most important barriers between the two parties is the capacity of production: The differences in production capacities hinders companies ability to develop interfirm co-operation. This study focuses on two central concepts, interfirm co-operation and competitiveness. The aim of the study was to find operation modes through which the companies in the South-Karelian region would be able to improve their competitiveness. The main objective of the study was to determine how the large scale enterprises of the woodprocessing industry in the South-Karelian region could increase their subcontracting activities among local small and medium size companies. The sub-objective of the study was to clarify the weight that those companies have on the economic structure of the South-Karelian region, and to determine the different interfirm co-operation forms that were used in the area. The methodology of the study included several characteristics of both concept analytical and constructive paradigms. The study was divided into two parts: theoretical and empirical. The theoretical part of the study forms a frame of reference in order to determine the concept of interfirm co-operation and also to classify different forms of interfirm co-operation. The theoretical part of the study was used as a basis for questionnaire and interviews. The results of the study show that interfirm co-operation is significant if the woodprocessing industry increases their subcontracting activities among the local small and medium size companies. The results show quite clearly, that interfirm co-operation can increase the competitiveness of companies. Especially useful are those modes of action which are based on long term relationships and create so called win-win situations

Exome-wide somatic mutation characterization of small bowel adenocarcinoma

Small bowel adenocarcinoma (SBA) is an aggressive disease with limited treatment options. Despite previous studies, its molecular genetic background has remained somewhat elusive. To comprehensively characterize the mutational landscape of this tumor type, and to identify possible targets of treatment, we conducted the first large exome sequencing study on a population-based set of SBA samples from all three small bowel segments. Archival tissue from 106 primary tumors with appropriate clinical information were available for exome sequencing from a patient series consisting of a majority of confirmed SBA cases diagnosed in Finland between the years 2003-2011. Paired-end exome sequencing was performed using Illumina HiSeq 4000, and OncodriveFML was used to identify driver genes from the exome data. We also defined frequently affected cancer signalling pathways and performed the first extensive allelic imbalance (Al) analysis in SBA. Exome data analysis revealed significantly mutated genes previously linked to SBA (TP53, KRAS, APC, SMAD4, and BRAF), recently reported potential driver genes (SOX9, ATM, and ARID2), as well as novel candidate driver genes, such as ACVR2A, ACVR1B, BRCA2, and SMARCA4. We also identified clear mutation hotspot patterns in ERBB2 and BRAF. No BRAF V600E mutations were observed. Additionally, we present a comprehensive mutation signature analysis of SBA, highlighting established signatures 1A, 6, and 17, as well as U2 which is a previously unvalidated signature. Finally, comparison of the three small bowel segments revealed differences in tumor characteristics. This comprehensive work unveils the mutational landscape and most frequently affected genes and pathways in SBA, providing potential therapeutic targets, and novel and more thorough insights into the genetic background of this tumor type.Peer reviewe

Common Inflammation-Related Candidate Gene Variants and Acute Kidney Injury in 2647 Critically Ill Finnish Patients

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a syndrome with high incidence among the critically ill. Because the clinical variables and currently used biomarkers have failed to predict the individual susceptibility to AKI, candidate gene variants for the trait have been studied. Studies about genetic predisposition to AKI have been mainly underpowered and of moderate quality. We report the association study of 27 genetic variants in a cohort of Finnish critically ill patients, focusing on the replication of associations detected with variants in genes related to inflammation, cell survival, or circulation. In this prospective, observational Finnish Acute Kidney Injury (FINNAKI) study, 2647 patients without chronic kidney disease were genotyped. We defined AKI according to Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria. We compared severe AKI (Stages 2 and 3, n = 625) to controls (Stage 0, n = 1582). For genotyping we used iPLEX(TM) Assay (Agena Bioscience). We performed the association analyses with PLINK software, using an additive genetic model in logistic regression. Despite the numerous, although contradictory, studies about association between polymorphisms rs1800629 in TNFA and rs1800896 in IL10 and AKI, we found no association (odds ratios 1.06 (95% CI 0.89-1.28, p = 0.51) and 0.92 (95% CI 0.80-1.05, p = 0.20), respectively). Adjusting for confounders did not change the results. To conclude, we could not confirm the associations reported in previous studies in a cohort of critically ill patients.Peer reviewe

Heme oxygenase-1 repeat polymorphism in septic acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a syndrome that frequently affects the critically ill. Recently, an increased number of dinucleotide repeats in the HMOX1 gene were reported to associate with development of AKI in cardiac surgery. We aimed to test the replicability of this finding in a Finnish cohort of critically ill septic patients. This multicenter study was part of the national FINNAKI study. We genotyped 300 patients with severe AKI (KDIGO 2 or 3) and 353 controls without AKI (KDIGO 0) for the guanine-thymine (GTn) repeat in the promoter region of the HMOX1 gene. The allele calling was based on the number of repeats, the cut off being 27 repeats in the S-L (short to long) classification, and 27 and 34 repeats for the S-M-L2 (short to medium to very long) classification. The plasma concentrations of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) enzyme were measured on admission. The allele distribution in our patients was similar to that published previously, with peaks at 23 and 30 repeats. The S-allele increases AKI risk. An adjusted OR was 1.30 for each S-allele in an additive genetic model (95% CI 1.01-1.66; p = 0.041). Alleles with a repeat number greater than 34 were significantly associated with lower HO-1 concentration (p<0.001). In septic patients, we report an association between a short repeat in HMOX1 and AKI risk

Ristinolla-robotti

Opinnäytetyön tavoite oli toteuttaa Ciros Studio -simulointiohjelmassa toimiva ristinollaa pelaava robotti sekä mallintaa ja tulostaa automaatiolaboratorioon pelialusta Mitsubishi Melfa RV-2AJ-robotille. Lisäksi tavoitteena oli suunnitella pelilaudan anturointi ja testata peli robotilla. Opinnäytetyön asiakkaana oli Saimaan ammattikorkeakoulun konetekniikan osasto. Virtuaaliympäristö toteutettiin Ciros Studio -ohjelmistolla, käyttäen pohjana valmista harjoitustehtävän virtuaaliympäristöä. Pelilogiikka ohjelmoitiin Melfa Basic IV -ohjelmointikielellä. Lopputuloksena saatiin toimiva virtuaaliympäristö sekä pelialusta. Pelilaudan valmistukseen, anturointiin ja robottitestaukseen ei aika riittänyt.The purpose of this thesis was to create a virtual environment of a Tic-Tac-Toe robot for Ciros Studio simulation software and design a board for Mitsubishi Melfa RV-2AJ robot in the automation lab, add sensors to board and test the robot. The virtual environment was created from existing course material with Ciros Studio. The game logic was programmed with Melfa Basic IV programming language. As a result of this thesis a functional virtual environment with game logic was created. There was not enough time to finish the game board and test the game with the robot