Cross-border knowledge transfer and innovation in the European neighbourhood: Tourism cooperation at the Finnish-Russian border

Knowledge transfer and innovation cooperation between the EU and its neighbours has remained weakly developed. To promote this cooperation, the EU has set up initiatives for the European neighbourhood. The issue has, however, received very limited scholarly attention in the field of tourism. This research gap is addressed here via interview data collected from participants in tourism related EU-funded projects in the Finnish-Russian cross-border region. These underline the importance of EU-funding in facilitating knowledge transfer and innovation between Finland and Russia. While language issues, and differences in business culture and administrative/legislative systems between the two countries, constitute barriers for practical cross-border cooperation, it is cross-border differences in culture and technological capabilities that drive cross-border knowledge transfer and innovation in the cross-border region. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for promoting future cross-border cooperation in innovation and tourism

The counselling process in työpolku employment project

Kehittämishankkeessani käsittelen Kuopion seudun työpolku-hankkeen ohjausta. Työpolkuhanke on työllisyyshanke, jonka asiakkaana ovat pitkäaikaistyöttömät. Asiakkaat tulevat Työpolku- hankkeeseen ohjaavan koulutuksen kautta. Asiakkaiden hankkeessa oloaika on puolitoista vuotta. Ohjaavan koulutuksen jälkeen asiakkaat ovat yksilöohjauksessa. Työpolkuhankkeen tavoite on, että asiakkaat löytäisivät mielekkään ratkaisun työttömyyteensä. Työyhteisössä mallinsimme ohjausprosessin. Kehittämishankkeen tehtävänä on kuvata ja kehittää ohjausprosessia, ja selittää kahden asiakasesimerkinavulla mitä ohjauksessa käytännössä tapahtuu. Työpolku-hankkeen ohjausprosessimallissa yksilöohjauksen vaiheita ovat palvelutarpeen ja tavoitteiden määrittäminen, toiminta ja toteutumisen arviointi. Ohjausprosessi on spiraalimainen. Ohjauson yksilöllistä. Asiakkaan palvelutarve tarkentuu, tavoitteet, toiminta ja niiden arviointi muuttuvat ohjausprosessin aikana. Pitkäaikaistyöttömien ohjaus vaatii usein aikaa.This study is about counselling process in Kuopio regions employment project. The customers of the employment project are long-term unemployed. First the customers take two months labour market training and after that they are within the project and counselling about one and half a year. The goal of the employment project is that the customers will get a meaningful solution to their employment. The purpose of the development task is to describe and develop the counselling process in practise. This development task I describe by two case examples. The counselling process includes the need of services, the activity and evaluating. The counselling process is very individual. The need of services sharpens in the process, but the goals, activities and evaluating changes during the counselling process. Long-term unemployed counselling needs time

The competitive advantage of a peripheral university town: Human and social capital perspectives from Joensuu, Finland

The positive impacts of social and human capital on individual, firm and geographical level are well known. Accordingly, the literature on social capital has advocated the impacts of social networks, norms and trust in securing individual and mutual benefits. Already, the early literature on human capital was concentrated on the economic advantage of individuals, that is, on the impact of education on wage levels. Recent economic studies underline the importance of human capital in creating firm-level innovations and fostering regional economic development. The role of universities has been highlighted in this discussion. However, it seems that this educated human capital is geographically concentrated on the largest urban regions. Whether, this imposes difficulties for firms located in more peripheral regions is discussed here with a case study from a small university town of Joensuu situated in peripheral Eastern Finland. The proposition presented here is that the negative impacts of locational factors, in the periphery, and having a small labour pool will be partially compensated with close social ties and worker immobility. First, the question is approached through official statistics showing that the mobility of educated workforce is smaller in more rural and peripheral regions compared to that of the capital and other densely-populated regions of Finland. Second, the tentative picture drawn from the statistics is deepened with data from semi-structured thematic interviews conducted in Joensuu. The main stakeholders interviewed were chosen, according to the framework of regional innovation systems, from both public and private organizations (n = 15). The results confirm that although a peripheral location of firms does impose limitations to the availability of human capital at hand, the negative impact is compensated with low outmigration of educated workers due to existing well-knit social ties. Furthermore, employee loyalty to their employers is high in Joensuu, that is, the thinner possibilities for other employment renders the educated workforce in Joensuu relatively immobile even in intraregional scale. Although, worker immobility can be seen as a drawback for a region it can also be considered as a regional asset for firms that have decided to locate their activities in Joensuu, as it saves the firms from the mandatory allocation of resources to the training and introductory procedures of new employees. Accordingly, a local university both attracts and supplies educated workers in the region for the benefit of local enterprises and is an important partner in cooperation for local firms

Interplay Between Cyclase-Associated Protein, Cofilin, Profilin and Twinfilin in Actin Dynamics

The ability of actin to form dynamic networks is crucial for processes including cell migration, endocytosis and cell division. Furthermore, in sarcomeres of muscle cells, actin and myosin form interdigitating networks responsible for muscle contraction. Actin is found from all eukaryotic cells where it exists as monomeric and filamentous forms, which are in balance and strictly regulated by plethora of actin binding proteins. Among the most central actin binding proteins are cyclase-associated protein (CAP), cofilin, profilin and twinfilin, which are under investigation in this study. CAP is known to bind actin monomers and accelerate actin turnover together with cofilin. Furthermore, CAP has been shown to accelerate nucleotide exchange on actin monomers. Also profilin catalyzes nucleotide exchange and CAP is known to interact with profilin, but the exact mechanism how these proteins work together is not understood. This study reveals that interactions with actin monomers, cofilin and profilin are conserved in CAPs from yeast to mammals. Unexpectedly, mammalian CAP was observed to have a higher affinity for ATP-actin than yeast CAP, and mammalian CAP was found to have two independent profilin binding sites whereas yeast CAP has only one. This study also demonstrates a novel function for the mini-CAP from apicomplexan parasite as a nucleotide exchange promoting factor. The malaria parasite CAP comprises only the C-terminal ADP-actin binding site suggesting that this domain harbors the most conserved function of CAPs. The unpublished data of this study reveals that CAP, twinfilin and ADP-actin form a ternary complex. Many actin-binding proteins have muscle-specific isoforms in addition to nonmuscle ones. The muscle-specific cofilin-2 was studied here and levels of cofilin-2 were shown to increase during sarcomere maturation while cofilin-1 amounts remained constant. Also, cofilin-2 showed higher affinity for ATP-actin than cofilin-1 through a specific cluster of residues on its surface. Therefore, a specific cofilin isoform with high affinity for ATP-actin evolved to regulate actin dynamics in thin filaments of sarcomeres. The roles of other muscle-specific proteins are under particular interest and subject of future research. In summary, the findings of this study reveal the mechanisms by which CAP regulates actin dynamics together with cofilin, profilin and twinfilin. Furthermore, this study elucidates yet rather unknown actin regulation by muscle-specific cofilin-2.Monet solun toiminnot kuten liikkuminen, aineiden sisäänotto ja jakautuminen ovat riippuvaisia aktiinista ja sen kyvystä muodostaa dynaamisia verkostoja. Aktiinilla on lisäksi erityinen rooli lihassoluissa, joissa se muodostaa yhdessä myosiinin kanssa hyvin järjestäytyneitä rakenteita, sarkomeereja, jotka mahdollistavat lihaksen supistumisen. Aktiinimonomeerit voivat liittyä yhteen muodostaen dynaamisia aktiinisäikeitä. Säikeiden toisesta päästä irtoaa jatkuvasti aktiinimonomeereja jotka liittyvät säikeen vastakkaiseen päähän. Näin aktiinisäie kasvaa ja solukalvoa vasten työntyessään mahdollistaa solun liikkeen. Aktiinimonomeerit liittyvät aktiinisäikeisiin ja irtoavat niistä itsestäänkin, mutta tämä tapahtuu hyvin hitaasti ja siksi soluissa on paljon aktiinimonomeereja sääteleviä proteiineja, kuten syklaasiin liittyvä proteiini (cyclase-associated protein, CAP), kofiliini, profiliini ja twinfiliini. Tässä väitöskirjassa osoitetaan että CAP:n vuorovaikutukset kofiliinin, profiliinin ja aktiinin kanssa ovat samantapaisia sekä hiivalla että nisäkkäällä. Erona kuitenkin on, että nisäkkään CAP sitoo ATP-muotoisia aktiinimonomeerja paljon voimakkaammin kuin hiivan CAP ja että nisäkkään CAP:ssa on kaksi profiliinin sitoutumiskohtaa kun taas hiivan CAP:ssa on vain yksi. Lisäksi tässä väitöskirjassa tutkittiin malariaa levittävän parasiitin CAP-proteiinia, josta puuttuu monia nisäkkään ja hiivan CAP:sta löytyviä alueita. Osoitimme että malariaparasiitin CAP kiihdyttää nukelotidinvaihtoa aktiinimonomeereissa, joka saattaa siten olla kaikkien CAP-proteiinien tärkein tehtävä. Tämän väitöskirjan vielä julkaisemattomassa aineistossa näytetään myös ensimmäistä kertaa että CAP, twinfiliini ja aktiini vuorovaikuttavat keskenään, joskin tämän vuorovaikutuksen laajempaa merkitystä ei vielä tiedetä. Monilla aktiinia sitovilla proteiineilla on myös erityiset lihaksissa esiintyvät muotonsa. Tässä työssä tutkittiin lihassoluissa esiintyvää kofiliinia, josta löydettiin uusia biokemiallisia aktiivisuuksia joiden osoitettiin olevan tärkeitä sarkomeerien järjestäytymiselle. Yhdessä tämän väitöskirjan tulokset selventävät miten CAP säätelee aktiiniverkostoja yhdessä kofiliinin, profiliinin ja twinfiliinin kanssa. Lisäksi tässä työssä selvitettiin, miten lihaksissa esiintyvä kofiliini osallistuu aktiinin säätelyyn

The interface of value creation and service process: A categorization of the relevant perspectives and an integrative framework

The focal study considers the variety in recent perspectives on value and value creation in service as a stimulant to explicate and organize differences to build toward integrative understanding. The purpose of the study is to provide a categorization of the perspectives on value and value creation and to propose an integrative framework that illustrates how value, value creation, and the service process relate to each other. The study presents a conceptual analysis on the value creation and service literatures and employs the activity system model to structure relevant elements into an integrative research framework. The study contributes to the current understanding by defining and organizing the underpinning elements of value creation and service processes as well as explicating their mutual interface in the context of service systems. This aims to deliver conceptual clarity and a base for further research

Identifying vacancy complexes in compound semiconductors with positron annihilation spectroscopy: a case study of InN

We present a comprehensive study of vacancy and vacancy-impurity complexes in InN combining positron annihilation spectroscopy and ab-initio calculations. Positron densities and annihilation characteristics of common vacancy-type defects are calculated using density functional theory and the feasibility of their experimental detection and distinction with positron annihilation methods is discussed. The computational results are compared to positron lifetime and conventional as well as coincidence Doppler broadening measurements of several representative InN samples. The particular dominant vacancy-type positron traps are identified and their characteristic positron lifetimes, Doppler ratio curves and lineshape parameters determined. We find that In vacancies and their complexes with N vacancies or impurities act as efficient positron traps, inducing distinct changes in the annihilation parameters compared to the InN lattice. Neutral or positively charged N vacancies and pure N vacancy complexes on the other hand do not trap positrons. The predominantly introduced positron trap in irradiated InN is identified as the isolated In vacancy, while in as-grown InN layers In vacancies do not occur isolated but complexed with one or more N vacancies. The number of N vacancies per In vacancy in these complexes is found to increase from the near surface region towards the layer-substrate interface.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Exchange-correlation potentials for inhomogeneous electron systems in two dimensions from exact diagonalization: comparison with the local-spin-density approximation

We consider electronic exchange and correlation effects in density-functional calculations of two-dimensional systems. Starting from wave function calculations of total energies and electron densities of inhomogeneous model systems, we derive corresponding exchange-correlation potentials and energies. We compare these with predictions of the local-spin-density approximation and discuss its accuracy. Our data will be useful as reference data in testing, comparing and parametrizing exchange and correlation functionals for two-dimensional electronic systems.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review B on January 3, 2012. Second revised version submitted on April 13, 201

Osaamis -ja koulutustarpeet lähijohtajien kokemana ikäihmisten palveluissa

Opinnäytetyömme tarkoituksena oli selvittää osaamis- ja koulutustarpeita muuttuvassa työelämässä sosiaali- ja terveysalalla lähijohtajien kokemana. Tutkimus toteutettiin ikääntyneiden yksityisissä hoitokodeissa Pohjois-Karjalassa. Muuttuvaa työelämää tarkastelimme väestön ikääntymisen, teknologian ja sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon muutoksen kautta. Toimeksiantajana toimi Työelämälähtöinen avoin korkeakouluopetus (AVOT) -hanke. Opinnäytetyö toteutettiin laadullisena tutkimuksena. Tutkimusaineiston keräsimme teemahaastatteluilla. Analysoimme aineiston soveltaen aineistolähtöistä sisällönanalyysiä. Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli tuottaa tietoa toimeksiantajalle koulutustarjonnan suunnitteluun ja kehittämiseen. Tutkimustuloksista voidaan todeta muuttuvan työelämän nostattavan osaamis- ja koulutustarpeita. Osaamis- ja koulutustarpeita tunnistettiin niin omasta kuin työyhteisön näkökulmasta. Muuttuvan työelämän vaatimukset edellyttävät osaamisen vahvistusta ja ajankohtaista koulutusta työyhteisön kaikille jäsenille, millä taataan jatkuvan muutoksen hallittavuus. Alueelliselta koulutustarjonnalta odotetaan ajankohtaista ja syvällistä tietoa. Koulutuksen toivotaan mahdollistavan vertaiskeskustelu ja -tuki oman alan ammattilaisten kesken. Aiheen tutkiminen oli tärkeää ja ajankohtaista, koska oikein kohdistetulla osaami-sella ja koulutuksella voidaan vastata muuttuvan työelämän paineisiin ja vaatimuksiin.The purpose of our thesis was to determine needs for competence and education experienced by line managers in the changing working life in the field of social and health care. The study was carried out in private care homes for the elderly in North Karelia. We observed the changing working life through the aging of the population, technology, and change in social and health care. This work was commissioned by the Työelämälähtöinen avoin korkeakouluopetus ('working life oriented education in the open university’, AVOT) project. The thesis was implemented as qualitative research. Research material was collected in theme interviews. We analysed the data applying material based content analysis. The aim of this thesis was to produce information for the planning and development of the education offerings of the commissioner. Based on our research findings, the changing working life can be considered to increase demands for competence and education. Competence and education needs were identified from both the participants' own as well as their working community's perspective. The demands of the changing working life require strengthening of competence and current education for all of the members of the working community, which guarantees having the capacity to manage the constant change. Regionally offered education is expected to provide topical and profound information. Education is hoped to enable peer discussion and support among professionals in the field. It was important to study this topical issue, as targeting competence and education correctly can provide an answer to the pressures and demands of the changing working life