How employees’ personality traits affect the perceived psychological safety in the context of digital business transformation projects

This study explores how individual’s personality traits affect the perceptions psychological safety in a business transformation project context. The topic is motivated by the fact that roughly 70% of business transformation efforts fail to meet their desired targets and involvement characterizes successful transformation efforts. Both key concepts in the study, psychological safety and human personality, have an effect on various organizational success factors, including engagement and motivation, and this Thesis offers a novel insight to the interplay of these factors in the context of digital business transformation. The research questions addressed in this study are: 1) How do an individual's personality traits affect their perception of psychological safety in a changing work environment? 2) How can the acknowledgment of personality dimensions and their connection to psychological safety be incorporated into change management practices? Methods used in this research study are both qualitative and quantitative in nature: quantitative personality trait assessment of the big-five personality traits utilizing the mini-IPIP questionnaire and qualitative semi-structured interviews which are thematically analysed. Key findings of the study highlight the importance of two personality traits Agreeableness and Extraversion. Large-scale technology projects require adaptation within the complex socio- technical context, and the importance of employee voice behaviour emerged as a theme (associated with Extraversion) as a means for workers to keep up with the demanding and fast- paced work environment. Agreeableness trait was found to impact the perception of psychological safety via self-criticism. Across all traits one-to-one connection with both colleagues and managers was seen as the number one enabling factor for a psychologically safe team. With a few key insights found from the vast and complex relationship between organizational practices and psychological phenomena, this Thesis points a direction for future research to study further the connections between management practices, personality traits and perceptions of psychological safety

Data Quality in Smart Manufacturing

Data quality is important aspect for the business in 21st -century. High quality data is needed more and more in companies for producing high quality products and services. The purpose of this research is to find and define tools and process for improving data quality in case company. These tools consist of software and monitoring process estab-lished in collaboration with delivery management of the case company. This thesis is based on studying on improvement of data quality of materials used in production in case company. Few tools for data monitoring are presented and one was chosen for building a prototype for monitoring data quality. These tools were 3rd party software from SAP and IBM, own solution from case company and a Microsoft Power BI report. This prototype was built with Microsoft Power BI and configured for the needs of delivery management according the scope presented in this thesis. This scope consisted of few key parameters of material data that have impact on production. Based on this study and literature review, a process for improving data quality was found. This process consists of six simple steps, that when followed correctly, can yield great improvements in data quality. These steps were: identifying metrics to collect, identify where to monitor, implementing monitoring process, running a baseline assess-ment, posting monitoring reports and reviewing monitoring trends. Improvement was also found in data quality in this thesis. Issues, for example missing master data parame-ters, in material master data quality decreased significantly, when comparing to time be-fore data monitoring to time after monitoring process was implemented.Datan laatu on tärkeä osa liiketoimintaa 2000-luvulla. Korkealaatuista dataa tarvitaan yhä enemmän yritysten toimesta, että voidaan tuottaa korkealaatuisia tuotteita ja palveluita. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoitus on löytää ja määritellä työkaluja ja prosessi datan laadun parantamiseksi kohdeyrityksessä. Nämä työkalut ja monitorointiprosessi luotiin yhteistyössä kohdeyhtiön toimitushallinan organisaation kanssa. Tämä lopputyö perustuu tuotannossa käytettävien materiaalien datan laadun parantamisen tutkimiseen kohdeyrityksessä. Lopputyössä on esitelty muutama eri työkalu datan monitorointia varten ja näistä yksi on valittu, josta on rakennettu prototyyppi datan laadun monitorointia varten. Työkaluja olivat kolmannen osapuolen ohjelmistot SAP:lta ja IBM:ltä, kohdeyhtiön oma ohjelmisto sekä Microsoftin Power BI raportti. Prototyyppi rakennettiin Microsoftin Power BI -ohjelmistolla ja se konfiguroitiin toimitushallinan tarpeiden mukaiseksi tutkimuksen määrittelemän laajuuden perusteella. Tämä määritelty laajuus koostuu muutamasta avainparametrista materiaalidatassa, joilla on vaikutusta tuotantoon. Tämän tutkimuksen sekä kirjallisuuskatsauksen perusteella hyvä toimintatapa ja prosessi datan laadun parantamiseksi löydettiin. Tämä prosessi koostuu kuudesta yksinkertaisesta askeleesta joita seuraamalla voidaan saada suuria parannuksia datan laadussa. Nämä askeleet ovat: kerättävien parametrien tunnistaminen, monitorointikohteen tunninstaminen, monitorointiprosessin toteutus, lähtötilanteen arviointi, monitorointitulosten julkaiseminen sekä monitorointitrendien seuranta. Parannus datan laadussa havaittiin myös tutkimuksessa. Ongelmat materiaalidatassa pienenivät huomattavasti, kun verrattiin aikaa sekä ennen että jälkeen monitorointiprosessiin käyttöönoton

Generating dynamic classes from stored data in database

Tämän diplomityön aiheena on uusien luokkien dynaaminen luominen ja käyttöönottaminen Java -ohjelmointikielellä, käyttäen luokkien tallennusratkaisuna tietokantaa. Lataamisen dynaamisesta luonteesta aiheutuu useita haasteita, joiden eri ratkaisuvaihtoehtoja työ käy läpi. Työ käsittelee dynaamisesti ladattavien luokkien hyötyjä ja haittoja sekä eri vaihtoehtoja näille. Työssä tutkitaan myös ennalta tuntemattoman käyttäjien luoman koodin suoritettamisesta aiheutuvia tietoturvaongelmia. Minkä tyyppisiä uhkia tästä muodostuu, sekä miten niihin voidaan varautua ja vaikutuksista selvitä. Diplomityössä määritellään, minkälainen järjestelmä toteutettiin hyödyntämään dynaamisten luokkien lataamista tietokannasta. Osuudessa myös kerrotaan miten dynaamiset luokat hyödyttävät toteutettua järjestelmää, ja miksi toteutusvaihtoehtoihin päädyttiin

Lactate-Induced Glucose Output Is Unchanged by Metformin at a Therapeutic Concentration - A Mass Spectrometry Imaging Study of the Perfused Rat Liver

Metformin is the first line drug for type 2 diabetes but its molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we have studied the acute effect of a therapeutically relevant intrahepatic concentration of metformin on glucose production from lactate. We selected the perfused rat liver as experimental system since it enables the complete control of drug dosage. We used MALDI (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization) mass spectrometry imaging to estimate the concentration of metformin in the livers and we measured the concentration of glucose in the effluent medium under basal conditions and following lactate addition. MALDI mass spectra of thin-sections of freeze-clamped rat liver perfused with metformin showed a peak at 130.16 m/z which was unambiguously assigned to metformin. The mass spectrometric detection limit was at a tissue concentration of about 250 nM, and uptake of metformin from the perfusion medium to the liver occurred with a K-m of 0.44 mM. Metformin was evenly distributed in the liver irrespective of its concentration in the perfusion medium and the duration of a perfusion. At a parenchymal concentration of 30 mu M, metformin did not induce any significant suppression of the basal or lactate-induced glucose release from the liver. These results show that matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging can be applied to estimate the tissue concentration and distribution of metformin in a therapeutically relevant micromolar concentration range. Our findings challenge the view that metformin causes an inhibition of glucose release from the liver by an acute inhibition of mitochondrial glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.5.3).Peer reviewe

Machining of Aluminium with MHz High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound

Cavitation-induced surface erosion has been studied for decades. High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) enables localized erosion, with applications in many fields. However, no research has been published on machining solely with HIFU. Compared to existing micro-machining technologies, HIFU exhibits a unique set of benefits: inexpensive, minimal maintenance due to non-contact machining without slurry, mitigated chemical load, and monitoring capability. We demonstrate controlled surface machining of mirror-polished aluminium (AW-5754) using high-frequency (12 MHz) HIFU-induced cavitation erosion. Optimal sonication parameters (transducer-sample distance, amplitude, cycles per burst, number of bursts, and pulse repetition frequency) for stationary surface erosion were first identified experimentally. These parameters served as a basis for studying the effect of sonication parameters during on-the-fly erosion, i.e., engraving lines. The effect of stage translation velocity and the number of repeated passes across the engraved line were also studied. Subsequently, the acronym of our laboratory, “ETLA”, was engraved, with a 500 µm letter height and an average line width of 53 µm.Peer reviewe

Quantifying the Role of Transport by Acoustic Streaming in MHz Focused-Ultrasound-Based Surface Sampling

We have developed an ultrasound-based surface sampling method permitting surface studies for liquid immersed samples. The method employs high-intensity focused ultrasound, which can remove material from predetermined areas and induce acoustic streaming that causes the immersion liquid to flow. In this study, we studied several conditions of acoustic streaming, which can affect particle transport away from the sampled surface. First, we explored suitable acoustic streaming conditions by finite element modelling. Next, we measured the induced streaming fields by particle image velocimetry. This study comprised cases, when a high-intensity focused ultrasound beam encountered a solid surface at different transducer-surface distances. A change in direction of streaming occurred when a focusing transducer was moved from −2λ defocus to -4λ defocus (towards the surface). Thus, we found suitable conditions for an upwards directing acoustic streaming field. This kind of defocus condition can be coupled to the surface sampling process allowing efficient particle transport for subsequent chemical analysis.Peer reviewe

Identifying Regions-of-Interest and Extracting Gold from PCBs Using MHz HIFU

Increased digitalization and technological development raises the demand for rare and precious metals (RPM). Due to their rarity, mining RPMs from the earth is becoming increasingly difficult. Traditional urban mining methods to recover RPMs from printed circuit boards (PCB) need to separate the RPMs from non-metallic substances, e.g. plastic. This separation requires toxic substances and causes unwanted and toxic by-products and emissions. The ability to identify regions-of-interest on PCBs, i.e. the gold pads, and to extract RPMs from only the desired areas would reduce the need for toxic substances. In this study, a single 12 MHz high-intensity focused-ultrasound transducer was used to 1) image a PCB to locate the gold pads, and 2) to subsequently induce inertial cavitation to remove gold from three extraction areas on the selected gold pad. The sonication was performed in water without additional chemicals. Gold removal was verified by imaging the pad with a coded-excitation scanning acoustic microscope (fc = 375 MHz). Average areas and volumes of the three extraction regions were A = (12.2 ± 0.5)·103 μm2 and V = (18 ± 2)·103 μm3, respectively. The total amount of removed gold and nickel (from beneath the gold plating) from all three extraction areas was estimated to mAu,tot = (570 ± 20) ng and mNi,tot = (440 ± 30) ng. This study constitutes a first step towards more environmentally friendly, non-toxic urban mining of RPMs.Peer reviewe

Somatic MED12 Nonsense Mutation Escapes mRNA Decay and Reveals a Motif Required for Nuclear Entry

MED12 is a key component of the transcription-regulating Mediator complex. Specific missense and in-frame insertion/deletion mutations in exons 1 and 2 have been identified in uterine leiomyomas, breast tumors, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Here, we characterize the first MED12 5 end nonsense mutation (c.97G > T, p.E33X) identified in acute lymphoblastic leukemia and show that it escapes nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) by using an alternative translation initiation site. The resulting N-terminally truncated protein is unable to enter the nucleus due to the lack of identified nuclear localization signal (NLS). The absence of NLS prevents the mutant MED12 protein to be recognized by importin- and subsequent loading into the nuclear pore complex. Due to this mislocalization, all interactions between the MED12 mutant and other Mediator components are lost. Our findings provide new mechanistic insights into the MED12 functions and indicate that somatic nonsense mutations in early exons may avoid NMD. (C) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer reviewe

Visualisering av farmakologiska substanser i levervävnad med hjälp av masspketrometrisk bildtagning

Målet för detta forskningsprojekt var att utveckla en metod med vars hjälp det är möjligt att detektera farmakologiska substanser i levervävnad med hjälp av masspektrometrisk bildtagning, så kallad MALDI-MSI. I litteraturen finns beskrivet tillämpningar av MALDI-MSI med vars hjälp det detekterats till exempel lipider i vävnader eller såsom i denna studie farmkologiska substanser. Arbetet bestod av två delmoment. I den första delen isolerades hepatocyter ur råttlever genom att perfusera kollagenas via portvenen. Hepatocyternas funktion analyserades genom att mäta deras metaboliska aktivitet med en analysator som mäter cellernas syrekonsumtion. Med analysen kunde visas att cellernas som isolerats var livsdugliga och där med sker upptagningen av substanser i hepatocyterna på ett fysiologiskt sätt. I den andra delen perfuserades levern på levande råttor genom portvenen med olika farmakologiska substanser. Levern togs tillvara och skars i tunna fryssnitt som sedan analyserades med MALDI-MSI. Kärlstrukturerna i fryssnitten färgades för att kunna urskilja ifall substanserna var belägna inne i själva i vävnaden eller i blodkärlen, ett bevis på metodens spatiala urskiljningsförmåga. Huvudfokus sattes på detektion av metformin i levervävnad eftersom de kliniska tillämpningsmöjligheterna ansågs vara störst för denna substans, då den nyligen börjats användas vid behandling av cancer. I framtiden är det möjligt att metforminets koncentration i tumörvävnaden kan bestämmas med hjälp av metoden och där med få mera detaljerad information om den optimala behandlingsdosen. Utöver att endast identifiera metformin kunde även dess distribution och koncentration i levervävnaden bestämmas med hjälp av den utvecklade metoden. Nu har metoden endast prövats med perfuserade vävnadssnitt, nästa steg skulle vara att mäta koncentrationen efter systemisk behandling

OMICRON CMC850 ja 356 -testilaitteiden käyttöönotto ja simulointi

Tämä opinnäytetyö on tehty Vaasan ammattikorkeakoululle ja yliopistolle. Työ liittyy ammattikorkeakoulun, yliopiston ja Novian yhteiseen DEMVE IEC 61850 -hankkeeseen. Hankkeen tarkoituksena on rakentaa tutkimuskeskus Technobotniaan uusi sähkötekniikan tutkimusympäristö, joka liittyy pääasiassa IEC 61850 -standardiin. Työn tavoitteena on tutustua ja ottaa käyttöön hanketta varten ostetut OMICRON CMC850- ja CMC356 –testilaitteet ja suunnitella testiympäristö, jossa voidaan mallintaa erilaisia sähköverkon virhetilanteita. Lisäksi on tarkoitus selvittää, mitä kaikkea OMICRON Test Universe -ohjelmistolla pystytään tekemään. Työssä rakennettiin testikytkentä, jossa tutkittiin muunmuassa ylivirtasuojausta VAMP-suojareleellä. Virtaa syötettiin CMC356-laitteella ja simulointia ohjattiin OMICRON-ohjelmistoilla. Lisäksi tutkittiin sähköautomaatiossa käytettävää GOOSE-tiedonsiirtoprotokollaa OMICRONin eri ohjelmistoilla. Työssä saatiin tuloksia monipuolisesti GOOSE-viestien analysoimisesta ja generoimisesta IEDScout-ohjelmiston avulla. OMICRON CMC356 –laitteen käyttötarkoitus ja ohjaus selvisi. OMICRON CMC850 –laitteen käyttö jäi vähälle puuttuvien komponenttien takia.This thesis was done for University of Applied Sciences and for University of Vaasa. The thesis is related to the DEMVE :IEC 61850 project administered by VAMK, University of Vaasa and Yrkeshögskolan NOVIA. The objective of the project is to build a new electricity research environment relating to the IEC 61850 –standard into Technobothnia. The objective of the thesis was to get introduced and utilise the test equipment OMICRON CMC850- and CMC356 that have been acquired for the project and to develop a test environment in which different fault situations in the power grid can be modelled. The objective was also to find out the possibilities of OMI-CRON Test Universe software. A test wiring was built in the thesis, with which overcurrent protection of a VAMP relay was simulated. Current was supplied with CMC356 device and the simulation was controlled with the OMICRON software. The GOOSE data trans-fer protocol used in electrical automation was researched with various programs by OMICRON. During the project results from analyzing and generating GOOSE-messages by using the IEDScout program were accomplished. The control and usage of the OMICRON CMC356 test equipment was determined. The usage of the OMI-CRON CMC850 test equipment was minimal because of missing components