OPC UA suorituskyvyn arviointi

OPC Unified Architecture is an industrial communication specification, employing a client-server communication model. In this thesis, performance testing of OPC UA applications is explored. First, performance testing of software applications is discussed on a general level. After this, details of OPC UA and previous studies of OPC UA performance are examined. Based on this information, example test cases are designed. The testing procedure and results of the tests are presented in detail. As an important part of the work, the design and implementation of a generic test client for read and subscription testing is presented. The results provide information about overhead of OPC UA security modes in two different hardware platforms and comparison of two server applications in terms of read and subscription functionality. Substantial differences can be observed in terms of maximum number of requests as well as in the resulting resource usage. When overloaded, the servers again exhibit differences in their behavior. The test results should be thought of as examples of features, limits and differences that can be observed by performance testing OPC UA applications. The results of this thesis are used in the future development of the Prosys OPC UA Java SDK.OPC Unified Architecture on erityisesti teollisiin ympäristöihin suunniteltu tiedonsiirtomäärittely, joka käyttää asiakas-palvelin kommunikointimallia. Tässä työssä tutkitaan OPC UA -sovellusten suorituskykytestausta. Ensin muodostetaan yleisellä tasolla käsitys tavoista mitata ohjelmistojen suorituskykyä. Tämän jälkeen OPC UA -määrittelyn yksityiskohtia käydään läpi tähän työhön liittyvin osin. Aiemmin aihepiiristä julkaistujen tutkimusten avulla muodostetaan kuva siitä, mitä ja miten oikeastaan kannattaa tutkia. Suoritettavat testit dokumentoidaan mahdollisimman hyvin ja testien tulokset raportoidaan yksityiskohtaisesti. Tärkeänä osana työtä esitellään yleiskäyttöisen testisovelluksen suunnittelu ja toteutus. Tutkimuksen perusteella esitetään tietoa OPC UA -viestien tietoturvalliseen käsittelyyn kuluvasta resurssien kulutuksesta kahdella eri laitteistolla ja vertaillaan kahden OPC UA -palvelintoteutuksen ominaisuuksia. Toteutuksissa voidaan havaita selkeitä eroja käsiteltyjen pyyntöjen maksimimäärässä sekä palvelinohjelmistojen resurssienkäytössä. Kun palvelimiin tehdään enemmän pyyntöjä kuin ne ehtivät käsitellä, on tuloksena taas selkeitä eroja eri implementaatioiden välillä. Esiteltävät testitulokset pätevät tässä tietyssä konfiguraatiossa ja ne tulee käsittää esimerkkeinä siitä minkälaisia ominaisuuksia, rajoituksia ja eroja OPC UA -sovelluksissa on havaittavissa. Työn tuloksia tullaan käyttämään Prosys OPC UA Java SDK:n jatkokehityksessä

Commentary to Professor Hafner

This Comment is a response to Professor Hafner\u27s presentation in which he considered fragmentation as an unavoidable consequence of the increasing number of norms and judicial mechanisms, as well as of the regionalization of international law and the weakening of the state system

Commentary to Professor Guibernau

Commentary on Professor Montserrat Guibernau\u27s Nations Without States: Political Communities in the Global Ag

Commentary to Professor Hafner

This Comment is a response to Professor Hafner\u27s presentation in which he considered fragmentation as an unavoidable consequence of the increasing number of norms and judicial mechanisms, as well as of the regionalization of international law and the weakening of the state system

Kaupunkimetsien heterogeenisuuden vaikutukset maakiitäjäisiin

Kaupunkialueiden jatkuva kasvu ja tiivistyminen uhkaavat luonnon monimuotoisuutta. Aiemmin yhtenäiset elinympäristöt pirstoutuvat pienemmiksi alueiksi, mikä lisää reunavaikutusta ja muuttaa alkuperäisen elinympäristön ominaisuuksia. Kaupunkien viheralueet ovat usein ihmisten käytössä ja häiriöt, kuten tallautuminen ja aluskasvillisuuden hoito, johtavat elinympäristöjen samankaltaistumiseen (homogenisoitumiseen). Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitin kaupungistumisen tuottaman pienen mittakaavan homogeenisuuden vaikutuksia maakiitäjäiskovakuoriaisten dispersaaliin (levittäytymiseen) ja ominaisuuksiin. Näytteenotto tehtiin kuoppapyydyksillä 21 tutkimusalueella Lahdessa kesällä 2021. Tutkimuskohteet edustivat kolmea erilaista ympäristöä: 1) rakenteellisesti monimutkainen (heterogeeninen) elinympäristö kaupungin jäännöskuusimetsissä, 2) rakenteellisesti yksinkertainen (homogeeninen) elinympäristö kaupungin jäännöskuusimetsissä, 3) rakenteellisesti yksinkertainen elinympäristö hoidettujen kaupunkipuistojen kuusien alla. Kuoriaisten lisäksi kerättiin joukko ympäristömuuttujia kunkin elinympäristön monimuotoisuuden määrittämiseksi. Elinympäristön homogeenisuus vaikutti maakiitäjäisten lajikoostumukseen odotetusti siten, että generalistien ja avoimen ympäristön lajien osuus oli suurempi homogeenisilla alueilla, mukaan lukien jäännösmetsät ja erittäin homogeeniset kaupunkipuistot, kun taas metsälajien osuus oli suurempi heterogeenisissa metsissä. Lajirikkaus oli korkeampi homogeenisilla alueilla johtuen avoimen ympäristön lajien suuresta määrästä maakiitäjäisten heimossa. Ominaisuuksien jakautuminen yhteisötasolla osoitti selviä eroja kolmen tutkitun elinympäristötyypin välillä. Suurten ja painavien lajien osuudet olivat odotetusti suuremmat metsissä kuin puistoissa. Homogeenisissa elinympäristöissä, erityisesti erittäin homogeenisilla puistoalueilla, esiintyi enemmän lentokykyisiä lajeja kuin heterogeenisissa metsissä. Yksittäisten lajien tasolla maakiitäjäiset olivat puistoissa pääsääntöisesti pienempiä kuin metsissä, kun taas tulokset kahden metsätyypin välillä vaihtelivat, eikä selvää eroa spesialistien ja generalistien välillä voitu havaita. Kaupunkien kasvaessa viheralueiden maltillinen hoito, kotoperäisen kasvillisuuden suosiminen ja lahoavan puuaineksen säilyttäminen ovat keinoja lisätä elinympäristön heterogeenisuutta ja tutkimustulosteni perusteella tukea ja suojella kaupunkiluonnon monimuotoisuutta.The ongoing growth and densification of urban areas is threatening biodiversity in cities. Previously continuous habitats are reduced and fragmented into smaller areas, which increases the edge effect and changes the qualities of the original habitat. Urban greenspaces are frequently used by people, and disturbances, such as trampling, and understorey management are increasing the similarity of habitat patches (i.e. homogenisation). In this study, I investigated the effects of small-scale homogeneity in forests produced by urbanisation on the distribution patterns and trait composition of carabid beetles. Sampling was done with pitfall traps during the summer of 2021 and altogether 21 study sites were selected in the City of Lahti, Finland. The study sites represented three different environments: 1) structurally complex (heterogenous) habitat in remnant spruce forests in the city, 2) structurally simple (homogenous) habitat in remnant spruce forests in the city, 3) structurally simple habitat under spruce trees in managed urban parks. In addition to the beetles, a set of environmental variables was collected to quantify the complexity of the three habitat types. As expected, habitat homogeneity affected carabid beetle species composition so that the proportion of generalist and open-habitat species was greater in homogenous sites, including homogenous forest remnants and highly homogenous urban parks, whereas the proportion of forest specialists was greater in heterogenous forests. Species richness was higher in the homogenous sites due to species-rich open-habitat genera in the carabid beetle family. Trait distribution at the community level showed clear differences between the three studied habitat types. As expected, the proportions of large and heavy species were higher in the forest habitats than in the parks, whereas homogenous habitats, especially highly homogenous park sites consisted of a higher proportion of flight capable species than heterogenous forests. At the species level, individual beetles were generally smaller in the parks, whereas the results between the two forest types varied and a clear difference between habitat specialists and generalists could not be detected. As cities grow, keeping the management of greenspaces moderate, selecting native vegetation, and preserving decaying woody material are ways to increase habitat heterogeneity, which according to this study, can support biodiversity and life of different organisms in urban areas

New mechanisms regulating human Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation

Selective development of human T helper (Th) cells into functionally distinct Th1 and Th2 subtypes plays an essential role in the host immune response towards pathogens. However, abnormal function or differentiation of these cells can lead to development of various autoimmune diseases as well as asthma and allergy. Therefore, identification of key factors and the molecular mechanisms mediating Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation is important for understanding the molecular mechanisms of these diseases. The goal of this study was to identify novel factors involved in the regulation of Th1 and Th2 differentiation processes. A new method was optimized for enrichment of transiently transfected resting human primary T lymphocytes, that allowed the study of the influence of genes of interest in human Th1/Th2 cell differentiation and other primary Th cell functions. Functional characterization of PRELI, a novel activation-induced protein in human Th cells, identified it as a mitochondrial protein involved in the regulation of Th cell differentiation and apoptosis. By influencing the intracellular redox state, PRELI induces mitochondrial apoptosis pathway and downregulates STAT6 and Th2 differentiation. The data suggested that Calpain, an oxidative stress induced cysteine protease, is involved as a mediator in PRELI-induced downregulation of STAT6. PIM serine/threonine-specific kinases were identified as new regulators of human Th1 cell differentiation. PIM1 and PIM2 kinases were shown to be preferentially expressed in Th1 cells as compared to Th2 cells. RNA interference studies showed that PIM kinases enhance the production of IFN, the hallmark cytokine produced by Th1 cells. They also induce the expression of the key Th1-driving factor T-bet and the IL-12 signaling pathway during early phases of Th1 cell differentiation. Taken together, new regulators of human T helper cell differentiation were identified in this study, which provides new insights into the signaling mechanisms controlling the selective activation of human Th cell subsets.Siirretty Doriast

Diagnosing the growing pains of a technology-based industry an examination of the Finnish biotechnology industry in light of empirical economics

Positioned in the context of the technology-based industrial emergence literature, this dissertation identifies and examines organizational, managerial, and institutional challenges that small and medium sized Finnish biotechnology companies have encountered during the emergence of the field as an industry. Based on the results, central Implications for research, management and policy are suggested. The five separate studies that constitute this dissertation fill specific, clearly demarcated gaps in the underlying literature that have not been explicitly scrutinized in extant works. The contributions are made in three domains that are central to the emergence of technology-based industries: In the academic domain the dissertation brings forth new knowledge on bridging the gaps between academia and industry in university-industry technology transfer (UITT) that has previously been found to be riddled with challenges. The dissertation adds to the understanding on the role and value of organizational practices performed by universities and their respective technology transfer offices (TTO) to overcome the challenges and to bring forth university inventions to industrial and societal use. TTOs are found to lower the threshold of UITT stakeholders to participate in and sustain the process of UITT, to facilitate congruence between the features of scientific discoveries and specific market needs, and to mitigate the detrimental effects that opportunistic incentive structures of diverse stakeholders can have on UITT. In the business domain, the dissertation establishes that academia-based start-ups are at a relative disadvantage regarding their capabilities to attract financing, recruit skilled labor, and design viable business strategies - mostly due to a lack of business-related skills, experience and vision as well as an enchaining bond to academic culture, principles and incentives. Young, high-quality firms are also found to suffer most severely from information asymmetry related problems, because they often have nothing tangible to show for their actual quality and cannot distinguish themselves from so-called lemons. Hence, their capital is under-valued on financial markets. Finally, contributing in the public policy domain the dissertation reveals that strategically weak governmental funding can have two disadvantageous externalities: First, due to information-asymmetry-related difficulties in differentiating between high-quality companies and lemons, risk capital instruments in particular tend to support only the latter type of companies, as high-quality companies refrain from applying for such funding in the first place. And second, governmental funding instruments that do not factor in the compatibility of the business models, contents and embeddedness of funding recipients with their respective regional industry structure tend to artificially ventilate businesses that would not otherwise be viable in these specific regions