Use intention of SaaS employee advocacy platform : case SmarpShare

Työntekijälähettilyys vaikuttaa jo nykypäivänä vahvasti siihen, miten yritykset toteuttavat markkinointia, viestintää ja brändityötä. Työntekijälähettilyyden toteuttamiseen on tarjolla pilvipalveluita. Tämä tutkielma keskittyi SmarpShare-nimisen palvelun omaksumiseen. Selittääkseen mitkä tekijät vaikuttavat työntekijälähettilyyssovelluksen omaksumiseen, tässä tutkielmassa kehitettiin tutkimusmalli, joka pohjautui UTAUT2-viitekehykseen. Kehitetty tutkimusmalli asetti koetun hyödyllisyyden, koetun helppokäyttöisyyden, sosiaalisen influenssin, ympäristötekijät, hedonisen motivaation sekä halun näyttäytyä tekijöiksi, jotka edistävät sovelluksen käyttöintentiota. SmarpSharen käyttäjille kohdennetun kyselyn avulla kerättiin 446 validia vastausta. Tutkimus oli määrällinen. Ehdotetun tutkimusmallin selitysvoimaa analysoitiin PLS-rakenneyhtälömallinnusta käyttäen. Tutkimusmalli selitti 66.5% käyttöintention varianssista. Kaikki statistisesti merkittävät korrelaatiot tukivat hypoteesejä. Halu näyttäytyä, koettu hyödyllisyys, sekä hedoninen motivaatio vaikuttivat käyttöintentioon merkittävästi. Muita merkittäviä korrelaatioita löydettiin koetun helppokäyttöisyyden ja hedonisen motivaation, sekä hedonisen motivaation ja näyttäytymishalun välillä. Koettu helppokäyttöisyys ei tutkimuksen valossa vaikuta suoraan käyttöintentioon. Tulosten reliabiliteetti ja validiteetti saavuttivat tieteellisesti hyväksyttävän tason. Palveluntarjoajille ja heidän asiakkailleen tarjottiin suosituksia tutkielman tuloksiin peilaten.Employee advocacy has risen as a noticeable paradigm influencing the ways companies do marketing, communications, and branding. SaaS-vendors are providing solutions to facilitate employee advocacy. This study focused on a solution called SmarpShare. To explain which factors influence the use intention of employee advocacy platforms, this study proposed a research model based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2). The proposed research model posited perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation and the desire for online self-presentation as determinants of use intention. A self-administrated questionnaire was targeted to users of SmarpShare, which resulted in 446 valid responses. Taking a quantitative re- search approach, the proposed model was tested using a partial least square (PLS) analysis. The proposed model explained 66.5% of variance in use intention. Significant correlations between proposed factors supported the hypothesis. Desire for online self-presentation, perceived usefulness and hedonic motivation were found as direct determinants of use intention. Other significant relationships were found between perceived ease of use and hedonic motivation, and hedonic motivation and desire for online self-presentation. Perceived ease of use was found not to influence behavioral intention directly. The study achieved an acceptable level in terms of validity and reliability. Reflecting the results, considerations for SaaS vendors and their customers were provided

Pilvipalvelumallien turvallisuushaasteet

Valkonen, Konsta Pilvipalvelumallien turvallisuushaasteet Jyväskylä: Jyväskylän yliopisto, 2014, 33 s. Tietojärjestelmätiede, Kandidaatintutkielma Ohjaaja: Ojala, Arto Viime vuosina pilvipalveluiden houkuttelevat ominaisuudet, kuten saavutetut kustannussäästöt, ovat mullistaneet ICT-alaa. Mahdollisuus hankkia ITresursseja käyttöperusteisesti ja joustavasti kysyntään vastaten, ovat muuttaneet tapaa, jolla liiketoiminta hyödyntää ja tarjoaa IT-palveluja. Muutokseen liittyy monia haasteita. Pilvilaskennan ja -palveluteknologioiden kannalta suurin yksittäinen haaste on turvallisuus. Tutkielmassa tutkittiin pilvipalveluihin sisältyviä turvallisuushaasteita, sekä selvitettiin miten ne sisältyvät eri pilvipalvelumalleihin. Tutkielmassa käsiteltiin pilvipalvelumallien eroavaisuuksia ominaisuuksien, sovellusten, vastuun jakautumisen, turvallisuuden ja haasteiden näkökulmista. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selventää turvallisuushaasteiden ja pilvipalvelumallien suhdetta. Tutkimus toteutettiin kirjallisuuskatsauksena ja sen keskeisenä tuloksena havaittiin, että turvallisuushaasteita luokitellaan harvoin pilvipalvelumalleittain, vaikka haasteet ovat keskeinen osa pilvipalveluiden turvallisuuden tutkimuskenttää

Assessment of the protective effects of MANF and CDNF variants on a toxin model of ALS in vitro

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common adult-onset motoneuron disease. ALS is characterized by a progressive loss of upper and lower motoneurons, resulting in muscle atrophy, paralysis and ultimately in death. Approximately 30,000 people die of ALS annually. There is no cure for ALS, and only two drugs - riluzole and edavarone - have been approved for the treatment of the disease. The complex pathology of ALS contributes to the lack of effective treatments. Several cellular pathologies have been suggested to contribute to the pathogenesis, including ER stress, disruption of calcium homeostasis, oxidative stress and excitotoxicity. Here we describe the cytoprotective effects of C-terminal fragments of the novel proteins with neurotrophic factor properties MANF (mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor) and CDNF (cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor) on a toxin model of ALS in vitro. Unlike the classical neurotrophic factors, MANF and CDNF are predominantly localized to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and have been shown to alleviate ER stress by keeping the unfolded protein response (UPR) transducers inactive. ER stress is a major component in many neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS, and is a promising therapeutic target for MANF and CDNF. However, the potential of these proteins in ALS treatment remains to be insufficiently described. We used differentiated motoneuron-like NSC-34 cells treated with a range of toxins, modelling different cellular pathologies linked to ALS. After the toxin addition, we treated the cells with MANF and CDNF variants and riluzole and measured the cell viability. The toxin panel consists of tunicamycin, ionomycin and staurosporine. Tunicamycin causes cell death by activating proapoptotic branches of the UPR. Ionomycin is an ionophore and depletes the ER of calcium, thus inducing both UPR-dependent and UPR-independent apoptosis. Less is known about the mechanisms of staurosporine, but it has been shown to induce caspase-3-dependent apoptosis, increase intracellular calcium levels and cause oxidative stress. We hypothesized that both MANF and CDNF variants protect the cells against UPR-dependent apoptosis but not against UPR-independent cell death. We show that MANF and CDNF variants protect the cells against apoptosis induced by tunicamycin, ionomycin and staurosporine. Interestingly, the protein variants mediated the highest protection against ionomycin-induced stress, and they exhibited mild protective effects against staurosporine as well. These findings suggest that MANF and CDNF variants might have a role in maintaining intracellular calcium homeostasis. However, it is possible that staurosporine induces ER stress as well, which would explain the protection conferred by the protein variant. We report that the CDNF variant mediates higher protection at lower concentrations compared to the MANF variant in every toxin assay, whereas the MANF variant mediates higher protection at the highest tested concentration compared to the CDNF variant. We also show that the CDNF variant-mediated protection against staurosporine-induced stress peaked at lower concentrations, and the highest concentration provided distinctively lower, yet significant effect. These data lead us to hypothesize that the protein variants may have a slightly different mode of action, and that they might provide an additive effect when administered simultaneously. We tested a combination of MANF and CDNF variants in cells treated with tunicamycin, ionomycin and staurosporine. However, the combination treatment did not increase the viability more than MANF and CDNF variants independently did. The results answered our questions as well as raised new ones. In the future, the putative calcium-regulating effects of the protein variants should be investigated. The UPR-modifying effects of the drug candidates and toxins need to be assessed by quantifying changes in the UPR marker mRNA and protein expression levels. If it is revealed that the variants have a different mode of action, the possible additive protective effects must be assessed. Finally, a wider toxin panel is needed to fully explore the potential of MANF and CDNF variants in ALS treatment. This study demonstrates the potential of MANF and CDNF variants in protecting motoneurons against several pathological pathways contributing to ALS pathology. However, the mechanisms of action of the variants need further investigation to fully understood their therapeutic potential

Neuroprotective Potential of a Small Molecule RET Agonist in Cultured Dopamine Neurons and Hemiparkinsonian Rats

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder where loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra and dopamine depletion in the striatum cause characteristic motor symptoms. Currently, no treatment is able to halt the progression of PD. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) rescues degenerating dopamine neurons both in vitro and in animal models of PD. When tested in PD patients, however, the outcomes from intracranial GDNF infusion paradigms have been inconclusive, mainly due to poor pharmacokinetic properties. Objective: We have developed drug-like small molecules, named BT compounds that activate signaling through GDNF's receptor, the transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase RET, both in vitro and in vivo and are able to penetrate through the blood-brain barrier. Here we evaluated the properties of BT44, a second generation RET agonist, in immortalized cells, dopamine neurons and rat 6-hydroxydopamine model of PD. Methods: We used biochemical, immunohistochemical and behavioral methods to evaluate the effects of BT44 on dopamine system in vitro and in vivo. Results: BT44 selectively activated RET and intracellular pro-survival AKT and MAPK signaling pathways in immortalized cells. In primary midbrain dopamine neurons cultured in serum-deprived conditions, BT44 promoted the survival of the neurons derived from wild-type, but not from RET knockout mice. BT44 also protected cultured wild-type dopamine neurons fromMPP+-induced toxicity. In a rat 6-hydroxydopamine model of PD, BT44 reduced motor imbalance and seemed to protect dopaminergic fibers in the striatum. Conclusion: BT44 holds potential for further development into a novel, possibly disease-modifying, therapy for PD.Peer reviewe