Sketching in VR for landscape architects : exploring new possibilities

The sketching possibilities in VR are getting increasingly more available for people without in-depth programming and computer skills. Previous research has shown that using VR in the sketching process by landscape architects increases the understanding of spatiality, reduces the cognitive load, enhances communication, and gives confidence to the user. To understand the field a literature study was undertaken and interviews were conducted. To get new practical insights an applied sketching session was performed and documented. The hardware used was Oculus Quest 2 and the software was a plug-in for SketchUp called VRSketch. The method used for the applied sketching was inspired by auto-ethnographic studies where one interacts within a given environment while at the same time observing and documenting ones own reactions to that environment. In this study the environment is VR and the activity being performed and observed is sketching in VR. An open mind to all sorts of results was kept to make the most out of the methodology. This method compliments past studies and whilst it doesn’t give results which necessarily reflect what other people would experience, it indicates directions for future research. Some of the results were consistent with previous studies and others need further research. Future investigation could explore: having multiple users in a VR setting at the same time, exploring the possibilities with different levels of abstraction, the different types of intuition, to use a checklist to get started but not to get creative, and to generally expand the academic discourse as technology advances

Study of Online Marketing Communications and Orientation Practices in Finnish Foreign Missions

The purpose of this study was to investigate how and via which online channels Finnish missions market their open positions to foreign job seekers and what kind of an image these job seekers have of Finnish missions as employers. By doing this research, we wanted to know which media are used the most in the recruitment processes of these missions. We also wanted to find out whether Finnish missions are considered attractive employers in the eyes of the foreign candidates and what made the respondents of the survey interested in applying for work to a Finnish mission. In addition, the study investigated how locally engaged personnel in Finnish missions are oriented and integrated into their duties and the overall Finnish work culture, which might be in many cases very different from the host country. In addition, the purpose of the thesis was to identify what Finnish work culture is from foreigners' point of view and how it appears to them. The theoretical part of the thesis first examined the different online marketing channels and their utilization in employer branding and recruitment. Secondly, the orientation of foreign employees, orientation in multicultural environments and the dimensions of national cultures were examined. The empirical part of this thesis was a qualitative research conducted as a Webropol survey in fall 2014. The target group of the survey was the locally hired personnel of Finnish foreign missions. There was a total of 30 respondents. The findings of this research revealed that the employer image of these missions is, overall, very positive. The results showed that Finnish missions are considered reliable employers providing good working conditions. Also, as most of the open positions were filled by word-of-mouth, development proposals – such as employer branding strategy and active online presence – were suggested to help the missions in promoting their open positions and their image as employers. The findings also revealed that there is some variation regarding the orientation of foreign employees in Finnish missions. In general, the orientation was considered to be good. However, there was some room for improvement, e.g. in the content of the orientation process. Additionally, the findings revealed that taking culture into consideration in orientation is important so that foreign employees learn the Finnish work culture, which from foreign employees’ point of view was usually seen to embody equality, responsibility and punctuality. Development proposals, such as creating precise orientation plans and including culture in the orientation process, were suggested

Sittplatsens placering

Att sitta ner är en av de vanligaste aktiviteter vi gör i staden. Denna uppsats undersöker vilka faktorer som påverkar sittplatsens placering och hur de som placerar ut dem kan förhålla sig till faktorerna. En litteraturstudie har gjorts med ett fokuserat sökande efter texter om sittplatser och hur människor beter sig när de stannar upp. De faktorer som undersökts är påverkan av vädret, väderstrecket, den upplevda tryggheten, sociala noder och rörelsestråk, bekvämlighetszonens, placeringen i stadsrummet, Förhållandet till andra fysiska objekt - inkluderat andra sittplatser och vad som syns från sittplatsen. Dessa har sedan delats in i tre grupper, de sociala faktorerna, de klimatologiska faktorerna och de fysiska faktorerna. Det som framkommer i analysen är att dessa faktorer påverkar sittplatsens attraktivitet, men ibland går de emot varandra. Därmed uppkommer teorin att det inte finns en optimal sittplats utan det behövs flera sittplatser som kompletterar varandra.To sit down is one of the most common things we do in the city. This thesis investigates factors that affect the placing of seats and how the people who place them can relate to those factors. A literature study was made with a focus on finding texts relating to seating and how people behave when stopping. The factors that have been investigated are the impact of the weather, the impact of the cardinal direction, the impact of experienced safety, the impact of nodes and movement paths, the impact of the comfort zone, the impact of placement in the space, and the relation to other physical objects - including other seats and what is seen from the seat. These factors has then been grouped into three groups, the social factors, the climatological factors and the physical factors. It is observed in the analysis that these factors affect the attractiveness of the seats but sometimes oppose one another. This gives rise to the theory that there is no such thing as an optimal seat, rather what is needed is a combination of different seats that complete one another

Energiaverotuet ja kustannustehokas huoltovarmuus

Tässä hankkeessa on selvitetty, ovatko lämmityspolttoaineiden verotuet tehokkaita keinoja energian huoltovarmuuden ja sähkön toimitusvarmuuden varmistamiseksi, ja olisiko huoltovarmuuteen ja sähkön toimitusvarmuuteen liittyvät tavoitteet mahdollista saavuttaa tehokkaammin muilla tavoin. Tarkasteltavat verotuet ovat turpeen normia alempi verokanta, yhdistetyn tuotannon (CHP) verotuki ja kiinteän biomassan verottomuus. Lyhyellä aikajänteellä (noin 1–2 vuotta) turpeen verotuen poisto johtaisi turpeen käytön vähentymiseen ja korvaamiseen kiinteällä biomassalla, sekä kotimaisella että ulkomaisella. Pidemmällä aikavälillä (vuoteen 2030 mennessä) turpeen verotuen poisto johtaisi todennäköisesti turpeen käytön loppumiseen. Tämä asettaisi haasteita huoltovarmuudelle, mutta siihen voitaisiin vastata varastoimalla biomassaa tai kevyttä polttoöljyä. Vastaavasti CHP:n verotuen poisto johtaisi maakaasukäyttöisen kapasiteetin ennenaikaiseen sulkemiseen noin 500 MW:n verran. Biomassan verotuen poiston ei havaittu tukevan investointeja biomassakäyttöiseen CHP-kapasiteettiin. Kaikkien verotukien poisto johtaisi kaukolämmön tuotantokustannusten kasvuun, kaukolämmön hinnan nousuun ja samalla kiinteistökohtaisten lämpöpumppujen kilpailukyvyn parantumiseen. Siten verotukien poiston merkittävä vaikutus on lämmityksen kiihtyvä sähköistyminen. Tämä saattaisi heikentää sähkön huippukulutuksen aikaista tehotasetta ja asettaisi haasteita sähkön huolto- ja toimitusvarmuudelle. Liite 1 Kaukolämpöverkkojen tyypillisiä tuotantorakenteita Liite 2 Sidosryhmäkeskustelujen osallistujat Liite 3 Lämmöntuotannon muuttuvien kustannusten rakenne Liite 4 Hallitusohjelman 2019–2023 vaikutukse

The interactome of the prostate-specific protein Anoctamin 7

BACKGROUND: Elevated Anoctamin 7 (ANO7) expression is associated with poor survival in prostate cancer patients.OBJECTIVE: The aim was to discover proteins that interact with ANO7 to understand its functions and regulatory mechanisms.METHODS: The proximity-dependent biotin identification (BioID) method was utilized. ANO7 fused to biotin ligase was transiently transfected into LNCaP cells, and the biotinylated proteins were collected and analysed by mass spectrometry. Four identified proteins were stained with dual fluorescent immunostaining and visualized using Stimulated emission depletion microscopy (STED).RESULTS: After bioinformatic filtering steps, 64 potentially ANO7-interacting proteins were identified and analysed with the GO enrichment analysis tool. One of the most prominently enriched cellular components was cellular vesicle. Co-localization was showed for staphylococcal nuclease and tudor domain containing 1 (SND1), heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 1A (HSPA1A), adaptor related protein complex 2 subunit beta 1 (AP2B1) and coatomer protein complex subunit gamma 2 (COPG2).CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study in which ANO7 interacting proteins have been identified. Although further studies are needed, the findings reported here expand our understanding of the role and regulation of ANO7 in prostate cancer cells. Furthermore, these results are likely to introduce new targets for the novel cancer therapies

The variant rs77559646 associated with aggressive prostate cancer disrupts ANO7 mRNA splicing and protein expression

Prostate cancer is among the most common cancers in men, with a large fraction of the individual risk attributable to heritable factors. A majority of the diagnosed cases does not lead to a lethal disease, and hence biological markers that can distinguish between indolent and fatal forms of the disease are of great importance for guiding treatment decisions. Although over 300 genetic variants are known to be associated with prostate cancer risk, few have been associated with the risk of an aggressive disease. One such variant is rs77559646 located in ANO7. This variant has a dual function. It constitutes a missense mutation in the short isoform of ANO7 and a splice region mutation in full-length ANO7. In this study, we have analyzed the impact of the variant allele of rs77559646 on ANO7 mRNA splicing using a minigene splicing assay and by performing splicing analysis with the tools IRFinder (intron retention finder), rMATS (replicate multivariate analysis of transcript splicing) and LeafCutter on RNA sequencing data from prostate tissue of six rs77559646 variant allele carriers and 43 non-carriers. The results revealed a severe disruption of ANO7 mRNA splicing in rs77559646 variant allele carriers. Immunohistochemical analysis of prostate samples from patients homozygous for the rs77559646 variant allele demonstrated a loss of apically localized ANO7 protein. Our study is the first to provide a mechanistic explanation for the impact of a prostate cancer risk SNP on ANO7 protein production. Furthermore, the rs77559646 variant is the first known germline loss-of-function mutation described for ANO7. We suggest that loss of ANO7 contributes to prostate cancer progression.</p

Laivojen päästöt ja niiden tekninen vähennyspotentiaali pohjoisella Itämerellä

Ships are a significant source of air pollutant emissions, especially NOx and SO2. Pollution levels will increase in future due to growth in ship traffic and lack of effective regulations. So far related research has concentrated on emissions from land-based sources and very few shipping emission inventories exist to date. The aim of this study was to evaluate emissions and technical reduction potential of SO2, NOX, CO, HC and PM from waterborne traffic in Finland and in marine areas near Finland in 2000 and 2015. Energy consumption of ships in 2000 was evaluated based on statistics mapping ship movements in ports of Finland, Russia, Estonia and Sweden. Combined with emission factors, this data was used to evaluate the total amount of emissions. Emissions in 2015 were evaluated based on predicted growth rates of ship traffic and four different reduction technology scenarios. In 2000 ship-based SO2 and NOx emissions on the sea routes totalled 36 000 and 107 000 tonnes, respectively. Current international regulations have little impact on emission rates in the studied marine areas. The required technologies are internal engine modifications and fuel with a maximum sulphur content of 1.5 %. The results of the scenario study show that ship-based SO2 and NOx emissions will increase by 20 % and 40 % respectively by 2015 if no further emission reduction methods are introduced. These emissions could be reduced significantly through introduction of more effective reduction technologies, such as lowering sulphur content in fuel, adding water to the engine process, exhaust gas recirculation and selective catalytic reduction technology. The potential is substantial, especially on NOx emissions from cargo ships, which could be reduced by approximately 90 % from the 2015 baseline level.Laivat ovat merkittävä ilmapäästöjen, erityisesti SO2:n ja NOx:n, lähde. Laivojen päästöt kasvavat tulevaisuudessa lisääntyvän laivaliikenteen sekä vähäisten päästörajoitusten myötä. Ilmapäästöjen tutkimus on keskittynyt maalähteisiin ja siksi laivojen päästöistä on toistaiseksi olemassa vain vähän tietoa. Tämän työn tavoitteena oli selvittää laivaliikenteen SO2-, NOx-, CO-, HC- ja hiukkaspäästöjen määrää sekä niiden vähennyspotentiaalia Suomessa ja Suomen läheisillä merialueilla vuosina 2000 ja 2015. Vuoden 2000 laivapäästöt on arvioitu pohjautuen tilastoihin laivaliikenteestä Suomen, Ruotsin, Viron ja Venäjän satamissa ja näiden perusteella arvioituun laivojen energiankulutukseen väylillä sekä päästökertoimiin. Vuoden 2015 päästöjä on arvioitu liikennemäärän kasvuennusteiden sekä neljän skenaarion avulla, joilla tutkittiin erilaisten vähennystekniikoiden käyttöönoton vaikutusta paastoihin. Vuonna 2000 meriväylillä syntyneet SO2-päästöt olivat noin 36 000 tonnia ja NOx-päästöt noin 107 000 tonnia. Nykyisillä kansainvälisillä päästörajoilla ei ole merkittävää vaikutusta laivapäästöjen määrään tutkituilla merialueilla. Rajojen noudattaminen edellyttää moottorin palamisprosessin saat6a sekä polttoaineen rikkipitoisuuden rajoittamista 1,5 prosenttiin. Skenaariotarkastelun tulokset osoittivat, että SO2-ja NOx-päästöt kasvavat 20 % ja 40 % vastaavasti Suomen läheisillä merialueilla vuoteen 2015 mennessä, mikäli tehokkaampia vähennystekniikoita ei oteta käyttöön. Tehokkaammilla vähennystekniikoilla, kuten polttoaineen rikkipitoisuuden pienentämisellä, veden lisäyksellä polttoprosessiin, pakokaasujen takaisinkierrätyksellä ja selektiivisellä katalyyttisella vähennystekniikalla, voidaan päästöjä vähentää merkittävästi. Erityisesti rahtilaivojen NOx-päästöjen vähennyspotentiaali on merkittävä, noin 90 %, verrattuna vuoden 2015 perustasoon

Internet accessibility : A quantitative study of how the Swedish universities are working with accessibility on their websites

Internet är idag en av de största informationskällorna som används av en stor del av befolkningen. För att göra webbplatser tillgängliga för personer med funktionsnedsättningar är det viktigt att man som webbutvecklare är medveten om hur internet används av dessa grupper, vilka tekniska hjälpmedel de kan använda sig av och vilka problem som finns. En webbutvecklare som besitter dessa kunskaper kan anpassa design och kod som ökar tillgängligheten. I denna studie har vi genom en enkätundersökning tagit reda på hur Sveriges universitet och högskolor arbetar för att öka tillgängligheten på sin webbplats. Vi har också utfört en kodkontroll av förstasidan på alla lärosätens webbplatser för att se om koden uppfyller kraven på tillgänglighet. Resultatet på undersökningen är analyserat utifrån riktlinjerna inom WCAG 2.0 vilket ger en tydlig bild över hur de olika lärosätena har tillgänglighetsanpassat sina webbplatser. Genom undersökningen har vi funnit att de flesta universiteten och högskolorna arbetar för att öka tillgängligheten genom att jobba efter riktlinjer och rekommendationer, men det finns även brister som kan förbättras.Today internet is one of the largest sources of information which is used by a large part of the population. In order to make websites accessible for people with disabilities it’s important that the web developers are aware how the internet is used, which technical tools they can use and the problem involved with the use of websites. If the web developer possesses these skills it gives the opportunity to customize the design and code that increases the accessibility. Through our survey, we examined how the Swedish universities are working to increase the accessibility on their websites. We have also performed a control of the code at the front page of each university’s website to see if the code meets the requirements for accessibility. The results of the study are analysed against the WCAG 2.0 guidelines which gives an idea of how accessibility guidelines is followed by the institutions. Through the study we have found out that most of the universities are working to increase the accessibility by working according to the guidelines and recommendations, but there are also weaknesses that can be improved

It didn´t turn out the way it was supposed to : Possibilities for children´s agency in a teacher organized environment

The purpose of this study is to examine the ways in which preschool teachers’ organization of the physical and social environment both restrict and enable children's free play. Specifically, we want to understand how these forms of organization has an impact on children’s agency. To reach this aim we conducted a case study to examine the organization of the physical environment in preschool rooms where free play takes place, and the actions children take in these rooms. We focused in particular on the teacher’s role in this organization. The study is based on observations and interviews of teachers from a rural preschool with 14 children aged 3-4 years. Interview transcripts and field notes were subjected to a content analysis. We found that the teachers have a vision that the environment should be in constant change and therefore want a diversity and variation in the material. It also became apparent that teachers distinguish between “good” and “bad” forms of play, and that these distinctions play a role in how the teachers evaluate children’s free play and the organization of free play spaces. In addition, it became evident that certain rooms and material were conducive to certain types of play. The results showed for example, that teacher´s ideas of good play and the use of closed doors and gates became an infringement on children´s agency. Conclusions of this study were that through the environment the teachers have designed and the materials they have chosen, their control of free play and children´s agency is always present