Field and greenhouse studies on BVOC emission patterns from poplars (trembling and hybrid aspen)

Continuously progressive climatechange has built a need for sustainable energy source. In the near future we need an alternative source to fossil fuels. At the same time we should secure lower carbon emissions to the atmosphere and increase carbon sinks and accumulate bigger carbon pools to biosphere.Wood based second-generation biofuels are potential option for a sustainable source of energy and therefore an alternative for fossil fuels and also for first-generation biofuels which are produced from food suitable sources. The high cellulose content of wood drives the use as an energy source but long investment time to raw material production impairs the wood’s possibility to be a quick solution to current climate and energy challenges. Hybrid aspen (Populus tremula x tremuloides) as a fast growing tree is one of the species under research to produce cellulose faster. Institute of Biotechnology at University of Helsinki has developed a method for gene manipulation of aspen to enhance the cambial development and tree growth which would shorten the rotation time of harvesting raw material. Simultaneously we need to predict possible side effects that may come with the use of gene manipulation. The wood based production of bioenergy creates a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide until logging. Furthermore many of the Populus species including aspen emit biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) which slow the climate change due to the secondary particle (SOA) formation. This study investigates seasonal BVOC emission profile and concentration of aspen Populus tremula in natural forest environment during years 2010, 2011 and 2013. The other part of the study concentrates on emissions from gene manipulated hybrid aspen species Populus tremula x tremuloides in greenhouse environment. The results will show the seasonal profile of BVOC emissions and other trace gas exchange (CO2 ,H2O) and their concentration on leaf level. Small part of the atmospheric carbon that tree takes in as CO2 is released back in air as BVOCs and based on these results from three year time aspen releases carbon 0.44-0.57 %per year as BVOVs. The emission profiles show clearly that temperature and light conditions affect to BVOCemission volume. Furthermore, the leaf development phase has a huge effect on seasonal emission profile. The other part of the study that investigate the differences in BVOC emissions between genetic manipulated trees and control trees. Based on these measurements there is no significant difference in BVOC emissions between gene manipulated and wild type hybrid aspen on leaf level. Since environmental conditions affect emission profile and volumes, the climate change with increasing temperature may increase aspen’s seasonal BVOC emissions. Based on measurements of this study the potential use of gene manipulated aspen does not increase BVOC emissionson leaf level but on canopy level the result may be different

"En tiiä missä oisin, jos en ois sinne mennyt" : Laitosnuorten elämä sijaishuollon jälkeen

Sijaishuollon jälkeen nuorella on edessään itsenäinen elämä. Nuoren elämä sijoituksen jälkeen on yleensä varsin haastavaa ja kriittistäkin aikaa. Sijaishuollossa olevilla lapsilla on taustallaan yleensä erilaisia traumoja, jonka vuoksi heillä on suurena riskinä ajautua aikuisiässä erilaisiin ongelmiin. Millaisena nuorten sijaishuollon jälkeinen elämä näyttäytyy ja millaisia itsenäisessä elämässä vaadittavia valmiuksia nuoret ovat sijaishuollosta saaneet? Entä mitä nuoret jälkikäteen ajattelevat sijaishuoltoajastaan? Opinnäytetyöni tilaaja on Etelä-Savossa sijaitseva yksityinen lastensuojelulaitos, jossa on 12 asiakaspaikkaa. Opinnäytetyössäni pyrin selvittämään, millaisena lastenkodin entisten asukkaiden sijaishuollon jälkeinen elämä näyttäytyy. Pyrin myös selvittämään, millaisia ajatuksia nuorilla on sijaishuoltoajastaan ja sijaishuoltopaikastaan, sekä millaiset valmiudet he ovat mielestään saaneet sijaishuoltopaikasta omaan itsenäiseen elämään. Opinnäytetyöni on kvalitatiivinen tutkimus, jossa olen käyttänyt aineistokeruumenetelmänä teemahaastattelua. Haastattelin tutkimukseeni kuutta nuorta, joiden viimeisimpänä sijaishuoltopaikkana yksityinen lastenkoti on toiminut. Haastattelemilleni nuorille on sijoituksen jälkeen muodostunut kokonaisuudessaan positiivinen kuva omasta sijaishuoltoajastaan ja nuoret kertovat oppineensa sijaishuollon aikana itsenäisessä elämässä vaadittavia valmiuksia. Nuoret kuitenkin mainitsevat myös negatiivisia asioita sijaishuoltoajasta ja kuvailevat yksityisen lastenkodin toimintaa koskevia puutteita. Haastatteluhetkellä nuorten elämä oli kokonaisuutena varsin tasapainoista ja heillä oli elämässään kannattelevia tekijöitä. Monella on kuitenkin sijoituksen jälkeen esiintynyt suuria vaikeuksia ja osa oli haastatteluhetkellä vailla työ- tai opiskelupaikkaa.After foster care a young person faces the independent living. Life after foster care is usually difficult and critical time. Usually children who are in foster care have different kind of traumas. For that reason they have a high risk of facing problems in adulthood. What is life after foster care and what kind of independent life skills have young people learned in foster care? What do young people think about foster care afterwards? My thesis was assigned by a private children’s home with twelve places for young people. In my thesis I will try to find out what life is after foster care. I also try to find out what kind of thoughts young people have about their time in foster care and what kind of independent life skills young people learned while foster care. My thesis is a qualitative study in which I used interviews as a data collection method. I interviewed the six young people whose last foster care place has been same private children’s house. After foster care young people have formed a positive image of their substitute care and young people told that they have learned the skills required for independent life. However, young people also mention some negative things about foster care and describe some weaknesses of private children’s house. The young people’s lives seemed to be stable at the time of the interview and they had things which support them in life. However, many young people have had big problems after foster care and some of them were without a job or a place of study

Western Direct Investments in European CMEA Countries in the 1970s and 1980s

The purpose of this study is to investigate how Western enterprises can participate in the development of centrally planned economies (CPEs) of Eastern Europe by making foreign direct investments (FDI). Only those East European countries which are members of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) are included in this study, although other socialist countries, like Yugoslavia and China, also allow FDIs on their territories. Cuba, which is a full, non European member of the CMEA, and has joint venture rules, is excluded. The disregarding of these three countries mentioned is justified, because their inclusion would complicate the study unnecessarily

Sairauskohtauksien tunnistaminen ja ensiapu anniskeluravintolassa : Ensiapuopas ja -koulutustilaisuus Ravintola Kiteen Karhun henkilökunnalle

Tämän opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena on lisätä anniskeluravintola Ravintola Kiteen Karhun henkilökunnan ensiapuvalmiutta sekä rohkeutta ensiaputilanteissa toimimiseen haastavissakin olosuhteissa. Toteutustapana on toiminnallinen opinnäytetyö, joka kirjallisen teoriatiedon lisäksi sisältää oppaan sekä koulutustilaisuuden yleisimpien sairauskohtausten oireista ja ensiavusta anniskeluravintolassa. Työssä käsitellyt neurologiset, sydänperäiset, sokeriaineenvaihdunnalliset sekä yliherkkyysperäiset sairauskohtaukset voivat hoitamattomina johtaa elämänlaadun heikkenemiseen tai kuolemaan. Asianmukaisella ensiavulla ja hoidolla kohtauksista aiheutuneita vahinkoja voidaan kuitenkin minimoida. Ensiavun merkityksen lisäksi työssä tuodaan esille sairauksien esiintyvyyttä sekä riskitekijöitä. Riskitekijöistä on paneuduttu etenkin alko-holin haittoihin, sillä Ravintola Kiteen Karhun toiminta keskittyy alkoholin anniskeluun. Teoriaosuuteen on käytetty ajantasaisia ja luotettavia, kotimaisia sekä kansainvälisiä kirjallisuus-, internet- ja tutkimuslähteitä. Opinnäytetyöhön sisältyvä opas sairauskohtausten oirekuvasta ja ensiavusta anniskeluravintolassa pohjautuu kirjalliseen teoriatietoon sekä siihen käytettyihin lähteisiin. Koulutustilaisuus sairauskohtausten ensiavusta anniskeluravintolassa pidettiin 1.10.2017. Koulutukseen sisältyi teoriaosuus ja esimerkkejä ensiaputilanteista, jonka jälkeen henkilökunta sai harjoitella ohjattuna ensiaputilanteita. Koulutuksen päätyttyä osallistujilta kerättiin palautetta tilaisuutta varten tehdyllä palautelomakkeella ja vastausten perusteella sekä koulutus että opas koettiin tarpeellisiksi.The aim of this thesis was to add the preparedness for first aid and courage in emergency situations of the Restaurant Karhu staff in a challenging working environment. This thesis was implemented as a functional thesis. In addition to theory this thesis includes a guide and training of the symptoms and first aid of the most common emergencies in a restau-rant environment. If neurological, cardiological, sugar metabolism and allergy emergencies are not treated they may lead to the weakening of life quality or to death. The damages can be minimized with proper first aid and care. In addition to the importance of first aid this thesis discusses the incidences and risk factors of the diseases. Because the business idea at Restaurant Karhu is serving alcoholic beverages the thesis focuses on the risk factors of alcohol. In the theoretical part of the thesis both topical and reliable domestic and international sources are used. The guide on the symptoms and first aid of emergencies in a restaurant is based on theoretical sources. The first aid training session was arranged on 1.10.2017. The training session included theory, examples of first aid situations and practical first aid exercises. After the training feedback was collected from the participants and according to received feed-back, both the education/ training and the guidebook were deemed necessary

Instrumenttimultiplekserin valmistuksen optimointi

Tutkimus suoritettiin toimeksiantajan tuotantotiloissa. On huomattu, että instrumenttimultiplekserituotannon tehokkuus ei ole sillä tasolla, jolla sen tulisi olla. Tästä syystä tehokkuutta tulisi nostaa ja ennen kaikkea tuotannon jalostavan työn osuutta tulisi kasvattaa. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli kartoittaa, millaisin menetelmin näitä huomattuja epäkohtia voisi parantaa. Kun tuotantoa seurattiin, kävi selväksi, että useita eri osa-alueita tuotannossa tulisi kehittää, jotta haluttu muutos saavutettaisiin.Työn tutkimuskysymys on, kuinka tehostaa instrumenttimultiplekserituotantoa ja kuinka tuotannon jalostavan työn osuutta voitaisiin kasvattaa. Tutkimuksen tekemisessä käytettiin sekä kvalitatiivisia, että kvantitatiivisia menetelmiä. Työntekijäkyselyllä kartoitettiin tuotantotiimin ja tuotannon dynamiikkaa. Sen lisäksi työntekijöitä haastateltiin, jotta saatiin syvempi näkemys siitä, millaisia ongelmakohtia tuotannossa heidän mielestään on ja millaisia kehitysehdotuksia heillä itsellään on tuotannon parantamiseksi. Muutosprosessia ja layoutia koskevaa kirjallisuutta tutkittiin työhyvinvointia koskevan kirjallisuuden lisäksi. Tutkimalla tuotannon nykytilaa poimittiin tiettyjä asioita, joiden ratkaisemisella toivotut vaikutukset olisi mahdollista saavuttaa. Näitä olivat layoutratkaisut, testilaitteet ja työnjohdolliset asiat. Kun nykytila oli saatu selvitettyä, nykytilan ja tavoitetilan eroja analysoitiin. Kohdat joiden päätettiin olevan kehittämisen tarpeessa valittiin ja niille luotiin kehitysehdotuksia. Näitä muutoksia olivat testilaitteiden päivittäminen nykyisiä vaatimuksia vastaaviksi, layoutin muuttaminen tehokkaammaksi materiaalivirtoja ajatellen ja ehdotukset työntekijöiden työhyvinvoinnin kehittämiseksi. Tutkimuksessa tultiin siihen lopputulokseen, että edellä mainittuja asioita kehittämällä voidaan tehostaa koko tuotantoprosessia ja nostaa jalostavan työn osuutta tuotannossa. Mikäli kehitysehdotukset toteutetaan yrityksessä, tulisi suorittaa jälkiseurantaa, jotta saadaan selkeä kuva siitä, miten muutokset ovat prosessin tehokkuuteen lopulta vaikuttaneet.This study was conducted at the production facilities of the employer. The efficiency of the instrument multiplexer production at the plant has not been satisfactory, thus making it important to study what could be done in order to improve the production of this device. By studying the actual process of manufacturing instrument multiplexers, it became clear that multiple different areas of the process could be modified in order to achieve more efficient production. The research question is how to improve the production process of the instrument multiplexers and how to increase the portion of refining work in the process. The methods used in this study were both qualitative and quantitative. An inquiry was conducted among the production workers in the team to gain an insight to the dynamics of the teamwork and production. Also an interview with the workers was conducted to gain more information about their own improvement suggestions as well as points that should be looked at in the production process. Literature concerning the change processes and layout planning were looked at aswell in addition to literature about work well-being. By studying the current state of the production, points of interest were picked and what could be done to improve them. These include layout solutions, testing equipment and managemental issues. When the current state had become clear, analysis of the desired state and current state of the process was conducted. The points which should be improved were determined and suggestions how that desired state could be reached were made. These include changes in the layout, managemental changes concerning the change process and workforce and changes in the testing equipment. It was concluded that making changes in the layout, testing equipment and management of the workforce, the portion of refining work of the instrument multiplexer production could be increased to a desired level as well as the whole process could be improved. In case the suggested changes are brought to practice, some inquiries should be made in order to see what effect the changes have had

Safety concepts to enable autonomous train operations in semi-restricted industrial areas

The work performed has been enabled by Business Finland, which provided funding for a research project ‘Autonominen juna -kehityshanke’ - VTT (45715/31/2020), which included collaboration with Proxion Oy, Electric Power Finland Oy, and Steel Wheel Oy for the development of autonomous train in industrial sites. Typically, these sites have small internal rail network forlow-speed transportation of raw materials, semifinished goods, and final products. Since most of the traffic within these sites is caused by the trucks and trains of the industrial site itself, and since the vehicles and persons from outside would need permission to enter, many of such sites can be described as semi-restricted.The study considers other (manual) train traffic in semi-restricted industrial areas but does not consider the driving of an autonomous train on the public main line. The study had two main research objectives. The first objective was to identify and analyse safety risks related to the daily operation of the autonomous train on its route in a semi-restricted industrial area: charging / refuelling station, loading / unloading places, railway switches and level crossings. The second objective was to define concepts to secure the path of an autonomous train and principles to control level crossings and their safety-related systems in three different train traffic control concepts:− An autonomous train has a static local permit in a semi-restricted industrial area− The autonomous train has a dynamic local permit in a semi-restricted industrial area− The rail yard traffic control sets the access permit for the autonomous train in a semi-restricted industrial areaThis report summaries the analysis of new safety risk related to autonomous train operations in semi-restricted industrial areas, including the concepts for safe pathways and safe level crossing controls for autonomous train operations

Safety concepts to enable autonomous train operations in semi-restricted industrial areas

The work performed has been enabled by Business Finland, which provided funding for a research project ‘Autonominen juna -kehityshanke’ - VTT (45715/31/2020), which included collaboration with Proxion Oy, Electric Power Finland Oy, and Steel Wheel Oy for the development of autonomous train in industrial sites. Typically, these sites have small internal rail network forlow-speed transportation of raw materials, semifinished goods, and final products. Since most of the traffic within these sites is caused by the trucks and trains of the industrial site itself, and since the vehicles and persons from outside would need permission to enter, many of such sites can be described as semi-restricted.The study considers other (manual) train traffic in semi-restricted industrial areas but does not consider the driving of an autonomous train on the public main line. The study had two main research objectives. The first objective was to identify and analyse safety risks related to the daily operation of the autonomous train on its route in a semi-restricted industrial area: charging / refuelling station, loading / unloading places, railway switches and level crossings. The second objective was to define concepts to secure the path of an autonomous train and principles to control level crossings and their safety-related systems in three different train traffic control concepts:− An autonomous train has a static local permit in a semi-restricted industrial area− The autonomous train has a dynamic local permit in a semi-restricted industrial area− The rail yard traffic control sets the access permit for the autonomous train in a semi-restricted industrial areaThis report summaries the analysis of new safety risk related to autonomous train operations in semi-restricted industrial areas, including the concepts for safe pathways and safe level crossing controls for autonomous train operations

Simple online algorithm for detecting cow’s ECG beat-to-beat interval using a microcontroller

This paper describes an online algorithm for detecting cow’s beat-to-beat interval on a small embedded microcontroller. The target device is an ECG implant which only provides limited calculation power and insufficient storage memory for long term complete ECG data logging. No common computationally efficient method for detecting the human R-wave was found successful for cattle ECG data with the used measurement configuration. Our algorithm detects a cow’s S-wave, which is the most distinguishable part of the QRS-complex. The offset and amplitude adaptive algorithm utilizes only arithmetic operations and logic conditions.Peer reviewe

Pupil participation in the development of school culture

Peer reviewedPublisher PD