Digitalizing Diversity: Public Service Strategies and Television Program Supply in Finland in 2002

In this article, we examine content supply as a public service strategy in Finland, one of the forerunner countries of digital terrestrial television in Europe. Regarding digitalization, European broadcasters face several options from full service to a specialized mission. The case at hand is the first full digital year of 2002 in Finland. The focus is on one of the traditional principles of public service broadcasting, the diversity of programming, as it is realized in the new, digital, multichannel environment. We examine content diversity by comparing channel profiles as well by analyzing indexes of the horizontal and vertical breadth and dissimilarity of programming. In a market of two public service and two commercial analogue generalist TV channels, the five new thematic digital channels have radically altered the amount of system-wide supply, but the diversity of programming has not suffered. This is due to the specializing strategy of the public service broadcaster. Its approach to focus on factual programming is clear in its digital output but can be detected in moderation also in its analogue supply. However, with the expected increase on commercial digital supply also in terrestrial networks, there is the possibility of the generalist public service broadcaster to turn into a fragmented one.     

From Gothenburg to Everywhere: Bonfires of Revolutionary Learning

Learn the simplest things. For you Whose time has come. It is never too late! - Bertolt Brecht, "Praise of Learning" Living social reality is always faster than any attempt to document it. Documentation will always remain inevitably partial.     

Stakeholder relationships in higher education

The purpose of this study is to develop a stakeholder map to describe the most important stakeholders and the process of stakeholder relationships in higher education. According to the perspective of the balanced scorecard, the classification of stakeholders integrates stakeholders into strategic management. Stakeholder maps are essential in quality assurance, because higher education institutions must identify the most important stakeholders to collect feedback from the stakeholder relationships and improve their processes. This study describes stakeholder collaboration using the process flow of stakeholder relationships. The results of the study can be used in quality audits to describe how stakeholders are involved in a meaningful manner in the development of activities.     

Neuromuscular fatigue induced by an isotonic heavy-resistance loading protocol in knee extensors

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to assess neuromuscular fatigue during a typical high-load, low-repetition loading protocol. Muscle stimulations were used to assess maximum voluntary contraction, resting single- and double-pulse twitch characteristics, and superimposed double-pulse twitch force (used to calculate voluntary activation) before and after an acute knee extension loading protocol. In our participants, who had previous resistance training experience, the mean voluntary activation level was 96.2% in an unfatigued state. Maximum voluntary contraction (?11.8%), resting double-pulse twitch force (?10.6%), and voluntary activation (?2.1%) were markedly decreased as a consequence of loading (P < 0.05). In addition, although potentiated twitch characteristics were observed during the loading protocol, this was short-lived, as fatigue surpassed the potentiation mechanisms. Our results show that both central and peripheral mechanisms contributed to neuromuscular fatigue during the present loading protocol.     

Fostering Students’ Collaborative Learning Competencies and Professional Conduct in the Context of Two Gross Anatomy Courses in Veterinary Medicine

Collaborative learning has been used in anatomy courses to support students’ learning of challenging topics but the success of group work depends significantly on the students’ ability to communicate in a professional manner. Veterinary students’ experiences with tasks related to collaborative learning and professional conduct were studied by comparing learning collaborative competences and pedagogy, as well as perceived positive and challenging aspects, in two gross anatomy courses. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from students’ experiences of course assignments and collaboration, as well as from self-evaluated collaboration competence development. Trying things out oneself, practical application and professional conduct were positively highlighted particularly in the first-year course (myology and arthrology) group work and learning from others more in the second year (topographical anatomy). Various group work challenges, often relating to practical matters or communication, were the key concerns for students. The main difference between the two courses in learning of collaborative knowledge work competencies appeared to relate to the nature of the group work assignment. The topography course included the element of collaboration in preparing a presentation and teaching session for the rest of the class. Interestingly, students on the myology and arthrology course gave more positive comments on professional conduct than the students on the topography course despite the fact that the latter course included more practical elements relating to their future profession.     

The prevalence of publicly stimulated innovations –A comparison of Finland and Sweden, 1970–2013

While the role played by the state in stimulating innovation in the private sector has been a prevalent interest in innovation research, studies analysing the impacts of public interventions have usually focused on individual policies, programs or projects. Public stimulation is hence often studied from a relatively restricted and temporarily confined perspective, leaving a macro-level and longer-term perspective unrecognized. This article provides further evidence on the matter by examining how many innovations in Finland and Sweden have been publicly stimulated through funding or research collaboration, over a period of more than four decades (1970–2013). Our main source is a new innovation database constructed following the Literature Based Innovation Output (LBIO) method, which gathers the most significant innovations of both countries for the study period, totalling approximately 4100 Swedish and 2600 Finnish innovations. Our results indicate that the public sector has played a very prominent role in stimulating private innovation in both countries, and with an increasing trend. This is especially true for Finland, where 35–55% of the innovations of the period have been stimulated by public funding and 25–65% by collaboration with public research. In Sweden, the share of publicly stimulated innovations has been somewhat lower and erratic, but has increased over time.     

Strategy and Quality Maps in Higher Education

The purpose of this study is to investigate the integration of strategic management and quality assurance in higher education. The study presents how the value chain can be described in the strategy and quality maps, which are, respectively graphical representations of the strategic plan and the quality assurance system. The quality map is a new concept that explicitly takes into account the environment, strategic planning and the quality cycle of the institution. The quality map helps the management of the higher education institution present an overview of the quality assurance system to external evaluators, members of the organization, students and other stakeholders.     

Agents of responsibility in software vulnerability processes

Modern software is infested with flaws having information security aspects. Pervasive computing has made us and our society vulnerable. However, software developers do not fully comprehend what is at stake when faulty software is produced and flaws causing security vulnerabilites are discovered. To address this problem, the main actors involved with software vulnerability processes and the relevant roles inside these groups are identified. This categorisation is illustrated through a fictional case study, which is scrutinised in the light of ethical codes of professional software engineers and common principles of responsibility attribution. The focus of our analysis is on the acute handling of discovered vulnerabilities in software, including reporting, correcting and disclosing these vulnerabilities. We recognise a need for guidelines and mechanisms to facilitate further improvement in resolving processes leading to and in handling software vulnerabilities. In the spirit of disclosive ethics we call for further studies of the complex issues involved.