How to find and understand development problems and learning challenges in organic vegetable farming?

Laura Seppänen's doctoral dissertation in agroecology, using an approach derived from cultural historical activity theory, examines the developmental problems and learning challenges in organic vegetable farming

Networking Phylogeny for Indo-European and Austronesian Languages

Harnessing cognitive abilities of many individuals, a language evolves upon their mutual interactions establishing a persistent social environment to which language is closely attuned. Human history is encoded in the rich sets of linguistic data by means of symmetry patterns that are not always feasibly represented by trees. Here we use the methods developed in the study of complex networks to decipher accurately symmetry records on the language phylogeny of the Indo-European and the Austronesian language families, considering, in both cases, the samples of fifty different languages. In particular, we support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin and the ‘express train’ model of Austronesian expansion from South-East Asia, with an essential role for the Batanes islands located between the Philippines and Taiwan

A systems approach to the management of arbuscular mycorrhiza

Helena Kahiluoto granskar i sin doktorsavhandling möjligheterna att bevara den ekosystemtjänst som mykorrhizans funktion utgör och stödja sig på utnyttjandet av denna i en hållbar fosforhushållning. I avhandlingen, som är den första doktorsavhandlingen inom ekologisk odling i Finland, undersöktes också den metodologiska frågan om "systemansatsens" (system approach) utmaningar

Jus og Politikk i Høyesteretts praksis. Hvem skal tolke Grunnloven, Høyesterett eller Stortinget?

Oppgavens tema jus og politikk i Høyesterett. Den ser nærmere på domstolenes rolle ved prøving av lovers grunnlovmessighet i lys av Grunnlovens idégrunnlag om maktfordeling og folkesuverenitet

On the Schmidt Subspace Theorem

We study extensions and generalizations of the Schmidt Subspace Theorem in various settings. In particular, we prove results for algebraic points of bounded degree, giving a sharp version of Schmidt's theorem for quadratic points in the projective plane and a more general result that resolves a conjecture of Schlickewei

Kautilya, Sisyphus and development studies : on policy, administration and well-being

Twenty-three centuries ago, over five times the span of years since Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince and The Discourses, an Indian Brahmin composed a political treatise on government called theArthasastra. That treatise byKautilya - or Chanakya, as he is sometimes known - synthesized behavioural principles and propositions which have remarkable relevance to development studies. As I searched for a cornerstone on which to base myinaugural lecture here at the ISS, I recalled my ,I excitement thirty years ago on entering a world of ideas and applications beyond the confines of Euro-America, I was then an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota studying political science, French and history, and I encountered Kautilya's Arthasastra as well as Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddima or "Prolegomenon to History" long before I was even selected to be an exchange-student at Osmania University in Hyderabad, India. This afternoon I am going to share some of those early thoughts, tempered (of course) with a few decades of my experiences on various continents in various capacities. An advantage of this perhaps unorthodox approach is that it allowsme to raise questions and proposals about public policy and administration in their broader, world-wide context through the ages rather than being afflicted - as is so often the case - with what might be called "current-events-itis" and excessive concern with the immediate here and now

Ekoproduktion på mjölkgårdar - ett lönsamt alternativ?

Inom ProAgria Norra Karelen har utretts lönsamheten av mjölkgårdar i östra Finland. Mellan gårdarna finns stora skillnader i ekonomin både inom ekologiska och konventionella. Utgångsläget inverkar på gårdens ekonomiska framgång i ekoproduktionen