The consolidation phase: Survival strategies of farmers stabilizing and developing their businesses

In earlier studies, past succession is found to contribute positively to the farm growth. However, there is lack of information on how are the farms succeeding after the starting phase. In this study, it is analysed how farmers that have recently started their farm enterprise differ from more experienced farmers in some key farm management areas such as farm and farmer characteristics, strategic objectives and development plans. The data were collected by postal survey from Salo region in South-Western Finland. In the study, farmers are divided in to three different groups according to the farmer’s age and experience. According to the results, early phase farmers are in certain areas better equipped than older generations. They have better education and better networks than others. Moreover, the younger entrepreneurs consider their networks more important than their senior colleagues. Like expected, at early phase farmers had invested significantly more and have more liabilities than the others. In addition, the early phase farmers are the most active also for developing their farms. The late phase farmers were the least active, even if they were going to have succession within the next years. This might be problematic for the successor, too. However, in order to improve the viability of whole farming sector, the farms should be developed as continuum.farm management, multivariate data analysis, Farm Management,

Seamless soft handover in DVB-H networks

DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting for Handhelds) is a standard specified by the DVB Organization specifically for the broadcast of TV-like content and data to handheld devices, such as mobile phones, which have unique requirements in terms of power consumption, screen-size and mobility. Seamless handover in such a unidirectional network is especially challenging. In this paper we describe the handover issues of DVB-H networks and propose a novel seamless soft handover mechanism based on measuring CDF (Cumulative Distribution Function) of the signal to noise ratio (SNR) in the DVB-H terminal receiver front-end . Details of the algorithm is given and simulation is done to prove the benefits of such soft handover scheme

A survey of handover algorithms in DVB-H

Digital Video Broadcasting for Handhelds (DVB-H) is a standard for broadcasting IP Datacast (IPDC) services to mobile handheld terminals. Based on the DVB-T standard, DVB-H adds new features such as time slicing, MPE-FEC, in-depth interleavers, mandatory cell id identifier, optional 4K-modulation mode and the use of 5 MHz bandwidth in addition to the usually used 6, 7, or 8 MHz raster. IPDC over DVB-H is proposed for ETSI to complement the DVB-H standard by combining IPDC and DVB-H in an end-to-end system. Handover in such unidirectional broadcasting networks is a novel issue. In the last few years since the birth of DVB-H technology, great attention has been given to the performance analysis of DVB-H mobile terminals. Handover is one of the main research topics for DVB-H in mobile scenarios. Better reception quality and greater power efficiency are considered to be the main targets of handover research for DVB-H. New algorithms for different handover stages in DVB-H have been the subject of recent research and are currently being studied. Further novel algorithms need to be designed to improve the mobile reception quality. This article provides a comprehensive survey of the handover algorithms in DVB-H. A systematic evaluation and categorization approach is proposed based on the problems the algorithms solve and the handover stages being focused on. Criteria are proposed and analyzed to facilitate designing better handover algorithms for DVB-H that have been identified from the research conducted by the author

Incorporating Digital Repeaters into the Soft Handover Standard in Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld

Digital Video Broadcasting for Handhelds (DVB-H) is a standard for broadcasting IP data services to portable devices. Handover in unidirectional broadcast networks is a novel issue introduced by this technology. This paper proposes and analyses the Repeater Aided Soft Handover (RA_handover) algorithm for a DVB-H receiver with MIMO antennas and presents the benefits of implementing RA_handover compared with a handover process without repeaters. For network planning and optimisation purposes simulation models are developed to analyse the RA_handover approach. It is shown that RA_handover could greatly improve the quality of service and consume much less front-end battery power than a handover method without repeaters. In addition, the cost introduced by the algorithm is briefly estimated. In conclusion, curves are given that show the relationship between quality of service and consumed battery power, which provide further support for including RA_handover in the DVB-H soft handover standard. The paper provides valuable outcomes for service providers and standard policy makers

Carl Reinhold Sahlberg – Demonstrator in Botany at old Åbo Akademi, later Professor in Botany and Zoology at Imperial Alexander University of Finland

Sahlberg was the temporary Demonstrator in Botany 1805–06, Demonstrator in Botany 1810–13, Associate Professor in Natural History and Museum Inspector 1813–16, temporary Professor in Natural History 1816–18, Professor 1818–1841 at old Åbo Akademi and at Imperial Alexander University of Finland. As a Demonstrator, his main duty was to instruct medical students on the subject of medicinal plants. In his research, he focused on insects, especially the Coleoptera. As a botanist, his major achievements were building the Herbarium and Botanic Garden, in two phases. Prior to the Great Fire of Åbo in 1827, he acted at old Åbo Akademi. During that period, he acquired an extensive collection to the Botanical Museum during his visits to Sweden in 1801 and 1806, and to St. Petersburg in 1813, and by exchange especially with Professors Olof Swartz and Carl Peter Thunberg. Travel to St. Petersburg was fruitful, 1 500 species of seeds, 240 roots and cuttings was received to Åbo Botanic Garden. Those were arranged by Count Vladimir Grigorievich Orlow, botanist Christian Friedrich Stephan, gardeners Johann Peter Buek and Jason Petrow in St. Petersburg, and probably by Count Alexei Razumovsky and Professor von Fischer in Moskow. In 1821 Sahlberg established Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica, to increase knowledge on Finnish animals and plants. After the Great Fire of Åbo, everything had to be re-built in Helsinki, the new capital of Finland since 1812. University had to move in 1828. In Helsinki Sahlberg built up new collections, first by selling his private plant collection consisting of 5 132 specimens to the Alexander University of Finland. Others collections were also bought. At the time of his retirement in 1841, the Herbarium consisted of ca. 40 000 specimens, Botanic Garden of 5 000 species. After retirement, Sahlberg establish an orchard to Yläne, SW Finland, at his Uusikartano estate. It was the largest orchard of its time in Finland, with over 1 200 apple trees

Mårten Magnus Wilhelm Brenner, Finnish plant enthusiast

Mårten Magnus Wilhelm Brenner (1843–1930) was a controversial figure in Finnish botany. He was a passionate non-professional botanist, amongst the most diligent Finnish writers of his time having published 220 articles or notes. He described 833 taxa, including 411 species, six subspecies, 196 varieties, four subvarieties, 199 forms and 17 subforms. Typifications of 151 names are provided in a separate article. Brenner was particularly interested in the Hieracium taxonomy, but he studied several other plant genera and species during almost 60 years of botanical activity: Alnus, Erophila [Draba] verna, Euphrasia, Juncus, Linnaea borealis, Picea abies, Pimpinella saxifraga, Primula officinalis [veris], Rosa, Sorbus aucuparia, Taraxacum and Viola tricolor, for example. His descriptions resulted largely from his own collection activity without any synoptic work. Typically, each taxon was based on small, minor details, sometimes on a single or a few specimens, and often characterised by local distribution. Producing detailed infraspecific classifications was common practice in those times, apparently inspired by the German school of taxonomy, which was later called the Aschersonian approach. For many obvious reasons, botanists of that and later eras did not appreciate Brenner’s taxonomic results. Only some Euphrasia (one taxa), Hieracium (11) and Tarxacum (20) names are currently accepted in the Checklist of Finnish vascular plants, and E. wettstenii var. botniensium has recently been recognised. Brenner’s interest was not restricted to vascular plants. He collected an amount of lichens in late 1869 and 1870 on the island of Suursaari in the Gulf of Finland, for example, and he published extensive floristic accounts of Suursaari and northern Finland. He focused also on ecology and was concerned about changes in nature resulting from human activity. In northern Finland he collected bryophytes, many of which were new to Northern Ostrobothnia. He wrote a review of the history of lichenology in Finland, which the editorial board considered supercritical and did not accept, and which he therefore released as a self-published edition. Brenner became a member of the Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica in 1863, holding the position of Secretary in 1866–1876, and he was a member of the Printing Committee for the Publication Series in 1873–1878, 1884–1888 and 1890–1894. However, he was disliked because of his arrogant and presumptuous character, and he sometimes referred to the findings of others as his own at the monthly meetings of the Societas. Eventually, in 1890, he drifted into a polemical relationship with researchers working at the Botanical Museum. His extensive private herbarium was donated posthumously to the Botanical Museum, nowadays the Botanical Museum (H), Finnish Museum of Natural History (Luomus), University of Helsinki, and, he had already donated several batches of plant specimens he collected on trips funded by the Society. Carex brenneri Christ. is lectotypified here.Peer reviewe

Nikolaus Rungius : Lifestyle and Status of an Early Seventeenth-Century Northern Finnish Vicar

Vicar Nikolaus Rungius's (ca. 1560-1629) mummified remains have been the subject of research that has provided a wide variety of information on his life. This article examines the ways Rungius's health and lifestyle highlight his status as a vicar, and this status is visible in his burial and funerary clothing. He was a relatively large man for his time. CT scans even include indications of certain conditions related to being overweight. Likewise, stable-isotope analyses of his nail keratin support the hypothesis that he was consuming a rather heavy, protein-rich diet. Given his status as the vicar of Kemi parish in northern Finland, he likely made sumptuous use of the rich local natural resources of fish, game, and domestic animals as part of his regular diet. In addition to his diet and health, the vicar's high-quality clothes, while fragmentary, also open an avenue to extend the exploration of his social status and wealth.Peer reviewe

Fredrik Wilhelm Radloff – Demonstrator in Botany at old Åbo Akademi

Radloff was the Demonstrator in Botany (1806–1809) at Åbo Akademi. His main duty was to instruct medical students on the subject of medicinal plants. In his own thesis, De Myristica, supervised by Professor Carl Peter Thunberg, he presented morphological characters of two species of the genus. Two theses supervised by Radloff provide valuable information on plantations in the old Åbo Akademi Botanic Garden. Prior to this position Radloff was appointed regional Physician of Åland 1789–1799. There he compiled a regional description that includes a list of local species. The latter part of his career in Finland Radloff acted as a secretary of the Royal Finnish Economy Society 1805–1813. In those years Radloff wrote on the cultivation trials of root crops and fences

Accessions to the Botanical Museum of the Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, in 2007

The herbarium accessions amount to 19,878 specimens, including 5,510 specimens of vascular plants, 2,767 specimens of bryophytes and algae, 11,566 specimens of fungi (incl. lichens), and 35 specimens of zoocecidia. Some details of noteworthy accessions are given here