Northwest Russian Forest Sector in a Nutshell

Myös verkkojulkaisuna ISBN 978-951-40-2342-2 (PDF

Bioeconomy perception by future stakeholders: Hearing from European forestry students

This article provides useful information for universities offering forestry programs and facing the growing demand for bioeconomy education. An explorative survey on bioeconomy perception among 1400 students enrolled in 29 universities across nine European countries offering forestry programs was performed. The data have been elaborated via descriptive statistics and cluster analysis. Around 70% of respondents have heard about the bioeconomy, mainly through university courses. Students perceive forestry as the most important sector for bioeconomy; however, the extent of perceived importance of forestry varies between countries, most significantly across groups of countries along a North–South European axis. Although differences across bachelor and master programs are less pronounced, they shed light on how bioeconomy is addressed by university programs and the level of student satisfaction with this. These differences and particularities are relevant for potential development routes towards comprehensive bioeconomy curricula at European forestry universities with a forestry focus.Peer reviewe

Public perceptions of using forests to fuel the European bioeconomy: Findings from eight university cities

The political project on bioeconomy strives to address multiple societal aspirations, namely combine economic growth with environmental sustainability in some socially acceptable manner. The contradictions between the goals and the concrete plans to increase production, processing, and consumption of forest biomass in Europe have however raised sustainability concerns within and beyond its borders. While political actors articulate such contradictions differently and compete for traction for their viewpoints in the public discourse, little is known about how citizens of urban areas perceive this discourse. Conceptualising perception as a multidimensional construct, data from eight European university cities (Bordeaux, Bratislava, Freiburg, Helsinki, Padua, St. Petersburg, Uppsala, Vienna) are statistically analysed to explore its dimensions, the communities of like-minded citizens forming across those dimensions, and the traits associating with membership in each such community. Five communities across six dimensions from biocentrism through distributional aspects to adherence to political goals are identified: adherent-environmentalist, adherent-governmentalist, critical-reformist, critical-agriculturalist, and indifferent. City of residence and perceived familiarity with bioeconomy clearly interact with perception. There is however considerable variation in communities within and across the eight cities, suggesting deeper social tension beyond the public discourse. Much of the within-community variation remains unexplained, though, calling for more work locally. Implications for forest policy are derived.Peer reviewe

Tree mortality in a mixed deciduous forest in Northwestern Russia over 22 years

• We studied mortality rates of birch, small-leaved linden, pedunculate oak, Norway maple, black alder, common ash and Norway spruce, assessed through two inventories of 12 664 trees in the unmanaged mixed deciduous forests of Oranienbaum Park, northwestern Russia, in 1981 and 2003. • Our objectives were to evaluate if (a) long-term mortality rates vary among species, and if (b) crown condition, age and tree size affect the probability of mortality. • Over this period, tree mortality rates in the park varied annually from 1 to 3% for healthy and moderately healthy trees, and from 3.9 to 9.3% for declining trees. The lowest mortality rates were observed for small-leaved linden and oak (0.8 and 1.0%, respectively), and the highest rate for birch (2.7%). We found (1) a significant and consistent association between tree condition and the probability of mortality, and (2) significantly higher mortality rates in smaller trees of ash, maple and oak. • The effect of species-specific biology on mortality rates in the Oranienbaum Park was largely overridden by the “health status” and environmental conditions of the trees (e.g. degree of crown shading). The observed rates were similar to the estimates from natural temperate deciduous forests in both Europe and North America, indicating similar intensity of mortality in these ecosystems under natural conditions.Mortalité des arbres dans une forêt feuillue mixte du nord-ouest de la Russie pendant 22 ans. • Nous avons étudié les taux de mortalité du bouleau, du tilleul à petites feuilles, du chêne pédonculé, de l'érable plane, de l'aulne, du frêne commun, et de l'épicéa par le biais de deux inventaires concernant 12 664 arbres, en 1981 et 2003, dans les forêts mixtes non gérées de l'Oranienbaum Park, dans le nord-ouest de la Russie. • Nos objectifs étaient d'évaluer si (a) à long terme les taux de mortalité varient selon les espèces, et si (b) l'état du houppier, l'âge et la taille des arbres affectent la probabilité de mortalité. • Au cours de cette période, les taux de mortalité des arbres dans le parc ont varié annuellement de 1 à 3 % pour les arbres sains et modérément sains, et de 3,9 à 9,3 % pour les arbres dépérissants. Les taux de mortalité les plus bas ont été observés pour le tilleul à petites feuilles et le chêne (respectivement 0,8 et 1,0 %) et le taux le plus élevé pour le bouleau (2,7 %). Nous avons trouvé (1) une importante et constante association entre la condition de l'arbre et la probabilité de mortalité, et (2) les taux de mortalité significativement les plus élevés chez les plus petits arbres chez le frêne, l'érable et le chêne. • Les effets biologiques de l'espèce sur les taux de mortalité ont été en grande partie annulés par l'état de santé des arbres et les conditions environnementales (par exemple le degré d'ombrage de la couronne). Les taux observés étaient similaires aux estimations obtenues pour les forêts naturelles tempérées en Europe et en Amérique du Nord, indiquant une intensité similaire de mortalité dans ces écosystèmes en conditions naturelles

Exploring the Electronic Band Structure of Organometal Halide Perovskite via Photoluminescence Anisotropy of Individual Nanocrystals

Understanding electronic processes in organometal halide perovskites, flourishing photovoltaic, and emitting materials requires unraveling the origin of their electronic transitions. Light polarization studies can provide important information regarding transition dipole moment orientations. Investigating individual methylammonium lead triiodide perovskite nanocrystals enabled us to detect the polarization of photoluminescence intensity and photoluminescence excitation, hidden in bulk samples by ensemble averaging. Polarization properties of the crystals were correlated with their photoluminescence spectra and electron microscopy images. We propose that distortion of PbI6 octahedra leads to peculiarities of the electronic band structure close to the band-edge. Namely, the lowest band transition possesses a transition dipole moment along the apical Pb-I-Pb bond resulting in polarized photoluminescence. Excitation of photoluminescence above the bandgap is unpolarized because it involves molecular orbitals delocalized both in the apical and equatorial directions of the perovskite octahedron. Trap-assisted emission at 77 K, rather surprisingly, was polarized similar to the bandgap emission

Xenon in the treatment of panic disorder: an open label study

Abstract Background Current treatments of panic disorder (PD) are limited by adverse effects, poor efficacy, and need for chronic administration. The established safety profile of subanesthetic concentrations of xenon gas, which is known to act as a glutamate subtype NMDA receptor antagonist, coupled with preclinical studies demonstrating its effects in other anxiety related conditions, prompted us to evaluate its feasibility and efficacy in treatment of patients with PD. Methods An open-label clinical trial of xenon–oxygen mixture was conducted in 81 patients with PD; group 1 consisting of patients only with PD (N = 42); and group 2 patients with PD and other comorbidities (N = 39). Results Based on the analysis of the results of a number of psychometric scales used in this study (SAS, HADS, CGI), several conclusions can be made: (1) xenon is a potentially effective modality in acute treatment of PD; (2) an anti-panic effect of xenon administration persists for at least 6 months after the completion of the active phase of treatment; (3) xenon inhalation is well tolerated, with the drop-out rates being much lower than that of conventional pharmacotherapy (5.8% vs. 15%); (4) the severity of depressive disorders that frequently accompany PD can be significantly reduced with the use of xenon; (5) xenon may be considered as an alternative to benzodiazepines in conjunction with cognitive-behavioral therapy as a safe modality in treatment of anxiety disorder. Conclusions These data support the need for randomized double-blind clinical trials to further study xenon-based interventions. Trial registration This clinical trial was retrospectively registered on April 14th, 2017 as ISRCTN15184285 in the ISRCTN database

Super-Resolution Luminescence Microspectroscopy Reveals the Mechanism of Photoinduced Degradation in CH3NH3PbI3 Perovskite Nanocrystals

Photoinduced degradation of individual methylammonium lead triiodide (MAPbI3) perovskite nanocrystals was studied using super-resolution luminescence microspectroscopy under intense light excitation. The photoluminescence (PL) intensity decrease and blue-shift of the PL spectrum up to 60 nm together with spatial shifts in the emission localization position up to a few hundred nanometers were visualized in real time. PL blinking was found to temporarily suspend the degradation process, indicating that the degradation needs a high concentration of mobile photogenerated charges to occur. We propose that the mechanistic process of degradation occurs as the three-dimensional MAPbI3 crystal structure smoothly collapses to the two-dimensional layered PbI2 structure. The degradation starts locally and then spreads over the whole crystal. The structural collapse is primarily due to migration of methylammonium ions (MA+), which distorts the lattice structure causing alterations to the Pb–I–Pb bond angle and in turn changes the effective band gap