Estimation accuracy of the quality factors of pine (Pinus sylvestris) using Terrestrial Laser Scanning

Metsien inventoinnissa pyritään saamaan jatkuvasti tarkempaa tietoa puustosta niin valtakunnan kuin yksityismetsien tasolla. Nykyisellään metsien suunnittelussa laatuominaisuuksia kuvaavia tietoja ei juuri mitata pystypuista, sillä tarkkoihin puustomittauksiin ei ole resurssi- ja kustannussyistä mahdollisuuksia. Tämän tutkimuksen ensimmäisenä päätavoitteena oli selvittää, millä tarkkuudella tukkikokoisen männyn ulkoisesti tarkasteltavia sisäisen puuaineen laatua ennustavia ominaisuuksia pystytään mittaamaan manuaalisella yhden maastolaserkeilausaineiston tarkastelulla. Tarkasteltavia tunnuksia olivat puun pituus, rinnankorkeusläpimitta, yläläpimitta sekä alimman kuivan ja tuoreen oksan korkeudet. Toisena päätavoitteena oli selvittää, millä tarkkuudella rungon yleislaatua kuvaava puuluokka (VMI) voidaan ennustaa maastolaserkeilausaineistosta mitattujen ja niistä johdettujen puutunnusten perusteella. Johdettuja tunnuksia olivat puun tilavuus, latvussuhde, kuivaoksaisen ja oksattoman rungonosan suhde puun pituuteen sekä muotoluku. Ennustamiseen käytettiin lähimmän naapurin menetelmää, missä lähimpien naapurien etsintä suoritettiin Random Forest -menetelmän avulla. Maastolaserkeilausaineiston suhteellinen mittaustarkkuus (RMSE %) referenssinä toimineeseen maastoaineistoon nähden oli pituudella 7,54 % (suhteellinen harha -6,16 %), rinnankorkeusläpimitalla 6,39 % (-2,46 %), yläläpimitalla 10,01 % (0,40 %), alimman tuoreen oksan korkeudella 9,21 % (-5,99 %) ja alimman kuivan oksan korkeudella 34,95 % (-1,47 %). Rungon laatua ilmentävän puuluokan ennustuksessa maastolaserkeilausaineistosta päästiin 78 % ennustustarkkuuteen (5 puuluokkaa). Karkeammalla kolmen puuluokan luokituksella päästiin 87 % ennustustarkkuuteen. Tulosten perusteella voidaan todeta, että laatutunnuksia, kuten oksarajoja voidaan tulkita maastolaserkeilausaineistosta melko hyvällä tarkkuudella. Myös puuluokan ennustaminen onnistuu kohtuullisesti (5 luokkaa) ja karkeammalla luokituksella (3 luokkaa) hyvin. Tässä työssä kuvattua ennustemenetelmää on mahdollista vielä kehittää esimerkiksi maastolaserkeilauksen automaattisen tulkinnan avulla sekä yhdistämällä useita keilausaineistoja tarkasteltavasta kohteesta. Potentiaalisin lähitulevaisuuden käytännön sovellus on, että TLS-aineisto voi toimia referenssinä lentolaserkeilaukselle, sillä tähän tarkoitukseen karkeamman luokituksen tarkkuus vaikuttaa jo varsin lupaavalta.In forest inventories, more and more detailed information about the constantly growing stock is intended to obtain both at national and at private forests level. At present, in forest planning the features describing wood quality are rarely estimated from standing trees since there are limited resources for the precise measurements of the trees due to high expenses. The principal aim of this study was to determine the precision whereby the externally reviewed predictive features of the internal quality of a log-size pine wood can be estimated manually using Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS). The examined features were tree height, diameter at breast height, upper diameter as well as the heights of the lowest dead and living branch. The second main objective was to determine the precision whereby the tree class can be predicted based on measured and derived tree attributes. The derived attributes were the volume of the wood, crown ratio, the relation of dead branched and branch free part of the tree to the tree height, and form factor. For forecasting the nearest neighbor method was used where the search for the nearest neighbors was performed using the Random Forest -method. The relative accuracy (RMSE %) of TLS data in relation to the reference field data was found to be 7.54% (bias -6.16%) for the tree height, 6.39% ( -2.46%) for the breast height diameter, 10.01% (0.40%) for the upper diameter, 9.21% ( -5.99%) for the height of the lowest living branch and 34.95% ( -1.47%) for the height of the lowest dead branch. On the prediction of the tree class indicating the stem quality, the TLS data reached 78 % classification accuracy (5 tree classes). With harsher three tree class categorization 87% classification accuracy was reached. Based on the results can be said that quality factors, such as the lowest branches can be measured from the TLS data with reasonably adequate accuracy. Also the prediction of the tree class turns out decently (5 classes) and with harsher categorization (3 classes) well. The forecasting method described in this study can still be improved for example by the automatic interpretation of the laser scanning data, as well as combining several laser scanning points from the examined target. The most potential near future application is that TLS data can work as reference for airborne laser scanning because for this purpose the harsher categorization accuracy seems to be already very promising

Psychotherapeutic and work-oriented interventions : employment outcomes among young adults with work disability due to a mental disorder

Background: We examined the extent to which psychotherapeutic and work-oriented interventions were included in a medical treatment and rehabilitation plan and whether they predicted future employment among young adults with work disability due to a mental disorder. Methods: Data were obtained from the treatment and rehabilitation plans of 1163 young adults aged 18. 34 years, who in 2008 were granted fixed-term work disability compensation due to a mental disorder and were followed for 5 years. Results: Forty-six percent had no proposal for psychotherapy or a work-oriented intervention in their treatment and rehabilitation plan, 22 % had a plan for only a psychotherapeutic intervention, 23 % had a plan for only a work-oriented intervention, and 10 % had both types of interventions planned. Having a planned psychotherapeutic intervention (HR = 1.35, 95 % CI 1.07-1.69) and of the work-oriented interventions, planned rehabilitative courses and training (HR = 1.34, 95 % CI 1.03-1.70) predicted quicker entry into competitive employment. Having a plan for both a psychotherapeutic and work-oriented intervention was associated with being employed at the end of the follow-up (OR = 1.77, 95 % CI 1.07-2.95). Conclusions: Young adults with a long-term psychiatric work disability episode rarely have a recorded plan for rehabilitation in their treatment and rehabilitation plan although psychotherapeutic interventions and a combination of a psychotherapeutic and work-oriented intervention might help them gain employment.Peer reviewe

Estimation of the Timber Quality of Scots Pine with Terrestrial Laser Scanning

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Adjuvant Imatinib in Patients with GIST Harboring Exon 9 KIT Mutations : Results from a Multi-institutional European Retrospective Study

Purpose: The effect of high-dose imatinib (800 mg/day) on survival in the adjuvant treatment of patients with resected KIT exon 9-mutated gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) is not established. Here, the association of dose and other clinicopatho-logic variables with survival was evaluated in a large multi-institutional European cohort. Experimental Design: Data from 185 patients were retrospec-tively collected in 23 European GIST reference centers. Propen-sity score matching (PSM) and inverse-probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) were used to account for confounders. Uni-variate and multivariate unweighted and weighted Cox propor-tional hazard regression models were estimated for relapse-free survival (RFS), modified-RFS (mRFS) and imatinib failure-free survival (IFFS). Univariate Cox models were estimated for overall survival. Results: Of the 185 patients, 131 (70.8%) received a starting dose of 400 mg/d and the remaining 54 (29.2%) a dose of 800 mg/d. Baseline characteristics were partially unbalanced, suggesting a potential selection bias. PSM and IPTW analyses showed no advantage of imatinib 800 mg/d. In the weighted multivariate Cox models, high-dose imatinib was not associated with the survival outcomes [RFS: hazard ratio (HR), 1.24; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.79-1.94; mRFS: HR, 1.69; 95% CI, 0.92-3.10; IFFS: HR, 1.35; 95% CI, 0.79- 2.28]. The variables consistently associated with worse survival out-comes were high mitotic index and nongastric tumor location. Conclusions: In this retrospective series of patients with KIT exon 9-mutated GIST treated with adjuvant imatinib, a daily dose of 800 mg versus 400 mg did not show better results in terms of survival outcomes. Prospective evaluation of the more appropriate adjuvant treatment in this setting is warranted.Peer reviewe

Work stress and risk of cancer: meta-analysis of 5700 incident cancer events in 116 000 European men and women

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Job Strain and Alcohol Intake: A Collaborative Meta- Analysis of Individual-Participant Data from 140 000 Men and Women

Abstract Background: The relationship between work-related stress and alcohol intake is uncertain. In order to add to the thus far inconsistent evidence from relatively small studies, we conducted individual-participant meta-analyses of the association between work-related stress (operationalised as self-reported job strain) and alcohol intake

Job Strain and Alcohol Intake: A Collaborative Meta-Analysis of Individual-Participant Data from 140 000 Men and Women

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Prognostic factors for return to work after depression-related work disability : A systematic review and meta-analysis

Knowledge about factors influencing return to work (RTW) after depression-related absence is highly relevant, but the evidence is scattered. We performed a systematic search of PubMed and Embase databases up to February 1, 2016 to retrieve cohort studies on the association between various predictive factors and return to work among employees with depression for review and meta-analysis. We also analyzed unpublished data from the Finnish Public Sector study. Most-adjusted estimates were pooled using fixed effects meta-analysis. Eleven published studies fulfilled the eligibility criteria, representing 22 358 person-observations from five different countries. With the additional unpublished data from the 14 101 person-observations from the Finnish Public Sector study, the total number of person observations was 36 459. The pooled estimates were derived from 2 to 5 studies, with the number of observations ranging from 260 to 26 348. Older age (pooled relative risk [RR] 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.84-0.87), somatic comorbidity (RR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.77-0.83), psychiatric comorbidity (RR = 0.86, 95% CI 0.83-0.88) and more severe depression (RR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.94-0.98) were associated with a lower rate of return to work, and personality trait conscientiousness with higher (RR = 1.06, 95% CI 1.02-1.10) return to work. While older age and clinical factors predicted slower return, significant heterogeneity was observed between the studies. There is a dearth of observational studies on the predictors of RTW after depression. Future research should pay attention to quality aspects and particularly focus on the role of workplace and labor market factors as well as individual and clinical characteristics on RTW. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe