A Framework for Utilizing Group Support Systems in Scenario Process

In modern day business, managing environmental change has become a vital part of building success. Changes in technology or business conditions can have a drastic effect on the business in the long run. One of the more potent tools proposed to avert this problem is scenario planning. It has been noticed in multiple occasions that traditional forecasting is vulnerable to sudden changes; scenario planning aims to work around the problems of forecasting by mapping the possibilities of the future with a wider perspective. The purpose of this study is to test whether the scenario process can be facilitated with a group support system (GSS) and whether it presents positive gains to the scenario process. According to the two case studies processed in this paper, it seems that GSS indeed holds potential for facilitating the scenario process. On average, people participating in GSS supported sessions have found that GSS enhances group work in the scenario process and that the concept of creating satisfactory scenario with GSS support is feasible

Metsäisten valuma-alueiden vesistökuormituksen laskenta

Metsät vaikuttavat vesistöjen veden laatuun. Luonnontilaisilta metsä- ja suoalueilta vesistöihin kulkeutuvia ainevirtoja kutsutaan taustakuormaksi. Metsissä tehtävät toimenpiteet kuten päätehakkuut, maanmuokkaukset, lannoitukset ja ojitukset lisäävät vesistöihin tulevaa kuormitusta. Tässä julkaisussa esitellään metsätalousmaalta tulevaan luonnon taustakuormaan ja eri metsätaloustoimenpiteiden aiheuttamaan kuormituksen lisäykseen perustuva typpi-, fosfori- ja kiintoainekuormituksen laskentamenetelmä, KALLE. Laskentamenetelmän kuvauksen yhteydessä esitetään taustakuormitusluvut ja kivennäis- ja turvemaiden metsänuudistamisen ja lannoituksen sekä turvemaiden kunnostusojituksen ominaiskuormitusluvut. Ominaiskuormitusluvut on tuotettu olettaen, että vesiensuojelusta on huolehdittu uudistamishakkuiden yhteydessä jättämällä suojakaistoja vesistöjen varteen ja kunnostusojituksissa tekemällä laskeutusaltaita. Laskentamenetelmä ottaa huomioon toimenpiteiden pitkän vaikutusajan. KALLE-laskentamenetelmä on kehitetty valtakunnallisia, vesistöalueryhmittäisiä ja vesienhoitoalueittaisia laskelmia varten. Julkaisussa esitetään myös esimerkkilaskelmien tuloksia

Heme oxygenase-1 repeat polymorphism in septic acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a syndrome that frequently affects the critically ill. Recently, an increased number of dinucleotide repeats in the HMOX1 gene were reported to associate with development of AKI in cardiac surgery. We aimed to test the replicability of this finding in a Finnish cohort of critically ill septic patients. This multicenter study was part of the national FINNAKI study. We genotyped 300 patients with severe AKI (KDIGO 2 or 3) and 353 controls without AKI (KDIGO 0) for the guanine-thymine (GTn) repeat in the promoter region of the HMOX1 gene. The allele calling was based on the number of repeats, the cut off being 27 repeats in the S-L (short to long) classification, and 27 and 34 repeats for the S-M-L2 (short to medium to very long) classification. The plasma concentrations of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) enzyme were measured on admission. The allele distribution in our patients was similar to that published previously, with peaks at 23 and 30 repeats. The S-allele increases AKI risk. An adjusted OR was 1.30 for each S-allele in an additive genetic model (95% CI 1.01-1.66; p = 0.041). Alleles with a repeat number greater than 34 were significantly associated with lower HO-1 concentration (p<0.001). In septic patients, we report an association between a short repeat in HMOX1 and AKI risk

Winner does not take all : Selective attention and local bias in platform-based markets

We model how macro-level dynamics of platform competition emerge from micro-level interactions among consumers. We problematize the prevailing winner-take-all hypothesis and argue that instead of assuming that consumers value the general connectivity of an entire network, they are selectively attentive and locally biased. We contrast several alternative agent-based models with differing sets of assumptions regarding consumer agents' behavior and compare their predictions with empirical data from the competition between Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360. The results show that only when consumers are assumed to be selectively attentive and locally biased is it possible to explain real-life market sharing between the given platforms. In effect, it is shown how a late-entrant platform can get adopted by most consumers in the market, despite the fact that an early entrant has greater initial installed base, greater pool of complementary products, and lower initial price.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Metsistä ja soilta tuleva vesistökuormitus 2020 – MetsäVesi-hankkeen loppuraportti

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Drainage for forestry increases N, P and TOC export to boreal surface waters

Highlights • N, P and TOC export from forests to streams needs more reliable assessments. • Long-term data were used to assess export at different spatial scales in Finland. • N, P and TOC concentrations increased with temperature sum, i.e. from north to south. • Long-term impacts of forest drainage are much bigger than previously estimated. • Drained areas of forests are hotspots for the export of N, P and TOC.More reliable assessments of nutrient export to surface waters and the Baltic Sea are required to achieve good ecological status of all water bodies. Previous nutrient export estimates have recently been questioned since they did not include the long-term impacts of drainage for forestry. We made new estimates of the total nitrogen (N), total phosphorus (P) and total organic carbon (TOC) export from forests to surface waters at different spatial scales in Finland. This was done by formulating statistical equations between streamwater concentrations and climate, soil, forest management and runoff variables and spatial data on catchment characteristics. The equations were based on a large, long-term runoff and streamwater quality dataset, which was collected from 28 pristine and 61 managed boreal forest catchments located around Finland. We found that the concentrations increased with temperature sum (TS), i.e. from north to south. Nitrogen, P and TOC concentrations increased with the proportion of drained areas in the catchment; those of N and TOC also increased with the proportion of peatlands. In contrast, with the increasing concentrations of N and TOC with time, P concentrations showed a decreasing trend over the last few decades. According to our estimates, altogether 47,300 Mg of N, 1780 Mg of P and 1814 Gg of TOC is transported from forest areas to surface waters in Finland. Forest management contributes 17% of the N export, 35% of the P export and 12% of the TOC export. Our new forest management export estimates for N and P are more than two times higher than the old estimates used by the environment authorities. The differences may be explained by the long-term impact of forest drainage. The spatial results indicate that peatland forests are hotspots for N, P and TOC export, especially in the river basins draining to the Gulf of Bothnia