Comparative study of the Risutec Automatic Plant Container (APC) and Bracke planting devices

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Vertaileva aikatutkimus Risutec APC- ja Bracke-istutuslaitteista

TutkimusselosteSeloste artikkelista: Laine, T. & Saarinen, V.-M. (2014). Comparative study of the Risutec Automatic Plant Container (APC) and Bracke planting devices. Silva Fennica vol. 48(3), article id 1161.201

Nowcasting Finnish GDP growth using financial variables: a MIDAS approach

We analyse the performance of financial market variables in nowcasting Finnish quarterly GDP growth. In particular, we assess if prediction accuracy is affected by the sampling frequency of the financial variables. Therefore, we apply MIDAS models that allow us to nowcast quarterly GDP growth using monthly or daily data without temporal aggregation in a parsimonious way. We find that financial market data nowcasts Finnish GDP growth relatively well: nowcasting performance is similar to industrial production, but financial market data is available much earlier. Our results suggest that the sampling frequency of financial market variables is not crucial: nowcasting accuracy of daily, monthly and quarterly data is similar

Working memory training mostly engages general-purpose large-scale networks for learning

The present meta-analytic study examined brain activation changes following working memory (WM) training, a form of cognitive training that has attracted considerable interest. Comparisons with perceptual-motor (PM) learning revealed that WM training engages domain-general large-scale networks for learning encompassing the dorsal attention and salience networks, sensory areas, and striatum. Also the dynamics of the training-induced brain activation changes within these networks showed a high overlap between WM and PM training. The distinguishing feature for WM training was the consistent modulation of the dorso- and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC/VLPFC) activity. The strongest candidate for mediating transfer to similar untrained WM tasks was the frontostriatal system, showing higher striatal and VLPFC activations, and lower DLPFC activations after training. Modulation of transfer-related areas occurred mostly with longer training periods. Overall, our findings place WM training effects into a general perception-action cycle, where some modulations may depend on the specific cognitive demands of a training task.Peer reviewe

NEUROLOGIAN (NEUROPSYKOLOGIAN) PROFESSORI HAROLD GOODGLASS 1920-2002

Modernin afasiologian Grand Old Man onpoissa. Harold Goodglass kuoli Bostonissa18. maaliskuuta 81 vuoden ikäisenä. Häntoimi Bostonin afasiatutkimuskeskuksen(Aphasia Research Center (ARC) of BostonUniversity at the Boston VA Medical Center)johtajana lähes 30 vuotta, vuosina 19691996

Pirullisen biologian paluu

Kirja-arvostelu: Perimä : ihmisen historia 23 kappaleessa / Matt Ridley. Helsinki, 2000

Miksi biologia on meille niin vaikeaa?

Tieteessä tapahtuu -lehdessä (7/2009) julkaistiin Janne Kivivuoren ja Petteri Pietikäisen mainio minitutkimus yhteiskuntatieteiden yliopisto-opiskelijoiden ihmiskuvasta. Tekijät tuovat esiin ajatuksen, että opiskelijat ovat darwinisteja yliopistosta huolimatta, mutta konstruktionisteja yliopiston ansiosta. Tähän on helppo yhtyä. Kun selaa yliopistojen yhteiskunta- ja käyttäytymistieteellisten tiedekuntien henkilökuntasivuja ja sieltä löytyviä tutkimusintressejä, niin voi huomata, miten keskeisessä asemassa sosiaalinen konstruktionismi ja sen alalajit ovat