Petojen vaikutus metsäkanalintujen kannanvaihteluun Suomessa

Tiivistelmä. Eliöiden kannanvaihtelut ovat luonnollinen ilmiö. Lajien populaatiodynamiikka muuttuu ulkoisten tekijöiden, kuten lajien välisten vuorovaikutusten tai ihmisten aiheuttamien seurausten myötä. Suomessa elävien metsäkanalintujen määrä on laskenut viime vuosikymmenten aikana. Metsäkanalintujen kannoissa on havaittu olevan syklisyyttä eli populaatioiden koot vaihtelevat vuodesta toiseen tietyissä samanmittaisissa jaksoissa. Syklisyys ei ole kuitenkaan viime vuosikymmeninä ollut niin selkeästi nähtävillä kuin aiemmin. Metsäkanalintujen määrän vähenemiseen ovat vaikuttaneet monet eri tekijät. Merkittäviä kuolleisuuden aiheuttajia ovat erityisesti erilaiset petoeläimet sekä ihmiset. Edellä mainittujen lisäksi ilmaston lämpeneminen, ruoan laatu ja loiset on otettava huomioon kannanvaihteluun vaikuttavina tekijöinä. Useat eri maanisäkkäät ja lintupedot saalistavat metsäkanalintuja. Pedot vaikuttavat etenkin poikasten kuolleisuuden lisääntymiseen. Monet maanisäkkäät ryöstävät maassa pesivien metsäkanalintujen munia sekä poikasia. Jotkin suuret lintupedot, kuten kanahaukka ja maakotka, saalistavat myös aikuisia lintuja. Metsäkanalinnut yrittävät elinympäristövalinnoillaan suojautua pedoilta. Ne suosivat esimerkiksi tiheitä metsiä, jolloin suurten lintupetojen on hankala saalistaa. Ihmiset vaikuttavat metsäkanalintujen elinolojen huononemiseen nykyään erityisesti modernin metsätalouden myötä. Metsäkanalintujen suosimia elinympäristöjä ovat vanhat metsät, ja niiden väheneminen sekä elinympäristöjen pirstoutuminen metsänhakkuiden seurauksena vaikuttavat metsäkanalintujen kantojen laskuun. Ihmisten aiheuttama ilmastonmuutos vaikuttaa metsäkanalintujen pesimisen ajankohtiin sekä levinneisyysalueisiin. Metsäkanalintujen kantojen vähenemistä on pyritty huomioimaan metsänhoitosuunnitelmissa ja metsästyksen säätelyssä. Metsäkanalinnut ovat eräitä suosituimmista metsästyksen kohteista, ja niitä metsästetäänkin satoja tuhansia vuosittain. Erilaisia kannan laskentoja, kuten riistakolmiolaskentaa, tehdään, jotta metsästystä voidaan säädellä eri vuosina sopivaksi saalisrajoituksilla. Jos tietyn metsäkanalintulajin määrä on jonakin vuonna hyvin alhainen, voidaan saaliskiintiötä laskea tai laji rauhoittaa. Myös petokontrollia eli petojen poistamista metsäkanalintujen elinalueilta on kokeiltu, ja sillä on huomattu olevan positiivisia vaikutuksia paikallisesti metsäkanalintukantojen elpymiseen. Metsäkanalintujen kannat ovat romahtaneet nykypäivään tullessa ja se on haaste myös tulevaisuudessa. Kaikkien ihmisten, metsän alan ammattilaisten ja luonnonsuojelijoiden olisi otettava huomioon metsäkanalintujen elinolojen parantamine

Measurements of muon flux in the Pyh\"asalmi underground laboratory

The cosmic-ray induced muon flux was measured at several depths in the Pyh\"asalmi mine (Finland) using a plastic scintillator telescope mounted on a trailer. The flux was determined at four different depths underground at 400 m (980 m.w.e), at 660 m (1900 m.w.e), at 990 m (2810 m.w.e) and at 1390 m (3960 m.w.e) with the trailer, and also at the ground surface. In addition, previously measured fluxes from depths of 90 m (210 m.w.e) and 210 m (420 m.w.e) are shown. A relation was obtained for the underground muon flux as a function of the depth. The measured flux follows well the general behaviour and is consistent with results determined in other underground laboratories.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to Nuclear Instrum. Methods

Preregistration Classification of Mobile LIDAR Data Using Spatial Correlations

We explore a novel paradigm for light detection and ranging (LIDAR) point classification in mobile laser scanning (MLS). In contrast to the traditional scheme of performing classification for a 3-D point cloud after registration, our algorithm operates on the raw data stream classifying the points on-the-fly before registration. Hence, we call it preregistration classification (PRC). Specifically, this technique is based on spatial correlations, i.e., local range measurements supporting each other. The proposed method is general since exact scanner pose information is not required, nor is any radiometric calibration needed. Also, we show that the method can be applied in different environments by adjusting two control parameters, without the results being overly sensitive to this adjustment. As results, we present classification of points from an urban environment where noise, ground, buildings, and vegetation are distinguished from each other, and points from the forest where tree stems and ground are classified from the other points. As computations are efficient and done with a minimal cache, the proposed methods enable new on-chip deployable algorithmic solutions. Broader benefits from the spatial correlations and the computational efficiency of the PRC scheme are likely to be gained in several online and offline applications. These range from single robotic platform operations including simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms to wall-clock time savings in geoinformation industry. Finally, PRC is especially attractive for continuous-beam and solid-state LIDARs that are prone to output noisy data

Effectiveness of interventions for preventing injuries in the construction industry: results of an updated Cochrane systematic review

Various interventions to prevent occupational injuries in the construction industry have been proposed and studied. This continuing updated Cochrane review systematically summarizes the most current scientific evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to prevent injuries associated with construction work. Search terms that covered the concepts of ‘construction workers’, ‘injury’, ’safety’ and ‘study design’ were used to identify intervention studies in five electronic databases up to April 2017. Acceptable study designs included randomized controlled trials (RCT), controlled before–after studies (CBA) and interrupted time series (ITS). In total 17 studies, 14 ITS and three CBA studies, from the US (6), UK (2), Italy (3), Denmark (1), Finland (1), Austria (1) Germany (1) Spain (1), Belgium (1) met the inclusion criteria. Most studies were at high risk of bias. There is very low-quality evidence that introducing regulations as such may or may not result in a decrease in fatal and non-fatal injuries. There is also very low-quality evidence that regionally oriented safety campaigns, training, inspections or the introduction of occupational health services may not reduce non-fatal injuries in construction companies. There is very low-quality evidence that company-oriented safety interventions such as a multifaceted safety campaign, a multifaceted drug workplace programme and subsidies for replacement of scaffoldings may reduce non-fatal injuries among construction workers

Associations of age and sex with brain volumes and asymmetry in 2–5-week-old infants

Information on normal brain structure and development facilitates the recognition of abnormal developmental trajectories and thus needs to be studied in more detail. We imaged 68 healthy infants aged 2–5 weeks with high-resolution structural MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and investigated hemispheric asymmetry as well as the associations of various total and lobar brain volumes with infant age and sex. We found similar hemispheric asymmetry in both sexes, seen as larger volumes of the right temporal lobe, and of the left parietal and occipital lobes. The degree of asymmetry did not vary with age. Regardless of controlling for gestational age, gray and white matter had different age-related growth patterns. This is a reflection of gray matter growth being greater in the first years, while white matter growth extends into early adulthood. Sex-dependent differences were seen in gray matter as larger regional absolute volumes in males and as larger regional relative volumes in females. Our results are in line with previous studies and expand our understanding of infant brain development.</p

Interventions to prevent injuries in construction workers

Background Construction workers are frequently exposed to various types of injury-inducing hazards. A number of injury prevention interventions have been proposed, yet their effectiveness is uncertain. Objectives To assess the effects of interventions to prevent injuries in construction workers. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Injuries Group’s specialised register, CENTRAL,MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO,OSH-ROM(including NIOSHTIC and HSELINE), Scopus, Web of Science and EI Compendex to September 2011. The searches were not restricted by language or publication status. The reference lists of relevant papers and reviews were also searched. Selection criteria Randomised controlled trials, controlled before-after (CBA) studies and interrupted time series (ITS) of all types of interventions for preventing fatal and non-fatal injuries among workers at construction sites. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently selected studies, extracted data and assessed study quality. For ITS, we re-analysed the studies and used an initial effect, measured as the change in injury-rate in the year after the intervention, as well as a sustained effect, measured as the change in time trend before and after the intervention

Resting-state networks of the neonate brain identified using independent component analysis

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) has been successfully used to probe the intrinsic functional organization of the brain and to study brain development. Here, we implemented a combination of individual and group independent component analysis (ICA) of FSL on a 6-min resting-state data set acquired from 21 naturally sleeping term-born (age 26 +/- 6.7 d), healthy neonates to investigate the emerging functional resting-state networks (RSNs). In line with the previous literature, we found evidence of sensorimotor, auditory/language, visual, cerebellar, thalmic, parietal, prefrontal, anterior cingulate as well as dorsal and ventral aspects of the default-mode-network. Additionally, we identified RSNs in frontal, parietal, and temporal regions that have not been previously described in this age group and correspond to the canonical RSNs established in adults. Importantly, we found that careful ICA-based denoising of fMRI data increased the number of networks identified with group-ICA, whereas the degree of spatial smoothing did not change the number of identified networks. Our results show that the infant brain has an established set of RSNs soon after birth