Balancing branding and sales - The content strategist dilemma

This research strives to examine the impact of online brand communication on the content strategy of a premium brand in the context of ETON e-commerce store. The secondary purpose of the study provides the insight as to why brand message affects brand content strategy through various communication modes. The research set forth brand perspective to create an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms behind the content strategy and its importance for delivering the desired brand value to the target audience. The methodology of the study includes an overall approach to research analysis structure is based on the customer journey of ETON visitors. Finally a multimodal analysis of the brand color palette, typography and imagery has enabled an in-depth examination of editorial aspects of the brand content strategy. This study clarifies the strong connection between content strategy practices and effective brand message although complex mechanisms behind effective brand communication require a deeper focus on online branding. Branding, e-commerce platform and editorial content strategy practices have devised the key aspects of the successful performance of an online store. The research results have challenged the existing practices of content strategy approach and pointed to a strong contextual relevance for successful online brand communication tactics. Consequently, the study outcome points at a high risk of failed content delivery and ineffective brand message in the absence of data drive approach and in-depth understanding of consumer needs

Considering future potential regarding structural diversity in selection of forest reserves

A rich structural diversity in forests promotes biodiversity. Forests are dynamic and therefore it is crucial to consider future structural potential when selecting reserves, to make robust conservation decisions. We analyzed forests in boreal Sweden based on 17,599 National Forest Inventory (NFI) plots with the main aim to understand how effectiveness of reserves depends on the time dimension in the selection process, specifically by considering future structural diversity. In the study both the economic value and future values of 15 structural variables were simulated during a 100 year period. To get a net present structural value (NPSV), a single value covering both current and future values, we used four discounting alternatives: (1) only considering present values, (2) giving equal importance to values in each of the 100 years within the planning horizon, (3) applying an annual discount rate considering the risk that values could be lost, and (4) only considering the values in year 100. The four alternatives were evaluated in a reserve selection model under budget-constrained and area-constrained selections. When selecting young forests higher structural richness could be reached at a quarter of the cost over almost twice the area in a budget-constrained selection compared to an area-constrained selection. Our results point to the importance of considering future structural diversity in the selection of forest reserves and not as is done currently to base the selection on existing values. Targeting future values increases structural diversity and implies a relatively lower cost. Further, our results show that a re-orientation from old to young forests would imply savings while offering a more extensive reserve network with high structural qualities in the future. However, caution must be raised against a drastic reorientation of the current old-forest strategy since remnants of ancient forests will need to be prioritized due to their role for disturbance-sensitive species

How reserve selection is affected by preferences in Swedish boreal forests

It is important to consider the preferences of the various stakeholders involved when evaluating effective reserve selection, since it is largely their preferences that determine which of a given set of potential reserve networks that actually is "the best". We interviewed eight conservation planners working at the county administrative boards in each of the eight administrative counties covering boreal Sweden to establish weightings for different structural biodiversity indicators by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The subjective weightings were applied in a reserve selection model based on a goal programming (GP) approach. The structural indicators were derived from the Swedish National Forest Inventory (NFI) and used as proxy for biodiversity potential. A biodiversity indicator score, based on the values of those indicators, was maximized. The model adjusted this score ensuring that all indicators were represented in the selection, and further also adjusted the influence of the indicators based on the subjective weightings. We evaluated the GP approach by comparing it to a simple linear programming (LP) formulation, only maximizing the indicator richness. In all cases the model was limited either by a budget or an area. The biodiversity potential in young forests are often neglected within present conservation policies, however, the proportion of selected forest under 15 years was relatively high in all our cost-effective cases, varying between 32% and 60% using the individual planners subjective weightings, compared to 80% when using a simple LP model. The proportion of selected forest over 100 years varied between 69% and 85% in the area-effective cases using the subjective weightings, compared to 80% when using a simple LP model. Middle-aged forest was not favored in any of the selections, although they make up a substantial part of the total area. We conclude that there are differences in how conservation planners prioritize the indicators, and depending on how specific biodiversity indicators are weighted the age distribution of the selected reserves differs. This demonstrates the importance of considering how to establish appropriate weightings. It is also important to consider the, at least in our case, substantial difference in how common the different indicators are to ensure that the weightings get their intended impact on the selections. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Registration of Health-Related Quality of Life in a Cohort of Patients Undergoing Cholecystectomy

Background. Assessment of gallstone surgery's impact on quality of life (QoL) requires a reliable instrument with sufficient responsiveness. The instrument should also enable estimation of each individual's expected condition in an unaffected state. Materials and Methods. The Swedish Register for Gallstone Surgery and ERCP (GallRiks) registers indications, complications, results, and QoL-outcome of gallstone surgery. In 2008, 68 hospitals were registered in GallRiks. Between 2007 and 2008, SF-36 (a short form health survey) was filled in 1-2 weeks pre- and 6–9 months postoperatively at five of the units. Expected scores were determined from an age- and gender-matched Swedish population (AGMSP). Results. Of the 330 patients, 212 responded to SF36 pre- and postoperatively (RR = 64%; 212/330). Standardized response means ranged from 0.20 to 0.93 for the SF-36 subscores. Highest responsiveness was seen for bodily pain. Preoperatively, all subscores were significantly lower than in the AGMSP (all P < .05). Six months postoperatively, there was no significant difference between any of the observed and expected quality of life subscales. Conclusion. SF-36 is a useful instrument for measuring the impact of gallstone surgery on QoL. The postinterventional health status equalled or even exceeded the AGMSP for all subscales

Environmental abundances of the non-native round goby Neogobius melanostomus influence feeding of native fish predators

The authors assessed the importance of the round goby Neogobius melanostomus as prey for three native predatory fish species, Atlantic cod Gadus morhua, European perch Perca fluviatilis and northern pike Esox lucius, in a northern and southern area of the Baltic Proper, using a combination of visual analysis and DNA metabarcoding of predator stomach contents. To explore the influence of environmental abundances of N. melanostomus on predation, they related the occurrence of N. melanostomus in predator diets to its abundance in survey fishing. Gadus morhua and E. lucius in the southern area showed the highest tendency to feed on N. melanostomus when it was abundant, as N. melanostomus occurred in up to 100% of stomachs and constituted up to 88% of the total diet volume proportion. The diet contribution of N. melanostomus was associated with N. melanostomus abundances for G. morhua and E. lucius, and when N. melanostomus was abundant, these predators exhibited lower prey richness and a higher degree of piscivory. G. morhua and P. fluviatilis also fed less on crustacean prey when N. melanostomus was abundant. The high importance of N. melanostomus in diets of native fish predators may modify indirect interactions between N. melanostomus and native prey species in invaded coastal communities

Leuconostoc gelidum and Leuconostoc gasicomitatum strains dominated the lactic acid bacterium population associated with strong slime formation in an acetic-acid herring preserve

http://www.elsevier.com/locate/issn/01681605Spoilage characterised by strong slime and gas formation affected some manufacture lots of 2 an acetic-acid Baltic herring (Culpea haerengus membras) preserve after few weeks’ storage 3 at 0-6°C. The product consisted of herring filets in acetic acid marinade containing sugar, 4 salt, allspice and carrot slices. Microbiological analyses of the spoiled product showed high 5 lactic acid bacterium (LAB) levels ranging from 4.5 ×108 to 2.4 × 109 CFU/g. Yeasts were 6 not detected in any of the herring samples. Since LAB contaminants seldom are associated 7 with fresh fish, LAB populations associated with marinade ingredients (carrots, allspice) 8 were also analysed. The highest LAB levels exceeding 107 CFU/g were detected in 9 equilibrium modified atmosphere packaged baby carrots whereas the levels detected in the 10 allspice samples did nor exceed 4.3 × 105. A total of 176 randomly selected LAB isolates 11 originating from herring, carrot and allspice samples were further identified to species level 12 using a 16 and 23S rRNA gene RFLP (ribotyping) database. Leuconostoc gelidum and 13 Leuconostoc gasicomitatum strains dominated both in the spoiled herring and carrot samples. 14 These species are heterofermentative producing CO2 from glucose and they also produce 15 dextran from sucrose. Inoculation of some commercial herring products with spoilage- 16 associated L. gelidum and L. gasicomitatum strains verified that these strains have the 17 capability of producing slime and gas in herring preserves although slime formation was not 18 as strong as in the original samples. Since L. gelidum and L. gasicomitatum strains were 19 commonly detected in carrots, carrot slices used for the fish marinade were considered to be 20 the probable source of these specific spoilage organisms. 2

More future synergies and less trade-offs between forest ecosystem services with natural climate solutions instead of bioeconomy solutions

To reach the Paris Agreement, societies need to increase the global terrestrial carbon sink. There are many climate change mitigation solutions (CCMS) for forests, including increasing bioenergy, bioeconomy, and protection. Bioenergy and bioeconomy solutions use climate-smart, intensive management to generate high quantities of bioenergy and bioproducts. Protection of (semi-)natural forests is a major component of "natural climate solution" (NCS) since forests store carbon in standing biomass and soil. Furthermore, protected forests provide more habitat for biodiversity and non-wood ecosystem services (ES). We investigated the impacts of different CCMS and climate scenarios, jointly or in isolation, on future wood ES, non-wood ES, and regulating ES for a major wood provider for the international market. Specifically, we projected future ES given by three CCMS scenarios for Sweden 2020-2100. In the long term, fulfilling the increasing wood demand through bioenergy and bioeconomy solutions will decrease ES multifunctionality, but the increased stand age and wood stocks induced by rising greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations will partially offset these negative effects. Adopting bioenergy and bioeconomy solutions will have a greater negative impact on ES supply than adopting NCS. Bioenergy or bioeconomy solutions, as well as increasing GHG emissions, will reduce synergies and increase trade-offs in ES. NCS, by contrast, increases the supply of multiple ES in synergy, even transforming current ES trade-offs into future synergies. Moreover, NCS can be considered an adaptation measure to offset negative climate change effects on the future supplies of non-wood ES. In boreal countries around the world, forestry strategies that integrate NCS more deeply are crucial to ensure a synergistic supply of multiple ES

The multi-faceted Swedish Heureka forest decision support system: context, functionality, design, and 10 years experiences of its use

For several decades, computerized forest decision support systems (DSS) have helped managers and decision makers to analyze different management options and supported the search for preferred management alternatives. In Sweden, a country rich in forests and with a long tradition in intensive forest management, such systems have been developed and available since the 1970s. Changes in societal as well as in forest owners' preferences and objectives in the 1990s led to a need for forest DSS handling broader perspectives compared to precedent single-objective timber-oriented systems. In Sweden, this led to the initiation of a research programme in the beginning of the 2000s aiming at developing a versatile and multi-objective forest DSS, resulting in the first version of the Heureka forest DSS released in 2009. The system handles several forest values, such as timber and biofuel production, carbon sequestration, dead wood dynamics, habitat for species, recreation and susceptibility to forest damages (spruce bark beetle, wind-throw and root rot). It contains a suite of software for different problem settings and geographical scales and uses simulation as well as optimization techniques. Three software handle projections of the forest using a common core of growth and yield models for simulating forest dynamics. A fourth software, built for multi-criteria decision analysis and including a web-version, enables also group decision making and participatory planning. For more than 10 years, the Heureka system has been used in teaching, environmental analysis, research and as decision support in practical forestry. For example, several research groups using the system for analyses in different problem areas have so far published more than 80 scientific papers. The system is used for nation-wide forest impact analysis for policy support and all large and many medium-sized forest owners use it for their long-term forest planning, meaning that it directly influences forest management decisions and activities on more than 50% of the Swedish forest area. Besides presenting the present system and its use, we also discuss lessons learned and potential future development

Moving towards multi-layered, mixed-species forests in riparian buffers will enhance their long-term function in boreal landscapes

Riparian buffers are the primary tool in forest management for protecting the habitat structure and function of streams. They help protect against biogeochemical perturbation, filter sediments and nutrients, prevent erosion, contribute food to aquatic organisms, regulate light and hence water temperature, contribute deadwood, and preserve biodiversity. However, in production forests of Sweden and Finland, many headwater streams have been straightened, ditched, and/or channelized, resulting in altered hydrology and reduced natural disturbance by floods, which in turn affects important riparian functions. Furthermore, in even-aged management systems as practiced in much of Fennoscandia, understory trees have usually been cleared right up to the stream's edge during thinning operations, especially around small, headwater streams. Fire suppression has further favored succession towards shade tolerant species. In the regions within Fennoscandia that have experienced this combination of intensive management and lack of natural disturbance, riparian zones are now dominated by single-storied, native Norway spruce. When the adjacent forest is cut, thin (5 - 15m) conifer-dominated riparian buffers are typically left. These buffers do not provide the protection and subsidies, in terms of leaf litter quality, needed to maintain water quality or support riparian or aquatic biodiversity. Based on a literature review, we found compelling evidence that the ecological benefits of multi-layered, mixed-species riparian forest with a large component of broadleaved species are higher than what is now commonly found in the managed stands of Fennoscandia. To improve the functionality of riparian zones, and hence the protection of streams in managed forest landscapes, we present some basic principles that could be used to enhance the ecological function of these interfaces. These management actions should be prioritized on streams and streamside stands that have been affected by simplification either through forest management or hydrological modification. Key to these principles is the planning and managing of buffer zones as early as possible in the rotation to ensure improved function throughout the rotation cycle and not only at final felling. This is well in line with EU and national legislation which can be interpreted as requiring landscape planning at all forest ages to meet biodiversity and other environmental goals. However, it is still rare that planning for conservation is done other than at the final felling stage. Implementing this new strategy is likely to have long-term positive effects and improve the protection of surface waters from negative forestry effects and a history of fire suppression. By following these suggested management principles, there will be a longer time period with high function and greater future management flexibility in addition to the benefits provided by leaving riparian buffers at the final felling stage

Climate targets in European timber-producing countries conflict with goals on forest ecosystem services and biodiversity

The role of increased timber harvests in reaching climate mitigation targets for European countries will be limited if the protection of forest ecosystem services and biodiversity is to be achieved, suggests an empirical forest model driven by future scenarios to limit warming to 1.5 degrees C in 2100.The European Union (EU) set clear climate change mitigation targets to reach climate neutrality, accounting for forests and their woody biomass resources. We investigated the consequences of increased harvest demands resulting from EU climate targets. We analysed the impacts on national policy objectives for forest ecosystem services and biodiversity through empirical forest simulation and multi-objective optimization methods. We show that key European timber-producing countries - Finland, Sweden, Germany (Bavaria) - cannot fulfil the increased harvest demands linked to the ambitious 1.5 degrees C target. Potentials for harvest increase only exists in the studied region Norway. However, focusing on EU climate targets conflicts with several national policies and causes adverse effects on multiple ecosystem services and biodiversity. We argue that the role of forests and their timber resources in achieving climate targets and societal decarbonization should not be overstated. Our study provides insight for other European countries challenged by conflicting policies and supports policymakers