Fennoskandian tunturisoiden ekologiaa

Tiivistelmä. Suot ovat kosteikkoympäristöjä, joille ominaista ovat korkea kosteuspitoisuus ja matala happipitoisuus sekä epätäydellisen hajotustoiminnan johdosta syntyvä turve. Soita tavataan eniten pohjoisella pallonpuoliskolla, jossa ilmasto-olosuhteet, kuten runsas sadanta ja alhainen lämpötila, edesauttavat niiden muodostumista. Ilmaston lisäksi paikalliset ympäristöolosuhteet säätelevät soiden ominaisuuksia, ja monien eri tekijöiden yhteisvaikutuksessa syntyy rakenteeltaan, vedenvirtausominaisuuksiltaan ja kasvillisuudeltaan erilaisia suoympäristöjä. Euroopan pohjoisosassa Fennoskandiassa soita ja suokasvillisuutta esiintyy aina merenpinnan tasolta hemiboreaalisesta metsäkasvillisuusvyöhykkeestä tunturien ja vuorien ylimpien osien arktiseen ja alpiiniseen kasvillisuusvyöhykkeeseen asti. Tunturisoiden ominaisuudet määrittyvät ensisijaisesti niiden korkeussijainnin perustella, lisäksi muun muassa maa- ja kallioperän laatu, lumipeitteen paksuus, rinteen kaltevuus sekä ilmansuunta vaikuttavat soiden rakenteeseen. Suokasvillisuuden monimuotoisuus vähenee kohti pohjoista ja merenpinnasta ylöspäin siirryttäessä vaativien ympäristöolosuhteiden vuoksi. Ympäristötekijöiden lisäksi tunturisoita muokkaavat ihmistoimintaan liittyvät tekijät kuten ilmastonmuutos, porolaidunnus, rakentaminen ja maastoliikenne. Ilmaston lämpenemisen johdosta tuntureilla kasvukausi pitenee, kosteus lisääntyy ja lumipeitteen ominaisuudet muuttuvat. Ihmistoimintojen muut vaikutukset ovat tavallisesti laajuudeltaan paikallisia, kulumisen kaltaisia muutoksia. Ihmistoiminnan seurauksena tunturisoiden vedenkierto, rakenne ja kasvillisuus voivat muuttua ja vaikuttaa tunturisoiden ekologiseen tilaan ja laatuun. Vaikutukset voivat olla myös toisensa kumoavia, jolloin esimerkiksi porolaidunnus voi hillitä ilmastonmuutoksen vaikutuksia tunturisoilla. Fennoskandian tunturien suoluontotyypit ovat lajistoltaan suhteellisen niukkoja, mutta ne lisäävät tunturielinympäristöjen ekosysteemitason monimuotoisuutta, ylläpitävät lajistollista monimuotoisuutta tarjoamalla elinympäristöjä erilaisille eliöryhmille ja mahdollistavat routavaikutteisten elinympäristöjen synnyn sekä vaikuttavat myös läheisiin elinympäristöihin vedenkierron kautta. Tunturisoiden hiilivarasto on boreaalisia soita pienempi ohuesta turvekerroksesta johtuen, mutta niillä voi olla kasvava merkitys globaalissa hiilensidonnassa ilmaston muuttuessa

Jatkosodan taistelut neuvostoliittolaisen historiteoksen kuvaamina

Artikkelin alussa tarkastellaan aluksi Neuvostoliiton historiankirjoitusta, todeten Stalinin ajalle olevan luonteenomaista subjektiivisuus ja salailu. "sotatapahtumat on esitetty Puna-armeijan suhteen liioitellun edullisessa värityksessä ja vastustajan menestymisestä on pyritty vaikenemaan." Lisäksi todetaan, että virallisen historiateoksen kuvaus Suomen talvisodasta rajoittuu yksinomaan Kannaksen sotatoimiin. "Nyttemmin on tälläkin alla Neuvostoliitossa tapahtunut muutos. Viime vuonna on Moskovassa julkaistu teos " Bitva za Leningrad" (Taistelu Leningradista), joka kuvailee Leningradin suunnan taisteluja sekä saksalaisia että suomalaisia vastaan vuosina 1941-44. Teos eroaa aikaisemmista kaltaisistaan ennen kaikkea siinä, että selvästi myönnetään Puna-armeijan epäonnistuneen määrättyjen tehtävien suosituksessa. Artikkelissa tarkastellaan tämän teoksen eräitä "mielenkiintoa herättäviä" kohtia sotatoimien eri vaiheissa

Data Reduction and Control Software for Meteor Observing Stations Based on CCD Video Systems

The SPanish Meteor Network (SPMN) is performing a continuous monitoring of meteor activity over Spain and neighbouring countries. The huge amount of data obtained by the 25 video observing stations that this network is currently operating made it necessary to develop new software packages to accomplish some tasks, such as data reduction and remote operation of autonomous systems based on high-sensitivity CCD video devices. The main characteristics of this software are described here

Determination of Strewn Fields for Meteorite Falls

When an object enters the atmosphere it may be detected as a meteor. A bright meteor, called a fireball, may be a sign of a meteorite fall. Instrumentally observed meteorite falls provide unique opportunities to recover and analyse unweathered planetary samples supplemented with the knowledge on the Solar system orbit they had. To recover a meteorite from a fireball event, it is essential that recovery teams can be directed to a well-defined search area. Until recently, simulations showing the realistic mapping of a strewn field were difficult, in particular due to the large number of unknowns not directly retrieved from the fireball observations. These unknowns include the number of fragments and their aerodynamic properties, for which the masses of the fragments need to be assumed in a traditional approach. Here, we describe a new Monte Carlo model, which has already successfully assisted in several meteorite recoveries. The model is the first of its kind as it provides an adequate representation of the processes occurring during the luminous trajectory coupled together with the dark flight. In particular, the model comprises a novel approach to fragmentation modelling that leads to a realistic fragment mass distribution on the ground. We present strewn field simulations for the well-documented Košice and Neuschwanstein meteorite falls, which demonstrate good matches to the observations. We foresee that our model can be used to revise the flux of extra-terrestrial matter onto the Earth, as it provides a possibility of estimating the terminal mass of meteorite fragments reaching the ground. © The Author(s) 2021.This work was supported, in part, by the Academy of Finland project no. 325806 (PlanetS). We acknowledge Hadrien Devillepoix and Morgan Hollis for their supportive and valuable comments that encouraged us to improve this paper by adding the section on the strewn field of the Neuschwanstein meteorite fall. We thank Eleanor Sansom for helping us to proof read this paper and for stimulating discussion. We thank Juraj Tóth for providing additional coordinates of the documented Kosˇice meteorite fragments in addition to those published in Tóth et al. (2015). We thank Dieter Heinlein and Jürgen Oberst for discussing the circumstances of the known Neuschwanstein meteorite finds and difficulties of the ground search. We thank Panu Lahtinen (Finnish Meteorological Institute) and Peter Völger (Swedish Institute of Space Physics) for their help with obtaining the actual atmospheric data for the studied fireball events and valuable discussions. We thank all members of the Finnish Fireball Network and acknowledge Ursa Astronomical Association for the support with the Network coordination. We acknowledge fruitful collaboration with the colleagues at the Ural Federal University in organizing the field trips and prompt meteorite recoveries based on provided strewn field maps. The research at the Ural Federal University was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project nos. 18-08-00074 and 19-05-00028

Resist, comply or workaround? An examination of different facets of user engagement with information systems

This paper provides a summary of studies of user resistance to Information Technology (IT) and identifies workaround activity as an understudied and distinct, but related, phenomenon. Previous categorizations of resistance have largely failed to address the relationships between the motivations for divergences from procedure and the associated workaround activity. This paper develops a composite model of resistance/workaround derived from two case study sites. We find four key antecedent conditions derived from both positive and negative resistance rationales and identify associations and links to various resultant workaround behaviours and provide supporting Chains of Evidence from two case studies

Financial capability and functional financial literacy in young adults with developmental language disorder

Background: Financial capability is an essential feature of the organisation of one’s personal life and engagement with society. Very little is known of how adequately individuals with developmental language disorder (DLD) handle financial matters. It is known that language difficulties place them at a disadvantage in many aspects of their development and during their transition into adulthood, leading to the possibility that financial issues may prove burdensome for them. This study examines the financial capability and functional financial literacy of young adults with DLD and compares them to those of age matched peers (AMPs). We tested the expectation that those with DLD would find financial management more challenging than would their peers, and that they would need to seek greater support from family members or other people. Methods: Participants completed a detailed individual interview, which included items drawn from the British Household Panel Survey and additional measures of financial capability, functional financial literacy and of perceived support. Nonverbal IQ, language, reading and numeracy measures were also collected. Results: Compared to typically developing AMPs, young people with DLD report less extensive engagement with financial products and lower competence in functional financial literacy. A considerably higher proportion of those with DLD (48% vs 16% of AMPs) report that they draw on support, primarily from parents, in various financial tasks, including paying bills, choosing financial products, and taking loans from family or friends. Conclusions: This is the first study to consider the financial capability skills and functional financial literacy of young adults with DLD. We provide novel evidence that some young adults with DLD lack functional financial skills and require support to successfully manage their finances. This has policy implications that relate not only to engaging affected individuals in discussions about financial management but also to wider familial support

Early vocabulary development in children with bilateral cochlear implants

BackgroundChildren with unilateral cochlear implants (CIs) may have delayed vocabulary development for an extended period after implantation. Bilateral cochlear implantation is reported to be associated with improved sound localization and enhanced speech perception in noise. This study proposed that bilateral implantation might also promote early vocabulary development. Knowledge regarding vocabulary growth and composition in children with bilateral CIs and factors associated with it may lead to improvements in the content of early speech and language intervention and family counselling. AimsTo analyse the growth of early vocabulary and its composition during the first year after CI activation and to investigate factors associated with vocabulary growth. Methods & ProceduresThe participants were 20 children with bilateral CIs (12 boys; eight girls; mean age at CI activation = 12.9 months). Vocabulary size was assessed with the Finnish version of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories (CDI) Infant Form and compared with normative data. Vocabulary composition was analysed in relation to vocabulary size. Growth curve modelling was implemented using a linear mixed model to analyse the effects of the following variables on early vocabulary growth: time, gender, maternal education, residual hearing with hearing aids, age at first hearing aid fitting and age at CI activation. Outcomes & ResultsDespite clear vocabulary growth over time, children with bilateral CIs lagged behind their age norms in receptive vocabulary during the first 12 months after CI activation. In expressive vocabulary, 35% of the children were able to catch up with their age norms, but 55% of the children lagged behind them. In receptive and expressive vocabularies of 1-20 words, analysis of different semantic categories indicated that social terms constituted the highest proportion. Nouns constituted the highest proportion in vocabularies of 101-400 words. The proportion of verbs remained below 20% and the proportion of function words and adjectives remained below 10% in the vocabularies of 1-400 words. There was a significant main effect of time, gender, maternal education and residual hearing with hearing aids before implantation on early receptive vocabulary growth. Time and residual hearing with hearing aids had a significant main effect also on expressive vocabulary growth. Conclusions & ImplicationsVocabulary development of children with bilateral CIs may be delayed. Thus, early vocabulary development needs to be assessed carefully in order to provide children and families with timely and targeted early intervention for vocabulary acquisition.Peer reviewe