New legal minimum ages for final felling

The Forestry Act was altered in Sweden the 1st of January 1994, replacing the 1980 forest legislation. Several deregulations were made and one of them was the lowering of the legal minimum age (LMA) for final felling. The authorities naturally show interest in the effects of the new legislation, and the present thesis is a contribution in this respect. The work was initiated and commissioned by the County Forestry Board of Vasterbotten in November 1996. The main purpose was to study the behaviour of forest owners with respect to the new LMA, but a more general attitude research about the LMA was included as well. The issues were studied for eight (of sixteen) County Ranger Districts in the county of Vasterbotten. Forest owners were classified as private or companies and as inland or coastal. The results are based on a sample of about 40 final fellings from each of the two owner categories and each district. In a subset, the forests cut were aged between the old and the new LMA, and the correspondning set of forest owners constitutes the sample for the the attitude research. The estimated percentage in area of the final fellings that falls between the present and the former LMA is marked but varies considerably between owner categories and especially between districts within category. The estimated percentage varies between 0 % and 60 % over all districts and owner categories. Averaged over districts the percentage varies between 17 % and 25 % for the four categories. The highest figure was obtained for coastal private forest owners, while the other three categories showed similar values. Noteworthy is the large and significant differences between the districts, for each of the four categories. The results of the attitude research indicates that roughly 50 % of the respondents were not aware of the lowering of theLMA and 75 % of the respondents were not aware of that the stand they cut were below the old LMA. Seemingly, inland private owners are more aware of the changes in the law. It appears that they act more like the legislator intended. An explanation to this could be a good communication with the County Ranger Districts. In general terms a better communication between forest owners and the authorities would improve the implementation of the forestry legislation

Nonlinear response of quantum cascade structures

The gain spectrum of a terahertz quantum cascade laser is analysed by a non equilibrium Green's functions approach. Higher harmonics of the response function were retrievable, providing a way to approach nonlinear phenomena in quantum cascade lasers theoretically. Gain is simulated under operation conditions and results are presented both for linear response and strong laser fields. An iterative way of reconstructing the field strength inside the laser cavity at lasing conditions is described using a measured value of the level of the losses of the studied system. Comparison with recent experimental data from time-domain-spectroscopy indicates that the experimental situation is beyond linear response.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures included in text, to appear in Applied Physics Letter

Riskaversion och ansträngning vid prestationsbaserad ersättning - En kvantitativ studie på bostadsmäklare i Skåne

SAMMANFATTNING Examensarbetets titel: Riskaversion och ansträngning vid prestationsbaserad ersättning Seminariedatum: 2013-06-07 Ämne/kurs: FEKH19, Examensarbete kandidatnivå, 15 högskolepoäng Författare: Malin Andersson, Martin Damm och Marcus Lindskog Andersson Handledare: Christine Blomquist Nyckelord: Agentteorin, Incitament, Prestationsbaserad ersättning, Riskaversion, Ansträngning Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka om samband kan påvisas mellan bostadsmäklares riskaversion och deras ansträngning. Vi undersöker även om det föreligger något samband mellan bostadsmäklares riskaversion och variablerna kön och ålder. Metod: En tvärsnittsstudie med en deduktiv ansats genomfördes via en web-baserad enkät. Enkäten mätte variablerna riskaversion, ansträngning, kön och ålder. Insamlad data analyserades genom statistiska test. Detta gjordes dels för att undersöka ett eventuellt samband mellan variablerna riskaversion och ansträngning, dels för att undersöka ett eventuellt samband mellan riskaversion och variablerna kön och ålder. Teoretiska perspektiv: Det teoretiska ramverket har sin utgångspunkt i agentteorin som beskriver intressekonflikten mellan principalen och agenten samt hur risk förflyttas från principalen till agenten då ersättningen är prestationsbaserad. Enligt teorin har agenter olika attityd till risktagande. En mindre riskavert person kommer att anstränga sig mer vid prestationsbaserad ersättning jämfört med en mer riskavert sådan. Dock är sambandet mellan riskaversion och ansträngning vid prestationsbaserad ersättning ett ämne som är tämligen outforskat. Empiri: Tidigare forskning tyder på att kvinnor tenderar att vara mer riskaverta än män och att äldre är mer riskaverta än yngre. Vi har valt att undersöka bostadsmäklarbranschen i Skåne och vårt urval består av bostadsmäklare i Malmö/Lund eftersom könsfördelning och åldersspridning i denna region är proportionerlig med vår population. Att vara bostadsmäklare anses vara riskfyllt eftersom ersättningen inom denna bransch ofta är helt provisionsbaserad och det pågår en debatt huruvida ersättningssystemet är optimalt inom branschen. Detta gör det intressant och lämpligt att utföra undersökningen på bostadsmäklarbranschen. Resultat: Studien visar att det inte förekommer något signifikant linjärt samband mellan riskaversion och ansträngning vid prestationsbaserad ersättning. Det finns dock en mycket svag negativ korrelation mellan riskaversion och ansträngning. Vi kan ej heller påvisa någon signifikant skillnad mellan män och kvinnors riskaversion. Vidare visade undersökningen att det inte förekommer något signifikant linjärt samband mellan riskaversion och ålder. Vi ser dock en mycket svag tendens till att riskaversionen ökar i takt med att respondenterna blir äldre. På grund av för låga signifikansnivåer i samtliga tester kan vi inte med säkerhet säga att de erhållna resultaten är representativa för populationen

Transient Calcium and Dopamine Increase PKA Activity and DARPP-32 Phosphorylation

Reinforcement learning theorizes that strengthening of synaptic connections in medium spiny neurons of the striatum occurs when glutamatergic input (from cortex) and dopaminergic input (from substantia nigra) are received simultaneously. Subsequent to learning, medium spiny neurons with strengthened synapses are more likely to fire in response to cortical input alone. This synaptic plasticity is produced by phosphorylation of AMPA receptors, caused by phosphorylation of various signalling molecules. A key signalling molecule is the phosphoprotein DARPP-32, highly expressed in striatal medium spiny neurons. DARPP-32 is regulated by several neurotransmitters through a complex network of intracellular signalling pathways involving cAMP (increased through dopamine stimulation) and calcium (increased through glutamate stimulation). Since DARPP-32 controls several kinases and phosphatases involved in striatal synaptic plasticity, understanding the interactions between cAMP and calcium, in particular the effect of transient stimuli on DARPP-32 phosphorylation, has major implications for understanding reinforcement learning. We developed a computer model of the biochemical reaction pathways involved in the phosphorylation of DARPP-32 on Thr34 and Thr75. Ordinary differential equations describing the biochemical reactions were implemented in a single compartment model using the software XPPAUT. Reaction rate constants were obtained from the biochemical literature. The first set of simulations using sustained elevations of dopamine and calcium produced phosphorylation levels of DARPP-32 similar to that measured experimentally, thereby validating the model. The second set of simulations, using the validated model, showed that transient dopamine elevations increased the phosphorylation of Thr34 as expected, but transient calcium elevations also increased the phosphorylation of Thr34, contrary to what is believed. When transient calcium and dopamine stimuli were paired, PKA activation and Thr34 phosphorylation increased compared with dopamine alone. This result, which is robust to variation in model parameters, supports reinforcement learning theories in which activity-dependent long-term synaptic plasticity requires paired glutamate and dopamine inputs

Active Learning Framework for Time-Series Classification of Vibration and Industrial Process Data

Data-based models built using machine learning solutions are becoming more prominent in the condition monitoring, maintenance, and prognostics fields. The capacity to build these models using a machine learning approach depends largely in the quality of the data. Of particular importance is the availability of labelled data, which describes the conditions that are intended to be identified. However, properly labelled data that is useful in many machine learning strategies is a scare resource. Furthermore, producing high-quality labelled data is expensive, time-consuming and a lot of times inaccurate given the uncertainty surrounding the labeling process and the annotators. Active Learning (AL) has emerged as a semi-supervised approach that enables cost and time reductions of the labeling process. This approach has had a delayed adoption for time series classification given the difficulty to extract and present the time series information in such a way that it is easy to understand for the human annotator who incorporates the labels. This difficulty arises from the large dimensionality that many of these time series possess. This challenge is exacerbated by the cold-start problem, where the initial labelled dataset used in typical AL frameworks may not exist. Thus, the initial set of labels to be allocated to the time series samples is not available. This last challenge is particularly common on many condition monitoring applications where data samples of specific faults or problems does not exist. In this article, we present an AL framework to be used in the classification of time series from industrial process data, in particular vibration waveforms originated from condition monitoring applications. In this framework, we deal with the absence of labels to train an initial classification model by introducing a pre-clustering step. This step uses an unsupervised clustering algorithm to identify the number of labels and selects the points with a stronger group belonging as initial samples to be labelled in the active learning step. Furthermore, this framework presents two approaches to present the information to the annotator that can be via time-series imaging and automatic extraction of statistical features. Our work is motivated by the interest to facilitate the effort required for labeling time-series waveforms, while maintaining a high level of accuracy and consistency on those labels. In addition, we study the number of time-series samples that require to be labelled to achieve different levels of classification accuracy, as well as their confidence intervals. These experiments are carried out using vibration signals from a well-known rolling element bearing dataset and typical process data from a production plant. An active learning framework that considers the conditions of the data commonly found in maintenance and condition monitoring applications while presenting the data in ways easy to interpret by human annotators can facilitate the generation reliable datasets. These datasets can, in turn, assist in the development of data-driven models that describe the many different processes that a machine undergoes

HARMONIE-AROME 4D-Var

The status of CY43 HARMONIE-AROME 4D-Var is presented. Central to the HARMONIE-AROME 4D-Var implementation is the multi-incremental approach and the current setup comprises two outer loops at six and three times the main forecast grid resolution of 2.5 km. This setup is flexible though, as is the length of the observation window. Results will be given for 4D-Var in comparison to 3D-Var for three domains, centered around Scandinavia, the Iberian Peninsula and the Netherlands. The starting point here is that both 3D-Var and 4D-Var are using identical observations types. Generally speaking it can be concluded that 4DVar forecasts are superior. The paper also gives an extensive list of opportunities from which particularly HARMONIE-AROME 4D-Var can benefit. For example, increasing the observation set, improving the treatment of observations during the observation window and new algorithmic avenues

Proteogenomic analysis of acute myeloid leukemia associates relapsed disease with reprogrammed energy metabolism both in adults and children

Despite improvement of current treatment strategies and novel targeted drugs, relapse and treatment resistance largely determine the outcome for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. To identify the underlying molecular characteristics, numerous studies have been aimed to decipher the genomic- and transcriptomic landscape of AML. Nevertheless, further molecular changes allowing malignant cells to escape treatment remain to be elucidated. Mass spectrometry is a powerful tool enabling detailed insights into proteomic changes that could explain AML relapse and resistance. Here, we investigated AML samples from 47 adult and 22 pediatric patients at serial time-points during disease progression using mass spectrometry-based in-depth proteomics. We show that the proteomic profile at relapse is enriched for mitochondrial ribosomal proteins and subunits of the respiratory chain complex, indicative of reprogrammed energy metabolism from diagnosis to relapse. Further, higher levels of granzymes and lower levels of the anti-inflammatory protein CR1/CD35 suggest an inflammatory signature promoting disease progression. Finally, through a proteogenomic approach, we detected novel peptides, which present a promising repertoire in the search for biomarkers and tumor-specific druggable targets. Altogether, this study highlights the importance of proteomic studies in holistic approaches to improve treatment and survival of AML patients.Peer reviewe

Interobserver reproducibility of perineural invasion of prostatic adenocarcinoma in needle biopsies

Numerous studies have shown a correlation between perineural invasion (PNI) in prostate biopsies and outcome. The reporting of PNI varies widely in the literature. While the interobserver variability of prostate cancer grading has been studied extensively, less is known regarding the reproducibility of PNI. A total of 212 biopsy cores from a population-based screening trial were included in this study (106 with and 106 without PNI according to the original pathology reports). The glass slides were scanned and circulated among four pathologists with a special interest in urological pathology for assessment of PNI. Discordant cases were stained by immunohistochemistry for S-100 protein. PNI was diagnosed by all four observers in 34.0% of cases, while 41.5% were considered to be negative for PNI. In 24.5% of cases, there was a disagreement between the observers. The kappa for interobserver variability was 0.67-0.75 (mean 0.73). The observations from one participant were compared with data from the original reports, and a kappa for intraobserver variability of 0.87 was achieved. Based on immunohistochemical findings among discordant cases, 88.6% had PNI while 11.4% did not. The most common diagnostic pitfall was the presence of bundles of stroma or smooth muscle. It was noted in a few cases that collagenous micronodules could be mistaken for a nerve. The distance between cancer and nerve was another cause of disagreement. Although the results suggest that the reproducibility of PNI may be greater than that of prostate cancer grading, there is still a need for improvement and standardization