Multiple criteria decision analysis with consideration to place-specific values in participatory forest planning

The combination of multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and participatory planning is an approach that has been applied in complex planning situations where multiple criteria of very different natures are considered, and several stakeholders or social groups are involved. The spatial character of forest planning problems adds further to the complexity, because a large number of forest stands are to be assigned different treatments at different points in time. In addition, experience from participatory forest planning indicates that stakeholders may think about the forest in terms of place-specific values rather than in forest-wide terms. The objective of this study was to present an approach for including place-specific values in MCDA-based participatory forest planning and illustrate the approach by a case study where the objective was to choose a multipurpose forest plan for an area of urban forest in northern Sweden. Stakeholder values were identified in interviews, and maps were used to capture place-specific spatial values. The nonspatial and nonplace-specific spatial values were formulated as criteria and used to build an objective hierarchy describing the decision situation. The place-specific spatial values were included in the creation of a map showing zones of different silvicultural management classes, which was used as the basis for creation of forest plan alternatives in the subsequent process. The approach seemed to work well for capturing place-specific values, and the study indicates that formalized methods for including and evaluating place-specific values in participatory forest planning processes should be developed and tested further

The motion after-effect: local and global contributions to contrast sensitivity

Motion adaptation is a widespread phenomenon analogous to peripheral sensory adaptation, presumed to play a role in matching responses to prevailing current stimulus parameters and thus to maximize efficiency of motion coding. While several components of motion adaptation (contrast gain reduction, output range reduction and motion after-effect) have been described, previous work is inconclusive as to whether these are separable phenomena and whether they are locally generated. We used intracellular recordings from single horizontal system neurons in the fly to test the effect of local adaptation on the full contrast-response function for stimuli at an unadapted location. We show that contrast gain and output range reductions are primarily local phenomena and are probably associated with spatially distinct synaptic changes, while the antagonistic after-potential operates globally by transferring to previously unadapted locations. Using noise analysis and signal processing techniques to remove ‘spikelets’, we also characterize a previously undescribed alternating current component of adaptation that can explain several phenomena observed in earlier studies

Mobility on the labour market, work ability and sick leave

The overall aim of this thesis is to study the potential causes and effects of mobility on the labour market among individuals with reduced work ability or who experience long-term sick leave. Long-term sick leave is associated with an increased likelihood of mobility out of the labour market. Changing jobs has been discussed as a strategy to extend participation in the labour force when the work ability is reduced in relation to the current job. The studied time periods ranged from 1994 to 2010, and all studies were conducted in Sweden. In study I, registry data from the longitudinal integration database for health insurance and labour market studies (LISA) were used to investigate whether job change affected the likelihood of remaining in the labour market among people who experienced long-term sick leave. Among the individuals with over 180 days of absence in the first year, those who changed their job during the following year had a higher likelihood of having a job 2–4 years later than individuals who remained in the same job. In Study II, the LISA data were used to examine whether differences in the number of absences due to sickness between workplaces can be explained by the health selection of recruits. The results showed that workplaces with high average levels of sick leave were more likely to hire a person with a high rate of sick leave the year before their recruitment than workplaces with low average levels ofsick leave. In Study III, the LISA data were used to study individual and workplace factors predicting job change and exit from the labour market among individuals who experienced long-term sick leave. The results showed that both the workplace and individual characteristics predicted job change and exit. In Study IV, data from the Stockholm Public Health Cohort were used to examine if demand, control, support and physical strain, as well as the type of employment contract, affected the probability of whether employees with a reduced work ability would change jobs or leave the labour market. The results showed that temporary employment contracts increased the likelihood of both change and exit. Low job control (women) and physically strenuous work (men) increased the probability of exit but not job change. Among women, physically stenous work predicted both outcomes

Target detection in insects: optical, neural and behavioral optimizations.

This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2016.09.001Motion vision provides important cues for many tasks. Flying insects, for example, may pursue small, fast moving targets for mating or feeding purposes, even when these are detected against self-generated optic flow. Since insects are small, with size-constrained eyes and brains, they have evolved to optimize their optical, neural and behavioral target visualization solutions. Indeed, even if evolutionarily distant insects display different pursuit strategies, target neuron physiology is strikingly similar. Furthermore, the coarse spatial resolution of the insect compound eye might actually be beneficial when it comes to detection of moving targets. In conclusion, tiny insects show higher than expected performance in target visualization tasks.Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Grant ID: FA9550-15-1-0188

Insect Detection of Small Targets Moving in Visual Clutter

Detection of targets that move within visual clutter is a common task for animals searching for prey or conspecifics, a task made even more difficult when a moving pursuer needs to analyze targets against the motion of background texture (clutter). Despite the limited optical acuity of the compound eye of insects, this challenging task seems to have been solved by their tiny visual system. Here we describe neurons found in the male hoverfly,Eristalis tenax, that respond selectively to small moving targets. Although many of these target neurons are inhibited by the motion of a background pattern, others respond to target motion within the receptive field under a surprisingly large range of background motion stimuli. Some neurons respond whether or not there is a speed differential between target and background. Analysis of responses to very small targets (smaller than the size of the visual field of single photoreceptors) or those targets with reduced contrast shows that these neurons have extraordinarily high contrast sensitivity. Our data suggest that rejection of background motion may result from extreme selectivity for small targets contrasting against local patches of the background, combined with this high sensitivity, such that background patterns rarely contain features that satisfactorily drive the neuron

The Role of Antennae in Removing Entomopathogenic Fungi from Cuticle of the Termite, Coptotermes formosanus

Our previous research has shown that the termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), protects itself from entomopathogenic fungi by mutual grooming behavior. The termite removes and discards foreign organisms, such as fungal conidia, from the body surface of its nestmates by mutual grooming behavior. The role of the antennae in detecting the condia was examind here. Three entomopathogenic fungi were used, Beauveria brongniartii 782 (Saccardo) (Hypocreales), Paecilomyces fumosoroseus K3 (Wize) (Hyphomycetes), and Metarhizium anisopliae 455 Sorokin (Hyphomycetes). Termites with antennae removed conidia more efficiently than termites without antennae. There were differences between termites with and without antennae in selection of sites to be groomed on nestmates, in the length of grooming and in occurrence of grooming. Electroantennogram (EAG) responses were recorded from termite antennae and the waveforms were rather specific to the kinds of fungi used as odor sources. Termites were able to distinguish between the tested fungi in feeding tests. These results show that the antennae play important roles in the mutual grooming behavior of the termite

Visual approach computation in feeding hoverflies.

On warm sunny days, female hoverflies are often observed feeding from a wide range of wild and cultivated flowers. In doing so, hoverflies serve a vital role as alternative pollinators, and are suggested to be the most important pollinators after bees and bumblebees. Unless the flower hoverflies are feeding from is large, they do not readily share the space with other insects, but instead opt to leave if another insect approaches. We used high-speed videography followed by 3D reconstruction of flight trajectories to quantify how female Eristalis hoverflies respond to approaching bees, wasps and two different hoverfly species. We found that, in 94% of the interactions, the occupant female left the flower when approached by another insect. We found that compared with spontaneous take-offs, the occupant hoverfly's escape response was performed at ∼3 times higher speed (spontaneous take-off at 0.2±0.05 m s-1 compared with 0.55±0.08 m s-1 when approached by another Eristalis). The hoverflies tended to take off upward and forward, while taking the incomer's approach angle into account. Intriguingly, we found that, when approached by wasps, the occupant Eristalis took off at a higher speed and when the wasp was further away. This suggests that feeding hoverflies may be able to distinguish these predators, demanding impressive visual capabilities. Our results, including quantification of the visual information available before occupant take-off, provide important insight into how freely behaving hoverflies perform escape responses from competitors and predators (e.g. wasps) in the wild.This work was funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-15-1-0188 to P.T. Gonzalez-Bellido and K. Nordström), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/L024667/1 David Phillips Fellowship to T. Wardill), Australian Research Council (DP170100008), Stiftelsen Olle Engkvist Byggmästare (2016/348) and Stiftelsen Längmanska Kulturfonden (BA17-0812)

The first undergraduate program in health promotion and prevention in Switzerland : context, concept, and challenges

In 2016, the only undergraduate program in health promotion and prevention (HP) in Switzerland to date was launched at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. HP in Switzerland is well institutionalized and anchored in health politics, but the profession of HP practitioners is not well established yet. The conceptualization of HP as outlined in the Ottawa Charta makes it quite complex to teach and learn HP within an undergraduate program. The program (180 ECTS) is offered as a full-time (3 years) and part-time (5 years) program to a maximum of 66 students. The outlined learning outcomes are based on the CompHP to ensure international transferability of HP competencies. The focus is on a threefold methodological approach, consisting of (1) practical training, (2) skills training (research, project management, and communication), and (3) interprofessional training. Experiences with 5 years of program implementation have revealed challenges, e.g., adapting the form of study to the current trend of flexible education to enable more self-directed learning opportunities and promoting better employability of the graduates. By providing a supportive learning environment for HP, the program contributes to publicity and quality assurance in practice and policy of HP in Switzerland and internationally