Social sustainability of alternative food systems viewed through actor argumentation

The method of the study was qualitative attitude research, which is based on the generation and analysis of argumentation. The material was produced by presenting selected statements concerning different aspects of social sustainability to the interviewees, asking them to comment on the statements. The attitudes towards alternative food systems were generally positive. The local and organic food production were seen more ecological, better for the economy of rural communities and more fair towards the farmer.Peer reviewe

Prospects and Challenges of Timber Trucking in a Changing Operational Environment in Finland

The objective was to study how entrepreneurs taking care of the transport of wood perceive the current challenges in the operating environment and reflect these challenges in the changing climate. The data was collected in spring 2012 by mail questionnaire, which was answered by a total of 86 entrepreneurs giving a response rate of 19.1%. According to the respondents, the most debilitating factors in the changing infrastructure in future will be the challenges of the low volume road network, especially winter maintenance including removing snow and ice and preventing slippery conditions. The entrepreneurs were concerned about labour costs caused by a possible shortage of skilled drivers. The main problem concerning Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in timber trucking logistics is the inability to use one ICT system for two or more clients, which leads to problems in handling multiple clients. Almost all respondents agreed that timber trucking enterprises are too dependent on clients’ ICT systems

A estruturação do mercado publicitário de São José dos Campos e Taubaté - SP a partir da instalação das tvs abertas regionais

O mercado publicitário brasileiro passa por um processo de regionalização e interiorização, que ganha evidência a partir da década de 1990. O objetivo geral do artigo foi caracterizar o mercado publicitário do Vale do Paraíba - SP a partir da implantação da televisão aberta regional em São José dos Campos e em Taubaté. A pesquisa caracteriza-se como exploratório-descritiva, de abordagem qualitativa, com coleta de dados por meio de entrevista semiestruturada. A amostra foi selecionada pelo critério de julgamento, focando nos atores sociais participantes do processo de implantação das televisões regionais no Vale do Paraíba - SP. Verificou-se que houve uma estruturação e profissionalização do mercado publicitário regional a partir da chegada da televisão regional aberta, fomentando toda a cadeia produtiva da comunicação

Long-term effect of fertilization on the greenhouse gas exchange of low-productive peatland forests

Drainage of peatlands for forestry often leads to carbon dioxide (CO2) net emission from soil due to loss of peat. This emission can be compensated for by the increased tree growth. Hovewer, many drained peatlands have low tree growth due to nutrient limitations. Tree growth at these peatlands can be effectively increased by fertilization, but fertilization has been also found to increase decomposition rates. We studied the long-term effect of fertilization of low-productive forestry-drained peatlands on the complete ecosystem greenhouse gas exchange, including both soil and tree component, and accounting for CO2, methane and nitrous oxide. Five N-rich study sites (flark fens and a rich fen) and one N-poor ombrotrophic site were established. Fertilization had started at the study sites 16-67 years before our measurements. Fertilization considerably increased tree stand CO2 sink ( + 248-1013 g CO2 m(-2) year(-1)). Decomposition increased on average by 45% ( + 431 g CO2 m(-2) year(-1)) and litter production by 38% ( + 360 g CO2 m(-2) year(-1)). Thus, on average 84% of the increased decomposition could be attributed to increased litter production and 16% to increased soil CO 2 net emission due to increased loss of peat. Soil CO2 net emission correlated positively with water table depth and top soil N concentration. Fertilization increased soil CO2 net emission at the drained flark fens on average by 187 g CO2 m(-2) year(-1). At the rich fen, net emission decreased. The N-poor bog exhibited soil CO2 sink both with and without fertilization. Effects on methane and nitrous oxide emissions were small at most sites. The increase in tree stand CO2 sink was higher than the increase in soil CO2 net emission, indicating that fertilization has a climate cooling effect in the decadal time scale. Yet, as the fertilized plots at N-rich sites exhibited soil CO2 source or zero balance, continuation of fertilization-based forestry over several rotations would lead to progressive loss of ecosystem C. At the N-poor bog, fertilization-based forestry may have a climate-cooling effect also in the centennial time scale.Peer reviewe

Analysis of BMP4 and BMP7 signaling in breast cancer cells unveils time-dependent transcription patterns and highlights a common synexpression group of genes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are members of the TGF-beta superfamily of growth factors. They are known for their roles in regulation of osteogenesis and developmental processes and, in recent years, evidence has accumulated of their crucial functions in tumor biology. BMP4 and BMP7, in particular, have been implicated in breast cancer. However, little is known about BMP target genes in the context of tumor. We explored the effects of BMP4 and BMP7 treatment on global gene transcription in seven breast cancer cell lines during a 6-point time series, using a whole-genome oligo microarray. Data analysis included hierarchical clustering of differentially expressed genes, gene ontology enrichment analyses and model based clustering of temporal data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both ligands had a strong effect on gene expression, although the response to BMP4 treatment was more pronounced. The cellular functions most strongly affected by BMP signaling were regulation of transcription and development. The observed transcriptional response, as well as its functional outcome, followed a temporal sequence, with regulation of gene expression and signal transduction leading to changes in metabolism and cell proliferation. Hierarchical clustering revealed distinct differences in the response of individual cell lines to BMPs, but also highlighted a synexpression group of genes for both ligands. Interestingly, the majority of the genes within these synexpression groups were shared by the two ligands, probably representing the core molecular responses common to BMP4 and BMP7 signaling pathways.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>All in all, we show that BMP signaling has a remarkable effect on gene transcription in breast cancer cells and that the functions affected follow a logical temporal pattern. Our results also uncover components of the common cellular transcriptional response to BMP4 and BMP7. Most importantly, this study provides a list of potential novel BMP target genes relevant in breast cancer.</p

Puna-apila ei vaikuta maidon makuun

Luomumaidontuotannon lisääntyminen on uudelleen tuonut apilat ja muut palkokasvit lehmien laitumen ja säilörehun raaka-aineeksi. Määrällisesti tärkein ja Suomen olosuhteisiin sopivin palkokasvi on puna-apila. Vanhastaan on tiedetty, että apila-odelma voi äkkiseltään aiheuttaa lehmille ripulia, puhaltumisoireita ja niin sanottua odelman makua maitoon. Kuitenkin varsin usein maidon makuvirhe on nopeasti ohimenevä. Puna-apilapitoisen säilörehun vaikutusta maidon makuun ei ole tarkoin selvitetty.vo

snpEnrichR: analyzing co-localization of SNPs and their proxies in genomic regions

Motivation: Co-localization of trait associated SNPs for specific transcription-factor binding sites or regulatory regions in the genome can yield profound insight into underlying causal mechanisms. Analysis is complicated because the truly causal SNPs are generally unknown and can be either SNPs reported in GWAS studies or other proxy SNPs in their linkage disequilibrium. Hence, a comprehensive pipeline for SNP co-localization analysis that utilizes all relevant information about both the genotyped SNPs and their proxies is needed.Results: We developed an R package snpEnrichR for SNP co-localization analysis. The software integrates different tools for random SNP generation and genome co-localization analysis to automatize and help users to create custom SNP co-localization analysis. We show via an example that including proxy SNPs in SNP co-localization analysis enhances the sensitivity of co-localization detection.Availability: The software is available at https://github.com/kartiek/snpEnrichR.</p