Notes on the amphipacific relations of Hawaiian Cladoniaceae

The total number of currently accepted species of Cladoniaceae in the Hawaiian Islands is 22. Several taxonomic problems still exist, however. The effects of isolation are clear among Cladoniaceae. Endemism is high (c. 40%); and, the number of species low. The species must have reached the archipelago via long-distance trans-oceanic dispersal, probably aided by the abundant production of lichen propagules, such as soredia and microsquamules. Although most of the species found in Hawaii are widely distributed, the Hawaiian Cladoniaceae show slight affinities to those of E and SE Asia. Cladonia polyphylla Mont. & v.d. Bosch is an older name for C. fruticulosa Krempelh., and is lectotypified from authentic material. C. leprosula H. Magn. is included in C. ochrochlora Flörke

The lichen family Cladoniaceae in Paraiba, Pernambuco and Sergipe, Northeast Brazil

Field and herbarium studies of the lichen family Cladoniaceae in the states of Paraíba, Pernambuco and Sergipe, Northeast Brazil, yielded 22 species, many of them being new reports for the region. The phenolic compounds identified in each species are reported. Cladonia clathrata Ahti & Xavier Filho, Cladonia polita Ahti, Cladonia polyscypha Ahti & Xavier Filho, and Cladonia rugicaulis Ahti are described as new. C. clathrata, C. rhodoleuca Vainio, C. rugicaulis, C. salzmannii Nyl., and C. subminiata Stenroos appear to represent an element confined to northeastern Brazil

Kohteentunnistus kuvista konvoluutioneuroverkoilla

Object detection is a subfield of computer vision that is currently heavily based on machine learning. For the past decade, the field of machine learning has been dominated by so-called deep neural networks, which take advantage of improvements in computing power and data availability. A subtype of a neural network called a convolutional neural network (CNN) is well-suited for image-related tasks. The network is trained to look for different features, such as edges, corners and colour differences, across the image and to combine these into more complex shapes. For object detection, the system has to both estimate the locations of probable objects and to classify these. For this master's thesis, we reviewed the current literature on convolutional object detection and tested the implementability of one of the methods. We found that convolutional object detection is still evolving as a technology, despite outranking other object detection methods. By virtue of free availability of datasets and pretrained networks, it is possible to create a functional implementation of a deep neural network without access to specialist hardware. Pretrained networks can also be used as a starting point for training new networks, decreasing costly training time. For the experimental part, we implemented Fast R-CNN using MATLAB and MatConvNet and tested a general object detector on two different traffic-related datasets. We found that Fast R-CNN is relatively precise and considerably faster than the original convolutional object detection method, R-CNN, and can be implemented on a home computer. Advanced methods, such as Faster R-CNN and SSD, improve the speed of Fast R-CNN. We also experimented with a geometry-based scene estimation model, which was reported to improve the precision of a previous generation object detection method. We found that with our implementation of Fast R-CNN there was no such improvement, although further adjustments are possible. Combining whole scene modelling with convolutional networks is a potential subject of further study.Kohteentunnistus on tietokonenäön osa-alue, joka pohjautuu vahvasti koneoppimiseen. Koneoppimisen tämän vuosikymmenen trendi ovat niin kutsutut syväoppivat neuroverkot, jotka perustuvat laskentatehon ja datan saatavuuden kasvuun. Konvoluutioneuroverkko on neuroverkon alatyyppi, joka sopii erityisesti kuviin liittyvien ongelmien ratkaisuun. Verkko opetetaan etsimään yksinkertaisia kuvapiirteitä ja yhdistelemään näitä monimutkaisemmiksi muodoiksi. Kohteentunnistusongelmassa menetelmän tulee sekä paikallistaa että luokitella kiinnostavat kohteet. Diplomityöni sisältää kirjallisuuskatsauksen konvoluutioon perustuviin kohteentunnistusmenetelmiin sekä selostuksen erään tällaisen menetelmän toteuttamisesta. Konvoluutioon perustuva kohteentunnistus kehittyy tällä hetkellä kiivaasti ja on muita menetelmiä tarkempi ja nopeampi. Vapaasti saatavilla olevien opetusaineistojen ja esiopetetujen verkkojen avulla syvä neuroverkko on mahdollista toteuttaa suhteellisen vaivattomasti ja ilman erikoislaitteita. Esiopetettuja verkkoja voidaan käyttää pohjana uusien verkkojen kouluttamiseen. Kokeellisessa osassa toteutin Fast R-CNN:n MATLABin ja MatConvNetin avulla ja kokeilin kahden liikennedata-aineiston avulla, kuinka yleisellä datalla opetettu verkko suoriutui erityisongelmasta. Fast R-CNN suoritti tunnistuksen kohtuullisen tarkasti ja on edeltäjäänsä R-CNN:ää sen verran nopeampi, että on toteutettavissa kotitietokoneella. Kehittyneemmät menetelmät, kuten Faster R-CNN ja SSD, olisivat tätäkin nopeampia, mutta eivät juurikaan tarkempia. Kokeilin myös yhdistää Fast R-CNN geometriantunnistusmenetelmän kanssa, jota on käytetty aikaisemman sukupolven menetelmän tarkkuuden parantamiseen. Konvoluutiomenetelmän kanssa tarkkuus ei noussut, mutta tutkin työssäni, mistä tämä johtui ja kuinka koko näkymän estimointia voidaan mahdollisesti hyödyntää konvoluutioneuroverkoissa

Impact of ESG rating and EU regulatory policies on firm value : An empirical study on influence of ESG Rating and EU disclosure legislation on corporate financial performance and value in Europe

The aim of this thesis to examine the relationship between firm's ESG rating and financial performance in Europe during changes in EU disclosure regulation. Sustainability reporting provides investors, companies and legislators transparency and reliability. Non-financial reporting has experienced vast growth in recent years for voluntary and mandatory reasons. Still, the quality of non-financial reporting has been actively questioned of its impact in creating transparency and contributing to more sustainable business environment. To make reports and sustainability scores more reliable, EU has implemented it's Non-Financial Reporting Directive, among other legislations and sustainability frameworks. NFRD mandates large companies to publish non-financial information and impact they have on society. This thesis aims to fill the gap on impact of mandated reporting and give insight to relationship between ESG rating and financial performance. Empirical part of this thesis examines ESG rating's relationship on accounting-based and market-based financial performance and how Directive 2014/95/EU impacts this relationship in Europe. Empirical work uses different pooled ordinary least squares models and fixed effects models with unbalanced panel data acquired from LSEG database. Sample consists of 1972 companies in 32 different countries during years 2011-2022. Regression models give support to stakeholder and legitimacy theory as results indicate that ESG rating has positive influence on financial performance. Providing support that ESG rating can be a tool for company to reduce information asymmetry and risk. Results also indicate that this effect is enhanced for large companies subject to NFRD after 2018 when first reports were mandated. Various robustness tests are used on the results as well as comparing the impacts on two data subsets that contained differing number of countries that are part of European Union. This thesis examines the role of sustainability legislations and offers evidence of the effects during its first years. It provides insight for companies to invest in sustainability and legislators to create more standardized framework for transparency.Tämän Pro gradun tavoite on tutkia yrityksen ESG-pisteytyksen ja yrityksen taloudellisen suoriutumisen välistä suhdetta Euroopassa, EU:n raportointimääräysten muutosten aikana. Kestävyysraportointi luo sijoittajille, yrityksille ja lainsäätäjille läpinäkyvyyttä ja luotettavuutta. Muiden kuin taloudellisten tietojen raportointi on kasvanut viime vuosina, sekä vapaaehtoisista että pakollisista syistä. Silti raportoinnin laatua on kyseenalaistettu sen vaikutuksesta läpinäkyvyyden luomiseen ja kestävän liiketoimintaympäristön kehittämiseen. Raportoinnin ja kestävyyspisteytyksen luotettavuuden parantamiseksi EU on asettanut Non-Financial Reporting Directive -direktiivin, sekä muita lainsäädäntöjä ja kestävyyskehyksiä. NFRD velvoittaa suuria yritykset julkaisemaan ei-taloudellisia tietojaan ja omia vaikutuksia yhteiskuntaan. Tämä Pro gradu pyrkii täyttämään aukon pakollisen raportoinnin vaikutuksista ja lisäämään ymmärrystä ESG-luokituksen ja yrityksen arvon välisestä suhteesta. Empiirinen osio tutkii ESG-luokituksen suhdetta tilinpäätösperusteiseen ja markkinaperusteiseen taloudelliseen suorituskykyyn ja sitä, miten Direktiivi 2014/95/EU vaikuttaa tähän suhteeseen Euroopassa. Empiirinen työ käyttää erilaisia yhdistetyn vaikutuksen regressioita ja kiinteän vaikutuksen regressioita epätasapainoisella paneelidatalla, joka on hankittu LSEG-tietokannasta. Otokseen kuuluu 1972 yritystä, 32 eri maasta, vuosilta 2011–2022. Regressiomallit tukevat sidosryhmä- ja legitimiteettiteorioita, tulokset osoittavat, että ESG-pisteytyksellä on positiivinen vaikutus yrityksen taloudelliseen suoriutumiseen. Tulokset viittaavat siihen, että ESG-investoinnit voivat olla yritykselle väline vähentää epäsymmetristä informaatiota ja riskiä. Tulokset osoittavat myös, että tämä vaikutus on voimakkaampi suurilla yrityksillä, jotka ovat NFRD:n alaisia vuoden 2018 jälkeen, jolloin ensimmäiset raportointimääräysten mukaiset raportit julkaistiin. Tulosten robustisuuteen käytetään erilaisia testejä, sekä verrataan vaikutuksia kahdella osittaisotoksella, jotka sisältävät eriävät määrät Euroopan unioniin kuuluvia maita. Tämä Pro gradu tarkastelee kestävyyslainsäädännön roolia, ja tarjoaa tärkeää näyttöä sen vaikutuksista direktiivin ensimmäisinä vuosina. Tulokset lisäävät tärkeää näkemystä yritysten kannustimista investoida kestävyyteen ja luo lainsäätäjille kannustimia luoda standardoidumpi kehys kestävälle yritystoiminnalle

Evaluation of Criteria for Transmission Capacity Calculation

Voltage and angle stability along with the thermal loadability of the transmission lines are limiting the transmission capacity of the Nordic power system. Voltage stability after a dimensioning fault limits the transmission capacity of the Finnish power system when power is imported from Sweden to Finland. When power is exported from Finland to Sweden, the damping of the inter-area electromechanical oscillations is the transmission capacity limiting factor. The oscillations appear in many power system quantities, but they are usually referred to as the power oscillations. In transmission capacity calculation, limiting values for the operation of the power system are used as calculation criteria, which determine the allowed operating conditions. The effects of choosing the limits for voltage stability and damping of power oscillations on the transmission capacity and security margins of the Finnish power system are examined in this thesis. The transmission capacity calculation criteria are applied in various operating conditions, and it is examined how the transmission capacity and security margins would change if different criteria were used. The research methods include load flow- and dynamics calculation. In addition, the damping of the power oscillations is examined utilizing the Prony’s method. The research indicated that decreasing the limit for voltage stability would increase the transmission capacity but decrease the security margins. The transmission capacity was discovered to differ between various operating conditions considerably. On the other hand, smaller fluctuation was observed in the security margins between various operating conditions. Based on the studied operating conditions, the security of the Finnish power system does not appear to be endangered if the voltage stability calculation criterion is slightly decreased. An evident difference in the damping of the power oscillations was observed between the summer and winter operating conditions. The summer situations were observed to be more sensitive regarding power oscillations due to fewer generators equipped with power system stabilizers in operation compared with the winter situations. Especially, the impact of the largest generators on damp-ing emerged in the research. The security margins were considerably smaller in the summer situations than in the winter situations when the damping ratios were used as calculation criteria. The currently used calculation criterion for power oscillations was observed to produce more consistent security margins compared with the examined damping ratio based criteria

Achilles Tendon Reconstruction with Semitendinous Tendon Grafts Is Associated with a High Complication Rate Response

Non peer reviewe

Nuevos datos sobre nomenclatura, taxonomía y distribución de algunas especies del género "Cladonia"

The name Cladonia diversa Asperges ex S. Stenroos is validated, and the species is reported as new to Japan. Cladonia angustiloba, earlier known from Macaronesia, is reported to extend to Faeroe Is., Denmark. Cladonia aspera Ahti & Kashiw. is an illegitimate later homonym of C. aspera (Flörke) Doign. The former name is still regarded as a synonym of C. sarmentosa, while the latter name is a synonym of C. gracilis subsp. gracilis. The type of C. dilleniana is stated to be from Bahama Islands rather than Turks and Caicos Islands. The volcano lichen C. vulcani is recorded from Iceland as new to Europe. The author citation of C. bacilliformis (Nyl.) Sarnth. and type location citation of C. glauca Flörke are corrected.Se valida el nombre Cladonia diversa Asperges ex S. Stenroos y se reporta nueva para Japón. Cladonia angustiloba, anteriormente conocida de la Macaronesia extiende su área de distribución hasta las islas Feroe, Dinamarca. Cladonia aspera Ahti & Kashiw. es el último homónimo ilegitimo de C. aspera (Flörke) Doign. El primer nombre válido es considerado un sinónimo de C. sarmentosa, mientras que este último es un sinónimo de C. gracilis subsp. gracilis. El tipo de C. dilleniana procede de las islas Bahamas en lugar de las islas Turcos y Caicos. El liquen de los volcanes C. vulcani se cita de Islandia y constituye nueva cita para Europa. Se corrige la autoría de C. bacilliformis (Nyl.) Sarnth. y la indicación locotípica de C. glauca Flörke

Tarinoita Suomen romanien koulutuksesta

Regardless of the good reputation of the Finnish basic education system, Finnish Roma children fall behind the overall average in their performance of academic skills: Roma children face more challenges completing basic education and have more repeated school years. Furthermore, compared to the average, Roma youth apply less for upper secondary education and thus their general level of education remains low. However, looking at Roma education solely through problematic representations only provides a partial picture. In this article, based on two separate sets of fieldwork among Finnish Kaale Roma, we examine how teachers, Roma activists and mediators perceive the educational trajectories of Finnish Roma children and youth. The article seeks to scrutinize Finnish Roma schooling within the framework of the Finnish National Policy on Roma (NRIS). The analysis highlights the multiplicity of voices in the field, discusses the possibilities, and thus problematizes the single-aspect discourse on Roma education. Many countries in Central and Eastern Europe struggle with school and residential segregation, but Finnish Roma face different challenges.Regardless of the good reputation of the Finnish basic education system, Finnish Roma children fall behind the overall average in their performance of academic skills: Roma children face more challenges completing basic education and have more repeated school years. Furthermore, compared to the average, Roma youth apply less for upper secondary education and thus their general level of education remains low. However, looking at Roma education solely through problematic representations only provides a partial picture. In this article, based on two separate sets of fieldwork among Finnish Kaale Roma, we examine how teachers, Roma activists and mediators perceive the educational trajectories of Finnish Roma children and youth. The article seeks to scrutinize Finnish Roma schooling within the framework of the Finnish National Policy on Roma (NRIS). The analysis highlights the multiplicity of voices in the field, discusses the possibilities, and thus problematizes the single-aspect discourse on Roma education. Many countries in Central and Eastern Europe struggle with school and residential segregation, but Finnish Roma face different challenges.Peer reviewe

Head Injuries in Urban Environment Skiing and Snowboarding : A Retrospective Study on Injury Severity and Injury Mechanisms

Background and Aim: During the last decade urban skiing and snowboarding has gained a lot of popularity. In urban skiing/snowboarding riders try to balance on handrails and jump off buildings. Previous studies in skiing and snowboarding accidents have mostly been conducted at hospitals located close to alpine terrain with big ski resort areas. The aim of this study is to evaluate the types and severity of traumatic brain injuries occurring in small, suburban hills and in urban environment, and to characterize injury patterns to find out the specific mechanisms of injuries behind. Materials and Methods: This study included all patients admitted to the Helsinki University Hospital Trauma Unit from 2006 to 2015 with a head injury (ICD 10 S06-S07) from skiing or snowboarding accidents in Helsinki capital area. Head injuries that did not require a CT-scan, and injuries older than 24hours were excluded from this study. Results: There were a total of 72 patients that met the inclusion criteria Mean length of stay in hospital was 2.95days. According to the AIS classification, 30% had moderate, 14% had severe, and 10% had critical head injuries. Patients who got injured in terrain parks or on streets where more likely to be admitted to ICU than those injured on slopes. Based on GOS score at discharge, 78% were classified as having a good recovery from the injury, 13% had a moderate disability, 5% had a severe disability and 3% of the injuries were fatal. There were no statistically significant differences in decreased GOS between the accident sites. Conclusion: Head injuries occurring in small suburban hills and in urban environments can be serious and potentially fatal. The profile and severity of skiing injuries in urban environments and small, suburban hills is comparable to those on alpine terrain.Peer reviewe