Economic analysis of field afforestation and forest clearance for cultivation in Finland

Rational land use decisions of private landowners are analysed in the framework of Common Agricultural Policy and other public support schemes effective in Finland in 2003. Net present values are computed for a marginal hectare of a typical Finnish farm. Three alternative land uses are considered: traditional cultivation of oats (Avena sativa L.), cultivation of reed canary grass (Phalaris Arundinacea L.) for energy production, and production of Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) timber. Both arable land and forested land are considered as initial states. Experimental data from 38 afforested stands and distance-independent individual-tree stand growth model are used for computing discounted net returns from forestry. Statistics on market prices, average yields, prices and costs are used for obtaining estimates of land value under agricultural and energy production. Cultivation of energy grass gives clearly the highest economic outcome for arable land, but it has limited demand only in the neighbourhood of thermal power stations. Maintaining arable lands under traditional food production gives higher land value than afforestation. Without an option for agricultural use, public support makes afforestation investments profitable even for the least successfully established forest stands. However, possibilities to sell or to rent out retain arable lands under agricultural production, and explain poor success of the latest afforestation programme. Clearing additional forestland for agricultural production turns rational if clearing of the site is inexpensive, relative value growth of the existing timber stock is low, and future prospects of agricultural production are dependent on scale advantages.Common Agricultural Policy, energy grass, incentives, land use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Periodic pattern formation in reaction-diffusion systems -an introduction for numerical simulation

The aim of the present review is to provide a comprehensive explanation of Turing reaction–diffusion systems in sufficient detail to allow readers to perform numerical calculations themselves. The reaction–diffusion model is widely studied in the field of mathematical biology, serves as a powerful paradigm model for self-organization and is beginning to be applied to actual experimental systems in developmental biology. Despite the increase in current interest, the model is not well understood among experimental biologists, partly because appropriate introductory texts are lacking. In the present review, we provide a detailed description of the definition of the Turing reaction–diffusion model that is comprehensible without a special mathematical background, then illustrate a method for reproducing numerical calculations with Microsoft Excel. We then show some examples of the patterns generated by the model. Finally, we discuss future prospects for the interdisciplinary field of research involving mathematical approaches in developmental biology

Modeling the Delivery of Security Advisories and CVEs

This empirical paper models three structural factors that are hypothesized to affect the turnaround times between the publication of security advisories and Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs). The three structural factors are: (i) software product age at the time of advisory release; (ii) severity of vulnerabilities coordinated; and (iii) amounts of CVEs referenced in advisories. Although all three factors are observed to provide only limited information for statistically predicting the turnaround times in a dataset comprised of Microsoft, openSUSE, and Ubuntu operating system products, the paper outlines new research directions for better understanding the current problems related to vulnerability coordination

The Role of Organisational Phenomena in Software Cost Estimation: A Case Study of Supporting and Hindering Factors

Despite the fact that many researchers and practitioners agree that organisational issues are equally important as technical issues from the software cost estimation ( SCE) success point of view, most of the research focus has been put on the development of methods, whereas organisational factors have received surprisingly little academic scrutiny. This study aims to identify organisational factors that either support or hinder meaningful SCE, identifying their impact on estimation success. Top management's role is specifically addressed. The study takes a qualitative and explorative case study based approach. In total, 18 semi-structured interviews aided the study of three projects in three organisations. Hence, the transferability of the results is limited. The results suggest that the role of the top management is important in creating prerequisites for meaningful estimation, but their day-to-day participation is not required for successful estimation. Top management may also induce undesired distortion in estimation. Estimation maturity and estimation success seem to have an interrelationship with software process maturity, but there seem to be no significant individual organisational factors, which alone would make estimation successful. Our results validate several distortions and biases reported in the previous studies, and show the SCE research focus has remained on methodologies and technical issues

Visual search for basic emotional expressions in autism: impaired processing of anger, fear and sadness, but a typical happy face advantage

Facial expression recognition was investigated in 20 males with high functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger syndrome (AS), compared to typically developing individuals matched for chronological age (TD CA group) and verbal and non-verbal ability (TD V/NV group). This was the first study to employ a visual search, "face in the crowd" paradigm with a HFA/AS group, which explored responses to numerous facial expressions using real-face stimuli. Results showed slower response times for processing fear, anger and sad expressions in the HFA/AS group, relative to the TD CA group, but not the TD V/NV group. Reponses to happy, disgust and surprise expressions showed no group differences. Results are discussed with reference to the amygdala theory of autism. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd

Neural Correlates of Theory of Mind Are Preserved in Young Women With Anorexia Nervosa

People with anorexia nervosa (AN) commonly exhibit social difficulties, which may be related to problems with understanding the perspectives of others, commonly known as Theory of Mind (ToM) processing. However, there is a dearth of literature investigating the neural basis of these differences in ToM and at what age they emerge. This study aimed to test for differences in the neural correlates of ToM processes in young women with AN, and young women weight-restored (WR) from AN, as compared to healthy control participants (HC). Based on previous findings in AN, we hypothesized that young women with current or prior AN, as compared to HCs, would exhibit a reduced neural response in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the inferior frontal gyrus, and the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) whilst completing a ToM task. We recruited 73 young women with AN, 45 WR young women, and 70 young women without a history of AN to take part in the current study. Whilst undergoing a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan, participants completed the Frith-Happé task, which is a commonly used measure of ToM with demonstrated reliability and validity in adult populations. In this task, participants viewed the movements of triangles, which depicted either action movements, simple interactions, or complex social interactions. Viewing trials with more complex social interactions in the Frith-Happé task was associated with increased brain activation in regions including the right TPJ, the bilateral mPFC, the cerebellum, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. There were no group differences in neural activation in response to the ToM contrast. Overall, these results suggest that the neural basis of spontaneous mentalizing is preserved in most young women with AN