Effects of release cutting and soil scarification on natural regeneration in Pinus sylvestris shelterwoods

The objective of this thesis was to evaluate different methods of improving seed production, seed germination, seedling survival and seedling growth when using natural regeneration with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seed trees and shelterwoods. Two experiments and a survey study were used to evaluate effects of (i) shelterwood density and seedling height at release on survival, damage and height growth of advance growth seedlings of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), (ii) release cutting on seed production, seed quality and needle nutrient contents in seed trees, (iii) weather and seed tree size on seed production, (iv) correlation between needle nutrient contents and seed production and seed weight, and (v) scarification in relation to seed fall. For all advance growth seedling sizes, growth was highest at shelterwood densities of 80-160 stems ha⁻¹, whereas the optimum density for survival was about 160 stems ha⁻¹. Height, top-shoot length and top-shoot diameter in seedlings the year before release cutting showed significant positive correlations with both survival and height growth. A majority of the small seedlings (<20 cm) wilted the spring after overstorey release cutting, probably as a combined effect of drought in the humus and “light shock”. The only identified damaging agent causing significant mortality was pine weevil (Hylobius abietis L.). Cone and seed production were about five times higher in seed trees that had been released for 4-5 years, compared to control trees in the unreleased forest. Seed trees released for less than three years had about the same level of cone production as the controls. After release, the number of cones increased more in the lower part of the tree crowns than in the uppermost two metres. The concentration of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus in needles and mean needle dry weight was significantly higher in released trees compared to unreleased control trees. N, P and K concentrations in needles were significantly positively correlated to numbers of conelets as well as to mean 1000-seed weight. In 1996, there were about eight times more cones than in 1995, probably because summer temperatures were higher in 1994 than in 1993, the years when the respective flower buds were initiated. Trees with a diameter at breast height of 400 mm produced twice as many cones as trees with a diameter of 300 mm. By timing soil scarification in relation to a rich seed fall twice as many seedlings were established compared to scarification immediately after release cutting. Unscarified plots showed poorest result according number of seedlings, and number of plots without seedlings (0-plots). Height growth was significantly improved by scarification

The Perpetuation of Jihad: Boko Haram, Charismatic Constructions of Jihadist Ideology and the Rise of Abubakar Shekau

The Nigerian jihadist-terrorist movement Boko Haram reached international notoriety especially after the bombing of an UN-headquarters in Abuja in 2011 and after the kidnappings of 276 schoolgirls in 2014. But these events are minor parts of rapid evolutionary ideological developments and expansion. In 2009 Boko Haram´s leader, Mohammad Yusuf, was killed by Nigerian forces and the movement was considered defeated. But it resurfaced under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau and rapid transnational expansion followed, along significant medial presence through Shekau´s published sermons, exhortations and threats against western and domestic leaders. These internet-published messages reach world-wide audiences and constitute platforms for dissemination and constructions of jihadist-ideology. This thesis studies the construction and intermediation of jihadist-ideology by Shekau, through his video-messages. Shekau is investigated through TCP-theory, regarding him as a charismatic leader who in that capacity constructs jihadist-ideology, and develops it in relation to specific contextual crisis-points. The thesis shows that Shekau constructs jihadist-ideological themes of apostate Muslim and Christian oppression and persecution in collaboration with the West. Two main lines of thought constructed are that the ideology of secular democracy is furthered by these actors in order to dominate and persecute Muslims world-wide, and that jihadists are victims instead of terrorists

Harmonization Without Consensus: Critical Reflections on Drafting a Substantive Patent Law Treaty

In this Article, we contend that the World Intellectual Property Organization\u27s proposed Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT) is premature. Developing countries are struggling to adjust to the heightened standards of intellectual property protection required by the TRIPS Agreement of 1994. With TRIPS, at least, these countries obtained side payments (in the form of trade concessions) to offset the rising costs of knowledge products. A free-standing instrument, such as the SPLT, would shrink the remaining flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement with no side payments and no concessions to the catch-up strategies of developing countries at different stages of technological advancement. More controversially, we argue that a deep harmonization would boomerang against even its developed country promoters by creating more problems than it would solve. There is no vision of a properly functioning patent system for the developed world that commands even the appearance of a consensus. The evidence shows, instead, that the worldwide intellectual property system has entered a brave new scientific epoch, in which experts have only tentative, divergent ideas about how best to treat a daunting array of new technologies. The proposals for reconciling the needs of different sectors, such as information technology and biotechnology, pose hard, unresolved issues at a time when the costs of litigation are rising at the expense of profits from innovation. These difficulties are compounded by the tendency of universities to push patenting up stream, generating new rights to core methodologies and research tools. As new approaches to new technologies emerge in different jurisdictions, there is a need to gather empirical evidence to determine which, if any, of these still experimental solutions are preferable over time. Our argument need not foreclose other less intrusive options and measures surveyed in the Article that can reduce the costs of delaying harmonization. However, the international community should not rush to freeze legal obligations regarding the protection of intellectual property. It should wait until economists and policymakers better understand the dynamics of innovation and the role that patent rights play in promoting progress and until there are mechanisms in place to keep international obligations responsive to developments in science, technology, and the organization of the creative community

Assessing the EU’s global climate change leadership: From Copenhagen to the Paris agreement

The EU has attempted to take a leading role in climate negotiations, but how effective has it been in shaping agreements? Charles F. Parker and Christer Karlsson present survey evidence from eight climate summits leading up to the Paris agreement in 2015. They highlight that although the EU’s perception of itself as a world leader was not shared to the same extent outside of the EU, it was still perceived to be one of the key leaders alongside China and the US

Chapter 1 Examining the illusion of accountability

Do EU citizens have real opportunities to hold decision-makers accountable, or does the current institutional set-up in the Union merely create an illusion of accountability? That is the central question of this volume. There are widespread and growing concerns that the political system of the EU does not, in fact, afford citizens appropriate mechanisms of accountability. The aim of the current study is to ascertain whether such concerns are warranted

Uppföljning av Projektet Utsikter Är projektets pedagogiska insatser bestående över tid?

Project Utsikter (2008-2010) was to offer educational actions and preventive work with children aged 5-8 years whose parents had had prolonged livelihood support for at least 6 months. The group was represented at three different schools in Helsingborg. Twenty families were invited to the project. In this follow-up project five years after the completion of the initial project, the focus lies on establishing if the educational effort under the project has had a lasting effect over time. In this follow-up study, 15 of the original participating families were contacted, out of which nine families accepted the invitation. The monitoring instrument used is the SDQ-SWE – monitoring, a questionnaire have been design to answer questions about "perceived benefit" and “perceived ability today”. The results show that eight of the nine children have lasting positive results which means they have low to average risk of experiencing difficulty at school and socially. The conclusion of the monitoring is that the children are well attuned to cope with the school but this follow-up study is not sufficient enough to prove that the result was due to the educational efforts made during the project Utsikter. Many other factors may have played a role in this

Chapter 1 Examining the illusion of accountability

Do EU citizens have real opportunities to hold decision-makers accountable, or does the current institutional set-up in the Union merely create an illusion of accountability? That is the central question of this volume. There are widespread and growing concerns that the political system of the EU does not, in fact, afford citizens appropriate mechanisms of accountability. The aim of the current study is to ascertain whether such concerns are warranted

Design criteria for structural design of silage silo walls

Existing Swedish design guidelines (JBR) cover silo wall heights up to about 3 m. These guidelines presumably overestimate the forces and pressures exerted by silage juice when silo walls are more than 3 m high, which could result in over-sizing, material waste and increased capital costs. This study determined silage physical properties in terms of horizontal wall pressure and evaluated silage juice levels in silos with a wall height of 3 m or more.Wall pressure was measured by transducers mounted on a steel ladder rack placed vertically along the internal silo wall. The ladder rack also permitted measurement of silage juice levels in slotted steel pipes. The pressure on the transducers was recorded by a data acquisition system displaying static and total loads (pressures imposed by silage material without and with the compaction machine, respectively).The static pressure at the bottom of the silo wall (4 m) was 16 kPa during filling and compaction, and 22 kPa 1-4 months after filling. The silage juice did not interact with compaction. The wall pressure increased by 30% after filling, but the increase was only significant at 1 m from the silo bottom. The dynamic load was 17 kPa when the compaction machine passed 0.1 m from the silo wall.New guidelines are proposed based on the results and on the Eurocode for ultimate limit states (ULS) for two stages; filling and the utility period. The design bending moment for ULS was 21% lower than specified in JBR. (C) 2014 IAgrE. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

A European Perspective

The aim of this paper is to create a European perspective on the history of thought in operations management and to analyze driving and determining factors shaping different schools of thought. An attempt to describe the European contributions to operations management’s history of thought will by necessity be heavily influenced by the authors of the description. Even if the description can be based on facts, in the form of publications, individuals, and organizations, there is a need to interpret and reflect on the facts. The view presented here is produced by a researcher holding a professorship in Industrial production and with a background in executive development and consulting, together with his research assistant holding a Ph.D. with special studies of production system change and implementation. Part of the database is, however, distinct and real and has not really been accessed by anyone else. The database consists of twelve years of experience of assessing thousands of abstracts and manuscripts from all over Europe submitted to the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM)

Altered neuromuscular control mechanisms of the trapezius muscle in fibromyalgia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>fibromyalgia is a relatively common condition with widespread pain and pressure allodynia, but unknown aetiology. For decades, the association between motor control strategies and chronic pain has been a topic for debate. One long held functional neuromuscular control mechanism is differential activation between regions within a single muscle. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in neuromuscular control, i.e. differential activation, between myalgic trapezius in fibromyalgia patients and healthy controls.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>27 fibromyalgia patients and 30 healthy controls performed 3 minutes bilateral shoulder elevations with different loads (0-4 Kg) with a high-density surface electromyographical (EMG) grid placed above the upper trapezius. Differential activation was quantified by the power spectral median frequency of the difference in EMG amplitude between the cranial and caudal parts of the upper trapezius. The average duration of the differential activation was described by the inverse of the median frequency of the differential activations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>the median frequency of the differential activations was significantly lower, and the average duration of the differential activations significantly longer in fibromyalgia compared with controls at the two lowest load levels (0-1 Kg) (p < 0.04), but not at the two highest load levels (2 and 4 Kg).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>these findings illustrate a different neuromuscular control between fibromyalgia patients and healthy controls during a low load functional task, either sustaining or resulting from the chronic painful condition. The findings may have clinical relevance for rehabilitation strategies for fibromyalgia.</p