Northern European viticulture compared to Central European high altitude viticulture: annual growth cycle of grapevines in the years 2012-2013

Peer reviewe

Opintomatka Irlantiin

Tämä opinnäytetyö kertoo opintomatkan järjestämisestä Irlantiin Haaga-Helian Porvoon Kampuksen opiskelijoille 19. – 24.10.2015. Opintomatkan järjestämisen opinnäytetyönä tilasi Haaga-Helian matkailun koulutusohjelma ja se suoritettiin projektina. Tavoitteena oli järjestää onnistuneesti viikon mittainen opintomatka Haaga-Helian opiskelijoille sisältäen kaiken ohjelman, majoitukset, kuljetukset pois lukien lennot sekä toimia matkalla matkanjohtajana. Tämän lisäksi kaikilla matkaan osallistuvilla opiskelijoilla oli omat tavoitteen-sa matkan aikana suorittamistaan opinnoista, joista heidän tuli kirjoittaa blogikirjoituksia. Opintomatka sijoittui Irlannin pääkaupunkiin Dubliniin sekä länsirannikolla sijaitsevaan Galwayhin. Matkalla vierailtiin Guinness Storehousessa, Irlannin suurimmassa yliopistossa Trinity Collegessa, Cliffs of Moherilla sekä tutustuttiin incoming-matkailuyritykseen Scancomingiin. Majoitus matkan aikana oli hostelleissa Dublinissa sekä Galwayssa. Liikkuminen Irlannissa tapahtui julkisella sekä yksityisellä linja-autolla ja kaupungeissa jalan tai joukkoliikenteellä. Majoitus ja liikkuminen budjetoitiin mahdollisimman edulliseksi osallistujille. Matkan jälkeen osallistuneilta kysyttiin palautetta matkan järjestämisestä, aikataulusta, viestinnästä, kohteista sekä majoituksesta. Kyselyn tulokset olivat erittäin hyvät ja niistä välittyi selkeästi osallistuneiden viihtyminen matkalla. Mieluisin ohjelma oli vierailu Cliffs of Moherille. Matkanjärjestäminen ja –järjestäjä sai myös paljon kiitosta. Matkan aikaisen ilmapiirin, matkajärjestelyiden onnistumisen, oppimisen sekä tulosten vastausten perusteella matka oli erittäin onnistunut

Compaction of C-band synthetic aperture radar based sea ice information for navigation in the Baltic Sea

In this work operational sea ice synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data products were improved and developed. A SAR instrument is transmitting electromagnetic radiation at certain wavelengths and measures the radiation which is scattered back towards the instrument from the target, in our case sea and sea ice. The measured backscattering is converted to an image describing the target area through complex signal processing. The images, however, differ from optical images, i.e. photographs, and their visual interpretation is not straightforward. The main idea in this work has been to deliver the essential SAR-based sea ice information to end-users (typically on ships) in a compact and user-friendly format. The operational systems at Finnish Institute of Marine Research (FIMR) are currently based on the data received from a Canadian SAR-satellite, Radarsat-1. The operational sea ice classification, developed by the author with colleagues, has been further developed. One problem with the SAR data is typically that the backscattering varies depending on the incidence angle. The incidence angle is the angle in which the transmitted electromagnetic wave meets the target surface and it varies within each SAR image and between different SAR images depending on the measuring geometry. To improve this situation, an incidence angle correction algorithm to normalize the backscattering over the SAR incidence angle range for Baltic Sea ice has been developed as part of this work. The algorithm is based on SAR backscattering statistics over the Baltic Sea. To locate different sea ice areas in SAR images, a SAR segmentation algorithm based on pulse-coupled neural networks has been developed and tested. The parameters have been tuned suitable for the operational data in use at FIMR. The sea ice classification is based on this segmentation and the classification is segment-wise rather than pixel-wise. To improve SAR-based distinguishing between sea ice and open water an open water detection algorithm based on segmentation and local autocorrelation has been developed. Also ice type classification based on higher-order statistics and independent component analysis have been studied to get an improved SAR-based ice type classification. A compression algorithm for compressing sea ice SAR data for visual use has been developed. This algorithm is based on the wavelet decomposition, zero-tree structure and arithmetic coding. Also some properties of the human visual system were utilized. This algorithm was developed to produce smaller compressed SAR images, with a reasonable visual quality. The transmission of the compressed images to ships with low-speed data connections in reasonable time is then possible. One of the navigationally most important sea ice parameters is the ice thickness. SAR-based ice thickness estimation has been developed and evaluated as part of this work. This ice thickness estimation method uses the ice thickness history derived from digitized ice charts, made daily at the Finnish Ice Service, as its input, and updates this chart based on the novel SAR data. The result is an ice thickness chart representing the ice situation at the SAR acquisition time in higher resolution than in the manually made ice thickness charts. For the evaluation of the results a helicopter-borne ice thickness measuring instrument, based on electromagnetic induction and laser altimeter, was used.reviewe

Biological control of Japanese rose using Chondrostereum purpureum

Haitallisten vieraslajien leviäminen on kasvava ongelma niin luonnon monimuotoisuuden vähenemisen vuoksi kuin taloudellisestikin. Ilmaston muutoksen vuoksi vieraslajien on ennakoitu leviävän yhä laajemmille alueille. Kurtturuusu (Rosa rugosa L.) on levinnyt laajasti ihmisen tuomana koristekasvina. Kurtturuusu syrjäyttää alkuperäistä kasvillisuutta ja on ongelma sille ominaisilla kasvupaikoilla meren rannoilla. Se on uhka useille uhanalaisille luontotyypeille ja näillä kasvaville kasveille. Lehtipuiden lahottajasientä, purppuranahakkaa (Chondrostereum purpureum Pers. ex Fr.) on tutkittu biologisena torjujana. Menetelmällä on saatu hyviä tuloksia myös ruusukasvien (Rosaceae) lajeilla kuten kiiltotuomella (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) ja pilvikirsikalla (Prunus pensylvanica L. f.). Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, onko purppuranahakkakäsittely potentiaalinen torjuntamenetelmä myös kurtturuusun torjunnassa. Purppuranahakan vaikutusta kurtturuusuun tutkittiin yhden kasvukauden ajan Helsingin Lauttasaaressa. Tutkimuksessa katkaistiin kurtturuusut ja ruiskutettiin tuoreille kantopinnoille purppuranahakkaliuosta kesäkuussa 2021. Tutkimusaineisto kerättiin kesä-syyskuussa 2021. Lyhyestä tarkastelujaksosta huolimatta tulokset ovat lupaavia. Sienikäsittely vähensi elävien vesojen määrää ja lisäsi kuolleiden vesojen määrää. Elävien vesojen maksimikorkeus jäi matalammaksi ja kiulukoiden määrä oli selvästi pienempi sienikäsitellyillä ruusuilla kuin kontrollikasvustoissa, jotka katkaistiin, mutta joihin ei ruiskutettu purppuranahakkasientä. Tulosten perusteella näyttää siltä, että purppuranahakka käsittely on potentiaalinen menetelmä kurtturuusun torjunnassa.Invasive non-native species create an increasing threat to diversity in nature and economics. Invasive species are expected to spread even wider due to climate chance. The Japanese rose (Rosa rugosa L.) is a species widely spread by humans for its decorative value. The japanese rose replaces native plant species and creates problems on seashores, where it thrives. It creates a threat to many endangered biotopes and their plantation. Chondrostereum purpureum (Pers. ex Fr.) has been studied for a biological method for brushwood maintenance. The method has yielded good results on several species of the Rosaceae family , for instance on Black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) and Pin cherry (Prunus pensylvaica L.f.) This study aims to declare, whether C. purpureum can be viewed as a potential method for controlling the Japanese rose. The effect of C. purpureum on the Japanese rose was studied for one growing season in Lauttasaari, Helsinki. In the study, the roses were cut and the freshly cut surfaces were treated with a C. purpureum solution in June 2021. The data were collected in June-September 2021. Despite the shortness of the study period, the results were promising. The fungal treatment decreased the number of live sprouts and increased the number of dead sprouts. Living sprouts were shorter and the amount of rosehip berries was lower in roses treated using C. purpureum than in roses that were cut only. It seems that the C. purpureum treatment provides a potential method for controlling the Japanese rose

Using a Semi-autonomous Drone Swarm to Support Wildfire Management – A Concept of Operations Development Study

This paper provides insights into a human factors-oriented Concept of Operations (ConOps), which can be applied for future semi-autonomous drone swarms to support the management of wildfires. The results provide, firstly, an overview of the current practices to manage wildfires in Finland. Secondly, some of the current challenges and future visions about drone usage in a wildfire situation are presented. Third, a description of the key elements of the developed future ConOps for operating a drone swarm to support the combat of wildfires is given. The ConOps has been formulated based on qualitative research, which included a literature review, seven subject matter expert interviews and a workshop with 40 professionals in the domain. Many elements of this ConOps may also be applied to a variety of other swarm robotics operations than only wildfire management. Finally, as the development of the ConOps is still in its first stage, several further avenues for research and development are proposed

A novel strategy to identify asthma-associated microbial clusters Reply

Non peer reviewe

Perinatal factors and high-sensitive C-reactive protein levels during adolescence

Objective: To examine whether perinatal factors are associated with low-grade inflammation measured by high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels during adolescence. Methods: Nested case-control study of 125 teenagers who were born by Cesarean delivery and had high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels determined at 15-17 years. Data on obstetric and perinatal factors were recorded prospectively at the time of their birth. Results: Median values of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein were significantly higher in teenagers, who were born as large for gestational age or with maternal diabetes compared to others (2.54 vs 0.34 mg/L; p < 0.024), and born during spring or summer compared to those born during winter or autumn (0.48 vs 0.27 mg/L; p < 0.023). No other perinatal associations were detected (for ex. such as electivity of operation, onset of labor, rupture of fetal membranes, cervical dilatation at delivery, gestational age, Apgar scores at 5 min, umbilical blood pH value, administration of neonatal antibiotics or need of neonatal intensive care treatment) in CRP levels. Further, teenagers with current body mass index in the highest tertile, regular medication for chronic disease and girls using oral contraceptives had significantly higher high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels than others. Conclusion: Prenatal exposures such as maternal metabolic environment and seasonality may have longterm effects on the low-grade inflammation and later cardiometabolic risks. Seasonality might be partly explained by maternal vitamin D levels during pregnancy, and thus future efforts are warranted to ensure sufficient vitamin D availability during pregnancy. Surprisingly, no other significant associations were detected between perinatal characteristics and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels.Peer reviewe

Kara and Barents sea ice thickness estimation based on CryoSat-2 radar altimeter and Sentinel-1 dual-polarized synthetic aperture radar

We present a method to combine CryoSat-2 (CS2) radar altimeter and Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data to obtain sea ice thickness (SIT) estimates for the Barents and Kara seas. From the viewpoint of tactical navigation, along-track altimeter SIT estimates are sparse, and the goal of our study is to develop a method to interpolate altimeter SIT measurements between CS2 ground tracks. The SIT estimation method developed here is based on the interpolation of CS2 SIT utilizing SAR segmentation and segmentwise SAR texture features. The SIT results are compared to SIT data derived from the AARI ice charts; to ORAS5, PIOMAS and TOPAZ4 ocean-sea ice data assimilation system reanalyses; to combined CS2 and Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) radiometer weekly SIT (CS2SMOS SIT) charts; and to the daily MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer) SIT chart. We studied two approaches: CS2 directly interpolated to SAR segments and CS2 SIT interpolated to SAR segments with mapping of the CS2 SIT distributions to correspond to SIT distribution of the PIOMAS ice model. Our approaches yield larger spatial coverage and better accuracy compared to SIT estimates based on either CS2 or SAR data alone. The agreement with modelled SIT is better than with the CS2SMOS SIT. The average differences when compared to ice models and the AARI ice chart SIT were typically tens of centimetres, and there was a significant positive bias when compared to the AARI SIT (on average 27 cm) and a similar bias (24 cm) when compared to the CS2SMOS SIT. Our results are directly applicable to the future CRISTAL mission and Copernicus programme SAR missions.Peer reviewe