Private forest owners view of silviculture forestry measures

Privata skogsägare utgör den enskilt största ägargruppen i Sverige med ett skogligt innehav motsvarande 48 % av den produktiva skogsmarken, vilket medför att denna grupp spelar en avgörande roll för industrins råvaruförsörjning. Studier har visat att skogsbruket genom mindre förändringar som förbättrar planeringen och utförandet av de skogsvårdande åtgärderna skulle kunna öka skogsproduktionen med upp till 40 %. Med detta i åtanke, var studiens syfte att beskriva privata skogsägarnas syn på skogsvård. Mer specifikt hur de förhåller sig till skogsvårdsåtgärderna markberedning, föryngring och röjning, samt hur dessa planeras och utförs. En enkätstudie genomfördes som en totalundersökning med Holmens kundregister som urvalsram. Svarsfrekvensen uppgick till 38 % (2116 personer) och av svaren framgår bland annat följande resultat: Majoriteten av respondenterna anser att skogsvård är en ekonomisk investering som medför välskötta skogar. Vilket resulterar i att respondenterna uppvisar en hög utförandegrad på samtliga studerade skogsvårdsåtgärder. Signifikanta skillnader återfanns dock vid de statistiska analyserna: Manliga respondenter uppvisar en högre utförandegrad än kvinnliga respondenter. Affärsinriktade respondenter uppvisar högre utförandegrad än respondenter som prioriterar ekologiska värden/rekreation. Respondenter med innehav av en aktuell skogsbruksplan uppvisar en högre utförandegrad än respondenter med avsaknad av en aktuell skogsbruksplan. Resultatet uppvisar även att respondenterna anser att tjänsteupphandlingen utförs på ett tillfredställande sätt. Men påpekar samtidigt att de anser att virkesköparen/inspektorn bör framhäva skogsvårdens betydelse i större utsträckning. Pris, tidigare erfarenheter och virkesköparen/inspektorns engagemang och rådgivning är aspekter som respondenterna framhåller som viktiga vid val av extern aktör i samband med upphandling av skogsvårdstjänster. Merparten av respondenterna framhåller att kvalitén på tidigare utförda åtgärder spelar en avgörande roll för den berörda aktörens chans till framtida affärer. Resultatet signalerar en efterfrågan av alternativa skogsvårdstjänster som i dagsläget inte tillhandahålls av skogsbolagen/skogsägarföreningar. Bland annat efterfrågas skogsvårdande paketlösningar. Respondenterna uppvisar en begränsad skoglig kunskap samt en negativ utveckling inom detta område. Signifikanta skillnader återfanns även här vid de statistiska analyserna: Manliga respondenter anser sig besitta en högre skoglig kunskap än kvinnliga respondenter Åbor anser sig besitta en högre skoglig kunskap än utbor För att införskaffa mer teoretisk och praktisk kunskap efterfrågar respondenterna med skoglig rådgivning och utbildning.Private forest owners constitute the largest ownership group in Sweden, with a forest holding corresponding to 48 %, which causes this group to play a crucial role in the forest industry’s raw material supply. Studies have shown that minor improvements in planning and execution of the silvicultural management could increase the productivity by 40 %. The objective of the study was to describe the private forest owners’ view of silviculture measures, more specifically how they relate to scarification, regeneration and clearing and how these are planned and executed. A survey was conducted based on a population of private forest owners currently existing in Holmen’s customer records. The response rate was 38 % (2116 people) and the answers show the following results: Most of the private forest owners view silviculture measures as a financial investment that creates well-managed forests. The implementation degree of the silviculture measures was high. However significant differences were found in the statistical analyzes: Male respondents show a higher implementation degree than female respondents. Business-oriented respondents show a higher implementation degree than respondents who prioritize ecological/recreational values. Respondents with possession of a forestry plan show a higher implementation degree than respondents who lack a forestry plan. The service procurement is carried out in a satisfactory manner, but the forest consultant should emphasize the importance of the management to a greater extent. Price, previous experience and the forest consultant’s commitment and guidance are aspects that the respondents emphasize as important when choosing an external actor in connection with the procurement of forest management services. Most of the respondents emphasize that the quality of previously performed measures plays a decisive role in the actor’s chance of future business. The result shows a demand of alternative silvicultural management services, which are currently not provided by the forest companies/owners’ associations. A demand of silvicultural management package-solutions was identified. Private forest owners show a limited forest knowledge and a negative development in this area. Significant differences were found in the statistical analyzes: Male respondents consider themselves to possess a higher forest knowledge than female respondents. Åbor consider themselves to possess a higher forest knowledge than female respondents. To acquire theoretical and practical knowledge, private forest owners demand more guidance and forest education

Meeting local needs from a distance: The role of diaspora media outlets as providers of informative humanitarian support across borders - The Case of Syria

In a time shaped by an increased level of globalization and transnationalism, our perception of the immediate ‘local’ and the more distant ‘global’ is becoming more and more challenged by the forging of transnational flows, bonds and networks evolving in a rapid pace across profound distances. The new social, political and economic opportunities deriving from such transnational connections have been harnessed by various sectors of society, out of which media is one of them. With the development of information and communication technology (ICT), transnationalism has opened up new opportunities for media outlets to communicate messages over large distances and across national borders. In the midst of the Syrian civil war (2011 – present), researchers have witnessed an ongoing transformation of the Syrian media landscape, in which emerging transnational networks between media outlets in diaspora and journalists on the ground in Syria have opened up for new opportunities for Syrian independent media to continue their work amid the conflict. The emergence of Syrian diaspora media outlets (DMOs) working in cooperation with citizen journalists on the ground in Syria has allowed for information flows to cross national borders and transcend geographical distances. By operating through places that are located outside existing legislation, this has created a grey area in which journalists are able to push boundaries and circumvent Syrian state control and censorship of independent media. While previous studies have focused on Syrian DMOs’ role in the provision of news between their homeland and the international media community, there is a gap in the research on the reverse influence; namely on what role Syrian DMOs can play in providing their homeland citizens with information which they are lacking from inside their country. Based on an examination of seven independent Syrian DMOs, this study aims to fill the current research gap. The study illuminates the potential of DMOs in a changing and dynamic media environment; particularly by stressing their unique advantage in being able to engage in local issues while operating from a geographical distance. In particular, the study looks closer upon how DMOs are able to work to provide practical and non-political information in the form of informative humanitarian support (IHS) to their homeland citizens. By doing so, the study examines the potential of DMOs in taking on the role as humanitarian actors in the development community

MRI-­based quantification of cerebral oxygen extraction and oxygen metabolism using the relationship between phase shift and magnetic susceptibility

Introduction: The main purpose of this study was to extract global values of oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) in healthy volunteers, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) phase maps. The repeatability of the method was evaluated, and the age dependences of OEF and CMRO2 were analyzed. Material and methods: Phase data were acquired using a 3T MRI scanner with an 8- channel head coil, and a total of 20 volunteers (10 male, 10 female, age 25-84 years) participated. Magnitude and phase data were acquired from each subject, on two different occasions separated by 7-20 days, using a 3D double gradient echo pulse sequence. The difference in magnetic susceptibility between venous blood and surrounding tissue was obtained for the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) and the vein of Galen, using MRI phase data, and estimates of OEF and CMRO2 were subsequently calculated. Results: OEF estimates were 0.40 0.11 for vein of Galen and 0.31 0.08 for the SSS, and CMRO2 was 159.8 and 116.7 27.5 for the vein of Galen and the SSS, respectively. The method showed promising repeatability, with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of 0.95 and 0.82 for OEF measured in the vein of Galen and the SSS, respectively, and similar repeatability for CMRO2. The estimates showed, however, relatively large spread between volunteers, with coefficients of variation (CoVs) of 0.25 and 0.26 for OEF measured in the vein of Galen and the SSS, respectively, and similar CoVs for CMRO2. Finally, CMRO2 showed the anticipated relationship with age. Conclusion: Population mean values of OEF and CMRO2 were in good agreement with literature values, and the method delivered high repeatability, indicating stable measurements. The spread between different volunteers, however, was somewhat larger than expected. This may suggest that the method is sensitive towards measuring in different anatomical locations between volunteers.Magnetkameran används vanligen för att generera anatomiska bilder som används vid diagnostik av olika sjukdomstillstånd. Normala anatomiska bilder avspeglar magnetresonanssignalens (MR-signalens) magnitud, vilket är signalvektorns längd. Denna är proportionell mot bl.a. antalet vätekärnor i varje volymselement. Ett annat sätt att använda MR-signalen är att skapa en bild av signalvektorns fasvinkel, vilken är relaterad till hur snabbt vätekärnornas magnetiska moment roterar (precesserar) kring det externa magnetfältet i magnetkameran. Precessionsfrekvensen är proportionell mot det lokala magnetfältet i objektet och fasbilder kan därmed användas som kartor över hur magnetfältet varierar över objektet. Den magnetiska susceptibiliteten är ett mått på ett materials förmåga att bli magnetisterat av ett yttre magnetiskt fält, och denna egenskap varierar mellan syrerikt och syrefattigt blod. Följaktligen kommer arteriellt och venöst blod att ge upphov till olika lokala magnetfält och därmed ge olika fasskift. Syrefattigt blod innehåller deoxyhemoglobin, vilket är en molekyl som innehåller oparade elektroner. Ämnen med oparade elektroner kallas paramagnetiska och förstärker ett eventuellt externt magnetfält eftersom de oparade elektronerna beter sig som små magneter. Detta innebär att det lokala magnetfältet inuti en ven blir något högre än det externa magnetfältet. Syrerikt blod är, i likhet med normal vävnad, däremot svagt diamagnetiskt, vilket innebär att det skapas ett svagt motriktat magnetfält i dessa miljöer, som gör att det lokala magnetfältet blir lägre än det externa magnetfältet. Skillnaden i magnetfält mellan venöst blod och kringliggande vävnad kommer att bero på skillnaden i magnetisk susceptibilitet, vilket i sin tur beror på hur mycket syre det finns i det venösa blodet. Sjunker syrehalten i det venösa blodet så ökar det lokala magnetfältet. Detta gör att protonernas precessionsfrekvens ökar, vilket resulterar i en större fasvinkel under en given mättid. Genom att jämföra fasen i venöst blod med fasen i omkringliggande vävnad är det möjligt att beräkna motsvarande skillnad i magnetisk susceptibilitet. Från skillnaden i magnetisk susceptibilitet mellan venöst blod och omkringliggande vävnad kan sedan det venösa blodets syresättning beräknas. Om genomblödningen (perfusionen) i hjärnan är känd så är det möjligt att gå vidare med att, utifrån den venösa syresättningen, beräkna hjärnans syreförbrukning (s.k. syremetabolism). Om den venösa syrehalten mäts i ett kärl som dränerar hela hjärnan erhålls den globala metabolismen, d.v.s ett mått på hur mycket syre hela hjärnan förbrukar. Detta kan ge viktig klinisk information, eftersom metabolismen av syre är kopplad till vissa sjukdomstillstånd (t.ex. stroke och metaboliska sjukdomar) och hjärnans allmänna hälsa. Det finns andra metoder för att ta reda på den venösa syresättningen, men de är ofta invasiva eller innebär exponering för joniserande strålning, och det är därför önskvärt att kunna bedöma den venösa syresättningen med hjälp av MRavbildning. Den fasbaserade MR-metod som beskrivits ovan har, i denna studie, utvärderats med avseende på hur väl mätningarna kan upprepas, och absolutvärdena har jämförts med värden från andra studier. Metoden visade att mätningarna gav liknande resultat vid upprepade mätningar och absolutvärdena stämde väl överens med andra undersökningsmetoder, men relativt stor spridning observerades

Genetic causes and underlying disease mechanisms in early-onset osteoporosis

Adult-onset osteoporosis is a disorder that affects a significant proportion of the elderly population worldwide and entails a substantial disease burden for the affected individuals. Childhood-onset osteoporosis is a rare condition often associating with a severe bone disease and recurrent fractures already in early childhood. Both childhood-onset and adult-onset osteoporosis have a large genetic component, but in children the disorder is usually genetically less complex and often caused by a single gene variant. This makes genetic studies a well-suited approach to explore primary osteoporosis in children, which is the focus of this thesis. Genetic studies can also be used to study bone metabolism in healthy children because of the dynamic stage of the skeleton during growth. Studies in children also have the advantage of involving less confounding environmental factors and other co-morbidities than studies in adults. Our genetic studies had two main goals. First of all, for individuals affected with a severe bone phenotype, a molecular diagnosis is important for several reasons, but particularly for prognostic purposes and for decisions related to treatment strategy. Secondly, the hope is that uncovering genetic regulators of bone metabolism in severely affected children will reveal universal mechanisms that are important also for the adult osteoporosis population. Paper I and Paper II had a monogenic focus and investigated individuals with childhood-onset osteoporosis or fracture propensity. In Paper I we identified two novel disease-causing variants in the PLS3 (Plastin 3) gene. The findings allowed us to conclude that PLS3 screening should be recommended in children with primary osteoporosis, especially if vertebral compression fractures are a dominant feature. In Paper II we showed for the first time that PLS3 gene deletions can cause osteoporosis in children. We also found evidence suggesting that PLS3 has an important role in bone matrix mineralization. Paper III and Paper IV approached bone health as a polygenic trait. In Paper III we explored, for the first time, the polygenic contribution to osteoporosis in children with presumed monogenic bone phenotypes. The study findings suggest that a proportion of the children with severe bone phenotypes and a suspected monogenic etiology for osteoporosis instead may have a polygenic cause underlying the disorder. Finally, in Paper IV we show that the genes GC and CYP2R1 are important determinants of the 25(OH)D concentration in 24-month-old healthy children. Using a Mendelian randomization approach, we also provide support for a causal relationship between 25(OH)D and bone strength in these 24-month-old children

Exploiting coherence in time-varying voxel data

We encode time-varying voxel data for efficient storage and streaming. We store the equivalent of a separate sparse voxel octree for each frame, but utilize both spatial and temporal coherence to reduce the amount of memory needed. We represent the time-varying voxel data in a single directed acyclic graph with one root per time step. In this graph, we avoid storing identical regions by keeping one unique instance and pointing to that from several parents. We further reduce the memory consumption of the graph by minimizing the number of bits per pointer and encoding the result into a dense bitstream

Photon Splatting Using a View-Sample Cluster Hierarchy

Splatting photons onto primary view samples, rather than gathering from a photon acceleration structure, can be a more efficient approach to evaluating the photon-density estimate in interactive applications, where the number of photons is often low compared to the number of view samples. Most photon splatting approaches struggle with large photon radii or high resolutions due to overdraw and insufficient culling. In this paper, we show how dynamic real-time diffuse interreflection can be achieved by using a full 3D acceleration structure built over the view samples and then splatting photons onto the view samples by traversing this data structure. Full dynamic lighting and scenes are possible by tracing and splatting photons, and rebuilding the acceleration structure every frame. We show that the number of view-sample/photon tests can be significantly reduced and suggest further culling techniques based on the normal cone of each node in the hierarchy. Finally, we present an approximate variant of our algorithm where photon traversal is stopped at a fixed level of our hierarchy, and the incoming radiance is accumulated per node and direction, rather than per view sample. This improves performance significantly with little visible degradation of quality

Betesskador

Skogssällskapet har under en period bedrivit en uppföljning av betesskador och klövviltspopulationernas storlek på deras fastighet i Selesjö. Vi har i vårt arbete valt att använda oss av inventeringsdata från Skogssällskapets fastighet Selesjö samt referensområdena Öster-Malma och Växjö som ingår i projekt FOMA (Fortlöpande miljöanalys). Ett projekt som drevs av SLU under perioden 2012 – 2015. Det som har framkommit från de utförda inventeringarna är en variation i betestryck och skador från år till år. Datat från inventeringarna har sedan analyserats och jämförts med data för det vi tror är påverkande faktorer; klimatdata, avskjutning, foderprognoser och viltstatistik. Utifrån resultaten av våra analyser kunde vi främst se tydliga trender för snödjupets påverkan på betesskador. Temperatur och avskjutning påverkade till viss del, men med större osäkerhet och variation. Slaktvikterna visade på tydliga korrelationer, dock i motsatt riktning mot vår hypotes. Jämförelsen mot foderprognoserna visade inga tydliga trender. Eftersom våra undersökningar begränsades av det material vi har tillgängligt kan inga konkreta slutsatser upprättas, däremot bör de trender vi ser kunna skapa intresse för framtida studier och undersökas vidare.The Swedish forest society Skogssällskapet has for a few years conducted a series of surveys on their property Selesjö following browsing damage and herd sizes of Moose, Red Deer, Fallow Deer and Roe Deer. Similar surveys were conducted during the FOMA project (Continuous environmental analysis). The project was driven by SLU, the Swedish University of Agricultural Science, during a four-year period, 2012-2015. In both surveys a variation in browsing damage could be seen between periods. The aim of this study was to compare the data gathered with the help of Skogssällskapet and SLU with new data for weather conditions, lining forecasts, hunting reports and condition of the browsing animals to see if these factors correlated with a change in browsing intensity and damage. Since the available browsing data material is limiting the extent of our study and therefore making it impossible to establish any certain conclusions, we can only for now allocate trends and rather vague correlations, which hopefully can create an interest for future studies

Efficient brain age prediction from 3D MRI volumes using 2D projections

Using 3D CNNs on high resolution medical volumes is very computationally demanding, especially for large datasets like the UK Biobank which aims to scan 100,000 subjects. Here we demonstrate that using 2D CNNs on a few 2D projections (representing mean and standard deviation across axial, sagittal and coronal slices) of the 3D volumes leads to reasonable test accuracy when predicting the age from brain volumes. Using our approach, one training epoch with 20,324 subjects takes 20 - 50 seconds using a single GPU, which two orders of magnitude faster compared to a small 3D CNN. These results are important for researchers who do not have access to expensive GPU hardware for 3D CNNs

Compassionfokuserad psykoterapi- en studie av en manualbaserad gruppterapis effekt på grad av självmedkänsla hos en klinisk population

The purpose of this study was to examine how the outcome of self-compassion changed in a trans-diagnostic population who underwent Compassion-Focused Therapy treatment (CFT) in a group-setting. The core skill training in CFT is Compassionate Mind Training (CMT) 43 patients, mean age 40 years old, and std 11,4 divided into 7 groups were included, with 12-14 sessions each, age range 18-70 years received treatment according to CFT. The design was non-controlled and non randomised. Primary outcome was change in the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), while secondary outcomes were the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-2), Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), from baseline. Patients showed a substantial and statistically significant increase (effect-size d = 1,02) on the SCS. In addition, strong effect was seen on the AAQ-2, while regarding PHQ-9 and functional level moderate effect sizes were seen. The results of anxiety were significant with small effect-size. The study confirms the hypothesis that treatment with CFT gives significant results with great effect-size on self-reported self-compassion.Compassion-Fokuserad Terapi (CFT) är en psykoterapiform inom KBT-panoramat som innehåller särskilda övningar som förväntas öka patienters självmedkänsla samtidigt som symtom som ångest och depressivitet minskar. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur utfallsmåttet självmedkänsla förändrades i en transdiagnostisk patientgrupp som genomgick Compassionfokuserad psykoterapi i gruppformat, Compassionate Mind Training, CMT. 43 patienter i åldersspannet 18-70, medelvärde 40 år samt std 11,4 fördelade på 7 grupper inkluderades, med 12-14 behandlingstillfällen vardera. Studien var icke-randomiserad och icke kontrollerad. Förändringarna analyserades från behandlingsstart till avslut med instrumenten Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-2), Work and social Adjustment Scale (WSAS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7) samt Patient Health Questionaire (PHQ-9), där förändring i SCS var det primära utfallsmåttet. Patienterna uppvisade ökad och statistiskt signifikant självmedkänsla mätt med SCS efter behandling, med en stor effektstorlek (d = 1.02) Resultat på AAQ-2 var signifikant med stor effektstorlek. Resultaten depression (PHQ-9) samt funktionsnivå (WSAS) var signifikanta och effektstorlek måttlig. Resultaten på ångest var signifikanta med liten effektstorlek. Studien bekräftade hypotesen om att behandling med CMT ger signifikanta resultat med stor effekt på självrapporterad självmedkänsla. Behandlingen gav även signifikanta resultat på ångest och depression, funktionsnivå och psykologisk flexibilitet

Women With Chronic Hypoparathyroidism Have Low Risk of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes

Context: There are scarce data on the management of chronic hypoparathyroidism (hypoPT) in pregnant women. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate pregnancy outcome and total number of births in maternal chronic hypoPT. Methods: The Swedish National Patient Register, The Swedish Prescribed Drug Register, Swedish Medical Birth Register, and the Total Population Register were used to identify 97 women with chronic hypoPT and 1030 age-matched controls who delivered 139 and 1577 singleton infants, respectively, following diagnosis between 1997 and 2017. Results: Women in the chronic hypoPT group had more frequent diabetes (DM) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) compared with the control group (P = 0.043 and P < 0.001, respectively). After adjusting for DM, CKD, maternal age at delivery, and calendar year of delivery, chronic hypoPT cases were associated with increased risk of induction of labor (OR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.13-2.94) and birth of infants with lower birth weight (beta-coefficient -188 g; 95% CI, -312.2 to -63.8) compared with controls. No difference was found in infant length, small for gestational age, or head circumference after adjustments. Mean gestational age at delivery after controlling for DM, CKD, and pre-eclampsia was not significantly younger (P = 0.119). There was no difference in congenital malformations or perinatal death and no difference in the total number of infants born between groups (P = 0.518). Conclusion: The majority of women with chronic hypoPT had normal pregnancy outcomes, and the overall risks appear low. Maternal chronic hypoPT is, however, associated with higher risk of induction of labor and slightly lower infant birth weight.Peer reviewe