Challenges and Solutions for Non-Timber Forest Product Businesses in FINLAND : An Application of the SODA Analysis

This study aims to present a holistic image of the strategic development needs and potential solutions within the Finnish non-timber forest product (NTFP) business sector and demonstrate a new hybrid methodology for collaborative strategy formulation. The perceived challenges and solutions were collected with the 635 group-working method in a nationwide series of NTFP actor workshops. The analysis applied the Strategic Option Development and Analysis (SODA) approach and the formal network analysis. Business actors emphasised two complex and interrelated aims of development at the core of the business activity: (1) to improve the profitability of the NTFP business and (2) to facilitate the growth of the sector. The present bottleneck is perceived in the raw material acquisition and productising, and many wider development themes, such as business logic and sustainability, received little attention

Analysis of sub-3 nm particle growth in connection with sulfuric acid in a boreal forest

We analyzed nanoparticle growth during new-particle-formation events based on ten years of measurements carried out at a boreal forest site in Hyytiala, Finland, concentrating on the sub-3 nm particles and the role of sulfuric acid in their growth. Growth rates of 1.5-3 nm diameter particles were determined from ion spectrometer measurements and compared with parameterized sulfuric acid concentration and other atmospheric parameters. The calculated growth rates from sulfuric acid condensation were on average 7.4% of the observed growth rates and the two did not correlate. These suggest that neither sulfuric acid monomer condensation nor coagulation of small sulfuric acid clusters was the primary growth mechanism in these atmospheric conditions. Also no clear sign of organic condensation being the single main growth mechanism was seen. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that several factors have comparative roles in the sub-3 nm growth.Peer reviewe

Discursive barriers to voluntary biodiversity conservation: The case of Finnish forest owners

In many parts of the world, the success of biodiversity conservation strongly depends on the decisions of private landowners. These decisions are guided by the shared perceptions of the biodiversity problem. In this study, we applied a mixed method critical discourse analysis and examined how alternative discourses of biodiversity guide Finnish forest owners to maintain, or not maintain, biodiversity on their lands. Data collection combined a preliminary interview (n = 24) with a forest owner survey (n = 452). We identified four discourses of biodiversity. The concerned discourse acknowledges the biodiversity problems in forests caused by current forestry. The sceptical discourse denies the existence of all biodiversity problems and defends contemporary forestry against the accusations of environmentalists. The harmonising discourse emphasises the harmony of all forest uses in the spirit of multi-objective forestry. The uninvolved discourse distances itself from the biodiversity issue. Overall, only 21% of the survey respondents worried about biodiversity loss in Finnish forests. The discourses illustrate three different ways in which Finnish forest owners moderate the cognitive dissonance caused by 'unpleasant' information on biodiversity loss by either excluding or rejecting it, or assimilating it into multi-objective harmony. Overcoming these kinds of discursive barriers - the mechanisms that help decision-makers ignore alarming realities - is a major challenge for all those who aim to halt biodiversity loss.Peer reviewe

Is a sustainability transition possible within the decision-support services provided to Finnish forest owners?

Peer reviewe

Modeling of Charge Transfer Inefficiency in a CCD with High Speed Column Parallel Readout

Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs) have been successfully used in several high energy physics experiments over the past two decades. Their high spatial resolution and thin sensitive layers make them an excellent tool for studying short-lived particles. The Linear Collider Flavour Identification (LCFI) collaboration is developing Column-Parallel CCDs (CPCCDs) for the vertex detector of a future Linear Collider. The CPCCDs can be read out many times faster than standard CCDs, significantly increasing their operating speed. An Analytic Model has been developed for the determination of the charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) of a CPCCD. The CTI values determined with the Analytic Model agree largely with those from a full TCAD simulation. The Analytic Model allows efficient study of the variation of the CTI on parameters like readout frequency, operating temperature and occupancy.Comment: 5 pages, 13 figures, presented on behalf of the LCFI Collaboration, proceedings IEEE 2008 Nuclear Science Symposium, Dresden, Germany, and 11th Topical Seminar on Innovative Particle and Radiation Detectors (IPRD08) 2008, Siena, Ital

Tiedonkäsittelyn heikentymät ja työkyky

Tiedonkäsittelyn heikentymät ja työkyky -hankkeessa tutkittiin yliopistosairaalan muistipoliklinikoille ohjautuneiden työikäisten kognitiivisia heikentymiä ja niiden taustalla olevia tekijöitä. Lisäksi kehitettiin työssä ilmenevien kognitiivisten vaikeuksien yksilölliseen arviointiin ja työn muokkaukseen soveltuvia menetelmiä. Hankkeen yleisinä tavoitteina oli tiedonkäsittelyn häiriöiden varhaistunnistuksen ja hoitoonohjauksen, sekä niiden työkykyvaikutusten arvioinnin kehittäminen

Monoterpenes’ oxidation capacity and rate over a boreal forest : temporal variation and connection to growth of newly formed particles

Peer reviewe

MIDIS: JWST/MIRI reveals the Stellar Structure of ALMA-selected Galaxies in the Hubble-UDF at Cosmic Noon

We present deep James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)/MIRI F560W observations of a flux-limited, ALMA-selected sample of 28 galaxies at z=0.5-3.6 in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF). The data from the MIRI Deep Imaging Survey (MIDIS) reveal the stellar structure of the HUDF galaxies at rest-wavelengths of >1 micron for the first time. We revise the stellar mass estimates using new JWST photometry and find good agreement with pre-JWST analysis; the few discrepancies can be explained by blending issues in the earlier lower-resolution Spitzer data. At z~2.5, the resolved rest-frame near-infrared (1.6 micron) structure of the galaxies is significantly more smooth and centrally concentrated than seen by HST at rest-frame 450 nm (F160W), with effective radii of Re(F560W)=1-5 kpc and S\'ersic indices mostly close to an exponential (disk-like) profile (n~1), up to n~5 (excluding AGN). We find an average size ratio of Re(F560W)/Re(F160W)~0.7 that decreases with stellar mass. The stellar structure of the ALMA-selected galaxies is indistinguishable from a HUDF reference sample of galaxies with comparable MIRI flux density. We supplement our analysis with custom-made, position-dependent, empirical PSF models for the F560W observations. The results imply that an older and smoother stellar structure is in place in massive gas-rich, star-forming galaxies at Cosmic Noon, despite a more clumpy rest-frame optical appearance, placing additional constraints on galaxy formation simulations. As a next step, matched-resolution, resolved ALMA observations will be crucial to further link the mass- and light-weighted galaxy structures to the dusty interstellar medium.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, 1 table, submitted to Ap

MIDIS. JWST NIRCam and MIRI unveil the stellar population properties of Lyα\alpha-emitters and Lyman-Break galaxies at z ~ 3-7

We study the stellar population properties of 182 spectroscopically-confirmed (MUSE/VLT) Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters (LAEs) and 450 photometrically-selected Lyman-Break galaxies (LBGs) at z = 2.8 - 6.7 in the Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (XDF). Leveraging the combined power of HST and JWST NIRCam and MIRI observations, we analyse their rest-frame UV-through-near-IR spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with MIRI playing a crucial role in robustly assessing the LAE's stellar mass and ages. Our LAEs are low-mass objects (log$_{10}$(M$_\star$[M$_\odot$]) ~ 7.5), with little or no dust extinction (E(B - V) ~ 0.1) and a blue UV continuum slope ($\beta$ ~ -2.2). While 75% of our LAEs are young (< 100 Myr), the remaining 25% have significantly older stellar populations (> 100 Myr). These old LAEs are statistically more massive, less extinct and have lower specific star formation rate (sSFR) compared to young LAEs. Besides, they populate the M$_\star$ - SFR plane along the main-sequence (MS) of star-forming galaxies, while young LAEs populate the starburst region. The comparison between the LAEs properties to those of a stellar-mass matched sample of LBGs shows no statistical difference between these objects, except for the LBGs redder UV continuum slope and marginally larger E(B - V) values. Interestingly, 48% of the LBGs have ages < 10 Myr and are classified as starbursts, but lack detectable Ly$\alpha$ emission. This is likely due to HI resonant scattering and/or selective dust extinction. Overall, we find that JWST observations are crucial in determining the properties of LAEs and shedding light on the properties and similarities between LAEs and LBGs.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, 5 tables. Submitted to AP

Life beyond 30: Probing the −20 < M UV < −17 Luminosity Function at 8 < z < 13 with the NIRCam Parallel Field of the MIRI Deep Survey

We present the ultraviolet luminosity function and an estimate of the cosmic star formation rate density at 8 8 galaxy candidates based on their dropout nature in the F115W and/or F150W filters, a high probability for their photometric redshifts, estimated with three different codes, being at z > 8, good fits based on χ2 calculations, and predominant solutions compared to z < 8 alternatives. We find mild evolution in the luminosity function from z ∼ 13 to z ∼ 8, i.e., only a small increase in the average number density of ∼0.2 dex, while the faint-end slope and absolute magnitude of the knee remain approximately constant, with values α = − 2.2 ± 0.1, and M* = − 20.8 ± 0.2 mag. Comparing our results with the predictions of state-of-the-art galaxy evolution models, we find two main results: (1) a slower increase with time in the cosmic star formation rate density compared to a steeper rise predicted by models; (2) nearly a factor of 10 higher star formation activity concentrated in scales around 2 kpc in galaxies with stellar masses ∼108M⊙ during the first 350 Myr of the universe, z ∼ 12, with models matching better the luminosity density observational estimations ∼150 Myr later, by z ∼ 9