Increased carbon sequestration of actively restored tropical forests in Sabah, Malaysia : a comparison of natural regeneration and active restoration

As restoration with assisted natural regeneration and enrichment planting becomes a more important and popular method to restore ecosystem services and mitigate negative climate effects, these treatments and their effectiveness is heavily debated. There are three main groups of opinions regarding restoration, one is that humans actively need to help nature recover and the second is that nature itself does a better job without our help and the third is somewhere in between. In my study, I compared active and passive restoration in degraded tropical forests within the INIKEA project in Sabah, Malaysia. Along with previously collected data from 2017, I used my own data collected in 2022 to investigate the effects of active restoration with focus on enrichment line-planting followed by continuous maintenance for 10 years. My result showed that some control plots were still almost completely bare of trees, even 40 years after the last severe disturbance. This indicates that heavy degradation sometimes hinders natural regeneration for decades, whereas no such delayed regeneration was found in actively restored forests. In contrast, after 23 years actively restored forests had 41.8 Mg C ha-1 higher carbon storage (p=0.015) compared to naturally regenerated control plots. However, the increase in carbon sequestration cannot be attributed to planted trees since only 30 trees per hectare out of 300 planted had grown into the measurable diameter size (dbh ≥ 10). The average diameter of these planted trees was still low, 17.4 cm, which contributes 4.4 % or 1.84 Mg C ha-1 of the added carbon sequestration as a result from active restoration. I conclude that most of the additional carbon sequestration from active restoration came from the continuous maintenance where lianas, climbers and other competing vegetation is removed which led to an increased growth of the already established and naturally regenerated trees. Consequently, knowledge like this could be useful in decision-making concerning restoration methods to maximize benefits in a cost-effective way

Getting the Haves to Come out Behind: Fixing the Distributive Injustices of American Health Care

Hyman criticizes an article by Havighurst and Richman regarding the distributive injustices of US health care. Hyman also offers a guide for implementing policy reforms based on the analysis by Havighurst and Richman

Effects of Visual and Cognitive Distraction on Lane Change Test Performance

Driver errors related to visual and cognitive distraction were studied in the context of the Lane Change Test (LCT). New performance metrics were developed in order to capture the specific effects of visual and cognitive distraction. In line with previous research, it was found that the two types of distraction impaired driving in different ways. Visual, but not cognitive, distraction led to reduced path control. By contrast, only cognitive distraction affected detection and recognition/response selection. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed

Comparison of Static and Driving Simulator Venues for the Tactile Detection Response Task

The general objective of the present study was to validate a low-cost, static, version of the Tactile Detection Response Task (TDRT) intended for driver-vehicle interface evaluation in industrial settings. The static TDRT venue was compared to the more commonly used driving simulator venue, where the TDRT and the secondary task under evaluation are performed during simulated driving. The results indicated that the effect of venue was additive over a range of visual-manual and cognitive secondary tasks, which offers preliminary support for the static TDRT venue as a surrogate for the driving simulator TDRT venue. However, a more detailed analysis revealed a counterintuitive effect for one of the visual-manual secondary tasks (SuRT), where the easier version of the task (as confirmed by subjective workload ratings) yielded a stronger effect on the TDRT than the more difficult version. Possible explanations and implications for the TDRT and its application to driver-vehicle interface evaluation are discussed

An approximability-related parameter on graphs―-properties and applications

Graph TheoryInternational audienceWe introduce a binary parameter on optimisation problems called separation. The parameter is used to relate the approximation ratios of different optimisation problems; in other words, we can convert approximability (and non-approximability) result for one problem into (non)-approximability results for other problems. Our main application is the problem (weighted) maximum H-colourable subgraph (Max H-Col), which is a restriction of the general maximum constraint satisfaction problem (Max CSP) to a single, binary, and symmetric relation. Using known approximation ratios for Max k-cut, we obtain general asymptotic approximability results for Max H-Col for an arbitrary graph H. For several classes of graphs, we provide near-optimal results under the unique games conjecture. We also investigate separation as a graph parameter. In this vein, we study its properties on circular complete graphs. Furthermore, we establish a close connection to work by Šámal on cubical colourings of graphs. This connection shows that our parameter is closely related to a special type of chromatic number. We believe that this insight may turn out to be crucial for understanding the behaviour of the parameter, and in the longer term, for understanding the approximability of optimisation problems such as Max H-Col

Comparison Between Visual and Tactile Signal Detection Tasks Applied to the Safety Assessment of In-Vehicle Information Systems

The Peripheral Detection Task (PDT) is a widely applied method for safety assessment of in-vehicle information systems (IVIS). In this study, the PDT was compared to a Tactile Detection Task (TDT) where the visual stimulus used for the PDT was replaced by tactile vibrators, placed on the wrists. The sensitivity of the two methods to different cognitive and visual secondary tasks was investigated in different real-world driving conditions. The results showed that both methods were sensitive to visual and cognitive secondary task load in a range of different driving environments.The sensitivity was generally stronger for the TDT than the PDT. It was concluded that the TDT could be a viable alternative to the PDT for IVIS assessment

A Review of Research on Driving Styles and Road Safety

Objective: To outline a conceptual framework for understanding driving style and, based on this, review the state-of-the-art research on driving styles in relation to road safety.</br></br> Background: Previous research has indicated a relationship between the driving styles adopted by drivers and their crash involvement. However, a comprehensive literature review of driving style research is lacking. </br></br> Method: A systematic literature search was conducted, including empirical, theoretical and methodological research on driving styles related to road safety. </br></br> Results: A conceptual framework was proposed where driving styles are viewed in terms of driving habits established as a result of individual dispositions as well as social norms and cultural values. Moreover, a general scheme for categorising and operationalizing driving styles was suggested. On this basis, existing literature on driving styles and indicators was reviewed. Links between driving styles and road safety were identified and individual and socio-cultural factors influencing driving style were reviewed. </br></br> Conclusion: Existing studies have addressed a wide variety of driving styles, and there is an acute need for a unifying conceptual framework in order to synthesise these results and make useful generalisations. There is a considerable potential for increasing road safety by means of behaviour modification. Naturalistic driving observations represent particularly promising approaches to future research on driving styles. </br></br> Application: Knowledge about driving styles can be applied in programmes for modifying driver behaviour and in the context of usage-based insurance. It may also be used as a means for driver identification and for the development of driver assistance systems

CSR i praktiken

På senare år har ansvarsfullt företagande blivit en allt viktigare del av företagande, där företag måste ta hänsyn till arbetsvillkor och miljöpåverkan i sin verksamhet. Ett begrepp som är starkt kopplat till ansvarsfullt företagande är Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR). CSR har en lång och varierad historia i litteraturen. Även om CSR nämns några gånger innan 1950-talet, ses tiden efter som den moderna eran för CSR när det gäller definitioner av begreppet. Problemet med CSR är att det är resurskrävande för företag och att begreppet inte är klart definierat. Utöver det kan CSR bli en pappersprodukt där företag använder CSR som ett PR-verktyg. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur småföretag i Uppsalaområdet arbetar med CSR i praktiken, där aktiviteter, målsättningar, kontroll och hinder identifieras. För att undersöka detta har tre fallstudier genomförts på småföretag i Uppsala. Resultaten har insamlats med semistrukturerad kvalitativa intervjuer med antingen vice direktör (vd) eller miljöansvarige på företagen. Resultaten från intervjuerna visar att alla tre företag jobbar med CSR i viss mån, dock har de inte några konkreta mål med arbetet. Fokus för småföretagen är först och främst att överleva. Den största kontrollen för företagen ligger i externa intressenter, där företagen fokuserar på vad intressenterna har för krav. Det tydligaste hindret för småföretagen med att arbeta med CSR är begränsad ekonomi. Även brist på tid och kunskap ses som hinder för småföretagen.In recent years, responsibile business conduct has become an increasingly important part of enterprise; where companies must take into account the working conditions and environmental impacts in their operations. A concept linked with responsible business conduct is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR has a long and varied history in the literature. Although CSR is mentioned a few times before the 1950s, the period after is seen as the modern era of CSR in terms of definitions of the term. The problem with CSR is that it is costly for firms and that the concept is not clearly defined. In addition, CSR can become a paper product and companies may use CSR only for PR. The purpose of the study is to examine how small businesses in the Uppsala area work with CSR in practice, and identify aktivities, objectives, control and challenges related to their CSR work. To investigate this, three case studies have been conducted in three small businesses in Uppsala. The results were collected by semistructured qualitative interviews with either the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or the environmental officer of the companies. The results of the interviews show that all three companies work with CSR to some extent, however, they have no concrete objective for their CSR work. Focus for the case companies is first and foremost to survive. The main control is located in external stakeholders, where companies focus on the stakeholders’ demands. The biggest challenge for the case companies is their limited economy. Although lack of time and knowledge are also seen as challenges for the companies. This paper shows that small businesses participate in CSR activities more than what theory suggest. This study can help small businesses that want to start working with CSR on limited resources