Non-Industrial, Smallholder, Small-Scale and Family Forestry: What's in a Name?

This issue represents the launch of a new forestry journal, published under the auspices of IUFRO Working Unit 3.08.00 Small-scale Forestry and sponsored by Joensuu University (Finland) and The University of Queensland (Australia). This journal has come into being from deliberations over a number of years by the members of Working Unit 3.08. The choice of journal title and fields of interest involved much debate, creating a focus for resolving issues concerning the nature and scope of the journal, intended targeted audience and intended contributors. IUFRO Working Unit 3.08.00 - Small-scale Forestry - is dedicated to the dissemination of information on research problems, continuing research efforts and research results related to the management of small-scale non-industrial private forest woodlots. The group was formed in 1986 at the IUFRO XVIII World Congress held in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia. Since that time, the group has been highly active and has staged a series of well-attended and memorable annual symposia at diverse locations. This diversity is well illustrated by the groups most recent meetings being held in tropical northern Australia in summer in 2000 followed by next meeting in snow-covered Finland in late winter 2001. A strong sense of camaraderie has developed amongst members, hence there was strong sentiment in favour of the title Journal of Small-scale Forestry. It is apparent that small-scale forestry means different things in different countries, hence it was necessary to select a name which would give a clear indication on the scope of the journal for forest professionals and academia. Since choice of a journal title drives the perception of the journal to potential contributors and readers, this became a matter of serious debate amongst members of the small committee formed at the symposium in Joensuu in Finland in 2001 to provide directions for the proposed journal. This paper reports on some of the issues which were canvassed in arriving at a title and focus for the journal, summarises results of a survey of delegates at the Joensuu symposium of opinions about the desirable role and nature of the journal, and indicates the priority areas in which papers are sought

Trends and predictors in all-cause and cause-specific mortality in diabetic and reference populations during 21 years of follow-up

Background Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) have a markedly higher overall mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD), as well as many other causes of death like cancer. Since diabetes is a multisystem disease, this fact together with the increased lifespan among individuals with diabetes may also lead to the emergence of other diabetes-related complications and ultimately to diversification of the causes of death. Methods The study population of this observational historic cohort study consisted of subjects with DM, who had purchased for at least one insulin prescription and/or one oral antidiabetic between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2010 (N=199 354), and a reference population matched by age, sex and hospital district (N=199 354). Follow-up was continued until December 31, 2017. All-cause and cause-specific mortality (cancer, CHD and stroke) was analysed with Poisson and Cox's regression. Associations between baseline medications and mortality were analysed using LASSO (Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator) models. Results The mortality rates were significantly elevated among the patients with DM. However, the relative risk of all-cause mortality between the DM and reference populations tended to converge during the follow-up. The lowering trend was most apparent in CHD mortality. The difference between DM and reference populations in stroke mortality vanished with a later entrance to the follow-up period. There were a few differences between DM and no-DM groups with respect to how baseline medications were associated with mortality. Conclusions The gap between the mortality of patients with diabetes compared to subjects who are non-diabetic diminished markedly during the 21-year period. This was driven primarily by the reduced CHD mortality.Peer reviewe

Diabetesta sairastavien ylikuolleisuus vähenee

Pääkirjoitus

InDEx – Industrial Data Excellence

InDEx, the Industrial Data Excellence program, was created to investigate what industrial data can be collected, shared, and utilized for new intelligent services in high-performing, reliable and secure ways, and how to accomplish that in practice in the Finnish manufacturing industry.InDEx produced several insights into data in an industrial environment, collecting data, sharing data in the value chain and in the factory environment, and utilizing and manipulating data with artificial intelligence. Data has an important role in the future in an industrial context, but data sources and utilization mechanisms are more diverse than in cases related to consumer data. Experiences in the InDEx cases showed that there is great potential in data utili zation.Currently, successful business cases built on data sharing are either company-internal or utilize an existing value chain. The data market has not yet matured, and third-party offerings based on public and private data sources are rare. In this program, we tried out a framework that aimed to securely and in a controlled manner share data between organizations. We also worked to improve the contractual framework needed to support new business based on shared data, and we conducted a study of applicable business models. Based on this, we searched for new data-based opportunities within the project consortium. The vision of data as a tradeable good or of sharing with external partners is still to come true, but we believe that we have taken steps in the right direction.The program started in fall 2019 and ended in April 2022. The program faced restrictions caused by COVID-19, which had an effect on the intensity of the work during 2020 and 2021, and the program was extended by one year. Because of meeting restrictions, InDEx collaboration was realized through online meetings. We learned to work and collaborate using digital tools and environments. Despite the mentioned hindrances, and thanks to Business Finland’s flexibility, the extension time made it possible for most of the planned goals to be achieved.This report gives insights in the outcomes of the companies’ work within the InDEx program. DIMECC InDEx is the first finalized program by the members of the Finnish Advanced Manufacturing Network (FAMN, www.famn.fi).</p