Browsing by Title

The aim of the study was to investigate cornerstones of a communications strategy for a start-up specializing to wood-based packaging materials. These include packaging materials, which are produced in a sustainable way and decrease environmental load with their biodegradability. These cornerstones are basis for a globally profitable and competitive business. Literature review and qualitative interviews were used as a method. The circular economy business model enables a new way to operate and generate competitive advantage for a start-up. The plastics industry claims biodegradability of some forms; the communication challenge of the competitors is to prove these arguments false. Launching world-wide renewable wood-based packaging material to consumers and to packaging industry requires co-operation between all stakeholders. To be a true alternative to plastics, the product must be based on sustainability principles, recyclability and compostability. To avoid greenwashing, all communication must be based on reliable and verifiable information. The developed communications strategy addresses all the aforementioned challenges. The communications strategy focuses on younger generation consumers and rely on their ability to utilize social media in their communications. A circular economy start-up company must outperform plastics packaging manufacturers economically, environmentally and socially with sustainable packaging solutions. Nevertheless, based on this thesis, sustainability is a valid selling and communications argument. The interviews conducted by this thesis support this finding.

Laos is regarded as one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Yet, like in many tropical countries, biodiversity in Laos has been decreasing at an alarming rate. Forest degradation and deforestation have led to many flora and fauna species becoming threatened or even extinct. Furthermore, they have also had detrimental impacts on ecosystem services, compromising human safety and well-being. This research aimed to investigate the floristic diversity and forest structure across different Lao forest categories and understand the socio-ecological implications on forests in Laos. The research was divided into three segments: a forest inventory, interviews with local people within two villages, and an interview with a local forest officer. The forest inventory was conducted in three different forest categories: conservation, protection, and production forests in Luang Prabang Province, using systematic plot sampling. The total sampling size was 1.2 hectares within 60 plots, 20 in each forest site, each plot measuring 200 m2. Furthermore, the interviews with the local people were conducted as focus group discussions in villages near the inventory sites, and the forest officer was interviewed in the city of Luang Prabang. These interviews aimed to understand how socioeconomic and other social factors influence the forests and conservation efforts. The study found significant differences between the forest categories. The conservation and protection forests shared similarities both structurally and in terms of species composition but were different from the production forest. Moreover, the woody and climber species richness were significantly lower in the production forest compared to the two other forest categories. The interviews revealed that the local people depend on access to forests and forest products, but the low-income households were particularly reliant on them. The study also found that even if the local people had positive attitudes towards forest conservation, the lack of alternative livelihood opportunities and insufficient funding are the primary barriers to effective conservation efforts. These findings highlight the need to address the diversity differences between the forest categories through adequate forest planning and management. However, this requires funding, which proved to be one of the critical factors in achieving more effective and sustainable forest management in Laos. The findings also underscore the urgency of addressing socio-economic factors in conservation planning. The study found that diversifying livelihood opportunities is crucial for forest sustainability and human well-being. Future conservation initiatives should enhance socio-economic aspects and the well-being of local people in addition to caring for the environmental aspects. This integrated approach ensures the sustainability of both natural ecosystems and local livelihoods, increasing the potential for sustainable and long-term positive outcomes.

Forestry is a hazardous industry globally. Physical conditions, legal frameworks and cultural norms can vary from country to country leading to different approaches to site safety management. There are international, national and regional legislation and guidelines which outline normative approaches land managers can utilise to protect forestry machine operators and the public from accident or injury. In this study, the approaches the health and safety management in forestry operations are assessed in two countries within the European Union –Scotland (as part of the UK member state) and Finland. While both countries practice sustainable forest management, it is shown that this is carried out under different legal frameworks leading to differences in approach to site safety planning. Other factors are shown to have an effect including cultural factors and land ownership patterns.

Energiapuun käyttömäärät ovat kasvaneet viimeisen vuosikymmenen aikana huomattavasti. Energiapuun hankinta voidaan hoitaa ainespuun hakkuun kanssa samanaikaisesti integroituna hakkuuna tai erillishakkuuna, jossa hankittu puu menee vain energiakäyttöön. Energiakäyttöön menevästä puusta osa korjataan pieniläpimittaisena kokopuuna, jossa puuta ei erikseen karsita ennen sen haketusta. Kokopuun korjuumenetelmiä on useita, joista tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan kokopuun paalausta sekä kokopuun hankintaa korjurilla. Kokopuupaalain on metsätraktorin alustalle kiinnitetty paalainyksikkö, joka sitoo paalainyksikköön syötetyt puut tiiviiksi paaleiksi. Paalainpohjaisen logistiikkaketjun tehokkuuden lisäys perustuu kasvaneeseen metsä- ja kaukokuljetuksen tuottavuuteen ja sen myötä alentuneisiin kustannuksiin. Korjuri pohjautuu myös metsätraktoriin ja huomattavimpana muutoksena tähän on korjuriin asennettu hakkuulaite. Korjurin logistiikkaketjun tehokkuuden lisäys perustuu ketjun metsätoiminnoissa tarvittavaan yksinkertaiseen yhden koneen korjuuketjuun. Korjuri tuottaa kokopuuta irtonaisena. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää kokopuupaalaimen ja korjurin toimintamallien eroja aikatutkimuksen avulla sekä vertailla koko logistiikkaketjujen kustannuksia toisiinsa. Tutkittu paalain oli Logman 811FC -alustakoneeseen pohjautuva Fixteri Oy:n valmistama Fixteri II -paalainyksikkö. Vertailukoneena oli Timberjack 810B -metsätraktoripohjainen korjuri. Molemmissa koneissa oli joukkokäsittelevä Nisula 280E+ -hakkuulaite. Paalien lähikuljetus hoidettiin Ponsse Wisent -metsätraktorilla. Koneiden tuottavuuksissa oli huomattavia eroja. Fixterin tuottavuus oli keskimäärin 33 % korjurin tuottavuutta alhaisempaa. Erityisesti Fixterin tuottavuuteen vaikutti sen paalainyksikön prosessoinnin aiheuttama odottamisaika, jolloin koneen kuljettaja ei voinut työskennellä normaalisti. Poistamalla kaiken odottamisen Fixterin tuottavuutta olisi mahdollista nostaa jopa 22 %. Metsäkuljetuksessa paaleja voitiin kuljettaa yhdessä lastissa 80–95 % irtonaista kokopuuta enemmän. Haketuksessa irtopuuaineksen usein vaatima tienvarsihaketus on noin kaksi kertaa terminaali- tai käyttöpaikkahaketusta kalliimpaa. Huolimatta paalien logistiikkaketjun tehokkuudesta ja hintaedusta, tässä tutkimuksessa saatujen tuottavuuksien perusteella ei paalauksen kilpailukyky ole vielä samalla tasolla korjurin kanssa. Mikäli Fixterin paalainyksikön odotusajat saadaan minimoitua, kasvaa Fixterin kilpailukyky huomattavasti. Myös laajemmat, useampia kohteita ja kuljettajia sisältävät vertailututkimukset voisivat tuottaa tarkempaa tietoa näiden menetelmien kustannuseroista. Tutkimuksessa pyrittiin selvittämään myös paalien kuivumista, mutta aikataulusta johtuen tästä ei saatu selviä tuloksia. Alustavat tulokset eivät kuitenkaan osoittaneet paaleille selvää etua kuivumisnopeudessa. Paalien kuivumista tulisikin selvittää tarkemmin pidemmällä aikavälillä.

The objective of this thesis was to compare the effects of thermal modification under saturated steam and flowing steam on the Scots Pine and the Silver Birch, respectively. One method used in this article complied with the basic principles of traditional ThermoWood process. Treatment temperatures were chosen to be 180℃ and 200℃which are widely used in this method. Super-heated steam and flow-through system were applied in this system. Another one followed the principles as Wood Treatment technology (WTT) developed in Denmark. For this treatment, lower temperatures of 125℃ and 145℃ were applied. The treatment was conducted in a closed system with saturated steam. According to my results, modification under 125℃ saturated steam was ineffective for both Scots Pine and Silver Birch. 200℃ flowing steam is most suitable for the Silver Birch modification. While for the Scots Pine, I would recommend 145℃ saturated steam modification, because under this condition, there is a moderate bending and impact strength reduction but effective anti-swelling efficiency (ASE) improvement. The effects of thermal modification are better on the Silver Birch than the Scots Pine. Modification equipment and chosen of modified specimens need to be considered carefully as they influence the wood properties a lot. In general, mass loss as an indicator value to compare different thermal modification methods is not directly recommended.

Hybrid wheat has been the focus of much research for its potential high yield, high protein content and better resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Nowadays, only CHA (Chemical Hybridizing Agent) method is used to induce male sterility at a commercial scale. However, this technique is hard to implement on a large production scale and other methods have been investigated for several years. CMS (Cytoplasmic Male Sterility) has been shown to be a promising way to develop hybrid wheat. However, one downside of the technique is the challenging breeding stage step and the associated conversion and restoration process. To fully express the potential gain in yield, the restoration of the cytoplasmic sterility must be complete for the F1 to be fully fertile. In this study, we investigated different methods to assess fertility restoration in nursery and compared the results with the trial notations. The collected data were also used to feed a genomic selection model to predict the behavior of untested hybrids. The results showed a high experimental error of the bagging method originated mostly from human manipulation. The visual scoring showed higher repeatability but was poorly correlated with trial score. A deeper study of the trial scoring revealed an interesting effect coming from the female and an expression of sterility for commercial lines and CHA hybrid checks. Good prediction accuracies were found for genomic selection on both methods, however deeper studies and cross prediction are needed. The multilocation trials remained the best option to score fertility restoration

The importance of the computer and information technology has increased significantly with the introduction of the Internet. The technologies should not be reduced to selling and purchasing functions but should also be used as research and business intelligence tool, as well as information source. This study compares the performances of the Finnish and German sawmilling & paper industry by evaluating their public communication. The forest sector has been traditionally important for the economy of both countries and they belong to the global players. In conjunction with the performance analysis, a neural network tool is compiled, optimized and tested. It combines a study related categorization application and the Kohonen’s self-organizing map (SOM). The objective of the automated categorization is to lower manual work and to evaluate text contents more accurately – by taking also the possible future use into account. The research includes two interlinked approaches: web page and performance analysis. The web page analysis compares the design and content of the forest industry companies’ Internet sites. In addition, it is used to select and define the relevant enterprises for the performance analysis. 14 Finnish and 10 German sawmills, as well as 5 Finnish and 12 German paper and paperboard producers fulfilled the research requirements (data collection 2013). The performance analysis is implemented by a content analysis and SOM Tool. The word count data of the content analysis is sorted with a customised classification frame based on the Global Reporting Initiative Guideline and evaluated with the SOM. The SOM algorithms reduce multidimensional, large and complex data to lower dimensional maps which visualizes the distribution of the companies’ performance categories. The results indicate that the business cultures of the selected companies are similar. A closer examination reveals that the clustering by sector is more emphasized that by country. The more detailed determination of the SOM divides the paper sector further by their origin. Most obvious are the differences between sawmill and Finnish paper industry. The sawmill sector highlights especially product, service and macro-environment related aspects. Small German sawmills emphasized further tradition and history The paper sector stressed social responsibility, corporate structure, external activities and environmental issues. Inside the paper sector, the Finnish companies point out corporate strategy, development, organizational profile categories and economical performances. The German paper sector highlights in particular environmental issues and public relation. The web page analysis and related studies evaluate the corresponding categories similarly to the present research and thus support the results of the SOM approach.

We study the compensation required to increase carbon sequestration in privately owned forests as a part of effective climate policy. We develop a theoretically correct understanding of compensating additional carbon sequestration in a voluntary stand-level carbon offset scheme by creating incentives for extending the rotation from the privately optimal length. We examine the cost of extending the length of the rotation to a socially desired level. The resulting costs and the increase in carbon sequestration determine the level of compensation required to make the private forest owner indifferent between joining the compensation scheme and resuming privately optimal forest management. A correctly defined subsidy scheme is required as forests are expected to play a major role in meeting national climate change mitigation targets, and so far, the existing schemes have failed to attract voluntary participants. The well-established univariate optimal rotation model (Faustmann 1894, Samuelson 1976) with a net carbon subsidy (van Kooten et al. 1995) is used to evaluate the compensation structure in the California Forest Offset Protocol and the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme, and to present a theoretically sound framework for subsidizing additional carbon sequestration in forests. An empirically more realistic size-structured forestry model with carbon storage (Assmuth et al. 2018) is used to verify the understanding of a correctly defined subsidy scheme when thinnings and multiple carbon pools are included. The results of the theoretical modelling are compared to practical applications in California Cap-and-Trade and the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme. These practical applications have faced various problems and have been subject to numerous revisions, due to issues with baseline establishment, over-crediting, questionable additionality, and leakage. We show that if the compensation scheme follows the Californian structure, a significantly high compensation is required to create sufficient incentives for private forest owners to participate in the sequestration program. The exclusion of carbon stored in harvested wood products may have decreased voluntary participation of post-1989 forests in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme. These schemes serve as an example for the rest of the world of constructing a carbon sequestration compensation scheme. Thus, it is paramount to evaluate the choices in policy design, by comparing the compensation structure to a theoretically sound way of incentivizing additional carbon sequestration.

Infant undernutrition with associated diseases is a leading cause of under-five deaths globally, causing 45% of child deaths. A critical point for the nutritional status of the infant is the time when the first foods are introduced in addition to breastfeeding, i.e. complementary feeding. Based on prior research, complementary feeding practices are inadequate in East Africa, including Uganda. Particular concerns are the not timely introduction of complementary foods and low dietary diversity of children under two years. Complementary feeding is a complex set of behaviours. Good complementary feeding comprises, in addition to nutritious food itself, the feeding moment, technique and style. The promotion of good complementary feeding practices therefore demands multiple approaches. The aim of this study was to explore complementary feeding perceptions and practices in the context of the Health Belief Model (HBM) and to gain understanding on how to promote health behaviour change for better complementary feeding. The study was carried out in the rural area of Kirewa, Uganda. All together 9 focus group discussions (FGD) were held for caretakers of children under two: mothers, fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers. A set of educational videos on infant care and feeding practices, the GloCal-videos, were used as a projective tool in the FGDs. In addition, one individual interview with the local health care worker was conducted. The data from the FGDs and the interview were analysed with a deductive content analysis method based on the HBM. The findings from this research demonstrate that complementary feeding practices among the study participants were suboptimal in relation to timing, dietary diversity, consistency and feeding frequency. The importance of complementary feeding as a health behaviour preventing malnutrition and stunting was not understood among these Kirewan caretakers. The findings from the HBM based analysis suggest messages about the susceptibility of children to detrimental consequences of poor feeding and their seriousness should be targeted to caretakers. Based on this study, the GloCal-videos may work as cues to action for better complementary feeding practices.

Rhizobia are agriculturally important bacteria that possess the ability to fix nitrogen for their host legumes, an attribute ascribed to the presence of symbiosis-related genes usually clustered on plasmids called symbiotic plasmids (pSyms). Many pSyms have been proven self-transmissible, capable of transferring themselves to other bacteria through conjugation, thereby propagating their symbiotic features. Rhizobium galegae symbiovar (sv.) officinalis has a pSym, on which typical conjugation genes have been revealed. A Type IV secretion system (T4SS) functioning as a conjugation system has also been computationally predicted on a chromid, another replicon in R. galegae sv. officinalis. In addition, the transfer of the pSym of R. galegae sv. officinalis to a non-nodulating mutant strain of R. galegae sv. orientalis has been previously observed under laboratory conditions. Therefore, this thesis was aimed at investigating the self-transmissibility of the pSym of R. galegae sv. officinalis and the necessity of the T4SS’ presence for the pSym transfer. Two derivatives of the R. galegae sv. officinalis were generated with one strain cured of its pSym by using Tn5-mob-sacB transposon and the other strain excised the T4SS from the chromid by Cre-lox site specific recombination system. Conjugation were then performed between these two derivatives as well as between the wild-type strain and the plasmid-cured derivative, followed by the host plant nodulation tests. The tests showed no formation of a single nodule in either pair, which was unexpectedly inconsistent with the previous experimental observation. No solid explanations could be proposed at this stage. It might be due to the low transfer frequency resulted from complex associations with subtle environmental signal molecules or recipient cell recognition that presumably disabled the transmissibility of the pSym.