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Intra-abdominal lymphatic malformations (LMs) are relatively rare congenital anomalies and can be divided into intra- and retroperitoneal subgroups. This study aims to evaluate the outcomes after surgical resection of intraperitoneal LMs in children. The records of all patients ≤16 years of age with intraperitoneal LMs managed at our tertiary center between 2007–2022 were reviewed. Patients with retroperitoneal LMs were excluded. Our preferred approach is surgical exploration for large (>5 cm), symptomatic lesions if they are potentially resectable on imaging. A total of 12 patients (10 males) were diagnosed with intraperitoneal LMs located in the small bowel mesentery or omentum at a median age of 6.6 (range, 0.6−14.4) years. Ten (83%) patients presented with acute symptoms, including abdominal pain (n = 8; 67%) and vomiting (n = 3; 25%). Two (17%) intraperitoneal LMs were found on imaging performed for other reasons. Surgical exploration was performed in 11/12 (92%) cases. Intestinal volvulus around a mesenteric macrocyst had occurred in 4 (36%) patients. Complete macroscopic resection was achieved in 10/11 (91%) patients. Most lesions were localized to a short intestinal segment. One mixed type LM with an extensive mesenteric involvement was biopsied as the lesion was deemed to be unresectable in preoperative imaging and the diagnosis was initially unclear. There was one recurrence (8%) during postoperative follow-up on imaging (median 3.6 (range, 1.5−6.9) years) but the patient has remained asymptomatic and not undergone interventions. 6/8 (75%) of screened intraperitoneal LMs were positive for a somatic PIK3CA mutation. Most large, pedunculated macrocystic LMs in the small bowel mesentery or omental location were amenable to macroscopic resection. Intraperitoneal LMs tend to present with acute symptoms including a risk for intestinal volvulus based on anatomical location. Our results suggest low recurrence rates or need for further interventions over follow-up. III. • What is currently known about this topic? Both surgery and sclerotherapy have been described as treatment options for symptomatic intra-abdominal lymphatic malformations (LMs). Optimal therapeutic approach to intra-abdominal LMs has not been determined yet. • What new information is contained in this article? Description of outcomes after surgical treatment of intraperitoneal LMs. Comparison of outcomes to available literature is essential for developing therapeutic approaches for intra-abdominal LMs which tend to present acutely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• LMs are congenital conditions, for which various treatment options and combinations are available. • Most studies of LMs have focused on LMs in a single location. • We evaluated an entire LM cohort of pediatric patients treated at a single tertiary unit over 11 years. • Careful multidisciplinary assessment is essential for planning management of symptomatic cases to achieve optimal outcomes. Lymphatic malformations (LMs) are benign, congenital lesions that display considerable heterogeneity in terms of size, location and characteristics. This study aims to describe the long-term outcomes of current management strategies for patients with simple (cystic) LMs. The case records of all patients (age ≤16 years) with simple (cystic) LMs at our tertiary institution between 2008 and 2019 were assessed for clinical features, imaging and details of management, including complications. Of a total of 164 patients (60% male), 66% were diagnosed aged <2 years. The median follow-up was 5 (0.3–16) years from diagnosis. LMs were located in the head and neck (40%), extremities (27%), trunk (23%), mediastinum (4%), or intra-abdominally (6%). Types were macrocystic in 47%, microcystic in 21% and mixed in 32%. Sclerotherapy was the most common intervention (38%). Primary surgery had been performed in 12%. Symptomatic improvement, reduction in size, or complete regression were observed in 82/102 (80%) of LMs after interventions; complications from treatment were uncommon (Clavien-Dindo grade I−II: 6%; grade III−IIId: 1%). Sixty-two patients (38%; median age 0.5 (range, 0–12) years) had not required interventions to date; spontaneous regression of the LM occurred in 16 (26%) of these expectantly followed-up cases. Most studies to date have focused on LMs in selected anatomical locations. Herein the outcomes of an entire population from a single tertiary unit of patients are presented, demonstrating the wide heterogeneity of simple (cystic) LMs and highlighting the importance of individualized, multidisciplinary approaches to care in achieving optimal outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large volumes of pesticides are applied every year to support agricultural production. The intensive use of pesticides affects soil quality and health, but soil surveys on pesticide residues are scarce, especially for northern Europe. We investigated the occurrence of 198 pesticide residues, including both banned and currently used substances in 148 field sites in Finland. Results highlight that pesticide residues are common in the agricultural soils of Finland. A least one residue was found in 82% of the soils, and of those 32% contained five or more residues. Maximum total residue concentration among the conventionally farmed soils was 3043 μg/kg, of which AMPA and glyphosate contributed the most. Pesticide residues were also found from organically farmed soils, although at 75–90% lower concentrations than in the conventionally farmed fields. Thus, despite the application rates of pesticides in Finland being generally much lower than in most parts of central and southern Europe, the total residue concentrations in the soils occurred at similar or at higher levels. We also established that AMPA and glyphosate residues in soil are significantly higher in fields with cereal dominated rotations than in grass dominated or cereal–grass rotations. However, risk analyses for individual substances indicated low ecological risk for most of the fields. Furthermore, the total ecological risk associated with the mixtures of residues was mostly low except for 21% of cereal dominated fields with medium risk. The results showed that the presence of mixtures of pesticide residues in soils is a rule rather than an exception also in boreal soils. In highly chemicalized modern agriculture, the follow-up of the residues of currently used pesticides in national and international soil monitoring programs is imperative to maintain soil quality and support sustainable environment policies. [Display omitted] • Pesticide residues were frequently found in Finnish agricultural soils. • Glyphosate and AMPA were the most prevalent residues observed. • The residue contents were high in relation to the pesticides applied in Finland. • The risk assessment factors showed low ecological risk for most fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensitivity of bird species to environmental metal pollution varies but there is currently no general framework to predict species-specific sensitivity. Such information would be valuable from a conservation point-of-view. Calcium (Ca) has antagonistic effects on metal toxicity and studies with some common model species show that low dietary and circulating calcium (Ca) levels indicate higher sensitivity to harmful effects of toxic metals. Here we measured fecal Ca and five other macroelement (potassium K, magnesium Mg, sodium Na, phosphorus P, sulphur S) concentrations as proxies for dietary levels in 66 bird species to better understand their interspecific variation and potential use as an indicator of metal sensitivity in a wider range of species (the main analyses include 39 species). We found marked interspecific differences in fecal Ca concentration, which correlated positively with Mg and negatively with Na, P and S levels. Lowest Ca concentrations were found in insectivorous species and especially aerial foragers, such as swifts (Apodidae) and swallows (Hirundinidae). Instead, ground foraging species like starlings (Sturnidae), sparrows (Passeridae), cranes (Gruidae) and larks (Alaudidae) showed relatively high fecal Ca levels. Independent of phylogeny, insectivorous diet and aerial foraging seem to indicate low Ca levels and potential sensitivity to toxic metals. Our results, together with information published on fecal Ca levels and toxic metal impacts, suggest that fecal Ca levels are a promising new tool to evaluate potential metal-sensitivity of birds, and we encourage gathering such information in other bird species. Information on the effects of metals on breeding parameters in a wider range of bird species would also help in ranking species by their sensitivity to metal pollution. [Display omitted] • Low dietary Ca levels are known to make birds prone to metal toxicity. • Nestlings' fecal macroelement levels were measured for 66 bird species. • Insectivorous species showed lowest Ca levels, being potentially sensitive to toxic metals. • Omnivores and ground foragers showed high Ca levels, being likely less sensitive to toxic metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective soil preparation by mounding is a common practice that precedes the outplanting of Norway spruce ( Picea abies (L.) Karst.) in Finland, because of the improved survival and early growth of seedlings. On fine-grained soils, however, the postplanting performance of seedlings with mounding has been poorer than on coarser soils. The ecology of seedling growth and the effects of mounding on it on sorted fine-grained soils are still poorly known. This study examined the effects of mounding and soil clay content on the postplanting performance of Norway spruce container seedlings on soils ranging from medium-grained tills to fine-grained sorted clay soils in reforested sites in south-western Finland. First, regeneration results were inventoried on five plantations of differing soil texture. These reforestation sites had been mounded and planted with Norway spruce five to six years earlier through practical forest management. Secondly, mounding treatments (normal ditch mounding with a mound height of 15–25 cm, ditch mounding with a lowered mound height of 5–10 cm, spot mounding and unprepared treatment) were applied on five clearcut sites with different soil textures. These sites were mounded in the autumn and planted in the following spring, and the postplanting performance was measured after three growing seasons. The results showed that mounding decreases early postplanting seedling mortality and increases growth, thus promoting plantation establishment on forest soils with varying soil textures. The mounding method or mound height showed no clear difference in seedling growth in the studied soils and years. Early postplanting seedling height growth and survival (three years from planting) were slightly and root-collar diameter a bit better related to the soil clay content; the seedling attributes tended to be poorest on silty soils with a clay content of 20–30% (or silt and fine sand content of over 60%), compared with coarser or finer (clayey) soils. The results suggest that even effective soil preparation cannot fully alleviate all of the inherent disadvantageous effects of sorted silty soils on early postplanting and later growth; but corroborative research is still needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of forest-derived biomass has steadily increased in Finland and Sweden during the past decades leading to more intensive forest management practices in the region, such as whole-tree harvesting, both above- and belowground. Stump harvesting results in a direct removal of stump and coarse-root carbon (C) from the stand and can cause extensive soil disturbance, which has been suggested to increase C mineralization. In this study, the effects of stump harvesting on soil C and nitrogen (N) mineralization, and soil surface disturbance were studied in two different clear-felled Norway spruce ( Picea abies ) sites in Central Finland. The treatments were whole-tree harvesting (WTH, removal of stems and logging residues), and WTH and stump harvesting (WTH + S). Both sites, Honkola (2 stands) and Haukilahti (6 stands) were mounded. In both treatments, soil samples were taken from different soil layers down to a total depth of 20 cm in the mineral soil from (i) mounds, (ii) undisturbed soil and (iii) pits. The sampling was performed 11–12 years after treatments. Soil C and N mineralization rates were determined in laboratory incubation experiments. In addition, total C and N pools (g m −2 ) were estimated for each disturbance class and soil layer. Soil C and N pools had a tendency to be lower following stump harvesting, but no statistically significant treatment effect was detected. Stump harvesting increased soil mixing as indicated by a significant decrease in C concentration in the mound disturbance class. There was no significant effect of stump harvesting on soil C mineralization rates. A combination of mineralization rates and soil pool data showed that field C mineralization (g CO 2 -C m −2 yr −1 ) did not significantly differ between stands where stumps were removed or were retained. Further, stump harvesting did not seem to have any stimulating effect on soil CO 2 efflux 11–12 years after treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of stump harvesting on coarse woody debris (CWD), soil and vegetation were investigated 8–13 years after clear-cutting of eight forest stands located at two sites, Honkola and Haukilahti, in Central Finland. Norway spruce ( Picea abies ) was the dominant tree species in the harvested stands. Four of the stands were subjected to mounding and four were stump-harvested. Logging residues were removed at harvest from all eight stands. The amount of CWD remaining after stump harvesting was estimated from basal area of remaining stumps, diameter and length of logs and by weighing smaller pieces of dead wood. Moss and field layer vegetation cover was estimated by a point-intercept method and the diameter of young trees was measured to estimate basal area. Soil carbon and nitrogen stocks and pH were determined in the humus layer and down to 25 cm depth in the mineral soil. The degree of soil disturbance was visually assessed in the field. Basal area measurements on remaining stumps suggested that about 75% of the stumps had been removed from the stump-harvested stands, which is a typical stump harvesting rate in Finland. The amount of remaining stumps and root biomass was significantly lower in stump-harvested stands than in stands where stumps had been retained, whereas differences between mounding and stump harvesting were not significant for the other types of CWD. Stump harvesting had no significant effect on the cover of field layer species, total moss cover or vegetation composition. Total stem density was almost twice as high in stump-harvested stands as in stands where stumps were not harvested, due to significantly higher stem density of Betula pendula Roth., whereas no effect was observed on the basal area of the other tree species. No significant treatment effect on soil carbon and nitrogen stocks or on degree of soil disturbance was detected, but the higher density of Betula indicates higher exposure of mineral soil during the years following stump removal. In conclusion, stump harvesting seems to promote natural establishment of Betula seedlings, but does not change tree productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whole-tree harvest (WTH) may compromise tree productivity and health and lead to soil and surface water acidification. The aim of this study was to assess the long-term change (up to circa 40 years) in soil exchangeable calcium (Ca 2+ ) pools following conventional (CH) and WTH at three Swedish coniferous sites. A second aim was to evaluate how well the results could be reproduced by the dynamic model MAGIC (Model of Acidification of Groundwater in Catchments). Soil Ca 2+ pools (down to 20 cm) decreased at all three sites from stand age 15–16 to 37–38 years. The depletion ranged from 2.6 to 8.6 kEq ha −1 (26.5–52.7%) and 0.2 to 5.0 kEq ha −1 (2.3–49.1%) in the CH and WTH treatment, respectively. The presence of an interaction effect indicated that the main effect of time was not statistically significant at all three sites. Over the course of time, soil Ca 2+ pools have also become more similar between the CH and WTH treatments, but the Ca 2+ pools were still significantly lower ( p < 0.05) after WTH at stand age 37–38 years. The measured declines in Ca 2+ pools were generally greater than what has been found in other studies and were largely explained by high soil Ca 2+ availability and high tree Ca 2+ uptake, especially in the CH-plots, as indicated by the MAGIC mass balance budgets. Model simulations by MAGIC partly agreed with the measured data. However, the model exaggerated the soil Ca 2+ losses between 1990 and 2013 (CH = 3.6–9.9 kEq ha −1 ; WTH = 3.0–8.3 kEq ha −1 ), especially at the spruce sites. Furthermore, MAGIC could not reproduce the rapid diminishing differences between CH and WTH. Uncertainties in model parameters, underestimated soil Ca 2+ pools or biological feed-back mechanisms could explain this discrepancy. Until these have been resolved, interpretations of Ca 2+ changes related to CH or WTH using dynamic modelling or mass balance budget calculations should be done with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial distribution of paleolandslides coincides with postglacial faults (PGFs) in northern Fennoscandia, yet the timing of the seismic events and associated paleoslides is insufficiently known. We applied airborne LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) to record distribution of paleolandslides possibly associated with the known Suasselkä postglacial fault in Kittilä, western Finnish Lapland. Landslide-buried organic material was radiocarbon dated to bring insight if the landslides were generated by single high-magnitude ( M w > 7) earthquake or if seismic activity has continued through the Holocene. We found a total of four sets of previously unrecognized paleolandslides to indicate fault-activity in the Kittilä area. The size of the landslide scarps exceeded up to 250–300 m in width, up to 600 m in length and 10 m in the height of the back-wall. A previously unrecognized (tentatively PGF) scarp, 6 m in height and in conjunction with paleolandslides, was found in granite rock west of the Kittilä village. The slide debris was similar to local tills, yet the maximum electrical conductivity ( σ a ) anisotropy was incoherent to any of the ice-flow (morphological) stages recognized through LiDAR or known fabric-sedimentary stratigraphy. We found peat/gyttja beneath 6 m of slide debris which yielded radiocarbon ( 14 C) age of 4400 ± 35 BP (cal. 5055 yr BP). Our previous finding of landslide-buried woody remnants of birch ( Betula ssp.) yielded cal. 9730 yr BP in Kittilä. These ages suggest that seismic activity has continued at least 5 ky after deglaciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a binary radiotherapy method developed to treat patients with certain malignant tumours. To date, over 300 treatments have been carried out at the Finnish BNCT facility in various on-going and past clinical trials. In this technical review, we discuss our research work in the field of medical physics to form the groundwork for the Finnish BNCT patient treatments, as well as the possibilities to further develop and optimize the method in the future. Accordingly, the following aspects are described: neutron sources, beam dosimetry, treatment planning, boron imaging and determination, and finally the possibilities to detect the efficacy and effects of BNCT on patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Semantic and context knowledge has been envisioned as an appropriate solution for addressing the content heterogeneity and information overload in mobile Web information access, but few have explored their full potential in mobile scenarios, where information objects refer to their physical counterparts, and retrieval is context-aware and personalized for users. We present SMARTMUSEUM, a mobile ubiquitous recommender system for the Web of Data, and its application to information needs of tourists in context-aware on-site access to cultural heritage. The SMARTMUSEUM system utilizes Semantic Web languages as the form of data representation. Ontologies are used to bridge the semantic gap between heterogeneous content descriptions, sensor inputs, and user profiles. The system makes use of an information retrieval framework wherein context data and search result clustering are used in recommendation of suitable content for mobile users. Results from laboratory experiments demonstrate that ontology-based reasoning, query expansion, search result clustering, and context knowledge lead to significant improvement in recommendation performance. The results from field trials show that the usability of the system meets users’ expectations in real-world use. The results indicate that semantic content representation and retrieval can significantly improve the performance of mobile recommender systems in knowledge-rich domains. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We quantify the potential effects of intensive forest management activities on forest production in north-central Sweden over the next 100 years, and calculate the potential climate change mitigation feedback effect due to the resulting increased carbon stock and increased use of forest products. We analyze and compare four different forest management scenarios (Reference, Environment, Production, and Maximum), all of which include the expected effects of climate change based on SRES B2 scenario. Forest management practices are intensified in Production scenario, and further intensified in Maximum scenario. Four different models, BIOMASS, HUGIN, Q-model, and Substitution model, were used to quantify net primary production, forest production and harvest potential, soil carbon, and biomass substitution of fossil fuels and non-wood materials, respectively. After integrating the models, our results show that intensive forestry may increase forest production by up to 26% and annual harvest by up to 19%, compared to the Reference scenario. The greatest single effect on the carbon balance is from using increased biomass production to substitute for fossil fuels and energy intensive materials. Carbon stocks in living tree biomass, forest soil and wood products also increase. In total, a net carbon emission reduction of up to 132Tg (for Maximum scenario) is possible during the next 100 years due to intensive forest management in two Swedish counties, Jämtland and Västernorrland. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Bioactive glass (BAG)-S53P4 is an osteoconductive bone substitute with proven antibacterial and bone bonding properties. In a multicentre study 11 patients with verified chronic osteomyelitis in the lower extremity and the spine were treated with BAG-S53P4 as a bone substitute. The cavitary bone defect and the surrounding of a spinal implant were filled with BAG-S53P4. The most common pathogen causing the infection was Staphylococcus aureus. The mean follow-up was 24months (range 10–38). BAG-S53P4 was well tolerated. Nine patients healed without complications. One patient who achieved good bone formation sustained a superficial wound infection due to vascular problems in the muscle flap, and one patient had an infection due to a deep haematoma. This study shows that BAG-S53P4 is a good and well-tolerated bone substitute, and can be used in treatment of osteomyelitis with good primary results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Providing citizens with reliable, up-to-date and individually relevant health information on the Web is done by governmental, non-governmental, business and other organizations. Currently the information is published with little co-ordination and co-operation between the publishers. For publishers, this means duplicated work and costs due to publishing same information twice on many websites. Also maintaining links between websites requires work. From the citizens point of view, finding content is difficult due to e.g. differences in layman’s vocabularies compared to medical terminology and difficulties in aggregating information from several sites. To solve these problems, we present a national scale semantic publishing system HealthFinland which consists of (1) a centralized content infrastructure of health ontologies and services with tools, (2) a distributed semantic content creation channel based on several health organizations, and (3) an intelligent semantic portal aggregating and presenting the contents from intuitive and health promoting end-user perspectives for human users as well as for other websites and portals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Stable polyamine homeostasis is important for cell survival and regeneration. Our experimental studies have shown that catabolism of spermidine and spermine to putrescine is associated with the development of pancreatitis. We investigated the pathogenetic role of polyamine catabolism by studying the effect of a methylated polyamine analog on taurodeoxycholate-induced acute experimental pancreatitis. Methods: Acute pancreatitis was induced by infusion of sodium taurodeoxycholate (2%) into the pancreatic duct. Bismethylspermine (Me2Spm) was administered as a pretreatment before the induction of pancreatitis or as a treatment after the induction of pancreatitis. The sham operation included laparotomy only. Pancreas tissue and blood were sampled at 24 h and 72 h after the infusion of taurodeoxycholate and studied for pancreatitis severity (serum amylase activity, pancreatic water content, and histology) and polyamine catabolism, which includes spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase (SSAT) activity as well as spermidine, spermine, and putrescine concentrations in the pancreas. Results: Sodium taurodeoxycholate-induced acute pancreatitis manifests as increases in serum amylase and pancreatic water content, leukocytosis, and acinar cell necrosis in the pancreas. The activity of SSAT increased significantly together with an increase in the ratios of pancreatic putrescine/spermidine and putrescine/spermine at 24 h, which indicates SSAT-induced polyamine catabolism. Pancreatic water content and necrosis were reduced significantly by the treatment with Me2Spm at 24 h but not at 72 h when the polyamine homeostasis had recovered, and the pancreatitis had progressed. Conclusions: Taurodeoxycholate-induced acute pancreatitis was associated with activation of polyamine catabolism in the pancreas. The polyamine analog Me2Spm ameliorated the injury in the early stage, but it did not ameliorate the late progression of the pancreatic necrosis at 72 h. Thus, besides proteolytic enzyme activation and the cascades of inflammation, polyamine catabolism may be an important pathogenetic mediator of the early stages of acute pancreatitis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Site preparation is commonly used with reforestation in Lapland, but environmental aspects of site preparation, such as visual impacts and possible changes in runoff, soil density and aeration, often raise questions. The present study investigated, 21 years after site preparation and reforestation with Scots pine, how ploughed ridges affect water-retention characteristics of till soils compared with untreated intermediate areas, and whether these characteristics differ on untreated intermediate areas when different site-preparation techinques have been applied. It was found that in ploughed ridges the water retention at saturation and air-filled porosity at field capacity (−10kPa) were significantly higher and the bulk density lower than in the untreated intermediate areas. No long-term differences were found in the water-retention characteristics between untreated intermediate areas of the patch-scarified, disc-trenched and ploughed plots (scarified by a bulldozer) and prescribed-burned plots (scarified manually). The results suggest that the changes found in the soil physical properties and organic matter content may still affect the soil–water regime and thus prerequisites for forest growth over two decades after site preparation in Lapland. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The magnitude of nitrogen storage and its temporal change in forest ecosystems are important when analysing global change. For example, the accelerated growth of European forests has been linked to increased nitrogen deposition, but the changes in the N inputs that cause long-term changes in ecosystems have not yet been identified. We used two Swedish forest optimum nutrition experiments with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) to study the long-term fate of N applied to these forest ecosystems. In the pine experiment, in addition to fertiliser (NPK) application, soil acidity was manipulated by application of lime and dilute sulphuric acid. From the spruce experiment, we selected treatments with similar fertiliser doses as in the pine experiment and with and without lime addition. We quantified various terms in the N budget 12 years (pine) and 7 years (spruce) after the last N addition. In the pine stand the NPK-treatment was the only treatment to produce a significant increase in N in the tree biomass (97% above control), whereas in the spruce stand the N additions increased tree N in all treatment combinations (207% above control). In the pine stand the relative distribution of nitrogen between trees and soil did not vary across treatments, with trees containing around 12% of ecosystem N and humus containing around 44% of soil N. The increases in N stocks in the pine stands were mainly in the soil. In contrast, in the spruce ecosystem trees accumulated most of the added N and the increase in the soil was restricted to the humus layer. In the pine ecosystem, large losses of added N (between 254 and 738kgha−1 out of 1040kgha−1 added as fertiliser) occurred, whereas in the spruce ecosystem we recovered more N than could be accounted for by inputs (between 250 and 591kgha−1). There was no clear pattern in the interaction between acidification/liming and N additions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This article presents the semantic portal MuseumFinland for publishing heterogeneous museum collections on the Semantic Web. It is shown how museums with their semantically rich and interrelated collection content can create a large, consolidated semantic collection portal together on the web. By sharing a set of ontologies, it is possible to make collections semantically interoperable, and provide the museum visitors with intelligent content-based search and browsing services to the global collection base. The architecture underlying MuseumFinland separates generic search and browsing services from the underlying application dependent schemas and metadata by a layer of logical rules. As a result, the portal creation framework and software developed has been applied successfully to other domains as well. MuseumFinland got the Semantic Web Challence Award (second prize) in 2004. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Site preparation has been widely used on reforestation areas in Finnish Lapland due to the high soil moisture and low temperature. The long-term effect of site preparation on soil volumetric water content was studied in ploughed ridges and the untreated intermediate areas of prescribed burning, patch scarification, disk trenching and ploughing plots in eight reforestation experiments 19 years later. Soil water content (SWC) profile measurements were performed with a capacitance probe in the mineral topsoil in the dry late summer of 1993.The mean SWC (2.5–15.0 cm layer) in August in the mineral soil of the untreated intermediate areas varied from 0.13 to 0.20 m3 m−3 among the experimental areas, and in ploughed ridges from 0.09 to 0.19 m3 m−3. In intermediate areas, no significant differences in SWC were found between the site preparation methods. Soil in and under the ploughed ridges was significantly drier down to a depth of 17.5 cm than the soil at the same depth in the adjacent untreated intermediate areas. SWC was higher on formerly Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) sites than on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) sites. The proportion of pine and spruce in the previous tree generation, topography, and soil organic matter content and particle size showed significant correlation with SWC. The basal area of the planted pine saplings significantly affected SWC in the root zone, suggesting that the transpiration and rainfall interception of trees should be taken into account in soil moisture studies on forested sites. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We have used a combination of conventional forest yield tables and a theory for carbon cycles to analyse consequences of climatic change and changes in forest management for carbon stores in Swedish forest soils. The yield tables provide us, for different forest stands, with growth and litter production, which are then fed into a decomposition model from which time series of soil carbon development are obtained. The decomposition model is developed on the basis of the continuous-quality theory and takes into account effects of temperature and substrate quality differences.Complete removal of all needles, branches, and tops, which are normally left during harvesting operations, decreases the soil carbon store with 59 Tg after 150 years or 0.4 Tg per year, which should be compared to the annual carbon harvest of 11 Tg and the total soil carbon store of 1700 Tg. Leaving the needles, which should be done to decrease nutrient losses, changes the carbon budget almost imperceptibly. A temperature increase by 4 °C, which is predicted in climate scenarios, will increase decomposition and carbon losses from the soil with 0.9 Tg per year. Only increasing forest production would counter-balance this loss with 0.7 Tg per year, but the net loss of carbon from the forest soils is around 0.5 Tg per year when changes in both production and decomposition are taken into account. The most important factors determining the balance between gains and losses in the carbon budget is the distribution of Norway spruce and Scots pine within the country because of the interaction between management and growth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Citizens perceived the proposed result-oriented AES as more legitimate. • Farmers attributed greater legitimacy to the current action-oriented AES. • Refusal to change AES linked to satisfaction with agricultural ecosystem services. • Change in AES should be viewed as necessary, based on farmers' and citizens' values. Farmers' and citizens' perceptions of the legitimacy of the current action-oriented and the proposed result-oriented agri-environmental schemes (AES) are poorly known. To help fill this gap, this study analysed such perceptions in the context of Finnish citizens and farmers. Hypotheses on legitimacy, ecosystem service perceptions and environmental values were developed and empirically tested with nationwide surveys of Finnish citizens (n = 1,744) and farmers (n = 1,215) using t -test and multiple linear regression. The results demonstrated that Finnish citizens perceive the proposed result-oriented AES as more legitimate, whereas Finnish farmers attribute greater legitimacy to the current action-oriented AES. Among both groups, a preference for action-oriented AES, and reluctance to change them, was associated with the perception that Finnish agriculture has been successful in producing ecosystem services. Among both groups, environmental preferences were associated with the legitimation of both AES. The conclusion is that in order for a change in AES to be legitimate, that change should be perceived as necessary, justified and based on the values considered important by farmers and citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• BMP4 induction negatively regulates the TGFβ pathway in hESCs. • BMP4 induces the phosphorylation of proteins associated with transcriptional regulation. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are an invaluable tool in the fields of embryology and regenerative medicine. Activin A and BMP4 are well-characterised growth factors implicated in pluripotency and differentiation. In the current study, hESCs are cultured in a modified version of mTeSR1, where low concentrations of Activin A substitute for TGFβ. This culture system is further used to investigate the changes induced by BMP4 on hESCs by employing a combination of transcriptomic and phosphoproteomic approaches. Results indicate that in a pluripotent state, hESCs maintain WNT signaling under negative regulation by expressing pathway inhibitors. Initial stages of differentiation are characterized by upregulation of WNT pathway ligands, TGFβ pathway inhibitors which have been shown in Xenopus to expand the BMP signaling range essential for embryonic patterning, and mesendodermal transcripts. Moreover, BMP4 enhances the phosphorylation of proteins associated with migration and transcriptional regulation. Results further indicate the vital regulatory role of Activin A and BMP4 in crucial fate decisions in hESCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Health of spruce regenerations was surveyed for 12 years after stump harvesting. • Seedling damage was less in stump-harvested than in undisturbed control plots. • Stump harvesting shortened the duration of pine weevil feeding and reduced damage. • Stump harvesting had a positive effect on the height growth of seedlings. • Transfer of root rot into the regeneration was not affected by stump harvesting. Although impacts of intensive forest harvesting practices such as removing logging residue and stumps for bioenergy on forest ecosystem has been extensively studied, no information is available about the long-term effects of stump harvesting on the health status of young Norway spruce stands. In the present study, we surveyed damage caused by the large pine weevil (Hylobius abietis L.) and other causal agents as well as the height growth of the Norway spruce seedlings for 12 years in stump-harvested and non-harvested experimental plots. The overall effect of stump harvesting combined with mounding on the health and survival of spruces was positive: 70% of spruce seedlings in stump-harvested plots were spared any damage, while 58% of seedlings remained undamaged in undisturbed control plots. The positive effect of stump removal and mounding on tree health was mainly due to reduced pine weevil damage. In all, 14.8 and 24.6% of spruce seedlings were gnawed by pine weevil in stump-harvested and control plots, respectively. In stump-harvested plots, pine weevil damage was slighter and lasted for a shorter time than in control plots. In addition, damage caused by Hylastes spp., black root beetles, was significantly less on stump-harvested plots. By contrast, vole damage was most frequent in stump-harvested plots during the population peak when the vole density was exceptionally high. Irrespective of whether stumps were harvested or not, stump roots provided a source of Heterobasidion inoculum in the next spruce regeneration. During this early stage of stand development only a few spruce seedlings were killed by Heterobasidion root rot and there were neither temporal nor quantitative treatment-related differences between the treatments. From the third year onwards the height growth of undamaged seedlings was more rapid in stump-harvested than non-harvested plots. Our results suggest that the overall risk of damage in young Norway spruce stands can be reduced by stump harvesting. Thus, stump harvesting and mounding seem to decrease the need for supplementary planting, which reduces regeneration costs that represent a considerable financial investment for a forest owner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]