Sooty blotch and flyspeck control with fungicide applications based on calendar, local IPM, and warning system

The objective of this work was to compare fungicide application timing for the control of sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS) of 'Fuji' apples in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. The following treatments were evaluated in two growing seasons: two warning system-based (modified version of the Brown-Sutton-Hartmann system) spray of captan plus thiophanate methyl, with or without summer pruning; two calendar/rain-based spray of captan or a mixture of captan plus thiophanate methyl; fungicide spray timing based on a local integrated pest management (IPM) for the control of summer diseases; and a check without spraying. Sooty blotch and flyspeck incidence over time and their severity at harvest were evaluated. The highest number of spray was required by calendar/rain-based treatments (eight and seven sprays in the sequential years). The warning system recommended five and three sprays, in the sequential years, which led to the highest SBFS control efficacy expressed by the reduced initial inoculum and disease progress rate. Summer pruning enhanced SBFS control efficacy, especially by suppressing SBFS signs which tended to be restrained to the peduncle region of the fruit. Sooty blotch and flyspeck can be managed both with calendar and the grower-based IPM practices in Brazil, but a reduced number of sprays is required when the warning system is used.

Sea state effect on the sea surface emissivity at L-band

In May 1999, the European Space Agency (ESA) selected the Earth Explorer Opportunity Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission to obtain global and frequent soil moisture and ocean salinity maps. SMOS' single payload is the Microwave Imaging Radiometer by Aperture Synthesis (MIRAS), an L-band two-dimensional aperture synthesis radiometer with multiangular observation capabilities. At L-band, the brightness temperature sensitivity to the sea surface salinity (SSS) is low, approximately 0.5 K/psu at 20/spl deg/C, decreasing to 0.25 K/psu at 0/spl deg/C, comparable to that to the wind speed /spl sim/0.2 K/(m/s) at nadir. However, at a given time, the sea state does not depend only on local winds, but on the local wind history and the presence of waves traveling from far distances. The Wind and Salinity Experiment (WISE) 2000 and 2001 campaigns were sponsored by ESA to determine the impact of oceanographic and atmospheric variables on the L-band brightness temperature at vertical and horizontal polarizations. This paper presents the results of the analysis of three nonstationary sea state conditions: growing and decreasing sea, and the presence of swell. Measured sea surface spectra are compared with the theoretical ones, computed using the instantaneous wind speed. Differences can be minimized using an "effective wind speed" that makes the theoretical spectrum best match the measured one. The impact on the predicted brightness temperatures is then assessed using the small slope approximation/small perturbation method (SSA/SPM).

Harmonisation of Inbound Logistics with Local Suppliers

Nokian Matkapuhelimien tuotantoprosessit on suunniteltu tukemaan massaräätälöintiä perustuen assembly-to-order tekniikkaan (ATO). Tämän työn tehtävänä oli kehittää toimitusmallit ATO-materiaaleille paikallisilta alihankkijoilta matkapuhelintehtaalle. Aluksi analysoitiin nykyiset toimintamallit perustun Nokia Komarom Kft:n työntekijöiden ja toimittajien haastatteluihin. Ongelmiksi havaittiin toimintatapojen monimuotoisuus, dokumentoinnin puute, puutteelliset laskut ja riittämätön toimitusseuranta.Malleille asetettavien joustavuusvaatimusten selvittämiseksi suoritettiin laajamittainen näkyvyysvälineiden ja tuotantokapasiteetin tutkimus. Vaatimukset tilauksesta toimitukseen läpimenoajoille ja kuljetustoiminnoille johdettiin joustavuusvaatimuksista. Työn lopussa muodostetaan toimitusmallit perustuen nykytilan analyysiin, havaittuihin ongelmiin ja malleille asetettuihin vaatimuksiin. Materiaalit jaetaan eri malleilla ohjattaviksi niiden ominaisuuksiin perustuen. Ensimmäinen malleista implementoidaan kahden pilottitoimittajan kanssa ja esitetään tulokset. Toista mallia hyödynnetään lähitulevaisuudessa Nokia Komarom Kft:n aloittaessa yhteistyön uusien paikallistoimittajien kanssa.

Environmental Monitoring using Image Analysis

Tärkeä tehtävä ympäristön tarkkailussa on arvioida ympäristön nykyinen tila ja ihmisen siihen aiheuttamat muutokset sekä analysoida ja etsiä näiden yhtenäiset suhteet. Ympäristön muuttumista voidaan hallita keräämällä ja analysoimalla tietoa. Tässä diplomityössä on tutkittu vesikasvillisuudessa hai vainuja muutoksia käyttäen etäältä hankittua mittausdataa ja kuvan analysointimenetelmiä. Ympäristön tarkkailuun on käytetty Suomen suurimmasta järvestä Saimaasta vuosina 1996 ja 1999 otettuja ilmakuvia. Ensimmäinen kuva-analyysin vaihe on geometrinen korjaus, jonka tarkoituksena on kohdistaa ja suhteuttaa otetut kuvat samaan koordinaattijärjestelmään. Toinen vaihe on kohdistaa vastaavat paikalliset alueet ja tunnistaa kasvillisuuden muuttuminen. Kasvillisuuden tunnistamiseen on käytetty erilaisia lähestymistapoja sisältäen valvottuja ja valvomattomia tunnistustapoja. Tutkimuksessa käytettiin aitoa, kohinoista mittausdataa, minkä perusteella tehdyt kokeet antoivat hyviä tuloksia tutkimuksen onnistumisesta.

Computational modeling of resting-state activity demonstrates markers of normalcy in children with prenatal or perinatal stroke.

Children who sustain a prenatal or perinatal brain injury in the form of a stroke develop remarkably normal cognitive functions in certain areas, with a particular strength in language skills. A dominant explanation for this is that brain regions from the contralesional hemisphere "take over" their functions, whereas the damaged areas and other ipsilesional regions play much less of a role. However, it is difficult to tease apart whether changes in neural activity after early brain injury are due to damage caused by the lesion or by processes related to postinjury reorganization. We sought to differentiate between these two causes by investigating the functional connectivity (FC) of brain areas during the resting state in human children with early brain injury using a computational model. We simulated a large-scale network consisting of realistic models of local brain areas coupled through anatomical connectivity information of healthy and injured participants. We then compared the resulting simulated FC values of healthy and injured participants with the empirical ones. We found that the empirical connectivity values, especially of the damaged areas, correlated better with simulated values of a healthy brain than those of an injured brain. This result indicates that the structural damage caused by an early brain injury is unlikely to have an adverse and sustained impact on the functional connections, albeit during the resting state, of damaged areas. Therefore, these areas could continue to play a role in the development of near-normal function in certain domains such as language in these children.

Local thermodynamics and the generalized Gibbs-Duhem equation in systems with long-range interactions

The local thermodynamics of a system with long-range interactions in d dimensions is studied using the mean-field approximation. Long-range interactions are introduced through pair interaction potentials that decay as a power law in the interparticle distance. We compute the local entropy, Helmholtz free energy, and grand potential per particle in the microcanonical, canonical, and grand canonical ensembles, respectively. From the local entropy per particle we obtain the local equation of state of the system by using the condition of local thermodynamic equilibrium. This local equation of state has the form of the ideal gas equation of state, but with the density depending on the potential characterizing long-range interactions. By volume integration of the relation between the different thermodynamic potentials at the local level, we find the corresponding equation satisfied by the potentials at the global level. It is shown that the potential energy enters as a thermodynamic variable that modifies the global thermodynamic potentials. As a result, we find a generalized Gibbs-Duhem equation that relates the potential energy to the temperature, pressure, and chemical potential. For the marginal case where the power of the decaying interaction potential is equal to the dimension of the space, the usual Gibbs-Duhem equation is recovered. As examples of the application of this equation, we consider spatially uniform interaction potentials and the self-gravitating gas. We also point out a close relationship with the thermodynamics of small systems.

Development of an investor relations strategy - Case SSH Communications Security Corp. Communications Security Corp.

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli muodostaa viitekehys sijoittajaviestinnän strategian muodostamiseen ja soveltaa viitekehystä käytännössä. Tutkimusongelma nousi case-yrityksestä, SSH Communications Security Oyj:stä, joka listautui vuoden 2000 lopussa. Teoreettinen viitekehys perustuu aikaisempaan kirjallisuuteen sijoittajaviestinnästä, strategian kehittämisestä ja rahoitusteoriasta. Rahoitusteorian alueet, joita käsiteltiin tutkimuksessa ovat; vapaaehtoinen tiedottaminen, markkinatehokkuus ja agenttiteoria. Tutkimuksen empiirinen osa toteutettiin soveltamalla teoreettista viitekehystä case yritykseen. Empiirisessä osuudessa käytiin läpi seuraavat vaiheet; nykyisen tilan ulkoinen ja sisäinen analyysi, tavoitteiden asettaminen ja sijoittajaviestintä strategia ehdotuksen muodostaminen case yritykseen. Tutkielman viimeinen kappale kokoaa tärkeimmät löydökset, pohtii työn teoreettista kontribuutiota ja liikkeenjohdollisia kytköksiä sekä esittää tutkimuksen herättämiä ehdotuksia jatkotutkimuksille

Une délicate rencontre entre savoirs autochtones "experts" : enjeux politiques interculturelles dans le domaine de la prévention de la violence à l'égard des femmes kichwa en Amazonie équatorienne

Cette thèse porte sur l'élaboration et la mise en pratique de politiques interculturelles dans le champ de la santé internationale, en se basant sur une ethnographie d'un programme de préven¬tion de la violence de genre dans le canton de Loreto, en Amazonie équatorienne, mis en place par la Croix-Rouge suisse et aujourd'hui géré de concert avec l'Etat équatorien et une organisation kichwa locale. Suivant une approche qui fait varier les échelles d'analyses pour articuler le niveau local, national et international, elle met en évidence les lieux d'intersection et les hiatus entre l'idéal d'interculturalité tel qu'il est conçu «par le haut» et les pratiques qui sont mises en oeuvre au quotidien par des professionnels de la santé et du développement métis équatoriens. Elle révèle ainsi qu'au-delà de l'idéal du respect des « différences culturelles autochtones » et de la symétrie entre les « cultures », les discours et les pratiques de ces professionnels consistent en une entreprise de normalisation et de moralisation des comportements des destinataires kichwa en matière de rapports de genre. Pour affiner ces analyses et dépasser une approche critique de la santé publique, cette thèse explore également les représentations et les pratiques des destinataires - femmes agents de santé et « bénéficiaires » kichwa du programme - en matière de violence et de rapports de genre. Elle montre ainsi que le transfert de normes et de valeurs via la santé publique fait l'objet de mul¬tiples processus d'appropriations, et explore les différentes d'interprétations, de négociations et d'instrumentalisations de la part des destinataires, tant au niveau individuel que collectif. -- Intercultural politics and the prevention of violence against kichwa women in the Ecuadorian Amazon This PhD thesis focuses on the development and application of intercultural policies in the field of international health. It is drawn on an ethnographic fieldwork conducted in canton Loreto, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, about a gender violence prevention program which was set up by the Swiss Red Cross and which is now managed in cooperation with the Ecuadorian State and a local kichwa organization. Following a multiple-scale analysis in order to articulate the local, national and international dynamics, it highlights the intersections and the gaps between, on the one hand, the the institutional prescriptions about the ideal of interculturality and on the other hand, the daily practices of Ecuadorian mestizo health and development profesionals. It reveals that beyond the ideal of respect for «indigenous cultural differences» and of symmetry between «cultures», the discourses and practices of these professionals consist of a normalizing and moralizing enter¬prise concerning the gendered and, more broadly, social behaviors of kichwa «beneficiaries». In order to refine the analysis and to go beyond a critical approach of public health, this thesis also explores the violence and gender relations representations and practices of kichwa women health workers and «beneficiaries», men and women. Thus it shows that the transfer of norms via public health is the subject of multiple processes of appropriation, interpretation, negotiation and instru¬mentalisation both on individual and collective levels by the «beneficiaries».

State of Logistics and Operations Management in Finnish and Swedish Companies – Survey Research Findings

In this research we are examining what is the status of logistics and operations management in Finnish and Swedish companies. Empirical data is based on the web based questionnaire, which was completed in the end of 2007 and early 2008. Our examination consists of roughly 30 answers from largest manufacturing (highest representation in our sample), trade and logistics/distribution companies. Generally it could be argued that these companies operate in complex environment, where number of products, raw materials/components and suppliers is high. However, usually companies rely on small amount of suppliers per raw material/component (highest frequency is 2), and this was especially the case among Swedish companies, and among those companies, which favoured overseas sourcing. Sample consisted of companies which mostly are operating in an international environment, and are quite often multinationals. Our survey findings reveal that companies in general have taken logistics and information technology as part of their strategy process; utilization of performance measures as well as system implementations have followed the strategy decisions. In the transportation mode side we identify that road transports dominate all transport flow classes (inbound, internal and outbound), followed by sea and air. Surprisingly small amount of companies use railways, but in general we could argue that Swedish companies prefer this mode over Finnish counterparts. With respect of operations outsourcing, we found that more traditional areas of logistics outsourcing are driving factors in company's performance measurement priority. In contrary to previous research, our results indicate that the scope of outsourcing is not that wide in logistics/operations management area, and companies are not planning to outsource more in the near future. Some support is found for more international operations and increased outsourcing activity. From the increased time pressure of companies, we find evidence that local as well as overseas customers expect deliveries within days or weeks, but suppliers usually supply within weeks or months. So, basically this leads into considerable inventory holding. Interestingly local and overseas sourcing strategy does not have that great influence on lead time performance of these particular sourcing areas - local strategy is anyway considerably better in responding on market changes due to shorter supply lead times. In the end of our research work we have completed correlation analysis concerning items asked with Likert scale. Our analysis shows that seeing logistics more like a process rather than function, applying time based management, favouring partnerships and measuring logistics within different performance dimensions results on preferred features and performance found in logistics literature.

Local capitalism and neoliberalization in a Shenzhen former lineage-village

This article examines the process of neoliberalization in the Shenzhen special economic zone in Guangdong province, China. Building on the case study of a former peasant and almost single-lineage village that has become a part of Shenzhen city, I show how neoliberal principles aimed at advancing the transition to capitalism are combined with and countered by other ethical traditions. Owing to the long-standing conception of the lineage as an enterprise, the maintenance of the lineage structure in the transformation of the rural collectives has offered fertile ground for the emergence of a local capitalist coalition. Yet the current discourses on the necessity of obliterating the remains of the collective economy and introducing individual ownership run counter to the collectivist values of the lineage-village community and the embeddedness of its economy in kinship and territorial ties. I further illustrate this discordance by the way in which the villagers managed to save their founding ancestor's gravesite following government requests to clear the land by removing tombs. These policies form a complex blend of state interventions in the economy, neoliberal governance and Confucian principles.

Regulation of Port Charges in Spain: Global versus Local Competition

This article examines the determinants of traffic volumes and the revenues per tonne generated by Spain’s port authorities. The interest of the study lies on the strong differences between port authorities in a context of strict regulation but that provides some scope for price competition. We find that port charges influence the amount of traffic that a port is able to generate. Furthermore, we find clear evidence of local price competition and report mixed results for global competition. Revenues per tonne are higher in ports operating more international regular lines and with multinational terminal operators, while they are lower in ports with nearby competing facilities and where the market share of the dominant shipping firm is high.

Gli altri noi : Rom e residenti nella Svizzera italiana : etnografia e mediazione

Cette recherche porte sur les roms (vlach) qui séjournent périodiquement en Suisse italienne, en camping-cars ou en caravanes, pratiquant un semi- nomadisme lié à des motivations principalement économiques, mais également familiales et religieuses. Elle poursuit simultanément deux objectifs. Le premier est lié à un souci de médiation culturelle, qui rejoint les réflexions sur la façon de gérer au mieux les conflits entre les diverses composantes du vivre ensemble. Le second vise à approfondir la connaissance des populations roms concernées (lovara, éurara ou kalderasa, de nationalités italienne, française et espagnole). Les deux objectifs sont évidemment reliés, car comprendre les dynamiques conflictuelles exige la connaissance approfondie des acteurs en interaction. Les relations entre résidents tessinois et roms ont évolué dans le temps, avec des oscillations entre le pôle du refus et celui de l'attraction, entre rejet et reconnaissance, méfiance et confiance. Ces variations historiques renvoient à un fondement commun, à une dynamique des oppositions réciproques. L'analyse anthropologique a fait apparaître le rôle ambivalent du conflit dans la production et la reproduction de la relation d'altérité. L'exclusion des roms fournit à certaines tendances politiques locales l'occasion d'apparaître comme les protecteurs des résidents contre les étrangers ; inversement, l'opposition des roms aux gaiés leur permet de resserrer leur communauté et de prévenir l'assimilation. La médiation culturelle peut espérer gérer cette dynamique relationnelle, certainement pas la faire disparaître. Le modèle intégratif traditionnel de l'État- nation se révèle trop étroit pour accueillir la culture rom. Casser la résistance des roms envers le travail salarié et envers la scolarisation obligatoire, entraver leur semi-nomadisme (qui incite aussi leurs rencontres familiales et religieuses), refuser de reconnaître leur organe de justice interne et leur langue, tout cela ne ferait que concourir à leur disparition culturelle. Les roms sont conscients de ces possibilités, raison pour laquelle ils maintiennent une ambivalence relationnelle avec les ga£és, quitte à apparaître comme des « tsiganes indésirables ». Abstract : This research focuses on the Roma people (Vlach) who periodically stay in Italian Switzerland in caravans or camper vans, practising a semi-nomadic lifestyle - a choice based mainly on economic imperatives but also on familial and religious grounds. This study will address two objectives at the same time. The first involves cultural mediation, and considers the best way to manage the existing conflicts between the cultural components of the social environment. The second aims to increase knowledge of the Roma populations under examination - the Italian, French and Spanish Lovara, Éurara or Kalderasa. The two objectives are clearly linked, as a deeper understanding of the people involved is vital if we are to increase understanding of the dynamics of confrontation. The relationships between the residents of the Ticino area and the Roma people have evolved over time, oscillating in varying degrees between rejection and attraction, confrontation and recognition, suspicion and trust. These variations spring from a common base, a dynamic shaped by mutual opposition. The anthropological analysis highlights the ambivalent role of conflict in the production and reproduction of relations of otherness. Excluding the Roma has given some local politicians the opportunity to position themselves as protectors of residents against foreigners. Inversely, the Roma people's opposition to the Gazé strengthens links within their community and prevents assimilation. Cultural mediation may aspire to manage this relational dynamic, but not abolish it. The traditional integrative model of the nation-state has shown itself to be too restrictive to accommodate the Romani culture. Rejecting the Roma's resistance to salaried work and obligatory schooling, obstructing their semi-nomadic lifestyle (one that also involves family and religious assemblies) and refusing to recognise their traditional courts and mother tongue, all that can only contribute to the dilution of their cultural heritage. The Roma are fully aware of these possibilities, which is why they retain a relational ambivalence in their dealings with the Gazé, at the cost of appearing to be "undesirable gypsies".

Is Transnational Private Regulation Potentially an Effective Means of Promoting Collective Industrial Relations?

This paper asks whether collective industrial relations can be promoted by means other than seeking change in public policy. Recent research points to the increasing significance of transnational private regulation (TPR) in developing economies. There is an emerging consensus that market incentives to improve wages and conditions of work can have a modest positive effect on measurable outcomes like hours of work, and health and safety. However, it appears that TPR has little impact on the capacity of workers to pursue such improvements for themselves via collective action. The paper takes a closer look at the potential of TPR to enhance worker voice and participation. It argues that this potential cannot be properly evaluated without understanding how local actors mobilise the social and political resources that TPR provides. The case studies presented show how different TPR schemes have been used by unions in Africa as a means to pursue the interests of members. The authors found that the scale of the impact of TPR in all of the contexts studied depended almost entirely on the existing capacities and resources of the unions involved. TPR led to the creation of collective industrial relations processes, or helped unions to ensure that certain enterprises participated in existing industrial relations processes, but did virtually nothing to enhance the political and organisational capacity of the unions to influence the outcomes of those processes in terms of wages and conditions of employment. The paper concludes that the potential of TPR to promote the emergence of collective industrial relations systems is very low.

Self-rule Index for Local Authorities (Release 1.0)

Local autonomy is a highly valued feature of good governance. The continuous attempts of many European countries to strengthen the autonomy of local government show the importance given to decentralisation and far-reaching competences at the lowest units of a state. Measuring and comparing local autonomy, however, has proven to be a difficult task. Not only are there diverging ideas about the core elements of local autonomy, there are also considerable difficulties to apply specific concepts to different countries. This project suggests a comprehensive methodology to measure local autonomy. It analyses 39 European countries and reports changes between 1990 and 2014. A network of experts on local government assessed the autonomy of local government of their respective countries on the basis of a common code book. The eleven variables measured are located on seven imensions and can be combined to a "Local Autonomy Index" (LAI). The data show an increase of local autonomy between 1990 and 2005, especially in the new Central and Eastern European countries. Countries with a particularly high degree of local autonomy are Switzerland, the Nordic countries, Germany and Poland.

Tomato chlorotic spot virus in hydroponically-grown lettuce in São Paulo State, Brazil

In the regions of Campinas and Sumaré, São Paulo, Brazil, hidroponically grown crops of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) cv. Verônica, which showed virus-like symptoms were examined by electron microscope, biological, serological and molecular tests. Pleomorphic, enveloped particles (80-100 nm in diameter) were always detected in these samples. Experimentally inoculated host plants, including lettuce, reacted with tospoviruses-induced symptoms. Some differences were observed in Gomphrena globosa, which reacted by showing local lesions and systemic mosaic. Two isolates of Tomato chlorotic spot virus (TCSV) were identified by DAS-ELISA and by RT-PCR. The sequencing and alignment of the RT-PCR coat protein amplified fragments have indicated a high degree of homology with the TCSV sequences stored in the GenBank. This is the first report of losses due to a virus from the genus Tospovirus in commercial hydroponic lettuce crops in Brazil. Further epidemiological studies are needed for better understanding the spread of the virus in hydroponic crops, since Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is reported to spread through the nutritive solution.