Screening strawberry plant resistance to Phytophthora cactorum with two techniques

P. cactorum infects runner plants in the NFT system fairly quickly, the first symptoms becoming visible in three to five days in susceptible cultivars. Most of the tested cultivars showed the same level of resistance in both tests

The effect of irrigation method on the quality and shelf-life of strawberry fruit in organic production

The irrigation method did not affect either the shelf-life or the quality of fruit. In organic strawberry production grey mould is a major problem. Strawberry varieties differ from each other in disease susceptibility and the quality and shelf-life of the fruit is affected more by their properties and weather conditions than by the irrigation method

Handmade films and artist-run labs. The chemical sites of film’s counterculture

This article addresses handmade films and especially artist-run labs as sites of hands-on film culture that reactivate moments and materials from media history. Drawing on existing research, discourses and discussions with contemporary experimental filmmakers affiliated with labs or practicing their work in relation to film lab infrastructure, we focus on these sites of creation, preservation and circulation of technical knowledge about analog film. But instead of reinforcing the binary of analog vs. digital, we argue that the various material practices from self-made apparatuses to photochemistry and film emulsions are ways of understanding the multiple materials and layered histories that define post-digital culture of film. This focus links our discussion with some themes in media archaeology (experimental media archaeology as a practice) and to current discussions about labs as arts and humanities infrastructure for collective project and practice-based methods

Colletotrichum acutatum: survival in plant debris and infection on alternate hosts

The survival of Colletotrichum acutatum in infected plant material was studied in two trials: one in 2002-2003 and another in 2003-2005 with artificially infected strawberry leaves, crowns and berries

'Suvetar' and 'Valotar' - new strawberry cultivars

The strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) cultivars ‘Suvetar’ and ‘Valotar’ have been released from the breeding programme of MTT Agrifood Research Finland. Both new cultivars overwintered as well as the control cultivars ‘Jonsok’ and ‘Polka’. ‘Suvetar’ overwintered even better than ‘Polka’. ‘Suvetar’ was produced from the cross ‘Polka’ × ‘Emily’. It scored better than the control cultivars for sensory assessed skin resistance. Measured fruit firmness of ‘Suvetar’ was not significantly different from that of ‘Polka’, but was better than ‘Jonsok’. ‘Valotar’ originates from a cross between ‘Jewel’ and ‘Senga Sengana’. Its measured fruit firmness was better than that of ‘Jonsok’ and ‘Polka’. Considering sensory assessments, the good firmness seems to be largely due to good skin resistance. The fresh flavour, yield, fruit size and fruit appearance of ‘Suvetar’ and ‘Valotar’, together with improved fruit firmness, make both the new varieties suitable for the fresh fruit market

Building the dream online: Does participation in luxury brand's social media affect brand experience, brand affect, brand trust, and brand loyalty?

The global market for luxury goods has witnessed a phenomenal growth over the past decades. Along with the increasing demand that stems from increased purchasing power, emerging markets, and new wider consumer groups, traditional luxury brands have faced a fierce competition caused by new forms of luxury such as masstige and luxurious fashion. Likewise, the rapid growth of social networks and social media has fundamentally transformed the business environment, and the whole society. Digital networks have facilitated companies and consumers to build online consumption communities, which supports the recent shift of marketing focus on relationships and co-creation of value. Consequently, luxury brands have started to use social media for advertising and relationship marketing. Due to the dynamic and interactive digital environment the importance of brand stories has become even more apparent. While brand communities and online communities are widely studied, luxury brands and social media based brand communities (SMBBCs) have not received yet much academic attention. This study takes the approach of SMBBCs to investigate the influence of consumers' participation in luxury brand's social media on brand experience, and on key dependent variables in consumer behavior research: brand affect, brand trust, and brand loyalty. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of social media, and to contribute to the research on social media brand communities and brand-consumer relationships, as well as luxury brands. The study proposes a theoretical framework that combines two empirically developed constructs: brand experience, and brand affect/trust-brand loyalty constructs, and tests the model within a social media based luxury brand community context. The data were collected as an online survey from various social media, which resulted in 333 valid responses from consumers who follow a luxury brand's social media. The study is quantitative by nature, and uses structural equation modeling (SEM) as the main method of analysis. To further examine the influence of participation on the focal construct, brand experience, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was also conducted. The results support the reasoning that participation in luxury brand's social media affect consumer behavior. Social media following influences brand experience that accumulates in the long run, but participation affects also rapidly consumers new to the brand. Further, active participation and passive participation appear to have equal influence on brand experience. The findings reveal the chain of effects from brand related stimuli to brand affect, brand trust, and brand loyalty, and confirm the importance of affect in building brand loyalty

Cultural Techniques of Cognitive Capitalism: Metaprogramming and the Labour of Code

This article addresses cultural techniques of cognitive capitalism. The author argues that to understand the full implications of the notion of cognitive capitalism we need to address the media and cultural techniques which conditions its range and applications. The article offers an expanded understanding of the labour of code and programming through a case study of 'metaprogramming', a software related organisation practice that offered a way to think of software creativity and programming in organisations. The ideas from the 1970s that are discussed offer a different way to approach creativity and collaborative and post-Fordist capitalism. The author brings together different theoretical perspectives, including German media theory and Yann Moulier Boutang’s thesis about cognitive capitalism. The wider argument is that we should pay more attention to the media archaeological conditions of practices of labour and value appropriation of contemporary technological capitalism as well as the cultural techniques which include 'ontological and aesthetic operations' that produce cultural, material situations

Deep times of planetary trouble

This introduction to the special section on mediated geologies contextualizes the articles that follow within recent discussions concerning cultural politics of the environment, ecological contexts of contemporary media, and debates concerning the Anthropocene. The special section approaches the topics from the angle of media studies and argues for new ways to understand media culture as read through a materials focus: from waste to building materials and from temperature control to more conceptual developments concerning new materialism. The introduction discusses these ideas as extensions of material media theory and addresses how they can complement already existing ideas in the field

Verkkojulkaisemisen ja kirja kerrallaan -painetun kirjan yhdistelmä turvaa tiedejulkaisemisen tulevaisuuden

Non peer reviewe

La nueva materialidad del polvo

Aquest text s'ocupa de la materialitat de la pols, traçant una ruta transversal que va des dels processos d'encerat de les fundes d'iPad a les fàbriques xineses fins a un argument teòric més ampli que examina la materialitat dels mitjans, de les roques a les substàncies químiques. En poques paraules, aquest nou materialisme s'interessa per la diversitat de temps, durades, entrellaçaments i distribucions d'una àmplia gamma d'agències, algunes de les quals no humanes. Per això ens veiem obligats a reflexionar sobre els contextos del nou materialisme d'una manera nova, lleugerament més fluida que no pas simplement assumint que l'especificitat relativa a les bases tecnològiques i científiques de la cultura dels mitjans és automàticament material. En efecte, la materialitat no concerneix solament les màquines, ni tampoc afecta únicament els sòlids o les coses, ni tan sols els objectes. La materialitat es filtra en múltiples direccions, tal com demostren els residus electrònics o els efectes de la contaminació electromagnètica. És transformacional, ecològica i multiescalar.This text considers the materiality of dust. It maps a transversal route of considering dust, from the processes of polishing iPad covers in Chinese factories to a wider theoretical argument for a media materiality that starts from rocks and chemicals. In short, this kind of new materialism is interested in the various times, durations, entwinements and distributions of a whole range of agencies, several of them non-human. Hence, we are also forced to think about the contexts of new materialism in a slightly more fluid, novel way than just assuming that specificity concerning the technological and the scientific underpinnings of media culture are automatically material. Indeed, materiality is not just about machines; nor is it just solids, and things, or even objects. Materiality leaks in many directions, as electronic waste demonstrates, or the effects of electromagnetic pollution. It is transformational, ecological, and multiscalar.Este texto aborda la materialidad del polvo, trazando una ruta transversal que va de los procesos de encerado de las fundas de iPAD en las fábricas chinas a un argumento teórico más amplio que examina la materialidad de los medios, de las rocas a las sustancias químicas. En pocas palabras, este nuevo materialismo se interesa por la diversidad de tiempos, duraciones, entrelazamientos y distribuciones de una amplia gama de agencias, algunas de ellas no humanas. De ahí que nos veamos obligados a reflexionar sobre los contextos del nuevo materialismo de una forma novedosa, ligeramente más fluida que simplemente asumiendo que la especificidad relativa a las bases tecnológicas y científicas de la cultura de los medios es automáticamente material. En efecto, la materialidad no concierne solo a las máquinas, ni tampoco afecta únicamente a los sólidos o a las cosas, ni tan siquiera a los objetos. La materialidad se filtra en múltiples direcciones, tal como demuestran los residuos electrónicos o los efectos de la contaminación electromagnética. Es transformacional, ecológica y multiescalar