Knowledge of astronomical scale: Measurement and evaluation

Having an appreciation for astronomical scale is essential for understanding the foundations of astronomy. However, a key obstacle in developing this understanding is the lack of direct ways to acquire this knowledge. Personal experience may even be detrimental, given that our direct experience is of the Earth as something extremely large, whereas stars, for example, appear as tiny pinpricks of light. As a first step to address this issue, it is necessary to assess people’s knowledge of astronomical scale to identify common misconceptions and evaluate the effectiveness of educational interventions. Previous instruments have generally only included a few questions about scale—mostly through multiple choice—limiting the number of objects simultaneously probed to three and often not probing all possible rankings. To measure people’s knowledge of astronomical scale, we developed an instrument that allows for easy collection, analysis and presentation of data ranking multiple astronomical objects. I will present this instrument and the results from three different samples before and after astronomy instruction: middle school students (N = 922), pre-service science teachers (N = 41) and visitors to a public guided astronomy night viewing tour (N > 500)

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors and interferon‐α increase tunneling nanotube (TNT) formation and cell adhesion in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cell lines (

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a stem cell disease of the bone marrow where mechanisms of inter‐leukemic communication and cell‐to‐cell interactions are proposed to be important for optimal therapy response. Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) are novel intercellular communication structures transporting different cargos with potential implications in therapy resistance. Here, we have investigated TNTs in CML cells and following treatment with the highly effective CML therapeutics tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and interferon‐α (IFNα). CML cells from chronic phase CML patients as well as the blast crisis phase cell lines, Kcl‐22 and K562, formed few or no TNTs. Treatment with imatinib increased TNT formation in both Kcl‐22 and K562 cells, while nilotinib or IFNα increased TNTs in Kcl‐22 cells only where the TNT increase was associated with adherence to fibronectin‐coated surfaces, altered morphology, and reduced movement involving β1integrin. Ex vivo treated cells from chronic phase CML patients showed limited changes in TNT formation similarly to bone marrow cells from healthy individuals. Interestingly, in vivo nilotinib treatment in a Kcl‐22 subcutaneous mouse model resulted in morphological changes and TNT‐like structures in the tumor‐derived Kcl‐22 cells. Our results demonstrate that CML cells express low levels of TNTs, but CML therapeutics increase TNT formation in designated cell models indicating TNT functionality in bone marrow derived malignancies and their microenvironment.publishedVersio

Finrøtter i europeisk beech og norsk gran skog i sør-Norge og deira effekt på karbonlagring

Med et varmere klima kan tempererte treslag som bøk bli mer utbredt mot nordlige breddegrader, på grunn av de mindre gunstige forholdene for grantrær. Boreal skogstrær danner ektomycorrhiza, et symbiotisk forhold mellom planter og sopp, med sentral betydning for global karbon- og næringssyklus. Til tross for den brede erkjennelsen av betydningen fine røtter og mykorrhiza har for karbolagring, vet vi ikke hvordan mengden finrøtter og deres egenskaper i forskjellige treslag kan gjenspeile deres potensial for karbonlagring. Målet med masteren min var å kvantifisere finrøttenes egenskaper i bøke- og granskog og tolke resultatene fra disse skogstypene med potensial for karbonlagring under bakken. Jeg betraktet mykorrhizar, rotbiomassen og finrotproduksjonen som en indikator for karbonlagring i gran og i bøk. For å kvantifisere finrøttene sine karaktertrekk tok jeg prøver med jordsylindere i gran- og bøkeskogstativer i Sørøst-Norge, deretter hentet jeg ut og skannet levende finrøtter. Jeg målte finrøttenes egenskaper som for eksempel rotforgrening (antall rotspisser og forgreininger), rotlengde, rotdiameter, rotoverflate og rotbiomasse. Ved å vurdere alle rotspisser til å være mykorriserte estimerte jeg mykorrhizanivået i bøk og gran i forskjellige jordlag. For å estimere mengden otproduksjon (over en vekstsesong) hentet og veide jeg alle finrøtter fra rotnettinger som jeg installerte i begynnelsen av vekstsesongen, og evaluerte deretter tre måneder senere. Visuell inspeksjon viste at nesten 100% av alle rotspissene var ectomykorriserte. Bøk hadde signifikant flere rotspisser enn gran. Det totale antallet rotforgreininger var også betydelig høyere i bøk. Gjennomsnittet av finrøttenes rotdiameter var signifikant større i gran enn i bøk. Jeg fant ingen signifikant forskjell i spesifikk rotoverflate (SRA) blant bøk og gran. Gjennomsnittet av finrøttenes biomasse var signifikant høyere i bøk sammenlignet med gran. Finrotproduksjonen var betydelig høyere i bøkeskogen enn i granskogen. Mine resultater indikerer indirekte at bøkeskog potensielt kan lagre mer karbonlagring under bakken enn granskog. Hvordan bøkeskogen vil endre seg i sammenheng med et varmere klima med lengre vekstsesonger, gjenstår å se. Mer forskning er nødvendig for å teste om disse resultatene kan generaliseres til bredere skogsøkosystemer.With a warmer climate, temperate tree species like beech may become more widespread towards Norden latitudes, because of the less favorable conditions for spruce trees. Boreal forest trees form ectomycorrhiza, a symbiotic relationship between plants and fungi, with key importance for global carbon and nutrient cycling. Despite the broad recognition of the importance of fine roots and mycorrhizae for carbon acquisition, we do not know how the number of fine root traits in different tree species may reflect their potential for carbon storage. The aim of my thesis was to quantify the fine root traits in beech and spruce forests and interpret the results as the potential for carbon storage belowground. I considered mycorrhization, root biomass, and fine root production as an indicator for carbon storage in spruce and in beech. To quantify the fine root traits, I sampled soil cores in spruce and beech forest stands in southeast Norway, then extracted and scanned live fine roots. I measured fine root traits such as root branching (number of root tips and forks), root length, root diameter, root surface area, and root biomass. By considering all fine root tips to be mycorrhizal I estimated the mycorrhization level in beech and spruce in different soil layers. To estimate the amount of fine root production (over one growing season) I extracted and weighed all fine roots from root meshes, which I installed at the beginning of the growing season, and then evaluated three months later. Visual inspection showed almost 100% of all root tips to be ectomycorrhizal. Beech had significantly more root tips (mean n= 1.1 million tips/m2), than spruce (mean n= 0.4 million tips/m2). The total number of root forks was also significantly higher in beech. The average fine root diameter was significantly larger in spruce than in beech. I found no significant difference in specific root area (SRA) among beech and spruce. The average fine root biomass was significantly higher in beech (mean = 662 g/m2) compared with spruce (mean = 367 g/m2). Fine root production was significantly higher in the beech forest than in the spruce forest. My results indirectly indicate beech forests store more belowground carbon than spruce forests potentially. How beech forests, which potentially store more carbon belowground, will change in the context of a warmer climate with longer growing seasons, remains to be seen. More research is needed to test if these results can be generalized to broader forest ecosystems

Tryggare masseturisme til fjells

Masseturisme til fjells er noko heilt nytt i Norge. Turmål som Trolltunga, Preikestolen og Besseggen lokkar mange tusen uerfarne turgåarar opp i høgfjellet, med eit høgt tal redningsaksjonar som konsekvens. Trenden talar for å ta i bruk heilt nye førebyggingstiltak på dei mest populære turmåla

Personleg råd og hjelp reduserer talet redningsaksjonar

Mountain tourism is in rapid growth, and Norway is receiving its share. This again has led to unprecedented levels of mountain rescue missions, which has trespassed the capacity of the mountain rescue service at some destinations. In this article we develop and test an analytical framework for assessing the effectiveness of different measures to increase the safety of mountain tourists. The analysis builds on statistics for mountain rescue missions, a review of measures to increase safety and interview with stakeholders in destination marketing organisations, volunteer rescue organisations, the professional public rescue services and the tourism industry. We find that the introduction of guardians that provide advice at the starting point of the hike or on the marked trail to mountain tourists correlates with a reduction of mountain rescue missions. We also assessed the relationship between accidents and weather conditions, and find that after the introduction of guardians, the relationship between accidents and bad weather changes from positive to inverse, indicating the strong effect guardians have on tourist behaviour