Internal Migration and Regional Population Dynamics in Europe: Norway Case Study

This paper reports on internal migration and regional population dynamics in Norway. It examines internal migration patterns and trends in two years, 1984 and 1994, and compares them. Norway's population maintains relatively high population growth by European standards, fuelled by continuing natural increase and net migration from outside the country. About half of Norway's municipalities lost population in aggregate over the 1984 to 1994. These municipalities are concentrated in the Centre-North and interior of southern Norway. There is evidence that communities with the lowest densities and least centrality are losing population through internal migration. Although the direction of migration is towards denser and more central places, this is a product mainly of the migration of young people when the migration streams are broken down by age, the resulting tales show that the largest urban areas are experiencing net losses from middle age and upwards. There is little direct evidence of net positive migration flows to rural remote areas for the population as a whole. Migration flows out of the Oslo region are to other municipalities within commuting range. This deconcentration should therefore be identified as extended suburanisation rather than counter-urbanisation. Throughout the current report the role of life course stage in influencing the direction of migration has been stressed. Most often the overall pattern of population shifts conceal very different flow structures for family migrants, young adults, older workers, retirees and the elderly. In this respect internal migration dynamics in Norway strongly resemble those in other West European countries. Economic factors have an important influence on migration patterns. Municipalities with an economic concentration in service industries attract internal migrants while those specialised in primary industry suffer migration outflows consequent on the decline of or productivity improvements in their economic activities. There is a strong gradient of increasing net outflows with increasing levels of unemployment

Internal Migration and Regional Population Dynamics in Europe: Sweden Case Study

This paper describes the structure of internal migration and population change in Sweden in recent decades, focussing on the years 1988 and 1998 to capture change in the last decade. Up to the 1970s and again in the early 1990s natural increase play an important role in regional population dynamics. In the late 1990s growing international migration, decreasing fertility and strong net internal migration into large cities increased the importance of migration at both national and local levels. In 1988 migration flows contributed to a pattern of relatively even deconcentration of population. Urban centres and surrounding communities experienced mixed patterns of growth. The pattern observed in 1998 was entirely different. It showed a strong movement up the urban hierarchy. Rural and remote areas, especially those in Norrland, depopulated. In 1998 migrants moved from low-density areas to high-density. High density areas had much higher population gains than low density over the 1988–1998 period. There is a difference in migration pattern between the north of the country, which mostly loses population and the central and southern parts, which mostly gain people. The pattern of migration of the Swedish population is, to large extent, related to the level of unemployment. Low unemployment areas attract migrants; high unemployment areas lose them. However, the level of unemployment cannot be considered in isolation, because the level of unemployment is correlated with the level of urbanisation and with type of regional economy. Areas with an educated population have a very strong attraction for migrants. A high level of education is indispensable for high level services, including tertiary education, and for high technology enterprises, which attract migrants. Young people migrate to metropolitan areas and university towns out of the other types of municipality. Medium sized municipalities attract families. Outflows from industrial regions and Inner Norrland municipalities are visible in all age groups. Metropolitan areas are gaining popularity among families. The elderly population migrates to university and medium size municipalities

Cosmic ray muon computed tomography of spent nuclear fuel in dry storage casks

Radiography with cosmic ray muon scattering has proven to be a successful method of imaging nuclear material through heavy shielding. Of particular interest is monitoring dry storage casks for diversion of plutonium contained in spent reactor fuel. Using muon tracking detectors that surround a cylindrical cask, cosmic ray muon scattering can be simultaneously measured from all azimuthal angles, giving complete tomographic coverage of the cask interior. This paper describes the first application of filtered back projection algorithms, typically used in medical imaging, to cosmic ray muon imaging. The specific application to monitoring spent nuclear fuel in dry storage casks is investigated via GEANT4 simulations. With a cylindrical muon tracking detector surrounding a typical spent fuel cask, the cask contents can be confirmed with high confidence in less than two days exposure. Similar results can be obtained by moving a smaller detector to view the cask from multiple angles.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

Human Faces Are Slower than Chimpanzee Faces

BACKGROUND: While humans (like other primates) communicate with facial expressions, the evolution of speech added a new function to the facial muscles (facial expression muscles). The evolution of speech required the development of a coordinated action between visual (movement of the lips) and auditory signals in a rhythmic fashion to produce "visemes" (visual movements of the lips that correspond to specific sounds). Visemes depend upon facial muscles to regulate shape of the lips, which themselves act as speech articulators. This movement necessitates a more controlled, sustained muscle contraction than that produced during spontaneous facial expressions which occur rapidly and last only a short period of time. Recently, it was found that human tongue musculature contains a higher proportion of slow-twitch myosin fibers than in rhesus macaques, which is related to the slower, more controlled movements of the human tongue in the production of speech. Are there similar unique, evolutionary physiologic biases found in human facial musculature related to the evolution of speech?\ud \ud METHODOLOGY/PRINICIPAL FINDINGS: Using myosin immunohistochemistry, we tested the hypothesis that human facial musculature has a higher percentage of slow-twitch myosin fibers relative to chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). We sampled the orbicularis oris and zygomaticus major muscles from three cadavers of each species and compared proportions of fiber-types. Results confirmed our hypothesis: humans had the highest proportion of slow-twitch myosin fibers while chimpanzees had the highest proportion of fast-twitch fibers.\ud \ud CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings demonstrate that the human face is slower than that of rhesus macaques and our closest living relative, the chimpanzee. They also support the assertion that human facial musculature and speech co-evolved. Further, these results suggest a unique set of evolutionary selective pressures on human facial musculature to slow down while the function of this muscle group diverged from that of other primates.\ud \u

Predictors of willingness to participate in HIV vaccine trials among African Americans

African Americans in the United States (U.S.) are disproportionately affected by HIV. Developing an HIV vaccine is an important part of the HIV prevention and treatment toolkit and may help contribute to ending the HIV epidemic. To date, HIV vaccine trials have not engaged representative numbers of African Americans. We evaluated the willingness of African Americans to participate in HIV vaccine trials and identified correlates of willingness to participate (WTP) by surveying African Americans at low- and high-risk of HIV infection in a multi-site, cross-sectional study. We enrolled 1,452 participants; 59% heterosexual women; 21% heterosexual men; 20% men who have sex with men (MSM). Over half of participants (58%) expressed some level of WTP in HIV vaccine trials. Multivariable analyses revealed several variables were positively related to WTP: HIV risk behavior, knowing someone with HIV/AIDS, social support for trial participation, high perception of risk, perceived protection if in a trial, altruism, and greater tolerance for the ambiguous nature of trials (p\u3c0.01). Emphasis on contextual factors related to personal HIV experiences, including knowledge of someone with HIV, and community support for research, may provide effective strategies for engaging African Americans in future HIV vaccine trials

Phosphatidylinositol Transfer Protein-α in platelets is inconsequential for thrombosis yet is utilized for tumor metastasis

Platelets are increasingly recognized for their contributions to tumor metastasis. Here, we show that the phosphoinositide signaling modulated by phosphatidylinositol transfer protein type α (PITPα), a protein which shuttles phosphatidylinositol between organelles, is essential for platelet-mediated tumor metastasis. PITPα-deficient platelets have reduced intracellular pools of phosphoinositides and an 80% reduction in IP3 generation upon platelet activation. Unexpectedly, mice lacking platelet PITPα form thrombi normally at sites of intravascular injuries. However, following intravenous injection of tumor cells, mice lacking PITPα develop fewer lung metastases due to a reduction of fibrin formation surrounding the tumor cells, rendering the metastases susceptible to mucosal immunity. These findings demonstrate that platelet PITPα-mediated phosphoinositide signaling is inconsequential for in vivo hemostasis, yet is critical for in vivo dissemination. Moreover, this demonstrates that signaling pathways within platelets may be segregated into pathways that are essential for thrombosis formation and pathways that are important for non-hemostatic functions

Now the wars are over: The past, present and future of Scottish battlefields

Battlefield archaeology has provided a new way of appreciating historic battlefields. This paper provides a summary of the long history of warfare and conflict in Scotland which has given rise to a large number of battlefield sites. Recent moves to highlight the archaeological importance of these sites, in the form of Historic Scotland’s Battlefields Inventory are discussed, along with some of the problems associated with the preservation and management of these important cultural sites