Plastic Rain in Protected Areas of the United States

Eleven billion metric tons of plastic are projected to accumulate in the environment by 2025. Because plastics are persistent, they fragment into pieces that are susceptible to wind entrainment. Using high-resolution spatial and temporal data, we tested whether plastics deposited in wet versus dry conditions have distinct atmospheric life histories. Further, we report on the rates and sources of deposition to remote U.S. conservation areas. We show that urban centers and resuspension from soils or water are principal sources for wet-deposited plastics. By contrast, plastics deposited under dry conditions were smaller in size, and the rates of deposition were related to indices that suggest longer-range or global transport. Deposition rates averaged 132 plastics per square meter per day, which amounts to \u3e1000 metric tons of plastic deposition to western U.S. protected lands annually

Ledarskapsutbildning – till vilken nytta? - En studie om chefers försök att tillämpa det som förmedlats under en ledarskapsutbildning

Årligen investeras åtskilliga summor på ledarskapsutbildning. Studier visar dock att den kunskap som utvecklas under utbildningen i begränsad utsträckning tillämpas i arbetskontex- ten. För att kunna dra nytta av de satsningar som görs på ledarskapsutbildningar, måste det inom organisationer bli högsta prioritet att skapa goda förutsättningar för medarbetare att använda sig av de kunskaper som utbildningen syftat till att lära ut. Kontextuella faktorer har visat sig vara av avgörande betydelse för individens möjligheter att använda sig av det som förmedlats under en utbildning. Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka hur en organisation kan skapa förutsättningar för chefer att använda det som förmedlats under en ledarskapsutbildning i sitt dagliga arbete, samt ge fördjupad kunskap om vilka hinder och möjligheter chefer upplever i sina försök att tillämpa det som lärts in under en genomgången ledarskapsutbildning. Forskningsproblemati- ken har studerats med utgångspunkt i en organisation som vid tidpunkten för genomförandet av studien stod inför utmaningen att lyckas implementera de operativa chefernas nyförvär- vade kunskaper från en genomförd ledarskapsutbildning, i verksamheten. För att besvara studiens forskningsfrågor har tio kvalitativa intervjuer med operativa chefer inom organisat- ionen genomförts. Insamlad data har bearbetats genom en innehållsanalys och sedan analyserats, tolkats och diskuterats i relation till studiens teoretiska utgångspunkter och ett urval av tidigare forskning inom området kunskapsöverföring. Resultatet visar att samtliga chefer i efterhand har målat upp en positiv bild av den genomförda utbildningen och att de upplever utbildningsinnehållet som relevant för rollen som chef inom organisationen, vilket indikerar att cheferna varit benägna att använda det som förmedlats under utbildningen. Det framstår också som att benägenheten att använda utbildningsinnehållet i sitt dagliga arbete påverkas av tidigare erfarenheter och förhållnings- sätt. Vårt resultat indikerar även att det finns ett flertal faktorer som kan utgöra hinder eller möjligheter i chefernas försök att tillämpa de kunskaper som förmedlats under ledarskapsut- bildningen och att det finns både positiva och negativa aspekter av de flesta av dessa faktorer. Några av de faktorer som är av betydelse är autonomin och handlingsfriheten i arbetet, de normer som råder inom organisationen, samt det sociala stödet från överordnad och kollegor

Spore production and beetle visitation on the polypore Fomitopsis pinnicola

Insects and fungi are important parts of dead wood systems. Polypores, the main structural decomposers of dead wood, have fruiting bodies frequently visited by insects. This could potentially be important for spore dispersal, but few studies have investigated whether insect visitation correlates with spore production. In this study nine time-lapse cameras were used to register beetle visits on Fomitopsis pinicola in Nordre Pollen and Østmarka nature reserve. In addition passive spore traps were used to monitor spore production for five polypores in Nordre Pollen once a month, from May to August to see how visiting rates of beetles related to spore production, time of day, air humidity and temperature. Spore production was at its peak in May, followed by June. No spores were found in August and only two polypores released spores during July. Activity of 4 beetle species was estimated from 51 852 high quality images and spore production was a good predictor for occurrence of beetles in May.M-ECO

The financial impact of informal economic sanctions : an empirical study of the impact of China’s informal economic sanctions on Norwegian salmon exports following the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize

In this study, we have investigated whether the Chinese informal economic sanctions against Norwegian salmon had a negative effect on Norwegian salmon exporting firms’ financial performance. According to theory on international trade, economic sanctions distorts trade flows between countries and reduce the potential benefits and welfare gains from trade. Since trade takes place through firms, it is expected that firms will be negatively affected by economic sanctions. However, a firm’s opportunity to circumvent such market distortions could lead to a different conclusion. We performed a fixed effects estimation to examine whether Norwegian salmon exporters were financially affected by the Chinese sanctions. Our results indicate that the Chinese sanctions had a negative financial impact on Norwegian salmon exporting firms, and that this negative effect was larger in the first three years of the sanction period. This can be explained by the different costs an exporting firm may face when economic sanctions are imposed. However, the observed long-run effect is close to zero, supporting the empirical literature stating that sanctions-busting activities are always likely. The normative implications of our study stress the importance of countries developing and evaluating their exporting industries’ normative standards to prevent the potential criminalizing side effects of economic sanctions. However, firms are also responsible in these manners. Bribery and smuggling are criminalized because of their harmful consequences and informal economic sanctions are no legitimate excuse for criminal practices.nhhma

Cougars in Cache: Approaching the beast from multiple perspectives

The cougar (Puma concolor) is a notoriously difficult study animal due to its elusive behavior, wide-ranging movements, and low density on the landscape. As a result, the majority of information about cougars comes solely from human-caused mortality records, which are both a biased and imprecise measure of the population as a whole. Additionally, harvest rates of cougars have been increased over the past few years despite a lack of concrete information on Utah cougar populations. Therefore, more accurate means of monitoring are necessary to guide state management of the species. By using and comparing multiple methods for cougar monitoring, including trail cameras, tracking, hunting records, extensive literature review, and public sightings, our research group has been able to gather information about cougar activity in the Cache area. Success of such a complex project has hinged on recruiting research partners and volunteers to participate. Our research contributes to the knowledge of the local wildlife populations and highlights the benefits and risks of implementing large-scale research via citizen scientists

Pigment Composition of Macroalgae from a Norwegian Kelp Forest

Variation in pigment composition between seasons in 10 different species of macroalgae was examined using high precision liquid chromatography (HPLC). In addition, a study on the variation of pigment quantity and quality with tissue age was performed on the kelp Saccharina latissima. All species contained Chlorophyll a (Chl a), and all Phaeophytes contained the accessory chlorophylls, Chl c1+2 in addition to the carotenoids fucoxanthin, violaxanthin, antheraxanthin and zeaxanthin. In the two Rhodophytes examined, the major pigments in addition to Chl a was β,β-carotene and zeaxanthin. Within each species, the light harvesting pigments follows the same tissue concentration trend as Chl a. No similar trend of seasonal variation in pigment composition was seen between species. In the Phaeophytes, the three Fucus species tended to have high pigment content, while Ascophyllum nodosum was recurring as the species with the lowest concentration of all pigments. There was no influence of tissue age in pigment content in the February samples of S. latissima, whereas age influence was seen both in May and September. The light harvesting pigments (LHPs) Chl a, fucoxanthin, Chl c and violaxanthin was detected in all seasons in S. latissima, while Zea was only detected in the May samples and antheraxanthin only in the September samples. In general for S. latissima, February showed the highest concentration of all LHP, while there was a decrease towards May and September. Shading and position in relation to light of macroalgae in the water column determines the pigment content in the wrack and kelp species studied. The limits for high (>1000 μg)/intermediate (500-1000 μg)/low content (<500 μg) of Chl a per gram wet weight, reveals that Phaeophytes and Rhodophytes have a highly variable Chl a content (101-1997 μg for Phaeophytes, 219-1303 μg for Rhodophytes) within PG, while the Chlorophytes generally showed less variation in [Chl a] with seasons (828-1656μg)

Spore production and beetle visitation on the polypore Fomitopsis pinnicola

Insects and fungi are important parts of dead wood systems. Polypores, the main structural decomposers of dead wood, have fruiting bodies frequently visited by insects. This could potentially be important for spore dispersal, but few studies have investigated whether insect visitation correlates with spore production. In this study nine time-lapse cameras were used to register beetle visits on Fomitopsis pinicola in Nordre Pollen and Østmarka nature reserve. In addition passive spore traps were used to monitor spore production for five polypores in Nordre Pollen once a month, from May to August to see how visiting rates of beetles related to spore production, time of day, air humidity and temperature. Spore production was at its peak in May, followed by June. No spores were found in August and only two polypores released spores during July. Activity of 4 beetle species was estimated from 51 852 high quality images and spore production was a good predictor for occurrence of beetles in May

The financial impact of informal economic sanctions : an empirical study of the impact of China’s informal economic sanctions on Norwegian salmon exports following the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize

In this study, we have investigated whether the Chinese informal economic sanctions against Norwegian salmon had a negative effect on Norwegian salmon exporting firms’ financial performance. According to theory on international trade, economic sanctions distorts trade flows between countries and reduce the potential benefits and welfare gains from trade. Since trade takes place through firms, it is expected that firms will be negatively affected by economic sanctions. However, a firm’s opportunity to circumvent such market distortions could lead to a different conclusion. We performed a fixed effects estimation to examine whether Norwegian salmon exporters were financially affected by the Chinese sanctions. Our results indicate that the Chinese sanctions had a negative financial impact on Norwegian salmon exporting firms, and that this negative effect was larger in the first three years of the sanction period. This can be explained by the different costs an exporting firm may face when economic sanctions are imposed. However, the observed long-run effect is close to zero, supporting the empirical literature stating that sanctions-busting activities are always likely. The normative implications of our study stress the importance of countries developing and evaluating their exporting industries’ normative standards to prevent the potential criminalizing side effects of economic sanctions. However, firms are also responsible in these manners. Bribery and smuggling are criminalized because of their harmful consequences and informal economic sanctions are no legitimate excuse for criminal practices

Mål- og resultatstyring i universitets- og høgskolesektoren. Institusjonell autonomi eller departemental kontroll? Eller både og? 1990-2015.

Masteroppgaven studerer mål- og resultatstyring i høyere utdanning fra ca. 1990-2015. Et utvalg fra tre hovedtyper statlig høyere utdanningsinstitusjoner er valgt for nærmere dybdestudier: Et universitet, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet (NTNU); en høgskole, Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus (HiOA); og en vitenskapelig høgskole, Norges Handelshøyskole (NHH). Mål- og resultatstyring beskrives i oppgaven slik det kom til syne blant annet gjennom Kvalitetsreformen, og i universitets- og høgskoleloven av 2005. Spesiell oppmerksomhet rettes mot høgskolestyrene og andre administrative deler av de høyere utdanningsinstitusjonene, i tillegg til Kunnskapsdepartementet styringssignaler via bl.a. tildelingsbrev. Hovedproblemstillingen det jobbes ut i fra er hvilke utfall prinsippet fikk i de høyere utdanningsinstitusjonene med hensyn til institusjonenes autonomi: Hvilke konsekvenser fikk mål- og resultatstyringsprinsippet for universitetenes og høgskolenes virksomhet og autonomi slik prinsippet forekom/manifesterte seg i Kvalitetsreformen, nytt finansieringssystem og den nye universitets- og høgskoleloven av 2005