An evaluation of the bottom trawl surveys in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem

Demersal fish, shrimp and cephalopod assemblages on the continental shelves and slopes off Angola, Namibia and the southern and western coasts of South Africa have been monitored in terms of fisheries-independent trawl surveys since the 1980s. The time series have provided vital input to stock assessments and are widely used in studies of ecology and biodiversity. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the technical specifications of the vessels and trawls used, to examine effects of modifications on catching efficiency, and to assess implications of these modifications over time. We find that the demersal trawl data collected in South Africa are not comparable with those of Namibia and Angola, and that the time series of Angola and Namibia contain inherent differences in terms of catchability of bottom dwellers. The introduction of smaller bobbins gear on the RV Dr. Fridtjof Nansen in 1994 increased the catchability of bottom-dwelling species, and catch rates of monkfish and sole were higher in surveys with commercial vessels than the RV Dr. Fridtjof Nansen. We recommend that temporal trends are interpreted with caution and that time series for the three countries are viewed in isolation

Back to the basics of polar expeditions: personality hardiness, fear, and nutrition in polar environments

The present paper aims at presenting an overview of findings relating personality hardiness to adaptation to polar environments. Several studies from the Operational Psychology Research group at the University of Bergen have depicted individual characteristics of high hardy subjects involved in stressful activities in polar environments. These high hardy subjects have superior coping skills, are less influenced by environmental stress, show increased motivation during endurance activities, and have a more adaptive biological stress response. It could be assumed that explorers undertaking solo expeditions in polar environments would represent extremely hardy people. Thus, in addition to previously reported studies on hardiness in polar environment, the results from two previously published papers are presented and re-interpreted. The studies provided a rare opportunity to separate the effects of extreme physiological and emotional strain (mainly fear) and present the trajectory of relevant biomarkers of fear, stress, appetite, and nutritional status during a 90-day expedition across Antarctica. The studies expanded on previous knowledge by showing extreme variations in biomarkers during the expedition and suggested that extreme fear has the highest impact on indicators of stress, stress regulation, appetite, and nutritional status. This, together with the recovery effects found on nutrition status after a daily energy uptake of 5–6000 kcal, expands on previous knowledge about adaptation in polar environments.publishedVersio

Perceived learning outcome: The relationship between experience, realism and situation awareness during simulator training

Background. Navigation errors are a frequent cause of serious accidents and work-related injuries among seafarers. The present study investigated the effects of experience, perceived realism, and situation awareness (SA) on the perceived learning outcome of simulator-based navigation training. Material and methods. Thirty-two Norwegian Navy officer cadets were assigned to a low and a high mental workload conditions based on previous educational and navigational experience. Results. In the low mental workload condition, experience (negatively associated), perceived realism, and subjective SA explained almost half of the total variance in perceived learning outcome. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that only subjective SA made a unique contribution to the learning outcome. In the high mental workload condition, perceived realism and subjective SA together explained almost half of the variance in perceived learning outcome. Furthermore, both perceived realism and subjective SA were shown to make an independent contribution to perceived learning outcomes. Conclusions. The results of this study show that in order to enhance the learning outcomes from simulator training it is necessary to design training procedures and scenarios that enable students to achieve functional fidelity and to generate and maintain SA during training. This can further improve safety and reduce the risk of maritime disasters. (Int Marit Health 2010; 61; 4: 258-264

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Relationship between Neuroticism, threat of shock and heart rate variability reactivity

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between Neuroticism, non-executive functioningand heart rate variability (HRV) in both threat and non-threat situations. Sixty-five male sailors fromthe Royal Norwegian Navy participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned into non-threat andthreat groups. Neuroticism was measured by the NEO-PI-R and, based on the median-split of Neuroticism,groups were divided into 2 additional groups. A Visual Search Task was used to measure non-executivefunctioning. HRV reactivity was measured during baseline-, test- and recovery-conditions. Overall, the resultsrevealed that there were no differences between any of the groups in terms of the performance onthe Visual Search Task: this was true for both accuracy data and mean reaction time. However, the resultsshowed that the High Neuroticism Threat Group had a significant increase in HRV from test-condition torecovery. This may indicate that the High Neuroticism Threat Group found the whole task condition morestressful due to the threat situation

Relationship between Neuroticism, Threat of shock and Heart Rate Variability Reactivity

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between Neuroticism, non-executive functioningand heart rate variability (HRV) in both threat and non-threat situations. Sixty-five male sailors fromthe Royal Norwegian Navy participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned into non-threat andthreat groups. Neuroticism was measured by the NEO-PI-R and, based on the median-split of Neuroticism,groups were divided into 2 additional groups. A Visual Search Task was used to measure non-executivefunctioning. HRV reactivity was measured during baseline-, test- and recovery-conditions. Overall, the resultsrevealed that there were no differences between any of the groups in terms of the performance onthe Visual Search Task: this was true for both accuracy data and mean reaction time. However, the resultsshowed that the High Neuroticism Threat Group had a significant increase in HRV from test-condition torecovery. This may indicate that the High Neuroticism Threat Group found the whole task condition morestressful due to the threat situation.publishedVersio

The dimensionality of the 12-item general health questionnaire (GHQ-12): Comparisons of factor structures and invariance across samples and time

Because of its brevity, the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) has become one of the most popular and used measure for detecting psychological distress. Originally intended as a unidimensional measure, the majority of subsequent factor-analytic studies have failed to support GHQ-12 as a unitary construct and have instead proposed a plethora of multidimensional structures. In this study, we further examined the factor structure in two different military samples, one consisting of crewmembers from four different frigates deployed in anti-piracy operations and Standing NATO Maritime Group deployments (N = 591) and one consisting of crewmember from three different minehunters/sweepers serving in Standing NATO Mine Counter-Measures Group deployments (N = 196). Results from confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) performed in the first sample supported a bifactor model, consisting of a general factor representing communality among all items and two specific factors reflecting common variance due to wording effects (negatively and positively phrased items). A multi-group CFA further confirmed this structure to be invariant across our second sample. Structural equation modeling also showed that the general factor was strongly associated with symptoms of insomnia and mental health, whereas the specific factors were either non-significantly or considerably weaker associated with the criterion variables. Overall, our results are congruent with the notion that the multidimensionality demonstrated in many previous investigations is most likely an expression of method-specific variance caused by item wording. The explained unique variance associated with these specific factors was further relatively small. Ignoring the multidimensionality and treating GHQ-12 as a unitary construct will therefore most likely introduce minimal bias to most practical applications.publishedVersio

”[…] men ellers var det jo god mat, men det var jævlig strengt!” : en kvalitativ kasus- studie med fokus på fortellingene til tidligere pasienter på Trastad Gård, Nord-Norges åndssvakehjem.

This study is to provide an understanding of the experiences of former inmates of “Trastad Gård”, a Northern Norwegian institution for people earlier categorised “men-tally retarded”, which was closed down in 1991. Six former staff members, six inmates and eight parents/ siblings took part in the research. Informal qualitative interviews were employed in acquiring information on the lived experiences and events that took place at the institution. The stories that emerged suggest a clear distinction between the staff and the inmates. The staff members were superior and the inmates, subordinates. This distinction, which is evident in all activities in the institution together with a hegemonic and strict administration in the Wards of “Trastad Gård” were experienced by the inmates as very suppressive. The stories are presented and explored in an interactional perspective. Issues on becoming an individual, social devaluation, power and counter power are central in the discussions. Despite the rather extreme situation that characterised their relocation at “Trastad Gård”, the former inmates did not consider themselves as mere passive “victims” to tragic circumstances. Much of the interaction between the inmates and the staff re-volved around firm routines and strict rules. Problems in interaction that seemed almost irresolvable were met with temporal “solutions”. These practical solutions were based on harsh measures from staff members and which faced inventive responses from the inmates.  Formålet med denne studien er å forstå hvordan hverdagslivet på Trastad Gård, en tidligere sentralinstitusjon under HVPU, opplevdes for klientene. Seks tidligere ansatte, seks tidligere såkalte pasienter og åtte pårørende bidrar med informasjon fra hverdagen i avdelingene. Fortellingene ble samlet inn ved hjelp av uformelle kvalitative intervju. Fortellingene antyder en fast distinksjon mellom personal og pasient, der personalet var overordnet pasientene. Denne distinksjonen, sammen med en stram administrering av avdelingene, virket svært undertrykkende på pasientene. De tidligere pasientene gir, tross den ekstreme virkeligheten de var plassert i, et klart inntrykk av at de forstår seg selv som mer enn offer for tragiske omstendigheter. Mye av samhandlingen mellom pasient og personal utviklet seg til et spill omkring rutiner og regler, eller problemer som virket nærmest uløselige, men som fant sitt midlertidige ”svar” i en praksis med stivbente tiltak og oppfinnsomme mottiltak

Police Dyads Within an Operational Simulation: an Empirical Test of the Research Propositions Made in the “Big Five” Teamwork Approach

Based on the impact of the theoretical big five of teamwork model proposed by Salas et al. (2005), the present study aimed at investigating the model within an operational police simulation. One hundred and sixty-seven frontline police officers participated in the study. Based on path analyses, a reduced model excluding trust and leadership obtained a good fit with the data. The results provided some support for the model by confirming six out of 10 proposed direct effects and four out of seven indirect pathways. Shared mental models directly affected team adaptability, and backup behavior affects adaptability and team effectiveness. Team orientation affects mutual performance monitoring and backup behavior, and finally, reciprocal monitoring affects backup behavior. Monitoring influenced both team effectiveness and adaptability through backup behavior. Two paths from team orientation towards effectiveness were found. One flowing through monitoring and another through back-up behavior. Our study expands former knowledge of the big five theory by empirically testing the totality of the model and identifying important pathways.publishedVersio