Seabirds as Proxies for Past El Niño Events in Coastal Peru: An Archaeo-Ornithological Approach

This thesis sets an initial foundation for an archaeo-ornithological approach to understanding past El Niño events on the coast of Peru and the use of avifaunal remains as proxies for ecological conditions. Although faunal remains from archaeological sites do not provide exact representations of past environmental conditions, and bird remains can be especially challenging environmental indicators, their presence does reflect decisions made by human occupants in response to environment. Additionally, zooarchaeological data offer a reflection of past animal availability and use, much of which is at least in part determined by environmental conditions. Here I examine the extent to which El Niño phenomena could influence avifaunal resources and the effect this would have had on the subsistence practices of Andean coastal communities through time. Taking a human-ecodynamics approach, I also examine ethnohistoric records, including published oral histories, and early Peruvian visual culture (e.g., ceramics, geoglyphs, regalia, textiles) to further guide my understanding of the relationship between coastal societies and their local ecology. Based on the apparent human-Aves ecodynamics between coastal Peruvian societies and local avifauna, I propose that marine avifauna could have acted as sentinels for ecological conditions, offering coastal occupants a warning of impending change. In some cases, avian responses to El Niño (e.g., massive die off, mass migrations, nest abandonment) could have presented a boon to industrious hunter-gatherers, a topic I also explore. Further paleoenvironmental research potential lies in determining the effects that different varieties or “flavors” of El Niño Southern Oscillation (Central Pacific, Coastal) would have posed on early subsistence practices and adaptation strategies. My findings suggest that birds were a consistent staple in coastal diets. Fluctuations in the abundance of birds present at each site might be due to a variety of conditions. Connections could nevertheless be drawn between El Niño and avifaunal presence in coastal faunal assemblages, warranting further examination of these sentinel organisms

Pristransmisjon for laks i det franske og britiske markedet

Master's thesis in Industrial economicsThis study analyses price transmission from Norwegian export prices of fresh salmon to retail prices of consumer salmon products in France and UK. For different reasons, changes in salmon export prices do not need to be fully transmitted to retail prices of salmon products based on Atlantic salmon from Norway. This study tries to shed light on these price links between different levels in the value chain. Specifically, this study attempts to quantify the degree of price transmission on a broader set of consumer salmon products than has been analyzed in earlier studies. Moreover, this is the first study that analyzes differences in price transmission between branded products and supermarkets’ private label salmon products. The results from this study show a high degree of price transmission from Norwegian export prices to retail prices of natural fresh products such as fillets, steaks and whole. However, price transmission to retail prices decreases as more processing are involved; for fresh whole salmon price transmission is complete, while in highly value added products such as fresh ready main meal the price transmission can be close to zero. The econometric results further suggest that the transmission is higher from the Norwegian export price to the retail prices of private label salmon products compared to prices of branded salmon products. Again, this is an indicator that there are higher marketing costs for branded products. The increasing range of salmon products marketed to satisfy the different consumer tastes therefore reduces transmission from salmon export price to retail prices. Nonetheless, supermarkets’ private label products appear to have the opposite effect on price transmission

Hacia un nuevo modelo de docencia en otorrinolaringologia: propuesta para renovar la metodología de la enseñanza

The process of updating the medical programs in graduate studies in order to renovate and improve the teaching and learning methods are of great importance in college. This updating activity would give Otolaryngologists teachers helpful tools and facilitate learning to the graduate students (Resident Doctors), both in basic and advanced theoretical areas, and in specific surgical practices that such specialties require in depth because it demands a highly specialized surgical skills needed for the appropriate training of the surgeons who will work in different areas of otolaryngology.Los procesos de actualización de los programas médicos, en los estudios de postgrado, con el fin de renovar y mejorar los métodos de enseñanza y aprendizaje son de gran importancia en la universidad. Esta actividad reformadora daría herramientas útiles de enseñanza a los docentes Otorrinolaringólogos y facilitarían el aprendizaje de los estudiantes de post grado ( Residentes Médicos), tanto en las áreas teóricas básicas y avanzadas, como en las áreas prácticas y quirúrgicas que específicamente en este tipo de especialidad requieren una profundización importante, ya que se trata de una especialidad altamente quirúrgica que determinará la formación adecuada de profesionales cirujanos que se desempeñaran en las diferentes áreas de la otorrinolaringologí

Mine-risk Education in Ecuador: A Person-to-person Approach

“Explosive Mines Kill” is the message that the Organization of American States’ Acción Integral contra las Minas Antipersonal program wants to get across to communities living in mined areas in Ecuador. By taking an interpersonal approach to mine-risk education, the AICMA campaign advocates hope to raise awareness about the risks associated with anti-personnel mines and unexploded ordnance

Economic drivers for the Chinese tourists

Asia, particularly China, has become an attractive market that receives much attention in the Norwegian tourism industry. This raises relevant questions about the sustainability of the Chinese tourism boom. If the Norwegian tourism industry increasingly targets this rapidly growing market with larger investments, it should respond to the prospects of long-term growth. Such prospects hinge on the economic drivers behind the influx of Chinese tourists. In this study, we use both descriptive data analysis and the ARDL model to investigate the main economic factors that drive Chinese tourists to Norway. Specifically, we investigate whether the boom of the Chinese tourists is a relatively stable trend associated with the growing Chinese economy or just a short-term phenomenon brought by the weakened NOK. Our findings suggest instead of the well-recognized Chinese economic growth, it is the improving price competitiveness of Norway resulting from the weakening Norwegian kroner that has made the boom of the Chinese tourists in Norway. This result suggests although the income effect is significant in affecting aggregate tourist flow from a source country, for a single destination, price competitiveness is the key to make a destination attractive since the substitution effects of other destinations are huge and the income effect becomes uncertain.publishedVersio

A yeast three-hybrid system that reconstitutes mammalian hypoxia inducible factor regulatory machinery

Background: Several human pathologies, including neoplasia and ischemic cardiovascular diseases, course with an unbalance between oxygen supply and demand ( hypoxia). Cells within hypoxic regions respond with the induction of a specific genetic program, under the control of the Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF), that mediates their adaptation to the lack of oxygen. The activity of HIF is mainly regulated by the EGL-nine homolog (EGLN) enzymes that hydroxylate the alpha subunit of this transcription factor in an oxygen-dependent reaction. Hydroxylated HIF is then recognized and ubiquitinilated by the product of the tumor suppressor gene, pVHL, leading to its proteosomal degradation. Under hypoxia, the hydroxylation of HIF by the EGLNs is compromised due to the lack of oxygen, which is a reaction cosubstrate. Thus, HIF escapes degradation and drives the transcription of its target genes. Since the progression of the aforementioned pathologies might be influenced by activation of HIF-target genes, development of small molecules with the ability to interfere with the HIF-regulatory machinery is of great interest.Results: Herein we describe a yeast three-hybrid system that reconstitutes mammalian HIF regulation by the EGLNs and VHL. In this system, yeast growth, under specific nutrient restrictions, is driven by the interaction between the beta domain of VHL and a hydroxyproline-containing HIF alpha peptide. In turn, this interaction is strictly dependent on EGLN activity that hydroxylates the HIFa peptide. Importantly, this system accurately preserves the specificity of the hydroxylation reaction toward specific substrates. We propose that this system, in combination with a matched control, can be used as a simple and inexpensive assay to identify molecules that specifically modulate EGLN activity. As a proof of principle we show that two known EGLN inhibitors, dimethyloxaloylglycine (DMOG) and 6-chlor-3-hydroxychinolin-2-carbonic acid-N-carboxymethylamide (S956711), have a profound and specific effect on the yeast HIF/EGLN/VHL system.Conclusion: The system described in this work accurately reconstitutes HIF regulation while preserving EGLN substrate specificity. Thus, it is a valuable tool to study HIF regulation, and particularly EGLN biochemistry, in a cellular context. In addition, we demonstrate that this system can be used to identify specific inhibitors of the EGLN enzymes

Maintenance cost influence in a comminution layout design

Maintenance has a relevant weight in operational costs of a comminution process. This cost is mainly due to wear, always present in a comminution process. This study was applied to dry grinding process, habitual in the ceramic structural industry. The influence of power consumption and efficiency of comminution in process design were investigated. A genetic algorithm has been used to optimize machine selection and a discrete time simulation model has been developed to evaluate the comminution process. The underestimated impact of crusher maintenance has been proved. Solutions to maintain the efficiency of comminution process due to wear have been proposed

20 Years of Nordic tourism economics research: a review and future research agenda

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism on 13th of October 2020, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/15022250.2020.1833363.The number of economics-related articles in the Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism (SJHT) has recently increased considerably. Despite this increase, the research efforts of Nordic economists on tourism issues have lagged behind in an international comparison. The recent increase in the number of economics-related publications in SJHT is due to better access to microdata (individual and firm data), the rapid development of statistical and econometric methods and the interest in the causes and effects of the tourism boom in the Nordic countries until recently. This article gives a brief review of the main topics of Nordic economic research that have been studied, as well as potential future research ideas (e.g. short term rentals, rising industry concentration, innovation and ICT) and data sources (big data, social media data, linked data at the micro level and register data) that can be developed and used for future studies. With the COVID-19 pandemic, general uncertainty and government intervention in the tourism sector will lead to a change in travel flows, calling for more quantitative studies. More research based on internationally comparable microdata for several Nordic countries will be particularly helpful.acceptedVersio

Efficiency in Chinese large yellow croaker aquaculture: Implication for sustainable aquaculture in China

Aquaculture supply from China has been a remedy to meet the growing global demand for seafood in the last decades. However, output growth has decreased dramatically in China in the 2000s. Previous literature focuses on the ecosystem problems arising in intensive farming in China. In this study, we used stochastic production analysis (SPA) to estimate the technical efficiency of Chinese large yellow croaker farming, which provides implications for impediments to the sustainable development of Chinese aquaculture. Data were collected from 430 large yellow croaker farmers in nine farming areas located along the coastline of southeastern China. The technical efficiency of large yellow croak farming is estimated to be 0.829, suggesting that farming is operated close to the production frontier with a maximal margin of 17% for improvement under the current technology. It further suggests that Chinese aquaculture growth is geared by conventional factors, expansion of fishing sites, and intensive farming, and is not sustainable under the constraint of farming areas and environmental problems in China. For the sustainable development of Chinese aquaculture, it is necessary to adopt new technology through innovation. The family-based farming model is a hinder to adopting new technology that requires systematic significant investment. Large-scale industrialized farming based on research and new technology development thus should be a modern trend in the future.publishedVersio