Spatial patterns of coastal breeding birds in the Baltic archipelago

Coastal areas are crucial to numerous breeding bird species, but have undergone major changes because of anthropogenic development pressures such as altered land use and increased recreational activities. An understanding of what shapes species distribution patterns, and how human activities affect these patterns, is therefore necessary for marine management. The aim of this thesis is to investigate possible causes of spatial patterns of coastal breeding birds, and how human activities and environmental legislation affect these species. Forty eight coastal breeding bird species were surveyed in 4,646 squares of 1 × 1 km size, covering an archipelago in the Baltic Sea, on the east coast of Sweden. We classified all bird species as either specialist species, i.e. specialized coastal breeders, or as generalist species, i.e. species breeding also inland. Specialist species were found further out to sea, while generalist species were found closer to the mainland. The number of specialist and generalist species per square increased as total shoreline length increased, likely because of availability of suitable breeding habitat and feeding areas. Animal sanctuaries were significantly more effective in capturing specialist species and red-listed species than were unprotected areas, while nature reserves often were less effective compared to unprotected areas. Further, specialist species richness decreased as human shoreline exploitation such as buildings and jetties increased, while there was no significant effect on generalist species richness. Likewise, there was a higher probability of applications for exemptions from the general shore protection regulation to occur in squares with fewer specialist species. It is possible that habitats for specialist species are not appropriate for exploitation or that human disturbance make specialist species avoid exploited areas. The proportion of granted exemptions was very high (96%), and the areas they concerned were often close to previously exploited areas. Exploitation of shores is a continuous but slow process known as the cumulative effects problem or the ‘tyranny of small decisions made singly’, and this is difficult to tackle by environmental legislation. To conserve the breeding habitat along the shorelines in the archipelago, it is necessary to protect the shoreline against further exploitation, and appropriate management of unprotected shorelines is essential

Assortative mating and fragmentation within dog breeds

Background There are around 400 internationally recognized dog breeds in the world today, with a remarkable diversity in size, shape, color and behavior. Breeds are considered to be uniform groups with similar physical characteristics, shaped by selection rooted in human preferences. This has led to a large genetic difference between breeds and a large extent of linkage disequilibrium within breeds. These characteristics are important for association mapping of candidate genes for diseases and therefore make dogs ideal models for gene mapping of human disorders. However, genetic uniformity within breeds may not always be the case. We studied patterns of genetic diversity within 164 poodles and compared it to 133 dogs from eight other breeds. Results Our analyses revealed strong population structure within poodles, with differences among some poodle groups as pronounced as those among other well-recognized breeds. Pedigree analysis going three generations back in time confirmed that subgroups within poodles result from assortative mating imposed by breed standards as well as breeder preferences. Matings have not taken place at random or within traditionally identified size classes in poodles. Instead, a novel set of five poodle groups was identified, defined by combinations of size and color, which is not officially recognized by the kennel clubs. Patterns of genetic diversity in other breeds suggest that assortative mating leading to fragmentation may be a common feature within many dog breeds. Conclusion The genetic structure observed in poodles is the result of local mating patterns, implying that breed fragmentation may be different in different countries. Such pronounced structuring within dog breeds can increase the power of association mapping studies, but also represents a serious problem if ignored. In dog breeding, individuals are selected on the basis of morphology, behaviour, working or show purposes, as well as geographic population structure. The same processes which have historically created dog breeds are still ongoing, and create further subdivision within current dog breeds

Teaching and learning addition and subtraction bridging through ten using a structural approach

An eight-month-long intervention based on the idea of using a structural approach to addition and subtraction, and particularly bridging through ten, was implemented in Swedish Grade 1. A goal was that at the end of Grade 1, students would solve tasks like 15–7= using part-whole relations of numbers. In this paper, we report on learning outcomes from task-based interviews with intervention and control groups before, immediately after and one year after the intervention, to investigate long-term effects and whether students used a structural approach when solving tasks in Grade 2. Results show that students in the intervention group increased their learning outcomes the most and to a larger extent solved tasks in higher number ranges using a structural approach.This work was supported by the Swedish Institute for Educational Research [Grant number 2018-00038]

Komponentavskrivningar - Normgivarens motiv till införande och företagens incitament till efterlevnad

Denna studie ämnar undersöka en normgivares motiv till att införa ett nytt regelverk, användarnas incitament att efterleva regelverket enligt normgivarens avsikt och innebörden av en eventuell skillnad däremellan. Studiens syfte kräver en kombination av metoder beroende på vilket perspektiv av regelförändringen som undersöks. Normgivarens motiv undersöks både utifrån en kvantitativ och en kvalitativ ansats, bestående av en intervju och en simulering. Företagens incitament till efterlevnad undersöks utifrån en kvalitativ ansats, bestående av intervjuer med fallföretag. Studien tar sin utgångspunkt ur tre teoretiska perspektiv; intressentteori, agentteori och positiv redovisningsteori (PAT). Normgivarens motiv till införandet av regelverket undersöktes genom en intervju med Bokföringsnämnden. Det huvudsakliga motivet visade sig vara höjd kvalitet på redovisningen. En simulering genomfördes för att testa utfallet av regelförändringen och öka författarnas förståelse för behovet av införandet. Fallföretagens incitament till efterlevnad undersöks genom intervjuer. Bokföringsnämndens motiv till införandet av komponentavskrivningar var att höja kvaliteten på redovisningen. Studien visar att det finns en risk att företagens incitament till att efterleva regelverket avviker från hur nämnden avsett. Dock har ingen stor skillnad däremellan kunnat påvisas

Lack of panmixia of Bothnian Bay vendace-Implications for fisheries management

Overexploitation of fisheries is recognized as a major environmental and socioeconomic problem that threats biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Inappropriate management policies of fish stocks have been applied as a consequence of inadequate characterization of subtle genetic structure in many fish species. In this study, we aim to assess the extent of genetic differentiation and structure of vendace (Coregonus albula) collected from eight locations in the Bothnian Bay, the northernmost part of the Baltic Sea. Specifically, we test if this species forms a single panmictic population or is divided into several genetically distinct units. We used restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) to identify 21,792 SNPs based on 266 individuals. We identified a clear pattern of genetic differentiation between River Kalix and the other sampling locations, and a weak structuring between samples from Swedish and Finnish coast. Outlier analysis detected 41 SNPs putatively under divergent selection, mainly reflecting the divergence between River Kalix and the other samples. The outlier SNPs were located within or near 25 genes, including voltage-dependent calcium channel subunit alpha-2 (CACNA2D2), cadherin 26 (CDH26) and carbonic anhydrase 4-like (CA4) that have earlier been associated with salt-tolerance and salinity stress. Our study provides the first genome-wide perspective on genetic structuring of Baltic Sea vendace and rejects the hypothesis of panmixia in the Bothnian Bay. As such, our work demonstrates the power of RAD-sequencing to detect low but significant genetic structuring relevant for fisheries management

Ancient coins: cluster analysis applied to find a correlation between corrosion process and burial soil characteristics

Although it is well known that any material degrades faster when exposed to an aggressive environment as well as that "aggressive" cannot be univocally defined as depending also on the chemical-physical characteristics of material, few researches on the identification of the most significant parameters influencing the corrosion of metallic object are available

Geographical variation in orthopedic procedures in Norway: Cross-sectional population-based study

Background: Standardized surgery rates for common orthopedic procedures vary across geographical areas in Norway. We explored whether area-level factors related to demand and supply in publicly funded healthcare are associated with geographical variation in surgery rates for six common orthopedic procedures. Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional population-based study of hospital referral areas in Norway. We included adult admissions for arthroscopy for degenerative knee disease, arthroplasty for osteoarthritis of the knee and hip, surgical treatment for hip fracture, and decompression with/without fusion for lumbar disk herniation and lumbar spinal stenosis in 2012–2016. Variation in age and sex standardized rates was estimated using extremal quotients, coefficients of variation, and systematic components of variation (SCV). Associations between surgery rates and the socioeconomic factors urbanity, unemployment, low-income, high level of education, mortality, and number of surgeons and hospitals were explored with linear regression analyses. Results: Knee arthroscopy showed highest level of variation (SCV 10.3) and decreased in numbers. Variation was considerable for spine surgery (SCV 3.8–4.9), moderate to low for arthroplasty procedures (SCV 0.8–2.6), and small for hip fracture surgery (SCV 0.2). Higher rates of knee arthroscopy were associated with more orthopedic surgeons (adjusted coefficient 24.8, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.7–47.0), and less urban population (adjusted coefficient −13.3, 95% CI: −25.4 to −1.2). Higher spine surgery rates were associated with more hospitals (adjusted coefficient 22.4, 95% CI: 4.6–40.2), more urban population (adjusted coefficient 2.1, 95% CI: 0.4–3.8), and lower mortality (adjusted coefficient −192.6, 95% CI: −384.2 to −1.1). Rates for arthroplasty and hip fracture surgery were not associated with supply/demand factors included. Conclusions: Arthroscopy for degenerative knee disease decreased in line with guidelines, but showed high variation of surgery rates. Socioeconomic factors included in this study did not explain geographical variation in orthopedic surgery.publishedVersio

The magnetic environment in the central region of nearby galaxies

The central regions of galaxies harbor some of the most extreme physical phenomena, including dense stellar clusters, non-circular motions of molecular clouds and strong and pervasive magnetic field structures. In particular, radio observations have shown that the central few hundred parsecs of our Galaxy has a striking magnetic field configuration. It is not yet clear whether these magnetic structures are unique to our Milky Way or a common feature of all similar galaxies. Therefore, we report on (a) a new radio polarimetric survey of the central 200 pc of the Galaxy to better characterize the magnetic field structure and (b) a search for large-scale and organized magnetized structure in the nuclear regions of nearby galaxies using data from the Very Large Array (VLA) archive. The high angular resolution of the VLA allows us to study the central 1 kpc of the nearest galaxies to search for magnetized nuclear features similar to what is detected in our own Galactic center. Such magnetic features play a important role in the nuclear regions of galaxies in terms of gas transport and the physical conditions of the interstellar medium in this unusual region of galaxies.Comment: 8 pages; Proceedings for "The Universe under the Microscope" (AHAR 2008), held in Bad Honnef (Germany) in April 2008, to be published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series by Institute of Physics Publishing, R. Schoedel, A. Eckart, S. Pfalzner, and E. Ros (eds.