Love, space-time, and language: a taste of Norwegian culture

by Alex Mellbye, MSc Sociology student at LSE I would daresay that one of the reasons people are drawn to sociology is an aim for self-understanding, at least, this is certainly my case. However, as all who do sociology are aware of, the self, or to put it a different way, identity, is always contextual. For me now, the context for my identity is nationality. After all, English is not my native language, I am not British, I have no family in London, yet here I am. A Viking descended from the cold hard north of Norway. Not for plunder or women (although neither would hurt), but for that vainglorious goal of study and knowledge. It is within this context then that I find myself reflecting on where I am from as opposed to where I am now – which is to say, by living in England I have become more aware and reflective of what it means to be a Norwegian. By writing this blog post I am therefore hoping and attempting to present a perhaps somewhat logically consistent sketch of what I at least would consider the core aspects of Norwegian culture

Seafarers’ depression and suicide

This review assesses available evidence on the frequency of and trends in depression and suicide among seafarers. Investigations of depression and suicide are scarce and the findings are inconsistent, they do, nevertheless, show indications of improvement although some recent case series do indicate that suicide remains a problem. A review of additional indicators for mental distress and lack of wellbeing supports the decline in frequency of problems, but nuances this in terms of the relative risks in different groups of seafarers, showing internal variations in the frequency of mental health issues among seafarers, with markers such as rank, type of voyage, gender, age, nationality and crew multiculturalism being relevant variables. The methodological limitations that hinder the understanding of depression and suicide in the maritime sector are identified

Surface limed soil - six years later

Published September 1992. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

Effectiveness of title III, ESEA in selected schools of the Oregon Small Schools Program July 1, 1966 to June 30, 1970

The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in selected schools of the Oregon Small Schools Project. Specifically, the objectives were to analyze: 1. To what extent were the objectives of the OSSP accomplished. 2. To what degree did school size affect the accomplishment of the objectives. 3. To what degree did geographic location influence the accomplishment of the objectives. 4. To what degree did opinions of administrators and school board members differ about the effectiveness of the program. Twenty schools of the OSSP were selected to participate in the study. The respondents included the superintendent and a board member from each of the schools. The data obtained from the board members were used solely for analyzing for comparative purposes with the data provided by the superintendents. To provide for the analysis of the influence of school size and geographic location, schools were classified as to whether they had 100 student enrollment and whether located East or West of the Cascade Mountains. The analysis of the extent of the accomplishment of the objectives was based on the mean scores of all responses through rating scales. Statistical analyses were made by utilizing the F-Test to indicate if significant differences were present. Analysis was based on the .05 level of significance. Findings: From the findings of the study, the following implications were drawn: 1. That there was slightly less than a moderate accomplishment of the objectives of the Oregon Small School Program during the four year project period, as determined by the data. 2. That the location of the school did not significantly influence the degree that the objectives of the program were accomplished, except in two areas: A. "staff involvement in decision making" was rated above a considerable accomplishment by the west superintendents, while east superintendents rated the accomplishment moderate. B. "development and implementation of shared guidance services" was rated above a moderate accomplishment by the east superintendents, while west superintendents rated it considerably less than limited. 3. That the size of the school was not a significant factor in the degree of the program's accomplishment, except in the following areas: A. "administrative and staff communication" B. "opportunities for staff to serve as instructional leaders" C. "the improvement of career information opportunities to students" D, "providing information on effective programs" E. "implementation of shared guidance services" All significant differences resulted from larger schools rating the accomplishment higher than did the schools with smaller enrollments. Recommendations: As a result of the findings of this study, the writer offers the following recommendations: 1. The Oregon Small Schools Program should make a concerted effort to involve organizations within the communities, develop cooperative sharing and provide for improved communication. 2. Develop and implement a program with the teacher preparatory institutions designed to more adequately serve the small schools. 3. Participants in the program should increasingly utilize the resources of the Oregon Board of Education and provide for continuing evaluation and assessment of the program's objectives. 4. The program should make every effort to increase the participation of schools and provide information on on-going activities of the schools. 5. That direction of the program continue to incorporate the objectives and priorities of the Oregon Board of Education to assure consistency with the statewide educational program. 6. An inventory study should be made among personnel and staff of the CSSP to determine the opinions of board members, administrators and staff members relative to the small schools program and its role. 7. Further study should be made to assist in clarifying the role of the Oregon Board of Education, schools of education, local school districts, and other agencies in stimulating change. 8. The degree of continuation of Title III, ESEA programs after federal funds have terminated and the effect of Title III on school districts not actively participating in the programs should be determined

Gm Allotypes in Mother-Father-Cord Trios 1

When tested at a standard dilution (I:30), mother-cord Gm phenotypes are identical. A more sensitive assay reveals that the fetus does possess paternal antigen, that is, does produce small amounts of autologous IgG. The paternal antigens, in both the mother and the cord plasma, appear in a mosaic, one that suggests the fetus has the ability to selectively transfer his own IgG subclasses to the mother.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75448/1/j.1423-0410.1979.tb02277.x.pd

A genomic and proteomic characterization of the first cultured oligotrophic marine Gammaproteobacterium from the SAR92 clade

High-throughput culturing (HTC) consisting of extinction culturing in autoclaved seawater has led to the isolation and characterization of many novel strains of oligotrophic marine bacteria. Strain HTCC 2207 was isolated from the Oregon coast by the HTC method. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that this strain fell into the SAR92 clade in the oligotrophic marine Gammaproteobacteria (OMG) group. The OMG group is distantly related to previously cultivated genera of Gammaproteobacteria. Initial phylogenetic characterization was followed by genome sequencing and interpretation, proteomic analysis by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry, and determination of the fatty acid profile. Culture experiments, microscopic observations, and the genome sequence indicate that HTCC 2207 cells are motile, aerobic, heterotrophic, Gram-negative, short rods of approximately 0.148 µm3. Growth characteristics were observed at six different carbon concentrations and five different temperatures. Optimal growth rate (3.15 d-1) occurred at 16 ºC in natural seawater amended with nitrogen, phosphorus, vitamins, and a mixture of organic carbon compounds yielding a maximum cell density of 1.85 × 107 cells per ml. In contrast, the maximum cell density in seawater without addition organic carbon was 1.01 × 106 cells per ml. This strain has been described previously to form small colonies on 1/10 R2A agar media, but did not growth in any other artificial media. These growth characteristics showed that HTCC 2207 is a slow growing, oligotrophic, psychro-mesophilic bacterium. Initial sequencing has so far revealed an unclosed genome of 2,619,777 base pairs coding for 2390 open reading frames. The G+C content is 49.10 mol %. The bacterium possesses all major metabolic pathways, but is requires some vitamins. Proteomic analyses identified 146 expressed proteins including a biopolymer transporter, nitrate transporter, flagellin modification proteins, urease, and a pilus assembly protein. HTCC 2207 predominantly contained the unsaturated fatty acids 18:1 ω7c and 16:1 ω7c + 16:1 ω6c. The fatty acids 16:0, 16:1, and 18:1 were commonly found in previously cultivated genera of Gammaproteobacteria. This strain also contained significant amounts of 3-OH 10:0, 3-OH 12:0, 17:1 ω8c, 14:0, and 10:0 fatty acids. From the phenotypic, genotypic, and genomic evidence, it is proposed that HTCC 2207 should be established as a new genus and species

Physiological Framework for the Regulation of Quorum Sensing-Dependent Public Goods in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Many bacteria possess cell density-dependent quorum-sensing (QS) systems that often regulate cooperative secretions involved in host-microbe or microbe-microbe interactions. These secretions, or “public goods,” are frequently coregulated by stress and starvation responses. Here we provide a physiological rationale for such regulatory complexity in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Using minimal-medium batch and chemostat cultures, we comprehensively characterized specific growth rate-limiting macronutrients as key triggers for the expression of extracellular enzymes and metabolites directly controlled by the las and rhl QS systems. Expression was unrelated to cell density, depended on the secreted product’s elemental composition, and was induced only when the limiting nutrient was not also a building block of the product; rhl-dependent products showed the strongest response, caused by the largely las-independent induction of the regulator RhlR and its cognate signal. In agreement with the prominent role of the rhl system, slow growth inverted the las-to-rhl signal ratio, previously considered a characteristic distinguishing between planktonic and biofilm lifestyles. Our results highlight a supply-driven, metabolically prudent regulation of public goods that minimizes production costs and thereby helps stabilize cooperative behavior. Such regulation would be beneficial for QS-dependent public goods that act broadly and nonspecifically, and whose need cannot always be accurately assessed by the producing cell. Clear differences in the capacities of the las and rhl systems to integrate starvation signals help explain the existence of multiple QS systems in one cell.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the American Society for Microbiology and can be found at: http://jb.asm.org/