Integrating knowledge from social and natural sciences for biodiversity management: The asymmetric information trap

--

Integrating knowledge from social and natural sciences for biodiversity management: The asymmetric information trap

Most problems related to biodiversity management have an ecological as well as a socio-economic dimension. Consequently, there has been a growing recognition that adequate management recommendations directed at such problems can only be developed if knowledge from ecology, economics and various social science disciplines is taken into account in an integrated manner. To respond to the need for integrated research, a number of approaches have been proposed over the last decade or so with the aim of integrating knowledge from the natural and social sciences. These approaches emerged in different contexts and have integrated different disciplines. As the recognition of the need for integrated research is rather recent the approaches that integrate natural and social sciences are still in a phase of development. In order to further this development, a better understanding of how to tackle specific challenges that arise when knowledge from different disciplines is integrated may be helpful. The aim of this paper is to contribute to this task by analysing and comparing how selected approaches cope with one key challenge of integration: ensuring that state-of-the-art knowledge from both disciplines is used in the integrated approach. We selected the following approaches for comparison: Ecological-economic modelling, political ecology, the resilience approach, multi criteria analysis, and methods of material and energy flow accounting (MEFA) of socio-ecological systems. [...

Low Birth Weight and Risk of Progression to End Stage Renal Disease in IgA Nephropathy-A Retrospective Registry-Based Cohort Study.

Low Birth Weight (LBW) is a surrogate for fetal undernutrition and is associated with impaired nephron development in utero. In this study, we investigate whether having been born LBW and/or small for gestational age (SGA) predict progression to ESRD in IgA nephropathy (IgAN) patients. Retrospective registry-based cohort study. The Medical Birth Registry has recorded all births since 1967 and the Norwegian Renal Registry has recorded all patients with ESRD since 1980. Based on data from the Norwegian Kidney Biopsy Registry we included all patients diagnosed with IgAN in Norway from 1988-2013. These registries were linked and we analysed risk of progression to ESRD associated with LBW (defined as birth weight less than the 10th percentile) and/or SGA (defined as birth weight less than the 10th percentile for gestational week) by Cox regression statistics. We included 471 patients, of whom 74 developed ESRD. As compared to patients without LBW, patients with LBW had a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.0 (95% confidence interval 1.1-3.7) for the total cohort, 2.2 (1.1-4.4) for males and 1.3 (0.30-5.8) for females. Corresponding HRs for SGA were 2.2 (1.1-4.2), 2.7 (1.4-5.5) and 0.8 (0.10-5.9). Further analyses showed that as compared to patients with neither LBW nor SGA, patients with either SGA or LBW did not have significantly increased risks (HRs of 1.3-1.4) but patients who were both LBW and SGA had an increased risk (HR 3.2 (1.5-6.8). Mean duration of follow-up only 10 years and maximum age only 46 years. Among IgAN patients, LBW and/or SGA was associated with increased risk for progression to ESRD, the association was stronger in males

An integrated general practice and pharmacy-based intervention to promote the use of appropriate preventive medications among individuals at high cardiovascular disease risk: protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are responsible for significant morbidity, premature mortality, and economic burden. Despite established evidence that supports the use of preventive medications among patients at high CVD risk, treatment gaps remain. Building on prior evidence and a theoretical framework, a complex intervention has been designed to address these gaps among high-risk, under-treated patients in the Australian primary care setting. This intervention comprises a general practice quality improvement tool incorporating clinical decision support and audit/feedback capabilities; availability of a range of CVD polypills (fixed-dose combinations of two blood pressure lowering agents, a statin ± aspirin) for prescription when appropriate; and access to a pharmacy-based program to support long-term medication adherence and lifestyle modification. Methods: Following a systematic development process, the intervention will be evaluated in a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial including 70 general practices for a median period of 18 months. The 35 general practices in the intervention group will work with a nominated partner pharmacy, whereas those in the control group will provide usual care without access to the intervention tools. The primary outcome is the proportion of patients at high CVD risk who were inadequately treated at baseline who achieve target blood pressure (BP) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels at the study end. The outcomes will be analyzed using data from electronic medical records, utilizing a validated extraction tool. Detailed process and economic evaluations will also be performed. Discussion: The study intends to establish evidence about an intervention that combines technological innovation with team collaboration between patients, pharmacists, and general practitioners (GPs) for CVD prevention. Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN1261600023342

Do unions care about low-paid workers? Evidence from Norway

One of the core objectives of unions is to raise the wages of the lowest paid. Utilizing a panel of individual-matched employee–employer data covering the Norwegian private sector in the period 2000–2014, I investigate how workplace union density is related to individual low-pay risk. By exploiting changes in tax deductions for union members in Norway as a source of exogenous variation, a negative effect of increased union density on low-pay risk is identified within jobs. The results further suggest that the effect of local bargaining power on individual low-pay probability is larger among immigrants than among natives.publishedVersio

Sustainability appraisal: Jack of all trades, master of none?

Sustainable development is a commonly quoted goal for decision making and supports a large number of other discourses. Sustainability appraisal has a stated goal of supporting decision making for sustainable development. We suggest that the inherent flexibility of sustainability appraisal facilitates outcomes that often do not adhere to the three goals enshrined in most definitions of sustainable development: economic growth, environmental protection and enhancement, and the wellbeing of the human population. Current practice is for sustainable development to be disenfranchised through the interpretation of sustainability, whereby the best alternative is good enough even when unsustainable. Practitioners must carefully and transparently review the frameworks applied during sustainability appraisal to ensure that outcomes will meet the three goals, rather than focusing on a discourse that emphasises one or more goals at the expense of the other(s)

Fast Transition between Operational Modes of a reversible Pump-Turbine

The future demands of energy production to balance more intermittent energy sources creates two main technical challenges for the hydro power production. Increased off-design operation, including both operation outside Best Efficiency Point and more starts and stops, are needed to facilitate use of more intermittent energy resources. In addition to this there is a demand for rapid change between storing and generating energy in pump storage power plants. There is therefore a need to improve the fundamental understanding of transient operation of the reversible pump turbine during different modes of operation. The present work investigates the four quadrant characteristics of a reversible pumpturbine. With focus on the fast transition between pump and turbine mode of operation. The research has consisted of both experimental work and transient simulation. A fast transition is described in this thesis as a method to change from pump to turbine mode of operation, using the head to change the direction of the pumpturbines rotational speed from pump to turbine direction. The procedure start in normal pump mode of operation and end at idle speed in turbine mode of operation, and the guide vanes are open during the whole transition. The most important contributions in this thesis is connected to the fast transition, where the field experiments is a proof of concept for the fast transition method. The pressure pulsations during the fast transition are also compared to a normal procedure of change from pump to turbine mode of operation. The fast transition is also simulated using a 1D numerical model capable of simulating both pump and turbine mode of operation. The laboratory characteristics have been important in comparison to the improved 1D simulation model. The numerical and measured results show a good correlation

Studies on the rare gas content of minerals and the atmosphere

Not availabl

Flow based market clearing - GSK strategies

In these days, the Nordic TSOs examines the possibility to introduce Flow-Based(FB) market clearing in the Nordic power market. The FB market clearing will theoretically give a better market solution than the current Net Transfer Capacity (NTC) method, because a simplified grid model included in the market optimization gives the market the ability to prioritize flows that are the most economically efficient in managing congestion. The simplified grid model contains Power Transfer Distribution Factors (PTDFs), which describe the connection between a change in net position and change in injection. Because the Nordic area is divided into bidding areas, the node-to-line PTDFs have to be aggregated to area-to-CNE PTDFs to reflect how an injection in an area influences the lines in the grid. In this aggregation, a Generation Shift Key (GSK) is used, and describe how a change in net position of an area is divided on the nodes in that specific area. A GSK strategy is rules or linearization methods for generating the GSK to find the most accurate estimated power flow, compared to the real physical flow. There are no theoretical right or wrong methodology when determining the GSK strategy, and there is not necessarily only one general optimal strategy. Therefore, several GSK strategies are developed in the Nordic countries. The task in this thesis is to compare these strategies, and find the optimal GSK in each Nordic bidding area contributing to a most accurate estimated power flow. The TSOs cannot precisely estimate the power flow in the grid due to uncertainty. To handle the uncertainty, the FB method use the Flow Reliability Margin (FRM). To compare the different GSK strategies and find which one suited in each Nordic bidding area, a Python code is written in this thesis using the FRM parameter. To find the combination of optimal GSKs in each area to minimize the error in estimated flow, the code have the objective to minimize a weighted FRM norm. The results of the studied period 01.02.2016-17.04.2016 show that it is beneficial to have the optimal GSK in each bidding area instead of one global strategy in the entire system. The areas with the largest benefit of having optimal GSK in the area was NO2 and SE3. The best strategies in these areas are GSK3 and GSK7, respectively. However, in some areas like NO1 and NO3 all GSK strategies performed similar regarding a calculated delta value. This implies that the areas with similar results for all GSKs are strong and non-sensitive areas. Results show that the characteristics of each area affect which GSK optimal. In general, GSK3 and GSK5 are good strategies in areas with export and mainly hydropower generation from reservoirs, while GSK7 and GSK2 are good strategies when the area has an import of power or mainly nuclear or the generation in the area is mainly from nuclear power plants