Seasonal migration characteristics : a study of cross-border moose population between Sweden and Norway

Att förstå var djur befinner sig och hur de förflyttar sig över året är en viktig del i arbetet för att nå en effektiv förvaltning. Extra viktigt är det när arten i fråga berör en stor mängd människor, både ekonomiskt och kulturellt. I den här studien har jag undersökt den spatiala och temporala aspekter hos en gränsöverskridande älgpopulation (Alces alces) mellan Sverige och Norge. Syftet var att kvantitativt beskriva individuella variationer i hemområdesstorlek och nyttjandet av förflyttningsstrategierna migration, spridning, sedentism och nomadism. Metoden som användes var Net Squared Displacement där data anpassades mot icke-linjära modeller som motsvarade respektive strategi. Bästa passning bestämdes utifrån AIC-värden. Modelparametrar extraherades och låg som grund till beräkningen av migrationens tidpunkt, varaktighet och distans. Utifrån dessa data kunde hemområdesberäkningar utföras för migrerande liksom residenta älgars säsongsområden. Metoden för detta var Kernel Density, med en LSCVutjämningsparameter och ett 95% Utilization Distribution. Resultatet visar att en klar majoritet av älgarna uppvisar migrationsmönster under åtminstone ett år, såväl tjurar som kor. Individernas kön visade sig ha en signifikant effekt på hemområdesstorlek och migrationsdistans. Tjurar hade större hemområden och migrerade längre sträckor. Individernas kön som variabel var däremot inte en signifikant förklaring till skillnaden i tidpunkt och varaktighet för migrationen, även om en viss skillnad kunde observeras. Majoriteten av migrerande individer migrerade nordlig eller nordvästlig riktning för sommarområden, och sydlig eller sydöstlig till vinterområden. Att inkludera den här typen av kunskap i förvaltningssystem över de administrativa gränserna kan sannolikt vara en väsentlig del i lösningen på en effektivare och konfliktreducerande förvaltning där oenighet kan minskas, och gemensamma mål uppnås.Possessing knowledge of animal’s space use patterns are many times fundamental for the effectiveness in management and conservation efforts. In this study, a crossborder population of 34 radio-collared moose (Alces alces) between Sweden and Norway were analyzed. The aim was to quantify and describe the individual spatialtemporal variation and the utilization of previously known largescale movement strategies migration, dispersal, sedentary and nomadic behavior and variation in home range sizes. The methods used was Net Squared Displacement fitted to the strategy models by Nonlinear Least Squares in the statistical program R, and the best model was chosen based on AIC-values. The model parameters were extracted and included in the calculations for the migratory characteristics. Based on these estimates, migrant’s seasonal utilization areas could be separated, and seasonal home ranges estimated. The method chosen for these estimates were Kernel with a LSCV smoothing factor and a 95% utilization distribution. The result shows that a clear majority of the moose, in booth males and females exhibits migratory behavior. The sex of the individuals was identified to have a significant effect on both the migration distance and home-range size, where males utilized larger areas and traveled longer distances than females. However, this parameter was not significant to the difference on the duration and timing of migration, which contradicts previous studies on the subject. Although, a slight difference in duration between the sexes could be observed and is discussed in the later part of this rapport. The study also shows that the majority of migratory moose migrated North and North-West for summer areas, and South and South-East for winter areas, which agrees with previous moose-migratory studies in Sweden. By implementing these kinds of data and knowledge of moose large-scale movement, new and more effective strategies of management could be established. Composing these kinds of knowledge-based collaborations over the administrative borders could likely contribute to reduced conflicts and mutual goals to be reached

Death by suicide long after electroconvulsive therapy : is the sense of coherence test of Antonovsky a predictor of mortality from depression?

Prediction of increased risk of suicide is difficult. We had the opportunity to follow up 20 patients receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) because of severe depression. They filled in the Antonovsky sense of coherence test (SOC) and Beck depression inventory (BDI) before and after a series of ECT treatments. Seventeen surviving patients had a mean observation time of 20.6 months, whereas the three deceased patients had 11.3 months. There was a lower mean age at onset of illness and a longer mean duration of disease in the deceased. Other clinical parameters did not differ. The surviving patients had a significant decrease on the BDI from 35 to 18 (P<0.001) and an increase on the SOC test after ECT from 2.45 to 3.19 (P<0.001), indicating both less depression and better functioning in life. The deceased had a larger change on the BDI from 32 to 13, not attaining significance because of the low number of deceased. The SOC test, however, did not increase to a purported normal level; that is, from 2.43 to 2.87. Although the SOC scale has been shown to predict mortality in substance abusers, the SOC test has not been part of earlier reviews of predictive power. Tentatively, a low pathological score on the SOC test may indicate low sense of coherence in life that might increase the propensity for suicide. These preliminary results need replication in larger studies

Intractable schizo-affective disorder successfully treated with electroconvulsive treatment over six years

Some patients with severe mental disorders are refractory to psychotherapeutic or psychopharmacological interventions. We describe a patient with severe symptoms from the age of 16 to 44. Her illness is best described as a schizo-affective disorder. Several series of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) followed by maintenance once a week for more than six years has kept her out of hospital beds for three years. The patient demonstrates the feasibility of long term ECT and the absence of disturbing cognitive reduction

The City of Morro Bay, California Sign Ordinance Update and Tourism-Oriented Directional Sign Plan

ABSTRACT The City of Morro Bay, California – Sign Ordinance Update and Embarcadero District Tourism-Oriented Directional Sign Plan Erik Berg-Johansen This report includes a Draft Sign Ordinance, a Tourism-Oriented Directional Sign Plan, and a background report for each product. The final products were created thought a process involving extensive research, community outreach, and detailed discussions among City of Morro Bay staff. The Sign Ordinance It was discovered that signs are important to business owners and residents due to their effect on both economic and aesthetic issues in communities. This report documents research of scholarly articles, case studies, and community outreach efforts. This report includes survey results and analysis that reveal the opinions of Morro Bay business owners, and also their ideas in regards to the sign ordinance update. According to many business owners, the current sign ordinance is convoluted, virtually unenforced, and unfairly applied. It was the goal of this project to hear what the community desires, and then apply this knowledge to a proposal that residents and business owners in Morro Bay approve of. The proposed sign ordinance aims to be fair and user-friendly, while ultimately enhancing community character and aesthetic quality in the future. Tourism-Oriented Directional Sign Plan The Tourism-Oriented Directional Sign Plan was created to promote tourism in the City of Morro Bay and negate the need for A-frame sign use in the Embarcadero District. The plan includes three alternatives that are intended to spur discussion among the Planning Commission when the proposal is presented. The background report associated with this plan is intended to provide the reasoning behind the proposals, and give readers of the plan background knowledge on directional signs in general. Similar to the sign ordinance background report, this report documents research of scholarly articles, case studies, and community outreach efforts

Everyday Creativity Without Group Brainstorming

This Master’s project focuses on different ways to nurture everyday creativity at the work place apart from the well-known “scheduled” brainstorm sessions. The project covers an extensive literature review and the description of three concrete products as an outcome. The finished project includes the design of a two-hour workshop, a one-day training course, and a ten-step coaching program, all about “everyday creativity at work”. Workshops and coaching program are based on the Torrance Incubation Model (Torrance & Safter, 1990). They will assist companies and individuals in applying their creative potential with more impact on a daily basis, to ultimately improve their resiliency at work. The fresh approach and inspiring tools used in both workshops and in the coaching program are evaluated as highly effective in the pilot sessions. This Master’s project demonstrates that everyday creativity is an inevitable behavior to make (work) life more original, elegant, and meaningful

Combining genetic and non-genetic information to solve forensic identification problems

Forensic identification is the process of identifying for judicial purposes using scientific methods. Such techniques may be applied to humans, animals or objects. In this thesis the focus is on identifying humans. Forensic identification problems involving humans range from standard paternity cases to complex identification problems involving a large number of victims. In a murder case there may be trace evidence at the crime scene which helps identify the perpetrator. In a paternity case DNA analysis can determine whether or not a man fathered a child. In identification cases investigators will make multiple hypotheses in the form of pedigrees. Out of these at most one can be true. The most likely hypothesis may be found through statistical analysis. Several forensic methods exist and may be applied for identification. When multiple data sources are available, it would be favourable for researchers to be able to combine the results based on all available data. The goal of this thesis is to provide a framework for solving identification problems using multiple forms of data for the same hypothesis tests. Specifically, DNA data will be paired with other non-genetic data in the data analysis. Combining DNA with other data from the forensic case is desired because it allows researchers more material to draw conclusions from. This is particularly useful in cases where no conclusion may be drawn from DNA analysis alone. One such case involves two full siblings of the same sex who have gone missing, where neither sibling has descendants. If DNA is found from one of them, it is impossible to determine which of the siblings it belongs to even if DNA data from their family is accessible. Another way other data may assist in a forensic case is that information like age may be used to limit the hypotheses space, thus simplifying the forensic case. This emphasizes why multiple types of forensic data should be used in forensic analysis. The concept of combining different kinds of information for identification is the core of this thesis

National urban policy responses in the European Union: Towards a European urban policy?

"Europe's towns and cities remain its primary source of wealth creation and the centre of its social and cultural development. However there are rising problems relating to rapid economic adjustments. It is clear that new efforts are necessary to strenghten or restore the role of Europe's cities as places of social and cultural integration, as sources of economic prosperity and sustainable development, and as bases of democracy" ["Towards an urban agenda in the European Union", European Commission, 1997]. The environment of cities has become increasingly competitive and complex. Cities need to anticipate and respond quickly to opportunities and threats that influence their position structurally. Although city governments develop policies and strategies to meet the challenges, at the same time higher layers of government pursue policies that influence the position of cities. National governments draw up financial and policy frameworks and create conditions in which cities have to manoeuvre and design their own policies. At the European level the interest for the strategic position of cities within regional development policy is growing. This harmonises with a major objective of the association of large European cities ('Eurocities') to bring the position of the large cities as engines of economic growth and at the same time as concentrations of social problems to the attention of the Europan Commission. Although the Commission recognises the important role of cities for European regional development, until now European urban policy initiatives have been blocked by a majority of national governments, as a consequence of the principle of subsidiarity. The objective of our contribution is to compare current developments as far as explicit national urban policies in the member states are concerned. However the scope will not be limited to explicit policies alone. National policies with a substantial impact on urban development will be dealt with too. The framework for the investigation is made up of four parts. The first two parts compare national urban patterns and structures (the urbanisation pattern and the administrative structure), while the remaining parts deal with the questions: (1) what do national authorities consider to be main issues for, and challenges to their (larger) cities?; and (2) how do national governments respond to these issues and challenges by policies targeted to the role and function of cities? The results of our investigation into current national urban policies are for an important part based on fifteen national case studies produced by colleagues from each of the member states according to the framework mentioned before. This contribution summarises the results of the comparison. The results might give ingredients for a future urban policy at the European level.

Substance abusers in an acute psychiatric facility: a diagnostic and logistic challenge

Acute resident psychiatric facilities in Norway usually get their patients after referral from a medical doctor. Acute psychiatric wards are the only places accepting persons in need of emergency hospitalisation when emergency units in somatic hospitals do not accept the patient. Resident patients at one random chosen day were scrutinized in an acute psychiatric facility with 36 beds serving a catchment area of 165 000. Twenty-five patients were resident in the facility at that particular day. Eight of 25 resident patients (32.0%) in the acute wards were referred for a substance-induced psychosis (SIP). Another patient may also have had a SIP, but the differential diagnostic work was not finished. A main primary diagnosis of substance use was given in the medical reports in only 12.9% of patients during the last year. Given that the chosen day was representative of the year, a majority of patients with substance abuse problems were given other diagnoses. There seems to be a reluctance to declare the primary reason for an acute stay in a third of resident stays. Lack of specialized emergency detoxification facilities may have contributed to the results

Leadership by fragmented destruction after a merger: an example from a facility of acute psychiatry

Hospitals are labor intensive facilities based on highly skilled employees. A merger of hospitals is an effort to increase and rationalize this production. Decisions behind a merger are made at the top leadership level. How this might be done is demonstrated by examples from a 36 bed acute psychiatric facility. The aim of the study was to calculate the hidden costs of fragmented destruction of parts of a total hospital supply to patients after a merger. Fragmented destruction is the deliberate stopping of activities deemed not part of the core activities of the hospital without due consideration of the impact on core activities. The proposed changes to operational expenses at a single acute psychiatric hospital were materials for the study. The changes included activities as a reduction in local laboratory service, cleaning services, closure of physiotherapy unit, closing of cultural activities and reduced productivity. The selected activities are calculated as giving an imputed gain of € 630,000 as indicated by the leadership. The not calculated costs of reducing or removing the selected activities are estimated at € 1,955,640. The cost of staff disappointment after a merger is difficult to assess, but is probably higher than assumed in the present calculations. Imputed cost containment is not attained. The calculations indicate that implemented changes may increase cost, contrary to the belief of the leadership at both the hospital level and further up in the hospital trust. Arguments in favor of a merger have to be scrutinized thoroughly for optimistic neglect of uncalculated costs of mergers. Future hospital mergers and selected fragmentation of productive tasks at ward or hospital levels should include calculations of unavoidable costs as shown in the present paper