Unfounded claims about productivity beyond density for reindeer pastoralism systems

We point out problems with the article Productivity beyond density: A critique of management models for reindeer pastoralism in Norway by Marin and co-workers published in Pastoralism in 2020. In our opinion, there are several misleading claims about the governance of the reindeer pastoralist system in Norway, the Røros model for herd management and density dependence in reindeer herds in their article. We point out the errors in their empirical re-evaluation of previous work on the relationship between reindeer densities and the productivity and slaughter weights in herds. These errors have a significant bearing on their conclusions. We agree that weather variability has a substantial impact on reindeer body mass growth, fecundity and survival, but disagree with Marin et al. when they argue that reindeer densities are of minor importance for reindeer productivity and animal welfare

Ecological Consequences of Ash Dieback in Western Norway

Masteroppgave i biologiBIO399MAMN-BIOMAMN-HAVS

Photographic Portraits as Dialogical Contact Zones: The Portrait Gallery in Sápmi – Becoming a Nation at The Arctic University Museum of Norway

The point of departure for this essay is a series of eleven contemporary photographic portraits of Sámi people in large formats presented in the exhibition Sápmi – Becoming a Nation (2000-) at the Arctic University Museum of Norway, in Tromsø.1 The photographs were commissioned by the curators, and they were shot by documentary photographer, photojournalist, and filmmaker Harry Johansen (b. 1958). Working mainly as a freelance photojournalist, Johansen, who himself is a Sámi, was developing his photographic practice in the middle of the ethnopolitical uprising that took place in Norway from the 1970s onwards

Interactive Visualization on High-Resolution Tiled Display Walls with Network Accessible Compute- and Display-Resources

Papers number 2-7 and appendix B and C of this thesis are not available in Munin: 2. Hagen, T-M.S., Johnsen, E.S., Stødle, D., Bjorndalen, J.M. and Anshus, O.: 'Liberating the Desktop', First International Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interaction (2008), pp 89-94. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ACHI.2008.20 3. Tor-Magne Stien Hagen, Oleg Jakobsen, Phuong Hoai Ha, and Otto J. Anshus: 'Comparing the Performance of Multiple Single-Cores versus a Single Multi-Core' (manuscript)4. Tor-Magne Stien Hagen, Phuong Hoai Ha, and Otto J. Anshus: 'Experimental Fault-Tolerant Synchronization for Reliable Computation on Graphics Processors' (manuscript) 5. Tor-Magne Stien Hagen, Daniel Stødle and Otto J. Anshus: 'On-Demand High-Performance Visualization of Spatial Data on High-Resolution Tiled Display Walls', Proceedings of the International Conference on Imaging Theory and Applications and International Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications (2010), pages 112-119. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.5220/0002849601120119 6. Bård Fjukstad, Tor-Magne Stien Hagen, Daniel Stødle, Phuong Hoai Ha, John Markus Bjørndalen and Otto Anshus: 'Interactive Weather Simulation and Visualization on a Display Wall with Many-Core Compute Nodes', Para 2010 – State of the Art in Scientific and Parallel Computing. Available at http://vefir.hi.is/para10/extab/para10-paper-60 7. Tor-Magne Stien Hagen, Daniel Stødle, John Markus Bjørndalen, and Otto Anshus: 'A Step towards Making Local and Remote Desktop Applications Interoperable with High-Resolution Tiled Display Walls', Lecture Notes in Computer Science (2011), Volume 6723/2011, 194-207. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21387-8_15The vast volume of scientific data produced today requires tools that can enable scientists to explore large amounts of data to extract meaningful information. One such tool is interactive visualization. The amount of data that can be simultaneously visualized on a computer display is proportional to the display’s resolution. While computer systems in general have seen a remarkable increase in performance the last decades, display resolution has not evolved at the same rate. Increased resolution can be provided by tiling several displays in a grid. A system comprised of multiple displays tiled in such a grid is referred to as a display wall. Display walls provide orders of magnitude more resolution than typical desktop displays, and can provide insight into problems not possible to visualize on desktop displays. However, their distributed and parallel architecture creates several challenges for designing systems that can support interactive visualization. One challenge is compatibility issues with existing software designed for personal desktop computers. Another set of challenges include identifying characteristics of visualization systems that can: (i) Maintain synchronous state and display-output when executed over multiple display nodes; (ii) scale to multiple display nodes without being limited by shared interconnect bottlenecks; (iii) utilize additional computational resources such as desktop computers, clusters and supercomputers for workload distribution; and (iv) use data from local and remote compute- and data-resources with interactive performance. This dissertation presents Network Accessible Compute (NAC) resources and Network Accessible Display (NAD) resources for interactive visualization of data on displays ranging from laptops to high-resolution tiled display walls. A NAD is a display having functionality that enables usage over a network connection. A NAC is a computational resource that can produce content for network accessible displays. A system consisting of NACs and NADs is either push-based (NACs provide NADs with content) or pull-based (NADs request content from NACs). To attack the compatibility challenge, a push-based system was developed. The system enables several simultaneous users to mirror multiple regions from the desktop of their computers (NACs) onto nearby NADs (among others a 22 megapixel display wall) without requiring usage of separate DVI/VGA cables, permanent installation of third party software or opening firewall ports. The system has lower performance than that of a DVI/VGA cable approach, but increases flexibility such as the possibility to share network accessible displays from multiple computers. At a resolution of 800 by 600 pixels, the system can mirror dynamic content between a NAC and a NAD at 38.6 frames per second (FPS). At 1600x1200 pixels, the refresh rate is 12.85 FPS. The bottleneck of the system is frame buffer capturing and encoding/decoding of pixels. These two functional parts are executed in sequence, limiting the usage of additional CPU cores. By pipelining and executing these parts on separate CPU cores, higher frame rates can be expected and by a factor of two in the best case. To attack all presented challenges, a pull-based system, WallScope, was developed. WallScope enables interactive visualization of local and remote data sets on high-resolution tiled display walls. The WallScope architecture comprises a compute-side and a display-side. The compute-side comprises a set of static and dynamic NACs. Static NACs are considered permanent to the system once added. This type of NAC typically has strict underlying security and access policies. Examples of such NACs are clusters, grids and supercomputers. Dynamic NACs are compute resources that can register on-the-fly to become compute nodes in the system. Examples of this type of NAC are laptops and desktop computers. The display-side comprises of a set of NADs and a data set containing data customized for the particular application domain of the NADs. NADs are based on a sort-first rendering approach where a visualization client is executed on each display-node. The state of these visualization clients is provided by a separate state server, enabling central control of load and refresh-rate. Based on the state received from the state server, the visualization clients request content from the data set. The data set is live in that it translates these requests into compute messages and forwards them to available NACs. Results of the computations are returned to the NADs for the final rendering. The live data set is close to the NADs, both in terms of bandwidth and latency, to enable interactive visualization. WallScope can visualize the Earth, gigapixel images, and other data available through the live data set. When visualizing the Earth on a 28-node display wall by combining the Blue Marble data set with the Landsat data set using a set of static NACs, the bottleneck of WallScope is the computation involved in combining the data sets. However, the time used to combine data sets on the NACs decreases by a factor of 23 when going from 1 to 26 compute nodes. The display-side can decode 414.2 megapixels of images per second (19 frames per second) when visualizing the Earth. The decoding process is multi-threaded and higher frame rates are expected using multi-core CPUs. WallScope can rasterize a 350-page PDF document into 550 megapixels of image-tiles and display these image-tiles on a 28-node display wall in 74.66 seconds (PNG) and 20.66 seconds (JPG) using a single quad-core desktop computer as a dynamic NAC. This time is reduced to 4.20 seconds (PNG) and 2.40 seconds (JPG) using 28 quad-core NACs. This shows that the application output from personal desktop computers can be decoupled from the resolution of the local desktop and display for usage on high-resolution tiled display walls. It also shows that the performance can be increased by adding computational resources giving a resulting speedup of 17.77 (PNG) and 8.59 (JPG) using 28 compute nodes. Three principles are formulated based on the concepts and systems researched and developed: (i) Establishing the end-to-end principle through customization, is a principle stating that the setup and interaction between a display-side and a compute-side in a visualization context can be performed by customizing one or both sides; (ii) Personal Computer (PC) – Personal Compute Resource (PCR) duality states that a user’s computer is both a PC and a PCR, implying that desktop applications can be utilized locally using attached interaction devices and display(s), or remotely by other visualization systems for domain specific production of data based on a user’s personal desktop install; and (iii) domain specific best-effort synchronization stating that for distributed visualization systems running on tiled display walls, state handling can be performed using a best-effort synchronization approach, where visualization clients eventually will get the correct state after a given period of time. Compared to state-of-the-art systems presented in the literature, the contributions of this dissertation enable utilization of a broader range of compute resources from a display wall, while at the same time providing better control over where to provide functionality and where to distribute workload between compute-nodes and display-nodes in a visualization context

COVID-19 and Government Aid: An Economy on Life Support? An exploratory study of the effects of deferred tax payments in Norway during COVID-19

The number of bankruptcies in the Norwegian economy dropped substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate to what extent the arrangement for deferred payments of tax and duty claims contributed to keeping non-viable firms artificially alive during 2020 and 2021. First, we provide evidence that firms defined as non-viable prior to the pandemic were more likely to apply for and be granted tax deferrals than their healthier counterparts. This finding alone would imply that such firms might have exploited the arrangement to stay alive. Further, we estimate the effect of being granted tax deferrals on the probability of going bankrupt in 2020 or 2021. In 2020, we find that the firms granted tax deferrals were significantly less likely to go bankrupt than what would have been the case in the absence of support. However, we do not find statistically significant results when the same relationship is estimated in 2021. In sum, this implies that the arrangement may have kept non-viable firms artificially alive, albeit for a limited period of time.nhhma

Contamination parasitaire des sédiments marins. Étude sur le site de Barcelone

Les apports contaminants d'origine continentale jouent un rôle fondamental dans le processus de contamination du milieu marin. Une étude a été réalisée sur le site de Barcelone, afin de réaliser un inventaire des sources de pollution et de déterminer l'influence de ces apports sur la contamination des sédiments marins; ce lieu d'expérimentation ayant été retenu du fait de la multiplicité des types de rejets effectués en mer : eaux usées, boues de station d'épuration... Les sédiments ont été prélevés à partir du navire océanographique au cours de 3 campagnes de novembre 1987 à juin 1988 à des distances de 50 mètres à 4 km de la côte et à des profondeurs de 10 à 52 métres. Globalement 88,8 % des échantillons analysés renfermaient des oeufs d'helminthes (Nématodes et/ou Cestodes) à des concentrations variant de 5 à 256 oeufs 100 g-1 de sédiments Si des oeufs de Nématodes (Ascaris, Toxocara, Trichuris, Capillaria) sont retrouvés dans tous les échantillons positifs, seulement 44,4% renferment des oeufs de Cestodes (Taenia, Hymenolepis). Chez les Nématodes, les oeufs de Toxocara ont été retrouvés avec une très grande fréquence (66,6 %) chez les Cestodes des oeufs de Tenia (38,8 %) prédominent Il faut donc noter la moindre résistance des oeufs de Cestodes dans le milieu marin. Quant à la viabilité réalisée sur les oeufs d'Ascaris, elle s'échelonne selon les prélèvements de 5 à 100 %. Des études ultérieures devraient être poursuivies pour vérifier si ces oeufs viables ont encore conservé leurs potentialités infectieuses.Microbiological pollution of the marine environment is often the result of man's presence in the coastal zone (offshore flow of sewage sludge or effluents from raw or treated wastewater).Although many studies have been carried out on the viral and bacteriological pollution of the marine environment, very little is known about parasitological contamination of this important resource. This investigation is aimed at the problem of parasitological contamination by examining its sources and their effect on the contamination of marine sediments of a specific coastal region.Barcelone was selected as the study site because of the many types of effluent flowing into the sea. These are due to : two highly polluted rivets (the Besos river and the Llobregat river), treated and raw wastewater. Sewage sludge is transported offshore front Barcelone through a deep conduit.Marine sediments were collected at distances between 50 m. to 4 km of the shores of urban Barcelone at depths varying from l0 to 52 m. Samples obtained by the oceanographic vessel « Garcia del Cid » required use of a Reineck device.Parasite density was too low for direct microscopic examination, thus all the samples underwent an enrichment procedure. A preliminary study had shown that, out of all the various concentration methods available, the one described by Janeckso-Urbanyl was the best adapted 10 the samples investigated here. This method uses a high density (d = 1.44) potassium lodomercurate solution with low viscosity so that the eggs rise rapidly to the surface. The slides were enlarged 100 times and numbered with a Mac Master slide. The determination of the viability of Ascaris eggs was studies after a n-butanol treatment. The results are expressed as number of eggs per 100 g-1 sample.Helminth eggs were found in 88,8 % of 36 samples analysed with levels ranging from 5 to 256 eggs per 100 g-1 of sediment. During the 3 campaigns, in November 1987 (first campaign) was obtained the smallest number of positive samples (9/12) and in March 1988 (second campaign) the highest number of positive samples seize all these samples contained helminth eggs. These eggs were of the Nematode and/or the Cestode class. All the positive samples (32/36) contained Nematode eggs whereas Cestode eggs are found only in 16 samples. The Nematode eggs were Ascaris, Toxacara and Trichuris, Capillaria; Cestode eggs Hymenolepis and Taenia. All the samples with Nematode eggs contained in decreasing amounts Toxocara (66,6 %), Ascaris (61 %) and Trichuris, Capliaria (22,2 %). Cestodes were predominantly Taenia (38,8 %), Hymenolepis (16,6%). The difference in behaviour between Nematode and Cestode eggs, the latter being much less frequent, was probably due to the greater fragility of Cestodes in a marine environment. The viability of the Ascaris eggs found on samples at the Besos area was 100 %. The samples from the effluent zone contained Ascaris eggs with viability ranging from 0 to 100 %. In the Barcelonetta area, 5 to 42 % of Ascaris eggs were viable.These results obtained front seawater emphasize the necessity of further investigation into the extent of parasitological pollution on the marine environment by offshore flowing of treatment plant sludge, paying particular attention to the viability and the infection potential of the helminth eggs

The influence of anaerobic muscle activity, maturation and season on the flesh quality of farmed turbot

In order to test seasonal, rearing, maturing and anaerobic muscle activity effect on the flesh quality of turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) a total of 80 farmed turbot from three different strains from reared under natural or continuous light were killed by a percussive blow to the head in November (winter, Icelandic strain), March (spring, Portuguese strain) and June (summer, domesticated strain (France turbot)). To test the effect of anaerobic muscle activity, 10 fish were on each occasion pre rigor filleted, where one fillet was used as a control, while the other fillet was electrically stimulated using a squared 5 Hz, 10 V pulsed DC for 3 min. All pre rigor fillets were measured for pH, weighed, wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in polystyrene boxes with ice. After 7 days of storage the fillets were measured instrumentally for pH, drip loss, colour (CIE L* a* b*) and texture properties such as hardness and shear force, while fillet shrinkage and colour (RBG) were evaluated with computer imaging on photographs from a standard lightbox. Results showed that softness of the flesh was mainly influenced by factors associated with growth, such as season, photoperiod and maturation. Anaerobic muscle activity simulated with electrical stimulation caused an increase in drip loss (<1%) and loss of shear force (<4%), but had no effect on hardness or fillet shrinkage. Computer imaging revealed that muscle contractions related to the electrical stimulus forced out blood from the fillet causing less reddishness for the entire storage period. We conclude that a pH drop upon slaughter associated with anaerobic muscle activity has a minor effect on the flesh quality in the short run, while seasonal/alternatively genetic effects are predominant

A bird’s-eye view of chronic unilateral conjunctivitis : remember about Chlamydia psittaci

Chlamydia psittaci causes psittacosis in humans, mainly in people in contact with birds in either the setting of occupational or companion bird exposure. Infection is associated with a range of clinical manifestations from asymptomatic infection to severe atypical pneumonia and systemic disease. C. psittaci has also been associated with ocular adnexal lymphoma in human patients. The current paper describes successful doxycycline treatment of a male patient suffering from C. psittaci chronic unilateral conjunctivitis, most probably linked to the visit of a South African wildlife reserve. Increased awareness among general and occupational physicians, ophthalmologists, clinicians, and the public on the potential of C. psittaci to cause ocular infection is needed

Metabolomic Insights into Marine Phytoplankton Diversity

International audienceThe democratization of sequencing technologies fostered a leap in our knowledge of the diversity of marine phytoplanktonic microalgae, revealing many previously unknown species and lineages. The evolutionary history of the diversification of microalgae can be inferred from the analysis of their genome sequences. However, the link between the DNA sequence and the associated phenotype is notoriously difficult to assess, all the more so for marine phytoplanktonic microalgae for which the lab culture and, thus, biological experimentation is very tedious. Here, we explore the potential of a high-throughput untargeted metabolomic approach to explore the phenotypic-genotypic gap in 12 marine microalgae encompassing 1.2 billion years of evolution. We identified species-and lineage-specific metabolites. We also provide evidence of a very good correlation between the molecular divergence, inferred from the DNA sequences, and the metabolomic divergence, inferred from the complete metabolomic profiles. These results provide novel insights into the potential of chemotaxonomy in marine phytoplankton and support the hypothesis of a metabolomic clock, suggesting that DNA and metabolomic profiles co-evolve