Gambling and (“Dark”) Flow. A holistic Study with Best Practice Cases on How to Minimize Harm

How to apply “minimize harm” as a guiding principle for regulating, redesigning, and running the gambling industry/business? The article looks at gambling through the flow concept using a four-dimensional frame of reference. The attempt is to analyze the problem of gambling from a scientific-technical, interpersonal, systemic and a spiritual-existential perspective. Two best-practice cases are used as illustrations; Norway’s national gambling monopoly operated by Norsk Tipping (NT), and the Italian city Pavia which was transformed from being “Italy’s Las Vegas” to return to the old charming city where gambling are strictly regulated. The third case illustrates the spiritual-existential dimension mirrored by a young American lawyer who became addicted to gambling, but finally sued the casinos that had ruined her life. Implications for further research are discussed, suggesting a move from “dark” flow to “green” flow

Immigrants’ experiences of the importance and value of work in Norway: Implications for social work

In Norway, integration of immigrants through gainful employment is a prevailing idea in integrational measures. There is, however, a lack of knowledge on immigrants’ lived experiences on the issue of work. This study examines how immigrants experience the importance of work, and how they perceive the value of work. Data were collected by nine qualitative semi-structured interviews with ten immigrants and underwent an interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings provide the field of social work with important knowledge pertinent for professional practice. The participants considered work to be important and valuable. To the participants working represented self-sufficiency as well as financial independence. They linked work with a positive identity in society as they believed they were perceived positively by native Norwegians when they had regular work. Participants who obtained education prior to arriving in Norway had a wider variety of options when searching for work compared to those who lacked formal credentials.publishedVersio

Nitrogen retention in mature constructed wetlands

Master's thesis in Environmental engineeringConstructed wetlands are created for the purpose of treating anthropogenic discharges, such as agricultural and urban runoff to reduce the potential of undesirable effects in receiving waters. Leikvollbekken is a mature constructed wetland located in north-west of Store Stokkavatnet in Stavanger Municipality. The wetland is a two-pond free water surface system constructed with the aim to reduce excessive nitrogen and phosphorus in the pelvis before reaching Store Stokkavatnet. The main focus of this thesis was to monitor the constructed wetland with respect to nitrogen. Nitrogen removal in the wetland was believed to occur through biological assimilation and dissimilation. The hypothesis was that the degree of retention would depend on flow, resulting in a positive retention over time. With some exceptions, weekly water samples were collected in the period October 2018 to May 2019 in inlet, mid-pond and outlet of the wetland. Flow in and out of the wetland was measured with an interval of 15 minutes during the thesis period by an integrated flow meter at site. Grab samples from Store Stokkavatn and Madlabekken were included in a period to compare concentrations with water in Leikvollbekken. In addition, a storm event was included to investigate the effect of high hydraulic loadings on influent concentrations and concentrations in the wetland. Water samples were analyzed for total nitrogen, nitrate and ammonium. Total and fixed suspended solids, pH, conductivity, alkalinity and color were included to investigate if any significant correlations existed with nitrogen concentrations in the samples taken. The overall results showed higher concentrations in Leikvollbekken compared to Store Stokkavatn and Madlabekken. A positive retention of 9.4 % TN (68.6 kg), 6.1 % NO3- (33.8 kg) and 87.1% NH4+ (7.2 kg) was observed during the period studied. Highest concentrations were observed during the storm event. An interesting observation was the increasing concentrations of TN, NO3- and NH4+ in mid-pond and outlet samples in April and during the storm event, indicating contribution from additional sources than the inlet water. No significant correlation between average flow per sampling and total nitrogen was found. Moreover, no connection was found between nitrogen compounds and the additional parameters except conductivity and color.submittedVersio

IMPACT OF INSTITUTION FACTORS TO UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE: A STUDY BASED ON SRI LANKAN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM

Purpose: The study explored the impact of institutional factors have on the university-industry knowledge exchange based on the Sri Lankan university system. Methodology: The study is quantitative and explanatory by nature and it applied the deductive method and questionnaire survey strategy. The study conducted with minimum interference of researcher and individual academics is the unit of analysis. The types of knowledge interaction, university-industry knowledge exchange, and institutional factors were the independent, dependent and moderating variables respectively. A Structural Equation Model is deployed on collected data to explore the moderating impact of the institutional factor on the university-industry knowledge exchange. Implications: It implies that the level of joint, contract research activities, human resource mobility, and training of academic staff are largely wider on the conducive environment and sophisticated facilities of the university. Main Findings: First, study evidence that there are statistically significant impacts of type of interactions and institutional factors on university-industry knowledge exchange.  Further, the study confirmed the moderating power of institutional factors over the knowledge exchange process. Novelty: There is a lack of research literature discussing the moderating effect of institutional factors on the university-industry knowledge exchange process

Douglas Shoal preliminary site assessment report

Document R.1.59918002, Version 1.Report prepared by Cardno Ltd for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

Carbon storage in hedge biomass—A case study of actively managed hedges in England

Farmland hedges could be managed for carbon sequestration, but empirical data on their carbon (C) stock in the UK is lacking. Lowland hedges managed by hedge laying and triennial trimming using a mechanical flail formed a dense woody structure (mean 81,368 stems ha−1). Hedges untrimmed for 3 years (mean height 3.5 m, widths 2.6–4.2 m), contained an above ground biomass (AGB) C stock of 42.0 ± 3.78 t C ha−1 (14.0 ± 1.94 t C km−1); when trimmed to 2.7 m high, and subsequently 1.9 m high, AGB C stocks were reduced to 40.6 ± 4.47 t C ha−1 (11.4 t C km−1) and 32.2 ± 2.76 t C ha−1 (9.9 t C km−1), respectively. A 4.2 m wide hedge contained 9.7 t C km−1 more AGB C stock than a 2.6 m wide hedge (mean height 3.5 m). Below ground biomass (BGB) was 38.2 ± 3.66 t C ha−1 (11.5 t C km−1). Near horizontal stems, arranged by hedge laying, 12–18 years prior to sampling, accounted for 5.2 t C ha−1 (1.6 t C km−1) of AGB C. The empirical data demonstrated how changing management practices to wider/taller hedges sequestered C in AGB. These estimates of hedgerow C stocks fill a knowledge gap on C storage and identified the need for a more comprehensive biomass inventory of hedgerows to strengthen the national carbon accounting of agro-ecosystems in the UK

Spatial population dynamics of small mammals: some methodological and practical issues

Small mammals have been widely used to further our understanding of spatial and temporal population dynamical patterns, because their dynamics exhibit large variations, both in time (multi-annual cycles vs. seasonal variation only) and space (regional synchrony, travelling waves). Small mammals have therefore been the focus of a large number of empirical and statistical (analysis of time-series) studies, mostly based on trapping indices. These studies did not take into account sampling variability associated with the use of counts or estimates of population size. In this paper, we use our field study focusing on population dynamics and demography of small mammals in North Norway at three spatial scales (0.1, 10 and 100 km) to illustrate some methodological and practical issues. We first investigate the empirical patterns of spatial population dynamics, focusing on correlation among time-series of population abundance at increasing spatial scales. We then assess using simulated data the bias of estimates of spatial correlation induced by using either population indices such as the number of individuals captured (i.e., raw counts) or estimates of population size derived from statistical modeling of capture-recapture data. The problems encountered are similar to those described when assessing density-dependence in time-series -a special case of the consequence of measurement error for estimates of regression coefficients- but are to our knowledge ignored in the ecological literature. We suggest some empirical solutions as well as more rigorous approaches

Hedgerow agroforestry in England and Wales: increasing width to sequester additional carbon

Hedgerow systems are one of the more prominent agroforestry systems in temperate European agriculture, and the UK has the second largest extent of these in the European Union (Herzog 2000; den Herder et al. 2016). An estimated 456 000 km of hedge in England and Wales has been actively managed (Carey et al. 2008); which limits hedge outward growth, and maintains an effective barrier to livestock (Pollard et al. 1974). This management consists of a short period trimming cycle every 1 - 3 years, and a long period structural restoration cycle, after approximately 40 years growth (Staley et al. 2015). A mechanical flail is used for the short period trimming cycle by 92% of farmers in England and Wales (Britt et al. 2011). Typical ‘Enclosure’ hedges in England and Wales were planted with only hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), in single, or double rows, from the 16th Century onwards (Maclean 2006). Hawthorn is still the dominant woody species, found within 90% of hedges in England and Wales, but a mix of woody species is common, and blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) is the second most frequent species, found within 50% of these hedges (Barr et al. 2000). The potential for temperate agroforestry to sequester carbon (C), and mitigate rising levels of Green-House Gasses (GHG), is beginning to receive more attention (Udawatta and Jose 2012). Axe et al. (2017) showed the potential to sequester C where wider managed hedges had greater C stocks (t C km-1 ). Allowing such hedges to grow wider from lateral branch growth only, without increasing planting density, may not be the most effective way to accumulate Above Ground Biomass (AGB) C. It also introduces uncertainty in using area C stock values (t C ha-1 ) to estimate AGB C (t C), as this parameter assumes a linear relationship with hedge width. Here new data on the contribution made by blackthorn to AGB C stock, and the correlation between hedge width and t C km-1 , from the pilot study of triennially flailed hedge biomass (Axe et al. 2017), along with supporting evidence on shrub growth in unmanaged hedges (Küppers 1985), is examined to advance how atmospheric C could be sequestered by increasing hedge width

Challenges and opportunities when implementing strategic foresight: lessons learned when engaging stakeholders in climate-ecological research

Ecosystems are currently experiencing rapid changes. Decision-makers need to anticipate future changes or challenges that will emerge in order to implement both short-term actions and long-term strategies for reducing undesirable impacts. Strategic foresight has been proposed to help resolve these challenges for better planning and decision-making in an uncertain future. This structured process scrutinizes the options in an uncertain future. By exploring multiple possible futures, this process can offer insights into the nature of potential changes, and thereby to better anticipate future changes and their impacts. This process is performed in close partnership with multiple actors in order to collect broader perspectives about potential futures. Through a large research initiative, we applied the strategic foresight protocol to a set of different case studies, allowing us as academic ecologists to reflect on the circumstances that may be influential for the success of this approach. Here, we present what worked and what did not, along with our perception of the underlying reasons. We highlight that the success of such an endeavour depends on the willingness of the people involved, and that building social capital among all participants involved directly from the start is essential for building the trust needed to ensure an effective functioning among social groups with different interests and values