Do Norwegian academics who publish more earn higher salaries?

This study correlated salary data with publication data for the academic employees of one of the largest HEIs in Norway. The results show that overall there was a weak correlation between publication output and salary. Both salary and publication output varied across ranks (low, mid, top). Apart from associate and full professors, there were no significant correlations between how productive an academic is and what an academic earns among the different groups. In fact, when comparing non-publishing and publishing low-rank contract researchers, the results show that publishing researchers earned significantly less than what their non-publishing colleagues did. A weak correlation between high-quality publications and salary was found among associate professors only. However, no significant differences in salaries were observed for academics with high-quality publications compared to those with ordinary publications. Overall, the results suggest that publication performance was not used to set salaries among academic groups with few research responsibilities.     

Gill reactivity of aluminium-species following liming

In acidified aluminium (Al) rich freshwater positively charged Al-species (Al(i)) are the key toxic components due to the accumulation in fish gills. As a countermeasure, liming is used to increase the pH and reduce the concentration of Al(i)-species; in particular low molecular mass (LMM) Al(i)-species by hydrolyses. However, very toxic high molecular mass (HMM) Al polymers can form in the unstable mixing zone immediately after liming. In the present work gill reactivity of LMM and HMM Al-species was studied under controlled conditions in eight channel-tank mixing zone systems in the field where Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) kept in cages were exposed to defined mixing zone water. Mixing zones were created by continually liming acid river water (pH 5.0-5.7) high in LMM Al(i) to pH 6.0 and 6.4, respectively. Transformation processes affecting the Al-speciation as a function of time after liming were documented by in situ hollow fibre ultrafiltration interfaced with ion chromatography, while the Al accumulation in fish gills was used as bioindicator. For fish exposed to mixing zone water immediately after liming (1 min) the Al accumulation in gills (mug Al g(-1)) was higher (factor of 2) than for fish exposed to acid water prior to liming, due to the formation of gill reactive HMM Al(i)-species. The Al accumulation in gills followed a first order kinetic expression reaching steady-state conditions after 24-h exposures. The deposition rate of Al in gills (mug Al g(-1) h(-1)) correlated with the water concentrations of HMM Al(i) (R(2)=0.80) in the mixing zones, and for LMM Al(i) in the acid water (R(2)=0.92). Due to the transient nature of HMM Al(i) the deposition rate of Al decreased from the point of liming with a factor of 10 downstream the channel-tank system (i.e. 100 min after liming). The concentration of gill accumulated Al was higher (factor of 3) immediately after high level liming (pH 6.4) than following low level liming (pH 6.0). However, high level liming was more efficient in detoxifying Al in downstream waters. Furthermore, the bioavailability of a given LMM Al(i) concentration as well as bioreactivity following liming was dependent on the TOC and silicon concentration in the acid water. Increased concentration of TOC (1.5 to 4.3 mg l(-1)) and silicon (0.3 to 1.0 mg l(-1)) reduced the gill reactivity of Al(i) by approximately 50%.     

Taming wickedness: industrial megaprojects and local governance strategies

Theoretical literature suggests that the complex problems many local governments are facing are drivers towards innovation and new types of collaborative governance arrangements. We add nuance to this presumption by exploring how two Norwegian municipalities act when faced with problems related to mineral extraction and tax revenue. The article shows that similar types of problems give rise to significantly different strategies, ranging from collaborative arrangements to authoritative and competitive strategies. In conclusion, the article argues that local governments need to develop a higher innovative preparedness, and that scholars should also be attentive to governance strategies that are not collaborative.     

Activating and deactivating mass transport effects in methanol and formic acid oxidation on platinum electrodes

Transient increases in rotation rate at an RDE increase the methanol oxidation current, even though in slower experiments the current decreases with increasing rotation rate as usually reported. Methanol oxidation on smooth polycrystalline platinum rotating disk electrodes in sulfuric acid electrolyte was studied by RDE voltammetry and hydrodynamic impedance spectroscopy combined with cyclic voltammetry. A positive low-frequency real part in the hydrodynamic admittance spectra for the main oxidation peak was used to predict that a transient increase in rotation rate would increase the current, as was observed. In contrast, slow scan rate voltammograms showed a decrease in current with increasing rotation rate. The transient current increase was explained by enhanced production of soluble intermediates, while increased production of adsorbed CO poisoning explained the slower inhibition. Comparative experiments for formic acid oxidation showed increasing current with rotation rate in both hydrodynamic admittance spectra and slow-scan voltammograms.     

Proteomic Comparison of Bone Marrow Derived Osteoblasts and Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can differentiate into osteoblasts, and therapeutic targeting of these cells is considered both for malignant and non-malignant diseases. We analyzed global proteomic profiles for osteoblasts derived from ten and MSCs from six healthy individuals, and we quantified 5465 proteins for the osteoblasts and 5420 proteins for the MSCs. There was a large overlap in the profiles for the two cell types; 156 proteins were quantified only in osteoblasts and 111 proteins only for the MSCs. The osteoblast-specific proteins included several extracellular matrix proteins and a network including 27 proteins that influence intracellular signaling (Wnt/Notch/Bone morphogenic protein pathways) and bone mineralization. The osteoblasts and MSCs showed only minor age- and sex-dependent proteomic differences. Finally, the osteoblast and MSC proteomic profiles were altered by ex vivo culture in serum-free media. We conclude that although the proteomic profiles of osteoblasts and MSCs show many similarities, we identified several osteoblast-specific extracellular matrix proteins and an osteoblast-specific intracellular signaling network. Therapeutic targeting of these proteins will possibly have minor effects on MSCs. Furthermore, the use of ex vivo cultured osteoblasts/MSCs in clinical medicine will require careful standardization of the ex vivo handling of the cells.     

An intelligent strategy for the automatic detection of highlights in tennis video recordings

Professional sport is a vital part of many peoples’ lives and sport is a multi billion industry in its own right. Professional coaches, sporting professionals and sports journalists often use video recordings of sporting events as a tool in their daily work. With the rapid growth of sport video recordings, there is an emerging demand for a sophisticated sports content-based video indexing systems. Video recordings of sporting event broadcasts often last several hours including commercial breaks. It is therefore time-consuming and difficult to locate key segments containing highlights. This study proposes the use of computational intelligence strategies and information from both the audio and video domains to automatically locate sporting highlight on personal video playback devices. Tennis is chosen as the target domain but the strategy should generalize to other sports as well. Experimental results show that both the mean precision and recall rates are higher than 89%, hence, the proposed approach is capable of effectively detecting tennis highlights in sports broadcasts.     

NAVAL ENIGMA: M4 AND ITS ROTORS

The wiring of rotors in the naval version of Enigma is given (including that of beta and gamma) and events leading to the introduction of Triton, a cipher for Atlantic U-boats, are described. It is shown that an alpha rotor did not enter service, and that Triton became operational in October 1941.     

Spanish Enigma: A History of the Enigma in Spain

Abstract

The presentation of a brief study of the use of Enigma Machines in Spain, during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and later, until their final replacement.