Climatic forcing and individual heterogeneity in a resident mountain bird: legacy data reveal effects on reproductive strategies.

Optimization of clutch size and timing of reproduction have substantial effects on lifetime reproductive success in vertebrates, and both individual quality and environmental variation may impact life history strategies. We tested hypotheses related to maternal investment and timing of reproduction, using 17 years (1978-1994) of individual-based life history data on willow ptarmigan (, = 290 breeding females with = 319 breeding attempts) in central Norway. We analysed whether climatic variation and individual state variables (age and body mass) affected the number of offspring and timing of reproduction, and individual repeatability in strategies.

A Tunable Hyperspectral Imager for Detection and Quantification of Marine Biofouling on Coated Surfaces.

Fouling control coatings (FCCs) are used to prevent the accumulation of marine biofouling on, e.g., ship hulls, which causes increased fuel consumption and the global spread of non-indigenous species.

Exploitative Competition between Mountain Hare and Moose-Qualitative Effects on Hare Winter Forage?

Mountain hares () in Scandinavia are classified as in the Norwegian and Swedish Redlists. This is due to a possible population decline witnessed during the last decades in Scandinavia. Competition between large herbivores and mountain hares is one of several hypotheses that has been put forward to explain this decline.

LOUPING-ILL VIRUS SEROSURVEY OF WILLOW PTARMIGAN (LAGOPUS LAGOPUS LAGOPUS) IN NORWAY.

In Norway, the Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus lagopus) is experiencing population declines and is nationally Red Listed as Near Threatened. Although disease has not generally been regarded as an important factor behind population fluctuations for Willow Ptarmigan in Norway, disease occurrence has been poorly investigated. Both louping-ill virus (LIV) and the closely related tick-borne encephalitis virus are found along the southern part of the Norwegian coast.

Impacts of predator-mediated interactions along a climatic gradient on the population dynamics of an alpine bird.

According to classic theory, species' population dynamics and distributions are less influenced by species interactions under harsh climatic conditions compared to under more benign climatic conditions. In alpine and boreal ecosystems in Fennoscandia, the cyclic dynamics of rodents strongly affect many other species, including ground-nesting birds such as ptarmigan. According to the 'alternative prey hypothesis' (APH), the densities of ground-nesting birds and rodents are positively associated due to predator-prey dynamics and prey-switching.

Effect of tower base painting on willow ptarmigan collision rates with wind turbines.

Birds colliding with turbine rotor blades is a well-known negative consequence of wind-power plants. However, there has been far less attention to the risk of birds colliding with the turbine towers, and how to mitigate this risk.Based on data from the Smøla wind-power plant in Central Norway, it seems highly likely that willow ptarmigan (the only gallinaceous species found on the island) is prone to collide with turbine towers.

Quantifying suitable late summer brood habitats for willow ptarmigan in Norway.

Background: Habitat models provide information about which habitat management should target to avoid species extinctions or range contractions. The willow ptarmigan inhabits alpine- and arctic tundra habitats in the northern hemisphere and is listed as near threatened (NT) in the Norwegian red list due to declining population size. Habitat alteration is one of several factors affecting willow ptarmigan populations, but there is a lack of studies quantifying and describing habitat selection in willow ptarmigan.

Plasmonic color metasurfaces fabricated by a high speed roll-to-roll method.

Lab-scale plasmonic color printing using nano-structured and subsequently metallized surfaces have been demonstrated to provide vivid colors. However, upscaling these structures for large area manufacturing is extremely challenging due to the requirement of nanometer precision of metal thickness. In this study, we have investigated a plasmonic color meta-surface design that can be easily upscaled.

Replication of optical microlens array using photoresist coated molds.

A cost reduced method of producing injection molding tools is reported and demonstrated for the fabrication of optical microlens arrays. A standard computer-numerical-control (CNC) milling machine was used to make a rough mold in steel. Surface treatment of the steel mold by spray coating with photoresist is used to smooth the mold surface providing good optical quality.

Improved catalyzed reporter deposition, iCARD.

Novel reporters have been synthesized with extended hydrophilic linkers that in combination with polymerizing cross-linkers result in very efficient reporter deposition. By utilizing antibodies to stain HER2 proteins in a cell line model it is demonstrated that the method is highly specific and sensitive with virtually no background. The detection of HER2 proteins in tissue was used to visualize individual antigens as small dots visible in a microscope.

Optimal protocol for PTEN immunostaining; role of analytical and preanalytical variables in PTEN staining in normal and neoplastic endometrial, breast, and prostatic tissues.

In some tumors, phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) inactivation may have prognostic importance and predictive value for targeted therapies. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) may be an effective method to demonstrate PTEN loss. It was claimed that PTEN IHC showed poor reproducibility, lack of standardization, and variable effects of preanalytical factors.

Home range size variation in a recovering wolf population: evaluating the effect of environmental, demographic, and social factors.

Home range size in mammals is a key ecological trait and an important parameter in conservation planning, and has been shown to be influenced by ecological, demographic and social factors in animal populations. Information on space requirements is especially important for carnivore species which range over very large areas and often come into direct conflict with human interest. We used long-term telemetry-location data from a recovering wolf population in Scandinavia to investigate variation in home range size in relation to environmental and social characteristics of the different packs.

Impact of screening and risk factors for local recurrence and survival after conservative surgery and radiotherapy for early breast cancer: results from a large series with long-term follow-up.

Purpose: To investigate conventional prognostic factors for ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR), distant metastasis (DM), and survival after breast-conserving therapy (BCT) in screen-detected and symptomatic cases on surveillance up to 25 years.

Patients And Methods: A total of 1812 consecutive patients in three cohorts (1981-1989, 1990-1992, and 1993-1998) with T12N01M0 invasive breast cancer were treated with BCT (median follow-up, 14 years). Tumor type and grade were reviewed by a single pathologist.

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) immunoreactivity: specificity of three pharmacodiagnostic antibodies.

Aims: The availability of specific antibody-based test systems is essential to testing of HER2 protein expression. Here, we mapped epitopes recognized by three pharmacodiagnostic HER2 antibodies and investigated their specificity towards peptides and fusion proteins homologous to the intracellular domains of HER1, HER2, HER3 and HER4. The investigated antibodies were PATHWAY(®) HER2 (clone 4B5; Ventana Medical Systems Inc.

Predicting the potential demographic impact of predators on their prey: a comparative analysis of two carnivore-ungulate systems in Scandinavia.

1. Understanding the role of predation in shaping the dynamics of animal communities is a fundamental issue in ecological research. Nevertheless, the complex nature of predator-prey interactions often prevents researchers from modelling them explicitly.

Shoot, shovel and shut up: cryptic poaching slows restoration of a large carnivore in Europe.

Poaching is a widespread and well-appreciated problem for the conservation of many threatened species. Because poaching is illegal, there is strong incentive for poachers to conceal their activities, and consequently, little data on the effects of poaching on population dynamics are available. Quantifying poaching mortality should be a required knowledge when developing conservation plans for endangered species but is hampered by methodological challenges.

The Nature Index: a general framework for synthesizing knowledge on the state of biodiversity.

The magnitude and urgency of the biodiversity crisis is widely recognized within scientific and political organizations. However, a lack of integrated measures for biodiversity has greatly constrained the national and international response to the biodiversity crisis. Thus, integrated biodiversity indexes will greatly facilitate information transfer from science toward other areas of human society.

Is hunting mortality additive or compensatory to natural mortality? Effects of experimental harvest on the survival and cause-specific mortality of willow ptarmigan.

1. The effects of harvest on the annual and seasonal survival of willow ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus L. were tested in a large-scale harvest experiment.

Mammostrat as a tool to stratify breast cancer patients at risk of recurrence during endocrine therapy.

Introduction: Patients with early-stage breast cancer, treated with endocrine therapy, have approximately 90% 5-year disease-free survival. However, for patients at higher risk of relapse despite endocrine therapy, additional adjuvant therapy, such as chemotherapy, may be indicated. The challenge is to prospectively identify such patients.

Histological grading of invasive breast carcinoma--a simplification of existing methods in a large conservation series with long-term follow-up.

Aims: To assess the validity of grading in the Edinburgh Breast Conservation Series; a consecutive cohort of 1812 early breast cancer patients treated by breast conservation and radiotherapy between 1981 and 1998 in a single specialist centre with > or =9 years' follow-up and full staging data.

Methods And Results: A single pathologist (J.St.

Habitat differentiation within the large-carnivore community of Norway's multiple-use landscapes.

The re-establishment of large carnivores in Norway has led to increased conflicts and the adoption of regional zoning for these predators. When planning the future distribution of large carnivores, it is important to consider details of their potential habitat tolerances and strength of inter-specific differentiation. We studied differentiation in habitat and kill sites within the large-carnivore community of south-eastern Norway.

Multidepth screening of living cells using optical waveguides.

The use of planar optical waveguides as substrata for label-free, non-invasive monitoring of cells growing on them is demonstrated. Different submicrometre depths (measured from and perpendicular to the substratum surface) can be selected for monitoring. The so-called symmetry waveguide configuration with a low refractive index waveguide support (nanoporous silica with refractive index approximately 1.

Summer kill rates and predation pattern in a wolf-moose system: can we rely on winter estimates?

So far the vast majority of studies on large carnivore predation, including kill rates and consumption, have been based on winter studies. Because large carnivores relying on ungulates as prey often show a preference for juveniles, kill rates may be both higher and more variable during the summer season than during the rest of the year leading to serious underestimates of the total annual predation rate. This study is the first to present detailed empirical data on kill rates and prey selection in a wolf-moose system during summer (June-September) as obtained by applying modern Global Positioning System-collar techniques on individual wolves (Canis lupus) in Scandinavia.

Critical slowing down of space-charge field relaxation in photorefractive sillenites.

We propose a theoretical model for the recently reported anomalously long decay of a space-charge field that was resonantly excited in a photorefractive sillenite crystal [Phys. Rev. Lett.

Selection for heterozygosity gives hope to a wild population of inbred wolves.

Recent analyses have questioned the usefulness of heterozygosity estimates as measures of the inbreeding coefficient (f), a finding that may have dramatic consequences for the management of endangered populations. We confirm that f and heterozygosity is poorly correlated in a wild and highly inbred wolf population. Yet, our data show that for each level of f, it was the most heterozygous wolves that established themselves as breeders, a selection process that seems to have decelerated the loss of heterozygosity in the population despite a steady increase of f.