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Background Meaning in life (MIL) is associated with positive health outcomes, but is generally low among people suffering from borderline personality disorder (PD). Research has shown that MIL has a buffering effect on depression, as well as borderline traits such as suicidality and self-harm. However, to date, no studies have examined Meaning in Life (MIL) in relation to other prevalent personality disorders such as avoidant PD, nor have they investigated how PD severity influences MIL or whether MIL buffers the impact of PDs on psychosocial functioning. Methods Norwegian outpatients ( N  = 1708) were assessed for PDs in specialized clinics, and measured for meaning in life, symptoms of depression, anxiety and impairment of psychosocial functioning. The data underwent correlational analyses, then grouped into sub-threshold PD, borderline PD, avoidant PD and dual PD (satisfying criteria for both) and tested for mean differences in MIL. Mean differences in MIL were explored across different levels of psychosocial functioning impairment. Finally, a moderation analysis tested whether MIL would buffer the effect that symptoms of depression had on impairment of psychosocial functioning. Results As expected, correlational analyses showed a negative relationship between MIL and symptoms of ill mental health. A community sample demonstrated the highest MIL, followed by the sub-threshold PDs, the single PDs (either borderline or avoidant), and the Dual PDs with the lowest MIL. Impairment in psychosocial functioning showed significant differences between each level of impairment (low, moderate, severe), with varying results between the PD-groups across these levels. The moderation analysis only showed a buffering effect for the sub-threshold PDs, and not for any other group who received a diagnosis of PD. Conclusion Having a PD is associated with a severe detriment to the level of MIL. There is no apparent difference in mean MIL between the two most prevalent types of PDs in healthcare (borderline and avoidant PDs). However, the current findings indicate that severity results in different levels of MIL, thus lending support to the dimensional perspective of personality disorder.

The study aimed to use the Generalizability Theory to investigate the reliability and precision of the split version of the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). Six case vignettes were assessed by 2 samples; one by 19 experienced and independent raters and another by 58 experienced raters from 8 different day-treatment units, evaluating both symptom and function scores of GAF. Generalizability studies were conducted to disentangle relevant variance components accounting for error variance in GAF scores. Furthermore, decision studies were conducted to estimate the reliability of different measurement designs, as well as precision in terms of error tolerance ratio. Both symptom and function scores of GAF were found to be highly generalizable, and a measurement design of 2 raters per subject was found to be most efficient with respect to reliability, precision, and use of resources. Both symptom and function scores of GAF seem highly consistent across experienced raters.

Anthropogenic underwater noise from seismic airguns is increasing, posing a potential threat to marine life. Despite their ecological importance, knowledge of the impacts of seismic surveys on zooplankton remains limited. In the North Sea, we utilized various methods to assess potential effects on zooplankton around an ongoing seismic survey. A seismic airgun array (3060 inch 3 ) performed a survey along parallel lines, while we sampled from a research vessel positioned at the end of three of these lines. The airgun-generated noise reached a maximum broadband sound exposure level of 182 dB re 1µPa 2 s at the closest proximity (~50 m). Zooplankton biomass exhibited a consistent distribution in line with hydrography and chlorophyll distribution, before and after airgun exposure. Immediate mortality in Calanus spp. was uniform across sound levels, never exceeding 35.9%. Cultured Calanus finmarchicus were exposed while submerged in bags. These displayed low immediate mortality (<10%), with an increasing trend (<30%) up to 7 days post-exposure. These findings highlight the interplay between sound exposure, environmental conditions, and the impact on zooplankton in areas of seismic activity, indicating that immediate impacts of seismic surveys on zooplankton may be limited. However, delayed impacts that could lead to population effects require further investigation.

As a tool to investigate the experiences of six primary emotions, Davis, Panksepp, and Normansell developed the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS). However, the psychometric properties of the ANPS have been questioned, and in particular the factor structure. This study replicates earlier psychometric studies on ANPS in a sample of (546) personality disordered patients, and also includes ANPS-S, a recent short version of ANPS by Pingault and colleagues, and a truncated version of BANPS by Barrett and colleagues. The study of the full ANPS revealed acceptable internal consistencies of the primary emotion subscales, ranging from 0.74-0.87. However, factor analyses revealed poor to mediocre fit for a six factor solution. Correlational analyses, in addition, revealed too high correlations between PLAY and SEEK, and between SADNESS and FEAR. The two short versions displayed better psychometric properties. The range of internal consistency was 0.61-0.80 for the BANPS scales and 0.65-84 for the ANPS-S. Backward Cronbach Alpha Curves indicated potentials for improvement on all three versions of the questionnaire. Items retained in the short versions did not systematically cover the full theoretical content of the long scales, in particular for CARE and SADNESS in the BANPS. The major problems seem to reside in the operationalization of the CARE and SADNESS subscales of ANPS. Further work needs to be done in order to realize a psychometrically sound instrument for the assessment of primary emotional experiences.

The use of quantitative broadband echosounders for biological studies and surveys can offer considerable advantages over narrowband echosounders. These include improved spectral-based target identification and significantly increased ability to resolve individual targets. An understanding of current processing steps is required to fully utilise and further develop broadband acoustic methods in marine ecology. We describe the steps involved in processing broadband acoustic data from raw data to frequency dependent target strength ( ) and volume backscattering strength ( ) using data from the EK80 broadband scientific echosounder as examples. Although the overall processing steps are described and build on established methods from the literature, multiple choices need to be made during implementation. To highlight and discuss some of these choices and facilitate a common understanding within the community, we have also developed a Python code which will be made publicly available and open source. The code follows the steps using raw data from two single pings, showing the step-by-step processing from raw data to and . This code can serve as a reference for developing custom code or implementation in existing processing pipelines, as an educational tool and as a starting point for further development of broadband acoustic methods in fisheries acoustics.

In the present work, a stability analysis of the bottom boundary layer under solitary waves based on energy bounds and non-modal theory is performed. The instability mechanism of this flow consists of a competition between streamwise streaks and two-dimensional perturbations. For lower Reynolds numbers and early times, streamwise streaks display larger amplification due to their quadratic dependence on the Reynolds number, whereas two-dimensional perturbations become dominant for larger Reynolds numbers and later times in the deceleration region of this flow, as the maximum amplification of two-dimensional perturbations grows exponentially with the Reynolds number. By means of the present findings, we can give some indications on the physical mechanism and on the interpretation of the results by direct numerical simulation in Vittori & Blondeaux (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 615, 2008, pp. 433–443) and Özdemir et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 731, 2013, pp. 545–578) and by experiments in Sumer et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 646, 2010, pp. 207–231). In addition, three critical Reynolds numbers can be defined for which the stability properties of the flow change. In particular, it is shown that this boundary layer changes from a monotonically stable to a non-monotonically stable flow at a Reynolds number of $Re_{\\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}}=18$ .

Effective ocean management requires integrated and sustainable ocean observing systems enabling us to map and understand ecosystem properties and the effects of human activities. Autonomous subsurface and surface vehicles, here collectively referred to as “gliders”, are part of such ocean observing systems providing high spatiotemporal resolution. In this paper, we present some of the results achieved through the project “Unmanned ocean vehicles, a flexible and cost-efficient offshore monitoring and data management approach—GLIDER”. In this project, three autonomous surface and underwater vehicles were deployed along the Lofoten–Vesterålen (LoVe) shelf-slope-oceanic system, in Arctic Norway. The aim of this effort was to test whether gliders equipped with novel sensors could effectively perform ecosystem surveys by recording physical, biogeochemical, and biological data simultaneously. From March to September 2018, a period of high biological activity in the area, the gliders were able to record a set of environmental parameters, including temperature, salinity, and oxygen, map the spatiotemporal distribution of zooplankton, and record cetacean vocalizations and anthropogenic noise. A subset of these parameters was effectively employed in near-real-time data assimilative ocean circulation models, improving their local predictive skills. The results presented here demonstrate that autonomous gliders can be effective long-term, remote, noninvasive ecosystem monitoring and research platforms capable of operating in high-latitude marine ecosystems. Accordingly, these platforms can record high-quality baseline environmental data in areas where extractive activities are planned and provide much-needed information for operational and management purposes.

To achieve effective management and understanding of risks associated with increasing anthropogenic pressures in the ocean, it is essential to successfully and efficiently collect data with high spatio–temporal resolution and coverage. Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are an example of technological advances with potential to provide improved information on ocean processes. We demonstrate the capabilities of a low-power AUV buoyancy glider for performing long endurance biological and environmental data acquisition in Northern Norway. We deployed a passive acoustic sensor system onboard a SeagliderTM to investigate presence and distribution of cetaceans while concurrently using additional onboard sensors for recording environmental features (temperature, salinity, pressure, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll a). The hydrophone recorded over 108.6 h of acoustic data during the spring months of March and April across the continental shelf break and detected both baleen and odontocete species. We observed a change in cetacean detections throughout the survey period, with humpback whale calls dominating the soundscape in the first weeks of deployment, coinciding with the migration toward their breeding grounds. From mid-April, sperm whales and delphinids were the predominant species, which coincided with increasing chlorophyll a fluorescence values associated with the spring phytoplankton blooms. Finally, we report daily variations in background noise associated with fishing activities and traffic in the nearby East Atlantic shipping route. Our results show that gliders provide excellent platforms for collecting information about ecosystems with minimal disturbance to animals, allowing systematic observations of our ocean biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics in response to natural variations and industrial activities.

We address two shortcomings in the article by Liu, Park & Cowen (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 574, 2007, pp. 449–463), which gave a theoretical and experimental treatise of the bottom boundary-layer under a solitary wave.

The objective was to investigate the validity and clinical impact of the symptom and function dimensions of the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), Fourth Edition. Is there any need for revision with respect to the DSM, Fifth Edition? The sample comprised 2695 patients consecutively admitted to 14 different treatment units participating in the Norwegian Network of Personality-Focused Treatment Programs from 1998 to 2007. Convergent and discriminant validity of the symptom and function dimensions of GAF was analyzed by their associations with demographic variables, diagnostic status, and other self-reported variables assessing symptom distress, interpersonal problems, work and social impairment, and quality of life. The validity of the separate GAF dimensions was confirmed by discriminant and concurrent associations to other relevant clinical measures. However, the traditional GAF measure based on the lower score of either symptom or function level was found to serve well as a global indicator of symptom distress and social dysfunction. A substantial difference between the symptom and function score of GAF was found in about 10% of the cases; and when differences were found, functional impairment was most often more severe. This study confirms the validity of the 2 GAF dimensions. However, substantial differences between these dimensions are rarely occurring. We therefore recommend that the GAF scale be prolonged in the DSM, Fifth Edition, roughly in the same shape as in the DSM, Fourth Edition.