During the last decades the problems caused by anthropogenic sound and noise in oceans have been recognized in public, by governments, and military. With the use of active sonar, different choices can be made to minimize the risk of damaging or disturbing marine mammals. For this purpose knowledge of sonar disturbance is crucial. There are methods for time or area planning, i.e. when and where to use active sonars, to avoid marine mammals. The purpose of this work is to find information in literature on marine mammal behaviour reactions to the sound of sonar pings, and to evaluate which of two different behavioural models used in risk assessment programs, the “varying response” model and the “avoidance” model, is more correct to use. Main focus is on sonars and marine mammals residing in Sweden, i.e. the harbour porpoise, grey seal, harbour seal and ringed seal. Behavioral results from other research areas such as bycatch, environmental, and strandings, together with other sound sources than sonars and other species, provide a broader picture of the situation in noisy oceans. For the harbor porpoise the “avoidance” model works well. It is a very shy species, which flees fast and far when it comes in contact with new things. With the seals however the “avoidance” model is probably less good, since their responses to sonar differ rather much. Hence, for these taxa we recommend to use the “various” model that takes into account such varying responses.

Land contamination is an acknowledged problem around the world due to its potentially adverse impacts on human health and the environment. Specifically in Europe there are estimated to be 2,500,000 potentially contaminated sites. The risk that contaminated sites pose is investigated by risk assessments. The methods and the models though used in risk assessments, vary both on a national and an international level. In this study, the risk assessment methods and models for polluted soils used in Scandinavia and issued by the Environmental Protection Agencies were compared. The comparison aimed to (i) identify similarities and differences in the risk assessment methodology and risk assessment methods and to (ii) investigate to which extend these differences can impact the results of the models and the implications regarding mitigation measures. The method and model comparison showed that Sweden and Norway have great similarities in assessing risks for contaminated soil. However, there are differences with Denmark on a conceptual level. When a common hypothetical petrol station with 20 soil samples was assessed, the results and the conclusions of the three risk assessments were quite different; the site was seen as posing risk to human health with the Danish model when complied with the quality criteria issued by the Norwegian model. The Swedish risk assessment concluded that the contaminant concentration in 3 out of 20 samples was potentially harmful for the environment but not for human health. The demonstrated divergence of the conclusions of risk assessments has major implications and shows great interest for mainly four groups: Land-owners who may be called to cover the expenses for remedial action. Consultants and companies who perform risk assessments and land remediation. The countries that have to meet national and international environmental goals and can also share/ or cover the cost for remedial action. The people exposed to such environments that could be deemed as potentially harmful by a neighboring country. The study was conducted in collaboration with URS Nordic.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2005. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Vykdydami savo veiklą bankai susiduria su įvairia rizika, susijusia su lūkesčiais, kad gaunama grąža kompensuos prisiimtą riziką. Bankų veiklos rizikingumą sustiprina ne tik vidinės bankų valdymo klaidos, bet taip pat ekonomikos svyravimai arba verslo ciklai. Ekonomikos augimo laikotarpiu bankai optimistiškai vertina skolininkų ateities perspektyvas ir todėl vykdo liberalią kreditų teikimo politiką. Prasidėjus ekonomikos kritimui, sulėtėjus pinigų srautams, bankų rizikingumas išauga, tai reikalauja didesnių atidėjinių, rezervų ir aukštesnio kapitalo lygio. Problemos aktualumą patvirtina ir paskutinė finansų krizė, kuri yra didžiausia nuo Didžiosios depresijos laikų. Finansų sektoriuje kilusi krizė atsiliepė „tikrajai“ ekonomikai ir sukėlė ekonominiams sunkmečiams būdingus padarinius. Todėl yra ieškoma būdų kaip tinkamai vertinant bankų riziką, laiku užkirsti kelią finansinėms krizėms, o kartu išvengti bereikalingų suvaržymų, stabdančių finansų sektoriaus ir viso ūkio plėtrą. Dėl visų minėtų priežasčių bankų rizikos problemos pastaruoju metu susilaukia daug mokslinės visuomenės, bankų priežiūros ir pačių bankų dėmesio. Darbo objektas – pasirinktų, Lietuvoje veikiančių, komercinių bankų riziką atspindintys rodikliai ir jų ryšys su verslo ciklu. Darbo tikslas – ištirti verslo ciklo poveikį bankų rizikai. Darbo tikslui pasiekti, darbe numatoma išspręsti šiuos uždavinius: • Išskirti bankų rizikos šaltinius; • Išanalizuoti kaip bankų rizika pasikeičia, kintant ekonominėms sąlygoms... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Banks in the course of their work are confronted with various risks. That’s risks are associated with the expectation, that the return will compensate the risk assumed by bank. Risk in banking activities not only strengthens the internal management of a bank error, but also economic fluctuations or business cycles. In economic growth times, banks are optimistic about the future prospects of the borrowers and therefore banks acts a liberal supply of credit policies, reducing lending standards. When economy stat’s to fall, the cash flow of money will slow, bank risk profile increases, it requires larger provisions, reserves and a higher level of capital. The work issues confirms the relevance of the last financial crisis, which is the largest since the Great Depression. The financial sector crisis effected "the real" economy and financial crisis caused the specific effects of economic recessions. So it is looking for ways of properly assessing the risk of bank, and to prevent financial crises in time, to avoid unnecessary constraints hindering the financial sector and the economy development. For all these reasons, the banks' risk problems recently attracts many scientific societies, banking supervision, and most banks focus of attention. The object of work - the selection, the commercial banks, operating in Lithuania, risk-reflective indicators and indicators link to the business cycle. The aim of work - to explore the business cycle effects of bank risk. To achieve the aim of... [to full text]