Næringslivets deltakelse i EUs 7. rammeprogram for forskning og teknologisk utvikling

Dette er en vurdering av strategi og organisering med vekt på små og mellomstore bedrifte

Degradation of oil products in a soil from a Russian Barents hot-spot during electrodialytic remediation

A highly oil-polluted soil from Krasnoe in North-West Russia was used to investigate the degradation of organic pollutants during electrodialytic remediation. Removal efficiencies were up to 70 % for total hydrocarbons (THC) and up to 65 % for polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Relatively more of the lighter PAH compounds and THC fractions were degraded. A principal component analysis (PCA) revealed a difference in the distribution of PAH compounds after the remediation. The observed clustering of experiments in the PCA scores plot was assessed to be related to the stirring rate. Multivariate analysis of the experimental settings and final concentrations in the 12 experiments revealed that the stirring rate of the soil suspension was by far the most important parameter for the remediation for both THC and PAH. Light was the second most important variable for PAH and seems to influence degradation. The experimental variables current density and remediation time did not significantly influence the degradation of the organic pollutants. Despite current density not influencing the remediation, there is potential for degrading organic pollutants during electrodialytic removal of heavy metals, as long as a stirred set-up is applied. Depending on remediation objectives, further optimisation may be needed in order to develop efficient remediation strategies

Studying the Transfer of Biases from Programmers to Programs

It is generally agreed that one origin of machine bias is resulting from characteristics within the dataset on which the algorithms are trained, i.e., the data does not warrant a generalized inference. We, however, hypothesize that a different `mechanism', hitherto not articulated in the literature, may also be responsible for machine's bias, namely that biases may originate from (i) the programmers' cultural background, such as education or line of work, or (ii) the contextual programming environment, such as software requirements or developer tools. Combining an experimental and comparative design, we studied the effects of cultural metaphors and contextual metaphors, and tested whether each of these would `transfer' from the programmer to program, thus constituting a machine bias. The results show (i) that cultural metaphors influence the programmer's choices and (ii) that `induced' contextual metaphors can be used to moderate or exacerbate the effects of the cultural metaphors. This supports our hypothesis that biases in automated systems do not always originate from within the machine's training data. Instead, machines may also `replicate' and `reproduce' biases from the programmers' cultural background by the transfer of cultural metaphors into the programming process. Implications for academia and professional practice range from the micro programming-level to the macro national-regulations or educational level, and span across all societal domains where software-based systems are operating such as the popular AI-based automated decision support systems.Comment: 40 pages of which 7 pages of Appendix, 26 Figures, 2 Table

Stress påvirker hjertets rytme. Effekt av musikkterapi og biofeedback

Norges musikkhøgskole. Masteroppgave. MusikkterapiAbstract - Background: Stress, both at work and in private life, has long been resistant to human development and well-being. Studies indicate that music therapy can help reduce problems in this area, in a cost efficient manner. Method: This is an empirical study in the tradition of quantitative research. The survey was conducted in a district psychiatric centre, DPS, Rogaland, engaged group based teaching mindfulness based Coping, MBC. Thirteen participants, n = 13, distributed by ten women between 24 and 56 years, with an average age of 43.5 years and three men between 35 and 50 years with an average of 43 years. Stress levels among participants were measured at the pulse frequency and Heart rate variability (HRV). It was measured before, during, and after three different activities 1; playing the hand drum, djembe, 2; dealing cards as a control activity to the physical part of drumming and 3; a stressreducing biofeedback program, emWave on the computer. Each of the 117 measurements were recorded using an ear sensor, and stored in the computer program emWave. Results: Difference in pulse rate measured after drumming and after dealing cards, was p <0.07, approaching significance at p <0.05 level. This effect can be interpreted as a stress-reducing effect of the rhythmic element in drumming. Non-significant difference in drumming and card dealing, show that the card dealing was a relevant control activity for the physical part of drumming. Stress-reducing effects of drumming compared to the corresponding physical activity without rhythmic / musical element (card dealing), indicates that the effect is due to the music therapy element of drumming. Significant differences where found in both pulse rate (p = 0.0001) and HRV (p = 0.0054) for measurements during the activities drumming and biofeedback. The same was also true for measurements during activity card dealing and biofeedback, where the results were p = 0.0005 for pulse, and p = 0.0136 for HRV measurements. There were no significant results for the rest of the measurements. Conclusion: The literature study showed stress-reducing effects of music therapy for patients with stress symptoms. Stress-reducing effects of drumming compared to the corresponding physical activity without rhythmic / musical element (card dealing), indicated that the effect is due to the music therapeutic element in drumming activity. As the effect (p <0.07) approaching statistical significance (p <0.05) after only one session, there is reason to believe that a significant effect would be obtained in repeated sessions over time.Sammendrag - Bakgrunn; Stress, både på arbeidsplassen og i privatlivet, har lenge vært hemmende for menneskers utvikling og velvære. Studier indikerer at musikkterapien kan være med på å redusere problemer innenfor dette området, på en kostnadseffektiv og effektiv måte. Metode; Dette er en empirisk undersøkelse i den kvantitative forskningstradisjon. Undersøkelsen ble gjennomført på et distriktspsykiatrisk senter, DPS, i Rogaland, som driver gruppebasert undervisning i Mindfulness based Coping, MbC. Tretten deltakere, n=13, fordelt på ti kvinner mellom 24 og 56 år, med en gjennomsnittsalder på 43,5 år og tre menn mellom 35 og 50 år med et gjennomsnitt på 43 år. Stressnivå hos deltakerne ble målt på pulsfrekvens og variasjon i hjerteslagsfrekvens, Heart Rate Variability (HRV). Det ble målt før, under og etter tre forskjellige aktiviteter 1; spilling på handtromme, Djembe, 2; kortutdeling som en kontrollaktivitet til den motoriske delen av trommingen og 3; et stressreduserende biofeedbackprogram, emWave, på datamaskin. Alle de 117 målingene ble registrert ved hjelp av en øresensor, og lagret i dataprogrammet emWave. Resultat; Forskjellen i pulsfrekvens målt etter tromming og etter kortutdeling var p<0,07, som nærmer seg signifikans på p<0,05 nivå. Denne effekten kan tolkes som en stressreduserende effekt av det rytmiske element ved tromming. Ikke-signifikant forskjell på tromming og kortutdeling, viser at kortutdeling var relevant motorisk kontrollaktivitet for trommingen. Stressreduserende effekt av tromming i forhold til tilsvarende motorisk aktivitet uten rytmisk/musikalsk element (kortutdeling), indikerer at effekten skyldes det musikkterapeutiske element i trommeaktiviteten. Det ble funnet signifikant forskjell både på puls (p=0,0001) og HRV (p=0,0054) for målinger under aktivitetene tromming og biofeedback. Det samme gjaldt også for målingene under aktivitet kortutdeling og biofeedback, der resultatene var p=0,0005 for puls, og p=0,0136 for HRV målingene. For resten av målingene var det ingen signifikante resultater. Konklusjon; Litteraturstudien viste stressreduserende effekt av musikkterapi for pasienter med stress-symptomer. Stressreduserende effekt av tromming i forhold til tilsvarende motorisk aktivitet uten rytmisk/musikalsk element (kortutdeling), indikerer at effekten skyldes det musikkterapeutiske element i trommeaktiviteten. Da effekten (p<0,07) nærmer seg statistisk signifikans (p<0,05) kun etter en sesjon, er det grunn til å anta at signifikant effekt ville blitt oppnådd ved repeterte sesjoner over tid. Emneord; stressreduksjon musikkterapi, tromming, mindfulnes

Nordlandsbåtens form

I denne oppgaven har jeg beskrive Nordlandsbåtens form og utvikling ut fra tilvirkningsprosessene. Det er en utfordring å finne og bruke ord på Nordlandsbåtens form på en måte som gjør at jeg både blir forstått i dag, samtidig som at jeg vil yte miljøet den kommer fra en viss rettferd. For å beskrive formen har jeg gjørt en formanalyse, inspirert av arkitekturanalyse, men tillempet for å kunne anvendes på en båt. Dette er et nytt perspektiv på båter og båtbygging, og jeg mener det vil for det første bidra til bevaringsarbeidet dersom man benytter seg av kunstvitenskapelige begreper for å sette ord på det som til nå har vært inneforstått og taus kunnskap. For det andre vil det å studere formen i seg selv, kunne hjelpe oss med å forstå en side ved håndverket som båtbygging er, som til nå ikke er blitt studert. Hvilken rolle har oppfattelsen av form spilt i båtbyggingen? Med form mener jeg her da hvordan båtbyggeren vurderer den fysiske formen som han kan og vil gi materialet, og hvordan han mener det bør se ut

Work-hardening and ductility of artificially aged AA6060 aluminium alloy

The work-hardening and ductility of an artificially aged AA6060 aluminium alloy were studied based on tensile tests of smooth and notched cylindrical samples. The alloy was tested after three processing steps, each followed by artificial aging. These processing steps were casting and homogenization, extrusion, and cold rolling and heat treatment to obtain a recrystallized grain structure. Subsequent to each of these processing steps, the material was tested after artificial aging to underaged, peak aged and overaged conditions. The true stress–strain curve to failure was determined by use of a laser-based measurement system. The Bridgman correction was applied to estimate the equivalent stress–strain curves, and the work-hardening behaviour was analysed using an extended Voce approach. Fractography was applied to study the failure mechanisms for material exposed to the different processing steps and temper treatments. To evaluate the use of the Bridgman correction and to study the notch strengthening effect observed experimentally, finite element simulations were performed using the Gurson model. The experimental study demonstrates the effects of thermomechanical processing and artificial aging on the stress–strain behaviour and the tensile failure strain of the alloy.acceptedVersion© 2016. This is the authors’ accepted and refereed manuscript to the article. LOCKED until 8.3.2018 due to copyright restrictions. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0