Polymorphism in Noctua pronuba (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) in southern Norway

Forty-five light trap samples of Noctua pronuba (Linnaeus, 1758), consisting of nearly 11 000 individuals, from 38 localities in western and southeastern Norway, were scored for three morphs, rufous, ochre and silver, according to the forewing colouration. Rufous constituted 37% to 62% of the samples from westem Norway, and 50% to 73% of the samples from southeastern Norway. Males constituted 93% of the specimens. In 12 samples, with a sufficient number of females (n>25), no sex difference in the frequency of rufous was established. The seasonal variation in the frequency of rufous was considered negligible and no annual variation was apparent. No geographic variation in the frequency of rufous was demonstrated in western Norway. In southeastern Norway one sample differed significantly from all the others. When samples from adjacent localities were lumped, significant differences in the frequency of rufous were found between three regions in western Norway, and between southeastern Norway and all the regions in western Norway. In southeastern Norway, regression analyses showed a significant increase in the frequency of rufous towards the east

Matrisemultiplikasjon i FPGA

Denne rapporten omhandler matrisemultiplikasjon i FPGA. Det er laget systemer for multiplikasjon av NxN matriser med størrelse 4x4 og 12x12. Systemene er skrevet i Händel C i dataverktøyet DK Design Suite 3.1 fra Celoxica. Sentralt i systemene er sum av produkter operasjoner. Operasjonene utføres av uavhengige prosesseringsenheter som er realisert på to måter. Den første typen enheter kan brukes uavhengig av matrisestørrelse og bruker lite ressurser, men bruker mange steg på å beregne elementene i produktmatrisen. Den andre typen må tilpasses matrisestørrelsen den skal brukes på og bruker mer ressurser enn den første typen, men beregner elementene produktmatrisen med færre steg. Systemene er testet for funksjon og om de får plass i FPGAen(Xilinx Virtex-II XC2V6000), videre testing av I/O, optimalisering av ytelse, etc. har måttet utgå pga tidsnød mot slutten av arbeidet med systemene. Systemene bruker lite av ressursene i FPGAen, i størrelsesorden < 1 % med unntak av multiplikasjonsblokkene som utnyttes opptil 100 %. Systemene er sammenliknet med tidligere designede systemer for matrisemultiplikasjon og bruker mindre av ressursene i FPGAen (for design mot samme FPGA) og oppnår estimert bedre ytelse enn tidligere design for samme matrisestørrelse. Tilslutt i rapporten skisseres mulige utvidelser og forbedringer av systemene

Effects of a mindfulness-based and acceptance-based group programme followed by physical activity for patients with fibromyalgia: a randomised controlled trial

Introduction: Non-pharmacological approaches are recommended as first-line treatment for patients with fibromyalgia. This randomised controlled trial investigated the effects of a multicomponent rehabilitation programme for patients with recently diagnosed fibromyalgia in primary and secondary healthcare. Methods: Patients with widespread pain ≥3 months were referred to rheumatologists for diagnostic clarification and assessment of study eligibility. Inclusion criteria were age 20–50 years, engaged in work or studies at present or during the past 2 years, and fibromyalgia diagnosed according to the American College of Rheumatology 2010 criteria. All eligible patients participated in a short patient education programme before inclusion and randomisation. The multicomponent programme, a 10-session mindfulness-based and acceptance-based group programme followed by 12 weeks of physical activity counselling was evaluated in comparison with treatment as usual, that is, no treatment or any other treatment of their choice. The primary outcome was the Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC). Secondary outcomes were self-reported pain, fatigue, sleep quality, psychological distress, physical activity, health-related quality of life and work ability at 12-month follow-up. Results: In total, 170 patients were randomised, 1:1, intervention:control. Overall, the multicomponent rehabilitation programme was not more effective than treatment as usual; 13% in the intervention group and 8% in the control group reported clinically relevant improvement in PGIC (p=0.28). No statistically significant between-group differences were found in any diseaserelated secondary outcomes. There were significant between-group differences in patient’s tendency to be mindful (p=0.016) and perceived benefits of exercise (p=0.033) in favour of the intervention group. Conclusions: A multicomponent rehabilitation programme combining patient education with a mindfulness-based and acceptance-based group programme followed by physical activity counselling was not more effective than patient education and treatment as usual for patients with recently diagnosed fibromyalgia at 12-month follow-uppublishedVersio

Management routines influencing piglet survival in loose-housed sow herds

Author's accepted version (post-print).Piglet mortality is still a significant welfare and ethical matter in pig production, as well as an economical challenge for the farmer. Most of the mortality occurs early after farrowing, and previous studies have shown that the farm's management routines, especially around farrowing, are important factors to reduce it. When sows are loose-housed at farrowing and in the following lactation period, it puts higher demands on management input from the farmer to keep piglet mortality low. The objective of this study was to assess the importance of different management routines around the time of farrowing, and other farm qualities for piglet survival in loose-housed herds. To study risk factors for herd piglet mortality, a cross-sectional field survey was carried out in Norway in the year 2013, and included 52 commercial herds with hybrid LY sows (Norwegian Landrace x Swedish Yorkshire). The farms were visited once, and the farmers answered a questionnaire about their management practices. The outcome was the average herd pre-weaning mortality in the years of 2012–2013. To include as many management factors as possible into the multivariable linear regression model, we generated a new variable based on 4 management routines: 3 routines at farrowing (presence at 80–100% of the farrowings, drying newborn piglets, and practice split suckling), and one concerning farmer´s contact with the sows. This variable was called “Management type” (M), and were divided into 4 categories with increasing effort; M1 herds without any of the 4 mentioned routines, M2 had contact with sows >2 times per day, M3 performed the 3 routines at farrowing, and M4 combined the high sow contact and the 3 routines. The predicted values of mean herd piglet mortality for M1, M2, M3 and M4 were 20.1%, 17.0%, 16.2% and 13.3% respectively. The farmer's increased management effort was associated with lower piglet mortality (P<0.05). The farmer's effort at critical times together with systematic and important routines, and having frequent contact with the sows, makes a huge difference for piglet survival. The farmers are credited for this work by having lower piglet mortality as a result.acceptedVersio

Fatigue, den usynlige grensen

Masteroppgave i luftfartsledelse (MBA) - Universitetet i Nordland, 2013Temaet for denne masteroppgaven er fatigue blant flyvere. Formålet med oppgaven er å få økt kunnskap om hvilke strategier ledere i luftfart har til rådighet for å påvirke dette fenomenet. Problemstillingen er: Hvilke strategier kan ledere i luftfart velge/iverksette for å redusere risikoen for at fatigue blant flyvere inntreffer? Oppgaven forankres i ulike strategier som kan være et hjelpemiddel for ledere i luftfart med å identifisere, registrere og monitorere fatigue blant flyvere. Tidligere forskning om fatigue som fenomen i luftfart, knyttet opp i mot studier på arbeids og hviletids bestemmelser for flybesetninger presenteres. Tilnærmingen er en kombinasjon av kvalitativ metode basert på intervjuer og en kvantitativ tilnærming basert på sekundærdata. Fire informanter utgjør studieenheten. De er alle sentrale ledere i norske kommersielle flyselskaper, i posisjoner hvor problemstillingen er aktuell. Resultatene må sees i lys av antall informanter. Hovedfunnene i undersøkelsen viser at kunnskapen og bevisstheten om fenomenet fatigue blant ledere i luftfart er varierende og til dels mangelfull. Det kan virke som økt konkurranse og fokus på kostnader, fører til at ledere i luftfart tar mer tak i problematikken rundt fatigue. Vi registrerer også at dagens regelverk ikke ivaretar sikkerheten i tilstrekkelig grad, om det brukes ukritisk. Det eksisterer strategier for å redusere fatigue i noen selskaper, men de bærer preg av å være lite vitenskapelig og teoretisk fundamentert. De nødvendige verktøy for å kunne identifisere, registrere og monitorere fatigue blant flyvere er tilgjengelig, men er i varierende grad tatt i bruk. Årsaken til dette er en kombinasjon av lite kunnskap om fenomenet og stramme økonomiske rammer i bransjen. Ved å sette større fokus på risikoen for fatigue blant flyvere, kan sikkerhetsmarginene i luftfarten forbedres

PET-CT in the-subarctic region of Norway 2010-2013. At the edge of what is possible?

Published version. Source at http://doi.org/10.1186/s12880-015-0073-0.Background It is challenging to obtain a similar access to positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET-CT) within the whole region served. In the subarctic and arctic region of Norway, significant distances, weather conditions and seasonable darkness have been challenging when the health care provider has aimed for a high quality PET-CT service with similar availability to all inhabitants. Methods The PET-CT service at the University Hospital of North Norway (UNN) was established in May 2010. The glucose analogue tracer fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) was delivered from Helsinki, Finland. An ambulatory PET-CT scanner was initially employed and a permanent local one was introduced in October 2011. In March 2014, we analysed retrospectively all data on the PET-CT exams performed at the Section of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology during a 32 months time period 2010–13. The following patient data were recorded: gender, age, diagnosis, residence and distance of travelling. There were in total 796 exams in 706 patients. Results Four hundred sixty-one PET-CT exams per million inhabitants were, on average, performed per year. Lung cancer (32.7 %), malignant melanoma (11.3 %), colorectal cancer (10.9 %) and lymphoma (9.7 %) constituted two-thirds of all exams. Three-fourths were males and the median age was 63.5 years (range 15.2–91.4 years). The access to PET-CT exam varied within the region. The southern county (Nordland) experienced a significantly less access (p < 0.0001) to the regional service. Except for malignant melanoma, this finding was observed in all major cancer subgroups. In colorectal cancer and lymphoma a lower consumption of PET-CT was also observed in the northeastern county (Finnmark). Patients’ mean distance of travelling by car (one way) was 373 km (median 313 km, range 5–936 km). Conclusion PET-CT was not similarly available within the region. Especially, inhabitants in the southern county experienced less access to the regional service. National and regional standards of care, new scanners and improved collaboration between hospital trusts may alter this situation

Prediction of dynamic mooring responses of a floating wind turbine using an artificial neural network

Numerical simulations in coupled aero-hydro-servo-elastic codes are known to be a challenge for design and analysis of offshore wind turbine systems because of the large number of design load cases involved in checking the ultimate and fatigue limit states. To alleviate the simulation burden, machine learning methods can be useful. This article investigates the effect of machine learning methods on predicting the mooring line tension of a spar floating wind turbine. The OC3 Hywind wind turbine with a spar-buoy foundation and three mooring lines is selected and simulated with SIMA. A total of 32 sea states with irregular waves are considered. Artificial neural works with different constructions were applied to reproduce the time history of mooring tensions. The best performing network provides a strong average correlation of 71% and consists of two hidden layers with 35 neurons, using the Bayesian regularisation backpropagation algorithm. Sea states applied in the network training are predicted with greater accuracy than sea states used for validation of the network. The correlation coefficient is primarily higher for sea states with lower significant wave height and peak period. One sea state with a significant wave height of 5 meters and a peak period of 9 seconds has an average extreme value deviation for all mooring lines of 0.46%. Results from the study illustrate the potential of incorporating artificial neural networks in the mooring design process.publishedVersio

The Prognostic Impact of Protein Expression of E-Cadherin-Catenin Complexes Differs between Rectal and Colon Carcinoma

The E-cadherin-catenin complex provides cell-cell adhesion. In order for a carcinoma to metastasize, cancer cells must let go of their hold of neighboring cells in the primary tumor. The presence of components of the E-cadherin-catenin complex in 246 rectal adenocarcinomas was examined by immunohistochemistry and compared to their presence in 219 colon carcinomas. The expression data were correlated to clinical information from the patients' records. There were statistically significant differences in protein expression between the rectal and the colon carcinomas regarding membranous β-catenin, γ-catenin, p120-catenin, and E-cadherin, as well as nuclear β-catenin. In the rectal carcinomas, there was a significant inverse association between the expression of p120-catenin in cell membranes of the primary tumors and the occurrence of local recurrence, while membranous protein expression of β-catenin was inversely related to distant metastases

Differences in Protein Expression and Gene Amplification of Cyclins between Colon and Rectal Adenocarcinomas

Adenocarcinomas of rectum and colon may be different with regard to the cellular biological basis for cancer development. A material of 246 rectal cancers removed surgically at Akershus University Hospital in the years 1992–2000 was investigated and was compared to a material of 219 colon cancers operated on at Akershus University Hospital during the years 1988, 1990 and 1997–2000. There were highly significant differences between the rectal and the colon cancers in the protein expression of cyclin D1, cyclin D3, cyclin E, nuclear β-catenin, and c-Myc and in gene amplification of cyclin A2, cyclin B1, cyclin D1, and cyclin E. Gene amplification and protein expression in the rectal cancers correlated significantly for the cyclins B1, D3, and E. A statistically significant relation was observed between overexpression of cyclin A2 and local relapse of rectal carcinomas, as higher expression of cyclin A2 was associated with lower local recurrence rate