Jens Glad Balchen: A Norwegian Pioneer in Engineering Cybernetics

This paper tells the story of Jens Glad Balchen (1926-2009), a Norwegian research scientist and engineer who is widely regarded as the father of Engineering Cybernetics in Norway. In 1954, he founded what would later become the Department of Automatic Control at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim. This name was changed to the Department of Engineering Cybernetics in 1972 to reflect the broader efforts being made, not only within the purely technical disciplines, but also within biology, oceanography and medicine. Balchen established an advanced research community in cybernetics in postwar Norway, whose applications span everything from the process industry and positioning of ships to control of fish and lobster farming. He was a chief among the tribe of Norwegian cybernetics engineers and made a strong impact on his colleagues worldwide. He planted the seeds of a whole generation of Norwegian industrial companies through his efforts of seeking applications for every scientific breakthrough. His strength and his wisdom in combination with his remarkable stubbornness gave extraordinary results

Risk-taking attitudes in the Norwegian population: Implications for the recruitment to the Armed Forces

The presence of risks is a crucial and unavoidable feature of many military contexts and should be recognized by the military in recruitment and skill acquisition. Moreover, the military system is part of the society at large and thus influenced by the general values and norms that exists. This is particularly the case in Norway, one of the few countries left with compulsory military service and the only NATO country with female conscription. The article examines risk-taking attitudes in eight dimensions (ethical, existential, financial, intellectual, performance-related, physical, political, and social) in a representative sample (n=1,000) of the Norwegian population. While significant main effects were found for both gender and age, no differences were revealed among the youngest women and men (age 15-24). The results are discussed in relation to potential implications for recruitment into the Armed Forces.Risk-taking attitudes in the Norwegian population: Implications for the recruitment to the Armed ForcespublishedVersio

Risk-Taking and Sensation Seeking in Military Contexts: A Literature Review

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Risk-taking attitudes and behaviors in the Norwegian population: the influence of personality and background factors

The article presents the results of an investigation where the main purpose was to see how willingness to take risks is distributed in the general adult population relative to socio-demographic background and personality. A representative sample (n = 1000) of the population 15 years and older was interviewed about socio-demographic background, personality type (Big Five, EPQ, Sensation Seeking) and willingness to take risks. We used a new scale containing eight dimensions, covering social, intellectual, achievement, political, economic, physical, ethical and existential types of risk. The results showed that people in general were risk averse in relation to physical, ethical, economic and existential risks but had a balanced bell-shaped distribution of scores on the other risk dimensions. There was a moderate to low positive correlation between all eight risk-taking dimensions except achievement risk versus ethical risk. Males were more willing to take risks than females on six of eight dimensions. Younger were more willing than older to take risks on all eight risk dimensions. Higher educational level influenced risk-taking positively in more than half of the dimensions, not only one’s own educational level but also father’s and even more mother’s educational level. There was a positive correlation with household income on three dimensions. All sensation seeking subscales and total sensation seeking correlated positively with all risk-taking dimensions. There were positive correlations with most risk-taking scales on EPQ’s Extraversion and Psychoticism and Big Five’s Extraversion, Stableness and Openness. Agreeableness and Conscientiousness had negative correlation with several risk-taking dimensions. A logistic regression model, identifying the 25 percent highest scorers on total risk-taking, found that being male and scoring high on sensation seeking were the most important predictors. Furthermore, high scores on the Big Five sub-scales Extraversion and Openness, as well as the Eysenck EPQ sub-scales Extraversion and Psychoticism predicted high willingness to take risks.publishedVersio

Performance and user-friendliness of the rapid antigen detection tests QuickVue Dipstick Strep A test and DIAQUICK Strep A Blue Dipstick for pharyngotonsillitis caused by Streptococcus pyogenes in primary health care

Sensitivity and specificity of rapid antigen detection tests (RADTs) for detection of group A hemolytic streptococcus (GAS) vary. The purpose is to present the first SKUP (Scandinavian evaluation of laboratory equipment for point of care testing) evaluations concerning the assessment of the diagnostic performance and user-friendliness of two RADTs for detection of GAS when used under real-life conditions in primary health care. Throat samples were collected in duplicates at primary health care centers (PHCCs) from patients with symptoms of pharyngitis. The performance of QuickVue Dipstick Strep A test (307 samples) and DIAQUICK Strep A Blue Dipstick (348 samples) was evaluated using culture results at a clinical microbiology laboratory as comparison. The user-friendliness was evaluated using a questionnaire. The diagnostic sensitivity was 92% (90% confidence interval (CI) 87–96%) and 72% (90% CI 65–79%), while the diagnostic specificity was 86% (90% CI 81–90%) and 98% (90% CI 96–99%) for QuickVue Dipstick Strep A test and DIAQUICK Strep A Blue Dipstick, respectively. Both RADTs obtained acceptable assessments for user-friendliness and fulfilled SKUP’s quality goal for user-friendliness. The diagnostic sensitivity for QuickVue Dipstick Strep A test and the diagnostic specificity for DIAQUICK Strep A Blue Dipstick in this objective and supplier-independent evaluation were higher compared with previous meta-analyses of RADTs. However, the diagnostic specificity for QuickVue Dipstick Strep A test and the diagnostic sensitivity for DIAQUICK Strep A Blue Dipstick were lower compared with previous meta-analyses of RADTs.publishedVersio

A longitudinal follow-up of autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1

Source:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4971337/Context: Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS1) is a childhood-onset monogenic disease defined by the presence of two of the three major components: hypoparathyroidism, primary adrenocortical insuffi- ciency, and chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC). Information on longitudinal follow-up of APS1 is sparse. Objective: To describe the phenotypes of APS1 and correlate the clinical features with autoantibody profiles and autoimmune regulator ( AIRE) mutations during extended follow-up (1996–2016). Patients: All known Norwegian patients with APS1. Results: Fifty-two patients from 34 families were identified. The majority presented with one of the major disease components during childhood. Enamel hypoplasia, hypoparathyroidism, and CMC were the most frequent compo- nents.Withage,mostpatientspresentedthreetofivediseasemanifestations,althoughsomehadmilderphenotypes diagnosed in adulthood. Fifteen of the patients died during follow-up (median age at death, 34 years) or were deceasedsiblingswithahighprobabilityofundisclosedAPS1.Allexceptthreehadinterferon- )autoantibodies,and allhadorgan-specificautoantibodies.Themostcommon AIRE mutationwasc.967_979del13,foundinhomozygosity in 15 patients. A mild phenotype was associated with the splice mutation c.879 1G A. Primary adrenocortical insufficiency and type 1 diabetes were associated with protective human leucocyte antigen genotypes. Conclusions: Multiple presumable autoimmune manifestations, in particular hypoparathyroidism, CMC, and enamel hypoplasia, should prompt further diagnostic workup using autoantibody analyses (eg, interferon- ) and AIRE sequencing to reveal APS1, even in adults. Treatment is complicated, and mortality is high. Structured follow-up should be performed in a specialized center

Being-in-the-void : a Heideggerian analysis of skydiving

Philosophy of sport as a field of study brings philosophy and sport together. This can be done in various ways. What I do in this article may seem like a daring project. I let Heidegger, one of the great thinkers of the 20th century, throw light on one specific sport activity—skydiving1. My hope is that some of this light reflects back and illuminates certain aspects of Heidegger’s views. This is not only a daring but also an ambitious project and it may fail. In that respect it resides within the spirit of both Heidegger and skydiving, where daring and failing have not been uncommon2. My focus will be on Heidegger’s early philosophy, primarily Being and Time (12;13;14;15). In his early works Heidegger did not give many examples of phenomenological analysis. When he did, he typically described daily life in a living room, an office, or a workshop. We know that Heidegger was active in sport when he was young and that he was interested in sport all his life3. In his writings, however, there is almost nothing about sport. This does not mean that his early philosophy is irrelevant for an understanding of human involvement in sport. Quite the contrary

Zombie-like or superconscious? A phenomenological and conceptual analysis of consciousness in elite sport

According to a view defended by Hubert Dreyfus and others, elite athletes are totally absorbed while they are performing, and they act non-deliberately without any representational or conceptual thinking. By using both conceptual clarification and phenomenological description the article criticizes this view and maintains that various forms of conscious thinking and acting plays an important role before, during and after competitive events. The article describes in phenomenological detail how elite athletes use consciousness in their actions in sport; as planning, attention, thinking, decision, and monitoring of performance. Elite athletes do not act as zombies. It is concluded that qualia and phenomenal consciousness are important phenomena in elite sport