Helårig petroleumsvirksomhet i Lofoten-Barentshavet : risiko og avkastningsmuligheter

Denne oppgaven vil i all hovedsak drøfte de muligheter som befinner seg i å utvide norsk olje- og gassvirksomhet til områdene i nord. Hensikten er å rette fokus på den empiri som støtter en slik utbygging, samtidig trekke frem de argumenter som har bidratt til stagnasjon i denne prosessen. Det vil fremlegges grundig argumentasjon som viser at det ikke eksisterer en vesentlig høy risiko knyttet til denne type aktivitet. Med dette menes det trusselbilde for akutte oljeutslipp og negative innvirkninger på miljø og naturforvaltning som den offentlige debatt fremstiller. Store deler av materialet som presenteres baseres på resultater knyttet til de undergrupper som deltok i arbeidet rundt ”Utredningen for helårig petroleumsaktivitet i Lofoten-Barentshavet” (ULB), 2003

Interferon priming is essential for human CD34+ cell-derived plasmacytoid dendritic cell maturation and function

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) are essential for immune competence. Here we show that pDC precursor differentiated from human CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) has low surface expression of pDC markers, and has limited induction of type I interferon (IFN) and IL-6 upon TLR7 and TLR9 agonists treatment; by contrast, cGAS or RIG-I agonists-mediated activation is not altered. Importantly, after priming with type I and II IFN, these precursor pDCs attain a phenotype and functional activity similar to that of peripheral blood-derived pDCs. Data from CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing of HSPCs further show that HSPC-pDCs with genetic modifications can be obtained, and that expression of the IFN-α receptor is essential for the optimal function, but dispensable for the differentiation, of HSPC-pDC percursor. Our results thus demonstrate the biological effects of IFNs for regulating pDC function, and provide the means of generating of gene-modified human pDCs

Utforske hvilke muligheter og begrensninger som finnes med SAP C/4HANA og Commerce Cloud for Pipelife sin verdikjede

Pipelife Norge ønsket å se på mulighetene til å benytte SAP C/4HANA til en salgsportal. Vi skulle se på både muligheter og begrensninger ved SAP C/4HANA for å svare på kravene som ble satt for prosjektet. Hovedfokuset i oppgaven har vært SAP Commerce Cloud, som er en av modulene i SAP C/4HANA. Hensikten med en salgsportal vil være å forenkle handelsprosessen både for kundene og salgsrepresentanter i Pipelife Norge. Målet var å dokumentere et produkt som både tilfredsstiller kunden og funksjonaliteten de trenger, samt de ansatte hos Pipelife Norge som skal benytte seg av systemet. Dokumentasjonen vi har kommet med skal bidra med å redusere motstanden for endring, ved å belyse fordelene med SAP C/4HANA. Prosjektet ble gjennomført som en bacheloroppgave på studiet «Informatikk, drift av datasystemer»

Mortality experience among employees at a hydrometallurgical nickel refinery and fertiliser complex in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta (1954-95)

OBJECTIVE—To study the mortality experience of workers at a hydrometallurgical nickel refinery and fertiliser complex in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada.
METHODS—A total of 1649 male employees of Sherritt International who worked for at least 12 continuous months during the years 1954( )to 1978 at the Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta hydrometallurgical nickel refinery and fertiliser complex were followed up for an additional 17 years. Mortality was ascertained from the Canadian mortality data base maintained by Statistics Canada and covered the years 1954-95. Statistics were analysed with Monson's computer program.
RESULTS—Total mortality, when compared with the Canadian population, was significantly below expectation. Fewer deaths were found for circulatory disease, ischaemic heart disease, respiratory disease, neoplasms, digestive cancer, and accidents, poisonings, and violence. Among the 718 men in the group exposed to nickel, there were no deaths due to nasal cavity or paranasal sinus cancer. Fewer deaths were found for all causes, circulatory disease, ischaemic heart disease, neoplasms and digestive cancer. Lower death rates were observed than expected for respiratory malignancies and cancer of the bronchus and lung.
CONCLUSION—No association was found in this study between exposure to nickel concentrate or metallic nickel in the hydrometallurgical refining process and the subsequent development of respiratory cancer.


Keywords: epidemiology; nickel workers; mortalit

Do "Virtual" and "Outpatient" Public Health Tuberculosis Clinics Perform Equally Well? A Program-Wide Evaluation in Alberta, Canada.

BACKGROUND:Meeting the challenge of tuberculosis (TB) elimination will require adopting new models of delivering patient-centered care customized to diverse settings and contexts. In areas of low incidence with cases spread out across jurisdictions and large geographic areas, a "virtual" model is attractive. However, whether "virtual" clinics and telemedicine deliver the same outcomes as face-to-face encounters in general and within the sphere of public health in particular, is unknown. This evidence is generated here by analyzing outcomes between the "virtual" and "outpatient" public health TB clinics in Alberta, a province of Western Canada with a large geographic area and relatively small population. METHODS:In response to the challenge of delivering equitable TB services over long distances and to hard to reach communities, Alberta established three public health clinics for the delivery of its program: two outpatient serving major metropolitan areas, and one virtual serving mainly rural areas. The virtual clinic receives paper-based or electronic referrals and generates directives which are acted upon by local providers. Clinics are staffed by dedicated public health nurses and university-based TB physicians. Performance of the two types of clinics is compared between the years 2008 and 2012 using 16 case management and treatment outcome indicators and 12 contact management indicators. FINDINGS:In the outpatient and virtual clinics, respectively, 691 and 150 cases and their contacts were managed. Individually and together both types of clinics met most performance targets. Compared to outpatient clinics, virtual clinic performance was comparable, superior and inferior in 22, 3, and 3 indicators, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:Outpatient and virtual public health TB clinics perform equally well. In low incidence settings a combination of the two clinic types has the potential to address issues around equitable service delivery and declining expertise

TB Prevention and Care Program of Alberta: The organization of TB services in the Province of Alberta, Canada.

<p>TB services are delivered out of three public health clinics, two outpatient (the Calgary and Edmonton TB Clinics) and one virtual. The virtual clinic also maintains the TB Registry and oversees provincial program activities. Abbreviations: PHO Provincial Health Office; AH Alberta Health; AHS Alberta Health Services; PHAC Public Health Agency of Canada; CIC Citizenship and Immigration Canada; FNIHB First Nations and Inuit Health Branch; AB Alberta.</p

Is early tuberculosis death associated with increased tuberculosis transmission?

Tuberculosis (TB) is now a relatively uncommon disease in high income countries. As such, its diagnosis may be missed or delayed resulting in death before or shortly after the introduction of treatment. Whether early TB death is associated with increased TB transmission is unknown. To determine the transmission risk attributable to early TB death we undertook a case-control study.All adults who were: (1) diagnosed with culture-positive pulmonary TB in the Province of Alberta, Canada between 1996 and 2012, and (2) died a TB-related death before or within the first 60 days of treatment, were identified. For each of these "cases" two sets of "controls" were randomly selected from among culture-positive pulmonary TB cases that survived beyond 60 days of treatment. "Controls" were matched by age, sex, population group, +/- smear status. Secondary cases of "cases" and "controls" were identified using conventional and molecular epidemiologic tools and compared. In addition, new infections were identified and compared in contacts of "cases" that died before treatment and contacts of their smear-matched "controls". Conditional logistic regression was used to find associations in both univariate and multivariate analysis."Cases" were as, but not more, likely than "controls" to transmit. This was so whether transmission was measured in terms of the number of "cases" and smear-unmatched or -matched "controls" that had a secondary case, the number of secondary cases that they had or the number of new infections found in contacts of "cases" that died before treatment and their smear-matched "controls".In a low TB incidence/low HIV prevalence country, pulmonary TB patients that die a TB-related death before or in the initial phase of treatment and pulmonary TB patients that survive beyond the initial phase of treatment are equally likely to transmit

Individual and public health consequences associated with a missed diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in the emergency department: A retrospective cohort study.

ObjectivesTo determine: i) the emergency department (ED) utilization history of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients, and ii) the potential individual and public health consequences of a missed diagnosis of PTB in this setting.DesignRetrospective observational cohort study.ParticipantsPatients with PTB aged >16 years diagnosed between April 1, 2010 and December 31, 2016 in the Province of Alberta, Canada.MethodsWe identified valid new cases of PTB from a provincial registry and linked them to ED attendees in administrative databases. Visits are considered 'PTB', pulmonary 'other', and non-pulmonary based on the most responsible discharge diagnosis. Individual consequences of a missed diagnosis included health system delay and PTB-related death; public health consequences included nosocomial ED exposure time and secondary cases.ResultsOf 711 PTB patients, 378 (53%) made 845 ED visits in the six months immediately preceding the date of diagnosis. The most responsible ED discharge diagnosis was PTB in 92 (10.9%), pulmonary 'other' in 273 (32%) and non-pulmonary in 480 (56.8%). ED attendees had a median (IQR) health system delay of 27 (7,180) days and, compared to non-ED attendees were more likely to die a TB-related death 5.9% vs 1.2%, p = 0.001. Emergency attendees generated 3812 hours of ED nosocomial exposure time, and 31 secondary cases (60.8% of all secondary cases reported). Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from ED-attendees were more likely than non-attendees to be clustered-i.e., have an identical DNA fingerprint with another isolate (27% vs. 21%, p = 0.037).ConclusionsED utilization by PTB patients, and related consequences, are substantial. EDs are a potential resource for earlier PTB diagnosis