Potential för energiklippdrivare i Skåne

As the Swedish governments long term goals include a reduction of fossil fuel dependency, increasing pressure is placed upon energy companies to create and develop new solutions for renewable energy. The following case study was done in collaboration with the company Sydved Energileveranser AB and one of their contractors, Enarssons Skogsentreprenad AB. The objective of the study is to examine the bioenergy situation in region of Skåne and evaluate the potential solutions in the region for a forest-fuel assortment, based on a bioenergy-cutting-system. As a part of this study I have compared ordinary manual cuttings done with a chain saw and cuttings made using the new "bio- energy cutting system". The cuttings made under both systems were tested in areas near agricultural fields or pasture land in order to maintain an open landscape. Local landowners and managers of agricultural land were surveyed to gain insight into the previous management methods used in such areas to keep the landscape open from growing trees and undergrowth. The survey also aimed at determine the willingness of the landowners to employ the new "bio- energy cutting system" for these types of cuttings in the future.Då kraven ökar för ett minskat beroende av fossila bränslen, ökar trycket hos energibolagen att kunna producera större andelar förnyelsebar energi. Denna studie har gjorts i Samarbete med Sydved Energileveranser AB och Enarssons skogsentreprenad AB. Syftet är att få en bild av energiläget i Skåne och utreda möjligheter och potential i regionen för ett bioenergisortiment där avverkningen är tänkt att utföras med ett klippdrivningssystem. I studierna som detta arbete baserats på har avverknings och drivningskostnader jämförts mellan traditionella motormanuella avverkningar, kontra avverkning med en energiklippdrivare. Avverkningarna är i båda fallen utförda i och kring jordbruksmark för att hålla landskapet öppet från igenväxning. Enkätundersökningar och intervjuer har gjorts för att få en bild av hur brukare av betesmarker och slåtterängar tidigare gjort för att hålla landskapet öppet från igenväxning av träd och buskar och hur de ställer sig till att anlita ett klippdrivningssystem för liknande avverkningar i framtiden. Studien har visat att ett stort intresse finns för nya lösningar på denna typ av avverkningar hos brukare och markägare. Att i framtiden använda ett system som bygger på energiklippdrivare är inte främmande för majoriteten av de tillfrågade. Produktionsjämförelserna visar att ett energiklippsystem även kan vara intressant rent ekonomiskt

En undersøkelse av grad av symptomer på spiseforstyrrelser og opplevd klinisk svekkelse i hverdagen blant mannlige og kvinnelige spillere i norsk fotball

Bakgrunn: Det er få studier som har undersøkt spiseforstyrrelser blant fotballspillere og frem til nå ingen som har undersøkt spiseforstyrrelsers effekt på opplevd klinisk svekkelse blant denne gruppen. Dette er bemerkelsesverdig, ettersom fotball regnes som en av verdens største idretter med rundt 270 millioner spillere. I Norge har det vært flere oppslag i media hvor fotballspillere har stått frem med sine problemer rundt forstyrret spising og spiseforstyrrelser. Hensikten med denne oppgaven er derfor å bidra med forskningsbasert kunnskap rundt symptomer på spiseforstyrrelser og opplevd klinisk svekkelse hos mannlige og kvinnelige fotballspillere i Norge. Metode: Et kvantitativt tverrsnittdesign ved bruk av et elektronisk spørreskjema bestående av Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) og Clinical Impairment Assessment Questionnaire (CIA) ble brukt. Totalt 305 deltakere ble rekruttert til studien, bestående av 182 mannlige og 123 kvinnelige fotballspillere. Fordelingen basert på konkurransenivå inkluderte 147 profesjonelle, 65 semi-profesjonelle og 93 amatør/bredde fotballspillere. En faktoranalyse (EFA) og ikke-parametriske tester ble utført på datasettet. Resultat: En exploratory factor analysis (EFA) identifiserte en trefaktorsstruktur rundt EDE-Q for fotballspillere. Resultatene viser at kvinnelige fotballspillere hadde signifikant høyere grad av symptomer på en spiseforstyrrelse og opplevd klinisk svekkelse (20.3% for EDE-Q og CIA) enn mannlige fotballspillere (EDE-Q= 14.8% og CIA= 7.7%). Det var ingen signifikante forskjeller basert på konkurransenivået til spillerne. For aldersgruppene 16-20 år og 24-30 år viste resultatene signifikante forskjeller for opplevd klinisk svekkelse og subskalaen «bekymring for spising» rundt EDE-Q. Det ble funnet moderate til sterke sammenhenger mellom symptomer på spiseforstyrrelser og opplevd klinisk svekkelse. Konklusjon: Graden av symptomer på en spiseforstyrrelse og opplevd klinisk svekkelse er relativt høy blant fotballspillere i Norge, med en særlig høy forekomst blant kvinnelige spillere. Fokuset rundt forebyggende tiltak blant fotballspillere bør prioriteres. Samtidig bør treneres, medisinsk apparat og foreldres kunnskap rundt identifisering av disse symptomene økes. Videre forskning bør fokusere på kvalitativ eller mixed methods for å forstå årsakene til hvorfor fotballspillere utvikler symptomer på spiseforstyrrelser. Nøkkelord: Spiseforstyrrelser, fotballspillere, klinisk svekkelse, forebyggingBackground: There are few studies that have investigated eating disorders among football players and until now, none that have investigated the effect of eating disorders on perceived clinical impairment among this group. This is noteworthy, as football is considered one of the world's largest sports with around 270 million players. In Norway, there have been several articles in the media where footballers have come forward with their problems around disordered eating and eating disorders. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to contribute research-based knowledge about symptoms of eating disorders and perceived clinical impairment in male and female football players in Norway. Method: A quantitative cross-sectional design using an electronic questionnaire consisting of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and the Clinical Impairment Assessment Questionnaire (CIA) was used. A total of 305 participants were recruited for the study, consisting of 182 male and 123 female football players. Distribution based on level of competition included 147 professional, 65 semi-professional and 93 amateur/wide footballers. A factor analysis (EFA) and non-parametric tests were performed on the data set. Results: An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) identified a three-factor structure around the EDE-Q for football players. The results show that female soccer players had a significantly higher degree of symptoms of an eating disorder and perceived clinical impairment (20.3% for EDE-Q and CIA) than male football players (EDE-Q= 14.8% and CIA= 7.7%). There were no significant differences based on the level of competition of the players. For the age groups 16-20 years and 24-30 years, the results showed significant differences for perceived clinical impairment and the subscale “Eating concern” around the EDE-Q. Moderate to strong correlations were found between symptoms of eating disorders and perceived clinical impairment. Conclusion: The degree of symptoms of an eating disorder and perceived clinical impairment is relatively high among football players in Norway, with a particularly high incidence among female players. The focus on preventive measures among football players should be prioritized. At the same time, the knowledge around trainers, medical staff and parents regarding the identification of these symptoms should be increased. Further research should focus on qualitative or mixed methods to understand the reasons why footballers develop symptoms of eating disorders. Key words: Eating disorders, football players, clinical impairment, prevention

PieceMaker: selection of DNA fragments for selector-guided multiplex amplification

We describe PieceMaker, a software tool for the design of applications of selector probes–oligonucleotide probes that direct circularization of target nucleic acid molecules. Such probes can be combined in parallel to circularize a selection of fragments from restriction digested total genomic DNA. These fragments can then be amplified in a single PCR using a common primer pair, yielding substrates for subsequent analyses, such as parallel genotyping or sequencing. However, designing multiplex selector assays is a laborious task. The PieceMaker program alleviates this problem by selecting restriction enzymes to generate suitable fragments for selection, and generating the output data required to design the selector probes

Stroke Mimics on the Stroke Unit – Temporal trends 2008–2017 at a large Norwegian university hospital

Objectives: The objective was to quantify temporal trends in stroke mimics (SM) admissions relative to cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), incidence of hospitalized SMs and characterize the SM case-mix at a general hospital's stroke unit (SU). Materials & Methods: All SU admissions (n = 11240) of patients aged 15 or older to Haukeland University Hospital between 2008–2017 were prospectively included and categorized as CVA or SM. Logistic regression was used to estimate time trends in the proportion of SMs among the admissions. Poisson regression was used to estimate time trends in age- and sex-dependent SM incidence. Results: SMs were on average younger thaan CVA patients (68.3 vs. 71.4 years) and had a higher proportion of females (53.6% vs. 44.5%). The total proportion of SM admissions was 51.0%. There was an increasing time trend in the proportion of SM admissions, odds ratio 1.150 per year (p < 0.001), but this trend appears flattening, represented by a significant quadratic time-term, odds ratio 1.009 (p < 0.001). A higher SM proportion was also associated with the time period of a Mass Media Intervention (FAST campaign) in 2014. There was also an increasing trend in SM incidence, that remains after adjusting for age, sex, and population; also, for incidence the trend appears to be flattening. Conclusions: SMs account for approximately half of the SU admissions, and the proportion has been increasing. A FAST campaign appears to have temporarily increased the SM proportion. The age- and sex-dependent incidence of SM has been increasing but appears to flatten out.publishedVersio

A Review on Laser-Assisted Joining of Aluminium Alloys to Other Metals

Modern industry requires different advanced metallic alloys with specific properties since conventional steels cannot cover all requirements. Aluminium alloys are becoming more popular, due to their low weight, high corrosion resistance, and relatively high strength. They possess respectable electrical conductivity, and their application extends to the energy sector. There is a high demand in joining aluminium alloys with other metals, such as steels, copper, and titanium. The joining of two or more metals is challenging, due to formation of the intermetallic compound (IMC) layer with excessive brittleness. High differences in the thermophysical properties cause distortions, cracking, improper dilution, and numerous weld imperfections, having an adverse effect on strength. Laser beam as a high concentration energy source is an alternative welding method for highly conductive metals, with significant improvement in productivity, compared to conventional joining processes. It may provide lower heat input and reduce the thickness of the IMC layer. The laser beam can be combined with arc-forming hybrid processes for wider control over thermal cycle. Apart from the IMC layer thickness, there are many other factors that have a strong effect on the weld integrity; their optimisation and innovation is a key to successfully delivering high-quality joints.publishedVersio

A randomised comparison of a four- and a five-point scale version of the Norwegian Function Assessment Scale

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Data splitting as a countermeasure against hypothesis fishing: with a case study of predictors for low back pain

There is growing concern in the scientific community that many published scientific findings may represent spurious patterns that are not reproducible in independent data sets. A reason for this is that significance levels or confidence intervals are often applied to secondary variables or sub-samples within the trial, in addition to the primary hypotheses (multiple hypotheses). This problem is likely to be extensive for population-based surveys, in which epidemiological hypotheses are derived after seeing the data set (hypothesis fishing). We recommend a data-splitting procedure to counteract this methodological problem, in which one part of the data set is used for identifying hypotheses, and the other is used for hypothesis testing. The procedure is similar to two-stage analysis of microarray data. We illustrate the process using a real data set related to predictors of low back pain at 14-year follow-up in a population initially free of low back pain. “Widespreadness” of pain (pain reported in several other places than the low back) was a statistically significant predictor, while smoking was not, despite its strong association with low back pain in the first half of the data set. We argue that the application of data splitting, in which an independent party handles the data set, will achieve for epidemiological surveys what pre-registration has done for clinical studies

Multiplex amplification of all coding sequences within 10 cancer genes by Gene-Collector

Herein we present Gene-Collector, a method for multiplex amplification of nucleic acids. The procedure has been employed to successfully amplify the coding sequence of 10 human cancer genes in one assay with uniform abundance of the final products. Amplification is initiated by a multiplex PCR in this case with 170 primer pairs. Each PCR product is then specifically circularized by ligation on a Collector probe capable of juxtapositioning only the perfectly matched cognate primer pairs. Any amplification artifacts typically associated with multiplex PCR derived from the use of many primer pairs such as false amplicons, primer-dimers etc. are not circularized and degraded by exonuclease treatment. Circular DNA molecules are then further enriched by randomly primed rolling circle replication. Amplification was successful for 90% of the targeted amplicons as seen by hybridization to a custom resequencing DNA micro-array. Real-time quantitative PCR revealed that 96% of the amplification products were all within 4-fold of the average abundance. Gene-Collector has utility for numerous applications such as high throughput resequencing, SNP analyses, and pathogen detection

Therapist-guided internet-based psychodynamic therapy versus cognitive behavioural therapy for adolescent depression in Sweden: a randomised, clinical, non-inferiority trial

BACKGROUND: Adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD) is highly prevalent and associated with lifelong adversity. Evidence-based treatments exist, but accessible treatment alternatives are needed. We aimed to compare internet-based psychodynamic therapy (IPDT) with an established evidence-based treatment (internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy [ICBT]) for the treatment of adolescents with depression. METHODS: In this randomised, clinical trial, we tested whether IPDT was non-inferior to ICBT in the treatment of adolescent MDD. Eligible participants were 15-19 years old, presenting with a primary diagnosis of MDD according to DSM-5. Participants were recruited nationwide in Sweden through advertisements on social media, as well as contacts with junior and senior high schools, youth associations, social workers, and health-care providers. Adolescents who scored 9 or higher on the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology for Adolescents (QIDS-A17-SR) in an initial online screening were contacted by telephone for a diagnostic assessment using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Participants were randomly assigned to ICBT or IPDT. Both interventions comprised eight self-help modules delivered over 10 weeks on a secure online platform. The primary outcome was change in depression severity measured weekly by the QIDS-A17-SR. Primary analyses were based on an intention-to-treat sample including all participants randomly assigned. A non-inferiority margin of Cohen's d=0·30 was predefined. The study is registered at ISRCTN, ISRCTN12552584. FINDINGS: Between Aug 19, 2019, and Oct 7, 2020, 996 young people completed screening; 516 (52%) were contacted for a diagnostic interview. 272 participants were eligible and randomly assigned to ICBT (n=136) or IPDT (n=136). In the ICBT group, 51 (38%) of 136 participants were classified as remitted, and 54 (40%) of 136 participants were classified as remitted in the IPDT group. Within-group effects were large (ICBT: within-group d=1·75, 95% CI 1·49 to 2·01; IPDT: within-group d=1·93, 1·67 to 2·20; both p<0·0001). No statistically significant treatment difference was found in the intention-to-treat analysis. Non-inferiority for IPDT was shown for the estimated change in depression during treatment (d=-0·18, 90% CI -0·49 to 0·13; p=0·34). All secondary outcomes showed non-significant between-group differences. INTERPRETATION: IPDT was non-inferior to ICBT in terms of change in depression for the treatment of adolescents with MDD. This finding increases the range of accessible and effective treatment alternatives for adolescents with depression. FUNDING: Kavli trust