Compensation of Absorption Effects in Seismic Data

The frequency content of seismic data is changing with propagation depth due to intrinsic absorption. This implies that the higher frequencies are highly attenuated, thus leading to a loss in resolution of the seismic image. In addition, absorption anomalies, for example, caused by gas sands, will further dim the seismic reconstruction. It is possible to correct for such absorption effects by employing so called inverse Q filtering (IQF). This is a filtering technique that tries to restore the loss of the higher frequencies due to propagation. Newer developments within IQF can be regarded as a migration type of algorithm, and such classes of techniques are studied in this paper. As seismic waves travel through the earth, the visco-elasticity of the earth's medium will cause energy dissipation and waveform distortion. This phenomenon is referred to as seismic absorption. In explaining the propagation of seismic wave in a given medium we explore the relationship between the pressure and displacement stresses. Therefore, by introducing an absorption function into the stress and strain relationship we derived a non-linear wave equation. We, then, employed a layered earth model to solve the non-linear wave equation

Nine types of recommendations, guidelines and policies: an exploratory test of a proposed typology of physical activity promotion documents

Background The field of physical activity abounds with recommendations, guidelines, action plans and other documents published by experts, organizations and institutions at the national and international level. However, working with these documents is difficult since similar names (e.g. “recommendations”) may be used to label substantially different contents, while identical topics may hide behind different monikers (e.g. “guidelines” and “strategy”). Methods We built on an existing framework conceptualizing categories of physical activity evidence and on the Doern continuum for policy instruments to develop a nine-field matrix that classifies physical activity-related publications based on their evidence type and degree of coercion. We used a selection of eleven physical activity documents to perform an exploratory test of the functions and utility of the typology. Results Placing central physical activity documents into the typology shows that recommendations, guidelines, and policies are found across the entire matrix, regardless of their denomination. It also suggests that some documents transcend boundaries between types by falling into more than one category, and that some categories may be underrepresented in current physical activity promotion. Conclusions A typology to classify physical activity guidelines, recommendations, and policies can help us acquire a better overview of the landscape of existing physical activity documents than simple distinctions based on document names. It may guide both current initiatives and future development work in the field. It could also serve as a point of departure for future research, as conducting systematic overviews of the literature based on this typology may help reveal important gaps in current physical activity promotion

Dom på overføring til tvungent psykisk helsevern : en kvalitativ studie om erfaringer og utfordringer ansatte innen psykisk helse opplever i forhold til å gi pasienter dømt til tvungent psykisk helsevern et godt tilbud

Masteroppgave psykisk helsearbeid - Universitetet i Agder 2016Background: The subject of this study is «Sentencing to compulsory mental health care». The choice of subject is sprung from a desire to gain a better knowledge of the challenges related to providing a good service for patients sentenced to compulsory mental health care (TPH). At the same time the study is seeking a more comprehensive understanding of the already known challenges concerning the collaboration between the first and second line services providing for this group of patients. The study's findings are discussed in light of a dialogical perspective of interaction. Selection and method: Qualitative study using participant observation and focus group interviews. A dialogue seminar was held as a starting point for the participating observation and selection of informants to the focus groups. A hermeneutic-phenomenological analysis inspired by Giorgi is used. Issue and purpose: The study highlights the experiences and challenges employees from the first and second line services experience in relation to giving patients sentenced to compulsory mental health care good service. It also explores whether or not the dialogue seminar contributed to the informants' understanding of the subject, and whether it influenced the further interaction between the first and second line services. The purpose of the study is to gain increased knowledge about the challenges mental health workers are experiencing by giving patients sentenced to TPH good service. We also sought knowledge of whether dialogue seminars can be a beneficial way to increase the understanding of the subject, and improve the interaction between the first and second line services. Results: Many mental health workers have not yet had dealings with this particular patient group. The reason seems to be that the majority of these patients are still hospitalized in psychiatric wards - primarily security or rehabilitation units. The patients are perceived as a kind of «clots in the system», and the interaction is to a large degree characterized by confusion regarding the responsibility and task distribution between the various management levels. Dialogue seminars are described as a useful forum for increasing knowledge, meeting peers and as a contribution to the creation of a common understanding. Conclusion: The study suggests that there is still uncertainty within the mental health field regarding aspects such as security, resources, responsibility and task distribution, legislation and organization. These conditions challenge the health workers in their daily work with this patient group, and affects the interaction between service levels. The findings indicate a link between the challenges informants experience in the collaboration, and the challenges they experience in relation to providing good service to this patient group. The study reveals organizational challenges related to legislation and the design of service provision, and raises the question of whether one should have separate forensic psychiatric units. Keywords: Compulsory mental health care, forensic psychiatry, first line service, second line service, interaction, dialogue, Freir

Cross-country collaboration for physical activity promotion: experiences from the European Union Physical Activity Focal Points Network

Background: An analysis of currently existing partnerships and cross-country collaboration for physical activity (PA) promotion is valuable for understanding how such partnerships operate, and how they impact national PA promotion efforts. This study aimed to outline the formation and development of the European Union's (EU) Physical Activity Focal Points Network, to evaluate its outputs and benefits and to describe its potential and challenges. Methods: A mixed methods approach were employed, including document analysis, semi-structured interviews with key officials and an online evaluation survey with the focal points. Results: The network was founded in 2014. Its main task is to coordinate the national collection of information for the EU's Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) Monitoring Framework. Besides collecting data, focal points usually meet twice a year to share best practices and plan activities for the promotion of PA within the EU. The results of the evaluation survey show that participation in the network helped members specify goals for PA promotion, gain more knowledge regarding how to promote PA, identify more opportunities to promote PA in their country and to join a collaborative project with other countries. Conclusions: The study shows that the EU Physical Activity Focal Points Network may serve as an example of successful cross-country collaboration in PA promotion. The network has been able to make a contribution to monitoring the implementation of the EU Council Recommendation on HEPA across sectors in particular and of PA promotion in the EU in general. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.This research was conducted as part of a project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Health (ZMVI1-2520WHO001 and ZMVI1-2521WHO001). The ministry was neither involved in writing this manuscript nor in the decision to submit the article for publication

Implementing the capability approach in health promotion projects: Recommendations for implementation based on empirical evidence.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this paper was to develop a framework for the use of the capability approach in health promotion projects, which could guide future projects as well as improve the comparability of the projects' effectiveness. METHOD The study involved a three-stage process comprising a total of six steps. We first developed a theoretical model and then analyzed data from four empirical studies that had implemented projects using the capability approach between 2015 and 2018 in the settings of kindergartens, schools, vocational training, and communities to promote an active lifestyle. Finally, we developed a framework for the use of the capability approach in health promotion projects based on the analysis of the data. RESULTS We developed a theoretical model of the "capability cycle," which was used for further analysis. There were divergent understandings of the capability approach due to existing theoretical constructs that are commonly used by the scientific teams of the projects. Further, the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of the capability approach within the four settings showed discrepancies, which inhibited a comparison of their effectiveness. The developed framework comprises recommendations regarding the planning of a project, its implementation, and especially its evaluation in future comparisons of project effectiveness. CONCLUSION This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of four projects for which we developed a framework using a participatory approach. The findings can help research teams in the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of future projects that focus on improving capabilities in the field of health promotion. Further, the established framework will help facilitate comparisons of capability-oriented health promotion projects in terms of their effectiveness

Exploring the potential of ancestral phenylalanine/tyrosine ammonia-lyases for therapeutic applications

Phenylalanine/tyrosine ammonia-lyases (PAL/TAL) have been approved by the FDA for treatment of phenylketonuria and may also harbor potential for complimentary treatment of hereditary tyrosinemia type II. Herein, we explore ancestral sequence reconstruction as an enzyme engineering tool to increase stability and alter substrate specificity, which could enhance the therapeutic potential of these enzymes. We used MEGA and PAML to reconstruct putative ancestors of PAL/TAL from fungi and compared them to two modern enzymes that have a relatively low PAL/TAL activity ratio. The majority of ancestors could be functionally expressed in E. coli and showed activity towards both phenylalanine and tyrosine. All ancestral enzymes displayed increased thermostability compared to both modern enzymes, however, the increase in thermostability was accompanied by a loss in activity when going back in the phylogenetic tree. One reconstructed ancestral enzyme could be interesting for further development, as its catalytic turnover of tyrosine is slightly higher than one of the modern enzymes and it is significantly more thermostable than both modern enzymes. More detailed characterization of the ancestral variants with a focus on stability is currently ongoing. Our results indicate that ancestral sequence reconstruction programs are robust in terms of stability, whereas activity of ancestral variants seems to vary depending on the reconstruction method. We believe that this approach has great potential for enhancing the properties of therapeutic enzymes and biocatalysts for various applications

Monitoring of physical activity promotion in children and adolescents in the EU: Current status and future perspectives

Background: Policy action is required to address physical inactivity in boys and girls. This action can be supported by international data collection, comparisons and sharing of good practices. Thus, this study aims to present and discuss the ongoing monitoring of physical activity (PA) indicators in children and adolescents in the 28 EU Member States. Methods: Data on PA recommendations, PA prevalence, physical education (PE) and PA promotion programs for children and adolescents were provided by governments in a joint EU/WHO survey on the implementation status of the EU Council Recommendation on Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) across Sectors. Results: In 23 countries, national recommendations on PA are available. Detailed PA prevalence data among children and adolescents was available in 27 countries, in most cases separately for sex/gender and age groups. The total amount of PE lessons in schools differed greatly between countries and lessons were predominantly mandatory. After-school HEPA promotion programs were mostly implemented in EU Member States (78.6%), followed by active school breaks (57.1%), active travel to school (57.1%) and active breaks during school lessons (53.6%). Conclusions: This study summarizes the monitoring of PA indicators among children and adolescents in all EU Member States by providing a comprehensive overview of the status of PA promotion and monitoring across the region. Based on our findings, it could be concluded that the current EU monitoring system on PA promotion should be adapted to provide evidence that can inform future policy development. © 2021 The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association

Resolution enhancement of 2D controlled-source electromagnetic images by use of point-spread function inversion

The marine controlled-source electromagnetic technique is employed both in large-scale geophysical applications as well as within the exploration of hydrocarbons and gas hydrates. Because of the diffusive character of the EM field, only very low frequencies are used, leading to inversion results with low resolution. In this paper, we calculated the resolution matrix associated with the inversion and derived the corresponding point-spread functions. The PSFs provided information about how much the actual inversion was blurred. Using a space-varying deconvolution can thus further improve the inversion result. The actual deblurring was carried out using the nonnegative flexible conjugate gradient least-squares (NN-FCGLS) algorithm, which is a fast iterative restoration technique. To attain completeness, we also introduced the results obtained using a blind deconvolution algorithm based on the maximum likelihood estimation with unknown PSFs. The potential of the proposed approach has been demonstrated using both complex synthetic data and field data acquired at the Wisting oil field in the Barents Sea. In both cases, the resolution of the final inversion result was improved and showed greater agreement with the known target area