Advances in Ureteroscopy: New technologies and current innovations in the era of Tailored Endourological Stone Treatment (TEST)

Ureteroscopy has undergone many advances in recent decades. As a result, it is able to treat an increasing range of patient groups including special populations such as pregnancy, anomalous kidneys and extremes of age. Such advances include Holmium laser, high-power systems and pulse modulation. Thulium fibre laser is a more recent introduction to clinical practice. Ureteroscopes have also been improved alongside vision and optics. This article provides an up-to-date guide to these topics as well as disposable scopes, pressure control and developments in operating planning and patient aftercare. These advances allow for a custom strategy to be applied to the individual patient in what we describe using a new term: Tailored endourological stone treatment (TEST).publishedVersio

Advances in Ureteroscopy: New technologies and current innovations in the era of Tailored Endourological Stone Treatment (TEST)

Ureteroscopy has undergone many advances in recent decades. As a result, it is able to treat an increasing range of patient groups including special populations such as pregnancy, anomalous kidneys and extremes of age. Such advances include Holmium laser, high-power systems and pulse modulation. Thulium fibre laser is a more recent introduction to clinical practice. Ureteroscopes have also been improved alongside vision and optics. This article provides an up-to-date guide to these topics as well as disposable scopes, pressure control and developments in operating planning and patient aftercare. These advances allow for a custom strategy to be applied to the individual patient in what we describe using a new term: Tailored endourological stone treatment (TEST). Level of evidence: 5

Wind and Fisheries: Desktop Study on the Coexistence Between Offshore Wind and Fisheries in Sothern North Sea II

The Norwegian Government has launched a major initiative to promote offshore wind power , in which bottom-fixed wind power will be developed in the Southern North Sea II (SN II) area. There is a low level of fishing activities in this area with varying catch sizes over the years. The activities consist nearly exclusively of bottom trawling of sandeel. The fishing industry has raised concerns about the development of offshore wind farms (OWFs), including risks for collision and hindrance for fishing vessels, negative impacts on fish stocks, and other ecosystem-wide effects. This report has conducted a data study and compiled existing literature on these topics to, based on best available science, assess how OWF development could affect fisheries in SN II, the possibilities for facilitating coexistence for these two industries, and potential synergies. While the development of OWFs in SN II has the potential to bring both positive and negative effects on the fisheries as well as the marine life in the area, the findings suggest that coexistence between the two industries is possible. Potential impacts, including noise, magnetic fields, turbidity, artificial reef and FAD effects, and no-fishing zones, have not been shown to adversely affect populations of commercially important fish at OWF developments in the North Sea. With the ongoing technology shift to larger turbines, the space between each turbine is increasing, which may reduce collision risk. Seafloor cables can also be sufficiently buried to reduce the risk of damage by demersal trawls. Furthermore, most types of passive fishing gear (except for drifting nets) and practices are less problematic to use in an OWF. Should, though, the construction of OWFs in SN II cause restrictions on the fishery activities in the area, it is likely to cause increased fishing in other areas, often referred to in the scientific literature as the displacement effect, indicating that the economic loss will be smaller than the estimated catch values. Notable knowledge gaps are regarding positive and negative long term cumulative impacts and regional effects, impact on primary production and carbon assimilation from changed upper ocean mixing and impact from floating wind farms (not relevant in SN II). We emphasise the importance of early and ongoing input from relevant stakeholders to address concerns and find optimal mitigation measures for minimising the OWF footprint in SN II during the different phases of OWF development.Wind and Fisheries: Desktop Study on the Coexistence Between Offshore Wind and Fisheries in Sothern North Sea IIpublishedVersio

Langtidsstudie av næringsøkologi og vekst hos storørret i Pasvikvassdraget - en sammenligning mellom utsatt og vill ørret

Kraftutbyggingen i Pasvikvassdraget startet i 1964 og det finnes syv kraftverk i vassdraget. Storørretbestanden gikk kraftig tilbake som følge av kraftutbyggingen og i 1979 ble det startet et utsettingsprogram av ørret i elva for å kompensere for reduksjonen i størrelsen av den naturlige populasjonen. I dag settes det årlig ut 5000 ørret større enn 25 cm. Dette langtidsstudiet omhandler diett og vekst til utsatt og vill ørret i Pasvikvassdraget, samt evalueringer rundt utsettingsprogrammet og forvaltningen av storørretbestanden. Bakgrunnsmaterialet i denne studien er prøver av ørret innsamlet av lokale fiskere i Pasvik i perioden 1998 – 2008. Dietten til utsatt og vill ørret ble undersøkt ved analyser av mageprøver og prøver av stabile isotoper. Tilbakeberegningen av lengde til utsatt og vill ørret ble gjort ved analyse av otolitter i 2001 og 2007, og undersøkt med Lea-Dahls metode og Finstadmodellen. Resultatene fra mageanalysene og stabile isotoper viste at utsatt og vill ørret utelukkende var pelagiske fiskespisere. Den dominerende byttefisken til utsatt og vill ørret var lagesild, med noe innslag av planktonisk. Byttedyrpreferanse var tilnærmet lik og mageanalysene gjenspeiler i stor grad artssammensetning og byttedyrstørrelsen i vassdraget. Analyser av stabile isotoper plasserer storørreten på øverste trofiske nivå i næringsnettet. Utsatt ørret dominerer i fangstene i hele vassdraget og tilbakeberegning av lengde ved alder viste at utsatt og vill ørret hadde god og stabil vekst i undersøkelsesperioden

Introduksjon til Samsang gjennom livsløpet

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Gene expression studies of host response to Salmonid alphavirus subtype 3 experimental infections in Atlantic salmon

Abstract Salmonid alphavirus subtype-3 (SAV-3) infection in Atlantic salmon is exclusively found in Norway. The salmonid alphaviruses have been well characterized at the genome level but there is limited information about the host-pathogen interaction phenomena. This study was undertaken to characterize the replication and spread of SAV-3 in internal organs of experimentally infected Atlantic salmon and the subsequent innate and adaptive immune responses. In addition, suitability of a cohabitation challenge model for this virus was also examined. Groups of fish were infected by intramuscular injection (IM), cohabited (CO) or kept uninfected in a separate tank. Samples of pancreas, kidney, spleen, heart and skeletal muscles were collected at 2, 4 and 8 weeks post infection (wpi). Pathological changes were assessed by histology concurrently with viral loads and mRNA expression of immune genes by real time RT-PCR. Pathological changes were only observed in the pancreas and heart (target organs) of both IM and CO groups, with changes appearing first in the pancreas (2 wpi) in the former. Lesions with increasing severity over time coincided with high viral loads despite significant induction of IFN-α, Mx and ISG15. IFN-γ and MHC-I were expressed in all tissues examined and their induction appeared in parallel with that of IL-10. Inflammatory genes TNF-α, IL-12 and IL-8 were only induced in the heart during pathology while T cell-related genes CD3ε, CD4, CD8, TCR-α and MHC-II were expressed in target organs at 8 wpi. These findings suggest that the onset of innate responses came too late to limit virus replication. Furthermore, SAV-3 infections in Atlantic salmon induce Th1/cytotoxic responses in common with other alphaviruses infecting higher vertebrates. Our findings demonstrate that SAV-3 can be transmitted via the water making it suitable for a cohabitation challenge model.</p

A 6K-deletion variant of salmonid alphavirus is non-viable but can be rescued through RNA recombination.

Pancreas disease (PD) of Atlantic salmon is an emerging disease caused by Salmonid alphavirus (SAV) which mainly affects salmonid aquaculture in Western Europe. Although genome structure of SAV has been characterized and each individual viral protein has been identified, the role of 6K protein in viral replication and infectivity remains undefined. The 6K protein of alphaviruses is a small and hydrophobic protein which is involved in membrane permeabilization, protein processing and virus budding. Because these common features are shared across many viral species, they have been named viroporins. In the present study, we applied reverse genetics to generate SAV3 6K-deleted (Δ6K) variant and investigate the role of 6K protein. Our findings show that the 6K-deletion variant of salmonid alphavirus is non-viable. Despite viral proteins of Δ6K variant are detected in the cytoplasm by immunostaining, they are not found on the cell surface. Further, analysis of viral proteins produced in Δ6K cDNA clone transfected cells using radioimmunoprecipitation (RIPA) and western blot showed a protein band of larger size than E2 of wild-type SAV3. When Δ6K cDNA was co-transfected with SAV3 helper cDNA encoding the whole structural genes including 6K, the infectivity was rescued. The development of CPE after co-transfection and resolved genome sequence of rescued virus confirmed full-length viral genome being generated through RNA recombination. The discovery of the important role of the 6K protein in virus production provides a new possibility for the development of antiviral intervention which is highly needed to control SAV infection in salmonids

Alpha Interferon and Not Gamma Interferon Inhibits Salmonid Alphavirus Subtype 3 Replication In Vitro▿

Salmonid alphavirus (SAV) is an emerging virus in salmonid aquaculture, with SAV-3 being the only subtype found in Norway. Until now, there has been little focus on the alpha interferon (IFN-α)-induced antiviral responses during virus infection in vivo or in vitro in fish. The possible involvement of IFN-γ in the response to SAV-3 is also not known. In this study, the two IFNs were cloned and expressed as recombinant proteins (recombinant IFN-α [rIFN-α] and rIFN-γ) and used for in vitro studies. SAV-3 infection in a permissive salmon cell line (TO cells) results in IFN-α and IFN-stimulated gene (ISG) mRNA upregulation. Preinfection treatment (4 to 24 h prior to infection) with salmon rIFN-α induces an antiviral state that inhibits the replication of SAV-3 and protects the cells against virus-induced cytopathic effects (CPE). The antiviral state coincides with a strong expression of Mx and ISG15 mRNA and Mx protein expression. When rIFN-α is administered at the time of infection and up to 24 h postinfection, virus replication is not inhibited, and cells are not protected against virus-induced CPE. By 40 h postinfection, the alpha subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2α) is phosphorylated concomitant with the expression of the E2 protein as assessed by Western blotting. Postinfection treatment with rIFN-α results in a moderate reduction in E2 expression levels in accordance with a moderate downregulation of cellular protein synthesis, an approximately 65% reduction by 60 h postinfection. rIFN-γ has only a minor inhibitory effect on SAV-3 replication in vitro. SAV-3 is sensitive to the preinfection antiviral state induced by rIFN-α, while postinfection antiviral responses or postinfection treatment with rIFN-α is not able to limit viral replication

Evaluering av Rv. 13 Hardangerbrua

Rv. 13 Hardangerbrua som krysser Hardangerfjorden i indre Hardanger, åpnet for trafikk august 2013. Brua erstattet fergesambandet Bruravik-Brimnes. Prosjektet ble hovedsakelig finansiert med bompenger, i tillegg til kommunale og fylkeskommunale midler og statlige midler. Det besto av en ny tofelts hengebru med gang- og sykkelveg over Hardangerfjorden, samt tilførselsveger som går rett inn i tunnel på begge sider av brua. Brua er om lag 1400 meter lang og er per november 2018 Norges lengste hengebru av sitt slag. På oppdrag for forskningsprogrammet Concept ved NTNU har Menon Economics evaluert rv. 13 Hardangerbrua med tilførselsveger