The Dynamics in Financial Markets During the Russia- Ukraine War : A quantitative analysis of stock prices in the oil and gas industry

This thesis analyses the impact of statements regarding Russian petroleum during the Russia- Ukraine war on stock prices of oil and gas companies in Europe. In addition, the paper analyses differences in this impact on tax haven companies versus companies not in tax havens. Shell is used as a reference point for oil and gas companies in parts of the analysis. The events are divided between statements regarding Shell and statements affecting all oil and gas companies. The statements are given each their predicted reaction. To detect effects of the events we have conducted an event study. The main results collected are: EU’s decisions do impact the stock prices of oil and gas companies in Europe. The effect on Shell appears to be persistent throughout the analyzed event window, while the effect on all the other companies lessens as the shock of war settles. We do not find any evidence of a difference in abnormal returns between companies in tax havens and companies not in tax havens following the statements regarding the wider oil and gas market of the EU.nhhma

Effect of caffeine ingestion on competitive rifle shooting performance

Copyright: © 2019 Nygaard et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Purpose The purpose of the present study was to test if caffeine ingestion affects rifle shooting accuracy in trained shooters. Methods Twenty trained shooters performed 4 shooting tests in a randomized, double-blinded, placebo controlled crossover design; 2 identical tests after placebo ingestion and 2 after ingestion of 300 mg caffeine. The tests consisted of 30 shots in prone position and 30 in standing position on a 10 ring electronic target, on a distance of 50 metres, without any time limit, at rest. Results Caffeine supplementation entailed a mean decrease in shooting performance by 11.8 points (95% CI: 6.7 to 17.0, effect size: 0.9). This was primarily a result of an 11.3 (95% CI: 7.2 to 15.4, effect size: 0.9) point decrease during shooting in standing position and not in prone position (0.6 point decrease, 95% CI: -2.1 to 3.2, effect size: 0.1). Conclusions We conclude that prior ingestion of 300 mg caffeine impairs rifle shooting accuracy in trained shooters when performed in standing but not in prone position.publishedVersio

Comparing urine samples and cervical swabs for Chlamydia testing in a female population by means of Strand Displacement Assay (SDA)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There has been an increasing number of diagnosed cases of <it>Chlamydia trachomatis </it>in many countries, in particular among young people. The present study was based on a growing request to examine urine as a supplementary or primary specimen in screening for <it>Chlamydia trachomatis </it>in women, with the Becton Dickinson ProbeTec (BDPT) Strand Displacement Assay (SDA). Urine samples may be particularly important in screening young people who are asymptomatic.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 603 women aged 15 and older were enrolled from the Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) clinic at Haukeland University Hospital, Norway, in 2007. Only 31 women were older than 35 years. Cervical swabs and urine samples were tested with BDPT for all participants. In cases of discrepant test results from a given patient, both samples were retested by Cobas TaqManCT and a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-method (in-house). Prevalence of <it>C. trachomatis</it>, sensitivity, and specificity were estimated by latent class analysis using all test results available. Bootstrap BC confidence intervals (10 000 computations) were estimated for sensitivity and specificity, and their differences in cervix vs. urine tests.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 1809 specimens were collected from 603 patients. 80 women (13.4%) were positive for <it>C. trachomatis</it>. Among these, BDPT identified 72 and 73 as positive in cervix and urine samples, respectively. Of the 523 <it>C. trachomatis </it>negative women, BDPT identified 519 as negative based on cervical swabs, and 514 based on urine samples. Sensitivity for cervical swabs and urine samples with the BDPT were 89.0% (95% CI 78.8, 98.6) and 90.2% (95% CI 78.1, 95.5), respectively. The corresponding values for specificity were 99.2% (95% CI 98.3, 100) and 98.3% (95% CI 96.4, 100).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study indicates that urine specimens are adequate for screening high-risk groups for <it>C. trachomatis </it>by the SDA method (BDPT). Such an approach may facilitate early detection and treatment of the target groups for screening, and be cost-effective for patients and the health services.</p

NATO and Russia : a discourse analysis of NATO´s enlargement policy and its effect

In 1997 NATO formally announced that they were going to proceed with Article X in the North Atlantic Treaty. This gave NATO the opportunity to enlarge their membership based on consensus in the alliance. Even though the relationship between NATO and Russia has seen its ups and downs over the years, NATO chose to continue with its intended policy with promises of a more stable continent. The promises from NATO did not convince Russia and they insist that NATO´s enlargement policy is actually destabilizing the continent. How, then, can this type of policy shape the relationship between two major players on the European arena and possibly the security environment? This thesis sets out to analyze NATO and Russia´s discourse on the enlargement policy in 2008, 2014, and 2017 through discourse analysis. Changes in the discourses and the meaning attributed to the language chosen to describe the policy shows how the relationship between the two actors have changed over the three periods. Through the representations of the discourses it becomes clear that the two actors are on opposite sides, and a reconciliation is not plausible. NATO is pushing for the benefits of the policy for everyone in Europe, while Russia has deep concerns that the policy is decreasing their security and interests. The relationship between NATO and Russia has suffered from the enlargement policy and the European security environment can become destabilized as well.M-I

Molecular diagnostics and characterization of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Gonore er en sjelden infeksjon i Norge, men kan være en alvorlig infeksjon med fatalt utfall. Gonoreinfeksjon kan oppleves sosialt belastende. Blir en diagnostisert er behandlende lege pålagt å gjennomføre smitteoppsporing og alle seksuelle kontakter undersøkes. Tradisjonell diagnostikk er avhengig av å dyrke bakterien. Dessverre er gonorebakterien veldig skjør og kan lett dø etter prøvetaking og under transport til laboratoriet. I Nord-Norge er det spesielt problematisk med store avstander og lang transporttid. Den nye metoden baseres på deteksjon av DNA fra bakterien og er helt uavhengig av at de fortsatt er i live. I tillegg har metoden høy spesifisitet og sensitivitet og vil minimere både falske positive og falske negative resultater som ellers kan påføre mennesker unødige lidelser. Behandlingsresultat følges normalt opp med kontrollprøve og med ny diagnostikk, måtte vi også avgjøre riktig tidspunkt for å ta kontrollprøve etter behandling. Siden Norske retningslinjer for behandling av gonore var alvorlig utdatert, var det og viktig å kartlegge antibiotikaresistens, og andre karakteristikker ved den norske gonorestammene for å kunne foreslå effektiv behandling for pasientene

Effect of caffeine ingestion on competitive rifle shooting performance

Purpose The purpose of the present study was to test if caffeine ingestion affects rifle shooting accuracy in trained shooters. Methods Twenty trained shooters performed 4 shooting tests in a randomized, double-blinded, placebo controlled crossover design; 2 identical tests after placebo ingestion and 2 after ingestion of 300 mg caffeine. The tests consisted of 30 shots in prone position and 30 in standing position on a 10 ring electronic target, on a distance of 50 metres, without any time limit, at rest. Results Caffeine supplementation entailed a mean decrease in shooting performance by 11.8 points (95% CI: 6.7 to 17.0, effect size: 0.9). This was primarily a result of an 11.3 (95% CI: 7.2 to 15.4, effect size: 0.9) point decrease during shooting in standing position and not in prone position (0.6 point decrease, 95% CI: -2.1 to 3.2, effect size: 0.1). Conclusions We conclude that prior ingestion of 300 mg caffeine impairs rifle shooting accuracy in trained shooters when performed in standing but not in prone position