Seafarers' wives and intermittent husbands - social and psychological impact of a subgroup of Norwegian seafarers' work schedule on their families

Objective – To examine the psycho-social impact of work schedules (absence from home) on the families of a subgroup of Norwegian seafarers as reported by their wives (sea wives). Their husbands worked 4-6 weeks on and 4-6 weeks off Norwegianregistered multipurpose vessels (MPV) supporting the off-shore oil industry. Methods – Questionnaires addressing demographic characteristics, marital satisfaction, social support, subjective health and psychological well-being were distributed to sea wives and controls .The response rate was 57% (192/336) for sea wives and 39% (45/114) for controls Results – There was no difference in demographic characteristics between sea wives and controls except that the sea wives were younger (p<0.01). No differences between sea wives and controls were found with regard to the quality of marital relationships, the subjective evaluation of own health, or mental well-being. Two percent of sea wives and controls had scores suggesting severe depression. In some respects, the sea wives had less social support than the controls. However, the majority of sea wives were content with their families’ life style. Conclusions – The MPV seafarers’ absence from home in a 4 weeks on and 4 weeks off (or a 6 weeks on and 6 weeks off) rotation schedule appears to be well tolerated by their families. However, being alone for weeks at the time may exaggerate acute and chronic shore-side problems, and some sea wives may feel a need for more social support during their husbands’ absence.publishedVersio

Plastics in aquaculture: A circular economy guidebook

This report presents 25 concepts for making plastics from aquaculture more circular. The concepts are based on industry initiatives, circular business models and management principles. Furthermore, the report describes the theory behind circular economy and relevant concepts, as well as the background for plastics in aquaculture, including regulatory context.publishedVersio

Climate adaptation of pre-Viking societies

Understanding how the Viking societies were impacted by past climate variability and how they adapted to it has hardly been investigated. Here, we have carried out a new multi-proxy investigation of lake sediments, including geochemical and palynological analyses, to reconstruct past changes in temperature and agricultural practices of pre-Viking and Viking societies in Southeastern Norway during the period between 200 and 1300 CE. The periods 200–300 and 800–1300 CE were warmer than the 300–800 CE period, which is known as the “Dark Ages Cold Period”. This cold period was punctuated by century-scale more temperate intervals, which were dominated by the cultivation of cereals and hemp (before 280 CE, 420–480 CE, 580–700 CE, and after 800 CE). In between, cold intervals were dominated by livestock farming. Our results demonstrate that the pre-Viking societies changed their agricultural strategy in response to climate variability during the Late Antiquity.publishedVersio

Exome Sequencing and Genetic Testing for MODY

Context: Genetic testing for monogenic diabetes is important for patient care. Given the extensive genetic and clinical heterogeneity of diabetes, exome sequencing might provide additional diagnostic potential when standard Sanger sequencing-based diagnostics is inconclusive. Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the performance of exome sequencing for a molecular diagnosis of MODY in patients who have undergone conventional diagnostic sequencing of candidate genes with negative results. Research Design and Methods: We performed exome enrichment followed by high-throughput sequencing in nine patients with suspected MODY. They were Sanger sequencing-negative for mutations in the HNF1A, HNF4A, GCK, HNF1B and INS genes. We excluded common, non-coding and synonymous gene variants, and performed in-depth analysis on filtered sequence variants in a pre-defined set of 111 genes implicated in glucose metabolism. Results: On average, we obtained 45 X median coverage of the entire targeted exome and found 199 rare coding variants per individual. We identified 0–4 rare non-synonymous and nonsense variants per individual in our a priori list of 111 candidate genes. Three of the variants were considered pathogenic (in ABCC8, HNF4A and PPARG, respectively), thus exome sequencing led to a genetic diagnosis in at least three of the nine patients. Approximately 91% of known heterozygous SNPs in the target exomes were detected, but we also found low coverage in some key diabetes genes using our current exome sequencing approach. Novel variants in the genes ARAP1, GLIS3, MADD, NOTCH2 and WFS1 need further investigation to reveal their possible role in diabetes. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that exome sequencing can improve molecular diagnostics of MODY when used as a complement to Sanger sequencing. However, improvements will be needed, especially concerning coverage, before the full potential of exome sequencing can be realized

A united statement of the global chiropractic research community against the pseudoscientific claim that chiropractic care boosts immunity.

BACKGROUND: In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) posted reports claiming that chiropractic care can impact the immune system. These claims clash with recommendations from the World Health Organization and World Federation of Chiropractic. We discuss the scientific validity of the claims made in these ICA reports. MAIN BODY: We reviewed the two reports posted by the ICA on their website on March 20 and March 28, 2020. We explored the method used to develop the claim that chiropractic adjustments impact the immune system and discuss the scientific merit of that claim. We provide a response to the ICA reports and explain why this claim lacks scientific credibility and is dangerous to the public. More than 150 researchers from 11 countries reviewed and endorsed our response. CONCLUSION: In their reports, the ICA provided no valid clinical scientific evidence that chiropractic care can impact the immune system. We call on regulatory authorities and professional leaders to take robust political and regulatory action against those claiming that chiropractic adjustments have a clinical impact on the immune system

An Adaptive Genetic Algorithm for the Hybrid Flexible Flowshop Scheduling Problem With Sequence-Dependent Set-up Times

Over de siste tiårene har produksjonsbedrifter flyttet store deler av sin produksjon til lavkostnadsland. I tillegg har store produsenter benyttet seg av strømlinjeformede produksjonsinstallasjoner og høye produksjonsvolum for å senke enhetskostnadene sine. Mindre produsenter i høykostnadsland sliter med å få ned sine enhetskostnader og må konkurrere med lavere budsjett enn sine større konkurrenter. Et lovende område for kostnadseffektivisering for slike bedrifter er datadrevet produksjonsplanlegging. Dette innebærer metoder for å effektivt lage gode produksjonsplaner ved hjelp av rimelige datamaskiner. Dette studiet undersøker en variant av flowshop planleggingsproblemet, inspirert av produksjonsmiljøet til en liten norsk produsent, Haugstad Møbel (Haugstad). Maskinene i fabrikken er gruppert etter funksjonalitet i ulike trinn og alle produkter følger samme flyt gjennom trinnene. Minst ett trinn har mer enn en maskin tilgjengelig, noe som gjør produksjonsmiljøet til en hybrid flowshop. Videre antas det at alle maskinene er identiske. Ikke alle produkter behøver å prosesseres i alle trinn. Dette gjør at produksjonsmiljøet betegnes som fleksibelt. Maskinene må klargjøres før de kan prosessere et nytt produkt, og tiden det tar avhenger også av hvilket produkt som sist ble prosessert. Dette kalles sekvensavhengig klargjøringstid. Klargjøringen er ikke mulig å starte før produktet som skal prosesseres ankommer maskinen. Denne kombinasjonen av utvidelser kalles et hybrid fleksibelt flowshop problem med sekvensavhengige klargjøringstider. Målet er å finne produksjonsplaner som minimerer den totale tiden det tar å produsere en kjent mengde produkter. Av 172 vitenskapelige artikler publisert om det hybride flowshop planleggingsproblemet det siste tiåret, er det bare tre som bruker genetiske algoritmer til å løse den ovennevnte varianten og med minimering av total produksjonstid som mål. I denne oppgaven introduserer vi en ny genetisk algoritme som på under to minutter finner gode produksjonsplaner for opptil 120 produkter, åtte trinn, og fire maskiner i hvert trinn. Dette oppnås ved å benytte operatorer som aldri har blitt brukt for å løse problemet før. Best Cost Block Crossover (BCBX) er en krysningsoperator adaptert fra et ruteplanleggingsproblem. Greedy Construction Heuristic (GCH) er en ny konstruksjonsheuristikk for å initialisere den første populasjonen. I tillegg brukes et adaptivt valg av krysningsoperatorer. Den genetiske algoritmen gjør det bedre enn tre implementerte referansealgoritmer for alle problemstørrelser, både i relativt avvik fra beste løsning og antall beste løsninger funnet. Videre er BCBX den beste krysningsoperatoren for små probleminstanser, GCH er den dominerende metoden for å initialisere populasjonen, og det adaptive valget av krysningsoperatorer gjør det bedre enn noen enkelt operator for seg selv. Oppsummert er den nye genetiske algoritmen effektiv til å finne gode produksjonsplaner til fabrikker av ulike karakteristikker, inkludert karakteristikker som kjennetegner Haugstad

Seafarers' wives and intermittent husbands - social and psychological impact of a subgroup of Norwegian seafarers' work schedule on their families

Objective – To examine the psycho-social impact of work schedules (absence from home) on the families of a subgroup of Norwegian seafarers as reported by their wives (sea wives). Their husbands worked 4-6 weeks on and 4-6 weeks off Norwegianregistered multipurpose vessels (MPV) supporting the off-shore oil industry. Methods – Questionnaires addressing demographic characteristics, marital satisfaction, social support, subjective health and psychological well-being were distributed to sea wives and controls .The response rate was 57% (192/336) for sea wives and 39% (45/114) for controls Results – There was no difference in demographic characteristics between sea wives and controls except that the sea wives were younger (p<0.01). No differences between sea wives and controls were found with regard to the quality of marital relationships, the subjective evaluation of own health, or mental well-being. Two percent of sea wives and controls had scores suggesting severe depression. In some respects, the sea wives had less social support than the controls. However, the majority of sea wives were content with their families’ life style. Conclusions – The MPV seafarers’ absence from home in a 4 weeks on and 4 weeks off (or a 6 weeks on and 6 weeks off) rotation schedule appears to be well tolerated by their families. However, being alone for weeks at the time may exaggerate acute and chronic shore-side problems, and some sea wives may feel a need for more social support during their husbands’ absence

Seafarers&#8217; wives and intermittent husbands &#8211; social and psychological impact of a sub-group of Norwegian seafarers&#8217; work schedule on their families

Objective &#8211; To examine the psycho-social impact of work schedules (absence from home) on the families of a subgroup of Norwegian seafarers as reported by their wives (sea wives). Their husbands worked 4-6 weeks on and 4-6 weeks off Norwegianregistered multipurpose vessels (MPV) supporting the off-shore oil industry. Methods &#8211; Questionnaires addressing demographic characteristics, marital satisfaction, social support, subjective health and psychological well-being were distributed to sea wives and controls .The response rate was 57% (192/336) for sea wives and 39% (45/114) for controls Results &#8211; There was no difference in demographic characteristics between sea wives and controls except that the sea wives were younger (