Is local always best? Social acceptance of small hydropower projects in Norway.

Small-scale development of renewable energy has been identified as one possible solution to meet future energy needs and is well aligned with the general European trend towards further development of community energy projects. Increased local energy production will move energy plants closer to habitation, placing aspects related to social acceptance at the center stage [1, 2]. Until recently, small hydro power [3] projects in Norway have been owned by local farmers and others with property rights to rivers. As the profitability of these projects has decreased, international investors have taken interest in SHP projects as part of their long-term investment strategy. In this paper, we study what influences social acceptance of SHP projects in Norway based on interviews and qualitative data from different SHP projects in Norway. We find that community energy projects often are attributed positive qualities when ownership is local. Thus, we argue that there is a need to consider more thoroughly how to organize ownership of small-scale renewables in the future, if it is to uphold its position as a popular and viable solution to meet future energy needs [3]

The role of 4th generation district heating (4GDH) in a highly electrified hydropower dominated energy system: The case of Norway

District heating (DH) is considered an important component in a future highly renewable European energy system. With the turn towards developing 4th generation district heating (4GDH), the integral role of district heating in fully renewable energy systems is emphasized further. Norway is a country that is expected to play a significant role in the transition of the European energy system due to its high shares of flexible hydropower in the electricity sector. While the country is moving towards electrification in all sectors and higher shares of variable renewable electricity generation, district heating could potentially decrease the need for electric generation and grid capacity expansion and increase the flexibility of the system. In this paper we investigate the role of 4GDH in a highly electrified future Norwegian energy system. A highly electrified scenario for the Norwegian energy system is constructed based on a step-by-step approach,  implementing measures towards electrification and expansion of renewable electricity generation. Then, a 4GDH scenario is constructed for the purpose of analysing the role of 4GDH in a highly electrified hydropower based energy system. EnergyPLAN is used for simulation. Results show that an expansion of 4GDH will increase the total system efficiency of the Norwegian energy system. However, the positive effects are only seen in relation to the introduction of efficiency measures such as heat savings, more efficient heating solutions and integration of low-temperature excess heat. Implementation of heat savings and highly efficient heat pumps in individual based heating systems show a similar effect, but does not allow for excess heat integration. In the modelled DH scenario, the introduction of large heat storages has no influence on the operation of the energy system, due to the logic behind the EnergyPLAN model and the national energy system analysis approach chosen, and thus the effect of implementing 4GDH may be underestimated

Do people prefer offshore to onshore wind energy? The role of ownership and intended use.

Global investments in offshore wind energy are expected to escalate over the coming decades, fueled by improvements in technology, declining costs, and increasing political support. The complexity, scale, and location of these developments make international ownership and export of electricity more feasible. We examine how the general public's acceptance of wind energy will be affected by a political shift in focus from onshore to nearshore or offshore locations, from local or national dominance of ownership to international dominance, and from meeting local or national needs to meeting international ones. We use a nationwide choice experiment with 1612 individuals in Norway to reveal the preferences for these attributes and apply a mixed logit regression model to estimate the willingness to pay to avoid certain outcomes. We show that, although respondents prefer offshore and nearshore locations to onshore ones, they are even more concerned with maintaining local or national control both through ownership and intended use of the added electricity. Although the preferences for national ownership are strong for both nearshore and offshore alternatives, the preference for meeting national needs becomes less important when wind energy developments are located farther off the coast. Three wind energy scenarios are used to further investigate these preferences: 1) international consortium for offshore wind energy, 2) national alliances for nearshore wind energy, and 3) local energy communities for onshore wind energy. We also discuss how a shift to nearshore and offshore wind energy can be enabled by paying greater attention to people's concerns over national control of wind energy resources.Do people prefer offshore to onshore wind energy? The role of ownership and intended use.publishedVersio

Paving the Way for Heat. Local Government Policies for Developing Bioenergy

Local governments play dual roles in developing renewable energy projects. They are the targets of many goals concerning energy and climate, set by national and international actors, and they are important actors in energy planning, regulation setting, and the development of infrastructure and residential areas. In this paper, I study how local governments’ technology policies affect the actual outcome of project development based on experiences from 14 local governments. Technology policies are studied from the perspective of Sørensen’s [1] four areas of concern: direct support of innovation, infrastructure, regulation (protection and standards) and public engagement. I find that local governments use policy instruments within all four areas, and that the way local governments involves in the process of bioenergy development are surprisingly similar despite differences in location and size of both the local government and the project

Incidence of dementia over a period of 20 years in a Norwegian population

INTRODUCTION: In Norway, the prevalence of dementia is higher than in demographically comparable, high income countries, but reliable incidence studies are lacking. This study calculated the incidence of age-specific dementia from 2000 to 2019. METHODS: Participants from The Tromsø Study (n = 44,214) were included. Participants with a dementia diagnosis (n = 2049 cases) were identified. Poisson regression was used to calculate age-specific yearly and 5-year incidence rates from 2000 to 2019. RESULTS: The incidence of dementia has decreased from 2000 to 2019. The trend was highly significant for ages of 60–99 years, and was similar for both sexes. DISCUSSION: The incidence of dementia in North Norway has decreased over the past two decades similar to that in Western countries, indicating that the total prevalence is increasing due to an aging population. This decrease of incidence could introduce a reduction in future estimation of dementia prevalence

Møteplasser - fra ord til handling. Sluttrapport

publishedVersio

Problemløsningsoppgaver i Scratch. En studie av elevers algoritmiske tenkning.

Gjennom et utvalg på fire elever på 6. trinn, ser denne studien på hvordan algoritmisk tenkning kommer til uttrykk i arbeid med problemløsningsoppgaver i Scratch. Studien er en kvalitativ case-studie, hvor elevene har gjennomført et undervisningsopplegg i par. Undervisningsopplegget inneholder problemløsningsoppgaver og legger til rette for algoritmisk tenkning. Datamaterialet ble samlet inn ved skjerm- og lydopptak, samt intervju. Datamaterialet ble videre analysert ut ifra forhånds definerte nøkkelbegreper for algoritmisk tenkning, og videre forklart og diskutert. Studien baseres på teori om Computational Thinking (CT), og bygger videre på tidligere forskning om hvordan algoritmisk tenkning vises hos elever. Ettersom vår studie innebærer bruk av teknologi og programmering, har vi også inkludert to modeller som beskriver bruk av teknologiske verktøy i skolen. Resultatene viser stor variasjon i hvordan algoritmisk tenkning kommer til uttrykk hos elevene i denne studien. Det kommer frem at elevene i stor grad har evne til algoritmisk tenkning, men vi ser også at det er enkelte elementer innenfor nøkkelbegrepene som elevene ikke mestrer. Funnene viser at det er en utbredt bruk av logikk ved at elevene utformer hypoteser. Elevene bruker også dekomposisjon i stor grad ved at de deler opp en sammensatt figur, og programmerer de ulike figurene hver for seg. Vi ser også at elevene mestrer å forenkle løsningene sine ved bruk av løkker, noe som er et aspekt innen evaluering og abstraksjon. En mulig implikasjon fra denne studien er å undersøke om digitale arbeidsmåter gir bedre effekt på utviklingen av elevers algoritmiske tenkning, sammenliknet med analoge arbeidsmåter

Marine phytoplankton community data and corresponding environmental properties from eastern Norway, 1896–2020

Time series are essential for studying the long-term effects of human impact and climatic changes on the natural environment. Although data exist, no long-term phytoplankton dataset for the Norwegian coastal area has been compiled and made publicly available in a standardised format. Here we report on a compilation of phytoplankton data from inner Oslofjorden going back more than a century. The database contains 605 sampling events from 1896 to 2020, and environmental data has also been provided when available. Although the sampling frequency has varied over time, the high taxonomic quality and relatively similar methodology make it very useful. For the last 15 years (2006–2020), the sampling frequency has been almost monthly throughout the year. This dataset can be used for time series analysis to understand community structure and changes over time. It can also be used to study common taxa’ responses to environmental variables and changes, seasonal or annual species diversity and be useful for developing ecological indicators.publishedVersio

Impact of different infliximab dose regimens on treatment response and drug survival in 462 patients with psoriatic arthritis: results from the nationwide registries DANBIO and ICEBIO.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access.The aim of this study was to describe dose regimens, dose escalation and clinical outcomes in TNF-α inhibitor (TNFi)-naive patients with PsA treated with infliximab in routine rheumatology care.We conducted an observational cohort study based on the nationwide Danish Rheumatologic Database (DANBIO) and Center for Rheumatology Research (ICEBIO) registries. Stratified by country, characteristics of patients treated with ≤3 mg infliximab/kg body weight, 3-5 mg/kg or ≥5 mg/kg every 8 weeks were described. Outcomes were evaluated by ACR 20%, 50% and 70% (ACR20/50/70) responses and European League Against Rheumatism good response after 6 months, disease activity after 12 months, Kaplan-Meier plots and regression analyses.Four hundred and sixty-two patients (376 Danish, 86 Icelandic) received treatment with infliximab. In Danish patients, the starting dose was ≤3 mg/kg in 110 patients (29%), 3-5 mg/kg in 157 (42%), ≥5 mg/kg in 38 (10%) and unregistered in 71 (19%). In Icelandic patients, corresponding numbers were 64 (74%), 17 (27%), 0 (0%) and 5 (6%). Patients with a higher body weight received lower doses per kilogram. Danish patients received higher doses than Icelandic patients at baseline [median 3.1 (interquartile range 3.0-3.8) vs 2.3 (2.1-2.9) mg/kg, P 70% of Icelandic and Danish PsA patients treated with infliximab received sustained doses below the 5 mg/kg every 8 weeks recommended in international guidelines. Lower starting doses did not affect drug survival or response

Associations of inner retinal layers with risk of incident dementia: An individual participant data analysis of four prospective cohort studies

INTRODUCTION - Our main objective was to investigate whether retinal neurodegeneration, estimated from lower thickness of inner retinal layers, was associated with incident all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS - We performed an individual participant data meta-analysis using unpublished data from four prospective cohort studies with a total of 69,955 participants (n = 1087 cases of incident all-cause dementia; n = 520 cases incident AD; follow-up time median [interquartile range] 11.3 [8.8–11.5] years). RESULTS - General baseline characteristics of the study population were mean (standard deviation) age, 58.1 (8.8) years; 47% women. After adjustment, lower baseline macular retinal nerve fiber layer thickness was significantly associated with a 10% and 11% higher incidence of all-cause dementia and AD, respectively. Lower baseline macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness was not significantly associated with these outcomes. DISCUSSION - These findings suggest that retinal neurodegeneration precedes the onset of clinical dementia. Retinal imaging tools may be informative biomarkers for the study of the early pathophysiology of dementia