Landskap og sikkerhet: Hvordan kombinere gateutforming og fysisk sikring i Bergstien

Gater og byrom skal være offentlig tilgjengelige, og fremstå åpne og imøtekommende. Mennesker i alle aldre skal fritt kunne ferdes i byen de bor i, uten at det går på bekostning av deres opplevelse av trygghet. Samtidig har terrorangrep og uro rundt om i verden ført til et økt behov for sikkerhetstiltak i gater og byrom, og trygghetsfølelsen har blitt utfordret. Blomsterpotter, pullerter og betongblokker er eksempler på sikkerhetstiltak som er godt synlige for byens befolkning og som tar stadig større plass i bybildet. Slike tiltak bidrar til å sikre befolkningen mot uønskede hendelser, men bidrar ikke til å skape en åpen og tilgjengelig by. En av hovedutfordringene når det kommer til sikring av gater og byrom, ligger i å finne balansen mellom behovet for sikkerhet, og ønsket om åpenhet. Sikkerhetstiltak i offentlige gater og byrom har i første rekke som mål å forhindre uønskede hendelser som har en skadelig effekt på enten materielle verdier eller mennesker. Felles for mange av disse sikkerhetstiltakene er at de ikke tar hensyn til stedet i særlig grad, de er ofte prefabrikkerte, midlertidige elementer som i utgangspunktet kunne stått plassert hvor som helst. Mange er også dårlig integrert i bybildet og utformet på en måte som gjør at de kun oppfyller kravet om sikkerhet, men ikke gir noe utover dette til bymiljøet. Fysiske sikkerhetstiltak bør i større grad integreres i det eksisterende bybildet. I kombinasjon med blågrønne strukturer, samt muligheter for opphold og aktivitet, kan sikkerhetstiltak bedre integreres og på den måte skape en form for ”naturlig sikring”. Denne oppgaven tar for seg disse utfordringene, og utforsker hvordan utforming av gater og byrom best kan kombineres med fysiske sikringstiltak. Gjennom et case-studie av Bergstien, i Oslo, vil vi presentere et konkret forslag til utforming som illustrerer hvordan fysiske sikringstiltak kan integreres i gateutformingen, og samtidig skape et åpent og tilgjengelig byrom.Streets and public spaces should be publicly accessible and perceived as open and welcoming. People of all ages should be free to move around the city they live in without compromising their sense of security. At the same time, terrorist attacks and unrest around the world have led to an increased need for security measures in streets and public spaces, challenging the sense of security. Flower pots, bollards, and concrete blocks are examples of security measures that are highly visible to the city’s population and take up an increasing amount of space in the urban landscape. While such measures help to secure the population against unwanted events, they do not contribute to creating an open and accessible city. One of the main challenges when it comes to securing streets and public spaces is finding a balance between the need for security and the desire for openness. Security measures in public streets and spaces primarily aim to prevent unwanted events that have a harmful effect on either material values or people. Many of these security measures do not take the place into consideration, they are often prefabricated, temporary elements that could initially be placed anywhere. Many are also poorly integrated into the urban landscape and designed in a way that only fulfills the requirement for security, but does not add anything beyond that to the urban environment. Physical security measures should be better integrated into the existing urban landscape. In combination with blue-green structures, as well as opportunities for staying and activity, security measures can be better integrated and thus create a form of ”natural security.” This thesis addresses these challenges and explores how the design of streets and public spaces can best be combined with physical security measures. Through a case study of Bergstien, in Oslo, we will present a concrete design that illustrates how physical security measures can be integrated into street design while creating an open and accessible public space

A human-induced landscape of fear influences foraging behavior of brown bears

Animals adapt their foraging behavior to variations in food availability and predation risk. In Sweden, brown bears (Ursus arctos) depend on a nearly continuous intake of berries, especially bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) during late summer and early autumn to fatten up prior to hibernation. This overlaps with the bear hunting season that starts on 21 August. Bilberry occurrence varies across space, as does human-induced mortality risk. Here, we hypothesize that brown bears select for areas with a high probability of bilberry occurrence across a boreal forest ecosystem in Sweden (H1), and that human-induced mortality risk reduces bear selection for bilberries (H2). In addition, we hypothesized that bears that survived the hunting season avoided bilberry areas associated with high risk, whereas bears that were later killed selected more strongly for berries and less against risk prior to the hunting season (H3). To evaluate our hypotheses, we used resource selection functions to contrast bear GPS relocation data (N = 35, 2012–2015) and random positions within the bearś home range with generalized linear mixed effect models against two focal variables: a map predicting bilberry occurrence and a map predicting human-induced mortality risk. We found that bears selected for areas with a high probability of bilberry occurrence (supporting H1), but avoided these areas if they were associated with and high risk of hunting mortality (supporting H2). The killed and surviving bears did not differ in their selection for bilberries, but they did differ in their selection against risk (partially supporting H3). Surviving bears strongly avoided high risk areas, whereas killed bears responded less to risk and selected for high-risk areas with a low probability of bilberry occurrence. This suggests that killed bears selected for other food sources than berries in high risk areas, which exposed them to human hunters. We conclude that bears respond to a landscape of fear during the berry season and that different foraging strategies may have a direct impact on individual mortality during the hunting season.acceptedVersio

Sequence variant at 4q25 near PITX2 associates with appendicitis.

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 FilesAppendicitis is one of the most common conditions requiring acute surgery and can pose a threat to the lives of affected individuals. We performed a genome-wide association study of appendicitis in 7,276 Icelandic and 1,139 Dutch cases and large groups of controls. In a combined analysis of the Icelandic and Dutch data, we detected a single signal represented by an intergenic variant rs2129979 [G] close to the gene PITX2 associating with increased risk of appendicitis (OR = 1.15, P = 1.8 × 10(-11)). We only observe the association in patients diagnosed in adulthood. The marker is close to, but distinct from, a set of markers reported to associate with atrial fibrillation, which have been linked to PITX2. PITX2 has been implicated in determination of right-left symmetry during development. Anomalies in organ arrangement have been linked to increased prevalence of gastrointestinal and intra-abdominal complications, which may explain the effect of rs2129979 on appendicitis risk

VII Scandinavian Copd Research Symposium, Holmenkollen, Oslo 18th-19th November 2016

Peer reviewe

The bacterial stressosome:a modular system that has been adapted to control secondary messenger signaling

SummaryThe stressosome complex regulates downstream effectors in response to environmental signals. In Bacillus subtilis, it activates the alternative sigma factor σB, leading to the upregulation of the general stress regulon. Herein, we characterize a stressosome-regulated biochemical pathway in Moorella thermoacetica. We show that the presumed sensor, MtR, and the scaffold, MtS, form a pseudo-icosahedral structure like that observed in B. subtilis. The N-terminal domain of MtR is structurally homologous to B. subtilis RsbR, despite low sequence identity. The affinity of the switch kinase, MtT, for MtS decreases following MtS phosphorylation and not because of structural reorganization. Dephosphorylation of MtS by the PP2C type phosphatase MtX permits the switch kinase to rebind the stressosome to reset the response. We also show that MtT regulates cyclic di-GMP biosynthesis through inhibition of a GG(D/E)EF-type diguanylate cyclase, demonstrating that secondary messenger levels are regulated by the stressosome

Extended analysis of a genome-wide association study in primary sclerosing cholangitis detects multiple novel risk loci.

A limited number of genetic risk factors have been reported in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). To discover further genetic susceptibility factors for PSC, we followed up on a second tier of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from a genome-wide association study (GWAS). We analyzed 45 SNPs in 1221 PSC cases and 3508 controls. The association results from the replication analysis and the original GWAS (715 PSC cases and 2962 controls) were combined in a meta-analysis comprising 1936 PSC cases and 6470 controls. We performed an analysis of bile microbial community composition in 39 PSC patients by 16S rRNA sequencing. Seventeen SNPs representing 12 distinct genetic loci achieved nominal significance (p(replication) <0.05) in the replication. The most robust novel association was detected at chromosome 1p36 (rs3748816; p(combined)=2.1 × 10(-8)) where the MMEL1 and TNFRSF14 genes represent potential disease genes. Eight additional novel loci showed suggestive evidence of association (p(repl) <0.05). FUT2 at chromosome 19q13 (rs602662; p(comb)=1.9 × 10(-6), rs281377; p(comb)=2.1 × 10(-6) and rs601338; p(comb)=2.7 × 10(-6)) is notable due to its implication in altered susceptibility to infectious agents. We found that FUT2 secretor status and genotype defined by rs601338 significantly influence biliary microbial community composition in PSC patients. We identify multiple new PSC risk loci by extended analysis of a PSC GWAS. FUT2 genotype needs to be taken into account when assessing the influence of microbiota on biliary pathology in PSC.Norwegian PSC Research Center German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the National Genome Research Network (NGFN) Integrated Research and Treatment Center - Transplantation 01EO0802 PopGen biobank NIH DK 8496

Coding variants in RPL3L and MYZAP increase risk of atrial fibrillation

Source at https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-018-0068-9. Most sequence variants identified hitherto in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of atrial fibrillation are common, non-coding variants associated with risk through unknown mechanisms. We performed a meta-analysis of GWAS of atrial fibrillation among 29,502 cases and 767,760 controls from Iceland and the UK Biobank with follow-up in samples from Norway and the US, focusing on low-frequency coding and splice variants aiming to identify causal genes. We observe associations with one missense (OR = 1.20) and one splice-donor variant (OR = 1.50) in RPL3L, the first ribosomal gene implicated in atrial fibrillation to our knowledge. Analysis of 167 RNA samples from the right atrium reveals that the splice-donor variant in RPL3L results in exon skipping. We also observe an association with a missense variant in MYZAP (OR = 1.38), encoding a component of the intercalated discs of cardiomyocytes. Both discoveries emphasize the close relationship between the mechanical and electrical function of the heart