Bridging knowledge gaps in fish health management through education, research, and biosecurity

Education, research, and biosecurity have global recognition as strong pillars of sustainable aquaculture development. In many developing countries, insufficient knowledge and awareness among stakeholders regarding the relevance of education, research, and biosecurity have influenced aquaculture sustainability negatively. To uncover the gaps in education, research, and biosecurity practices in aquatic animal health management, we conducted a questionnaire-based study in various East and West African countries. By adopting the methodology of self-reporting data, we invited a significant number of individuals to participate in the study. In the end, 88 respondents contributed, with the majority from Ghana (47) and Kenya (20), and 21 respondents from five other East and West African nations. The results revealed substantial educational gaps, including the need for practical training in aquatic animal health management, nutrition, and genetics. Respondents also emphasized the importance of creating additional national aquaculture research institutions and augmented funding to enable them to address industry needs. Governments of the represented nations should actively intervene by providing the essential logistics and capacity to support aquaculture research and development. Informed government involvement is paramount for bridging the disconnection among all stakeholders, as revealed in the results. Furthermore, the lack of biosecurity measures and the understanding of the importance of biosecurity measures in the industry addressed through awareness creation. Creating awareness on biosecurity underpinned with national aquaculture biosecurity policies can prevent disease incidences in the industry. The outcomes of this study can serve as a vital working document to enhance aquatic animal health management in East and West Africa, thereby fostering sustainable and resilient aquaculture

Evaluering av Aibel

Evaluation of Risk Management and risk process: “ Can Aibel improve their process of Risk Management? Risk Management is a control system to provide or reduce risk elements in an organisation. The system contains procedures and standards to follow, and our research is based on topics like communication, employee’s knowledge and internal processes at Aibel. In-depth interviews among ten of Aibels current employees gave us thorough material to analyse towards theory including standards. Our result describes an organisation that the majority of those that are involved in risk management are familiar and satisfied to the formal procedure that exists at Aibel, but there are rooms for improvements due to the process, procedure as well as the communication according to the internal system called Lotus Notes

Availability and access in modern obstetric care: a retrospective population-based study

Objective: To assess the availability of obstetric institutions, the risk of unplanned delivery outside an institution and maternal morbidity in a national setting in which the number of institutions declined from 95 to 51 during 30 years. Design: Retrospective population-based, three cohorts and two cross-sectional analyses. Setting: Census data, Statistics Norway. The Medical Birth Registry of Norway from 1979 to 2009. Population: Women (15–49 years), 2000 (n=1 050 269) and 2010 (n=1 127 665). Women who delivered during the period 1979–2009 (n=1 807 714). Methods: Geographic Information Systems software for travel zone calculations. Cross-table and multiple logistic regression analysis of change over time and regional differences. World Health Organization Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmOC) indicators. Main outcome measures: Proportion of women living outside the 1-hour travel zone to obstetric institutions. Risk of unplanned delivery outside obstetric institutions. Maternal morbidity. Results: The proportion of women living outside the 1-hour zone for all obstetric institutions increased from 7.9% to 8.8% from 2000 to 2010 (relative risk, 1.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.11– 1.12), and for emergency obstetric care from 11.0% to 12.1% (relative risk, 1.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.09–1.11). The risk of unplanned delivery outside institutions increased from 0.4% in 1979–83 to 0.7% in 2004–09 (adjusted odds ratio, 2.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.9–2.2). Maternal morbidity increased from 1.7% in 2000 to 2.2% in 2009 (adjusted odds ratio, 1.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.2–1.5) and the regional differences increased. Conclusions: The availability of and access to obstetric institutions was reduced and we did not observe the expected decrease in maternal morbidity following the centralisation

Er bærekraft lønnsomt? : en studie av sammenhengen mellom bærekraft og lønnsomhet i selskaper notert på Oslo Børs

Formålet med denne studien er å utvide forståelsen av forholdet mellom bærekraft og finansielle prestasjoner i dagens samfunn. Verden står i dag overfor store miljø- og samfunnsutfordringer, og det forventes i større grad enn før at bedrifter tar sin del av ansvaret for å håndtere utfordringene. Samtidig streber bedrifter etter å oppnå lønnsomhet i markeder som er i stadig utvikling, og balansen mellom å drive ansvarlig og lønnsomt synes å være utfordrende for mange bedrifter. Med studien ønsker vi å bidra med innsikt i hvordan ansvarlighet og lønnsomhet kan forenes gjennom å undersøke hvorvidt det er en positiv sammenheng mellom de initiativer norske selskaper iverksetter for å sikre bærekraft, og selskapenes lønnsomhet. For å undersøke sammenhengen blir det utført analyser basert på data innhentet gjennom en spørreundersøkelse sendt til selskaper notert på Oslo Børs, samt nøkkeltall fra en lønnsomhetsanalyse av selskapene. Studien bekrefter at det eksisterer en positiv sammenheng mellom bærekraft og lønnsomhet i norske selskaper. Videre finner studien at selskaper som integrerer bærekraft i sin forretningsmodell oppnår lønnsomhet. Aspekter som er av betydning for et selskaps lønnsomhet er en engasjert ledelse, å integrere bærekraft i strategi og å integrere bærekraft i kjerneaktivitet. Studien indikerer videre at selskaper har en vilje og et engasjement for å bli mer bærekraftige, men vitner om at ledelsen i selskaper kan ha et noe feil fokus hva gjelder hvilke initiativer og løsninger som er nødvendige for å oppnå lønnsomhet som følge av bærekraft. Grunnet en liten utvalgsstørrelse gjelder studiens funn kun for utvalget, men vi anser det likevel som sannsynlig at funnene kan gjøres gjeldende for øvrige selskaper notert på Oslo Børs. Studien kan ikke konkludere med hvorvidt det er bærekraftige initiativer som fører til lønnsomhet, eller om det er lønnsomme selskaper som iverksetter bærekraftige initiativer. Til tross for dette gir imidlertid studien innsikt i hvordan norske selskaper kan gjøre bærekraftig ytelse til økonomisk ytelse, og den kan ses på som et nyttig bidrag til litteratur om bærekraftig utvikling.nhhma

Increased risk of peripartum perinatal mortality in unplanned births outside an institution: a retrospective population-based study

Background: Births in midwife-led institutions may reduce the frequency of medical interventions and provide cost-effective care, while larger institutions offer medically and technically advanced obstetric care. Unplanned births outside an institution and intrapartum stillbirths have frequently been excluded in previous studies on adverse outcomes by place of birth. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess peripartum mortality by place of birth and travel time to obstetric institutions, with the hypothesis that centralization reduces institution availability but improves mortality. Study Design: This was a national population-based retrospective cohort study of all births in Norway from 1999 to 2009 (n = 648,555) using data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway and Statistics Norway and including births from 22 gestational weeks or birthweight ≥500 g. Main exposures were travel time to the nearest obstetric institution and place of birth. The main clinical outcome was peripartum mortality, defined as death during birth or within 24 hours. Intrauterine fetal deaths prior to start of labor were excluded from the primary outcome. Results: A total of 1586 peripartum deaths were identified (2.5 per 1000 births). Unplanned birth outside an institution had a 3 times higher mortality (8.4 per 1000) than institutional births (2.4 per 1000), relative risk, 3.5 (95% confidence interval, 2.5–4.9) and contributed 2% (95% confidence interval, 1.2–3.0%) of the peripartum mortality at the population level. The risk of unplanned birth outside an institution increased from 0.5% to 3.3% and 4.5% with travel time 2 hours, respectively. In obstetric institutions the mortality rate at term ranged from 0.7 per 1000 to 0.9 per 1000. Comparable mortality rates in different obstetric institutions indicated well-functioning routines for referral. Conclusion: Unplanned birth outside an institution was associated with increased peripartum mortality and with long travel time to obstetric institutions. Structural determinants have an important impact on perinatal health in high-income countries and also for low-risk births. The results show the importance of skilled birth attendance and warrant attention from clinicians and policy makers to negative consequences of reduced access to institutions

Relationship between fecal content of fatty acids and cyclooxygenase mRNA expression and fatty acid composition in duodenal biopsies, serum lipoproteins, and dietary fat in colectomized familial adenomatous polyposis patients

A few familial adenomatous polyposis studies have focused upon faecal sterols and bile acids but none has analysed the fecal content of fatty acids. We report here findings of an observational study on 29 colectomized familial adenomatous polyposis patients that describe the fecal content of fatty acids, and relate this to the proportions of fatty acids and levels of cyclooxygenase mRNA expression in duodenal biopsies, levels of serum lipoproteins, and diet. In the ileostomy group separately (n = 12), the fecal content of arachidonic acid was correlated negatively to the proportions of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in duodenal biopsies. Total serum-cholesterol was negatively correlated to the fecal content of saturates and monounsaturates. The fecal palmitoleic acid/palmitic acid ratio was positively correlated to the levels of cyclooxygease-2 expression in duodenal biopsies.In the ileal-pouch-anal anastomosis group separately (n = 17), significant correlations were found between the fecal contents of oleic acid, linoleic acid, and alpha-linolenic acid, and the proportions of myristic acid, oleic acid and eicosaenoic acid in duodenal biopsies. Dietary monounsaturates were positively correlated to different fecal fatty acids. Future studies should focus on molecular mechanisms relevant to fatty acid metabolism, inflammation, and angiogenesis, in addition to nutritio

Selective COX-2 inhibition affects fatty acids, but not COX mRNA expression in patients with FAP

Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) provides a model for sporadic colorectal cancer development. Cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibition may ameliorate polyp development, but rofecoxib was withdrawn due to cardiovascular side effects. Although this selective COX-2 inhibitor, like diet, may alter the fatty acid and eicosanoid pattern, data on the potential alteration in tissues after use, are scarce. The aims were to study if rofecoxib might influence the fatty acid distribution in serum phospholipids and duodenal lesions, mRNA for COX-1 and COX-2 in leucocytes and duodenal lesions, and finally plasma levels of PGE2 in a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study (n = 38). Significant reductions were found for essential fatty acid index both in serum phospholipids (P = 0.01, 95% CI = -0.9; -0.1), and in duodenal lesions (P = 0.04, 95 CI % = -0.9; -0.1) after treatment. No treatment effects were found on the COX mRNA expression, or in the plasma PGE2 levels. Dietary AA/EPA ratio was inversely associated with all the indicators of EFA status (all P\0.01). These findings suggest that the effects of COX chemoprevention should be further investigated in FAP and that dietary needs should be included in the treatment of FA

Relationship between fecal content of fatty acids and cyclooxygenase mRNA expression and fatty acid composition in duodenal biopsies, serum lipoproteins, and dietary fat in colectomized familial adenomatous polyposis patients

A few familial adenomatous polyposis studies have focused upon faecal sterols and bile acids but none has analysed the fecal content of fatty acids. We report here findings of an observational study on 29 colectomized familial adenomatous polyposis patients that describe the fecal content of fatty acids, and relate this to the proportions of fatty acids and levels of cyclooxygenase mRNA expression in duodenal biopsies, levels of serum lipoproteins, and diet. In the ileostomy group separately (n = 12), the fecal content of arachidonic acid was correlated negatively to the proportions of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in duodenal biopsies. Total serum-cholesterol was negatively correlated to the fecal content of saturates and monounsaturates. The fecal palmitoleic acid/palmitic acid ratio was positively correlated to the levels of cyclooxygease-2 expression in duodenal biopsies.In the ileal-pouch-anal anastomosis group separately (n = 17), significant correlations were found between the fecal contents of oleic acid, linoleic acid, and alpha-linolenic acid, and the proportions of myristic acid, oleic acid and eicosaenoic acid in duodenal biopsies. Dietary monounsaturates were positively correlated to different fecal fatty acids. Future studies should focus on molecular mechanisms relevant to fatty acid metabolism, inflammation, and angiogenesis, in addition to nutritio