Should Norway intervene? : a discourse analytical approach to Norway's "policy" on military interventions 1999-2011

Since 1999 Norway has participated in three military interventions and refused to participate in a fourth. This thesis explores how Norway’s participation in military intervention has been made possible and whether there is a Norwegian policy on military interventions. It adopts a discourse analytical approach as a theoretical basis and as a method. By examining a broad range of texts on the debates on Norway’s participation in interventions it seeks to identify a dominant representation of the circumstances under which Norway will participate. Contrary to what one might expect this thesis finds that it is not possible to identify one coherent discourse on military intervention in Norway or a dominant representation of circumstances under which Norway will participate. Therefore it is not possible to identify a Norwegian policy on military intervention, which makes it difficult to predict Norway’s position in future questions of participation in military interventions. However, the intervention discourse does not appear “out of the blue” whenever a new intervention is debated. Throughout the various interventions we find three main recurrent elements: NATO membership, promotion of the UN and promotion of universal human rights. Through the use of a layered framework these can be understood as fairly permanent construction of principles on which Norwegian foreign policy is based (the strategic level) that are more deeply rooted in constructions on national security and Norwegian self-images (idea level). Although we cannot predict future decisions based on the analysis of the intervention discourse, the layered framework indicates that some representations are more fundamental than others. Thus, actors will have to argue within the frames set on levels one and two: they must provide proper constructions of NATO, the UN and humanitarianism. Consequently Norwegian participation in any future intervention will have to provide proper representations of promotion of international law and the UN, Norway’s obligations to NATO and the allies and offer a proper representation of humanitarian concerns. Otherwise, we can expect a shift in the discourse with, changes in the more fundamental construction of Norwegian foreign policy and/or serious political consequences for any actor that seeks to promote a policy which cannot be argued within the frames of continuity

Remission, continuation and incidence of eating disorders during early pregnancy: a validation study in a population-based birth cohort

Background—The objective of this study was to validate previously published rates of remission, continuation, and incidence of broadly defined eating disorders during pregnancy. The previous rate modeling was done by our group (Bulik et al. 2007) and yielded participants halfway into recruitment of the planned 100,000 pregnancies in the Norwegian Mother and Child (MoBa) Cohort at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. This study aimed to internally validate the findings with the completed cohort. Methods—77267 pregnant women enrolled at 17 weeks gestation between 2001 and 2009 were included. Participants were split into a “training” sample (n=41243) based on participants in the MoBa version 2 dataset of the original study and a “validation” sample (n=36024) comprising individuals in the MoBa version 5 dataset that were not in the original study (Bulik et al. 2007). Internal validation of all original rate models involved fitting a calibration model to compare model parameters between the “training” and “validation” samples as well as bootstrap estimates of bias in the entire version 5 dataset. Results—Remission, continuation, and incidence estimates from the “training” sample remained stable when evaluated via a split sample validation procedure. Pre-pregnancy prevalence estimates in the “validation” sample were 0.1% for anorexia nervosa, 1.0% for bulimia nervosa (BN), 3.3% for binge eating disorder (BED), and 0.1% for purging disorder (EDNOS-P). In early pregnancy, estimates were 0.2% for BN, 4.8% for BED, and <0.01% for EDNOS-P. Consistent with the original study, incident BN and EDNOS-P during pregnancy were rare. For BED, the adjusted incidence rate in the “validation” sample was 1.17 per 1000 person-weeks. The highest rates were for full or partial remission for BN and EDNOS-P, and continuation for BED. Conclusions—This study provides evidence of validity of previously estimated rates of remission, continuation, and incidence of eating disorders during pregnancy. Eating disorders during pregnancy were relatively common, occurring in nearly 1 in every 20 women, although almost all were cases of BED. Pregnancy was a window of remission from BN but a window of vulnerability for onset and continuation of BED. Training to detect the signs and symptoms of eating disorders by obstetricians/gynecologists and interventions to enhance pregnancy and neonatal outcomes warrant attention

Factors associated with binge eating disorder in pregnancy

To identify factors associated with incidence and course of broadly defined binge eating disorder (BED) in pregnancy

Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy in women with bulimia nervosa and eating disorders not otherwise specified

To explore the prevalence of pregnancy related nausea (PN) and vomiting (PV), and hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), in women with bulimia nervosa (BN) and EDNOS purging subtype (EDNOS-P)

Gestational weight gain of women with eating disorders in the Norwegian pregnancy cohort

To examine the amount of weight women with eating disorders (anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED)) gained during pregnancy and to evaluate the adequacy of total weight gain

Patterns of remission, continuation and incidence of broadly defined eating disorders during early pregnancy in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa)

We explored the course of broadly defined eating disorders during pregnancy in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health

Birth outcomes in women with eating disorders in the Norwegian Mother and Child cohort study (MoBa)

We explored the impact of eating disorders on birth outcomes in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa)

Healthcare Professional Training Regarding Gestational Weight Gain: Recommendations and Future Directions

Purpose of review The aim of this review was to summarise recent evaluations of healthcare professional training regarding gestational weight gain and provide recommendations for future training. Recent findings A number of evaluated healthcare professional training sessions regarding gestational weight gain show promising results in terms of increased participant confidence and knowledge and impact on women’s outcomes. It is clear that the interventions which have also implemented resources in the practice environment to support training are the ones most likely to influence gestational weight gain. Summary Support from healthcare professionals are key to influence pregnant women’s weight gain and should be offered within the standard curriculum and through mandatory training. Factors influencing this support include women’s and healthcare professional characteristics, interpersonal and healthcare system and policy factors. All of these need to be considered when developing healthcare professional training to support women with their gestational weight gain

Består rettssystemet bare av regler? : En diskusjon av Dworkins teori om rettsprinsippers rolle i rettssystemet

I hovedoppgaven drøfter jeg Dworkins teori om rettsprinsippers rolle i rettssystemet. Dworkins teori fremstår som en kritikk av rettspositivismen. Det sentrale poenget i Dworkins kritikk av rettspositivismens regel-model ("modell of rules") er at denne modellen ikke kan forklare sentrale sider ved rettsanvendelsen. Dworkins løsning er at det også eksisterer rettslige normer som ikke er regler, såkalte prinsipper. Dworkin stiller seg også kritisk til rettspositivismens strenge skille mellom retten og moralen. Dworkin anser ikke at det er noen slikt skarpt skille. Snarere er moralen en integrert del av rettssystemet, nettopp gjennom den funksjonen som prinsipper har. En av implikasjonene av Dworkins teori er at vurderinger med grunnlag i moralske teorier gjeninnføres som et element i rettssystemet. Fra denne vinkelen kan man altså se det slik at teorien har elementer av naturrettstenkning i seg. Jeg er skeptisk til de kriteriene for å sondre mellom regler og prinsipper som Dworkin presenterer. Spesielt vil jeg argumentere for at skillet mellom disse to kategoriene av normer ikke er av logisk karakter, slik Dworkin hevder. At skillet mellom regler og prinsipper synes å være er mindre skarpt enn det Dworkin antar får også konsekvenser for andre sider av Dworkins teori