imported berry mix cake suspected to be the source of infection in Norway

Ongoing hepatitis A outbreak in Europe 2013 to 2014

Exploring causal pathways of child behavior and maternal mental health in families with a child with congenital heart disease: a longitudinal study

BACKGROUND: A congenital heart defect (CHD) can increase the risk of mental health problems in affected children and their parents. The extent to which risk factors for these problems are shared in families or are specific to the individual family member is unclear. METHOD: Prospective data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa; n=93009) were linked with a nationwide CHD registry, and 408 children with CHD were identified. Mothers' reports on child internalizing problems and their own distress were assessed by questionnaires at child ages 6, 18 and 36 months. A structural model was applied to distinguish between familial (shared) factors and individual-specific factors for mental health problems. RESULTS: CHD was a substantial risk factor for problems in children and their mothers at all time points. CHD contributed on average 31% and 39% to the variance in children's and mothers' problems respectively. Both shared familial and individual-specific factors unique to CHD families contributed to risk for mental health problems. Whereas individual-specific risk factors contributed to the stability of problems in mothers, the effect of these factors lasted only a short time in children. Mutual influences over time were found between the mother's and the child's mental health at 18 and 36 months. CONCLUSIONS: The burden of CHD in a child is shared between family members but is also specific to the individual. This study points to a need for both an individual and a family-based approach to provide psychological support to children with CHD and their parent

The Benthic Chamber experiment in Storfjorden (Norway) 2005 - effects of CO2 on microbes, nanobenthos and meiofauna

Årsliste 2007Carbon capture and storage (CCS) either sub-seabed or in the ocean is considered among the options for reducing future emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere. Such storage does, however, introduce the possibility of CO2 leakage and interaction with marine fauna. It is therefore important to obtain knowledge on possible effects of CO2 that is introduced to the sea floor. Results from experiments on environmental effects of enhanced concentrations of CO2 at the sediment/water interface are presented. The key part of the project was the Japanese Benthic Chamber system (BC) developed to perform experiments with CO2 in sedimentary environments in situ. The BC is equipped with chambers which enclose sections of the sea floor. Two similar experiments were carried out at 400 m depth in Storfjorden, Norway in September, 2005. The pCO2 exposures in the water above the sediment in the chambers were programmed to maintain levels of approximately 5,000 µatm (pH=7.0) and 20,000 µatm (pH=6.3) respectively in two experimental chambers. The pCO2 in the third control chamber was 500 µatm (pH=7.8). This report gives a description of the experiment and the results from measured physical and chemical parameters (pH, NO3, NH4, SiO2 and oxygen) in the water overlying the sediment in the experimental chambers and biological responses (meiobenthos, nanobenthos, bacteria, Archaea, bacterial DNA and ATP, methane production, sulphate reduction) in the chamber sediments. The results from the different research groups and methods clearly show effects of elevated CO2 concentrations on biological processes such as reduced bacterial density and increased nanobenthos densities. Methane formation and sulphate reduction was favoured by the condition in the 5,000 µatm chamberRIT

In Utero Exposure to Maternal Tobacco Smoke and Subsequent Obesity, Hypertension, and Gestational Diabetes Among Women in The MoBa Cohort

Background: Environmental factors influencing the developmental origins of health and disease need to be identified and investigated. In utero exposure to tobacco smoke has been associated with obesity and a small increase in blood pressure in children; however, whether there is a corresponding increased risk of conditions such as diabetes and hypertension during adulthood remains unclear

Study of different subcooling control strategies in order to enhance the performance of a heat pump

[EN] The performance of vapor-compression systems working with subcritical refrigerants varies with the degree of subcooling. There is an optimal subcooling that maximizes efficiency. However, it depends on the operating conditions and the control of the system needs to be adapted. Most of the works available in literature are able to operate in optimal conditions only at the design point or if a system is designed to be able to adapt its subcooling, only complex control algorithms that usually are difficult to set and time-costly, are used. This work focuses on the study of the main variables influencing the optimal subcooling and analyzes two different control methodologies from the theoretical point of view. Based on the theoretical study a final control strategy is selected and tested experimentally. The reliability, stability and robustness of the selected strategy are experimentally demonstrated for a wide set of operating conditions. (c) 2018 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.Part of the work presented was carried by Estefania Hervas Blasco with the financial support of a PhD scholarship from the Spanish government SFPI1500 x 074478XV0. The authors would like also to acknowledge the Spanish 'MINISTERIO DE ECONOMIA Y COMPETITIVIDAD', through the project. "MAXIMIZACION DE LA EFICIENCIA Y MINIMIZACION DEL IMPACTO AMBIENTAL DE BOMBAS DE CALOR PARA LA DESCARBONIZACION DE LA CALEFACCION/ACS EN LOS EDIFICIOS DECONSUMO CASI NULO" with the reference ENE2017-83665-C2-1-P for the given support.Hervas-Blasco, E.; Pitarch, M.; Navarro-Peris, E.; Corberán, JM. (2018). Study of different subcooling control strategies in order to enhance the performance of a heat pump. International Journal of Refrigeration. 88:324-336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2018.02.003S3243368

Emotional reactivity in infants with congenital heart defects: findings from a large case-cohort study in Norway

AIM: Advances in medical treatment in recent years have led to dramatically improved survival rates of children with severe congenital heart defects (CHD). However, very little is known about the psychological consequences for these children, particularly during and after the early period of invasive treatment. In this study, we investigated the extent to which the severity of the CHD affects the child's emotional reactivity at 6 months of age. METHOD: We linked prospective data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health with a nationwide medical CHD registry and identified 212 infants with CHD in a cohort of 61 299 infants. Mothers reported on their child's emotional reactivity at age 6 months by means of a standardized questionnaire. RESULTS: Infants with severe to moderate CHD had 60% higher odds for severe emotional reactivity (cut-off at the 85 percentile) compared with healthy infants, after controlling for important maternal and child confounders. CONCLUSION: Our study is the first to show elevated emotional reactivity in children with moderate to severe CHD, suggesting a need for special parental attention to soothe their distress. Follow-up studies will show whether this emotional reactivity is transient or an early marker of continuing emotional or behavioural problems