Skydd mot nitrat och bekämpningsmedel i dricksvatten : åtgärder och styrmedel i fem länder

In many European countries there is an increasing concern about the occasionally high concentrations of nitrate and pesticides in drinking water. The advent of the EU Water Framework Directive particularly highlights this. The directive states that all large drinking water sources should be identified and protected from pollution before 2009 and that by 2015 all water bodies should reach a 'good status'. In Sweden about 60 percent of the drinking water sources have protection areas. This means that about 700 new water protection areas need to be designated before 2009. This will affect many farmers, restricting their farming practices. The purpose of this study was to investigate which methods are used in other countries concerning nitrate and pesticide pollution from agriculture. From this, the expectation was to generate ideas on what could be undertaken in Sweden when designating new protection areas. Countries included in the study were Denmark, Finland, Germany, the United Kingdom and the northeast part of the USA. Denmark and Finland were dealt with as whole nations, whereas in Germany, United Kingdom and USA the focus was on individual states or regions. (Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, England and Wales in the UK and the Mid-Atlantic region in the USA.) Information has been collected from literature, Internet and through contacts with authorities, companies and organisations in the different countries. The results indicate that measures to reduce nitrate and pesticide pollution from agriculture are similar, while the method of implementing these measures differs from one country to another. A list of common measures can be seen in table 1. Nearly all of the measures are also used in Sweden. Still, there are many methods of implementing that are worth considering as alternatives to these used in Sweden. For example, in some of the countries studied, the farmers' right to compensation is stronger than in Sweden. There are also many examples of co-operations between agriculture and water suppliers and in some countries voluntary action programmes play a more important part compared to Sweden. All five countries have some type of statutory water protection areas. In Germany cooperative agreements between farmers and water suppliers are quite common. Lower Saxony has a co-operation model where water suppliers, authorities and land users work together to deal with drinking water protection on a local scale. The regional authorities in Denmark are currently working on action plans for all large drinking water supplies. Measures in these action plans should preferably be carried out on a voluntary basis such as through co-operative agreements between farmers and water suppliers. In Finland, restrictions in ground water protection areas are not mandatory and there is not much focus on agriculture since it is not considered a major source of pollution. Most farms in Finland are involved in some of the agri-environmental schemes and this, together with legislation, is considered enough for protecting water supplies. In England, statutory water protection areas have only been used once. Instead the Environmental Agency has designated non-regulatory protection areas for groundwater sources. Often voluntary action programs are preferred to legislation and there are many such programs and agri-environmental schemes directed at the protection of natural resources in England. In the USA, each state is responsible for completing assessments for public water systems. This is comparable to the work undertaken by the EU Water Framework Directive. Action programs for source water protection are not statutory, but are strongly encouraged by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Extension services, agri-environmental schemes and Best Management Practices are important measures in reducing the impact of nitrate and pesticides from agriculture to water sources. Cooperations within watersheds between agriculture, authorities, water suppliers and different organisations have been successful and will probably be used more frequently in the future.Många länder i Europa har problem med för höga halter av nitrat och bekämpningsmedel i dricksvatten. Frågan är speciellt aktuell i och med införandet av EU:s ramdirektiv för vatten. I Sverige saknar många dricksvattentäkter skydd och före år 2009 ska cirka 700 nya vattenskyddsområden ha inrättats för att uppfylla direktivet. Detta kommer att påverka många jordbrukare vars odlingsmöjligheter begränsas. Syftet med detta arbete har varit att kartlägga vilka metoder som används för att skydda dricksvatten mot förorening av nitrat och bekämpningsmedel från jordbruket i andra länder, samt att från detta få idéer om vad som kan göras i Sverige vid införandet av nya vattenskyddsområden. De länder som ingick i studien var Danmark, Finland, Tyskland, Storbritannien, samt nordöstra USA. Arbetet har genomförts genom litteraturstudier, Internetsökningar och kontakt med olika myndigheter, företag och organisationer i respektive land. Resultatet av sammanställningen visar att åtgärder för att minska jordbrukets påverkan på dricksvattenkvaliteten oftast är desamma, medan sätten att genomföra åtgärderna på skiljer sig åt mellan de olika länderna. De flesta åtgärder och även många styrmedel används också i Sverige. Andra styrmedel skulle kunna anpassas till svenska förhållanden. I några länder är markägares rätt till ersättning starkare än i Sverige. Det finns också många exempel på samarbeten mellan vattenverk eller myndigheter och lantbruket, samt länder där frivilliga åtgärdsprogram har stor betydelse. Detta är metoder som skulle kunna användas i större omfattning även i Sverige

Krukväxter med mervärde till dagligvaruhandeln

The supermarkets are taking more and more market shares for potted plants the last years, and a greater part is bought without prior planning. Signals from several European countries, for example Denmark and UK, indicate that potted plants with added value have become more and more popular and the added value is based on present trends. The meaning of added value in this thesis is fancy pots, packaging, pins or arrangements. Potted plants with added value sold in supermarkets offer the consumer the advantage of getting a "ready product" quick and easy. The "ready product" can fulfil the need of a gift or the wish to decorate the home in a trendy way. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the value chain from grower to supermarket from a grower perspective. The purpose is also to investigate how the concept potted plants with added value is regarded by the different actors in the value chain, and the supermarkets demand in order to include this product category. The thesis is a result from seven in depth interviews, several telephone- and mail contacts, and material from business news magazines. The conclusion is that the supermarkets are very interested in increasing the product category potted plants with added value. The demands the supermarkets put on their suppliers are high including lowest price, very high quality and high logistic performance. I order to facilitate for the grower to reach the supermarket and gain value on the potted plants with added value, four proposed solutions are given in the end of the work.Krukväxter säljs i allt större utsträckning genom dagligvaruhandeln, och merparten köps på impuls. Dessutom märks tydliga signaler från bland annat Danmark och England att krukväxter med added value (mervärde) har blivit allt mer populärt, och det tillförda mervärdet i stor utsträckning baserar sig på tidens trender. Med added value avses i detta arbete en krukväxt med ytterkruka, pynt eller samplantering med en eller flera växter. En krukväxt med added value i dagligvaruhandeln ger konsumenten en möjlighet att på ett snabbt och smidigt sätt köpa en ”färdig produkt” vilken kan användas som presentblomma eller en del av den egna heminredningen. Syftet med detta arbete har varit att kartlägga hur värdekedjan ser ut från odlaren till dagligvaruhandeln sett ur ett odlarperspektiv. Avsikten har också varit att belysa de olika aktörernas syn på krukväxter med added value och vad som krävs för att dagligvaruhandeln skall vara intresserade av denna produktkategori. Uppsatsen är ett resultat av sju djupintervjuer, ett flertal telefon- och mailkontakter och information från olika branschtidningar. Slutsatsen är att det finns ett uttalat intresse från dagligvaruhandeln att öka produktkategorin krukväxter med added value. De ställer höga krav på leverantörerna som måste kunna leverera till lägsta pris, garantera hög kvalité och god leveranssäkerhet. I arbetet beskrivs slutligen fyra möjliga modeller för hur odlare skulle kunna nå dagligvaruhandeln med krukväxter med added value och därmed kunna ta del av värdeökningen som krukväxterna får

A Five-year Follow-up of Quality of Life in Women with Breast Cancer in Anthroposophic and Conventional Care

Complementary and alternative medicine is used by many cancer patients in most parts of the world, and its use is increasing. The aim of the present study was to examine, over 5 years, the perceived quality of life/life satisfaction in two samples of women with breast cancer who were treated with anthroposophic care or conventional medical treatment only. Data from admission, after 1 year and after 5 years are used for the comparisons. On admission to the study the women in anthroposophic care perceived their quality of life to be lower than that of the women in the conventional treatment group, especially for emotional, cognitive and social functioning and overall quality of life. Sixty women who actively chose treatment with anthroposophic medicine and 60 individually matched women treated with conventional medicine participated. Quality of life was measured by the EORTC QLQ-C30 and the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire. Twenty-six women within anthroposophic care and 31 women within conventional medicine survived the 5 years. Effect size (ES) estimation favored the anthroposophic group in seven of the subscales mostly measuring emotional functioning. The ES for four of the subscales favored the conventional treatment group, mostly concerning physical functioning. After 5 years there were improvements in overall quality of life and in emotional and social functioning compared to admission for the women in anthroposophic care. The improvements took place between admission and 1 year, but not further on. Only minor improvements were found in the matching group

Bedömnings-, dokumentationspraktiker och pedagogiska identiteter

When competition and an increasing level of marketisation characterises school life, the number of evaluations and the level of control has grown out of proportion. Through comparisons, assessments and ranking systems, also called ‘the terrors of performativity’ according to Ball (2003) commercial agents have gained influence over practices of assessment and documentation within the education system. Increased demands on pupils’ and parents’ participation and a belief that written documentation will lead to better results has caused an extensive use of different web based tools like Unikum. With the point of departure in a collected material of more than a hundred Individual Educations Plans (IEP) where commercial web based tools have been used, we make an analysis with Basil Bernstein’s (1996, 2000) concepts Pedagogic Identity, and Instructional and Regulative discourse in relation to expectations and constructions manifest in the plans. The results show that all four identities are expressed in the plans however, with an emphasis on a neo-liberal identity. We discuss the results in relation to the instructional and regulative discourses. The conclusion is that the tools both shape and determine possible identities and possible discourses in the web based interaction between children, parents and teachers

Investigation of new brominated and organophosphorous flame retardants in Svalbard benthic marine food web; FlammePlank

Project manager Pernilla CarlssonThe aim of this pilot-study was to use silicone rubber-based passive samplers to measure novel brominated flame retardants (nBFRs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and dechlorane plus (DP) in seawater and air around Longyearbyen as well as investigate the presence of those compounds in sediment and biota (amphipods, Gammarus spp.) nearby Longyearbyen. Passive samplers require no electricity and provide an integrated picture of the levels of the targeted compounds over time. The results were combined with the sampled sediment and Gammarus spp. to assess concentrations in the environment. Out of all substances under study, PBDE-47 and -99, α- and β- tetrabromoethylcyclohexane (TBECH), syn- and anti-DP were detected in all investigated matrices. Freely dissolved water concentrations of ΣDPs (3 pg/L) were in line with recent Arctic studies, while ΣPBDEs (3 pg/L) were comparable to urban rivers in southern Norway. Nevertheless, for some compounds, especially the lighter and most volatile ones, long-range transport is most likely a more important contribution to observed levels than local sources. For other compounds, e.g. PBDEs, local sources might still play a role for the load of contaminants into the surrounding environment. The present study is the first to report a suit of nBFRs and DPs in Arctic benthic fauna. Many of the nBFRs and DPs were detected in sediment and in the amphipods. We recommend further studies with respect to measurements of concentrations over time, and in other species as well, to better understand whether the nBFRs and DPs are common in the marine environment on Svalbard. We recommend that local sources of flame retardants in remote areas receive more attention in the future.Svalbard miljøvernfondpublishedVersio

Tilbakemeldinger til sykepleiestudenter i praksis : Prosjektrapport 2015-2016

Ortopedisk sengepost har gjennom flere år drevet kontinuerlig forbedringsarbeid for å heve kvalitet til studentveiledning i praksis og samarbeidet med Høgskolen i Innlandet. Det allerede veletablert samarbeidet førte til at ortopedisk sengepost våren 2014 søkte på samarbeidsprosjektmidler ved Høgskolen i Innlandet. De søkte om et fagutviklingsprosjekt for å kunne utarbeide et skriftlig tilbakemeldingsskjema til bruk for studenter ved ortopedisk sengepost. Det var en utfordring for både studenter og daglige veiledere med å bruke det eksisterende skjema fokus for uken og arbeidsplan. Bakgrunn for prosjektet var et ønske å kunne gi studenter mer individuell og tilpasset tilbakemeldinger samt et ønske om mer refleksjon og læring. Studentveiledning er et prioritert område fra avdelingens ledelse og fagutviklingssykepleier i gjennom flere år. Hovedveiledermodellen er veletablert og mange av sykepleierne har formell veilederutdanning. Gode rutiner i avdelingen er etablert med en praksismodell som organiserer studentteam for studenter i 6. semester praksis. Det vurderes også muligheter for etablering av studentteam med 3. semester studenter. Et kriterium for praksisprosjektets gjennomføring er at studentene i praksis skal være delaktige i prosjektet. Sykepleierstudentene i praksis har deltatt ved å dele sine erfaringer med skriftlig tilbakemeldinger gjennom refleksjonsnotater og fokusgruppeintervju. Sykepleierne på ortopedisk sengepost har delt sine erfaringer gjennom fokusgruppeintervju. Praksisprosjektet har sin formelle oppstart januar 2015 og ble avsluttet desember 2015

Perfluoroalkyl substances in circum-ArcticRangifer: caribou and reindeer

Livers of caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) from Canada (n = 146), Greenland (n = 30), Svalbard (n = 7), and Sweden (n = 60) were analyzed for concentrations of eight perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids and four perfluoroalkane sulfonic acids. In Canadian caribou, PFNA (range < 0.01–7.4 ng/g wet weight, ww) and PFUnDA (<0.01–5.6 ng/g ww) dominated, whereas PFOS predominated in samples from South Greenland, Svalbard, and Sweden, although the highest concentrations were found in caribou from Southwest Greenland (up to 28 ng/g ww). We found the highest median concentrations of all PFAS except PFHxS in Akia-Maniitsoq caribou (Southwest Greenland, PFOS 7.2–19 ng/g ww, median 15 ng/g ww). The highest concentrations of ΣPFAS were also found in Akia-Maniitoq caribou (101 ng/g ww) followed by the nearby Kangerlussuaq caribou (45 ng/g ww), where the largest airport in Greenland is situated, along with a former military base. Decreasing trends in concentrations were seen for PFOS in the one Canadian and three Swedish populations. Furthermore, PFNA, PFDA, PFUnDA, PFDoDA, and PFTrDA showed decreasing trends in Canada’s Porcupine caribou between 2005 and 2016. In Sweden, PFHxS increased in the reindeer from Norrbotten between 2003 and 2011. The reindeer from Västerbotten had higher concentrations of PFNA and lower concentrations of PFHxS in 2010 compared to 2002. Finally, we observed higher concentrations in 2010 compared to 2002 (albeit statistically insignificant) for PFHxS in Jämtland, while PFNA, PFDA, PFUnDA, PFDoDA, and PFTrDA showed no difference at all.publishedVersio

Screening av nye PFAS-stoffer 2018

This screening project has focused on the occurrence of conventional andemerging PFASs in terrestrial and marine environments, including the Arctic. Conventional PFASs were found to be wide-spread in the environment and for the first time in Norway reported in wolf, a top predator from the terrestrial environment.Otters living in close proximity to human settlements and preying on the marine food chain,are heavily contaminated with PFASs. Areas where ski-testing activitiesare common are a potential “hotspot” where PFASs can enter the food chain. The difference in PFAS-profile between the samples indicatesthat the diversity in samples are necessary to reveal the complete picture of PFASs in the environment

Transcriptional profiling of breast cancer metastases identifies liver metastasis-selective genes associated with adverse outcome in luminal A primary breast cancer.

The complete molecular basis of the organ-specificity of metastasis is elusive. This study aimed to provide an independent characterization of the transcriptional landscape of breast cancer metastases with the specific objective to identify liver metastasis-selective genes of prognostic importance following primary tumor diagnosis