Klarere språk i Fredrikstad og Sarpsborg

Kommunene Fredrikstad og Sarpsborg har jobbet med språket i brev som sendes ut fra oppvekstseksjonene i de to kommunene. Resultatet er fornøyde brukergrupper og færre henvendelser fra forvirrede mottakere. Denne suksessen skyldes godt samarbeid, bred forankring og at fag- og språkekspertise ble kombinert på en god måte i skrivearbeidet. SummaryThe municipalities of Fredrikstad and Sarpsborg have improved the wording of letters in the field of childhood and youth services. As a result, citizens are less confused, ask fewer questions and are happier with the municipalities’ services. This success is due to good co-operation, well-designed working groups combining both subject-matter and language experts, and the fact that the plain language work has a good foundation across the whole organisation

Trends in physical health complaints among adolescents from 2014 – 2019: Considering screen time, social media use, and physical activity

The rising rates of physical and mental health complaints among adolescents observed in many countries have coincided with an increased time spent on screen-based devices, including social media use. We sought to document recent trends in physical health complaints (PHC) and whether co-occurring trends in screen time, social media use, and physical activity may account for these trends. To achieve these aims, we used data from the nationwide Ungdata surveys conducted annually at the municipality level in Norway, comprising 419,934 adolescents aged 13–18 from six survey years (2014–2019). Six items assessed PHC, including neck and shoulder pain, headache, and abdominal pain, during the past month. To account for the nesting structure of Ungdata, and to exploit the variation within and between municipalities, we used multilevel analyses with adolescents nested in municipality-years (n = 669), nested in municipalities (n = 345). We found a small to moderate linear increase in number of PHC among boys and girls from 2014 to 2019. Screen time and social media use moderately attenuated the trend for girls, and to a lesser extent for boys. Screen time and social media use were further positively associated with PHC across the between and within-municipality levels, and social media use was more strongly associated with PHC for girls than boys across all levels of analysis. A similar pattern emerged when considering each symptom individually. The results suggest that the prevalence of PHC rose in tandem with a group-level shift towards higher screen time and social media use. Moreover, the results indicate that higher screen time and social media use may have led to changes in the youth culture with potential consequences for adolescents’ well-being.publishedVersio

Epistemic uncertainty quantification in deep learning classification by the Delta method

The Delta method is a classical procedure for quantifying epistemic uncertainty in statistical models, but its direct application to deep neural networks is prevented by the large number of parameters . We propose a low cost approximation of the Delta method applicable to -regularized deep neural networks based on the top eigenpairs of the Fisher information matrix. We address efficient computation of full-rank approximate eigendecompositions in terms of the exact inverse Hessian, the inverse outer-products of gradients approximation and the so-called Sandwich estimator. Moreover, we provide bounds on the approximation error for the uncertainty of the predictive class probabilities. We show that when the smallest computed eigenvalue of the Fisher information matrix is near the -regularization rate, the approximation error will be close to zero even when . A demonstration of the methodology is presented using a TensorFlow implementation, and we show that meaningful rankings of images based on predictive uncertainty can be obtained for two LeNet and ResNet-based neural networks using the MNIST and CIFAR-10 datasets. Further, we observe that false positives have on average a higher predictive epistemic uncertainty than true positives. This suggests that there is supplementing information in the uncertainty measure not captured by the classification alone.publishedVersio

Lysbruk; hva er status og hvordan er det i praksis?

I løpet av tredje og fjerde semester av trafikklærerutdanningen har denne prosjektgruppa jobbet med en problemstilling hvis formål har vært å kartlegge statusen når det gjelder lysbruk på personbil. Underveis i oppgaven har vi gjennomført egne observasjoner av kjøretøyer og lysbruk samt kategorisert resultatene av disse. I tillegg har vi foretatt en spørreundersøkelse for å komme nærmere frem til holdningene hos bilistene ute på norske veier. Videre har vi også vært i samtaler med hovedaktører hva gjelder trafikksikkerhet og kjøretøykontroll, Trygg Trafikk og Statens Vegvesen samt gjennomført en litteratur-/faktastudie for å kunne sammenligne våre egne observasjoner opp imot faglitteratur, en prosess som har gitt oss en del aha- opplevelser hva gjelder mangel på fagstoff i form av statistikk og prioritering av emnet. Arbeidet har vist at det eksisterer en utbredt negativ holdning og mangel på kunnskap når det kommer til korrekt lysbruk på personbil

Past Year Cannabis Use Among Norwegian Adolescents: Time Trends Based on the Ungdata Surveys 2010–2019

Aims: To describe trends in cannabis use from 2010 to 2019 among Norwegian adolescents and relate these to individual- and municipal-level variables. Design: Data from nationwide repeated cross-sectional surveys collected in 2010–2013 (T1), 2014–2016 (T2), and 2017–2019 (T3) were used to describe secular trends in proportions of adolescent cannabis use. Setting: Cross-sectional surveys in 410 of the total 428 municipalities of Norway. Participants: A total of 628,678 survey responses from adolescents aged ~13–19 years of age, in which 566,912 survey responses were eligible for analyses, representing data from 340 municipalities. Measurements: Respondent's past year cannabis use, time, gender, school grade, municipality, geographical location, and municipality population. Findings: Boys reported overall higher cannabis use, with ~2:1 gender ratio for any past year cannabis use and a 3:1 gender ratio for frequent cannabis use. Adolescents in Eastern Norway reported higher cannabis use compared with other areas in the country, and adolescents from municipalities with a higher population size reported higher rates of cannabis use than smaller municipalities. A gradual increase in cannabis use from T1 to T3 was found in Eastern Norway and in the largest municipalities. More generally, proportions of past year cannabis use showed a marked increase from T2 to T3 across genders, grade/age groups, geographical location, and municipality population, with few exceptions. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that proportions of past year cannabis use have increased among Norwegian adolescents in recent years. Preventive interventions to hinder initiation of cannabis use, as well as measures to address frequent cannabis use among Norwegian adolescents, are needed.publishedVersio

Long-term effects of conservative management of vestibular schwannoma on dizziness, balance, and caloric function

Objectives: To study the development of dizziness, caloric function, and postural sway during long-term observation of untreated vestibular schwannoma patients. Study Design: Retrospective review of a prospectively maintained longitudinal cohort. Setting: Tertiary referral hospital. Subjects and Methods: Patients with vestibular schwannoma undergoing wait-and-scan management were included—specifically, those who did not require treatment during a minimum radiologic follow-up of 1 year. Baseline data and follow-up included magnetic resonance imaging, posturography, bithermal caloric tests, and a dizziness questionnaire. Main outcomes were prevalence of moderate to severe dizziness, canal paresis, and postural instability at baseline and follow-up, as compared with McNemar’s test. Results: Out of 433 consecutive patients with vestibular schwannoma, 114 did not require treatment during follow-up and were included. Median radiologic follow-up was 10.2 years (interquartile range, 4.5 years). Age ranged from 31 to 78 years (mean, 59 years; SD, 10 years; 62% women). Median tumor volume at baseline was 139 mm3 (interquartile range, 314 mm3). This did not change during follow-up (P = .446). Moderate to severe dizziness was present in 27% at baseline and 19% at follow-up (P = .077). Postural unsteadiness was present in 17% at baseline and 21% at follow-up (P = .424). Canal paresis was present in 51% at baseline and 56% at follow-up (P = .664). Conclusions: There was no significant change in the prevalence of dizziness, postural sway, or canal paresis during conservative management of vestibular schwannoma, while tumor volume remained unchanged. This indicates a favorable prognosis in these patients with regard to vestibular symptoms.acceptedVersio