"The Port in the City" - A Landscape Strategy for Holmen, Port of Drammen

Denne oppgaven tar sikte på å foreslå en landskapsstrategi for Drammen Havns anlegg og omgivelser på Holmen. Historisk har havnene hatt en sentral lokaliseringen i kystbyene og det var ofte nettopp på grunn av havnens fordelaktige plassering at byene vokste frem. I dagens Norge har byene endret seg i takt med en stadig større allmenn bevisstgjøring omkring våre omgivelser. Byene har fått flere ben å stå på og havnens betydning for byens grunnlag har endret seg. Dette åpner for interessante spørsmål omkring hva havnene kan være for byene de er lokalisert i. Landskapsplanen søker å legge opp til en integrering av Holmen i byen for øvrig, og en videreutvikling av havnen i Drammen som samtidig fremmer et positivt og velfungerende bymiljø. I dag er havnen i Drammen i sterk vekst blant annet gjennom en vedtatt flytting av godsterminalen på Sundland og Nybyen i Drammen sentrum til Holmen. Dette innebærer en intensivering av godsvirksomheten på Holmen. For å håndtere et økt godsvolum åpner ny kommuneplan for en ytterligere utvidelse på 350 meter fra dagens grense etter innspill fra Drammen Havn. Dette innebærer en betydelig utvidelse av havnearealets fotavtrykk i byen som bør ses i sammenheng med Drammenslandskapet for øvrig. Oppgaven foreslår gjennom landskapsstrategien en rekke hovedgrep for en videreutvikling av Holmen med utgangspunkt i gjeldende politiske planverk og øvrige formelle forutsetninger. Ved å behandle planene under ett står mulighetene og begrensningene tydeligere frem og landskapsstrategien kan ses på som en ambisiøs, men realistisk kompromissløsning som legger opp til en balansert havnevekst i en by kjent for sin store satsning innen byutvikling. Drammen har de siste tiårene vært i gjennom en enorm snuoperasjon med mål om å skape en bedre by for sine innbyggere. Landskapsstrategien ser Holmen i lys av denne satsningen. Kartlegging av stedlige forhold har avdekket en rekke interessante funn, deriblant at Drammen Havns vekstambisjoner om videre utfylling av havnen innebærer et såpass stort fyllmassebehov at dette med utgangspunkt i planlagte utbyggingsprosjekter i regionen anses som lite realistisk å få dekket. Foreslått landskapsplan baserer seg på en utfyllingsstrategi med utgangspunkt i et forventet tilgjengelig volum av fyllmasser for slik å sikre en best mulig utnyttelse av disse, i tillegg til å sikre et rammeverk omkring havnens videre utstrekning i byen. This Master’s thesis aims to propose a landscape strategy for the facilities at the Port of Drammen and the surroundings at Holmen. Historically the ports were located centrally in the coastal cities, and the existence of these cities was often based on the favourable location of the port. The cities in Norway have changed according to a gradually growing general consciousness of our surroundings. Today, most cities of a certain size are based on several business activities in addition to the industry. The foundation of the city is no longer fully based on the port. This major change raises a discussion regarding what role the port should play in the cities. The landscape strategy aims to set the scene for an increased integration of Holmen in Drammen and a continued development of the port terminal which at the same time contributes to an aesthetically functional city environment. Today, the port of Drammen is growing partially as a result of a planned relocation of the goods yard at Sundland and Nybyen in the city centre of Drammen. This involves increased handling of goods at Holmen. In order to meet this growth, the strategy plan of the Municipality of Drammen arranges for the port to expand 350 metres on the existing limitation as a result of the growth ambitions of the Port of Drammen. This expansion involves a great impact on the city and should be seen in relation to the landscape of Drammen. The landscape strategy presents a solution for a continued development of Holmen based on politically rooted ambitions and formal conditions. By seeing these conditions as a whole, the possibilities and limitations becomes clear, and the landscape strategy can be looked upon as an ambitious, yet realistic compromise solution. This sets the scene for a balanced growth of the port in a city known for its efforts related to urban development. The past decades Drammen has been through a comprehensive change of course aiming for an improved city for its citizens. The landscape strategy sees Holmen in relation to the urban development projects in Drammen. A survey of local conditions has unveiled several interesting findings, including the fact that the current plans for area expansion of the Port of Drammen involves a need for a large volume of rock mass which the planned construction projects in the region seems unable to cover. The presented landscape strategy is based on an expansion strategy in order to ensure the best possible utilization of the expected available rock mass. In addition to this, the landscape strategy aims to ensure the existence of a framework concerning the port’s further expansion in the city landscape.M-L

The effect of paternal factors on perinatal and paediatric outcomes : a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Maternal factors, including increasing childbearing age and various life-style factors, are associated with poorer short- and long-term outcomes for children, whereas knowledge of paternal parameters is limited. Recently, increasing paternal age has been associated with adverse obstetric outcomes, birth defects, autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia in children. OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE: The aim of this systematic review is to describe the influence of paternal factors on adverse short- and long-term child outcomes. SEARCH METHODS: PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases up to January 2017 were searched. Paternal factors examined included paternal age and life-style factors such as body mass index (BMI), adiposity and cigarette smoking. The outcome variables assessed were short-term outcomes such as preterm birth, low birth weight, small for gestational age (SGA), stillbirth, birth defects and chromosomal anomalies. Long-term outcome variables included mortality, cancers, psychiatric diseases/disorders and metabolic diseases. The systematic review follows PRISMA guidelines. Relevant meta-analyses were performed. OUTCOMES: The search included 14 371 articles out of which 238 met the inclusion criteria, and 81 were included in quantitative synthesis (meta-analyses). Paternal age and paternal life-style factors have an association with adverse outcome in offspring. This is particularly evident for psychiatric disorders such as autism, autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia, but an association is also found with stillbirth, any birth defects, orofacial clefts and trisomy 21. Paternal height, but not BMI, is associated with birth weight in offspring while paternal BMI is associated with BMI, weight and/or body fat in childhood. Paternal smoking is found to be associated with an increase in SGA, birth defects such as congenital heart defects, and orofacial clefts, cancers, brain tumours and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. These associations are significant although moderate in size, with most pooled estimates between 1.05 and 1.5, and none exceeding 2.0. WIDER IMPLICATIONS: Although the increased risks of adverse outcome in offspring associated with paternal factors and identified in this report represent serious health effects, the magnitude of these effects seems modest.Peer reviewe

Obstetric and perinatal risks after the use of donor sperm : A systematic review and meta-analysis

Donor sperm is widely used in infertility treatments. The purpose of the study was to investigate, whether use of donor sperm in intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatments affect maternal and perinatal risks compared with spontaneously conceived pregnancies or use of partner sperm in IUI, IVF or ICSI. We provide a systematic review and meta-analyses on the most clinically relevant obstetric and perinatal outcomes after use of donor sperm compared with partner sperm: hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preeclampsia, low birth weight, and preterm birth. Our meta-analyses showed an increased risk for preeclampsia (pooled adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.77, 95% CI 1.26-2.48) and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (pooled aOR 1.55, 95%, CI 1.20-2.00) in pregnancies resulting from IUI with donor sperm compared with IUI with partner sperm. No increased risk was seen for low birth weight or preterm birth after the use of donor sperm in IUI compared with the use of partner sperm in IUI. Subgroup analysis for singletons only did not change these results. The meta-analysis on low birth weight showed a lower risk after in IVF with donor sperm compared with IVF with partner sperm (pooled aOR 0.89, 95% CI 0.83-0.94). For hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preeclampsia and preterm birth, no difference was found between IVF with donor sperm vs. partner sperm. Patients need to be informed about the moderately increased risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and preeclampsia in pregnancies after IUI with donor sperm.Peer reviewe

The Association Between High Birth Weight and Long-Term Outcomes—Implications for Assisted Reproductive Technologies: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Studies have shown that the prevalence of children born with high birth weight or large for gestational age (LGA) is increasing. This is true for spontaneous pregnancies; however, children born after frozen embryo transfer (FET) as part of assisted reproductive technology (ART) also have an elevated risk. In recent years, the practice of FET has increased rapidly and while the perinatal and obstetric risks are well-studied, less is known about the long-term health consequences.Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to describe the association between high birth weight and LGA on long-term child outcomes.Data Sources: PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched up to January 2021. Exposure included high birth weight and LGA. Long-term outcome variables included malignancies, psychiatric disorders, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.Study Selection: Original studies published in English or Scandinavian languages were included. Studies with a control group were included while studies published as abstracts and case reports were excluded.Data Extraction: The methodological quality, in terms of risk of bias, was assessed by pairs of reviewers. Robins-I (www.methods.cochrane.org) was used for risk of bias assessment in original articles. For systematic reviews, AMSTAR (www.amstar.ca) was used. For certainty of evidence, we used the GRADE system. The systematic review followed PRISMA guidelines. When possible, meta-analyses were performed.Results: The search included 11,767 articles out of which 173 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the qualitative analysis, while 63 were included in quantitative synthesis (meta-analyses). High birth weight and/or LGA was associated with low to moderately elevated risks for certain malignancies in childhood, breast cancer, several psychiatric disorders, hypertension in childhood, and type 1 and 2 diabetes.Conclusions: Although the increased risks for adverse outcome in offspring associated with high birth weight and LGA represent serious health effects in childhood and in adulthood, the size of these effects seems moderate. The identified risk association should, however, be taken into account in decisions concerning fresh and frozen ART cycles and is of general importance in view of the increasing prevalence in high birthweight babies

Microinjection Manipulation Resulted in the Increased Apoptosis of Spermatocytes in Testes from Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) Derived Mice

The invention of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has possibly been the most important development in reproductive medicine, one that has given hope to thousands of infertile couples worldwide. However, concerns remain regarding the safety of this method since it is a more invasive procedure than in vitro fertilization (IVF), since a spermatozoon is injected into the oocyte cytoplasm. Using mice derived from IVF technology as a control, we assessed the influence of invasive microinjection in the process of transferring sperm into oocyte cytoplasm in ICSI procedure on the development and physiologic function of resultant offspring. Our results demonstrated that mice produced from ICSI and IVF had no significant difference in phenotypic indices including body weight, forelimb physiology, and learning and memory ability. However, increased spermatocyte apoptosis was observed in the testis of adult ICSI mice, when compared with IVF mice. And, decreased testis weight and marked damage of spermatogenic epithelia were found in aged ICSI mice. Furthermore, proteomic analysis verified that most of the differentiated proteins in testes between adult ICSI and IVF mice were those involved in regulation of apoptosis pathways. Our results demonstrated that the microinjection manipulation used in the ICSI procedure might pose potential risks to the fertility of male offspring. The changed expression of a series of proteins relating to apoptosis or proliferation might contribute to it. Further studies are necessary to better understand all the risks of ICSI

Sub-lethal concentrations of CdCl2 disrupt cell migration and cytoskeletal proteins in cultured mouse TM4 Sertoli cells

The aims of this study were to examine the effects of CdCl2 on the viability, migration and cytoskeleton of cultured mouse TM4 Sertoli cells. Time- and concentration-dependent changes were exhibited by the cells but 1 µM CdCl2 was sub-cytotoxic at all time-points. Exposure to 1 and 12 µM CdCl2 for 4 h resulted in disruption of the leading edge, as determined by chemical staining. Cell migration was inhibited by both 1 and 12 µM CdCl2 in a scratch assay monitored by live cell imaging, although exposure to the higher concentration was associated with cell death. Western blotting and immunofluorescence staining indicated that CdCl2 caused a concentration dependent reduction in actin and tubulin levels. Exposure to Cd2+ also resulted in significant changes in the levels and/or phosphorylation status of the microtubule and microfilament destabilising proteins cofilin and stathmin, suggesting disruption of cytoskeletal dynamics. Given that 1-12 µM Cd2+ is attainable in vivo, our findings are consistent with the possibility that Cd2+ induced impairment of testicular development and reproductive health may involve a combination of reduced Sertoli cell migration and impaired Sertoli cell viability depending on the timing, level and duration of exposure

Smoking‐induced genetic and epigenetic alterations in infertile men

Male fertility rates have shown a progressive decrease in both developing and industrialised countries in the past 50 years. Clinical and epidemiological studies have demonstrated controversial results about the harmful effects of cigarette smoking on seminal parameters. Some studies could not establish a negative effect by tobacco smoking on sperm quality and function, whereas others have found a significant reduction in sperm quality and function. This study reviews the components in cigarette smoke and discusses the effects of smoking on male fertility by focusing extensively on smoking‐induced genetic and epigenetic alterations in infertile men. Chromosomal aneuploidies, sperm DNA fragmentation and gene mutations are discussed in the first section, while changes in DNA methylation, chromatin remodelling and noncoding RNAs are discussed in the second section as part of epigenetic alterations

"Havna midt i byen" - en landskapsstrategi for Holmen, Drammen Havn

Denne oppgaven tar sikte på å foreslå en landskapsstrategi for Drammen Havns anlegg og omgivelser på Holmen. Historisk har havnene hatt en sentral lokaliseringen i kystbyene og det var ofte nettopp på grunn av havnens fordelaktige plassering at byene vokste frem. I dagens Norge har byene endret seg i takt med en stadig større allmenn bevisstgjøring omkring våre omgivelser. Byene har fått flere ben å stå på og havnens betydning for byens grunnlag har endret seg. Dette åpner for interessante spørsmål omkring hva havnene kan være for byene de er lokalisert i. Landskapsplanen søker å legge opp til en integrering av Holmen i byen for øvrig, og en videreutvikling av havnen i Drammen som samtidig fremmer et positivt og velfungerende bymiljø. I dag er havnen i Drammen i sterk vekst blant annet gjennom en vedtatt flytting av godsterminalen på Sundland og Nybyen i Drammen sentrum til Holmen. Dette innebærer en intensivering av godsvirksomheten på Holmen. For å håndtere et økt godsvolum åpner ny kommuneplan for en ytterligere utvidelse på 350 meter fra dagens grense etter innspill fra Drammen Havn. Dette innebærer en betydelig utvidelse av havnearealets fotavtrykk i byen som bør ses i sammenheng med Drammenslandskapet for øvrig. Oppgaven foreslår gjennom landskapsstrategien en rekke hovedgrep for en videreutvikling av Holmen med utgangspunkt i gjeldende politiske planverk og øvrige formelle forutsetninger. Ved å behandle planene under ett står mulighetene og begrensningene tydeligere frem og landskapsstrategien kan ses på som en ambisiøs, men realistisk kompromissløsning som legger opp til en balansert havnevekst i en by kjent for sin store satsning innen byutvikling. Drammen har de siste tiårene vært i gjennom en enorm snuoperasjon med mål om å skape en bedre by for sine innbyggere. Landskapsstrategien ser Holmen i lys av denne satsningen. Kartlegging av stedlige forhold har avdekket en rekke interessante funn, deriblant at Drammen Havns vekstambisjoner om videre utfylling av havnen innebærer et såpass stort fyllmassebehov at dette med utgangspunkt i planlagte utbyggingsprosjekter i regionen anses som lite realistisk å få dekket. Foreslått landskapsplan baserer seg på en utfyllingsstrategi med utgangspunkt i et forventet tilgjengelig volum av fyllmasser for slik å sikre en best mulig utnyttelse av disse, i tillegg til å sikre et rammeverk omkring havnens videre utstrekning i byen. This Master’s thesis aims to propose a landscape strategy for the facilities at the Port of Drammen and the surroundings at Holmen. Historically the ports were located centrally in the coastal cities, and the existence of these cities was often based on the favourable location of the port. The cities in Norway have changed according to a gradually growing general consciousness of our surroundings. Today, most cities of a certain size are based on several business activities in addition to the industry. The foundation of the city is no longer fully based on the port. This major change raises a discussion regarding what role the port should play in the cities. The landscape strategy aims to set the scene for an increased integration of Holmen in Drammen and a continued development of the port terminal which at the same time contributes to an aesthetically functional city environment. Today, the port of Drammen is growing partially as a result of a planned relocation of the goods yard at Sundland and Nybyen in the city centre of Drammen. This involves increased handling of goods at Holmen. In order to meet this growth, the strategy plan of the Municipality of Drammen arranges for the port to expand 350 metres on the existing limitation as a result of the growth ambitions of the Port of Drammen. This expansion involves a great impact on the city and should be seen in relation to the landscape of Drammen. The landscape strategy presents a solution for a continued development of Holmen based on politically rooted ambitions and formal conditions. By seeing these conditions as a whole, the possibilities and limitations becomes clear, and the landscape strategy can be looked upon as an ambitious, yet realistic compromise solution. This sets the scene for a balanced growth of the port in a city known for its efforts related to urban development. The past decades Drammen has been through a comprehensive change of course aiming for an improved city for its citizens. The landscape strategy sees Holmen in relation to the urban development projects in Drammen. A survey of local conditions has unveiled several interesting findings, including the fact that the current plans for area expansion of the Port of Drammen involves a need for a large volume of rock mass which the planned construction projects in the region seems unable to cover. The presented landscape strategy is based on an expansion strategy in order to ensure the best possible utilization of the expected available rock mass. In addition to this, the landscape strategy aims to ensure the existence of a framework concerning the port’s further expansion in the city landscape

Employee stock options and company performance on the Oslo Stock Exchange

This paper investigates the usage of employee stock options for the largest companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in the period 2009 to 2019, and the effect granting employee stock options has on long-term performance. We find evidence that granting employee stock options positively affects accounting-based performance four and five years after the grant. The positive effect is particularly strong when employee stock options are granted at-themoney, and the effect is most prominent four years after grant. The effect is curvilinear, and we locate both the relative value and number of employee stock options that optimizes performance, though the findings suggest granting extreme values that are beyond the observed praxis. We further find that companies granted options out-of-the-money below optimal levels, making the praxis inefficient. Consequently, our findings indicate that practitioners should consider granting more employee stock options at-themoney with higher value to enhance long-term performance. The findings from this study are in line with international literature, and we provide, to the best of our knowledge, the first evidence of employee stock options having a positive effect on long-term performance in a Norwegian context