Creating a sustainable digital infrastructure: The role of service-oriented architecture

The United Nations’ goal of generating sustainable industry, innovation, and infrastructure is the point of departure for our reflective paper. The paper elaborates on the concepts of digital infrastructure, service-oriented architecture, and microservices. It emphasizes the benefits and challenges of creating a sustainable infrastructure based on a service-oriented environment, in which cloud services constitute an important part. We outline the prerequisites for obtaining a sustainable digital infrastructure based on services. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) and recently, microservice architecture, and cloud services, can provide organizations with the improved agility and flexibility essential for generating sustainability in a market focusing on digitalization. The reuse capability of SOA provides a common pool of information technology (IT) resources and qualifies as a green IT approach that impacts environmental protection. Previous research has identified IT and business alignment together with SOA governance as the most critical criteria when implementing SOA. This paper discusses these issues in-depth to explain sustainability.publishedVersio

Marine Spatial Planning: Norway´s management plans

Since the adoption of a government white paper on ocean governance in 2001, Norway has worked on the development and implementation of marine spatial planning in the format of regional management plans. Management plans for the Barents Sea and the oceans off northern Norway and the Norwegian Sea were adopted in 2006 and 2009, respectively, and a management plan for the North Sea is planned for 2013. A key aspect of the plans is integrated assessment of the cumulative impacts on marine ecosystem from human activities (fisheries, petroleum, marine transportation, etc) on the one hand, and external sources (climate change, long range pollution) on the other. Another important feature is the identification of valuable and vulnerable areas requiring special management measures. These valuable areas have been used as input to define the spatial measures in the plans which includes routing systems for international ship traffic and zoning plans for petroleum activities. Fishing activities is also partially regulated used spatial measures such as MPAs and temporary closed areas. A monitoring system is set up with indicators and reference levels. The plan has been implemented through the regular governance structure without the establishment of new, formal institutions or new jurisdiction. An inter-- ]ministerial committee oversees the work, guided by three working groups. A revised version of the Barents Sea plan will be adopted late in 2010, taking marine spatial planning in Norway into its second generation. Key words: Marine spatial planning, Norway, Barents Sea, ecosystem approac

High-dimensional Characterisation of rare cerebrospinal fluid cells in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis patients

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS) and is the leading cause of neurological disability in young adults in North America and Europe, affecting approximately 2.5 million people worldwide. The pathological features associated with MS include neurodegeneration and brain atrophy, axonal loss, cortical demyelination, microglia activation, and a failure of remyelination. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is referred to as the “mirror of the brain”, and recent studies have shown that biomarkers reflecting inflammation and the stages of MS can be found in the CSF. The CSF contains immune cells, especially under pathological conditions. Recent studies have observed microglia cells in the CSF of individuals with relapsing remitting MS using single cell RNA sequencing. The study showed evidence that microglia of individuals with relapsing remitting MS may have the capability to migrate from the central nervous system into the CSF. Microglia are the resident macrophage of the central nervous system and are intricately bound to mechanics of neurological diseases by producing both neuroprotective and neurotoxic effects depending on stimuli. Characterising CSF cells and particularly microglia in depth is challenging and advances in new technologies allow to phenotype these cells at unprecedented resolution. We aimed at characterising the immune cells in CSF of relapsing MS patients in detail. By utilizing our groups expertise with Imaging mass cytometry, we developed and optimised a protocol for capture and analysis of CSF cells from single cell suspension. For this protocol an imaging mass cytometry panel of metal conjugated antibodies was developed for high-dimensional immunophenotypic analysis of microglia. Focusing on microglial cells, we possibly detected these cells in CSF and performed analysis using specific microglial markers and general immune markers. The analysis was performed alongside controls for characterisation, iPSCs-derived microglia, a commercial microglia cell line, PBMCs and buffy coats. Our results show the expression of various immune and microglia markers in cells of the CNS and controls. The iPSCs derived microglia and commercial cell line showed distinct expression of microglia markers and the same markers were detected in CSF cells of MS indicating that microglia may in fact be detected in CSF. Not all antibodies worked, and techniques need further optimisation for detections of both immune cells and microglia. The procedure we developed shows great potential to analyse CSF cells and needs further optimisation in order to characterise and distinguish neuroprotective and neurotoxic microglial cells in the CSF. The approach developed in this thesis will expand the understanding of the central nervous system immune architecture in relapsing MS patients.Masteroppgave i biomedisinBMED395MAMD-MEDB

Related variations: A novel approach for detecting patterns of regional variations in healthcare utilisation rates

Regional variations in healthcare utilisation rates are ubiquitous and persistent. In settings where an aggregate national health service budget is allocated primarily on a per capita basis, little regional variation in total healthcare utilisation rates will be observed. However, for specific treatments, large variations in utilisation rates are observed, iymplying a substitution effect at some point in service delivery. The current paper investigates the extent to which this substitution effect occurs within or between specialties, particularly distinguishing between emergency versus elective care. We used data from Statistics Norway and the Norwegian Patient Registry on eight somatic surgeries for all patients treated from 2010 to 2015. We calculated Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) -weight per capita in 19 hospital regions. We applied principal component analysis (PCA) to demonstrate patterns in DRG-weight, annual relative changes in DRG-weight, and DRG-weight production for elective care. We show that treatments with similar characteristics cluster within regions. Treatment frequency explains 29% of the total variation in treatment rates. In a dynamic model, treatments with a high degree of emergency care are negatively correlated with treatments with a high degree of elective care. Furthermore, when considering only elective care treatments, the substitution effect occurs between specialties and explains 49% of the variation. When designing policies aimed at reducing regional variations in healthcare utilisation, a distinction between elective and emergency care as well as substitution effects need to be considered

AI-enabled adaptive learning systems: A systematic mapping of the literature

Mobile internet, cloud computing, big data technologies, and significant breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have all transformed education. In recent years, there has been an emergence of more advanced AI-enabled learning systems, which are gaining traction due to their ability to deliver learning content and adapt to the individual needs of students. Yet, even though these contemporary learning systems are useful educational platforms that meet students’ needs, there is still a low number of implemented systems designed to address the concerns and problems faced by many students. Based on this perspective, a systematic mapping of the literature on AI-enabled adaptive learning systems was performed in this work. A total of 147 studies published between 2014 and 2020 were analysed. The major findings and contributions of this paper include the identification of the types of AI-enabled learning interventions used, a visualisation of the co-occurrences of authors associated with major research themes in AI-enabled learning systems and a review of common analytical methods and related techniques utilised in such learning systems. This mapping can serve as a guide for future studies on how to better design AI-enabled learning systems to solve specific learning problems and improve users’ learning experiences.publishedVersio

Enterprise Architecture Implementation Is a Bumpy Ride: A Case Study in the Norwegian Public Sector

Enterprise architecture (EA) is a widespread approach for the development of new digital solutions in a planned and controlled way for large and complex organisations. EA is also viewed as a prerequisite for the digitalisation of the public sector. However, public sector organisations struggle to implement EA programmes, and research has demonstrated that organisational and managerial issues are critical obstacles to EA implementation. This study aims to increase our understanding of EA implementation in the public sector by investigating the central challenges for EA initiatives and to trace the progress of current EA initiatives in the Norwegian public sector. An additional goal is to disclose some ways to improve the situation. We conducted three interpretive case studies in the hospital, higher education, and labour and welfare sectors. We have identified 28 challenges to the EA initiatives. We find that organisational and technical complexities, as well as a limited understanding of EA and lack of formal EA governance mechanisms, are significant obstacles. Among others, the lack of understanding of EA and its methodology will lead to problems with anchoring the EA approach in the organisation and facilitating the necessary EA arrangements to induce the promised benefits of EA, which are necessary requirements to establish the EA initiative’s legitimacy and foster the organisation’s willingness to implement change. Our study provides four lessons learned for planning and implementing EA initiatives, as follows: #1. It is advisable to take small steps. #2. The use of external consultants should be carefully considered. #3. Formal architectural governance mechanisms are important for legitimacy and enforced use. #4. Executive commitment and understanding of EA are crucial for achieving a sustainable EA initiative. Finally, we find a common evolution of the EA initiatives through the phases of optimism, resistance, decline and finally, reconsolidation of the most persistent ones.publishedVersio

I havlys og mørke så lenge vi satt. Historien om etableringen, virksomheten og ringvirkningene av Sjøfossen Kraftverk i Gildeskål frem til 1991

Masteroppgave for lektorutdanning i samfunnsfag - Nord universitet 201

Gass-separasjon og CO2-fangst med organiske "bur"-molekyler

Formålet med denne hovedoppgaven er å gi en innføring i bur-molekyler og deres potensiale for bruk i gass-separasjoner, hovedsakelig separasjon av klimagassen CO2. Oppgaven starter med å fastsette viktigheten og potensialet for karbon fangst og lagring (CCS) etterfulgt av generelle prinsipper for adsorpsjon, som er prosessen bur-molekyler hovedsakelig er tiltenkt for i gass-separasjoner. Bruk av bur-molekyler til membranseparasjon er ikke tatt med. Deretter gis det innsyn i metoder for CO2-fangst (CCS) som allerede eksisterer eller som i det minste er blitt testet i større skala, for så å omtale deres styrker og svakheter. Noen av disse svakhetene er knyttet til helsefare for kjemikalier og vanskelig implementering i industri, men felles for dem alle er store kostnader samt redusering av effektivitet til kraftproduksjon/industri. Videre blir bur-molekylers prinsipp for bruk i adsorpsjon forklart, etterfulgt av presentasjon av MOFer og pillar[n]arener, som er de bur-molekylene det blir fokusert på. For bur-molekylene er egenskapene stabilitet, adsorpsjonsselektivitet, vert-gjest kjemi og porer de som har hatt mest litteratur tilknyttet seg, og derfor mest omtalt også her. Syntese og andre egenskaper blir også nevnt for noen av dem, men ikke like stor grad. Mot slutten tas det for eksempler med gass-separasjoner som er eksperimentelt utført, hvor resultater og sammenligninger dem imellom blir sett på. Det ble oppdaget konsensus i litteraturen for bur-molekyler at diameter til burene samt porer/hulrom på 4,8 Å ± 0,3 Å fungerer best for gass-separasjon av CO2. Og at NH-, OH- og karbonylgrupper på overflaten av bur-molekyler er de funksjonelle gruppene som så langt har vist å gi best adsorpsjonsselektivitet for CO2. Det ble også sett at det per dags dato ikke er utført noen storskala testing av CCS med bur-molekyler. Av pillar[n]arener er det pillar[5]aren som til nå ser ut som å være best kandidat for CCS

Implementering av digitale enheter – En casestudie av digitalisering i norske skoler

Større satsing på digitale enheter i skoleverket, har gjort implementering av 1:1-dekning utbredt i Norge. Fagfornyelsen [LK20] legger grunnlaget for det som kan bli en stor endring i undervisningens praksis. Konsepter som “å lære å lære” skal gjøre elever mer reflektert rundt egen læring. Studien viser at forankring og støtte hos nøkkelinteressenter, skifte i pedagogisk paradigme og god ledelse spil-ler svært sentrale roller i implementeringen. Eierskapet kommunen tar til prosjek-tet har stor påvirkning på visjonen og ambisjonsnivået