"Drop in" gastroscopy outpatient clinic - experience after 9 months

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Logistics handling referrals for gastroscopy may be more time consuming than the examination itself. For the patient, "drop in" gastroscopy may reduce uncertainty, inadequate therapy and time off work.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>After an 8-9 month run-in period we asked patients, hospital staff and GPs to fill in a questionnaire to evaluate their experience with "drop in" gastroscopy and gastroscopy by appointment, respectively. The diagnostic gain was evaluated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>112 patients had "drop in" gastroscopy and 101 gastroscopy by appointment. The number of "drop in" patients varied between 3 and 12 per day (mean 6.5). Mean time from first GP consultation to gastroscopy was 3.6 weeks in the "drop in" group and 14 weeks in the appointment group. The half-yearly number of outpatient gastroscopies increased from 696 before introducing "drop in" to 1022 after (47% increase) and the proportion of examinations with pathological findings increased from 42% to 58%. Patients and GPs expressed great satisfaction with "drop in". Hospital staff also acclaimed although it caused more unpredictable working days with no additional staff.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>"Drop in" gastroscopy was introduced without increase in staff. The observed increase in gastroscopies was paralleled by a similar increase in pathological findings without any apparent disadvantages for other groups of patients. This should legitimise "drop in" outpatient gastroscopies, but it requires meticulous observation of possible unwanted effects when implemented.</p

Gårdsstudier i Agropro‐prosjektet - Erfaringer fra gårdsstudier i korn og grovforbasert husdyrproduksjon

publishedVersio

The Genomic HyperBrowser: an analysis web server for genome-scale data

The immense increase in availability of genomic scale datasets, such as those provided by the ENCODE and Roadmap Epigenomics projects, presents unprecedented opportunities for individual researchers to pose novel falsifiable biological questions. With this opportunity, however, researchers are faced with the challenge of how to best analyze and interpret their genome-scale datasets. A powerful way of representing genome-scale data is as feature-specific coordinates relative to reference genome assemblies, i.e. as genomic tracks. The Genomic HyperBrowser (http://hyperbrowser.uio.no) is an open-ended web server for the analysis of genomic track data. Through the provision of several highly customizable components for processing and statistical analysis of genomic tracks, the HyperBrowser opens for a range of genomic investigations, related to, e.g., gene regulation, disease association or epigenetic modifications of the genome.publishedVersio

The Genomic HyperBrowser: an analysis web server for genome-scale data

The immense increase in availability of genomic scale datasets, such as those provided by the ENCODE and Roadmap Epigenomics projects, presents unprecedented opportunities for individual researchers to pose novel falsifiable biological questions. With this opportunity, however, researchers are faced with the challenge of how to best analyze and interpret their genome-scale datasets. A powerful way of representing genome-scale data is as feature-specific coordinates relative to reference genome assemblies, i.e. as genomic tracks. The Genomic HyperBrowser (http://hyperbrowser.uio.no) is an open-ended web server for the analysis of genomic track data. Through the provision of several highly customizable components for processing and statistical analysis of genomic tracks, the HyperBrowser opens for a range of genomic investigations, related to, e.g., gene regulation, disease association or epigenetic modifications of the genome

Jord- og vannovervåking i landbruket (JOVA). Feltrapporter fra programmet i 2006.

Program for Jord- og vannovervåking i landbruket (JOVA) ledes av Bioforsk Jord og miljø, og utføres i samarbeid med en rekke andre institusjoner. Programmet rapporterer årlig overvåkingsresultater fra jordbruksdominerte nedbørfelt over hele landet. Feltene representerer ulike driftsformer, jordbunnsforhold, og hydrologiske og klimatiske forhold. De årlige feltrapportene beskriver jordbruksdrift, og avrenning og tap av næringsstoffer og partikler i de ulike feltene. Tap av partikler og næringsstoffer rapporteres for agrohydrologisk år, 1. mai - 30. april, mens tap av pesticider rapporteres for kalenderår.publishedVersio

Identification of surface proteins in Enterococcus faecalis V583

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Surface proteins are a key to a deeper understanding of the behaviour of Gram-positive bacteria interacting with the human gastro-intestinal tract. Such proteins contribute to cell wall synthesis and maintenance and are important for interactions between the bacterial cell and the human host. Since they are exposed and may play roles in pathogenicity, surface proteins are interesting targets for drug design.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using methods based on proteolytic "shaving" of bacterial cells and subsequent mass spectrometry-based protein identification, we have identified surface-located proteins in <it>Enterococcus faecalis </it>V583. In total 69 unique proteins were identified, few of which have been identified and characterized previously. 33 of these proteins are predicted to be cytoplasmic, whereas the other 36 are predicted to have surface locations (31) or to be secreted (5). Lipid-anchored proteins were the most dominant among the identified surface proteins. The seemingly most abundant surface proteins included a membrane protein with a potentially shedded extracellular sulfatase domain that could act on the sulfate groups in mucin and a lipid-anchored fumarate reductase that could contribute to generation of reactive oxygen species.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present proteome analysis gives an experimental impression of the protein landscape on the cell surface of the pathogenic bacterium <it>E. faecalis</it>. The 36 identified secreted (5) and surface (31) proteins included several proteins involved in cell wall synthesis, pheromone-regulated processes, and transport of solutes, as well as proteins with unknown function. These proteins stand out as interesting targets for further investigation of the interaction between <it>E. faecalis </it>and its environment.</p

GPU-beräkning för effektiva sedimentbassängsimuleringar

This paper presents PDEs that describes sedimentation by a system of diffusion and transportation equations. These PDEs are implemented with a semi-implicit scheme and solved on a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). The equations are solved with the iterative solvers (conjugate gradient and biconjugate gradient stabilized method) provided by the software ViennaCL. The timings from these operations are compared with a CPU implementation. Before using the iterative solvers, a sparse matrix and a right hand side vector is set. The sparse matrix and the right hand side vector are efficiently updated on the GPU. The implicit terms of the PDEs are stored in the sparse matrix and the explicit terms in the right hand side vector. The sparse matrix is stored in the compressed sparse row (CSR) format. Algorithms to update the sparse matrix for the PDEs, which have Neumann or a mix of Neumann and Dirichlet boundary conditions, are presented. As the values in the sparse matrix depend on values from the previous results, the sparse matrix has to be updated frequently. Considerable time is saved by updating the sparse matrix on the GPU instead of on the CPU (slow data transfers between CPU and GPU are reduced). The speedup for the GPU implementation was found to be 8-10 and 12-18 for the GPUs GTX 590 and K20m respectively, depending on grid size. The high speedup is due to the CPU model of the CPUs used for timings being an older model. If a newer CPU model were used, the speedup would be lower. Due to limited access to newer hardware, a more accurate value for speedup comparison has not been acquired. Indications still prove that the GPU implementation is faster than the sequential CPU implementation.  Den här uppsatsen presenterar PDEer som beskriver sedimentering av ett system av diffusion och transport ekvationer. Dessa PDEerna blir implementerade med en halvimplicit metod och löst med en grafikprocessor (GPU). Ekvationerna är lösta med iterativa lösare (CG och BiCGStab) från mjukvaran ViennaCL. Tidsmätningarna från dessa operationerna blir jämförda med en CPU-implementation. För användandet av de iterativa lösarna blir en gles matris och en vektor på höger sida satt. Den glesa matrisen och vektorn blir effektivt uppdaterat av GPUen. De implicita termerna blir lagrat i den glesa matrisen och de explicita termerna i vektorn på höger sida. Den glesa matrisen är sparat i det komprimerade glesa rad (CSR) formatet. Algoritmer för att uppdatera den glesa matrisen för PDEs som har Neumann, eller Neumann och Dirichlet randvillkor blir presenterade. Eftersom värdena i den glesa matrisen beror på värdena från det förra resultatet, måste den glesa matrisen uppdateras ofta. Avsevärt med tid sparas av att uppdatera den glesa matrisen på GPUen istället för på CPUen (långsamma data överföringar mellan CPU och GPU reduceras). Accelerationen för GPU-implementationen konstaterades vara 8-10 och 12-18 för GPUena GTX 590 och K20m beroende på storleken på rutnätet. Den höga accelerationen beror på att CPU-modellen som användes till tidmätning är en äldre modell. Om en nyare CPU modell användes, ville accelerationen bli lägre. På grund av begränsad tillgång till nyare hårdvara, har inte mer exakta värden för acceleration kunnat uppdrivas. Indikationer visar dock att GPU-implementationen är snabbare än den sekventiella CPU-implementationen

Mangfoldets enhet : en refleksjon over det udifferensierte som de værende tings bindeledd.

Har du noen gang opplevd å tenke på noen, og like etterpå tilfeldigvis møtt den samme personen? Eller har du midt i en samtale oppdaget at den du snakker med står og forteller deg akkurat det du selv tenkte på for et øyeblikk siden, uten at du fortalte det på forhånd? Man kan undres over hvordan slike hendelser henger sammen. Ofte oppleves disse hendelsene som påfallende og uforklarlige, til forskjell fra hendelser der vi kan se en klar sammenheng. De klare sammenhengene er årsaksbestemte og kan kalles kausale sammenhenger, mens de merkelige, påfallende hendelsene er akausale. Den sistnevnte typen sammenhenger krever en annen måte å oppfatte virkeligheten på enn det som er alminnelig i dag for å kunne forklares. I denne oppgaven presenterer jeg alternative måter å forklare virkeligheten på, som f.eks. tanken om det holografiske universet, der hver enkelt ting i verden inneholder informasjon om resten av universet. Jeg tar også for meg klassisk gresk elementlære som alternativ til forståelse av virkelighetens struktur for å kunne forklare akausale sammenhenger. Mot slutten av oppgaven reflekterer jeg over Sung-dynastiets kinesiske filosofi for ca. 1000 år siden og funderer over muligheten for at alle forbindelser mellom alle ting og hendelser i universet henger sammen i det jeg kaller for det udifferensierte, enten disse sammenhengene er årsaksbestemte (kausale) eller ikke (akausale). Til sist ser jeg på hvordan mangfoldigheten av ting i universet gjenspeiler en enhet - en ytterste sammenheng - mellom de værende ting. Slik fullfører jeg i denne oppgaven min refleksjon over muligheten for det udifferensierte som de værende tings bindeledd og mangfoldighetens enhet

A rare observation of Atlantic halibut larvae (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) in Skjerstadfjorden, North Norway.

Four larvae of Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) were collected during a larval survey for Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in true inshore and shallow locations in the Norwegian fjord system Skjerstadfjorden. This observation contributes to the previous 57 larval specimens ever found for Atlantic halibut and is in accordance with earlier findings from aquaculture research on an ontogenetic change in phototaxi during larval development in this species. The catch sites indicate that shallow water in fjord systems may be of importance as nursery areas for early life stages of Atlantic halibut along the Norwegian coast

Comparative growth and survival of two genetic strains of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) reared through the early life stages in a marine pond in western Norway

The investigation was carried out in a marine pond in western Norway during spring and summer 1990. Two genetic defined strains of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) were used as broodstocks. A total of 11.1 x 10^6 cod larvae and eggs were released in the pond from 16 to 22 March. Approximately 80 % of the specimens were homozygous for the rare 30-allele at the PGI-1 locus (Strain-A), and the remaining were offspring from a farmed cod stock (Strain-B). Hydrographical parameters and feeding conditions of larval and juvenile cod were monitored. Gel electrophoresis of samples collected from the pond, revealed significant variation in the Strain-A/Strain-B frequencies with increasing age. The percentage of Strain-A dropped pronounced from the larval to the juvenile stage, and Strain-A had lower larval and juvenile growth rates than Strain-B, indicating size-dependent mortality during the pre-recruit period