Hvilke personlige og faglige egenskaper er prediktive drivere til salgsprestasjoner for en Key Account Manager?

I innledningen av oppgaven blir problemstillingen presentert sammen med oppgavens avgrensninger, og hvordan oppgavens struktur er bygget opp. I det andre kapittelet i oppgaven blir det teoretiske grunnlaget presentert. Denne oppgaven har tatt utgangspunkt i hvordan en key account manager sine prestasjoner påvirkes, og vi har på bakgrunn av dette gjort rede for teori rundt key account management sammen med salgsprestasjonsmodellen til Johnston og Marshall. Salgsprestasjonsmodellen til Johnston og Marshall er hovedmodellen som denne oppgaven er bygget på. De relevante faktorene i modellen er gjort rede for siden de har en påvirkning på prestasjon. Det tredje kapitelet i oppgaven tar for seg valgene som er tatt i forhold til det metodiske fundamentet i undersøkelsen, og grunnlaget for datainnsamling og videre drøfting av problemstilling. Det er gjennomført dybdeintervju med seks salgsledere med rekruteringsansvar for key account managere, som har vært grunnlaget for primærdata. Informasjonen som ble tilegnet her, ble videre brukt til å utarbeide en intervjuguide, som videre la grunnlaget for analysen av problemstillingen. I det fjerde kapitelet analyseres og drøftes empirifunn som ble gjort under dybdeintervjuene opp imot teorigrunnlaget i oppgaven. Vi søker å finne forståelse rundt hvilke drivere som er prediktive for salgsprestasjoner og hvilke forskjeller det finnes mellom teori og hva som praktiseres i arbeidslivet. Funnene i analysen vil gi premisser for konklusjon i oppgaven, men ikke generalisering. Siste del av oppgaven inneholder refleksjoner rundt egen oppgave, oppgavens konklusjon og forslag til videre forskning

Clinical outcomes and safety assessment in elderly patients undergoing decompressive laminectomy for lumbar spinal stenosis: a prospective study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To assess safety, risk factors and clinical outcomes in elderly patients with spinal stenosis after decompressive laminectomy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A prospective cohort of patients 70 years and older with spinal stenosis undergoing conventional laminectomy without fusion (n = 101) were consecutively enrolled from regular clinical practice and reassessed at 3 and 12 months. Primary outcome was change in health related quality of life measured (HRQL) with EuroQol-5 D (EQ-5D). Secondary outcomes were safety assessment, changes in Oswestry disability index (ODI), Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS) score for self reported health, VAS score for leg and back pain and patient satisfaction. We used regression analyses to evaluate risk factors for less improvement.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean EQ-5 D total score were 0.32, 0.63 and 0.60 at baseline, 3 months and 12 months respectively, and represents a statistically significant (P < 0.001) improvement. Effect size was > 0.8. Mean ODI score at baseline was 44.2, at 3 months 25.6 and at 27.9. This represents an improvement for all post-operative scores. A total of 18 (18.0%) complications were registered with 6 (6.0%) classified as major, including one perioperative death. Patients stating that the surgery had been beneficial at 3 months was 82 (89.1%) and at 12 months 73 (86.9%). The only predictor found was patients with longer duration of leg pain had less improvement in ODI (P < 0.001). Increased age or having complications did not predict a worse outcome in any of the outcome variables.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Properly selected patients of 70 years and older can expect a clinical meaningful improvement of HRQL, functional status and pain after open laminectomy without fusion. The treatment seems to be safe. However, patients with longstanding leg-pain prior to operation are less likely to improve one year after surgery.</p

Would loss to follow-up bias the outcome evaluation of patients operated for degenerative disorders of the lumbar spine?: A study of responding and non-responding cohort participants from a clinical spine surgery registry

Loss to follow-up may bias the outcome assessments of clinical registries. In this study, we wanted to determine whether outcomes were different in responding and non-responding patients who were included in a clinical spine surgery registry, at two years of follow-up. In addition, we wanted to identify risk factors for failure to respond. 633 patients who were operated for degenerative disorders of the lumbar spine were followed for 2 years using a local clinical spine registry. Those who did not attend the clinic and those who did not answer a postal questionnaire—for whom 2 years of outcome data were missing—and who would be lost to follow-up according to the standard procedures of the registry protocols, were defined as non-respondents. They were traced and interviewed by telephone. Outcome measures were: improvement in health-related quality of life (EQ-5D), leg pain, and back pain; and also general state of health, employment status, and perceived benefits of the operation. We found no statistically significant differences in outcome between respondents (78% of the patients) and nonrespondents (22%). Receipt of postal questionnaires (not being summoned for a follow-up visit) was the strongest risk factor for failure to respond. Forgetfulness appeared to be an important cause. Older patients and those who had complications were more likely to respond. Interpretation A loss to follow-up of 22% would not bias conclusions about overall treatment effects and, importantly, there were no indications of worse outcomes in non-respondents

Germline HOXB13 mutations p.G84E and p.R217C do not confer an increased breast cancer risk

In breast cancer, high levels of homeobox protein Hox-B13 (HOXB13) have been associated with disease progression of ER-positive breast cancer patients and resistance to tamoxifen treatment. Since HOXB13 p.G84E is a prostate cancer risk allele, we evaluated the association between HOXB13 germline mutations and breast cancer risk in a previous study consisting of 3,270 familial non-BRCA1/2 breast cancer cases and 2,327 controls from the Netherlands. Although both recurrent HOXB13 mutations p.G84E and p.R217C were not associated with breast cancer risk, the risk estimation for p.R217C was not very precise. To provide more conclusive evidence regarding the role of HOXB13 in breast cancer susceptibility, we here evaluated the association between HOXB13 mutations and increased breast cancer risk within 81 studies of the international Breast Cancer Association Consortium containing 68,521 invasive breast cancer patients and 54,865 controls. Both HOXB13 p.G84E and p.R217C did not associate with the development of breast cancer in European women, neither in the overall analysis (OR = 1.035, 95% CI = 0.859-1.246, P = 0.718 and OR = 0.798, 95% CI = 0.482-1.322, P = 0.381 respectively), nor in specific high-risk subgroups or breast cancer subtypes. Thus, although involved in breast cancer progression, HOXB13 is not a material breast cancer susceptibility gene.Peer reviewe

Germline HOXB13 mutations p.G84E and p.R217C do not confer an increased breast cancer risk

Abstract: In breast cancer, high levels of homeobox protein Hox-B13 (HOXB13) have been associated with disease progression of ER-positive breast cancer patients and resistance to tamoxifen treatment. Since HOXB13 p.G84E is a prostate cancer risk allele, we evaluated the association between HOXB13 germline mutations and breast cancer risk in a previous study consisting of 3,270 familial non-BRCA1/2 breast cancer cases and 2,327 controls from the Netherlands. Although both recurrent HOXB13 mutations p.G84E and p.R217C were not associated with breast cancer risk, the risk estimation for p.R217C was not very precise. To provide more conclusive evidence regarding the role of HOXB13 in breast cancer susceptibility, we here evaluated the association between HOXB13 mutations and increased breast cancer risk within 81 studies of the international Breast Cancer Association Consortium containing 68,521 invasive breast cancer patients and 54,865 controls. Both HOXB13 p.G84E and p.R217C did not associate with the development of breast cancer in European women, neither in the overall analysis (OR = 1.035, 95% CI = 0.859–1.246, P = 0.718 and OR = 0.798, 95% CI = 0.482–1.322, P = 0.381 respectively), nor in specific high-risk subgroups or breast cancer subtypes. Thus, although involved in breast cancer progression, HOXB13 is not a material breast cancer susceptibility gene

Idriftsettelse av 200 kW høymomentsrigg og testing av elektriske maskiner

Høsten 2019 anskaffet NTNU en høymomentsrigg for testing av elektriske maskinermed lavt turtall. Høymomentsriggen er utstyrt med en 200 kW drivmotor og en 160 kWpermanent-magnet maskin (PM-maskin) som er utskiftbar for testing av andre roterendemaskiner. Denne rapporten beskriver hvordan man idriftsetter høymomentsriggen, utfø-rer tester og henter ut sensordata på en PM-maskin. Før idriftsettelse av testriggen er det kartlagt hvilke målinger som er nødvendig å im-plementere og hvilke sikkerhetstiltak som må være på plass for å kunne drifte høymo-mentsriggen. Gruppen har utarbeidet et topologiskjema som presenterer en fullstendigoversikt over plasseringer av sensorer og måleutstyr. Som dataloggingverktøy er det be-nyttet Sefram DAS 30. Dataloggeren har mulighet til å hente inn og presentere data ommoment, hastighet, strøm, spenning, temperatur, power factor (PF), virkningsgrad, totalharmonic distortion (THD), aktiv- og reaktiv effekt. Til å simulere lastsituasjoner på maskinen benyttes Egston Grid Emulator som gir etbredt spekter av testmuligheter. Gruppen har prosjektert to skap for tilkobling mellomhøymomentsrigg og Egston Grid Emulator. Skapene tar også hensyn til nødutkoblings-systemet. Basert på vitenskaplige artikler, bransjestandarder og normer er det utviklet prosedyrerfor åpen klemmetest, lasttest, temperaturtest og Fault Ride-Through (FRT) test. Teste-ne i rapporten tar kun utgangpunkt i når maskinen blir driftet som generator, men medEgston Grid Emulator er det mulig å kjøre maskinen i alle 4 kvadranter. Alle resultater er hentet fra vitenskapelige artikler, tekniske rapporter og Øystein Krø-vels doktorgradsavhandling ved NTNU i 2011. Krøvel har i sin doktoravhandling desig-net en PM-maskin som har like egenskaper som PM-maskinen på høymomentsriggen.Det forventes at testresultatene på PM-maskinen vil samsvare med resultatene presen-tert i denne rapporten. Fault Ride-Through resultatene er hentet fra to ulike tester utførtmed mobile testenheter på småkraftverk og vindmøller. Det konkluderes med at dokumentasjonen i rapporten og anskaffet materiell vil væremer enn tilstrekkelig for å kunne idriftsette testriggen og utføre testene beskrevet i rap-porten

The tankyrase inhibitor G007-LK inhibits small intestine LGR5+ stem cell proliferation without altering tissue morphology

Abstract Background The WNT pathway regulates intestinal stem cells and is frequently disrupted in intestinal adenomas. The pathway contains several potential biotargets for interference, including the poly-ADP ribosyltransferase enzymes tankyrase1 and 2. LGR5 is a known WNT pathway target gene and marker of intestinal stem cells. The LGR5+ stem cells are located in the crypt base and capable of regenerating all intestinal epithelial cell lineages. Results We treated Lgr5-EGFP-Ires-CreERT2;R26R-Confetti mice with the tankyrase inhibitor G007-LK for up to 3 weeks to assess the effect on duodenal stem cell homeostasis and on the integrity of intestinal epithelium. At the administered doses, G007-LK treatment inhibited WNT signalling in LGR5+ stem cells and reduced the number and distribution of cells traced from duodenal LGR5+ stem cells. However, the gross morphology of the duodenum remained unaltered and G007-LK-treated mice showed no signs of weight loss or any other visible morphological changes. The inhibitory effect on LGR5+ stem cell proliferation was reversible. Conclusion We show that the tankyrase inhibitor G007-LK is well tolerated by the mice, although proliferation of the LGR5+ intestinal stem cells was inhibited. Our observations suggest the presence of a tankyrase inhibitor-resistant cell population in the duodenum, able to rescue tissue integrity in the presence of G007-LK-mediated inhibition of the WNT signalling dependent LGR5+ intestinal epithelial stem cells

Open discectomy vs microdiscectomy for lumbar disc herniation - a protocol for a pragmatic comparative effectiveness study

Introduction:Since the introduction of lumbar microdiscectomy in the 1970’s, many studies have attempted to compare the effectiveness of this method with that of standard open discectomy with conflicting results. This observational study is designed to compare the relative effectiveness of microdiscectomy (MD) with open discectomy (OD) for treating lumbar disc herniation, -within a large cohort, recruited from daily clinical practice. Methods and analysis: This study will include patients registered in the Norwegian Registry for Spine Surgery (NORspine). This clinical registry collects prospective data, including preoperative and postoperative outcome measures as well as individual and demographic parameters. The primary outcome is change in Oswestry disability index between baseline and 12 months after surgery. Secondary outcome measures are improvement of leg pain and changes in health related quality of life measured by the Euro-Qol-5D between baseline and 12 months after surgery, complications to surgery, duration of surgical procedures and length of hospital stay