The COVID-19 pandemic in Norway: The dominance of social implications in framing the policy response

Objectives To describe the impact and policy response to the COVID-19 Pandemic on Norway and the implications this has for future policy development and Norwegian society. Methods Documentary analysis of publicly available statistics, government documents and media sources. Results : Three different agendas motivated Norwegian policy: stemming the spread of the virus domestically, mitigating the impact on the economy and addressing the social costs of the policy response. Conclusions The oil and gas industry and the Sovereign Wealth Fund have permitted Norway to manage the costs of the pandemic. But may also lead to a shift in government priorities in health, social and economic policy

The TLR4 adaptor TRAM controls the phagocytosis of Gram-negative bacteria by interacting with the Rab11-family interacting protein 2

Phagocytosis is a complex process that eliminates microbes and is performed by specialised cells such as macrophages. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is expressed on the surface of macrophages and recognizes Gram-negative bacteria. Moreover, TLR4 has been suggested to play a role in the phagocytosis of Gram-negative bacteria, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Here we have used primary human macrophages and engineered THP-1 monocytes to show that the TLR4 sorting adapter, TRAM, is instrumental for phagocytosis of Escherichia coli as well as Staphylococcus aureus. We find that TRAM forms a complex with Rab11 family interacting protein 2 (FIP2) that is recruited to the phagocytic cups of E. coli. This promotes activation of the actin-regulatory GTPases Rac1 and Cdc42. Our results show that FIP2 guided TRAM recruitment orchestrates actin remodelling and IRF3 activation, two events that are both required for phagocytosis of Gram-negative bacteria

Creating Communities of Parents

Norwegian Open Kindergartens facilitate access to professional advice and peer support, supporting parents to take part in collective learnings processes, renegotiate their roles and build social networks. Drawing on a study of five Open Kindergartens located in three Norwegian municipalities, this book chapter discusses how these spaces create opportunities to develop parenting skills and negotiate what it means to be a parent. Open Kindergartens are drop-in meeting places where parents and children take part in everyday activities as part of a diverse group. Open Kindergartens provide a space to learn parenting by doing, in a safe and non-judgmental environment, facilitated and supported by a range of professionals. This approach supports integration in local communities and contrasts with many parenting programs that are professionally led and often highly normative

Physical Activity and Depression/Anxiety Symptoms in Adolescents - the Young-HUNT Study

Children and adolescents who report mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, has increased steadily in recent years. At the same time there is also a reduction in physical activity level among children and adolescents. The present study aimed to explore the association of physical activity and participation in sport activity with depression and anxiety symptoms stratified by sex and age group. Cohort data was obtained from the Trøndelag Health Study (Young-HUNT4). The analyses were based on cross-sectional data on 7,347 participants. Multinominal logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between physical activity and participation in sport activity with depressive/anxiety symptoms. The analyses showed that depression and anxiety symptoms increased with age and that girls were at an increased risk of developing depressive/anxiety symptoms than boys. For physical activity, the analyses suggested that inactive adolescents had a higher possibility of experiencing anxiety and depression symptoms than active adolescents. This applied for both girls (OR = 1.51, p < 0.001) and boys (OR = 1.29, p = 0.037). For sport activity, adolescents with a low activity level had a higher probability of experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression than adolescents with high activity level. This also applied to both girls (OR = 1.75, p < 0.001) and boys (OR) = 1,55, p = 0.007). The study indicates that adolescents who are regularly physically active in sport activities have a lower possibility of experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety than those who are physically less active.publishedVersio

Nursing students' perceived autonomy-support by teachers affects their intrinsic motivation, study effort, and perceived learning outcomes

Nursing students' perceived autonomy-support by teachers affects their intrinsic motivation, study effort, and learning outcomes”. Introduction: Intrinsic motivation among nursing students to achieve clinical competence and thus educational fulfillment is critical. In the Norwegian nursing context, the flipped classroom approach, and the use of student-active learning methods such as multiple-choice questions (MCQ), skills training, Team-Based Learning (TBL), and simulation have grown considerably. This study is based on a learning design using Cardiopulmonary resuscitation as a flipped classroom educational case. This includes both pre-class and in-class activities. Aims: The aim of this study is to investigate the associations between perceived autonomy-support by teachers and students’ intrinsic motivation, study effort, and perceived learning outcomes. Methods: In a cross-sectional design, quantitative data were collected from 401 nursing students at a large university in Norway. This study collected data on all first-year students between 2018-2021. The scales that were included was Intrinsic motivation inventory (IMI) and the Academic motivation scale (AMS) which is based on the tenets of Self- determination theory. Seven hypotheses of the associations between teacher relatedness, intrinsic motivation, study effort and learning were tested by means of structural equation modelling (SEM). Results: This study indicates that perceived autonomy-support by a teacher encourages first-year nursing students’ sense of autonomy, thus affecting their intrinsic motivation, study effort, and perceived learning outcomes. Perceived autonomy-support by a teacher is significantly associated both directly and indirectly (mediated) with students’ learning outcomes and indirectly associated with their study effort. Our findings suggest that in a course with a flipped classroom approach, teachers should guide students in their learning and provide them with choices to enhance their motivation for learning. By means of autonomy-supportive behavior, teachers may enhance students' motivation for learning as well as their study effort and learning outcomes.publishedVersio

En mangfoldig møteplass. Åpen barnehage som integreringsarena

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Learning nursing during the Covid-19 pandemic ; Teacher-support is exceptionally important

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Structural and functional studies of STAT1 from Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Type I and type II interferons (IFNs) exert their effects mainly through the JAK/STAT pathway, which is presently best described in mammals. STAT1 is involved in signaling pathways induced by both types of IFNs. It has a domain-like structure including an amino-terminus that stabilizes interaction between STAT dimers in a promoter-binding situation, a coiled coil domain facilitating interactions to other proteins, a central DNA-binding domain, a SH2 domain responsible for dimerization of phosphorylated STATs and conserved phosphorylation sites within the carboxy terminus. The latter is also the transcriptional activation domain.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A salmon (<it>Salmo salar</it>) STAT1 homologue, named ssSTAT1a, has been identified and was shown to be ubiquitously expressed in various cells and tissues. The ssSTAT1a had a domain-like structure with functional motifs that are similar to higher vertebrates. Endogenous STAT1 was shown to be phosphorylated at tyrosine residues both in salmon leukocytes and in TO cells treated with recombinant type I and type II IFNs. Also ectopically expressed ssSTAT1 was phosphorylated in salmon cells upon <it>in vitro </it>stimulation by the IFNs, confirming that the cloned gene was recognized by upstream tyrosine kinases. Treatment with IFNs led to nuclear translocation of STAT1 within one hour. The ability of salmon STAT1 to dimerize was also shown.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The structural and functional properties of salmon STAT1 resemble the properties of mammalian STAT1.</p

Samhandling rundt barn og unge med sammensatte behov i Overhalla kommune (SARBU): sluttrapport

Høgskole- og universitetssystemet er vant til å definere hva utdanningene skal inneholde og kan argumentere for hvorfor akkurat dette temaet er viktig. Prosjektet har bestreba seg på å fange perspektivene til tjenestepersonell som på ulikt vis bærer roller i tjenesteproduksjonen. Vår metodiske tilnærming bygger på en filosofi om å få etablert en trygg dialog rundt den enkeltes forståelse og opplevelse av oppdraget. At vi starta med homogene grupper – dvs. personell under samme tjenesteområde – ble valgt for å skape et trygt utgangspunkt for erfaringsdeling, ikke minst pga. profesjonsgruppers felles språk/terminologi. Prosjektet gjorde bruk av åpne spørsmål som utfordra tjenesteområdenes tolkninger og fordommer overfor andre tjenestegrupper og profesjonsgrupper, hvilket ga svar på flere sårbarhetsområder i den samla tjenesteproduksjonen. Respondentene (tjenestegruppene) også utfordra på hva de selv kunne gjøre for å forbedre tjenestekvaliteten – bl.a. ved å utlede gjennomførbare forbedringstiltak og vekte disse på bakgrunn av den tilslutning tiltakene får fra den samla gruppa. I dette prosjektet har vi prøvd å utvikle en modell der vi prøver å la praksis og teori møtes.Overhalla kommun

IPNV with high and low virulence: host immune responses and viral mutations during infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) is an aquatic member of the <it>Birnaviridae </it>family that causes widespread disease in salmonids. IPNV is represented by multiple strains with markedly different virulence. Comparison of isolates reveals hyper variable regions (HVR), which are presumably associated with pathogenicity. However little is known about the rates and modes of sequence divergence and molecular mechanisms that determine virulence. Also how the host response may influence IPNV virulence is poorly described.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study we compared two field isolates of IPNV (NFH-Ar and NFH-El). The sequence changes, replication and mortality were assessed following experimental challenge of Atlantic salmon. Gene expression analyses with qPCR and microarray were applied to examine the immune responses in head kidney.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Significant differences in mortality were observed between the two isolates, and viral load in the pancreas at 13 days post infection (d p.i.) was more than 4 orders of magnitude greater for NFH-Ar in comparison with NFH-El. Sequence comparison of five viral genes from the IPNV isolates revealed different mutation rates and Ka/Ks ratios. A strong tendency towards non-synonymous mutations was found in the HRV of VP2 and in VP3. All mutations in VP5 produced precocious stop codons. Prior to the challenge, NFH-Ar and NFH-El possessed high and low virulence motifs in VP2, respectively. Nucleotide substitutions were noticed already during passage of viruses in CHSE-214 cells and their accumulation continued in the challenged fish. The sequence changes were notably directed towards low virulence. Co-ordinated activation of anti-viral genes with diverse functions (IFN-a1 and c, sensors - Rig-I, MDA-5, TLR8 and 9, signal transducers - Srk2, MyD88, effectors - Mx, galectin 9, galectin binding protein, antigen presentation - b2-microglobulin) was observed at 13 d p.i. (NFH-Ar) and 29 d p.i. (both isolates).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Mortality and expression levels of the immune genes were directly related to the rate of viral replication, which was in turn associated with sequences of viral genes. Rapid changes in the viral genome that dramatically reduced virus proliferation might indicate a higher susceptibility to protective mechanism employed by the host. Disease outbreak and mortality depend on a delicate balance between host defence, regulation of signalling cascades and virus genomic properties.</p