Displaying rainy days in Bergen(s Tidende): Combining weather and news in a user-friendly way

This thesis studies users', especially Bergenser's, relationship to weather with the aim to make a prototype of weather widgets for Bergens Tidende's digital platforms. By applying Design Science Research methodologies, a front-page widget is prototyped, giving users the ability to get a quick overview over temperature, wind, precipitation and one chosen niche weather feature like pollen or ebb and flow. Users are able to choose how the data is presented to them, for example seeing the amount of wind as "a little wind" instead of meters per second. A weather theme page is also prototyped, giving users the ability to see all weather and climate articles in one place, along with a dedicated detailed weather widget containing summaries, a rainy day counter, extreme weather warnings, a seasonal-specific forecast section, hour-by-hour weather, a long-term forecast, sea-specific forecasts, and more. The thesis asks the following research questions: RQ1. What different needs do the users of weather services have? And how can we cover these needs in a customizable weather widget? RQ2. What makes a good summarized local weather report? RQ3. How can we use user-centered design to gain insights to create different weather forecast designs? The findings of this thesis will help future projects that aim to explore the design possibilities around local weather forecasts, especially connected to news platforms.Masteroppgave i medie- og interaksjonsdesignMIX350MASV-MI

Volatility Managed Short Duration Premium

This thesis investigates if the short duration premium of the equity duration strategy can be improved by managing its volatility. Based on estimates by Gonçalves (2021), we replicate equity duration sorted portfolios of U.S. stocks from 1973 to 2019, and identify a 9.3% premium for a strategy buying short duration firms, and selling long duration firms. These findings support literature suggesting the existence of a downward-sloping equity term structure. Managing the volatility of the equity duration strategy results in a reduction of 4.2% annualized risk-adjusted return, suggesting that volatility management does not lead to an improvement of the short duration premium. In contrast to strategies for which volatility management increases premiums, we note that the original equity duration strategy has a high positive skewness of 0.64, which is completely diminished. We argue that volatility management is not suitable for the equity duration strategy as strategy returns are generally high in periods of high volatility, and returns are generally low in periods of low volatility. We finalize our exploration of the short duration premium by testing its merits in a multi-factor environment. We show that combining the equity duration strategy with traditional asset pricing models in Markowitz’s (1952) portfolio optimization model increases Sharpe ratios significantly. Our findings underscore the viability of the equity duration investment strategy but warn investors of scaling investments to its volatility.nhhma

La meg være, jeg vil lære. Introvertes opplevelse av læringssituasjoner

Master i samfunnsvitenskap med fordypning i HR

Ser du hva jeg sier? De minste barnas medvirkning i barneverntjenestens evaluering av hjelpetiltak.

Med ny barnevernlov, som trådte i kraft i 2023, ble barns rett til medvirkning i alle forhold som vedrører dem styrket. Mens dette tidligere først og fremst gjaldt barn over 7 år, har denne aldersbegrensningen i retten til medvirkning nå blitt fjernet. Små barns rett til medvirkning reiser en rekke faglige og praktiske spørsmål og utfordringer. Tema for denne masteroppgave er hvordan barn mellom 0 og 3 år medvirker i evaluering av eget barnevernstiltak. Det empiriske grunnlaget for analysen er et utvalg skriftlige evalueringer av barneverntiltak gjennomført av flere kommunale barneverntjenester på Sørlandet. Teoretisk tar jeg utgangspunkt i utviklingspsykologisk teori. Særlig viktig for analysen er erkjennelsen om at små barn aktivt samhandler med sine omgivelse og at de uttrykker seg blant annet gjennom atferd. Problemstillingen for oppgaven er: Hvordan medvirker de yngste barna i barneverntjenestens evalueringer? Problemstillingen er operasjonalisert gjennom følgende underproblemstillinger: - Hvordan synliggjøres barn under 3 år i de skriftlige evalueringene? - På hvilken måte fremkommer barnas uttrykk for meninger i evalueringene av tiltak? Gjennom analyse av det empiriske materiale fant jeg at de minste barna i liten grad ble beskrevet i evalueringene. Ofte fremkom det ikke informasjon om hvorvidt de ansatte i barneverntjenesten hadde møtt barnet, og vurderinger av observasjon og samhandlingen med barnet. De små barna så ut til å medvirke i evalueringene i svært liten grad. Små barns medvirkning ser i stor grad ut til å forstås som ivaretatt av at voksne arbeider for å støtte og hjelpe barnet for å sikre gode omsorgsvilkår, i stedet for at barna selv blir lyttet til. Beskrivelsene i evalueringene som jeg analyserte tyder på at de ansatte i barnevernet ikke anså at de små barna kunne medvirke, siden de manglet et tydelig språk. Funnene i denne studier tyder på at det er lite bevissthet i barneverntjenesten om små barns evne til å uttrykke seg på andre måter, gjennom deres samhandling med omgivelsene og deres atferd. Nøkkelord: Medvirkning, de yngste barna, de minste barna, småbarn, barnevern, hjelpetiltak.With the new Child Protection Act, which came into force in 2023, children's right to participate in all matters that concern them was strengthened. While this previously primarily applied to children over the age of 7, this age restriction on the right to participate has now been removed. Young children's right to participation raises a number of academic and practical questions and challenges. The topic of this master's thesis is how children between the ages of 0 and 3 participate in the evaluation of their own child protection measures. The empirical basis for the analysis is a selection of written evaluations of child protection measures carried out by several municipal child protection services in Southern Norway. Theoretically, my starting point is developmental psychological theory. Particularly important for the analysis is the recognition that young children actively interact with their surroundings and that they express themselves, among other things, through behaviour. The thesis question is: How do the youngest children participate in the child protection service's evaluations? The problem is operationalized through the following sub-problems: - How are children under the age of three made visible in the written evaluations? - In what way do the children's expressions of opinions appear in the evaluations of measures? Through analysis of the empirical material, I found that the youngest children were to a small extent described in the evaluations. Often there was no information about whether the staff in the child protection service had met the child, and assessments of observation and interaction with the child. The young children seemed to participate in the evaluations to a very small extent. Young children's participation appears largely to be understood as taken care of by adults working to support and help the child to ensure good care conditions, instead of the children themselves being listened to. The descriptions in the evaluations that I analysed indicate that the employees in the child protection did not consider that the young children could participate, since they lacked a clear language. The findings in this study indicate that there is little awareness in the child protection service of young children's ability to express themselves in other ways, through their interaction with their surroundings and their behaviour. Key words: Key words: Participation, the youngest children, the smallest children, toddlers, child protection, relief measures

Godvilje i motvind? : om inkluderende arbeidsliv i statlige virksomheter

This study examines the implementation of the programme Inclusive Working Life (IWL) in state-owned enterprises at regional level from the perspectives of both the leaders and the employees. Attention has been given to organizing and institutional frames, the status of the IWL work and their experiences connected to this, how they evaluate the significance of the IWL work, and the challenges for future work. The data is based upon interviews with one representative for the leaders and one for the employees in each enterprise. One aim of this study was to compare our findings with a similar study we carried out in 2003-04 in the same enterprises. This present study shows that reorganizing is still a primary focus in the enterprises and the demand for efficiency has a tendency to dominate the demands for inclusion. But the IWL work is more systematic and there is a better integration in the HMS (Health, Environment, and Safety) work. The goal of reducing sick leave has still the highest priority. Concerning the second goal of including employees with any kind of disability, employees who already have a job in the enterprises are given priority. Some of the enterprises have taken the initiative to establish apprenticeships or internships, but only on a small scale. There were also variations among the enterprises in respect of the objective of retaining elderly people. If the state enterprises are going to be frontrunners in implementing the goals in the IWL agreement, the main challenges will involve changing the institutional frames, anchoring the IWL work better in the line management and increasing the competence of the leaders at different levels, and improving the cooperation with external collaborative partners like NAV and doctors.Denne studien undersøker hvordan seks statlige virksomheter jobber med implementering av Avtalen om inkluderende arbeidsliv sett fra både ledernes og se ansattes ståsted. Temaene for undersøkelsen er for det første hvilke rammebetingelse dette arbeidet foregår innenfor, og hvordan er IA-arbeidet organisert. For det andre er det en kartlegging av status for IA-arbeidet og hvilke erfaringer som er gjort i arbeidet med de tre delmålene i IAavtalen. For det tredje undersøker vi hvordan virksomhetene selv vurderer måloppnåelsen og betydningen av IA-arbeidet, og til slutt presenteres noen sentrale utfordringer for IAarbeidet fremover. Datamaterialet er basert på intervju med representanter for ledelsen og ansatte i virksomhetene på regionalt nivå. En delmålsetting med undersøkelsen som her presenteres, var å gjøre en sammenlikning med en lignende undersøkelse vi gjennomførte i 2003-04 i de samme virksomhetene. Studien viser at IA-arbeid i stor grad fremdeles blir påvirket av fokus på omstilling i virksomhetene, effektivitetskravene har en tendens til å overstyre inkluderingshensynene. Men det er mer systematikk, spesielt sykefraværsarbeidet, og det er en bedre kobling mellom IA-arbeid og HMS-arbeid. Delmål 1, oppfølging av sykemeldte, vies fortsatt størst oppmerksomhet. I arbeidet med delmål 2, inkludering av personer med nedsatt funksjonsevne, blir arbeid med å legge til rette for egne ansatte som trenger tilpasning, prioritert. Det er også gjennomført tiltak for å opprette lærlinge- og tiltaksplasser, men i begrenset omfang av. Det er varierende i hvor stor grad virksomhetene arbeider aktivt med delmål 3, å få eldre til å stå lenger i arbeid. Viss de statlige virksomhetene skal kunne bli foregangsvirksomheter for IA-arbeid, handler utfordringene blant annet om å endre rammebetingelsene i organisasjonen, å forankre IAarbeidet bedre i linjeledelsen og øke lederkompetansen på dette arbeidet, samt å få til et bedre samarbeid med samarbeidspartnere som NAV og spesielt legene

Cannabinoids in the treatment of cancer anorexia and cachexia:Where have we been, where are we going?

Cachexia–anorexia cancer syndrome remains an unmet clinical need with a dearth of treatment and no standard of care. Acting through the endocannabinoid system, cannabinoids are one potential cancer cachexia treatment. Herein, the potential mechanisms for cannabinoids for cancer cachexia are discussed as are previous and ongoing clinical trials.</p

Can children's instructional gameplay activity be used as a predictive indicator of reading skills?

For children who may face reading difficulties, early intervention is a societal priority. However, early intervention requires early detection. While much research has approached the issue of identification through measuring component skills at single timepoints, an alternative is the utilisation of dynamic assessment. To this point, few initiatives have explored the potential for identification through progress data from play in digital literacy games. This study explored how well growth curves from progress data in a digital intervention can predict reading performance after gameplay compared to measuring component skills at a single timepoint (school entry). 137 six-year-old students played the digital Graphogame for 25 weeks. Latent growth curve analyses showed that variation in trajectories explained variation in literacy performance to a greater extent than risk status at school entry. Findings point to a potential for non-intrusive reading assessment in the application of a serious digital game in first grade.publishedVersio

Simulating water quality and ecological status of Lake Vansjø, Norway, under land-use and climate change by linking process-oriented models with a Bayesian network

Excess nutrient inputs and climate change are two of multiple stressors affecting many lakes worldwide. Lake Vansjø in southern Norway is one such eutrophic lake impacted by blooms of toxic blue-green algae (cyanobacteria), and classified as moderate ecological status under the EU Water Framework Directive. Future climate change may exacerbate the situation. Here we use a set of chained models (global climate model, hydrological model, catchment phosphorus (P) model, lake model, Bayesian Network) to assess the possible future ecological status of the lake, given the set of climate scenarios and storylines common to the EU project MARS (Managing Aquatic Ecosystems and Water Resources under Multiple Stress). The model simulations indicate that climate change alone will increase precipitation and runoff, and give higher P fluxes to the lake, but cause little increase in phytoplankton biomass or changes in ecological status. For the storylines of future management and land-use, however, the model results indicate that both the phytoplankton biomass and the lake ecological status can be positively or negatively affected. Our results also show the value in predicting a biological indicator of lake ecological status, in this case, cyanobacteria biomass with a BN model. For all scenarios, cyanobacteria contribute to worsening the status assessed by phytoplankton, compared to using chlorophyll-a alone.publishedVersio

Child and Caregiver Reporting on Child Maltreatment and Mental Health in the Philippines Before and After an International Child Development Program (ICDP) Parenting Intervention

Child maltreatment is a serious problem affecting millions of children. Research on self-reporting of child maltreatment has shown a difference in reporting between caregivers and children. Increased understanding of this has implications for further evaluations of parenting programmes and assessment of violence and maltreatment. The purpose of this study was to explore caregiver-child reporting discrepancies on child maltreatment and emotional health before and after piloting of the International Child Development Program (ICDP) in the Philippines. Data was collected from caregivers and their children before and after caregiver participation in ICDP. Participants were selected from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in Leyte by Save the Children. Caregivers and children completed a questionnaire with some adapted items from the Conflict Tactics Scale Parent–Child version (CTSPC), some relevant complementary items on psychological aggression and items from the emotional problems subscale from the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Matching items, subscales and total count scores were compared using paired t-tests in STATA 14. Forty-six caregivers and 43 children aged from 5–13 years participated at baseline, and 44 caregivers and 42 children at endline. At baseline, children reported significantly more maltreatment than their caregivers. The groups reported similarly at baseline and endline on the items from the subscale on emotional problems. Both children and caregivers had lower scores on our harsh discipline scale at endline, indicating improved parenting strategies after the intervention. These results indicate a difference in reporting of child maltreatment between caregivers and children, with higher rates reported by the children before the intervention, but not after. This is important because it illustrates child and caregiver perspectives on maltreatment, and how they can differ. As such, our findings point towards a positive effect of ICDP on parenting.publishedVersio

‘As soon as they can hold a glass, they begin taking alcohol’: a qualitative study on early childhood substance use in Mbale District, Uganda

Background Globally, substance use is a leading contributor to the burden of disease among young people, with far reaching social, economic and health effects. Following a finding of harmful alcohol use among 5-8-year-old children in Mbale District, Uganda, this study aims to investigate community members’ views on early childhood substance use among children below the age of 10 years. Methods In 2016, we conducted eight focus group discussions with 48 parents and 26 key informant interviews with teachers, health workers, alcohol distributors, traditional healers, religious leaders, community leaders and youth workers. We used thematic content analysis. Four participants and two research assistants reviewed and confirmed the findings. Results Alcohol in everyday life: ‘Even children on laps taste alcohol’: Almost all participants confirmed the existence of and concern for substance use before age 10. They described a context where substance use was widespread in the community, especially intake of local alcoholic brews. Children would access substances in the home or buy it themselves. Those living in poor neighbourhoods or slums and children of brewers were described as particularly exposed. Using substances to cope: ‘We don’t want them to drink’: Participants explained that some used substances to cope with a lack of food and resources for childcare, as well as traumatic experiences. This made children in deprived families and street-connected children especially vulnerable to substance use. Participants believed this was a result of seeing no alternative solution. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study to describe the context and conditions of childhood substance use before age 10 in Mbale District, Uganda. The study shows that community members attributed early childhood substance use to a social context of widespread use in the community, which was exacerbated by conditions of material and emotional deprivation. These social determinants for this practice deserve public health attention and intervention.publishedVersio