Selection for fertility on the basis of A.I. data

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Treatment of Subacromial Impingement Syndrome in a 53-Year-Old Female: A Case Study

Background and Purpose. Subacromial impingement syndrome (SAIS) is a common shoulder pathology. The purpose of this case report is to discuss the outcomes of subsequent physical therapy after operative treatment for SAIS and the clinical decision making involved in seeking surgical intervention. Case Description. This case report describes a 54 y/o female who participated in eight weeks of physical therapy after undergoing shoulder decompression surgery while failing conservative physical therapy prior to surgical intervention. Intervention. Physical therapy interventions were designed to strengthen the rotator cuff and shoulder, increase range of motion, decrease pain, and improve functional activity. Outcomes. The patient increased strength, and range of motion to near normal limits, and had decreased pain and functional limitations. Discussion. Physical therapy intervention after shoulder decompression surgery can improve strength, range of motion, pain, and functional activity. The patient would have benefitted from continued therapy for further improvements of strength and range of motion, but opted to continue therapy with a home exercise program. Further research is needed to determine early diagnostics to provide the most appropriate plan of care

Introduction of central bank digital currency – necessary legislative amendments

orges Bank has been running a central bank digital currency project since 2016. The project is now in its fourth phase, and as part of this phase an overview will be provided of required legislative amendments linked to the introduction of CBDC. For an overview of Norges Bank’s CBDC project, please see the web page on central bank digital currency (https://www.norges-bank.no/en/topics/financial-stability/central-bank-digital-currency/). This memo assesses the legislative amendments that are expected to be required in order to introduce CBDC.publishedVersio

Reagents and Tools to Identify Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease Virus-2

The purpose of this project was to define monoclonal antibodies against viral proteins from Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease Virus (EHDV) to be used in quality control of vaccines produced by an industrial partner, and development of tools to identify EHDV. EHDV is an Orbivirus, which also includes Bluetongue Virus and African Horse Sickness, which are all transmitted through arthropod vectors. EHDV causes significant morbidity and mortality in white-tailed deer, but has recently been found to infect cattle. EHDV recently caused significant outbreaks affecting both the farmed and wild cervid industry, however few reagents and tools exist to protect against this disease or define the virus in vitro. To develop new, efficient reagents that can be used to identify EHDV, we identified and tested monoclonal antibodies against two different viral capsid proteins, VP2 and VP5. To do this, predictive algorithms were used to generate immunogenic peptides specific for each protein. Three groups of mice were used, one injected with the VP2 peptides, one with the VP5 peptides, and the third with a proprietary marker sequence localized to the amino terminus of recombinant proteins produced by the industrial partner. After fusion, 192 wells were plated from each fusion. Wells containing growing cells after about sixteen days were screened and positive wells were subcloned. This process was repeated twice, and we were left with two hybridoma clones recognizing epitopes of VP5 and one of VP2. Further testing showed cross reactivity the two VP5 antibodies, so we focused on the monoclonal antibodies directed against VP2, line 13-2. Following generation of ascites, utility in recognition of both our partners’ recombinant VP2 protein and native VP2 proteins of the virus was confirmed. In addition, a commercial VP5 antibody directed against African Horse Sickness virus also recognized recombinant protein, and native EHDV VP5 protein in multiple assays. Both antibodies reacted by ELISA against the native proteins and viral lysate from both EHDV-1 and EHDV-2, although only the VP5 antibody showed the ability to recognize viral proteins by Western Blot. Work is underway to define the ability of the antibodies to recognize and identify EHDV by IFA

"It is not just about doing or saying the right things": Working systemically with parents whose children are placed in public care

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.This article explores the possibilities of a systemic approach in the support of parents whose children are placed in public care. The article is based on a qualitative study interviewing six parents who have received support from Norwegian Family Counselling Services (FCS) and seven systemic family therapists from FCS. Both groups were interviewed individually and in focus groups. The findings suggest that parents experienced less judgement from therapists in FCS than from caseworkers in CPS. Even if it could be challenging, the systemic therapists found a systemic approach useful to help parents develop agency and make meaning of their lives, as the parents struggled to have agency and understand why their children were placed in care. The article concludes that systemic approaches can be useful in these cases, combined with appropriate child protection interventions as necessary.publishedVersio

Does SOFR-linked debt cost borrowers more than LIBOR-linked debt?

We investigate if the benchmark transition from London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) to Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) affects the costs of borrowing floating rate debt. The primary market for dollar-denominated floating rate notes (FRNs) provides an ideal laboratory to study these e ects. Comparing the spreads of FRNs linked to LIBOR and SOFR, issued by the same entity during the same month, we find a significantly lower yield spread for SOFR-linked debt after adjusting for the maturity-matched spreads from the swap market. In addition, despite identification challenges, we observe a quantitatively similar pattern in the syndicated loan market.publishedVersio

A Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer for Upper Atmospheric Measurements

The mesosphere-lower thermosphere (MLT) is perhaps the least understood region of the earth’s atmosphere due to the difficulty of obtaining in-situ measurements. Access to the MLT is limited to high-speed sounding rockets for brief periods of at most a few minutes. Because of its wide mass range and high scan rate, Time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) has potential to resolve thin layers of diverse species in the MLT. However, because ambient pressures can reach into the millitorr range, TOF-MS has rarely been applied in the MLT due to its dependence on high voltages and microchannel plate (MCP) detectors. A novel dual mode, compact axial TOF-MS suitable for deployment aboard a sounding rocket for measurements in the MLT is presented. This TOF-MS is capable of operating in either a standard TOF mode or in a multiplexing mode to achieve high measurement duty cycles with a theoretically unlimited mass range. Experimental data is presented demonstrating successful MCP operation in a variety of environments including O2, N2, and air at pressures into the low millitor range. Also presented are results from extensive simulation and modeling efforts to approximate the in-flight operating environment of the TOF-MS. Gas flow modeling in a typical MLT environment is performed using the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. Standard gas flow equations are combined with DSMC results to estimate pressures inside the TOF-MS. Modeling, simulations and experimental work combine to demonstrate the potential of the new dual mode TOF-MS for deployment in the upper atmosphere

Når barnevernsforeldre, fagpersoner og forskere forsker sammen: Maktskjevhet eller demokratisering av kunnskap?

Artikkelen drøfter hvordan en medforskergruppe samskapte kunnskap i et PhD-prosjekt, og hvilke erfaringer gruppen hadde med å forske sammen på tvers av fag- og erfaringskompetanse. PhD-prosjektet handlet om familievernets oppfølging av foreldre i etterkant av en omsorgsovertakelse. Artikkelen belyser hvordan ulik bakgrunn gjorde samarbeidet krevende, men samtidig bidro med flere perspektiver på problemstillingene. Medforskerne, som representerte en marginalisert gruppe, opplevde en myndiggjøringsprosess som handlet om å «gjøre opp for» handlinger samfunnet fordømte. Et dilemma var at de representerte en gruppe som hadde liten tillit til barnevernet som de forsket sammen med. Medforskerne bidro med ulik kunnskap og forskningsprosessen hadde ulik betydning for dem. Dette kunne gjenspeile en maktskjevhet eller en måte å demokratisere en forskningsprosess på.publishedVersio

Læring underveis og vansker med å leve opp til dette idealet

Forskning viser at tilbakemeldinger er en av de mest kraftfulle og samtidig minst forståtte funksjoner ved læring. I denne artikkelen har jeg intervjuet studenter og lærere ved bachelorutdanningen i sosialt arbeid ved VID vitenskapelige høgskole for å finne ut hva de tenker bør ligge i gode tilbakemeldinger på skriftlig arbeid. Jeg har diskutert innholdet i tilbakemeldinger i form av mappevurdering, som et overordnet pedagogisk prinsipp ved utdanningen. Informantene peker på at målene for tilbakemeldingen er uklare, og at kombinasjonen summativ og formativ vurdering (avsluttende og underveisvurdering) er utfordrende. Det viser seg også å være vanskelig for lærerne å tilpasse tilbakemeldingen til den enkelte student. Artikkelen argumenterer for at en god relasjon mellom lærer og student ville gitt bedre læring. Det siste reises blant annet som et ressursspørsmål både av lærere og studente