Environmental monitoring of the archaeological deposits at Øvregaten 19, Bergen. Concluding report 2013-2017

This concluding report contains all the monitoring data collected in the course of five years, from Jan. 2013 to Aug. 2017 from the protected archaeological deposits at Øvregaten 19, Bergen. The deposits had high contents of organic material and high water content before monitoring started. Data showed minimum temperatures close to 0-2°C under winter conditions and Maximum temperatures at 14°C during the first year of monitoring 2013. In 2014 the minimum temperature increased to 6-7°C and the maximum temperature increased to 17-18°C. Data recorded in 2015 showed minimum temperature 7-9°C and maximum temperature at 16-19°C. The average and median values calculated in the last two years 2016 & 2017 were increased to 22°C in the upper part of the pit and stable at 14°C in the deeper layers. This high temperature in the upper part of the pit, which is higher than mean ambient air temperature, may be due to the new house and the flagstones placed over and close to the pit where the monitoring equipment was installed.High soil moisture was found in all layers, and fluctuated with precipitation. This increased more frequently in 2014 and 2015 under periods with high precipitation. This high precipitation frequency and the infiltration of roof water has decreased the redox potential to more anoxic conditions, which is positive for the preservation of the archaeological remains.publishedVersio

Validation and Experimental Testing of Observers for Robust GNSS-Aided Inertial Navigation

This chapter is the study of state estimators for robust navigation. Navigation of vehicles is a vast field with multiple decades of research. The main aim is to estimate position, linear velocity, and attitude (PVA) under all dynamics, motions, and conditions via data fusion. The state estimation problem will be considered from two different perspectives using the same kinematic model. First, the extended Kalman filter (EKF) will be reviewed, as an example of a stochastic approach; second, a recent nonlinear observer will be considered as a deterministic case. A comparative study of strapdown inertial navigation methods for estimating PVA of aerial vehicles fusing inertial sensors with global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-based positioning will be presented. The focus will be on the loosely coupled integration methods and performance analysis to compare these methods in terms of their stability, robustness to vibrations, and disturbances in measurements

Nonlinear Observer for Tightly Integrated Inertial Navigation Aided by Pseudo-Range Measurements

A modular nonlinear observer for inertial navigation aided by pseudo-range measurements is designed and analyzed. The attitude observer is based on a recent nonlinear complementary filter that uses magnetometer and accelerometer vector measurements to correct the quaternion attitude estimate driven by gyro measurements, including gyro bias estimation. A tightly integrated translational motion observer is driven by accelerometer measurements, employs the attitude estimates, and makes corrections using the pseudo-range and range-rate measurements. It estimates position, range bias errors, velocity and specific force in an earth-fixed Cartesian coordinate frame, where the specific force estimate is used as a reference vector for the accelerometer measurements in the attitude observer. The exponential stability of the feedback interconnection of the two observers is analyzed and found to have a semiglobal region of attraction with respect to the attitude observer initialization and local region of attraction with respect to translational motion observer initialization. The latter is due to linearization of the range measurement equations that is underlying the selection of injection gains by solving a Riccati equation. In typical applications, the pseudo-range equations admit an explicit algebraic solution that can be easily computed and used to accurately initialize the position and velocity estimates. Hence, the limited region of attraction is not seen as a practical limitation of the approach for many applications. Advantages of the proposed nonlinear observer are low computational complexity and a solid theoretical foundation

Operability analysis of control system for ROV launch-and-recovery from autonomous surface vessel

The launch and recovery of equipment such as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) is a critical task that defines the operability limits of many marine operations. This paper considers the analysis of control systems that are designed to maximize the operability limits for launch and recovery of a ROV from a small unmanned surface vessel (USV). We use numerical simulation for the analysis, where the method combines recent approaches for wave compensating dynamic positioning, active heave compensation, and positioning control of the ROV with multi-body dynamic simulation of the surface vessel and ROV, including hydrodynamic forces and dynamic interactions from wires that depend on the ROV depth and moonpool. The results show that the choice of control algorithms and their tuning parameters has a significant effect on the system’s operability, and should be carefully designed and tuned to optimize the operability limits for any given sea state, weather and operational setup. The results show that numerical analysis with a system’s simulation is an effective tool to verify operability and its sensitivity to various parameters for the given ROV recovery application.publishedVersio

Utbygging av Follobanen. Overvåking av vannkvalitet. Årsrapport for 2018.

På oppdrag fra Bane NOR har NIBIO overvåket vannkvalitet i resipienter som kan motta avrenning fra anleggsarbeider i forbindelse med Follobanen.NIBIO har driftet opp til 9 automatiske målestasjoner utstyrt med multiparametersensorer for overvåking av vannkvalitet. I tillegg har det blitt tatt ut vannprøver ved 14 stasjoner og utført biologiske undersøkelser ved 4 stasjoner samt i Gjersrudtjern. Overvåkingen har pågått i bekker nedstrøms riggområdet på Åsland, i bekker sør for stasjonsområdet på Ski og langs anleggsområdet mellom Ski og Langhus. Årsrapporten omfatter alle resultater samlet inn på disse stasjonene i 2018 og har blitt sammenlignet med tidligere resultater.publishedVersio

Nonlinear Vehicle Velocity Observer with Road-Tire Friction Adaptation

Abstract-A nonlinear observer for lateral velocity of an automotive vehicle is extended for robustness with respect to unknown road surface conditions. The observer uses a friction model parametrized with the maximum road-tire friction coefficient, and an adaptive parameter update law is designed for estimation of this coefficient. The adaptive nonlinear observer is proven to be uniformly globally asymptotically stable under a uniform δ -persistency-of-excitation condition, and a set of additional technical assumptions, using results related to Matrosov's Theorem. The adaptive observer is validated using experimental data from a car

Impact of two myostatin (MSTN) mutations on weight gain and lamb carcass classification in Norwegian White Sheep (Ovis aries)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Our aim was to estimate the effect of two <it>myostatin </it>(<it>MSTN</it>) mutations in Norwegian White Sheep, one of which is close to fixation in the Texel breed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The impact of two known <it>MSTN </it>mutations was examined in a field experiment with Norwegian White Sheep. The joint effect of the two <it>MSTN </it>mutations on live weight gain and weaning weight was studied on 644 lambs. Carcass weight gain from birth to slaughter, carcass weight, carcass conformation and carcass fat classes were calculated in a subset of 508 lambs. All analyses were carried out with a univariate linear animal model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The most significant impact of both mutations was on conformation and fat classes. The largest difference between the genotype groups was between the wild type for both mutations and the homozygotes for the c.960delG mutation. Compared to the wild types, these mutants obtained a conformation score 5.1 classes higher and a fat score 3.0 classes lower, both on a 15-point scale.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Both mutations reduced fatness and increased muscle mass, although the effect of the frameshift mutation (c.960delG) was more important as compared to the 3'-UTR mutation (c.2360G>A). Lambs homozygous for the c.960delG mutation grew more slowly than those with other <it>MSTN </it>genotypes, but had the least fat and the largest muscle mass. Only c.960delG showed dominance effects.</p

The multicultural kindergarten in rural areas

Norsk: I denne rapporten presenteres resultater fra en surveyundersøkelse gjennomført i barnehager i rurale strøk i sju fylker høsten 2009. 525 pedagogiske ledere og 288 styrere svarte på undersøkelsen. Undersøkelsen har hatt som mål å innhente kunnskaper om hva som kjennetegner flerkulturelle barnehager i rurale strøk. Kun 18 av Norges 430 kommuner faller utenfor den definisjonen vi har brukt av rural. Surveyen kan slik sees som relevant for kunnskap om profesjonsutøvelse i barnehager i store deler av Norge. I undersøkelsen er det lagt særlig vekt på å kartlegge profesjonsutøveres arbeid med minoritetsspråklige barn og deres familier, og bakgrunnstall som kan skildre et bilde av en del kontekstuelle forhold for pedagogisk virksomhet. Det er blant annet innhentet kunnskap om hvilke språk som er representert, hvordan barnehagen arbeider med språk og kartlegging av språk, hvilket innhold som presenteres i strukturerte aktiviteter, personalets utdanning og språk, og foreldresamarbeid. Det er gjort frekvensanalyser av svarene på alle spørsmålene i spørreskjemaene. Videre er det gjort variansanalyse på noen av spørsmålene. Rapporten vektlegger i stor grad å presentere resultater fra undersøkelsen. Disse er slik vi forstår det interessante for videre systematisk arbeid for å heve kompetansen blant personalet i barnehager. De er også interessante sett opp mot Kunnskapsdepartementets fokus på kvalitet på innholdet i barnehagen. Resultatene viser at det i alle kommuner i de sju fylkene finnes minoritetsspråklige barn i barnehage. 84 prosent av styrerne svarer at det i dag går flerspråklige barn i deres barnehage. De resterende 16 prosent har arbeidet med minoritetsspråklige barn de siste tre årene. Det er imidlertid få barn med flere språk i hver barnehage, i ca. 31 prosent går det ett eller to barn med flerspråklig kompetanse og i ca 27 prosent av barnehagene går tre eller fire flerspråklige barn. Omtrent 80 prosent av minoritetsspråklige barn i barnehager i rurale områder, har enten polsk, somalisk, arabisk eller somalisk som morsmål. Et sentralt funn er at det kun er 3 prosent av profesjonsutøvere i undersøkelsen som har fordypning og/eller videreutdanning i flerkulturell pedagogikk eller liknende. Dette ser ut til å gjenspeile seg i den praksisen som respondentene rapporterer. Et eksempel er hva slags innhold som velges i strukturerte aktiviteter i barnegrupper. Det ser også ut til at styreres utdanningsbakgrunn i flerkulturell pedagogikk har betydning for den pedagogiske praksisen barn og foreldre møter i barnehagen i rurale områder. Videre er fraværet av minoritetsspråkene i de rapporterte pedagogiske praksiser slående. Det ser ut til at norsk dominerer, både når det gjelder kulturelle uttrykk og innhold, og når det gjelder språk. Norsk i denne sammenheng kan se ut til å bevege seg innenfor en monokulturell betydning.English: This report presents results from a survey that was carried out in kindergartens in rural areas in Norway 2009, and where 525 preschool teachers and 288 head teachers of kindergartens were the respondents. The data from this survey provide knowledge of how kindergartens work with a diverse group of children, and thus functions as a ground from which to critically plan future educational policies for the field of early childhood education in a multicultural society. For clarification, a multicultural kindergarten was defined in the survey as a kindergarten where children from linguistic and cultural minorities attend. The respondents were asked about various topics and pedagogical practices related to how they worked with children and families from linguistic and cultural minorities in their institutions. They were asked questions or asked to respond to statements about their educational backgrounds, how they worked with linguistic minorities to learn Norwegian and to support home languages in formal and informal activities, in what ways they cooperated with parents, who is responsible for the various language learning activities, which topics that were most often used in formal pedagogical situations and what cultural context they were based on (for example, Norwegian, Somali, Polish), thoughts regarding the role of play, etc. They were also asked more informative contextual questions letting us imagine some of the premises of practices in rural areas. The survey aimed at creating knowledge about how staff in kindergartens in rural districts work to cater for the learning and participation of children from linguistic and cultural minorities, and some of the conditions they work under. The reported practices can also say something about how all the children are exposed to the fact that Norway is understood as a multicultural society. The survey is part of a larger project were also qualitative methods are used. In short, the results that is presented in this report show that most preschools in rural areas have a low number of children and parents with minority backgrounds, very few of the professional staff have formal multicultural education, when working with language it is the Norwegian language that seem to be taken up, local/Norwegian culture is dominating when preschool teachers are taking part in meaning making with the children, etc.Kunnskapsdepartementet, Praksisrettet FOU barnehage, grunnopplæring og lærerutdannin

Den flerkulturelle barnehagen i rurale områder:Nasjonal surveyundersøkelse om minoritetsspråklige barn i barnehager utenfor de store byene

Norsk: I denne rapporten presenteres resultater fra en surveyundersøkelse gjennomført i barnehager i rurale strøk i sju fylker høsten 2009. 525 pedagogiske ledere og 288 styrere svarte på undersøkelsen. Undersøkelsen har hatt som mål å innhente kunnskaper om hva som kjennetegner flerkulturelle barnehager i rurale strøk. Kun 18 av Norges 430 kommuner faller utenfor den definisjonen vi har brukt av rural. Surveyen kan slik sees som relevant for kunnskap om profesjonsutøvelse i barnehager i store deler av Norge. I undersøkelsen er det lagt særlig vekt på å kartlegge profesjonsutøveres arbeid med minoritetsspråklige barn og deres familier, og bakgrunnstall som kan skildre et bilde av en del kontekstuelle forhold for pedagogisk virksomhet. Det er blant annet innhentet kunnskap om hvilke språk som er representert, hvordan barnehagen arbeider med språk og kartlegging av språk, hvilket innhold som presenteres i strukturerte aktiviteter, personalets utdanning og språk, og foreldresamarbeid. Det er gjort frekvensanalyser av svarene på alle spørsmålene i spørreskjemaene. Videre er det gjort variansanalyse på noen av spørsmålene. Rapporten vektlegger i stor grad å presentere resultater fra undersøkelsen. Disse er slik vi forstår det interessante for videre systematisk arbeid for å heve kompetansen blant personalet i barnehager. De er også interessante sett opp mot Kunnskapsdepartementets fokus på kvalitet på innholdet i barnehagen. Resultatene viser at det i alle kommuner i de sju fylkene finnes minoritetsspråklige barn i barnehage. 84 prosent av styrerne svarer at det i dag går flerspråklige barn i deres barnehage. De resterende 16 prosent har arbeidet med minoritetsspråklige barn de siste tre årene. Det er imidlertid få barn med flere språk i hver barnehage, i ca. 31 prosent går det ett eller to barn med flerspråklig kompetanse og i ca 27 prosent av barnehagene går tre eller fire flerspråklige barn. Omtrent 80 prosent av minoritetsspråklige barn i barnehager i rurale områder, har enten polsk, somalisk, arabisk eller somalisk som morsmål. Et sentralt funn er at det kun er 3 prosent av profesjonsutøvere i undersøkelsen som har fordypning og/eller videreutdanning i flerkulturell pedagogikk eller liknende. Dette ser ut til å gjenspeile seg i den praksisen som respondentene rapporterer. Et eksempel er hva slags innhold som velges i strukturerte aktiviteter i barnegrupper. Det ser også ut til at styreres utdanningsbakgrunn i flerkulturell pedagogikk har betydning for den pedagogiske praksisen barn og foreldre møter i barnehagen i rurale områder. Videre er fraværet av minoritetsspråkene i de rapporterte pedagogiske praksiser slående. Det ser ut til at norsk dominerer, både når det gjelder kulturelle uttrykk og innhold, og når det gjelder språk. Norsk i denne sammenheng kan se ut til å bevege seg innenfor en monokulturell betydning

Target organ expression and biomarker characterization of chemokine CCL21 in systemic sclerosis associated pulmonary arterial hypertension

Introduction: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a heterogenous disorder that appears to result from interplay between vascular pathologies, tissue fibrosis and immune processes, with evidence for deregulation of chemokines, which normally control immune trafficking. We recently identified altered levels of chemokine CCL21 in SSc associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Here, we aimed to define target organ expression and biomarker characteristics of CCL21. Materials and methods: To investigate target organ expression of CCL21, we performed immunohistochemistry (IHC) on explanted lung tissues from SSc-PAH patients. We assessed serum levels of CCL21 by ELISA and Luminex in two well-characterized SSc cohorts from Oslo (OUH, n=552) and Zurich (n=93) University hospitals and in 168 healthy controls. For detection of anti-CCl21 antibodies, we performed protein array analysis applying serum samples from SSc patients (n=300) and healthy controls. To characterize circulating CCL21 in SSc, we applied immunoprecipitation (IP) with antibodies detecting both full length and tailless and a custom-made antibody detecting only the C-terminal of CCL21. IP products were analyzed by SDS-PAGE/western blot and Mass spectrometry (MS). Results: By IHC, we found that CCL21 was mainly expressed in the airway epithelial cells of SSc patients with PAH. In the analysis of serum levels of CCL21 we found weak correlation between Luminex and ELISA (r=0.515, p<0.001). Serum levels of anti-CCL21 antibodies were higher in SSc patients than in healthy controls (p<0.001), but only 5% of the SSc population were positive for anti-CCL21 antibodies in SSc, and we found no correlation between anti-CCl21 and serum levels of CCL21. By MS, we only identified peptides located within amino acid (aa) 23-102 of CCL21, indicating that CCL21 in SSc circulate as a truncated protein without the C-terminal tail. Conclusion: This study demonstrates expression of CCL21 in epithelial lung tissue from SSc patients with PAH, and indicate that CCL21 in SSc circulates as a truncated protein. We extend previous observations indicating biomarker potential of CCL21, but find that Luminex is not suitable as platform for biomarker analyses. Finally, in vivo generated anti-CCL21 antibodies exist in SSc, but do not appear to modify serum CCL21 levels in patients with SSc-PAH