Korfor ikkje nynorsk? Om overgangar frå nynorsk til bokmål i Hallingdal

I denne mastergradsavhandlinga har eg undersøkt moglege orsakar som gjer at ungdom i Hallingdal som har hatt nynorsk som hovudmål, bytter til bokmål. Problemstillinga som er utgangspunkt for avhandlinga er: Korfor bytter ungdom i Hallingdal som har nynorsk som hovudmål, over til bokmål? For å undersøkje dette vart det gjennomført ei kvantitativ digital undersøking ved Gol vidaregåande skule, kor til saman 44 informantar tok del i undersøkinga. Spørjeskjemaet inneheldt til saman 51 spørsmål, både opne og lukka, og hadde slik sett også nokre kvalitative resultat. Alle informantane har eller har hatt nynorsk som hovudmål, og delar av resultatet vert presentert med bokmålsinformantane og nynorskinformantane kvar for seg. Resultatet frå undersøkinga vert sortert og gjennomgått etter følgjande tre tema: forholdet til språk og samfunn, språkbruk og eksponering, og framtida som språkbrukar. Analysen av informantanes svar og argumentasjon, viser at bokmålsinformantane har lagt mest vekt på at bokmål er mest brukt elles i samfunnet, og at dei har lettare for å skrive godt bokmål enn nynorsk. Nynorskinformantane på si side oppgjev at dei i likskap med bokmålsinformantane stort sett nyttar bokmål utanfor skulen, men at dei valde nynorsk som hovudmål for å forhåpentlegvis betre kompetansen i nynorsk. Etter kvart som resultata frå dei ulike spørsmåla vart sett i samanheng, kunne ein sjå store likskapar i svara frå bokmålsinformantane, samstundes som ein også kunne leggje merke ved nokre tvitydigheiter. Fleire av informantane oppgjev at dei har nokså gode nynorskkunnskapar, samstundes som at hovudmomentet i grunngjevingane for målformbyttet gjerne er at nynorsk er for vanskeleg, eller at bokmål er enklare. For mange kan det slik sett tyde på at målformvalet nesten sjølvsagt er bokmål, sjølv om fleire av dei har hatt nynorsk i 10 år. Dei fleste informantane viser også ei felles bevisstheit om at dei fleste klassekameratane også bytter målform. Ut ifrå fleire moment som viser i retning av ein automatikk for bytte av målform, har eg kome fram til at det kan liggje til grunn ein målformbyttekultur blant informantane som påverkar målformvalet

Allele frequency net: a database and online repository for immune gene frequencies in worldwide populations

The allele frequency net database (http://www.allelefrequencies.net) is an online repository that contains information on the frequencies of immune genes and their corresponding alleles in different populations. The extensive variability observed in genes and alleles related to the immune system response and its significance in transplantation, disease association studies and diversity in populations led to the development of this electronic resource. At present, the system contains data from 1133 populations in 608 813 individuals on the frequency of genes from different polymorphic regions such as human leukocyte antigens, killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors, major histocompatibility complex Class I chain-related genes and a number of cytokine gene polymorphisms. The project was designed to create a central source for the storage of frequency data and provide individuals with a set of bioinformatics tools to analyze the occurrence of these variants in worldwide populations. The resource has been used in a wide variety of contexts, including clinical applications (histocompatibility, immunology, epidemiology and pharmacogenetics) and population genetics. Demographic information, frequency data and searching tools can be freely accessed through the website

Effects of vitamin D supplementation on bone turnover markers and other bone-related substances in subjects with vitamin D deficiency

In observational studies, vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for low bone density and future fractures, whereas a causal relation has been difficult to show in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Similarly, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with increased bone turnover, but RCTs with vitamin D have not shown conclusive effects. This could be due to inclusion of vitamin D sufficient subjects and low vitamin D doses. In the present study 399 subjects with mean baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) 34.0 nmol/L completed a four months intervention with vitamin D3 20,000 IU per week versus placebo. Mean serum 25(OH)D increased to 89.0 nmol/L in the vitamin D group and decreased slightly in the placebo group. A small, but significant, decrease in the bone formation marker procollagen of type 1 amino-terminal propeptide (P1NP) was seen in the vitamin D group as compared to the placebo group (mean delta P1NP -1.2 pg/mL and 1.5 ng/mL, respectively, P  6.5 pmol/L and post-intervention decrease in PTH, the decrease in P1NP was more pronounced, they also exhibited significantly reduced serum CTX-1 and increased serum sclerostin. In conclusion, supplementation with vitamin D appears to suppress bone turnover, possibly mediated by PTH reduction. Our findings need to be confirmed in even larger cohorts with vitamin D insufficient subjects

Ghrelin is related to lower brain reward activation during touch

The gut hormone ghrelin drives food motivation and increases food intake, but it is also involved in the anticipation of and response to rewards other than food. This pre-registered study investigated how naturally varying ghrelin concentrations affect the processing of touch as a social reward in humans. Sixty-seven volunteers received slow caressing touch (so-called CT-targeted touch) as a social reward and control touch on their shins during 3T functional imaging on two test days. On one occasion, participants were fasted, and on another, they received a meal. On each occasion, plasma ghrelin was measured at three time points. All touch was rated as more pleasant after the meal, but there was no association between ghrelin concentrations and pleasantness. CT-targeted touch was rated as the most pleasant and activated somatosensory and reward networks (whole brain). A region-of-interest in the right medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) showed lower activation during all touches, the higher the ghrelin concentrations were. During CT-targeted touch, a larger satiety response (ghrelin decrease after the meal) was associated with higher mOFC activation, and this mOFC activation was associated with higher experienced pleasantness. Overall, higher ghrelin concentrations appear to be related to a lower reward value for touch. Ghrelin may reduce the value of social stimuli, such as touch, to promote food search and intake in a state of low energy. This suggests that the role of ghrelin goes beyond assigning value to food reward.publishedVersio

Separation of Anti-Ia (I-Region Associated Antigens) from Anti-H-2 Antibodies in Complex Sera, by Absorption on Blood Platelets. Description of Three New Ia Specificities 1

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66030/1/j.1399-0039.1976.tb01035.x.pd

Stress responses to repeated captures in a wild ungulate

While capture-mark-recapture studies provide essential individual-level data in ecology, repeated captures and handling may impact animal welfare and cause scientific bias. Evaluating the consequences of invasive methodologies should be an integral part of any study involving capture of live animals. We investigated short- and long-term stress responses to repeated captures within a winter on the physiology, behaviour, and reproductive success of female Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus). Short-term responses were evaluated using serum concentrations of glucocorticoids and catecholamines during handling, and post-release recovery times in heart rate and activity levels. Repeated captures were associated with an increase in measured catecholamines and glucocorticoids, except cortisone, and delayed recovery in heart rate but not activity. Four months later, in summer, individuals captured repeatedly in winter exhibited a small increase in behavioural response to human disturbance and had a lower probability of being observed with a calf, compared to animals not captured, or captured only once. Our findings imply that single annual capture events have no significant negative consequences for Svalbard reindeer, but repeated captures within a season may impact offspring survival in the same year. Such unanticipated side effects highlight the importance of addressing multiple indicators of animal responses to repeated captures

Smoking, use of smokeless tobacco, HLA genotypes and incidence of latent autoimmune diabetes in adults

Aims/hypotheses Smoking and use of smokeless tobacco (snus) are associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. We investigated whether smoking and snus use increase the risk of latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) and elucidated potential interaction with HLA high-risk genotypes. Methods Analyses were based on Swedish case-control data (collected 2010-2019) with incident cases of LADA (n=593) and type 2 diabetes (n=2038), and 3036 controls, and Norwegian prospective data (collected 1984-2019) with incident cases of LADA (n=245) and type 2 diabetes (n=3726) during 1,696,503 person-years of follow-up. Pooled RRs with 95% CIs were estimated for smoking, and ORs for snus use (case-control data only). The interaction was assessed by attributable proportion (AP) due to interaction. A two-sample Mendelian randomisation (MR) study on smoking and LADA/type 2 diabetes was conducted based on summary statistics from genome-wide association studies. Results Smoking (RRpooled 1.30 [95% CI 1.06, 1.59] for current vs never) and snus use (OR 1.97 [95% CI 1.20, 3.24] for >= 15 box-years vs never use) were associated with an increased risk of LADA. Corresponding estimates for type 2 diabetes were 1.38 (95% CI 1.28, 1.49) and 1.92 (95% CI 1.27, 2.90), respectively. There was interaction between smoking and HLA high-risk genotypes (AP 0.27 [95% CI 0.01, 0.53]) in relation to LADA. The positive association between smoking and LADA/type 2 diabetes was confirmed by the MR study. Conclusions/interpretation Our findings suggest that tobacco use increases the risk of LADA and that smoking acts synergistically with genetic susceptibility in the promotion of LADA.Peer reviewe

The association between infant salivary cortisol and parental presence in the neonatal intensive care unit during and after COVID-19 visitation restrictions: A cross-sectional study

Objectives: Parent-infant interaction in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) promotes health and reduces infant stress. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, NICUs restricted parent-infant interaction to reduce viral transmission. This study examined the potential relationship between pandemic visitation restrictions, parental presence and infant stress as measured by salivary cortisol. Methods: A two-NICU cross-sectional study of infants with gestational age (GA) 23–41 weeks, both during (n = 34) and after (n = 38) visitation restrictions. We analysed parental presence with and without visitation restrictions. The relationship between infant salivary cortisol and self-reported parental NICU presence in hours per day was analysed using Pearson's r. A linear regression analysis included potential confounders, including GA and proxies for infant morbidity. The unstandardised B coefficient described the expected change in logtransformed salivary cortisol per unit change in each predictor variable. Results: Included infants had a mean (standard deviation) GA of 31(5) weeks. Both maternal and paternal NICU presence was lower with versus without visitation restrictions (both p ≤0.05). Log-transformed infant salivary cortisol correlated negatively with hours of parental presence (r = − 0.40, p = .01). In the linear regression, GA (B = -0.03, p = .02) and central venous lines (B = 0.23, p = .04) contributed to the variance in salivary cortisol in addition to parental presence (B = -0.04 p = .04). Conclusion: COVID-19–related visitation restrictions reduced NICU parent-infant interaction and may have increased infant stress. Low GA and central venous lines were associated with higher salivary cortisol. The interaction between immaturity, morbidity and parental presence was not within the scope of this study and merits further investigation