Waste heat utilization for central heating and ventilation systems at Chassix Norway

Master's thesis Renewable Energy ENE500 - University of Agder 2018Chassix from south of Norway attempt to reduce their energy demand by sending waste heat to a Central Heating System, (CHS), named Case 1. The CHS heat the ventilation systems, space heat and water heating. The waste heat used is from the Sand Recycling Process, (SRP), and the Aluminum Cooling Process, (ACP). The ACP and a 600kW cooling tower are installed in May/June. Since the CHS is close to the ventilation systems using Battery Heat Exchanger, BHE, a possibility for utilizing the ventilation systems as a cooling tower, named Case 2. Case 2 is an attempt to reduce investment cost by replacing investment cost for installing the cooling tower. The potential heat recovery for CHS needed to be estimated. The estimation was based on dimension data at the building and from an Enova statistic. Estimated capacity was then compared with actual capacity from CHS. The potential heat recovery was estimated to be 1 012-1 142MWh/year, but actual data indicate that it might be lower. Case 1 is possible with reduced production at ambient temperatures above 17.5_C. With temperature above 22_C, the process needs to operate at 93%, due to possible cooling. Installing Case 1 and Case 2 are estimated as the most economically ffcient that only need 19% support from Enova to have a payback time in three years. Case 1 needs 34% support from Enova. Since the ventilation systems were 20 years old and are soon to rebuild, Chassix decided not to install Case 2

Multi-marker DNA metabarcoding reflects tardigrade diversity in different habitats

Like meiofauna in general, tardigrades are often neglected in ecological and environmental surveys. Tardigrades occur in all parts of the world, from deep marine sediments to alpine environments, and are present in most ecosystems. They are therefore potentially good candidates for biomonitoring programs. However, sampling of these minute animals is both tedious and time-consuming, impeding their inclusion in large-scale ecological surveys. In this study we argue that using a multi-marker metabarcoding approach on environmental DNA (eDNA) partly can overcome this barrier. Samples of moss, lichens, and leaf litter were investigated both by morphology-based methods and DNA metabarcoding, and the results were compared in terms of tardigrade diversity and community composition of the sampled microhabitats. DNA metabarcoding using three markers detected more species of tardigrades than identification by morphology in most samples. Also, metabarcoding detected the same community differences and microhabitat distribution patterns as morphology-based methods. In general, metabarcoding of litter samples was unreliable, with only one out of three markers consistently amplifying and detecting tardigrades. The low availability of tardigrade reference sequences in public databases restricts the taxonomic resolution in eDNA surveys, but this impediment is partly circumvented by utilizing multiple markers

Impacts of the new Indonesian mining regulations

Masteroppgave økonomi og administrasjon- Universitetet i Agder, 2015Throughout history, there have been constant debates on whether the concept of free trade or government intervention is the best tool to achieve economic development. The Indonesian government, however, has oscillated between the two as a way of counteracting the undesired consequences of following one of the two concepts. Through intervention the Indonesian government limited export of raw minerals in January 2014 with hopes of developing the Indonesian processing industry and this thesis wishes to explore the possible impacts of the regulations. By directing our focus on Indonesia’s political and economic history, quantitative data on relevant areas, theoretical framework on the concepts of ‘free trade’, ‘government intervention’, ‘new institutional economics’ and ‘path dependence’ we have reached the conclusion that the new Indonesian mining regulations have economic impacts on both national and organizational levels

Goodwill, lederskifte og manipulering : En analyse av utviklingen i balanseført goodwill og muligheten for manipulering i norske børsnoterte selskaper

Masteroppgave revisjon og regnskap BE508 - Universitetet i Agder 2017I 2005 ble norske børsnoterte selskaper lovpålagt å rapportere etter de internasjonale regnskapsstandardene IFRS. Overgangen fra GRS til IFRS medførte at goodwill ikke lenger skal avskrives, men testes for nedskrivning minst en gang i året. Implementeringen av IFRS 3 har også ført til at graden av skjønn og subjektivitet har økt betydelig i rapporteringen av goodwill. Det hevdes at IFRS har ført til en høyere andel goodwill i balansen. Denne studien undersøker derfor om det har forekommet en økning i balanseført goodwill i de norske børsnoterte selskapene i tidsperioden 2005 til 2015 som en konsekvens av overgangen til rapportering etter de internasjonale regnskapsreglene. Goodwill er en usikker eiendel og kan være utsatt for manipulering. Flere studier antyder at nyansatte ledere utnytter sin posisjon til å rapportere opportunistisk. Den andre problemstillingen som blir testet er derfor om et lederskifte i norske børsnoterte foretak fører til store nedskrivninger av goodwill i tråd med ”big bath”-teorien. Resultatene fra studien viser at det har forekommet en betydelig økning av goodwill på 62,6% i tidsperioden 2005-2015. Dette fremkommer av en t-test som er gjennomført for 59 selskaper. For å underbygge resultatene er det i tillegg utført en Wilcoxon signed-ranks test som også viser til signifikant økning i balanseført goodwill. På grunnlag av resultatene foreligger det derfor grunn til å hevde at implementeringen av IFRS 3 har medført en økning i balanseført goodwill. Det kan imidlertid se ut til å være en implementeringseffekt som i de senere årene har stabilisert seg. For å undersøke påvirkningen av et lederskifte er det gjennomført en multippel regresjonsanalyse som i tillegg til å inneholde en variabel for lederskifte inkluderer variabler for selskapsspesifikke faktorer. Resultatene viser at et lederskifte ikke har en signifikant påvirkning på balanseført goodwill. Det er i tillegg gjennomført ulike robustness-tester som gir tilsvarende resultater. Det kan derfor ikke trekkes noen konklusjon om at et lederskifte fører til nedskrivninger av goodwill

Laparoscopic fistula excision and omentoplasty for high rectovaginal fistulas: a prospective study of 40 patients

AIM: The aim of this study is to prospectively evaluate 40 patients with a high rectovaginal fistula treated by a laparoscopic fistula division and closure, followed by an omentoplasty. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty patients with a rectovaginal fistula, between the middle third of the rectum and the posterior vaginal fornix, resulting from different causes (IBD, iatrogenic and birth trauma) were treated by a laparoscopic excision of the fistula and insertion of an omentoplasty in the rectovaginal septum. The patients completed the gastrointestinal quality of life index questionnaire (GIQLI) and the Cleveland Clinic incontinence score (CCIS). All tests were performed at regular intervals after treatment. RESULTS: In 38 (95%) patients with a median age of 53 years (range 33-72), the surgical procedure was feasible. In two patients, the fistula was closed without an omentoplasty, and a diverting stoma was performed. The median follow-up was 28 months (range 10-35). Two patients (5%) developed a recurrent fistula. In one patient, the interposed omentum became necrotic and was successfully treated laparoscopically. In another patient, an abscess developed, which needed drainage procedures. The mean CCIS was 9 (range 7-10) before treatment and 10 (range 7-13) after treatment (p = 0.5 Wilcoxon). The median GIQLI score was 85 (range 34-129) before treatment and 120 (range75-142) after treatment (p = 0.0001, Wilcoxon). CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic fistula excision combined with omentoplasty is a good treatment modality with a high healing rate for high rectovaginal fistulas and an acceptable complication rate

An urban Blitz with a twist: rapid biodiversity assessment using aquatic environmental DNA

As global biodiversity declines, there is an increasing need to create an educated and engaged society. Having people of all ages participate in measuring biodiversity where they live helps to create awareness. Recently, the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) for biodiversity surveys has gained momentum. Here, we explore whether sampling eDNA and sequencing it can be used as a means of rapidly surveying urban biodiversity for educational purposes. We sampled 2 × 1 L of water from each of 15 locations in the city of Trondheim, Norway, including a variety of freshwater, marine, and brackish habitats. DNA was extracted, amplified in triplicate targeting the barcoding fragment of COI gene, and sequenced. The obtained data were analyzed on the novel mBRAVE platform, an online open‐access software and computing resource. The water samples were collected in 2 days by two people, and the laboratory analysis was completed in 5 days by one person. Overall, we detected the presence of 506 BINs identified as belonging to 435 taxa, representing at least 265 putative species. On average, only 5.4% of the taxa were shared among six replicates per site. Based on the observed diversity, three distinct clusters were detected and related to the geographic distribution of sites. There were some taxa shared between the habitats, with a substantial presence of terrestrial biota. Here we propose a new form of BioBlitz, where with noninvasive sampling effort combined with swift processing and straightforward online analyses, hundreds of species can be detected. Thus, using eDNA analysis of water is useful for rapid biodiversity surveys and valuable for educational purposes. We show that rapid eDNA surveys, combined with openly available services and software, can be used as an educational tool to raise awareness about the importance of biodiversity.© 2020 The Authors. Environmental DNA published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd 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. The attached file is the published pdf

A multi-marker metabarcoding approach to study tardigrade diversity in forest ecosystems.

Som annen mikroskopisk fauna blir bjørnedyr ofte oversett i økologiske undersøkelser. Med sin kosmopolitiske utbredelse i alt fra sedimenter på havets dyp til høyalpine fjellområder, spiller bjørnedyr viktige roller i mange økosystemer og bør integreres i forvaltnings- og overvåkningsprogrammer. Men, identifisering av små dyr i en taksonomisk utfordrende gruppe er en svært tidkrevende og omstendelig prosess, noe som gjør at de som regel blir utelatt i større biologiske overvåkningsprosjekter. I min masteroppgave utforsker jeg om DNA-basert identifisering av bjørnedyr fra miljøprøver gir et godt bilde på deres artsmangfold, og om slik metodikk kan erstatte tradisjonell identifisering med morfologi og gjøre det enklere å inkludere bjørnedyr i overvåkingsprosjekter. Bjørnedyr i prøver av mose, lav og strø ble identifisert med metabarcoding og morfologi, og resultatene sammenliknet med hensyn på diversitet og samfunnsøkologi. Ved å bruke et lokalt COI-referansebibliotek, supplert med sekvenser fra BOLD og GenBank, identifiserte metabarcoding flere arter av bjørnedyr enn tradisjonelle metoder i de aller fleste av prøvene. Metabarcoding gav også de samme samfunnsøkologiske mønstrene i mose, lav og strø som identifisering med morfologi. Generelt gav ikke metabarcoding pålitelige resultater for strøprøver, hvor bare én av de tre markørene gav konsekvent identifisering. Den nåværende mangelen på referansesekvenser til mange bjørnedyrarter begrenser den taksonomiske oppløsningen ved metabarcoding. Begrensningen vil ikke elimineres før alle bjørnedyrarter får sin strekkode, men kan for øyeblikket delvis omkommes ved å bruke flere markører

Math Anxiety, Self-concept and Self-efficacy. What can teachers do?

Mange elever i Norge i dag har matematikkangst, lav mestringsforventning i matematikk og lav selvoppfatning i matematikk. Mestringsforventning i matematikk betyr om eleven forventer å klare matematikkoppgaven den har foran seg. Selvoppfatning i matematikk vil si om eleven ser på seg selv som flink eller ikke i matematikk. En elev som har matematikkangst vil oppleve frykt eller ubehag når eleven blir stilt overfor en situasjon som krever at eleven bruker matematikk. På bakgrunn av dette fokuserer denne masteroppgaven på hvilke konkrete grep læreren kan ta for å øke elevenes mestringsforventning og selvoppfatning i matematikk, og hvordan dette kan hjelpe elever med matematikkangst. For å undersøke dette har jeg gjort en kvalitativ undersøkelse, ved å intervjue tre lærere med erfaring med denne typen elever. I løpet av intervjuene delte lærerne sine erfaringer om hvordan undervisning av denne typen elever bør foregå, og hva de har opplevd som effektivt i møte med slike elever. Disse tre lærerne er ulike, både av person, og når det kommer til erfaring, og svarene deres gir derfor et rikt bilde av hvordan undervisningen bør tilpasses til slike elever. De grepene læreren bør ta er kort fortalt å være entusiastisk, ha tro på elevene, la elevene oppleve mestring, ufarliggjøre matematikken og gjøre den meningsfull og relevant for elevene, flytte fokuset vekk fra fasitsvaret, gi elevene et sted å starte når de sitter fast på en oppgave og å hjelpe elevene til å forstå matematikken. Disse tiltakene vil øke elevenes mestringsforventning og selvoppfatning i matematikk, og direkte og indirekte også være med på redusere matematikkangst hos elevene. Dette kan igjen føre til at flere velger å utdanne seg innen realfag, noe som er nødvendige for å løse de samfunnsmessige utfordringene som ligger foran oss. In Norway today, many students have math anxiety, low self-concept in mathematics, and low self-efficacy in mathematics. In mathematics, self-efficacy mean whether the student expects to manage the specific math exercise in front of them. Self-concept in mathematics mean whether or not the student believes themselves to be competent in mathematics. A student with math anxiety will experience fear or discomfort when placed in a situation that demands the student’s use of mathematics. Based on this, this master thesis will be focused on what concrete measures the teacher can take to increase students self-efficacy and self-concept in mathematics, and how this can help students with math anxiety. To study this, I have done a qualitative study, by interviewing three teachers with experience with this kind of students. During the interviews, the teachers shared their experiences about how teaching of this kind of students should be done, and about what they have experienced as effective while teaching these students. These three teachers are different, both when it comes to personality, and when it comes to experience, and therefore, their answers give a rich picture of how teaching should be adapted to these students. The measures the teacher should take, is shortly to be enthusiastic, have faith in the students, let the students experience that they master mathematics, make mathematics less threatening and make it more meaningful and relevant for the students, move the focus away from the correct answer, give students a place to begin when they are stuck at an exercise and to help the students to understand mathematics. These measures will increase the students self-efficacy and self-concept in mathematics, and will also, direct and indirect, contribute to reduce students math anxiety. This may also lead to more students choosing to study math and science, which is necessary to solve the social challenges in the future.M-LU