Bilingual vocabulary acquisition A corpus-based case study

A bilingual learning two languages from birth seems to follow the same developmental trajectory as that of a monolingual. However, within vocabulary acquisition persistent and significant differences have been found between bilingual and monolinguals when the languages of bilinguals are compared separately to monolinguals’ level. The domain specific nature of a bilingual’s vocabularies is an important characteristic in understanding this difference, but also when investigating a bilingual’s vocabulary acquisition. The role of context in which a bilingual acquires his or her languages is crucial to the aspect of domain specificity. An important theory here is the Complementarity Principle, emphasizing how different domains in life require different languages and that the vocabularies and proficiencies of a bilingual’s languages will develop thereafter. This theory has mostly been investigated in adult bilingualism. This study examines the English and Norwegian vocabularies of a 2-year-old bilingual girl, Emma. Emma is growing up in northern Norway and has acquired Norwegian and English from birth. The thesis uses corpus data collected between the ages of 2;7-2;11 to examine the expressive lexical characteristics of Emma’s vocabularies. Emma is a relatively balanced bilingual, with an asymmetrical code-switching pattern. Her vocabulary levels do not match those of monolingual peers when her languages are compared separately, but when her total and conceptual vocabularies are compared to monolingual vocabulary levels, her results are more comparable. Based on this, Emma’s results are discussed in relation to the implications of the complementarity principle and current research on monolingual and bilingual comparisons

Plasma Activated Water: The Next Generation Technology for Food and Agricultural Applications

Master's thesis in Biological ChemistryPlasma activated water (PAW) has recently gained increased attention as a next generation non-thermal food processing technology. It has promising potential as a eco-friendly alternative to traditional decontamination methods in the food industry, as well as promising applications in agriculture, such as plant growth enhancement. In this MSc thesis, PAW composition and stability during four-week storage at different temperatures, relevant for industry settings, (10, 4 and -20 °C) were assessed as a function of PAW operating conditions (i.e. plasma power and activation time). Increasing plasma power (25 and 35 W) and activation time (10 and 30 min) resulted in a significant drop in pH (up to 2.5 ± 0.1) and significantly higher oxidation reduction potential (ORP) level (up to 284.1 ± 11.5 mV) and concentration of the monitored reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), i.e. nitrates, nitrites and hydrogen peroxide (up to 342.5 ± 13.6, 1.6 ± 0.1 and 1.1 ± 0.2 mg/L, respectively). Furthermore, the presence of carbonic compounds (carbonic acid, bicarbonate and carbonate ion) in PAW significantly increased with activation time, where the main specie was carbonic acid (maximum of 693.3 ± 131.9 μM), and estimation of the hydronium ion and hydroxide levels increased and decreased, respectively. The nitrous and nitric acid in PAW both increased with increasing plasma power and activation time. Regarding PAW storability, the pH, ORP and nitrates level remained stable during the four-week storage, independently of the temperature. However, nitrites levels were not detectable after 24 h for all operating conditions and storage temperatures, except for the most severe activation settings (36 W for 30 min), where a significant decrease was still detected only at 10 and 4 °C. Hydrogen peroxide levels were also non-detectable after 24 h for all operating conditions and storage temperatures, which was attributed to its instability in acidic environments. The potential of PAW for microbial inactivation, alone or combined with ultrasonication (US), was assessed on planktonic cells of Listeria monocytogenes, with high prevalence in fresh produce, and also on wild harvested macroalgal biomass (Laminaria hyperborea), as a sustainable alternative to current preservation strategies. About 5 log reductions on L. monocytogenes suspensions were achieved after 5 min treatment with PAW, whilst there was no significant difference for the synergistic effect was observed when combined with US. For macroalgae decontamination, the combined effect of PAW and US resulted in about ≈ 2 log reductions of the total viable counts. Thus, the potential of PAW to extended product shelf-life and reduce food waste generation was demonstrated. Assessment of PAW as a nitrogen rich fertilizer and growth enhancement was conducted on Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) cultivar Heinz plants, resulting in significantly longer and heavier plants irrigated with PAW, alone and with the synergistic effect with a nutritional solution. In conclusion, this MSc thesis has demonstrated the potential of PAW as a promising alternative to traditional sanitizers applied in the food industry, as well as to mineral fertilizers in agriculture applications

Vegprising og personvern: Personvern i møte med dynamisk vegprising og overvaking i trafikken

Oppgåva tek sikte på å diskutera personvernet si rolle i dynamisk vegprising. Nye digitale løysingar krev stadig meir opplysningar om oss – også i trafikken. Dynamisk vegprising som ei ny løysing for vegprising kan potensielt ha stor innverknad på overvakingsgrada i trafikken. Problemstillinga er: Kan innføring av dynamisk vegprising ha implikasjonar for overvakingsgrada og personvernet i trafikken? Problemstillinga vert forsøkt løyst ved å svara på tre forskingsspørsmål: Kan dynamisk vegprising ha påverknad på omfanget av overvaking i trafikken? Kan løysinga få fleire formål enn berre berekning av avgifter? Og kva implikasjonar kan dette ha på personvernet? Ved hjelp av relevant teori om overvaking og personvern vil personvernet si rolle i dynamisk vegprising analyserast. Oppgåva diskuterer personvernet si tilknyting til retten til privatliv og viktigheita av desse rettane for å oppretthalda fridomen til enkeltindivid og demokratiet som institusjon. Sentrale prinsipp for personvern i personvernforordninga løftast fram som sentrale rettesnorer for å sikra eit godt personvern. Det peikast vidare på korleis statlege aktørar og multinasjonale aktørar ofte motiverte av økonomiske faktorar eller omsyn til tryggleik, vil ha interesse av data generert ved dynamisk vegprising, og kvifor det vert viktig å forhindra deling av data med desse aktørane. Ulike løysingsforslag for dynamisk vegprising drøftast. Til slutt grunngjev og understrekar oppgåva den overordna viktigheita av ei personvernvenleg løysing for dynamisk vegprising.The thesis aims to discuss the role of privacy in dynamic road pricing. New digital solutions require more and more information about us – including in traffic. Dynamic road pricing as a new solution for road pricing can potentially have a great impact on the level of surveillance in traffic. The question sought answered in this thesis is: Will an implementation of dynamic road pricing as a new solution have implications for the level of surveillance and privacy in traffic? The question is sought answered through three research questions: Can dynamic road pricing influence the level of surveillance in the traffic? Can the solution result in multiple purposes besides estimating tax? And what implications may this have on privacy in traffic? Using the appropriate theory for surveillance and privacy, the role of privacy in dynamic road pricing will be analyzed. The thesis will discuss the connection between privacy and the right to respect for private and family life and the importance of these rights to uphold individual freedoms and democracy. The fundamental principles of privacy in the General Data Protection Regulation are highlighted as crucial guidelines to secure sufficient privacy. Additionally it is shown how governmental actors and multinational actors, motivated by economic incentives and safety measures, with a potentially high interest in data generated through dynamic road pricing, should be denied access to this data. Several solution proposals are being discussed. Finally the supreme importance of privacy oriented solutions in dynamic road pricing are being emphasized

Statistical arbitrage in the freight options market : applying trading strategies to profit from volatility misspecification in the dry bulk shipping industry

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate trading strategies that can exploit misspecification of volatility in the freight options market. We have, using observed market prices, derived smooth forward rate curves from daily observations. These forward curves promote a representation of the historical volatility term structures for the Capesize, Panamax, and Supramax sub-sector of the dry-bulk shipping industry. The volatility term structures present consistent behavior across vessel sizes, with increasing volatility over a six week time horizon before the volatility converges towards an apparent long term equilibrium. The dynamics coincides with the general belief that spot freight rates are mean reverting in the long term and positively auto-correlated in the short term. A comparison of the historical volatility term structure and the volatility estimates implied by the options market reveals differences. Based on deviating volatility estimates, we execute trading strategies in what we believe is a realistic representation of the market dynamics. Our findings can be interpreted as a sign of inefficiency in the freight options market. Keywords – Forward freight agreements, dry bulk, volatility term structure, volatility tradingnhhma

Teori eller praksis? Erfaringer og ønsker – en studie av lærer- og økonomistudenter

Masteroppgave økonomi og administrasjon- Universitetet i Agder, 2015Hovedformålet med oppgaven er å undersøke studenters oppfatninger og ønsker av praksis-omfanget i deres utdanning. Bakgrunnsstoff viser at det både fra studenter, arbeidsliv og styres-makter, etterspørres praksis i større grad. I enkelte utdanninger er det regulert inn krav til prak-sis, mens det i andre er valgfritt. Oppgaven bygger på generell teori innenfor utdanningsøkonomi, sammenhengen mellom teori og praksis, samt noe pedagogisk teori. Det blir her pekt på årsaker til at ungdom tar utdanning utover obligatorisk opplæring, og hvordan de best kan forstå sammenhengen mellom teori og praksis. For å få innsikt i studenters ønsker og erfaringer i forhold til praksis, har jeg tatt utgangspunkt i økonomi- og administrasjonsutdanningen og lærerutdanningen – to profesjonsutdanninger med svært ulikt omfang av obligatorisk praksis. Jeg har først studert dagens krav til praksis i de to utdanningene, organisering av studiene, og studentenes tilfredshet. Dernest har jeg utført en empirisk undersøkelse blant studentene i de to utdanningene. Innsamlingen ble gjort elektronisk via e-post til tredje-, fjerde- og femteårsstudenter ved UiA, samt et lite utvalg studenter og kandidater som hadde deltatt på et valgbart breddeemne i øko-nomi- og administrasjonsutdanningen. Analysen viser at praksis er populært i lærerutdanningen, og at det er et sterkt ønske i økonomi- og administrasjonsutdanningen. Både arbeid ved siden av studiene, engasjement i verv i fri-villige organisasjoner, og praksis er faktorer som har innvirkning blant annet på studentenes motivasjon og fagforståelse i studietiden

A role for human N-alpha acetyltransferase 30 (Naa30) in maintaining mitochondrial integrity

N-terminal acetylation (Nt-acetylation) by N-terminal acetyltransferases (NATs) is one of the most common protein modifications in eukaryotes. The NatC complex represents one of three major NATs of which the substrate profile remains largely unexplored. Here, we defined the in vivo human NatC Nt-acetylome on a proteome-wide scale by combining knockdown of its catalytic subunit Naa30 with positional proteomics. We identified 46 human NatC substrates, expanding our current knowledge on the substrate repertoire of NatC which now includes proteins harboring Met-Leu, Met-Ile, Met-Phe, Met-Trp, Met-Val, Met-Met, Met-His and Met-Lys N termini. Upon Naa30 depletion the expression levels of several organellar proteins were found reduced, in particular mitochondrial proteins, some of which were found to be NatC substrates. Interestingly, knockdown of Naa30 induced the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and fragmentation of mitochondria. In conclusion, NatC N-tacetylates a large variety of proteins and is essential for mitochondrial integrity and function

Den kirkelige gjenreisningen i Finnmark etter 2. verdenskrig, med særlig fokus på årene 1945-1952

Master's thesis in theology. VID Specialized University, Stavanger, December 2016MV 17 S

comparison of lying time in dairy cows in tie stall and free stall housing

Hovedmålet med oppgaven har vært å sammenligne liggetiden i mellom båsfjøs og løsdriftfjøs. Dette er viktig ettersom liggetiden er en god indikasjon på dyrevelferden i melkeproduksjon. Bacheloroppgaven er basert på feltstudie, hvor det ble utført liggetidsmålinger i ni forskjellige besetninger. Det var seks båsfjøs og tre løsdriftfjøs, totalt 71 kyr ble registrert over fem dager for å finne gjennomsnittlig liggetid. For å måle liggetiden brukte jeg en HOBO logger som registrerte vinkel på beinet til kua for, å se om den stod eller lå. Resultatet var at kyr i båsfjøs lå like lenge som kyr i løsdriftfjøs. Kyrne i løsdrift hadde en tendens til å ha færre og lengre liggeperioder, men det var ingen signifikant forskjell. Det var heller ingen signifikant forskjell i liggetiden på om det ble brukt mye eller ingen strø. Det kan likevel se ut som at det er tendenser til at kyrne har flere og kortere liggeperioder i fjøs der det ikke brukes strø i det hele tatt.This bachelor’s thesis is based on fieldwork. The main objective of the thesis has been to compare the lying time of cows in tie stall and free stall housing. This is important because lying time is a good indication of the animal welfare in milk production. It was performed measurements of lying time in nine different herds. There were six tie stall and three free stall barn. A total of 71 cows were measured over five days to find the average lying time. To measure the lying time I used a HOBO logger that registered the angle of the cows leg to see if the cow were standing or lying. The results showed that cows in tie stall lay as long as cows in free stall housing. The cows in free stall housing trended to have fewer and longer lying periods than cows in tie stall, but there were no significant difference. There was not a significant correlation in lying time and amount of bedding. Still there was a trend that when it was bedded, the cows had fewer and longer lying periods compared to no bedding at all