Blood Selenium Associated with Health and Fertility in Norwegian Dairy Herds

A survey of blood selenium (Se) concentrations in Norwegian Red heifers and dry period cows was conducted to reveal possible association to management, feeding, health and fertility. Selenium contents were determined in 254 herd blood samples consisting of pooled samples from individual non-lactating animals from herds in 5 counties. The Se concentrations showed a normal distribution with mean 0.09 μg Se/g blood, with a standard deviation (SD) of 0.05, and ranged from 0.02 to 0.23 μg/g, with 50 % of the samples being between 0.06 and 0.11 μg/g. The herds with Se concentrations below 0.06 μg/g were smaller (21.4 ± 8.7 cow-years) than those with Se levels above 0.11 μg/g (27.5 ± 14.1 cow-years) (P < 0.01), but there were no differences in milk yield, incidence of replacement, proportion of animal culling, amount of concentrate or grass silage as percentage of energy consumption between the groups. Treatment registration records showed a tendency that more animals in the low Se herds were treated for all the diseases included in this investigation (64.8 animals per 100 cow-years) than those in the high Se herds (57.5 per 100 cow-years), while no such differences were revealed for individual disorders. There was, however, a significant difference in bulk milk somatic cell counts (BMSCC) between low and high Se herds, their values being 137 000 and 155 000 cells/ml, respectively. This difference was significantly influenced by herd size. Furthermore, a total of 4 916 lactations were analyzed from individual health and fertility recordings, including 2 934 first lactations and 1 982 later lactations. The present study revealed a reduced incidence of disease treatment with increased Se concentrations from 0.02 to 0.23 μg Se/g blood. In this regard, there seemed to be an optimum of 0.10 to 0.15 μg Se/g for all types of mastitis treatments summarized, and for treatment of retained placenta. Thus, herd Se concentrations below and above these values was connected with increased probability for sum mastitis and retained placenta, reflecting the effect of the quadratic term of Se. The cow (composite) milk somatic cell count (SCC) was lower in lactations from low Se herds than in high Se herds with a marked SCC increase in the Se concentration interval from 0.11–0.13 μg/g blood. In conclusion, heifers and dry period cows in Norway are low in blood Se content and there seems to be a positive association between increased blood Se concentration pre partum and decreased incidence of mastitis, ovarian cysts and anoestrus/silent oestrus post partum

Aspects of a two-pasture — herbivore model

Pastures for reindeer can be divided into green pastures (mainly herbs and grasses) of summer time and more or less snow-covered lichen pastures of winter. Fall and spring pastures have a composition in-between these extremes, but for model purposes bisection is sufficient. For the animals the green-pasture season is an anabolic phase with a physiological building-up of protein reserves, while winter is a catabolic phase where food-intake is reduced and the animals to a considerable extent survive on the accumulated reserves from summer. While protein reserves are stored from summer to winter, lichen pastures are stored from year to year. Grasses and herbs not being grazed are wilting by the end of the growing season, while lichens not grazed can live for many years. This corresponds with fundamental differences in both growth pattern and resilience. The implications of the different features, and their interconnections, are not easy to survey without formal modeling. The point of departure is a simple pasture-herbivore model, well known from the literature building on a set of differential equations. A new two-pasture-herbivore model is developed. The model includes as basic elements the Klein (1968) hypothesis and that a residual lichen biomass is kept ungrazed due to snow-cover protection. Further the annual cycle is divided into four stylized seasons with herd rates of winter survival, spring calving, summer physiological growth and fall slaughtering. Isoclines are derived for summer pasture, winter pasture and herbivores. Stability properties are discussed in relation to various situations of seasonal pasture balance. Empirical examples, particularly that of changes in pasture balance and vegetation cover in Western Finnmark, Norway, are discussed. The article finds that the two-pasture model provides important features of reality, such as the stability aspects of pasture balance, which cannot be displayed by a one-pasture model. It is suggested that this type of modeling can be used as a basis for further research, e.g. implications of climate change

Mental and somatic health complaints associated with school bullying between 10th and 12th grade students; results from cross sectional studies in Oslo, Norway

Background Bullying is a widespread and serious problem that might influence both mental and psychical well being as well as school performance and social life. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of bullying, mental health problems and psychical complaints among 10th and 12th grade students and to analyze the association between bullying, mental health problems and muscle and skeletal complaints. Methods Two cross sectional studies of adolescents living in Oslo, Norway the first conducted in 2001 among 10th grade students (15/16 years old) and the second in 2004 among 12th grade students (18/19 years old). Both surveys were based on self report, were mostly school based and had almost identical questionnaires. There were around 3700 participants in both surveys, but the participation rate was lower in the latter survey (88 versus 80%). The Hopkins Symptoms Check List (HSCL-10) and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were used to measure mental health problems. Results Bullying is decreasing both among boys and girls while the prevalence of internalized mental health problems are increasing from 10th to 12th grade. For muscle and skeletal pain there is a diverging trend between boys and girls, with an increase among girls and a decrease among boys. The highest Odds Ratios, as a measure for the association between bullying, mental health problems and pain, were found for internalized mental health problems at both 10th and 12th grade both for boys and girls. Conclusion Both internalized and externalized mental health problems together with pain seem to be associated with bullying irrespective of school type and gender

Challenges and emerging practices in design of automation

Automation is expected to improve efficiency, as well as increase safety and quality. However, as more automation is added to a system, the lower the situation awareness of the operators may be. In safety critical systems this could have severe effects. Recent accidents illustrate that poor design and poor implementation of automated systems may contribute to accidents. This underlines the importance of investigating the role and use of design guidelines and best practices of human-autonomy interfaces, to ensure that these systems are designed in a way that aligns with human capabilities. Semi-structured interviews with 14 experts involved in design were conducted to identify challenges in design when introducing automation, as well as identify emerging practises in use. The interview notes were subject to a thematic analysis, and this resulted in the two main themes, "Challenges in design" and "Emerging practices in design", which each has its associated sub themes. The themes underline the need to update methods and standards to overcome challenges, as well as ensuring that best practices are used. There is a growing awareness that introduction of automation requires regulation, innovation and development in design methods and standards, and a key element in these methods and standards will be involvement of users through user centred design.acceptedVersio

Veisøkers opplevelse. En kvalitativ studie av voksne veisøkeres opplevelse av karriereveiledningsprosessen på et karrieresenter.

SAMMENDRAG Etter karriereveiledningssamtalene sender de fleste karrieresentre i Norge ut en brukerundersøkelse på e-post til veisøker. Selv om undersøkelsen er anonym er det dessverre få som svarer. Dessuten går spørsmålene på mange praktiske og tekniske ting, og ikke så mye på veisøkers opplevelse. I dette masterprosjektet har jeg derfor valgt å gjøre datainnsamling ved å intervjue seks veisøkere, med et ønske om å få fram de erfaringsnære beskrivelsene av deres møte med karrieresenteret. Ved å få innblikk i veisøkers opplevelser kan vi legge bedre til rette for gode karriereveiledningsprosesser. Basert på dette har jeg kommet fram til følgende problemstilling «Hvordan opplever voksne veisøkere karriereveiledningsprosessen ved et karrieresenter, og hvordan kan denne studien bidra til å legge til rette for gode karriereveiledningsprosesser?» Jeg har valgt en kvalitativ forskningsmetode, og en fenomenologisk-hermeneutisk tilnærming for å finne svar på min problemstilling. Min analyse av data er induktivt rettet og jeg har brukt empirinær koding i tråd med Aksel Tjora sin SDI-modell. Jeg satt da igjen med tre overordna tema, som utgjør hovedfunnene jeg har sett nærmere på i denne oppgaven. Funnene i studien drøfter jeg mot ulike teorier om følelser, kommunikasjon og relasjoner. I oppgaven benytter jeg hovedsakelig teorier fra Gregory Bateson, Hans Herlof Grelland og Hans Skjervheim, men også andre teorier. Batesons kommunikasjonsteori vektlegges. Sentralt i mine funn er at det oppstår et behov for endring hos veisøkere, og det kan se ut som at begrepet karrieresenter skaper avstand til veisøkeren. En forutsetning for at de skal ta kontakt er derfor at de kjenner til karrieresenteret fra før via eget nettverk. Videre fant jeg at det er viktig hvordan veisøker blir møtt av karrieresenteret både på telefon, e-post og i den fysiske samtalen. Omgivelsene og bemanning på senteret virker inn på den totale opplevelsen. Dessuten opplever mange veisøkere digitale utfordringer i karriereveiledningsprosessen. Mange veisøkere gir uttrykk for at de føler usikkerhet omkring egen situasjon og mange har vonde følelser fordi at de er uten utdannelse eller arbeid. Veisøkere opplever derfor at det kan være sårbart å gi veileder innsyn i sin livsverden. Et godt samarbeid mellom veisøker og veileder, tilstrekkelig informasjon, konkret hjelp og trygghet ble framhevet som viktige faktorer i en endringsprosess der det er relasjonen som er det virksomme.SUMMARY After career guidance conversations, most career centers in Norway send out a user survey by e-mail to the client. Although the survey is anonymous, there are unfortunately few who respond. Moreover, the questions revolve around practical and technical issues rather than focusing on the experience itself. In this master's project, I have collected data by interviewing six clients to elicit experiential descriptions of their encounter with the career center. Gaining insight into the clients’ experiences can help us facilitate good career guidance processes. Based on this my thesis question is therefore "How do adult clients experience the career guidance process at a career center, and how can this research facilitate good career guidance processes?” I have chosen a qualitative research method, and a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach to find answers to the thesis question. My analysis of data is inductively oriented, and I have used empirical coding in line with Aksel Tjora's SDI model. I was then left with three overarching themes that make up the main findings that I have investigated into in this thesis. I discuss the findings of the research against different theories of communication, relationships and emotions. In my thesis, I mainly use theories from Gregory Bateson, Hans Herlof Grelland and Hans Skjervheim, but also several other theories. Bateson's communication theory is emphasised. The key findings in my data are that there is a need for change among the clients, and it may seem that the term career center creates distance from the client. Therefore, for the clients to approach the career center, they must already be familiar with it via their own network. Furthermore, I found that it is important how the client is met by the career center both by phone, e-mail and in the physical conversation. The center’s surroundings and staffing affect the overall experience. I also found that many clients experience digital challenges in the career guidance process. Many clients express that they feel insecure about their own situation, and many have bad feelings because they are without education or employment. Clients report that they feel vulnerable sharing their own stories and giving the career guidance practitioner an insight into their lifeworld. A good relationship between the client and the career guidance practitioner, sufficient information and concrete help and support are important factors in a change process, where the working alliance is a critical element

Value asymmetries in Norwegian forest governance: The role of institutions and power dynamics

We draw on institutional and ecological economics to understand the role of social preferences, institutional arrangements, and power dynamics in mobilizing or restraining ecosystem services and values in Norwegian forest governance. Specifically, we i) elicit local people’s preferences over forest ecosystem services and values, ii) analyze how perceptions of forest values vary across stakeholders, and iii) examine how participation is enabled by institutional arrangements. Our data were collected from a survey (N = 1694) distributed in 10 rural municipalities and from interviews with Norwegian forest experts and stakeholders (N = 15). Four results are highlighted. First, most respondents rank ecosystem services that embody relational and intrinsic values (such as recreation and biodiversity) higher than services that primarily embody instrumental values (timber). Second, women and non-forest owners show higher appreciation for relational values than men and forest owners. Third, dominant value-articulating institutions, such as timber markets and cost-benefit analysis, favor utility, efficiency, and instrumental values. Finally, few participatory arenas for decision-making are available, and local people do not feel empowered in forest governance. Our findings indicate that Norwegian forest governance primarily empowers actors that emphasize instrumental values followed by those who emphasize intrinsic values, whereas relational values tend to be restrained.publishedVersio

Integrating Economics and Ecology

SupplementThis report documents the results from an analysis of policy measures to reduce losses of nitrogen, phosphorus and soil from the agricultural sector to the environment. These kinds of losses are nonpoint, and standard emission oriented policy measures like effluent taxes are prohibitively costly to use. The policy altematives are therefore to regulate the input of potentially polluting substances - in this case reduce the use of fertilizers, to prescribe changes in agronomic practices as conducted on the farm or to change product prices. Principally this study analyzes the effects of these types of regulations, their ability to reduce losses of nutrients and soil, and the private and social costs thereby invoked

Fatty acids in habitual diet, plasma phospholipids, and tumour and normal colonic biopsies in young colorectal cancer patients

Fatty acid metabolism is altered in colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to investigate incorporation of dietary n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) into plasma phospholipids (PLs), tumour tissue, and normal mucosa in young CRC patients. We also aimed to study differences in PUFA composition between tumour and normal mucosa, and PUFA status associated with cancer stage. Sixty-five CRC patients younger than 55 years were included in a multicenter study. We assessed dietary fatty acid composition by food-frequency questionnaire. Fatty acid composition in plasma PL (n = 65) and tumour and normal colonic biopsies (n = 32) were analysed by gas chromatography. We observed a significant correlation for docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) between dietary intake and concentration in plasma PL (weight%) (r = 0.42; P = 0.001), but not for any n-6 PUFA. Tissue concentrations of arachidonic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, and DHA (weight%) were 1.7–2.5 times higher in tumour than normal mucosa (P ≤ 0.001). Concentrations of n-3 and n-6 PUFA in plasma PL and tissues were not related to Duke’s stage, although patients with more severe cancer stage reported higher intake of n-3 PUFA. In conclusion, we found accumulation of the longchained n-3 and n-6 PUFA in tumour tissue in young CRC patient