Malaria prophylaxis policy for travellers from Europe to the Indian Sub Continent

Analysis of malaria imported into eight European countries from the Indian sub-continent (ISC) (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) led to a consensus statement on the use of chemoprophylaxis within TropNetEurop. The proportion of cases from the ISC in 2004 ranged from 1.4%–4.6% of total imported cases. Plasmodium falciparum cases reported from the eight countries was only 23 (13% of all cases from the region). Total malaria reports between 1999–2004 fell from 317 to 180. The risk of malaria in UK residents visiting the region was > 1 case per 1,000 years exposed. The group recommended non-selective prescribing of chemoprophylaxis for visitors to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka should be dropped

Disability, social identity, and entrepreneurship : evidence from a laboratory experiement in rural Uganda

People with disabilities (PWDs) often face social exclusion due to the stigma associated with having a disability. This results in many PWDs being disadvantaged economically, in education attainment and career opportunities. Entrepreneurship has come to be considered an important tool in poverty alleviation and increased empowerment of PWDs, but the prejudice they encounter creates barriers. In this thesis we present a laboratory experiment investigating the psychological barriers among young PWDs to entrepreneurship in rural Uganda. The participants are mainly secondary school students about to make decisions in terms of their future occupations. Youth unemployment rates are high, indicating that many need to become self-employed out of necessity to provide for themselves and their families. Using priming as a tool, we make social identities salient. Social identity suggests behavioural guidelines for people. We identify the marginal effects of social norms on PWDs in terms of five major entrepreneurial characteristics: risk and time preferences, willingness to compete, performance under pressure and self-efficacy. In addition, we explore the negative stereotypes PWDs face in their community. We find no significant priming effect on any of the characteristics, suggesting there are no disability-specific social norms related to these entrepreneurial characteristics among PWDs. We do not find that non- PWDs have negative stereotypes with regards to the abilities of PWDs, but the evidence suggests that PWDs perceive themselves as inferior. Our findings are encouraging in terms of policy implementation, as the results suggest that PWDs do not need specific targeting when promoting entrepreneurship

Tool for estimating IFRS9 macro models For DNB Bank ASA

For å følge IFRS9-regelverket og benytte fremadstrebende informasjon for å kalkulere forventede kredittap, er finansinstitusjoner pålagt å modellere bevegelser over tid i observert misligholdsfrekvens for subsegmenter av sin portefølje. I DNB er dette gjort gjennom OLS-regresjon hvor en kredittsyklus generert av vektet observert misligholdsfrekvens for spesifiserte segmenter som avhengig variabel, og eksterne makrovariabler som forklaringsvariabler. Utfordringen ligger i å finne korrekte variabler å benytte som forklaringsvariabler, og videre vite hvilken transformasjon av disse variablene som skal benyttes. Dette var tidligere en tidkrevende prosess i DNB, som ikke ga tilstrekkelig hjelp til å finne optimal modell for å beskrive kredittsyklusen. Programmet utviklet for denne oppgaven har som må å øke denne hjelpen ved å gjøre et brute-force søk hvor alle potensielle kombinasjoner av potensielle forklaringsvariabler er testet. Programmet har også som må å gjøre dybdeanalyse av spesifiserte modeller mer strømlinjeformet og effektivt

Human related root causes behind oil well drilling accidents

Many accident investigation techniques and other methods used by the petroleum industry today list a set of underlying human related causes and subsequent improvement suggestions. Do these techniques address the root cause behind the problem so that the appropriate initiatives can be implemented? The focus of the present thesis was to determine the human related root cause of two major accidents in the North Sea. This in order to give recommendations to improve the safety levels in the organisation. In order to achieve the above-mentioned goals, the IPT Knowledge Model was adapted to the given accidents. The data input into the model was based on interpreted observations from former investigation reports. The analysis of the blowout on Snorre A and the well control incident on Gullfaks C resulted in 49 and 63 observations respectively. For both accidents, the Human Factor that was indicated to have the largest affect on the accidents was Training and Competency (29% for Snorre A and 19% for Gullfaks C). Lack of competence was indicated as the majority subclass. Collectively, management and supervision, or lack thereof, was also indicated as being a contributing factor to the accidents. These final results coincide with the findings in other investigation reports. However, these are more acute, indicating a specific area of improvement within the company. By increasing the competency levels within the company and ensuring that the leaders and management have the proper tools to follow-up their employees and their operations, the safety levels and culture will improve

Human related root causes behind oil well drilling accidents

Many accident investigation techniques and other methods used by the petroleum industry today list a set of underlying human related causes and subsequent improvement suggestions. Do these techniques address the root cause behind the problem so that the appropriate initiatives can be implemented? The focus of the present thesis was to determine the human related root cause of two major accidents in the North Sea. This in order to give recommendations to improve the safety levels in the organisation. In order to achieve the above-mentioned goals, the IPT Knowledge Model was adapted to the given accidents. The data input into the model was based on interpreted observations from former investigation reports. The analysis of the blowout on Snorre A and the well control incident on Gullfaks C resulted in 49 and 63 observations respectively. For both accidents, the Human Factor that was indicated to have the largest affect on the accidents was Training and Competency (29% for Snorre A and 19% for Gullfaks C). Lack of competence was indicated as the majority subclass. Collectively, management and supervision, or lack thereof, was also indicated as being a contributing factor to the accidents. These final results coincide with the findings in other investigation reports. However, these are more acute, indicating a specific area of improvement within the company. By increasing the competency levels within the company and ensuring that the leaders and management have the proper tools to follow-up their employees and their operations, the safety levels and culture will improve

Pulmonary changes in Norwegian fatal cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 (2009) infection: a morphologic and molecular genetic study

Background: During the pandemic outbreak of the 2009 swine influenza (A(H1N1) pdm09), 32 fatal cases occurred in Norway and 19 of these were included in this study. Objectives: We characterised pulmonary changes in these fatal Norwegian cases. Patients and Methods: Upon hospitalisation, detailed clinical information and specimens from the upper and lower respiratory pathways were collected. At post-mortem, lung tissue was collected, formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded. Immunohistochemical and light microscopic examination was performed to visualise the local expression of the A(H1N1) pdm09 virus. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and pyrosequencing of the non-fixed specimens allowed the identification of mutations in the influenza virus surface glycoprotein (haemagglutinin gene) particularly at position 222. Results and Conclusions: The overall course of illness lasted from 2 to 40 days (median 9 days). Diffused alveolar damage (DAD) was evident in 11 cases, 4 of which had no apparent underlying illness. Obesity was prominent in 12 cases, where three individuals were classified as otherwise healthy. The HA D222G mutation was detected in six cases, 3 of which had no underlying illness. Immunohistochemistry showed the A(H1N1)pdm09 virus to be prominent at the site of inflammation both in close proximity to and inside alveolar structures in the lung tissue. In addition to a possible role for the HA D222G mutation, our findings indicate that host factors and underlying conditions in the infected individuals are fundamental for disease outcome in many cases. This study increases our understanding of determinants for the clinical outcome of pandemic influenza, which could guide future treatment