B2B Infrastructures in the Process of Drug Discovery and Healthcare

In this paper we describe a demonstration of an innovative B2B infrastructure which can be used to support collaborations in the pharmaceutical industry to achieve the drug discovery goal. Based on experience gained in a wide range of collaborative projects in the areas of grid technology, semantics and data management we show future work and new topics in B2B infrastructures which arise when considering the use of patient records in the process of drug discovery and in healthcare applications

The Global Framework for Climate Services

There is a growing and urgent need to improve society’s resilience to climate-related hazards and better manage the risks and opportunities arising from climate variability and climate change

Business Process Risk Management and Simulation Modelling for Digital Audio-Visual Media Preservation.

Digitised and born-digital Audio-Visual (AV) content presents new challenges for preservation and Quality Assurance (QA) to ensure that cultural heritage is accessible for the long term. Digital archives have developed strategies for avoiding, mitigating and recovering from digital AV loss using IT-based systems, involving QA tools before ingesting files into the archive and utilising file-based replication to repair files that may be damaged while in the archive. However, while existing strategies are effective for addressing issues related to media degradation, issues such as format obsolescence and failures in processes and people pose significant risk to the long-term value of digital AV content. We present a Business Process Risk management framework (BPRisk) designed to support preservation experts in managing risks to long-term digital media preservation. This framework combines workflow and risk specification within a single risk management process designed to support continual improvement of workflows. A semantic model has been developed that allows the framework to incorporate expert knowledge from both preservation and security experts in order to intelligently aid workflow designers in creating and optimising workflows. The framework also provides workflow simulation functionality, allowing users to a) understand the key vulnerabilities in the workflows, b) target investments to address those vulnerabilities, and c) minimise the economic consequences of risks. The application of the BPRisk framework is demonstrated on a use case with the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), discussing simulation results and an evaluation against the outcomes of executing the planned workflow

Determining citizens’ opinions about stories in the news media

We describe a method whereby a governmental policy maker can discover citizens’ reaction to news stories. This is particularly relevant in the political world, where governments’ policy statements are reported by the news media and discussed by citizens. The work here addresses two main questions: whereabouts are citizens discussing a news story, and what are they saying? Our strategy to answer the first question is to find news articles pertaining to the policy statements, then perform internet searches for references to the news articles’ headlines and URLs. We have created a software tool that schedules repeating Google searches for the news articles and collects the results in a database, enabling the user to aggregate and analyse them to produce ranked tables of sites that reference the news articles. Using data mining techniques we can analyse data so that resultant ranking reflects an overall aggregate score, taking into account multiple datasets, and this shows the most relevant places on the internet where the story is discussed. To answer the second question, we introduce the WeGov toolbox as a tool for analysing citizens’ comments and behaviour pertaining to news stories.  We first use the tool for identifying social network discussions, using different strategies for Facebook and Twitter. We apply different analysis components to analyse the data to distil the essence of the social network users’ comments, to determine influential users and identify important comments

Expatriation inkluderer Repatriation. Prosessen ved expatriates

Ettersom organisasjoner opplever et økt behov for internasjonalisering har internasjonal HR blitt stadig viktigere. Da det er gjort lite forskning på dette emne i Norge, ønsket vi å ta opp kulturelle, sosiale og etiske problemer forbundet med internasjonal HR. Formålet med oppgaven er å forklare prosessen en expatriate går gjennom, samt utfordringer knyttet opp mot dette, både ved avreise og hjemreise. Vi har valgt å belyse følgende problemstilling i oppgaven: «Hvordan håndterer organisasjoner prosessen ved å forvalte globale ansatte, både ved avreise og hjemreise?» For å få en dypere innsikt i de ansattes og ledernes opplevelse av utstasjoneringen, har vi valgt å benytte kvalitativ metode for å besvare problemstillingen vår. Utvalget består av fem respondenter fra TechnipFMC og fem respondenter fra Statoil. Hovedfunnene i undersøkelsen viser at både Statoil og TechnipFMC har velfungerende prosesser ved forvaltning av sine expatriates. Gjennom funnene kan vi likevel se at organisasjonene ikke legger like stor vekt på alle fasene. Dette er interessante funn som avdekker forbedringspotensialer. Det er veldig viktig at organisasjoner forstår omfanget ved hver fase, samt elementene de inneholder. Det er et kjent problem at organisasjoner ofte glemmer prosessen ved repatriation, noe som også kommer frem i undersøkelsen vår. Det er en klar anbefaling at expatriation bør inkludere repatriation og at denne prosessen blir sett på som en helhet. Med andre ord, at begge prosessene går i hverandre og vektlegges likt, da hjemreise kan være vel så utfordrende som det å reise ut

Miljø- og klimavennlig melkeproduksjon - Inspirasjon fra seks melkeproduksjonsbruk

I denne rapporten presenterer vi seks gårder som viser at det er mulig å forene god økonomi med en miljømessig bærekraftig produksjon, men økonomien var best på de største gårdene. Felles for alle gårdene er næringsrik jord med god jordstruktur og god drenering, fokus på agronomi og godt husdyrstell. Dette resulterte i gode avlinger, god utnytting av tilførte næringsstoff, moderat bruk av energi og moderate utslipp av klimagasser. Fra observasjoner på disse gårdene og diskusjon på arbeidsseminar med gårdbrukerne, prosjektgruppe og inviterte gjester kan vi tipse om noen tiltak for miljøvennlig melkeproduksjon: god drenering, lite kjøring på våt jord, utføre jordarbeiding, gjødsling og høsting straks været og jorda er egnet, slepeslange med stripespreder i stedet for tankvogn for spredning av bløtgjødsel, unngå større og tyngre utstyr og større maskinpark enn nødvendig, riktige dekk og riktig lufttrykk, godt vedlikehold av maskiner og bygninger, bruk av tre i fjøsbygninger og -innredning, ombruk av gamle materialer, samarbeid med naboer om bruk av husdyrgjødsel for å spare kjøring, unngå sterk gjødsling, sats på kløver i enga, godt og rikelig grovfor, godt kalveoppdrett og god dyrevelferd. Flere tips finnes i rapporten

Human-machine networks: Towards a typology and profiling framework

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016. In this paper we outline an initial typology and framework for the purpose of profiling human-machine networks, that is, collective structures where humans and machines interact to produce synergistic effects. Profiling a humanmachine network along the dimensions of the typology is intended to facilitate access to relevant design knowledge and experience. In this way the profiling of an envisioned or existing human-machine network will both facilitate relevant design discussions and, more importantly, serve to identify the network type. We present experiences and results from two case trials: a crisis management system and a peerto- peer reselling network. Based on the lessons learnt from the case trials we suggest potential benefits and challenges, and point out needed future work

Klimatiltak i jordbruk og matsektoren. Kostnadsanayse av fire tiltak

The research team has investigated social costs of four measures aiming to reduce climate gas emissions from Norwegian agriculture: 1. Produce biogas from manure, 2. Substitute plant based products and fish for cattle meat, 3. Reduce food waste, and 4. Cease peatland cultivation. Cuts in emissions may be achieved at low or negative social costs, provided proper implementation. Reducing cattle meat consumption may, in addition, have significant positive health effects, according to Norwegian Health Directorate’s valuations. Shifts in food consumption and reduced food waste, may also reduce consumers’ food expenses. Biogas production incur moderate average costs of approximately NOK 400 per ton CO2 equivalents. Indicated cost levels do not take into account the implementation costs and the analysis do not cover the distribution of costs and benefits among stakeholders. Ineffective implementation may incur extra costs. The study thus provides reason to expect that emission cuts in agriculture may be socially costless, but measures of implementation need be further investigated. This report is a revised version of report 3/2/2017. Some adjustments in calculations have been made, discussions expanded in response to comments received, and one measure, substituting pork for cattle meat, is dropped.updatedVersio

Kalveklassifisering og kalveslaktetilskudd for reinkalv

Klassifiseringssystemet EUROP ble innført for slakterein i 2015. Dette skulle stimulere reineierne til å levere slaktedyr med god kjøttfylde og med økt inntjening av den enkelte rein. Effektene av kalveslaktetilskuddet er vurdert, hvordan klassifiseringssystemet for kalv har fungert, og om kalveslaktetilskuddet bør knyttes til klassifiseringssystemet. Konklusjoner er: • Kalveslaktetilskuddet har fungert hensiktsmessig, men behovet er i dag endret • Tilskudd kan knyttes til kvalitet og motivere for langsiktig kvalitetsforbedring • Reindriftsfaglig grunnlag, forankring og tillit bør vektlegge

The effects of ageing and visual field loss on pointing to visual targets

Purpose: To investigate the effect of ageing on visuomotor function and subsequently evaluate the effect of visual field loss on such function in older adults. Methods: Two experiments were performed: 1) to determine the effect of ageing on visual localisation and subsequent pointing precision, and 2) to determine the effect of visual field loss on these outcome measures. For Experiment 1, we measured visual localisation and pointing precision radially at visual eccentricities of 5, 10 and 15u in 25 older (60–72 years) and 25 younger (20–31 years) adults. In the pointing task, participants were asked to point to a target on a touchscreen at a natural pace that prioritised accuracy of the touch. In Experiment 2, a subset of these tasks were performed at 15u eccentricity under both monocular and binocular conditions, by 8 glaucoma (55–76 years) and 10 approximately agematched controls (61–72 years). Results: Visual localisation and pointing precision was unaffected by ageing (p.0.05) and visual field loss (p.0.05), although movement time was increased in glaucoma (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Visual localisation and pointing precision to high contrast stimuli within the central 15u of vision are unaffected by ageing. Even in the presence of significant visual field loss, older adults with glaucoma are able perform such tasks with reasonable precision provided the target can be perceived and movement time is not restricted.Nikki J. Rubinstein, Andrew J. Anderson, Anna Ma-Wyatt, Mark J. Walland, Allison M. McKendric