Norwegian Natural dyeing: Art, Craft, Gender and Innovation - Natural dyes as a Tradition in Norway

This paper describes how the knowledge about natural dyes survived the introduction of aniline dyes to Norway in the last quarter of the nineteenth-century. How this happened involved women, for there was a great campaign to keep the traditional colors alive for the continued use in woven cloth, coverlets, tapestries and folk costumes. At the beginning of the nineteenth century great efforts were made by women to restore and re-design traditional folk costumes; they were therefore in a position to keep the dye knowledge in the face of industrial competition. There was a country-wide search to gather dye recipes from people who lived in remote areas where traditional life remained unchanged well into the twentieth-century. The Norwegian folk costume is today enjoying a “renaissance”. Woollen skirts and jackets in different colors are richly embroidered with natural dyed silk or wool in a wide range of colors. Woven woollen ribbons in natural dyes are often used as belts or decoration. All of the color in a costume, which is worn with embroidered blouses or shirts and lavish silver jewelry, derives from the embroidery which varies in pattern and style from one region to another. At any big event in Norway, crowds in their folk costumes create a colourful display you can see from a great distance. What is very exciting is that the fashion industry has become aware of natural dyes as a trendsetting form of embellishment. A special effort has been made since the spring 2007 Oslo Fashion Week to promote awareness of dyes, and environmental and ethic issues. The Norwegian Home Arts and Crafts Association (Husfliden) has kept alive empirical knowledge about natural dyes by sponsoring workshops all over the country. I have also lived abroad and studied dyeing elsewhere. Those influences came back with me to Norway. My own work in natural dyes involves innovations in technique which can be seen in how I manipulate the dye and also the fabric. I describe this as “stunt dyeing”. So you can see that the traditions and the folk costumes have had an influence on me. I have also adapted my own work to reflect the woman I am, where I have lived and worked, and also to show how past and present come together for me in natural dyes

Norwegian Natural dyeing: Art, Craft, Gender and Innovation - Natural dyes as a Tradition in Norway

As you may know, Norway is located far north in Europe. We have a cold climate with a short summer, during which nature almost explodes. The country is sparsely populated, and because only 2 per cent of the land is suited for farming, Norwegians never supported themselves exclusively from growing crops. Multi-tasking and trading have always been necessary to survive “on top of the globe.” Despite the short summers, sources for all the rainbow colors can be found in nature. Plants, trees, bark, lichen, shrubs, mushrooms, seaweed and even purple snails (Nucella lapillus), are something the old Norsemen and women were aware of and used, not only on their home made textiles, but also as trading commodities. Sheep wool, linen, hemp and nettle were the most common fibers and from trading trips abroad (some would probably call these trips with different names) the Norwegians developed a taste for silk fabrics as well. The silk was, of course, used by the wealthiest only. Bright colors in textiles have a long tradition in Norway. The old Viking sagas and findings show that household textiles and apparel were created in bright reds, yellows and blues, when people could afford them. Wooden household items and interiors in churches and homes were usually painted in bright colors too. This is no wonder, since our natural colors most of the year are tones of whites, grey, black, brown, blues and dark green (where needle trees are growing.) During the times before electricity, the dark time of the year must have felt even darker. Trading with other people, imported dyes like indigo and cochineal were introduced, but this was not an immediate success. Norwegians loved their local blue dyes made from the woad plant, which gave a yellower blue than the indigo or lichen. For some time the daring risked being killed if they were discovered using the foreign indigo blue. The risk was probably taken as a matter of taste for the color, but the regulation was probably a way to protect the domestic woad production

Impaired transmission in the corticospinal tract and gait disability in spinal cord injured persons

Rehabilitation following spinal cord injury is likely to depend on recovery of corticospinal systems. Here we investigate whether transmission in the corticospinal tract may explain foot drop (inability to dorsiflex ankle) in persons with spinal cord lesion. The study was performed in 24 persons with incomplete spinal cord lesion (C1 to L1) and 15 healthy controls. Coherence in the 10- to 20-Hz frequency band between paired tibialis anterior muscle (TA) electromyographic recordings obtained in the swing phase of walking, which was taken as a measure of motor unit synchronization. It was significantly correlated with the degree of foot drop, as measured by toe elevation and ankle angle excursion in the first part of swing. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to elicit motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) in the TA. The amplitude of the MEPs at rest and their latency during contraction were correlated to the degree of foot drop. Spinal cord injured participants who exhibited a large foot drop had little or no MEP at rest in the TA muscle and had little or no coherence in the same muscle during walking. Gait speed was correlated to foot drop, and was the lowest in participants with no MEP at rest. The data confirm that transmission in the corticospinal tract is of importance for lifting the foot during the swing phase of human gait

Standardization of Data for Clinical Use and Research in Spinal Cord Injury

Increased survival after spinal cord injury (SCI) worldwide has enhanced the need for quality data that can be compared and shared between centers, countries, as well as across research studies, to better understand how best to prevent and treat SCI. Such data should be standardized and be able to be uniformly collected at any SCI center or within any SCI study. Standardization will make it possible to collect information from larger SCI populations for multi-center research studies. With this aim, the international SCI community has obtained consensus regarding the best available data and measures for use in SCI clinical practice and research. Reporting of SCI data is likewise standardized. Data elements are continuously updated and developed using an open and transparent process. There are ongoing internal, as well as external review processes, where all interested parties are encouraged to participate. The purpose of this review paper is to provide an overview of the initiatives to standardize data including the International Spinal Cord Society’s International SCI Data Sets and the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Common Data Elements Project within SCI and discuss future opportunities

Geðhjúkrun í 100 ár : samantekt úr bók Óttars Guðmundssonar „Kleppur í 100 ár“

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/OpenÍ maí 2007 fagnaði geðsvið Landspítala aldarafmæli Klepps. Eins og sæmir við slík tækifæri var haldin afmælisráðstefna undir heitinu „Kleppur er víða“ – sjúkrahús í heila öld, þar sem horft var yfir farin veg og rýnt í framtíðina. Þar sem formleg geðhjúkrun á Íslandi átti einnig aldarafmæli var frumkvöðlanna í hjúkrun á Kleppi minnst og gaumgæft hvað framtíðin gæti borið í skauti sér fyrir þróun geðhjúkrunarstarfsins

Associations between piscine reovirus infection and life history traits in wild-caught Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. in Norway

AbstractPiscine Reovirus (PRV), the putative causative agent of heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI), is widely distributed in both farmed and wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in Norway. While HSMI is a common and commercially important disease in farmed Atlantic salmon, the presence of PRV has so far not been associated with HSMI related lesions in wild salmon. Factors associated with PRV-infection were investigated in returning Atlantic salmon captured in Norwegian rivers. A multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression model confirmed clustering within rivers and demonstrated that PRV-infection is associated with life-history, sex, catch-year and body length as a proxy for sea-age. Escaped farmed salmon (odds ratio/OR: 7.32, p<0.001) and hatchery-reared salmon (OR: 1.69 p=0.073) have higher odds of being PRV-infected than wild Atlantic salmon. Male salmon have double odds of being PRV infected compared to female salmon (OR: 2.11, p<0.001).Odds of being PRV-infected increased with body-length measured as decimetres (OR: 1.20, p=0.004). Since body length and sea-age are correlated (r=0.85 p<0.001), body length serves as a proxy for sea-age, meaning that spending more years in sea increases the odds of being PRV-infected

Reynsla foreldra af því að eiga börn á legudeildum barna- og unglingageðdeildar

Hægt er að lesa greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/OpenThe study explored experiences of parents whose children received inpatient care at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Ward of the Icelandic University and State Hospital. Its purpose was to develop knowledge that can be used to improve care. The research method was hermeneutical phenomenology. Research data was gathered by interviewing fifteen parents. The Following themes, which illuminate the parents’ experience, emerged from the interpretation of the data. (1) Human touch; which demonstrates how important it is that staff relate to parents in a caring and responsive manner. (2) Guidance; describes the parents’ need to be able to rely on a designated case manager to guide them through their difficult journey. (3) Authoritarian professionals; reflects situation when parents experience that health care professionals, in power of their expertise, exclude them from decision making regarding the welfare of their children (4) Finally, the diagnoses assembly-line and limited services refers theme refers to the way in which the psychiatric institution is able to produce diagnoses and assessments, but has limited means to treat the problems labeled and described by the diagnoses and assessments. In the interpretation of these themes proposals are made of how to improve psychiatric care for children and their families and the findings of the study are put in a theoretical perspective.Tilgangur þessarar rannsóknar er að kanna reynslu foreldra af því að eiga börn á legudeildum barna- og unglingageðdeildar Landspítala-hjáskólasjúkrahúss og bæta við þann þekkingargrunn sem gæti stuðlað að bættri þjónustu deildanna. Aðferðafræði rannsóknarinnar er túlkandi fyrirbærafræði og stuðst er við fræðilega (theoretíska) úrtaksgerð. Tekin voru viðtöl við fimmtán foreldra. Við greiningu rannsóknargagnanna komu fram eftirfarandi stef sem lýsa reynslu foreldranna:. (1) Stefið mannleg tengsl lýsir mikilvægi alúðlegs viðmóts starfsfólks í garð foreldra þegar þeir fara í gegnum þessa erfiðu reynslu. (2) Stefið leiðsögumenn endurspeglar þörf foreldranna fyrir að geta reitt sig á ákveðinn starfsmann eða meðferðaraðila um leiðsögn á því erfiða ferðalagi sem hefst þegar barn eða unglingur leggst inn á geðdeild. (3) Sérfræðingsvaldið lýsir þeirri reynslu þegar foreldrum finnst fagfólk í krafti sérfræðiþekkingar sinnar taka af þeim ráðin. (4) Greiningarfæribandið og takmörkuð þjónusta lýsir því hvernig stofnunin getur greint vandamál og meðhöndlað í einhverjum mæli en er ekki jafnfær um að sinna fjölbreyttum þörfum skjólstæðinganna. Í túlkun niðurstaðna eru settar fram tillögur um bætta geðheilbrigðisþjónustu við börn, unglinga og fjölskyldur þeirra. Einnig er leitast við að setja niðurstöðurnar í fræðilegt samhengi

ECS-Komplex – ein neuer Biomarker bei Wachstumshormonstörungen?

Störungen im Metabolismus des Wachstumshormons können sich als Wachstumshormonmangel oder -überschuss (Akromegalie) äußern. In beiden Fällen handelt es sich um seltene Krankheiten, die aufwendig behandelt werden müssen, da jeder Patient anders auf seine jeweilige Medikation anspricht. Zur Bestimmung des individuellen Ansprechverhaltens auf die medikamentöse Behandlung wird Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 verwendet, das jedoch als unzuverlässig für die Therapiekontrolle gilt. Um die Diagnostik und Therapie von Wachstumshormonstörungen zu verbessern, wurde in dieser Pilotstudie der Nutzen des neuen potenziellen Biomarkers Elongin B/C-Cullin5-Socs-box Komplex (ECS-Komplex) überprüft. Die fünf Proteine des Komplexes üben zusammen einen negativen Feedback-Mechanismus auf den Wachstumshormonrezeptor aus und regulieren ihn in Abhängigkeit vom Wachstumshormonspiegel im Blut. Für diese Pilotstudie wurden vier Patienten mit Wachstumshormondefizienz und 15 Patienten mit Akromegalie rekrutiert. Die Messung von Unterschieden in der Expression der Gene auf RNA-Ebene in Blutproben der Patienten erlaubt erste Aussagen über deren Eignung als therapeutische Marker für diese Krankheiten.Growth hormone (GH) dysfunctions can occur as a GH-deficiency (GHD) or an overproduction of GH, leading to acromegaly. Both are rare diseases, which have to be treated for many years before the correct individual dosage is found and a mitigation of symptoms can be achieved. Current medical therapy is determined by the levels of the insulin-like growth factor-1, which is considered to be an unreliable theranostic tool. In order to improve the diagnosis and therapy of patients with GH-dysfunctions, we investigated the benefits of the novel potential biomarker Elongin B/C-Cullin5-Socs-box complex (ECS-complex). Together, these proteins regulate the growth hormone receptor levels according to the blood GH concentration through a negative feedback loop. For this study, we were able to recruit four patients with a GHD and 15 patients with acromegaly. The detected differential expression of the ECS-complex in patients with growth hormone dysfunctions allows for first conclusions about the potential of those proteins as predictive biomarker molecules for individualized therapies