Quality definitions and defect classes used in experiments on software inspection

I oppgaven er det analysert 15 artikler om software inspection, med mål å finne ut hvordan kvalitet og defekt klasser er definert i disse artiklene

Selection for tameness modulates the expression of heme related genes in silver foxes

BACKGROUND: The genetic and molecular mechanisms of tameness are largely unknown. A line of silver foxes (Vulpes vulpes) selected for non-aggressive behavior has been used in Russia since the 1960's to study the effect of domestication. We have previously compared descendants of these selected (S) animals with a group of non-selected (NS) silver foxes kept under identical conditions, and showed that changes in the brain transcriptome between the two groups are small. Unexpectedly, many of the genes showing evidence of differential expression between groups were related to hemoproteins. RESULTS: In this study, we use quantitative RT-PCR to demonstrate that the activity of heme related genes differ between S and NS foxes in three regions of the brain. Furthermore, our analyses also indicate that changes in mRNA levels of heme related genes can be well described by an additive polygenic effect. We also show that the difference in genetic background between the two lines of foxes is limited, as estimated by mitochondrial DNA divergence. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that selection for tameness can modify the expression of heme related genes in canid brain regions known to modulate emotions and behavior. The possible involvement of heme related genes in behavior is surprising. It is possible that hemoglobin modulates the behavior of canids by interaction with CO and NO signaling. Another possibility is that hemorphins, known to be produced after enzymatic cleavage of hemoglobin, are responsible for behavioral alterations. Thus, we hypothesize that hemoglobin metabolism can be a functionally relevant aspect of the domestic phenotype in foxes selected for tameness

Past Year Cannabis Use Among Norwegian Adolescents: Time Trends Based on the Ungdata Surveys 2010–2019

Aims: To describe trends in cannabis use from 2010 to 2019 among Norwegian adolescents and relate these to individual- and municipal-level variables. Design: Data from nationwide repeated cross-sectional surveys collected in 2010–2013 (T1), 2014–2016 (T2), and 2017–2019 (T3) were used to describe secular trends in proportions of adolescent cannabis use. Setting: Cross-sectional surveys in 410 of the total 428 municipalities of Norway. Participants: A total of 628,678 survey responses from adolescents aged ~13–19 years of age, in which 566,912 survey responses were eligible for analyses, representing data from 340 municipalities. Measurements: Respondent's past year cannabis use, time, gender, school grade, municipality, geographical location, and municipality population. Findings: Boys reported overall higher cannabis use, with ~2:1 gender ratio for any past year cannabis use and a 3:1 gender ratio for frequent cannabis use. Adolescents in Eastern Norway reported higher cannabis use compared with other areas in the country, and adolescents from municipalities with a higher population size reported higher rates of cannabis use than smaller municipalities. A gradual increase in cannabis use from T1 to T3 was found in Eastern Norway and in the largest municipalities. More generally, proportions of past year cannabis use showed a marked increase from T2 to T3 across genders, grade/age groups, geographical location, and municipality population, with few exceptions. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that proportions of past year cannabis use have increased among Norwegian adolescents in recent years. Preventive interventions to hinder initiation of cannabis use, as well as measures to address frequent cannabis use among Norwegian adolescents, are needed.publishedVersio

Gasification of Wood Powder in a Small-scale Entrained Flow Gasifier

Gasification of wood powder milled from commercially available wood pellets have been performed in a small-scale entrained flow gasifier. The main aim of this study is to investigate operational and feedstock requirements (mainly particle size distribution, (PSD)) for this small-sized gasifier to perform with good carbon conversion ratio. The effects of several parameters were investigated, resulting in variable performance. The investigated parameters were equivalence ratio (lambda, ?), oxidant type (air or oxygen), thermal load, pressure, burner head configuration and PSD. The syngas quality, defined as cold gas efficiency (CGE) and/or carbon conversion efficiency (CC) was reported as function of the above parameters. The gasifier ?achieved a satisfactory conversion when using oxygen as oxidant and at elevated pressure (8.2 bar(a))

A bet-hedging strategy for denitrifying bacteria curtails their release of N2O

publishedVersio

To swim or not to swim: an interpretation of farmed mink's motivation for a water bath

How an animal’s behavioural (ethological) needs can be met is a pivotal issue in the assessment of welfare for captive animals. The value of swimming water for farmed mink is an example how scientific and societal questions relating to animal welfare can be answered. A number of studies have addressed the issue of the indispensability of swimming water for mink; however, so far with inconclusive evidence. In this paper, the results of these studies and related literature are reviewed. First, the biological definition of need is discussed. Subsequently, attention is paid to the effects of the presence, absence and the removal of swimming water on behavioural and physiological correlates of well-being including stereotypic and anticipatory behaviour and urinary cortisol. Thereafter we discuss individual differences in the use of swimming water, the price animals pay for access to a water bath, and the effect of access to swimming water on juvenile play. The main conclusions of the literature review are that 1) the use of a water bath for mink is most likely related to foraging behaviour (foraging areas: land and water); 2) absence of swimming water, without prior experience, does not lead to consistent changes in level of stereotypic behaviour, or anticipatory responses; 3) removal of a previously experienced water bath may induce short-term stress as indicated by behavioural parameters and elevated cortisol responses; 4) mink work hard for access to a swimming bath and running wheel in consumer demand studies. Other cage modifications such as tunnels and biting objects, may also provide environmental enrichment, if they are added to otherwise impoverished conditions; 5) There are individual differences in the use of swimming water: these are related in part to variation in prior experience of aquatic resources.; 6) As prior experience is important both with respect to individual use of swimming water and the response to deprivation, swimming water can not be described as biological need in the sense of a fixed requirement for survival. As swimming water appears to act as an incentive that induces its own motivation a more accurate term may be an “incentive induced or environmentally facilitated need”. Given the available evidence, it is not possible to conclude whether mink that have never experienced swimming water, suffer as a consequence of its absence. However, it is possible to predict that mink with access to water have improved quality of life, due to increased behavioural opportunities, in comparison to farmed mink without access to swimming water. In practical terms, it is still open to debate whether mink should be provided with swimming water, or if alternative, less valued, but easier to install and maintain forms of environmental enrichment, should be provided in mink housing. To clarify these issues a number of future studies would be valuable. These include; 1) whether specific environmental cues affect motivation to swim, such as the form of drinking water delivery systems ; 2) whether prior experience of swimming water affects its incentive value; in other words “can you miss what you never experienced?”; 3) do behavioural parameters such as stereotypic behaviour; rebound effects and vacuum activity have any general utility in assessing the value of absent resources; 4) what are preferences for and the value of alternative resources which may act as substitutes for swimming water. In addition we would recommend further work investigating: relationship between access to swimming water and positive indicators of welfare such as play and/or anticipatory behaviour; the effects of preventing the performance of rewarding behaviours and deprivation of a previous experienced resource; and health and hygeine issues related to provision of a water bath. In future work, it would be desirable to present be the actual percentages of animals using a water bath during the experiment and the use of power analyses, to aid their interpretation

Protocol: Personality assessment as a support for referral and case-work in treatment for substance use disorders (PASRC-study)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Assessment of co-morbid personality disorders in substance use disorders may lead to important insights concerning individual patients. However, little is known about the potential value of routine personality disorder assessment in a clinical context.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients are adults with past-year substance dependence seeking treatment at a centralized intake unit for substance abusers in the City of Copenhagen. A randomized controlled trial of assessment of personality disorders and individual feedback vs. a general life situation interview. Patients are followed at 3 and 6 months post-treatment</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>If routine personality assessment improves outcomes of substance abuse treatment, the clinical implication is to increase the use of personality disorder assessment in substance abuse treatment settings.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Current controlled trials ISRCTN39851689</p

The creative campus : campus design in Aalborg's phased industrial port, based on new urbanism ideals

Master's thesis in Urban development and designThe project evolves around the design of a new city campus for the department of Architecture and Design [A&D] at Aalborg University. The campus will be located on the south banks of Limfjorden in Aalborg. Since the department first started functioning in 1996, several different rented locations in downtown Aalborg has been used to facilitate students, staff, administration, workshops and lectures. As admissions to the different programs increase every year, a severe lack of space for different functions leads to a need for new facilities for the department, and other creative educations at the University of Aalborg. The new campus will offer locations for four different creative educations: Architecture and Design, Art and Technology, Media Technology and Humanistic Informatics. The project will answer the need for these new facilities, both through programming and physical design. The project will display concepts for the campus, as well as master plans, building design, and visualizations. The city of Aalborg has undergone major social and economic changes over a fairly short period of time. From a reputation of a sleepy city of about 100.000 inhabitants, Aalborg has changed into a contemporary city, with a strong development of creative clusters alongside the old harbour front onto Limfjorden. Aalborg University’s main campus is located 5 km southeast of the city centre. However, A&D has an internal goal to use the city as its laboratory, thus locating its premisses in downtown Aalborg. The project site for the new campus is located between the Utzon Centre and the House of Music right in the middle of the harbour [Illustration 1]. When assessing the project site and its surroundings, the campus design will provide buildings and public spaces where innovation and creativity will thrive. For theoretical and practical purposes, the project sets out to explore how elements from New Urbanism and other theories can be incorporated in a campus design at the relevant scale. New Urbanism ideals are generally deduced from post World War II intimate neighbourhoods. The challenge for this particular project will thus be to incorporate these traditional urbanism ideals into a modern campus design

Fremtidig sykehusstruktur i Innlandet: enklere sagt enn gjort

Prosessen rundt ny sykehusstruktur har foregått i nærmere 20 år. Utfallet av den endelige beslutningen kan få store konsekvenser for den enkelte innbygger og lokalsamfunn. Ofte retter forskningen seg enten i forkant eller i etterkant av en aktuell sak eller beslutning. Denne oppgaven skiller seg i så måte ut ved å gå inn i en pågående prosess hvor selve prosessen drøftes i lys av byråkratiske mekanismer. Påvirkning fra media, politikere og eksterne konsulentfirmaer, understreker at organisasjoner ikke bare tilpasser seg interne gruppers aspirasjoner, men også de eksterne verdiene i samfunnet (Selznick, 1957; Meyer og Rowan, 1977; DiMaggio & Powell, 1991; Brunsson, 1989; Scott og Meyer, 1994; Hatch, 2001, s. 7). Koblingen mellom det interne og det eksterne må sees i sammenheng med hverandre for en helhetlig forståelse for hvorfor den enkelte organisasjon eller institusjon handler som de gjør. Oppgaven bygger på casestudie som metode – en fleksibel metode som åpner for å behandle både kvalitative og kvantitative data og innhente kildematerialet fra ulike medier. Med utgangspunkt i de fire strømmene i teorien til søppelbøttemodellen, (problemer, løsninger, deltakere og beslutningssituasjoner) vil utfallet av beslutningsprosessen avhenge av alle strømmene både hver for seg og kombinert med hverandre (Cohen, et al., 1972; March & Olsen, 1976, s. 25). Hver gang disse fire strømmene kommer i kontakt med hverandre, kan et problem bli identifisert eller løst. Helseforetaket Sykehuset Innlandet er en stor og kompleks institusjon som er spredt over et stort geografisk område. Å skape en felles enighet er derfor svært vanskelig. Uforutsette problemer, utallige anledninger for å påvirke små og store beslutninger og mange deltakere både internt og eksternt som ønsker å påvirke, gjør at løsningene som foreslås, kan bære preg av tilfeldigheter. Spørreundersøkelser viser en tretthet i befolkningen - mange ønsker seg en avklaring (Heggelund, 2021 (B)); Hovland, 2021 (A)). Så mange som 7 av 10 vil beholde og videreutvikle dagens struktur jf. nullalternativet til modellering (Asplan Viak, 2017, s. 4). For å styrke støtten og interessen, kreves en tydelig handlekraft fra en stødig hånd (Børresen, 2021, 1.41.00-1.41.08). Den store faren ved lang behandlingstid foruten fallende støtte i befolkningen, er utdaterte rapporter som ikke lenger speiler virkeligheten