Productivity in Collaboration-intensive Knowledge Work:The Collaboration Management Imperative

Collaboration is a hot issue, and is to an increasing extent recognised as a key driver of overall business performance, innovation capabilities and productivity. However, few companies methodically evaluate how well they perform in the area of collaboration, and few companies have implemented management and leadership principles to systematically improve collaborative performance. This article describes the commonly occurring mismatch between the potential impact of collaboration on business performance and the attention given to collaboration. Furthermore, the article explains why companies should approach collaboration strategically, and identify new ways of fostering and facilitating collaboration in a structured manner. The article proposes a value perspective on collaboration and provides a framework for classifying and managing different factors related to collaboration, and concludes with a list of specific action points for organisations that are interested in improving their collaborative performance and obtaining a higher Return on Investment (ROI) on their collaboration initiative

Betydningen av et lokalt fellesskap og eierskap i energiomstilling: hvorfor Smart Senja ikke fikk fotfeste i Senjahopen

Denne studien belyser forholdet mellom det storskala energiprosjektet Smart Senja og kystsamfunnet Senjahopen på Nord-Senja, og setter søkelys på de komplekse sosiale dynamikkene knyttet til implementering av energiteknologi, en prosess ofte referert til som sosioteknisk. Smart Senja, et innovativt energiprosjekt, inkluderer aktivt aktørene og befolkningen i to steder på Senja, Husøy og Senjahopen, i prosessen med å utvikle relevante løsninger og forme prosjektet gjennom deltakelse i ‘energikafè’. Selv om Smart Senja generelt er mottatt mer positivt enn negativt, med større forventninger enn bekymringer for prosjektets potensiale i bygda, utfører studien en kritisk analyse for å avdekke hovedårsakene til begrenset engasjement og aksept av prosjektet i Senjahopen. Det er et sentralt mål for studien å foreslå tiltak som kan forbedre interaksjonen mellom lignende energiprosjekter og lokale samfunn i fremtiden. Studien søker å bidra med kunnskap i konteksten av samfunnsdeltakelse og energiomstilling mot en mer bærekraftig fremtid. For å støtte dette arbeidet benyttes tre teoretiske rammeverk: sosiotekniske forestillinger, sosial aksept og sosial kapital. Disse bidrar til å forstå hvordan informasjonsflyt og kommunikasjon mellom Smart Senja-prosjektet og Senjahopen-samfunnet har påvirket engasjementet og oppfatningen av prosjektet. Videre avklares hvilken rolle lokale kulturelle og historiske faktorer, som fellesskapsfølelse, dugnadsånd og lokalt eierskap til hjørnesteinsbedriften, har hatt i mottakelsen av Smart Senja. Masteroppgaven henter inspirasjon fra Svartdal og Kristoffersen (2023) sin WIMBY-analyse (Why In My Backyard). Dette konseptet fokuserer på hvordan passiv motstand eller likegyldighet blant lokalbefolkningen kan brytes ned til et enkelt spørsmål: ‘Hvorfor skal vi (lokale innbyggere) støtte et energiprosjekt? Fra dette utgangspunktet introduseres konseptet RMB, eller «Reinforce My Backyard», som oppmuntrer energiprosjekter som Smart Senja til å vektlegge og styrke de allerede eksisterende sosiale verdiene i samfunnet ved innføring. Som et kvalitativt forskningsprosjekt, inneholder studien feltarbeid utført i Senjahopen fra 2019 til 2020, med totalt 16 dager på stedet. Data ble samlet inn gjennom intervjuer, deltakende observasjon og feltsamtaler. Tolv intervjuer ble gjennomført med ni lokale innbyggere, mens deltakende observasjon og feltsamtaler ble utført på lokale samlingssteder, under ekskursjoner og på energikafeer

The avalanche situation in a special winter. Review of the 09/10 season in Norway.

The 2009/10 season featured significantly different snow conditions compared to the usually maritime snow pack in most of Norway. A stable high-pressure system over large parts of Europe led to low temperatures and limited precipitation in the country. Along the coast a continuous snow cover was observed for several weeks while the mountains received down to 20% of the 1971-2000 normal precipitation values. The snowpack had several weeks to develop extensive layers of depth hoar also in areas where this is usually not observed. The weather situation promoted the development of surface hoar in many locations as well, especially on the eastern side of the mountains. Still, the danger level was moderate most days of the winter. Similar conditions lead to the catastrophic avalanche winter in 1979. Based on that experience awareness was high and both road closures and evacuations were implemented in several occasions when heavy snowfalls were to load the weak base of the well established persistent weak layers. The observed avalanches were often hard slab avalanches of medium size occurring on slopes where avalanches are not observed in normal winters. The five registered fatalities during the past season were all back country skiing accidents and most of the avalanches were at least partly released in the week base of the depth hoar layers. The daily presence of avalanche observations caused intensive media coverage of the special snow situation. Journalists and the public soon adopted the international danger scale and communication between avalanche experts and the media improved significantly as a result of this season

Gene expressions and copy numbers associated with metastatic phenotypes of uterine cervical cancer

BACKGROUND: A better understanding of the development of metastatic disease and the identification of molecular markers for cancer spread would be useful for the design of improved treatment strategies. This study was conducted to identify gene expressions associated with metastatic phenotypes of locally advanced cervical carcinomas and investigate whether gains or losses of these genes could play a role in regulation of the transcripts. Gene expressions and copy number changes were determined in primary tumors from 29 patients with and 19 without diagnosed lymph node metastases by use of cDNA and genomic microarray techniques, respectively. RESULTS: Thirty-one genes that differed in expression between the node positive and negative tumors were identified. Expressions of eight of these genes (MRPL11, CKS2, PDK2, MRPS23, MSN, TBX3, KLF3, LSM3) correlated with progression free survival in univariate analysis and were therefore more strongly associated with metastatic phenotypes than the others. Immunohistochemistry data of CKS2 and MSN showed similar relationships to survival. The prognostic genes clustered into two groups, suggesting two major metastatic phenotypes. One group was associated with rapid proliferation, oxidative phosphorylation, invasiveness, and tumor size (MRPS23, MRPL11, CKS2, LSM3, TBX3, MSN) and another with hypoxia tolerance, anaerobic metabolism, and high lactate content (PDK2, KLF3). Multivariate analysis identified tumor volume and PDK2 expression as independent prognostic variables. Gene copy number changes of the differentially expressed genes were not frequent, but correlated with the expression level for seven genes, including MRPS23, MSN, and LSM3. CONCLUSION: Gene expressions associated with known metastatic phenotypes of cervical cancers were identified. Our findings may indicate molecular mechanisms underlying development of these phenotypes and be useful as markers of cancer spread. Gains or losses of the genes may be involved in development of the metastatic phenotypes in some cases, but other mechanisms for transcriptional regulation are probably important in the majority of tumors

The Modular X- and Gamma-Ray Sensor (MXGS) of the ASIM Payload on the International Space Station

The Modular X- and Gamma-ray Sensor (MXGS) is an imaging and spectral X- and Gamma-ray instrument mounted on the starboard side of the Columbus module on the International Space Station. Together with the Modular Multi-Spectral Imaging Assembly (MMIA) (Chanrion et al. this issue) MXGS constitutes the instruments of the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) (Neubert et al. this issue). The main objectives of MXGS are to image and measure the spectrum of X- and γ-rays from lightning discharges, known as Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs), and for MMIA to image and perform high speed photometry of Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) and lightning discharges. With these two instruments specifically designed to explore the relation between electrical discharges, TLEs and TGFs, ASIM is the first mission of its kind. With an imaging system and a large detector area MXGS will, for the first time, allow estimation of the location of the source region and characterization of the energy spectrum of individual events. The sensors have fast readout electronics to minimize pileup effects, giving high time resolution of photon detection for comparison with measurements on μs-time scales of lightning processes measured by the MMIA and other sensors in space or on the ground. The detectors cover the large energy range of the relevant photon energies. In this paper we describe the scientific objectives, design, performance, imaging capabilities and operational modes of the MXGS instrument

The impact of surgical delay on resectability of colorectal cancer: An international prospective cohort study

AIM: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to explore the impact of surgical delays on cancer resectability. This study aimed to compare resectability for colorectal cancer patients undergoing delayed versus non-delayed surgery. METHODS: This was an international prospective cohort study of consecutive colorectal cancer patients with a decision for curative surgery (January-April 2020). Surgical delay was defined as an operation taking place more than 4 weeks after treatment decision, in a patient who did not receive neoadjuvant therapy. A subgroup analysis explored the effects of delay in elective patients only. The impact of longer delays was explored in a sensitivity analysis. The primary outcome was complete resection, defined as curative resection with an R0 margin. RESULTS: Overall, 5453 patients from 304 hospitals in 47 countries were included, of whom 6.6% (358/5453) did not receive their planned operation. Of the 4304 operated patients without neoadjuvant therapy, 40.5% (1744/4304) were delayed beyond 4 weeks. Delayed patients were more likely to be older, men, more comorbid, have higher body mass index and have rectal cancer and early stage disease. Delayed patients had higher unadjusted rates of complete resection (93.7% vs. 91.9%, P = 0.032) and lower rates of emergency surgery (4.5% vs. 22.5%, P < 0.001). After adjustment, delay was not associated with a lower rate of complete resection (OR 1.18, 95% CI 0.90-1.55, P = 0.224), which was consistent in elective patients only (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.69-1.27, P = 0.672). Longer delays were not associated with poorer outcomes. CONCLUSION: One in 15 colorectal cancer patients did not receive their planned operation during the first wave of COVID-19. Surgical delay did not appear to compromise resectability, raising the hypothesis that any reduction in long-term survival attributable to delays is likely to be due to micro-metastatic disease