Booktowns on the Internet: Rural Enterprises Enter the Network Society

This paper reports on a project aimed at revitalizing small and old rural villages through establishing a network of bookshops, the BookTownNet. The project combined a research framework based on theories from information system research and regional economics in analyzing the development and diffusion of information and communication technology (ICT) to small, rural enterprises through that network. Our findings indicate that use of the Internet both locally and between the booktowns has strengthened the communication and collaboration between them, thus creating a better basis for the small bookshops to be competitive in the information society. Further, we have found that differences in local innovation systems to some extent have influenced the diffusion processes. Our data also show that the booktown network has been able to compensate for the lack of support in the regional innovation system, which makes the importance of the ICT-based virtual network spanning geographically distributed regions evident. This indicates that the booktown infrastructure and support system has been the most important factor in the bookshopsí ability to implement and use the new technical solutions

Local Actors Build Broadband Infastructure

This paper explores how local actors can play a role in bridging the rural broadband divide. It presents the bottom-up development of broadband infrastructure in the rural region of ‘Sogn & Fjordane’, Norway. To bridge the broadband divide individuals, businesses and public sector in several rural communities have joined forces and have taken an initiative to develop and operate local broadband infrastructure. Each initiative faces a different set of challenges depending on the local context. The paper open up the ‘black box’ of the innovative process to get a better understanding of the alternative process needed to develop broadband infrastructure in rural settings when the market forces does not apply. Two initiatives will be used to illustrate how the communities have assembled rural broadband assess using available knowledge and relational resources and infrastructure to achieve the goal, which is contrary to the traditional roll out of telecom infrastructure

Jeg vil, jeg vil, men får jeg slippe til? : en studie av frafall i videregående opplæring med fokus på avbruddsprosessen til ungdom som opplevde avbrudd i fagopplæringen etter videregående trinn 2

Masteroppgave i pedagogikk- Universitetet i Agder, 2012Frafall i videregående opplæring har vært stort i mange år, særlig innen yrkesfaglige utdanningsprogram. Samtidig medfører frafall betydelige, negative konsekvenser både for enkeltpersoner og samfunnet forøvrig. Avbrudd fra og frafall i videregående opplæring står derfor høyt på den politiske dagsorden. Denne studien ser nærmere på avbrudd fra fagopplæringen som finner sted etter fullført videregående trinn 2 (Vg2). Hensikten med studien er å belyse elementer av betydning for det videre frafallsforebyggende arbeidet. Datamaterialet består av kvalitative intervju med ungdommer som har gått programområdet Salg, service og sikkerhet og senere fått avbrudd opplæringen. Resultater viser at elevene har trivdes på skolen, men hatt fagvansker, svake karakterer og fravær. Ungdommene attribuerer avbruddene i overveiende grad til eksterne faktorer, og som kan se ut til å opprettholde selvbildet. Studien viser at avbruddsutsatt ungdom er en sammensatt gruppe som uansett behov vil profitere på oppfølging og tiltak i skolen, så vel som i overgang til læretid og i læretida. Praktiske implikasjoner og begrensninger av studien er også diskutert

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1

Multiple endocrine neoplasia-1 (MEN-1) is an autosomal dominant inherited syndrome that occurs due to inactivating mutations of the MEN1 gene locus, coding for a tumor-suppressor protein, menin . The components of MEN-1 are hyperparathyroidism due to multiple parathyroid adenomas, pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, and pituitary adenomas, in addition to some less common neoplastic manifestations. Care of people with MEN-1 requires knowledge of the problems that may arise, and the best approaches to detect and care for the manifestations of this incurable, but manageable, disease. J. Surg. Oncol. 2005;89:143–150. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34526/1/20181_ftp.pd

Practical Guidelines for DNA-Based Testing in Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 1

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN 1) is an autosomal dominant predisposition to neoplastic lesions of the parathyroid glands, the neuroendocrine pancreas, and the anterior pituitary gland. The predisposing genetic defect was localized to the long arm of chromosome 11 by genetic linkage analysis in three affected families. By analyzing six MEN 1 families with 14 DNA marker systems located close to the MEN 1 gene, we have developed a method to identify carriers of the MEN 1 predisposition. We describe practical aspects of such DNA-based diagnostic procedures

Self-initiated expatriates' cross-cultural training and adjustment: a closer look at norwegian engineers : what kind of cross cultural training does self-initiated expatriate engineers in Norway receive and does this affect their cross cultural adjustment? Are the theories related to company expatriates applicable?

Masteroppgave i økonomi og administrasjon – Universitetet i Agder 2014Today many people move on their own initiative to foreign countries to work as a result of increased globalization and human mobility. At arrival in the new culture the self-initiated expatriate m meet a culture that might be different from what they are used too. Cross-cultural training can provide the expatriates with tools and information that can enable the self-initiated expatriates to more easily adjust. This thesis aims to gain more knowledge on what kind of cross-cultural training self-initiated expatriate engineers get in Norway. Also we want to find out if this cross-cultural training has any effect on the self-initiated engineers’ cross-cultural adjustment. The theoretical foundation is based on past research which has been done on company expatriates since the 1960s. In-depth interviews of self-initiated expatriate engineers were conducted to gain more information on the self-initiated expatriates and their cross-cultural training and adjustment. The interview sample consisted of eight self-initiated expatriates who worked as engineers in two international oil and gas companies in Kristiansand: National Oil Well and Aker Solutions. The self-initiated expatriates originated from Sweden, India Syria, Poland Portugal and Iran. Through the study we found that the self-initiated expatriates received interaction training, language training, didactic training and experimental training. This was both provided by the company and the expatriates themselves. We also found that the cross-cultural training did not have a big effect on the self-initiated expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment. But some of the expatriates said that cross-cultural adjustment could enable the expatriates to become cross-cultural adjusted a little faster. At the end we identified were the theory did not correspond with our findings

Fast-growing pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma in a patient with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Predictive genetic screening and regular screening programs in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 are intended to detect and treat malignant tumors at the earliest stage possible. Malignant neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors are the most frequent cause of death in these patients. However, the extent and intervals of screening in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 are controversial as neuroendocrine tumors are usually slow growing. Here we report the case of a patient who developed a fast-growing neuroendocrine carcinoma within 15 months of a laparoscopic distal pancreatic resection.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We followed a group of 45 patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 by an annual screening program in the Department of Visceral, Thoracic, and Vascular Surgery at the University Hospital Marburg in cooperation with the Department of Radiology and the Division of Endocrinology. A man with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 who was diagnosed with a recurrent primary hyperparathyroidism underwent a distal pancreatic resection for a non-functional neuroendocrine tumor. In the context of our regular screening program, a large non-functional neuroendocrine tumor was diagnosed in the pancreatic head 15 months after the first pancreatic surgery. Therefore, we performed an enucleation and regional lymph node resection. At histology, the diagnosis of a neuroendocrine carcinoma with one lymph node metastasis was established. There was no evidence of recurrence 9 months after re-operation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Fast-growing neuroendocrine tumors are rare in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. The intervals, both postoperative and in newly diagnosed pancreatic lesions, in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 should be reduced to 6 months to establish the early diagnosis of rapidly progressive disease in a small subset of patients.</p

Continent-wide drainage reorganization in North America driven by mantle flow

North America (NA) experienced pronounced changes in continental-scale drainage characterized by a reversal for much of the continental interior from north into the Canadian arctic to south into the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) from the Mid-Cretaceous to the Paleocene. However, the driving mechanism for these profound drainage reorganizations remain unexplained. Here, we investigate the role of mantle flow on landscape evolution, by coupling dynamic topography with surface processes. This approach enables us to simulate catchment dynamics and the rearrangement of sediment transport in response to mantle flow. We show that a west-to-east drainage reversal can be induced by the NA overriding the subducted Farallon plate. Moreover, augmented dynamic subsidence caused by a basalt-to-eclogite transformation of an oceanic plateau within the Farallon slab, depressed the GoM region and expanded the integrated drainage to the GoM since the Early Paleocene. For the first time, we show that dynamic topography can explain the north-to-south continental-scale drainage reorganization in North America

Topographic asymmetry of the South Atlantic from global models of mantle flow and lithospheric stretching

The relief of the South Atlantic is characterized by elevated passive continental margins along southern Africa and eastern Brazil, and by the bathymetric asymmetry of the southern oceanic basin where the western flank is much deeper than the eastern flank. We investigate the origin of these topographic features in the present and over time since the Jurassic with a model of global mantle flow and lithospheric deformation. The model progressively assimilates plate kinematics, plate boundaries and lithospheric age derived from global tectonic reconstructions with deforming plates, and predicts the evolution of mantle temperature, continental crustal thickness, long-wavelength dynamic topography, and isostatic topography. Mantle viscosity and the kinematics of the opening of the South Atlantic are adjustable parameters in thirteen model cases. Model predictions are compared to observables both for the present-day and in the past. Present-day predictions are compared to topography, mantle tomography, and an estimate of residual topography. Predictions for the past are compared to tectonic subsidence from backstripped borehole data along the South American passive margin, and to dynamic uplift as constrained by thermochronology in southern Africa. Comparison between model predictions and observations suggests that the first-order features of the topography of the South Atlantic are due to long-wavelength dynamic topography, rather than to asthenospheric processes. The uplift of southern Africa is best reproduced with a lower mantle that is at least 40 times more viscous than the upper mantle