Theme: Children's Literature Reviews - How, Where and Who? Ill. Jenny Nyström from Barnkammarens bok, 1882.
"Where there are pictures, you can relax a bit": Young People’s Assessments of Easy-to-read Fiction
This article examines young people’s reviews of a selection of Norwegian easy-to-read YA fiction books. The purpose of the study is to gain more knowledge about young people as actual readers and critics of easy-to-read literature, but also to gain insight into what makes a literary text easier to read. Our empirical material consists of 129 reviews from the digital archive of Uprisen, a literature prize awarded to the best Norwegian YA novel of the year. We have analysed the reception of three easy-to-read YA novels across different genres. The analysis is grounded in theories of reading processes and multimodality, as well as the field’s own definitions of easy-to-read literature. Our findings show that young readers primarily associate readability with linguistic simplicity and brevity. At the same time, they point to connections between readability and aspects such as content, theme, composition, credibility, and originality, as well as opportunities for immersion and identification. However, there are also statements that reveal a tension between easy-to-read language and more complex themes, content, narrative structures or forms of presentation. Although all three books fall under the category of easy-to-read, they are not unequivocally perceived as such by all reviewers. Both compressed text and multimodal formats appear challenging. The analysis shows that young critics do not share a uniform understanding of what is easy or difficult to read, which underlines that the categorization of readability cannot be regarded as a straightforward or objective category.
Monica Hauger Carlsen, Marie M. Bjøntegaard, Bob van Oort
et al.
Background: Food production contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. Climate and environmental impacts from food production vary across geographical areas. To estimate these impacts of food and diets, country-specific data are needed. Objective: This project aimed to compile an environmental impact food database, including the impact categories (ICs) global warming potential, soil acidification, freshwater and saltwater eutrophication, water use and land use, representative of the Norwegian diet. Design: The compilation was based on literature searches for original life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on foods, including domestic and imported foods, which constitute the habitual diet in Norway. Food items of importance in the average Norwegian diet were identified based on the national dietary survey Norkost 3. The study’s generic system boundaries included impacts from farm to fork: production, processing, packaging, transportation, storage and food preparation at home. Conversion factors for edible portions were applied when relevant. When LCA data of a certain food were missing, data from foods with similar cultivation conditions and nutritional composition were used as proxies. Data from other LCA food databases were also used if original LCA studies were not identified, or the LCA studies found were evaluated as being of poor quality. Results: The compiled database is tailored specifically for and covers main animal- and plant-based foods in the Norwegian diet. Discussion: Limitations of the compilation project include the fact that most LCA studies identified in the present project covered ICs up to the farm gate and used varying methodology. Also, proxy values were used when data for specific food items were missing. These methodological issues introduce variability and complicate direct comparisons. The strength of the present study is the thorough work in compiling and filling data gaps for the IC values of foods in the Norwegian diet. Conclusions: The Norwegian LCA food database enables simultaneous estimation of food and nutrient intakes and estimation of climate and environmental impacts of Norwegian diets.
Philipp Schneider, Matthias Vogt, Rolf Haugen
et al.
Low-cost air quality sensors have the potential to complement the regulatory network of air quality monitoring stations, with respect to increased spatial density of observations, however, their data quality continues to be of concern. Here we report on our experience with a small network of open low-cost sensor systems for air quality, which was deployed in the region of Stavanger, Norway, under Nordic winter conditions. The network consisted of AirSensEUR sensor systems, equipped with sensors for, among others, nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter. The systems were co-located at an air quality monitoring station, for a period of approximately six weeks. A subset of the systems was subsequently deployed at various roadside locations for half a year, and finally co-located at the same air quality monitoring station again, for a post-deployment evaluation. For fine particulate matter, the co-location results indicate a good inter-unit consistency, but poor average out-of-the-box performance (R2 = 0.25, RMSE = 9.6 μg m−3). While Köhler correction did not significantly improve the accuracy in our study, filtering for high relative humidity conditions improved the results (R2 = 0.63, RMSE = 7.09 μg m−3). For nitrogen dioxide, the inter-unit consistency was found to be excellent, and calibration models were developed which showed good performance during the testing period (on average R2 = 0.98, RMSE = 5.73 μg m−3), however, due to the short training period, the calibration models are likely not able to capture the full annual variability in environmental conditions. A post-deployment co-location showed, respectively, a slight and significant decrease in inter-sensor consistency for fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide. We further demonstrate, how observations from even such a small network can be exploited by assimilation in a high-resolution air quality model, thus adding value to both the observations and the model, and ultimately providing a more comprehensive perspective of air quality than is possible from either of the two input datasets alone. Our study provides valuable insights on the operation and performance of an open sensor system for air quality, particularly under challenging Nordic environmental conditions.
Atle Fretheim, Christopher James Rose, Ingrid Kristine Ohm
et al.
Objectives To systematically review and meta-analyse the evidence for effect modification by refractory status and number of treatment lines in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM); and to assess whether effect modification is likely to invalidate network meta-analyses (NMA) that assume negligible modification.Design Systematic review, meta-analysis and simulation.Data sources We systematically searched the literature (e.g., OVID Medline) to identify eligible publications in February 2020 and regularly updated the search until January 2022. We also contacted project stakeholders (including industry)Eligibility criteria Phase 2 and 3 randomised controlled trials reporting stratified estimates for comparisons with at least one of a prespecified set of treatments relevant for use in Norwegian RRMM patients.Outcomes We used meta-analysis to estimate relative HRs (RHRs) for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) with respect to refractory status and number of treatment lines. We used the estimated RHRs in simulations to estimate the percentage of NMA results expected to differ significantly in the presence versus absence of effect modification.Results Among the 42 included publications, stratified estimates were published by and extracted from up to 18 (43%) publications and on as many as 8364 patients. Within-study evidence for effect modification is very weak (p>0.05 for 47 of 49 sets of stratified estimates). The largest RHR estimated was 1.32 (95% CI 1.18 to 1.49) for the modifying effect of refractory status on HR for PFS. Simulations suggest that, in the worst case, this would result in only 4.48% (95% CI 4.42% to 4.54%) of NMA estimates differing statistically significantly in the presence versus absence of effect modification.Conclusions Based on the available evidence, effect modification appears to be sufficiently small that it can be neglected in adequately performed NMAs. NMAs can probably be relied on to provide estimates of HRs for OS and PFS in RRMM, subject to caveats discussed herein.
Året er 1989, bare få måneder før Den tyske demokratiske republikk (DDR) går i oppløsning. I Lutz Seilers prisbelønte roman Kruso (2014, norsk 2015) utspiller handlingen seg på den legendariske baltiske øya Hiddensee. Mange som har lidd skipbrudd innenfor systemet har reist til Hiddensee. Boken forteller om en gruppe intellektuelle og dissidenter på den østtyske ferieøya helt i utkanten av landet. I denne artikkelen ser jeg nærmere på noen av romanens tallrike motiver fra reiselitteraturgenren. Romanen Kruso benytter seg av ulike reisemotiver knyttet til robinsonaden for å skildre en avsidesliggende østtysk øy som et magisk sted der DDRs flyktninger kunne frigjøre seg fra vareøkonomiens fristelser og dermed bli resistent mot tanken på å prøve seg på et livsfarlig fluktforsøk over Østersjøen til Møn, det vil si Vesten. Bokens helt Kruso proklamerer en allmenn humanitet, der naturen på Hiddensee gir mennesket mulighet til å vokse. Kruso ser på friheten som en oppgave, og naturen fungerer som veileder.
Abstract Background Pilonidal sinus disease (PSD) is frequently observed in young adults. There is no wide consensus on optimal treatment in the literature, and various procedures are used in clinical practice. The objective of this study was to assess current practice, experience, training, and attitudes towards PSD surgery among Norwegian surgeons. Methods An online survey on PSD surgery was created and sent to all members of the Norwegian Surgical Association. Categorical data were reported as frequencies and percentages. Results Most currently practicing Norwegian surgeons used the Bascom’s cleft lift (93.2%) or minimally invasive procedures (55.4%). Midline excisions with primary closure (19.7%) or secondary healing (22.4%) were still used by some surgeons, though. Most surgeons had received training in PSD surgery supervised by a specialist, but only about half of them felt sufficiently trained. The surgeons generally performed few PSD operations per year. Many considered PSD as a condition of low surgical status and this patient group as underprioritized. Conclusions Our findings suggest that PSD surgery in Norway has been moving away from midline excisions and towards off-midline flap procedures and minimally invasive techniques. PSD and its treatment have a low status among many Norwegian surgeons. This study calls for attention to this underprioritized group of patients and shows the need for consensus in PSD treatment such as development of national guidelines in Norway. Further investigation on training in PSD and the role of supervision is needed.
Sammendrag
Opplysningsmennene Peter Frederik Suhm og Jens Schielderup Sneedorff
nådde på begynnelsen av 1760-tallet bredt ut i tvillingrikene Danmark-Norge
med hvert sitt tidsskrift: Tronhiemske Samlinger basert
i Trondheim og Den patriotiske Tilskuer i København.
Begge hadde tette forbindelser til sentralmakten. De skrev om politiske
og kulturelle saker, om språk og litteratur, og regnes som fremsynte
forsvarere av ytringsfrihet. Hvordan de omtaler og forholder seg
til romansjangeren, kan dermed være en god indikator på hvordan
den nye, borgerlige romanen blir vurdert i de toneangivende miljøene
Suhm og Sneedorff tilhørte. En undersøkelse av Suhms lister over
«Gode» og «Slette Bøgger», der han kommenterer nær 900 fiksjons-
og sakprosaverk, og en gjennomgåelse av de vel 3000 sidene Sneedorff publiserte,
bekrefter at de begge var grunnleggende skeptiske til romanen, og
ikke akkurat fremstår som følsomme moderne esteter, men stiller
klassiske moralsk-didaktiske krav til litteraturen.
Abstract In a context of increasing anthropogenic pressure, projecting species potential distributional shifts is of major importance for the sustainable exploitation of marine species. Despite their major economical (i.e. important fisheries) and ecological (i.e. central position in food-webs) importance, cephalopods literature rarely addresses an explicit understanding of their current distribution and the potential effect that climate change may induce in the following decades. In this study, we focus on three largely harvested and common cephalopod species in Europe: Octopus vulgaris, Sepia officinalis and Loligo vulgaris. Using a recently improved species ensemble modelling framework coupled with five atmosphere–ocean general circulation models, we modelled their contemporary and potential future distributional range over the twenty-first century. Independently of global warming scenarios, we observed a decreasing in the suitability of environmental conditions in the Mediterranean Sea and the Bay of Biscay. Conversely, we projected a rapidly increasing environmental suitability in the North, Norwegian and Baltic Seas for all species. This study is a first broad scale assessment and identification of the geographical areas, fisheries and ecosystems impacted by climate-induced changes in cephalopods distributional range.
Artikkelen undersøker relasjonen mellom menneske og natur i Knut Hamsuns Markens grøde (1917) og Stina Aronsons Hitom himlen (1946). Et komparativt perspektiv inspirert av postkolonial økokritikk viser at begge tekstene forholder seg aktivt til et sett av ideologisk ladede forestillinger knyttet til den nordlige ødemarken som motivfelt. Ved å sammenligne fremstillinger av bønder, landskap, dyr, samer og overnaturlige krefter, blir det tydelig at forfatternes måte å forholde seg til dette motivfeltet på, er preget av ganske ulike syn på menneske og natur. Artikkelen tar for seg noen pregnante tekststeder der slike ideologiske posisjoner blir særlig tydelige. Dermed kan artikkelen også leses inn i en pågående diskusjon av Hamsuns omstridte nobelprisroman som en økologisk tekst. Det komparative, situerende og ideologikritiske perspektivet bidrar til å nyansere tidligere økokritiske lesninger, særlig knyttet til samenes status i teksten.
In September 2016, Raluca-Daniela Răduț, currently junior lecturer, Ph. D., at the Department of Scandinavian Languages and Literature at the Faculty of Letters, Babeș-Bolyai University, defended her Ph. D. dissertation entitled The Poetry of Jan Erik Vold and the Norwegian Lyric Modernism in the 1960s. Professor Sanda Tomescu Baciu (Babeș-Bolyai University) was the advisor for the Ph.D. project and Professor Henning Howlid Wærp (University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway) functioned as a tutor for Răduț during a stay in Tromsø, supported by EEA research grants. In 2018 the dissertation was published in book form at Casa Cărții de Știință, as a part of the series Colecția Nordica.
The focus of this article is retouching of medieval sculptures in Norwegian churches. Our aim is to discuss past and current practices by analysing conser-vation treatment reports. We study the reasoning behind the decision making to the extent the information is available in the reports, and assess the reports as source material. To form a background for the discussions, we review rele-vant literature on history of retouching. We study conservation treatment re-ports in the period from c. 1970 to date and we have a data set consisting of 65 reports. Our results show that over half of the reports include decision making for retouching the artwork. The data set also shows changes through time in retouching techniques and methods. We discuss the reasons for differences in past and present practises after registering changes in conservation ideology and the development of the conservation training. Discrepancies between writ-ten retouching theories and conservation practices are assessed. The article also discusses conservation reports as source material. Since we have studied prac-tices within our own institution, objectivity is a part of the discussion, along with possible future projects that may follow from this research. In conclusion the conservation treatment reports reflect changes in conservation education, the profession's ethics, retouching methodology and decision making. The re-ports give us descriptive information about the objects and their condition, but the chosen retouching procedure is often coloured by the individual conserva-tor's values and perspectives. The material, which spans almost ï¬fty years, clearly mirrors the tendencies in the methodology of visual reintegration.
Jan Anker Jahnsen, Sofia Frost Widnes, Jan Schjøtt
Abstract Background Health professionals may advise women to either stop breastfeeding or drug treatment due to restrictive advice in drug monographs. Regional medicines information and pharmacovigilance centres in Norway (RELIS) provide free and industry-independent answers to questions about drugs and breastfeeding documented in a full-text, searchable database (RELIS database). We used the RELIS database to describe which health care practitioners sought information about medication safety in lactation, most common drugs involved, advice provided and which resources were used to provide the advice. Methods A random selection of 100 question-answer pairs (QAPs) from the RELIS database indexed with “BREASTFEEDING” in the period from January 2011 to December 2015 was analysed. Inclusion criteria were queries from health professionals about drugs. Questions about herbal supplements and other exposures not classified as drugs were excluded. The QAPs were manually analysed for compatibility of one or several drugs with breastfeeding, health care profession and workplace of enquirer in addition to advice and search strategy used. Results In the 100 QAPs there were enquires about 152 drugs. Seventy-four questions concerned a single drug, but the number of drugs evaluated varied between 1 and 16. Fifty-nine questions were from physicians, 34 from nurses or midwives, two from pharmacists and two from other health professionals. Questions from physicians contained 93 drug evaluations (61%), nurses or midwives 47 (31%) and pharmacists seven (5%). The most frequent categories of drugs were antidepressants, antiepileptics and immunosuppressants. The most asked about drugs were lamotrigine, codeine, quetiapine and escitalopram. Fifty-nine percent of the drugs were deemed safe while breastfeeding, 16% if precautions were taken and 12% not recommended. Thirty-nine percent of the drug evaluations used an advanced literature search strategy, and this was significantly (p < 0.05) more likely when the enquirer was a physician. Conclusions This analysis of questions to Norwegian medicines information centres about medicine use in breastfeeding indicates the need for communication about safety of drugs affecting the nervous system, primarily to medical doctors and midwives. In the majority of cases the medicine information centre can reassure about the safety of breastfeeding while taking a drug.
A Way Out of the World. Death, Language, and Post-structuralism in Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle
In this article, I present a close reading of Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle. My point of departure is Knausgård’s reflections upon death presented in the very first pages of the first of this six-volume novel. I read these reflections as thoughts regarding the issue of form and content, and as an introduction to one of the main themes in the novel. Thus, I argue that, throughout this novel, Knausgård tries to unite form and content, and that this is the central struggle referred to in the work’s title.