Browsing by Author
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Xin, Zhou (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 25-May-2009)[+][-]
Abstract: Over the past decade, China has developed to be the fastest growth market of consumption of Norwegian Salmon in Asia. In addition, Beijing that is the capital of China with over 15 million populations provides great demand in seafood consumption. Understanding consumer’s attitude is the first step to explain the consumption. Meanwhile, some factors (e.g. norms, availability, and knowledge) have been confirmed to influence on the consumption. Therefore, the study applies the theory of planed behavior (TPB) model to explain the consumption of Norwegian Salmon in Beijing. Moreover, the TPB model, which includes four components of consumer’s attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavior control, and intention, has been successfully used in several contexts, including seafood consumption. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/1968 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (1.388Mb) -
Xuan, Bui Bich (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 15-Jun-2009)[+][-]
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the applicability of benefits sought – based segmentation for fish market in Vietnam. A convenient sample of 809 Vietnamese households was provided to answer the questionnaires, including the questions about attitudes towards fish consumption. Cluster analysis was used to identify three distinctive consumer segments based on evaluation of quality, ambivalence and health involvement towards fish consumption. These three segments were termed the Satisfied, the Ambivalent and the Neutral segments. While the Satisfied have positive attitudes and the Neutral have uncertain feelings towards fish consumption, the Ambivalent have mixed feelings towards fish eating behavior. The Ambivalent consumers reveal the attitudes and behavior towards fish products somewhere between the Satisfied and the Neutral segments on most variables. However, they are close to the “Satisfied” on most areas, e.g. perceived quality, health involvement, perception of fish convenience, social and moral norms. The quality and the smell of fish are found as the main variables contributing to determine the classification of the Satisfied segment. And the variable of “mixed emotions” is found as the most important to determine the classification of the Ambivalent segment. The practical implications for marketers within the fish industry are the effectively strategies to increase the satisfaction and the loyalty of the Satisfied and Neutral consumers. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/1967 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (288.2Kb) -
Xu, Xiayu; Reinhardt, Joseph M.; Hu, Qiao; Bakall, Benjamin; Tlucek, Paul S.; Bertelsen, Geir; Abràmoff, Michael D. (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2012)[+][-]
Abstract: The retinal vessel width relationship at vessel branch points in fundus images is an important biomarker of retinal and systemic disease. We propose a fully automatic method to measure the vessel widths at branch points in fundus images. The method is a graph-based method, in which a graph construction method based on electric field theory is applied which specifically deals with complex branching patterns. The vessel centerline image is used as the initial segmentation of the graph. Branching points are detected on the vessel centerline image using a set of detection kernels. Crossing points are distinguished from branch points and excluded. The electric field based graph method is applied to construct the graph. This method is inspired by the non-intersecting force lines in an electric field. At last, the method is further improved to give a consistent vessel width measurement for the whole vessel tree. The algorithm was validated on 100 artery branchings and 100 vein branchings selected from 50 fundus images by comparing with vessel width measurements from two human experts. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/5011 File(s) in this item: 1
article.pdf (1.585Mb) -
Yabe, Chihiro (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 01-Nov-2009)[+][-]
Abstract: Foreign aid in war-torn societies is often significant for peace building after an early phase of urgent humanitarian military intervention. Numerous development organizations have been contributing to rebuild war-torn societies. The Kingdom of Cambodia is one of those countries which has been receiving a large number of development assistance since the end of the civil war and tragic genocide, which occurred during Pol Pot's communist period (1974-1979). During the genocide, approximately 80 per cent of Cambodian elite were killed, and national education system was destroyed for ideological control. Therefore, educational reconstruction has been one of significant sectors in Cambodian post-war reconstruction. Japan International Cooperation Agencies (JICA) is a Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) based bilateral aid agency. In post-war Cambodia, JICA has been contributing for post-war reconstruction as one of those numerous development assistance. Their contribution is broadly known as philanthropic peacebuilding practices. However, in the current situation of Cambodia, there seems to be several controversial issues which might be an indirect cause of the structural violence, such as aid-dependency, economic disparity between the urban rich and the rural and urban poor, and corruption of the Cambodian government. It is my contention that educational development assistance by JICA may have also negatively influenced peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction. Therefore, this study aims to explore and understand if Japanese foreign aid and JICA's support to Cambodian educational development is truly being positive peace or can it be said to be an indirect cause of structural violence. For this purpose, this study focuses JICA's motives for educational development in Cambodia. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/2408 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (998.6Kb) -
Yangzong, Ciren (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 23-Jun-2006)[+][-]
Abstract: The implementation of the Household Responsibility Contract System (HRCS) for grassland is ongoing in the pastoral area of Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR). The main purposes of the HRCS are to reverse the degradation of the rangeland, promote sustainable development of grassland and to increase nomadic production to transform traditional animal husbandry into a more modern development. In this thesis I have address two main questions: 1) Does the Household Responsibility Contract System really protect grassland? 2) Is HRCS compatible with the intended development of the Chang Tang conservation area? HRCS implements a shilft from a common management system to an individual management system. Thus, the starting point for this argument is the comparison of the two management systems and their suitability and adaptability to TAR’s pastoral area in relation to my study area, the Shenchen township pastoral area. I attempt to demonstrate how common property systems have traditionally served and benefited the Shenchen nomads, and how they have traditionally co-existed with the wildlife using this system. I have compared my study area to those areas where the grassland policy has already been implemented in other pastoral areas in China. I analyze how HRCS is working in my particular area; especially in the Chang Tang conservation area and whether it is having an effect on nomad’s culture and environment. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/291 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (1.558Mb) -
Blair, Gordon S.; Yang, Jie; Andersen, Anders (Research report; Forskningsrapport, 2005)[+][-]
Abstract: It is becoming clear that modern middleware platforms must provide both deploy-time configuration and run-time reconfiguration to accommodate rapid changing requirements and also to be able to operate in dynamic environments. J2EE is a key example of a middleware architecture that supports enterprise applications via its Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) component model. EJB provides limited configurability in terms of a fixed set of non-functional middleware services at deployment-time (via a declarative deployment descriptor). However, EJB along with other related enterprise architectures generally do not provide enough support for re-configuration or evolution. At best, there is limited support in some platforms for replacing or updating particular services. This paper discusses the design of configurable and re-configurable middleware architecture and also the key role of separation of concerns for such platforms. The paper also describes the Arctic Beans component model which uses the Composition Filters model to capture such concerns and also support their safe composition.The paper also explains how this model can be used to construct an Arctic Beans container, in the style of EJB. The main contribution of the paper is to demonstrate that adaptable middleware platform can be developed using separation of concern technologies, specifically the composition filters model. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/396 File(s) in this item: 1
report.pdf (335.0Kb) -
Yan, Qi (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 28-Aug-2012)[+][-]
Abstract: Denne oppgaven går ut på å studere kinesiske konsumenters evaluering av et norsk røkt lakseprodukt i en reel kjøpesituasjon, og er basert på konsumentenes evaluering før og etter smak. Sammenheng mellom kvalitetsindikatorer som forventning basert på, forventnings utforming, vurdering etter smak og kjøpsintensjon blir undersøkt i denne oppgaven. Hovedformålet er å få en total forståelse av evalueringsprosessen og identifisere hvilke faktorer som er avgjørende når kinesiske konsumenter skal velge det nye produktet i fremtiden. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/4632 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (1.243Mb) -
Yazdani Arazi, Hamid Reza (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, May-2006)[+][-]
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Yigzaw, Kassaye Yitbarek (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 15-Jun-2012)[+][-]
Abstract: Objective: This thesis mainly focused on construction of an integrated infectious disease prediction service that predicts and visualizes prediction results in time and space. Methods: We have used weekly aggregated laboratory confirmed cases of various diseases collected from the Snow system, which is an infectious disease surveillance system that covers Troms and Finnmark counties of north Norway. Influenza A dataset is applied for modeling SIR(S) model and various diseases datasets applied to a Bayesian model. The infectious disease prediction service prototype was constructed following an iterative and incremental approach where the entire development process was composed of four activities. Results: The prediction service framework facilitates the process of integrating various models and allows their evaluation. Currently, the system contains two mathematical models that demonstrate the effectiveness of the architecture in integrating new models. Conclusion: The framework can significantly improve the status of disease prediction systems, investment and time of development. It also speeds up mathematical modeling through its integrated environment for testing and evaluating different mathematical models against other existing models. Thus, the project contributes to improve the overall disease prediction accuracy and increase the benefits from prediction. Keywords: Infectious disease, Influenza, Mathematical model, Prediction, Mathematical model evaluation, Spatiotemporal Epidemiological Modeler, Visualization, Integrated infectious disease prediction. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/4402 File(s) in this item: 2
Source Code.rar (27.54Mb)thesis.pdf (2.403Mb) -
Yimingjiang, Wuxiuer (Doctoral thesis; Doktorgradsavhandling, 18-Sep-2012)[+][-]
Abstract: Originating from a fruit fly species, Drosophilid alcohol dehydrogenases enzymes (DADHs) belong to the Short-chain dehydrogenases/reductases (SDR) family. Covering a wide range of species, SDR family members show very similar structure and chemical reaction mechanism. In human there are, so fare, at least 24 SDR enzymes that are connected to diseases. Therefore, understanding the function and chemical reaction mechanism of SDR is medically very important. Scaptodrosophilid lebanonensis alcohol dehydrogenase (SlADH) is one of the DADHs of the SDR family. Therefore, it can be used as a model enzyme to study other human disease-related SDR enzymes. SlADH oxidizes alcohol by using the cofactor NAD+. The oxidization reaction consists of proton release and hydride transfer steps. Our study showed that the replacement of the amino acid Threonine with Valine at position 114 in SlADH results in a break of an eight membered chain of water moleculs mediating transport of a proton inside SlADH. Although several enzyme kinetic parameters differ, this mutant follows the same reaction mechanism as the wild type SlADH. For example, the mutation results in a slower hydride transfer from alcohol to NAD+, and slower and weaker binding of NAD+ to the mutant enzyme. Hence, an intact water chain in SlADH is essential for optimal enzyme activity. Other factors may also contribute to these changes, such as the change of dynamical behavior of this enzyme due to the mutation and the broken water chain. A computer based quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics (QM/MM) study of the oxidation mechanism showed that during the alcohol oxidation, the hydride transfer most likely starts first and initiate the proton transfer, and when the proton transfer is finished, the hydride transfer continues until it is finished. Although the QM/MM study gives complementary explanations to the reaction order of these two steps, due to its limitation, more studies are necessary in order to gain more insights into the reaction mechanism of SlADH. Description: The papers of this thesis are not available in Munin:
1. Yimingjiang Wuxiuer, Ekaterina Morgunova, Neus Cols, Alexander Popov, Andrey Karshikoff, Ingebrigt Sylte, Roser Gonzàlez-Duarte, Rudolf Ladenstein and Jan-Olof Winberg: 'An intact eight-membered water chain in drosophilid alcohol dehydrogenases is essential for optimal enzyme activity', FEBS Journal (2012), vol.279 no.16:2940–2956. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1742-4658.2012.08675.x
2. Yimingjang Wuxiuer, Jan-Olof Winberg and Ingebrigt Sylte: 'Comparative molecular dynamic simulations of wild type and Thr114Val mutated Scaptodrosophila lebanonensis alcohol dehydrogenase' (manuscript).
3. Yimingjang Wuxiuer, Jan-Olof Winberg and Ingebrigt Sylte: 'QM/MM studies of the catalytic mechanism of short chain alcohol dehydrogenases' (manuscript)URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/4393 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (2.176Mb) -
Yitayew, Temesgen Gebrie (Mastergradsoppgave; Master thesis, 15-May-2012)[+][-]
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to extract, evaluate and select different multi-frequency polarimetric SAR and multi-spectral optical features to demonstrate the benefit of multi-sensor data fusion for forest applications. Multi-frequency fully Polarimetric SAR data at P-, L- and C-band and multi-spectral Landsat TM data acquired over the Nezer forest in France were used for demonstration. The scene is composed of homogeneous fields of either bare soil or maritime pine trees of different ages, and the application was discriminating the bare soil, and the trees in terms of their ages. A total of twenty-six features; six from each of the three Polarimetric SAR datasets and eight from the optical dataset were extracted. Significant classification accuracy improvement (up to 12%) was achieved by fusing SAR and optical datasets. Therefore, attention should be given to the combined use of them whenever they are available. Five features were found to jointly preserve 98.5% of the classification information of the available set. In addition to retaining most of the valuable information, these few identified features were found useful to interpret the scene in terms of the different forest scattering mechanisms. Therefore, they can be reasonably expected to be used for other forest applications too. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/4609 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (5.828Mb) -
Das Neves, Carlos G.; Yoccoz, Nigel G.; Roger, Matthieu; Rimstad, Espen; Tryland, Morten (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 09-Mar-2009)[+][-]
Abstract: Background: The genus Varicellovirus (family Herpesviridae subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae) includes a group of viruses genetically and antigenically related to bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) among which cervid herpesvirus 2 (CvHV-2) can be of importance in reindeer. These viruses are known to be responsible for different diseases in both wild and domestic animals. Reindeer are a keystone in the indigenous Saami culture and previous studies have reported the presence of antibodies against alphaherpesviruses in semi-domesticated reindeer in northern Norway. Mortality rates, especially in calves, can be very high in some herds and the abortion potential of alphaherpesvirus in reindeer, unlike in bovines, remains unknown. ELISA kits are the most used screening method in domestic ruminants and given the close genetic relationship between viruses within this genus, it might be possible to use such kits to screen cervids for different alphaherpesviruses. We have compared three different commercial ELISA kits in order to validate its use for reindeer and CvHV-2.
Methods: Three commercial bovine ELISA kits (A, B and C), using either indirect (A) or blocking (B and C) ELISA techniques to detect antibodies against BoHV-1 were tested with sera from 154 reindeer in order to detect antibodies against CvHV-2. A Spearman's rank-based coefficient of correlation (ρ) was calculated. A dilution trial was performed for all kits. A virus neutralization test using both BoHV-1 and CvHV-2 was carried out.
Results: Seroprevalence was almost the same with all kits (40–41%). Despite a similar qualitative score, quantitatively kits classified samples differently and a strong correlation was only identified between Kits B and C. Blocking kits performed better in both repeatability and in the dilution trial. The virus neutralization results confirmed the ELISA results to a very high degree. Neutralizing titres ranged from 1:2 to 1:256 and from 0 to 1:16 against CvHV-2 and BoHV-1 respectively.
Conclusion: Results show that the genetic and antigenic similarity between BoHV-1 and CvHV-2 enables the use of a bovine gB blocking ELISA kit to screen reindeer. The use of an ELISA kit is both cheaper and time saving, allowing screening of large populations. This study revealed a high number of positive animals against CvHV-2 and its impact and distribution in the general population should be further evaluated.URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/2173 File(s) in this item: 1
article.pdf (867.6Kb) -
Yohannes, Felegeselam (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 02-Jun-2003)[+][-]
Abstract: This study has been conducted in the northern most Rift Valley lake fishery – lake Ziway. Catch & effort and economic data have been used to analyze its fishery. The aim of the analysis was to review the present management situation of the lake and to apply bioeconomic theory to estimate the maximum and economic yields of the lake. The Schaefer’s surplus production model has been employed to estimate the maximum sustainable yield, effort that takes the maximum sustainable yield and maximum economic yield together with EMEY. The values of MSY, EMSY, MEY, and EMEY are 3537 t/yr, 2660 boats/yr, 1011 t/yr, and 412 boats/yr respectively. Lake Ziway is the 3rd biggest rift valley lake next to lake Abaya and Chamo. It has a potential yield of about 15% of the country’s major lakes potential and it contributes also about 24% of the yield of all major lakes. Its socio-economic importance is found to be the highest in the region where it is situated. The analysis shows also that lake Ziway produces double fold of the yield of the biggest lake in the country. All years written as EC are equivalent to GC – 7 and/or 8 years. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/296 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (748.3Kb) -
Yom-Tov, Elad; Fernandez Luque, Luis; Weber, Ingmar; Crain, Steven P. (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2012)[+][-]
Abstract: There is widespread use of the Internet to promote anorexia as a lifestyle choice. Pro-anorexia content can be harmful for people affected or at risk of having anorexia. That movement is actively engaged in sharing photos on social networks such as Flickr. Objective: To study the characteristics of the online communities engaged in disseminating content that encourages eating disorders (known as “pro-anorexia”) and to investigate if the posting of such content is discouraged by the posting of recovery-oriented content. The extraction of pro-anorexia and pro-recovery photographs from the photo sharing site Flickr pertaining to 242,710 photos from 491 users and analyzing four separate social networks therein. Pro-anorexia and pro-recovery communities interact to a much higher degree among themselves than what is expected from the distribution of contacts (only 59-72% of contacts but 74-83% of comments are made to members inside the community). Pro-recovery users employ similar words to those used by pro-anorexia users to describe their photographs, possibly in order to ensure that their content appears when pro-anorexia users search for images. Pro-anorexia users who are exposed to comments from the opposite camp are less likely to cease posting pro-anorexia photographs than those who do not receive such comments (46% versus 61%), and if they cease, they do so approximately three months later. Our observations show two highly active communities, where most interaction is within each community. However, the pro-recovery community takes steps to ensure that their content is visible to the pro-anorexia community, both by using textual descriptions of their photographs that are similar to those used by the pro-anorexia group and by commenting to pro-anorexia content. The latter activity is, however, counterproductive, as it entrenches pro-anorexia users in their stance. Our results highlight the nature of pro-anorexia and pro-recovery photo sharing and accentuate the need for clinicians to be aware of such content and its effect on their patients. Our findings suggest that some currently used interventions are not useful in helping pro-anorexia users recover. Thus, future work should focus on new intervention methods, possibly tailored to individual characteristics. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/5053 File(s) in this item: 1
article.pdf (369.0Kb) -
Youssef, Islam M. (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 06-Jun-2006)[+][-]
Abstract: This thesis examines two phonological processes in which vocalic features assimilate to neighboring segments with complex consonant-vowel interactions, namely emphasis spread in Cairene Arabic and lowered larynx assimilation in Buchan Scots. I propose a non-linear analysis in the framework of the Parallel Structures Model (PSM) of feature geometry (Morén 2003). This model provides a unified account of the assimilation facts based on the complete phonemic inventories of the respective languages. In this theory, feature specifications are justified primarily on phonologically contrastive behavior. The analysis provided shows that a restrictive model such as the PSM attains a more succinct description of the phonological patterns as well as enhances greater empirical coverage with fewer resources. The main objective of this study is, therefore, three-fold. The first is to establish the contrastive inventories of Cairene Arabic and Buchan Scots with respect to which segments are phonologically active. The second is to provide full feature specifications of their contrastive segments in the Parallel Structures Model. The third is to describe and account for assimilation processes in these languages and describe the parallels between them in terms of application and feature analysis. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/191 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (775.8Kb) -
Ytreberg, Beate (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 01-Sep-2006)[+][-]
Abstract: Hensikten med denne kvalitative studien var å få en større forståelse av hva barnefysioterapeuter verbaliserer kunnskap om etter en undersøkelse av et barn, og hvilke aspekter ved fysioterapeutens praksiskunnskap som kommer til uttrykk i skriftlig og muntlig formidling. Studiens datamateriale består av skrift og tale om praksis: Intervju med tre erfarne barnefysioterapeuter samt fysioterapirapport fra de samme tre fysioterapeutene. Studien er forankret i en hermeneutisk vitenskapstradisjon. Studiens datamateriale og teori forholder seg på ulike måter til fenomenologi, og til empirisk-analytisk vitenskapsteori. Studiens teorikapittel starter med en framstilling av noen teoretiske forhold knyttet spesielt til barnefysioterapi. Det gjøres deretter rede for ontologiske og epistemologiske forhold knyttet til fysioterapi og til fysioterapipraksis. Det gis en oversikt over teorier som kan beskrive og påvirke fysioterapeuters praksisforståelse og praksisutøvelse. Til slutt belyses teori knyttet til taus kunnskap og til språkliggjøring av kunnskap. Studien viser at viktige elementer ved barnefysioterapeuters praksiskunnskap kan verbaliseres og formidles i et intervju gjennom beskrivelser, tolkninger, vurderinger og begrunnelser. Denne kunnskapen kan knyttes både til en kroppsfenomenologisk og til en dualistisk kroppsforståelse. I fysioterapirapportene verbaliseres og formidles i hovedsak fysioterapeutens påstandskunnskap. Det ser ut til at det kan være vesentlige vitenskapsteoretiske og kunnskapsteoretiske forskjeller mellom det som formidles i muntlig intervju/samtale og det som formidles skriftlig. Denne forskjellen kan forstås ut fra teorier om vitenskapelige paradigmer og gyldiggjøring av kunnskap. Det kan se ut som om fysioterapeuter i sin skriftlige fagformidling i større grad tilpasser seg gyldighetskriterier fra det empirisk-analytiske paradigmet og fra evidensbasert praksis enn de gjør i muntlig fagformidling. Når gyldighetskriterier fra andre saksforhold brukes på fysioterapi står viktige fenomener i fysioterapifaget i fare for å dedifferensieres. Studien argumenterer for at fysioterapeuters krav om respekt for eget fag og egen profesjon bør bunne i en fagutøvelse og fagformidling som integrerer perspektiver og som forener handling og vurdering, og viser til at det ontologiske og epistemologiske grunnlaget for evidensbasert praksis ikke er tilstrekkelig for profesjonell fysioterapipraksis. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/957 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (1.216Mb) -
Ytrehus, Ingunn Agnete (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, Dec-2006)[+][-]
Abstract: BACKGROUND Previous research have documented that acupuncture distinguish itself by being the complementary or alternative therapy that medical practitioners most often use both personally and professionally. Possible changes over the years have not previously been investigated. MATERIAL AND METHODS In February 1994 and November 2004 equivalent postal surveys were sent to proportional, stratified, random samples of working members of the Norwegian Medical Association under 71 years of age. Sampling frame, sample and respondents amounted to 11 728, 1466 and 1135 (77 %) in 1994, and 16 462, 1646 and 962 (58 %) in 2004. Personal and professional use of acupuncture were analysed overall and separately for gender, age and position within year and between years by multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS The percentage of medical practitioners having used acupuncture for own disease has doubled, 18 % in 2004 versus 8 % in 1994 (OR 2.19 p<0.001), and there is an increase for all subgroups. Half the physicians intend to use acupuncture for own disease, 55 % in 2004 and 53 % in 1994 (p=0.245), four percent practice acupuncture both years (p=0.829), fewer physicians intend to learn acupuncture, 5 % versus 8 % (OR 0.64 p=0.033), more than a third recommend acupuncture for migraine, 37 % and 41 % (p=0.569) and fewer find that acupuncture is incorporated in the health care system, 45 % versus 52 % (OR 0.76 p=0.004); however these results does not apply to all subgroups. CONCLUSION Medical practitioners of 2004 have positive attitudes toward acupuncture as a therapeutic method, but are rather acupuncture patients than acupuncturists. KEY WORDS Complementary medicine, acupuncture, attitudes, medical practitioners, Norway URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/1067 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (698.6Kb) -
Ytrøy, Egil Henning (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 15-Nov-2008)[+][-]
Abstract: Since the 1970s, many attempts have been made in Norway to turn blue mussel farming into a growth industry. Total production has increased during the last ten years, but prices have decreased and the value of the Norwegian production has fluctuated greatly. Many blue mussel farming companies have failed. Hence, the results have not been as expected. The Canadian story is different. In contrast to what has happened in Norway, some Canadian provinces – notably Prince Edward Island - have had a great success in blue mussel farming. During the same period they have developed this activity into a viable industry. This thesis compares the development of blue mussel farming in Norway and Canada. Why has the Canadian industry fared better than its Norwegian counterpart? In order to highlight the issue, the thesis focuses on the bottlenecks and barriers for the development of blue mussel production in the two countries and how these challenges have been dealt with. The study is based on interviews with eleven different companies and five different governmental and membership organizations in selected regions in Canada and Norway. In addition, a wide range of secondary sources have been used. The main findings are that the two industries are facing rather similar natural challenges. Toxicity is a common threat and at the moment invasive species is becoming a growing problem in Canada. What differentiates the two industries is that blue mussel farming in Canada was initiated as a response to declining fisheries. This may partly explain why the Canadian industry has been more successful. The infrastructure for industrial support also seems to be better co-ordinated in Canada than in Norway, and the Canadian producers have the benefit of a large domestic market and proximity to the US market, while the Norwegian producers have a small domestic market and greater difficulties gaining access to the well-established European market. However, these conclusions must be regarded as provisional considering the limited amount of data on which this thesis is built. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/1696 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (560.2Kb) -
Ytterstad, Karianne; Granan, Lars-Petter; Ytterstad, Børge; Steindal, Kjersti; Fjeldsgaard, Knut; Furnes, Ove; Engebretsen, Lars (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2012)[+][-]
Abstract: Background and purpose: The Norwegian Cruciate Ligament Register (NCLR) was founded in 2004. The purpose of the NCLR is to provide representative and reliable data for future research. In this study we evaluated the development of the registration rate in the NCLR. Methods: The Norwegian Patient Register (NPR) and the electronic patient charts (EPCs) were used as reference data for public and private hospitals, respectively. Data were retrieved for all primary and revision anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery during 2008–2009 in public hospitals and during 2008 in private hospitals. The NOMESCO classification of surgical procedures was used for identification of ACL surgeries. Public hospitals were divided into subgroups according to the annual number of operations in the NPR: small hospitals (< 30 operations) and large hospitals (≥ 30 operations). Results: For the 2-year data extracted from public hospitals, 2,781 and 2,393 operations met the inclusion criteria according to the NPR and the NCLR, respectively, giving an average registration rate of 86% (95% CI: 0.85–0.87). The registration rate for small public hospitals was 69% (CI: 0.65–0.73), which was significantly less than for large public hospitals (89%, CI: 0.88–0.90; p < 0.001). In 2008, private hospitals reported 548 operations to the NCLR while 637 were found in the EPCs, giving a registration rate of 86% (CI: 0.83–0.89). In that year, the registration rate for public hospitals was 86%, which was similar to that for private hospitals. Interpretation: The NCLR registration rate for the period 2008–09 was similar in both 2008 and 2009, and is satisfactory for research. There is room for improvement of registration rates, particularly in hospitals with a small volume of ACL operations. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/5045 File(s) in this item: 1
article.pdf (204.8Kb) -
Yumei, Han (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 15-May-2009)[+][-]
Abstract: Guanxi, in China, is viewed as a cultural concept, which originates from Confucianism. This thesis applies a stakeholder-based view (SHV) of strategic management to a special Guanxi setting of China in order to contextualize the theory to be applied in Chinese settings. In exploring the experiences of developing Guanxi with critical stakeholders in the course of corporate operations within the three aquatic product enterprises in China, the result finds the role of catalyst of Guanxi in lubricating or smoothing corporate development based on SHV in strategic management. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10037/2477 File(s) in this item: 1
thesis.pdf (518.5Kb)
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