Background: This master’s thesis was a part of a project involving mass cultivation of microalgae at the smelting plant Finnfjord AS. Microalgae are primary producers of the important omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids EPA and DHA. At Finnfjord, the algae use CO2 from the flue gas for their production of lipid and protein rich biomass. The algal biomass can potentially function well as ...

Nanoparticles are usually defined as particles in a size range of 1-100 nm, and these particles often have different properties than the non-nanoscale material of the same chemical composition. In recent years, as the interest and use of nanoparticles has increased and so has the interest in understanding their behaviour, impact and fate in the environment. In the last decades, there has been special ...

The Arctic University of Norway and the ferrosilicon smeltery Finnfjord AS has started a microalgal mass cultivation project where sequestration of CO2 and NOx from factory fumes are used in the production of diatom biomass. Primary application of the produced biomass is fish feed. This requires information regarding lipid content and storage stability. In this study the lipid content, fatty acid ...

The emergence of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains is a rising global problem that does not only result in fatal infections of previously treatable cases, but increases also the economic burden of health care systems. The same applies for cancer as treatment of some cancer types is difficult and also resistance to treatment is an increasing problem in cancer chemotherapy. Novel treatment ...

To understand how antibiotic use affects the risk of a resistant infection, we present a computational model of the population dynamics of gut microbiota including antibiotic resistance-conferring plasmids. We then describe how this model is parameterized based on published microbiota data. Finally, we investigate how treatment history affects the prevalence of resistance among opportunistic ...

In this controlled before-after study based on data from the Norwegian Prescription Database, we examine whether starting off-label use of Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) is followed by changes in the consumption of psychotropic medicines including antiepileptics. Patients that collected LDN for the first time in 2013 (N = 11247) were included and stratified into three groups based on LDN exposure. We ...

<p><i>Background - </i>Implementing electronic medication management systems (eMMS) is likely to influence established work practices. <p><i>Objective - </i>To explore Australian hospital pharmacists’ expectations of, or experiences with, eMMS. <p><i>Methods - </i>Semi-structured individual phone interviews with pharmacists from six Australian States and Territories were conducted in 2014. ...

From a patient-centric perspective, oromucosal drug delivery is highly attractive due to the ease of administration without the need of swallowing, and improved patient safety. The aim of the presented work was to prepare a buccal film using a self-forming micellar drug solubiliser as the film matrix, combining it with a mucoadhesive polymer for an enhanced retention on the buccal mucosa. Specifically, ...

The increased expression of gonadotropin releasing hormone receptor (GnRH‐R) in brain has been strongly linked to Alzheimer disease. Therefore, the development of radiolabeled imaging agents for GnRH‐R is relevant for early diagnosis of Alzheimer disease. We have recently disclosed the discovery of two promising compounds displaying nanomolar‐range affinity for the GnRH‐R. In the present study, a ...

The aim of this work was to clarify the dynamics behind the influence of ionic strength on the changes in drug release from large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs). For this purpose, we have investigated the transport of two different model drugs (caffeine and hydrocortisone) formulated into liposomes through different types of barriers with different retention properties (regenerated cellulose and the ...