A study on opt-out choices and how it is framing gender differences in the decision to compete for promotion

Masteroppgave(MSc) in Master of Science in Business, Leadership and Change - Handelshøyskolen BI, 2023This master thesis aims to investigate how an opt-out choice may frame genders. By making a vignette with four scenarios I will research how the society, more specifically, how the respondents view men and women when they are put in different scenarios where they must compete against the opposite gender. At the end of this paper, I aim to make the readers get an insight and understanding of how the society view the different genders when it comes to opt-in and opt-out choices in work related competition. Expected findings are that women who chooses to compete for a promotion, even though a colleague and friend seems to want the position very much, will be viewed in a negative way by the observants. This is because I believe that women are viewed as people who should not compete actively against a friend. However, I expect to find that men who actively competes against a woman might be viewed a less mean person because society expect men to compete as it is proven that men are more competitive in their nature

Comparative analysis of Calanus finmarchicus demography at locations around the Northeast Atlantic

Standardized time-series sampling was carried out throughout 1997 at seven locations around the Northeast Atlantic to investigate regional variations in the seasonal demography of Calanus finmarchicus. Sites ranged from an inshore location in the North Sea, where C. finmarchicus formed only a small component of the zooplankton (2000 mgC m-2 during spring and summer). The internal consistency of the demographic time-series from each site was investigated by three partial models of life-cycle processes. In general, the demography of late copepodites could be accounted for by a relatively simple forecast model of stage development and diapause. However, there was a large discrepancy between nowcast estimates of egg production based on female abundance, temperature, and chlorophyll, and hindcast simulations of the egg production required to account for the observed abundance of early copepodite stages. The results point to a gap in our understanding of seasonal variations in rates of egg production and/or survival of nauplii. Overall, the population sampled at Weathership M appeared to be reasonably self-contained, but all other sites were reliant on invasion of overwintered stock in spring. At least two generations were observed at all but one site, but the extent to which these were generated by discrete bursts of egg production varied between sites and seemed to be partly dependent on the proximity to an overwintering location

Flexible Production of Green Ammonia : An Optimisation Approach to Cost-Efficient and Adaptable Power to Ammonia Production in Denmark

The majority of global ammonia production relies on non-renewable energy, as green ammonia is substantially more expensive. However, the energy landscape is changing, and countries like Denmark are expanding their capacity in renewable energy. Given this increase in renewable capacity, demand for ammonia, and net-zero solutions, it is essential to reduce the total cost of ammonia and increase its competitiveness. The primary objective of this thesis is to study the feasibility of decreasing the overall cost of ammonia in the established renewable market of Denmark. The ammonia production configuration considered in this thesis consists of alkaline water electrolysis and Haber- Bosch synthesis. We employed a multi-period, mixed integer optimisation model over the three coming decades and adjusted key elements to see their effect on cost. The ammonia system considered is grid-connected to the west Denmark electricity grid DK1 and utilise historical NordPool data from the same electricity grid for our optimization model. The findings indicates that savings of up to 1,5 percent are possible for ammonia production, when utilising excess production capacity and the capabilities are improved to satisfy annual demand. The savings occur as a result of more production during advantageous time periods. However, excessive production capacity increases costs as a result of the systems capabilities. Furthermore, we find intermediate hydrogen storage to not be beneficial, except for long-term periods of extreme electricity price volatility with no excess production capacity. Additionally, the alkaline electrolysis should be minimized in relations to the appropriate excess production capacity of the Haber-Bosch synthesis given its high degradation.nhhma

Survival probability of Baltic larval cod in relation to spatial overlap paterns with their prey obtained from drift model studies

Temporal mismatch between the occurrence of larvae and their prey potentially affects the spatial overlap and thus the contact rates between predator and prey. This might have important consequences for growth and survival. We performed a case study investigating the influence of circulation patterns on the overlap of Baltic cod larvae with their prey. A three-dimensional hydrodynamic model was used to analyse spatio-temporally resolved drift patterns of larval Baltic cod. A coefficient of overlap between modelled larval and idealized prey distributions indicated the probability of predator–prey overlap, dependent on the hatching time of cod larvae. By performing model runs for the years 1979–1998 investigated the intra- and interannual variability of potential spatial overlap between predator and prey. Assuming uniform prey distributions, we generally found the overlap to have decreased since the mid-1980s, but with the highest variability during the 1990s. Seasonally, predator–prey overlap on the Baltic cod spawning grounds was highest in summer and lowest at the end of the cod spawning season. Horizontally variable prey distributions generally resulted in decreased overlap coefficients. Finally, we related variations in overlap patterns to the variability of Baltic cod recruitment success

Maternal allergen immunisation to prevent sensitisation in offspring: Th2-polarising adjuvants are more efficient than a Th1-polarising adjuvant in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Allergy has been an increasing problem in several parts of the world. Prenatal exposure to allergen and microbial components may affect the development of allergies in childhood, as indicated by epidemiological and experimental studies. We investigated the capacity for allergic sensitisation in offspring after induction of a Th1- or a Th2-polarised immune response to the same allergen in mothers during pregnancy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During pregnancy, mice were immunised with ovalbumin (OVA) given with either one of the Th2-adjuvants pertussis toxin (PT) or Al(OH)₃(aluminium hydroxide), or with the Th1 adjuvant CpG. Offspring were immunised with OVA in Al(OH)₃as young adults. Serum and supernatants from <it>ex vivo </it>stimulated or non-stimulated spleen cells from mothers and offspring were analysed for OVA-specific antibodies and cytokines, respectively. Mothers immunised with OVA together with either Al(OH)₃or PT had increased levels of OVA-specific IgE and IgG1 compared to naive mothers, whereas mothers immunised with OVA together with CpG had increased levels of OVA-specific IgG2a compared to naive mothers. In general the highest levels of IL-5, IL-10, and IFNγ were observed in spleen cells from mothers immunised with PT and OVA. Upon immunisation, offspring from mothers immunised with OVA and either PT or Al(OH)₃showed reduced levels of OVA-specific IgE and IgG1 and increased levels of OVA-specific IgG2a antibodies compared to offspring from naive mothers. Maternal immunisation with CpG and OVA did not affect antibody responses in offspring.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Allergic sensitisation in the offspring was affected by the type of adjuvant used for immunisation of the mothers with the same allergen. Th2 polarisation of the immune response in the mothers was found to give reduced IgE levels upon sensitisation of the offspring, whereas no reduction was achieved with Th1 polarisation in the mothers.</p

The swimming kinematics of larval Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua L., are resilient to elevated seawater pCO2

Kinematics of swimming behavior of larval Atlantic cod, aged 12 and 27 days post-hatch (dph) and cultured under three pCO2 conditions (control-370, medium-1800, and high-4200 μatm) from March to May 2010, were extracted from swim path recordings obtained using silhouette video photography. The swim paths were analyzed for swim duration, distance and speed, stop duration, and horizontal and vertical turn angles to determine whether elevated seawater pCO2—at beyond near-future ocean acidification levels—affects the swimming kinematics of Atlantic cod larvae. There were no significant differences in most of the variables tested: the swimming kinematics of Atlantic cod larvae at 12 and 27 dph were highly resilient to extremely elevated pCO2 levels. Nonetheless, cod larvae cultured at the highest pCO2 concentration displayed vertical turn angles that were more restricted (median turn angle, 15°) than larvae in the control (19°) and medium (19°) treatments at 12 dph (but not at 27 dph). Significant reduction in the stop duration of cod larvae from the high treatment (median stop duration, 0.28 s) was also observed compared to the larvae from the control group (0.32 s) at 27 dph (but not at 12 dph). The functional and ecological significance of these subtle differences are unclear and, therefore, require further investigation in order to determine whether they are ecologically relevant or spurious

Methylphenidate improves motor functions in children diagnosed with Hyperkinetic Disorder

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A previous study showed that a high percentage of children diagnosed with Hyperkinetic Disorder (HKD) displayed a consistent pattern of motor function problems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of methylphenidate (MPH) on such motor performance in children with HKD</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>25 drug-naïve boys, aged 8–12 yr with a HKD-F90.0 diagnosis, were randomly assigned into two groups within a double blind cross-over design, and tested with a motor assessment instrument, during MPH and placebo conditions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The percentage of MFNU scores in the sample indicating 'severe motor problems' ranged from 44–84%, typically over 60%. Highly significant improvements in motor performance were observed with MPH compared to baseline ratings on all the 17 subtests of the MFNU 1–2 hr after administration of MPH. There were no significant placebo effects. The motor improvement was consistent with improvement of clinical symptoms.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The study confirmed our prior clinical observations showing that children with ADHD typically demonstrate marked improvements of motor functions after a single dose of 10 mg MPH. The most pronounced positive MPH response was seen in subtests measuring either neuromotor inhibition, or heightened muscular tone in the gross movement muscles involved in maintaining the alignment and balance of the body. Introduction of MPH generally led to improved balance and a generally more coordinated and controlled body movement.</p

Allergic sensitisation in tuberculosis patients at the time of diagnosis and following chemotherapy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is still a matter of debate whether there is an association between infection with <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>(<it>M. tuberculosis</it>) and allergy. Previously, we have shown higher levels of specific IgE to different inhalant allergens and total IgE in tuberculosis (TB) patients compared to controls. The objectives of this study were to evaluate a possible change in allergic sensitisation after successful TB treatment and to confirm the finding of our previous study of enhanced allergic sensitisation in TB patients compared to controls in a more controlled setting. Additionally, we wanted to determine the cytokine profile in the same groups and finally to evaluate the association between the presence of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination (BCG) scar and allergic sensitisation among the controls.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sera were analysed for specific IgE to inhalant allergens (Phadiatop) and total IgE by the use of ImmunoCAP 1000 (Pharmacia Diagnostics). Thirteen different cytokines were also analysed in the sera by multiplex bead immunoassay (Luminex 100, Luminex Corporation), and clinical symptoms of allergy and BCG scar were reported in a questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A reduction in levels of specific and total IgE were observed after successful TB treatment. TB patients also had higher levels of specific and total IgE compared to healthy controls. Both interleukin (IL)-6 and interferon (IFN)γ were higher in TB patients compared to healthy controls. The levels of IL-6 were reduced after successful TB treatment. The presence of a BCG scar was associated with a reduced risk of developing allergic sensitisation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We observed a reduced level of allergic sensitisation after successful TB treatment. TB patients seem to be more allergically sensitised than healthy controls, confirming our previous finding. Furthermore, we observed an inverse association between allergic sensitisation and visible BCG scar, which adds additional support to the hygiene hypothesis.</p

The feeding conditions of capelin during summer. Field observations in 1979 and 1980

The Institute of Marine Research has, since 1979, carried out investigations on the capelin feeding conditions in the Barents Sea during the summer season. This program is aimed at obtaining data that can contribute to the understanding of the factors affecting the capelin growth in this area. The program is based on the working hypothesis that as the ice edge in the Barents Sea recedes northwards during the summer, new areas become available for biological production. If a series of observations are made from the ice edge towards the south, different phases in the production process can be found, from nutrients via phytoplankton and zooplankton to the capelin. In this program an attempt is made to follow the development of this production process in order to make the feeding conditions for the capelin and its variations. This will give background information for better predictions on the development of the capelin stock and with that, a better exploitation of the resource. The present report describes the methods used in the field work in order to verify the mentioned hypothesis. Most of the results obtained during the summer seasons of 1979 and 1980 are presented in the form of tables and figures and only with brief comments