Towards local Large-Scale Production of UHPC in Norway

Investigations are presented on development and testing of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), suitable for large-scale production in standard industrial equipment for mixing and transportation of conventional ready-mix concrete (RMC) and based on locally produced constituents. Experiments were conducted both on a large-scale at an RMC plant and on a small-scale in the laboratory. The objective was to facilitate more widespread implementation of UHPC in construction projects. The findings indicate that UHPC can be produced and transported with the equipment of conventional RMC plants, using local materials and various ores of aggregate. The results demonstrated comparable results from laboratory and large-scale production, despite the use of different ores for aggregate. It is suggested that local production might support more widespread use of UHPC, also through increased building of competence.publishedVersio

Towards local Large-Scale Production of UHPC in Norway

Investigations are presented on development and testing of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), suitable for large-scale production in standard industrial equipment for mixing and transportation of conventional ready-mix concrete (RMC) and based on locally produced constituents. Experiments were conducted both on a large-scale at an RMC plant and on a small-scale in the laboratory. The objective was to facilitate more widespread implementation of UHPC in construction projects. The findings indicate that UHPC can be produced and transported with the equipment of conventional RMC plants, using local materials and various ores of aggregate. The results demonstrated comparable results from laboratory and large-scale production, despite the use of different ores for aggregate. It is suggested that local production might support more widespread use of UHPC, also through increased building of competence.publishedVersio

When a good is a bad (or a bad is a good) - analysis of data from an ambiguous nonmarket valuation setting

This paper analyses data from a contingent valuation experiment carried out in a context with large degree of preference heterogeneity and valuation ambiguity. Despite this challenge, by implementing estimation of an unrestricted valuation function on pooled data from two elicitation formats, utilizing all preference information available from the survey, we are able to estimate welfare measures with an acceptable degree of statistical confidence. It turns out that an offshore wind farm, a priori believed to constitute a bad that people would be willing to pay to avoid, instead was a good that people would be willing to forego under compensation. This was true on average but not for all study participants. Two key determinants of preferences were spatial proximity to the proposed wind farm and perceptions of the visual impacts of wind turbines. Individuals who would be near and thought wind turbines are “ugly” had a mean willingness to pay to avoid the wind farm of about $508 per household per year. In contrast, those who would be far away and perceived wind turbines to be “beautiful” had a negative mean willingness to pay to avoid the wind farm of about −$595 per household per year.publishedVersio

En studie av effekten dokosaheksaensyre (DHA) har på cellesyklusen til A549-celler».

Forskning tyder på at omega-3-fettsyrene, særlig eikosapentaensyre (EPA) og dokosaheksaensyre (DHA), har en rekke helsemessige fordeler (1). Interessen for å undersøke effekten omega-3 kan ha på kreft har økt de siste årene, da ulike studier har vist at fettsyrene påvirker cellevekst og følsomhet i enkelte typer kreft (1, 2). Potensielt kan disse fettsyrene ta del i nye behandlingsformer som selektivt dreper kreftceller, i motsetning til konvensjonell behandling (3). I denne studien ble lungekreftcellene A549 brukt for å studere endringer i cellesyklus hos celler eksponert for DHA. Cellene ble eksponert for ulike konsentrasjoner DHA og inkubert i 24 timer ved 37 °C og 5 % CO2 atmosfære. Forsøket ble gjennomført i tre delforsøk. Hvert delforsøk besto av to cellebrett med celler eksponert for henholdsvis 40 og 60 µg/ml DHA med tilhørende kontroller. For å undersøke om DHA har noen effekt på celleproliferasjonen til A549-cellene, ble cellesyklusen analysert ved hjelp av flowcytometer. Prosentandelen celler i hver cellesyklusfase i oljeprøvene ble kartlagt for å se om det hadde skjedd noen opphopning i syklusen som kunne tyde på en cellesyklusarrest. Sammenligningen av resultatene fra oljeprøvene og kontrollene viser en økt prosentandel celler i G1/G0-fasen for celler eksponert for 40 µg/ml DHA, og en vesentlig større økning for cellene eksponert for 60 µg/ml DHA. Dette tyder på at DHA kan ha en økt hemmende effekt på celleproliferasjonen med økende konsentrasjoner.Research has shown that omega3 fatty acids, especially eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), may have numerous health benefits (1). The interest in investigating how omega-3 may affect cancer has increased in recent years, as various studies have shown that these fatty acids affect cell growth and sensitivity in certain types of cancer (1, 2). Potentially these fatty acids may be part of new therapies in which cancerous cells are targeted selectively, as opposed to conventional therapies that act more globally on the organism (3). In this study, the A549 lung cancer cells were used to study cell cycle changes in cells exposed to DHA. The cells were exposed to different concentrations of DHA and incubated for 24 hours at 37 °C and 5 % CO2 atmosphere. The experiment was divided in three sub-experiments. Each sub-experiment consisted of two cell culture plates with cells exposed to respectively 40 and 60 µg/ml DHA, and controls. To see if DHA has any effect on A549 cell proliferation, the cell cycle was analyzed by a flow cytometer. The percentage of cells in each phase were mapped to see if there had been any accumulation in the cycle that may indicate a cell cycle arrest. The comparison of the results from the oil samples and the controls shows an increased percentage of cells in the G1/G0 phase for those exposed to 40 µg/ml DHA and a significant increase for the cells exposed to 60 µg/ml DHA. The results may indicate that DHA has an increased inhibitory effect on cell proliferation with an increasing concentration

Effect of mid-line or low-line milking systems on lipolysis and milk composition in dairy goats

[EN] Two experiments were carried out to investigate how milking in mid-line (ML) affects the lipolysis level and milk composition in goat livestock, in comparison with low-line (LL) milking. The first experiment took place, in triplicate, on an experimental farm. For each replicate, a crossover design (62 goats, two treatments, ML and LL, in two periods each lasting 4 days) was used. Milk samples were taken daily at 0 and 24 h after milking. In the first experimental replicate, some enzymatic coagulation cheeses were made, which were assessed by a panel of tasters at 50 and 100 days of maturation. In the second experiment, the lipolysis level and composition of tank milk from 55 commercial dairy goat farms (25 ML and 30 LL) were analysed, in milk samples taken in three different weeks. The results of the first experiment showed that ML milking increased free fatty acid (FFA) concentration in raw goat's milk significantly (0.71 v. 0.40 mmol/l, respectively). However, in the milk samples taken from commercial farms the FFA concentration remained unaffected by the milking pipeline height (0.59 v. 0.58 mmol/l for ML and LL, respectively). No significant differences were found in the milk composition, nor in the sensory characteristics in the cured cheeses, which suggests that factors other than the milkline height are able to influence the level of lipolysis under commercial conditions. Therefore, ML milking should not be discouraged, provided that the correct functioning and management of the milking operation and milk storage on the farm is guaranteed.Beltrán Martínez, MC.; Manzur Cruz, A.; Rodríguez Garcia, M.; Díaz Sánchez, JR.; Peris Ribera, CJ. (2018). Effect of mid-line or low-line milking systems on lipolysis and milk composition in dairy goats. Journal of Agricultural Science. 156(8):848-854. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021859618000771S848854156

Biogeochemical Stoichiometry of Antarctic Dry Valley Ecosystems

Among aquatic and terrestrial landscapes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, ecosystem stoichiometry ranges from values near the Redfield ratios for C:N:P to nutrient concentrations in proportions far above or below ratios necessary to support balanced microbial growth. This polar desert provides an opportunity to evaluate stoichiometric approaches to understand nutrient cycling in an ecosystem where biological diversity and activity are low, and controls over the movement and mass balances of nutrients operate over 10–10⁶ years. The simple organisms (microbial and metazoan) comprising dry valley foodwebs adhere to strict biochemical requirements in the composition of their biomass, and when activated by availability of liquid water, they influence the chemical composition of their environment according to these ratios. Nitrogen and phosphorus varied significantly in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems occurring on landscape surfaces across a wide range of exposure ages, indicating strong influences of landscape development and geochemistry on nutrient availability. Biota control the elemental ratio of stream waters, while geochemical stoichiometry (e.g., weathering, atmospheric deposition) evidently limits the distribution of soil invertebrates. We present a conceptual model describing transformations across dry valley landscapes facilitated by exchanges of liquid water and biotic processing of dissolved nutrients. We conclude that contemporary ecosystem stoichiometry of Antarctic Dry Valley soils, glaciers, streams, and lakes results from a combination of extant biological processes superimposed on a legacy of landscape processes and previous climates