Norway leads the world in gender equality and work-life balance: a qualitative life course study of Norwegian women

Norway is one of the world\u27s leading countries in gender equality and work-life balance and therefore proves to be an exceptional model for study to improve gender equality and work–life balance around the world (Strømland, 2009). Norway continues to rank top three in the Global Gender Gap Index in addition to being the happiest country, best country to live, leading country in gender equality and work-life balance, best country for motherhood, and one of the top three countries for business (Badenhausen, 2015; Berglund, 2010; Bradford, 2011; Dresser, 2010; Helman, 2011; McNeil, 2010; “Norway tops ‘best country’ list, U.S. ranks 10th,” 2010; Rienstra, 2010; Winter, 2010; Worley, 2014). Data collected from the interviews of 22 Norwegian women are used to understand the relationship between gender equality and work-life balance, that this relationship enables more women to work and be leaders, and that gender equality leads to financially successful organizations. This phenomenological study uses Giele\u27s (2002, 2008, 2009) life story method and theoretical framework and Weber\u27s (2011) instrument to explore Norwegian women\u27s experiences through the dimensions of identity, relational style, motivation, and adaptive style as shaped by Norway\u27s culture and laws to gain further insight and understanding. Findings from this study suggest supportive relationships and autonomy are major contributors to Norway\u27s success in gender equality and work-life balance, which offers a countering view to the GLOBE study\u27s (House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004) assessment of family groups in the Nordics. Furthermore, 20 work-life balance strategies were revealed, in addition to a new leadership intelligence framework: Nordic Intelligence (NQ). The findings from this study may help to create happier people, more satisfied employees, better and effective leaders, successful organizations, and stronger nations and economies worldwide

Glyphosate has limited short-term effects on commensal bacterial community composition in the gut environment due to sufficient aromatic amino acid levels

Recently, concerns have been raised that residues of glyphosate-based herbicides may interfere with the homeostasis of the intestinal bacterial community and thereby affect the health of humans or animals. The biochemical pathway for aromatic amino acid synthesis (Shikimate pathway), which is specifically inhibited by glyphosate, is shared by plants and numerous bacterial species. Several in vitro studies have shown that various groups of intestinal bacteria may be differently affected by glyphosate. Here, we present results from an animal exposure trial combining deep 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the bacterial community with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based metabolic profiling of aromatic amino acids and their downstream metabolites. We found that glyphosate as well as the commercial formulation Glyfonova®450 PLUS administered at up to fifty times the established European Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI = 0.5 mg/kg body weight) had very limited effects on bacterial community composition in Sprague Dawley rats during a two-week exposure trial. The effect of glyphosate on prototrophic bacterial growth was highly dependent on the availability of aromatic amino acids, suggesting that the observed limited effect on bacterial composition was due to the presence of sufficient amounts of aromatic amino acids in the intestinal environment. A strong correlation was observed between intestinal concentrations of glyphosate and intestinal pH, which may partly be explained by an observed reduction in acetic acid produced by the gut bacteria. We conclude that sufficient intestinal levels of aromatic amino acids provided by the diet alleviates the need for bacterial synthesis of aromatic amino acids and thus prevents an antimicrobial effect of glyphosate in vivo. It is however possible that the situation is different in cases of human malnutrition or in production animals

Systematic review and network meta-analysis with individual participant data on cord management at preterm birth (iCOMP): study protocol

Introduction Timing of cord clamping and other cord management strategies may improve outcomes at preterm birth. However, it is unclear whether benefits apply to all preterm subgroups. Previous and current trials compare various policies, including time-based or physiology-based deferred cord clamping, and cord milking. Individual participant data (IPD) enable exploration of different strategies within subgroups. Network meta-analysis (NMA) enables comparison and ranking of all available interventions using a combination of direct and indirect comparisons. Objectives (1) To evaluate the effectiveness of cord management strategies for preterm infants on neonatal mortality and morbidity overall and for different participant characteristics using IPD meta-analysis. (2) To evaluate and rank the effect of different cord management strategies for preterm births on mortality and other key outcomes using NMA. Methods and analysis Systematic searches of Medline, Embase, clinical trial registries, and other sources for all ongoing and completed randomised controlled trials comparing cord management strategies at preterm birth (before 37 weeks’ gestation) have been completed up to 13 February 2019, but will be updated regularly to include additional trials. IPD will be sought for all trials; aggregate summary data will be included where IPD are unavailable. First, deferred clamping and cord milking will be compared with immediate clamping in pairwise IPD meta-analyses. The primary outcome will be death prior to hospital discharge. Effect differences will be explored for prespecified participant subgroups. Second, all identified cord management strategies will be compared and ranked in an IPD NMA for the primary outcome and the key secondary outcomes. Treatment effect differences by participant characteristics will be identified. Inconsistency and heterogeneity will be explored. Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval for this project has been granted by the University of Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee (2018/886). Results will be relevant to clinicians, guideline developers and policy-makers, and will be disseminated via publications, presentations and media releases

Optic disc parameters in manifest and suspected glaucoma

Structure and function measurements are important in glaucoma management. Digital fundus photography has become a standard procedure and the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT), commonly used by glaucoma specialists, provides a glaucoma probability score (GPS). The visual field index (VFI) is a novel statistic, aiming to facilitate follow-up of glaucoma patients. The aim of this study was to compare the results from the digital analysis of fundus photographs with HRT measurements including GPS and VFI in patients with ocular hypertension, suspect glaucoma or glaucoma, and if possible define an optic disc index, useful in glaucoma diagnosis. Fifty-eight consecutive patients from a glaucoma service were included. Optic disc parameters (disc and cup areas) were measured on digital fundus photographs, using a semi-automatic method, and compared with the GPS from the HRT and the VFI from standard automated perimetry. A significant relationship was observed between the GPS group classification (normal, borderline, or abnormal) and VFI classification (normal or abnormal), both when the GPS borderline group was regarded as normal (P = 0.0038 Fisher test) and as abnormal (P=0.0179, kappa = 0.33). No significant relationship was observed between VFI and optic disc parameters. The threedimensional information in the GPS appears to be more related to visual function, as measured by VFI, than the planimetric measures of the optic disc

Statistical significance of rising and oscillatory trends in global ocean and land temperature in the past 160 years

Submitted manuscript version.Various interpretations of the notion of a trend in the context of global warming are discussed, contrasting the difference between viewing a trend as the deterministic response to an external forcing and viewing it as a slow variation which can be separated from the background spectral continuum of long-range persistent climate noise. The emphasis in this paper is on the latter notion, and a general scheme is presented for testing a multi-parameter trend model against a null hypothesis which models the observed climate record as an autocorrelated noise. The scheme is employed to the instrumental global sea-surface temperature record and the global land temperature record. A trend model comprising a linear plus an oscillatory trend with period of approximately 70 yr, and the statistical significance of the trends, are tested against three different null models: first-order autoregressive process, fractional Gaussian noise, and fractional Brownian motion. The parameters of the null models are estimated from the instrumental record, but are also checked to be consistent with a Northern Hemisphere temperature reconstruction prior to 1750 for which an anthropogenic trend is negligible. The linear trend in the period 1850–2010 AD is significant in all cases, but the oscillatory trend is insignificant for ocean data and barely significant for land data. However, by using the significance of the linear trend to constrain the null hypothesis, the oscillatory trend in the land record appears to be statistically significant. The results suggest that the global land record may be better suited for detection of the global warming signal than the ocean record