The impact of extended electrodiagnostic studies in Ulnar Neuropathy at the elbow

Background: This study aimed to explore the value of extended motor nerve conduction studies in patients with ulnar nerve entrapment at the elbow (UNE) in order to find the most sensitive and least time-consuming method. We wanted to evaluate the utility of examining both the sensory branch from the fifth finger and the dorsal branch of the ulnar nerve. Further we intended to study the clinical symptoms and findings, and a possible correlation between the neurophysiological findings and pain. Methods: The study was prospective, and 127 UNE patients who were selected consecutively from the list of patients, had a clinical and electrodiagnostic examination. Data from the most symptomatic arm were analysed and compared to the department's reference limits. Student's t - test, chi-square tests and multiple regression models were used. Two-side p-values < 0.05 were considered as significant. Results: Ulnar paresthesias (96%) were more common than pain (60%). Reduced ulnar sensitivity (86%) and muscle strength (48%) were the most common clinical findings. Adding a third stimulation site in the elbow mid-sulcus for motor conduction velocity (MCV) to abductor digiti minimi (ADM) increased the electrodiagnostic sensitivity from 80% to 96%. Additional recording of ulnar MCV to the first dorsal interosseus muscle (FDI) increased the sensitivity from 96% to 98%. The ulnar fifth finger and dorsal branch sensory studies were abnormal in 39% and 30% of patients, respectively. Abnormal electromyography in FDI was found in 49% of the patients. Patients with and without pain had generally similar conduction velocity parameter means. Conclusion: We recommend three stimulation sites at the elbow for MCV to ADM. Recording from FDI is not routinely indicated. Sensory studies and electromyography do not contribute much to the sensitivity of the electrodiagnostic evaluation, but they are useful to document axonal degeneration. Most conduction parameters are unrelated to the presence of pain

Noradrenaline and cortisol changes in response to low-grade cognitive stress differ in migraine and tension-type headache

The goal of this study was to explore the relationship between indicators of sympathoneural, sympathomedullar and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) activity and stress-induced head and shoulder-neck pain in patients with migraine or tension-type headache (TTH). We measured noradrenaline, adrenaline and cortisol levels before and after low-grade cognitive stress in 21 migraineurs, 16 TTH patients and 34 controls. The stressor lasted for 60 min and was followed by 30 min of relaxation. Migraine patients had lower noradrenaline levels in blood platelets compared to controls. Pain responses correlated negatively with noradrenaline levels, and pain recovery correlated negatively with the cortisol change in migraineurs. TTH patients maintained cortisol secretion during the cognitive stress as opposed to the normal circadian decrease seen in controls and migraineurs. There may therefore be abnormal activation of the HPA axis in patients with TTH when coping with mental stress, but no association was found between pain and cortisol. A relationship between HPA activity and stress in TTH patients has to our knowledge not been reported before. In migraine, on the other hand, both sympathoneural activation and HPA activation seem to be linked to stress-induced muscle pain and recovery from pain respectively. The present study suggests that migraineurs and TTH patients cope differently with low-grade cognitive stress

Non-Commissioned Officers and Attitudes towards Military Women in the Norwegian Air Force : “It’s always nice when there are girls around”

Originally published in Res Militaris (http://resmilitaris.net) as part of its second ERGOMAS issue on 'Women in the Military', February 2016. Made available to Brage, courtesy of the editors of Res Militaris.The main objective of the study presented in this article was to investigate men and masculinities, with a particular focus on the meaning of masculinities for recruitment and retention of female personnel. Fieldwork and seven semi-structured interviews with NCOs were conducted at a Norwegian Air Force Base. Analysis revealed three major themes : positive attitudes towards women in the military ; stereotypical perceptions of women ; and doubts about women's physical capacities. The findings are discussed in relation to R.W. Connell's work on hegemonic masculinity. The attitudes revealed can be related to the gender order in the society at large, and are likely to be the result of the global dominance of males over females. Initiatives to increase the number of women in the Armed Forces should therefore not only occur inside the military culture, but also address the socio-cultural level to change dominant gender ideologies and stereotypes.Seksjon for kultur og samfunn / Department of Cultural and Social Studie

Gender and military issues : a categorized research bibliography

The purpose of this report is to give an overview of research related to gender issues in the military

Risk-taking attitudes and behaviors in the Norwegian population: the influence of personality and background factors

The article presents the results of an investigation where the main purpose was to see how willingness to take risks is distributed in the general adult population relative to socio-demographic background and personality. A representative sample (n = 1000) of the population 15 years and older was interviewed about socio-demographic background, personality type (Big Five, EPQ, Sensation Seeking) and willingness to take risks. We used a new scale containing eight dimensions, covering social, intellectual, achievement, political, economic, physical, ethical and existential types of risk. The results showed that people in general were risk averse in relation to physical, ethical, economic and existential risks but had a balanced bell-shaped distribution of scores on the other risk dimensions. There was a moderate to low positive correlation between all eight risk-taking dimensions except achievement risk versus ethical risk. Males were more willing to take risks than females on six of eight dimensions. Younger were more willing than older to take risks on all eight risk dimensions. Higher educational level influenced risk-taking positively in more than half of the dimensions, not only one’s own educational level but also father’s and even more mother’s educational level. There was a positive correlation with household income on three dimensions. All sensation seeking subscales and total sensation seeking correlated positively with all risk-taking dimensions. There were positive correlations with most risk-taking scales on EPQ’s Extraversion and Psychoticism and Big Five’s Extraversion, Stableness and Openness. Agreeableness and Conscientiousness had negative correlation with several risk-taking dimensions. A logistic regression model, identifying the 25 percent highest scorers on total risk-taking, found that being male and scoring high on sensation seeking were the most important predictors. Furthermore, high scores on the Big Five sub-scales Extraversion and Openness, as well as the Eysenck EPQ sub-scales Extraversion and Psychoticism predicted high willingness to take risks.publishedVersio

Risk-taking attitudes in the Norwegian population: Implications for the recruitment to the Armed Forces

The presence of risks is a crucial and unavoidable feature of many military contexts and should be recognized by the military in recruitment and skill acquisition. Moreover, the military system is part of the society at large and thus influenced by the general values and norms that exists. This is particularly the case in Norway, one of the few countries left with compulsory military service and the only NATO country with female conscription. The article examines risk-taking attitudes in eight dimensions (ethical, existential, financial, intellectual, performance-related, physical, political, and social) in a representative sample (n=1,000) of the Norwegian population. While significant main effects were found for both gender and age, no differences were revealed among the youngest women and men (age 15-24). The results are discussed in relation to potential implications for recruitment into the Armed Forces.Risk-taking attitudes in the Norwegian population: Implications for the recruitment to the Armed ForcespublishedVersio

Risk-Taking and Sensation Seeking in Military Contexts: A Literature Review

publishedVersio

One of the few: the experiences of female elite-level coaches in Norwegian football

I Brage finner du siste tekst-versjon av artikkelen, og den kan inneholde ubetydelige forskjeller fra forlagets pdf-versjon. Forlagets pdf-versjon finner du på tandfonline.com / In Brage you'll find the final text version of the article, and it may contain insignificant differences from the journal's pdf version. The definitive version is available at tandfonline.comThe aim of this article is to explore the experiences of female elite-level Norwegian coaches in football. More precisely, we wanted to find out the meaning of gender for these coaches’ football experiences. The results presented are based on five in-depth interviews with female elite-level coaches between 36 and 50 years of age. A feminist cultural and a gender perspective are used to understand and discuss the findings. As shown in other studies, the culture of football in Norway is very gendered. This has an impact on the female football coaches’ experiences, both in relation to how they perceive their own role, their coach education and with respect to their self-confidence and how they look upon their own chances in the job market. As a group, they represent a form of pariah femininity, and very little resistance femininity and a liberal feminist perspective, i.e. equality on the men’s premises.acceptedVersionSeksjon for kultur og samfunn / Department of Cultural and Social Studie

Norwegian elite-level coaches: who are they?

© Kari Fasting, Mari Kristin Sisjord, Trond Svela Sand 2017Previous studies have shown that there is an underrepresentation of female coaches and a lack of opportunities for women to coach males, particularly at the elite-level. Very few studies, however, have focused on elite-level coaches’ demographics and whether these vary with respect to gender. The aim of this article is to get an overview of the gender distribution of Norwegian national team coaches with respect to different demographic variables, such as age, education and marital status. Furthermore, athletic background, coach education and coaching experience are examined. The results are based on data from an online survey among coaches who in 2012 worked as national team coaches (n=197). The main result is that the female and male coaches seem to be very similar, which is in contrast to the majority of previous research among elite-level female coaches. Another contradiction to previous studies, which mostly consist of qualitative research, is that the present quantitative study is based on a sample of national team coaches from all sports in Norway. Only 14% of the elite-level coaches are women. The explanation for this underrepresentation is discussed with respect to structural barriers that may be particularly relevant for elite-level coaching: sex-typing, stereotyping and homologous reproduction.publishedVersionSeksjon for kultur og samfunn / Department of Cultural and Social Studie

Risk-taking and sensation seeking in military contexts: A literature review

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).The article is based on a literature review of studies covering risk-taking and sensation seeking within military contexts over a time span of 3 decades from 1983 to 2015. Literature was gathered through a four-stage search procedure identifying 25 studies of risk-taking and 16 studies of sensation seeking altogether. Because warfare and military conflicts are dangerous and risky pursuits, one could imagine there being a lot of empirical research about risk-taking and sensation seeking in the military. We have found this not to be the case. The research is both small in volume and scattered when it comes to use of theories, methods, and samples of military personnel. In general, there seem to be few clear research paradigms. The results of the empirical studies show that there are adaptive as well as nonadaptive forms of risk-taking in relation to military situations. Similarly, military personnel scoring high on sensation seeking possess certain advantages, for instance, dealing with stress and risk, yet may also cause problems of various kinds. The review ends by pointing out implications for research and practice.publishedVersionSeksjon for kultur og samfunn / Department of Cultural and Social Studie