Agder University Research Archive
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Forventninger og Realiteter: Inkludering og Livskvalitet for Innvandrere i Arendal
Full text linkI dette prosjektet ble 4 internasjonale tilflyttere intervjuet for å belyse deres forventninger, erfaringer, mål og ønsker i samfunnsdeltagelse og oppnåelsen av god livskvalitet i Arendal. Problemstillingen som skulle besvares var hvordan et utvalg internasjonale tilflyttere uttrykker tilgangen til et godt liv i Arendal. Prosjektet fulgte en kvalitativ forskningsmetode med semistrukturerte intervjuer.
Funnene avdekket flere sentrale fellestrekk og variasjoner som påvirket informantenes tilgang til et godt liv i Arendal. Det ble etablert flere områder hvor informantene opplevde det nyttig med gruppefokusert tilrettelegging, samtidig som de understreker et større behov for individuell tilpasning. Videre opplevde informantene at de ble underlagt forventninger til egen deltagelse uten at majoritetssamfunnet ble pålagt sammenlignbare forventninger til tilpasning og inkludering av innvandrere.
Prosjektets resultater kan vise til et økt behov for å vurdere individet i tilrettelegging og inkludering, samtidig kan det være positivt å bygge forståelsen av deltagelse som et felles samfunnsansvar
Perspektiver på styrkelse af regional utvikling gjennom havvindssatsning - Læring fra WindReg’s studietur til Grimsby og Humber-regionen
Full text linkDenne feltrapporten gir en detaljert gjennomgang av WINDREG studieturen til Grimsby og Humber-regionen 25. til 27. mars 2025, som ble gjennomført i regi av forskningsprosjektet WindReg (2023-2027). WindRegs hovedfokus er å undersøke sammenhengene mellom havvind og regional utvikling i Norge, med særlig fokus på Agder-regionen. Det er et regionalt forskningsprosjekt som samarbeider tett med en rekke regionale partnere fra både offentlig og kommunal sektor, og prosjektet harGrimsby i Humber regionen som et læringscase. Formålet med studieturen var å utforske hvordan havvind kan integreres i regional utvikling i et land og en region med lengre erfaring med havvind enn Norge. Humber-regionen er interessant i denne sammenheng fordi den på kort tid har gjennomgått en markant transformasjon og er nå vert for noen av verdens største havvindprosjekter.publishedVersio
Definitions of ultra-processed foods beyond NOVA: a systematic review and evaluation
Full text linkUltra-processed foods (UPFs) are associated with negative health outcomes, but current classification systems, including the dominant NOVA system, are typically not suitable for identifying which factors of these foods may be harmful. New ways of defining UPFs are needed to better understand how food processing affects health. Objective: To identify classification systems that include a category for ultra-processed or highly processed foods with a focus on comparing their definitions and provide a current evaluation of available alternatives to NOVA. Design: A systematic literature review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, with the search strategy developed in collaboration with a university librarian. The literature search was completed on 18 December 2023, using databases Medline, Embase (via Ovid), and Web of Science. No human participants were included. Results: We identified six systems – NOVA, European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), University of North Carolina (UNC), UnProcessed Pantry Project (UP3), and Siga – that categorize highly processed food or UPFs. These systems differ in structure and detail, with NOVA, EPIC, and Siga providing specific examples of processing techniques. Regarding additives, NOVA, Siga, and UP3 include them explicitly, with Siga offering the most detailed categorization based on additives and ingredients. Siga also includes quantitative measures for nutritional quality, including cut-offs for sugar, fat, and salt, while IFPRI and UP3 address nutritional quality non-quantitatively. Discussion: When comparing NOVA’s UPF category with the highly processed food or UPF categories used in the other five identified systems, we found that none specifies processing techniques clearly. Both NOVA and Siga define additives unique to their UPF categories. Siga stands out by addressing the diverse risks associated with additives and offering quantitative nutritional quality criteria, thus addressing some of the criticisms of how UPFs are commonly defined. Conclusions: Siga represents a valuable, but not final, step forward in classifying UPFs and could serve as a reference in developing a new operational definition for UPFs.publishedVersio
Light-Driven Photocathodes in Li/Zn-O2 (air) Batteries: An Analytical Review, Technological Breakthroughs and Future Challenges
Full text linkThe rapid advancement of renewable energy technologies has intensified the demand for high-performance energy storage systems. Metal-O2 (air) batteries, specifically Li-O2 (air) and Zn-O2 (air) variants, present exceptional theoretical energy densities, positioning them as promising candidates for next-generation storage solutions. However, significant challenges remain in optimizing the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR/OER), critical for achieving high efficiency and stability. Recent developments in light-assisted metal-O2 (air) battery designs leverage photonic energy to enhance oxygen reduction and evolution reactions, offering reduced charge voltages, improved round-trip efficiencies, and extended lifetimes. This review critically evaluates the breakthroughs and limitations in photo-assisted Li/Zn-O2 (air) battery technologies, with a focus on novel photocathode materials, including advanced semiconductors, heterojunction configurations, and nanostructured catalysts. We systematically highlight the key properties of these photocathode materials, evaluating their photon-utilization efficiency, charge separation capabilities, recombination rates, charging/discharging profiles, efficient decomposition of discharge products and stability under operational conditions. Emphasis is placed on advanced strategies to enhance light absorption, aiming to optimize photocatalytic efficiency, electronic properties, and catalytic stability, thereby overcoming current performance barriers. By providing a comprehensive analysis of the current landscape and emerging trends, this review aims to chart a path forward for the development of more robust, efficient, and sustainable light-assisted Li/Zn-O2 (air) batteries, highlighting the essential role of innovative photocathode materials in achieving next-generation energy storage solutions.publishedVersio
Arctic marine microbial eukaryotes–Spatiotemporal drivers of community structure and ecological impacts of Atlantification
No full textMicrobial eukaryotes serve not only as primary producers but also occupy other trophic modes in the marine food web. In the European Arctic, microbial eukaryotic community dynamics are threatened by the increasing inflow of warm Atlantic water (Atlantification). This process has accelerated the warming of the Arctic, which now experiences temperature increases four times greater than the global average. While previous studies have identified potential shifts in microbial eukaryotic communities, most have not examined these changes over large spatial and temporal scales or considered variations among different fjord types based on geomorphology.
To address these gaps, my thesis investigates the community structure and resilience of microbial eukaryotes in the Isfjorden-Adventfjorden (IsA) system from 2011 to 2021, using long-term seasonal observations from continuous sampling. It also compares IsA with other time series across a latitudinal gradient. Water and net samples were collected from four sites—Ramfjorden (RAM), Nuup Kangerlua (NK), Isfjorden-Adventfjorden (IsA), and Billefjorden-Adolfbukta (BAB)—and analysed for DNA (metabarcoding), microscopy, chlorophyll-a biomass, primary production, and grazer abundances. Additionally, nutrients and other environmental drivers were estimated through water column measurements, including temperature, salinity, water mass type, mixed-layer depth, and stratification index.
Results indicate that seasonal changes in light availability is the primary driver of community composition across latitudinal gradients, with the influence of varying water masses (temperature and salinity) acting as a significant secondary factor, especially during periods of continuous daylight and prolonged darkness. All fjords exhibited similar spring bloom species; however, the timing varied independently of latitudinal differences. While no clear trend of Atlantification was evident at IsA in the studied timeframe, warming pulses correlated with alterations in microbial eukaryotic abundances. This was particularly notable in the appearance of certain indicator species during the warm 2014 and 2019 years. Furthermore, summer phytoplankton blooms that are not so common at this station were observed during the high Arctic summers of 2017, 2019, and 2021. Changes in community structure at IsA, particularly during the light-rich spring and summer seasons, highlight the ecosystem's vulnerability during these periods.
In conclusion this thesis highlights microbial responses to environmental change in the Arctic and the necessity for continued long-term monitoring to decipher ongoing shifts. While the overall eukaryotic microbial community demonstrates resilience, the potential for critical shifts in species richness, diversity and composition could be a concern for ecosystem stability in the future due to prolonged Atlantification.publishedVersio
Product, Person, Posthuman - Estrangement, Exploitation, and Eugenics in Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun and Never Let Me Go
No full textWhat does it mean to treat a person as a thing? What does it mean to treat a thing as a person? Since its release in 2021, an impressively diverse scholarly discourse has developed around Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun. The discourse is overwhelmingly centered around the titular android Klara, an Artificial Friend. Artificial Friends – or AFs – are designed to perform the role of childhood companion and caregiver for a child. Klara is chosen by Josie, a sickly 14-year-old girl. Josie is “lifted,” meaning that she has undergone genetic engineering to increase her academic abilities. However, Josie’s illness is a result of complications related to the “lifting” process. Chrissie, Josie’s mother, reveals that Klara was not simply purchased to serve as Josie’s companion and caregiver, but also to serve as Josie’s replacement. Klara and the Sun questions humanist assumptions about love and empathy as uniquely human, and by extension anthropocentric definitions of personhood. I explore these questions through an intertextual reading of Klara and the Sun with the support of Ishiguro’s 2005 novel, Never Let Me Go. In this novel, Ishiguro presents a clone life cycle divided into three major stages: student, carer, and donor. As students, the clones receive an education that encourages cultural development through artistic expression. As carers, they are assigned as caregivers to donors. As donors, their organs are harvested for the benefit of the non-clone population, “the normals.” Donations are repeated until completion – until the donor dies. Love, hope, and dignity are central themes of Klara and the Sun and Never Let Me Go, but the stories are also haunted by estrangement, exploitation, and eugenics. In my investigation of these themes, I draw on Despina Kakoudaki’s analysis of robot-as-slave narratives and Bernard Dionysius Geoghegan’s historiography of interdisciplinary exchanges between cybernetics and the humanities
Essays on Global Virtual Teams: Diversity and Inclusiveness
Full text linkThis dissertation aims to explore different aspects of factors that affect the inclusiveness in global virtual teams (GVTs) and comprises three studies with one literature review (Study 1), and two empirical studies (Study 2 and Study 3). Study 1 provides a comprehensive overview of the existing GVT research landscape and identifies key research gaps, offering valuable directions for future studies. Building on the insights and inspiration from Study 1, Studies 2 and 3 specifically address the important yet underexplored challenge of inclusiveness in GVTs.
To better assist the readers’ understanding of this dissertation, I will clarify a key term central to this work. The inclusiveness construct follows the definition of Shore et al. (2011) and refers to the extent to which individuals feel a sense of belonging within the group (belongingness) while also having their unique differences recognized and valued (uniqueness). The focus is specifically on the workplace from organizational management perspective and does not extend to other broader discussions.
With a same philosophical positioning and a shared focus on inclusiveness, Studies 2 and 3 both rely on empirical data sources—company data for Study 2 and student data for Study 3—and employ quantitative research methods (regression and hierarchical linear modelling for Study 2, and partial least squares structural equation modelling for Study 3). Study 2, grounded in leader-member exchange (LMX) theory, identifies two key factors that contribute to fostering inclusiveness: perceived supervisor support and differentiated supervisor support within teams. It further highlights that differentiation in support, particularly for members facing social identity barriers (e.g., racial minorities), enhances their sense of belongingness. However, this approach is less effective in fostering a sense of uniqueness for members in different time zones. Study 3, drawing on job demands-resources (JD-R) theory, establishes a positive relationship between job role clarity and inclusiveness, emphasizing that a unified within-team job role clarity can strengthen this relationship.
This dissertation contributes to the literature by empirically testing and validating factors, including their extension to group diversity dimensions, that enhance inclusiveness within the specific context of GVTs. In doing so, it extends the core concepts of LMX theory and JD-R theory to address the more complex dynamics of GVTs compared to traditional teams.publishedVersio
Fornemmelser for materialitet– Fragmentfortellinger fra forskning om materie, materialer, materialitet og skapende prosesser
Full text linkI denne artikkelen utforsker vi materialitet som felles omdreiningspunkt for vår forskning. Gjennom en postkvalitativ tilnærming med fragmentfortellinger fra egne forskerliv søker vi i artikkelen å «sy sammen et lappeteppe» av våre tenkninger og gjøringer knyttet til materialitet og betydninger det kan ha for vår forskning knyttet til barn. Artikkelen er en form for kartlegging og avmerking av elementer som skiller seg ut som viktige i vår forskning i et utstrakt materialitetslandskap. Teoretisk beveger vi oss i posthumane og nymaterielle landskaper med koblinger til poststrukturalisme, prosessfilosofi, antropologi, kunst og estetikk. Med agentiske kutt som visuelle og språklige hendelser fra vår forskning søker vi å skape innsyn og samtidig folde ut noe av kompleksiteten i materialitetsforskning. Artikkelen er også en eksperimentering med artikkelformatet i akademisk kontekst.publishedVersio
Pornography and human rights education
Full text linkChildren’s exposure to violent pornography may have negative outcomes for their lives and the fulfilment of their rights. Many pornographic videos contain verbal aggression and sexual abuse, including rape. The Committee on the Rights of the Child affirms States Parties´ obligations to ensure that teachers are trained on safeguards relating to the digital environment, yet such training is not an integral part of many teacher education programmes. Educators need support in this field. Our methodological approach is inspired by auto-ethnographic research drawing on our own teaching experience related to pornography and sexual abuse. Extending on teacher typologies, we argue the need for critical perspectives through human rights education that enables students’ respect for and understanding of the human rights instruments, including the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), as part of the context implicated in pornography to empower them to ethically navigate their everyday relations.acceptedVersio
"Vi skal gjøre det beste for barna, men vi vet ikke at det er det vi gjør" Barnevernsansattes erfaringer fra arbeidet med samvær etter dommene mot Norge i Den europeiske menneskerettsdomstolen
Full text linkSammendrag
Masteroppgaven handler om samvær mellom barn og biologiske foreldre når barnevernet har overtatt omsorgen for barn. Som følge av en rekke dommer mot Norge i Den europeiske menneskerettsdomstolen, er det stilt nye krav til samværsomfang og arbeidet med samvær. Studiens hensikt er å belyse barnevernsansattes erfaringer fra arbeid med samvær, og undersøke hvilken betydning endringene har hatt for praksis. Problemstillingen er; Hvilke erfaringer har barnevernsansatte fra arbeid med samvær mellom barn og biologiske foreldre etter at kravene til norsk samværspraksis ble endret?
Studien har et kvalitativt forskningsdesign, basert på et fenomenologisk- hermeneutisk utgangspunkt. Det er utført 6 semistrukturerte intervjuer med barnevernsansatte som arbeider med fosterbarn og samvær. Datamaterialet er analysert med Braun og Clarkes refleksive tematiske analyse.
Funnene viser at de barnevernsansatte erfarer at det fastsettes et hyppigere samvær fra barneverns- og helsenemnda, og at barneverntjenesten øker samvær på eget initiativ.
Barnevernsansatte jobber også mer med individuelle vurderinger knyttet til samvær. De barnevernsansatte erfarer de nye kravene som pålagte, og selv om endringene anses som nødvendige opplever de også å måtte gå på bekostning av egne vurderinger av hva som er barnets beste. Biologiske foreldrene involveres mer i samværsarbeidet, samtidig som barns situasjon fremstår mer uforutsigbar ettersom hyppig samvær tar mye tid i hverdagen, og at gjenforeningsarbeid kan skape usikkerhet for barn.
Resultatene viser at de barnevernsansatte ser ut til å ha tilpasset seg juridiske og politiske føringer knyttet til arbeid med samvær. Endringene innebærer at barnevernsansatte må gjøre krevende vurderinger og overveielser av noen ganger motstridende etiske hensyn.
Nøkkelord: Samvær, samværsomfang, barnevern, barnevernsansatte, Den europeiske menneskerettsdomstolen og barnets best