NORCE Research Archive
Not a member yet
3811 research outputs found
Sort by
Monitoring of the Invasive Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus) in an Estuarine Seascape Based on eDNA
Full text linkIn marine environments, nonindigenous species (NIS) are especially difficult to manage since they are often first detected when fully established and near impossible to eradicate. The development and implementation of effective monitoring methods for marine NIS are therefore crucial for early detection valuable to management. In this study, we develop and evaluate environmental DNA monitoring using quantitative digital PCR (dPCR) to assess the presence of the euryhaline round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) in a seascape environment close to Scandinavia's largest shipping port. We developed a dPCR assay for the species, targeting a region of the 12S gene, and verified its specificity compared to other locally common species from the gobiid family. Using captive live fish, we also experimentally determined the decaying rate of N. melanostomus DNA in water to a half-life of 9.8 h in 15 ppt salinity and 15°C. Finally, we sampled 10 sites within a 400 km2 area using eDNA, fyke nets, and baited remote video to validate the accuracy of the water samples to predict the presence and abundance of the species. We found that the number of DNA copies extracted from the water samples varied strongly at sites where N. melanostomus were caught in nets or on video, but the average value from four water samples significantly correlated with an average value from four video samples and also with the total catch at each site. The eDNA assay also detected signals from the species at sites where no fish were caught by fishing or on video. These results show that this method is sensitive for the species at low abundance, and with enough replicates, it can be possible to determine the relative abundance between sites.publishedVersio
Duration of antibiotic treatment for respiratory tract infections in primary care
Full text linkObjectives The primary driver of antimicrobial resistance is excessive antibiotic use, posing a global threat to public health. Reducing individual exposure to antibiotics is a key to addressing the problem. This study aimed to assess the duration of antibiotic courses administered to patients with acute respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in primary care. Methods Consecutive patients presenting with RTI symptoms were prospectively included from general practices and out-of-hours services in France, Greece, Lithuania, Poland and Spain for two winter periods (February to April 2022 and 2023). Data were collected using a paper-based Audit Project Odense template, with clinicians recording patient age, gender, RTI diagnosis, type of antibiotic prescribed and treatment duration. Results A total of 196 doctors (133 in general practice and 63 in out-of-hours services) registered 11 270 cases, with 34.0% (3835) receiving antibiotics. The mean antibiotic course duration was 7.52 days (SD 2.11), which was significantly longer for pneumonia, COVID-19 infection and pharyngotonsillitis (8.01, 8.00 and 7.74 days, respectively), and lowest for predominantly viral infections, such as the common cold and flu infection, laryngitis and acute bronchitis (6.32, 6.48 and 6.98 days, respectively; P Duration of antibiotic treatment for respiratory tract infections in primary carepublishedVersio
Acoustic tags versus camera—a case study on feeding behaviour of European seabass in sea cages
Full text linkIntoduction: With the expansion of the aquaculture industry, the need arises for scalable, reliable, and robust methods to assess fish behaviour in sea cages to guide operational management, which includes feeding optimisation and welfare assessments. Fish cage monitoring utilising either acoustic transmitters or underwater cameras is well-studied. However, the relationship between those two different measurement types seems to have not been explored, nor have they been evaluated together in one experimental site.
Methods: In our 1-month study, we compared the activity of 14 sentinel fish and the artificial intelligence (AI)-inferred speed of individuals from the European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) sea cage population in three feeding trials. Comparisons include a maximum activity comparison using persistent peaks, fish behavioural pattern establishment and retention, and periodical behavioural patterns.
Results: Our results demonstrate that under certain circumstances, both technologies are interchangeable from the perspective of persistent peaks and periodicity, but complementary when it comes to behaviour analysis such as food anticipatory behaviour (FAB).
Discussion: We anticipate that our findings will stimulate advances where multiple sensor types are in use to achieve a more holistic understanding of fish behaviour in the aquaculture sector using underwater technologies.publishedVersio
Multi-objective reservoir production optimization: Minimizing CO2 emissions and maximizing profitability
Full text linkLarge amounts of energy are consumed and greenhouse gasses are emitted in the process of extracting oil and gas from offshore fields. We investigate methods for solving the multi-objective production optimization for minimizing the emissions of CO2 while maximizing economic profitability. Two scalarization methods for solving the multi-objective optimization problem—the weighted-sum method and the ϵ-constraint method—are evaluated for computational efficiency and interpretability of solutions on a simplified model of a North Sea oil field. The ϵ-constraint approach provided an easily interpretable optimization problem with the ability to specify a target reduction in CO2 emissions, but was relatively expensive to apply. The weighted-sum approach was easier to implement and the cost to obtain a solution was less than the cost for the ϵ-constraint approach by a factor of approximately three. For the injection rate controls in our example application, there were gaps in the Pareto optimal solutions obtained using the weighted sum approach when large weights were applied to the emissions reduction objective function.Multi-objective reservoir production optimization: Minimizing CO2 emissions and maximizing profitabilitypublishedVersio
Supplementary eDNA analyses at the Hywind Tampen FOWF
Full text linkThe Hywind Tampen Offshore Floating Wind Park is a floating OWF (FOWF) situated in deep-water on the Norwegian Shelf in the Northern North Sea. On behalf of Equinor, in 2023-2024, NORCE Climate and Environment conducted an environmental DNA survey of surface (20 m) and bottom water samples from sampling stations upstream, inside, downstream and some distance away from the FOWF to assess fish (MiFish-U) and plankton (18S V1-V2) communities for potential impact (Hestetun et al., 2024). Study results revealed differences in community composition over time and with depth but could not detect impact – negative or positive – from the construction and operation of the FOWF itself. The study used fish capture and ROV data from IMR-conducted surveys in the area to ground truth completeness of the data. While the MiFish-U primer set was able to detect the vast majority of fish species reported in the fish capture and ROV studies, and detect some additional species, elasmobranchs (sharks and skates) were missing from the eDNA data. This technical note contains a re-sequencing of the Hestetun et al. (2024) samples using a combination of MiFish-U and MiFish-E primer sets, MiFish-E being a modification of the MiFish-U primer set specifically designed to detect elasmobranchs. The goal of this analysis was to assess the ability of this approach to get a more comprehensive overview of local fish communities also including elasmobranch species. In addition, new analyses of bottom water fish communities were made removing dominating and pelagic species to see if this revealed further information on differences in demersal fish composition between sampling stations.Supplementary eDNA analyses at the Hywind Tampen FOWFpublishedVersio
Lærings- og omsorgsbaserte tjenester i reindriften: Underveisevaluering av «Ut på vidda-programmet»
Full text link«Ut på vidda-tjenesten» finansieres over Reindriftsavtalen som er en næringsavtale der avtalepartene er reindriften ved Norske Reindriftssamers Landsforbund - NRL og Staten. Ordningene som finansieres over avtalen skal komme reineiere til gode. Årsaken til at avtalepartene har etablert denne ordningen og prioritert den, er at «Ut på vidda» skal støtte opp om den familiebaserte reindriften og gi mulighet for en tilleggsnæring. Ideen er hentet fra landbrukets «Inn på tunet-program» og har siden 2012 blitt utviklet innenfor en reindriftskontekst der salg av lærings- og omsorgsbaserte tjenester skal utvikles til en tilleggsnæring for reindriftsfamilier. Tjenesten er videreutviklet over et drøyt tiår, og ble en fast ordning i 2019. Prosjektledelsen er lagt til Statsforvalteren i Troms og Finnmark, og har en styringsgruppe med representanter fra Landbruks- og matdepartementet, Norske Reindriftssamers Landsforbund, Sametinget og Kommunal- og distriktsdepartementet. Følgende evalueringsspørsmål søks besvart i denne underveisevalueringen: • Bidrar ordningen til å styrke inntjening til reindriftsfamilier gjennom råd- og veiledning for etablering, tilrettelegging og drift? Hvilke former for bistand har reindriftsaktørene mest behov for? • Bidrar ordningen til å gjøre det reindriftsbaserte tilbudet av tilrettelagte undervisnings- og omsorgstjenester kjent og attraktivt ute i markedet? Bidrar det til å bygge ned fordommer? • Bidrar pilotprosjektet til at man får utviklet tilbud som ivaretar uttrykte behov for læring om samisk kultur og reindrift blant barn og unge i pilotkommunene?Lærings- og omsorgsbaserte tjenester i reindriften: Underveisevaluering av «Ut på vidda-programmet»publishedVersio
Habitatkartlegging og miljøtiltak i Straumevassdraget, Bø Kommune 2023 og 2024
Full text linkKartleggingen av Straumevassdraget og tilhørende elvedeler rundt Skjørisen 2023 har avdekket et betydelig potensial for laks- og særlig sjøaureproduksjon, med en samlet elvelengde på nesten 13 km og et anadromt elveareal på minst 22 600 m². Kartleggingen viste imidlertid også at vassdraget er sterkt påvirket av ulike fysiske inngrep (57 % av total elvelengde), noe som ikke er uvanlig for kystnære vassdrag i landbruksområder. Utover dette er elvearealet trolig redusert med rundt 15 % grunnet 26 kulverter og omfattende utretting av meandrerende elvestrekninger. Hovedinngrepene inkluderer kanalisering, utgraving og utretting, erosjonssikring, kulverter, vandringshindre og fjerning av kantvegetasjon. Spor etter masseuttak og endring av vannstand er også påvist. Hoveddrivere er landbruk, veibygging og tidligere kraftregulering. Inngrepene påvirker gyte- og oppveksthabitat, vandringsmuligheter og produksjonspotensial for sjøaure, sjørøye, laks og habitatforhold for elvemusling. Kartleggingen viser at over halvparten av den anadrome elvestrekningen er direkte påvirket av kanalisering eller grøfting, med rundt 50 % av skjul for ungfisk sammenlignet med mindre påvirkede områder. Videre har de kanaliserte eller grøftede strekningene betydelig mindre gyteareal (5 %) sammenlignet med mindre påvirkede områder (17 %). Det ble gjennomført en rekke tiltak først og fremst fiskepassasjer ved kunstige vandringshinder, stein- og grusutlegg samt planting av kantvegetasjon. Ved el-fiske ble det funnet moderate ungfisktettheter i vassdraget og lave tettheter i de påvirkede strekningene. Det ble funnet betydelig høyere ungfisktettheter i tiltaksområdene. Økologisk tilstand for fisk er vurdert som «moderat» i henhold til vannforskriften. Det betraktes som mulig å oppnå minst «god økologisk tilstand» ved fortsettelsen av vannmiljøtiltak. Ved fullstendig restaurering av vassdraget, inkludert gjenslynging og gjenåpning, kan det opprinnelige potensialet trolig gjenopprettes med en økning av fiskeproduksjon på minst 70 % sammenlignet med 2023. Med habitattiltak og delvis restaurering i dagens elveareal, vurderes det som mulig å øke ungfiskebestanden i hele vassdraget med minst 40-60 %. Det foreslås en rekke tiltak for å oppnå en slik miljøforbedring, deriblant elverestaurering, habitattiltak og sikring av fiskevandringsmuligheter.Habitatkartlegging og miljøtiltak i Straumevassdraget, Bø Kommune 2023 og 2024publishedVersio
Reisevaner i Stavanger kommune
Full text linkDenne rapporten analyserer utviklingen i reisevaner i Stavanger kommune mellom 2018/2019 og 2022/2023, basert på data fra den nasjonale reisevaneundersøkelsen (NRVU). Respondentenes bosted, arbeidsted og oppgitte turer er stedfestet på grupperte grunnkretser til storsoner for Stavanger kommune. I tillegg inkluderes nabokommunene som inngår i tilleggsutvalget i enkelte analyser. Fokuset er på transportmiddelvalg, tilgang til transportmidler, reisehensikt og geografiske forskjeller i transportatferd. Analysene avdekker en betydelig reduksjon i bilbruk på korte og mellomlange reiser, særlig innenfor bynære områder. Dette har blitt kompensert med økt bruk av sykkel og gange, mens kollektivandelen holder seg stabil eller har gått noe tilbake. Rapporten viser også at tiltak som gratis kollektivtransport har hatt begrenset effekt på å tiltrekke nye brukere, men har opprettholdt bruken etter at en del av de kollektivreisende i 18/19 trolig har gått over til elbil eller sykkel under pandemien.Reisevaner i Stavanger kommunepublishedVersio
Less emissions or less freight? Conflicting narratives for sustainable logistics in Norway
Full text linkLogistics is a vital yet energy-intensive sector and policies for sustainable logistics require cooperation between public authorities and businesses. However, public authorities and businesses may have different perceptions of what sustainable logistics entails. Research on logistics has typically either addressed strategies in private firms or investigated public sector plans and goals. This paper examines how ‘sustainable logistics’ is operationalised differently between public and business narratives based on three ‘grand narratives’: decarbonisation, collective logistics and low-mobility society. Data collection is based on document analysis of 18 public and business strategies for logistics in Norway, 42 semi-structured interviews and a survey with 88 respondents, all centred on the major urban areas in Norway (Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger). It finds that there is a discrepancy between public and business narratives for sustainable logistics, where public authorities promote all three narratives, with an emphasis on low-mobility society, whereas firms mainly target decarbonisation. This can help explain why collaboration between the public and business sectors has mainly addressed emissions and congestion as opposed to traffic reductions. A combination of the grand narratives is necessary to achieve an overall sustainable transport sector, but public authorities do not give logistics as much attention as passenger transport, reinforcing the business focus on decarbonisation.publishedVersio
Resettlement vs. Spontaneous applications. Canadians’ attitudes to asylum policy in a comparative perspective
Full text linkIncreasing irregular crossings into Canada have put the asylum issue at the forefront of the political debate. This article explores Canadian citizens’ attitudes toward two distinct asylum policies: the long-established resettlement policy endorsed by the federal government, and spontaneous applications, which have sparked public debate over the past seven years. Analyzing original survey data from 2021, I show that a majority of Canadians support asylum policies, irrespective of type. Delving into opposition to these policies, I identify welfare chauvinism as the primary factor, although attitudes to international collaboration on refugee matters and to the United Nations also correlate with policy preferences. A comparative analysis of attitudes in Canada, the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands reveals similar influences on asylum policy preferences. By shifting the focus from attitudes to refugees to attitudes to asylum policy, this study provides novel evidence of an important dimension of Canadians’ attitudes toward refugee-related matters.publishedVersio