Notes:

Toxic algae suppressed

Bringing nutrient-rich deep water up to the surface offers the hope of cultivating mussels that are guaranteed to be non-poisonous. The water stimulates the growth of “good” algae and suppresses toxic algae.
The new technique has been tested in a pilot project in the Arna Fjord in the Sogn district, and has transformed pessimism into optimism in the mussel-farming industry. The problem in many fjords is that the surface water is brackish while the salt water lies at the bottom. This means that few nutrients reach the surface, where the mussels obtain their food. Growing conditions for the beneficial diatoms (kieselalgae) are poor, while toxic dinoflagellates flourish.
SINTEF scientists drew deep water up to the productive surface layers by air bubbling, enabling the diatoms to flourish and suppressing the toxic algae. This technique provides the mussels with nutrients that are free of toxins.

Click and go!

The classic globe of the world now has a competitor. The newcomer takes you into outer space and back again. At the click of your mouse, of course.
What we are describing is a digital successor to the travel companion of our childhood. With the help of huge quantities of data, some of it from NASA, SINTEF has developed a digital globe. If you have access to the Internet, a click of your mouse lets you travel to the valleys of the Amazon or into lunar orbit. The globe still looks like a globe, though it appears on your screen. And its level of detail is impressive. The three-dimensional terrain model has a resolution of one kilometre in the horizontal plane. The research team says that the level of detail will gradually be improved.

European tunnels to be made safer

A four-year research project will help to improve fire safety in European tunnels. The EU project is known as UPTUN. Since 1999 there have been several major fires in European tunnels; Mont Blanc, St. Gotthard, and Tauern, to mention only those that have caused the most serious losses of life.
“The aim of the project is to develop innovative, cost-effective technologies, and where appropriate, to upgrade the safety of existing tunnels,” says Kristen Opstad, a research scientist at the Norwegian Fire Research Laboratory (NBL) at SINTEF, who is studying how fires develop in tunnels and how they can be mitigated. Focus is on cost efficient technologies in the areas of detection and monitoring, mitigating measures, influencing human response, and protection against structural damage. The main output is a set of innovative cost-effective technologies. The project includes development, demonstration and promotion of procedures for rational safety level evaluation, including decision support models; and knowledge transfer.
“We already know that our safety systems of tunnels are not capable to protect against the most severe fires, but it may be brought under control with active mitigation systems,” says Opstad

Genes may influence the need for morphine

Some patients need high dosages of morphine in order to alleviate pain, while others can get by with lower dosages. This variation may stem from differences in the ability to transform and secrete morphine, as well as from each individual patient’s ability to make use of the morphine that reaches the brain.
“Men need more morphine than women, but there are large variations within the gender groups. We have reason to believe that genetic factors influence this need,” says Professor Ola Dale at the Faculty of Medicine at NTNU. He is part of a research group that has set itself the task of studying variations associated with dosage levels of morphine-type drugs.
More knowledge about the causes of such variations in the reactions of individuals to these drugs will make it easier to find the right dosage for each patient.

Paper rather than computer

Photo: Rune Petter Ness

Many Norwegian hospitals have invested in electronic patient record systems. These can be used to book appointments for examinations or laboratory tests, and to display the results, for writing out prescriptions and sick notes, or for arranging the transfer of patients to another ward or to a specialist.
But these records are almost exclusively used to provide an overview of the patient’s problems or to search for particular pieces of information.
This is the conclusion of a study performed by physician and Research Fellow Hallvard Lærum, Research Fellow Gunnar Ellingsen, and Associate Professor Arild Faxvaag at NTNU.
Traditionally, office staff and nurses take care of the work associated with record keeping and tests taking. The researchers think that physicians have to do more of this kind of work themselves in order to utilize the electronic patient record systems optimally. But time is at a premium, and a system which may seem more labour-intensive than useful is unlikely to be put into operation.

SINTEF technology established in Hungary

The company Dtech AS is currently setting up a joint venture company in Hungary. The aim is to build a commercial freeze-drying plant for fruit and vegetables. It is based on heat-pump fluidized-bed dehydration technology, which has been developed by SINTEF/NTNU Climate and Refrigeration Engineering. For several years, Dtech has been planning a large-scale freeze-drying plant, and the signing of the contracts was an important milestone for the company. A major share issue has been successful, and this has meant that the company has been able to begin building the plant, which will have an annual capacity of 600 tonnes of freeze-dried products after it opens in June 2003.

A new website for rock blasting

Photo: www.hemera.com

Marketing Norwegian rock blasting techniques and tunnelling abroad should now be easier. The Department of Civil and Transport Engineering at NTNU has recently launched a new web site – www.tunnel.no – in collaboration with the Norwegian Tunnelling Society. One of the aims of this web site is to make it easier for Norwegian contractors, suppliers, and research groups to obtain contracts abroad. In addition, the web site will serve as a meeting place for those in the tunnelling business.

Revealing communication inside cells

Information is constantly being exchanged inside cells by means of hub proteins. A new method of analysis has disclosed an as-yet unknown molecular network, revealing how the circulation of incorrect messages is prevented, and how cells have developed a means of protection against interference from certain proteins.
The analysis helps us understand how the destruction of one protein in one cell may have adverse effects on other proteins. Destroyed or mutated proteins play an important part in the development of many diseases, such as cancer.
This method of analysis has been developed by Kim Sneppen at the Department of Physics at NTNU and Sergei Maslov at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in the USA.

Improved information about pain

A more accurate diagnosis and better communication between patient, doctor, and nurse: these are the advantages of the new, hand-held computer which was put into use in the Cancer Ward at St. Olav’s Hospital in Trondheim in the spring.
– Many cancer patients experience severe pain without receiving adequate pain alleviation. One of the reasons for this is that patients more or less intentionally undercommunicate their pain when they are in contact with their doctor, says Hallvard Lærum, Physician and Research Fellow in medical information technology at NTNU.
By means of the tiny new computer, patients are able to record day-to-day experiences with pain and their symptoms on a scale from 0 to 10. The physician is then able to download the information to his or her own computer which enables the physician to monitor the patient more effectively over time. This makes it easier to find the best treatment for the patient.

Laugh and grow fit

Seriously ill patients with a sense of humour suffer less from many additional afflictions than do other patients. They are also more content with their lot. These are the conclusions of a study of humour that has been carried out by Head Nurse Bjørn Kristoffersen and Chief Physician Knut Aaserød from St. Olav’s Hospital in Trondheim, and humour researcher Sven Svebak from NTNU.
The researchers have not been able to monitor whether the patients are cheerful because they have fewer complaints than others – or whether they have fewer complaints because they are so cheerful. However, several other studies have documented that people with a sense of humour handle tension and adversity better than do others. This latest research was carried out on dialysis patients at the hospital in the late 1990s.
The researchers are now trying to find out whether cheerful patients also live longer than the more gloomy ones.

The power to please

“It’s a myth that in any lesbian relationship there is ‘a man’ and ‘a woman’. Lesbians combine masculine and feminine elements in their identities and their sexuality,” says NTNU researcher Agnes Bolsø. She has conducted research into how power and sexual desire are negotiated in lesbian relationships.
Some of the lesbians who have been interviewed by Bolsø talk about ‘taking’ another woman: ‘I took her’. But it is really all about ‘giving’ – leading the other woman towards an orgasm without experiencing one yourself, says Bolsø.
She believes that this is quite different from the heterosexual way of interpreting the term ‘taking’, something that becomes very apparent in pornography. Here it is the man who ‘takes’; he is the one who most of all is rewarded by an orgasm. In contrast, a woman who serves her female lovers well is regarded as highly potent, even though she herself does not experience an orgasm.
Bolsø believes that research into sexuality normally presents power as a negative thing, as abuse of power. “But power can also be seen as something positive. Power can be seen as a means for pleasing the other. Thus, lesbian attitudes to serving others can help present power as something positive.”

“Crystal ball” for energy systems

Montage: NTNU Info/Kolbjørn Skarpes

When today’s politicians and power station officials have to make decisions concerning the energy market 30 years from now, there are many factors to be taken into account.
Research Fellow Audun Botterud at NTNU is developing a long-term simulation model which shows the interaction between new investments, environmental factors, the energy demand of society, and innovations within the field of energy.
The goal of this model tool is to create an environmentally friendly and well-functioning energy market. In other words, a market with stable prices where there is also balance between supply and demand.
Botterud has so far created models for the electricity supply system, based on the Norwegian power market. However, he also wants to include the direct use of other energy carriers, such as gas and long-distance heating, in his models.

Wet but warm

Better comfort means greater safety and higher productivity. This was the philosophy behind a completely new clothing concept for extreme working conditions.
High levels of accidents and sick-leave persuaded four Norwegian textile companies that a new clothing concept was needed for the aquaculture industry. The more comfortable we are at work, the better our concentration and thus our safety; this was the idea that they shared and wished to build upon.
After two years of development and testing in collaboration with SINTEF Unimed, the promoters of this initiative present what they call ideal clothing for people who have to work in cold, wet environments.
The concept includes specially designed Goretex boots, with reinforced toes and specially shaped toes and slip-proof soles with a special tread. The design team also developed a new underwear concept that comprises socks, “outer” underwear and hood. Outerwear and gloves in several different materials and designs adapted to the necessity for flexibility in fish-farming operations are other aspects of the clothing, which will be sold as a total package under the name of Aqua Total.
A great deal of emphasis was put on colours and reflectors to improve visibility if the wearer should fall into the sea. According to the test subjects, the clothing package also meets stringent requirements as to flexibility. Because the clothing consists of a number of separate layers, it is also a simple matter to adjust the degree of insulation it provides when the weather changes or when the wearer alternates between heavy and light work. A small lamp with a powerful light and a waterproof pocket for a mobile telephone are other details that will be be included in the next collection. By Christina B. Winge