Search

Source at https://vkm.no/

Source at https://vkm.no/ At request from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA), VKM has identified food groups and food items consumed by the Norwegian population that are relevant for monitoring regarding content of one or more undesirable chemical substances (Figure 1). Undesirable chemical substances were defined as chemical substances in food that may constitute a potential health risk. VKM has created a knowledge base (an Excel file) as a tool for planning and prioritising monitoring of foods and undesirable chemical substances. The substance groups included in the knowledge base are flavourings, food additives, metals and metalloids, natural toxins, persistent organic pollutants, process-induced contaminants, substances in food contact materials, substances in food supplements, and trace elements. More than 40 different substances were included.

Source at https://vkm.no/

Simulating multi-scale phenomena such as turbulent fluid flows is typically computationally very expensive. Filtering the smaller scales allows for using coarse discretizations, however, this requires closure models to account for the effects of the unresolved on the resolved scales. The common approach is to filter the continuous equations, but this gives rise to several commutator errors due to nonlinear terms, non-uniform filters, or boundary conditions. We propose a new approach to filtering, where the equations are discretized first and then filtered. For a non-uniform filter applied to the linear convection equation, we show that the discretely filtered convection operator can be inferred using three methods: intrusive (`explicit reconstruction') or non-intrusive operator inference, either via `derivative fitting' or `trajectory fitting' (embedded learning). We show that explicit reconstruction and derivative fitting identify a similar operator and produce small errors, but that trajectory fitting requires significant effort to train to achieve similar performance. However, the explicit reconstruction approach is more prone to instabilities.

At request from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA), VKM has identified food groups and food items consumed by the Norwegian population that are relevant for monitoring regarding content of one or more undesirable chemical substances (Figure 1). Undesirable chemical substances were defined as chemical substances in food that may constitute a potential health risk. Paid open access

Vi befinner oss i en tid med sikkerhetspolitiske endringer, hvor Forsvaret skal utvikles og styrkes. I forbindelse med denne utviklingen blir det pekt på hvordan personellet, og den kompetansen som personellet besitter, vil være en av Forsvarets viktigste ressurser. Dette gjelder også i Kystjegerkommandoen, hvor videreutviklingen av avdelingen vil kreve kompetente og erfarne operatører som bidrar inn i denne prosessen. Denne oppgaven vil derfor undersøke hva som påvirker ståtiden til Kystjegeroperatøren, for å identifisere tiltak som kan få operatøren til å bli lenger. Studien benytter en kvalitativ komparativ metode, hvor de kvalitative dataene blir sammenlignet med kvantitative sekundærdata, og videre analysert opp mot empiri, andre studier og relevant teori. Motivasjonen bak tilsetting, og årsakene til at operatørene blir i stilling er sammensatte. Det er likevel noen faktorer som har større innvirkning enn andre. Gjennom den kvalitative undersøkelsen har vi identifisert disse, som videre blir analysert i et rammeverk utgjort av fire hovedkategorier: selvrealisering og utvikling, arbeidsmiljø, oppdrag og oppgaver og anerkjennelse. Vi finner her at muligheten for selvrealisering og utvikling i stilling er sentralt, og mangelen av en slik arena oppleves som demotiverende og fører til at flere vurderer å slutte. Her må avdelingen se etter alternative arenaer for å tilfredsstille behovet når deployeringer er fraværende. Dette endrer seg likevel når operatørene går inn i nye livsfaser hvor muligheten for å kombinere jobb og privatliv, samt ta høyere utdanning ved siden av, blir avgjørende for at de skal bli. Tilrettelegging og tilpasning fra avdelingen er her sentralt. Videre fører seleksjonen og kulturen i avdelingen med seg et spesielt samhold blant operatørene, og det unike arbeidsmiljøet er mye av grunnen til at flere ønsker å jobbe der. De kommuniserte endringene av porteføljen splitter operatørmassen, hvor noen frykter at det skal gå på bekostning av seleksjon og utdanning, samtidig som andre er mer optimistiske så lenge ikke den tradisjonelle kjernekompetansen til kystjegeren blir borte. Mindre bevilgninger av øvelsesdøgn oppleves også som frustrerende, da det både går utover det operative nivået operatørene kan opprettholde og lønnsutvikling.

Source at https://vkm.no/risikovurderinger/allevurderinger/konsekvenseravaimporteregrovfor.4.372fcd091727089bb664ab15.html. Det er stor usikkerhet om import av grovfôr til Norge kan føre med seg planteskadegjørere, invaderende planter og smittestoff som kan forårsake sykdom hos dyr og mennesker.

Background Since the late 1800s, an unknown number of common pheasants and grey partridges from captive bred stocks have been released in Norwegian nature. The birds are released to be used for training of pointing dogs. The import, keeping and release of gamebirds, as well as the management of release sites, have been largely unregulated. The consequences to biodiversity, animal health and welfare have not been investigated. The Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA) and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) have jointly requested the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) for a scientific opinion on the release of common pheasants and grey partridges for pointing dog training regarding consequences for biodiversity, animal welfare of the released birds and health of the released birds as well as wild birds to which pathogens may be transmitted. VKM was further asked to suggest risk reducing measures for biodiversity and animal welfare. Methods VKM established a project group with expertise within avian ecology, landscape ecology, population biology, wildlife veterinary medicine and animal welfare. The group conducted systematic literature searches, scrutinized the resulting literature, and supplemented by other relevant articles and reports. In the absence of Norwegian studies, VKM used literature from other countries where common pheasants and grey partridges (and in some cases other gamebirds), are released, as references. The project group applied observation data of common pheasants and grey partridges in Norway for the period 2000-2022, presented by the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (NBIC). In the assessments, VKM assumed that the release of birds will be in the same order of magnitude as in previous years (a few thousand birds annually on a national level). The number of release sites and the density of released birds per site are unknown. Increasing the number and density of birds would also increase the probability of negative effects and the severity of the consequences. VKM assessed the impacts of released common pheasants and grey partridges on competition, predation, hybridization, transmission of disease, herbivory and indirect impacts through interactions with other species (predator abundance and pathogen-mediated competition). VKM also assessed the impact on biodiversity in a 50-year perspective. Furthermore, VKM discusses how the birds’ welfare might be impacted by rearing, transport, release and exposure to pointing dogs. Finally, VKM provides a list of relevant diseases and assessed their potential impact on animal health during transport, rearing and release. Results and conclusions VKMs assessment show that there are several risks to biodiversity, animal health, and animal welfare from the release of captive bred common pheasants and grey partridges in Norway. The risk of increased competition for food, particularly in winter, with birds with similar niches as common pheasants and grey partridges, is low on a national scale and moderat on a local scale. This is particularly so for yellowhammer, Emberiza citronella, a species categorized as vulnerable on the national red list due to its progressive population decline caused by reduced availability of food during winter. There is a moderate risk for predation on invertebrates and negative impacts on flora. Indirectly, activities connected to the release of birds may lead to moderate risks of altered predator abundance and disease-mediated competition. VKM concludes that the ecological impacts will be more severe for redlisted species present within the release areas for common pheasants and grey partridges. Repeated release of common pheasants and grey partridges can lead to high risk of disease transmission to wild birds. ............. The release of common pheasants and grey partridges for pointing dog training- consequences for biodiversity, animal welfare and health. Scientific Opinion of the Panel on biodiversity of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) initiated this work to examine the extent to which organisms developed by genome-editing technologies pose new challenges in terms of risk assessment. This report considers whether the risk assessment guidance on genetically modified organisms, developed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), can be applied to evaluate potential risks of organisms developed by genome editing. Background Gene technology has allowed for the transfer of genes between organisms and species, and thereby to design altered genotypes with novel traits, i.e. GMOs. A new paradigm started in the early 2000s with the development of genome-editing techniques. Unlike traditional genetic modification techniques resulting in insertion of foreign DNA fragments at random locations in the genome, the new genome-editing techniques additionally open for a few single nucleotide edits or short insertions/deletions at a targeted site in an organism’s genome. These new techniques can be applied to most types of organisms, including plants, animals and microorganisms of commercial interest. An important question is how the novel, genome-edited organisms should be evaluated with respect to risks to health and the environment. The European Court of Justice decided in 2018 to include genome-edited organisms in the GMO definition and hence in the regulatory system already in place. This implies that all products developed by genome-editing techniques must be risk-assessed within the existing regulatory framework for GMOs. The European and Norwegian regulatory frameworks regulate the production, import and placing on the market of food and feed containing, consisting of or produced from GMOs, as well as the release of GMOs into the environment. The assessment draws on guidance documents originally developed by EFSA for risk assessment of GMOs, which were drawn up mainly to address risks regarding insertion of transgenes. The new genome-editing techniques, however, provide a new continuum of organisms ranging from those only containing a minor genetic alteration to organisms containing insertion or deletion of larger genomic regions. Risk assessment of organisms developed by genome editing The present discourse on how new genome-editing techniques should be regulated lacks an analysis of whether risk assessment methodologies for GMOs are adequate for risk assessment of organisms developed through the use of the new genome-editing techniques. Therefore, this report describes the use of genome-editing techniques in food and feed production and discusses challenges in risk assessment with the regulatory framework. Specifically, this report poses the question as to whether the EFSA guidance documents are sufficient for evaluating risks to health and environment posed by genome-edited plants, animals and microorganisms. To address these questions, the report makes use of case examples relevant for Norway. These examples, intended for food and feed, include oilseed rape with a modified fatty acid profile, herbicide-tolerant and pest-resistant crops, sterile salmon, virus-resistant pigs and hornless cattle. The report considers all aspects of the stepwise approach as described in the EFSA guidance documents. Conclusions The inherent flexibility of the EFSA guidance makes it suitable to cover health and environmental risk assessments of a wide range of organisms with various traits and intended uses. Combined with the embedded case-by-case approach the guidance is applicable to genome-edited organisms. The evaluation of the guidance demonstrates that the parts of the health and environmental risk assessment concerned with novel traits (i.e. the phenotype of the organism) may be fully applied to all categories of genome-edited organisms. ............

Barn og unge i fosterhjem blir ofte sett på som en spesielt sårbar gruppe, da mange har blitt utsatt for overgrep, mishandling eller omsorgssvikt. Unge i fosterhjem har høye forekomster av psykiske lidelser og mange står i risiko for å utvikle atferdsvansker. Til tross for dette er mange av ungdommene motstandsdyktige, og viser en positiv tilpasning. Hensikten med denne studien var å undersøke: (1) i hvilken grad ungdommer i fosterhjem er resiliente, (2) på hvilke områder ungdommene er mer eller mindre resiliente og (3) sammenhengen mellom resiliens og kjønn, alder, tid i fosterhjem og tidligere belastende livserfaringer blant unge i fosterhjem. Vår studie baserte seg på allerede innhentede tverrsnittsdata fra forskningsprosjektet «Ung i fosterhjem». Utvalget bestod av 303 fosterhjemsplasserte ungdommer i alderen 11-18 år. Deltakernes resiliens ble målt ved hjelp av skalaen Resilience Scale for Adolescent (READ), mens Children and Adolescents Trauma Screen (CATS) ble benyttet for å måle deltakernes potensielt traumatiske hendelser. Studiets resultater viste at de fosterhjemsplasserte ungdommene skåret moderat til høyt på resiliens. Ungdommene skåret høyest på delskalaen sosial støtte og lavest på delskalaen selvtillit. Videre, indikerte våre analyser at potensielt traumatiske hendelser var assosiert med lavere skår på alle de fem READ delskalaene. Når det gjelder kjønnsforskjeller viste det seg at guttene skåret høyere på målorientering, sosial kompetanse, sosial støtte og selvtillit. Våre resultater indikerer at det er viktig å styrke beskyttende faktorer som kan moderere utfallet etter å ha opplevd traumer. Spesielt de individuelle faktorene, ettersom unge i fosterhjem skårer lavt her. Children and youths placed in foster care are regarded as a particularly vulnerable group, considering that many of them have experienced abuse, neglect and maltreatment. They generally have a high prevalence of mental disorders and are at higher risk for developing behavioral difficulties. Despite this many of the youths are resilient and show positive adaptation. The present study examines (1) the extent to which adolescents in foster care are resilient, (2) the areas in which adolescents in foster care are more or less resilient and (3) the association between resilience and gender, age, time spent in foster care and potentially traumatic experiences. Our study was based on already obtained cross-sectional data from the research project “Young in Foster Care”. The sample consisted of 303 youths placed in foster care at the age of 11-18. The participants’ resilience was assessed using the Resilience Scale for adolescent (READ) while the Children and Adolescents Trauma Screen (CATS) was used to measure participants’ potentially traumatic events. The results indicated that the foster youths scored moderately to high on resilience. The foster youths scored highest on the subscale social support and lowest on the subscale self-confidence. Furthermore, our findings showed that potentially traumatic events were associated with lower scores on all five READ subscales. Regarding gender differences, our results indicated that boys scored higher on the subscales: goal orientation, social competence, social support and self-confidence. Our results indicated the importance of strengthening protective factors, to better moderate the outcome after the exposure of trauma. Especially the individual factors, considering that youth in foster care showed low scores in this area. Masteroppgave i barnevern MABARN351 MAPS-BARN

The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) initiated this work to examine the extent to which organisms developed by genome-editing technologies pose new challenges in terms of risk assessment. This report considers whether the risk assessment guidance on genetically modified organisms, developed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), can be applied to evaluate potential risks of organisms developed by genome editing.

Oppgaven søker å belyse hvorvidt samspillsgrupper etablert av offentlige oppdragsgivere og private leverandører skal anses som en "sammenslutning" etter anskaffelsesregelverket. Samspillskontrakten som kontraktsform er en gjennomgående regulering av forholdet mellom oppdragsgiver og leverandør, som skal sikre mer økonomisk effektive entrepriseprosjekter gjennom utnyttelse av partnernes særlige kompetanse og erfaringer. Der høy grad av samspill og integrering mellom partnerne er valgt, utgjør samspillskontrakten et brudd med den tradisjonelle ansvar-, risiko- og funksjonsfordeling mellom byggherre, entreprenør og eventuelle rådgivere. Blant annet etablerer samspillspartnerne en felles prosjektorganisasjon som står som ansvarlig for prosjektering og utførelse, der deres respektive ansatte integreres og underlegges organisasjonens interne styring og regulering. Dette medfører en mer aktiv rolle for byggherre, som har en blandet rolle som både bestiller, byggherre og samspillspartner, som videre gjør det aktuelt å spørre om den offentlige samspillspartneren kan få noen innflytelse over eventuelle anskaffelser gruppen må gjøre for å gjennomføre kontraktsgjenstanden. Som utgangspunkt for den anskaffelsesrettslige sammenslutnings-vurderingen, søkes begrepet nærmere klarlagt ved en rettslig plassering av samspillsgruppen med en selskapsrettslig innfallsvinkel. Videre må begrepet, i kraft av å være EU-autonomt, tolkes i tråd med de mer formålsbestemte kriteriene som ligger bak anskaffelsesdirektiv 2014/24/EU. Oppgaven konsentrerer seg om bygge- og anleggsentreprise. Særlig kontraktsgrunnlaget i Nye Veier AS' prosjekt "E6 Kvål - Melhus sentrum" vil bli benyttet for de konkrete analysene.

The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) initiated this work to examine the extent to which organisms developed by genome-editing technologies pose new challenges in terms of risk assessment. This report considers whether the risk assessment guidance on genetically modified organisms, developed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), can be applied to evaluate potential risks of organisms developed by genome editing.

publishedVersion

Report from the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (VKM) 2019:16. Microplastics; occurrence, levels and implications for environment and human health related to food. Opinion of the Steering Committee of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment. Source at https://www.vkm.no/. The steering committee of VKM has self-initiated a mandate for an opinion on microplastics based on recently published international and/or national reports complemented with literature from December 2016 to February 2019. The mandate requested a summary of the state of knowledge on the presence of microplastics in the environment and the implications for the ecosystem, terrestrial and aquatic organisms, food production and human health. An overview of main national and international ongoing initiatives was also requested, and highlighting of data gaps where specific Norwegian data was needed.

publishedVersion

Fig. S25-S2-S19 final. Data plots. (PDF 102 kb)

Country-specific summaries 25–2-19 Tables. (PDF 280 kb)

Questionnaire 27–11-18 final. Clean printout of on-line questionnaire document. (PDF 969 kb)

Table S15 ver 25–2-19 final. (DOCX 43 kb)

Source at https://vkm.no/download/18.7d363f6e16d16151068849d0/1568620629508/Ranking%20of%20substances%20for%20monitoring%20in%20foods,%20drinks%20and%20dietary%20supplements.pdf The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) requested the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) to provide an overview of substances in foods, drinks and dietary supplements that may constitute a potential health risk for humans, based on the VKM members’ expert judgements. VKM was further requested to perform a ranking of these substances. Additionally, VKM should give an overiview of the foods, drinks and dietary supplements most relevant for monitoring, and describe what would be the adequate sampling procedure and number of samples. Monitoring procedures were included to ensure that the monitoring performed is representative for the occurrence of the substances in foods, drinks and/or dietary supplements consumed by the Norwegian population. The substances requested to be included were food additives and flavourings, substances used in food contact materials, environmental contaminants, process-induced substances and natural toxins. Substances not to be included were veterinary medicine residues, illegal pharmaceuticals and pesticide residues. The overview provided by VKM included substances belong to the following groups and subgroups of substances: Natural toxins; with the sub-groups mycotoxins, plant toxins, marine and freshwater algae toxins Metals and metalloids Persistent organic pollutants (POPs); with the sub-groups brominated flame retardants, dechloranes, dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs), non-dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (NDL-PCBs), perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) and siloxanes Substances in food contact materials; with the sub-groups bisphenols and phthalates Flavourings Additives; with the sub-groups nitrites and nitrates, phosphates, sweeteners and synthetic antioxidants Process-induced contaminants; with the sub-groups acrylamide, esterified 3- and 2- monochloropropane-1,2-diol (MCPD), glycidyl fatty esters (GEs), furans, heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) «Other substances» Trace elements The ranking of the substances is based on inherent toxicity (hazard) and level of exposure (both occurrence and intake). In addition, vulnerable groups, adequacy of toxicity data and lack of exposure data were considered. A simple methodology was chosen. More advanced methodology may be used in later updates of this ranking, if found useful.

Table S1 to S14 ver 25–2-19 final. Tabulated results. (PDF 445 kb)