2025·Para Cross-CountryMen Sitting athletes in the Sprint start gates in Steinkjer @GPOWERSFILMThe final stop of the FIS Para Cross-Country World Cup before the 2025 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships saw thrilling battles in Steinkjer (NOR) despite challenging weather conditions forcing the cancellation of the final day's races The competition kicked off with the 10km individual freestyle races where several top contenders made strong statements ahead of the season's pinnacle event in Trondheim multiple Paralympic and World Champion Kendall Gretsch (USA) added another win to her resume crossing the line 19 seconds ahead of South Korea’s Yunji Kim with China’s Yilin Shan securing third place Brazil’s Cristian Westemaier Ribera continued his dominant campaign in the Men’s Sitting field taking a decisive victory by 1:20 over Kazakhstan’s Yerbol Khamitov USA’s Daniel Cnossen rounded out the podium Fresh off a flawless World Championships campaign in Toblach Vilde Nilsen (NOR) remained untouchable in Women’s Standing stopping the clock at 29:36—34 seconds ahead of the rising American star Sydney Peterson while Ukraine’s Oleksandra Kononova secured third place A surprise victory came in the Men’s Standing event where Lingxin Huang (CHN) marked his first World Cup appearance of the season with a commanding win Kazakhstan’s Alexandr Gerlits and Ukraine’s Serafym Drahun both making their first podium appearances of the season Category leader Taiki Kawayoke (JPN) finished just outside the podium in fourth built on her strong performances in Toblach (where she claimed silver and bronze) to take the win while Ukraine’s Oksana Shyshkova (guided by Artem Kazarian) celebrated her first World Cup podium of the season in third The fastest time of the day across all categories belonged to Jake Adicoff (USA) and his guide Jake Brown who dominated the Men’s Vision Impaired race Ukraine’s Iaroslav Reshetynskyi (guided by Dmytro Drahun) took second place while Sweden’s Zebastian Modin (guided by Emil Talsi) completed the podium in third The sprint finals in Steinkjer provided thrilling head-to-head battles and unexpected turns with several podiums decided in the closing meters Yunji Kim (KOR) led into the last straight but Anja Wicker (GER) used her power and experience to surge ahead in the final meters and take the win The Men’s Sitting final saw Cristian Westemaier Ribera (BRA) enter the last descent with a comfortable lead while the battle for the remaining podium spots intensified behind him Oleksandr Aleksyk (UKR) edged out Yerbol Khamitov (KAZ) and Daniel Cnossen (USA) in a thrilling sprint to claim second place Vilde Nilsen (NOR) controlled the race from start to finish securing victory with a comfortable margin a tight duel for silver saw Sydney Peterson (USA) narrowly hold off Liudmyla Liashenko (UKR) with both athletes crossing the line nearly side by side The Men’s Standing final featured a dramatic showdown between Marco Maier (GER) and Serafym Drahun (UKR) on the finishing straight an all-Ukrainian battle played out for third place just behind Drahun was disqualified for an infraction at the finish line promoting Serhii Romaniuk (UKR) to second and Alexandr Gerlits (KAZ) to third surged past her in the final meters to take another victory Linn Kazmaier (GER) and her guide Florian Baumann completed the podium in third The Men’s Vision Impaired final saw a major upset as category leader Jake Adicoff (USA) and his guide Jake Brown crashed in the semifinals Zebastian Modin (SWE) and his guide Emil Joensson Haag dominated the final building a ten-second lead before the last descent Ukraine’s Ihor Kravchuk (guided by Andriy Dotsenko) edged out teammate Maksym Murashkovskyi (guided by Vitaliy Trush) in a dramatic sprint for second place Weather forces cancellation of the final day The 5km races scheduled for the final day were canceled due to adverse weather conditions "We have had two great days of competition with good conditions for the athletes The organizers put in tremendous effort to ensure a well-prepared event Canceling today’s races was not an easy decision but we believe it was the only responsible course of action," said Ingela Kälvedal Despite late efforts to maintain race conditions the organizers and jury deemed it unsafe to proceed Chief of competition Morten Vannebo expressed gratitude for the successful race days and wished the athletes well for the upcoming World Championships in Trondheim "It’s never an easy decision to cancel a race especially when the Local Organizing Committee has done such a great job with dedicated volunteers giving their best under any conditions it is our duty to prioritize the athletes’ health—especially as they head toward the biggest event of their season the inclusive Sprint event at the FIS Nordic World Championships," added Georg Zipfel where the world’s best Para Cross-Country skiers will battle for the season’s biggest honors at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships I think everybody knows what I’m aiming for… I’m hoping for the gold!– Vilde Nilsen (NOR)2024/25 FIS Para Cross-Country Overall winnersWomen Sitting category: Kendall Gretsch (USA) with 829 points maybe not the best in all races but just consistent across all season so I’m really proud of this season.– Kendall Gretsch (USA)Women Standing category: Vilde Nilsen (NOR) with 940 points It’s the symbol of all the hard work I’ve been doing this year and it finally pays off with the overall win so I’m very satisfied with that all the way from Vuokatti to the races in Italy and now in Norway so I’ve pretty much been racing how I wanted My goal this season was the World Championships and also winning the overall feels great.– Vilde Nilsen (NOR)Women VI category: Leonie Maria Walter and her guide Christian Krasman (GER) with 767 points I had so much fun at the races and did so many races with good positions so I’m happy about the whole season.– Leonie Maria Walter (GER)Men Sitting category: Cristian Westemaier Ribera (BRA) with 915 points very thankful for what we’ve done this season It was always a big dream to accomplish this and I’m very thankful From the first races I was already in good shape so we just had to keep it up.– Cristian Westemaier Ribera (BRA)Men Standing category: Taiki Kawayoke (JPN) with 791 points I'm very very happy!– Taiki Kawayoke (JPN)Men VI category: Zebastian Modin and his guide Emil Joensson Haag (SWE) with 879 points Of course it’s nice [to hold the big globe] and from there it was a little bit tougher during January and February it’s been stable and good.– Zebastian Modin (SWE)Thanks to the strong performances of its athletes and nine additional top-three finishes during the World Cup finals in Steinkjer Ukraine overtook China with a final score of 11,083 points to win the 2024/25 Nations Cup successfully defending its title as the most successful nation from last season The detailed rankings are available here Biathlon: the selection of the Austrian national team for the 2025/2026 training season Biathlon | Nordic skiing : for the Olympic winter the French teams will once again be changing their overalls Biathlon | “Joining this group is a step forward in my project” : Bressaud Martin Botet talks about his arrival in the French B team Biathlon | “It was a tiring race”: Johannes Thingnes Boe reflects on his participation in the Grue Halvmaraton Biathlon | “Joining the federal group is not an end in itself”: the words of Guillaume Poirot Camille Grataloup-Manissolle and Antonin Delsol Cross-country skiing: the selection of the Swedish national team for the 2025/2026 season Cross-country skiing : Gustav Kvarnbrink’s fright after being hit by a car while training Cross-country skiing | Nordic skiing: the composition of the Austrian team for the 2025/2026 season Cross-country skiing | “It’s really nice to see progress” Jessie Diggins gives her news following plantar fasciitis Norway or Bessans : the full programme of French team training camps to prepare for 2025/2026 Nordic combined: the composition of the French teams for the 2025/2026 season Nordic combined: Ivar Stuan remains Norway’s boss for another 2 years… with an option until 2030 Nordic Combined: Florian Schabereiter becomes head coach of the Austrian women’s national team Nordic combined | Mo i Rana: Ida Marie Hagen and Jens Luraas Oftebro crowned Norwegian mass start and gundersen champions Nordic Combined : the full list of 2024/2025 World Cup winners Ski jumping | “Not the season I imagined” Ski jumping: Slovenia’s Bine Norcic takes over from Rune Velta at the helm of the Swiss team Ski jumping: Thomas Thurnbichler to coach Germany’s B team Ski jumping: the make-up of the French teams for the 2025/2026 season… with newcomer Louis Obersteiner and leaders Joséphine Pagnier and Valentin Foubert Ski jumping: Rune Velta decides to step down as Switzerland coach Rollerskiing | ASOP and Thomas Joly launch the HautDoubsLoppet a 42 km classic ski-wheel race: first edition on 27 July Rollerski | Soldier Hollow: the Schutzenski Festival free sprint for Jessie Diggins and Reid Goble Rollerski | Soldier Hollow: Luke Jager and Rosie Brennan win the individual classic at the Schutzenski Festival Rollerski | “There are many reasons”: why didn’t Arnaud Du Pasquier’s third Dupaski Festival take place this weekend Rollerskiing | “It’s very reassuring”: the satisfaction of Mathis Desloges after winning the French individual classic title in La Bresse Vu de Trondheim #2: Jarl Magnus Riiber stripped of his title From Trondheim #1 : Marit Bjoergen head coach for women’s sprint Vu de Norge #451 : Sturla Holm Lægreid stands up against homophobia Vu de Norge #449 : Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen improves his rifle Planète Nordic #29: Oleksandra Merkushyna appreciates Julia Simon’s gesture Planète Nordic #23 : Norwegian cross-country skiers take on footballer Erling Braut Haaland on his recovery techniques dog’s name… at the Tour de Ski Planète Nordic #21 : Sebastian Samuelsson donates his race number to Dmytro Pidruchnyi in support of Ukraine Nordic Planet #20 : Dorothea Wierer could do nothing about the individual short in Kontiolahti after suffering a back injury 12:14. The Norwegian cross-country skiing cup in Steinkjer came to a close on Sunday with the classic 10-kilometre pursuit. In the men’s race, Amund Korsæth won again after his victory in the classic sprint the day before He beat his compatriots Aron Aakre Rysstad and Matz William Jenssen in the sprint Hedda Oestberg Amundsen followed in her compatriot’s footsteps with a sprint pursuit double She won solo ahead of Marte Skaanes and Ingrid Andréa Gulbrandsen Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. This year's Team Aker Dæhlie will be joined by some fine new faces who have put together an attractive new line-up Discover the names of the Norwegians selected for this winter's cross-country skiing World Cups in Tallinn (Estonia) and Lahti (Finland) The Norwegian Biathlon Cup in Folldal (Norway) continued this Saturday morning with sprints The Norwegian Biathlon Cup in Folldal (Norway) kicked off on Friday with the individual races Herman Dramdal Borge (20/20) won the first men’s.. the finals of the 2024/2025 para cross-country skiing world cup took place in Steinkjer (Norway) the finals of the 2024/2025 para cross-country skiing world cup take place in Steinkjer (Norway) it was the turn of the cross-country skiers to compete in the individual skate race at.. Norwegians Astrid Oeyre Slind and Simen Hegstad Krueger won the Skarverennet on Saturday during the 30km individual classic at the Norwegian cross-country skiing championships in Hovden (Norway) Obituaries | Dec 28 Show CaptionsHide Captions Freda Langell Nieters peacefully passed away on Dec after suffering a stroke two weeks earlier A skiing scholarship brought her to the University of New Hampshire in 1950 where she won the NCAA downhill championship And skiing remained central in her life ever since teaching in several Colorado ski schools as well as here in Vermont Garnering numerous recognitions and awards she was inducted into Colorado’s Ski Hall of Fame she attracted friends far and wide who remember her as kind funny – always ready to arm wrestle or toss an unexpected snowball Her daughter Lisa told seven year old granddaughter “You are so luck to have a grandmother your own age.” Freda especially valued her church community at Shelburne United Methodist Church Freda was predeceased by two adult daughters in tragic accidents – Astrid in a plane crash in Alaska and three daughters and their children: Lisa Langell and Whitney; Ingrid (Kendall) Butts and Garrett Butts Michaela (Michael) Steed; Katie Meade and Alex and Leah Meade husband Joe and his children : Heidi Nieters; Bo (Jill) Nieters and Allison (Kel) Trebon with great grandsons Isaac Nieters and Elliot Nieters; Carter Nieters and daughter The family is very grateful to the compassionate team at UVM Home Health and Hospice for helping Freda through her final days and invite donations in Freda’s name to the Hospice and Palliative Care Program Summit Daily is embarking on a multiyear project to digitize its archives going back to 1989 and make them available to the public in partnership with the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection The full project is expected to cost about $165,000 All donations made in 2023 will go directly toward this project Sign up for daily and breaking news headlines Manage Subscriptions UPDATED: Norwegian police were ordered to carry weapons nationwide during the Easter holiday weekend after a man with a record of suspected terrorism ran down three people with his vehicle in Steinkjer One person was killed and the two others injured as police also faced other acts of murder and violence elsewhere around the country The 30-year-old Norwegian man now in custody after the Steinkjer attack has a long record of prior convictions and was also charged with trying to derail a train in 2016. He has also made threats containing references to the jailed right-wing extremist who gunned down 69 people and bombed Norway’s government headquarters in 2011 Police now suspect he intentionally drove his vehicle up on the sidewalk of a street in downtown Steinkjer in Trøndelag late Saturday night before driving off and ending up in a ditch just outside of town He was quickly apprehended and initially charged with both reckless driving and homicide on Sunday “This is an extremely serious incident with a tragic result,” said Åsta Elden of the Trøndelag Police District As the police investigation into it began immediately State Police Director Benedicte Bjørnland ordered police to arm themselves nationwide but then came reports that the 30-year-old suspect in Steinkjer has earlier been reported to police intelligence agency PST which is in charge of trying to control domestic terrorism Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reports that the suspect has been charged with various violent incidents in recent years and was convicted of railroad sabotage near Steinkjer NRK cited court documents from a case seven years ago various metal scrap and a large rock on local railroad tracks He was acquitted of charges that he tried to set off a serious train accident on the grounds he hadn’t foreseen the consequences of his acts but convicted of sabotage and damage to the tracks NRK reported that he also committed various crimes in 2017 including making online threats to kill so many people that he would make the right-wing terrorist and mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik “look like a little boy by comparison.” Court records claim he issued threats “with macabre and has created a sinister sense of evil.” He was described as being “unstable and unpredictable especially when he drinks,” with several people testifying that “they’re unsure what he can do when he’s drunk.” He has several convictions for drunk driving and for assaulting a woman a case worker at state welfare agency NAV and other public servants His police record stretches back 12 years and includes arson and carrying an axe in a public place also called the Steinkjer attack “tragic” and backed the national call to arms “My thoughts go to the family of the person killed the injured and all those affected after the tragic incident in Steinkjer,” she told NRK claimed there was no longer need for the public to feel unsafe “because he has been arrested.” He was also said to have been “very drunk” after being found in his vehicle in the ditch so drunk that he was taken to a local hospital where he was under constant guard His defense attorney claimed on Monday that he was “shocked” to hear the charges against him now His victim was later identitied as 21-year-old Sigve Bremset who’d been on leave from military service during the Easter holidays but was resisting the state prosecutor’s request that he be kept in custody while the police investigation continues She claimed he was sorry and didn’t remember anything about his late-night attack He ended up being ordered held by a local court on Monday in isolation for at least two weeks There were several other incidents of violence of murder in Norway during the long Easter holiday weekend A man in Kristiansand was charged with fatally injuring another man at Mosby late Saturday night while a 31-year-old woman was found murdered in her home in Lørenskog on Thursday after she failed to show up for work on Wednesday Her male partner has been charged with her death Police in Rogaland also confirmed on Sunday that bones found on a beach at Grødalandstangen are human remains that will now be analyzed police fired several shots at a car driven by a robbery suspect who threatened to run down another police officer The occupants of the car were caught stealing copper from a transformer station at Vikodden in Aurskog eary Monday morning and then colliding with both a police car and trying to run down a police officer during their getaway Police were calling for tips from the public NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund If you like what we are doing, please consider a donation. It is easy using PayPal, or our Norway bank account. READ MORE NewsInEnglish.no is a free and independent Oslo-based website offering news from Norway It’s run on a voluntary basis by veteran journalists keen to share insight into Norwegian politics Connode AB, together with NTE, is now trialling the new generation of communications for the Energy market at Demo Steinkjer. The new Connode 4 radio system provides seamless IP-based interoperability and global standardisation to the utility sector which has been characterised by industry-specific protocols and lack of true interoperability Demo Steinkjer facilitates exciting field tests of the new Connode 4 RF-mesh communications modules in a standard NTE is one of several Connode 4 customer trials currently taking place in cooperation with European utilities and Telecom operators Full market availability is planned for late 2013 industry-first software platform featuring true IPv6-based software architecture It is based on open standards for m2m applications in general and smart energy deployments in particular Connode 4 is portable over several communication medias like 802.15.4g as well other medias in the IEEE 802-family giving users flexibility as business requirements grows  “NTE is aiming for an AMI infrastructure using open standards and proven technology Together with Demo Steinkjer Connode 4 has given us the opportunity to test a solution complying with all our requirements for a modern and secure AMI communication platform,” says Håvard Valøen at NTE “Real life tests show that both range and performance is beyond previous versions of Connode radio mesh All testing have been done with real end-to-end security activated Our analysis show that the security model provided by Connode is future proof and well anchored using IEEE and IETF standards,” says Valøen Valøen points out that the use of IPv6/6LowPAN gives the opportunity to integrate 3rd party tools for simple monitoring and troubleshooting “During our testing and analysis it has been a clear benefit that standard IPv6 and DTLS is used We can easily make dumps and verify how the communication and security protocols work without the need of any vendor specific tools,” he says both NTE and Connode are satisfied with the test of new technology in our demo We look forward to further testing of the solution in our “living lab” in Demo Steinkjer The results from these tests will be of great interest to other utility companies who are preparing for the AMS roll-out as well,” says Erik Hatling Demo Steinkjer is a national demonstration project established to gather experience regarding construction and operation of smart-grids The objective is to perform full-scale tests of new technologies and solutions Demo Steinkjer is a “living laboratory” with infrastructure and services that will contribute to development of innovative products and services for businesses within the energy sector in Norway. The laboratory is located in Steinkjer where “smart meters” have been installed at about 1.000 households For further info please visit www.demosteinkjer.no Connode AB is the leading supplier in Europe of wireless communication products for Smart Metering acting as an OEM and technology supplier to major system vendors active on the rapidly expanding Smart Grid market Connode is the result of 10 years development and deployment of large-scale wireless mesh networks and the Netherlands have deployed some 650.000 Connode-enabled Smart Meters a leading Nordic investment company with approx For further info please visit www.connode.com michael.westberg@connode.com This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page lineravndal@gmail.com specialist in general practice and a general practitioner The author has completed the ICMJE form and declares no conflicts of interest School of Public Health and Community Medicine specialist in general practice and researcher She has written a doctoral thesis on Aspects on pertussis pertussis vaccination and adverse events associated with aluminium adsorbed vaccines) specialist in radiology and senior consultant in musculoskeletal radiology Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine specialist in paediatrics and senior consultant former senior consultant and head of department Allforsk – research group for general practice and care coordination specialist in general practice and care coordination/senior consultant at Stavanger University Hospital Head of Allforsk research group and associate professor The author has completed the ICMJE form and declares no conflicts of interest. Persistent itching subcutaneous granulomas related to aluminium-containing vaccines are poorly recognised in health care. They are often associated with aluminium hypersensitivity. An intensely itching subcutaneous nodule appeared on the left thigh of a 17-month-old girl at the injection site for an aluminium adsorbed diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis-polio-HiB vaccine given at 3, 5 and 12 months. Ultrasound suggested a vascular malformation among other differential diagnoses. An MR investigation under general anaesthesia was planned, but the diagnosis was confirmed prior to this by a positive epicutaneous test with aluminium. Despite a typical history of an itchy vaccination granuloma, the child underwent a thorough hospital workup to rule out malignancy. The diagnosis was delayed for two years. Vaccination granulomas have a good prognosis but can persist for many years. It is important to recognise the condition early in primary health care to avoid unnecessary anxiety and investigations. Vaccine-induced subcutaneous granulomas (aluminium granulomas) can cause prolonged itching and are associated with contact allergy to aluminium. The prognosis is good, but the diagnosis is often overlooked. We describe a child who, due to healthcare personnel's lack of awareness of the diagnosis, was recommended for testing for malignancy. Clinically, the condition slowly improved. The nodule gradually became less palpable, but the itching persisted. An ultrasound four years after onset showed that the subcutaneous lesion had disappeared. Five years after the first symptoms appeared, the girl still has intermittent, but less bothersome itching in connection with respiratory infections. Her skin has a normal appearance now, with no hyperpigmentation or excess hair growth. No MRI was ever taken of the lesion as it was concluded following other investigations that malignancy seemed unlikely. The girl had a typical medical history and clinical findings consistent with a vaccine-induced long-standing itchy granuloma (1–3). These occur at the injection site of aluminium-containing vaccines and can develop at all ages, but are most common in 1 - 2-year-olds after the DTP-IPV and Hib vaccinations. The frequency was estimated at 0.63–1.18 % among those vaccinated in a Swedish prospective study (3). The patient's next-of-kin consented to publication of this article. Rustemeyer T, van Hoogstraten IMW, von Blomberg BME. R.J. S. Mechanisms of Allergic Contact Dermatitis p 153, 168. In: John S., Johansen J., Rustemeyer T., Elsner P., H. M, editors. Kanerva's Occupational Dermatology: Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2020. Nyeste ledige stillinger fra legejobber.no Motta vårt nyhetsbrev! Hold deg oppdatert om ny forskning og medisinske nyheter. Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening, Postboks 1152 Sentrum, 0107 OSLO Sjefredaktør Are Brean • Tidsskriftet er et medisinskvitenskapelig tidsskrift med åpen tilgang, indeksert i Pubmed, Google Scholar, Crossref, ESCI og DOAJ. Tidsskriftet redigeres etter redaktørplakaten. ISSN 0029-2001 (papir) ISSN 0807-7096 (nett). This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Much more than that, though, the day marked the first time that Para Cross-Country athletes raced in the same stadium and on the same day as their able-bodied counterparts, competing between the Team Sprint Qualification and Finals of the FIS Cross-Country World Championships and marking a milestone for inclusivity in the sport.  With an electrifying atmosphere, dramatic finishes, and unprecedented recognition for Para athletes, the first-ever inclusive sprint event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships left its mark not just as a race, but as a defining moment for the sport’s future.  “It’s a dream come true. We work so hard to get here. Norway is amazing and the crowd was fantastic,” Ribera said after taking gold in the Men’s Sitting final.  Beyond the thrilling races, the 2025 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships set yet another new benchmark for Para Cross-Country Skiing: FIS and Trondheim 2025 awarded record prize money to Para athletes, with the 24 medalists sharing a NOK 1 million ($90,000) pot. Gold medalists received NOK 60,000 ($5,400)—over seven times the amount awarded at the Lillehammer 2021 Para Snow Sports World Championships.  The historic event came just days after heavy rain had forced the cancellation of the final race of the 2024/25 Para Cross-Country World Cup in Steinkjer. In Trondheim, however, athletes faced a starkly different challenge as heavy snowfall set the stage for the Individual Sprint Classic qualifications in Granåsen. The Sitting categories tackled two laps of 490m with a 5m elevation gain, while the Standing categories navigated a demanding 1100m course featuring a 22m climb.  Returning to competition this season, Austria’s Carina Edlinger, guided by Jakob Kainz, was the fastest in the Women’s VI category, finishing ahead of the Czech duo Simona Bubenickova and guide David Srutek, while Germany’s Linn Kazmaier and guide Florian Baumann rounded out the top three.  Cristian Westemaier Ribera (BRA), Taiki Kawayoke (JPN), and Jake Adicoff (USA), guided by Peter Wolter, took the top spots in the Men’s Sitting, Men’s Standing, and Men’s VI qualifications, respectively.  As is often the case in Norway, it only took 24 hours for the conditions to shift dramatically. The athletes who qualified in heavy snowfall on Tuesday had to contend with rain and salted snow for their semi-finals and finals, creating a much faster course.  “The course is totally different from yesterday. Yesterday, it was dumping snow, making it really tough. Today, it’s klister, kind of raining, kind of snowing—just very different. The track is faster and maybe a little more stable, which makes it fun. I think it’ll be a good race,” said Natalie Wilkie after advancing from her semi-final.  “I felt pretty good in the semi, had good grip, and my body felt strong. Today was about figuring out the course, testing some strategies, and deciding what to bring into the final,” she added.  “I was so nervous because it was my first time racing in front of so many people. I’m so happy to win the gold medal here!” said an emotional Kim.  Cristian Westemaier Ribera (BRA) controlled his race from start to finish, never giving his rivals a chance to close the gap. Pavlo Bal (UKR) secured second place after a strong start, while Yerbol Khamitov (KAZ) made a late charge to claim third.  “It was incredible with all the Norwegian fans, my family, and the support here. At one point, I thought maybe I wouldn’t make it, but at the finish line, I gave it everything, and I’m so happy!” Nilsen said, overcome with joy.  The Men’s Standing final delivered just as much drama. Taiki Kawayoke (JPN), fresh off his 2024/25 World Cup overall victory, led from the start, but Karl Tabouret (FRA) methodically closed the gap. The Frenchman surged ahead in the final turn and powered to the finish for his first World Championship title, with teammate Benjamin Daviet securing bronze.  “This is unbelievable. I never thought I could pull off something like this today—it’s the craziest dream come true! And to be on the podium with Benjamin for the first time is just extraordinary,” Tabouret said, still in disbelief.  In the Women’s VI final, the Czech duo Simona Bubenickova and guide David Srutek held off Austria’s Carina Edlinger and Jakob Kainz until the final turn, where Kainz guided Edlinger past with a well-timed move. The German duo of Leonie Maria Walter and Christian Krasman secured bronze, just ahead of Linn Kazmaier and Florian Baumann.  “It was fun but challenging with the noise. I struggled in the last corner, but it worked out, and I’m happy,” Modin reflected.  Haag summed up the team’s approach: “Having a strategy from the start was key. The atmosphere and noise were tough, but we love it. We stuck to our plan and executed well.” the Para Nordic World Championships will be held in Östersund (SWE) and it was announced that that SVT will broadcast the entire championship live over 200 athletes from 19 countries take part in the World Championship medals with the festivites kicking off with the Opening Ceremony on January 20 "We are very happy that SVT will broadcast the Para Nordic World Championships in Östersund It will help to highlight the unique power that Swedish parasport stands for We know that more people with disabilities will find their way into the sporting community thanks to this championship the world's best para-athletes will inspire challenge society's norms and provide more equal opportunities in the future," said Bo Sköld Secretary General of the Swedish Parasport Federation and the Swedish Paralympic Committee the broadcasts will be historic as the first live World Championship in para sport in Sweden The championship is organized in collaboration with the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and the International Biathlon Federation (IBU) The full planned broadcast schedule can be found here When two enterprising Norwegian computer science students hit on a sure-fire way of beating the bookmakers, they could hardly have imagined their tiny company would 20 years later be worth billions of pounds. Petter Fornass and Tore Steinkjer, who were studying for master’s degrees at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, developed a tool that “crawled” the internet recording odds provided by bookmakers. They devised a programme to show when any differences in those odds could be exploited so that betting on different outcomes with two or more bookmakers would deliver a guaranteed profit. It provided a useful way to supplement their income, but they started to find He won the World Championships gold in the somewhat unusual distance of 10km classic in Val di Fiemme in 1991 He also won Olympic and World Championships golds in the relay and was on the national team for 11 years it became a life in the waxing cabin for the now 59-year-old from Trøndelag Terje Langli experienced the day when everything fell into place during this World Championships day in Val di Fiemme the same venue that will host the Olympics in 2026 He fought off the Swedes Christer Majbäck and Torgny Mogren to claim his long-awaited gold was a super talent with a strong will to win He joined the senior national team already as a junior and remained on the team until he retired 11 years later In addition to the World Championships gold in the 10km he also won Olympic and World Championships relay golds and became the Norwegian champion in the 50km in 1989 accumulating a total of 8 Norwegian Championship medals Terje Langli has never left the skiing life and lived a life among the best cross-country skiers all these years the World Championships gold is the biggest achievement I already felt during the 30km in Val di Fiemme that I could increase my pace without getting tired,” says Terje Langli who finished fourth in the first World Championship distance in Italy that year he won the Olympic relay gold in Albertville a wild Norwegian celebration in the trails around Les Saisies with a triple in the 30km with Vegard Ulvang all three were “signed” by the Swedish Procordia group with powerful PG Gyllenhammar and Sören Gyll at the forefront It attracted great attention in Norway when the Swedish company went in and sponsored the Norwegian Olympic heroes “Even though the World Championships gold trumps most things, the life we lived was the best. It was like a dream life, and that’s where I might have the best memories from,” says Langli to Langrenn.com athletes are 24-hour performers who cannot be as social as we were back then It’s a bit more extreme on all levels now.” Terje Langli competed against skiers like Per Knut Åland Then came the golden generation where Norway took over the hegemony from Sweden with Dæhlie Terje Langli participated in five World Championships from and was selected for three Olympics “I was a reserve on home soil in Lillehammer in 1994 It was a bit bitter not to race there.” He married his national team colleague Inger Lise Hegge and the couple still lives in the same house outside Steinkjer and I have worked for several national teams,” says the 59-year-old who has also been the Norwegian waxing chief he worked with Ola Vigen Hattestad in Slovenia’s national team “I also worked for three years with the Chinese national team in connection with the Beijing Olympics But that ended abruptly when they suddenly stopped their investment and former Olympic winner Nikita Kriukov from Russia.” Terje has kept up with developments in the waxing field He believes that one must be present where things are happening to acquire the knowledge the fluor ban has only made everything worse And as long as a small amount of fluor is allowed It’s not easy to measure either.” the waxing has almost made him more famous than the World Championships gold back in 1991 Because when the hair is gone and the years have passed he is not recognized like Dæhlie and Ulvang two guys who often appear on TV and in the media especially those who have been to waxing courses and connect it that way.” NAME: Terje Bjarte Langli BORN: 1965 LIVES: Henning (Steinkjer municipality) OCCUPATION: Ski and ski waxing (service) direct sales nutritionFAMILY: Inger Lise Hegge (wife) Ane Hegge Langli (daughter)CLUB AS ACTIVE: Henning IL RETIRED: 1996 MY BEST MEMORY FROM MY CAREER: World Championships gold 1991 WHAT I MISS FROM MY ACTIVE CAREER: The freedom to do what I loved most  HOW I FOLLOW THE SPORT TODAY: By working with various teams and national teams until today MY HOBBIES TODAY: Hikes in the forest and mountains  Are you interested in traditional cross-country skiing? Click HERE and read more about it We were totally wowed by the beauty and coolness of the rainbow pics posted by the EarthSky community All I can say is – scroll down and enjoy FAQ: What gives rainbows their curved shape? FAQ: Can you ever see the whole circle of a rainbow? FAQ: What makes a red rainbow? The colors in rainbows are due to what’s called the prism effect The specific angle is called the rainbow angle first described by Descartes in the year 1637 Sunlight that shines into a raindrop leaves that raindrop at an angle of 138 degrees from the path that the light traveled before it entered the drop Sometimes people say they see full-circle rainbows from airplane windows, with the shadow of the airplane inside the circle. But those aren’t true rainbows. Instead, those are called glories. Read about glories here Post your photos and see photos from others on the EarthSky’s Facebook page. Or visit EarthSky’s photo community on G+. A rainbow is caused by sunlight hitting water droplets in the air. You typically see a rainbow in the sky opposite the sun after or during a rain shower. When light enters a raindrop, it’s refracted, or bent. Then the light is reflected from the drop in such a way that the white light breaks into its separate wavelengths and you see a spectrum of colors. If the light left the water droplet at 180 degrees, it’d head straight back toward the sun. With a rainbow angle of 138 degrees, the light is traveling in a direction somewhat, but not directly, back toward the sun. That direction of travel by the light explains why you always see rainbows when the sun is behind you. The sunlight emerges from many raindrops at once. The combined effect is a mosaic of light, spread out in an arc in the sky. But that’s not the end of the story. When sky conditions and your vantage point are perfect, the rain and sun work together in this way to create a complete ring of light – a circle rainbow. You’ll never see this from Earth’s surface because your horizon gets in the way. The early Greeks had a more fanciful – but very beautiful – explanation for rainbows. They believed that Iris, the Greek goddess of the rainbow, could fly at the speed of the wind from one end of the Earth to the other. As she flew, she left an arc of colors trailing in her wake. Bottom line: Rainbow photos from around the world from EarthSky friends. Thanks, everyone! We invite you to visit our campaign page to discover why we need your contributions now more than ever, to preview an illustration from Guy Ottewell’s great book that we're helping finalize, and to learn more about EarthSky’s history. We’re living in uncertain times. But as one viewer commented, “Things are always so much more peaceful when looking up.” We couldn’t agree more. If you've already donated, we apologize for the popup and greatly appreciate your support. Røros Christmas Market Norway verges on magical during the winter, and the Røros Christmas market lets all your Christmas fantasies to come true The whole trip starts with a horse-drawn carriage ride from the station to the centre The UNESCO world heritage town in mid-Norway makes an authentically snow-covered setting for the idyllic stalls selling local beer and reindeer meat It is even possible to feed Santa’s reindeer gracefully tended to by a Sami family for the rest of the year The market takes place on the first weekend of December Røros Kjerkgata | © Henrik Dvergsdal / Wiki Commons The Steinkjer Market The market by the Beitstad Fjord has traditionally been viewed by locals as the beginning of autumn and is usually held during an August weekend (no Steinkjer has been a marketplace for the past 800 years and today’s market The committee who organises it base it around four pillars – celebration trade and experiences – making it a great market not just for hunting down a great deal but as a day out for the entire family too View of Beitstadfjorden | © Bernt Rostad / Flickr Fish Market, Grimstad Although you may not want to bring fish back in your suitcase, a fish market provides an excellent insight into an essential part of one of Norway’s most important historical livelihoods. This fish market in southern Norway is supplied with fresh fish and seafood every day leaving you with a great variety and assortment if you’re staying in the area and keen on making a fish dish The sellers are always happy to provide a top tip or two for fish preparation and storage the terrace in front of the store opens up to become a restaurant where you can enjoy some of the freshest fish around Grimstad | © pbutke / Flickr Farmer’s Market, Valkyrie Plass, Oslo If you are spending a casual Saturday in Oslo, head to this farmer’s market to try local produce provided directly by their producers There is no better place to try local delicacies including fresh berries (look out for real Norwegian blueberries red inside and much more flavourful than most of the blueberries you find in stores today) cheeses and homemade Norwegian waffles – which are part of the national culinary cannon and a must-try Vårvafler | © Ole Husby / Flickr Viking Market, Høvåg In early July, Høvåg opens its doors to a Norway of the past, where traditional crafts from the Viking Age are brought to life. The whole family will be entertained by the many market stalls and craftsmen showing off the impressive There are demonstrations and re-enactments as well as traditional Viking food to sample – you’ll be tempted to take home plenty of goodies from this southern Norwegian market Sign up to our newsletter to save up to $800 on our unique trips See privacy policy Viking | © Hans Splinter / Flickr The Villvin Market, Risør This large market runs for three days in July and offers everything in handicrafts More than 100 craftsmen travel from Denmark Norway and Sweden to sell their goods made from ceramics It is Norway’s biggest handicraft market and even offers classes in certain crafts Risør | © Sjaak Kempe / Flickr Dyregod, Batnfjorden At the start of September, this huge farmer’s market on the West Coast comes together to exhibit farming equipment and animals It’s a great day out for children as well as adults and everyone gets the chance to pet the animals and take a closer look at the expensive equipment the farmers use on a day-to-day basis There are plenty of food and drinks stalls as well as stalls showcasing the best produce from the local farms Goat | © Jan Sølve Borlaug / Flickr Market in the Old Town, Fredrikstad Discover the beautiful fortified town in Fredrikstad, close to the Swedish border, and enjoy the old market in the main square every Saturday from April until winter kicks in The market is a treasure trove of Norwegian and foreign goods and a great opportunity to meet the local community smiling faces and making a great find or two See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in July Guides & Tips The Best European Cities to Visit in November See & Do The Best Kept Secrets of Oslo Guides & Tips The Best European Cities to Visit in December See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in September See & Do Lesser-Known Summer Destinations to Visit in Europe Guides & Tips This Is Europe's Ultimate Road Trip See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in Summer See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in Autumn Guides & Tips The Best Places to Travel in August See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in October Guides & Tips Beat the Crowds with these Alternative Summer Destinations US: +1 (678) 967 4965 | UK: +44 (0)1630 35000 tripssupport@theculturetrip.com © Copyright 2025 The Culture Trip Ltd Arve Olai Hammer is on disability benefit due to impaired hearing following many years of work in a noisy environment in the North Sea "I didn't realize it was that bad." Arve Olai Hammer (60) talks about the day he was called in for a hearing test but led to him never again returning to work Hammer had his last day in the North Sea nearly four and a half years ago He is now on disability benefit and lives in Steinkjer "I was sent to the ear/nose/throat specialist at the hospital There I was asked," Can you hear what I am saying?" "Yes," I answered and expected all to be well The doctor asked where I worked and I answered that it was in the North Sea Then he asked me to sit down," explains Hammer For many years he worked on the helicopter deck of a flotel for Rasmussen Maritime Services he worked as a flagman on board the Snorre A-platform for Prosafe Drilling Service his job was to direct cranes and lift to and from the ship on the platform "I should really have gone offshore just before Christmas 2004 But my doctor wanted me to stay home until the situation was clear to see whether I had good enough hearing to keep my health certificate which is obligatory for everyone who works offshore." Hammer never got his health certificate back because his hearing was too bad He had sick leave for a year before going over to disability benefit Combining that with a hearing aid was impossible There were a lot of squeaky noises in the hearing aid and it was difficult to adjust with the head-phones on," he says Hammer has documented a substantial loss of hearing In a letter from Levanger Hospital to Steinkjer social security office it reads: «His loss of hearing is in connection with the noise the percentage is misguiding in relation to his work in the North Sea He is dependant on an integral communication system he will not be able to perceive all conversations without direct eye-contact with those he is talking to" good communication was one of the conditions for doing a safe job — ensuring that there were no accidents during the loading on and off of many tons of heavy containers on the platform Hammer does not blame any of his employers He has also been paid 455,000 kroner from the compensation fund which is financed by employers in the oil industry there were many flights and therefore a lot of noise I was on deck for long stretches with poor protection That didn't exist before," he says He would have preferred to have worked for longer but he fills his days with many activities "My hearing loss doesn't bother me too much but it's difficult to hear people from the south coast it was no fun losing my health certificate but I can't do anything about that." Alt innhold er opphavsrettslig beskyttet Stavanger Aftenblad arbeider etterVær Varsom-plakatens regler for god presseskikk Stavanger Aftenblad har ikke ansvar for innhold på eksterne nettsider som det lenkes til Personvernpolicy og cookies Retningslinjer for kunstig intelligens “Are they married?” she asked on the Facebook page of Hildur Hrönn Hreiðriksdóttir which is on the board for Íslenska þjóðfylkingin which has often received criticism for their xenophobic views Arndís ran for parliament for the party in the Reykjavík South district the Bishop of Nidaros in Norway had to apologise for Arndís being a member of the Facebook groups Stop islamification and No to Islam in any form where she among other things wrote that she was “probably a racist” She later signed out of the groups and apologised The 11 year old Haniye was born in Iran and is a stateless citizen. The case has caused outrage with hundreds participating in a protest last weekend Tourist Held Hostage On May Day Tourist Sexually Harassed In Blue Lagoon Culture Night Killer Sentenced To Prison Starbucks To Open In Reykjavík Soon An Ode to Flateyri Grapevine Events: The Clock, Other-Grounds Film Festival, Icelandic Sorcery Festival & More Police Officers Spied On Citizens For Iceland’s Richest Man From Army Brats To Luxury Flats Email: tommy.haugan@sintef.no Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been underdiagnosed and the asthma diagnosis has often been used erroneously Due to lack of recent data on diagnosing of COPD in Norway we wished to assess the development of diagnosing and treatment of COPD and asthma International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) diagnoses were used to identify patients in general practice in North and South Trøndelag Norway over the 10-year period 1995 – 2004 hospitalisation and contacts with out-of-hours services and outpatient clinics were retrieved from electronic sources The study shows a notable increase in the number of patients diagnosed with COPD The proportion of COPD patients who had been tested with spirometry increased from 24 % (68/288) in 1995 – 96 to 41 % in 2003 – 04 16 % of COPD patients were in contact with out-of-hours services and 24 % were hospitalised the same calendar year as they had received the diagnosis in general practice Corresponding numbers for asthma patients were substantially lower The increased use of the COPD diagnosis indicates that diagnostic routines have improved Early and correct diagnosis contributes to more optimal use of medication and improved follow-up Bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) are prevalent diseases that affect the health of individuals to a large extent and are associated with high costs for society International guidelines for treatment of asthma (Global Initiative for Asthma [GINA]) (1) and COPD (Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease [GOLD]) (2) have been developed but studies from Sweden (3) and the UK (4) have shown that diagnostic precision is often low objective measurement of lung function with spirometry is required to diagnose the condition classify the degree of severity and to follow up lung function (5) Spirometry seems to be used less frequently than recommended in Norway as in other western countries (6 but apart from a questionnaire (1996) there are few reports on use of spirometry in Norway (8) Patients with a COPD diagnosis have often been treated with medication documented to be effective and approved for the asthma indication (8) New regulations on reimbursement from 1.07.2006 require spirometry assessments in asthma and COPD and the list of drugs that are approved for reimbursement for COPD has been restricted (9) Unclear use of diagnoses and insufficient documentation of practice for diagnosing obstructive lung disease in Norway triggered us to map the use of the diagnoses COPD asthma and «heavy breathing» in a sample of regular GP practices in Trøndelag We also wished to assess the use of spirometry outpatient consultations and hospitalisations for the patient groups The study covers the period 1995 – 2004 before implementation of new prescription regulations The study included all patients 7 years of age and older registered with the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) diagnoses: COPD (R95) asthma (R96) or «heavy breathing» (R02) in electronic medical records in the period 1.1.1995 – 31.12.2004 at one of the five GP practices in Steinkjer or three selected practices in Trondheim By use of an extraction programme (Mediata AS) prescriptions and spirometry were retrieved from RGP records spirometry data were missing for one practice for the entire period and for another one for the years 1999 – 2002 Prescription information was based on drug names put down in the medical records and ATC codes from reimbursement paragraph 9.2 (bronchial asthma and COPD) information on contacts to the out-of-hours services (due to these diagnoses) was retrieved from out-of-hours services in Steinkjer (1995 – 2004) and Trondheim (1995 – 2002) For patients with the diagnoses asthma (ICD-10-codes: J45.0 – 9 and J46) COPD (J43.0 – 9 and J44.0 – 9) and chronic bronchitis (J41.0 – 8 and J42) identified in Levanger hospital (1999 – 2004) or St Olavs hospital (2001 – 04) information was collected during outpatient consultations and at admission The analyses are based on the total number of patients registered with COPD asthma (without COPD) and «heavy breathing» (without COPD and/or asthma) No patient was included in the analysis more than once per calendar year the annual proportion of inhabitants who had contacted a GP because of one of the diagnoses mentioned could be calculated Population data for the municipality of Steinkjer were retrieved from Statistics Norway The statistics programme SPSS for Windows (version 14.0) was used for all analyses The Norwegian Directorate of Health and The Data Inspectorate approved the study and the Independent Ethics Committee in Central Norway Regional Health Authority recommended it The analysis material includes 10 802 contacts (COPD 2 533 «heavy breathing» 1 208) in GP practice for 4 486 patients from either Steinkjer or Trondheim The proportion of inhabitants in Steinkjer municipality who contacted a GP because of COPD increased through the observation period for both sexes and in all age groups (tab 1) The proportion of inhabitants with the diagnosis asthma was quite stable for both sexes in the age group 7 – 19 years and somewhat on the increase for the age groups between 20 and 54 years For the oldest age groups there was a tendency for a weak reduction in the use of the asthma diagnosis The diagnosis «heavy breathing» was not so much used during the observation period Proportion of inhabitants (%) registered in general practice with at least one annual contact due to the diagnoses chronic obstructive lung disesae (COPD) asthma or «heavy breathing» in Steinkjer municipality 1995 – 2004 The proportion of COPD patients with spirometry measurements increased from 24 % in 1995 – 96 to 41 % in 2003 – 04 (fig 1) the use of spirometry was about 30 % through the entire observation period During the entire observational period about four of five patients with COPD or asthma were treated with a drug under the complete reimbursement scheme; patients with the symptom diagnosis «heavy breathing» received substantially fewer drugs in this scheme (tab 2) Proportion of patients with the diagnoses Chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) asthma and «heavy breathing» registered with prescription of drugs on blue prescription inhalation steroids (ATC-code R03BA) and combination drugs (ATC-kode R03AK) in general practice in Steinkjer and Trondheim 1995 – 2004 [i] ¹  Chi square test for trend prescriptions of pure inhalation steroids decreased strongly in the period 1999 – 2000 and at the same time there was an increase in prescriptions of combination drugs (tab 2) 16 % (349/201) of patients with a COPD diagnosis from GP practice had been in contact with out-of-hours services the same calendar year The proportion was quite stable over the observation period 1995 – 2004 (data not shown) In 50 % (n = 174) of the 349 cases there was a concordance in use of diagnoses while the diagnoses asthma and «heavy breathing» were used by out-of-hours services for 44 % (n = 153) and 6 % (n = 22) of patients registered with a COPD diagnosis in GP practice the percentage (10 % [634/6 470]) of patients with an asthma diagnosis who were in contact with the out-of-hours services remained quite stable over the observation period (data not shown) The majority of patients diagnosed with asthma in general practice were given the same diagnosis by the out-of-hours services (89 % while 7 % (46/634) were diagnosed with COPD and 3 % (21/634) with «heavy breathing» Just a small proportion of patients with the diagnosis «heavy breathing» were in contact with the out-of-hours services; 2 – 4 % during the entire observational period 19 % (324/1 666) of patients with the diagnosis COPD in GP practice came to an outpatient consultation the same calendar year The proportion was quite stable over the years 1999 – 2004 (data not shown) The majority of these were given the same diagnosis at the outpatient clinic (90 % Among patients diagnosed with asthma and «heavy breathing» in GP practice there was a substantially lower proportion that came to outpatient consultations (8 % [337/4 201] and 3 % [26/871] respectively) Among patients with an asthma diagnosis in GP practice 72 % (242/337) were diagnosed with asthma on an outpatient basis 27 % (92/337) were diagnosed with COPD while three patients were diagnosed with chronic bronchitis For one fourth (394/1 666) of patients registered to have COPD in general practice 1999 – 2004 hospitalisation was recorded the same calendar year; the majority of these (94 % 371/394) were discharged with the same diagnosis and a minority with an asthma diagnosis (6 % Among patients diagnosed with asthma or «heavy breathing» in general practice the proportion of admissions were substantially lower (4 % [159/4 201 and 3 % [30/871] respectively) More than half of these asthma patients were discharged from hospital with the diagnosis COPD (55 % while for 30 of patients hospitalised for «heavy breathing» 22 (73 %) were discharged with the diagnosis COPD and eight (27 %) with an asthma diagnosis This study is based on data from medical records and shows how such data can be used to better understand treatment and health service expenditure for different patient groups We have followed a large number of patients between the first and second line service and have avoided sources of error incurred by doctors under surveillance who could have improved their procedures Municipalities and regions may use the diagnosis systems differently which may weaken generalisability of the results We assume that the increasing use of the COPD diagnosis can be explained by an increased awareness of this disease but also that spirometry (a prerequisite to assign the correct diagnosis) is increasingly used The decline in asthma diagnoses among the oldest patients supports this interpretation An increasing prevalence of asthma after the age of 50 years may be attributed to COPD patients having been erroneously diagnosed with asthma (10) we do not dismiss that the prevalence of COPD may have increased The fact that guidelines for both asthma and COPD (1 2) require that lung function tests are used to diagnose and follow up such patients we had expected an even stronger increase in the use of spirometry Our results point at an underuse of spirometry which accords with international studies (6 These findings illustrate how difficult it may be to implement use of such guidelines in clinical work (12) Our findings show differences in diagnoses between GP practice which indicates that diagnostic precision can be improved We observed that the prescription pattern quickly changed from inhalation steroids to combination drugs for both COPD and asthma patients Prescription of inhalation steroids and combination drugs give grounds for reimbursement in asthma The pure steroids do not have an improved indication for serious COPD (FEV1< 50 %) with frequent exacerbations The prescription pattern that comes up in our study indicates that the splitting of previous reimbursement paragraph 9.2 to paragraphs 9.44 and 9.45 (implemented in July 2006) was effective in reducing the overuse of combination drugs for patients with mild to moderate COPD In this study we found that one of six patients diagnosed with COPD in GP practice had been in contact with out-of-hours-services during the same calendar year The extensive use of the out-of-hours services may be explained by the fact that patients feel a need to contact health services also in afternoons/evenings and during weekends because they fear a night with breathing difficulties and the limited access to regular GPs in daytime (13) Part of the visits to out-of-hours services may be caused by patients delaying to contact their GP for as long as possible Extensive use of out-of-hours services may indicate that information to patients on how to tackle exacerbations is not good enough Many patients with asthma or COPD do not have individual action plans drugs or other aids for self-treatment of exacerbations (2 The RGP scheme was implemented in Trondheim as early as 1993 and in Steinkjer municipality in 2001 Implementation of the RGP scheme did not seem to affect the use of out-of-hours services for patients in Steinkjer which accords with other assessments of the RGP scheme and use of out-of-hours services (13 We found that about one of four patients with COPD had been hospitalised during one year while about one of five had outpatient consultations It is reasonable that patients with serious disease have regular controls in the second-line service to identify development of chronic hypoxia but patients with mild to moderate disease should be referred back to their regular GP Our data (0.26 % of the population in Steinkjer had been in contact with general practice because of COPD and had been hospitalised for obstructive lung disease within one calendar year [calculations not shown]) are well in accordance with statistics from the Ministry for Health and Care Services (360 patients are hospitalised with the COPD diagnosis per 100 000 inhabitants annually [8]) Changes in use of diagnoses and increased use of spirometry in obstructive lung disease indicate that the COPD diagnosis is used more correctly Use of spirometry for diagnosing and classifying this disease in the primary health services is a prerequisite for correct treatment and use of the reimbursement system The project has been supported economically by GlaxoSmithKline through a contract with SINTEF Health Torbjørn Øien and Arnulf Langhammer have all received payment for lectures and drug studies from pharmaceutical companies that have products for treatment of obstructive lung disease Tommy Haugan and Inger Johanne Bakken do not have any conflicts of interest Use of the COPD diagnosis has increased in GP practice at the same time as use of the asthma diagnosis has declined somewhat in the oldest age groups Patients with chronic obstructive lung disease have a high health service expenditure The use of spirometry was still too low in 2004 National Institutes of Health: National Heart Global strategy for asthma management and prevention 02 – 3659.Bethesda: National Institutes of Health and prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease NHLBI/WHO Global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease (GOLD) Workshop summary Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2001; 163: 1256 – 76 Prevalence and underdiagnosis of COPD by disease severity and the attribute fraction of smoking Report from the Obstructive Lung Disease in Nothern Sweden Studies Respir Med 2006; 100: 264 – 72 The diagnostic accuracies of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in general practice: The results of the MAGIC (Manchester Airways Group Identifying COPD) study Prim Care Respir J 2006; 15: 286 – 93 Effect of primary-care spirometry on the diagnosis and management of COPD Eur Respir J 2006; 28: 945 – 52 Spirometry use in clinical practice following diagnosis of COPD Chest 2006; 129: 1509 – 15 Underuse of spirometry by general practitioners for the diagnosis of COPD in Italy Monaldi Arch Chest Dis 2005; 63: 6 – 12 Diagnostikk og behandling av obstruktive lungesykdommer Tidsskr Nor Lægeforen 1998; 118: 3268 – 71 Nasjonal strategi for KOLS-området 2006 – 11 Cigarette smoking gives more respiratory symptoms among women than among men The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) J Epidemiol Com Health 2000; 54: 917 – 22 Clinical management of asthma in 1999: the Asthma Insights and Reality in Europe (AIRE) study Eur Respir J 2000; 16: 802 – 7 Acceptance of guideline recommendations and perceived implementation of coronary heart disease prevention among primary care physicians in five European countries: the Reassessing European Attitudes about Cardiovascular Treatment (REACT) survey Fam Pract 2002; 19: 596 – 604 Steen K, Hunskår S. Fastlegeordningen og legevakt i Bergen Tidsskr Nor Lægeforen 2004; 124: 365-6 Int J Clin Pract 2004; 58: 592 – 603 Bruk av legevakt før og etter fastlegeordningen Tidsskr Nor Lægeforen 2007; 127: 15 – 7 Hold deg oppdatert om ny forskning og medisinske nyheter Sjefredaktør Are Brean • Tidsskriftet er et medisinskvitenskapelig tidsskrift med åpen tilgang Tidsskriftet redigeres etter redaktørplakaten ISSN 0029-2001 (papir) ISSN 0807-7096 (nett) The Local Europe ABVästmannagatan 43113 25 StockholmSweden Rail company SJ Norway announced the cancellations on its website No alternative transport has been arranged for some of the affected departures between Trondheim A number of other services were also affected in central and northern Norway SJ cancelled trains between Bodø and Rognan however it said that it would try and set up alternative transport  Departures were also cancelled on the Steinkjer-Lerkendal route Please log in here to leave a comment The Snow Sister is an upcoming holiday movie based on the best-selling Norwegian book by Maja Lunde and Lisa Aisato Netflix has announced that the film will premiere globally on November 29 The movie promises to capture the magic of Christmas with a heartwarming story of hope and healing and his grieving family who have lost their Christmas spirit The usually festive holiday season seems dull and sad until Julian meets Hedvig The main cast includes Celina Meyer Hovland as Hedvig These talented actors bring their characters to life in a story full of emotion Celina Meyer Hovland plays the role of Hedvig Christmas-loving girl who helps Julian rediscover the magic of the holiday season Hovland’s portrayal of Hedvig is expected to bring a lot of joy and warmth to the screen a young boy who is having a hard time with the loss of Christmas cheer because his family is sad Known for his performances in international films Gupta's portrayal of Julian is sure to capture the emotional depth of a child’s longing for normalcy who adds another layer to the story’s dynamics Augusta’s role intertwines with the central themes of family and healing Advika has appeared in a variety of films and TV shows Ole Steinkjer Øyen’s role in The Snow Sister adds to the rich tapestry of characters though details of his character are still largely undisclosed Øyen’s acting credits include a variety of Norwegian dramas showcasing his skill in portraying complex characters Jan Sælid is part of the cast in The Snow Sister contributing to the film’s emotional depth This Norwegian actor is known for his versatile roles in both film and television He gained recognition for his performances in Kodenavn Hunter (2007-2008) Sælid has also appeared in films like Izzat (2005) and Sejer - Se deg ikke tilbake (2000) In The Snow Sister faces a sorrowful Christmas as his family struggles with grief and the holiday spirit seems lost His usual joyful Christmas Eve is overshadowed by sadness Julian begins to believe in the magic of the season again there’s something peculiar about Hedvig’s home and the presence of an elderly man lurking nearby adds mystery to the story making Julian question what lies beneath the festive exterior The Snow Sister will be available to stream on Netflix Your perspective matters!Start the conversation