<p>Our aim with this essay is to examine if social work in the care of elderly tends to be salutogenetic or patogenetic oriented. A salutogenetic oriented activity means that the social workers focuses on the elderly peoples individual possibilities, and collaborate with the receiver of care in order to offer him or her aid and resources for meaningful living conditions. A patogenetic oriented activity on the other hand means that the social workers focuses on the elderly peoples most primary needs, their illnesses and to introduce adequate treatment. We also examine if social workers in the care of elderly tend to prefer male or female characteristic features in the receivers of care. Finally we wanted to find out if there were any gender distinctions, if the appraisal of aid were more affected by a male or female receiver of care. We also considered that gender might not have any affect on their appraisal at all.</p><p>Our theoretical framework is mainly based on three already existing theories. These gave us a general list of salutogenetic/patogenetic statements and typical male/female characteristic features. Because of time shortage the material includes only one empirical method, which is a questionnaire to the employees in the care of the elderly. The method of analysis is mostly quantitative, but since the questionnaire also contained some opened questions, our study is partly qualitative. A total of 101 persons participated in our questionnaire poll. The results of our study brought about unexpected results. To our surprise, the social workers in the care of elderly tend to prefer male characteristic features in the receivers of care. We also found that what requires of a good apraisal of aid is a salutogenetic perspective, but that the social workers thought it was difficult to apply in practice.</p>

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We discuss a new approach to the construction of software systems. Instead of attempting to build a system that is as free of errors as possible, the designer instead identifies key properties that the execution must satisfy to be acceptable to its users. Together, these properties define the acceptability envelope of the system: the region that it must stay within to remain acceptable. The developer then augments the system with a layered set of components, each of which enforces one of the acceptability properties. The potential advantages of this approach include more flexible, resilient systems that recover from errors and behave acceptably across a wide range of operating environments, an appropriately prioritized investment of engineering resources, and the ability to productively incorporate unreliable components into the final software system. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

In the vision of Ambient Intelligence, people are assisted in their everyday activities through the proactive, opportunistic support of non-intrusive computing devices offering intuitive interaction modalities. The usefulness and quality of delivered services can be improved considerably if the devices are able to adapt their behaviour according to sensed changes in their surrounding environment, both at the physical and logical levels. This interplay between context-awareness and dynamic software adaptability is key to the construction of applications that are smart with respect to user needs. Unfortunately, most current applications do not reach this level of adaptability, due to a lack of appropriate programming technology. Most applications exhibit fixed functionality and seldom do they sense their environment and adapt their services in a context-aware fashion. Many chances of delivering improved services to users and network peers are thus missed. This dissertation presents a programming model to ease the construction of applications that can react to changes in their execution context by adapting their behaviour dynamically. The starting point of our research is the development of novel language abstractions and the adaptation of existing abstractions to render context-aware, self-adaptable applications easier to develop. We demonstrate that a simple yet powerful computation model readily provides the needed support, leading to straightforward application code that is not concerned with context adaptation, behaviour that can be adapted dynamically to different contexts in a non-intrusive fashion, and context-aware applications with software architectures that are not biased towards context adaptation ---rather, they can be designed freely according to their domain. The proposed computation model is realised through the Ambience programming language, and its underlying open implementation, the Ambient Object System. A small-step operational semantics describes it formally. Much in the vein of prototype-based programming, the model has been designed with simplicity and concreteness in mind. It is highly dynamic, featuring dynamic (multiple) dispatch, dynamic inheritance, dynamic typing, and dynamic method scoping. Application logic adaptation is enabled by means of an intuitive, first-class reification of context that is straightforwardly connected to dynamic behaviour selection. We describe needed management techniques for such context, and a few programming guidelines on how to develop context-aware applications using our approach. The approach is validated by showing its application in a number of scenarios inspired on Ambient Intelligence.

Die Progressive Supranukleäre Blickparese (PSP) ist eine sporadisch auftretende neurodegenerative Erkrankung im Rahmen der atypischen Parkinson-Syndrome (APS), die im frühen Verlauf häufig mit dem Idiopathischen Parkinson-Syndrom (IPS) verwechselt wird. Dabei ist die Dysarthrie als eine erworbene, zentral bedingte sprechmotorische Störung ein häufiges und früh auftretendes Symptom bei PSP. Bislang spricht man von einer eher unspezifischen „gemischten“ Dysarthrie aus hypokinetischen, spastischen und auch ataktischen Komponenten. Im Rahmen einer explorativen Querschnittsstudie am „Fachkrankenhaus für Bewegungsstörungen und Parkinson“ Beelitz-Heilstätten in Kooperation mit der „Entwicklungsgruppe Klinische Neuropsychologie“ München (EKN) sowie der „Interdisziplinären Ambulanz für Bewegungsstörungen“ am Klinikum München-Großhadern wurden 50 Patienten dahingehend untersucht, ob sich für die Progressive Supranukleäre Blickparese (PSP) eine spezielle, frühzeitig zu diagnostizierende und differentialdiagnostisch relevante Dysarthrie beschreiben ließe. In diesem Zusammenhang soll geklärt werden, ob es sich um phänotypische Ausprägungen im Rahmen eines Störungsspektrums handelt oder ob sich differenzierbare Subtypen der Krankheit, insbesondere ein „klassischer“ PSP-Typ (PSP-RS) und ein „atypischer“ PSP-Typ (PSP-P), auch im Bereich der Dysarthrie zeigen. Im Rahmen der Untersuchungen wurde der Schweregrad der Erkrankung mittels der „PSP-sensitiven Ratingskala (PSPRS)“ gemessen. Die Dysarthriediagnostik erfolgte anhand der „Bogenhausener Dysarthrieskalen (BoDyS)“ zur Beschreibung der Art und Ausprägung der Dysarthrie bei PSP. Die Verständlichkeit wurde mithilfe des „Münchner Verständlichkeits-Profils (MVP)" sowie eines weiteren Transkriptionsverfahrens ermittelt, wobei Ausschnitte aus den Tests zum Lesen und Nachsprechen der BoDyS zugrunde lagen. Weiterhin erfolgte eine Einschätzung der Natürlichkeit des Sprechens. Die Ergebnisse hinsichtlich des Einflusses von Natürlichkeit und Verständlichkeit des Sprechens auf den Schweregrad der Dysarthrie zeigten, dass dieser modalitätenübergreifend mit beiden Schweregradaspekten korreliert, wenngleich es offenbar die Natürlichkeit des Sprechens ist, die bei PSP bereits frühzeitig beeinträchtigt ist und somit als das entscheidende differentialdiagnostische Kriterium zur Differenzierung zwischen beiden PSP-Subtypen zu beurteilen ist, möglicherweise auch gegenüber anderen Parkinson-Syndromen. Anhand statistisch valider Ergebnisse konnten spezifische Störungsmerkmale der Dysarthrie extrahiert werden, die eine signifikante Trennung von PSP-RS und PSP-P ermöglichen: eine leise und behaucht-heisere Stimme sowie ein verlangsamtes Sprechtempo und Hypernasalität. Damit können für die hier fokussierten Subtypen der PSP zwei unterschiedliche Dysarthrietypen postuliert werden. Danach wird dem Subtyp PSP-RS eine spastisch betonte Dysarthrie mit ausgeprägter Verlangsamung des Sprechtempos zugeordnet, dem Subtyp PSP-P hingegen eine hypokinetische Dysarthrie mit behaucht-heiserer Hypophonie. Desweiteren konnte ein „Dysarthrie-Schwellenwert“ als Zusatzkriterium für eine zeitliche Differenzierung beider PSP-Subtypen ermittelt werden. Anhand der Daten zeigte sich die Dysarthrie bei dem Subtyp PSP-RS gleich zu Beginn der Erkrankung, jedoch spätestens 24 Monate danach. Hingegen konnte die Dysarthrie beim Subtyp PSP-P frühestens 24 Monate nach Erkrankungsbeginn festgestellt werden. Die Daten dieser Studie verdeutlichen, dass der Frage nach einer subtypenspezifischen Ausprägung der Dysarthrie bei PSP eine Längsschnittsstudie folgen sollte, um die ermittelten Ergebnisse zu konsolidieren. / Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) is an atypical Parkinsonian syndrome characterized by gait ataxia, slowing or inability to generate vertical saccadic eye movements, axial rigidity, cognitive disorders and a progressive dysarthria. The dysarthria may include abnormalities in strength, speed, range, tone or accuracy of speech movements. As the disease progresses, important functional components of speech including respiration, phonation, resonance, articulation and prosody are affected. The question is what kind of dysarthria do we find in PSP? Until now it remains unclear, if the dysarthric characteristics of PSP vary in way as described by Williams et al. (2005) who found clinically distinct symptom patterns of a Parkinsonian form of PSP (PSP-P) distinct from a classical form (Richardson Syndrome). The aim of the cross-sectional multi center study was to investigate the specific dysarthric symptoms in patients with PSP. Until now it remains unclear, whether there are two different points on a continuous spectrum of speech disturbances or if there exist distinct „profiles“ of dysarthria according to the proposed Richardson Syndrome (PSP-RS) with early onset of postural instability and falls, vertical gaze palsy and cognitive dysfunctions and the PSP with Parkinsonism (PSP-P) with asymmetric onset, tremor, early bradykinesia, non-axial dystonia and response to levodopa medications in the beginning. „Bogenhausener Dysarthrieskalen“ (BoDys) was used as base-line dysarthria scale: pitch pattern, loudness range, voice quality, respiration and resonance capacities, prosody and articulation were rated. Furthermore, the intelligibility is a most important index of functional impairment in dysarthria. Therefore, the „Munich Intelligibility Profile (MVP)“, a computer-based method for the assessment of the intelligibility of dysarthric patients, was used to describe the intelligibility of the patients. The PSP-P-group, at the beginning frequently confused with patients with PD, showed rigide-hypokinetic dysarthric features with hypophonia as cardinal symptom. In contrast the patients with the “classical” PSP-RS-Type show severe speech impairments in terms of a very effortful speak with a progressive loss of intelligibility. They show spastic components of dysarthria, like a very strained-strangled voice with breaks and voice stoppages, harshness and reduced pitch and loudness variability. Their loudness often is inadequate in terms of the so called “lions voice”. Further they show a hypernasality, the articulation is imprecise, the vowels are distorted. Concerning the prosody there is a very slow and strained rate of speech with equal or excess stress. The results show that the patients with PSP-RS generally suffer from severe and more progressive speech impairments beginning early after disease onset, whereas the PSP-P-group shows rather moderate symptoms. The dysarthria in PSP is subtype-specific. The hypothesis of different dysarthric profiles for the proposed clinical subtypes "Richardson Syndrome" (PSP-RS) and "PSP with parkinsonism" (PSP-P) was confirmed and based on a discriminant analysis that identified distinctive dysarthric features for both subgroups.

This dissertation examines Lennart Sjögren’s conception of life as revealed through his poetry and other written documents. Light is shed on his writings in three chapters, with an Introduction that opens the investigations, and a Conclusion that sums up the findings. His collection of poetry Ur männisovärlden (2008, From the world of the living) is commented upon in an epilogue. Chapter Two analyses the collection Havet (1974, The Sea), focussing on Sjögren’s view of nature and his imagery. A religious tone can be apparent throughout the poems. In earlier centuries, poems about migratory birds often gained in authenticity via their Christian context. In a secularised age, ecological insights add to the credibility of the poems. Chapter Three is an analysis and interpretation of Sjögren’s collection of poems Fågeljägarna (1997, The Bird Catchers), as well as of the intra- and intertexts that the reader meets in his writings and that, for various reasons, serve to make Sjögren’s poetic voice so distinctive. In a series of subsections the uniqueness of Fågeljägarna is defined by means of a comparison with ecology, secularisation (secularism), nihilism, religion and mythology. In addition, there is a discussion of the “poetry of place” and a final analysis of what unites and divides Sjögren and K. E. Løgstrup, regarding a poetic understanding of life. Independent of the ideological direction that is identi-fied, this cycle of poems is marked by an elegiac mood. The poem “Dagen före plöjarens kväll” (1984, “The Day before the Plough-man’s Evening”) from the eponymous collection of poems is an example of an ekphrasis (a transformation of images). Chapter Four makes a close reading of this poem, for which Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s picture “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” is a model. Four interpretative hypotheses are advanced: a moral, ontological, theological and a folkloristic one. The interpretation of the poem points out that the dialogue is not merely the poet’s private affair – the reader is also invited to take an active part in the discussion, now with the picture and the ekphrasis as prerequisites. The chapter contains a further three analyses of ekphrasis dealing with other poems from the collection Dagen före plöjarens kväll.

E' ben noto che la dimensione affettiva è una componente importante dell'esperienza mediata e molti studi dimostrano l'abilità dei media interattivi nell'induzione di emozioni. Ciò nonostante, è meno chiaro come manipolare le caratteristiche dei media per indurre risposte emozionali specifiche. In particolare questo è vero per un medium emergente, qual la Realtà Virtuale, la cui caratteristica principale è l'abilità di indurre una sensazione di “presenza” nell'utilizzatore che fa esperienza del mondo generato dal computer. Noi abbiamo investigato la relazione esistente tra processi comunicativi mediati, emozioni e “sensazione di esserci” (senso di presenza) in esperienze mediate, attraverso tre studi sperimentali che miravano a: 1) manipolare e verificare l'impatto delle caratteristiche della RV: la narrativa e le caratteristiche dell'ambiente virtuale; 2) utilizzare la RV per manipolare esperienze relative alle emozioni e al rilassamento; 3) applicare i risultati in un protocollo focalizzato sulla gestione delle emozioni. Eravamo interessati a valutare l'efficacia del protocollo supportato da diversi media. I risultati saranno discussi all'interno della Tesi: da un lato, la relazione tra caratteristiche dei media e senso di presenza e, dall'altro, la relazione tra presenza e dimensione affettiva nei media interattivi. / It is well known that affective dimension is an important part of user experience in interactive media and many studies showed their ability to elicit emotions. Nevertheless it is less clear how to manipulate the interactive media features to induce specific emotional responses. In particular this is true for an emerging medium, such as Virtual Reality (VR), which main feature is the ability to induce a feeling of “presence” in the computer‐generated world experienced by the user. We investigated the relationship among mediated communication processes, emotions and the “feeling of being there” (sense of presence) in mediated experiences, through three experimental studies aiming: 1) to manipulate and to verify the impact of the characteristics of VR: the narrative background and the features of the virtual environment. 2) to use VR to manipulate experience‐related relaxation and mood. 3) to apply the found results in a protocol focused on emotional management. We were interested to evaluate the efficacy of the protocol by using different media. Results will be discussed in depth within the Thesis: on one side, the relationship between media characteristics and presence and, on the other side, the relationship between presence and affective response in interactive media.

The grass of wetlands in northern Sweden has been utilized for mowing and pasture even in our time. There are a large number of words and expressions, expecially in the dialects, to denote and describe the various types of wetlands.The chief aim of the thesis is to investigate some 40 wetland terms in a limited area - the old parish of Luleå, Norrbotten, in northern Sweden - in order to establish their distribution, meanings and use. The aim of the study is also to illustrate different semantic aspects, such as semantic features, semantic fields, the relationship between common nouns and place-names, as well as explanations based on the appearance of the wetlands. The material consists of words that derive from archives, the literature on the subject and interviews with 43 informants, and has been supplemented with studies of the wetlands themselves.Three semantically similar words, drävj, dröla and dovei, are scrutinized and compared with reference to their frequency and distribution, position, humidity, vegetation, form and depth of the ground. To illustrate the relationship between words and referents the author investigates what words are used about (small) muddy pools in a swamp (mire) and about the dry parts of a swamp (in technical language called flarkar and strängar, respectively). The words drävj and dröla are compared with five other words for 'depression/hollow' etc. and 'small pool' etc. Similarities and differences are illustrated in three figures on the basis of criteria like depression/hollow, humidity and size. The words are often explained with reference to special places in the area or to adjacent places, the names of which contain the word in question. With two pairs of words as examples, grande and skärpa, and drävj and dröla, respectively, the author investigates the meanings of the words and their referents and the explanatory strategies of the informants.The author stresses the dependence of word explanations and the learning of words on their contexts and functional situations. This aspect is illustrated in a chapter which summerizes how the author's semantic views of dövel, dröla and drävj have been formed. This is done with reference to the so-called prototype theory. / digitalisering@umu

The previous view of DNA as a linear sequence of bases is evolving to consider structure, topology and dynamics. Sequences surrounding damage lesions have been shown to effect enzyme recognition and processing. Here we present an in depth investigation of subtle structural and dynamical features imparted to nucleic acid duplexes by a designed modification or damage lesions. Highly restrained solution structures were generated and validated utilizing a range of NMR techniques. This allowed for the characterization of multiple features of the nucleic acid duplex; such as base pairing, backbone torsion angles, deoxyribose sugar pucker, and intra and inter nucleotide proton distances. Additional experiments provided insight into dynamic movements of the nucleic bases. These features are then correlated to enzyme data in order to explain the observed modulation of activity.

Vascular diseases are among the leading causes of death in Canada and around the globe. A major underlying cause of most such medical conditions is atherosclerosis, a gradual accumulation of plaque on the walls of blood vessels. Particularly vulnerable to atherosclerosis is the carotid artery, which carries blood to the brain. Dangerous narrowing of the carotid artery can lead to embolism, a dislodgement of plaque fragments which travel to the brain and are the cause of most strokes. If this pathology can be detected early, such a deadly scenario can be potentially prevented through treatment or surgery. This not only improves the patient's prognosis, but also dramatically lowers the overall cost of their treatment. Medical imaging is an indispensable tool for early detection of atherosclerosis, in particular since the exact location and shape of the plaque need to be known for accurate diagnosis. This can be achieved by locating the plaque inside the artery and measuring its volume or texture, a process which is greatly aided by image segmentation. In particular, the use of ultrasound imaging is desirable because it is a cost-effective and safe modality. However, ultrasonic images depict sound-reflecting properties of tissue, and thus suffer from a number of unique artifacts not present in other medical images, such as acoustic shadowing, speckle noise and discontinuous tissue boundaries. A robust ultrasound image segmentation technique must take these properties into account. Prior to segmentation, an important pre-processing step is the extraction of a series of features from the image via application of various transforms and non-linear filters. A number of such features are explored and evaluated, many of them resulting in piecewise smooth images. It is also proposed to decompose the ultrasound image into several statistically distinct components. These components can be then used as features directly, or other features can be obtained from them instead of the original image. The decomposition scheme is derived using Maximum-a-Posteriori estimation framework and is efficiently computable. Furthermore, this work presents and evaluates an algorithm for segmenting the carotid artery in 3D ultrasound images from other tissues. The algorithm incorporates information from different sources using an energy minimization framework. Using the ultrasound image itself, statistical differences between the region of interest and its background are exploited, and maximal overlap with strong image edges encouraged. In order to aid the convergence to anatomically accurate shapes, as well as to deal with the above-mentioned artifacts, prior knowledge is incorporated into the algorithm by using weak geometric priors. The performance of the algorithm is tested on a number of available 3D images, and encouraging results are obtained and discussed.