Ce mémoire par article décrit le développement d’instrumentation optique et d’algorithmes qui ont servi à l’étude du développement rétinien du modèle murin par tomographie par cohérence optique (OCT de l’anglais, Optical Coherence Tomography). Le document est divisé en deux parties importantes. Le Chapitre 1 introduit les bases théoriques nécessaires à la compréhension de la problématique, alors que le Chapitre 2 décrit les outils qui ont été développés ou adaptés durant le projet pour mener à bien les expériences. Spécifiquement, les particularités du système optique développé pour permettre la focalisation d’un faisceau sur la rétine, maximiser le signal et minimiser l’impact des aberrations sphériques et de dispersion sur la qualité de l’image sont détaillées. Les algorithmes de traitement de signal OCT permettant la visualisation une tomographie sont aussi détaillés. La seconde partie est un manuscrit en préparation pour soumission au journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science pour publication. Le but de ce manuscrit est d’établir des chartes de référence détaillant la croissance et la maturation morphologique des tissus rétiniens de la souris wild-type (129S1/SvImJ) entre 7 et 21 jours de vie (Chapitre 3). L’article détaille l’algorithme de traitement d’images et de segmentation dédié à la quantification de l’épaisseur des tissus rétiniens dans le temps. Enfin, un aperçu des travaux de recherche rendus possibles par les outils développés dans ce projet est présenté. Cette section montre entre autres le potentiel de ces outils pour étudier des maladies développementales de la rétine. / This master thesis is including a manuscript submitted for publication and is divided into two sections. In particular, the document describes the development of optical instrumentation and methodological tools to study the retinal development in an animal model through optical coherence tomography (OCT). The first section is divided into two chapters. Chapter 1 describes the theoretical basis and the problem to solve. Chapter 2 describes the tools developed or adapted to enable the performance of the experiments. In particular, this chapter details the optical system designed to allow the optimal focalization of the light beam onto the retina, which maximizes the signal and minimizes the impact of spherical aberrations and light dispersion on image quality. Also, the processing algorithm used to segment retinal tissues from OCT tomography is discussed. The second section is divided into two chapters. Chapter 3 is a manuscript that was submitted for publication to Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. This work describes the growth and maturation of specific retinal layers in the wild type mouse (129S1/SvImJ) between 7 and 21 days of life. The manuscript also describes the image processing and segmentation algorithm that allows the quantification of the thickness of the layers over time. Then, Chapter 4 describes specific research projects where these OCT imaging tools can be applied. Specifically, this chapter shows the potential to study retinal developmental diseases as well as perfusion methods.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka om det fanns ett sambandet mellan KASAM kopplat till psykisk välbefinnande, som enligt teorin skulle kunna vara en positiv motståndskraft för individer att klara påfrestningar i livet genom hanterbarhet, begriplighetoch meningsfullhet. Syftet var även att se om det förekom fler faktorer som kunde habetydelse för relationen mellan KASAM och psykisk hälsa. Genom en kvantitativ enkätundersökning mättes den subjektiva psykiska hälsan med självskattningsformuläret GHQ-12 samt graden av KASAM med KASAM 29. Den rådande Coronapandemin gjorde även att kvalitativa frågor togs med och blev en del av undersökningen. Andra variabler som mättes var ålder, kön, civilstånd, yrke, sociala kontakter samt tro på högre makt. Resultatet av studien visade att KASAM hade en stark signifikant korrelation med psykisk välbefinnande (r = 0.690, p < .001) även när justeringar för ålder gjordes. Slutsatsen blev att KASAMskulle kunna ses som en hälsoförebyggande prediktor för upplevd hälsa och att ålder inte hade någon betydelse för relationen. Studien indikerade även på att leva i tvåsamhet skulle kunna ha en betydande roll för Känsla av sammanhang och det subjektiva välbefinnande.

Bakgrund: Livskvaliteten under klimakteriet och hur kvinnor skattar sin tillvaro påverkas av flera olika komponenter. Förutom sociala och miljömässiga förändringar, drabbas många kvinnor av olika grad av fysiska och psykiska symptom, som påverkar livskvaliteten negativt. För att förbättra måendet används numera både hormonella och icke-hormonella metoder. Antonovskys känsla av sammanhang (KASAM), innefattar begreppen: begriplighet, hanterbarhet och meningsfullhet, som har visat sig kunna underlätta för människors anpassning till svåra livssituationer. Motiv: Effekten av KASAM under klimakteriet är däremot ett mycket outforskat område, både nationellt och internationellt. Det saknas också forskning om starkare KASAM kan bli en skyddsfaktor för bättre hälsa och mående i denna målgrupp.   Syfte: Syftet med studien var att beskriva fysisk och psykisk hälsa samt livskvalitet bland kvinnor i klimakteriet, samt att undersöka om känsla av sammanhang var relaterad till graden av klimakteriesymptom och psykiskt välmående. Metod: Totalt 480 kvinnor i klimakteriet, rekryterades till en tvärsnittsstudie enligt kvantitativ ansats, via en webbenkät på Facebook. Förutom sociodemografiska faktorer inkluderades fyra validerade mätverktyg: Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF, Sense of Coherence (SOC)-13 och Hospital, Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). För att besvara syfte och frågeställningar utfördes två multivariata variansanalyser. Resultat: Huvudresultatet visade att det fanns en statistiskt signifikant skillnad i graden av fysiska och psykiska klimakteriesymptom relaterat till KASAM. Kvinnor med hög KASAM hade statistiskt signifikant lägre grad av vegetativa, psykologiska och urogenitala symptom, samt signifikant lägre grad av oro och nedstämdhet, jämfört med kvinnor med låg eller måttlig KASAM. Livskvaliteten relaterad till omgivningen var generellt god, medan fysiologiska, psykologiska och sociala domäner endast var måttliga. För övrigt var det drygt hälften (51 %) av kvinnorna, som använde någon form av hormonpreparat och 112 (23.3 %) idkade regelbunden fysisk aktivitet. Konklusion: Högre KASAM har samband med bättre mående hos kvinnor i klimakteriet, fastän det krävs ytterligare forskning i ämnet. / Background: The quality of life during the climacteric period and how women value their lives, is affected by several different components. In addition to social and environmental changes, many women suffer from varying degrees of physical and mental symptoms, which negatively affect the quality of life. Both hormonal and non-hormonal methods are nowadays used to improve well-being. Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence (SOC), consists of the concepts: comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness, which are proven to facilitate people´s adaption to harsh life situations.  Motive: The effect of SOC during menopausal transition is, however, a very unexplored field both nationally and internationally. There is also a lack of research whether stronger SOC can be a protective factor for better health or well-being in this target group.  Aim: The purpose of the study was to describe physical and mental health and quality of life among women during menopausal transition and to investigate whether Sense of Coherence is related to the degree of menopausal symptoms and mental wellbeing.  Methods: Totally 480 women in the climacteric period, were recruited to a cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, through an internet survey on Facebook. In addition to socio-demographic factors, four validated assessment instruments were included: Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF, Sense of Coherence (SOC)-13 and The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). To answer the aim and the research questions, two Multivariate analyses of variances were conducted.  Results: The main results showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the degree of physical and mental climacteric symptoms related to KASAM. Women with high SOC had statistically significantly lower degree of vegetative, psychological and urogenital symptoms, as well as significantly lower degree of anxiety and depression, compared to women with low or moderate SOC. The quality of life related to the environment was generally good, while Physical, Psychological and Social Relationships domains were only moderate. In addition, slightly more than half (51 %) of the women, used some form of hormone replacement therapy and 112 (23.3 %) practiced regular physical activity.  Conclusion: Higher SOC among women in the climacteric period, is associated with better well-being, although further research is needed in this topic.

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Among Swedish adults, 50% are active on social media daily. Regarding body image, 50% of Swedish adolescents are happy with their weight, although no statistics are available among Swedish adults. Time spent on social media is related to body dissatisfaction, and viewing of body positive content increases body appreciation. Applying a salutogenic approach, a theoretical framework of sense of coherence was used in this study. The aim was to examine: if there is a relationship between social media usage and body appreciation in Swedish adults; if there are gender differences; whether this potential relationship is evident after controlling for age, gender, physical activity, sedentary lifestyle, and viewing of body positive content. A quantitative method was used. Data from 153 participants was collected using questionnaires, and analysed using correlation analyses and multiple regression analyses. The results revealed that there was no relationship between general social media usage and body appreciation – however, the less time spent on social media, the better body appreciation participants had. This relationship was only evident among women. The relationship was still observed after controlling for confounding. These findings were in line with some previous findings. Women’s body appreciation could possibly favour from decreased time spent on social media.

Introduktion: Traumatisk hjärnskada är en av det ledande orsakerna till mortalitet och morbiditet globalt. Traumatisk hjärnskada graderas som mild, måttlig eller svår skada. Prognosen kan variera beroende på allvarlighetsgraden, långvarig medvetslöshet samt storleken på primär och sekundär skada. De förlorade eller nedsatta funktioner som hjärnskadan medfört kan i olika grad påverka individers livssituation. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva hur individer med en traumatisk hjärnskada upplever sin livssituation tiden efter den akuta fasen av skadan. Metod: En kvalitativ systematisk litteraturstudie med beskrivande design. Studiens resultat baserades på 10 vetenskapliga originalartiklar från databaserna PubMed och CINAHL. Resultat: Fyra huvudkategorier identifierades: komplikationer, ett annat liv, mötet med hälso- och sjukvården samt vardagen med traumatisk hjärnskada. De mest framträdande komplikationerna var fysiska, kognitiva och psykosociala svårigheter. En förändrad självbild och att acceptera skadan gav upphov till känslan av ett annat liv efter skadan. Information, kommunikation och stöd var viktiga delar i mötet med hälso- och sjukvården. Vardagen med traumatisk hjärnskada omfattade närståendes betydelse, arbetsliv och återhämtning vilket var viktiga delar för en fungerande vardag. Slutsats: Individer som drabbats av traumatisk hjärnskada upplever i olika grad att livet förändras efter skadan. Hur komplikationer inverkar på livet, känslan av ett annat liv, mötet med hälso- och sjukvården samt vardagen med traumatisk hjärnskada var dominerande upplevelser som alla påverkade och kunde förändra individens livssituation. Upplevelserna av en förändrad livssituation kan bidra till känslan av att inte fylla sin funktion i livet vilket kan resultera i en minskad känsla av sammanhang. För att tillmötesgå dessa individer och optimera förutsättningarna krävs god information, kommunikation, förståelse och planering från hälso- och sjukvården och samhället.  Nyckelord: traumatisk hjärnskada, vuxna, livsavgörande händelser, känsla av sammanhang, kvalitativ systematisk litteraturstudie / Introduction: Traumatic brain injury is a worldwide leading cause of death and disability. Traumatic brain injuries can be graded as mild, moderate and severe. The prognosis can vary depending on severity, length of unconsciousness and the size of the primary and/or secondary trauma. The reduced or lost functions that the brain injury brings can to various extents influence individuals’ life situation. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe how individuals with a traumatic brain injury experience their life situation following the acute phase of the injury.  Method: Qualitative systematic literature study with a descriptive design. The result of the study is based on 10 scientific original articles from the databases PubMed and CINAHL. Results: Four main categories were identified: Complications, Another life, Encounter with healthcare and Daily life with traumatic brain injury. The most prominent complications were physical, cognitive and psychosocial difficulties. A changed self-perception and to accept the injury contributed to the sense of another life after the injury. Information, communication and support were crucial factors in the encounter with healthcare. Daily life with traumatic brain injury included the importance of relatives, working life and recovery which were important factors for a functional daily life. Conclusion: Individuals with traumatic brain injury experience life changes in varying degrees after the injury. Important aspects of the individuals’ life situation included: impact of complications, a feeling of a different life, encounters with healthcare and perceptions of daily life. The experiences of life changes may contribute to a feeling of not being able to fulfill life's duties. That may result in a lower sense of coherence. Adjustment and improvement of the conditions for these individuals require adequate information, communication, understanding and planning from healthcare and society.  Keywords: traumatic brain injury, adults, life change events, sense of coherence, qualitative systematic literature study Introduction: Traumatic brain injury is a worldwide leading cause of death and disability. Traumatic brain injuries can be graded as mild, moderate and severe. The prognosis can vary depending on severity, length of unconsciousness and the size of the primary and/or secondary trauma. The reduced or lost functions that the brain injury brings can to various extents influence individuals’ life situation. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe how individuals with a traumatic brain injury experience their life situation following the acute phase of the injury.  Method: Qualitative systematic literature study with a descriptive design. The result of the study is based on 10 scientific original articles from the databases PubMed and CINAHL. Results: Four main categories were identified: Complications, Another life, Encounter with healthcare and Daily life with traumatic brain injury. The most prominent complications were physical, cognitive and psychosocial difficulties. A changed self-perception and to accept the injury contributed to the sense of another life after the injury. Information, communication and support were crucial factors in the encounter with healthcare. Daily life with traumatic brain injury included the importance of relatives, working life and recovery which were important factors for a functional daily life. Conclusion: Individuals with traumatic brain injury experience life changes in varying degrees after the injury. Important aspects of the individuals’ life situation included: impact of complications, a feeling of a different life, encounters with healthcare and perceptions of daily life. The experiences of life changes may contribute to a feeling of not being able to fulfill life's duties. That may result in a lower sense of coherence. Adjustment and improvement of the conditions for these individuals require adequate information, communication, understanding and planning from healthcare and society.  Keywords: traumatic brain injury, adults, life change events, sense of coherence, qualitative systematic literature study

Equine Assisted Therapy is, from a social work perspective, a relatively unexplored arrangement of therapy in which the horse is part of the treatment. This study illustrates the equine therapist’ experiences of Equine Assisted Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (EA-CBT) and Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT) up against people suffering from mental health issues. The research questions are: How do we use horses as a part of the treatment up against people with mental health issues? What components can be identified as a central part of the treatment in Equine Assisted Therapy? The empirical material was collected by using hermeneutic approach and qualitative semi-structured interviews with three practicing equine therapists. The main result showed that horses are used as therapeutical co-workers, as well as a metaphor for the individuals’ emotions. The horses take a significant part of the patients’ sense of coherence (KASAM) as well as the patients’ mentalization, especially through emotional understanding and communication. Furthermore, the result indicate that the horse is as an important link in the encounter between therapist and patient. The analysis was based on an analytic method, in which the empirical material is the starting point of coding and creating themes. The central conclusions were that the horse play a significant role in the promotion of the humans’ ameliorative mental health. It does not only play role for the mental health issues, but also for the patients’ conduction after the treatment.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur känsla av sammanhang (KASAM) påverkas i vuxenlivet hos individer som farit illa i barndomen. Tidigare forskning tydliggör vilken omfattande problematik det kan vara. Vidare undersöker studien betydelsen av vändpunkter och motståndskraft för posttraumatiskt växande. Den kvalitativa metoden består av sex semistrukturerade intervjuer. Den kvantitativa metoden innefattar en webbenkät där 101 respondenter deltog. Antonovskys KASAM tillsammans med Mays existentialism och Honneths erkännandeteori lägger grunden för studiens teoretiska ansats. Resultatet visar att en förlust av grundtillit och egenvärde i barndomen leder till en svag känsla av sammanhang. Urvalsgruppens KASAM-värden var avsevärt lägre än normalbefolkningens, dock med hög meningsfullhet. I vuxenlivet tycks det viktigt att ta igen barndomens förluster. Samtalsstöd med ett salutogent synsätt kan kompensera för denna förlust. Det tillsammans med meningsskapande processer kan leda till posttraumatiskt växande. / The aim of this study was to examine how sense of coherence (SOC) is affected in adulthood in people who have suffered from adverse childhood experiences. Previous research indicate on how comprehensive of a problem this is. We also wanted to examine the impact of turning points and resilience for posttraumatic growth. The qualitative method consists of six semi- structured interviews. The quantitative method is composed of a web survey in which 101 respondents participated. Antonovsky's SOC together with May's existentialism and Honneth's theory of recognition lays the foundation for the study's theoretical approach. The result shows that a loss of basic trust and intrinsic value in childhood leads to a low sense of coherence. Participants SOC values was significantly lower than the normal population, however they scored high on meaningfulness. In adulthood it seems important to reclaim these losses from childhood. Different types of counseling with a salutogenic approach can make up for that loss. This, together with meaning-making, can lead to posttraumatic growth.

Bakgrund: Systematiskt arbetsmiljöarbete kan förebygga ohälsa och olycksfall på arbetsplatser. Genom god arbetsmiljö kan kvalitén på utfört arbete öka, arbetet göras mer hållbart för arbetstagare och vården mer patientsäker. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur tandhygienister inom privat tandvårdssektor upplever sin organisatoriska och sociala arbetsmiljö. Metod: Metoden var en kvantitativ tvärsnittsstudie med enkät som mätinstrument. Urvalet bestod av tandhygienister inom privat sektor i en region i södra Sverige. Insamlade data analyserades i SPSS med Spearman’s Rho korreationsanalys. Resultat: Enkäten besvarades av 28 tandhygienister som generellt visade positiva upplevelser gällande organisatorisk och social arbetsmiljö [OSA]. Fler antal anställda tandhygienister gav ökade upplevelser av att utvecklas i arbetet ( = 0,404, p = 0,033) och att behöva arbeta utöver planerad arbetstid ( = –0,477, p = 0,010). Fler yrkesaktiva år som tandhygienist ökade upplevelsen av meningsfullt arbete ( = 0,404, p = 0,033). Slutsats: Utöver de identifierade salutogena faktorerna i resultatet sågs utvecklingspotential för OSA inom dimensionen förändringsarbete. För att få förståelse och orsak till upplevd OSA kan vidare forskning via kvantitativ ansats vara av värde för att identifiera salutogena faktorer som kan bidra till förbättrad OSA. / Background: Systemically work environment enhancing work can prevent illness and accidents among employees at workplaces. Maintaining a good working environment can improve the quality of performed work, become more sustainable and increase patient safety. Aim: To investigate how dental hygienists in private dental sector experience their organizational and social work environment. Method: A cross-sectional study with questionnaire as measuring instrument was performed. The sample consisted of dental hygienists in private dental sector in Sweden. Data were processed in SPSS through Spearman’s Rho correlation analysis. Results: 28 dental hygienists responded to the questionnaire and reported positive experiences regarding organizational and social work environment [OSA] in general. A higher number of employed dental hygienists reported more positive experiences of work development ( = 0,404, p = 0,033) and required to work beyond working hours ( =–0,477, p = 0,010). More professional years as dental hygienist increased positive experiences of meaningful work ( = 0,404, p = 0,033). Conclusion: In addition to the identified salutogenic factors in the results, protentional for development regarding OSA was found in the dimension reorganization. To gain understanding and reasons for experienced OSA, research via qualitative approach would be valuable to identify salutogenic factors that may contribute to improved OSA.

Large-scale and cost-effective manufacturing of ceramic micro devices based on tape stacking requires the development of inspection systems to perform high-resolution in-process quality control of embedded manufactured cavities, metal structures and defects. In this work, alumina ceramic samples are evaluated by optical coherence tomography (OCT) operating at 1.3μm wavelength and some dimensional data are obtained by dedicated image processing and segmentation. Layer thicknesses can be measured and laser-machined channels can be verified embedded at around 100μm depth. Moreover, detection of internal defects is enabled. Monte Carlo ray tracing simulations are employed to analyze the abilities of OCT in imaging of the embedded channels. The light scattering mechanism is studied for the alumina ceramics, and different scattering origins and models are discussed. The scattering parameters required as input data for simulations are evaluated from the integrating sphere measurements of collimated and diffuse transmittance spectra using a reconstruction algorithm based on refined diffusion approximation approach. / <p>QC 20120628</p>