Das Ziel der vorliegenden randomisierten, klinisch kontrollierten, prospektiven Studie war es, die Leistungsfähigkeit des Universaladhäsivs 3M™ Scotchbond™ Universal (SBU) bei dessen Anwendung an nicht kariösen Zahnhalsläsionen (NCCL) klinisch und mit optischer Kohärenztomografie (OCT) zu bewerten. An 55 Patienten wurde das Universaladhäsiv in den Konditionierungsmodi self-etch (SE, n = 55), selective-enamel-etch (SEE, n = 55) und etch-and-rinse (ER, n = 55) in Kombination mit dem Komposit Filtek™ Supreme XTE angewendet. Das etablierte Etch-and-rinse-Adhäsiv OptiBond™ FL (OFL) diente als Referenzsystem (n = 55). Die Restaurationen wurden nach 14 Tagen (Baseline), sechs und 12 Monaten klinisch untersucht (FDI-Kriterien). Parallel dazu erfolgte die quantitative Bewertung der interfazialen Spaltformationen am Schmelz und Dentin/Zement mit OCT, welche erstmals bereits direkt nach Füllungslegung vorgenommen wurde. Die kumulativen Fehlerraten (CFR), die klinischen Parameter Randverfärbung, Randadaptation und Frakturen/Retention, sowie die gemittelten adhäsiven Defekte pro Gruppe wurden statistisch ausgewertet. Nach 12 Monaten ergaben sich in allen Gruppen mit SBU signifikant geringere kumulative Fehlerraten als in der Kontrollgruppe OFL. Unmittelbar nach Füllungslegung sowie nach sechs und 12 Monaten konnten an der Schmelz-Komposit-Interface in der Gruppe SBU/SE mehr adhäsive Defekte als in den Gruppen SBU/SEE und OFL nachgewiesen werden. An der dominierenden Dentin/Zement-Komposit-Interface zeigte sich hingegen in der Gruppe OFL generell ein signifikant höheres Verbundversagen. Sowohl die klinische als auch die tomografische Bewertung ergaben ein geringeres Verbundversagen in den Gruppen mit SBU im Vergleich zu OFL. Dabei resultierte auch aus der unbeabsichtigten Phosphorsäureätzung am Dentin bei selektiver Schmelzätzung kein Nachteil. Mit OCT konnten signifikante Gruppenunterschiede früher als mit der klinischen Bewertung, nämlich bereits unmittelbar nach Füllungslegung, dargestellt und reproduziert werden. Das verdeutlicht die hohe Sensitivität und Reliabilität der Methode zur Bewertung des Zahn-Komposit-Verbundes und lässt sehr viel frühere Aussagen zur klinischen Bewährung von Systemen zur Restauration mit Kompositen zu.

INTRODUCTION: Schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) are neurodegenerative psychotic disorders hallmarked by reductions in gray and white matter volume. Limitations in neuroimaging have led to the use of OCT to study retinal layer biomarkers and their relation to brain pathology. This thesis includes a meta-analysis of current literature and an exploratory analysis of retinal layer thickness in relation to SZ and BD. METHODS: For the meta-analysis, twelve articles were identified using PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane database. Diagnostic groups were proband (SZ and BD combined), SZ only, BD only, and healthy control (HC) eyes. Analyses utilized fixed and random effects models, in addition to assuring that bias was adjusted for and that results were cross-validated. Statistical analyses were performed using the “meta” package in R, with results reported as standard mean differences (SMD). The exploratory analysis included a total of 38 subjects (24 probands and 14 HC). Retinal measures were co-varied for age, sex, race, body mass index (BMI), and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA). Correlations between retinal and clinical and cortical measures were also performed. Clinical data included illness duration, symptom severity, antipsychotic dosage, and smoking status. Neuroimaging data included gray matter (GM) thickness, gray matter volume, and intracranial volume (ICV). Linear effects and mixed effects models were used to study mean eye and right/left eye measures, respectively. Statistical analysis was done in R. RESULTS: A total of 820 patient eyes (541 SZ and 279 BD) and 904 HC eyes were used for the meta-analysis. Compared to HC eyes, probands, SZ, and BD eyes showed significant thinning the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), with atrophy greatest in the nasal, temporal, and superior regions. In addition, all diagnostic groups demonstrated significant reductions in the combined ganglion cell layer and inner plexiform layer (GCL-IPL) compared to HC. No significant differences were found for choroidal and macular measures. No significant relationships were seen from meta-regression analysis for clinical measures. For the exploratory analysis, retinal measures from a total of 24 probands (18 SZ and 6 BD) and 14 HC was studied. Compared to HC, probands showed reductions in overall RNFL in mean eye measures, while increases in the inner and outer RNFL were seen in left eye measures. No significant group differences were seen in the GCL, IPL, and inner nuclear layer (INL). The outer plexiform layer (OPL) showed significant thickening in probands and SZ compared to HC for all eye measures. Probands showed trending reductions in the outer nuclear layer (ONL) in the left eye compared to HC. No significant correlations were found between retinal layers and illness duration, overall PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) score, PANSS negative symptom subscore, and smoking status. PANSS positive symptom subscore showed significant and trending negative correlations to the RNFL and GCL, respectively. Antipsychotic medication dosage displayed a trending negative relationship with the IPL. GM thickness showed a significant and trending negative correlation to the RNFL and ONL, respectively. Furthermore, a trending inverse relationship was observed between GM volume and the OPL. Finally, ICV demonstrated a trending and significant negative relationship with GCL and OPL thickness, respectively. CONCLUSION: The meta-analysis showed that atrophy in RNFL and GCL-IPL measures are widely associated with psychosis. Furthermore, it supports previous findings of gray and white matter reductions in SZ and BD. The exploratory analysis showed psychosis-associated reductions in the RNFL and ONL layers, consistent with previous literature. Contradictory findings, the thickening of the ONL, can be attributed to the conflicting findings, but might also be explained by neuro-inflammatory pathways related to psychotic disorders.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / As an official and second language in Ghana, English is used as a medium of instruction in the Ghanaian educational setting, especially at the university level. Therefore, for Ghanaian students to go through their university education successfully, they should be able to demonstrate competence in the usage of English. However, time and again, there have been series of complaints from most English language teachers about the Ghanaian students’ lack of dexterity in writing cohesive and coherent texts. The present study, therefore, has as its aim to explore texture in first-year Ghanaian undergraduate students' essays (GUSEs). This focus is achieved through four main specific objectives. Thus, the study accounts for (1) the types of cohesive devices (2) the cohesive errors (3) the disciplinary variation in the type of cohesive devices and cohesive errors and (4) the thematic progression patterns in the essays of these first-year Ghanaian undergraduate students. To achieve these objectives, I use the Systemic Functional Linguistics perspective to text analysis, specifically the metafunction of texture as projected by Halliday (1967, 1970, 1985, 1994, and 2004), Halliday and Hasan (1976), Martin and Rose (2003) and Martin (2015). / 2023

During the year of 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic entailed restrictions that affected Sweden and the world in general. At the request of the Swedish Public Health Agency, Swedish universities were asked to conduct digital distance education. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the attitude to the change from traditional education to distance education among full-time students at Örebro University, can be understood in relation to factors linked to learning. The study also intends to examine whether and how the students experience that their social interaction and sense of coherence has been affected as a result of the change. The results of this qualitative study are based on qualitative interviews with full-time students at Örebro University, who have been involved in the change from traditional education to distance education. Previous research in these subject areas highlight, among other things, the prerequisites for successful distance education, as well as factors that have been found to have an impact on students’ experience of social interaction and sense of coherence. In addition to previous research, the study’s theoretical framework is based on Erving Goffman’s (2014 [1974]) dramaturgical perspective on social interaction and Aaron Antonovsky’s (2005) theory of sense of coherence.The result indicates that the students were predominantly negative about the change, mainly due to the lack of social interaction. The study also shows that the students experienced difficulties within the social interaction during distance education, in terms of impression management, maintenance of traditional norms and the separation between study time and free time. In conclusion, the study shows that the students’ sense of coherence has been affected in various degrees, depending on how they perceive that their sense of comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness is met in distance education. / Under år 2020 medförde Covid-19-pandemin restriktioner som påverkade Sverige och världen i stort. På begäran av Folkhälsomyndigheten uppmanades svenska universitet att bedriva digital distansundervisning. Syftet med detta självständiga arbete är att undersöka hur inställningen till förändringen från traditionell undervisning till distansundervisning hos heltidsstudenter vid Örebro Universitet, kan förstås i relation till faktorer kopplat till lärande. Fokus ligger därtill på om och i sådana fall hur studenterna upplever att deras sociala interaktion och känsla av sammanhang har påverkats till följd av förändringen. Denna kvalitativa studie baserar sitt resultat på kvalitativa intervjuer med heltidsstudenter vid Örebro Universitet, som varit med om förändringen från traditionell undervisning till distansundervisning. Tidigare forskning inom dessa ämnesområden belyser bland annat förutsättningar för en lyckad distansundervisning, samt faktorer som har visat sig ha en inverkan på studenters upplevelse av social interaktion och känsla av sammanhang. Utöver tidigare forskning grundas studiens teoretiska ramverk i Erving Goffmans (2014 [1974]) dramaturgiska perspektiv gällande social interaktion samt Aaron Antonovskys (2005) teori om känsla av sammanhang.Resultatet från studien tyder på att studenterna var övervägande negativt inställda till förändringen, främst på grund av avsaknaden av socialt umgänge. Studien visar även att studenterna upplevde svårigheter i den sociala interaktionen vid distansundervisning vad gäller intrycksstyrning, upprätthållning av traditionella normer samt avgränsningen mellan studietid och fritid. Avslutningsvis visar studien att studenternas känsla av sammanhang påverkats i varierande grad, beroende på hur de uppfattar att deras känsla av begriplighet, hanterbarhet samt meningsfullhet tillgodoses vid distansundervisningen.

Bakgrund: Att drabbas av en hjärtinfarkt är livsomställande för patienten. Genom livsstilsförändringar kan riskfaktorer elimineras och risk för att återinsjukna reduceras. Genom att patienten är följsam i sin egenvård och deltar i hjärtrehabiliteringsprogram kan risken minska. Trots det är följsamheten låg och dödligheten är fortfarande en ledande dödsorsak i Sverige.   Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva patientens upplevelse av egenvård efter hjärtinfarkt.   Metod: Studien har en induktiv ansats och de 15 kvalitativa resultatartiklarna har analyserats med hjälp av Fribergs femstegsanalys.    Resultat: Tre teman framkom i resultatet, “Betydelsen av stöd från omgivningen för att kunna bedriva egenvård ”, “Sjukvårdens betydelse för att möjliggöra egenvård” och “Begränsande och främjande upplevelser av egenvård”.  Socialt stöd, hjärtrehabilitering samt information och kunskap var några av de drivande komponenterna till att patienten upplevde motivation till att utföra betydande livsstilsförändringar. De komponenter som begränsade patienten var bland annat att rehabiliteringen inte ansågs vara individuellt anpassad men även att informationen som gavs av sjuksköterskan var bristande.    Slutsatser: Patienter som har drabbats av hjärtinfarkt behöver tydlig information för att de ska få kunskap och rätt verktyg till sin egenvård. Närstående och sjukvården är en viktig del av stödet då patienten ofta ställs inför prövningar i livet efter hjärtinfarkten, både fysiskt och mentalt.

Coherence, which gives the similarity of signals received at two microphone locations, can be a powerful tool for calculating acoustic quantities, particularly active acoustic intensity. To calculate active acoustic intensity, a multi-microphone probe is often used, and therefore coherence between all microphone pairs on the probe can be obtained. The phase and amplitude gradient estimator (PAGE) method can be used to calculate intensity, and is well suited for many situations. There are limitations to this method—such as multiple sources or contaminating noise in the sound field—which can cause significant error. When there are multiple sources or contaminating noise present, the coherence between microphone pairs will be reduced. A coherence-based approach to the PAGE method, called the CPAGE method, is advantageous.Coherence is useful in phase unwrapping. For the PAGE method to be used at frequencies where the probe microphone spacing is larger than half a wavelength (above the spatial Nyquist frequency), the phase of transfer functions between microphone pairs must be unwrapped. Phase differences are limited to a 2π radian interval, so unwrapping—adding integer multiples of 2π radians to create a continuous phase relation across frequency—is necessary to allow computation of phase gradients. Using coherence in phase unwrapping can improve phase gradient calculation, which in turn leads to improved intensity calculation.Because phase unwrapping is necessary above the spatial Nyquist frequency, the PAGE method is best suited to dealing with broadband signals. For narrowband signals, which lack coherent phase information at many frequencies, the PAGE method can give erroneous intensity results. One way to improve calculation is with low-level additive broadband noise, which provides coherent phase information that can improve phase unwrapping, and thereby improve intensity calculation. There are limitations to this approach, as additive noise can have a negative impact on intensity calculation with the PAGE method. The CPAGE method, fortunately, can account for contaminating noise in some situations. A magnitude adjustment—which arises naturally from investigation of the bias errors of the PAGE method—can account for the additional pressure amplitude caused by the contaminating noise, improving pressure magnitude calculations. A phase gradient adjustment—using a coherence-weighted least squares algorithm—can likewise improve phase gradient calculations. Both adjustments depend upon probe microphone coherence values. Though not immune to contaminating noise, this method can better account for contaminating noise. Further experimental work can verify the effectiveness of the CPAGE method.

The pivotal intention of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive and detailed comparison of the contemporary machine translation and the traditional translation performed by a person. The theoretical part contains two segments which are essential towards establishing the background for the thesis. Firstly, a brief historical context is presented to illustrate how and why the concept of machine translation came to exist. Its relevance, utilization and basic technological principles are presented within the confines of the technology currently available. Secondly, an overview of specific language elements which commonly present an obstacle for translators, be it those possessing human or artificial intelligence, is elaborated and briefly commented upon. The practical part contains a selected body of text which is then translated, firstly by using a specific software and secondly by the author of the thesis. These translations are compared with regard to their accuracy, with references made to the mechanics of machine translation and the source code employed to perform the translation itself, effectively combining linguistic point of view with the technological aspect of the algorithm applied in the translation software. The final part contains a conclusion and summary of obtained results and...

As work life is evolving due to globalization and digitalization so are office spaces, new circumstances acquire new more flexible ways of working. There has been an increase in offices changing from the traditional cellular office to open and activity-based landscapes. Activity - based workplaces or ABW are designed to adapt to working needs and are said to be flexible where employees themselves can choose seating depending on their preferences and task at hand. While ABW seems to have certain benefits including cutting cost of unnecessary workspace and increased flexibility we are looking to understand the effects ABW has on social interactions & coherence. We are also interested in finding out what strategies the employees use to handle the new way of working and maintain efficiency. Research this far has shown that the architectural disposition of the office space needs to be equipped with distinct rules and regulations, that productivity has shown to increase after a move to a ABW and that the pre-conditions for employee satisfaction are present. The study is of a qualitative nature and is based on  semi-structured interviews with five employees in an government organisation. Each of the employees has different occupational roles within the organisation. The theoretical framework used to analyze the results are parts of Goffman’s (2014) Dramaturgical Perspective and the results found show both pros and cons for an activity based approach. The study shows that social interactions to a large extent are regulated by the architectural disposition of the office, that coherence with the other government organisations in the building has somewhat improved and that the employees use both physical and digital strategies of guiding impression to let their colleagues know that they do not wish to be disturbed and can maintain efficiency. The results also show that the employees carefully choose their work station for the day in an attempt to control the number of social interactions they have during the day. / Arbetslivet är i en ständigt förändring och med den ökade globaliseringen och digitaliseringen följer krav för ett mer flexibelt och tilltalande kontorslandskap. Den senaste trenden i Sverige handlar om aktivitetsbaserade kontor (Activity Based Working eller ABW) som följer med flera fördelar, som exempelvis kostnadsbesparingar. ABK erbjuder ett arbetssätt och spontanitet som kan bidra till att skapa nya möjligheter för medarbetare och organisationer men skapar även nya utmaningar för effektiviteten. Studien undersöker den sociala interaktionen och sammanhållningen medarbetare emellan i ABK. Centrala frågor är hur ABK påverkar medarbetarnas sociala interaktioner & sammanhållning och vilka strategier de anställda använder för att möta de nya kraven och bibehålla effektivitet. Tidigare forskning inom området visar att kontorets utformning behöver genomsyras av tydliga policys, att produktiviteten har blivit bättre efter en flytt till ABK och att förutsättningar som gjorde arbetstillfredsställelsen större fanns. Studien baseras på semistrukturerade intervjuer med medarbetare på en statlig myndighet i mellansverige, i analysarbetet tolkades intervjuerna med stöd i den teoretisk referensram som är Goffmans dramaturgiska perspektiv. Studiens resultat visar att sociala interaktioner styrs i stor grad av kontorets utformning, att samarbetet över avdelningar delvis förbättrats, sammanhållningen med de närmsta kollegorna försämrats och att de anställda använde sig av både fysiska och digitala strategier för intrycksstyrning för att möta de nya kraven som följer med ABK och bibehålla effektiviteten. Resultatet visar även att medarbetarna gör väl avvägda val av arbetsplacering i hopp om att sätta förutsättningar för sin prestation och sociala tillgänglighet.

Poor mental health among children and teenagers in Sweden has been recognized and been described as increasing (Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2018). Folkhälsomyndigheten (2018) suggests that there has been a twofold increase of psychosomatic symptoms within the age group of 13-to 15-year-olds in Sweden. This study enlightens the importance of the health promotions within the school system where all the professions within the school should work together to improve the mental health of the students. The purpose with this study is to produce a qualitative study where our intention is to increase the knowledge regarding lesson structures as a success factor from the perspective of the student where the sense coherence-component’s comprehensibility, management and meaningfulness describe the psychological health of the students. Our study has a qualitative approach as we wish to understand how students perceive distinct lesson structures as opposed to vague lesson structures. The collection of data used for this study consists of semi-structured interviews conducted with six informants from two separate junior high schools, that have been analyzed using both a deductive as well as an inductive hypothesis. The inductive coding gave us the subcategories: stress, security, interests, and boredom. The sense coherence-theory has helped us analyze our collection of data, the results of which indicate that of previous research; lesson structure, clarified pedagogy, and participation are the success factors when it comes to the students' sense of coherence. The study also indicates that the informant’s psychological health is affected negatively by vague lessons. The study recognizes the important work being done regarding a Special education methodology and technology approach and the preventively and health promotion within our schools which only benefit from a salutarily perspective. Keywords: clarification pedagogy, lesson structure, poor mental health and sense of coherence.

The sound produced by military aircraft is dominated by noise generated by the turbulent mixing of the jetted exhaust with the ambient air. This jet noise has the potential to annoy the community and pose a hearing loss risk for military personnel. The goal of this dissertation is to characterize spatiospectral features in the field produced by full-scale military aircraft that are not traditionally seen at the laboratory scale and identify potential noise mechanisms for these features. Measurements of two military aircraft jet noise fields are found to be best described as a superposition of spatiospectral lobes, whose relative amplitudes dictate the overall directivity at each engine power. Near-field acoustical holography techniques are applied to one of the military aircraft measurements to characterize the behavior of the lobes as a function of engine power. The simulated jet noise of a highly heated laboratory-scale jet is then analyzed to compare with the military aircraft measurement and is found to only partially contain the spatiospectral lobe phenomenon. Application of near to far field coherence tracing and near-field acoustical holography to the simulations provides validation of the methods used on the military aircraft and illuminate potential source mechanisms that may explain the presence of the spatiospectral lobes.