This thesis discusses South Scandinavian cup marks in general, and cup marks in Kronobergs County in particular. The question is whether the cup mark phenomena can be viewed as an ordinary family-based cult for a kind of everyday use, or more likely as a community passage ritual. The thesis also suggests that cup marks were made by ritual participants in, or in the process of trying to reach, an altered state of consciousness.

Bakgrund: Fotsår är en vanlig komplikation vid diabetes typ 2. För att minska risken för fotsår och amputationer ska sjuksköterskan med hjälp av styrdokument och lagar arbeta tillsammans med personen för en bättre vård. Syfte: Att beskriva sjuksköterskeledda fotvårdsinterventioner och dess effekter för personer med diabetes typ 2. Metod: Studien är gjord som en litteraturstudie med elva vetenskapliga originalartiklar. Resultat: Resultatet utgår ifrån tre huvudkategorier. Dessa var Sjuksköterskans olika interventioner vid fotvård, där sjuksköterskans olika interventioner i arbetet mot att förhindra fotsår hos personer med diabetes typ 2 beskrivs i samtal och undersökning. Primära effekter av interventioner, där vikten av kunskap gällande sjukdomen och vikten av stöd i vardagen beskrivs. Samt Sekundära effekter av interventioner, som beskriver hur personerna kan undvika komplikationer och öka livskvaliteten. Diskussion: Utifrån resultatet framkom tre fynd. Dessa var Brist på fotundersökningar, då brister fanns gällande fotundersökningar inom vården. En utbildning passar inte alla, varje människa är unik och tar åt sig av information på olika sätt. Samt Delaktighet i vården, då relevansen för personens engagemang och delaktighet i vården lyfts fram. Slutsats: Genom att individualisera vården och öka kunskapen hos personer med diabetes typ 2 kan komplikationer undvikas och känsla av hälsa infinna sig. / Background: Foot ulcers are a common complication of type 2-diabetes.To reduce the risk of foot ulcers and amputations should the nurse with the help of policy documents and laws, work with the person for a better health care. Purpose: To describe the nurse-led foot care interventions and its effect for people with type 2-diabetes. Method: The study is designed as a literature review with eleven original scientific articles. Results: The result is based on three main categories. These were The nurse's various interventions in foot care, where the nurse's various interventions in the work to prevent foot ulcers in people with type 2-diabetes are described in conversations and examinations. Primary effects of interventions, which describes the importance of knowledge regarding the disease and the importance of support in everyday life. And Secondary effects of interventions, which describes how people can avoid complications and improve quality of life. Discussion: Based on the results three key findings were revealed. These were Lack of examinations, where deficiencies existed regarding foot examinations in health care. An education is not for everyone, each person is unique and learning in different ways. And Participation in care, the relevance of personal commitment and involvement in health care are highlighted. Conclusion: By individualize the care and to increase the knowledge in people with type 2-diabetes, complications can be avoided and the feeling of health can appear.

Foreign animal disease can cause serious damage to the United States (US) agricultural sector and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), in particular, poses a serious threat. FMD causes death and reduced fecundity in infected animals, as well as significant economic consequences. FMD damages can likely be reduced through implementing pre-planned response strategies. Empirical studies have evaluated the economic consequences of alternative strategies, but typically employ simplified models. This dissertation seeks to improve US preparedness for avoiding and/or responding to an animal disease outbreak by addressing three issues related to strategy assessment in the context of FMD: integrated multi region economic and epidemic evaluation, inclusion of risk, and information uncertainty. An integrated economic/epidemic evaluation is done to examine the impact of various control strategies. This is done by combining a stochastic, spatial FMD simulation model with a national level, regionally disaggregated agricultural sector mathematical programming economic model. In the analysis, strategies are examined in the context of California's dairy industry. Alternative vaccination, disease detection and movement restriction strategies are considered as are trade restrictions. The results reported include epidemic impacts, national economic impacts, prices, regional producer impacts, and disease control costs under the alternative strategies. Results suggest that, including trade restrictions, the median national loss from the disease outbreak is as much as $17 billion when feed can enter the movement restriction zone. Early detection reduces the median loss and the standard deviation of losses. Vaccination does not reduce the median disease loss, but does have a smaller standard deviation of loss which would indicate it is a risk reducing strategy. Risk in foreign animal disease outbreaks is present from several sources; however, studies comparing alternative control strategies assume risk neutrality. In reality, there will be a desire to minimize the national loss as well as minimize the chance of an extreme outcome from the disease (i.e. risk aversion). We perform analysis on FMD control strategies using breakeven risk aversion coefficients in the context of an outbreak in the Texas High Plains. Results suggest that vaccination while not reducing average losses is a risk reducing strategy. Another issue related to risk and uncertainty is the response of consumers and domestic markets to the presence of FMD. Using a highly publicized possible FMD outbreak in Kansas that did not turn out to be true, we examine the role of information uncertainty in futures market response. Results suggest that livestock futures markets respond to adverse information even when that information is untrue. Furthermore, the existence of herding behavior and potential for momentum trading exaggerate the impact of information uncertainty related to animal disease.

No description available.

No description available.

While amputee gait has been studied in great detail, the influence of prosthetic foot sagittal and coronal plane stiffness on amputee walking biomechanics is not well understood. In order to investigate the effects of sagittal and coronal plane foot stiffness on amputee walking, a framework for manipulating the stiffness of a prosthetic foot needs to be developed. The sagittal and coronal plane stiffness of a low profile carbon fiber prosthetic foot was manipulated through coupling with selective-laser-sintered prosthetic ankles. The carbon fiber foot provided an underlying non-linear stiffness profile while the ankle modified the overall stiffness of the ankle-foot combination. A design of experiments was performed to determine the effect of four prosthetic ankle dimensions (keel thickness, keel width, space between the ankle top and bottom faces, and the location of the pyramid connection) on ankle-foot sagittal and coronal plane stiffness. Ankles were manufactured using selective laser sintering and statically tested to determine stiffness. Two of the dimensions, space between the ankle top and bottom faces and the location of the pyramid connection, were found to have the largest influence on both sagittal and coronal plane stiffness. A third dimension, keel thickness, influenced only coronal plane stiffness. A number of prosthetic ankle-foot combinations were created that encompassed a range of sagittal and coronal plane stiffness levels that were lower than that of the low profile carbon fiber foot alone. To further test the effectiveness of the framework to manipulate sagittal and coronal plane stiffness, two ankle-foot combinations, one stiffer than the other in the sagittal and coronal planes, were used in a case study analyzing amputee walking biomechanics. Differences in stiffness were large enough to cause noticeable changes in amputee kinematics and kinetics during turning and straight-line walking. Future work will expand the range of ankle-foot stiffness levels that can be created using this framework. The framework will then be used to create ankle-foot combinations to investigate the effect of sagittal and coronal plane stiffness on gait mechanics in a large sample of unilateral transtibial amputees. / text

Individuals with various lower-limb neuromuscular and musculoskeletal impairments are often prescribed passive-dynamic ankle-foot orthoses (PD-AFOs) to compensate for impaired ankle muscle weakness. Several studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of PD-AFOs on pathological gait, but few studies have examined the influence of the AFO stiffness characteristics on gait performance. One challenge to performing such studies is the difficulty of manufacturing custom AFOs with a wide range of controlled stiffness levels. However, selective laser sintering (SLS) is a well-suited additive manufacturing technique for generating subject-specific PD-AFOs of varied stiffness. Therefore, the overall goal of this study was to use SLS manufactured PD-AFOs to identify the relationships between AFO stiffness and gait performance in patients with various lower-limb neuromuscular and musculoskeletal impairments. Six subjects with unilateral impairments were enrolled in this study. For each subject, one subject-specific PD-AFO equivalent to the subject’s clinically prescribed carbon fiber PD-AFO (nominal), one 20% more compliant and one 20% more stiff were manufactured using SLS. Three-dimensional kinematic and kinetic data were collected from each subject while ambulating with each PD-AFO at two different speeds to allow a comprehensive biomechanical analysis to assess the influence of PD-AFO stiffness on gait performance. The results showed that in the compliant AFO condition, the AFO limb vertical ground reaction force (GRF) impulse during loading and the non-AFO limb medial GRF impulse during push-off decreased. In addition, the AFO limb braking GRF impulse during loading and the non-AFO limb braking GRF impulse in early single-limb stance decreased. Furthermore, in the compliant AFO condition, negative knee work during early single-limb stance increased while positive hip work in early swing decreased in the AFO limb. Overall, as AFO stiffness decreased, the AFO limb contributed less to body support and braking. In addition, a decreased medial GRF impulse coupled with an increased vertical GRF impulse during non-AFO single-limb stance suggests that walking stability may be compromised as AFO stiffness decreases. Thus, a tradeoff may exist between preserving stability and increasing net propulsion, which should be considered when assessing the mobility needs of individuals prescribed PD-AFOs as a result of various neuromuscular and musculoskeletal impairments. / text

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing in Advanced Practice

Introduction. Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease that causes the dislocation of joints. Foot deformity and deformity of foot fingers is brought about by inflammatory processes in the joints and due to the changed pressure of body weight on the feet. The computerized method of foot-barography allows one to estimate in what way the pressure of body weight on the feet distributes itself during the process of walking and in the standing posture. This method also allows one to judge about foot deformity as well as the condition of foot joints, ligaments and muscles of the patient. The aim of the research was to study the efficiency of applying the computerized method of foot-barography in the treatment of foot joints damaged by rheumatoid arthritis. Subjects and Methods. The research was carried out at the Polyclinic of the Joint-Stock Company „Ortopedijos technika“ (Orthopedic Technology) in Kaunas. The subjects were 19 females and 3 males suffering from chronic rheumatoid arthritis. The patients were divided into 2 groups: 1) the experimental group, i.e. patients to whom kinesitherapy was applied, and 2) the control group, i.e. patients to whom kinesitherapy was not applied. The feet of the patients have been studied applying the computerized method of foot-barography. The distribution of the pressure of body weight on definite points (5, 7, 10, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20) of the foot as well as on the fingers and hell of the foot has been analysed. Conclusions. As a result of the... [to full text]

The foot keeps body balance and stability during walking, running and performing various physical activities. It has been determined that mechanical properties of musculoskeletal system influence motion control, body balance maintenance (Richardson et al., 2005; Biewener, Daley, 2007; Nishikawa, 2007). However, it is yet unclear whether there is a relation between body stability and foot arch stability. The relation is yet unknown between the mechanical and physiological properties of the foot and foot arch stability. The aim of the research is to determine the relation between foot arch stability and the mechanical and physiological properties of the foot. The objectives of the research were: 1. To determine whether feet distribution according to arch type depends on different foot arch assessment methods applied. 2. To determine the mechanical properties of foot, Achilles tendon and plantar fascia. 3. To investigate whether there is a relation between foot arch stability and body stability. 4. To investigate whether there is a relation between mechanical and physiological properties of the foot. METHODS The research was carried out according to the principles of Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine adopted on 19 November 1996 (Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine) (Rogers and Bousingen, 2001). The license for the research was issued by Kaunas Regional Biomedical Research Ethics Committee (protocol No BE-2-53). 5 studies were conducted: 1 study: the analysis of... [to full text] / Žmogui einant, bėgant, atliekant įvairias fizines veiklas, pėda išlaiko kūno pusiausvyrą, stabilumą. Net mažas struktūros ar funkcijos pokytis gali turėti įtakos pėdos hiper-, hipomobilumui, kurie siejami su traumų atsiradimu. Šio darbo tikslas buvo nustatyti pėdos skliauto stabilumo ir mechaninių bei fiziologinių savybių sąveiką. Atlikti penki tyrimai. Pirmojo tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti, ar pėdų pasiskirstymas pagal skliauto tipus priklauso nuo skirtingų skliauto nustatymo metodų. Tyrime dalyvavo 91 tiriamasis ir buvo ištirtos 182 pėdos. Tyrime taikyti F. Forriol, L. T. Staheli, H. H. Clarke ir D. S. Williams pėdos skliauto nustatymo metodai. Gauti tyrimo rezultatai rodo, kad pagal skirtingas metodikas pėdos pagal normalų, žemą ir aukštą pėdos skliauto tipą pasiskirstė nevienodai. Antrojo tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti normalaus, žemo ir aukšto pėdos skliauto deformaciją, santykinę deformaciją ir standumą. Buvo tirtos 42 pėdos. Biomechaniniai pėdos parametrai apskaičiuoti naudojant pėdos gniuždymo metodiką. Nustatyta, kad pėdos deformacija ir standumas priklauso nuo pėdos skliauto tipo. Žemo skliauto standumas yra mažesnis ir jis daugiau deformuojasi negu normalaus ir aukšto pėdos skliautas. Trečiojo tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti in vitro pėdos deformaciją, santykinę deformaciją ir standumą esant skirtingam gniuždymo greičiui. Tirtos viena su minkštaisiais audiniais ir šešios be minkštųjų audinių pėdos. Tyrime pėdos buvo gniuždomos Tinius Olsen H25K-T bandymų mašina. Pėdos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]