Syftet med vår studie är att belysa hur skolkuratorer beskriver och konstruerar sitt förhållningssätt i situationer då de stöter på tjejer i högstadiet som misstänks ha en ätstörning. Vidare vill vi studera hur skolkuratorerna ser på vikten av kunskaper och erfarenheter av ätstörningar i det hälsofrämjande arbetet på skolan. Vår förhoppning med studien är att kunna bidra med kunskap om huruvida skolkuratorer har de kunskaper som krävs för att arbeta hälsofrämjande mot tjejer som misstänks ha en ätstörning eller om det finns behov av att vidareutveckla dessa kunskaper. För att kunna uppnå syftet med vår studie har vi analyserat vårt empiriska material genom en innehållsanalys. Vidare har vi analyserat vårt empiriska material utifrån Berger och Luckmanns socialkonstruktionistiska teori, främst genom begreppen Typifieringar, Det sociala kunskapsförrådet samt Socialisation. Dessa begrepp har bidragit till en djupare förståelse för hur skolkuratorernas konstruktioner av ätstörningsproblematik i högstadiet påverkar dem i sitt arbete.   De fyra teman som tar sig uttryck i analysen är “Det dolda”, “Tankarna och känslorna kan vi prata om ändå”, “Att vara uppmärksam på små saker” samt “Prioriteringarnas uttryck”. Resultaten av vår studie visar på skolkuratorernas sätt att hantera situationer där tjejer misstänks ha en ätstörning bygger i mångt och mycket på samtalet kring tjejens mående. De erfarenheter och kunskaper om dessa tjejer som beskrivs är varierande, utifrån att det är ett komplext fenomen, men också att erfarenheten kan bidra till kunskap. Skolkuratorerna anser att kunskap är viktigt framförallt vad gäller upptäckandet av en misstänkt ätstörning. I det hälsofrämjande arbetet, vilket handlar huvudsakligen om stöttning, krävs till störst del kunskap kring samtal. I det hälsofrämjande arbetet med ätstörningsproblematik i allmän bemärkelse kan det vidare finnas ett behov av mer specifik kunskap i ämnet.

The chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan (CSPG) versican forms complexes with hyaluronan (HA), which are essential in a range of functions including cellular proliferation and migration. Four isoforms of versican result from alternative splicing. Furthermore, biological roles have been identified for the proteolytic cleavage product of versican which contains the N-terminal G1 hyaluronan binding domain. All of these versican forms have different tightly regulated tissue expression profiles. Consequently, impaired regulation is associated with a number of disease pathologies. For example the largest variants (V0/V1) have been shown to be negative indicators of disease outcome in a number of malignant cancers and are a marker of disease progression in atherosclerosis. Interestingly, the smaller versican isoform V3 which lacks CS chains has been demonstrated to have the potential to reverse disease associated phenotypes. The motivation for carrying out the work in this thesis was to try and gain a better understanding of how versican functions on a molecular scale. In this regard, the first aim was to investigate the structure of the hyaluronan binding region of versican using a construct called VG1. The structure of VG1 was analysed in the presence and absence of hyaluronan oligomers. This revealed an insight into the multi-modular structure of the versican hyaluronan binding region and demonstrated that on binding to HA, VG1 under goes a conformational change. Furthermore, the interaction between VG1 and longer lengths of hyaluronan (pHA) was investigated. This demonstrated that when VG1 binds to pHA it is does so with positive cooperativity, packing very close to neighbouring VG1 molecules along a chain of HA. One consequence of this interaction was to reorganise pHA into a helical conformation, an organisation that was confirmed by a number of solution phase techniques. The effect of this reorganisation of pHA by VG1 on HA/CD44 interactions was also assessed. Previously the interaction between CD44 (a cell surface hyaluronan receptor) and long chains of HA (>30 kDa) was shown to be irreversible; however we demonstrate that VG1 can reverse this. Furthermore, a TSG-6 enhanced CD44/interaction was also completely reversed by the addition of VG1. This provides an indication that a functional hierarchy of hyaluronan binding proteins may exist which could have important implications in understanding the function of hyaluronan complexes. Currently, we do not know whether intact versican molecules could interact with HA in the same way as VG1. However, preliminary data suggests that the CS-containing variants (i.e. V0, V1 and V2) would not, whereas V3 and versican fragments could. This work provides an exciting mechanistic insight into the function of versican variants and their breakdown products.

This thesis investigates the issue of side effects and how they may act as a barrier to the use of modern contraceptive methods among women in Ghana. Three papers are presented each addressing the issue using different sources of data and different methodologies. The disparate nature of the data sources and techniques used provides each paper with its own perspective on the research question and each paper gives a unique insight into the topic. The aim of the first paper is to use a qualitative focus group methodology to explore in-depth the way individuals perceive information about family planning. The study seeks to better define what is meant by the term fear of side effect in this particular social context and to determine on what information and from what sources is this fear constructed. Overall the findings of this study show that fear of side effects does act as a significant barrier to the use of temporary methods and these fears result mainly from a large amount of negative information regarding side effects being passed through the social network. However the events being recounted cannot be dismissed as myth or rumour as they are most often based in real experiences. The second paper uses monthly data on contraceptive use and the experience of side effects from the calendar section of a longitudinal survey of women in Southern Ghana. Using life tables and a multi-level logistic discrete-time hazards model this study analyses contraceptive discontinuation and how it relates to the concurrent self-reported experience of side effects. The results show that experiencing side effects is associated with a higher probability of discontinuation of the method and that counselling from health workers is extremely important in minimizing discontinuation rates. The third paper uses a sub-sample of women who are not current contraceptive users from the 2003 GDHS. The study uses multiple logistic regression to determine the association between exposure to family planning information, through mass media and interpersonal channels, and the probability that a respondent will cite fear of side effects as their main reason for not intending to use a contraceptive method in the future. The results show that the only family planning communication variable which does have a significant effect is receiving a message from a health worker which increases the odds of fear of side effects being the main reason for not intending to use a method in the future. Overall the socio-economic characteristics of those not intending to use a method in the future due to a fear of side effects is more similar to current users than to those who are not intending to use in the future for other reasons.

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Introduction: Immunochemical methods have significant importance in biomedical research. The benefit of immunochemical methods is their high sensitivity and accuracy. The aim of the work was to use immunochemical methods in investigation of cancer biomarkers and degenerative diseases. A total of four studies were performed. Two studies were focused on the search for new biomarkers of prostate cancer, the third study was focused on evaluation of FGF23 in patients with hyperparathyroidism, and the fourth study looked at the assessment of hyaluronic acid in synovial fluid of patients with knee gonarthrosis. Methods and patients: Study 1: Concentrations of Chromogranin A, Endoglin, TIMP-1 and thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) in serum and Endoglin, SPINK-1, Annexin, TIMP-1 in urine were measured in 58 patients with the (mean age 68 years, range 45 - 82 years) with clinically diagnosed prostate cancer and in 30 healthy individuals with the (mean age 64 years, range: 55 - 78 years) without clinically relevant urological history and PSA values in the reference range. Subsequently, serum TK1 levels were measured in 169 patients (mean age 62 years, range 45- 82 years) with prostate cancer and in a control group of 39 healthy men (mean age 61 years, range 54-78 years). The TK1 assay was also used to determine the...

This semester project presents an analysis of network traffic and detection of anomalies in network traffic by several various means. In the first part of the paper there is an explanation of the methods aiming at denial of service. Then in the second part an implementation of protection by means of selected solutions is presented. The intent is to compare these means which are supposed to detect cyber attacks aiming at denial of service. Another intent is to choose the best solutions from the categories of open-source and commercial solutions. The target of the master thesis was to work out a comparison between actual solutions for detection of DoS and DDoS attacks.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Rapid industrialization growth without appropriate emission standards for discharging environmental pollutants had exposed the ecosystem to detrimental effect. Due to their bioaccumulation propensity in organisms, toxicity and non-biodegradable aspect, heavy metal spoliation is currently a significant ecological obligation. Owing to their natural abundance and extensive use, cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb), among different heavy metals, are the predominant toxic metals. The intrusion of Cd and Pb metal ions into the ecosystem is accomplished by widely accepted methods such as anticorrosive coating of steel, electronic circuit and batteries. / 2023

Background: MRSA or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus consists of several strains in the bacterial species called Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA is resistant to methicillin but also to other types of antibiotics. Spread can occur both directly between humans and between humans and animals, but also indirectly through air. The number of positive bacterial cultures for MRSA in Sweden increases every year. The prevalence of MRSA of different types varies in different countries. LA-MRSA is a livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus that was first discovered in the Netherlands in pigs. This bacterial type belongs to a specific clone called CC398 (clonal complex 398), were most belonged to a specific sequence type called ST398 (multi locus sequence type 398). The CC398 strain are constantly acquiring new features including virulence factors such as the PVL-gene has been reported and associated with serious infections in humans and animals. This specific bacterial clone is found primarily in food producing animals around Europe, and it can infect humans and cause infection. It occurs mainly in pigs and can be spread through contaminated pork or other meat products to humans. Purpose: This work was aimed to survey the prevalence of LA-MRSA in the countries from which Sweden imports most meat from and to review the spread from meat products. Method: This study is been based on information on antibiotic use among food producing animals and the proportion of reported cases of MRSA in the countries from which meat was imported. Scientific studies in all countries was used to obtain information on the prevalence of MRSA CC/ST 398 and on its characteristics. Results: The countries from which Sweden imports most meat are Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, pork import dominates. In 2018 there were 27,260 tonnes of pork imported from Denmark and 45,197 tonnes from Germany, compared with imports from the Netherlands, which amounted to 6,888 tonnes. Germany has the highest antibiotic consumption and the highest proportion of reported cases of MRSA among these countries. In Denmark, the CC/ST 398-clone caused 17 blood infections and 700 skin and soft tissue infections between 2010 and 2015. In Germany, 166 of 330 pigs examined in 2012 were positive for the same clone, as was 77 of the 134 collected samples from the environment and 39 of the 63 animal caretakers. In Brazil, CC / ST398 was found in 6 of 1852 children, genotypic characterization indicated it was an MSSA (methicillin-sensitive S. aureus) CC398 that had acquired SCCmec genes in the health care system. In Italy 81 of 215 pig isolates collected were positive for MRSA where the dominant type was CC / ST398. Virulence genes associated with human MRSA strains such as enterotoxin and PVL genes were not present among the pig isolates. Resistance to tetracycline was seen in all pig isolates. In the Netherlands, MRSA CC / ST398 was linked to pigs in that sense that the humans that were infected were exposed to pigs on a daily basis. Conclusion: The prevalence of LA-MRSA CC / ST398 was high in all the countries surveyed. Resistance to tetracyclines was significantly higher among pig isolates compared to HA-MRSA isolates (healthcare-associated MRSA), whereas the virulence genes such as the PVL- gene usually not present detected in pig- isolates. Among strains identified as LA-MRSA CC / ST398 acquired SCCmec-genes were of types V and IV.  The spread from pigs or meat was through direct contact but also through air.

Increasingly, postcolonial scholars are recognising that the discipline must move beyond the mere critique of European imperialism, and that the future lies, in part, in seeking solutions to the conflicts and injustices that remain the persistent legacy of the colonial era. A concurrent trend in literature departments has been the push to incorporate and encourage comparative methodologies. This essay brings into conversation two works of Asian American fiction that address the problematics of transnational encounter in the age of globalisation. In both Ha Jin's "After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town" and Lawrence Chua's Gold by the Inch the authors explore familiar postcolonial themes: Western economic and cultural hegemony, cultural imperialism, the legacy of the Euro-American colonial era - yet they do so from a very particular (and increasingly common) perspective that as yet has not been sufficiently addressed by postcolonial scholars. Reading these texts through the lens of Roger Célestin's theorisation of the limits of traditional literary exoticism in From Cannibals to Radicals, this essay calls for a re-evaluation, not merely of our understanding of literary exoticism, nor merely of our understanding of the transpacific as a political imaginary, but also of our long-held conceptions of national literature and comparative scholarship.

Increasingly, postcolonial scholars are recognising that the discipline must move beyond the mere critique of European imperialism, and that the future lies, in part, in seeking solutions to the conflicts and injustices that remain the persistent legacy of the colonial era. A concurrent trend in literature departments has been the push to incorporate and encourage comparative methodologies. This essay brings into conversation two works of Asian American fiction that address the problematics of transnational encounter in the age of globalisation. In both Ha Jin's "After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town" and Lawrence Chua's Gold by the Inch the authors explore familiar postcolonial themes: Western economic and cultural hegemony, cultural imperialism, the legacy of the Euro-American colonial era - yet they do so from a very particular (and increasingly common) perspective that as yet has not been sufficiently addressed by postcolonial scholars. Reading these texts through the lens of Roger Célestin's theorisation of the limits of traditional literary exoticism in From Cannibals to Radicals, this essay calls for a re-evaluation, not merely of our understanding of literary exoticism, nor merely of our understanding of the transpacific as a political imaginary, but also of our long-held conceptions of national literature and comparative scholarship.