Introduktion: Att mäta det intraokulära trycket (IOP) är viktigt eftersom det är en av de största riskfaktorerna för glaukom. Det händer nog att det inte mäts på alla kontaktlinsbärare som kommer på sin årliga rutinkontroll. Tidsbrist eller lathet kan kanske vara orsaken. Om IOP kan mätas med kontaktlinser skulle det underlätta för alla parter. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka om kontaktlinser påverkar resultatet vid mätning av IOP med non-contact tonometer (NCT) och Icare. Metod: IOP mättes på 27 stycken personer med både non-contact tonometer och Icare. Icare är ett handhållet instrument som kan användas utan bedövning. Mätningarna utfördes både med kontaktlinser och utan kontaktlinser. Kontaktlinserna var månadslinser av silikonhydrogelmaterial från fyra olika leverantörer och hade en styrka på -3,00 D. Resultat: Resultaten visade att ingen statistisk signifikant skillnad fanns mellan mätningarna utförda med kontaktlinser och utan kontaktlinser. Det gäller både för NCT och Icare. I en jämförelse i hur jämna NCT och Icare är i sina resultat visade det sig att vid högre IOP skiljer sig mätvärdena mellan instrumenten. Icare visar högre värden än NCT när IOP är högre. Slutsats: Det är ingen statistisk signifikant skillnad mellan mätningarna gjorda utan och med kontaktlinser. Därför kan IOP mätas med kontaktlinser som har en styrka på -3,00 D.

The current terrorist threat that Sweden and other countries are facing is far more complex than before. In 2005, the National Centre for Terrorist Threat Assessment (NCT) was established to conduct strategic terrorism threat assessments. Three years later, NCT became a permanent working group staffed with designated employees from three different government authorities; the Swedish Security Service (Säpo), National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) and the Swedish Armed Forces’ Military Intelligence and Security Directorate (Must).  This study aims at understanding how co-operation is conducted between the designated government authorities within the NCT, when developing strategic threat assessments. The study also examines if today’s cooperation and information exchange is working satisfactorily or if it should be developed, and in that case what obstacles and which success it could have.    The used methodology is based on a qualitative approach, consisting of information collection from both official documents and semi-structured interviews with past and present employees directly and indirectly affiliated with NCT. The information is then analyzed based on the perspectives of co-operation and governance.  The study concludes that the participating authorities, apart from the designated employees, lack full knowledge and understanding of NCTs task, as national coordinating function for strategic terrorism threat assessments. The lack of knowledge and understanding of different government´s tasks lead to work being conducted in silos, which could lead to information is not disseminated to the appropriate recipient.  Due to the complex nature of the current threat, there is a need for involvement of more authorities and organization in NCTs work, in order to enhance the knowledge of the threat and minimize the risk of valuable information loss. The study also displays that NCTs capability to produce long-term assessment and hamper the risk of an “information bubble” can be reduced by decentralized command structure. Finally, this study shows that information exchange between authorities and NCT can be facilitated by common IT-systems, continuous staffing, and co-localization. / Sverige och världen står inför en alltmer komplex hotbild när det kommer till terrorism. För att göra strategiska terrorhotbedömningar, som tillsammans med övriga bedömningar, ligger till grund för den hotnivå som beslutas av Säkerhetspolischefen, så bildas 2005 - Nationellt Centrum för Terrorhotbedömning (NCT). NCT blev en permanent grupp 2009 och består av representanter från tre olika myndigheter – Säkerhetspolisen (Säpo), Försvarsmakten (FM) med Militära underrättelse- och säkerhetstjänsten (Must) och Försvarets Radioanstalt (FRA). Syftet med denna studie har varit att få förståelse för hur samverkan mellan myndigheterna inom NCT fungerar vid framtagning av strategiska terrorhotbedömningar. Denna studie har också sökt svar på om samverkan och informationsdelning fungerar fullt ut idag vid NCT eller om samverkan skulle kunna utvecklas framöver, vilka framgångsfaktorer och hinder det finns för en sådan utveckling. Studien har utgått från en kvalitativ metod där officiella dokument och skrivelser har granskats för att ta reda på hur myndighetssamverkan och myndighetsstyrning regleras i dessa, och hur ansvarsfördelningen ser ut mellan respektive myndighet. Vidare har det genomförts semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer som har en direkt eller indirekt koppling till NCT. Det empiriska underlag som fåtts fram har sedan analyserats tillsammans med utvalda referenser som har koppling till myndighetsstyrning och samverkan. Studiens slutsatser visar att hemmamyndigheterna saknar full kunskap och förståelse för uppgiften som NCT har, att vara den strategiska samordningsfunktionen för terrorhotbedömningar. Avsaknad av kunskap och förståelse för olika myndigheters uppgifter leder till att arbete sker i stuprör, vilket kan leda till att information inte sprids till de som behöver den. För att kunna hantera den komplexa hotbild som Sverige står inför behöver fler myndigheter och organisationer stödja NCT:s arbete, detta för att bredda kunskapen och minska riskerna att information går förlorad. Vidare visar studien att förmågan vid NCT att göra strategiskt långsiktiga bedömningar och motverka att hamna i en ”informationsbubbla”, där man riskerar att göra för kortsiktiga och snäva bedömningar, sker med stöd av en decentraliserad ledningsstruktur. Slutligen visar studien att det som underlättar för informationsdelning mellan myndigheterna och NCT är gemensam sambands och IT-utrustning, kontinuitet på personal med rätt kunskap och att vara samlokaliserade.

Tato práce se zaměřuje na pokročilou zobrazovací technologii, rentgenovou počítačovou tomografii (CT). Tato nedestruktivní technika je využívána pro výzkum různých biomateiálů ve tkáňovém inženýrství a materiálové vědě obecně (skafoldy, polymery, keramické materiály, kompozity aj.). Vizualizace a kvantifikace ve 3D jsou výhodné v rámci multidisciplinárního přístupu, který je často v těchto odvětvích uplatňován. Záměr této práce lze rozdělit do dvou oblastí. Prvním tématem je optimalizace měřicí procedury různých měkkých materiálů pomocí CT s laboratorními rentgenovými zdroji. To zahrnuje převážně zobrazování ve fázovém kontrastu, konkrétně metodu volného šíření záření (VŠZ). Tato práce teoreticky popisuje VŠZ a demonstruje tento jev na řadě experimentů. Následné nezbytné zpracování dat získaných VŠZ je implementováno a vyhodnoceno na základě míry zlepšení obrazových dat. Druhé téma ukazuje konkrétní aplikace CT v materiálovém inženýrství. Několik studií s různými CT zařízeními ukazuje příklady možných aplikací a obrazového zpracování. Příklady korelace CT dat s jinými doplňkovými technikami ukazují, jak může být CT aplikována v multioborovém přístupu ke komplexnímu řešení vědeckých problémů.

The thesis investigates methods of examining corneal biomechanics using non-contact tonometry and introduces novel techniques to investigate corneal material properties in vivo. A comprehensive systems analysis of the CorvisST (CST) and Ocular Response Analyser (ORA) was performed. Pressure sensors were used to characterisation the airflow produced by the CST and the ORA. Distinct differences were observed between the central airflow pressures between the two devices: the CST pressure was higher and of shorter duration. Scheimpflug high-speed imaging via the CST allowed components of the corneal deformation to be investigated and the development of a 3D deformation matrix (time, depth and spatial resolution) through tracing of the anterior and posterior corneal surface. Measures of whole eye movement (WEM) with CST were found to be robust. WEM demonstrated an asymmetric profile and a correction method was developed to address the corneal deformation matrix for this asymmetry. Novel methods for characterisation of intrinsic material characteristics of the cornea were developed using numerical and graphical analytical procedures. Application of these parameters was tested on enucleated porcine eyes across a wide range of manometry internal ocular pressure (MIOP). The dynamic E-Modulus was found to be most affected by MIOP change. To investigate the in vivo distribution and heterogeneity of the corneal biomechanics, a novel set-up allowed the mapping of corneal biomechanics across the cornea using the CST (central, paracentral, peripheral) and ORA (central, peripheral). Biometric and demographic grouping of subjects allowed detection of discriminating factors between individuals. The results suggest that the in vivo cornea of healthy human adults can be characterised as a viscoelastic, damped system for longitudinal strain and a highly oscillating system for lateral strain. The cornea is approximately homogenous for measures of rigidity and dynamic E-Modulus but other corneal material characteristics (longitudinal and lateral strain, hysteresis, damping and compressibility) demonstrated regional differences. The experimental design employed allowed for strict control of biometric and biomechanical intersubject variables, based on gold-standard techniques as well as newly-developed methods, thereby creating a normative database for future use.

A estimulação elétrica periférica (PES), que abrange diversas técnicas com respostas fisiológicas diversas, tem apresentado em alguns casos resultados clínicos promissores para o tratamento da dor e reabilitação clínica. No entanto, as respostas encontradas são heterogêneas, principalmente porque há uma falta de compreensão em relação ao seu mecanismo de ação. Neste estudo, buscamos avaliar os efeitos da PES através da medição da ativação cortical cerebral utilizando a espectroscopia funcional por infravermelho (fNIRS). A fNIRS é um método de imagem óptica funcional que avalia mudanças hemodinâmicas nas concentrações de hemoglobina oxigenada (HbO) e desoxigenada (HbR), relacionadas à atividade cortical. Nós hipotetizamos que a PES do nervo acessório espinal (ASN) pode promover a ativação do córtex motor (MC) e do córtex pré-frontal dorsolateral (DLPFC), relacionados ao processamento da dor. Quinze voluntários saudáveis receberam estimulação elétrica ativa e sham em um ensaio clínico randomizado cruzado. A resposta hemodinâmica à estimulação elétrica unilateral direita do nervo acessório com 10 Hz foi medida pela espectroscopia funcional por um sistema de 40 canais. A variação de HbO nas áreas corticais de interesse mostrou ativação do DLPFC direito (p=0,025) e do MOTOR esquerdo (p=0,042) no grupo ativo comparado com sham. Em relação ao DLPFC esquerdo (p=0,610) e ao MOTOR direito (p=0,154), não houve diferença estatística entre os grupos. Como na modulação top-down, a estimulação bottom-up do nervo acessório parece ativar as mesmas áreas corticais, relacionadas às dimensões sensório-discriminativas e afetivo-motivacionais da dor. Esses resultados fornecem evidência adicional para desenvolver e otimizar o uso clínico da estimulação elétrica periférica. / Peripheral electrical stimulation (PES), which encompasses several techniques with heterogeneous physiological responses, has shown in some cases remarkable outcomes for pain treatment and clinical rehabilitation. However, results are still mixed, mainly because there is a lack of understanding regarding its neural mechanisms of action. In this study, we aimed to assess its effects by measuring cortical activation as indexed by functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). fNIRS is a functional optical imaging method to evaluate hemodynamic changes in oxygenated (HbO) and de-oxygenated (HbR) blood hemoglobin concentrations in cortical capillary networks that can be related to cortical activity. We hypothesized that PES of accessory spinal nerve (ASN) can promote cortical activation of motor cortex (MC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) pain processing cortical areas. Fifteen healthy volunteers received both active and sham ASN electrical stimulation in a crossover design. The hemodynamic response to unilateral right ASN burst electrical stimulation with 10 Hz was measured by a 40- channel fNIRS system. The effect of ASN electrical stimulation over HbO concentration in cortical areas of interest was observed through the activation of right- DLPFC (p=0.025) and left-MOTOR (p=0.042) in the active group but not in sham group. Regarding left-DLPFC (p=0.610) and right-MOTOR (p=0.174) there was no statistical difference between groups. As in non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) topdown modulation, bottom-up electrical stimulation to the accessory spinal nerve seems to activate the same critical cortical areas on pain pathways related to sensorydiscriminative and affective-motivational pain dimensions. These results provide additional mechanistic evidence to develop and optimize the effects of peripheral neural electrical stimulation.

The objective of this study was to investigate and compare the brokered transport costs of road and rail transport for the independent timber growers of NCT Forestry Co-operative Limited in Kwa-Zulu-Natal. Reliability, flexibility, visibility, rates and total transport time were evaluated for each mode of transport. The impact of the carbon emissions was also considered and the option of performance based standard vehicles investigated. During the period 2000 to 2003, rail was the dominant mode of transport. However from 2004 onwards, due to the diminishing service levels and the high tariff structures of rail transport, road became the preferred mode of transport. The results of the survey conducted for the purposes of this study showed that although road transport outperformed rail transport, rail transport scored significantly higher than road transport as a cost-effective mode of transportation. Rail transport was shown to be a far less carbon intensive mode of transport than road transport, while there were substantial cost savings and benefits from performance based standard vehicles. / Transport Economics, Logistics and Tourism / M. Com. (Logistics)