Bestiality was one of the most severely-punished crimes in 17th and 18th century Sweden. More individuals have been executed for bestiality in Sweden than for witchcraft. The sentence for bestiality was decapitation and being burnt at the stake. Even the animals with which the sodomist had had intercourse were slaughtered and burned publicly at the place of execution. An even greater number of people were sentenced to corporal punishment and forced labour in iron collars for attempting to commit bestiality. Despite the severe penalty the number of trials increased dramatically during the first half of the 18th century, culminating sometime mid-century. Bestiality, together with infanticide, stood out as the most serious of contemporary Swedish social problems. The numerous trials and executions for bestiality seem to have had few if any parallels in contemporary Europe! The purpose of this dissertation is to reconstruct, with the aid of trial records, the various cultural and symbolic significations which acts of bestiality conjured up for the society of the day, as well as to provide an explanation for the increase in the number of trials and its geographic distribution. The first section of this research assignment is inspired by the research traditions which fall under the headings of historical anthropolgy and history of mentalities. The second section is of a more traditional social- historical nature. The conflict and interaction between an elite culture in the service of authority and a folk culture with its roots in traditional customs and ways of thinking comprise a unifying and comprehensive theme in the present dissertation. The source material is composed of judgements and hearing reports from a total of 1,510 trials conducted during the period 1635- 1754, equivalent to the greater percentage of all the trials concerning bestiality dealt with by the district courts in Sweden at that time. By the middle of the 18th century the population living within the area under investigation was something more than one and one-half million souls. The present study shows that the bestiality trials in 17th and 18th century Sweden can be explained neither as the result of a one-sided campaign on behalf of the authorities, nor as a way in which local communities tried to get rid of inconvenient and marginalized individuals. Instead, the numerous denunciations and confessions must be seen as the result of an interaction between the desire of the authorities to exercise control and to legitimize its power, and a popular problemization of the act of bestiality itself. Three areas for problematizing have been pointed out, all of whom contributed to an increased willingness to accuse and confess: the merging of sin and crime within a framework of a justice system featuring public punishment and atonement rituals; transgression of the border between man and beast and conceptions of that which is physically impure; and a traditional job delegation between the sexes and between boys and men which led to different roles in relation to the animals. In a European perspective, the latter was perhaps the most specific to Sweden. / digitalisering@umu

This thesis aims to examine Johnson¡¦s writings and argue his happiness is a state of eternity in the afterlife which results mainly from God¡¦s mercy and human beings¡¦ obedience, repentance and virtue (or good works). To prove my thesis, I need to study the foundation and essence of Johnson¡¦s salvation alongside his moral and religious thoughts. I thus argue, in Chapter One, that Johnson¡¦s early life has great influence upon him and his well-known spiritual anxiety serves as the main cause of his fear of death and as an important index in the study of Johnson¡¦s conditional salvation. Before probing into Johnson¡¦s salvation, I attempt in Chapter Two to expound religion in eighteenth-century England, especially Johnson¡¦s role as a religious man and a moralist. Both identities play crucial roles in analyzing Johnson¡¦s happiness. Johnson¡¦s morality is surely profoundly conditioned by the climate of social, religious and moral experience shared by his contemporaries in eighteenth-century England and can hardly be dissolved despite great care. His religious and moral thoughts are so large questions to approach, not to mention to answer them. Therefore, the treatment is necessarily selective. I will focus on the connection between Johnson¡¦s morality and his own Christian belief shown in his sermons and other genres of writings. Though Johnson is noticeably ambivalent towards his moral instruction at times, he never jumps the track of the core of his moral thinking: his happiness is of after-life. In Chapter Three and Chapter Four, I will do a close reading on Johnson¡¦s frequent discussion of happiness in his periodical essays and Oriental tale Rasselas and on that of salvation, virtue and eternity respectively with intent to argue that Johnson¡¦s happiness is largely supported by his belief in Christian¡¦s ideas of salvation and eternity. Samuel Johnson in Rasselas voices the essence of happiness through Nekayah after a series of adventures and pursuit of happiness: ¡§To me, the choice of life is become less important; I hope hereafter to think only on the choice of eternity¡¨ (Rasselas 418). This passage clearly marks that happiness of this life is unreliable and the quest will be not only aimless but endless. To assure everlasting happiness, one ought to aspire to the afterlife by strenuous efforts in this life for eternity. Furthermore, I will show evidence from Johnson¡¦s life and words to strengthen my presumption that eternity forwards the realization of happiness. The eternal state of afterlife pacifies Johnson¡¦s spiritual anxiety in this life and enhances the charm of the world coming after. This is quite at odds with Johnson¡¦s fear of death; however, it pinpoints how a devout Christian struggles for not merely salvation but rewards from God after death. As such, I conclude my thesis in Chapter Five by showing how the intertexture of Johnson¡¦s life, religion, morality and literature helps him accept his imperfection, physically wretched and mentally disturbed, and then strive for perfection, that is, an elevated state of life in another world.

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Background: Earlier studies show that 30-92 % of ACL reconstructed return to their pre-injury physical activity. It is not clear why some people do not return. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the return rate to pre-injury sport among ACL reconstructed men. Another purpose was to characterize those patients who return and those who do not. Metod: A Web-based questionnaire with questions about returning to physical activity was sent out during the spring of 2012 to 93 men who had undergone an ACL reconstruction 6-40 months earlier and who, after 6-40 months after surgery, were evaluated with validated strength tests and self-assessment outcome measures. Results: At 12 months after surgery 56 % of the subjects had returned to their pre-injury sport. If the criteria were set higher “back to the same- or a higher level” 14 % had returned. No differences were observed between those who had returned and those who did not, in terms of results on strength tests and the self-assessment outcome scores. Two years after surgery the subjects who returned to their pre-injury physical activity maintained a higher physical activity level compared to subjects that did not return. Conclusion: 56 % of the men that had undergone an ACL reconstruction reported that they returned to their pre-injury sport, but not to the same level, 12 months after surgery. Those men who returned maintained a higher physical activity level two years after surgery compared with those men who did not return.   Keywords: ACL, surgery, muscle function, self-efficacy, quality of life.   Level of evidence: II, retrospective study with prognostic value.

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity International University, 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-240).

Thesis (M.A.) in English--University of Maine, 2002. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-73).

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Trinity International University, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 255-268).

Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes special report study entitled: The waste land. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 2008. / Abstract . Description based on microfiche version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-143).

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