Forss, E & Westrin, M. Mötet med döden. Hur sjuksköterskor upplever när den yngre palliativa patienten tar upp samtalet om döden – en empirisk studie. Examensarbete i omvårdnad 15 högskolepoäng. Malmö högskola: Fakulteten för Hälsa och samhälle, Institutionen för vårdvetenskap, 2014.Bakgrund: Palliativa patienter blir allt fler inom vården och sjuksköterskor upplever det som stressfyllt att ge omvårdnad till döende patienter på grund av att de känner sig oförberedda. Palliativ vård finns till för att ge patienten ett värdigt liv även när döden närmar sig och inriktar sig inte på någon specifik ålder. Litteratur om döendet handlar om äldre eller barn men inte vuxna i yngre ålder. Det är viktigt att ta reda på hur sjuksköterskor känner när samtalet om döden tas upp med yngre palliativa patienter, för att få ökad kunskap inom det tabubelagda ämnet. Syfte: Att belysa hur sjuksköterskor upplever när den yngre, 18-39 år, palliativa patienten tar upp samtalet om döden. Metod: Empirisk intervjustudie med semistrukturerade frågor. Sex stycken sjuksköterskor intervjuades på Onkologen, Skånes Universitetssjukhus, som har jobbat med unga palliativa patienter. Burnards innehållsanalys (1991) användes som inspiration i resultatarbetet. Resultat: Resultatet visade på att de flesta sjuksköterskorna upplevde att ett samtal om döden med en ung patient väckte ångest hos hen själv. De upplevde att det var svårare att prata med yngre patienter än med äldre då de kunde relatera till sig själva och deras egen dödlighet. De tog upp vikten av att lyssna och bekräfta patienten i den svåra situationen, men även att själva få stöd i det arbete som de utför. Sammanfattning: Det är viktigt att öka kunskapen om hur sjuksköterskan upplever när den yngre patientens uttrycker tankar, känslor och upplevelsen kring döden. Samtalet om döden är ett område som inte tas upp tillräckligt i grundutbildningen utan fokus ligger på en allmän empatisk förmåga. Detta kan leda till att sjuksköterskor har svårt att hantera när ett samtal om döden inträffar. / Forss, E & Westrin, M. Encounter with death. How nurses experience when the younger palliative patient wants to talk about death – an empirical study. Degree Project in nursing 15 credit points, Malmö University: Faculty of Health and Society, Department of Care Science, 2014.Background: Palliative patients increases in health care and nurses find it stressful to provide nursing care to dying patients because they feel unprepared. Palliative care exists to give the patient a dignified life even when death is approaching and does not focus on any specific age. Literature about dying is about the elderly or children but not adults in younger age. It is important to find out how nurses feel when young palliative patient want to talk about death, to increase knowledge of the taboo topic. Aim: To explore how nurses experience when the younger, 18-39 years old, palliative patient wants to talk about death. Method: Empirical interview with semi-structured questions. Six nurses were interviewed at the oncologist, Skånes University Hospital, who has worked with young palliative patients. Burnard content analysis (1991) was used as inspiration in the results work. Results: The results showed that most of the nurses experienced that a conversation about death with a young patient aroused anxiety in herself. They felt that it was more difficult to talk to younger patients than older because they could relate to themselves and their own mortality. They brought up the importance of listening and confirming the patient in the difficult situation, but also to be supported in their work that they perform. Conclusion: It is important to increase the knowledge of how nurses experience when the younger the patient expresses thoughts, feelings and experience surrounding the death. The conversation about death is an area that is not addressed enough in the nurses program; instead the focus is on a general empathy. This can lead to that nurses find it difficult to manage when a conversation of death occurs.

Little research has addressed the needs of Native American veterans. This study aims to provide a better understanding of Native American women veterans’ experiences using data from the Veteran Administration and Indian Health Services. Fifteen interviews were conducted with special attention to quality and quantity of health and mental health care services available to veterans, the barriers and local contextual factors in accessing and utilizing services, and potential solutions to service gaps for women veterans from two Montana reservations, the Northern Cheyenne and Flathead Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. American Indians and Alaska Natives serve at a higher rate in the U.S military than any other population. Native American women veterans identified many barriers to accessing care, some of which include lack of information regarding eligibility and the type of services available. Many found the application process to be confusing and difficult. Other barriers included distance, cost of travel, and conflict with their work schedule. This research provides important data about Native American veterans who are often underrepresented in survey research and are a rapidly growing segment of the United States military and veteran population.

<p>Motion blur is a form of image quality degradation, showing as content in the image smearing and not looking sharp. It is usually seen in photography due to relative motion between the camera and the scene (either camera moves or objects in the scene move). It is also seen in human vision systems, primarily on digital displays.</p> <p><br></p> <p>It is often desired to remove motion blurriness from images. Numerous works have been put into reducing motion blur <em>after</em> the image has been formed, e.g., for camera-captured ones. Unlike post-processing methods, we take the approach to prevent/minimize motion blur for both human and camera observation by pre-processing the source image. The pre-processed images are supposed to look sharp upon blurring. Note that, only pre-processing methods can deal with human-observed blurriness since the imagery can't be modified after it is formed on the retina.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Pre-processing methods face more fundamental challenges than post-processing ones. A problem inherent to such methods is the appearance of ringing artifacts which are intensity oscillations reducing the quality of the observed image. We found that these ringing artifacts have a fundamental cause rooted in the blur kernel. The blur kernel usually have very low amplitudes in some frequencies, significantly attenuating the signal intensity in these frequencies when it convolves an image. Pre-processing methods can usually reconstruct the targeted image to the observer but inevitably lose energy in those frequencies, appearing as artifacts. To address the artifact issue, we present a few approaches: (a) aligning the image content and the kernel in the frequency domain, and (b) redistributing their intensity variations elsewhere in the image. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method in a working prototype, in simulation, and with a user study.</p>

The Swedish government supports local government initiatives in an effort to promote societal wellbeing. Municipalities work to improve the quality of life for their citizens while also providing services that are friendly to the environment. One of the major duties for municipalities that need more attention is providing drinkable water and maintaining a reliable sewer system. In order to prevent any contamination of drinking water or any filtration or leakage concerns with sewer systems, they demand significant investment and long-term attention. The VA (stands for water and sewer system in Swedish)is one of the most important infrastructure assets in a functioning society, where disruptions and interruptions risk having far-reaching consequences for people's health. The report outlines the current status of the water and sewage system in Sweden and details how accommodating it is to be improved. The study seeks areas where water and sewage services can be improved through external entrepreneurs that could establish and manage these assets, instead of the local governmental authorities. The report will also look at potential improvements in water and sewage system, through enhanced collaboration and partnership with other municipalities. In order to accomplish this, numerous literature and interviews with municipal representatives have been made, in addition to the inspection of other resources to gather information on how to continue. As a result, the water and sewage infrastructure is currently in a critical state and requires significant investment as well as quick action. The report also discovered that there are numerous legal barriers and limitations for privatizing water and sewerage operations. On the other hand, one of the report's main conclusions is that it is necessary to take into account cooperation and partnerships between municipalities in order to enhance local organizational performance and come up with a joint solution to the financial problems. However, more research must be done, and the business justifications of some municipalities' current partnerships should be looked at.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka vilka genusnormer som synliggörs i bilderböckerna Tomtebobarnen (1910) av Elsa Beskow och Ska vi va? (2013) av Pija Lindenbaum. De valda bilderböckerna analyseras med hjälp av kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod samt begreppen ikonotext och Maria Nikolajevas tabell över kvinnliga och manliga egenskaper. Analysen stöds också med hjälp av tidigare forskning och ett antal centrala begrepp. Av analysen framgår det att Tomtebobarnen framställer genusnormer mer entydigt i både bild och text än Ska vi va?. Ska vi va? innehåller karaktärer som både bryter och förstärker genusnormerna genom sina illustrationer och text. Genusnormerna framkommer i båda böckerna via kläder, egenskaper och handlingar. Diskussionen belyser hur bilderböckerna kan användas i undervisningen och vilka pedagogiska utmaningar läraren kan stöta på i arbetet med böckerna. Studien konstaterar att det behövs vidare forskning om hur de aktuella bilderböckerna används i undervisningen idag och hur nya didaktiska metoder skulle kunna implementeras.

The goal of this research was to formulate new tools for instream-flow analyses, with emphasis on protecting fish assemblages in speciose, warmer-water streams. This included habitat and fish data sets for the upper Roanoke River (URR) in southwestern Virginia, collected during the warmer, low- f low seasons of 1989-1991. Physical data were collected in small, rectangular quadrats or crosssectional transacts, whereas fish were collected by seining and electroshocking in the quadrats. Statistical analyses included uni-, bi-, and multivariate analyses. The habitat analyses showed that mesohabitat types could be effectively defined with hydraulic, channel-roughness, and geomorphologic variables, and different habitat types showed characteristically different hydraulic dynamics across flows. The analyses also showed that physical habitat could be effectively described by 4 axes (sets of similar variables) at microhabitat scales, although greater covariation occurred at intermediate spatial scales (meso- and macrohabitat level). Habitat assessment for instream-flow analyses can thus be effectively simplified by undertaking visual assessment of several mesohabitat types and/or by measuring only a few physical variables for microhabitat analyses. The differences in hydraulic dynamics among mesohabitat types can simplify determination of changes in the availability of fish habitat across flows. The fish analyses showed that habitat-use guilds of fish species could be effectively defined with aggregated data, i.e., across mesohabitat types or by calculation of fishes' habitat-use means for physical variables. In contrast, unaggregated data (each quadrat considered separately) gave cruder habitat-use segregation of fish species, particularly because fish species were independent of each other at smaller spatial resolutions and larger spatial extents. The 7 guilds included 4 rheophilic (riffle-oriented) and 3 limnophilic groups (pooloriented). Habitat-suitability models developed for these guilds showed that fish selected habitat variables independently, such that simple models can be developed to predict fish abundance in response to differences in habitat availability. In sum, the analyses provided habitat-flow and fish-habitat data that can be interfaced (in future analyses) to predict changes in fish abundance and biodiversity to be expected from permanent changes in flow levels and thus habitat availability. / Ph. D.

The first comprehensive year-round investigation of Mountain Lake, Virginia since 1970-71 was begun in March 1985 and continued through November 1987. Monthly studies suggested that this unique natural lake is undergoing change. Whereas inorganic nitrogen, orthophosphate, Secchi disc transparency, and primary productivity continue to suggest an oligotrophic condition, important limnological changes are indicated by the greater seasonal hypolimnetic oxygen depletion and extractable chlorophyll a which at times approach mesotrophic levels. In addition, the decrease in alkalinity, the increase in sulfate levels, and the increase in pH fluctuations compared to the past, suggest that Mountain Lake is susceptible to damage or change by acid rain and perhaps other perturbations that effect pH alkalinity, or hardness. Changes were also noted in phytoplankton composition. One hundred sixty-three taxa were identified which included 56.4% Chlorophyta, 17.8% Chrysophyta, 13.5% Cyanophyta, 8% Pyrrophyta, 3.7% Cryptophyta, and 0.6% Euglenophyta. Sixty percent of these taxa were new reports for Mountain Lake. Dominant pyrrophytes included Gymnodinium sp. and Peridinium wisconsinense. Dominant chlorophytes included Scenedesmus bijuga, Quadrigula chodatii, and Oocystis pusilla. Important cryptophytes were Cryptomonas erosa var. reflexa, C. pusilla, and C. pyrenoidifera. The most abundant cyanophyte was Aphanocapsa elachista var. conferta. The only diatom (chrysophyte) that ever dominated was Cyclotella meneghiniana. Studies of ammonia uptake by the phytoplankton, using the ammonia analog [¹⁴C]methylamine (MeA), revealed that during thermal stratification, phytoplankton succession was related to rapid ammonia uptake. Each successive phytoplankton community had significantly higher Vmax values for ammonia (methylamine) until midsummer when ammonia-nitrogen levels were at a seasonal low. At that point, the Vmax values dramatically declined and the community became dominated by blue-green algae. When allochthonous inputs of inorganic nitrogen renewed the levels of ammonia-nitrogen, Vmax values increased and the community changed, replacing the blue-green algae. Communities dominated by green algae (Chlorophyta) had higher MeA (and thus ammonia) uptake rates than those dominated by cryptophytes or blue-green algae (Cyanophyta). The effect of various treatments and inhibitors on MeA uptake by the phytoplankton support the conclusion that ammonia uptake is a chemical, light-independent, energy-dependent process. / Ph. D.

The research hypothesis of this study states that when individuals are asked to rank order certain places (environments) in terms of preference, then relationships can be measured between that rank ordering and relevant contextual adjective descriptors that indicate a person's perception of those places. These adjectives include beauty, excitement, distinction, naturalness, security, mystery, tradition, complexity, and familiarity (Canter, 1977; Ganmore, 1975; Ley, 1983; Lynch, 1981; Steele, 1981). After critical sites had been identified in a sketch map study, a sample of community members of the town of Blacksburg, Virginia were asked to respond to the sites along adjective dimensions that represent a sense of place. It was found that positive linear relationships existed in varying degrees of strength between the adjectives and place preference. Statistical significant relationships were found, in descending order of strength, between preference and beauty, excitement, distinction, naturalism, security, and mystery. No linear relationships were found between preference and tradition, complexity and familiarity. It has been concluded that places are perceived on other criteria beside just aesthetic appreciation. Furthermore, this thesis supports the argument that places are experienced on a symbolic and emotional level. Places are not merely a composition of physical elements. This deeper experience is the basis for the concept of a sense of place. / M.L. Arch.

The vegetation characteristic of the Back Bay area is largely Austroripariam. On the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge about 330 species and varieties of 198 genera from 76 families were found. Of these plants, five are important submerged aquatic water-fowl foods and twenty-four are emergent or marsh food species. The present production of submerged waterfowl food plants is much below the potential for the area, though somewhat greater than in past years. The factor now most responsible for this limited growth is turbidity of the water. The chief cause of turbidity is wave action due to wind. The action of carp is a secondary cause. In the view of the extreme difficulties and expenses of controlling turbidity, no management practices can be recommended for increasing the growth of submerged aquatics other than continued prevention of pollution and maintenance of as low a carp population as possible. Marsh management, on the other hand, is thought to offer good possibilities for benefitting waterfowl conditions on the area. Therefore, it is believed that any management efforts to improve waterfowl food plant conditions on Back Bay can be more profitably applied to marsh and emergent species than to submerged aquatic species. / M.S.

I studied bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) distribution, abundance, roost use and response to human activity on the northern Chesapeake Bay from 1984-89. The eagle population consisted of Chesapeake breeding eagles, Chesapeake nonbreeding eagles, northern-origin eagles and southern-origin eagles; changes in overall eagle distribution and abundance reflected the net changes in these 4 groups. Breeding territories on the northern Chesapeake increased from 12 to 28 from 1984 to 1988. Breeding eagles were resident all year, always ~7 km from the nest. Chesapeake nonbreeding eagles moved throughout most of the bay, but rarely left it (~5% of the radio-tagged eagles were off the bay during any month). Northern eagles migrated into the bay in late fall (x = 21 December! n = 7! range = 61 days) and departed in early spring (x = 27 March, n = 14, range = 43 days). Southern eagles arrived on the northern bay throughout April-August (x = 6 June, n = 11, range = 94 days) and departed from June - October (x = 3 September, n = 22, range = 119 days). Northern Chesapeake eagle abundance peaked twice annually; in winter (261 eagles, December 1987), driven by the presence of northern eagles, and in summer (604 eagles, August 1988), driven by the presence of southern birds. Of 1,117 radio-tagged eagle locations, only 55 (4.90/0) occurred in human-developed habitat, which composed 27.7% of 1,442 km2 of potential eagle habitat on the northern Chesapeake Bay (P < 0.001). During 36 aerial shoreline surveys, eagles were observed on only 111 of 700 (15.9%) 250-m shoreline segments that had development within 100 m, whereas eagles were observed on 312 of 859 (36.30/0) segments when development was absent (P < 0.001). On average, eagles were observed on 1.0 segment/survey that had coincident pedestrian use within 500 m, compared to 3.6 segments/survey expected if eagles and pedestrians were distributed along the shoreline independently (n = 34 surveys, P < 0.001). / Ph. D.