Skeletal development is a tightly regulated homeostatic process that requires proper functioning of osteoblasts, the bone forming cells, and osteoclasts, the bone resorbing cells. Improper functioning of either of these cell types results in diseases such as osteoporosis, osteogenesis imperfecta as well as Paget's disease. Crucial for the proper maintenance of the skeleton is the bone matrix, which encompasses both organic and inorganic components. Osteopontin (Opn) is an example of a major non-collagenous protein present in bone. Its expression is crucial for bone remodeling since it functions in recruiting osteoclasts for bone resorption and facilitates their adhesion to the bone matrix. Osteopontin is expressed in variety of cells and functions in facilitating signal transduction upon engagement of integrin. Osteopontin binds to the αvß3 (vitronectin receptor) the major integrin expressed on osteoclasts thereby mediating cell adhesion and migration. As a model to study osteopontin-mediated adhesion we have employed commercially available osteopontin and the HEK 293 cells that stably overexpress the vitronectin receptor (Vnr cells). We studied the ability of the Vnr cells to adhere to different extracellular matrices including osteopontin. / Bioengineering

Syftet med studien var att undersöka socialsekreterarnas arbete med våldsutsatta män i nära relation (VNR) genom att undersöka arbetsmoment såsom information, bemötande, rutiner, insatser och samverkan inom socialtjänsten. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer från sex socialsekreterare inom socialtjänsten. Studien har utgått från social rollteori och det pedagogiska perspektivet för att skapa en bättre förståelse av det insamlade materialet. En kvalitativ innehållsanalys genomfördes för att analysera insamlat material. Resultatet i studien visade att socialsekreterarnas uppfattning var att mäns utsatthet i nära relation har ignorerats av samhället och att den gemensamma bilden var att det även föreligger ett stort mörkertal bland våldsutsatta män. Socialsekreterarna beskrev att normativa föreställningar i samhället låg till grund för bakomliggande orsaker. Studien visade även att organisationernas struktur och resurser påverkar socialsekreterarnas förutsättningar att utveckla sin kompetens och kunskap inom våld i nära relation. Slutsatsen är att våldsutsatta män saknar tillgång till information om hjälpsökande och att det föreligger behov av att fler organisationer arbetar med att utveckla och synliggöra information specifikt riktat till våldsutsatta män. Det föreligger även ett behov av att uppmärksamma våldsutsatta män med hjälp av politiska diskussioner, ökad uppmärksamhet inom media samt att bredda kunskapen om ämnet genom vidare forskning. Detta bör generera i fler utfall där våldsutsatta män i högre utsträckning söker hjälp med utgångspunkt i att ökad kunskap skapar bättre förutsättningar i samhället. / The purpose of the study was to examine the work of social workers with men subjected to violence in close relationships (VNR) by investigating work aspects such as information, approach, procedures, interventions, and collaboration within social services. The study was conducted using a qualitative method, specifically semi-structured interviews with six social workers in a medium-sized municipality. The study drew on social role theory and the pedagogical perspective to gain a better understanding of the collected material. A qualitative content analysis was conducted to analyse the gathered data. The results of the study indicated that social workers perceived that men's vulnerability in close relationships had been ignored by society, and there was a common perception that there is a significant underreporting among men subjected to violence. Social workers described that normative beliefs in society underlie the root causes. The study also revealed that organizational structures and resources affect social workers' conditions to develop their competence and knowledge within intimate partner violence. In conclusion, the study found that men subjected to violence lack access to information about seeking help, highlighting the need for more organizations to work on developing and promoting information specifically targeted at men subjected to violence. There is also a need to draw attention to men subjected to violence through political discussions, increased media attention, and broadening knowledge on the subject through further research. This should result in more instances where men subjected to violence are more likely to seek help, based on the understanding that increased knowledge creates better conditions in society.

Våld i nära relationer (VNR) är ett utbrett samhällsproblem som kan få förödande konsekvenser, både för den utsatta individen och för samhället i stort. Många som utsätts för VNR är tveksamma till att söka hjälp och upprätta en polisanmälan. Hälso- och sjukvården besöks vid olika typer av problem och vårdcentraler kan vara en av de få instanser individer utsatta för VNR söker sig till. Syftet med studien är att undersöka personal på vårdcentralers möjligheter och förutsättningar att identifiera och hantera VNR genom sin yrkesroll utifrån kunskap om Region Skånes vårdprogram mot VNR med förhoppningen att styrka vårdcentralers brottspreventiva arbete mot VNR. Intervjuer har genomförts med personal på vårdcentral och resultatet visade att kännedom och användning av Region Skånes vårdprogram mot VNR varierade mellan studiens informanter. Många informanter kände till att ett vårdprogram mot VNR existerar men hade endast lite kunskap om innehållet. Gemensamt för alla informanter var dock att vårdprogrammet ofta inte användes som ett stöd i arbetet. Det fanns möjligheter till identifiering och hantering av VNR på vårdcentraler då frågan om utsatthet ofta ansågs lätt att ställa, men det var svårt för informanter att avgöra vem som skulle tillfrågas. Informanter kände sig även osäkra gällande hanteringen av identifierad VNR. Det uppgavs dock finnas goda möjligheter för detta arbete men hinder sågs i form av tidsbrist, otillräcklig kunskap om VNR, otillräckliga riktlinjer för hanteringen av VNR och osäkerhet kring dokumentation av VNR. Informanter menade att de ser arbetet med VNR som en del av deras ansvar men inte uttalat tänkt på vårdcentraler som en del av samhällets brottsprevention. / Violence in close relationships (VCR) is a widespread societal problem that may have devastating consequences for the victim and the society. Many victims of VCR are hesitant to seek help. The Swedish healthcare system is widely visited by the public and primary health centers (PHC) can be one of the few places victims of VCR visit. The aim of the study was to examine the possibilities and barriers medical professionals working in PHC have to be able to identify and manage VCR with the basis in the knowledge of Region Skåne’s care program against VCR. The results showed that many informants know that the care program exists but have little knowledge of the contents and rarely use the program. There were possibilities to identify and manage VCR in PHC as the question regarding patient’s victimization is seen as easy to ask but it was difficult to determine who should be asked. Informants felt insecure regarding the management of VCR and barriers were identified in the form of lack of time, inadequate knowledge about VCR, inadequate guidelines for the management of VCR and uncertainty regarding the documentation of VCR. The informants saw identification and management of VCR as part of their responsibility, however they did not outspokenly think about PHC as part of society’s crime prevention.

Modern methods of speech synthesis are not suitable for restoration of song signals due to lack of vitality and intonation in the resulted sounds. The aim of presented work is to synthesize melismas met in Lithuanian folk songs, by applying Artificial Neural Networks. An analytical survey of rather a widespread literature is presented. First classification and comprehensive discussion of melismas are given. The theory of dynamic systems which will make the basis for studying melismas is presented and finally the relationship for modeling a melisma with nonlinear and dynamic systems is outlined. Investigation of the most widely used Linear Prediction Coding method and possibilities of its improvement. The modification of original Linear Prediction method based on dynamic LPC frame positioning is proposed. On its basis, the new melisma synthesis technique is presented. Developed flexible generalized melisma model, based on two Artificial Neural Networks – a Multilayer Perceptron and Adaline – as well as on two network training algorithms – Levenberg- Marquardt and the Least Squares error minimization – is presented. Moreover, original mathematical models of Fortis, Gruppett, Mordent and Trill are created, fit for synthesizing melismas, and their minimal sizes are proposed. The last chapter concerns experimental investigation, using over 500 melisma records, and corroborates application of the new mathematical models to melisma synthesis of one performer.

Modern methods of speech synthesis are not suitable for restoration of song signals due to lack of vitality and intonation in the resulted sounds. The aim of presented work is to synthesize melismas met in Lithuanian folk songs, by applying Artificial Neural Networks. An analytical survey of rather a widespread literature is presented. First classification and comprehensive discussion of melismas are given. The theory of dynamic systems which will make the basis for studying melismas is presented and finally the relationship for modeling a melisma with nonlinear and dynamic systems is outlined. Investigation of the most widely used Linear Prediction Coding method and possibilities of its improvement. The modification of original Linear Prediction method based on dynamic LPC frame positioning is proposed. On its basis, the new melisma synthesis technique is presented. Developed flexible generalized melisma model, based on two Artificial Neural Networks – a Multilayer Perceptron and Adaline – as well as on two network training algorithms – Levenberg- Marquardt and the Least Squares error minimization – is presented. Moreover, original mathematical models of Fortis, Gruppett, Mordent and Trill are created, fit for synthesizing melismas, and their minimal sizes are proposed. The last chapter concerns experimental investigation, using over 500 melisma records, and corroborates application of the new mathematical models to melisma synthesis of one performer.

Magnetic resonance images (MRI) are acquired by sampling the current of induced electromotiveforce (EMF). EMF is induced due to flux of the net magnetic field from coherent nuclear spins with intrinsic magnetic dipole moments. The spins are excited by (non-ionizing) radio frequency electromagnetic radiation in conjunction with stationary and gradient magnetic fields. These images reveal detailed internal morphological structures as well as enable functional assessment of the body that can help diagnose a wide range of medical conditions. The aim of this project was to unwrap phase contrast cine magnetic resonance images, targeting the great vessels. The maximum encoded velocity (venc) is limited to the angular phase range [-π, π] radians. This may result in aliasing if the venc is set too low by the MRI personnel. Aliased images yield inaccurate cardiac stroke volume measurements and therefore require acquisition retakes. The retakes might be avoided if the images could be unwrapped in post-processing instead. Using computer vision, the angular phase of flow measurements as well as the angular phase of retrospectively wrapped image sets were unwrapped. The performances of three algorithms were assessed, Laplacian algorithm, sequential tree-reweighted message passing and iterative graph cuts. The associated energy formulation was also evaluated. Iterative graph cuts was shown to be the most robust with respect to the number of wraps and the energies correlated with the errors. This thesis shows that there is potential to reduce the number of acquisition retakes, although the MRI personnel still need to verify that the unwrapping performances are satisfactory. Given the promising results of iterative graph cuts, next it would be valuable to investigate the performance of a globally optimal surface estimation algorithm.