O experimento foi realizado na unidade de creche do Laboratório de Pesquisa em Suínos (LPS) da Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia da Universidade de São Paulo (FMVZ-USP), campus de Pirassununga (SP), sendo utilizados setenta e dois leitões recém desmamados (21 dias), com peso médio de 6,5 kg. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos casualizados, num arranjo fatorial 2 x 2, sendo os fatores: probiótico e desafio, os quais definiram os tratamentos: T 1 - emprego do probiótico, com desafio (CPCD); T 2 - emprego do probiótico, sem o desafio (CPSD); T 3 - ausência do probiótico, com desafio (SPCD); T 4 - ausência do probiótico e sem o desafio (SPSD). As faixas de ganho médio de peso diário consideradas foram: dos 21 aos 35 dias (GMPD 35); dos 35 aos 49 dias (GMPD 49); dos 49 aos 63 dias (GMPD 63) e dos 21 aos 63 dias (GMPD Total). Os leitões foram submetidos ao desafio em sala separada, 14 dias após a distribuição nos tratamentos. O desafio foi realizado com uma amostra de E. coli positiva para as toxinas LT e ST b e para as fímbrias K 88 e F 18. A colheita das fezes foi feita após o desafio, em três períodos (35, 42 e 49 dias de idade dos leitões), para contagem de coliformes fecais, sendo analisadas pelo Laboratório de Sanidade Suína da FMVZ-USP, em São Paulo. A ração oferecida aos leitões foi semelhante à empregada comercialmente nas criações, havendo somente suplementação ou não do probiótico. O experimento avaliou o desempenho dos leitões através do ganho de peso diário (GMPD) e peso (P), acrescido da verificação da consistência das fezes e da contagem de coliformes fecais. Os resultados mostraram interação significativa entre probiótico e desafio quanto ao GMPD 49, indicando nesse período, o ponto de inflexão que caracterizou o início da mudança no comportamento desta variável. Com relação à consistência das fezes, o probiótico agiu reduzindo o percentual de fezes cremosas, confirmando sua ação protetora da mucosa intestinal, reduzindo a perda de líquido e, conseqüentemente, a diarréia. Além de atuar melhorando os parâmetros relativos ao desempenho e à consistência das fezes, a utilização do probiótico promoveu uma alteração na contagem de E. coli, reduzindo-a para um valor inferior, 14 dias após o desafio, reforçando assim a sua ação benéfica junto á manutenção da integridade intestinal / The experiment was conducted in the nursery unit at the Swine Research Laboratory from the FMVZ, University of São Paulo, Pirassununga campus, where we used 72 piglets recently weaned (about 21 days) with the average weight of 6,5 kg. The experiment was outlined in random blocks system, 2 x 2 factorial arrangements, being the factors: probiotic and challenge. The treatment was: T1 ? use of the probiotic, with challenge (CPCD); T2 ? use of the probiotic, without the challenge (CPSD); T3 ? no probiotic, with challenge (SPCD); T4 ? no probiotic and no challenge (SPSD). The intervals of weight daily gain considered were 21 to 35 days (GMPD 35); 35 to 49 days (GMPD 49); 49 to 63 days (GMPD 63) and 21 to 63 days (GMPD Total). The piglets were kept in two different rooms. One of the groups was challenged 14 days after the distribution in the treatments, in a separated room and for the challenge we used a sample of E.coli positive for the toxins LT and ST b and also for the pilli K88 and F18. The samples of feces were collected after the challenge in three periods (35, 42 and 49 days of age of the piglets) and sent to the Swine Health Laboratory at the FMVZ-USP, São Paulo campus, where the count of some species of intestinal bacteria was performed. The feed offered to the piglets was the same used in commercial swine herds. The only difference was the use or not of the probiotic. The experiment evaluated the development of the piglets through the amount of weight (AW) they gained and the average daily gain (ADG) of weight, plus the verification of the consistency of the feces and the count of some intestinal bacteria. The results showed a significant interaction between the probiotic and the challenge, as related to GMPD 49, indicating in this period the point of inflexion that characterized the beginning of the change in behavior of this variable. Analyzing the consistency of the feces we have notice that the probiotic has reduced the percentage of creamy feces, confirming its protective action in the intestinal mucus, reducing the loss of liquid and consequently the diarrhea. Together with the positive effect on the performance, the probiotic reduced the abnormal consistency of the feces, specially the creamy ones, as well as decreased the counting of E.coli 14 days after the challenge, keeping the intestinal integrity

Made available in DSpace on 2014-08-20T14:37:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_alceu_santos_junior.pdf: 1787319 bytes, checksum: 33ba7f2289b9ac4a868e567f7462444a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-22 / The intracellular protozoan Neospora caninum, is considered the main causative agent of abortion in cattle. Infection occurs by ingestion of sporulated oocysts in the environment, first occurs systemic parasitemy characterizing acute phase of infection and subsequent chronic phase with formation of tissue cysts, thus persisting the infected and the asymptomatic host. Diagnosis is made by serologic tests. Currently, there are no data to ensure the effectiveness of commercial vaccine available for cattle. Apical complex antigens of the parasite are being studied, since they have an important role in infection. The rhoptries, secretory glands present in this region of the parasite N. caninum, play an important role in invasion and formation of parasitophago vacuoles, these properties have generated interest in its use in experimental vaccine formulations. Experimentally it showed partial results of protection in challenge, when fused to other proteins of this protozoan, the protection was increased, suggesting that antigens fusion is effective for protection against N. caninum. This work produced a new chimeric antigen, originated from the fusion of ROP² N. caninum with the B subunit of heat labile enterotoxin of Escherichia coli. The construction of the chimera was accomplished by cloning in sequence where ROP² gene was inserted directly into the N-terminus of LTB. The construction ROP²/LTB was expressed in E. coli strain BL 21 (DE3) StarTM where it presented a size of approximately 24kDa. The fusion antigen did not impair the antigenicity when tested against positive bovine serum by immunofluorescence, the Western blot technique, therefore, show great potential for use as a recombinant vaccine. / O protozoário intracelular Neospora caninum, é considerado principal agentes causadores de aborto em bovinos. A infecção ocorre pela ingestão de oocistos esporulados no ambiente, inicialmente ocorre parasitemia sistêmica caracterizando fase aguda da infecção e posteriormente fase crônica com formação de cistos teciduais, permanecendo assim o hospedeiro infectado e assintomático. O diagnóstico é feito através de provas sorológicas. Atualmente, não há dados que assegurem a eficácia da vacina comercial disponível para bovinos. Antígenos do complexo apical do parasito estão sendo estudados, pois apresentam papel importante na infecção. As roptrias, glândulas secretoras presente nesta região do parasito N. caninum, desempenham papel importante na invasão e formação do vacúolo parasitófago, essas propriedades produziram interesse na sua utilização em formulações de vacina experimentais. Experimentalmente apresentou resultados parciais de proteção ao desafio, quando fusionada a outras proteínas deste protozoário, aumentou a proteção, sugerindo que fusão de antígenos é eficiente para proteção contra N. caninum. O presente trabalho produziu um novo antígeno quimérico, originado da fusão entre ROP² de N. caninum com a subunidade B, da enterotoxina termolábil de Escherichia coli. A construção da quimera foi realizada por clonagem em sequência, onde gene ROP² foi inserido diretamente na porção N-terminal da LTB. A construção, ROP²/LTB, foi expressa em cepa E. coli BL 21 (DE3) StarTM onde apresentou tamanho de aproximadamente 24kDa. A fusão de antígeno não prejudicou a antigenicidade quando testado frente a soro bovino positivo por Imunofluorescência, na técnica de Western blot, portanto, apresentando grande potencial para ser utilizado como vacina recombinante.

In this study we pose the question if you through finding patterns in implementation of checkpoints can find ways to tailor the experience of the game A Story About My Uncle to hardcore gamers. To find out the answer we had hardcore players playing a modified level from the game A Story About My Uncle that was used as stimulus material for the following focus group interview. The analysis of the gathered material resulted in four patterns that can be used when implementing checkpoints to tailor the experience of the game A Story About My Uncle to hardcore gamers. Elements of checkpoints that our study showed to be important when it comes to how the game is experienced are density, placement and clearness. / I den här studien ställde vi oss frågan om man genom att hitta mönster inom implementation av checkpoints kunde finna sätt att anpassa spelupplevelsen i spelet A Story About My Uncle till hardcore spelare. För att ta reda på det lät vi hardcorespelare spela en modifierad bana ur spelet A Story About My Uncle som användes som stimulusmaterial för en följande fokusgruppsintervju. Analysen av det insamlade materialet resulterade i fyra mönster som kan användas vid implementering av checkpoints för att anpassa spelupplevelsen i spelet A Story About My Uncle till hardcorespelare. Faktorer för checkpoints som i vår studie visat sig ha stor betydelse i hur spelet upplevs är densitet, placering och tydlighet.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The equine protozoal mieloencefalite (EPM) is caused mainly by Sarcocystis neurona. It s definitive host is the opossum (Didelphis spp.), which becomes infected by ingesting sporocysts from tissues of intermediate hosts, that belong to different species. Clinical manifestations occur with neurologic signs, which vary according to the area of the nervous system affected. Clinical disease is not common, however cases of immunosuppression as senility, stress, use of corticosteroids may lead to development of clinical signs. From an epidemiological standpoint, it is interesting to determine the distribution of the protozoa in order to know the areas where animals were exposed to S. neurona through serological tests, in order to consider EPM in differential diagnosis of neurological diseases and guide the treatment. In the U.S. it is estimated that half of the horses are reagents for S. neurona, in Brazil there are not many reports about prevalence of seropositive horses. The transplacental infection has been described for other species of Sarcocystis, however there is no evidence of intrauterine infection by S. neurona, only some studies suggesting the vertical transmission as another way of agent maintenance, which could be confirmed by detecting antibodies in sera from neonates before colostrum ingestion. While S. neurona is the primary agent of equine mieloencefalite, S. cruzi is related to losses in cattle. Although parasites present similar life cycle, but with different definitive hosts, horses were exposed to both species of Sarcocystis, and these two species may infect horses and spread concurrently in herds. Therefore, this study aimed to detect the occurrence of transplacental transmission by S. neurona in horses and compare the prevalence of flocks against S. neurona and S. cruzi. Results were arranged in two chapters. In chapter one, we investigated the occurrence of transplacental infection of S. neurona in horses. For this, blood was collected from mares and their newborns for antibodies against S. neurona. In the second chapter, we compared, by indirect immunofluorescence, serum samples from 189 mares for the presence of antibodies against Sarcocystis spp. using as antigen S. neurona and S. cruzi. The analysis of the results revealed the majority of animals responding to antigens of S. cruzi and a third of seropositive animals reacted to antigens of both species. / A mieloencefalite equina por protozoário (MEP) é causada principalmente por Sarcocystis neurona. O hospedeiro definitivo de S. neurona é o gambá (Didelphis spp.), que se infecta ingerindo esporocistos dos tecidos dos hospedeiros intermediários, que pertencem a diversas espécies. Os sinais clínicos cursam com sinais neurológicos, que variam conforme a área do sistema nervoso afetada. A doença clínica não é comum, porém casos de imunossupressão como senilidade, estresse, uso de corticoides podem levar ao desenvolvimento dos sinais clínicos. Do ponto de vista epidemiológico, é interessante determinar a distribuição geográfica do protozoário a fim de se conhecer as áreas onde os animais foram expostos a S. neurona por meio de testes sorológicos, a fim considerar a MEP no diagnóstico diferencial de doenças neurológicas e direcionar o tratamento. Nos EUA estima-se que metade dos equinos seja reagentes para S. neurona, no Brasil não há muitos relatos sobre prevalência de equinos soropositivos. A infecção transplacentária já foi descrita para outras espécies de Sarcocystis, porem ainda não há evidências da infecção intrauterina pelo S. neurona, somente alguns estudos que sugerem a transmissão vertical como outra forma de manutenção do agente, o que poderia ser confirmada pela detecção de anticorpos no soro do neonato antes da ingestão do colostro. Enquanto o S. neurona é o principal agente da mieloencefalite equina, a infecção por S. cruzi está relacionada a prejuízos em bovinos. Apesar dos parasitas apresentarem ciclo de vida distintos, com hospedeiros definitivos diferentes, equinos estão expostos a ambas espécies de Sarcocystis, sendo que as duas espécies podem infectar equinos e se disseminar concomitantemente nos planteis. Assim sendo, este trabalho teve por objetivo detectar a ocorrência da transmissão transplacentária por S. neurona em equinos e comparar a soroprevalência dos plantéis frente a S. neurona e S. cruzi. Os resultados encontrados foram dispostos em dois capítulos. No capítulo um, investigou-se a ocorrência de infecção transplacentária de S. neurona em éguas. Para tal foi coletado sangue desses animais e seus neonatos para a pesquisa de anticorpos contra S. neurona. No segundo capítulo, comparou-se, por imunofluorescência indireta, amostras sorológicas de 189 éguas quanto a presença de anticorpos contra Sarcocystis spp. utilizando como antígeno S. neurona e S. cruzi. Na análise dos resultados revelou a maioria dos animais reagindo a antígenos de S. cruzi e um terço dos animais soropositivos reagiu a antígenos das duas espécies.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Two studies were carried out to evaluate, trough meta-analysis, the relationship between parasitosis and animal performance of broiler and growing pigs. Databases totaled 43,976 broilers (69 articles published between 1982 and 2010) and 1,279 growing pigs (18 articles published between 1971 and 2010). Meta-analyses followed three sequential analyses: graphic, correlation and variance-covariance. Pigs challenged by endoparasites presented reduction (P<0.001) of 5% on feed intake and 31% on weight gain. Broilers challenged by E. acervulina and E. tenella presented feed intake similar (P>0.05) to control group. However, the groups challenged by E. maxima and Pool presented increase on feed intake by 27% and 5% compared to control group. In relation to broilers weight gain, all challenged groups presented reduction (P<0.05) compared to control group. The average reduction was 10%, with the exception of the group challenged by E. maxima which showed a 23% reduction in daily weight gain compared to control group. The average age and average body weight of challenged animals, and the crude protein intake were the variables that most adjusted the determination coefficient in the equations for estimating the weight gain of parasitized pigs. Considering parasitized broilers, the reduction in feed intake was the variable that best explains the reduction in weight gain. Variance decomposition showed that parasitosis were responsible by a 6% reduction in weight gain for pigs and coccidiosis were associated by less than 1% for broilers. In addition, this analysis showed that most of the variation in weight gain was explained by the variation in feed intake (59% in pigs and 91% in broilers, on average). Parasitosis influences the performance of broilers and pigs. However, the magnitude of these effects varies with the parasite species, sex, age and line of the animal as well as nutritional factors. / Dois trabalhos foram desenvolvidos com o objetivo de estudar, através de meta-análise, a relação das parasitoses com o desempenho de frangos de corte e suínos. As bases de dados totalizaram 43.976 frangos de corte (69 artigos, publicados entre 1982 e 2010) e 1.279 suínos (18 artigos, publicados entre 1971 e 2010). A meta-análise foi realizada através de três análises sequenciais: estudos gráficos, de correlação e de variância-covariância. Suínos desafiados por endoparasitas apresentaram (P<0,001) redução de 5% no consumo de ração e de 31% no ganho de peso. Frangos de corte desafiados por E. acervulina e E. tenella apresentaram consumo de ração semelhante (P>0,05) em relação ao grupo controle. Já os grupos desafiados por E. maxima e Pool apresentaram aumento (P<0,05) no consumo de ração de 27% e 5% em relação ao grupo controle. Em relação ao ganho de peso dos frangos, todos os grupos desafiados apresentaram redução (P<0,05) quando comparados com o controle, A redução foi em média de 10%, com exceção do grupo desafiado por E. maxima que apresentou 23% de redução no ganho diário de peso em relação ao grupo controle. A idade média e o peso médio dos animais desafiados, bem como o consumo de proteína bruta, foram as variáveis que mais ajustaram o coeficiente de determinação nas equações para estimar o ganho de peso dos suínos parasitados. Para os frangos de corte parasitados, a redução no consumo de ração foi a variável que melhor explicou a redução no ganho de peso. Por decomposição da variância, foi verificado que as endoparasitoses foram responsáveis por 6% da redução no ganho de peso para os suínos, e as coccidioses foram responsáveis por menos de 1% para as aves. Além disso, a decomposição da variância mostrou que a maior parte da variação no ganho de peso foi explicada pela variação no consumo de ração (59% nos suínos e, em média, 91% nas aves). As parasitoses influenciam o desempenho dos frangos de corte e suínos. No entanto, a magnitude destes efeitos varia com o a espécie de parasita; o sexo, a idade e a linhagem do animal; bem como com fatores nutricionais.

Bakgrund: Trenden att tjänstefiera sin verksamhet har under de senaste åren blivit allt mer påtaglig. Idag härrör intäkter från tjänster en betydande del av omsättningen hos många företag. Däremot har det visat sig att det inte är helt enkelt att kombinera produkter och tjänster. Tidigare forskning har belyst denna problematik, dock inte lika tydligt inom just organisering. En förstudie till denna uppsats visar att många företag har svårt att organisera sig till att kunna kombinera sina produkter med ett utökat tjänsteutbud. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att ta reda på vilka organisatoriska utmaningar svenska tjänstefierade företag har stött på samt hur dessa kan hanteras. Genomförande: Studien är av kvalitativ karaktär med en abduktiv ansats. Studien är en enfallsstudie av fallet organisering inom kontexten tjänstefiering som har studerats med hjälp av tre företag verksamma i Sverige. På dessa företag har tre till fem personer blivit intervjuade i syfte att insamla data till den empiriska referensramen. Slutsats: En organisering som främjar försäljning av tjänster och lösningar kräver tvärfunktionella samarbeten och en styrning och koordinering från ledningen. Därutöver behöver tjänsteavdelningen i företag övertyga resterande delar av organisationen och ledningen om tjänsternas potential för att få hjälp att leverera dessa. Det tenderar att vara paradoxalt då hjälpen krävs för att kunna sälja kundcentrerade erbjudanden från första början. Med hjälp av diverse uppkopplade tjänster kan dock tjänsteavdelningen föra samman företagets produkter och tjänster och därmed lättare övertyga resterande delar av organisationen. / Background: The trend of servitization has become more obvious in recent years. Today, revenue from services is a significant part of the turnover of companies. On the other hand, it has been found that it is not completely easy to combine products and services. Previous research has confirmed this problem, however not as clear regarding the organization of the company. A pilot study to this one shows that many companies meet difficulties in organizing themselves to enable a combination of products with the expanded service offering. Aim: The aim of this study is to find out what organizational challenges Swedish servitized companies have encountered and how these can be handled. Completion: The study is of a qualitative nature with an abductive approach. The study is a single case study of the case organizing within the context of servitization, which has been observed through three companies operating in Sweden. In each company, three to five people has been interviewed for collecting data to the findings chapter. Conclusion: An organization that promotes sales of services and solutions requires cross-functional co-operations, control and coordination from top management. In addition, the service unit needs to convince the remaining parts of the organization and top management about the potential of the services to receive help to deliver these. It tends to be paradoxical, when the help initially is needed to sell customer-centered offers. With the help of various connected services, however, the service unit may link the company's products and services together and thus more easily convince the remaining parts of the organization.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the capability and performance of the University of South Florida’s (USF) Human Exposure Chamber (HEC) using aerosols in the thoracic range. The goals of this research were two-fold: to obtain an average particle size of 10 µm (thoracic-size range) inside the chamber during dust production and to test for evenness of dust concentration within the chamber. The USF HEC can be used for studies using gases and/or particulates. The chamber measurements are 4.16 ft x 2.67 ft x 6.75 ft, for a total volume of 75 ft3 or 2.13 m3. This research has public health significance since outdoor air pollution is found most commonly in the thoracic size range; future studies with the HEC could focus on the impact of outdoor air pollution on human subjects under various exposure conditions, and various particle size ranges. Soda lime glass beads were used in this study due to their uniformity in shape and size. A Wright Dust Feeder (WDF) was used to generate the glass beads aerosol in the chamber. Nitrogen gas and HEPA-filtered fresh air were used to transport the aerosol through the system and into the chamber. A total of nine different chamber configurations were made in order to increase the average particle size closer to the goal of 10 µm. Chamber reconfiguration provided statistically significant effect on increasing particle size with the exception of two intermediate settings. It was concluded that aerosol distribution within the chamber was even during operation of the chamber, and modification steps utilized in the study provided size distribution within +/- 6% of the target particle size.

La Responsabilité Sociale des Entreprises (RSE) constitue un mouvement majeur d'évolution des organisations actuelles du secteur économique. Au cœur d'une société moderne en perpétuelle mutation, la notion de responsabilité acquiert une place centrale dans la conception et la réalisation de l'action. Les démarches RSE menées par les entreprises font donc l'objet de nombreuses études dans leurs dimensions économiques et gestionnaires, mais restent encore peu questionnées quant à leur dimension socio-culturelle singulière.Ce travail doctoral étudie les répercussions de l'introduction de discours et de pratiques relevant de la RSE sur les salariés des entreprises du secteur de la grande distribution. L'émergence d'un véritable paradigme social de la responsabilité, qui mobilise un ensemble de valeurs et de croyances transversales à une société, somme ces individus de surmonter l'épreuve paradigmatique de la responsabilité par laquelle ils se devront d'intégrer les attentes de responsabilités au cœur des représentations et des actions de leur travail quotidien. Dans ce cadre, l'organisation endosse un rôle accompagnateur singulier de l'individu éprouvé en lui fournissant de nombreux supports, mais aussi en lui opposant des contraintes importantes, issus, pour l'ensemble, de l'histoire et des structures organisationnelles.L'étude qualitative, réalisée autour de l'analyse approfondie de quarante-deux entretiens semi-directifs et d'une étude documentaire fouillée, montre comment l'individu devient le dépositaire de la lourde charge d'énacter dans son travail les enjeux sociaux et macro-sociaux des évolutions de l'univers paradigmatique de la société auquel il participe. / Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a major evolution for the current organizations in the economic sector. At the heart of a modern ever-changing society, the notion of responsibility takes a central place in the design and implementation of the action. The economic and managerial dimensions of CSR initiatives undertaken by companies are thus the subject of numerous studies, but these initiatives remain poorly surveyed concerning their unique socio-cultural dimension.This doctoral work examines the implications of the introduction of discourse and practices of CSR on employees of companies in the retail sector. The emergence of a social paradigm of responsibility, which involves a set of values and beliefs across a society, requires these individuals to overcome the paradigmatic challenge of responsibility; they can then incorporate this sense of responsibility into the heart of the ideals and actions of their daily work. In this context, the organization provides a singular accompanying role for the individual's experience by providing a variety of supports, but also by upholding major boundaries derived from fundamental organizational ethos and established structures.The qualitative study conducted around the thorough analysis of forty-two semi-structured interviews and an extensive documentation study, shows how the individual becomes the custodian of the heavy burden of enacting in his work, the social and macro-social issues of developments of the paradigmatic world of the society in which he participates.

Proteomic techniques were used to evaluate the protein profile of the earthworm, (Lumbricus terrestris), following a bacterial challenge. One control group received no injection; a second control group received injections of phosphate buffer solution (PBS). The experimental group received injections of PBS containing (Aeromonas hydrophila). After incubation for 12 hours at 20°C, coelomic fluid was collected from each group for analysis by 2-D electrophoresis. There were significant differences in spot appearance and density between control and experimental groups. Sixteen spots showed a two-fold increase in density and 63 showed at least a two-fold decrease in density between samples from control and bacteria-challenged earthworms, respectively, suggesting up- and down-modulation of proteins potentially involved in the earthworm's response to bacterial challenge.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka kvinnliga idrottares upplevelser av karriärövergången att bli mamma, med ett fokus på utmaningar, resurser och copingstrategier under perioderna före-, under- och efter graviditeten. I studien användes en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Deltagarna i studien var nio svenska idrottande mödrar i åldrarna 30-53 år (M=39.8, SD=7.3). Alla deltagare hade erfarenhet av att kombinera sitt moderskap med ett idrottande på nationell eller internationell nivå inom sin specifika idrott. Intervjuguiden och dataanalysen grundade sig på Övergångsmodellen (Stambulova, 2009). I resultatet framkom följande: under perioden före graviditeten upplevdes oro som främsta utmaning, att känna sig redo för att bli mamma som främsta resurs och att kunna planera sin graviditet som främsta copingstrategi. Under graviditeten framkom utmattning som främsta utmaning, socialt stöd som främsta resurs och strategier som deltagarna lärt sig under sin idrottskarriär som främsta copingstrategi. Efter graviditeten var stress främsta utmaning, socialt stöd främsta resurs och livet som en atlet hjälpte var främsta copingstrategi. Slutsatsen som dras i studien är att det finns flera upplevda utmaningar vid övergången att bli elitidrottande mamma, och att ett sätt att underlätta för dessa kvinnor skulle kunna vara ett utökat stöd från till exempel förbund, både socialt och finansiellt. / The aim of this study is to investigate experiences of motherhood transitions in sport, with a focus on the challenges, resources and coping strategies in the pre-pregnancy, during the pregnancy, and the postpartum phase. In the study a qualitative research metodology with semi-structured interviews was used. The participants in the study were nine Swedish athlete mothers aged 30-53 years (M=39.8, SD=7.3). All the participants had an experience of combining their motherhood with an athletic career at a national or an international level in their specific sport. The interview guide and the data analysis were grounded on the athletic career transition model (Stambulova, 2009). In the result during the pre-pregnancy, worry emerged as the main challenge, feeling ready to become a mother as the primary resource and planned pregnancies as the main coping strategy. During the pregnancy, fatigue emerged as the main challenge, social support both inside and outside sport as the primary resource, and strategies from sport as the main coping strategy. In the post-partum, stress was a frequent challenge, social support inside and outside sport were the most common resource, and life as an athlete helped were the main coping-strategy. As a conclusion in the present study, several challenges were experienced in the transition to becoming a mother as an elite athlete. A way of facilitating for these women could be increased support, for example from sport federations, both socially and financially.