<p>Subconsciously processed fearful stimuli are routed via the limbic system directly from the thalamus to the amygdala and can automatically trigger physical and behavioural fear responses to prevent humans from getting injured. The purpose of this study was to investigate if there were any autonomic responses to stimuli containing positive valence and a high arousal level. The stimuli were normative pictures, picked from the IAPS that were presented subliminally in a masked condition. Reactions were measured by skin conductance responses. Changes of SCR were registered when the participants were exposed to negative, positive and neutral stimuli. Responses were strongest as the participants were exposed to the positive pictures. These findings support that there could be more functions to automatic responding than a direct survival purpose. Further research needs to be done to investigate what functions these kinds of responses constitute.</p>

<p>Tendon healing is a slow process and the tendon may not regain its initial mechanical properties after rupture. Mechanical stimuli have shown to have positive effect on tendon healing. This study is the first to investigate the effect of vibration stimuli on healing tendons. Vibration was also compared to treadmill running, which has previously been used for mechanical stimuli.63 female Sprauge-Dawley rats were used. A 3 mm segment was removed from the Achilles tendon and the tendon was left to heal. The animals were subjected to 15 min of daily exercise, vibration or treadmill running or acted as controls without exercise. The study was divided into three experiments. Experiment 1; the animals had full time cage activity and was randomized into running, vibration and control group. Experiment 2; the animals were unloaded and randomized into vibration, running and control group. There was also a control group with full time cage activity in experiment 2. Experiment 3; the animals were unloaded and randomized into vibration and placebo group. 14 days after surgery the animals were killed and mechanical testing of the Achilles tendons was performed. The results showed no significant difference between the groups in experiment 1. Experiment 2 showed that controls with full time cage activity had higher peak load, stiffness and cross sectional area than unloaded running, vibration and control groups. In experiment 3, there was no significant difference between vibration and placebo group. In conclusion, this study shows that vibration, as applied here, does not affect tendon healing.</p>

This dissertation presents the synthesis of stimuli-sensitive hydrophilic polymers, particularly doubly responsive hydrophilic block copolymers, by controlled radical polymerizations and the study of their solution behavior in water. By incorporating a small amount of stimuli-responsive groups into the thermosensitive block of a hydrophilic block copolymer, the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the thermosensitive block can be tuned by a stimulus and multiple micellization/dissociation transitions can be achieved by combining two external triggers. Chapter 1 describes the synthesis and thermosensitive properties of two new watersoluble polystyrenics with a short oligo(ethyl glycol) pendant from each repeat unit and the study of hydrophobic end group effects on cloud points of thermosensitive polystyrenics. Well-defined polymers were prepared from monomer-based initiators via nitroxide-mediated polymerization and the alkoxyamine end groups were removed by tri(n-butyl)tin hydride, yielding thermoresponsive polystyrenics with essentially no end groups. The results showed that hydrophobic end groups could significantly change the cloud points and the molecular weight dependences of cloud points of polystyrenics. Chapter 2 presents the synthesis of thermo- and light-sensitive hydrophilic block copolymers, poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(ethoxytri(ethylene glycol) acrylate-co-onitrobenzyl acrylate), and their responsive behavior in dilute aqueous solutions. Dynamic light scattering and fluorescence spectroscopy studies showed that these copolymers were molecularly dissolved in water at lower temperatures and self-assembled into micelles at temperatures above the LCST of the thermosensitive block. Upon UV irradiation, the oiv nitrobenzyl group was cleaved and the LCST of the thermosensitive block was increased, causing the dissociation of micelles into unimers. The resultant copolymers underwent thermo-induced reversible micellization at higher temperatures. Chapter 3 describes multiple micellization/dissociation transitions of thermo- and pH-sensitive hydrophilic block copolymers, poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(methoxydi(ethylene glycol) methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid), in response to temperature and pH changes. The LCST of the thermosensitive block can be reversibly tuned and precisely controlled by solution pH. Chapter 4 presents the study on multiple sol-gel-sol transitions of a 20.0 wt % aqueous solution of poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(ethoxytri(ethylene glycol) acrylate-co-o-nitrobenzyl acrylate) induced by temperature changes and UV irradiation. The solution underwent thermo-induced sol-gel-sol transitions. Upon UV irradiation to dissociate micelles, the gel was transformed into a free-flowing liquid, which upon heating underwent sol-gel-sol transitions again.

Subconsciously processed fearful stimuli are routed via the limbic system directly from the thalamus to the amygdala and can automatically trigger physical and behavioural fear responses to prevent humans from getting injured. The purpose of this study was to investigate if there were any autonomic responses to stimuli containing positive valence and a high arousal level. The stimuli were normative pictures, picked from the IAPS that were presented subliminally in a masked condition. Reactions were measured by skin conductance responses. Changes of SCR were registered when the participants were exposed to negative, positive and neutral stimuli. Responses were strongest as the participants were exposed to the positive pictures. These findings support that there could be more functions to automatic responding than a direct survival purpose. Further research needs to be done to investigate what functions these kinds of responses constitute.

Tendon healing is a slow process and the tendon may not regain its initial mechanical properties after rupture. Mechanical stimuli have shown to have positive effect on tendon healing. This study is the first to investigate the effect of vibration stimuli on healing tendons. Vibration was also compared to treadmill running, which has previously been used for mechanical stimuli.63 female Sprauge-Dawley rats were used. A 3 mm segment was removed from the Achilles tendon and the tendon was left to heal. The animals were subjected to 15 min of daily exercise, vibration or treadmill running or acted as controls without exercise. The study was divided into three experiments. Experiment 1; the animals had full time cage activity and was randomized into running, vibration and control group. Experiment 2; the animals were unloaded and randomized into vibration, running and control group. There was also a control group with full time cage activity in experiment 2. Experiment 3; the animals were unloaded and randomized into vibration and placebo group. 14 days after surgery the animals were killed and mechanical testing of the Achilles tendons was performed. The results showed no significant difference between the groups in experiment 1. Experiment 2 showed that controls with full time cage activity had higher peak load, stiffness and cross sectional area than unloaded running, vibration and control groups. In experiment 3, there was no significant difference between vibration and placebo group. In conclusion, this study shows that vibration, as applied here, does not affect tendon healing.

Bakgrund: Det är viktigt att stöd för dementa finns nära eftersom de riskerar att lida av fysisk eller psykisk ohälsa. Ohälsa i detta avseende innebär bland annat oro som rastlöshet eller agitation i form av irritation och frustration. Tidigare studier visar resultat på att djur kan ha lugnande effekter på demenssjuka. Studier har visat att djur kan locka fram minnen hos individerna och att det har en positiv effekt på terapi mot agitation.Syfte: Beskriva hur djurrelaterade stimuli påverkar symtombilden hos dementa.Metod: Systematisk litteraturstudie, 11 artiklar inkluderades från databaserna Cinahl och PsycINFO. Artiklarna kvalitetsgranskades och relevanta delar ur artiklarnas resultat kodades för att sedan kategorisera till fyra kategorier.Resultat: Tydliga förbättringar sågs gällande demenssjukas motoriska, sociala och psykiska hälsa utifrån kategorierna – emotionell påverkan, förmåga till interaktion, intresse för omgivningen och agerande. Tydligast förändringar har vi sett gällande de dementas oro, aggressivitet, motorik och uppmärksamhet. Slutsats: Djurassisterad omvårdnad är en bra alternativ behandlingsform. Hundar är trots allt ganska krävande och passar inte alltid vårdsituationer som kan vara stressande. Användandet av en robotkatt har dock visat goda resultat och utifrån det borde andra mindre krävande djur också kunna användas.

Ur den holistiska synen på människan kommer variationen av varje individs upplevelse av hälsa att se olika ut. Med ålderdomen anländer förändringar av hälsan inom de olika hälsodimensionerna, psykologisk/emotionell, fysisk, social och spirituell. Författarna till föreliggande litteraturstudie anser att hälsopromotiva åtgärder bör vara grundade från denna teoretiska bas. Syftet med denna litteraturstudie, var att belysa hälsopromotion för äldre (65+) ur detta mångdimensionella hälsoperspektiv. Sju kvantitativa och två kvalitativa studier kvalitetsgranskades och analyserades. En teoretisk ram utvecklades av hälsodimensionerna och gav ett raster inom vilket studiernas resultat sorterades. Resultatet visade att stimuli inom de olika hälsoperspektiven ger äldre en ökad eller bibehållen upplevd hälsa. Den ökade upplevda hälsan inom en hälsodimension påverkade ofta andra dimensioner på ett positivt sätt. Att ingå i ett sammanhang, känna sig accepterad och bekräftad och känna mening i livet manifesterade äldre människors syn på den upplevda hälsan. För att ytterligare öka kunskapen och förstå vikten av det centrala i äldres upplevelse av hälsa och på vilket sätt sjuksköterskan kan implementera det i den kliniska verksamheten krävs vidare forskning.

Konsumentens roll har förändrats. Hon har gått från att ha varit en ständigt utsatt mottagare av företags budskap till att bli en inflytelserik individ med förmåga att påverka och ställa krav. Hennes nya krav innebär att företag tvingas förändra sin syn på kommunikationen som en monolog från företag till konsument, till att behandla den som en dialog mellan de två parterna. Trots att kravet på dialog kommit från konsumenten måste företag motivera dagens upptagna konsument till att delta i dialogen för att denne ska lägga tid på att engagera sig i denna. Sådan problematik utspelas bland annat i sociala nätverk. Denna studie behandlar det sociala nätverket Facebook. Med en kvantitativ ansats testas, med stöd från tidigare studier, ett antal hypoteser som undersöker vilka motiv som motiverar en konsument till att besöka ett företags facebooksida, aktivt använda sig av ett företags facebooksida, samt vilka motiv som motiverar konsumenten till att föra en dialog med företaget på en facebooksida. Resultatet av denna studie visar att olika typer av motivation uppmuntrar olika typer av kommunikativt beteende hos konsumenten. Det visade sig att en hög grad av motiven att vilja bli underhållen och att vilja få information hänger samman med att en konsument blir benägen att besöka ett företags sida på Facebook. Vidare kunde konsumentens innehav av motiven att vilja få information, vilja kommunicera med andra och vilja bygga upp en identitet förklara konsumentens benägenhet att aktivt använda sig av ett företags facebooksida. Likaså visade sig viljan att kommunicera med andra och viljan att skapa sig en identitet motivera konsumenten att delta i en dialog med ett företag på Facebook. För att engagera konsumenten till att hålla en fullständig dialog på Facebook bör företag alltså tillgodose behov om social interaktion och identifikation genom sin facebooksida.

Thesis (doctoral)--Eberhard-Karls-Universität zu Tübingen, 1997.

Activation of the unfolded protein response follows induction of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, resulting in widespread inhibition of protein expression. FLIP protein is particularly sensitive to stresses that perturb protein translation; as such, a reduction in FLIP is likely an early outcome of ER stress. Due to the anti-apoptotic role of FLIP, it is anticipated that potential decreases in FLIP would bring about an increase in sensitivity to death receptor stimuli and anoikis, a form of anchorage-dependent cell death. It was hypothesized that induction of ER stress results in downregulation of FLIP expression, resulting in sensitization of resistant tumour cells to death receptor stimuli and anoikis. From this hypothesis, it was determined that induction of ER stress through treatment of cells with brefeldin sensitized tumour cells to Fas-mediated cell death and anoikis. Moreover, over-expression of FLIP appeared to protect against ER stress-induced sensitization to cell death.