No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Under senaste decennierna, har intresset kring implantat från naturliga och syntetiska polymerer ökat markant i samband med en ökad marknadsefterfrågan på vävnadsdonationer. Detta har lett till efterforskningen av nya in-situ formerande geler med formbevarande egenskaper in-vivo. Extracellulära matrisen (ECM) innehåller flertal makromolekylära komponenter med stödjande och nätverksformerande egenskaper, då de ofta är essentiella strukturella konstituenter i biologiska system. Den huvudsakliga beståndsdelen i ECM-nätverket, kollagen typ-1, har undersökts som en kandidat för utvecklingen av nya modifierade biomaterial med cellförökande-, biokompatibla-, icke-svällande samt injicerbara egenskaper. I detta projekt var grisderiverat kollagen modifierat med furfuryl glycidyl eter, och tvärbundet med 10 kDa 8-armad PEG-malimid, vilket genomgick kovalenta Diels-alder klick-reaktioner. Fyra formuleringar användes i experimenten, baserat på de stökiometriska förhållandet mellan furan och malimid i det kemiskt modifierade kollagenet. Dessa kollagen-baserade hydrogeler undersöktes baserat på 4 wt% löst kollagen, med avseende på reologiska-, mekaniska-, bionedbrytbara och svällningsegenskaper.  Resultaten indikerar att en ökning i fastfas-mängd ledde till en förhöjning i hydrogelens styvhet. Detta kunde observeras genom en ökad lagringsmodul (G’) under reologiska mätningar. Samtidigt indikerade mätningarna att sprödheten av hydrogelen ökade i korrelation med ökningen av styvheten.  Vidare drogs slutsatsen att kovalenta interaktionerna är enbart delvis ansvarig för ökningen av G’. Jämförelser med tan delta och kritiska töjningen visade att det fanns fysiska interaktioner mellan polymererna vilket också bidrog till ökningen av G’ för gelformuleringar som innehöll furan-till-malimid förhållanden på 1:1 och 1:4. Dessa fysiska interaktioner tros härstamma från en ökning av hydrofobiska effekter mellan kollagen kedjorna, då agglomerering och löslighetssvårigheter i vattenlösningar observerades i flertal experiment. Kollagen-PEG-Malimid hydrogelen var också injicerbar genom 15G kanyler, nedbrytbar in-vitro i närvaro av kollagenas, och uppvisade låg svällning i vatten. Inga cellexperiment genomfördes, och därav kunde inga slutsatser dras i hydrogelens cellförökande egenskaper. Däremot har tidigare arbete av Dr Jamadi visat att kollagen-PEG-malimid hydrogel med 2 vikt% haft kapacitet att inkapsla celler. Detta kan vara en indikation att högre viktprocent av gelen också kan uppvisa samma effekt vid framtida försök.Sammanfattningsvis, kunde slutsatsen dras att hydrogelen uppvisar flertal av de spekulerade, samt några av de eftertraktade egenskaperna hos en injicerbar hydrogel som potentiellt kan användas kliniskt. / In recent decades, the interest in implants manufactured from natural and synthetic polymers has grown as the demand for tissue donations has increased. This process has led to the pursuit of new, in-situ forming gels with shape-retaining properties in-vivo. The extracellular matrix (ECM) contains several macromolecular constituents with scaffold forming capabilities and is an inherent part of the body. The main component in the ECM-scaffold, collagen type-I, has been investigated as a candidate for novel modified biomaterials with cell proliferating, biocompatible, non-swelling, and injectable properties. Collagen was modified with furfuryl glycidyl ether and crosslinked with 10 kDa 8-arm PEG-maleimide, which undergoes Diels-alder covalent click-type reactions. Four formulations were used, based on a stoichiometric ratio of furan to maleimide (1:1-1:4). These materials' properties were evaluated at 4 wt% collagen for rheological-, mechanical-, biodegradability and swelling characteristics. The results indicated that an increase in solid content improved stiffness in the hydrogel.  This was observed by an increase of storage modulus (G’) during rheological measurements. The same measurements also indicated that the hydrogel showed an increase in brittle characteristics correlated with higher solid content.  Furthermore, it was concluded that the covalent interactions are partly responsible for the increase of G’. Comparisons in tan delta and critical strain showed that there are physical interactions that cause the increase in moduli for gel formulations containing furan to maleimide ratios of 1:1 and 1:4. These physical interactions are thought to stem from the increase in hydrophobic effects of the modified collagen, as agglomeration and solubility issues in aqueous solutions are observed in multiple experiments.  Collagen-PEG-maleimide hydrogel was also injectable through a 15-gauge needle, degradable in-vitro, and showed low swelling. No cell experiments were performed, and hence no conclusions could be made of this aspect of the hydrogel. However, work has been performed by Dr Jamadi, which indicates that the Collagen-PEG-Maleimide hydrogel with lower weight percentages allows for cell encapsulation. Hence, it could be concluded that several characteristics of tissue mimetic material were met with this hydrogel.

The purpose of this master's thesis is to explore how priests interpret the parables in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Mark using a hermeneutic qualitative approach and semi-structured interviews. The aim is to shed light on a selected group of priests in their roles within the context of the Church of Sweden, where interpretation is a part of their work, primarily focusing on the parables in the fourth chapter of Mark's Gospel and how this is done in interpretation, both in encounters with individuals and in preaching. An inductive approach has influenced the study, which also permeates the qualitative method with a focus on creating understanding to gain knowledge about the nature of these various phenomena among four priests. Generalization is not possible due to the small number of informants for making overall generalizations. Nor is it what has been sought. The aim of qualitative research is to gain a deeper understanding of a phenomenon and to illuminate how individuals experience it in their context. The study aims to understand how a specifically selected group of individuals, namely priests who have worked for an extended period within the Swedish Church, interpret the parables in Gospel of Mark.

The aim of the study was to explore what methods the personnel in five residential care homes in Götaland, Sweden, implement to integrate unaccompanied minors. The study investigated how and what methods are constructed as well as how the social interaction between the unaccompanied minors and the personnel at the homes bring about the learning of the methods. Five face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed through the perspective of social construction and social learning theory. The result revealed that the methods are not clearly identified by the personnel. The personals are still learning how to work with unaccompanied minors from their experiences. This indicates that the practice is at its infant stage. The study found a wide variety of methods, which were based on the child and where some methods intend to build good relationship, to integrate the children into society and to facilitate the development of strategies and methods. The study also addresses the issue of how the methods and strategies can be affected by the dynamic migratory flow and the question of evidence based practice within this field.

This semestral thesis deals with continuous monitoring of pulmonary ventilation during the patients' theraphy and focuses especially on monitoring of their ventilation processes. It is necessarry to detect, monitor and differentiate abdominal and thoracic breathing during the theraphy. This thesis describes the very basic and common method, a spirometry. Next, an overview of more advanced state-of-the-art methods based on both, tactile and proximity principles is given. In addition to that, two recently developed methods by BUT are discussed as well -- a tactile-based measurement similar to blood pressure sensor and a proximity-based measurement method employing TOF cameras. The data acquired by these two methods are proccesed and examined in order to evaluate and justify their performance in a real application.