This Master thesis discusses the development of a virtual human soft tissue object for use in exercise applications of various medical procedures.The soft tissue object to be developed shall look like, feel like and behave as living human tissue. It shall give the user a realistic feeling of weight, softness and roughness, and shall behave in a correct way for exercise purposes. The soft tissue model is to be used in a three dimensional stereo graphic environment with haptic feedback. A prototype for practicing the procedure of inserting a catheter is built. The prototype is used to evaluate the potential of the virtual environment for medical exercise applications, and to assess the realism and usability of the soft tissue object.

Syftet med denna studie var att uttyda faktorer som bidrar till en långvarig beteendeförändring. Beteendeförändringar är i regel svåra att vidmakthålla och forskning har visat att ett flertal faktorer krävs för att nå ett långvarigt ihållande. Exempel på faktorer var känsla av sammanhang, kunskap, självkänsla, självtillit, reflektion, medvetenhet, motivation och gruppstöd. En fallstudie har genomförts på en viktminskningsgrupp för att se resultatet ett år efter deltagandet. Fem personer svarade på postenkäterna som skickades ut i uppföljningen.

The danger and vulnerability associated with a preterm birth seem to be closely correlated with a dysfunction of the fetal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, whose maturation in the foal is without a doubt as delicate as it is important. Not only is this endocrine cascade vital for the foal in order to cope with neonatal stress, it also appears to be fundamental for the final fetal intrauterine maturation, as well as for the onset of foaling. Equine gestation exhibits some rather unique features, indicating a somewhat different significance of the endocrine changes associated with HPA maturation, compared to many other species. This hormonal cascade is rapid and confined to a narrow time during late gestation in the horse, and the risk of the foal completely missing it therefore becomes prominent. Induced parturition in the mare may be operated through uterotonic agents, which occasionally bring about premature foals. Desirable seems the ability to initiate equine labour while simultaneously enhancing fetal HPA maturation, as in humans and ruminants through perinatal glucocorticoid administration. However, similar treatment in the horse has resulted in various, sometimes fatal, outcomes. In the light of the distinctive features of equine gestation, difficulties are encountered following such administration of glucocorticoids and ACTH.

By comparing the experience off interaction in a life world with a drug habit and a life world without a drug habit you might find how they differ. We asked four former drug abusers in four semi structured interviews to describe their experiences off interaction under these two circumstances. The difference between the two life worlds when it comes to interaction is that in the drug abusing life world our informants describe that communicative action has to stand back for a more goal oriented action. In the drug free life world, communicative action on the other hand is experienced as the most important action. The difference is about wether interaction is goal oriented or oriented at understanding.

The purpose of this essay is to look upon the gender structure in Sweden, during the late Middle Ages. Mainly I focus on how the church viewed men and women, since the material of my research, the miracle stories of three saints, was found credible and was written down by churchmen. The saints, whose miracles I have studied, are Birgitta Birgersdotter and Katarina Ulfsdotter of Vadstena and Niklas Hermansson of Linköping. These miracles have earlier been studied by the historian Anders Fröjmark, who has noticed that there are fewer heeled women than men figuring in the miracles. Because of this, Fröjmark draws the conclusion that women were less able to leave their homes and travel as pilgrims to the holy sites of the saints.

AbstractThe beginning of the 20th century gave birth to quantum physics. Within years it revolutionized material science and converted the theoretical foundations of modern chemistry, and to some extent even biology, to physics? new branch, molecular physics. Merger of relativistic and quantum physics soon led to the development of quantum field theory and a deeper understanding of the elementary constituents of matter. Part of this development found its way into high school textbooks as early as in the 1950s.

With the advent of powerful multimedia capable mobile phones, the market for mobile services is flourishing. Zenterio AB's Halfpipe Active Desktop is a complete distributed mobile service platform a with a powerful server and platform-independent client. The communication between the client and server takes place over a GPRS-capable mobile network. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a secure communications protocol for use between the Halfpipe Active Desktop client and server. This is done by determining requirements, analyzing candidate protocols and then by designing the final protocol.

För att utvärdera effekterna av psykoterapeutisk behandling av obestitasopererade finns det ett behov av psykologiska mätinstrument med goda psykometriska egenskaper. Acceptanceand Commitment therapy (ACT) är en behandlingsmetod som har visat sig effektiv för gruppen obesitasopererade. Acceptance and Action Questionnaire for Weight-related Difficulties (AAQ-W) är ett formulär som används som utfallsmått i behandlingen. För attundersöka AAQ-Ws psykometriska egenskaper genomfördes reliabilitetsmätning med upprepad mätning samt beräkning av intern konsistens. Validiteten i AAQ-W testades genom samtidig mätning av mer etablerade mått samt en faktoranalys.

Hundreds of thousands of piglets are castrated without anesthesia in Sweden every year so that we may be guaranteed meat without boar odor. The smell appears while cooking meat of boar and is described as urine- and sweat-like. High levels of androstenone and skatole are considered the main factors behind boar odor. Skatole is a metabolite of the amino acid tryptophan, which is formed in the colon of all pigs. Androstenone is a steroid hormone that is released from the Leydig cells in the testes of boars.

Anorexia nervosa is a psychosomatic eating disorder that involves self starvation and fear of gaining weight. Our purpose was to study the methods of treatment available and the function of them. Another part of the purpose was to find out what kind of goals the treatment has and if an anorectic person can be cured. To understand the methods of treatment we also wanted to find out what the causes to the development of the disease can be. The questions were: 1.

Viktnedgång är ett ofta förekommande fenomen hos patienter med allvarlig sjukdom. Erfarenheten visar att det inte talas mycket om detta inom vården. Syftet med denna studie var att få en djupare insikt i hur patienten upplever sin viktnedgång och vad sjuksköterskan kan göra i sin omvårdnad för att hjälpa patienten att bibehålla sin vikt. Metoden är en litteraturstudie av tretton vetenskapliga artiklar. Resultatet visar att patienten upplever en förändrad självbild, känner begränsningar i sitt sociala liv, tappar kontrollen över livet vilket är faktorer som påverkar hennes livskvalitet till det sämre.

The globalisation of the world is believed by some to homogenise individuals from different national cultures. However, the values and norms of an individual are deeply rooted in their national culture and are therefore difficult to change. Since birth these values and norms are learnt through interaction with others within a specific national culture. The differences in values of a national culture are shown in the cornerstones of the nation. These cornerstones are language, aesthetics, religion and social institutions.

The purpose of this study was to examine how some child welfare case workers say they go about to give children in foster homes the opportunity to be heard. The idea was also to examine how much weight is given to the children?s views and if the respondents believe that the childrens right to be heard has improved over the time they have been working with foster children and if so, how? The study was conducted by using qualitative research method and the analysis of the results was made using Shier?s model of childrens participation. The results have also been tied to previous research in the area. The conclusions of this study was that according to the respondents it?s important that they get to know the children well so that the children can have confidence enough to speak their minds.

By comparing the experience off interaction in a life world with a drug habit and a life world without a drug habit you might find how they differ. We asked four former drug abusers in four semi structured interviews to describe their experiences off interaction under these two circumstances. The difference between the two life worlds when it comes to interaction is that in the drug abusing life world our informants describe that communicative action has to stand back for a more goal oriented action. In the drug free life world, communicative action on the other hand is experienced as the most important action. The difference is about wether interaction is goal oriented or oriented at understanding.

The report describes the production of graphic correspondence and marketing material for DUCIS(Dalarna University Centre for Irish Studies).A logotype symbol is created on the basis of an element from the Celtic art, and a graphic material thatharmonies with this ideal of style is built around the symbol. A unique visiting card, correspondence cardand letterhead is produced to strengthen the identity of DUCIS outwards.The work proceeds with an international education folder which is an important element in the marketingwork for the MA-education which starts in the autumn of 2003. Two posters, one for the opening ofDUCIS in may 2003 and one for a conference in 2004, are produced. Finally, a redesign of the book coverfor NIS, Nordic Irish Studies, is carried out.The report describes the working process consisting of meetings, practical work and other elementswithin the process. The conclusion is that the work has been quite successful and that this, to a largeextent, depended on an engaged and supporting commissioner.