Background: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that manifests as an increased level of glucose in the blood. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 347 million people have diabetes worldwide. In year 2004, 3.4 million people died from the consequences of high blood glucose. In the Swedish population the prevalence of diabetes is estimated to 3-4 %, out of which 85-90% are Type 2. Among senior citizens a prevalence of diabetes is seen in Sweden up to 14 - 15%.

The purpose of this literature review was to describe if the nutritional balance of the fats, carbohydrates, proteins and fibers can lead to weight reduction and to improve glucos-/blood lipid for individuals with obesity and type 2 diabetes. The method used was a literature review. Twenty-two scientific articles were chosen, which were consistent with the study purpose and questions. The articles were selected based on searches in the Medline database by PubMed. The keywords used were type 2 diabetes mellitus, diet, obesity, comparative, fat, carbohydrate, low carbohydrate, high fat and saturated fat.

Hemoglobin is an oxygen binding protein in erythrocytes. Hemoglobin is composed of four polypeptide chains. During the fetal stage the type of hemoglobin called fetal hemoglobin (HbF) dominates. After birth HbF is replaced by adult hemoglobin (HbA). HbF persists in concentrations less than 1%.

The main interest of this study was to investigate whether there is hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia in cows suffering from abomasal displacement and to evaluate the effect of transport on blood glucose. Thirty-six cows with left- or right-sided abomasal displacement were included in the study together with 17 cows with other diseases for comparison. Fifteen cows with abomasal displacement and 7 cows with other diseases were sampled before transport. One third of the cows with abomasal displacement had hyperglycemia when the transport effects were corrected for. Separating this group in left- and right-sided abomasal displacement we found significantly higher blood glucose and insulin levels among cows with right-sided abomasal displacement. An explanation for this difference may be a strong stress response secondary to the right-sided dislocation.

The purpose of the present study was to study if the systemic blood pressure in cats significant increases due to stress associated with a visit to a veterinarian clinic. We also wanted to investigate the clinical utility of two different methods for indirect blood pressure measurements in cats by assessing how easy they were to use and how reliable measurements they provided. The methods that were used were oscillometric (Memo Diagnostic) and ultrasound-doppler technique (Minidop). The blood pressure was measured in both clinical environment and home environment. Fifty cats were used in the study, from which measurements were impossible to obtain in one cat.

The aim of the work was to investigate the possibility to combine information from PPG and bio-acoustic technology to extract information that is related to the blood pressure. The measurements have been carried out with several different configurations. First the relation between arterial sounds and the PPG-signal was studied. After those measurements with both PPG and the bio- acoustic technique was concluded on people in different positions and after riding a bike. The goal was to vary the blood pressure.

The market offers more and more products that are claimed to have medicallypositive effects (like increased blood perfusion etc.) due to their magneticproperties. The objective of this study was to investigate if blankets containingpermanent (static) magnets have a greater impact on cutaneous blood circulationthan ordinary blankets without magnets. Eight standard bred horses were used in across-over study. The cutaneous temperature was presumed to reflect blood flowin the skin and therefore thermography and local thermistors were used to indicatechanges in circulation. Baseline values were registered before the blanket wasapplied.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common non-melanoma skin cancer. It can be divided in different subtypes. The most common type is superficial and is most frequently occurring on the trunk and on the face. In severe cases it can be difficult to differentiate basal cell carcinoma from other skin tumors, therefore a skin biopsy is conclusive diagnostic method. In terms of treatment, curettage is a common non-surgical treatment of basal cell carcinoma.

The work aims to clarify what nautical officers onboard in today's merchant can do to help reduce bunker consumption during the voyage? The question we have asked ourselves during the autumn term in 2008 much was said about the premium bunker prices, and how the future could affect our daily lives as nautical officer. We felt here that the school had relatively little knowledge of the subject and therefore felt that it would be interesting to identify how it really looks like onboard the ships today. To collect information we contacted 7 Swedish companies that operate with different types of vessels, in order to get a broad picture of the whole industry. For shipping companies we asked questions about how actively they were working on the issue and what methods they used.

Native spider silk is an attractive lightweight natural polymeric material with a unique combination of strength, extendibility and flexibility. Synthetic, recombinant spider silk is an attractive biomaterial with several possible fields of application. When a foreign material is introduced to blood, this can for example cause unwanted coagulation and complement activation. The aim of this study was to investigate if coatings of heparin or albumin could improve the blood compatibility of films of recombinant spider silk and to develop an initial method to do so. Hypothetically, objects like pacemakers, stents and dental implants could be covered with spider silk films of high blood compatibility to reduce potentially harmful foreign body reactions caused by the immune defense. Increased blood compatibility would likely lead to improvements for both the individual patients and the society thanks to reduced load on healthcare institutions. Our objective was to assess the blood compatibility of both functionalized and non-functionalized recombinant spider silk by evaluating coagulation and activation of the complement system of the immune defense. Coagulation was evaluated visually on glass slides and complement activation was analyzed by measuring the concentration of the complement system mediator C3a in blood samples that had been exposed to the different materials. This study introduces a non-toxic and easy performed method of improving the blood compatibility of recombinant spider silk films by adding a heparin coating. Heparin coated surfaces had statistically significantly higher blood compatibility than uncoated surfaces. The effects of albumin coating of films were less clear compared to the results of heparin coated films. Complement activation could not be evaluated because of high activation in all samples prior contact with the materials that were included in the study..

Erythropoiesis is a complex and carefully controlled process which is mainly regulated by erythropoietin. Using flow cytometry cells in a blood sample can be analyzed one by one. ADVIA 2120 using flow cytometry for analysis of red blood cells (RBC) and reticulocytes. Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is a component of the RBC method. RDW indicates size variation on erythrocytes and is measured as a percentage of the mean cell volume (MCV). By measuring the RDW anemia can be divided into makrocytic, microcytic or normocytic. Reticulocytes refract light more strongly than red blood cells because they contain some cellular debris. The number of reticulocytes in the peripheral blood reflects erythropoiesis in the bone marrow. The purpose of this project was that by approved methods to establish reference ranges for the parameters, RDW and reticulocyte counts.The individuals who participated in the study, n=124, were considered healthy and had varying ethnicity. Reference subjects had not donated blood the last six months and participation in the study was voluntary.The statistic evaluation includes examination of distribution, and reference ranges for both men and women were established using the 2.5:t and 97.5:t percentiles. The calculated reference interval for RDW was between 12.0 ? 14.3% and the calculated reference interval for reticulocytes was between 38.0 ? 112.8 x109 cells/L. The results showed a significant difference between males and females for the parameter reticulocytes was seen. The difference indicates that different reference ranges should be established for men and women (p<0,0001). No significant difference between males and females were seen for RDW (p=0,74) indicating that the same reference ranges can be used for both men and women. .

Platelet aggregation is a major and common problem in blood samples from cats. This greatly affects the accuracy of counting of the platelets. Because of the difficulties in counting feline platelets, results for patients and reliable reference values for cat platelets are currently so inaccurate as to be almost useless in diagnosis of thrombocytopenia. In this study we used an effective method to prevent platelet aggregation. Blood was collected in CTAD test tubes and prostaglandin E1 was added to the blood sample.

Background: Earlier research describes patients with blood-bourne pathogens experiences from the healthcare system. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe how registered nurses experience taking care of patients with blood-bourne pathogens. Method: This study had a descriptive design with a qualitative method. Eight interviews where performed and analyzed with manifest content analyze. Three categories ?Comfort in their profession?, ?Support from the organization?and ?Fear of being contaminated?, and five subcategories ?Support from hygiene guidelines?, ? Thoughtfulness?, ?The own responsibility?, ?Feelings of fear and concern?and ?To meet preconceptions?, emerged.

Myxomatous mitral valve disease is a common disease in older dogs of small- to medium-size breeds. The mitral valve, and less commonly the tricuspid valve may be affected which causes them to leak blood from the ventricle to the atrium of the heart during systole. With increasing severity of mitral valve leakage the forward stroke volume ejected into the aorta decreases, which may lead to an increase in blood pressure in the pulmonary vein resulting in pulmonary edema. A decrease in cardiac output may lead to a decrease in blood pressure, but the body may respond in order to normalize the blood pressure. Franzén showed in 2007 that the systolic blood pressure was increased in dogs with severe mitral insufficiency.

This paper concerns the flagging out of merchant navy vessels and its consequenses. Flaggingout is method used by ship owners in order to gain advantages. Under a different flag, thevessel's legal residence become the subject of another country´s laws. Toward the end of thefirst decade of the 20th century ferry -and passangervessels trading in the Baltic Sea wereflagged out from Åland to the flag of Sweden. Flagging out to Sweden is not common but thespecific circumstances for this trade has made the Swedish ship's register interesting for shipowners.