The purpose of the study was to evaluate the function of TalkingMats in a group of people with Huntington?s disease, with main focus on theeffectiveness of communication. Four individuals with Huntington?s diseaseand their group leader participated in the study. The group was videotapedduring four sets of conversations; two with and two without Talking Mats.

Among researchers it has been established since decades that humans and animals have an internal biological clock that controls certain physiological mechanisms. One example regarding humans is the impairment of lung function during the night, causing the phenomenon ?nocturnal asthma? among asthmatics. Only a few studies concerning respiratory circadian rhythm in horses have been done previously and they showed a daily variation in horses with a chronic or an acute respiratory disease. The technique used in those studies was the conventional technique, which is invasive and less sensitive than the technique used in this study.

The purpose of the study was to examine if Talking Mats® couldsupport communication and participation for people with Huntington?sdisease, carers and a dental hygienist in conversation about oral care. Elevendyads, a person with Huntington's disease and a carer, participated.Conversations with and without mats were video recorded and compared.Each participant responded to a questionnaire about how they experiencedthe conversations. Analysis with Effectiveness Framework of FunctionalCommunication showed that two participants increased their communicativeeffectiveness using Talking Mats®. Feelings of participation increased forall participants and were significantly higher for participants withHuntington's disease.

The aim of this study was to compare the effect between the drugs rituximab and infliximab in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA is an autoimmune disease that affects the peripheral joints and is associated with exacerbations. Various immune reactions in the body cause inflammation of the joints which further results in cartilage and bone damage. The diagnosis is made by the classification system "The 2010 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) / European league against rheumatism (EULAR) classification criteria for rheumatoid arthritis", which is an update of the older system called "The 1987 American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for RA". Approximately 0.5-1% of the population is developing the disease, but it varies slightly between different parts of the world.

This bachelor thesis is written as a part of the geography program at Stockholm University, Sweden, and the study was conducted from April to June 2012.Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne disease and one of the most widespread infectious diseases in the world with more than nine million new cases each year (SMI 2012, digital source). The disease is a major source of death and suffering in many places and the number of deaths remains high despite the availability of highly efficacious treatment. To control and prevent further spread of TB, the mapping of the disease spatial distribution is of essential importance.In this study, maps were produced that shows the spatial distribution of TB between the years 2002 to 2011 in the municipality of Stockholm. These maps allow an analysis of the spatial distribution at a local scale over time.The aim of this paper is to study how the spatial distribution of TB has looked like in the municipality of Stockholm the last 10 years and to analyze why the spatial distribution of the disease looked like it did. This study is based on the hypothesis ?drift?.

Laminitis is a common but devastating condition, and affected horses are often euthanized or influenced a very long time. Many horses never return to their original capacity. Laminitis is often associated with severe pain and a long time of convalescence. Symthoms includes lameness, hoof hyperthermia, strenghthened digital pulse and pain. The horse often tries to move the body weight away from the forelegs which are often more severly affected than the hindlimbs.

Type 2 diabetes is a growing disease in the population which includes that older people are a risk group. With the disease grows even cost?s. A lifestyle change is a major part of the treatment for type 2 diabetes. There are several factors that suggest positive effects on prevention among the elderly where, among other things, economic and health benefits are presented.

The purpose was to investigate how conversationalinteraction is pragmatically affected in Huntington?s disease; whetherthis can be assessed by means of a questionnaire completed by a closepartner and how the close partners consider communicative ability haschanged since the onset of illness. Three dyads, consisting of a personwith Huntington?s disease and a conversational partner were involved.Conversations were analyzed with respect to the parameters in thequestionnaire and through Activity Based Communication Analysis.The results showed word finding difficulties, impaired turn taking,feedback and body language, repair, articulation and prosody.Agreement between communication analysis and the close partnerreport varied between 54-65 %. The close partners consideredcommunicative initiative, articulation, turn taking and sentenceintonation as much changed.

Virulent strains of Staphylococcus hyicus produce exfoliative toxins and cause a potentially fatal skin disease in piglets known as exudative epidermitis. Vaccines and antimicrobials are used to control the disease. Antimicrobial resistance and the prevalence of several different toxin genes and toxigenic strains make it problematic. The aim of this literature study was to identify potential differences between countries and between healthy and diseased pigs regarding antimicrobial resistance and toxin-producing strains. Great differences could influence vaccine production, treatment strategies and surveillance programs.

Introduction : Structural cardiac malformations affects 0.8-1% of children born worldwide, in Sweden 800-1000 children per year. Most children with congenital heart disease and their families will have frequent and lifelong contact with highly specialized care. Awareness of the parents experience is crucial in order to improve the nursing care. These experiences will be illustrated using a theoretical model of family-based nursing. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe experiences of being a parent to a child with a congenital heart disease.

Bakgrunden till studien bygger på ett samarbete mellan sjukgymnastprogrammet på Mälardalens högskola och ett sjukhus i Sörmlands läns landsting. Syftet var att utvärdera om behandling bestående av fyra veckors KOL-skola haft effekt på patienternas hälsa, välbefinnande och fysiska kapacitet. KOL-skolan bestod utav fyra tillfällen under vilka olika vårdprofessioner gav patienterna information om bl.a. symptompåverkan, känslomässiga upplevelser och vikten av fysisk aktivitet. Det var tio patienter med kronisk obstruktiv lungsjukdom (KOL) i stadium två till fyra som deltog i interventionen.

Background: Coronary heart disease kills more than 7 million people worldwide each year. High levels of blood fat, cholesterol, contributes significantly to coronary heart disease. Lifestyle changes combined with lipid-lowering drugs, statins, is an effective treatment. But adherence to statins is low, not even a myocardial infarction always contributes to adherence. Adherence requires patient education and good communication between patient and physician.

Tourism is often being viewed as one of the worlds largest sectors and a great contribution to growth and development. There is a large motivation amongst developing countries to promote themselves as a tourist destination, since they expect the tourism to generate economic growth. The government of Thailand has been promoting tourism since 1960, and the number of foreign visitors has increased from 100 000 back then to 13.5 million in 2006. The purpose of this paper was to investigate weather the increasing tourism industry in Thailand has pulled resources away from other sectors of the economy towards the tourism sector, and in that way harming Thailand?s international competitiveness and causing deindustrialization.

The canine population has during it?s time with humans gone through at least 2 major genetic bottlenecks, the first when it was separated from the wolf, and the second when it was divided into different breeds. Among other things, this has lead to the accumulation of unwanted genes, such as genes causing disease in dogs. One such inherited disease is syringomyelia, which has proven to be more common than expected, especially in certain smaller breeds such as the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Syringomyelia in dogs is often a secondary condition caused by the malformation called occipital hypoplasia.

Background: Fibromyalgia is a disease wich involve cronic pain and fatigue. The disease has appeared for a long time, but it has resently become possible to diagnose. It is still unclear what cause the disease, and the treatment of it is therefore still diffuse. The lack of knowledge leads to a lot of discussions and the diagnosis is questioned. Purpose: To study how patients with fibromyalgia experineces the attitudes from staff in hospitals and health centers.