Introduction: For the adolescent to be diagnosed with cancer could be turbulent and life may end up in tatters. A cancer diagnose affects the adolescents' relationships with parents, friends and new acquaintances. For teens that are affected by cancer, losing peer relations are a great fear and to maintain friendship can be one of several challenges during this period.Purpose: The purpose of the study is to describe adolescents' experiences of peer relations after being diagnosed with cancer.Method: Qualitative interviews with four adolescents were conducted and collected data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis.Findings: The result shows that peer relations got affected in both positive and negative ways. This is reported in three categories; ?Losing friends?, ?Friends matter? and ?Changed friendship?.

Few scientific studies have studied the subject of longevity among horses over a longer period of time. The knowledge about the Swedish riding school horse population concerning injuries and diseases is insufficient. Generally speaking, riding school horses in Sweden have a more undiversified way to work and work more hours in the arena compared to privately owned horses that have more variety in their possible use. Statistical data from the insurance company Agria have shown that horses in riding schools and education facilities have 22 % higher risk to use their veterinary insurance and 79 % higher risk to be put down and use their life insurance, compared to horses in private care. To create an increased understanding for longevity is it important to have knowledge about the different causes of culling. The aim with this study is to increase the knowledge and enable problem solving within the subject of longevity, median length of life and causes of death.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine librarian images and stereotypes in Swedish and American fiction, and to discover if there are any differences between these. The images and stereotypes are also compared to those revealed in previous research. The study is based on ten novels. Five of these are written by Swedish authors and portrays Swedish librarians.

As technology have continued to develop over the latest decades and become more advanced the pressure on the general citizens understanding of technology becomes a essential part to live in our society today. The transition have affected our society in great ways and have made a great impact on different groups, one of them being the elderly population in our society. The purpose of this study is to examine how the fast technological development in the latest decades have affected the elderly in our society. This from their perspective by gathering empirical data through semi-structured interviews with elderly people involved in the Agnes-project, a research project focused on improving the general quality of life for older people and increase their knowledge about technology. The study has shown that after the older peoples time involved in the Agnes-project their quality of life had improved in different areas. Areas such as increased cognitive activity, increased interest in new technology and an improvement in their communication with friends and family.

Background: Within palliative care setting persons with terminal illness is cared for. The aim of the care is to enhance the quality of life for the patient through a holistic approach. The disease can lead to major suffering and require the person to handle the situation. If the person´s ability and capacity to do so is insufficient the identity may be perceived as threatened and quality of life diminished. Self-care can help a person to cope with loss of identity, enhance independence and improve quality of life.Aim: The aim of this study is to explore self-care strategies of patients within palliative care setting.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) includes Crohn´s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UK). The diseases are chronic and have a pattern of relapses interspersed with relatively symptom-free periods. Common symptoms during relapse are diarrhea, abdominal pain and weight loss. Since you have IBD for life it is important to find ways to relate to and cope with the disease. In that process a nurse can be of great help.Aim: The purpose of this literature review was to increase the understanding of how adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease experience their daily lives.  Method: The method used was a literature review.

This thesis aims at investigating the two municipality?s Gislaved and Ljungby. Where the aim is to see if there is any connections, between the type and the degree of public-private partnerships, and the municipalities obtained environment performance. In this essay the starting point is that the environmental performance in the chosen municipalities is good.Interviews among local politicians and representatives for the municipalities plastic industries, has functioned as a way to test the hypothesis. Gislaved and Ljungby have thereafter been compared, in order to see if there is any similarity in the sort and the degree of public-private partnerships, and how that will affect the environmental performance. The overall questions in this essay are:How can the cooperation among the chosen municipalities and the      local business life be described? What kind of Public-private partnership      exists in the selected municipalities?Is there any difference between the municipalities, referring to      the degree of cooperation between the municipalities and the local      business life? Does the degree of cooperation affect the progress on the environmental      performance? The end result shows that the local business life doesn?t have any impact on the environmental performance.

The aim of this study was to explore transsexuals? identity formation and experiences related to cross-sex hormone treatment, as well as to become absorbed in the narrative approach. To be able to participate in transsexuals? identity formation, life stories were well suited as a theoretical approach. Life stories can be seen as socially situated actions according to Mishler, where individuals? identity formation can be seen as both identity performances and identity claims.

The aim of this qualitative deep interview study was to gain deeper understanding of single immigrant mothers´life situation. Grounded Theory was the method of analysis. Repeated interviews with five immigrant women from different parts of the world showed that women were in need of wider and deeper social networks in order to reconstruct their identities. Social support and social networks benefit, not only reconstruction of identity, but also personal well-being. Yet it is difficult for them to create social networks in the new country, because of single motherhood.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can limit patients physical abilities and contribute to social isolation. The purpose of this literature study is to investigate men's and women's experiences of living with chronic obstructive pulmonary dis-ease, and the supporting and guiding role of the nurse to an increased quality of life. 13 critical reviewed articles were used to find the answers to our questions. Quality rating forms were used in order to guarantee a good scientific quality. The results show that, it is of great importance for the COPD-patients well-being to experience social support from those around them, and to have a close relation-ship with their families and friends, in order to experience quality of life.

Syftet med denna rapport är att visa hur en ökning av isolertjockleken i ett hus påverkar kostnader och energiåtgång för isoleringen i ett livscykelperspektiv, samt för husets bruksskede. I studien har en optimering av isoleringen på ett pågående byggprojekt i Växjö, kv Limnologen, utförts. Total energiåtgång för isoleringens livscykel har tagits fram från tidigare utförda livscykelanalyser (LCA). Husets värmebehov har beräknats mha information från ritningar och kontakter med personer i anknytning till kv Limnologen. En ekvation har utformats för att finna ett teoretiskt optimum för isolertjockleken med inriktning mot total energiåtgång, koldioxidutsläpp och ekonomi.

The aim of this study was to highlight homelessness through the perspective of formerly homeless men and women. The research questions focused on the informants experiences of the process into and out of the homeless situation and how their experiences could contribute to the knowledge about the social problem of homelessness. Besides the theoretical perspective of narrative and life course research, Fuchs Ebaugh exit theory and Honneth confirmation theory were used as theoretical guidelines.The empirical material consists of five life stories obtained through indepth interviews. The results of the study indicate that alcohol and drug use was of importance for the process towards homelessness. External factors as the change in the organization of the housing market in the 1990´s may also had an impact on the lifes of the informants.

This masters thesis is a gender study of the role of the artist in childrens literature of art. The study comprises forty-three childrens books presenting the life of a historic, contemporary or fictional artist. The books are published from the 1960s to the present day. They are written or translated into Swedish and available in Swedish libraries. The representation of the artist is examined separately in the text and in the illustrations.

The conception of exhaustion was first used in the end of 1960 and was then used in a psychological context directed towards the working life. Eventually was the conception devided into two main categories: mental and somatic symtoms. Today research of exhaustion is mainly aiming towards recovering and returning to working life.This work sets out to analyse the importance and effects of social networks such as family, friends and professional relations in helping people who suffer from exhaustion to recover. The study is based on interviews with eith people who have suffered from exhaustion but today are recovered. To my aid I have used tree different questions: What part have the social network of family and friends ment to the recovery? What part has the professional relationships with doctors, therapists and curators ment to the recovery? How have you changed your life in order to maintain balance?The interviews pointed out the importance of the social relationships as support, feedback and understanding that the process takes time.

The essay is an effort to examine and define three examples of liminal dance performances through an aesthetic, hermeneutic and semiotic analysis. The examples are three dance or liminal performances, made by three different choreographers and performed at ?Moderna Dansteatern? and ?Dansens Hus? in Stockholm during September and October 2005. In the effort to determine the liminal and cross-over in the performances, the analysis focus on aspects such as: the character of the work, choreography, the use of scenery, stage light, requisites, conception of place and interior room, the use of costume and mask, the use of different media as text, pictures, film, and music or not using any these, and the interaction with the audience. The analysis depends on a historical background and the use of literature in the subject.