The aim of the study was to investigate the performance of postlingually deaf adults on parts of the swedish dysarthria test Dysartribedömningen, and to compare these results with a matched group consisting of normal hearing speakers without any known speech disorder. The group consisted of 17 participants ranging between 42-86 years of age. Participants were assessed focusing on articulation, prosody, intelligibility and through a self-assessment of communicative participation. There was a statistically significant difference between groups on prosody that manifested primarily as a slower speaking rate in the cochlear implant users. No significant differences between groups as to articulation, intelligibility or communicative participation could be found.

This is an empirical cross-sectional study with the aim to examine the patient?s comprehension about their quality of life within two to seven years after their stem-cell transplantation with reference to physical, social, emotional, psychological and functional wellbeing and to investigate if the patient groups have disease specific problems. Differences in quality of life between men and women and also between allogeneic and stem cell transplantation with an unrelated donor (URD) were studied. The measurement Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) and the bone marrow transplant subscale (BMT) is a 49 item, valid and reliable measure that was used. The questionnaire was answered by 43 of 47 patients (91%).There is a significant difference between men and women in physical, social and functional wellbeing.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether a direct shift inpostural alignment results in changes in voice source characteristics. Ninemales with untrained voices were recorded standing in ideal posturalalignment and in the deviant postures swayback and kyphosis characterizedby extended hips and a slump back respectively. The voice source wasderived from the audio signal by inverse filtering. The parameters pulseamplitude, maximal flow declination rate, level difference between the firstand second voice source partials, closed quotient and the normalizedamplitude quotient in relation to subglottal pressure were compared betweenideal postural alignment and swayback and kyphosis respectively. Resultsindicate an impact of changed postural alignment on the voice source.Swayback posture gave significantly less pulse amplitude and maximal flowdeclination rate and significantly higher subglottal pressures thus resulting ina less effective phonation.

The real estate industry is a sector where the companies generally have a capital structure which is high leveraged. The financing? with the related terms ? is therefore specifically of high importance for the companies in the sector. Traditionally, the way of obtain financing is by borrowing from the bank. Lately, due to new bank regulations, the banks have become more restrictive in their lending which have lead to a growth of other financing alternatives.

A comparison of strategic alliances and mergers & acquisitions and their impact on shareholder value has been done. By using an event study methodology, the announcements of these strategic approaches has been analysed in order to understand which strategic approach affect shareholder value most favourably..

Antalet övervakningskameror i samhället ökar, samtidigt som deras miljöpåverkan är relativt okänd. För en produkt som tidigare bara utvärderats gällande prestanda, börjar kunderna nu efterfråga en kartläggning av miljöpåverkan. Kamerans miljöpåverkan studeras ur ett livscykelperspektiv: energi- och materialtillförsel samt utsläpp och avfall som berör allt ifrån råmaterialutvinning till slutåtervinning. Projektet är genomfört på begäran av, och för, Axis Communications AB (härmed refererade till som Axis) med huvudsyfte att öka Axis kunskap om deras produkters miljöpåverkan och utveckla en metod för genomförande av förenklade livscykelanalyser på Axis produkter. Livscykelanalysen, LCA, genomförs på en nätverkskamera utvecklad av Axis Communications AB; modell AXIS Q6032-E PTZ.

Healthy, natural pastures is very valuable for biodiversity in the form of both plants and animals. An efficient use of pastures helps to preserve biodiversity, but grazing animals needs to be de-wormed to keep them healthy and to prevent harmful parasites spread on the pasture. The awareness about the environmental impact of the frequent use of deworming agents is low among the public. Some people are unaware that the absorption in horses of anthelmintics is incomplete, which make the circumstances about enviromental effect important to investigate further. The scientific evidence in this area is limited and more studies and trials are needed to deepen the knowledge about the effects of anthelmintics in the environment.

The essay treats how a process of implementation was executed and the teachers? relation to two curricula, Lpo94 and Lgr11, with two different grading systems, which have functioned as models for one and the same year. The purpose is to investigate the ways in which a change in curricula and syllabus affects teachers in their teaching and assessment practice in the subject of Swedish at secondary school. The investigation had a phenomenological approach and was executed by means of in-depth interviews, questionnaires and one observation. The results are based on a methodological triangulation with qualitative and quantitative data where visible similarities and differences are brought out.

Success in treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy against different types of cancer tumors is limited by side-effects such as hearing loss which can have a large impact on the individual`s quality of life. It is of great importance to continue with studies that address this complex of problems.Objective: The aim of this literature review is to investigate the impact of platinum-based chemotherapy on hearing in children and adolescents treated for different types of cancer.Method: A descriptive review of literature was made based on sources from 15 different studies on the impact of platinum-based chemotherapy on hearing in the target group.Results: The survey of the studies shows that platinum-based chemotherapy causes incidence of hearing loss by differing degree in the target group. Dosage of a platinum-based substance appeared to be the most significant factor. Treatment with both cisplatin and carboplatin was more ototoxic than treatment with only one of these. Greater risk for hearing loss was to a higher degree observed in younger children.

The purpose with this study was to examine six caseworkers and two clients? experiences of interaction in the investigative work of social assistance. Moreover, how the interaction between caseworkers and clients are affected by the structure of the social assistance unit. The study also wanted to show how interaction rituals contribute to the change in assessment procedure in the investigative work. The study even aimed to highlight the ways in which social exclusion occurs in investigative work from caseworkers and client?s capital and gender.

The aim of this review was to examine scientific literature to determine what kind of physiological and psychological benefits derive from human-dog interaction, as well as attempt to uncover a possible mechanism behind these benefits and whether or not they are mutually beneficial. A growing body of research indicates there are physiological and psychological benefits associated with human-dog interaction. Significant cardiovascular benefits have been linked with human-dog interaction, as have lowered blood pressure, cortisol and heart rate. Interaction with dogs is often associated with a feeling of social support and well-being, and dogs also seem to facilitate social interaction between people. Dogs? ability to buffer and reduce stress is also well documented. A strong indication was found regarding a relationship between physical contact and benefits associated with human-dog interaction.

The idea that I put forward in this thesis concerns the democratic system and the threat from discoursive impact on its core values. I focus my normative analysis on three of these democratic values: transparency, accountability and influence ? and what democratic problems the discoursive impact causes in conflict with them. I have used a critical discourse theory to define discourse and discoursive impact, by focusing on the process of discourse, rather than its nature. I deal with the political structure where I claim that the essential relation between citizen and politician is disrupted, due to lack of information and the imminent problems of the existing network society.

One of many difficult issues in veterinary medicine is the assessment of an animal's experience of pain. As a licensed veterinary nurse in Sweden you are obligated by law to work by the concept of evidence based medicine. To achieve this the author of this study sees the need for standardized methods of pain assessment. A Swedish version of Short form of the Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale (CMPS-SF) has recently been translated and developed. Furthermore, a psychometric validation needs to be performed to ensure its validity and reliability.

The intension of this study is to investigate the interaction between teachers and social workers in two diffrent countys. The study is focused on how teachers act upon suspicions when there are children at risk and what kind of support the teacher gets from social workers. Another importent question is if the teachers know what kind of rules regarding to confidentiality and if it would be better for the pupils if there were no confidentiality.To get answers to my questions, i have interviewed teachers and social workers in both countys.In this study I assume that the power has three dimensions and that there are four levels of interaction.Due to the law about confidentiality the social worker has the power over the teachers. Because the law about confidentiality it is difficult for teachers and social workers to interact.If the teacher want help from social services, she or he must call the social worker because the social worker will not call the teacher. If the social worker want to help the teacher and give her advice, the social worker can do that without breaking confidentiality.

The purpose of this study was to increase the level of knowledge in the field of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for wind power. The study includes six wind power farms in the County of Västerbotten in northern Sweden. The main questions were: What are the real dimensions of roadways and land claims for both roads and wind power turbines? How do those dimensions correlate with the dimensions stated in the EIA? Are there any differences in values of the dimensions between the wind power farms that are included in this study? The width of the roadways and the land claims for both roads and wind turbines in wind power farms were examined on site. The results from the examinations were compared with the dimensions available in the EIA for each wind power farm.