Studies indicate that between 6-9% of all children has some type of voice problems. Voice problems in children may have different etiology and can affect all ages. In Sweden, there is a lack of a standardized questionnaire addressed to children with voice problems and their legal guardians. The purpose of this study was to translate and validate the Pediatric Voice Handicap Index (pVHI) in Swedish children aged 6 to 10 years. The study was carried out through an internet-based assessment form for children referred to speech and language pathologist/ phoniatrican due to voice disorders in Sweden and a matched control group of children without voice problems.

The ability to detect protein-based biomarkers, which are linked to different diseases like colorectal cancer, is very important as a diagnostic tool. Usually complex biological samples like blood are studied which will contribute to different technical issues when performing an assay. The aim with the project is to optimize and develop the high throughput protein detection technique Proximity Extension Assay, PEA, into a 96-plex panel, in hopes of discovering an expression profile for colorectal cancer. PEA was developed by Olink Bioscience and allows specific proteins in a sample to be quantitatively transformed into nucleic acid sequences that are subsequently detected and quantified with real-time PCR. Two proximity probes containing oligonucleotide sequences bind pairwise to target protein and when brought in proximity, a DNA polymerase will extend a hybridization arm from one probe over to the second forming a double-stranded DNA sequence that can serve as a template in real-time PCR.

In urban planning and design today interventions tend to take place in already existing areas and inevitably effect also surrounding areas. The many parties involved in any change leads to a demand for a shared language around these areas. This thesis aim to, through understanding and communicating a site, Stora Södergatan in Lund Sweden, inspire to a novel way of looking at an urban site preceding design- or planning interventions. Based on a theoretical framework where site is considered as a relational construct, material as well as immaterial, a framework for site thinking is constructed. Further, with theory of representation, the communication of the site is emphasized and accounted for as part of the framework.

There is currently no activity or behavior meters validated for sows under Swedish conditions where the sows are loose-housed during farrowing and nursing. An activity meter could in particular be used to detect sows that are getting ready for farrowing. Assistive technology in order to register different behaviors would be extremely useful in research and breeding. In this study, a HOBO Pendant G data logger was validated for two different functions. First, the function as a pure activity meter in which the accelerometer's ability to detect an upcoming farrowing was evaluated, and second, the accelerometer's ability to distinguish between the behaviors standing up, sitting down, lying ventrally and lying laterally on the right and left sides was evaluated. The accelerometer was attached to a collar around the sow's neck, and was recording its location every two seconds for six hours a day for ten days on a total of twelve sows.

Schmallenberg virus (SBV) is a novel arthropod-borne orthobunyavirus emerging in Europe in 2011 to 2012. Acute SBV infection causes diarrhoea, fever and reduced milk production in dairy cattle, but it is mainly the reproductive disorders (abortions, malformed foetuses and stillborn animals) in ruminants that have caused substantial economical losses. The prevalence of the virus outside of Europe is poorly investigated. SBV or SBV-like antibodies were detected in Mozambique in 2013, which raised interest for a similar study in Tanzania. In this study in Tanzania, blood samples were collected from 478 sheep and goats from 39 herds in 15 different villages in three districts, covering areas in the north, south and east of Tanzania. The epidemiology of the virus was investigated by tracing antibodies by ELISA and mapping of the virus by PCR was started.

The aim: was to describe and compare a group of experts and critical care nurses' agreement in detecting delirium in intubated, ventilator treated patients with sedation / analgesia, before and after an in house training intervention with the instrument Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU).Method: A quasi-experimental study, one group pretest - posttest design. A convenience sample of 17 critical care nurses in a general intensive care unit included. To detect delirium the instrument CAM-ICU was used, 21 paired tests before and 22 after an educational intervention.Main Results: The results showed that after an in house training intervention sensitivity and kappa coefficient improved of the characteristic 1 "acute onset and fluctuating course," an improvement that was significant. In other features, and overall values were signs of numerical improvement and deterioration in sensitivity, Specificity and kappa coefficient but no significant change.Conclusion: Implementing a new instrument for detecting delirium in clinical practice requires education and follow-up. A small sample of critical care nurses with varying ability to use the new instrument and the fact that patients' status may change rapidly making it difficult to draw any conclusions from this study.

The objective of this work was to evaluate and compare three field methods for detection of mastitis, California Mastits Test (CMT), DeLaval cell counter DCC (DCC) and FMA2001 Farm Milk Analyzer (FMA2001). Furthermore, to investigate at what cell count level clinical symptoms of mastitis are seen, and finally to check if the clinical findings and cell counts could be related to bacteriological findings. DCC and FMA2001 are new analytic instruments to be used on dairy farms for detection of mastitis. CMT has been a widely used cow-side-test of milk quality in mastitis control efforts, but it cannot be used for estimating cell counts in scientific studies or investigations. Two hundred and eight quarter milk samples from 52 cows were analysed with DCC and CMT, and 168 of these samples with FMA2001. Microbiological examination was done on 38 milk samples with CMT scores of 4 and 5.

Animal welfare can be measured in several different ways; for example by using animal-based measurements. It has been shown that register data from the Swedish Official Milk Recording Scheme can be helpful when identifying herds at risk of having poor animal welfare, which led to a development of the advisory service of ?Ask the Cow? and the web report ?Animal Welfare Signals?. The aim of this project was to find out if register data from ?Animal Welfare Signals? can be used as a screening tool for detecting herds at risk of having poor animal welfare and in need of an ?Ask the Cow?.

In a phonological assessment, the aim is to obtain systematic and reliable data of a child's speech output, which can then serve as a basis for a decision on an appropriate intervention (Wolk & Meisler, 1998). Whether phonological assessment should be derived from an analysis of picture-naming or a conversation with the child, and whether the two methods for elicitation generate equivalent results, has been debated among clinicians and researchers for an extended time (Masterson, Bernhardt & Hofheintz, 2005).The aim of the present study was to compare two methods of speech elicitation for phonological assessment: spontaneous conversation and picture-naming, respectively. In the study, the procedures have been used when assessing children with phonological disorders as well as children with typical language development. The results are presented using two levels of phonological analysis; degree of phonological impairment, in terms of percentage of phonemes correct (PPC), and type of phonological impairment, in terms of phonological simplification processes. Eighteen (18) children participated in the study, nine (9) with phonological impairment (age 3;10 ? 5;11), and nine with typical phonologic development (age 3;2 ? 4;6).

The aim: was to describe and compare a group of experts and critical care nurses' agreement in detecting delirium in intubated, ventilator treated patients with sedation / analgesia, before and after an in house training intervention with the instrument Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU).Method: A quasi-experimental study, one group pretest - posttest design. A convenience sample of 17 critical care nurses in a general intensive care unit included. To detect delirium the instrument CAM-ICU was used, 21 paired tests before and 22 after an educational intervention.Main Results: The results showed that after an in house training intervention sensitivity and kappa coefficient improved of the characteristic 1 "acute onset and fluctuating course," an improvement that was significant. In other features, and overall values were signs of numerical improvement and deterioration in sensitivity, Specificity and kappa coefficient but no significant change.Conclusion: Implementing a new instrument for detecting delirium in clinical practice requires education and follow-up. A small sample of critical care nurses with varying ability to use the new instrument and the fact that patients' status may change rapidly making it difficult to draw any conclusions from this study.

Introduction: Approximately one in eight women suffer from postpartum depression, which can affect them for a period of weeks or even years. Postpartum depression does not only affect the mother, it also has a negative influence on the rest of the family. Postpartum depression can also lead to negative consequences for the development of the infant. It is an illness that is still considered a taboo, a fact that makes it hard to identify among women who are affected. Aim: The aim of the study was to examine cases where there is a connection between social economic status (SES) and the presence of postpartum depression.

Food-poisoning is a major health problem and an estimated half a million Swedes are food-poisoned annually, with acute gastroenteritis as a consequence. One of the major causes of contaminated foods is related to food- and waterborne viruses. To be able to trace back the source of contaminant, the method of detecting viruses must be specific and sensitive. No standardized method for detecting foods for sapovirus exists today. The aim of the work described in this bachelor thesis is to implement and opti-mize a real-time RT-PCR method for the detection of all genogroups of human sapovirus in foods.

Predicting corporate failure is an increasingly important topic in the world of economics today. This paper, with the help of the credit ranking company Syna AB, aims to investigate a few different statistic strategies to do just that. This task is accomplished by using a data material of 250 000 Swedish companies divided into two subsamples. The first sample is used to develop the model and the second as a validation sample. The model developing sample holds 160 000 companies divided into five different subgroups based on size and age.

This study was the first part of a larger project investigating a new surveillance method for Echinococcus multilocularis. In this study we examined livers from wild boar (Sus scrofa), looking for lesions caused by E. multilocularis. E. multilocularis is a small tapeworm which has an indirect life cycle.

Abstract One of the leading causes of food borne infections in the world is due to Salmonella by con-suming poultry products including eggs and meat. According to US Food and Drug Admin-istration (2009), 2 to 4 million cases of Salmonellosis in humans occur every year only in US. Salmonella causes wide range of diseases with enteric and typhoid fever, food poisoning, di-arrhea and gastro-enteritis. Many serotypes of Salmonella do not have host Specificity and cause disease in all kinds of animals and humans. Salmonella has capability to modify accord-ing to the changing environment and it can develop resistance against routine elimination practices of sanitation, chemical treatments and antibacterial drugs. Newly established poultry industries in Pakistan are confronting various infectious diseases including Salmonellosis while in Sweden Salmonella prevalence in animal products con-sumed for humans is extremely low.