The purpose of this master's degree thesis was to develop an understanding of how hospital management, in the case studied, worked to achieve changes in an organization influenced by differing professional cultures. To gain insight into the conditions that may have contributed to nurses and physicians developing appropriate attitudes and behaviours, which may have affected the organization's ability to achieve the Swedish Quality Award 2012. A qualitative single case study was conducted at Karlskoga Hospital, with focus groups as well as individual depth interviews. The results of the case study showed the following conditions provided nurses and physicians the potential to develop appropriate attitudes and behaviours, which may have influenced the hospitals ability to achieve the Swedish Quality Award:  Responsibility and influence over the development processes.Participation in management teams and quality development groups as well as individual fields of responsibility.Training programs that have given insights and skills in quality management related to clinical practice.Nurses and physicians as key individuals gave legitimacy to development process, and served as management advisors.Collaboration between all kind of employees and responsibilities.Committed management.    .

The characteristic of services as an effort carried out in a "moment of truth" implies a risk for failures. This study sheds new light on how alternative offerings that customers are initially exposed to can affect satisfaction and loyalty in the service failure and recovery context. More specifically, two aspects of the initial offering are studied: promised general service quality and the presence of a promise about a specific product attribute. Based on a presentation of the main theoretical perspectives, hypotheses are formulated and a scenario-based experiment in a hotel setting is designed to explore these. The results indicate that a higher level of promised service quality can result in more positive evaluations of satisfaction and stronger word-of-mouth intentions than for a lower level of promised service quality.

This paper examines the relationship between the experienced quality in the offering of a brand, emotional attachment and consumer commitment. The study aim to explore several dimensions of the experienced quality in the offering of a brand. Further we examine two conceptualizations of emotional attachment - Brand Attachment and Brand Love - and intend to declare the two of being two separate phenomena. We then conduct a relationship-based analysis wherein the mediating ability of Brand Attachment and Brand Love, between the experienced quality in the offering of a brand and consumer commitment, is examined. Therefore we conduct a focused quantitative study, wherein 171 customers of the fashion retailer H&M have responded to a comprehensive survey both online and in-store, to examine this fun-damental relationship and its components.

Sahlgrenska Academyat University of GothenburgDepartment of Internal Medicine and Clinical NutritionAbstractTitle: Effects of isoflavone supplementation from soybeans on LDL-cholesterol levels in adultAuthors: Malin Blomgren Alegria and Ruut ReivaaraSupervisor: Lena HulthénExaminer: Frode SlindeProgramme: Dietician study programme, 180/240 ECTSType of paper: Examination paper, 15 hpDate: 2013-04-08Background: One of the most common causes of death in Sweden is due to cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke. Hypercholesterolemia is one of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In Asia, hypercholesterolemia is less common than in the Western countries. In Asian countries, soy products are consumed in larger quantities than in the Western world, which has led to implemented research with the intention of examining soy's potential effect on cholesterol levels.Objective: To investigate whether there is scientific evidence that isoflavone supplementation from soy bean may have a lowering effect on LDL-cholesterol.Search strategy: The databases used for the systematic literature search were PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane. Keywords used were cholesterol and 9 versions of this, and isoflavones and 11 versions of that.Selection criteria: RCT articles, on humans, written in English, published from 2011 onwards, that focused on interventions with isoflavones from soybeans and its effect on blood cholesterol, the participants were over 18 years old and the study time was at least 24 weeks.

The purpose of this study was to describe how women with fibromyalgia experienced their quality of life. The method used was a literature study with a descriptive design. The search for scientific articles was done by the databases Academic Search Elite, CINAHL, Medline via PubMed and Cohrane Library. The articles were quality-tested and the content studied, resulting in four categories as follows. Research involving the physical aspects of the quality of life showed that sleeplessness, tiredness and pain was commonly occurring symptoms in women?s daily life which affected their life-situation.

Denna uppsats är en fallstudie som går ut på att beskriva företaget Icehotel AB och hur de gått tillväga för att bli ett attraktivt turistmål och framgångsrikt företag.Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ undersökning där vi intervjuat företagets VD Yngve Bergqvist samt kunder som besökt Icehotel. I resultatet redovisas svaret från dessa intervjuer.Vi har valt att lägga tyngdpunkten på marknadsföringen av Icehotel och hur de lyckats nå ut till människor från hela världen. I teoridelen tar vi upp Turistmarknadsföringens 8 P och Attraktionsutveckling. I analysen tillämpar vi sedan dessa på företaget.I slutsatsen diskuterar vi kring hur Icehotel gått tillväga för att bli ett framgångsrikt företag. Vi tar upp promotion av företaget, samarbetspartners samt den professionella marknadssegmenteringen..

ABSTRACTBackground: To be stricken with a cardiac infarction is among other things linked to different risk factors.  Many studies show that the participants in cardiac rehabilitation programs learn to deal with the risk factors, increase their quality of life and lessen the risk for re-infarction.Objective: To describe the lifestyle and perceived quality of life of the individuals after having participated in cardiac rehabilitation program and to see if they had maintained their results up to a year after having a cardiac infarction.Method: The 19 individuals who had participated in cardiac rehabilitation in 2010 after having had a cardiac infarction were asked to participate in the study. Everyone agreed to participate. The study was made analyzing the surveys, one a locally made, that the individuals had filled out four and eight months after cardiac infarction, and the other the generic Quality of life questionnaire EQ-5D, that the individuals had filled out two and twelve months after cardiac infarction. Result: The individuals have not changed their lifestyle after having participated in cardiac rehabilitation which can be interpreted that they have followed existing recommendations. The mean weight increased with one kilogram, no depression is shown and they stress less.

Six different Digital Proofing Systems from three different techniques have been evaluated as totechnique, printing quality, economy and usability. Digital proof from two paper qualities, coatedand uncoated, has been compared with references printed in offset, to see how good they match eachother. Only two Proofing Systems manage to print on reference paper. The other Proofing Systemsuse special paper for digital proof.Measurements and visuell judgement show that the Digital Proofing Systems visualise referencepictures with quite good quality. Proof optimised for coated paper visualise the colours with goodresult.

In order to measure the quality of the logs, one can with help of Fast Fourier Transform technique get the signals resonance peaks. With help of these peaks you can see whether the quality of a tree is good or bad. This report contains the work of a where a program has been developed to be able to process a vibration created by an automatic hammer hitting on a log of wood. From the processed signal the program should be able to show both the raw wavesignal and the processed measured data from the resonance peaks. Beyond the raw wavesignal and resonance peaks the program should also be able to control the automatic hammer.

Sahlgrenska Academy at University of GothenburgDepartment of Internal Medicine and Clinical NutritionABSTRACTTitle: The connection between IBS and FODMAPsAuthor: Helena Hautamäki and Rebecka BertilssonSupervisor: Sofia KlingbergExaminer: Frode SlindeProgramme: Dietician study programme, 180/240 ECTSType of paper: Examination paper, 15 hpDate: 2013-04-10Background: IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder, and is acommon disorder in the western population. The predominant symptoms are diarrhoea,abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, and excessive flatus. Today there are no evidence basedrecommendations concerning dietary factors for patients diagnosed with IBS, but recently certainfactors in the diet that seems to trigger the symptoms have been identified. These factors areshort-chain carbohydrates, Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, andPolyols (FODMAPS), which are not completely absorbed in the lumen.Objective: The purpose of this systematic review article is to examine whether there are anyevidence that a diet low in FODMAPs may induce improvement of symptoms in patientsdiagnosed with IBS.Search strategy: The literature search was performed in the databases PubMed, Scopus,Summon and Google Scholar. The keywords were ?Irritable bowel syndrome + FODMAPs?,?Irritable bowel syndrome + diet? and ?FODMAP and diet?.Selection criteria: The inclusion criteria were patients diagnosed with IBS between the ages 18and 69.

Background: An accountant is supposed to secure that the information from a company is true and fair. Recently consulting, or giving advice, has grown to be a major part of an accountants daily work particularly in smaller companies which may have insufficient financial competence themselves. This means that an accountant occupies two parts, as an independent reviewer and as an initiated advisor, which have caused controversy. Purpose: The purpose is to outline and explain how the accountants and audit customers regard an eventual discrepancy between performing the audit and consulting, and to give suggestions how to manage this. The purpose is also to define what customers perceive as quality in consulting an auditor.

Aim: To investigate the quality of life and the social life situation, with special focus on the consequenses of fear of hypoglycemia (FoH), in Islet transplanted patients.Method: 11 patients were included, four women and seven men, who have been Islet tranplanted at Uppsala University Hospital during the years 2001-2009. Two questionaires, Short Form 36 (SF-36) and the Swedish version Hypoglycemia Fear Survey (Swe-HFS) were used to investigate the quality of life, in relation to fear of hypoglycemia. Also, telephone interviews were conducted to investigate the patients social life situation in relation to FoH, after Islet transplantation and were analysed using content analysis method.Results: The mean value for quality of life was lower than that in the normal population. Three out of ten patients experienced FoH. Three predominant themes were revealed, one theme associated with pre- transplant, was ?Struggle for control of Social Life Situation? and two themes associated with post-transplant, were ?Regain power and controll of  Social Life Situation? and ?At Peace with the balance between the Present and the Future?.Conclusion: The patients experienced improved control over social life situation and quality of life in relation to FoH may been improved following islet tranplantation..

When a decision is to be made on what long term strategic forest management plan to use, consideration must often be taken to multiple objectives. Such decisions are very complex and a promising approach to handle them is by Multiple Criteria Decision Analyses (MCDA). The study is based on the problem that the MCDA that have been implemented into forest management planning have only had capacity to compare and evaluate a limited number of management plans; which means that there is a risk the most suitable plan is missed. The aim with this study was to test the applicability of combining the MCDA tools: the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for including consideration to multi-objectives into strategic forest management planning. The study was based on the process of creating and selecting a management plan, using Heureka PlanWise, suitable for all the major objectives found in the forest holdings of a municipality in northern Sweden.

The aim of this study was to increase the knowledge about and deepen our understanding for people who are treated with dialysis in aspects of quality of life and coping strategies. The research questions were: How does the scientific literature describe quality of life and coping strategies from people?s perspective who are treated with dialysis? How does dialysis affect patients and their lives? How/what can the nurses do for people who are treated with dialysis to keep or improve their quality of life. The result is based on eight scientific articles and after interpretation of the result we found six themes that describes how patients have to restructure their lives to a new normal life, how they adapt to a life with dialysis treatment, how dialysis affect their physical condition, witch meaning does the family and others have, how they keep their self-esteem in relation to the dependence of dialysis treatment and which factors are associated with a long life with dialysis..

Benchmarking is an established method of working which is often used in order to develop the quality of the organization. However, almost 70% of the organizations with benchmarking fail due to the lack of planning and structuring of the benchmarking exercise. Maintenance sections in the paper and pulp industry are one of those who have decided to conduct benchmarking. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to gain knowledge of how the maintenance sections in the paper and pulp industry deliberately structure and plan to use benchmarking as a driving force for quality development in the maintenance sections.The study is a hermeneutic case study. Telephone interviews and document analysis have been used as data acquisition methods.The results show that there is a lack of both planning and structuring in the benchmarking process, and lack of management commitment for quality improvements within industrial maintenance.