ABSTRACTBackground Calprotectin is a protein found in the cytoplasm of neutrophile granulocytes. In the course of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), calprotectin is released during chronic inflammation in the gut. Activation of neutrophils during the inflammation is followed by activation and secretion of pro-inflammatory molecules such as calprotectin. Calprotectin is stable in stool up to 7 days and can therefore be used as a non-invasive marker for diagnosis, treatment and measurement of the disease activity in patients with IBD. The most common method for analysis of calprotectin concentration is ELISA.

I Sverige drabbas varje år ungefär 12 000 personer av afasi och av dessa är cirka 35 % i yrkesverksam ålder. Afasi är en samlingsbeteckning för skador som drabbar språkförmågan. Dessa skador kan medföra olika konsekvenser för individen och de kan påverka kommunikationen i livet och vardagens aktiviteter. I arbetsterapeutens roll, ingår det att hjälpa den som har drabbats av afasi att hitta strategier och möjligheter för att klara sig i vardagen, därför behövs kunskap om behandlingsmetoder för personer med afasi. Generellt syftar behandling vid afasi till att förbättra språkförmågan.

This Master of Science Thesis was a complement project to the PIEp study MENTOL, carried out at a Swedish midsize medical device company.. PIEp nationally works for a long-term increase of the innovation capability of people and organizations. The purpose of this study was to find measuring parameters of innovation that fit medium-sized technological companies and organizations, Another purpose was to evaluate an innovation investment at the company, consisting of external consultant?s education of key personnel in innovation, and a two day innovation seminar with all personnel at the company participating. The methods used during this Master of Science Thesis were: feasibility and literature studies about innovation and innovation measurements, quantitative and qualitative interviews, surveys and workshops.For an accurate measure of innovation it is crucial to a have full understanding of what innovation is, and clarity of the purpose of the measurement itself.

Protein is an important component in various milk products and has a crucial role in the final quality. Excluding non-protein nitrogen, bovine milk contains about 3.3% protein whereas about 80% of this fraction consists of casein. There are four major members in the casein family: ?s1-casein, ?s2- casein, ?-casein and ?-casein. Proteolytic enzymes are the cause of degradation of the economically important milk proteins.

This thesis is built on a field study that was carried out in two seed-tree stands near by Götbrunna in Uppland, Sweden. The aim was to examine if scarification carried out in spring time could generate a more dense seedling establishment when using natural generation, than scarification carried out in autumn. It was also investigated whether there were differences in mortality the first season between the two plot-types. Plots were established block-wise with 50 blocks (pairs) on each site. The spring scarification was made with a hoe during 22-23 of April.

This study has focused on obesity prevention efforts in schools in the United States of America. The study was conducted in two states, Oklahoma and New Hampshire. In New Hampshire, the study was focused on more minor efforts which were the "CSHP", HEAL, Early Sprout, FIT, AFHY, 5210, and Kids CATCH Club. In Oklahoma, the focus on the study was on the program It's All About Kids.Method: Unstructured interviews and observation, analysis from an national policy document. A total of seventeen interviews conducted, seven of them in New Hampshire and ten in Oklahoma.

The travel agencies exist on a market that is distinguished by increasing competition. A majority of the travel agencies offer different services that all satisfie the same customer need. However,one major difference in the market aspect is the service quality, this making it an important mean of competition. There are several acknowledged methods of measurement when it comes to service quality and it is important to use an instrument that takes into consideration the fact that charter tours is a complex merger of several services. The purpose of this essay is to establish if the SERVQUAL method is a suitable instrument for measuring service quality in the travelindustry.

In order to evaluate different afforestation methods for exposed heath lands a field experiment was established in Mosfell on southern Iceland in 1989. The trial comprised six different site preparation methods (control, herbicide application, tree shelters, patch scarification, TTS trenching and mounding). In total 960 container seedlings (1+0) and 960 Nisula roll transplants (2+1) of lodgepole pine were planted. Various planting positions (furrow, hinge, no site preparation (control) and on top of mounds) were tested within the site preparation treatments. This study involves renewed measurements and analyses of the trial.After 19 years the overall survival was 51,7 %.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has the potential to be used for the diagnosis and study of osteoarthrosis in the equine tarsal region. In the development of new diagnostic MRI techniques cadaver specimens are often used. To allow the use of cadaver legs for these types of studies it is important to know the effect of time after death on the MRI image. Since the relaxation times are temperature dependent, it is interesting to examine whether the time after death and the temperature of the cadaver may play a role in the image appearance and quality. The radio pulse sequences that show the different types of tissues are also important to know when pathological evaluation with MRI is used.

AbstractBackgroundParkinson?s disease is a chronically not curable progressive disease that leads to different degrees of disability. Controlled studies on how patient education influences subjective health in Parkinson?s disease are lacking.AimThe aim of this study was to examine the influence patient education had on drug requirements and on subjective health status of persons with Parkinson?s disease.MethodologyA short form of Health Survey, SF-12, was used to measure perceived health. SF-12 was administered before and one month after patient education (intervention group; n= 48), and in waiting list control (n= 48).

Thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) is an intracellular enzyme involved in ?the salvage pathway? where the uncomplete parts of DNA are transformed into DNA precursors. The expression of TK1 is cell cykle specific, with the highest level during S-phase when DNA-synthesis is most active. One kind of TK1 is present in serum and an increase in TK1 activity in serum is due to either the level of DNA synthesis in the body or the number of cells dying in a state of replication. This can be used and is used as a marker for prognosis and evaluation of treatment in human patients with leukemia and lymphoma.

Barns sätt att uttrycka sig varierar mycket från vuxnas beteende och dessa faktorer tillsammans gör det svårt att vårda barn med smärta. I prehospital vård möts man av barn med smärta och situationen kan göra det svårt att smärtbedöma barnet. Vid behandling av smärta är smärtskattningsinstrument ett redskap för att få ett konkret värde på smärtans intensitet. Det finns olika instrument anpassade för olika åldrar. Syftet var att beskriva olika metoder för smärtbedömning av barn vilket gjordes genom en systematisk litteraturstudie.

AbstractThe Energy Declaration is a law that will come into effect October 1: Th 2006. This report has Värnamo municipality as principal and shall clarify what the estate owner in general and Värnamo municipality in particular need to know about this law. Another part that is going to be dealt with is how large the future need for energy experts in this field will be, and which competence that will be demanded for them.The work will in general deal with simplified energy declarations for apartment houses and public buildings, since these buildings are the first to be involved with energy declarations.The energy declaration will consist of a number of important components.? Energy power i.e. how much energy the building consume? If the ventilation control is done? If the radon measurement is carried out? Recommendations of measures to improve the energy power? Reference value to compare the buildings energy power againstAccording to the law the declaration shall been made by an independent expert, which will need certain information for this.

Dust, our smallest common denominator                                                                                                                                                                 Charlotta Lindvall ABSTRACT  I find it fascinating to know that we are all made of the same material as the stars and that everything is connected to each other and in a constant movement and transformation, a recycle of material. We are all made of stardust. In fact all life is sprung out of dust.In my essay I investigate the dust and ask the question if there are any traces in the dust. I look at the history of the dust and how it has affected us and our world through the decades. What does this small and airy but oh so unappreciated dust tell us? Why do we want to get rid of it? Is it possible to find a sense of belonging in the big context by investigating the dust and its origin and could I transform such a low material as dust into something magic that makes people reflect on our origin and belonging and how everything is connected? In my work I use dust as a material and in the essay I compare my work with other artists who have worked with dust as a material.Dust is everywhere because its source is from everything.

At the end of April 1986 reactor number 4 of the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl explod-ed and large amounts of radioactive particles were then released into the atmosphere due to both the explosion as well as the consecutive fire of the graphite core. A cloud of radioac-tivity was spread over the northern hemisphere, including Sweden, due to the prevailing wind directions. The radioactive particles were washed out from the cloud by rain and snowfall in some areas of Sweden and deposited on the ground. The deposited radionu-clides, primarily cesium and iodine isotopes, were later absorbed into the soil and taken up by the roots of the plants. Some of these radionuclides, like 137Cs, still persist in some of the terrestrial ecosystems at relatively high concentrations which lead to contamination of the meat of moose, roe deer and wild boar even today.The two municipalities Heby and Uppsala, in the eastern part of central Sweden, experi-enced a relatively large deposition of 137Cs which resulted in high levels of 137Cs in moose and other game.