The effects of dexmedetomidine and butorphanol sedation on skin reactivity during intradermal testing in healthy dogs were evaluated. The effects of dexmedetomidine and butorphanol were compared to medetomidine, a sedative agent having scientific proof of not interfering with skin test reactivity, in a randomised, double blind, cross over study performed on 8 adult dogs. The dogs were sedated with medetomidine (Domitor vet.®, 0,01 ml kg-1) intravenously, or dexmedetomidine and butorphanol intramuscularly (Dexdomitor vet.®, 0,01 ml kg-1; Dolorex vet., 0,01 ml kg-1) after which they received intradermal injections of positive control solutions (histamine 0,1 mg ml-1, 0,05 mg ml-1, 0,025 mg ml-1), a negative control solution (0,9 % NaCl) and allergen extract (Dermatophagoides farinae, Cladosporium and Artemisia vulgaris). After a wash out period the trial was repeated with a reversed sedation protocol.Skin reactivity (wheal size, induration and erythema) and quality of sedation (immobilization, response to stimuli and injections as well as over all working conditions) were evaluated. The combination of dexmedetomidine and butorphanol provided reliable, good sedation and analgesia without adverse effects.

Hip dysplasia is a common, inherited malformation of the coxofemoral joint that eventually leads to osteoarthrosis. Several breeds of dogs are affected and the prevalence varies between different breeds. As part of the effort to reduce the prevalence of hip dysplasia and select dogs suitable for breeding, radiological screening is performed by at least 12 months of age. Before the radiological examination the dog has to be chemically restrained, sedated or anesthetized. The sedation protocol used differs between veterinary clinics. The impact of sedation method of the screening result for hip dysplasia has been studied.

This study was performed in order to investigate the difficulty in diagnosing retrobulbar disease with ultrasound. A retrospective study was accomplished to investigate the use of ultrasound in patients with suspected retrobulbar problems, and how often the examination is diagnostic. The computer based patient files, at the University of Agricultural Science in Uppsala, were searched for dogs with suspected retrobulbar disease. During 1999-01-01-2004-04-14, 14 patients fulfilling the search criteria were found. The patient records were studied, and the written reports from the ultrasound examinations were compared with the printed pictures from the examinations.

The aim of the study was to investigate whether the sedation method had an effect on the screening result for hip dysplasia (HD). Another aspect considered was if the dog?s weight had an impact on the results. This study was a follow up on the results from an earlier study of sedation routines in Swedish dogs. The breeds included in this study were the same as in the earlier one; German shepherd, Bernese mountain dog, Boxer, Newfoundland, Rottweiler, Saint Bernard, Golden and Labrador Retriever.

Insomnia is getting more prevalent with age, both because of natural changes in the sleep pattern and because of increased morbidity. It can cause dysfunctioning and sedation during the day. Therefore it is often treated with hypnotics. It is possible though that hypnotics can cause daytime sleepiness as well, not to mention increased risk of falling and fractures because of sedation and prolonged reaction time. Benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine related drugs, the subjects of this study, are commonly used as hypnotics.

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.

Background: Anxiety with children before surgery is well known. From the 1950s there are various assessment instruments. Despite that most day surgery units offer preparation for children and parents, there are many children who exhibit a strong anxiety the day of surgery, which can lead to postoperative behavioral changes. Today the nurse estimates the anxiety of a child on personal experience and knowledge, forming the basis for estimation whether the child is in need of sedation or not. The purpose: of this study was to evaluate instruments that the nurse can use in measuring the degree of anxiety of children before fast clinical settings, such as day surgery.

The purpose of this study was to compare normal electroretinographies (ERGs) from three different canine breeds in order to evaluate if there were any marked similarities or differences between these breeds as to ERG responses. It is known that healthy dogs from different breeds but also dogs within the same breed but in different age categories may have different appearances of their ERG responses. This may be a problem when evaluating if an ERG is normal or not from a dog within a breed not previously examined. Because of this it is important to obtain normal values for each breed and age group in order to be able to use these for later comparisons of ERGs obtained from individuals affected with various retinal diseases. In this study we have chosen to examine dogs within the three breeds: Labrador Retriever (LR), English Springer Spaniel (ESS) and Chinese Crested Dog (CCD). All of these breeds may be affected with hereditary retinal diseases such as Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA). It is possible that ERG-responses vary due to a number of different factors.

Statistics Sweden is an administrative agency that delimits built-up areas and produces statistics regarding them. The statistics provide information about the area of the built-up areas, their population number, number of gainfully employees working in the built-up areas, and of buildings. Now Statistics Sweden wishes to extend such statistics by producing a measure regarding how well developed the service is in each built-up area.This study is a contribution to this statistical improvement work and the purpose is to ? by employing geographical information systems and cluster analysis ? classify the Swedish built-up areas according to 1) service width and 2) service degree. A particular built-up area has a high service width if it has many different service functions, such as pharmacies, schools and grocery stores.

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.

Real options analysis is a method for assigning value to flexibility in decisions, coming from uncertainty in future outcomes. This thesis ascertains to what degree this method is superior to traditional net present value analysis, with regards to ease of implementation in relation to the benefits from being able to measure the total value. Real options analysis is evaluated with a case study of the Swedish online gambling market, and conducted with the binomial framework of Copeland and Antikarov (2003). The authors find the sensible use of real options dependant on the specific situation to which it is applied, i.e. a certain degree of future uncertainty and managerial flexibility is necessary for justification of the increased workload.

Background: Diabetes is a common disease where the degree of self-management is of paramount importance. Individual factors influences both cooping and general wellbeing among diabetic patients. Glycemic control is known to be important but other factors ought to be considered. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe how individual self-management influences the general wellbeing among adult diabetic patients. Method: This literature study is based on scientific articles.

Background: Examinations with the intent to assess neurological functions and level of conciousness are common in neurocritical care, but the effect on the patient is not entirely researched.Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe the patient?s situation at the neurological wake-up test concerning the environment, nursing interventions and the possibility given the patient to become awake, and if these conditions affect the outcome of the wake-up test.Methods: A quantitative observational study took place at a neurocritical care unit, where 20 patients were observed from interruption of sedation to the neurological assessment, which was performed by a neurosurgeon or a specialized critical care registered nurse. Nursing interventions, environmental factors and physiological parameters were documented.Result: Twelve intervention varieties to control patients? physiological parameters were used. CPP > 80 mmHg was found in 90 % of observations.

This thesis suggests an explanation for how it is possible for individuals living in an unsafe neighborhood to expressa highlevel of security. Araby is the district in Växjö municipality withthe highest level of insecurity. Within the district, there is acategory of individuals in security-measurements showing a high degree of security. Inhabitants living in house in Araby also seem to show a higher level of security than inhabitants in the same accommodation in other neighborhoods in the municipality.The study's purpose is to understand how individuals belonging to an unsafe neighborhood can experience a high degree of security.Qualitative data were collected from an observation in Araby and from interviews with individuals living in house in the district.Previous research has shown that security in the surrounding area depends on several factors, such as disorders, the degree of social control and personal opinions. Thestudy shows how a distinction to places and people in the district can explain the degree of security.

This essay looks into the concept of self-efficacy and its implications for work performance. The participants in this study work for a call center company situated in the southern part of Sweden. The hypothesis is that a high degree of self-efficacy exerts a positive effect on work performance. Furthermore, the study seeks to identify the factors that give rise to work satisfaction among the participants. The results of the study show that there is a negative correlation between high self-efficacy and work performance.