| 1. |
- Atari Jabarzadeh, Sevil, et al.
(författare)
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Image Analysis Determination of the Influence of Surface Structure of Silicone Rubbers on Biofouling
- 2015
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Ingår i: International Journal of Polymer Science. - : Hindawi Limited. - 1687-9422 .- 1687-9430.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study focuses on how the texture of the silicone rubber material affects the distribution of microbial growth on the surface of materials used for high voltage insulation. The analysis of surface wetting properties showed that the textured surfaces provide higher receding contact angles and therefore lower contact angle hysteresis. The textured surfaces decrease the risk for dry band formation and thus preserve the electrical properties of the material due to a more homogeneous distribution of water on the surface, which, however, promotes the formation of more extensive biofilms. The samples were inoculated with fungal suspension and incubated in a microenvironment chamber simulating authentic conditions in the field. The extent and distribution of microbial growth on the textured and plane surface samples representing the different parts of the insulator housing that is shank and shed were determined by visual inspection and image analysis methods. The results showed that the microbial growth was evenly distributed on the surface of the textured samples but restricted to limited areas on the plane samples. More intensive microbial growth was determined on the textured samples representing sheds. It would therefore be preferable to use the textured surface silicone rubber for the shank of the insulator.
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| 2. |
- Berggren, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Coping with large disruptions in the payment system : stakeholder experience from stakeholder workshops and computer based simulation gaming exercises
- 2020
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 2020 the 3rd International Conference on Computers in Management and Business (ICCMB 2020) Session - Computer and Mobile Technology. - New York : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 9781450376778 ; , s. 141-145, s. 141-145
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we describe a work in progress where a mixed methods approach is used to increase insight into what kind of consequences a temporal disruption or total breakdown of the payment system creates for a large variety of societal actors and to increase insight in how their collaborative behaviour can be guided to be more resilient. This approach includes data from different types of data collections; workshop with high-level decisionmakers from involved sectors, interviews with citizens, representatives from the fuel, foods, and finance sectors, as well as experiences from 15 simulation game exercises with stakeholders. The triangulated and aggregated outcomes of the different data collections resulted in a set of recommendations on how to cope with disruptions in the card payment system.
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| 3. |
- Bergsten, Linnea, et al.
(författare)
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Designing engaging computer based simulation games for increasing societal resilience to payment system
- 2020
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 2020 the 3rd International Conference on Computers in Management and Business (ICCMB 2020) Session - Computer and Mobile Technology. - New York : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 9781450376778 ; , s. 166-172, s. 166-172
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large or lengthy disruptions to the card payment system are threats that can cause crisis in society, especially in countries where other payment options are scarce. This paper presents a study that provides suggestions on how to improve a simulation game used to increase societal resilience to payment system disruptions. Questionnaires and interviews have been used to investigate how 16 participant in crisis exercises experience realism, relevance and validity in such exercises. Suggestions on how to improve the simulation game are provided, such as improvements to the graphical interface and introducing supporting roles from the exercise management.
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| 4. |
- Browall, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Daily assessment of stressful events and coping among post-menopausal women with breast cancer treated with adjuvant chemotherapy : Original article
- 2009
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Ingår i: European Journal of Cancer Care. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0961-5423 .- 1365-2354. ; 18:5, s. 507-516
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of the study was twofold: to examine what type of daily stressful events post-menopausal woman with breast cancer experience during adjuvant chemotherapy and how bothersome these are and to identify coping strategies used by these women used to manage such stressful events. The patient group comprised 75 consecutively invited women (≥55 years of age) at two university hospitals and one county hospital in Sweden. The Daily Coping Assessment was used to collect data over time. Data were analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Six categories of stressful events were identified: 'nausea and vomiting', 'fatigue', 'other symptoms', 'isolation and alienation', 'fear of the unknown' and 'being controlled by the treatment'. The first three categories were subsumed under the domain physical problems and the latter three under psychosocial problems. Almost 30% of the diary entries recorded no stressful event. Physical problems were three times as frequent as psychosocial problems. 'Nausea/vomiting' was the most frequently observed stressful event (21.6%). 'Isolation and alienation' and 'fear of the unknown' were less frequent, but when they occurred they were rated as the most distressing. Several coping strategies were used to manage each stressful event. The most common strategies were acceptance, relaxation and distraction. Religion was rarely used as a coping strategy.
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| 5. |
- Browall, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Existential encounters: Nurses' descriptions of critical incidents in end-of-life cancer care
- 2014
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Ingår i: European Journal of Oncology Nursing. - : Elsevier BV. - 1462-3889 .- 1532-2122. ; 18:6, s. 636-644
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nurses working with cancer patients in end of life care need to be prepared to encounter patients' psychosocial and spiritual distress. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe nurses' experiences of existential situations when caring for patients severely affected by cancer. Methods and sample: Nurses (registered and enrolled) from three urban in-patient hospices, an oncology clinic and a surgery clinic and a palliative homecare team were, prior to the start of a training program, invited to write down their experiences of a critical incident (CI), in which existential issues were featured. Results: Eighty-eight CIs were written by 83 nurses. The CIs were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Two main themes were found: Encounters with existential pain experiences, which concerned facing death and facing losses; and Encountering experiences of hope, which concerned balancing honesty, and desire to live. Conclusions: This study points out that health care professionals need to be aware of patients' feelings of abandonment in exposed situations such as patients' feelings of existential loneliness. That there are some patients that express a desire to die and this makes the nurses feel uncomfortable and difficult to confront these occurrences and its therefore important to listen to patients' stories, regardless of care organization, in order to gain access to patients' inner existential needs.
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| 6. |
- Browall, Maria, 1963, et al.
(författare)
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Health care staff's opinions about existential issues among patients with cancer.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Palliative & supportive care. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1478-9523 .- 1478-9515. ; 8:1, s. 59-68
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to explore health care staff's opinions about what existential issues are important to patients with cancer and staff's responsibility when existential issues are raised by patients. METHOD: Four focus group interviews were conducted with health care staff (N = 23) at an in-patient hospice, on an oncology ward, on a surgical ward, and with a palliative home health care team. The focus group interviews focused on two questions, first, about health care staff's opinions about patients' important existential questions and, second, about health care staff's responsibility when existential issues are raised by the patient. The interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed by qualitative content analysis into subcategories and categories. RESULTS: Four categories and 11 subcategories emerged from the first question. The first category, "life and death," was based on joy of living and thoughts of dying. The second category "meaning," consisted of acceptance, reevaluation, hope, and faith. The third category, "freedom of choice," consisted of responsibility and integrity, and the fourth and last category, "relationships and solitude," consisted of alleviation, dependency, and loss. One category emerged from the second question about the health care staff's responsibility, "to achieve an encounter," which was based on the subcategories time and space, attitudes, and invitation and confirmation. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: The strength of this study was that the findings were fairly congruent in different settings and in different geographical areas. Health care staff were aware of the importance of existential issues to patients. The existential issues, mentioned by health care staff, are similar to findings from studies conducted among patients, which is another strength of the present study. Health care staff are also confident about how to act when these issues are raised by the patients. The challenge for the future is to implement the findings from this study among health care staff in different settings.
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| 7. |
- Browall, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Health-related quality of life during adjuvant treatment for breast cancer among postmenopausal women
- 2008
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Ingår i: European Journal of Oncology Nursing. - : Elsevier. - 1462-3889 .- 1532-2122. ; 12:3, s. 180-189
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of the present study was twofold: first, to describe changes of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) during the adjuvant treatment among postmenopausal women with breast cancer; second, in the same population to identify the best predictors of Overall Quality of Life (QoL) after treatment, from perceived functioning, symptoms, emotional distress and clinical/demographic variables measured at baseline. The study group was 150 women (>= 55 years of age) scheduled for adjuvant chemotherapy (CT, n=75) or radiotherapy (RT, n=75). They were examined before (baseline), during and after completing the treatment. Data about QoL, perceived functioning, symptoms and emotional distress were collected with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)-QLQ-C30, BR23 and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaires. The general finding was that the adjuvant treatments were associated with decrease in overall QoL, physical and role functioning, anxiety and body image, as well as with increase in fatigue, dyspnoea, pain, nausea/vomiting, constipation and systemic therapy side effects measured over time. For women receiving CT, better emotional functioning and less pain at baseline predicted better overall QoL at the end of the treatment. For women receiving RT, better physical and emotional functioning, less breast symptoms and lower tumour stage at baseline predicted better overall QoL at the end of the treatment.
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| 8. |
- Chang, A. Y., et al.
(författare)
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Past, present, and future of global health financing : A review of development assistance, government, out-of-pocket, and other private spending on health for 195 countries, 1995-2050
- 2019
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Ingår i: The Lancet. - : Lancet Publishing Group. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 393:10187, s. 2233-2260
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Comprehensive and comparable estimates of health spending in each country are a key input for health policy and planning, and are necessary to support the achievement of national and international health goals. Previous studies have tracked past and projected future health spending until 2040 and shown that, with economic development, countries tend to spend more on health per capita, with a decreasing share of spending from development assistance and out-of-pocket sources. We aimed to characterise the past, present, and predicted future of global health spending, with an emphasis on equity in spending across countries. Methods: We estimated domestic health spending for 195 countries and territories from 1995 to 2016, split into three categories-government, out-of-pocket, and prepaid private health spending-and estimated development assistance for health (DAH) from 1990 to 2018. We estimated future scenarios of health spending using an ensemble of linear mixed-effects models with time series specifications to project domestic health spending from 2017 through 2050 and DAH from 2019 through 2050. Data were extracted from a broad set of sources tracking health spending and revenue, and were standardised and converted to inflation-adjusted 2018 US dollars. Incomplete or low-quality data were modelled and uncertainty was estimated, leading to a complete data series of total, government, prepaid private, and out-of-pocket health spending, and DAH. Estimates are reported in 2018 US dollars, 2018 purchasing-power parity-adjusted dollars, and as a percentage of gross domestic product. We used demographic decomposition methods to assess a set of factors associated with changes in government health spending between 1995 and 2016 and to examine evidence to support the theory of the health financing transition. We projected two alternative future scenarios based on higher government health spending to assess the potential ability of governments to generate more resources for health. Findings: Between 1995 and 2016, health spending grew at a rate of 4.00% (95% uncertainty interval 3.89-4.12) annually, although it grew slower in per capita terms (2.72% [2.61-2.84]) and increased by less than $1 per capita over this period in 22 of 195 countries. The highest annual growth rates in per capita health spending were observed in upper-middle-income countries (5.55% [5.18-5.95]), mainly due to growth in government health spending, and in lower-middle-income countries (3.71% [3.10-4.34]), mainly from DAH. Health spending globally reached $8.0 trillion (7.8-8.1) in 2016 (comprising 8.6% [8.4-8.7] of the global economy and $10.3 trillion [10.1-10.6] in purchasing-power parity-adjusted dollars), with a per capita spending of US$5252 (5184-5319) in high-income countries, $491 (461-524) in upper-middle-income countries, $81 (74-89) in lower-middle-income countries, and $40 (38-43) in low-income countries. In 2016, 0.4% (0.3-0.4) of health spending globally was in low-income countries, despite these countries comprising 10.0% of the global population. In 2018, the largest proportion of DAH targeted HIV/AIDS ($9.5 billion, 24.3% of total DAH), although spending on other infectious diseases (excluding tuberculosis and malaria) grew fastest from 2010 to 2018 (6.27% per year). The leading sources of DAH were the USA and private philanthropy (excluding corporate donations and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation). For the first time, we included estimates of China’s contribution to DAH ($644.7 million in 2018). Globally, health spending is projected to increase to $15.0 trillion (14.0-16.0) by 2050 (reaching 9.4% [7.6-11.3] of the global economy and $21.3 trillion [19.8-23.1] in purchasing-power parity-adjusted dollars), but at a lower growth rate of 1.84% (1.68-2.02) annually, and with continuing disparities in spending between countries. In 2050, we estimate that 0.6% (0.6-0.7) of health spending will occur in currently low-income countries, despite these countries comprising an estimated 15.7% of the global population by 2050. The ratio between per capita health spending in high-income and low-income countries was 130.2 (122.9-136.9) in 2016 and is projected to remain at similar levels in 2050 (125.9 [113.7-138.1]). The decomposition analysis identified governments’ increased prioritisation of the health sector and economic development as the strongest factors associated with increases in government health spending globally. Future government health spending scenarios suggest that, with greater prioritisation of the health sector and increased government spending, health spending per capita could more than double, with greater impacts in countries that currently have the lowest levels of government health spending. Interpretation: Financing for global health has increased steadily over the past two decades and is projected to continue increasing in the future, although at a slower pace of growth and with persistent disparities in per-capita health spending between countries. Out-of-pocket spending is projected to remain substantial outside of high-income countries. Many low-income countries are expected to remain dependent on development assistance, although with greater government spending, larger investments in health are feasible. In the absence of sustained new investments in health, increasing efficiency in health spending is essential to meet global health targets. © 2019 The Author(s).
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| 9. |
- Dalal, Koustuv, et al.
(författare)
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Contraception use and associations with intimate partner violence among women in Bangladesh
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Biosocial Science. - New York, USA : Cambridge University Press. - 0021-9320 .- 1469-7599. ; 44:1, s. 83-94
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examines the association between contraception use and intimate partner violence (IPV) among women of reproductive age in Bangladesh. The observational study of 10,996 women used the chi-squared test and logistic regressions to assess the associations. Almost 80% of all respondents had used contraceptives at some point in their lives. About half of the respondents (48%) were victims of physical violence, while 11% experienced sexual abuse from their husbands. Urban residents, higher educated women and women aged 20-44 were more likely to use contraceptives than their peers in rural areas, those with lower education and those in their late forties (45-49 years). Women exposed to physical violence were almost two times (OR 1.93, CI 1.55-2.41) more likely to use contraceptives compared with their non-abused peers. Sexual abuse had no significant association with contraceptive use. Physical violence is a predictor for higher levels of contraceptive use among women in Bangladesh. The findings emphasize the importance of screening for IPV at health care centres. The differences in urban and rural contraceptive use and IPV exposure identified by the study have policy implications for service delivery and planning.
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| 10. |
- Dalal, Koustuv, et al.
(författare)
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Economic Costs of Domestic Violence : A Community Study in South Africa
- 2011
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Ingår i: HealthMed. - Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina : DRUNPP. - 1840-2291 .- 1986-8103. ; 5:6/Suppl 1, s. 1931-1940
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study estimated economic costs of domestic violence against women who sought help from a community care centre in South Africa. It aimed to relate the victims' income and victims' family income to violence related injuries and related costs. This was a cross sectional study with face-to-face interviews in a community care center in which victims of domestic violence sought various kinds of assistance. In total, 261 women were interviewed. The average economic cost of each domestic violence incidence was 691 USD while average cost for medical expenditure was 29 USD and average loss of income due to domestic violence was 2092 USD. Larger families and higher individual and family incomes were protective factors for severity of violence related injuries. Pain and discomfort due to domestic violence emerged as expensive for both medical costs and productivity losses. Considering the average monthly income of 482 USD, domestic violence averaged a cost per incident of 691 USD during the previous month, indicating a deficit in household budget. We found that domestic violence against women resulted with expensive injuries, pain and discomforts.
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