| 1. |
- Rosengren, Kristina, 1963-
(författare)
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Hälso- och sjukvårdsorganisation i förändring : Från distanserat till delat ledarskap
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Syfte: Avhandlingen syftar till att följa upp, beskriva samt generera tentativ teori om pågående förändringsprocesser inom hälso- och sjukvården på såväl makronivå genom studier av sjukhusfusioner som mikronivå genom studier av delat ledarskap. Metod: ”Sjukhusfusioner” beskriver två genomförda sjukhussammanslagningar utifrån en kvalitativ ansats, Grounded Theory med intervjuer av vårdpersonal (I, II). ”Delat ledarskap” utgår från en förändrad ledarskapsmodell på en intensivvårdsavdelning med intervjuer (III-IV) samt frågeformulär (V) som datainsamlingsmetod. Vårdpersonalens uppfattningar av ledarskap redovisas genom en fenomenografisk ansats (III). Vidare beskrivs två avdelningschefers upplevelser av att ha arbetat i ett delat ledarskap genom Grounded Theory (IV). I den sista delstudien (V) används en kvantitativ metod i form av ett frågeformulär. En del av dessa frågor ingår i instrumentet QPSNordic som belyser vårdpersonalens åsikter om arbete, ledarskap och delat ledarskap. Resultat: Vårdpersonalen uttryckte behov av delaktighet och balans mellan olika behov och krav i ett förändringsarbete. Ledarskapets betydelse lyftes fram som en framgångsfaktor för att utveckla hälso- och sjukvårdsorganisationer i förändring. Vårdpersonalens idealbild av sjuksköterskans ledarskap utgjordes av en chef som var närvarande och tillgänglig i den dagliga verksamheten. Begreppet stödjande tvåsamhet lyftes fram som kärnan i delat ledarskap. Stödjande tvåsamhet, en tillitsfull relation mellan avdelningscheferna, bidrog till en god arbetsmiljö då ansvar och befogenheter delades av aktuellt ledarpar. Vårdpersonalen hade en positiv syn på sitt arbete och ledarskapet. De ansåg att det delade ledarskapet ökade avdelningschefernas möjligheter att vara engagerade och tillgängliga i det dagliga arbetet. Konklusion: Resultatet har bildat underlag för två empiriskt grundade modeller; engagerat ledarskap och stödjande tvåsamhet. Engagerat ledarskap utgår från begreppen delaktighet och stöd i en vårdande kultur. Stödjande tvåsamhet bygger på en gemensam värdegrund och olikheter i kompetens hos ledarparet som ligger till grund för utveckling av en tillitsfull relation. Vidare har teorin om det caritativa ledarskapet vidareutvecklats genom begreppet stödjande tvåsamhet som belyser relationen chef till chef i en vårdande kultur.
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| 2. |
- Altun, Zeki, 1978-
(författare)
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New Techniques for Sample Preparation in Analytical Chemistry : Microextraction in Packed Syringe (MEPS) and Methacrylate Based Monolithic Pipette Tips
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Sample preparation is often a bottleneck in systems for chemical analysis. The aim of this work was to investigate and develop new techniques to address some of the shortcomings of current sample preparation methods. The goal has been to provide full automation, on-line coupling to detection systems, short sample preparation times and high-throughput. In this work a new technique for sample preparation that can be connected on-line to liquid chromatography (LC) and gas chromatography (GC) has been developed. Microextraction in packed syringe (MEPS) is a new solid-phase extraction (SPE) technique that is miniaturized and can be fully automated. In MEPS approximately 1 mg of sorbent material is inserted into a gas tight syringe (100-250 μL) as a plug. Sample preparation takes place on the packed bed. Evaluation of the technique was done by the determination of local anaesthetics in human plasma samples using MEPS on-line with LC and tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS). MEPS connected to an autosampler was fully automated and clean-up of the samples took about one minute. In addition, in the case of plasma samples the same plug of sorbent could be used for about 100 extractions before it was discarded. A further aim of this work was to increase sample preparation throughput. To do that disposable pipette tips were packed with a plug of porous polymer monoliths as sample adsorbent and were then used in connection with 96-well plates and LC-MS-MS. The evaluation of the methods was done by the analysis of local anaesthetics lidocaine and ropivacaine, and anti-cancer drug roscovitine in plasma samples. When roscovitine and lidocaine in human plasma and water samples were used as model substances, a 96-plate was handled in about two minutes. Further, disposable pipette tips may be produced at low cost and because they are used only once, carry-over is eliminated.
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| 3. |
- Henricson, Maria, 1972-
(författare)
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Tactile touch in intensive care : Nurses' preparation, patients' experiences and the effect on stress parameters
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to acquire knowledge about whether tactile touch as a complementary method can (i) promote comfort and (ii) reduce stress reactions during care in an intensive care unit (ICU) Method: In Paper I, five nurses with a touch therapist training were interviewed about their experiences of preparation before giving tactile touch in an ICU. To analyse the meaning of preparation as a phenomenon, Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological approach was used. In Paper II and III a randomised controlled trial was set up to investigate the effects of a five-day tactile touch intervention on patients’ oxytocin levels in arterial blood (II), on patients’ blood pressure, heart rate and blood glucose level, and on patients’ levels of anxiety, sedation and alertness (III). Forty-four patients were randomised to either an intervention group (n = 21) or a control group (n = 23). Data were analysed with non-parametric statistics. In Paper IV, six patients who had received the tactile touch intervention were interviewed to illuminate the experience of receiving tactile touch during intensive care. To gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon and to illuminate the meaning, Ricoeur’s phenomenological hermeneutical method, developed by Lindseth and Norberg, was used. Findings: The nurses need four constituents (inner balance, unconditional respect for the patients’ integrity, a relationship with the patient characterized by reciprocal trust and a supportive environment) to be prepared and go through the transition from nurse to touch therapist (I). In the intervention study, no significant differences were shown for oxytocin levels between intervention and control group over time or within each day (II). There were significantly lower levels of anxiety for patients in the intervention group. There were no significant differences between the intervention and control groups for blood pressure, heart rate, the use of drugs, levels of sedation or blood glucose levels (III). The significance of receiving tactile touch during intensive care was described as the creation of an imagined room along with the touch therapist. In this imagined room, the patients enjoyed tactile touch and gained hope for the future (IV). Conclusion: Nurses needed internal and external balance to be prepared for providing tactile touch. Patients did not notice the surroundings as much as the nurses did. Patients enjoyed the tactile touch and experienced comfort. The impact on stress parameters were limited, except for levels of anxiety which declined significantly. The results gave some evidence for the benefit of tactile touch given to patients in intensive care.
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| 4. |
- Ahnfelt, Vigdis, 1958-
(författare)
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La recuperación de la identidad en la novela Sefarad de Antonio Muñoz Molina
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of the present study is to examine the signification of identitary discourses in the novel Sefarad: Una novela de novelas by Antonio Muñoz Molina and determine to what extent these discourses represent and respond to identitary discourses in contemporary Spanish society. The analysis focuses on three principal questions: how is the narrative constructed, what is conveyed as a result, and what is the aim of the narrative. Identity is understood as a social construction, an individual and continuous process of assuming, defining, negotiating and maintaining cultural identities, elements of the surrounding world that provide the individual with a sense of meaning (Fromm 1956; Castiñeira 2005; Marsella 2008). The novel consists of different stories that manifest the social impact of the totalitarian regimes in Europe during the twentieth century, told by a diversity of voices. First, the analysis deals with the structure of the text, examined through the model of mise en abyme (Dällenbach 1989). Secondly, the significations of transition, transgression (Lotman 1978) and, analogically, stigmatization are deduced (Goffman 1972), processes that are related to the effects of the frontier as a metaphor (Pratt Ewing 1998) and to limit situations (Jaspers 1974). Thirdly, the study stresses the representation of the past, in which trauma, melancholy and mourning are significant (Benjamin 1992; Freud 1986). The conclusions confirm the claim that the novel corresponds to humanity’s treasure of suffering (Leidschatz), a cultural possession that thematizes the processes of memory and oblivion (Assmann 1999), represented through stories told by the victims of intolerance at different levels. The text is accordingly conceived as a mirror through which the narrator constructs his identity as a writer and transmits meaning to the reader by providing the opportunity to reflect upon identity issues today.
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| 5. |
- Bjurulf, Veronica, 1970-
(författare)
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Teknikämnets gestaltningar : En studie av lärares arbete med skolämnet teknik
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The thesis deals with how technology as a school subject is presented to the pupils in the Swedish compulsory school at junior high school level. The main focus is on how teachers work with the subject matter in teaching, which is on the level of the enacted curriculum. The official documents established by the national school authorities, the intended curriculum, and the hidden curriculum are both of special interest in the study. The hidden curriculum refers to possible, but not intended consequences of the enacted curriculum for pupils’ understanding of technology as a school subject. The empirical analysis of the study is based on a narrative analysis on the one hand and the variation theory on the other. The empirical data collection consists of data from: (a) interviews with five teachers and (b) a series of classroom observations, covering an entire section of each teacher’s course of the subject matter. The data from the interviews with these teachers indicated that they understood the concept of technology as human made artefacts aiming to satisfy practical needs. When it came to the understanding of technology as a school subject the teachers differed between understanding the aim of the subject as to: (1) practice craftsmanship, (2) prepare the pupils for future careers as engineers, (3) illustrate science, (4) strengthen girls’ technical self-confidence and (5) get the pupils interested in technology in order to become inventors in the future. The data from the classroom observations indicated that the teaching presented in technology gave the pupils the opportunity to develop three specific capabilities: (1) evaluate and test functionality, (2) be precise and accurate and (3) construct, build and mount. The three capabilities were possible to develop when accomplishing tasks of practical character. Results also indicated that technology as a school subject was taught in different ways depending on the teachers’ educational background, the physical learning environment and the size of the school class. Variation theory was applied as a tool in the analysis of the data from the classroom observations, i.e. the teachers’ ways of working with the subject matter. The analysis indicated that the most frequently used pattern of variation was ‘contrast’. Through the contrast-variation the teachers managed to contrast better or worse alternatives of constructing and using artefacts. It can be argued that this pattern of variation, ‘contrast’, is the proper pattern when pupils are working with limited or expensive material. The overall conclusion of the study is that teachers’ interpretations of current intended curriculum and their choices of subject matter and teaching methods affect which abilities the pupils are offered to develop in technology as a school subject. Based on the results of the study it can be argued that the education and the teaching of technology lacks realism and the result is that technology as a school subject may be experienced by pupils as not very important. It is obvious that the school subject technology, as well as teaching in technology, in the Swedish compulsory school, demands more attention from the national school authorities, in order to develop the pupils’ understanding that technology as a subject is related to the future development of society and social welfare.
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| 6. |
- Bohlin, Christina
(författare)
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In vitro and in vivo oxidation of diastereomers of lignin models of arylgylcerol b-aryl ether type and heterologous expression of laccase
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Enzymic and non-enzymic oxidation of lignin models of the arylglycerol β-aryl ether type was investigated in experiments aimed at providing a better understanding of the initial phase of biological lignin degradation. Product profiles and diasteromer selectivity were determined to gain knowledge of the properties of the oxidants and pave the way for evaluation of the presence of the oxidants in ligninolytic fungal cultures. Diastereomers of the non-phenolic lignin model 1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-(2-methoxyphenoxy)-1,3-propanediol (1) were oxidized in vitro with lignin peroxidase (LP), laccase-mediator systems, Fenton's reagent, cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate (CAN) and lead(IV) tetraacetate. The product profiles were found to be distinctive for the different oxidants, except for LP and CAN, which generated the same products in similar proportions. The reactions resulted in preferential degradation of the threo isomer, except for the Fenton's reagent reaction, which showed no stereo-preference, and the laccase reaction mediated by ABTS, which preferentially degraded the erythro isomer. Cultures of the white-rot fungi Trametes versicolor and Phanerochaete chrysosporium preferentially degraded the threo isomer of 1. This is not in agreement with the action of Fenton's reagent, since this oxidant does not exhibit any stereo-preference. Laccase from T. versicolor was expressed in Pichia pastoris and Aspergillus niger. Production of catalytically active T. versicolor laccase was achieved in both P. pastoris and A. niger using glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase promoters. The level of laccase activity obtained with P. pastoris was significantly lower than that obtained with A. niger, but speed and convenience make the P. pastoris system attractive for screening purposes. A. niger produced high yields of heterologous laccase with properties similar to those of the native enzyme. A method was devised to purify laccase from cultures of A. niger. The method gave a 250-fold purification and a yield of >50%.
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| 7. |
- Fransson, Martin, 1965-
(författare)
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Självbeskrivning och tjänstekognition : Om processkartläggning på Arbetsförmedlingen
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- When duties are documented, new ideas are often created regarding how the work should be carried out. Writing is an important source of development, but unfortunately the possibilities are limited when it comes to transferring new ways of thinking to personnel. As with organizational change in general, employees tend to neglect new instructions. On the basis of their personal ways of thinking, they might find that the new order is incorrect, requires more resources, lacks contact with reality, or cannot be understood. The people who have prepared the new directives think they are surely justified and easy to understand. In their eyes, those who stick to what used to be correct and reasonable seem resistant to change. The aim of this dissertation is to understand the influence of self-assessment on service cognition and to propose how this influence can be utilized to attain strategic aims. The term self-assessment refers here to the activity whereby employees, in a structured manner, collectively assess and document their own instructions. The concept of service cognition refers to individual employee’s conceptions on how to carry out their own tasks, on how colleagues carry out theirs, and on connections between activities in the common workflow. The object of study is self-assessment as business process modeling at the local offices of the Swedish Employment Service. What is explored is the crass but fruitful understanding that new ways of thinking more easily arise among those who define organizational design than among those who are expected to change. Using socio-cognitive theory as well as longitudinal and extensive action research, the reasons are investigated behind the inevitable development of units which are trusted to write their own instructions and, in so doing, start to talk about the way work is done. Despite the independence needed to coordinate by consensus, it seems that the collective mind thereby induced actually enhances opportunities for central control and change: Units designing their own routines surely become better coordinated, but also more controllable and adaptive to strategic change. Furthermore, some principles are presented to support self-assessment regarding organization and change.
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| 8. |
- Heikkinen, Satu, 1969-
(författare)
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Att köra eller inte köra : Hur de äldre, åldrande och bilkörning har diskuterats i svensk transportpolitik
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The objective of this study is to analyse the formation of older and ageing drivers in Swedish transportation policy. Documents from the Swedish Government, the Riksdag and, in a few cases, public authorities and newspapers are analysed. The discourse-analytical framework is inspired by Foucault’s archaeology, which is used as a tool box. The study identifies/constructs three periods in the formation of older and ageing drivers. In the first period (1934–1967) there is a discursive gap between statements about driver selection and traffic safety. Driving in ‘old age’ is a problem for medical expertise and mandatory tests are proposed. The proposals are rejected, as older people’s driving is not a problem in the discourse of traffic safety. In the second period (1967–1991) ‘older drivers’ is made up as a category of interest. ‘Older drivers’ become an accident population in the discourse of traffic safety due to changes in statistical practices. In the third period (1991–2006) a discourse of older peo-ple’s mobility is appearing alongside the discourses of traffic safety and driver selection. Moreover, the study traces how the statements of older and ageing drivers are ordered by more general ideas of the aged and ageing. Double discourses of ageing are followed by a dichotomisation in ‘healthy’ and ‘sick older drivers’ in the 1990s. The idea of an abrupt exit in old age alters to a more gradual exit, in its turn followed by challenging the very idea of exit.
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| 9. |
- Johnson, Johanna, 1970-
(författare)
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Aspects of Flexographic Print Quality and Relationship to some Printing Parameters
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Flexographic printing is a common printing method in the packaging field. The printing method is characterized primarily by the flexible printing plate and the low viscosity inks which make it suitable for use on almost any substrate. The object of this study was to obtain further knowledge of the some important mechanisms of flexographic printing and how they influence the print quality. The thesis deals with printing primarily on board and liner but also on newsprint with water-borne ink using a full-scale flexographic central impression (CI) printing press. Several printing trials have been performed with a focus on the chemical interaction between the ink and substrate and the physical contact between the ink-covered printing plate and the substrate. Multicolour printing exposes the substrate to water from the water-containing ink. The emphasis was to investigate the relation between print quality and water-uptake of the paper surface with heat and water. Printing trials was carried out on substrates possessing a hydrophobic, and also a rather hydrophilic surface using a regular commercial water-borne ink. The favorable effect which water or surfactant solution had on the hydrophobic substrate with regard to print mottle could depend on its surface compressibility in combination with the hydrophobic nature of its surface that could affect the wetting properties. Conventional printing involves physical contact between plate and ink and between ink and substrate. A method for measuring the dynamic nip pressure using thin load cells is presented. Print quality was influenced by the plate material. A correction procedure taking into account the size of the sensor was developed in order to estimate the maximum dynamic pressure in the printing nip. An attempt was made to identify essential mechanical and chemical parameters, and also geometrical properties of the plate that affected print quality. Laboratory printing trials were carried out and a multivariate analysis was applied for evaluation of print quality data. The impact of the plate properties on print quality was evident. The essential properties of the plate that influence print quality were the small-scale roughness and long-scale roughness.
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| 10. |
- Kjellén Simes, Marika, 1966-
(författare)
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Room for Improvement? : A comparative study of Swedish learners’ free written production in English in the foreign language classroom and in immersion education
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The present study examines the effects of immersion education on the English of two groups of advanced Swedish learners at upper secondary school. In immersion education, or CLIL, subject content is taught through a second language as a means of enhancing target language competence. In this study, language proficiency was measured in terms of the ratio of low frequency vocabulary (LFV) and the ratio of motivated tense shift (MTSh) in the learners’ free written production in English. An additional aim was to see whether the results were related to the students’ motivation as reported in a questionnaire. This longitudinal study was based on three sets of narratives, written by 86 students, half of them enrolled at the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB) where English is the medium of instruction, and the other half at national programmes (NP), where English is studied as a foreign language. At the outset, the IB and NP groups had similar results on a general diagnostic test, which was the basis for the formation of three subgroups: I, II and III, with above average, average and below average scores respectively. Mean LFV and MTSh ratios as well as different kinds of motivation were compared, both overall and in the subgroups. The IB students overall, and those in subgroup III in particular, showed the best results. As to the overall results, the IB students used significantly higher mean ratios of LFV and MTSh than the NP students in the final set of compositions. There were also a number of motivational factors that were stronger in the IB students. As to the subgroups, the most interesting results were found in subgroups I and III. While the IB students in subgroup I had high mean ratios already in the first composition, and retained them over time, their use of MTSh tended to grow subtler. The NP students had lower mean results initially, and while their mean MTSh ratio increased and ended up on a level similar to that of the IB students, their mean LFV ratio remained low. In subgroup III the results of the IB and NP students diverged over time. While the IB students progressed as reflected in their mean LFV and MTSh ratios, the NP students tended to regress. The difference in mean LFV ratios was statistically significant. The IB students were also better motivated than their NP peers. In all, this study suggests that immersion education has positive target language effects, especially on less proficient but motivated students.
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