| 1. |
- Eriksson, Olof, 1978-
(författare)
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Imaging Islets of Langerhans by Positron Emission Tomography : Quantification of Beta-Cell Mass in the Native Pancreas and the Islet Graft
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Type 1 and 2 Diabetes Mellitus are a growing health problem throughout the world. There is an increasing need for methodologies, which are both reliable and non-invasive to measure the amount of insulin-producing tissue (Beta-cell mass, or BCM), as well as rapidly quantify changes in the BCM due to the onset of disease, beta-cell replacement therapy, or other treatments. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a non-invasive, quantitative functional imaging technique which can be used to study dynamical or static processes inside the body. In this thesis, we present a study protocol for in vivo imaging of the most common form of beta- cell replacement therapy; islet transplantation. Islets were labeled with the PET tracer, 2-deoxy-2[18F]fluoro-D-glucose ([18F]FDG), and administered intra-portally, while the recipient was monitored by PET/CT. The hepatic distribution of the islets was highly heterogeneous, and around 25% (human) or 50% (porcine) of the administered islets could not be found in the liver after completed transplantation, confirming previous reports of considerable cell injury during the procedure leading to low hepatic engraftment. Native BCM in the pancreas can potentially be quantified using a PET tracer with sufficiently high specificity, but the major obstacle is the relative low amounts of insulin producing tissue (only 1-2% of the pancreatic volume). Two tetrabenazine analogues, [18F]FE-(+)-DTBZ and [18F]FE-(+)-DTBZ-d4, are ligands to VMAT2, which is expressed in islet tissue. Both analogues were investigated and characterized as potential BCM imaging agents both in vitro and in vivo. Both tracers exhibited high preferential binding to islet tissue compared to exocrine pancreatic tissue. However, the specificity was not high enough to overcome the obscuring exocrine signal in vivo (7-10% of the signal originating from specific islet tracer uptake). This thesis demonstrates that it is possible to quantitatively assess islet transplantation by PET imaging. In vivo determination of native pancreatic BCM is, in theory, possible with both [18F]FE-(+)-DTBZ and [18F]FE-(+)-DTBZ-d4, but tracer analogues with higher islet specificity is needed for quantification of smaller BCM changes with physiological impact.
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| 2. |
- Käfling, Åsa, 1977-
(författare)
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The Chinese Volvo : Sino-Foreign Joint Ventures and Perceived Performance
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation describes and analyzes the perceived performance of Sino-foreign joint ventures. The dissertation is based on an in-depth qualitative longitudinal real time case study of the joint venture known as Jinan Hua Wo Truck Corporation (Hua Wo), between Volvo Trucks and China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co. Ltd. in China. The purpose of the dissertation is to contribute to the understanding of Sino-foreign perceived performance by suggesting an elaborated model, which captures situated and dynamic features. Perceived performance is defined as the joint venture executives’ assessment of strategic goal achievement and overall satisfaction.Findings from the study of the Hua Wo joint venture indicate that what determines perceived performance is the outcome of activities initiated in order to achieve or to facilitate goals. The dissertation presents an analytical model of Sino-foreign joint venture perceived performance which comprises the four concepts: goals, stakeholder relations, political influence and control. The conclusion of the dissertation is that in order to understand what decides perceived performance, it is necessary to assess system size, in other words, the number of stakeholders able to influence goal achievement, and also the intended duration of the activities. It is proposed that the configuration of the suggested model of perceived performance will be dependent upon these two dimensions. For activities taking place in a restricted system over a restricted time period, perceived performance depends primarily on the goals of the activity. The perceived performance of activities of a restricted system carried out over an extended period of time is more influenced by control. On the other hand activities carried out in an extended system over a restricted period of time are mainly determined by stakeholder relations for perceived performance, whereas activities which take place in an extended system for an extended time period are vulnerable to political influence.
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| 3. |
- Andersson, Lena, 1979-
(författare)
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När strävan efter samsyn blir en kamp : Meningsskapande och meningsgivande i mångtydiga sammanhang
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- När personer och grupper med olika bakgrund och erfarenheter möts för att sam-arbeta förutsätts ofta att samsyn kring målen med verksamheten är en förutsätt-ning för koordinerad handling. Forskningen har dock inte kunnat visa empiriskt i vilken utsträckning samsyn är viktigt för att åstadkomma samhandling. I förelig-gande avhandling presenteras en studie som undersöker hur gemensam mening formas i sammanhang präglade av heterogenitet respektive mångtydighet samt hur koordinerad handling uppstår under sådana förutsättningar. Som empirisk grund för att kunna besvara frågeställningarna studeras FöretagsNära med stöd i me-ningsskapandeperspektiv. FöretagsNära är en ny verksamhet organiserad som ett projekt i samverkan mellan Norrköpings kommun och Arbetsförmedlingen i Norr-köping. Syftet med satsningen är att föra samman näringslivsutvecklande och ar-betsmarknadsinriktade insatser och bidra till fler arbetstillfällen i Norrköping. Ba-serat på en longitudinell fältstudie berättas om meningsskiljaktigheter och strävan efter samsyn. Den longitudinella ansatsen gör det möjligt att se utvecklingen av och komplexiteten i formandet av samsyn och samhandling. Skildringen av Före-tagsNära visar att meningsskapandet i processen tar sig olika uttryck. I fråga om syftet med FöretagsNära uppstår en kamp om meningen. Studien visar hur samsyn och samhandling relaterar till varandra på mer komplexa sätt än tidigare forskning föreslagit. Det finns ingen entydig relation mellan gemensam mening och koordi-nerad handling. Studiens resultat har både teoretisk relevans och stor praktisk be-tydelse.
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| 4. |
- Espmark, Kristina, 1975-
(författare)
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Utanför gränserna : En vetenskapshistorisk biografi om Astrid Cleve von Euler
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation is a scientific biography of Astrid Cleve von Euler. She was Sweden’s first female Ph.D. graduate in the natural sciences (1898) and pursued a scientific career in spite of formal and cultural limitations. Though she failed to secure a professional position as a scientist, she published numerous papers throughout her life. The dissertation studies her life in general and analyses her research in particular. How did her research change over time in relation to the rest of her life? How did established scientists receive her research? How did her status as a woman on the fringes of academia affect her research? Sociologist Thomas F. Gieryn’s concepts of boundary-work and credibility contests are important analytical tools in the interpretation of these questions, as Cleve’sresearch was regulated by various boundaries: between professionals and amateurs, between men and women and between different academic disciplines.The study is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter introduces the dissertation, its objective and theoretical framework. The remaining chapters follow Cleve’s life in a chronological and sometimes thematic order and the source material is continually analysed. Chapter two accounts for Cleve’s childhood and student years in Uppsala, ending with her Ph.D. graduation. Chapter tree focuses on her research as a chemist and her ten years of marriage to a fellow researcher, Hans von Euler-Chelpin, a marriage that was closely intertwined with their academic studies. The fourth chapter studies Cleve’s controversy with some of the leading quaternary geologists in Sweden at the time, regarding the level changes of the Scandinavian land mass following the latest Ice Age. The fifth chapter diverges slightly from Cleve’s research, and investigates her undertakings in popular science and her political standpoints. Chapter six analyses her archaeological studies as part of the scientific controversy she was involved in, but also as influenced by political and religious views. Finally, the seventh chapter begins with a closer look at Cleve’s diatom studies, already part of most of the study but thus far not focused on as such, and ends with the main conclusions of the entire dissertation project.The dissertation shows that while science was part of Cleve’s life from childhood to death, factors other than her personal desire to uncover scientific truths governed her research opportunities and the topics of her studies. While she was consistently highly regarded as a diatom expert and gained some success as a chemist, disciplines she was formally educated in, she was met with scepticism and eventually silence when she tried to make an impact in quaternary geology and archaeology, fields of research in which she had no formal training. This demonstrates a possibility to simultaneously be regarded as credible and non-credible as a scientist, as credibility is not necessarily attached to the individual, but to his or her formal expertise in a particular area.
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| 5. |
- Thomtén, Johanna, 1978-
(författare)
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Pain among women : Prospective population studies from a biopsychosocial perspective on pain
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis focuses on the role of different psychosocial factors in the course of pain over time in a general population sample of women in Sweden. The main aim was to identify and quantify such factors as predictors of pain, pain-related disability and quality of life within a biopsychosocial framework for the understanding of the pain experience over time. The studies were based on baseline (BL) and follow-up (FU) measures with 12 months apart among 2,300 women living in Sweden, and included physical and psychological health and socio-economic status.Study I investigated associations between socio-economic status (SES) at baseline and pain and pain-related disability at follow-up, and additionally a possible mediating role of depressive symptoms in such associations. The results indicated that educational level, financial strain and occupational level were associated with pain over time. Symptoms of depression were related to all pain-and SES factors, and might be understood as a mediating factor within this context. The results of Study II showed a link between symptoms of burnout at baseline and several pain-locations. Additionally, among women with pain, the characteristics of the pain experience and pain-related disability were associated with level of burnout over time. Study III focused on the sub sample of women reporting pain at follow-up, and examined possible predictors of their perceptions of quality of life (QOL). Several psychosocial factors were associated with QOL, and seemed to be more important predictors than the characteristics of pain in terms of intensity and frequency. These factors were burnout, emotional distress, and social support. Study IV was an attempt to sum up the results of the previous studies by analysing predictors of the course of pain, i.e. by comparing women that developed pain from BL to FU with those that remained pain-free and to compare women with sustained pain with those who recovered from pain during the assessment period. These analyses showed symptoms of posttraumatic stress (PTSD) to be associated with reporting emerging pain, while pain variables, educational level and social support were related to sustained pain.The results of the four studies in this thesis indicate that psychosocial factors and their interplay with the characteristics of pain can be identified and described in a female sample, with a broad definition of pain, and that these factors play a central role in the experience of pain and its impact on the everyday life of these women. There may be several possible paths leading to the development of persistent pain among women and the identification of risk factors is complicated by never-ending interactions between biological, psychological and social processes. At an early stage, prior to pain development, several risk factors may cluster together (e.g. SES, depression), and work as indicators of, e.g. dysfunctional coping in relation to pain. In the first contact with health care and among primary care personnel the identification of such indicators is crucial so as to find women at risk for prolonged pain conditions. General indicators might then be more easily distinguishable than certain individual behaviour characteristics widely accepted as risk factors for pain and disability (e.g. fear-avoidance). To spread the knowledge of general factors in the first line of health care is therefore of great importance in preventive work.Finally, the results demonstrated that many women report pain with characteristics that to a great extent affect their lives and through interactions with psychological and social health might have grave consequences for perceptions of quality of life.
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| 6. |
- Aléx, Peder, 1952-
(författare)
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Den rationella konsumenten : KF som folkuppfostrare 1899-1939
- 1994
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study deals with the consumer co-operative in Sweden, specifically The Co-operative Union and Wholesale Society and the ideas that were developed within and disseminated by this organization between the years 1899 and 1939. The main theories used in the dissertation are Max Weber’s ideal-type and Norbert Elias’ civilization process.Initially, the dissertation describes the roots of the co-operative movement in Sweden and subsequently, the informal program and the organization of The Co-operative Union, formed in 1899.From the very beginning the co-operative union fiercly attacked consumer credit. The consumer (it was often a women that was implied) would learn how to control impulses and passions and never allow her instincts to influence a decision when making a purchase. Here, the co-operative connected with economic theories that put consumption above production. Through the co-operative, every authentic need could be met through the supply of real goods. Certain products, false and/or bad, were to be avoided. The consumer should continuously debate good taste, i.e. simple, practical and beautiful goods, which answered genuine needs in society. Through debate and discussion in the public arena, insight would be gained into utility and correct aesthetics. The discussion about “natural needs” included campaigns for nutritious food and functional shops and houses. Beside this campaign in study circle activities and co-operative newspapers, the mind of the reader.Study circles and newspaper articles directed a challenge to the woman to not only be “the woman with the basket” but also to be more efficient, i.e. planning her time in a spirit of Taylorism. This demanded both discipline and rationality in order to avoid credit, but also calmness, peace of mind and responsibility for more than just oneself. In the late 1930s she was supposed to be economist, nutrition expert, cook, cleaner, psychologist and child-raiser, all at the same time. All these were seen as factors that were a part of being a rational consumer.
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| 7. |
- Eskilsson, Anna, 1977-
(författare)
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På plats i historien : Studier av hembygsföreningar på 2000-talet
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Local heritage societies were established in Sweden for about a hundred years ago. The societies responded to the large changes of industrialisation, emigration and urbanisation during that time. Today there are about 2 000 societies with almost half a million members altogether. Why do people turn to local heritage societies today? The image of them, associated with folklore costumes and quaint old cottages, is not consistent with the extensive activity in the 21st century. That raises questions that have not been clarified in previous research. The aim of this thesis is to find out what today's local heritage societies do, as well as to investigate what their meanings are for people and the local society. Thereby the intention is to contribute to an understanding of their present extent and endurance over time.The activities of three local heritage societies in and around the city of Linköping are mapped out in this thesis. The survey shows extensive and very broad activities that are well adjusted to present time. The traditional image has become rigid, but in parts it is accurate since the activities are still dominated by local use of history., which also contributes to their extent and continuity. Place and history as common ground is something universal: The need for people to be oriented in time and space contributes to the persistence of the local heritage societies. At the same time there seems to be something strong in society today which contributes to their extent.The thesis shows that the societies can have knowledge-generating, ideological, existential and social meaning. Through the local heritage society people can learn about, evaluate and gain feelings for the place. The society also contributes to strengthening the power of togetherness in the local community as a part of the civilian society. The multifaceted meaning of the activities makes it possible for the societies to keep or even strengthen their attraction, especially among the large group of retired people.
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