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- Brännström, Margareta, 1957-
(författare)
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Ett liv i berg och dalbana : innebörder av att leva med svår kronisk hjärtsvikt i palliativ avancerad hemsjukvård utifrån patienters, närståendes och sjuksköterskors berättelser
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall purpose of this thesis is to illuminate meanings of living with severe chronic heart failure (CHF) in palliative advanced home care (PAHC) as disclosed through patients’, close relatives’ and nurses’ narratives. This thesis comprises four papers that illuminate the phenomenon from various perspectives and with different focus. In paper I four patients with severe CHF in PAHC were interviewed. In paper II three of their close relatives were interviewed. In paper III one man and his wife in PAHC were interviewed at 3-5 month intervals over a 4.5-years period. In paper IV 11 nurses in PAHC were interviewed. In all papers narrative interviews were conducted and the text was interpreted using a phenomenological-hermeneutic method. The result shows that meanings of living with severe CHF in PAHC is to be ‘knocking on death’s door’ yet surviving. This means never knowing what to expect of tomorrow as one suffers from a complex array of unpredictable, interwoven symptoms. The course of the illness forces sufferer to ride a symbolical ‘roller coaster’, an ongoing oscillation between ‘ups and downs’. Being offered a safety belt in the ‘roller coaster’ by the PAHC team means feelings of safety (I). Meanings of being a close relative of a person with severe CHF in PAHC is to be following the life- threatening ups and downs that the ill person goes through. It is like being a fellow passenger on the ‘roller coaster’ ride that is their loved one’s disease, with burdensome responsibility for easing the ‘downs’ and supporting the ‘ups’. This means being on primary call, always on standby to mediate security and pleasure. In the deepest downs it is also to call for the back-up call i.e. the PAHC team (II). Meanings of living the ‘ups and downs’ over time is being captive in a roller-coaster ride, side by side, with the ‘ups and downs’ caused by the illness. Living close to death is inescapable when recurrent periods of deepest ‘downs’ force one to face that one’s life together is coming to an end. The relationship between the spouses is severely tested but seems to withstand the strain and meaning is found in togetherness in life. Sharing the safety belt on the ‘roller coaster’, offered by the PAHC team, evokes feelings of security. However, the safety belt is adjusted to the man with severe CHF leaving the wife partly without comfort and at times uncertain, especially in the deepest ‘downs’ (III). Meanings of being a palliative nurse for patients with severe CHF in PAHC is being firmly rooted and guided by the values of palliative culture. Being a facilitator for the patient with CHF to live his/her everydaylife in the best way possible is difficult, challenging but overall positive. The nurses get into a tight corner when palliative culture values clash and do not correspond to nurses’ interpretation of what is good for the patient with severe CHF. There is a limit to nurses’ pliability to patients’ and close relatives’ will, as they are strongly convinced that resuscitation is not an option. Nurses have already made up their mind about that they do not perform heart- lung resuscitation (IV). The comprehensive understanding is that meanings of living with severe CHF in PAHC is being captive in a ‘roller-coaster’ life with varying periods between unpredictable improvement and deterioration of the body, for the rest of life. Living with the unpredictable, deteriorated body means to oscillate between enduring the suffering in ‘downs’ and enjoying life in ‘ups’ (I-III). Living with death so close over and over again i.e. being in a limit situation evokes feelings of uncertainty (I-IV) and confidence (I-III). Being positive dependent on PAHC facilitates a life as normal as possible in togetherness at home (I-IV). The comprehensive understanding of the four papers (I-IV) are discussed in the light of a theoretical framework from the German psychiatrist and philosopher Karl Jaspers thoughts about limit situation, the Danish philosopher K.E Lögstrup thoughts about the ethical demand, palliative theories and relevant empirical studies.
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- Odelstad, Jan
(författare)
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Many-Sorted Implicative Conceptual Systems
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A theory of many-sorted implicative conceptual systems (abbreviated msic-systems) is presented. Examples of msic-systems include legal systems, normative systems, systems of rules and instructions, and systems expressing policies and various kinds of scientific theories. In computer science, msic-systems can be used in, for instance, legal information systems, decision support systems, and multi-agent systems. In the thesis, msic-systems are studied from a logical and algebraic perspective aiming at clarifying their structure and developing effective methods for representing them. Of special interest are the most narrow links or joinings between different strata in a system, that is between subsystems of different sorts of concepts, and the intermediate concepts intervening between such strata. Special emphasis is put on normative systems, and the role that intermediate concepts play in such systems, with an eye on knowledge representation issues. Normative concepts are constructed out of descriptive concepts using operators based on the Kanger-Lindahl theory of normative positions. An abstract architecture for a norm-regulated multi-agent system is suggested, containing a scheme for how normative positions will restrict the set of actions that the agents are permitted to choose from. Technical results inlude a characterization of an msic-system in terms of the most narrow joinings between different strata, characterization of the structure of the most narrow joinings between two strata, conditions for the extendability of intermediate concepts, and finally, a specification of the conditions such that the Boolean operations on intermediate concepts will result in intermediate concepts and characterization of most narrow joinings in terms of weakest grounds and strongest consequences.
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- Sorbe, Bengt, et al.
(författare)
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Treatment of primary advanced and recurrent endometrial carcinoma with a combination of carboplatin and paclitaxel-long-term follow-up
- 2008
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Ingår i: International Journal of Gynecological Cancer. - : Blackwell Publishing Ltd. - 1048-891X .- 1525-1438. ; 18:4, s. 803-808
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is no generally accepted standard chemotherapy in treatment of advanced and recurrent endometrial carcinoma. Cisplatin and doxorubicin with or without cyclophosphamide are widely used. Response rates have improved with combination chemotherapy compared with single-agent therapy. A platinum analog seems to be an important part of the chemotherapy regimen. Since few patients are cured from their disease and since the duration of response is short, further improvement of this therapy is warranted. During the past years, the taxanes (paclitaxel) are being added to prior evaluated regimens and not only improved response rates are reported but also increased toxicity is observed. In a prospective, phase II, multicenter study, carboplatin (area under the curve = 5) and paclitaxel (175 mg/m(2)) were evaluated in treatment of primary advanced and recurrent endometrial carcinoma. In total, 66 patients were recruited during the years 2000-2004. Eighteen primary advanced tumors and 48 recurrences were treated. All histologic types and tumor grades were allowed. The median follow-up was 57 months (range 37-69 months). The overall response rate was 67% (95% CI 55-78). The complete response rate was 29% and the partial response rate 38%. Primary advanced and recurrent tumors as well as endometrioid and nonendometrioid tumors showed similar response rates. The median response duration was 14 months. The 1- and 3-year survival rates were 82% and 33%, respectively. The main toxicities were hematologic and neurologic (sensory neuropathy). The response rates were encouraging, superior to prior platinum-containing regimens, but response duration and the long-term survival rate were still short. The neurologic toxicity was frequent and was a substantial problem in this series of patients. Further research is highly needed to improve the treatment of advanced and recurrent endometrial cancer.
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