| 1. |
- Alkhabbas, Fahed
(författare)
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Realizing Emergent Configurations in the Internet of Things
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Internet of Things (IoT) is a fast-spreading technology that enables new types of services in several domains such as transportation, health, and building automation. To exploit the potential of the IoT effectively, several challenges have to be tackled, including the following ones that we study in this thesis. First, the proposed IoT visions provide a fragmented picture, leading to a lack of consensus about IoT systems and their constituents. To piece together the fragmented picture of IoT systems, we systematically identified their characteristics by analyzing existing taxonomies. More specifically, we identified seventeen characteristics of IoT systems, and grouped them into two categories, namely, elements and quality aspects of IoT systems. Moreover, we conducted a survey to identify the factors that drive the deployment decisions of IoT systems in practice. A second set of challenges concerns the environment of IoT systems that is often dynamic and uncertain. For instance, due to the mobility of users and things, the set of things available in users' environment might change suddenly. Similarly, the status of IoT systems’ deployment topologies (i.e., the deployment nodes and their interconnections) might change abruptly. Moreover, environmental conditions monitored and controlled through IoT devices, such as ambient temperature and oxygen levels, might fluctuate suddenly. The majority of existing approaches to engineer IoT systems rely on predefined processes to achieve users’ goals. Consequently, such systems have significant shortcomings in coping with dynamic and uncertain environments. To address these challenges, we used the concept of Emergent Configurations (ECs) to engineer goal-driven IoT systems. An EC is an IoT system that consists of a dynamic set of things that cooperate temporarily to achieve a user goal. To realize ECs, we proposed an abstract architectural approach, comprising an architecture and processes, as well as six novel approaches that refine the abstract approach. The developed approaches support users to achieve their goals seamlessly in arbitrary environments by enabling the dynamic formation, deployment, enactment, and self-adaptation of IoT systems. The approaches exploit different techniques and focus on different aspects of ECs. Moreover, to better support users in dynamic and uncertain environments, we investigated the automated configuration of those environments based on users' preferences.
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| 2. |
- Augustsson, Dennis
(författare)
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Expansive design for teachers : An activity theoretical approach to design and work integrated learning
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis explores how Participatory Design (PD) and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) can be combined and used as a theoretical framework and methodology in a professional development activity for teachers. A shift in the way we view teachers, from implementors to designers who actively construct, invent, and develop the practice of schooling also calls for changes in teacher education and professional development activities. The study presented here explores teachers' work and learning during a professional development activity conducted as a participatory design project between two K-12 schools in Sweden and the USA, using media production to create an international collaboration on Ocean Literacy. The work draws on central notions and practices based on the Scandinavian School of Participatory Design and the Change Laboratory methodology (CL) based on the theoretical framework of expansive learning. The thesis is comprised of three articles answering research questions about what challenges and strategies develop in a design process as a situated professional development approach and how we can understand learning as part of and expanding beyond a design process using activity theoretical tools.The first article presents a description of challenges and strategies developed by teachers in the first iteration of the design process and the results of using an activity theoretical model for collaborative analysis of the process. The second article analyses a CL intervention in the second iteration of the design process, adopted after the results of the first iteration. The analytical focus here was placed on empirical manifestations of the epistemological principles of the theoretical framework of expansive learning. The third article explores the occurrences and cyclicity of the learning actions postulated by the theoretical framework in the same intervention through a detailed analysis of the participants' discourse in the process. The thesis comes to a conclusion with a tentative formulation of design principles based on findings from the studies.The results point to how innovative educational design can have consequences for teachers' work with conflicting needs, tensions, and contradictions at the systemic level of the activity. PD processes in educational settings require toolsand concepts to capture this complexity and create sustainable solutions. In this study, activity theoretical models served as a collaborative tool for teachers to analyse and change their practice and to describe and explain work integrated learning in the design process. The work highlighted the need for teachers' expertise in design as well as the important role of media literacy in the use of new technology. Their active and practical engagement in the materials, basedupon the tradition of PD, must be understood as an important part of the development of agency and volition, and findings suggest that the combination of PD and CL methodologies can serve as a vehicle for expansive learning and new innovative learning designs in educational settings. This approach was conceptualized as expansive design.
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| 3. |
- Bakitian, Fahad
(författare)
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Monolithic and semi-monolithic translucent zirconium-dioxide restorations : aspects on design, material and strength
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Although many clinical reports have shown high rates of clinical success associated with fixed dental restorations made of traditional zirconium-dioxide (zirconia), clinical failure due to improper design aiming to achieve high strength and optimal aesthetics, still occurs. Previous clinical and laboratory studies indicated that veneering porcelain and the connector represent the weak parts of the fully-veneered zirconia restorations where failure may occur. Although the clinical performance of such restorations has recently been reported to be comparable to metal-ceramic restorations, more improvements in design are still required. Restorations with monolithic design made of modified translucent zirconia materials offer an excellent solution for these clinical problems. One of the advantages of monolithic restoration is that such restorations can be prepared without the weak veneering material. Thus, this restoration design has a much higher load-bearing capacity compared to the veneered restorations since it provides additional space for the high-strength zirconia material. With regard to strength and aesthetics, the translucency of the former generation of monolithic translucent zirconia, which comes with equivalent mechanical properties to traditional zirconia, is insufficient. Recently, monolithic zirconia with high translucent properties was developed for highly aesthetic clinical uses. These new systems of translucent zirconia materials have limited capacity in terms of fracture strength and fracture toughness properties. Further, earlier studies have shown doubtful aging stability for these materials. Maintaining well-known strength properties of zirconia restorations while providing high aesthetic outcome is the ultimate goal for dental restorations such as single crowns (SCs) and fixed dental prostheses (FDPs). The optimum design for restorations made of the former generation of translucent zirconia could help to prevent the risks associated with bilayered restorations and overcome the limitations of high-translucent monolithic restorations. Based on clinical needs and previous clinical observations, the overall aim of this thesis was to evaluate translucent zirconia restorations regarding the effect of design modifications, used to enhance the aesthetics, on fracture resistance.In the first three studies, I, II, and III, all the SCs and the FDPs were artificially aged and loaded to fracture. Fracture mode analysis in the different studies was performed visually and microscopically. In study I, fracture strength and fracture mode of veneered translucent zirconia SCs designed with different porcelain layer thicknesses were evaluated. The outcomes showed that translucent zirconia SCs can be veneered with minimal thickness layer of 0.5 mm porcelain without showing significantly reduced fracture strength compared to traditionally veneered (1.0-2.0 mm) SCs. Fracture strength of micro-veneered SCs with a layer of porcelain (0.3 mm) is lower than that of traditionally veneered SCs but still within range of what may be considered clinically sufficient. Porcelain layers of 2.0 mm or thicker should be used only where the expected loads are low. All the SCs in groups 2.5 and 2.0 and more than 80% of the SCs in groups 1.0, 0.8 and 0.5 showed cohesive fracture mode. Conversely, there were significantly (p≤0.05) more complete fractures in group 0.3 compared to all other groups.Study II described different designs of partially veneered monolithic (semi-monolithic) SCs made of translucent zirconia and evaluated the effect of those designs on fracture resistance and fracture mode of SCs made of two generations of translucent zirconia materials. The results demonstrated that translucent and high-translucent zirconia SCs might be used in combination with a 0.3 mm micro-coating porcelain layer with semi-monolithic design to enhance the aesthetic properties of restorations without significantly decreasing fracture resistance of the SCs. If a 0.5 mm porcelain layer is needed for a semi-monolithic SCs, wave design or cap design might be used to increase fracture resistance. The SCs made of translucent zirconia showed higher fracture loads compared to those made of high-translucent zirconia, regardless of design. All monolithic SCs, semi-monolithic SCs with 0.3 mm buccal veneer (100%), and all but one of semi-monolithic SCs with cap design (95%) showed complete fractures. Semi-monolithic SCs with wave design and semi-monolithic SCs with a 0.5 mm buccal veneer showed (70% and 55%, respectively) cohesive veneer fractures.Study III investigated the load-bearing capacity and failure mode of monolithic zirconia FDPs with different connector designs gained by using different embrasure shaping methods. The results showed that sharp embrasures and interproximal separations made with diamond discs significantly decrease the load-bearing capacity of monolithic zirconia FDPs compared to monolithic FDPs made with blunt embrasures (p<0.001). Blunt embrasures in combination with localized porcelain build-up produce monolithic FDPs with high load-bearing capacity in relation to loads that might be expected under clinical use. Fracture mode of the FDPs fabricated with sharp embrasures, and interproximal disc separations differed significantly compared to the FDPs with no occlusal embrasures, the FDPs with blunt embrasures, and the FDPs with interproximal porcelain separations (p < 0.001).Finally, study IV in this thesis aimed to evaluate the influence of the framework designs on the stress distribution within tooth-supported semi-monolithic FDPs made of translucent zirconia material under simulated loads using a three-dimensional finite element analysis (3D-FEA). Simplified 3D solid models of prepared abutment teeth with different 3-unit FDPs based on the designs were created. The designs of 3-unit FDPs included monolithic zirconia, semi-monolithic zirconia with 0.3 mm veneer thickness, semi-monolithic zirconia with 0.5 mm veneer thickness, semi-monolithic zirconia with 0.5 mm veneer thickness supported with cap design, and semi-monolithic zirconia with 0.5 mm veneer thickness supported with wave design. The elastic properties of the components (bone, dentine, cement, translucent zirconia, and veneering porcelain) were gained from the standard references for FEA. Simulated static loading force (300 N) was applied at 10° oblique direction over six points in the occlusal surfaces of the FDPs. Maximum principal stress, shear stress, and safety factor were calculated and analyzed among the different models. The findings confirmed that framework and veneer designs play a significant role in the stress distribution of the partially veneered zirconia FDPs under loading. The FDPs with zirconia frameworks with cap design minimize the maximum principal tensile stress in the veneering porcelain. The FDPs with 0.3 mm-veneering porcelain show low maximum principal tensile stress in the veneering porcelain, but the highest maximum shear stress at the zirconia-veneer interface. The FDPs with wave design of zirconia frameworks minimize the maximum shear stress considerably.
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| 4. |
- Berlin, Henrik
(författare)
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Procedural and postoperative pain in paediatric dentistry
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Tooth extraction is one of the most commonly performed dental treatments and there is always a risk of pain during and after this procedure. Pain is a major contributor to the development of dental fear and anxiety(DFA) and dental behaviour management problems (DBMP) in children and adolescents. These, in turn, are two of the most common reasons for referrals to specialist in paediatric dentistry. DFA and DBMP lead to reduced oral health and possibly suffering for the individual, as well as huge costs for society as a whole. It is therefore of uttermost importance that all dental treatments be performed with the aim of avoiding or minimising pain. The aims of this thesis were to (i) investigate how and to what extent Swedish dentists (both general dental practitioners and specialists inpaediatric dentistry) use different pain management strategies when treating children and adolescents, (ii) explain the natural course of pain after uncomplicated bilateral extractions of maxillary premolars in children between the ages of 10 and 15, (iii) systematically evaluate the effect of postoperatively administered over-the-counter oral analgesics as a means to minimise postoperative pain after oral surgery in children between the ages of 0 and 18, and finally (iv) gain greater insight into how children between the ages of 10 and 16 perceive the whole process of tooth extraction (during the procedure and after extraction) as part of orthodontic treatment. In the first study, a postal survey was sent to all active general dental practitioners (GDPs) in Skåne County, and to all specialists in paediatric dentistry (SPDs) in Sweden. The main findings were that pain management strategies differ between the two groups; in addition, GDPs used different strategies depending on whether primary or permanent teeth were being treated. In general, the survey found an underuse of local anaesthesia by general dentists. This calls for guidelines on pain management strategies in paediatric dental care. In the second study, pain intensity was measured at 14 different time points after tooth extraction performed prior to orthodontic treatment, in a sample of 31 children 10 to15 years of age. Pain intensity after extraction of an upper tooth was generally mild to moderate. The natural course of pain intensity followed the same pattern regardless of how the data were analysed. Pain peaked at 2 hours after treatment, then decreasing rapidly until the next measurement that took place 4 hours after treatment. There was no difference between the first and second extraction, indicating that this model is an excellent one for further research on pain management strategies, with no carryover effect. The third study was a systematic review(SR) and health technology assessment (HTA). A systematic review regarding preoperatively administered oral analgesics has been previously published, but it does not present any scientific evidence showing their administration as providing additional pain relief in children after dental treatment. An SR/HTA looked at postoperatively administered oral analgesics with the goal of minimising postoperative pain after oral surgical therapies in children. This SR/HTA yielded an empty review. As of today, there is no scientific evidence for the effectiveness of the administration of oral analgesics postoperatively in order to minimise postoperative pain after oral surgical therapies in children aged 0–18 years. Neither is there any evidence to reject this strategy. This highlights the need for well-designed primary studies on this topic. In the fourth and final study of this thesis, children’s perception of tooth extraction and the postoperative period was investigated in order to better understand the child’s perspective regarding this treatment. A qualitative research approach, using grounded theory, was used. Although the subjects were a bit anxious before the procedure, they all managed to handle the treatment using different types of coping strategies. One central theme that emerged from analysing the interviews was the importance of getting proper information from dental staff, at the right time. Children who received adequate information were able to withstand some pain and discomfort. Having some form of control over the situation also emerged as a coping strategy.ConclusionsAmong Swedish dentists (both GDPs and SPDs), there seems to be uncertainty regarding pain management strategies in children and adolescents in terms of the use of local anaesthetics and oral analgesics. There are differences in pain management strategies between GDPs and SPDs. The majority of the participants perceived pain intensity after tooth extraction due to orthodontic indication to be mild to moderate. These types of extractions can serve as a good model for future pain research. The amount of pain research on paediatric populations in dentistry is scarce. We need more well-designed primary studies before guidelines on pain management strategies for paediatric dental care can be formulated. When given proper and honest information at the right time, children are able to cope with dental treatments, even if they are a bit anxious beforehand and even if they perceive pain or discomfort during and after treatment.
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| 5. |
- Einarsson, Anneli
(författare)
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Drama as an Ecotone in the Ecosystem of Primary Education
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis investigates the tensions that emerge as drama is implemented in the teaching at a primary school. The thesis analyses drama practice in relation to a rationalistic and a holistic theoretical framework, and employs the epistemological view that subjectification and socialization are as important as the qualification dimension in education. A metaphorical model was developed, Schooling–Ecotone–Art, in order to deepen the understanding of drama as a subject in relation to the educational discourse. The ecotone, a notion deriving from ecology, symbolizes drama and serve as a tool to explore the tensions created at the borders of the adjacent habitats. The study describes the developing diversity within the drama practice in relation to the staff’s teaching and the pupils’ learning and meaning making. The empirical data are gathered by field studies at a primary school in Sweden, during one year. A project was made possible by a grant from the local municipality, through which the school was able to engage in a collaborative project with a local culture centre in which teachers and drama pedagogues worked together on a weekly basis. The doctoral study was initiated by an invitation from the school and the culture centre. Anchored in critical ethnography, the data include observations, interviews with staff and pupils, video recordings, questionnaires and email correspondence. The findings reveal different levels of tensions as drama is implemented in the teaching, which reflects the materiality of the discursive order and institutional power in education. Further, the study demonstrates the levels of progression as drama is practiced regularly, in which carnival play was a factor in the initial turbulent phase, and thus a major challenge for the staff. The study suggests that the phases in the progress demonstrate that drama comprises a unique and subject-specific content, which is needed in a holistic epistemology in primary education. Additionally, the progress describes how diversity emerges in the staff’s teaching as well as in the pupils’ creative work and that questions of interculturality are illuminated. The study concludes that there is a need to deconstruct a rationalistic epistemology, and develop a holistic epistemology, in order to achieve a sustainable education. The thesis contributes with deepened knowledge of drama as a unique habitat, and the possibilities for diversity as the tensions created in relation to adjacent habitats, schooling and art, are viewed as possibilities rather than obstacles to avoid.
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| 6. |
- Gjelvold, Björn
(författare)
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On the Clinical Outcome of Different Single Implant Treatment Modalities
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Today there are several treatment techniques available to replace a missing tooth. Since the beginning of the 1990s, it has become increasingly common to treat individual tooth loss with dental implants. Important patient factors are survival, success, functionality, aesthetics, oral health and quality of life.The range of indications and possibilities for implant treatment has broadened compared to the originally proposed treatment indications. A variety of methods, components and materials are available today. Improvements of the implant surface have led to shorter healing periods, which has affected the overall treatment time. Methods for computer-assisted implant planning and surgical guides have been developed to improve treatment planning. Several techniques are involved in the manufacturing of implant-supported single crowns, from the traditional plaster models, wax, casting and porcelain veneering to 3D scanning, computer aided design and manufacturing. It is important that all these treatment modalities are evaluated in a systematic and scientific way to ensure that the treatment given is the best one possible according to the individual conditions that exist.The general aim of this project was to evaluate the treatment outcome between different treatment modalities for single dental implants. Study I aims to retrospectively evaluate implant survival. Patient reported outcome measures, marginal bone loss (MBL), clinical and esthetic outcomes following conventional single implant treatment. The aim of study II, a prospective randomized clinical study, was to compare the overall treatment outcome following immediate loading (IL) and delayed loading (DL) of single implants. In study III the aim was to in a vitro setting evaluate the deviation in final dental implant position after the use of surgical guides fabricated from two different desktop 3D printers using a digital workflow. For study IV the aim was to, in a non-randomized study, compare clinical and aesthetic outcomes between immediately loaded single implants placed with and without a fully guided-surgery procedure (DIL). In study I a total of 85 implants were examined after a mean follow-up time of 7.51 years. The 5-year implant survival rate was98.4% (95% CI: 96.3% - 100%), with a crown survival rate of91.8% (95% CI: 86.3%-97.3%). Overall mean MBL was -0.13 mm. Final and initial total Pink esthetic score (PES) were 9.61 and 11.49 (P<.001) Mean White esthetic score (WES) was 6.48 at final follow-up. Visual analog scale (VAS) score for soft tissue and implant-supported crown aesthetics were 73.5 and 82.1 (maximum score 100). A oral health impact profile-14 (OHIP-14) 14 score of 16.11 was observed at the final follow-up. Study II and IV found implant survival rates of 100%, 96% and 90.5 % for IL, DL and DIL, respectively, after 1-year. No statistically significant differences were found for MBL, PES, WES and OHIP-14after 1-year. Statistically significant lower papilla index scores were found for the IL. Overall statistically significant improvement inPES, WES and OHIP-14 were found over time. In the DIL group a moderate correlation between aesthetics and deviation in fixture position was found. For Study III a statistically significant difference between stereolithography and direct light processing (DLP) was found fordeviation at entry point (P = .023) and the vertical implant position(P = .009). Overall lower deviations were found for the guides from the DLP printer, with the exception of deviation in horizontal implant position.The results from these studies suggest that good clinical results can be achieved with different treatment modalities for single implants. Positive advantages with immediate loading and guided surgery is primarily seen in the early faces of the treatment procedure only. Care needs to be exerted with technically complicated treatment procedures as the effect on implant survival should not be underestimated. Further studies have to be performed to evaluate guided surgery and immediate loading to identify possible factors effecting survival.
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| 7. |
- Iskanderani, Durer
(författare)
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Temporomandibular joint imaging using cone-beam computed tomography
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is one of the most revolutionary innovations in dentistry, and was introduced into the dental field two decades ago as a three-dimensional (3D) imaging modality. Since then, it has gained general clinical acceptance, and is widespread among many dental specialties. The CBCT examination is a fast and user-friendly technique that provides multiplanar images with high spatial resolution, providing information that is unattainable with two-dimensional (2D) imaging in many diagnostic tasks. Thus, CBCT is an essential examination tool that can replace or complement other examinations. CBCT imaging plays a valuable role when hard tissue abnormalities are suspected in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) by providing diagnostic information on cortical and subcortical boneintegrity or destruction/production changes.The growing availability and use of CBCT at dental clinics has led to concerns as to whether the information obtained by CBCT imaging justifies the additional exposure of the patient to radiation and the training required to examine and interpret the images. The radiation protection principles: justification and optimisation, should always be applied as the basis for protection. This thesis presents four studies on TMJ imaging using CBCT. In line with recent trends towards digital online education, two CBCT educational tools were developed for the interpretation of CBCT images of the TMJ and published on the Malmö University web site. The first was an educational tool including 35 CBCT examinations of TMJ, presented as 2D multiplane CBCT images. The second was a web-based programme containing 15 CBCT examinations of TMJ, presented as 3D multiplane CBCT images. Both tools included the image analysis criteria of the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular disorder (DC/TMD) as an assessment module, and were tested by dental students. It was found that they could be useful educational tools for TMJ assessment using CBCT images.The aim of the third study was to map and compare the distribution of absorbed doses using radiochromic film dosimeters in panoramic radiography and CBCT examinations of the TMJ using adult and child anthropomorphic head phantoms. Sheets of Gafchromic film (XR-QA2)were placed at five levels, corresponding to the radiographic examination, in the phantoms. The clinical protocols for panoramic and CBCT imaging of the TMJ of three dental X-ray units were used. The mean absorbed doses to a number of radiosensitive tissues within the oral and maxillofacial regions were estimated. The absorbed doses varied considerably among and within the radiosensitive tissues with examination type, X-ray unit, clinical setting, and patient age. The bonesurface and salivary glands received the highest absorbed doses in both radiographic examinations. The radiation burden was lower when using two small right and left fields of view (FOVs) than when using a single larger FOV. Accurate measurements of the absorbed dose in small dental radiation fields is challenging due to steep dose gradients. The use of Gafchromic film has shown promising results, allowing dose comparisons between different radiographic imaging.The last study was carried out to investigate the possibility of dose optimisation in CBCT examinations of the TMJ, in line with there commendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP). Thirty-four adult patients referred for CBCT imaging of the TMJ underwent two examinations with different scanning protocols, a manufacturer-recommended protocol (default), and a low-dose protocol in which the tube current was reduced to 20% of that in the default protocol. Three image stacks were reconstructed: the default protocol, the low-dose protocol, and the low-dose protocol processed using a noise reduction algorithm. Four radiologists evaluated the visibility of TMJ anatomic structures, image quality and radiographic findings. It was found that the visibility of the TMJ anatomical structures, the overall image quality and the radiographic findings using the low-dose protocol were comparable to those in the default protocol, indicating that diagnostically comparable results could be obtained with a five times lower radiation dose.Finally, this thesis highlights the diagnostics of TMJ imaging using CBCT in the context of image interpretation, imaging dosimetry and dose optimisation, all with the purpose of improving and optimising radiological TMJ diagnostics.
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| 8. |
- Klinge, Anna
(författare)
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Craniofacial Height in Relation to Alveolar Bone Morphology
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There is a constant development towards a more aesthetically oriented dentistry. New techniques and new materials are introduced to improve and optimise treatment results and shorten treatment time. This development can be favourable for both the dentist and the patient. If missing one or more teeth due to congenital reason or an incident (dental trauma), it is often challenging to already at an early stage choose the best and most optimal treatment for the particular clinical situation and individual. This thesis presents an overview of the basic biological factor of importance for a succesful treatment outcome: the relation between craniofacial height and alveolar bone height and width (morphology). The idea is to not just focus on the area of the missing tooth, but to incorporate other important factors, such as craniofacial height, sex, and age, in a broader context.The overall aim of this thesis is to investigate the relation between craniofacial height and alveolar bone morphology (height and width of the maxilla and mandible) as a support and tool in therapy planning of individuals in need of tooth replacement through orthodontic treatment and/or dental implant treatment.Paper I reports results of an investigation regarding the relation between the craniofacial height and height and width of the maxilla and mandible. The craniofacial height of the patients is divided into three groups: low, normal, and high angle. A radiographic profile image was used to establish the craniofacial height. Two separate lines are traced between anatomical structures on the radiographic 11image. The angle formed between these two lines is used for the classification of craniofacial height (low < 27°, normal 27-37°, high >37°).The alveolar bone is measured in millimeter with a digital caliper on radiographs obtained in three planes. The measurements of the jaws are performed both in the maxilla and in the mandible, between the teeth in the front (midline), between the premolars, and between the molars, on the right and left side respectively. An association between the craniofacial height and the height and width of the alveolar bone (morphology) was found. The greatest differences between the three craniofacial groups were seen in the anterior region, both in the maxilla and in the mandible. This means that an individual from the high-angle group displays a higher alveolar bone which also is more narrow in the anterior region, especially in the mandible. The opposite pattern is displayed in the low-angle group where the subjects present a low and wide alveolar bone.In paper II, the measurement technique for the maxilla and mandible was evaluated. Five raters with different experiences within the field of dentistry repeats the same measurements, independent of each other. The results show strong reliability of the measurement technique.In paper III, new measurements of the alveolar bone were presented, however this time focus was on the anterior part of the maxilla, which is a more aesthetically challenging area. The results from this study strengthen the association previously reported between the craniofacial height and height and width of the maxilla measured on cross-sectional images.Paper IV is a systematic review of the scientific literature, evaluating risk factors for a maxillary anterior tooth to end up in infraposition over time and to not follow the growth pattern of the adjacent teeth. Infraposition occurs when a tooth or dental implant does not continue to erupt and follow the anticipated growth pattern of the individual. This results in a growth cessation of the topical area and a dental implant still remain in the same place as immediately following treatment, whereas the surrounding teeth continue to erupt as the jaw grows. Dental infraposition can be a disadvantage from both an aesthetic and a functional perspective. An individual with a high angle (high craniofacial height), who presents with a thinner and longer alveolar bone, especially in the anterior part of the jaw, seems to be at a greater risk of developing infraposition of a traumatised tooth or a dental implant since growth seems to continue for longer (both as measured in mm and in years) compared to individuals with a low craniofacial height. The different risk factors investigated were age, sex, and craniofacial height. According to the findings in our systematic review, there is a lack of new scientific papers of high quality and the topic needs to be explored further in order for any conclusions to be drawn.In conclusion, the results of the present thesis show that craniofacial height should be considered in therapy planning in order to achieve the best long-term treatment results for the patients. This seems to be especially relevant in young individuals where continued growth is expected.
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| 9. |
- Lind, Jacob
(författare)
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The politics of undocumented migrant childhoods : Agency, rights, vulnerability
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this thesis, I investigate the paradoxical characteristics of political struggles that take place in relation to undocumented migrant childhoods. Drawing on ethnographic research in Birmingham, UK and Malmö, Sweden between 2014 and 2017, I take as my starting point the everyday life experiences of children and families who have experienced living under an immanent risk of deportation. Through a critical engagement with issues of agency, rights and vulnerability, I contrast the experiences of the children and their families with the development of policies and political debates in both countries. By analysing the contexts of Birmingham, UK and Malmö, Sweden in parallel as sites of irregular migration, I contribute with a clearer understanding of the specific characteristics of how each context constructs and governs irregular migration and how this is experienced by migrants themselves.In this thesis, I argue that a discussion about the political agency of children positioned as undocumented migrants is crucial for an informed and contextualised understanding of the political conflicts that characterise the issue of undocumented migrant childhoods. Through an analysis of the children and families’ everyday struggles, I highlight the role played by children’s rights as being perhaps the most important resource for enabling limited forms of support for these families from the host societies. However, I also show how the arguments and practices surrounding rights can be mobilised for migration control. In this sense,rights are “dangerous”.I suggest that if the intergenerational context of undocumented children’s rights is neglected, there is a risk that the human rights of children as well as adults will be marginalised. State actors arguing for the rights of undocumented migrant children often attempt to strengthen children’s deservingness by portraying their parents as “bad parents”who put their children at risk of increased vulnerability. While the state views the parents as putting their children at risk by “hiding” them, the parents view the state as putting their children at risk by trying to deport them. Parents are then forced to act as “humanitarian agents” responsible for caring for the children when state support to the rights-bearing migrant child is limited by the notion of the migrant child at risk of deportation.This “child migrant paradox” is an overall entrance point from which many of the political issues discussed in the thesis can be traced. The politics of rights in the context of undocumented migration is closely related to processes of vulnerability. Rights are mostly perceived as a matter of implementation while vulnerabilities, which rights are supposed to ameliorate, are mainly understood as descriptively self-evident. In this thesis, I problematise such commonplace understandings of rights and vulnerabilities and theorises them as fundamentally political concepts that need to be understood as enacted and reproduced through different political processes at different scales.I introduce the concept of “vulnerabilisation” to capture how states first create vulnerability through hostile policies towards undocumented migrants, then label the targeted groups as vulnerable and finally utilise this vulnerability to rationalise the governing of undocumented migrant children and families’ mobility and territorial presence. To enable children’s rights to be a productive tool for challenging the repressive governing of migrant families and children, I argue in this thesis that both the children’s rights paradigm and the vulnerabilisation of migrant childhoods need to be problematised and contextualised. Rights struggles by and on behalf of undocumented migrant children and families thus need to be aware of the fundamentally political character of rights and vulnerability.
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| 10. |
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| 11. |
- Nigro, Claudio F., Dr.
(författare)
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Phase-field modeling of stress-induced precipitation and kinetics in engineering metals
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The formation of brittle compounds in metals operating in corrosive environments can be a tremendous source of embrittlement for industrial structures and such phenomenon is commonly enhanced in presence of stresses. To study this type of microstructural change modeling is preferred to experiment to reduce costs and prevent undesirable environmental impacts. This thesis aims at developing an engineering approach to model stress-induced precipitation, especially near stress concentrators, e.g. crack tips, for multi-phase and polycrystalline metals, with numerical efficiency.In this thesis, four phase-field models are developed and applied on stress-induced hydride precipitation in zirconium and titanium alloys. The energy of the system is minimized through the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation, which provides insights to the kinetics of the phenomenon. In these models, the driving force for precipitation is the coupling between the applied stress and the phase transformation-induced dilatation of the system. Models 1-3 implicitly incorporate near crack-tip stress fields by using linear elastic fracture mechanics so that only the phase-field equation is solved numerically with the finite volume method, reducing the computational costs. Phase transformation is investigated for intragranular, intergranular and interphase cracks in single- and two-phase materials by considering isotropy and some degrees of anisotropy, grain/phase boundary energy, different transition orders and solid solubility limit. Model 4 allows representing anisotropy connected to lattice mismatch and the orientation of the precipitates influenced by the applied stress. The model is employed through the finite element program Abaqus, where the fully coupled thermo-mechanical solving method is applied to the coupled mechanical/phase-field problem. Hydride growth is observed to follow the near-crack tip hydrostatic stress contours and can reach a steady state for specific conditions. The relation between hydride formation kinetics and material properties, and stress relaxation are well-reflected in the results.With the presented approaches, precipitation kinetics including different kinds of defects, multi-phase microstructures, phase/grain boundaries, order transitions and loading modes can be successfully captured with low computational costs. They could therefore contribute to the numerical efficiency of multi-scale environment-assisted embrittlement prediction schemes within commercial software serving engineering projects.
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| 12. |
- Paraschakis, Dimitris, 1980-
(författare)
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Sociotechnical Aspects of Automated Recommendations : Algorithms, Ethics, and Evaluation
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Recommender systems are algorithmic tools that assist users in discovering relevant items from a wide range of available options. Along with the apparent user value in mitigating the choice overload, they have an important business value in boosting sales and customer retention. Last, but not least, they have brought a substantial research value to the algorithm developments of the past two decades, mainly in the academic community. This thesis aims to address some of the aspects that are important to consider when recommender systems pave their way towards real-life applications.
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| 13. |
- Peiteado Fernández, Vítor
(författare)
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Producing Alternative Urban Spaces : Social Mobilisation and New Forms of Agency in the Spanish Housing Crisis
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is concerned with the social mobilisation in Spain provoked by the financial crisis which started in 2008. Specifically, the thesis analyses the intersections of the housing movement with some political coalitions that won many municipalities in 2015. It does so to explain the dynamics that lead to the creation of a “space of activism” capable of opposing the capitalist organisation of space. Since the beginning of the crisis thousands of Spanish people have lost their homes because they were unable to pay their mortgages. The debt that these people have contracted for covering their housing needs has become such an unbearable burden that many see protest as the only way to avoid being thrown onto the streets. The consequent mobilisation has been canalised mainly through the Platform of People Affected by Mortgages (PAH). Created in Barcelona, this organisation has expanded all over the country, not due to a centralised strategy directed from Barcelona, but to a “contagious” shooting up of chapters that provokes a strong independence among the chapters and a focus on local mobilisation. Despite being able to stop evictions and to force the renegotiation of individual mortgages, PAH has failed to force legal or systemic changes. These difficulties animated many activists to promote the creation of multiple coalitions with diverse political organisations to run for the 2015 local elections. In interrogating what the dynamics that shape this mobilisation are and examining the transition between the movements, this thesis focuses on two definitory characteristics of these organisations. The first one is their high degrees of heterogeneity. This heterogeneity became evident in PAH due to the coexistence of different social classes, nationalities, perceptions or values. Whereas in the municipal platforms, the heterogeneity was mainly linked to the coalition of multiple political groups with diverse ideologies. The thesis explores the role and the influence of this heterogeneity, and the way the different groups handle it. The second definitory characteristic is the high levels of decentralisation and localism that mark the activism of these organisations. That said, the groups are not totally disconnected from each other and their localism is accompanied by certain forms of integration that raise questions about how these connections take place and articulate the different local struggles. In reflecting about these definitory characteristics, the thesis investigates the relation between heterogeneity and the production of space, as well as its relation to the development of certain forms of agency. The fieldwork was based on ethnocartographic research in two local chapters of PAH (PAH Barcelona and Stop Desahucios Coruña) and two municipal coalitions (Barcelona en Comú and Marea Atlántica) in order to research groups of different sizes, visibility and in different contexts. Ethnocartographic methods aim to map the affective relations between the activists that shape certain dynamics that influence the way the activism develops. To advance in this direction, the thesis excavates the possibility of combining Deleuze and Guattari’s conceptualisation of politics with that of Lefebvre’s theory concerning the production of space. Grounded in their common interest in relationality, everyday life and heterogeneity, the theoretical framework explores the potential of this combination to analyse the connections between the general dynamics that shape activism and the redefinition of agency so as to contest neoliberal urbanism. The analysis excavates how the contention developed by these local groups produces specific forms of space and the potential of these to become spaces of everyday life that confront capitalist representations which organise space. By focusing on this production of space, the thesis addresses the role of heterogeneity in those dynamics and the changes in the agency of the activists. The research reveals the importance of space as the product of the confrontation between the capitalist attempts to organise space and its resistances by the users. The activism, especially that of PAH, has implemented a change in the affective relationships of those subjected to debt. These people transform their passive subjection to the constraints imposed by a spatial organisation around debt into an active agency that mobilises an affective capability to challenge that indebtedness. The coming together of heterogeneous groups of people and their perceptions proved to be the key for this mobilisation, this is especially so concerning the central role of certain activists that incorporate their antagonist perceptions in those affective relations. Nevertheless, the cases demonstrated how, to challenge indebtedness and capitalist imposition, the heterogeneity has not only to be exposed and articulated, but also assembled. When the different perceptions are assembled new representations emerge. These favour the development of new perceptions that confront individual subjectification. The thesis argues that these new representations of everyday life do not develop a full confrontation of capitalist representations. They need the creation of other spaces to avoid jeopardising the cohesion of heterogeneity. It is in these terms that the coalitions must be understood. These coalitions fully develop the abstraction of demands hinted by the representations developed by PAH, by completing a transition from the performative politics that were predominant in PAH to the representational politics that become dominant in the coalitions. The thesis argues that the way in which this transition is made, by avoiding dynamics of rescaling, has favoured the cohesion of the groups, reduced the tensions linked to dynamics of abstraction and generated a “space of activism” based on horizontality that poses a considerable challenge for capitalism to reimpose subjection.
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| 14. |
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| 15. |
- Reddy, Anuradha
(författare)
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Researching IoT through Design : An Inquiry into Being-At-Home
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Researching IoT through Design is a proposal for reworking how one might approach ubiquitous networked objects, or IoT, that no longer have stable and predictable uses – and to be-at-home with them in everyday life. This inquiry into being-at-home entails a shift from the idea of the home as a fixed, four-walled space for everyday routine separate from the outside world. It is instead replaced by a notion of the home as needing to be constantly re-sensitised to the wider world in which it is embedded. I argue the importance of securing a space for sensitisation, which forms the grounding of this study’s focus on participation, and the importance of referring to such spaces as ‘design’. Further, I show how delving into diverse participatory approaches in IoT can serve to make clear the conditions under which being-at-home can be explored. Derived from the practice of Research through Design, the notion of being-at-home is examined through critically-oriented design experimentation. It includes theoretical and methodological trajectories for ‘doing’ design, building on design anthropology, feminist technoscience, and posthuman discourses. The design experiments are conducted in three distinct design contexts, where each context gravitates towards one or more participatory approaches in IoT. Together, these experiments call into consideration the need for re-familiarising things as a way to reclaim the design space that has been lost to IoT’s optimising logics and values.
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| 16. |
- Ritasdatter, Linda Hilfling
(författare)
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Unwrapping Cobol : Lessons in Crisis Computing
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- By engaging with COBOL, a detested and would-be obsolete programming language, the dark sides of automation are examined in this thesis: hidden workforces and computational infrastructures that are, in reality, central to the execution and maintenance of global economic and informational flows. Frictions within these flows are made more visible in moments of crisis when asymmetrical power structures are surfaced, as demonstrated in an analysis of the infamous Y2K Bug, its connection to the outsourcing boom in India and the legacy of COBOL. Further, Crisis Computing is proposed as a concept to develop a critical analytical tool focusing on the entangled manifestations of execution, crisis, and maintenance. With COBOL as a case in point for this entanglement, the thesis is structured in a series of lessons reflecting the author’s own method of artistic research as learning and reflecting on and in this neglected language. Ultimately, the lessons demand nothing less than a reconsideration of interaction design. Interaction design should encompass not only user interaction, but also the interactions taking place behind the scenes, at the back-ends and back-back-ends of automated systems. Automation is shown to have a continuous need to be maintained and sustained, an ongoing process of avoiding break-down or any cessation in automating. Hence “Crisis Computing.” The thesis “unwraps” COBOL as Crisis Computing by focusing on three intersecting concepts: execution, maintenance, and crisis. The analysis is necessarily intersectional because of the multi-level nature of the keeping up of appearances within Crisis Computing. Accordingly, rather than focusing on human labor in itself, there is a turn to intersecting and multidirectional power structures reflected in the entanglement of underlying material conditions, technological infrastructures, histories, socio-economic, geo-political, and cultural aspects in which such back-back-end human labor is embedded.
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| 17. |
- Rosengren, Mathilda
(författare)
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Wastelands of difference? Urban nature and more-than-human difference in Berlin and Gothenburg
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis explores more-than-human entanglements of contemporary urban environments in order to develop a rearticulation of urban landscapes as spaces decidedly beyond the exclusively human. Taking its cue from the question “How do we live with urban difference today?,” such spaces, the thesis argues, emerge through, as well as change with, a variety of socio-ecological entwinements. It proposes that alternative ways of living in urban landscapes may be detected, as well as potentially fostered, if we turn our attention to other-than-human being, becoming, and belonging in the city. Subsequently, it investigates how this, in practice as well as in theory, changes the ways in which human city dwellers consider other-than-human urban expressions. Based on twelve months fieldwork in Berlin, Germany, and Gothenburg, Sweden – following a mixed methods approach of participant observation and in-depth interviews with urban planners, park managers, local activists, and decision-makers, complemented by a visual anthropological practice – the thesis examines several urban green spaces (recreational areas, ecologically protected nature-parks, industrial wastelands and old cemeteries) where other-than- human bodies have been given space and time to develop without direct or invasive human interference. These spaces, the thesis shows, have also become sites of potential contestation and change, challenging who and what belong in the urban milieu. On the one hand, the cities currently face increased influxes of human residents as well as acute housing shortages, with calls for intensified densifications and developments of interstitial urban land growing ever louder. At the same time, with the monocultural shaping of the rural areas outside the cities, spontaneous urban green spaces are being touted by local experts as increasingly important sites of biodiversity. Interlacing these empirical examples with a series of theoretical approaches on how to conceive of the urban, diversity, matter, and vitality – ranging from the scientific (urban ecology and biology) and empirically-grounded, social scientific (urban political ecology, more-than-human ethnographies, human-plant and -animal studies and so forth), to the philosophical (such as posthumanist and neo-vitalist concepts) – the thesis discerns some disparities in this research canon: One concerns the separation of theoretical reasoning and empirical study, where, as Donna Haraway notes, the “mud” of the world of actual multispecies living never truly seems to reach, nor to be included in, the “sublime” of philosophical thought. Another one is the lack of overarching empirical accounts tracing the implications of recognising everyday urbanities as contingent, yet multifarious, wholes of more-than-human socialities, as defined by anthropologist Anna Tsing. The thesis shows that through the formulation of an expanded notion of more-than- human urban difference, and an intimate ethnographic engagement with the urban other-than- human, these disparities may be addressed. Thus, in bringing intricate parts of more-than-human urbanities to light, the thesis provides not only a thick description of the everyday politics of urban nature planning and conservation of two Northern European cities, but in particular works toward developing perspectives, beyond the singularly human, of what being a contemporary urban dweller (human or otherwise) in actuality entails.
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| 18. |
- Samzelius, Tove, 1974-
(författare)
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A vicious circle of silent exclusion : family homelessness and poverty in Sweden from a single mother perspective
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Within the confines of the receding Swedish welfare state, family homelessness and poverty are on the rise among one-parent families, in particular those headed by a single migrant mother. This development follows a trend that is noticeable across advanced welfare states, where female-headed households are facing an increased risk of being locked into vicious circles of low-paid work, inadequate income protection schemes and poor housing options. Contextualized against a wider global political-economic backdrop of rising inequalities and structural changes that take localized forms, this thesis investigates family homelessness and poverty in Sweden through what is referred to as a ‘singlemother perspective’. This is an approach where welfare policy and politicalinstitutional arrangements are analysed through the lens of everyday experiences and struggles conveyed by marginalized single mothers. By placing the ideas and experiences of single mothers at the centre of the analysis, the intention is to invoke a different epistemology concerning what type of knowledge is represented and recognised in public. Drawing on insights from critical social theory and feminist ethnographic research, the study uses an approach to the development of new poverty knowledge, found at the junction between lived experience, activism, empirical research and social theory. The thesis departs from the experiences of homelessness and poverty as articulated by the research participants rather than from official definitions and categories. The findings suggest that unwarranted pain and suffering are caused by insufficient incomes, inadequate housing options, and a failure of public authorities to recognise the degree to which policies in the areas of housing, social security, employment, migration and child welfare intersect in complex ways in the lives of disadvantaged single mothers. The narratives shared by the informants further put into question the image of Sweden as an inclusive ‘women- and child-friendly’ welfare state that protects vulnerable citizens from destitution. Instead, the study concludes that the misrecognition and misrepresentation of the living conditions and hardships facing vulnerable mothers and children, combined with a maldistribution of resources, contribute to a vicious circle of silent exclusion. Finally, the study suggests that although it is the women and children who bear the brunt of this crisis and who feel it the most, its causes and consequences infest the whole fabric of society. It also warrants a return to fundamental ethical questions with regard to how people in poverty are viewed and treated and with regard to the role of solidarity within the welfare state. In particular, it argues that there is an urgent need to re-consider the role of social work practice within the receding welfare state and to scrutinize the impact of conditional welfare on vulnerable clients. The thesis ends by proposing a framework for a ‘politics of the heart’ that encompasses the pursuit of social justice and an ethics of care that recognises that the empowerment of mothering and motherhood needs to be at the centre of policy and practice that engage with single mothers suffering from poverty and homelessness, as this also tends to be ‘in the best interest of the child’.
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| 19. |
- Stenström, Anders, 1981-
(författare)
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The Plural Policing of Fraud : Power and the investigation of insurance and welfare fraud in Sweden
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There is a vast literature on plural policing and the ways in which non-governmental actors now have and are assuming more responsibility for crime control. This literature argues that the connection between policing and the state is being eroded, questioned and sometimes abandoned in favour of networks in which the state acts as one actor among many others. This thesis examines the Swedish policing of insurance and welfare fraud via an analysis of the ways in which power is organized and articulated by actors in the private insurance industry, and at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and police authority.The three articles included in the thesis contribute to a field that has received comparatively little attention, particularly in Sweden but also internationally. The existing literature has primarily been interested in the control of street-level criminality and the operations of uniformed security actors. Investigation practices in general and the plural policing of white-collar crime in particular have received far less attention. In Sweden, studies of policing are primarily state-centred, and the interactions between the police and other policing actors require further consideration. When examining insurance fraud, scholars have not considered the ways in which the insurance institution controls fraud; instead, this literature focuses on the characteristics of fraudsters. Thus the current thesis furthers our knowledge of a field of policing about which we currently know relatively little.The thesis takes as its general assumption the view that this form of policing is marked by a basic ambiguity between on the one hand being responsibilized and assuming responsibility for crime control, and on the other being responsible for other goals, such as promoting trust in, and the legitimacy and survival of the insurance institution. Existing research suggests that this ambiguity is resolved by simply denying compensation, adjusting premium levels, and cancelling policies or social benefits. My research shows that there is no Swedish exceptionalism in this sense.Based on a Foucauldian understanding of power, the thesis furthers our understanding of how the insurance institution is organized to tolerate fraud. The uncertainty between crime control and additional organizational goals is embedded in attempts to police the policing actors themselves, which is reflected in forces that make the policing of fraud a professional risk for the policing actors. The thesis argues that power relations provide opportunities to ensure that organizational goals are not endangered, while at the same time maintaining the public image that crime is being controlled. In contrast with existing research, the thesis shows that the law and the state – analytical categories that existing research, and particularly post-Foucauldian approaches, tend to reject or avoid – are critical to the plural policing of fraud. It is further suggested that scholars need to pay more attention to the way different technologies of power shape relationships between the actors involved in plural policing and their definitions of their own roles. In particular, scholars need to consider the role of the state and the legal framework in such arrangements.
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| 20. |
- Sundström, Malin
(författare)
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Existentiell ensamhet hos sköra äldre personer : vårdpersonals och volontärers erfarenheter och behov av stöd
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of the thesis was to explore healthcare professionals’ and volunteers’ experiences of encountering older persons’ existential loneliness, the significance of the care context, and first-line managers’ view of support. Three of the studies were qualitative with a descriptive design (studies I–III) and the fourth was quantitative with a cross-sectional design (Study IV). The data collection for studies I and II was based on focus group interviews with healthcare professionals (i.e., nurse assistant, registered nurse, physician, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, social counsellor, and social worker) in home care, residential care, hospital care, palliative care, primary care, and pre-hospital care. The data collection for Study III was based on focus group interviews and individual interviews with volunteers from various organisations. Study IV was based on a questionnaire sent to first-line managers in municipal care, examining their views of support for staff and volunteers encountering existential issues among older persons. The findings of Study I indicated that, during the everyday care of older people, healthcare professionals experienced existential loneliness in various ways and situations related to ageing, illness, and end of life. The professionals’ stories about encountering older persons’ existential loneliness revealed that they often felt insecure about how to talk about existential issues. They also felt inadequate and frustrated when encountering barriers such as the older person’s bodily limitations, demands and needs (perceived as insatiable), personal privacy, or fear and difficulty in encountering existential issues. Study II was a multiple case study of the care contexts of home care, residential care, hospital care, and palliative care. The findings indicated that the care context matters regarding professionals’ views and interpretations of the origin of existential loneliness. In home care and residential care, these views and interpretations concerned life, the present, and the past. In hospital and palliative care, existential loneliness mainly concerned the older person’s forthcoming death. Professionals considered creating relationships an important part of their role in all care contexts, although the meanings, purposes, and conditions of these relationships differed (Study II). Study III showed that being a volunteer meant being a fellow human being, alleviating others’ and one’s own loneliness. Becoming a volunteer was 11 12 a way of finding meaning, and volunteering made the volunteers feel rewarded and simultaneously emotionally challenged. Encountering loneliness, including existential loneliness, required sensitivity to others’ needs for both closeness and distance. The findings of Study IV, based on a questionnaire, indicated that 88% of the first-line managers found that older persons sometimes or often expressed existential loneliness. They also reported that staff insecurity was the major obstacle to talking about existential issues with the older persons. Support was provided in the form of structured reflection, but provision of systematic supervision was reported by only 6% of first-line managers. The managers reported that most support was provided by themselves or by registered nurses. Almost half of the managers (44%) reported that, at their units, volunteers were engaged in activities such as everyday conversations and/or music/entertainment. In addition, they also reported a desire for volunteers to be more involved in both everyday and existential conversations. In conclusion, one of the most important findings of this thesis was the insecurity of the professionals, manifested in a fear of discussing existential issues. This was revealed in the interviews with the professionals and confirmed by the first-line managers. According to both professionals and volunteers, the relationship with the older person was important when encountering existential issues. The thesis demonstrates the importance of helping professionals focus on existential issues about life and death and of the potential of volunteers as an important complement in the care of older people.
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| 21. |
- Toia, Marco
(författare)
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On Clinical and Mechanical Aspects in Implant Supported Screw Retained Multi-unit CAD-CAM Metal Framework
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Conventionally casted frameworks have been considered the preferredsolutions for complete and partial restorations since the beginningof implantology. However, following technological development, thecomputer aided design/computer aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM)with milling the frameworks has been introduced as an alternativeoption with the potential of minimising inaccuracies, reducing theoperator dependence and offering a homogeneous structure with highmechanical properties. The CAD-CAM multi-unit reconstructionvaries with fixation type, implant framework connection, andprostheses material. However, the materials developed for theuse of CAD-CAM, may have different technical and biologicalcomplications with time.The present thesis aims to provide insights into the risk ofcomplications in screw-retained multi-unit frameworks manufacturedusing the CAD-CAM technique. An in vitro test (Study I) was performed to assess the effectsof misfit at implant-level FPDs and supporting bone levels on thegeneration of implant cracks. Three clinical studies were conducted:in Study II, partially edentulous patients were rehabilitated with eitheran abutment or implant level multi-unit Cobalt-Chromium metalceramicframework; in Study III, patients, edentulous in the maxilla,were treated with either four or six implants and rehabilitated witha fixed titanium metal-acrylic framework; in Study IV edentulouspatients were treated with removable overdentures retained bytitanium milled bars. In Study III and IV, Oral Health Related Qualityof Life was evaluated.The marginal bone level change was clinically not significantregardless of fixation type (Study II), retention (Study III-IV), andmaterial used (Study II-III-IV). No framework complications wereregistered. Patients reported a high level of satisfaction after thetreatment (Study III-IV).Based on the studies included in this thesis, the followingconclusions can be made: (i) the risk of implant cracks in screwretainedImplant Level (IL) Fixed Partial Denture (FPD) is low, evenwith a misfit; (ii) according to the 1-year data presented in Study II,abutment level (AL) retention is recommended for FPDs; (iii) the costeffectivefor a maxillary Fixed Complete Denture (FCD) supported byfour implants can be considered predictable and comparable to siximplants; (iv) implant-supported FCDs and Implant supported Over-Dentures (IOD) are associated with high rates of patient satisfaction,related to aesthetics and mastication function mainly resulting fromthe high stability of the prostheses; (v) the technical and biologicalcomplications reported in FPDs, FCDs and IODs were limited.However, a considerable percentage of prosthetic fractures andchippings were reported for FCDs at 1-year and 3-year follow-ups.Clinicians have to be aware that additional visits may be required formaintaining the prostheses.
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| 22. |
- Waldie, Sarah
(författare)
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Model Membranes and Their Interactions with Native and Artificial Lipoproteins
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Atherosclerosis arises from build-up of plaque in the blood, can result in cardiovascular disease and is the largest killer in the west. Low- and high-density lipoproteins are involved in the disease development by depositing and removing lipids to and from artery walls. These processes are complex and not fully understood however, therefore determining the specific roles of the components involved is of fundamental importance in the treatment of the disease.The work presented in this thesis investigates the production of recombinant tailor-deuterated cholesterol, the structure of cholesterol-containing model membranes and interactions of both native and reconstituted lipoproteins with model membranes. Deuteration is commonly used in neutron scattering for biological samples to provide highly important contrast and the complexity of the native lipoproteins leads to the use of more simple model systems where the compositions can be altered and investigated systematically.A protocol was developed to produce matchout-deuterated cholesterol for use in neutron scattering studies, as cholesterol is a hugely important component in membranes. The verification of the matchpoint of cholesterol was determined by small-angle neutron scattering and the localisation of cholesterol in model membranes was determined through the use of neutron reflectometry. The interactions of the native and reconstituted lipoproteins with model membranes were also followed by neutron reflectometry, while the structural characterisation of the reconstituted lipoproteins was carried out by small-angle scattering.
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| 23. |
- Westerlaken, Michelle, 1989-
(författare)
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Imagining Multispecies Worlds
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- It can be considered the most systemic, deadly, and all-encompassing form of institutional violence that currently exists: speciesism, the oppression and exploitation of other animals. For most people on our planet, speciesism is something completely normalized, justified, and encouraged through many facets of dominant cultures. The field of critical/political animal studies, and other fields that challenge anthropocentrism, have already thoroughly problematized, questioned, and analyzed speciesist practices, but one topic receives little academic attention: what can a counter-concept to speciesism contain, without saying what it is not?This thesis is concerned with imagining ‘multispecies worldings’, with the goal to construct positive rather than negative aspects of a counter-concept to speciesism. Instead of offering a single answer, this work illustrates how additive knowledges regarding the possible meanings of ‘multispecies worlding’ make worlds richer. These knowledges emerge through a repertoire of world-making practices with other animals in which we recognize and engage with the ability to respond to each other.Thereby, this thesis answers to – and builds on – various scholarly and activist discourses, including posthumanism, welfarism, animal liberationism, and is theoretically grounded in feminist epistemologies. With a focus on negotiating possibilities, this dissertation is also a work of interaction design. The design practice involves tracing and negotiating multispecies responses with other animals and expressing those narratives as a design research program. These responses are presented as a Multispecies Bestiary, in which ten protagonist animals guide the reader through a collection of big-enough multispecies stories. The thesis thereby illustrates how humans can – together with other animals – find possible meanings of ‘multispecies worlding’ not as a single (broken) solution, but as ever-expanding directions that can permanently unsettle and unmake the established speciesist order.
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