Evaluation of systems for piperun installation

The purpose of this thesis project was to analyse and evaluate different systems for installation of piperun in ceilings. Main focus lay on how the systems influence the installer from an ergonomic point of view as well as productivity in terms of installation time. Several studies have been performed during this project using a variety of methods such as observations, interviews, questionnaires and hierarchical task analysis. The results from these studies showed that often a variety of different systems for pipe installations are used. The working conditions of Plumbing and Heating (P&H) installers are very demanding and the categories working postures/loads/space, climate and lighting conditions are most unsatisfactory. Furthermore 60% of the participants of the questionnaire study had Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) and believed it to be work-related. These results led to the design of a test named Posture and Time study. During the Posture and Time study three systems for pipe installation were evaluated. System 1 represented a more traditional and inexpensive system, system 2 was intermediate and system 3 represented the most modern and expensive version. The systems were analysed using two methods for posture analysis, Hand Arm Risk assessment Method (HARM) and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). A time study was also conducted in order to define the installation times for both systems. The time study showed that systems 2 and 3 were about equally fast to install while system 1 took about 30 % longer. HARM and REBA both turned out to be to unspecific to define which system was better from an ergonomic aspect although they gave valuable insight to the importance of choosing good working postures. To get objective results of how the systems affect the P&H installer perhaps methods such as Electromyography or Inclinometry could be used. Even though the work posture analysis did not show a clear difference between the three systems, observations and interviews with P&H installers made it clear that they found system 1 to contain too many small parts and operations and therefore found this system harder to install. All studies performed during this thesis project have been very small in terms of number of participants. The project is therefore to be seen as a pilot study of how an investigation like this could be executed. Results from the studies have, when possible, been compared to statistic data in order to increase the reliability. However if more generalizing results are preferred, the studies need to be larger in scale

Mötets komplexa värld inom frivården: vad händer bakom den stängda dörren?

Not much is known about how one-to-one meetings in offender supervision are conducted. Existing research mainly focuses on evidence-based models, how the probation officer should interact with the probationer rather than studying how the probation officer and probationer actually interact. This study was conducted in order to find out what happens during one-to-one supervision meetings and how the probation officer work with the probationer. The study was based on observations from eight meetings, the participants were eight probationers and four probation officers. The observation material was supplemented with short interviews with the probation officers and surveys answered by the probationers. I found that the meetings are strictly structured. First meetings are divided into five phases while follow-up meetings only contain four phases. The probation officer controls the structure and content of the meeting but also who is gets to speak when. All meetings are associated with certain social standards and norms. The probation officers’ power comes from representing the organisation in charge of the meeting and the social standards connected with this organisation

Vad betyder tillgänglighet i tjänstesektorn? En empirisk undersökning av bankkunders uppfattningar

Titel: Vad betyder tillgänglighet i tjänstesektorn? Empirisk undersökning av bankkunders uppfattningar Seminariedatum: 2013-05-30 Kurs: FEKN90 Examensarbete på Civilekonom-programmet, 30 HP Författare: Mimmie Andersson och Veronica Bjurhult Handledare: Matts Kärreman Fem nyckelord: Tillgänglighet, kundrelationer, bank, tjänstesektorn, teknologi Syfte: Utforska betydelsen av tillgänglighet i banksektorn och delvis applicera våra slutsatser på tjänstesektorn. Metod: Vi har använt oss av en kvantitativ metod i form av en enkätundersökning med ett slumpmässigt urval. Teoretiskt perspektiv: Uppsatsens teori behandlar kundrelationer, tillgänglighetsbegreppet, teknologi i tjänstesektorn samt differentiering. Empiri: Undersökningen har genomförts på ett urval av Swedbankkunder. Slutsatser: Tillgänglighet kan innebära åtkomlighet via kontor, tidseffektivitet och lättanvänt. Vi föreslår att banker inte bör fokuserar på åtkomlighet via kontor, utan istället på tidseffektivitet och lättanvändlighet genom att förbättra tillgången till internetbanken och mobila banktjänster. Kontor bör dock finnas kvar till en viss del, då kunder föredrar banker med kontor även om de är väldigt positiva till självbetjäningsteknologi.Title: What does accessibility mean in the service sector? Empirical study of bank customers’ perceptions Seminar date: 2013-05-30 Course: FEKN90 Master thesis in Science and Business Administration, 30 ECTS Authors: Mimmie Andersson and Veronica Bjurhult Advisor: Matts Kärreman Five key words: Accessibility, customer relations, bank, service sector, technology Purpose: Explore the meaning of accessibility in the banking sector and partly apply our findings on the service sector. Methodology: We have used a quantitative approach in the form of a questionnaire survey with a random sample. Theoretical perspective: The theory addresses customer relations, the accessibility concept, technology and differentiation. Empirical foundation: The survey was conducted on a sample of Swedbank customers. Conclusions: Accessibility can mean access via a branch, time efficiency and ease of use. We suggest that banks should not focus on branch accessibility, but instead on time efficiency and ease of use, by improving access to online and mobile banking. Companies should however still have branches, as customers prefer banks with branches, even though they are very positive to self-service technologies

Barnhälsovårdssjuksköterskans stöd till mammor och familjer för initiering och upprätthållande av amning

En av barnhälsovårdsjuksköterskans uppgifter är att stödja ammande mammor. Studier har visat att mammor som inte känner att de får stöd, har en större benägenhet att sluta amma i förtid. Syftet var att beskriva barnhälsovårdssjuksköterskans upplevelse av att ge stöd som stärker föräldrars, i synnerhet mammors, amningsbenägenhet och upprätthållande av amningen. En kvalitativ studie genomfördes med 10 intervjuer med barnhälsovårdssjuksköterskor från västskånska kommuner. Som analysmetod användes kvalitativ innehållsanalys, som ledde till fyra kategorier och åtta subkategorier. I kategorin Uppstart av amning med medkänsla och kompetens beskrivs hur barnhälsovårdssjuksköterskan identifierar föräldrarnas inställning till amning. I kategorin Verklighetsförankra amningen till vardagslivet beskrivs hur barnhälsovårdssjuksköterskan motiverar mamman till fortsatt amning och livsstilsförändring samt hur amningssvårigheter underlättas. I kategorin Inge föräldrarna mod att tro på kroppens förmåga att amma beskrivs hur barnhälsovårdssjuksköterskan ger föräldrarna insikt i bröstmjölksproduktionen och möter mammans oro samt hur pappan kan underlätta amningen. I kategorin Upprätthållande av amning i ömsesidig förståelse beskrivs hur barnhälsovårdssjuksköterskan uppmuntrar till fortsatt amning och hur avvänjningen till annan kost sker

Serial interactome capture of the human cell nucleus

Novel RNA-guided cellular functions are paralleled by an increasing number of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). Here we present ‘serial RNA interactome capture’ (serIC), a multiple purification procedure of ultraviolet-crosslinked poly(A)–RNA–protein complexes that enables global RBP detection with high specificity. We apply serIC to the nuclei of proliferating K562 cells to obtain the first human nuclear RNA interactome. The domain composition of the 382 identified nuclear RBPs markedly differs from previous IC experiments, including few factors without known RNA-binding domains that are in good agreement with computationally predicted RNA binding. serIC extends the number of DNA–RNA-binding proteins (DRBPs), and reveals a network of RBPs involved in p53 signalling and double-strand break repair. serIC is an effective tool to couple global RBP capture with additional selection or labelling steps for specific detection of highly purified RBPs

Triterpenes and the Antimycobacterial Activity of Duroia macrophylla

Duroia macrophylla popularly known as “cabeça-de-urubú,” “apuruí,” or “puruí-grande-da-mata” occurs in the Amazon Forest. Its leaves and branches were collected twice and extracted with dichloromethane and methanol. All extracts were subjected to phytochemical investigation and terpenes and flavonoids were found in all dichloromethane and methanol extracts, respectively. Methanol extracts from both branches (1st collection) and leaves (2nd collection) presented hydrolyzed tannins, yet alkaloids were only detected in the dichloromethane and methanol extracts from branches at the 2nd collection. Phenol compounds were found in both dichloromethane extracts' collections. The action of every extract was assayed against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (RMPr, H37Rv, and INHr strains), showing that the dichloromethane extract from leaves (1st collection) has the major biological activity, with a MIC of 6.25 μg/mL for the INHr strain, 25.0 μg/mL for the RMPr strain, and ≤6.25 μg/mL for the H37Rv strain. The chromatographic fractioning of the dichloromethane extract from leaves (1st collection) yielded the isolation of two triterpenes: oleanolic and ursolic acids, which were identified by NMR analysis and reported for the first time in the Duroia genus

Analysis of adenovirus VA RNAI structure and stability using compensatory base pair modifications

Adenovirus VA RNAs are short non-coding transcripts that assist in maintaining viral protein expression in infected cells. Six sets of mismatch and compensatory base pair mutants of VA RNAI were examined by gel mobility and RNA UV melting to assess the contribution of each structural domain to its overall structure and stability. Each domain of VA RNAI was first assigned to one of two apparent unfolding transitions in the wild-type melting profile. The Terminal Stem and Central Domain unfold in a single cooperative apparent transition with an apparent Tm of ∼60°C. In contrast, the Apical Stem unfolds independently and with much higher apparent Tm of ∼83°C. Remarkably, this domain appears to behave as an almost entirely autonomous unit within the RNA, mirroring the functional division within the RNA between PKR binding and inhibition. The effects of mismatch and compensatory mutations at five of the six sites on the RNA melting profile are consistent with proposed base pairing and provide further validation of the current secondary structure model. Mutations in the Central Domain were tested in PKR inhibition assays and a component of the VA RNAI Central Domain structure essential for PKR inhibitory activity was identified

The PKR-binding domain of adenovirus VA RNAI exists as a mixture of two functionally non-equivalent structures

VA RNAI is a non-coding adenoviral transcript that counteracts the host cell anti-viral defenses such as immune responses mediated via PKR. We investigated potential alternate secondary structure conformations within the PKR-binding domain of VA RNAI using site-directed mutagenesis, RNA UV-melting analysis and enzymatic RNA secondary structure probing. The latter data clearly indicated that the wild-type VA RNAI apical stem can adopt two different conformations and that it exists as a mixed population of these two structures. In contrast, in two sequence variants we designed to eliminate one of the possible structures, while leaving the other intact, each formed a unique secondary structure. This clarification of the apical stem pairing also suggests a small alteration to the apical stem–loop secondary structure. The relative ability of the two apical stem conformations to bind PKR and inhibit kinase activity was measured by isothermal titration calorimetry and PKR autophosphorylation inhibition assay. We found that the two sequence variants displayed markedly different activities, with one being a significantly poorer binder and inhibitor of PKR. Whether the presence of the VA RNAI conformation with reduced PKR inhibitory activity is directly beneficial to the virus in the cell for some other function requires further investigation