Organisation in swedish riding schools

Organizations are about people in interaction. Human itself is complex, and the complexity increases when people are grouped. When creating groups there is a need for a structure, an order between the people in the group. Companies have an organization - riding school is also a company and should have an organization. Many studies have been done related to the riding school but there is no documentation about organizations at riding schools, and a research is needed. The aim of the study was to clarify if riding schools in Sweden has a well considered organization. The main questions were: Does riding schools in Sweden have a well considered organization? In that case, what characterizes this organization? A questionnaire was sent to 491 riding clubs and the response rate was 17 % (81 riding schools). The results show that the majority of respondents has an organization but how well considered this organization is differs between riding schools. The study was limited to riding schools run by non-profit organizations. One possible way to organize is to prepare job descriptions. Eighty-three percent have job descriptions but only a few riding schools have a complete job description. An organization consists of division of labor and co-ordination. Seventy-nine of 80 riding schools responded that they have division of labor. Seventy-five of 80 riding schools indicates that the division of labor co-ordinates. The majority, 91%, responded that they have written work routines. The questionnaire asked the riding schools to choose an organization that sued best in their business. Fifty-three percent chose the operational organization, 21% chose the line and staff organization, 15% chose the matrix organization and 7% selected "Do not have a well considered organization". The bureaucratic line and staff organization increases with the size of the riding schools, all those who have chosen the line and staff have more than 150 horses mounted each week. All those who have chosen "Do not have a well considered organization" have less than 350 horses mounted each week. Why the smaller riding schools choose operational organization may partly be due to that this type of organization is most relevant when the business is small and partly because the organization isn't more considered than that. What can be discussed is whether a smaller riding school chooses operational organization because the business is small, and therefore the most appropriate form of organization, or does business remain small because the organization is more developed and well considered. The 15% who chose matrix organization represent all sizes of riding schools. The matrix organization may be appropriate at a riding school but the management should be aware that this form of organization places high requirements on communication. People can be more effective in an organization because the organization creates opportunities for specialization, but in practice it's not healthy in physical work. This may be a reason why the riding schools answered as they did; the degree of specialization does not prove the answer to whether each task always performs by same employee, or that many riding schools aren't aware of specialization advantages. Where specialization is applicable should reasonably be in the administrative work. The number of employees with only administrative tasks is not related to a particular organization but it is related to the size of the riding school. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that a larger business has or requires a more considered organization with explicit administrative parts. The conclusion is that riding schools in Sweden have an organization and they organize, but the organization is not always well considered. In cases where the organization is well considered it characterizes of division of labor and co-ordination, written work routines, work schedule, well-developed job descriptions and in some cases specialization. The well considered organization belongs in most cases a larger business and characterizes of having employees with only administrative tasks.Organisationer handlar om människor i samverkan. Människan i sig är komplex och komplexiteten ökar när människor grupperas. När grupper skapas behövs en struktur, en ordning mellan människorna i gruppen. Företag har en organisation - ridskolan är också ett företag och borde då ha en organisation. Många studier har gjorts med anknytning till ridskola men det saknas underlag och behövs en kartläggning om organisation på ridskola. Syftet var att undersöka om ridskolor i Sverige har en genomtänkt organisation. Studiens frågeställningar var: Har ridskolor i Sverige en genomtänkt organisation? Vad kännetecknar denna organisation i sådana fall? Studien var en enkätstudie och begränsade sig till ridskolor som drivs av ideella föreningar. Enkäten skickades till 491 ridklubbar och det erhölls totalt 81 svar, en svarsfrekvens på 17 %. Resultatet visar att flertalet av de svarande har en organisation men hur genomtänkt organisationen är skiljer sig mellan ridskolorna. Ett sätt att organisera är att utarbeta befattningsbeskrivningar. Åttiotre procent har befattningsbeskrivningar men det är få ridskolor som har en helt komplett befattningsbeskrivning. En organisation består av arbetsuppdelning och samordning. Sjuttionio av 80 ridskolor svarade att de har arbetsuppdelning. Sjuttiofem av 80 ridskolor anger att arbetsuppdelningen samordnas. De flesta, 91 %, svarade att de har skriftliga arbetsrutiner, som är ett verktyg för arbetsuppdelning. I enkäten ombeddes ridskolorna välja en organisationsform som stämde bäst in på deras verksamhet. Femtiotre procent valde funktionsorganisation, 21 % valde linje-stabsorganisation, 15 % valde matrisorganisation och 7 % valde alternativet "Har inte en genomtänkt organisation". Den byråkratiska linje-stabsorganisationen ökar med ridskolans storlek, alla de som valt linje-stabs har fler än 150 uppsittningar i veckan. Alla de som anger att de inte har någon genomtänkt organisation har mindre än 350 uppsittningar i veckan. Det som kan diskuteras är om en mindre ridskola väljer funktionsorganisation på grund av att verksamheten är liten och organisationsformen därför lämpligast, eller förblir verksamheten liten på grund av att organisationen inte är mer utvecklad och genomtänkt. De 15 % som valt matrisorganisation respresenterar alla storleksgrupper. Matris kan vara lämplig på ridskola men ledningen bör vara medveten om att organisationsformen ställer höga krav på kommunikationen. Människor kan bli effektivare i en organisation eftersom organisationen skapar möjligheter för specialisering, men i praktiken fungerar det inte rent hälsosamt i fysiskt arbete. Detta kan vara en anledning till att ridskolorna svarat som de gjort då graden av specialisering inte styrker svaret på om varje arbetsuppgift alltid utförs av samma anställd, eller att många inte är medvetna om specialiseringens fördelar. Där specialisering går att tillämpa bör rimligen vara i ridskolans administrativa arbete. Antalet anställda med enbart administrativa uppgifter går inte att koppla till en viss vald organisationsform men är kopplat till ridskolans storlek, och det är därför rimligt att anta att en större verksamhet har eller kräver en mer genomtänkt organisation med renodlade administrativa delar. Slutsatsen är att ridskolorna i Sverige har en organisation och att de organiserar, men att organisationen inte alltid är genomtänkt. I de fall organisationen är genomtänkt kännetecknas denna organisation då av att den har arbetsuppdelning och samordning, skriftliga arbetsrutiner, arbetstidsschema samt väl utarbetade befattningsbeskrivningar och i vissa fall specialisering. Den genomtänkta organisationen tillhör i de flesta fall en större verksamhet och kännetecknas då av att ha anställda med enbart administrativa uppgifter

Attack rates amongst household members of outpatients with confirmed COVID-19 in Bergen, Norway: A case-ascertained study

Background Households studies reflect the natural spread of SARS-CoV-2 in immunologically naive populations with limited preventive measures to control transmission. We hypothesise that seropositivity provides more accurate household attack rates than RT-PCR. Here, we investigated the importance of age in household transmission dynamics. Methods We enroled 112 households (291 participants) in a case-ascertained study in Bergen, Norway from 28th February to 4th April 2020, collecting demographic and clinical data from index patients and household members. SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies were measured in sera collected 6–8 weeks after index patient nasopharyngeal testing to define household attack rates. Findings The overall attack rate was 45% (95% CI 38–53) assessed by serology, and 47% when also including seronegative RT-PCR positives. Serology identified a higher number of infected household members than RT-PCR. Attack rates were equally high in children (48%) and young adults (42%). The attack rate was 16% in asymptomatic household members and 42% in RT-PCR negative contacts. Older adults had higher antibody titres than younger adults. The risk of household transmission was higher when the index patient had fever (aOR 3.31 [95% CI 1.52–7.24]; p = 0.003) or dyspnoea (aOR 2.25 [95% CI 1.80–4.62]; p = 0.027) during acute illness. Interpretation Serological assays provide more sensitive and robust estimates of household attack rates than RT-PCR. Children are equally susceptible to infection as young adults. Negative RT-PCR or lack of symptoms are not sufficient to rule out infection in household members.publishedVersio

Description of call handling in emergency medical dispatch centres in Scandinavia: recognition of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and dispatcher-assisted CPR

Background The European resuscitation council have highlighted emergency medical dispatch centres as an important key player for early recognition of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) and in providing dispatcher assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) before arrival of emergency medical services. Early recognition is associated with increased bystander CPR and improved survival rates. The aim of this study is to describe OHCA call handling in emergency medical dispatch centres in Copenhagen (Denmark), Stockholm (Sweden) and Oslo (Norway) with focus on sensitivity of recognition of OHCA, provision of dispatcher-assisted CPR and time intervals when CPR is initiated during the emergency call (NO-CPRprior), and to describe OHCA call handling when CPR is initiated prior to the emergency call (CPRprior). Methods Baseline data of consecutive OHCA eligible for inclusion starting January 1st 2016 were collected from respective cardiac arrest registries. A template based on the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival definition catalogue was used to extract data from respective cardiac arrest registries and from corresponding audio files from emergency medical dispatch centres. Cases were divided in two groups: NO-CPRprior and CPRprior and data collection continued until 200 cases were collected in the NO-CPRprior-group. Results NO-CPRprior OHCA was recognised in 71% of the calls in Copenhagen, 83% in Stockholm, and 96% in Oslo. Abnormal breathing was addressed in 34, 7 and 98% of cases and CPR instructions were started in 50, 60, and 80%, respectively. Median time (mm:ss) to first chest compression was 02:35 (Copenhagen), 03:50 (Stockholm) and 02:58 (Oslo). Assessment of CPR quality was performed in 80, 74, and 74% of the cases. CPRprior comprised 71 cases in Copenhagen, 9 in Stockholm, and 38 in Oslo. Dispatchers still started CPR instructions in 41, 22, and 40% of the calls, respectively and provided quality assessment in 71, 100, and 80% in these respective instances. Conclusions We observed variations in OHCA recognition in 71–96% and dispatcher assisted-CPR were provided in 50–80% in NO-CPRprior calls. In cases where CPR was initiated prior to emergency calls, dispatchers were less likely to start CPR instructions but provided quality assessments during instructions.publishedVersio

The Performances of Three Commercially Available Assays for the Detection of SARS‐CoV‐2 Antibodies at Different Time Points Following SARS‐CoV‐2 Infection

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performances of three commercially available antibody assays for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies at different time points following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Sera from 536 cases, including 207 SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive, were tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with the Wantai receptor binding domain (RBD) total antibody assay, Liaison S1/S2 IgG assay and Alinity i nucleocapsid IgG assay and compared to a two-step reference ELISA (SARS-CoV-2 RBD IgG and SARS-CoV-2 spike IgG). Diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and Cohen’s kappa were calculated for the commercial assays. The assay’s sensitivities varied greatly, from 68.7% to 95.3%, but the specificities remained high (96.9%–99.1%). The three tests showed good performances in sera sampled 31 to 60 days after PCR positivity compared to the reference ELISA. The total antibody test performed better than the IgG tests the first 30 days and the nucleocapsid IgG test showed reduced sensitivity two months or more after PCR positivity. Hence, the test performances at different time points should be taken into consideration in clinical practice and epidemiological studies. Spike or RBD IgG tests are preferable in sera sampled more than two months following SARS-CoV-2 infection.publishedVersio

SARS-CoV-2 specific immune responses in overweight and obese COVID-19 patients

Obesity is a known risk factor for severe respiratory tract infections. In this prospective study, we assessed the impact of being obese or overweight on longitudinal SARS-CoV-2 humoral and cellular responses up to 18 months after infection. 274 patients provided blood samples at regular time intervals up to 18 months including obese (BMI ≥30, n=32), overweight (BMI 25-29.9, n=103) and normal body weight (BMI 18.5-24.9, n=134) SARS-CoV-2 patients. We determined SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific IgG, IgA, IgM levels by ELISA and neutralising antibody titres by neutralisation assay. RBD- and spike-specific memory B cells were investigated by ELISpot, spike- and non-spike-specific IFN-γ, IL-2 and IFN-γ/IL-2 secreting T cells by FluoroSpot and T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing was performed. Higher BMI correlated with increased COVID-19 severity. Humoral and cellular responses were stronger in overweight and obese patients than normal weight patients and associated with higher spike-specific IgG binding titres relative to neutralising antibody titres. Linear regression models demonstrated that BMI, age and COVID-19 severity correlated independently with higher SARS-CoV-2 immune responses. We found an increased proportion of unique SARS-CoV-2 specific T cell clonotypes after infection in overweight and obese patients. COVID-19 vaccination boosted humoral and cellular responses irrespective of BMI, although stronger immune boosting was observed in normal weight patients. Overall, our results highlight more severe disease and an over-reactivity of the immune system in overweight and obese patients after SARS-CoV-2 infection, underscoring the importance of recognizing overweight/obese individuals as a risk group for prioritisation for COVID-19 vaccination

A rapid antibody screening haemagglutination test for predicting immunity to SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

Background: Evaluation of susceptibility to emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) requires rapid screening tests for neutralising antibodies which provide protection. Methods: Firstly, we developed a receptor-binding domain-specific haemagglutination test (HAT) to Wuhan and VOC (alpha, beta, gamma and delta) and compared to pseudotype, microneutralisation and virus neutralisation assays in 835 convalescent sera. Secondly, we investigated the antibody response using the HAT after two doses of mRNA (BNT162b2) vaccination. Sera were collected at baseline, three weeks after the first and second vaccinations from older (80–99 years, n = 89) and younger adults (23–77 years, n = 310) and compared to convalescent sera from naturally infected individuals (1–89 years, n = 307). Results: Here we show that HAT antibodies highly correlated with neutralising antibodies (R = 0.72–0.88) in convalescent sera. Home-dwelling older individuals have significantly lower antibodies to the Wuhan strain after one and two doses of BNT162b2 vaccine than younger adult vaccinees and naturally infected individuals. Moverover, a second vaccine dose boosts and broadens the antibody repertoire to VOC in naïve, not previously infected older and younger adults. Most (72–76%) older adults respond after two vaccinations to alpha and delta, but only 58–62% to beta and gamma, compared to 96–97% of younger vaccinees and 68–76% of infected individuals. Previously infected older individuals have, similarly to younger adults, high antibody titres after one vaccination. Conclusions: Overall, HAT provides a surrogate marker for neutralising antibodies, which can be used as a simple inexpensive, rapid test. HAT can be rapidly adaptable to emerging VOC for large-scale evaluation of potentially decreasing vaccine effectiveness.publishedVersio

Wheelchair - a symbol of weakness?

Syftet var att ge en bild av vad som framkommer i tidigare forskning om vuxna individer med funktionsvariation och deras utsatthet för sexualbrott. Studien omfattar två frågeställningar: (1) Hur beskrivs funktionsvariation påverka utsattheten för sexualbrott enligt artiklarna? (2) Hur konstrueras sexualbrott i artiklarna? För att besvara syftet gjordes en översiktsstudie med totalt nio kvantitativa och kvalitativa vetenskapliga artiklar och en tematisk analys genomfördes. Resultatet analyserades utifrån ett socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv. Resultatet visade att en individ med en synlig funktionsvariation beskrevs som en symbol för svaghet. Resultatet visade också att artiklarna konstruerade sexualbrott som ett individualistiskt problem. Resultatet visade även att en individ med funktionsvariation ”samtycker” till sexuellt umgänge på grund av låg självkänsla. Slutsatsen är att mer forskning behövs för att kunna utveckla åtgärder för att förebygga sexualbrott mot individer med funktionsvariation så att de kan känna sig trygga i samhället.The aim was to present a general view of what is found in earlier research on adults with disabilities and their vulnerability to sexual crimes. The study covers two issues: (1) How do the disability affect vulnerability to sexual crimes according to the articles? (2) How do the articles construct sexual crimes? To answer the aim a scoping review with a total of nine quantitative and qualitative scientific articles were used and a thematic analysis was conducted. The results were analyzed from a social constructionist perspective. The results showed that an individual with a visible disability was described as a symbol of weakness. The results also showed that the articles chose to construct sexual crimes as an individualistic problem. Moreover the results showed that an individual with a disability "consents" to sexual intercourse because of low self-esteem. The conclusion is that more research is needed in order to develop measures to prevent sexual crimes against individuals with disabilities to improve their feeling of security in society.

Commercial and Consumer Credit in Russia : A case study and comparative analysis of five international companies

Consumer credit has become increasingly popular in Russia over the past few years. With the rapid growth of lending to individuals and companies, the need for accumulation of credit histories and information, collection services of bad debts, and credit insurance and financing also become of increased importance. It was found in this thesis that the larger credit limit given to corporate clients, the greater will the loss be if there is a default and the money cannot be collected. Giving credit to a small number of customers also increases the concentration of the risk. The opportunity to diversify in consumer credit is, however, limited because of the geo-graphic concentration of the customers, and the macro economic risk cannot be elimi-nated. Credit periods in consumer credit are in general longer, leading to higher uncertainty of payment and hence higher exposure to risk. Personal relationships are not established with customers in consumer credit, which are argued to act as “insurances” in corporate credit. Consumer credit is more common among international companies, leading to better offers and more flexibility in the service. Insurers of corporate credit have a restrictive policy with higher premiums and more administrative work, which is less attractive for companies to take on. Creditors also have to share the risk with insurance companies, often having to pay more than 15 percent of a default. With respect to what was mentioned above, it was concluded in this thesis that the risk of giving credit to individuals does not necessary have to be higher than that of corporate cli-ents, but that the terms of the contract is more favourable for the creditor in consumer credit

Pedagogers arbetssätt för att möta elever med läs- och skrivsvårigheter : Inom ramen för klassrummet

Sammanfattning Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka hur pedagoger arbetar i klassrummet med elever med läs- och skrivsvårigheter, hur olika didaktiska ställningstaganden eller didaktiska val påverkar detta arbete, samt att i en andra del undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar pedagogens val av metoder eller egna strategier. I undersökningens syfte ingår således att lyfta fram lärarnas tankar och reflektioner kring sitt eget arbete med dessa elever. Frågeställningarna belyser områden som; hur pedagoger väljer att arbeta i klassrummet för att möta elever med läs- och skrivsvårigheter, samt hur de uttrycker att metoderna de tillämpar är utformade för dessa elever och vilka faktorer som kan ha påverkan på deras val.   Via en kvalitativ ansats undersöktes pedagogernas syn på sina egna val av metoder i klassrummet för elever med svårigheter inom området läs- och skriv. Det empiriska materialet består av semistrukturerade intervjuer med tolv pedagoger på åtta olika skolor vilka alla undervisar i årskurs tre. Den insamlade empirin analyseras med hjälp av Interpretativ fenomenologisk analys (IPA) utifrån så väl ett didaktiskt som ramfaktorteoretiskt perspektiv.   Resultatet påvisar såväl likheter som skillnader i pedagogers sätt att undervisa. Det som framträder som likheter i studien är att pedagogerna varierar sig i användandet av olika metoder i sin undervisning. Metoderna de tillämpar beskrivs inte hos alla respondenter specifikt vara utformade för att möta upp elever med svårigheter inom området läs- och skriv utan mer kopplat till hela gruppens behov. De flesta pedagoger i studien anpassar istället materialet till elever med läs- och skrivsvårigheter eller tillämpar olika hjälpmedel. Studien visar att många av pedagogernas didaktiska val i den egna undervisningen påverkas av de ramfaktorer som inverkar på deras arbete. De flesta respondenter i studien påpekar att arbetet med hjälpmedlet datorn påverkas av tillgång till datorer, inlogg och kunskap kring de olika programmen.   Några skillnader som framkommer i studien är hur insatta pedagogerna är i varför de tillämpar en specifik metod eller varför till exempel bildstöd tillämpas. En del kan förtydliga varför de använder det och andra nämner bara att det används, men ger inga beskrivningar på några konkreta exempel. Utifrån alla respondenternas svar uttrycks att de medvetet arbetar flexibelt och varierat för att möta upp elevernas behov. Däremot följer pedagogerna inte systematiskt upp och utvärdera sina val av arbetssätt och metoder för att se vilken betydelse de har för elevernas utveckling

Parenting behavior and juvenile delinquency, what explains what?

Denna studie undersökte normbrytande beteende samt dess relation till föräldrars beteende. Syftet var att undersöka de två synsätten på detta förhållande som framgår i studier på ämnet, den klassiska bilden där det är föräldrars beteende som format ungdomars beteenden, samt en bild som kontemporära studier presenterat där föräldrarna responderar på ett normbrytande beteende genom att ändra sitt eget beteende. Studien baseras på en longitudinell datainsamling utförd i en medelstor svensk kommun, där ungdomar besvarat självskattningsformulär utformade att mäta normbrytande beteende samt deras föräldrars varma eller kyliga beteende. Resultatet av regressionsanalyserna visar flera signifikanta resultat över tid, både negativa reaktioner samt grad av kontroll från föräldrarna predicerade ett normbrytande beteende, medans ett normbrytande beteende exempelvis predicerade arga utbrott samt minskad värme hos föräldrarna.This study examined juvenile delinquency and its relation to parenting behavior. The purpose was to examine the two differing points of view that is present when reviewing the subject, the classical point of view where it is the parent’s behavior that shapes juvenile delinquency, and the point of view presented in contemporary studies where the parents respond to delinquency by changing their own behavior.   The study is based on a longitudinal data collection performed in a smaller Swedish municipality, where self-report forms have been administered to the juveniles aimed to measure delinquency and their parent’s warm or cold behavior. The results of the regression analysis show multiple significant effects over time, both negative reactions to disclosure and degree of control from the parents predicted adolescent delinquency, and adolescent delinquency predicted angry outburst as well as a decrease in the level of warmth from the parent