The Paradox of Policing as Protection: A Harm Reduction Approach to Prostitution Using Safe Injection Sites as a Guide

Hälsofrågan har blivit betydelsefull över världen. Med en plattform som exempelvis smartphone kan begreppet gamification förstärka möjligheterna till beteendeförändringar och läkarbehandlingar. Gamification är ett relativt nytt begrepp som använder spelelement och speldesigntekniker som appliceras i annan kontext än spel. Gamification finns i diverse kontexter som; handel, utbildning och lärande, organisationer internt, delning, hållbar konsumtion, arbeten, innovationer, data samlingar och hälsa/träning. I den sist nämnda kontexten hälsa, saknas det tydliga studier inom och i kvalitativ ansats. Den här studien är en kvalitativ studie, och har inriktat sig inom sjukgymnastik/fysioterapeut kontexten. I studien har det undersökts hur gamification kan användas inom sjukgymnaster/fysioterapeuter och i vilket avseende sjukgymnasterna/fysioterapeuterna kan tänka sig att applicera gamification i sitt arbete som ett verktyg i framtiden. I studien har det undersökts om spelelement kan ha koppling till sjukgymnaster/fysioterapeuter. Studien resulterar i att gamification kan stöda sjukgymnaster/fysioterapeuter genom faktorerna motivation, psykologi och beteende. Det finns möjligheter att bygga ett gamification system eller tjänst i kontexten sjukgymnastik/fysioterapeut med hjälp av speldynamikerna. Nyckelord: Gamification, gamification inom hälsa, kritik om gamification, motivation, psykologi, beteende och sjukgymnastik/fysioterapeut.

How First Generation Students Acclimate to the College Campus

This population of first-generation students is ripe for study because of their growing prominence on college campuses across the nation. The existing literature on FGS takes a more specific approach through looking at individual measures that are taken to support FGS such as the role of “academic self-concept,” how FGS negotiate the multiple identities they represent while in college, and how to retain students from low-income backgrounds (DeFreitas & Rinn, 2013; Orbe, 2004; Thayer, 2000). These studies are valuable because they bring information to the people that support FGS in assisting support staff with the understanding of their unique hurdles to academic achievement. An understanding of the challenges of FGS can make the college environment equitable for all students. In my study I want to step back and look at the larger acclimation process that FGS complete, when encountering a new environment such as the college culture. Also I hope to build an understanding of the acclimation process that travelers complete and draw comparisons between the experiences of travelers and FGS. This understanding could then allow me and others to assist FGS with the transitions they will experience while in college. The following research question will be utilized to guide this study: How do first generation students acclimate themselves to the residential campus culture

Diet, microbes and gut immune responses in the pathogenesis of experimental type 1 diabetes

Type 1diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease, which is influenced by a variety of environmental factors including diet and microbes. These factors affect the homeostasis and the immune system of the gut. This thesis explored the altered regulation of the immune system and the development of diabetes in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. Inflammation in the entire intestine of diabetes-prone NOD mice was studied using a novel ex-vivo imaging system of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), in relation to two feeding regimens. In parallel, gut barrier integrity and intestinal T-cell activation were assessed. Extra-intestinal manifestations of inflammation and decreased barrier integrity were sought for by studying peritoneal leukocytes. In addition, the role of pectin and xylan as dietary factors involved in diabetes development in NOD mice was explored. NOD mice showed expression of RONS especially in the distal small intestine, which coincided with T-cell activation and increased permeability to macromolecules. The introduction of a casein hydrolysate (hydrolysed milk protein) diet reduced these phenomena, altered the gut microbiota and reduced the incidence of T1D. Extra-intestinally, macrophages appeared in large numbers in the peritoneum of NOD mice after weaning. Peritoneal macrophages (PM) expressed high levels of interleukin-1 receptor associated kinase M (IRAK-M), which was indicative of exposure to ligands of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) such as bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Intraperitoneal LPS injections activated T cells in the pancreatic lymph nodes (PaLN) and thus, therefore potentially could activate islet-specific T cells. Addition of pectin and xylan to an otherwise diabetes-retarding semisynthetic diet affected microbial colonization of newly-weaned NOD mice, disturbed gut homeostasis and promoted diabetes development. These results help us to understand how diet and microbiota impact the regulation of the gut immune system in a way that might promote T1D in NOD mice.Ruokavalion ja mikrobiston vaikutus suoliston immuunijärjestelmään ja tyypin 1 diabeteksen kehittymiseen Tyypin 1 diabetes on autoimmuunitauti, jonka patogeneesiin vaikuttavat monet ympäristötekijät, mukaan luettuna ruokavalio ja mikrobit. Nämä tekijät vaikuttavat suolen toiminnan tasapainoon ja suolen immuunijärjestelmään. Tämä väitöskirja käsittelee immuunijärjestelmän muuttunutta säätelyä ja diabeteksen kehittymistä diabetesalttiille Non-Obese Diabetic (NOD)-hiirille. Väitöskirjassa on tutkittu reaktiivisten happi- ja typpiyhdisteiden (RONS) välittämää tulehdusta NOD-hiirten suolistossa sekä ravintokuitujen roolia suolen toiminnan tasapainossa, mikrobien kolonisaatiossa ja diabeteksen kehittymisessä NOD-hiirillä. Normaaliin ruokavalioon siirtyneet vieroitetut hiiret kärsivät suolen lisääntyneestä läpäisykyvystä, tulehduksen lisääntymisestä suolistossa ja tyypin 1 diabeteksesta. Lisäksi vieroittamisen ja ruokavaliomuutoksen jälkeen NOD-hiirten vatsaontelosta löydettiin suuria määriä makrofageja. Vatsaontelon makrofagit tuottivat enemmän interleukiini-1-reseptoriassosioitua kinaasia M (IRAK-M), mikä viittaa aiempaan altistukseen Toll:in kaltaisen reseptori neljän (TLR-4) ligandeille kuten bakteerien tuottamalle lipopolysakkaridille (LPS). Vatsakalvon alainen LPS-injektio johti T-solujen aktivoitumiseen haiman imusolmukkeissa. Saarekespesifisten T-solujen aktivoituminen haiman imusolmukkeissa on yksi keskeisimpiä tapahtumia tyypin 1 diabeteksen patogeneesissa NOD-hiirillä. Pektiinin ja ksylaanin lisääminen muutoin diabetekselta suojaavaan ns. semisynteettiseen ruokavalioon vaikutti NOD-hiirten suolen kolonisoitumiseen mikrobistolla ja suolen tulehdusvasteiden tasapainoon ja lisäsi diabeteksen ilmaantumista. Tämän tutkimuksen perusteella mikrobistolla ja ruokavaliolla, etenkin ruokavalion sisältämillä ravintokuiduilla näyttäisi olevan merkitystä suoliston immuunijärjestelmän säätelyssä ja tyypin 1 diabeteksen ilmaantumisessa NOD-hiirillä.Siirretty Doriast

Application of hybrid ARQ to controller area networks

This thesis proposes two types of Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) schemes for the Controller Area Network (CAN) to combat Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI) and improve network efficiency. The proposed HARQ schemes encode the original CAN data frames by a Reed-Solomon (R-S) code so that burst errors due to EMI may be corrected at the receive nodes. Therefore, the probability of error frames is reduced, thereby reducing the probability of retransmission. Hence, the network efficiency of the system is improved --Abstract, page iii

Arterial Resistance in Late First Trimester as a Predictor of Subsequent Pregnancy-Related Hypertension

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the association between indicators of arterial resistance occurring late in the first trimester and the subsequent development of pregnancy-related hypertension. Methods: This study took place between May 2014 and August 2015 and included 329 consecutive women with singleton pregnancies attending the antenatal clinics of a medical college in Karnataka, India, during this period. Pulse pressure (PP) and uterine artery Doppler parameters were recorded between 11–14 gestational weeks. Consequently, women were followed-up until after delivery for subsequent hypertension. Results: Hypertension occurred more frequently if PP was high (17.6% versus 14.4% of pregnancies without high PP; P = 0.713), if a diastolic notch (DN) was present (15.1% versus 12.8% of pregnancies with an absent DN; P = 0.612) and if the resistive index (RI) was raised (22.2% versus 14.3% of pregnancies without raised RI; P = 0.366). A raised pulsatility index (PI) was significantly associated with hypertension (P = 0.013). The risk of hypertension was approximately seven-fold higher if two or more arterial resistance indicators were used, except with a present DN plus a raised RI or a present DN plus high PP. All arterial resistance indicators showed negative predictability (>85.6%) and good specificity (≥95.0%), except for the presence of a DN. A population-specific cut-off PI value of 1.72 had high negative predictability (92.8%) and good sensitivity (70.8%) and specificity (65.1%). Conclusion: Raised PI in the late first trimester was a significant predictor of hypertension later in pregnancy. A combination of arterial resistance indicators may enhance prediction of subsequent hypertension

Cobra: A Framework for Cost Based Rewriting of Database Applications

Database applications are typically written using a mixture of imperative languages and declarative frameworks for data processing. Application logic gets distributed across the declarative and imperative parts of a program. Often, there is more than one way to implement the same program, whose efficiency may depend on a number of parameters. In this paper, we propose a framework that automatically generates all equivalent alternatives of a given program using a given set of program transformations, and chooses the least cost alternative. We use the concept of program regions as an algebraic abstraction of a program and extend the Volcano/Cascades framework for optimization of algebraic expressions, to optimize programs. We illustrate the use of our framework for optimizing database applications. We show through experimental results, that our framework has wide applicability in real world applications and provides significant performance benefits

CFD Simulations of Crude Oil Fouling on Heat Transfer Surfaces

Advancements in the computational techniques have led to the development of various numerical models and methods to predict the occurrence of crude oil fouling in heat exchangers. Computational fluid dynamics has been employed in the field of crude oil fouling research in the recent past, which led to the concept of investigating the effects of various operating conditions on deposit formations on heat transfer surfaces. Various processes associated with crude oil fouling, such as asphaltenes precipitation and chemical reactions, have been studied through CFD simulations. This chapter provides state-of-the-art review on various CFD approaches and describes the discrete-phase CFD modeling of crude oil fouling through asphaltenes deposition on heat transfer surfaces