Nätverk för ingenjörsutbildningar för samverkan vid införande av ny examens- och utbildningsstruktur

I föreliggande arbete beskrivs arbetet med att skapa ett nätverk med det övergripande syftet att stärka svensk ingenjörsutbildning. Under 2007 har nätverket finansierats av NSHU, som tillhandahållit medel för att stödja svenska högskolors arbete med Bolognaprocessen. Nätverket Ingenjörsutbildningarna har under året anordnat ett antal välbesökta workshopar. Ett antal grupperingar som inte tidigare haft regelbundna träffar har därmed skapats. Deltagarnas omdömen har varit positiva. Det är tydligt att det finns ett behov av ämnesbaserade nätverk, och där diskussionerna inte bara handlar om Bolognafrågor utan även om ämnesinnehåll, rekrytering, varumärken med mera. Projektet kan sägas ha startat ett nätverkande mellan ingenjörsutbildningar men det krävs mer arbete för att nå kontinuitet

The balancing act - licensed practical nurse experiences of falls and fall prevention: a qualitative study

Artikkelen rapporterer en studie hvor hensikten var å beskrive hjelpepleiere (licensed practical nurses) sine erfaringer med å forutsi og forhindre ytterligere fall når man jobber med pasienter som hadde opplevd et fallrelatert brudd.Background: falls are common in old age and may have serious consequences. There are many strategies to predict and prevent falls from occurring in long-term care and hospitals. The aim of this study was to describe licensed practical nurse experiences of predicting and preventing further falls when working with patients who had experienced a fall-related fracture. Licensed practical nurses are the main caretakers that work most closely with the patients. Methods: a qualitative study of focus groups interviews and field observations was done. 15 licensed practical nurses from a rehabilitation ward and an acute ward in a hospital in northern Sweden were interviewed. Content was analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: the result of the licensed practical nurse thoughts and experiences about risk of falling and fall prevention work is represented in one theme, "the balancing act". The theme includes three categories: "the right to decide", "the constant watch", and "the ongoing negotiation" as well as nine subcategories. The analysis showed similarities and differences between rehabilitation and acute wards. At both wards it was a core strategy in the licensed practical nurse work to always be ready and to pay attention to patients appearance and behavior. At the rehabilitation ward, it was an explicit working task to judge the patients risk of falling and to be active to prevent falls. At the acute ward, the words "risk of falling" were not used and fall prevention were not discussed; instead the licensed practical nurses used for example "dizzy and pale". The results also indicated differences in components that facilitate workplace learning and knowledge transfer. Conclusions: differences between the wards are most probably rooted in organizational differences. When it is expected by the leadership, licensed practical nurses can express patient risk of falling, share their observations with others, and take actions to prevent falls. The climate and the structure of the ward are essential if licensed practical nurses are to be encouraged to routinely consider risk of falling and implement risk reduction strategies

The balancing act - licensed practical nurse experiences of falls and fall prevention: a qualitative study

Artikkelen rapporterer en studie hvor hensikten var å beskrive hjelpepleiere (licensed practical nurses) sine erfaringer med å forutsi og forhindre ytterligere fall når man jobber med pasienter som hadde opplevd et fallrelatert brudd.Background: falls are common in old age and may have serious consequences. There are many strategies to predict and prevent falls from occurring in long-term care and hospitals. The aim of this study was to describe licensed practical nurse experiences of predicting and preventing further falls when working with patients who had experienced a fall-related fracture. Licensed practical nurses are the main caretakers that work most closely with the patients. Methods: a qualitative study of focus groups interviews and field observations was done. 15 licensed practical nurses from a rehabilitation ward and an acute ward in a hospital in northern Sweden were interviewed. Content was analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: the result of the licensed practical nurse thoughts and experiences about risk of falling and fall prevention work is represented in one theme, "the balancing act". The theme includes three categories: "the right to decide", "the constant watch", and "the ongoing negotiation" as well as nine subcategories. The analysis showed similarities and differences between rehabilitation and acute wards. At both wards it was a core strategy in the licensed practical nurse work to always be ready and to pay attention to patients appearance and behavior. At the rehabilitation ward, it was an explicit working task to judge the patients risk of falling and to be active to prevent falls. At the acute ward, the words "risk of falling" were not used and fall prevention were not discussed; instead the licensed practical nurses used for example "dizzy and pale". The results also indicated differences in components that facilitate workplace learning and knowledge transfer. Conclusions: differences between the wards are most probably rooted in organizational differences. When it is expected by the leadership, licensed practical nurses can express patient risk of falling, share their observations with others, and take actions to prevent falls. The climate and the structure of the ward are essential if licensed practical nurses are to be encouraged to routinely consider risk of falling and implement risk reduction strategies

Androgen receptor genotypes predict response to endocrine treatment in breast cancer patients.

Background:The androgen receptor (AR) is frequently expressed in breast cancers. The AR genotype may affect disease-free survival and response to endocrine therapy.Methods:In all, 634 women undergoing breast cancer surgery between 2002 and 2008 were followed until 30 June 2010. Six haplotype-tagging single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the AR, and the resulting AR diplotypes, were examined in relation to breast cancer patient characteristics, tumour characteristics, disease-free survival, and response to endocrine treatment.Results:Five common AR diplotypes were found. Seventeen rare variants were combined into a composite group. The resulting six AR diplotype groups were clustered into two subgroups, groups A (n=128) and B (n=499), with three diplotypes in each. Patients in group B had larger total breast volume (P=0.024), higher body mass index (BMI) (P=0.050), more axillary lymph node involvement (P(trend)=0.020), and higher histological grade (P(trend)=0.031). There were 59 breast cancer events in the 569 patients with invasive cancers and no preoperative treatment. Patients in group B also had shorter disease-free survival (P=0.037) than patients in group A. Among patients in group B with oestrogen receptor α positive tumours, tamoxifen (TAM) treatment was associated with longer disease-free survival (P=0.008), while treatment with aromatase inhibitors (AIs) was not (P=0.94). Response to endocrine treatment could not be predicted based on BMI, suggesting that the effect of AR diplotypes went beyond that of a higher BMI.Conclusion:A marker for a group of patients who responded to TAM, but not to AIs, was identified. If this finding is confirmed, AR genotyping may provide useful information for selection of endocrine treatment of breast cancer patients.British Journal of Cancer advance online publication, 27 October 2011; doi:10.1038/bjc.2011.441 www.bjcancer.com

Falls in very old people: the population-based Umeå 85+ Study in Sweden

Artikkelen omhandler en studie hvor hensikten var å beskrive forekomst av fall og fallrelaterte skader, og å identifisere predisponerende faktorer for fall hos eldre 85 år og eldre.The aim of this study was to describe incidences of falls and fall-related injuries, and to identify predisposing factors for falls in very old people in a prospective population-based follow-up study for falls. The study is part of the Umeå 85+ Study which includes half of the population aged 85, and the total population aged 90 and ≥95 (−103), in Umeå, Sweden. Of the 253 people interviewed, 220 (87%) were followed up for falls for 6 months, of whom 109 lived in ordinary and 111 in institutional housing. A comprehensive geriatric baseline assessment was made through interviews and testing during home visits. Forty percent of the participants did fall a total 304 times, corresponding to 2.17 falls per Person Year (PY). It occurred 0.83 injuries per PY, including 0.14 fractures per PY. In a Cox regression analysis, the independent explanatory risk factors for time to first fall were dependency in activities of daily living (ADL), thyroid disorders, treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and occurrence of falls in the preceding year. It could be predicted that every seventh participant and every third of the people who did fall would suffer a fracture within 1 year. ADL, thyroid disorders and treatment with SSRIs should be considered in fall prevention programmes

Spectroscopic Studies of the Iron and Manganese Reconstituted Tyrosyl Radical in Bacillus Cereus Ribonucleotide Reductase R2 Protein

Ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) catalyzes the rate limiting step in DNA synthesis where ribonucleotides are reduced to the corresponding deoxyribonucleotides. Class Ib RNRs consist of two homodimeric subunits: R1E, which houses the active site; and R2F, which contains a metallo cofactor and a tyrosyl radical that initiates the ribonucleotide reduction reaction. We studied the R2F subunit of B. cereus reconstituted with iron or alternatively with manganese ions, then subsequently reacted with molecular oxygen to generate two tyrosyl-radicals. The two similar X-band EPR spectra did not change significantly over 4 to 50 K. From the 285 GHz EPR spectrum of the iron form, a g1-value of 2.0090 for the tyrosyl radical was extracted. This g1-value is similar to that observed in class Ia E. coli R2 and class Ib R2Fs with iron-oxygen cluster, suggesting the absence of hydrogen bond to the phenoxyl group. This was confirmed by resonance Raman spectroscopy, where the stretching vibration associated to the radical (C-O, ν7a = 1500 cm−1) was found to be insensitive to deuterium-oxide exchange. Additionally, the 18O-sensitive Fe-O-Fe symmetric stretching (483 cm−1) of the metallo-cofactor was also insensitive to deuterium-oxide exchange indicating no hydrogen bonding to the di-iron-oxygen cluster, and thus, different from mouse R2 with a hydrogen bonded cluster. The HF-EPR spectrum of the manganese reconstituted RNR R2F gave a g1-value of ∼2.0094. The tyrosyl radical microwave power saturation behavior of the iron-oxygen cluster form was as observed in class Ia R2, with diamagnetic di-ferric cluster ground state, while the properties of the manganese reconstituted form indicated a magnetic ground state of the manganese-cluster. The recent activity measurements (Crona et al., (2011) J Biol Chem 286: 33053–33060) indicates that both the manganese and iron reconstituted RNR R2F could be functional. The manganese form might be very important, as it has 8 times higher activity

THE ANDROGEN RECEPTOR GGN POLYMORPHISM. Genetic and functional analyses.

Male sex development and reproductive function is regulated by androgens acting via the androgen receptor (AR). The AR harbours two polymorphic repeats of CAG and GGN triplets, encoding glutamines and glycines, respectively. Both polymorphisms affect the AR transactivation ability, although the function of the GGN repeat was virtually unknown at the start of this project. Thus, the main purpose with this thesis was to study the in vivo and in vitro impact of GGN repeat variation on AR function. A reliable method for studying the segment was established, after which the GGN repeat was studied in normal men, and in men with androgen-related disorders such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, infertility, cryptorchidism, and hypospadias. Two predominant alleles of 23 and 24 GGN repeats, respectively, were found in all subject categories studied. GGN23 was the most common allele in all men except cryptorchid men and boys with penile hypospadias, in whom GGN24 was predominant. Point mutations within the GGN repeat were present in ~1% of the Swedish population, and were not associated with severe genital malformations. In normal men, GGN<23 was associated with a decrease in semen volume compared to GGN?23. Expression vectors harbouring the AR cDNA with GGN10, 23, 24, or 27, in combination with the median CAG repeat length, were constructed and tested in an in vitro expression system. Cos-1 cells were transiently transfected with vectors containing the GGN constructs, the prostate specific antigen promoter in combination with the Luciferase reporter gene, and ?-galactosidase gene. Cells were grown in the presence of 0, 0.1, 1.0, 10 and 100 nM of 5?-dihydrotestosterone or R1881. Western blot analysis was performed to assess the amount of androgen receptor protein. The in vitro results indicated a functional difference between the two predominant alleles, with GGN23 being superior in function. A non-linear association between GGN repeat length and AR transcriptional function was seen. No differences in AR protein levels for the different GGN repeat lengths were seen. The mode of inheritance for the CAG and GGN repeats was assessed by single nucleotide polymorphism analysis. Linkage disequilibrium was observed between the CAG and GGN repeats, with long GGN repeats being inherited together with short CAG repeats, and vice versa. Thus, in this thesis I have shown that the AR gene GGN repeat plays an important role in normal male sex development and male reproductive function

Bostadsförslag vid Bodaån : ett boende för alla

 Bostaden är en viktig del i människors liv. Andelen äldre i Sverige ökar. Vilka bostäder behöver vi i framtiden? Det är inte som tidigare, att kärnfamiljen är det vanligaste hushållet. I dag lever många ensamma. Enpersonshushållets andel kan bli så stor som50 % i framtiden. I och med att skilsmässorna också ökar så uppstår det nya stora familjer som behöver större lägenheter. I framtiden kommer det att bli viktigare att lägga stor vikt på mångfald vid produktion av nya lägenheter.  I detta arbete utreds vad några av dem som säljer sina hus önskar när de flyttar till lägenhet i Skutskär och hur ett förslag på utformning av dessa lägenheter kan se ut. Syftet är att utarbeta ett förslag till flerbostadshus som passar ett stort antal människor. Vackra Älvkarleby kommun som ligger där Dalälven mynnar ut i Bottenhavet har ett helägt bostadsföretag, Älvkarlebyhus. De har en tomt som är belägen mellan genomfartsleden och Bodaån i Skutskär, Siggebodagård som de vill exploatera med ca 20 moderna lägenheter. Älvkarlebyhus vill att byggnaden ska utformas så att de som önskar bo där kan bo där länge även när de blir gamla.  För att få ett bra underlag till utformningen av lägenheterna gjordes intervjuer med medelålders par. Kvalitativa intervjuer valdes som metod.  De intervjuade har idag ett mycket bra boende. De vill inte flytta till något sämre. Sammanfattningsvis utformas lägenheterna så att de varierar mellan 60-100m2. Medelålders paren vill: att det är en öppen planlösning mellan kök och vardagsrum att badrummet ska innehålla dusch, tvättmaskin och torktumlare att uteplatsen ska vara ca 20m2 och inglasad. Av kostnadsskäl valde beställaren bort många av önskningarna som de ansåg vara orimliga att debitera hyra för. När prislappen kommer fram är det ingen som vill betala för det, menar de.  Resultatet blev ett loftgångshus med 22 lägenheter fördelade på två hus. Avgörandet för valet av hustyp berodde på tomtens läge med fantastisk utsikt åt ena hållet och tomtens form. Det är fyra, fyra rum och kök, tolv tre rum och kök och sex två rum och kök i båda husen. Arbetet avslutas med en kalkyl, som visar att det kommer kosta 40 miljoner att producera dessa 22 lägenheter med hög standard. Det är 22 000 kr/m2BRA, vilket kan jämföras med genomsnittet i Sverige som 2007 var ca 23 000/ m2.  Summeringen av arbetet är att det är mycket svårt att bygga bra och billiga bostäder. Det kräver en mycket noggrann projektering och upphandling. Det är kanske inte alltid så att det är bra att spara för mycket på ytor och annan utformning för att få en bra bostad, då kan hända att bostaden får en sämre funktion och hyresgästen flyttar då till något annat bostadsföretag. Kvar blir en bostad där den som inte har råd med något annat får bo

Towards a Shared Future? : Mendeley as an Example of Scientific Communication Online

The last few years have been characterised by increasing online communication and the emergence of social media, made possible by Web 2.0. In society as well as in research, social media is used for knowledge produc- tion and networking. One example of this is Mendeley, a social reference management tool. With answers from users all over the world, this study investigates the use of Mendeley, if the respondents use other social media and if all of this affects scientific communication. The aim is also to study what the respondents think about the future of scientific communication and if this can be related to current tendencies. The theoretic framework for this study is based on Leah Lievrouws research on the Cycle of Scientific Communication and the relationship between the ”Little Science 2.0”-scenario and the ”Big Science Retrench- ment”-scenario. A qualitative web based survey was conducted (41 answers) and complemented with an interview with a professor in environmental sciences. The main purpose with the interview was to study how Mendeley can be used in collaborations. The results show that Mendeley is used by researchers to store and organize references, read and annotate pdf:s, cite, share articles in groups, search for new references and to present their research and make new ac- quaintances. The answers show that one effect that Mendeley and other social media has on scientific communi- cation is facilitating cooperation across traditional divides. At the same time, some respondents have not seen an effect on their scientific communication yet. Methods to measure impact in social media are requested, which would complement standard citation analysis. Mendeley’s related research function is found valuable in theory, but is in need of significant improvements. The respondents think that the future will be characterized by an increase in openness and sharing, but a tendency to keep scientific results copyrighted and locked behind pay- walls is also present. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information science

Towards a Shared Future? : Mendeley as an Example of Scientific Communication Online

The last few years have been characterised by increasing online communication and the emergence of social media, made possible by Web 2.0. In society as well as in research, social media is used for knowledge produc- tion and networking. One example of this is Mendeley, a social reference management tool. With answers from users all over the world, this study investigates the use of Mendeley, if the respondents use other social media and if all of this affects scientific communication. The aim is also to study what the respondents think about the future of scientific communication and if this can be related to current tendencies. The theoretic framework for this study is based on Leah Lievrouws research on the Cycle of Scientific Communication and the relationship between the ”Little Science 2.0”-scenario and the ”Big Science Retrench- ment”-scenario. A qualitative web based survey was conducted (41 answers) and complemented with an interview with a professor in environmental sciences. The main purpose with the interview was to study how Mendeley can be used in collaborations. The results show that Mendeley is used by researchers to store and organize references, read and annotate pdf:s, cite, share articles in groups, search for new references and to present their research and make new ac- quaintances. The answers show that one effect that Mendeley and other social media has on scientific communi- cation is facilitating cooperation across traditional divides. At the same time, some respondents have not seen an effect on their scientific communication yet. Methods to measure impact in social media are requested, which would complement standard citation analysis. Mendeley’s related research function is found valuable in theory, but is in need of significant improvements. The respondents think that the future will be characterized by an increase in openness and sharing, but a tendency to keep scientific results copyrighted and locked behind pay- walls is also present. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information science