Klargörande samtal på familjerådgivningen. Hur hjälper vi någon som är ambivalent - kan en intervention göra en skillnad?

Studien handlade om klargörande samtal på en familjerådgivning i södra Sverige. Syftet var att undersöka hur en begränsad insats, en intervention i form av en sammanhangsmarkering i samtalen gjorde en skillnad i andelen avhopp och percent reaching target, dvs. att personen hamnar på grönt område i den beräknade förväntanskurvan i Feedback Informerad Terapi (FIT). En kvasiexperimentell hypotesdriven studie med kontrollgrupp som erhöll standardbehandling genomfördes. Studien utfördes av nio familjerådgivare och var verksamhetsutvecklande. Mätinstrumentet FIT användes för att samla in data. Inkluderade i studien var besökare på familjerådgivningen där minst en i paret var ambivalent till parrelationen. Exkluderade var par som kom för att reparera, separera, där det förekom våld eller fanns tolkbehov. Urvalet utgjordes av 91 personer som under tidsperioden 170901–180228 fick samtal enligt den nya interventionen, vilket jämfördes med 77 personer som under tidsperioden 160901–170228 fått reguljär behandling. Resultatet visade att avhopp för interventionsgruppen blev 3,6 % och gruppen för reguljär behandling visade avhopp på 17,6%. Resultatet för frågeställningen percent reaching target visade att i interventionsgruppen nådde 43,1 % målet och i gruppen för reguljär behandling nådde 73,1 % målet. Analysen visar på en statistiskt signifikant skillnad mellan grupperna för både avhopp och percent reaching target.The study was conducted at a family counseling agency in southern Sweden. The purpose of this study, was to examine what difference a limited intervention like contextual marking, would have on dropouts and percent reaching target for couples who had sessions, with the purpose of clarifying the relationship. Percent reaching target means that a person has reached positive expected treatment response based on Feedback Informed Treatments questionnaires. The self-rating instrument Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT) was used to collect data. Couples included in the study were visitors at the agency with a “mixed agenda”, i.e. at least one was ambivalent to continue the relationship. The exclusion criteria was couples who wanted to repair, separate, needed an interpreter or where violence occurred. The study was performed by nine family counselors, who implemented the intervention at the agency. The sample consisted of 91 people who, during the period 170901-180228, received clarifying sessions, compared to 77 people who received treatment as usual (TAU) during the period 160901-170228. The study had a quasi – experimental quantitative design. The result of the study showed that dropouts for the intervention group were 3.6%. TAU showed a dropout of 17.6%. The result for the percent reaching target issue showed that the intervention group reached 43.1% and TAU reached 73.1% of the target. The analysis shows a statistically significant difference between the groups for both dropouts and percent reaching target

Probiotics: functional foods for infants

ABSTRACT: The nutrition and infant’s health is vitally important in today’s society. The probiotics arise as supplements for the innovation of functional foods for infants. The objective of this review was to find out which probiotics are currently most used in the development of new functional food products for infants. We counted on more than fifty bibliographical references about the development of functional foods from a probiotic bacterium and its healthy benefits, published in the following databases: EBSCO HOST, PLOS and DOAJ. It was found that Bacillus Coagulans emerges as an alternative that improves bioavailability conditions, and studies that investigate the benefits of probiotics in anthropometric aspect. Recognizing the benefits of probiotics in the health of infants, its application requires greater compliance with criteria of the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.RESUMEN: La nutrición y salud de los lactantes es de vital importancia en la sociedad actual. Los probióticos surgen como suplementos para la innovación de alimentos funcionales para lactantes. El objetivo de esta revisión fue conocer cuáles probióticos son los más empleados en el desarrollo de nuevos productos alimenticios funcionales para lactantes. Se contó con más de cincuenta referencias bibliográficas que tuvieran el desarrollo de alimentos funcionales a partir de una bacteria probiótica y sus beneficios en salud, publicadas en las siguientes bases de datos: EBSCO HOST, PLOS y DOAJ. Se encontró que el Bacillus coagulans surge como una alternativa que mejora las condiciones de biodisponibilidad, y se encontraron estudios que indagan por beneficios de los probióticos en el aspecto antropométrico. Reconociendo los beneficios de los probióticos en la salud de los lactantes, su aplicación exige mayor cumplimiento de criterios de la Sociedad Europea de Gastroenterología, Hepatología y Nutrición Pediátrica

Border skirmishes and the question of belonging: An authoethnographic account of everyday exclusion in multicultural society

Transnational migration has transformed most European countries, making the problem of how to 'integrate' an increasingly popular topic in public debates and social policy. It is assumed that as long as the newcomer learns the language, adapts to the local customs and finds work, s/he will be integrated and welcomed with open arms as a full-fledged member of society. Based on an autoethnography of our experiences as US-born, long-term and fully 'integrated' residents of the Netherlands, one of Europe's most multicultural societies, we have explored some of the subtle, well-intentioned practices of distancing and exclusion that are part of the fabric of everyday life. We will show how, contrary to the official discourse of integration, 'Dutch-ness' as a white/ethnic national identity is continuously constructed as a 'we', which excludes all 'others'. And, indeed, we have discovered that, paradoxically, the closer the 'other' comes to being completely assimilated into Dutch society, the more the symbolic borders of national belonging may need to be policed and tightened. © The Author(s) 2011

New Opportunities and System Consequences for Biomass Integrated Gasification Technology in CHP Applications

There are currently many driving forces for increasing electricity production in biomass CHP plants. This thesis presents techno-economic and CO₂ emissions analyses for biomass integrated gasification technology in CHP applications. The aim is to examine the future role of this technology with focus on: (i) technical performance including performance variation at part load and identification of minimum acceptable load for different process configurations and fuel options; (ii) economic analysis accounting for constraints imposed by the characteristics of the host energy system; and (iii) possible innovative implementation opportunities for the technology such as simultaneous heat delivery to an industrial process and a district heating system, and retrofit of natural gas combined cycle CHP units for co-firing with gasified biofuel. <p>The main question the thesis aims to investigate is under which future conditions it can be economically attractive to invest in biomass integrated gasification technology for CHP applications. The main performance indicator considered is the cost of electricity (COE). CO₂ emissions consequences are also discussed. Different scenarios for future energy market parameters are considered, including fuel prices, reference electric power production technologies and generation costs, and costs associated with energy and climate-change policy instruments. <p>The results indicate that BIGCC CHP technology could play an important role in future energy systems. One major advantage of this technology is that it produces significantly more electricity than conventional biomass steam turbine CHP technology, for a given heat load. Energy market conditions, and particularly costs associated with policy instruments, are shown to play a decisive role for the profitability of the technology. A key finding of the thesis is that for a variety of possible future energy market scenarios including market-oriented policy instruments such as trading with CO₂ emissions allowances, a high value for CO₂ emissions allowances is insufficient to make BIGCC technology profitable compared to NGCC CHP. Additional policy instruments that specifically support renewable fuels such as biomass are necessary, for example the Swedish renewable energy certificate system