Tissue repair in lung disorders

The remodeling phase of tissue repair in lung disorders such as idiopathic pulmonary disease, asthma, obliterative bronchiolitis, and after lung transplantation is not well understood. One of the key players in fibrosis is the fibroblast and its progenitor, the fibrocyte. The fibroblast is the main producer of extracellular matrix molecules such as collagen, versican, perlecan, biglycan, and decorin. Fibrocytes are recruited from the bone marrow to the site of injury. It is possible that the stromal cell-derived factor-1/CXCL12 builds up in a gradient to recruit CXCR4 expressing fibrocytes, at least in the case of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Patients with obliterative bronchilitis have an enlarged vessel lumen and a larger endothelial layer area, which has been shown to be correlated to more fibrocytes in the tissue. A correlation was found between the numbers of fibrocytes identified in tissue and structural changes in the lung. In idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a correlation was found between numbers of fibrocytes and numbers of fibroblastic foci, and in patients with obliterative bronchiolitis there was a correlation between fibrocyte numbers and thickening of the alveolar parenchyma. Eventually the fibrocyte enters the tissue and can differentiate into a fibroblast. Matrix production by fibroblasts in patients who have undergone lung transplantation and in asthmatic subjects involves both the central and the distal parts of the lung. In lung-transplanted patients, the production of proteoglycans in the distal part was found to be double that in the central part. Versican production was particularly elevated compared to controls. The production of proteoglycans was further correlated with proliferation rate. A common feature of fibroblasts in patients after lung transplantation and asthmatic subjects was that these cells proliferated more slowly than in control subjects. Distally-derived fibroblasts from asthmatic subjects produced more veriscan, were immobile, and had many protrusions. The distal parts of the lungs were also rich in collagen. A better understanding of fibrocyte and fibroblast function will help us to characterise the mechanisms behind idiopathic pulmonary disease, asthma, obliterative bronchiolitis. This knowledge can then be applied to other types of fibrotic disorders

Electronic services, new public sector structures, and knowledge (mis)management

Session 5: Knowledge societ

Do Givers Really Gain? A study of relationship benefits and sacrifices in BNI a referral network organisation

The purpose of this study is to explore how relationship benefits and sacrifices matter in relation to members of referral networks and how these aspects affect overall member satisfaction. This study has an explanatory research approach since it aims to, by testing hypotheses; explain the impact relationship benefits and sacrifices have on satisfaction. It is based on both qualitative and quantitative data, where the qualitative material acts as preparation for the quantitative data collection in order to structure reliable and relevant hypothesis and survey questions. The study is based on previous existing literature and theories on relationship marketing as well as referral networking. Relationship benefits and sacrifices have also been studies as well as the Relationship Profitability Model. The study builds upon a case study about BNI- Business Network International, in Sweden and Denmark. The study has three explorative parts; firstly face-to-face interviews were performed in order to develop relevant hypotheses. Surveys were conducted based on the qualitative data as well as on previous research with the purpose to identify the referral network member’s opinions on relationship benefits and sacrifices. Observations during the BNI meetings further assisted in understanding the structure of BNI. Results show that all benefits (functional, social and psychological) have an impact on the BNI members’ overall CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) and all benefits have a positive correlation with the members CSI. All sacrifices except one have an impact on BNI members’ CSI. Functional benefits have the greatest impact on members overall satisfaction, both when analyzing the aspects individually and in totality. ‘Business opportunities’ is the benefit that impact member CSI the most. Psychological benefits have in totality the second highest impact on members overall satisfaction, where ‘trust’ is the benefit which has the highest impact among these. This leaves social benefits with the least impact on members overall satisfaction. Functional benefits are also considered most important to the BNI members. This study contributes to the relationship marketing field since it applies mentioned previous theories regarding B2C and B2B to a relationship network context where power is more equal than in a buyer-seller relationship. The theoretical contribution of this study is therefore that referral marketing is studied in a network context as well as at member level. In summary this study contributes to an overall understanding of impact and importance of relationship benefits and sacrifices in a referral network

Learning from eLearning: Emerging Constructive Learning Practices

This research is situated within the field of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) and asks if ICT use can make learning practices change. While constructive learning practices are critical to both individual and societal development, repetitive learning practices are the norm in many developing countries. The study is based on observations and in-depth interviews and uses a structurational approach to understand if and how students views of learning change during an e-learning program in Sri Lanka. We found four constructive learning practices that emerged through technology use; individual exploring, interaction with peers, interaction with teachers, and taking responsibility of the learning. Many constructive learning practices emerged outside the LMS used, in students’ voluntary uses of publicly available resources on the Internet. The study shows that technology use can play a positive role for development, provided an open environment is available; students learn constructive practices from e-learning

Citizen Diversity in e-Government Research: Moving the Field Forward

Whereas broad launch of public e-services ensures equal and homogenous treatment of citizens, citizen diversity is often set aside. By means of a literature study we describe how research has addressed diversity in the field of eGovernment. we analyzed the papers according to the following codes: group; application domain; unit of analysis; and technology in use or design. Results showed that the most common application domain was e-services with access and use as the most common units of analysis. The most frequently researched groups are based on classical socio-demographic variables such as economy, education and age. Also, the majority of papers discussed services in use. We conclude by suggesting that future research focuses underrepresented user groups; adds further granularity to the classical sociodemographic variables; identifies groups within groups; targets policies and policy implementation; and changes focus from use to development. We also call for conceptual clarity of the concept ‘diversity’

Teachers Falling off the Cliff Affordances and Constraints of Social Media in School

In a digitalized society our work environment is highly integrated with our home environment making work boundless both in terms of time and space. The digital work environment risks increased stress. Based on a case study in Swedish schools we investigate how teachers experience the use of social media for work-related purposes. We do so by using the Technology Affordance and Constraints Theory to capture the affordances as well as constraints of this use. Findings show that affordances of social media in schools were increased opportunities for learning, transparency and community building. Constraints were distractions from learning, increased isolation, stress and, above all, lack of guidance in how and when to use social media. We end the paper arguing that lack of policies and guidelines governing the use of social media at work is risking an increase in boundary blurring and potentially more stress

Diabetessjuksköterskans roll i att främja viktnedgång för personer med diabetes typ 2

Bakgrund: Diabetes typ 2 är en sjukdom som allt fler människor i världen drabbas av. Detta anses bero på urbanisering, förändrade kostvanor och ett alltmer stillasittande liv. I Sverige beräknas 350 000 - 400 000 personer ha diabetes. Övervikt och fetma anses vara en av de främsta orsakerna till den snabba ökningen av diabetes typ 2. Trots att de flesta är medvetna om överviktens betydelse för att utveckla diabetes kan det vara svårt för diabetessjuksköterskan att motivera patienterna till förändring av deras levnadsvanor. Syfte: Att belysa diabetessjuksköterskans roll i att främja viktnedgång hos patienter med diabetes typ 2. Metod: En kvalitativ studie genomfördes. Elva diabetessjuksköterskor verksamma på vårdcentraler i Skåne intervjuades utifrån en semistrukturerad intervjuguide. Materialet analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Av analysen framgick det att de flesta patienter var medvetna om sin övervikt. Svårigheten för diabetessjuksköterskan var att få patienten att hitta motivation till att förändra sina vanor. Diabetessjuksköterskans roll var att vara medhjälpare, stöttare, coach, vägledare, expert och bollplank i denna process. Flera diabetessjuksköterskor ansåg att dagens kultur och samhälle spelade en avgörande roll för utvecklingen av övervikt och diabetes. Diabetessjuksköterskan insåg sin begränsade förmåga att främja patienterna till att ändra sina levnadsvanor. Slutsats: Diabetessjuksköterskan behöver mer kunskap för att kunna vägleda och stötta patienten att finna motivation till bestående förändring av sina levnadsvanor för att gå ner i vikt och förhindra diabetes. Likaså behövs tydligare och mer konkret information för att påverka befolkningen att förändra sina levnadsvanor, vilket i förlängningen skulle leda till ett sundare liv

Automatic claw spray with hypochlorous acid : an option to improve claw health in dairy cows

Detta examensarbete bygger på en litteraturstudie och en fältstudie om betydelsen av en god klövhälsa. Klövhälsan har stor betydelse för kornas välbefinnande, men också för deras hållbarhet och mjölkproduktion. Klövsjukdomar delas in i två kategorier, smittsamma - och fångrelaterade klövsjukdomar. I det här arbetet ligger fokus enbart på de smittsamma klövsjukdomarna. Under de senaste decennierna har det skett stora förändringar inom den svenska mjölkproduktionen, uppbundna stallsystem har bytts ut mot lösdrifter. I de uppbundna systemen står kon uppbunden på en och samma plats vilket underlättar att hålla en god hygien och kon behöver inte förflytta sig för att bli mjölkad eller för att få tillgång till foder. I lösdrifter är det svårt att upprätthålla en god hygien då alla kor går lösa och förflyttar sig runt i stallet och gödseln sprids därmed ut i deras närmiljö. Smittsamma klövsjukdomar står för nära 40 % av alla hältor inom mjölkproduktionen (Watson, 2007) och orsakas främst av en ohygienisk klövmiljö. Betet är det naturliga underlaget för kor och gräset har en mekaniskt rengörande effekt på klövarna. Inne i stallarna är det svårt att hålla golvet rent och torrt- och kornas klövar exponeras hela tiden för gödsel. Ett sätt att försöka förebygga och behandla klövsjukdomar är att använda sig av olika sorters klövbad. Under senare år har också olika typer av att duscha klövarna utvecklats. De klövsjukdomar som studerades i litteraturgenomgången var eksem, klövspaltsinflammation, klövröta, vårta och limax, och på marknaden förekommande klövpreparat redovisas i bilaga. Vi har undersökt om hypoklorsyra (HOCl Anolytech klövspray™) har någon förebyggande effekt på klövhälsan hos mjölkkor och skulle kunna användas som ett alternativ till traditionella klövbad. Syftet var framförallt att undersöka om klöveksem och klövröta ökade eller minskade när bakklövarna sprayades med hypoklorsyra (Anolytech klövspray™) vid varje mjölkningstillfälle. Försöket gjordes i en robotbesättning med två separata grupper där den ena gruppen kor behandlades och den andra var en obehandlad kontrollgrupp. Kornas klövar verkades före och efter försöksperioden och alla klövsjukdomar registrerades. Datamaterialet från de båda klövverkningarna sammanställdes och bearbetades statistiskt för att se om det förelåg några signifikanta skillnader mellan grupperna. Försökets resultat visade att det inte förelåg någon skillnad mellan de båda grupperna för klöveksem och klövröta. Kor som behandlades med hypoklorsyra visade dock en signifikant förbättring av limax jämfört med kor som inte behandlades.This thesis includes a literature review and a field study on the importance of healthy feet. A good foot health is important for the cow’s wellbeing, but also for their longevity and milk production. Claw diseases fall into two categories, infectious- and laminitis related claw diseases. In this study we have chosen to focus on infectious claw diseases alone. In recent decades there have been major changes in the Swedish milk production. Tied housing systems have been replaced with loose housing. In tie stalls it is easier to maintain a good hygiene and the cow does not have to move to get milked or to gain access to food. In loose housing it is hard to maintain good hygiene when all cows are loose and moves around and the dirt is spread on all alleys impairing the hygiene. Infectious claw diseases account for nearly 40% of all lameness in dairy production (Watson, 2007) and is caused primarily by an unhygienic claw environment. Pasture is the natural environment and feed for cows and the grass has a mechanical cleaning effect on the claws so the cows suffer less from infectious claw diseases during the grazing period. When housed, it is difficult to keep the floors clean and the cow’s feet are constantly exposed for manure. It is also difficult to find a surface that is ideal for the cow. One way to try to prevent and treat infectious claw diseases is the use of various types of foot baths. During recent years new types of foot showers have been developed. The claw diseases included in the literature study were interdigital dermatitis, digital dermatitis, interdigital phlegmone, interdigital hyperplasia, heel horn erosion and warts. Different foot products and disinfectants on the market are presented in the appendix. We have investigated whether hypochlorous acid (Anolytech foot spray™) has an effect on claw health of dairy cows and may be an alternative to traditional claw baths. The aim was primarily to investigate dermatitis and heel horn erosion increased or decreased when the hind limbs were sprayed at each milking with Anolytech hoof spray™. The study was made in one herd with two separate robot groups and the cows in one group were treated while the other was used as a control group. The claws of all the cows were trimmed before and after the study period. We have compiled and processed the data from the two trimmings statistically to see if there were any significant differences. The results from the study showed no significant difference between the groups regarding interdigital dermatitis, digital dermatitis and heel horn erosion. Cows treated with hypochlorous acid showed a significant improvement of interdigital hyperplasia compared to untreated cows

Effects of age of acquisition (AoA) and proficiency on processing of syntax in 6- to 8-year-old monolingual and bilingual children: an ERP study

Even though language proficiency in children is strongly related to success in almost all domains, neurocognitive studies of L2 processing are typically limited to adults with several years of exposure, who may use general cognitive mechanisms to compensate for any difficulties in L2 processing. For example, whereas previous studies of adult bilinguals have reported differences in the anterior negativity elicited by syntactic violations with delays in exposure to English of less than 3 years (Weber-Fox & Neville, 1996) a precursor to the anterior negativity has been reported in monolingual children as young as 2.5 years of age (Oberecker, et al., 2005). In the current ERP study, processing of English phrase structure was explored in 6- to 8-year old monolingual and bilingual children who acquired English as a second language around 4 years of age. Monolingual children of higher proficiency displayed relatively mature processing of phrase structure violations as indicated by a left anterior negativity over lateral sites and a posterior positivity. High-proficiency bilingual children tended to display a medial anterior negativity and a posterior positivity. The difference in distribution of the anterior effect across groups could only be explained by AoA. However, lower proficiency affected the posterior ERP effect and amplitude of the anterior effects in response to syntactic violations. These results suggest that the more automatic syntactic processing in children is affected by AoA while more controlled, metalinguistic processing may be related to language proficiency