BACKGROUND: Policies that empower individuals and communities may be appropriate for public health, and more broadly. Simple, transparent and acceptable tools are therefore required to evaluate policies from an empowerment perspective. In 2008, the South African Department of Health (DOHSA) drafted a policy to endorse the integration of African Traditional Medicine (ATM) into the public health sec

Secondary angiosarcoma of the breast is a rare but severe long-term complication of breast cancer treated with breast-conserving surgery and radiotherapy. We characterized a population-based cohort of patients with secondary angiosarcomas from two tertiary hospitals to investigate this complication with respect to surgical treatment and outcome. We identified 35 patients with a history of radiatio

Taking the modern definition of ekphrasis as a verbal representation of a work of art as a starting point, we try to broaden it in this contribution. We agree with intermediality theorist Lars Elleström that ekphrasis falls into the category of “media representation”, defined as the representation of a source medium in a target medium. We argue that the target medium does not need to be a verbal o

The goal of the present study was to elucidate what influences medical students' attitudes and interests in medical ethics. At the end of their first, fifth and last terms, 409 medical students from all six medical schools in Sweden participated in an attitude survey. The questions focused on the students' experience of good and poor role models, attitudes towards medical ethics in general and per

Abstract in UndeterminedThis paper addresses the recovery in Thailand after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The country worst affected by the tsunami was Indonesia, while in Thailand about 8,000 people were assumed dead. In all the countries affected more females were killed than males. Disasters test the strength of a society's structures and relationships, and this paper focuses on the interplay

The nocturnal helmet gecko, Tarentola chazaliae, discriminates colors in dim moonlight when humans are color blind. The sensitivity of the helmet gecko eye has been calculated to be 350 times higher than human cone vision at the color vision threshold. The optics and the large cones of the gecko are important reasons why they can use color vision at low light intensities. Using photorefractometry

The association between vitamin D status and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been well investigated, despite experimental evidence supporting an important role of vitamin D in liver pathophysiology. Our objective was to investigate the association between prediagnostic circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] serum levels and the risk of HCC in a prospective, nested case-control study amon

The increased prevalence of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) challenges society to evaluate the quality and efficacy of community based psycho-pedagogical programmes in order to achieve progress and to attain an acceptable level of quality of life for its citizens. The overarching aim of this thesis was to gain knowledge about staff’s pedagogical work and to provide a method for as

Popular Abstract in Swedish Städer har kommit att framstå som alltmer drivande i arbetet med att ställa om till ett ekologiskt hållbart samhälle. Utöver att genomföra statliga direktiv eller fokusera på klassiskt kommunala uppgifter som fysisk planering eller renhållning, har kommunala politiker och tjänstemän alltmer kommit att driva en egen miljöpolitik på lokal nivå. Ett exempel är energi- och Local governments are increasingly taking the initiative in environmental governance. But can they make any difference in addressing current environmental challenges, which are becoming more and more global in scope? This PhD thesis explores and analyses the outcomes of proactive initiatives in the field of building energy efficiency, and the governance approaches taken. It addresses outcomes both

The aim of this study was to use multi-radionuclide autoradiography to compare the different distributions of three radiolabelled tracers in an atherosclerotic mouse model. This method, along with immunohistochemistry, was applied to investigate the intra-aortic distribution of 2-deoxy-2-[(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose ((18)F-FDG), (131)I/(125)I labeled anti-oxidized Low Density Lipoprotein (oxLDL), and n

Background: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is associated with high morbidity and mortality. It is suggested that the associated inflammation is mediated through activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway which plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of delayed cerebral ischemia after SAH. The aim of this study was first to investigate the timecourse of altered expression of

Abstract in UndeterminedIn this paper teh challenges imposed on corporate governance of water services in Italy and Sweden are analyzed and compared. From the comparative analysis we notice that with externalization of services more stakeholders become involved in the provision of services. These stakeholders have common as well as divergent interests and the challenge thus become to find an align

BMR (Basal metabolic rate) is an important trait in animal life history as it represents a significant part of animal energy budgets. BMR has also been shown to be positively related to sustainable work rate and maximal thermoregulatory capacity. To this date, most of the studies have focused on the causes of interspecific and intraspecific variation in BMR, and fairly little is known about the fi

Approximately 10—20 % of patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) develop a severe disease with high mortality and morbidity. Activation of pancreatic proteases, the inflammatory response and impaired pancreatic circulation are pathophysiological events that are important in order for the disease to develop. There is no specific treatment for severe AP, and no useful marker for predicting the severit

Popular Abstract in Swedish Bakgrund En till fem procent av de patienter som genomgår öppen hjärtkirurgi får en efterföljande infektion i operationssåret och bröstbenet. Infektionen kan leda till allvarliga komplikationer såsom blodförgiftning, organsvikt och i värsta fall till att patienten avlider. De traditionella metoder som används för att behandla den här typen av infektion har visat sig haNegative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has been widely adopted for the treatment of deep sternal wound infections due to its excellent clinical outcome. However, the mechanisms of action and effects on hemodynamics have not been thoroughly elucidated. The aims of the work presented in this thesis were, therefore, to examine the effects of NPWT on sternotomy wounds and on the intrathoracic organs.

A thoracic phantom, with embedded fragments of uranium (U) and iron (Fe) of different sizes, was imaged with digital radiography, standard-dose CT and low-dose CT and the detectable size of the fragments was recorded. U and Fe fragments were detected in diameters down to 100 mu m and 300 mu m, respectively with the standard-dose CT and digital radiography. The size limit using the low-dose CT was

Infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) is causally related to cervical, vulvar and vaginal pre-invasive neoplasias and cancers. Highly effective vaccines against HPV types 16/18 have been available since 2006, and are currently used in many countries in combination with cervical cancer screening to control the burden of cervical cancer. We estimated the overall and age-specific incide