Halmstad University Research Articles

Association of Intellectual Disability With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in Sweden

Knowledge of the health challenges and mortality in people with intellectual disability (ID) should guide health policies and practices in contemporary society. To examine premature mortality in individuals with ID. This population-based longitudinal cohort study obtained data from several national health care, education, and population registers in Sweden. Two registers were used to identify individuals with ID: the National Patient Register and the Halmstad University Register on Pupils With Intellectual Disability. Two cohorts were created: cohort 1 comprised young adults (born between 1980 and 1991) with mild ID, and cohort 2 comprised individuals (born between 1932 and 2013) with mild ID or moderate to profound ID; each cohort had matched reference cohorts. Data analyses were conducted between June 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021. Mild or moderate to profound ID. The primary outcome was overall (all-cause) mortality, and the secondary outcomes were cause-specific mortality and potentially avoidable mortality. Cohort 1 included 13 541 young adults with mild ID (mean [SD] age at death, 24.53 [3.66] years; 7826 men [57.8%]), and its matched reference cohort consisted of 135 410 individuals. Cohort 2 included 24 059 individuals with mild ID (mean [SD] age at death, 52.01 [16.88] years; 13 649 male individuals [56.7%]) and 26 602 individuals with moderate to profound ID (mean [SD] age at death, 42.16 [21.68] years; 15 338 male individuals [57.7%]); its matched reference cohorts consisted of 240 590 individuals with mild ID and 266 020 with moderate to profound ID. Young adults with mild ID had increased overall mortality risk compared with the matched reference cohort (odds ratio [OR], 2.86; 95% CI, 2.33-3.50), specifically excess mortality in neoplasms (OR, 3.58; 95% CI, 2.02-6.35), diseases of the nervous system (OR, 40.00; 95% CI, 18.43-86.80) and circulatory system (OR, 9.24; 95% CI, 4.76-17.95). Among deaths that were amenable to health care (OR, 7.75; 95% CI, 4.85-12.39), 55% were attributed to epilepsy. In cohort 2, increased risk of overall mortality was observed among both individuals with mild ID (OR, 6.21; 95% CI, 5.79-6.66) and moderate to profound ID (OR, 13.15; 95% CI, 12.52-13.81) compared with the matched reference cohorts. Those with moderate to profound ID had a higher risk in several cause-of-death categories compared with those with mild ID or the matched reference cohort. Adjustment for epilepsy and congenital malformations attenuated the associations. The relative risk of premature death was higher in women (OR, 6.23; 95% CI, 4.42-8.79) than in men (OR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.53-2.60), but the absolute risk of mortality was similar (0.9% for women vs 0.9% for men). This study found excess premature mortality and high risk of deaths with causes that were potentially amenable to health care intervention among people with ID. This finding suggests that this patient population faces persistent health challenges and inequality in health care encounters.

Sysselsättning för unga med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning

Studien analyserar sambanden mellan sysselsättning för unga vuxna med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning som gått i gymnasiesärskolan och deras sociala bakgrund, mätt som föräldrarnas utbildningsnivå och geografiska härkomst. 
 Den här registerstudien baseras på Halmstad university register on pupils with intellectual disabilities (HURPID), Longitudinell integrationsdatabas för arbetsmarknads- och sjukförsäkringsstudier (LISA) samt LSS-registret. Studien omfattar 12 269 unga med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning som gick ut gymnasiesärskolan mellan 2001 och 2011. De samband som studeras analyseras genom multipla logistiska regressioner. 
 Resultaten visar att föräldrars utbildningsnivå har viss betydelse för före detta gymnasiesärskoleelevers sysselsättning. Barn till högutbildade föräldrar har med större sannolikhet en sysselsättning inom daglig verksamhet och barn till lågutbildade föräldrar har med större sannolikhet ett förvärvsarbete. Sannolikheten för att ha någon av sysselsättningskategorierna daglig verksamhet eller förvärvsarbete är lägst bland barn till föräldrar som är födda i länder utanför Norden. Högutbildade föräldrar antas ha en högre grad av den ”välfärdskompetens” som krävs för att hantera dagens välfärdssystem och härigenom kunna påverka de ungas möjligheter att få insatser likt daglig verksamhet. Lågutbildade föräldrar antas ha egna erfarenheter av, och kontakter med, arbetsplatser där det finns arbetsuppgifter utan (eller med låga) formella kompetenskrav. 
 Samhällets kunskaper och medvetenhet om den sociala bakgrundens betydelse för efter(sär)gymnasial sysselsättning bland unga med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning behöver öka. Detta i syfte att bättre möta varierande individuella förutsättningar och främja etablering i arbetslivet för fler unga vuxna med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning vid övergången från skoltid till arbetsliv.

Special issue of Sport in Society: Transitions in Sport Life

Guest Editors: Dr. Florian Kiuppis, Catholic University of Applied Sciences Freiburg and Dr. Natalia Stambulova, Halmstad University (Sweden)FOCUS AND TOPICSTransitions in sport life is a rapidly g...

Global Communications Newsletter

Leading network resilience researchers took part in the Resilience Week on Sept. 12-15, 2016 at Halmstad University, SE by Prof. Magnus Jonsson from the Centre for Research on Embedded Systems (CERES), Halmstad University, SE, and Prof. Jacek Rak from Gdansk University of Technology, PL. It included two major events: - The 2nd Meeting of COST CA15127–RECODIS Action (Resilient Communication Services Protecting End-user Applications from Disaster-based Failures, http://www.cost-recodis.eu) held on Sept. 12-13, 2016. - RNDM 2016-8th International Workshop on Resilient Networks Design and Modeling on Sept. 13-15, 2016.

Born global or local? Factors influencing the internationalization of university spin-offs—the case of Halmstad University

A wealth of research in the past decades has examined born globals or international new ventures, which are firms that from inception view the whole world as a market and as a source to access resources. Many of these firms build their competitive advantage on high-tech knowledge. However, although many studies have shown how born globals can achieve success if they access resources through their relationships from actors in their networks, few studies have explored the relationship between born globals and universities. Universities are important actors in creating new technology knowledge, and many studies have shown how new firms, or so-called university spin-offs (USOs), are formed around universities. The current study explores why some USOs are successful in their international growth strategy and discusses the factors that influence and facilitate the internationalization process. The study investigates 10 USOs around the newly established Halmstad University in Sweden and finds that universities have a positive effect on firm creation and initial international growth. The regional competence base increases from the establishment of a local university, primarily by strengthening the regional human capital and by increasing university research. This study shows that researcher entrepreneurs’ ventures start as born globals, but that these firms do not continue to grow. Born global business models, per se, do not lead to competitive advantage and successful internationalization. Instead, a strategy built on customer focus and an ability to adapt to different customer demands lead to growth, and the location of growth is dependent on the size of the home market. This study also shows that student entrepreneurship can be a successful growth strategy for USOs focusing on both international and local markets.

Post-school options for young adults with intellectual disabilities in Sweden

The aim of this article is to examine life after school for young adults with intellectual disabilities in Sweden. It identifies a snapshot of the post-school destination in 2011 of students of Swedish Upper Secondary Schools for Pupils with Intellectual Disability (Special Secondary Schools), who graduated between 2001 and 2011. This national registry study used personal identification numbers to link data for about 12,269 former students in the Halmstad University Register on Pupils with Intellectual Disability with data about labour market participation and service provision under the Swedish disability legislation (Swedish LSS Act, 1994, the Act Concerning Support and Service for Persons With Certain Functional Impairment). Results showed that the largest proportion (47%) of former students participated in disability day programs, known as “daily activities”; 22.4% were employed, most with some type of wage subsidy; and 6.6% participated in various types of further education programs. A sizeable group (24%) were described as being “elsewhere”, not engaged in employment, education, or disability day programs. The type of post-school occupation is associated with gender, the type of educational program undertaken at secondary school, and age. The authors found a high risk of young people with intellectual disabilities falling through safety-net welfare or post-school participation provisions. Even in a country such as Sweden, which has comprehensive post-school programs, almost a quarter of young adults with intellectual disabilities were socially excluded, without education, disability day programs, or employment.

Exploring the transformation of actorship among students at a small Swedish university: background, actorship and achievement

With an aim to better understand higher education’s potential for fostering personal development and social change, this study explores how students’ actorship in studies and civic engagement changed over time while enrolled in undergraduate programs at Halmstad University, Sweden. Additionally, it explores the relation among these students’ actorship, structural and psychosocial influences, and consequences in terms of formally obtained and self-reported achievements. Data were collected using three questionnaires in a time-step designed study, initially including 2004 students from 16 programs. Analyses revealed a trend of stable or decreasing actorship. Actorship was found to be strongly associated with gender and what programs the students attended, but not with social background factors such as parents’ education and family type. Psychosocial influences and actorship were marginally related to students’ achievements in terms of obtaining credits, but were more positively related to students’ own reports about gaining the knowledge and skills that would be useful for their future life and work. This, in combination with the students having high intentions to actively influence their future work, was interpreted as an indication of readiness to be social actors. This in turn suggests that readiness is a significant dimension in higher education, which might be further interpreted by applying theories about the Zone of Proximal Development.

EDITORIAL NOTE VOL 4, NO 3 (2014)

JISIB continues to publish Case Studies. In addition we also publish in this issue Patents Analyses. Patent analyses can be read both as examples of how to perform such analyses, but may also find interest within specific industries. Professor Henri Dou, who is a founding father of this journal, was one of the pioneers in this area, also with the development of patent analyses software. We have also included a conceptual and theoretical paper. All of the contributions in this issue show that scientific work does not have to be limited to more narrowly defined empirical studies.The second paper by Salavdor et al. is dedicated to Associate Professor Jonas Rundquist, a colleague at Halmstad University and at the same time a great admirer of the Spanish speaking Americas, who passed away in December 2014. He will be greatly missed.The first article by Salvador and Léon is a patent analysis of the industry for hybrid vehicules. The paper shows that the company with the highest patent activity also has a strong focus on collaborative technology development. The analysis further shows that research on parallel hybrid vehicle predominate, followed by series-hybrid and series-parallel hybrid type. The findings support the strategic decision process for organizations, companies, institutes and other stakeholders involved in this sector. The analysis and procedure presented can be used for analyses in other industries.The second paper by Salador et al. is also a patent analysis, but this time for the Additive Manufacturing industry. Unlike the first paper this one identifies a number of trends through a keyword patent analysis. “The main areas of research are focused on shaping of plastics and after-treatment of shaped products and working metallic powder and manufacture articles from this material”. The leading countries on additive manufacturing research are United States, Great Britain and Switzerland.The third article by Vriens and Solberg Søilen is an attempt to show the implication of disruptive innovation on Intelligence Studies. It is a theoretical paper. Through a broad discussion of disruptive innovation theory the authors arrive at what they coin”Disruptive Intelligence”. In addition they describe ‘biases’ which may impair the production of ‘disruptive intelligence’.The Fourth article is a case study written by Calof. It is about how the National Research Council’s Technical Intelligence Unit work with intelligence. The study shows that intelligence users understood and could appreciate a combination of hard and soft intelligence type measures. A survey in the form of an intelligence evaluation instrument was developed to gather data for the paper.The last article by Avner is a case study about CI in the Israeli defense industry. It confirms previous assumption that the industry in general and especially in Israel is using CI intensively to support the decision making process.As always we would first of all like to thank the authors for their contributions to this issue of JISIB.On behalf of the Editorial Board,Sincerely Yours,Prof. Dr. Klaus Solberg SøilenEditor-in-chief

Application of constraints to formal verification and artificial intelligence

We are excited to present the AMAI special issue on Application of Constraints to Formal Verification and Artificial Intelligence. The issue contains three papers: In the first paper, entitled Establishing Flight Software Reliability: Testing, Model Checking, Constraint-Solving, Monitoring and Learning, Alex Groce from Oregon State University, Klaus Havelund, Gerard Holzmann, and Rajeev Joshi from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Ru-Gang Xu from the University of California at Los Angeles discuss the application of a range of techniques to the verification of missioncritical flight software at JPL. They present insights on the combination of random testing, model checking, constraint-solving, monitoring, and finite-state machine learning, in addition to static code analysis for the efficient verification of properties of a flash file system and other software for space missions. In the second paper, entitled Polynomial Function Intervals for Floating-Point Software Verification, Jan Duracz from Halmstad University in Sweden and Michal Konecny from Aston University in the U.K. present a new method for verification of numerical software, supporting a substantially more expressive language for specifications than other publicly available automated tools. Their experiments indicate that the additional expressivity does not come at a performance cost when comparing the results with those obtained with other publicly available state-of-the-art provers. They also include a scalability study of their algorithm when proving tight functional specifications of progressively larger randomly generated programs. In the third paper, entitled Tradeoffs in the Complexity of Backdoors to Satisfiability: Dynamic Sub-Solvers and Learning During Search, Bistra Dilkina from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Carla P. Gomes from Cornell University, and Ashish Sabharwal from IBM study the potential to capture succinctly hidden problem structure in Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) problems using different notions of backdoors—a set of key variables, such

Observations from a student exchange programme: UK and Sweden prehospital care

As part of the prehospital unscheduled and emergency care course at the University of Worcester, the authors were selected to take part in an exchange programme arranged between the University of Worcester, England and Halmstad University in Sweden. The exchange took place in January 2011 and lasted two weeks, during which time the authors were based with the Halland Regional Ambulance Service. Halland is a county on the west coast of Sweden, directly south of Gothenburg. It has an area of approximately 2100 square miles or around the same size as Devon. The total population, however, is just over 299 000 ( Statistics Sweden, 2010 ), making the total population density slightly less than half that of Devon. The county is divided into six regions, each centred on a town of the same name ( Statistics Sweden, 2010 ) and in which the ambulance stations are located. During the programme, the authors were based in the town of Varberg and attended incidents as supernumerary crew members. They were also permitted to treat patients, provided this did not exceed levels of competency, complied with local protocols, and was agreed by the responsible clinician. During the visit, observations were made regarding all aspects of ambulance operations. The majority of practice was found to be very similar to the UK, however, a number of important differences were found and these are analysed and contrasted with UK practice. The authors would like to thank the staff and management of the Halland ambulance service for their hospitality, warm welcome and for their generosity in passing on their knowledge. They would also like to thank the staff of the universities of Worcester and Halmstad, without whom the exchange would not have taken place.

A Modular CACC System Integration and Design

This paper describes the Halmstad University entry in the Grand Cooperative Driving Challenge, which is a competition in vehicle platooning. Cooperative platooning has the potential to improve traffic flow by mitigating shock wave effects, which otherwise may occur in dense traffic. A longitudinal controller that uses information exchanged via wireless communication with other cooperative vehicles to achieve string-stable platooning is developed. The controller is integrated into a production vehicle, together with a positioning system, communication system, and human-machine interface (HMI). A highly modular system architecture enabled rapid development and testing of the various subsystems. In the competition, which took place in May 2011 on a closed-off highway in The Netherlands, the Halmstad University team finished second among nine competing teams.

Observations from a student exchange programme: UK and Sweden prehospital care

As part of the prehospital unscheduled and emergency care course at the University of Worcester, the authors were selected to take part in an exchange programme arranged between the University of Worcester, England and Halmstad University in Sweden. The exchange took place in January 2011 and lasted two weeks, during which time the authors were based with the Halland Regional Ambulance Service. Halland is a county on the west coast of Sweden, directly south of Gothenburg. It has an area of approximately 2100 square miles or around the same size as Devon. The total population, however, is just over 299 000 ( Statistics Sweden, 2010 ), making the total population density slightly less than half that of Devon. The county is divided into six regions, each centred on a town of the same name ( Statistics Sweden, 2010 ) and in which the ambulance stations are located. During the programme, the authors were based in the town of Varberg and attended incidents as supernumerary crew members. They were also permitted to treat patients, provided this did not exceed levels of competency, complied with local protocols, and was agreed by the responsible clinician. During the visit, observations were made regarding all aspects of ambulance operations. The majority of practice was found to be very similar to the UK, however, a number of important differences were found and these are analysed and contrasted with UK practice. The authors would like to thank the staff and management of the Halland ambulance service for their hospitality, warm welcome and for their generosity in passing on their knowledge. They would also like to thank the staff of the universities of Worcester and Halmstad, without whom the exchange would not have taken place.

Assessment of CPR-D skills of nursing students in two institutions: reality versus recommendations in the guidelines

Significant differences in basic life support skills including cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation (CPR-D) were detected when nurses working in one Finnish and one Swedish hospital were tested using an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). The purpose of this study was to use OSCE test in assessing guideline based CPR-D skills of newly qualified nurses. The CPR-D skills of newly qualified registered nurses studying in Halmstad University (n = 30), Sweden, Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (n = 30), and Finland were assessed using an OSCE which was built up with a case of cardiac arrest with ventricular fibrillation as the initial rhythm. The Angoff average, 32.47, was calculated as cutoff point to pass the test. Forty-seven percent of the students in the Swedish group (mean score 32.47/49, range 26-39, SD 3.76) and 13% of the students in the Finnish group (mean score 23.80/49, range 13-35, SD 4.32) passed the OSCE (P<0.0001), the cutoff point being 32.47. Performance grade for the Swedish group was 2.9/5.0 and for the Finnish group 2.1/5.0 (P<0.0001). Good nontechnical skills correlated with high grading of the clinical skills. In conclusion, CPR-D skills of the newly qualified nurses in both the institutes were clearly under par and were not adequate according to the resuscitation guidelines. Current style of teaching is unlikely to result in students being able to perform adequate CPR-D. Standardized testing would help in controlling the quality of learning.

Creating an Entrepreneurial Region: Two Waves of Academic Spin-offs from Halmstad University

This article presents a Swedish case study of the regional effects of academic spin-offs. It is based on empirical data from Halmstad University and the Halmstad region, on the west coast of Sweden. The Halmstad case functions as an illustration of co-existing territorial and functional rationales, where a “rurban” lifestyle is combined with an increasingly “pracademic” knowledge. Spillover effects of university research (directly as well as indirectly) in the form of academic spin-offs have been traced over time. In doing so, we are able to identify two waves of academic entrepreneurship with direct and indirect regional effects. These waves contribute to the strengthening of the regional entrepreneurship and the attractiveness of the region. The establishment and (early) actions of the university can be seen as a stone that was thrown in the water, causing several waves to appear in the region. Whether these waves will be reinforced enough to create an entrepreneurial region, or just slowly disappear as rings on the water, also depends on the creation of an absorptive capacity and construction of the regional innovation system.

A Master Programme in Cardiovascular Nursing; A Two-Year Follow-up

The aim of this study was to evaluate professional development and promotion as well as whether the new competence was requested after completion of a one-year master programme (MP) in Cardiovascular (CV) nursing. In Sweden the first one-year MP within the CV area took place between 2003 and 2005 at Halmstad University with a follow-up in 2007. The sample consisted of seventeen former students who had completed the MP. A questionnaire was developed comprising twenty items grouped into three main sections.Most of the nurses stated that their knowledge was requested and that they had developed their professional attitude, skills and knowledge. Seven of the nurses had a new position and five of them had advanced in terms of leadership. In three cases, the master exam was critical for the employers' decision. Six of the nurses who had a new post had obtained an increase in salary. In conclusion, the MP led to increased competence as well as improved career prospects. Information about the MP should be available at clinics, and collaboration between clinical practice and education is necessary in order to ensure relevant use of master educated nurses' competence.

Gender division in sociology degree programmes – causes and effects?

In spite of engagement and efforts to bring about gender equality in Swedish universities, gender division paradoxically appears in both old and new degree programs and academic disciplines. In recent years there has been a tendency for higher education students to enrol in degree programmes rather than in single subject courses. Due to the decreasing number of students taking subjects like sociology, Halmstad University College has constructed a degree programme, Sociologi och socialt utvecklingsarbete [Sociology and social development], focused on community development and social action; sociology is the main specific subject here. In the autumn of 2007, 95% of the 61 students were female, compared to the 75% of female students in sociology degree courses that Sweden has had in the past seven years. The problem of skewed gender representation in sociology is discussed here, and its consequences for educational practices in sociology as well as for the contents and status of the discipline in the future.

Looking into one's own practice: a Swedish study on gender in educational sciences

This article reports on a study of gender differences in course experiences and achievement of students taking the introductory educational sciences course at Halmstad University in Sweden. Male and female students' completion rates and grades were analysed in relation to the students' grade point averages (GPAs) from upper secondary school and their experiences of the conditions for learning provided by the teachers as well as their own actorship in the course. Based on the idea that the subject of educational sciences and the characteristics of the educational context and setting are more feminine than masculine, the male students were expected to have lower completion rates and grades. A gender difference in completion rates was confirmed, in that 65% of the male and 80% of the female students completed the whole course. Male students also rated the conditions for learning provided by the teacher as well as their own actorship in the course lower than did their female peers. In order to reduce the drop‐out of male students, it is suggested that the department/teachers should pay more attention to any gendered aspects of the teaching/learning practices as well as to the educational context in general.

A Dictionary of King Arthur's Knights by Pamela Ryan (review)

HOARTHURIANA have difficulty locating the many fine things Radulescu has to say in her analysis of Malory's characters. With these qualifications in mind, The Gentry ContextforMalory's Morte Darthur is an important study of various political, social and cultural contexts of Malory's Morte, including gentry politics and reading habits, as well as book ownefship in the fifteenth century. K. S. WHETTER Acadia University pamela Ryan, A Dictionary ofKingArthur's Knights. Charleston, SC: Nautical and Aviation Publishing Company ofAmerica, 2001. Pp. 95, illus. isbn: 1-877853-61-5. $26.95. Any reader ofArthurian wotks can testify to the plethora ofnames and the need for dictionaries and handbooks. There are several such works, some more specialised than others, and Pamela Ryan's text covets a specific group: the knights and kings ofKing Arthuf's court. The dictionary appears ro involve some independentwotk, but also draws heavily on a number of othef texts: accotding to the bibliographic chapter primarily on NorrisJ. Lacy and Geoffrey Ashe, TheArthurian Handbook and Norris J. Lacy, The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, but also on works by Ronan Coughlin, Ruth Minary and Charles Moorman, Christopher Bruce, Beverly Kennedy, andJamesJ. Wilhelm. Among the writers listed we also find Geoffrey ofMonmouth, whose History ofthe Kings ofBritain is defined as 'not to be considered completely reliable' (85). The title of this book is slightly misleading; while it does list many Arthurian knights and kings, it is by no means exhaustive. Pamela Ryan has chosen to limit the names listed to those appearing in the Caxton edition of Malory (xiii): the text could, perhaps, be more appropriately defined as a dictionary ofMalory's knights. It is possibly a useful wotk for the student readingMalory and confused by the numbef ofknights, ot for quick reference: it is not, however, overly useful to a scholar. A Dictionary ofKingArthur's Knights is not, nor does it claim to be, a scholarly work. While rhe entries include a lot of information, they contain no references to where in Malory's works, or in the other works mentioned, this information was found. The reader is thus entirely dependent on Ryan's intefpretation of what are the salient points, unless the reader is willing to read through Malory's work to check every appearance of the character—which would appear rather to defeat the pufpose ofa dictionary. The main problem with this text is the lack of consistency and clarity. The information on the knights draws on other sources than Maloty, sometimes with and sometimes without any clear indication that this is the case, or by referring to the sources as 'in some accounts.' The suggestions for further reading present some select texts father than all, or even major, instances ofthe character's appearing in the texts: for example, the suggested readings for the entry 'Galahad' includes Tennyson's Idylls ofthe King, while the suggested reading for 'Percivale ofWales' does not. It is REVIEWS111 difficult to establish any pattern eirher for when episodes not in Malory's text are included and when they are not, of for the suggested readings. Also, some works listed are unfamiliar to me— and, I would suspect, to mostArthurian scholars— such as Chrétien de Troyes's Laudine (23). The entries are also confusing: Gorlois, for example, is listed under T as Duke of Tintagel, and then promptly named and defined as Duke of Cornwall. All in all, this is a brave effort to create a dictionary ofthe knights in Malory. It would, nevertheless, have benefited from better proofreading and greatef clarity of reference. KRISTINA HILDEBRAND Halmstad University Raymond ?. Thompson and keith busby, eds., Gawain: A Casebook. Arthurian Characters and Themes, Vol. 8. New York and London: Routledge, 2006. Pp. viii, 362. isbn: 0-415-97122-5. $60. This long-awaited volume completes the original Arthurian Characters and Themes series begun in 1995 under the auspices ofGarland Publishing and general editorship ofNorris J. Lacy. It is a worthy conclusion (although a possibility remains that the series may be extended by a future volume or two). As have the other contriburors to this authoritative series, Raymond Thompson and Keith Busby assemble a collection of nineteen of the most significant essays covering an enormous variety...

From Practice to Practice

Small and medium sized enterprises are an important feature of the Swedish industrial infrastructure. The formation of collaborative networks is seen as an important means for dealing with a shortage of financial, technical and other resources. This article deals with the start up and development of two networks involving managers of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and researchers from the Centre for Working Life Research and Development of Halmstad University. The striking features of the various phases of the development of the networks, as well as of those of the role of the researchers, are presented and discussed. Some important recent developments, such as connections between networks and community-based relationships, are also revealed.