178 research outputs found
"Free Dawit Isaak"
No full textThe author joined the World Press Freedom Day campaign this year, 2011, to highlight the plight of WAN-IFRA's 2011 Golden Pen of Freedom laureate, Dawit Isaak, incarcerated without charge for nearly a decade in a notorious Eritrean jail. In this editorial Peter Englund explores how the right to dissent and question strengthens a nation, and that this universal right cannot be taken for granted.Isaak, Dawit Isaak, press freedom, World Press Freedom Day, right to dissent, democracy, freedom
Flyktighet som bevarar: Studier i Lars Englunds lyrik : [Fleeting Moments That Preserve: Studies in the Poetry of Lars Englund]
No full textThe Swedish author Lars Englund (1917-1959) was an appreciated poet in the 1940s and 50s, but according to contemporary works in literary history, he almost seems to be forgotten. The aim of this study is to call attention to his short poems by close reading. Besides, I also discuss authors and traditions that were important to Englund, and I read his poetry in comparison with literary movements in his days. Among the subjects discussed are also the question whether he was chiefly a modernist or a romantic poet. His poems often start with a view of a northern landscape. It can be the sea with seagulls at a distance and a sandy beach. The sun is rising in an early summer morning. In other poems he describes such as blooming trees or bushes in summer evenings with darkness very slowly coming. A loved one is often present. I propose that Englund is a writer whose poems often start with realistic descriptions like these, but they often widen or open to some suggested transcendence and a significant silence without being entirely symbolic. He surely appreciates the romantic tradition, but he has learned a lot from the modernist movement, not least from the early modernists in Finland, who were writing in Swedish. In his free verse he is fully aware of the importance of rhythm and typography to emphasize the semantic meaning.</p
High salivary secretory IgA antibody levels are associated with less late-onset wheezing in IgE-sensitized infants
No full textLow levels of secretory IgA (SIgA) and transient IgA deficiency have been associated with an increased risk for allergy, but data are conflicting. The aim was to assess the relationship between salivary SIgA antibody levels at 1 yr and wheezing at age four in a birth cohort, in particular the possible protective role of salivary SIgA in sensitized children. Saliva samples were obtained from all children (n = 67) with a positive skin prick test (SPT) at 1 yr and 212 children with a negative SPT. In all, 200 of these children responded to questionnaires at 4 yrs and 183 were skin prick tested at that age. The levels of salivary SIgA and salivary IgA antibodies to the most common food allergen egg and inhalant allergen cat were analyzed by ELISA. Serum was analyzed for IgE antibodies to egg and cat. Development of late-onset wheezing was associated with low SIgA levels in children with positive SPT to at least one allergen both at 1 and 4 yrs of age (p = 0.04), as well as in children with circulating IgE antibodies to egg or cat at 1 yr (p = 0.02). None of nine persistently sensitized children with SIgA levels in the upper quartile developed wheezing, when compared to 10/20 children with lower levels (p = 0.01). Older siblings, more than three infections during infancy, at least one smoking parent, and male gender, were all associated with SIgA in the upper quartile. In conclusion, high levels of SIgA antibodies in sensitized infants were associated with significantly less late-onset wheezing, supporting a protective role against development of asthmatic symptoms. Recurrent infections and other factors supporting an increased microbial pressure during infancy were associated with high levels of salivary SIgA.This is the authors’ version of:Anna Sandin, Bengt Bjorksten, Malin Fagerås Böttcher, Erling Englund, Maria Jenmalm and Lennart Braback, High salivary secretory IgA antibody levels are associated with less late-onset wheezing in IgE-sensitized infants, 2011, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, (22), 5, 477-481.http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-3038.2010.01106.xCopyright: John Wiley and Sonshttp://www.wiley.com
The Allure and Power of Popular History : Peter Englund and Herman Lindqvist in Swedish Historical Culture 1988-1995
No full textThis dissertation is a study of popular history in Sweden from the late 1980’s to the mid 1990’s. The aim is to investigate and discuss Peter Englund’s and Herman Lindqvist’s historical accounts and their roles as public historians during the studied period. The study problematizes recurring issues in Sweden’s popular historical tradition, including the balance between cultivation and entertainment, culture and commercialism, academic and journalistic prose, impersonal style and the author as media celebrity. The focus is on the narrative structure of Englund’s and Lindqvist’s historical accounts, the mediated meaning of these accounts, and the mediated meaning of Englund and Lindqvist as popular historians. The analyses show that both Englund and Lindqvist developed a popular history that had its own constitutive character as a response to, and in contrast to, academic history, and it was based on their awareness of history as a public phenomenon. In different ways, both Englund and Lindqvist assent to more existential historical topics that the historical research had a limited interest in and understanding of, such as people's dreams, beliefs and life stories. In Englund’s more academic and complex popular history the appeal to the audience's reason and critical judgement and discernment is central. At the same time, he consistently appeals to the audience's emotions and the commercial success testifies to his ability to also sustain the audience’s interest, benevolence, confidence and sympathy. Lindqvist’s distinctly commercially oriented popular history, on the other hand, primarily involves appealing to the audience’s emotions and sympathy, which are clearly prioritized at the expense of the appeal to reason and critical judgement. If Englund’s historical accounts can be characterized as being critically educating and entertaining the audience, Lindqvist’s historical accounts can be characterized as informative entertainment. Among the general conclusions are that both Englund’s and Lindqvist's historical accounts lacked links to contemporary political, social or popular educational movements and therefore affirm claims that the dominant historical culture in Sweden from the 1980’s until the 2000’s was mainly characterized by history having become a personal interest or hobby
Author commentary: Regional pattern of degeneration in Alzheimer's disease: neuronal loss and histopathological grading. A. Brun & E. Englund. Histopathology 1981; 5; 459-564.
No full textThe importance of the choice of test for finding evidence of asymmetric information
No full textWe put one of the predictions of adverse-selection models to the test, using data from the Danish automobile insurance market: that there is a positive correlation between claims risk and insurance coverage. We can find a statistically significant insurance coverage–risk correlation when coverage is expressed relative to the insurance premium, but not when it is expressed in monetary terms
Byggnadsarbetares användande och upplevda komfort av personlig skyddsutrustning i vinterklimat.
No full textThe aim of the thesis was to find out about the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in a middle-sized company in the northern part of Sweden in general was like, due to the winter climate by looking at factors promoting and inhibiting the use of PPE. The study design is a case study in focus groups conducted in one company SA Englund AB. There were 3 focus groups and 12 participants in total. The questions were written by the project- team and the questions about the winter climate were written by the author. The focus group questions were conducted in Swedish and asked in February in Sweden when it is winter. The approach with asking the questions in the focus groups in February was for the workers to have a fresh memory of PPE in the winter climate. The results showed that a construction site is a complex work environment, and the use of PPE differs from person to person. There is not a single answer on how to work with the use of PPE, but to improve PPE in general and in a winter climate has been discussed. Sub-categories include: demands of the customer, the fear of looking foolish, providing complementary supplies of the suppliers and the combination of working indoors/outdoors. The conclusion is that there are many contributing factors to why PPE is not always being used when it should. PPE is also being used at some sites all the time like helmets. This is a sign of good safety culture in many eyes while it can be a problem with bent forward postures and helmets that causes neck problems. Another problem is the performance pay, which leads to shortcuts when using PPE to save time. The thesis was written within the field of work environment and ergonomics with a focus on working preventively with accidents and ill-health in the work environment
Author commentary: Regional pattern of degeneration in Alzheimer's disease: neuronal loss and histopathological grading. A. Brun & E. Englund. Histopathology 1981; 5; 459-564
No full textAuricular Acupuncture Versus Sham Acupuncture in the Treatment of Women Who Have Insomnia
No full textBackground: Improvement in sleep parameters in relation to acupuncture treatment is often found and referredto as being a positive side-effect in the treatment of other illnesses. There is a lack of randomized studies,which primarily study the direct effect of acupuncture on sleep.Objectives: To investigate whether or not auricular acupuncture has an effect on sleep parameters amongpeople with insomnia.Design: A single-blind, randomized pilot study where the treatment group received auricular acupuncturetreatment (AAT) on active points and the control group received AAT on sham points during a 6-week treatmentperiod.Setting: Participants were recruited from the psychiatric outpatient clinics in the geographical area connectedto a local hospital in central Sweden.Subjects: In all, 28 women were included in the study, with 14 in each group. Their mean and median agewas 53 years.Outcome Measures: Sleep parameters were obtained by using the Karolinska Sleep Diary.Results: No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups relating to parameters associatedwith the definition of insomnia. The treatment group experienced that it was easier to wake up in themorning compared with the control group (repeated-measures analysis of variance, p 0.04). Both groupsshowed a statistically significant recovery in subjective sleep parameters during the study period (weeks 1–6)compared with baseline values (week 0).Conclusions: Only modest evidence was found supporting the hypothesis that AAT may have an effect oninsomnia. Least improvements were found in total sleep time and number of awakenings, 2 parameters directlyassociated with the definition of insomnia. AAT may have a role in the treatment of insomnia, especially incombination with other treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy. This study provides an example of how to perform studies using alternative therapies for sleep disorders.</p
Clinical Patterns and Renal Survival of Nephrotic Syndrome in Childhood: A Single-Center Study (1980-2006)~!2009-12-01~!2010-05-17~!2010-06-23~!
No full textTo investigate changes in the diagnostic patterns, disease profiles courses and therapeutic strategies for severe forms of childhood nephrotic syndrome (NS), the clinical features of 1 349 children treated during two consecutive time periods, 1980-2000 (n=1 162) and 2001-2006 (n=187), were retrospectively reviewed. The significant increase in initial renal impairment, NS with hypertension, and NS with hypertension and hematuria was observed (27.7% vs 51.3%, 1.0% vs 5.3% and 16.4% vs 21.9%, respectively). The rate of both secondary steroid resistance (SR) and Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis increased significantly, (1.8% vs 5.6%, p=0.032, and 14.9% vs 29.0%, p=0.034, respectively). The initial renal insufficiency and hypertension were highly predictive of the development of stage 3 of chronic kidney disease (CKD3) among SR patients in a multivariate Cox regression (p=0.001) for years 1980-2000. A higher hazard of CKD3 in male SR patients from three to six years old was observed in 2001-2006. Kaplan-Meier survival curves revealed a shift in the cumulative probability of CKD3, indicating a slower decline of the renal function for SR NS in the years 2001-2006 (p=0.008): the estimated five-year CKD3 risk was 39.7% vs 27.7%. Achievements in inducing remission and retarding the development of CKD3 in combination with increased severity of NS indicate the effectiveness of domestic strategies of NS management.</p
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