Share Your Story - A study of how images contribute to storytelling and online communities

This paper examines how images contribute to storytelling (RQ1) and how communities can be created through visual storytelling on Instagram (RQ2). By conducting a case study on the Instagram account Roam the Planet, we explore how stories are told through images, and how these stories can contribute to the creation of a community within the outdoor discourse. To answer our research questions, we study six sample images by combining visual rhetorical analysis and discourse analysis. First, we look at the images’ aesthetics and content and identify central meanings and associations. Then, to gain a better understanding of the images’ role in storytelling, we develop the results through a more detailed analysis. Our findings are as follows: the images convey meanings through aesthetics, content and aspects of storytelling; there are three subdiscourses that contribute to the representation of outdoor discourse on Roam the Planet; when the viewers identify themselves with the stories, the identification can be considered a type of participation in the community on Instagram. We conclude our study with a discussion of our findings in a broader cultural context

ADHD in international adoptees: a national cohort study

Several investigators have reported an increased frequency of attention/hyperactivity symptoms in international adoptees, though population-based studies are lacking. In this national cohort study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of ADHD medication in international adoptees in Sweden, in comparison to the general population. A further purpose was to study gender, age at adoption and region of origin as predictors of ADHD medication in international adoptees. The study population consisted of all Swedish residents born in 1985–2000 with Swedish-born parents, divided into 16,134 adoptees, and a comparison population of 1,326,090. ADHD medications were identified in the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register during 2006. Logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratios. The rates of ADHD medication were higher in international adoptees than in the comparison population for both boys (5.3 vs. 1.5% for 10–15-year olds) and girls (2.1 vs. 0.3% for 10–15-year olds). International adoptees from all regions of birth more often consumed ADHD medication compared with the majority population, but the age and sex adjusted odds ratios were particularly high for adoptees from Eastern Europe, Middle East/Africa and Latin America. Adjusting for maternal education and single parenthood increased the odds ratios even further. The risk also increased with higher age at adoption. Adoptees from Eastern Europe have a very high risk for ADHD medication. A structured identification and support programme should be tailored for this group. Adoptees from other regions have a more moderately increased risk, which should be communicated to adoptive parents and to professionals who care for adoptees in their clinical practice

Child deaths due to injury in the four UK countries: a time trends study from 1980 to 2010

Injuries are an increasingly important cause of death in children worldwide, yet injury mortality is highly preventable. Determining patterns and trends in child injury mortality can identify groups at particularly high risk. We compare trends in child deaths due to injury in four UK countries, between 1980 and 2010

Quality of medical care and excess mortality in psychiatric patients—a nationwide register-based study in Sweden

OBJECTIVE: To assess overall and cause-specific mortality and the quality of somatic care among psychiatric patients.DESIGN: A register-based cohort study.SETTING: All individuals aged 20-79 years in Sweden in 2005.PARTICIPANTS: In total 6 294 339 individuals.PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: The individuals were followed for mortality in 2006 and 2007, generating 72 187 deaths. Psychiatric patients were grouped according to their diagnosis in the National Patient Register. Mortality risk of psychiatric patients was compared with that of non-psychiatric patients. Estimates of RR of mortality were calculated as incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% CIs using Poisson regression analysis. Psychiatric patients were compared with non-psychiatric patients for three healthcare quality indicators: the proportion of avoidable hospitalisations, case death rate after myocardial infarction and statin use among diabetic patients.RESULTS: Compared with individuals with no episodes of treatment for mental disorder, psychiatric patients had a substantially increased risk of all studied causes of death as well as death from conditions considered amenable to intervention by the health service, that is, avoidable mortality. The highest mortality was found among those with another mental disorder, predominantly substance abuse (for women, an IRR of 4.7 (95% CI 4.3 to 5.0) and for men, an IRR of 4.8 (95% CI 4.6 to 5.0)). The analysis of quality of somatic care revealed lower levels of healthcare quality for psychiatric patients, signalling failures in public health and medical care.CONCLUSION: This study shows a marked increase in excess mortality, suggesting a lower quality of somatic healthcare in psychiatric patients.</p

Versican in inflammation and tissue remodelling: the impact on lung disorders.

Versican is a proteoglycan that has many different roles in tissue homeostasis and inflammation. The biochemical structure is comprised of four different types of the core protein with attached glycosaminoglycans that can be sulphated to various extents and has the capacity to regulate differentiation of different cell types, migration, cell adhesion, proliferation, tissue stabilization and inflammation. Versican's regulatory properties are of importance during both homeostasis and changes that lead to disease progression. The glycosaminoglycans that are attached to the core protein are of the chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate type and are known to be important in inflammation through interactions with cytokines and growth factors. For a more complex understanding of versican it is of importance to study the tissue niche, where the wound healing process in both healthy and diseased conditions take place. In previous studies our group has identified changes in the amount of the multifaceted versican in chronic lung disorders such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, which could be a result of pathologic, transforming growth factor β driven, on-going remodelling processes. Reversely, the context of versican in its niche is of great importance since versican has been reported to have a beneficial role in other contexts e.g. emphysema. Here we explore the vast mechanisms of versican in healthy lung and in lung disorders

Associations between number of sick-leave days and future all-cause and cause-specific mortality: a population-based cohort study

BACKGROUND: As the number of studies on the future situation of sickness absentees still is very limited, we aimed to investigate the association between number of sick-leave days and future all-cause and cause-specific mortality among women and men. METHODS: A cohort of 2 275 987 women and 2 393 248 men, aged 20–64 years in 1995 was followed 1996–2006 with regard to mortality. Data were obtained from linked authority-administered registers. The relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of mortality with and without a 2-year wash-out period were estimated by multivariate Poisson regression analyses. All analyses were stratified by sex, adjusting for socio demographics and inpatient care. RESULTS: A gradually higher all-cause mortality risk occurred with increasing number of sick-leave days in 1995, among both women (RR 1.11; CI 1.07-1.15 for those with 1–15 sick-leave days to RR 2.45; CI 2.36-2.53 among those with 166–365 days) and men (RR 1.20; CI 1.17-1.24 to RR 1.91; CI 1.85-1.97). Multivariate risk estimates were comparable for the different causes of death (circulatory disease, cancer, and suicide). The two-year washout period had only a minor effect on the risk estimates. CONCLUSION: Even a low number of sick-leave days was associated with a higher risk for premature death in the following 11 years, also when adjusting for morbidity. This was the case for both women and men and also for cause-specific mortality. More knowledge is warranted on the mechanisms leading to higher mortality risks among sickness absentees, as sickness certification is a common measure in health care, and most sick leave is due to diagnoses you do not die from

Low migrant mortality in Germany for men aged 65 and older: fact or artifact?

Migrant mortality in Europe was found to be lower than mortality of host populations. In Germany, residents with migrant background constitute nearly one tenth of the population aged 65+ with about 40% of them being foreigners. The German Pension Scheme follows vital status of pensioners very accurately. Mortality re-estimation reveals two-fold underestimation of mortality of foreigners due to biased death numerator and population denominator

Anesthesia for intra-articular corticosteroid injections in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: A survey of pediatric rheumatologists

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To determine the methods of anesthesia currently being used by pediatric rheumatologists when performing intra-articular corticosteroid injections (IACI).</p> <p>Study design</p> <p>A questionnaire was emailed to all members of the Childhood Arthritis & Rheumatology Research Alliance, a pediatric rheumatology research network in North America. The questionnaire consisted of 11 questions ranging from procedure technique, treatments prescribed for topical anesthesia and oral analgesia, and factors that might affect procedural pain.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Seventy-four of 161 physicians (46%) responded to the questionnaire. On average, each physician injected 33 children (median 25, range 1-160) and 43 joints (median 30, range 1-150) yearly. Local anesthesia was used in children on average ≥ 8 years (range 2-16 years), with general anesthesia being more frequently used for younger children. All respondents used local anesthesia. The most commonly used methods of local anesthesia were EMLA^®cream plus subcutaneous lidocaine (58.8%), ethyl chloride spray only (39.7%), EMLA^®cream only (33.8%), subcutaneous lidocaine only (25%), and lidocaine iontophoresis only (11.8%). Buffering of the lidocaine was routinely done only 7.4% of the time.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although pediatric rheumatologists in North America perform IACI on a large number of patients each year, a wide variety of methods are used to deliver local anesthesia with no accepted standard of care. More studies are needed to determine the optimal method of local anesthesia delivery to minimize pain associated with IACI.</p