En fredad plats

Idag pågår på många ställen i landet en bortbyggnad av grönområden i städer och tätorter, samtidigt som behovet av gröna urbana miljöer växer. Dock finns det fredade ytor i våra städer – kyrkogårdarna och begravningsplatserna. Målet med det här arbetet är att, med avstamp i historien, ta reda på vilken roll dessa fredade ytor skulle kunna ta i våra framtida samhällen. Begravningsplatsen är en viktig plats för de levande lika mycket som för de döda. Det är en plats alla ska kunna komma till för att sörja och minnas, och både platsen och besökaren ska behandlas med respekt. Det här arbetet handlar om begravningsplatsens historia i Sverige och Norden, hur den sett ut, hur den utvecklats och hur den använts. I arbetet diskuteras vilken roll begravningsplatsen, som en del av grönstrukturen i samhället, skulle kunna ta i framtiden. Kan man göra samma saker som man gör i stadens andra parker, även på begravningsplatsen? I diskussion argumenteras för olika sätt att använda begravningsplatserna, samt hur de ska och får användas. Indikationerna lutar mot ett användande som börjar likna parkens, men med restriktioner. Begravningsplatserna ska vara en park och del av grönstrukturen, men dess grunduppgift ska fortfarande vara den av begravning av de döda och en plats för sorgearbete.In many places in Sweden today, there is an ongoing process of diminishing the green areas, in spite of an increasing need for green urban spaces. Though there are some spaces in our cities that are protected from this – our churchyards and burial sites. The purpose of this study is to, with history as a starting-point, find out which role these protected places could take in our future societies. The burial site is just as much an important place for the living, as it is for the dead. It is a place where everyone should be able to come to mourn and reminisce, and both the site and the visitor should be treated with all due respect. This study deals with the history of the churchyard and burial site in Sweden and Scandinavia – its structure and form, its development and its use. The study discusses which role the burial site, as part of the urban green structure, could assume in the future. Is it appropriate to do the same things you would in another of a city’s parks, in a churchyard or burial site? In the discussion part of the study, different views on how to use the burial sites are argued for, as well as how they should and would be allowed to use. The indications lean towards a kind of usage more like that of the parks, but with certain restrictions. The burial sites should be a park and part of the urban green structure, but its primary task is still to be that of burying the deceased and to be a place of mourning

Identity, Empathy and Argument: Immigrants in Culture and Entertainment Journalism in the Scandinavian Press

Cultural and entertainment journalism deals with aesthetic experiences, advice on cultural consumption, as well as reflection and debate on ethical and moral humanistic issues. Does this sub-field of journalism systematically represent immigrants and integration differently than the other news and commentary articles? Comparing immigration discourse in a representative sample of six Scandinavian newspapers between 1970 and 2016 using content analysis we find that cultural journalism, while clearly reverbing with the dominant national issues at the time, did provide alternative perspectives. It not only brought up themes like racism, multiculturalism, national identity and religion more often, but was also more positive, more gender-balanced and more often gave a voice to immigrants than other news did. A closer qualitative reading further suggests a typology of ten main story-types, varying relatively little over time and across national borders. Cultural journalism in this case illustrates how the cultural public sphere can positively contribute to the debate of complicated issues in the public sphere by offering resources for identification, empathy and arguments for specific points of view.publishedVersio

Undeclared allergens in food : Food control, analyses and risk assessment

Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden collaborated during 2015 in a control project on allergen labeling. Products were also analysed for the allergens milk, egg, hazelnut, peanut and gluten. Correct labeling is the only aid for allergic consumers to avoid products which could pose a serious health risk. The widespread use of non-regulated precautionary allergen labeling (PAL) might decrease the amount of products available for allergic consumers. It can also pose a risk since the PAL might be ignored. On 10% of the controlled products, the allergenic ingredients were not correctly transcribed in the list of ingredients and EU regulations were thus not followed. Milk was the most frequently found undeclared allergen, especially in chocolate and bakery products, and therefore constitute a risk for allergic consumers. The results might give input to achieve EU legislation regarding PAL

Delayed colorectal cancer care during covid-19 pandemic (decor-19). Global perspective from an international survey

Background The widespread nature of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been unprecedented. We sought to analyze its global impact with a survey on colorectal cancer (CRC) care during the pandemic. Methods The impact of COVID-19 on preoperative assessment, elective surgery, and postoperative management of CRC patients was explored by a 35-item survey, which was distributed worldwide to members of surgical societies with an interest in CRC care. Respondents were divided into two comparator groups: 1) ‘delay’ group: CRC care affected by the pandemic; 2) ‘no delay’ group: unaltered CRC practice. Results A total of 1,051 respondents from 84 countries completed the survey. No substantial differences in demographics were found between the ‘delay’ (745, 70.9%) and ‘no delay’ (306, 29.1%) groups. Suspension of multidisciplinary team meetings, staff members quarantined or relocated to COVID-19 units, units fully dedicated to COVID-19 care, personal protective equipment not readily available were factors significantly associated to delays in endoscopy, radiology, surgery, histopathology and prolonged chemoradiation therapy-to-surgery intervals. In the ‘delay’ group, 48.9% of respondents reported a change in the initial surgical plan and 26.3% reported a shift from elective to urgent operations. Recovery of CRC care was associated with the status of the outbreak. Practicing in COVID-free units, no change in operative slots and staff members not relocated to COVID-19 units were statistically associated with unaltered CRC care in the ‘no delay’ group, while the geographical distribution was not. Conclusions Global changes in diagnostic and therapeutic CRC practices were evident. Changes were associated with differences in health-care delivery systems, hospital’s preparedness, resources availability, and local COVID-19 prevalence rather than geographical factors. Strategic planning is required to optimize CRC care