“Et lille, firfodet Dyr og en Hovedløs mand”

This article proposes a new approach to medieval imagery. By taking as a case a relief carving showing a disembodied head, a headless body, a horse and foliage, it argues that this seemingly unintelligible motif can be interpreted based on an approach where the human elements do not dictate the reading alone, as in previous analyses, but that non-human components carry a meaning-driving function as well. The article points out how scholarly approaches to pre-modern imagery, by definition, are culturally conditioned and rooted in the conceptual framework of modernity. It argues that the tendency to understand decapitations and public executions as unilaterally negative cannot be applied to the Middle Ages. Implementing instead a step-by-step shift in the interpretative perspective, the article reaches an understanding of the relief as a representation of a deconstructed anthropomorphic knightly identity where the man and the horse represent the Christian self-sacrificing death, literally and/or morally

“Et lille, firfodet Dyr og en Hovedløs mand”: Et præludium over negativitetens æstetik i den tidlige danske middelalder

This article proposes a new approach to medieval imagery. By taking as a case a relief carving showing a disembodied head, a headless body, a horse and foliage, it argues that this seemingly unintelligible motif can be interpreted based on an approach where the human elements do not dictate the reading alone, as in previous analyses, but that non-human components carry a meaning-driving function as well. The article points out how scholarly approaches to pre-modern imagery, by definition, are culturally conditioned and rooted in the conceptual framework of modernity. It argues that the tendency to understand decapitations and public executions as unilaterally negative cannot be applied to the Middle Ages. Implementing instead a step-by-step shift in the interpretative perspective, the article reaches an understanding of the relief as a representation of a deconstructed anthropomorphic knightly identity where the man and the horse represent the Christian self-sacrificing death, literally and/or morally

Effort-reward imbalance at work and risk of type 2 diabetes in a national sample of 50,552 workers in Denmark : A prospective study linking survey and register data

Objective: To examine the prospective relation between effort-reward imbalance at work and risk of type 2 diabetes. Methods: We included 50,552 individuals from a national survey of the working population in Denmark, aged 30-64 years and diabetes-free at baseline. Effort-reward imbalance was defined, in accordance with the literature, as a mismatch between high efforts at work (e.g. high work pace, time pressure), and low rewards received in return (e.g. low recognition, job insecurity) and assessed as a continuous and a categorical variable. Incident type 2 diabetes was identified in national health registers. Using Cox regression we calculated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for estimating the association between effort-reward imbalance at baseline and risk of onset of type 2 diabetes during follow-up, adjusted for sex, age, socioeconomic status, cohabitation, children at home, migration background, survey year and sample method. Results: During 136,239 person-years of follow-up (mean = 2.7 years) we identified 347 type 2 diabetes cases (25.5 cases per 10,000 person-years). For each one standard deviation increase of the effort-reward imbalance score at baseline, the fully adjusted risk of type 2 diabetes during follow-up increased by 9% (HR: 1.09, 95% CI: 0.98-1.21). When we used effort-reward imbalance as a dichotomous variable, exposure to effort-reward imbalance was associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes with a HR of 1.27 (95% CI: 1.02-1.58). Conclusion The results of this nationwide study of the Danish workforce suggest that effort-reward imbalance at work may be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.Peer reviewe

Effort-reward imbalance at work and risk of type 2 diabetes in a national sample of 50,552 workers in Denmark: A prospective study linking survey and register data

Objective: To examine the prospective relation between effort-reward imbalance at work and risk of type 2 diabetes.Methods: We included 50,552 individuals from a national survey of the working population in Denmark, aged 30-64 years and diabetes-free at baseline. Effort-reward imbalance was defined, in accordance with the literature, as a mismatch between high efforts at work (e.g. high work pace, time pressure), and low rewards received in return (e.g. low recognition, job insecurity) and assessed as a continuous and a categorical variable. Incident type 2 diabetes was identified in national health registers. Using Cox regression we calculated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for estimating the association between effort-reward imbalance at baseline and risk of onset of type 2 diabetes during follow-up, adjusted for sex, age, socioeconomic status, cohabitation, children at home, migration background, survey year and sample method.Results: During 136,239 person-years of follow-up (mean = 2.7 years) we identified 347 type 2 diabetes cases (25.5 cases per 10,000 person-years). For each one standard deviation increase of the effort-reward imbalance score at baseline, the fully adjusted risk of type 2 diabetes during follow-up increased by 9% (HR: 1.09, 95% CI: 0.98-1.21). When we used effort-reward imbalance as a dichotomous variable, exposure to effort-reward imbalance was associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes with a HR of 1.27 (95% CI: 1.02-1.58).Conclusion The results of this nationwide study of the Danish workforce suggest that effort-reward imbalance at work may be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes