HOW MENSTRUAL PRODUCT USERS DIFFER - a logistic regression model

The two most popular menstrual products, tampon and menstrual pads are challenged by a product that is on the rise; the menstrual cup. How do the menstrual cup users differ from the other users? Do menstrual cup users have a more positive feeling towards menstruation? The results from a survey about menstruation that collected over 3000 answers are used to answer this. Users of three different menstrual products, menstrual cup, menstrual pad and tampon are analysed depending on their feeling towards menstruation, their age and their education. Multinomial and binomial logistic regression models are used, and different versions of the models are compared and assessed with cross validation. The menstrual pad and tampon users are very similar to each other but the menstrual cup users differ and are found to have a more positive feeling towards menstruation. The sample is however non-representative and the results should not be used to draw conclusions about the main population.SKILLNADER HOS MENSSKYDDSANVÄNDARE - en logistisk regressionsmodell De två vanligaste mensskyddssorterna är bindor och tamponger. De senaste åren har ett nytt mensskydd dykt upp och börjat tävla om användarna, nämligen menskoppen. Menskoppen uppfanns samtidigt som tampongerna men har först nu letat sig in i svenska affärer. Men hur skiljer sig menskoppsanvändarna åt från de andra användarna? Att använda menskopp kräver en viss närhet till den egna kroppen och menstruationen. Är detta något som visar sig hos personerna i fråga? Går det att förutse vem som är en menskoppsanvändare utifrån viss fakta om en person? För att svara på frågorna gjordes en enkät om inställningar till mens och mensskydd, enkäten spreds på sociala medier under julen 2014 och fick över 3000 svar. Med hjälp av svaren i enkäten gjordes sedan en statistisk modell över hur menskoppsanvändarna skiljer sig åt från de andra användarna. Menskoppsanvändarna visade sig då ha en mer positiv inställning till mens än de andra användarna. Ju mer positiv inställning en person hade desto större var sannolikheten att hen använde en menskopp istället för tamponger och bindor. Bilden visar hur sannolikheten att vara en menskoppsanvändare ökar vart eftersom inställningen till mens (Index) blir mer positiv. Linjen i bilden är delad i tre delar, som alla representerar personer med olika hög utbildningsnivå. Vi kan se att de med hög utbildning visade sig ha högre sannolikhet att använda menskopp än de med lägre utbildning eftersom den blå linjen hela tiden ligger en bit över de andra två linjerna. Slutligen kan kritik framföras mot studien i och med att svaren samlades in på ett sådant sätt att det är svårt att veta ifall modellen kan appliceras på befolkningen i stort eller inte. Det kan hända att de som svarade på enkäten svarade på ett sätt som är väldigt olikt hur befolkningen i stort hade svarat

Desertification and global climate change – Little Ice Age desertification in Iceland?

1. INTRODUCTION Geographers at the University of Lund have been active in research on desertification/ land degradation and environmental change monitoring of African drylands since the mid 1970’ies and of Asian drylands since the beginning of the 1990’ies. The results obtained so far do not confirm the concept of desertification as a mainly man made phenomena but indicate that the importance of climate variability and change has been underestimated (Helldén 1991). To learn about the importance of climatic fluctuations versus human impact on land degradation in arctic and sub-arctic environments, Iceland was selected for further studies. Iceland is not an arid, semi-arid or dry sub-humid region. Therefore the land degradation it is suffering cannot be called "desertification" in the strict sense as defined by the UN. On the other hand there is no doubt that land degradation has led to the creation of extensive desert like conditions in many areas of Iceland. In this sense, “desertification” is an Icelandic reality indicating the introduction and spread of desert like conditions in landscapes where there should not be any. 2. RESULTS There are few areas in Europe that have suffered such a severe and extensive land degradation as Iceland, leading to the creation of long lasting desert like conditions. It is estimated that when Iceland was settled, in 874 , at least 60% of the country was vegetated and that forests covered 15-25% of the country’s area (Bergþórsson 1998, Þórarinsson 1961, Einarsson 1963, Þorsteinsson 1973). The vegetative cover is now about 27%. There is almost no forest (The Agricultural Ministry 1986, IGI/LMÍ 1993, Arnalds et al.1997). The scientific and political societies in Iceland often relate the land degradation problems to human over use of the rangelands, starting with the introduction of cattle and sheep rasing at the time of the settlement 874 AD. They consider overgrazing and overuse of the woodlands for fuelwood and charcoal production to be the most important processes opening and exposing the landscape for soil erosion with growing desert patches and deserts as a consequence. Most farmers, on the other hand, seem to believe that the desert patches and deserts are natural phenomena. The initiation and expansion of the phenomena is supposed to be related to climatic events possibly enhanced by the traditional winter grazing habit, no longer practiced. Our observations and preliminary results indicate that the importance of climate may have been underestimated as a possible and important cause of land degradation and desertification in Iceland. Cold and dry periods have probably favoured the development and expansion of desert patches and deserts. The Little Ice Age, especially during the second half of the last century, seems to have offered favourable conditions for frost processing and events of severe wind erosion. The second half of the last century is also characterized by an outstanding high population pressure and most likely a correspondingly high grazing pressure in the study area. Time series photos of erosion remnants development during a covering a 32 years period indicate that the erosion processes creating deserts may be supprisingly slow

A longitudinal study showing how students use a molecule concept when explaining everyday situations

In this paper we present results from a 10 year (1997-2006) longitudinal study in which we, by interviews once or twice every year, followed how students, throughout the compulsory school, developed their understanding of three situations in which transformations of matter occur. We believe that students have to meet scientific ideas early in order to gradually, in social cooperation with classmates, friends, teachers, and other grown-ups, elaborate the meaning of a concept. We followed 23 students all born in 1990. 1997 we introduced the idea of the particulate nature of matter. We have conducted interviews allowing students to explain the transformation of matter in fading leaves left lying on the ground, burning candles, and a glass of water with a lid on. In the interview at 16 years of age less than one fifth of the students use molecular ideas in scientifically acceptable ways. The overall conclusion is that most students do not connect the knowledge they gain in school about the particulate nature of matter to these everyday situations. On the other hand the students seem capable of using a simple particle model and the model can help them understand the invisible gas state. The question of how to use this capability in order to develop students’ scientific ideas is still not solved and more research is argued for

A New Threat to Democracy? Examining the Democratic Implications of the Social Bot Phenomenon

Social media provides tools that enable people to share their political views and coordinate collective action and has often been praised for entailing numerous democratic opportunities. But what happens when someone finds a way to exploit these tools? Social bots, algorithmically driven software programs designed to mimic and possibly alter human behavior on social media forums, have been used to manipulate public opinion during several major political events during the last few years. The purpose of this study is to analyze the social bot phenomenon from a democratic perspective. Our research question is: what are the democratic implications of the use of social bots in political discussions online? To answer this, we have applied a theoretical framework consisting of suitable deliberative democracy theories on relevant empirical material. Our findings suggest that the use of social bots indeed has democratic implications, mostly because the bots spread inaccurate information on political topics and distort political discussions online

Aciclovir-induced neuropsychiatric symptoms : a clinical pharmacology study

Aciclovir (ACV) and its prodrug valacyclovir (VACV) are used to treat infections caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varicella zoster virus (VZV), and as prophylaxis against cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections in immunocompromised patients. Treatment with ACV has decreased the mortality in herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) from about 70 % to less than 30 %, and has also reduced the morbidity. ACV is excreted mainly by the kidneys, while a minor proportion is metabolized to 9-carboxymethoxymethylguanine (CMMG) and 8-hydroxy-ACV. It has been found that CMMG concentrations increase if renal function is decreasing. ACV is considered to have low toxicity and benign side effects. However, increasing serum creatinine and acute renal failure have been reported, and in rare cases aciclovir-induced neuropsychiatric symptoms (AINS) have developed. The mechanism behind AINS is unknown. The aim of this thesis was to investigate if there is a correlation between increased serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of CMMG, and the development of AINS. In paper I we studied the ACV and CMMG serum concentrations in 44 asymptomatic patients and 49 patients with AINS. The CMMG concentration was significantly higher in AINS patients than in the asymptomatic group (p<0.001). A ROC analysis showed that a cut-off value of 11 μmol/L had the highest sensitivity and specificity to predict AINS compared to other predictors, such as ACV exposure, ACV concentrations and renal function tests. The hypothesis that CMMG is directly involved in AINS implies that it is present in the CNS. In paper II we did find measurable concentrations of CMMG in CSF, but only in subjects with AINS. Asymptomatic control subjects had CSF CMMG levels below the limit of detection. Paper III is a description of two cases developing Cotard s syndrome- a delusion of being dead- as a result of ACV treatment. Both patients had high serum concentrations of ACV and CMMG. In paper IV the signs and symptoms pattern of AINS were analyzed in a larger group of patients. We retrieved data from published case reports, ADR cases reported to the Swedish Medical Products Agency and from our own Therapeutic Drug Monitoring database, in all 275 cases. We also compared AINS with signs and symptoms from herpes encephalitis (HSE). The study confirmed that altered level of consciousness, confusion, and hallucinations were the most frequent clinical characteristics of AINS, while HSE patients presented with high fever, altered level of consciousness, focal neurological signs, and headache. Paper V is a single-dose, open-label pharmacokinetic crossover study with one intravenous part and one oral part. We found that CMMG levels in hemodialysis patients were more than 10 times higher than in healthy volunteers. Subjects with normal and moderately impaired renal function had CMMG levels close to, or below, measurable concentrations. The results of this thesis support the hypothesis that CMMG is a useful predictor of AINS and that it may be mechanistically involved. Symptoms of AINS cannot always be reliably discriminated from symptoms of HSE, and vice versa. Determination of serum and CSF CMMG concentrations may be a useful tool to diagnose AINS and when distinguishing between AINS and HSE. Dose regimens aimed to minimize CMMG exposure can be developed based on the PK results

"Kärlekskrank och giftaslysten, men ändå ganska hämmad": om (o)jämställdhet i Lundensiska studentspex

The purpose of this essay is to study and present gender inequalities in student theatre groups called "spex" in Lund, Sweden. The "spex", which are a kind of theatre/musical, have been a tradition in student towns in Sweden for over a hundred years. Four groups are studied, Boelspexarna, Jesperspexet, Lundaspexarna and Toddyspexarna, and the material studied is leaflets from their shows from 1999 to 2013. The study is quantitative and uses the method content analysis. The characters in the shows are registered depending on their sex and whether work status, relationships, looks and romances are mentioned in their presentation. It is shown that men and women are treated differently in the case of work status, relationships and romances. Men’s work status is mentioned to a greater degree and women’s relationships and love life are mentioned to a greater degree. Low connection is found, however, between sex and mention of looks. Conclusively, men are in the majority among the characters, and the sexes are treated differently

Neonatal resuscitation practices in Uganda: a video observational study

Background Neonatal mortality, often due to birth asphyxia, remains stubbornly high in sub-Saharan Africa. Guidelines for neonatal resuscitation, where achieving adequate positive pressure ventilation (PPV) is key, have been implemented in low-resource settings. However, the actual clinical practices of neonatal resuscitation have rarely been examined in these settings. The primary aim of this prospective observational study was to detail the cumulative proportion of time with ventilation during the first minute on the resuscitation table of neonates needing PPV at the Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, Uganda. Methods From November 2015 to January 2016, resuscitations of non-breathing neonates by birth attendants were video-recorded using motion sensor cameras. The resuscitation practices were analysed using the application NeoTapAS and compared between those taking place in the labour ward and those in theatre through Fisher’s exact test and Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Results From 141 recorded resuscitations, 99 were included for analysis. The time to initiation of PPV was 66 (42–102) s overall, and there was minimal PPV during the first minute in both groups with 0 (0–10) s and 0 (0–12) s of PPV, respectively. After initiating PPV the overall duration of interruptions during the first minute was 28 (18–37) s. Majority of interruptions were caused by stimulation (28%), unknown reasons (25%) and suction (22%). Conclusions Our findings show a low adherence to standard resuscitation practices in 2015–2016. This emphasises the need for continuous educational efforts and investments in staff and adequate resources to increase the quality of clinical neonatal resuscitation practices in low-resource settings.publishedVersio

Students’ attitudes towards science: a long term perspective

In this study the attitudes of four pupils, two boys and two girls, towards science are followed over the course of six years. Data were obtained in two ways. First, and principally, by annual interviews undertaken in the pupils' homes throughout their science education from the ages of 11 to 16 years, and at the age of 17, one year after the ending of their compulsory schooling; secondly, by means of observations made during their science lessons in an English state (non-fee-paying) school from 1994 to 1999. Each pupil's attitudes towards science and their experiences of their school science education are described by means of quotations and episodic biographical vignettes. These allow us to track the ways in which the pupils' attitudes about science developed over the course of the study. The findings help to shed light on the reasons why many pupils lose interest in science during the course of their secondary science education