Why We Should Distinguish Between Mobilization and Participation When Investigating Social Media

In the recent past, social media has become a central channel and means for political and societal mobilization. Mobilization refers to the process by which political parties, politicians, social movements, activists, and other political and social actors induce citizens to participate in politics in order to win elections, convince others of their own positions, influence policies, and modify rulings. While not sufficient on its own for facilitating participation, mobilization is necessary for participation to occur, which justifies examining mobilization specifically to understand how people can be involved in politics. This thematic issue of Media and Communication presents various perspectives on the role of social media in mobilization, embracing both its recruitment side (traditional and non-established political actors, social and protest movements) and its network side (the ways citizens respond to mobilization appeals). Taken together, the thematic issue highlights the multifaceted nature and scholarly fruitfulness of mobilization as an independent concept

Quality of Understanding in Communication among and between Political Parties, Mass Media, and Citizens: An Empirical Study of the 2013 Austrian National Election

The study investigates the extent to which political parties, the mass media, and citizens follow qualitative principles demanded by the public sphere concept in political campaign communications. Using the index of a quality of understanding (IQU), it analyses the press releases and Facebook posts of political parties, newspaper articles, and responses by citizens in the form of comments in newspaper forums and on parties’ Facebook pages (N=7,525) during the 2013 Austrian national election. Considering that the quality of understanding of public discourse is measured on a 100-point scale, which serves as a benchmark representing perfect understanding, observed real-world values are often rather low. Austrian political parties scored the highest IQU of 28.35 points, and hence can be described as most closely following the principles of an ideal communication orientation. The quality of understanding is the lowest in everyday political discussion on Facebook, where political parties’ posts have an IQU of 17.97 points. The difference of 10.38 points to the highest achieved value of 28.35 reveals different deliberative communication practices between well-considered and strategically formulated communication in press releases as well as newspaper articles and everyday communication including citizens’ comments on Facebook and newspaper articles, which take different configurations

Evaluation of the suitability of the factorstructures of measures of narcissism

Käesoleva töö eesmärgiks oli uurida Aavo Luuki (2014) koostatud Negatiivsete enesekohaste tuumikhinnangute küsimustikku kuuluvate nartsissismi alaskaalade faktorstruktuure ning küsimuste sobivust varem leitud faktorstruktuuridega. Nartsissismi küsimustikud on koostatud Jonason ja Websteri (2010) “Räpase tosina“ ning Pincuse ja teiste (2009) Patoloogilise nartsissismi küsimustiku (PNI), eeskujul. Analüüsist ilmnes, et Luuki (2014) poolt varasemalt väiksema (n=250) valimiga läbi viidud analüüsi tulemused kattusid osaliselt käesolevas töös suurema valimiga (n=2103) läbi viiidud analüüsiga. Lisaks oli eesmärgiks proovida leida, kuidas muuta kaks alaskaalat kompaktsemaks ja praktilisemaks arvestades Negatiivsete enesekohaste tuumikhinnangute küsimustiku arvukaid alaskaalasid. Nartsissismikohastest väidetest leidus seitse väidet, mis ei leidnud olulist kohta üheski dimensioonis

Natriumphosphat enthaltende Darmreinigungsmittel - eine Gefahr für die Niere?

Bowel preparations containing Sodium phosphate – a risk for renal damage? - There are several well-documented cases of acute irreversible renal failure involving renal calcium phosphate deposits after the use of bowel preparations containing sodium phosphate (e.g., Colophos®). - Neither randomised clinical nor epidemiological studies have established an association between sodium phosphate use and renal damage in patients without preexisting renal dysfunction. - However, it is likely that patients with preexisting renal dysfunction and other risk factors were not sufficiently represented and analysed in these studies, and may be at increased risk of (further) renal damage through sodium phosphate. - Recommendations for clinical practice: 1. Routine determination of renal function through GFR estimation before prescription of bowel cleansing preparations containing sodium phosphate. 2. If sodium phosphate is administered, sufficient hydration is crucial: 2 L of fluids should be consumed with each 90 ml bottle of Colophos®. 3. Sodium phosphate should not be used in patients with preexisting renal dysfunction (GFR <60 ml/min), and in those with other risk factors (heart failure, concomitant use of ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers and diuretics, preexisting dehydration and electrolyte disorders, old age). Bowel preparations containing polyethylene glycol (e.g., Cololyt®) should be given to these patients

Development, implementation and outcome analysis of semi-automated alerts for metformin dose adjustment in hospitalized patients with renal impairment

PURPOSE Overdosing of the oral antidiabetic metformin in impaired renal function is an important contributory cause to life-threatening lactic acidosis. The presented project aimed to quantify and prevent this avoidable medication error in clinical practice. METHODS We developed and implemented an algorithm into a hospital's clinical information system that prospectively identifies metformin prescriptions if the estimated glomerular filtration rate is below 60 mL/min. Resulting real-time electronic alerts are sent to clinical pharmacologists and pharmacists, who validate cases in electronic medical records and contact prescribing physicians with recommendations if necessary. RESULTS The screening algorithm has been used in routine clinical practice for 3 years and generated 2145 automated alerts (about 2 per day). Validated expert recommendations regarding metformin therapy, i.e., dose reduction or stop, were issued for 381 patients (about 3 per week). Follow-up was available for 257 cases, and prescribers' compliance with recommendations was 79%. Furthermore, during 3 years, we identified eight local cases of lactic acidosis associated with metformin therapy in renal impairment that could not be prevented, e.g., because metformin overdosing had occurred before hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS Automated sensitive screening followed by specific expert evaluation and personal recommendations can prevent metformin overdosing in renal impairment with high efficiency and efficacy. Repeated cases of metformin-associated lactic acidosis in renal impairment underline the clinical relevance of this medication error. Our locally developed and customized alert system is a successful proof of concept for a proactive clinical drug safety program that is now expanded to other clinically and economically relevant medication errors

The sociodemographics of political public deliberation: Measuring deliberative quality in different user groups

Governments and local administrations increasingly use the internet to improve citizens' participation in deliberation processes. However, research studies have pointed out that deliberation outcomes vary due to the participants' sociodemographic differences. In this paper, we address this debate by quantitatively measuring different sociodemographic participant groups' deliberation quality. By building an index of the quality of understanding (IQU), we analyze the quality of 1,991 postings on local political issues that participants contributed during the 2011 Zurich City debate. We defined five indicators for deliberation quality: statement of reasons, proposals for solutions, respect, doubts, and reciprocity. The analysis confirms that the sociodemographic composition of the participants is of great importance for self-selected participation and deliberation quantity, but not for the deliberation quality