Regionala representationers verksamhet

The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework, by which one could explain the varying nature of Europe’s Regional Representations. This framework is constructed through empirical and theoretical contributions from both the literature of ‘Multi-Level Governance’ and ‘New Institutionalism’. It is argued that institutional conditions at an EU-level creates an environment in which regional structures affects the way which representations work toward the region’s interests. Structures within the region, it is argued, determines the representation’s access to both information and contacts, which in the context of the EU, is important resources for anyone seeking to affect decision-making. Furthermore, the framework is tested empirically through data collected through interviews conducted with five Swedish representations and from the region’s websites. The framework shows some promise in explaining the varying nature of the representations, though the framework needs to be expanded to capture the full variety. While the framework seems to be able to explain some variation amongst the representations, it seems that organisational structures affects the representations in additional ways than those proposed. Thus, some complementing explanations are proposed to create a more nuanced theoretical understanding

Consciência cultural no trabalho das ONGD em Moçambique:dilemas e escolhas

Dissertação de Mestrado em Estudos AfricanosEste trabalho parte de uma experiência pessoal vivida em Moçambique (2003-2011). As atividades, vivências, interações e observações feitas ao longo deste período serviram de base para uma reflexão sobre a consciência cultural. O trabalho de duas ONGD na área do combate ao HIV-sida é o contexto para essa reflexão. Estas organizações enfrentam dilemas que as obrigam a fazer escolhas nem sempre simples. Importa perceber a forma como o trabalho de desenvolvimento realizado nesta área incorpora o conhecimento local e os processos através dos quais traduz uma consciência cultural. A reflexão aborda a questão de a consciência cultural, ou a ausência dela, poder ser reflexo do mundo global e economicista em que vivemos. Se a cultura é hoje vista quase exclusivamente como bens e serviços culturais, dificilmente ela será integrada no trabalho de desenvolvimento realizado com as populações locais. Longe de a vermos como um obstáculo, argumenta-se que a cultura pode ser um verdadeiro aliado natural. Numa perspetiva de futuro, sugere-se a criação de programas de consciência cultural que promovam maior reflexividade ou tradução cultural, para uma atuação mais consciente e responsável. Sugere-se também a incorporação de conhecimento sócio-antropológico, especificamente na área da consciência cultural, no quadro das políticas de saúde.This research originates from a personal experience in Mozambique (2003-2011). The activities experiences, interactions and observations made during this period form the basis for a reflection on cultural awareness. The work of two NGOs working in the HIV-AIDS sector is the context for this reflection. These organizations face dilemmas which requires them to make choices that are not always simple. It is important to understand how development work carried out in this area incorporates local knowledge and through which processes that work translates a cultural awareness. The research addresses cultural awareness, or the lack of it, as a reflection of the global and economic-based world we live in. If culture is seen nowadays as almost exclusively cultural goods and services, it is unlikely to be integrated in the work carried out with local populations. Far from an obstacle, this research argues that culture can be a natural ally. With a perspective for the future, suggestion is made to establish cultural awareness programmes that promote a higher reflection or a cultural translation, thus allowing for a more aware and responsible way of operating. Suggestion is also made to incorporate socio-anthropological knowledge, specifically in the area of cultural awareness, within health policy-making

Total colonic aganglionosis : multicentre study of surgical treatment and patient-reported outcomes up to adulthood

Background: Surgery for total colonic aganglionosis (TCA) is designed to preserve continence and achieve satisfactory quality of life. This study evaluated a comprehensive group of clinical and social outcomes. Methods: An international multicentre study from eight Nordic hospitals involving examination of case records and a patient-reported questionnaire survey of all patients born with TCA between 1987 and 2006 was undertaken. Results: Of a total of 116 patients, five (4 center dot 3 per cent) had died and 102 were traced. Over a median follow-up of 12 (range 0 center dot 3-33) years, bowel continuity was established in 75 (73 center dot 5 per cent) at a median age of 11 (0 center dot 5-156) months. Mucosectomy with a short muscular cuff and straight ileoanal anastomosis (SIAA) (29 patients) or with aJpouch (JIAA) (26) were the most common reconstructions (55 of 72, 76 per cent). Major early postoperative complications requiring surgical intervention were observed in four (6 per cent) of the 72 patients. In 57 children aged over 4 years, long-term functional bowel symptoms after reconstruction included difficulties in holding back defaecation in 22 (39 per cent), more than one faecal accident per week in nine (16 per cent), increased frequency of defaecation in 51 (89 per cent), and social restrictions due to bowel symptoms in 35 (61 per cent). Enterocolitis occurred in 35 (47 per cent) of 72 patients. Supplementary enteral and/or parenteral nutrition was required by 51 (55 per cent) of 93 patients at any time during follow-up. Of 56 responders aged 2-20 years, true low BMI for age was found in 20 (36 per cent) and 13 (23 per cent) were short for age. Conclusion: Reconstruction for TCA was associated with persistent bowel symptoms, and enterocolitis remained common. Multidisciplinary follow-up, including continuity of care in adulthood, might improve care standards in patients with TCA.Peer reviewe

The meaning of quality work from the general practitioner's perspective: an interview study

BACKGROUND: The quality of health care and its costs have been a subject of considerable attention and lively discussion. Various methods have been introduced to measure, assess, and improve the quality of health care. Many professionals in health care have criticized quality work and its methods as being unsuitable for health care. The aim of the study was to obtain a deeper understanding of the meaning of quality work from the general practitioner's perspective. METHODS: Fourteen general practitioners, seven women and seven men, were interviewed with the aid of a semi-structured interview guide about their experience of quality work. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data collection and analysis were guided by a phenomenological approach intended to capture the essence of the statements. RESULTS: Two fundamentally different ways to view quality work emerged from the statements: A pronounced top-down perspective with elements of control, and an intra-profession or bottom-up perspective. From the top-down perspective, quality work was described as something that infringes professional freedom. From the bottom-up perspective the statements described quality work as a self-evident duty and as a professional attitude to the medical vocation, guided by the principles of medical ethics. Follow-up with a bottom-up approach is best done in internal processes, with the profession itself designing structures and methods based on its own needs. CONCLUSIONS: The study indicates that general practitioners view internal follow-up as a professional obligation but external control as an imposition. This opposition entails a difficulty in achieving systematism in follow-up and quality work in health care. If the statutory standards for systematic quality work are to gain a real foothold, they must be packaged in such a way that general practitioners feel that both perspectives can be reconciled

COOPEDU IV — Cooperação e Educação de Qualidade

O quarto Congresso Internacional de Cooperação e Educação-IV COOPEDU, organizado pelo Centro de Estudos Internacionais (CEI) do Instituto Universitário de Lisboa e pela Escola Superior de Educação e Ciências Sociais do Instituto Politécnico de Leiria decorreu nos dias 8 e 9 de novembro de 2018, subordinado à temática Cooperação e Educação de Qualidade. Este congresso insere-se numa linha de continuidade de intervenção por parte das duas instituições organizadoras e dos elementos coordenadores e este ano beneficiou do financiamento do Instituto Camões, obtido através de um procedimento concursal, que nos permitiu contar com a participação presencial de elementos dos Países Africanos de Língua Portuguesa, fortemente implicados nas problemáticas da Educação e da Formação. Contou também com a participação do Instituto Camões e da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, entidades que sistematizaram a sua intervenção nos domínios da cooperação na área da educação nos últimos anos. A opção pela temática da qualidade pareceu aos organizadores pertinente e actual. Com efeito os sistemas educativos dos países que constituem a Comunidade de países de língua portuguesa têm implementado várias reformas mas em vários domínios mantem-se a insatisfação de responsáveis políticos, pedagogos, técnicos sociais face aos resultados obtidos. Aliás o caminho de procura da Qualidade é interminável porque vai a par da aposta na exigência e na promoção da cidadania e responsabilidade social. As comunicações que agora se publicam estão organizadas em dois eixos: o das Políticas da Educação e Formação e o das dimensões em que se traduzem essas políticas. Neste último eixo encontramos fios condutores para agregarmos as comunicações apresentadas

Strategi för partnerskap : En kvalitativ studie hur partners till Svenska Padelförbundet uppfattar samarbetet

Padel rider på en kommersiell våg med privata investerare och ställer samtidigt frågor till den svenska traditionella idrottsrörelsen. I mitten står ett förbund som vill ta tillvara och förena det bästa av två krafter. Följande studie avser förstå hur partners till Svenska Padelförbundet, ett relativt nytt förbund som växer, uppfattar samarbetet med förbundet.Det är en kvalitativ studie där sju respondenter deltagit. Resultatet analyseras utifråntidigare forskning inom partnerskap samt teorier om relationsskapande och utvärdering. Studiens resultat påvisar att det finns tilltro till förbundet men att det i dagsläget finns mer att önska för att partnerskapet ska vara på den nivån förbundet ger uttryck för. Den kommunikativa biten i partnerskapet nämns av samtliga respondenter som ett område med utvecklingspotential för att skapa ett bättre samarbete

Avtryck från förr: storhögar i Mälardalen under järnåldern

Imprints from the past: great mounds in Mälardalen during the Iron Age. Within the archaeological field large mounds has been a topic of interest since the 17th century. The thought of large mounds as monuments of power during the Iron Age has long been the established way of understanding them. They are believed to contain mighty and wealthy lords, or at least they are preferred to contain men. The purpose of this paper is to look into the mounds content and examine if these contents justify the established theories within the archeological field or if they are cause for dispute

Effect of vaginal delivery on endosonographic anal sphincter morphology

Objective To describe the effect of vaginal delivery with no clinically recognized sphincter tear on endosonographic anal sphincter morphology and sphincter pressure and to relate endosonographic results to anal sphincter pressure and anal incontinence score. Study design Thirty-two nullipara underwent anal endosonography and anal manometry in the third trimester of pregnancy, 2 weeks and 6 months post-partum. The sphincter defect scores (1–16) and the thickness and length of the sphincters were measured by endosonography, and sphincter pressures and manometric sphincter lengths were determined. The Wexner incontinence score (1–20) was used to classify anal incontinence 6 months post-partum. Results Five (16%) women had small endosonographic anal sphincter defects (score 3–4) before delivery. Eight women (25%; confidence interval 11–43%) had new defects detected post-partum, five small, one moderate (score 7), and two large (score 10–11). Six (75%) of eight women with new defects post-partum had undergone episiotomy versus five (21%) of 24 women with no new defects (p = 0.02). Six months after delivery 16 (50%) women reported anal incontinence, and there was a positive correlation between the endosonographic defect score 6 months post-partum and the Wexner incontinence score. The sphincter was significantly longer during pregnancy than 6 months post-partum. Conclusion New sphincter defects may arise after vaginal delivery without any clinically recognizable sphincter tear. There is a positive correlation between the endosonographic defect score 6 months post-partum and the Wexner incontinence score

"...Spreading happiness in a time of distress" : A critical discourse analysis of memes linked to covid-19

The purpose of this study is to examine memes on the internet linked to covid-19 to see what opinions, themes and discourses are presented. Hopefully this study can contribute to increase the understanding of the meme-culture, but also the meaning and function memes has in a crisis context such as the pandemic. This study is conducted by a thematic coding which makes it possible to identify the most common themes in the popular community r/Coronavirusmemes on Reddit. The following theories are used as a theoretical framework in this study; critical analysis, semiotic analysis and participatory culture

Cirkulär Ekonomi : Ett mål att uppnå

Cirkulär ekonomi är för tillfället ett väldigt hett och omdiskuterat ämne. Problemet med den linjära modell som används idag är att så fort en produkt gått sönder eller uppfyllt sitt syfte så blir den avfall, vilket är ett oerhört slöseri med resurser. Den cirkulära ekonomins modell fokuserar istället på att skapa produkter som kan återanvändas eller monteras isär och återvinnas efter att de uppfyllt sitt syfte/gått sönder. Regioner, kommuner och företag har en stor del i det hela, och utan stöd från varandra kommer en omställning från linjär till cirkulär ekonomi blir svårt.Syftet med den här studien var att skapa förståelse för om företag i Region Kronoberg arbetar med cirkulär ekonomi, i så fall på vilka sätt, samt om de får stöd från kommunal och regional nivå. För att kunna studera detta skickades enkäter ut till företag runt om i Region Kronoberg, samt så genomfördes telefonintervjuer med vissa kommuner.Resultaten som framkom visar på att det finns företag i Region Kronoberg som arbetar med cirkulär ekonomi idag, även om de inte är särskilt många. De vanligaste sätten att arbeta med det på är genom återvinning, återtillverkning, samt reducering av avfall och utsläpp. Det framkom också av undersökningen att kommunerna inte har gett något direkt stöd till företagen, och inte heller Region Kronoberg.The purpose of this study was to create an understanding about if companies in Region Kronoberg works with circular economy, if so, in what ways, and if they get support from the municipal and regional levels. In order to study this, questionnaires were sent out to companies around Region Kronoberg, as well as conducted telephone interviews were made with some municipalities.The results received shows that there are companies in the Region Kronoberg working with circular economy today, although they are not very numerous. The most common ways to work with it is through recycling, remanufacturing, and reducing waste and emissions. It also emerged from the survey that local authorities have not given any direct support to companies, and nor has Region Kronoberg