| 1. |
- Lind, Nina, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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Comorbidity and multimorbidity of asthma and allergy and intolerance to chemicals and certain buildings
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. - 1076-2752 .- 1536-5948. ; 59:1, s. 80-84
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: We tested the hypothesis of high comorbidity between asthma/allergy and chemical intolerance (CI) and between asthma/allergy and building intolerance (BI), and high multimorbidity between asthma/allergy, CI, and BI.Methods: Population-based questionnaire data were used from 530 participants with asthma/allergy (allergic asthma, nonallergic asthma, allergic rhinitis, and/or atopic dermatitis), 414 with self-reported and 112 with physician-diagnosed CI, and 165 with self-reported and 47 with physician-diagnosed BI. Separate reference groups were formed for each of the five case groups.Results: Adjusted odds ratios varied from 4.6 to 13.1 for comorbidity, and from 6.6 to 46.4 for multimorbidity.Conclusion: The large comorbidity and multimorbidity between asthma/allergy, CI, and BI evokes the question as to whether there are similarities in underlying mechanisms between these conditions.
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| 2. |
- Paulin, Johan, 1979-
(författare)
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Sound intolerance : characteristics, psychosocial work factors and reactions to exposure
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Sound intolerance refers to an adverse reaction to sounds at sound pressure levels most people do not find bothersome. It is sometimes associated with hearing loss and tinnitus, but neither conditions are a prerequisite for being intolerant to sounds. The processes underlying the heightened reactions to sound, or how sound intolerance is related to other afflictions is not fully known, and research in this area can still be described as being in an early stage. This thesis aims to broaden the knowledge about sound intolerance and the sub-category of hyperacusis by using cross-sectional epidemiological and quasi-experimental methods of inquiry.The thesis consists of three studies, each approaching the subject from a different perspective with the aim to better understand various characteristics of sound intolerance in general, its relation to psychosocial factors in the work environment, and its effects during noise exposure. Studies I & II are cross-sectional studies using two different data sets with similar design. Study I was based on data from a stratified sample in the Västerbotten Environmental Health Study. It examined the characteristics, background descriptions and comorbidities of self-reported and physician diagnosed individuals with hyperacusis, and compared them to a healthy referent group. Analyses revealed that a majority of both hyperacusis groups actively tried to avoid sound sources, and experienced that they for the most part could affect the environment to make it less noisy. There were significantly increased risks for other diagnosed illnesses in the hyperacusis groups compared to the healthy referent group, with large odds ratios (ORs) for the psychiatric illnesses anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and exhaustion syndrome. Other common illnesses were tinnitus, hearing impairment and musculoskeletal disorders. Study II used data from the Österbotten Environmental Health Study and focused on the psychosocial work environment for people with hyperacusis. Working participants with hyperacusis who were employed/on leave of absence/paternal leave/long-term sick listed were compared to a working sample without hyperacusis on measures of effort-reward imbalance, work over commitment, emotional and social support and worry at work. The hyperacusis group scored significantly higher on worry, social support, and reward, whereas the groups did not differ significantly with respect to emotional support, over commitment or effort. In the final study, a quasi-experimental design was employed to investigate how individuals with sound intolerance react to noise exposure over time, in terms of perceived sound intensity, unpleasantness, rated distractibility, symptoms, heart rate variability and cognitive performance. Participants were divided into three groups of equal size based on their self-rated sound intolerance, which resulted in low, medium, and high sound intolerance groups. Results revealed large variations across individuals in several outcome variables. Compared to the other two groups, the high sound intolerance group perceived the noise as more unpleasant, stronger, and more distracting. They further rated the symptoms as higher in intensity, showed deviations in heart rate variability, and performed poorer on a cognitive task selected to measure inhibition.In conclusion, the results suggest that persons with sound intolerance have relatively poor general health and hearing as well as high odds of comorbidity with various symptoms, including psychiatric diagnoses and functional somatic syndromes. In a working population, the sound intolerant show high odds for worrying about things at work, perceiving low social support at work and not feeling rewarded at work. Finally, the results suggest that persons with high sound intolerance have increased distractibility, sound unpleasantness, symptoms over time as well as lowered heart rate variability and cognitive performance when exposed to sounds.
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| 3. |
- Aazh, Hashir, et al.
(författare)
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Insights from the Third International Conference on Hyperacusis : Causes, Evaluation, Diagnosis, and Treatment
- 2018
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Ingår i: Noise & Health. - : Wolters Kluwer. - 1463-1741 .- 1998-4030. ; 20:95, s. 162-170
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Hyperacusis is intolerance of certain everyday sounds that causes significant distress and impairment in social, occupational, recreational, and other day-to-day activities. Objective: The aim of this report is to summarize the key findings and conclusions from the Third International Conference on Hyperacusis.Topics covered: The main topics discussed comprise (1) diagnosis of hyperacusis and audiological evaluations, (2) neurobiological aspect of hyperacusis, (3) misophonia, (4) hyperacusis in autism spectrum disorder, (5) noise sensitivity, (6) hyperacusis-related distress and comorbid psychiatric illness, and (7) audiologist-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for hyperacusis.Conclusions: Implications for research and clinical practice are summarised.
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| 4. |
- Andersson, Johnn, et al.
(författare)
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The critical role of informed political direction for advancing technology : The case of Swedish marine energy
- 2017
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Ingår i: Energy Policy. - London : Elsevier. - 0301-4215 .- 1873-6777. ; 101, s. 52-64
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Marine energy technologies can contribute to meeting sustainability challenges, but they are still immature and dependent on public support. This paper employs the Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) framework to analyze the development and diffusion of Swedish marine energy up until 2014. While there were promising device developers, relevant industrial capabilities, and world-class research, the system suffered from weaknesses in several important innovation processes. Finally, the analysis identifies the lack of informed political direction as a critical blocking factor and highlights its connection to domestic market potential. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Andersson, Linus, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Autism, new media and the transformation of "the social"
- 2017
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- People with Asperger Syndrome and high function autism generally suffers from impaired social skills and a strong need for a private space for oneself. In diagnostic classifications of mental illnesses social awkwardness and a strong desire for solitude are viewed as symptoms of mental disorder and as deviances from an imagined normality.Based on interviews with autistic people and analysis of social interaction between them on a social media platform the aim of this paper is to investigate how new social media transform their situation in various ways. New social media, with its culture of connectivity, reshape how they relate to others and themselves and transform vulnerabilities that are always at play in encounters between human beings. At play are also changing borders between the public and the private as well as the questioning of communicative ideals based on face-to-face encounters.More specifically we focus on how new social media transforms: 1) vulnerabilities between people in social interaction as well as the “interaction order” that regulates this interaction; 2) what it means to be a social being – and consequently to be involuntary lonely or seeking solitude.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Andersson, Linus, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Disaster Tourists, Smartphone Bystanders, Mediated Witnesses or Citizen Journalists? Bystander Theories and Mobile Media Practices at Accident Sites
- 2016
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Ingår i: ECREA 2016 Abstact Book. - Prague : Czech-In. - 9788090665507 ; , s. 176-176
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper addresses the phenomenon of bystanders who use their smartphones to film or take photographs at accident scenes, instead of offering their help to people in need or to assist medical units. This phenomenon has been extensively discussed in Swedish news media in recent years, since it has been described as a growing problem for rescue workers, like paramedics, police and fire fighters.Some of the early literature in social psychology explained bystander inaction by indifference, but in the late 1960’s, the American researchers Darley and Latane showed that bystander inaction could be explained as an effect of the size of the bystander crowd. With an increase of the number of the bystanders, the chances of their involvement to help decreased.The past decade has seen an growing scholarly interest in “media witnessing”, both in terms of witnessing from a distance through mass media, as discussed by Peters, and “citizen camera-witnessing”, a term popularised by the works of Allan and Andrén-Papadopoulos. This literature recognizes the complexity of concepts such as active/passive and proximity/distance when it comes to media witnessing in the digital era.Drawn from previous research and theories, the aim of this paper is to discuss how bystander theory can be further developed to include the action of mobile media practices at scenes like accidents. From this perspective, the paper also draws attention to what could be a part of a mediated cultural trauma found in contemporary society and thereby connects to the theme of the conference.The paper identifies four categories in the literature that are relevant for further research into the phenomenon and to be connected to the framework of bystander theories. These categories are: “disaster tourism”, “citizen (photo) journalism”, “media witnessing”, and “digital media ethics”.The paper ends with a discussion about possible theoretical approaches to further empirical studies on contemporary bystander phenomena.
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| 9. |
- Andersson, Linus, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of Task Demands on Olfactory, Auditory, and Visual Event-Related Potentials Suggest Similar Top-Down Modulation Across Senses
- 2018
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Ingår i: Chemical Senses. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0379-864X .- 1464-3553. ; 43:2, s. 129-134
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A widely held view is that top-down modulation of sensory information relies on an amodal control network that acts through the thalamus to regulate incoming signals. Olfaction lacks a direct thalamic projection, which suggests that it may differ from other modalities in this regard. We investigated the late positive complex (LPC) amplitudes of event-related potentials (ERP) from 28 participants, elicited by intensity-matched olfactory, auditory and visual stimuli, during a condition of focused attention, a neutral condition, and a condition in which stimuli were to be actively ignored. Amplitudes were largest during the attend condition, lowest during the ignore condition, with the neutral condition in between. A Bayesian analysis resulted in strong evidence for similar effects of task across sensory modalities. We conclude that olfaction, despite its unique neural projections, does not differ from audition and vision in terms of task-dependent neural modulation of the LPC.
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| 10. |
- Andersson, Linus, 1979-
(författare)
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From closet-fill to toxic sublime : The aesthetics of e-waste
- 2019
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Ingår i: 18th Annual STS Conference Graz 2019. ; , s. 58-59
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Electronic waste (e-waste) has a peculiar relation to space. It is well-documented how a large part of discarded electronic devices still remain in people’s homes, instead of reaching the recycling centres. This is especially true with digital media and communication technologies such as computers and mobile phones (ironically the devices with the shortest life cycles). This phenomenon has been described by the term “closet-fill” (as opposed to land-fill). However, representations of electronic waste in public discourse such as news reports, seldom focus on this aspect. Instead, they tend to portray e-waste dumping sites as strange, almost alien spaces. Sublime imagery invites the viewer to a contemplation over Western consumerism in a fashion recognizable from visual arts. Consequently, imagery of electronic waste has also become an object of aesthetic value in the works of renowned visual artists such as Pieter Hugo and David LaChapelle, who have gained recognition because of this inclusion of imagery of e-waste in their photographic art. The aim of this paper is to address these aesthetic qualities of electronic waste. The purpose is to contribute to the expanding literature on media materialities and waste with a conceptual understanding of manifestations of electronic waste in popular discourse. The paper draws on theories on media aesthetics, environmental communication and waste management to build an analytic framework that explores the benefits and limitations of presenting electronic waste as an aesthetic object. Empirically it engages in analyses of visual representations of electronic waste. The paper addresses the tension between aesthetic contemplation/appreciation, and critical information. It could be argued that if e-waste is to be presented and understood as an urgent topic, there might be a problem if it is portrayed as something strange, exotic or even beautiful. The concept ”toxic sublime” has been used in analyses of visual representations of pollution, and Peeples (2011: 383) argues that this construction of the toxic as sublime comes with a risk: “It may predispose people to look for toxins in the extraordinary, as opposed to on the shelves of their garages”. It could be argued that e-waste faces a similar problem. The focus on the sublime strangeness of e-waste “dumping sites” is an ineffective way of creating proximity and urgency to the e-waste problem, something that takes place somewhere else than in our homes. LeBel (2015) argues that e-waste aesthetics fails to address the temporal dimension of waste (e.g. planned obsolescence, toxicity). This paper intends to add to that argument by highlighting the tension between the closet-fill and the toxic sublime
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