Having a soul or choosing a face? Nation branding,identity and cosmopolitan imagination

If nation branding is about constructing and promoting national identity, what kind of ‘identity’ could it possibly be? This article analyses how the branded nation qualitatively differs from earlier forms of imagined communities by focusing on the tension between inward- and outward-directed dimensions of nation branding. A particular focus is placed on the concept of ‘identity’, which, it is argued, is insufficiently problematized in previous research. The discussion takes its departure in a case study of Ukraine, where all nation branding attempts came to an abrupt halt when political unrest broke out in late 2013. The political unrest led to a rapid shift in forms of concern over Ukraine, since nation branding can only be conducted in times of relative social harmony. The case further illustrates the argument that collective identity is not a main issue when branding a nation, and it is argued that a perspective of cosmopolitanism can bring new insights to the phenomenon.     

Emotional Empathy and Facial Feedback

We studied if emotional empathy is related to sensitivity to facial feedback. The participants, 112 students, rated themselves on the questionnaire measure of emotional empathy (QMEE) and were divided into one high and one low empathic group. Facial expressions were manipulated to produce a happy or a sulky expression. During the manipulation, participants rated humorous films with respect to funniness. These ratings were the dependent variable. No main effect of facial expression was found. However, a significant interaction between empathy and condition indicated that the high as compared to the low empathic group rated the films as being funnier in a happy condition and a tendency to be less funny in a sulky condition. On the basis of the present results we suggest emotional empathy to be one important and previously ignored factor to explain individual differences in effects of facial feedback.     

Nuptiality,fertility and reproduction in Norway

The vital and census statistics of Norway for the last 25 years are analysed in order to compute the average family size of different marriage cohorts, and to assess the extent to which the Norwegian population is replacing itself. Methods are devised to overcome the gaps in some of the statistics caused by the war. The conclusion is reached that replacement level has been reached in the post-war years, though the conventional net reproduction rate overestimated the replacement index by 16%.     

绿党观点：一种对绿党政纲的分析

对世界主要绿党纲领性文献的分析表明,可持续性/循环经济、性别平等/女性主义、非暴力、生态智慧、社会正义、参与/基层民主、国际合作、全球团结、生活质量而非数量、人权/自由、生物多样性、文化多样性、公平贸易、自给自足等,构成了绿党批判现实世界与重构一个绿色未来的主要价值和观点。这些价值和观点也许不是严格意义上的绿色意识形态,但无疑是一种具有内在一致性的绿色思维方式,并已强大到足以将遍布全球的数以百计的政党和团体、成千上万的政治运动家团结起来,共同为建设生态和谐的世界而奋斗。     

Fatigue effects of noise on aeroplane mechanics

Abstract

Subjective fatigue and reaction time performance were measured in a group of 24 aeroplane mechanics, during 1 week of high noise exposure and 1 week of low noise exposure. Subjective ratings were collected before and after each work day. On the last day of each week subjects also completed a reaction time task before and after work. The mechanics felt more sleepy and less energetic during the high noise week. This effect was most evident towards the end of the day and there was a build-up of the effect during the week. Reaction times were prolonged during the high noise week. Possible confounding factors are discussed and found to be less likely explanations of the effects.     

A process evaluation of individual and organizational occupational stress and health interventions

There is reason to believe that many health and stress interventions fail due to inattention to the effects of intervention implementation processes, but evaluations of these processes are found only rarely in the literature. The objective of the present study was to explore the issue of obstacles to implementation that may occur when stress and health interventions are introduced in work organizations. The study was conducted as a process evaluation of seven different individual and organizational interventions. Interviews were conducted in 22 post offices, 12 organizational units (such as care homes and local administrative units) of a Norwegian municipality, and in 10 shops in a shopping mall. The interviews took place before and after the interventions. The following key process factors were identified: (1) the ability to learn from failure and to motivate participants; (2) multi-level participation and negotiation, and differences in organizational perception; (3) insight into tacit and informal organizational behaviour; (4) clarification of roles and responsibilities, especially the role of middle management; and (5) competing projects and reorganization. For improved studies of interventions in the future we recommend that qualitative and quantitative methods be combined, that researchers build more on natural interventions that occur naturally within the organization, and that a pilot study be undertaken in order to investigate the cultural maturity of the organization.     

The third sector in Scandinavia

This article argues that it is possible to identify a particular Scandinavian third sector model. In contrast to what might generally be expected in view of the relatively huge public sectors of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the third sector in this model is neither small nor insignificant. Its constituent traits are rooted in history, in popular movements and in trust-based matual dependency between third sector organisations and public authorities. Though challenged by recent developments, this model is still a cornerstone of the Scandinavian welfare state.     

‘Su guagua no escucha nada’: Ecuadorian families confronting the deafness of a child

In accordance with the social model of disability, this study proceeded from the assumption that parents’ experiences of a child’s hearing impairment reflect the circumstances of their lives rather than anything innate in the impairment itself. Few studies have explored the influence both of culture and social structure and of families’ economic and social resources. We studied families’ experiences of the diagnosis of hearing loss in Ecuador, a multicultural country in which family ties are strong but where pronounced social and economic inequalities persist and where many people have no access to health care. The study shows how inequality – and in particular the experience of poverty – shapes families’ experiences of acquiring a diagnosis and of trying to accommodate a child with special needs.     

Goodness of fit tests for estimating equations based on pseudo-observations

Lifetime Data Analysis - We study regression models for mean value parameters in survival analysis based on pseudo-observations. Such parameters include the survival probability and the cumulative...