This special issue of Ethnologia Europaea explores new paths for our scientific disciplines within the expanding field of medical humanities. Medical humanities have seen a significant expansion in recent years, creating new research foci and leading to collaborations both within and outside of the humanities. As it is a growing academic field, we argue that it is necessary to be part of the medic

Advanced maternal age at birth is considered a risk factor for adverse birth outcomes. A recent study applying a sibling design has shown, however, that the association might be confounded by unobserved maternal characteristics. Methods: Using total population register data on all live singleton births during the period 1999-2012 in Denmark (N = 580-133; 90% population coverage), Norway (N = 540-8

Though poetry analysis is a central component of literary studies in higher education, research frequently reports that attitudes of both students and teachers to its incorporation in syllabi are mixed (Weaven & Clark, 2014). Previous research suggests a complex relationship between attitudes to and knowledge of poetry with some studies indicating that negative attitudes might be the result of

Artistic research—research carried out by artists, through artistic practice—displays the markers of a burgeoning academic discipline. Dominant perspectives on research cultures would therefore predict that practitioners’ boundary work would play a decisive role in the development of this field. But when binary understandings come up against multiplex meanings, when and how do binaries matter? Foc

It has been known for decades that risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) tend to cluster. Metabolic syndrome refers to this risk factor clustering for some of the more well-established and dangerous risk factors. This chapter provides a historical overview on the concept of the metabolic syndrome; describes the clinical criteria used in the definition of the metabolic syndrome

Taking a historical perspective, this article compares the four Nordic states of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden with respect to the following question: How have problem representations developed the Nordic region’s policy response to the exploitation of migrant workers? We demonstrate that parallel and competing problem representations, defined in government policy as ‘human trafficking’, ‘fo

An experimental study was carried out at the Malmö School of Education in 1969 and 1970 for the purpose of studying the effects on the self-assessment of student teachers of, firstly, externally mediated self-confrontation processes (via closed-circuit television and video-recording), and secondly, dyadic confrontation processes (in the form of traditional tuto¬ring). Detailed reports on the backg

Glucagon has long been defined by its glucogenic action and as a result α-cells have been characterised based largely on their interaction with glucose. Recent findings have challenged this preconception, bringing to the fore the significant role glucagon plays in amino acid breakdown and underlining the importance of amino acids in glucagon secretion. The challenge that remains is defining the me