Blogs Research Articles

Reception of Finnish translations of contemporary Russian fiction: unveiling cultural perceptions through book reviews

ABSTRACT This article investigates the image of Russia and Russian literature conveyed through book reviews of Finnish translations of contemporary Russian fiction. It also explores the reception of Russian literature and the motivation of Finnish audiences to read it. The research material comprises book reviews of contemporary Russian fiction translated into Finnish in the twenty-first century. The reviews, gathered from Finnish newspapers, magazines, and book blogs, provide a comprehensive overview of the perspectives and expectations of Finnish readers regarding Russian literature. A data-driven analysis shows that translated literature is expected to provide insights into Russia, either reinforcing stereotypes or offering new understandings. The image of Russian literature is shaped by previous experience of Russian classics but is still considered an important source of knowledge. The analysis reveals that Finnish readers are motivated to read Russian literature primarily for its potential to provide insights into Russian society, as the literature is often relied upon as a trusted source of knowledge. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the reception of Russian literature and the role of translated Russian literature in shaping Finnish image of Russia and Russian literature.

Ukrainian book influencers of thematic telegram channels from the perspective of influencer marketing

The article examines the peculiarities of the functioning of author's book blogs in the Ukrainian segment of Telegram. The author argues that writing reviews by readers on a social network has long been a much larger phenomenon than reader promotion of books, but is an expression of the global phenomenon of online influencer marketing. It is proposed to adopt the term "book influencer" as a generally accepted international term for book influencers. The study analyses Ukrainian author's book blogs on Telegram and identifies 17 most popular ones by the number of subscribers. The article focuses on the peculiarities of bloggers' public identity, in particular, in the selection of content and the use of labelling for posts. It is proved that the main characteristic of the public identity of book influencers is reading as a lifestyle. Some of the latest strategies for engaging the audience are described, in particular, the activation of subscribers using the military-patriotic theme. It is found that book bloggers do not act on the basis of anonymity, but are interested in developing their own brand and creating social capital. posting posts on a commercial basis, and cooperation with publishers is not always on a barter basis. It has been found that most of the blogs we analysed have labelled advertising (11 out of 17), however, only a few bloggers openly state the terms of advertising. It is noted that in addition to the marketing function, book telegram channels have a value-oriented function for their audience. It is determined that book influencers are now defending the Ukrainian book and Ukrainian book publishing, and condemning Russian literature as part of the identity of the aggressor country in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Adults with ME/CFS report surprisingly high rates of youth symptoms: A qualitative analysis of patient blog commentary.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating chronic illness that impacts pediatric populations. The current study aimed to better understand adult perceptions of their experiences leading up to their diagnosis of ME/CFS. Patients provided data regarding symptoms of ME/CFS they may have experienced during childhood through a popular community blog forum, with participants interacting via blog comments in real-time and across various geographical locations. Descriptive analyses indicated that roughly 43% of adult survey participants reported having developed ME/CFS prior to age 18. A standard content analysis of patient blog commentary revealed several themes, such as poor mental health, family pattern/history, healthy childhood preceding sick adulthood, feeling misunderstood, lack of clarity until adulthood, sharing of resources, poor school functioning, isolation/poor social supports, and coping mechanisms. There are unique benefits and insights that can be used by investigators who collaborate with patient organizations as a means of better understanding ME/CFS illness severity, presentation, and lived experiences.

Inside the Critics' Circle: Book Reviewing in Uncertain Times

Inside the Critics' Circle: Book Reviewing in Uncertain Times

Scholar 12: Beta Trial of an Osteopathic Research Cultural Development Computer Application

Abstract Context: Research is emphasized as a critical component of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Osteopathic Recognition (OR) criteria, yet there remains a deficit of osteopathic contributions to the literature. Scholar 12 combines discrete research development tools into an interactive application and blog forum that guides students from research team formation with an agreed-upon query to a scholarly product and presentations. Objective: This study aims to evaluate a beta test of Scholar 12 in developing a scholarly culture within medical school education. Methods: An unblinded prospective cohort beta trial by 6 osteopathic medical students across different campuses provided feedback for improvement measures and self-assessed research skill competency before and after completing Scholar 12 on an accelerated time frame. The pre- and post-Scholar 12 surveys scored 12 skills based on learning objectives for each unit on a 5-point Likert scale. Results: The composite results from self-assessments of 6 medical students demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in research skill familiarity by the completion of Scholar 12 (p<0.001). Conclusions: The osteopathic profession has opportunity to advance clinical practice and fulfill ACGME OR initiatives with evidence-based medical research. Scholar 12 is a foundational educational tool and aims to engage medical students, residents, and attendings with scholarly work, regardless of experience level. The present survey provides a preliminary measure of the efficacy of Scholar 12 in improving medical students’ knowledge of creating new scholarly work. General feedback has been communicated to the application developer and editorial staff for improvement measures before the 2020 nationwide launch. Despite the statistical significance of these students’ self-reported progress, additional beta trials; blinded, long-term evaluation of students’ and mentors’ productivity as a result of this research learning tool; and controlled comparison to other research development programs are warranted. Scholar 12 is designed to accommodate students’ academic obligations with a convenient, virtual tool to learn the research process on a flexible schedule, in order to meet generational needs.

Highlights: Safety Blogs, Alane Reduction, Postlockdown Process Safety Concerns, and More

Highlights: Safety Blogs, Alane Reduction, Postlockdown Process Safety Concerns, and More

Application of Sentiment Analysis and Topic Modeling on Rural Solar PV Issues : Comparison of News Articles and Blog Posts

Application of Sentiment Analysis and Topic Modeling on Rural Solar PV Issues : Comparison of News Articles and Blog Posts

The Latest COVID-19 Summaries and Blog Post

Dear Readers,In the past week, NEJM Journal Watch has covered research on emergency medical system transport of potentially infected patients, symptoms

Alla ricerca del popolo perduto. Un tentativo di (de)costruzione del mito della Sacerdotessa della luna

In this paper will be analyzed a close relationship between Priestess of the Moon , a novel by Croatian writer Milena Benini (1966-2020), and the Platonic myth of Atlantis, in light of the power exercised by archaic civilization. This work, as well as the author’s entire production, belongs to the genre that in Slavic cultures is called fantastika , an all-encompassing formula for fantasy, science fiction and horror, although in this regard Benini prefers the label of “speculative fiction”. Benini wrote the first draft of this novel in the early 1990s, in English, and started publishing it on her blog. She published the English version in 2013 and the Croatian ( Svecenica mjeseca ) in 2014. The story, that takes place in an indefinite time and clearly draws on the classical age, is the first act of a trilogy dedicated to a strong-willed woman, the young priestess Kalaide Reolis Kharaonda, endowed with superhuman powers that allow her to communicate with the goddess Matrielen. Kalaide comes into contact with Enaor, whose figure reflects various sources of inspiration: the Illyrian world, the civilization of ancient Greece, the Slavic tradition. Benini is aware of the timelessness of the myth and avoids giving the story and the characters a precise chronological position; she laid the foundations for a wide range of possibilities, prefiguring an open and epic narration, with the evolutionary profile suggested in the foreground by time and space.

An Analysis of Parental Opinions of Human Milk Sharing Options

Background: Mothers who are unable to breastfeed their infants can obtain donor breast milk (DBM) from lactating mothers through milk banks (MB) or informal, “mother-to-mother” donation. Informal milk sharing is discouraged by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), but has become increasingly popular, most likely through online milk sharing groups and personal anecdotes shared on parenting blogs. To date, however, no study has examined parental opinions and practices regarding DBM use expressed online. Purpose: To study parental practices and perceptions of receiving/donating breast milk (BM) via informal/formal routes, as discussed on publicly-accessible online blogs. Methods: …

A Blog on Pain

A Blog on Pain

The Use of Spoken and Written Japanese in the Blog Register of BCCWJ

The Use of Spoken and Written Japanese in the Blog Register of BCCWJ

Offer Guidelines for Member Blogs

Offer Guidelines for Member Blogs

For blog's sake

For blog's sake

COVID-19: NEJM Journal Watch Coverage

NEJM Journal Watch now has a dedicated page where you will find updates of the most recent COVID-19 coverage. Also see our blogs and podcasts for

Writing a dental blog

Writing a dental blog

ENGLISH IN INDONESIA: THE LANGUAGE OF GLOBALLY-SHARED POPULAR CULTURE (GSPC)

In Indonesia, English lexis often appears on a number of written media displayed for public consumption. Despite the fact that those media contain English lexis, they may not be necessarily aimed at foreign audience. It seems that English lexis is seen as a more representative medium of expression when it comes to announcing particular information to the public. This paper attempts to illustrate that the occurrence of English lexis in the media used by Indonesian people forms a relatively consistent pattern. The data are taken from fashion blogs written by Indonesian teenagers on a female magazine, flyers about upcoming music events performed by Indonesian bands, banners for anti-drugs campaign, and advertisements for marketing children fashion. The study uses Textually-Oriented Discourse Analysis (TODA) suggested by Fairclough (1992). As for the main focus of the discussion, it will be related to the discourse of globalisation (McGrew, 1996; Bathia and Ritchie, 2004; Kuppens, 2010). The result shows that English lexis is very likely to occur when the information in the Indonesian media is related to globally-shared popular culture (GSPC), e.g. fashion, pop music, and anti-drugs campaign. In conclusion, such use of English lexis reflects the presence of a typical mindset among Indonesian, which suggests that English is an ‘ideal’ language to represent popular culture.

Sharing information through book reviews in blogs

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to research on information sharing by drawing on the reader-response theory developed by Louise Rosenblatt. To this end, information sharing is approached by examining how bloggers communicate their reading experiences of fiction and non-fiction books.Design/methodology/approachThe conceptual framework is based on the differentiation between efferent and aesthetic reading stances specified by Rosenblatt. The efferent stance directs attention to what is to be extracted from reading for instrumental purposes such as task performance. The aesthetic stance focuses on what is being lived through during the reading event. Rosenblatt’s framework was elaborated by specifying eight categories of efferent reading and six categories of aesthetic reading. The ways in which bloggers communicate their responses to such readings were examined by scrutinising a sample of 300 posts from two book blogs.FindingsThe bloggers mainly articulated responses to efferent reading by sharing information about the content of the reviewed books, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Responses to aesthetic reading were mainly articulated by describing how the bloggers experienced the narrative, what kind immersive experiences they had and what kind of emotions were felt during the reading process.Research limitations/implicationsAs the study is explorative in nature and focusses on a sample of blog posts, the findings cannot be generalised to depict how people share their responses to efferent and aesthetic reading in social media forums.Originality/valueThe paper pioneers by examining the potential of Rosenblatt’s theory in the study of sharing information about reading experiences in book blogs. The findings demonstrate that the categories of efferent and aesthetic reading can be elaborated further for the needs of information behaviour research.

Guidelines for Launching a President's Blog

Guidelines for Launching a President's Blog

Diversion of Prescription Antibiotics: Should You Take from Peter to Treat Paul

Purpose: Prescription medication borrowing and sharing, a practice known as diversion, is widespread for many medications including stimulants and analgesics, despite possible consequences such as adverse medical effects. A preliminary review of online blogs indicated that a substantial number of people engage in antibiotic diversion, despite warnings regarding the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. However, to date, no studies have investigated the extent to which parents divert antibiotics prescribed for their children. The purpose of this …