Danish Public Research Articles

Prototypes all the way Down

This paper examines enactments of prototyping in a recent experimental effort to introduce ‘Technology Comprehension’ (TC) as a mandatory school subject in the Danish Public School. The overall concern of the programme was to educate young people to become not only users, but makers and analysts of the digital technological society. We adopt a social-theoretical view of prototyping that suggests it has moved well beyond design, and has become part of a broader cultural repertoire. We explore the capacity of prototyping as a site of social knowledge-production, illuminating prototypes as instruments of experimentation, epistemic negotiation, and civic participation. We analyse two prototypes: 1) an artefact that was the outcome of a pupil’s work in a TC lesson; 2) an experimental lesson plan called ‘App Design’ put to use by a teacher in a series of 5th grade TC lessons. Attending to how prototyping is performed in the pupils’, teachers’, and subject matter experts’ making, demoing, testing, and iterating on ‘first type’ tangible and material artefacts–prototypes. Prototyping in the trial programme can be understood as the rehearsal of chaotic conditions, in the teacher-pupil relation, and in the pupil-world relation. Prototyping can absorb the seeming impossibility of bridging ‘theoretical’ and ‘practical’ knowledges, and make new social and material agencies arise. The trial of TC seems in this light as much as an experiment in rendering social relations and knowledge-making, open-ended and experimental as it is an experiment in cultivating that exact attitude towards technology, but also towards societal affairs and knowledge-production.

Disentangling the Web of Marginalization: A Multigroup SEM Study on Social and Academic Inequality in Danish Public Schools

This study examined the variable relationships among four factors and school liking, controlling for gender, grade level, and maternal educational level. Repeated cross-sectional survey data from Danish public schools were analyzed across three measurement points (2015, 2017, and 2019) using multigroup structural equation modeling. Responses of students (Grades 0–3; ages 6–9), class teachers, and parents were analyzed in conjunction. The results revealed a strong association between adaptation to school norms and academic performance. Notably, girls demonstrated easier adaptation to school norms than boys, partly explaining the prevalent gender gap in academic performance. Furthermore, a positive association was found between classroom inclusion and school liking, indicating that socially marginalized students experience lower well-being. Finally, the parental community was associated with classroom inclusion, suggesting that strengthened cooperation among parents can protect students from social marginalization in the classroom. The findings emphasize the significance of students’ social skills for both academic performance and classroom inclusion, and also the importance of classroom inclusion for student well-being.

Extensions: The Embodiment, Spatiality, Materiality, and Sociality of Neighboring in Danish Public Housing

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork from a public housing area in Copenhagen, this article explores how dwelling, spatiality, materiality, sociality, and the senses interplay and inform different qualities of neighbor relations. Starting from the individual home space and moving to the space of the stair-case shared with other residents who live next door, below, or above, the article argues that neighbor relations constitute a practical embodied experience of the neighborhood. The article describes the condition of dwelling related to home as bestowing a certain embodied dimension to neighborhood relations. Furthermore, the article illustrates near-dwelling, or living near, as one distinctive context for neighbor relations, which involve material and sensorial aspects of neighboring. The article concludes that spatiality and materiality may condition yet not determine the nature of social relations among neighbors.

Sustainable Development in Danish Public Libraries

Abstract In 2015, the United Nations adopted a program of principles, Agenda 2030, to create a more sustainable world and better the living conditions for people. In this ambition, culture plays a crucial role. As such, the world goals seem to be an obvious topic for Danish public libraries, but this has not been the case until recently. This study is based on a mixed-method approach including document studies, semi-structured interviews, and participation in a practitioners’ conference. It finds that Danish librarians strive to make the world goals comprehensible and articulate the parent institution as local communicators. Libraries are shown to be correctives to current commercial structures, but apart from this display great variation in how far the various libraries are advanced in their sustainable transformation. The study concludes that public libraries inform citizens about the ambition of the world goals as a starting point for adjustments in the citizens’ actions. Public libraries have ventured into unknown territory, where previous practices do not hold much status. Many library professionals lack this awareness, which is necessary for our understanding of the United Nations world goals as a library policy task.

Healthy Transparency: Dynamic Interrelations Between Credibility, Transparency, and Trust in the Context of Danish Public Authorities’ COVID-19 Communication

Healthy Transparency: Dynamic Interrelations Between Credibility, Transparency, and Trust in the Context of Danish Public Authorities’ COVID-19 Communication

Sustainability in Danish Public Libraries

Abstract The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals1 play a growing significance in the work of public libraries in Denmark. This article highlights national and local projects, points out learnings and discusses a framework for getting started working with the SDGs, including what skills library professionals need to achieve these goals.

Periodontal care attendance in Denmark in 2012–2016 – a nationwide register-based study

Objective Planning and evaluation of oral healthcare systems rely on monitoring of care patterns. Monitoring periodontal care patterns provide information on the burden and occurrence of periodontitis in the population and on the direct financial cost. The aims of the study were to describe patterns in periodontal care among dental care attenders that might incite subsequent investigation and revised treatment guidelines. Secondly, to estimate the direct societal costs of periodontal care. Material and methods A retrospective register-based study utilising data from the Danish Public Health Insurance which includes all dental care attenders in 2012–2016, three years before and one year after a national risk-based recall maintenance program was rolled out in Denmark. Results The 2.7 million yearly dental care attenders corresponded to ∼60% of the eligible population and in the range of 20–24% received periodontal care. Total expenditure for periodontal care in Denmark increased by 13% from 2012 to 2016, from €78 to €88 million. The proportion of total healthcare funding spent on periodontal care was 0.61% in 2016. Conclusions Patients with periodontitis have large out-of-pocket yearly expenses for periodontal care. Despite small changes in periodontal clinical practice that may indicate improved targeting of patients in need of periodontal care, challenges of reaching non-attenders and non-adherence to care are unsolved. More research into outcomes from periodontal therapy in daily practice, seen from both normative and patient perspectives, would help establish knowledge of the efficiency of existing periodontal care systems and help identify barriers and facilitators for attending care in Denmark.

Moving On Up? Effects of Leadership Training and Intersectoral Mobility on Women’s Advancement in Danish Public Administration Management

Women’s underrepresentation in middle and upper management is a well-documented feature of the public sector that threatens performance and legitimacy. Yet, we know far less about the factors most likely to reduce these gender inequalities. In this article, we focus on two well-understood drivers of career advancement in public administration: leadership training and intersectoral mobility. In theory, training in leadership and experience across government levels and policy areas should help both women and men to climb management ranks. We use logistic regression to test this proposition using a representative sample of 1,819 Danish public managers. We find that leadership training disproportionately benefits women, and this helps to level the playing field. However, our analyses show that differences in intersectoral mobility do not explain the gender gap in public sector management.

P–617 Idiopathic early ovarian aging: Do biomarkers of ageing indicate premenopausal accelerated biological ageing in young women with diminished response to ART?

Abstract Study question Do young women with idiopathic early ovarian ageing have changes in telomere length and epigenetic age indicating accelerated biological aging? Summary answer The telomere length and epigenetic age were comparable to those in young women with normal ovarian ageing. What is known already Increased risk of several health events usually considered to be age-related such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, over-all morbidity and mortality have been associated with premature and early menopause when compared to the risk in women with normal menopausal age suggesting an accelerated general ageing process associated to early ovarian ageing. It is unclear whether the onset of this process may start before menopause. Study design, size, duration A prospective cohort study. Young women (≤ 37 years) having ART at two Danish Public fertility clinics during the period 2016 to 2018 were divided into two groups dependent on their ovarian reserve status: early ovarian ageing (EOA) (N = 55) and normal ovarian ageing (NOA)( N = 52). Number of oocytes harvested in first and subsequent cycles was used as a marker of ovarian reserve. Blood samples was drawn at time of oocyte retrieval to assess biological age. Participants/materials, setting, methods EOA was defined as ≥ 2 IVF cycles with ≤ 5 harvested oocytes despite sufficient stimulation with FSH and NOA as ≥ 8 oocytes harvested in minimum 1 cycle. Known causes influencing the ovarian reserve (endometriosis, ovarian surgery, etc.) was reason for exclusion. Relative telomere length (qPCR) and epigenetic age acceleration (DNA methylation levels) were measured in white blood cells as markers of accelerated biological ageing. Main results and the role of chance Relative telomere length was comparable with a mean of 0.46 (± sd 0.12) in the EOA group and 0.47 (0.14) in the normal ovarian ageing group (p = 0.64). The difference of predicted mean epigenetic age and mean chronological age (i.e. epigenetic age acceleration) was, insignificantly, 0.5 years older in the EOA group when compared to the NOA group( (–1.02 years (2.62) and –1.57 years (2.56), respectively, p = 0.27)), but this difference disappeared when adjusting for chronological age. Limitations, reasons for caution Discrete changes in epigenetic age acceleration may not have been captured as the study only had power to detect an age acceleration of ≥ 2 years. Wider implications of the findings: By analysis of biomarkers for ageing in whole blood, we did not find any indications of a premenopausal accelerated aging in young women with idiopathic EOA. Further investigations in a similar cohort of premenopausal women is needed to fully elucidate the potential relationship between premenopausal accelerated biological ageing and EOA. Trial registration number The study was approved by the Danish Data protection Agency (nr 1–16–02–320–14) and the Regional committee on health research ethics of Central Region Denmark (jr.no 1–10–72–142–14).

Understandings of Social Innovation within the Danish Public Sector: A Literature Review

Social innovation is an emerging theme within innovation theory, and so is the concept of public service innovation networks for social innovation (PSINSIs). The purpose of this article is to explore how social innovation in Danish public services is conceptualised and enacted through the lenses of public service innovation networks for social innovation. To do this, a thorough integrative review of the literature dealing with the Danish context is conducted. The Danish context is interesting in order to investigate these network arrangements, firstly because they are not well understood in the context of the Nordic welfare states, which Denmark is part of, and then because municipalities and civil society have historically had a mutually dependent relationship in Denmark. The article highlights that social innovation is framed in several ways in the Danish public sector. In particular, the results show that the literature can be grouped according to four themes: (1) samskabelse (co-creation), (2) collaboration with civil society, (3) social entrepreneurs and social innovation and (4) public–private innovation partnerships. Moreover, the article presents and discusses a number of Danish empirical projects that may be understood through the lens of the PSINSI framework. Hence, the paper contributes with new theoretical perspectives, in addition to contributing to practice.

Curation of a Personalized Video on Demand Service. A Longitudinal Study of the Danish Public Service Broadcaster DR

Curation of a Personalized Video on Demand Service. A Longitudinal Study of the Danish Public Service Broadcaster DR

How Should the Irish State Respond to the Radicalisation of Irish Citizens in Support of Islamist Terrorism?

In spite of several high-profile cases of radicalisation in recent years, Ireland does not appear to have formulated a coherent response, unlike most other European countries. This paper aims to answer the central research question: how should the Irish state respond to the radicalisation of Irish citizens in support of Islamist terrorism? A review of the literature on radicalisation was conducted, based upon the models of radicalisation set forth by Wiktorowicz (2004) and Precht (2007) which have identified possible indicators of radicalisation. As the literature on the subject is somewhat sparse relating to the Irish context, the counter-radicalisation strategies of the United Kingdom (UK) and Denmark were examined for international comparison. The study was carried out as a qualitative, phenomenological research project using mixed methods. Documentary analysis of relevant Irish, UK, and Danish government publications was followed by the conduct of semi-structured elite interviews. It is apparent that this country does not have a proactive approach to security issues in general, and radicalisation in particular. Interviewees were strong in their support for the adoption of more clearly defined measures to counter Islamist radicalisation specific to the context in this country, though there is no clear consensus on the best path forward. The complex individual nature of the radicalisation process, and the impact of external influences, were recognised as key considerations. The need for widespread consultation, at the expert level, on the crafting of the state’s response was also emphasised, given the risks involved in a poorly conceptualised approach. Community cohesion emerged as an important topic, and may form the basis for an effective response, along with training for appropriate professionals and sensitisation of the population to the dangers of the issue.

덴마크 공공도서관 정책의 지향성과 Dokk1 설계지침의 관계에 의한 공공도서관 공간디자인 방법에 관한 연구

덴마크 공공도서관 정책의 지향성과 Dokk1 설계지침의 관계에 의한 공공도서관 공간디자인 방법에 관한 연구

Barriers to Implementation of Physical Activity in Danish Public Schools

Purpose: In 2014, the Danish Government introduced a new public school reform, which included implementation of 45 min of daily physical activity (PA) within the academic classroom curriculum. The purpose of the present study was to explore school staff’s perceived barriers to implementation of a national PA policy. Method: A mixed-methods approach using a questionnaire and semistructured interviews was conducted. A total of 198 teachers and 26 school management team members (principals, deputy principals, and leading teachers) from 31 schools completed a questionnaire, and 11 school management team members were interviewed. The socioecological model was used as a theoretical framework to examine the results. Results: A total of 15 different barriers were identified and reflected within all levels of the socioecological model. Facilities, motivation, and time were the most prominent barriers identified. Conclusion: Development and deployment of a national PA policy needs to be done in cooperation with consumers from all levels within the socioecological model to ensure successful implementation.

HP-2-2 Self-Medication Among Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals Admitted to a Danish Public Gender Identity Center (CGI)

HP-2-2 Self-Medication Among Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals Admitted to a Danish Public Gender Identity Center (CGI)

Public Value through Innovation: Danish Public Managers’ Views on Barriers and Boosters

ABSTRACT This paper adds to current conversations on public value and public sector innovation by offering a quantitative analysis of the multiple types of public value that Danish public sector managers perceive to have created by innovating. Previous studies have primarily investigated public innovation on a case-by-case basis – and few with a focus on the outcomes of innovation. Access to a unique dataset permits a comprehensive study across the entire Danish public sector, centered on public managers’ perceptions of value created by public innovation. Using logistic regression analysis, a number of variables are tested to explore which antecedents will affect managers’ reported value creation.

Franz Joseph Gall came to Copenhagen, and for a brief moment the brain was the talk of the town

ABSTRACTWhen the inventor of phrenology, Franz Joseph Gall, came to Denmark in the fall of 1805, he was met with great enthusiasm and fascination among the general public, as well as within the scientific community. His visit was an event that was covered by the newspapers unlike any other scientific lecture. However, as soon as Gall left, public interest in phrenology almost instantaneously vanished. Different theories have been put forth in the attempt to answer the question as to why phrenology never found a audience in Denmark. The Danish phrenologist Carl Otto explained it by referring to the poor quality of the Danish phrenological publications. Danish historians have argued that phrenology was too incompatible with the dominant scientific paradigm, Natürphilosophie. This article argues that the newspaper coverage of phrenology was more about sensational news stories than about science, and ultimately phrenology was a fad that wore off when the newspapers shifted their focus to other news.

National survey of current practice and opinions on rehabilitation for intermittent claudication in the Danish Public Healthcare System

Objective. International guidelines recommend rehabilitation including supervised exercise therapy in patients with Intermittent Claudication (IC), but knowledge of the implementation in clinical practice is limited. This study aims to investigate current practice and opinions on rehabilitation for patients with IC among vascular surgeons and rehabilitation departments in the municipalities and hospitals. Design. Three electronic cross-sectional surveys were distributed nationally to the Danish vascular surgeons (n = 131) and to rehabilitation departments in the municipalities (n = 92) and hospitals (n = 33). Results. The response rates were 70% among the vascular surgeons, 98% among the municipalities and 94% among the hospitals. Vascular surgeons utilize oral advice to exercise by self-administered walking, pharmacological treatment, and revascularization to improve walking distance in patients with IC. Currently, only 12% of the vascular surgeons referred to rehabilitation to improve walking distance, while almost all vascular surgeons (96%) would refer their patients to IC rehabilitation, if it was available. Only 14% of municipalities and none of the hospitals, who treat patients with IC, have a rehabilitation program designed specifically for patients with IC. However, 59% of the rehabilitation departments in the municipalities and 26% in the hospitals included patients with IC in rehabilitation program designed for other patient groups – mostly cardiac patients. There was consensus among the groups of respondents that future IC specific rehabilitation should include an initial conversation, supervised exercise therapy, smoking cessation, and patient education according to guidelines. Conclusion. Vascular surgeons support referral and participation in IC rehabilitation to improve walking distance in patients with IC. Despite some hospitals and municipalities included patients with IC in rehabilitation nearly all services fail to meet current guideline as specific services tailored to patient with IC is almost non-existent in Denmark. Our findings call for action for services to comply with current recommendations of structured, systematic rehabilitation for patients with IC.

Public-private collaboration and scientific impact: An analysis based on Danish publication data for 1995–2013

Abstract In the past few decades, there has been increasing interest in public-private collaboration, which has motivated lengthy discussion of the implications of collaboration in general, and co-authorship in particular, for the scientific impact of research. However, despite this strong interest in the topic, there is little systematic knowledge on the relation between public-private collaboration and citation impact. This paper examines the citation impact of papers involving public-private collaboration in comparison with academic research papers. We examine the role of a variety of factors, such as international collaboration, the number of co-authors, academic disciplines, and whether the research is mainly basic or applied. We first examine citation impact for a comprehensive dataset covering all Web of Science journal articles with at least one Danish author in the period 1995–2013. Thereafter, we examine whether citation impact for individual researchers differs when collaborating with industry compared to work only involving academic researchers, by looking at a fixed group of researchers that have both engaged in public-private collaborations and university-only publications. For national collaboration papers, we find no significant difference in citation impact for public-only and public-private collaborations. For international collaboration, we observe much higher citation impact for papers involving public-private collaboration.

Áhrif Royaumont-málþingsins 1959 á íslenskt námsefni í stærðfræði fyrir börn

Málþing var haldið árið 1959 í Royaumont, Frakklandi, um nýja hugsun um skólastærðfræði. Royaumont-málþingið olli nokkrum straumhvörfum í hugsun um skólastærðfræði og rannsóknum á því sviði. Nýjar hugmyndir um skólastærðfræði, sem ræddar voru þar, voru nefndar nýja stærðfræðin, New Math, og tengdust hreyfingu, kenndri við Bourbaki, um endurskoðun á framsetningu stærðfræði með nútímalegum hætti, mathematique moderne. Í kjölfar málþingsins var tekið upp norrænt samstarf um greiningu á stöðu stærðfræðimenntunar á Norðurlöndum, námskrárgerð og samningu kennslubóka í tilraunaskyni. Stofnuð var nefnd, Nordiska kommittén för modernisering av matematikundervisningen, NKMM, sem stóð fyrir vinnu að verkinu á árunum 1960–1967. Megináhersla norrænu nefndarinnar var á námsefni fyrir 7 –12. bekk og ætlunin var að efnið yrði hægt að þýða og staðfæra í hverju landi fyrir sig. Einnig voru ráðnir sérfræðingar um námsefni 1.–6. bekkjar. Danskur höfundur, Agnete Bundgaard, og finnsk samstarfskona hennar, Eeva Kyttä, voru ráðnar til að rita kennslubókaflokk fyrir tvö fyrstu árin frá sjö ára aldri og Agnete Bundgaard ritaði ein kennslubækur fyrir næstu fjögur aldursstig. Flokkurinn var þýddur á íslensku frá og með 1966.Kennslubókaflokkur þessi, sem oft er nefndur Bundgaard-námsefnið, er greindur með tilliti til tillagna, sem settar voru fram á Royaumont-málþinginu um námsefni í stærðfræði fyrir barnaskóla, og borinn saman við eldra og yngra námsefni.Niðurstöður sýna að áhrif tillagna, sem kynntar voru á málþinginu, um að leggja áherslu á formgerð talnakerfisins og setja efnið fram með hjálp mengjafræðilegra hugtaka, voru mikil en dvínuðu smám saman í síðari kennslubókum. Framsetning á tölum og talnakerfi byggðum á frumtölum og deilanleika gekk í endurnýjun lífdaga í íslenskri skólastærðfræði, ásamt nálgun (e. approximation) og mati (e. estimation). Enn fremur komu síðar fram nýir efnisþættir sem ræddir voru í Royaumont, til dæmis tölfræði og líkindareikningur.