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Background: Having children is a desire shared by many and can be motivated by various forces. Knowledge about how common miscarriage is remains limited, and the loss can cause strong emotional reactions. Masculinity norms emphasizing independence and emotional restraint may influence how men express feelings and seek support, potentially rendering their needs invisible in healthcare. Midwives encounter individuals experiencing miscarriage and play an important role in providing professional and inclusive care that considers both the woman’s and partner's needs. Aim: The aim was to explore partners' experiences of miscarriage. Method: The integrative review was conducted using reflexive thematic analysis. Data collection from PubMed and CINAHL. Following quality appraisal using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools, a total of 16 articles were included. Results: The findings indicate that men’s experiences of miscarriage are characterized by a strong focus on adopting a supportive and protective role toward their partner, often at the expense of their own grieving process. The analysis identified five main themes highlighting men’s emotional responses, limited opportunities to express grief, experiences of not being acknowledged within healthcare, and insufficient access to tailored support and information. Conclusion: Men often experience their emotions related to miscarriage as being overlooked, a perception reinforced by limited acknowledgment from both healthcare professionals and their surroundings. Available support is largely adapted to women's needs, leaving men to manage the loss largely on their own. Clinical implication: The findings may increase understanding of partners' experiences and help midwives and other health care professionals better recognize and address partner´s needs, contributing to more equitable, person-centered and needs-adapted miscarriage care in that includes the couple as a whole.

Syftet med denna studie är att förstå och jämföra hur medarbetare och ledare inom ett svenskt detaljhandelsföretag uppfattar och påverkas av förändringar i organisationen. Studien fokuserar på intern kommunikation, ledarskap, engagemang och prestation. Med hjälp av en kvalitativ fallanalys och semistrukturerade intervjuer analyseras hur förändringsprocessen påverkar arbetsuppgifter, ansvarsområden samt drivkraft och arbetsinsats.

Resultaten indikerar att förändringen ger upphov till olika reaktioner där engagemang och prestation starkt påverkas av graden av tydlighet och stöd. Intern kommunikation och ledarskap är centrala för att hantera förändringen; medan ledare ofta ser detta som en strategisk chans, känner medarbetare ofta osäkerhet och behov av stabilitet i sina roller.

Slutsatsen framhåller att hållbara förändringar kräver att ledningen beaktar både strukturella och psykologiska faktorer, där ett välfungerande psykologiskt kontrakt med förtroende, rättvisa och stöd är avgörande för att upprätthålla medarbetarnas engagemang och prestation.

Universities are significant GHG emitters and for instance, in Sweden, six out of the top ten GHGemitting public institutions are universities with air-travel having a big role. There is a dominant understanding of academic mobility as necessary and inevitable, almost as a right to travel as part of the job signifying a notion of ‘mobility ideology’ (Flamm & Kaufman 2006). To decarbonise academia and mitigate the negative effects of hypermobility, it is pivotal to individually and collectively shift mentality, disrupting the generalized trend of romanticizing mobility (Sautier, 2021) above all at the early stage of the career. Decarbonising academia is indeed a complex process since mobility, and specifically air travel mobility, is rooted in the practice and the mindset of academia, and it is constructed both in space and in the way scholars think of their identity and profession (Fahey & Kenway, 2010). To decarbonise the academia thus, it is imperative to understand the discourses of academics on their work related mobility and academic air travel is understood as a phenomenon shaped by various power dynamics. Work-related travels for academics are still under-researched while ECRs are overlooked. In this research we use critical discourse analysis to understand the structures and interactions and contextualise them as expressions of power relationships, hierarchies and academic norms.  We conducted unstructured interviews with ECRs and PhD students in the in the field of tourism studies in Sweden. We organise their discourses following the critical discourse analysis by Fairclough (2013) around the ‘social wrong’ of academic hypermobility which pushes towards a divide on mobile/immobile characterisations and practices. That social wrong is analysed and contextualised to understand the reasons behind it to make better for the world (Sayer, 2003 as cited in Fairclough 2013 p. 10).  Through the analysis, we identify discourses of the ‘social wrong’ of hypermobility in academic life as a result of power and hierarchical structures in academia dictating expectations from ECRs to perform and contribute to their research environments and its impact on the field. Additionally, styles in the academic world of the ‘successful’ mobile academic or genres of belonging to the social club of the active/present academic become part of the discourses of ECRs in tourism studies in Sweden. We also analyse how ECRs discuss the ‘obstacles’ of knowledge creation, inspiration and creativity in addressing the social wrong by deconstructing them on the ground of increased stress, lack of focus, and climate hypocrisy. The ‘opportunities’ to address the social wrong through online meetings, otherthan-air forms of travel, and the costs on personal life, also become part of ECRs discourses. Finaly, the role of higher institutions’ policies to mitigate air travel become part of the discourses to ‘explore possibilities within the system’ to mitigate the social wrong. Dealing with mobility also means dealing with immobility when the speed of movement of some can determine the slowness of others as analyzed by Cresswell (2010). Moving beyond the dichotomy of mobile versus immobile academics, academic mobility is understood in its complexity, requiring a nuanced understanding how ECRs and PhD students resonate about their (im)mobilities as part of hierarchies, academic norms and feelings of belonging to academic groups. Those discources create tension and stress among ECRs and PhD students who would like to slow down, balance work and personal life and decarbonise academia.  Discourses of slowing down academic relate to rethinking academic life closer to a regenerative/circular understanding moving away of dichotomised views of successful mobile academic vs immobile outliers. 

Now the trains are rolling again’, this was the title of an article in Falu Kurirer journal in August 2019 announcing the re-opening for freight transport of the abandoned railway up to Malung. A few months earlier, in April 2019, another article was titled ‘The vision: Passenger railway to Sälen’ signposted the beginning of a public discourse for the re-opening and eventually the expansion of the railway in north Dalarna and possibly to Norway for passengers.

In December 2019 a brand-new airport was inaugurated in the mountains of Dalarna, the first after 20 years in Sweden, which was debated as a better alternative over a railway. Pro-growth discourses were found in support of it for the generation of jobs, internationalisation of tourism, growth, and regional development and was delivered as a public-private partnership (Elbe & Farsari, 2023). At the same time, the vision to rebuild and expand the old railway was communicated from the same actors who were involved in the construction of the airport. In 2024 a company was launched with partners from local municipalities, DMOs, and private business, to examine and decide on the feasibility of the project in the forthcoming 18 months.

We perform a critical discourse analysis in local and national newspapers concerning the Scandinavian Mountains Railway project. Our aim is to better understand the actors represented (and those excluded) from the governance process, the role of private actors and public institutions at different levels, and to unveil agendas and power structures. 

We employ a (meta)governance lens to understand power discourses in the development of the plan and understand tourism’s role in it and the prevalence of certain discourses and certain interests over others (Jessop 2011). Governance highlights representativeness, plurality of goals and flexible networks (also in the form of public-private partnerships) with an emphasis on efficiency. Metagovernance takes this further to add a critical understanding on the self-organisation of those flexible structures, of power negotiations, and the role of the state (Amore & Hall, 2016; Sørensen, 2006).

This is a work in progress and preliminary analysis has shown the entanglement of local authorities with the local DMO and the tourism industry who together are driving the developments while the state traffic/infrastructure agencies are not part of the same discourses and develop their own. Discourses also change in the course of time with the war in Ukraine and Sweden entering NATO and build on a ‘dual use’ of the railway for defense as well as for public/goods transport. Climate concerns, tourists’ mobility as well as goods transfer are also becoming part of it as well as funding, public-private partnerships and cross-border collaboration. Power struggles to take ownership of the project and define the routes are also part of the discourses. 

References

Amore, A., & Hall, C. M. (2016). From governance to meta-governance in tourism? Re-incorporating politics, interests and values in the analysis of tourism governance. Tourism Recreation Research, 41(2), 109-122. doi:10.1080/02508281.2016.1151162

Elbe, J., & Farsari, I. (2023). Do we need a new airport in the Mountains? An analysis of soft and strong sustainability arguments. In Enabling Sustainable Visits (pp. 53-78). Retrieved from FULLTEXT01.pdf

Jessop, B. (2011). Metagovernance. The SAGE Handbook of Governance, 106-123. doi:10.4135/9781446200964.n8

Sørensen, E. (2006). Metagovernance:The Changing Role of Politicians in Processes of Democratic Governance. The American Review of Public Administration, 36(1), 98-114. doi:10.1177/0275074005282584

OBJECTIVE: Mental health issues can be regarded as a severe public health problem that affects low-, middle-, and high-income countries worldwide. However, certain populations in post-conflict countries may have particularly vulnerable mental health, such as women of childbearing age in Somalia. Despite our understanding of this vulnerable group, data on mental health among women living in conflict and post-conflict settings are still scarce. Therefore, this study aims to identify the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among women living in post-conflict Somalia and their association with sense of coherence (SOC), perceived social support, and individual sociodemographic factors.

METHODS: Data were collected from 900 women who attended nine maternal and child health centres (MCHs) in the Banadir region of Somalia, using a self-report validated questionnaire in Somali. This questionnaire was based on the depression component of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Generalised Anxiety Disorder scale, SOC, and sociodemographic factors. The data were analysed using multiple logistic regression with STATA software (v. 16) to determine the factors associated with depression and anxiety.

RESULTS: Depressive symptoms (36%) and anxiety symptoms (38%) were mainly associated with higher income, unstable housing, and comorbid anxiety or depression. Sense of coherence consistently showed a protective effect. No significant associations were found with pregnancy status, MCH visits, social support, or most other sociodemographic factors.

CONCLUSIONS: The study identified a high prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among women attending MCH centres, with low socioeconomic status and low sense of coherence emerging as key associated factors. These findings underscore the urgent need to integrate routine mental health screening and support services within primary health care and MCH centres to improve early identification, reduce stigma, and strengthen women's well-being in post-conflict Somalia.

The aim of this study is to investigate the discursive practices that shape decisions to exit students from Swedish as a Second Language (SVA) in grades 7–9 in the Swedish school context. More specifically, the study examines how students’ needs and the conditions for exiting SVA are positioned in teachers’ talk, in a local protocol, and in texts from the public debate, as well as how teachers describe and legitimize professional responsibility in these decisions. The theoretical framework is Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) applied through a micro-meso-macro model. The data consists of semi-structured interviews with three SVA teachers, a local protocol, and texts from the national debate between 2022 and 2025.

The results show a lack of unified professional discourse regarding the exit process. Instead, teachers navigate between competing discourses: a measurability discourse, a care discourse, and a stigmatization discourse where the subject's low status influences the decision. Furthermore, the study identifies three subject positions regarding professional responsibility: the autonomous expert, the collegial activist, and the passive observer. The analysis also demonstrates an interdiscursive link between national policy and classroom practice, where a political shift towards stronger demands and efficiency legitimizes a culture of measurability. The study concludes that the decision to exit SVA risks becoming arbitrary and dependent on individual teacher positioning, posing a challenge to educational equity.

Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur skrivhandledare arbetar med andraspråksstudenters akademiska skrivande, vilka strategier andraspråksstudenter behöver utveckla för att kunna delta i akademiskt skrivande samt om det finns några skillnader mellan första- och andraspråksstudenters akademiska skrivande utifrån skrivhandledares perspektiv. Datainsamlingen gjordes via semistrukturerade intervjuer och analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys med utgångspunkt i Academic literacies där två teman framkom. Tema 1, Organisation begränsar önskat arbetssätt som skulle gynna andraspråksstudenter och Tema 2, Andraspråksstudenter riskerar att inte få samma förutsättningar att utveckla sitt akademiska skrivande. Resultaten visar att organisatoriska ramar och bristande samverkan mellan skrivhandledare och ämnesundervisningen begränsar möjligheterna att ge ett mer sammanhållet och språkutvecklande stöd vilket riskerar att skapa ojämlika förutsättningar för andraspråksstudenter i högre utbildning.

The global growth of the older adult’s population highlights the urgent need for intelligent privacy-preserving homecare systems that can monitor daily activities and detect behavioral deviations. We propose a comprehensive framework that combines a Transformer-based deep learning model for human activity recognition with a rule-based, interpretable routine deviation detection system. Leveraging the SDHAR-HOME dataset, which contains multi-sensor time series data from two users, the framework first classifies daily activities using a transformer encoder and then constructs a personalized behavioral baseline to identify deviations such as missed meals, sleep disturbances, and unusual hygiene habits. Results demonstrate high classification accuracy (up to 98.5%) and validate the effectiveness of conventional monitoring methods through detailed visualization and semantic deviation labeling. This dual-strategy framework is particularly suitable for assistive monitoring applications in homecare settings.

Research has highlighted that adolescent young carers (AYCs) are in a vulnerable position due to their caring responsibilitiesbeing combined with the challenges of adolescence. However, caring among adolescents does not have to be a solely negativeexperience and positive experiences of caring can co- exist. Identifying those factors that contribute to AYCs' positive or nega-tive caring experiences is important if AYCs are to be offered appropriate support. This cross-sectional survey study examinedfactors associated with AYCs' positive and negative caring experiences. Pupils aged 15–17 years from schools in 11 Swedishmunicipalities completed a questionnaire addressing demographic characteristics, care activities and the reported influence ofbeing an AYC on school results, received support, and perceived health, while caring experiences were measured by the Positiveand Negative Outcomes of Caring (PANOC-YC20) instrument. Of 3015 participants, 702 (23%) were identified as AYCs. ThePANOC-YC20 positive and negative caring experiences subscales were significantly associated with each other (r = 0.16), withthe mean score on the positive subscale (M = 10.36) significantly higher than that of the negative subscale (M = 5.18). In a mul-tinomial logistic regression model, AYCs providing higher levels of emotional care and sibling care had both stronger positiveand negative caring experiences, with a relatively greater effect on negative experiences. AYCs who had better perceived healthhad stronger positive experiences, while poorer perceived health was associated with more negative experiences. Finally, AYCswho felt their school results were negatively affected by their caring role had an increased likelihood of experiencing caring neg-atively. It is important for relevant authorities and professionals to consider that AYCs can experience caring both positively andnegatively when developing or providing support, as these experiences will likely be reflected in both their need of support, andin the forms of support that will be most effective for them.

This article inquires into the uses and production of teaching and learning materials(TLM) among the teachers of the national minority language (NML) of Finnish in Sweden.In educational policies, textbooks are identified as a central factor for equal tuition, butwe know little about the minority language didactics and usage of TLM. The aim of thestudy is to explore how NML teachers use TLM. A representative survey among Finnishteachers, the largest national-minority-language teachers’ group (N = 139) in Sweden,shows that teachers are dependent on textbooks published in the kinstate of Finland,produced for Swedish-speaking Finns and migrants with other linguistic backgroundsthan Finnish or Swedish. Teachers are actively engaged in generating playful TLM bythemselves, and the teaching is characterized by a solo ethos. The article concludes bysuggesting ideas for further research in the minority context of TLM development andsome recommendations for practice.

This study explores how the term Bible Belt is used in Swedish media coverage, with a particular focus on the Jönköping region, and what historical, religious, and societal factors have contributed to this label. The analysis combines quantitative and qualitative methods, mapping occurrences of the term “Bible Belt” and examining their context. Using both Berger and Luckmann’s theories of institutionalization and socialization and Robert Putnam’s theory of social capital, along with previous research on independent church movements and the Gnosjö spirit, the study investigates the relationship between Jönköping’s strong religious presence and its media image. The findings show that Jönköping stands out not only in the frequency of mentions but also in how religion is portrayed as a key element of regional identity. This study contributes to a broader understanding of religion’s role in Swedish public discourse and how geographic stereotypes are created and maintained through institutionalization and socialization of the general public of a specific area.

The purpose of this study is to examine how Sweden’s national minorities – the Sami, Swedish Finns, Tornedalians, Roma and Jews – are represented in history textbooks for grades 7-9 following the implementation of the national curriculum Lgr22. The study analyses both textbooks and interviews with textbook authors to explore how minority perspectives are portrayed, interpreted, and influenced by curricular changes. The material consists of eight history textbooks from different Swedish publishers and interviews with several of their authors. A mixed-methods approach is applied, combining quantitative content analysis of the frequency of minority representation in text and images with qualitative discourse analysis of how language and structure shape understanding. 

The results show that while the minorities have not disappeared from textbooks, their representation remains limited and often marginalized. Jewish history receives the most attention, primarily in relation to the Holocaust, whereas the Sami, Roma, Swedish Finns and Tornedalians appear mostly in brief fact boxes or in references to culture and tradition. The interviews indicate that the authors’ choices are strongly influenced by the curriculum, where the topic of national minorities in Lgr22 has been moved to the subject of civics. 

The study highlights the need for a more integrated and nuanced representation of minorities in history education to support an inclusive understanding of Sweden’s past.

This essay examines the evolving work of the temperance board in the Swedish town of Falkenberg during two time-periods: 1945-1947 and 1955-1957. This delimitation is based on the transformation of national Swedish alcohol policy which occurred in the middle of the 1950s, signified by the disappearance of a number of restrictions regarding the sale of alcohol. Simultaneously, previous research demonstrate that a process of medicalisation of alcoholism took place on the national stage. This study aims to ascertain to what degree this macrotrend was replicated on the level of municipalities.

This essay found that both the attitudes and practice of the local temperance board in Falkenberg underwent a transformation between the studied periods. In the earlier period alcoholism and alcoholics were often characterized in social and moral terms with the board focusing on the moral character of the individual and the social consequences of addiction. In the later period addiction to alcohol was to a greater degree treated as a medical issue to be treated by medical professionals. This process of medicalisation meant that the role of the temperance board in Falkenberg in dealing with individuals suspected of alcoholism sharply declined in favour of modern medical treatment performed chiefly by doctors. Especially the use of medical treatment with antabuse became prevalent in the later period of study.

Redundancy is a central yet persistently ambiguous concept in multivariate information theory. Across the literature, the same term is used to describe fundamentally distinct phenomena. Operational redundancy concerns how different inputs relate to the prediction of output states, while informational redundancy concerns content overlap among inputs relevant to an output. These notions are routinely conflated in decompositions of mutual information, leading to incompatible definitions, contradictory interpretations, and apparent paradoxes-particularly when inputs are statistically independent. We argue that the difficulty in defining redundancy is not primarily technical, but conceptual: the field has not converged on what redundancy is meant to signify. We formalize this distinction by identifying two classes of redundancy. Operational redundancy encompasses task-relative properties and covers conditions when inputs are sufficient or substitutable for prediction. Informational redundancy concerns shared content among inputs, grounded in mutual information between them. Using functional examples and biased input ensembles, we demonstrate the practical distinction between these classes: inputs with no informational overlap can exhibit operational redundancy, while partial observation can induce statistical correlations that create content overlap without reflecting the underlying functional structure. We conclude by proposing a clear separation of these concepts and outlining minimal commitments for each. This separation clarifies why redundancy remains elusive, why no single measure can satisfy all intuitions, and how future work can proceed without redefining information itself.

Growing demand for cost-effective satellites has renewed interest in silicon (Si) cells for space missions. However, these cells experience significant radiation-induced performance loss, which can be mitigated using ultra-thin wafers. Recently, ultra-thin Si heterojunction (SHJ) cells have emerged as strong candidates for low-cost, lightweight satellites. Their behaviour under space-relevant temperatures and air mass zero conditions, before and after electron irradiation, is therefore essential to understand. This study examines the temperature-dependent performance of ultra-thin (50 μm) SHJ cells under such conditions and compares their behaviour to 180-μm SHJ cells and cell structures without heterojunctions. We find that the performance of SHJ cells drops sharply at low temperatures regardless of wafer thickness, dominated by reduced fill factor, whereas structures without heterojunctions show linear improvement as temperature decreases. Notably, irradiated ultra-thin SHJ cells show a self-curing capability after annealing at 80 °C, enabling partial performance recovery even during electron irradiation in space. Additionally, their specific power surpasses that of the other structures across −20 °C to 80 °C. The established models reproduce the experimental trends, offering deeper insight into their low-temperature behaviour. These findings reveal a low-temperature performance threshold for SHJ cells and underscore their importance for evaluating and optimising them in space applications.

Denna studie undersöker hur snabbt tittare når ett flödestillstånd, alltså full koncentration, förlust av tidsuppfattning och känsla av kroppslig närvaro, när de tittar på film. Tio deltagare (18–40 år) såg hela filmerna Inception, Gravity och Alien Code, följt av enkät och gruppdiskussion.

Resultaten visar att flöde inte uppstår genom förståelse av berättelsen, utan genom direkta kroppsliga upplevelser, såsom tystnad, andning och kamerarörelse. Enligt Torben Grodal sker då en snabb koppling mellan perception, känsla och kroppsrörelse, ofta redan innan någon dramatisk händelse inträffar. I Gravity uppstod flöde nästan omedelbart, medan Inception krävde en inledande fas av kognitiv orientering innan kroppen kunde "släppa kontrollen". Alien Code däremot byggde gradvis mot flöde via tydliga narrativa vändpunkter som mötet med den medvetslösa kroppen och Beths inträde.

Slutsatsen är att filmers förmåga att skapa flöde beror på hur väl de minimerar tankearbete och maximerar sensorisk direktkommunikation, inte på narrativ kvalitet i sig.

  This study employs a qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews with five upper secondary school religious education teachers in the eastern region of Östergötland, Sweden. The aim is to explore how these teachers perceive and utilize artificial intelligence (AI) in the teaching of religious education, as well as to examine the opportunities and challenges they associate with AI from a subject didactics perspective. The study is framed using Christina Osbeck’s didactic theory of religious education.

The results indicate that teachers see significant potential in AI tools to support students, particularly those with learning difficulties, by providing accessible content and fostering individualized learning. However, the findings also highlight widespread concerns regarding academic dishonesty and the risk of students misusing AI tools to cheat. In response, several teachers have changed their assessment strategies, especially concerning written exams. A common theme across the interviews is the expressed need for more structured and comprehensive training in AI, both for teachers and students, to ensure its responsible and pedagogically meaningful integration into classroom practice.

The study concludes that while AI holds promise for enhancing religious education, its use must be accompanied by ethical reflection, professional development, and didactic adaptation to safeguard academic integrity and support meaningful learning.

This study aims to consider whether videogames are an appropriate method of education in the classroom for religious studies. It employs a hermeneutic content analysis of a videotaped playthrough of the video game The Shivah by the game developer Dave Gilbert through the gaming company Wadjet Eye Games. The game centres around a Jewish rabbi who navigates questions of faith, morality, and community. the study examines how themes of identity, ethnicity, religiosity, and ethics are represented and how they may foster classroom discussion. In addition to exploring the game's educational potential, the study critically addresses its limitations of the usage of videogames due to the potential limitations, such as financial and time constraints or the games entertaining factor depriving the student from appropriate information regarding the subject. The study showed that video games can be a great choice in the classroom of religion, in terms of teaching ethics and identity. However, the study did also show that video games do have a few great limitations in terms of cost, accessibility and potential false representations.

Suffering has through the history of mankind been a part of our existence. The aim of this study is to show how suffering was understood by the early Swedish Pentecostal movement, (swe. Pingströrelsen), during the Spanish flu pandemic, and by Pingst FFS during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Sweden 2020. This is accomplished by an analysis of texts and sermons published by the movement at both historic times. A second aim is to identify potential progression over time. Specifically is studied if suffering has been ascribed purpose and how it is understood. The qualitative method phenomenographic analysis is here used to discern a spectrum in the understanding of suffering. The problem of theodicy is used as a theoretical framework for further analysis, specifically as described by C.S. Lewis, in Weberian ideal types and as explained by Van Inwagen (2006) as a practical problem.

 The result shows a tendency to a shift within the Swedish Pentecostal movement. The previous views on God as giver of suffering as a means of salvation and for punishment or fostering purposes seem to have ceased during the COVID-19 pandemic. One tendency of understanding equally represented in both pandemics is the importance of redirecting ones focus from suffering towards the believer’s relationship with Jesus. On the one hand less explanation is now given as to why suffering is occurring, and therefore suffering is ascribed less meaning today, on the other hand God is now likely perceived as more omnibenevolent. Through Weberian theory these results are understood as a functional theodicy, which is formulated through redefinition and combination of ideal types. Through Van Inwagen (2006) the results are understood as the leader’s theodicy to carry the Pingst FFS-members through the crisis.

Denna studie undersöker hur modersmålslärare i arabiska beskriver och genomför sin undervisning i heterogena undervisningsgrupper i årskurs 1–9. Studien bygger på klassrumsobservationer och semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra modersmålslärare verksamma inom samma kommun. Analysen fokuserar på hur lärarna organiserar undervisning i ålders- och nivåblandade grupper, hur de arbetar med dialektal variation i relation till modern standardarabiska (MSA) samt vilka möjligheter och utmaningar de beskriver i en undervisningspraktik präglad av språklig mångfald och begränsad undervisningstid. 

I det insamlade materialet framträder att lärarna i första hand beskriver språkliga nivåskillnader som mer styrande för sina didaktiska val än åldersindelning. I observationer och intervjuer framkommer att MSA främst används i läs- och skrivmoment, medan dialekt och svenska ofta används av lärarna som strategiska resurser i undervisningen för att möjliggöra undervisningens genomförande och upprätthålla struktur i arbetet. Utifrån studiens teoretiska ram tolkas den återkommande språkliga växlingen som ett uttryck för lärarnas transspråkande praktik i undervisningen, vilket i materialet framstår som en integrerad del av undervisningspraktiken samt ett uttalat pedagogiskt val. Vidare pekar materialet på att tydlig struktur, nivåanpassade uppgifter och relationsskapande arbete används av lärarna som en del av undervisningens genomförande och som centrala strategier för att hantera variation i undervisningspraktiken. Samtidigt synliggörs organisatoriska villkor, såsom begränsad undervisningstid och varierande närvaro, som påverkar undervisningens genomförande.

Digital phenotyping promises to transform psychiatry by using multimodal, densely sampled data. However, its potential is hindered by the lack of focus on identifying and validating digital biomarkers that accurately reflect mental states before evaluating their impact on outcomes. This longitudinal study used explainable machine learning to analyze multivariate, densely sampled data from 133 bipolar disorder (BD) participants over a median of 251 days, identifying robust digital biomarkers defining depressive episodes. The analysis included features from email-based daily self-reported mood, energy, and anxiety, as well as passively collected activity and sleep data using an Oura ring. The most robust descriptors of depressive episodes were lower daily mood variability, lower daily activity variability, and higher daily sleep onset latency variability. Self-reported daily mood features achieved the highest performance (AU-ROC: 0.82 ± 0.03). Our results establish the value of multimodal data and represent a critical first step toward automated detection and prediction of illness episodes in BD.

This research explores how coaches in upper secondary sport schools organize and perceive their work promoting sustainable health among the student athletes. Using semi-structured interviews, the study explores coaches’ perspectives on balancing the students´ psychological, social and physical health and wellbeing. The study applies a salutogenic view on health and is complemented by care ethics. The results show that relational leadership, routines and structure are needed to support students´ long term learning and health. Sustainable health emerges in the sport school context as a dynamic process shaped by the context created by the coaches. This process is critical for the students´ long-term health and engagement in sport.

Background: The nursing profession is the backbone of the healthcare system and the largest profession of healthcare workers globally. Nurses play a crucial role in providing healthcare services in the community. In recent years, nurses have improved their knowledge and skills but remained undervalued and unappreciated, with a poor public image. Aim: This study was to investigate the degree of involvement of Somaliland nurses in health policy development. Methods: A qualitative study design was adopted using in-depth interviews. A total of 13 interviews were conducted using open-ended questions. The data were analysed using an inductive reflective thematic analysis. Results: One main theme and two sub-themes were identified. The sub-themes are (1) navigating the barriers to nursing education and equity, which emphasises the challenges in the proliferation of non-accredited private schools and policy engagement and the ambiguity and under-compensation in the nursing profession, and (2) building a strong nursing ecosystem: education, leadership and advocacy, which highlights the strengths of Somaliland nurses and the participants’ recommendations. Conclusion: The findings highlight the barriers to Somaliland nurses’ involvement in health policy development, including unregulated nursing education, others filling the nursing role and low nursing salary, consistent with other studies. The study also reveals that the existence of academically qualified nurses, national nursing associations and public institutions led by nurses demonstrates competency and dedication to develop the nursing profession. Therefore, it is important to intentionally develop nursing leaders through mentorship and succession plans, which can help to remove current nursing challenges.

Background/Aims Treatment for fear of birth during pregnancy demonstrates inconsistent results. Continuity models of care show promise in this area. The aim of this study was to evaluate satisfaction with treatment for fear of birth in a midwifery continuity model compared to standard counselling in Sweden. Methods A total of 175 purposively sampled women who received care using a continuity of care model between 2021 and 2023 and a historical cohort of 467 women in previous studies who received counselling completed questionnaires about their experiences. Differences between groups were calculated using odds ratios. Results Women with fear of birth who experienced the continuity model were more likely to be satisfied with counselling (adjusted odds ratio: 2.26; P=0.043) and report that their fear disappeared or decreased (adjusted odds ratio: 4.03; P=0.002). These women also rated medical (adjusted odds ratio: 2.06; P=0.034) and emotional (adjusted odds ratio: 2.45; P=0.007) aspects of intrapartum care higher than those who received standard counselling. Conclusions Women were more satisfied with care received in the continuity model compared to standard counselling. Implications for practice Women who fear birth may benefit from receiving care in midwifery continuity models during pregnancy and childbirth. Implementation of such models is encouraged. © 2026 The authors.

Background: The objective of this study was to develop a Paediatric Oncology Trigger Tool aimed at facilitating the detection of adverse events and no-harm incidents in the patient process from specialised hospital care to home healthcare in paediatric oncology. The development of the trigger tool addresses the need for enhanced safety knowledge in paediatric oncology, particularly as the field has increasingly transitioned from inpatient admissions to day care and home healthcare settings. Existing trigger tools do not fully meet the specific requirements of paediatric oncology, where care is collaboratively provided by patients, parents and healthcare professionals. Materials and methods: The study employed a multi-step process, including a literature search, a three-phase modified Delphi process, and the practical application of the trigger tool. All six Swedish paediatric oncology centres were represented in the Delphi process. Medical records were reviewed as part of the national multicentre study Patient Safety in Paediatric Oncology, which included participation from four out of six paediatric oncology centres, covering 64% of the population in Sweden. Data were collected from stakeholders representing the patient process from specialised hospital care to home healthcare in paediatric oncology, as well as from reviewers of medical records, and representatives with patient safety and trigger tool methodology expertise. Data were gathered through virtual meetings and web-based surveys, where the triggers were discussed and rated in terms of clinical relevance, comprehensibility and usefulness. Ratings were made using a four-point Likert scale. A dichotomisation process was used to assess consensus, defined as the proportion of respondents giving the same dichotomised rating. Result: The key outcome was the development of a Paediatric Oncology Trigger Tool. The final tool consisted of 22 triggers with definitions and decision support information, designed to enhance understanding of patient safety in paediatric oncology. Conclusions: The application of a multi-step development process resulted in a final context-specific trigger tool, the Paediatric Oncology Trigger Tool, addressing unique patient safety needs. The tool can be used in local safety initiatives aiming to improve safety for children with cancer. Additionally, this paper provides a transparent description of a systematic development process. 2026 Engvall, Stenmarker, Andersson, Ros and Unbeck.

Effective multi-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) in complex scenarios often suffers from inherent challenges, which are unknown expert and attribute weights, and inherent information uncertainty. To overcome these limitations, this paper proposes a CRITIC-WASPAS method for solving MAGDM problems with unknown experts and attribute weights. The method integrates the Yager operator, expert weights, criteria importance through criteria correlation (CRITIC), and the weighted aggregate sum product assessment (WASPAS) decision-making method under interval-valued q-rung orthopair fuzzy sets (IVq-ROFS). Firstly, we extend the Yager weighted average operator (IVq-ROFYWA) and the Yager weighted geometric average operator (IVq-ROFYWG) under the IVq-ROFS framework. Secondly, we derive expert weights for different alternatives to avoid the deficiency of an overall decision-making perspective and attribute weights based on CRITIC under IVq-ROFS. Thirdly, the integrated CRITIC-WASPAS method based on the WASPAS method is introduced. Finally, two distinct domain cases are implemented to illustrate the effectiveness and broad applicability of the proposed CRITIC-WASPAS method. The implementation results across both domains are consistent with experts’ opinions, and the comparison and analysis results show that the CRITIC-WASPAS method is more effective and feasible.

Many studies examining how shape of a building affects energy consumption are achieved, showing that round shaped buildings consume less energy than square or rectangular shaped buildings. It is also well known that choice of heating system has the most effect on GHG emissions as well as for energy consumption. However, there is almost no study based on how does shape of buildings affect GHG emissions, and that will be the purpose of this study. This study will also provide results counted per person, and not only per square meter, as these kind of researches usually do.

Gesunda ski-resort, situated in central Sweden, is planning on developing its resort with more houses. This study starts with examining building materials and energy efficiency of one of the resort´s existing buildings, providing guidelines for new, more energy efficient house designs for the resort. In order to give a design solution for new house design in Gesunda, a research is done on how does the shape of a building affect GHG emissions, giving a ground knowledge for future house designs in Sweden. Research method is grounded on house modelling, energy simulations and LCA calculations.

Result shows 26.2% less heating demand for new rectangular house and 31.7% less for new round house design, compared to existing housings in Gesunda. As for the GHG emissions, comparison is done between the two new proposals, where results show that round houses emit 9-9.3% less GHG than rectangular ones and have 7.5% lower energy demand. It is worth mentioning that both design proposals have same BTA (gross floor area), same area and amount of openings, same roof tilt and roof area.

Background: Midwifery models of care, endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO),offer rights-based, person-centred care with proven benefits for safer maternal and newborncare worldwide. Despite these demonstrated benefits, the successful adoption of midwiferymodels of care depends on context-specific factors, making it essential to understand howhealthcare leaders perceive and approach such transitions.

Aim: To examine healthcare leaders’ perceptions of transitioning to midwifery models of carein Ethiopia and The Gambia, and to identify key barriers and facilitators influencingimplementation.

Setting: The study was conducted in Ethiopia and The Gambia within their respective maternalhealth system contexts, focusing on national and sub-national leadership perspectives.

Methods: A qualitative study using open-ended, semi-structured interviews. An inductivethematic analysis was applied to explore leaders’ insights on midwifery models of care andsystem readiness for transition.

Results: Facilitators included midwives’ active advocacy for women’s rights and strongcommunity engagement in maternal health decision-making. Common barriers across bothcountries were workforce shortages, limited health system infrastructure, donor dependency,and persistent gaps in access for rural populations. Additional barriers included inadequatetransport networks, geographic inaccessibility, financial challenges limiting women’s ability toreach skilled care, hierarchical governance structures that restrict midwives’ professionalautonomy, insufficient facility readiness, and cultural resistance to evidence-based midwiferypractices.

Conclusion: Transitioning to midwifery-led models of care requires context-specific strategiesaligned with the World Health Organization implementation guidance, with particularattention to strengthening infrastructure, financing, and workforce capacity.

Contribution: The study underscores the need to integrate midwives more fully into policyand governance structures. Strengthening their leadership and advocacy roles may enhancethe visibility, influence, and overall contribution of the midwifery profession within nationalhealth systems.

Environmental criticism has become a fertile and vital field within modern critical studies, and it has increasingly gained visibility in literary and artistic scholarship across various domains of the arts and literature. Literature is an expressive linguistic art that takes shape in diverse artistic forms, from verse to prose, and environmental ideas concerned with the environment, life, and the future of the universe have contributed to forming central themes within literary texts, such as poetry, the novel, the short story, drama, and other literary genres. Children’s literature is considered an important part of the wider field of literature: while it does share the general artistic characteristics of literature as a whole, it adds its own specific artistic features. Influenced by environmental ideas, the range of subjects in children's literature has expanded to include works that implicitly focus on developing environmental awareness and its continuous presence in the mind of the child reader.

This study aims at examining two children picture books: When the War Ends, by Fāṭima Sharaf al-Dīn (2024), and When the Whale Sneezed, by Maryam Tarḥīni (2022). The ecocritical reading of the two texts follows the theoretical framework proposed by Lawrence Buell in his pioneering work The Environmental Imagination (1995). These two stories were selected based on their being two modern texts that represent environmental awareness and its forms through both language and image. Fāṭima Sharaf al-Dīn’s story focuses on war as a type of pollution and on loss as one of the consequences of wars, together with the idea of renewing life in a different form by growing a flower for every person lost to the war. Maryam Tarḥīni’s story addresses the issue of marine pollution and the dumping of waste into seas and oceans, as well as its dangers for marine creatures, embodied in the figure of the whale.

This thesis investigates the potential of Building Integrated Photovoltaics to improve the energy performance of the planned Borlänge Campus building and to support sustainability certification under BREEAM SE, with a focus on ENE 04 for low or zero carbon technologies. The study also examines challenges in the BIM to simulation workflow and evaluates the suitability of IDA ICE as a tool for assessing facade integrated PV systems in a Swedish context.

An architectural IFC model of the building was manually reconstructed in IDA ICE because direct import was not possible. A total of 581 photovoltaic panels were placed on six vertical facades and modeled using manufacturer data together with climate conditions for Borlänge. The results were compared with a baseline scenario simulated in IDA ICE 5.1.1 that reflects the building’s performance without any PV integration.

The BIPV system produced 11 229.5 kilowatt hours of electricity during the year. Because the building model did not include internal electricity use, all electricity was exported to the grid. When applying the national emission factor, the PV output corresponds to an avoided emission of about 4 819 kilograms of carbon dioxide per year. Compared with the baseline emissions, this represents a reduction of about 1.7 percent. The improvement is positive, but it does not reach the minimum thresholds required for credits under BREEAM SE ENE 04 Option B, which begin at ten percent reduction.

The study shows that IDA ICE can be used to simulate facade integrated PV systems and generate results that support sustainability assessments. However, the work also identifies important limitations, including manual model reconstruction, idealized operating assumptions and the absence of real-world factors such as snow, dirt, shading, system degradation and self-consumption. Future research should include these aspects and consider the use of visual programming tools such as Dynamo to automate parameter transfer from BIM models.

Overall, the thesis contributes to the growing knowledge on BIPV simulation in IDA ICE and provides practical insights for designers, engineers and sustainability professionals working with low carbon strategies in Swedish building projects.

I denna uppsats analyseras hur den demoniska entiteten avslöjar sin fysiska form i fyra skräckfilmsmanus, Insidious (Whannell, 2010), Sinister (Cargill & Derrickson, 2012), The Nun (Dauberman, 2018) och Smile (Finn, 2022). Syftet med uppsatsen är att hitta återkommande mönster i de valda manusen av när den demoniska entiteten avslöjar sin fysiska form. Analysen utgår ifrån Stephen Kings tre begrepp fasa, förskräckelse och äckel samt Sigmund Freuds teori om det kusliga. Genom en närläsning av avslöjningsscenerna i manusen undersöks samspelet mellan antydan, materialisering och chock, samt hur dessa påverkas av scenens dramaturgiska placering i berättelsen. Resultatet visar en gradvis nedbrytning av tryggheten där det välbekanta förvrids till något främmande. När hotet till sist tar fysisk form kulminerar skräcken i en kombination av kroppsligt obehag och psykologisk oro. Texten presenterar en modell för en avslöjningsscens skräckresa, som beskriver tio steg från vardagen till fullständigt avslöjande. Modellen visar hur manusförfattare kan gestalta skräck genom att balansera antydan och exponering.

Despite the importance of the gut microbiome to health, the role of human genetic variation in shaping its composition remains poorly understood. Here we report genome-wide association analyses of harmonized metagenomic data from 16,017 adults in four Swedish population-based studies, with replication in 12,652 people from the Norwegian HUNT study. We identified variants in the OR51E1-OR51E2 locus, encoding sensors for microbiome-derived fatty acids, associated with microbial richness. We further identified 15 study-wide significant genetic associations (P < 5.4 × 10^-11) involving eight loci and 14 common bacterial species, of which 11 associations at six loci were replicated. The results confirm previously reported associations at LCT, ABO and FUT2, and provide evidence for new loci MUC12, CORO7-HMOX2, SLC5A11, FOXP1 and FUT3-FUT6, with supporting data from metabolomics and gene expression analyses. Our findings link gut microbial variation genetically to gastrointestinal functions, including enteroendocrine fatty acid sensing, bile composition and mucosal layer composition.

Background Given the extent of mental ill health among children and youth, as well as the complexity and interconnection of determinants of mental health, effective governance, including local-level policies, is of utmost importance. This study explores how municipal governing documents address the promotion of mental health in children and youth and the prevention of mental ill health and suicide.

Methods A document analysis was conducted. The websites of Sweden’s 290 municipalities were searched for governing documents addressing mental health, mental ill health, and suicide concerning children and youth. In total, 377 documents were retrieved and analysed using content analysis.

Results The findings show that children and youth mental health was addressed in a variety of municipal governing documents, ranging from specific plans for individual schools to plans for public health and urban development. In the documents, the following patterns were found: i) specific identification of groups among children and youth; ii) accountability for the promotion of mental health and prevention of mental ill health; and iii) prevention methods. Overall, municipalities identify specific groups vulnerable to mental ill health but target “all” children and youth. The primary actor for prevention is the school, which should work with evidence-based programmes focusing on psychoeducation.

Conclusions The documents contain contradictions. Vulnerable groups were identified in the documents, but they were not specifically targeted in the measures taken. Municipalities also strive to educate children and youth in mental health despite identifying issues at a societal level.

Att utveckla kortfilmer vidare till långfilmsformatet har länge varit ett användbart medel för filmskapare som vill utvecklas och nå ut till en bredare publik, men processen är varken enkel eller tydlig. Syftet med denna undersökning har därför varit att försöka underlätta de delar av denna process där manualer och tidigare forskning har lämnat en lucka, genom att från ett globalt och nutida perspektiv försöka identifiera de kvaliteter som skapar intresse hos producenter, filmstödsverksamheter och en publik. Detta fullföljdes genom att analysera 50 kortfilmer, som adapterats till långfilmer från år 2020 och framåt, utifrån deras strukturer, karaktärsresor och teman, för att hitta mönster mellan dem. Resultatet har visat att kortfilmernas strukturer har liknat varandra, med generellt förlängda inledningar och förkortade avslut. Vidare har karaktärsresorna varierat men använt liknande funktioner i specifika segment i kortfilmernas strukturer. Sist har de mest frekventa temana haft en gemensam allmängiltighet som ofta kompletterats av specifika teman genom att bidra med nyansering. Utifrån undersökningens resultat presenteras olika tillvägagångssätt: ett beaktande för formatets koncishet, konkreta sätt att lämna publiken med ett intresse för att se mer och ett förhållningssätt till olika former av temastrukturer.

Studien undersöker hur lärare i svenska som andraspråk inom kommunal vuxenutbildning förstår och förhåller sig till transspråkande i sin undervisning. Vuxenutbildningen utgör en språkligt heterogen utbildningskontext där elever har varierande språkliga resurser och utbildningsbakgrunder, vilket aktualiserar frågor om språk, lärande och professionellt ansvar. 

Studien har en kvalitativ forskningsdesign och bygger på semistrukturerade intervjuer med tre strategiskt utvalda lärare verksamma inom vuxenutbildningens svenska som andraspråk. Det empiriska materialet har analyserats med tematisk analys. Transspråkande, språkideologi och läraridentitet används som teoretiska perspektiv för att analysera hur lärarna resonerar kring språk, undervisning och sitt professionella uppdrag. 

Syftet är att undersöka vilka möjligheter och begränsningar lärarna beskriver i relation till transspråkande samt hur deras resonemang kan förstås i relation till språkideologiska föreställningar och läraridentitet. Resultaten visar att transspråkande förstås och positioneras på olika sätt. Två lärare beskriver ett medvetet och inkluderande förhållningssätt där flerspråkighet ses som en resurs för lärande, delaktighet och trygghet. Den tredje läraren intar en mer försiktig och situationsbunden hållning, där andra språk främst används vid kommunikativa svårigheter. Analysen visar spänningar mellan etablerade normer om svenska som undervisningsspråk och lärarnas ambitioner att erkänna elevernas samlade språkliga resurser. Studien visar att transspråkande kan förstås både som didaktisk strategi och som ideologisk positionering kopplad till lärarprofessionen.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors associated with TikTok use among Bulgarian users as a source of travel-related information when making a travel decision. This study applied the UTAUT2 model with an additional factor, perceived trust, as a replication of an earlier study by Zhou et al. (2023). A quantitative research approach was adopted and primary data was collected via self-completed questionnaires, distributed online. The findings indicate that habit, perceived trust and intention are the most influential factors associated with actual travel behaviour within the sample. Altough participants admit to having visited a destination after watching a TikTok video, it could not be determined by this study whether TikTok was the sole influential factor contributing to travel decisions. It is discussed that TikTok plays a complementary role in travel decision-making, with more inspirational and informing role. The study focused on Bulgaria, as a developing and contemporary European tourism market and aimed at providing an additional insight to the existing body of knowledge on social media and travel decision-making.

This paper aims to explore how wine tourism is used as a tool to address the off-season in Moldova’s Codru wine region to mitigate seasonality. In emerging destinations, such as Moldova, seasonality interrupts the stable tourist flow and economic stability of the region. Wine tourism presents unique opportunities for year-round tourist engagement through experiential, cultural, and partnership-led strategies. Based on qualitative research involving interviews with key wine tourism representatives from the Codru region, this study investigates the strategies used to address the off-season. It also investigates the ongoing challenges faced by the wineries in the region. The findings show that immersive experiences, cultural appeal, and cross-sector partnerships enhance off-season appeal for tourists. However, broader challenges such as underdeveloped infrastructure, harsh weather, and limited international visibility continue to hinder the potential of the area. This paper contributes to the under-researched literature on Eastern European wine tourism and accentuates the potential of wine tourism as a tool for mitigating seasonality, if used, funded, and coordinated correctly.

Tourism in Lisbon has rapidly risen up since the last decade, with Lisbon experiencing record-breaking numbers of visitors each year. While this growth benefits the economy, it also leads to overtourism, causing challenges for local residents and affecting their quality of life. It causes challenges such as housing affordability issues, pressure on public infrastructure and loss of cultural identity. Researching residents’ perceptions is important because they provide early signals of rising irritation, resistance, and possible loss of destination legitimacy if these concerns are ignored.

The aim of this research is to position current perceptions of overtourism within the stages of Doxey’s Irritation Index while simultaneously identifying the stage of residents based on their individual narratives at a specific point in time. By exploring these perceptions, the study seeks to provide residents’ point of view of overtourism's impacts by using semi-structured interviews to acquire qualitative data of local residents in Lisbon. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 local residents of Lisbon between April and August 2025. The interviews were analyzed using directed content analysis. Doxey’s Irritation Index was used as a guide for coding, while inductive coding allowed new themes to emerge directly from the residents’ accounts. The research captures residents' perceptions that reside mostly in central districts of Lisbon and the city’s two municipalities, Amadora and Sintra. The group consisted of younger residents between the ages of 21 and 35.

The findings show that the perceptions of overtourism position the residents of Lisbon between Apathy and Annoyance stages of Doxey’s Irritation Index. Participants spoke about rising frustration with housing affordability caused by the growth of short-term rentals like Airbnbs, difficulties with daily mobility on overcrowded public transport, and the erosion of cultural identity in historic neighborhoods. While some positive effects of tourism were recognized, such as job opportunities and urban improvements, these were mostly outweighed by the described negative pressures.

This research contributes to tourism studies by showing how Doxey’s Irritation Index can be applied to individual-level qualitative research, not only community-level surveys. Practically, the findings highlight the need for stricter regulation of short-term rentals, better investment in public transport, and policies that involve residents more directly in tourism management. The study is limited by its small sample size and focus on a younger demographic, meaning the results cannot represent the full population of Lisbon. However, it provides an important step in understanding how overtourism is currently experienced by residents and offers directions for future research on other groups and districts.

The place branding process, especially during the formation of a place brand identity, requires a collaborative approach that involves all relevant stakeholders. The co-creation process is one of the practical collaborative approaches that is significant for representing the appropriate place brand image to tourists and enhancing the destination’s appeal. The creative industries are key stakeholders who play an important role in this process, as they contribute to a city’s cultural capital, foster innovation, and directly engage with visitors. This study explores the perspectives of internal stakeholders, including local creative professionals, and the public sector representatives, including the Liepaja 2027 team and Liepaja’s Destination Management Organisation, regarding the role of creative industries in co-creating Liepaja’s place brand identity in preparation for its designation as the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) in 2027. Through six semi-structured interviews, the findings revealed that there are positive perspectives, where both internal stakeholders view the local creative industries’ role as identity storytellers in Liepaja. However, further findings indicate that local creative industries are being excluded from strategic branding discussions and formal decision-making processes with public sector stakeholders, resulting in the marginalisation of their role. Public sector stakeholders acknowledge the contributions of the local creative industry but tend to prioritise collaboration with larger, more established creative organisations, leaving smaller enterprises underrepresented. Additional challenges, including structural barriers, lack of publicity support, and communication gaps, further undermine a meaningful co-creation process between these sectors. As this study is conducted before Liepaja’s designation as ECoC in 2027, the insights highlight existing challenges and future opportunities to strengthen stakeholder partnerships. This can ensure that the city’s cultural potential can be fully utilised in its place brand identity. The research also contributes to broader academic discussions on participatory place branding, particularly in small creative cities navigating major cultural events.

Previous studies have highlighted the importance of understanding how culture affects consumers' purchase decisions, including those of tourists. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the influence of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions - collectivism, power distance and uncertainty avoidance on tourist purchase decisions in Gujarat, India. This research employs a quantitative approach. Non-probability convenience and snowball sampling methods were used to collect samples. Data was collected using questionnaire surveys via google forms. The convenience sampling method was used to select the sample to distribute the questionnaire on-site using QR-code of the google form. A total of 222 responses were received, out of which only 172 who self-identified as tourists were used in the study. The data was then analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. Spearman rank’s correlation analysis was used to find relationships between cultural dimensions and tourist purchase decisions. Findings from this thesis show that collectivism and uncertainty avoidance cultural dimensions have weak positive correlation with tourist purchase decisions. On the other hand, there is no relationship between power distance and tourist purchase decisions. These findings could be useful for tourism businesses in understanding the impact of culture on their potential consumers.

This thesis investigates travel advice with personal narratives that solo female travelers share on TikTok, with a focus on Italy. Digital platforms like TikTok have emerged as important spaces for women to share advice on safety, as the number of women travelling alone keeps increasing. The main topics and methods used by solo female creators to assist others in overcoming the challenges of travelling alone are identified in this study through a thematic analysis of 18 TikTok videos. According to the findings, travel advice posted on TikTok reflects societal concerns about visibility, empowerment, and protection in both digital and physical spaces, going beyond simple advice. This thesis emphasises how knowledge is influenced by shared gendered experiences and the necessity of community-driven support by focusing on tips rather than just first-person travel experiences. In addition to providing insight into the changing importance of short-form content in travel discussion, this research advances our understanding of digital tourist cultures.

Denna studie fokuserar vid svensklärares ämnesdidaktiska undervisningsmetoder kopplat till läsförståelseundervisningen i årskurs 7–9. Studien motiveras av att PISA-resultaten i läsförståelse för högstadieelever i Sverige har sjunkit under senaste åren. Av denna anledning är det intressant att studera svensklärares uttryckta undervisningsmetoder och dess förutsättningar i arbetet med att utveckla elevers läsförståelse. En kvalitativ studie genomfördes med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer. I studiens teoretiska ramverk ingår Ryan och Decis teori - Self Determination Theory. Resultatet av studien visar på att motivation är en avgörande faktor för utvecklingen av högstadieelevers läsförståelse. Slutsatsen visar att olika lärare definierar läsförståelse på olika sätt och att undervisningsmetoder som främjar elevers motivation visade sig vara positivt för läsförståelseutvecklingen. Samtliga informanter i studien upplevde problem med bristande läsmotivation hos sina elever.