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Large language models increasingly mediate real-world tasks, yet we lack systematic ways to quantify how their performance degrades when the meaning of their inputs is eroded. To bridge this gap, we developed a framework to semantically erode meaning and quantify its intensity, grounded in discourse analysis, psycholinguistics, and software engineering, comprising five theoretically motivated methods: omission of key information and context, lexical substitution with near-synonyms, increased abstraction, structural obfuscation and renaming, and injection of logical errors. We applied these erosion operators across five domains and quantified their effects on model performance using a publicly available language model. A two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed significant main effects of both domain and erosion method, as well as a significant interaction, indicating that the impact of semantic degradation depends jointly on how text is eroded and how domain-specific information is encoded. Logical error erosions proved especially damaging for code generation, whereas structural obfuscation most strongly impaired news and instruction tasks. Epistasis analysis of pairwise erosion unions showed that some combinations produced super-additive degradation while others exhibited compensatory effects. These domain-by-erosion profiles provide diagnostic insight into where multi-step large language model (LLM) pipelines are most likely to fail and suggest that robustness benchmarks should probe models along domain-specific vulnerability dimensions rather than relying on generic perturbations. Semantic erosion thus offers a principled tool for turning model failure into evidence about how language models structure and degrade meaning.

Aims and objectives: This study aimed to explore stroke rehabilitation staff's experiences, challenges and adaptations in their work during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden.

Methods: A web survey was conducted from September to December 2020 with staff involved in stroke rehabilitation. It covered participant characteristics, experiences, COVID-19 management, patient safety, organisation, information allocation and information and communication technologies (ICT). Quantitative data was presented with descriptive statistics. Free-text responses were used to illuminate the findings.

Results: Three hundred and forty stroke rehabilitation staff answered the survey. No stroke rehabilitation organisation was closed entirely, but services had been paused or altered in several regions. Adaptations included prioritising patients with COVID-19 and thereby reducing the capacity to supply rehabilitation for stroke survivors. The participants experienced a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) and patient safety had been compromised. The pandemic restricted opportunities to provide ordinary rehabilitation, often resulting in ethical dilemmas and stress. The rapid transition to using ICT was primarily experienced positively.

Conclusions: Staff reported working under complex, constantly changing and stressful conditions during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Disruptions in ordinary practice led to compromised patient safety and increased stress among staff, intensified by limited access to PPE. Ethical guidelines, as well as regular debriefing protocols, should be put in place to prevent adverse health outcomes among staff and to prepare healthcare systems for future crises and disruptions. ICT offers a potential pathway for more flexible and accessible care in the future.

Purpose Spouses of persons with dementia often take on caring responsibilities that can be overwhelming and negatively affect their well-being. To support the development of effective services and promote carer well-being, we aim to describe carer experiences and needs in everyday life.

Methods Semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 24 spouses caring for a partner with dementia in Sweden. The interviews explored experiences of caring for a partner with dementia. Interviews were analyzed with thematic analysis.

Results The analysis generated two themes: “Being consumed by caring” and “Longing to be seen and feel supported”. The first theme showed that spouse carers experience a transition from spouse to carer and feel confined in their new situation. The second showed that to be supported, spouse carers need to feel acknowledged in their situation, and formal care must meet their partner's needs, as carers' needs are enmeshed with those of their partners.

Conclusion Spouse carers of persons with dementia often feel trapped by caring responsibilities. To feel supported, they need to be acknowledged both as individuals and as part of a couple. Health and social care professionals should focus on maintaining spouses' sense of self and adopt a couple-centred approach.

The name Queen’s Bench III (1990) signifies that the criminal case in this film is tried in the High Court of Justice within the English legal system. Moreover, its Cantonese title 古惑(or蠱惑, gu2 waak6)大律師 (A Mischievous Lawyer. Gǔ huò dà lǜ shī in Mandarin) refers to the characteristics of the protagonist, Zhang, a Hong Kong barrister, who is resourceful and full of unexpected legal tricks. On the night before Chen Tsu Hui (陳子輝), a local hooligan, is set to move to the U.S., he secretly meets his lover, Ms Chen, who is engaged to a wealthy man. On his way back home, he finds an unconscious girl, who has been choked and raped by the son of the village leader, Li Fan Gen (李範根). She is close to death, and so he performs CPR. However, the villagers, misunderstanding the scene, believe he is molesting the girl. They arrest and beat him and then send him to the police station. Chen Tsu Hui is subsequently charged with murder after the girl dies in hospital. Barrister Zhang accepts a pro bono offer from the government to be Chen Tsu Hui’s defence lawyer. Since Chen Tsu Hui has an ignominious life record and the true culprit imputes guilt to Chen Tsu Hui for his crime, Chen Tsu Hui looks to be losing the court case, despite the excellent performance of his lawyer, Barrister Zhang. Therefore, Barrister Zhang decides to falsify a film on VHS using CCTV (not prevalent in the early 90s), in which someone is violating the victim according to the culprit’s description of the crime scene. Ultimately, the culprit confesses that it was he who killed the girl. The truth is phenomenological. At the moment something happens, the truth is open to interpretation. The truth of something can only be understood in a historical context. As Gadamer says, “understanding is, essentially, a historically effected event”. That is to say, the truth is only a logical product made by our minds, as Vaihingar says, “our subject is the active activity of the logical function; the products of this activity—fictions.” In this paper, I will examine the connection between truth and fiction in Queen’s Bench III, represented by a videotape as visual evidence, in which a fiction that imitates the truth is the truth of the case that has been lost.

Introduction: A range of climate-sensitive diseases are endemic to the Horn of Africa, which is increasingly vulnerable to climate extremes. Global health agencies recognise the need to abandon siloed approaches to climate change and health by integrating health in climate policies, strategies, and guidelines. This structured document review aimed to examine the extent to which health, and specifically infectious diseases, are integrated into climate governance documents in this region, with a focus on Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda. Methods: A desk-based search strategy identified climate governance documents from (1) open-access climate policy databases; (2) targeted websites; (3) citation chaining; and (4) a structured literature search. Data were extracted to summarise document attributes, aims, geographic scope, integration of health topics, and infectious diseases integration, rationale for inclusion, and recommendations. Results: Ninety-eight documents were included, from Ethiopia (18.4%), Kenya (63.3%), Somalia (9.2%), Uganda (6.1%), and the broader region (3.0%). Most documents were affiliated with the Government (94.9%) or intergovernmental organisations (5.1%). Dedicated human health and infectious disease sections were identified in 59.2% and 5.1% of documents, respectively. Integrated health topics included infectious diseases (89.7%; predominately malaria, cholera or acute watery diarrhoea, and typhoid fever), nutrition (55.2%), and maternal or child health (39.7%). Conclusions: Characterisation of climate governance documents in the Horn of Africa highlighted variable integration of health and infectious diseases. These results support calls for improved coherence between climate and health governance processes and evidence translation at research-policy interfaces. The structured search and review methodology may be adopted in other climate-vulnerable contexts, in collaboration with climate and health stakeholders. © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Background: Malaria remains a significant public health challenge in Somaliland. This study evaluates a preliminary machine learning approach—rather than a full operational system—to predict malaria outbreak years in a data-scarce environment using a limited historical dataset (2002–2021). Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using annual data. An Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model performed binary classification of malaria incidence into ‘Outbreak’ and ‘Non-Outbreak’ years. To address the methodological constraints of the small sample size (N = 20) and mitigate the risk of overfitting, a Leave-One-Year-Out Cross-Validation (LOYOCV) strategy was employed, and results were compared against a Logistic Regression baseline. Predictor variables included temperature, rainfall, 1-year lagged rainfall, urbanization, and land-use patterns. Results: The XGBoost model achieved an AUC of 0,880, significantly outperforming the baseline (AUC 0,710). At the optimal threshold, the model yielded a sensitivity of 0,750 and a precision of 0,600. However, the discrete staircase appearance of the resulting ROC curve reflects the model’s high sensitivity to individual data points within the small sample, indicating that these performance metrics should be interpreted with caution. Conclusion: While promising, these results are preliminary. The small sample size and the temporal clustering of outbreaks in the early 2000s suggest that this work serves as a proof-of-concept for data-scarce regions rather than a definitive surveillance tool. Further prospective validation with higher-resolution temporal data is required to ensure the reliability and generalizability of these associations for operational early warning. © The Author(s) 2026.

Abstract

Background: The ongoing national transition in Swedish healthcare towards Integrated Person-centered Care (IPC) [Nära vård] can lead to continuous, seamless, and personalized support for individuals with severe illness, aligning with the core principles of palliative care. Respecting the ill person’s unique circumstances, needs, and preferences also involves addressing the family member’s needs. Facing life-threatening illnesses affects families emotionally and psychosocially, but there are limited psychosocial interventions available. The Family Talk Intervention (FTI), based on psychoeducation, narrative, and dialogical methods, shows promising results. Assessing FTI's implementation sustainability helps ensure families' access to psychosocial and thus address important gaps within an IPC [Nära vård] approach.  

Aim: This study explores how healthcare professionals (HCPs) perceive contextual factors influencing the sustainability of FTI after implementation, particularly when a parent with children or youths faces a life-threatening illness. 

Method: Fifteen HCPs (13 hospital social workers and two registered nurses) working in specialized palliative homecare services or advanced cancer care were trained in FTI before offering it to families.  After a medium of 18 months, focus groups or individual interviews were conducted. Data was analyzed using conventional qualitative content analysis. 

Results: HCPs identified various factors affecting the sustainability of FTI. First, trying to prioritize FTI and coordinate families was complex due to resource constraints, such as a lack of time. Secondly, working without FTI-educated colleagues hampered sustainability as the HCPs using FTI felt isolated, especially when managers and team members showed little support. Thirdly, the satisfaction of seeing families become stronger contributed to a receptiveness for change, provided fulfillment and motivation to continue using FTI, despite contextual challenges.

Significance of the Results: This study shows that organizational support, resources, and individual factors such as receptiveness for change are crucial for intervention sustainability, as the positive impact motivates continuous use of an intervention despite challenges.

This study explores discursive encounters between school leaders, teachers, and local education authority (LEA) officials within a local school improvement initiative in Sweden. Using a primary school case, the research examines how competing discourses, focused on results- oriented accountability and professional autonomy, are interpreted and enacted locally, and how this shapes interactions between teacher leaders, principals, and LEA officials. Drawing on field notes from a meeting and interviews with key stakeholders, the analysis employs critical discourse theory to investigate discursive patterns, tensions, and the emergence of shared understandings. Findings reveal that a results- driven discourse emphasizing measurability and accountability intersects with a counter-discourse valuing collective processes, professional judgement, and holistic teaching practices. This intersection represents a process of hybridization, producing ruptures and moments of mutual understanding that reconfigure the “chain of effects’. The study demonstrates how dialogue-driven hybridization can transform competing discourses into shared resources for school improvement. © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Introduction This study examines the role of interactivity in virtual learning environments (VLEs), focusing on the integration of synchronous and asynchronous modalities in shaping educational presence.Methods A mixed-methods design was applied, combining survey data, observational analysis, and interaction records from a Moodle-based course with 115 undergraduate Communication students. Variables included participation patterns, cognitive engagement, and access to technological resources.Results Synchronous interaction enhances teaching and social presence through immediacy and real-time feedback, while asynchronous interaction supports cognitive presence by fostering reflection and deeper engagement. These effects are conditioned by communication strategies and contextual factors, including technological access and socioeconomic conditions.Discussion Interactivity emerges as a context-dependent process rather than a direct causal mechanism. The study proposes the concept of Strategic Educational Presence, extending the Community of Inquiry framework by incorporating a communicational and strategic dimension. This approach underscores the alignment of interaction modalities, pedagogical design, and contextual conditions to support meaningful learning. Limitations include a single institutional context and reliance on self-reported data. Future research should test this framework across disciplines using longitudinal and multivariate approaches.

Scholarship on volunteering often highlights transformations in civic engagement and their implications for democracy and social cohesion. This article examines one influential perspective-the discourse of change in volunteering-emphasizing declining participation, shifts in organizational preferences, and changing forms of engagement. We critically review this discourse with attention to the Scandinavian context and compare its claims with empirical evidence on formal volunteering in Sweden from 1992 to 2024. Drawing on cross-sectional survey data, we analyze trends in the scope, structure, forms, and values of volunteering. Contrary to narratives of decline or radical transformation, our findings indicate relative stability. To interpret these findings, we apply the theoretical perspective of the "reversed social engine" and argue that resilience offers a valuable yet underexplored lens for understanding civil society. This perspective shifts attention from change to stability as a phenomenon warranting further study.

This paper integrates dialogic and embodied theories of learning to investigate how multimodal dialogue unfolds as three 4-year-olds translate an AABCC block-tower pattern (blue, blue, white, red, red) into a pattern dance within a colour matrix. Drawing on data from an embodied design study, four interrelated aspects of the children's multimodal dialogue (flexibility, rhythm, gaps, and revoicing) were examined using synchronic and diachronic analyses. The findings show how flexibility functioned as an adaptive resource through which the children attuned to one another's actions, negotiated emerging meanings, and sustained collective understanding by dynamically coordinating speech, gesture, stepping, and sound. Rhythm supported anticipation and collective flow, while dialogic gaps, moments of hesitation or disruption, created openings for negotiation and meaning-making. Revoicing bridged these gaps through alignment of rhythm, speech, and movement into shared understanding. The study demonstrates how mathematical meaning emerges through multimodal voices, thereby foregrounding multimodality as a central dimension of early mathematical learning.

One Health (OH)-oriented initiatives are essential for addressing complex health challenges in Somalia given the country?s economy depends heavily on the livestock, agriculture, and marine resources. The Capacitating One Health in Eastern and Southern Africa (COHESA) project supported a comprehensive assessment of the status of OH in Somalia through 21 key informant interviews, two focus group discussions, a desk review of secondary data and net-mapping with OH stakeholders. This multi-faceted approach aimed to deepen the understanding of OH concepts and their interconnectedness with human, animal, and ecosystem health. The study identified several critical challenges and opportunities within the Somali context, focusing on innovations in governance, education, and implementation. Key findings revealed significant gaps, including limited infrastructure, insufficient government funding for OH initiatives, and an overreliance on external donor support. Moreover, there is a notable lack of institutionalization of OH within various government sectors, which hinders effective collaboration. This assessment underscores the urgent need for enhanced funding, capacity building, and the establishment of sustainable governance structures. By addressing these gaps, Somalia can leverage OH principles to improve health outcomes for humans, animals, and the environment, thereby fostering a healthier and more resilient society.

Background: Rural communities in the Horn of Africa face high exposure to interconnected health risks, such as zoonotic diseases, food and water safety issues, and antimicrobial resistance, that benefit from an integrated One Health (OH) approach. However, these populations remain underserved by conventional top-down health interventions. We assessed whether community conversations (CCs), a participatory and action-oriented dialogue method, could improve OH-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among (agro-) pastoralists. Methods: A pre-post study was conducted in 19 communities in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia from June to October 2024. Community members (n = 358) participated in four CC sessions over 2-3 months, guided by trained facilitators using a standardised facilitation manual. KAP outcomes were assessed using validated psychometric models with fixed-parameter scoring: a bifactor 2-PL IRT model for knowledge, a bifactor graded response model for attitudes, and a network-based composite score for practices. Within-person changes were assessed using paired Wilcoxon or McNemar tests, and predictors of KAP change were examined using mixed-effects regression models accounting for community clustering. Results: Participation in the CC intervention was associated with significant improvements in OH knowledge (mean theta scores pre- and post-intervention: 0.04 vs 1.39; p < 0.001), attitudes (0.07 vs 1.07; p < 0.001), and practices (mean network-weighted composite scores pre- and post-intervention: 1.06 vs 1.66; p < 0.001). Positive gains were observed across all three countries and most participant subgroups, with shifts in knowledge and attitudes emerging as significant predictors of improved practices. Conclusions: CCs were effective in improving OH KAP in the study communities. The findings support CCs as a scalable, community engagement model with potential to strengthen health behaviours in resource-limited contexts.

Using registry and questionnaire data from 47,235 chronic pain patients, we evaluated whether supervised learning outperforms clustering in predicting nine one-year outcomes. Supervised models showed small but consistent improvements (best RMSE 5.49 vs. 5.92; R2 0.34 vs. 0.19), with overall comparable performance.

Understanding how older adults organize their daily lives is crucial for developing person-centered homecare systems. This study proposes an interpretable framework for modeling daily life and detecting behavioral anomalies using data from 18 CASAS smart homes. The dataset contains several weeks of continuous sensor recordings from residents living independently. Daily activity patterns were analyzed in 15-minute intervals using principal component analysis (PCA) to identify key temporal patterns shared by the population. For each resident, a personal baseline routine was defined as the median of their daily activity profiles over a 14-day baseline period, and deviations from this baseline were compared with global deviations derived from the PCA model. The results revealed explainable behavioral differences among residents and highlighted three lifestyle archetypes like active bimodal, stable routine, and early resting. By linking the difference scores to contextual activities such as sleep, hygiene, and computer use, the framework provides relevant explanations for daily irregular behaviors.

Dementia is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting millions of people worldwide. Early prediction of dementia, especially during the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage, is crucial for timely intervention and management. Gait analysis provides indicators of cognitive decline and help identify individuals at risk of progression. This study aims to extract gait features from video recordings and apply machine learning models (Support Vector Machine (SVM), XGBoost, and Logistic Regression (LR)) to predict conversion from MCI to dementia. The dataset consists of videos from 62 individuals with MCI, of whom 31 later converted to dementia at 2-year follow-up. Participants performed the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test under single-task and dual-task (TUGdt) conditions, including animal naming (TUGdt-NA) and reciting months in reverse order (TUGdt-MB). The results showed that SVM achieved the highest performance with an accuracy of 70% and F1 score of 69%. These findings show that gait-based machine learning models, particularly SVM, show promise for early prediction of dementia conversion in individuals with MCI.

Background: Hypertension is a major cause of death and disability, and undiagnosed cases are particularly dangerous as they can cause severe damage without timely treatment. The aim of the study was to identify risk factors for hypertension and undiagnosed hypertension in rural areas of Bangladesh using advanced Machine Learning (ML) algorithms.

Methods: This study involved 1,603 respondents, selected through a cross-sectional survey using a multistage cluster random sampling technique. Four ML algorithms, including Gradient Booster (GB), Logistic Regression (LR), Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM), were used in this study. Risk factors for hypertension and undiagnosed hypertension were identified using the best-performing ML model, selected based on metrics such as accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, precision, F1 score, receiver operating characteristics-area under the curve (ROC-AUC), and calibration plot.

Results: The prevalence of hypertension was 15.5%, slightly higher than the 15.4% for undiagnosed hypertension. In predicting the risk of both hypertension and undiagnosed hypertension, the LR model outperformed other ML models across most evaluation metrics. For hypertension, it achieved higher performance in terms of precision (0.580), F1 score (0.550), ROC-AUC (0.729; 95% CI: 0.677-0.779), and calibration. Similarly, for undiagnosed hypertension, the LR model showed better precision (0.580), ROC-AUC (0.596; 95% CI: 0.537-0.654), and calibration compared to other models. The risk factors for hypertension and undiagnosed hypertension differed notably. Key risk factors for undiagnosed hypertension included being overweight or obese, the absence of chronic diseases or cardiovascular disease (CVD), being male, non-use of tobacco, older age (above 50 years), being currently married, non-smoking status, having diabetes, and having no formal education.

Conclusion: The findings emphasize the urgent need for enhanced national and regional public health initiatives to improve the detection and awareness of hypertension in rural Bangladesh. Further research is important to validate the findings.

Objectives: A growing number of frail older adults live at home, placing increasing demands on health and social care systems. Digital twins may improve homecare services and support person-centred and integrated care. This study investigated older adults' experiences of homecare and their perspectives on the potential use of digital twins in homecare.

Methods: An exploratory, two-stage qualitative study was conducted with 14 older adults from two Swedish municipalities. In the first stage, semi-structured interviews explored participants' experiences of homecare. In the second stage, the same participants took part in either a semi-structured interview or a focus group discussion regarding their views on digital twins, with participants choosing their preferred format. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to interpret the data.

Results: The analysis generated one main theme, Navigating uncertainty and possibility in digital twin-supported homecare, with four sub-themes, Challenges in understanding and accepting digital twins, Concerns about privacy and ethics, Opportunities for safety and prevention, and Potential effects on daily routines. Participants struggled to comprehend the nature of digital twins. Concerns about their potential use in homecare included ethical issues, impacts on privacy, and reduced social interaction with homecare staff. However, participants also identified potential benefits of digital twins, such as more responsive services, improved scheduling, and enhanced safety through monitoring and predictive functions.

Conclusion: This study highlights the potential of digital twins in homecare from the perspective of older adults. While digital twins offer opportunities, integrating them into homecare services is complex and requires addressing the concerns raised by participants.

Background: Chronic pain affects 20-30% of adults and is a leading cause of disability and societal cost. Interdisciplinary, team-based treatment (IDT) is the most comprehensive approach, yet outcomes vary widely, and long-term benefits are, on average, modest. We aimed to develop clinically interpretable patient clusters from routine pre-treatment intake data and to validate them externally using independent national registry indicators, as a foundation for data-driven clinical decision support.

Methods: We analyzed a nationwide cohort of 90,505 patients entering specialist IDT in Sweden. A theory-informed unsupervised approach was used to cluster biopsychosocial intake features from the Swedish Quality Registry for Pain Rehabilitation using k-means clustering. Internal validation assessed stability and separation, while external validation tested concordance between questionnaire-derived cluster structures and pre-intake sick-leave trajectories and medication prescriptions derived from national registers using the Mantel statistic and logistic regression.

Results: Eight distinct clusters were identified, characterized by differing constellations of pain severity, psychological distress, functional status, and pain duration. Registry indicators tracked with cluster burden: higher-severity clusters showed greater sick leave and more medication prescriptions. Concordance between questionnaire-based and registry-based distance matrices was moderate to strong (Mantel r = 0.65; p = 0.0016) and cluster membership was significantly associated with the registry-based features. Three pre-intake sick-leave trajectories (high/stable, medium/stable, and low/increasing) were observed and differed across clusters.

Conclusions: Population-scale unsupervised clustering of routine patient-reported data, externally validated with independent national registries and supported by longitudinal sickness-absence patterns, yields clinically interpretable subgroups with strengthened construct validity. This provides a scalable foundation for patient stratification and the development of future clinical decision-support tools to better target and monitor IDT in real-world care.

Purpose: The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimate that over 2.5 billion people need assistive technology, yet access remains limited. In response to this pressing need, WHO has maintained, since 2016, a Priority Assistive Products List (APL) with 50 priority assistive products. In 2024, an update was launched to revise and expand the list based on new evidence and stakeholder input. This paper presents the price review component of the update. The review consisted of collecting global price data and classifying assistive products into price ranges to support the decision-making process for the updated APL.

Materials and methods: From an initial list of 300 products prioritized by the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Assistive Technology, 120 products were selected for the price collection by domain experts. Twelve countries, representing a range of income levels and geographic regions, were chosen for data collection. Focal points in each country gathered the lowest prices for the selected assistive products. The collected price data was then used to classify the products into five Gross Domestic Product-standardized price ranges.

Results: Focal points from all 12 countries submitted price data to varying extents. In eight countries, the data covered over 75% of products, whereas in the remaining four countries, the coverage was below 50%, as focal points faced challenges such as limited supplier access or time constraints. The collected data provided insights into the affordability of assistive products across countries and product categories.

Conclusion: The price analysis contributed essential evidence to the APL update and highlighted global disparities in affordability of assistive products. The data showed an inverse relationship between national income level and affordability, where the lower the income, the greater the financial burden assistive products represent.

Background/aims: A neonatal near miss refers to cases where babies almost die in the neonatal period. Exploring healthcare professionals’ experiences and perspectives isvital to understand the dynamics behind neonatal near misses, how to prevent them and how care can be improved. This study’s aim was to explore health care professionals’experiences and perceptions of caring for neonatal near misses in major public hospitalsin the Western 1 region of The Gambia. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were held with purposively selected health care professionals, including 9 midwives, 9 nurses and 9 doctors, who worked at three tertiary hospitals in the Western 1 region. Qualitative content analysis was used to generate themes and subthemes focused on the participants’ experiences of providing care in cases of a neonatal near miss. Results: The main theme was ‘it could be different’, which included two subthemes: ‘always a near miss baby at the ward’ and ‘ready to care’. The participants described how insufficient human and material resources and poor work environments resulted in neonatal near misses, as well as their inability to intervene in the case of many neonatal deaths. Conclusions: This study identified critical gaps in neonatal care, including inadequate investment in health care infrastructure, limited availability of life-saving equipment and insufficient neonatal training programmes. High clinical workload, staff shortages and increasing demand for neonatal services contribute to delays in care, which increase the risk of neonatal near-miss events and mortality. Implications for practice: Effective management of neonatal near-miss cases inlow-resource settings requires strengthened neonatal training, adequate staffing and reliable access to essential equipment. Preventive strategies, including improved antenatal care, efficient clinical workflows and timely referral systems, are essential to improving neonatal outcomes.

This study examines how criminal policy reforms are linguistically legitimised in Swedish government bills during the period 2018–2025. Drawing on theories of symbolic politics and penal populism, it conducts a qualitative, theory-driven text analysis of four criminal policy bills from two governments: the Löfven/Andersson government (2018–2022) and the Kristersson government (2022–2025). 

Aiming to analyse how criminal policy problems and threat images are constructed, which legitimising strategies dominate the bills, and to what extent similarities and differences between government periods can be understood as expressions of depoliticisation within criminal policy. The analysis is based on four ideal-typical categories —moralising, expert-oriented, symbolic, and instrumental—organised along two analytical dimensions: moralising versus expert-oriented legitimation, and symbolic versus instrumental criminal policy. 

The findings show that criminal policy problems are primarily framed as serious societal threats related to security, public order, and the rule of law. Reform proposals are mainly legitimised through expert-oriented and instrumental language, through references to legal principles, expert assessments, and procedures. Symbolic expressions mainly serve a framing function, while explicitly moralising language is limited. 

Despite differences in political leadership, the analysed bills display substantial similarities in legitimising patterns. This suggests a shared criminal policy discourse at the level of government bills, in which ideological distinctions are downplayed in favour of a formalised and institutional mode of justification. The study contributes to a clearer understanding of how criminal policy is legitimised in the legislative process and how depoliticisation may be articulated through language in formal policy documents.

Under de senaste åren har elevers läsförmåga och minskade läsvanor allt oftare debatterats och studerats av forskare. Mot denna bakgrund undersöker föreliggande studie de eventuella samband mellan de läsvanor elever i årskurs 3 själva anger att de har, och resultat från läshastighetstester. Studien syftar även till att undersöka eventuella gruppskillnader mellan könen avseende elevernas läsvanor och resultaten på standardiserade läshastighetstester. Syftet med studien är att bidra med kunskap om elevers läsvanor på fritiden, såsom läsfrekvens, val av genre, tid som spenderas på läsning och syfte med läsningen. Svaren relateras sedan till resultaten på standardiserade läshastighetstest.

Undersökningen genomfördes som en kvantitativ sambandsstudie där elever i årskurs 3 fick besvara en enkät om läsvanor på fritiden. Datainsamlingen utgjordes av enkätsvaren tillsammans med resultaten från läshastighetstesterna AVK1 och AVK2 från LegiLexi som mäter elevernas avkodningsförmåga av riktiga ord, respektive nonsensord. Resultaten analyserades med statistiska metoder för att identifiera eventuella samband och könsskillnader.

Deskriptiv statistik synliggör att elevernas läsvanor varierar i både omfattning och i val av genre och att vissa skillnader mellan pojkar och flickor kan identifieras. Mann Whitney U-test, T-test och Chi-två test visade emellertid ingen statistiskt signifikant skillnad mellan grupperna avseende könen och dess läsvanor. Spearmans rho korrelationsanalys och Pearsons korrelationsanalys visar vidare inga statistiskt signifikanta samband mellan läsvanor och läshastighetstesterna AVK1 och AVK2.

Studien bidrar med empirisk kunskap om elevers läsvanor och resultat på läshastighetstest i årskurs 3, samt bidrar med insikter i det komplexa området som rör läsvanor och den tidiga läsutvecklingen, som att enstaka elever läser väldigt lite på sin fritid och ändå presterar bra på testerna, att eleverna läste mer än förväntat på sin fritid och att läsning sker för nöjes skull i stor utsträckning.

Högläsning lyfts i både forskning och styrdokument som en viktig undervisningspraktik för att stödja elevers språkutveckling och läsförståelse i de tidiga skolåren. Samtidigt visar tidigare studier att högläsning i undervisningen inte alltid används som ett medvetet och planerat didaktiskt moment. Mot denna bakgrund är syftet med denna studie att undersöka hur lärare i årskurs 1–2 beskriver sitt arbete med högläsning i undervisningen samt vilka didaktiska överväganden som ligger bakom deras val av arbetssätt i relation till elevers läsförståelse.

Studien har en kvalitativ ansats och bygger på semistrukturerade intervjuer med lärare i årskurs 1–2. Det insamlade materialet analyserades med hjälp av tematisk analys för att identifiera återkommande mönster i lärarnas högläsningspraktiker.

Resultaten visar att högläsning beskrivs som en återkommande och betydelsefull del av undervisningen. Lärarna använder bland annat samtal, frågor och begreppsförklaringar för att stödja elevernas förståelse av text. Samtidigt framkommer variation i hur medvetet och systematiskt högläsningen planeras och genomförs. Resultaten visar att lärarens didaktiska val och arbetssätt har stor betydelse för hur högläsningen kan bidra till elevers språkliga utveckling och förståelse. Vilket visar att högläsningens potential som språkutvecklande verktyg är beroende av medvetna och systematiska val och att den därför behöver planeras och genomföras som ett målmedvetet undervisningsmoment.

Denna studie är en läromedelsanalys som avser att bidra med kunskap om hur läsläxan som läromedel i årskurs 1 stödjer flerspråkiga elevers läsutveckling genom sin struktur, tillgänglighet och språkliga utformning. Studien är relevant eftersom läsning är en grundläggande förutsättning för elevers kunskapsutveckling och delaktighet i samhället. Läsläxor genomförs i hemmet där språkliga förutsättningar kan skilja sig åt, vilket gör att läsläxans utformning får betydelse för en likvärdig utbildning. Detta har undersökts genom en kvalitativ ansats med dokumentanalys som insamlingsmetod och riktad innehållsanalys som analysmetod. Resultaten analyserades med utgångspunkt i sociokulturell teori, multimodalt perspektiv och teori om flerspråkighet. Studiens resultat visar att läsläxan i viss utsträckning kan stödja flerspråkiga elevers läsutveckling genom sitt omfattande visuella stöd, sin återkommande och förutsägbara struktur, genom introduktion av både högfrekventa vardagsord och mer skolrelaterade ord samt bidra till ökat läsintresse genom sitt vardagsnära innehåll och representation av mångfald. Resultatet visar också på att det finns utvecklingsmöjligheter, exempelvis vad gäller tydligare instruktioner till elever och vårdnadshavare, ordförklaringar samt ett större tillvaratagande av elevernas språkliga resurser.

Background Various interventions have been developed with the intention to increase the amount of physical activity among children, including those promoting active school travel (AST). However, no gold standard currently exists for measuring different travel modes in AST. This study evaluates the criterion validity of a web-based data collection tool designed for children to self-report their school travel.

Purpose To assess the criterion validity of a web-based data collection tool for daily self-registration of commuting mode, time, and distance among middle school children in Sweden.

Methods Thirty children (10–12 years old) from six schools in Falun, Sweden, were recruited using snowball sampling. The children self-reported their school travel data for one day, including travel mode, commuting time, and distance. Their reports were compared to a criterion standard based on direct observations. Spearman correlation and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to analyze the accuracy of the self-reported data.

Result The web-based data collection tool demonstrated 100% agreement between self-reported and observed travel modes, with high correlations for commuting time and distance (rs=0.953–0.989, p < 0.001). The Wilcoxon signed rank test showed no significant differences between self-reported data and criterion standard (p = 0.243–0.903).

Conclusion The strong agreement between self-reported and observed travel data indicates high criterion validity, suggesting that the web-based data collection tool is a reliable method for middle school children to self-report their daily school travel.

This article examines the everyday encounters between preschool teachers and parents with a foreign background in Swedish preschools, focusing on how resistance, adaptation and newness are expressed in the in-between-space where they meet. Drawing on Bhabha’s theory of the “third space” and linguistic ethnography, the study builds on semi-structured interviews with eight teachers and eight parents at three preschools in multicultural areas in Sweden. The analysis shows that teachers often expect parents to adapt to Swedish cultural norms and to already Swedish preschool routines and implicit rules. When this does not occur, parents are easily positioned as “the Other” and viewed through a deficit lens. Parents, for their part, both resist and adapt: they may question practices such as outdoor play in bad weather or the use of written information and interpreters, while simultaneously emphasising the importance of learning Swedish and “how to live in Sweden.”. Newness emerges when teachers adopt a welcoming, flexible approach, invest in relationships, and when multilingual staff act as linguistic and cultural bridges. The findings illustrate how everyday encounters can either reproduce or challenge othering, and point to the need for reflexive, intercultural practices in preschool and in preschool teacher education, practice and policy.

Denna studie handlar om hur lärare i årskurs 1–3 introducerar sina elever till skrivande på tangentbord samt hur denna introduktion kan påverka elevernas möjligheter att tillgodogöra sig ämnesinnehållet i undervisningen. Digitalt skrivande finns med som centralt innehåll i ämnet svenska för alla årskurser i grundskolan, men läroplanen ger en begränsad vägledning om hur och när undervisning i tangentbordsskrivning bör genomföras. Tidigare forskning visar att elever i åldern 6–12 år kan dra nytta av strukturerad undervisning i tangentbordsskrivning, men forskning inom den svenska lågstadieskolan är begränsad.

Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ metod där semistrukturerade intervjuer med sju lågstadielärare från fyra skolor har analyserats genom innehållsanalys. Resultaten visar att lärarna generellt förväntas sig begränsade förkunskaper hos eleverna när det gäller skrivande på tangentbord. Introduktionen till digitalt skrivande varierar mellan klassrum och kan beskrivas som antingen informell, där eleverna lär sig genom användning, eller mer strukturerad genom särskilda program eller övningar i touch-typing. Lärarna menar att elevernas möjligheter att tillgodogöra sig ämnesinnehållet i stor utsträckning beror på vilket skrivsätt de är mest vana vid. Samtidigt framkommer att digitalt skrivande kan fungera som ett stöd för vissa elever, särskilt de med finmotoriska svårigheter. Studien visar att en mer medveten och planerad introduktion till tangentbordsskrivning kan bidra till att elever utvecklar sin digitala skrivförmåga och därmed får bättre förutsättningar att använda digitala verktyg i sitt lärande.

I detta examensarbete är syftet att bidra med kunskap om hur lärare förbereder sina elever inför de nationella proven i årskurs 3, med fokus på hur de planerar och genomför sin undervisning för att förebygga eller hantera testängslan. För att besvara studiens syfte har kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med nio behöriga svensklärare från tre olika kommuner. Det insamlade datamaterialet har därefter analyserats utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv, som är studiens teoretiska ramverk.

Resultatet visar att förberedelser inför de nationella proven i svenska är betydelsefulla för att förebygga eller hantera testängslan. Resultatet visar också att goda relationer är viktiga för att elever ska känna sig trygga inför proven. Genom goda relationer och ett bra samspel med hemmen kan man som lärare se vilka stödinsatser och anpassningar som behöver göras, för att hjälpa eleven att lyckas i skolan. Den slutsats som kan dras, utifrån denna studie, är att det är viktigt att förbereda eleverna inför de nationella proven för att förebygga eller hantera testängslan. Det är även viktigt att läraren samtalar med och känner sina elever, för att skapa ett tryggt klassrumsklimat där alla vågar be om hjälp.

Recent language policy developments in Sweden emphasize the importance of developing students’ plurilingual competence within English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. However, it remains unclear how such perspectives are interpreted and enacted by teachers in early primary classrooms. This study aims to explore how primary school EFL teachers in Sweden understand plurilingualism and how their beliefs relate to their teaching practice. Two research questions guided the study: (1) how teachers in grades 1–3 describe their beliefs about plurilingualism in relation to their teaching, and (2) how different orientations towards language are reflected in their descriptions of plurilingualism in EFL teaching.

The study adopted a qualitative design with a phenomenographic approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five primary school EFL teachers. The interview data were analysed through qualitative content analysis to identify recurring patterns in teachers’ beliefs. Ruiz’s (1984) framework of language orientations (language as problem, language as right, and language as resource) was subsequently used as an analytical lens for examining how different perspectives on language were reflected in the teachers’ descriptions.

The findings indicate that teachers generally express positive attitudes towards plurilingualism and acknowledge students’ linguistic resources as supportive for participation and comprehension. At the same time, English remains the dominant language of instruction. The analysis further shows that different language orientations may coexist both across teachers and within the same teacher’s descriptions depending on context and pedagogical considerations.

The study suggests that plurilingual perspectives in early EFL education are negotiated within an English-dominant instructional tradition rather than implemented as a systematic pedagogical approach. The findings also highlight a gap between policy ambitions and classroom practice, pointing to the importance of stronger preparation for plurilingual pedagogies within teacher education.

Introduction: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have an increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity. Circulating endostatin is associated with both cardiovascular morbidity and impaired kidney function in the general population, but the utility of endostatin as a prognostic marker for CKD progression and mortality in patients with CKD is not well studied. The aim was to study association between serum endostatin and mortality, and also kidney function decline in a cohort of CKD patients (Salford Kidney Study [SKS]).

Methods: Analyses were performed on baseline and annual follow-up samples from 970 adults in the SKS cohort with CKD stage 3-5. Association with mortality was studied using Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for age, gender, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, smoking status, diabetes mellitus, prior cardiovascular disease, creatinine-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and urine protein-to-creatinine ratio (uPCR). Associations between endostatin and eGFR decline were studied with linear regression analyses. eGFR decline was defined as the percentage difference between baseline eGFR and follow-up eGFR (median follow-up, 6.2 years).

Results: Median age of the cohort was 66 years, with a median eGFR of 30 mL/min/1.73 m2. Multivariate Cox regression models revealed an association between higher endostatin levels and mortality with adjustments for established cardiovascular risk factors (HR: 1.14; CI: 1.02-1.28; p = 0.02) but was attenuated and nonsignificant after adjustments for baseline eGFR and uPCR. Baseline levels of endostatin were associated with eGFR decline but were nonsignificant after adjustments for baseline eGFR and uPCR. Changes of endostatin concentrations during the study were significantly associated with eGFR decline in all models (regression coefficient 0.0023% decrease per month [95% confidence intervals 0.0012-0.0034, p < 0.001]).

Conclusion: The clinical utility of plasma endostatin for risk prediction in CKD patients seems limited. Importantly, longitudinal changes of endostatin were significantly associated with eGFR decline. The clinical relevance of this warrants further studies.

En svensk planeringsmodell för hållbar stadsutveckling som utvecklats sedan tidigt 00-tal och som används i utvecklingsländer samt för att marknadsföra svensk planeringsmetodik och miljöteknik. Utvecklades i samklang med Uthållig kommun-metodiken.

This special issue examines the geopoliticisation of domestic political issues in the Baltic Sea region and Central and Eastern Europe in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine. It conceptualises geopoliticisation as a process through which domestic conflicts, preferences, and political debates are reframed in terms of geopolitical alignments and rivalries, particularly along a value-based divide between the West/EU and Russia. Bringing together contributions that analyse party strategies, public opinion, elite-driven dynamics, and electoral behaviour, the issue explores how geopolitical orientations are constructed, mobilised, and contested within national contexts.

Advancements in modern medical technology have enabled cures for a fraction of patients while extending survival times for those who are not cured. For non-cured patients, disease recurrence is influenced by observed covariates and unobserved individual heterogeneity (random effects). In biomedical studies, dependent censoring is frequently encountered, for example, in cancer patients, where right censoring can be caused by death from unrelated diseases or due to an (unobservable) cure status. This study introduces a joint frailty model for recurrent event data with a cure fraction, effectively capturing heterogeneity and inducing dependent censoring. The proposed multivariate joint frailty mixture cure models incorporate covariates and frailties, together with the event incidence time and latent cure status. The model accounts for the probability of a cure after each recurrence using both the complementary log-log and the logistic link function. A likelihood-based estimation method is developed using the Monte Carlo Expectation-Maximization (MCEM) algorithm. Through Monte Carlo simulation, we examine the finite sample properties of the MCEM estimators, supplemented by a real-world application using secondary data on hospital readmissions for colorectal cancer recurrence post-surgery. Simulation results suggest lifetime and frailty parameter estimates are unbiased and consistent. Compared to models with identical frailty structure, both the complementary log-log and the logistic cure frailty models with dependent frailties demonstrate a better fit with the real data, as evidenced by lower Akaike information criteria values.

In light of the new Swedish Social Services Act, which aims to transform social work in a more preventive, accessible, and evidence-based direction, there is a growing need for proven knowledge and scientific studies on preventive social work that address the social challenges of contemporary Swedish society. This article aims to provide insights into the understanding, planning and establishment of preventive social work practices in response to the new legislation, within a local context. The empirical material includes 1. interviews with social workers and first-line managers employed within a newly established unit for preventive services, 2. a survey distributed to social workers operating in a joint intake, 3. workshops with the management group of the social services organization, and 4. strategic documents. The results indicate that preventive social work is understood as interventions aimed at preventing or counteracting the emergence of social problems. It is operationalized into group- and community-level interventions targeting children and parents to strengthen protective factors early. To meet this definition the studied municipality establishes an organization with three functions: (1) prevention, (2) assessment, and (3) service provision. The preventive work is conducted in the preventive function by two new units: a generalist joint intake designed to ensure a holistic perspective and accessibility, and a team of preventive social workers implementing evidence-based parent- and child-group programs in collaboration with maternal/child health, youth clinics and towards migrant parents. The preventive social workers show positive outcomes and staff value working in a dedicated preventive role. At the same time, joint intake generalists report difficulties achieving holistic support. New organizational gaps emerge, especially when individual-level preventive interventions are needed, which are not included in the reform and therefore requiring assessment before support can be provided.

Understanding the genetic regulation of circulating protein levels can provide new insights into disease mechanisms. Here, we present the largest proteogenomic study to date (n = 78,664 participants across 38 studies), identifying >24,000 protein quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with 1,116 proteins, acting near to (n = 5,040) or distant (n = 19,698) from the cognate gene. Using machine learning-guided effector gene assignment, we provide genetic evidence for pathways, cell types, and tissues that modulate circulating protein levels, highlighting N-linked glycosylation as an important regulatory pathway. We demonstrate that genetic instruments of protein production/function (“cis”) versus modulation (“trans”) reveal distinct phenotypic insights. We identify proteins as candidates for drug targets and engagement (e.g., plasma furin and cardiovascular diseases) by comparing cis-based genetic evidence with protein-disease associations. Systematic triangulation of trans-protein QTLs (pQTLs) with genetic and protein associations across many diseases highlights potential drug repurposing opportunities, e.g., tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitors for rheumatoid arthritis. Our multi-cohort meta-analyses generate proteogenomic insights into disease mechanisms and new treatment opportunities.

Background: Rehabilitation after stroke is a complex process, and innovative solutions, including digital tools, have been suggested as way of meeting the challenge of limited access to services. F@ce 2.0 is a person-centred intervention for rehabilitation after stroke where goal achievement is supported by information and communication technology. Guidance for evaluation of complex interventions, such as that from the UK Medical Research Council (MRC), underlines the importance of evaluating not only the effects of an intervention but also process, such as its implementation in a clinical setting. The objective was therefore to study the implementation process of the F@ce 2.0 intervention for stroke survivors living at home as well as the interaction between the intervention and the implementation context.

Methods: A process evaluation of the implementation of F@ce 2.0 was conducted, informed by the MRC guidance for process evaluations, utilising a convergent mixed methods design. Participants included stroke survivors (n = 39), rehabilitation team members (n = 53) and managers (n = 6). Data were collected through a web server, surveys and interviews. Descriptive statistics were used for quantitative analysis. Qualitative data were analysed using a deductive thematic approach based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research.

Results: Analysis revealed challenges in conducting research during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as limitations related to implementation planning in relation to the specific context. The reach of the intervention among stroke survivors was low, and fidelity issues were identified related to the teams' lack of readiness to deliver the intervention. Analysis of teams' perception of delivering the intervention revealed that they saw potential in using a structured instrument for person-centred goal setting and in goal reminders, but also a hesitation regarding the usability of the intervention for stroke survivors. Teams also expressed a need of further education in delivering the intervention.

Conclusions: The process evaluation showed that although rehabilitation teams recognized the potential of F@ce 2.0, implementation and reach were limited, largely due to insufficient contact with the teams for both support and monitoring. Earlier involvement of the rehabilitation teams would likely have helped identify educational needs and organizational conditions necessary for successful implementation.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04351178. Firs posted 2020-04-17. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04351178 .

Digital violence in the form of control in youths and young adults’ partner relationships is a challenging issue for social work. This study mapped how digital control is described in research. A scoping review was conducted on peer-reviewed qualitative studies with participants aged 16-29 years, published 2015-2026. A thematic analysis of the findings of twelve included articles produced three themes: “control, jealousy and digital power in intimate relationships”, “the dissolution of boundaries: between care and control”, and “digital violence and its consequences for agency and well-being”.

Digital control was found to manifest through monitoring social media, demands for accessibility, control of messages and online status, location sharing and threatened dissemination of private material. Such behaviours are often normalized in relationships, interpreted as expressions of care or jealousy rather than violence. Digital control can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, reduced autonomy and social isolation, highlighting the issue’s relevance for social work.

In the early years of primary school, learning English as a foreign language mainly occurs through listening. Therefore, providing listening activities seems essential, yet little research has been conducted on them in Swedish schools. The aim of this study is to examine how grades one through three teachers describe listening activities in their classroom, their perceptions of the effects on listening comprehension, and their views on providing listening activities for young learners. To answer the research questions, a qualitative interview study was chosen in which eleven teachers were interviewed. The results show that, according to the teachers, listening activities are part of every English lesson, are included in the educational materials they use, and largely involve the teacher speaking. Several teachers indicate that they need better teaching materials, including digital resources. Most teachers feel that their pupils enjoy listening activities and that they develop vocabulary and other skills through them when addressed at the right level, with meaningful content and a focus on communication. The beliefs of many teachers seem coherent with research on early childhood education. In summary, listening activities are considered the key to early English language learning, and regular exposure to the language, combined with flexible teaching methods, appears to support the development of both listening comprehension and vocabulary in young learners.

This thesis explains cross-national differences in voter turnout by testing a parsimonious macro-level “core model” derived from the turnout literature. Using cross-sectional data for 155 countries, turnout is measured as VAP turnout (the share of the voting-age population that voted) in the most recent parliamentary election. The model includes compulsory voting (dummy), population size (log), and the democratic context measured by the V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index. OLS regression indicates a clear positive association between electoral democracy and turnout, while compulsory voting is negative and close to conventional significance levels and population size is negative but not statistically significant when controlling for the other variables. Overall, the model explains a modest but meaningful share of turnout variation (R² ≈ 0,12), highlighting the value of a feasible macro-level core model and transparent operationalization choices.

This study investigates why young adults (aged 15–35) in Europe support right-wing populist parties. Using a mixed-methods design, it combines a review of existing literature with a quantitative analysis of data from the European Social Survey (ESS11, 2025). The research employs Social Identity Theory and political distrust theory to assess whether support stems mainly from cultural grievances, alienation from political institutions, or socioeconomic factors. 

The literature review highlights cultural threat and political distrust as the leading explanations in prior research. However, findings from a multivariate logistic regression show that perceived cultural threat is the strongest and most significant predictor of voting behavior. Contrary to some earlier views, political distrust does not show a statistically significant independent effect when cultural and ideological factors are accounted for. Socioeconomic status including household income and education level also shows no significant correlation with support in this broad European sample. 

The study concludes that the appeal of right-wing populism among young Europeans is best understood as part of a cultural divide, where identity and group belonging play a central role. Voting for these parties appears to be a rational reaction to perceived threats to national identity, rather than a response to economic hardship or a simple protest against the political establishment. These findings contribute to a better understanding of how identity politics and digital socialization are transforming political engagement among Europe’s youth.

Denna studie undersöker hur undervisning om pengar och privatekonomi genomförs i samhällskunskap i årskurserna 1-6 i sverige. Studien är kvantitativ och ger en överblick om hur undervisningen i privatekonomi ser ut. Syftet med studien är att undersöka i vilken utsträckning lärare undervisar i privatekonomi, vilka årskurser de väljer att fokusera mest på privatekonomi, vilka delar av läroplanen som prioriteras och vilka undervisningsmaterial som används. Studiens metod innefattar en enkätundersökning riktad till lärare som undervisar i samhällskunskap/SO i årskurs 1-6.

Studien grundar sig i att tidigare forskning inom privatekonomi i årskurs 1-6 är begränsad och att den tidigare forskning som finns inom ämnet privatekonomi visar hur stor vikt undervisningen i privatekonomi har för elevernas framtida ekonomiska förståelse och ekonomiska beslut i vardagen.

Resultatet visar att ekonomiundervisning tar mindre plats i undervisningen än övriga ämnen i samhällskunskap. Resultatet visar även att undervisningen till stor del fokuserar på pengars användning, konsumtion och inkomster/utgifter. Den djupare kunskapen så som förståelse och förmågan att fatta ekonomiska beslut får mindre utrymme i undervisningen. Resultatet visar även att läroböcker och fysiskt material används men att filmklipp och eget material är det överlägset mest använda undervisningsmaterialet inom privatekonomi.

Studien bidrar med en översiktlig bild av ekonomiundervisning i årskurs 1-6 och kan fungera som en utgångspunkt för vidare forskning inom området.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur lärare i årskurs 1–6 beskriver användningen av skönlitteratur och läroböcker i historieundervisningen samt hur dessa material upplevs bidra till elevers historiska förståelse och utveckling av historiemedvetande. Studien syftade även till att belysa vilka didaktiska möjligheter och utmaningar lärare upplever i arbetet med dessa material. Studien genomfördes med en kvalitativ metod i form av intervjuer med lärare verksamma i årskurs 1–6. Resultatet visar att läroboken ofta utgör undervisningens grund genom att bidra med struktur, kronologi och faktakunskaper, medan skönlitteratur används för att skapa engagemang, inlevelse och en mer levande förståelse av historiska livsvillkor. Samtidigt framkommer att användningen av skönlitteratur varierar mellan lärare och årskurser, vilket kan kopplas till faktorer såsom tidsbrist, kunskapskrav och lärarens egna prioriteringar. Resultatet visar även att utvecklingen av elevers historiska förståelse och historiemedvetande i hög grad är beroende av hur läraren arbetar didaktiskt med materialet, exempelvis genom samtal, jämförelser och gemensam reflektion. Studien visar därmed att skönlitteratur och läroböcker kan fungera som kompletterande resurser i historieundervisningen och att deras användning rymmer både didaktiska möjligheter och utmaningar.

Denna studie undersöker hur lärare i årskurs 1–6 arbetar med representation och inkludering i religionsundervisningen, med fokus på kulturell och religiös mångfald. Syftet är att belysa lärarnas resonemang, deras didaktiska val samt vilka möjligheter och utmaningar de upplever i arbetet med att skapa en inkluderande undervisning. Studien tar sin teoretiska utgångspunkt i ett interkulturellt perspektiv, där begrepp som representation, inkludering och normer används för att analysera hur undervisning kan främja delaktighet och igenkänning hos elever.

Metodologiskt bygger studien på en kvalitativ ansats med semistrukturerade intervjuer av fem verksamma lärare från mångkulturella skolor. Materialet har analyserats hermeneutiskt med fokus på att tolka lärarnas erfarenheter och perspektiv.

Resultatet visar att lärarna strävar efter att skapa en inkluderande religionsundervisning genom medvetna didaktiska val, såsom att använda varierade undervisningsmaterial, elevnära exempel och dialogbaserade arbetssätt. Samtidigt framkommer att undervisningen ofta påverkas av rådande normer, där majoritetsperspektiv riskerar att dominera. Lärarna beskriver även utmaningar kopplade till brist på representativa läromedel, elevers olika förkunskaper samt hantering av känsliga frågor kring religion och identitet.

Studien visar att inkludering inte enbart handlar om att synliggöra olika religioner, utan om att skapa utrymme för elevernas egna erfarenheter och perspektiv. Slutsatsen är att en medveten och reflekterande lärarroll, i kombination med interkulturell kompetens, är avgörande för att religionsundervisningen ska bli meningsfull och inkluderande för alla elever.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur lärare i årskurs 4–6 som använder skönlitteratur i historieundervisningen arbetar med metoden samt hur de upplever att skönlitteratur påverkar elevernas utveckling av historiemedvetande och historisk empati. Studien bygger på kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem lärare som har erfarenhet av att integrera skönlitteratur i historieämnet. Det teoretiska ramverket utgår från historiedidaktiska perspektiv med fokus på historiemedvetande och historisk empati. Data analyserades genom tematisk analys. Resultatet visar att lärarna använder skönlitteratur på olika sätt genom högläsning, enskild läsning, parläsning samt genom bearbetningsuppgifter såsom loggböcker, samtal och jämförelser mellan fiktion och fakta. Lärarna upplever att skönlitteratur skapar starkt elevengagemang och underlättar förståelsen för historiska livsvillkor genom att berättelser gör det förflutna mer konkret och relaterbart. Resultatet tyder även på att skönlitteratur bidrar till utveckling av både historiemedvetande och historisk empati genom att elever förmår jämföra dåtid och nutid, reflektera över historiska aktörers handlingsutrymmen och leva sig in i människors situationer i det förflutna. Samtidigt framkommer utmaningar kopplade till tidsåtgång, varierande läsförmåga hos elever samt ett begränsat utbud av åldersanpassad skönlitteratur för vissa epoker. Lärarna betonar även behovet av att tydligt skilja mellan fiktion och historiska fakta för att undvika missuppfattningar. Sammantaget visar studien att skönlitteratur har potential som didaktiskt verktyg i historieundervisningen men att använda skönlitteratur kräver medveten planering, stödstrukturer och didaktisk balans mellan narrativa inslag och faktabaserad undervisning.