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Nära historien : En studie om gymnasieelevers erfarenheter och attityd till historieämnet med fokus på lokalhistoria
No full textSyftet med denna studie är att undersöka attityder till och erfarenheter av historieämnet, med fokus på lokalhistoria bland gymnasieelever. Studien genomfördes genom en enkätundersökning vid fyra tillfällen med 83 elever från några gymnasieklasser i Örebro. Studien visar att eleverna överlag har en positiv syn på historieämnet i undervisningen, men att intresset inte är lika stort vid fritidsaktiviteter. Vid konsumtion av historia sker det framförallt genom film och tv-serier som tematiskt oftast behandlade de två världskrigen. Eleverna anser även att den lokala historien bör bevaras samt att undervisningen i skolan även ska innehålla mer lokalhistoriska aspekter. Studien pekar även på att ett större fokus på lokalhistoria i undervisningen kan hjälpa elever att i högre utsträckning engagera sig i lokalhistoriska projekt, något som flera är intresserade av men inte har någon kunskap om. Dessa aspekter och förändringar i undervisningen skulle enligt studien även kunna öka det allmänna historieintresset
Japansk historia fram till år 1905 i svenska historie-läroböcker
No full textThe essays aim is to see if eurocentrism is visible in history textbooks used in Sweden, the focus is the representation of Japanese history up until 1905. The goal is also to present what aspects of Japanese history are allocated during different periods. The following questions were formulated with regard to the aim: • How much space is given to Japanese history up to the year 1905 in the textbooks? • Which themes of Japanese history up to the year 1905 can be found in the textbooks? • Which similarities and differences to how Japanese history up to 1905 exists in the textbooks? The material that was analyzed in this study consists of nine printed history textbooks published between the years 1964-2021. The method used to obtain the results in the essay was quantitative content analysis. To answer the research questions, the essay followed a coding scheme. For analyzing the material, predominantly descriptive coding was used, as the focus was to analyze explicit content. The aim was to establish categories that would reflect the essence of the essay's purpose and research questions. Afterwards, relationships between different types of data studied were to be established. Examples of different data include Japanese history addressing various periods, while examples of similar data include themes following similar events and chronology. The results show that the four oldest textbooks devoted the most space to Japanese history until 1905, at an average of two and a half page per textbook. Interest and media attention can influence the visibility of Japan. When the three oldest books were published, there was increased attention on Japan. People were inspired by its modernity, social and economic successes, and the 1964 Tokyo Olympics brought significant recognition to the country. The results also reveal that what is similar in these textbooks is the persistence of Eurocentrism. However, one clear distinction is that in the four newest textbooks published, Japanese history is only included when it involves a Western country whereas the four oldest textbooks give an earlier account of Japanese history and culture. A second difference among the textbooks is that in the oldest textbook printed in 1964, the authors used a more offensive tone compared to the terminology used today
Challenges and possibilities when doing research on active school travel interventions in a school setting - a non-randomized pilot study assessing feasibility of an evaluation design
No full textBACKGROUND: A wide range of school interventions have been launched to increase childrens' physical activity. Evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions requires suitable study designs and feasible quantitative evaluations relating to the school setting. The purpose of this study was to assess the evaluation design and methods for data collection, in order to make decisions about approaching forthcoming studies of the effectiveness of active school travel (AST) interventions. METHODS: Children from four Swedish schools in fifth grade (11-12 years old) participated in this non-randomized pilot study, two schools received an AST intervention and two schools were controls. The school-based AST intervention Sustainable Innovation for Children Transporting Actively (SICTA) was conducted by teachers in the classroom setting during four weeks. To assess feasibility of the evaluation design and methods for data collection a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods were applied, using participation- and response rates, a feasibility questionnaire and focus group interviews. RESULTS: Out of 25 potential schools, four schools accepted participation with explicit allocation requests preventing randomization. Out of 181 children, 107 children (59%) accepted participation. A total of 82% of the participating children reported active travel before the AST intervention, and 80% found reporting of daily school travels in the web-based survey to be easy. The children were in general positive about participating in the study and the methods for data collection were considered easy for the participating children to conduct and to blend well with usual school activities. There was an imbalance in reporting rates between intervention and control schools as well as a decrease in reporting rates during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight the complexity and challenges in conducting controlled research among school children. Although children were positive about participation and found reporting to be easy, our results invoke the need to use alternative research designs and recruitment strategies that also attract children using non-active modes of travel when evaluating AST interventions in school contexts. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study is registered 2023/11/02 with Researchweb, the Swedish Register for Research with registration number 281,543. The registration can be reached via this link: https://www.researchweb.org/is/sverige/project/281543
Factors That Enable or Hinder Civil Servants and Volunteers in Helping Newly Arrived Immigrants Establish Themselves in Swedish Society : A Delphi Study
No full textThe world is facing the highest number of people to have been forced from their homes due to war and conflict. Providing a framework for integrated action is a common societal solution to managing the challenges of integration policy programmes. These programmes are intended to standardise services provided by a diverse set of agencies and areas, and are usually delivered by civil servants and volunteers. The aim of this study was to describe factors, as reported by civil servants and volunteers in a policy programme, that enable or hinder them in helping newly arrived immigrants to establish themselves in Swedish society. The results show that the participants have the prerequisites to enable newly arrived immigrants to make their own choices, strengthen their own motivation and develop their own social networks within their new situation. However, the participants were hindered from influencing the newly arrived immigrants’ housing situation. No consensus was achieved regarding more structural prerequisites such as societal efforts to counteract segregation, or more general community-based welfare solutions. The results support the view that there is a need for a more tailored approach with consideration for each person’s unique living situation
An Enabling Approach to Sustainability Transformations in Tourism
No full textResearch in sustainability transformations has emphasized technological innovation and large structural changes. Less attention has been paid to enabling approaches which emphasize the role of reimagination and collaborative exploration of alternative futures, involving agency, emancipation and care. In this research we took an enabling approach to sustainability transformations and worked with stakeholders in collaborative workshops to invite their experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and its transformative potential in envisioning and co-producing sustainable futures. In the workshops, stakeholders discussed their understandings of sustainable tourism development. What was evident among stakeholders was a caring for people—employees, locals, tourists. Although nature was another focus (often in the context of the new-found interest in tourism in proximate environments), care did not go all the way to redefine human and non-human relationship—missing a deep ecological understanding. This study expands knowledge on sustainability transformation and disruptive research that creates processes for re-imagination
Anchored in the eye of the storm : a qualitative study of resilient performance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden in the context of the emergency department.
No full textOBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore how emergency department (ED) organisations and clinicians adapted to altered prerequisites during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the processes involved and the consequences. In addition, we examined how the ordinary state affected resilient performance during this period. DESIGN: This qualitative study involved inductive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and narratives. SETTING: Three hospital-based EDs, one county and two rural hospitals, located in two Swedish regions were studied. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 12 participants, 80% of whom were women, were recruited. The participants included two physicians, three registered nurses, three assistant nurses and four nursing managers working at the three EDs before and during the first pandemic wave. RESULTS: The overarching theme 'anchored in the eye of the storm' emerged. This theme suggests that resilient performance during the pandemic was facilitated by ordinary adaptive capacity in the ED. A thematic map and seven main themes with a total of 25 subthemes explain the process. The ordinary state of conditions in the ED was challenged with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Altered prerequisites were perceived partly as a new reality in addition to business as usual. The adaptations included organise to regain control and developing new strategies to manage the situation, mainly by initiatives among clinicians. The consequences included perceived strain and frustration and partially impacted quality of care. However, an increased sense of cohesion among clinicians and enhanced knowledge were also noted. CONCLUSION: During the pandemic, a partially new reality was experienced, although work also continued largely as business as usual based on experiences of crowding, established preparedness plans and ordinary adaptive capacity. Despite dealing with a previously unknown patient group, the experience of working with critically ill patients and establishing structured work processes proved advantageous and facilitated resilient performance
Nurses’ measures to prevent pressure ulcers
No full textBakgrund Trycksår är vanliga hud- och vävnadsskador som medför höga kostnader för samhället. Regelbundna lägesändringar, tryckavlastande material och evidensbaserade metoder är avgörande för att förebygga trycksår, särskilt bland patienter inom slutenvården. Syfte Syftet är att beskriva sjuksköterskors åtgärder för att förebygga tycksår. Metod Litteraturöversikten baseras på en analys av 12 vetenskapliga artiklar av medel till hög kvalitet, identifierade i databaserna Pub Med och CINAHL. Artiklarna inkluderar både kvantitativ och kvalitativ design. Resultat Fyra centrala åtgärder identifierades: hudvård, nutrition, lägesändringar och tryckavlastande material. Det vill säga tryckavlastande madrasser och kuddar, dagliga hudvårdsrutiner, nutritionsåtgärder samt regelbundna och individanpassade lägesändringar, som kan minska risken för uppkomst av trycksår. Samtidigt är sjuksköterskans roll avgörande för att tidigt identifiera tecken på trycksår och sätta in förebyggande insatser. Resultaten visar att effektiva åtgärder kan minska risken för att utveckla trycksår, förbättra patientens hälsa och samtidigt sänka vårdens kostnader. Slutsats Sjuksköterskor spelar en nyckelroll i att förebygga trycksår genom att tillämpa evidensbaserade åtgärder. Tidiga insatser och interprofessionellt teamarbete främjar vårdens effektivitet och minskar samhällskostnaderna.Background Pressure ulcers are common skin and tissue injuries that entail high costs for society. Regular position changes, pressure-relieving materials and evidence-based methods are crucial for preventing pressure ulcers, especially among patients in inpatient care. Aim The purpose is to describe nurses' measures to prevent pressure ulcers. Method The literature review is based on an analysis of 12 scientific articles of medium to high quality, identified in the PubMed and CINAHL databases. The articles include both quantitative and qualitative designs. Results Four key interventions were identified: skin care, nutrition, position changes and pressure relieving materials. That is, pressure-relieving mattresses and pillows, daily skin care routines, nutritional measures and regular and individually adapted position changes, which can reduce the risk of developing pressure ulcers. At the same time, the nurse's roleis crucial in identifying signs of pressure ulcers early and implementing preventive measures. The results show that effective interventions can reduce the risk of developing pressure ulcers, improve patient health and at the same time reduce healthcare costs. Conclusions Nurses play a key role in preventing pressure ulcers by implementing evidence-based interventions. Early intervention and interprofessional teamwork promote the efficiency of care and reduce societal costs.
Gait and Movement Analysis in Neurodegenerative Disorders Using Machine Learning
No full textNeurodegenerative disorders such as dementia and Parkinson's disease (PD) affect millions of individuals globally and are characterized by progressive cognitive decline and motor impairments. As life expectancy and the number of older people increases, the number of people with these disorders is expected to increase. Currently, neurodegenerative disorders have no cure, making early diagnosis crucial for effective management and timely intervention. Gait analysis offers a non-invasive, inexpensive, and useful method for neurodegenerative disorders detection. Gait abnormalities, particularly under dual-task (dt) conditions, are early cognitive and motor decline indicators. This thesis aims to investigate the potential of movement analysis for the discrimination of neurodegenerative disorders compared to healthy control (HCs) persons, with a specific focus on dementia and PD. By employing machine learning techniques, the research evaluates the effectiveness of these methods in distinguishing between HCs and those with dementia or PD. This thesis utilized various traditional machine learning and deep learning models applied to the movement data. The models implemented across the studies are Support Vector Machines (SVM), Logistic Regression (LR), Random Forest (RF), Decision Trees (DT), Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), Long Short-Term Memory networks (LSTM), and a hybrid CNN-LSTM architecture. Movement features extracted from the datasets were applied to those models. For dementia, utilizing video-based data obtained from the Uppsala-Dalarna Dementia and Gait project (UDDGait™), the study performed pose estimation using YOLOV8, followed by feature engineering. In the current study, movement features, including velocity, acceleration, number of steps, cadence, stride length, total time, and joint angles (knee and hip) were computed and used in the machine learning algorithms to differentiate the groups. The dataset comprised 64 individuals with dementia and 67 HCs. The participants performed the Time-Up-and-Go tests (TUG) under single task and dt paradigms. Following the UDDGait study protocol, the test performance was documented with two synchronized video cameras. In the dt conditions, participants completed the TUG test while simultaneously performing a verbal/cognitive task, which involved naming animals (TUGdt-NA) and reciting the months in reverse order (TUGdt-MB). For PD, gait features were extracted from a sensor-based dataset comprising 93 individuals with the disease and 73 HCs. The vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) was recorded for nearly two minutes using 16 sensors placed beneath each foot (8 per foot). The results demonstrate that movement features extracted from video data, especially under dt conditions, are effective in distinguishing between HCs and those with dementia. The SVM algorithm achieved the highest accuracy of 88.5% and recall of 92.5% in dt animal naming (TUGdt-NA). For the PD study, the results demonstrate that RF obtained the highest accuracy and recall of 96%. The findings from these studies suggest that movement analysis using machine learning models offers a promising non-invasive, automated, and simple tool for the discrimination of dementia and PD compared to HCs. Future research could explore multimodal fusion approaches (i.e., speech and gait analysis) to enhance the accuracy and generalizability of these methods in clinical settings
Evaluation of Reverse Transposition and Separation Methods for Global Tilted Irradiance : Insights from High-Latitude Data
No full textAccurate separation of global tilted irradiance (GTI) becomes importantwhen the measured irradiance is used for quality control or PV simulationpurposes, for which the latter often requires global horizontalirradiance (GHI), or diffuse and beam irradiance fractions. This studypresents an evaluation of irradiance reverse transposition and separationmodels for the application with GTI in high latitudes. The evaluationis made based on measured and quality controlled six-second irradiancefrom latitude 59.53°N, containing GTI at 30°, 40°, and 90° tiltangles, as well as GHI and diffuse horizontal irradiance (DHI). Basedon a literature review, two specialized GTI reverse transposition andseparation models - GTI-DIRINT and Perez-Driesse - and four GHIseparation models were chosen for evaluation. The latter were testedin an optimization loop developed for this study that utilizes existingGHI separation models combined with transposition models for reversetransposition and separation of GTI. Specifically, the separation modelsErbs, Skartveit1, Engerer2, and Yang4 were tested with Hay &Davies and Perez1990 transposition.The models were investigated using both statistical evaluation metricsand Diebold-Mariano test to compare measured and predicted GHI and DHI. An evaluation with measured data showed that for GTI reversetransposition and separation at high latitudes, the use of the proposedoptimization model with Engerer2 in combination with Hay & Daviestransposition, or the Perez-Driesse model is recommended. This isbased on overall good ranking and low bias of GHI prediction with -2.0W/m2 and -2.3 W/m2, respectively
Communicative activity and participation in children with speech sound disorder : a case series using the ICF framework
No full textThe everyday lives of young children with speech sound disorder (SSD) are not well described, with few studies taking a holistic view with interaction in focus. The aim of this study was to investigate how SSD affects communicative activity and participation in everyday life of four children in a Swedish context. The study involved 4 triads: 4 children with SSD aged 4 to 7, their parents (n = 4), grandmothers (n = 2) and pedagogues, i.e. preschool teachers (n = 2). The research design was a case series, including speech language tests, questionnaires and structured interviews. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) served as an analytical framework. Results showed reduced speech intelligibility in all children. Interrupted thought processes, tantrums and social withdrawal were negative effects of the SSD. Having a friend in the out-of-home environment was a facilitating factor, enabling the children with SSD use their full capacity in social interaction. When knowledge about SSD is shared in all environments, all forces that influence the child positively may be aligned in a collaborative effort and a holistic understanding can be reached. To accomplish this, ICF serves as a valuable conceptual framework