Publikationer från Umeå universitet
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Review (English): Turid Løyte Harboe, «… dyktiggjøre til at danne mennesker»: En kritisk studie av endringer i norsk lærerutdanning 1930–2010
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Organisation av svenska som andraspråk i grundskolan: En studie av sambandet mellan undervisningsupplägg och elevernas studieresultat
No full textThe purpose of this essay is to examine the factors that influence decisions regarding the organization of SSL (Swedish as a Second Language) and its effects on students’ learning outcome. The essay focuses on how SSL is organized in primary schools to ensure second language learners’ language development and academic achievement, and whether the teaching is adapted to meet the needs and conditions of second language learners. The data consist of five semi-structured qualitative interviews with SSL teachers and a questionnaire with principals. The results were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) model for thematic analysis. The results show that while some schools organize SSL based primarily on economic and practical factors - such as classroom availability and funding - others prioritize the individual needs of students. Furthermore, the study indicates that some schools might have to increase school structures in order to achieve language development and to ensure that education is adapted to the needs of second language learners.Key concepts: second language perspective, second language acquisition research, language-developing approaches, Swedish as a Second Language (SSL).Nyckelord: andraspråksperspektiv, andraspråksforskning, språkutvecklande arbetssätt, svenska som andraspråk (SvA)
Who cares in the end? : A Thematic and Semiotic Analysis of Elderly Care Representation in Utopian Cinema
No full textThis thesis examines depictions of elderly care in utopian cinema (1962–2023), analyzing intersections of gender, race, and migration through thematic and semiotic study of 16 mostly Western films. Findings reveal care is marginalized and technologized, with elders and caregivers often invisible or stereotyped. Care work remains feminized and racialized, echoing real-world inequalities, while technological solutions dominate. A shift from familial and institutional to individualized, tech-driven models reflects neoliberal trends. It concludes utopian cinema consistently depoliticizes aging and care, framing them as private or technical, not collective justice issues. The study calls for intersectional, caregiver-centered representations for equitable futures
Investigating the influence of key components on the performance of AEM water electrolysers : Development of a standardized testing protocol
No full textThe demand for green and sustainable energy sources is steadily increasing in rate with the increasing energy usage. A promising solution for this problem is hydrogen production by water electrolysis. Anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) is a form of zero gap electrolyser that uses low cost and earth abundant materials to produce hydrogen. This thesis investigates the development of a standardized testing protocol for an AEMWE cell. It investigates the operating conditions as well as the influence of key components affecting the cell performance. The resulting protocol will be used in studying materials used as electrocatalysts as well as evaluating the performance of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA). By testing the cell under varying operating conditions such as temperature, flow rate, pressure and KOH concentration, optimal operating parameters were found. In addition to this, protocol steps were incorporated to improve the activity of the MEA, such as conditioning and stressing. The final operating conditions landed in a flow rate of 1 ml/min, a temperature between 60 ◦C to 80 ◦C, a bolt torque of 3.5 Nm and an electrolyte concentration of 1M KOH. It is used together with a testing protocol that includes membrane conditioning and stressing, impedance and stability tests along with polarization curves in order to evaluate the performance of the cell
On the impact of biological risk in aquaculture valuation and decision making
No full textWe explore the impact of stochastic mortality, health, and parasites on animal-based commodities risk management, with a specific emphasis on salmon aquaculture. Our investigation delves into the stochastic nature of mortality, fish lice infestation, and treatment plans based on comprehensive historical data from Norway. Given that salmon lice pose a significant challenge to salmon aquaculture, with associated treatment costs estimated to be comparable to feeding expenses, lice removal is imperative to ensure the survival of the salmon and comply with the Norwegian government's stipulation of maintaining an upper threshold of 0.5 lice per fish. We propose a new model that considers the relationship between hosts and parasites and determines the number of treatments required as well as the overall cost of these treatments. An important aspect of our model is its incorporation of stochastic effectiveness for each removal. After calibrating the model to our dataset, our study examines the impact of the host-parasite relationship and the required interventions on the optimal harvesting decision and draws a comparison to models that make an assumption of deterministic mortality. Our results indicate that a gain of 1.5 % in farm value (per rotation) can be obtained by employing an optimal harvesting rule based on the stochastic host-parasite model
“EPPO, or not EPPO?” That was the question : - Sweden's path from outsider to insider in the European Public Prosecutor’s Office
No full textThis thesis examines Sweden’s shift in attitude toward the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), from negative to positive. With the country’s historical attitude towards further deepened EU cooperations, it’s not surprising that Sweden initially didn’t want to be a part of the EPPO. In 2013 Sweden said no to EPPO and the same thing happened again in 2017. In 2019 the Swedish government reversed its position and decided that Sweden would join the enhanced cooperation which the country then did in 2024. With historical institutionalism as a framework and process tracing as method, this paper tests three predictions about causal mechanisms behind the Swedish turn on the EPPO issue in 2019. This thesis contributes to research on differential integration (DI) and how domestic processes contribute to initial outsiders becoming insiders. The results show that the Swedish government, consisting of the Social Democrats and the Green Party, changed its preferences in foreign policy in the beginning of 2017. The Social Democrats' political guidelines from 2017 stated that they want to become a more active member in EU cooperation to strengthen democracy and the principles of the rule of law internationally. This contributed to the changed view of a Swedish EPPO membership from negative to positive
Silk fibroin-based biomaterials for spinal cord injury repair : recent advances and future prospects
No full textSpinal cord injury (SCI) presents significant challenges due to the profound damage it causes to motor functions and sensory. The post-trauma environment, characterized by the formation of cystic lesions and the absence of extracellular matrix, hinders neural regeneration and compromises the survival of transplanted cells. Biomaterials offer a promising avenue by providing a supportive environment for nerve repair. Silk fibroin (SF), a natural protein extracted from the cocoons of Bombyx mori silkworms, stands out for its exceptional biodegradability, biocompatibility, and adjustable mechanical properties. SF can be fabricated into various formats, including sponges, hydrogels, and fibers, making it highly adaptable for numerous biomedical applications such as tissue engineering, wound healing, and drug delivery. Recent advancements in SF-based biomaterials have highlighted their potential in SCI repair by mimicking the native cellular microenvironment, promoting axonal growth, and facilitating tissue repair. This review focuses on the structure and properties of SF, its environmentally friendly processing methods, and the strategies for designing composite scaffolds using SF-based biomaterials for SCI repair. It also examines future challenges and prospects in this promising field
Pressure stimulation of the jaw and cortical blood flow signatures
No full textLittle is known regarding the relationship between subjective experience and cortical activationcaused by a given pressure stimulus. Therefore, this study had three aims: First, to investigatethe relationship between pressure stimulation and perceptual intensity. Second, to examinewhether functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) can capture the cortical response fromapplying pressure to the jaw. Third, to investigate whether pressure-elicited cortical activationin the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and middle temporal gyrus (MTG) follows a pressurelevel-dependent increase. Eighteen participants (11 women, 6 men and 1 non-binary. Mean age= 24.3, SD = 3.4) were recruited for an experiment that consisted of rating 80 stimuli (40pressure stimuli applied to the right jaw, and 40 olfactory stimuli not reported here) using aBorg CR100 scale, while measuring their cortical response with a NIRSport2 fNIRS setup. Thepressure stimuli were presented ten times each in a semi-randomized order, consisting of abaseline pressure level (0 kPa) and three pressure levels (P1 = 33.91 kPa; P2 = 56.91 kPa; P3= 200 kPa). The behavioral data revealed a positive correlation between pressure levels andintensity ratings. The fNIRS data were revealed to successfully capture the cortical responseelicited by applying the pressure stimulus, which was found in S1 and MTG. An exploratoryanalysis revealed ipsilateral MTG activation to increase as pressure levels increased, butunexpectedly, S1 activity decreased. As the unexpected results are likely due to confoundingfactors (e.g., head tilting), future research should investigate the relationship between corticalactivation and pressure level further.Lite är känt gällande sambandet mellan den subjektiva upplevelsen och den kortikalaaktiveringen orsakad av ett givet tryckstimulus. Därmed hade denna studie tre syften: För detförsta, att undersöka sambandet mellan tryckstimulering och perceptuell intensitet. För detandra, att undersöka om functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) kan fånga den kortikalaaktiveringen från att applicera tryck på käken. För det tredje, att undersöka om tryckframkalladkortikal aktivering i den primära somatosensoriska cortexen (S1) och den mellerstatinningsvindlingen (MTG) följer en ökning som beror på trycknivå. Arton deltagare (11kvinnor, 6 män och 1 icke-binär. Medelålder = 24,3, SD = 3,4) rekryterades till ett experimentsom bestod av att bedöma 80 stimuli (40 tryckstimuli applicerade på höger käke och 40luktstimuli som inte rapporteras här) med hjälp av en Borg CR100-skala, samtidigt som deraskortikala aktivitet mättes med en NIRSport2 fNIRS-uppsättning. Tryckstimuli presenteradestio gånger i en semi-randomiserad ordning, bestående av en baslinjetrycknivå (0 kPa) och tretrycknivåer (P1 = 33,91 kPa; P2 = 56,91 kPa; P3 = 200 kPa). Beteendedatan visade en positivkorrelation mellan trycknivåer och intensitetsnivåer. FNIRS-datan visade sig fånga denkortikala aktiveringen som framkallades genom att applicera tryckstimulus, vilketobserverades i S1 och MTG. En explorativ analys visade att den ipsilaterala MTG-aktiveringenökade när trycknivåerna ökade, medan S1-aktiviteten minskade oväntat. Eftersom de oväntade2resultaten sannolikt beror på störande faktorer (t.ex. huvudlutning), bör framtida forskningundersöka sambandet mellan kortikal aktivering och trycknivå ytterligare
Survival in a contemporary, real-world cohort of patients with mixed-phenotype transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy treated with tafamidis : an analysis from THAOS
No full textIntroduction: Tafamidis is approved to treat transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). Many patients with ATTR-CM present with a mixed phenotype of both cardiac and neurologic symptoms, but real-world effectiveness studies of tafamidis in this population are lacking. This study assessed survival and other outcomes in a real-world, contemporary cohort of tafamidis-treated and untreated patients with mixed-phenotype ATTR-CM. Methods: The Transthyretin Amyloidosis Outcomes Survey (THAOS) was a longitudinal, observational, phase 4 study of patients with transthyretin amyloidosis and asymptomatic carriers of pathogenic transthyretin gene variants and was completed in June 2023. This analysis included a contemporary cohort of patients enrolled in THAOS in 2019-2023 who were characterized as having mixed-phenotype ATTR-CM at enrollment. The tafamidis-treated cohort received the approved dose of tafamidis (meglumine 80 mg/free acid 61 mg) throughout the study, and the untreated cohort never received tafamidis. Results: In tafamidis-treated (n = 116) and untreated patients (n = 223), respectively, median age at enrollment was 77.8 and 72.8 years, and 42.2% and 77.6% had variant ATTR-CM. Survival rates at 30 months were 81.5% (95% CI 66.7-90.2) in tafamidis-treated patients and 75.1% (95% CI 66.1-82.0) in untreated patients. Median yearly incidence of cardiovascular-related hospitalizations was 0.89 for tafamidis-treated and 1.70 for untreated patients, and median duration of cardiovascular-related hospitalizations was 7.0 and 11.5 days, respectively. There were 13 (11.2%) and 40 (17.9%) deaths in the respective groups. Conclusion: Patients with mixed-phenotype ATTR-CM treated with the approved dose of tafamidis had numerically higher survival rates, a numerically lower rate of cardiovascular-related hospitalizations, and fewer deaths than untreated patients. These data parallel recent results for patients with predominantly cardiac ATTR-CM from THAOS and extend results of ATTR-ACT to a contemporary, real-world, mixed-phenotype population. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT0062874