To Örebro University

Background: Childhood neglect has been associated with various negative short- and long-term consequences. To make sense of difficult experiences, individuals often seek internal and/or external explanations. Children’s explanations for why they experience neglect have been identified as a potentially important factor in relation to different adjustment outcomes.

Objective: This study examines how young adults explain the childhood neglect they experienced and how these explanations are connected to health problems in adulthood.

Methods: The study utilizes retrospective data from a representative Swedish sample of 2,500 young adults, of which 7.5 % reported having been neglected as a child.

Results: Our findings revealed that emotional neglect was the most common form of neglect, while physical neglect was the least common. Most participants attributed the neglect to their parents or family circumstances. However, self-blame during childhood significantly increased the risk of self-harm and PTSD symptoms. Blaming either oneself or one’s parents was associated with a higher likelihood of self-harm and PTSD, while blaming parents for the neglect was linked to more suicide attempts. Those who attributed neglect to family circumstances showed higher levels of alcohol use as adults.

Conclusions: It́ s important for professionals to recognize that, in addition to neglect itself, children’s tendency to assign blame—especially self-blame—can have lasting impacts on their mental health and behavior.

Soft Actor-Critic (SAC) has achieved notable success in continuous control tasks but struggles in sparse reward settings, where infrequent rewards make efficient exploration challenging. While novelty-based exploration methods address this issue by encouraging the agent to explore novel states, they are not trivial to apply to SAC. In particular, managing the interaction between novelty-based exploration and SAC’s stochastic policy can lead to inefficient exploration and redundant sample collection. In this paper, we propose KEA (Keeping Exploration Alive) which tackles the inefficiencies in balancing exploration strategies when combining SAC with novelty-based exploration. KEA integrates a novelty-augmented SAC with a standard SAC agent, proactively coordinated via a switching mechanism. This coordination allows the agent to maintain stochasticity in high-novelty regions, enhancing exploration efficiency and reducing repeated sample collection. We first analyze this potential issue in a 2D navigation task, and then evaluate KEA on the DeepSea hard-exploration benchmark as well as sparse reward control tasks from the DeepMind Control Suite. Compared to state-of-the-art novelty-based exploration baselines, our experiments show that KEA significantly improves learning efficiency and robustness in sparse reward setups.

This article studies whether asymmetries in volatility help explain the cross section of commodity returns. We decompose realized variance into upside and downside components and construct a normalized difference measure, the relative signed jump (RSJ), following Bollerslev et al. (2020). A trading strategy that goes long the top tercile of commodities with the highest RSJ and shorts the bottom tercile delivers a statistically and economically significant annualized excess return of-6.29%. We also find that our tradable RSJ factor explains the cross section of commodity returns beyond well-established factors in a multivariate price setting context. Our results also show that the pricing ability of volatility asymmetries is distinct from other higher order moments such as realized skewness.

This paper expands on stochastic volatility models by proposing a data-driven method to select the macroeconomic events most likely to impact volatility. The paper identifies and quantifies the effects of macroeconomic events across multiple countries on exchange rate volatility using high-frequency currency returns, while accounting for persistent stochastic volatility effects and seasonal components capturing time-of-day patterns. Given the hundreds of macroeconomic announcements and their lags, we rely on sparsity-based methods to select relevant events for the model. We contribute to the exchange rate literature in four ways: First, we identify the macroeconomic events that drive currency volatility, estimate their effects and connect them to macroeconomic fundamentals. Second, we find a link between intraday seasonality, trading volume, and the opening hours of major markets across the globe. We provide a simple labor-based explanation for this observed pattern. Third, we show that including macroeconomic events and seasonal components is crucial for forecasting exchange rate volatility. Fourth, our proposed model yields the lowest volatility and highest Sharpe ratio in portfolio allocations when compared to standard SV and GARCH models.

Friendsrapporten 2025 bygger på en nationellt representativ undersökning som genomfördesav Novus under våren 2025. Totalt deltog 1 026 elever i åldern 9–16 år (årskurs 4–9). Deltagarna rekryterades via Novus föräldrapanel. Vårdnadshavare informerades och gav samtycke och barnet gav därefter sitt eget samtycke till att delta.

Eftersom urvalet görs via föräldrar snarare änskolor ingår elever från många olika skolor. Baserat på postnummeruppgifter i materialet uppskattar vi att svaren representerar ungefär 300–500 unika skolor i landet. Det är för få elever per skola för att kunna uttala sig om enskilda skolor, men tillräckligt många för att identifiera nationella mönster och samband i barns skolmiljöer.

Undersökningen genomfördes som en webbenkät. Eleverna besvarade frågor om bakgrund (bl.a. kön/könsidentitet, ålder och årskurs) och om tre typer av utsatthet i skolan: kränkningar och mobbning, trakasserier samt grovt våld. Frågorna om mobbning och trakasserier avser de senaste två månaderna, medan frågorna om grovt våld avser de senaste tolv månaderna.

Vidare besvarade eleverna frågor om skolklimat, om hur elever och vuxna reagerar när någon blir illa behandlad, samt om tillgång till stöd från vänner och vuxna i skolan. Svaren har viktats för kön och ålder så att resultaten bättre speglar elevpopulationen i Sverige. Små avvikelser mellan totalsummor i tabeller och diagram kan förekomma på grund av viktning och avrundning.

Detta är en tvärsnittsstudie (genomförd vid ett tillfälle). Resultaten kan därför inte tolkas som orsakssamband. För tolkning lutar vi oss mot tidigare forskning och en forskningssammanställning via Scopus om skolklimat (Bullying and school climat), elevers och vuxnas reaktioner (Bystander and teacher interventions in bullying), samt socialt stöd (Social support for bullying prevention). När denna forskning visar samma mönster som våra resultat bedömer vi att slutsatserna är giltiga för Sverige 2025. Svaren har hanterats konfidentiellt och analyserats i avidentifierad form.

This article examines how the Swedish child welfare services (CWSs) are described in Arabic-speaking social media, with a focus on the ‘LVU campaign.’ The material consists of Facebook and YouTube posts and comments about the Swedish CWSs' actions in child mistreatment cases involving migrant families. These posts and comments were written in Arabic, had a substantial number of interactions (likes, shares etc.), were openly accessible and were published between January 2021 and December 2023. Through thematic analysis of posts and comments, four themes emerge: ‘The heartless CWS bandits,’ ‘Sweden in moral decline (the land of haram),’ ‘The infidel West at war with Islam and God’ and ‘Faithful, just and loving families.’ These themes are further examined through three conceptual dichotomies: particularism–universalism, reality–hyperreality and the construction of‘ us’–‘them.’ The analysis shows that social media accounts shape perceptions of ‘the other’ and fuel mistrust in the commentary fields of posts of ‘real’ events. The accounts illustrate the challenge of balancing universal rights with respect for cultural differences and the minority rights of migrant families. The study highlights how such dynamics can accentuate in-group preferences and fuel inter-group polarization by amplifying certain versions of reality to explain the CWSs' actions towards migrant families.

Technology use is often implicated in adolescent sleep difficulties, yet experimental evidence confirming its impact on bedtime is critically lacking. This study tested whether online socialising with friends delays bedtime compared to non-social online media use, while also considering the roles of friendship quality and personality. Seventeen pairs of female friends (N = 34; ages 16–18 years) spent two nights in a sleep laboratory: one night online socialising with their friend in another room (WhatsApp + Netflix), and one night watching Netflix alone without socialising. Condition order was counterbalanced across pairs. Bedtime was behaviorally observed using infrared cameras. The following morning, participants reported who initiated sleep and their reasons for going to bed. They also completed questionnaires on friendship quality, co-rumination, self-control, bedtime procrastination, and a sleep diary. Multilevel models accounted for the nested structure of repeated assessments within individuals within dyads. On average, participants went to bed later during online socialising than during non-social online use, although this difference was not statistically significant. However, higher friendship quality significantly predicted longer bedtime delays during online socialising, with delays up to 72 min. Feeling sleepy was the primary reason for sleep onset, rather than social motivations. Additionally, there were clear associations between self-reported sleep initiation and bedtime procrastination and behavioural observations of earlier and later bedtimes, respectively. These experimental findings suggest that online socialising may delay adolescent bedtimes, particularly among those with high-quality friendships. These results underscore the importance of addressing peer dynamics and individual differences in supporting healthy adolescent sleep.

The development of gaze following begins in early infancy and its developmental foundation has been under heavy debate. Using a longitudinal design (N = 118), we demonstrate that attachment quality predicts individual differences in the onset of gaze following, at six months of age, and that maternal postpartum depression predicts later gaze following, at 10 months. In addition, we report longitudinal stability in gaze following from 6 to 10 months. A full path model (using attachment, maternal depression and gaze following at six months) accounted for 21% of variance in gaze following at 10 months. These results suggest an experience-dependent development of gaze following, driven by the infant's own motivation to interact and engage with others (the social-first perspective).

Background: Early development of neurocognitive functions in infants can be compromised by poverty, malnutrition and lack of adequate stimulation. Optimal management of neurodevelopmental problems in infants requires assessment tools that can be used early in life, and are objective and applicable across economic, cultural and educational settings.

Objective and design: The present study examined the feasibility of infrared eye tracking as a novel and highly automated technique for assessing visual-orienting and sequence-learning abilities as well as attention to facial expressions in young (9-month-old) infants. Techniques piloted in a high-resource laboratory setting in Finland (N=39) were subsequently field-tested in a community health centre in rural Malawi (N=40).

Results: Parents' perception of the acceptability of the method (Finland 95%, Malawi 92%) and percentages of infants completing the whole eye-tracking test (Finland 95%, Malawi 90%) were high, and percentages of valid test trials (Finland 69-85%, Malawi 68-73%) satisfactory at both sites. Test completion rates were slightly higher for eye tracking (90%) than traditional observational tests (87%) in Malawi. The predicted response pattern indicative of specific cognitive function was replicated in Malawi, but Malawian infants exhibited lower response rates and slower processing speed across tasks.

Conclusions: High test completion rates and the replication of the predicted test patterns in a novel environment in Malawi support the feasibility of eye tracking as a technique for assessing infant development in low-resource setting. Further research is needed to the test-retest stability and predictive validity of the eye-tracking scores in low-income settings.

Background: The quality of children's early home learning environment has an influence on their cognitive development, preliteracy skills, and subsequent educational outcomes. Early intervention programs that promote positive parenting behaviors and child cognition have great potential to positively influence children's school readiness and thereby support social equality. One often advocated parental practice for promoting child language and cognition is interactive book sharing.

Methods: We have conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of a parent-child interactive book sharing intervention on early child language, cognition, and parental behaviors. Participating caregivers and their 10-month-old child were randomized to an interactive book sharing intervention group (n = 59) or to an active control group (n = 56). The intervention was delivered by a facilitator to small groups of parent-child dyads on a weekly basis over 5 weeks. The primary outcomes were child language and socio-cognition; secondary outcomes were child executive function and parental scaffolding, sensitivity and reciprocity during book sharing, and problem-solving tasks. Data were collected at baseline, post-intervention, and at 6 and 12 months post-intervention.

Discussion: The Roadmap to Executive function and Language (REaL) trial aims to evaluate the impact of a brief early parenting intervention on key factors for child development, including child cognition and parental behaviors. If this intervention is beneficial for child outcomes, that would be of significance for the development of early interventions to promote child development.

Early childhood educators’ math anxiety and its relation to their frequency of pedagogic actions was examined through a questionnaire completed by 352 participants (aged 21–65) representative of the Swedish municipality where the study was conducted. Our sample contained 189 certified preschool teachers and 163 preschool caregivers who significantly differed in their ratings reported for math teaching anxiety. Results revealed that certified preschool teachers who reported higher levels of math anxiety also reported teaching and talking about mathematics content less frequently. When controlling for certified preschool teachers’ gender and age, years of work in preschools, and whether they work only with younger (1–3), older (4–6) or with both groups of children (1–6-year-old), certified preschool teachers’ general math anxiety and math teaching anxiety predicted their reported frequency of math teaching and frequency of conversations about numbers, patterns, and geometric concepts with peak strength in gatherings, excursions and situations designed to teach mathematics to preschool children. Preschool caregivers’ math anxiety measures and their reported frequency of pedagogic actions did not display statistically significant relations. Findings showed setting specific associations between certified preschool teachers general math anxiety, math teaching anxiety and their avoidance of mathematics content, highlighting the importance of early childhood educators’ awareness of math anxiety, its nature, and consequences for teaching practices.

BACKGROUND: Cross-species evidence suggests that genetic and experiential factors act early in development to establish individual emotional traits, but little is known about the mechanisms that emerge during this period to mediate long-term outcomes. Here, we tested the hypothesis that known genetic and environmental risk conditions may heighten infants' natural tendency to attend to threat-alerting stimuli, resulting in a cognitive bias that may contribute to emotional vulnerability.

METHODS: Data from two samples of 5-7-month-old infants (N = 139) were used to examine whether established candidate variations in the serotonin-system genes, i.e., TPH2 SNP rs4570625 (-703 G/T) and HTR1A SNP rs6295 (-1019 G/C), and early rearing condition (maternal stress and depressive symptoms) are associated with alterations in infants' attention to facial expressions. Infants were tested with a paradigm that assesses the ability to disengage attention from a centrally presented stimulus (a nonface control stimulus or a neutral, happy, or fearful facial expression) toward the location of a new stimulus in the visual periphery (a geometric shape).

RESULTS: TPH2 -703 T-carrier genotype (i.e., TT homozygotes and heterozygotes), presence of maternal stress and depressive symptoms, and a combination of the T-carrier genotype and maternal depressive symptoms were associated with a relatively greater difficulty disengaging attention from fearful facial expressions. No associations were found with infants' temperamental traits.

CONCLUSIONS: Alterations in infants' natural attentional bias toward fearful facial expressions may emerge prior to the manifestation of emotional and social behaviors and provide a sensitive marker of early emotional development.

During the first 2 years of life, an infant's vocabulary grows at an impressive rate. In the current study, we investigated the impact of three challenges that infants need to overcome to learn new words and expand the size of their vocabulary. We used longitudinal eye-tracking data (n = 118) to assess sequence learning, associative learning, and probability processing abilities at ages 6, 10, and 18 months. Infants' ability to efficiently solve these tasks was used to predict vocabulary size at age 18 months. We demonstrate that the ability to make audio-visual associations and to predict sequences of visual events predicts vocabulary size in toddlers (accounting for 20% of the variance). Our results indicate that statistical learning in some, but not all, domains have a role in vocabulary development.

Previous research suggests that early word recognition is an important foundation for subsequent vocabulary development. However, the optimal method for assessing this ability in infancy remains unclear. To investigate this issue, we collected data from 70 participants (45.7% female) at 10, 11.5, 18 and 24 months of age using two eye-tracking based tasks—the preferential looking- and mismatch paradigms—as well as parental reports on a short form of the Swedish Early Communicative Development Inventories (SE-CDI). Both eye-tracking-based paradigms correlated with concurrent and later vocabulary scores. However, while the preferential looking paradigm showed stability across time, the mismatch paradigm did not demonstrate longitudinal stability and its associations with vocabulary were sometimes in unexpected directions. These findings suggest that the mismatch paradigm may reflect shifting cognitive or attentional processes during development, highlighting the need for further investigation. In contrast, the eye-tracking based preferential looking paradigm, may offer an objective complement to parental reports for predicting subsequent vocabulary development in early childhood.

Gaze following in infancy allows triadic social interactions and a comprehension of other individuals and their surroundings. Despite its importance for early development, its ontology is debated, with theories suggesting that gaze following is either a universal core capacity or an experience-dependent learned behavior. A critical test of these theories among 809 nine-month-olds from Africa (Uganda and Zimbabwe), Europe (Sweden), and Asia (Bhutan) demonstrated that infants follow gaze to a similar degree regardless of environmental factors such as culture, maternal well-being (postpartum depression, well-being), or traumatic family events (related to war and/or climate change). These findings suggest that gaze following may be a universal, experience-expectant process that is resilient to adversity and similar across a wide range of human experiences-a core foundation for social development.

Saccadic reaction time (SRT) is a widely used dependent variable in eye-tracking studies of human cognition and its disorders. SRTs are also frequently measured in studies with special populations, such as infants and young children, who are limited in their ability to follow verbal instructions and remain in a stable position over time. In this article, we describe a library of MATLAB routines (Mathworks, Natick, MA) that are designed to (1) enable completely automated implementation of SRT analysis for multiple data sets and (2) cope with the unique challenges of analyzing SRTs from eye-tracking data collected from poorly cooperating participants. The library includes preprocessing and SRT analysis routines. The preprocessing routines (i.e., moving median filter and interpolation) are designed to remove technical artifacts and missing samples from raw eye-tracking data. The SRTs are detected by a simple algorithm that identifies the last point of gaze in the area of interest, but, critically, the extracted SRTs are further subjected to a number of postanalysis verification checks to exclude values contaminated by artifacts. Example analyses of data from 5- to 11-month-old infants demonstrated that SRTs extracted with the proposed routines were in high agreement with SRTs obtained manually from video records, robust against potential sources of artifact, and exhibited moderate to high test-retest stability. We propose that the present library has wide utility in standardizing and automating SRT-based cognitive testing in various populations. The MATLAB routines are open source and can be downloaded from http://www.uta.fi/med/icl/methods.html .

How do children construct a concept of natural numbers? Past research addressing this question has mainly focused on understanding how children come to acquire the cardinality principle. However, at that point children already understand the first number words and have a rudimentary natural number concept in place. The question therefore remains; what gets children's number learning off the ground? We therefore, based on previous empirical and theoretical work, tested which factors predict the first stages of children's natural number understanding. We assessed if children's expressive vocabulary, visuospatial working memory, and ANS (Approximate number system) acuity at 18 months of age could predict their natural number knowledge at 2.5 years of age. We found that early expressive vocabulary and visuospatial working memory were important for later number knowledge. The results of the current study add to a growing body of literature showing the importance of language in children's learning about numbers.

To investigate potential infant-related antecedents characterizing later attachment security, this study tested whether attention to facial expressions, assessed with an eye-tracking paradigm at 7 months of age (N = 73), predicted infant-mother attachment in the Strange Situation Procedure at 14 months. Attention to fearful faces at 7 months predicted attachment security, with a smaller attentional bias to fearful expressions associated with insecure attachment. Attachment disorganization in particular was linked to an absence of the age-typical attentional bias to fear. These data provide the first evidence linking infants' attentional bias to negative facial expressions with attachment formation and suggest reduced sensitivity to facial expressions of negative emotion as a testable trait that could link attachment disorganization with later behavioral outcomes.

In recent years, eye-tracking has become a popular method for drawing conclusions about infant cognition. Relatively little attention has been paid, however, to methodological issues associated with infant eye-tracking. Here, we consider the possibility that systematic differences in the quality of raw eye-tracking data obtained from different populations and individuals might create the impression of differences in gaze behavior, without this actually being the case. First, we show that lower quality eye-tracking data are obtained from populations who are younger and populations who are more fidgety and that data quality declines during the testing session. Second, we assess how these differences in data quality might influence key dependent variables in eye-tracking analyses. We show that lower precision data can appear to suggest a reduced likelihood to look at the eyes in a face relative to the mouth. We also show that less robust tracking may manifest as slower reaction time latencies (e.g., time to first fixation). Finally, we show that less robust data can manifest as shorter first look/visit duration. We argue that data quality should be reported in all analyses of infant eye-tracking data and/or that steps should be taken to control for data quality before performing final analyses.

Background: Children growing up in low-income countries are at an increased risk for exposure to adverse contextual factors that may affect their cognitive development early in life. Yet, the prevalence and specific nature of cognitive problems are still poorly understood given a lack of objective, non-invasive, and field-friendly techniques for assessing early cognitive functioning in low-resource settings. In an effort to help address this gap, we carried out a study to evaluate the feasibility of using eye tracking to assess infants’ cognitive functioning in a low-income setting.

Methods: A battery of eye tracking tests were used to assess basic cognitive functions, such as anticipatory looking, sequence learning, and perception of facial expressions, of 39 Finnish and 37 Malawian infants 9 months of age. To evaluate the feasibility of using the eye tracking method in Malawi, we measured and compared the acceptability of the eye tracking method (the participants’ mothers’ appreciation of the method) and quality of the eye tracking data collected from the Malawian site to that of data collected from the Finnish site. The following conditions needed to be met in order for the method to be defined as feasible: (1) a proportion of Malawian participants similar to that of Finnish participants had to be able to complete the whole assessment, (2) a proportion of participating Malawian mothers similar to that of Finnish mothers had to report acceptance of the method, and (3) the eye tracking data quality in terms of attrition rate and proportion of valid trials had to be similar at the two sites (Malawi and Finland) and in parity with previous infancy eye tracking studies (i.e., attrition rate around 20–35% or lower, based on Ambrosini et al. 2013, Oakes and Ellis 2013, and Watanabe et al. 2012, and proportion of valid trials in each eye tracking task at greater than 70%, based on Forssman, Wass, and Leppänen 2014 and Leppänen et al. 2014).

Results: The majority of Finnish (95%) and Malawian (92%) infants were able to complete the whole assessment. At both sites, 95% or more of the participating mothers reported acceptability of the method. Examination of eye tracking data quality between the Finnish and Malawian testing sites showed similar patterns, although the overall completion rate (Finland: 94.9%; Malawi: 91.9%) and the overall proportion of valid trials (Finland: 79.5%; Malawi: 71%) were slightly in favor of the Finnish sample. There were however no significant differences in task-specific data attrition rates between the two samples (p = .141–.946) and the attrition rates at both sites was equivalent to or better than the attrition rates reported in previous eye tracking studies with infants of similar age.

Conclusions: The consistency of data retention and test acceptance rate between the Finnish and Malawian samples demonstrates the feasibility of eye tracking-based assessments of infants’ cognition in low-resource settings. Based on the results from this pilot test, we believe that eye tracking is a promising tool for assessing early cognitive functions in Malawi and other low-income countries. However, further research is still needed to establish the validity of early-emerging cognitive markers as predictors of long-term health outcomes in childhood. 

Background: Extensive research suggests that peripartum depression is a risk factor for children's early language development. Yet, previous research on this association shows mixed results, often lacking information on the persistence of depression and the social context. This population-based cohort study addresses this gap by investigating the longitudinal influence of peripartum depressive symptoms on toddlers' expressive language. Specifically, we systematically examined the influences of timing, severity, and persistence of depressive symptoms during pregnancy and the first 6 months postpartum on child expressive language development, while accounting for important social and environmental factors.

Methods: This study is part of a prospective, population-based investigation conducted within the follow-up Uppsala Birth Cohort study in Uppsala, Sweden. The final analysis included 2176 mother-infant dyads (1122 boys, mean age = 18.3 months, SD = 0.7). Perinatal depressive symptoms were assessed at gestational weeks 17 and 32 and at postpartum six weeks and six months, using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (cut-off >12). At 6 months postpartum, mothers were also invited to fill out the Postnatal Bonding Difficulty Questionnaire. At 18 months postpartum, mothers completed the Language Development Survey, which assessed expressive vocabulary and word combinations. Multivariable linear regression models were applied to examine the associations between peripartum depressive symptoms and child language development. Adjusted models incorporated background and social context variables to account for potential confounding factors.

Results: Depressive symptoms during prenatal and postnatal periods were not significantly associated with language outcomes. Our final model identified negative associations with second-born status, family history of late talkers, countryside residence, and maternal age at childbirth. Positive correlations were found for sex (girl) and pregnancy length. The final model explained 8.4% of the variance (F(22, 1566) = 6.525, p < 0.001). Furthermore, we found that persistent depressive symptoms were not significantly related to language outcomes (Kruskal-Wallis test: H = 2.227, df = 2, p = 0.21).

Conclusions: Our findings found no negative link between peripartum depressive symptoms and expressive language in toddlers, even after considering timing, severity, and persistence. While no immediate direct negative influence of peripartum depressive symptoms was observed, the long-term cumulative effects later in life remain unclear.

In late infancy and early toddlerhood, joint attention ability is widely recognized as a crucial foundation for children's vocabulary development, though the exact nature of its contribution remains debated. This study investigates associations between joint attention and subsequent vocabulary development, as well as the possible moderating role of supportive parental behaviors. Seventy children and their families participated in this longitudinal study, which began when the children were 10 months of age. Parents completed the Swedish Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) at four age points (10, 12, 18, and 24 months) to assess receptive and expressive vocabulary growth. Children participated in lab-based assessment of joint attention abilities at 10, 12, and 18 months. Additionally, at 10 and 12 months, parent-child dyads participated in two semi-structured lab assessments to evaluate the quality of parental supportive behaviors during interactions with their child. Primary analysis showed no significant effects of joint attention on subsequent receptive and expressive vocabulary. However, a significant interaction was found between a child's ability to respond to joint attention cues and parental supportive behaviors on receptive vocabulary. These findings indicate that parental supportive behaviors play a crucial role in promoting the development of children's receptive vocabulary.

The aim with this scoping review is to provide an overview of research on school leaders’ responses to neoliberal education reform. The review offers insights into how macro-level policies translate into micro-level experiences. By mapping existing studies on school leaders’ lived experiences under neoliberal reforms, it provides valuable knowledge for policymakers, educational leaders, and researchers seeking to navigate and influence these ongoing transformations. This article employs a resistance theory perspective. I identified 21 articles that met all the inclusion criteria through the search. I undertook both a descriptive and a content analysis. The latter considers how school leaders navigate the reforms, and how they resisted them. The results show that resistance was manifested in terms such as speaking one’s mind, irony, simulation and compliance. These studies exemplify some of the problems associated with the ‘new professionalism’ fashioned by educational policy seeking to steer the work of schools in a competitive school marketplace. Overall, the review underscores the transformative nature of neoliberal reforms on education and the imperative for using resistance and power theories to both help shed light on the sometimes soul- altering changes these initiatives can achieve and point to possible counter-discourse and counter-conduct.

The release of generative AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT has sparked interest in their implications for education. While early discourse emphasized concerns about plagiarism and academic integrity, recent studies have begun to explore the potential of these tools to support teaching and learning. This paper presents a case study on the use of ChatGPT in the redesign of a first-year systems development project course for informatics students. The course required the integration of various course materials, making it a suitable context for evaluating generative AI’s role in course material development. The aim of the study is to present lessons learned from using ChatGPT in the development of course content. Drawing on our practical experience as course designers and instructors, we outline lessons learned from using ChatGPT in the creation of key course elements, including case descriptions, SQL scripts, and requirements specifications. We found that ChatGPT was effective for generating coherent initial drafts of content, but its outputs often required refinement to ensure pedagogical alignment. Challenges included the generation of misleading or irrelevant non-functional requirements and logically flawed code, despite syntactic correctness. Our findings highlight the importance of prompt engineering, critical review, and maintaining a human-in-the-loop approach. We conclude that while ChatGPT can significantly reduce development time for some tasks, it should be used as a complementary tool. This study contributes practical insights to the growing field of AI-assisted education.

As mass migration from Sweden to the USA took off in the late 1860s, texts started to flow between Swedish and Swedish-American newspapers. A network of interconnected papers was established, based on cut-and-paste journalism and journalists moving between the countries. By combining digital text mining and network analysis with a biographical approach, this article examines the role of one specific editor and his paper within the transatlantic exchange system. The analysis shows that Isidor Kjellberg (1841–1895) and his newspaper Östgöten acted as a guide, giving advice and updates on American conditions to Swedes who wanted to migrate. Kjellberg also used the Swedish-American press as an ally in his campaigns for political reform, workers’ rights, and equality, but he also incorporated the methods of American new journalism in his own reporting. The result was not American journalism according to the standard news paradigm, but a hybrid serving his own political agenda.

This report presents the conclusions from Att resonera historiskt (Reasoning Historically), a practice-based research project on teaching and learning conducted within the framework of ULF (Education, Learning, Research). Over the course of three academic years, a historian and four upper secondary history teachers have collaboratively examined different aspects of historical reasoning in secondary education and explored how teaching can be designed to support students’ ability to reason historically. The project group has also investigated how practice-based research on teaching and learning can be integrated into teacher education as a way to strengthen the connection between academia and the school practice, thereby deepening student teachers’ understanding of what an inquiry-based approach can mean in their future profession.

The project’s main output consists of four progression models intended to support history teachers in planning their instruction and monitoring their students’ learning in history. A further aim has been for these models to be used in history teacher education, providing student teachers with a vision of how they can foster more nuanced and in-depth historical understanding among their future students.

Some academic journals question the position of the research article as the only format of publication. This chapter looks at the challenges and potentials of publishing alternative genres to the research article in peer reviewed journals. In doing so, we illuminate the underlying assumptions and norms in academic publishing. We specifically focus on the peer review process of a ‘practitioner reflection’ genre and the ways in which this genre is negotiated between authors and reviewers. Peer review in higher education is often enmeshed with power, authority, and hierarchy as it assumes an authoritative expert and depends on critique within a competitive framework. Feminist and decolonial scholars have increasingly argued the need to rethink some of these practices as traditional peer reviewing can be seen to be rooted in (west) Eurocentric normative practices of knowledge production. As illustrations of our thinking, we present an analysis of three manuscripts and their related reviews: a reflection by a design practitioner; a reflection on pedagogic practice in the form of a comic; and an artist’s autoethnographic reflection. We argue that in academic publishing, we need to ‘disrupt’ established forms in order to push the boundaries of research genres. This can go some way towards the decolonization of knowledge-making systems in academia. 

This collaboration started out with an idea of somehow combining the fields of classical contemporary music and contemporary jazz improvisation, creating a bridge between the musical worlds. The resulting album, All in Twilight, is driven by a deep admiration for the original music and its expressive potential. Toru Takemitsu's guitar suite All in Twilight with its richness and wide musical spectrum, Erland von Koch’s Utanmyra-variationer based on a Swedish folk music tune, the explosive guitar piece Fuoco by French composer Roland Dyens and Thin Places, a new composition written for the duo by Stefan Klaverdal.

Background

Chronic liver disease caused by Hepatitis C virus (HCV), contributes to a major health burden worldwide. Although chronic infections with the HCV can be effectively cured by antivirals, but the cured patients can be re-infected as they lack protective immune responses. In addition, the relatively high cost of the HCV treatment brings concerns about the accessibility, especially in the developing countries. Hence, there exists a need for cost effect vaccines with high efficiency to control and possibly eradicate HCV globally.

Methods

We have developed and utilized flavivirus replicons as delivery system to prime hepatitis-specific immune responses. We generated subgenomic replicons of Tick-borne encephalitis virus, Langat virus, West-Nile virus (WNV), and Kunjin virus (KUNV) expressing a fusion protein between the HCV NS3/4A and core protein of stork hepatitis B virus. Antigen expression and immunogenicity of these flavivirus replicons was evaluated in vitro and in vitro, respectively.

Results

Transfection experiments showed that the antigen expression by KUNV and WNV replicons was several folds higher than the antigen expression of control DNA plasmid with CMV promoter. In a murine model, KUNV replicon triggered a potent cellular immune response with respect to priming of HCV NS3/4A-specific T cells as determined by ELISpot, and polyfunctionality assays. In addition, vaccination with KUNV replicon also induced HCV NS3/4A-specific humoral immune response.

Conclusion

These findings indicate that the KUNV replicon-based HCV vaccine can induce both the neutralizing antibodies and protective T cell responses. Thus, the newly developed KUNV replicon-based vaccine is an attractive candidate to provide protection against HCV.

 Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is one of the most important tick-transmitted diseases in Europe and Asia. TBE virus (TBEV) infections lead to a diversity of disease outcomes ranging from mild flu-like symptoms to severe neurological disorders. With no specific antiviral treatment available, vaccination remains the most effective protective strategy for TBE. Currently, only inactivated TBE vaccines are available on the market, which require repeated booster doses to sustain immunity. In addition, vaccine breakthroughs are reported in some patients, especially in the elderly. In contrary to inactivated vaccines, live-attenuated viral vaccines could provide long-term, or even lifelong immunity after a single dose. Langat virus (LGTV) is a naturally attenuated strain of TBEV, which makes it a potential candidate for a live-attenuated TBE vaccine. In this study, we engineered and rescued four infectious clones (ICs) of LGTV using RNA- and DNA-based reverse genetics methods. Next generation sequencing of the rescued ICs showed that the viruses rescued by DNA-based methods were more similar to the parental LGTV sequence and showed higher genetic stability after passaging in cell culture. One of the DNA-launched LGTV IC was further evaluated in vitro and in vivo which exhibited growth kinetics and immune profile comparable to the LGTV strain in our laboratory. This reverse genetics platform will be utilized to introduce targeted mutations within the LGTV genome to develop a live-attenuated TBE vaccine.

This paper presents a qualitative, reflexive thematic analysis of Season 2 of the Swedish reality television dating show Hotel Romance (2023–) featuring women and men between 65–85 years old. The analysis focuses on the constructed gender power dynamics between the women and men on the show which is generated through four sub-themes relating to gendered traits, looks, love and sexual stereotypes. The exposed gender power dynamics establishes older women as empowered and superior in relation to older men who do not appear to adhere to women’s standards and therefore come across as “less than” what women desire. Such a 65+ gender power dynamics contrasts with existing research of gender representations in reality television dating shows featuring younger participants where sexism and patriarchal values are routinely reproduced. The result also clashes with research of images of older women in the media which expose systematic devaluations of this group. Finally, insights into the production of the show suggest that, along with conveying a successful ageing discourse, Hotel Romanceimplicitly positions older people of both genders as Others to be looked at by 30-something audiences who are assumed to dread the loss of love, sex and romance after the age of 65. 

Many welfare states in the Global North have decentralised active labour market programmes (ALMPs) from national to sub-national level. But how have these decentralisation processes, taking place against the backdrop of an urban bias, affected rural municipalities? The paper aims to improve the understanding of possibilities and limitations that arise in the planning and provision of ALMPs by local governments in rural settings, by exploring and analysing rural municipalities in northern Sweden. Through interviews with municipal ALMP planners, the paper illustrates challenges related to low economies of scale, the pace of national reforms, and support for groups with low employability.

A self-aligning gear includes a toothed ring gear having inner gear teeth alternating with inner grooves on an inner circumference and outer gear teeth on an outer circumference, a spline gear having spline teeth alternating with spline grooves on an outer circumference, wherein the spline teeth fit in the inner grooves of the toothed ring gear, and a curved-faces pin assembly including a cylindrical pin having semicircular ends and an elastomeric material pattern which conforms to the shape of the spline grooves and inner grooves. The grooves have either trapezoidal walls or semicylindrical walls. The self-aligning gear also includes a locking assembly with a flanged hub and threaded disc to secure the components. The elastomeric material provides alignment compensation through controlled deformation while maintaining torque transfer capability. The self-aligning gear compensates for misalignment in gear transmissions, extending operational life while maintaining power transmission efficiency.

Denna artikel handlar om hur hållbar stadsutveckling kommuniceras om och på en specifik plats: Slakthusområdet, en del av stadsutvecklingsområdet Söderstaden i södra Stockholm. Syftet är att identifiera vilka diskurser – kunskap ur ett visst perspektiv om hållbarhet – som finns närvarande i texter om omvandlingen av Slakthusområdet och att se om dessa finns närvarande i sociala praktiker – vad som har gjorts eller ska göras – som pekas ut (eller indexeras) i Slakthusområdet. Till syftet knyts två frågor: Vilka diskurser om hållbarhet är mest framskjutna i centrala strategi- och stadsplaneringstexter om Slakthusområdet? Vilka, om några, av de identifierade hållbarhetsdiskurserna ansluter de indexerade sociala praktikerna i området till? Den sista forskningsfrågan handlar alltså om att det som pekas ut som möjligt att göra för människor – eller vad som redan har gjorts – kan vara grundade i olika perspektiv på, eller diskurser om, hållbarhet. Med en grund i fälten språkliga och semiotiska landskapsstudier och ekolingvistik analyseras texter som detaljplaner och arkitekturprogram samt bilder från en fältstudie i Slakthusområdet utifrån begreppen diskurs, indexikalitet och social praktik. Resultaten visar att triaden social, ekonomisk och ekologisk hållbarhet återfinns som diskurser i texterna, liksom hur ett arkitektur-perspektiv är tydligt en fysiskt-estetisk hållbarhetsdiskurs där hållbarhet konstrueras som byggnadsmaterialens fysiska hållbarhet samt som hur väl arkitekturens estetik står sig över tid. Fältstudien visade att främst ekonomiska och arkitektoniska praktiker indexerades: att konsumera, men att göra det i miljöer som anknyter till tidigare praktiker i Slakthusområdet. Intressant nog fanns ingen tydlig indexering av ekologiska hållbarhetspraktiker – som de flesta kanske uppfattar som kärnan i hållbar stadsutveckling.

This article provides an introduction to the field of legal rhetoric and an overview of Scandinavian research in the area. Legal rhetoric is an interdisciplinary field situated between law and rhetoric, concerned with how language is used to persuade in legal contexts. The article begins by tracing the shared historical roots of law and rhetoric, with a focus on ancient Greece and Rome, where rhetorical skill was integral to both legal and political life. It then identifies several key points of contact between the two disciplines today, including their shared emphasis on persuasion, contextual awareness, and linguistic craftsmanship.

The article proceeds to present three main branches of contemporary legal rhetoric: the communicative, which focuses on practical rhetorical tools for lawyers; the methodological, which explores how rhetorical methods can support legal reasoning and analysis; and the philosophical, which investigates foundational questions at the intersection of rhetoric and legal theory.

The third section offers an overview of Scandinavian contributions to the field, including anthologies, journal articles, doctoral dissertations, and textbooks. Particular attention is given to works that apply rhetorical theory - such as the theory of topics - to legal argumentation. The section highlights both pioneering publications and more recent developments in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

In its concluding section, the article reflects on the current state and future of legal rhetoric in Scandinavia. It notes a growing interest among legal professionals and educators, as evidenced by the increasing presence of rhetoric in law school curricula and continuing legal education. At the same time, the article identifies areas - such as legal plain language - where rhetorical perspectives remain underutilized. The article concludes that legal rhetoric in Scandinavia has significant untapped potential, both as a research field and as a resource for legal practice.

This paper revisits and expands a decade-old call to engage the political dimensions of environmental and sustainability education (ESE). With intensifying climate impacts and widening global inequities, global justice has become central to ESE. Climate change is not only a scientific concern but a lived reality shaped by colonial legacies, structural inequalities, and power imbalances. Drawing on critical global citizenship education (GCE) and educational philosophy, we examine the roles of educators amid interwoven environ-mental, social, and political crises. Teaching sustainability is not merely technical or scientific but also ethical, existential, and political. Inspired by recent scholarship across ESE, GCE, political science, and philosophy, we outline five interrelated educational guidelines for a global justice-oriented ESE. These guidelines support educators in critically addressing intersecting injustices through meaningful, critical engagement. We conclude that ESE’s future lies in creating transformative spaces that foster ethical responsibility, political awareness, and collective action for a just and sustainable world.

International Law of Armed Conflict plays a crucial role in mitigating as far as possible the impact of armed conflict on civilians. However, inherent gender biases in the perception of ‘civilians’ persist within the law, in large part explained by the fact that this legal regime is comparatively old in its fundaments which stem from assumptions about men and women that we now consider outdated. While the Law of Armed Conflict mandates equal treatment and non-discrimination, certain rules may at face value inadvertently perpetuate such stereotypes. For instance, this law tends to see women and children in need of (masculine) protection, which makes them passive objects. A further disconcerting fact is that the recognition of diverse identities within the group of women, beyond the binary division of men and women, is often overlooked when the law is implemented. This chapter’s analysis is limited to the Fourth Geneva Convention and the provisions of general protection enshrined therein. It demonstrates how a gender-based intersectional analysis can help in transferring an archaic perception of a hierarchy of the binary group of women and men, into a more nuanced and inclusive framework that recognizes individually lived experiences of all women. Such reading of the law is responsive to the lived realities of all individuals. It also makes it possible to break free from an archaic perception of a hierarchical relation between men and women. Lastly, it contributes to the transitional competence of GC IV, namely that of promoting a shift from active hostilities towards normal life for all.

The contemporary food system is no longer just a matter of nourishment; it has become a mirror reflecting the ecological, social and psychological tensions of our time. The manner in which we produce and consume food is intricately linked to a number of the most pressing challenges facing society, including climate change and rising health issues. The significance of dietary choices is becoming increasingly evident, with the heart of the matter being why people eat what they do and how people's food choices can be changed. This dissertation explores the role of hedonic and social factors in shaping the adoption of sustainable food choices by exploring three themes: Products, Restaurants and Everyday life. Each theme is explored through a combination of different methodological approaches, including consumer sensory evaluation, field experimentation and a randomised controlled trial enriched with social network analysis.The findings collectively highlight the need for multi-level strategies, which must integrate psychological, social and situational factors in order to be effective. While consumer preferences for the sensory attributes of plant-based meat alternatives differ depending on consumer psychographics (i.e. meat attachment), a preference for products that replicate the sensory experience of conventional meat remains dominant. Beyond sensory drivers, meat also carries symbolic meanings associated with tradition, strength and status. These cultural associations reinforce a 'meat-centric’ gastronomic logic, even in vegetarian formats. However, consumer choice can be influenced when a gastronomic authority (i.e. a chef) recommends a less-popular, non-meat-mimicking vegetarian dish. The same cannot be said for social cues (i.e. cues from other guests), which do not appear to influence consumer choice. It is possible that the fragmentary information – whether factual or social – provided to participants within the studies of this dissertation was insufficiently potent to induce continuous and systematic dietary changes in everyday life, suggesting that influence may stem more from particularly influential individuals than from generic others. All in all, this dissertation provides insights into segmentation strategies that may be considered for future product development within the industry, for use within the food-service sector and for methodological application to future research.

This article focuses on teachers’ responsiveness to changes in assessment policy and how new guidelines affect assessment and grading practices in school physical education (PE). The previous national curriculum in Sweden directed many teachers towards an atomistic approach to assessment.The reformed guidelines, in contrast, mandate that teachers should strive for holistic assessment.Thus, the purpose of this study was to generate an understanding of how teachers interpret and translate the policy for holistic PE assessment and discuss potential consequences of their policyenactments. Data were generated through six focus group interviews with 22 PE teachers working at different secondary and upper secondary schools. The theoretical framework usedin the analysis is based on Ball et al.’s (2012a) work on policy enactment. The findings show that teachers view the policy for holistic assessment in PE positively. They claim that it enables them to concentrate on the bigger picture, weigh factors in terms of significance during assessment, and connect to students’ lives outside of PE. We discuss the potential consequences ofthe teachers’ policy enactments in terms of the backwash of the reform. On the one hand, the reform results in reduced transparency and a risk that certain areas of knowledge may be marginalised. On the other hand, the study suggests that teachers’ autonomy with respect to assessment increases. This autonomy, which ideally leads to valid holistic assessments and fair grades, is tailored to the students’ conditions and what they see as meaningful knowledge in life outside ofschool.

The article explores the evolution of Nordic legal pragmatism through a comparison withother European legal traditions, particularly that of Italy. The authors analyze the definingcharacteristics and historical development of a pragmatic approach in Nordic law, particularly inSweden, one that prioritizes problem-solving over theoretical abstraction. Tracing Nordic legalpragmatism back to medieval statutes, which were casuistic and practical rather thanconceptually systematic, and the relatively minimal influence of Roman law, the authorshighlight the unique trajectory of Nordic law in contrast to the rest of Europe. Over time, thisapproach fostered an emphasis on social utility and democratic processes, notably expressedin Scandinavian legal realism, which rejected metaphysical legal concepts. The article furtherexamines how pragmatism continues to permeate Swedish law today, evident in legaleducation, legal scholarship and judicial practices, where court judgments emphasize concise,context-sensitive reasoning over conceptual and argumentative diversity. Comparativeanalyses underscore that this pragmatic approach is a hallmark of the Nordic legal tradition,setting it apart from the more theory-driven continental European legal systems.

Reflexive institutions are upheld as critical for greening states and societies. However, attempts to increase institutional reflexivity are generally introduced through projects and institutional add-ons, which makes them difficult to maintain, while the established institutions can reproduce unsustainability. This paper explores possibilities for established institutions to become (more) reflexive, assessing two established forms of governance, bureaucracy and networks. It is conceptually argued that institutional structures can enable as well as constrain institutions’ reflexive capacity. The two organizational forms face different combinations of constraints on reflexivity (formal institutions, entrenched interests, and dominant ideas). Two empirical cases are used to illustrate this point: the bureaucratic mining permit process and the network-based organization Fossil-free Sweden. Insights from the two cases suggest, counter to dominant views and organizational trends, that bureaucracy can have a critical function for reflexive institutions. It is argued that bureaucratic structures are essential to balance the constraints on reflexivity and thereby safeguard the inclusion of conflicting perspectives, which are the most valuable seeds for reflexivity. While network-based governance faces less institutional constraints, interest-based and ideational constraints are more entrenched. Exploiting the strengths of each governance form seems critical to effectively and sustainably tackle the environmental challenges that modern society is facing.

Background: Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a growing public health concern in Europe and Asia, driven by the increasing spread of the TBE virus (TBEV) and its tick vectors. Although current vaccines provide protection, their multi-dose schedule and reduced efficacy in the elderly contribute to occasional vaccine failures. This study aims to develop a novel TBE vaccine offering enhanced protection with fewer doses, focusing on mucosal immunization.Methods: Infectious clone of Langat virus (LGTV IC) was designed and rescued- in our laboratory. We assessed the safety and immunogenicity of the LGTV IC as a live-attenuated TBE vaccine platform in a murine model. Mice were vaccinated with LGTV IC via intranasal or intramuscular routes at low or high doses. We evaluated viremia,viral presence in cerebrospinal fluid, general health, and immune responses.Results: Intranasal immunization with LGTV IC induced strong immune responses. It elicited robust anti-TBEVIgG responses and strong TBEV NS3-specific IFN-γ and IL-2 production. Notably, low-dose intranasal immunization outperformed higher doses of both routes, inducing a more balanced and effective immune response. Low-dose intranasal administration was well tolerated, with no clinical signs, weight loss, or viral presence in the central nervous system. In contrast, intranasal immunization caused potential adverse effects atelevated doses.Conclusion: These findings support LGTV IC as a promising vaccine platform for TBE, with intranasal administration emerging as a putative safe, well-tolerated, and effective needle-free alternative to intramuscular injection when given at a low dose. Ongoing efforts are focused on further attenuating LGTV IC to enhance its safety profile for future applications.

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a significant disease in Europe and Asia, with a risingincidence due to the spread of the TBE virus (TBEV) and its vectors. Current TBE vaccinesprovide good protection, but they have a complex immunization schedule and lower efficacy inthe elderly, leading to occasional vaccine failures. We aim to develop a novel TBE vaccine toprovide better protection with fewer doses through mucosal immunization. The current workcovers a pilot study that evaluates live-attenuated TBE vaccine in vivo, using Langat virus(LGTV) platform that we developed based on a rescued LGTV infectious clone (LGTV IC).In the current mouse study, LGTV IC was administered via intranasal and intramuscular routesat two doses (10³ and 10⁵ PFU). The study assessed tolerability, viremia profile, and inducedimmunogenicity.As a result, we show that intranasal immunization with LGTV IC induced strong immuneresponses and revealed a favorable safety profile in a dose-dependent manner. Low-doseintranasal administration was well tolerated, with no clinical signs, weight loss, or viral presencein the central nervous system. It elicited robust anti-TBEV IgG antibodies that successfullyneutralized both LGTV and TBEV and induced strong cellular immunity, characterized byTBEV NS3-specific IFNγ and IL-2 secreting cells. Notably, low-dose mucosal immunizationoutperformed both high-dose intranasal and intramuscular administration in generating abalanced immune response. In contrast, high-dose intranasal immunization caused significantweight loss and minimal viral detection in CSF, indicating potential adverse effects at elevateddoses.These findings support the potential of low-dose mucosal immunization with LGTV IC as a safeand effective TBE vaccination strategy. Further attenuation of LGTV IC is underway to enhancesafety for future development.

Folkbildningsrådet genomförde under 2023 och 2024 en studie för att undersöka folkbildningens bidrag till individers och samhällets bildning. Studien genomfördes genom ett antal fokusgruppsintervjuer med personer verksamma inom studieförbund och folkhögskolor.

Tre huvudfrågor ställdes:— - Vad är bildning inom folkbildningen?— - Hur blir bildning till inom folkbildningen?— - Vilka värden skapar folkbildningens bildning?

Folkbildningens bildning beskrivs av de intervjuade folkbildarna som en transformation av människan. En transformation som blir till genom att tillsammans med andra bearbeta och utveckla kunskaper, förhållningssätt och attityder.

Folkbildarna identifierar tre grundläggande bildningskomponenter:— - Bildning bygger på egna och andras kunskaper.— - Bildning utvecklar förhållningssätt och attityder.— - Bildning är en förändringsprocess utan slut.

Hur blir bildning då till? Vilka förutsättningar vill till för att folkbildningen ska kunna fungera bildande? Folkbildarnas svar handlar om mötesplatserna, om folkbildningens pedagogik, arbetssätt och frihetsgrader, och om deltagarnas och folkbildarnas öppenhet.

Folkbildarna talar vidare om bildning som ”en kvalitet”, någonting som i sig är värdefullt och som är värt att sträva efter. Men vari ligger då detta värde? I intervjuerna beskriver folkbildarna de värden som just folkbildningens bildning bidrar till i samhället, och hur dessa vilar på bildningens värden för varje enskild människa:

- Bildning är en viktig byggsten i ett samhälle som strävar efter sammanhållning, gemenskap och inkludering, där individen känner förståelse, tolerans och empati.— - Bildning bidrar till ett samhälle som präglas av demokratiskt deltagandeoch engagemang, där individen ser sammanhang, känner delaktighet ochstärker sin egenmakt.— - Bildning bidrar till välbefinnande och samhällskompetens och till en befolkning där individen har stark identitet och självkänsla.

Individ och samhälle hör ihop – det som bildningen gör med människorna gör den också med de samhällen som människorna formar.

Rapporten visar att det råder en betydande överensstämmelse mellan bildningsbegreppet som det används i den vetenskapliga diskussionen och inom samhällets bildande institutioner, som refereras i rapportens inledning, och som det används inom studieförbund och folkhögskolor. Den definition av bildningsbegreppet som utkristalliserar sig i folkbildarintervjuerna kan sammanfattas på följande sätt:

Bildningen i folkbildningen är rörelser för att utforska och tolka världen tillsammans med andra. I möten söker, prövar och utvecklar individen sådana värderingar, kunskaper, känslor, färdigheter och förhållningssätt hon behöverför att vara människa och samhällsmedborgare med värdighet och ansvar för sig själv, för andra och för det gemensamma bästa.

I den här studien ger folkbildarna inblickar i människors bildningsresor inom folkbildningen. Fokusgruppernas berättelser handlar om bildning som sätter liv i rörelse. Det är en sammanflätad personlig, kognitiv, praktisk, social och andlig rörelse där människor tillsammans och med olika sinnen utforskar jaget, vetandet, samhället och tillvaron i stort.

Assessment has received considerable attention from researchers in the field of physical education (PE). Many scholars have examined either formative assessment or summative assessment, with their focus leading to different questions and considerations. In this review, we examine howand why both formative and summative assessment have been problematized by PE scholars. Through a critical interpretive synthesis, we identify: (1) the main problems associated with both forms of assessment identified between 1999 and 2024, and (2) the solutions that scholars have offered in response to these problems. Problems with summative assessment center on teachers’ use of personal and internalized criteria, students’ negative experiences, and the guidance that policy provides teachers for enacting assessment. Solutions revolve around the provision of continuing professional development, improving initial teacher education, and ensuring that policy clearly delineates how assessment should be conducted. Problems with formative assessment revolve around teachers’ and students’ unfamiliarity with formative assessment practices and their lack of competence in using assessment strategies. Recommended solutions center on accepting that formative assessment has advantages and disadvantages, increasing students’ participation in assessment practices, and improving teachers’ assessment proficiency. We consider the extent to which assessment scholarship can contribute to change in assessment practices in PE, developing the thesis that several factors constrain the ability of research to lead to improvements. We conclude with alternative approaches that scholars might use to reimagine research on formative and summative assessment.

With the increasing demand for sustainable and auxiliary energy solutions, innovative energy harvesting techniques are gaining more traction. This study explores the application of a pendulum-based energy harvesting mechanism in vehicles, utilizing the natural oscillations induced by vehicle movement to generate electrical power. In the current article, a pendulum-based mechanism is developed for energy generation in vehicle applications. The article presents theoretical analyses of motion dynamics, energy conversion efficiency, and system integration feasibility. The developed mechanism is designed for vehicle applications to be excited by car motion. The calculation results indicate the applicability and how effective the developed mechanism is. The proposed design should be fabricated in a small size and lightweight to be installed in the back trunk of the car or other parts where it can be fixed, preferably close to the suspension system, to have higher excitation.

Avoiding resonance, which can occur when the system is excited by a frequency equal to or close to one of the system’s natural frequencies, is crucial to ensure a safe operational system. It is essential to ensure that the system runs at a frequency away from the natural frequencies, which are the resonance frequencies. Sometimes, it is not feasible to vary the operational frequency to avoid the resonance frequencies. Therefore, the current research presents an experimental technique, namely the water-based technique for mass variation, to introduce a method of shifting the natural frequency. A beam system, with a force exciter, accelerometer and two water tanks, is studied as a case study. The mass variation can be used to shift the natural frequency away from the excitation frequency. Different water flow rate cases are examined experimentally, and the obtained response signals are studied. The application of the presented technique is discussed. The results of the tested cases show the feasibility of changing the mass to avoid resonance. The natural frequency shifting is obtained to save the system from high resonance vibration levels that may cause damage to the system.

This article examines how digitisation can contribute to the protection and enforcement of the identity rights of adopted children. More specifically, it assesses the relationship between technologies such as blockchain and digital identity systems, and online legal services, and international and European texts such as the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights (ECHR). In addition to this analysis, the article highlights the tensions between conflicting interests regarding access to one's origins, privacy and data confidentiality. The prevalence of one interest over another depends on the discretionary power of states. The aim is to reveal how digital technology can help to resolve these issues. When based on reliable legal guarantees that respect children's interests, digital spaces can ensure the effectiveness and respect of children's rights. This is particularly true in the case of international or irregular adoptions. The paper examines the promises and challenges of digital innovation and proposes ways in which this technology can be used to respect and enforce the right to identity of adopted children.

Collaboration is a central activity in and around academia. This is especially so in feminist-gender research, teaching and development. However, the collaborative impulse within feminisms can be in tension with some of the conditions of contemporary academia. The neoliberalization of universities, academia, and science has changed the structural, organizational and working conditions within which academic collaboration takes place. This can lead onto ambiguous, hybrid contexts for feminist-gender academic work. In the spirit of collaboration, this auto-dialogue interrogates collaboration in feminist-gender academia, in the light of personal and collective experience, with emphasis on dilemmas, delights and disillusions – as part of the critical and feminist task.